Chapter 60
Team RWBY and company had traced the signal of Penny's message to a remote island off the coast of Anima. It was an abandoned colony littered with the skeletal remains of those who tried to live there. Much to Ruby's dismay, all they found was some kind of laptop transmitting the signal.
"So this is where the signal came from?" Ruby couldn't help but ask.
"I mean, I think so, but it doesn't make any sense: why here of all places?" Raven declared with a tired nod.
"Are you okay?" Ruby asked, having noticed her aunt's fatigue.
"She's fine." Yang rolled her eyes. "She's just convinced that we're being set up so she refused to get any sleep on the way here so she'll be 'ready for the enemy.'"
"Sleep… means death!" Raven muttered.
"Meh, weak premise." Dew shrugged.
"This shouldn't be a total bust." Nebula reasoned. "This laptop isn't the origin of the signal, it's just transmitting it. I've got a simple A.I. who can help trace it."
"And in the meantime, this place would make a great set for a horror movie!" Dew announced. "I've got this script I've been working on about a zombie college student! I call it 'Dead Tired!'"
"Ha ha! Ren, you would be perfect for tha-!" Nora turned to her side, only to see that Ren wasn't there. "Oh… right."
"Well, in any case, it wouldn't hurt to scope this place out." Yang reasoned.
"Yeah, about that…" Pyrrha raised her hand. "I've done the math, and this whole island will take at least two weeks to properly examine as a full unit."
"Then we just split up and stay in touch." Yang declared.
"Oh, good! You already know your lines!" Dew cheered as she started filming. She pointed to Raven, who donned her tactical helmet. "Now, this is the part where you say-"
"DOOMED!" Raven's sleep-deprived mind declared. "You're all doomed! This city… is… haunted!"
Thirty minutes later, the group had split up to search for prying eyes. Raven kept a tight grip on her sword as she carefully made her way into one of the buildings. Her eyelids grew heavy just as she tripped on a crack in the floor. During that shock to her system, she spotted something out of the corner of her eye and aimed her sword. "Freeze!" She barked, only to find she was pointing at what appeared to be her reflection. "Oh… maybe Yang was right… I could use some rest…"
But as she walked away, she failed to notice that her "reflection" hadn't moved.
Meanwhile, Dew and Nebula were looking over the area, hoping to find some clue as to whom had set up the laptop and/or where the signal was coming from. "You know, fatigue aside, Raven brought up a good point earlier: it doesn't make a whole lot of sense that this is where the signal would be coming from." Dew pointed out as she was working.
"Yeah: coming all the way out here to this ghost town just to set up a laptop to transmit a message from a supposedly dead friend? I mean, I know that there's a possibility that this is all a trap, but still: this sounds like something that Winter would come up with while drunk." Nebula replied.
Meanwhile...
"Hey, what did you do that for?" Qrow couldn't help but call out, having just had his flask stolen by Winter and tossed across the area that they were seated.
The aforementioned former Guardsman could only frown in response. "...I'm not sure: I just had the strangest urge to make sure that my skills were as sharp as ever and to eliminate any alcohol that would impair them."
Back with everyone else...
"I'm sure we'll figure things out eventually." Nebula assured her companion.
Meanwhile, Nora kept her weapon in rocket-launcher mode as she cautiously strode through the streets. The hammer-wielder was uncomfortably reminded of her childhood as she continued to scout the area. Thinking of such a traumatic event made her think of Ren, and how much she came to rely on just his presence for comfort. But she was brought out of her morbid thoughts as a chilling voice rolled through the air.
"Noooooooraaaaaa…"
"Hello?" She gulped.
"Noooooooraaaaa…"
"Who's there?" She called out in a hushed tone.
"Noooooooraaaaa…"
"Who's there?!" She mustered as much courage as she could to raise her voice.
"It's me!"
"AAAAH!" Nora spun around only to groan. "Aw, Ruby! You scared the crap out of me!"
"Sorry! I tried to whisper, but you wouldn't turn around, so I have to talk loud now!" the hooded girl said with a sheepish grin.
"O-okay, Ruby! What do you want?"
"Oh! Yeah!" Ruby snapped her fingers. "Well, I know Yang said we should split up, but I was thinking we could split up together, y'know, 'cause it's scary!"
"Yeah… okay."
Ruby craned her head around as she surveyed the decrepit buildings and rotting skeletons. "What was this place?"
"It was a colony before it was attacked by Grimm." Nora replied. "I remember Pyrrha telling me something about it. It was a massacre. So many casualties."
"Whoa, that must've made so many ghosts!" Ruby gasped.
Nora snorted. "Ruby, there's no such thing as ghosts. People don't come back from the dead like that, it's just tall tales."
"Maybe… maybe nobody cared about these people." Ruby mused, sadly. "And that's why they haven't come back."
Nora blinked. "I… don't think caring has anything to do with it, Ruby."
"Well, here's what I've learned, Nora; I care about Penny. And she keeps coming back." Ruby explained. "Maybe it's because so many parts of her have been inside me, or maybe it's just because I love her so much, but I just know that we share a connection that not even death can sever."
"I dunno, Ruby." Nora shrugged. "I mean, that's a nice thought, but sometimes when you die, you just die. And nothing can bring you back. It doesn't matter how much someone cares about you, or how little, or not at all. Even after you've been friends after they saved your life, and you've secretly been in love with them for years and years, and just when you think you'll be together-together -"
"You're thinking about Ren, aren't you?" Ruby interrupted, tilting her head, slightly, having noticed the parallels quite easily.
"No!" Nora blushed, angrily. "I'm thinking about how what you said is wrong!"
"Well, scientifically speaking it doesn't make much sense." Pyrrha put in as she approached, having overheard the whole thing. "But science and magic are a bit paradoxical, aren't they?"
"Well, here's your science, Pyrrha; dead friend, plus love, equals Penny." Ruby declared with a grin.
"...I was actually going to say that with everything we've been through, we shouldn't constrain ourselves with what is and what isn't logical, but sure: let's go with that," Pyrrha said with an amused shake of her head.
Nora, meanwhile, just shook her own head in reply. "Nice sentiment, you two, but it wouldn't surprise me if Ren doesn't even regret having stayed behind."
Meanwhile...
Ren was sweating bullets as he continued to avoid all of the Grimm that had come for him, as well as a few mercenaries that had managed to survive the fall of Salem. "You know, we were hoping for some payback on your friends for all that they'd done to us, and here you are, all by yourself."
Ren just groaned as he prepared to defend himself. "I am really regretting having told Nora and the others that I didn't want them anywhere near me."
Back with Team RWBY and company...
"Don't lose hope just yet, Nora," Ruby said with a reassuring smile. "You never know what sort of surprises will be coming our way."
On the other side of the city, Yang received a call from Nebula. "Hello?"
"Good news." Nebula said. "I've traced the signal back to its point of origin."
"Great! I'll call the others and we'll meet back up at the Manta." Yang hung up and called Ruby. "Hey, Rubes! Guess what-?"
"AAH! Who are you?!" Ruby's voice cried.
"Ruby? Ruby, are you alright?!"
"No! No! NOOOO!"
"Ruby!" Yang rushed back to the Manta and met up with Nebula, Dew, Jaune, and Weiss on her way. At last, they found a cloaked figure holding an assault rifle, standing over the collapsed bodies of Ruby, Raven, Pyrrha, and Nora. Yang gasped in horror as she took in the scene before her, shocked at how all her friends and loved ones had been on the ground, before clenching her fists. "Don't worry, you guys: I wasn't able to prevent this from happening, but I will get some answers."
"And fortunately for you, I'm more than willing to provide some."
Yang snarled as she turned towards the newcomer. "Who are you?!" she demanded as she got into a fighting stance.
"I did not come here to fight," he declared with a calming gesture.
"You should've thought of that before you killed the people I love!" Yang snarled as she activated Dragon Fang.
"I did not touch them."
"Yeah, right!" Yang scoffed. "You expect me to believe you found them like this?!"
"Yes. That is exactly what happened." The figure pointed towards Raven. "That one collapsed from sleep-deprived exhaustion."
"Mmm, guh-buh muh boyfriend's noodles're not overcooked, Qrow…" Raven sleepily muttered.
"That one saw a small snake and fainted on top of the other." He continued, pointing towards an unconscious Pyrrha who had fallen on top of Nora; the hammer-wielder's cries being muffled by her friend's breasts as the tiny snake slithered away. At last, he pointed at Ruby. "Then that one… I believe is… playing dead?"
"Is the bad man gone, yet?" Ruby whispered.
"Oh… well, if you're not here to hurt anyone, what're you doing here?" Yang asked, confused.
"I am here to serve Yang Xiao Long."
"Oh, did Menagerie send you?"
"Yes." The masked figure nodded.
"Oh, hell yeah!" Yang cheered as she deactivated Dragon Fang. "I saved Menagerie, so they sent me a servant! My very own badass man-servant! This is the best!"
"So you are Yang Xiao Long?" He asked for clarification.
"Fuck yeah I am!" Yang's grin grew wider. "Now come on down!"
The mysterious figure hopped down from the ledge, holstered his weapon, reached into his satchel… and handed Yang a folder of papers. "You've been served."
"What the fuck…?" Yang cocked a confused eyebrow.
"Child support payments." He replied.
"Uh, no, dude." Yang scoffed and crossed her arms. "Holly has a boxing scholarship. Who's trying to pull this bullshit?"
"It's a class-action lawsuit."
Yang suddenly paled. "Aw, crap."
"From the dozens of mothers who sired children due to your reckless actions at the Temple of Procreation." He elaborated, further.
"The temple… oh, no! The temple!" Yang whimpered. "Why did I do it? It was so good! I didn't mean to! I meant to! I want to! I didn't mean to!"
"Intention is not my concern. Only consequence."
Nebula was bemused by the sudden development. "That is not how I saw this turning out."
Dew, on the other hand, was visibly more upset. "Wait, that's it? He just gives her the papers and leaves? No fight scene, no sword fight, no gun battle, no car chase?!"
"Seriously, is the scary man gone, yet?" Ruby asked, again, still laying on the ground.
"No! Please, no!" Yang begged.
"Fare thee well, citizens!" The lawyer declared as he powered up his jetpack. "You shall ne'er see me again, unless in service of the courts! My name is Roy Gerald Bivalto! And I live to serve!"
Yang fell to her knees as Roy blasted off, screaming into the sky in despair. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Weiss just sighed as Blake attempted to comfort her wife. "I wonder if anyone else is dealing with this sort of craziness."
Meanwhile, In New Rushland
When Svetlana heard that Team CFVY and Holly were coming to visit, she told them to meet her at the Penny Polendina Memorial Hospital.
"Good to see you again," Svetlanna declared, nodding to Holly as she did. "Roman says hi, by the way."
"He's here!?" Holly asked, before clearing her throat. "I mean, cool. That's cool."
"Holly!" a new voice called out before a young, dark-skinned girl in a light-blue sundress came running up to them. Instead of hair, jutting from her head was a short plumage of red-tipped brown feathers.
"Cyan! What's up, girl?" Holly called back with a smile before the two of them broke out into a secret handshake that they had developed.
Coco just snorted. "Not hard to tell that those two are best friends."
Cyan just smiled as she looked to Team CFVY. "Not that it isn't good to see you, but what are you doing here?"
"It's a bit of a long story," Holly said with a light smile.
"One I'd be interested in hearing."
Here, Holly took in a breath as she looked upon the approaching form of whom she thought was the most handsome man in all of Remnant. "Hello, my Flower," Roman Hill declared with a smile that made her melt.
Holly simply nodded as she briefly took in the man before her. He had blonde hair just like his aunt, and was dressed in attire similar to hers. "It's good to see you too, my Prince," she said with a loving grin before the two of them closed the distance and kissed.
Cyan rolled her eyes. "I swear, if I'm not the Maid of Honor at your wedding…"
"Heh, sorry about that, Cyan," Roman declared as he broke the kiss. "Just thought I'd let you know that my Aunt has some things that she'll need your foster mother to sign later...but it's always nice to catch up with my girlfriend here."
"Thanks for the heads up." Svetlana declared before turning to the others. "But seriously: why are you here?"
Velvet just sighed. "Like Holly said, it's a long story."
"So, did you ever do the thing?" Cyan asked as her foster parents left with Team CFVY to discuss the situation.
"What are you...OH, you're talking about that thing we discussed during one of my extended stays here." Holly declared as her mind turned back to the past.
Seven months ago, after Cyan had been placed into the custody of Svetlana and Mikhail, the robin faunus and her new doppelganger friend had been told to stay in her room while the adults discussed business. Holly had taken leave from the rest of the doppelganger society to visit the developing city and meet one of her mom's friends. Thanks to Cyan, she was able to gain access to the reconstruction blueprints of the city's residential district.
"You really think you'd want to move here, Holly?" Cyan couldn't help but ask.
"Hey, your foster folks claim this is the place for fresh starts. So maybe here I can be me instead of 'the Savior' or…" Holly's eyes lit up as a certain area on the blueprint caught her eye. She smiled as she pulled up more detailed information about the building. "Y'know what, Cyan? I didn't find a house to live in. I just found something better; I found a bar! Maybe I can… I mean, there's no reason I couldn't. Y'see, I always wanted a place like this. Maybe when you're legal we can move in together! 'Holly and Cyan!' That has a nice ring to it, huh? I can build an apartment above the bar and-" It was then that Holly noticed that Cyan had removed a grate from the vent duct and started to crawl inside. "Hey, what're you doing?"
"What this? This thing with the ceiling? It's called 'escaping.'" Cyan replied. "I saw Mikhail enter a secret passage behind a bookshelf, earlier, and I wanna find out what he's hiding."
"But… Svetlana told us to stay put." Holly reasoned.
"Yeah, see; me and orders kinda had a falling out." Cyan remarked. "Now, we're not really on speaking terms. So, when I'm told to wait in my room, I kinda have to do the opposite. Must admit, I had you pegged as a fellow rule-breaker."
"Who, me?" Holly shook her head. "Oh, no, no, no, no. I'm all mouth. No joke; my nickname in the boxing league was 'Shut the Hell Up.'"
"Well, the thing is, Holly, my parents are dead, the circus I grew up in is gone for good, and I have no idea what I have to look forward to, now." Cyan explained.
"Oooooh! So climbing into the vent is your way of… your way of…" Holly's brow furrowed for a second as she tried to make sense of her friend's actions. "Uuuuhhhh… nope, still don't get it."
"The point is, until I figure out what I'm gonna do with my life - until I can find a way to fill this void in my life where the circus used to be - I don't know who I'm gonna turn out to be. Not really. Not completely. And I think my foster parents are hiding something from me. Maybe figuring out what it is will help me out."
Holly shrugged and went back to the blueprints. "You could just ask them." She remarked under her breath.
"By the way…" Cyan poked her head back out of the vent with a smile. "'Holly and Cyan,' that does sound pretty cool."
"So, did you end up opening the bar?" Cyan asked, curiously, bringing Holly back to the present.
"Hell, yeah!" Holly whispered, excitedly. "It is the place to be every Saturday night!"
"Does Svets know about it, though?" Cyan whispered. "Does your mom? Does General Seoli?"
"Uh… not yet." Holly laughed, sheepishly. "But it's fine. I'll invite them to the official opening. It's fine."
"I should hope so," Roman declared as he leaned in. "I'd like to be there when it opens...and by the way, maybe wait until after I leave before you try whispering to each other."
"Noted."
"...and that's pretty much the gist of it." Velvet declared sometime later, having finished explaining the situation to her friends.
"Guys, I love Penny." Jean reasoned. "But I'm pretty much convinced spending more than half an hour with you people is hazardous to my health."
"Oh, come on!" Coco huffed. "We just went through this with Ren, we are not gonna take it from you!"
"Coco!" Velvet scolded her lover before turning to the practicing doctor. "Please, Jean! We've been through so much together!"
"We sure have!" Jean snapped, bitterly. "You guys threw me under the bus when Oobleck threatened to kick me off Team CPPR! Then you abandoned me in a cave to be possessed Paulette! Then you left me at the mercy of the Meta! And to top it all off; not a single one of you even noticed when Jaune sent me to an alternate dimension where I NEARLY LOST MY MI-" Jean was cut off as she suddenly broke into a dry coughing fit. "Uh, sorry. Something got stuck in my throat. Ahem. Nearly lost my mind."
"What?" Fox blinked. "When did that happen?"
"My point exactly!" Jean fumed in frustration.
"Uh, oh!" A cheery voice called out from around the corner. "Sounds like someone's been neglecting their medication!"
"That voice…" Team CFVY suddenly felt a familiar sensation of unease as the sound of clicking heels echoed from down the hallway. Sure enough, Dr. Octavia Ember came into view, smiling like a maniac as she did.
"Dr. Ember." Yatsuhashi waved. "What're you doing here?"
"Oh, I work here, now!" Octavia beamed as she forced the pill into Jean's mouth. "And let me tell you; it is so refreshing to be working in a hospital instead of a battlefield! Ha ha ha! Now I have some anesthetics to keep the whining down to a minimum. 'My leg hurts! I need blood! But I don't want a robot arm!' Ah, ha ha ha ha!"
Coco cringed at the cutesy way the doctor mocked her former patients. "Uh, so can you convince Jean to come with us?"
"As much as I dislike her tone, Dr. Jean Purple does have a point. She's one of the few doctors - practicing or otherwise - New Rushland has to offer. And frankly…" Octavia pulled aside a curtain, revealing a room full of sick patients. "We've got other things on our minds."
"And these are all of your patients?" Fox asked.
"Not quite." Jean pulled back a curtain at the end of the room, revealing a familiar faunus hooked up to life support. Velvet instinctively hugged Yatsuhashi for comfort at the startling sight, which he returned.
Coco shook her head in discomfort. "Dear gods…" She muttered. "We heard from Blake that he was still alive. I kinda hoped - for his sake - I kinda hoped it wasn't true."
Jean nodded. "Physically, he's fine. Octavia even managed to do some reconstructive surgery on his brain to remedy his aphasia. But his aura is too weak. We've tried everything to bring him out of this coma."
"Except that's not quite true, is it?" Octavia asked, holding up what appeared to be two cables.
"Oh, not this again." Jean muttered.
"Not what again?" Velvet asked, intrigued by the cables.
"I've developed a new method of resuscitation." Octavia smiled. "I submitted it to the surgeon general, but I need proof that it could work. Basically - very basically - you use a healthy aura to energize a faltering one."
"... so, it's like jumpstarting a car?" Coco asked, skeptically.
"More or less," Jean declared, "Except, as I've told Octavia a thousand times now, it's still in the experimental stage, and therefore not a reliable method."
"Well, we'll never know unless we try." Octavia argued back.
"Just ignore them for now," Svetlana called out. "They get like this all the time. But I'm sorry to say you'll have to go on without me, too. There's still much for me to do to rebuild this city."
"I'll go!" Cyan eagerly waved. "I wanna see the cool robot girl you guys were talking about! Let's get going!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, young lady!" Svetlana tugged the back of her adopted daughter's dress. "You're not going anywhere. This kind of mission sounds way too dangerous for you. Plus, you're starting school soon, remember?"
"Oh, come on, Svets!" Cyan whined. "I wanna help find the cool robot girl!"
"Yeah, let her come!" Coco insisted. "Why shouldn't she be allowed to help us?"
"She's twelve!" Svetlana replied, indignantly.
Coco leaned down to let the girl whisper in her ear before replying. "And a half!"
"Well, maybe we should go then."
"Wait, Paulette?!" Coco asked in a panic.
"Believe it or not, I don't want to fight you." Paulette declared from Jean's mouth. "In fact, I wish to help you on your quest."
"What?!" Jean called out. "You, Miss 'Kill all the humans', want to help them?!"
"Ruby and Penelope - the ones who were willing to give you a second chance and the former of which has been sending you five letters a month to show how much she had appreciated you - need my help. I'd be more angry with myself if I failed to do so again." Paulette remarked.
Jean scoffed. "Yeah, right: what's the worst that could happen if I said 'No'?"
As if on cue, a nearby wall exploded inward, with multiple mercenaries spilling in.
Velvet groaned. "Jean…"
"I know, I know: I jinxed it."
"Well, well, well…" One of the mercenaries chuckled. "What do we have here?"
"A billionaire, some faunus, some huntsmen, some huntresses, some doctors, and some sick people." The other giddily taunted as he and his partner drew their weapons.
"Really? That's funny; all I see is a room full of the dead and the dying. And believe me, that's a generous use of the present tense!"
Svetlana threw her hands up in surrender. Without her belt, she couldn't properly defend her friends and her ward, and their safety was her primary concern. Trying to draw attention away from Cyan, she slowly stood up with her hands still up. "Okay, stop. Please." She begged, desperate to diffuse the situation. "Don't shoot. You've won, okay? I don't know who you are, or what you want, but you've won. If that's what it takes for you to spare everyone else, then fine; you've won."
"Uh, Svetlana?" Octavia woozily stepped out from behind a curtain; her aura flashing as two cables hung from her shoulders."My friend here begs to differ." She nearly fainted to the ground when a massive, muscular hand reached out from behind the curtain to catch her. The doctor smiled as her rescuer pulled the curtain back and gently laid her on his former bed. Before slipping into a peaceful rest, Octavia savored the looks of pure horror on the mercenaries' faces.
The mercenaries aimed their weapons at the large faunus out of pure instinct, but couldn't bring themselves to pull the triggers. Even Svetlana, Cyan, and Team CFVY were speechless as the shark faunus finally spoke. "Do either of you know where you're standing?" He asked, rhetorically. "No? Then let me explain. My name is Polu Shark. Two years ago, I was attacked by a traitorous faunus who you both worked for on Menagerie! He and his thugs took me down. Hard. I was paralyzed, buried under the bodies of my friends, and left for dead. All of which means you two - you two mercenaries, being the very first mercenaries I've encountered since I was all but shot to death - are standing in the worst place on Remnant!"
Svetlana wisely covered up Cyan's eyes for what came next. Polu grabbed the first mercenary and ripped him in half with his bare hands, only to slam both pieces back together. Then, with lightning reflexes, he grabbed the second mercenary by the ankle as he was trying to escape. Yatsuhashi was the first to step forward, reaching one hand out as Polu repeatedly punched his enemy in the face. "Uh, Polu Shark?" He called out.
"Oh, please. Oh please." The mercenary whimpered as the shark faunus opened his mighty jaws, revealing both rows of razor-sharp teeth, and slowly pushed his prey's head into his mouth. "Oh please, oh please, oh please!"
With a sickening crunch, Polu severed the hired killer's head from his shoulders in one bite. "Polu!" Yatsuhashi finally managed to raise his voice. That seemed to do the trick, as Polu spat the head out and turned towards his one-time ally. Yatsuhashi gently rested a hand on Polu's shoulder. "I… I think you got 'em." He declared. "Honestly, I… I think that's enough."
"Yeah…?" Polu surveyed the room, as if he finally noticed the horrified faces and puddles of blood splattered everywhere. As Svetlana led Cyan out of the room, Polu let out a tired sigh and dropped the headless corpse. "... yeah. I guess you're right. Felt good, though. How's Octavia?"
Jean clicked her tongue as she examined her partner. "She'll live. It looks like her new method just wore her out."
"So, uh, you're Polu Shark," Holly nervously declared. "I'm, uh, I'm Holly: my parents might have mentioned me back before you were...you know."
Polu Shark simply chuckled and petted the human-Grimm hybrid behind the ears the way he used to with Blake. "It's fine kid: it's nice to meet you too."
Velvet simply shook her head in amusement as Holly gained a smile as she continued to bond with Blake's ex-boyfriend. "I wonder if anyone else is dealing with this sort of craziness."
Meanwhile, with Qrow and Winter
"You sure this is where Agent Green is located?" Qrow couldn't help but ask as he looked around the settlement that they had located.
"I mean, last I checked, that was the case," Winter said with a frown as she took in the lack of activity. "But it doesn't make any sense: he had to have noticed that we were coming, so why haven't we seen him yet?"
"And we'd likely be informed of him passing away at this point," Qrow said with a nod. "So the only way this all makes sense is if it was…"
"A trap?" A mercenary called out as he burst out of one of the bushes, with multiple other goons revealing themselves. "Nice to know that you aren't the complete idiots we took you for. Now surrender or this will get messy."
Qrow just scoffed. "Two against twenty or more: it hardly seems fair."
"No, it does not," Winter said with a shake of her head, before gaining a smirk. "These guys don't stand a chance."
To Be Continued