AN: Didn't expect something so soon, huh? I officially love my new system of doing things. Hope everyone enjoys part 2 of one of the darkest sequences I've ever written on this site. I almost feel bad, but I've committed. So, enjoy everyone.
Chapter 72: What The Hell?
The pillar of silver light drew the attention of everyone in Thimble. Yang Xiao Long raised a bewildered eyebrow at the sight from downtown Thimble.
"The hell is that?" She wondered. Meanwhile, Taiyang Xiao Long's eyes widened in utter horror. He recognized exactly what that was thanks to his time with her mother.
"Ruby…" He muttered, immediately sprinting towards that pillar's location. Yang was shocked by her dad's sudden act.
"Dad?" Yang regained her composure and yelled after him, sprinting with Zwei running after her, barking. "Dad!"
Meanwhile, at the Thimble Bureau, Baza Doom and Gardenia LeSouhait both narrowed their eyes at the silver pillar of light. Gardenia looked at her immediate superior.
"I don't think I need to explain to you how unnatural that was, sir." Gardenia told him.
"Yep, time to mobilize." Baza acknowledged.
Meanwhile, at the location of the light, as the flash began to die down, Ruby Rose panted while on her knees. The poor girl desperately gasped for air. Then she saw it: the monstrous children all on the ground around her. There appearances were less bestial, but still black and white, like that of a Grimm's. They now looked like normal children but with obsidian black and pure white skin.
"Please…gods, no…" Ruby muttered to herself. Nearby, 2 of Clubs winced from the intense and powerful flash of light.
"Was that what I think it was?" He muttered to himself before breathing deeply and regaining his composure. "Now I know why my superiors warned me about this girl and her strange powers. That was unlike anything I had ever seen before in my life."
"Put them back!" Ruby interrupted 2 of Clubs from his thoughts. "Just put them back, dammit!"
"Just put them back?" 2 of Clubs looked at her in disbelief. Ruby could tell even with the plague doctor mask he had on. "You can't be serious. There is nothing I can do in that regard. I've been experimenting on people like these children and poor little Emi to create an army for gods' sake. Why in the world would I bother designing a method to put them back."
"No!" Ruby yelled. "I won't accept that! You can't just ruin the lives of these innocent kids without a way to fix them!"
"What lives?" 2 of Clubs scoffed. "A bunch of orphans? For Gods' sake, nobody is going to even notice they're gone. So what if I ruined their non-existent lives? Hell, if anything, if it wasn't for the fact they failed to kill you, I'd say I actually GAVE them a life with purpose."
Ruby started to tear up. She was simply mortified that ANYONE could be this inhuman. It was incomprehensible to her, even after meeting someone like Cinder. This man seemed worse than Cinder, in fact.
"How could you?" Ruby demanded, tears in her eyes. "You can't…there has to be a way to fix them! There just has to be! They deserve better! They-"
At that moment, Ruby heard the sound of pained groans. Then she felt tiny hands grab onto her skirt and her eyes widened. She looked down to see all the children grabbing onto her, gazing up at her with weak, pained expressions. Her eyes widened in horror as they began to speak to her.
"Ruby…" One weakly croaked.
"Why, Ruby?" Another added, pained and with a hint of betrayal.
"It hurts…it hurts Ruby…" A third spoke up. Ruby shuddered in distress as the children all stated similar things. The sound of her name said with such pain and sorrow made her heart shatter and her stomach twist into knots. Then, silence. As soon as Ruby realized what had happened, she started screaming in a mixture of rage and grief. Tears fell from her eyes freely as she screamed to the heavens. She just screamed, over and over again as she fully comprehended what happened to her little friends; what 2 of Clubs had done to them; what she had done to them. Then, the 2 of Clubs started laughing in utter delight.
"Oh wow," he cackled, "dead already, huh? Too bad. Sometimes these things happen."
Ruby just kept screaming in grief and rage as 2 of Clubs' words registered with her. She just kept screaming and crying, horrified at this nightmare coming to life. How could this have happened? She just came here for a relaxing vacation with her family. And now this has happened. It was not fair. It just was not fair. Eventually, 2 of Clubs just rolled his eyes behind his mask as he took out his Scroll.
"Okay, we get it Ms. Rose. You can cry, and you can cry VERY well." He said in annoyance. "Now please do me a favor and shut the hell up so I can hear myself think. I need to record the results of this experiment."
Experiment. That was all this was to him. An experiment. All these lives taken and ruined. All for an experiment. He was inhuman, absolutely, completely and utterly inhuman. There was no salvation for this man.
He had to die.
He must be judged for his sins. He must die. Ruby thought in rage. He must die. He must die. He must die. He must die. He must die. He must die. He must die!
At that moment, much to 2 of Clubs' surprise, Ruby's silver eyes exploded in silver energy with a scream of pure rage. The energy formed into what looked like the wings of an angel. 2 of Clubs shielded himself from the blast.
"What the hell?" He exclaimed. "Now what?"
"Stein," Ruby growled as she rose to her feet, dropping Crescent Rose to the ground, "Stein. Stein. Stein. Stein. Stein. Stein. Stein!"
"Hmph, so the girl has lost herself to rage…wait, is her Aura rising?" 2 of Clubs gasped in realization. "Damn it, is her power going out of control?"
"STEIN!" Ruby screamed in rage as the silver energy exploded around her, destroying the area at her feet, but avoiding the bodies of the children.
"You can't be serious." 2 of Clubs muttered, pulling out his magnum once more. "So she is going into a berserker rage. Foolish girl. What is even the point-"
2 of Clubs was cut off by a powerful punch to the gut. He yelled in pain as blood flew from his mouth into the mask he was wearing. Ruby was far away one second and then upon him the next. Her fists were surrounded by that same silver energy in her eyes. And she had one goal in mind: Kill Ray Stein.
"STEIN!" Ruby screamed again, sending 2 of Clubs flying through the wall of the clinic. He groaned as he got to his feet almost immediately. He stumbled on his feet, visibly injured from that single blow. She had punched right through his Aura with that single blow.
"Damn it…that hurt!" He yelled. "You bitch-"
Ruby appeared upon him again, punching him in the jaw with her other fist and breaking his mask in an instant. He yelled, feeling the bones break in his jaw. Ruby then winced, feeling the silver energy actually burning through her Aura and burning her hands in the process.
I don't care. She managed to think through the haze of her burning rage. I don't care what this does to me. Just as long as I can beat this monster to death with my bare hands!
Ruby then punched him in the stomach once more, sending 2 of Clubs flying right through the building and into a nearby tree. 2 of Clubs yelled again in pain before recovering and getting to his feet. He looked to see Ruby slowly walking towards him with purpose, like a predator about to pounce. 2 of Clubs growled at Ruby as he regained his composure. He reached into his trench coat and brandished a chain blade powered by Dust.
Fine, you brat. You want to play like that? They never said you had to be completely unharmed, just alive! 2 of Clubs proclaimed inwardly as he began to twirl the chain-blade, fire dust lighting it up with the color orange. I'll use something a bit more suited to maiming an uppity little brat like you!
2 of Clubs began swinging the chain-blade at Ruby. Ruby easily avoided each swipe. The blade cut through the ruined walls of the clinic like a hot knife through butter. Ruby eventually broke into a sprint, not even bothering to use her Semblance. She was so blinded by rage and the desire for vengeance that she was actively CHOOSING not to use her Semblance.
"Stein!" Ruby screamed with primal fury as she used her fist to smash the end of the chain blade, not even bothering to flinch as her shiny, silvery fist came into contact with the heated blade. 2 of Clubs gasped as Ruby shattered the blade with the greatest of ease.
"You have got to be shitting me!" 2 of Clubs snapped–though it came out a bit more gargled and pained due to his broken jaw–before rolling to the side and avoiding Ruby's next haymaker, which snapped the tree he was in front of, right in half. Ruby just yelled in anger and threw another haymaker at the ground 2 of Clubs stood on. 2 of Clubs gasped and jumped backwards several feet. He then watched as Ruby's haymaker connected with the ground, leaving a spider-web-like crater that went deep. "Damn. They didn't tell me her powers made her like this!"
Ruby continued throwing haymakers at the 2 of Club. In the process, she created crater after crater. 2 of Clubs growled, slowly starting to become more and more frustrated and genuinely concerned for his own safety.
Shit, this brat has completely blown her top. She'll actually kill me if I'm not careful. At this rate, she's going to force me to use my trump card. But is this really the optimal moment? If I use it now…Gray Jackal will most definitely be elevated to being a genuine threat to global security. It will make conducting business far more difficult. I can't risk it. Then…if that's the case, another approach. 2 of Clubs then brandished a new gun from his trench coat. He glared at the girl, who could now see just how furious he was with the mask broken. This gun carries a high-grade tranquilizer with enough power to stop a large animal. Theoretically, the dosage should be safe enough for people with Aura. But still…this is a huge risk. I might kill her and they want her alive. But what choice do I have at this point?
Ruby screamed with that same primal fury and sprinted towards 2 of Clubs once more. 2 of Clubs gasped as it truly registered in his mind that this girl would not stop until he was dead. He could not allow that.
"Damn it!" He cursed, firing the tranquilizer dart at Ruby.
"Coward!" Ruby snapped, almost on instinct. At this point, even she did not know what she was saying. She just wanted to say every awful thing in the book to this man because he completely deserved it. And only a coward would try to shoot at someone instead of taking their well-deserved divine retribution. At least, that was what was going through Ruby's rage-filled mind. Then, at that moment, much to the horror of 2 of Clubs, Ruby reached up and grabbed the tranquilizer dart right out of the air without letting it prick her. His broken mouth dropped open in disbelief as the silver energy surrounding her fists actually melted the dart. The heat from the energy was that intense.
"Are. You. Shitting me?!" 2 of Clubs yelled in disbelief and frustration as Ruby sprinted towards him once more. He desperately pulled a stun baton out of his trench coat, powered by lightning Dust. "You brat! Who do you think you're dealing with, huh?"
2 of Clubs angrily swung the baton at Ruby, intent on stunning her with the lightning surrounding the weapon. Ruby dodged, ducked, dipped, dove and dodged again around the baton for a while. It was as though she was toying with 2 of Clubs. Then, with a final swing, Ruby caught the baton and held it tightly in her grip. The lightning danced around the silver aura surrounding her fists. Much to 2 of Clubs' shock and horror, the lightning did not move past the aura. Almost like it was being shielded from actually making contact with her skin. Instead, her own hands continued to be burnt badly by her own power.
"Die." Ruby growled as she tightened her grip, breaking the baton into pieces. 2 of Clubs gasped in horror as it truly registered with him the amount of danger he was in. This girl was going to kill him.
Meanwhile, Hansel Kobalt frantically sprinted towards the location of that silver pillar. He was using the black flames of purgatory at his feet to give his sprinting the boost he needed.
Damn it, why is she here, of all times? Hansel wondered to himself before shaking his head. No. Don't think like that you idiot. It's not her fault she got wrapped up in this. The important thing is making sure she's okay, then focusing on whatever made her have a blow-up like that.
Hansel then shivered involuntarily. He remembered the sensation of that tremendously powerful, almost divine Aura. He knew it belonged to Ruby. However, at the same time, it felt like it did not.
So that's the power of Silver Eyes, he realized, Ozpin always talked about it like it was the key to salvation. So why…why do I feel so scared of it instead? Why does it feel less like the strength of a heroic warrior…and more like the fury of a wrathful deity?
Hansel shook his head again. He could not afford to think of such things at the moment. Not when there was a bad guy to beat up and a student to check on. So, he pushed his Semblance harder at the soles of his feet, wincing as he felt the flames start to singe the skin of his feet.
Hang on, Rose. Hansel thought to himself. Whatever's happening, just hang on.
If Hansel knew what was happening, he knew he had no reason to warn Ruby for her own safety. If anything, if Hansel knew what was happening, he would probably warn the man she was currently beating down instead. Because at the very moment, for as much as 2 of Clubs deserved this, the beatdown was so one-sided, it was hard to look at Ruby Rose and think: that is what a hero looks like. Indeed, back at the fight, Ruby continued to press her berserk assault on 2 of Clubs.
"Get away from me!" 2 of Clubs frantically yelled, wincing as he spoke in spite of his broken jaw, all his weapons having failed against the enraged girl. Ruby just screamed with rage as she threw haymaker after haymaker at the Gray Jackal agent. 2 of Clubs let out choked yelps as he avoided each blow, barely. As each blow neared 2 of Clubs' body, Ruby thought of every single one of those poor children who perished. Those poor little things who had their lives cut short. And for what? Some sort of experiment?
It was at that moment, even in her enraged state, Ruby truly understood Professor Kobalt's warning about how monstrous people could be, compared to even the Grimm. This man was more of a monster than any Grimm she had faced off against. And monsters only deserved one thing.
"Die!" Ruby screamed at 2 of Clubs again as her haymakers brought down trees as collateral damage, every time she missed the Gray Jackal agent.
"You damn brat!" 2 of Clubs managed to choke out in spite of his broken jaw. "Who do you think you are? It was just a bunch of orphan brats!"
That did it. In his moment of anger and fear, 2 of Clubs made the mistake of angrily running his mouth at the girl who was going to be his executioner at this rate. And that single act of running his mouth made Ruby push herself far enough to close the gap in speed between the two, fist cocked back for one final haymaker. 2 of Clubs only had time to scream briefly as the haymaker connected right with his chest. Then, in a split second, the Gray Jackal agent was sent flying through the trees.
A few moments before the fist connected, Hansel Kobalt stared at the scene of multiple dead Grimm-ified children. A look of absolute shock and horror adorned his face.
"Gods," he muttered, "too late…"
He gazed down at the bodies and dropped to one knee. He winced at the sight of the pained looks on each of their faces. One by one, Hansel closed all their eyes.
"I'm sorry," he said softly to them. Then, Hansel heard it, the explosive impact of Ruby's haymaker connecting with 2 of Clubs. He then spotted Crescent Rose dropped to the ground haphazardly. His eyes widened as he remembered there was still someone who needed him. "Kid!"
Hansel immediately used the flames at his feet to rocket back into Ruby's direction, growing more concerned for her by the second. Thankfully, following the trail of destruction and the source of the sound, along with Hansel's own sensory abilities, he found Ruby quickly. His eyes widened again as he saw the results. A mass of trees, all in a line, completely knocked over like dominoes. Craters all over the place. And in the center of it all was Ruby screaming in rage and grief. Her power was still visibly out of control. Hansel gasped when he saw the visible burn marks on Ruby's hands. He immediately realized that she was going to destroy her own body if she did not stop soon.
"Kid!" Hansel called out, desperately trying to get her attention. "Kid, if you can hear me, you have to get it under control! It's going to destroy you if you don't!"
Ruby seemed to notice Hansel calling out to her. However, Hansel immediately grew concerned when he noticed that Ruby was not relaxing. In fact, she looked like she was going to attack HIM now.
"Oh shit." Hansel muttered before Ruby pounced at him.
"Die!" Ruby screamed with rage as she threw a berserk haymaker at her teacher.
"Oh shit!" Hansel yelled again, a bit louder, as he barely avoided Ruby's haymaker. Ruby threw attack after attack at Hansel. At this very moment, everyone was the enemy to Ruby. Her grief and rage over her own failure and the pure evil of 2 of Clubs was simply that great. Hansel knew he could fight back. He knew he probably should fight back. However, he could not bring himself to hurt Ruby, not again. So, he simply called out to her. "Stop!"
Ruby ignored Hansel, continuing to throw haymakers at him. Her movements were growing faster once again, as though she were adjusting to the speed of the person she was trying to kill. Hansel gasped, noticing the burn marks on her hands getting worse.
"Kid!" Hansel frantically yelled at her. "Snap out of it!"
At that moment, in Ruby's berserk, power-induced rage, she remembered her Semblance. Before Hansel could comprehend it, Ruby was upon him in a burst of rose petals. He gasped before taking a powerful haymaker to the stomach. Hansel yelled in pain, coughing blood. He looked down and saw his Aura flickering like a dying lightbulb.
No way…she punched right through my Aura? Hansel thought in disbelief. No…there's something else…something…
Hansel was cut from his thoughts when he heard sounds of pain coming from Ruby. He looked to see that through all the rage and grief, she was starting to feel pain from her power going out of control.
"Damn it!" Hansel growled before slamming his head into Ruby. He had to get her to snap out of it, by any means necessary. He grabbed her wrists, wincing as the silver energy burned his hands. Thankfully, with his own brute strength, Hansel managed to pull her wrists to the side, preventing her from throwing another haymaker. "For fuck's sake, kid! Is THIS really the kind of 'hero' you wanna be? Some berserker who doesn't care who she hurts?"
Ruby just screamed at Hansel in response. She may be becoming aware of the pain her state was placing her in, but that did not mean she was ready to listen to reason.
"Come on Kid, wake up! It's me!" Hansel pleaded, pressing his forehead harder against her's. "I know it hurts! Believe me, I've seen shit like that on the job way too many times already! And I'm sorry you had to see it now! But if you let it break you like this, the bad guys win! Come on! You wanna be a hero, right? You can't do that if you destroy yourself before you even have the chance to be that! Come on! You've gotta fight the urge!"
If Hansel was not in such a serious situation, he would have been able to note the irony of himself saying this to another person. With a sudden flash, Hansel was briefly blinded by the light from Ruby's eyes. It allowed Ruby to wrench her hands free. Before Hansel could recover, he took another punch that pushed him twenty feet away from Ruby. He collapsed to one knee, gazing at the visible marks on his body as he vomited more blood.
Fuck, Hansel gasped, I'm already at my limit from taking two of those? If she hits me with a third, I'm done for.
Hansel's attention was then drawn to the footsteps of Ruby Rose. He looked up to see her, approaching him again, intent to kill visible.
"Stop!" Hansel pleaded. "Kid, you have to stop!"
Ruby still ignored Hansel. She kept walking towards him, slowly picking up the pace. Hansel's eyes widened. She was going to kill him. She was really going to kill him. He was going to die at the hands of his own student.
"Kid, snap out of it!" He yelled. "Kid!"
With a scream of rage, Ruby lunged at Hansel, fist cocked back. Hansel could tell this one was aimed right at his face. He knew that punch would absolutely annihilate him. At that moment, Hansel was not even thinking. He just acted on instinct in a last ditch effort to save his own life. And in the process, save Ruby from herself.
"Ruby!" Hansel called her by name to her face for the first time ever. At that moment, the fist stopped just inches from his forehead. The energy around her eyes and her fist started to dissipate. Hansel exhaled, letting out a breath he did not even know he was holding.
Ruby. When she finally heard her own name from someone else's lips, especially someone's familiar voice, that finally seemed to cut through the haze that was all the grief and rage the poor girl felt. She blinked, and then she realized who she was right in front of.
"Professor Kobalt?" She said meekly.
"Yeah, yeah it's me, Kid." Hansel said to her, uncharacteristically gentle in his tone.
"What are you…what are you doing here?" Ruby asked before falling forward. Hansel quickly caught her.
"Whoa, hey, hey, hey, I've got ya." Hansel said to her, visibly relieved she was okay and no longer trying to kill him. "I've got ya."
Then he heard it: the sniffling, the sobbing, the sound of a girl just breaking. Hansel did not dare to look down. He did not want to see her cry. He could not explain why. Hansel just could not bring himself to see her in such a state.
"They're dead, Professor." Hansel winced. He immediately knew who she was referring to: those poor kids.
"I know," he said softly, "I saw. I'm sorry."
"I killed them," Ruby choked, "these…these powers killed them…I killed them…"
"No, no, no, no, no." Hansel quickly corrected her. "Listen to me. I saw what happened to them. There was nothing you could've done for them, Kid. They…they were already dead. There was NOTHING you could've done."
Ruby started sobbing louder, both from grief and the pain she was in due to her own powers hurting her. Hansel felt her clutch him tighter. However, he could not bring himself to embrace her back. He knew she needed it, but he just could not bring himself to close that gap he puts between himself and so many in his life. However, he could not bring himself to push Ruby away entirely. So he just let her cry into his chest.
"It's okay, I've got ya, kid." He reassured her. At that moment, a chilling voice cut through the silence.
"Oh, how tender. I think I just squeezed out a tear." Ruby shivered into Hansel at the sound of that voice. "And what have we got here? Hansel Kobalt, come to play as well, eh?"
"Kid," Hansel gently said to her, "stay behind me."
Hansel drew Wolf Fang and turned around. At that moment, he got a look at 2 of Clubs, who was stumbling towards the two, visibly injured but very alive and VERY pissed off.
"I don't know what the hell you're doing here, and frankly I don't care." 2 of Clubs admitted. From behind Hansel, Ruby's eyes widened with horror as the Gray Jackal's agent began to contort and expand horribly, unnaturally. "This was supposed to be a simple research mission, and what happens? I get the shit beaten out of me by a little girl I'm not allowed to kill. Do you have any idea how frustrating that is for me?"
"Right, you're the real victim in all of this." Hansel scoffed with a sarcastic glare.
"Oh, I'm not trying to play victim here, Hansel Kobalt. I'm just doing what ANYONE would do in my situation: acknowledge the sheer absurdity and irritation of it all." 2 of Clubs proclaimed as his voice began to distort demonically. His skin began to turn pitch black. Ruby watched in horror as his hands turned into claws. A scorpion's tail came out the back. His body expanded to become more muscular. His mouth became two pincers. If Ruby had more strength, she would have screamed in terror at the sight. "I mean, I'm more pissed than I've ever been and I can't even kill the girl responsible. But...thankfully, the higher ups never said she had to be in one piece."
"What the hell?" She could only mutter in frightened disbelief at the sight instead.
The sight of Ray Stein, AKA the 2 of Clubs in Gray Jackal, turning into a human Deathstalker.
"Now then," 2 of Clubs continued with a monstrous-sounding voice, "for overcomplicating things for me, I'll have you both pay in blood!"
AN: You know the whole Man-Spider transformation Peter Parker goes through sometimes? Yeah. Think that but with a demon scorpion and you get what 2 of Clubs just turned into. The chapter title certainly seems a hell of a lot more appropriate now, doesn't it?
Anyway, I'd say we definitely earned the M rating with this chapter, huh? I don't like when I get this dark, to be honest. But I wanted to see how far I could push it before I decide I've gotten too dark for my own taste. I now know for sure I'm not big on killing off kids. Shock of the century.
This chapter was definitely shorter than previous ones. But all things considered, it was kind of a necessity.
Hope everyone enjoyed this dark sequence of events. Next time...things get worse for a very different reason.