A/N: Chapter 29 of REKT. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or teams of RWBY, they belong to Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum. What I do own are the characters and teams of my OCs: REKT, GTSY, KACE and DAZE.
Special thanks to the reviewers and to the readers who Fav/Alert this story, I really appreciate it.
Chapter 29: One Punch Yang
Inside the mansion...
"Yang you could've punched her into a coma! What if she doesn't recover or wake up?!"
"Rubes, she cracked your ribs with a kick! I bet there's other wounds that I didn't see during your scuffle!"
"She didn't mean to! At least not that I know of...but still! That punch almost sent her through the ground!"
"You got hurt Ruby and that's final. What am I supposed to tell Dad?! I swore to protect you and I failed to do that. What kind of sister am I?!"
"I'm sorry that I got hurt trying to be helpful but don't think for a second that you can just slug someone in the face because of that! Please gauge the situation fully before getting out of control!"
"Out of control?!" The blonde huntress would've blown a new hole through Weiss' wall with a fist if it weren't for the ice heiress sending a glare her way at the last minute. She had to replace some of the broken antiques that didn't come cheap by any means and she wasn't ready to fix another set of problems. Sure she was rich but even she knew when her wallet needed to be protected. "Rubes, you're being unreasonable!"
"I'm being unreasonable?!" Now it was Ruby's turn to increase the volume of her voice. She would never raise her voice against Yang, never in a million years but she did it anyways. "You literally knocked our friend senseless! Do you understand what you did?"
"If she was our friend she wouldn't have hurt others! Period! We should consider ourselves lucky she didn't kill anyone!"
"She wasn't in the right state of mind! You know that!"
"When is she ever in the right state of mind?!" Yang retorted, her eyes flashing red momentarily. "Now that we know that she has the potential to go into...that thing, do we have to walk on eggshells around her?!"
"Now you're being preposterous! The subject might be sensitive to her and it could be hard for her to explain!"
"What about the rest of us?!" Yang gestured to everyone still in the room, tending to their own wounds or ignoring their squabbling. "We can't drop everything we do just to be on her good side!"
"Something like this may never happen again. Kairos said she's never seen this kind of behavior so..."
"Whatever the case, Reina has a lot of explaining to do and when she wakes up I hope she explains well." Yang leaned back in her chair and released a sigh. Arguing with Ruby wasn't something she hoped she didn't have to experience and it was taking a lot out of her.
"If she ever wakes up..." Ruby muttered and her words didn't go unnoticed by her sister who gripped the arm of her chair tightly till her knuckles turned white.
"...Ruby I can't believe you just said that..."
"Well I can't believe you swung your fist hard enough to put her in that kind of state!" With that the younger of the two stood up and turned her back, indicating that she was done talking and the conversation was over. "I'm going to bed. Weiss, I'll see you there."
"Ah, w-wait Ruby..." Weiss watched as her battle partner turned the corner and disappeared. She herself had some words to say but didn't want to get into the sister feud.
"Wow. That was totally unexpected and not what I was imagining at all." Nora commented once Ruby stormed off. She had watched the sisters banter back and forth nonstop, listening carefully to what they were saying without any interruptions. "Right Ren?"
"Nora please, this isn't the right time. We're all on edge tonight."
"He says yes."
"When did I ever...?! Don't go putting words in my mouth and listen to what I'm actually saying!"
"Bed time guys, let's go." Pyrrha laughed and excused herself, dragging both of her teammates behind her. Jaune had already called it a night and retired early. Sun and Neptune scooped up the board game they decided to play and scuttled back to their own room to determine a winner.
Timber and Efram said their goodbyes and left the parlor as well, not wanting to meet the girls' gaze. They didn't have any words to defend me and I didn't want them to. Once the two Huntsmen left Yang placed her face into her hands and sighed. Her anger had subsided and she didn't know what else to do. Feeling a hand on her shoulder she turned to see Blake standing beside her.
"You need to sleep." The Faunus spoke gently, squeezing her fingers for a second. She was worried about her partner's well-being and it was conveyed through that simple gesture. "You've used almost all your strength in battle."
"Blake...what do you think?" Yang asked sadly. "Do you think I went too far?"
"It's not my place to judge what happens between you and Ruby. Fights such as these will happen once in awhile." was the reply. "Now let's go. We can worry about it later and you look like you could fall over any second." Nodding her head in mild agreement, the blonde brawler rose to her feet and allowed her partner to lead her to the room.
"Goodnight Weiss." Yang said over her shoulder, sparing her comrade a glance.
"Mmmm. Goodnight you two." Weiss replied with a soft smile. Soon she was alone by herself, left to broad over everything that has happened. Shaking her head and standing to her feet, she retired to her room with Ruby to get some sleep herself.
The next morning...
I still haven't woken up yet while the others continued their training at the crack of dawn. It took a lot of effort from both Timber and Efram to get Kairos moving. The Faunus refused to leave my side, watching my body all night long which explained the heavy bags underneath her eyes.
"She's not eating and she barely slept at all." Neptune was saying at the table as he helped himself to a fresh plate of fruits and eggs. He had been her designated partner for the morning and knew something was off when he managed to land his attacks more times than not. He never lands a majority of his attacks when he trains with Sun. "I'm worried for her."
"How's Reina's condition?" Pyrrha asked, pausing a bit from cutting her hash browns. All eyes focused on the boys since Kairos didn't bother to show up for breakfast after getting her butt handed to her, stating that she wasn't hungry and just wanted to be by my side. "Is it better or worse?"
"We...We actually don't know." replied Timber. "Kairos told us that she believes our leader was recovering at an extremely low rate."
"How's that possible? With Reina's capabilities she could've healed herself in like...half a day or something?" Nora said, taking a good estimate. "Do you think something is hindering her ability to heal?"
"We could diagnose her to see if there's something wrong..." Jaune spoke up, about to stuff his face with toast. "I mean, what if it's an external thing?"
"What if it isn't an external thing?" Weiss chimed in, taking a sip of her tea. "What if it's something we can't see with our eyes? If that's the case then we're in trouble."
THUD~!
"What the hell was that?!"
"Sounded like something fell on the ground. Luckily it wasn't glass."
"It came from upstairs!" Standing up abruptly Weiss stormed up the stairs and strode down the hallways as fast as her heels could carry her. Throwing the door open she found Kairos struggling to put my body back in bed. "What is the meaning of this?!"
"She just stood up and began walking towards the door by herself. Before I could say a word she collapsed, which is why you heard the noise."
"So then...! She'll be up and at it in no time right?" Ruby asked with excitement as she stepped into the room with the others. "That's great!" Looking at the Faunus' expression her smile slowly faded. "Umm...am I wrong? You don't look so well..."
"I noticed this when I was moving her because my head against her chest but her heart...her heart rate is dropping." The Faunus said, holding my hand tightly with her own. "She's not healing...she's deteriorating...I...I don't know what to do..."
"Why? She was fine yesterday...you know before the incident." The leader of RWBY asked, about to go in a state of panic. "How could this happen?"
"Please...please open your eyes..." Kairos shifted so that she laid her head on my chest, letting out distressed noises as she shook my body gently. "Please...please..."
"Weiss, can't you do anything?!" Ruby pleaded, turning to the girl by her side. The ice heiress thought about it, the gears within her mind were whirling and grinding against one another. "Well? Anything coming to mind?"
"Let me call my family's doctor and have him look at her. I can have him here within a few minutes." She spoke and left, the sound of her heels clicking against the floor echoed for awhile before falling silent. The sounds of the phone being dialed followed after a couple minutes.
"We should probably leave as well." Sun suggested, knowing that the Faunus in grieving wouldn't budge. He himself wanted to say something encouraging but he knew that no amount of words would have any effect. "Give them some room...you know."
"Yeah..." Neptune agreed and one by one they left. Filing into the parlor they all had sad expressions on their faces, unsure of what to do. "Man...what a turn of events."
"Ren, this is just awful isn't it?" Nora asked in a hush whisper. "I couldn't imagine going through what Kairos is going through right now."
"No one deserves to go through the thought and the pain of losing their partner. It's definitely unbearable." Ren agreed.
"If things keep going at this rate...she'll no doubt..."
"Be more positive Jaune, I'm sure Weiss' doctor will figure out a way." Pyrrha said with hopefulness, patting the blond on the back. She could see how everyone was affected by the news but she knew that feeling down and thinking of the worst wouldn't do anyone good. "We just have to believe for now."
DING~ DONG~
"That would be him, impeccable timing as usual." Weiss said as she walked passed, opening the door to see an elder looking man wearing a white coat. He held a medium-sized bag by his side. "Hello doctor."
"My young mistress, it's always a pleasure to see you." The doctor bowed his head in greeting, recognizing the Schnee heiress. "I came as fast as I possibly could."
"Not at all, I apologize for calling you so late. I know you were working a couple of assignments for my father." She replied, helping him with his coat and bags. Once that was complete she lead him upstairs and down the hall to my room. "The patient is this way, please help her as much as you can."
After a few hours...
Waiting itself was pure agony. Weiss stayed with Kairos outside the room since she refused to move, her eyes glued on the door. When she saw the doctor she promptly stood up and walked out, placing herself in front of the door. The others sat not too far away and lost in their own thoughts. Once the sound of the knob click they lifted their heads in attention and they stood up as the doctor came out.
"Well doctor, what's the word?" Weiss asked and the other students crowded around anxious to hear the verdict. The old man sighed, indicating some not so good news.
"Your friend has lost a significant amount of energy, lower than what is considered the standard amount. With such low energy reserves it surprises me that she's still able to keep her heart running. You see it's not just blood and oxygen that keeps her going, Aura plays a huge role in her recovery. Without an abundant supply of Aura her organ's under a lot of strain."
"How do we replenish Aura?" Pyrrha asked curiously. "Is it doable?"
"Through a transfer technique it is possible. However..."
"However?" Ren repeated nervously.
"However it's quite hard to do and a very special one at that since the only ones able to perform such a transfer technique are selected members of the Raylan family." The doctor watched as the facial expressions fell but he kept speaking, "Unfortunately...no one knows where that family ended up."
"What...what happened to them?" Neptune asked.
"No one has seen a Raylan up til now. Presumable that clan was wiped out but records of such an incident weren't in the archives. So I'm sorry that I couldn't possibly help her anymore...her situation has gotten way out of my hands..."
"No way..." Kairos whispered, gripping the doctor by his collar. Her eyes searched his repeatedly for any signs of lying. When she saw none her arms dropped to her sides.
"Are there any alternatives?" asked Weiss, wrapping her arms around the Faunus in support. "Surely you know something else that could potentially work. Anything would do!"
"Well...there is one but the success rate is very low. You know that mark on her shoulder? After doing some analyzing I noticed that it's been hit by a much larger force. That hit sent her body into shock because not only was she already weak, the blow may have been a fatal one."
"Then...what you're saying is..."
"That's right, you have to hit the mark once more. Preferably with a strength equal or greater than the previous hit. If all goes perfectly, the energy will transfer and her body will be up and running again. All she needs is a little boost and the Aura will be able to regenerate, keeping her life stable." The doctor packed his bag and tipped his hat to the students. "Well then, young mistress and friends, I bid you all adieu. Good luck if you decide to try that solution out. Like I said, there's no guarantee that it'll work. Now if you'll excuse me."
"Thank you doctor. Please be careful on your way back. I'll send Father good word of your performance." Weiss walked him to the door, making sure he made it successfully to the aircraft. Once the transportation vehicle disappeared she closed the door and sighed.
"How are we gonna generate that much power?" Sun was saying as the students convened in the dining room to discuss. They all had grim expressions on their faces. "Hell we aren't even fully recovered ourselves!"
"Also we don't even know if Yang's willing to do it again." Nora said as the blonde in question kept her head bowed. She hadn't said a word but based on her facial expression she was hurting. "I-I mean...you know...umm..."
"...I put her in this situation..." Yang finally spoke, trembling hands clasped tightly in her lap. "Just as Ruby said...it's my fault..."
"Sis..." Ruby looked at her guiltily, knowing that the fight they had weighed heavily on her mind.
"I...I'm the worst..." The brawler looked at everyone forlornly, her lips trembling. "If she dies...how could I ever live it down? I could never be forgiven..."
"Well if you mope around like this you'll never know the answer." Weiss said haughtily, making her presence known. "So dry your tears and get to it!"
"Easier said then done Weiss. The doctor said Yang needed to hit the mark with a punch stronger or equal in power like she did the first time." Ruby stated evenly, giving her partner a small scowl. She didn't want to say 'I told you so' in front of everyone since the situation had turned for the worse and Yang needed all the help she could get. There was no more room to play the blame game and she'll make up with her sister later. "With Yang the way she is I doubt she'll muster enough strength on her own."
"Not if you keep telling her that she can't do it, negativity must run in the family." The ice heiress stood up and glared at everyone, watching them tense up under her stare. "Listen up! We're gonna do everything in our power to bring Reina back! I know the chances are slim to none but I for one would like to try."
"That goes without saying!"
"She's our friend and she needs our help more than ever!"
"If any of us were in such a predicament Reina would jump in to help without a doubt!"
"What do you say Yang Xiao Long?" Weiss turned to her teammate, a knowing look on her face. The blonde looked at those around her before directing her look to the ground. Usually she wouldn't hesitate to jump to someone's rescue but now she agonized over the decision.
"I..."
"You know damn well that you can't say no." The heiress noted, watching the brawler's shoulders stiffen up. "If you want answers from Reina, and so do the rest of us, you will do what you can to save her!"
"...mmmmm...I understand." Yang replied, her lilac eyes returning back to their usual bright color instead of the dull emotionless state. She would apologize straight away, that's what she'll do. "Then please, lend me your strength. I'll save her without fail."
"Alright! Everyone, place your hand over Yang's! I suspect it has to the be same hand as well so that'd be her right." One by one hands were stacked on top of the brawler's, their palms faced down. Yang watched with nervousness, waiting for Weiss to call out the next instruction. "Now concentrate! Allow your energy to flow through your body and channel it into Yang!"
"You ready?" Blake whispered, her golden eyes flickering to her partner. "I won't lie you might get hit by a massive amount of Semblance. Everyone is putting their all into this."
"I'm ready as I'll ever be." was the reply as bit by bit Semblances flowed from one hand to the next. "I gotta do this. Let's just hope that it works."
"It'll work...I just know it will." Blake replied as she added a fraction of her own power into the pile. "You need to be confident in what you're doing." Soon the flow of power came to a halt and Yang stared at her fist, eyes widening at the massive amount of power that flickered before her.
"Now then...are you ready?" Weiss asked, getting an affirmative nod from her teammate. "Let's do this."
"Yang..." She turned to see Ruby looking down at the floor, drawing an imaginary circle with the tip of her boot. "I'm...I'm sorry for those things I said."
"Don't worry about it Rubes." Yang closed the distanced and pulled her into a hug. "I'm sorry too, I shouldn't have allowed my emotions get the better of me." She stepped back, glad to see a smile on her sister's face. "Now come on, a friend of ours needs saving!"
