Trick or Treat, bitches! It's Halloween! Hope you all enjoyed the first episode of RWBY Volume 3 and are enjoying Halo 5: Guardians as well. As promised, I will take the time to answer some questions left in the reviews. FanFictionHunter: I don't plan on having the Grif Shot replicated at this moment in time but that may change, just don't hold your breath. Thaqif: I don't know what 'Fairy Tail' is and I will only be writing fics on franchises I'm comfortable with and know enough about. For a list of fics I intend to do, see my profile page. As for your second question, I feel like while both Felix and Torchwick have something in common, Felix is way more of a dick about it. Before we get started, I feel like there is something I should tell you guys. I may not update next week as it's Blizzcon on November 6th-7th. I will try, but thought I should tell you in case I don't. Also, some people may find this chapter a bit...disturbing. Now, on with the show!
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Chapter 5- Hunting the Truth
Night had fallen over the city of Armonia. The once crowded city was now being tended to by the night shift, a handful of guards who ensured that peace was kept while the soldiers of Chorus slept. The only noise was the scuffling of feet and the chirping of crickets. Ruby quietly wandered the streets, looking around for any sign of a patrol. Content that they were alone, she let out a single whistle. Yang and Weiss left the shadows and joined Ruby, who pointed towards a large building being guarded by two heavily armoured New Republic soldiers. The building was large with multiple antennae on the roof and in bold white writing was the word 'SECURITY'.
"That must be the place!" Weiss whispered, pointing to said building.
"Really? What gave it away?" Yang whispered sarcastically. She was convinced that her team mates were being paranoid but came along anyway. The team had nearly been torn apart before because of something as silly as a different opinion on a matter, she'd be damned if she was the cause of a second break-up.
"Quiet you!" Weiss hissed, glaring daggers at Yang as she spoke.
"How do we get in? We can't just knock the guards out, the entire city will be after us!" Ruby asked, scanning the building with her eyes.
Weiss narrowed her eyes as she also searched the building for a weak spot of any sort.
"A building this large must have a ventilation shaft of some form..." Weiss deducted, scanning the building for any grated panels. She continued to search, until something caught her eye in the middle of the buildings left side. "Found it!" Weiss whispered, pointing to the shaft while Ruby and Yang followed her finger.
"How the hell do we get up there!" Yang asked, making sure to keep her voice low. The ventilation shaft was too high up to jump but there was no leverage nearby to aid in the jump.
"You could lift us up there." Weiss retorted.
"Then how do I get up there?" Yang asked more exasperated.
"We'll figure something out!" Weiss replied.
"What about those crates?" Ruby asked, pointing to a pile of crates that were stacked nearby. The crates looked high enough for them to jump on and then subsequently reach the ventilation shaft.
"I would just like to say that none of us saw those until Ruby pointed it out..." Yang said, causing Weiss to nod in agreement.
"Come on!" Ruby whispered. The huntresses stuck to the shadows to draw little attention to themselves. After taking multiple diversions, the huntresses were on the left side of the building near the crates and shaft.
"You think you can lift these?" Weiss asked, turning to Yang who merely smirked.
"About time! You know what they say, good things come to those who weight!" Yang said, laughing to herself until she saw everyone staring at her with an unamused look.
"Really Yang?" Ruby asked, raising an eyebrow at her sisters terrible pun.
"Yeah..." Yang groaned, sheepishly smiling as Weiss and Ruby continued to stare at her. "I'll just...move the crates."
Yang walked towards the crate and grabbed both ends. The crate didn't look too heavy, she would have it moved in no time. She lifted the crate...and nearly buckled under its weight. Every muscle in her body tensed as she barely managed to lift the crate off the floor.
'Why is...this...so damn...heavy!' Yang thought to herself. She'd never had a problem with heavy lifting before, she'd lifted heavier things on her own without the aid of her semblance! What was wrong with this place? Eventually, she managed to move the crate up against the wall, stopping to take deep breaths while also massaging her joints.
"Are you okay?" Ruby asked, her face wrought with worry. Weiss had also noticed and gave Yang a questioning look.
"I'm fine...just a...little out of...breath." Yang reassured. Finding out about Blake was more important then figuring out her semblance problem.
Yang jumped onto the crate and grabbed the vent grating and pulled, ripping it off while also causing a large amount of noise. The huntresses tensed up as they heard the guards move slightly.
"What was that?!" one of them shouted.
"Relax, probably just a rat." the second replied.
"This place is a military grade security compound! What type of rat makes that much noise?" the first one asked.
"Space rats?" the second replied, seemingly unsure of his own answer.
"I can buy that..." the first one eventually said after a short silence.
The huntresses breathed out a sigh of relief as Yang climbed into the vent, followed by Weiss and Ruby.
"Oh god, this place smells like the old Schnee factories!" Weiss said in disgust, gagging at the horrific stench.
"It smells like Zwei after he's been out in the rain!" Ruby complained, pinching her nose to block out the smell.
"Weiss, stop brushing my leg! It's really distracting!" Yang said as the huntresses continued crawling.
"What are you talkin- wait, something just touched my hand!" Weiss said, freezing almost immediately. The huntresses all stopped and stared at Weiss' hand. In front of Weiss was a large, reptilian looking rodent with sharp dagger like teeth and blood red eyes.
"SPACE RAT!" the huntresses screamed, crawling faster to get away from the extraterrestrial rodent. The huntresses continued to crawl until a loud groaning sound erupted under Yang.
"Uh oh..." Yang muttered, before the vent gave way to their combined weight.
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A pair of Fed technicians sat monitoring the multiple radio frequencies in and around Armonia, checking for anything unusual. Suddenly, a dull thud was heard outside the room.
"You hear something?" one of them asked, turning to his partner.
"Huh?" the second muttered, barely turning from his screen.
"never mind..." the first fed said, focusing his attention back on the monitor.
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"Phew, that was close." Yang sighed, brushing dust off her clothes. Weiss shuddered as she wiped her hand on a nearby rag, trying to burn the image of the horrific rodent out of her mind.
"At least we're inside the compound." Ruby said, looking around before turning to Weiss. "Now what?"
"We need to find the camera feeds for the city, that way we can find out what really happened!" Weiss said, turning to face a door that led into a corridor. Yang and Ruby followed Weiss through the door and entered a long corridor that seemed to span on endlessly.
"This place is a lot bigger on the inside..." Yang whispered, looking at each individual door.
"It'll take hours to search this place, who knows how many levels of this place there are!" Weiss complained, raising her hands exasperatedly.
"Hey Weiss, what room did you say we were looking for?" Ruby asked.
"The camera feeds, it's most likely in a room with the word 'video' or something on the door." Weiss replied, still stunned at the amount of effort it would take to search the complex.
"You mean like this one?" Ruby asked. Weiss turned to Ruby who was pointing at a door that read 'Security Feed Storage'. Weiss just stared, gob smacked at how simple it was to find the room.
"Oh..." Weiss muttered as she walked towards the door and opened it.
"That was a bit anti-climatic..." Yang said as she followed Weiss and Ruby.
The huntresses closed the door behind them and stared at the room. The room was a mess with multiple monitors showcasing the cities night life which to say the least, was pretty dull. Attached to the monitors was a computer which had been left on. Weiss hesitantly approached the console and began searching through the documents, until she came across a document entitled 'video feeds'.
"Found it!" Weiss whispered, clicking it and scrolling through the documents. She came across the most resent entry entitled '28/10/2558'. "Lets see what they're hiding..."
Upon opening the document, she was greeted by multiple video documents.
"They said they found us at the western entrance, search for that." Ruby said, everyone's attention drawn to the console. Weiss scrolled through the documents until she found a video feed entitled 'Western Gate Camera Feed'.
"Everyone ready?" Weiss whispered, turning to her friends. Ruby and Yang nodded in response. "Okay, here it goes." Weiss said, as she clicked the document. The screen immediately changed to that of grainy video footage. They could make out a Fed and a Republican standing guard outside the gate.
"Hey." the Fed said.
"Yeah?" the Republican replied.
"You ever wonder why we're here?"
"Can we, like, just skip this bit?" Yang asked.
"No..." Weiss sighed as the conversation continued unabated.
Yang groaned in defeat as the huntresses continued to watch the feed. The conversation drew out for some time until the soldiers began to act panicked. This caught the huntresses attention almost immediately. In the far corner of the screen, a bright white light appeared. Seconds later. Another much closer to the gate appeared. The huntresses narrowed their eyes as smoke and dust filled the screen. The dust settled, revealing three forms laying motionlessly in a small crater.
"That's us..." Ruby said "But where's Blake?"
Weiss sighed in defeat while Yang looked on, a small frown on her face. Ruby eventually caught on as a small tear escaped her eyes.
"They were telling the truth, weren't they?" she asked, turning to face her sister and partner.
"I'm sorry Ruby..." Yang said apologetically, embracing her sister in a hug.
"We should leave, it'll be dawn soon..." Weiss finally said. Yang and Ruby nodded and turned to leave the room.
"WARNING! SECURITY FEED STORAGE ENTERING LOCK-DOWN!" a synthesised female voice announced, startling the huntresses.
"What?" Yang asked, a puzzled look on her face.
A loud grinding noise caught their attention as a large and thick metal slab descended from the top of the door. The door shut with a hissing noise as Yang began to bang on the door, but her hits were doing more damage to herself than the door.
"Open up!" Yang shouted, delivering a large and powerful punch to the door. She screamed in pain as her fist resounded off the door. Yang grabbed her hand and looked to see her knuckles were bleeding, a visible blood print on the door.
"Yang!" Ruby shouted, rushing to her sisters side. She stared at her sisters hand as her eyes widened in horror. "Why isn't your Aura working?" she asked, as she began to wipe the blood off her knuckle.
"I...I don't know..." Yang replied.
The three huntresses looked worriedly at the door. They knew a response team would be arriving soon, and they dreaded the consequences.
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Blake struggled to keep her eyes open. She dug her nails into the palm of her hands, knowing loosing consciousness could result in death. Yet despite the fact she was drawing blood, the pain was nothing but a dull sensation in contrast to the pain already inflicted. Her hands had been cuffed to a chain dangling from the ceiling, multiple bruises and cuts ran across her body. She could barely stand, the only support coming from the chain over her head. She weakly turned her head towards Torchwick. He too was restrained in the same fashion, the only difference being that he hadn't been tortured...yet. For the first time in her life, Blake thought she could see fear in his eyes.
She turned her attention back to their 'host', the one the others called 'Locus'. He was wiping blood off his armoured hands before he picked up a crude looking blade.
"I'm going to ask you one last time and this time, you will answer me!" he said, turning to face Blake. His voice certainly matched both his appearance and personality. He reminded Blake of one of the higher ranker members of the White Fang who had nearly killed Weiss on the train so many weeks ago.
He placed the tip of the knife against her left arm before grabbing the back of her head. "Who are you?" he asked, more menacingly than before. Blake remained silent, earning a groan from Locus. She felt the blade enter her flesh and get pulled out almost as quickly as it entered. She bit her lips to stop herself from screaming in pain. She knew Locus was going for wounds that would maim or seriously injure rather than kill.
"This is all on you!" Locus said, pointing the knife at her before cleaning the blade. "I gave you the chance to surrender information willingly yet instead you chose the hard path! And even then, after all the pain I've inflicted, you still refuse to answer my question!" Locus then let out a humourless laugh. "I admire that..."
Blake would have said something snide in response, but she was just too tired. She knew her Aura would heal her wounds in time, but something was wrong with it. Ever since she arrived on this planet, her Aura had been acting up. So instead, she chose to remain silent as Locus turned his attention to Torchwick.
"Perhaps you will be more accommodating..." Locus said, walking towards Torchwick whilst he twirled the knife in his hand.
"Look pal, I think we started off on the wrong foot here!" Torchwick pleaded as Locus continued to move towards him.
"You can say that again..." Jackson muttered, earning a few laughs from the two Space Pirates either side of him. Locus shot the pair a look and they silenced themselves almost immediately.
"You see, if you look at it through my perspective, we are the same!" Torchwick continued. Locus stopped in his tracks as the Pirates looked at one another in surprise. Locus seemed to be actually considering the statement, causing Torchwick to smile in slight relief. Then, fast as lightning, Locus grabbed Torchwick by his head and dug the knife into his throat.
"We are nothing alike!" Locus seethed, digging the knife deeper into Torchwick's throat.
"Not in that sense! What I meant was we're both men of business!" Torchwick managed to say, a look of fear in his eyes. Locus dug slightly lighter than before but the knife drew blood regardless.
"Then start talking!" Locus demanded.
"I can clearly see that your little operation here isn't entirely legal!" Torchwick said, catching Locus off guard slightly.
"What do you mean?" Locus demanded, releasing Torchwick from his grip as he lowered the knife.
"Your armour and weaponry, while military grade, is clearly lacking on form of sigil usually associated with military uniform. Not to mention how few of you there are!" Torchwick said, clearly having some form of control now. Blake judged from the reactions of the Space Pirates that his assumption was correct. "I can offer you men and women who will gladly fight for you!"
"Your men are savages!" Locus countered, his grip on the knife tightening.
"True, but it would be pretty foolish of you to turn down an offer of help now, wouldn't it?" Torchwick replied. The Pirates exchanged glances before Locus turned his attention back to Torchwick.
"And what can you, specifically, offer?" Locus asked.
"Information, for a price of course." Torchwick smugly replied.
"What sort of information?" Locus asked yet again.
"Who we are, how we got here and most importantly, information on her and her friends!" Torchwick replied, pointing at Blake.
"What are you talking about?" Locus demanded.
"We weren't the only ones that got caught up in our 'situation'." Torchwick said. "And I can guarantee you that her friends were not only caught in the blast that sent us here, but are searching for her as we speak!"
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Ruby still sat, tending to Yangs hand whilst Weiss continued to search for a way out.
"It's hopeless Weiss, there isn't a way out of here." Yang said, wincing slightly as Ruby dabbed her knuckle slightly.
"Not through brute strength maybe, but brain is better than brawn!" Weiss said as she continued to search the room. Eventually, her eyes caught a small control panel that clearly hadn't been used for some time.
"What is it?" Ruby asked, turning to face Weiss.
"A control panel of some form! If I can access it..." Weiss started, before clicking on multiple buttons.
"What are you doing?" Yang questioned, getting up to watch Weiss.
"If I can access the wire feed for the blast door I might be able to-"
The panel suddenly lit up a bright red whilst the words 'ACCESS DENIED' flashed on the screen.
"What the...that shouldn't have happened!" Weiss said, clearly surprised. "Some thing's blocking me!"
Yang in frustration punched the panel, destroying it completely. Weiss stared at her in anger. She couldn't believe her partner just did.
"Hey watch it! This stuffs expensive you know!" a computerised male voice shouted. Everyone froze immediately.
"What was that?" Ruby asked, looking around for any sign of a fourth person.
"Behind you!" the voice said again. The huntresses turned to see nothing greeting them.
"No, over here dumbass!" the voice said yet again.
The huntresses turned and stood in shock. In front of them was a small human stood next to the computer. The figure was wearing the same armour as Grif, Simmons and pretty much everyone they've spoken too so far save for that it was a light blue. He held a sniper rifle in his hand and stared at them expectantly. Yet despite the fact they could see him, it looked as though as he was made out of a sequence of numbers constantly repeating itself.
"Well, are you gonna say something?" The figure asked, looking expectedly at the huntresses.
"W-who are you?" Ruby managed to say, causing the figure to turn to her.
"The names Epsilon, but people call me Church." he said. Whilst Yang and Ruby managed to contain a laugh, Weiss looked on in wonder at the small figure.
"Wait, are you...an A.I?" Weiss managed to say. There were A.I back home that managed the day to day systems but she hadn't seen one ever take on a physical form.
"No, I'm a ghost...of course I'm a fucking A.I!" Church said, causing Weiss to scowl slightly.
"Can you get us out of here?" Ruby asked, causing Church to face her again.
"Of course," Church replied "But I won't."
"What? Why?" Yang asked exasperatedly.
"Oh come on Yang," Church started, causing Yang to blink in surprise that the A.I knew her name. "Who do you think was the one who locked the building down?"
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Locus cleaned what little blood was left on his armour before turning to face Blake and Torchwick. Whilst Torchwick had been taken down by one of the Space Pirates, Blake still hung from the ceiling. Her Aura had healed some of her wounds, allowing her to regain some strength to stand unaided, but she was still weak.
"Take Torchwick back to his cell." Locus said, turning to Jackson. "I'll have to run this through control before we make a decision."
Jackson nodded before glancing towards Blake. "What about the girl?"
Locus turned to face Blake before he turned to face Jackson again.
"Kill her."
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Oh shit, it's on now! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, not as long as the others and don't you worry people! The Shotgun Gauntlets are coming very soon… Any way, as always leave a review and constructive criticism is always welcome. I'll try and post the next chapter next week but as I said earlier, with Blizzcon on, I may not be able to post it. Have any questions, don't forget to PM me or leave it in the review.
Raging Archon out.