Hello everyone! How are you doing? I hope you are all doing well!
Chapter 75 is here and, as always, I hope you enjoy it!
Thanks again for following/ favoring/ reading the story. This arc has a bit of a slow start, but I am trying my best to make it enjoyable until the main part kicks in!
See you all next week! Until then, have fun!
The pitch-black darkness of the lowest level laboratory was scarcely dispersed in a few places by the faint fluorescent green light pulsing from the liquid sealed inside the enormous vat lying in the middle.
An ample array of tubes ran across the vast room, connecting the vat's interior with a series of experimental tubs where the same green liquid was gathered.
Another array of tubes connected with a large machine. Half a dozen glass containers were etched on its surface, each containing a different substance to be poured inside the vat.
A separate lever for each container made sure the amount of each of the substances would be controlled as per Prof. Azure's instructions in order to carefully evaluate each formula's effects on the specimen.
At the moment, the blue-haired man stood in front of the glowing case, his eyes appraising the specimen stored inside- the culmination of his hard and dangerous life's work.
"Why would you ever do this? You said yourself, Doctor! You told me I am the best assistant you could ever wish for!" he remembered the day when Merlot had called him in his office for the last time.
"Because you are wasting your talent here, young lad" the red-eyed man had replied to him.
"You are destined for greatness, not for staying behind me forever. Your unique situation has given you a perspective in life that very few could ever dream to attain. You will be the one to deny Nature with me, not as colleagues but as rivals. Satiate your curiosity and challenge the world while trying to surpass me! This is the only way for both of us to reach greater heights!"
His eyes gleamed as he recalled his mentor's words. He clenched his thin fingers, full of bandages and acid burn marks.
"The time is nigh, Doctor. I will soon reach the pinnacle of science. I will show every simpleminded fool how right you- no, both of us- have been all along" he whispered, before he heard the door open.
His blue irises narrowed as he turned around. Among his subordinates, only three people were allowed to enter this room and none of them without prior notice.
That meant either someone was ignoring his orders- a crime punishable by incineration- or his new bodyguard was a much more curious little minx than he wanted her to be.
Sure enough, a cherry-colored head appeared in the dimly-lit entrance and a pair of emerald orbs met his scrutinizing gaze. A few seconds was all it took for Cherry to lower her brows, matching his own expression.
"What is this?" her voice was trembling in anger as she pointed at the vat. "Something you have no right to mess with. I thought I made that clear when we first met; I didn't think you are that dense."
She clenched her teeth, her eyes taking a feral gleam, further enhanced by the green light reflected on them. "Just how much are you willing to disgrace me and my religion, you atheist?" the faunus hissed.
"This is the problem with you, Ms. Itazura" Azure didn't flinch. Instead, he glared at her in a haughty manner, his lips flat and his eyes slightly open in disapproval.
"You think that, just because you put your faith in the Grimm and have your world revolve around them, everyone has to do so as well. I am terribly sorry to inform you the world doesn't work this way, little fox."
"This is only your Godless view of the world; don't try to impose it on me, Professor" she spat back at him. "Gods exist, no matter what you think or say about that."
"The world doesn't need them" he replied "neither do I. The mere idea of surrendering my fate to beings that someone else arbitrarily chose to revere fills me with disgust. And pity for their sanity" he added.
"You are the pitiful one" Cherry stood her ground. "Without faith, with only your logic and nothing else to lean on, you will never be able to reach greater heights. I feel sorry for you" she shook her head.
"Oh, but I will. With the power of my talent, that is" he smirked. "The moment the Grimm-controlling formula will be completed, I will have reached a height far greater than any other person in this planet; the very peak of our intellectual evolution that Merlot sought.
And, to pay respects to your blind devotion, I will have you be there to marvel at the moment of our triumph; after all it is not your fault that you are blind and lack the insight to understand the grandeur of this marvelous experiment, dear girl" he finished, his smirk vanished.
Cherry fumed in the inside, but didn't show it. Instead, she controlled her breathing and cracked her fists to release the tension. If there was one thing she hated more than being ridiculed, it would be failing her mission and she already had one failure under her belt after all.
"I don't accept your words; but I will restrain my thoughts for now" she surrendered the verbal fight. Azure was not Alizar and discussing with him was pointless and surprisingly less enjoyable than with the boy.
"That is a good answer; don't make me repeat myself about the reason you are here and your position every little time, Ms. Itazura" he said.
Cherry wanted to reply, but the sound of the blue-haired man's scroll beeping cut her off, the ringtone filling the wide room and echoing in the darkness before he picked it up.
"I hope there is a reason for using the emergency line, Fowler" he said at once. Is he that grumpy and condescending with everyone? Cherry pondered.
"I see; good job Fowler. We are coming up at once" he closed the scroll and turned to meet the pink-haired girl's expectant gaze.
"It would seem one of my young subordinates is way too foolish and greedy for his own good" he exclaimed as he strode past the faunus to the door "follow me."
-o—
They quickly climbed the stairs to the ground floor and reached the end of the left corridor, where the control room was. Inside, they found four scientists surrounding a young man in gray clothes.
Must be a low-ranked assistant; I don't even remember his name Azure thought. "Is it him?" he addressed his personal assistant, a tall, broad-shouldered man with long shining black hair named Grease Fowler.
"Computer analysis affirmed it, Professor" Fowler replied. The boy was trembling, his brown eyes wide in horror as the short yet terrifying man stood over him, disdain evident in his blue eyes.
"Tell me, boy" putting emphasis on the fact he didn't even bother to remember most of his subordinates' names was something Glaucous Azure enjoyed a lot when lecturing them.
"What sort of brain malfunction urged you to access my PC and use my old account to transfer money to yours under my very nose?" Being on point and direct was another thing he liked in such cases.
Cherry stood next to the door, arms crossed, staring at the scientists. Azure acted quite differently in his lab than when talking to the Cult members and she was curious to see him deal with this situation.
"I just…I… I thought you-" "You thought I wouldn't notice" he cut off the boy. "This is the only acceptable answer, child. The only thing that may come close to an acceptable answer is you thought I wouldn't get you; am I wrong?" he raised an eyebrow, making the other man flinch.
"No, Professor" he finally replied, hanging his head. "Of course; I rarely am wrong" Azure smirked, scratching his chin "especially in such easy to understand cases as your petty theft is."
"I am-" "Silence" he cut him off again, sparing not even one glance at the terrified man. Then, he turned his head to the rest before starting to walk around the computer-filled room.
"Five years ago, after the fall of Vale" he started talking "I contacted all twenty-seven of you and made you an offer; the chance to assist me in reaching a breakthrough in the field of Grimm Science.
I promised you all the resources we could get, a place safe even from the Evil Queen of the Grimm, access to superior knowledge and all of your daily needs taken care of" he stopped to stare at Cherry.
That last part was the thing that confused the young woman the most during the few days she had been staying here. How were they able to survive in this place? She had seen no animals or crops.
On her part, she was fishing and hunting for her own food and most of the time dining alone since the doctor had told her everyone ate in their own rooms and none could spare time to provide for her.
Were they living on stealing corn from the fields? Or living only of forest fruit? Or maybe they were using some sort of ration bars they stored in huge quantity. Why then did they dine alone and isolated?
Work ethics maybe? Or possibly lunch time was the only solitude they had during- "What was the only single thing I asked of all of you, do you remember?" Azure's voice cut her train of thought off.
"T-to… devote our heart, our soul and our time; our entire life in order to make Project Mindslaver a success" the young scientist replied, lips still trembling in anticipation of his punishment.
"There you go" the blue-haired man replied "and, instead of that, what did you do, boy?" he asked. "I… I am-"
"Oh, for Dust's sake; it was a rhetoric question! Do I have to explain every single thing?!" suddenly Azure's voice boomed, making everyone but Cherry jump on their place, terrified.
"I will tell you what you did" he continued, expression now harsh and angry.
"Not only you tried to rob me, you did it in such an amateurish way that you allowed Lumia Starlight to trace you and team RWBY to track us down, that's what you did!"
"Professor…" "Silence!" he started walking towards the pitiful boy, step by step making his victim's nerves wrack. "I- I can still be useful! I will make up for my mistake, Professor! Please, spare me!"
"Oh?" the man lowered his head, looking at the boy's brown eyes "and how do you plan to do this? Do you have a semblance that will turn us back in time? Or do you plan on defeating RWBY all on your own?"
The boy gulped and Cherry chuckled. Frankly, the possibility of him time travelling was higher than defeating the three girls she had crossed blades with in Grimmwater. And she still hadn't seen Ruby Rose fight.
"I can still help, Professor! Please; I will do anything you want! Even try to stall team RWBY if you want!" "Tch!" Azure stood up and dismissed the idea with an expression of disgust, clearly not believing him.
"If you want to help, that's fine" he replied after a moment. "In fact, I have the perfect job for you. I only want you to do one thing." The boy's lips curled in joy while all others stared at Glaucous in confusion.
"I only want you to forget your name" he smirked, making Cherry stare in confusion. "From now on, you will be called TS-043" he announced.
All of a sudden, everyone stared at the professor. Cherry noticed that all staff members looked at him in a mix of shock and realization. As for the boy- she raised an eyebrow. The boy's eyes were open wide in fear.
"No…nononono! PROFESSOR! PLEASE, NO!" he started shouting and tried to move, but Fowler and another man pinned him down. "NOOO! PLEASE, PROFESSOR! I CAN STILL HELP! PLEASE, DON'T DO THAT!"
"Take him down!" he merely dismissed the boy's pleads with a shake of his head "he wasted us enough time already." Upon his command they moved and dragged the screaming boy with them, no questions asked.
"PLEASE! NO! FOWLER! OTTO! KATRIN! DON'T DO THIS! YOU HAVE KNOWN ME FOR FIVE YEARS! WE HAVE TALKED DURING BREAKS! YOU HAVE LAUGHED AT MY JOKES! PLEASE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! NO!"
Ignoring the man's screams and cries for help, Cherry walked to Azure. "What was that entire 'name' thing about?" The professor sighed in an exaggerated manner before answering.
"I can't believe I have to explain even that! What sorts of people have numbers instead of proper names, Ms. Itazura?" "Prisoners, I think?" she replied.
"Prisoners, yes" his eyes narrowed "and test subjects" he finished. "I see… that makes sense. You are making him test subject N. 43 then."
"Hm?" he asked. "I expected you to be fiercely opposed to the idea; isn't your religion all about life and rebirth?" he asked, a demeaning flair in his voice.
"That it is" Cherry clutched her talisman "but he chose to waste his own by betraying your trust in order to gain something as pointless as lien; he is so pathetic, he deserves anything that comes his way."
Without waiting for a response, the faunus turned around and strode out of the room, leaving the professor behind scratching his chin.
So, as long as someone is unworthy of your approval, you don't even treat him as a human, huh? What an interesting piece of information I uncovered, little fox Azure smirked before he returned to his monitor.
-o—
Next Morning, City of Vale
The sun had barely risen above the horizon, dying New Vale City in its brilliant colors, when Velvet entered the busy Stefan's Café dragging a half-asleep Jaune behind her.
Her dark eyes scoured the interior, currently filled in sleepy people on their way to work, until she found the table she had been looking for. Somehow, Jaune was on his way there already.
"Morning!" he greeted the black-haired girl who was reading today's newspaper and the handsome man sitting next to her, as he crashed on the chair with a heavy thud.
"Someone's exhausted" Erik stood up and hastily brushed his short brown hair before hugging Velvet. The bunny faunus gave him a quick kiss on the cheek "we have been all night up patrolling again" she said.
They both got seated. "Still no clues on the grave robbers?" Lumia, eyes still focused on her newspaper, asked. "It's been already more than a month now, hasn't it?"
"Forty days, to be precise" Jaune rubbed his eyes and straightened his black jeans and red blouse in an attempt to look less exhausted than he currently was.
"And almost a dozen cases of open graves during that time, without any single clue or indication about it" Velvet continued. "Except for the half- devoured corpses and gnawed bones, that is" she completed.
Erik and Lumia exchanged a worried glare, both deciding to skip the obvious disgusting part; someone was opening graves and eating the dead bodies inside them.
"How can somebody do that without leaving any trace?" the former maiden finally lowered the paper. Jaune stared at the article she had been reading- it was one discussing team RWBY's sudden expulsion from the SHU- and smiled at the woman's antics.
"We have no idea" he replied, not calling out Lumia for being overly worried about their friends. He was slightly worried himself, after all.
"Covering their tracks is one thing, but avoiding us so successfully is a totally different matter. They have acted 10 times already and all of them were days we hadn't been patrolling the cemetery" he said.
"They are good" the chestnut-haired man sitting next to Velvet commented "if they can so accurately predict or discern your moves and patrols, they must be really skilled."
"That's why I believe they are using some sort of observation skill; maybe clairvoyance semblance. Otherwise, I can't even fathom how they have managed to see us without being seen too" Velvet replied.
They stopped for a moment in order for the waiter to serve them their coffee- straight black for Lumia and Erik, lots of cream for Velvet and a single sugar cube for Jaune.
Three of them were accompanied by a large slice of cake and a small sandwich- their common breakfast after all-nighters. "Not hungry?" Erik asked Jaune as he saw he had ordered no food with his coffee.
"Not really" the blonde man rubbed his belly. "Are you still having issue with your appetite?" Lumia asked in concern. "You should contact Dr. Van Ochre again, man" her partner joined her.
"I did" Jaune replied, visibly uncomfortable. "He keeps telling me the same thing; it's because of your extended coma and the lack of proper day and night circle you are following" he dropped his shoulders.
Velvet sipped some of her coffee, not joining the conversation that had erupted about her current partner's well-being. In her mind, another one was being played; one that had taken place a couple days ago.
"I have no trouble keeping an eye on him, but why?" she had asked Ruby when the crimson-tipped girl had voiced her request. "He is, as far as I can see, doing fine except for some lack of sleep."
She had not voiced her thought, but Ruby must have had understood. "He barely eats, Velvet, even at home. He sleeps even less than Lumia and works out even harsher than he did back then."
"That is-" she had tried to retort, but Ruby cut her off "there is another thing I want to tell you. It's a little more… personal, ok?" the slightly shorter brunette was red in embarrassment and Velvet only nodded.
"There is something that feels off about him" she said, keeping a low voice. "He… feels different. I mean; I feel him differently. When we are alone, he unsettles me, like his presence is… different? Weakening?"
"Sorry to ask but, you don't mean in a sexual manner do you?" she had replied, gulping audibly. "I don't know about that" the reply confused the bunny girl who slightly tilted her ears.
"We have only slept together twice back in Mistral and the first two days after we returned. After that, nothing" Ruby stared away trying to hide her embarrassment "let me explain please" she added.
"When we are away from each other, I miss him. I feel a longing in my heart that makes me want to see him again and we sometimes spend hours talking on the phone smiling like a love-struck high school girl."
Her eyes narrowed as she continued "but when I return home and we are together alone, this feeling stops. The atmosphere feels odd, and I don't feel like doing anything… more intimate than cuddles and kisses."
"Maybe you just are not in the mood? Yesterday morning you seemed a lot into it" she raised an eyebrow in question. "I forced myself to be just a little aggressive; I wanted to see if it was me who had the problem."
Her large gunmetal orbs stared at her former upperclassman, pleading "but I know it; I know I still love him and I know there is no way I just got bored of Jaune! This is why I want you to help me, Velvet!"
"You want me to keep an eye out for him while also looking after him" she acknowledged. "Yes. There is a chance it's all in my mind or I just am so tired. But I can't shake out that alien feeling. It… suffocates me!"
Velvet gently patted the silver-eyed girl's head "I understand; but why did you tell this to me? Why not Nora or Ren? Or your team? They-"
A gentle hum made her stop. The girl had closed her eyes, enjoying the head pat. For some reason, Ruby always made Velvet feel like the senior student she had never had the chance to act like. It felt… good.
"Ren and Nora are already aware to an extent; as for the others, tell them if something comes up. I will inform my team only after we are done with Azure. They already have a lot to deal with" she firmly stated.
Silver pools stared at the bunny-girl's scarred face "I am sorry to ask you like this, when I am getting ready to leave you all behind but, can I count on you, Velvet? Would you do me this selfish favor?"
Velvet sipped some more coffee and took a large bite out of Erik's cake. Why had Ruby asked her that? Why would Ruby ever think she had to request something as simple and natural as taking care of a friend?
"Gosh, Ruby. All that time has passed and, as Weiss says, you still are a dolt" she had laughed it off and ensured the worried girl she would continue looking after her boyfriend.
As the rest of her table continued discussing theories about how the corpse eater could have outwitted the Vale Police, Velvet Scarlatina closed her eyes to focus.
The last few days, a small idea had formed in her mind; an explanation about the disgusting case she had in her hands. She took a quick breath and cast it away. It was early in the morning and she was exhausted.
Or at least she hoped that was the case; the terrifying thought that had formed should never come to happen. Ruby could definitely count on her. And Velvet hoped she would never have to prove it.