Okay, so my last chapter was a bit rushed, honestly, I just needed a first chapter out of the way, that way I would give people who loved the original something to hold them off until I started to get back in the groove.
Anyways, reactions were mixed, ranging from 'Go kill yourself.' to 'Yay, you're back' Well, that was weird.
Anyways next chapter.
"I hope we see something normal this time." Ruby said as that last reality was just weird.
"I agree, the idea of me swooning at a student is just ridiculous." Goodwitch said as she didn't enjoy that scene in the last reality.
"So what do you think we'll see next?" Ren asked.
"I don't know, hopefully something that makes more sense." Pyrrha said as the last one didn't make a lot of sense to her, even if it did have a happy ending.
All they could see was an empty room, there was nothing but darkness. It wasn't until a light bulb flickered on that they realized there was a man in the room. He seemed to be of a bulky build, and his arms and chest were muscular and toned, probably from years of weight training. He had a nasty bruise on his head, almost as if someone knocked him out. But the most peculiar things were the devices on his arms. They were thick and heavy, and looked like they were stuck onto his body.
"Hey that's Cardin!" Ruby recognized Jaune's bully in an instant.
"That's strange, what is he doing here?" Yang didn't understand what he had to do with anything.
"I don't know, but whatever it is, it can't be good." Ozpin said as a dark room usually meant something bad was about to happen.
The man woke up as he looked at his surroundings, the last thing he remembered was walking home from the bar after a night of drinking with his friends, but then nothing. It was almost like someone had knocked him out. All he knew was that he was stuck in a dark room with some strange devices on his arm. As well as a killer hangover hammering in his skull.
The man turned his attention over to a TV, where he saw a strange face on the TV.
It was of a strange doll, its hair was blond, but its eyes were red, and its face was a pale color, making it look like something out of a macabe show.
The scene quickly switched to a split screen, showing a man in a hood, the only thing you could see was his deep sapphire blue eyes.
"Well, there is Jaune, but what is he doing?" Ruby didn't understand what was going on.
"Well, he looks menacing, so something tells me whatever is going to happen, it can't be good." Nora was looking into Jaune's eyes, and she didn't like what she saw.
"Jaune wouldn't do anything...crazy would he?" Pyrrha wanted to believe herself, but in all honesty, this whole situation was unsettling.
"Hello Cardin, I want to play a game." The doll said as the man spoke into the microphone.
"You've lived your entire life using your strength and your physicality to get ahead in life, whether it was for a scholarship to go to college, or if it was torturing those weaker than you, those arms of yours are filled with great strength. And while you could have used it to make something great of yourself, you have squandered these gifts." The voice was deep and menacing.
Multiple photos passed by on the TV screen, Cardin didn't know why, but they all looked familiar.
"Do you recognize these people? These are students you bullied, tell me, do you know what happened to them?" The doll almost seemed to look at him with a sickening look.
"Blake Belladonna...threw herself in front of a train..." The voice echoed through the room as it saw a picture of a mangled corpse on a train track.
"Urk." Blake felt like throwing up at seeing her own mangled corpse.
"I think I'm going to be sick!" Ruby said as she looked away.
"What sick show is this?!" Yang was also looking away.
"Ozpin, what is going on?" Goodwitch did not want to know what kind of world this was.
"I don't know, but one thing is for sure, Mr. Winchester is not getting out of this." Ozpin was serious, he knew something bad was going to happen.
Cardin recognized the girl, she was one of many faunus that he had picked on in High school, he stole her clothes, he threw her books into the pond. But one of the worst things he had done was expose her hidden diary full of erotica to the entire school, that was written all about another Faunus Sun Wukong and her doing the dirty deed. She was absolutely humiliated after that escapade. And she ran away from the school, and last he heard, she had switched schools, he had no idea she had killed herself.
It was sickening looking at the photos, her head was still intact, but you could see where the spine had separated from the body. The rest of her corpse was a bloody mess, with intestines flattened out across the tracks, bits of bone and flesh splattered all over the ground, her tongue sliced into two bits down the middle, almost as if she had taken a knife to it herself, and had willing chewed on a razor sharp blade.
There was a video as well, after the train had splattered her body all over the tracks, there was a leg that was left intact, it simply twitched uncontrollably, making a young Medical examiner jump in his pants when he felt the leg kick after it had been separated from the body for too long.
"This is sick…." Weiss said as she didn't like seeing anyone, much less a friend be mutilated like that.
"Why are they showing us this?" Nora was trying to look away, but she couldn't get the horrors out of her mind.
Blake didn't know what to think, she just kept imagining herself, desperate and alone, and willing to throw herself in front of a moving train. She could feel the impact, turning into nothing but a bug on a windshield as his blood and organs went flying, maybe hitting some innocent bystanders, she didn't know how her duplicate died, but it was sickening to think about.
"Velvet Scarlatina….such a sweet girl, do you remember her? You pulled on her ears a lot in high school, but that wasn't all was it? You also tricked her into thinking she had a secret admirer, you made her think that there was someone in the school who thought she wasn't an antisocial freak, but you only exposed her as…. "A loser who would never have anyone ever love her, especially with those freak ears." Tell me, do you know what she did afterwards?" The man finished as Cardin couldn't respond.
"She grew sick of her ears, her natural gifts, she hated them, she hated feeling them on top of her head, she hated knowing that she was born with what she saw as a curse. So she took a knife, and she attempted to rid herself of her curse." More photos followed.
The photos showed Velvets corpse, she was laying face down in a pool of blood, with a bloody knife in one hand, and a pair of rabbit ears in the other. In another photo, they saw her face up, but what was even worse was the look on her face.
Happiness, she was happy that she had cut them off, that she had willingly mutilated her body, that she was finally free of the curse of her ears. Something that should have been a symbol of joy, and she was happy to be rid of them.
Blake felt her own ears twitch under the bow, everyone knew that pulling a Faunus's ears was taboo, and you were not meant to do it. But never once did she see her ears as a punishment from God, rather she saw them as a gift. Especially since Faunus had heightened senses, as a result of their animal traits. But could she have ended up like Velvet? Could she had reached that breaking point.
"Oh Oum No, not Velvet…" Pyrrha said as she covered her mouth.
They had seen Velvet being bullied by Cardin before, but that had ended a while ago since Jaune took care of Cardin during that forest incident. But…could Velvet have ended up like that after awhile? Could she have become so upset that she killed herself? All in an attempt to make herself appear more normal.
Suddenly a wave of guilt crashed over the two Teams, none of them had really done anything to help Velvet, they had just sat there and watched it happen. Neither team stood up to help her, they merely remarked about how Cardin was a jerk. But what if their inactions caused Velvet to take her own life? Would they be to blame?
It was an awful feeling.
Even Goodwitch was having a hard time, she cared for her students, and while the life of a Huntress/Huntsman was a hard life, Ozpin was right, they were still just kids, and bullying was never acceptable. She knew Ms. Scarlatina, she was a very sweet and kind young lady, almost too kind for the work of a Huntress, but the girl didn't deserve any of the bullying she received. And to see Velvet reach her breaking point, it was hard for her to watch.
Ozpin just sat in silence, unsure of how he was to digest this new information. But one thing was sure, he would make sure that any bullies would receive SERVERE consequences.
"Some people thought you were funny, but I call you disgusting. You are a waste of life, you use your strength to hurt and humiliate others, you are unworthy of the gifts you have received, and you are unworthy of the life you have." The voice somehow got even deeper and even more menacing.
"So, I developed this little game for you." Jaune's voice boomed over the intercom.
"You will notice that there are two devices on your arms." Cardin looked down at the two metal contraptions he saw.
"If you look closely, you'll notice that there are hooks embedded in your skin." Cardin suddenly noticed the metal objects stuck into his flesh. Other than slight irritation, he didn't feel it.
"What are they for? Well, I'll tell you, those devices are rigged to a timer, once two minutes have passed, those devices will peel the flesh from your arms, you won't die right away, you'll bleed out as time goes by, you will feel every second of pain as long as it yours to bear." Cardin suddenly felt really scared, and wanted to get out of this.
"JAUNE!" Pyrrha was shocked by what he heard.
"What is he doing?" Ruby couldn't believe that Jaune would ever do anything like this.
"This truly is a different world…" Goodwitch said as the Arc boy was as harmless as a kitten back at Beacon.
"But, why would he do this?" Nora couldn't believe fearless leader would do anything like this.
"He just told us….he's sick of people misusing their gifts, in a way, he is having them prove themselves worthy to be alive…" Blake was honestly frightened by Jaune. He decided who lived and died.
But in a way, the most terrifying aspect was she could understand him. In fact, images of a ox horned Faunus in a mask came to mind. She shook her head, No, Jaune was not him, but in another time and another place…could he be like HIM?
"But I would not be so cruel as to give you a way out of this. So I am giving you one last chance, a chance to prove that you deserve to be alive. Look to your left." The doll looked over to the left, which was soon mirrored by Cardin.
He saw a series of knives. He walked over and fingered them lightly.
"You made a young girl hate herself for her ears, so you must pay for that crime, both of those devices require a key, both are different, and both are required for you to get out of that trap. But where could they be? I'll give you a hint." The screen flashed to a picture of Cardin's skull.
He saw that there were two key shaped objects on the side of his head, right where his ears should be. He lightly touched his ears, as he realized what he would have to do.
"That's right, the keys are behind your ears, if you want to get to them, you will have to cut off your own ears." The doll almost seemed to grin sadistically.
"WHAT KIND OF PSYCHO IS HE?!" Yang may have not like Cardin, but this was a whole new level of torture.
"That's not Jaune…" Pyrrha could never believe her friend and love interest would ever resort to something like this.
"He…He won't actually force Cardin to do that…will he?" Ruby may not have been fond of Cardin, but cutting off your own ears, that was a hard pill for her to swallow.
Both of the professors were disgusted by what they saw, while they could understand that Mr. Winchester was an even worse bully in this reality, they couldn't say they approved of Mr. Arc's way of dealing with people like him. What could have pushed him over the edge? That torture seemed like a good idea.
"Live or die…Make your choice." The doll's face was gone from the screen. Leaving Cardin alone with his thoughts.
"NO! Please! Don't make me do this! I'll pay you! Please just don't make me do this!" Cardin screamed in horror as he realized this man wasn't joking.
He heard a sound, and he looked behind him to realize that a clock had started to tick. It's little hand passing by slowly and slowly, signifying that his time to get out of this trap had started. Which meant that the man who put him in this would not listen to his pleas.
"Oh Oum! Please! Don't let me die!" He screamed as he reached for a knife.
He tested the edges, praying to god that they would be sharp. But they weren't, whoever the guy who locked him in here was, he did not give him surgical tools, he had given him dull knives, Cardin wouldn't be able to get a clean cut, he would have to really force the knife through his ear and into his head in order to cut the flesh from his skull.
Knowing that there was no other option, he pointed the knife towards his ear.
"UGGGHHH!" He started to yell as he tried to force the knife through his ear.
He then pulled away as the pain was too much.
"SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME!" He was honestly scared now, he couldn't force himself to cut his own ears off.
"Please, I don't want to watch this anymore." Ruby said as she didn't want to see anyone go through this.
"We can't change it…" Yang said as she was trying to find a way to switch the channel on the TV, but there was no way to change it.
"Then stop watching!" Goodwitch said even though she found it was hard to look away.
"Whoever brought us here, they won't let us look away, they want us to see this…" Blake said as even when she closed her eyes, she could still see the screen.
There was no looking away, they would see every bit and piece of the mutilation to come.
Cardin once again looked to the clock, an entire minute had passed, and he still hadn't made any progress. His ears will still intact, and if he didn't do anything in the next two minutes, he would die a very painful, agonizing death.
He brought the knife back up to his ear, and took a deep breath and pushed down hard.
"GGGGGGAAAAAAAHHHH!" He screamed in pain as he felt the knife cutting through his ear.
"BLAGH!" Nora couldn't hold it in anymore.
Killing Grim was one thing, but seeing self mutilation was horrifying.
Glynda would be lying if she said she had seen worse, while she had fought multiple Grimm, and even some vile human and faunus beings, she had never seen anything like this. Someone being forced into a situation where in order to survive, they would have to essentially cripple themselves, that was not something she was familiar with. And it scared her. Even though she retained her stoic face, on the inside, she was truly frightened.
Ozpin gripped his coffee mug tight, the very idea of some sick sadism like this was making his blood boil. Even if it was someone as terrible as Cardin, the idea that someone, especially Jaune went out and found people to force them into these sadistic games, it was infuriating.
Cardin felt a sigh of relief as he tore his own ear from his skull. He reached into the empty cavity and found a key. Good! He had one, now all he needed was one more. But in his excitement, he dropped the key.
"NO!" He said as he scrambled to pick it up.
His hands were shaking, and he couldn't get a solid grip on it. The adrenaline he felt from slicing his own ear was fucking with his body. He couldn't stop shaking. And when he finally managed to get the key, he could only look on in horror as he noticed the entire escapade had taken another minute off of his time.
He only had one minute left.
"I don't know what to think." Blake said even though she was sickened.
"On one hand, he is a terrible person, but, I would not wish this on my worst enemy." She said as the whole reason she left the fang was because she didn't like the violent turn they took.
But what if she had stayed? Would she eventually turn to sadism in order to make progress in the world? Would she become as vile as Adam? Could she be as crazed as Jaune was in this reality? The scary answer was simple.
She didn't know. She didn't want to think of herself as some kind of monster, but she didn't know what could force her to such drastic measures. What if there was some kind of beast, some kind of monster inside her, just waiting to come out?
What if there was a sadistic monster just waiting for an excuse to come out and play? What if her inner demons won?
She didn't know, and the fact that she didn't know, scared her half to death.
By the time Cardin got the knife in hand, he only had forty seconds left, he had forgone unlocking his one arm first, since his main priority was getting the final key. Even though a rational person would have at least tried to save one arm, at this moment he was running on fear, and fear made you make stupid decisions.
"AAAHHH!" He said as he made it halfway through his final ear.
But then something happened. The blood on his hands made the blade slippery, it slipped out of his grasp and clattered to the floor below.
"NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!" He said as he tried to pick it up, but his hands were too slippery.
He looked to the clock, only 15 seconds left.
That was it, there was no way he could get out of this, even if he managed to cut off his other ear, there was no way he could unlock both arms in time. He was a dead man.
So he did the only thing he could do.
"PLEASE! LET ME OUT! I PROMISE I'LL CHANGE! I PROMISE I'LL BE BETTER! PLEASE JUST LET ME LIVE FOR THE LOVE OF OUM! PLEASE DON'T LET ME DIE LIKE THIS! DON'T LET ME DIE LIKE THIS! I HAVE A WIFE AND A DAUGHTER! PLEASE DON'T LET ME DIE!" Cardin screamed out, begging for mercy.
It was true, he did have a wife and daughter, but he would admit, he didn't treat his wife the best, nor did he pay enough attention to his daughter, but if he was spared, he swore to himself he would be better. He just wanted to live.
Five seconds…Four….Three….Two….
"PLEASE LET HIM LIVE!" Ruby screamed, this was too horrifying to watch.
"For Oums sake Jaune! Have some mercy!" Pyrrha could not believe the mastermind behind this was just going to let Cardin die.
"He's going to do it…" Weiss couldn't believe this was the same boy who flirted with her all the time.
"He…He's going to let Cardin die!" Weiss was horrified.
She didn't like Jaune, but to see him as a psychopath, it suddenly made her fear him, at first he was an annoyance, but now seeing what he could turn into, it scared her. What if he turned his sights on her? What trap would she have?
Thoughts of a device meant to tear out her tongue came to mind…or maybe traps for her hand so she couldn't wield her sword. What if she did something to make him believe she wasn't worthy to be alive? What devious trap would Jaune have cooked up for her?
"PLEASE SOMEONE HELP ME!" Cardin screamed out one last time.
ZERO.
Slowly the devices clicked and started peeling away.
"GGGGGGGGGAAAAAHHHHH!" Cardin screamed as the first layer of skin started to be peeled off.
Layer after layer of flesh was being torn off, first the skin went, revealing muscle and pulsating veins underneath, it was almost like if he was being skinned alive. But the worst part was, he wasn't bleeding heavily yet, and it felt like his arms had been dipped into molten metal.
"SOMEONE STOP THIS!" Ruby didn't want to see the horrors anymore.
Never in her life would she think she would see someone she cared about resort to this savagery! Not even in the darkest fairy tales were there villains who would do this to their enemies. This version of Jaune, he was evil, he may have thought he was doing good for the world. But All villains thought they were the good guys.
He was torturing someone, and for what? To prove a point? To gain revenge for other people? WHY WAS HE DOING THIS?! Course the answer that scared her the most, what if Jaune wasn't doing this because of Cardin squandering his life, what if he was doing it for fun? That answer scared her as she pictured the lovable boy as a sadist beyond Measure.
Pyrrha didn't even want to think about it. She loved Jaune the way he was, as an adorkable idiot, but right now that adorkable boy was gone, replaced by this man in the hood, who only cared about one thing, inflicting pain on others, he may have seeked to punish those he saw as monsters, but in reality, he may have been worse than any of his victims. And that scared her to death. What if Jaune was just one bad day from being this guy? What could cause him to become this cold blooded killer?
Nora had fainted by this time, she just couldn't take it anymore. One thing was for sure, she would be having nightmares of this for a long time.
Cardin fell to the ground, his vision was going black. He could still feel the machine tearing more and more flesh from his bones, until he looked down, and saw that all he could see was the bones of his arms, the devices had done exactly what the man who locked him up said they would do, they stripped the flesh from his bones. And yet somehow he was still alive. The pain was unbearable, it was sad, to think that at one time, he thought a concussion would be the worst injury he would ever receive. Never did he think he would be this wrong in his life.
Cardin's heartbeat slowed down, until eventually he drew his last breath, he slumped to the floor. His arms stripped of flesh, while one could see the gaping hole in his head where he had cut off his one ear.
Slowly a door opened, and the hooded man walked in. He looked down at Cardin as he shook his head.
"Game over." He said as he walked out.
Nobody liked this, nobody said a word. Nobody wanted to see this ever again. They wanted to go home and forget this ever happened. But they couldn't, the image was burned into their minds. The lovable boy they knew as a cold blooded killer, that would be an image they would never forget.
The question still remained, what drove Jaune over the edge?
And could it happen to them?
Could he go insane like in this reality?
And would he come after them?
They took a moment to settle down and sit in silence while the TV screen went all static.
None of them would sleep well that night.
Not for a long time.