Mel sighed deeply as she looked at herself in the mirror, she had re-applied her makeup and fixed her hair back up as well as getting into her club dress, she looked like she belonged here. Certainly she couldn't be looking at the same person who had looked in the mirror that morning with makeup washed away hair down and just a little tousled while the big blond brawler hugged her from behind smiling that big goofy smile over her shoulder, she barely contained a sob.
Walking back out into the relatively empty club she wondered how long it would be before she forgot how it felt to be with Yang, Junior was leaning against the bar with a cold stare in her direction, but her hollow eyes displayed no emotion she went over to him.
"You know I'm really starting to think you two are more trouble than you're worth." Junior growled.
"Sorry Junior." Came the empty reply, Junior continued seeming not to notice.
"Do you even know what your idiotic sister did?" Junior growled at her finally noticing she was only staring blankly out into the club.
She turned to him shaking her head. "I haven't seen her since yesterday."
Junior pinched the bridge of his nose. "Well her and some chick in a red hood had a run in with Stein and his gang."
A brief flash of light returned to Melanie's eyes concerned for her sister. "W-what?"
"The red one thrashed Stein's men and now he's pissed, I've got half a mind to give them your sister as repayment." Junior growled. "Might teach her a lesson."
No, not Mil, I-I can still save her. "No, please not her! I... I'll do it..."
Junior looked at her out of the corner of his eyes for a minute before shrugging. "As long as Stein and his men have a warm body to play with I doubt they'll care, they should be here soon." Mel looked away the light fading from her eyes as she contemplated what she had just volunteered to do. Maybe it'll just break me and I won't have to think anymore…
It was only ten minutes before Stein and his gang arrived, stinking like the street gang they were Junior's goon were only better dressed. Junior and Stein began talking as Junior motioned to her and some of Stein's men walked over with hunger in their eyes. Mel just watched them her dead eyes counting how many were there.
The club door burst inwards one of the heavy doors breaking off it's hinges causing people to scramble out of the way. All eyes turned towards the girl in the red hood who strode in, the giant scythe resting on her shoulder and a self-satisfied smirk on her face. Militia coming right behind her a bit more timid staying behind Ruby.
Stein's men all stared, Melanie was scared by the waves of terror radiating form the thugs. But then she laid eyes on Militia and felt all her grief turn to fury.
"What the hell do you want? Militia get your ass over here." Junior shouted over to them.
Ruby merely glanced back to Militia a comforting smile on her face. Militia whispered something to her and Ruby grinned; "Nope. She's mine now. And I've got business with you Junior."
Junior balked, he was not expecting that, it was Mel who broke the silence, stepping forward with a distressed look pulling at her features. "Mil? What are you doing?"
"Mel? I-" Militia blushed briefly looking over to Ruby who put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I'm Ruby's now, I'm here to resign, I'm leaving."
"The Hell you are! Get them!" Junior roared, expecting to see Stein's thugs charge the duo. Instead they all fled before Ruby could do more than ready herself. "This is what I get for trying to expand, Patrick, get your guys in here!" Junior's traditional goons came rushing in, giving Junior a little more swagger. He came out from behind the bar, sinking into a stool, with a drink in hand for the coming show. "How the hell did you even get in Gerald -"
"Oh you mean the big guy outside? He's nice. We're gonna see a movie tomorrow." Ruby smirked. "So, Junior; easy way or the hard way?"
"Oh you did not just threaten me, you little brat! Get her!" He practically screamed, sending a tide of black suited henchman towards the duo. Ruby spun her scythe and charged into the heaving tide of criminals, spinning as she went. Militia just stood back on the balls of her feet, waiting on a goon to come to her. Melanie was broken out of the study of her sister by a body flying across her vision. The little girl's scythe was sending henchman flying as if they were paper - she seemed to glide through the crowd effortlessly.
She made her way to the bar and stood next to Junior who seemed to be considering entering the fray himself; "Junior. Leave Militia to me." She demanded, moving before her employer could even respond.
Eager to get her hands on her sister, she skirted the edge of the conflict - a sense of deja vu striking her. Ruby was every bit as vicious as Yang, her dismantling of the goons every bit as quick and violent as the blonde's. But where Yang was a force of nature, Ruby was graceful and efficient, her blows striking one goon and parrying another's knife. Melanie could only marvel as she fired her first round of the fight; launching her body into the air and away from a sawn off shotgun.
But then she saw Militia. The ungrateful bitch had just taken out another goon with barely a sweat. Melanie aimed a kick straight for her jaw, a cold smile working it's way across her cheeks. I gave everything for you, but you chose them over me.
Ruby felt calm which concerned her. Usually she felt alive in battle, she smiled when she flew through the air with Crescent Rose in hand. But she was calm.
The crowd was rapidly thinning out and the man who swung a baseball bat at her head only had two comrades for support. She spun - pushing the bat aside with the handle of her scythe, letting her blunted blade come round to strike his support at the waist. Had she allowed Crescent Rose to show her teeth she would have killed all of these men twice over. She stopped, allowing the handful of enemies who still remained conscious to regroup.
"Y'know I'm trying to be nice to you guys." She scratched her cheek, which bore a small scratch from the first gun fired.
"What?" One of the bigger grunts asked.
"I'm using the flat of my scythe, but you guys won't stay down. So." She let her hand run to the lever which controlled the weapon's transformation and Crescent Rose unveiled her full majesty. The dark flat metal spun round to unveil whitened steel, sharpened to a razor edge. "I guess I have to stop holding back now. Sorry."
They ran, leaving Ruby with a clear path to Junior. But her vengeance was delayed yet again as the club doors slammed open. A familiar female voice screamed in grief and rage from outside;"I'm going to fucking murder you Junior!"The only sound in the club was Yang's enraged breath, as Yang's hellish red eyes found Junior, she slowly made for him...
"Yang? What are you doing here?" Ruby asked breaking the tension with a curious innocence that only she could muster.
Yang blinked noticing her sister for the first time as well as the remnants of her fight. "Ruby? W-what are you doing here?"
Ruby hefted her scythe up onto her shoulder and wrapped an arm around Militia's waist pulling the girl into her side. "I'm here to free my girlfriend." Ruby didn't know it, but Yang recoiled as if he sister had slapped her; it wasn't her fault, of course she didn't know about Melanie. Yang hung her head turning her crimson gaze back to Junior. "I'm here to try and make things right."
Ruby frowned at her usually boisterous sister's behavior as the brawler marched into the club, her gauntlets extending into combat positions and murder burning in her eyes. "No fair Yang, I wanted to murder Junior!" She stomped her foot, the change in weight causing Crescent Rose to spin dangerously close to her sister's waist.
"Mistress?" Militia asked, stepping forward as if to protect Ruby from Yang's rage.
Ruby looked over to where Militia and her sister had been fighting, Melanie was staring intently at the ground shaking with anger."Don't get in Yang's way, she's unstoppable like this." Ruby replied blowing a strand of hair out of her eyes with a huff.
She stood in front of Yang, arms spread wide to stop her from advancing; "How come you get to do everything!"
Her sister growled like a dog, intimidating even her sister; "Because I'm older. You had your fun with them. Now get out of the way."
Ruby frowned, "That's not fair Yang! You always do this!"
Yang sighed in frustration, her eyes meeting Ruby's for the first time. She looked ready to cry at any minute, even in her rage. Ruby knew what she had to do. She walked back to Militia and dragged her to the door by the hand: "Darn I wanted to kill Junior, at least it'll probably hurt more when Yang does it anyway."
Yang's march picked up speed until she was charging at Junior one arm cranked back ready to destroy whatever it Ruby didn't notice Melanie move until she was between Yang and Junior.. Yang had already committed to the swing, she couldn't stop the punch, but with an inhuman scream she managed to just miss hitting Melanie, her fist ruffling her hair as it sailed into the solid bar next to her, splintering a meter of the heavy wood in a fiery explosion.
"You're going to have to go through me Yang"Mel muttered venomously as she stood in front of the smoldering brawler; "Junior is the only stability I have left, I have nothing else, not you, not even my sister."Yang was panting as she pulled her fist from the remnants of the obliterated bartop, it had taken an inhuman amount of effort to re-direct her punch, but she couldn't hit Mel.
Melanie looked up as the brawler stood to her full height before her, she almost hoped Yang would just end her right here; put an end to her miserable excuse for a life.
What she didn't expect were tears running down the fire-hearted huntress' face. Yang wrapped her in a hug and the warmth that she constantly emitted seeped into Melanie when Yang cradled her head to her chest resting her tear-streaked chin in her hair."I'm so sorry." Yang croaked.
She pulled away from the hug and pulled the orange scarf from around her neck. Wiping the silk scarf to remove all the makeup she had caked on. She then pulled the tie out of Mel's hair allowing it to flow back down un-hindered. She ruffled Mel's hair slightly, a tearful grin finding it's way to her cheeks. "I have to do this, I don't deserve you, but I can't be the reason you end up back here."Yang moved Mel to the side and marched past her to Junior who had his bat out and a confused look on his face. Yang exploded burning with an intensity that dwarfed the limitations Ruby had imagined. She left flaming footprints as she walked, slowly making her way towards Junior, flames licking around her clenched knuckles. The bar went up as if covered in gas, a huge bonfire licking at the air. To Junior, Yang must have looked demonic, but it was her demeanor that worried Ruby, Yang got loud when she lost it, she cursed and screamed and now she was silent, not a single word left her as she closed in on her prey, that was what scared Ruby.
Junior swung his bat over head at Yang shouting in fear as he did, only for Yang to catch it. Junior simply stared dumbstruck as Yang squeezed his brand new weapon, warping it with both heat and pressure until it shattered into tiny melting fragments on the dancefloor. He dropped the useless handle and tried to back away but Yang grabbed him by the throat and lifted him one-handed into the air.
"This is for what you did to Melanie, what you made them do, and it is all I can do to try and make up for what I have done." She didn't move after that, simply holding Junior there until he stopped moving, Ruby knew Yang was hurting inside, this wasn't her - this was something incredibly powerful to affect Yang like this. She hoped Melanie understood that.
"Come on Militia, we're done here, Yang and Mel can take care of this, in private." Ruby raised her voice for the last part scanning her gaze over the room as anyone still conscious scrambled for the nearest exit. With that she led Militia to the exit. "We're going home baby."
Yang dropped Junior's body onto the floor in a lifeless heap before turning back to the silent Melanie. Yang stood before her and didn't say anything, slowly she sank down to her knees leaning forward until her knuckles were on the cold floor, her body parallel to the ground kneeling before the silent twin. Without looking up she choked out. "I am at your mercy."
Mel's eyes widened at this act of submission, the brawler wasn't even looking at her, she could do anything. That familiar trickle of power and control she had felt back in Port's class at Beacon filled her. Melanies' emotions roiled within her, part of her wanted to kill Yang for hurting her, part of her wanted to just walk away and leave the brawler to her misery and part of her wanted to flip the blond over and ride her until she filled her with that fiery essence."H-how do I know you really care? How do I know you won't hurt me again?" Melanie muttered, barely audible.
Yangs' heart leapt, she hadn't even expected a chance at redemption. "I'll do anything you want to prove it. Anything."Melanie clenched her fists, that feeling of power and control swelled in her, and the desire to just give into Yang's warm embrace began to quiet her blind rage, she began to see that the brawler was being sincere, how much she was hurting right now. "She really does care about me..." That thought filled her with warmth, a warmth that began filling that cold emptiness that had resided within her.
"Would you... would you give me somewhere to stay? Somewhere to sleep and food to eat?" She asked as her anger at the brawler faded.
"Of course!" Yang replied bobbing her head. "Was she really getting another chance? Was Melanie truly forgiving her?"
"I wouldn't be just a... a toy to you, I'd be your lover, your girlfriend?" She tried not to let pleading into her voice, but she couldn't quite believe this was happening.
"Yes." Yang breathed out her was truly beginning to believe Yang meant it, she was beginning to think that maybe she could be happy again, that she could be that girl in the mirror from this morning. "Time to really test it."
"Would you cut your hair for me?" She narrowed her eyes, searching for one hint of deception.
Yang winced slightly, her hair meant the world to her. Her mom had always brushed it before she went to bed. Back before… It was part of who she was now…
"Yes, I would." Her hair would grow back, but she would lose it for good to keep girl in white was convinced, her heart swelled and she barely kept a tear from her eye, she could be with Yang, she could be happy.
She smiled, curious how far she could push this; "Would you wear a collar that says you belong to me?"
Yang looked up and saw the smile on Melanie's face, the smirk and lust in her eyes. She smiled back. "Of course Mistress."