A/N: We all know who that voice inside Patrick's head is. If that is happening, then the situation has turned critical, and only one person among the hundreds of thousands of people in Atlas knows it. Patrick is about to face the toughest challenge he has faced since coming to Beacon. Will he resist her control?
Chapter 48: Voices
There's a party happening at a public club. Music is playing loudly as the stage lights shine on the dance floor. Hei Xiong Junior is behind the bar, cleaning the glasses. Everything's going well for the club owner, until a hooded figure arrives.
Patrick walks across the dance floor to take a seat at the bar. Junior takes notice of Patrick. He acts cool as if his presence doesn't bother him.
"Welcome to Junior's. How can I help you?" Junior says.
Patrick sets a scroll on the table, showing a picture of Amber. "I'm looking for this woman. Where is she?"
Junior barely glimpses at the picture and only responds with a hmph. "Never seen her before."
"Don't lie to me, Xiong. You know everything. Tell me where she is!" Patrick says.
"Hmm..." Junior looks over at Patrick and gives a small nod. Junior's men begin surrounding Patrick, slowly and unsuspectingly. But that doesn't go unnoticed by the young Shadow Hunter. "I'm afraid the answer you seek comes with a price."
Patrick readies his blade underneath the cloak. "I know, and I'll gladly pay."
Patrick immediately makes the first strike with incredible speed. He cuts down three guns. the rest of Junior's men are shooting at him. Patrick dodges the incoming bullets. He moves too fast to be touched. One by one Junior's men falls by Patrick's hands. After defeating all of them, he now stands against Melanie and Miltia.
"Melanie, who is this troublemaker?" Miltia asks.
"I don't know, Miltia, but let's teach him a lesson." Melanie says.
The both of them position themselves ready to strike with Miltia's claw blades and Melanie Heel blades.
Patrick puts on a serious face, then his eyes turn into Grimm Eyes. His body changes into his rage mode and uses his Shadow Magic to summon dark claws on his arms. Letting out a growl, he charges toward them. Patrick unleashes a swipe. The twins manage to dodge the incoming attack. Miltia faces Patrick head-on. While she's fighting him, Melanie strikes him from behind.
Patrick holds out fighting against the twins. He's fast but the two of them are doing a great job keeping up with him. Patrick knocks Melanie back. When he's facing Miltia one-on-one, she charges at him with a strike. Patrick stands his ground and readies one of his claws. Once she is close, he delivers a devastating swipe, and after delivering it, his expression changes to horrific.
One second, Miltia is standing there. But after taking the blow, it's now Akira that's standing there, with large cuts on her body from the blow. Akira only looks down to see the bloody wounds on her, then back at Patrick.
"Why...?" Is all she could ask, before collapsing backward.
Patrick feels on his knees as he watches the dead body of Akira in a pool of blood. "How could you?" Behind him, where Melanie was, is Selena. "She was your teammate! Your friend! And you just killed her! How could you!?"
"I...I didn't..." Patrick looks at his bloodstained hand, quivering in overwhelming fear and guilt.
"It's your fault!" Selena's voice echos, followed by other voices joining in, too many happening at one to make out other then Marlene and Marina and Mashika. Patrick grips his head as he lowers it. The pressure is cracking him as he continuously hears everyone shouting 'Your fault!'
Just then, a burst of shadow smoke appears in front of him. Patrick looks up, and sees his Grimm Image before him. And that image roars, bearing it's teeth and claws ready to strike at him and end him.
"NO!" Patrick shouts as he jolts up, awaken.
Patrick is sweating and taking heavy breaths, his heart pounding hard against his chest.
Patrick sees he is not in Junior's bar, but instead, he is back in his cell in Atlas. He only had a nightmare.
Patrick shifts to shitting on his bed, still struggling to calm himself. It may have been a nightmare, but he knows what he saw was true. And he's not the only one and knows it.
'Overwhelming, isn't it?' A voice says.
Patrick puts his hands on his ears, trying to block it out even knowing it won't work. "I'm not listening to you!"
'Why must you be like this? I'm only trying to help.' The voice says.
"You have a very funny way of showing it." Patrick says.
'You mean just like your huntress friend? She said she'll help you, yet here you are still behind bars.' The voice says.
"This is not her fault! Ironwood's just a stubborn man!" Patrick says.
'But that shouldn't have stopped her. Why isn't she breaking you out of this prison?' Patrick doesn't say anything. 'More to that matter, what about your team? They treat you with such loyalty but haven't bothered to drop in to see you. Why is that, I wonder?'
"Shut up! I don't want to hear you! I don't even know who, or what, you are!" Patrick says.
'My child, I am a friend. And I am only here to help.'
Patrick doesn't say anything, even long after the voice falls silent. He wants to believe this is the end of hearing her. But he knows she'll be back.
Meanwhile, Team CPER is on the training ground with the students of Atlas. The students provided them with a challenge, one that really puts their skills to the test. Marlene is the only one in the room who's just sitting by watching. She can't turn off her mind about everything. Mashika even told her about what happened with Patrick. And she fears that this voice he's hearing might have something to do with his Grimm nature.
Little does she know she is right in a terrifying way.
Marina walks into the room and sits next to Marlene. "You doing okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Marlene says. "How's Selena doing?"
"She's resting now. It was hard to convince her, but she agreed to it." Marina says. "Has she always been like this? It's like she believes the second she leaves miss Akira, she'll be gone."
"I honestly don't know. Selena has always been shy and distant, not like Patrick anyways. She told us she always had difficulty making friends because of her fame." Marina can understand that, especially after what Selena had said before breaking down crying. "Then there was the Gaia incident."
"Gaia?" Marina asks in confused.
"Oh, I guess you didn't know." Marlene clears her throat before speaking. "There was this guy she trusted, I believe she loved him like an uncle. But one day his true nature was revealed as some perverted creep and he kidnapped Selena." Marina's eyes are wide open on alert upon hearing that. "She would have been in some serious trouble if it wasn't for Patrick. He knew something was off and looked into it, despite Rayla and I saying otherwise. I wasn't there, but Patrick and Rayla told me about how Selena stood against him. As brave as she was, she was pretty heartbroken."
"The poor dear..." Marina doesn't say anything else.
"Yeah. And now Akira is comatose, and it was cause she was trying to protect Selena." Marlene says. Marina and Marlene are startled by the sounds of Clawdia yelling and Peter screaming. They look only to see Clawdia pulling on his ear shutting at him for his perverted distraction. Earnest and Rayla react only with disappointment and shame while the Atlas students are just confused. Seeing Team CPER saddens Marlene. "Professor Marina...What is going to happen to us, Team PASM, I mean?"
"What do you mean, hon?" Marina asks.
"It's just...It's only our first year in Beacon and we've really gotten along with each other. Even Patrick's opened up to us, well more or less. But now our leader is in prison with this frightening truth that he's part Grimm, and Akira is fighting against death." Marlene looks at Marina with sad eyes. "Is this the end of Team PASM?"
Marina doesn't say anything. She doesn't have much experience as a Huntress Instructor. The team rules are difficult for her to understand. "I honestly don't know what to tell you, hon. I'm sure Mashika and I will think of something." Marina warps an arm around Marlene and pulls her close. "Everything's going to be okay."
If only Marina can say the same for Patrick. Patrick lies in his cell, trying to sleep. But he tosses and turns his expression hardening as he sleeps.
Patrick finds himself in an endless void with nothing but a spotlight over him. Patrick is on his knees, with his hands over his ears. 'You cannot fight it. It is who you are.'
"Shut up! Just shut up! I am not a monster!" Patrick says.
That's when Salem walks in. "My child, I never said you were...But that doesn't mean those who needed you don't." The darkness suddenly vanishes, and Patrick finds himself back at the temple where the attack happened. Patrick looks and sees his Grimm self attacking the cowering Selena. He watches himself deliver the blow, and Akira jumps in to take it instead.
Akira lies dead on the ground with Selena hurrying to her side, and Patrick can only feel on his knees with a horrified expression on his face as he watches his Grimm image turning away chasing after Cinder.
the scenery ends and Patrick and Salem return to the void. "They say they trusted you, they believed in you as a leader, as a friend. Then they feard you."
Patrick turns to Salem. "You're lying!"
"Am I?" The scenery returns. It shows after the end of everything that happened, the normal Patrick looking at Selena and Marlene with the dead Akira. Patrick can see the fear on their faces. "You saw it with your own eyes. You know the truth." Patrick's eyes suddenly turn Grimm. "And now, they treat you like a prisoner. But not I..." Salem extends a hand to Patrick. "Come. Join me."
Patrick tightens his eyes shut, he covers his ears. "NO!"
Patrick wakes up in shock. His body is covered in sweat and he is panting as if gasping for air. He sits on his bed, covering his ears in hopes to block out the voice.
What little does he know is that Ironwood is watching him from the monitors. He observes with a stern face. And without saying a word, he turns and leaves. Ironwood returns to his office, where he calls Ozpin and the other headmasters.
"His condition is getting worse. Salem is trying to take control over him." Ironwood says.
"Ozpin, I begin to question your motives in this boy. He's clearly a threat to humanity!" Theodore says.
"Let's not forget, he knows the location of the Fall Maiden. If Salem controls him, then she'll know." Lionheart says, cowardly.
"I understand everybody's concerns, but let's not forget he is the son of..."
Theodore cuts him off. "Wake up and smell the coffee! He doesn't possess the power! Not even through your little theory! He has the wrong kind of power, one that is going to turn the tide of war to the big one!"
The other headmasters remain silent until Glynda speaks. "Professor Ozpin, while I do respect your idealism, I have to concur with everyone else here. We have to focus on the safety of humanity."
Ozpin is silent. He can clearly see that everyone is against him on this. In defeat, Ozpin says: "Do it."
And on that note, the meeting ends. Ozpin just sits at his desk in Beacon, sighing in defeat as he rests his head in his hands. Glynda only offers comfort for her Headmaster as she rests a hand on his back.
Meanwhile, Selena is asleep on a bed in Akira's room. Marlene and Mashika are watching over Akira. Nearly two weeks have passed and her condition has yet to be improved even in the slightest amount. Even the doctors are still unsure if she'll ever awake. Some are even deciding to pull the plug on Akira, but Marlene begs them to keep her alive. Mashika suggests giving them some more time to figure out a solution, knowing that Selena is going to be devastated if this happens.
Marlene and Mashika leave the room. "They can't do this." Mashika says.
"They won't. We just need to convince them to keep her going." Marlene says.
"I'll contact Elizabeth, maybe she can help." Mashika takes out her scroll. Once she opens it, she finds a message. From Ozpin. "Hmm? What's this?" Mashika opens the message. She reads it carefully and thoroughly. Upon the end of it, her eyes dart wide open. "What?!" Hearing her startled voice gets Marlene's attention. "Oh, Ironwood's gone too far this time!"
"Instructor?" Marlene asks in concern.
Mashika immediately storms off. "Sorry, Marlene, I need to take care of something!" Marlene is left behind, confused at Mashika's sudden behavior.
Mashika chases after Ironwood in the halls. Ironwood is making his way with an army of drones following him. Mashika is storming beside him. "You're going to kill him!?"
"This is none of your concern, Mashika." Ironwood says.
"It is my concern! You can't do this!" Mashika says.
"He is a threat to humanity!" Ironwood says.
"He's just a boy!" Mashika says.
"I will do whatever it takes to protect Remnant!" Ironwood says.
Mashika stands in Ironwood's way, she draws out her lance. "Well, I won't let you do this!"
Ironwood puts on a serious expression. He commends his droids to subdue Mashika by shackling her. Mashika tries to fight it off, but she becomes overpowered. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid you are under arrest. Take her to the detention cells."
The droids do as Ironwood commands. Mashika struggles in her shackles shouting at Ironwood. Ironwood continues his path to the prison hold. Marina reveals herself from behind a door to another room. She looks in the direction of where Mashika is being taken.
"Mashika?"
Patrick sits in his cell in depression.
'You can't ignore me for so long. You and I are a lot alike than you realize.'
"We are nothing alike!" Patrick says.
'We both lost something we've held dear. You've lost your mother, and your sister, and now your own friend in a coma. And let's not forgot about the father who disowned you.' The voice says.
"How do you know about my family!?" Patrick asks.
'I know everything about you, Patrick Aki. I told you, I am a friend.' The voice says. Patrick groans in pain as his mind becomes overwhelmed by Salem's power. 'You know the truth. There is nothing left for you here. Let me show you.' Salem summons Patrick's consciousness back into the void.
The void changes into a prison scenery, one that horrifies Patrick. "No...Not here!" He turns to find his younger self sobbing over the dead body of his mother.
'You never got to know your mother. She was nothing more than a slave, locked away.'
The scenery changes. Patrick finds himself in a normal household. He sees himself, slightly older, pinned to the ground with a man on top of him, beating on him as Amber just stands aside watching the scene horrifically.
The man is shouting at the crying boy, yelling at the top of his lungs. "It's your fault! The love of my life is dead! Because of you, you parasite!"
'You were never loved by the very man who wedded with your mother. Unloved. Unwanted. And when he was gone...'
The scenery changes to a rainy day in the cemetery. Patrick and Amber are kneeling before the tombstone of the father.
'Your sister is all you had left. But even she left you.'
The scenery changes, and it takes him to the night Amber leaves. Amber walks away as the young Patrick stays behind crying and begging her to not leave. The scenery ends and Patrick is back in the void. He's on his hands and knees, overwhelmed with negative emotions. He doesn't even have the strength to speak.
'You distance yourself from other people, even your own team, to hide the pain you've felt. And look what it's gotten them.'
The scenery changes. Patrick looks up, not even caring about what horrors await him. He sees he's in a hospital room, with the wounded Akira, and Selena crying by her side. As Patrick mindless under despair and guilt watches the scene, Salem approaches Patrick from behind.
"Do you really think they'll accept you? After what you have done?" Salem asks. The scenery ends, leaving Salem and Patrick alone in the void. "You have nothing left, nothing to return to. You have only one opinion..." Salem lends in to whisper into Patrick's ear. "Join me. And this can all be over."
Patrick's eyes tighten shut in the real world. But they shot wide open, replaced with Grimm Eyes.
General Ironwood and his army arrive at the prison cell. Behind those doors is several Hardlight barriers containing one of the greatest threats of Remnant.
Ironwood turns to his droids. "The second the cell opens and I deactivate the barriers, open fire. Do not stop until I give the command." The droids salute in response. Ironwood unlocks the cell door. He grabs hold of the switch. After a paused moment, he flips the switch. The very second the barriers goes down, all of the droids immediately fire.
Ironwood just stands there devoted of all emotion as he watches countless lasers firing into the prison cell. After a minute, Ironwood gives the command to stop. He just stares into the thick smoke, waiting for the results. The smoke begins to clear, and it reveals nothing.
Ironwood is surprised to see find nothing. "What? ...Where...How did he...?"
Ironwood looks at the ground. He finds a strange shadow, the strange part is there's nothing casting it. Ironwood observes it closely, puzzling what it could be. Then suddenly, Shadow Chains burst out of the ground and shackles Ironwood.
Ironwood grunts as he struggles to break free. "What...is happening!?"
What's more, the shadow on the floor starts to rise. It forms itself into Patrick in his Grimm Mode.
Patrick growls ferociously as he glares his burning eyes into the frightened tin man General.