Ruby knew he was bearing his soul to the eight of them and threw everything at them from what they did to him, How they had driven him past the point of no return, and now used their past against them to make them take their medicine.
Only she and Weiss weren't hurt too much, and it tore him up inside to do what he had to do to get his point across. With her gun aimed at him, Ruby fought to suppress her emotions, thinking, "Sorry, but this needs to stop." She knew she had to act swiftly, or Cole might make a terrible decision he'd regret forever.
Despite her trembling, Ruby managed to keep her aim steady on Cole. With a single exhale, their relationship would be forever altered.
BOOM
A bullet grazed Cole's ear, taking some of his hair with it. He snapped out of his reverie, facing the source, where Ruby stood with tears in her eyes and her shaky sniper aimed at him. She stammered, "I'll give you a five-minute head start... after that, we're coming after you," her threat carrying genuine weight.
"Please, don't do this," he replied softly.
"GO BEFORE I-!" Ruby screamed, her finger on the trigger, struggling to contain her emotions. "I don't want to, but don't force me to bring you down."
Despite his guilt and the desire to apologize, he nodded to her, sheathed his sword, and made a hasty exit through the doors. He rushed to grab his phone and then leaped through a window, plummeting ten stories toward a painful landing. However, an unexpected surge of electricity in his hands created an impromptu gliding effect, and he made a less brutal landing. Still, he tumbled and hit his face on the stone.
The commotion drew a crowd's attention, and they gathered around him to check if he was injured. Some looked up at the shattered window he had leaped from, others documented the chaos with photos and videos.
Despite the excruciating pain, Cole pushed himself to his knees and eventually stood as straight as he could under the circumstances. As he got up, he made a quick decision to find a way to escape, hoping to steal a bullhead for a quick getaway. He felt a faint source of power returning to his fingers, though it was meager.
To make matters even worse, a holographic video began playing, displaying a recording of the entire fight in the training arena. This sudden spectacle commanded everyone's attention, and all eyes were fixated on him. The reactions were diverse; some were impressed, some utterly frightened, and others seething with anger. Yet, the majority just watched him in wide-eyed horror as he stood there, seemingly frozen in disbelief at his own actions.
As he watched the video unfold, he realized that it had been edited to portray him as if he were targeting others for contracts on their lives. The recent altercation felt like the ideal pretext for anyone foolish enough to cross his path. The room erupted with a collective gasp as the recording had him declare Weiss as a high-value target, needed alive for potentially enormous bounties of lien.
'I did not say any of those lies, what the fuck is happening right now?!' he thought to himself looking around frantic for an escape, but when looking he was quickly interrupted as Cardin charged at him because he wasn't fully prepared he got the full brunt of the hit, for the first time he got punched in the chest so hard it sent him five feet and skid to a stop.
Cole stood up and shot Cardin in the legs with a few bolts, Unfortunately for him though people started charging him, so he decided it would be best to perform a bit of crowd control and screamed, "GET AWAY FROM ME!" and threw a huge shockwave blast with everything he had and sent everyone flying but the wall of lightning surrounding them didn't shock them, but the fall still hurt all the same.
He looked down at Dulitas and went wide-eyed when he noticed it was too bent up, nicked and tattered to use anymore, so he grabbed some fire dust to heated them up and let a student's staff shatter the metal like glass and blew them back.
Taking advantage of the hesitation, he saw the opening he had created and took off like a bat out of hell jumping and vaulting over people but when he noticed an itching feeling in the back of his neck, so he whipped around and halfway into his turn his sword ruby built, flew past his face and lodged halfway into the ground. The precision that was needed only proved that only one person could have done that but doubted it.
The moment he saw it he jumped to the side and spun around pointing his hand at Ruby but hesitated the second he saw her, letting his massive bolt vanished in a loud crackle till it fizzled out of existence.
She stood ten paces away from Cole with rose petals dancing around her like a tornado of shredded flowers. He scoffed at the huntress theatrics she'd been guilty of pulling and wasn't going to stop anytime soon.
'Son of a bitch, I was hoping it was someone else' he thought just as he hesitated to shoot, desperation mixed with overwhelming sense of self disgust cemented his legs in place unable to react to anything else.
"Nowhere to go, nowhere to hide. You have a lot to apologize for." She said matter-of-factly as an empty magazine fell from her sniper and slapped another in the mag well, fed a round into the chamber, all without taking an eye off him. "and you can start with my team and the rest of our friends" her tone was dead serious leaving no room to argue but somehow Cole found room to do so with a fake laughter and Ruby knew all too well what it really was.
"your friends aren't any friends of mine Ruby, not after they turned their backs on me, and I don't need to explain myself again." He replied as he whipped his arm toward her feet and opened his hand like a claw, electrifying his arms with blue, orange, and gold lightning. "plus we both know I've burned my bridges with weiss and you...a few others too but I think you're all better off without me."
Ruby opened her mouth to give him her retort but froze when a black bullhead landing mere meters behind Cole and out came cinder, mercury, emerald, and waiting in the craft stood a short female pilot.
Cole quickly fired a few bolts at the eight of them as a warning and successfully pushing them back a few steps, he hesitated when he saw Ruby five feet in front of him But asked the group "who are- I didn't call for anybody. Who the hell are you people?"
Cinder and her minions got in between the two and pointed their weapons at the students, "we're your saviors' kid, now get in" Roman ordered.
Weighing his options, he decided this was a better option and gladly accepted. "It's not like I have any other option." He said taking his short sword before he got in the bullhead, Ruby, and the others tried stopping him but was met with a swift chain whip to her feet halting her from her chase, while the others were too beaten up to get back up.
"You are not serious about taking us on, are you? You are alone and out matched" Emerald said cockily, but the second she said it the rest of team RWBY and JNPR came in from behind her but bruised, bleeding and beaten like training dummies.
Cinder and her crew burst into laughter looking at the sight of them all but mercury stopped and said "oh, hohoho. Your serious...pardon my vacuian but you all look like a truck and a train ran over you all; get lost"
"This about evens things" jaune said, coughing up a glob of blood just as Cole's ride flew off and assumed it would get somewhere safe as fast as possible.
"That's our cue, sorry to leave so suddenly, but we are on the clock" mercury said and quickly got in another bullhead with a random goon in a suit.
"Don't let em get away" jaune said as they all shot at the two ships but missed Every. Single. Damned. Shot.
No one reacted as quickly as one would have assumed since it happened so quickly few could help much.
"Oh, for god' sake, you all cannot aim for shit!" Ruby said under her breath and slammed the scythe in the ground and took aim at Cole's ride.
A deafening BOOM echoed through the air as a high-velocity .50 caliber sniper round hurtled toward the bullhead. Within moments, the aircraft tilted to the right, careening uncontrollably toward the city.
"I need to disappear the moment we land-" Cole began, but his words were cut short when the right engine exploded, sending the craft plummeting towards the city. Alarms blared, and a robotic voice announced, "Warning, left engine inoperable, brace for impact."
"YOU GOTTA BE FUCKIN' KIDDING!" Cole screamed as the plane descended rapidly, with impending disaster written across the sky.
Ruby diverted her attention from the sights outside, realizing that a crowd had gathered, taking photos and videos of the unfolding chaos. She ignored the onlookers and urgently sought out the headmaster. The look in his eyes told her that he already knew what she was about to ask.
"Oz, I'm taking the first bullhead to rescue Cole from those people," Ruby declared, her determination unwavering. She was about to sprint off, but Velvet grabbed her arm, pleading, "Ruby, please listen to us. Going alone might get you killed. Don't let your anger for Cole cloud what matters most.
"Ruby hesitated for a moment, the turmoil within her evident. "Damn it," she muttered, looking back at her friends. "Fine, get in before I change my mind," she relented, taking the co-pilot seat. "Once we land, we'll need to split into two groups. You guys better patch yourselves up.
"As the bullhead hurtled through the air, Ruby contemplated the sudden turn of events. Outwardly worried and angry, internally, she strategized how to separate herself from the group she had chosen to ensure she could help Cole.
"I'm starting to think you don't actually run this school, Oz," Glynda remarked with a hint of humor, observing the eight of them departing to rescue Cole. Ozpin smirked and replied, "Well, they're still students, and the best teachers are experience and learning from mistakes on the path to becoming a hunter.
"Little did he know that he would soon regret those very words, as he watched droids clean up the courtyard and the other areas that required repairs. The aftermath of the chaotic encounter was just beginning, leaving many questions and challenges in its wake.
Several hours later, in the headmaster's office...*
"James, I'm sorry, but he's extremely dangerous and needs to be dealt with before he hurts any more people..." Ozpin paused, his voice laden with concern. He turned to General Ironwood, visibly upset. "If you don't take care of him, I will hire someone who will. You, of all people, know how dangerous my agents can be."
Ironwood took a deep breath, his expression tense. "If you recall correctly, Ozpin, the Council has already been made aware that the mission those eight are on will take longer than a few days. I looked into it, and you're using them as an excuse to retrieve Mr. Valentine. But, as far as I'm aware, Ruby was responsible for the crash landing of his stolen ship, and he was merely running off campus because he needed space from his classmates. He's your student, and you have no right to intervene, nor the authority to do anything within a school, let alone the Kingdom of Vale. You can be replaced as easily as any other headmaster. Unfortunately for us, he managed it through the means of a team of criminals," Ironwood said sternly, issuing a warning.
Slowly turning his back to Ozpin, Ironwood walked out of the office and headed toward the elevator.
Ozpin stood up and gazed out of the window, his voice cold and resolute. "As a close friend, I'm asking that you take a second look at the evidence against your student. Other than his training sessions, he hasn't shown any signs of violent behavior toward anyone, adult or student. His abilities, both on and off the field, are exceptional, to put it lightly. He's nowhere close to the caliber of a real Huntsman."
Ozpin raised an eyebrow, taking Ironwood's words as a challenge. "What? Do you think he's more capable than my best fourth years? Is he more capable than Qrow and his sister or my other recent graduates?"
Ozpin locked eyes with Ironwood and heard the General speak again, praising the young man's qualities. "He's a model student, rivaling the likes of Pyrrha Nikos and Ruby Rose in terms of scholastic achievement and effective teamwork. Regardless of his short temper, everything he does has a purpose. His physical strength even surpassed Yang Xiao Long when I found her pinned by him during one of his sparring sessions in Glynda's class. The nature of his Auralessness surprised even me when he used a significant amount of lightning on a mission against an ancient Beringel." Ironwood smiled, adding, "Plus, I've noticed you've grown quite fond of every student you allow into your academy."
As Ironwood made his exit, Ozpin remained seated, his face contorted with anger and frustration. He pondered the complex situation they were entangled in, and the ominous sense of impending revelations from his students.
"Professor?" Glynda asked just as he angrily screamed and threw his chair end over end out the window, shattering glass, and splintering wood outside and stood there crazed and panting.
She simply scoffed and put everything back together and walked him through the academy to calm his nerves.
'I need him back in my academy; fortune favors the patient after all' he thought to himself.
Cole was free from the one place he felt was home but when you live on the road, you tend to keep some habits you shouldn't have, and it only gets worse when you live everywhere you lay down long enough to sleep, learn to survive any way you can think of and when you have no choice but to jump ship, you do it pretty quick without a second thought.
Which in hindsight running from his problems was the worst choice he chose, the longer he thought about it the more he regretted it and after a minute...a literal minute, he realized that he didn't have a good reason why he left except that he didn't care for being around people who didn't care about him, so naturally he ran from his problems...just like he did when he was nine. (But he would never admit it)
When Cole woke up to the sound of ringing in his ears he assumed it was because he over did his training again, but then he noticed his arm and fingers were mangled, twisted up and broken in places that weren't natural to the untrained eye, but thankfully -or not so thankfully, whatever your views are- his arm was still attached to him everything was concrete and rebar with a few this resembling what used to be a store of some kind.
Feeling no other alternatives' Cole began to dig himself out from under the ruins and gaps for air the instant he found warm air hit his lungs. Dragging his broken and bloody body towards a slab of concrete, and he lazily slammed against it gasping and groaning as he bled out under the sun and coughed a few times spilling more blood.
Looking around he saw a few destroyed buildings, fire and may sitting next to him panting and covered with dirt, blood, and ashes. Not to mention dozens of people digging in the rubble, and what surprised him most was the fact that the building was a warehouse and the remains of an apartment building.
Not far away stood a news crew.
This came over the Vale radio and news stations on the emergency broadcast.
"We come to you with sad news, the popular attraction and place for people and Faunas from all levels of society is now no longer.
Shaky Quakers fashion as well as a dozen other buildings have been demolished in an incident involving a bullhead's crash.
No one knows how it happened, but investigations are still underway by the Vale police to determine the cause of the crash, and we hope and pray no one was harmed."
"I have to get the hell out of here" he said as he quickly got up from a discarded door of the bullhead and ran off not realizing that a slip of paper fell out of his chest armor, and thanks to a strong breeze that paper flew into the bullhead just before a large amount of the building caved in burying it inside.
For about two and a half weeks Cole wandered the mountains of Vale surviving on whatever he found edible, but he had to be smart, cause in his mangled arm he needed to be more careful than he usually was.
It made dealing with the pain and staying quiet very tricky, so he decided to fashion something for himself to bite down on, if necessary, which he would be doing a lot.
Qrow morphed back into his human form when he saw Cole stumble to a stop with a crushed arm, and not far behind him, he noticed the boy was obviously being stalked by a Beowulf.
Normally, he would have tried intervening when it leapt for an easy kill, but he stopped when Cole flinched a quick bolt of gold lightning through its chest and watched it dissolve into nothingness, but when he turned around, he ended up tripping and fell on his mangled arm and screamed in agony rolling off it hoping it would alleviate some pain, but it got worse. His sight was littered with black spots, and it felt as if he set himself on fire if he so much as brushed his arm against a blade of grass.
"Probably shouldn't have lost it back there" he forced out as he limped down the path toward the forest.
Qrow being qrow he wanted to help this kid but knowing he attacked his daughter, he let Cole be and decided to watch over him from a distance; otherwise, he would have beaten him to a pulp.
After a few days, a fever set in and made him weaker the longer he walked, not to mention he had trouble standing, his vision blurred every so often, his hearing was fading, and he had lost track of where he was. Before he could react, an Ursa Major smacked him into a tree and bit into his arm, shaking him from side to side.
In the midst of his agonizing struggle against the Ursa Major, Cole let out a piercing scream, his pain and fear turning into tears and panic. He clumsily attempted to fight back, but his mangled arm rendered him ineffective. The situation grew dire, especially when the sound of his inhuman screams attracted a small herd of Grimm rushing towards the commotion. Just in the nick of time, his instincts kicked in, and he unleashed a burst of energy, blowing the Ursa's head off and causing a significant explosion.
As the dust settled, the Ursa began to dissipate, vanishing into the ether. Cole, battered and broken, lay unconscious beneath the shade of a tree.
Unbeknownst to him, a man and a woman with white hair and cat-like eyes had witnessed the scene. Just before Cole passed out, he watched the woman swiftly slice off his left arm and seal the stump within minutes. He couldn't feel the pain, so it could have been a hallucination. After their strange intervention, they spoke to Adam, convincing him to calm down and listen. In his eyes, these two could have been a father and daughter Faunus, so he let them go with the benefit of the doubt.
Adam approached Cole, and Qrow, still in crow form, landed on the injured young man, gently pecking at the metal, indicating something was amiss. Adam knelt beside Cole and remarked, "He's not dead yet, little bird," before it cawed and flew away.
Looking at the unconscious Cole, Adam felt a pang of guilt but quickly pushed down his emotions, deciding to move the injured boy to safety as swiftly as possible. However, rustling in the nearby bushes caught his attention, and he smirked when he spotted crimson.
Meanwhile, Qrow, flying towards Beacon, noticed Atlas ships in the sky heading in the same direction. He couldn't help but think, "I am not looking forward to what's coming next." Landing in a tree near the courtyard, he transformed into his human form and took a swig from his flask.
Observing the Atlesian knights guarding a few council members, all of whom had stern expressions, Qrow quipped sarcastically, "This is going to be fun." He knew Cole was in trouble, and his job, at times, was frustratingly demanding.
I'm not entirely sure if anyone's actually reading this but but even if you are I really am grateful it got the attention is somewhat deserved.
and for those wondering yes, Adam is still going to be somewhat of a villain figure in the story but it's gonna be done right.
Also, ironwood is not going to be a villain and isn't going to be stripped of his humanity like RT tried doing.. he's actually going to be more of a father figure to Cole moving forward.
and for those who disagree with how the story is progressing or if you think that some of my choices in narrative are in any way shape or form wrong? then you can happily stop fucking reading delete my shit off of your list and read something else.
Comment anything you think could be worked on at:
H6pp1n355_in_misery.
Criticism is appreciated.