Welp, it's finally here I guess. Again sorry to all those who waited for me to update and I never did. The first part up to the first line break is the prelude again since I was too lazy to delete it, and I like large numbers. Because with the prelude part combined with the rest of the chapter it makes a combined 3,540 words. Which means it's technically the longest chapter I've ever written. Have fun reading!

Blake

The other side of the door was dark. Weiss was reaching around herself, trying to find a something to guide her.

I reached over and grabbed her shoulder. "It's a hallway. Just keep moving forward. I've got your back just in case."
She nodded, taking calculated steps forward. "I would have been hitting walls without you."

I chuckled a little. It was comforting to have Weiss back out in the field with me. If Yang was with us, it would have been like old times. But that wasn't the case. Of all people to be the damsel in distress, it had to be Yang. And after what I saw on that monitor, she wasn't doing okay. Roman Torchwick has moved past being a criminal in my books. Instead, I'm making sure the police receive him with more broken bones than Yang has cuts and bruises on her body right now. Gambol Shroud is waiting for a chance to dislocate a joint or three.

Weiss tapped my shoulder. "Do you think it was a good idea to leave the others out there?"
I sighed at the the thought of Caden's face when I closed the door. "She doesn't need to see Yang like she is right now."
Weiss spoke out into the darkness again. "I know, but she's grown now. And becoming a huntress. The world is going to throw something at her sooner or later."
"You may be right, but I'd rather it not be something so personal." I thought back to our encounter with the real world.

It wasn't long until the hallway ended suddenly into a room. I grabbed Weiss's shoulder to stop her from moving forward. The single light that was on in the monitor wasn't lit but Yang was still there. She moaned out in pain and shook a little. Weiss heard it and tried to follow the sound but I gripped her shoulder harder and kept her from running toward the blonde. She couldn't see what I could, and it was a little daunting. There were men lining up around me and Weiss, pointing rifles right at us. The lights popped on and showed the room in better detail. Weiss looked around and drew her sword immediately.

It wasn't any use though. Even if she managed to attack one of the gunman, the others would have had enough time to react and fire. Not even both of us could pull it off. Though, this did explain why we didn't see anyone besides that one guy outside. It made me happy with my decision to keep Caden out there. She wasn't in any immediate danger and I was okay with that. Although, I still had to figure out what to do in this situation. Shadow-stepping wasn't a good idea since it meant that Weiss would be on her own and a straight charge would be suicide.

*Tap Tap Tap*
The sound made my ears twitch. "No point in that Roman. Unlike my friend, I can see you out there."

Finally the light above Yang clicked on, revealing the criminal of this whole setup. "Oh right, I forgot about you animals having night vision. Not much of a set back for me though."

I watched him walk over to Yang. He gave her a sharp poke with his cane which caused her to groan. I almost tried running to her myself.

"Damnit Roman! What do you want from us?" I yelled at him.
He laughed. "I don't want anything from you three. After I lost most of what I had, including the respect of others, I decided that I'm not going to start again until you three are either dead or at least dead on the inside."
Weiss looked around at the guards. "All you want is revenge? If you manage that, then what is next? You won't have solved your actual problems one bit."
Roman just walked a small circle around Yang like a predator. "And what would you know of that Weiss Schnee? An heiress who got everything she wanted and protection from all those who opposed her family. What exactly would you know of revenge?"
Weiss's eyes dropped for only a second. "I didn't get everything I wanted. Plus, I know enough about revenge to know it won't fix my problems."
Roman saw me looking at Yang to see how she was doing. "I bet your friend is feeling the temptation though." He tapped his cane twice. "Men, part and give her room to come see her friend."

The guards that were in front of Roman stepped aside and provided a clear path to Yang. I knew better than to allow myself to be tempted by this con-man but watching Yang try and breath properly without causing herself pain made me take a step towards her. The second my heel hit the ground, Roman stabbed his cane into her arm. Yang screamed out in pain and I tried to run toward her but a guard used the butt of his gun to hit me back toward the middle of the group. The path quickly closed back into a closed circle of guards.

"Hahaha, you should have seen the look on your face!" Roman was cackling up a storm at his little joke.
I wasn't as amused as he was. "I'm going to kill you Roman, one way or another."
A small snicker managed fall out of his mouth. "Is that before or after you two are filled with holes? Because I don't think you know who has the advantage here. Maybe one of you will be lucky enough to survive and become a companion for this poor little thing."
I saw the gunmen concentrate straight at us with their weapons. "What? You're just going to kill us? After all the trouble you went through to capture us?"
He shook his head a bit. "In my book, revenge is revenge. With all the people in this world, I'm sure there is at least one person who can agree with me."

He gave his men the signal to get ready to gun us down. Before he left though, he went to give Yang another kick. I turned to look away so I didn't have to see her like that. A scream broke out from her and some coughing followed. When I turned back to look at Roman and Yang, I noticed something at the side of the room. I normally had great vision for this but what I saw was like some kind of mirage. It looked like a moving shadow, constantly changing its shape like a ghost. There was a very faint red glow coming from its center.

No one in the room seemed to notice it besides me. I didn't know if I was going insane or what. My suspicions were nearly confirmed when the rest of room began to haze in front of me. I turned to ask Weiss if she felt fine but she looked clear as day right next to me. It was like there was a bubble around us. The gunmen seemed to have realized something was going on and started looking around, trying to see if one of them knew what was happening.

Roman saw something was going on and started walking faster than his normal stroll toward the large group of guards. "What is going on here?" That's all he got out before three loud clangs came from the hallway Weiss and I had came from. I almost wondered aloud about what that was until I noticed the ghostly apparition disappearing and instead, being replaced by a girl. It was Natalia holding a glowing red mass close to her. That didn't last long though as she smiled and began winding up her arm to throw whatever it was toward us and guards. One of her gauntlets fired off, surprising everyone except me, and the light flew straight for us.

It bounced off the bubble around me and Weiss and landed on the floor, spilling a tiny amount of its contents.

Weiss saw the container and her eyes went wide. "Oh lord, that's dust! And there is way to much in that thing!"
I didn't need her freaking out on me. "We're inside this bubble thing. I'm sure we'll be fine for the time being."
She violently shook her head. "If this thing is Damien's doing, then it won't be strong enough to withstand that stuff. Plus, it looks like Lauro got his hands on it to."

*Clang Clang Clang*

I turned my head toward the hallway once again. A snap came from the tunnel and a red dot started flying toward us. It was almost like a miniature flare but it was odd for something like that to be here. The flare flashed a tiny bit mid flight and I immediately connected the dots. That flare was actually some red dust that had the same glow as the container. It went between a pair of guards and right for the container. I thought it was just going to hit the bubble and fall but for a split second it disappeared just to let it through. Damien must have been practicing hard before all of this went down to have that kind of control.

But my thoughts were interrupted when the dust hit the container. The bubble protected us from the initial blast, allowing us to see the guards getting blown back. We weren't completely protected though as the our protection succumbed to the force and fell. We managed to keep our bearings though. The one thing I wasn't expecting though was the heat caused by it. Metal rooms and explosives did not mix. I stumbled around a bit, making sure Weiss was okay and looked for Torchwick. He was pretty far from the blast but I doubted he was still on his feet.

I was right. He was currently trying to pick himself up off the floor. I wanted to go over there and keep him down but I was still out of it and there were guards that still didn't know when to just stop. Some of them managed to pick themselves off the floor with their weapons and tried to point them at us. You could see their strain in the way they were standing. They were really trying to earn their pay. Weiss and I weren't in the proper condition to fight though. The heat along with the brunt of the explosion that we experienced would make short work of our endurance. I really wasn't looking forward to fighting like this but I got ready as best as I could because there was no way I would let a low level guard get the best of me.

Before I started to move I saw out the corner of my eye Natalia running for Yang and I let out a slight sigh of relief. Now I didn't have to worry about watching Yang when fighting. The guard lifted his gun and I got ready to move out of the way. Even mental preparation was tiring me out. I could feel the sweat pouring down my neck. This was the last feeling I was expecting when going into this place. I saw the guards finger twitch and pull the trigger. Someone pulled my clothes and just barely got me out of the way.

I watched as a blue tinted sword rushed past me and swung at the guard's leg. It didn't cut through him but he wasn't happy about it. He immediately dropped his gun and clawed at his leg which seemed to have frosted over. I was imagining how some ice would feel great right now but the thought was wasted as Lauro walked over and offered a hand.

I got my self steady on my feet. "I know I locked you guys out, but was it necessary to turn this place into a volcano?"
Lauro checked over Weiss. "Well, it was Caden's idea to use the dust."

I didn't doubt that one bit. She had a knack for coming up with ideas in the heat of the moment. The small break gave me a chance to watch Natalia try and get Yang on her feet. She wasn't doing well and I bet this heat was about to make her pass out. Once I was satisfied that Yang was in good hands, I got ready for the guards who were finally getting up. It made me glad that Lauro was here to give us some backup though.

Caden

Me and Damien watched as Lauro protected Mother and stopped the gunman from hurting her. I was glad that we had someone with that kind of bravery on our team. Not that the others weren't brave but Lauro was right about always trying his best. We had hung back in the hallway to see how this little fight was going to go. It seemed to be in our favor but I wasn't so sure.

After watching Lauro take down a guard, I decided it was time Damien went out to join them. Damien's job was to protect Natalia as she helped Mum and I gave myself the pleasure of dealing with Roman. He was busy taking pot shots at Mother and Lauro who were too busy dealing with guards to do anything about it. The heat caused by my improvised explosive was wearing them down pretty quickly. I used that as a distraction to go around the edge of the room, occasionally shadow-stepping to avoid anybody noticing me. It ended with me behind most of the fighting and Roman facing away from me.

Natalia was pulling Mum off to the side as best and fast as she could. I wanted to run over and offer help but it would leave no one to stop with Roman. Natalia tripped a little and Mum cried out in pain as her body bent faster than expected. Roman heard them and swung around, ready to fire his cane at them. I didn't want to give him the chance and started running at him. I could see his evil grin as he was about to fire and it made my stomach burn with anger. It was hard to believe someone like him existed. A person who was willing to torture and kill others for his own satisfaction. I wanted to make sure he learned the punishment for hurting my family so badly and I wanted to be the one to do it.

He pulled the trigger but was thrown off aim as a bolt collided with the base of his cane. I watched the bolt fly off into an unoccupied corner of the room. Roman didn't seem to happy about it and faced Damien to try and blast him away. I was just about there when he started firing away at Damien who was trying his hardest to dodge each bolt. Watching Roman laugh away while he nearly injured my friend with each shot was enough to push me over the edge. I was finally close enough to attack him and I made sure it was going to hurt. Thorn was pulled out and extended as much as it could. With the blunt side going first, I swung as hard as I could right into his side. He must have heard my footsteps or Thorn extending because his cane moved into just the correct position to absorb enough of the blow to keep him from being badly injured from the attack.

He was still thrown sideways but he was up within a second. At least he wasn't laughing anymore. I jumped at him and swung down, hoping to knock him out easily. My hopes were slightly filled as he lifted his cane to try and shield himself. His idea worked about halfway though. A lot of my power was stopped by the cane but in return I broke it into pieces. He seemed surprised that I managed to do something like that but I guess he didn't understand just how angry someone could be.

With only his fists to fight me with, he took a quick swing at me, trying to get lucky. It was pretty laughable to be honest. I skipped to the right and shot Thorn's head off in a random direction. It didn't matter where as I wasn't planning on using the blade to fight Roman. He kept trying to punch and grab me but it was obvious that hand-to-hand combat wasn't his forte. I almost wanted to giggle at the little dance I was doing while he ignored the harmless looking chain laying across the ground. He eventually took a step to grab me and fell right where I needed him to be.

His hands hit air as I reappeared behind him. I pulled back Thorn's staff and the chain on the ground leaped up and wrapped around the surprised criminal. He struggled a little but stopped when he found out about the tiny little blades on each link. They were doing they're job correctly though as I could see just a bit of blood where they dug into his clothes and skin.

I wanted to laugh in his face about the situation he was stuck. "Having fun, Roman? How does it feel being trapped yourself?"
He looked like he wanted to strangle me but his hands were a little trapped. "What are you going to do know, little girl? Kill me? Torture me?"
I put on an innocent look. "Now why would I do that? You've only kidnapped and beat my mum half to death."
He smiled at that. "I know what I did. I enjoyed it to. And I plan on doing it to the rest of your family too."
I gave him a doubting look. "While your trapped like rat? I can't see that happening."
A laugh came from his mouth. "I'll simply get out of prison again and again until your whole family is an ugly mess like your mother."
"Then maybe we won't put you in prison this time."
He laughed again. "What do you mean by that? Is a little girl trying to intimidate me?"
I stopped his laughing fit by pulling the chains even tighter. "I think it's pretty obvious at this point. You're either going to bleed to death like this, or I'm going to break you into two. You're choice."

I knew he couldn't answer though. He was busy putting up with the pain of every chain link blade digging into him. I didn't want to give him a choice, I just wanted to give him the same treatment he gave my family. He already killed Mum's sister and now he had nearly broken Mum. Just those thoughts alone made me pull even more on the chains. His screams finally found an exit and shot out around the room. I refused to listen, steadily pulling more and more. I wanted to make sure he was going to learn the folly of attacking my family. It got to a point where I didn't even hear Aunt Weiss running towards me.

The blunt side of her sword hit my weapon and shook my grip free. She pulled away from the still screaming man and shook me. I didn't notice it before but my breaths were ragged and going fast. It felt like I had lost my sanity for a bit.

Aunt Weiss's face looked so worried. "Caden! Listen to me. Are you alright?"
I nodded.
"What happened there?"
I swallowed a little. "I... I don't know.."

I looked over at Roman. It seemed that he had passed out from pain. The chains had come loose and I could see the damage they.. that I had caused. I felt sick.

Mother finally made it over and saw the scene. "What happened over here? I just finished with the last guard."
Aunt Weiss whispered something in her ear.
Mother's eyes turned worried. "First things, first. I saw Natalia leave with Yang. We need to follow them and leave immediately. Weiss, you get Roman. He shouldn't be a problem since he isn't conscious. Caden, you and your team are with me. I think I remember how to get outside. What about Natalia though?"
I gave simple reply. "She should be right outside the door down the hallway."
Mother put a hand on my back. "Okay good. We can all get out safely then."
I still was out of it. "I'm sorry.. I'm not sure what happened with me."
Mother shushed me. "Let's not worry about that right now. Lets just get out of here and make sure Yang is okay. Everything will be fine."

I hoped you guys enjoyed finally reading this. The idea of this chapter changed multiple times. My first idea was to have Caden just go literally insane and just cut Roman in half but it didn't fit her so I went with the subtle mental state change thing. I plan a next chapter and hopefully I won't leave randomly again before it's done but don't expect it to be very long at all. As always, reviews are welcome. And remember, HAVE FUN!