Chapter 24

Screams rent the air as the people of Kiku had years of memories suddenly slam back into their minds. Even Jaune, who only had lost a few hours worth, clutched his head as pain ripped through his mind.

His opponent collapsed to the ground. He'd screamed for about half a minute before bursting into laughter instead. Jaune wasn't sure what to do, but he had to do something. He walked over, sheathing his blade as he did, and pulled the man up by his armour.

"What's going on!?"

"Hahahaha!" The man almost cackled. "What's going on? Why that rat bastard is dead! I can't believe he did so much to me!"

"Who!?"

"The mayor!" The man shouted, his eyes wide and crazed. "He's the one! The one who caused all this!" He waved his hands out at the rest of town and the screaming and crying people within. "And now he's dead!"

The mayor!? Dead? But that would mean… Jaune froze for a moment before dropping the crazed captain.

Ren tapped on Jaune's shoulder. "Jaune. With this much distress, Grimm will be coming. What do we do?" The others were looking to him, expecting him to lead.

"You three… organize the militia. Guard the walls! I'll get Ruby!" The others nodded and rushed to gather the militia, who were just as pained as everyone else.

Jaune ran down a nearby set of stairs, stepping over every other step, and ran into the cobblestone streets. He passed by the townsfolk as he rushed towards the town hall. Some people were crying, some still screamed while others raged. Everyone had just awoken to find people they knew dead or missing and if what he could overhear as he ran past was true, they'd remembered grudges and rivalries as well.

The mayor had kept his people from fighting each other by making them forget their issues. Made them think everything was good and fine. This Semblance could have been used for good. A village in distress made to temporarily suppress their negative memories to keep the Grimm from coming. It could have saved lives. Instead, it ruins them.

Nobody stood in his way as he raced through the streets. After several minutes he heard the tell-tale sound of gunfire. The Grimm had arrived but judging by how few shots there were they had yet to arrive in force.

He had better hurry then.

Jaune burst through the door, sending it off its hinges and barrelled into the reception area. The secretary was huddled on the ground, rocking back and forth with tears streaming down her face. Jaune took a deep breath and walked calmly over to the woman, kneeling down and touching her shoulder.

"Excuse me miss, I need to know where the mayor is?"

"I-I-In his house… next d-door…" She stammered.

"Thank you." He wished he could do more to calm her, but he didn't have the time. He needed to find Ruby. So he left the crying woman.

The door to the mayor's house was wide open. The moment Jaune entered he could hear crying. Rushing through he came to the first-floor office or study. A boy was sobbing in the corner, trying to make himself as small as possible. In the middle of the room was an open trap door. Jaune didn't hesitate to jump down. He practically flew down the stairs with his hand on Crocea Mors.

What he saw at the bottom chilled him to the bone.

The mayor was impaled through the chest by Crescent Rose, he was stuck to the wall and blood pooled in a massive puddle at his feet. The scythe had been painted a deep dark red by the man's corpse. Sitting a little bit away, in a growing puddle of red liquid was Ruby.

She sat there, staring at the man she had impaled on her blade. She didn't seem to notice Jaune's presence. He hesitated for a moment before stepping into the puddle and making his way to his friend. She didn't react at all. He kneeled down and grabbed her shoulders, turned her around to face him and pulled her into a hug.

He wasn't sure how long it took, but eventually, she seemed to come around. She wrapped her arms around him and began to cry. He had no idea what to say, so he remained silent. The only thing he could do was offer his support.

Eventually Ruby snapped out of it and the pair retrieved her scythe, leaving the body to collapse and splash blood up the walls. Ruby seemed eager to leave the building and so they did.

The boy above wept louder when he saw her, covered in blood as she was. They couldn't do much for him, not when the others needed their help.

Pyrrha let out a breath as she took aim and fired, sending another Grimm to meet whatever maker they had. The number of encroaching monsters had been steadily increasing for the last few minutes, even as the populace were starting to get themselves back in control.

The militia had been eager to open fire on the Grimm, wanting to let out all of their frustrations and anger. They were faring far better than she expected from people who were in intense pain only a couple of minutes ago. The Grimm had yet to reach the walls, and even if they did they would need to scale them, It gave the defenders plenty of time to pick them off. The biggest danger was if larger or more powerful Grimm came. Goliaths, Deathstalkers, Nevermore or Beringels would all be a big threat to the walls.

Thankfully it was all Beowolves and a couple of juvenile Deathstalkers. For now at least. They would have to keep on their toes but with the number of people here they should be fine. The captain, who sat chained up nearby, had trained them well.

Pyrrha fired again, blowing open a Beowolfs face. Her rifle, borrowed from the militia, was quickly trained onto another target and she once more removed its head. It was a good rifle, much like her old one.

A tap on her shoulder had her turning to see the smuggler she had knocked out before. He looked tired and pained. "Excuse me. You threw my weapon into the forest. Any chance you got it back for me?"

"Oh! I'm sorry!" Pyrrha reached out with her Semblance and a moment later the scimitar came flying back, cutting the leg of a wolf-Grimm in the process. She caught it and handed it over.

He smiled. "Thank you, miss. For everything." He then turned and walked away. Pyrrha blinked in confusion before she turned back and fired out once more.

A cry of pain brought her attention back around, however. The smuggler had taken his weapon and gone over to the captain and without any hesitation attacked him. The captain laughed maniacally as his former ally cut into his shoulder. Pyrrha reacted instantly, raising her hand and forcing the two apart with her Semblance.

The smuggler tried to pull his sword but it dragged him away while the captain was barely saved by his armour. Pyrrha stood and marched closer. "Militia! Please take the captain to the cells for safety. Have him looked at and put under guard." She turned on the smuggler. "You. Get a gun and help out." The man growled in anger but eventually nodded. He took a gun and joined the line.

Today is such a mess.

It took an hour of near-constant gunfire before the Grimm finally slowed to a small trickle. The militia, exhausted both physically and mentally, quickly set up a roster before crashing. Hard.

But the day wasn't over. Not for Jaune. Even with Ruby mostly back in her right mind they needed to resolve this. Today. With the gang back together they could get started. Jaune sat down at the table, across from the man they had been calling The Smuggler. He hadn't offered a name. Jaune was beginning to think it made this whole thing easier if they didn't know the names of these people.

Jaune took his time getting comfortable. The man looked defeated, staring down at the table. Jaune swallowed. How to approach this? Jaune placed his elbows down on the table and steepled his hands together.

"So. Why help them?"

The man slowly looked up at him, then glanced at the others. Ruby and Ren stood near the door while Pyrrha was behind Jaune. Nora stood behind him, near the wall. The man sighed. "They broke me. Took away any memories they didn't like. Made me their slave."

"Why?"

"I'm a pretty good smuggler. I acquired them a few items over the years but eventually, I left the game. Settled down. They didn't like that.. They wanted my talents to be theirs and theirs alone. They attacked me on the road. Killed my wife and that bastard of a mayor did whatever he does to children. I never saw my son again. Then they shattered my mind and made me help hide their murders." The man took in a shuddering breath.

"Half a decade. I've helped them for five years. That mayor deserved what he got!"

Jaune slowly nodded. He wasn't sure if he agreed, though they had practically no way to imprison the mayor anyway. Not when he could just alter the memories of his guards. Still, they were supposed to be the good guys. The heroes. They weren't meant to kill just because it was easier. Too bad life rarely works out that cleanly.

"Alright. I doubt you'll be convicted for any of your more recent actions, the laws covering mind-altering sentences will ensure that even if you do, it'll be a much lighter sentence. However, you could face charges for helping them before. Though it was years ago, so I don't know how well they'll stick. Just keep your head low, okay?"

"What about that bastard of a captain?"

"He'll be going to prison, no doubt about that. If you want revenge I suggest helping keep him in prison. After all, you can make his life worse while he's there. Plus with how many he's killed it'll probably be life. Maybe look at being a guard or something."

The man slumped in his seat. "I'll consider it…"

Jaune nodded. "Thank you. I know this is a hard time but the whole town is facing the same feelings. Plenty of people know what you're going through. Talk with them." The man just nodded absent-mindedly. Jaune took the hint and stood up. They left the man to his thoughts.

They worked their way deeper into the militia base eventually heading underground. There were cells. Not quite the stone rooms with metal bars he expected. Rather they were a little more comfortable with proper walls. There were cameras though, so they never got complete privacy.

The guards outside let them in. The captain waved hello, as if he wasn't about to be sent to prison.

Jaune folded his arms. "Time to talk."

"Oooooo goodie. Shall I tell you my tragic backstory that makes me a sympathetic villain?" He leaned back on his bed with a smirk and waited a moment before letting out a chuckle. "Good, good because I don't have one. I'm not a good person, but I don't think I'm that bad. I just satisfy my desires!"

"Murder. You commit murder." Jaune deadpanned.

"Yes yes. Murder. Such a harsh word. I prefer, research, or dissection if you want to get technical. I figured that out during my time in the military. I was a combat medic you see. Mistral Military. We didn't do much other than fight some Grimm or bandits. One tribe, in particular, gave us a lot of trouble. I got bored and left to satisfy myself. Eventually landed a job as captain here and met a fellow ne'er-do-well."

"The mayor?"

He nodded. "The mayor. He had a thing for kids and a powerful Semblance. One night here and I opened up to him. We were allies ever since. Of course he forced me into it but I got a lot out of it." He shrugged. "I couldn't have cared less really. It was mutually beneficial. We targeted families so he could screw around with kids and I'd get some lovely bodies to… examine." He gave them a feral smile.

"You're a monster."

"And? I'm caught now. After all this time!"

"You're ok with that? Being caught here and now? Is that why you're telling us all of this?"

"Are you complaining?"

"I just thought you would be harder to get talking."

He shrugged. "I don't gain or lose anything either way, so why not have a nice chat? Besides, I've been where you are, it's so frustrating trying to get someone to talk when they don't want to. I figured I'd give you kids a break. I'm a researcher, not a monster lacking sympathy" He leaned forward, that feral grin still in place.

Jaune swallowed and steadied himself. "How did you evade the Grimm?"

"That's the one you want first? Alright. My Semblance lets me create clones. I can project my emotions onto them. It lets me use them as decoys. They give off all the negativity so I remain safe."

"How did the mayor's Semblance work?"

"It used a lot of his Aura for one. He used it almost every night so his Aura was constantly kept low and I imagine it would have shattered from even the weakest of fighters. He had to be close to his target. He went on nightly walks around town for it. Even snuck into the inn you stayed at just so he could get you from the bottom floor. Had to know your name, appearance and vague location but didn't need to see you. He could get pretty much any memory he wanted, though, I don't think he could see them. Or if he could I never found out about it." The man seemed to consider for a moment. "Huh. I guess if you modify the right memories you can change parts of someone's personality. I wasn't this much of a chatterbox when he was around."

Jaune considered for a moment. "So no remorse at all?"

"No. None."

"I see. We'll leave you to the people you wronged then." Jaune turned and left. The man didn't respond.

Jaune was done with this damned town.

The town was silent for the first time that day. The people had finally collapsed from the exhaustion of the day's events. Ruby felt like doing the same, but she was having trouble. It was… difficult getting to sleep. The others all slumbered peacefully but she climbed onto the top of the inn and stared out into the night sky.

The tiles beneath her were cold. She'd never been a fan of the cold before, having preferred the heat that came around in the middle of the year. But now? Whatever the reason she didn't like warmth as much anymore. She wondered if it was because of Cinder. It was likely. That woman had ruined a lot of her life, so why not her favourite weather?

Ruby felt exhausted. More than just exhausted. She couldn't even be bothered to list off synonyms. She just lay back on the cold tiles and thought.

She thought about whether or not she should have stayed home. She wouldn't have killed a man if she did. But then this town would be stuck at the mercy of the mayor and his co-conspirators.

She thought about her revenge. What would she do once she beat Cinder? Kill her or capture her? Death or arrest? What was the better option?

She thought about her job as a Huntress. Where did human enemies fit in? Did they count as monsters? If they did, should they hunt them with just as much ferocity as they did Grimm?

She thought about her friends. Should she have let them come? If she chose to kill Cinder, did she let them fall into revenge with her?

What was the correct path? She didn't know and maybe she never would. But as she stared out into the starry sky she knew what her answers to those questions were, right or wrong.

This town would recover. It would grow and become better because she killed a man. Huntsmen and Huntresses hunted monsters, monsters in human skin were monsters nonetheless. Cinder was one such monster. She would hunt down any monster no matter what they looked like, but she wouldn't let her friends do it. This was her reason for continuing.

Ruby would be the Huntress who hunted any and all monsters. She would hunt Humans and Faunus and Grimm alike. She wouldn't be the ideal hero she once wished to be and she was okay with that. If it was needed she would become just as much a monster as those she hunted. If it bettered the world, then was it not a good thing? It might not be right, but it was what she was going to do.

Ruby would become the monster that hunted monsters. All so that nobody else would suffer like she has. She just had to get over the urge to vomit first. A monster was no good if it couldn't stomach killing.

Ruby eventually fell asleep on the roof, wrapped tightly in her blood-stained cloak.

A/N: This chapter. What to say about this chapter. Well, I had to rewrite it because the whole thing reset on me just after finishing the first time. That was fun. I'd finished earlier than expected too. So yeah that was annoying. The chapter is mostly the same, at least in terms of events. Though a lot of wording probably changed. Oh well. We're at the end of this little arc now. Ruby starts really heading down a dark path, following the likes of Sasuke and... that one kid from HunterXHunter? I only watched the first episode or two of that. I should fix that. Anyway. Revenge is the name of the game baby! That totally ends out well for everyone involved right? Right?

I hope you all enjoyed and I'll catch ya next time!