Chapter Two

We Burn

/-\ Yang Xiao Long /-\

Everything was happening too fast.

One moment, I was about to start happily shooting with two of the people I loved the most. Then, in the blink of an eye, our home was flattened by something not of this world and I was staring down the barrel of a gun.

A pair of hands yanked me down behind the table once more, just in time for glowing green globs of something hot to pass through where I stood just a moment ago. Even with a few feet's clearance, it still singed my skin. I caught a glimpse of Jaune kneeling, bringing his rifle to bear, before a trio of shots rang out. Through the hole in the fold-out table, I saw the Grey-like alien stumble – blood leaking from a brand-spanking-new pair of holes in its torso – before falling over. Its wrist then exploded, sending metal fragments everywhere.

I just stared at the lifeless body for a few moments. That could've been me, I thought. Someone pulled at my arm; I mutely got to my feet and followed. My boots thudded on the grass as fires crackled behind me; the only sounds I made were those of my own breath. Ever so slowly, I came to awareness once more. I'd somehow arrived at Jaune's car, standing outside the back driver's side door as he fiddled with his keys, desperately trying to get the stupid thing to go in.

Another angry chitter made my head whip back to the saucer, where a trio of Greys stood. They raised their weapons, firing. On instinct, I ducked behind his car. Ruby was suddenly next to me as the green bolts sailed past – one even came through the rear window above our heads. Half-molten and shattered glass littered the area, now; little red beads of pure and condensed hatred. My heart was pounding away in my chest; I looked to Ruby, who was speaking, but I couldn't register what she was saying. That was when I realized I'd been in this exact type of situation before.

My fights at the club.

When I got too into them, the surroundings… faded. I must be in a fight, I thought. I eyed my shotgun that Ruby was carrying. Finally, awareness snapped back to me and I swiped the gun from her hands. I poked my head out from behind the car, seeing the aliens fire at my boyfriend, who was crouched behind some rapidly burning rubble nearby. These bastards trapped my Dad downstairs, they tried to kill me, and now they were after Jaune too. I wasn't going to take that lying down.

Without any preamble or one-liners, I simply raised my shotgun and shot a slug directly into one of the three Greys. It jerked – bug-eyes wide and mouth agape as if it had just comprehended some deeper truth of the universe – before it slumped over, right next to its fallen comrade. The remaining two immediately shifted their fire to the car and I ducked back behind it. Globs of molten metal and plastic flew past me, but I could still just barely hear them moving around out of sight.

Jaune fired off several more shots, but I couldn't see if they connected. Looking over to him, I saw he was just as pinned as we were. And then it started to get hot. The roaring sound of fire reached my ears, but it was much closer than the small blazes burning around the saucer. I chanced another quick look before I had to duck back into cover, and what I saw didn't look promising.

There were six of the fuckers now, and they were not only getting way too close for comfort, but they had also set the car on fire. I processed for just a minute, but then I realized just how close it would be to the fuel lines. "Ruby, we gotta move!".

"Where?!" she shouted back. "Everything is on fire!"

"Just run!" I shouted, speeding off. The second I got into the open, I blindly fired in their general direction, but a quick glance revealed I hit nothing. As their bright green shots licked my heels, I ran for the only cover I could – the shed. I spared another glance at the aliens, but in doing so, I failed to see a piece of rubble that wasn't there only fifteen minutes prior. I stumbled, faceplanting straight into the dirt. As I flailed around on the ground trying to get back up, my back was suddenly engulfed in heat. When I finally reached the cover of the shed – squeezing between it and my truck – I realized what it was: an alien bullet, one that would've hit me had I not stumbled.

More rifle rounds spoke, but these sounded slightly different to those that Jaune had been firing. Still gasping for breath, I looked to their source and saw Ruby just now ducking back behind the big oak just off the driveway; that and one more alien falling. I racked my shotgun and put another round downrange, but this one only grabbed attention as the round shattered on the saucer's hull, missing its intended target. I barely ducked back behind the shed before more glowing green bolts assaulted my position.

The second I pulled back, however, a thunderous explosion rattled my bones, shortly followed by a car door striking the shed. I flinched back, even more alien bullets assaulting my position. The wood I was pressed against was getting hot as well, just like the car was. Even though there was nothing in there that was explosive, I knew this cover wouldn't last long. I scooched along the edge of the shed, keeping low until I peeked out from the other corner. I lined up a shot on the asshole who had my number, but shifted my aim at the last second. An alien who was getting far too close to Jaune, instead, took the slug, spinning wildly before eating dirt and its weapon exploding. I ducked back right as the alien shifted its aim, covering my new spot.

More gunshots rang out, but an accompanying squeal did not. I hoped that one of them got an alien's voicebox or something, but I couldn't count on it. I turned around, ready to repeat the trick in the other direction, but I was completely stopped in my tracks once I realized they were covering that angle too. I turned around once more, thinking that maybe that meant the asshole had shifted fire away from the second position, but they hadn't. I went back around to the first in vain and desperate hope, but those were dashed as well.

From that hiding place, I had an excellent view of how the alien bullets got closer and closer to Ruby and Jaune… and how I was completely powerless to stop them.

I looked around for something – anything – that I could use. I found some rubble in my truckbed that I threw out, hoping to cause enough of a distraction so I could pick one off, but they didn't fall for it. I tried lobbing gravel pebbles over the top of the shed, but that didn't solve anything either. My heart raced as the bolts got so close to them, and their cover only got thinner. I locked eyes with my sister, who was visibly shaking. She tried to give me a smile and I tried the same to her, but we both knew. We both knew.

There was only one option left if I was to save anyone, even if it meant I likely wouldn't walk away myself. I psyched myself up, getting ready to run head-first into the alien weapons for just a chance. Right as I was about to go, however I heard something. A noise I was very familiar with.

The loud, gas-guzzling roar of an internal combustion engine accompanied by sirens.

My head whipped back towards the driveway just in time to see Qrow's brown-and-gold Crown Victoria fishtail onto the gravel. He floored it, crossing the quarter-mile distance in only seconds. All fire on my position halted, shifting to his car. In a flash, the blues-and-reds disappeared behind the shed, a series of pained squeals audible below the rip and tear of metal that followed.

It only took a moment for me to reorient myself and peek out from cover once more. In the distance, I saw half a Grey slowly sliding down the saucer's doorway, police lights shining inside. Outside the UFO, another Grey had become one with the dirt, a big and black tire skid on its body. The remaining two aliens were both disoriented, one picking itself up from where it had clearly jumped out of the way of Qrow's car, while the other had its weapon pointed at Ruby's position but head looking back towards the saucer.

I knew which one to shoot first, putting a round straight through the second one's skull. That broke Ruby out of her trance and she peaked out from cover, putting three rounds downrange and spearing the remaining alien. I looked to my sister, then to Jaune, confirming both were alright, and breathed a very, very short sigh of relief. Immediately, I ran over to the table and scooped up several fallen shotshells, shoving them into my weapon as I advanced on the saucer.

I was just about at the doorway when Ruby threw me against the side of the ship. I was so surprised I didn't even resist. Just as my mouth opened to ask what the fuck she was doing, she covered it.

"If we do this," she whispered. "We go together. We might've just lost Dad and Qrow today, I'm sure as shit not losing you to something just as stupid." Slowly, I nodded and she uncovered my mouth. She took up position in front of me as Jaune did so opposite us.

Frowning, I grabbed the scruff of her shirt and pulled her behind me. "I have a shotgun," I said.

"And I can bump fire."

"I'm still going first," I said.

A chitter and several scratches on metal echoed out from inside. She sighed. "Just… be careful."

I nodded, psyching myself up for just a moment. After a few deep breaths, my eyes shot open and I took off, weapon shouldered, into the saucer. My eyes scanned for aliens, but I couldn't help but gawk at the weird design. There weren't any rooms – not really. Sure, sections of the… main hold? Main room? Were effectively sectioned off with crates and whatnot – surprisingly still anchored to the floor despite the thing falling at least a mile while flipping end-over-end – but it was all just one big room. One big, pastel purple room… with a police car smushed into the far wall.

And in that moment, I realized I'd lost focus. Seeing no aliens in front of me, I whipped around and saw a pair of Greys both raising their wrist-mounted guns at us. Beside me, I heard a loud bang, a brand-spanking-new wound appearing in one of the Greys. I pulled the trigger, luckily already aiming at the asshole who hadn't been hit. His eye caved in, grey matter splattering against the wall as it fell like a puppet with its strings cut.

A single bolt fired as it was collapsing, but soared so far over our heads it barely even increased the temperature. We looked around the saucer's interior for more enemies, but saw none. "Is… is that it?" I muttered.

"It?" Jaune asked. "You did see how many there were outside, right? They must've sent most of the crew out to get us."

I shivered. "If those were just random sailors, I'd hate to see what actual soldiers look like…"

"I take offense to that, my Dad was in the navy," Jaune said.

I shook my head, walking towards the crashed police cruiser. "Whatever…" I muttered. As I got closer, I saw just how fucked the Crown Victoria actually was. The entire engine compartment was smashed up like an accordion, front tires crushed and bowed out. Thankfully, it didn't look like the cab was too deformed. "Qrow, you in there?" I asked, approaching the tinted window. "U- Uncle Qrow? Are you alive?"

Trying the door, I found it to be locked… or jammed, I couldn't tell. I squinted, trying to see past my own reflection into the dark cabin. I could just start to make out something white when I saw something flicker inside – some orange light. For a moment, I thought Qrow was doing something, but the way it moved… the way it passed behind my reflection…

I whipped around, bringing my shotgun to bear on the hulking mass of grey metal in the vague shape of a bodybuilder. Just as I pulled the trigger, its hand swept my muzzle away, making a sure shot into nothing but a graze. I tried to yank my gun away from the hulking monster, but it wouldn't budge. Instead, it simply squeezed, crumpling my shotgun's barrel like a tin can before throwing it out of my grip. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw it bowl Jaune over. Any protests I was going to make were immediately cut off by its impossibly strong hand closing around my throat.

My feet kicked at nothing as I was hoisted up, looking the bastard in the eyes. My lungs burned, my fists flailed at its face, but nothing seemed to do the trick. Suddenly, I was airborne, able to breathe but with no way to stop myself from impacting the row of crates on the other side of the room. I covered my head, grit my teeth, and braced for impact. The hit knocked what little wind I still had out of me, on top of it feeling like someone just smacked me in the back with a sledgehammer. I rolled along the ground, flailing around and trying to stop myself.

Screams and gunshots reached my ears and I looked up, only to see Ruby pumping every single bit of lead her magazine held into the hulking mass of armor. She dropped her magazine and fished out a new one from her pocket. Just as she inserted it, the alien raised its glowing green rifle. Ruby saw it at the last second and dove out of the way…

But not quick enough.

The last shot nicked her FAL just above the bolt. While the gun saved her from the horrific burns those alien bullets were sure to cause, the heat was too much for the box magazine to handle. The rifle exploded, rounds cooking off and going every which way while the plastic and metal of both the magazine and rifle fragmented everywhere, as if she was holding a live grenade. I watched in horror as my sister's arm and torso were riddled with shrapnel, tearing clothing and flesh alike.

She screamed in pain, curling in on herself.

Panic gripped me and I froze for just a moment. Suddenly, more gunshots rang out. However, these were not the booming, long bursts of my shotgun nor our rifles – these were the short and clipped calls of a pistol. The glass on Qrow's cruiser shattered, the barrel of a Glock-21 sticking out. A single rifle shot from Jaune also rang, followed immediately by a ping. "Fuck!" he swore.

For just a moment, I hoped that all that fire would be enough to take this beast down. Then, right before my eyes, the pits and holes those many bullets and ricochets caused began to… heal. It wasn't enough, I realized. We have to give it more! I frantically looked around for any weapon I could use… and spied a sword of all things.

It was black, thick, and had a… trigger?

I shook my head, quickly scrambling over to where it lay half-in and half-out of one of the crates I'd sailed through. My first attempt at crawling had me falling flat on my face as my shoulder screamed in pain, but I quickly adapted. I knew how to deal with a dislocated shoulder – I'd had a few already in Fight Club, after all. In just a moment, I'd picked up the surprisingly heavy sword and was on my feet. "Hey ugly!" I shouted.

All eyes, including the hulking alien's, were now on me. I didn't wait a single second – every wasted moment was one that allowed that son of a bitch to heal. I crossed the distance before it even attempted to raise its weapon, instead making a fist with its free arm. With a growl, I put everything I had into a single swing, the heavy blade making even my not-dislocated arm strain.

It raised its own arm directly into the path of the sword and I could see the asshole smirk, fucking smirk in the split-second before impact.

However, we were both surprised when the weird alien sword cleaved through its entire arm and embedded itself partway into the fucker's skull. Its smirk vanished, replaced by a look of utter astonishment. Before I could do anything else, Jaune came up, put his gunbarrel in the alien's face, and pulled the trigger. Its armored head caved in and swirls of energy surrounded it.

We backed up, not sure of what would happen, but then the alien just… started evaporating. Like some twisted nightmare given Human form, it was gone in an eyeblink. The sword clattered to the ground, nary a scratch on the damn thing. "...Woah," I let out. A pained groan made me whip around, seeing my sister's prone form writhing on the ground. "Ruby!" I ran over to her, sliding the last few feet. "Ruby, what's- what's wrong?"

She groaned again. "It- it hurts! God, it hurts!" Her bare arm was sticky and red, several trails of blood leaking from various wounds. Her torso had a couple trails as well, but they were much less pronounced.

"Shit… shitshitshitshitshit!" I ripped off my sweater, wincing in pain as my shoulder moved, and hastily tied it around her arm. She screamed in pain, thrashing even more. "Ruby! Please, I- I need to stop the bleeding!"

"That won't do shit!" Qrow shouted from behind me. I was roughly shoved aside, my now bloody sweater tossed at me only a moment later. He reached into a bag he'd grabbed – one with a Red Cross symbol on it – and got… a small, closed loop of synthetic rope? "She's getting a tourniquet until we can get to the hospital." He slipped the rope around her arm, shoving it almost up to her shoulder, and then tightened it down with all his might. Ruby whimpered, but didn't scream. Qrow sighed. "You two, go get Tai out of the house. If… if he's still breathing. Use the cistern door on the other side – should be clear enough. I'll stay here and patch Ruby up best I can," he said, retrieving more supplies from the bag.

Shakily, I nodded, grabbing Jaune with my good arm as I stood up. We jogged to the other side of the saucer, a last glance at the crates where I'd landed revealed a me-sized dent in them and some multi-colored crystals I'd been too focused to notice at the time. I shook my head, leading him outside. The yard was a scene of complete devastation, even on the side that didn't just have a battle happen on it. Roof tiles, two-by-fours, nails, fallen tree limbs, and just random debris everywhere. Still, it was relatively easy to locate the cistern door even amongst the wreckage.

We climbed down into the darkness, both turning on our phones' flashlights. The cistern itself was just a bare concrete room with some shelves in it – the room's original purpose being long obsolete by now. We made our way through the narrow doorway connecting it to the finished part of the basement – Dad's office. Papers were strewn about on his desk, his computer monitor was knocked over, and a filing cabinet was toppled. All in all, he'd've gotten a bruise or maybe a broken bone at the absolute worst if he'd stayed here, but he didn't. Dad wasn't here.

We continued on to the game room. It was much larger than the office; big enough for a pool table and a small bar with a TV. One of the floor beams had gotten knocked loose and speared the table; the TV was also dangling from its cord. Dad wasn't here either. We ducked around the beam and continued to the last place he could be: the stairwell.

As we came to it, his brown loafers became visible, as did the long and deep trails of crimson on the white carpet. I gasped, moving forward, but Jaune held me back. "You… you don't need to see that, if… if it's what it looks like," he said. "I know I couldn't if it was… if it was my Dad." He strode forward, climbing a few steps before pausing and letting out a deep sigh. He returned to me after only a moment. "It's… exactly what it looks like," he said. "Must've… must've heard the noise. Yang, I'm… I'm so, sor-"

I interrupted him by burying my face in the crook of his neck and letting loose all the tears I'd been holding throughout this entire ordeal. I screamed and I cried, clutching tightly to someone who'd been there right with me the entire time. He just stood there, arms around me, and let me scream. For a moment, anyway.

"Ruby still needs us back," he said. "I trust Qrow, but he's not a doctor. She needs to see one, and we need to get moving. Okay?"

Reluctantly, I pulled back, eyes still puffy and shoulder aching more and more. "I… need one too," I said. "Dislocated my shoulder… when that big guy threw me. Gonna really hurt when the adrenaline wears off."

He winced. "Yeah, yeah, we need to get moving. There will be time later to… to grieve."

I nodded, giving one last look at the bloody loafers on the stairs before turning around and marching back the way we came. I paused in his office, though; paused to grab a picture that had face-planted on his desk. It was from a year ago, when we'd driven all the way to Florida over the span of two days. Dad had put it there when we realized it would be the last vacation we'd ever have as a family – Mom and Penny were lounging on top of Qrow's SUV we were borrowing while the rest of us hung off the side. I'd jumped at the last moment, trying to look cool in the picture by "floating" in a laying-down position, but the timing wasn't quite right so I was just flailing around about to hit the sand.

Stuffing the photo in my pocket, I continued out of the basement, climbing the concrete staircase and back into open air. My arm ached more and more, but we had much worse things to worry about. Jaune and I jogged back to the saucer, but he halted in the entryway. I looked back, already a few paces ahead. "What's wrong?" I asked, looking between him and Qrow, who was still attending to Ruby.

"I think there's…" He jogged over to a glowing green… thing with a container on it and shoved the box off. "Holy shit, there's someone in there!"

"What?!" I shouted, running over to him. Sure enough, a half-naked girl around my age lay there, green liquid surrounding her. Briefly, my eyes were drawn to the nasty scar on her stomach, a bit to the left and down from her belly button. However, they were immediately drawn right back up to her black-haired head, where a pair of… cat ears sat? "...they're experimenting on her…"

Jaune nodded, immediately tugging at the handles of the metal-and-glass casket lid. "It's locked!" I grabbed one of the handles with my good arm and tugged as well, but had a similar lack of success. "I don't wanna bust the glass… maybe we can pry it open?" he asked. "Are there any tools in the shed that can help?"

I thought for a moment, but then realized we had something much closer. I grabbed the bulky sword that had helped kill the big fucker and tested to see if it was sharp on both ends. When I found it wasn't, I jammed it into the seam between the lid and the casket. When that didn't do the trick, I stepped back and gave it a few solid kicks. In just a moment, the lid popped open with a metal-on-metal screech. As I made sure the sword didn't hurt the girl, Jaune reached in and hoisted her out of the liquid.

She jolted in his arms, limbs flailing for a moment and glassy eyes flying open. "-ang… -otta save… sorr…" she muttered, eyes drooping once more. Just like that, she was, again, unconscious.

"The fuck's going on over there?!" Qrow shouted.

"We found someone!" I shouted back. "They've been experimenting on her!"

"Where's Tai?!"

I paused. "...h- he didn't-"

"God fucking damnit," he said. "Ruby's lost a lot of blood and if we don't get to a doctor soon, she'll lose the arm too! I can't keep releasing this thing without giving her some blood back! We gotta go! Load up the chick in your truck, it's probably the only vic that works right now!"

"I've only got four seats!"

"Then sit in your boyfriend's lap, we've got to move!" he shouted, scooping up Ruby and making a beeline for the exit.

Jaune and I only spared a glance before getting back into action. He hoisted up the girl onto his shoulder and we both sprinted after Qrow. It was only after I was buckled up and my Uncle had us peeling out of the driveway that I realized I was still holding the thick sword that had quite possibly saved all our lives.

I looked back at the remnants of our house out of the back window, only to see a gigantic aircraft touch down like a helicopter on the other side of the county road. As we rounded the corner, I saw men in really high-tech armor pour out the back.

Little late for the cavalry, I thought. At least nobody else is going to die today…

Of course, that's when my arm well and truly started hurting. I put my bloody sweater sleeve in my mouth and bit. It was gonna be a long ride to the hospital, but I'd be fucked if I did anything to distract Qrow from driving.

(A/N) And that's the intro! Most of the gang's together, only one death as opposed to five, one grievous wound, and an admission that Yang's sweater stunt after being shot in the first version should - under absolutely no circumstances - have worked. Oh, and the Catgirl has been unlocked as a playable character - she'll have a bit more to say next chapter.

Speaking of next chapter, it's scheduled to release on Thursday, February 15. So I'll see you all then!