Fandom Distorted Mirror [IC]

[Indolent]

Neo had the fortune of not needing to cover the ship stylized after Tock under the guise of an Atlesian Manta for the entirety of the flight from Mistral's northwestern port of Argus to the south-western city of Mantle, the former capital of Solitas. Aside Tock's sudden disappearance and a cursory investigation that turned up nothing but speculation-- ideas settled on the notion of it either it having been this world's Raven yoinking her for some serious reason or that the legends of a Grimm fairy horror infiltrating any and all aircraft consuming its pilots were true-- it was a fairly uneventful journey. Conversations beget and broke over the course of the flight, likely between the Rainart siblings and miss Fall themselves with the occasional fielding of questions towards the impatient Emerald Sustrai.

Mantle was, for all intents and purposes, a hole. Both literally and figuratively. Dredged in a perpetual decline economically and in way of living standards, it was the epitome of a grim and dour place with the city built against the crater's edge, the "hole" where Atlas once rested within. The interior of the cavity beneath the floating city was where the dust mining pits were, tiers situated with slums that cropped up out of necessity rung around a mess of locomotives and excavatory equipment. This was where they'd gone, entering with little issue thanks to the veil Neo ensconced the aircraft within at Emerald's beckoning.

They took advantage of a dust storage facility no longer in use, a fairly simple structure with open spaces along its length tented above by rusted metal. In disrepair and sorely out of date that the corporation it belonged to didn't think much of its upkeep, it was frequently utilized by a mix of the criminal and the native out of necessity and enterprising purposes. It was just so that through the leveraging of their fleeting clout under Lil Miss Malachite's guise they were able to secure the terminal for the foreseeable future, though there was never the intention of overstaying their welcome here.

"Oooookaaaaaay, basing this on the intel I have, I have a general gist of where we gotta go if we're meeting with the Resistance here. Neo?" Emerald glanced to the diminutive assassin side by side. "Do your thing and maybe guide us outta trouble if you see em."

The Rainarts' reactions to their new surroundings were rather mute, affected by the scenery as all they understood of the circumstances here paled in comparison to actually seeing it firsthand. Gretchen, for her part, was particularly glum thanks to her realization that people lived like this. Hazel, on the other hand, elected to focus ahead on their goal, naturally taking up the center before Emerald as she led them out the facility and up the tiers, making their way into the city above surreptitiously if possible.

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

There was another rapid, more excited 'shoo shoo' volleyed right back, only with this one something became apparent. The motorcyclist may have been waving them on, may even have been genuine about giving them a chance to walk away. It was as if it was an obligatory attempt at blending in, some kind of token effort to commit to whatever watch-from-afar protocol they had been following.

But they wanted anything but for them to take that given chance. It was all there in the quiet, cocky body posture, the sheer flagrant complacency they had as they stared directly at them, practically the aggressive equivalent of a come-hither look. Whoever this figure was, they wanted Yang to ignore the warnings. They wanted her to approach.

The stalker didn't move a solitary further muscle until Yang had closed the entire distance, still regarding the two with that stoic, faceless appetite for them to put themselves in her business as they stood before the bike and its rider. They were still propped up against it in a casual slouch, arms still crossed, but the only further communication the approach yielded was a cheeky finger wag and disapproving cluck of the tongue as the head lolled to one side in another curious, almost predatory tilt. At this range the figure was obviously feminine, and neither Yang nor Ilia could deny a strange, almost uneasy familiarity in the build and posture, as if their senses were trying to tell them something was just a little amiss without being able to put a finger on what.

Beyond that, the figure simply waited, long and expectantly enough that it became evident not even their flagrant investigation was going to make her blink first.​

If Yang was scared, or even creeped out by this lady(?), it didn't show on her face, and the tension in their shoulders could easily be construed as annoyance or anger. She crossed her arms, relished briefly in the moment that she could do that again, and glared right back at this person(?).

Or at least she assumed they were glaring. Actually they probably weren't, they seemed too calm and amused by all this. But that didn't change the fact that Yang definitely was.

"Can we help you?"

 

[Gus Gungus]

“I know ma’am!” She replied, still locked into the firm salute. “The only concern is that I looked over the recording of that whole conflict in your cellar earlier. To be upfront, at the moment I’m more interested in what wasn’t observed. I noticed a section of the system that had been neutralized. I was wondering if you might shed some light on any situations there.”​

"Some faulty wiring, I imagine." Weiss returned breezily as she moved her attention over to some paperwork on her desk, seemingly having already dismissed this conversation in her mind. She was seeing the side of herself Weiss showed to her employees, the brusque, efficient communications and general lack of time or patience for tact or consideration.

"Will that be all, operative?"​

 

[MidwayLives]

"Oooookaaaaaay, basing this on the intel I have, I have a general gist of where we gotta go if we're meeting with the Resistance here. Neo?" Emerald glanced to the diminutive assassin side by side. "Do your thing and maybe guide us outta trouble if you see em."

The Rainarts' reactions to their new surroundings were rather mute, affected by the scenery as all they understood of the circumstances here paled in comparison to actually seeing it firsthand. Gretchen, for her part, was particularly glum thanks to her realization that people lived like this. Hazel, on the other hand, elected to focus ahead on their goal, naturally taking up the center before Emerald as she led them out the facility and up the tiers, making their way into the city above surreptitiously if possible.

Neo held up her thumb and forefinger to give the 'OK' gesture.

It felt strange...

In one world she'd been working with Cinder(after she'd been strongarmed into it)against Atlas and it's people for their own reasons.

Here she was going to be getting mixed up with the very same people she'd likely have ended up fighting back home.

Weird how things worked out...

​

 

[Gus Gungus]

If Yang was scared, or even creeped out by this lady(?), it didn't show on her face, and the tension in their shoulders could easily be construed as annoyance or anger. She crossed her arms, relished briefly in the moment that she could do that again, and glared right back at this person(?).

Or at least she assumed they were glaring. Actually they probably weren't, they seemed to calm and amused by all this. But that didn't change the fact that Yang definitely was.

"Can we help you?"

The muted half-snicker Yang heard from underneath the helmet was almost reluctant, and she held up a staying finger with one glove so she could finish the laugh into the other like whoever this was didn't want to give the game away just yet. Even in a vacuum, it was a cruel noise. It bore resemblance to a laugh, but there was no mirth in it; it was a laugh that seemed to derive genuine pleasure from watching the two squirm, however bold a face their definitions of that took. It was the simple dynamics of it, the fact that she'd been able to make them uneasy enough with presence alone from all the way down the street to make them confront the source of that uneasiness, to try and stamp it out so it couldn't do that to them anymore.

But they couldn't. They didn't know how helpless they really were just yet; but they would.

It was a noise that thrived everywhere life could be found, in whatever shape or form, but only in its darkest corners. The sneer of the kid who burned ants with a magnifying glass. The rattle of the lone hyena who hunted for sport instead of food. It was a noise antithetical to the entire core of people like Yang and Ilia's beings, the kind of noise that characterized the entire species of Grimm: one of senseless viciousness and brutality, a compulsive urge to dominate and destroy for no other reason than it defined who they were down to the very last strand of DNA. The aberration; the enemy of life. Her movements were still coy as she lazily threw her hands up in a shrug that played helpless, like she didn't know what she'd been doing, like she'd given the two intrepid snoops every chance to walk away and they just couldn't help themselves.

But then again, who was she kidding? Neither could she.

She slowly reached up to remove the helmet, long golden curls shaken free with what seemed to be a genuine rolling wave of gratification as she finally broke the tension. A resigned 'you-got-me' smirk held complete sway over the face that emerged, but it was anything but friendly in spite of just how familiar it really looked as her features made the entire figure and its complacent bravado sorta fall into place. The eyes were the most striking, that same shade of crimson one was liable to encounter on those lonely nights in the deep wilds if they were lucky enough and the thing in the dark hungry enough. Not animal, though. Not hungry for food; not hungry to survive. The opposite.

They were eyes both knew, but not the way they knew them. Even for Yang, who'd seen this particular set of those eyes and knew how unfriendly they were, something was different. And it wasn't the type of different either had seen in the other distorted mirrors of the faces they knew well; not Blake's uncompromising purpose, not Ruby's delusional mania, not Weiss's unfeeling cold. There was no righteousness there. No commitment to a goal or belief that they were doing the right thing.

Something was wrong with those eyes. They wanted to hurt them, for no other reason than it made their owner feel good.

And all things considered, it was haunting how unfamiliar they actually were.

"Hun, you can't even help yourself. But I can think of a good place to start..."

Spoiler

"Whatcha DOIN' here, grimm bait?"​

 

[MidwayLives]

Having secluded himself for the most part, both to give the others their well-deserved space and time to recuperate, and because, well?

He just couldn't focus on his writing when he was around too many people.

The fear of inadequacy or that others would notice an error, however minuscule it may have been, was a terrible pain for any writer.

Least of all one who'd been on the frontlines like he'd been. But it still didn't give him room to whine.

His broken arm spoke little. It'd eventually heal and he'd be fine. The shape that the other world's Raven had been left in?

It said absolute volumes.

'Inconvenient. Would be better off waiting for arm to heal.'

But that'd just be admitting defeat in his eyes. Others around him continued even when reality stared them in the face and threw it's worst at them. He'd just have to endure. Opening up one of his spare scrolls, he began to type.

'Journal entry 1/?: Today we were handed the keys to victory in all but name. The seemingly indomitable, practically untouchable, Heiress had been brought to heel. If Marrow ever reads this, I'll state firmly for the record that wasn't a shot at his faunus nature. Continuing on....I've spent most of my life sheltered from the worst this world has to offer. Grimm, criminals, terrorists, they never darkened my doorstep. It was thanks to people like my father who faithfully served the military that helped make that a reality. He never once complained about he did or what was asked of him. It was all in the name of keeping his home and by extension his family safe. As I grew older, I began to realize that was just the image that we were lead to believe and accept as citizens. We'd be protected and taken care of so long as we believed in the people in power. Whether it was Ironwood, Hill, any member of the council. It didn't matter. When seated in a position with the potential for power, the ability to give in and do harm, intentional or not, is always there, waiting to be abused if checks and balances aren't in place. After what I saw today? There's no balancing the power that woman has at her fingertips. My fog can cover an entire building's lobby in minutes, seconds if I exert myself, she rendered it impotent with the fairest flick of her wrist. All of us, some figures of great renown, all brushed aside like the dolls of a bored girl who believed she had better things to do with her time. If I were to die and these journals were to surface-as I hope they do lest they remain hidden away as the inane ramblings of a man trying to stand shoulder to shoulder with giants-you may think I overinflate, exaggerate, and blow Schnee's 'performance' out of proportion.

But I do not.

It wasn't a battle so much as it was an orchestra and she was the conductor.

Flawless without error.

'One done. Moving on...'

'Journal entry 2/?: If you were to meet me on the streets, I'm sure I wouldn't stand out to you. I'm about as plain as one can get. Realizing what I've been up to as of late and the appearance I've taken on as a result of my aid in the Resistance doesn't change any of what I've said. You probably wouldn't be able to spot me out from a crowd. Unless you were specifically looking for me in the first place in which case, stop following me is all I can ask. The point is that as unremarkable as I may be, I like to think my voice matters just as much as anybody else'.s. What is life if you speak but it carries no weight, no power or ability to influence for the better or worse-either or depending on your own personalized views. My ideal leader is one who listens to the people and takes their wants and needs to heart and doesn't decide what's 'best for them' out of their own well-intentioned or not desires. Those who wish to force their beliefs on others or lead by thinking they're doing what's for the good of everyone is no better than a dictator, a monster, someone who needs to be stopped. But if today showed me anything it was thus: I'm simply not sure how to go about it. I'm no fighter, even without the incredible power she wields, I doubt I'd be much of a threat to Schnee. She'd disarm me within minutes if not quicker. Even as we were forced to flee with our tails between our legs-again, no harm meant with my wording-Schnee still stood strong. We'd done nothing but show her that as it stood? We were little more than gnats waiting to be swatted down. You simply couldn't compete with what she can bring to bear. Call me defeatist if you wish but I believe hope lies somewhere other than the battlefield. During the climax of that embarrassment, my scroll was destroyed but the footage had been saved. If I were to connect Schnee with definitive proof of the less than savory people she keeps company with? Perhaps it might inspire change...'

It was indeed irritating to type with one hand.

'Still. Another one down, one more to go for the day.'

'Journal entry 3/3: Still, I must ask myself. What am I prepared to do if we're caught? What if there is no chance at another grand escape? No more aces in the hole? Schnee could have killed everyone of us. Certainly if it hadn't been for my aura even attempting to remove my mask would have left me with facial scarring. No, if we were to be killed, I don't believe Schnee would bother bloodying her hands with our bodies. She'd simply ask someone else to do it. Pass the buck off to another. Because for as many times as she made it clear that she was our superior, she didn't deliver any fatal blows, didn't mortally wound any of us. She knew it'd sting more if we were forced to flee, demoralize us, force us to rethink our short term strategy. Sure, if we were to be arrested and paraded around, the media would eat it up. But once we were securely locked away, nobody would care. Another one of Atlas's enemies had been defeated and life went on. Scary to think about isn't it? It certainly is for me to type about it. Still, time will tell if it comes to that. But I'm not overly optimistic to say the least. I believe that's enough for now...enough for...today.'

He set the scroll aside and sighed.

"That was....annoying." ​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

The muted half-snicker Yang heard from underneath the helmet was almost reluctant, and she held up a staying finger with one glove so she could finish the laugh into the other like whoever this was didn't want to give the game away just yet. Even in a vacuum, it was a cruel noise. It bore resemblance to a laugh, but there was no mirth in it; it was a laugh that seemed to derive genuine pleasure from watching the two squirm, however bold a face their definitions of that took. It was the simple dynamics of it, the fact that she'd been able to make them uneasy enough with presence alone from all the way down the street to make them confront the source of that uneasiness, to try and stamp it out so it couldn't do that to them anymore.

But they couldn't. They didn't know how helpless they really were just yet; but they would.

It was a noise that thrived everywhere life could be found, in whatever shape or form, but only in its darkest corners. The sneer of the kid who burned ants with a magnifying glass. The rattle of the lone hyena who hunted for sport instead of food. It was a noise antithetical to the entire core of people like Yang and Ilia's beings, the kind of noise that characterized the entire species of Grimm: one of senseless viciousness and brutality, a compulsive urge to dominate and destroy for no other reason than it defined who they were down to the very last strand of DNA. The aberration; the enemy of life. Her movements were still coy as she lazily threw her hands up in a shrug that played helpless, like she didn't know what she'd been doing, like she'd given the two intrepid snoops every chance to walk away and they just couldn't help themselves.

But then again, who was she kidding? Neither could she.

She slowly reached up to remove the helmet, long golden curls shaken free with what seemed to be a genuine rolling wave of gratification as she finally broke the tension. A resigned 'you-got-me' smirk held complete sway over the face that emerged, but it was anything but friendly in spite of just how familiar it really looked as her features made the entire figure and its complacent bravado sorta fall into place. The eyes were the most striking, that same shade of crimson one was liable to encounter on those lonely nights in the deep wilds if they were lucky enough and the thing in the dark hungry enough. Not animal, though. Not hungry for food; not hungry to survive. The opposite.

They were eyes both knew, but not the way they knew them. Even for Yang, who'd seen this particular set of those eyes and knew how unfriendly they were, something was different. And it wasn't the type of different either had seen in the other distorted mirrors of the faces they knew well; not Blake's uncompromising purpose, not Ruby's delusional mania, not Weiss's unfeeling cold. There was no righteousness there. No commitment to a goal or belief that they were doing the right thing.

Something was wrong with those eyes. They wanted to hurt them, for no other reason than it made their owner feel good.

And all things considered, it was haunting how unfamiliar they actually were.

"Hun, you can't even help yourself. But I can think of a good place to start..."

Spoiler

"Whatcha DOIN' here, grimm bait?"​

"Oh. Its just you."

Yang sounded so all-consumingly disappointed as her shoulders slackened that it was as if that helmet had flipped open to reveal some officer about to give them a parking ticket, and not one of Ozpin's four trusted lieutenants. That it wasn't her reflection, the vicious, murderous brute that used Yang's fists to put a hole in one of this world's young heroes right in front of her.

"Sorry, sorry, where's my manner?, Ilia-" She said as she threw an arm around Ilia with a sharp smirk as she gestured to the other Yang "-this lovely lookin lady, is the version of me who spent a good, oh I dunno, five or ten minutes ranting about how I was weak and she was gonna kick my ass because I had the audacity to have friends, only for me to kick her ass so hard she had to take a five minute cry break with daddy for an aura super charge to even stand a chance against me."

She crossed one leg over her other and tilted her head as she gently leaned on Ilia's shoulder and gave the other Yang her attention back. "Y'look different, Trashfire. Not like, good, just different. Get a haircut? Grandpa Ozpin give you a big ol' spanking for losing the relic and now you can't stand straight? Wait wait no, I bet-" she turned to waggle a finger at Ilia with a point "-I bet this is gonna be where she goes 'I cut out the part of myself that was weak so I'll nEvEr loSE AgAIn'. Tell me, am I right? I'm right, aren't I?" She asked with a snort as she swiveled back to the other Yang.



Nothing in her demeanor implied she was taking this at all seriously. Her stance was relaxed, in a way that the other Yang of all people knew for sure wasn't some faux pretend relaxed baiting someone in for a strike. Her smile was as easy as it was mocking, and the tone of her words matched. Yet there wasn't anyone on this street corner who bought it the moment they looked at Yang's eyes.

They were on fire with hatred, almost literally with how they were burning red.

It might've been a little strange for Ilia to see it after Yang just spent five minute babbling on about how Weiss Schnee, the SDC heiress at war on three fronts and determined to win every single one of those bloody conflicts on her own, had a heart underneath. Or believe that this was the same Yang that tried to talk down Blake, right hand of the shadow fang, or Ruby, Ozpin's crazed, unstable killer. If there was anyone who Yang should've been able to see the good in, to understand how their life could've gone wrong and how much good a single friend could do, it should've been herself. It was almost downright hypocritical to act otherwise.

But those eyes weren't buying into to any of that. They didn't sink all the way down to this Yang's predatory, hungry glint that carried the promise of death for the sake of death.

But they did meet a bitch halfway.

"Too bad for you that I'd I'd still put you in the dirt for even trying."

 

[MyrtenRose]

"Some faulty wiring, I imagine." Weiss returned breezily as she moved her attention over to some paperwork on her desk, seemingly having already dismissed this conversation in her mind. She was seeing the side of herself Weiss showed to her employees, the brusque, efficient communications and general lack of time or patience for tact or consideration.

"Will that be all, operative?"​

"Hrm. I--" She started to reply, still saluting towards Weiss. But she didn't get farther than that before her free hand moved to press up against her earpiece, her focus on the councilwoman broken as she listened in on somebody else speaking entirely. When that was done, her eyes flickered back towards Weiss. "I would say so, ma'am!" She answered. "I have more important things to deal with than faulty wires, ma'am. Hunting down the inept rebels that attacked you, for one. Investigating strange reports of one of our crafts suspiciously ignoring all protocol and any attempts at flagging down in favor of landing in Mantle, for another. Permission to depart?" Gwen asked. She already figured Weiss was eager for this talk to be over, given how disinterested and right to the point she was. Plus that question. The soldier didn't move from her spot regardless, waiting for an affirmative.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"Oooookaaaaaay, basing this on the intel I have, I have a general gist of where we gotta go if we're meeting with the Resistance here. Neo?" Emerald glanced to the diminutive assassin side by side. "Do your thing and maybe guide us outta trouble if you see em."

The Rainarts' reactions to their new surroundings were rather mute, affected by the scenery as all they understood of the circumstances here paled in comparison to actually seeing it firsthand. Gretchen, for her part, was particularly glum thanks to her realization that people lived like this. Hazel, on the other hand, elected to focus ahead on their goal, naturally taking up the center before Emerald as she led them out the facility and up the tiers, making their way into the city above surreptitiously if possible.

Cinder was in a similar mood as both the Rainarts as she took in Mantle. The volumes it spoke of how people lived here, in a city buried under the shadow of another. The vibes she got from this place struck a little too close to home...literally. It reminded her of the village she'd grown up in, the miserable existence that took up the whole of her life until she got an unexpected invite to take up residence at Beacon Academy. Sure, it was far more traditionally urban than Mistral had been, in line with Argus...but that's where the similarity stopped. Argus had been vibrant, so aesthetically pleasing to look at. If there was a city she could see herself one day living in, that coastal city would probably be right at the top of places she'd personally seen. But this industrial city? It lacked those pleasant feelings Argus inspired, just looking around at it. Still, that was not why she was here.

She put that aside, and like Hazel, her mind focused on their goal. Her head lifted up as they strode forth, singular eye fixating on the floating city above them. That, in contrast to Mantle, it brought forth a sense of awe to the young Cinder. Even just looking at the underside of it was more than enough to draw those feelings out of her. It was such a far cry from her hometown that it almost seemed heavenly. When she pulled her gaze back down to earth, she shot Emerald a glance. "You do?" She questioned. A lot of the chatter that normally came from Atlas had quieted down considerably once the kingdom had sealed its borders and for the most part shut down communication with the outside world...and that was even before the CCT at Haven had been destroyed. But, the young maiden supposed, if there is anybody who could squeak between the cracks and get word out, it would be criminals.

"Hope the intel's good. Where we headed?"​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"Hrm. I--" She started to reply, still saluting towards Weiss. But she didn't get farther than that before her free hand moved to press up against her earpiece, her focus on the councilwoman broken as she listened in on somebody else speaking entirely. When that was done, her eyes flickered back towards Weiss. "I would say so, ma'am!" She answered. "I have more important things to deal with than faulty wires, ma'am. Hunting down the inept rebels that attacked you, for one. Investigating strange reports of one of our crafts suspiciously ignoring all protocol and any attempts at flagging down in favor of landing in Mantle, for another. Permission to depart?" Gwen asked. She already figured Weiss was eager for this talk to be over, given how disinterested and right to the point she was. Plus that question. The soldier didn't move from her spot regardless, waiting for an affirmative.

Weiss didn't look up from her busywork, but her hands did hover the slightest second longer over the documentation she was looking at when Gwen raised the matter of the uncooperative airship. Nothing on her face changed to show it had registered in a meaningful way otherwise, but the hum she gave was at least vaguely satisfied. Or as close to it as she ever let subordinates see.

"You have my utmost faith. What was your name again?"​

 

[MyrtenRose]

She slowly reached up to remove the helmet, long golden curls shaken free with what seemed to be a genuine rolling wave of gratification as she finally broke the tension. A resigned 'you-got-me' smirk held complete sway over the face that emerged, but it was anything but friendly in spite of just how familiar it really looked as her features made the entire figure and its complacent bravado sorta fall into place. The eyes were the most striking, that same shade of crimson one was liable to encounter on those lonely nights in the deep wilds if they were lucky enough and the thing in the dark hungry enough. Not animal, though. Not hungry for food; not hungry to survive. The opposite.

They were eyes both knew, but not the way they knew them. Even for Yang, who'd seen this particular set of those eyes and knew how unfriendly they were, something was different. And it wasn't the type of different either had seen in the other distorted mirrors of the faces they knew well; not Blake's uncompromising purpose, not Ruby's delusional mania, not Weiss's unfeeling cold. There was no righteousness there. No commitment to a goal or belief that they were doing the right thing.

Something was wrong with those eyes. They wanted to hurt them, for no other reason than it made their owner feel good.

And all things considered, it was haunting how unfamiliar they actually were.

"Hun, you can't even help yourself. But I can think of a good place to start..."

Spoiler

"Whatcha DOIN' here, grimm bait?"

Oh. Wonderful.

Would it have been too much for this Remnant to not throw the dark counterparts at them, for just five minutes??? Apparently it was too much to ask. Even worse, nothing in that face...well, it was the same face, just going by shape and structure and color. But nothing, not the body language, not the laugh, not those eyes, none of it seemed familiar to Ilia. Considering who she had just spent the last several minutes talking with, that was unsettling as hell.​

"Oh. Its just you."

Yang sounded so all-consumingly disappointed as her shoulders slackened that it was as if that helmet had flipped open to reveal some officer about to give them a parking ticket, and not one of Ozpin's four trusted lieutenants. That it wasn't her reflection, the vicious, murderous brute that used Yang's fists to put a hole in one of this world's young heroes right in front of her.

"Sorry, sorry, where's my manner?, Ilia-" She said as she threw an arm around Ilia with a sharp smirk as she gestured to the other Yang "-this lovely lookin lady, is the version of me who spent a good, oh I dunno, five or ten minutes ranting about how I was weak and she was gonna kick my ass because I had the audacity to have friends, only for me to kick her ass so hard she had to take a five minute cry break with daddy for an aura super charge to even stand a chance against me."

She crossed one leg over her other and tilted her head as she gently leaned on Ilia's shoulder and gave the other Yang her attention back. "Y'look different, Trashfire. Not like, good, just different. Get a haircut? Grandpa Ozpin give you a big ol' spanking for losing the relic and now you can't stand straight? Wait wait no, I bet-" she turned to waggle a finger at Ilia with a point "-I bet this is gonna be where she goes 'I cut out the part of myself that was weak so I'll nEvEr loSE AgAIn'. Tell me, am I right? I'm right, aren't I?" She asked with a snort as she swiveled back to the other Yang.

Deliberately trying to rile up this Yang in front of them, it did nothing to settle Ilia's nerves. If anything it made them worse. The Yang she knew had just quite recently, gut punched her so hard that half her air got expelled and then put her through a wall like it was nothing. And that Yang had been more panicky and off balance. A crueler and more angry Yang? She didn't want to think about how that could go. But the Yang by her side kept going all the same.​

Nothing in her demeanor implied she was taking this at all seriously. Her stance was relaxed, in a way that the other Yang of all people knew for sure wasn't some faux pretend relaxed baiting someone in for a strike. Her smile was as easy as it was mocking, and the tone of her words matched. Yet there wasn't anyone on this street corner who bought it the moment they looked at Yang's eyes.

They were on fire with hatred, almost literally with how they were burning red.

It might've been a little strange for Ilia to see it after Yang just spent five minute babbling on about how Weiss Schnee, the SDC heiress at war on three fronts and determined to win every single one of those bloody conflicts on her own, had a heart underneath. Or believe that this was the same Yang that tried to talk down Blake, right hand of the shadow fang, or Ruby, Ozpin's crazed, unstable killer. If there was anyone who Yang should've been able to see the good in, to understand how their life could've gone wrong and how much good a single friend could do, it should've been herself. It was almost downright hypocritical to act otherwise.

But those eyes weren't buying into to any of that. They didn't sink all the way down to this Yang's predatory, hungry glint that carried the promise of death for the sake of death.

But they did meet a bitch halfway.

"Too bad for you that I'd I'd still put you in the dirt for even trying."

"Heh heh." She chuckled quietly and painfully awkwardly as she disentangled herself and took a few steps backward, further away from all this. If a fight was fated to break out, given how both Yangs seemed eager for it? Ilia was better off handling that from a greater distance. Judgment on how Yang kept reaching for utter nonsense in her attempt to excuse Weiss but didn't give a damn to do so where her other self was concerned, that judgment could wait. At least until they were somewhere safer. If they even could get there. If a fight did break out here, a stone's throw away from Schnee Manor, where a ton of security and cops and maybe even military were moving about dealing with a fight that had happened there...it was hard to believe the commotion wouldn't bring at least some of them over here.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

Weiss didn't look up from her busywork, but her hands did hover the slightest second longer over the documentation she was looking at when Gwen raised the matter of the uncooperative airship. Nothing on her face changed to show it had registered in a meaningful way otherwise, but the hum she gave was at least vaguely satisfied. Or as close to it as she ever let subordinates see.

"You have my utmost faith. What was your name again?"​

She was already gone by the time the word faith came spilling out Weiss's mouth. Jennings...didn't blink, considering how that was an impossibility for a robot with no eyes as humans understood them, but the AK unit did wonder if its visual receptors were failing and in need of repair, given how Master Helios seemed to essentially vanish from sight. "Special Operative Gwen Helios, service number 09477-90983-GH." The far more emotionless and by the book answer came instead from said AK before it turned on the spot and began to stride away to follow. "Have a pleasant day." He added over his shoulder towards the hard at work councilwoman, as jovially as he could manage.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

Spoiler

Okay so. Turns out spending a significant time as a Rubysicle thanks to the tactical fight strategy of one Weiss Schnee, it was far more chilling on the bones than she had imagined it would be. Even now, with all the ice having since melted away and Ruby keeping herself in close proximity to said heating unit she owed for her thawing out, there was still a couple of spasms and twitches as the sheer cold wracked her body. She idly wondered if she'd have to expect more of that, given that Weiss was just as fond of dust here as she was back home. Not to mention the whole Winter Maiden thing she had going for her. But after that thought, her mind turned to more solemn and personal thoughts. Yang had been frozen, she'd managed to see that much before the ice fully crystallized over her. And judging from who was striding away from the heating unit at this moment, seemingly uncaring about any lingering cold feeling, Winter Schnee had been frozen too.

Her sister. Yang. And me.

Ruby wondered if those choices were based off emotion instead of logic. If this Weiss wasn't as cold-hearted as many here in this hideout chose to believe. Those three chosen victims for freezing, to keep them out of the fight, they seemed far too deliberate to have been chosen at random. Too personal. Maybe there is a chance that she could--

Ruby didn't get the chance to finish that thought before she got tackled by an energetic ball of pink lightning(who'd chosen to blatantly ignore any directive to stay put as she recuperated)

"RUBYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"

"Noraaaaaaa." She squeaked, trying to keep the pain from the tight hug out of her voice.

"You okay?"

"Not particularly." She replied, for reasons that had little to do with the hug.

"Hey, don't worry! We'll get Yang back yet." Nora remarked, pulling away from hugging and fist pumping in one swift fluid motion to go along with that declared promise to get the blonde bruiser back. There was an immediate wince as the action sent pain flaring up her arm. But in the blink of an eye, that wince was gone and a smile was back on Nora's face, so completely at home on the ginger it was like the grin had never left.

Ruby couldn't help but smile too. It had been truly nice and welcoming to see another familiar and friendly face not long after she and Ironwood and Qrow and the 2 Ravens had reached the kingdom. Even if she could not explain how Nora had ended up here when most of them had popped up back at Beacon. Ruby let her gaze wander after that, briefly resting on where Robyn had stopped Winter in her path and judging from what Ruby just faintly heard, the former was trying to convince the latter of making her choice of uniform in these times a more permanent affair by getting a version more suited to Winter's colors and maybe with a haircut to boot. Her stare passed them by quickly, taking all she could see from here in...and then let out a sigh. "Nora?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you know if there's anything else that they need doing? Ironwood or Cobalt or anybody?"

"Besides being told to take the time to properly recuperate? No, afraid I don't know."

"Hmm." Ruby started striding away to go see if there was anything.

"Hey wait up!"​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"Sorry, sorry, where's my manner?, Ilia-" She said as she threw an arm around Ilia with a sharp smirk as she gestured to the other Yang "-this lovely lookin lady, is the version of me who spent a good, oh I dunno, five or ten minutes ranting about how I was weak and she was gonna kick my ass because I had the audacity to have friends, only for me to kick her ass so hard she had to take a five minute cry break with daddy for an aura super charge to even stand a chance against me."

"...You..."

She crossed one leg over her other and tilted her head as she gently leaned on Ilia's shoulder and gave the other Yang her attention back. "Y'look different, Trashfire. Not like, good, just different. Get a haircut? Grandpa Ozpin give you a big ol' spanking for losing the relic and now you can't stand straight? Wait wait no, I bet-" she turned to waggle a finger at Ilia with a point "-I bet this is gonna be where she goes 'I cut out the part of myself that was weak so I'll nEvEr loSE AgAIn'. Tell me, am I right? I'm right, aren't I?" She asked with a snort as she swiveled back to the other Yang.

"...You..."

But they did meet a bitch halfway.

"Too bad for you that I'd I'd still put you in the d-"

"...Youuuuuuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwnnnnnn-"

The Yang who wasn't Yang pushed up off the bike, stretched both arms high over her head, and rolled every single centimeter of herself out in a deep, overindulgent yawn that completely swallowed up the last few words of her counterpart's smacktalk and felt like it went on very nearly as long as the protracted taunt itself did. She closed her eyes, shaking out her bushy mane of hair like it was a necessity to stay awake. When she was done, she took a brash step forward without a single regard for how completely into her other self's space it took her and gave her a solitary, encouraging 'you tried' thump on the arm that didn't look like it came straight from the Hot Topic bargain bin.

"Was that rude? Sorry, I just couldn't figure out a better way to get across how fucking boring the last minute or so of my life's been because of you, that's all. I coulda snuck off and left a mirror here and you'd have just kept going, huh? I mean, stuff a SOCK in it, blondie, am I right?" She shook her head humoringly and rolled her eyes all the way over to Ilia, like she actually expected the faunus to have her back on that. "Okay, my turn. Whatever you're doing skulking around here, throwing hands outside ice queen's mansion in the middle of Atlas is pretty much a big red death flag for you girls. You know it, and I know it. So word to the wise instead: you're not as interesting as you think you are, all those friends you think you have secretly try reeaaaal hard not to roll their eyes every time you talk, and the only reason they keep you around's so they can check out your ass every time you walk away, followed by your tits when they call you back over. Hate to be the one who breaks it to ya, toots, but you're the eye candy. So cool it with the speechmaking before you embarrass yourself more, mmkay? You've already used up most of the words you know. Besides, it's not like you can really blame 'em. I've seen what's under there."

Her next stare was more southerly, predatory in an entirely different sort of way, and accompanied by a minxish growl as she cocked her head and peeked around Yang's side a bit for a better view, thereby adding being totally objectified by herself to her list of lifetime achievements. "And a whoooole lot more besides. Real talk, the whole 'friends' thing was total code for you being a virgin, right?"

It... didn't seem right. None of it did. The woman Yang remembered had been bitter, mirthless, a focused mask of aggression whose sole joy seemed to be derived from the hurt she could inflict with her hands, her mannerisms concerned only with cutting to the chaff and moving things along to that point. There was something relishing about the way this Yang was throwing her weight around, talking down to her, basically bulldozing her and swagging up the joint in a manner not so dissimilar from a seventeen-year-old Yang terrorizing nightclub owners dialed up to infinity. Something really had changed, and it wasn't long before they got a sense of what.

She bit down on one of her leather gloves, downright sensual in how she started removing it. "Sheriously tho, shpoilers??"

A sharp yank took it off all the way, confirming her other self's suspicions as the 'hand' underneath reacted to the fluorescent street light the way a mole reacts to the sun, twitching and writhing and growling. It was around the same proportions as a hand, at least, five fingers that could make a fist and looked to operate the same way. But that was where the similarities ended. It was absolutely covered in teeth. Not mouths—the only actual maw was an opening in the very center of the palm, occasionally snapping and dully lit by a crimson glow. But the entire surface was absolutely littered with teeth of varying shapes and sizes, jutting out at odd angles, seemingly growing with no rhyme or pattern to them as the hand twitched and gurgled not far from Yang's face, her worse self seemingly content to wear the hideous thing loud and proud.

"I know you try real hard to sound smart so you can prove to yourself you're more than just a piecea tail, but nobody likes the spoiler chick. Not only did you take a huge dump all over the reveal I had planned, you were barely even half right! I might've been going through an emo phase a month and a half ago, sure, but I've never been the 'cutting myself' type a' gal. It's only fun when other people do it." She winked, and Yang felt gross again. "And man-oh-man, did losing the arm sting. Wasn't my choice, though. Your horny little friend with the mask made that happen. You remember; brooding, scars, having some kinda continuous mental break ever since she was a little kid? Not quite as horny after I got through with her. But more scars."

She threw her gaze back towards Ilia again at that, something vicious to the way she winked and mimed snapping a bull's horn with a surprisingly visceral kik noise at the back of her throat.

"You gals know she's on our side now, right? I'll swing by and show her how grateful I am for the upgrade eventually, but yeah. Slick little bitch took the whole thing off. And y'know what?"

Her strut had taken her back over to the motorcycle at that point, and she sat back on the seat with hands splayed and a genuinely gratified quirk to her crooked grin.

"Best. Thing. That ever. Happened to me. I mean, much as I hate to say it you're sorta right, shitbird Yang. The me of two months ago was a little bitch. I was tough, but I just hit a wall, y'know? Couldn't get any stronger, and so many of the peeps flocking to Oz were stronger than me. It showed in my work, my pride, my attitude... I just wasn't taking any joy in it anymore. I got so caught up in failing to level up that I forgot what it was all about! What life's all about! Ever since I started listening to this little freak of a lady, takin' it slow, enjoying all the little thrills of what I do? I feel like I'm back from the dead."

She flexed her feral hand and cocked her head, a bit of darkness creeping into the overwhelmingly cocky delivery permeating her words, that utter consumptive void in her eyes that substituted for the remorseless convictions in those of her teammates at its peak unhinged as she slowly pushed herself up from the bike and started advancing again.

"See, it's not just the strength. It's the power. Taking what I want, when I want, from who I want, and making them totally powerless to stop me. That's all life is, y'know. The food chain. The great big rat race for dominance. C'mon, even the shittiest me has to know the feeling I'm talking about, right? I know you know. Don't act like you've never grabbed a guy's junk before to make him do something for you. Don't act like that didn't make you feel good inside. You're just a hypocritical little bitch who never figured herself out enough to take it all the way, and that's why you're weak. It's why you'll always be weak. I'm who Yang Xiao Long really is; and honey, I don't know what the hell you're supposed to be."

She flapped a hand in the huntress's direction as if to dismiss her, though by now they were practically face to face. Yang leaned in, her grin now knowing as it was mischievous as she tapped her other self on the chin with the crook of her finger.

"And that's how you control a room, sweetheart. Take notes. Now since we're all playing so nicely with one another, what say I take you and your mousey friend back to my motel room so I can really teach you a thing or two? It's okay; you can admit it. You're both just a little turned on right now."

It was the same Yang, that much was clear... yet it also wasn't. The thing growing from her stump, the one masquerading as an arm, it had polluted and distorted a warped soul even further, coaxed her out of whatever sharp boxer's discipline she'd erected around herself over the years and encouraged her to embrace a lifestyle of pure consumption. One of hedonism, of living for being strong, for exerting that strength and all its associated thrills.

She seemed chill with it.​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

If Yang felt anything too horrible at being called the world's first virgin whore, it didn't show on her face outside of a dull frown. It wasn't like it was the first someone took a look at Yang and was dumb enough enough to think she was all boobs no brain, just the first time it had come from someone who should've known better. The arm though... when the glove slid off, a look of genuine revulsion flickered across her face, and...

"...pfft-HAHAHAHAHAHA- I-I WAS RIGHT! WOW. You lost one fight and- hoo, okay, seriously, that's funny."

She was almost doubled over completely, the sudden bout of laughter hitting her just as hard as any gut punch, and she wiped away a tear of laughter that may or may not have been real as she made herself straighten back out with a light smirk.

"Listen, sweetie-" She started, her tone losing all of its previous bite in favor of a patronizing warmth, the same tone she took when talking six year old Ruby out of jumping off a roof before she had her aura because she saw Yang do it "-I am so so sorry that you think our brain's naturally small when really it seems like yours is just underdeveloped. You really let the world tell you we couldn't be hot and smart. and that's... sad. But hey, you've matured a bit since we last met, I'm proud of you!" She said with a beaming grin. "All this cursed horny energy, its like you're a real middle schooler! Did you just learn was sex was these last few months too? I know its exciting and all, but after your first time you'll realize its really just not that big a deal, hun."

She sighed and rubbed the back of her head with her prosthetic, which in retrospect bore more similarities in coloring and design than she wanted to at all consider right now with this other Yang's new arm, all black and red with white accents. Outside of her eyes, her entire demeanor had shifted; She couldn't deny that what had consumed this Yang was at least a part of her, that she hadn't seen a sleepy Blake doing a full back stretch in the morning and had to bite down some primal urge to pounce, or that she didn't absolutely enjoy cracking teeth when she was in the throes of combat or, if she was being honest, bullying people who deserved it like Junior, but it had never been all that she was. None of what she was saying was nice, obviously, but it was weaponized big sister energy rather than trying to fight swagger with swagger, instead indulging in the part of herself that she knew for sure this shitty xerox copy of her soul didn't have.

"We'll pass on letting that dentist's worst nightmare near anything sensitive, but uh, hey, there's someone out there with a teeth fetish who'll dig it." She said encouragingly as she reached out to grab Ilia's hand and start to pull her away. "Anyway, I don't think either of us want a fight here, so we're gonna jet. Have a nice life!"

 

[MyrtenRose]

Somewhere, in the dark reaches of her subconscious mind, she recognized that this evil fucked up Yang with the equally as fucked up arm(geez how many teeth could an arm need) had just done something completely unexpected, something so far down on the list of possibilities it was virtually impossible to expect: proposition her and her good counterpart to a threesome. Yeah, she had kind of figured this Yang batted for that side and she supposed it only made sense that her double would too, but...still, that was just nuts. And just as nuts was another thought deep in her subconscious, something so terrible that it could not and most assuredly would not ever see the light of day by being spoken.

So would that count more as incest sex or masturbation...?

Nevertheless, the rest of her not subconscious mind was less darkly curious with that. In fact she was so damn grateful to have an excuse not to think about that outside of the dark void that was her subconscious!!!​

"You gals know she's on our side now, right? I'll swing by and show her how grateful I am for the upgrade eventually, but yeah. Slick little bitch took the whole thing off. And y'know what?"

“.......no.” That couldn’t have been true, that...it had to be a lie! Right??? She was so caught up in thinking about THAT, that she didn’t offer any resistance to being pulled away. She was basically a wet noodle. The one person she’d gone to help with, and...her eyes shut, as if in doing so she could shut out the entire world. This had to be a dream from which she only needed to wake up.

Please no.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"Listen, sweetie-" She started, her tone losing all of its previous bite in favor of a patronizing warmth, the same tone she took when talking six year old Ruby out of jumping off a roof before she had her aura because she saw Yang do it "-I am so so sorry that you think our brain's naturally small when really it seems like yours is just underdeveloped. You really let the world tell you we couldn't be hot and smart. and that's... sad. But hey, you've matured a bit since we last met, I'm proud of you!" She said with a beaming grin. "All this cursed horny energy, its like you're a real middle schooler! Did you just learn was sex was these last few months too? I know its exciting and all, but after your first time you'll realize its really just not that big a deal, hun."

It might've come as something of a surprise that the twisted vision of Yang Xiao Long before her had absolutely no compunctions about being belittled and talked down to like a schoolgirl, something carnal about the murmur she gave as she ran her hands down her midriff with a tiny shiver of delight. She was more into rough play than foreplay, if she was being honest, but for somebody with her outlook on life there really wasn't a whole lot in the difference with respect to the levels of euphoria she derived from giving and receiving, from dominating and being the one on the receiving end. That had been something holding her back before too, the insecure need to always be the one on top, always deny the simple truth that she kind of liked the pain, the humiliation, the way it all made her feel.

After all, being who she was meant she could just dish it all right back out twice as hard afterwards!~

She rolled her eyes with fondness as she flapped her Grimm hand, giving a seemingly guileless laugh and starting to follow a few steps behind, pace comparatively relaxed. "JEEZ, repressed me, you should know better than to get a girl all worked up like that then just walk away! You're the ones who came over to me, remember? Typical of the Yang who doesn't know how to go after what she wants to talk a big game then just strut off acting like she won. I'm sure some part of you is aware of this deep down, but knowing how to work those hips doesn't make you an alpha. Not even close. Way I hear it, you've got it for the kitty bad, right? I'll bet you've never even said anything, have you? Heck, I bet that goes for you too, freckles! I mean, you and Blake are actually a thing here!"

That note of cruelty was slowly reestablishing as she stalked them, the predator whose prey had just shown her their backs. The shark smelling blood on the water. She waved her hands disarmingly even though neither of them was looking her way.

"Trust me, girlfriends, I get it. That is one killer bod, but who needs the crazy? I wouldn't mind taking a bite out of one a teensy bit more breakable, myself. I am DEFINITELY gonna keep my eyes peeled for the kitty you're pining for if she ever pops up here. Heck, I'll even do you a solid and letcha know if she's interested!" She finally stopped following, whatever she saw in their reactions to those words enough to bring her to a satisfied stop as she planted her monstrous hand on her hip and finger gunned with the other.

"Fine, fine. Play hard to get. The chase is what makes it fun, sweet cheeks, and I'm good with a show for now. That ass is literally mine anyways."

Something writhing shot past Ilia's field of view, almost too fast to process, and Yang only had a split-second to prepare for whatever attack was on its way as her aura screamed at her. But the attack never came, and the most she felt was a sharp, firm smack somewhere she definitely didn't want anything Grimm ever touching her before the shadowy lash was yanked again, the sight that awaited if she turned back around that of it coalescing and compressing back into the shape of a normal hand.

"Plus I'm not really all that interested in hearing I act like a middle schooler from a Yang with grade school sass. The way I live my life is all that's real, toots. Everything else is just a buncha bullshit society cooked up so we can all feel a little bit better about ourselves. Well, that's just not a problem for me anymore! Being degraded is hot."

If they looked back again, she was cheerily waving them off, the atrocity growing out of her stump contorting and twisting in ways no hand was capable of.

"And no worries on ducking my question, either! No way someone that inhibited isn't hiding all kindsa secrets, so the ice queen already makes me preeeeeeetty suspicious. Guess I'll just draw my OWN conclusions on why my future bitch is strolling out of her house like you're all buddy-buddy with her! Byeeeeeeeeeeeeee!~"​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

It might've come as something of a surprise that the twisted vision of Yang Xiao Long before her had absolutely no compunctions about being belittled and talked down to like a schoolgirl, something carnal about the murmur she gave as she ran her hands down her midriff with a tiny shiver of delight. She was more into rough play than foreplay, if she was being honest, but for somebody with her outlook on life there really wasn't a whole lot in the difference with respect to the levels of euphoria she derived from giving and receiving, from dominating and being the one on the receiving end. That had been something holding her back before too, the insecure need to always be the one on top, always deny the simple truth that she kind of liked the pain, the humiliation, the way it all made her feel.

After all, being who she was meant she could just dish it all right back out twice as hard afterwards!~

She rolled her eyes with fondness as she flapped her Grimm hand, giving a seemingly guileless laugh and starting to follow a few steps behind, pace comparatively relaxed. "JEEZ, repressed me, you should know better than to get a girl all worked up like that then just walk away! You're the ones who came over to me, remember? Typical of the Yang who doesn't know how to go after what she wants to talk a big game then just strut off acting like she won. I'm sure some part of you is aware of this deep down, but knowing how to work those hips doesn't make you an alpha. Not even close. Way I hear it, you've got it for the kitty bad, right? I'll bet you've never even said anything, have you? Heck, I bet that goes for you too, freckles! I mean, you and Blake are actually a thing here!"

That note of cruelty was slowly reestablishing as she stalked them, the predator whose prey had just shown her their backs. The shark smelling blood on the water. She waved her hands disarmingly even though neither of them was looking her way.

"Trust me, girlfriends, I get it. That is one killer bod, but who needs the crazy? I wouldn't mind taking a bite out of one a teensy bit more breakable, myself. I am DEFINITELY gonna keep my eyes peeled for the kitty you're pining for if she ever pops up here. Heck, I'll even do you a solid and letcha know if she's interested!" She finally stopped following, whatever she saw in their reactions to those words enough to bring her to a satisfied stop as she planted her monstrous hand on her hip and finger gunned with the other.

"Fine, fine. Play hard to get. The chase is what makes it fun, sweet cheeks, and I'm good with a show for now. That ass is literally mine anyways."

Something writhing shot past Ilia's field of view, almost too fast to process, and Yang only had a split-second to prepare for whatever attack was on its way as her aura screamed at her. But the attack never came, and the most she felt was a sharp, firm smack somewhere she definitely didn't want anything Grimm ever touching her before the shadowy lash was yanked again, the sight that awaited if she turned back around that of it coalescing and compressing back into the shape of a normal hand.

"Plus I'm not really all that interested in hearing I act like a middle schooler from a Yang with grade school sass. The way I live my life is all that's real, toots. Everything else is just a buncha bullshit society cooked up so we can all feel a little bit better about ourselves. Well, that's just not a problem for me anymore! Being degraded is hot."

If they looked back again, she was cheerily waving them off, the atrocity growing out of her stump contorting and twisting in ways no hand was capable of.

"And no worries on ducking my question, either! No way someone that inhibited isn't hiding all kindsa secrets, so the ice queen already makes me preeeeeeetty suspicious. Guess I'll just draw my OWN conclusions on why my future bitch is coming out of her house like you're all buddy-buddy with her! Byeeeeeeeeeeeeee!~"​

Yang Xiao Long knew you didn't win against punks like this by stooping to their level; she'd gotten her jabs in, and most any further punches her double wanted to throw would just be water sliding off her back. She, genuinely, had too much to worry about to kick this lady's ass here and now, and more importantly she could tell her double's words were starting to get to Ilia; just because she was used to this kind of crap didn't mean the poor girl was, and she was way more concerned with that than she was with her ego or dignity.

But she did have her weak spots.

And it wasn't getting her backside smacked.

Yang suddenly twisted on her feet as her arm whirred and hissed, and a gunshot echoed down the empty streets. The shot was well off target for the other Yang, zipping off to her right, and it would've been easy to excuse it as a wild, angry miss were it not for the sound of a motorcycle's front tire exploding in the behind her.

"Whoops."

She knew this was just playing into this assholes game and all, but even the vague insinuation of this monster even thinking about laying a hand on her Blake lit every single nerve inside of her on fire. Yang could only ever be so good of an actress when anger was involved, and the sole point of jealousy she might've had for this other her was that it looked like her eyes were always red. The sound that came out of her mouth was a dark, throaty snarl, and for a weird moment in time it was like their attitudes from Haven had been completely reversed.

"If you ever touch a hair on Blake's head you'll be dead before you enjoy even a second of pleasure or pain. I promise."

She shot her double one last dark glare before she pulled Ilia along, a little rougher than she probably meant as she tried to bite down on a stormy growl.

 

[Gus Gungus]

Mercury's fistbump was absently returned as Neo settled into her seat, which was way more than anyone could've gotten out of her a month ago.

Haven had broken her, but it took the confrontation at the Branwen camp for the pieces to actually fall apart. She'd been a horrific mess of emotions, miserably depressed and furious at everything and everyone somehow at the same time, all the time, and yet it was hard to not see that as some kind of improvement over the vapid, empty void she'd been in the week between losing Roman and seeing Vernal. It didn't however, make her any good at hunting grimm, except maybe as bait; she couldn't even leave the city walls without drawing every single monster within a five mile radius on top of them, and it had been a harrowing trip back to Mistral because of it.

Even once they got settled in, for those first few weeks she didn't communicate, she barely ate, and any sleep she got was fitful and short. There were days when Mercury could just feel her eyes burning into the back of his head, unable to scream whatever frustration or memories that were accosting her that she she wanted to, and there were days she followed him around like a lost puppy. There were days where she was uncomfortably affectionate even for her with her two remaining teammates, and days she was absolutely, undeniably, unbearably petty and obnoxious for seemingly no reason, with nonsense like snagging peoples ankles with invisible parasol handles and immediately vanishing like some oversized fae or particularly dangerous toddler, or leaving illusionary jumpscares in the bathroom at 2am that were a level of grotesque and bizarre that could only be sculpted by a deeply troubled insomniac with just way, way too much free time.

The worst part was that she knew she was being awful, and yet she couldn't get herself to stop. The hurt had come out, and it wouldn't stop pouring no matter how long the days went. Knowing it just made it worse; She was pratically waiting for the day the two said fuck it and decided she wasn't worth the hassle.

She didn't actually remember who suggested the first job; whether it was Em or Merc after getting completely fed up with her or if she badgered them into doing it, but that first bounty hunt was an epiphany of sorts. All the work they trained for at Beacon, no need to kill if you wanted to make the biggest payout, and without the danger inherent of being a hurricane of bad thoughts in Remnant's wilds. It was... nice, feeling like she was actually achieving something. In a lot of ways, the battle at Beacon and the fight for the relic had been the only two tasks team MTEN had as hunters; one hard fought win, and one devastating loss, a complete and utter failure. She didn't know what happened to WTCH after they parted ways, and as much as she hated Ozpin and his monsters for all that they'd took from her, that loss shook Neopolitan to her core in more ways than the obvious. Team MTEN, to be blunt, kind of breezed through Beacon. Between Neo, Em, and Merc, with Torchwick's emotional grounding, there wasn't a grimm or sparring match that could keep them down. It was hard to feel like you were over-confident when you never lost.

Until the day you did lose, and paid the worst price for it.

That overconfidence had shattered like one of her illusions at Haven and then ground into dust at the camp. So while she worried about what might've happened to WTCH... she didn't know whether she was ready to jump back into that fight, against the biggest evils in the world. Not when it might cost one of the few people in the world she had left.

But this? Busting heads in Mistral? Outfoxing criminals and murderers and getting paid for it, with the only real stakes being their clients and themselves? She could handle that. In fact, she could even like it. Those awful feelings were still oozing from her heart like blackened tar, but little specks of joy slipped through on occasion. Small joys, like the high of victory over a foe (not that this Lupin jackass had exactly been a vicious, dangerous opponent), or, as the illusion of the seatbelt shattered and she grabbed the seat in front of her while she stood up, feeling the wind blasting through her hair and dangerous speeds on a mountain road.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Neo flopped back into her seat as they pulled to a stop in front of the bar that was listed as the bounty issuer's agent of contact. She tilted her head up at the sign, and as she read it again she really couldn't help but feeling she'd heard the name Malachite before...

Oh well!

In the weeks that followed their disastrous first-year save the world mission (which Mercury and Emerald both agreed was a pretty horrible idea in hindsight), both had reacted to Neo's erratic and temperamental behavior by... being completely static. Bar Mercury being a little bit more comfortable in treating the two girls like the weird, broken little family of nobodies-with-nobody that they were, Beacon's homecoming king and queen pretty much hadn't evolved, developed or change their outlook on life in any notable way, anarchic updates to their personal style notwithstanding. Having turned into more of a mischievous little terror than ever, it probably would've been easy to assume most people would've bailed out on the psychologically damaged little pixie by now, but anyone assuming the same of Mercury and Emerald were forgetting one very crucial thing.

They were the two biggest shitheels never to graduate from Beacon Academy.

Neo still took her regular share of pranks, licks and roasts, no alterations in their intensity to match the quiet girl on her worse days as they recognized her need to work all the dark shit in her head out. There was one notable exception, though, that being the constantly escalating war of illusory one-upmanship between Neo and Emerald that had slowly been unraveling ever since the first time the runt had the nerve to conjure up some monstrosity in the mirror while the thief had been brushing her teeth. On a probably unrelated note, Mercury had been having a really hard time sleeping lately.

Mercury visited Roman's grave once a week, and Emerald sometimes went with him to arrange out the wallets, purses and other personals she'd lifted that day and rifle through them like Roman's own sticky fingers had a hand in the theft themselves, even if they were definitely all gross and rotting by now. They never talked about him in any way outside of that, never suggested Neo tag along or spend any time at the site herself. That was in her hands. In the shattered remains of Neo's world, those two still stood as unflappable, unchanging pillars of themselves, and new profession notwithstanding seemed content to just get back to the same brand of foolishness they did when they were enrolled together. Mistral wept.

---

"Malachiiiiiite..." Emerald pondered from next to the smaller girl, never one to forget a face or name as she stood there with arms folded and finger lightly tapping her chin in thought. Possibly brain damaged Mercury pretty much forgot stuff he didn't care about all the time, so as he moved up to them with their unusually animated and distinctive bounty slung over his shoulder like a sack of flour his blink up at the sign was uncomprehending.

"Yeah, and?"

"Wasn't that the name of those bouncers in that club you hooked up with? You know, one after another, within a week of each other because you-"

"-thought they were the same person. Yeeeeeeaaaaaaahhhh... Heh heh." He probably shouldn't have looked so proud of that as they moved for the door, and the moment he swung it open Neo found herself ambushed by a ghostly white woman with a head that was constantly rotating all 360 degrees and limbs that were bent and disjointed in the wrong directions as she scuttled down the wall from the ceiling towards her.

"REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!"​

 

[MidwayLives]

She'd done it.

It'd taken quite more time than it would have if she had both hands but she'd finished rebuilding Crescent Rose.

When the time came for the news of the latest mission to be passed onto her? She was asleep at her desk with a sticky note on her forehead that read:

'Need new arm. Gonna beg Weiss for one. Plan sketchy. Details later.'

To which she expected to be rudely awakened by the last face she wanted to see.

"Oh! You..."

~~~

Maybe it was a result of all the time she'd spent stuck in that prison cell but the Masque really appreciated being able to see the sights and sounds of the open world again. It'd felt like an eternity of nothing but those grey bars and the cold cot that she slept in. As hopeless as the situation may have seemed however, she'd never once lost faith in him.

Her faith paid off.

He'd sent a woman to save her and save her she did! The Masque regretted not getting her name, whatever it might have been. It wasn't exactly prudent was it? She was the Masque's guardian angel sent to liberate her and give her the tools to rejoin her best friend's side. Strangely enough she still didn't have the faintest clue that her 'savior' hated her guts. Just for having the misfortune to bare the same face as her worst enemy.

Oh well!

When she'd been tasked with Yang, the Masque was less than thrilled but she never let it show for a minute infront of him. He'd gone the extra mile and rescued her when she'd been the one to fail. All her efforts were for vain and she ended up being captured not once but twice! She'd lost the right to complain after Taurus left her strapped to a pillar for weeks. On a brighter note, Taurus was working with them now! Which absolutely brought a smile to her face. She knew that no matter how long it took, others would see in Ozpin what she saw in him. It just took a bit longer than it did for her that's all!~

As she and her half-sister traversed the streets of Atlas, the Masque's empty sleeve tied off into a knot to keep it from blowing all over the place, she noticed something.
​

"Can we help you?"

Hey!

It was the Yang that didn't threaten the Masque with violence or berate her!

Friends(or so Masque believed)of Schnee or not, keeping a low profile was perhaps for the best. It'd avoid less trouble that way. It was also why she'd taken on something of a more casual look. Maybe it wouldn't hurt if she stopped the other Yang and whoever that was that was with her and said hi! It'd been so long-
​

"Whatcha DOIN' here, grimm bait?"

Uh oh.

The two Yangs had met.

The Masque hadn't been there to see their first encounter and how poorly it went for her Yang. Still, from the time she'd spent with the other world's Yang during her battle with her own counterpart and when she'd been dragged to Salem's office, she seemed nice. Nicer than almost anybody else the Masque knew.

Well, except for Ozpin and Maria. They were the best. Nobody could argue that.

Maybe she should keep her distance for now....See how this plays out.
​

She flapped a hand in the huntress's direction as if to dismiss her, though by now they were practically face to face. Yang leaned in, her grin now knowing as it was mischievous as she tapped her other self on the chin with the crook of her finger.

"And that's how you control a room, sweetheart. Take notes. Now since we're all playing so nicely with one another, what say I take you and your mousey friend back to my motel room so I can really teach you a thing or two? It's okay; you can admit it. You're both just a little turned on right now."

It was the same Yang, that much was clear... yet it also wasn't. The thing growing from her stump, the one masquerading as an arm, it had polluted and distorted a warped soul even further, coaxed her out of whatever sharp boxer's discipline she'd erected around herself over the years and encouraged her to embrace a lifestyle of pure consumption. One of hedonism, of living for being strong, for exerting that strength and all its associated thrills.

She seemed chill with it.

Yang was an attractive woman. To say or think otherwise would just be a blatant lie.

Still, The Masque couldn't help but tilt her head in confusion at the proceedings.

The Masque had her own feelings about the other Ruby but they weren't like this!
​

"If you ever touch a hair on Blake's head you'll be dead before you enjoy even a second of pleasure or pain. I promise."

She shot her double one last dark glare before she pulled Ilia along, a little rougher than she probably meant as she tried to bite down on a stormy growl.

She watched the other Yang and IIia make their way off before finally striding over to join her actual Yang.

"Guess you made her pretty mad, huh?"

Oh, what the hell she couldn't resist-

"Bye Yang!"

She was just so nice!~​

 

[Gus Gungus]

Yang Xiao Long knew you didn't win against punks like this by stooping to their level; she'd gotten her jabs in, and most any further punches her double wanted to throw would just be water sliding off her back. She, genuinely, had too much to worry about to kick this lady's ass here and now, and more importantly she could tell her double's words were starting to get to Ilia; just because she was used to this kind of crap didn't mean the poor girl was, and she was way more concerned with that than she was with her ego or dignity.

But she did have her weak spots.

And it wasn't getting her backside smacked.

Yang suddenly twisted on her feet as her arm whirred and hissed, and a gunshot echoed down the empty streets. The shot was well off target for the other Yang, zipping off to her right, and it would've been easy to excuse it as a wild, angry miss were it not for the sound of a motorcycle's front tire exploding in the behind her.

"Whoops."

She knew this was just playing into this assholes game and all, but even the vague insinuation of this monster even thinking about laying a hand on her Blake lit every single nerve inside of her on fire. Yang could only ever be so good of an actress when anger was involved, and the sole point of jealousy she might've had for this other her was that it looked like her eyes were always red. The sound that came out of her mouth was a dark, throaty snarl, and for a weird moment in time it was like their attitudes from Haven had been completely reversed.

"If you ever touch a hair on Blake's head you'll be dead before you enjoy even a second of pleasure or pain. I promise."

She shot her double one last dark glare before she pulled Ilia along, a little rougher than she probably meant as she tried to bite down on a stormy growl.

It was true that following her metamorphosis this Yang had like, the biggest dick energy.

And it was true that the person she had become was wrapped up in so many layers of masochism and hedonism that it was difficult to ever really get the up on her, even the most heinously ruthless of insults likely to provoke no more than a gratified smile or exhilarated moan.

But that didn't mean she wasn't very much still a flavor of Yang Xiao Long, the same laws-of-the-jungle bandit incarnation her good self had already encountered, even. It didn't mean the rage had gone anywhere, didn't mean her survivalist ideals of that rage being part of what made her the natural god-given inheritor of Remnant were any less intact. And it didn't mean she appreciated some uppity little punk she hadn't gotten around to breaking in yet acting tough and trying to flip the script on her, no matter how hot it was to watch that from the outside.

"MY BIKE! WHAT THE HELL?!"

Surely anyone deserving of calling themselves Yang Xiao Long knew you just didn't do that.

As both fists tensed, the less human of them twitched, shuddered and growled as if in anticipation, and her hair shimmered and pulsed with a vibrant energy, what remained of this world's Yang Xiao Long weighed the pros and cons of chasing the bitch down and bending her over right here and now for the insult. But she waited, focused, and thought about it.

And it wasn't long before she re-reached the conclusion that the thought of breaking that stupid, smug little look on her doppelganger's face down by inches instead would be way more satisfying. She didn't just wanna beat her down, didn't just wanna take her. She was going to make her scream, and beg, and cry until there wasn't a doubt left in either of their minds who the REAL Yang Xiao Long was. And then she was gonna keep whatever was left on a leash.

It was gonna be awesome.

"...Heh heh... There she is."

The smile on Yang's face was dark, sadistic, and absolutely elated as she caught her breath, watching the other her traipse off with all that misplaced confidence in herself Yang was going to let her keep. For now.

"Be seein' ya, grimm bait."

Those eyes were, indeed, permanently red.

And there really was something wrong with them.

She watched the other Yang and IIia make their way off before finally striding over to join her actual Yang.

"Guess you made her pretty mad, huh?"

Oh, what the hell she couldn't resist-

"Bye Yang!"

She was just so nice!~

"Shut up, MEAT."

SMAK

She hoped that plucky little bitch counted herself lucky. Masque didn't get anything so gentle or appreciative as a slap on the ass.

She got a firm, hard backhand full across the face, Yang presented with a convenient outlet for all that leftover frustration from her bike as she loomed over her with fist pulled back as if to strike again. She thought better of it, though, and spared one last admiring look over at the duo's backs, hoping her other self at least heard that even if she didn't look back before she turned away with a tiny shiver of satisfaction.

"...Follow them. Figure out where they're holed up, and who's there. I might get bored later."

She scowled, but there was a twisted note of pleasure to it as she sat back on whatever was left of her ride and didn't pay Masque any further mind beyond that, refocusing on her own priority now that playtime was over.​

 

[MidwayLives]

"Shut up, MEAT."

Masque's smile paused as if frozen on her face.

"Yang-"
​

SMAK

She hoped that plucky little bitch counted herself lucky. Masque didn't get anything so gentle or appreciative as a slap on the ass.

Masque definitely considered herself the physical superior to her counterpart. She worked keep her body in peak condition when she could. But try as she might, she couldn't compare to the raw power that the blonde standing over her could dish out. The Masque's smile hadn't disappeared, instead it carried something of a twisted excitement in it.

Her eyes met Yang's and seemed full of defiance.
​

"...Follow them. Figure out where they're holed up, and who's there. I might get bored later."

Well, that worked out perfectly!

Hopping to her feet and brushing at where she'd been backhanded, the Masque bristled.

"Don't wait up..."

She disappeared in a trail of rose petals, eager to spend more time with the other Yang. The one who didn't smack her around or call her names....​

 

[MyrtenRose]

She disappeared in a trail of rose petals, eager to spend more time with the other Yang. The one who didn't smack her around or call her names....

And then she suddenly found she had lost them both, for master infiltrator Ilia knew how to lose an unwanted tail. Bye bye. : |​

 

[MyrtenRose]

She rolled her eyes with fondness as she flapped her Grimm hand, giving a seemingly guileless laugh and starting to follow a few steps behind, pace comparatively relaxed. "JEEZ, repressed me, you should know better than to get a girl all worked up like that then just walk away! You're the ones who came over to me, remember? Typical of the Yang who doesn't know how to go after what she wants to talk a big game then just strut off acting like she won. I'm sure some part of you is aware of this deep down, but knowing how to work those hips doesn't make you an alpha. Not even close. Way I hear it, you've got it for the kitty bad, right? I'll bet you've never even said anything, have you? Heck, I bet that goes for you too, freckles! I mean, you and Blake are actually a thing here!"

That note of cruelty was slowly reestablishing as she stalked them, the predator whose prey had just shown her their backs. The shark smelling blood on the water. She waved her hands disarmingly even though neither of them was looking her way.

"Trust me, girlfriends, I get it. That is one killer bod, but who needs the crazy? I wouldn't mind taking a bite out of one a teensy bit more breakable, myself. I am DEFINITELY gonna keep my eyes peeled for the kitty you're pining for if she ever pops up here. Heck, I'll even do you a solid and letcha know if she's interested!" She finally stopped following, whatever she saw in their reactions to those words enough to bring her to a satisfied stop as she planted her monstrous hand on her hip and finger gunned with the other.

"...…...." The thought of Eve, after everything that she had seen of and learned about the female version of Adam, returning to that side was still one hundred percent on her mind. She'd known the bull had been hurting greatly from the pain of leaving, and everything else that came as a result of taking a stand against Blake and the rest of the Shadow Fang. Battles that even cost the poor Taurus one of her own horns. One of her faunus traits, one of the things that signified her status as a faunus, broken. Ilia herself was lucky enough that the same couldn't be done to her, but she could understand why somebody would be hesitant to continue struggling along with fighting and doing the right thing after that. But she never imagined a return to the fold was something that could happen.

That did happen, if the douchebag Yang could be believed. Speaking of that Yang...

There were few things that could rip Ilia's focus away from the thoughts on Eve that left her numb and feeling even more alone in the specific cause she had taken up since waking up on this Remnant. But the dark horny counterpart of Yang had definitely found one when she made those comments about Blake. Their Blake.

Ilia's hand suddenly wrenched free from Blake, grabbed hold of Lightning Lash and immediately attacked, the whip wrapping around the blonde and delivering enough shocks to KO her, thereby ensuring that the chameleon was three for three for leaving 75% of the evil team RWBY unconscious.

Spoiler: Like so

But in an instant that daydream burst apart, the fantasy dropping from her mind. In truth, attacking Yang was as bad a call as she had pointed out. This close to Schnee Manor? Yeah no. That would have ended poorly. And honestly, judging from the attitude this Yang was giving off in spades...the horny bitch probably would have enjoyed the shocks. And that would take any point out of the attempt. So it was that Ilia kept any reaction restrained to simply looking angrily back at the grimm arm'd Yang. It only lasted a short while before it broke.​

Yang suddenly twisted on her feet as her arm whirred and hissed, and a gunshot echoed down the empty streets. The shot was well off target for the other Yang, zipping off to her right, and it would've been easy to excuse it as a wild, angry miss were it not for the sound of a motorcycle's front tire exploding in the behind her.

"Whoops."

She knew this was just playing into this assholes game and all, but even the vague insinuation of this monster even thinking about laying a hand on her Blake lit every single nerve inside of her on fire. Yang could only ever be so good of an actress when anger was involved, and the sole point of jealousy she might've had for this other her was that it looked like her eyes were always red. The sound that came out of her mouth was a dark, throaty snarl, and for a weird moment in time it was like their attitudes from Haven had been completely reversed.

"If you ever touch a hair on Blake's head you'll be dead before you enjoy even a second of pleasure or pain. I promise."

She shot her double one last dark glare before she pulled Ilia along, a little rougher than she probably meant as she tried to bite down on a stormy growl.

"MY BIKE! WHAT THE HELL?!"

Namely when that happened. Instead of anger, a look of a different flavor crossed Ilia's face.

"Shut up, MEAT."

SMAK

She hoped that plucky little bitch counted herself lucky. Masque didn't get anything so gentle or appreciative as a slap on the ass.

She got a firm, hard backhand full across the face, Yang presented with a convenient outlet for all that leftover frustration from her bike as she loomed over her with fist pulled back as if to strike again. She thought better of it, though, and spared one last admiring look over at the duo's backs, hoping her other self at least heard that even if she didn't look back before she turned away with a tiny shiver of satisfaction.

Masque definitely considered herself the physical superior to her counterpart. She worked keep her body in peak condition when she could. But try as she might, she couldn't compare to the raw power that the blonde standing over her could dish out. The Masque's smile hadn't disappeared, instead it carried something of a twisted excitement in it.

Her eyes met Yang's and seemed full of defiance.

That made the look falter pretty quickly though, this Yang seemingly so determined to climb up the ladder to total asshole status in Ilia's mind. She hadn't seen much of Ruby and Yang back home, but from what she had...the scene she just witnessed was a cruel mockery of that.

Even so, Ilia refused to think about this Yang for one more second, doing her best to banish all thoughts of her out of her head. Which unfortunately would have left room for the complicated Eve stuff to return. I should have been there more for her, too. The very last things she recalled saying to Eve popped back into her head and her head shook in regret that it seemed it had ended this way.​

She disappeared in a trail of rose petals, eager to spend more time with the other Yang. The one who didn't smack her around or call her names....

For as long as those sad thoughts lasted, anyway, as the still looking back Ilia noticed this. "Ummmmm….maybe pick up the pace, Yang? Where are we even going?" ​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Ozpin's castle. As ever, Blake saw it as a bastion of power, the pinnacle example of the might of the apex predator. Whatever else she thought of Ozpins remaining lieutenants, she could acknowledge their strength; None of them were prey animals, not even the the young rose. All monsters, and all arrayed against this world's current witch queen. Together, no matter what else they thought of each other. Or so she thought.

The last time Blake had been in these halls, she'd been given the task to capture the spring maiden, and met both Cinder and Carnelian. Two humans that ostensibly served her lord as well. Trust wasn't the word for what she felt for them, but there was a begrudging acceptance that they would do what they were told, and not get in her way. For all that she despised them, she was capable of stowing her pride away just as well as any other emotion if it meant pursuing her goals. Now even that miniscule level of acceptance was burned away. Cinder had taken her prey, and Carnelian and his dogs had begun to try and burn the fang out of Solitas.

Neither were going to get what they wanted in the end, as long as Blake breathed. Cinder didn't understand the beast she'd provoked, a far cry from the simpering white fang of her world. Weiss had overplayed her hand.

The doors to Ozpin's council room groaned open, the first sound Belladonna had made since she entered the castle. She only strode forward a few more steps and knelt in lieu of taking her seat; it didn't matter if Ozpin was in the room or not, she knew he'd be there when he wished. Once he arrived, and once she was acknowledged, she finally spoke.

"Lord Ozpin. I bring your report on the strike at Argus for the Spring Maiden."

Time to see who's loyalty lied where.