.
Guess Who's Back
.
Our darkest moments and the scars they leave are proof of forces which have tried to destroy us.
Tried and failed.
We continue to live on, ever stronger and ever wiser.
.
.
She was a genius engineer. Countless Huntsmen and Huntresses far and wide, came to her for the reliable quality of her work. And the same could be said for Team ENMY, who entrusted the woman with Yang and Mercury's prosthetics.
The technician's short stature was even with Neo's. She wore a white lab coat that was too large for her. Along with her considerably baggy eyes, the woman possessed no aggressively outstanding features. If there was anything of note, it would be her gaze.
Eyes of pure black pools that seemed lifeless. So smooth and perfect, any light in the surroundings reflected in them, like the moon reflecting off the surface of an undisturbed lake. It gave anyone the impression of something hauntingly beautiful but also unsettling at the same time.
Her name was Masa Moon. Expert engineer, underground doctor, and freelance weapon technician extraordinaire.
In one of her small labs, various machines usually found in a mechanic's garage were situated to one side, while expensive looking medical equipment lined the other. In the center of it all, was a single operating table with a patient strapped to it.
To Mercury's right and left, stood Emerald and Masa.
As they were about to begin, the doctor loomed over the young man. Her expressionless face hovered just centimeters above his. And a cold, monotone voice trickled down, like liquid mercury.
"You will now experience extreme discomfort. This one is sorry… Not genuinely, since the process is necessary. But this one is of the impression that is what is supposed to be said, this one explains, trying to mimic sympathy."
Mercury stared blankly at Masa for a moment.
"I swear, you get creepier every time we see you. By the way, aren't doctors supposed to give painkillers for this sort of thing?"
"Five-thousand Lien, this one appropriately prices."
"'Appropriately' my ass! That's a complete rip off!"
"—We're tight on cash right now, so you'll just have to bear with it," Emerald consoled. "Sorry, little buddy."
"…You're trying so hard not to smile right now. Don't think I don't see you enjoying this."
"Fine. Go ahead and whine some more! I'm sure that'll make all the boo-boos feel better."
"—What a nice friendship you two have. This one is moved by your lukewarm comradery."
Mercury and Emerald threw Masa a mixed look of confusion and annoyance.
""Are you serious?""
"Yes. Now, remain still." The drill in Masa's hand whirred. "This one would rather not miss and drill a hole in your genital area by mistake. Hahaha. This one attempts at base humor." A plastered-on smile accompanied her words.
"That dead face and voice is freakier than Neo—AHHHH!"
After some time and much screaming, Masa left an unconscious Mercury in the care of his partner. No doubt, the young man was experiencing hallucinated nightmares at the hands of said partner. But it didn't matter to the doctor why he was suddenly breaking out in a cold sweat, while tossing and turning in his sleep. It was time for her next patient.
…
Yang was already lying on the operating table when Masa entered the room. Neo was sitting atop her with a scalpel knife drifting along the girl's neckline. A devious grin slit across her lips.
"…Please do not play with my tools, Miss Neo. Or this one will have to charge your dirt-poor group extra fees, this one warns."
Neo nonchalantly unmounted Yang and the patient breathed a sigh of relief—right before Masa detached her mechanical arm, sending sharp pains across the right side of her body.
"AHHHHH!" Yang cried.
"Perhaps this one should invest in earmuffs. Patients' screams could prove harmful to eardrums, this one makes note to herself."
Neo nodded cheerfully.
"Yes, Miss Neo. Silence is golden."
Yang's arm throbbed and her breathing became ragged. She scrunched her eyes, trying to will her mind elsewhere.
"Do not retreat from the pain, Miss Yang. Pain is necessary. There is no life without suffering, this one philosophically paraphrases."
"I'm not afraid of pain. It's my Semblance after all," Yang replied testily.
"Fearlessness of something is not the same as the acceptance of it. Also, not all pain is physical."
Yang winced at Masa's words, as the doctor continued procedure.
"Once you accept things for what they are instead of what they should be, so hold your key to happiness—this one paraphrases another favorite idiom."
Yang clicked her teeth in annoyance and turned away.
"What would you know about it? What would you know about me?"
"Everything," Masa readily answered.
The doctor held up Yang's mechanical arm in one hand and her left Ember Celica in another. Yang tried not to look at the weapon she abandoned with shame.
"Unlike people, weapons do not lie," Masa explained. "By analyzing the damage to your weapons, this one can understand more about you than she would speaking with you. Your strengths, your weaknesses, your tendencies, your personality. It is the reason this one can construct such great weapons and prosthetics, this one proclaims with confidence." Masa thumped her chest.
"Also…" she paused. "This one, too, has lost many important things."
Yang went silent for a moment.
"...Like, what?"
Masa gave a cold smile and tapped her open eye with a screw driver.
An off-putting metallic sound echoed the lab.
((*Ting Ting Ting*))
Masa's eyes, which always seemed dead, were not real to begin with.
"In the past, a young girl once worked under the employment of the Schnee Dust Company. Their facilities were the most well-funded and advanced, making it the optimal place to carry out one's research.
There was a minor problem.
This girl was a Faunus.
The company holds a well-known bias against her kind, which anyone could identify by her eyes. So, in order to work at the place of her dreams, the girl surgically removed them by her own hand. Granted, the mechanical replacements operated with far superior function and capacity.
…Still."
Masa's voice trailed off for a moment.
"This one rather cherished them."
Yang stared in surprise at Masa, while Neo started tapping the doctor's pupils, making more clinking sounds.
"Eventually, this one's true race was discovered regardless of one's best efforts. Summarily terminated from employment—as you may assume by this one's present state of occupation. So there is an understanding of pain, Miss Yang."
Masa held up a completely brand-new prosthetic.
"As this one also has an understanding of you, this one ends her narration she was using as distraction."
"What?"
Without warning, Masa grabbed Yang's shoulder and fastened the new mechanical arm to it.
Fresh burning heat seared through the girl's bicep like nothing she experienced before. It was a vastly different level of pain compared to what the previous models caused.
The prosthesis sucked up Yang's Aura like blood vessels newly connecting. It was almost as if the arm was forcing the body to conform to it than vice versa.
After some of the initial shock subsided, Yang gazed down at her new artificial limb.
There was no comparison to the bland protypes she used before.
This one was toned black with yellow steeled reinforcements inlayed into the knuckles up to the elbow. Powerful hydraulics squeezed and pulled like real muscle. Yang could actually feel the veins in the wiring of Masa's creation. Though still sensitive to the soreness, she flexed and moved the fingers somewhat smoothly. It was a supremely surreal feeling.
The prosthetic didn't have the same numbness or disconnection the first ones did. If Yang had to describe it, it was less like being attached to some tool, and more like an extension of herself. Apart from her body, but working in tandem with her thoughts and will.
She turned it over, examining the limb more closely. When she did, she stopped to touch on certain alloys embedded in the forearm. They stood out in stark contrast to the newer, pristine material around it.
Yang recognized its texture anywhere. They were scars from all her past fights. Her fingers ran across the old dents and scratches.
She looked up to Masa.
"You built this out of my old Ember Celica?"
"Own your pain and accept it, this one recites."
For the first time since the attack at Beacon, Yang allowed herself a small smile.
"'Own your pain', huh? Accept it..."
She closed her eyes momentarily, before looking up again.
"Does it ever get better?" she asked. "Does it stop feeling so empty?"
"The pain of its absence? No, of course not," Masa gave a flat reply. "But the bearer of the pain should...get better."
Yang nodded with understanding.
"Unless the person is weak, then this one would guess no. It does not get better, this one clarifies."
Another copy-and-paste smile traced Masa's expression, which caused Yang to awkwardly laugh.
"Thanks…I don't think I'm completely over it, but—that helped. Maybe."
Yang hopped off the chair and threw a few practice jabs with her new arm. The feeling was indescribable. Different, but also familiar. An overwhelming nostalgia caused her to tear up.
"It will take three days to modify the left one, so return then," Masa instructed. "In that time, you should practice and become used to the right, this one prescribes."
"You're modifying the left, too?"
"Of course. Your weapon must be properly balanced and upgraded as a whole, this one states the obvious."
"Heh. You got it, doc."
Yang made a tight fist and the prosthetic hummed to life with gold Aura. The engines and turbines inside turned. Small jet propulsors ventilated along the limb, flaring with a low roar.
"Hello, Celica 2.0."
.
X
.
(One week later, at a dance club in Downtown Vale.)
.
Mercury and Emerald met the glares of the twins they were fighting, along with the boss standing behind.
The lights above flashed to the beat of booming music. Unconscious thugs laid about the establishment unmoving. The dance floor and surrounding furnishings were wrecked beyond repair.
Junior would have to renovate the club…again.
"The one with the legs isn't bad, Miltia," one of the twins commented.
"The one with the cute top is holding back, Melanie," the other twin replied.
The sisters talked amongst themselves. Meanwhile, Mercury and Emerald did the same.
"Think you should hallucinate one?" Mercury suggested.
"It's not a 'secret' weapon, if I just use it on anybody. Besides, we can manage without. And what's taking your half of the fight so long? Don't tell me you're going easy on her."
"She kicks. I kick. We're both kicky people. It makes for a long, drawn out match."
"You are so useless," Emerald scowled.
As the four set to clash again, they heard a resounding boom come from outside. A moment later, and the front doors of the club blew apart.
Gangsters flew in and added to the unconscious body count. More of Junior's men could be seen lying out cold in the streets. And inside, stepped the visage of Yang, wearing a challenger's grin on her face.
Her new Ember Celica ejected several spent artillery shells with a satisfying bang. Small afterburners torched briefly along its sides before quieting.
"Guess who's back. Back again…" She eyed the familiar club owner, and winked. "Yang is back. Tell a friend."
Junior gave a nervous gulp, and even Miltia and Melanie took an inadvertent step back.
"Blondie! You're working... with them?" Junior gestured to Emerald and Mercury. "Never saw that coming. Then again, I was hoping I'd never see you again, period."
Yang shrugged.
"It's complicated."
"Yeah? Well, whatever! If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get. I'm not the same as I was before! Been working out. Doing CrossFit. Miltia and Melanie have been training up too, and we—AAAAaaaaaaaaaaHH!"
Junior suddenly let out a high-pitch scream.
"Wh-What is that?!" he pointed a trembling finger at Yang.
"Oh. Her?"
Yang turned around to reveal Neo, who was clinging on her back the entire time. Neo's hands firmly clasped around the girl's breasts.
"What? It's just—"
"AHHH! Keep that thing away from me!" Junior shrieked in horror.
Neo stopped nuzzling her face in Yang's hair for a moment and turned to Junior. Her trademark smile sent shivers down the club owner's spine.
"Seriously?" Yang raised a brow. "I come back with a fighter jet for an arm, teamed up with Emerald and Mercury—and Neo's the one you're freaking out about?"
"Torchwick brought her around once!" Junior replied, never taking his eyes off Neo. "Jus-Just what do you want?! You need something, right? I'll do anything. Just get that thing out of my club!"
"Okay…" Yang addressed Neo. "Uh…Can you go wait outside?"
Neo puffed her cheeks in protest.
"Please? We really, really need you to not stab anybody right now."
With a silent huff, Neo climbed down and made her way outside.
Junior and his remaining subordinates breathed a collective sigh. Yang, Mercury, and Emerald did the same, despite being Neo's "allies". They all looked to each other as a more amicable atmosphere fell into place.
"So, blondie. What do you want?"
"We heard you have a pipeline to Mistral for smuggling goods."
"Okay. So?"
"Okay. So! We want to use your connect."
"…Huh." Junior walked over to what remained of his bar, prepared a drink for himself, and downed it in one go. "I want something in return."
"You wanna negotiate?" Yang joined him.
"You scratch my back. I scratch yours."
"'Kay, that's gross. Also, I don't do hired thug. I'm one of the good guys. Remember?"
Junior glanced at Emerald and Mercury.
"Riiiiight. Well, it's nothing that'll mess with your moral compass. In fact, if you're such a 'good guy'," he air-quoted, "you should be volunteering to do this in return for my services."
"…What's the job?"
"It's easy. Just protect the cargo you'll be traveling with. Point A to Point B, intact. Simple."
"…If we feel like it."
"Look! I've been running low on able bodies lately. And thanks to your new team—!" he motioned to all the injured gangsters littering his club. "—I have even less now! You guys might end up having to protect the train anyway. And make sure that little gremlin of yours doesn't poke any more holes in my guys!"
"I can't make that promise. None of us can really control her."
"Ugh…" Junior took another drink and massaged his temples. "Still. Mistral, huh? You joining their side of the war. It's one surprise after another."
"I'm not joining their side. Not really. It's complicated."
"Great. Don't care."
Junior started scribbling something on a scrap piece of paper. Once he finished jotting the info, he folded it, and slid it to Yang.
"Time and register of the transport. Password is: Junior's #1."
"Seriously?"
"What?"
"Nothing."
Yang knocked twice on the countertop and began heading out. Emerald and Mercury followed after, while Mercury blew a parting kiss to Miltia and Melanie. The twins responded with throat sounds of disgust.
Junior raised his glass as the team left through his busted doors.
"Take good care of my stuff!"