Chapter: 12 A Slow Descent
latest chapter, more off the wall insanity. feel free to let me know your thoughts and critiques in the comments
Patch was always Ruby's home, a place where she could be safe and warm, in the comfort of her family. Now it didn't feel so much like home, but an ever constant reminder of what they lost. Sure in Ruby's mind she knew it was two days since then… but no amount of time would dull that sense of loss. Across the house, everyone was in some form of tears, malaise or sorrow over the events at Beacon, with one notable exception. Neo.
Gone was the bubbly, energetic and mischievous girl they had known. Neo hadn't tried to communicate since the event at Beacon. After arriving on Patch, she stumbled over to the couch like a zombie, and laid there like a corpse. The only times she moved was for meals and to head to her room for bed. No one tried to stir her, mostly because they didn't know what to do. Nobody knew what to do about this situation, and for a good week things kept that way.
One night Ruby was heading to her room after her turn in the bathroom when she passed Neo's room. Faintly through the thick wooden door she could hear crying. Ruby kept walking, trying to put it out of her mind as crying in the house was normal. But something else crept into her mind.
'Why is she crying? Does she think that's going to change everything after everything she caused? Wait… What am I saying? Neo couldn't have controlled that. I can't blame her for all of this. I can't.' Ruby thought with a shake of her head and headed to her room, but a niggling bit of her mind still went to darker places still.
A week later, everyone assembled for breakfast, but Neo didn't come like she usually did. Electing herself, Ruby went around the house to find her. Curiously, she was nowhere to be found. Part of Ruby thought she was using her semblance to turn invisible, but quickly dismissed it. It made no sense right now. Heading down the stairs, she noticed that the front door was opened a crack, and Neo's shoes were gone. That meant only one thing, and with a flash of red and wind Ruby rushed after her.
Ruby's mind raced as she used her semblance to cover ground. Did she go out on a walk to clear her head and get lost? Is this some form of practical joke? Did Grimm actually get her? Nothing made sense to her till finally she saw a flash of pink and brown in the distance. Ruby slowed down and stopped. In the clearing head of her Neo was surrounded by 6 Beowolves, but not in a state she expected.
Exhausted, battered, beaten, and in tears, a look of determination was plastered across the whole of her visage. She can be seen faintly mouthing something that seems to be, 'I must get stronger… I can't let the people I love die! Not again…' and with that, neo charges forward.
Ruby lurched forward to join the fray, but stopped suddenly and held herself back. Did she need to help? Why? Neo hasn't done anything to deserve that help. What had she done to help fight the villains assailing them? Ruby turned around, made one last look at the struggling Neo, walked away with an air of guilt about her.
A week had passed. Neo went off into the woods daily to "train" and come back beaten to high hell, but alive. She never explained how she got it, other than tripping and falling. Ruby never said anything about it either. All of this changed as one day Ruby hadn't seen Neo all day. She never came back from heading out. Despite being concerned, Ruby's mind was too conflicted to warrant going out after her. Maybe a cookie or two would help clear her mind.
Ruby reached up and grabbed the cookie jar. Just as she reached for the lid, she noticed a note taped to it with a bit of clear scotch tape. Taking it off she opened it… and her heart sank… written within, was as follows.
'To my friends of wich ive hurt, im sorry i brought nothing but grief and heartache to you. I know my words mean nothing to you anymore and that any attempts to apologize would be nothing but an insult to you, but i deeply regret the fact that i was never strong enough to keep you safe, i regret the things i did that i have no memory of. Im sorry if im rambling. I have decided to try to make things right. By the time your reading this, i am likely already on the first boat to Vacuo, dont come looking for me, i know i dont deserve the help. I will either avenge zwei, and the many students killed at beacon, or die trying. I know i have no right to ask anything of you, but please dont hate me, and i hope to see you soon and victorious.
~Sign, Neo~'
At that Ruby blinked, unsure of how to take it, before dropping the cookie jar. As soon as it shattered into shards of ceramics and cookie, Ruby rushed off to find her team, speed dragging them into the kitchen one by one. Yang being most annoyed at being dragged out of the bathroom before her hair dried.
"Ruby, you had better have a good reason for dragging me out of the bathroom like this!" Yang snapped at her little sister/team leader.
"I found a note on the cookie Jar. Neo has flown the coop heading for Vacuo on a madcap dream of vengeance." Ruby explained, panting a bit, and slammed the note on the table with an audible thump.
Yang picked up the note and read it aloud for Weiss and Blake to hear. The further into the note they got, the more worried they became. Once Yang had finished reading the note, they were all practically in a panic.
"Okay, show of hands! All in favor of going after our mascot Neo and saving her from doing something reckless and stupid?" Yang called out.
Three hands raised up high. When Yang finished counting, she was shocked to see who didn't raise their hand. Their indomitable team leader Ruby, who sat twiddling her thumbs.
"Ruby, why aren't you raising your hand? Don't you wanna help Neo?" Yang asked, completely confused.
"Does she deserve that help?" Ruby blurted out after staying quiet for a bit.
Yang narrowed her eyes at that. "What do you mean?"
"I get it, we should technically help her, but after all she's caused, should we?" Ruby asked.
"What are you talking about, Ruby? She's our friend and she's in trouble! Of course we should help her!" Yang insisted, not happy with her sister's response.
"Yang, this is your sister you're talking to. We should at least hear her out regardless." Weiss said, trying to bring some element of calm to the devolving state of affairs.
Yang crossed her arms, visibly annoyed, but willing to hear Ruby out.
"All the nonsense in our lives began happening after Neo entered into our lives. If she left then…" Ruby said, till Yang cut her off.
"And just whose idea was it to give her a chance?" Yang said, more of an angry demand than a question.
"If Neo ran off, then she likely has a reason. What reason I don't know, but she would have a reason." Ruby countered.
"Neo's an idiot, Ruby! Do you honestly think she can come up with a good reason for this? She's gonna get herself killed and her blood will be on your hands if we don't go help her!" Yang snapped.
"Alright… Let's go get her." Ruby said quietly, slinking back in her chair, visibly hurt.
'Am I really that terrible of a person to leave Neo to her fate? Why did I open my mouth and say that?' Ruby asked herself in her mind, and was unable to come up with a satisfactory answer.
Meanwhile: on a ship destined for Vacuo
Neo sat on the deck of the ship sipping a glass of juice and unfurling a big folder marked with the symbol of the Vale PD. Unfurling it she set out notes, news clippings, photos and other random bits of evidence. She was trying to find someone, anyone she could start with. Someone she could make pay. Reading one report a single name stood out to her. Arthur Watts. It wasn't much, but frankly, she took it regardless.
Neo had heard that he had died in an experiment gone wrong, however, she suspected that he wasn't actually dead at all, well, not yet. Little Neo was hunting a dead man, someone who has been able to successfully avoid detection for almost as long as she had been alive. A daunting task to be sure, but a doable one nonetheless.
For the duration of her voyage, Neo would do her best to plan for every outcome she could foresee, needless to say, she was woefully unprepared.
Meanwhile, with Cinder's faction
The well dressed form of a Vale councilmen was escorted in by the standard red shaded, big shouldered suit men. When he arrives at the office of the boss however, they are surprised to see the lithe and relaxed form of Cinder "staring" back at them. With a gulp, they are seated in a very comfortable red chair looking at a large and sturdy hardwood desk.
"Hello ma'am… You're new around these parts…" The politician said with a gulp.
"What can I say? I've grown attached to this part of town." Cinder answered with a dreadful calm.
"To what do I owe the honor?" The politician asked, trying to steady themselves.
"I have a business proposition for you." She answered in the same initial tone she started with.
"That is?" He asked nervously.
"You give me what I want, and a tragedy that befell Beacon need not happen to… let's say… Signal." Cinder proposed in a more bemused tone.
"You're bluffing…" The man said pale face.
"Am I? I thought I said it quite convincingly if you ask me. Oh well. I wonder how many kids have to die before you take me seriously?" Cinder asked, swirling a glass of whiskey as she spoke.
"What do you want?" He asked meekly.
"It's very simple, so simple even you can understand. You are going to pay me some money every month to operate in this town. And look the other way when my men collect from others. This is my city. Remember that." Cinder answered arrogantly.
"I can't do that, that's illegal!" The man yelped, before one of the boys put a hand on his shoulder.
"I don't think you understand how this works." She says as she raises her hand to stop her man.
"Oh?" The man asked.
"I'll forgive this outburst this ONCE. Now, however, you owe me a favor. One down the road of my choosing and discretion. Now get out of my sight." Cinder explained, the last bit holding no small ounce of venom.
At that the two guards grab the man by his shoulders and hoist him up off the ground, before in unison chucking him out the door onto the floor. The door slammed shut behind him for emphasis.
Back to Neo
Neo sighed as she closed the door behind her to her motel room. Being so close to the boat ramp was unfortunate, but it was the only thing she could get short notice. Tiredly she threw her bags on the floor and took a shower. Once she got dressed, she jumped onto the bed in her pink princess pajamas, and drifted into about the best sleep one could expect. Halfway through the night however, it got interrupted by a violent knock on the door.
Neo jolted awake just in time for the door to be kicked in. As she saw three men of questionable appearances step into her room while carrying weapons, she tried to subtly look at her weapon Hush by the nightstand. Could she get to it before they got to her? Seeing as her options were either that or be attacked and potentially killed, she went for it.
Leaping from the bed as best she could in her tired, half-awake condition, she grabbed her parasol and rolled to one knee. She then opened it up to block a barrage of gunfire just in time to avoid being filled with holes. Looking for any way out of the room that wouldn't involve going through the men, Neo saw that her only option was the door, since the window didn't open and the glass was bulletproof. With no other choice, Neo waited for them to start to reload and rushed at them with Hush's blade tip pointing out from the parasol.
Acting quickly, Neo slashed the guns from their hands and dodged a slash from one of them. Kicking the first offender in the face, she ducked under another slash from another and kicked his leg out from under him. Deflecting a slash from the third, Neo kicked him in the throat to stagger him before making a run for the door. Rushing out the door, Neo made it outside only to spot four more guys that were clearly "friends" of the three in her room. Bandits, most likely.
Neo panicked momentarily, thinking to herself, 'Oh god, oh fuck, oh god, of fuck…' Neo was snapped out of her panic induced paralysis by a center of mass shot, point blank, causing her aura to shimmer.
The punch from the gunshot temporarily knocked the breath out of her, but she couldn't afford to stop. Fighting through the pain, Neo slashed the gun from the offender's hands and barely dodged a shot from one of his compatriots. The shot put a hole in the nearby wall as Neo rushed in and kicked the gunman in the groin, hard enough for a crack to be heard. Dropping the gun and clutching his jewels, the gunman dropped to the floor as a third hit Neo in the back of the head with the butt of his rifle.
Quickly recovering while clutching her head with her off-hand, Neo swung with Hush's blade and sliced the bandit in the throat, staggering him backwards as his aura protected him from getting his throat cut open and his head cut off. Kicking the fourth bandit in the jaw to rattle his brain, Neo took off running once more. As soon as she made it to the parking lot, Neo saw six more men waiting for her. Frustrated, Neo couldn't help but wonder what deity or cosmic force she pissed off for this to happen to her.
Neo, seeing this, physically wanted to cry, before resolving herself to make it to her car. If she could just do that, she could escape. Bolting for her car, Neo saw the men moving to cut her off. They had seen her.
Frustration and anger building, Neo readied Hush. Even if she couldn't win, she would definitely get some good licks in before finding her opening to escape. Blocking gunfire with her parasol, Neo crouched down behind it while waiting for the men to reload. After about a minute, she heard the resounding "click, click, click" that signaled that the six men had all emptied their magazines. She counted six sets of clicks, meaning that they were about to reload. Closing Hush, Neo rushed in. Unfortunately, she hadn't counted on the idea that she could've miscounted the number of men reloading.
This proved to be a near fatal error when one of the men unloaded on her. The first bullet, a high caliber round, broke through her weakened aura. The second pierced through her left arm like a hot knife through room temperature butter as the sixth set of clicks was heard. Neo felt cold all of a sudden when the shot pierced through her arm, but, pumped up on adrenaline, she didn't stop. Stopping would mean death.
Rushing into a gap between the men, Neo tried to make for her car. As she did, some of the men drew melee weapons while the others cracked their knuckles. One of them that Neo tried to run past saw an opening and kicked Neo in the gut, his steel toed boots knocking the breath out of her while sending her flying back. Sprawled on the ground, Neo emptied the contents of her stomach onto the pavement as she tried to recollect herself. However, before she could recollect herself, she felt a second steel toed boot kick her in the ribs on the side her gunshot arm was on, a resulting crack being heard as the impact broke three ribs.
Neo was sent sprawling across the pavement again and was covered in cuts and bruises. As Neo lay bleeding and in pain, she couldn't help but wonder what her fate would be. Was this how she was going to go out? Killed by bandits in some rathole motel parking lot in the shady side of a village in Vacuo?
Thankfully, it seemed that whatever deity or cosmic force Neo had pissed off had some sense of mercy. Before the bandits could move to finish her, police sirens were heard in the distance. The momentary distraction took their attention off of her and gave her the opening she needed. Bolting to her car, fighting through the pain with gritted teeth, Neo made it to her car of questionable legal status, jammed the key in the keyhole of the door, and opened it. Climbing in, she jammed the keys into the ignition, started the car, and sped away. As she did, the bandits briefly opened fire on her car as it screeched out into the night like a bat out of hell.