Fandom Distorted Mirror [IC]

[MyrtenRose]

"That is a not good situation!" Penny said in solemn alarm, the wall groaning in protest as Ruby pried her out of it. She came out with a grinding pop and landed nimbly on her feet, and with all the grace of an albanian farmer wrangling a goat snagged Ruby's arm in return and flipped her over her shoulders. "Grab on!"

She shot off like a rocket as soon as Ruby complied, her thrusters going full throttle as she activated her internal comms, and her voice soon echoed across the entire facility

"Attention resistance still on station, we are under attack! Class S! Noncombatants are to enter lockdown."

She knew of this Cinder, even if she'd never met her herself. Apparently she was the mastermind behind the fall of Beacon back home.

A plan that could not have succeeded without Penny's help, however unwilling and horrible it was.

Her gaze narrowed as they neared the surface.

"I have very strong personal feelings about this fight, Ruby. Please inform me if I act too erratically!"

"No it for sure is not!" Ruby agreed after being flipped like an omelet, nigh-immediately grabbing on to her super jet-boosting friend. The wind as they went along just blew through her hair and across her face similarly to whenever she used her semblance. All she could do was hold on and listen as Penny addressed the place at large, and though she could not see Penny's eyes narrow, she more than felt that mood when Penny spoke up. That was putting it mildly, yeah. That Cinder manipulated so much, purposefully arranged it so that an emotionally conflicted Pyrrha got pushed into accidentally killing Penny. One of the kindest(and strangest) people she'd ever met, cut into pieces all just to make a statement. That was unbelievably cruel. And then Pyrrha herself...Ruby's speed only allowed her to get there in time to watch Pyrrha die in front of her eyes. Had tried to do the same to Weiss, too.

Though she would never ever ever thank her for it, that Cinder was a significant impetus in learning to use her gift, descended from the gods. To protect life, to the best of her ability. "You're...not the only one with those kinds of feelings." Ruby replied softly. "Do the same for me if I act that way."

When the pair made it out, it was far more quiet outside than it had been when Ruby had run in, and the first thing either of them spotted among the snowy landscape was the smaller and younger of the maidens in the distance, falling downwards through the sky in what was most definitely not a controlled descent.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

the smashing came to a halt with the order, the sound of the voice catching her attention more than the words themselves. A slow recognition worked its way across Blake's visage, marred by an already bruising gash above her brow that had rivulets of blood pouring down the right side of her face. She gripped the bars hard enough that her arms shook and in far more gentle fashion put her forehead against the metal as well as she locked eyes with Winter.

A Schnee.

Hatred spewed from those eyes like blood from a far more violent wound than the one Blake had given herself. Winter, and even Yang to the side, could tell there wasn't a single thought in Blake's head in that moment that didn't involve savage, grisly violence against every inch of flesh Winter had. the voice that came out of Blake's mouth was hoarse and drug slurred, yet with a clarity of thought worthy of the grandest speeches that was wasted on debase anger that was deathly quiet.

"I'm going rip out your entrails and bury your sister's head in the stomach acid until she drowns."

"...gross, wha-"

"You're going to die. She's going to die. Your shitstain of a mother and little brother are going to die. I will raze everything with your name to the ground"

Winter took the threats against her own person and Weiss calmly enough, but her eyes flared at the mention of the other two in a manner that suggested Blake's path to whatever nerves the Shadow Fang could strike in the Schnee family was far less obstructed and cluttered with frozen debris for the elder sister than it was the younger. "Threaten them again and I'll make sure you die in that cell, you degenerate—"

She sucked a breath in through her nostrils sharply, fingers slowly unfurling from around the bar she'd been squeezing hard enough to leave an impression on her pale skin. The act seemed to ground her somewhat, or at the very least remind her of Blake's position and how inimical it was to making good on any such promises.

"Not that you'll ever see the other side of one. Colorful language, but in light of my sister appearing to have defeated your people for the thousandth time I'd call it wishful thinking."​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Winter took the threats against her own person and Weiss calmly enough, but her eyes flared at the mention of the other two in a manner that suggested Blake's path to whatever nerves the Shadow Fang could strike in the Schnee family was far less obstructed and cluttered with frozen debris for the elder sister than it was the younger. "Threaten them again and I'll make sure you die in that cell, you degenerate—"

She sucked a breath in through her nostrils sharply, fingers slowly unfurling from around the bar she'd been squeezing hard enough to leave an impression on her pale skin. The act seemed to ground her somewhat, or at the very least remind her of Blake's position and how inimical it was to making good on any such promises.

"Not that you'll ever see the other side of one. Colorful language, but in light of my sister appearing to have defeated your people for the thousandth time I'd call it wishful thinking."​

"I'm not going to die in here."

Blake pushed off the bars and slowly stepped towards the back wall of her cell.

"Your sister's too cruel for that. She thinks there's a use for me, or I'd be a corpse."

She reached the wall and slowly slid down it, something else mixing with the blood against her cheeks despite the quiet rancor in her words.

"I'll get my chance. I'm going to strangle her with whatever chains she thinks she's going to put on me."

She let her head rest against her knees, and the last words were muffled behind them as her shoulders began to shake.

"And t-then every single one of you will die screaming."

 

[Gus Gungus]

"I'm not going to die in here."

Blake pushed off the bars and slowly stepped towards the back wall of her cell.

"Your sister's too cruel for that. She thinks there's a use for me, or I'd be a corpse."

She reached the wall and slowly slid down it, something else mixing with the blood against her cheeks despite the quiet rancor in her words.

"I'll get my chance. I'm going to strangle her with whatever chains she thinks she's going to put on me."

She let her head rest against her knees, and the last words were muffled behind them as her shoulders began to shake.

"And t-then every single one of you will die screaming."

"So when you're doing it an eye for an eye is 'the only way'; when I do it, it's cruelty. I'm glad we can have perspective on these things."

That wasn't Winter's voice.



Winter was staring in wide-eyed surprise at the Schnee who it, in fact, was, and who had swept in from the adjacent hall in time to catch the tail end of that exchange. She stood with her back to Yang and Winter's cell, paying them no mind, but that didn't make it any less obvious; Weiss Schnee, patronizing as the first time she fired someone, stood barely an arm's span away from Blake's cage, eyes a matched set of blue rather than the harshly clashing pair that had glared her into unconsciousness earlier. Myrtenaster's gleaming pommel still hung from her hip, blade already having been polished so immaculately it was hard to imagine it as anything more than ceremonial, hard to imagine it stained with blood.

Maybe not so hard to imagine for Blake, though.

"As difficult as this'll no doubt be for you to believe, Blake, I do believe all life carries a value. And I resent having to play these games with you, but this is how you wanted it. So here we are."

There was almost a flagrancy to the way she was standing there, the neutrality in her tone; as if to show she stood by everything that had happened. That her conscience was clear.

She nodded towards the camera. "I assume that little display was for me, and despite everything I feel obliged to offer you what little catharsis you're going to get out of this entire affair. So. You have thirty seconds."

​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"I'm going rip out your entrails and bury your sister's head in the stomach acid until she drowns."

"...gross, wha-"

"You're going to die. She's going to die. Your shitstain of a mother and little brother are going to die. I will raze everything with your name to the ground"

Winter took the threats against her own person and Weiss calmly enough, but her eyes flared at the mention of the other two in a manner that suggested Blake's path to whatever nerves the Shadow Fang could strike in the Schnee family was far less obstructed and cluttered with frozen debris for the elder sister than it was the younger. "Threaten them again and I'll make sure you die in that cell, you degenerate—"

She sucked a breath in through her nostrils sharply, fingers slowly unfurling from around the bar she'd been squeezing hard enough to leave an impression on her pale skin. The act seemed to ground her somewhat, or at the very least remind her of Blake's position and how inimical it was to making good on any such promises.

"Not that you'll ever see the other side of one. Colorful language, but in light of my sister appearing to have defeated your people for the thousandth time I'd call it wishful thinking."

"I'm not going to die in here."

Blake pushed off the bars and slowly stepped towards the back wall of her cell.

"Your sister's too cruel for that. She thinks there's a use for me, or I'd be a corpse."

She reached the wall and slowly slid down it, something else mixing with the blood against her cheeks despite the quiet rancor in her words.

"I'll get my chance. I'm going to strangle her with whatever chains she thinks she's going to put on me."

She let her head rest against her knees, and the last words were muffled behind them as her shoulders began to shake.

"And t-then every single one of you will die screaming."

"As difficult as this'll no doubt be for you to believe, Blake, I do believe all life carries a value. And I resent having to play these games with you, but this is how you wanted it. So here we are."

There was almost a flagrancy to the way she was standing there, the neutrality in her tone; as if to show she stood by everything that had happened. That her conscience was clear.

She nodded towards the camera. "I assume that little display was for me, and despite everything I feel obliged to offer you what little catharsis you're going to get out of this entire affair. So. You have thirty seconds."

A hint of ginger hair slowly edged around a hallway corner where she had most certainly not had been close enough to catch a lot of that, followed by the sight of turquoise eyes as wide as dinner plates. The unintentional eavesdropper quickly glanced around, but didn't take a single step further into that prison hallway. Nor did she open her mouth to say a word, because whew boy, all that had just been said? It was really tense and bad and a bit weird when the voice making a lot of those extremely graphic threats came from Blake. Blake. As in the book loving, awkward dancing, dog-fearing believer in equality and justice and peace. Even after all the time, she wasn't used to how wrong this world was compared to the normal one. Probably would never be 100% used to it, but whatever. The time wasn't yet right to step in and ask how Yang was doing.

Slowly Nora's head slid back behind the corner until only her eyes, forehead and part of her hair could be seen poking around the corner, curiously observing to see how this played out.​

 

[MidwayLives]

The woman known as Tiger was dedicated to the cause.

It wasn't as though she had much else going for her if she was honest with herself(she always was.)

Leading a life at the whim of others with a not so impressive semblance. Even so, she still took pride in what she did.

Having passed out due to massively overexerting herself-in combination with Valkyrie's enhanced blows-the faunus was left in the crater her body had made in the floor. Her eyes closed and a fist imprint on the side of her face. Her body looked absolutely revolting with blood seeping down her limbs/torso due to blood vessels that'd popped or'd been torn as a result of both the damage she'd taken and her body struggling and failing to cope with 110%. Bones had definitely been broken and blood pooling in certain spots under the skin meant bruises abound. It was safe to say that there wasn't much going on in her head at the moment.

Or at least not until this happened.

During her titanic battle with the diminutive warrior, Tiger had left a path of destruction in her wake. As part of the wall she'd smashed through continued to crumble, a sizeable chunk fell and broke into pieces upon impact with her forehead. Her head inched slightly from side to side and her lips pursed. Her blood-red eyes slowly fluttered open and she found as her vision cleared: operatives sent to take her in standing over her. The faunus briefly glanced over to her right arm. It was bent in seven ways you never wanted your arm to bend, at all, at any point in your life. She looked back up at her soon to be captors.

She sighed.
​

She didn't shoot up in surprise when the new prisoners started getting hauled in. Wowee, prisoners? in my prison? Stop. But she did glance to the side, and one eyebrow raised when she saw the absolute units that were Tiger and Bear being dragged in by three guards each.

Tiger said nothing and showed no signs of resistance as she was lead by her guards.

Of course, given the state she was in despite emergency medical treatment, it was hard to get any kind of read on what the faunus was feeling.

She was lead into her cell and stepped back from the door as her guards exited.

She gazed around her new surroundings and sat down on the floor.



Her face and what could be seen of her upper torso was completely hidden away by bandages.

Still, nothing was said.
​

"SHUT UP!"

Yang actually jolted back from the bars as Blake's voice came out a slurred, bestial howl as she slammed herself against the door to her own cell, then again with a far more wordless scream. She beat her first against the bars, pulled against them, smashed her forehead off of them, and screamed all the way through, scars new and old bloodying as she ripped them open against the metal of her cell.

It... Yang knew this wasn't her Blake, but the sight was harrowing, horrible. and she tried to loudly tell this Blake to stop.

It didn't come out very loud, and Blake didn't stop.

Tiger glanced idly in the direction of the noise.



The noises and the feelings ebbing off the Hand weren't strangers to Tiger.

But ever since joining the cause, she'd learned to put such feelings behind her.

...For other's sake if not her own.
​

"I'm not going to die in here."

"She's right."

Tiger finally spoke up, her voice sounding hoarse and ragged even after the treatmeent she'd been given. Pushing past her semblance's limits without proper training to adjust her body for such situations had really taken it's toll.
​

Winter was staring in wide-eyed surprise at the Schnee who it, in fact, was, and who had swept in from the adjacent hall in time to catch the tail end of that exchange. She stood with her back to Yang and Winter's cell, paying them no mind, but that didn't make it any less obvious; Weiss Schnee, patronizing as the first time she fired someone, stood barely an arm's span away from Blake's cage, eyes a matched set of blue rather than the harshly clashing pair that had glared her into unconsciousness earlier. Myrtenaster's gleaming pommel still hung from her hip, blade already having been polished so immaculately it was hard to imagine it as anything more than ceremonial, hard to imagine it stained with blood.

Maybe not so hard to imagine for Blake, though.

"As difficult as this'll no doubt be for you to believe, Blake, I do believe all life carries a value. And I resent having to play these games with you, but this is how you wanted it. So here we are."

There was almost a flagrancy to the way she was standing there, the neutrality in her tone; as if to show she stood by everything that had happened. That her conscience was clear.

She nodded towards the camera. "I assume that little display was for me, and despite everything I feel obliged to offer you what little catharsis you're going to get out of this entire affair. So. You have thirty seconds."

Tiger became quiet once again.

Only this time her attention was focused fully on the direction of Schnee's voice.

The woman they'd come to kill.​

 

[MidwayLives]

Ruby's feelings for Yang...were complicated.

One might even say they were 'unhealthy' feelings...

But the one from the other world never doubted or hated her. She was lovely in every sense of the word. From her beautiful face and her arm, metallic with a glistening sheen just like Ruby's own. Making a heavy contrast from the abomination that had infested her own sister's arm. Being that she felt this way however, Ruby knew it wasn't right in the depths of her heart. That this world's Yang wouldn't understand her feelings if she ever admitted them. Whether the Masque's Yang continued to deny her what she wished: Ruby didn't know whether it was fully out of hatred or maybe she had feelings of her own.

The latter was probably Ruby's self adimittely fragile psyche trying to cope with her incestous feelings.

Making her way down to the cells, she paused-
​

he time wasn't yet right to step in and ask how Yang was doing.

Slowly Nora's head slid back behind the corner until only her eyes, forehead and part of her hair could be seen poking around the corner, curiously observing to see how this played out.

Nora felt a presence peeking over her shoulder.

"Hey." ​

 

[MyrtenRose]

Nora felt a presence peeking over her shoulder.

"Hey."

Slooooooooooooooooooooowly her head turned to glance back over that way. She had definitely not been so focused on what was going on in front of her that she hadn't noticed Ruby until the girl spoke, and she had most assuredly not jumped up a bit in sheer surprise from that. "...........hi."​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

"No it for sure is not!" Ruby agreed after being flipped like an omelet, nigh-immediately grabbing on to her super jet-boosting friend. The wind as they went along just blew through her hair and across her face similarly to whenever she used her semblance. All she could do was hold on and listen as Penny addressed the place at large, and though she could not see Penny's eyes narrow, she more than felt that mood when Penny spoke up. That was putting it mildly, yeah. That Cinder manipulated so much, purposefully arranged it so that an emotionally conflicted Pyrrha got pushed into accidentally killing Penny. One of the kindest(and strangest) people she'd ever met, cut into pieces all just to make a statement. That was unbelievably cruel. And then Pyrrha herself...Ruby's speed only allowed her to get there in time to watch Pyrrha die in front of her eyes. Had tried to do the same to Weiss, too.

Though she would never ever ever thank her for it, that Cinder was a significant impetus in learning to use her gift, descended from the gods. To protect life, to the best of her ability. "You're...not the only one with those kinds of feelings." Ruby replied softly. "Do the same for me if I act that way."

When the pair made it out, it was far more quiet outside than it had been when Ruby had run in, and the first thing either of them spotted among the snowy landscape was the smaller and younger of the maidens in the distance, falling downwards through the sky in what was most definitely not a controlled descent.​

Penny started to turn her heads towards Ruby with a grateful smile, but her eyes immediately snapped back forwards as her sensors gave her a projectile warning, only to see a terminal velocity best friend instead. "CINDER! Hold on Ruby!"

Out in the open air, she stopped holding back, and her thrusters flared to top speed as she rocketed to try and catch Cinder in her arms before she crashed to the ground.

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

"So when you're doing it an eye for an eye is 'the only way'; when I do it, it's cruelty. I'm glad we can have perspective on these things."

That wasn't Winter's voice.

View attachment 803358

Winter was staring in wide-eyed surprise at the Schnee who it, in fact, was, and who had swept in from the adjacent hall in time to catch the tail end of that exchange. She stood with her back to Yang and Winter's cell, paying them no mind, but that didn't make it any less obvious; Weiss Schnee, patronizing as the first time she fired someone, stood barely an arm's span away from Blake's cage, eyes a matched set of blue rather than the harshly clashing pair that had glared her into unconsciousness earlier. Myrtenaster's gleaming pommel still hung from her hip, blade already having been polished so immaculately it was hard to imagine it as anything more than ceremonial, hard to imagine it stained with blood.

Maybe not so hard to imagine for Blake, though.

"As difficult as this'll no doubt be for you to believe, Blake, I do believe all life carries a value. And I resent having to play these games with you, but this is how you wanted it. So here we are."

There was almost a flagrancy to the way she was standing there, the neutrality in her tone; as if to show she stood by everything that had happened. That her conscience was clear.

She nodded towards the camera. "I assume that little display was for me, and despite everything I feel obliged to offer you what little catharsis you're going to get out of this entire affair. So. You have thirty seconds."

​

The shake in Blake’s shoulders stopped as Weiss’ voice cut through the the air, though the bit of the faunus’ eyes that were visible as she tilted her head up slightly to catch Weiss’ gaze still had tears freely flowing from them.

“Kill me.”

They were not words spoken with despair. They were raw, hoarse, and pained, and barely a whisper but the inferno that Winter felt basting off of Blake’s earlier words was still rumbling beneath those eyes, a hot and messy bile stewing around the faunus’ heart that gave her words a razor edge despite the rest.

“I hate you. Always have. But this was never personal Schnee. If I wanted to achieve the world that I, that she, dreamed of, you had to die.”

She slowly started to rise to her feet. Between the ruined state of her clothing and the blood still streaming down her face, and how little extraneous movement was left in her actions now that her prey was in front of her, she looked more like an unbreathing revenant than a shattered woman.

“But not anymore. You hurt her, Weiss. You didn’t just fight her. Didn’t even give her a warrior’s death. You tortured her. With the very human who burnt your name on her face.” she snarled, though her volume never raised. She reached the bars and gripped them with both hands as she pushed herself against them.

“So you need to kill me. If you have a shred of self preservation, you’ll run that sword through these bars right now. I’m not proud of everything that I’ve done, but all of it was necessary. Part of a fight worth fighting, for people who deserved it. What I’m going to do to you?”

The next words were so quiet that even Weiss had to strain to hear them from right next to her, the hollow tone fighting to be both despaired plea and righteous ultimatum at once

“Not even she would want me to do that. I will tear you down to the bone and marrow, to the brink of death a hundred times. I’ll become a monster not even Ozpin could condone. And you’ll deserve every second of it. So don't let it get that far”

 

[Gus Gungus]

The shake in Blake’s shoulders stopped as Weiss’ voice cut through the the air, though the bit of the faunus’ eyes that were visible as she tilted her head up slightly to catch Weiss’ gaze still had tears freely flowing from them.

“Kill me.”

They were not words spoken with despair. They were raw, hoarse, and pained, and barely a whisper but the inferno that Winter felt basting off of Blake’s earlier words was still rumbling beneath those eyes, a hot and messy bile stewing around the faunus’ heart that gave her words a razor edge despite the rest.

“I hate you. Always have. But this was never personal Schnee. If I wanted to achieve the world that I, that she, dreamed of, you had to die.”

She slowly started to rise to her feet. Between the ruined state of her clothing and the blood still streaming down her face, and how little extraneous movement was left in her actions now that her prey was in front of her, she looked more like an unbreathing revenant than a shattered woman.

“But not anymore. You hurt her, Weiss. You didn’t just fight her. Didn’t even give her a warrior’s death. You tortured her. With the very human who burnt your name on her face.” she snarled, though her volume never raised. She reached the bars and gripped them with both hands as she pushed herself against them.

“So you need to kill me. If you have a shred of self preservation, you’ll run that sword through these bars right now. I’m not proud of everything that I’ve done, but all of it was necessary. Part of a fight worth fighting, for people who deserved it. What I’m going to do to you?”

The next words were so quiet that even Weiss had to strain to hear them from right next to her, the hollow tone fighting to be both despaired plea and righteous ultimatum at once

“Not even she would want me to do that. I will tear you down to the bone and marrow, to the brink of death a hundred times. I’ll become a monster not even Ozpin could condone. And you’ll deserve every second of it. So don't let it get that far”

"And you ignored me."

There was something chilling about how quickly Weiss answered that. How calm and unflinching the eyes that met her prisoner's anguished loathing were, how thick the arctic winds that buffeted Blake's inferno and scattered it amid her unflappable aura like ash after a volcano. The maiden, in contrast to the faunus's disheveled state, was already immaculate in presentation; hair freshly braided, dress newly pressed, the night's bloodletting no more than an echo in her jetstream.

Her stare was hard as she went on.

"The trap clamped shut and you chose to thrash and struggle. I came with words and you batted them all away. The hatred you interpreted as a cause, that single-minded desire to take something away from me, made you blind and deaf until you were powerless to stop me from taking one of few things left in your life of any actual significance to you. So that feeling you're experiencing? The pain in your chest so terrible you want to die? The feeling that somehow, somewhere along the way, if you had done something even slightly differently she might still be alive? You learn to live with that. And know that it is all true."

She sniffed, as if discussing something mildly unsavory.

"Congratulations, by the by. You finally have a valid reason to hate me. Shut up, Yang," she added in a dismissive drawl to the opposite cell as she turned and strode from the room, unwilling to even spare it a glance. Her eyes were momentarily visible, though.

They were the coldest they had ever been.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

Penny started to turn her heads towards Ruby with a grateful smile, but her eyes immediately snapped back forwards as her sensors gave her a projectile warning, only to see a terminal velocity best friend instead. "CINDER! Hold on Ruby!"

Out in the open air, she stopped holding back, and her thrusters flared to top speed as she rocketed to try and catch Cinder in her arms before she crashed to the ground.

"Holding!" Ruby exclaimed, grip tightening right before the flight speed shot up.


The damage her older counterpart had managed to inflict was no joke, the teenager left unconscious from it all as she plummeted like a comet. But it was only a temporary condition, for she still had aura left, and more importantly, allies. Allies that came shooting in at rocket speeds, and the sudden jarring sensation of Penny grabbing hold jolted the young maiden back to consciousness. Her eye frantically glanced around, a worried gasp hissing out of her mouth as she feared what was going on. But when her hazy vision cleared enough to make out the friendly shape of her favorite ginger robot, the concern just melted away. A small, thankful smile formed in its place.

"Hey Penny. Fancy seeing you here." She started to snicker, but the act shifted into a wince halfway through. "Gahhh....she's..she's stronger than I thought. I managed to hold on for a bit, but..." Well, the fact that she'd been about to slam into the icy ground below was indication enough. Cinder shook her head. "Whatever. Glad to see you."

Her counterpart was decidedly the opposite of glad, eye narrowing as her gaze followed the trio shooting through the cold sky.

Ironwood's little wind-up toy and...her. The partial grimm hybrid's teeth gritted together in disgust and anger at the mere sight of all of them. But no matter! I will not be denied! The flames shooting out of her heels intensified greatly and she surged towards them at incredible speed herself. A hand raised before she got too close, though, and like she had done to Raven at the start of their conflict, and how Raven had paid her back at the end of it, Ruby Rose's body began to frost over with ice. It went even quicker, thanks in part to the natural cold of Atlas as well as how much stronger she was now. Almost before she knew it, the tightly holding on Ruby was frozen from head to toe, now silent and immobile. Believing the most obvious and damaging threat contained, Cinder's speed increased even more as she pursued across the sky. A fireball lit up in her human hand, and her grimm appendage lashed out, the arm lengthening to ridiculous and disgusting levels as it grabbed hold of Penny around the ankle and violently pulled, aimed to separate the three from each other, the fireball launched in the following second to slam into her naïve, misguided younger self.



"I HAVE NOT. COME THIS FAR. TO BE STOPPED. BY A TOY AND A CHILD!" Rage flared in her burning golden eye, gusts of wind circling around her body and intensifying with each harshly yelled word. The skies darkened and from within there she brought down the thunderstorm, several lightning bolts briefly illuminating the area as they shot forth. For the most part, she preferred to use fire alone...but in this case, she wouldn't hold anything back.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

The shake in Blake’s shoulders stopped as Weiss’ voice cut through the the air, though the bit of the faunus’ eyes that were visible as she tilted her head up slightly to catch Weiss’ gaze still had tears freely flowing from them.

“Kill me.”

They were not words spoken with despair. They were raw, hoarse, and pained, and barely a whisper but the inferno that Winter felt basting off of Blake’s earlier words was still rumbling beneath those eyes, a hot and messy bile stewing around the faunus’ heart that gave her words a razor edge despite the rest.

“I hate you. Always have. But this was never personal Schnee. If I wanted to achieve the world that I, that she, dreamed of, you had to die.”

She slowly started to rise to her feet. Between the ruined state of her clothing and the blood still streaming down her face, and how little extraneous movement was left in her actions now that her prey was in front of her, she looked more like an unbreathing revenant than a shattered woman.

“But not anymore. You hurt her, Weiss. You didn’t just fight her. Didn’t even give her a warrior’s death. You tortured her. With the very human who burnt your name on her face.” she snarled, though her volume never raised. She reached the bars and gripped them with both hands as she pushed herself against them.

“So you need to kill me. If you have a shred of self preservation, you’ll run that sword through these bars right now. I’m not proud of everything that I’ve done, but all of it was necessary. Part of a fight worth fighting, for people who deserved it. What I’m going to do to you?”

The next words were so quiet that even Weiss had to strain to hear them from right next to her, the hollow tone fighting to be both despaired plea and righteous ultimatum at once

“Not even she would want me to do that. I will tear you down to the bone and marrow, to the brink of death a hundred times. I’ll become a monster not even Ozpin could condone. And you’ll deserve every second of it. So don't let it get that far”

"And you ignored me."

There was something chilling about how quickly Weiss answered that. How calm and unflinching the eyes that met her prisoner's anguished loathing were, how thick the arctic winds that buffeted Blake's inferno and scattered it amid her unflappable aura like ash after a volcano. The maiden, in contrast to the faunus's disheveled state, was already immaculate in presentation; hair freshly braided, dress newly pressed, the night's bloodletting no more than an echo in her jetstream.

Her stare was hard as she went on.

"The trap clamped shut and you chose to thrash and struggle. I came with words and you batted them all away. So that feeling you're experiencing? The pain in your chest so terrible you want to die? The feeling that somehow, somewhere along the way, if you had done something even slightly differently she might still be alive? You learn to live with that. And know that it is all true."

She sniffed, as if discussing something mildly unsavory.

"Congratulations, by the by. You finally have a valid reason to hate me. Shut up, Yang," she added in a dismissive drawl to the opposite cell as she turned and strode from the room, unwilling to even spare it a glance. Her eyes were momentarily visible, though.

They were the coldest they had ever been.​

 

[MidwayLives]

Slooooooooooooooooooooowly her head turned to glance back over that way. She had definitely not been so focused on what was going on in front of her that she hadn't noticed Ruby until the girl spoke, and she had most assuredly not jumped up a bit in sheer surprise from that. "...........hi."

"....So....what are you here for...?"
​

“Kill me.”

They were not words spoken with despair. They were raw, hoarse, and pained, and barely a whisper but the inferno that Winter felt basting off of Blake’s earlier words was still rumbling beneath those eyes, a hot and messy bile stewing around the faunus’ heart that gave her words a razor edge despite the rest.

“I hate you. Always have. But this was never personal Schnee. If I wanted to achieve the world that I, that she, dreamed of, you had to die.”

She slowly started to rise to her feet. Between the ruined state of her clothing and the blood still streaming down her face, and how little extraneous movement was left in her actions now that her prey was in front of her, she looked more like an unbreathing revenant than a shattered woman.

“But not anymore. You hurt her, Weiss. You didn’t just fight her. Didn’t even give her a warrior’s death. You tortured her. With the very human who burnt your name on her face.” she snarled, though her volume never raised. She reached the bars and gripped them with both hands as she pushed herself against them.

“So you need to kill me. If you have a shred of self preservation, you’ll run that sword through these bars right now. I’m not proud of everything that I’ve done, but all of it was necessary. Part of a fight worth fighting, for people who deserved it. What I’m going to do to you?”

The next words were so quiet that even Weiss had to strain to hear them from right next to her, the hollow tone fighting to be both despaired plea and righteous ultimatum at once

“Not even she would want me to do that. I will tear you down to the bone and marrow, to the brink of death a hundred times. I’ll become a monster not even Ozpin could condone. And you’ll deserve every second of it. So don't let it get that far”

Ruby could relate to a degree.

There were things she was willing to die for.

....But to ask-no-tell someone to kill her?

The thought would never have crossed her mind.

Hey eyes briefly scanned down to the 'list' of scars-old and new-that marked her pale torso.

In a way to her, that was even scarier.
​

"Congratulations, by the by. You finally have a valid reason to hate me. Shut up, Yang," she added in a dismissive drawl to the opposite cell as she turned and strode from the room, unwilling to even spare it a glance. Her eyes were momentarily visible, though.

They were the coldest they had ever been.

"..."

Unlike Nora's horrified/shocked expression, Ruby seemed more annoyed at Weiss's dismissal of Blake's request to die.

Waiting until the councilwoman and indisputably the strongest person here was out of the room, Ruby started to stride forward. The soles of her boots pressing against the floor and her artifical fingers clicking and clacking as she went. All up until she was standing before the cell that housed her former colleague and current enemy. Her silver eyes the opposite of Weiss's which were so cold enough as to freeze one's heart, Ruby's were full of an anger that came from a deep place within her. One that Blake's current state reminded her all too much of.

"Blake."

Kneeling down so she was face level with the prisoner, Ruby reached out to lightly press the palm of her prosthetic against the bars.



"I...Only really met Eve once. She captured me after I'd blown up my prosthetic and held me captive. Seconds turned into minutes, minutes into hours, hours into days. I lashed out like a feral animal. Because...I guess in a way I'm no better than one. I told Eve that she was better than that. That she wasn't just a wild animal. But for her to be...gone." Judging by the lack of her anywhere in the cells and Weiss's words, obviously. "That you'd be asking Weiss Schnee of all people to bring an end to your life. It's...kinda hard to believe. But Weiss has a way of showing she's people's better." The briefest of looks was given to her arm, a shine glistening off the metal that made up the limb. It was immensely useful and had kept Ruby safe(well, safe-ish given how she fought)but it'd forever be a reminder of how Ruby had come to Weiss when she had nobody else, when the councilwoman was the only one who COULD help her...

"You won't die here. You're too smart for that. Too determined for that. I always thought that, y'know? Even when you thought I was...heh..." Ruby's eyes narrowed slightly. "Crazy. I don't have a doubt in my mind that you'll figure some way out of here. But with that kind of weight on your shoulders...." Ruby stood up straight and pulled her hand back.

"...Would you want to?"

Ruby's prosthetic fingers clicked as she balled the hand up into a fist.

Weiss preferred to deny Blake what she demanded/pleaded. Ruby wasn't as unwilling.

Maybe it was the perceived camaraderie she'd had of her and Blake and Weiss and...her Yang in her deluded mind. Or maybe it was because she had her own weight to carry: whether she deserved to stand among people like Weiss who didn't have to debate about lowering themselves to primal instincts to screeching and howling as if one lacked any sophistication at all. Or maybe...a part of her was just angry to see Blake like this.

"...Think about it!" Clasping her hands together, Ruby slowly turned towards the person she'd actually come here to see. The one who could cheer her up no matter what.



"Yang!~"
​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"....So....what are you here for...?"

"...To check up on someone." ​

Clasping her hands together, Ruby slowly turned towards the person she'd actually come here to see. The one who could cheer her up no matter what.

"Yang!~"

That being the very someone. Ruby got straight up elbowed in the cheek, the strong blow knocking the scarlet speedster off her feet and out of sight from within the cell Nora's face popped into view on the side, looking in towards the occupants of the place. There was no smile on her face, cause yeah, but her eyes still carried the feeling that she wanted to. "Yeah, hey Yang!" She greeted in turn. "Are...are you..." There was a brief serious and concerned glance over her shoulder, not looking at where Ruby stood but beyond. "...Are you okay? Or feeling less hurt. From the bomb I mean."​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"...Think about it!" Clasping her hands together, Ruby slowly turned towards the person she'd actually come here to see. The one who could cheer her up no matter what.

"Yang!~"

"Ruby."

Whatever the erstwhile Masque's intentions in visiting the holding cells were, apparently it would have to wait. Weiss paid no further attention to either of the prisoners she'd addressed regardless of whether they had anything further to add or if they still existed, and the firm stare Winter was affixing her with barely garnered so much as the turn of the head and roll of the eyes it did. Ruby may have picked up on the fact that the councilwoman hadn't spared a glance in her direction, either; just swept right past her like she was an afterthought, if that.

It seemed she had still expected the other woman to follow her, though, given by the time Ruby finished her spiel to Blake she was standing only a step or two into the hallway, and addressed her in curt tones as cold as the shoulder she seemed to be giving her.

"With me. Now."

She started walking in a brisk stride, of little mind to waste any more of her time down here. Her time was a precious commodity.

It was obvious she didn't expect Ruby to waste it either.​

 

[MidwayLives]

"Ruby."

Whatever the erstwhile Masque's intentions in visiting the holding cells were, apparently it would have to wait. Weiss paid no further attention to either of the prisoners she'd addressed regardless of whether they had anything further to add or if they still existed, and the firm stare Winter was affixing her with barely garnered so much as the turn of the head and roll of the eyes it did. Ruby may have picked up on the fact that the councilwoman hadn't spared a glance in her direction, either; just swept right past her like she was an afterthought, if that.

It seemed she had still expected the other woman to follow her, though, given by the time Ruby finished her spiel to Blake she was standing only a step or two into the hallway, and addressed her in curt tones as cold as the shoulder she seemed to be giving her.

Ruby stepped back from the cells and looked exasperated if nothing else. She knew this was coming. Ever since she’d lost control during that mayhem, she knew that if she lived, she’d hear about it.

“But Weiss, I-“
​

"With me. Now."

She started walking in a brisk stride, of little mind to waste any more of her time down here. Her time was a precious commodity.

It was obvious she didn't expect Ruby to waste it either

“...Coming Weiss.”

Ruby tucked her hands into the pockets of her jeans and slumped her shoulders as she followed in step with the councilwoman.

But despite how annoyed Ruby appeared to be, Nora and a Yang could have noticed she was trembling as she followed Weiss. She wasn’t angry...

She was scared.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"He's not only my best friend but he's a freaking amazing model. Stays super still so I had lottsa practice. Gimme him, I know you've got him Mary."

"Your ability to enthrall people frightens me still."

"Don't suppose you'd consider a release for labor-type deal. I'm down a bouncer and barmaid roundabouts your size." The woman behind the bar answered glumly, habitually wiping a glass that had long since dried with a dishrag. The Ace of Spades' majority owner had looked better, that much readily apparent even from the one prior encounter the siblings had had with her; the framed pictures of Cookie and the barmaid in question sitting above the bar counter offered a possible clue as to why, lit by candles and placed behind a plaque reading IN MEMORIAM.

Regardless of response she didn't seem to be listening, letting out a wistful sigh as she inverted the typical barkeep-patron roles of confessing woes.

"It's showin', too. Business is bad. All the regular lowlifes are layin' low. Feel something brewing. Only people who're ballsy enough to come in for a drink now are the real lunatics. All kinds of freaks I don't recognize."

With that she cast a dark glower down towards the end of the bar, where a hooded figure hunched nursing his fourth bourbon.

The man wasn't a regular, not that anyone would've recognized him if he was. Not for the first time that day, a rugged set of fingers lightly traced the facial reconstruction mask covering a majority of his face like a crescent moon, eerie porcelain white that hid the gruesome patchwork of flesh laying beneath. Cutting edge, Schnee's demented old geriatric said. Supposed to stimulate tissue regeneration.

Old.



So this was what he was reduced to now.

Riding all the way down to the slums just to get a drink in his own fucking kingdom.

Times really were changing. The world was changing. Getting harder to predict. Time was, he could read a Schnee like an open book. Now the book was in another language. All this new-age crap. He thought he'd been working towards a world he could be proud of, that his grandchildren could thrive in. Now...

He supposed he couldn't say the whelp lacked for backbone. That was exactly what he signed up for, after all. A leader with a spine. Someone who could give these kingdoms back the edge they'd let dull over the years. Who could bring their degenerated society back from the brink. Maybe there was still hope for that. The Taurus kill, that was promising.

His kill.

He downed his drink and laughed, a bitter rumble that lived and died in the back of his throat. It drew the attention of the patron a short ways up the bar, who turned and looked his hunched frame up and down before flashing him a gap-toothed leer.



"Somethin' funny, old man?"

"Lots of things."

"Yeah? Well, care to share with the class?" Okay so the last couple incidents hadn't gone his way but he could definitely beat up on this senile old burn victim to get some of his cred back, or his name wasn't Shay D. Mann.

"You ever see a train crash?"

He faltered, getting a bad feeling all of a sudden. "Huh?"

"I'm asking if you've ever seen an Atlesian bullet train full of people go off the tracks, son." His voice was stoic, if disturbingly calm. "I have. Bombing. Eleven passenger cars crumpled like aluminum foil. The two that managed to keep their integrity were set on by the grimm before you could bat an eye, of course. All that fear. No survivors; They peeled the roof off that thing like it was a tin of sardines. Kicker is, I started seeing it all happen before it did, for about a minute or so. One by one, all eighty-three passengers, all knowing their time was up. I just watched."

Shay's bad feeling was getting worse the longer he looked at this guy, but his friends had all quietened down to watch and he couldn't afford to look bad again. He steeled his nerves and stepped further into the old man's field of view, lips pulled downward in a grimace.

"Sounds like you got a pretty sick sense of humor, freak."

"Oh, that isn't the funny part."

"Yeah? Then what?"

The dull thump as the old man's fingers hit the counter very nearly made him jump, but he held his nerve and gaze in favor of glancing down at the stack of lien he was leaving to cover his tab. He pushed back his stool and stood up, having yet to bother returning the younger thug's challenging stare.

"It's a thinker. Let it sink in."

The old man didn't look back, but the crook kept his eyes on the door long after he left it swinging in his wake. Unbeknownst to him, Shay's weren't the sole pair of eyes looking that way in the establishment, nor the most dangerous.

Way back in one of the dingier corners of the room, another figure lazily rose up from a couch with a decent view of the cages, stretched, and sauntered out.

---

Later.

Shay staggered down the misty Mantle streets with a contented wobble in his step, any unpleasant run-ins from over the course of the evening well and truly forgotten. He loved this frickin city! And he loved his name. Shay D. Mann. Heh.

It took a few tries with his key for him to realize the apartment building he was at wasn't his, and a few more tries after that once he staggered over to the right one before he noticed the shadow falling over him; that of a man standing patiently to his rear.

"...Th'fuuuuuuuuck-?"

The stiff palm colliding with his larynx cut him off with a gag and would've outright crushed it had he not been an aura-unlocked kinda criminal. Let it never be said that even inebriated Shay D. Mann wasn't a small-time crook to be trifled with, and with his adrenaline spiking he managed to snatch his gun out of his waistband and level it at his attacker just in time to fire off a round-

-Into his own eye, drawing a shrill howl and dangerous flickering of his aura as his assailant calmly batted the pistol off into the darkness from where it had been bent backwards along with the wrist. A knee slammed into his gut before he could even begin to catch his breath, and the hand that closed around his face and lifted him off his feet pinned him against the door effortlessly, slamming him once, twice, three times.

"S-stop-"

Even drunk, panicked and an idiot, he knew it before he felt it. Before he even felt the knife being rammed against his midriff, again and again, stabbing away the last of his aura in seconds. He was going to die.

His time was up.

"Get it yet, son? You get it yet?"

He wasn't even sure what killed him in the end. Whether it was the knife slipping into his ribs once, twice, three times. The clean swipe the man gave him across the jugular, painting a thin line from ear to ear and bringing forth a red tide.

Or if his heart simply stopped beating with fright the moment he finally managed to turn his head and catch a glimpse of the old man's eyes, one red and glowing, the other bloodshot and flared wide. The face now free of its mask, skin clotted and tattered, contorted in pure rage.

The face of wrath.

When it was done, he let the thug's kicking, twitching body slump down against the doorframe lifelessly, crimson pool already starting to spread outwards as he cleaned the knife off with a rag. The night air in Mantle was bitterly, frigidly cold, but it did nothing stop his blood from boiling.

"Wowsers! Between chuckles here and the faunus you must really have a kink for beating up on the weak and helpless, huh?"

He whirled, the knife whipped directly for the source of the voice as natural a reflex to him as breathing.

The woman sitting there had the quietest mind he had ever heard. That wasn't a statement to write off; in his years Carnelian had observed all kinds of challengers and their informed efforts at circumventing his semblance, to varying degrees of success. This was different. He reached out to probe her and where there should've been thoughts, feelings, reactions, there was just... a void. Like tuning a television to static. Red eyes and short-cropped blonde hair framed a face that had pissed him off the moment he laid eyes on the other one, and he could tell in a heartbeat this one was even worse.

She was kicking her feet over the railing she was perched on like a kid on a swing, slowly lowering the knife from where she'd caught it barely a centimeter from her eye.

"That's okay, me too. Woof! Daddy put some spin on that thing." She mimed an exaggerated wince as she let the blade clatter to the ground, shaking out her wrist a few times and blowing on her fingers in a manner far too sensual to be accidental.

He wasn't fazed, barely sparing her more than a glance as he turned and calmly stepped around the growing pool of blood, fresh knife already in hand. "Bad move, missy. Gonna kill you now."

"HooooOOOoooly shit, your faaaaaaace!" The blonde screeched the moment he did, jabbing an incredulous finger his way and throwing her head back with a belly laugh that went on and on. "I mean, I heard all about what happened, obviously. Fuck me, though, you're ugly. She did a way worse number on yours than you did on hers, that's just too perfect, haha-"

She was choked off with surprise as the general snatched her faster than anticipated, spinning with the momentum of a helicopter blade and driving the so-called 'Dragon' into the wall so hard it left a roughly human-shaped dent. She didn't seem too put out by it, rolling her eyes and shifting in his grip without much resistance.

"Hey man, it is what it is. Might as well have a sense of *hnk* humor about it, jeez. She got—Hahaha—my arm, come to think of it-"

She used her replacement to lightly caress the hand on her throat, relishing the way it twitched and shuddered with a pitched giggle.

"Y'know, I—hck—I'm kinda into this too."

"Whatever floats your boat. Die."

By now her legs were kicking a bit of their own volition, her spluttering more pronounced and desperate as her face started turning blue. They really weren't kidding about this guy. "H-h-h-haaaaave... it your way... hhhh... hhhhh..."

Her last attempt at a laugh came out as nothing more than a rattling wheeze, though as her own eyes rolled back into her head and closed she couldn't help but smile at the satisfaction in his.

Then they both flared open wide, a burning, dangerous red, and her hand bit onto his grip around her neck with force many times that of her meek, submissive struggling from before.



"I can play rough too."​

 

[Gus Gungus]

“...Coming Weiss.”

Ruby tucked her hands into the pockets of her jeans and slumped her shoulders as she followed in step with the councilwoman.

But despite how annoyed Ruby appeared to be, Nora and a Yang could have noticed she was trembling as she followed Weiss. She wasn’t angry...

She was scared.

There came nothing else from the maiden for a time, just the steady click of her heels up the steel hallway at a pace so rapid Ruby had to actively strive to keep up with it. She continued to hold her silence right up until they were both side by side in the elevator, pushing the button for the tower's topmost floor and holding a level stare on the sleek Atlesian doorways as they slid shut.

"Your clearance for this level is revoked. If I or any of my personnel catch you loitering near any of the prison cells again then you're going to be in one. Is that clear?"

She still wasn't looking at Ruby, but her tone communicated volumes in terms of authoritativeness and icy displeasure as her eyes narrowed a bit in their gaze.​

 

[MidwayLives]

Your clearance for this level is revoked. If I or any of my personnel catch you loitering near any of the prison cells again then you're going to be in one. Is that clear?"

She still wasn't looking at Ruby, but her tone communicated volumes in terms of authoritativeness and icy displeasure as her eyes narrowed a bit in their gaze.

Ruby’s own eyes narrowed as she looked off to the side.

“Crystal.”

She knew better than to disobey.
​

 

[Gus Gungus]

Ruby’s own eyes narrowed as she looked off to the side.

“Crystal.”

She knew better than to disobey.

The reticence in the silver-eyed warrior's tone did not go unnoticed, and it was becoming like a contest of who could narrow their eyes the furthest as the elevator slowly ascended.

"If you have something to add, then say it. I know you may be used to a power structure where speaking out of turn results in summary disciplining, but it might surprise you to learn that's not how democracy works. YOUR conduct, on the other hand? That more than warrants some form of punishment."

She shook her head, a mild note of incredulity creeping into her tone.

"I took a chance on you, Ruby. I went out of my way for you. Do you realize that every organized system of laws calls for you to face life in prison for the things you've done? I refrained from taking that step because I thought there was a better way to reach you. To make you better."

Her huff seemed genuine in its melancholy, a slow, disappointed exhale through the nostrils. She closed her eyes.



"That... may have been a mistake. You've been nothing but a selfish disappointment."​

 

[MidwayLives]

The reticence in the silver-eyed warrior's tone did not go unnoticed, and it was becoming like a contest of who could narrow their eyes the furthest as the elevator slowly ascended.

"If you have something to add, then say it. I know you may be used to a power structure where speaking out of turn results in summary disciplining, but it might surprise you to learn that's not how democracy works. YOUR conduct, on the other hand? That more than warrants some form of punishment."

Ruby said nothing but the look on her face seemed to falter.

She hated disappointing Weiss. In her heart of hearts, it's how she felt.

Right?

"Get a load of this, huh?? What gives her the right to punish us?"

Everything seemed to freeze for Ruby, as though she were in a world all her own. Weiss was still, her back to Ruby, and stepping out from infront of her was a horrifying sight. The grinning visage of the bloodstained Red Masque, a crimson streak running down the Grimm inspired mask covering her face apart from the glowing silver eyes. Her attire was akin to either Raven and the blood stains made it clear that this was how Ruby had seen herself at one point: how she'd BEEN.

"Hm? Something I said, you look like you've seen a ghost.."

Reaching up and removing the mask, it was dropped to the floor without a care in the world.





" 'Course we both know that's not true, is it, Ruby?"

Ruby still didn't respond. The 'other her' threw up her hands. "That's fine! No need to talk, really. I can do that for the both of us. You see...I did some thinking. Well, the both of us did. We're not gonna be punished. That's the size of it!" Finally having found her voice, Ruby glowered. "I messed up. I betrayed everything that Weiss had instilled in me. I'm still no better than the girl from the woods!" The grin on her doppleganger's face finally seemed to crack even if only slightly.

"...Let's get something straight while we're both here, huh?"

Reaching out and grabbing Ruby on either shoulder, she screamed.

"You don't NEED Schnee OR OZPIN!!! WE DON'T NEED THEM! This world! Everything in it is ours! Our desires can run free! No more shackles put on us to 'redeem' ourselves lest we be thrown to the figurative wolves who'd see us locked up and forgotten about. We both know it to be true, Ruby. Schnee can tell us up and down about what she saw-sees in us-but if it gave her any kind of advantage, she'd throw us away. Just like Ozpin did. We're not gonna be anybody's errand boy or their charity case! We'll strike out on our own! The world is our oyster! You can't deny that anymore than you can deny how much of an animal you were during that fight! Hell, you were more of a beast than that faunus and that thing had fur! We weren't meant to stand among people like Schnee or be sycophants for monsters like Ozpin. We'll be the monster that the world's made us out to be! We'll live our life how WE want-"

"STOP!"

The other paused but the grin didn't fade.

"I....I...I don't know what I want! I was a monster growing up and I'll always be one if I don't do something! I love the feeling of the wind through my hair, blood against my body, the fresh smell of a freshly decomposing corpse with flies buzzing abound the carrion. ....But that's the life of a wild animal, a predator who's only goals are to kill and survive to see the next day. Not a human being and that's what Weiss saw me as: a girl who could improve." Balling her hands up into her sides, Ruby grit her teeth. "You keep saying 'us' 'we' but WHO ARE YOU!?"

The other paused and for a moment or two, the silence was deafening.

"....Pfft! Hahahahaha!"

The other her hunched over slightly and the reverberation in her voice increased little by little. "....I would have thought it'd been crystal clear but I guess denial's a hard thing to overcome, huh? Why it's not a hard thing to answer, Ruby! I'm you and you're me!~ Don't you remember when our Yang listened to us? When that little bitch would do whatever we said if we demanded it of her? Don't you miss those days? Before Schnee, before Ozpin, we were the 'Red Masque!' We didn't NEED anybody telling us what to do or how to act! When we'd kill anyone who threatened us? I've always been you, Ruby. You've just been trying to pretend I never existed but no matter how much we pretty ourselves up, how much we look in the mirror and lie to ourselves day in and day out. If you were to just peel back the layers..." Digging the fingers of her right hand into the side of her face, the 'other Ruby' pulled back the skin, a glow coming from the eyesocket.



"It's still you.~"

The laughter resumed and Ruby could feel herself hyperventilating. She was on the verge of a panic attack. This couldn't be happening. She couldn't let this side of her win. She couldn't-
​

Her huff seemed genuine in its melancholy, a slow, disappointed exhale through the nostrils. She closed her eyes.

"That... may have been a mistake. You've been nothing but a selfish disappointment."

"...No, you're right."

Ruby's face was pale and it was though she'd broken into a cold sweat despite as far as Weiss knew, the girl hadn't done more than keep in stride behind the councilwoman the entire time.

"...I disappointed you...and myself."

It'd seemed as though the weight of what she'd done and how it'd affected Weiss had been powerful enough to stir Ruby.

.....But the fear of what lay within her would not be so easily dissuaded.​

 

[MidwayLives]

Meanwhile, as Weiss and Ruby had made their exit, a guard had made their entrance.

Standing tall above the diminutive Valkyrie, the silence was palpable.

*beep!*

Visiting hours were officially over.

Thus the guard promptly gestured for Nora to shoo.

​

 

[MyrtenRose]

Meanwhile, as Weiss and Ruby had made their exit, a guard had made their entrance.

Standing tall above the diminutive Valkyrie, the silence was palpable.

*beep!*

Visiting hours were officially over.

Thus the guard promptly gestured for Nora to shoo.

​

She didn't.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"...No, you're right."

Ruby's face was pale and it was though she'd broken into a cold sweat despite as far as Weiss knew, the girl hadn't done more than keep in stride behind the councilwoman the entire time.

"...I disappointed you...and myself."

It'd seemed as though the weight of what she'd done and how it'd affected Weiss had been powerful enough to stir Ruby.

.....But the fear of what lay within her would not be so easily dissuaded.

"I KNOW I'm right."

The withering stare that followed suggested Weiss initially planned to add more, but as she took note of Ruby's pale and shaken disposition the stare just became a stare. She slowly turned away after a few moments to ride out the rest of the elevator journey in silence.

When they reached the office, she strode out without waiting for the doors to open all the way and took her seat at the desk, continuing to subject Ruby to the silent treatment. She wordlessly pulled up a few hardlight screens and swiped through the interface, running down a list of uniformly labeled video files and selecting one that offered up some sharpened CCTV footage.

Ruby recognized the sleek metallic corridors instantly. Jabberwock's underground bunker, the site of the bloodbath that had occurred just a short time ago yet somehow felt like years. An even worse feeling of familiarity settled over her stomach as a woman with blonde locks and red eyes came strolling around the corner, nonchalantly dragging her better-natured counterpart by her hair, and as she saw Yang stop in her tracks at the sight of Ruby's own figure appearing at the opposite end of the hallway she realized she was watching the scene that had played out between the two of them that night, minus audio.

"HeeeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeey, sis!" She practically sang, almost coughing and sputtering as her voice hit a note just an octave too high for a chronic smoker and all-around drug addict's vocal chords to sustain. She concealed it well enough, though, and dropped her lamer self unceremoniously to instead prop that hand on her hip with a chatty demeanor. "So you're in this crazy jam too, huh? Figures. Would it have killed you to show up a hot 20 minutes ago, though? We totally coulda partnered up! Can you believe that out of all these different crazies the one I ended up stuck with is the dumpster fire? Hahaha! What FUN!"

That last ring of cheer was drenched in sarcasm to imply she found it anything but, and she subtly repositioned her boot on the back of the fallen Yang's crown to grind her face further into the tiles.

"She got all freaky on these coupla creeps I ran into. You prolly saw. Wouldn't chill the heck out, so I had to get creative. She's almost kinda cute like that, dontcha think? Definitely a big improvement on attitude! I guess you could say she's, um, Iiiiiiiiiiii... showed her the ropes? Haha, 'cause, get it? Cuz I tied her up."

Yeah. That was probably the kind of dumb shit she'd say to get a laugh if she were a complete little bitch.

Ah.

Maybe it was the universe giving her a right kick in the ass.

Or maybe the feeling that ungodly 'thing' had given her was foreshadowing.


Seeing Yang restrained like that....

It drudged up feelings in Ruby that she couldn't-wouldn't vocalize.

Wasn't really the time nor place.

More so when this was a competition and one that both sisters knew meant that at some point it was likely they'd end up just like this.

Standing across from each other, one unsure of the other.

Ruby was feeling that right now.

Taking a step back, her flesh and blood hand immediately moved to grab Cinder's Blade, the gold blade glistening in the light as it was unsheathed.

View attachment 742261

"...Glad to see you, Yang."

It didn't matter what Yang this was. If she let her guard down for even a second, getting punched through a wall or getting dragged down in some mindless brawl would only end up pissing away time. Though as the fingers on her prosthetic hand clicked and clattered, she couldn't deny the chance to actually punch someone or something with her new arm was sorely tempting. But she couldn't let it distract from the main goal ahead of her. She needed keycards and she needed them soon.

Subtle it may have been but perhaps it was the recognition she'd been terrible to her Yang growing up or just her having something of a keener eye now that her time spent with Weiss had let her bottle up a bit of her usual crazy self. Still, she wouldn't comment on it. She was sure she'd put her own Yang through something similar when they were kids.

Which made her all the more uneasy.

The glare of suspicion never left Ruby's face.

"Yeah, that's preeeeeety funny."

She didn't laugh, not even once.


A smile finally cracked Ruby's cold demeanor.

"Hahahahahahaha! I get it!"

The laughter stopped just as quickly as it came. She really did find that joke very funny. Her sense of humor was about at the same level as a child's. It was why she found Maria's nicknames for Weiss so incredibly amusing.

"...Color me at least a little bit curious, Yang. Since she offed this guy..." Ruby gestured back to where she'd found Prisma's body.

"He had to have had a partner and if she killed him too then that means you'd already have two keycards right? You'd just need one more and you'd be able to go up to the top."

Ruby tapped her foot on the ground.

"....I haven't even gotten a partner yet."

The initial show of open hostility only seemed to make the shorter-haired Yang's features light up even more, the blonde pulling a face and giving an extremely pitched giggle as she curled a lock of hair around one finger in ditzy fashion. She flapped a hand in her sister's direction with affectionate dismissal when she drew the sword, turning to regard the nearest of the cameras that hovered around to capture the bloodshed with a coy smirk like they were on a sitcom. "Oh, Ruby! You and your classic Ruby shenanigans, just up and pulling a knife on me like that! Gotta love it!"

She beamed, scooped up a handful of her doppelganger's hair again and started forward, dragging her limp frame across the tiles and about as threatened as if it were a toddler holding the blade.

"C'mon. Five hands of Go Fish didn't put us past this whole 'kill for mother' shtick? Would it have helped if I let you win one?" Her pout seemed wholly genuine in its remorse as she stopped just a short distance away, once again tossing the beta at her feet. "Surely we can call bygones on that much on account of me turning a blind eye to your huge murder fetish, and whatnot. After all, I'm Yang! I love being alive, and if there's one thing I know it's that there's good deep down in everybody if ya just take the time to dig around and look for it a li'l bit! Everyone deserves a second chance. Oops! Except myself, I guess! Haha! How could anyone who screwed up having these looks deserve anything? Sucks to be this chick!"

There were a few extra teeth to the grin she bore as she almost seemed to relish the act of stepping on the wonder bitch. She quickly dismissed it, however, hopping down the other side and closing the last of the gap between her and Ruby in a confident strut, a bit of a sway to her hips and bounce in her step since she knew what this lunatic liked. When she was close enough, she completely ignored the smaller girl's queries in favor of lashing out quickly with both arms, ensnaring Ruby before she could do anything to stop what was about to happen.

"...Sooooo hey, before I shut her up the nobody let slip about how you'd been missing for the last while. Seems... weird. That's weird, right? I mean, the hell's that all about?"

Something was almost accusatory in that tone, though it was too intangible to really put a finger on as her fist balled up Ruby's hood and her right hand emitted a low, shuddering tremor when she ran it down the back of her head.

"Just... thought you'd end up finding me by now, is all."

Ruby gazed up at the camera.

What was going on here??

Was she getting Punk'd

The sight of Yang bound up and restrained had done something for Ruby.

Whatever 'that' was, she couldn't say but her Yang likely had a good enough idea.

Ruby hated that she hadn't completely purged those feelings. For once in her life she was happy living with Weiss.

She didn't want to throw it all away by doing something depraved...not now...

Her mechanical hand whirred as she stood her ground against the approaching Yang.

The way she moved...It felt intentional..

...As if she knew that some part of Ruby enjoyed it.

The figurative lights flickered and Ruby took a step back.

"You!"

Fighting the other world's Yang had been something she was reluctant to do. She imagined the same could have been said for her as well.

The relationship with this Yang was a touch more complicated. Before she could run or attack however, Yang was upon her. Wrapping up her sister in a warm embrace.

Or as warm as it could be anyway.

"I...I had to get away. I didn't know what to do..."


...

"I've been looking for you..."

It was something of a lie but after her talk with Qrow, Ruby couldn't deny it.

She'd messed up her Yang and took away the chance at a happy childhood.

She wanted to do something, anything to fix that if she could.

Ruby may have found the hug getting real stiff real fast in light of her reactions to Yang's approach, a low, rumbling growl coming from the hand caressing the nape of her neck. It was something primal and guttural, not nearly a match for the aggressive snarl that suddenly erupted from the blonde's throat.

"Hold the fuck up, do you know?"

Strong hands snatched Ruby by the shoulders, and she was jostled like a ragdoll as they roughly separated so she was staring Yang dead in the eye.

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They were eyes burning with hatred.

"...grrrrrrrrrrrrRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! THAT IS SUCH! FUCKING-!"

So livid was she that she couldn't even get the 'bullshit' out, and in its place an explosion of excess rage energy warped the steel walls and set her short curls ablaze as Ruby found a Grimm hand unwaveringly locked around her throat, until about two furious rotations later saw her slam into the closest wall hard enough to leave a her-shaped dent in it as the limb stretched and elongated before coiling back. Something, whether it was Ruby's approach or the implication that her bitchsona had better acting chops than her, had the erratic brawler going absolutely berserk, and she yanked on her hair so vigorously and uncaringly it was a testament to the sheer strength of the gold fibers that they weren't being ripped out in clumps. So worked up was she that she was practically bouncing off the walls, hopping from foot to foot like some gaslit kid as she jabbed both pointer fingers at Ruby accusingly.

"SEE THIS, THIS IS CLASSIC RUBY! YOU ACT SOOOOOOOOO FUCKIN' LOOPY AND SPACED OUT EVERY TIME YOU WANT SOMEONE TO FEEL SORRY FOR YOU, BUT IT'S ALL ONE BIG SHOW! YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT'S GOING ON AROUND YOU! You are the worst, the WORST, rrrrrrrrrRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH I HATE YOUIHATEYOU!!!!!!! DO YOU GET-"

*CLANG*

"-THE FUCKING PICTURE YET-"

*CLANG*

"-YOU DUMB-"

*CLANG*

"-WEAK-"

*CLANG*

"-WORTHLESS-"

*CLANG*

"-SLUT!"

Every clang marked another instance of her double's head being slammed hard into the alloyed tiles, what little aura had returned to her since the beating the only thing that kept her head from being bludgeoned to a fine paste at the bottom of the life-sized imprint of her face the impacts made. The more stable physically (but far less so mentally) Yang rocked back and forth, balancing on her haunches as both hands gripped her temples; one of them started to twitch and curl unnaturally to stroke her hair, those same softly guttural noises coming out muffled from under the glove.

"...Yeah, yeah, I know... Whatever."

She murmured so softly it was barely audible in contrast to the deafening roaring of before, and when she lifted her head again it was with eyes once more affixed directly on Ruby.

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They were... different. Wrong. Still that same vibrant shade of crimson, but most of the vibrancy was gone; the pupils were too large, and there was a dull sheen to them as if Yang had just woken up from sedation and hadn't quite regained her senses yet. She spoke again, only the tones that addressed Ruby this time were flat, deadpan, bordering on emotionless.

"Fuck off for good this time."

She picked her duplicate up by the hair and resumed dragging her away again, intent on sparing Ruby no further thought.

Ruby froze like a deer caught in the headlights.

The sword had fallen from her grasp and she couldn't find it in her to struggle against the grip she was in.

So, that'd cinched it.

This WAS her Yang...

"...Y-Yang, I'm...I'm-"

Thrown off her feet as she was, Ruby let out a shrill yelp as she smashed into the wall.

Sliding down onto her rear, her aura flickered around her.

She had a plan for if she was to encounter either Yang in the actual ring.

But running into them now?

She really didn't know what to do.

It was at the first stomp she winced.

The second one she cried out.

The rest she felt useless to prevent.

But her Yang was right. It was something Qrow had pointed out as well in their talk. Everyone was expected to drop everything if Ruby 'I was Ozpin's Right Hand' Rose asked/claimed to be doing the right thing. It felt even more prudent when the end result of her actions were staring her right in the face. While stomping the foot of her counterpart underfoot.

"Yang! Stop!"

She cried out grateful that the other Yang's aura still seemed to be intact.

There was a lot of things that Ruby still needed to improve on. Keeping to the whole 'I won't murder anyone anymore' vow was one of them. The urge for it never left so easily and she'd spent most of her teenage years striking out at whoever got in her way. Despite all that though, even when she was still just the 'Red Masque', the other world's Yang never looked down on her. Never so much as deemed her a lost cause. The hugs she'd given were warm and loving. It made Ruby want to squirm.

It was why she couldn't stand by and watch her get abused.

"Please..."

Watching the two go as she walked over to retrieve her sword, the hate building up in her was enormous.

Not for her Yang. Even after everything the two had been through together, Ruby genuinely loved her still.

No, what she hated was that thing living inside her.

Corrupting her and making her even more of a mess than she was before.

'I can't quite understand it myself. But right now Yang had a perfectly good chance to just snap my neck, take my keycard, and be done with it. She could make up whatever excuse she wanted to Ozpin as to how I actually died. Then I'd probably be written off just like that.' It was a depressing thought but it wasn't what alarmed her. 'From the motel to her, Yang has had plenty of chances to hurt me and she always let me off easy....'

Was it a shred of love still buried deep down? Despite the abuse she'd been given over the years?

....

Perhaps that was too optimistic.

"Yang! Wait!"

"Fuck me from behind and call me an ursa, you're annoying. 'Yang, Yaaaaang'! What, did puberty never hit for you or is this just you practicing the noises you'd make if you ever actually landed me in the sheets?"

Her scoff was as contemptuous as her squeaky approximation of Ruby's voice was unnervingly accurate, delivered as without the dragon's turning, releasing her counterpart or slowing her come-hither strut that promised nothing but pain for Ruby if she ever actually came hither. She kept her calm relative to the unstable outburst of a few moments ago, though, apparently placated by whatever parasite was feeding off the negative energy in her soul.

"Lemme lay it all out as clearly as I can for ya, meat. This obsession you've had with me since we were kids? It was never cute. It was never fun. Do you have any idea how skeevy something has to be for me to say that? I mean, I'd rather fuck an ursa." She paused long enough to pop a squat, releasing her painful grip on the scalp of the hogtied Yang in favor of staring down at her thoughtfully. "The only thing your creepy Barbie incest fetish ever did for me was turn me into a miserable, drugged up loser with too many hangups to look at herself naked in a mirror without feeling ashamed. Ugh! I cannot believe I actually wasted all those years calling myself 'strong' or 'Dragon' or whatever, as if I hadn't spent most of my life being your fucking pony. The audacity, right? I was as weak as weak gets. Believe it or not, this little piggy actually helped me realize that."

Her bearing was entirely casual as she ruffled her counterpart's more voluminous hair and hefted her up over her shoulder with ease, like a piece of game.

"You know, back in Mistral? Oh right, you weren't there. I kept thinking, how undercooked a Yang must I have been if I couldn't get the edge on a PG version of me without some fucking bitchboy's help? Between that, losing an arm and all her macho trash talk, it was a real wake-up call. At least I think it was. I took waaaaay too many painkillers that day to remember most of it." She shrugged. "But obviously I was doing something wrong. Grimm Bait here told me it was cuz I had no friends. Was a real bitch about it, too, but I figured 'hey, who's gonna know me better than me', right? So, I made a friend."

Assuming Ruby was still following they rounded another bend towards the elevators, and a squadron of the facility's skeletal death droids turned where they were congregating around the charred remnants of a few lesser entrants. She lashed out with her right arm without thinking, and so effortlessly did the Grimm appendage morph into a whip, coil around the robots like Remnant's longest anaconda and rend them into screeching pieces that she barely even jostled her younger self on her shoulder. Either oblivious or uncaring, she strode straight past the point Prisma's shriveled body was no longer resting, turned, and let the Grimm fist reel all the way back into her arm just in time to hammer the elevator button with it, flashing a wicked grin and using it to lean up against the wall.

"The best friend a girl could ever have. I'm not retarded; I know you all think I'm fucking possessed or whatever, but that's not it. Righty here just helped me feel good about myself for the first time in my life. She makes the pain go away when I get mad, so I don't need to pop pills to make it through the day anymore. And most importantly, she made me realize everyone's already my friend, because everyone wants me! Some of 'em just don't realize it yet. Right, hot stuff?"

Her voice was a songbird's chirp as she gave herself a sharp slap on the rear where she was draped over her shoulder, making no effort to hide the way her eyes lit up in elation at the sound. Still so cool that she could do that. She shut her eyes and substituted her devilish grin from before with a lazy, cocksure one.

"I mean, what else am I supposed to think when even my own sister's into it? Heeeeeeeeey, guess you being a twisted little perv actually did do something for me after all! Thanks, sis!" She flicked Ruby a thumbs-up positively dripping with sarcasm as the elevator arrived and she stepped in. When she turned around, though, all her casual self-possessed aplomb was gone, replaced by a simmering look of barely masked disdain. "Still hope you get cancer, though. Now seriously, crawl back to whatever hole you've been hiding in til Ozpin arrives and maybe I won't tell him you've been completely AWOL this entire time."

She made a vague shooing motion with her wrist. After all, she had shit to do.

In stark contrast to how quick she'd been to try and defend herself back at the motel, here and now?

Ruby stood there and took the abuse hurled her way. Not unlike Yang had to go through back in their younger days.

She'd reached for the handle of Crescent Rose once or twice during the onslaught of vitorl but she never attacked.

She just couldn't bring herself to.

Fighting her wouldn't solve anything. She was the cause of this and her talk with Qrow had made that abundantly to her.

As her Yang stepped into the elevator, Ruby pulled up her hood.

"It's ok. You can tell him."

She turned her back.

"I'm done with him."

Then she was gone, a rose petal in the wind.

"...What the fuck are you talking abou-?"

The elevator doors closed, leaving an atypically dumbfounded Yang alone with herself. That much was typical.

Weiss stayed quiet until the recording ended, tapping her finger impatiently against the desk. All the while, she never took her eyes off the Masque's.

There was something colder about them than usual.

"You entered that unsightly tournament acting in my interests. Had you taken action at this point, your sister—The one you purport to be so fond of—could've been spared a great deal of humiliation and suffering. Instead, you did nothing. I want you to explain to me why."

She leaned forward, and Ruby felt the temperature in the room drop at the same time something flickered in Weiss's eyes.

"And then I want you to tell me EXACTLY what the two of you said to each other."​