Now that my sunglasses were broken, and my face was uncovered, the people I passed in the hallway got to witness the fury in my eyes. The eyes that were focused straight ahead, eyes belonging to a person with one goal in mind.
My anger was stacked up in four levels, and I would demolish them all. That thought was almost hardwired into my mind.
There was no real approach to it- I'd start with the first one I could find, and go from there.
The first three levels were preparatory work, I would handle those. The keystone would be for Velvet to take care of.
You know, anger is a tough emotion to deal with. Part of it felt good- the burning in your heart, your veins full of gasoline, it gives you a certain liberation. The strings that tie you to civil behaviour snap one by one. Right now, the Dionysian nature of man was what drove me.
At the same time, something inside you tells you that it's wrong- anger is destruction for the sake of it, both for the bearer and the victim.
Either way, I was sure the floor tiles cracked under my feet as I approached my first target.
He was framed by the portal that lead to Beacon's courtyard. Without a care in the world- a member of team CRDL. I forgot his name, though I'm sure at one point I knew it. It made no difference to me now. His name was irrelevant. I was glad I didn't know it.
Feeling the quick jolts of pain in my knuckles, which cracked when they collided with his face, gave me gratuitous satisfaction all the same.
I'd feel it again and again, as he wouldn't go down with one blow. But he did go down, and when the other two worthless teammates of his came running, I was more than ready to take them on. I didn't even use my weapon. I didn't need to and I didn't want to.
Studded gloves, metal boot heels and an engine running hot was all I needed to enact justice.
No trial, no jury, just me. Twisted justice, sure, but that was best fitting for a twisted world.
Of this battle I was the clear victor- unanimously decided by both the fact that I was the last one standing, and the fact that nobody else was there to challenge me.
In the end, they did managed to get in a few good hits on me. My nose was bleeding again. I didn't feel it at all, I only noticed after I saw that my shirt was stained red.
Besides that, I'm sure I had a few bruises. I'll check those out later tonight, in the shower or something. It was kind of pathetic actually. It was three against one, and they didn't even make me break a sweat. I can't say I expected a tougher fight, though I expected it to be a bit more exciting.
Well, whatever. My first goal was reached. My heart slowed down a bit.
The masonry of my fury had collapsed. Cracked like brickwork, three out of four CRDL members lay crumbled at my feet. Dust to dust, and all that.
They no longer insulated the core of the problem. No longer were they in the way. Stripped away from all cover, the heart lay bare, and showed itself.
There he was- Cardin Winchester. I had to bite the inside of my cheek as to restrain myself from lunging at him.
For a second I pondered whether he had always been evil, if maybe at some point he had also been just another innocent child. Probably. Maybe. It didn't change the here and now.
It didn't change the way he walked up to me, with a raised chin and raised defences.
A bystander might describe the scene as a Mexican standoff, but that would imply I was going to fight him at some point.
He spoke. His face was cold and his voice was harsh.
"You did this all on your own?"
"I did."
He was impressed. I saw it in his eyes. Slowly he nodded.
"Nice work," he said, and walking around his collapsed team in a big circle, he continued, "I guess you expect me to be scared now? Or intimidated?" he laughed, a short, dry sound, "is that what you're expecting?"
"No, I expect you to die. But hey, we can't have everything, can we?" I said.
"Very funny. Enjoy your mirth while it lasts."
He nudged one of his team mates with his foot.
"But seriously? What does this mean? What did you hope to accomplish? Did you think you were doing anything other than making me very, very angry? Believe me, I'm angry. I'm never going to forgive you for this. You're going to wish you were dead after I rain my hell fire down on you-"
"Please, quit the bible quoting. I was just looking around for you, while spreading some retribution in the meantime. Out of all the things I expect from you, I don't expect you to understand that last part."
He laughed again, his shoulders jerked.
"It let me blow off some steam," I continued, "as you make me very angry too. You know that, right?"
"I know, I know," he sang, and folded his hands behind his back. So casual- this really meant nothing to him.
"I know that you're on some misguided crusade to save your pet. I know that you have some grudge against me just because I am who I am. I know that you're crazy, and that you hate humans, and that you would prefer to live in some hole in the ground somewhere, surrounded by a pack of animals. I know all of that, I know what kind of a person you are. You really think you're doing the right thing. You're insane, that's what I know. And it's because I know all of that about you, that I wanted to help you. A good human doesn't deserve to to be brainwashed the way you have been, to believe that you should be dragged through the dirt for the sake of an animal. That's not what you are worth. I mean, look at you: you defeated my entire team! We can't have you wasting away your talents by being some martyr for a race of sub humans!
And so, me being me, I gave you a warning.
To steer you away from that path, I thought I'd give you a little message. A real piece of art, what I did to that faunus' room, huh? Did you like it? I guess not, because here you are. Here we are, I should say. To fight, I suppose? Is that why you beat up my team? To provoke me? You talk about retribution, but surely you can't be content with just these three guys to be defeated. It's me who you're after. You don't have to say it, I already know. You want a fight with me. You ignored my warning and humiliated my team... Impressive, I admit. Maybe even a brave move- that's what some people might call it. Me? I call it idiocy. There's a fine line between courage and stupidity, and you just crossed it. I remember the last time we had a tussle. Ha, my head still hurts from where you kicked me. I'll admit you held victory then, but don't think you'll win a second time. The only reason you beat me last time was because you caught me off guard. You caught me unawares, like a coward. That's one part I don't like about you, but we can fix it with some work. Get that faunus slave mentality out of your system. That is, after I beat the complete shit out of you," he smiled, "I will stomp you into the ground, I will make you regret ever even looking at a faunus. And I will do it fair and square, one on one, no ganging up and no cheating."
He spread his arms, as if inviting me to take the initiative,
"This is a chance I'm offering you! You got any grievances? Go ahead and act upon them. Beat me up if you can! I don't mind knocking the delusions out of your head! I only do what's best, even now. So, I'll teach you. Come on then!"
I listened to his speech just to humor him. I didn't really give a shit about what he had to say. He only dug his own grave deeper with every word he spoke. And he's so thick-headed he didn't even understand my true intentions.
He dropped his arms back down to his side in response to my inaction.
"What are you waiting for? Come on! Don't tell me you came all this way just to talk. That's not it, right?" he scoffed, " a coward till the end. You make me sick."
"We share that sentiment, trust me. To answer your question: no, I didn't come here to talk, Cardin," I said, and slipped off the glove I wore on my left hand, "and I didn't come here to fight. Not now, at least."
I threw my glove. It described a perfect curve, and landed just shy of a foot away from him. He was dumb, but it seemed he understood this message, as a toothy grin appeared on his face.
"The traditional way, huh?" he said, "That's honourable. I like it. I knew there was hope for you."
He picked the glove up from the ground, and slowly pulled it over his hand. It was too small for him.
"T minus thirty, in the empty storage room behind the gym," I said.
"Sounds good. Is that it?"
"Bring a weapon, maybe. If you want to. I would, if I were you."
"I don't care what you'd do if you were me," he said, "What I wanna know is: are you bringing a weapon?"
"No, I'm not."
"Then I won't either."
"Whatever you want. Just be there."
The glove tore apart at its seams as Carding forced it over his hand.
I heard it rip when I turned away.
"A duel? That's a bit archaic, isn't it?"
Velvet made me laugh with her honesty.
"Ha, maybe. It's a tried and true method though. Win or lose, you have to stick with he terms that were decided upon beforehand. And the way Cardin's been going on about how great humanity is, I doubt he will blemish the honour of his people by breaking the terms."
"Honour of his people, huh," Velvet muttered. She probably understood that an endeavor like that was moot for Cardin, who had already done enough to dishonour every living person.
"It's perfect," I continued, "You rough him up, beat him up, bring him to the edge of death. All under the guise of a duel. Those are allowed in the school, so neither of us will get in trouble either."
She looked up at me, surprised.
"To the edge of death? Are you serious?"
"I meant it as a figure of speech," I lied, "just go all out. It's what you want, right?"
"Absolutely," she said, "absolutely.
Velvet had little else to say about my plan, after I talked her through it. She seemed to like the idea, thankfully, though she did get flustered when I laid out the crucial terms of the duel to her.
"I-I don't think he'll agree to this," she said when she read through the file on my scroll,
"No, he will. He definitely will."
"Uh, well, even then, I don't think I do, actually..."
I understood her discomfort perfectly. If I were to be faced with the terms I myself had come up with, I would wholeheartedly refuse. We couldn't afford to change the terms though. We had to bag Cardin, and this was the only way to do it.
"I'm sorry Velvet, but I'm pretty sure this is the only way we can get him to agree to our terms. There has to be something good for him in it too, after all. Otherwise he'll just deny the challenge."
"Yeah, but, but... Right here it says 'anything'. I-I don't like the implications of that."
"Trust me, it makes me shudder too."
She giggled hesitantly. My comment wasn't exactly reassuring. Well, it wasn't meant to be. I just wanted to share my feelings, so at least she knew I didn't like the terms either. But Velvet's cooperation was imperative, so I had to explain my reasoning too.
"The implications are what makes it attractive for him," I said, "He wants something that he can't have. If we dangle that thing right in front of his nose, there's no way he'll back down. Believe me, this is a surefire way to make him accept. And when you beat him, he'll stick to doing what we want. "
"But what if he doesn't?"
"Ha! That's simple. We'll break his legs."
"Coco, don't be silly."
"I'm not! Think about it. If you can beat him once, you can beat him twice, whether he breaks the terms or not. He has nothing on us."
"Hmm. Are you sure I can win though?"
"I guarantee it."
As bold as that statement was, it was true. I would never have Velvet enter a duel with Cardin if I didn't have a trick up my sleeve. I don't question her ability to fight, by the way, but it's better to be safe than sorry.
Scarlet Fever:
Burn everything around its carrier, or you can't stop the infection from spreading.
I'll have you know that I'm no doctor, and I know nothing about medicine. I'm still sure as hell that it was finally time for the flames to rise.
I had to leave Velvet in her room for a while to go beat up the chumps from CRDL, among other things. It was the best thing I could think to do. Even though her dorm was sacked, she didn't mind staying there. I could've kept her in my room, which might have been better, as it was a place she had no emotional connection to, but I didn't want to go through the trouble of explaining her presence to my team mates who would undoubtedly be there.
After I finished my business and I returned, I found her where I left her. I guess something happened while I was gone, because when I sprinted through the door opening, I saw she lost her otherwise dour look.
On the fluffy remains of her bed she sat, busy scribbling on a piece of paper.
"I'm back," I said.
Her ears twitched, and she put her pen down after quickly jotting down a few more words.
Only when she had neatly folded the paper in four, did she turn to me.
"Do you have a lighter?" she asked.
As a matter of fact, I did. I don't even know why, as I don't smoke. I threw it at her. She caught it without looking.
"What's that you were writing?" I asked.
"Oh, just some stuff I want to forget."
The lighter clicked, producing a small flame. The folded paper was set ablaze. Velvet watched it burn. Its ashes fed the already large pile on the floor. As the flames licked the paper, her shoulders relaxed, and I felt a shift in her aura. By the time the fire died out, she was calm. Calm, like before a storm.
We lay side by side, on her bed. There was some time to kill. We had half an hour, after all.
"Are you nervous?" I asked.
"Nervous?" she repeated slowly, "are you crazy? I'm excited!"
Her ears bobbed up and down, her hazel eyes unblinking, and the corner of her mouth rose slightly.
Totally ignoring the previous conversation, she suddenly said something completely out of the blue.
"Hey, your nose is bleeding."
She had perked up, as if she awoke from a daydream
"Oh, I know," I replied, "It's nothing, don't worry about it."
I didn't want to make her worry about it, but she refused to let it go.
"I'm worrying anyway. Here..."
She procured a handkerchief from her pocket, and sidled up to me. Then, gently, she she wiped the blood off my face and neck. She was so close, I could feel her breath tickle on my face. Honestly, I still don't know how that made me feel. A bit confused, maybe.
She thought nothing of it, though, and threw the small piece of fabric away. She's very perceptive, I found, as she noticed something else about me too.
"One of your gloves is gone," she said.
"Uh, yeah? Just another thing of mine that's missing. It doesn't really matter."
Her eyes eventually drifted away from my bare hand.
We said nothing more, and basked in quietness.
We laid side by side for while longer, on a ruined bed, staring at the ceiling.
The silence we shared would continue forever if it hadn't been broken by the alarm I had set going off.
25 minutes had passed- it felt like forever.
There were 5 more minutes to go, so I jumped up.
"That's our mark. You ready?" I asked her.
"One hundred percent ready," Velvet confirmed.
"You better be, 'cos it's showtime," I grinned.
By the time we reached the back of the gym, well, her smile was anything but slight.
We met him at the appointed place, at the appointed time.
He stood in the corner of the large, dingy storage room. Its hardwood floor was scratched, the single door leading in had dents in it, and a small lightbulb was the only source of illumination. There were no windows, nothing else to let in light.
The one thing I didn't know was how Velvet would react. My only fear was that she might freeze up once she got to stand face to face with Cardin. Thankfully my fear was unfounded. His presence didn't bother her at all. She kept her cool, as if he wasn't there at all.
"Took you long enough," Cardin remarked.
"We're right on time, actually."
He made a dismissive gesture.
"Whatever. Tell me what's happening."
The atmosphere was unpleasant to say the least. It wasn't like we were going to exchange some pleasantries, so I got down to brass tacks.
"I've got a document here. It details the terms of the duel, along with some other things. You can read it if you like."
"No, I hate reading," Cardin said, "just tell me what the terms are so we can get this over with."
Things were speeding along nicely then. That was good.
"The terms," I said, reading from the document on my scroll, "will be the following;"
Cardin peered at me from the far end of the room with crossed arms, while Velvet sprang up and down on her toes, humming quietly.
"If you, Cardin Winchester, lose this duel, then you and your friends will cease engaging in any contact with Velvet Scarlatina. On top of that, you will compensate for any and all property damage you and your team caused."
Cardin shrugged.
"Lose? Like that's ever gonna happen. Just hurry up and say what's in it for me already."
"If you, Cardin Winchester, win this duel," I continued, "then Velvet will pay you the sum of 100,000 lien. On top of that, she, Velvet Scarlatina, will do anything you tell her to until she graduates from Beacon. No exceptions. That's it."
Oh god, it was almost embarrassing for me to say that, and I really did feel sorry for Velvet. We'd both have to swallow our uncomfortable feelings though. As long as Cardin took the bait, we'd be set. All he had to do was say yes.
"One will start to hate that which they can not have"
This is a old psychological theorem, I forget who coined it. Whoever it was, they must have been a genius. The actual research paper that expanded on the concept was a lot longer, of course, but the above sentence is pretty much what it boiled down to.
It was a logical assertation, and simple to remember too. More than that, it was the basis of my plan, as the way Cardin treated Velvet resonated with this principle. Port had told me behaviour like his came from upbringing. Maybe, sometime in his life, he was raised not to interact with faunus, giving him some sort of wicked obsession with them. Maybe he never actually hated them. Maybe his evil was cultivated. In that case, I could make him an offer he couldn't refuse. Make up a very simple, but very attractive prize that he would receive in case he won. Something that would make him agree with accepting the duel, despite the terms we had set for him in case he lost. A gamble, sure, but by now I was playing with loaded dice.
If my plan succeeded, then I guess that means I'm a genius too, or at least that I'm standing on the shoulders of one.
And in case I failed? ...Well, I'd rather not think about that. Failure isn't an option anyway, so why bother?
"Anything?" Cardin asked. His eyes glimmered.
"Anything," I said.
His eyes shifted around the room, back and forth, and stayed locked on Velvet. If I could read minds, his thoughts right now would probably make me puke.
He licked his lips, and nodded.
"I agree. I agree with the terms."
There we go. He fell for it. I just made him agree to a con in which he got the short end of the stick. Now I'd have to nudge in the little advantage for Velvet too.
"Not so fast. There's one more thing," I said.
"What?"
Cardin rapidly tapped his foot, anxious to start the duel he thought he would win. There was something so exciting about the prospect of victory, that any delay visibly annoyed him- just as I expected.
"The challenging party- that would be us- will receive a slightly advantageous handicap, with eye on our position. The handicap being-"
"Yeah yeah, handicap, great. Go on and have it, you'll need it. Just let me sign already," Cardin interrupted me, and he took out his scroll. Well, that was easy.
"As you wish," I said, and let him add his digital signature to the document I had created before.
Velvet too, added her signature. This, for the first time, sparked some discomfort with Cardin.
"Hey, hey, hold up," he said, "why is she signing it?"
"Because she's the one you'll be fighting."
"But I thought I'd be fighting you."
"No no, that's not the case. You would've known who your opponent was if you read the contract beforehand, like I suggested," I said, "If there's any problem, you're free to back out. Though because you've already signed the contract, it would mean the challenging party wins."
Judging by his frown, he seemed to realize he was in no position to argue. I knew this revelation wouldn't make him fly off the handle though- why would he? He didn't regard Velvet as a competent opponent, so as far as he knew, his chances of winning just went up.
"Nah. Fuck that. I don't care who I'll fight. I'll win anyway. Let's get this going."
He smirked. Velvet smiled back. If I was the one who was about to go toe to toe with Velvet, her calmness would've set off several alarm bells in my head, signaling that maybe it wasn't such a good idea to fight the girl. It was almost a miracle Cardin didn't see the flags that were raised.
"Both participants, please take your positions," I said, prompting Cardin to strut to one end of the room, and Velvet to skip to the other.
"Now, this should be fun. Let's see what you've got, bunny girl. Show me a good time!" he said, and cracked his knuckles. His arrogance was back in full bloom.
Velvet's smile didn't waver, of course. The person she was now didn't feel intimidated by the likes of him.
"Listen up," I said, "once I apply the handicap, the duel will commence. It will be over once the aura of either party runs out, or either yields."
"Apply the handicap?" Cardin said, "how the hell am I supposed to know when you do that?"
"Oh, you'll know," I replied.
My eyes drifted over to Velvet and our eyes met. She winked at me.
"Don't hold back," I silently mouthed, and she nodded once in response.
With each combatant in their respective area, nothing held me back from starting the match.
The tension in the air was palpable. The two nemeses impatiently shifted their weight from one leg to the other. If was someone with a knack for drama, I'd leave them hanging like that for a few more seconds.
But I wasn't, so I reached for the light switch.
(A handicap. Velvet was in stitches when I described it like that.
"But you can see in the dark, right?" I protested.
"Yeah, yeah, I can," Velvet assured me.
"Then it's perfect, isn't it?"
"You're the worst," Velvet said, and laughed again.)
With that memory fresh in my mind, I flicked the button. With an almost inaudible click, the room went completely dark- the duel had begun.
Scarlet Fever
A disease so infectious that you have to-
...you know what? I'm sick of saying that. So, I'm not saying it again. I'm sure by now you know what scarlet fever means anyway.
I'm sure you also remember I said that I'm no doctor, and that I know next to nothing about medicine.
Velvet, on the other hand, is a very skilled practitioner, so to speak- and for the first time ever, she was ready to get to work.
I wish I could describe to you how the duel went. I really do. I nearly feel disappointed that my plan involved the darkness, as I would've loved to see what happened.
As it was, I could only sit back and listen to whatever went down. The way she fought Cardin was still a mystery to me. I knew she hit him though, of that I was sure. The telltale thud of a good punch was very familiar to me, and I heard it a lot during those few moments. Cardin made a lot of noise, too. He yelled some incomprehensible words, and made a lot of funny sounds. Pretty soon he went quiet, though.
During our time at Beacon, I asked Velvet a few times what it was exactly that she did to Cardin, how the 'duel' transpired. Not once did she answer. The question usually triggered a fit of giggling in her, but sometimes she'd look at me with elusive eyes, and tell me that it was her secret.
That's all I had to be satisfied with, and let me tell you, I was satisfied.
Hearing the sound of Cardin receiving his just desserts- whatever it was- was more than enough for me. During the fight, I think Velvet shed the miasma of despondence that haunted her, it dissipated with each blow she dealt.
After five minutes in the dark, she whispered in my ear that it was over, and I felt her hand slip in mine.
I knew that from then on, everything would be alright.
Together we walked away, through the open door of the storage room, into the world of light beyond it.
-The end-
(Hold on to your butts people. Even though the chapter just finished with 'the end,' that doesn't mean the story is over.
Keep and eye out for the epilogue I will release, after I finish rewriting the previous chapters. It will be out in a week or two.
With that out of the way, I'd like to give an honest to god 'thank-you' to the people who read this till the end. You don't believe how much I appreciate the fact that you read my story.
If you want to, please leave any and all critiques in a review, it would be really helpful to hear some feedback.
Anyway, I'll leave you with that.
Yours sincerely,
~Max Stirner.)