Yu-gi-oh/RWBY Chapter 20
The Truth Unfolds
Blake found it kind of funny that she was going from one hospital to another. Not funny enough to un-spoil the mood, but still. She found Yang and Weiss sitting in the room outside where Ruby was being kept. "How is she?" Weiss answered "The doctors seem a little confused. Physically, she's fine, but she won't wake up. Also, well, you'll have to see for yourself." Weiss brought Blake into Ruby's room and it wasn't what Blake was expecting.
Ruby was unconscious on a table in the center of the room, and vines covered the area stretching from her table to the walls. Besides her was a tall blond man in a suit who heard them coming in and walks towards them. "My name is Taiyang Xiao long, it's nice to meet you." He and Blake shook hands. "What are all of these?" Blake said, referring to the plants they had to step over. "No-one is sure. They think it has to do with Ruby's powers, but she's never done something like this before." "Not that you would know." Yang said. "What's that mean?" Blake asked. Taiyang paced a little, unsure how to answer that question.
"I wasn't exactly the best father. Between putting my work first and reacting pretty bad to her becoming a psychic, there's been a wedge between us for years." "How did her mom react to all this?" Both Yang and Taiyang visibly react to this. "She died shortly after Ruby was born. I was adopted after that, so I don't know what she was like." Yang explains. Taiyang continues. "When Roman Torchwick showed up and offered to help control her abilities, I thought it was the best thing I could do for her. A way of making up for all the bad decisions I was making. But I was just dumping my problems onto the first person who offered." Blake looks down at Ruby, trying to figure out what all this did to her psyche.
Years ago…
"You don't get it, do you?" Ruby shouted. "I'm nothing but a monster!" Her Violet Witch threw an energy ball at Roman who, despite visibly feeling pain from the attack, stood his ground. "That's only what everyone else wants you to believe. I see you for what you really are; A hurt soul needing guidance. I can help you to not only reclaim your own worth, but to grow that worth and make others accept you!"
Ruby made her Violet Witch throw another energy ball, but Roman blocked the ball this time. "You don't have to be afraid anymore, not when there's so much you can do." "What do you mean?" Ruby asked. Roman got up close and gave her a synchro monster. "Go ahead. Summon him." Ruby placed the card on her duel disk and Arcadia, the Ever-Evolving Bloom appeared and flew through the arena. Ruby marveled at the amazing sight. "You see? You're no monster. You're amazing, little red."
Ruby awoke, and sat up. The first thing she noticed was the vines coming from the table, wondering if she did that. She turned and saw Yang, Blake, and Taiyang. At the sight of the latter, her expression worsened. "What are you doing here?" She demanded. "I heard you were hurt and came to see you." He answered. "Oh, now you care about me? Where were you when I was away?" Ruby got up from the table. "I was away at Arcadia for years and you never so much as wrote me a letter or sent a text message. Where were you when I learned that Yang was from Satellite? Where were you when Arcadia was attacked and the only person who accepted me died? Where were you when I thought that I was a monster, and hated myself?" Ruby breaks down and kneels down, crying. Taiyang and Yang walk over and hug her. "Where were you?". Blake walks away, knowing better than to get in the way of a family trying to get back together.
"I wasn't there for you. I should have been there to help you when you needed me most, and I failed you. I'm sorry." Taiyang admitted. The three sat there in silence, finally bonding for the first time in years. It felt cathartic to Ruby, and yet she hated that it took the destruction of Arcadia for it to happen.
Cinder clapped slowly, carefully managing her way through the greenery. "This is truly a touching moment, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to break it up. Those two are needed, Senator Xiao Long. The world needs them." The three of them got up, each about to give her a piece of their mind for their own reasons when Cinder stopped them. "I'm sure you're going to tell me what an awful person I've been and what I've done, but unfortunately, time is of the essence, so that will have to wait. It's time for that truth I've been meaning to tell everyone."
Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, and Whitley exited the limousine to view Cinder's house. To Weiss and Whitley, the mansion was amazing. The other three had been there before, so it lost its luster. Cinder wasted no time escorting them to the secret chamber behind her painting, and led them to the temple in the basement.
"Let's start at the beginning." Cinder began. "Do you remember that red dragon that showed you the vision at the Fortune Cup?" The 4 of them nodded, and Whitley looked over at Weiss. She had explained it all to him the day after, but it still made no sense to him. "That was the Crimson Dragon, the embodiment of the Red Star, and the one who gave you your signer marks." They looked at their marks, Ruby's head mark, Weiss's claw, Blake's tail, and Yang's wings.
"The Crimson Dragon has fought back the Earthbound Immortals once every 5000 years, and does this through five worthy individuals known as the signers who are given the mark." "Wait a minute." Weiss interjected. "I only count 4 of us with these things. Where's the fifth?" "They awakened their mark long ago, and will appear when they are needed most." Cinder explained. "But now we must travel to Satellite, where the battle will commence." "Why?" Blake asked. "Why is Satellite the battlefield?" "Well, for that I'm going to have to get into why Satellite exists in the first place. Tell me, who here knows about the Zero Reverse incident?"
Everyone but Blake was shocked to hear about that. "If I recall, Zero Reverse was the event when a freak accident occurred in a lab where they were discovering the fuel source Ener-D for the first time." Ruby stated. "But are you really saying that has something to do with the Dark Signers?" "Yes. But there's more to it than that." Cinder responded. "You see, the old Ener-D reactor is still there, and the Dark Signers have been at work rebuilding it. They plan to recreate the Zero Reverse incident on a larger scale and open a door to the Underworld. Our mission is to stop them by shutting down the four pillars around the old reactor."
"Why do they want to do that?" Yang asked. "Why are they hurting so many people in the first place?" "They do it against their will, for their master, the King of the Underworld, lays claim to his Dark Signers after they have died, and brings them back in exchange for their service to him. When they summon their Earthbound Immortal, a geoglyph will appear, claiming the souls of any who are not a signer or protected by a signer's power. That means that you are the only ones who can stop them and their power." Cinder stepped down from the temple. "We leave in two hours. Take this time to get ready."
Everyone went to their own places in the mansion, needing their own time to think about what they just learned. Weiss found her brother in the dining room, eating a plate of various exotic goods. "You simply must try this steak. It is top quality." He said before taking a bite. "How can you possibly think of food at a time like this?" Weiss asked, puzzled.
"Well, it's simple. I won't be going." "What?" Whitley got up from the table. "As I heard all those things from Cinder, it made me realize one thing; I'm hopelessly out of my league. Oh, I talk a big game, but the end of the world? A special destiny? That's for you. You're going to save the world." He applied a napkin to his face before setting it down. "And I'll be cheering you on the whole time." Before Whitley could look up, Weiss had already caught him in an embrace. "But who's going to save me? I need you, Whitley. You were always there when I fell into my coma and when I was so sick when I was young. Promise me you'll come with me." He was rather shocked to hear that, but returned the hug. "I will. I promise."
Blake and Yang were in the courtyard, staring at each other for a few minutes of awkward silence, with the former being the first to break the silence. "Why did you do it?" Yang gave a sigh. "You still don't get it, after all these years?" "I asked you a question. Answer it."
"Because Satellite, in case you somehow didn't notice during your time there, is a dump. No, dump doesn't do it justice. That place is Hell. I hated everyday I could look past the coastline to Domino and know that everyone there was having a far better time than I was. So I jumped ship, and you're only angry at me because I got a chance and you didn't."
"That's not true at all!" Blake yelled. "Yes, times were tough, and we had to fight everyday just to survive, but don't you remember Martha, who practically raised us like her own? All our friends who saved us more times than we could count? When you left, I had to explain to all of them that you were gone. Did you even care about how you hurt us? How you abandoned Satellite?" Yang clenched her fists. "I thought you cared about us, about me!" "Shut up." Yang whispered. "You know, meeting that girl, Ruby Rose, she seems like a nice kid. It's such a shame that she has someone like you for a sister-" Yang lands a punch on Blake's face, sending her to the ground.
"Of course it hurt to leave you!" Yang shouted. "Every morning, when I woke up, I expected Martha to tell me to clean the house or help the other kids with their homework. But that's gone now. What do you want me to say?" Blake gets up and punches Yang in the face as well. "I want you to apologize for abandoning us. I want you to come back to Satellite, where you belong!" Yang gave another punch and the two got into a rhythm of exchanging blows. "You're saying I belong down in the trash?" "I'm saying you should have fought harder to defend your home!" "What good's a home of nothing but rubble and despair?" "We could have made something of it, together!" The two eventually tired themselves out, and sat down to recover.
"Do you remember Adam Taurus?" Blake asked. "That red-head who always seemed way too serious? What about him?" "A little after you left, I got together with him. We both felt the same way that if everyone worked together, we could have built Satellite into something greater, a paradise even." "Sounds optimistic." "Maybe. But we were damn close. We fought the various gangs and made them join our cause. Soon, things were actually starting to improve. The people of Satellite were finally enjoying peace for once. But Adam wanted more. For him, it wasn't enough that we should finally turn things around. He wanted the people in the city to know what it was like to live in fear and misery."
Blake became oddly quiet for some time. "He did...awful things. Hurt people, even killed them. It brought the full wrath of Sector Security on us both. We were both holed up in an old building, surrounded on all sides. But I didn't give up on him. I even tried to get out to give myself up so Adam could get away. But he was caught anyway, and when he saw me, he must have thought that I was selling him out. That was the last I ever saw of him."
Yang looked down, filled with guilt. "Why are you telling me this? It sounds like he died, then, with how bad Security's prisons can be." "Because he's back as one of the Dark Signers, and I don't know if I can face him." Yang put her hand on Blake's shoulder. "You can do it. God knows that between the two of us, you're better at facing your past. No-one can defend Satellite better than you can." Blake looked at Yang and smiled. "Thank you." "You're welcome."
Ruby sat alone in a room, building her deck. Taiyang walked in and said "Hey, Ruby. Everyone is getting ready. What are you doing?" She turned to face him. "I'm trying to keep my mind occupied. If I don't, I'll remember that everyone in Arcadia is gone. I need to focus on this task or else I'll have to actually feel something, and I can't do that right now."
"Ruby, that's not healthy-" "It's all I can do right now!" Ruby sprang up, her eyes red, suggesting that she had been crying earlier. "I'm a mess right now. The place where I grew up and trained is gone, and I can still see Roman falling down. If I were stronger, if I could have reached him, he's still be…" Taiyang embraced his daughter, and she let go. "I can't. I can't do this." He patted her head, soothing her. "Yes, you can. You're one of the strongest people in the world. Stronger than I ever was." He knelt down to meet her face-to-face. "Everyone out there is counting on you, but you can't lead them if you aren't honest with yourself. I know it hurts, but you'll be better off in the long run." He got out a handkerchief from his shirt pocket and wiped away her tears. "Now go and make me proud." She hugged him again, hoping it could last forever.
Cinder was happy to see everyone on time to the helicopter, even if Tetsu Trudge insisted on coming along to help. "Excellent. We can go now." She began to climb in. "Wait." Yang said. Cinder stopped and turned around with an impatient look. "What?" "Years ago, a woman from Satellite had attempted to build the Daedalus Bridge, a way to connect to Neo Domino City. She was stopped by Sector Security." "Yes, yes, yes, very riveting, but what is your question, Yang? We're on a very tight schedule here." "Not a question. A demand. When this is over, you have to use your power as Director to rebuild the bridge and reunite both our people." Blake looked at her, surprised she made such a request. Cinder thought it over, then said "Very well. I suppose that is long overdue, after all. Now, let's go. Destiny awaits." They all hoped onboard, and were carried off to the most important night of their lives.