Roman Torchwick

They had returned to the fork in the internal path before Weiss finally stopped a moment to catch her breath. The sound of their pursuer's footfalls had faded as they ran, but remained audible the entire time. It was a subtle reminder that, whatever they decided to do, they had to get it done fast.

Now that they had escaped from the lion's den, and he'd somehow managed to protect his charge from that self-destructive nobility of hers, Torchwick was ready to declare that this had been a positive experience for Weiss. There was no shame in having faith in humanity while you were young and stupid, but it was only a matter of time before people betrayed that faith. Problem was, a lot of poor dumb kids didn't survive that initial betrayal.

Weiss was in pain, because betrayal always hurts, but she was alive. Torchwick had to believe she would understand him now. Rich, poor, people were all the same: ever looking out for themselves. She should join the club while she can.

"So, remember what I said about wanting to talk?" He said, watching the path they'd escaped while Weiss rested.

"I do. What's wrong?" Weiss was a little breathless. She'd been training for weeks, but this was her first actual battle since her escape, and it was clear the exertion was taking its toll on her.

"You get it now, right? We got set up and left to die."

As Torchwick spoke he could see the muscles in her face tighten. Sorry to rub salt in a fresh wound, Snowflake, but you need to face it. He thought. "Listen, you have something you need to do, right? Don'cha want to get a lead on your friends? They could be anywhere, and they could need your help, right? Well, funny enough, I also have something I need to do- I really need my body back! Neither of us has any time to waste, and this fight is pointless. You get what I'm saying, right?"

Weiss pressed her back against the limestone wall and sank to a sitting position on the ground, her gaze downcast and thoughtful. He'd expected her to object by now, but she remained silent. That was progress, right?

"Listen, not to be a broken record, but let's run away. If the airship is still out of commission, we can just steal the craft I told you about. I can walk you through hot-wiring it. Hell, I can walk you through flying it. We can get you to Mistral! We can put this whole mess behind us."

More silence. Nothing about Weiss' expression changed, save for a glimmer of sadness in her eyes. She wore a wooden face, and Torchwick could only guess at what she was thinking.

"You think we should just leave? Leave that...thing in the mountains, drop everything, and just mind our own business?" She finally spoke. The words were the kind of protest he'd come to from her whenever he gave her excellent advice, but her voice was listless.

"Yes! I'm quite enthusiastic in my support of the 'cut and run' plan." Torchwick nodded and gestured toward the exit. "Look, if you really feel bad about leaving Grimm here, we can just come back later. A few months from now- or years! Yeah, I'm thinking 'years' may be better- you can come back with your friends and all the dust you can carry. I'm sure that monster will still be around. She seems weirdly unmotivated, as Grimm go."

"...and what about the village? What happens to them if we leave now?" Weiss shook her head.

Torchwick felt something snap inside his brain. He stared at Weiss with his emerald eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched, shaking his head. She can't have just asked that. Surely he misheard her.

"Are you listening to yourself right now, Ice Queen?" He attempted to speak in his usual cool, detached tone, but his voice came out in a frustrated hiss. The two of them had been together for a month, give or take. He was a guest in her presence, allowed to remain only by her mercy, and- damn it!- he was trying to respect that. He was!

Yes, the two of them had been together for a month, and for that entire time he'd held himself back each time he wanted to challenge her naive heroism. She was just young! She hadn't experienced the real world yet! As long as he was patient, eventually she'd understand that he was just trying to help her.

Confronted by that brainless nobility even now, Torchwick was equal parts frustrated and terrified. A dam within his brain began to burst, and before he could even entertain the thought of restraining himself the words started to pour out of him.

"'What about the village'? 'What about the village'!? FUCK the village, Snowflake! Every last one of those inbred yokels deserves a one-way trip to the deepest trench in hell! You should burn this entire mountain to the ground before the Grimm even get the chance! These people just tried to kill you! How can this situation not infuriate you? They did it with a smile! One of them embraced you with the same hands she used to sabotage you!"

In the moment, his thoughts and feelings were flowing unfiltered. His voice was loud and trembling, but from exasperation, rather than anger. The outburst shocked Weiss, who met his gaze with wide eyes as he spoke, but said nothing.

"Please. Please! I want to understand you. You've suffered so much. You've been hurt and repressed over and over again ever since you were a kid! How can you still be like this after all this time? I know you're not stupid. Are you a masochist? Are you suicidal? Have you convinced yourself that a wasted death is the only way you can 'atone for your family's sins'?

"I know you, Ice Queen. I know you so, so, so much better than I ever wanted to, and the more I know, the less I understand. You're free now! You just finished fighting for your freedom from one jackass who doesn't care about you, and now you're selling your soul to a whole pack of jackasses who don't care about you? How many times does the world have to screw you before you finally realize that the only way to survive is to start screwing it back!?" As his tirade came to a close he felt a strange energy fill him. His body suddenly felt lighter, and a warmth spread from his core to his extremities.

Weiss listened to him patiently, waiting until it was evident he was finished before she closed her eyes and sighed. She pressed her hands against the wall behind her and pushed herself back up onto her feet.

"You know," She began, looking down at her sword. "I think I can finally put into words what it is about you that I've never liked."

"Something you don't like? About me? Impossible! Was it the reckless disregard for human life? Maybe one of my many felonies?" Torchwick smirked, tilting his shoulders upward and extending his arms in a shrug. He was a bit embarrassed that he'd let himself go unfiltered for a moment, there. Feigning calm, regardless of circumstance, was a trademark of his criminal persona, and he had to get back on brand.

"Don't do that." She said, so firmly that he jerked backward a bit. "You're putting up your shield again. That's not fair. I heard you out, now it's your turn to hear me out."

Putting his shield up? The hell did that mean? He was prepared to argue with her, but she turned to him suddenly, and their eyes found each other. Weiss' gaze was like a frozen lake: cold, calm, and blue. Deep as well… so deep that he feared he was being pulled inside her. Faced with eyes like that, his fighting spirit dampened a bit.

"Alright, fine. Do your worst." He conceded with a sigh. He extended a palm outward, beckoning her to continue. Weiss turned away from him and looked down the path they'd traveled. The sound of their pursuers was still a distance off, but growing louder 'd forced himself to maintain their eye contact the entire time, but couldn't deny he felt a deep relief wash over him when she finally looked away.

"All you ever talk about is how terrible everything is. 'People suck!' 'There's no point in trying to help each other because at the end of the day, the world is rotten!' I bet you think you're the wisest man in the world, don't you? But, gee, that sure is convenient for you, isn't it, Roman?"

Torchwick shuddered. The way she said his name had some strong 'disappointed mother' vibes. Come to think of it, she'd been calling him 'Roman' for a while now, hadn't she? When the hell did that start? A familiar pain began to fill his head, forcing him to close his eyes.

"You never have to examine yourself. You never have to worry about whether you're doing the right thing! Why should you? After all, if you screw someone over, you just did it before they could, right? You're not a terrible person, it's the whole world that's terrible! You get to do whatever the hell you want, and if something looks hard, well, you have a perfect excuse for why you don't even need to try! You think you have everything figured out, but you're just a selfish, lazy coward."

Weiss' voice began to waver, and as she started to pace back and forth, Torchwick could see that her small hands were clenched tightly into fists. The knuckles of the fingers gripping her sword had gone pale from the pressure of her grip. Seemed he wasn't the only who had been holding back frustration since they'd met…

The pain in his head grew stronger still, and he found himself panicking. He pushed against the throbbing with all his will.

No! If you want to lecture me, I'll let you. Yell at me as long as you want. Just, please, keep those emotions out of my head. I don't want to lose myself again!

He rested his forehead against the palm of his hand, a deep grimace on his lips. Weiss had begun to lead them up toward the entrance now. It seemed their break time was running out. He followed behind her as she walked, and the sound of their footsteps echoed through the cavern.

"You want to know how I can go through this without getting mad? I can't! I'm furious with all of them for tricking me, and I'm hurt that they lied to me." After a few moments of silence she continued. All the force was gone from her voice now, replaced by a wistful, passionate sadness. She cast a look over her shoulder, and Torchwick could see that she was only barely restraining tears.

"But has it ever occurred to you to stop and wonder why people do the things they do? Maybe when someone does something terrible, it's not for literally the worst reason you can think of! Maybe they're trapped? Maybe they're scared? Maybe they feel helpless? I know all of those feelings, how about you?

"So yeah, I'm angry! And I'm sad. And I'm going to save them. Even if they hate me, and even if they tried to kill me. Because I don't think the world is a cruel place, and even if I did, I would never stop trying to make it better. Understand!? You should stop pretending you know the world, and you should sure as hell stop pretending you know me! I'm not even sure you're capable of caring about anyone that isn't yourself!"

Understand? Of course Torchwick didn't understand! How could she be this way? Even if she was right, and people who hurt her may have sympathetic reasons for doing so, so what? You don't owe anything to people who hurt you, Ice Queen! Feeling as if you do is how bad people manipulate you.

He'd always assumed that the li'l huntress troupe were just a pack of idiots too blinded by their own perfect, privileged lives to realize how broken life was for everyone else. That was the only way people could say the kinds of things Little Red liked to say with a straight face, right?

Weiss was different, though. She was like him… except richer and less handsome. So why?

Torchwick crossed his arms and looked away, taking a deep breath and exhaling it slowly. The pain in his head crested and began to fade.

Once again memories had begun to spring unbidden to his mind. Still-images from a life he'd never lived. However, unlike the first time, where the experience lasted for minutes and washed him away, this time it was only for a moment.

Team RWBY, Beacon Academy, feelings of happiness, longing, and nostalgia...

An indecipherable mix of images and emotions? Fine, not like he needed any help being confused by her. He closed his eyes, shook his head, and picked up his pace, walking ahead of her as they neared the mouth of the cave.

Perhaps it was childish of him, but he hated letting another person have the last word in an argument, especially when someone calls him out like this. When he tried to call upon his anger and frustration to find a rebuttal, though, he was at a loss for words. Whether it be because of the pain or his own confusion, Roman Torchwick was at a loss for words! It was a situation he'd never found himself in before, and he didn't like it one bit.

What am I supposed to say if you look at me like that? His thoughts fell back to the look in her eyes, and his frown deepened. Continuing to fight despite feeling like that? What an incomprehensible person. The energy he'd felt earlier began to circulate in his body again.

"Roman!" Weiss called out from behind him, suddenly excited about something, "Your hand!"

His hand?

Torchwick turned his head. It seemed that while he was walking, he'd absentmindedly begun to press his hand against the wall. He took a few more steps, watching as his gloved fingertips glided against the smooth stone for a few more seconds before he was finally stricken by the realization of why Weiss was surprised.

He was touching the wall! His frown immediately reversed as he leaned his upper body forward, pressing his palm firmly against the rock, feeling the pressure of the hard surface through his glove. Worried it might be some kind of fluke, he knelt down, looking for something he could hold in his hand. When he found a small block of rotten wood he reached out for it, laughing in triumph as his fingers wrapped around it without incident and he raised it up to his eyes.

"My hands are back online!" He pumped his free fist in triumph, looking back at Weiss and cackling. He pressed the wooden block against his forehead, and then his chest. It wasn't just his hands, it was everything! He'd regained the use of his entire body! He focused on making his hand become intangible again, watched the block fall through him, then immediately reached down to pick it up again.

Full control! Just like with the parts of himself he'd already been able to use. Even through the high of excitement he was confused. Why now? What was different about now that he hadn't already tried at some point in the past month? Happy as he was, he feared that if he didn't manage to figure out how this had happened, he could end up losing it.

Torchwick turned back to Weiss, surprised to find that she was wearing a grin so broad it could rival his own. Her eyes were focused on the object in his hand, but seemed to be looking beyond it as she nodded her head.

"Roman! We can fight her now!" She said, eager elation dripping from her as she ran up and gripped his wrist. Normally he had a rule about letting people touch his coat, but eh! This was basically a holiday. He'd let it slide. Weiss was practically hopping with excitement as she finished, "With this we can win!

"Can we? I'm glad to hear you think so highly of me, but I've never actually tried punching a Grimm before. You know, I miss my weapon! Not as much as my hat, but a lot, regardless." Torchwick pondered her enthusiasm. Sure, he was a lot more useful now that he had opposable thumbs, but that didn't really make him much better in a fight. He had a gal he could outsource the CQC to, back when he was alive.

Weiss laughed, less in amusement at his words and more in general happiness at whatever realization she'd just had. She briskly approached one of the wooden support beams that had begun to fray in its old age, pulling at the split until she had jerked a two-foot spear of wood free. She investigated her work, nodding enthusiastically at the good job she'd apparently done.

"Your hands should be more than enough!" She reassured him. "Now come on! We don't have a lot of time, and we'll only get one chance at this."

"Oh?" Aibell gave an amused snort as she neared the end of the narrow shaft, finding Weiss standing in wait. The Fable took up so much of the limited space within the connective halls of the mine that her tendrils were nearly pinned to her back, and the Death Stalkers that attempted to crawl past her couldn't find enough space to squirm free. "I was certain your intent was to try to flee. Yet here you wait? You've even allowed me to travel to the end of this bothersome corridor rather than assault me within it. To what do I owe your consideration, child?"

Attacking her within the more confined space was a tactical option, to be sure, but it would have posed its own set of dangers. While Aibell's tendrils and tail were kept in check by the tight space, her long neck and sharp fangs were still dangerous, while Weiss' mobility would also be limited. Likewise, if Weiss accidentally triggered a cave-in while fighting within the shaft, she wouldn't have been able to escape it.

That was why she had to make her stand here: Weiss was standing before the mouth of the hall, in the natural cavern that made up the entrance to the mine. As Aibell made her approach, Weiss would have to halt her advance, keeping the beast within the shaft until Torchwick could reach the mark she'd assigned him. If Aibell managed to force her way into the open cavern, or if Weiss missed her target when Torchwick gave the signal, there was a very real chance that Weiss would be dead within the hour.

Weiss said nothing to creature, merely turned to Torchwick and gave him a meaningful stare. He nodded his understanding, and began running forward. As he did, an enormous glyph formed before Weiss, and her summon began to take form.

This one was much larger than the first: taking the form of a humanoid creature whose body was composed of several sheets of plated white armor. The joints where the individual components fit together offered small glimpses into the interior of the body, revealing hollow blackness within. When its summon was complete it stood before its master, thrice her height and twice her width, and brandished a sword almost the same size as itself.

This was that new summon of hers… Torchwick had seen a bit of it during the Ice Queen's training sessions, but this would be his first time seeing it in action. The way she reacted to this big guy was different to the others, though so subtly that Torchwick couldn't be sure he wasn't imagining it. There was probably a story there, but at the end of the day he never asked and she never volunteered the information, so it was just a baseless hunch he had.

At any rate, the moment Weiss completed the summon, it lurched forth as quickly as its gargantuan size would allow, and kept pace with Torchwick as the two of them ran into the mine shaft. The iron giant ran a few yards into the confined space before hecame to a stop, slammingmost of the length of his great sword down into the stone ground before himself. He then shambled around it, standing before the weapon with his back pressed against the flat of the blade, legs spread wide, and arms crossed.

It was a posture that made the Ice Queen's strategy clear, and as Aibell charged toward the giant she roared in contemptuous amusement.

"You seek to forestall me? Such cheek!" She slammed into the giant with all the force she could muster, causing the grinding sound of metal on stone to echo through the cavern as the summon's feet began to slide backward. "Humans ever insist upon forcing me to exert myself! I shall remember this strain while I'm severing your limbs from your body!"

Aibell only gained a few inches on her initial charge, at most. Weiss' summon had held firm and blocked her path, but she continued to push against him all the while, fanged maw snapping at the inanimate body, and broad shoulders pressing upward. Within a few seconds the giant was already pressed firmly against his sword, and the weapon was already creaking ominously, threatening to snap from the force placed upon it.

Best case scenario, Torchwick had a minute or two to find his mark… but that was fine! He was a man who never failed to execute a heist. He left the summon to its work and continued down the shaft, sliding under Aibell's body without attracting so much as a sidelong glance from her. Behind her, a dozen Death Stalkers were packed about the ground, trying in vain to slip themselves around her. Torchwick ignored them, and began to look at the walls, trying to find the pillar Weiss had told him about.

"Loathe though I am to give up an easy life, I promised the village I would move on if they offered me your head." Torchwick could hear Aibell continue to taunt Weiss behind him as he looked around. Trying to make her concentration waver? "'Tis for the best. Humans can be compelled to sacrifice one another easily, but when they do I must always settle for the elderly and infirm. I do not lament this, for meat is meat, but—oh!-how I long to taste a child's flesh again!"

More sounds of metal on stone, more groans of effort and frustration, and finally a loud snap as the sword behind the giant finally gave way.

Stay strong, Snowflake. I'm almost done. Torchwick grew more frantic as he headed down the tunnel. He was nearing the limit of their tether before he finally saw it. On the right side of the wall was a wooden support pillar much more rotten than the rest. The wood was chipped, blackened, soggy, and the center of the pillar was swelling out from the strain of the weight it was resisting.

Torchwick nodded triumphantly as he approached the pillar, reaching into his coat and producing the two-footstick Weiss had broken off earlier. The flashlight Erica had given them was tied to the end of it now, making the combined length of the makeshift pole almost a yard now. He depressed the button behind the flashlight's head, watching the circle of light illuminate the world around him.

Weiss had tested the flashlight before telling Torchwick the plan, and he'd been genuinely shocked it worked. The village seemed hellbent on screwing them over, but now if the Ice Queen managed to survive this stupid battle it would be because of their help. With Weiss almost thirty feet away, and an active battle going on between them, she was going to have a hard enough time hitting the tiny target he would be giving her, even without light.

Torchwick took a deep breath. A gesture that accomplished nothing for his dead ass, physically, but served to relax him, all the same. He reached out and pressed his right palm flat against the wooden pillar before him, then extended his body outward, turning toward the battle between Aibell and the summon.

The Fable's bulk took up most of the hall, and her army crowded the space between her legs, but there was just a bit of space between her back and the ceiling above. The area was too narrow for her to use her tendrils in combat here, but would be more than enough for Weiss' shot to fit through! Torchwick shifted his grip to the very bottom of the stick in his hand, raising it up as high as he could and turning the head of the flashlight to face the entrance of the cavern.

There were only two details of Weiss' big scheme that they couldn't know in advance. The first was whether the stick she'd fashioned would divert enough energy downward to destroy the pillar. The second was whether or not ghosts could conduct electricity.

As Torchwick watched the bolt of lightning Weiss sent his way, he quickly learned the answers to both mysteries. The propelled lightning dust caused the room to flash so brightly that he was momentarily blinded, but he was able to see it slam into the center of the flashlight's glass reflector. The glass shattered, and in an instant the entire device was ripped into hunks of shrapnel that flew in all directions.

Most of the bolt's energy continued down the mineshaft, but the poor flashlight succeeded in redirecting just enough of it down the stick and into Torchwick's body. The sensation of pins and needles shot through his spine. It wasn't 'pain', really (ever since his revival, he'd never felt pain unless the trigger was something psychological), but it didn't feel good, either. He clenched his teeth, forcing himself to maintain his grip on both the stick in his left hand and the pillar in his right as the electricity ran its course.

The rotten wood of the pillar easily caught flame as the lightning raced through it, and it exploding into a fountain of splinters as the energy ran through it and into the wall of the cavern. The plan had actually worked better than they'd anticipated, as they managed to redirect enough energy to shatter not only their targeted pillar, but the wooden pillars on either side of it down the wall, as well. By the time the current finally left his body and allowed him to collapse to the floor, an eerie rumbling was already flooding the air within the shaft.

The poorly maintained pillars, the delicate equilibrium they'd barely maintained for decades now destroyed, began to snap under the increased pressure placed on them.

One after another after another. Each snapped pillar caused the rumbling to grow louder, the walls beginning to quake as large chunks of rock started to rain down within the narrow passageway. Aibell finally thought to cast her gaze backwards, noticing Torchwick's presence for the first time since she'd started fighting Weiss' giant, and instantly realized her mistake.

"Ah! Your aim was-" The normally measured creature couldn't conceal the panic in her voice as she realized the error she'd made. She probably assumed Weiss' lightning was simply off-target because she was trying to avoid hitting her summon! Aibell charged even more fiercely into the giant, forcing him to cede more and more ground as she attempted to claw her way out of the shaft and into the open cave before her.

All the while more and more rocks fell, crushing Death Stalkers underneath them as the passage began to collapse in on itself. Torchwick felt himself panic out of instinct, but reminded himself that he was the only thing in the mine right now that didn't need to worry about dying in a cave-in. Aibell's aura was manifested around her, shielding her from the debris, but- as more and more of the ceiling above began to collapse upon her- that thin layer of protection simply wasn't enough.

It felt like hours, but over the course of a few seconds, the entire passage had collapsed into a heap of rubble around them.

"Snowflake? Snowflake!?" Torchwick popped through the heap of rocks he'd been phasing through, sighing with relief as he finally broke into the open space of the cavern. The cave-in had kicked up a thick cloud of dust that obscured his vision almost as badly as being buried in rubble had.

"Roman! Over here!" He heard her call out, followed by a hacking cough. Groping through the fog in the direction of her voice, he found her leaning against a far wall, the collar of her coat pulled up over her face in an effort to shield her lungs from the debris. He flashed her a playful wink as he approached her.

"I think we can call that a flawless victory." He said with a relieved laugh, resting against the wall beside her. "Not the most elegant scheme I've ever been party to, but bonus points for creativity! A proper evil plan is 10% preparation and 90% improvisation, after all."

"Hmph! There was nothing evil about my plan, you undead crook." Weiss replied indignantly, turning up her nose at his words. She rubbed her eyes and peered through the haze surrounding them. "Did you see Aibell?"

They carefully walked together, back toward the collapsed mine. The dirt kicked up by the cave-in finally began to settle, and as they approached they could see the familiar shape of the great Fable beneath the rocks. She had managed to escape from the shaft, though only far enough that her head, neck, and forelegs had managed to reach freedom. All of her body behind her shoulders was crushed under the weight of the rocks above her, giving her an appearance that reminded Torchwick of a half-consumed tube of toothpaste.

Aibell's eyes remained alert, even in spite of her condition, however. As they approached her, she glared at them, opening her mouth to roar, but instead coughing violently. She continued to cough and spasm until she wretched, coughing up a black, tar-like substance that ate away at the stone beneath her.

"To be undone in a place like this..." Where before the Fable's voice was so fearsome as to make her surroundings shake, it was now weak and deflated. Her words were slurred, and the act of speech seemed to stir fluids in her chest. "Were my exalted siblings to see me brought to such a state by a single human, I'd doubtless hear no end of their laughter."

She attempted to laugh at herself, but was rewarded for the effort by more spasms, and another spray of black liquid forcing its way from her mouth. After she recomposed herself, she cast an eye toward Weiss.

"As you have slain me, accept my parting advice, child: cease your alliance with that Fugitive. The body is not meant to house two souls within itself. You do so at your own peril… if you remain together, there will be irreversible consequences."

Aibell's slit-like eye began to dilate, but she forced it to focus again, shifting her glance from Weiss to Torchwick. She let out a labored breath and attempted to lift her head from the ground, but failed to find the strength.

"...and you. Mistress Scathach pitied you, and turned a blind eye to your escape. My fellows will not. You've disturbed our mother, and now, you've murdered their kin. Know that I will never forgive you. As you struggle to escape your death, you will bring suffering and lamentation to those you love most. When the day comes that you realize the futility of your efforts, and fall into despair, you will know that Aibell's grudge is finally repaid."

"...Really? Really!?" Torchwick sighed. He turned his thumb toward himself, then pointed to Weiss. "You give her life advice, and give me a death curse? Seems a bit unfair. The Ice Queen did way more to put you in the ground than I did."Bit of a wasted curse, regardless. He thought with a wry smile. Didn't you hear her earlier? I'm not capable of caring about anyone.

The beast offered only a raspy breath in response. It seemed the strain of talking was too great for her to indulge his love of complaining. Torchwick turned to Weiss, surprised to see a sorrowful frown on her lips. The huntress stepped toward the creature, drawing her weapon in solemn silence.

Why was she so upset? She'd killed plenty of Grimm before, and Aibell hadn't done a lot to make herself especially sympathetic.

...Ah! Now he understood.

"You've done enough, Snowflake. I can finish her. It's my fault she's here, after all." Torchwick stepped up behind Weiss, putting his hand on her shoulder. Killing a conscious creature wasn't something completely foreign to Weiss, but doing it quite like this was probably new to her. Finishing off an enemy you mortally wounded could be emotionally taxing for these heroic types.

It would be better for him to free her from that burden. This was nothing to someone like him, who had killed many people far less deserving than this monster. To his surprise though, Weiss simply looked back at him with a weak smile and shook her head. Then she pulled herself free of his grip and stepped toward Aibell.

"You would offer me the mercy of a swift end? My gratitude. Strike true, huntress, for my suffering is immeasurable." Aibell's voice was barely more than a gurgling whisper now. Weiss maintained her guard as she approached the downed creature, just in case she might attempt a final attack, but Aibell merely extended her neck and closed her eyes.

"O' Mother, I return the soul you burdened me with…"

Weiss took two more steps toward Aibell, raised her sword in her hand, and brought it down in an arcing slash. The Fable's body jerked, fell still, and began to evaporate into a miasma of black energy, leaving only Weiss and Torchwick alive within the cave. For a moment, the two stood in silence.

The talking Grimm was slain. Her army crushed. Weiss had accomplished a mission that was meant to kill her, and she'd done it with just four vials of dust. Perhaps it was all a fluke, maybe it was simply dumb luck that saw him regain the full use of his body at such a pivotal time, but there could be no denying that she'd done something pretty special today.

"Well, let's go back. It's time to find my friends." Weiss took a final moment to compose herself, then returned her sword to its sheath and turned away from the collapsed mine.

As she began to walk, Torchwick moved along beside her. For just a fraction of a moment, Torchwick felt the urge to say something heartfelt to her, but their discussion from before still hung over him. Perhaps they were too different to ever comprehend each other.

Heartfelt or snide, though, he never found the time to say anything at all...

Everything happened so quickly.

One moment Weiss was walking beside him; in the next moment he was watching her fall. The ground beneath them cracked and collapsed away, leaving the two of them plummeting into the darkness below. Surprise and panic raced across Weiss' face as she instinctively reached out for him. He extended his own hand in return, but was powerless to close the distance between them.

How far did they fall? Two-hundred feet? Three-hundred? An underground water deposit must have drained away at some point in the past, leaving a cavity beneath the cavern. When they staged their cave-in, it weakened the floor beneath them, and turned it into a death trap.

All of this was information that would have come naturally to Torchwick, were his brain functioning normally. In truth, however, his normally quick wit had become stuck on a single track. Watching their moment of triumph instantly vanish, replaced instead by panic and fear as someone close to him was swallowed by the open air, a single thought had taken root within his brain. It repeated endlessly.

Not again!

They finally reached the bottom of the pit they'd fallen into, with Torchwick's ghostly self landing harmlessly on his feet. Weiss' fall was quite a bit less graceful, and as he watched, she slammed into the ground, landing on her back atop a drift of accumulated snow and slush.

Not again! Not again!

Torchwick immediately jumped up onto his feet and dashed over to her. Aura could be counted on for protection here, as well… and was the only reason such a fall wouldn't be instantly fatal to her, but it couldn't erase all the force of impact. He had no idea how badly hurt she closed the distance between them, so panicked that he nearly tripped over his own feet in the act, and fell to his knees beside her. Weiss' eyes were open, meeting his own as he looked down at her, but she made no expression. As her eyelids began to flutter closed, a visceral fear overtook him, and he found himself shouting.

"WEISS!"