Warning: Descriptive violence and implied sexual violence.
Do not read if triggering.
"What's up guys?"
Cardin called as he walked into team SYBR's (Schnee, Yang, Blake, Ruby) room with Sun following behind.
"Oh, hey Cardin," Weiss greeted with a side hug since her arm was in a cast, and turning to Sun:
"Hey, do you know where Neptune is?"
"I'm not sure," he confessed, "I lost him during the execution. But I'm sure he's just wandering about."
"Yeah."
"Is that a bouquet?" she asked curiously, not pegging him for the type.
"Yeah," he said while scratching the back of his head nervously, "Maybe they're a bit corny but it's supposed to be encouraging."
"No way," Weiss challenged, before turning to her monochromatic half, "They're great, right Blake?"
The girl who the question was directed at was staring at the wall behind the flower-bearing Sun, her mind distant from everyone here.
"Blake," Weiss called, snapping her partner out of her reverie.
"Oh, I'm sorry," she said with a thin smile and as walked towards him and sniffed the flowers, "Yes, they are lovely. It's so sweet of you."
"Hey," he joked with a mock bow, "I'm all about being sweet."
"Of course," she said with a small chuckle, "I'll look for a vase for them."
Despite the girls' attempts at cheeriness, the room was clearly not untouched by the dour events of
the earlier morning.
"Look guys," Sun said to the group grabbing their collective attention, "I know your mission didn't go… exactly as you wanted."
"Understatement," was Cardin's snide comment from the corner of the room he had situated himself in. On seeing Sun's glare, he raised his hands as though showing he wasn't hostile.
"But you guys still did awesome," he encouraged, "And you're going to do awesome in the Vytal
Tournament. Not as awesome as Team SSSN, but awesome nonetheless."
To be honest, that was Sun's first ever motivational speech that didn't involve him trying to
convince his friends into something illegal or otherwise mischievous. Still, he expected something other than tangible awkwardness as the response.
"What's the matter?" Cardin asked, levelling his indigo eyes pointedly at Weiss. The other
members also meekly signalled her to answer, she was the leader after all.
"Well," she began awkwardly, "We've all been talking. And we're… not sure that we're going to be part of the Tournament any more."
The last part was said quickly, as though she would run out of air before she was done if she'd talked at a regular pace.
"You're withdrawing then?" came Cardin's voice, in more of a statement than a question before he left the room, not waiting for an explanation.
His reaction baffled the group, but they remained silent, their heads tilted downwards in what seemed to be shame.
"Blake," came Sun's voice, the only sound in the now silent room, pleading her to look up at him, "What's wrong?"
"Only cowards go to H-"
"Ahhhh!" A thunderous cheer erupted from the crowd immediately Light of Judgement ignited.
Immediately following Lao's vaporisation, a bright myriad of colours emerged and bathed the
entire scene.
The lights were warm and calming, stilling the hottest of tempers and most unrestive worries in the
ground and replacing it with burning passion, and an atmosphere akin to revelry. Developed by
Mercer, Love and Dust under contract for the Atlesian Military, the Light of Judgement didn't
serve only one purpose; it's second component named Light of Euphoria used a combination of
EMT (Emotive Light Technology) and Luminous Dust to imbibe feelings of security and even
boldness in a populace.
A Grimm execution would be turned into a celebration, a celebration of their kingdom's victory
over one of its saboteurs.
"Wait!" A voice pleaded from the crowd, a second too late. It was Blake's voice. Luckily, amidst
the uproar of cheer following the White Fang member's execution, she was scarcely heard by
anyone other than her teammates who aimed their shocked expressions at her.
While the crowd was still immersed in the euphoric atmosphere the psychedelics had created, team
SYBR pushed through and headed back to their dorm room. None of them had taken any particular
pleasure in the scene that had played out, but they had all felt a sort of obligation to be there, as to
why, none of them was sure.
"Okay," Yang said once they were in their room, "Explain." As she pressed her partner for a
response, her lilac eyes picked up on a note that was in her now shaking hands.
"Have anything to do with that note that Oobleck gave you?"
"I met him close to a decade ago," she started, seemingly ignoring Yang's last question, "It was at
a ball my parents were hosting for nobles and pretty anyone with deep coffers."
"During the party, he pulled this stupid prank on me," she continued, laughing almost derisively at
herself, "My entire vision was painted red, I freaked out at first because I thought it was blood. It
was just jam, and boy did everyone get their laughs in."
"Anyway, he was caught and he apologised and I never saw him again. Before the jam hit me, he
said this though." With that, she handed the note to her partner who read it aloud for the rest of them.
"Eyes up, buttface."
"It was him, the one who was executed," she said slowly, as though measuring her words, "I didn't
know him, but for that second I panicked. It felt as though… as though I was losing a friend and it
hurt more than it should have."
Her confession sent the entire room into silence, not sure what to say to comfort her.
"Guys? I'm not sure I can be part of the tournament."
"Hey there guys,"
Jaune whispered as he peeked into team NVL's room, "Pyrrha here?"
"Nope," Nora responded as Ren threw another blueberry into the air and she caught it in her
mouth.
"She's organising some stuff for the tournament," Ren said mildly, "Think it's a good idea to talk
to her?"
"Not sure," was Jaune's response, taking down his hood to reveal his hair tied in a warrior's wolf
tail and lowered at the sides.
"Still want to though." Ren said, knowing what was on the blonde's mind.
"Yeah, I do."
"Have a plan?"
"I do," Jaune declared boldly, "But I may need to your help to do it."
"Not asking your new team?" Nora teased as she tore open another packet of blueberries and handed them to her partner.
"I did," he admitted bashfully, "Shouter said that he'd love to help, but Cardin said he'd put us
both in the hospital if we focused on anything other than tournament."
"Okay then," Nora shouted as she launched in the air, "Operation Love Machinations is a go!"
Ruby blazed a trail straight into Adam's room, barging in without an invitation.
"Adam?" she called, after entering and not seeing the youth. She left the room and moved all about
the school, inquiring if anyone had seen him. Some of them recalled seeing him during the
execution, but not since then, not even the Professors.
"Miss Rose," came the gentle call of the Principal from behind her as she paced around, worried
about Adam.
"Hey there, Principal Ozpin," she greeted with an absent smile.
"You seem… distressed," he noted, pacing around with her, in a little bit of amusement, "What's
the matter?"
"Adam's… not around."
"I see," the grey-haired wizard commented, before staring into her sliver eyes, "There's something
else though."
Surprised at his perceptiveness, the petite youngster moved back a little before assuming an unsure
posture.
"It's…"
"What do you mean?"
Ruby asked on hearing her teammates declaration, rushing to her and running a top to bottom
check, "Are you still injured?"
"I get what you mean," Yang came in, her eyes pointed downwards, "I just think… maybe we need
more time to recover. I mean… we took a lot of L's."
"What? Yang?" Ruby was eternally confused, she didn't understand what was happening, sure
they lost, but-
"I agree," Weiss said, finally and completely turning Ruby's world upside down, "Maybe the next
one, but I'm not sure if I could bare it this time… sorry Ruby."
"Wait!" Ruby shouted angrily, "What are all of you saying?
"Ruby," Blake coaxed, trying to calm her down, "It's just tha-"
"You wouldn't understand," Yang cut in, "Just leave it at that."
"Wouldn't understand?!" the attempt at getting her to drop the topic enraged her even more, "What
don't I understand!"
"I was there with all you. I nearly died too. Against the Paladins, I was the only one left. I
understand plenty!"
"Maybe we wouldn't have lost then if you'd remembered that you were supposed to be the sniper."
"Yang!"
"Stop!"
Despite the criticism from her teammates, Yang wasn't prepared to stop.
"I'm being honest," Yang shouted back, clenching her fists stubbornly, "I'm not the only one who was against having a kid on our team. That's even how you became team leader."
The snow-haired heiress was stumped by Yang's point and had no defence.
"Still," Blake interjected, "Pinning the blame for all our mistakes on her is wrong. All of
us failed, if anything she gets a pass because she's younger, the rest of us should have done better."
Immediately that was said, the Crimson scythe wielder zoomed out the room, the roses left in her
wake seeming strangely duller.
"I see."
Was Ozpin's only reply as he handed Ruby a mug to drink from.
"What do you make of it?"
"I… I don't know," Ruby confessed gloomily, "You never know with Yang, sometimes she seems
encouraging and others, she's dumping me on the first day of school to go talk with friends."
"Interesting. Has it always been this way?" while he asked, he dropped more and more sugar cubes
into the beverage, tempting a smile out of the Huntress-in-training.
"Maybe always, but I only ever noticed when…"
"When she tried finding Raven and nearly got you both killed," he completed her sentence, seeing her hesitance to do so herself, "I know all about it. That's when you noticed it?"
"Yeah, that's when."
"Maybe she feels guilt," he proposed, steepling his fingers as he did, "She nearly got you killed
after all, you can imagine that she may not have gotten over it and is instead hard on or distant from
you because of that."
"Maybe," was Ruby's unconvinced reply, as she also helped herself to a cookie.
Adam watched the proceeding intensely,
Every Fang member had long since accepted that this was their likely end. Most wouldn't even be
allowed last words, they'd breathe their last in the gutters. Accepting it didn't mean they weren't scared, or that it didn't hurt when they saw their comrades perish.
His scar began to burn. It happened every time he witnessed such a scene, every time he witnessed
another freedom fighter go. It reminded him that until he could stop this, he was still a slave. The
brand reminded him, and although it was a terrible experience, he was grateful for it. That way, he'd never forget.
"Only cowards go to H-"
Only cowards go to Hell, Adam completed the declaration fiercely in his mind as he turned around and left the crowd. The brand burned terribly as he pushed through the mass of cheering denizens,
barely stopping himself from breaking the jaw of an especially excited one who shouted a string of incoherencies into his ear.
Managing back to his room, the redhead plopped onto his bed, feeling exhausted. He was exhausted despite not having done anything. The burning was getting worse.
He looked at the blade in his sheath.
It wasn't his, not anymore. It came from a time that he had long forgotten, a time that appeared as a mist in his memories, a person now dead.
How much of that was true though?
Here he was, barely holding himself together, losing control like an animal and dependent on a drug to barely keep it together. What was he doing?
That was the question that he asked himself as he fell downwards suddenly, falling, rather than on
the floor, onto the trunk of a dead tree.
"Perfect," he grumbled as he rose to his feet, examining the dreadful forest he had suddenly
appeared in as though not surprised. "What am I in for now?"
Adam was sent flying into a tree, the contact knocking the wind out of him and leaving his back imprinted on the bark after he fell onto his knees and hands.
Raven, the perpetrator of this action, came at him again, aiming an axe kick at his exposed back
and nailing it, marrying him to the earth beneath him. Before she could further capitalise though, he
rolled out from underneath her heel and attempted sweeping her feet from her.
The result of this was her intercepting his kick by stomping on his ankle causing him to take in harsh breath through his teeth at the pain.
What was he doing?
Sure, he couldn't best her in close-quarters, but he could still do better than that pathetic showing.
He looked at her with eyes spilling over with rage. The brand burned even more now, sending him
in an akathisia-like frenzy, his entire body convulsing grotesquely as he banged his head into the
dirt beneath him. This went on for several minutes. A display that would disgrace the Fang to see;
their leader turned into this. It was embarrassing to even watch, especially for Raven who felt the
urge to spit in disgust at what he had devolved into.
What was wrong with him?
Adam had exhausted himself. Even now, when he just wanted to rip the eye out to escape the
unbearable feeling, he couldn't move. He stayed on his knees and looked up towards her, his
expression begging for help.
Through her haunting mask, he could feel her disappointing gaze burn through him before she
turned on a heel and walked away from his bent over figure and into the darkness of the forest.
Despite his tiredness, desperation forced him to his feet, he stumbled forward, trying to catch her
retreating figure. She made no effort to stop though and simply moved forward, outpacing the confused faunus.
In his bewilderment, the youth tripped, stumbling for a few steps before shoddily gaining his
balance. On looking up, the Branwen tribe warrior had disappeared, leaving him alone in the dark
forest.
Her sudden disappearance sent the faux student to his knees, "Wait" he tried to say after her, but the words didn't leave his mouth.
His eye burned.
As though possessed, he suddenly rose to his feet and leapt further into the forest, taking advantage
of his height and bounding with all the speed he could muster.
"Oh fu-" a black blur crashed into Adam lifting him off his feet and marrying him to a nearby tree.
The Grimm pressed him into the bark while it's other head -yes, other head- bit at him. Luckily,
his Aura was active on his arm and he kept it at bay although, with the other head trying to turn his
abdomen into jam, he didn't exactly feel lucky.
With the position he was in, there was only one course of action, Adam knew this, but as he
observed the maw full of fangs that was trying to take his head off, he certainly wasn't happy
about it.
He receded the Aura in his arm, allowing the Grimm to bite out of it. He took in a painful breath
through his teeth as he concentrated his Aura on his knee and delivered a powerful strike to the
beast's midsection and causing both its heads to howl in pain.
With his arm now free, he pulled out a spare knife from his waist and stabbed into the creature's
eye, following the beast's eerie cry, he struck the handle with his palm and completed the
lobotomy. Before he was able to catch his breath, another creature vaulted at him, sending him
flying through the air. This time however, he was able to switch positions in the air and make a
suitable landing.
I'm in for a long one, aren't I? he asked himself as he rushed at the bison like creature that had
flung him earlier.
"James,"
Glynda said in surprise as she walked into her office to see the General leaning on her desk,
"Interesting to see you here. And with drinks."
"Don't worry," he said with a smile as he poured out the contents of the thermos in his hands into one of her mugs, "It's tea, earl grey."
"Thank you," she said as she took the mug from him and took a meek sip, savouring the taste of the
brew.
"You know," she said as she dropped the mug next to her, "My earl grey usually comes without the
bourbon."
"You're kidding," he stated in mock surprise, "In Atlas, this is the perfect pick-me-up; the tea warms you and the bourbon keeps you that way. What do you think?"
"It's really good," she affirmed this statement by taking another savoury sip, "Relaxing. Brewed it
yourself?"
"You know it," he affirmed before giving the Vice Principal a sly grin, "You know, if you took me
up on that offer of a vacation in Atlas, we could… try out different recipes."
"Tempting as always," she responded, the ruddiness in her cheeks strictly as a result of the
bourbon, according to her at least.
"But you have work to do," James completed, dropping his mug.
"Yes, Ozpin needs me around."
"I understand," then jokingly, "I wish I could pull of that old professor look. Maybe that way I
wouldn't lose out to him when it comes to you."
"Well," she teased as she stroked his greying temples, "You're not that far from it. Slap on a pair of
those glasses and who knows?"
James had no response to her barb about his grey hair and simply accepted it, cupping his hand over hers with a grateful smile.
"Are we going to talk about what's bothering you?"
"I'd much rather just stay this way."
"James," she insisted, pulling her hand away gently, "Tell me."
"Only cowards go to H-"
What was happening? That question was exactly what was going through the mind of Atlas' Iron
General. He had given Perry the privilege of saying a few things before he was executed, and yet Light of Judgement had been ignited before the boy could finish his declaration.
"What just happened?" the General asked silently, his cool rage burning in his blue eyes.
His soldiers, instinctively attuned to this reaction, parted way to reveal a solitary soldier with a
pristine – even for Atlas – uniform and a stoic face.
"I'm waiting for your explanation," James said as he bore down on the soldier, who, from his
uniform, was a Manus Dei, a Council enforcer.
"The White Fang terrorist was delivering propaganda and intimidating our denizens," came his
composed response, "I couldn't allow that to happen, so I took action, authorised by the Council of
course… the name is Lars Astree by the way."
"Regardless of who's authorisation you had," the General started, "This is a task that I am in charge of. Don't ever be as stupid as to try this again, it won't get as far as your superiors should it
repeat itself."
"Yes sir," Lars said with a bow, accepting his rebuke, "I had thought it to be initiative, but it was… callous of me to act without your knowledge. I apologise."
Ignoring the apology, the tinman looked in the direction of the now-cheering crowd and he felt a
chill conduct through his entire person, something was coming and there was nothing good about
it.
"Something's coming," the General said as he sipped the refill that Glynda had poured him, "I
allowed myself to remain ignorant of the Faunus problem. I'm still not sure if it's just another
gripping ideology. If it isn't, then it means there's something there, something so painful that
they're willing to fight to the end for it."
"You think the White Fang have anything to do with what's coming?"
"I don't know," he confessed, "But if they're even half as determined as the boy that was
executed…"
"What?" she queried worriedly at his pause.
"I just realised," he said with a hollow laugh, "The boy that was executed."
"I just realised… I killed a child. I'd always known that that was what I was doing and yet… it's
somehow just hitting me now."
"You did your duty."
James kept silent at this; she was right. He was right to do as he had been by the Council, and yet,
it was more than that.
Later that night, Neptune arrived back into the dorms, trying his best to be discreet as he sneaked towards his room.
"Where've you been?" came a voice whose owner didn't wait for a response before grabbing him by his tattered jacket. Neptune turned to see a stern frown covered with burnt orange hair.
"Do I know you?" he asked carefully, wondering what he did to earn such hostility.
"Weiss needs your help," he said simply, dragging him towards a gymnasium and ignoring his questions and protests.
The pair walked into the gymnasium to see the Ice Queen herself standing there, worry written over her face.
"Cardin, is there something wrong?" she asked before turning to Neptune and observing his tattered apparel, "What happened?"
"Only cowards go to H-"
Neptune had watched this scene with emotions so mixed that he couldn't explain them or why he felt anything different from the satisfaction the rest of the crowd felt from seeing this murderer
perish.
"Hey," a voice whispered into his ear causing him to turn around to see a now familiar face,
"Follow me." Neptune was suspicious, halting for a second but complying either way and losing
his partner amidst the celebrations.
"Find her?" she asked after the pair had separated from the crowd.
"No," was his curt response, not in any kind of mood.
"Let's go then. I have a lead."
"Why though?"
"What?"
"Why go save her? Why with me? I know it's not because you care, because there were hundreds
there and your oh so benevolent White Fang didn't seem to care. You also seem to be forgetting that faunus were killed in the Black Wave you caused."
"Either you're coming with me to save her or you aren't, which is it?" The pair locked eyes intensely. This was all just posturing; his failure to do anything to save her still stung and he was venting, but he would still follow her.
"Let's go then." At the end of the day, it didn't matter if she was sincere about caring for the girl's safety. As long as they got her out of that place.
"Good," she started as she turned away from him and walked out of the wyn, "My bike's just a little ways from here."
"Great." His mind flashed back to memories of the last time a girl took him on her bike through a
sketchy area. "Just great."
The slums were as foul as ever, except somehow even more so.
The recent Black Wave created a pulse of activity throughout the streets, polluting the air with the
depravity that was part and parcel of Vale. The Wave had brought with it the fear and terror of the
Creatures of Grimm, it reminded the denizens of the great city, neigh kingdom, that they were
mortal and that their security was open to challenge.
What could regular men do when faced with the reality of their frailness?
That's what the happy houses were for. A Valean philosopher once said that all men were mortal,
but it took no more than a cloud of smoke over their heads and a whore in their bed to forget that.
No one could ever name the philosopher though, some said it was just a saying from a drunk. Not that it mattered; hedonism hardly ever required a philosophical justification.
"We're rather lucky," Wynn said, her nose wrinkled in disgust as she perched on a building facing
their target; a happy house known as The Cathouse, "Shortly after she was kidnapped, she was
'adopted' by a Baron Bannon."
"That's lucky how?" he asked, trying his best to not look or concentrate on the building. He was feeling a great deal aggression, and although it wasn't rare in this place, security would be alert if
they felt his hostile Aura directed at their building for such a long time.
"Bannon has his particular… fetishes. He likes them when they're not broken."
"Broken?" Neptune's voice cracked on this one, he was scared to know what that meant.
"They're made 'ideal'," she stated, her grim tone belying her calm Aura, "They're given drugs till
they become dependent and their 'training' starts. Basically, they'll undergo torture and humiliation until they're able to endure it with a smile or a pout, sometimes moans. It all depends
on what the customer wants. It must get old for Bannon, so he has them before then."
"You're very neutral about all this."
"You'd rather I broadcast our position to everyone like you?"
"Didn't mean it as a snipe," he placated, hands up, "I mean you're calm and collected. Makes it more assured that we're going to succeed."
"I'm not the type of person you should put your trust in," she said simply as she rose to her feet,
"We're going in now."
"Right," he said as he straightened his body and raised King Ghidora, his weapon, "Need to do
something first." Once he said this, a blue light spread out from his hands and onto the weapon enveloping the user and the object like a film for a second before dissipating and leaving only his eyes glowing blue.
"I'm ready," he stated, as he gestured for her to lead the way.
Wynn wrapped her hand round his waist and launched herself towards the window of his room in a
single powerful bound.
KISH! The pair crashed through the window and into the room, soundlessly taking battle stances, ready to take Bannon down.
"Shhh," came a voice from the large king-sized bed at one end of the room, "You'll scare her."
Seated on the bed was a man of about forty, dressed stylishly in dark tones that matched his low-cut hair. in this man's hands was a young girl, a lynx faunus. It was Jean. The girl quivered fearfully in his arms, her tearful eyes scarcely able to look at the duo that had just crashed in.
"You weren't expecting this were you?" the man asked, as he rocked the girl gently and succeeded
in calming her down, "If you're looking for Bannon, he's right there."
Following the gesture of his head, the pair observed a giant on the floor next to the bed, clearly struggling in his death throes.
"Now I remember you," Neptune exclaimed as silently as possible, trying to avoid drawing anyone
to this scene, "You're the Malachite brother, Melathon."
"Very good," he said with a small smile as he suddenly appeared before Neptune and handed the girl, who was now asleep, to him before he could react.
"Now," he started, his eyes on Wynn, "Mr. Bannon here was assassinated by the White Fang. Miss
Jean Grey, who he was supposed to be spending the night with, was abducted by them and taken to
a safe place. Clear enough?"
"Yeah," Wynn said tersely as lifted a sword from the floor, apparently the Baron's. She walked slowly towards him, giving a sneer to man who convulsed like a worm dabbed with salt.
Neptune stepped forward, wanting to stop this from happening. For a second though, he forgot the next step to walking. It was because of the casual yet cold gaze the man laid on him. His Aura was
colder than a Beowulf's breath, the goosebumps on his skin despite his Aura being evidence of
this.
The sabre was light, not exactly a weapon you'd expect from such a giant, she swung it a few times
to get the hang of it.
"Wynn, stop." Neptune urged from his position, "Drop the blade."
"She won't though," the dark don said, lighting a cigarette, "She's a killer, so she'll do her job."
The girl in question was hardly listening to the pair talk, she was in a trance, her body moved closer
to the dying man automatically, as though dancing in time to his dying heartbeat. She had often
dreamed of having a Baron like this, being able to snuff one out.
Barons were too powerful though, it would be impossible for her to get one. She only even took the
risk of coming here tonight because of the arrangements she had made with her informants; the
Baron wasn't even supposed to be here at this time, just a few guards. Now though, one of the
Barons, a Malachite, was giving her the go-ahead.
She really wished this could last longer, she wasn't particularly sadistic, but just watching this
piece of trash struggle for his life was orgasmic.
Oh well, she said as she raised her the blade over her head, and chopped down, Half a loaf.
Her swing was accompanied by a sound Neptune could scarcely even describe; it was like a melon
was being halved… if melons being halved could almost send your breakfast up for a second serving. He saw Wynn, her body covered in blood, he didn't know much about killing, but he knew she didn't have to make it as messy as she had.
She… she seemed to be enjoying herself.
And enjoying herself she was.
All her senses we're awakened; the sight of the dark red gore made her eyes glow in glee.
The descent of the still warm blood made her skin tingle as it soaked her apparel.
It was almost as good as hearing plop onto the rug beneath her, the mini-rain nearly driving her
insane with pleasure.
She rubbed her bloody face with her hands, bringing them close to her nose and allowing her
powerful nose to smell everything about her victim. She could virtually smell the cocktail he had
had just an hour or two ago.
Taste. She opened her mouth ready to… taste?
Taste?
What was she doing?
Suddenly, she jumped backwards as though back to her senses and out of the ones she had been lost
in indulging. She was sober now, and with sobriety came horror. She hurriedly pulled her
drenched top off and urgently tried to wipe off the blood.
"Let's leave the lady to clean up, shall we?" was Melathon's only comment as he opened a door
and invited Neptune to step into the suite's parlour.
The parlour was as luxurious as the bedroom, although Neptune had noticed neither due to the
tenseness of their situation. He held the lynx in his arms carefully, doing his best to orient her
comfortably. He would have let her on one of the bountiful couches, but he was wary of the
criminal who was seated next to him.
He had only heard a description of Roman Torchwick, but still, he knew that he was small-fry in
comparison to this person next to him. Even when he wasn't focused vaguely on Neptune, he still
felt his Aura stifling him.
"You had expected more than this, right?" he asked while blowing a cloud of light-speckled smoke
from his lips, "You expected a big fight, with you pair barely escaping but still being able to save the girl. Something cool like that right? I wonder if this is anticlimactic?"
"I'd have preferred the fight to be honest," was his monotonous response to the question, as his
hands held onto King Ghidora's trigger, ready to pull at slightest provocation.
"It would seem she's done."
As though on cue, Wynn walked out of the room stiffly, her movements not matching her usual
fluid, almost sultry demeanour. she was wearing a change of clothes; a plain white collared shirt
and black pants to go with them, and her copper-coloured hair was now tied in a ponytail, still
dripping; evidence of her attempt to wash the blood out, although she seemed oblivious to it.
"Ready to talk?" he asked cheerfully, not affected in the least by the mood.
"I am," she declared, her voice bold, belying her appearance and seeming almost ridiculous when
placed next to her wet hair and slightly baggy clothes.
About half an hour later, Neptune and Wynn were watching the lynx run into the arms of her parents. Immediately they left the suite, the White Fang member contacted them with specific instructions on how to come pick her up. Neptune smiled brightly at them from his position in the darkness with his new partner.
The smile diminished though, it eroded under the waves of guilt gnawing on his conscience from
leaving all those other girls behind.
"Touching isn't it?" she asked gently, her whisper pulling him out of his contemplation as she
pulled out her scroll and showed him pictures of the family from Jean's social media feed.
"That's the reason I was set on bringing her back; she has people. People who care enough to help
her. This thing doesn't just end in one night, you don't just rescue someone from Hell and expect
that they're now redeemed. If there's no one there when they get to the other side, they'll descend
and harder. Saving those other girls would have been pointless, it's better to only worry about what
you can do."
"Thank you." Neptune said, knowing that her words weren't just addressing his earlier accusations, but also to comfort him.
"It's no problem," she replied, walking away from him, "We're caught up in this now, can I count on you?"
"Yes, you can."
Neptune had coasted through life putting minimum effort in everything. He had never committed to anything, he couldn't even commit to what he wanted his weapon to be and kept adding a ridiculous number of upgrades periodically.
The feeling he had when he saw her united to her family though, that made him want to give his all. And he'd give it regardless of who he had to work with.
"Nothing much," Neptune lied, "Some guys Sun had beef with, I'm okay though."
"Neptune," the Winchester heir said, dismissing his excuse, "Did you hear about what happened to Weiss?"
"Yeah," he answered despite his confusion, "Her mission went a little awry and she got injured… why?"
"Cardin, stop."
"She nearly died," he revealed grimly, "And it was because she decided to fight the White Fang."
The first part of his revelation shocked Neptune to his core, and he didn't think it was possible after what he had gone through earlier that night. He was still reeling when the words 'White Fang' were spoken and he was stopped cold.
"Forget your shock," Cardin shouted, knocking him out of his panic, "There's nothing you can do about that now. Comfort her, now, she plans of pulling out of the Vytal Festival because of her loss. Convince her not to."
Neptune, whose mind was already overwhelmed by the earlier events of the night, felt his brain
switch off for a second.
"W-what? H-how…?" he knew he was supposed to say something, but what? Where could he even begin from?
"Useless as expected," Cardin spat out as he shoved the bluenette out of the way and grabbed his
cousin by her injured arm.
"Cardin!" she exclaimed weakly, as she tried to escape his rough grasp. "You're hurting me."
"What do you do when something hurts enough?" he asked, not relenting but instead tightening his grip and causing her more pain.
"Hey!" Neptune complained, he may not have known what to say, but he sure as heck knew how to teach someone manners.
"Let her g-". Maybe not; midsentence, Cardin placed his hand on the team SSSN member's shoulder, sending him down onto his knees.
"Neptune!"
"Focus," he pushed, tightening his grip more and pushing Neptune down even further, "What do
you do when something's hurting you and those you care about?"
"Run?"
"Hide?"
"Stop it!" whipping out Jade Essence with her scream, she swung it at her cousin and sent him a
few feet backward.
The orange-haired heir simply shrugged off the blow and locked eyes with his now livid cousin.
"When it hurts enough, you fight back. Does it hurt enough, Weiss? It does for me, that's why I can't, why I won't stop, it hurts too much to stay still."
It did hurt; all the rage, the determination, all of that culminating in humiliation, in crawling
towards his blade like a worm. The Fang member had pitied her. She'd gotten Castle's weapon back out of pity. As shallow as it was, she'd have preferred to have never gotten it at all.
"Well?"
"It does," she uttered laboriously, trying to keep her tears from leaking out, "It hurts so much."
Her efforts failed, and she let out a wail as she crumbled to her knees. Seeing this, Cardin signalled Neptune out of the room.
"We have to leave her alone for this," he said once the pair were outside, "Also, you utterly failed your first test."
"Test?"
"If you're going to date my cousin, you'll have to do much better than you did just now."
"Cousin?!" he exclaimed, the crack in his voice showing the degree of his surprise, "And wait, we're not dating. How did you even know?"
"A little bird told me," he said with a grin, "Well, three little birds. Actually, two little birds, the other just nodded it in Morse Code."
"Oh."
"Yeah," Cardin said, clapping the Haven Academy student's shoulder with too much force for it to be a friendly gesture, "I'll be seeing you."
"I'm screwed," Neptune lamented as he watched the mace wielder walk towards his room. His
gaze moved to the gym door, his eyes analysing the wooden barriers that let out just enough of her
cries to break his heart. He knew she needed to be alone, but he wanted to be there with her, for her, especially after failing completely earlier.
Well, he said as he took a seat, I'll just have to stay as close as I can.
"There she is,"
Jaune said as he spotted the redhaired Amazon as she walked towards the dorm, "You guys ready?"
"You bet!"
"I don't know," Ren said worriedly, "She doesn't look to be in the best mood."
"That's why I'm gonna cheer her up," came the blonde's goofy reply as he threw out wild gestures at his friends, "Get into position, guys."
Seconds later, a grenade went flying over Pyrrha's head, causing her to whip out her weapons, the
Amazon always prepared for a fray.
The grenade wasn't aimed at her though, or anywhere nearby in fact. It coasted through the sky
above her with speed and trajectory too lazy to be any harm. Finally, it exploded. Not the type of
explosion on a battlefield, it was smaller, yet brighter. It dotted the skies above the redhead with
bright, pink sparkles that created a rosy atmosphere.
During this, the gentle sound of a flute hummed gently as, adding romance to the already beautiful
scenery. Despite her utter ignorance of the happenings at the moment, Pyrrha was still slightly
impressed.
That all changed when the strings of a guitar were plucked and a blonde knight emerged from the
rain of sparkles.
"I know a girl," Jaune began, prepared to serenade Pyrrha into forgiving him, "Her name is Pyrr-"
Unfortunately, Pyrrha wasn't hearing any of it. She used her Semblance and snapped the guitar
strings before he could truly get into his performance. In his surprise, the redhead walked past him,
her anger evident in each step.
"Pyrrha wait," nervous laugh underlying his plea, "Maybe that was a little corny. But you get what I'm trying to say."
"What are you saying?"
"That I missed you," he said seriously, hand reaching over to hers, "That I was an idiot to leave and a coward for not telling you about it. That I know all these things, but not how to make it up to you."
He clasped her hand.
"So please, tell me how."
His blue eyes stared back into her green ones, begging her to let him in, true apology radiating
from them as his face pulled closer.
"Jaune…" she whispered, her voice quivering ever so slightly, as she looked up to her former
partner, "… You're as sweet as always."
"As sweet as when you left without a word. You have my forgiveness. You left, and I don't blame you. You didn't say anything, I understand the fear you must have felt."
"I understand what it means to be a coward," she said gently, peeling her hand from his grasp, "But
it means that I can't trust you, I want to, but I can't… I'm sorry and hope you'll forgive me too."
With these words, the three-time Mistral Tournament winner departed from her former partner,
leaving the fourth-generation Arc warrior despondent with his busted-up guitar in his hands.
Despite her fashionable heels, Pyrrha made good time, going pass the main school building
instantly.
"Hold up," Ren called, catching up to her with a smile, "You forgot these."
Pyrrha looked at the rose bouquet that her friend held in front of her face with annoyance.
"I picked them out myself," he said, pulling them away before she swatted them away in her
annoyance, "What do you think?"
"Are you trying to annoy me?"
"I'd be rather late if I was," came his answer, "What's the matter? It isn't Jaune... not just him. You
know you can tell me, right?"
"It's… a long story."
"Only cowards go to H-"
The scene Pyrrha had just witnessed was brutal to say the least, but the lights allayed her negativity in their radiance.
Ping.
Her scroll vibrated to alert her that she had gotten a message, pulling the device out, she lifted it close to her face and saw the text that read: "On your left."
Following the prompt, she looked to her and instantly wished she didn't.
Just my luck.
Pyrrha sat at a table opposite an older man with slicked back hair and leather that was tight in all the wrong places.
"How've you been doing, dear?"
The Invincible Girl apparently had no intention of making conversation and simply took a sip from her glass while glaring at the man intensely.
"Look," he started carefully, pushing aside his fork, the third one she had warped with her
Semblance, "About that thing, I didn't give them any permission. I wasn't even going to bring it up,
I told them that I would talk to you about it, but that was to get them to leave us the heck alone
with it."
"Fine then," he said tiredly, "PP's pushing. They want you to wear their logo in the Tournament. I
said that wouldn't happen, but we need to give them something. Throughout the tournament, we'll
need to take shots of you consuming and enjoying their products."
"I do what I can," he said as he rose to his feet and dropped some Lien on the table, "But they'll
keep pushing… Later then, kid."
"You don't have to do this you know?"
Her first words during their meeting stopped the man in his tracks for a second.
"Good one, kid."
"I see," Ren said tossing a coin into the fountain in the courtyard.
"Shouldn't waste your money," she said as she pulled the coin towards her, "Let's hit the vending
machine instead."
"You're taking this well."
"Don't have many alternatives."
"When are you going to make up with Jaune?"
"Where did that come from?" she asked with a pout as she got a Pumpkin Pete's Snack Attack and
a Sugar 'N' Spice's Orneos. She handed the former to her teammate with a mischievous smile.
"I'm bad at socializing remember? I don't know how to dance around the important stuff."
"I… don't understand what's going on myself. It's all a big fustercluck."
"Well," the green warrior said as he flicked a Snack Attack in the air and caught it in his mouth,
regretting it instantly, but still managing to maintain a straight face, "You don't trust him, but you
two like each other very much and so you're trying to find a way for it to work."
The statement left Pyrrha confused for a moment; she wanted to protest, but she was surprised for
long enough to think about what he said.
"Even if you're right," she started after a few moments to collect her thoughts, "It'll have to wait
till after the Tournament… if he stays that is."
"Okay then. I'm making pancakes, assuming you're prepared to wrest them from Nora, they're on
the table."
"Thanks, I'd like that."
"Let's go, then."
"Wake up,"
Yang felt a foot nudge her roughly threatening to snap her out of her enjoyable rest.
"Fine then, you asked for this."
The last statement was familiar to the blonde brawler, familiar enough that she could feel the chills
in advance and that willed her body to dodge out of the way. Just in time too, as ice-water came
crashing down in the spot she had been just seconds ago.
"Enjoy your sleep?"
"It was great," she mumbled out tiredly, she doubted that she had ever slept that soundly in her life.
That was until the headache kicked in and she grabbed her head through her messy mass of hair.
"Take this," the voice of the same person who tried to throw water on her offered. Yang grabbed
the bottle that the person shook in front of her face and chugged it suddenly.
"Blergh," came her exclaim of disgust, "What is this?"
"Hangover cure."
"Ever work for you?"
"Not once, and I've had lots of hangovers."
"I see," was her response as she took another sip, "Either way, thanks uncle Qrow."
"No worries," he responded casually, waving it off, "Let's head into Beacon."
"Yeah, let's do that."
The pair stepped outside and Yang flinched.
"What exactly happened?" Qrow asked her as he handed her a pair of sunglasses.
"Nothing much."
"Ruby's so annoying,"
Yang complained as she took a sip of the drink in front of her.
"You've mentioned, and only every single time we've ever talked."
The snarky reply came from a skinny girl on the other side of the counter, serving drinks to
customers that came and still being able to maintain a conversation with her blonde friend.
"Yeah," goldilocks admitted while staring at her glass suspiciously, "What's in this?"
"Nothing weird, I promise."
"Huh. So, that's why I'm not drunk yet, pour me a real glass Deau."
"Come on, blondie."
"I've had drinks before, partied all the time back in Patch. Come on, pour me one."
Her friend looked around uncomfortably as though unsure about whether or not to give the already legal blonde in front of her a drink.
"Fine then," she conceded, shaking her head at her, "But don't say I didn't warn you."
"It's just one drink," she virtually scoffed out as she pulled the glass herself and took a drink.
It wasn't just a drink though. The night turned into a blur of dance and alcohol. Yang had had some
pretty insane parties back in Patch, but this was the only free time she had had alone since coming to Vale (her alone time usually involved looking for clues) and she understood the difference between her hometown and the city of Vale.
Vale was awesome!
"Get some rest," Qrow urged as he dropped her off in front of her dorm, "A few hours of sleep and
you'll be as right as rain."
"Thanks," she grumbled out once more, wanting to step into her room.
"And Yang…" the gruff-looking Hunstman said awkwardly, not knowing exactly how to word his
statement, "I'm hoping this is just the one time but… Drinking your problems away doesn't work,
there's nothing good at the bottom of that bottle."
"You're one to talk, uncle," came her lazy response, "Listen, thanks for the advice and the
'hangover cure', but I'm good."
"You're okay!" Ruby shouted as she jumped onto her sister with a hug, "We were worried."
"Firstly, ouch." Yang responded touching her head that still pounded with her hangover.
"Secondly, I went out, you're just being dramatic."
"Sorry about that."
"Forget it, I just need some sleep."
"Sure thing, enjoy your rest."
Yang gave no answer and instead sunk into her mattress and allowed herself to be transported into
her sleep.
Adam Taurus trekked tiredly through the treeless terrain of the forest, his body scarcely clothed save for his various injuries. The red-haired renegade had been stranded in this forest for three days now. He was tired, he was hungry and above all, he was furious.
On passing another stump, a Grimm the size of a large dog jumped at him, preparing to decapitate the young faunus. Slowly, almost lazily, he pulled out one of his guns and delivered a rain of shots to the creature, turning its head to an imaginary construct.
Dang it! He cursed internally as he threw the gun away, its last rounds somewhere there with the
Grimm's carcass. In his anger, he had used more bullets than he needed to dispatch the creature. It
wasn't important now though, he was almost there.
His darned brand was burning.
On the first day, Adam had recognized two things; firstly, that despite the extreme negativity he
had felt during his fight with Raven, no Grimm had attacked. Secondly, the Grimm attacked with
organization; he'd seen Cauldrons and Dobermares working together perfectly like partners.
The two observations led him to conclude that they were being controlled by a more intelligent
Grimm.
Provectus Grimm, Grimm who had lived for long periods and had evolved, were a rare
phenomenon and a scary one. Some, like the Goliath were herd creatures as they had realised the efficacy of a group. The very one that Adam was up against seemed to fall into the King category.
Such Grimm existed alone, but exerted dominion over weaker Grimm in their territory.
Based on the density of the creatures, he had estimated the position of the Grimm and was
approaching it. The former General could have tried to find a way to escape, but he believed that
Raven had left him here as his trial. Besides, he was burning with fury and needed a big enough
target to let it all out on.
His darned brand was burning.
A few minutes later, he arrived at a large lake, the first body of water he had seen in this dark
wood. According to his calculations, the King would be somewhere in the vicinity. The taurine
terrorist observed his surroundings carefully, spotting nothing except the solitary lake, unperturbed
and smooth as glass.
Suddenly, he remembered just how tired he was and made it to the bank, bending over and
splashing some water on his face, allowing himself to relax a little with the coolness of the water.
He looked at the reflection in the grand pool, the brand burning red and making all his other features obscure in comparison.
A brand is the mark of property.
He had thought he put it behind him, he had killed everyone who had anything to do with it; he
hadn't really felt anything towards the SDC themselves because, although it was their name burned
onto his face, it had been his fellow faunus who did it. He hadn't joined the Fang because of hate,
it had been a call to war like any other. He didn't hate his opponents, but he sure as heck wouldn't
let them win.
Hate wasn't his reason, and yet here he was, popping apathy pills constantly to keep it at bay. He
could feel the resentment still, he wasn't over it and it was destroying everything he had built,
eroding his very existence.
ARRRGH! His shout carried throughout the forest, even shaking the serene lake slightly.
The very next moment, his world was turned upside down and he was plunged into the water. The bull tried to swim up, but his leg was trapped by something. The deep dark pool, let hardly any of the dusk rays through, but he was still able to spot two burning lights. They were eyes, eyes of a creature of Grimm.
It was the King.
The creature was known as Lord Vritra, a crocodile-like Grimm that inhabited deep lakes. The
particular one he was against was a 9m giant that was evidently the King in this region. He had
been giving orders from the bottom of the lake, and had allowed Adam to reach it so that it could finish him off.
Lord Vritra was a terrifying beast, his head alone was as long as the bull was tall, a single bite would be disastrous. However, that wasn't how he dealt with his prey; he hunted by drowning,
pulling his game down to the depths, and indulging in their fear and terror and finally, when there
was less than a spark of their life left, he would feed, decorating the waters with blood stained in
pain and fear.
After a few minutes, this one seemed to be done in, its struggles ending and life barely in it any more. Seeing this, he let it go and travelled deeper into the depths before turning around suddenly, coming up for the grand finale. It was too bad, three days of hunting climaxed in such a short hunt.
Adam was in a bad position; although his guess of what the creature was had been correct, it was
smarter than he had anticipated and wrapped its tail around him in such a way that his sword hand
was restricted, stopping him from releasing three days' worth of damage from Nerium Thorn. And
knowing its hunting habits, he wouldn't let him go till he was almost completely drowned.
Meaning that there was only one way for him to get out of this mess.
Just before being pulled in, he had created a really quick coating of Aura that trapped some air in it
and would buy him a few extra minutes. The problem was that the longer he stayed, the deeper it
would pull him, in other words, he needed to start drowning, fast.
This was of course, much easier said than done. Despite letting most of the air out of his Aura
bubble and allowing the water enter his orifices as part of his plan, he still fought violently against
it, his body thrashing and convulsing reflexively despite him knowing the futility of it.
Even though he was drowning, his rage was deeper than ever. That was why Vritra had not let him
go yet, it was still savouring his negativity. Adam knew this, but the rage was still there, it was all
he could do.
Whenever he was helpless, rage was the answer that came forth.
When Sheena was going to be executed and he was losing to Nikolai.
When he had wanted to break the experiment out of its cage, and it was futile.
When he was about to be unmasked and couldn't do anything about it.
Rage.
Rage.
Rage!
That had always been the answer.
And yet, here he was; he hadn't been able to save Sheena.
He didn't break the cage.
He didn't stop them from unmasking him.
For something that was supposed to be his answer, it had a cruddy problem-resolution rate. He
needed to find something else.
If he didn't, he would die here. As he moved deeper and deeper into the darkness, he had to let that
part of him die. The rage wasn't of any use to him, he needed something else, something stronger
and he knew he would find it in the corpse of his resentment.
His memories flooded in, the pain, the sadness, the love, the hope, the desire to hold onto it all, and
the helplessness of his inability to do so. Despite this fact, the anger didn't rise up to defend him,
he held it back, allowing the water to wash over him, allowing it to consume him.
Suddenly, it stopped.
The beast had freed him, it was swimming downwards rapidly before turning around ferociously to finish the job. He felt the waters give way as the giant approached him, prepared to consume him.
Very quickly and smoothly, he pulled Nerium Thorn from his waist in a series of motions that felt
as though one fluid one. As the blade lit up, glowing so red it looked like fire. Seeing the draconic
creature's face in the red iridescence, Adam Taurus notice something:
His brand no longer burned.
A mighty red flash engulfed the beast's vision, and that was the end for it.
After making his way out of the lake, the taurine General collapsed, the toll of three days of battle
and nearly drowning being too much for even his stamina.
He looked at his sword, what was left of it at least. The days of storing damage and unleashing it
all at once had left Nerium Thorn a cracked mess, most of its fragments deep in the lake somewhere.
Adam heaved a great sigh before bursting into laughter. It wasn't his usual manic, derisive laugh, it
was several mighty bellows of good and honest laughter, helping him melt off the tiredness and
stress.
During his cheer, a rift appeared behind him and Raven Branwen herself walked through
it.
"You're back," he acknowledged lightly without turning around.
"Yeah, I sensed that you were… not distressed. I understood that that meant you survived, good
job."
"High praise as usual."
"Either way, I'm here to take you back to Vale. Do you know what it is?"
"I do, come the Vytal Tournament and you will too."
"Sure thing," she said as she grabbed him and pulled him through a rift with her. The pair appeared
around Vale's outskirts, the city evoking an emotion close to nostalgia in the breast of the General.
"Maybe it's the near-death experience," he murmured pensively before declaring boldly, "But I'm
glad to be back."
"Be safe," Raven advised brusquely, turning away as though uninterested "Also, you can have this,
you've earned it." Taurus caught the black bundle in his hands, feeling its contents through the
cloth. He swiftly ripped at the hem of the rags that were supposed to be his trousers and wrapped
them around his eyes, hoping it was enough to distract from the rogue tear or two as he a gave a
steep bow.
Without another word, Raven disappeared and he was there, alone, and in the atmosphere of his
isolation he let out a teary "Thank you."
A few minutes passed, and Adam rose, looked ahead brightly, his mind was clearer than it had ever been. He knew exactly what he was going to do.
Arthur Watts emerged from an alley in the west of Vale, met by Cinder and Hazel.
"You failed?" Hazel asked in surprise, knowing Arthur's track record as a member of the Inner Circle.
"Unfortunately, yes. James was the shrewder of us." He confessed.
"But…?"
"His shrewdness shall be his downfall, come the Vytal Tournament and all will be made clear."
Cinder could scarcely keep herself from growling at his grotesque melodramatics.
"Unfortunately, that is your assignment," and then gesturing to Cinder, "I'll be dropping her off with you. Make sure she keeps a low profile, if not for her, Ozpin would be able to locate the Fall Maiden's magic."
"Certainly," Arthur acknowledged, bowing Hazel away in goodbye, "I'll make sure she behaves."
Despite the fact that it was night, Professor Oobleck flipped through an old, but neat book
repeatedly, observing every single detail in the dim light of his quarters.
"Incredible," he whispered, he knew what he had to do.