Honestly my hiatus was because I am getting a new job but they should pick up again
Cinder was walking through the alleys of Atlas, sneaking in the dark so the civilians wouldn't notice her. It had been 2 weeks since Neopolitan had gone rouge and taken Ruby Rose to do something to her. It irritated the false maiden to no end that a mere THIEF had managed to take her revenge away! The one thing she had going for her that wasn't given by Salem taken out of her hands by that ice cream midget
First Arthur trying to call her out for all she did while the only thing he did was make a virus! He didn't deserve to act like he was superior over her when SHE did everything and not him. While SHE sacrificed her body and he did not. Why did he think he had the right to speak down to her. Cinder just sat there very irritated, tuning out the rest of the world to think angrily
She was so deep in thought she never heard the person coming up behind her to knock her out. No one noticed the loud thud and the noise of someone being dragged
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Neo sat in front of Cinder. She had just knocked Cinder out. It was surprisingly easy. Did Cinder really scheme so much in public in the first place? Well no matter. She had what she came to do and with a little of her semblance she could get Cinder where she wanted
Now hoping her Atlesian friend would be willing to work with her on another specimen. Let's give him a call. Neo looked around and opened her scroll and began to call his number, hoping he was at least close so that their secure connection would work. Luckily he picked up
"Miss Neo. What do I have the pleasure of being called this late" he was slightly irritated that Neo called him now after Cinder nearly killed him! To his irritation Neo switched the call to a video one. He hated it. He could possibly just make a implant allowing her to 'speak' but she just refused. Well at least once he looked he realized her reason for making it a video call
That bitch Cinder tied up in a dark warehouse. The implications were pretty apparent
"I thought you were done with 1 'child'. Well 2 is still reasonable. I'll be there in…. let's say 30 minutes. I need some extra tools. Hopefully I'll be extract the maiden powers before she wakes up or make her unable to use em" and with that Arthur hung up. He knew he needed to extract the Grimm parasite and the maiden powers it held before the psycho killed him and Neo for trying to torture her
He liked his odds. It might be going behind his queen's back but he knew that if his plan worked she would give the man the praise he deserved. Managing to capture the Maiden powers and turn magic into something like a sort of semblances that could be injected. He would do it
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When Cinder woke up she felt horrible. Her mind swimming as she tried to get her bearings. The only thing she knew for certain were that she would absolutely break the person who got her into this position. She began to wiggle slightly out of her bounds, why use the maiden powers when she could show how incompetent her captors are with tying a knot
Strangely no matter how she tried she couldn't get out of the bindings. Like her hands were stuck to her bindings and she couldn't use some tricks she picked up from a certain thief to try and get out
"Ah so you are awake! I was beginning to think she really gave you brain damage. Wouldn't that be nice" Cinder's head shot up as she heard the voice, the voice of him
Arthur fucking Watts
"Get me out of here you atlesian or else" Cinder screamed at the good doctor. She however didn't expect the man to seemingly burst out laughing at that. Why in the brothers name was he laughing!
"Do you think you have any right to threaten me? YOU are finally being put in your place and now it's only my part to…. Upgrade you. While she is gonna hurt you" Arthur said and leaned forward, making sure that Cinder heard every of his words before stepping aside. Showing the one woman outside of Ruby Rose that Cinder could say she hated
Neopolitan
"You! What the hell are you doing here you bitch! You ruined my plans and now you think the failed atlas scientist will help you once I get my hands on you!" Cinder said. Moving around in her bindings more and more, still the strange bindings didn't fall off her arms or even make any noise of it moving. It was beginning to irritate Cinder so much more than she expected
"Why can't I get out of these stupid chains or rope!" Cinder yelled as she kept trying to get out of her bindings. Strangely It seemed to entertain Arthur and Neo so much they were holding in their chuckles "WHAT'S SO FUNNY!"
"I'll let Miss Neo show you exactly why you can't get out of these. It's pretty disturbing. Make sure your poor heart stays in tact" Arthur said. His voice laced with mock worry for her situation. He honestly didn't care what happened to his tormentor, even if he had slight trouble looking at what Neo had done to her
Slowly the ice cream psycho got closer. She had great fun with mocking Cinder. Trying to look as seductive as possible, she even softly grabbed Cinder's chin and moved her closer to the other woman's face, making it look like they were about to kiss before Neo pulled away. Cinder face had grown a little bit paler as she remembered why she did that
That was Cinder's routine with "asking" Roman to work for her. Albeit with more talking, threatening flames and 2 subordinates
Slowly Neo got behind Cinder and made sure to nearly place her head on Cinder's shoulders. Making sure she could feel her hot breath on her cheek before finally Neo stood up straight and grabbed the bindings and….. cut it. Honestly Cinder thought Neo had a death wish
Till she felt her left hand being grabbed and brought up for her to see. Or what was left of her hand
What she saw wasn't her hand. It was a stump. Her hand was gone from the wrist down. Cinder could feel her breathing and heartbeat start to quicken. Quickly she brought up her right arm. They couldn't take her Grimm arm could they! Right… right?
Her right arm was even worse for wear. It looked like it was hanging on by a thread. The Grimm skeleton arm was cracked all over and bent in strange angles. It should've regenerated already! However it seemed like the resident atlesian doctor had put in mechanical parts close to her shoulder, making it so her arm couldn't regenerate properly so it just didn't regenerate at all
"What… What did you do!" Cinder screamed. Neo however could hear the slight twinge of fear in Cinder's voice. Oh how much she loved putting the bitch in place
"Should I read the info I got about our guest miss Neo?" Arthur said. Now sitting down at a table with a scroll in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. He looked quite amused with himself
Neo turned to Arthur and nodded. Wanting to hear what her new accomplice had dug up of Cinder Fall's past. Suddenly Neo shattered into a million pieces and then reappearing with a big milkshake in her hands with the words 'pumpkin spice' written on the cup. It was Roman's favourite. She had to have the best drink for the occasion
"Well young Cinder Fall's actual name is Cinderella Prince. She was adopted at 12 years old by the owner of the Glass Unicorn hotel. Matilda Spring and became the sister of Gothitell and Annabelle Spring" Watts began to read from the paper and Cinder slowly grew paler and paler
"She immediately became a worker at the hotel. From the accounts of staff. She did every job. Even some that there was special staff hired for. Miss Matilda seemed to like child labour. Despicable" Watts couldn't believe himself but he felt a little sorry for little Cinder. Keyword a little. He still was gonna go on. Cinder had only grown more pale and began to hang her head defeated
"It was also reported Cinderella here was living in horrible situations and was even made to wear a collar. A huntress named Summer Rose noticed and tried to get Cinderella out of the hotel for this reason even if she was pregnant. Sadly she was arrested and bailed out by Ozpin but was made to not return to the hotel district of atlas" Arthur got up from his seat and began to walk towards Cinder, a slight smirk on his face "Where have we heard that name before?"
Cinder's eyes were wide. She could feel tears well up in her eyes. Summer Rose. The mother of the damned Ruby Rose. The woman who Cinder knew Tyrian and Hazel had killed. That same woman wanted to save her from her hell
"Let me go on. After that not a lot is known. A former atlesian specialist and active huntsmen, Rhodes Desloea suddenly became a frequent visitor of the hotel and Cinderella specifically. He was even seen teaching her how to swing his weapon. Than about 4 months after Rhodes sudden appearance tragedy struck. The Spring family and Rhodes were found dead except young little Cinder" Arthur finished talking about his findings. It had Neo sitting at the edge of her seat the whole time, smiling at the sad woman in front of her that was Cinder Fall
"Why…. Why do you tell me all this?" Cinder asked. Even if she seemed sad Neo could feel Cinder's glare be directed at her
"Because miss Neo here wants another daughter but she also wants you under her heel. So we came up with a solution to do both and with what I just read I can make some guesses what kept you so…. subservient to the Spring family" Arthur said and pointed to Neo. As Cinder moved to look back at the Ice Cream Psycho she realised Neo was holding something. Something that made Cinder's blood freeze right in her veins. It made her feel like her heart stopped beating for a moment
It was a collar with lightning dust lining the insides. It was a shock collar. They were gonna put a shock collar on her
"GET THAT THING AWAY FROM ME" Cinder screamed as she began to thrash around in her restraints. She needed to get away! She wasn't going to have that put on her agai-
Click
Cinder's eyes began to water as she felt the weight of the collar around her neck. It wasn't a nightmare. She just hoped it had all been one big nightmare that she could wake up from or one big sick joke by her mistress but no. It was reality
"Never knew Cinder to be one for bawling her eyes out. Oh well. I only need the elbow and up on her human arm. The Grimm arm can regenerate but don't go higher than the shoulder. My machines will fall off if you do" Watts said and handed Neo a remote before walking out and leaving Neo to 'play' with Cinder while he was gonna buy another coffee, check up on Neo's other child, finish the augmentations for Cinder and finalise his maiden magic stealing machine. Little rest for the good doctor
Neo stood happily of her sobbing and thrashing form of Cinder. Oh how much she wanted to just push the button on the remote and shock the living light out of her! But she had to keep Cinder mostly in one piece. Her arms were fair game for mutilating however and Neo was gonna take full advantage of that. Make her feel how much Neo hates her
Slowly grabbed her umbrella and threw it from hand to hand. Grimm, human, Grimm, human, Grimm, human oh she just couldn't choose which one she'd mutilate first. Hmm the human one was a good start. It had been there since she and Roman were forced into her servitude. It'll be strangely poetic to hurt that arm first
Neo silently giggled and slowly got closer to Cinder and grabbed Cinder's human arm and began to drag her umbrella along it, making a long shallow cut that made Cinder cry out in pain. She had already worked out with Arthur what she would do to Cinder once she got the bitch so that he could immediately start work on her new limbs and his special ink
Cinder screamed as she felt the cut be carved into her arm. She was so powerful! She seemingly forgot how much a cut could hurt. Or it was just her slowly breaking resolve making her whine even more? Neo couldn't care less
Neo kept carving more and more cuts on Cinder's arm. Each one deeper than the one before. Blood was gushing from all the wounds inflicted by Neo and Cinder's cries were just getting louder and louder. Neo hadn't even used the shock collar yet and she was already having so much fun! Well maybe she should finish this arm and step it up a bit
Slowly Neo walked a bit back, letting Cinder catch her breath and cry more without Neo giving her more reasons for a moment. Cinder took this moment to really bawl her eyes out. Something Neo wouldn't have thought she would see before she worked on Ruby
Cinder looked up a bit. Her red, puffy eyes filled with the tiniest bit of hope that her torment was over or at least it was on break. That hope however was dashed as Neo pointed the bladed end of her umbrella at Cinder's human elbow and dashed forward
Cinder didn't even have time for her eyes to widen as Neo's weapon sent straight through her elbow
To say it hurt and Cinder screamed would've both been understatements. Her arm felt like it was burned and her screams made her voice finally give out. The pain was absolutely unbearable. Cinder finally broke. Neo won but she wasn't done. Now to wait for Watts
However in the mean time Neo reached for a certain remote she had nearly forgotten. One linked to the collar around Cinder's neck. Neo was gonna have lots of fun shocking Cinder over and over again. Finally she was gonna have a fitting revenge for everything the genocidal bitch had put her and Roman through
Neo just hoped that wherever in the afterlife Roman was he was proud
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Arthur held up 2 mechanical arms. They were for Neo's new 'daughter'. Oh how he had no idea what Neo really only got out of it except revenge and gratification as she saw the family and subordinates of her new children. Oh well back to the 2 arms
The right one was to be attached to someone's elbow. It could administer controlled shocks out of its palms but also could shock the user. A sort of failsafe if you will. Enhance combat capabilities and give back the use of the right arm. It was a serviceable attachment
The left one however was very different. Unlike how prosthetics and attachments are usually used this one was meant to go around Cinder's arm, trapping it inside while also allowing her to still use the arm. It also had a secondary highly experimental function
It could permanently store Grimm carcasses. It also has a specialized blade to cut the Grimm inside
"Uncle Watts? What do you have there?" Arthur nearly jumped as he heard the soft voice of Ruby Rose
Ruby Rose had grown a lot since Neo took her even if it hadn't been that long. She opened up a lot more to Neo and Watts, even calling him Uncle now. It strangely filled him with pride and some joy. He even started helping Ruby relearn some of her combat teachings she had forgotten
Neo however took this as more of her main job, wanting Ruby and any of her new 'children' be able to protect themselves and adopt a similar fighting style as her
"Just getting something for your mother. Sit tight child as soon you'll have a someone else's here with you" Watts explained with a small smile as Ruby just looked a little confused but curious "You'll see what I mean soon enough"
"Okay Uncle Watts! What about the scary people outside?" Ruby's question made Arthur stop. He nearly forgot about Ruby's friends and atlas's forces. Their patrols had gone up by nearly tenfold and it was getting harder and harder for him and Neo to stay hidden. He just needed to hear what his Queen wanted from him
"We need to wait and see. For now I have to go and help your mother. I'll see you soon Ruby" Arthur said and walked towards Ruby, giving her a pat on the head before going back to the mechanical arms and taking them back to Neo and Cinder
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When Arthur walked back into the room. He saw the gruesome scene he had come to expect. Blood littering the ground, the soft hoarse sobbing, a smiling Neo and the stench of metal from the blood
"I wish you'd clean up before I got here" Arthur said and sighed. Showing the 2 mechanical arms to Neo who immediately got excited as she saw them
"Well can you get the hospital bed and my equipment from the other room. Time is of the essence if you don't want her to bleed out" Arthur grabbed a metal chair and dragged it towards where Cinder was bound. As he blinked he felt his tattoo equipment suddenly appear on his lap with Neo smiling as she disappeared again
Well now time for him to start adding the tattoo to Cinder's cheeks. It wouldn't take too long. Just follow the lines, writing on a squishy canvas. He had done it before. Irritating, not impossible
Soon after Arthur began his paint job on Cinder's face Neo dragged a hospital bed stacked with the rest of Arthur's equipment. Carefully Neo lifted it off the bed and placed it next to the Atlesian doctor. She knew he was gonna talk with her about something so she waited for him to talk
"You know that they are getting close. The screams of Cinderella here probably got heard by a local who'll alert the military. Ironwood will probably be here within a hour. I can get Cinder finished and onto the bed within 30 minutes. You'll get her and Ruby into the bullhead while I call my mistress" Arthur told Neo, not looking away from Cinder as he kept working. He couldn't be distracted
Neo stopped for a moment. Arthur was making some food points about the military and their group of saviours coming to take back Ruby, maybe even rescue the broken remains of Cinder since she made her vulnerable. Neo let out a silent sigh and just patted the atlesian scientist on his shoulder as confirmation before taking some steps back and letting Arthur do his work
It didn't take very long for him to finish the tattoos on each of Cinder's cheeks and attach the arms. He just needed the capture arm to amputate and activate stasis but before that, he'll give Salem a call. Couldn't leave her waiting
Quickly he took out large briefcase and opened it. Slowly a seer Grimm floated out of it. It stopped its ascend when it was the same height as Arthur. Immediately he took 2 steps back and bowed in front of it. He still couldn't get over him bowing for a 'normal' Grimm even if it was a mere tool to speak through for his mistress
"Watts. Why did you call me? Are you calling to report that you were successful?" Her voice boomed out from the jellyfish Grimm
"Yes. Atlas is in disarray but due to some circumstances our heroes seem to have united again. That's not why I called you however" Watts got up from the ground and began to lead the Grimm into a room
"Oh well then Arthur do tell me wh-… " Salem kept talking as she was interested in what he had. Then she saw Cinder. Sleeping and definitely having a nightmare. Blood was all around her bed and her arms were replaced. The worst however was that Salem could still feel the arm she gifted Cinder. She could still feel the beetle inside it spreading the power through it
She couldn't feel Cinder attached to it
"What. Did. You. Do"
Arthur was a bit surprised by Salem's suddenly murderous tone. He was sure he hadn't done anything wrong. This could help transfer the maiden powers more easily! "I made a machine that could hold Grimm corpses and with some experimentation on Cinder I managed to capture the maiden power in her arm. Now we can easily give it to another girl by attaching the arm. She can even still channel the power through the mechanical arm"
His hopes that his mistress was anything but kind were quickly dashed however as the Grimm suddenly wrapped its tentacle around his throat and lifted him off the ground "So you are telling me you went behind my back to experiment on our maiden? Since you finished your work in atlas I don't think I'll have any need for you anymore"
Arthur's eyes widened as he felt the tentacles grip his throat tighter and his aura flare up to try and protect him. It was a futile effort however. It began to crack very quickly. He could feel the pressure getting stronger and stronger. Even with his aura remaining breathing became harder and harder
And then suddenly he fell to the ground. A knife poking out if the falling corpse of the seer. Neo stood behind it. Her umbrella pulled back out if the seer as she walked over to the gasping form of Watts. Neo however only helped the scientist up to his feet and began to drag him to Cinder's bed. He however got the message
'We gotta get the fuck out of here'
"Guess we are rogue now. Hold em off. I'll get Cinder in the bullhead and then go to pick you up" Arthur was shaking but managed to compose himself enough to get push Cinder to what from the outside looked like a ordinary garage. Neo however walked towards the front door. She was ready to strike at a moments notice and when she opened the door she wasn't even surprised with what she found. Well she was a little surprised by one person. Team WBY, JNR, Qrow Branwen, Clover Ebi, Winter Schnee and surprisingly Cinder's simp Emerald Sustrai too and if the green blip that was getting closer was an indication Ironwoods mechanical warrior was also coming
"Give me back my sister you bitch!" Yang yelled at Neo and launched forward. Neo easily blocked the attack and made her step back. However Qrow was her next opponent and suddenly she went from handling the little interaction with Yang to just being forced to go on the defensive. Unlike Yang, Qrow could easily beat her if he went with a frontal assault
Neo backflipped away from a low swipe of Harbinger to get some distance between herself and Qrow only for her to get slammed into a wall by a white beowulf. Neo tried to get up to fight but suddenly she felt something tug at her shirt and as she looked at what it was she could only curse silently. It was a fishing hook and now she was flying into another wall
Winter shared a look with Qrow and Clover. The trio nodded to each other before getting in a fighting stance. Maybe it was overkill but any huntsmen level threat should be met with extreme force. Quickly Qrow turned to the teens quickly "Get into the house and search for Ruby NOW!"
The 7 of them quickly ran into the house searching for clues while Neo was getting beat up by the 3 huntsmen. However not a moment after they entered the house a modified bullhead burst from the garage and began to quickly make it's way towards Neo. 2 Gatling guns began to whirr to life and shoot at the 3 huntsmen to get them off Neo's tail. While they jumped out of the way Neo's new hope reinvigorated her to get to running after it to try and get in immediately. Even as she heard the angry shouting of the teens behind her
Slowly the cargo hatch opened and Neo smirked using her semblance to teleport onto it. She however wasn't out of the woods yet. She could hears guns be reloaded and aimed at her. That all stopped when she was suddenly pulled more into the bullhead by none other than her special girl, Ruby Rose
Everyone was too distracted by Ruby and her helping Neo to start firing it Neo. They were just so…. Stunned. In team WBY however it just made them want to chase after Neo more to get their friend and leader back
I want to add 1 or 2 daughters to Neo's family. Thinking between Raven and Penny. Probably either gonna put a "safe" chapter between em or a chapter where they get out of atlas and steal a bigger ship