Let's keep this ball rolling. We're steadily moving towards a conclusion. If I keep at a pace of what we have, we'll reach the ending shortly. Maybe 5-6 chapters depending on content volume? I can't believe we're going to be 13 chapters deep already. I remember putting the storyboard together and mapping out the first chapter, but that was a slow burn and we want nothing but the meat now. Thanks for all the reviews once more. I can always depend on everyone to give me great feedback!
Dragon lord Syed 101 – They've mostly sobered up. Just because they are acting a certain way doesn't mean they're drunk. Remember, I did warn of some OOC with this story back in Ch1.
The Almighty Cross – Unfortunately, loyalty comes at a price and no good deed goes unpunished. Yeah, they escaped for now and can rest. Pyrrha is a for sure wildcard. You never know when she might just pop up again. Hint hint.
Xealchim – Ohhhh, so close! You'll see shortly.
AzraelSaint – Sun is a bro that we all wish we had. He deserves all the respect for what he has and will endure. There's not enough F's we can give.
343 – I'm sure Sun appreciates your love and support. God speed! Hey, you never know, maybe Jaune and Neptune might just escape cleanly? They're not doing too bad for being battered and bruised.
Draco711 – Oh, I can't wait to read this novel idea haha. Thank you!
Siegnir – Yeah, the escape was narrow, but they pulled it off. They might just be okay (or not). And yes, I've beaten it already. Data battles are going to be a real son of a bitch and I'm kind of looking forward to breaking my controller doing it.
Chapter 13 is the beginning of the end as I stated above. We're rapidly moving towards a conclusion and I hope you'll all hang in there until the very end. As always, please review rating guidelines if you are unaware of the rating system. This story is rated M for Men getting their asses beat (mostly). But yeah, mature content. Please enjoy Chapter 13 and if you would be so kind as to leave more feedback at the end, I'd be a happy SOB.
Italicized – Inner Thoughts
BOLD - Speaker
GodRealm
OOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Chapter 13 – Key
Neptune smiled as Jaune and he cruised in the brisk open air of the night. The evening did not go as he had planned and there were casualties of war, but they could finally say that they won this battle, and once they processed the recording into a video file, they would win the war. If they could produce the copy they needed, they could bargain for the freedom of their teammates and possibly more.
Neptune rubbed the sides of his head trying to help himself relax. The constant turmoil of the night and the ups and downs had taken a toll on him. Before all things when he got back home, he was taking a shower.
He looked over himself and saw the mess he was. He had dirt all over his clothes, under his fingernails, and even in his hair. As much as he wasn't a fan of water, he was going to spend an awfully long time soaking his wounds of war.
His eyes drifted to Jaune who was still attempting to drive his bike and was giving it the good old college try. Jaune was the only reason he had made it out alive and wasn't also being interrogated like Ren and Sun. He would be sure to thank him properly after this was all over. He debated buying him breakfast but thought that after seeing his best friend covered in syrup, it might trigger a bit of PTSD.
"Hey Jaune." Neptune spoke.
"Yeah, what's up?" The blond replied.
"I'm sorry about this whole mess. I should have listened to you from the beginning. This turned into a huge disaster because I bit off more than I could chew and I dragged you all down with me."
"Oh, stop being a downer. You sound like Qrow." Jaune replied.
"Who?" Neptune asked.
"Never mind. Anyway, we chose to be a part of this. Ren, Sun, and I all foolishly got behind this and we could have said no at any time.
"But I-"
"But nothing. We can all make our own decisions. We picked wrong, but we stuck together. That's why they didn't sell out our home base."
Neptune smiled at the blonde's kind words. Befriending Ren and Jaune was one of the great things about coming to Vale. His teammates back home were great, but this is where he wanted to be after he graduated, and he was glad to have met the people he had.
Neptune looked back at the road they were traveling down. They had finally reached the downtown portion of Vale and were in the clear. Not one angry female was trailing them as far as they could see, and they weren't being tracked. The only thing left to do now was to avenge their fallen comrades and make RWBY suffer like they had. Revenge was going to be so sweet.
"Hey Jaune."
"What now?"
"Red light."
Jaune slammed the brakes suddenly causing them both to jerk forward to a simultaneous stop. The people in the cars around them as well as the civilians all stopped to look and shake their heads at him.
"I uhh... I knew that." Jaune chuckled, rubbing his head.
OOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
"Uh... What am I looking at?" She asked Yang.
Yang laughed quietly. "You're looking at the end. Ruby... We've got them." She finished with a smile.
Ruby was still confused by the picture she was looking at. It looked like a regular old plastic card. Did Yang bump her head when they rolled out of the way of Neptune's shots? Just another thing she could take out on Jaune later when she got her hands on him.
"So, what is that?" Ruby asked.
Yang smiled and lowered her phone in reply. "A spare."
OOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Minutes earlier
Blake wiped her brow of sweat while she tried to catch her breath. She had been a bit of elbow grease into punishing the boy before her. She looked at the male Faunus before that was riddled with scratches, red marks, and bruises from her work out. He was semi-conscious with a look of pale death on his face. She had sent him through the ringer.
Across the room, Weiss was disturbed but, at the same time, oddly intrigued at her teammate's efforts. She was trying her best to make him break and give up the location of the apartment so they could track down the remaining violators of their personal space. This Blake was kind of scary though. Weiss could swear she saw a look of satisfaction and a... smile? Yes, a smile on her face as she continued to pummel the poor boy.
It wasn't often that Weiss felt remorse for stupid people. In fact, she usually didn't feel too bad for anyone that wasn't her closest friends, but watching Sun take the beating he was and staying sane, almost unfroze her cold heart. Almost. Then she remembered what he did, and all sympathy was forgotten. She doesn't know whether it was the booze or maybe Blake always had this side to her, but she didn't envy Sun in the slightest.
They make it seem so easy in the books and novels. Blake thought.
She sat back down on her bed and continued to catch her breath, massaging her sore wrist now with an irritated look on her face.
"Are you willing to tell us now?" She asked the beaten warrior.
Sun rolled to his back and breathed deeply. He was aching everywhere from Blake's actions and with his aura still broken, there didn't seem like there was much chance for defending himself let alone an escape. He looked back at her through his right eye, his left one closed as he continued mouth-breathing.
"I can tell you... it's in Vale." He replied with a smile.
"You're an asshole!" Blake shouted, rising to her feet again. "What is it going to take to get you to talk?!"
Sun wormed his way against Weiss's bed and leaned against it to support himself. He tried to free himself but knew it to be useless. The best he could do is stall.
"I have faith that they'll get the job done. As a team leader, I have to keep them safe from the enemy."
"An enemy you created." Weiss retorted. "Also, Jaune isn't a part of your team in case you forgot."
Sun smiled and shook his head at her attempts to persuade him further.
"For this battle, we are a team." he spoke boldly." An even then, we're friends. You can't expect me to sell them out. Maybe that's how Team RWBY would do things, but not us."
Blake snapped her whip in anger. Sun looked back at her and noticed her eyes filled with a fire. His stalling tactic was about to buy him another beating, but it was fine as long as he didn't let them win.
"Are you saying you think we would do that?!" Blake responded with a dark tone. "What you've done is inexcusable and now you sit her mocking us in our own room?!"
"To be fair, I didn't want to be here... also I'm not really sitting either it's more of an uncomfortable kneeling."
Blake knocked him to the floor with a sickening thud. She was done messing around with him. As he rolled to his stomach, she mounted him from behind with her whip in hand. She coiled it around his neck and began lightly choking him with it as she growled lightly. The whole thing seemed vulgar to Weiss who was looking on with a concerned stare. She averted her eyes when she could, but Sun's gasping was hard to ignore.
"I... knew you were a pervert... but... I didn't realize you were... into this kind of stuff... other than your books." Sun squeaked out in between her choking.
She dropped the whip immediately, granting him the ability to cough and catch his breath.
"P-P-P-Pervert?!" She questioned, as she fell backwards.
Sun looked back to see something he didn't think he would. Blake was covering her face for some reason. Sun was confused by her actions, but grateful she had seized her actions.
"Why would you call me that?" She protested.
Weiss and Sun looked at each other before looking back at Blake with a blank stare. Isn't it obvious? They thought in unison. Blake looked upset at the return both parties gave her. She wasn't the easiest to take criticism.
Shifting her embarrassment back to anger, she grabbed Sun by his hair and shoved his face into the floor of the bedroom. She growled again as she continued her attack on her fellow Faunus. Animal on animal crime was indeed a sad and scary thing.
"How dare you! How dare you! How dare you!" Blake yelled.
Sun whined as his face was continuously assaulted by the carpeting and wood beneath him. Weiss was impressed by Blake's ability to continue attacking but could see she her friend was doing it out of pure denial. Blake as good at hiding her emotions, but her choice reading material was something she could not let go.
Blake rose to her feet again and looked for her whip once more. She grabbed it from the floor where she left it and snapped it again before smacking him with it once. He yelped at the pain but continued his cocky smile before turning away from her. At this time, something caught his eye as he looked under one of the beds. Something... He didn't like.
"I'll do this all night if I have... What are you looking at?" Blake shifted her tone.
She noticed Sun's eyes go lifeless and his face grow pale. He was even ignoring her now? Strange. She thought. Usually he had some smart comeback to make her even angrier, but now he was stoically silent. She looked over at Weiss who seemed concerned as well but shrugged her shoulders in response.
Weiss walked over to Sun as he continued to stare.
Under the bed? She thought.
She crouched down next to him and peeked her head under the bed. She scanned underneath her bed looking to see what had him in such distress. At first, she saw nothing. She looked it over and over again, letting her eyes adjust to the darkness. That's when she saw something on the far side against the wall. She crawled underneath looking to salvage whatever it was.
Reaching out she grabbed what it was and retreated out from under the bed. Once out, she looked at what was in her hand. A smile grazed her face as she brought it in close to herself.
"Snowflake!" Weiss yelled in happiness. "I haven't seen you in months!"
"Is that a doll?" Blake asked.
Weiss snuggled with the porcelain doll and held it close to herself. "It's a doll my sister gave me when I was young. I thought it was gone because I hadn't seen it so long. I'm glad I have it back."
Blake sweat-dropped at what she was watching The Ice Princess of Beacon Academy was hugging a cute little doll. She sighed at her friend before looking down at Sun again. His eyes were glued to the doll. The look of horror filled his eyes. She blinked a few times in surprise at his actions and looked back at the doll. The a another dark smile grew on her face.
"Hey, Weiss." Blake spoke.
Weiss stopped her coddling of the doll and looked over at her friend. She noticed the dark features and smile that were present on her face before responding.
"Y-Yes?"
"It seems our friend here isn't too fond of your doll."
Weiss looked down at Sun who still had the same pale look on his face. His eyes were attached to her 'Snowflake' and he wouldn't blink or look away. She crouched down as Sun tensed up slightly. Slowly, she brought the doll away from herself and moved it closer to his face.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" He yelled in response.
Sun squirmed in his best efforts to back away from that disgusting thing. Tears filled his eyes as he shook in complete fear. He would not avert his gaze from the doll. Unfortunately, while preoccupied with such things, the other two girls formed a new plan of their own while snickering at the scared boy's antics.
"Sun," Blake began. "I thought you feared nothing and regretted less?" She mocked him.
"G-G-Get it away." He continued squirming.
Blake walked over and took the doll from Weiss. She reached closer and closer to Sun who was in full panic mode, almost weeping. He rolled as much as he could to get distance, but Blake's other hand was holding him in place. Weiss returned to her feet and laughed at the show before her. The great "Leader" of Team SSSN was terrified of a child's toy.
"It's evil! It wants my soul! Get it away!" He cried in protest.
Blake was full on laughing now. She was on the verge of tears herself, but different from those that Sun was expressing. She had to admit, similarly to what Nora had stated earlier about Ren, Sun's scared expression was quite captivating. It even reminded her of a scene from one of her books. Maybe she was a pervert? Who cares at this point.
She was having a great time. In fact, this was the best time she had all night. She was so into her cruel actions, she failed to notice that during all the squirming Sun was doing, something was slowly emerging from the front pocket on his shirt. It shone slightly in the room's lighting and was beginning to protrude more and more each time he moved.
Weiss noticed this as her friend continued torturing him. She raised an eyebrow at what it could be. She kept an eye on it until all his shaking finally knocked it free from his shirt and onto the floor. Again, neither Blake nor Sun noticed this as Weiss walked over and picked up what it was. She scanned it over after holding it up closer to her face.
A key? She thought.
"Hey, what's this?" Weiss spoke.
Blake dropped the doll to the ground and looked over at her friend. Sun's attention was drawn after the doll was removed and he looked to see what Weiss was talking about. His eyes were wide again and his sweat returned.
"What's what?" Blake asked.
"W-Where did you get that?" Sun also asked, seemingly unnerved.
"Why? What is it?" Weiss asked, raising an eyebrow.
"It's nothing..." He stated, averting his gaze away from both girls.
Weiss and Blake smiled at each other again as Blake raised the doll up to his face, causing him to shriek in terror.
"TELL THEM WHAT IT IS OR I'LL CONSUME YOUR SOUL!" Blake spoke in a demonic voice.
"No! No! No! Dear Oum, no!" He cried.
"TELL THEM!" Blake continued, on the verge of laughter.
"It's a keycard!" He yelled.
Blake and Weiss's eyes grew large at his statement. Weiss flipped over the back of the card to see writing on it. It's an address... to a complex in downtown Vale. She thought.
"Now, please get the doll away!" Sun cried again.
"Blake..." Weiss began. "This is Neptune's spare key to his apartment."
Blake smiled at her friend's words. They still had a chance to get them if they somehow got off the grounds. Things were certainly looking up.
Weiss immediately walked to her scroll on the desk near the room entrance and called Yang. Yang relayed that Ruby was in pursuit of both boys after they took off on a motorcycle. Sun's attention was drawn to the conversation on the phone as he hung on every word. He saw the keycard in her hand and watched as she snapped a photo of it and sent it in a picture message to her other teammate.
"You suffered for nothing." Blake spoke with a satisfied cat smile.
She noticed the look of despair on Sun's face as he realized what was happening. He tried to ove against his restraints only for Blake to scare him with the doll again.
The conversation on the phone concluded as Weiss placed the scroll in her pocket. Blake watched as she walked to get a coat from their shared closet and put it on.
"Going somewhere?" Blake asked.
Weiss turned to the girl and offered her another smile. "I'm going to take care of this. I've asked Yang and Ruby to meet me at the address so we can finish this."
"So... uh, am I free to go now?" Sun asked. "After all, you have what you want now."
Weiss and Blake looked at each other and shared a laugh at the boy's attempt.
"You go on ahead, Weiss. I've got this." Blake told her.
Weiss blinked and smiled at the girls reply. Ohhhh. She thought.
"Okay then, Blake. I'll let you know when this is handled." Weiss answered while walking out the door. She turned one last time after exiting and shot a cocky smile at Sun who was still pale in the face.
The door clicked behind her and left the room in silence. Sun was disturbed by Blake's quiet. Sure, she was known to be the least talkative of her team, but this was uncomfortable. Blake's eyes remained on the door her friend just exited. Sun decided he would try his best to inch away at a slow and careful pace.
He knew it wouldn't amount to much, but he had to at least try. On first movement, an out-stretched arm grabbed him by the shirt. His eyes darted back to the girl was now looking down on him with yet another wicked smile.
"Going somewhere?" She questioned.
"I.. Uh... I think the interrogation is over, right?" Sun asked while he continued to sweat. "You don't need me anymore. I sure learned my lesson, let me tell you." He concluded, while trying to nervously laugh at the situation.
She snorted a laugh at his efforts. "Oh, please. You had your chance to make this as gentle as possible and you mocked me all night long until the very end. You think I'm just going to forget that? Then you called me a pervert of all things."
"I figured after all this we'd be even?"
Blake sighed at his response before standing up. She walked over to the bedroom door and locked it. The noise was loud to Sun and it reverberated throughout the room. He gulped as she returned to his side before picking him up her weapon and throwing him on her mattress.
It was soft and it definitely beat the floor, but he wasn't comfortable by any means. He looked back at her as she picked up the doll before placing it on her bedside stand.
"Wh-What are you doing?" He asked.
"Getting even." She replied as she sat down on her bed once more.
"Now listen, Blake... This is a bit too much."
"Keep begging."
"You are a pervert."
She laughed at his accusations much to his chagrin. He had hoped to psych her out again to break this uncomfortable feeling he was having. Somehow, he preferred the doll to this new danger, and wished that Weiss would return. Hell, he'd take the whippings again at this point.
She picked up one of her novels from her bedside stand and he watched her bring it to her face and scan the pages before looking over at him. "maybe, I am." She replied with a confident smile.
Channeling his inner-Jaune, Sun spoke his mind at that moment.
"Fuck."
OOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo The tale of Sun has ended. OOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
"A spare?" Ruby questioned.
Yang nodded her head in response. "A spare key to Neptune's apartment. Sun had one on him all along apparently."
Ruby was shocked by the statement, but still happy none the less. Their efforts hadn't been for nothing and they could still finish this without the boys being any the wiser.
"So, what next?" Ruby asked.
"Weiss is coming to meet us at the address on the card. Once that's done, we just have to find the apartment number and we've got them."
"Then we better act fast before they can start decrypting the data on that video."
"I agree. I'll go get my bike. You wait here for Weiss."
"Right."
Yang ran off in the direction of the school's lot where she kept her bike. Ruby watched as her sister disappeared into the distance before walking over to the side of the road. She sat down on the cement paving a laid out for a second. She was tired, sore, and her head kind of hurt.
"Is this a hangover? This shit hurts. Why do people drink again?" She spoke to herself.
The effects of the drink had all but subsided and she believed that she and the other girls were fine to fight at this point. Their buzzed and drunken states should all be gone by now, minus Pyrrha of course. Wherever she was...
Ruby stretched and sat up to be sure she was ready for what was next to come.
"You're not getting away this time. No matter what." She spoke.
OOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Jaune sneezed loudly as he parked the motorcycle. He snorted and wiped his face to be sure he didn't have any nose drippings.
"Bless you there, buddy." Neptune spoke as he walked up to his apartment building.
"Thanks." Jaune replied.
They walked into the nice building past the staff and concierge. They continued down the corridor and to an elevator. Stepping on, they rode it up to the fifth-floor apartments before exiting. They made their way to the far end of the building and stopped before a door. Once there, Neptune took out his keycard and inserted into the reader on the door and both boys walked inside, closing the door behind them.
They both sighed as Neptune locked the door securely behind them, purely out of paranoia. He then walked over to the couch and slumped into a seat. Jaune did the same.
"What a night. Thank Oum it's over." Jaune stated.
But it wasn't over.
OOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
A little on the slower side, I know, but I needed it to set up an exit for two more people and proceed onto the next phase. These next few chapters will have content enough to justify that. It'll answer questions I'm getting PM's about, though it's mostly "Where's Pyrrha?". Settle down! We're getting there! Thanks again for reading and I hope you continue to stay tuned for more to come!
Next time: Chapter 14 – Search
GodRealm
