Hello, loyal viewers, it's time for the eighth chapter of Almost One of a Kind! Now, as you may have noticed, this story does contain violence and strong emotional scenes(?), but despite being rated T, lacks language. Don't worry, I've been saving it for a certain character who will use it A LOT, trust me, he will. So, Ultramega has failed to kidnap the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company, but has instead kidnapped Epsilon's mistress, Yang Xiao Long. How is he going to take it? How will Ruby respond? What will happen to Yang? Who knows?
I do.
Umm...
Umm...
Umm... CHAPTER 8!
Chapter Eight - Out of Character
Ruby sat in her hospital bed, happily eating cookies while watching video's on her scroll. She glanced at the clock, seeing that the time was late. She paused the video and called Yang's scroll, getting no response, worrying her. Just as she was dialling Blake's number, Me, Blake and Weiss entered the infirmary.
"Weiss, you're okay!" Ruby yelled, throwing her arms up in the air in joy. To her confusion, nobody responded to the gesture. In fact, we all remained emotionless. "Guys, what's the matter?" She asked, and quickly looked a us. "Where's Yang?"
I sighed. "Ruby... Yang has been taken... by Ultramega." I told her, unable to look in her eyes. She opened her mouth in shock, remaining silent for about a minute until she yelled loudly, bursting into tears. Weiss and Blake looked at her sympathetically as I approached Ruby, pulling her into a lighg hug. She wrapped her arms around me, crying onto my shirt. After remaining still for five minutes, Ruby finally calmed down her crying to speak.
"H-how did she g-get caught?" Ruby asked through her tears.
"When we were getting Weiss, Yang moved Weiss's container from the truck he was using to the airship we were using. While moving from one to the other, Yang got grabbed by Ultramega and he took her away before we could do anything." Blake explained with a frown.
"Is she- is she dead?" The scared huntress asked. I thought about it for a second.
"No. He wouldn't just do something like that, not unless he bragged about it to us. For now, Ruby, Yang is still alive." I reassured her.
"This is all my fault." Weiss spoke up.
"Weiss, don't-"
"If I hadn't been captured, if I had just paid more attention, been stronger, none of this would have happened. Ruby wouldn't be here and Yang wouldn't be missing." Weiss continued.
"Weiss, don't blame yourself. There was nothing you could have done, especially against two people much stronger than any of us." I told her. "If his is anyone's fault, it's mine. Ultramega was created because of me, and he only took Yang because he knew how important she is too all of us. To me." I stormed out of the room, shocking the girls.
"Epsilon, where are you going!" Blake yelled across the room.
"To do what I should have done weeks ago: Kill Ultramega, for good, and then get Yang back." I told them, stopping just in front of the door as I held it open. "Don't follow me, don't attempt to find me, don't tell anyone what I'm doing. I'll be back as soon as I can with Yang." I told them, and left, leaving them speechless.
"Wow... he really does care a lot about Yang." Blake spoke up.
"Indeed, she is his mistress after all." Weiss added.
"It's not just that, she's not just in charge of him, she's his best friend, his first friend, and friends don't abandon each other. If we know Epsilon, he'll find Yang and everything will be fine, I hope." She reassured, saying the last part under her breath. "You know, guys, it's really late. We should be going to bed."
"Can you make it to the dorm?" Blake asked as Ruby got up from the infirmary bed.
"Yeah, I was good enough a few hours ago, I was just waiting for all of you to come back..." She answered, lowering her voice towards the end. They all returned to the dorm, got into their pyjamas and fell asleep without saying a word, a certain pair of blonds missing from the room.
The Next Day...
Ruby, Weiss and Blake silently ate their breakfast, too distraught to speak. Ruby was barely holding together, the lack of her sister getting to her. Weiss was in a similar state, still feeling guilty over what had happened, which caused Yang to get captured. Of the three, Blake was effected the least, but that wasn't saying much. They all felt awful. They felt so awful they forgot team JNPR was sitting opposite them.
"Umm... are you guys alright?" Jaune asked, breaking the awkward silence.
"Oh, umm, yeah! Yeah, we're great!" Ruby spoke up, putting on a smile.
"Where is Yang? And Epsilon?" Pyrrha asked, noting the empty spots at the table. Ruby's smile immediately faded at the mention of Yang's name, but nobody noticed.
"They're training for the tournament. Came to breakfast early and left before we got here." Blake lied, an expressionless face with it.
"That's weird, Yang isn't exactly a morning person." Nora pointed out. "Oh well, I guess we'll just have to try harder to beat you!"
"Hmm, like you could ever defeat our team." Weiss proclaimed, crossing her arms.
"You realise that teams in the tournaments are fours, not fives." Ren added, slightly surprising the remainder of team RWBY. "One of you can't compete."
"Oh, umm, we have a... plan for this!" Ruby declared. "Yeah, everything will work out just fine. Team RWBY will be victorious!" She stood on the table, catching everyone's attention.
"Get down from there, you dolt, you're making a scene." scolded her leader, making her chuckle nervously and take her seat. After a few more minutes of talking and eating, the two teams split up to their respective lessons. However, as soon as the three girls had left the dinner hall, Ruby started to cry again, rubbing her tears with her sleeve.
"Don't worry, Epsilon will get Yang back." Blake reassured her, putting a hand on Ruby's shoulder. Ruby stopped rubbing her eyes and held a determined face.
"You're right, Yang's going to be fine, Epsilon will make sure of it. Right now, I have to be a strong leader for all of us." Ruby said with new found confidence. "Ren was right, though, which of the five of us isn't going to compete?"
"It would be logical to have me on the team. I posses I high skill set with Dust, and will definitely be of great use in the tournament." Weiss stated proudly.
"I'm stealthy, they will never see me coming." Blake said monotonously.
"Well... I'm the team leader! I have to fight for our team!" Ruby declared.
"So, that leaves Epsilon and Yang." Weiss pointed out. "If we want to increase our chances of winning, it is statistically more likely we would win if Epsilon is fighting on our team." She suggested as they continued towards class.
"No! Yang's been with our team the whole way. Plus, she punches stuff really, really hard!" Ruby defended.
"Personally, I think either of us would be good enough for the tournament, but I'd have to pick myself."
Ruby, Weiss and Blake froze. They all turned around and opened their mouths at shock at who stood behind them. Yang stood there with her large grin, brightening the mood immediately. Before she could react, Ruby used her semblance and basically crashed into Yang, pulling her into the tightest hug she could.
"YANG, YOU'RE ALIVE!" Ruby yelled through her tears of happiness. "We thought you were gone!"
"Aww, I'm not going anywhere, baby sister." Yang reassured her sister, calmly rubbing her back as she clung onto Yang tighter. Weiss approached the blonde.
"Yang... thank you for saving me, even at the risk of your own life." She thanked, holding out her hand, which Yang shook. "However, don't do something so dangerous again. It would be disadvantageous to loose a member of the team." Yang just rolled her eyes.
"How did you get away?" Blake asked, remaining where she was.
"Well, I managed to get the slip on Ultramega and the other two while they were distracted. While I was running out of their base, Epsilon found me and told me that he'll distract them so I could get away. After restlessly running from Mountain Glenn to here, I escaped to my team mates." Yang explained to the faunus.
"Well, we have class now, so we should get going. If you're feeling up to it." Weiss added, looking at Yang.
"Oh, yeah, it'll be a blast. I'll be just fine." Yang told them, and the four of them continued to class.
Professor Port's Class...
"... and I swung my blunderbuss onto the hard shell of the Death Stalker, but it made no effect as it charged towards the helpless citizens of the village. However, with my overwhelming strength and intelligence, I overcame the challenge and defeated the Grimm, saving the village and proclaimed a hero!" Port told the class, gesturing to himself as he raised his arms in triumph.
He was met with silence.
"Now, who can guess how I managed to defeat the menacing creature?" The Professor asked.
"You found a weakness you didn't spot before." Yang answered immediately, surprising everyone, since she is usually asleep.
"Correct! And who can tell me what the weakness was?"
"The stinger." Yang answered again, shocking her team mates.
"Correct again! Now a difficult one: How did I use the weakness to defeat the Grimm?"
"You sliced off the stinger with your weapon, then impaled the Death Stalker with it's own stinger, as it is strong enough to penetrate the shell. Thus, a dead Grimm." Yang answered with a smug smile.
"My my, Miss Xiao Long, you have certainly took a shine to this lesson! Tell me, how did you know this?" Port asked.
"Personal experience. I watched Team JNPR do a similar thing during the initiation." Yang informed the teacher.
"Well, I will make sure to inform Ozpin of your improvement in lesson. You are usually silent." He stated. At that point, the bell went off. "That's all we have time for today it seems. And as always, remember: be vigilant. Class dismissed." The members of Team RWBY all exited the class room, Yang with her usual grin with Ruby and Weiss too shocked to say anything following behind her. Blake narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
Team RWBY's Dorm Room...
The four girls sat in their dorm room, talking amongst each other, more specifically Ruby and Yang, and studying, more specifically Weiss and Blake.
"Hey, shouldn't Epsilon be back by now?" Ruby asked, catching everyone's attention.
"Well, he did tell us he was going to destroy Ultramega 'for good'." Weiss remembered.
"Epsilon did tell us Ultramega can jump body to body, so he may have had to destroy a lot of bodies. Maybe hundreds of them" Yang suggested. Blake put her book down and sighed.
"I'm going to the library." She told them, not even looking at them, and exited the dorm.
"Jeez, what's with her?" Yang asked. Ruby and Weiss just shrugged their shoulders. As soon as Blake left the dorm, she bolted along the corridor until she reached an empty, opened dorm room. Blake entered the room and locked the door behind her. She pulled out her scroll, dialled a number and held it in front of her.
"... I know, but this is important... Yang's back... you still there?... now that you mention it, yes, she has... she spoke up more in class, answering pretty much all the questions... she said she ran from Mountain Glenn to here in a day... well, I don't think Ruby and Weiss noticed, but Yang's eyes are slightly red... why?... understood." She ended the call, took a deep breath and walked back to her dorm.
The Next Day...
Team RWBY finished getting dressed in their dorm room after Weiss yelled at Yang for taking forever to dry her hair after the shower. Blake looked out of the window, watching as the Amity Colosseum hovered near Beacon, only recently arriving just after Ultramega's attack at Beacon. Her attention was caught as Ruby, Weiss and Yang headed towards the door. As they began to leave, Blake stood in front of the door, blocking their exit.
"Blake, we have lessons to get too, could you please move out of the way." Weiss politely asked, somewhat still annoyed.
"No."
"No? Why, is something the matter, Blake?" Ruby asked her friend.
"I'm not moving until I get answers... from her." Blake told them, pointing at Yang.
"Me?" Yang asked, pointing at herself.
"You have been acting odd ever since you've come back. You're out of character. I may be too subtle for Ruby or Weiss too notice, but I did. You're not acting like the Yang I know, the lazy in class Yang who doesn't answer every question. The Yang who doesn't run from outside the kingdom to here in a day. The Yang who's eyes are only red when she's angry. You are not you." She proclaimed, walking around the room until she stood in front of the window, discreetly opening it.
"Blake... you're right, I am acting different. But that's because I was traumatised by Ultramega, what he did to me, kept me locked up in a cell, unable to escape until Epsilon busted me out. Please, please understand that I am me, I'm just a little different." Yang tried to explain. Blake just smirked.
"You said you escaped when Ultramega was distracted, not that Epsilon broke you out of that cell." She said.
"No, wait, I-" Yang froze as she was shot in the chest, tearing all the way from front to back of her body. She looked at the shooter, who stood on the windowsill, pistol in his right hand, aimed directly at Yang.
"Epsi?" She asked, almost silently.
Another shot went off, hitting Yang in the face, sending her back and too the floor, half of her face ripped off.
End of Chapter Eight
Wow, what a cliffhanger! I apologize for the short, yet important, chapter released today, but this chapter was really hard to write. Seriously, it took me twice as long as others, for good reasons! My OC's are barely in this chapter, it's so much more difficult to write canon characters, trying to get their personalities and how they speak right. But, I think this chapter went well enough, even setting up the events of RWBY Volume 3, with the arrival of the Amity Colosseum, which I definitely didn't forget until just now.
(Looks side to side nervously)
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And, as always, remember to follow, favourite and leave a review, and keep an eye out for Chapter Nine, too see what happens next!