Chapter 10: Finalized Force
"You have risked far too much as it is. Interacting and mingling with Beacon's students was not a course of action that I approved of, and I will not risk your incessant mouth-running revealing everything that we have been working to keep hidden." The voice emitting from Remnant's scroll was very much less than pleased. Indeed, his master sounded quite agitated, and Remnant was dimly thankful that he was currently out of earshot of anyone who'd hear it.
"Look, if I didn't interact with them, it'd be far more suspicious. The students of the four academies constantly speak to one another and interact on a regular basis, so we can only be antisocial for so long before someone among the students starts to suspect something. Our presence here, as you yourself have made clear, is predicated on not being suspected. If we were to remain reclusive our entire time here, someone would start to ask questions."
"That 'someone' being the one you call the Nightstalker, am I not correct?" His master was as perceptive as ever, and Remnant had to admit it was rather intimidating. He'd given no indication that Noir was who he was referring to, and yet Erebos Kraid just knew. That was why he was the master, after all.
"That's exactly it. He's far too perceptive to fool with reclusive behavior. It's like he's constantly analyzing and re-analyzing everything he sees, taking everything with a grain of salt, he's just far too observant for his own good. In fact, I think the only reason he hasn't ratted us out already is because he has no hard evidence to prove anything incriminating. But trust me, sir, Noir Harceleur is bad news, and whatever we do, we can not let this guy find us out."
"What exactly is it about him, Remnant, that makes him, as you call it, 'bad news?' What have you found out, prey, tell?"
"That's just it, sir: We haven't found out anything. He's way too guarded in person and not at all a trusting type. I tried having Emerald get on his good side, but he saw right through her and turned his back, and now she can't even talk to him without him giving her that whole 'I've got my eye on you, bitch' glare that would make a fucking Ursa Major cringe in a futile attempt to protect itself from his gaze! He can always tell when someone's faking sincerity. And the worst part of it all is, we know absolutely nothing about him, aside from what we've already seen! I mean, shit! Even in casual company, the man is more guarded than a triple max prison with Atlesian Paladins as the fucking receptionists and fucking dinosaur sized Grimm in an inmate-spectated arena as the method of execution for inmates on death row!"
"So, in short, he is a problem because he seems to know more about you than you know about him, is that what you are telling me, Remnant?"
"That's pretty much what it looks like, yeah! I've seen him fight, I've met him in person, and I know what Emerald and Cinder have told me about him, but he seems to know more about us than we know about him." Remnant paused for a moment. "Key phrase here being seems to. We don't know for sure, and that's the heart of the problem."
"Are you certain that you can face him, then, should the time arise? You have proven your metal many times over leading to this point, so it is not a question of ability. However, as you say, the heart of this conundrum is uncertainty and ignorance of what we must seek knowledge upon. It would seem that we are taking a rather momentous risk in having you compete in this tournament."
"It may not be that bad, hell, for all we know they might be sayin' the same shit about me! I mean, I took out an entire team almost single handedly, I beat Big Guy Daichi and Teen Pop Star Adele like it was nothin', and for all they know I coulda been holdin' back!"
"And are you, Remnant? Are you holding back? Are you truly restraining yourself? Because according to the medical report my intelligence has gathered, Coco Adele suffered a rather severe concussion, and according the the doctor in charge, and I here quote, 'It was a miracle Miss Adele did not experience amnesia or severe cerebral damage, and she should not be getting involved in conflicts such as those in the Vytal tournament any time in the near future.'" There was a gut wrenchingly intense pause as Erebos let this hang in the air for a moment. "It does not sound to me like you have been properly restraining yourself, Remnant, and it seems to me that your temperamental negligence could very well result in a fatality should you let it."
"You can save yourself the worry, Papa Dragon. I promised that I wouldn't kill anyone while during this tournament." Remnant scowled a bit as he dared to make his next statement. "I would think by now that you'd know me as a man of my word, regardless of what that word is."
"For your own sake, Remnant, you had better be. If you break your one condition, there will be consequences of an unpleasant nature." And with that, Erebos ended the call. Remnant stood there for a moment as he replaced his scroll on his belt, looking uncharacteristically bothered by the conversation. His master was growing uncharacteristically impatient with the progress of the tournament, and this was starting to spell trouble, both for Remnant and for Cinder's team, and if it continued, for everyone, not that Remnant cared for anyone else.
The real truth was, what was keeping Remnant in the game and acting so social was curiosity and fascination. His mission aside, the students of the academies were proving very intriguing, particularly those of Beacon, and even more specifically, a particular red-hooded individual attending said academy. This particular individual...stood out in a way none of the other Beacon students did. Indeed, Ruby Rose intrigued and fascinated Remnant in a way the other students simply, well, didn't. He couldn't quite explain it to himself or to anyone for that matter, but Ruby was, to put it lightly, different. Very different. Perhaps it was because she was younger than literally all the other students there, or perhaps it was her happy-go-lucky personality that seemed to put everyone in a cheerful mood...or else made everyone stare at her with incredulity. There was a very particular innocence about her that intrigued Remnant more than anything else. Most of the other students there, from what he'd gathered, were all from less-than-perfect backgrounds and were jaded by the horrors of the world; Ruby, on the other hand, wasn't. Or at least she didn't seem to be. Ruby had seen and slain her fair share of Grimm, no doubts there whatsoever. In fact, Remnant had the idea that she rather enjoyed taking them out, maybe even went out of her way to find Grimm to take out. Ruby was something else indeed, and Remnant's sights were set on her.
In fact, the more he thought about Ruby, the more curious Remnant became. Her personality and demeanor were beyond fascinating, and then...there was almost an air of familiarity to her. It was as though he'd known someone like her before, a long time ago...but no...there was no way, he couldn't have. He had never known anyone like that from the past, he had not known anyone at all for that matter. There had only ever been his master. For Remnant there had only ever been Erebos Kraid...there had only ever been service to him, service to his cause, service to his will, service to the Shadow...
"What is your name?"
Remnant shivered as he heard his master's voice within the confines of his subconscious, echoing within the walls that barred his mind from intrusion like an air horn in an empty auditorium...
"No. That is not your name. It has never been your name and never will be your name. You have no name. And you have no purpose except that which I give you. And until you say that to me, you will remain here. Or else you shall remain here until you DIE!"
"NOOOOOOOOOO!"
Remnant's eyes snapped open, sweat pouring from his dark brow. What...was that...? That voice that had screamed in agonizing pain within Remnant's mind had sounded eerily familiar...and yet he didn't know where it came from, nor who it'd belonged to...had that been...his voice?
Remnant shook himself, removing his shades from his forehead and wiping his sweat from them. Now was not the time for him to destabilize. With the Vytal Tournament Finals about to commence, he had to keep his cool, no matter what happened. This was a pivotal moment for his master's plan, for it would be during the finals that Remnant would be facing the greatest fighters the four academies had to offer. Thus far, the competition had been laughable to say the least. None of the supposedly powerful teams had made it. NDGO had lost during the Round of Teams to Team SSSN. Team ABRN had also been eliminated in the Round of Teams against Team RWBY. Team BRNZ had lost in the Round of Teams to Team JNPR, of all people. Team FNKI had advanced to the Doubles Round, but had lost to Team RWBY's doubles. Team SSSN had advanced, and emerged victorious. The teams he hadn't expected to emerge victorious had done so, and now the Doubles Round was over, with the finals preparing to commence.
And then there was Noir Harceleur. A second year student who had defeated an entire first year team, Team TRRF, single handedly. He had then proceeded to defeat a fourth year team, Team ACVR, single handedly, in a battle that many were calling the highlight of the tournament thus far. He had entered the tournament alone, and he alone had advanced, getting past the tournament's rules by having 3 other students chosen randomly stand in as his teammates. Remnant had a very suspicious feeling about Noir. This individual bothered him. Down to his very core, he was bothered immensely by Noir. By his isolation. By his style. By everything about him. Even his rumored relationship with Yang Xiao Long was bothersome. Why was Noir so bothersome to Remnant? Because he was an enigma. An enigma that never gave anything about himself away to anyone, and yet, in a blinding contradiction of character, was in an intimate relationship with Yang Xiao Long.
Remnant was very confused by this on all counts. Or rather, he was frustrated by the lack of solid fact regarding Noir. Emerald had found nothing, Cinder knew nothing, Mercury didn't care. No one seemed to know anything about him other than rumors. Rumors that his entire team was dead. Rumors that he was some kind of vampire. Rumors that he had a reputation in the underground. And that was all any of it was. Rumor. And Remnant couldn't operate based on rumor, it wasn't his style. And it wasn't practical either. It was a guaranteed way to get him killed.
Remnant's train of thought was interrupted as Professor Port's loud bombastic voice echoed across Amity Colosseum. Remnant was in an isolated corner near the locker room, waiting for the Vytal tournament finals to be announced, and now as Port's voice came through the P.A., the locker room door opened and 15 other individuals walked out of it, including Noir Harceleur, Pyrrha Nikos, Sun Wukong, Penny Polendina, and Yang Xiao Long. Remnant sighed quietly as he placed his scroll back in his pocket, inhaling deeply as he sheathed his twin swords on his back, walking out onto the arena floor to roaring applause.
"Ladies aaaaaaaaand Gentlemen! The moment you have aaaaaall been waiting for is here!" Port announced, the crowd cheering wildly as the 16 finalists of the Vytal Tournament all lined up at the center of the arena, every eye of every person there fixed on them. Yang was on the far left, with Noir standing next to her, and then Pyrrha and Sun were on his other side. Remnant stood on the opposite end next to Penny Polendina, with the other finalists standing between them.
"Yes! This tournament has been building to this moment, and we are proud to announce its commencement!" Dr. Oobleck concurred, "and what a spectacular tournament this has been thus far!"
"Now for the Finals, the rules will be a bit different." Port announced. "For this part of the tournament, the match ups will be selected randomly instead of being placed in a bracketing system, thus making each match-up a surprise for both the audience and for us as well!"
"And we shall begin immediately, by selecting the first match for the Round of 16!" Oobleck announced, and the crowd went completely ballistic. The holographic roulette screens all appeared across the arena, and began to roll for the first match of the Vytal Finals. Both the crowd and the contenders all watched, the suspense very real and very tense, with tension filling the air, tension you could cut with a blunt knife. The crowd held their collective breaths as the first Contender was chosen for the first match.
Noir Harceleur.
At the sight of Noir's face, the crowd's roar of approval redoubled with enthusiasm, anticipating a fantastic opening fight for the finals. As the roulette continued to roll, breaths were once more held, with the anticipation practically quadrupling as they waited to see his opponent. The roulette began to slow down, and as it stopped, Port's announcement was nearly drowned out by the crowd's roar.
"NOIR HARCELEUR VERSUS SUN WUKONG!" Port declared as the crowd roared, and the other 14 contestants walked off the center platform, Yang smiling at Noir as she walked off, her eyes glistening with excitement as she watched Noir and Sun turn to face one another, Noir's expression being kept as flat as ever while Sun grinned widely at Noir, his hands behind his head casually as he faced the ever-so-serious Noir.
"So, looks like it's you and me, huh?" Sun grinned as he shook himself a bit to rid himself of some of the tension in his joints. "Guess I should be honored, what with you being a local celebrity now." Noir raised an eyebrow at this.
"Is that what I am now?" Noir inquired, his voice flat and monotonic so it was hard to tell if he was amused or annoyed.
"Heh, yeah, man! People have been talking about you since the Round of Teams, you're freakin' famous!" Sun replied, sounding incredulous at the fact that Noir wasn't aware of his own popularity.
"Well, I didn't enter this tournament to be a celebrity." Noir replied cooly, and the arena's central platform began to rise into the air, Noir and Sun standing across from one another in the center, Noir drawing Schwarze Klinge and taking his signature stance, with Sun taking his own stance as well. The crowd fell quiet as Noir and Sun faced each other down, Sun grinning confidently, Noir expressionless as always.
"Three...Two...One..."
In the split moment between the countdown and the announcement to begin, Remnant, sitting in the front row, sensed a change in Noir's aura; the output of his aura was increasing. Remnant tensed as he watched Noir closely; something was about to happen that no one was going to expect.
"BEGIN!"
Sun didn't hesitate even for a second, and whipped out his staff, charging Noir head on without reserve. The crowd roared as Sun charged, spinning his red staff rapidly as the distance between him and Noir decreased more and more. For a split second, Sun could see the whites of Noir's eyes.
Noir's stance shifted only slightly, and as Sun swung his staff at him, he dissolved into a cloud of ashes, Sun's staff passing right through him as he split into two thick streams of ashes. The crowd gasped in unison as the ashes traveled around Sun to right behind him, and Noir reformed from the ashes, his wings keeping him aloft as he kicked Sun hard in the back, nearly sending him off the edge as he was pushed forward. Noir landed on his feet, flourishing his blade rapidly as Sun quickly recovered, splitting his staff into his signature gun-chucks, spinning them rapidly as he charged Noir once again. Noir once more held his ground, taking a much lower stance now, as though also about to dash forward. As Sun came closer, he proceeded with more caution this time, and slowed down slightly as he came closer, expecting Noir to once again use his semblance. This was what Noir was waiting for, and as Sun slowed down, Noir charged him head on, flinging several of his bat-shaped shurikens at Sun, forcing him to stop and defend. As Sun blocked the shurikens, he fired 4 shots at Noir, who blocked them with the arm guard on his left forearm, bringing his blade in a rapid low slash at Sun's legs. Sun lept back from this onslaught with a yell, forced to retreat from Noir's combination of attacks, caught off guard.
The crowd roared deafeningly as the fight began in such a rapid manner, with Noir already having Sun on the ropes, and the roars of approval redoubled as Noir continued to charge forward, not giving Sun even a moment to recover as he slashed upwards, Sun forced to block with his gun chucks as Noir moved faster than anyone thought he could. Sun, taken off guard, finally managed to put enough distance between him and Noir to connect his gun chucks once more to create his signature red staff, blocking Noir's next slash and digging his feet in, straining as he tried to keep Noir at bay. Noir, slashing downward, pushed against Sun's block, but then released it, spinning in a rapid 360 degree rotation, his leg taking Sun's feet out from under him. As Sun landed on his back, Noir, using the momentum of his spin, slashed low at Sun from the ground, once more forcing Sun to retreat. Sun flipped backwards and landed on his feet, preparing for the next move, but was too late. Continuing to use his momentum to his advantage, Noir rose up from the ground and connected a spinning kick with Sun's face, knocking him down once again. As Sun once more fell, his heart leapt as he felt nothing but empty space under his upper body, having landed perilously close to the edge of the platform. As he tried to get back up, Noir, using his wings to suspend himself in the air, once again took Sun's feet out from under him, and Sun, unable to regain his balance, fell off the side of the platform, losing the match by ring-out.
Amity Colosseum exploded into a deafening roar of approval as Port declared Noir the victor. The floating platform slowly lowered back to the main floor of the arena as Noir sheathed Schwarze Klinge, Sun having landed hard but not hard enough to induce injury. Noir sighed as the crowd continued to roar around him, self-doubt starting to creep into the back of his mind as he walked off the arena floor, not speaking to Sun or anyone else. Why was he doing this? Why was he continuing to compete in this tournament? What purpose did it serve for anyone other than himself? Was he competing to represent Beacon?
Or was he trying to prove something to himself?
All of this and more weighed on Noir's mind. He knew that the more he fought, and won, the more people were convinced that he was nothing more than a self-glorifying show-off. He had entered with a team of stand-ins, whom he'd ordered to stay out of each battle he fought, and he'd won every battle thus far by himself. He'd defeated an entire Team of 4 by himself, and had defeated two final year students in the doubles round. His fights were being shown as some of the greatest highlights of the entire tournament, and it was bothering him immensely. He'd told himself that he was competing to represent Beacon, and to honor the memories of his fallen teammates. And yet even now he was doubting his own reasons.
As he left the arena, he was met by Yang and her teammates, and smiled at them as he greeted them.
"Well done, Noir!" Yang threw her arms around Noir's neck happily, smiling at him as he returned her embrace. Yang leaned in a bit as though going for a kiss, but stopped when she saw that his smile wasn't quite reaching his eyes. "Noir...? Baby, are you okay?"
"I'm fine." Noir said, nodding as he reassured her, though he knew deep down that he wasn't, and Yang could tell. But before she could press him for an honest answer, a very different voice cut in.
"So! Three straight victories! You know, it's like you want me to win the gambling pools!" Noir turned to look down walkway, and standing behind him was Check Cremissi, dressed in a more spiffy manner than before, now in khaki slacks, a bright blue button-up shirt with the top 3 buttons undone, a black vest, and a matching fedora. A pair of black, reflective-lensed aviators covered his eyes, and as always, a wide smirk spread across his face. Noir's expression immediately darkened in anger at the sight of him, a look of displeasure that Ruby, Blake, and Weiss had never seen before. Yang had, and she knew instantly why.
"I'm in this tournament to honor our teammates, Cremissi. Not to win you some extra lien." Noir snarled, and at the words 'our teammates' Ruby, Blake, and Weiss went wide-eyed, looking from Noir to Check and back. In their eyes it strained credulity to snapping tension to imagine these two people as teammates.
"Oh, so it's Cremissi now, not Check." The bird faunus said in an almost bored tone. "Only you would resort to surnames as a way of showing dislike, Nightstalker. But then you were always uptight even when we were partners." Ruby, Weiss and Blake all stared at Noir. If the idea of Noir and Check being teammates had strained credulity, this little bit of info snapped it in two.
"And you from day one were a self-serving, money-hungry, blood-sucking tick." Noir snarled in reply, turning fully towards Check as his temper rose, a gesture that set off alarms in Yang's mind. Noir had to be pissed off to actually be hurling an insult like this at Check, who just took it in his stride.
"At least I never bothered hiding it," Check replied smoothly, and it was clear that Noir's anger didn't phase him even a little. "You, on the other hand? Guarded as a prison and half as inviting. But hey, you saved my life, whoop-dee-fuckin'-doo. Though I gotta wonder for what reason."
"Why even bother with it if it means so little?" Noir took another step towards Check. "In fact, why come here at all if your time at Beacon was so meaningless, Cremissi? Were Sherry and Midas so worthless to you that you couldn't even bother to attend their funerals? Much less pay any respect to their families? Or how about-"
"Oh, shut the fuck up, Harceleur, you're starting to sound like Ozpin!" Check cut him off, starting to sound aggravated himself. "I don't have time for sentiments, if you lived on the streets, you'd understand. To have regrets is to be weak, and to be weak is to fucking die." Noir, furious now, took a step forward, opening his mouth with a retort, but was stopped as Yang placed her hand on Noir's chest, trying desperately to calm him down.
"Noir, stop, it's not worth it, he's just trying to get a rise out of you." Yang said firmly. All this time, Ruby, Weiss, and Blake had been speechless. They'd never seen this much animosity towards anyone come from Noir, and to see such anger and hostility come from a typically tolerant individual, to say the least, was almost disturbing. Noir, looking into Yang's eyes for a moment, seem to calm a bit, and nodded to her.
"I know...that doesn't really change the fact that sometimes, I really wanna kill him." Noir said as he turned away from Check, preparing to walk away from the exchange, but stopped a moment later upon hearing Check speak.
"Kill me? Please, you couldn't harm a hair on anyone's head even if you wanted to. Hell, maybe that restraint right there is why they died in the first place!" Noir stopped in his tracks upon hearing this, and Yang knew what was about to happen an instant before it did. Noir's expression darkened with pure rage, and his fists clenched so hard they drew blood from his palms.
"AAAAGGGHHH!" With a loud roar of rage, Noir whirled around and with a single flap of his wings closed the gap between him and Check, his fist connecting with Check's face and sending him right to the ground. Check, dazed and stunned, went down hard, landing on his back and taking a moment to try regaining his balance, but he never did. Not giving Check time to recover, Noir pinned him to the ground and started wailing at Check's face, his fists smashing into his face repeatedly, and sending his aviators across the walkway, shattered beyond repair.
"Noir!" Yang shouted, running towards him and trying to pull him off Check but to no avail, Noir's eyes actually glistening with tears as every ounce of repressed rage and emotion sprang into being, his fist connecting with Check's face again and again and again, all conscious thought gone from Noir's mind and replaced by the primal urge to hurt Check as much as he possibly can, for all the pain he himself has been forced to endure. As Yang tried to pull Noir off of Check, someone else approached, and gloved hand rested on Noir's shoulder.
"Noir, stop this!" Yang turned to see Coco Adele, fully recovered from her doubles match and with a brand new pair of shades on her eyes, her hand on Noir's shoulder. When Noir didn't stop, Coco gripped his shoulder and said in a softer voice, "Sherry wouldn't want this, Noir, just stop!"
The moment Coco said this, Noir froze, his right fist in the air ready to land on Check's face again, and for a moment he remained frozen like this, staring down at Check, who, thanks to his aura, only had a few nasty bruises on his face, though the look of mild shock hadn't left his face. Noir remained stock still before lowering his fist and getting off of Check, who slowly got to his feet, glaring at Noir sullenly.
"Those aviators cost 500 lien, you motherfu-" Check was cut off as Coco's heavy, bullet-belt-strap handbag made contact with his face, sending him several feet back and once more putting him on the ground.
"Get the fuck out of here, Check. You've caused enough trouble." Coco glared at Check over her shades, her dark brown eyes burning holes in his bruised up face. Check, growling in pain, stood up rubbing his face as he turned and stormed off, not saying a word aloud to anyone he passed. Yang just stood where she was, still trying to process what had just happened. Coco had just calmed Noir down with all of two sentences, and now Noir stood where he was, breathing deeply and trying to compose himself. Yang hesitantly reached out and touched Noir's shoulder, her heart aching as she saw his expression, his rage mingling with long-repressed grief.
"Noir...?" Yang said his name softly, trying to understand how he'd just snapped like that without a moment's notice, and Noir just looked at her, his red eyes meeting hers. It was clear that he wasn't stable enough to properly discuss what had just happened, and without saying a word, Noir took a step back, spread his wings and flew off. Yang, hurt, reached out to him in vain, but was stopped from pursuing him by Coco's hand, now on her shoulder.
"Let him go, Yang. It's the only way for him to deal with it." Coco said this in a rather matter-of-fact tone, as though this info was a no-brainer. Upon seeing Yang's angry expression she continued, "I heard what Check said, Yang. Hell, I don't think anyone in a 5 yard radius didn't hear him. That was low and cowardly of him to provoke Noir like that."
"But...Noir's never one to lose control like that!" Yang protested, turning towards Coco fully. "He just went from irritated to calming down to Kung Fu Ninja Ultimate Slayer Death Battle 2 in all of 3 seconds!"
"Sherry Vulpa was like a sister to him, Yang." Coco replied. "When he lost her, it was like he'd lost a part of his family. Can you honestly tell me that you wouldn't act the same way in his stead?"
Yang was silent for a moment and shook her head. "No...I'd be even angrier than he was..."
"Exactly." Coco sighed a bit. "Being alone is his only method of dealing with that pain. He doesn't know any other way."
"How do you know...?" Yang almost blurted this, for it was actually messing with her a little. How did Coco know something about Noir that Yang didn't? It's true they were in the same year at Beacon, but even that's no indicator.
Coco raised an eyebrow for a moment and then sighed. "He didn't tell you yet. No surprise, he's always been close-mouthed about it. Noir and I dated during our first year." Everyone present went silent, struck dumb by this bit of info. It was almost unthinkable. Noir Harceleur, a dark, brooding, introverted and blatantly anti-social individual, dating the fashion-savvy, outgoing, tough as nails and staggeringly popular Coco Adele? The very concept seemed unthinkable to any of them, and Coco could tell. "He wasn't the person then that he is now...look, we've been standing here talking for the last ten minutes and people are staring now." Coco turned back to Yang and smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, Yang, he'll come around, just give him some space for a bit. Trust me, it'll help."
"Well...okay, but...one more thing?" Yang looked Coco dead in the eyes, and Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and everyone else watching cringed waiting for the current girlfriend to start skewering the ex with a pitchfork. What Yang said next made everyone literally topple over in shock.
"Mind telling me Noir's dating preferences?"
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
"So...in short, Birdman dropped a bomb about his team, and then Batman went all Kung Fu Ninja Ultimate Slayer Death Battle 2 on his ass." Remnant, sitting once more by himself, spoke into his scroll, Emerald on the other end, having just finished telling him about Noir and Check's confrontation earlier that day.
"Uh...went what?" Emerald
Remnant sighed in exasperation. "Seriously. Childhood. Where was it?! THESE ARE IMPORTANT GAMES, WOMAN, GET YOUR HEAD OUTTA YOUR ASS!"
Emerald, on the other end, held the scroll at arms length as Remnant shouted this into his own. It never failed to weird her out how Remnant seemed to switch personalities on a whim, going from stern and serious to shouting comically into his scroll about video games in all of 2 seconds.
"Eh, don't answer that, but in short, now we actually know something about the guy." Remnant was finding this bit of information very interesting. So Noir Harceleur was indeed a loner at Beacon. No team, no family members attending with him. All alone, plain and simple. His teammates, two of them anyways, were dead, and his partner was a dropout, and as it happened, a complete cock on top of that. This certainly explained why Noir did everything alone, and it also explained his withdrawn disposition around others. Who wouldn't be withdrawn when two of their best friends were dead and the last one was a total asshole?
"Yeah...looks that way." Emerald replied. She had witnessed the entire incident from a few yards away, using her semblance to make it appear as though she wasn't there. Though she didn't show it, seeing Noir lose control had shaken her. She could no longer deny to herself that she liked him, but after seeing that look of raw, unadulterated, unmitigated rage on Noir's face, and seeing him pin Check Cremissi to the ground and beat the daylights out of him, she was very shaken. Noir had always come off to her as a more collected individual who rarely, if ever, lost control, and what had happened earlier had bothered her immensely, and still very much did.
"Well, it's a start, but it's a late start. Not that I exactly blame you, you're a textbook tsundere if I've ever seen one." Remnant smirked as he said, this, and on the other end, Emerald blushed intensely.
"E-eh?! What're you.."
"Oh, come on, Sustrai, I can read you like a neon-lit sign in pitch darkness. You obviously like the guy." Remnant smirked. Emerald, for all her seemingly nonchalant and outwardly collected pretense, was simply too easy for Remnant to read. She could try to hide her feelings behind a wall of disinterest and bluntness all she wanted, but nothing escaped his observation and keen deduction, and Emerald, obviously, had a massive crush on Noir Harceleur.
"I don't...you...I..." Emerald seemed unable to fully articulate her protest, and Remnant merely chuckled as he listened to her stutter in a vain attempt to rebuff his statement.
"It doesn't matter anyway. You already know what'll happen if you compromise the mission." He said it cheerily enough, but Emerald audibly shivered. Remnant knew how to drop threats in the most calm and roundabout ways possible. It was unnerving to say the least.
"R-right..."
"Anything else I need to be made aware of?"
"Well..." Emerald winced as she felt the need to voice this complaint. "Cinder would really like it if you stopped leaving your slip-ons by the door..."
"What, you mean my big, rubber, masturbating shoes?"
"Your WHAT?!"
"Call you back!" Click! Instantly Remnant hung up the call, replacing his scroll on his belt as he'd spotted Ruby Rose walking towards him. It wouldn't do for her to discover him now, though how she would discover him from the conversation he was having, now that he thought on it, was a mystery. Whatever, in his mind, no chance was a small one. And that was exactly what he liked about chances.
"Hey Remmy!" Ruby chirped cheerfully as she skipped over to him, smiling her signature mile-wide, adorably happy smile. "Just wanted to say 'good luck' before your match, you've been doing great!"
"Heh, thanks." Remnant was slightly put off by the gesture, as it was, frankly, quite out of nowhere. Ruby hadn't spoken to him all that much and certainly hadn't made an effort to reach out til this point, and the sudden action made him slightly uneasy. What was this girl playing at? Was she really that fooled by his facade? Was she suspicious and simply trying to read him based on his responses? Or was she legitimately just there to say good luck? Remnant's thoughts had kicked into overdrive without him realizing it, and after a long moment he shook himself. For fuck's sake, Remnant, she doesn't even have the slightest inkling of a fucking clue, stop being so paranoid.
"Mhmm!" Ruby smiled widely, unable to keep a slight blush from suffusing her cheeks. Despite not really knowing anything about Remnant, or 'Remmy' as he'd told her his name was, she still felt something...odd towards him. It wasn't attraction, or so she told herself, but it was certainly more than a friendly feeling. Ruby wasn't one to really pursue anyone of particular interest unless it was to make a friend, but something was different here. Remnant fascinated her, beyond anyone else she'd met for certain. Noir was intriguing, Ren was quiet and therefore mysterious for a fact, other people around Beacon were interesting in their own right, but Remnant? There was something almost magnetic about him. He was quiet one moment, then bombastically loud the next, switching between contrasting demeanors as though with a flick of a switch. It was so weird, and yet hilariously funny at the same time! How could someone just switch between moods like that? Ruby felt an odd pull towards the young man, one she couldn't quite explain to anyone, not even herself, but she knew it was there. Crazy as it was, Ruby had a legitimate crush on him. She wouldn't admit it, perhaps she didn't even fully comprehend it, but there it was. Anyone with a basic understanding of the concept would be able to tell.
As Remnant certainly did.
His observational and deductive skills told him as much. Her slightly awkward posture, her nervous fidgeting, her blush. It was all obvious to him. He'd seen the signs in Emerald around Noir, and this was no different. The only real difference was that Ruby was terrible at hiding it, though Emerald at least put a shitton of effort into doing so. Ruby, on the other hand, couldn't have hidden her feelings behind 5-foot titanium blast-plating. Her inexperience in the dating department was likely a result of this, since she clearly wasn't a boyfriend-seeking type. She was too obsessed with being a huntress, fighting monsters, and dust knew what else to really be interested in dating anyone. Or so Remnant had gathered. He'd watched each member of Team RWBY keenly and tactically, gathering information on them and figuring them out slowly but surely. Ruby was the one who truly fascinated him, though he couldn't explain why he felt such an intense towards her. Was it her weapon? Perhaps. Possessing a scythe of his own, it would make sense that Remnant would take an interest in a fellow scythe-wielder. Hers was certainly an interesting weapon, unique in every respect, even if his own bore similar features with some added enhancements of his own. But no, it couldn't be the weapon now that he thought on it. It was something else...but what?
"Um...Remmy?" Ruby's voice snapped him back to reality. Evidently he'd zoned out.
"Hmmm, yeah?" He replied, shrugging it off and pasting a big smile on his face.
"Um, I was actually wondering, uh..."
"Would you be interested in getting dinner with me tonight?" The question had burst out of Remnant's mouth before he could stop it. What the fuck?! Why did I just ask her that?! But it was too late to take it back now, for Ruby's blush had just intensified immensely as she became giddy with excitement.
"Y-Yeah! I-I mean..." Ruby tried to compose herself, the aspect of Remnant having just asked her out a little much for her to fully process. "I mean, if you don't mind..."
"Done. 8 'o clock, Fair Grounds." Remnant smirked widely as he ran with it. This provided an enormous opportunity to properly get to know this girl. Tactically speaking it'd allow him to gain an observational advantage, or so he was telling himself. In reality, he was feeling something else.
"G-great! I'll be there!" Ruby, after a second of hesitation, sprang forward and hugged Remnant tightly, surprising him and badly throwing him off as a blush of his own suffused his face. What was wrong with him? No one and nothing could ever surprise him like this, and yet...she just had.
"Yeah...uh, my doubles, I mean, finals match should be starting in a second...that is, supposing I'm chosen..." Remnant said rather nervously, being not at all used to this sort of affectionate treatment from anyone, let alone Ruby.
"Oh, right!" Ruby instantly parted the hug and smiled. "Good luck out there!" And without another word, Ruby turned and bolted towards the stands at blinding speed, leaving Remnant standing there in staggered shock.
What just happened...? He found himself thinking. Did I just ask her out? Why? What in diamond dust filled cockshit made me do that? His mind was going crazy as his multiple points of view struggled for dominance.
It could be a good opportunity for getting to know her, dust knows we need all the info we can on this Academy's students...
Oh shut the fuck up, you know you like the girl!
Fuck off, this isn't about that, I'm just trying to maintain the facade...
Whatever, Mr. Denial, you're just running from the truth.
You can't handle the truth!
The fuck does that mean? You're crazy!
I'm not crazy, you're crazy!
Fuck you!
Fuck YOU!
No, fuck you!
Hey, fuck you too!
"Ahhhh! Fuck!" Remnant shook himself hard. It was agonizing having to argue with himself like that. It was a wonder he still had his sanity. Or did he? One could only wonder at times. For all he knew, crazy was sanity. He didn't have long to think on this before Peter Port's bombastic voice once more cut through the silence.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! Welcome back to the Vytal Tournament Finals! Our next match will begin momentarily, and we have certainly seen one very eventful tournament thus far!"
"100% agreed, Peter, we have seen many a fantastic fight here in this Tournament, and now with the finals underway, we are all breath-takingly excited for what's to come." Bartholomew Oobleck put in ecstatically, indeed sounding excited himself.
"And now, for your next match-up in the Round of 16!" The holographic screens around Amity Colosseum began rolling the match-up roulette, with Noir and Sun Wukong's faces now removed. The crowd waited in anticipation for who would be the next match-up for the tournament, the suspense so tense a butter knife could cut it. In the stands, Team RWBY watched with anticipation, eager to see this next match go down, and eager to see who would be taking part. As the roulette continued to roll, Noir Harceleur, observing from his scroll in his dorm, away from the crowd and away from everyone, watched and waited, his eyes narrowed as he paced his room. He was uncharacteristically antsy, though what had just happened earlier was still fresh in his mind, making it no surprise for anyone. As all watched in eager anticipation, the roulette landed on its first contender.
"PENNY POLENDINA!" The crowd roared in unison as Penny walked out onto the arena floor happily, sporting her signature smile that was both endearing and off-putting. Her secret remained safe with Ruby, though there were others who had their suspicions. The roulette continued to roll, the crowd slowly dying down and waiting for Penny's opponent to be chosen. In a moment, it would be decided randomly, and as the roulette landed on said opponent, Ruby's eyes widened.
"REMMY OF HAVEN ACADEMY!" Port declared, and the crowd went ballistic. Remnant, or rather, Remmy's name had spread like wildfire in the wake of his fight with Team CFVY's doubles round fighters. He was as talked about as Noir was at this point, and with Penny's track record of having easily breezed through the first rounds of the tournament, this was bound to be an interesting match up. And Ruby certainly thought so as Remnant swaggered out onto the arena floor, the central platform elevating once more as he stretched rather casually, cracking his knuckles a bit and shaking himself as he prepared himself mentally for this fight. Or rather, tried to. He was in an uncharacteristically chipper mood at the moment, and he was feeling witty.
"Sooooo...redhead versus fake red?" He looked up at his own dyed hair. "I'd make a soulless joke, but I'm sure it's below me, not that either of us are soulless...right?" He looked at Penny with a raised eyebrow.
"I am not sure what you mean, but I do hope this will be a fun time!" Penny responded, her smile not wavering even a little.
"Ooooooooo, a fun time? Fun times are my specialty, girl, just you wait!" Remnant smirked widely. He had absolutely no idea as to why he was so jittery but he wasn't about to question it.
"Specialty? You can specialize in fun? That is actually possible?" Penny seemed legitimately curious.
"The fuck outta here, course it is!" Remnant smirked as he bounced a bit on his feet. "Tell you what, I'll teach ya a little ditty by the name of 'Rock, Paper, Scissors!' If you're up for it!"
Penny's smile dropped slightly. Remnant was openly mocking her, as she could see. He was confident that he could win this with no issue, and was thus acting as such. Penny, contrary to what one would think, knew exactly what 'Rock Paper Scissors' was, as Ruby had shown her. And she was quite certain that whatever Remnant was really planning, it wasn't a hand-game.
"THREE...TWO...ONE...BEGIN!" Oobleck's voice rang out and Remnant instantly jumped up and down a bit.
"Let's do dis, I'll start!" Remnant grinned as he took a slightly crouched stance and actually made a fist. "Rock, paper scissors-" BOOM! A blast of energy fired directly at Remnant from Penny's blade vortex, which in the midst of his jabbering had emerged and taken shape. Remnant, hearing the blast and spotting it in the same second, executed a side flip to his right and landed perfectly on his feet, now stand straight with a hand on his hip.
"Excuse me, I didn't say 'shoot!'" He quipped in mock indignance, his grin never even slightly faltering as he resumed the same crouched position as before. "Let's try again, shall we? Okay, Rock paper-" BOOM!
Yet another blast was aimed his way as Penny, slightly miffed but not showing it, fired once more, and Remnant, as deftly as before, side flipped once again, dodging it and starting to look amused.
"I'm starting to think you don't quite get the rules of this game..." The quips had no end as Remnant spewed one-liner after one-liner, Penny not once saying a word. "Seriously, do you even games, bruh...uh, sis...?...girl? Fuck it."
In the stands, Ruby was dying of laughter. Remnant's wit combined with his seemingly playful dodging of Penny's attacks was getting to her, and the more he spouted one-liners and quips the harder she was laughing, to the point that Yang, Weiss, and Blake were all looking at her indignantly. What was so funny about all this, exactly, they were wondering. Yang in particular had her suspicions, and as she looked from Ruby to Remnant and back to Ruby, it clicked. Oh. My. God. My sister has a crush!
"Okay, seriously, you're not playing along!" Remnant dodged yet another attack, this time from Penny's blades themselves. Needing to conserve her aura, Penny had taken to physical attacks, her blades whirring through the air at top speed, and Remnant was deftly dodging each of them. "You can't keep picking scissors, that ain't fair!"
"You talk too much in a fight." Penny said flatly. Her frustration was crystal clear as her attacks became more and more aggressive.
"Funny, that's what my Dad keeps telling me!" Remnant quipped, stopping in place as he spewed yet another one-liner. This was a mistake however, as Penny's attack finally made contact, her blades delivering a rapid-fire series of blows to his face. Remnant, though stunned, stumbled and yet didn't lose his balance, and in an instant, his playfulness was gone.
"Okay, you know what, I ain't gonna drag this out anymore." Finally getting serious, Remnant crouched, and as Penny once more attacked with her blades, Remnant drew one of his own. There was rapid flash of metal and a moment later, Penny's blades fell to the arena floor in pieces, the entire Colosseum staring in shock. Penny had dispatched her previous opponents with ease, and yet this one guy, after evidently toying with her, had just shattered her blades with one of his own. He could have done this from the getgo, and yet purposefully held back. Ruby's laughter was gone as she stared, wide-eyed at Penny's shattered blades. No one, least of all her, had seen that coming.
Penny, though visibly shaken, recovered quickly and charged Remnant, her fist balled and ready to deliver a devastating blow. Remnant smoothly sheathed his blade and straightened back up, counting down mentally. A split second before Penny's fist made contact with his face, Remnant's left hand shot up and caught it with a responding wham! Remnant didn't even blink, and just looked Penny dead in the eyes as he pushed her fist back savagely, putting Penny on her knees, grimacing as her arm was pushed back. For a moment Remnant kept her like this, and then spoke once again.
"And paper beats rock." Remnant said it with a wide smirk. "Well, it's been fun, Pen, but I'm afraid it's time to get back to our regularly scheduled programming..." Remnant tilted his head at Penny's shocked and horrified expression, unseen by the crowd, and his quip unheard by anyone. "Too soon...? Yeah, too soon." And without another word, he flicked Penny's fist aside and in one smooth motion, balled his left hand into a fist and delivered a colossal blow to the side of her head, depleting her aura and knocking her to ground, laying perfectly still, her eyes closed and her expression blank. In one massive hit, Remnant had just ended the match.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAND THE WINNER IS REMMY OF HAAAAAAVEN!" Port declared, and though the crowd roared in response, there was half-hearted vibe emitting from everyone as the central platform in the arena lowered once more, Remnant massaging his left hand a bit before wrapping some bandages around it. Evidently the blow had hurt more than slightly.
In his dorm, Noir's eyes narrowed into fierce slits as he watched the instant replay of the final blow. Something wasn't right to him, for Remnant had just dispatched one the tournament's most powerful fighters with a single blow, a blow that ought to have obliterated his hand, considering how hard that impact was. Yet all he seemed to have done was bang his knuckles up a bit. He was waving off any medics who offered to examine it, and if the blow really had hurt his hand, then that meant he hadn't activated his aura to protect it. There was no way to slice it, something wasn't right there. Noir's suspicions were once more roused, and after this fight, Noir had a feeling that one day, he would have to fight Remnant himself.
And he knew in his gut that he would have delve into a state of mind he didn't want to enter ever again in order to defeat him.
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
"What was the play, Remnant?"
The Round of 16 had concluded. Cinder sat on her bed in her Team's guest dormitory, her arms crossed as she glowered at the boy standing across from her, leaning against the wall with a rather aggravated look of his own. Emerald and Mercury had been dismissed to the fairgrounds for the time being, as Cinder wanted to settle the issue at hand personally.
"I don't see why I should be explaining myself to you. Last I checked, you weren't the one giving orders here." Remnant was less than pleased by Cinder's interrogation, the sheer audacity of it enough to make him rather on edge.
"Polendina was confirmed minutes ago to be in a coma. Her skull apparently had a large dent in it." Cinder replied, and Remnant raised an eyebrow.
"Does it? Huh, don't know my own strength." Cinder's glare became more pronounced. At this moment she didn't care how aggravated Remnant was, she needed answers.
"You may have put her out of the tournament, but now certain people are going to be suspicious, Remnant." Cinder crossed her arms. "People who may have a knack for finding answers."
"Then let 'em be." Remnant growled. "It doesn't matter anyway. One way or another, she needed to be put out of the tournament. I prefer that it was sooner rather than later."
"Why?!" Cinder was on her feet now. "What makes her so special that she absolutely needed to be removed from the tournament?!" For a moment, Remnant just looked Cinder dead in the eye, his bright green eyes flashing purple as he fought down his temper. For a long moment, the two of them stared one another down, Cinder's expression furious and indignant, Remnant's being cold and menacing. After a long moment Remnant inhaled and broke the tense silence.
"The virus you planted in the main computer system at the CCT allowed me to access multiple classified files. After Ironwood was eliminated, Master Erebos took his scroll and brought it to me. I hacked into it and found all of his personal files. That girl, Penny Polendina?" Remnant's eyes narrowed as he glared at the ground. "She's artificial."
"What?!" This was news to Cinder. Granted she'd always found Penny to be rather...off, but never in a millennium would she have suspected she was a robot.
"Mhmm. One hundred percent robotic. Covered in artificial skin to appear human. An advanced prototype." Remnant smirked, actually relishing Cinder's shock. Dust, it was always priceless to see people react to things like this for him. People were always so shocked to hear about things like this.
"But...how?! She was generating an aura!" Cinder protested. "No machine can-"
"In the last several years, the Atlas Military has been conducting experiments with aura, researching its origin, figuring out just what it is. More recently, they figured out how to capture it and actually put it in something." Remnant's gaze intensified as he looked Cinder eye to eye. "Or someone." Cinder went pale as she caught what he was getting at. Remnant smirked. "Penny Polendina is the first entirely artificial person to be capable of generating an aura, thank to the Atlas Military's research and development."
"I..." Cinder was reeling in this new information, but her question remained unanswered. "What does this have to do with...?"
"As a machine, she's smarter, faster, more durable, and far more deadly than the average fighter." Remnant's smirk was no less pronounced. "Master Erebos felt that eliminating her at some point would be a necessity. She may be programmed to pass for a human, but a machine is a machine. And machines calculate."
"So...in other words." Cinder slowly calmed down. "You took her out in case she ever figured out what we were up to."
"Precisely." Remnant smirked as he straightened up from the wall. "Loose ends of any kind, regardless of their size or certainty, are too great a risk for an operation of this scale. My job is to ensure that nothing interferes with my Master's plans."
"Right..." Cinder sighed as she sat back down on her bed, rubbing her temples a little. "You've made that...abundantly clear."
"And I plan to continue doing so." Remnant, satisfied, walked over to his wardrobe and took a moment to straighten his hair before shaking his head almost violently. "Are we done here? I have somewhere to be."
Cinder sighed and laid back on the bed. "Yes. We're done here..."
"Good. Don't wait up for me." Remnant stretched as he walked towards the dorm door, before looking back at Cinder with a menacing glare. "Or follow me."
Cinder didn't even bother waving him off as Remnant stepped out of the dorm, shutting it behind him and stretching a bit. At that moment it was 7:15pm, and Remnant had a date at 8, as he well remembered. At the same time, he was wondering to himself. Would she show? What if she didn't? What if she did? How exactly was this supposed to go? Remnant was a smooth talker, and was confident this wouldn't be an issue, but at the same time, for the first time in his life he was feeling legitimately nervous. This wasn't his style, or rather, not the style he preferred. Remnant's typical manner of communication typically involved combat of some sort.
And said combat often ended with a death.
If he was being perfectly honest with himself, Remnant liked killing. In fact, it was the part of combat he enjoyed most. The moment where his quarry, in their final moments of their pointless life, showed in their eyes the true depth of their person. Who they really were, and how they reacted to the realization they were dying told Remnant so much about them. There was no better way to learn who a person was than watching them die.
And yet...at this moment, death wasn't something he wanted, and it was messing with him. After taking so many lives, death was something he was more than used to. He was able to kill anyone and anything without even a moment's hesitation, and yet, something was different here. Why? Why didn't he want death? Why was death not the answer here? For that matter, why was it so important for Remnant to get to know Ruby Rose, of all people, without resorting to such? It made no sense to him, and the more he thought on it, the more unsure of himself he was. His mind was practically at war with itself, and it was like 3 different voices were arguing at once.
One was telling him to kill her, to coldly calculate her abilities, fight her, test her every strength, and then end it all. Maybe even add insult to injury while he was at it, after all, humiliation and death walked hand-in-hand.
Another was saying to not go through with the date at all. To leave it. To not interact in any way, shape, or form. Just ignore her and leave her be. She meant nothing.
Then there was third and the quietest of the three. This one was saying to chance it, to see where it goes, pursue it if it shows promise, and drop it if it looks to go south.
And Remnant, cold killer that he was, found more appeal in the third voice than the other two.
With a jolt he realized that he'd been standing and silently conflicting with himself for nearly 10 minutes. He had 35 minutes to reach the Vytal Fairgrounds. Not wasting a second, Remnant took off down the hall, not even bothering with the elevator and taking the stairs, descending rapidly parkour style. Leaping the banisters, descending several feet in a freefall, and then stopping said fall by grabbing another banister before exiting the dorm. Within seconds he'd run to the airship dock, hopping an airship and slipping several lien cards into the pilot's hand.
"I don't care how fast you go, just get me to the fairgrounds, stat." The pilot shrugged and lifted the ship, piloting towards the Vytal Fairgrounds at breakneck speed. Remnant didn't even wait for the ship to dock and jumped out the second he saw the fairgrounds, rolling as he landed on the ground and then straightened back up with a pop of his neck. Checking his scroll he realized it was still early, but it wasn't long before he heard a familiar voice.
"Remmy!" Ruby was running towards him, having managed to finally get away from her team and sister. Remnant actually found himself smiling, relieved she'd actually shown up, but then feeling nervous all over again now that she actually was there. The conflicting emotions led him to cover it up as he normally would: by quipping.
"'Eyyyyyy, Red Riding-Hood's 'ere. Finally get away from the wolf?" Remnant quipped with his signature grin. Ruby giggled as she walked over to him with her own cute smile than anyone would find adorable.
"Hehe, let's just say I'm kinda, uh...not good at this kinda thing..." Ruby suddenly looked down shyly. "I almost didn't show up."
"Well I'm glad you did at least. I almost didn't either." Remnant grinned. "I'm kinda rusty at this myself, just sayin'."
"Well..." Ruby awkwardly stood there, not quite knowing what else to say, not really knowing how continue the conversation, or whether to even try. Remnant, however, knew exactly what he wanted to ask.
"So, that scythe of yours. You build that yourself?" Remnant felt his heart actually leap as Ruby brightened up in response. What was that...what is wrong with me...?
"Yup!" Ruby immediately whipped out Crescent Rose, proudly toting the great red weapon in full scythe form. "I built my sweetheart while I was attending Signal Academy, my Uncle Qrow inspired it!"
"Huh, no kidding." Remnant was legitimately interested as he looked the impressive weapon over, and then held his hand out. "May I?"
Ruby hesitated for a moment, before nodding and handing her precious weapon to him. Remnant, holding the massive red weapon, heaved it a little, testing its weight, before expertly flourishing it and stabbing it into the ground like Ruby would. Ruby stared with wide eyes as he then proceeded to expertly execute some of her own fighting moves, seeming quite at home with the weapon he was holding.
"Whoa..." Ruby continued to watch in awe as Remnant began executing maneuvers she herself had never seen someone do, spinning the scythe around his shoulders using the momentum of the bladed segment. He switched the scythe from hand to hand with a fluidity Ruby had rarely if ever seen in any scythe wielder. While in her mind, her Uncle Qrow could wipe the floor with Remmy, she still had to admit his skill was on a different level.
"I have to admit." Remnant grinned as he handed Crescent Rose back to Ruby. "I've seen a lotta weapons in my time. Never once seen one as flawless as yours." Ruby blushed intensely and replaced the weapon on her belt, not really knowing what to say. She was deeply flattered by his compliment, in fact she was beyond flattered. But at the same time, part of her was still worrying, for rather obvious reasons. As she looked away from him, Remnant's smile turned down somewhat.
"Are...you okay?"
"Y-yeah...I just..." Ruby sat down on a nearby bench, one arm hugging herself a bit as Remnant sat next to her. "I'm worried about Penny."
Huh...? "The girl I fought today...?" Remnant had honestly forgotten about his fight earlier that day.
"Yeah...she's a close friend." Ruby looked at Remnant with an expression of mingled curiosity and...was that sadness? "How did you beat her like that...? You ended the whole thing with one punch..."
"I...don't know." Remnant wasn't even lying. In truth, he hadn't expected to beat Penny that easily, but then, he'd expected her durability and aura strength to be far greater than it had turned out to be. "If I'm being honest here, I was expecting her to get back up, but...I guess I misjudged my strength." He subconsciously rubbed his bandaged hand, his left.
"Oh..." Ruby looked away awkwardly. "It's just...she..." Ruby was in a silent battle with herself to keep Penny's secret. Indeed it was surprising that said secret hadn't already gotten out. "S-she's in a coma." Ruby decided to go with the official diagnosis, even though she knew this wasn't the case. "The doctors are saying she may not wake for some time...if...ever..." Ruby choked up, and Remnant realized with a jolt that she was trying to hold back tears. She cared so deeply for Penny that it scared the daylights out of her to think that she may never wake again, and yet, such a possibility was in the air. Remnant was feeling something he hadn't felt before, yet he couldn't figure it out. What was it?
Fear? Of course not, he feared nothing. Was it sickness? Maybe, but then why was it in his gut?
Then it dawned on him. Guilt. Regret. He was actually feeling regret for his decision to put Penny down. The feeling was intense...he'd never felt this before, ever. Why so suddenly then, why was it just all rushing on him? He needed to be alone, he couldn't deal with this around Ruby.
"I guess I should go..." Remnant stood and turned to leave, not even bothering to think of an excuse, and stopped as he felt Ruby's hand grab his.
"Wait, I..." Ruby blushed intensely as Remnant looked back at her, not saying a word and simply waiting. "...I know you didn't mean to knock her into a coma...I just...I don't know..." Remnant didn't say a word. His mind was in such disarray that he couldn't think of a single word to say. He swallowed a bit and shook his head.
"Look...you're worried for her, I don't want to distract you...maybe you should have time to yourself instead of with me..." Remnant tried to walk away again, but Ruby once more stopped him.
"I think it'll be easier with someone here for me..." she replied.
"So...why not your teammates? Or your sister? Surely they know her too..." Remnant almost felt like he was making excuses for himself.
"Yeah, they do...but I hoped you'd want to as well...plus I never break promises I make." Ruby seemed to be calming down a bit.
"...that's..." Remnant was still struggling to find the right words. "...a good philosophy to have. I'm the same way..." After a moment he shook himself a bit, managing to somewhat compose himself mentally. "I guess, if you insist on it, I can stick around. Not sure what I can do to help, but, if I can..."
Remnant was stunned silent as he suddenly felt Ruby's lips press to his left cheek. The contact stunned him into silence and a moment later his mind blasted into overdrive as though triggered by it. His mind was suddenly a blur of noise and images, and as he stood there, one word began to echo in his mind. A name.
Rouge...Rouge...Rouge... Over and over again, by different voices, the name was repeated over and over until he began to hear it in a voice that he could only guess was his own. The voices grew in volume, ever louder in his mind, the noise and cacophony agonizing until it was suddenly silent, with a single whisper echoing in his mind.
Rouge Etille.
"Remmy...?" Ruby's voice brought him back to reality as he continued to stare straight ahead. "Remmy, are you okay...?"
"Rouge."
"Huh?" Ruby stood there for a moment, confused, as Remnant, standing where he was, came to a realization that shook his entire being to its core.
"My name...is Rouge. Rouge Etille." Saying it out loud sealed its finality in Remnant's being. His name was not Remnant, or Remmy. It was Rouge Etille.
"Rouge..." Ruby repeated, and found herself smiling and leaning against him. "I think it's a better name than 'Remmy'."
"So do I." He replied, smiling a little as Ruby leaned against him, but this was troubling him.
The name his master had given him was not his real name...the name he'd felt defined him suddenly felt meaningless, and as years of his life began to flash before his eyes, the new realization of his name was bringing a burning question to his mind. A question he'd never dared to ask himself, but was now being asked repeatedly, as the answer he'd originally known no longer felt like the right one.
Who am I?