RWBY: MRRN
VOLUME 3, CHAPTER 13: Broken Justice
Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY. All rights go to Rooster Teeth.
Author's Notes: I already uploaded this chapter, but since it was on the same day as my last upload, I felt it would throw people off. So I deleted it and uploaded it again.
It was now Yang and Weiss's match against Flynt Coal and Neon Katt of Atlas Academy. From the look of it, Neon was doing a good job taunting Yang, getting her riled up.
"Don't listen to her, Yang!" Ruo shouted. "She's just trying to anger you! You need to focus!" Suddenly, Ruo's scroll went off, indicating he was receiving a call from someone. He took it out of the pocket of his robe and looked at the number, immediately recognizing it as the VSU number.
"I have to take this," Ruo informed everyone as he left the bleachers and found a quiet area to answer his scroll.
"Hello?"
"Hello, Ruo," Gormen answered. "I'm glad you picked up. I need to speak with you."
"It's about Grant Denim?" Ruo questioned, hoping it was good news. He had been dying to hear from the VSU Lieutenant say that they could put his father's murderer behind bars.
"We cannot arrest Grant Denim," Gormen solemnly informed.
Those words hit the Faunus like a stab from a knife. He didn't just hear that; he didn't just hear that the man who ruined his family was allowed to walk free. He had to have misheard.
"Tell me you're joking," Ruo insisted.
"I'm afraid not," Gormen regretfully answered. "We contacted the MSU and asked for permission to access the case. I told them what you said, what had happened…but they refused to believe Mistral police officers would behave in such a manner. They won't accept that they would let a murderer walk free."
"But they did!" Ruo shouted. "Those officers knew or suspected that my mother was not the killer and they still arrested her just because she's a Faunus! I don't understand why you can't arrest Grant Denim."
"This case belongs to the MSU," Gormen explained. "In order to gather evidence against Denim, we'd need to have access to the case. Since they won't allow it, any move on Grant Denim for your father's murder would be deemed illegal. It'd put the VSU in a very terrible position."
"Tell me this isn't happening," Ruo begged, feeling a tear roll down his cheek. "This man killed my father. He cannot to be allowed to just walk away. Is there anything you can do?"
"If we arrest Grant Denim on the charges of murdering your father, the MSU will cause a lot of trouble for us, trouble that would take months to fix," the VSU Lieutenant. "Trust me, Mr. Bai Hu; I did everything I could to persuade them, but they will not accept that two Mistral officers would brazenly let a murderer walk free."
"They're just trying to keep their reputation stainless!" Ruo claimed. "They probably know that what you're saying is true, but accessing the case means exposing a major injustice in their kingdom! That's the only reason why they won't you access it."
"I know plenty well of Mistral's history with Faunus," Gormen shot back. "Despite that, we cannot access the case without their consent. I'm sorry, Mr. Bai Hu; we cannot arrest Grant Denim."
Ruo didn't want to hear anymore, so he hung up and stood there, processing what had happened.
The MSU probably knew that their officers had acted out of line and arrested an innocent person, but they didn't want it to come into the light. They didn't want to ruin their reputation by revealing the injustice surrounding Dr. Guiren Bai Hu's death.
His teeth started to bare. His breathing turned into a very low growl. His eyes narrowed in anger. His fists clenched so tight that he felt he could dig his nails into his skin.
In a bout of rage, Ruo punched a trash can and sent it flying across the hallway, tumbling and spilling trash as it did. He then punched the wall, creating a large dent before getting onto his knees and giving out a loud roar of anger and grief. The only thing that kept it from being heard by everyone was Yang and Weiss's match as the alarm went off, meaning one of the combatants had been eliminated.
He looked down at the ground, tears falling from his eyes like rain. He sniffled as he cried, not holding back any of the pain he was feeling.
He tried to get justice for his father the legitimate way, but the VSU couldn't help. If they did, the Mistral Special Unit could create a whole lot of political trouble for them since they denied their request to access the case. He had no choice but to let his father's murderer walk free or he'd risk getting in trouble with the law.
No. He needed closure. He needed justice for his tragedy. He knew what had to be done. With this in mind, he ran out of the Colosseum.
-0-
The match was over. Yang had beaten both Flynt and Neon despite Weiss being eliminated. Everyone cheered for the blonde brawler as she rushed over to check on her teammate, who had sacrificed her Aura to unsuccessfully knock out Flynt. Blake and Ruby rose from their chairs and hurried to the Arena.
"Where's Ruo?" Math wondered. "He wasn't here for the match at all." He picked up his scroll, dialed his teammate's number and put it to his ear. It rang and rang until it replied 'The number you are calling right now is not available. Please try again later.'
"He's not answering his scroll," Math informed, worrying him.
"Uh, guys," Nasser called out from the hallway, having gone to look. "You may want to come see this." Math and Robin along with JNPR went to the hallway to see a trash can that had been punched and a large dent in the wall.
"Did Ruo do this?" Jaune wondered.
"I need to make a call," Robin informed as he walked away and dialed Uncle Gormen's number.
"What's going on?" Pyrrha asked.
"We think we know, but we're not sure," Math answered.
"Math…" Pyrrha replied, not wanting him to keep secrets from her.
"It's something we cannot say," the swordsman claimed. "It's not my place to say it."
"Uncle Gormen, did you call Ruo?" Robin asked when he was a good distance away.
"I did," he answered. "We cannot arrest Grant Denim."
"What?" Robin gasped. "Why?"
"The MSU won't let us access the case," Gormen informed. "I told this to Ruo and…he didn't take it well."
"Oh, no," Robin gasped as his eyes widened. "I have to go." He hung and rushed back to his teammates.
"I've tried calling Ruo again several times," Math informed. "He's not answering."
"Guys," Robin addressed. "We have a real problem."
"What's going on?" Pyrrha demanded to know. The three friends looked at each other, silently contemplating whether they should tell Team JNPR or not. Reluctantly, they explained about Ruo's father being murdered and one of the medics was the killer. All of Team JNPR was shocked to hear this.
"There's more, but that's not for us to say," Math explained. "We asked our Uncle Gormen in the VSU to help, but since the MSU denied their request, they cannot arrest Grant Denim."
"Grant Denim?" Pyrrha asked. "He's the medic who was struck with pneumonia. I overheard one of the doctors saying Ruo asked her about him."
"Does Ruo know where he is?" Nasser asked.
"Hold on, hold on," Robin spoke, holding up his hands. "We can't just assume he's going after Grant. Ruo's never been one for being impulsive."
"But this is different," Math replied. "This is his father's killer we're talking about."
"Anyhow, we need to find him before he hurts himself or anyone," Pyrrha insisted. The two teams hurried to the ships that would take them to the fair grounds. As they flew away from the Colosseum, Robin tried calling Ruo and texting him…but still he received no reply.
"He's still not responding," the archer informed. Just then, Jaune's scroll went off; he took it out of his pocket to see Ruby's picture on the screen, prompting him to answer.
"Hey, Jaune," Ruby greeted. "Where are you guys? We can't find you anywhere."
"Ruo's gone," Jaune answered. "He's not answering his scroll. He's just left and we have no idea where he is."
"What do you mean you have no idea where he is?!" Yang questioned. "Where are you!?"
"We're on a ship heading back to the fair grounds," Math spoke, activating his own scroll to lock in on their conversation.
"Why didn't you tell us?!" Yang demanded to know.
"We didn't have time," Math answered. "We'll explain later."
"You'll explain now!" Yang demanded. "Why would Ruo just run off?"
"It's not something you can say over the scroll," Math answered. Yang was silent; Math didn't know it, but the blonde brawler felt she knew what was going on…and it obviously had something to do with Grant Denim.
"Where are you guys heading?" Weiss asked.
"We'll head back to Beacon to check the campus and dorm for him," Math answered. "If we can't find him there, we'll head to Vale. I just hope he's okay."
"Me too," Yang agreed. "We'll let you know when we get there."
"Alright," Math acknowledged before hanging up.
"Okay, my teammates and I will check the north part of Beacon and our dorm building for him," the swordsman suggested.
"We can check the south part," Jaune offered.
"Sounds good," Robin agreed. "Let's just hope Ruo's not doing anything stupid. I doubt it, but we shouldn't rule it out."
As soon as the ship landed, they split up and looked around Beacon for the White Tiger Faunus. Nasser quickly ran to their room and unlocked the door, only to find it empty.
"He's not in our dorm," Nasser informed over his scroll.
"Dammit," Math replied as he checked around the CCT and courtyard. "I don't see him anywhere. Jaune, Pyrrha, are you having any luck on your side?"
"Sun saw him," Jaune informed. "He saw him head towards the locker room and took his weapon with him." All members of Team MRRN stopped dead in their tracks. To hear Ruo take his weapon from the locker room…was horrifying to think of what he planned to do.
"Oh, Gods," Math breathed out. "You don't think-?"
"We need to get to Vale," Robin interrupted. "I don't have enough room in my car for all seven of us."
"We'll take the transport," Pyrrha offered. "Don't wait for us. Just find him."
"I'll call Yang, let her know to head to Vale," Math informed. "We need to find out where Grant Denim is."
"On it," Jaune responded before hanging up.
-0-
Was it worth it? Was it worth being arrested to kill a man for the sake of revenge? Or had his ability to think things through simply vanished when he heard Gormen say they couldn't arrest Grant Denim, the man who had killed his father, who had driven his mother to brutality?
Even as he hurried across the rooftops to find Grant's home, he felt his inner conflict rage within himself.
"This isn't right! Why would you be so willing to throw away your future? Are you truly going to choose revenge over your friends and teammates? Over your love for Yang?"
"That man has stolen everything from me! My father would still be alive if it weren't for him! I'd never have to kill my mother if it wasn't for him! My body would never have been maimed if not for him! He deserves to die!"
"At what cost?! If you kill him, they will find you and put you in prison! All your work, all your friendships, your relationship with Yang…it will all go down the toilet! You'll be betraying the faith of your teammates!"
"They don't know my pain! They've never had to watch their own parents die in front of them! What do they know? If anything, they should understand why I need to do this!"
"Your teammates know their own pain! Math was verbally and emotionally abused by his father and bullied for his Asperger's. Robin suffered from his brother's alcoholism, even after he was arrested. Nasser lost his father and was betrayed by his brother, leaving their family in poverty."
"But they weren't forced into serving the White Fang! They were discriminated against for their Faunus heritage! They do not understand my pain and they never will!"
"They'll know a new pain if you kill Grant. They'll have to endure the pain of their teammate, their dearest friend, becoming a criminal, a murderer. Do you truly wish to put them through that?"
"To hell with them! This isn't about them, this is about my parents! They deserve justice! The VSU won't do anything about it, so we need to!"
"There is a fine line between 'need' and 'want'. You WANT to kill him, but you NEED to think this through. How will killing Grant help anyone?"
Ruo stopped for the moment after he saw the man through a window in a robe, coughing before he took medicine. This was it; this was the time to face the man who had ruined his family.
Having replaced his usual white robe with a black stealth outfit, Ruo raised up his facemask and brought his hood over his head before turning invisible. He leapt through the window, landing with a quiet thud. Luckily, it didn't alert Grant to his presence.
However, he deliberately alerted him when he slammed the window shut and deactivated his invisibility. Grant stood there, frozen with fear as he dropped a glass of water.
"Please, take whatever you want," he replied backing into the wall. "You don't need to kill me."
"Yes, I do," Ruo spoke. "Do you know why?"
"Why?" Grant asked. The Faunus removed his facemask and hood, showing himself to the medic.
"Do you remember me?" he questioned. Grant shook his head.
"Think hard," Ruo demanded. Suddenly, it clicked in Grant's mind.
"You're…you're Dr. Guiren Bai Hu's son," Denim realized.
"Yes," Ruo growled. "Ever since that first match at the Amity Colosseum, I've wanted to see you behind bars, but I can't. Now…I want you dead."
"You…you don't have to do this," Denim pleaded.
"Well, you didn't have to kill my father," the Faunus roared. "Do you have any idea what you took away from me? The pain you've caused me?"
"I'm sorry," Grant apologized. "I didn't mean for him to die."
"Then why did you shoot him!?" Ruo roared. "Why did you kill him? Why?!" Grant was quiet for a few moments, remembering that horrible night.
"I needed to get some money," Grant claimed.
"What for?" Ruo growled, extending his claws on Huzhao.
"My daughter…my daughter was sick and I didn't have enough money for surgery," Denim explained. "I was working for your father, so I asked him to let me use some of our medical supplies to help her. He refused."
"No," Ruo denied. "My father would never turn down someone in need. He used his talents to help others."
"Well, he didn't use them to help my daughter," Grant replied, angering the Faunus.
"Did he know?" Ruo questioned.
"I told him everything and he still wouldn't let me use the equipment," Grant responded. "My daughter's life was at stake. I was desperate. So I broke into the house to steal medical equipment and money to pay for more medicine."
"Then why did you have a gun?" the White Tiger challenged.
"I only brought it to scare him if I ran into him," Grant claimed. "Do you remember what happened before he died?" Ruo paused for a moment, trying to remember the night his father died. Strangely, he couldn't remember what happened before his father was shot and killed.
"No," Ruo admitted. "But will I know you're not lying?"
"I swear, I'm telling the truth," Denim pleaded. "I told him to just let me take the equipment I needed and no one would've been hurt. He tackled me and then…I accidentally pulled the trigger."
That part, Ruo remembered as if it were yesterday. He remembered his father being shot in the stomach before falling onto his back. But then…a new memory arose. Denim dropped the gun and had a face of horror on him.
"I swear, I didn't mean to kill your father," Denim claimed. "It was an accident."
"What about my mother?" Ruo questioned. "Why did you let her take the fall?"
"I was scared!" Grant cried. "My daughter would've died without that equipment! Believe it or not, your father was not as selfless as you paint him."
"So this is my father's fault?" Ruo growled with a very threatening tone. "It's his fault you killed him and ruined my life?"
"No, no," Grant denied. "I'm truly sorry for what happened, I am. I was desperate. I…I couldn't bear to lose my daughter as well."
"Well, your choice made me bear the pain of losing my parents," the White Tiger informed. Grant looked to the side, regret and anguish in his eyes. His trembling body suddenly became calm and stable. After having a few moments to recollect himself, he looked Ruo in the eye.
"I'm sorry, Ruo-Jian Bai Hu," Grant apologized sincerely. "I'm sorry for what happened that night. If I could undo what I did, I would. For years, I've lived with this guilt. I couldn't…I didn't want my daughter to lose me too as she lost her mother."
"That doesn't justify what you did," Ruo-Jian pointed out.
"I know," Grant replied. "If killing me is the only way you can have peace, then do it."
Ruo activated the claws on Huzhao, but didn't take any steps towards Grant. Ever since that night, he thought it was a selfish mugging and act of racism against him as a Faunus. He wanted to paint Grant as a morally disgusting person who didn't care for the lives he ruined.
"Daddy?" a young girl voice was heard outside the closed door. "Is everything okay?"
"Everything's fine, sweetheart," Grant responded. "Please, go to your room."
"Okay," she replied before hearing her footsteps walk away.
Ruo could sense that Grant was right. His wife, her mother, had died for unknown reasons and only had one parent. Instead of using her as a shield, he sent her away to keep her out of danger.
The Faunus glared at Grant, but felt his hatred dwindling in light of these facts. His parents deserved justice for their deaths, especially his father, but could he leave a young girl as he was left?
His reasoning came back. If he killed Grant, it wouldn't be justice, it'd be murder. If he killed Grant, it would leave a young girl orphaned and left to whoever could claim her. Perhaps she'd go to someone who care for her, perhaps she'd go to someone who's abuse her in horrendous ways.
Would he inflict on her what was done to him? It hit him; this wasn't the thinking of a Huntsman, it was the thinking of the White Fang. It was the way of the White Fang to inflict wrongs upon those who had wronged the Faunus, the same way of thinking he despised.
Ruo's breathed heavily as he contemplated the decision of either taking revenge or sparing his life. He felt two tears run down his cheek before he fully protracted Huzhao's claws, rushed to Grant and slashed.
Grant expected to feel his warm blood seeping down his body, but he felt nothing other than the clothes on his torso. Ruo had his head down, his clawed gauntlet instead in the wall, leaving a sizeable dent. He slowly retracted it before looking at Grant with a calmed anger in his eyes.
"You deserve to be punished for what you did that night," he stated. "I wanted to kill you. I wanted revenge. But…"
He couldn't put that girl through the same thing he had suffered. He didn't want her to feel the pain of losing one's family as he had. It'd not only be murder, it'd be hypocrisy at its highest.
"I could've ended it now," the Faunus stated. "But…I won't. But I'm not doing it for you. I'm doing it for her. I won't make her suffer the way you made me suffer." Just then, police sirens were heard outside, heading for the building they were in.
"Remember, Grant: I know what you've done," Ruo stated before putting his facemask and hood back on. "I chose not to kill you, but that doesn't mean I've forgiven you…nor will I forget."
"I know," Grant replied. Ruo turned invisible, opened the window and leapt away. He looked back as several police officers rushed into the building.
"You did the right thing. It wouldn't have been justice, it would've been murder."
Ruo hurried away from the building, several tears in his eyes. When he was sure there was no one following him, he took out his scroll to see 47 missed calls and 51 text messages.
"I'm so sorry," he apologized before dialing a number.
-0-
"Where is he?" Math replied as he, Pyrrha and Jaune looked around, but still had no success of finding Ruo or Grant. Suddenly, his scroll went off; Math pulled it out of his pocket and his eyes widened to see "Ruo-Jian Bai Hu".
"It's Ruo!" Math informed them. He quickly answered it before putting it on speaker.
"Ruo, where are you?" he asked.
"At Mauve's," he answered. "I'm so sorry. To all of you."
"We'll take you back to Beacon first, then we'll talk about what happened," Math sternly informed. "I'll let everyone know. Robin's got his car, so I'll text him to pick you up."
"Okay," Ruo agreed.
-0-
All of Teams RWBY, JNPR, and MRRN were gathered in the dorm, their eyes on Ruo. He had just explained everything that had happened; how he ran off after Gormen called him, how he had confronted Grant Denim and ultimately decided to spare his life.
"You freaking idiot!" Nasser shouted. "Do you have any idea what could've happened?"
"I do," Ruo answered. "I'm sorry I worried all of you."
"Why would you just run off?!" Yang questioned, her scowl a mix of sadness and anger. "If you had killed him, don't you realize what you would've done to us!? To see the man I love behind bars for murder!?"
Ruo looked at Yang and saw that she had been hurt the most by this. He knew full well that Yang had already lost two mothers and it still hurt her to this day. If Ruo had been arrested for murdering an innocent civilian, which may've resulted in a lifelong sentence, there's no telling how much worse it would've affected her.
"Yang, I'm sorry-"
"I don't want your apology!" Yang snapped at him. "I'm sorry for what happened to you, but you honestly considered throwing us away for your revenge!? How could you be so selfish!?"
Ruo didn't know how to answer that, which made Yang a bit more angry. She knew what he had been through, but she thought he'd never choose revenge over his teammates, over his friends…over her. It felt that he would've abandoned her just as her mother had. Out of nowhere, though probably expected, she slapped Ruo.
"Yang!" Ruby called. She didn't receive a response from her sister before she walked out of the dorm and closed the door behind her.
"I screwed up," Ruo admitted. "I was going to- I would've-"
"But you didn't," Math interrupted. "So, if you see Grant Denim again, will you be able to do the same again?"
"I…I don't know," Ruo confessed, much to his leader's dismay.
"Then don't leave Beacon until the Tournament is over," Math demanded in a stern tone. "I never would've thought you'd be the one to do something like this."
"We don't blame you for being angry, Ruo," Weiss consoled. "But handling the situation you did was irresponsible and stupid. You could've ended up in prison; you still could since you gave your identity away."
"And we won't be able to defend you," Math added. "If Grant-"
"I know," the Faunus interrupted. "I know."
"Geez," Nasser sighed. "I wouldn't be surprised if I acted this way, but I never expected this from you."
"We don't want this from anyone," Pyrrha responded.
Ruo could feel the pressure of broken trust all around him. His decisions today had cost him the trust of all of his friends, who never would've thought he'd act the way he did. They'd hope that once he was picked up, it'd be like it never happened.
But then he brought up that he revealed himself. If Grant Denim testified, Ruo could face prison time for attempted murder. Until they had assurance that Grant would not testify, Ruo was still in danger.
Without a word, everyone walked out of the dorm, including Ruo's teammates, save for Blake. She walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder.
"If you ever need to talk to anyone, I'll be here," she assured before leaving.
"What have I done?" Ruo asked himself, fully realizing the damage he had caused through his actions today.