One wouldn't accuse Scarlet of being a strong man, let alone a stable one.
Scarlet spent his entire life being jealous of others. Jealous of their strength, jealous of their luck, their looks, their lives.
Jealous because he never saw what others saw, saw that he would have been handsome with a little more care taken into his appearance. He never saw that he was almost as strong as the others, but he just lacked the confidence in himself to act on it.
He never understood that his parent's divorce was not his fault, nor was it his fault that the walls were too thin to muffle the noise coming from their bedroom even when his parents were still together.
Adam gave him purpose, Adam would try his best to help Scarlet understand his worth, He even helped him get laid a few times in the past. But they never felt earned. They felt like scraps of pity being tossed down to him from Adam's level.
A few years back, Scarlet saw her for the first time. it was the last year of junior high, and he saw the girl he would later learn was named Yang Branwen sitting at a lunch table with her sister, casually signing away.
Scarlet stopped and stared, for him, it was love at first sight. He couldn't believe that such a girl existed, her perfect blonde hair, her breathtaking smile. Her, frankly everything about her.
"She's out of your league dude" Neptune would remind him. His words snapped him back to reality. Of course, she was out of his league, most girls were. Even if he was to have a scrap of luck with her, he was sure his dad would just try to fuck her brains out if he got half a chance to.
Thus his life would continue, living in a house with too thin of walls, listening to his dad plow whatever girl he'd trick into a one night stand for better grades. Now with the extra little nugget of suffering of having a crush on a girl he knew in his heart he'd strike out with.
The worst part of it was that Neptune, charming, handsome, perfect, Neptune would sweep in and take Yang out from underneath him.
Scarlet broke a little bit when that happened, he lost hope of ever enjoying anything resembling a relationship in his future. He even started to study to become a teacher himself in the hopes of being the kind of college professor his dad was, the kind to use some cute girl's grades as leverage to get laid.
Scarlet had hope now that Adam took off his chains and sent him out to kill in his name, that it would all change…
Yang was in bliss at the moment, an hour in bed with her boyfriend was known to do that for her. Her mom was working and her uncle was passed out on the other side of the small house in his bed. Yang was fairly sure nothing was going to wake him up if they had failed to.
Mom wouldn't approve. Yang didn't care.
As Yang slipped on a shirt she heard Neptune making them both up some kind of smoothie thing he had been big on in the last few weeks. He was calling her over by the time she was pulling on her pants.
"Alright, Nep what kind of horrid devils brew did you make this time?" Yang said as she walked out of her bedroom into the living room and walked towards the kitchen area.
"Sugar-free Yogurt with blueberries and mangos! Good stuff for a healthy body." Neptune said.
"So I take it that switching to diet coke from regular coke wasn't good enough?" Yang smiled as she stepped over.
Neptune playfully poked her belly as he kissed her before saying "Well if you want that to be closer to a slab of granite and less of a squishy ball of pudding, sacrifices need to be made."
Yang poked her boyfriend back "You didn't complain five minutes ago."
"You wanting to get fit was your decision, not mine, I'm happy with you no matter what shape you're in. Neptune said before he took a sip of his smoothie through the straw in his drink.
"So you're saying you'd be okay with me being, say… three hundred pounds?" Yang playfully teased.
"Well if anything that would make for some interesting strength training exercises," Neptune said with a chuckle before Yang playfully smacked him in the ribs.
"You're such a creep sometimes I swear to God," Yang said through a giggle.
"I'm getting better though," Neptune said quietly "You made me better."
"Huh? What did you mean by that." Yang asked.
Neptune shook his head and snapped his fingers, "Oh right there was something I wanted to give you today, let me go grab it." Neptune said as he walked past yang. "Stay right there!"
"Alright, I'm not going anywhere," Yang said with a smile.
Neptune smiled as we walked to where he left his coat near the front door. He fumbled around his coat pocket for the small square box he had in there. A bit early in the relationship he figured, but he was never the type to wait.
He was startled for a moment by the sound of someone pounding on the door as he fumbled and put the small box back into his coat pocket and hung it up on the nearby coat rack.
"Go ahead and get the door Neptune, it's probably a delivery guy or something," Yang shouted from the kitchen. Thinking nothing of it he opened the door.
Only to almost get stabbed in the face as the person on the other side of the door stabbed down at him with a knife.
Neptune barely had time to swing and arm in the way causing him to get a gash on his left arm, His pained shout as he screamed out must have alerted Yang who shouted out his name.
Their attacker kicked hard against the door causing it to violently swing open as Neptune threw out a wild kick himself catching the person in the stomach. Trying to see through the pain in his arm and his own desires to run from the fight Neptune realized who it was.
"Scarlet? What the hell are you doing?" Neptune said shocked to see someone he once called a friend standing there with a bowie knife staring at him with hate painted on his face.
Scarlet shouted and charged Neptune swinging wildly Forcing Neptune to stumble back, Neptune was never a fighter and was struggling to keep up with Scarlet, it was taking all he had to just not get hit while he tried to find something, Anything, to defend himself with.
Unfortunately for him, just as he glanced away at the wrong moment, Scarlet took advantage of it and slashed Neptune with a long shallow cut down his chest causing him to fall onto his back clutching his chest in a desperate bid to get the bleeding to stop.
Time seemed to slow for Neptune as he scarlet stood over him about to stab down the heavy knife into his heart.
Neptune was in shock, pain overrode his senses. He counted the seconds until what he thought would be his death. He hoped that Yang had taken the chance to run from Scarlet as he resigned himself to his soon to be brutal death. He had wished for a lot of things. He had flashes of things he regretted most in his life.
I was almost surprised when Scarlet's head snapped back from being hit with a cast iron pot.
"If you can, drag yourself towards the Phone and call the police!" Yang shouted "Uncle Qrow we need you! Wake up!"
Scarlet's eyes fixed on Yang, the person he considered prey now "Yes, run along now Neptune, I need to have a quiet moment with your girlfriend here." He said not even trying to mask his intentions.
Yang swung at scarlet a few times with her pot, missing more than she connected, but was still making the ones that struck count. Scarlet was laughing as he'd occasionally slash wide at her.
Neptune struggled to move, every movement he made sent a wave of agony through his chest as he left a faint trail of blood behind him.
Finally, Scarlet found an opening and stabbed out catching Yang in the leg with his knife. While the stab didn't catch her in any major blood vessels. The pain caused Yang to shout as she fell grabbing her leg as blood spurted out of it...
Scarlet laughed through a bloody smile and looked down at yang. "Oh you have no idea how much I wanted what's going to happen next," He said as he kicked Yang hard in the side of the head rolling her flat on her back.
Scarlet kneeled down over her, placing a hand on her throat threatening to strangle her. Yang through tears could only choke out a horrified "Don't!"
Scarlet smiled in victory, soon he'd have what he wanted for years, He'd have Yang, and then he'd kill her. He even, in his mind, got the extra bonus of knowing that Neptune would be forced to watch. He was already attempting to get her shirt off.
He forgot she had called out to someone else, He remembered when his head snapped back when something wooden struck him in the face.
Yang could see it unfold on her back, injured, scared and she would-be rapist was now staring down the barrel of her Uncle's shotgun.
"Get the fuck off my niece you son of a bitch!" Qrow said as he pulled the trigger and fired.
Yang's mind shut down at the sight. Scarlet's head was almost blown clean of and the remains of it painted the door and wall. It took her a few seconds to realize the screaming was her own.
Qrow was dragging Yang away to lay her closer to Neptune who had long since checked out from shock. "Stay here Yang, I'll get the police on the phone and get the first aid kit for you two."
"Worry about him, I'm okay, I'm okay," Yang said repeating her insistence on being okay a few more times.
As the shock began to set in she started to openly sob at the idea of what almost happened. Shaking like a leaf she didn't even register when Qrow started bandaging her leg and was screaming at the police to hurry the fuck up.
Yang snapped back to reality when he heard Neptune say "Oh god, Scarlet was part of Adam's gang, He's making his move!"
"What? What do you mean Nep?" Yang frantically said.
"He has to be, Scarlets to much of a coward to act out on his own like this, Adam must be going after Blake!" Neptune said as loud as he could.
"Ruby!" Yang said as she tried to get up only for the pain in her leg to force her back down. Tears ran down her face. "Oh God, Ruby is at Blake's place right now with Jaune!"
"They'll be okay!" Neptune said. "Just relax till the-"
They were both interrupted as the paramedics came in.
Outside Qrow was standing in his yard talking with an officer by the name of Pine… or was it Vine?
"So walk us through what happened." Sgt Vine asked Qrow.
"I.. I was sleeping off a few drinks, I woke up to the sounds of my niece screaming… Jesus Christ, I should have been more alert than this…" Qrow started
"Take it, easy sir," Vine said. "Just take it one step at a time.
Qrow rubbed his face. "By the time I got out there that Neptune kid was dragging his bloody ass to the phone and that son of a bitch was on top of her planning on doing god knows what. I had grabbed the shotgun I used to use to go hunting with Tai… Well, you know the rest."
Vine sighed and nodded. "Well they'll be okay, you understand that right? You probably saved their lives."
"It wouldn't have come down to that if I had skipped the bar last night!" Qrow shouted out.
"I know buddy, I get you." Sgt Vine said. "I'm also sorry for what we have to do next."
Qrow watched as paramedics rolled Yang and Neptune out on stretchers. "You got to take me in, right?"
"Yeah, your heart was in the right place, but you still just killed that kid," Vine said as they rolled out the stretcher with the body bag of Scarlet.
"Well if anything I say can be used against me, understand I'd do it again," Qrow said through gritted teeth. "In a heartbeat."
Sgt Vine nodded his head. "Between you and me, I would too. I don't think you're going to get charges pressed, and if they do they'll be for manslaughter at worst," he said as he reached behind him for his handcuffs. "I appreciate you going willingly in, sir."
"Yeah yeah yeah…" Qrow said as he felt the Cuffs latch to his wrists. "I already trashed my life, might as well add prison time to this mess."
Qrow smiled at Vine and said with a sarcastic tone as Vine started leading him to a car. "At least I managed to save someone this time… be a friend and call my sister to let her know what happened will you?"
Sgt Vine said as he put Qrow in the back of his patrol car. "I'll call her myself. Get comfy back there okay?" Before he closed the door. Once the door was closed Vine pulled out a pack of cigarettes and lit one up. "Wife keeps telling me to quit smoking, how the hell am I going to do that when I keep seeing shit like this…"
Elm walked up to Vine "Alright Sarge, Got both kids headed to the ER in next town over. Made sure the families were contacted as well." Elm took a look at her Sergeant as he took a long drag from his smoke. "You good sir?"
"Yeah, I'm just hoping this is the worse thing we see today…" Vine said before he tossed his half-smoked cigarette onto the ground and stomped it out with his boot. "Let's go process this guy and check-in…"
A few blocks from downtown, at around the same time that Scarlet had started his short raid on the Branwen home, Sage was arriving at the Ozpin-Arc Family home. He rang the doorbell trying to be polite while hiding his hatchet behind his back. He heard a male voice, likely Ozpin shouting that he'd get the door.
When the door opened Ozpin looked confused for a second before he asked: "Sage? Hello is there something I can help you with?"
Sage felt his emotions bottom out as he whispered "For Adam" and Lunged at Ozpin with his Hatchet in hand.
Alright I got the chapter what was easily the most mentally revolting chapter out of the way, should be smooth sailing from here. I know it's also a bit earlier in the week than you all might be used to seeing chapters from me, but I've been home for he last few days due to Covid-19...
Wow, I better explain. My work is closed due to the Pandemic, as is most of my hometown here in Washington State, so i've had more than ample time to get a chapter done and up for your reading pleasure. I won't be able to return to work till at least the 30th of march but I am going to be issue equipment so I can start working from home as well. My kids are also home from school and both me and my son have a ball sucking cough we can't shake.
My point is wash your hands people! Also stop hording the toilet paper!
I do appreciate everyone who commented last chapter. I won't lie the shift in the story has been jarring even though I know this is a means to an end for me at least as I'm aiming the story towards a planned ending. The Adam arc was one of several planned storylines from the get go I had down on paper before I started writing and I won't like if I don't secretly enjoy writing some absolute monsters every once in a while. I just didn't expect how hard it was for me to put myself in the right mindset to say, Write the mind of someone who wants to violate and murder his crush for example.
While also keeping it to a T rating on here at least.
In anyrate now that the hardest part of this arc is over, I want to thank you all for taking the time to read this and I'll catch you all next chapter. Have a great rest of your day, and wash your damn hands!
