Outcasts and Outlaws
Volume 3, Chapter 19
Joined Minds
Here we go, one more chapter to add to the pile. If I remember correctly, this is the last chapter before the main action for this volume starts. Enjoy!
Opening Music: https/youtu.be/jOz5mHKWaQ8 [GATE OP 1]
(Music starts)
(Note: Characters listed next show up at the same time as the letters in the video)
(Shows Yang)
(Shows Jim)
(Shows Irileth)
(Shows Kane)
(Shows Mars)
(Shows Damien)
(Shows Ruby)
(Shows Connor)
(Quickly shows the letters of the title)
OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS (Shows Connor walking down the corridor of Beacon)
Toku ni nani mo nozomu koto (Connor looks behind him)
nante nai!
(Ruby is behind him)
Minihodo wa shite
(She smiles at him) iru sa!
(Yang comes out of her room) Sonna boku de sae mo
(She pretends to be grumpy but let's out a small smile)
oku no hou ni!
(Shows Irileth in the arena facing away)
Yuzuritakunai
(She spins around and faces forward)
ikou geedo wa
(Attacks with her dual energy whips)
arurashii!
(Shows Stephane walking away from the arena)
Mamorutte angai to
(He scowls angrily)
muzukashii ne!
(Shows Mars raising his fist into the air)
Aki-
(Shows Kane charging into battle) -ra-
(Shows Jim punching with his metal arm)
-meru
(Shows combat air ships leaving Beacon) wake ja nai kedo!
(The air ships arrive at the naval platform)
Aoi sora no hate
(Everyone jumps down from the air ships and lands on the naval platform)
tsunagatta machi no yukue
(They walk towards the soldiers) Kitto teki to wakari
(The soldiers fire at them)
aenai
(The team fires their semblances) dakedo
(Their semblances take out the soldiers)
iin ja nai!
(Shows Mars using Mystic State) Hirata tobira wa
(Shows Kane surrounded by dark clouds)
subete o kaete
(Shows Jim's muscles growing stronger)
yuku!
(Shows Daryl standing on the roof watching the battle)
Sora no akatsuki no you ni!
(Shows Michael in flying around in his dragon exo-suit)
Oh wow wow! (Shows Michelle teleport behind Irileth and Kane and swing her twin-blade at them) Oh wow wow!
(Shows Wolf slicing at Jim, Yang and Stephane with his claws)
Oh wow wow!
(Shows Jorge firing a chain gun at Mars and Damien)
Oh wow wow!
(Shows Mars, Connor, Jim and Kane trying to push a tank back) Oh wow wow!
(Shows Michael, Michelle, Wolf and Jorge)
(Shows Mars and Damien)
(Shows Yang, Jim and Stephane) (Shows Kane and Irileth)
(Shows Connor and Ruby)
(Shows them all cheering in a line)
A little while after the meeting, the team were outside on the Beacon landing platform. Three military airships were stationed there, ready to leave at a moments notice. All three of the airships were compact but with enough room to fit four passengers, and were fitted with machine guns controlled by the co-pilot.
In one were Stephane, Jim and Yang, all of them having geared up and strapped in already. Their expressions were an interesting mix. For Yang, it was her first official job of this caliber, she's never been sent on a mission intending to kill people before. Jim had spent months fighting against other human beings with the rest of Team Kalos, but he's never killed any of them, and so was also uneasy. As for Stephane, he seemed able to handle the thought of being sent into a battlefield, having been sent into combat in his homeland many times already.
In the next aircraft Kane and Irileth were seated, both next to each other with their legs hanging off of the side. As expected, Kane looked unaffected by the prospect of what they were about to do, which was practically an assassination. Irileth looked slightly troubled, but stuck with Kane, perhaps not wanting to worry him or leave him to fight alone.
As for Mars, he was getting suited up with body armour, issued by Ozpin for protection against firearms. Mars seemed uncaring for the armour, knowing he could easily create a shield for himself. He had also previously argued that the armour didn't match his outfit, until the people suiting up the team had made sure that all the body armour was hidden under everyone's clothing and not visible at all.
Lastly, Damien was walking with Connor towards the transports, discussing the finer details of the operation. Ruby had been with Connor the entire time, holding his hand as he spoke to Damien. He had unintentionally been ignoring her for a while, too wrapped up in listening to the battle plan.
"So after we've pushed past the main forces, either by killing all of them or rushing past as fast as we can, they'll probably send out the four generals against us." Damien explained, taking Connor through the plan bit by bit. "They're just as bad as Daryl himself so we'll have to take them out before entering the facility."
"How tough are they?" Connor inquired, raving for a challenging fight, but also concerned about whether the battle would completely go their way.
"They've each got their own skills, and they're extremely proficient at them." Damien responded, not helping to calm Connor's worries. "If we spilt into two man teams to deal with them then it shouldn't be too much of a problem...then again..."
Connor's concern grew tenfold upon Damien stopping mid sentence, he seemed unsure about something and that made Connor very uneasy. Damien was their source of intel on this mission, meaning if his information was wrong, the whole team could go down for it.
Eventually Damien recomposed himself, fixing his expression to one of slightly more confidence. "It's been a long time since I was in battle with them, so who knows how much they've changed." He admitted. "I remember they didn't have semblances, they were like you in that regard. The four of them spent the majority of their early lives as outcasts from society because they tried to become warriors without semblances. I probably would've taken them into the Outlaws, but Daryl got there first, promised he could make them strong without semblances."
"If they haven't got semblances, then what are you worried about?" Connor questioned, wondering if there was something he wasn't being told about them.
"The problem is that they were all well versed in close combat when last I saw them, and the years could've only been good to them." Damien answered, explaining his concerns. "For all I know, they could be ten times better than back then, their swordplay might actually outmatch our semblances."
"You say that like our semblances are all we've got." Connor countered, slightly annoyed be Damien's sudden lack of confidence in his group. "We've got some pretty damn good swordplay too, you should know that first hand."
"I'm not saying our semblances are all we've got." Damien quickly responded, seeming to want to urgently get his point across. "What I mean is while we do have other means of attack, our semblances our are main offensive strategy. If they enemy were to outmanoeuvre us on that front, it'd be bad."
Not fully accepting his opinion, but understanding were he was coming from, Connor stayed silent, not arguing against him any longer. Thinking about it, he could imagine how bad it would be if Mars' Mystic State wasn't enough to win the battle for them, it being their best weapon.
"This isn't easy for me, you know..." Damien suddenly and somewhat solemnly stated, Connor sharply snapping his head in his direction. "Going on a mission to kill my brother...it's hard."
"Then why are you doing it?" Connor asked him, starting to feel a little for the man who had once threatened to kill Ruby. He didn't know why, but he felt kind of sorry for him. He supposed he knew what he was going through, like when Kane had had to face killing Murlough.
Damien turned away, perhaps in shame, before replying. "My brother has committed the gravest of sins, I know have too but...I don't want to let it continue. He has to pay the toll for the sins he's committed, by experiencing what he put the people he killed through, by facing death himself..."
Starting to walk away from Connor, thinking he hadn't been heard, Damien then whispered secretly to himself, "Sometimes I think I deserve the same punishment..."
Connor felt himself freeze when he heard that whisper, which he maybe shouldn't have heard. He didn't know why, but that sentence worries him immensely, scared him to his core. He snapped out of it however, when he felt Ruby hold his hand a little tighter and tug it to grab his attention.
Turning around, he saw Ruby wearing a serious face, one he had rarely seen on her. For a moment he wondered what was on her mind, then he figured it out. "You want to come with me don't you?" He said to her, his voice cracking a little just thinking about what might happen to her.
"I...I don't want you to go alone, I won't know what's happened to you if you don't come back." Ruby timidly responded, hugging herself tightly to Connor.
Hugging her back, Connor smiled and told her, "Don't worry, you'll be there to watch over me, I'll make sure of that."
A flash of purple lightning then sparked from Connor's metal hand as he held Ruby tighter. She tried to look over her shoulder to see what was happening but couldn't get a good view and in mere seconds she saw black.
Ruby awoke a few seconds later, dazed and confused. For a moment her vision was blurry, a ringing in her ears, but her senses soon returned to normal and she saw where she was. Nothing but white. No walls or a ceiling, just a floor, all completely white. She had never seen this place before, and so grew confused. She had no idea where she was and started panic, thinking she had somehow died or that she was in a coma, but she calmed down when she saw him.
Connor stood opposite her, not too far away, also in the blank wasteland. He still wore his white, gold trimmed trench jacket, but Ruby thought something seemed off about him. "Ah, so this is where Kane hung out all that time he was in my head." Connor said to himself, looking around the landscape. "It's a dreary place isn't it? I would've gone insane."
"Your wounds..." Ruby mumbled, observing Connor's state and noticing that his hand was normal and his eyepatch was missing, both eyes present. He had no wounds on his body whatsoever.
"Ah, that's a fancy bonus of this place, surprised me the first time too." Connor explained, holding his flesh and blood hand in front of his face and then waving in at Ruby. "Rubes, this is my mind."
"Your mind?" Ruby repeated, growing ever more confused by the minute.
"Yep, my mind." Connor simply replied, showing Ruby a small, innocent smile. "Damien came up with the idea, it's a way you can come with me without being in danger of getting hurt. This way, I protect you, and you get to come along."
Before Ruby could stammer out another question, a cold wind breezed through. She held her arms around herself in an attempt to stay warm, not noticing the horrible sight next to her until she heard Connor gasp and then looked.
Off to the side of the two were another two figures. One was a young girl in hospital gowns, covered in blood and clearly not breathing. The other was Connor, his younger self. The little boy version of him was also covered in blood, but not his own. The dark clouds that Kane's semblance allowed him to control were wrapped around little Connor's entire body, enveloping him in a dark mist as he pulled his bloodied fist out of the little girls chest, scratching his knuckles and wrist on her ribs.
Ruby gazed in horror at the sight before her, recognising the boy as Connor but not knowing the identity of the girl. She glanced over to big Connor and saw tears forming in his eyes at he looked at his younger self fading away and leaving the blank white space. Once it had completely dematerialised, Connor spoke shakily, "It was a memory...I wonder why..." He then stopped for a moment, and rubbed his eyes, unable to hold back the tears whilst he was remembering the image of his younger self. "It was back when Kane was still in my and I couldn't control it all that well, I was just a kid." He continued, sobbing slightly. "That girl in the hospital gown...she was in a fire, she lost control of her semblance like I used to sometimes. I fought her, tried to calm her down, to stop her. Then the dark clouds took over, they made me go crazy. Our battle destroyed the town...and eventually I killed her without even realising what I'd done."
For a moment Ruby didn't know what to say. She didn't know what to do except stare at Connor's depressed face as he relived the terrors of his past. Eventually though, she figured she should do something and walked towards him slowly.
"Puny mortals..." A voice said from somewhere, before Ruby could reach Connor. The voice seemed to come from everywhere, echoing all around the room. Ruby scanned the room all over, trying to track down the source of the sound. Connor however recognised the voice and knew exactly who it belonged to. He turned around slowly to see a giant stone wall decorated with a green runic circle in its centre, and thick pillars of stone on either side. Sat on top of the structure once again, with his legs dangling over the edge just like last time, was Kalos.
"Puny mortals wandering my realm..." He mysteriously muttered to himself, looking down at the pair as if resenting their inferiority. His appearance hadn't changed, Connor noted. His humanoid shape was still made up of green ones and zeros, like a computer program with a human shape. "One puny mortal I recall, but the other is new."
"Stop talking in riddles." Connor sternly ordered, not in the mood to be jerked around by the pompous excuse for a god. "You know why I'm here, I'm sure."
"I always know why anyone is here, mortal, as I am the master of this oh so divine dimension." Kalos boomed down to Connor in his commanding, omnipresent voice. "You wish to store the girl among your own data banks, so to speak, to keep her safe inside your head. Well let me tell you puny mortal, I do hope she doesn't mind sharing."
"What do mean by sharing?" Connor questioned, starting to think that if Kalos was going be around, maybe this wasn't the place for Ruby to be kept safe.
"This mind has room for two." Kalos explained, creepily chuckling ca little. "When you use the Kalos Crystal you don't simply communicate with me, you let me in. I am in your mind now, so if your pretty little girl wants to stay here, she has to bunk with me."
"You're saying that she'd have to put with you?" Connor teased meanly, crossing his arms. "I don't know if I'd want to put her through that. How do I know you won't hurt her while she's in here?"
"Oh please, I wouldn't harm a lady of such caliber." Kalos smoothly responded, earning a scowl from Connor for his joking. "In all seriousness, so long as our deal is active, I have no reason to harm her. In fact, I'd enjoy the conversation. It does get ever so lonely in here with no one to talk to."
Not feeling sorry for Kalos in the slightest, Connor turned back to Ruby to see what her opinion on the matter was. "It's up to you Rubes, I wouldn't blame you if you didn't want to stay with this prick. Saying that though, inside my head is the safest place for you to be if you want to come with us. I'd much rather have you alive in here than dead on the battlefield."
Thinking about it for a moment first, Ruby moved ever so slightly closer to Connor and asked him, "It'd be like when Kane was in your head right? I can come out whenever I want, when everything has died down?"
"Yeah, that's right." Connor replied, smiling back at her. "With the Kalos Crystal, it won't even hurt."
Giving it a couple more seconds of thought, Ruby then decided and told Connor, "OK." Before hugging him tightly.
Putting his hand on her head and looking down at her sweetly, Connor assured her, "Everything's gonna be fine, Rubes. We'll take that psycho Daryl down and get home in time for our wedding."
"Such a touching scene..." Kalos mockingly stated, looking bored. "Time is up however, you cannot sustain a presence in your own mind for any longer, say your goodbyes."
Letting go of Ruby and stepping back as his body started to fade from the white realm, Connor told Ruby, "I love you." one more time before disappearing from the dimension.
"Such a sweet couple." Kalos commented sarcastically, looking down at Ruby with interest. "I wonder what I can get out of you, girl in red."
Ending Music: https/youtu.be/KruXhNuindw [Naruto Shippuden OP 3 V2]
(Shows Damien on the left and Connor on the right)
Habata itara
(Shows Damien's flintlock pistol and Connor's Katana)
modoranai to itte!
(Shows Connor's eye, then Damien's eye, then Ruby's eye with a tear)
Mezashita no wa
(Shows Connor on his knees in front of a shadowy figure)
aoi aoi no sora!
OUTLAWS AND OUTLAWS
(Shows Connor falling through the sky towards the naval platform) Kanashimi wa mada obeorarezu! Setsunasa wa ima tsukami
(Shows Connor floating next to Damien)
hajimete! Anata e to daku kono kanjou mo!
(Shows Ruby holding her hands to her chest)
Ima kotoba ni kawatte iku!
(Shows Jim with Stephane and Yang)
Michi naru sekai
(Shows Kane with Irileth)
no yume kara
(Shows Mars with Damien) mezamete!
(Goes back to Connor falling through the sky)
Kono hane wo hiroge
(He straightens himself mid-air and his fists glow with the golden light of his semblance)
tobitatsu!
(Shows the four generals in a circle)
Habata itara modoranai to itte! (Shows Mars, Jim, Connor and Kane)
Mezashita no wa
(Shows Mars and Damien fighting Jorge)
aoi aoi no sora!
(Kane and Irileth fire their semblances at Isabella) Tsukinuketara
(Shows Jim, Stephane and Yang fighting Wolf)
mitsukara to shitte! Furikiri
(Connor throws a punch at Michael)
hodo
(Shows Connor fist fighting Michael)
aoi aoi ano sora!
(Shows the four generals together) Aoi aoi
(Shows Daryl with a shadowy figure)
ano sora!
(Shows Connor standing up)
Aoi aoi ano sora!
(Shows the Beacon team standing on the naval platform in front of Daryl, the shadowy figure, and the four generals)
END
