Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or any references in this story. I would like to thank the RWBY Wiki for their informative website, which was beneficial in developing this story. Basically I decided to write my first fan fiction from a first-person perspective. This is merely for entertainment purposes only. Enjoy.
Also, before we begin Chapter 13, I'd like to announce that I've decided to do a Questions and Answers part at the end of the Carbon series. Ask me anything about the story, me, future stories, etc. There's no limit per person. Just leave questions in the reviews section or you can send them to me in a private message. I'll make sure to answer all of them once the series is complete.
With that out of the way, enjoy the chapter!
I quickly come to after being ejected from the gunship in the crash. I may have only been unconscious for a moment or two, but time is very precious at the moment. If Ulysses was telling the truth, then I need to get Blake proper first-aid quickly, or I'm gonna loose her.
As I scramble to my feet, I look and see the gunship stripped of it's wings. Pain begins to surge through my body, but I do my best to ignore it. I quickly run towards the cockpit as I unsling Bangalore from my back. As I climb onto the glass, I fire a shot at it, causing it to shatter and coat the seats with shards of glass. Diving into the vehicle's cabin, I find Blake still strapped to her seat, amazingly unscathed. I run over to her, unstrap the restraints, and hold her in my arms.
"I've got you, Baby Girl...I've got you." I say as I carefully carry her out of the wreckage in a bridal carry, and lay her against a tree nearby. I kneel next to her and reach into my pocket to retrieve the syringe Ulysses gave me, but only to be met with shards of glass cutting into my hand. 'No...No...NO! There's no way we'll make it to Beacon in time without an injection. We've gotta go back and get more.'
Just then, the sound of another gunship is heard approaching. I have no time to hide Blake, so I have to leave her to bait the attackers in and get the drop on them.
"You're gonna be okay, Blake. Just stay with me." I say as I kiss her on the lips and stand up to face the gunship. Just as it comes into view, I activate my semblance to become invisible, and dash towards the crash site. Just as I do so, the gunship lands.
I watch from my position as the side doors open, and a man dressed in a white suit comes walking out with about four White Fang soldiers in tow. I know that has to be Roman, because I can still see the damage I caused to his face back at Beacon. The five of them begin to search the crash site for me, and one of the soldiers spots Blake.
"I've got one!" The soldier yells as he jogs towards her. Roman begins to laugh as he looks over and sees her.
"Oh hello, kitty. It's been a while since you got in the way of my last dust heist."
Just as Roman begins to taunt Blake, I seek up behind one of the soldiers at Roman's 7 o' clock, and bash him over the head with my baton, while maintaining my invisibility. I decide to quietly climb up into a tree and get an angle on two other soldiers standing at Roman's left and right. As I get into position, I put my baton away and draw my pistol. I take aim at the soldiers from their 2 o' clock, and take the shot. *BANG* *BANG* Both shots land on target, and both soldiers go down before Roman can react. He quickly shouts to the soldier standing near Blake.
"W-where did that come from?!" he exclaims.
"I dunno–" He quickly scans the area, and spots the leaves rustling where I'm hidden "–THERE!" He shouts as he points at my position. That's when Roman raises his cane, takes aim with the built-in targeting sight, and takes a shot. I manage to dive out of the tree in time and roll to the ground as the tree explodes into nothing more than splinters..
"Roman Torchwick...It's lovely to see you again" I call out with a sarcastic and taunting tone, while remaining hidden.
"W-who are you?!" He responds.
"Oh, don't you remember me?" I say as I deactivate my semblance about 20 feet away, directly in front of him. "I'm the guy that gave you that makeover during your time at Beacon" as I give him a taunting grin. Out of anger, he takes aim and shoots again, but I manage to roll out of the way and activate my semblance once again.
"You're gonna have to go better than that." I say as I run up behind the last White Fang soldier, and wrap my baton around his neck, deactivate my semblance, and hold him hostage as I drag him away from Blake to keep her out of the line of fire.
"Ugh! Roman, help!" The soldier calls out.
"Get out of the way then you stupid mutt!"Roman yells back as he aims his cane at us.
"H-he's...choking...me! The soldier says as he struggles to breathe.
Roman lowers his cane and lets out a sigh."Why do I have to keep working with these idiots?" he says as he raises his cane again and shoots. Just as I see the projectile come screaming at us, I release my grip, kick the soldier forward, activate my semblance, and dive out of the way.
"NOOOOOO!" *BOOM* The soldier screams at the top of his lungs as he disappears in a blinding inferno, leaving only a ring of scorched earth where he once stood.
Roman growls out of frustration. "Alright solider boy, where did you go?" He asks sarcastically with a hint of irritation and fear.
"Right here." I say as I reveal myself once again, but standing directly in front of him, just out of arms reach. On reflex, he quickly takes a swing at me with his cane, but I manage to block the swing with my baton, use my right hand to grab his attacking arm, strike him hard across his midsection, follow up by disarming him with a wrist strike as I tear his cane out of his grip, and kick him in the chest to knock him back about five feet.
As he stumbles back from being stunned, I look down at his cane in admiration. "Hmm...not bad." I then throw it off the side. From there, I collapse my baton and holster it. Roman looks at me with a surprised expression as I raise my fists and get into a boxing stance.
"Oh, so we're gonna play like that now, huh?" He says as he charges forward. As he takes multiple swings at me, I grab both his hands, lock his left elbow over his right, then twist using momentum to slam him to the ground. Just then, he scissor kicks up towards his head and nails me in the face, causing me to release his grip and stumble back. As I do so, he scrambles to his feet and comes at me again.
He takes another swing at me, but I manage to grab a tight grip on his wrist, and follow up with a side kick to the ribcage. *CRACK* I hear the sound of his ribs breaking, and he yells out in pain. He begins to stumble back from the strike, and suddenly trips on a piece of debris and falls flat on his back. He suddenly goes silent and doesn't move. As a precaution, I draw my pistol, take aim, and slowly advance towards him.
"What's the matter Roman? Cat got yo–" My remark being cut off at the sight of a piece of steel sticking out of his mouth. He must have fell back on it and it went right through his neck, killing him instantly. "–Well then..." I kneel down next to him to search his pockets, and I manage to find the keys to the gunship.
I grab the keys, run back to Blake, and carry her to the gunship. I rest her down in the passenger seat in the cockpit, and I turn over the engines. As we begin to take off, I notice Blake beginning to slowly wake up. We look to each other, and I smile to her.
"How you holding up, sweetheart?" I ask her, but she doesn't respond. She only gives a weak smile, but it soon turns to an expression of horror and terror, and that begins to worry me. "Blake? You okay? It's me, Shane." She suddenly begins to scream like a banshee.
"GET AWAY FROM ME! NO! NO! NO!" as she huddles in the chair in fear, with tears building up in her bright amber eyes. 'Damn it, she's already starting to hallucinate! I gotta find another dust syringe and fast!'
I continue to fly back to the White Fang Stronghold as quickly as I can. "Blake, it's me. You're just hallucinating. You're gonna be alright. I need to to stay wi–" I notice she's unconscious again, "–Blake? Blast!" I say out of frustration. A short time later, we arrive. As we fly into the compound, I can see that Ulysses has been busy; Almost every building and exterior wall is coated with blood and gore.
We touch down at an outdoor landing pad, just outside the Left Wing. As I carry Blake in the Firefighter Carry and enter the building, I see Cinder pinned to a wall with her own severed legs impaled through her chest. 'Better her than me.' As I progress further into the Left Wing, the stench of blood and death is borderline unbearable. Walking along a long narrow hallway, I notice the walls are stained with blood, bodies and limbs riddled across the floor.
Suddenly, I'm taken by surprise by a groan in agony. I look to see a White Fang soldier laying in a pool of his own blood, and his severed arms by his side.
"P...p...please. Help me..." He says faintly. I cautiously draw my pistol and take aim at him.
"What happened here?"
"U..Ulysses. He...killed us. Please...end...my...pain." He says, barely able to remain focused due to shock and blood loss. I nod to him and take aim at his head. *BANG* I shoot him and end his suffering. After that, we continue along the hallway a short distance before arriving at the door to the lab. I attempt to open the door.
"Access denied. Identification required" a robotic voice says.
"Damn it. Gonna have to find an ID card then." I say to myself as I gently lay Blake down with her back against the wall. "I'll be back for you Blake, I promise."
From there, I move down the hall towards the Main Foyer, only to find even more gore and bloodshed than before. As I enter the room with my gun aimed and ready, I see corpses impaled on walls and piled in corners, limbs scattered across the floor, and internal organs peeling off the ceiling. 'Jeez, I know the White Fang is bad, but these guys didn't deserve to die like this' I think to myself as I cautiously step over the bodies and check the main desk for a key card. Luckily I find one laying on the blood soaked desk, and I dash back to Blake with it in hand. As I arrive, I swipe the keycard.
"Access granted." the robotic voice says as the door opens.
I pick up Blake in a bridal carry, and head into the lab. As I enter, I'm surprised to see the room is completely untouched. Upon laying Blake across one of the empty tables, I begin to turn the place upside down in search for red dust and syringes, but to no avail. I look to see a file laying on a desk just across the room, so I run over to it to read it.
"Genesis III Project. Grimm blood. Dust injections...Poseidon." From there, I begin to tear the cabinets apart in an effort to look for the chemical. After nearly a minute of searching, I come across an auto-injector filled with magenta colored dust inside. I turn it to its side to read the label. 'Poseidon...that has to be it!'
I quickly run over to Blake to see that her breathing is very weak. With the injector in hand, I look to it, "Please God, let this work!" I whisper as I jab it into Blake's thigh and give her the dose. I hold it in place for about ten seconds before pulling it out and toss it aside. After a few seconds, I hear her breathing beginning to get stronger. "Come on, Blake. Come back to me..." I whisper to her.
Suddenly, somebody grabs me from behind, catching me off guard.
"You!" is what I hear as I'm thrown across the room like a rag doll. As I scramble to my feet in an attempt to recover, I look up and see Ulysses in his Grimm form.
"Ulysses? What are you doing?!" I shout to him as he begins to approach me with death in his eyes.
"I can't... Ughhh–" Ulysses collapses to one knee and puts his hands on his head; harshly clawing at himself. He slowly looks up with eyes filled with evil and despair. "–I can't let you do this." he says as he draws his bow and equips an arrow.
"Why are you doing this?! I just want to help Blake!" Ulysses stands up and pulls the bow string back.
"Its not about Blake anymore..." he says as he releases his grip on the arrow and to comes flying at me.
"GAH!" I cry out in agony as the cold steel of his arrow pierces my shoulder and pins me to the wall. "THEN WHAT IS IT?!" as I look at him in anger. "What about when you said that you hope we can see eye-to-eye as comrades?!" Just then, Ulysses dashes forward and tightly wraps his hands around my neck.
"I lost the person I love!" He shouts, "I will complete her mission even if it means ripping your throat out!" He begins to bite his lower lip and his eyes start to water. 'The Grimm Blood must controlling him.' By now, I'm beginning to choke, but still able to speak.
"I...know...what that's like! I've lost brothers in arms! I was a soldier, just like you, and I lost all my closest friends in the blink of an eye!"
"I... I have nothing left–" as he tightens his grip on my neck. "How could you know!? My Mom is dead, Adam is gone, I slaughtered hundreds of Faunus just to save her, and now she's dead too. How could you honestly know!?"
"Ulysses, you have to ask yourself; would she want you to do this?! Would she want you to mindlessly kill just to do something that doesn't require bloodshed?!" A moment later, Ulysses's grip on me loosens as a tear begins its trek down his face.
"No... she wouldn't–" Ulysses looks down at the ground, takes a deep breath and raises his head revealing his eyes turning to a hazel eye color followed by his teeth returning to normal, then his hair changing to a light gray color. "–I'm sorry, Shane..."
I carefully raise my hand and rest it on his shoulder. "Ulysses...it's okay. Let's make a deal here, since I've already given Blake the antidote; You help me get her out of here, and I'll help you destroy the lab. Sound good?"
"No...the White Fang will only come after you...she needs to die." He responds as he reaches into his quiver and pulls out his last arrow.
"Ulysses...come on man. Look outside, nearly living soul in this base has been wiped out. The White Fang is finished. There's still a chance for Humans and the Faunus to live together in harmony. Think about it, you and I can be the first step in making that possible. Isn't that what you want? I'm sure your friend would want that. Even Blake and I want to see that day come."
Ulysses drops the arrow. "Amber wanted the same thing...peace." 'Amber? Must be the Undercover Officer Donovan mentioned. I guess that explains why she went dark...' I think to myself as Ulysses releases his grip on my neck completely and takes a few steps back. He looks down at his hands and falls to his knees. "What have I become...?"
"I don't know man, but I know this, you can become a hero in the eyes of the people."
"It's too late, I'm already a monster." as he looks up at me with his eyes red once more.
"Ulysses, listen to me. You're not a monster, you're a warrior, and a damn good one. If we work together and secure peace for our races, they will not look at you that way. They will see you and I as heroes. Just the two of us, no politicians or money changing hands, just two soldiers...two warriors speaking the truth." Ulysses walks towards the arrow laying at my feet and picks it up.
"She would've liked you... Amber... you and her share the same idea of peace–" Ulysses looks back at Blake and stares at her for a few seconds. "–In the end though. I'm a monster not a warrior, remember that." He then grabs the arrow that's impaled in my shoulder. "When the Dust wears out. I won't be able to control it" he says as he somehow ignites the arrow, causing it to burst into a low flame and turn to ash, releasing me.
"You're a warrior and a person in my eyes, mate. Remember that." as I step forward from the wall and apply pressure on my bleeding shoulder. He doesn't respond. Instead he turns his head away from me.
"Get out... I'm burning this place to the ground."
"Alright–" as I pat him on the shoulder and run over to Blake. I grab my pistol, holster it, then pick up Blake in a pack strap carry. As I carry her to the door, I turn around to face Ulysses. "–And thank you. Maybe someday our paths will cross again." He turns around and smiles to me, and I smile back in return before turning and hurrying out into the blood soaked hallway, then head for the landing pad.
When Blake and I get aboard the gunship and in the air, I look back to see that whole facility go up in flames and explode. 'I hope he got out of there in time' I think to myself as I set a course for Beacon.
*VERY IMPORTANT NOTE:
Next week is when I will be releasing the FINAL chapter of RWBY: Carbon.
This is also a friendly reminder that I have a Q&A planned to be released shortly after the final chapter. So far...I have NOT received any questions. In short, if you want to ask me any questions, please leave them in the Reviews section, or PM them to me.
I look forward to releasing the final chapter next week, and I hope you guys enjoy it. Have a good week, and until then, farewell...