A/N - THIS IS A WARNING, IF YOU DO NOT HEED IT I TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR REACTION TO MY WRITING
The chapter ahead of you was pulled from the darker side of my creative mind. It contains graphic descriptions of scenes that you may find disturbing, however it is also wholly relevant to the plot of my story. I spent many hours writing this chapter, and I have no intention of making a "toned down" version of it. Reader discretion is strongly advised, and if you do read it you will quite possibly hate me for eternity for what I did in it.
Enjoy!
Chapter 11: Descend the Shades of Night
Blake awoke lying on a cold concrete floor. The details of the previous night were hazy, but she could vaguely remember being shot in the shoulder, then watching Yang get shot. Everything past that point was blurred out except for her and Ruby being captured. This she could remember clearly through the feeling of her arms being bound uncomfortably tightly behind her back and the collar digging into her neck. She tried to move but found her legs were bound together as well, the jet black straps of energy not giving in the slightest. She did her best to look around herself, finding that she was in a small concrete cell with one open wall which was blocked by a glowing web of energy. On the other side of that was a hallway and another cell directly across from her's containing what appeared to be an unconscious Ruby, the red girl in the exact same situation as herself. A pair of legs dressed in black suit pants and fancy black shoes moved into her view in the hallway. She rolled back a bit and saw the face of Roman Torchwick staring down at her.
"Well look at you now," the orange haired man taunted, "bound and caged like the animal you are." Blake tried to shout at the man, but no sound came out and she was met with a sharp pain in her neck. "Oh, I should mention that those magical collars don't appreciate it much when you try to speak out of turn. Maybe it will teach you to keep your self righteous mouth shut."
Blake glared at the man standing over her, an evil grin plastered on Roman's face. "I'm looking forward to toying with you, kitty cat. First off, though, I should probably tell the boss that you're awake." With that, Roman turned and walked back down the hallway. Blake struggled helplessly against her bindings once more before tears found their way into her eyes. "Please just let this be another nightmare." she thought to herself, closing her eyes and hoping she'd wake up in her hotel room next to Yang.
Two figures appeared on the roof of a tall building in Atlas. One was a short young woman with orange hair that hung in her face and nine fox tails who was wearing an orange fox-eared hoodie and simple black shorts with white sneakers, the other a tall and lanky man in black and green robes with goggles and wiry grey hair.
"This should be the right universe." the woman said. "When I bet you that you couldn't find my greatest fear, I didn't expect you'd actually win."
"Even the most hardened of minds fear something." the man lectured. "Even so, to explore such an intricate and exotic mind was a victory in its own right. Do try to avoid gambling against a madman in the future though, games of chance tend to favor the mentally unstable."
"Whatever. I'm not exactly sure where your 'Lord' is, but he shouldn't be too far from here. I have no clue what he wants with this place, but then again it's none of my business." the girl looked around at the surrounding city, not particularly impressed with the level of development of this universe.
The man started walking towards the edge of the building. "Thanks for your help. I should be going before the aardvarks can pinpoint my location. I'm vulnerable without the safety of my tower." he pulled a gadget about the size of a soccer ball teeming with gears and wheels out of his robes and stared intently at it for a second.
"How did you- nevermind. Just try to find your boss while you're still partially lucid." the woman stared in shock at the man in front of her.
"Can do, don't let the Fitchburg Dynasty find out where you've been exploring." the man waved before hopping off of the building. The woman raised an eyebrow at the man's advisement before shaking her head and vanishing from the universe.
The strange device Zynetken was holding was a compass of sorts. He had designed it himself, and it could lead a person to anything within the universe in which they currently existed. He had tried many times to explain how to use the device to others, but to this day he was the only one who knew how to use it. With this strange contraption, he found his way to a seemingly abandoned warehouse in a matter of minutes. He walked up to the door of the building and knocked, waiting a few seconds for a response. When he felt that he wasn't going to get one, he opened the door and walked in only to be met with a rifle barrel in his face.
"Who are you and what business do you have here?" the man holding the gun asked loudly.
"I am Zynetken, an associate of the Dark Lord Kelas." he waited for the gun to be removed from his face. "I presume he didn't mention much about his home universe, but I really must see him immediately." The gun still did not move from its position. Zynetken grabbed the barrel of the weapon and threw it across the warehouse, grabbing the attention of anyone who wasn't already staring in his direction. "Now, if you'll excuse me." He closed the door of the warehouse behind himself before making his way to the stairs up to the warehouse office.
"Yes, of course you can take some time to exact your revenge on them, but I still need them-" Kelas' explanation to Roman was cut off by a man in a black robe entering the office. "Zynetken, what in The Void are you doing here?"
"Katereth insisted that one of us be at your side at all times. I had an itch for exploration, so I volunteered." the thin man stated simply. "Now, what's this I hear about revenge? Do you already have subjects that require persuasion?"
Yang gritted her teeth while staring at the ceiling of the hospital room. She wasn't supposed to move for at least a week because the bullets that went into her arms and legs were aimed at her bones. She closed her eyes, trying not to think about the position Blake might be in right now.
"I'm going to kill them." she growled out.
"Yang, getting angry right now isn't going to do you any good." Weiss' voice came from the bed next to her.
"I don't care. I'm going to fucking kill them." Yang growled again.
"Yang, seriously, this isn't-" Weiss was cut off.
"How the fuck can you be so calm? Ruby is in the exact same situation as Blake and you aren't upset?! What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Yang shouted, doing her best not to try to get up to look at her teammate.
"I'm calm because being calm will do the most good for all of us." Weiss lectured. "I know that Ruby and Blake are in trouble. It makes me want to burn this city to the ground thinking about what that bastard might be putting them through, but if I barge in there by myself, let alone with the state I'm in right now, I'm only going to get myself killed instead of saving anyone. The best thing to do right now is to rest and get our strength back, then go in and save them with everyone at our backs. Team JNPR should be here in less than 24 hours and Lupa said that Ironwood was working on freeing up a regiment of troops for when we figure out where Kelas is hiding."
Yang let out a heavy breath and tried to calm herself down. "Hang in there, Blake. I'll come to get you as soon as my strength is back." she thought to herself before General Ironwood and Professor Ozpin entered the room, followed by Lupa, Glynda, Drake, and Ikari.
"I'm sorry to disturb your well needed rest, but we need to discuss what our next moves are." General Ironwood stated. "As you probably already understand, the situation is rather urgent. Lupa, if you would start us off."
"Of course, sir." Lupa cleared his throat. "The Atlesian Intelligence Committee has already mobilized search teams around Remnant, with a focused effort on Atlas as it is suspected that the enemy may be hiding within the city limits due to a slight increase in air traffic in the past couple of weeks. Meanwhile, we'll be devising a way to actually fight Kelas."
Glynda picked up once Lupa was finished. "We're mobilizing every person available to keep an eye on key areas around the kingdoms. Team JNPR should be here by tomorrow morning to assist in our efforts here in Atlas, and Ozpin and myself will be staying to assist as well."
Drake was the next one to speak. "Ikari and I have been investigating for leads on where Kelas' hideout might be, but the way his employees conduct their business is very quiet and professional so we haven't been able to get a solid lead yet."
"What about the trackers we're required to carry when we're on duty?" Weiss asked with a concerned look.
"We stopped receiving a signal from Blake's and Ruby's trackers when they disappeared from Forever Fall." Lupa replied, Weiss' concerned look deepening. "However, the trackers didn't transmit a K.I.A. before we lost the signal, meaning either the signal is being jammed or no longer broadcasting. Either way, both Blake and Ruby are most likely alive."
"With what we know about Kelas, that's arguably worse for them." Ikari stated.
"That is precisely why you all need to rest and recover." Ozpin lectured the younger Hunters. "The sooner you're all back at full strength, the sooner we'll be able to retrieve Blake Belladonna and Ruby Rose." Ozpin looked towards Weiss and Yang. "Weiss was kind enough to reserve the entire top floor as a base for this operation. Most of us involved will be living and working from there for the time being. We'll have another meeting next week once everyone has had time to rest." With that, the group left the room leaving Weiss and Yang alone.
"I'm going to fucking kill them."
Roman felt a chill run down his spine as he approached the door to the office of the newcomer. "Somebody REALLY wants me dead." he thought before shaking his head and entering the office.
"Kelas said that-" he started before getting interrupted.
"Shhhhhh!" the boney man glared at him with emerald eyes before pointing at the ceiling. "The runes are sleeping. They need a good night's sleep or else they get ornery." he whispered before turning back to the books scattered around his desk. Roman looked at the ceiling to find it covered in the scribblings of an unknown language, the characters glowing faintly.
"Okay…" Roman started, this time in a whisper, "anyway, Kelas said you'd be directing the 'research' on our guests." Kelas entered the room behind Roman. "Is he crazy or something?" Roman asked, still whispering.
"Yea he is. Also occasionally schizophrenic." Kelas whispered back. "The runes, however, are very much alive, and you do not want to make them angry."
"You're fucking with me, right?" Roman asked, earning a slow head shake from the God standing behind him.
The crazy man grabbed one of the books from his desk as well as what appeared to be a small stick before walking out the door and waving to the other two to follow them. "Come, we have work to do and the runes mustn't be disturbed. They keep the Dolphin Imperial scum at bay."
"What do the runes actually do?" Roman asked as the three walked down the hallway.
"I've long since learned not to question what Zyn does." Kelas stated. "Nothing he does on his spare time interferes with what I need him to do, so I just assume it's useful in some way and leave it be. Those particular runes make a very annoying noise if you wake them up, so it's best to not disturb them."
The three continued down the hallway until they came to a shadowy wall of energy. Kelas whispered a few strange words, causing the wall to fade and let them pass before re materialising behind them. The hallway in front of them was lined with small concrete cells. The group walked down to the end, stopping at the final two cells which were blocked by a web-shaped magic barrier. The grey haired scientist peered into the room on the left, taking his time to inspect what was within.
"Ohhhh, what a nice specimen you've managed to retrieve. Mostly human, some animalistic traits, capable of using magic, very spirited, and obviously strong willed considering the traces of your sword's magic I'm seeing around her." the man observed. "Also, I see you're making use of that binding charm I developed." he grinned and crouched closer to the faunus girl trapped within. "Try your best not to scream during my experiments, dear. Those collars don't appreciate people talking in their ears and they don't understand that causing pain only makes the people they're on make louder noises."
The madman turned towards the other cell, inspecting the inhabitant with the same interest as the first. "This one is completely human, slightly younger than the first, also able to use magic, strong willed, and a childish personality. Faking that you're unconscious won't work, my dear. My job is to know people's minds, I can tell a lie from the truth with 100% accuracy unless the liar is 100% certain that the lie is the truth." Ruby sat up and glared at the man, sticking her tongue out in defiance before looking away.
"Let's start with the cat eared one." Zynetken stated, turning and walking back down the hallway. "I've never had such a unique chance of experimenting with a mortal that has resisted Miðnætti Brún's influence before. How exciting!"
Kelas placed his hand on the barrier in front of Blake's cell, causing it to dissipate. He reached down and picked up Blake, slinging her over his shoulder. Blake tried to protest, but was met once again with a sharp pain in her neck. She looked up and saw Ruby, in her cell behind them, looking back at Blake worriedly.
The group crossed the main hallway again, continuing on to a single door at the end of the hallway. They entered into a dimly lit concrete room that appeared to be a perfect cube, various charms, runes, and seals littering the walls, ceiling, and floor of the room. Kelas tossed Blake into the center of the room, the girl having to stifle back a yelp to keep from triggering the collar. Kelas waved his hand, releasing the binding around Blake's arms and legs before her arms were snapped back together in front of her and pulled towards the ceiling, lifting her until only her toes could touch the ground. It wasn't until now that Blake realised her jacket had been confiscated along with her weapons. She glared at her captors, wanting to protest but not wanting to incur the wrath of the collar around her neck.
"Hmmm…" the goggled man stroked his chin for a second before speaking. "I'm going to put your collar to sleep so you can speak, then I'm going to ask a few questions. I need you to respond honestly, and there will be punishment for resistance." the madman pointed his stick at the collar, causing it to loosen slightly. "Now, what is your name?"
"Fuck. You." Blake spat.
"I'll let that one go." Zynetken sighed. "What is your name?"
"Go fuck yourself. I'm not telling you anyth-" Blake was cut off with a zap to the side from Zynetken's wand. The pain was excruciating, forcing every muscle in Blake's body to tighten in reaction. After about a minute the pain subsided, Blake taking a moment to catch her breath.
"That was only a hundredth of the intensity that this wand is capable of. If you wish to maintain your sanity, I suggest that you cooperate for the warm-up questions at least." her torturer said in a flat tone. Kelas and Roman were leaning against the wall in front of her, the latter with a large grin on his face. "Now that you've had a taste of the 'punishment', why don't you tell me your name?"
"Blake." Blake stated quietly.
"Full name." the man specified.
"Blake Belladonna." Blake said glaring at the man in front of her.
"Good, good. Now, where is the AIC Surveillance Headquarters?" Zynetken said. He was met with silence. "Yeah, didn't expect you to answer that one so easily. Let's test your pain tolerance." Zynetken waved his wand, tightening the collar around Blake's neck. "If you couldn't tell, that was the collar waking back up. If you make noise, it will get angry and hurt you." he zapped Blake in the side again, the girl trying as hard as she can not to cry out in pain. "Good, that was one step up from the previous one. The next is going to be five times worse." he zapped her again before the pain from the first had even subsided, forcing Blake to choke back a scream of agony. The excruciating pain forced tears into her eyes, the girl doing her best not to make any noise. "Impressive. That level of pain pushes most mortals to their limit, yet you have the strength to hold back your cries of pain. However, I can't stop until you've made some noise. Let's double the intensity."
Blake couldn't help crying out this time. Her vision blanked out, her mind completely absorbed by the agony. She felt like someone had stabbed a burning hot spike straight into her side, twisted it, then left it in there to burn her. She couldn't even feel the feedback from her collar. After what seemed like hours the pain subsided. She hung limply by her bound wrists, letting out the occasional whimper from the lingering stinging sensation and receiving a response from her collar to remind her that she shouldn't make noise. She looked up at her torturer, her vision still swimming from the pain. She could tell that he was grinning, pleased with the response he had received.
"Looks like that's about your limit." he chuckled. "You may have actually lost consciousness there for a minute."
Kelas moved behind Blake, eyes glued to the limp and sweaty figure that hung in the center of the room. "Simply exquisite." he said, grinning and wrapping his hand around her neck, applying just enough pressure to restrict her breathing. "Just one short test and you've already broken her spirit." he waited until Blake was essentially begging for air before letting go. "Release the collar, let's try asking that question again."
"Someone like you hardly needs such trivial information, but if you insist." Zynetken waved his wand, the collar relaxing once more. "Where is the AIC Surveillance Headquarters?" Blake shook her head, still not willing to answer. Zynetken looked at Kelas with a raised eyebrow, seeking instruction.
"Step it back a level and sustain the spell." Kelas stated. "She can have relief once she answers."
Zynetken raised his wand and fired a sustained burst of the spell into Blake's abdomen, the girl crying out and writhing in pain. After a few minutes, Kelas motioned for Zynetken to stop.
"Are you ready to talk yet?" Kelas asked, Blake shaking her head in response. "Okay then. Zyn, step it back up and do the same thing. I'll make sure she stays conscious." Blake's eyes widened, genuinely afraid of what was about to happen. She couldn't give away secret information to the enemy, but to go through a sustained bout of that kind of pain was worse than death, and if Kelas had the ability to keep her conscious through that kind of pain she would only have to endure worse afterward.
"Wait!" she cried as Zynetken raised his wand. "Its…" she hesitated, still reluctant to say. "It's outside of Atlas, stationed under the observatory…" she looked down in shame, instantly regretting giving up information that could put hundreds of lives at risk.
"Very good." Kelas said, tightening his hand around Blake's neck again and leaning in next to her ear. "I think you'll prove an excellent research subject." He let go, causing Blake to gasp for air again, tears forming in her eyes. "Roman, you can have your fun for a while, Zyn and I need to discuss how to proceed with the more invasive research. Just try to make sure she remains conscious." The two immortals left the room, Neo entering before the door swung shut.
"You want in on this too?" Roman inquired to his short companion. Neo raised an eyebrow at Roman, glancing at Blake then back at Roman. "Heh, I guess the best way to get at blondie is to torture her partner, isn't it?" Roman walked up to Blake, looking over the bound faunus carefully. He leaned in, taking Blake's chin in his right hand and letting his left trail down to where she had been zapped during the earlier torture session. He grinned and applied some pressure, earning a whimper from Blake, the spot obviously still sore from the spell. "Neo, come hit her right here." Roman said, pointing to the sore spot and moving his hand around Blake's neck, turning her head away. Neo jabbed her umbrella in as hard as she could, forcing a cry of agony from Blake which made Neo grin. Neo drew the sword from her umbrella and raised an eyebrow at Roman who nodded in response. Neo slowly slid the tip of blade into the exposed skin of Blake's side, the faunus girl crying in pain, before twisting it a few times and pulling the blade out and licking some of the blood off.
Roman chuckled at his partner's cruelty before retrieving a butterfly knife from the pocket of his suit jacket and spinning it a few times to open it. He ran the blade down the side of Blake's face, watching the blood drip down from the shallow cut. "This is going to be fun… for me." Roman taunted before shoving the knife into Blake's abdomen, eliciting a cry of pain in response. "No witty comeback? No violent insult? Have they really already broken you?" Roman wrenched the knife out, earning another cry of pain from the girl.
"You'll pay… Yang will make you pay.." Blake managed to choke out, nearly sobbing.
"Your friends can't save you now. Consider this payback for sending me to prison twice." Roman lit a cigar and took a nice long puff off of it before jamming the lit end into the cut he had just made, causing Blake to scream in pain. "And boy, am I going to make every second worth it." he ground the cigar in a bit more before tossing it on the ground and sticking a finger into the cut Neo had made, digging around and listening to the screams of pain coming from the faunus girl. He moved around behind Blake, taking Neo's umbrella and bracing his victim's body against his own. He pressed the tip of the umbrella into the space where Blake's rib cage parted to force the air out of her lungs and holding it there. Blake struggled against Roman, the sensation of being unable to expand her lungs and bring in air sending her mind into a panic mode. After a few more seconds, Roman released the hold, Blake gasping for breath as her lungs were given room to work once again.
Stepping back, Roman noticed what looked like a button on the back of Blake's collar. He pressed it out of curiosity, and grinned as the collar dug in around Blake's neck once again. He walked around back in front of the girl, looking her over again. Neo raised an eyebrow out of curiosity before Roman spoke. "Let's take a little break and… play a game." His grin widened. "I'm going to do some things to you that you probably won't like, but all you have to do to get me to stop is say 'Stop'." Roman moved closer, earning a worried look from Blake. "Shaking your head or mouthing the word doesn't count, you have to say it out loud." Roman reached for the zipper of Blake's vest, drawing it down slowly as the faunus girl struggled. Blake's eyes widened, panicking about her situation. The shock the collar gave just for speaking normally was enough to snuff out any words she was trying to say, and if she put the effort in to force anything out the pain that resulted was tremendous.
Roman chuckled as the zipper reached its end, Blake's vest popping open and revealing a lot more than Blake would like, her lacy bra not hiding a whole lot from her torturers. Neo walked up and took her umbrella back, striking the wound on Blake's side with it causing the Huntress to yelp in pain and jerk back from the blow. Neo smiled in amusement as she eyed Blake's exposed chest deviously. Roman stepped back, motioning for Neo to have her turn, Neo gladly accepting as she hooked her fingers under the waistline of Blake's skirt and tugging down slowly while maintaining eye contact with her helpless victim. She grinned as the skirt slid off of Blake's body, revealing a set of panties that matched the faunus girl's bra. Neo strutted around her plaything, running her hand down Blake's leg as she moved behind her, brushing her hand in between her captive's legs and eliciting a surprised gasp from the faunus. Blake tried to choke out the word "stop", but the response from the collar choked back the word before it even started. Neo drew her sword once again, moving it up towards Blake's breasts to cut away the skimpy piece of fabric that held them.
"STOP!" Blake screamed, yelping in pain at the feedback from her collar. Neo frowned, not having been able to cut away her captive's underwear, sheathing her sword and walking away to rest against a nearby wall.
"See, now that wasn't so hard now, was it?" Roman teased, grinning at the girl who was barely holding back from sobbing. He drew the butterfly knife again, shoving it under Blake's rib cage and watching the girl bite back her cries of pain. "This time, the good guys don't win. There's no happily-ever-after. This is my… no, our time. This is when all the bad guys get their payback, and you can't do anything to stop us." Roman twisted the knife out before lighting his lighter and jamming it into the wound, forcing Blake to whimper in pain and eliciting feedback from her collar. "Now you know what it feels like to be on the losing team."
"I see you're enjoying yourself." Kelas said, entering the torture chamber once again, followed by Zynetken. "I wasn't sure if you were capable of such violence. I'm glad to see that you are, we'll need that later."
"Just showing our little kitty cat here that payback can be a real bitch." Roman replied, lighting a cigar with his still bloody lighter.
"Now, on to business." Zynetken cut in, readying his wand and a small clear crystal. "Ms. Belladonna, I'm going to need to extract a teensy piece of your soul for research purposes. I wish I could say it's a painless process… actually, no, I'm quite delighted that it's so painful, but the process will be about 50 times more painful than anything I have put you through so far."
Blake's eyes widened as she struggled again against her bindings, not wanting to endure the torture her captors had planned.
"It's also required that you remain conscious through the entire process… well, that's a lie, we'll be keeping you conscious purely for our own entertainment. Everyone has to take the time to enjoy their job from time to time after all." Zynetken laughed wildly as Kelas moved behind Blake and cast a charm to keep her conscious.
Zynetken didn't give any warning that he was starting. Blake wasn't given a chance to brace herself for the pain that hit her like a freight train, not that she could. Her mind instantly snapped to the point of unconsciousness, only to be jerked straight back to reality and forced to face what was happening. Once the pain actually registered in her mind she let out a blood curtling scream of agony, experiencing the feeling of literally having a piece of her soul torn out. The world looked to be on fire, all sound drowned out by the white noise her mind was generating out of instinct. Every nerve in her body burned with agony from what she was being forced to endure. The ten seconds that the process took seemed to last for days for Blake.
Once it finally ended, Blake couldn't feel anything. She was numb, every muscle in her body being spent. The only thing she could still feel was the burning in her throat from her vocal chords being torn apart in her scream of agony. After a few more seconds, Kelas released the spell and let Blake's consciousness slip away into darkness.
Ruby awoke to the sound of a scream echoing down the hallway. After a couple seconds of listening to the noise, she blanched in realisation of who it was coming from. She panicked, looking for any means of escape she could, not wanting to comprehend what could make a person scream like that. She futilely threw herself against the barrier of her cell but could only do so a few times off of what little energy she had left. All she could do was wait until her captors brought Blake back to her cell to get any idea of what was transpiring. Nearly ten minutes later, the evil entourage returned, tossing a beat up and unconscious Blake back into her cell. Ruby looked worriedly at the wounds covering Blake's body, as well as at the fact that her teammate's vest was left unzipped, before looking up at her captors.
"It's about time we did some research on this one." the mad scientist said as Kelas undid the barrier to Ruby's cell and picked the red girl up.
Ruby was brought to the cubic room where Blake had been tortured, wrists being bound above her and dragged up until only her toes could touch the ground.
"Let's get straight to the point." Zynetken said. "What is your name?"
Ruby felt her collar loosen, signifying that she could answer. "What did you do to Blake?" This earned Ruby a zap in the side, causing her to yelp.
"I'm the one asking questions. What is your name girl?" Zynetken hissed at Ruby.
"Screw you, I'm not say-" Ruby was cut off by another zap to the side, this one more intense and forcing a louder cry of pain from Ruby as a result..
"I'm not here to play games, girl. I'm sure you heard your friend's screams, and rest assured I can put you through much worse should I deem it necessary." the madman lectured. "Now, tell me your name and then we can get on to the interesting stuff."
Ruby stuck her tongue out, still not willing to cooperate. Zynetken zapped the girl, this time extending the duration, letting up after about a minute then raising an eyebrow.
"Ruby Rose." Ruby squeaked out. "That's all you're going to get out of me."
"Thats perfectly fine." Kelas said, malice dripping from his voice as he wrapped his hand around Ruby's neck and squeezed tightly. "From here on it's all for entertainment and science."
Ruby grasped for air, her mind kicking into panic mode at the realisation that there was no way out of this, that she was ultimately going to have to endure what Blake had gone through. Zynetken raised his wand again and fired another spell into Ruby's side, any scream that would come out silenced by the man that was currently choking her. Kelas let go as Zynetken let up on his spell, Ruby gasping for air and sobbing.
"Why… why are you doing this?" Ruby choked out, her defiance starting to fail against the onslaught of her captors' sadism.
Kelas grinned. "We need to research how your powers react under stress, not to mention the entertainment value of torture." He walked around in front of Ruby. "Now, let's dig into that almost pristine mind of yours."
Ruby awoke in a vast green forest, the sun shining directly above in the pristine blue sky. She felt at peace, the forest having an odd comforting effect until she noticed one miniscule detail. She looked around, looking closely at the leaves and grass and clouds. Nothing was moving. There was no wind, no creatures, nothing was alive. She plucked a leaf from the tree and flicked it, but instead of slowly falling to the ground like it should, the leaf seemed to remain suspended in mid-air. Ruby decided to walk into the forest, shouting out in search of anyone that might be there. As she forged ahead, she noticed the forest getting more and more dense. She decided that it was a bad idea to go anywhere too shadowy, so she did a 180 and walked back the way she came, but the forest only continued to grow more dense.
Ruby was a smart girl, so she decided to test what was going on. She picked a tree and walked in a circle around it, observing as the forest passing by her view appeared to grow even more dense as she walked. She moved closer to her tree so that her shoulder was touching, closed her eyes, and stuck her other arm out. She walked around the tree, not breaking or adjusting her position, three more times, stopping as her hand made contact with something on her third time around. She looked to her left, now face to face with a tree that was no more than arm's length away. Looking around, she saw that all of the trees were no further apart than the two she was standing next to, as well as the fact that it was almost pitch black due to the sun not being able to pierce the canopy.
Ruby pressed her back to the tree she had been walking around, not willing to take her eyes off the tree in front of her. She caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of her eye, head snapping to the left, her hand instinctively reaching to her back for Crescent Rose but finding the weapon absent. She gulped, scanning around herself carefully. She saw something move off to her side again, head snapping in the direction of the movement only to have her attention caught by the tree in front of her. An ashen and featureless face was emerging from the trunk of the tree in front of her. She screamed and tried to run only to find that the tree she had been leaning against had wrapped itself around her, securing her solidly in place. The figure continued to emerge from the tree in front of her, revealing long bony arms with hands ending in clawed fingers reaching towards her. A hole opened in the center of where the creature's face should've been, Ruby screaming loudly as she was swallowed up by darkness.
Ruby stood in what to looked to be a destroyed city. She stood in the middle of a large road, derelict buildings lining either side of the road and a pristine white figure standing a few hundred feet away.
"Ruby!" the figure called out, waving and running towards her. The voice belonged to Weiss, but when Ruby tried to wave and call back nothing happened. Her body wouldn't move, no noise would come out of her mouth.
"Ruby, it's me!" Weiss called out. Ruby tried again, but she only stood there like a statue. Ruby saw a shadowy specter rise from the ground behind Weiss, half a dozen more emerging from the destroyed buildings shortly after. Ruby tried to warn Weiss, but could only watch as the first specter slashed the white girl across the back, Weiss tripping and falling from the blow. Weiss got up, watching as the specters danced through the air around her.
"Ruby! Ruby, help me!" Weiss screamed as the specters each raised a clawed hand, the claws extending and impaling Weiss from every direction, Ruby forced to watch in horror as her partner was murdered in front of her. One of the specters flew up to Ruby, it's featureless face in clear view as it touched her in the forehead with a clawed finger before disappearing into shadows along with its ghostly comrades.
Ruby felt control return to her body, dashing off immediately to catch her partner before she could hit the ground. "Ruby…" the dying body of Weiss wheezed out, "why didn't you save me?" Ruby tried to respond, unable to through her sobs. "Why didn't you save me?" Weiss whispered one last time before her breathing stopped. Ruby screamed, not being able to bear her partner dying in her arms.
Ruby looked up to find herself in an expanse of darkness, tears still streaming down her cheeks but her lover missing from her arms. In front of her floated one of the specters, it's featureless face trained on her own.
"So strong… yet so fragile…" a whispering voice resonated throughout the expanse. "The mortal heart… such an easy tool to manipulate." Ruby closed her eyes, not wanting to endure this nightmare anymore.
"Ruby." a vaguely familiar voice called out. "Ruby Rose. It's alright now, you're safe." The voice was soft and warm. Ruby opened her eyes to find a woman in a red cloak standing in front of her. She looked up, staring at the woman's long red hair and silver eyes. "You're safe now, Ruby. You don't have to be afraid anymore."
Tears welled up in Ruby's eyes, unable to hold back the flood of emotion that was hitting her. "M-m-m… Mom?" Ruby choked out through her tears.
"Yes, Ruby, it's me." The woman said softly. "I'm here, it's all over now."
"B-b-b-but how? Y-you…" Ruby's tears we're coming faster now.
"It's alright, Ruby." The woman moved closer to Ruby. "I'm here now, you don't have to be afraid."
Ruby lunged in and hugged the woman tightly, weeping openly into her mother's shoulder. Everything about the woman, from the sound of her voice to the scent of her perfume, was exactly as Ruby remembered it. Ruby didn't know whether to cry or cheer in joy. Ruby hugged her mother tighter, eyes snapping open in shock when she felt a warm liquid coming from the woman's back. She recoiled in horror, looking down at her own red-stained hands, then back up at her mother who was now bleeding profusely from a hole in her abdomen.
"What's wrong, Ruby? Did I say something wrong? I'm here now, sweetie, please tell me what's wrong?" the woman approached Ruby, trying to embrace the terrified girl.
"N-n-no, you're n-not real." Ruby stumbled back, losing her grasp on her sanity. "You're not real, you died, you left me. You're not real, none of this is real! WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME?!" Ruby screamed, dropping into a fetal position and blacking out.
Ruby awoke with a scream of terror, looking straight at the grinning face of Kelas, his blood red eyes leveled off with her silver ones. "Y-you…" Ruby burst into tears, no longer able to control herself. "Please, no more…" she choked out in between sobs.
"We're not even close to the end yet." Kelas chuckled loudly, moving towards the exit of the room. "I've had a wonderful idea of what we can do next, so don't go anywhere." he exited the room, leaving Ruby alone with her tears.
Blake awoke to the shock of icy cold water being splashed in her face. She noticed immediately that she was back in her cell, arms bound tightly behind her again. She looked across to Ruby's cell, finding it empty before looking up at her captor.
"I'm afraid I'll need the other part of you to continue my experiments." Kelas said maliciously. "You're welcome to watch while I work, or rather you'll be forced to watch as you torture your friend against your will. Let's not keep her waiting now." Kelas picked up Blake, hauling her back to the torture chamber where Ruby still hung by her wrists, face soaked with tears. Kelas snapped his fingers in front of Blake's face before setting her down. "Who's will do you serve?" Kelas asked simply.
"No, I won't…" Blake growled in defiance as she felt her control slipping away.
"You serve the will of The Darkness. You will obey." Kelas stated as if it were a fact.
"No…" Blake choked out as the last bit of control she had slipped away. After a moment of silence, the girl that used to be Blake looked up at her new master, the look in her eyes tainted with a feral gleam. "What is your will, my master?"
Kelas grinned and pointed to the red haired girl suspended in the center of the room. "You are to cause her pain, without mercy but without killing her." The hopeless silver eyes of one huntress met the feral amber eyes of the other. "You will continue until I tell you to stop, anything else is at your discretion. Understood?" He waved his hand, the bindings around Blake dissipating.
"Yes, master." Blake stood, taking her dust-enhanced offhand blade which was handed to her by Kelas, flames shimmering to life around the blade.
Ruby's eyes widened as her friend approached. "B-Blake, what are you doing?" The faunus girl grinned, not slowing her approach. "Blake, you don't have to do this, please!" Blake slashed the blade across Ruby's side, the burning weapon causing Ruby to scream and tear up once again. "Blake, please! Snap out of it, you don't have to this! Please, Blake!" The faunus tore a piece of Ruby's top away from her back, pressing the flat of the flaming blade behind Ruby's shoulder. Ruby screamed from the pain, tears flowing down her face faster than ever.
"I'm so sorry, Ruby." was all Blake could think as she was forced to watch herself torture her friend and leader. Blake removed the blade from Ruby's shoulder before jabbing it into the girl's unwounded flank from behind, leaving the blade in to sear the flesh before twisting it and ripping it out to prevent any cauterization. She ran the tip of the blade down Ruby's spine, only leaving a shallow cut but drawing it down slowly to extend the pain. Walking back around Ruby, Blake grabbed the girl's face, holding her blade up to it and letting the flames singe the pale flesh before pressing the flat of the blade against the base of the girl's neck and grinning at the scream she earned.
The possessed faunus girl chuckled, moving the blade to the collar of Ruby's top, cutting through slowly and letting the tip of her blade graze through Ruby's skin. "Please… no." Ruby managed to choke out between sobs, but Blake only grinned and slowly started pushing the blade into Ruby's chest. She pulled the blade out, brushing the flat of the burning weapon over Ruby's now exposed breasts, grinning wider with every shriek of pain she got from the younger girl. Blake brought the blade up to her leader's neck, drawing a shallow cut all the way around before leaning in and tasting the blood which dripped from the wound. She backed off to admire her handiwork, looking over the sobbing girl carefully before Zynetken returned to the room.
"That's enough." Kelas said, rematerializing the bindings as Blake returned to his side before letting her out of the trance. "Is it ready?"
"Is it ready?" Zynetken echoed. "Of course it's ready, why would I be here if it wasn't ready?"
"Then let's get started." Kelas said, moving behind Ruby and casting a charm to keep her conscious. Blake tried to protest for her partner's sake but found her voice silenced once again by her collar.
Ruby hadn't felt anywhere near that much pain. Even though her body, heart, and mind had been relentlessly tortured the entire night, all of that felt like child's play once her captors began their latest activity. Suddenly she knew what had caused her friend to scream so loudly, and she couldn't help but do the same. Ten seconds later it was over, Ruby left sobbing uncontrollably and Blake curled in the corner trying not to think about what was happening. Kelas let go of his charm and let Ruby slip into unconsciousness before casting a spell to knock Blake out and returning the two girls to their cells.
Kelas stretched, leaning against the wall of his underling's underground office. "Two pristine soul samples and a night's worth of exquisite torture? Reminds me of when we still had interesting things to do back home." He started walking to the door. "Let me know when you've finished analyzing those, I have plans to formulate."
"Yes, yes." The scientist said, hardly paying attention. "Go play with your mortals while I do my research. Things run smoother that way."
Kelas exited the room, walking down the long hallway, sparing a single glance down the intersecting hall where his captives' cells lay, before continuing up the stairs and back into the warehouse.
A/N: Chapter postings are probably going to slow down after this as what I've posted catches up to what I've written due to school and life. Thank you for reading and please review!