At that exact moment Vegeta walked into the room, looking mean as usual but slightly less so at the sight of food. He piled a plate high and looked over when Goku prompted him. He was sitting next to Buu and pointing at him vigorously. Vegeta didn't react until Goku pointed at the staff leaning against Buu's end of the table. Vegeta made a scathing noise. "So the world is being watched over by this blimp?" He glanced at Blake and smirked. "No wonder this planet is literally going to the dogs."
Blake could feel the warmth in her cheeks as he anger rose, she wanted to walk over there and slap him, but Vegeta was already gone before she got the chance. Blake looked over at Yang who she expected to see just as angry as she was herself, but Yang didn't seem to have been paying attention. She was staring at the food in front of her in a daze. Blake wanted to ask her if she was feeling alright, buts she couldn't, conversation across the table kept cutting her off. All talk was of the new arrival of the Guardian.
"Buu has renounced his title of 'Majiin'; he is now Guardian of the earth."
"Incredible, I can't believe how far you've come since we fought! But what happened to Mr. Satan?"
"Oh he died a long time ago, but he left in his will a large sum of money for Buu to live on. It was useful to have too; I've never had to compete with such an appetite on a regular basis."
"I see, poor guy…He may have been a bit shady, but when it counted, his heart was always in the right place."
"I have never seen a girl with such features, my dear, were you born with those ears?"
"Yes…umm…I'm what's called a faunus, the white fang is comprised of people like m-"
"GOD SHUT UP, EVERYBODY JUST SHUT THE HELL UP!"
A chair scraped loudly and Yang stood up, her face was red and she looked quite unbalanced. Seizing her plate with her hand she stormed out of the room. All the others watched her go except Buu, who was still eating. Ruby made stand up as well but raised his hand to stop her.
"Shouldn't I-"
"Your sister has lost something very dear to her, she needs time to come to terms with it. Let her be for a while, she will come back." Ruby hesitated for a moment, looking out at the doorway by which his sister had left, then to her fellow team members, who all gave her the same stricken look. She nodded slowly, looking apprehensive and sat down.
Yang plate wobbled this way and that as she tore down the passage way, towards her room. She marched through the open door way and threw her plate down on her bedside table. She was still breathing very hard when she sat down, but the delicious food soon calmed her down, and she began to eat in earnest again, well as earnestly as she could with that horrible noise behind her. Yang had not expected to see Vegeta in her room, but there he was, sitting on the bed that was supposed to be Blake's, stuffing his face with sausage and ham.
She couldn't help being angry, she had just lost an arm and everyone was acting like nothing had happened! It was infuriating to think that Adam was out there hurting people and she was here eating! Her furious thought were interrupted by a particularly loud burp from Vegeta.
She had not forgotten his slight against Blake, and a fresh wave of anger burned in her stomach, and her fork slipped from her non-prominent hand, clattering loudly on the stone floor. The huntress looked at it, seeing her red eyes reflected in the spotless metal. Anger had always felt righteous for her, but for some reason the feeling made her feel sick now, and her hand started to twitch involuntarily. She looked up and noticed that Vegeta had stopped eating; he was looking straight at her with mild curiosity. She scoffed and picked up her fork, expecting it to be dirty, but surprised to find that it was no worse for wear. She was just about to start eating again, when Vegeta laughed softly behind Yang's back.
"You know this place isn't for eating right!?" Yang muttered angrily through clenched teeth, not bothering to turn around. Vegeta continued to laugh.
"I see, and yet here we are."
Yang turned around to face the old man, food quite forgotten. Their eyes looked together like they were about to fight, but neither moved from their beds. Yang would actually have very much liked to deck him one, but he hadn't forgotten that he had helped her find Ruby, so he would be left with his jaw intact.
"Back off." Yang growled, very quietly. Sher had intended to intimidate Vegeta, but this just spurred him on.
"You'll face him again you know. And when you do, he will regret what he did to you while you will not regret a thing."
Yang looked incredulous, but still she looked. Vegeta was speaking of the future, of when she would finally meet Adam Taurus again, while everyone else had been reluctant to talk to her about it.
"The man who cut off your arm," he began, and Yang's noticed that Vegeta was looking rather pale. "I saw him deal with some survivors, they were running from his soldiers and they ran into an alleyway that was blocked off…" Vegeta stopped smiling; he looked tired, and upset at the memory. "I tried to help them…but…" Vegeta paused, and Yang noticed that his left arm was gripping his right very tightly as he spoke. "I…was delayed. It was for similar reasons that we met in that forest." His tone was ambiguous, and Yang was curious about this thing that had 'Delayed' him.
"So?"
"So, don't get surly and self-righteous over not being able to save something. Save your spite for what did that to you. Don't be a fool and live in another shadow."
He gestured towards her stump and Yang felt a knot of discomfort. She had not forgiven Vegeta for his slight against Blake for being a faunus, but she had gotten a little spiteful thrill from hearing someone call Adam 'What', as if he was less than human. She rubbed the side of her severed limb, and looked for a moment rather introspective.
"I want to, I really do. But…I don't think I can anymore…without both my arms-"
Vegeta threw his fork down onto his plate which clattered loudly. Yang jumped and looked round, Vegeta was on his feet and his fists were clenched. "YOU…COWARD!"
"I'm sorry?!"
"HE TOOK YOUR ARM, AND YOU'RE JUST GOING TO LET THAT STAND?!" And that vein that throbbed in Vegeta's temple was back with serious prominence. In his anger, he seemed five times taller; and Yang shrank away a little, truly frightened for the first time.
"I-"
"THAT'S JUST WHAT I GET! YOU'RE JUST ANOTHER PATHETIC WEAKLING!" he stood up with such haste that the plate slid to the ground, shattering in the process. With one last furious look at the blonde amputee, Vegeta stormed out of the room. Yang watched him go, and through all the confusion and interest as to what he meant, a small feeling of irony flitted across her mind, as the old man had exited the room in a very similar fashion to the way she had done.
She heard a door slam in the distance, and knew that Vegeta had left the castle. She also noticed that the porcelain that Vegeta had smashed was gone. She jumped as she saw Guardian Buu walking away, carrying a fully intact plate and humming pleasantly to himself. He saw Yang and smiled at the familiar face. She was dumbfounded that she had not seen him already.
"Buu hear man shouting, Buu take plate now he finished."
Yang wasn't listening; she was staring into space with a furrowed brow. She wasn't sure why Vegeta had flown off the handle like that, but memories of Adams attack burned her mind like candle wax. Talk of that moment brought her not just pain, but sadness. She knew it was silly, but she felt that something really valuable had been lost, like an old friend that she'd been through so much with...
Yang gave a little jerk, one of her hands had been twitching, she also noticed that her eyes felt hot and her vision was blurred by tears. As she wiped them away, she was glad to see that nobody was in the room to see her weak moment, or so she thought. With a small vocalisation, like a mouse being squeezed in a human hand, Buu made his presence known again. Yang looked quickly away from him, his face was tilted to one side and he was staring straight at Yang's stump, looking from it to her remaining hand.
"What?" Yang snapped, far more abrasively than she intended, she still had not mastered herself. Buu did not seem to process her tone at all, but simply continued to peer at her like a curious child.
"Why don't you take a picture, it'll last longer?" Yang murmured under her breath, not meeting Buu's squinty eye or bothering to hide her sarcasm. This seemed to stir something in that pink gelatinous head, because Buu ceased his inspection of Yang's arm and looked her in the face.
"Why you look funny?"
"Pff...Real sensitive Buu, really considerate..." But Buu had not reacted to her sarcasm at all, and Yang realised that his question was not mockery, but genuine curiosity. Despite his soft cuddly features, there was a weird sort of scholarly element to his demeanour, an earnest and innocent thirst for knowledge, like a child at the zoo. Yang rolled her eyes as she answered, "My arm...got…cut off."
"Why you do that?" Buu's brow was the one to furrow now; he looked at Yang as though she was some kind of deviant.
"I didn't do it!" Yang spat defensively, anger rising again. Buu still frowned slightly.
"Who do?"
"A man called Adam." Yang surprised at how casually her mutilators name came out. It was funny, but Vegeta's words had kind of resonated with her, and the thought of the white fang leader did not seem so terrible. Whatever space that had been fear inside her now boiled as determination to bring him down, and avenge team RWBY upon him. She only hoped that this bravery would stick around for their reunion. A grim look plastered those pink puggy features.
"Me no like mean men, they hurt B and make bad Buu."
"Rrrr-right."
"But Mr. Satan tell Buu no fight, no get angry, and Buu no do." And with his mention of that name, Buu's demeanour returned to its bubbly airiness, and he continued to smile benignly for a few moments. Yang had no idea who this ' ' was, or what he had meant to Buu. All she could decipher from all this nonsense was that Buu had taken these instructions to heart ever since the guy had kicked the bucket. Without warning he raised his gloved hand and pointed it straight at Yang's stump. "Buu fix?"
…
Yang did not speak; she only stared from the pink face to the yellow gloved hand, unable to believe what she had just heard. After a few seconds, her throat rebooted.
"What?"
"Buu bring back, Buu make time go back for you." The bubbly expression looked cold for a second, as if bitter memories were ruining something meant to be positive. "Buu do bad things; Babidi say it Buu's porpoise." Yang assumed that whoever he was talking about had said 'purpose.' "Buu do good things too, Buu fix B, Buu fix Mr. Satan, and Buu fix you." He smiled again, and proffered his hand more insistently.
Yang stared at him, hardly daring to believe it. Was it a trick? A joke? Was this guy pulling her leg? Because if he was, she was not going to forgive him for such false hope, that would just push her too far. "I want proof" She said, shuffling away from Buu's outstretched hand. "Do it to something else first, I wanna know what I'm buying into."
Buu looked at her for a moment with a tilted head, seeming to process her request rather slowly. Yang was just about to explain again when a wide smile broke of the puffy face, and Buu clapped his hands together. "Ohhhhh, you want see? Okay, Buu do."
The giant guardian raised his hand and revealed it to contain Yang's remaining Ember Celica. She made an involuntary twitch when she saw it; it had been on her wrist a moment before, how had this guy got it?! She was about to say 'Be careful', but she hadn't managed to get the first syllable out before Buu had closed his hand casually and crushed the steel forged weapon into twisted broken metal.
Yang stifled a scream but a dry sob escaped her lips, she wasn't exactly calm right now and with the loss of her only remaining weapon she was now quite beyond reason. Throwing the sheets aside Yang launched herself at Buu, determined on punching every inch of that flabby body she could reach. Her eyes were scarlet and her teeth were clenched as she clumsily swung at…thin air?
She regained her footing and stared furiously around, but Buu had vanished. It made no sense at all, how could something that fat be faster than the naked eye? There was something funny about that Buu, he couldn't be what he seemed. A shadow on the ground made her look up and there was Buu standing on the white ceiling, still holding the remnants of Yang's weapon tightly in his hand. The ridiculousness of this drove any anger that Yang had left back into her subconscious, with the little tentacle on his head hanging down along with his cape, and her eyes returned to their normal state. She watched in awe as Buu slowly turned in mid-air and glided safely back to the floor as light as a butterfly.
There was a moment where she might have considered attacking him again, but honestly she just wanted to see what the thing was going to do about her weapon if it was capable of flight. Buu held out the remains in his hand and looked at them very hard. The ember Celica was surrounded by an eerie pink light and, very slowly…the weapon was beginning to reform. The bent yellow surface was smoothing out; the curvature was correcting itself and what was split metal reformed seamlessly. After about a minute, the weapon was as good as new. Buu handed it to Yang and Yang inspected it closely. It was flawlessly repaired, no bumps, no imperfections, No Buu had completely reversed the damage.
Yang didn't know what to say, she was indignant as ever about Buu destroying her gauntlet, but he had also remade it in an instant. Buu certainly seemed impressed by what he had done; he was smiling benignly again and looked as though he was waiting for her word to continue. Yang thought for a second and considered the offer before her. Having her arm back would be…well…amazing, a miracle, a quick fix that would make her life at least ten times easier…but. Yang considered what Vegeta had said, and what he had meant by it…
"Buu do?" and Buu raised his hand and the pink aura surrounded Yang's stump. But she raised her other arm and prompted him to stop.
"No, don't!" she yelled, and Buu's hand receded, looking rather hurt. Yang quickly amended her statement. "Sorry, It's just…I've always relied on my arms, and I've won more fights that I can count with them…they hold memories…I can't just move on from them…I don't want to just abandon them. I'll beat Adam with my original body, just to make it more humiliating for him." And a ghost of Yang Xiao Longs old confident smile danced once more across her lips.
Buu tilted his head again, looking extremely confused at her reasons for not regrowing her limb, for Buu of all people did not miss his limbs when he lost them. But He gave her a little nod and turned to leave the room. Yang called out to him, with a weak smile. "Thanks Buu, I appreciate it."
"Buu do if yellow girl want it back." Buu answered with a wide smile. And still smiling, Buu exited the bedroom. As he did, he passed a man standing just beyond, leaning against the wall, smiling to himself. Buu looked at him and asked him if he was okay. The man's smile broadened and he nodded silently. And Vegeta and Buu walked in opposite directions along the passage.
"Sir, sir please, you have to wake up!" Adam heard the voice only partially, there was a loud and consistent banging in his ears, like his heard was beating inside his skull. He had never been so thirsty in his miserable life. He felt cold water splash against his sweaty face and into his open mouth, wetting his tongue and igniting his senses. His eyes fluttered open and saw that whoever was talking to him, they had not removed his mask. From the softness of her hand to the voices inflections, he could discern that it was woman and it did sound familiar, but why was she-
"Sir, sir, Mr. Taurus! Please wake up, we need your help!"
"Ilia?" and Adam realised that he was lying in an air ship, and that he was looking at the white fang member upside down, as he was lying down. While Ilia had left his own mask on out of respect, hers had been removed, to show her large frightened eyes. "Put your mask on, who do you think you are?"
"Yes sir, sorry sir!" Ilia said hastily as she pulled her boss upright and replaced her mask. "I'm so glad we found you, But you must understand we have a situation!"
Adam rubbed the back of his head and tried to get a grip on this situation that Ilia was blathering about. As his vision cleared, he saw that he and Ilia were not alone, across from him, lying on an opposite set of seats was Cinder, seemingly unconscious. Adam jumped at the sight of her; she could not have looked more different than their last encounter.
Her long black hair now cut to a shorter length, seemingly to avoid further damage. What was left hung around her face covered one half of her face, concealing a face that Adam wasn't sure he wanted to see. Her clothes were singed and burned away, the cloth of her right sleave was gone completely showing a darkened and scarred arm.
"What…What happened to her?" Adam whispered to Ilia, now conscious of the sleeping woman in their presence. Ilia shook her head.
"We don't know… we found her at sea. She was barely alive when the order rescued her. Whatever did that to her must have been monstrous. What was it? "
Adam averted his gaze; he did not want to talk about what had happened in that barn, he did not quite understand it himself. Ilia waited for Adam to answer but continued when he didn't. "Well, that's not the only problem!"
"What could possibly be worse than…that?" Ilia looked gravely at her boss.
"We couldn't get near her until we diverted some of that power she was emanating, it kept fluctuating…we didn't understand how someone's aura could be so powerful." Ilia shivered. " So we diverted some of it." Ilia gestured towards a large silver tank, as large as the average fridge sitting in the air ship with them. "An invention of Watts," she explained "Originally designed to help subdue the maidens."
Adam nodded, and saw that a meter on the side of the tank with the phrase 'energy level capacity' had a meter leading from green to red, and the little red arrow was firmly in the red.
"I still don't see what I'm supposed to do about this," said Adam as he sat back in his chair. "All she did was steal someone else's power, can't she just get rid of it?"
"That's what we need to find out, we have to go and find the one that she stole that power from and ask them to take it back, if not the strain on her body will prove fatal. I don't think she can survive in this state for much longer…"
Adam believed that at least from the look of the veins shining Gold on Cinders exposed forearm, and this would give him ample opportunity to hunt down Blake, and kill everyone she escaped with, including the old guys. "Alright, so how do we do this?"
"Lady Salem has told us that she wants you present at a séance, she wants to evoke an old legend that might allow us to discover the location of the person who made Cinder like this, and to punish the one who harmed her further." As Ilia finished explaining, she proffered a bottle of water to Adam. "Are you still thirsty sir?"
Adam drained the bottle in a few seconds and smirked at his luck, as he remembered something that turned his stomach.
"Ilia, I don't have my weapon, it got destroyed in the attack."
Ilia was visibly shocked by this, but masked it expertly in a matter of seconds. "We found a bit of the blade at the wreckage of the barn. If you still have the other half, I'm sure Watts could repair it."
The way things were going, Blake would suffer despair at the edge of his blade after all, and Adam Taurus smiled a wide predatory grin, as the air ship carried him away to the rebirth of a legend.
Hi guys Johnathan here, thanks so much for reading. You may have noticed that I've been trying to upload one chapter every week for this story, around Tuesday. I just wanted to warn everybody that I may have to stop writing for a few weeks, not because the story is done or because I've lost interest, i just have more pressing matters to deal with right now. I will update again as soon as I am able. Thank you for all the support, I hope a lot of your questions were answered by this chapter and don't worry, there will be more to come.
With enthusiastic waving of the arms,
Johnathan x