A/N: Hey guys I'm back without a delay this week. So I just wanted to mention that I am probably the most hated person in the RWBY fandom right now; because I am the only person who laughed when Penny died. Her deathwas so ironic to me because Pinocchio got ripped apart by her own strings XD… I'm a terrible person. So I hope you guys enjoy the chapter; and if you did please favorite, follow, and review. Love you guys:)
"Man vs Beast"
Jozy walked through the various set of train cars trying to find which one Adam was in. Outside the windows one could see the rusted forest go by at blazing speeds. "Where the hell are they even going?" Jozy thought, subconsciously. He opened the door to the next passenger car and stopped as the door shut behind him. Inside the seats had been removed and Adam stood in front of him along with Raven. Both had their swords drawn and covered with Dust. Jozy looked around slowly; and then directed his attention to those in front of him.
"Long time no see, Raven. Cool mask." Jozy said; his voice deep and hollow from underneath his own mask.
Raven took a step forward, "I'm honestly surprised you're still alive; your recklessness never seems to catch up with you."
"What you always perceived as recklessness was in fact skill that you could never grasp." Jozy said; flicking his wrist.
Obelisk's hilt fell into his hand and its blade formed out of its black liquid. Jozy kept it down; wanting to see what they would do.
"You think you can win against both of us. That's fine, but when we cut you to ribbons you won't be laughing." Adam said.
Jozy put Obelisk in front of him, "Your arrogance will be your downfall."
With that both of them ran at Jozy. The reached their destination quickly and both slashed down hard. Obelisk blocked their two Dust swords; and showered Jozy in neon sparks. Both pulled away quickly; and kicked Jozy back.
He took the kicks in stride and soon returned fire with with two ice spikes; that were blocked by Adam and Raven. However, this gave him the opportunity to run up on them and disoriented them. Obelisk clashed with their swords and forced them into the air. He then kicked Adam out of the way and grabbed Raven using Movement Dust. He forced her arms and legs together before lifting her and hitting her on the top of passenger car. He then threw her towards the door her entered through, and smacked her back on the metal door. She coughed blood before he threw her at Adam who was just getting up.
Raven crashed into him and knocked him to the ground once more. Both got up slowly as Jozy looked on them; putting Obelisk into a defensive stance.
"It's true, he uses Dust as an offensive move as well as a defensive move. We won't be able to win if he still has that available to him." Raven said; wiping the blood of her mouth.
"Then it's a good thing we brought that new armor we developed." Adam said, standing up.
He pushed his right sleeve up and hit a button on a black wrist band. Immediately he was covered in Grimm armor of various types. Raven did the same and was covered in the same kind of armor. Jozy stared at them; his face expressionless. Adam and Raven ran at him; and it was apparent that the armor gave them enhanced speed and strength. Their swords clashed with Obelisk multiple times, showering either side in sparks. Jozy tried to separate them by shooting Raven with a stream of fire; however, her armor and sword absorbed it. This left him wide open for Adam to hit him; sending him flying back. He landed on his back dropping Obelisk in the process. He laid on the floor, his breathing calm as he looked up at the ceiling.
"Hey, do you want me to tell you why you started the White Fang?" Jozy asked.
Adam took a step forward, "Huh? There's no way you could know that."
"It was for protection wasn't it. The sad faunus boy who wanted to be strong yet couldn't get there without bloodshed; and then you slowly descended into despair scared because if Blake could leave you anyone else could. You're weak Adam." he said, slowly standing up.
"You shut your damn mouth!" Adam ordered; becoming increasingly more agitated.
"Stop it , Adam, don't let him into your head." Raven said; trying to consul him.
"And you, Raven, you'll be happy to know that I brought your daughter along with me. You know the one that you wished that you would've kept your legs shut to prevent. You sure did earn the mother of the year award didn't you, oh, wait Liz beat you in that too." Jozy pointed at Raven, who was practically foaming out of the mouth. "You are a fraud."
Raven grit her teeth underneath her mask; and ran at Jozy.
"Raven, don't!" Adam yelled.
It was too late Jozy raised his hand and shot a yellow bolt of lightning at her. He then lifted her whilst the electricity destroyed her Grimm armor and threw her into the top right corner of the car. She was unconscious, but not dead.
"Let me give you a crash course in how Lightning Dust works." Jozy turned towards Adam. "It is the most powerful form of Dust; yet it is also the hardest to master. It is also the only form of Dust that is both good and evil; based on the user's emotions. It changes color based on its strength and the user's emotion with blue being happiness; and black being absolute hatred. Black would kill you in one bolt." he finished, grabbing Obelisk off the ground.
Adam got up off the ground and grabbed Wilt and Blush.
"If you think that you'll win that easily you're mistaken." Adam said; pointing his sword at Jozy.
"Am I?" Jozy said; suddenly appearing behind Adam.
He retracted Obelisk back into his sleeve and punched Adam in the back of his head. Adam turned around only to not find Jozy there; but felt him kick him from behind.
"Your weak and I am the fucking strong." Jozy said; withdrawing Obelisk.
Adam put his sword up to block the incoming blow; however it did little good as Obelisk overpowered his sword and broke the blade in two. The absorb metal hit the ground with a clang and with it went Adam's hope of winning. Jozy punched him in the face, cracking his mask in the process; before knocking onto his back. He put Obelisk away and pinned Adam to the ground; punching him in the face as he did. He hit him over and over again, breaking Adam's nose in the process. Finally on the final punch broke Adam mask; and shattered it into a million tiny pieces. Underneath was his badly scarred; but functional eyes that had a glazed over look on them.
Jozy picked Adam up by his collar and threw him to his feet. Blood was dripping off of Adam's lips as his nose bled profusely.
"Come on false king! Fight me how a great leader would." Jozy commanded; taunting him.
Adam hobbled over as fast as he could and threw a weak punch at Jozy. Jozy caught it and used Adam's own momentum to guide his punch that embedded itself in his stomach. Adam coughed before being hit back down to the floor his breath completely gone. Jozy rolled him over in his incapacitated state; and lifted his right arm.
"So I guess you not a king after all. So then since you're a commoner I'll ask you a common question. How many bones does the human body have?" he asked.
Adam was too winded to answer.
"The answer is 206; and as punishment for your rebellion I'm going to break 203 of you bones; and if you're still alive I'll kill you mercifully." Jozy said.
He grabbed each of the fingers on Adam's right hand and twisted them one by one in order to make sure that he got every single bone in his fingers. He then moved to his metacarpals and crushed them in his hand, again making sure that every one of those tiny bones were in two.
"I don't know if you know this or not Adam, but every one of a person's bones are perfectly symmetrical so that means that they're pretty easy to break." Jozy said; moving to his forearm.
In one swift motion he kicked his forearm and broke his ulna and radius in one go. Adam screamed in pain as Jozy did the same thing to his humerus or upper arm bone.
Jozy dropped his limp arm to the floor, " Congratulations, you survived thirty that leaves only 173 more to go."
As Jozy picked up his other arm, Adam looked over to the still unconscious Raven.
"She won't help you, Adam. The only one who can help you now is God; but then again you're so arrogant you probably wouldn't take the help." Jozy said; starting on his other hand.
Adam screamed in pain again as his bones broke like glass.
It took about five minutes to break Adam's bones which left him a vegetative state on the floor. However, he was still alive. Jozy remedied this by slitting his throat with Obelisk and let him bleed out onto the floor. This happened right as Raven was just beginning to wake up. He moved over to her and touched her temple with his index and middle fingers. Using the semblance of an unknown Huntsman he put her to sleep instantly.
"Okay, I've had enough of this train ride." Jozy said; turning to the door that he originally came through.
He turned Obelisk into Evercaster once again and shot the door. The fierce ball of energy not only destroyed the door, but half of the other car was gone as well. This in turn decoupled it and caused it to derail the rest of the cars behind it. Jozy turned and grabbed Raven. He put her over his shoulder and also grabbed Adam by the leg; jumping out of the train. He threw Adam's lifeless body to the ground as he landed kicking up a small amount of dust. Jozy gently set Raven down before turning back to Adam. He removed Adam's coat and draped it over his face; showing as much respect as he could.
Standing back up he removed his mask and looked around. He noticed that in the time that he was inside the train the trees had returned to their normal shade of green. Above were the storm clouds that he had seen previously moving towards him.
"So where am I exactly?" Jozy asked; himself.
The scent of rain and smoldering wood filling his nostrils as he suddenly heard a vehicle coming towards him. He summoned Obelisk once again and watched the vehicle drive around one of the derailed passenger cars and come into view. It was an old military truck that had no markings on it; its windows were clouded over with dust but not to the point that the driver couldn't see. Jozy was about to attack the truck, but stopped when he saw Yang stick her head out and started to wave at him. Jozy lowered Obelisk and allowed her to drive up to him.
"Sup?" Yang said; from behind her aviator sunglasses.
"Oh, you know just derailing trains." Jozy said; sarcastically.
"I see that." Yang responded; watching Jozy pick up her mother and carry her over to the truck.
He loaded her into the bed of the truck and then went back over to Yang.
"What happened to Adam?" she asked.
Jozy turned towards Adam's body, "Right I almost forgot about that."
He moved over to him and hefted the body and then proceeded to load him into the truck.
"If he's dead why are we taking him?" Yang asked.
"The kingdoms won't believe me if I don't give them proof and what better proof than his dead body?" Jozy said; a smirk forming on his face.
Yang shook her head, "Although I hate the idea you are right."
"I'm glad you agree; by the way where's Neo?" he asked; shutting the tailgate.
"She's laying down in the seat behind me asleep." Yang said; pointing behind her with her thumb.
"Okay good, you know where the rendezvous point is?" he asked; climbing into the bed of the truck and sitting on the top of the cab.
"Blondes aren't that stupid, Mr. White Hair." Yang said; flashing him a bright smile.
"I certainly hope so." he said; as Yang turned around and headed back in the direction of the logging town.
Meanwhile Ruby and Saffeara were still sitting on Ruby's bed; the day turned to night. The credits were rolling on the final episode of the first season of Ruby's show and her battery was basically dead. Saffeara got up off of Ruby's bed and started to stretch her aching muscles.
"Oh dear, what time is it?" Saffeara asked; stifling a yawn.
"It's around 7:30." Ruby said; plugging her laptop's charger into a the wall closest to her bed.
"Well crap, my laundry was suppose to be done like five hours ago. So I'll be back after I make sure some recruit didn't steal the few clothes I have." Saffeara said; walking over to her closet and pulled out her officers over coat that all Tree Leadership possessed.
She slipped it over her naked body and secured it thoroughly before walking over to the door.
"I'll be back." She said; waving with an abnormally large grin.
Ruby smiled back at her just as the door was shutting. With Saffeara now gone Ruby decided to start unpacking the rest of her things. She opened her closet, which was directly across from Saffeara's , and proceeded to start hanging up her clothes on the hangers provided.
She did this rather quickly thanks to her semblance, however the increased speed generated a lot of extra air flow in the room. As she was about to put her red toothbrush and toothpaste in the bathroom she noticed a white piece of paper had been blown from underneath Saffeara's bed. Ruby zipped into the bathroom, put her stuff away; and came back in under a second. She bent down and picked up the small piece of paper; whilst sliding Lunar Rose underneath her bed. She turned it over to find that it was a picture; but she had a hard time making out what it was. She reached into her back pocket and fumbled with her glasses case before finally putting her bifocals on. The image came into view and revealed a girl who couldn't have been more than eleven. She had straight, long, black hair that framed her pink eyes that were covered by a pair of thick black glasses. She wore a soft and gentle smile on her face.
Ruby turned the picture over and noticed that there was some small writing on the back.
"Really miss you, Sis. Love you, Saffeara." It read; in faded blue ink.
Ruby's eyes widened as she realized who this was. "I think this is Haruka." she thought; about to put it back under Saffeara's bed. However, she stopped when the door was flung open.
"I'm back. Sorry it took me so long; but I had to…" She stopped halfway through her sentence; noticing the picture.
Her face fell as she slowly walked over to Ruby.
"I, uh, think you dropped this." Ruby said; handing her the photo awkwardly.
"Well thanks for finding it for me." Saffeara said; taking the picture from her.
She tried her best to comfort the girl who looked like she was about to be punished. She moved over to her closet and deposited her overcoat and slipped the picture into her bra. She picked up her robe and threw in over her head.
"Hey Ruby, I need to show you something come on." Saffeara said; opening the door.
"Okay." Ruby said a little confused.
Saffeara watched Ruby's new cape disappear down the hallway. She soon followed; locking their door with her key card. They traveled a while till they got to a glass elevator. Both women entered and Saffeara hit the button that would take them to the top floor.
On arrival Saffeara took Ruby by her metal arm and lead her down a long corridor. It eventually lead to a door that when opened lead to an expansive bar with hardwood floors and an opening that lead out and onto a balcony. The bar itself had several red and blue bar stools sitting around it; and in the back one could see the various liquor bottles illuminated by a sky blue light. Chairs and tables were placed in ways that an individual could maintain a conversation up close as well as across the room.
"What is this?" Ruby asked.
"This is where the leadership goes to relax; but I knew it would be empty since Liz is pregnant and everyone else is busy." Saffeara replied; spinning around.
Ruby nodded in affirmation; proceeding farther into the room with Saffeara. They soon found themselves on the balcony that was being showered in moonlight. Sitting blow them were the neon lights of the Commercial and Business Districts of Vale. Saffeara motioned for Ruby to sit down in one of the two lounge chairs. Ruby did so and Saffeara took the one opposite her.
"It's hard to believe that in an hour we'll have left Vale and be over the ocean."Saffeara said.
"On to the BD Continent; I hope Jozy's cleared the White Fang out." Ruby mentioned.
"Heh, knowing him he had it done hours ago. So I take it you want to know about Haruka, right?" Saffeara asked; changing the subject.
Ruby looked away from her, "Not if it's a difficult subject for you."
Saffeara was touched by just how considerate Ruby was being.
"It's alright I don't mind; it's just not to many people can relate to it."
"It's alright I'll try my best." Ruby said; giving Saffeara a determined look.
Saffeara chuckled, "Okay, so I told you before that I didn't have have the best parents; but it was much worse than I first let on. I was born an illegitimate child to a Mistrali Businessman and his Atlysian wife. With I being a faunus you could guess how she felt towards me. I was kept, reluctantly, and was put into grade school."
Saffeara paused to catch her breath.
"My father hated me. He was the biggest racist you've ever seen; even bigger than the Schnee's. I often wondered why he even had me; but I guess having sex with a faunus isn't much different than a human. However, I soon realized that he loved me too. I lost my virginity to him when I was eight and it just continued after that."
Saffeara wiped her eyes.
"It got so bad that I would wake up to find my underwear drawer empty. So I would have to go without; letting my father rape me whenever he wanted. As I'm sure you noticed my mom was never involved that much. Well, in reality she just watched me as I cried on the bed. I hoped that it all would stop when Haruka was born; but unfortunately it only got worse. My mom started to drug me so that she could molest Haruka, and it continued for months after her tenth birthday. I finally ran away with Haruka after my dad raped me and beat me with Haruka still in the room. We ran as far as we could; but it wasn't far enough as we were kidnapped by Winter Schnee. She strapped me to a table and removed my ears with pliers, and as you could guess pliers don't exactly cut they tear. It was at this point that I learned my Primal Semblance; yet I couldn't control it and I… I killed Haruka because of it."
Ruby was about to come over to her; but stopped when Saffeara put her hand out.
"Jozy later found me passed out in an alleyway after I fought my way out; and took me to liz. My semblance healed me quickly; and then Jozy trained me how to use sword and fight like a huntress would. When I was twenty one I finished my first novel and joined the Sequoia Tree; the rest is history." Saffeara finished; wiping her eyes one more time.
"Wow, I never could have guessed that happened. I'm truly sorry that you were put through that, Saffeara." Ruby said; her face downcast, but sincere.
"Thanks, Ruby. Now if you don't mind I need a drink." Saffeara said; getting up and walking towards the bar.
Ruby got up and followed her as she walked behind the counter.
"Can I get one too?" Ruby asked; as Saffeara put a beer on the counter and opened it.
Saffeara was stunned, "Uh, sure, but have you drank before?"
"No, but I figure I'll have to eventually." Ruby replied; tucking a strand of her brown hair behind her ear.
Saffeara nodded her head in agreement before grabbing another beer and opened it. Ruby sat on one of the bar stools and drank from her beer; the liquid burning the back of her throat. She coughed at how strong the drink was.
"Jeez, if that's how you react to beer I'd hate to see you drink rum or tequila." Saffeara laughed; sitting down next to Ruby.
"I'm not that bad." Ruby said; taking another drink meekly.
"You need more practice; but if you really want to see someone who can drink you should see a non-pregnant Liz. How the hell she can drink half a bottle of vodka and not have any after effects still baffles me." Saffeara said; drinking.
"Huh? I've never even seen Liz drink before." Ruby responded; with an incredulous look in her eyes.
"That's because she's not a big drinker; but I will saw that some of that coffee she drinks isn't just coffee." Saffeara said; her lips curling up into a smirk.
Ruby had a quizzical look on her face, "Hmm, I never thought of that."
Both women fell silent for a moment before Saffeara started another conversation.
"You better call Weiss before we get to Atlas; because then we'll be at the mercy of the Arbiters." Saffeara said; setting her now empty bottle down on the counter.
"Who are they?" Ruby asked.
"You'll find out tomorrow at the mission briefing. Well, I think I'm going to bed you remember how to get back?" Saffeara asked; standing up.
"Not exactly, I'll follow you." Ruby said; standing up.
Both women started to walk towards the elevator.
"Hey, you wanna get something to eat?" Ruby asked.
"Sorry, I forgot that you hadn't eaten all day. I think there's a pretty good noodle place on the fortieth floor." Saffeara said.
"Sounds delicious; but what about you?"
"I ate a large breakfast this morning." Saffeara said; stepping into the elevator with Ruby.
The doors shut and the elevator was sent down. On Saffeara's empty beer bottle was a small bead of human blood that ran down the bottle and onto the hardwood counter.
In the hangar bay of the flagship, Jozy and Kale were watching Raven being carted away by a two man team of Sequoia Tree Sentinels.
"What will you do with her?" Kale asked.
"It's not up to me; we'll have to see what the jury decides." Jozy said; sticking his hands in his pockets.
Kale turned; his gold eyes shifting in the LED lights.
"What do you think they'll say?"
Jozy shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know. but I know for a fact she'll be marked for disposal."
"Defying the Tree is a heavy offense; that carries an equally heavy price. So where's Yang?" Kale asked, crossing his arms.
"I sent her home already she needed the rest." Jozy replied; noticing the medical team wheeling Adam's body out on a stretcher, his body covered by a blue blanket.
"So what will we use him for, besides evidence?" Kale asked; his boots hitting the metal floor as he followed Jozy through an automatic door.
They entered into a long hallway that was illuminated by white floor lights.
"I'm going to save him for a contingency plan." Jozy replied.
"Care to share?"
"Not really, because I'd rather keep it to myself for the time being." Jozy said; walking past another corridor.
Both stopped when they heard Tyler's heavy footsteps and figure coming towards them. His visor was up to reveal his face as he walked towards them scroll in hand.
"Jozy, the Council just ruled on the Neopolitan case." Tyler reported.
Jozy and Kale looked at each other in confusion before turning back.
"What do you mean they ruled on her case? She's still aboard in the medical sector." Jozy asked.
"The kingdom of Vale felt they had enough substantial evidence from the last four years to find her guilty without trial." Tyler said; his eye twitching a bit.
"That's bullshit, the law states that even a terrorist like herself gets a fair trial when she is able to defend herself." Kale said; clenching his fists.
"I agree, is there anyway we can circumvent the Council's decision?" Tyler asked.
"Not easily, I would have to challenge the ruling in the Council itself and then that would start a lengthy legal battle." Jozy replied.
"That's time that we don't have in a state of war. What else we could do?" Kale asked.
Jozy shook his head, "The only way we could technically make the ruling void is if Neo were to join the Sequoia Tree then she would be our problem. However, she can't exactly say yes or no with her broken jaw."
"Would the Council accept a gestured yes or no; like sign language?" Tyler asked.
Jozy looked at Kale who shrugged, "I guess; but I've never asked."
"I'll talk to Neo in the morning, you two need to get things ready for the briefing tomorrow. With a bit of luck we'll spare her from the wrath of the Valysians." Jozy said.
Both nodded in agreement before they went their separate ways.
Neo was wide awake in her room located in the medical sector. She stared out of the window which bathed the room in moonlight. Thoughts swirled around in her head; "The light is pretty, My jaw feels much better as well as my leg and arm, At least Liz doesn't treat me like a criminal." were some of the thoughts going through her head. However, the one that was most prevalent was a simple question with no answer, "Why did she save me?". This thought would echo through Neo's mind until she fell asleep once again; her mind needing rest instead of her body this time.