Chapter Forty Seven: My Happy Place
This can't be happening.
Not again.
Carmine grunts as he slides to a sitting position. A groan escapes as he fidgets his hand down his pants. The boy sits in a bare concrete room, sheltering himself from Grimm. Shaking, he hugs himself and rubs his arms to heat up.
"Okay... Okay..." He mumbles to himself, shaking his head. His gaze falls out the window in the corner. A taller building stands head and shoulders above the others, albeit its top quarter shows incomplete walls, skeleton steel beams, and concrete floors. Even the stairs were exposed, some just hanging in open air. He takes a breath. "Okay..."
He stands on shaky legs, quickly checking Heulin Noon strapped to his thigh. His Buster armor locked in its Jager form around his calves. Finally, his hands clenching on Fluorescent Finish... The boy glances to his scroll, sitting on the ground displaying his aura levels.
9%.
It had been 11% when he first opened up the scroll... The black dust infecting him must be degrading his aura slowly.
Should he switch his armor type? No. 2002 is faster than him. Carmine needs speed to compensate. Jager will have to do.
Heulin Noon is reloaded, and using his recall to reload it won't take much aura. Still, Carmine may run out of aura just after suffering a few hits. He'll need to plan to only use two loads, max. Roman managed to make use of his own rounds, even when frozen in air... Carmine should take a page from him.
So, twelve shots, increased speed, and a sword. He looks over Fluorescent. No blood vials. Even if he had any, he wouldn't know what semblance he would get from it. Revolver or no, he's not a roulette fan.
… Meaning he has one blood source to use. His.
That multi attack. Able to launch multiple simultaneous strikes in one move. A powerful backup... but it somehow drains a large amount of his aura. Using it at all would drop him certainly to 0. If he doesn't end the fight with it... he's dead.
But if it works...
Carmine rotates the sheathed blade in his hands before angling it. Flicking the switch on the hilt, The tip of the sheath pops out twin prong syringes. The mechanism for retrieving blood. And he rams it into his thigh. "NGH!"
Pulling it out, the sheath end closes. Blood captured. Good. Backup plan has been made. Now... To make a primary plan.
He breaths out a sigh. 2002? How does hos semblance work? Blair said it only affects people and objects without aura shields. That alone doesn't help him. How does it truly work beyond that?
Halting objects, but he isn't controlling them... He needed to physically through the concrete slabs he used against Roman. He isn't controlling them. Merely stopping them, which is interesting... He's not controlling. Roman was on to something calling 2002 a living pause button.
Carmine blinks rapidly. Mind going a mile a minute.
Whenever he stopping using his semblance, the object continued on its original trajectory. Carmine's dust shots... Literally pausing them until they're free to continue. He isn't nullifying movement... Because he lacks control.
His mind then thinks to Neo and Blair. Blair could still move, but was much slower than she should be. Thought and mental processes were not stopped. So, he's not stopping YOU, per say. It's like he's not stopping or controlling... but slowing.
Slowing.
Brow furrowing, Carmine reaches and picks up his scroll. Searching through, he finds a video online. Just a video of a lake with reflecting sunlight.
He pauses the video, eyes met with a still frame. Then, he accesses the player's settings. Quality and play rate. He sets the play rate to the lowest setting. Then, he plays the video. As it plays, he begins switching its quality.
Just a visualization... The video continues playing slowed down, but its information can be processed in difference means in real time. He knew it worked as such, but just seeing it helps his mind grasp the concept. He lets his head rest back as he leans into the wall.
"The melody of the divine wind."
That's no coincidence. He's either directly mocking the town. Or, he's connected to it in some way...
Carmine sucks in a breath. "Just like Miguel... damn it." His fists clench as he glares towards the distant skyscraper. "Not again!" He clips Fluorescent's sheath to his left hip, as ready as he can be.
. . .
High in the sky stands the tallest structure in the city. The top ten floors were barren of walls. The skeletal building's support structure and floors were in place. Shattered cat walks and construction equipment lay scattered across the floors, several rusted cranes and power equipment either ruined on the building or in the streets below, long fallen.
2002 stands at the edge of floor 36, only two below the very top. His back is still marred from Blair's earlier attack, but no longer sparks.
The cyborg is scrutinizing his left arm. The metal plating of the forearm remains deformed, mutilated by Hush. His right hand uses a tool to pop a circuit back in place. Sparks die out, and his left hand is finally able to clench and tighten.
He focuses on the limb, testing movements.
Behind him, center of the wide floor of the building is a thick support beam. Neo, Roman, and Blair are each placed around it, leaned against it on three of its four sides. No restraints. No chains or rope. It wouldn't help anyhow.
"He's kept us stuck for an hour." Roman groans. Neo pouts around the beam to his left. "Neo, can you move yet?"
"Mm-mm." She vocalizes the negative.
To Roman's right around the beam sits Blair. "Neo got the highest concentrated burst of black dust. She's not going to have the aura to fight his semblance for quite a while." Unable to turn her head, she can only ask. "Neo, how is your breathing? One grunt okay, two grunts disturbed."
"Mm-Cka!" The girl is unable to physically move, the cough painfully rasping.
That doesn't sound good. "When we get out of here, I can check your lung intake. The black dust shouldn't leave permanent damage if I get to it quick enough."
The conman huffs. "We gotta put on bets that Silver Streak can beat that monster? Please. What happened to your aura, Barbie?"
"I used my semblance to give it to Carmine."
"What?!" Roman exclaims. "Are you brain dead?"
Rather than dignify the insulting question, she changes the subject. "What about you?"
Condescension drips off. "Oh, I have a ton of aura that isn't being used to heal my freaking back." He groans out, frustration ebbing his patience. "Well, bright side: We get to see Silver Streak bite it before us."
Neo sucks in a breath, causing both adults to cease bickering. From Neo's frozen view ahead, she sees the rickety spiral stair case shaking. The creaks catch 2002's attention as well.
"He's here." The synthetic voice announces before he marches towards the stairs himself. He spares a thought to Roman. "Oh, this will be happening down a floor, so no show for you." His modulated voice dips. "I don't want distractions."
. . .
Somewhere in Atlas...
A dimly lit room shows a dual monitor computer setup. Sitting at the desk, papers strewn about, is a man in a doctor jacket. Short matted black hair frames the reflection of light off his glasses. Doctor Near.
One of the screens shows a playback, camera footage. In its view frame is Blair, striking out with Fluorescent Finish in a bright flash of dust. The image flashes, an object latching onto her shoulder. A half metal cobra head...
He's watching a feed from CRBN's fight with Miguel in the Sanctuary warehouse.
The doctor remains passive as the feed changes to a wide shot, hidden in the rafters of the warehouse. Blair is knelt down before launching her blade at the cyborg, who dodges. The blade continues through the air, now towards the boy, Carmine. It impales him mid air, the blade's color absorbing red.
Then he flashes away with his semblance. Near pauses the feed, looking to the other monitor. It displays a wide view picture of Carmine with notes.
Playing further, the camera feed shifts to an erratic shaky view, moving through the air and looking at Carmine as he appears again. He catches the red sword before he flashes again. This time, the camera catches no less than five simultaneous Carmine figures slash out from his original mid air position.
The camera, clearly inside the cobra head eyes, lashes forward, and the feed switches back to the wide shot. Frame by frame, the feed stops as the cobra head bites one of the image arms while the remaining images slash through varying sections of the metal bladed cobra tail length.
Each slash was real... Compounded by the boy solidifying in one image and collapsing from the cobra bite. The bite that hit a different image than the one that remained.
Doctor Near hums again. He minimizes the camera footage, pulling up a new window. This one showing a live feed. The frame rate is subpar, but he makes out the gray tones and fading daylight of Mountain Glenn.
The doctor leans back and produces a cigarette. Like a view with popcorn, he maintains a watchful eye, rapt with attention. The camera view, the viewpoint of 2002, moves off the rickety exposed steps onto an open floor.
. . .
The featureless black mask reflects the fading light as the sun sets. 2002 marches to the center of the barren floor, waiting ever so patiently. The echoes of creaks and footsteps on metal rattle as Carmine steps up onto the floor from the opposite side's stairs. 2002's silver eye slits spark the moment Carmine can see himself in the mask reflection.
The two stand apart, separated by twenty yards. Carmine scrutinizes the man before glancing about the floor of the building. "Your team is two floors up. Alive." The armored man answers the unspoken query. "Not that they'll be much help as they are."
Carmine sends a side glare at him, knowing the truth of that slight jab. "Surprising." He mutters, then eyes the supports, ceiling, and floor. No pre cuts? None that he's noticing. This guy has to have prepped the place... "Like the building you toppled, I'm assuming you've used your power to rig the whole place to fall at your whim."
The armored man had yet to move an inch, yet somehow seemed amused. "I chose this location for a fun fight. Preparing would ruin the fun. What do you take me for?"
"An agent of AZRL, a mass murderer, and controlled by a mad scientist." The boy bites back without missing a beat.
A beat passes in silence before the modulated voice hums. "A fair point. However... you broke my semblance." He steps off to his left, Carmine reflecting the action as they begin to slowly rotate and circle one another. "It's one thing to be caught off guard by something my software hasn't caught yet... Multiple enemies, what have you. But, it is entirely something else when someone who cannot use their aura breaks MY semblance."
He lets out a breathy chuckle before continuing. "Being caught off guard like that almost made me feel alive again." He stops his slow walk, Carmine doing the same. "You'll show me how you did it and provide me a proper challenge."
Carmine grimaces. Made him feel alive again? This guy's openly stating he doesn't believe himself to be a living thing... Either he's too far gone, or the cybernetics are really that extensive. "Jokes on you. I don't plan on getting caught by that again. Especially now that I know what your semblance is." The boy smirks, despite the nervous sweat dropping from him.
2002 cocks his head ever so slightly. Unnaturally small movement. "Oh really? By all means, enlighten me." The cocky tone was clear, making Carmine choke a second. Keep him talking, the boy thinks. He needs the cyborg to attack first for this to work.
Carmine pauses a moment, slowly allowing a confidence to show. His right hand slowly raises, jabbing a finger out pointed at the cyborg. "I would know. After all..." He brings the hand in, jabbing a thumb to his chest.
"It's a time based semblance!"
. . .
Doctor Near's brow raises... For just a second, the corner of his lip curls up before huffing. "Impressive."
. . .
2002 remains still as Carmine keeps the confident front. "You aren't stopping objects. Stopping imposes control. Bullets like mine wouldn't keep going after frozen! You're not stopping anything. You're increasing the length of time it takes to produce motion! Making motion take so long it appears like we're frozen." His flashes a toothy smile, proud of his deduction.
"..." The cyborg is silent, eerily so, for a moment. "Is that all?"
Glad he's taking the bait, Carmine channels his inner Roman, shrugging. "You cannot slow something that isn't solid, like electric impulses or burning reactions." He smirks, knowing that the cyborg couldn't stop Roman's semblance or any of their abilities to think. "And you can choose what motions and transfers of energy to slow." He ends, recalling 2002 using his own strength to move the objects under his power.
"..." The cyborg remains deathly silent, still as he looks to boy in the eye.
"..." Carmine's sweat builds, confidence starting to wane.
"Heh... HA!" The cyborg man lets the two laughs out before composing himself. "Exactly right! I'm so impressed. Though, I'm not sure how that helps you."
The laugh gets a nervous chuckle from the boy. "Well, it means you got no more surprises for me-"
He sucks in the breath leaving him as 2002 shifts slightly, going still like a prowling predator. Carmine's left hand reaches for Heulin Noon, his right reaching to his left waist for Fluorescent Finish. The moment bleeds away as the armored man hums. "Well, I'll allow you one last chance to speak before we do this."
Carmine gulps, steeling himself. "I know who you are." Once more, the cyborg stills. As if he wasn't a living thing, his movements could just stop eerily.
"Really? And who am I?" The modulated voice dips lower. Aggressive.
The boy huffs, drawing Heulin Noon and taking aim. His right hand draws the blade next, keeping it to the side. "That's for me to know... and prove when I take that mask off."
"Hmm." 2002 turns before a lightning quick drawing cut from his long black blade slices a tile out of the foundation of the above floor. The foot by foot object falls four feet before freezing in the air. Carmine raises a brow as the armored man turns and marches just a touch further away. "We begin when that tile hits the ground... Good luck."
Carmine steels himself, noticing that the two are now positioned on opposite sides from where they first entered the area. He smirks. "Bring it."
Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
The tile continues its fall... CRACK! It smashes on the floor.
. . .
Doctor Near hums. "Don't disappoint me."
. . .
Carmine fires a single shot from Heulin Noon directly at the man and immediately flashes away in Recall!
2002 charges and freezes the shot, but stops when the boy disappears... and reappears behind him, drawing and slashing Fluorescent! The cyborg barely turns and deflects the golden blade with his black, using a counter flourish!
Carmine deflects the counter, but Fluorescent is knocked wide. 2002 moves to slash, but the boy Jager boosts back, the long black blade slashing his shirt and jacket open.
"Hmph." 2002 ducks sideways and allows Carmine's shot from behind to continue past him at its owner. Carmine uses Fluorescent to block, though to explosive shot launches the sword from his hand.
"Shit!" Carmine starts at 2002 dashes at him, going for a precise power swing! Last second, Carmine twirls Heulin Noon in his left hand, angling the double revolver sideways. With the twirl, he catches the black sword on the under side of the gun hilt!
Carmine then performs a riposte motion with his right arm... recalling Fluorescent Finish back into it to thrust! The cyborg rotates his grip on his locked blade up, using its long hilt to deflect Carmine's attack up!
With his left arm free, 2002 quickly jabs his open palm into the boy, launching him rolling across the floor! He lunges after and tries to slash the teen. Narrowly, Carmine flips with his momentum, dodging the slash and landing on his feet.
The exchange is done. Both are standing alert, Carmine already breathing heavily.
The cyborg huffs. "You're no sword fighter I see." Not giving the boy a chance to quip, he charges.
The boy sheaths Fluorescent, bringing it up with its sheath to block the next slash! A LOUD clang rings over the floor at the forceful metal contact!
Carmine angles the sheath, pushing and directing the black blade aside as he drawing cuts back out at the cyborg... Only for said cyborg to catch Fluorescent by the hilt and prevent it from drawing.
Fine... grappling then.
Carmine releases Fluorescent's hilt, grabbing 2002's free wrist for leverage. The boy brings both legs up, Jager boost drop kicking the cyborg away. The man maintains his footing, skidding on his feet standing til he halts.
"One hit each." Carmine gloats.
"One?" The cyborg retorts... revealing he'd slashed the floor while Carmine was drop kicking him...
Carmine falls through the floor, released from 2002's semblance. He hits the empty floor of the previous floor in a mild wail of pain.
He flinches as a square cutout of the above floor folds down before freezing. Carmine looks to see three of the material's four sides are cut clean. Slashes sound from above as square barriers fold downward before freezing in place.
Semblance made obstacles and walls. Not enough to be a maze, but Carmine loses track of the man's true location.
Another cutout folds down to his right- The black sword smashes through the wall, missing Carmine's nose by a centimeter!
Carmine jerks away, back to the next barrier, and he shoots the barrier in front of him twice! The broken flooring wall breaks apart completely... 2002 isn't there. Meaning-
Above.
The boy dive rolls right, a black blade drop piercing the ground with 2002 grasping it. Carmine aims Heulin Noon, firing once more! 2002 free grips the makeshift barrier wall to his right, forcing it in front to block the shot.
2002 then kicks the remainder of the barrier, shattering it and sending its debris into the boy. Carmine is thrown off his feet, rolling along the floor.
He rolls to a stop less than a foot from the building edge... the open high drop getting a gasp from him. Carmine stands up, breathless, as wind blows against him. 2002 steps out into the open from his manifested barriers, brandishing his sword.
"Hope you have something to surprise me, kid... because I'm getting bored." The sunset light begins to die behind Carmine, the last reflecting off the black blade.
Carmine gulps, raising Heulin Noon. Two shots left in this set. So... DOUBLE!
The boy focuses his aura... This is the moment. He fires the double shot, emptying the load completely!
The two shots rocket toward 2002's face, only to freeze mere inches from it. "Disappointing." 2002 begins to walk forward. The cyborg tilts his body side ways, around the frozen double shot... then straightens.
Completely unafraid, the cyborg is dead set on approaching the boy now.
Carmine smirks. "You know what you forgot?"
The cyborg stops... is this a ploy? "What?"
The boy grins. "Your semblance isn't the only one that works on bullets. RECALL!" He shouts.
As if time was slowed... the twin dust shots frozen in the air behind the man flicker... and disappear. The two shots recall, flickering backwards in their previous path... before flashing fully back into view.
… Directly in front of 2002's mask in mid fire.
BOOM!
The shots flash back and explode against the cyborg's head in one split millisecond!
2002 is thrown back off his feet from the force and hits the ground. HARD!
. . .
The sound of the shot rings as all three CRBN members shudder. They're free!? All three blinking in shock.
"Carmine." Blair winces as he starts to force herself to her feet. Neo is similarly struggling, holding back a coughing fit as the blonde helps her up.
"No freaking way." Roman lets out, wincing as he pulls himself to his feet. "Nh! Freaking back." He cringes at the pain in his back wound. He follows after the girls who move ahead of him.
. . .
Carmine hurries up and uses another small speck of aura to snap reload Heulin Noon with another set of rounds. Wheezing in breath, the boy draws out his scroll, checking his aura.
3%... "Shit..."
"Carmine!" Carmine flinches at the shout, turning to see Neo followed by Blair then Roman from the stair well across the floor from him. Thirty yards off, the three move around the collapsed barriers made of the upper floor.
"Hey guys..." Carmine gives a lopsided grin. "How are you-"
He feels it... the limitation. His body's movements slow.
2002's semblance.
All three of the his teammates all freeze in place, sucking in breaths in horror. Still a good distance from the boy and the downed cyborg... and the cyborg slowly raises his torso to a sitting position... A vicious set of cracks split the entire mask over his face. The silver eye slits spark once before an electric spark kills them.
2002 slowly raises, standing up... He wobbles as he stands, a show of how hard that hit truly was. "You..." He rasps out. The mask's modulation is disabled, his voice muffled underneath. He groans. "Bastard..."
Carmine struggles to move, at least shifting to his stance. He's at maybe half speed at best. This is bad! He gulps and needs time to think. "Well, how else was I gonna take that mask off?" Slowly, he brings Fluorescent Finish up, gripping it to the hilt.
The cyborg takes an aggressive step forward. The mask cracks again.
The boy notices he's not talkative anymore... "Like I said. I know who you are..." He watches the mask shatter off the cyborg's face, splitting perfected off. Carmine sucks in a breath. "... Raiden Mibu."
Revealed, the man's face is pale, as if kept from sunlight for years. The sharp features nearly made him look like a vampire. Blood trails from his hair line to his nose before splitting along both nostrils and framing his mouth. His unruly black hair spikes down, slightly obscuring his eyes.
His Mibu clan red eyes. Wide with chilling focus on the boy.
. . .
Years ago now, CRBN had been met with Mibu's leaders.
"Kourii's son disappeared." Tora growled out. "Ray Mibu. He was being groomed to become the next clan head. He was an established young man... a friend."
"His name is Raiden Mibu. Ray for short..." Master Kourii adds later...
. . .
Raiden stares at the boy, His eyes appear set, not blinking with no inflection. The only emotion showing is the ever slight up curl of his lip. "That's not a name I know, but I'll take your word for it."
Carmine sucks in a nervous breath. That's... not a good answer. "Master Kourii is your father. You were sent by AZRL to attack your own clan! You killed your friend, your father, and over a hundred more!" Still moving slowly, Carmine backs until his ankle reaches the edge of the floor. "You have to know this!"
Ray merely cocks his head ever so slightly. "Is that what I did?" A beat passes in thought, his voice now a matter of fact tone. "Some of them seemed familiar... Friend and father, you say?" He glances off, allowing a small smirk. "I suppose that explains them putting up a fight."
"What-... But-..." Carmine sputters, fury filling him. "How can you not feel anything-" He gasps to cut himself off.
Ray takes one more step, just close enough that Carmine sees the flicker in the red of his eyes. His pupils rapidly dilate and constrict... Camera lenses fused into his eyes.
Carmine's eyes then land on the man's left arm. "How... much of you is even-"
He's cut off. "Exactly 89.28375% of my body has been replaced." His smirk becomes a full smile as he cocks his head. He takes a calm step forward. "As I said. They put me back together, and I can never get what's been lost." He flashes his teeth again after. "Nor do I have the capacity to want it."
That's why... He willfully classifies himself as not being alive. He lacks the ability to even classify himself as such! "What... do you feel anything?"
The man slowly raises his left hand and taps his head. "Nothing more than the dopamine hit when something surpasses my expectations." Pausing like a statue for a second, the cyborg then smiles wider. "Now, show me what else you have."
He lurches forward, slowly increasing his speed into a charge at the boy. Carmine flashes a look to Blair, then he sighs. Not enough energy to keep going, so...
He flicks the switch of Fluorescent's trigger... breaking the blood capsule in its hilt. The blade draws, now a crimson blade.
All three CRBN members realize the move. Blair shouts out. "Carmine, you don't have enough aura-!"
Carmine activates the switch, using the power in his blood as he and Ray meet each other in charge! And his image warps and multiplies.
One image of Carmine slides to his right, slashing from the side. Another performs the same from the left. Another lunges in for a stab. A fourth raises the blade up to fully slash down vertically. A fifth drops low and performs a rising cut! And a sixth leaps up and over, performing a flourishing slash down as Ray almost starts to pass below!
Unfortunately, the boy's body is slowed under the effects of Ray's semblance... and the cyborg is quite fast himself.
Ray sweeps his blade up left, catching and redirecting the left Carmine's slash up. This lets him slash up, bashing the blade of the Carmine down swinging away.
Ray ducks in, dodging the Carmine that leapt over him, and he uses his long hilt to catch the Carmine from the right. The Carmine to the right is thrown back. Two left.
The cyborg twists his body as the thrusting Carmine scrapes Fluorescent across the metal armored chest, gashing it. Ray huffs in realization, the thrusting Carmine flickers away, revealing the final Carmine performing the rising cut.
Ray attempts to move back, his body open now. Carmine struggles to charge after. This has to be the slash. This HAS to be it!
The slash hits... taking Ray's arm. Sliced at the left armpit and removing his whole left arm at the shoulder joint.
The cyborg slides back to a halt in shock. The Carmine in front of him flickers away, as do all the others... Except for the one that had flipped over Ray. Landing behind the cyborg, the real Carmine frantically twists around.
"HAAAAA!" He shrieks out, rushing to slash Ray from behind for the victory!
Until the backlash hits... Carmine feels immediate onset illness. His vision warps as his limbs shake uncontrolled... He collapses just before Fluorescent could take off the cyborg's head!
He flails onto the floor, nearly seizing and hyperventilating. A struggle to intake a single breath. His mouth hangs open, any breath attempted feeling wrenched out before reaching his lungs!
… His scroll falls out of his pocket, screen flashing red.
'Aura level: 0%!'
"CARMINE!" Blair shouts. She, like Neo and Roman, remain stuck in place, watching the boy shaking on the ground helpless.
Ray slowly turns, red bloodshot eye barely peeking around to look the boy in the eye. Despite the look of fury, a chuckle comes out. "Very impressive... Just one swing short, kid." The boy attempts to put his limbs under him, only for flop on his face. The cyborg eyes the boy's scroll, seeing the flashing zero percent.
"Absolute zero aura... Your body is suffocating." The man gives the astute analysis. "A bold strategy, using a move like that. Almost successful, but also..."
. . .
"but also a suicidal move."
Doctor Near's posture is rigid, leaned over the short back of his rolling chair. His off hand is gripped on the edge of the table... tightly. The wooden material whines as his bare hand begins to indent the material.
"So much information... lost." He slowly brings a cigarette up and takes a long tasteful breath of tobacco. He sighs as he breathes out the smoke. Then, his fist clenches, crushing the cigarette. "Damn it."
. . .
Ray's head cocks to the side, his pupils dilating for a second. He straights as he turns fully on the four frozen team members. Even with only one arm, he easily flourishes the great long black nodachi. He walks over Carmine, leaving the boy to flail about on the floor
Slowly, he begins to shift his focus on the other three. "Well, the kid's gone and thrown his life away. Tsk tsk." He clicks his tongue, focus locking in on Neo and Blair. "And the girls are wanted dead. I'll be quick with it."
Neo freezes as the man looms over her... Her gaze then finds something behind the man. Ray pauses before turning around...
He's up.
Carmine's arms hang, holding nothing. His legs are half buckled, quaking violently. The boy sways in place with his soulless wide eyes remaining open. His brow tenses in, twitching under the focus and effort put forth.
Neo gasps as Ray turns from her. "Very well. Seems he's gonna be stubborn." The cyborg lets the tip of his sword spark off the ground. "This will be a mercy killing then. You're already dead without aura."
And so, he moves to slash at the... 'standing' boy.
Blair's eyes widen as she imposes her will out upon the boy. If any small spark of her aura remains in the boy, she HAS to use her semblance! It HAS to work.
Before Ray's slash hits, Blair's eyes clench in reaction. Simultaneously, the boy's body locks up before collapsing down. The black blade clips three silver tips of his red hair as it slashes over him.
The man pauses, looking over his shoulder back at the blonde. "Hmm... You ARE the doctor, yes? Don't tell me you think he can survive."
Blair ignores him. Blair's eyes remain shut, imposing all her focus... All on reaching out to the boy through her spark within him.
. . .
Mind Within...
"Carmine... I know you hear me... I NEED you to hear me now..."
The boy's eyes crack open, blinded by the fading sight of clouded white and gold.
He felt light. Lost without equilibrium. Carmine is left adrift in the white void. His only comfort is the feel of clouds flowing around him.
He blinks. Each actions, even as minor as such, wanes what little he has in him. "B-Blair?" He asks of the void. "I... I don't know what to do... what's..?"
He sucks in a painful breath, face contorting in pain as the void brightens in a flash of yellow, the clouds taking a blue tinge for a second. "Carmine, aura is not your only power. You have... SO much more to you. Use it now! Now is the time!"
Carmine whines out in pain. "I... don't know how! AH!" He sucks in hoarse at another wave of pain.
Silence meets him for the moment. He writhes in pain, laying flat in the air. Nothing but his pained whimpers meeting his ear.
"Carmine." Blair's voice starts softly... a tone never heard by him before. Tender. Attentive.
Motherly.
"Your greatest power comes from your emotions. Allowing fear, anger, and yes, pain, have worked for you before... but perhaps you have become too used to such things."
"Then what? Tell me what to do?!" He calls out, rasping for breath soon as the question leaves his lips.
"Reflect." She says simply. Carmine's confusion must have translated, as she elaborates. "So much of what you are is built off of everyone you've met. That's who you are. What drives you. Reflect on them all. Us all... Everyone whose heart is tied to yours." Before his mind can betray him, she includes. "Even her."
He snaps his jaw shut, eyes slammed closed as well.
"All of us are within you. All of us support you... Picture it... Picture your idealized world. Your perfect world. What would make you most happy. Find that feeling."
Slowly... his visage relaxes. His tense muscles relax, pain leaving his features.
. . .
His eyes crack open-
A hand claps onto his back, jolting him. The boy sucks in a breath when he sees red leather clothing... Jared Uhlric standing against him. His Dad firmly keeps his arm around the teen's shoulders, giving a shake.
The man smiles proudly, reaching for his holstered weapon, Heulin Noon, and offering it to the boy. Carmine shakes the shock from his face, grinning ear to ear. He accepts the gun from the chief detective.
A pair of arms snake around his neck and gently pull his head to a soft chest. A set of lips gently touch the center of his head. He recognizes the action... blushing. He looks back, seeing Senaya Uhlric smiling brilliantly at him.
He could see the empty wine bottle on the near table. She's drunk!
The absurdity still gets a laugh from him as he looks to Jared. The man is distracted, sending flirtatious looks at his wife before noticing Carmine's gaze on him.
Carmine grimaces into a disgusted pout. Both parents laugh at his reaction, distracting him as a limo pulls up on a nearby sidewalk. The boy notices, confused, as the back opens... Out comes a familiar face.
Violet hair, glasses, an imposing presence. Misty Rhodes.
And that means...
Neo leaps from the car, cartwheeling over to a stop in front of the boy. He flinches back, confused why she's here all the sudden... The girl simply smirks mischievously and swaps her eye colors. He rolls his eyes of course.
Jared walks into view, clapping a hand on the teen girl's shoulder before whispering in her ear. Said girl's face lights up in glee, a devilish idea surely forming to her.
Before Carmine can respond, the girl snatches Heulin Noon from his hand. She takes off, leaving him to chase furiously after her.
A faint sense of deja vu hits.
And so, when she surely stops to turn around, he barrels into her, collapsing on top of her in what is now a precarious position... Both recover, only to blush nose to nose from one another.
Tap. Tap.
A foot tapping alerts them to another presence. Glancing up, they see Blair... wearing a white doctor coat neatly buttoned up. She raises a brow and narrows a gaze upon the two.
Instantly, both teens flash to their feet, five feet apart. They then see behind Blair. The van? Leaned against it is Roman, who smirks condescendingly.
Neo and Carmine share a glance before Blair sighs, pulling them each softly into a hug. She smiles before bringing the two into the van...Where are they going- Oh...
The van stops... in front of a familiar beautiful fountain.
Neo and Carmine exit, standing before Beacon Academy.
The tap of a cane pulls his attention. Sure enough, Professor Ozpin walks up. Professor Oobleck is on one side of him. The other is flanked by Qrow. Qrow gives a casual two finger salute.
Which Roman returns with a cheeky middle finger. Blair elbows him to make him stop. She then glances over, straightening as more come.
Glynda, Cella, and Rowa approach. Blair's full team crowd around her. Ignoring the sudden glare between the sisters, of course!
Carmine glances over to find Neo and Qrow interacting... A shocked look comes over him a moment... then softens to a smile. The tap of a cane pulls his attention back to Ozpin. The professor walks up until the father and son are almost shoulder to shoulder.
The silver haired man smiles warmly, nodding at the boy. This causes Carmine to huff and look away. At least, until he feels Ozpin's hand clasp onto his shoulder. He snaps a gaze back to the old man, meeting a warm smile and another nod. Blinking once, twice, Carmine manages a warm smile of his own. He nods back at his father.
Then he notices the sprinkles through the air... He blinks, feeling his heart stop a second.
Rose petals.
Carmine snaps his gaze around, finding the cloak.
It was down. Her face showed clearly. The silver eyed maiden, Summer Rose...
Knelt between Neo and Qrow, sucking on chocolate milk and offering one to Neo. Qrow is smiling warmly at the scene as Neo accepts happily. Summer then stands, looking over so her eyes meet green.
Roman and Summer are staring right at one another.
Roman is smoking, clearly in the open and giving a sneer. The woman sends a scolding look, snatching the cigarette from his mouth and leaving him dumbstruck. He glares at her, even as she smiles sweetly, offering a chocolate bar. One vice for another.
Irritably, Roman slowly reaches out and accepts it. All the while, his gaze narrows to a dangerous glare. This makes Summer giggle at his expense. The woman then turns, her bright silver eyes finding Carmine's blue.
His heart remembers to beat as she maintains a smile. She raises a thumbs up for him, winking playfully.
It makes Carmine crack a lopsided grin...
He feels it. That unbridled joy. His happiness. Stronger here than anything as far as he can remember. What he lives for. What he fights for.
If only.
"Even impossible, an ideal creates a goal... Striving towards such an ideal will always be a gift to the world." Blair's voice sounds. "You feel it... memorize it. Memorize why you fight. What you fight for."
He closes his eyes, feeling... something within. His lips part in surprise.
"And pull."
Even impossible. Strive towards that ideal... It hurts, but he watches and feels as Summer, Jared, Senaya, and Cella just... slowly disappear. But, everyone is still together... That's something to fight for.
The instruction brings a small smile. What he fights for? It's so damn cheesy. The most cliché thing he can imagine. Still... He will yell it out loud like the dork he may be. His mouth cracks into a grin.
"I FIGHT FOR MY FRIENDS!"
. . .
Beacon Academy
Night had settled in on the city resting all across the tower's visible horizon. Within the academy itself, inside its headmaster's office, sits the man in charge. Behind his desk with a quaint cup of coffee still with a layer of cream on top.
He'd been checking some papers on the third years as he raises the cup to his lips-
"Ah-" He sucks in a breath, eyes slightly widening...
The man freezes for a full minute as his eyes gaze upon the coffee. The soft layer of melted cream atop it has slowly warped to the right side of the cup. Only lightly quivering. His gaze narrows as he sets the cup down. He glances out the windows of his offices. This omen... Is it..?
. . .
Unknown location
The grounds were dark as a dungeon. Gray cobblestone works forming the settlement of the room. A long meeting table with chairs situated around it is center of the room. Multiple stands line the walls with ornate artistic objects. All dark and oppressive in theme.
At the end of the room, the wall opens to a balcony, showing a desecrated wasteland below it. A single high top chair is situated so that its occupant can view the lands below...
A gray skinned hand pauses as it lifts a chalice. A red wine sloshes within the ornate cup.
This sensation... it's just like..? But, they're all...
No. It's different. Less... Less. But still significant.
"Interesting..." The female voice says in an almost amused tone... yet her hand tightens and cracks the chalice in hand. Almost threatening to shake in rage. "You've kept something secret, Ozpin..."
. . .
Mountain Glenn
Ray comes to a halt in front of the blonde. Roman and Neo both struggle to move nearby, but the Mibu cyborg isn't paying them any mind. The man smirks, raising his black sword in front of him and inspecting its reflective edge. "Do you hear it?" The cyborg drawls.
He fails to notice Neo and Roman's eyes both snap behind him. The conman's tense confusion coupled with the girl's parting mouth in shock.
Slowly, Blair opens her eyes hesitant, before blinking wide and looking past the man. "Do you?" She asks softly...
The cyborg slightly cocks his head... then notices the small reflecting light in his blade. Teal? Aqua colored? No, slightly leaning more blue than that. The colors of an overgrown oasis blended together. So... he turns. "Well... aren't you different."
The boy was once again on his feet, head hanging low and arms dangling. This time, his grip is firmly locked around Fluorescent's sheath. The red in his hair is now a burning crimson, a dull glow almost. Not casting light on anything else, but showing in the dark like it's in broad daylight. Same with the silver, except it does appear to shine in the dark.
And his outline.
Quick, millisecond sparks of the green tinged blue flicker as an outline around the boy's body. Every other second, just a quick strobe around the boy. Not overly bright... The boy stumbles back, straightening his stance as he does so. His head cocks back, almost akin to a stumbling drunk. He steadies, finally standing fully upright. His breathing still recovering.
Ray glances over to the boy's scroll still on the ground...
'Aura level: 0%!'
The cyborg blinks at the object. It... doesn't... work! It can't work that way. There has to be a trick he isn't aware of. His eyes snap back up to Carmine, pupils shrinking in focus. His semblance expands out, and he feels his own aura get the boy in its grip! He should be wound down to nothing. Incapable of moving.
Yet...
Ray hums, marching forward without caution. Show me, he thinks. Show your trick-
The next exchange is over in two seconds.
Carmine's left foot kicks up. Ray blocks and deflects the kick with his black sword. His block sends Carmine into a flip spin, which the boy moves with to back kick with his right foot. It plants in Ray's gut, the Jager boost powering the kick!
The cyborg is launched off his feet, flying between the frozen CRBN members. He plants his feet, then jabs his sword into the floor, all three anchors splitting and cracking the floor until it slows him to a halt.
Ray snaps a gaze up in shock.
. . .
Stunned silence filled the office... Doctor Near stares at the screen, mouth parted.
Ever slowly, he leans forward, peering closer and closer at the camera feed. His finger touches the screen. "What... is this?" His voice almost wavers. "Is this..? Show me more... now!"
. . .
Carmine lands on his feet. The sheathed Fluorescent is still in hand. He raises the weapon, horizontal with one hand on the hilt, the other on the shaft. He raises it just under eye level, both arms fully outstretched.
The boy's outline continues to spark, his brighter hair remaining. And his eyes open. Gone was the blue. His irises were now fully a dull glowing gold. And he draws the golden Fluorescent out. Slowly. A matching tone perfectly to his eyes.
A snap movement throws the sheath aside as he flourishes the blade. His left hand draws Heulin Noon out during the flourish. The boy smirks like a predator aimed at the cyborg now across the floor thirty yards off.
"Kid... you good?" Roman says dumbly. Neo's dumbstruck look compounds the man.
"Yeah..." Carmine speaks.
He glances at his hand. He can't recall... No aura. He can't change out his Jager armor. No aura. He can't heal. So if he can't use his aura... Can he? He focuses, turning Heulin Noon in his hand... An after image of the arm remains before flickering away. His golden eyes light in astonishment!
Voice still hoarse, his demeanor is confident. The feel... "It's like nothing I've ever felt." The power... "I feel like I can't lose." Feels good... "I feel amazing, actually."
Ray stands straight, flourishing his blade one handed. His face is morphed into a face splitting grin. His eye pupil cameras dilating. "Feeling's mutual!" The unexpected attack. This power. It shouldn't be happening! This is... This is..! "Bring everything. Make me feel alive!"
Carmine almost rushes him immediately, stopping to glance at Blair. The blonde is shocked, but a smile forms. "... I suppose I should say... kick his ass?"
He sucks in a breath before exhaling in a smile. The boy glances over to Ray. "Stay here... I'll be right back." He strides around the frozen members. Roman mutters behind him about not being able to leave if he wanted. (Guitar riff begins, a simple drum beat keeping pace.)
Carmine moves into a sprint at the cyborg, but the man has other plans. Ray glances at the nearest steel beam support holding up a corner of the upper floors. In a simple flick, he slices the support in half! The metal whines as the upper floors above them shift. (Riff increases in full volume as drum beat gets heavier!)
Carmine skids to a halt, seeing the above floors warp. He immediately turns, firing a double shot at the floor under the other CRBN members. The three fall through the floor to one below, landing painfully, but hopefully sheltered. As he does so, Ray moves above, slicing supports throughout the above floors. (Beat repeats)
The building's top begins to whine and topple over. Connecting pieces separate, parts shifting diagonal, side ways, upside down, and more. Suddenly, parts begin to freeze in the air. Further shifting as large swaths of debris stops, forming thin or wide platforms and walk ways floating in open air! (Beat repeats with added background higher riff.)
An entire five floors suspended above the streets below. All by this cyborg's semblance! Ray leaps and lands on a flat slab of concrete. He stares down in a challenging glare, smiling wider. Carmine looks up to him, cursing. He's already used two of his six shots to save the others. Damn. (Riff cuts, long drawn notes hammering loudly. Guitar then strums into new riff)
Carmine snorts before leaping through the floating field of broken platforms. Accepting the challenge, he shouts. "ROUND 3, BITCH!" He soars down, swinging Fluorescent for the first attack! (New beat and riff builds into verse.)
Ray deflects the boy to the side, Carmine landing and dodging a counter slash. The cyborg begins using the great long blade one handed, like a duelist, unwieldy as it should be. He presses the boy back, but Carmine catches the blade with his gun before closing distance with Fluorescent! ("Ever on and on, I continue circling with nothing but my hate And the carousel of agony.")
Carmine uses his gun barrel for defense, attacking with the sword as Ray ducks slashes. The cyborg twirls his long blade one handed, deflecting a slash with his hilt! He then slashes the ground, slicing the platform in two. Carmine's side drops. ("Till slowly I forget, and my heart starts vanishing, and suddenly I see that I can't. Break. Free. I'm-")
The boy boosts with Jager, directing his fall to land on a sliced wall. Glancing up, another slab of debris rockets towards him! He boost dodges off the wall, landing on another. Ray is above him, slicing portions of building and launching them down releasing his semblance hold on them. ("Slipping through the cracks of a dark eternity. With nothing but my pain and the paralyzing agony.")
Carmine moves into a leaping sprint, moving onto a steel beam and striding over its length. He reaches the end and leaps up in a boost, up above. He comes down towards Ray and... misses. Ray and his platform suddenly drop three feet. ("To tell me who I am! Who I was! Uncertainty enveloping my mind till I can't break free, and-")
Wide eyed, Carmine's feet miss their intended footing as he lands off balance. Ray rush slashes into his guard. The cyborg's strength sends Carmine away like a rocket. He hits a floating room outer wall hard! He winces in pain. No aura shields tanking it... ("Maybe It's a dream, maybe nothing else is real, but it wouldn't mean a thing if I told you how I feel.")
He shakes off the hit, pulling away just in time to gasp and move. Ray slices through the debris surface. Carmine recovers, deflecting two slashes, then countering his own. He locks blades with the back, then knocking Ray in the jaw with Heulin Noon's butt. ("So I'm tired of all the pain, all the misery inside, and I wish I could live feeling nothing but the night!")
Reeling, Ray pulls back, spin slashing with momentum! Carmine ducks back, the black blade whipping just over his eyes and clipping his bang tips! Dropping with his dodge, he slashes at Ray's leg. Ray pulls his leg up to dodge, then swings down. Carmine boosts with Jager, sliding back to the edge of their current platform. ("You could tell me what to say. You could tell me where to go, but I doubt that I would care, and my heart would never know.")
Ray throws his sword at the boy and leaps high. Carmine raises his guard, but the sword freezes before hitting. Ray ax kicks down from above. Carmine stumbles back dodging... Then Ray ducks, allowing his sword to continue flying past him! ("If I make another move, there'll be no more turning back. Because everything would change and it all would fade to black!")
Carmine flinches left, the black sword gashing his right rib side! Wincing in pain, he doesn't stop Ray's running knee. The hit sends the boy off the platform as the cyborg freezes then retrieves his own sword before following. ("Will tomorrow ever come? Will I make it through the night? Will there ever be a place for the broken in the light?")
The boy flips and lands on a floating beam, rolling back as Ray slashes through it. The cyborg runs after the boy, not giving him the tine to stand. Carmine uses his Jager boost in bursts, sliding to dodge slashes up the length of the beam! ("Am I hurting? Am I sad? Should I stay or should I go? I've forgotten how to tell, did I ever even know?")
Carmine flips down off the beam top, sliding down to the other end, past Ray. Closing his eyes, he attempts to call his aura... and a second image of Carmine parts from him! He whips around and back onto the top, facing a turning Ray. He aims Heulin Noon up and fires his double shot! Two bullets left! ("Can I take another step? I've done everything I can. All the people that I see, They will never understand.")
Ray grunts, his semblance freezing both shots a foot from his head! Carmine planned it, using Fluorescent and striking both suspended shots! The explosion knocks Carmine off and blows Ray off balance. "GAH!" The cyborg shouts before Carmine flickers away. The other Carmine flips up behind him. In a shout, he strikes Ray with Fluorescent with all his strength! ("If I find a way to change, if I step into the light, then I'll never be the same, and It all will fade to white!")
From the hit, Ray's back sparks, and he's launched away into the next building! A cloud of dust blows out as all the floating building debris drops. Ray's control lapsing. Carmine drops with the avalanche of building parts. He kicks from his, propelling himself ahead of the wave towards the ground. (Instrumental kicks off into bridge.)
He flips, using Jager's boost to slow himself before touching ground in a superhero landing. Glancing up panicked, Carmine sprints forward, shielding his head with his weapons as beams and concrete masses slam all through the streets around him! (Riff repeats.)
The boy stops when the crashes cease, dust fogging around him. The boy looks up, golden irises nearly glowing in the shade. Far, far up the building, Ray steps out from a hole in the wall. His body sparks lightly as his red eyes glare down. A smile slowly curls up on the Mibu man. (Riff continues to repeat.)
Carmine openly blinks twice, then matches with his own smile. He raises his left arm with Heulin Noon, then twitches its barrel down to himself twice. "Don't be shy. Come on!" (riff bridges into verse)
Ray cocks his head, smirk cracking to a toothy grin. He suddenly twirls into a slash at the building walls around him! A loud crack splits the walls off to fall into the streets below! Carmine's smirk drops to an alert flinch. Instantly, he breaks into a sprint to dodge further debris fall. ("Ever on and on, I continue circling with nothing but my hate And the carousel of agony.")
Dodging the debris, the boy slides under a cutout from skyscraper remains. Multiple construction machines lay in ruin as Carmine continues dodging breaks in the area from debris. A collapse from above makes him stop. ("Till slowly I forget, and my heart starts vanishing, and suddenly I see that I can't. Break. Free. I'm-")
Carmine ducks back as a large slab comes to a halt in front of him! Ray lands on the slab from above and leaps after the boy with arcing slashes! Frantically, Carmine deflects the first slash over his head. ("Slipping through the cracks of a dark eternity. With nothing but my pain and the paralyzing agony.")
On a back foot, Carmine narrowly deflects and blocks a horizontal slash, a low sweep, then a diagonal cut. Ray attacks in a whirl wind, slicing the debris and ruined machines around them. Chains from a downed crane kick up from the two's next clash. ("To tell me who I am! Who I was! Uncertainty enveloping my mind till I can't break free, and-")
The chains freeze in the air, Ray releases his sword and grabbing them. One flicking whip, and he reels the chains in to hook Carmine's sword arm! Ray wrenches Carmine in, releases the chain, and retrieves his frozen sword from the air to impale the boy! ("Maybe It's a dream, maybe nothing else is real, but it wouldn't mean a thing if I told you how I feel.")
"Shit-" Carmine mutters. Jerked by his right arm, Carmine brings both arms forward, quickly swapping both hands' weapons. Just in time, he deflects the thrusting black blade up with Fluorescent in his left hand. However, it still clips through his right shoulder! ("So I'm tired of all the pain, all the misery inside, and I wish I could live feeling nothing but the night!")
Carmine pushes past the cyborg, both combatants stumbling past one another as the boy winces in pain. Carmine twists, using his right, now gun, hand to jerk the chain up and hook Ray's own sword arm. The chain runs taut, both fighters connected now by their right arms. ("You could tell me what to say. You could tell me where to go, but I doubt that I would care, and my heart would never know.")
Gritting in pain, Carmine pulls this time, both fighters jerking back towards one another and whipping around. Ray, realizing his disadvantage with the chain, slices it before power sliding under Carmine's slash. The blade clips his hairs only. ("If I make another move, there'll be no more turning back. Because everything would change and it all would fade to black!")
He raises and slashes, free of the chain. Carmine deflects a slash left using Heulin Noon, counter slashing with Fluorescent. The cyborg running knees, using his armored leg to block. The blade bites into his leg, but he kicks Carmine off balance! ("Will tomorrow ever come? Will I make it through the night? Will there ever be a place for the broken in the light?")
Now stumbling back, Carmine is frantically dodges once, twice, three times. The black blade scoring slight cuts and clipping hair with near misses. Ray bashes Carmine's guard up before kicking the boy in the gut, sending him out tumbling into the open street. ("Am I hurting? Am I sad? Should I stay or should I go? I've forgotten how to tell, did I ever even know?")
Ray takes one step, leg sparking from the fresh wound. He stumbles before recovering balance. Out in the street, Carmine plants Fluorescent, using it as a cane to push himself to stand. ("This time You're not hurting me! This time I will take a stand! All the hatred in my eyes building up an evil plan.")
The cyborg charges out, lunging with another slash. Carmine's body flickers as another Carmine leaps to the side. As the main Carmine strains to block the slash, the other jumps off the nearest wall and Jager kicks at Ray. ("Standing lonely in the night, with the darkness by my side. Looking deep inside myself, and revealing only fright.")
The Carmine in front of Ray disappears as the other's foot plants into the cyborg's jaw. It's Ray's turn to get sent tumbling down the street. Carmine lands, exhaling in a sudden numbness from the his arms. ("If I make another move, if I take another step, then It would all fall apart, there'd be nothing of me left.")
His vision blurs, balance swaying. This numbness? From the Carmine that blocked his strike? He shakes it off, getting his focus back. Ahead of him, Ray is getting back on his feet. ("If I'm crying in the wind, if I'm crying in the night, will there ever be a way? Will my heart return to white?")
The cyborg howls a raspy cackle, head whipping up with a speck of blood from his mouth. "HAHA! Yes! Keep it coming!" He half stumbles in a run, leg still sparking. "COME ON!" ("Can you tell me who you are? Can you tell me where I am? I've forgotten how to see, I've forgotten If I can.")
Carmine shifts his shoulders, whining in pain as his right shoulder burns in pain! His hurting grunt morphs to a chuckle. He had to admit, fighting with this power was fun. He shifts his Fluorescent left grip to a reverse grip, bracing himself. ("If I open up my eyes, there'll be no more going back. 'Cause I'll throw it all away and it all will fade to black.")
Ray's broad slash bashes into Carmine's guard. Carmine shrinks back, wincing harshly in pain as the the black blade starts pushing through his guard and cutting into his left side! His feet scrape along the ground as Ray presses forward, the boy's side beginning to tinge red. ("So I'm back here once again? So I'm back here once again? Can I ever make a change? Will my heart begin to mend?")
A deep breath, Carmine screams. "HA!" His image drops Heulin Noon and grabs the black blade. Another Carmine steps out of his image, snatching Heulin Noon. The second image steps up, wrapping one arm around Ray's neck... His right hand brings Heulin Noon up, pressing the barrel into Ray's head. ("Would you love me If I go? It feels like a heart attack, but still everything's the same and it all just fades to black!" Music cuts to end.)
For just a second, both stand there, one image of Carmine holding the blade arm in place. Ray sucks in a breath, eyes wide...
Trade blows and hit harder... High risk, high reward.
His lips curl-
BOOM!
Heulin Noon's last double shot blows out. Directly by Carmine's ears, his hearing shrieks in a whine at the explosion inches from his head. A splatter of red blows onto the pavement. A second of lag follows with an electric spark. The cyborg's body starts to lower, going limp.
The Carmine holding the blade in place flashes away as the Carmine with his arm around the cyborg drops the arm.
Ray's body collapses left, a metallic thunk hitting. The top half of his head is completely gone...
Carmine lets out a wheezing breath, hearing the thumps of his heart beating in his ear... He grimaces, letting both arms fall. A stain of red now paints his left shoulder. Not his red. The same red starts to soak his right shoulder from the earlier clip...
Sudden pain sears in his left side. "AH!" He stumbles before planting Fluorescent into the ground to steady himself! His hand reaches for his side, feeling and seeing the same red soaking him. The wound is much worse than before he used the ability...
It's as bad as the other Carmine that took the hit... Shit
. . .
'Signal Disconnected.'
The screen reflects off the doctor's glasses, his open mouth remains as he doesn't move for a full minute.
After that time, his head tilts up, slowly. A low chuckle comes out the eternally stoic man. "... Two and O..."
His low chuckle almost forms a melody in the dark room...
. . .
"Nh! Ah! Finally!" Roman groans out, standing up. Wincing from his back wound, he helps Blair up, the blonde groaning. Both adults grab Neo, helping her up before she sways again. The black dust poisoning hampering the whole group. "At-ta-girl." He looks to Blair. "So... Silver Streak with super powers?"
Blair grimaces. "We need to find him. Now!"
Neo, is ahead of them, already rushing for the nearest stair well.
. . .
The girl rushes out from the base of the skyscraper. Her mismatched eyes wide at the destruction and debris littering the entire street for blocks. She shields her eyes from a wind blow of dirt kicking up. Neo squints as she moves around the still settling and shifting mounds of concrete, metal, and dirt.
Roman and Blair come out after, moving with the girl. Both pause lightly at the extent of the damage. The conman glances at the blonde. "Uh, Barbie. Be real with me. What did Silver Streak do?"
"... Short answer? I don't know." She rushes with more vigor ahead of him. "And we won't find out if we don't find him."
"You don't-" He stops short, wide eyed. "Isn't this your whole thing, wannabe scientist?! What do you mean, you don't know?!"
A whistle catches their attention as the find Neo standing around the corner staring at something. The little girl feels her heart stop at the sight of Carmine bloodied and standing over the crumbled cyborg's body. She sucks in a breath and begins to approach.
"Carmine!" Blair's voice calls out as she comes around the corner. The boy is slouched over Fluorescent, barely flinching at the sound. His chest pounds.
Ba-Dump... Ba-Dump...
He hears each heart beat ring in his ears.
Slowly, he raises his still golden eyes towards his friends. Deep, rasping breathes come from him, face looking almost malnourished, out of all energy. Deep bags under his eyes. He cracks a ghost of a grin, slightly raising his head. "Heh... Hey guys..."
Slowly, he raises his left arm, feebly forming a shaking thumbs up.
Ba-dump...
His body barely flinches.
His golden eyes widen as they darken to his normal blue.
His arm limply falls, gaze closing as he falls forward. The world is dark as he falls... Neo's arms catching him as she gasps, the last sound he hears.
I know most of my work in this story is bloated and slow, so I am happy to finally showcase Carmine's magic. A consequence of his relationship with Ozpin. But seems to have consequences itself. Where will this go? We shall see.
As a fun side note, been getting thoughts and rumblings over starting another story while writing this. A bit hesitant, as I've had issues maintaining multiple stories in the past. While this fic will have a sequel to it, I may do a different fic between this one and its sequel. Who knows what I'll end up doing, but the other story I may do is not in RWBY.
Actually, still a bunch of ideas still buzzing through my head... Dragon Ball is a potential one. Arcane is another. Maybe returning to Teen Titans. Too many buzzing through my head. But, for now, this story maintains priority.
References:
Ray, 2002, or Raiden Mibu, Master Kourii's son, is based off the titular character of Samurai Deeper Kyo. The same series for almost all characters from Mibu. He is also slightly inspired by Raiden from Metal Gear Solid in design. The number title, 2002, is the year that SDK was released as an anime. A terrible anime that didn't adapt the manga, but yeah. Go read SDK if you have time. Fantastic series.
Song used is Bad Apple, metal cover by RichaadEB. Just a high energy song for a long fight scene.
Join next time in chapter forty eight: Friends Like These.