Im baaaack. Haha, okay moving on. Welcome to this new chapter for Corruption. Im floored by the support this story has gotten and as such, I wont keep you waiting much longer. I apologize for the wait on this guys. I had some medical problems crop up a couple months ago, and I was honestly just too physically and mentally exhausted to write properly. But, I'm finally over the hump and feel good continuing. So lets get to it.
Chapter 3: A dead end
-Anima, 3 days later-
Blake had known for some time now that Ruby had a darker side. Everything she went through, not only as a child but in her early years as a team leader had contributed to that. It was something that tended to come out only in battle though, and it was extremely rare to see her so livid outside of combat. Now that she was the target of such anger though, she felt a tad sorry for their enemies.
When Blake had arrived at the meet up point back in Vale, Ruby had looked ready to give her a punch to her face. It was only the fact that Weiss had been there and had stood between them that had prevented that. As angry as Ruby was, Weiss had a calming effect on her that kept her in check. At least for now.
The ironic part about that was Blake wouldn't have blamed her if she had snapped. She hated how she had left things with Yang, and had thought about coming back more times than she was able to count. It was her fear of facing Yang after everything that was said that kept holding her back. Now she was regretting that even more knowing something had happened to her.
The village where Yang had last been spotted wasn't exactly along the main roads. They had to cut through a rather large stretch of countryside to get to it, but eventually they had found it. They headed for the mayors home and when he opened the door, Blake knew from the look on his face he'd been expecting this. He showed them in and they sat around a tea kettle that was nearly boiling.
"She was a rather entertaining guest, for sure. Loved to crack these really terrible jokes, but they were so bad that a few were actually funny," he chuckled. Ruby smiled a bit at that, Weiss taking her hand in her own as she too listened.
"Your absolutely sure she didn't come back and you just didn't notice?" Blake asked.
"Im positive. Not even to tell me the job was done or collect the posted reward the company left for her." He walked over to his desk and produced a small bag of lien. Weiss took it in her hands, but it was unmarked, just a plain brown leather bag.
"What about the guy who left the payment for her? You remember stuff off about him, what he looked like anything like that?" The mans face twisted up a bit as he struggled to think of any details that may be useful, but he found nothing.
"No…Im sorry I can't be of more assistance to you, but he seemed like a regular man, nothing about him that really stuck out as all that suspicious, to me at least." The girls glanced at one another before nodding. Weiss stood up, brushing herself off before clearing her throat.
"Well, if that's all you can tell us, I think we'd like to go into the woods and search for anything that may tell us what happened. Ruby and Blake stood as well when the mayor did.
"I can certainly do that…if your sure it's a good idea, that is. Meaning no offense, but that blonde girl looked very strong and if something happened to her in there-"
"She was also alone. Your concern is appreciated, but we can handle ourselves," Weiss said. Blake and Ruby nodded their agreement and the man led them out the door, out towards the trees that overlooked the west side of the settlement. He pointed towards the path that cut into it, and wished them luck before turning around and heading back towards his home.
They started down the path, ducking under low hanging branches in some spots as they did. As they walked, Blake looked around, checking for anything out of the ordinary. She saw no Grimm, at least not right now, but the whole place gave off a dark vibe that shivers up her spine.
"Why would Yang think it was a good idea to come in here alone? Im getting nervous just being here, and you two are with me," Weiss said. Ruby shrugged, keeping her eyes locked dead ahead..
"Yang has never been someone to back away from a challenge, Weiss you ought to know that," Blake said. "She would fight an army of alpha's if you would let her." She couldn't help but smile a bit at that, imagining Yang's grin and the laughter that would surely follow from suggesting such an idea. The smiled faded however when Ruby came to a dead stop and pointed to a overturned tree ahead of them.
Walking over, they knelt to examine it and Weiss' eyes widened a bit when she saw an indent of a fist buried into the thick bark of the tree. Along the edges of the indent were black scorch marks. There was only one person they knew who could do that.
"Were on the right track..lets keep looking down through here," Weiss said pointing to another tree in the distance that had the same thing. They got off the path and headed in that direction, looking around for anything odd. Blake noticed a few spent shell casings nearby, and when she picked one up and recognized it as the ammo Yang used in her gauntlets.
Following the path the battle had, they found holes in the ground, a few smashed rocks and various footprints of Grimm, one of which none of them recognized. They were old prints and if you weren't looking for them, it would have been easy to miss them. The trail of destruction continued until they came to a wide open clearing. Now the only prints were boot prints of Yang's and the strange Grimm type.
This clearing was full of empty shells and had a small crater towards the center of it. Blake didn't know how much ammo Yang kept on her, but even by her rough guess, by the time she had gotten done here, she had to have been nearly spent. That didn't even factor in aura depletion. Yang was the strongest of them and had the most resilient aura, but fighting like this could have drained even her.
They spread out over the area, searching for anything that could continue to point them in the right direction, but for a few minutes they saw nothing. Until Weiss saw something stuck in the mud just past the tree line that would take you to into the forest again. Walking over she knelt down and picked it up. It was a backpack, a compact travel version. Judging by the weight it was still full of supplies. She started wiping off the muck to see it better
Then she felt her heart stop for a moment when she saw the symbol of a burning heart stitched into the side of it. She called Blake and Ruby over and they had a similar reaction to her own, Blake's eyes widening in horror and the color draining from Ruby's face.
Inside they found a small first aid kit with bandages and disinfectant, some pain medicine, a couple bottles of water that hadn't been opened yet, and a few snack bars. In one of the side pockets they found the folded up flyer that had advertised the job, probably taken from the notice board in town, and the other was a picture of team RWBY.
The picture was taken after their first successful post-graduation job. They were all banged up, but despite that were still smiling at the camera. Yang and Blake were to the left, Yangs arm around Blake's waist pulling her in tightly while Blake leaned against her. Ruby and Weiss were to the right, Ruby's hand wrapped tightly in Weiss' while holding up a peace sign to the camera. Weiss had just kept her other hand at her side, smiling almost as much as Ruby.
Weiss would have smiled at the picture if it wasn't for the other thing she had noticed. When she closed the pocket and went to flip the pack over to the other side, she saw the left strap had been torn in two and on the back of it was a dried reddish-brown splatter. She thought it was mud for a second, but a closer look and she knew better. "Blood…she was wounded," she whispered.
Blake's heart dropped down into her stomach and a cold chill went through her body. So Yang's aura HAD been broken during the fight, at least wore down enough to where the Grimm's attacks were able to really hurt her. "We need to find her-NOW," Ruby said, voice tight with panic. They followed the footprints further in, Ruby barging ahead.
They didn't find any more discard shells or destroyed pieces of the environment. Yang's prints were more shaky now, like she was struggling to continue to move. Their sense of dread was only escalated when both trails ended with no sign of Yang. "No..no no, she can't..where did she go from here?!" Ruby said, looking around frantically for ANY sign of where. Weiss and Blake exchanged a look, knowing that it was pointless.
"Ruby-" Weiss started, but Ruby wasn't listening. Tears in her eyes, she began to shout Yang's name, like it was going to do anything other than drawing any stray Grimm to them. All the negative emotions coming off of them, they were already in danger.
"Ruby!" Blake said, loud enough to be heard over her cries. Ruby spun, looking at them. "I get your upset..we all are, but we have to keep our heads. If were going to find her-" she was cut off when Ruby shoved her, hard. She stumbled back a few steps, eyes wide as Ruby stalked over to her, shoving her again.
"What the hell do YOU care, huh?! You ran off and left her again, and didn't give a damn what it did to her! Now you see what you helped cause and you suddenly care?!" She snapped, shoving her again. Weiss went to stop her, but Blake shook her head. After one more, Blake caught her arms on the next one and quickly pulled Ruby into a tight hug. Ruby struggled against her for a second, before tears started to run down her face, sobs wracking her. She collapsed onto her knees, Blake going with her.
"W-We have t-to save her.. she can't..she can't be gone. Someone has her.." Ruby whispered. Weiss walked over and joined Blake in hugging her, the two of them also crying now. Weiss took one of Ruby's hands and squeezed it tightly.
"We will, Ruby..i promise you, we will." They sat there until Ruby was calm enough to head back, Blake's fist clenching tightly as they started walking. Whoever took Yang was going to pay dearly for it. That was a promise. She could tell from the look on Weiss and Ruby's faces they were in agreement.
-Salems castle-
There weren't many things that truly scared Watts. Everything he'd seen in his life had hardened him to most things. But the sight of a wild-eyed Yang Xiao Long, arms wrapped tightly in chains was a frightening sight. She lunged for him as she was dragged by, snarling through the mask that had been tied to her face. Her vivid red irises with the pitch black where there should be whites glaring at him with a murderous intent made him take a step back. She continued to snarl angrily as she was pulled away.
Merlot followed close behind the men dragging Yang along, his body riddled with slash marks, the right side of his face slightly swollen. "You've certainly seen better days, haven't you?" He said, walking beside him as they went further in.
"Yes well..I'm sure your aware of the various risks that come along with this method of researching. But as you can clearly see, I was successful. The parasite is in complete control of her body, just as I intended."
"And what of her mind?" Watt's asked with a raised eyebrow. He chuckled when Merlot shook his head. "That explains the wounds. Her mind hasn't been entirely controlled so she lashed out at you because she knows you've done this to her." Merlot glared at him
"You are not telling me anything I don't know already, Watts." They followed the men with Yang up one of the winding staircases towards Salem's throne room. "Getting the chains on cost me a man. She slashed him right across the throat. Bled out before we could do anything for him."
"Expendable men go fast around here of late. Taurus, our White Fang agent, reported that his men in Vacuo have been getting culled faster than he anticipated. Resistance from the Vacuo huntsman and their faunus allies has been stiffer than we thought it would be. Salem has ordered him into hiding for the time being."
"A smart move. When we move on one of the academies we'll need all the firepower we can get." They entered the room, falling silent as they did so. Salem sat in the center of the room on her throne, staring intently at Yang. Her eyes flicked to the doorway as the men entered.
"Welcome back, doctor. I can assume this was what you needed to show me so urgently?" Merlot nodded. Salem stood and approached Yang, slowly circling her, studying the malicious intent that was radiating off her. "Tell me, Merlot, did you intend to make a mindless killing machine?" She said. Merlot swallowed a lump in his throat before speaking.
"No, your grace, I did not. The parasite I used was, in essence, the prototype. I wasn't certain what effects it would have, but as you can tell, she was been converted so that she is no longer in control of her body." Salem folded her hands behind her back, raising an eyebrow
"And yet to move her from place to place you require these chains and two men to hold her. Do you not see how an asset that can't even properly follow orders is useless to us?" Merlot's face paled slightly at the cold edge her voice held.
"With all due respect, your grace, Mistral wasn't built in a day. Im certain with some more tests I can have her pacified and ready for orders soon-"
"Or I could, ma'am. Provided the good doctor would be so kind as to share his notes with me on this subject." Merlot glared and Watt's merely smirked. "What? Surely it wouldn't be that big of an issue-"
"Enough," Salem said, eyes flashing briefly as she glared at the two men. "I haven't the time to entertain your petty squabbles, nor do I have time for you two to decide who need to lead this project. I have ways to solve this myself."
She approached Yang slowly until she stood directly in front of her. The men holding the chains held tightly as Yang tried to lunge for her. Salem showed no reaction, slowly raising two of her fingers to rest against Yang's forehead. A red Grimm seal slowly formed on the spot, Salem's eyes glowing along with it. It wasn't obvious what was happening at first, but it soon became clear.
"My god.." Merlot said softly. Slowly, the color of Yang's skin began to change color on the spot, then began to spread. From its slightly tan, it was becoming a ghostly grey color. As the new effect swept down her face to her neck and then down to her arms, her veins blackened, pulsing and standing up against her skin much like Salems.
When it was done, and Yang's eyes opened again, Merlot could tell it had been a success. Salem reached forward and undid the cover over her mouth. She could see four razor sharp fangs poking put from her lips, two on top, two on the bottom.
"How do you feel, child?" Salem asked. Yang stared back at her before a smirk formed on her face.
"Much better..thank you. Though..I could do without these," she muttered, pulling at the chains around her. Salem glanced at the men who appeared nervous about letting her go.
"Release the bindings. I don't think they'll be necessary from her on in, will they?" She asked. Yang shook her head and after getting a quick nod from Merlot was well, they hurriedly undid the locks and stepped back quickly as the chains fell away. Yang flexed her hands into fists back and forth a few times before looking back up to Salem.
"I have never felt this strong..I feel amazing," she smirked, feeling the power flowing through her body. Salem nodded, a smile on her face as she turned back, taking her seat once again. "So now what?" Yang asked, putting a hand on her hip.
"I believe we need to put your new power to the test, my dear. And I think I know the perfect one. There's a settlement in Vacuo that has been giving my forces a lot of problems. Not only do they have several trained warriors, they have a full team of hunters reinforcing them. A more senior team that graduated from Beacon a couple years ago, it Watt's information is accurate."
The smirk on Yang's face turned more malicious at the mention of that. "Sounds perfect..i can't wait. Which team is it?" She asked as she turned to Watt's.
"Team CFVY, I believe. A rather strong team alone, much less with other warriors there with them. Your certain you are up to this task?" He asked. Yang's eyes glowed brightly as she turned and headed towards the door.
"Just point me in the right direction. I'll take care of the rest," she growled. She felt a rush inside like no other, a need to fight, hunt..and to kill. And she embraced it happily. Anything that granted this kind of power was well worth it. As she left, Salem smiled at the two scientists.
"This shall be interesting to see."
I do hope you guys enjoyed this returning chapter. Im going to do my damnedest to not disappear like that again, then again I can't really help being sick, can i?
See you next time folks!