Yang Xiao Long
"Hey boys." I wave at a couple of goons who are trying to very forcefully push a patient into their room.
"Huntress spotted." They immediately focused all of their attention on me once they noticed Ember Celica, training their rifles on me.
"Honestly, I'm pretty ticked that you're threatening innocent people, not to mention my friends. It also doesn't help that I have had a pretty bad week." I load a round in the chamber. "That said, I might be convinced to take it easy on your sorry butts if you back down now."
"Open fire!" they start firing at me and I manage to block or dodge most of their shots. A few manage to hit but my aura takes most of the damage. Once I close the distance I land a massive uppercut on one of the goons, sending him crashing into the ceiling.
"That was really dumb." I glare at the other guy and he panics, trying to quickly point his gun at my head but I trip him up before he gets the chance, punching him downward into the floor.
"Th-Thank you!" The young patient they were shoving a second ago thanked me before running off. I assume, to find a place to hide.
These guys are even more pathetic than I thought they'd be. Making a move like this I was expecting, at the very least, trained mercenaries or something. I shrug and start making my way toward the staircase, now that I have this floor cleared.
I only manage to take a few steps before I hear what sounds like heels clicking on the floor behind me. Definitely not a patient and there aren't any nurses on this floor. I make the call and quickly turn around, firing a shot at my would be attacker. One she blocks pretty effortlessly with an…umbrella?
"Who the heck are you?" I ask, not getting a response. Instead she just…smiles. A smile that might be pleasant if it belonged to literally anyone else. Instead it comes across as threatening and…a little creepy. "Look, I don't really care. Whoever you are, if you are here to cause trouble, then you are going to have to deal with me."
I get into a fighting stance. She responds by..yawning into her hand and casually twirling her umbrella around. Is she mocking me? My anger swells and I launch myself at her, throwing a flurry of punches. Every single one of which she dodges like she isn't even trying.
In between she even manages to land a few kicks and even jab me with the tip of her umbrella. All the while she has that cocky smirk on her face which just keeps pissing me off more and more.
"What is your deal!?" I can feel the stored up power swelling inside of me thanks to my semblance. If I can just get one good hit on her then maybe I can pull this off. Easier said than done though, she is just too fast.
"Yang!" I hear Inu call out from behind me.
"Inu, what are you doing here?"
"Well my floor is clear and with Alan taking care of things on the bottom floor I figured I'd come and check on you." She points her weapon at the mystery girl. "More importantly, who is that?"
"No idea, she isn't exactly the talkative type."
Before we can question further who she is or why she is here, she puts her hand to her ear and smiles, giving us a bow. I take the opportunity and launch toward her, to my surprise I actually land the hit directly to her face. Even more surprising though is that she shatters like glass.
I look back at Inu who looks just as shocked as me.
"What in the world was that about?" I mean she just…shattered herself into pieces.
"I say we don't question and go check on Alan." Inu suggests, clearly very anxious to make sure he is okay.
"Fair enough, I guess we can figure it out later." I motion for her to follow me and start running for the stairs. I'm sure he's okay and all but with our floors cleared and all we might as well go make sure.
Alan (Sariel)
"Just shut up and get back in your room!" An armed man screams at a small child, pointing his gun right at them.
"I'm sorry, I'm trying!" The kid was in a wheelchair that was clearly not working, it looks like the wheel is busted but the big oaf is to dumb to realize that.
"You dumb brat!" he reels back, looking as if he is about to hit the child with the butt of his gun. Before he gets the chance though I rush over to them and take the man out with a swift kick to the head that sends him flying.
"Damn idiot." I sigh and turn to face the kid. I can tell now that she is a young girl. I reach out to her but naturally she is a bit jumpy.
"Hey, it's okay. I'm not with those jerks." I spot the problem with her wheelchair, there is something caught in one of the spokes, which I remove. "There, your chair should work now."
The girl tests it out and to her relief the wheel turns just fine.
"Th-Thank you mister."
"Don't mention it kid, just get back to your room and lock the door okay?"
"Okay.." she starts wheeling herself to her room but stops and turns back to look at me. "Are you here to beat up the bad guys?"
At first the question catches me off guard but to try and reassure the girl I chuckle and plaster a cocky smirk on my face.
"You bet, I'm gonna send them packing, so don't worry your pretty little head." She just stares at me all wide eyed for a moment before smiling and wheeling herself the rest of the way back to her room.
It's kind of funny that I would even be asked that. Not that long ago, I would have been the bad guy and now I'm trying to save not just my friends but an entire hospital of civilians. Heck maybe even more if the chaos has spread onto the street.
No time to think about that now though, I take a deep breath and work my way toward the bottom floor. I ran into plenty of thugs along the way but as I expected they posed little threat, to me at least. I did have to be mindful of any civilians, didn't want them being used as shields or just getting caught in the crossfire.
Which meant I had to be quick and thorough. Even one wasted second could potentially put someone's life in danger. Besides, there is always the possibility that Salem is behind this attack, I mean why else would they attack this hospital specifically looking for 'young Huntsmen and Huntresses'? It's just too convenient, in which case, I need to get this situation under control fast.
Once I make it to the bottom floor I am, unsurprisingly, greeted with the largest concentration of goons yet. It only takes a second before I am spotted and they unleash a flurry of bullets down the hall toward me. I managed to duck inside of a nearby room.
As fast as my regen is, if I get shredded by that many bullets at once it's not going to be pretty. I barely hear a small whimper and look toward the other corner of the room. Huddled together are a young kid and a girl who looks like she might be his older sister. They both look terrified.
It makes me think back to all the missions I have carried out for Salem. It's very possible that I have put people through this same kind of fear and panic. I push those thoughts aside for now, it doesn't matter. What matters is that I can help these people, right here and now.
I cause my wings to erupt from my back which scares them at first but I smile and try to reassure them that it's going to be okay. I take a deep breath, realizing that this is going to hurt but it's my best option to close the distance between us. 'If only I could just burst into rose petals like Ruby.' I think to myself with a snicker.
I jump out from behind my hiding space and shield myself with my wings. Ignoring the pain from the rain of bullets embedding themselves into my wings I run forward at top speed. Doing my best to close the distance as fast as I can. At one point a bullet manages to pierce my wings and graze my cheek.
"This guy is crazy, fall back!" I hear one of them shout to their crew but it's too late. I successfully closed the gap between us. They try to react in time but they can't, they may have numbers but they aren't Huntsman, or soldiers. Heck they are barely proper mercs, they are just a bunch of two bit thugs with guns.
In just under a minute, I managed to put them down. All that was left was to handle their boss who should be in the nurse's station where they keep the intercom microphone. I burst into the room by kicking down the door, expecting to see maybe at best some guy in a suit. What I see instead…sends a chill down my spine.
There, standing in the dimly lit room is a woman in one of our masks. Dark red hair that goes down to her shoulders and white hooded cape. Someone I have only seen one other time and the memory still haunts me. That was the closest I had ever come to death before.
She comes walking toward me at a hauntingly slow pace. I keep yelling at my body to move, to do anything but the sight of her has me frozen in place. She is nearly as strong as Berith but even more uncaring, cruel and callus. When Salem wants someone dead, she is the dagger that delivers the killing blow without fail and I guess Salem's wrath has finally caught up to me.
I don't know if I can beat her but if I don't try I am dead for sure. 'Come on Alan, move, now!' She creeps ever closer, raising one of her sickles to throat slicing height. About to carry out my murder with the casual nature of someone about to swat a fly. 'MOVE DAMN IT!'
Right as she is about to strike, I finally manage to make my arms move. I raise my weapon to block her attack but to my surprise I hear the sound of a gun and her head reals back from a sudden impact.
"Alan, are you okay!?" I turn and see Inu and Yang both standing there, I assume they've already managed to clear the upper floors. I take the opportunity to close the distance between me and her.
I'm grateful they showed up when they did but…
"Yang, I need you to take Inu and get out of here."
"What are you talking about? Who is that?" Yang raises her fist like she is getting ready to fight.
"This is one of the most dangerous weapons in Salem's possession, I need you to run and find Tai or Qrow. We don't stand much of a chance."
"What about you?" Inu asks, a slight quiver in her voice. "You don't expect us to just leave you?"
"Yes I do, I can buy you time."
"Not happening!"
"Yeah, there is no way!" Inu readys her weapon too.
"This is no time to-!" I turn to look at Yang and see that her expression has changed to one of complete shock. I turn back to look at our attacker and see that half of her mask has completely broken away and I can see her face for the first time.
When I look closely she looks an awful lot like-
"Mom…" Yang says, her voice cracking and tears forming in the corners of her eyes.
Before I can wonder what in the world she means by that, the woman bolts toward me. I am so distracted and she moves so fast that she actually catches me off guard. I feel a sharp and intense pain in my chest. I look down to see one of her large blades piercing me and I taste blood in my mouth.
"ALAN!" Inu screams and takes a slash at the woman. I barely hear a small crackle, like a radio device, in her ear. In a millisecond she dodges Inu's attack and yanks her blade out of my chest. She bolts away from us, jumping out of a nearby window.
I end up falling back into someone's arms. It's hard to tell who as my vision starts to fade. I can hear someone calling out my name 'Alan, hang on, please!' it sounds like Inu but I can barely stay awake.
Finally my vision fades entirely and the person's voice, along with all other sounds, start drifting further and further away.
Weiss Schnee
I really appreciate the doctor's finally allowing visitors other than Tai or Qrow. It's been driving me crazy not being able to at least see her…even if she is still unconscious. I do kinda feel bad for coming here before the others can join me but I can't wait anymore.
I pass through the security checkpoint and barely make it halfway down the hall to the room where they are keeping her before I hear a loud explosion and an alarm starts blaring, bathing the hallway in a red glow.
"What could that possibly-" I can even finish my sentence before I am forced to block a bullet that was going right for my head. That shot was meant to kill.
"Press forward, the target is within reach!" Some thugs at the end of the hall are charging toward me, guns at the ready. I am not sure why they are here but they definitely aren't Grimmiore or even normal soldiers for that matter. Just a bunch of untrained goons.
I create a gravity glyph beneath them and launch them upward into the ceiling. They all drop their guns and one of them is just knocked out entirely. I encase the other two in a cocoon of ice, leaving only their heads exposed.
"Who sent you, what are you after!?" I point Myrtenaster at one of them, the tip of the blade barely an inch from their face.
"Like we'd tell you."
"Yeah, we know you're type, too much of a goody two shoes. The people who hired us on the other hand, if we tell you anything we are as good as dead."
"Tch" I make the ice thicker, so it starts to encase their heads.
"Wh-What are you doing!?"
"You're right, I'd rather not hurt anyone if I don't have to." I glare down at them. "However, someone very dear to me is in this building and if you or those you work for are going to pose her any kind of threat.."
I thicken the ice a bit more, so only their faces are left uncovered. "Okay okay, we're just a distraction that's all!"
"A distraction for what?"
"We are just supposed to make a bunch of noise so a small strike team can sneak in from a different entryway and capture a high value target!"
"No…" I turn and run down the hall towards Ruby's room.
"Hey, let us out will ya!" Ignoring them I keep running as fast as I can. By the time I reach her room, I'm already too late.
Standing in the center of the room are more of those armed goons but more importantly, standing between me and them is Gadriel. The sight of her sends a shiver down my spine.
"You!" I immediately focused all of my attention on Gadriel. Next to her, the armed goons are nothing.
"Hey Princess, sorry to intrude, but you took something that belongs to Mother." she tightens a length of her red thread in her hands. "We will be taking it back now."
"You'll have to kill me first."
"Don't tempt me." she says, tossing one of the goons a keycard. "Make yourself useful."
"What about this one?" he gestures to me.
"I have her under control, don't make me repeat myself."
I charge at her and fire off a wave of fire. She barely dodges it and it only hits the goons standing behind her.
"Not bad, princess, definitely quicker than before." she says tauntingly. "Too bad you are still way too weak."
"Shut up!" she really gets under my skin. I create a gravity glyph and pull her to the ground. While she is stuck in place I launch myself at her and prepare to pierce her with Myrtenaster but I'm caught off guard by how bored and nonchalant her expression is.
A second later I find out why when I feel my legs get pulled together and I fall forward. I look down and see that my legs are ensnared by her wire, I didn't even notice it.
"That lasted longer than I expected." she says.
"I'm not done yet." I attempt to try my last resort, a summon. I've never been very good at it but it could turn the tide right now. Before I can even really get started though, Gadriel kicks Myrtenaster out of my hands and then plants her foot on top of one of them.
"Looks like you are." She tightens the wire around my legs. At first my aura takes most of the damage but it eventually breaks through and starts digging into my skin, causing me to let out a pained scream.
She only relents slightly when we hear the sound of Ruby's cell door opening. I look over and through blurred vision, to my surprise, Ruby is actually awake. She stretches and yawns and for a moment I hold out hope that it's my Ruby.
"Ruby..?" I softly call out and she looks at me with a sleepy expression at first. My hopes are entirely dashed when her face slowly morphs into that sadistic smile that belongs to the monster inside of her.
"No…"
"Took you long enough." Ruby, specifically whatever demon is controlling her body, emerges from the chamber and one of the goons hands her Crescent Rose.
"We gotta go girl, our boss ordered us to make sure you-" Suddenly Ruby turns to him and pierces him with her Scythe. The man falls over onto the floor, bloody and in total shock. Ruby stomps her boot on his chest. "You might have helped get me out but don't mistake your place human, I couldn't care less about you or your boss, never tell me what to do."
"You're making a big mistake, our boss will-" Ruby points the barrel of her gun at his head.
"Big mistake." she finishes him off by pulling the trigger. I can't believe what I'm seeing…I know it's not her, I know it but…still. In a sense, I just watched Ruby murder someone in cold blood.
"You…you just.."
"Mother wants to maintain good relations with their boss for now, it's gonna be hard if you go around killing his goons like that."
"It was only the one, he shouldn't have agitated me, especially after I just woke up." She returns Crescent Rose to its passive state and puts it away.
I try to force myself to stand but my legs just won't respond. I scream at myself to get up or else Ruby will get away again. After everything we did to get her back..it can't end this way again..
"Ruby please…don't go."
"Sorry princess, I thought I made it clear that your Ruby might still be in here." she points to her head, getting just close enough to taunt me. "But she is NOT calling the shots, this body is mine now."
"Let's go Red, we don't have time to mess around, it's only a matter of time before backup shows up." Gadriel says in a frustrated tone.
"Look Gadriel" her voice carries an almost sadistic glee but also genuine anger. "The one who created me, whose power I was born from, they are the only ones who can tell me what to do."
"Yeah well I am acting on her behalf so right now I AM your boss, whether you like it or not."
"I have every intention of making sure that I make it back to her as she wishes, whether or not you are there with me is of no consequence." she turns back to Gadriel and stares insane daggers into her. "So either learn your place or I will teach it to you!"
Gadriel actually seems to falter. Up until now I have never seen her afraid of anything, I wouldn't go so far as to say she is terrified or anything but for just a moment her resolve wavered. Not even Alan could do that…it's impressive if nothing else.
"I suppose you have a point though, it would be troublesome if some real high level huntsman showed up." She gets up and walks away from me. For a moment I let myself fall into despair again, ashamed that there was nothing I could do to save her, again..but I summoned all of my courage and made a vow. Hoping that my Ruby will be able to hear somehow.
"Hear this, whatever you are, I will get stronger and stronger. I will learn, train and become an elite Huntress!"
"Oh really?" she asks dismissively.
"Yes and I swear that when that happens, I will track you down and defeat you! Then..then I will take my Ruby back and whatever your master is planning, we'll tear it down to nothing!" At this point tears of frustration are pouring down my face but I continue to stare as fiercely as I can, trying to make my resolve as clear as possible. She turns back and looks at me with an excited smirk.
"In that case, don't keep me waiting too long, it sounds like a blast!"
"Sorry but that's not happening, I'm gonna end you right here Schnee." Gadriel tightens the wire and it begins to dig into my skin, before she manages to slice clean through me though, evil Ruby puts her hand on Gadriel's wrist.
"I'd rather you didn't."
"What, you got a soft spot for this one or something?"
"SHE does." she points to Ruby's head. "Which is why I want to leave her alive, I want her to get stronger and stronger like she promised."
"What is the point of that? Then she is just a problem we'll have to deal with."
"The point is that I want to let the squatter in my head hold onto hope that her precious Weiss will come for her, only to be forced to watch as I tear her to pieces. That'll for sure break her for good." She turns and walks away, hands behind her head. "Now let the princess go and let's get out of here, Mother is waiting."
Gadriel looks back toward me and I can tell that she'd love nothing more than to finish me off. Not just because it'd be the safer call but because she still holds all of us responsible for Alan's about-face. She hates us and in this moment she is not only being made to spare me but, in a roundabout way, work with the one she hates the most out of all of us.
"Fine." she says through gritted teeth and forces herself to turn around and walk away.
"Hop to it princess, I'll be waiting!" the other Ruby calls back to me without looking back, raising her hand as if to say 'See ya later'.
"Don't you worry, I'm coming for you!" I shout at her. My heart is a torrent of emotions right now. Anger, sadness, guilt.
If I had to pick an emotion that stands out more than any other right now, it'd be a focused determination. I have a goal, I am going to train harder than ever before and get strong enough to not only beat that evil Ruby but every single Grimmiore and even their master. Then I WILL get MY Ruby back. Nothing is going to stand in my way.