Chapter 16
An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind
"They say Horace doesn't rest. His crime was horrible, but his execution was worse. Every now and again I catch a scent of him, and I want to die myself." RT
Making their way back up the stairs, the group saw Horace strapped in the electric chair, he then began to speak, "Oh no... It's back... It's starting again. It never stops, it just keeps burning... It won't let me go..." As he spoke thick black cables connected to fuse boxes came down from the ceiling and connected to the chair, then a switch was flipped and the power came on which then proceeded to electrocute him. There was then a sudden surge of electrical power which then fired at the glass window leading into the execution room. Torque took notice of what was happening, when the electrical power was charging there were electrical shields protecting the fuse boxes, but once there was a discharge the shields would drop and be exposed before repeating the pattern again. He then began to speak to the girls of team RWBY who also took notice of what was happening, "Aim for the fuse boxes." He said.
They then got ready to shoot the fuse boxes when there was a discharge, but as they waited rings of electricity spread out across the floor and they had to jump over them. As they did so Horace began to speak to Torque. "I think we got somethin' in common. We know what love is, we know what it is to love a woman. You'd do anything for her, am I right? And somethin' else we got. We know what it is to lose it, lose it all. To not be in control..." Another large surge of electrical power began to form, to which Horace said, "Stop it! Stop me!" So, the group took aim at the fuse boxes. Ruby fired off her weapon and destroyed the first fuse box. And in doing so one of the cables came loose and began to whip around uncontrollably but quickly went still and just as it did so a bolt of electricity shot out, to which Weiss quickly created a glyph to block the electrical energy.
Soon another charging sequence began and Horace began to tell them how he ended up in Abbott, "I can't even remember what I was in here for, beatin' up some guy, whatever. I got screwed by the system. Fuck 'em, they fucked my life, they're as responsible for my old lady's dyin' as I am. Nobody wants the whole story, just lock 'em up, throw away the key, see ya next life."
Soon another surge of electrical power began to which Horace said, "It's coming again!" Yang destroyed the second fuse box just as a bolt of electricity shot itself at her. Yang quickly dodge out of the way and another charging sequence began and as it did so Horace continued with his story. "I just wanted to keep her safe. I couldn't protect her while I was on the inside. It ate me up, I lay awake at night thinkin' of what would happen to her. Any guy like me, any guy really loved his old lady woulda done the same thing."
Another discharge began and Horace began to speak in pain by saying," Hot! Hot! Hot!" Blake destroyed the third fuse box and jumped out of the way in time when the electrical bolt shot itself at her, just as Horace continued on with his story. "It got so I couldn't take it anymore. So, on that day, she came over for a conjugal, and we fucked. I screwed her like I never had before. It was smooth, and warm, and rough, and sweet, the best lay of our lives."
A fourth discharge sequence began as Horace said, "I just want to die!" Weiss quickly destroyed the fourth fuse box just as a fourth bolt of electrical power fired itself off at her, to which she quickly created a glyph that block the attack. Horace then began to tell the group on how he killed his wife. "And then, as she was layin' thereafter, she looked so beautiful with that sheen of sweat on her, then I did it. I cut her. Every last inch of her. All over. I cut her." A fifth discharge began, and Horace began to scream in pain. But as he did Torque destroyed the last fuse box and a fifth bolt of electricity shot itself at him, to which Torque quickly rolled out of the way in time.
Horace then began to tell the group why he killed his wife. "When I was done, no one would see her again, no one would see her beauty, she was mine forever. Cause there are sick people out there, people with no sense of dignity, people who will have sex with a dead person. I had to keep her safe from that." Without second-guessing Torque quickly ran up to the switch and flipped the power off. When the power was turned off Horace let out a sigh of relief and said, "Thank… you…" He then passed out and the group began to leave. However, Ruby stayed behind a little longer and walked up to Horace. She then placed her hand on his face and felt soft breathing. "You can sleep now Horace." Ruby said with tears in her eyes. She then left the room and rejoined the others.
When she regrouped with the others Torque asked Ruby if she was all right, to which she said, "I'm fine." As she wiped the tears from her eyes and the group continue to move forward. Making their way back through the death house they came across the gas chamber again and saw Hermes was inside it, he then began to take a deep breath as he spoke to Torque. "He is gone, now it's just you and me. We will meet again… later. I look forward to it." He soon then vanish and when he did the group were shaken by the encounter.
Yang then spoke out, "Now we got a sick fuck who's obsessed with death." Torque responded by saying, "And like it or not, were going have to face him soon. And that is something I'm not looking for to, because I don't think there's a way, we can hurt him and Weiss I don't think trapping him in a block of ice is going to work." He said as he looked at her. Ruby then replied by saying, "We'll figure something out. But right now, we need to get out of here." Without any further they continue on their way, making their way back from where they started, they soon came across the death row area. Torque got another feeling entered the cellblock and the others follow. When they were inside, they heard the voice of Torque's youngest son Malcolm and found him in one of the cells.
"Is that you daddy?" He asked. They then walked up to the cell and Malcolm spoke to his father. "Daddy, I love you daddy, you wouldn't hurt us." This caused the four members of team RWBY to cry a little, as they were starting to realize that Torque was clearly innocent from the very beginning. As they all look back on the actions he made since this whole thing started. They then heard his oldest son Cory. "Dad. I'm over here dad." He said, they then went to the cell Cory was in and he began to speak. "You're not so bad, I guess. I just wish you always been there, ya know?" He too soon disappeared, and the group turned around and saw Carmen.
They then went to the cell she was in she began to speak to Torque. Something broke you in that group home T, I didn't have time to fix it. There's is beauty in you, I could always see it. Stay strong for me, OK." Then she too disappeared, once she was gone there was a loud explosion in the group quickly turned around and saw that the wall at the end of the hallway had exploded and a Fester started to come through it. Then a Slayer captain appeared, however, when the two creatures saw each other they immediately began to attack one another. Torque then shouted, "Let's get the hell out of here!" The team then said in unity, "Agreed."
The group then made a break for it and as they did so, Blake saw that Adam's body was still there when they encounter their first slayer. But as they moved, she caught a sniff of something and immediately realized what it was. It was the smell of urine; someone had urinated on Adam's corpse. This sent a pang of anger through her, because despite what Adam had become, she still had a bit of love for him. And if she found out who did this horrible act, she would make them pay severely. Soon they started going down the stairs and when they reached the bottom, they found another hole in the wall that led outside. They all went through the wall and escape the death house yet again.
