Author's note:
This chapter has been a long time coming, very important reactions here. I hope I do it justice.
Cover Art: Cruz7808
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Review, point out mistakes, and flame!
Chapter 40: C.T.
"I won't, I'm excited too." Jaune grinned as he hit play.
"C.T." Appeared on the screen with the theme.
"Hm, I guess we're finally going to learn what happened to C.T." Blake leaned forward.
"Do you still think she got killed by the leader?" Ruby pointed at Blake.
Blake nodded her head, "I do, but I could be wrong."
"He seemed genuine, I don't think he'd want to hurt her." Ruby made her stance clear.
Blake shrugged, "We'll have to see."
"Besides, I still think she used a voice changer like South and was the C.T. we saw in season seven." Ruby added.
"Hm." Blake grunted her understanding. "The C.T. In season seven didn't act like Connie."
"What if it's NEITHER!" Nora gasped.
Blake laughed, "That would be a twist, if it's neither then who is it?"
Nora tapped her chin, "...Grif."
"Nora there cannot be a sensible explanation for that." Ren shook his head.
"It makes sense! He just uses his holograms to make it look like he's sleeping when he's actually not there!" Nora explained. "It's how he was in two places at once and why Sarge thinks Grif is so lazy!"
Open to Washington and Carolina running across the desert
"ANCIENT ALIEN TEMPLES. PRESENT DAY…" appeared on the screen with the theme.
Wash stops.
Washington: "Here. I have no idea how she got here."
"Grif painstakingly buried her there." Nora answered.
"The wind did all the work." Weiss rolled her eyes.
Carolina walks up.
Carolina: "That's because she didn't."
Washington: "Is that who I think it is?"
"Hm, It is him." Blake smirked.
"Grif?" Nora asked, Blake chuckled and shook her head.
"Aw, I really thought it was her." Ruby sagged. "I wonder what happened to C.T. then?"
"If the C.T. in season seven wasn't her, then she could still be alive." Yang mused.
"I still want to know why and how he stole her armor." Blake's eyes narrowed.
Weiss nodded, "I'm with Ruby, I don't think he killed her. But he has her armor and that's suspicious."
"All we know is that he has her armor, doesn't mean anything." Yang cut in.
"Well the episode is called C.T. for a reason." Jaune explained, "Like you said, we'll find out." Jaune looked at Blake.
"Come on come on." Yang became antsy, "I know there's going to be a Tex fight. I'm just waiting for it to start."
Washington: "If what you're saying is true, how could this have happened?"
Close up on C.T.'s helmet. The desert around it fades away to C.T. in the past, shown with the Insurrectionist Leader in a room at the enemy complex.
"Interesting transition." Weiss noted, the show has come a long way. Though the camera work has always been surprisingly good.
"ENEMY COMMAND COMPLEX. MANY YEARS AGO…" appeared on the screen with the theme.
C.T.: "We need to get to the escape vehicle."
Insurrectionist Leader: "I'm not leaving them!"
Ruby grinned, "See? He's not a bad guy yet."
"He cares about his soldiers." Pyrrha nodded.
"Sadly there aren't many left." Blake pointed out.
"Unless the one armed guy and the girl survived after being knocked in the water." Ruby countered. "But I don't know if you can swim with only one arm.."
"With determination you can do anything!" Nora grinned.
The Insurrection Leader summons out two turrets from the ceiling by using a computer. On a terminal behind C.T. there is a picture of the Monitor body.
"Look." Ruby pointed, "It's Church's body!"
"The floating cue ball." Nora's eyes widened, "That thing was cool, he had a laser face!"
"And another thing I want to know, why did he want the artifact?" Blake asked.
"Tucker thought he wanted to sell it to the highest bidder." Jaune answered. "But that means he wanted the money for something doesn't it?"
"Could be, but my guess is the insurrectionists wanted it. He could have been ordered to find it." Blake explained. "They seem to want a lot of strange objects."
"Like the sarcophagus." Weiss nodded. "Which is still a mystery."
"And the cache of alien weapons." Ruby added. "Where Maine got his grenade launcher."
"The only object that the project cared about was the sarcophagus, which isn't really an object. Something alive was inside it, probably frozen." Weiss commented.
"I hope we learn what was inside it." Nora leant her cheek into her fist.
"We likely will." Ren assured.
C.T.: "You don't understand. They want me! They don't care about the rest of you. I know too much. If I leave, they will follow me."
"One of their goals is to get the leader too isn't it? After they failed to get him in space?" Weiss asked.
"I think so, but C.T.'s armor is definitely their main goal." Jaune explained.
Outside of the room, Carolina is seen joining Tex ouside the door.
Tex: "Quiet, that room is guarded by turrets."
Carolina: "I can get past them."
Tex: "If there was a way to do it, I would have already done it."
"The turrets are probably automatic right?" Jaune asked.
Ruby nodded, "Probably motion sensitive- er wait no they can be heat sensitive because they don't have Grimm."
Jaune nodded, "So the best option is to shut them off or disable them quickly. Because we don't know how they work and testing it would be too risky."
Ruby nodded, "Right, and once that door is open there's no cover."
Carolina turns on her radio.
Carolina: "York, I need you to cut the power on the main complex."
Cuts to the Twin Insurrectionist Chain Gunners, firing at the Freelancer agents. Both are laughing/crying.
Blake recoiled, "One of them has the same laugh as Sun. That is very disturbing."
Yang was grimacing with her, "I know what you mean, one of them sounds like a demented Ruby whining."
"Hey!" Ruby protested. "Wait really?"
Yang nodded, meeting her eyes.
"You don't think it's actually their voices do you?" Weiss asked.
Yang shrugged, "Well Ruby has shown up before, she was female Simmons remember?"
"Yeah it was freaky, but not as freaky as being one of those creepy guys." Ruby pointed.
"And that laugh was unmistakably Sun." Blake shook her head, "His laugh is very characteristic.. even in a distorted form."
"Creepy." Nora summarized.
Everyone nodded.
Pan up to York and Washington.
York: "Little busy out here!"
Cuts back to Carolina and Tex.
Carolina: "Just do it."
"She has no right to demand anything after she almost got herself killed." Weiss crossed her arms, "Charging in like that."
"Especially because she also endangered Washington and York when they covered her." Pyrrha added.
"She is a danger to herself and others when she becomes competitive." Ren added.
"But when she's not competing, she's an incredible teammate. She saved North and South last season, saved Maine after he saved her, saved Washington just now and fought with Maine again." Pyrrha listed.
York: "(over radio) I'll see what I can do."
Cuts back to York, Wash, and Wyoming.
Washington: "Sounds like a good excuse to get out of this firefight."
Florida pulls himself up.
Wyoming: "Good show, mate! That's the spirit. Still have a bit of fight in you."
"They took a hatchet to the chest and are already up, bravo." Yang clapped.
"He doesn't look like the normal freelancers, he looks more like one of the regular project soldiers." Ruby commented. "His armor doesn't cover as much and it's sleeker. His helmet matches the typical soldier helmet too."
"Are you saying he might not be a freelancer?" Jaune asked.
Ruby shrugged, "I think he just doesn't have that armor of one. He probably doesn't have an ability either."
Florida pulls the tomahawk from his shoulder and tosses it at the Twin Insurrectionist Chain Gunners. It hits the ground and skids to a stop a few feet away from them. The Twin Chain Gunners share a glance before continuing to fire.
"That was the third worst throw ever, of all time." Nora quipped.
"Where's Donut when you need him?" Yang chuckled.
"The thrower just distracted them and they should have taken that chance to take the gunners out." Jaune commented. "Wyoming could have done it, bad throw or not."
"The leader put more force into his throw by using his entire body. That's how he was able to land his throw. The blue freelancer only used their arm." Pyrrha gestured throwing a spear with only her arm. "When I throw my spear I use my whole body." Pyrrha then shifted her whole body, mimicking a throw.
York: "Huh, so much for that plan."
Washington: "What now?"
Florida takes cover and spots a crane off to the side. He fires his grenade launcher at the crane arm three times.
Ruby gasped, "That's so cool! His grenade launcher looks like a regular rifle!"
"That would be so funny to use." Nora began to giggle, "The enemy thinks they can take you with your crummy rifle then bam! Explosion!" Nora flourished and mimicked an explosion with her arms spreading apart.
"Thanks for the demonstration." Jaune chuckled.
The crane swings toward the gunners and hits the ground which knocks a crate out of its grasp. The crate slides across the bridge edge and knocks the Twin Insurrectionist Chain Gunners off their platform and onto the bottom floor where the crate messily crushes them into yellow paste.
"Wait were they not human?" Weiss asked.
"They didn't look like aliens." Blake commented. "And the aliens we saw had blue blood."
"Robots?" Jaune asked.
"I think Lopez runs on motor oil, it would be black if they were." Yang explained.
"Maybe it was paint." Ruby suggested.
York: "Ha, I don't believe it!"
Cuts to Carolina and Tex.
York: "(over radio) We're all clear Carolina. We'll be dark in less than sixty."
Carolina: "Roger that."
Carolina stands up and turns off her radio,
Carolina: "Don't forget our objective. We're just here to retrieve the armor."
Pyrrha smiled, "It sounds like she's not going to listen to the Director."
Tex: "Carolina, I know what the fucking objective is!"
"Tex is just as Texy as ever." Yang commented.
"I think Carolina wanted to remind Tex that she doesn't have to kill C.T." Pyrrha commented.
Inside the command complex, the Insurrectionist Leader still works on the computer. The lights go out.
Insurrectionist Leader: "Damn it!"
C.T.: "We need to go!"
Insurrectionist Leader: "I already told you, I can't leave them!"
The Insurrectionist Leader pulls out a tomahawk.
C.T.: "Most of them are already dead! Besides if we leave they have no reason to be here!"
"All of the soldiers from the highway are gone." Blake commented.
"This looks like the end of the insurrectionists." Weiss added.
C.T. pulls a data pad out of the computer.
"That had the project freelancer logo on it." Blake noted.
"I bet it has a ton of project secrets on it!" Nora grinned.
Blake nodded, "Probably a list of the illegal acts committed by the Director."
C.T.: "Please, let's just go while we still can!"
C.T. grabs the Insurrectionist Leader by the hand and turns him towards her.
Insurrectionist Leader: "Connie, come on!"
Blake smiled, "Hm, I think you're right Ruby."
"Yeah, they care about each other." Ruby grinned.
"I'm surprised, I thought he would kill her. But now I can't imagine him doing anything to harm her." Blake explained, her smile fell, "But he still ends up with her armor, why?"
Jaune hit play.
C.T.: "You promised me. You said we would be together. I have all the information we need, I have my armor. We can take this to the right people and they'll…"
Insurrectionist Leader: "They'll what Connie?"
C.T.: "I don't know! Make a deal with us! Keep us out of prison! They'll help us! Come on, we don't have much time."
"So their goal is to stay out of prison." Yang ran a hand through her hair.
"She's right." Weiss gestured to C.T. "She can probably make a deal to stay out of prison. The Chairman seems somewhat lenient with options like those."
"Kind of like what happened with Washington." Blake commented, "The insurrectionists are a blatant illegal group. From what we know they sound like a military faction that has split from the main group, the UNSC. And C.T. technically stole armor from them. An important military asset as the Chairman put it."
The doors to the room open and Carolina and Tex enter.
Carolina: "Actually, you don't have any time."
C.T.: "Carolina! And you."
Yang frowned, "She doesn't seem to like Tex at all."
"Interesting." Blake leaned forward.
York: "(over radio) Hey Carolina, the power's off."
Carolina: "We noticed."
York: "(over radio) What, no 'thank you?'This was a complicated-"
Delta: "(over radio) Actually, I did most of the work Agent York."
York: "(over radio) Give it a rest, D!"
Ren chuckled, "I have the feeling that Delta is enjoying himself."
"York sounded like he wanted to take the credit." Ruby added.
"To impress Carolina I'm guessing." Yang grinned. "Delta put a stop to that."
Ren chuckled again.
Tex moves forward, gun still trained on C.T.
Tex: "C.T., you have something that belongs to project Freelancer, and you know how the Director hates to share."
"He's very arrogant." Pyrrha agreed.
C.T. moves forward.
C.T.: "You two are fools. The Director is playing you. Don't you see it?!"
Carolina: "C.T. stop it! We know you've been feeding intel to the resistance for months!"
Insurrectionist Leader: "Ha, ha, is that who he told you we are?"
"So they're not insurrectionists?" Ruby raised an eyebrow.
"Sounds like it." Blake furrowed her eyebrows.
"But the Director- oh, oh he lied." Ruby's eyes widened. "Who are they then?"
"All we know for sure is that they have ties to Charon industries, but that could mean anything from the group stealing from the company to simply buying their product to even being funded by them." Weiss explained.
"What do you think?" Ruby asked.
"Funded, I think they're funding the group. The Staff of Charon is too obvious to mean anything else." Weiss explained, recalling the ship the leader was in.
C.T.: "They aren't the enemy Carolina. We're the ones working outside the rules, not them."
"If that's true then why doesn't the UNSC do anything? The Chairman is clearly competent, he would shut down the project like that-" Weiss snapped her fingers, "If the project was attacking legitimate soldiers."
"There's something going on behind the scenes that we don't know about." Blake smirked, "I can't wait to find out what it is."
C.T.: "You don't know what the Director has done. He's broken major laws. When this war ends, we're all going to have to pay for his crimes! Maybe some of us are already paying for them."
"Maybe nothing is being done because most effort is being focused on the war." Blake suggested.
Weiss nodded, "Hm that would make sense.
"The lesser of two evils can live to be fought another day." Ren said wisely.
"And they might also be hesitant to do anything about the Director because project freelancer is one of the projects trying to find the magic bullet to win. Again the lesser of two evils." Blake explained.
"That's no excuse." Ruby frowned, "The Director is manipulating and torturing his agents in cruel experiments to test their reactions. He let Carolina give Maine her A.I. knowing it would not end well. He's basically experimenting on humans and I know that's a major no no. AND he's torturing the Alpha, splitting him apart, that's the worst."
"And the specific crime that the Chairman wanted to arrest him for." Yang added.
Tex raises her gun.
Tex: "You need to stop talking, C.T.!"
C.T.: "No, I know what you are Tex; and I won't take orders from a shadow."
Tex: "What did you just call me?!"
"They need to stop escalating, both of them." Ren frowned. "C.T. needs to tell her story before they do anything rash."
"I think they're past reason." Yang commented. "And is that why C.T doesn't like Tex?"
"Maybe, but it doesn't fit her actions." Blake pointed out. "I don't know why she reacted that way to seeing Tex."
Carolina steps forward.
Carolina: "You're coming with us, C.T. This is your last chance."
C.T.: "No, I'm not going anywhere with you."
The leader backs up toward his axe.
Pyrrha looked down, "Nothing can stop their fight now."
Tex: "Actually, we don't need you. We just need your armor."
"Pray" by Jeff Williams begins to play.
"I ain't trickin' the narrative!"
Tex adjusts her aim fires, hitting C.T. She falls.
Insurrectionist Leader: "No!"
The group gasped.
The devastation in his voice Blake felt sympathy for the man once she heard the raw emotion in his voice.
"No she can't die just like that! Jaune hit play." Nora ordered.
"People say it's suicidal or it's arrogance"
The shot C.T. turns out to be a hologram and the real C.T. rushes forward, grapples Tex, and takes out her knife and pins Tex's right hand to her back.
"Crucify me as heretic, perished in to embarrassment!"
"Oh it was just a hologram." Nora sighed in relief, "I don't want my character dying so soon."
"Tex just shot her, with no hesitation." Yang shook her head.
"Carolina's warning didn't work." Pyrrha sighed. "But C.T. was prepared, did you see what she did?"
"Stabbed Tex in the back, which wow! I thought Carolina said she was a bad fighter?" Ruby turned to Pyrrha.
"She didn't just stab her in the back, she pinned one of her hands to her back." Pyrrha explained. "Immobilizing Tex is the best way to defeat her, she can fight much longer than most people and is brutishly strong while maintaining her speed."
"So Tex literally has to fight with one hand behind her back?" Yang asked.
Pyrrha chuckled and nodded, "Yes, C.T. caught her by surprise and pulled an incredibly clever move."
"My money is still on Tex even with only one arm." Yang leaned back. "And she has a soundtrack, goldie is back."
"The music cued in at the perfect time." Weiss commented.
Jaune hummed "We know the leader survives, I don't know who will win."
"It's Tex and Carolina together, how can they lose?" Ruby asked.
"Exactly." Pyrrha grimaced, "It's them together, they aren't exactly the best team. And while Carolina's goal is likely to only incapacitate C.T. Tex won't shy away from killing her. Carolina and Tex's goals could clash."
Yang nodded, "Yeah you're right. And even if they don't outright start fighting each other they might try to outdo each other."
"They can't be that childish can they?" Weiss asked.
"Carolina could be." Pyrrha frowned, "But I don't think it will come to that, I don't know who could win. If Carolina and Tex work together then they will win. But I'm sure C.T. and the Leader can fight well together. And Tex will be fighting with a disability."
"I'm going to say C.T. and the leader will win, or it'll be a draw and they escape." Ruby guessed.
"The leader could escape and they could capture C.T. too." Jaune suggested.
"This fight is filled with too many unknowns to properly predict the outcome." Pyrrha shook her head.
"Yeah, let's just watch." Jaune nodded.
C.T. then pushes Tex forward into the Insurrectionist Leader who strikes her with his tomahawk. Tex falls to the ground.
Yang's smile fell, "Tex just got her ass thoroughly kicked, where the hell did these two come from?"
"They're coordinated and they caught her by surprise. When Tex is fighting more than one opponent she can usually depend on their lack of coordination. Not this time." Pyrrha analysed.
Carolina ducks behind a crate as the Insurrectionist Leader tosses a tomahawk towards her.
"Heralding under marriages,
Pocketed in it's garishness"
"I love his tomahawks! Hatchets, whatever!" Ruby gushed, "He can have so many, and he's treating them like throwing knives."
"I like them too, axes are just thin sharp hammers!" Nora grinned.
"And I'm loving this new song." Yang chuckled.
"It fits the tone of the fight strangely enough." Weiss added. "I don't know what he is singing- I mean rapping about though."
Carolina fires back at him. C.T. attacks her with a knife and Carolina fires, hitting a fake C.T. and dodging the real C.T.'s attacks. C.T. disarms Carolina and Carolina pulls out her electric baton and hits C.T. with it.
"Murders splurges is fervently,
Gather me, it's inheritance!
"Everything is happening so fast! And I thought last episode's fight was hard to follow." Ruby commented excitedly, her blood already pumping.
Tex and the Insurrectionist Leader fight. Tex jumps behind him and flips him onto the ground. As he gets up, Tex kicks him in the head.
"Kill the messenger, knock 'em down and blow across a blessed verse"
"I guess Tex got up, I didn't even see it happen!" Yang laughed. "Wonder where the knife and the tomahawk went?"
"I don't see either." Blake searched the screen. "But she is strong enough to take both weapons out."
"And her body is robotic so it doesn't hurt her.. wow if she wasn't a robot she might be either severely injured or dead." Yang's eyes widened.
"The leader should have pressed the attack, gotten out more tomahawks or other weapons to hamper her movement." Pyrrha explained. "But Tex is fast, and my guess is that she tossed the weapons aside. She prefers to fight with her fists."
"Yehea she does." Yang voiced her approval.
He gets back up and the two resume fighting.
"Massacre the hours till the power aches and seconds hurts"
Carolina and C.T. duel each other. Carolina with her baton and C.T. with her knife. Carolina gets the upper hand and strikes C.T. several times.
"Fate is half a mistress, but the rest of her is passenger"
"She is tragedy to those who's death defines and makes her work"
"C.T can't land a hit and is barely keeping up with blocking Carolina's attacks." Pyrrha shook her head. "It's impressive how C.T. is managing."
"She uses her holograms a lot." Blake noted.
"She's doing everything she can to keep up, but she's been on the backfoot for most of this fight." Pyrrha sympathized.
A fake C.T. disappears and the real C.T. lunges at Carolina. The real C.T. lands a kick.
"That was good." Pyrrha's eyes widened. "She managed to land a strike."
"I admire the way she uses her holograms, my clones can't move so I can't use mine in the way she does." Blake shrugged a 'what can you do?' shrug. "She uses hers to confuse and provoke an attack that will miss and leave an opening."
"And it just worked on Carolina." Pyrrha added.
"These savages is mean and only understand gun fire"
Carolina, Tex, C.T., and the Insurrectionist Leader all back away as C.T. swings her knife. They pause for a second. Then they all come together and attack each other.
"That was awesome!" Nora shouted.
"It really is like a dance." Ruby mumbled, recalling Ozpin's words.
"The momentary pause was epic." Yang added.
"And it was synchronized with the music, excellent sound design." Weiss complimented.
Tex kicks the leader and helps Carolina by kicking C.T.
"Don't get caught slippin' up in the jungle squire"
Carolina knocks the Leader down and C.T. knocks Tex down at the same time.
"They want your armor so believe in one simple fact"
"Did she just knock Tex down?" Yang gasped.
"C.T. Should be at the top with the rest!" Nora shouted.
"I don't think she would want that." Ren chuckled.
"But she's right, she's landed hits on Carolina and Tex!" Jaune grabbed fistfulls of hair. "She's amazing!"
"She is giving this fight her all." Pyrrha added.
C.T. and Carolina trade blows, C.T. tries to send a hologram but Carolina isn't fooled and hits the real C.T.
"Just for that they'll take your face off just like that"
The leader comes in from the right to attack Carolina. She kicks the Insurrectionist Leader over to Tex who punches him in the face, knocking him across the floor.
"Lies and deceit, disguise and critique"
"Carolina and Tex fight well together." Pyrrha complimented.
"Together they are unstoppable." Ruby gazed at the screen, wide eyed.
"If they could put aside their petty rivalry, imagine what they could do!" Weiss gestured to the two fighting.
"That's a terrifying combination." Jaune commented, unconsciously backing away from the screen.
C.T. and Carolina continue to fight.
"Be on yo P's and Q's, wit' everybody you meet"
"What does that mean?" Nora scratched her nose.
"It means minding your manners." Weiss said, watching Nora's finger drift toward her nose.
C.T. loses grip of her knife but grabs it again in the other hand and continues her attack.
"And trust is a weakness on this side of the fleet"
Carolina flips and disarms C.T with a kick as she flipped. In the same movement she sweeps C.T.'s legs out from under her.
"Pyrrha you're right, no moves are ever wasted." Jaune commented.
"I didn't even see what happened, why did she let go of her knife?" Ruby asked.
"Carolina kicked it." Pyrrha explained.
"Ohhh wow!"
Tex charges at C.T. with a tomahawk and misses.
"Cause they'll fake showin' loving and leave you bleedin' on the street"
C.T. summons a holographic projection as she rolls and stands up. Two identical C.T.'s stand before Tex.
"And that's real"
"Uh oh, who's the real one?" Yang asked.
Tex grabs the second tomahawk that was thrown at Carolina earlier and swings both at both C.T.'s The right cuts into C.T.'s stomache while the left passes through the hologram.
"(Chorus)Pray for the day that the lies don't find you"
"Well that's one way of finding out." Yang winced.
"It's over." Pyrrha shook her head.
Tex throws the other tomahawk into C.T's shoulder, blood explodes outward. The Insurrectionist Leader begins to get up as C.T. falls to the ground with a grunt.
"(Chorus)Pray that the end isn't right behind you!"
The song ends.
"Gah! That was brutal." Ruby flinched.
"Yeah.. again no hesitation." Yang frowned. "Usually Tex kicking ass is funny or awesome. But wow, that was scary and brutal."
"The entire fight C.T. was aggressively defending herself. But her holograms only worked once on Carolina and Tex. The trick couldn't work again." Pyrrha gestured to C.T. on the ground. "Tex didn't take the bait."
"And again it was just so brutal." Yang felt apprehensive, "C.T. wasn't bad at all but Tex didn't hesitate. I know she didn't hesitate when she shot but now it feels more real."
"I think we all knew this fight would end badly." Blake grimaced. "All of that happened in just under a minute."
"I think that was the best choreographed fight yet." Pyrrha complimented.
"It was so fast." Ruby repeated.
Yang nodded, "And that song is probably the best rap song yet. But the end chorus was interesting." Yang turned to Weiss who groaned.
"Don't." Weiss shook her head.
"Anyway back to the fight, or rather the ending." Weiss clarified, "I don't think C.T. survives this."
"She could." Nora pouted, "Jaune play it."
Carolina grabs Tex by the shoulder.
Carolina: "What the hell are you doing?!"
Tex shakes her off.
Tex: "Completing our objective!"
"Is she serious?" Yang asked. "I didn't expect her to be so.. so heartless but I don't know why I didn't expect it."
"Tex changes for the better." Ruby reassured her.
Carolina: "By killing a teammate?!"
Tex: "She's not a teammate. She's a traitor."
"Even after C.T.'s betrayal, Carolina still saw her as her teammate." Ruby smiled.
"She's very loyal to her team.. unless she has to compete with Tex." Pyrrha's smile fell.
The two hear a door open. They turn to see the Insurrectionist Leader supporting C.T. into an escape pod. He then closes the door behind them.
"She just let them escape, and she didn't let her competitiveness get in the way." Ruby grinned at Pyrrha who smiled back.
Tex: "Damn it! That's on you! I guess you can explain how we lost a whole suit of armor and failed to capture the leader of the resistance!"
"Carolina is going to go down on the leaderboard." Pyrrha winced, "I don't think Carolina's obsessive competitiveness can get better from here."
"I'm just happy they escaped." Nora smiled, "My character lives to fight another day!"
"I'm disappointed that Tex still calls him the leader of the resistance, neither of them listened to a word C.T. said." Blake sighed.
Tex turns on her radio.
Tex: "Command, we need extraction, now!"
Four Seven Niner: "(over radio) I got 'em command. Read you loud and clear Texas. Clear me an L.Z. and get ready for pickup."
Tex walks off.
Carolina: "I don't know what's gotten into you Texas, but you better figure out the difference between your enemies and your friends."
Pyrrha smiled sadly, "At no point did Carolina forget that C.T. was truly on their side."
"Yeah, I wonder if Tex didn't shoot.. do you think Carolina would have listened to her?" Yang asked.
Pyrrha nodded, "Maybe, but the leader was about to attack too."
"I don't think the situation could have gone any differently, tensions were too high for either side to see reason." Blake growled bitterly.
"I think they could have talked, if Tex and the leader stood down." Weiss explained.
Carolina follows. Cut to the Insurrectionist Leader and C.T. moving inside the escape pod.
"Forever" by Jeff Williams plays.
C.T.: "Ooh!"
C.T. falls to the floor.
C.T.: "Agh."
Nora sagged, "No…"
She lies down at the back of the ship, wincing in pain. The Insurrectionist Leader removes his helmet.
Insurrectionist Leader: "Connie."
"He calls her Connie." Yang smiled sadly.
"I wonder if that's why she didn't want the others calling her by that." Blake laughed mirthlessly. "Because he called her Connie."
C.T. removes her helmet.
C.T.: "Agh."
Insurrectionist Leader: "Connie."
C.T.: "Here, take the info. It's not complete but it'll get them started."
"She wants him to stay out of prison." Blake noted. "She's giving up on herself."
"She knows it's her time." Ren closed his eyes.
C.T. hands the data pad over to the Insurrectionist Leader.
C.T.: "Go, find the new artifact."
Insurrectionist Leader: "You just rest, Connie. Just... rest."
C.T. dies in his arms, taking her last breath. Her lip trembles almost as if she was trying to talk.
Ruby sniffled, "She- she just-" she couldn't complete her thought before she had to stifle a sob.
"She will rest." Ren took a deep breath.
"She wanted to say something." Blake almost choked up.
"I- I think it was 'I love you.'" Jaune said, in almost a whisper.
A tear fell from Ruby's eye, "She died in his arms, he- he had to." More tears fell. He had to watch her die, helplessly.
Nora sniffed, wiping her eyes. Blake tried to hide her tears but failed. Ren shed silent tears, in his mind he could only see Nora in C.T.'s place. Nora saw and clasped her hands around his.
"Ren, it's okay." Nora smiled, talking softly.
Ren met her eyes, "It's your voice, I could only hear, your voice." Ren took a deep breath. "Sorry, Nora." Nora wrapped her arms around him, Ren smiled and returned the favor.
"Don't be." Nora smiled, "Hey I'm not her, I'm me.. and I'm too wild to be put down."
Ren chuckled and took a few calming breaths.
"I can't believe this show made me cry." Ruby sniffled again, wiping away her tears. Yang smiled and helped with the hem of her scarf.
Insurrectionist Leader: "Connie? Connie! Connie…"
Ruby's cries began anew, stray tears fell from Yang's eyes too. Both thought the same thing. Dad.
"You're thinking of dad and mom aren't you?" Yang asked.
Ruby nodded, not trusting herself to speak.
"It's okay Rubes." Yang ran a hand through Ruby's hair. It's like hearing dad again.. in his sleep. He had nightmares for so long, where mom died in his arms and he couldn't save her.
Pyrrha rubbed her eyes, "Things could have been different." Their destiny could have been different. If only they talked.
Weiss took deep calming breaths, "I- I wasn't expecting this." Weiss fanned her face, her lips trembling.
Jaune waited for everyone to compose themselves, "Ready?"
He received multiple silent nods. Jaune waited a few more seconds, then hit play.
"You and I were in a dream"
Weiss gasped, "I- is that?"
Yang became slightly amused, though couldn't muster a laugh. The image of her father's tear stained cheeks as he slept still fresh in her mind.
"It is me." Weiss gasped, "I should have listened."
No one had the heart to tell her 'I told you so.' All were too wrapped up in the scene before them.
Insurrectionist Leader: "No!"
"You'd follow close wherever I'd lead"
Insurrectionist Leader: "No."
The group quickly realized what the song was about. The tears came back with a vengeance.
Cut to Maine, North, and South as they watch the escape vehicle containing the Insurrectionist Leader and the dead C.T. blast out of the water and into the sky.
"My steps, you'd echo, on and on"
Maine puts his brute shot onto his back as the three watch the ship go.
"You'd catch me, safe if ever I'd fall"
Weiss began to choke up, "I- can't."
"Weiss, you have a beautiful voice." Pyrrha complimented, wiping a tear away.
Weiss chuckled though she did not know where the laughs came from, "Thank you."
Cut back to the interior of the escape vehicle. The Insurrectionist Leader lies C.T. down and picks up her helmet.
"Your hand in mine, we walked along"
He looks at it for a moment before putting it on.
"No hill too high, no road was too long"
Tears welled up in Weiss's eyes, Yang moved over and wordlessly wrapped her arms around her.
"Yang?" Weiss asked in a choked cry.
"Sorry Weiss." Yang said even though she was not sorry at all, "I just know the amount of emotion you put into your music. And even though it's not technically you.."
Weiss smiled, "Thank you Yang, sorry I'm just thinking about my sister. I know the song is probably intended towards losing a loved partner.. but I can only think of how hard it would be to lose her."
Ruby wrapped her arms around Weiss too.
"We were thinking of our dad and our mom." Yang gestured to Ruby who nodded against Weiss's side.
Weiss nodded back, "I can't imagine the pain that man is going through right now. I know nothing I imagine can come close to the real pain."
"I imagine it's like losing someone who is a part of you." Blake thought of Adam, the pain of losing the person he once was.
Through the Insurrectionist Leader's point of view through the eye spots in the mask, he looks down at C.T.
"To stay with you, my only dream"
Cut to show the Insurrectionist leader with C.T.'s helmet on.
"To share your life, whatever it'd mean"
The scene fades back to C.T.'s helmet at the desert in present time.
"He lost his team, his friends, and his love." Blake wiped the final remnants of tears away.
"And only has a suit of armor to show for it." Yang added bitterly. "Along with a final mission, find the useless artifact."
"So he can live peacefully out of prison, without her." Blake sagged.
"Useless to him." Yang nodded.
"I think it's nice that he has her armor to remember her by.. I don't think they had the chance to get rings." Jaune frowned. "But he has a part of her now, it's something at least."
"It won't be enough, it can never be enough." Blake looked down. "That mission was pointless."
"The mission failed, C.T. died. The resistance leader escaped with his life and nothing else that truly mattered." Yang shook her head. "It's a mess."
"He's all alone.. I feel bad for how he ended up." Ruby sighed. "All of his friends died too."
"It's a tragedy.." Blake shook her head. "We don't even know his name."
Washington: "So that's what happened to her armor."
"ANCIENT ALIEN TEMPLES. PRESENT DAY…" appeared on the screen with the theme.
Carolina: "Apparently. We never did complete our objective."
Washington: "But why come out here? What's the motivation?"
Close up on Carolina's hand as she picks up the data pad that was given to the Insurrectionist Leader right before C.T. died.
Carolina: "I have a feeling this'll tell us."
The episode ends, cut to black.
"What an emotional rollercoaster." Yang sniffled and chuckled. Trying to bring light to the group.
"Yeahah." Nora sniffled too, "An awesome fight and then a really, really sad ending."
Weiss laughed at the absurdity of it all, "This show started with a group of obscene idiots and now I'm crying." Weiss wiped her eyes.
"I think it's safe to say this is the best show I've ever seen." Blake smiled, "Like you said Yang, an emotional rollercoaster."
"Next episode better be a cheerful episode with nothing bad." Ruby mumbled.
"With rainbows and pancakes." Nora added.
—Salem SS—
Salem sat silently as the episode ended, her calm demeanor hiding the cold hatred she felt. That bastard, I was in that position once. Looking at my dead lover in my arms, helpless. How could they allow it? They were all powerful. They allowed a sickness to take him… him. That bastard, after everything he chose to betray me. To sneak our.. our. To Salem's right a window pain cracked.
The others in the room flinched. Salem took a calming breath. She turned her eyes to the screen. Hm, this leader has lost everything. And what does he choose to do? He squanders his remaining years searching for a useless artifact. What a waste.
Salem pushed all thoughts of Ozma away, and refused to even think about her children. With a wave of her hand, Tyrian began the next episode.
—Bird's SS—
"You know Tai had nightmares right?" Qrow asked.
"What of it?" Raven snapped.
"They weren't just about Summer, he once told me that he dreamed of you dying in his arms too." Qrow seethed. "And you know what? Sometimes I think that would have been easier on him."
"Summer abandoned him too, the little hero." Raven growled.
"She died, you abandoned him." Qrow clarified. "But what am I doing? You never listen."
"Yet you keep trying to guilt me, Qrow I do not feel guilty over what happened." Raven flashed him a smile.
Qrow grunted a shrug and took a drink, "She died in one of the worst ways possible."
"What!?" Raven flinched.
Qrow pointed to the screen, "C.T."
Raven relaxed a little, "What do you mean?"
"Did you see how she gasped for breath? How she tried to say something but couldn't?" Qrow asked. "Unfinished business, I imagine I'll be unlucky enough to die without being able to give out a final thought."
Raven shrugged, "Probably." She was utterly uninterested and unfeeling.
—Ozpin SS—
I imagine that's how Salem held me.. an awful thing to see. A lover, a friend, a piece of you die in your arms. Too often it has happened to me too. But from experience, I know how comforting it is to be held in your final moments. It truly does feel as if you're just resting. That you might wake up in their arms in a little while.
..if only.
—Cinder's crew—
"What was with that sappy bs?" Mercury complained.
"Even the song, blegh." Emerald recoiled.
Cinder rolled her eyes, the song was remarkable. Simple yet elegant. The lyrics perfectly encapsulated the feeling of losing a lover. Cinder chuckled, I wonder how many other's lovers I have killed? How many have I left to experience what the leader just went through?
You can thank Brian.H.H for the analysis of the fight. You can also thank TheReckless1One for Some ideas I used in this chapter. Another round of thanks for all others who helped with ideas and suggestions.
What did you think of the chapter? This is an important one so if there are any mistakes/things left out let me know. I'll go back and update the chapter.
