Chapter 10: Shattered
Three days came and went. Each night Team RWBY investigated another one of the safe houses Blake had uncovered. Each night they came up empty. Either nothing was there or the place had already been abandoned.
Yang was getting rather impatient with the whole ordeal; not in the least because she hadn't had time to take Blake out on a proper date yet. It seemed a little backward to be officially in a relationship without having gone on a date, but then again, they'd also fallen in love first too. Maybe doing things in the proper order just wasn't for them.
The few private moments that Yang and Blake had managed to steal away were filled with passionate kisses and quiet conversation. They would talk about everything and nothing, although they were still dancing around the real issues. The guilt that Blake harbored and the hatred toward the White Fang that seethed in Yang weren't going away, but Yang didn't care enough to broach the subject. She was sure those things would work themselves out eventually. For her part, she figured beating Adam to a bloody pulp would get everything out of her system. She couldn't wait. The sooner they actually found a lead, the better.
Team RWBY's target tonight was a distribution center right next door to the Atlas airdocks. Unlike the warehouse on Waren Street, there was nothing about it that screamed "evil lair". It was a huge, modern facility that was anything but abandoned. Weiss had theorized that the White Fang were paying someone off to make use of it.
Yang, Ruby, Weiss, and Blake were lying low on the far side of the fence that ran around the perimeter of the massive building. Their plan tonight was the same as every night. First, they'd stake the place out and see if they could spot any suspicious activity. Then they'd move inside. So far tonight had been another bust.
Yang glanced over at Blake. The weather was still cold, and Blake was wearing a greatcoat that was tailored to her feminine proportions. She was also wearing a big, puffy knit hat that not only kept her head warm but covered up her cat ears. Having finally seen those ears in person, Yang was very disappointed that the world forced Blake to keep them hidden. How could anyone hate something so adorable?
Blake noticed that Yang was staring at her. She asked, "What is it?"
"Just thinking about how cute you are," Yang said. She was rewarded with a blush.
Weiss sighed. "I should have known you two were going to be one of those couples."
"You're just jealous," Yang teased.
"I am not," Weiss said.
Ruby said, "Shh! Shh! I think something's happening!"
Everyone focused their attention on the distribution center. A man, dressed in an ordinary hat and coat, was strolling along the side of the building. He didn't look like he was a faunus, but like Blake, he could've very easily been hiding his faunus heritage underneath his winter clothing.
Yang said, "That's probably just someone who works here."
Blake said, "Maybe, but he's definitely up to something."
"What makes you say that?" Yang asked. As far as she could tell the man wasn't doing anything suspicious.
"It's the way he's carrying himself," Blake said. "He's trying too hard to act casual."
Yang didn't really see what Blake was talking about, but she wasn't going to question her judgment on the subject of subterfuge.
The man turned the corner of the building and vanished from sight.
Weiss said, "We should follow him."
Everyone scrambled as quickly and quietly as they could to get to a better vantage point. It took them quite a while since they had to move along the outside of the fence. By the time they spotted the man again, he'd been joined by a second man dressed equally unremarkably. They were both standing in front of a small side door that led into the distribution center.
Although Team RWBY was too far away to make out what the two men were saying, it looked like they were debating something. Their wildly gesturing hands expressed their disagreement quite clearly. All the while, the second man kept stealing glances over his shoulder to check and see if someone was watching them.
Weiss whispered, "What do you think we should do?"
Ruby whispered, "Let's keep watching. We don't know if either of them are White Fang or not."
Eventually, the two men seemed to come to an agreement. The second man slipped something to the other, took one last look around, then started walking away. The first man unlocked the side door and let himself in.
"Alright," Ruby whispered. "Let's go."
Everybody bounded over the fence and dashed for the distribution center. When they reached the door, Ruby grabbed the knob, but it refused to turn. Apparently the man had locked the door behind him.
Yang asked, "Want me to bash it down?"
"We shouldn't," Weiss said.
"Why not?" Yang asked.
"You mean besides the fact that we'd be vandalizing someone place of business?" Weiss asked.
"Uh, yeah?" Yang said sheepishly. She hadn't really thought about that.
"Right now we have the element of surprise," Weiss said. "If the White Fang really are here, we can catch them in the act of whatever nefarious deed they're perpetrating."
Ruby asked, "Does anyone know how to pick a lock?"
Blake said, "Not that lock, but I saw some loading docks for semi-trucks on the north side of the building. I can get one of those open without breaking anything."
"Alright! Let's go!" Ruby said.
Team RWBY dashed along the side of the distribution center and turned the next corner. Just like Blake had said, the entire north wall of the building was one big, long row of loading bays for semi-trucks. Everyone crowded around the nearest one.
Blake drew her sword off her back, sheath and all. She said, "Someone try to lift up the door a little. It will make it easier to slip Gambol Shroud underneath it."
The bottom of the docking bay was over five feet off the ground. Ruby and Weiss both looked at Yang. Yang chuckled. "I got it," she said, barely resisting making a crack about Ruby and Weiss's stature.
Yang got as good as a grip as she could on the bottom lip of the door and lifted. Everyone was surprised when the door rose a foot into the air. It wasn't locked or even latched at all.
"Humph," Weiss said. "No wonder the White Fang are using this place. Their security seems lax."
"Well, everyone inside," Ruby said.
Ruby, Weiss, Yang, and Blake all took their turns pulling themselves up and crawling into the distribution center.
"Wow," Yang said when she'd had a moment to look around. The building had looked huge from the outside, but somehow it looked even bigger on the inside. None of the lights were on, but the moonlight coming in through the windows illuminated the massive space well enough. Team RWBY was standing at the ends of dozens of long conveyor belts. Behind the conveyors were rows upon rows of tall metal shelves that stretched all the way up to the ceiling.
Weiss asked, "Why are all the lights off? I would think there would be a few on at least."
Ruby said, "Faunus see really well in the dark. Maybe that's a sign that the White Fang really are here."
Blake said, "Look at this." She was pointing at the door they had come in from. The reason it hadn't been locked was because its latch had been cut clean through.
Ruby said, "Looks like someone else broke in too."
"That doesn't make sense," Weiss said. "If the White Fang were given the key to get inside, why did they need to break in?"
Yang said, "Maybe that guy we saw wasn't White Fang?"
Weiss said, "I don't like this. Something isn't right here."
Ruby said, "We need to find out what's happening. This place will take forever to search, so let's split up and look around. But don't try to fight anyone on your own. If you find anything or get into trouble, call on your scroll. If we don't hear from anyone, we all meet back here in twenty minutes."
Everyone nodded in unison. Ruby and Weiss each selected a different direction and started their searches. Blake lingered behind with Yang, however. She said, "Weiss is right. Something isn't right here."
"That's why we're here," Yang said.
"I know, just…please be careful," Blake said.
"Hey. I'll be alright." Yang gave Blake a confident wink. "Promise."
Blake smiled. "Alright. I'll see you in twenty minutes."
Yang picked one of the conveyer belts and started following it. It didn't take long for her to lose sight of Blake. Now that she was on her own, she had to admit that the atmosphere of this place was kind of creepy. The moonlight created a lot of long shadows, and Yang didn't have the benefit of a faunus' superior eyesight.
Yang walked along the side of the conveyor. It was unnaturally quiet. The only sound Yang could hear was her own footsteps. The stillness of everything made the massive space feel haunted. There should have been workers bustling about and the hum of machinery. Instead, there was nothing.
The conveyer belt led Yang to the massive shelving units. They towered over her and were spaced out wide enough to let forklifts comfortably navigate between them. It made Yang feel rather small. She started walking down the nearest row.
The hair on the back of Yang's neck stood on end. She couldn't help but feel that she was being watched. Although the shelves were crammed full of boxes of every description, there was just enough space in between them that Yang could catch a glimpse of the other side. More than once she thought she saw movement coming from behind the boxes, but when she went to take a peek and check it out, there was nothing there.
Yang kept walking. A shiver went down her spine. She swore she could feel someone's eyes on her. She spun around, expecting to see someone behind her, but she was completely alone. She scowled. It wasn't like her to be jumping at shadows.
Yang knew she was supposed to be sneaking about, but this was just getting stupid. She shouted, "I know you're out there, whoever you are! Come on out, you coward!"
No one showed themselves. Yang tapped her foot impatiently. Eventually, she convinced herself that she was barking at nothing and started walking again.
Yang came to the end of the row. She had to be near the back of the facility by now. Stacks and stacks of large, metal shipping containers were piled up everywhere. Apparently this was the receiving area.
Yang started working her way around the shipping containers. She moved very slowly. Every corner was a blind one and she didn't like it one bit. Her jaw clenched involuntarily. She still couldn't shake the feeling of being watched.
The faint whisper of a footstep sounded behind Yang. She whipped around and brought her fists up. Nobody was there. Yang waited and listened but heard only silence. She wasn't sure now if the footstep she'd heard had been real or just something she'd imagined.
Yang turned back around and kept going. She tried to shake off her nervousness, but every instinct in her body told her that someone with bad intentions was close by. Yang rounded another container and then another. If she hadn't known better, she would've sworn that someone had deliberately set up the shipping containers like a maze. A tiny part of her wanted to go back. But she refused to show up at the rendezvous early with her tail between her legs like some scared little kid.
Yang turned one more corner and stopped dead in her tracks. Two people were sprawled out on the ground. One of them was a White Fang member in full uniform. The other was the man in ordinary clothing Team RWBY had seen outside. Neither one of them were moving. Yang couldn't tell if they were dead or just unconscious.
Yang activated her gauntlets. The sound they made when they unfolded was painfully loud. It echoed off the metal containers like the crash of thunder. Yang stood stock still. Her eyes wildly swept around her field of view, but she didn't turn her head. She barely even breathed. She didn't do anything that might call attention to herself.
Then Yang heard it. A footstep, soft but clearly real, sounded behind her. There was another and then another. Someone was walking toward her and they weren't in any kind of rush. Yang's hands clenched into fists. Her muscles coiled, ready to unleash their power.
The footsteps got closer at an aggravatingly deliberate pace, but Yang waited. She waited and listened for the right moment to strike.
The footsteps were close behind Yang now. Her muscles twitched in anticipation. Suddenly, Yang whirled around and fired a blast from her gauntlet. The shot whizzed through the air and exploded not ten feet away. The smoke from the impact quickly dissipated, revealing a delicate-looking, pink parasol.
"You…" Yang growled angrily. Standing in front of her was Roman Torchwick's little minion. If Yang remembered correctly, Roman had called her Neo.
Neo closed her parasol and rested it on her shoulder. She was dressed exactly how Yang remembered her, in a jacket, corset, and boots with buttons running up the sides. There was an evil grin on her face, and her eyes shifted colors as she blinked.
Yang had the distinct impression that she was being mocked. That was fine. It would make defeating Neo all the more satisfying. If she wasn't going to get her revenge on Adam tonight, beating this smug little fiend to within an inch of her life would do. Maybe Yang wouldn't even stop at an inch.
Neo just stood there, apparently unwilling to make the first move. Yang was all too happy to make it for her. She launched herself at Neo using Ember Celica and struck. Neo casually deflected Yang's punches with her parasol. When Yang kicked high, Neo ducked. When Yang swept her foot, Neo leapt over it.
Yang felt her already considerable temper rising to new heights as Neo pushed another one of her blows aside with her parasol. Yang started punching harder. She knew she could snap Neo's silly little umbrella like a twig. After all, she'd managed to punch Junior's bazooka in half. All she needed to do was land one solid hit.
Yang kept up her attack, but trying to fight Neo was like trying to hold grains of rice in her hand. The harder she held on, the more they slipped through her fingers. It wasn't long until Yang was so frustrated that she was literally punching mad. Any coherent strategy she might've had degraded to a flurry of blind attacks.
Suddenly, Neo went on the offensive. She slipped under Yang's fist and spun. The heel of her boot connected with the bridge of Yang's nose.
Yang went cross-eyed from the unexpected impact and staggered back. When she could see straight again she saw that Neo was holding up her leg in the same position the kick had been delivered from. Neo slowly swept her leg around in the air and set it back down on the ground in a supreme display of balance and coordination.
The little show was obviously meant to piss Yang off even more than she already was, but it didn't have the intended effect. Neo's kick to Yang's face had literally knocked some sense into her. A voice in Yang's head, which sounded disturbingly like Weiss, was scolding her for falling into the same trap that had almost gotten her killed the last time she'd fought Neo.
The tactical part of Yang's brain kicked into overdrive. She knew from last time that Neo was inhumanly precise. The little twerp knew just where to hit to inflict the most damage. On the flipside, she was too much of a lightweight to ever activate Yang's semblance; she just didn't hit hard enough. Those two factors added together made her extremely dangerous for Yang to fight.
Yang wasn't entirely sure what to do, but she knew she couldn't keep on going like she had been. The Weiss-sounding part of Yang's brain helpfully suggested that she call for help. Her scroll was in her pocket, and with the press of any of the speed dial buttons, the rest of Team RWBY would come running. Yang flat-out rejected that idea. She could do this on her own. She had to do this on her own to prove to herself that she could. If she couldn't defeat Neo, there was no way she'd ever be able to defeat Adam.
Neo tilted her head in curiosity. She was clearly surprised that Yang hadn't immediately attacked her again. She lifted her hand and beckoned Yang to come at her.
Yang grinned. Neo was good, but Yang was on to her now. Whatever Neo did, she wouldn't let herself get too pissed off to think again. She knew that alone wasn't going to win the fight, but she'd always been good at thinking on her feet. She'd come up with something.
Yang advanced on Neo. When she got close, she fired off both barrels of her gauntlets in rapid succession. Neo whipped open her parasol to block them. While she was preoccupied, Yang tried to come around and attack her from the side. For Yang's efforts, her fist met the air and her head was reintroduced to Neo's boot.
Yang kept trying. She kept fighting. And above all she kept calm, if only just. She tried every trick she knew, but Neo was always able to dodge or deflect her blows. Neo's counterattacks were adding up. Yang could feel herself slowly being worn down.
Inspiration suddenly struck Yang as Neo dodged another punch. In a roundabout way, Neo was the most predictable person she'd ever fought. The result of every attack Yang attempted would be a deflection or an evasion. There had to be a way to use that to her advantage. She just had to figure out how.
Before Yang could come up with anything, Neo's parasol collided with her gut. Yang doubled over from the impact, but that was when she spied exactly what she was looking for. Behind Neo two of the large shipping containers came together, making a corner. If Yang could back Neo into that corner, she'd have no room to dodge. Neo couldn't deflect everything Yang threw at her, and Yang suspected Neo did not take hits well. All it would take was one or two and the fight would be over.
Yang threw an uppercut as she recovered. Neo dodged of course, but in doing so she moved herself a few inches closer to the corner. Yang knew what to do now. She threw punch after punch, careful not to overexpose herself. If Neo got around her at this point, it would be all over. Neo's counterattacks grew more frequent, but Yang endured them. There was no way she was going to go down now, not when she finally had a chance.
For the first time ever, the smug smile left Neo's face. She'd apparently figured out what Yang was up to, but now it was too late. She didn't have anywhere else to go but back toward the corner.
Neo thrust her parasol forward. At the same time there was a flash of light. Yang lost sight of Neo for just a moment. She dodged instinctively.
A sharp, stinging sensation erupted on Yang's left cheek. Her hand reflexively rushed up to where she'd been hit. She felt something wet. When she pulled her hand back, her fingers had blood on them.
Yang saw a tiny blade extended from the tip of Neo's parasol. Yang knew it wasn't a good sign that it had actually been able to draw blood. Her aura must be nearly depleted. There was a hard look on Neo's face. Clearly, she was done playing around.
The Weiss-sounding part of Yang's brain helpfully reminded her that her scroll was still in her pocket and that help was still just moments away. Yang mentally told that part of herself to shut up. If Neo was resorting to using a hidden blade, it must be because she knew Yang was going to win. There was no way that Yang was going to cheat herself out of victory.
Yang threw herself back into the fight. The blade complicated things, but not enough to matter. It was only a few more feet to the corner.
Neo's face took on a more and more worried expression. Her counterattacks were suddenly a lot more uncoordinated. Yang found she was able to evade them easily. She smiled to herself. It looked like all that dodging had finally worn Neo out.
Neo's back hit a shipping container. Her eyes went white with fear. Yang threw everything she had at her. Neo deflected one punch, then another, and then another. But it was all wasted effort. Yang finally saw her opening. She launched her fist at Neo's head. Ember Celica was poised to fire. Yang knew she had her. Neo knew it too. Yang savored the look on her face.
Yang's fist connected. Ember Celica fired. And the illusion of Neo shattered into a thousand pieces.
Yang had a scant second to realize what had happened and how much trouble she was in. Before her fist had even finished following through with her punch, the real Neo's parasol slammed into the base of Yang's skull from behind.
Momentum carried Yang's head forward where it smashed into the shipping container. It bounced off like a ping pong ball and into a kick from Neo. Yang went sideways and found herself face-down on the ground. Her head throbbed in pain. She tried to stand back up, but she was far too disoriented. She only managed to crawl along the ground.
Suddenly, the Blade on Neo's parasol plunged into Yang's back. A cry of pain ripped from Yang's lips as the blade slipped between her ribs and lodged itself somewhere near her kidney.
Yang fought back a wave of panic. She didn't understand. This wasn't how this fight was supposed to go! This shouldn't have been able to happen! There was no way she could let Neo win again!
Neo ripped her blade out of Yang's back. A whole new wave of agony washed over Yang. But before she could even try to compose herself, a fist slammed down right where she'd been stabbed. The pain that followed was so intense that Yang almost came unglued. She felt the edges of unconsciousness brush up against her. But she couldn't go down. She'd promised Blake that she'd be alright.
Through an act of sheer willpower, Yang got to her feet. She raised her fists in a pathetic imitation of a fighting stance. Her whole body felt like a raw nerve. The slightest movement brought excruciating pain. She could barely see straight, but she would keep fighting for Blake.
Yang took a step forward. Maybe Neo hit her. Maybe she didn't. It didn't really matter. Yang's body simply couldn't take anymore. Her legs buckled and the ground rushed up to meet her again.
There was only one last recourse for Yang. Her hand inched toward her pocket and managed to dislodge her scroll. It clattered noisily against the concrete floor.
Yang reached for her scroll. Her mechanical fingers trembled erratically. Even the minuscule amount of concentration it took for her to keep her prosthetic in line was beyond her at the moment.
The tips of Yang's fingers touched her scroll, but before she could manage to get a solid grasp on it, Neo's blade slammed down and impaled the screen. Sparks shot out from the scroll and the broken display faded and died.
Yang didn't feel the kick that rendered her unconscious. She didn't think about whether she was going to live or die. The only thought in her head before the world disappeared was a silent prayer that Blake would forgive her for breaking her promise.
Author's Note: Don't leave yet! I know you guys probably hate me for this chapter, but stick with me! There is a happy ending to be had. I promise!
Since this is a terrible cliffhanger to leave you guys on, I'm going to be posting the next chapter in two days' time.
Now if any of you are still reading this, I want to say that I know from personal experience that even when you hit rock bottom, sometimes you still don't learn your lesson. It's very human to pretend that everything's fine even when it's obviously not. Old habits, especially bad ones, die very hard. The long and short of it is, some lesson you have to learn the hard way. And some lesson you have to learn the hard way twice.
I hesitate to say it this time, but like always, constructive criticism is welcome. Please feel free to yell at me with a review or comment.
If you want to be notified of updates or send me a message, you can find me on tumblr under the name electronicyarn.