Welcome to chapter 13! I initially expected this to be chapter 14 or 15, but the in-between content wasn't all that long or important, so it ended up here. As such, enjoy!
She smiled. It was an enigmatic expression – so similar to her usual mirthful grins, yet uncannily different. It was so dazzling, so beautiful, it felt like it could last an eternity.
Lie Ren had always thought of Nora Valkyrie as a childhood friend. An irreplaceable friend, but ultimately just that. However, there were times when he wondered if she was more than that to him. He wondered if he was more than just a friend to her.
Perhaps he had realized it a long time ago, and perhaps he had been ignoring it all this time. Perhaps he had only just come to understand the meaning of that feeling, but when he looked at that brilliant smile, Ren knew.
He knew that he loved the woman known as Nora Valkyrie.
"Ah, I love you," Ruby said to her trademark red cloak, rubbing her cheek on it before putting it on. "How I've missed you…"
"For crying out loud…" Weiss muttered, sighing.
"Aww, don't be jealous, Weiss," Ruby teased, whispering those words into the heiress's ears and enjoying her blush. "You're still number one to me."
"I-I'm so honored to be worth more than a cloak," Weiss stammered, her sarcasm peppered with embarrassment.
"When did you two get so lovey-dovey?" Yang asked, loading fresh ammunition into her gauntlets.
"Since Weiss admitted she was lonely without me," Ruby replied cheekily, hugging Weiss like a giant plushie.
"Ruby Rose!" Weiss exclaimed, her face matching the shade of Ruby's cloak as she attempted to vehemently deny everything she had just said.
"Okay, let's wrap it up," Pyrrha said, sheathing her weapon. "It's almost time."
Team RWBY's members nodded. From their apparent lack of tension, to their confidence, to their clothes – they looked no different from back then, when they were still Huntresses-in-training back at Beacon. They struck a stark contrast, however, with the members of Team JNPR, who now wore different clothes and bore several scars across their bodies.
Jaune and Pyrrha, who had been accustomed to wearing armor plates during combat, were fidgeting around, unable to shake off the uneasy feeling of going into battle with just fabric on their skin. Ren and Nora, however, were hardly concerned with their attire at all; they were already content with just having their own weapons with them.
"Aw yeah!" Yang cheered. "Let's get this over and done with so we can party!"
Ever since the suggestion to have a celebratory party after their respective missions, Yang had been excited to no end at the prospect of having mindless fun. If the blonde had been the one to suggest it, the idea would probably have been shot down instantly out of fear for whatever she might have planned, but surprisingly, the one who suggested it had not been Yang.
It had been Weiss.
While relaxing after a mission was the main goal, Weiss had intended for it to be a good opportunity for Pyrrha to confess to Jaune. Despite being a proficient fighter, Pyrrha was exceedingly hesitant when it came to her own romantic advances. As her admirer, Weiss felt that it was partially her duty to assist the female warrior in that matter.
"Yang, focus on the mission," Blake sighed. "You can do whatever you want after we bring down the tower."
"Anything, huh?" Yang asked, smirking at her partner. "Remember you said that, kitty cat…"
Feeling a chill run down her spine, Blake shivered. Weiss had to cover Ruby's ears to keep her from hearing more, even though the latter did not seem to understand what was being said anyway.
"Alright, let's roll!" Nora cheered, as Jaune pushed aside the boulder at the entrance. "We'll beat the crap out of 'em and rock the night away!"
Cheering, Nora gave Yang a hi-five. Ren watched on, smiling slightly at the sight; his Queen of the Castle was still the same as ever.
"From this point onwards, communication between teams will be cut," Ruby said, finally getting into a serious mood. "Team RWBY will take out the communications tower, and Team JNPR the defense base. We'll rendezvous at the agreed location when the objectives have been completed. If the mission fails, at least make sure everyone returns safely, okay?"
"I never thought I'd see the day where Ruby ends up speaking like a teacher," Jaune wondered aloud. "But I guess it's not so bad."
"I know, right?" Yang said, sobbing. "My little Ruby has finally grown up… To think there was a time when I had to change her diaper and everything…"
"Hey, I try, y'know?" Ruby asked, pouting. "Even I don't stay a kid forever."
"You tell 'em, sis!" Yang said, cheering her on. However, Ruby did not let her earlier comment slide just like that.
"Well, that's fine too," Jaune said, holding out his fist. "See you at the party, Ruby."
"I'm expecting an awesome dance, Jaune," Ruby replied, bumping fists with a confident smile.
"How's everything looking?" Jaune asked, whispering into his mic.
"Just like we were told, the number of battlesuits is low," Pyrrha replied. "However, I don't think we can take them on, so don't engage. Don't worry; the battlesuits can't enter the corridors or rooms, so if they have no idea where we are they won't do anything."
"We can disable them, right?" Jaune asked. "We have those weird EMP grenades from Team RWBY's 'connections', right?"
"They're temporary measures," Pyrrha reminded him. "Once we take out the soldiers here, the grenades will let us board and take over the battlesuits. We can't do that under enemy fire. Besides, when the battlesuits that were sent out to check our decoys come back, we'll be needing the grenades then as well."
"Roger that," Jaune replied. "Ren, what about you?"
"Just a little more," Ren answered. "Okay, the alarms are disabled. It's a go."
At that sentence, Team JNPR stormed the base.
Ren reloaded the ammunition for StormFlower, kicking a soldier aside as he did so. As more White Fang soldiers charged down the corridor, bullets tearing through the air, he stood his ground and did not move. He did not return fire, nor did he duck; he merely observed.
Without warning, he took action. Swinging StormFlower in a circular motion, Ren sliced apart the first wave of bullets as he tilted his head and body to the side, avoiding those he had not managed to cut. Somersaulting forward, he bypassed another cluster of bullets as he maintained his balance. Flinging Stormflower forward, he summoned his Aura, parrying the bullets using his palms alone.
The bullets bounced off and buried themselves in the walls, ceiling and floor, seemingly deflected by his bare hands. In truth, Ren's Aura had protected his body from the attack, creating an invisible barrier between him and the incoming hail of bullets.
StormFlower spun through the air, crashing directly at the faces of the two closest shooters and flying upwards. Taking advantage of the momentary decrease in gunfire, Ren instantly closed the distance between them in one powerful leap, catching his weapons in mid-air as they fell. Before the two shooters had gotten to their feet, Ren had already opened fire.
Green muzzle flashes filled his vision, and the countless bullets he unleashed onto his enemies mowed them down easily. They had their Aura up, and as such were uninjured, but Ren did not give them the opportunity to get up; he fired continuously and relentlessly, making sure that they stayed on the ground. Even if they could not be hurt, the impact from his semiautomatic fire was enough to keep them on their backs.
When the first of the screams started up, followed by a jet of blood, Ren stopped. With the enemies' Aura depleted, he simply went to them and knocked them out with a simple fist. Those who had been bleeding only took a couple of bullets to the arms or legs, so they would live; even if he did hate the White Fang, Ren had no intention of killing any of them.
After confirming that they were knocked out, Ren quickly tied them up and threw them into a nearby room, making sure to lock it afterwards. He had already lost count of how many soldiers he had managed to subdue, but there seemed to be no end to them.
"Nora, where are you?" he asked, panting. He had never been one to fight in drawn-out battles, and this was starting to put a lot of strain on his body. Needless to say, it must be just as bad if not worse for the others, especially Nora; even though she may not seem like it, Ren knew that she disliked fighting alone. "I'll head over-"
"Ren, help-" Nora said in a panicky voice, but she was cut off by a sudden burst of static. When the voice returned, it was no longer Nora speaking.
"The hangar," was all the man said.
Ren panted, barely able to catch his breath as he entered the hangar. He had used his Aura quite a bit, and he had fought far too many enemies as well. He was not in the condition to do battle, especially since he was the kind to wear himself out easily, but he did not have a choice; Jaune and Pyrrha could not be reached, and even if they could they were on the other side of the base. There was no one else to depend on but himself right now.
He had half-expected to be shot on sight. He had anticipated that countless enemies would pounce on him the moment he walked through the door. However, when Ren walked into the hangar, there was only one enemy still standing.
Standing in the center of the large space, armed with a gigantic chainsaw, was a large, muscular man with short black hair. He was definitely a Faunus, but it was difficult to determine which animal he was; not only were there no obvious animal parts on him, he wore a mask to cover his face. However, Ren knew that he was a Faunus because of the mask he wore: it was a Grimm mask worn by the White Fang before they took over Vale.
When they had achieved victory, the White Fang had found no reason to continue hiding their faces, and removed those hideous masks reminiscent of the monsters they now tamed as a result. There were a few exceptions, such as Adam Taurus, but their numbers were not large. This man, whoever he was, must have been one of those who saw the mask as a part of their identity.
And next to him, with a noose around her neck and limbs bound, was Nora.
"Nora!" Ren yelled, but before he could rush to her side, the masked man held out a hand to stop him.
"Not yet," he said, pointing to the small crate that was keeping Nora from hanging. The rest of the noose – a thick steel wire – hung from the ceiling via a pulley and was tied off somewhere far off. "If you don't want to kill your own girlfriend, stay right there."
"What do you want?" Ren asked fiercely.
"That's my question, kid," the White Fang Lieutenant replied. "You come in here and fuck up our base, and you have the nerve to ask me what I want?"
"Let her go," Ren snarled. In the background, distant explosions could be heard; Team JNPR's reinforcements had arrived and were taking over this place by force. At this rate, it would be an easy victory-
"This base is done for," the lieutenant said. "It's your win, kid. That being said, can you guess why I'm doing this?"
"Revenge," Ren replied. If he could keep him talking here, he could cut the wire with a precise throw when his guard was down. If he stalled him here, he'd give reinforcements time to arrive, allowing them to bring him down before he could use that chainsaw on Nora. If only he could-
"Bingo," Lieutenant replied, kicking the crate away, causing the wire to go taut and Nora's eyes to snap open. "Unfortunately, I'm alone, so I'll make do with tormenting you."
"Nora!" Ren yelled, running towards her as she gasped for air. She was hanging, and it would not take long before…
"Pathetic, isn't it?" Lieutenant asked, readying his chainsaw. As it roared to life with a heavy buzzing sound, he raised his volume to speak over the noise. "My subordinates fled when they realized we were losing. To think that they'd run away from mere humans… Such a disgrace! We, the proud members of the White Fang, run away from no one! No one!"
As though emphasizing his point, the chainsaw in his hands crashed violently into the ground, tearing a horrible gash across the concrete. His words may have sounded overly grandiose, but in the face of his power, those thoughts dissipated easily. Ren, who had broken into a sprint, stopped his charge inches from the huge weapon, leaping to the side and dashing towards-
His advance was stopped by a heavy force brutally assaulting his throat, pushing his whole body back and onto the floor, knocking the wind out of him. The fingers tightened, robbing him of air, while the other hand raised that gigantic chainsaw once more. Ren did not even have the time to regret neglecting his opponent because he was too focused on Nora, and struggled in his grip.
"Such weakness," Lieutenant mocked. "They would run away from this? They would fear this? What a joke."
His tone was even, and his voice was calm, but there was nothing but fury flowing out of every syllable. Even though Ren could not meet his eyes, he could feel the sheer rage pouring from his foe – a rage that he had never experienced before.
"If you don't focus on defeating me, she's going to die, you know," he taunted. Behind him, Nora was kicking her legs in vain; with her limbs bound firmly like that, there was nothing she could do besides hang there, waiting for her last breath to be ripped from her throat. "Not that it matters, I guess… So long, kid."
With that, he brought down his chainsaw, aimed straight at Ren's throat. It would have cleaved right through his neck, severing his head from the rest of his body if not for the sudden rain of fire from StormFlower.
Using one gun to repel the chainsaw and the other to attack the Lieutenant directly, Ren got to his feet as the man released him. Keeping his finger firmly on the trigger, Ren continued to blind his opponent with his gunfire as he threw the other gun like a boomerang towards the wire tormenting Nora.
With a shower of sparks, StormFlower bounced off the wire, doing nothing. Before Ren could register the futility of his efforts, the chainsaw cut into his thoughts, tearing off parts of his sleeve as it scattered his blood across the floor.
With a guttural laugh, Lieutenant knocked aside Ren's hand, removing his last weapon and leaving him barehanded. He then proceeded to swing the chainsaw brutally at the teen, wielding it easily as though it was a wooden stick.
"What's wrong, kid?!" He bellowed, thrusting the chainsaw forward. Ren managed to push it to the side using Aura, but it still scrapped against the side of his waist, drawing blood. "Are all you humans this weak?!"
"R-Ren…"
Kicking with all his might, Ren managed to land a solid hit at Lieutenant's gut, pushing him back a few steps. While the Faunus recovered from the impact, Ren closed the distance between them and grabbed his wrist, twisting it to make him drop his weapon. He then managed to kick the chainsaw away, but as a result took a rough fist to the face, knocking him back.
"Nora!" he exclaimed, getting to his feet, ignoring the pain his body was experiencing. Running towards his childhood friend, Ren stretched out his hand, reaching for her as his legs struggled to carry him forward.
He ran and ran, but no matter how much force he put into his legs, with his body feeling like he was moving underwater there was nothing he could do. No matter how much he sprinted, no matter how far he stretched his hands, he could not reach her. No matter how much he yelled her name, they were useless.
Then he saw it. It was but a simple gesture, but in that instant – fleeting yet slowly crawling by – it filled the entirety of Ren's vision.
She smiled. It was an enigmatic expression – so similar to her usual mirthful grins, yet uncannily different. It was so dazzling, so beautiful, it felt like it could last an eternity.
Lie Ren had always thought of Nora Valkyrie as a childhood friend. An irreplaceable friend, but ultimately just that. However, there were times when he wondered if she was more than that to him. He wondered if he was more than just a friend to her.
Perhaps he had realized it a long time ago, and perhaps he had been ignoring it all this time. Perhaps he had only just come to understand the meaning of that feeling, but when he looked at that brilliant smile, Ren knew.
He knew that he loved the woman known as Nora Valkyrie.
However, once that instant passed, none of those sentiments mattered anymore. After that single visceral instant – as her body slowly went limp – the world began to grind to a halt, preserving that ephemeral smile. However, that was all it preserved.
Someone was laughing. In the distance, echoing eerily as Ren sank to his knees, was the laughter of a madman. What was so amusing? What could possibly be so amusing in such a situation that he could laugh?
He screamed. Fire ignited in his throat, yet it failed to thaw his frozen blood. The world had been silent, but that silence was shattered mercilessly as the scream ricocheted off the walls, filling the space with its dreadful resonance. At the same time, he felt something snap.
Was that his own voice, screeching so painfully it hurt just to listen? Were those his own hands, tightening around the throat of the masked stranger in front of him? Were those his tears, blazing a trail down his cheeks?
If it was, why was it that he could not bring himself to stop? Why did he feel that it was alright for this man to die?
"That's right…" Lieutenant gasped, struggling as Ren tightened his grip. Even though he was being strangled, his voice sounded strangely triumphant. "That's what it feels like… to live in despair and anger… That's the face…"
He was still a child. On top of that, he was human. He could not possibly understand what it meant to be a Faunus – to be despised, mocked and ostracized by the rest of the world. However, at that moment, with that look of pure hate and rage painted across his face, Lie Ren changed. He might even have become closer to the man he was strangling. What he had really become at that point, however, was entirely unclear.
"Welcome to… our world," Lieutenant said. Nothing more was said after that, as he slumped over and moved no more.
He did not know how many times he had already screamed. He did not know how many times his own soul had been brutally torn apart. However, Ren's mind – a chaotic cluster of bellowing guilt – still refused to grant him reprieve, burning those horrible images into his brain and forcing his mind's eye to relive it all again. And again. And again.
The pain was terrible. The stabbing sensation in his chest was excruciating. The icy hand that gripped his heart tightly was merciless and unrelenting. The cascading rivers of white-hot tears burned. And in the end, his own blood-curdling scream, too, echoed endlessly within the desolate space.
Left all alone in a dark, scary world, a broken child cried.