AN: Hello again! The story continues now.
*The whip went down a third time on Cobal. Cobal's cries of pain rattled Signal's heart like the shock of an earthquake.
"Stop!" Signal yelled. Gray paused and grinned again, showing teeth.
"You want me?" she growled, every muscle taught in preparation for a fight. "You truly do? Well, you can have me!" With a grunt, she launched herself at Gray, her daggers flipping into her hands. Gray drew a long silver sword with a silver hilt from his sheath, raising it just in time to block Signal's blow. Both daggers hit the blade, vibrating with the force of impact.
Screw this, Signal thought.
She was not going to tolerate getting blocked and taunted by this man. She wasn't going to play a parrying game with him. She was going to make him hurt, even if it meant her getting hurt in the process.
Signal kicked Gray hard, sending him flying back. She slid after him as he fell through the double doors. Gray leaped back up onto his feet, parrying several jabs of Signal's daggers towards him, his wrist flicking in and out, trying to keep up with all her moves. Signal leaped and spun a kick at his head, causing him to spin in turn at the impact. When she went to stab his neck, Gray got ahold of her wrist and attempted to chop his sword downwards to cut her hand off. With the dagger still in hand, Signal dropped the second dagger from her other hand, then caught it with her empty one waiting below and swung. Gray grunted as the dagger slashed across his stomach.
Gray pulled Signal closer to him and head-butted her, then shoved her down. Summoning up her Aura, she slipped her dagger back into one of her sheaths and leaped from the ground and took Gray up with her against the wall, forcing him to drop his sword. She punched Gray several times, making sure the last one went hard enough to knock a tooth out.
She went for the gauntlet around her wrist and pressed the center button.
"Uh oh," Gray said as the gauntlet charged up.
Signal shot her fist forward into Gray's throat and the shotgun in the gauntlet went off, blowing up a hole in the wall they were on, dumping them into the other room. Gray managed to grab Signal's shoulder and hit her in the face a couple times before they hit the ground.
Gray kicked Signal off of him. Signal did a backflip in the air, landing neatly on her feet, using both of her gauntlets to propel her forward and aim another punch to Gray's chest, rocketing him back. His back struck the closed elevator in the wall. Sneering, Gray took up a throwing knife resting in a holster on his boot and tossed it at Signal. Signal used one of her daggers to bat it away, then started making her way towards him, batting away all the knives that he threw at her, which turned out to be the same knife that teleported back to his hand every time he missed.
Once Signal got up to Gray, Gray pressed a button on the handle of his knife, and the weapon transformed into a large katar and managed to strike Signal several times with it. For a brief and scary second, Signal could feel her Aura wavering, but kept steady. Good, she couldn't afford to lose her Aura's strength. Having been forced backwards and around at the last strike, Signal grinned and pulled a ring of spinning blades from her pocket and thrust it at Gray. Gray quickly knocked it away with his katar, but the blades hit the floor and came shooting back in his direction, cutting up across his side and taking a bit of his hair off.
Gray staggered for a second, winded and dazed from the unexpected comeback. The ring sank into the wall directly above the elevator and stayed there. Gray used his elbow to bash the 'up' button next to the elevator doors and swung his katar several more times at Signal. One swing grazed Signal's chin when she didn't get to raise her dagger in time to parry it. The elevator doors opened up behind Gray and he planted his foot into Signal's face to knock her back. She stumbled and fought against her feet to keep her balance. Gray backed into the elevator and repeatedly tapped the button inside to go up.
"Oh, no you don't!" Signal screamed, her voice breaking. She was almost beyond reason. Once again, she used her gauntlets to launch herself forward after Gray.
Gray shrieked when Signal got in with the doors shutting behind her. The elevator started moving up. Gray and Signal continued their deadly dance dueling each other, but slower this time so that the movement of the elevator wouldn't throw them off their feet. Gray eventually pressed a button on his katar, and the katar then changed into a shotgun.
Signal's eyes widened. A three-way weapon? She couldn't deny that Gray was clever and had good tricks up his sleeves. He aimed up at the ceiling and blasted a hole in it, then leaped up through it. Signal leaped up after him, landing on top of the elevator as it continued rising. She spun with her dagger out in an attempt to slash across Gray's legs. Gray leaped and did a flip in the air to avoid Signal's attack, then found the ground again and fired off a few rounds at her. One blast exploded near her feet, tossing her against the side of the tunnel. She fell forward, rolling out of the way as Gray attempted to stomp on her stomach. Gray changed his shotgun back into a katar and stabbed at Signal a couple times while Signal rolled out of the way every time. Signal got back up and landed a kick at Gray's torso. He flew back off his feet and landed on the hole that he had made. Signal ran up to him and stomped her foot down on him, forcing him through the hole and back into the elevator. She sprung after him and landed gracefully.
Despite the smooth landing, Signal was almost completely spent. She and Gray both stared at each other for a moment, breathing hard. They skin and clothes were soaked with sweat. The elevator stunk of sweat and blood. Gray slowly lifted his katar to keep trying at it in the fight. It wasn't over, and neither of them were going to give up.
With Gray tired, Signal seized the opportunity to grab him by the collar, thrust him forward into the doors of the elevator and deliver a kick to his back. Gray cried out, the pain of the blow crystal clear in his scream.
"Enough!" He shouted, turning around to get at Signal again. He went at her, swinging his katar. Signal ducked as the blade arced straight over her head, then straightened back up and parried several more swings with her dagger. She shut her eyes, concentrating hard on summoning up her Aura in full force. It was time to finish this.
"By my shoulder, I will protect thee," she uttered. When she opened her eyes, a blinding white light exploded across her body and she delivered one last punch. The second her fist connected with Gray's face, his body crashed against the elevator doors again and he fell to his knees.
Signal towered over the man and aimed the tip of her dagger down at him. Gray chuckled and stared up at her.
"Well kill me. If that's what you want. If that's how you think all of this will end," he said.
Signal wanted to. She wanted to kill him. But she wasn't Jasper; she wasn't an angry Faunus from the ever-decaying White Fang organization. She wasn't a murderer and she had no plans to become one any time soon. She returned her dagger to her sheath.
"Get out of this academy and take your dogs with you, or I will make you feel sorry that I let you live," she said.
Gray started laughing. It almost sounded insane. Signal shivered, feeling the bones in her back pop and shift.
"You naive fool," Gray said. The elevator stopped and the doors opened. Before Signal even realized what happened, she was lifted off her feet by an invisible force and flung out of the elevator. She was completely helpless, soaring until her body hit the wall in the hallway. Pain rocked through her body and the light of her Aura slowly winked out. Her head beat and her hands shook at the impact.
"You could've been a great ally. But no, you're too soft to kill when you need to," Gray said.
Signal felt her body whip around, her palms hitting the ground with a sharp smack. She could feel her throat constrict and it was hard to breath. Tears flooded her eyes, and within moments they were flooding down her cheeks, burning across her skin.
"Please…" she whispered.
"And now you beg. Pathetic," Gray said. His annoying mocking tone had been completely replaced by pure revulsion.
Gray used his telekinetic power through the chip to lift Signal onto her feet, then forced her to punch herself over and over again.
"You're weak! You're a Faunus! No human will ever take kindly to you! You're nothing!" Gray screamed. Signal felt her fist smash against her chin, activating her shotgun gauntlet and tossing her across the hallway. She landed and skinned her back. She could feel blood running down her skin and she smacked her lips and tasted blood dribbling from her chin.
"You are suspended, Signal Belladonna. I will decide how to deal with you later," Gray announced.
Signal tried to say Onyx's name before everything went black.**
*Onyx followed Gray into Ozpin's office. Her gaze was lifted to ceiling where the cranks always turned without a break. It gave the room a continuous sound that somewhat gave the atmosphere a peaceful feeling. She finally took her gaze off the cranks and spotted Professor Ozpin chained.
"Sorry for the mess," Gray said, gesturing to Ozpin.
Onyx merely blinked but conveyed no emotion at the sight of the former Headmaster imprisoned in the room. It was unsettling, but Onyx possessed a higher respect for Gray for the fact that he was more powerful than Oz. Gray sat at his desk and folded his hands.
"The reason why I had you come up here to talk is because I believe you're the one I need. I believe you're the one worthy enough to help me," he explained.
Onyx clasped her hands behind her back and kept her stance. "H-how do you mean?"
Gray smiled. "I did some digging, and I came across some records that I found to be very interesting. I believe that you do have it in you to help me perform the task I've been planning for a while now. I told you about that the other night, remember?"
Onyx did remember. Gray came up to her the night Signal and the team attempted to save Ozpin while Signal was up in the tower. Gray didn't know that Signal had gone up to try and save Ozpin, he just knew that Onyx was outside her room as usual, and Oliver couldn't hear what Gray was saying to her due to his disability. Onyx warned Oliver afterwards not to tell Signal and Mayzie that she and Gray had a talk.
"Which is…?" Onyx asked. She took note of Ozpin slowly shaking his head in dread as he witnessed the conversation.
"Onyx, I want you to help me kill Qrow," Gray replied.
Onyx's eyes widened. Qrow? The one that had abandoned her and Signal when those men attacked them? The one that had gotten angry at Signal for trying to prevent a bloody conflict? The one who doesn't really like Faunus?
"Why d-do you want to k-kill him? And h-how do you plan on d-doing that?" Onyx asked.
"Qrow is a powerful Huntsman, who can be a potential threat in my plan to keep my position as Headmaster for this school. You and me together will go to Qrow's home. It's the house on the cliff by the shores of Patch. There's only one home on Patch located in that area. We will go there right away and take him on," Gray said. He stood up from his desk and walked around to get closer to Onyx.
"This is what you want, yes? You want revenge?" He asked.
Onyx gazed up at the tall man, peering into his eyes. He was telling the truth. So this was why he had been pushing all the students at Beacon. He was trying to find a suitable partner to help him kill Qrow.
But there was a flaw in his plan.
"He abandoned you. He didn't care about you, and as a result, you spent a couple years in slavery by the humans. Don't you want to feel better by making sure Qrow is dead?" he demanded.
Onyx's eyes dropped to the floor and she nodded.
"Y-yes."
"Onyx, no," Ozpin groaned.
"Quiet, she's talking," Gray snapped. He turned to face Onyx again. "You don't need to be an expert in fighting. You have the anger in you. It's enough to make you unstoppable, and with that anger you can become a powerful force and kill Qrow with your bare hands."
"Yes. Yes, you're right," Onyx said. She looked up at Gray, and flashed a half-smile. Gray then suddenly gasped long and hard. Ozpin gasped along with him. Gray looked down at the dagger in his throat. A crimson stain was forming and growing bigger on his shirt.
Onyx slowly pulled it out, embracing Gray's shriek of pain. Onyx gave a sadistic shrug, then let the knife sink into Gray's throat again. Gray fell to his knees, staring up at Onyx with wide, pleading eyes. Onyx was smiling fully now, feeling the reality that Gray was under her own power now.
"You—you want m-me to have my revenge against the-humans. Y-you m-must've forgotten —you're a h-human too."
Onyx pulled the dagger out yet again. "And if y-you think you're so p-powerful, why not f-face Qrow yourself?"
Gray managed to turn his head so that he was looking at Ozpin. His expression pleaded him to help him. All Ozpin could do though was watch, and he looked just as horrified as Gray did.
With a sick twinkle in Onyx's eye, she leaned in closer to Gray to whisper in his ear.
"Your hopes—have b-become my burden."
She then swung her dagger and Gray's body crumpled to the ground. Slowly, he exhaled for the last time, his body going still.
"Onyx, what are you doing?" Ozpin whispered.
Onyx examined the blood on the dagger. The sight almost delighted her. "I'm going to g-go kill Qrow. I know now how to-f-find him."
Ozpin called out to her as she stepped into the elevator, but she ignored him. She spared Oz because he had been nothing but kind to her. It was Qrow that didn't deserve the same mercy. She was going to go exact her revenge, and she wanted Signal to join her.**
*Signal stiffened and her heart stopped beating for a moment when she heard the door to the mess hall open. She expected to see Gray. Instead, Onyx was standing at the door. She looked oddly triumphant, and there was something in her eye that made her look unrecognizable, something wild. What had happened?
"Onyx, what are you doing here? Gray will catch you," Signal gasped.
"W-we don't have to w-worry about him anymore. C-come with me. W-we're going to kill Qrow."**
AN: As a little fun fact, the 'your hopes have become my burden' is part of a quote shown at the very beginning of the Black Trailer from RWBY, the one about Blake's backstory. I hope you guys are ready for the next one, because it's going to get insane from this point on!