Never mind on the drive to work. Area is flooded. I came up to a huge sea of water with two cars trapped in it, and people outside arguing as if it's the other's fault for the rain.

Turned around and worked from home.

Cover Art: Kirire

Chapter 128

Yang liked dancing.

Normally.

It wasn't that Blake's possessed body was bad at it either – she flailed and she flopped, but that was half the people there, and the other half were just bouncing their shoulders to the beat. If anything, Yang blamed being sober, because she sure as hell wasn't getting drunk around this monster and being the only sober one at the club wasn't a fun experience.

That and the horny idiots all around them.

Yang was no stranger to appreciative looks and guys (even girls sometimes) trying it on, and she had her own little rules about it. If a guy offered to buy her a drink, she'd warn them she wasn't looking for a partner before accepting it, and if a guy asked her out then she'd do her best to let him down kindly – usually after a dance so he didn't think it was because he was ugly. Even if they were, she'd still give them the time of day because it took guts to approach her, and she didn't want to be the kind of person to crush someone's spirit.

Of course, all bets were off if they got pushy or tried to pressure her. Most didn't. Ultimately, it was all fair-game and she acknowledged that and never had a problem with it, but she'd also never felt like she needed to cockblock someone to save their life before.

So many suicidal men kept coming onto Blake!

Did they have no idea how close to the death they were?

Probably not given that Blake looked very normal and was smiling in an inviting way that made it clear any and everyone was welcome to come into her orbit. It wasn't their faults. Guys were famously bad at understanding cues (or so it sometimes felt) but Blake's were obvious and she smiled and rubbed herself up against anyone that came to dance with her, leaving Yang to grind her teeth and glare the men away. It was probably making her look like a possessive girlfriend but she'd take that over having to burn some poor guy's body because he'd gotten his soul devoured.

Sorry buddy, she thought as she pushed a guy who was going for a kiss away from Blake and took his spot, whisking Blake into another dance. This is for your own good. Yang pulled her away, dancing possessively, and slowly worked their way back to another bar – not Junior's, but another on the edge of the club – where they could get a drink and let the heat die down.

"So many longing souls…" Blake whispered under the music.

"You promised not to make any deals with them."

"Have any been struck? I have held to mine oath. But tis lonesome in the lake and the one you know as Blake makes for poor conversation." The eyes glinted hungrily. "Thou hast no idea how fortunate thou truly are, to live in this world freely. To not be trapped in a book. To have thy very life in the hands of one who hates thee."

Yang wasn't going to feel bad for a monster like this.

Even if the monster hadn't really done anything too bad today; embarrassing, sure, with the scene at the cake shop and then the candy store – but not bad. Not evil or cruel. There had been a childish wonder to it all, unsurprising from an entity locked away for all eternity, born into abstract solitude.

Damn it, no. I said I wasn't going to feel bad for her – it.

"Maybe Blake would let you out more if you were on best behaviour."

"Does thou truly think so? Or art thou only uttering the words thou believe I wish to hear?"

The latter. Yang didn't want to be involved with ARC Corp but she knew more than she wanted to through Ruby, and she had to keep at least one foot in this ugly world in order to be there for if her sister needed her. That one foot in the camp was enough to know that Blake would never accept this anomaly coming out again if she could help it, even if it didn't do too much bad in her body.

"I was promised dancing and pleasure," it said. "I am content to bask in their affections."

Not a surprise. It was kind of like imagining someone coming out of a long prison sentence. Of course they'd be up for just about anything; they'd been deprived of attention and affection for much too long. If Yang had been locked in a basement all her life, she might throw herself at anyone willing to make her feel something as well.

"But it's not your body; you're not the one who has to live with the consequences."

"Mine host would not be alive at all were it not for my direct intervention. A deal was struck upon the saving of her life. Tis only fair I experience something of equal wonder."

Shit. That was a good point again. Yang groaned and swept her drink in front of her. Her lips found the straw, only for her to be left sucking on air as Blake's hand shot out and snatched the glass away from her. A few errant droplets fell from the tip of the straw as Yang stood there like a fool.

"Bwuh…?"

"Thy drink carries an unwelcome surprise." The anomaly dipped a finger in and brought it out, smearing some barely visible powder across her thumb. Yang paled. "T'was a hand that reached over thy shoulder when thou were criticising me," she said, smirking merrily. "Would'st you like me to point him out to you so that we might punish him?"

Yes.

"No."

Yang's stomach was still doing flips at what might have happened. She was normally much more aware of herself, but she'd been worrying too much about Blake and had lost focus. Tempting as it was to find the bastard and push his shit in, she didn't want to give the anomaly an excuse to eat someone's soul because it was technically self-defence.

"Leave it," she grumbled, leaning over the bar to wave down the bartender. A quick explanation had his eyes widening, and he hurried off to tell someone. The club had their own security, and even if the boss was a crook he wouldn't want the heat of date-rape happening in his establishment. "Security here will deal with it."

"How dull. Does it not worry thee that our inaction shall leave another victim to their urges?"

"Yes. But if we beat him up then he gets off with a little pain and comes back another night to do it again. If the club catches him, he gets banned for life – and possibly reported to the police."

Or dumped in a ditch if those twins were feeling vindictive.

"Hm. Is this another part of the excitement of such a night? Or a manner in which men court?"

"No. Or at least it's not meant to be." Yang sighed. "Most men would hunt that guy down and beat them senseless if they saw this. But there are always monsters like that. It's why crime exists. For every thousand people, there'll always be one who thinks it's okay for them to take what they want."

"Why not kill them and be done with it?"

Yang scowled, at first assuming it was a question designed to rile her up, but then she noticed the genuine curiosity. It was enough to have her calming down. Right, this is a rare moment for her – it – to try and understand us. I guess questions make sense.

And better for her to be answering questions than defending horny men from making a terrible mistake.

"It's complicated. The main answer for why we don't kill every bad person is because of the chance for them to be redeemed – but it's not just that." Yang was the daughter of a teacher, and she knew how to lecture. "It's more about giving them an out. If you take the attitude that every criminal will be hunted down and killed, then those criminals have no reason to surrender peacefully. They'll fight to the death and hurt a lot of innocent people doing so. It's better that people like that know there is a second chance, and that they can serve their time and get out, then it is to push them into a corner and convince them they might as well keep going and do even worse because their lives are over anyway."

Blake's head tilted to the side. "Tis manipulation of their desires, then?"

"Yeah, I guess. The whole point of law is to keep the peace, not necessarily to stop every crime – though that's what we'd ideally like. Sometimes keeping the peace means going easier on criminals. It's why you can get a reduced sentence for cooperating with the police, too. We want bad people to cooperate. If a crook confesses and hands themselves over, giving them a shorter sentence sends a message that others should as well. If you turn around and torture that crook and then kill them, then no one else is going to hand themselves in."

"Interesting." The anomaly sipped her drink. "Another has failed to keep their wits about them."

Yang blinked. "What…?"

Blake pointed.

Following it, Yang was just about able to make out a side entrance, where a man was helping a woman who had clearly had too much to drink out the bar. He wore slacks and a dress shirt, with curly brown hair and a handsome smile to the bouncer holding the door open for him and his girlfriend. Nothing about it looked unusual.

"That was the man who sought to poison thy drink. I watched him poison another's as you explained thy laws."

"Fuck."

"What shall—"

Yang didn't let her finish; she was already moving, forcing her way past the people at the bar and shoving drunks out the way. The bouncer had just started to close the door when she smashed into it, knocking it open and dragging the startled man outside. It was an exit route into an alleyway on the side of the building, with several empty metal kegs ready for pickup. Yang caught the man with the drunk and now drugged woman approaching a parked car with the door open.

"Stop! Put her the hell down!"

The handsome man froze and looked back, his eyes widening in panic as he saw her. He dropped the woman, who fell like a puppet with her strings cut, and reached into his jacket. He drew out a blocky gun that Yang recognised as a civilian-model self-defence tazer. They'd been touted a while back as a safe anti-Grimm option for self-defence, and much like every diet product ever they'd been little use for their advertised purpose.

Looked like others had found a use for them. Yang swatted the barbs away as they shot out at her, caught the wires, and grinned as the current ran through her. Aura didn't necessarily protect from electric shocks, but it did insulate. A current meant to down a civilian in pain was only mild discomfort to her.

"Thanks for not making this too complicated," she said, yanking the gun out his hands by the wires. "You could have tried to tell me she's your friend, but this is a fairly convenient admission of guilt."

The guy let go and tried to escape her but wasn't nearly quick enough. Yang buried a fist in his gut and bent him double, then kicked his feet out from under him and turned back to the club, speaking out to the bouncer who had surely seen this. "You mind calling the…"

The bouncer had Blake against his chest, an arm over her throat.

"…cops…" Yang sighed. "Seriously?"

Blake smiled. "I followed thee out of curiosity."

Behind her, the car's door opened and the driver got out. This wasn't some one-off prick trying to ruin a girl's life. This was an organised ring. Wonderful. Yang spread her feet apart and brought her fists up.

"No funny business," the bouncer holding a monster hostage warned. "Or I break your girlfriend's pretty neck."

"This is too surreal."

The goon at her feet latched onto her left leg, somehow imagining he could hold her still. He drew and jammed a syringe into her, but the needle broke on skin that had been protected by aura for several minutes now.

His scream as the needle snapped off and flicked back into his own cheek, sticking into him, set everything off.

Footsteps from behind had her twisting and ducking a wooden bat swung at her head. A quick punch to the stomach stunned the guy enough to leave him open for a jaw-breaking uppercut, but she hadn't expected the second guy. He came with a huge sack, jamming it down over her head – they meant to take her as well.

Good fucking luck.

Yang was blind but not defenceless. Closing her eyes, she moved into where she remembered the man had been with her guard up and let him make the first move. His fist hit the forearms up in front of her head and that let her pinpoint his general direction. Yang dipped in ready to take a hit if needs be and snatched out a hand for any material. Her fingers found a leather jacket and she yanked him in.

Something hit her back as she did – a crowbar, she thought. It winded her a little, but a life spent sparring with her father had taught her that a little pain was no reason to stop fighting. Yang's knee went up into the jewels of the man in front of her, and she yanked him around and over in a 180 spin to put him between herself and whomever had attacked from behind. The sickening thud and cry told her she'd blocked another hit with her victim.

Assuming that meant the second was directly in front of where she was holding the guy, Yang kicked her human shield straight forward and hopefully into him. She used the moment's pause to reach up and tear the sack off.

Two men stumbling to the ground, one idiot screaming with a bleeding face and a protected woman beneath her. Yang spared a moment for some self-congratulations, before she heard other vehicles pull up behind her and doors slam open.

"Geez. This feels a little too big a deal for drugging one girl, doesn't it?" Yang spat on the floor and looked back to the panicky bouncer who, by now, had started to realise he'd scored himself a huntress. "I'm guessing you're new to Junior's crew. Otherwise, you'd recognise me."

"Stay back!" the man hissed and pulled Blake up off her feet. "I'll kill her!"

Yang sighed.

"The definition of self-defence is where you use a level of force that is both necessary and reasonable in the defence of yourself or in the prevention of a crime taking place in front of you." Yang knew the legalise of it. Sadly, that was because of how often she got in trouble. "He's threatening your life, so you can respond with force proportional but not lethal and you'll technically be obeying Vale's laws."

Blake's lips stretched into a hideous and inhuman grin. "Is that so…? How far?"

"As long as you don't kill them and as long as you stop once they're no longer threats, it's fine."

The bouncer tightened his grip on Blake's neck, never once realising how much danger he was in. Not even Yang was entirely certain – but when the man's arms were suddenly severed at the elbows, and when they dropped to the floor with a pair of wet thuds, she got an idea.

Blake's feet landed easily as she dropped to the floor. The girl – the monster – turned with an almost curious look to the man who had yet to realise he'd just been disarmed in a gruesome manner.

"I suppose you're no longer a threat. Unless you'd like to try and bite me…?"

It actually came out as a suggestion, as if she were hoping he would give her another excuse.

But the man just screamed.

"ARGHHHHHH!"

Guns were drawn by startled crooks and Yang dove down onto the drugged girl to shield her with her body and aura, rolling onto her side and pulling the girl against her chest so her back would be to the armed men. Most of the gunfire went over her head, though. Aimed directly at Blake – but also hitting the "unarmed" man and killing him.

Bullets bounced off the air around Blake in a manner that Yang knew wasn't aura related. They didn't hit her and her aura, but some shimmering shield. Blake stood in the midst of it all, her lazy smile at first becoming brittle, then uncertain, before finally growing oddly excited.

"Is this… Tis adrenaline, no? Mine heart races and my body feels at once filled with fear and yet more alive than ever before." The monster groaned lustily, running her hands up and down Blake's body. "Yes. More!"

The bullets stopped. "It's a Semblance!" one man roared, lunging forward and drawing a knife. "But it won't stop us up close!"

Those fools.

Blake looked surprised as the first man reached her, and that shock meant he got past the shield – which it turned out was only for ranged attacks. The knife came in and nicked skin as Blake swayed aside, drawing blood and a sharp hiss of pain – a hiss that turned into another heady moan.

Oh shit, the anomaly didn't know how to use Blake's aura.

Or couldn't.

"Blood. I am… bleeding…? Is this mortality? Fear. This is fear…"

"I'll show you what fear really is, bitch!" the man jammed the knife at her eye. "I'll kill you!"

"Ah…"

Blake vanished into mist.

And reformed behind the man.

"I am afraid I cannot," she said, holding a hand in front of her. In it was a glob of bleeding meat. "I am contracted to keep this body safe." Her eyes flicked to Yang's, past the bloody flesh. "Thy kind can survive without a kidney, yes?"

Was that…? Oh hell. The man behind her groaned and fell, and the rest charged in with weapons drawn. Blake flickered among them, her expression slowly transforming from curiosity to excitement, then to pleasure, and then to hedonistic – even orgasmic – glee. Her bare hands cut apart aura and flesh, tearing chunks of meat from the men and sending their bodies alive but broken to the floor.

It was a massacre that ended within seconds, and that the drugged victim should probably be grateful for missing. Soon, Blake stood alone in an alleyway caked with blood, soaked with it herself, breathing heavily and trembling with fading adrenaline.

"No," she whispered. "Why does it end? Come back. Return. I wish to feel it again."

The door to the club slammed open and the Malachite twins spilled out into a bloodbath.

"The fuck is this!?" howled the red twin. Her eyes caught Blake, bathed in blood, and she raised her claws. "You do this?"

"Yes. Attack me. Please, I beg you."

"Don't!" Yang shouted. "We're on your side!" Maybe. Hopefully. Yang dragged herself to her feet, and the drugged girl with her. "This girl was drugged and being taken away by these men – it's some organised crime ring. Please tell me it's not yours."

The white twin, Melanie, kept a way eye on Blake as she stepped over to a groaning man and checked him. "Still alive? They're all still alive. All except ours." She stood. "We know these fuckers. Traffickers. Why is our bouncer dead?"

"He was working with them," Yang said.

The twins shared a look, first at Yang and then at the drugged girl. "Fair enough," Melanie said, pushing Miltia's claws down. It was Blake who looked the most disappointed by it. "You two should get out of here. Leave the girl with us."

"These guys might die," Yang hissed. That would be a problem for Blake once she woke up – and a problem for the anomaly as well, since it might not have realised how lethal her attacks were. "They're gonna need medical attention."

"No," said Melanie, stepping on a man's neck.

The blade on her shoe severed his throat.

"No, they will not."

Fuck me running… thought Yang, as a man was killed in front of her. She'd seen death – hard not to, even as a student. Even without the Grimm, the White Fang had executed people before and the footage always made it into schools via the edgy kids.

And, of course, she'd seen a kid blow their own brains out.

Anomaly or no.

I should stop this… stop them…

A quick glance to Blake showed the anomaly panting as she watched the men die.

Desperate to join in.

Or to provoke the twins into attacking her so she could claim self-defence.

On second thought, I should stop THAT! Ten kidnapping rapists being killed is better than her getting worked up to the point she decides it's worth it to break a law and face the consequences of whatever contract she signed.

It'd kill her but it'd also ruin Blake's life.

"Fine." Yang handed the victim off to Miltia, who took her and handed her to a fresh bouncer coming out. The men had guns and approached the downed rapists. The unconscious girl was whisked inside before the bloody business could begin. Yang took Blake's arm and dragged her away. She had to, because the girl fought to stay and watch. "Come on. We're done here."

"I want to watch," she whined. "Or find more. There's more, no?"

"No. There isn't."

"There could be. We could pose as victims, lure more monstrous men." Her breath was heady and rushed, brimming with excitement and desire. "Think of the innocent victims we would save from their desires by inviting such cruelty on ourselves. T'would be a service, and self-defence of course. Women would need fear not with our work done to protect them. Should they attack us, it will save another being attacked—"

Yang had seen this before.

It happened once or twice in Signal. Rare, but noticeable. The moment where someone realised just how good fighting felt and got hooked. She remembered having lessons on it – not bloodlust, but the perfectly human correlation between lust and violence. According to the teachers, back when there had been religions with whole pantheons, it wasn't uncommon for gods or goddesses of love and war to be connected – or for a single deity to have domain over both. That was because there was a very thin line between the pleasure. To some, it was as good as sex.

Not after, not later, but at the time. There was a reason that so many times in history, the worst crimes were committed after a battle. Sacking of cities, mass sexual violence. It was even historical fact that trains of prostitutes would follow armies because they knew the soldiers would be desperate for their services after a battle. Yang imagined it was a mixture of nerves, panic, the life-or-death situation of it all and maybe just the overall pleasure of knowing you'd looked death in the face and survived.

Not so different to someone going bungee jumping but with the stakes dialled up to 10,000.

To a creature unused to human physiology and the confusing rush of hormones, it must have been a wild experience. The anomaly didn't know what to think. All it knew was that it – or Blake's body – felt incredible in this moment.

And that it wanted more.

No matter the cost.

Fuck it. Enough of this. Time for a distraction.

Grabbing her shoulder, Yang slammed Blake back into a nearby wall and stepped into her space. Golden eyes widened in shock and delight, ready for violence, and then widened further still when Yang clapped her mouth over Blake's.

"Mppph!?" Blake moaned against her, and Yang went further, sliding a hot tongue in and also running a hand up her side to clasp her chest. The girl pinned to the wall shuddered and closed her eyes. "Hmmmmmm…"

It wasn't like she hadn't promised to do this anyway.

And she might as well confuse the monster away from bloodshed and violence. That was why Yang pushed into Blake's body, grinding herself against the stunned and possessed woman and filling her every sense. Sight, touch, smell, taste, hearing. It was all Yang.

When she pulled away, the anomaly panted against the wall, stunned and shaken.

"W… W… What was that…?"

"Didn't you demand a kiss from me earlier for our contract? That was that."

"That… That was a kiss…?" The creature was dazed, its eyes lidded, face flushed. "That was… Tha was more than I had expected. When I made her kiss him, it was short and rushed. It did not feel so… so…"

Him? Must have been Jaune. Poor Ruby.

"What can I say?" Yang quipped. "I'm a good kisser."

"Y—Yes. Yes, you must be." The anomaly licked her lips and stepped forward. When Yang stepped back, she chased, reaching out for her desperately. "Again? Another? We might make another deal."

Well, that was a nice bit of an ego boost.

But she needed Blake away from all this violence, before she could remember how good that had felt. "Tell you what. How about I take you to a place we can use Jaune's card to buy some goods, and I'll show you a whole new world of pleasure."

Blake's eyes widened.

"Truly…?"

"Sure. This is a secret place a lot of girls know about – and a place we can rely on when we're on edge."

/-/

Blake Belladonna woke to a headache and the distant sounds of girlish giggling.

Consciousness came slowly and it took her a second to realise she was in her bedroom, back at her apartment. She was sat atop her sheets, which were bunched up all around her. The room was hot and smelt of something bitter. There was a taste of alcohol on her tongue.

Ah, right.

The possession.

Blake felt something behind her and froze.

Oh no.

No, no, no.

Slowly, filled with fear, Blake rolled over.

And came face to face with a plastic face with big blue eyes, an open mouth, and drawn-on hair.

It was a blown-up, inflatable doll.

Blake stared at it.

The doll stared back.

"What…?"

The doll did not respond.

"Okay," she mumbled. "Not what I expected. Strange, but better than it could have been."

Pushing it off the bed, Blake sat and took a proper look around. She was alone in her room – a miracle – but that didn't mean there weren't some unusual additions. There was a black latex suit hanging from a coat hanger, an array of leather whips in a box, many other stacked boxes, and as Blake moved, she realised her left wrist was trapped in a fuzzy handcuff.

Also, there was something under her. Blake rummaged and brought up a strange plastic egg. Her hungover mind didn't immediately connect the dots, but when her thumb accidentally activated it and set it vibrating in the palm of her hand, she managed it. Blood rushed to her face.

Boxes of sex toys, of random crap, of… of just about anything and everything. Blake stepped over a second sex doll (still in its packaging) and flinched as her foot touched something long, rubbery and soft.

Also, obnoxiously pink.

Blake refused to consider it and opened the door to her apartment, stepping out.

Where a blonde was cooking breakfast.

"Oh hey," said the blonde, looking back with a haggard face. There were some pillows and a blanket on the sofa where said blonde had been sleeping. "You're awake. Might want to open a window and ventilate your bedroom. And apologise to any neighbours you might have."

"I have none." Blake's eyes narrowed. "Why…?"

"Monster was vocal in your body."

Blake's brow twitched. "Did you help that monster in my body buy out the contents of a whole sex store? And then… play with my body!?"

"Bitch, I saved you from waking up next to some random guy or in the middle of a hundred dead bodies," Yang replied, turning away to continue cooking her bacon. "Or waking up in the middle of a hundred living guys – whichever counts as worse in your head. And my reward was a night spent trying to block out your screams and fend off a demon inviting me into bed to try those toys on you personally. I deserve a fucking medal."

"… what…?"

"Also, your demonic alter-ego might have a crush on me."

"What…?"

That last comment was one Blake might have thrown away as sarcastic, if not for the book on her hip vibrating, and a sound echoing in her head that was a cross between a girlish giggle and a longing sigh. Blake felt her eyes dragged, without her control, down Yang's back to her rear end, clad in tight sleeping shorts.

"Oh, hell no," Blake hissed at the monster in the book. "My love life is complicated enough without this."

"Hmhm. Tell me about it." Yang said, absolutely overhearing.

"And what am I meant to do with all these toys?"

"Donate them to needy housewives?"

A knock came at her door. "Blake…" Jaune's voice came through. "Are you okay? And can we talk? I just got my bank account frozen for unusual purchases and wanted to double check those with you."

The blood drained from her face. Blake turned to Yang.

"You didn't…"

"You think they were going to take an IOU?"

"You could have paid with your money!"

Yang snorted. "As if I have that much in my account."

"That much…? How many sex toys did I just buy!?"

"Also…" Jaune's voice came through the door. "What is this weird contraption out here? It looks like a power tool mounted on a bench." Blake paled. "Oh, there's a button here…"

Vrrrr. Ka-Chunk. Hisss. Vrrrr. Ka-Chunk. Hissss. Vrrrr. Ka-Chunk. Hissss.

"Whoah…" a new voice outside said. "Is that meant to fit…?"

"Ruby, cover your eyes!"

Blake whimpered.

Luckily, Blake never got around to using said toys if they're all boxed up and left outside.

Next Chapter: 13th January

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