Chapter 10: I Understand
A/N: Hello again. Sadly, next chapter is the last one. Do not despair, though. There will be an epilogue. Enjoy.
"Hey! Everyone quiet down. Since last session was a bit extreme, Velvet has decided to take a break and head back home. In her stead, Ruby is back."
A half of the crowd cheered. The other stayed dead silent.
"Uh…Hello again! How is everyone?"
Indiscernible words were shouted over each other.
"That's…uh…That's great! So, what happened while Velvet was here?"
"You left to go get supplies for her and Torchwick so they didn't need to waste too much supply from their delivery," said a voice in the crowd.
"Thank you. Huh. Supply run…Oh yeah!"
We were all running down each and every hallway of the sewers, finding junk, food, and a couple syringes. Yang found some cleaning fluid to sterilize the needles. We had to refer to her as "Mrs. Clean" for the rest of the time we were out there.
The most important find was an old chair. It had cuffs at the armrests and at the legs of the chair.
"Yang? Blake? I think this is alright for a 'restraint for the fungus/human specimen' that they needed."
They both walked over, and in unison, said, "Perfect."
"Okay, shopping list now: Test subject and a centrifuge that's in working condition."
"Shouldn't be too hard for you girls. Thanks for understanding, by the way," said Torchwick on the loudspeaker.
"No problem. I want this thing to stop just as much as you do. I've already lost enough people I know."
"Again, thanks. By the way, the 'test subject' is probably going to be strapped onto a gurney to begin with from the delivery. The only thing you need to worry about now is that centrifuge."
I knew Velvet had her reasons for doing what she was, working to find a cure with Torchwick, but I had my reasons too. I just wanted this thing to end. All of it. Go back to normal. Although it wouldn't be 'normal' normal, we wouldn't have those 'things' roaming around anymore.
But, when I turned a corner, I was met with a flash of light. To be more precise, a flashlight shining right in my face.
To have a flashlight anywhere, there had to have been someone attached to it. I looked around, hand up to the light, so as not to blind myself.
"Sorry about the light. We were just passing through. We didn't know you were…Wait. Names, please?"
"Well…I can't really see right now, but when I can see again, Ruby Rose, Yang Xiao Long and Blake Belladonna are going to get on your case."
"Ummm…Ruby, it's someone familiar…I think you might remember me from school? Tall? Blonde? Blue-eyed? Always wore a sweatshirt, no matter how cold or hot it was? Remember me?"
"If I did, I'd be able to recognize your voice. None of my friends had a deep voice like that, unless you're Ren," I said, still blinded.
"Uh…Ruby? Ren's dead."
"Oh…Sorry. I…Uhhh. Who are you again? I still can't see."
The deep voiced man let out a sigh and said, "Remember how you all saw me in Forever Fall? The bear? Cardin getting his ass handed to him by the bear?"
"Wait…You…Don't tell me. You're…I have no idea."
Which was said just as I regained my sight. I opened my eyes to see a smiling Jaune Arc. Only, he had armor on. Knight's armor minus the helmet, leggings and arms.
"My God, man! You have a beard! And you sound like a smoother version of Morgan Freeman!"
"Well…A lot of things can happen in three to five years. It took three for the voice. Five for the beard. It was so worth it though."
If Jaune was here, then I knew who would appear next.
"Hello again!"
"Pyrrha!"
Looking at Pyrrha, nothing had changed very much. She was still shorter than Jaune and even her voice was the same. Other than that, she had only changed her clothing. She went from normal by our standards, to normal by normal's standards. She was wearing a plaid, button-up shirt with blue jeans. Nothing special.
"So…Where's Weiss?"
"She's…"
"Oh. I understand."
"But the good news is that Velvet is still alive! She's actually working in the surveillance lab on a cure, but needed a few things before she could get started."
"What were they?"
"Syringes, disinfectant, a chair or table with restraints on it, a faunus, a zombie and a centrifuge. She's a faunus, a zombie is going to come strapped to a gurney at the next delivery of supplies, we've picked up syringes, and Yang or 'Mrs. Clean' found the disinfectant, so now all we need is a centrifuge that's in working condition."
"Oddly specific. That's actually the list of supplies we were given to deliver to a man working on a cure in that same room. By the name of Roman Torchwick."
"They've agreed to work together."
"Soo…You'll only need the centrifuge and the one on the gurney?"
"Yeah, I guess so. You wanna join us? We've been sent on a mission by 'Sir Ozpin' knight of the square table, to find the cure to this wretched plague."
"We'd love to, Ruby, but we've got our own lives to live."
"You won't have to live like that."
Jaune and Pyrrha slowly turned around to face me before they walked off. I thought I struck a nerve.
Jaune, clearly rattled by my words, asked, "Say again?" while Pyrrha was simply looking at us in disbelief.
"This cure. It's gonna change the world. We'll be able to go home again. Back home. Back to Vale. Back to Beacon."
"Ruby, I hate to be the one to break this to you, but things just won't be like old times. They'll be different. We'll be different," said Yang, surprising everyone.
"Ruby, it just won't be like old times."
"YES IT WILL! It has to be. Just pick up where we left off. You know, like a checkpoint in a videogame."
Torchwick cut in on the loudspeaker, "Sorry, Red. Goldilocks is right. You're all gonna have to restart. There are no save-games, there are no checkpoints. Just the restart button. We have to rebuild everything. Or else we'll be going back to doing exactly what we've been doing in this s**thole in the first place."
"Take the gurney and the centrifuge. When you've proved us wrong, we'll stand by you. 100 percent."
When you've proved us wrong…Just the restart button…It just won't be like old times…Ren's dead…We'll be different..."No. No it will be like old times. We'll be exactly where we were before this all happened. Vale. The heart. Where it all started," I thought.
"I have to go."
"We all have places to be. We understand. In fact, we'll be right behind you. We want it to be like it was, but we can't make it exactly like it was. We're missing a team member. Team JNPR's missing two. Your brother is gone. He wanted to help people. You, more than anyone. The least you can do is let us help you. Let us help you. Let him help you."
"Blake, I…" I began to say, stopping myself to say something else.
"I understand," I said, a determined look on my face with tears in my eyes.
"Then go get these to Torchwick and Velvet."
"I understand."