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Rude Awakening

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All good things come to an end.

And all bad things find new beginnings.

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Under the tattered roof of an old abandoned warehouse, Yang slept against the cold steel of a shipping container…her slumber being everything short of peaceful.

Memories of better days haunted her dreams. Days when she felt invincible—when she could take on the world with reckless abandon filled her sleep. She was so strong back then.

So strong…

…

"Wakey wakey, blondie."

A mocking voice cut through her senses. Yang recognized the owner, and her first reaction on waking was to send a fist straight to their jaw. Her arm lifted to perform her signature move, the straight right.

But the motion came empty.

The familiar surge of power, the sound of her knuckles whistling through the air—all of it absent. Instead, Yang opened her eyes to the truth of her shortened limb. Bandages wrapped around, dirty and coming undone.

She barely contained the pitiful cry trying to escape her throat.

In front of her, Mercury Black raised his brow in question. Then, recognition set in.

"Oh. That's embarrassing."

"Hrr…!"

"—Relax, lion queen." Emerald Sustrai strode in from behind. "Merc did the same thing when he first lost his legs. He'd wiggle his little nubs in his sleep, dreaming he could still run. It was like one of those adorable, amputated puppies from a shelter."

"Aw. You thought I was adorable."

"When you were unconscious and not speaking." Emerald glared at Mercury, then back at Yang. "Now, up and at it, lefty. Time to change those bandages."

Yang grunted and struggled to stand. The offset in her balance was still something she wasn't used to. She tried to push off the wall, but ended up slipping back down.

The tough concrete felt harsh against her tailbone.

"Any day now," Emerald rolled her eyes.

"I liked it better when you pretended to be nice," Yang snarled.

"And I liked it better when you still had a sense of humor and a little bit of fight in you. So I guess we're both disappointed."

"Then don't fix my bandages… I don't care."

Emerald breathed an exasperated sigh.

"She's worse than you were," she said to Mercury.

"Yeah. Well, I was lucky enough to have Cinder in charge of my rehab program. Stand and be useful, or get the flesh charred off my bones. Good times…"

Just then, they heard the sound of shattering glass, followed by a flash of light. When their eyes adjusted, they watched Neopolitan strut over with a prosthetic under her arm and a big smile on her face.

"Masa finish the prototype?" Emerald asked.

Neo mutely nodded.

"About time. Lucky you, south paw."

"Where did you guys get that?" Yang asked, eyeing the artificial limb curiously.

"Who's to say?"

"—Not that Neo could say anything ever," Mercury added.

Neo curled the artificial hand's trigger finger down, then the ring finger, the pinky, thumb, until the only finger left was—

"Okay!" Emerald clapped her hands. "Let's hurry and slap this baby on. The sooner you can train, the sooner you can fight, the sooner you can stop being dead weight and actually help us find Raven. You do remember that's why we picked up your useless ass in the first place, right?"

"How can I forget when I have to remind myself everyday?" Yang grimaced.

"Glad we're on the same vibe. We get to save Cinder, you get to see your mom, and the four of us get to travel merrily to Haven across Grimm-infested territory, while evading all forms of Kingdom authority. It's gonna be a blast. Hope you're not having second thoughts!"

Yang shut her eyes. "I don't have anything but second thoughts."

"…"

Amid the tense silence, Neo skipped over to Yang and pulled her up. Despite the other having a larger build, the smaller girl practically tossed her opposite onto a nearby table. With deceptive strength, Neo pinned Yang and planted a firm kiss on her lips.

""What."" Emerald and Mercury both blurted.

When Neo separated, she stared down at Yang with a maniacal smile. Her nimble hands undid the bandages around the girl's right arm, and Mercury caught on to the intent. In response, he grabbed the prosthetic limb and started to attach it.

Pain shot through Yang's nerves in violent waves. The machine clamped onto her bicep and began its configuration. Yang screamed and writhed against those holding her down. The process was so excruciating she almost passed out a few times.

All the while, Neo's sadistic grin hovered over her.

"Hmmm. Think I should sedate her with a hallucination?" Emerald wondered, as she sat on Yang's legs to stop them from kicking.

"You didn't do it for me," Mercury replied.

"True."

"Better this way."

"Words of experience?"

"…Doesn't it look like Neo's having too much fun with this?"

The two noted the crack in the girl's sinister smile growing wider and wider.

Neo is such an "S", they both shuddered silently.

As Yang continued to thrash under their grasps, her prosthetic arm drilling into the wound of her flesh, her thoughts ran full with regret.

She asked herself,

"How did it come to this?"

Her team was gone, vanished to the separate corners of Remnant. Yang was left for broken, shunned from following. Some of her teammates had good reason—some did not.

She didn't care.

Yang believed she could count on them no matter what the circumstances.

…

But they weren't here for her now.

Yang looked up into the faces of Neo, Emerald, and Mercury.

They were.