Imu Chapter 13: Warped Reality, a rwby fanfic

…

{Nervous. Walking back and forth.}
{The Humans could not feel it, but Laz could feel it.}
{Danger. Fear. Anxiety.}
{The air was filled with the smell of trouble.}

{Adrian was in danger. Laz wanted him back. Now.}
{Where was he?}

{Again the Black Creature appeared in her mind, her memory.}
{Growling, pressing down on her fear with its power.}
{Searching for Adrian.}
{The only way was to bark at it, draw its attention away, towards herself. It was scary, so scary, but they got away in the end. Laz even got to sleep in Adrian's lap!}

{But the smell of the Black Creature remained. All over this place.}
{There were more here. Many more. All hidden. Waiting to strike.}
{How could Adrian not see them?}

"Aww, is little Laz worried about Adrian too?" {Small human picked her up – the Misty was her name – and held her close. Heartbeat. Warmth. Comfort.} "He'll be okay. He's just… got a lot to deal with right now."

{Green eyes looking at her. Kindness. Peace.}
{A new smell underneath the emotions. A core. Something at the center of the Misty.}
{Sniff. Explore. Reach out. Connect.}

"Mmm… Opal was right. Holding one of you guys really is enough to make my day.~"

{Emotions moving. Pulling. Responding to Laz. Her connection.}
{Happy. The Misty had only a little Happy before, but now it was a big Happy. Laz made it big.}
{How? Why? What did she do?}

"Maybe I'll just sit here and hold you for the rest of the day, Lazzy. So you can give me that legendary Imu Stare…"

{Images. Sounds. Memories.}
{Watching Adrian. Staring at Adrian. Following Adrian. Shouting at Adrian.}
{Kissing Adrian. In the dark. Hands in balls of white.}
{Sharing body heat. Out of breath.}

{…No.}

{No no no no.}

{This is wrong.}
{This is bad.}
{Cut the connection. Break the bond. Let the big Happy go back to being small.}

"…Hmm, maybe not. You know what? I'd better go find that idiot. You'll be alright by yourself, right girl~?"

"Ai ai!" {Laz responded as normal. The Misty's Happy grew by itself. Better this way.}

{The Misty left the big room. Shut the door. Click.}
{Worry. Fear. Where is Adrian? Hope he is not in danger.}
{Questions. What was that connection? What did she see?}
{No answers. No memories.}
{So lonely…}

…

At first, Jaune didn't have any idea how hard the search might be – from the outside the dog food factory was simply enormous – but once they were inside the perimeter the truth became clear: it would be difficult, but not impossible. Today was a Sunday. He and Ashens basically had the place to themselves.

At least, for the most part. Every few minutes they passed the desk of a security guard who gave them a dismissive nod. The costumes had worked. Still, no sense in making things harder than they had to.

Sweep
Sweep
Sweep

"This is not what I had in mind to do today," Ashens grumbled as they started 'cleaning' another section of the facility. This one was the raw material storage, and luckily it wasn't very dirty. It was mostly just giant metal tanks connected to each other with pipes and all sorts of machines that only the workers would know how to run.

Jaune chuckled lightly, "At least I didn't try to fill the mop bucket."

"If you did, I'd use your head to clean these floors," she snapped.

He merely laughed, but took a cautious step away. His Lieutenant was many things, but rarely ever did she exaggerate. He didn't have any desire to test her limits on a day like this.

In truth, sweeping the floors of a possible crime scene was the very last thing he wanted to be doing. Former Captain Jaune Arc could not deny his training for very long; any moment now he fully expected to lose control and just sprint through the facility, kicking down every door and shooting out every lock until they found their quarry. However, he still had enough sense to know that if he did, Amy Currant was as good as dead (he also didn't have a gun, so that urge was moot). His self-control was just managing to keep his passion in check, but it was a close match.

After about 5 minutes of pointless busy work, former Lieutenant Brand Ashens gave her signal that the place was a bust, "I think that's good enough. Next one?"

"After you," came Jaune's reply, indicating he understood.

There was every chance it was a pointless gesture, but each and every warehouse they entered had one visible camera near the ceiling and gods alone knew how many tucked just out of sight. They had to assume their every move was being recorded. They each had a hat on to help disguise their efforts to examine the rooms and manufacturing equipment, but they were still playing the part of janitors; Jaune had grabbed them each a broom and dustpan to at least look the part, just in case anyone was watching upstairs.

They'd managed to 'sweep' about a third of the place in only an hour, and so far no sign of either Amy or anything nefarious. What he did find was odd, though; no less than 4 security guard stations, all with cameras all around the perimeter of the warehouses. The sign out front said the place made Kup O' Kibble dog food, so why did they need so much security?

Why did the South OYL ENTerprises Manufacturing & Distribution Center feel more like a prison than a workplace?

While Jaune had been searching for anything suspicious, Ashens had been looking for locked or hidden doorways in particular, especially any that might lead to stairways. Amy Currant had not been underground when they arrived in town the other day, but she was now. And they needed to find the way in. They'd searched the receiving area, the quality control sector, the maintenance department and the raw material storage, and so far come up empty. The machines that actually make the Kibble took up the bulk of the facility, so they knew the search would drag on for a fair bit. Neither of them relished the idea of poking around that kind of heavy machinery.

On the way to the next area, Jaune and Ashens took a breather in one of the company break rooms (of which there were half a dozen in total). Compared to the rest of the place it was much cleaner and state-of-the-art, with a fridge and coolers full of free snacks and goodies. Jaune helped himself to a granola bar and juice while Ashens gulped down a bottle of water.

A TV sat in one corner of the break room, playing a video on loop with the volume turned almost all the way down. It showed a man with a greasy black combover chatting and pointing to various graphs, all while smiling in a way that screamed 'plastic surgery,' with cheeks that dimpled even when he wasn't smiling. Jaune recognized him of course, but the fact he was here raised a new question.

"Elon Dusk?" He said more loudly than he expected. "Wait, does he own this place too?"

"I don't… know?" Even Ashens looked surprised for once. "None of my records ever drew a connection between Oyl Enterprises and Dusk Industries. I have no idea why they're showing a video of him here."

Jaune sighed as he chugged his juice. "Huh… yet another piece of this growing puzzle."

"If he does own Oyl, then that might explain why Amy Currant was brought here if she was recruited for the new Academy. We might find the truth about Elysium after all."

"I can hardly contain my excitement…"

Acting on a whim, Jaune snatched another granola bar and dropped it in his pocket. Ashens had mentioned that Amy's 'energy' felt weak, so it might come in handy.

…

Things happened fast after Opal's message. Like, really fast.

Ruby's immediate instinct was to raise the alarm, but that was quickly stifled by both Weiss and Blake who rightly pointed out that if Crim was one of them, along with a possibly high number of students and faculty, then there was no telling what kind of chaos this incident might unleash. There was simply too many unknown factors to make such a drastic choice like that. Ruby agreed. Instead she sent out private messages to every member of Beacon staff she trusted in search of Crimson's whereabouts – all came back negative. Nobody had seen him. Adrian was slightly worried about the office itself being a target, but Ruby assured him they were safe behind very thick glass (as well as a perfect view of the entire campus). If he tried anything, they'd spot him instantly.

In fact, they were ready to wait him out until Yang said that Crim was not that stupid; if her son was truly out to get any of them, he would know exactly where and how to do it without just taking cheap shots. He was too smart for that. If he wanted Adrian, he would know the first target would be Misty Montana. Needless to say, Adrian immediately sent her a message to get somewhere safe.

While he was doing that, Weiss came up with a way to neutralize Crim's potential list of allies – call for an impromptu assembly right away to formally introduce them all as new teachers, and make it mandatory attendance (barring Adrian, Opal and Misty). Adrian and his team would hunt their rogue member while everyone else gathered in one spot with team RWBY itself watching over them. If Crim showed up there, he'd be spotted right away. If not, Adrian and his team would find him first, hopefully alone.

It was a surprisingly solid plan, and it all went down in about 5 minutes. Everyone knew what they had to do. It was impressive. Deep in his heart, Adrian mourned the loss of team MOCA's potential future with that level of cooperation and teamwork.

He desperately wanted to be wrong, to have Crim be a nice, normal rabbit Faunus who was just the butt of a practical joke from his sister. He prayed that they could still be a team, a family, when it was over.

But deep down, he knew it was a lost cause.

["Any movement?"] Adrian's earpiece buzzed with Misty's quiet voice.

["Nothing,"] Opal responded. ["If he's really gunning for us, he'll already be well-hidden. We need to check the rooftops."]

["Whaddya think I've been doing, shoveling manure?"] Misty griped.

"Hey, cool it," Adrian said. "No fussing. It's starting to get dark, so let's not waste too much time."

["Roger that,"] Misty sighed.

["Yeah, we Faunus are pretty scary in the dark~"] Opal cooed into her mic, ["If you want, I can teach you all about it later, Adri-kins…~"]

Misty cut in, ["Keep that up and YOU might get shot."]

["He wouldn't dare shoot his own sister."]

["I didn't say by who…"]

"Oi," Adrian hissed. "Focus!"

Adrian still couldn't bring himself to tell the girls about the horrors of the Imu, so he stretched out his lie a little more, explaining that the cult he'd learned about from Desi back in Valley Glenn had somehow gotten to Crimson and brainwashed him (as Misty had suspected all along). And now that they were back at Beacon, he was acting on orders to get rid of the one person the Crimson Cult hated more than anyone on Remnant; Adrian Arc.

Thankfully, this lie appeared to work. For now. Both Opal and Misty were onboard with the plan right away.

["Wait… holy shit, I see him!"]

"Where is he?" Adrian was already moving towards the dorm in a light jog, where Opal had positioned herself to overlook that part of the campus.

["Sheesh, no wonder we couldn't find him on the roof, he was on the freaking ground! I dunno why but he's down here by the dumpsters just… wandering around. He looks confused."]

["He might be trying to break out of his brainwashing,"] Misty offered quickly. ["I've read stories where they sometimes fight free of the control-"]

["You wanna go up to him and ask, be my guest."]

"That was basically the idea," Adrian said as he cleared the front door of the empty building; Weiss' plan had worked flawlessly, and almost everybody in the school was crammed into the assembly hall to welcome their newest celebrity teachers. The only exceptions were the four of them.

The dumpster was an old stomping ground by this point. Only a short walk through the lobby to the back door. Tonight it felt like miles. An eternity.

Adrian swallowed hard as he made the familiar walk, terrified of what he'd find out. But more so of what he felt was about to happen; he'd already lost his mother and wasn't in any hurry to lose anyone else.

Still, he had to believe things would work out. He had to stay positive.

…

Ashens found it before they reached the next warehouse; an external door with an electronic lock, tucked away in the shadow of the building. Very out of place, despite all efforts to make it blend in.

Brooms discarded, Ashens pulled out the pendant for another check and confirmed the energy was coming from almost directly below them. She pulled out her Scroll and summoned her Magic Hacking Program to get them past the lock, muttering something about how it should have come up faster.

Jaune's attention was pulled away by the sound of movement nearby. The trash compactor sat about 30 feet away from their location. One of the piles of cardboard next to it was moving. After a moment of squinting, he finally made out a man's ragged face. A homeless man. A section of the barbed wire fence nearby had been cut away, which would explain how he got into the area.

Compassion flared within him as he turned and said to Ashens, "I'll be just a second," and walked away before she could protest. It didn't matter that he was no longer 'Sarge' or that he was technically out of a job; helping people was the Right Thing To Do™ and by the gods he would not deny that duty.

The man didn't react to his approach until Jaune was right next to him, down on one knee and quietly asking, "Hey… you alright?"

"Hmm?" The man seemed healthy enough, salt and pepper beard hiding a face with more road miles than his father had ever hoped to gain, though his cheeks were a bit sunken in. "Wassit to ya? I didn't do nuthin…"

Jaune had every reason to walk away. To leave this man alone with the consequences of his life decisions. But that wasn't the kind of man Jaune Arc was. "Here, you need this more than I do," he pulled out his spare granola bar and handed it to the man who clearly needed the nutrition.

Brown eyes went wide in shock, then awe, as he took the snack with an attitude that could almost be called reverent. "You… you… thank ya, stranger. I'll pay ya back someday."

"Hey, don't worry about it," Jaune said with a smile as he stood back up and turned to go. "You just take care of yourself, you hear me?"

"…'s what I do best!" he cheered after Jaune. "I'll 'member this, or my name ain't Sam Gria!"

Jaune got back to Ashens less than a second before her program cracked the lock and let them in. Stairs opened up before them and they went down without hesitation, though Jaune paused to shut the door behind them.

In the back of his mind, the name Sam Gria seemed to ring a bell… but he couldn't remember why.

Ah well, probably not important.

…

The sun was just starting to hide when Adrian emerged into the clearing, eyes wide open and Aura firmly in place. Crim was indeed wandering around without a care in the world, but the important part was that his gun was nowhere to be seen. He wasn't armed. That had to be a good thing, right?

Adrian took one step forward. Crim's ear whipped around first, his head following soon after, and those chocolate brown eyes held a look of relief. "Ah, there you are. I was starting to wonder."

"Were you expecting me?"

Relief turned to confusion, "Um… yeah? Opal said you wanted to meet me out here almost an hour ago. What kept you?"

Adrian suddenly felt very cold.

Crimson didn't seem to notice, "You wanted to talk about something, right? Something important enough to miss the assembly?"

Emotions and words formed a scramble in Adrian's brain as everything hit him at once. This was happening far too quickly. He wasn't ready yet. In a panic he reached for the only thing he could grab in short notice – his mask of himself. Immediately he calmed down (a little) and relaxed his posture, "Opal said you were at the training grounds with your gun, but no one could find you anywhere. And I didn't say anything about meeting you here…"

"Uggh…" Crim's face fell into his hands. Crucially, Adrian did not notice any unusual pauses in his movements or speech. "I swear I'm gonna leave her tied up in bed for our next mission. Another prank… dammit, sis."

"You mentioned she'd pulled a few pranks before," Adrian gestured absently to one side, "back when we talked at Valley Glenn. Did she do that a lot?"

"All the damn time. I mean, there was one time awhile ago she drew a line on her own back and tried to get me in trouble over it. I was grounded for a week!"

Now Adrian's blood damn near froze in his veins. "You… what? O-Opal said… you did that to her…"

Crim's eyebrows furrowed. "Why would she say-"

He never got the chance to finish; a dark shape fell from somewhere above them both, landed on Crim with a grunt and took one swing. All Adrian could hear was a pained grunt and the sound of metal cutting through meat. He clearly smelled copper a moment later.

It all happened so fast, yet almost in slow motion. Adrian was frozen in shock.

Especially when the figure stood up and wiped off its claws, then turned to give him a big smile, her bunny ears wiggling with delight.

"Just in time, Adri-kins~"

Opal's face was spattered with her brother's blood. And her eyes were glowing a faint yellow.

Grimm eyes.

…

The stairs led down quite a ways, almost two full floors by Jaune's guess, before opening out into a small foyer with another door similar to the entrance. No lock barred their way this time; Ashens pushed her way through and the pair beheld a hallway that seemed to go for miles directly ahead, white tile floors coldly reflecting fluorescent lamps from above. No windows were visible anywhere, and Jaune didn't see a single camera on any corner, indicating they expected the door locks to keep intruders out.

Either they really overestimated their security system, or Jaune was going to have to investigate that little hacking program of hers…

The pendant came out again, flashing briefly, "She's on this level. We'd better hurry."

Jaune nodded and the two of them quickly began searching, heads turning down each of the branching hallways as they power walked. He could feel desperation clawing at his mind, urging him to start running, but he held it back for now. Caution usually meant the difference between life and death, especially in a missing persons case like this. Granted, neither of them were trying to be subtle anymore, but the point remained.

Ashens paused at one hallway, staring at a distant room with a few dimly glowing computer screens. "What kind of dog food factory is this, anyway?"

"Once we find Amy Currant, we can go up to Elon Dusk and ask him personally."

As they went further in, they turned a corner at the appearance of a sudden dead end. Now they found windows, each allowing a view into various rooms. The windows were reinforced glass, much like his old office, and the rooms each had only one door to allow entry, which itself was heavily reinforced with steel. They looked like-

"Prison cells?" Ashens could barely believe her eyes.

"She's gotta be in one of these," Jaune finally let himself start jogging, rapidly glancing into each room. Most were empty, all but a few with lights turned on. There were dozens in this hallway alone, and gods alone knew how many more still further in.

And finally, after what felt like ages, Jaune found a young woman lying in the corner of one cell. He screeched to a stop and tapped the glass.

The girl jerked awake, violet eyes wide with fear. She had on something similar to a hospital gown, a light gray piece of fabric that he prayed wasn't the only thing between her and the ice cold air from the vents. Her face, the hair, eyes, everything matched the description of the person they were here to find.

Ashens was only a moment behind him, Scroll in hand, as she immediately got to work on the lock (they really trusted these things). Seconds passed, and Amy started to realize the people outside her cell were not here on behalf of the owners of this place. A clear look of hope filled her eyes.

After what felt like hours, the lock clicked open. Amy was on her feet, though hunched over slightly.

"Amy Currant?" Ashens was first into the room. "It's okay, we're here to get you out."

The girl's voice trembled a little, "Who are y-y-ou?"

Jaune stepped forward and spoke quickly, "Former Captain Jaune Arc, former Lieutenant Brand Ashens. Can you run? We really can't afford to linger-"

BAM

The door slammed shut for absolutely no reason. No apparent reason, anyway. Jaune and Ashens turned to stare disbelieving at it, unable to perceive the reality that they were now trapped in here as well. Amy audibly deflated behind them.

And then… he showed up.

Where and how he got here was beside the point. All that was clear was that Cardin goddamn Winchester now stood outside their cell with that same 'I Told You So' grin on his face that desperately needed to be slapped off. His uniform was pressed clean for once, and unless Jaune was imagining things, his rank had increased in the short time since they'd last seen each other.

Most shocking of all, however, was the presence of the two men standing right behind him.

"Sun! Neptune! Are you fucking kidding me right now?!" Jaune shouted as he pounded the glass of the window.

Sun at least had the decency to flinch, but Neptune didn't so much as bat an eyelid. Cardin glanced back at them and said, "Looks like you were right, boys. I swear, this guy just can't help himself, can he?" Jaune blinked as he realized his former boss' voice was coming through a speaker in the ceiling.

He turned his rage back to the taller man and tried not to scream, "What the fuck do you think you're doing, Cardin? Since when did you start kidnapping students?"

The man in question put a hand to his chest and acted as though he'd taken offense. "Me? I didn't 'kidnap' anybody, Jaunny-boy! Why, if memory serves, Miss Currant came here voluntarily! You've thrown away your future for nothing, man!"

Behind him, Amy muttered, "Nobody volunteers to go into hell you dumb fuck…"

Ashens spoke before Jaune could keep yelling, "So… I take it you two were the ones who bugged my place?"

This time Neptune looked away and scratched his neck. Cardin once again answered for them, "Bugs, cameras, you name it. They're even the ones who got such lovely photos of you two agreeing to… what was it… 'conspire to overthrow the Council.' Yeah, that's it. Should look good on the headlines."

Jaune scoffed, "You're insane."

"Not like anyone's gonna argue with me," Cardin shrugged. "But don't worry, you won't be in here forever. Once the Eclipse Festival is over and done, we'll be back to take care of you and your little girlfriend. I mean… you may not be you when you walk out of here, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

"You think we're just going to sit here quietly?" Jaune growled as he stepped closer to the window. "You think we're going to cooperate after everything you've done?"

"Yep."

Jaune took an involuntary step back as Cardin came up to the other side of the window, bent over and looked his old enemy right in the eyes. Something indefinable suddenly pressed down on him from seemingly nowhere, but instinctively he knew… it was coming from the man outside.

"Even if you don't, there is still one other way out of here. I mean, after all…"

Cardin Winchester's eyes suddenly glowed yellow.

"…there's still a bunch of hungry Imu out there waiting for their Kibble."

Jaune's breath caught in his chest.

Cardin calmly stepped back, his eyes back to normal, as he turned to walk back down the hall. Neptune and Sun were right on his heels. Only Sun turned to give the prisoners one last look of regret before joining his cohorts, and it was that look that Jaune mentally clung to in order to keep himself from drowning in despair.

They'd failed. They were trapped. Amy was alive, but now they were all miles up Shit Creek without a single paddle between them and just the faintest hint of banjo music in the distance.

And if Cardin's words were anything to go by, the only ways out were to 'get with the program' as it were, or… be turned into literal dog food.

It was at this point in his life that Jaune needed a stronger word than fuck.

…

The fear was the same as back then, a weight pressing down on his soul.

Only this time, it wasn't some nightmare shadow demon from the depths of hell; it was coming from a girl who had been trying to get into his pants for the past several weeks.

She stared at him with those lifeless, burning yellow eyes and smiled wide, too wide, "What's wrong, Adrian? You look like you just saw your best friend murdered right in front of you."

He wanted to quip, to respond in some way, but all the will to move had been extinguished. He could barely take a breath, let alone make some kind of snide comment. He couldn't take his eyes off the blood that covered both her upper body and Howlett; her claws were dripping with red.

"I can't wait anymore, Adri-kins…" the creature wearing Opal's face gave the claws a lick, savoring the taste, She took another step forward. "Don't worry… it won't hurt that badly!"

Pure instinct finally kicked in and forced his muscle memory into action; Adrian charged up his Aura and slammed his fists together. Unlike before, this time the glass-like pieces in his knuckles clanged together and released a stream of lightning that traveled up his arms in waves. The rush of energy was enough to clear his senses, if only briefly, and he used it to full advantage.

Opal was ready when he charged. His fist went for her face but it was blocked by Howlett. At least for a moment. The force of the hit was more than enough to knock the weapon out of the way, and his second fist came close behind, landing full in the creatures gut. Opal went flying backwards,hitting the side of the dumpster and landing on all fours.

With a growl, Adrian darted forward and focused his Aura into his fist in an effort to repeat his victory over the Berengal. I can do this, he thought grimly. I can end it right now, before it's too late. Crim needs-

Opal whipped her head up, eyes… back to their normal red color, brimming with tears.

Adrian skidded to a stop.

Without any hesitation, Opal sneered and brought up her claws with the speed of a bullet. Adrian's face was very quickly blazing hot and he smelled his own blood. He staggered back, struggling to keep his Aura going in the face of an attack that totally ignored his shield.

"Typical Adrian," the Opal-creature cooed, "Pretty girl makes a cute face and you drop everything to save her. Predictable. You really do dance like a monkey when the right tune is played."

"You…" Adrian groaned as he held his bleeding face. Those claws almost took off his nose. "Why?"

"Why what?"

He pulled his hand away; it was covered in red. "Why?!"

"You dug too deep, sweetie," the creature purred. "It's way too early to let you find the truth, so you needed to be… humbled.~"

He took another step back and glared over at Crim. Blood was pooling around the stab wound in his stomach. "Why him…?"

Opal stopped for a moment and looked back at her brother. When she turned back, her grin had morphed into something vile. "Are you angry? Does it make you upset?"

"I should kill you where you stand."

She bared her teeth, "…That's why."

"You were… the monster the whole time?"

"Must you use that word?"

"I-"

"Humans are the monsters, Adrian. But not you…" Opal reached out and ran her fingers along Adrian's arm. "You're better than them. You're worth keeping around."

Adrian lost his tenuous grip on his Aura and stumbled backward, falling to his butt. All he could do was scoot himself back, hoping for some kind of miracle.

"I won't eat you, baby. Don't worry. I don't eat men."

Something behind him stopped his progress, but Adrian wouldn't dare turn around to see what it was. There was no way he could take his eyes off the monster that was once his teammate.

"Your partner, on the other hand… ohh~" Opal's eyes were glowing yellow again, and her voice took on a deep tone that made his skin crawl, "I'll enjoy devouring THAT bi- WAAAH!"

Crim wasn't dead yet; he appeared beneath Opal and grabbed her ankle, causing her to stumble forward, and Adrian barely caught sight of a pale yellow glow that flashed around her as she tumbled, arms flailing, landing somewhere behind Adrian. Crim just managed to let go as she toppled, his feeble strength gone.

Adrian finally turned to see that Opal had been Ghostwalked halfway into the incinerator. Only half; her legs and butt were all that was free, feet kicking out as she struggled, but without Crim's touch there was no way out. Not that such a thing would stop her from screaming for help from gods alone knew what kind of backup.

Muscle memory and pure panic drove Adrian to his feet as he slammed the activation button with all his might.

Opal didn't even have time to scream before her upper half was turned to ash.

Still stunned, Adrian watched as the lower half of his former teammate fell to the ground and erupted with black mist for a moment before flopping flat. The skin and pants resembled a deflated balloon.

It was over. Opal was dead.

The sound of strained breathing pulled Adrian back to reality with a grunt as he forgot his bleeding face and hurried to Crim's side. His friend's face was alarmingly pale from bleeding, but those brown eyes were fixed on Adrian's own wound as he groaned, "You… okay…?"

"I'm fine I'm fine," Adrian snapped as he quickly reached for his Scroll to call for help. "Just hold on, I can get you fixed up, just-"

NO SERVICE

"You gotta be fucking kidding me…" Without service there was no way to contact Ruby and the others to let them know that a life was on the line. There was no way in hell Adrian could make the run to the clinic and fetch Dr Nightengale either, nor would he risk carrying Crim with such a bad wound. He turned back to Crim and almost shouted, "Why the hell did you do that? If you hadn't wasted that much Aura you could've healed this-"

Crimson Scarlatina-Long reached up and grabbed Adrian's hand with his own cold, shaking one and said, voice firm in spite of his injury, "Is it… is Opal… dead?"

Adrian nodded, his vision already starting to blur. He wanted to keep shouting but his throat was already starting to lock up.

The kind, gentle rabbit Faunus merely smiled and squeezed Adrian's hand with the last of his strength. "Good… then I… can… … …" His eyes faded but did not close. That cold hand slid out of Adrian's and fell to the ground, lifeless.

He was dead.

For several seconds, Adrian's heart refused to beat. Everything had paused. None of it felt real. The lifeless body of the one person on the planet who truly wanted to become his friend, the empty husk that used to be the lower half of his twin sister, all of it… just felt like part of a simulation. A dream that he refused to wake up from.

When the tears finally fell, he did nothing to stop them.

…

… … … … …

There are few things more devastating in life than losing your best friend. I know. Watching them die right before your eyes. Bearing witness to their final moments before they shuffle off this mortal coil… or whatever the saying is.

Worse than that, however, is the pain of knowing you can't do anything to pay back the monsters who took them from you. Having to live with the knowledge that if you had only done this, or had only made that decision differently, then your companion would not have been slain. If you had only been better, they'd still be alive.

My friend, my love… we are the same now. Both of us bear the pain of our pasts, the impossible weight of expectations. The sting of guilt and the pain of loss. While I grieve the death of your loved one, I shamefully celebrate in my soul. I shed tears of both sorrow and joy.

You are the one. You are the only one… who is worthy to stand by my side.

… … … … …

…

Author's Note: One more time, I must insist that all reviews and comments be SPOILER-FREE for the sake of those who haven't gotten this far yet. Especially with that last bit. On a side note, getting sick is the worst. I definitely do not recommend.

Also, I went back and tweaked the previous chapter a little to better match what I put here – Raven's eyes now glow yellow instead of red, that way she matches.

=^..^=