Mark III stood behind me with both of her hands raised. The artificial skin covering her palms disappeared as two green orbs emerged from them.
"These will help to speed up the tranquilization process," said Mark III. "The effects of Parasite are much stronger when its victim is asleep or emotionally stressed. It's going to have full control while you're unconscious. Understood?"
I nodded in response.
"I'll be monitoring your brain and physical movements. Any sign of struggle and I'll wake you up immediately. Understood?"
"Yes," I answered. I looked down at my blackened legs. They were a reminder of just how capable Parasite was. I'd fought Grimm that had come close to killing me with raw power, but it was another thing to have it come that close to controlling you.
"Be safe, Ruby," said Mark III.
"Thanks," I said with a small smile.
"I know you will," said Mark III with a little smile of her own. It was uncanny just how much her smile resembled Penny's.
I closed my eyes as her palms touched my temples. A loud drilling noise came from them that was followed by a powerful shock. The shock that came from them was so strong that I my back arched almost ninety degrees. My numbed arms then fell to my sides as my vision darkened.
My eyelids slowly opened again. I found myself looking straight into what appeared to be a pitch black sky. My head turned to the side and I saw what my body was resting on. It appeared to be grass, but where the grass had come from was a mystery to me. I lifted my body off of the grass and turned my head some more. It looked like I was standing on a piece of land in the middle of a dark void.
"What is this?" I said out loud. I gasped at the sound of my own voice and covered my mouth. The voice I heard was too high-pitched to be my own. My hands also felt very different as they pressed against my mouth. I looked down at both of them and saw the untouched skin of my younger self. The scars and scratches from years of fighting hadn't been made yet. For a brief moment, every negative emotion left me as I giggled to myself. I was finally youthful again and free from the growing unhappiness that age brought me.
"Isn't it nice?" said a voice. That voice also sounded like mine. "You don't have old age holding you back anymore. Everything you want is possible here. This is the place where all your dreams and desires can come true."
I looked in the direction of the voice and saw my younger self standing at the edge of the land, her head looking up at the dark sky.
"I'm not letting you mess with me anymore!" I shouted, searching my clothes for Crescent Rose. It was exactly where I used to put it. I would have smiled to myself even more if the situation hadn't been so serious. Crescent Rose had the same polish and sleek look it once had, but it was also missing some of the upgrades I added onto it over the years.
"I'm not trying to mess with you," said my younger self.
"Yes you are!" I shouted. "You terrorized me! You made me attack Blake! And you even said you'd break me! Don't give me any of that garbage!"
My younger self chuckled and cocked her head. "You really think someone like me would put you through all of that?" You could almost see the condescension oozing from the corners of her mouth.
"Shut up!" I shouted. Just hearing her talk made me angry. I leapt forward and spun my body into the slipstream. At the same time, Crescent Rose's blade spun around it to create a move that I called the Chakram. The blades of Crescent Rose would spin around the slipstream, slicing anything that got caught up in it.
I sped towards my younger self at full speed.
"You're so dramatic," my younger self said with a frown. She pulled out her own Crescent Rose and swung it with so much speed and power that it created a shockwave strong enough to counter my slipstream. My body was sent flying backwards as it got caught up in the slash's power.
"I only wanted to talk to you," said my younger self as she approached me. "You should be happy that I even gave you that body."
I was too busy coughing from the attack to even hear her clearly. My lungs felt like they'd been crushed. The power and attack she used was one I wouldn't be capable of until I reached my twenties. It was scary to see that much power in my fifteen year old body. I stood back up and felt my knees wobble. She'd put a lot more power behind that attack than I thought.
"I know your goal is to control my body," I said in between gasps. "You'll probably kill my sister and teammates after you do that. Is that what you wanted to 'talk' to me about?"
"Not quite," said my younger self. "I mostly just wanted to make an offer to you."
I squeezed my eyes shut and made a dash towards my younger self. She didn't move as I began to spin around her, creating a red vortex that would suck her up.
"Why do you keep trying?" my younger self asked. "You know that I can do everything you can do."
As if to prove her point, she grabbed me as I was spinning around her and slammed my head into the ground. This kind of attack was different from the others. I usually had aura to protect me from any real physical pain, but there didn't appear to be any aura here and I could feel every attack.
I screamed out loud as I felt the splitting pain in my head.
"You really like to use slipstreams and vortexes," my younger self said as she appeared right beside me. "But I personally like using my own strength even more."
She turned me on my back and proceeded to punch my face with a flurry of punches that she made stronger through the use of my semblance. I admittedly used my semblance to give my punches some more attack power, but much like her previous attack, my fifteen year old body wasn't capable of a move like that.
After punching me numerous times, she threw my head back on the grass. I struggled to get back up. My arms would wobble every time and cause me to fall back down.
As if to mock me, my younger self sat beside me with her legs crossed in a pretzel position and smiled.
"Maybe now you'll listen to me," she said cheerfully.
"What do you want with me?" I said through a strained voice. It hurt to even talk.
"I want to give you an offer," she said with a more serious tone. "Let me take control of your body and you get to live as your younger self in this world."
I moved my eyes up at her and scowled. Seeing her look down on me only made me angrier. I hated the fact that she shared my appearance and voice. It made me even angrier to see her use my own fighting style against me and win.
"I'm not letting a Grimm control me," I growled.
I saw the corner of her lips quiver when I said that.
"What do you think a Grimm is?" she asked.
"A disgusting creature that kills innocent people in its constant hunger for violence," I responded.
I could see her eyes twitching at my words.
"A Grimm is nothing more than a being created to destroy," said my younger self. "The ancient one was able to use the Grimm as infantry for her plans."
"Salem?" I asked.
"Yes," said my younger self with clear disgust. "But I'm different from other Grimm. I can have complete control over myself, depending on the host."
"But you still want to destroy what you've been created to destroy."
"Only in the same way that humans give in to their habits of violence and conflict, but I can only be in control of myself with the right host."
I moved back a little from her, at least as far back as I could move with my body in the shape it was in.
"So you are after control of my body," I said.
"I'm after freedom," said my younger self. "Attaining free will allows me to do as I please and live a life the way I want. Without it, my existence goes back to that of a tiny Grimm infesting whatever it can infect. I'm making you this offer because my other half isn't so nice."
"Other half?" I looked over my shoulder in case there was someone else watching us.
"Yes," said my younger self. "She'd rather destroy you in the harshest way she can. I'm here to make you an offer. Say no and I'll be forced to destroy you too."
"You mean you'll try to destroy me," I said defiantly, "because I'm not letting you take control of me."
My younger self frowned and shook her head.
"I really hoped you would have better sense than this," she said. "It looks like I have to really break you down. But first, let's have some fun."
The black void began to take the form of a new environment. I could see a blue sky appearing through cracks in the darkness. The ground we stood on expanded immensely as paved roads began to emerge. People started to sprout from the ground as well. I looked around me and saw a familiar building emerge from the middle of the ground. Beacon Academy had returned.
It was all so surreal. Everything looked the way it had when I was there. The people, sounds, footsteps, architecture. I couldn't believe how lifelike everything was.
"I'm going to have a little fun before I take your body," said my younger self from behind me. "Do you know what today is?"
I shook my head. It looked like a regular day at Beacon to me.
"This is the day Beacon fell," said my younger self.
I felt like a weight had been tied to my heart and was now pulling it down.
"What?" I asked out loud, causing some people to stare at me.
"I'm going to make you relive this day, including the death of your friends. Will you be able to change this reality, or are you going to fail once again? Your sister is going to fight Mercury in a moment. What happens after will be different from how you remember."
"This isn't a game!" I shouted. "You should know what happened during that day! Illusion or not, I'm not going to play your stupid game. I'll fight you right now if I have to."
"Good luck with that," my younger self said with a smirk. I made an attempt to attack her, but missed as she disappeared in a gooey substance that melted into the floor.
Frustrated and angry, I slammed Crescent Rose into the ground and screamed. People were staring and pointing. I didn't care. The fall of Beacon was something I had to live with, and seeing it all reenacted for the sick pleasure of this Grimm made me even angrier. I couldn't stand to see the people I cared about suffer again. This time I was going to make a change for the better. And then I was going to stop Parasite from gaining control of my body.
