Fandom Distorted Mirror [IC]

[Gus Gungus]

"Do what??? You act like I'm torturing you!!! I just want you to say you LOVE ME!!!"

Ruby's eyes flared.

"Is that too much to ask?? Did I break you so badly that you can't even wrap your head around the idea of doing anything but hating me?!"


As Yang's attention seemed to...drift off, the Masque paused in her ranting.

Something about this didn't feel right.

Why wasn't she doing it???

Why wouldn't she just say those three simple words?!

'I love you!'

WHY WAS SHE MAKING THIS SO DIFFICULT?!


She blinked.

"What did you say...?"

Had this been enough to get through to her? They didn't need to fight, not really. The Masque would have been happy hearing the same words come from this Yang as they had from the Good!Yang. It would have sent her heart aflutter and left her in ecstasy. A kind of which could only be achieved through utter depravity such as this. Thus it was quickly enraptured eyes that the Masque stared down at Yang, She was so engrossed in her passion to hear Yang say these words that she didn't even notice the brawler wasn't even looking at her.

"Yes, Yang! Say it! Say it so loud everyone can hear! Tell me that you love me..."

The Masque leaned in for another kiss but what she got was far from that.


Her aura gave something of a warning but it wasn't enough.

She raised her arm to block the incoming blow and yelped out in pain as the limb broke into pieces upon contact.

She was shocked and she was just....

Hurt.

In more ways than one.

"Yang....How could you...? HOW COULD YOU TRICK ME LIKE THAT?!?" The Masque's hand immediately went to grab her sword from her back.


Yang was just the slightest bit faster.

After being pinned down with her face pressed deep into the matress which had probably seen it's fair share of debauchery before the Masque even walked in. This time it was Masque's turn to kick and screech. Only unlike Yang's desperate whimpers and mewlings, the Masque's cries were more of a cornered animal, one who'd rather chew off it's own arm to escape it's captors. She even lashed out with her stump which was precisely 100% less mutated than Yang'.s

"RRRRRRAAAAAAAHHHHH!!! GHHHHAHHHHHHHH!!!! SKREEEEEEEEESSSSSSHHHHH!!!!!!"

The frantic screaming only grew quieter as the Masque felt the tendrils immediately taking affect.

She felt drowsy, weak, as if she didn't want to resist anymore.

It pissed her off quite frankly. She'd enough of being made to feel that way. Taurus had carted her from the battlefield to her base to Salem's office as if she were more a living prop than one of Ozpin's esteemed lieutenants. Every curse under the sun escaped the Masque's mouth even as she coughed and sputtered.

But she refused to cry out in pain. It's what this Yang would have wanted, what she would have thrived on.

Blood dripped onto the mattress as the Masque used her strength to chomp down on her bottom lip to the point it was gushing blood. Sharp incisors one could guess.


'Masqueykins...? How did she know Maria called me that...?? If I weren't so damn tired...I'd...'

It was then that Masque remembered one key fact she'd learned from her talk with good!Yang.

Maria was dead.

She said nothing to reply to Yang's taunts. Not even reacting to the proximity of her mouth.


The other Yang....dead...? Dead like Mommy....

No....Can't think straight...Can't...

"Grrrrr....."

Can't let that happen....She....only one nice to me....


'Mind....Getting fuuz....y...'

"Hehehe...."

The Masque began playfully kicking her feet back and forth.

Letting her tongue lull out of her mouth, she finally spoke.

View attachment 716666

"Take an eye....rip out my tongue.....Doesn't matter does it? I still won....Nothing you do here...to me....hehehe...Changes that..."

The Masque had been honest when telling Yang that her actions bullying her Yang probably helped mold her int othe monster she was today. If she could recall land her mind was kind of fuzzy. The one selfess act she'd done and the only thing that really showed the Masque loved her in her own twisted way was the Beowulf incident.

It would have taken both of them but instead it only took the Masque's right arm.

She could still remember smiling even as blood ran down the fresh stump.

'It's okay, Yang!'

Memories of better times.

But they'd happened and that'd never change no matter how strong Yang got. She was just a scared kid playing tough.

The eyes flashed once more and the Masque reached back to rip the tendrils from her neck. The Grimm were her best friend's creations and as such she respected them. But when they got in her way they'd be killed. It was the only way of dealing with them, y'know.

Seems the same went for when the half-Grimm/half-human tried invading your thoughts.

Vanishing out of Yang's grasp with a trail of rose petals left beside the pool of blood on the bed, the Masque staggered to her feet.

Placing her hand up to her bottom lip, she pulled it back and was surprised that it was absolutely coated with blood. Her blood.

View attachment 716679

Holding her hand out, the Masque watched as it ran down her hand and onto the floor.

"Bit my lip....so wouldn't cry out.....Give you...satisfaction...."

She smiled.

"Didn't think there'd be so much blood."

The smile quickly turned into a furious frown as the Masque glowered.

View attachment 716681

"He gave you a different kind of Grimm. One...that reads thoughts...? You looked where you shouldn't have..."

She spit up a wad of mostly blood and spittle onto the floor. She wasn't going to be sleeping here anyway.

That said, the pent up frustration she'd been going through while pinned down bubbled to the surface.

"YOU DIDN'T KNOW MARIA LIKE I DID!!!"

Bursting forward, she sought to try and tackle Yang straight off the bed, slamming their heads together again in the process.

"YOU SHOULDN'T EVEN BE SAYING HER NAME!!!"

"...NOOOOOOOOOOOOO-"

Yang screamed. Again.

The yield of the second, even more furious application of the Brother of Light's primordial magic was no less potent the first, a burst of agony that burned all the way into the dragon's malnourished soul as she reared back and immediately snapped all the petrified stone tentacles away from her stump with an enraged sweep of her other arm. There was a second, more bestial screech layered under that of the output of her own rabid lungs this time though, one of an entirely different nature to her own mingling notes of fear and pain and suffering as the Masque's holy light seared it to its very core. It was gleeful. A welcoming, venereal roar that rode the undercurrent of all the natural emotions burning their way through the facade of domineering control, poise and confidence this Yang had conflated with her entire sense of being to survive a world that so very clearly loathed her, that had wanted nothing more than to see her tempestuous inferno of a spirit subdued and malformed from the very moment of her birth until it was little more than a twisted shadow of the warming light that should've been cast by the sun.

There had been none more efficient an agent in that subjugating wickedness than Ruby Rose, the soul her own could practically sense was supposed to provide her with the warmth and care she'd been yearning for but whose twisted definition of it had only trimmed and severed away the core ideals that were meant to define her until all that remained was a mere unrecognizable distortion of anything Yang Xiao Long was ever supposed to be. None of that mattered anymore. It didn't matter who first set the wheel of cruelty in motion, or what their intentions had been. All that was left were two feral, unwavering animals shrouded deep in a curtain of darkness, each snapping and tearing at each other's throats in a bid to establish predatory dominance.

And for whatever reason, no matter how strong she became or how hard she tried to bluff this little maniac, Yang found herself on the losing end. Every. Single. Time. It didn't seem to matter what she did to establish herself, how hard she tried to assert her dominance. Ruby just had a way of worming her way into her psyche, of finding whatever weak chink was left in all the walls of cruelty and viciousness she erected to hack away further at the scared, needy child that was her nucleus. Apparently that was just the way it was. No matter how merciless or barbaric she became, Ruby Rose just held a power over Yang Xiao Long. There was nothing that could ever change that.

Right?

She thrashed and tried to get away again when her 'sister' tackled her, no less frantic in her attempts to get the little she-demon away from her as she kicked and bucked and howled her fury and discontent at the hand she'd been dealt towards the heavens that obviously had no immediate designs on listening. It wasn't fair. "J-J-Just FUCK OFF! You worthless pathetic little f-freak, I don't CARE about you, just leave me alone, j-just..."

The instinctual, fight-or-flight reactions of a spirit so desperate to seize back control but powerless to do so faded. What was left were the lessons. The harsh, unsympathetic reality the Branwens had tormented her so relentlessly with until she finally went limp and accepted it.

The strong lived. The weak died.

"...Just..."



Her eyes flared even wider, again spurred by something more volatile and poisonous than the paralytic terror scraping at her heart.

"...Just fucking KILL HER! Kill her, kill her, KILL HERRRRRR I DON'T GIVE A SHIT ANYMORE JUST DO IT, JUST FUCKING-"

Once again it became apparent to Masque that the object of her twisted affection wasn't even giving her her full attention, her flooded eyes' fury directed over towards her stump again even as misty shadows swirled and clouded it. Already. Far sooner than they should've, given the nature of silver eyes and their potent effectiveness against the creatures of Grimm.

N̴̤͑Ö̶͔́.̵̳͋

"YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO FUCKING-"

Ŭ̷ͅS̷̰͠E̷̬͛ ̷̫͆I̴̺̽T̸̼̃

NO! NOT HER! SHE'LL-​

S̴̞̽H̶̼̽E̶̺̕ ̴̨͝C̵͝ͅA̸͖̎N̵͔̆N̷̖̈́Ō̶̲T̸̥̔ ̵̹̑H̵̜͆A̷̺̋R̸̝͗M̶͚̆ ̷̧̈U̷̙̾S̴̩̋​

​

S̷̪͆H̸͇̄E̴̥͝ ̵͎͗I̷̡̋S̵̙͑ ̵͉͒T̷̠̂H̷͖͋Ẻ̶̺ ̵̭͑M̵̝̔A̶͒͜S̵̤̋T̵̮͑E̸̖̚R̸̲̓'̸̯͛S̵͕̐ ̴̫͌W̵̺̉I̴͔̓L̴̳̊L̸̍ͅ.̷̞̆ ̸̲̎

̶͙̏F̸͈̀O̸͉̾Ŕ̶͕ ̵̺̓N̷͙͆Ò̷̫W̵͖͐.̶̘̆​

̶̝̽R̴̤͘E̸̢͊M̵̧̾E̸̹̐M̸̨̊B̴̥̾E̶͖̋R̴͉̒ ̸̜̈Ï̶̼T̸̎͜ ̷̜́Ȋ̷̖Š̵̼ ̶͇͠O̶̱͌Ṵ̴̎R̶͎̕S̷̥͐.̶̲̎​

̸̨͌T̶͉̾Ĥ̶̨Ẻ̷͜ ̴̲̈́F̴̛͓Ē̵͔Ḁ̴̓Ŗ̴͠ ̶̦͘A̸̬͛Ń̴͎Ḋ̸͙ ̴̡̔P̵̙̈́A̴̡̾Ì̵̼N̶̳̍

T̷̕͜H̶̫̏E̵̱̔ ̵̀ͅĂ̴͖Ñ̴̮G̸̲̈E̶̻͐R̴̙͌​

Ŭ̷ͅS̷̰͠E̷̬͛ ̷̫͆I̴̺̽T̸̼̃​

̸͍̍I̸̯̔T̶̗͊ ̵̣͠M̴͖̂Ą̵̊K̶̲̂E̷͘ͅS̶̹̉ ̸͓͗U̶̘̐S̷̠̐ ̴͚͝S̸̪̊T̵̻̿R̴̹͋O̷̞͗N̶̋͜G̶̥̿.̷̨͊

̷̛̰W̵͈͒Ẽ̵̟ ̶̟͝W̶̡͆I̶̖͠L̷̤̽L̷̩̃ ̴̝͒C̸̖̓O̴̝̔N̷̗̍T̴̡͝I̶͎͗N̵̫̕U̸̺̒E̴̻͘ ̵͐ͅT̴̥̈́O̶̳͐ ̵̖̔G̸̖̉Ṛ̵͗O̷̤͊Ŵ̶̻.̶̯̃


"...Y-Yeah... Hey, you're right..."

The Masque still seemed to hardly even be occupying a fraction of her actual focus, but her faraway eyes finally wrenched themselves away from the severed remains of her arm even as a fully formed Grimm arm suddenly exploded from the stump as if Ruby's purifying light had never taken affect at all. The fear, the affection, the browbeaten subservience, all of it had once again faded.



They were eyes that cared nothing for her. There was no warmth, no fear, no anything. They didn't find this exciting. They weren't having fun. They were downright, insultingly apathetic as they drew the full measure of Ruby in, totally uncaring of all the heartache and anguish the younger girl was bringing to bear against her even with the fearsome Red Masque straddling her once again, pinning her against the floor completely prone.

"You..."

Then she backhanded her. Not in a fun way; the casual, dismissive kind she might use to brush away a fly. She started to laugh, a harsh, rattling guffaw at Ruby's expense that was as incessant as it was joyless.

"Pffffffffffffft, hahahahahaha! You're totally pathetic! Look at you, you're COMPLETELY obsessed with me! Awww, it hurts that I'm the only one who ever gave you any real attention, don't it? The only one who wasn't grimm? Is it chewing you up inside? Well, guess what. I don't give a shit. You're like an insect."

She slapped her again, once more devoid of any of the affection or gratification she normally would've derived from such an act had it been literally anybody else.

She just kept laughing.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"Oh that's. New. New and uglyyyyyyyyy." Emerald grimaced before displaying shock in her features, realizing the intentions of the super robot with its pincer as it bore down on her, provoking a natural reaction in a display of acrobatic athleticism.

View attachment 716225

Deftly avoiding the grappling attention with the addendum of widening the distance between herself and it, Emerald caught wind of the encroaching AK-200s and stepped towards in a dash, intuitively understanding their intention of disturbing her fellow illusionist's semblance. Though as it may seem, she certainly did not ignore the fifteen foot tall automaton that looked like it better served as an industrial grade cheese grater, tracking its position relative to her six-o-clock as she lashed out in a spinning cascade of slashes with the sickles extended, half moons of emerald hue shimmering in the air as they bit into the 200s flanks.

View attachment 716230

"Neo!" She'd have cried out insistently, bidding her to move and facilitate their escape towards what she deduced to be a more populous section of the area they'd wandered into.

"Hrm. Impressive agility."

Gwen had arrived by this point, but she seemed more content to stand by and observe the action as it unfolded.​

Paradise lunged for Emerald and Neo who seemed to quickly eye something off to the side.

'Twisted Love' erupted from the back of Paradise's uniform and swung at the two and promptly shattered them into pieces.

"Damn it! Damn it! They got away again!!"

Except they hadn't.

At least not that way. Not with something that obviously telegraphed. Gwen had followed the line of sight, and as their fake illusionary shelves shattered, Gwen had already pressed a button on her wrist TACPAD. So it was instead of making a clean getaway through the sewers as intended, when their unseen real selves moved the manhole for their escape while duck lips and the hanger-on were distracted by the illusion...the pair of trespassers found they couldn't go down.

A projection of blue hardlight dust had been formed just under that manhole cover, cutting that off as an option.

"Oops, did I do that?" Gwen mockingly called out to the general area, still not seeing them for the moment. "Did you really think I was that stupid? To miss that look you gave, like some rank amateur? Sorry but I'm not. That kind of approach isn't going to fly around here. These two-" Helios looked towards Evergreen and Lavender. "-they may be that inept, to be caught off guard by that, but I'm not! So how about this, you reveal yourselves again and let us stop this farce from continuing further! This doesn't have to end with you getting seriously hurt. You can spare yourselves the pain and at the same time spare us from wasting time in this game of hide and seek, because let's face it, it is inevitable we will find you!"

The rest of Omega Squad were in sight now, each approaching from a different direction and occupying all avenues of escape.

"And that won't be as pretty as you simply surrendering!" Gwen promised. All the while as she spoke, Jennings, the remaining AK-200s that hadn't been taken out by Emerald, and the giant bots Gwen was particularly proud of, all went about using their various means of vision and detection to try and triangulate the duo's position, even if they refused to give themselves up.​

 

[Indolent]

Except they hadn't.

At least not that way. Not with something that obviously telegraphed. Gwen had followed the line of sight, and as their fake illusionary shelves shattered, Gwen had already pressed a button on her wrist TACPAD. So it was instead of making a clean getaway through the sewers as intended, when their unseen real selves moved the manhole for their escape while duck lips and the hanger-on were distracted by the illusion...the pair of trespassers found they couldn't go down.

A projection of blue hardlight dust had been formed just under that manhole cover, cutting that off as an option.

"Oops, did I do that?" Gwen mockingly called out to the general area, still not seeing them for the moment. "Did you really think I was that stupid? To miss that look you gave, like some rank amateur? Sorry but I'm not. That kind of approach isn't going to fly around here. These two-" Helios looked towards Evergreen and Lavender. "-they may be that inept, to be caught off guard by that, but I'm not! So how about this, you reveal yourselves again and let us stop this farce from continuing further! This doesn't have to end with you getting seriously hurt. You can spare yourselves the pain and at the same time spare us from wasting time in this game of hide and seek, because let's face it, it is inevitable we will find you!"

The rest of Omega Squad were in sight now, each approaching from a different direction and occupying all avenues of escape.

"And that won't be as pretty as you simply surrendering!" Gwen promised. All the while as she spoke, Jennings, the remaining AK-200s that hadn't been taken out by Emerald, and the giant bots Gwen was particularly proud of, all went about using their various means of vision and detection to try and triangulate the duo's position, even if they refused to give themselves up.

Except they kinda had.

The fact that it was so obviously telegraphed only illustrated the hilarity of Gwen calling out that she wasn't an amateur of any kind, the implication that she wouldn't fall for the tricks of her quarry's trade. The side-eye the assassin with the namesake of the beloved household dessert had made was nothing more than a red herring, the standard practice for the mischievous keen to utilize the fundamental foundations of misdirection and sleight of hand.

The idea that they intended to traverse the winding sewers of Mantle was the desired impression for the accosting operative and contractors to take, a distraction in and of itself devised to give the illusionist duo ample time and opportunity to facilitate their own escape. Try as Gwen might have, the fleeting expanse between Neo's gambit and the lockdown of the manhole was exquisitely more than enough an opening for them to take to disembark before their vicinity was wholly blockaded by a robotics task force supplemented by those that looked as if Atlesian Paladins couldn't hold a candle to them.

When they caught wind of what transpired, and this was an inevitable, they would have tracked the pair with little difficulty no doubt. But only up to a certain point as it terminated before a bustling crowd within one of the better off districts of Mantle, the time of the day closer to the periodic feeding for the poor and the destitute by the various outlets of soup kitchens, bakeries, and other charitable institutions by those who had the means and even then, it was bare by Atlesian standards. One had to imagine just how well received the encroaching units would have been if they all attempted to funnel in after in a bid to ferret out the superbly disguised Emerald Sustrai and Neopolitan, deftly mixed in within the crowd through a mix of the latter's semblance and their long, practiced years in the art of infiltration and impersonations.

 

[MyrtenRose]

Except they kinda had.

The fact that it was so obviously telegraphed only illustrated the hilarity of Gwen calling out that she wasn't an amateur of any kind, the implication that she wouldn't fall for the tricks of her quarry's trade. The side-eye the assassin with the namesake of the beloved household dessert had made was nothing more than a red herring, the standard practice for the mischievous keen to utilize the fundamental foundations of misdirection and sleight of hand.

The idea that they intended to traverse the winding sewers of Mantle was the desired impression for the accosting operative and contractors to take, a distraction in and of itself devised to give the illusionist duo ample time and opportunity to facilitate their own escape. Try as Gwen might have, the fleeting expanse between Neo's gambit and the lockdown of the manhole was exquisitely more than enough an opening for them to take to disembark before their vicinity was wholly blockaded by a robotics task force supplemented by those that looked as if Atlesian Paladins couldn't hold a candle to them.

When they caught wind of what transpired, and this was an inevitable, they would have tracked the pair with little difficulty no doubt. But only up to a certain point as it terminated before a bustling crowd within one of the better off districts of Mantle, the time of the day closer to the periodic feeding for the poor and the destitute by the various outlets of soup kitchens, bakeries, and other charitable institutions by those who had the means and even then, it was bare by Atlesian standards. One had to imagine just how well received the encroaching units would have been if they all attempted to funnel in after in a bid to ferret out the superbly disguised Emerald Sustrai and Neopolitan, deftly mixed in within the crowd through a mix of the latter's semblance and their long, practiced years in the art of infiltration and impersonations.

At some point, the extensive silence and the lack of any reveal of the pair, it pointed to one inescapable conclusion in her mind. She, they, all of them had been hoodwinked by the intrepid duo. Yet rather than let any anger at being fooled consume her, she simply emotionlessly accepted that fact. The pair had gotten the better of her...for now. The trail she eventually managed to follow, it went cold among the crowds. So busy and bustling were said crowds, that any attempt to navigate through them in pursuit seemed the ultimate exercise in futility. Especially considering the nature of their semblances. Yet there was no defeated sighing, or raging yelling or any overly emotional displays even now. Gwen turned to Magenta and Paradise if they had come along, stating thusly: "If you wish, you may continue trying to find them in this." Gwen gestured out the crowds. If they had not joined her, well, no skin off her bones. The mission wasn't yet over, or at least Helios herself wasn't willing to call it off quite yet despite losing them in the crowds.

This required a new approach, that's all. She refused to have this be a mission failure, a stain on her record. Her hand cupped her chin in deep thought as she stood unmoving. After several minutes the next move seemed clear. "Jennings." Her personal bot companion stepped forth closer to her. "The ship they came in on, dig through and found out where it's been impounded. Shouldn't take too long to find, given how distinct it was. When you find it, have a team sweep it top to bottom, inch by inch. Find me skin cells, hair follicles, blood or saliva or sweat samples, anything at all that might be aboard the ship. Anything that could give us any amount of genetic information to tie to the group that had been on that aircraft. As soon as they have anything tangible, put that information out there. We'll see if their semblances could fool scans encoded with that information on hand. And as soon as I get back to HQ, I'll work on getting their names. I have to pull up older files again first. I know I saw that face before...just blanking on the name right now. Perhaps we'll get lucky and all those people that had stowed on the ship that dared masquerade as one of ours? Maybe we'll be able to positively identify them all."

"Affirmative."

But Gwen didn't immediately start back for HQ. There was something else of importance first. At least, personally important to Gwen. Not that hard to guess as the Special Operative strode right for the nearest fast food style join(in this case Celadon's Burgers) and waited in the rather significant line decked out in her full military armor, all to order a good old fashioned burger and fries, and a shake too. Hunting down criminal trespassers was hungry work.​

 

[MidwayLives]

"...NOOOOOOOOOOOOO-"

Yang screamed. Again.

The yield of the second, even more furious application of the Brother of Light's primordial magic was no less potent the first, a burst of agony that burned all the way into the dragon's malnourished soul as she reared back and immediately snapped all the petrified stone tentacles away from her stump with an enraged sweep of her other arm. There was a second, more bestial screech layered under that of the output of her own rabid lungs this time though, one of an entirely different nature to her own mingling notes of fear and pain and suffering as the Masque's holy light seared it to its very core. It was gleeful. A welcoming, venereal roar that rode the undercurrent of all the natural emotions burning their way through the facade of domineering control, poise and confidence this Yang had conflated with her entire sense of being to survive a world that so very clearly loathed her, that had wanted nothing more than to see her tempestuous inferno of a spirit subdued and malformed from the very moment of her birth until it was little more than a twisted shadow of the warming light that should've been cast by the sun.

There had been none more efficient an agent in that subjugating wickedness than Ruby Rose, the soul her own could practically sense was supposed to provide her with the warmth and care she'd been yearning for but whose twisted definition of it had only trimmed and severed away the core ideals that were meant to define her until all that remained was a mere unrecognizable distortion of anything Yang Xiao Long was ever supposed to be. None of that mattered anymore. It didn't matter who first set the wheel of cruelty in motion, or what their intentions had been. All that was left were two feral, unwavering animals shrouded deep in a curtain of darkness, each snapping and tearing at each other's throats in a bid to establish predatory dominance.

And for whatever reason, no matter how strong she became or how hard she tried to bluff this little maniac, Yang found herself on the losing end. Every. Single. Time. It didn't seem to matter what she did to establish herself, how hard she tried to assert her dominance. Ruby just had a way of worming her way into her psyche, of finding whatever weak chink was left in all the walls of cruelty and viciousness she erected to hack away further at the scared, needy child that was her nucleus. Apparently that was just the way it was. No matter how merciless or barbaric she became, Ruby Rose just held a power over Yang Xiao Long. There was nothing that could ever change that.

Right?

"SHE WAS NICER TO ME THAN YOU EVER WERE!!!"

She punched.

"SHE HATED YOU!!"

She kicked

"I..."

She hesitated...

"Can't bring myself to hate you..."
​

She thrashed and tried to get away again when her 'sister' tackled her, no less frantic in her attempts to get the little she-demon away from her as she kicked and bucked and howled her fury and discontent at the hand she'd been dealt towards the heavens that obviously had no immediate designs on listening. It wasn't fair. "J-J-Just FUCK OFF! You worthless pathetic little f-freak, I don't CARE about you, just leave me alone, j-just..."

The instinctual, fight-or-flight reactions of a spirit so desperate to seize back control but powerless to do so faded. What was left were the lessons. The harsh, unsympathetic reality the Branwens had tormented her so relentlessly with until she finally went limp and accepted it.

The strong lived. The weak died.

"...Just..."

The Masque looked absolutely revolting.

Her formerly pitch black t-shirt had been dyed red with her own blood which coated her chin/mouth.

Her eyes still glowed just as defiantly and she tried to grab onto Yang's hair to try and hold her head still.

"But I care about you!! I DO!!! I DO, YANG!!!"
​

Her eyes flared even wider, again spurred by something more volatile and poisonous than the paralytic terror scraping at her heart.

"...Just fucking KILL HER! Kill her, kill her, KILL HERRRRRR I DON'T GIVE A SHIT ANYMORE JUST DO IT, JUST FUCKING-"

Once again it became apparent to Masque that the object of her twisted affection wasn't even giving her her full attention, her flooded eyes' fury directed over towards her stump again even as misty shadows swirled and clouded it. Already. Far sooner than they should've, given the nature of silver eyes and their potent effectiveness against the creatures of Grimm.

It wasn't the death threats.

It wasn't the intent to just kill the Masque right then and there.

It was that her beloved wouldn't even look her in the eyes.

"God DAMN you, Yang!! DAMN YOU!!" The Masque screeched as tears mixed in with blood.

Following the brawler's gaze this time, the Masque noticed something else was off about that arm. It was regenerating pretty fast...

Faster than any other Grimm she'd seen suffer the effects her eyes dished out.
​

"...Y-Yeah... Hey, you're right..."

The Masque still seemed to hardly even be occupying a fraction of her actual focus, but her faraway eyes finally wrenched themselves away from the severed remains of her arm even as a fully formed Grimm arm suddenly exploded from the stump as if Ruby's purifying light had never taken affect at all. The fear, the affection, the browbeaten subservience, all of it had once again faded.

They were eyes that cared nothing for her. There was no warmth, no fear, no anything. They didn't find this exciting. They weren't having fun. They were downright, insultingly apathetic as they drew the full measure of Ruby in, totally uncaring of all the heartache and anguish the younger girl was bringing to bear against her even with the fearsome Red Masque straddling her once again, pinning her against the floor completely prone.

"You..."

Then she backhanded her. Not in a fun way; the casual, dismissive kind she might use to brush away a fly. She started to laugh, a harsh, rattling guffaw at Ruby's expense that was as incessant as it was joyless.

"What?!?"

The surprise was so overwhelming the Masque ate shit as she was backhanded.

Being flung off Yang's person. the Masque crashed into the nearby wall. Her aura shimmered around her as she looked confused and terrified.

The first time since this twisted play of love and hate had started.

"This....That shouldn't be possible. None of his Grimm should have been able to heal that fast..."

Some of them shouldn't have even healed at all. One blast from her eyes was usually enough for a good number of them.

But every time she'd used them here, it'd brought Yang down to her knees and then just seconds later she was back up and laughing again.

At this point it felt as if the Masque had been dealing with two separate people altogether. The cowardly weak-hearted Yang she'd known all her life. The one who'd do anything the Masque asked of her and if she didn't like it? Tough shit. But this...this entity just kept getting up after every flash of light cackling and seemingly none the worse for wear. She gripped the hilt of her sword but the Masque knew that if her eyes weren't doing the trick, a drawn out fist fight between them wouldn't end the way she wanted. She'd thought she'd a natural way of leveling the playing field. Making Yang do what she wanted just like all those years ago.
​

Then she backhanded her. Not in a fun way; the casual, dismissive kind she might use to brush away a fly. She started to laugh, a harsh, rattling guffaw at Ruby's expense that was as incessant as it was joyless.

"Pffffffffffffft, hahahahahaha! You're totally pathetic! Look at you, you're COMPLETELY obsessed with me! Awww, it hurts that I'm the only one who ever gave you any real attention, don't it? The only one who wasn't grimm? Is it chewing you up inside? Well, guess what. I don't give a shit. You're like an insect."

"Agh!"

The Masque spit up a good amount of blood as she was knocked to the side.

From the bed to the floor and now the wall, it seemed there wasn't a surface that hadn't been affected as a result of their brawl.

It hurt and the Masque hated that she cried out like that. She absolutely detested it.

But she wasn't going to let Yang have the last laugh.

"I don't think the other you killed Maria, you know..."

The Masque murmured, so quietly you could have confused it for a whisper.

"She's kind, sweet, beautiful, but a killer? I dunno....Maybe I'm misjudging. No, I think someone else did the deed.."

Glancing at a nearby mirror which she was surprised hadn't been shattered, she grimaced. She looked like she'd been through an absolute bloodbath.

"If it's who I think it is...I think she's quit his dream....She'll probably kill us too."

The Masque grinned.

"I think I'll pay her a visit...But, Yang? Before I go, you cry..."

*FLASH*

A blur of rose petals moved in the light, sword at the ready...

*SLASH*

Most of the arm itself had crumbled to pieces upon contact. But the slice the Masque had meant was meant to cleave off a bit of the actual stump as well.

Just enough to really sting. Even if it healed faster than the Masque would have liked, it's those precious few seconds that counted.

Grabbing her hood off the back off the door, the Masque looked over her shoulder.

"Like a little bitch.~"

The door was shut and she was gone, her pillow taken with her as well.

~~~

She'd done her best to put up a brave front while trying to keep up with Yang and that strange new Grimm.

But it'd taken more of her energy than she'd admit. Her breaths were coming out harder and it was starting to become a chore to even blitz around.

It was part of what they'd come here to do and the Masque wasn't going back to the motel.

At least not without finally getting a new arm.

"Can't....Can't face Weiss like this..." She grumbled. "Too...weak."

If Weiss had really killed Maria, she wasn't to be trifled with.

Pulling her hood up, she coughed and staggered from side to side.



'Why had she given up on his dream...?'

Warm tears stroked the Masque's cheeks as she tried to think of where she could possibly rest to pick up her strength.

Sleeping in an alleyway was nothing new. Wasn't comfortable but you made due.

Getting to Weiss wasn't going to be easy...She couldn't go in exhausted like this...

She hated to admit it but there was only one person she could turn to and it was liking into the mirror of the same woman who'd left her a bloodstained mess.

"Yang..."

'I'll always be here if you change your mind.'

"Tch..."

If only it were so easy....

​

 

[MidwayLives]

It'd taken some time but Aurora had lead Vernal to the far end of town. Most people tended to be on the quieter side here. Wasn't anything personal but the less you spoke to outsiders, the less trouble seemed to brew. Standing in the center of it all was a mansion standing head and shoulders above the rest of the buildings near it. Surrounding the mansion's grounds were top of the line security fencing with cameras mounted to the top constantly swiveling and rotating around. One in particular gazed upon Aurora as he approached with his scruffy new companion. All while keeping a healthy distance from her after that last punch or so.

"It's Aurora! Aurora Beige??"

The gates didn't open and the camera didn't move away from focusing on them.

"Ugh...Stupid automated..."

He pulled out his scroll and held it up so it could be scanned for verification.

"Aurora Beige. Access granted."

The gates started to open and the people who'd been steadily watching the two quickly began to disperse. Aurora paid it little mind.

"Sorry for all the folks staring at you. it's just...The Boss is a very private person. Nobody here's ever even seen what he looks like. I've always respected that though. To be able to hold so much influence and all from the comfort of your own home. Be careful though, okay? The security here is all automated so it won't react well if you were to go wandering off..." Once they were both inside, the gates snapped shut behind them. "The mansion sure does look nice, huh? The Boss hired some of Mistral's best contractors to make it. Even with all the trouble going on from the killings to the Grimm, it's stood here like a testament to his authority and the gang's power.."

He sheepishly rubbed his head.

"It's not actually where you'll be staying though...I'm the only one the Boss lets inside the mansion..." For Verna's destination, the two moved to the backyard/garden area behind the mansion itself. Situated in the lush field was a modest enough looking home that accommodated potential business partners/lawyers whenever deals or potential legal issues arose. Thus it'd gotten something of a reputation as 'The House where the law and lawless' met. For Aurora most of the time though? it was where he rested his weary head after a long's day work of making sure everyone else was doing their jobs and then reporting back to the Boss.

"It's not as great as the Boss's digs but I don't complain." Stepping up the steps, he pulled a key from his backpocket and unlocked the front doors. Motioning for Vernal to go on ahead inside, he smiled.

"It's a bit modest but probably a lot better than the motel you were staying at! It's got a couch, a bathroom, a rec room, and bedroom.." He giggled. "Between you and me? It's one of the best beds I've ever slept in! Though I imagine you'll wanna get out of those clothes first, huh...? I'll head into town and see if I can get you some if you'll be staying here a while! If you wanna get freshened up though, there should be some spare clothes in the guest closet! They might be a bit big though so you may wanna try em on first!"

As he started to head for the porch, he looked back over his shoulder at her.

"Please don't go snooping around. You're a guest here and you'll be treated accordingly but I'd hate to see any trouble happen..."

Then he smiled warmly and pulled off his cap.

"I'll be back!~"

~~~

As it turned out shopping for clothes for a woman who's sizes you didn't know wasn't the easiest job in the world.

"Oooh!!! I knew I should have asked her! Stupid Aurora!!! Stupid, stupid, stupid!!!"

Come to think of it...He hadn't even gotten her name!!!

"Aw!!! I'm so STUPID!!"

Coming to that bar he'd mentioned for advice probably hadn't been great either!

It wasn't like the Boss-as amazing as Aurora thought he was-had any expertise at all in women's clothing. But Aurora had been around here a couple of times and liked to think he was pretty well liked amongst the community! Even if just a bit odd....

As in going from drinking like any other patron to-

"Briiiiing!!! Ring ring ring ring ring!!!"

"Ah??? Doesn't anybody else hear that???"

Nobody else did, Aurora...

"Ringringringinring!!"

He grabbed somebody else's phone and held it to his ear.

"Hello, hello, it's Aurora!"

This time it wasn't the Boss and Aurora felt a sudden feeling of dread crawling down his spine.

'Jack....Wants to play......'

"No! I still need to buy the guest clothes!"

'.....Can I play with her.....next...?"

'No...You can't..."

'Spider......Came with Scorpion....Wonder where HE is..."

The call apparently ended on an angry note.

"cliiiiiick"

Aurora blinked.



"Huh? This isn't my..."

"Yeah, it's mine! Asshole!"

Another patron moved to snatch the glass from Aurora until the boy turned his head to face him.

The hand froze mid-grab.



"O-Oh! Aurora!! I-I didn't know it was you...Uh, y-you can keep the glass..."

The guy slapped down the lien he owed and quietly excused himself. Watching in confusion as the man seemed to randomly panic and leave, Aurora shrugged. "I'm sorry, miss, I had to take that call. If it's okay to ask...Do you know what kind of gifts a girl would like?"
​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"SHE WAS NICER TO ME THAN YOU EVER WERE!!!"

She punched.

"SHE HATED YOU!!"

She kicked

"I..."

She hesitated...

"Can't bring myself to hate you..."


The Masque looked absolutely revolting.

Her formerly pitch black t-shirt had been dyed red with her own blood which coated her chin/mouth.

Her eyes still glowed just as defiantly and she tried to grab onto Yang's hair to try and hold her head still.

"But I care about you!! I DO!!! I DO, YANG!!!"

It wasn't the death threats.

It wasn't the intent to just kill the Masque right then and there.

It was that her beloved wouldn't even look her in the eyes.

"God DAMN you, Yang!! DAMN YOU!!" The Masque screeched as tears mixed in with blood.

Following the brawler's gaze this time, the Masque noticed something else was off about that arm. It was regenerating pretty fast...

Faster than any other Grimm she'd seen suffer the effects her eyes dished out.




"What?!?"

The surprise was so overwhelming the Masque ate shit as she was backhanded.

Being flung off Yang's person. the Masque crashed into the nearby wall. Her aura shimmered around her as she looked confused and terrified.

The first time since this twisted play of love and hate had started.

"This....That shouldn't be possible. None of his Grimm should have been able to heal that fast..."

Some of them shouldn't have even healed at all. One blast from her eyes was usually enough for a good number of them.

But every time she'd used them here, it'd brought Yang down to her knees and then just seconds later she was back up and laughing again.

At this point it felt as if the Masque had been dealing with two separate people altogether. The cowardly weak-hearted Yang she'd known all her life. The one who'd do anything the Masque asked of her and if she didn't like it? Tough shit. But this...this entity just kept getting up after every flash of light cackling and seemingly none the worse for wear. She gripped the hilt of her sword but the Masque knew that if her eyes weren't doing the trick, a drawn out fist fight between them wouldn't end the way she wanted. She'd thought she'd a natural way of leveling the playing field. Making Yang do what she wanted just like all those years ago.


"Agh!"

The Masque spit up a good amount of blood as she was knocked to the side.

From the bed to the floor and now the wall, it seemed there wasn't a surface that hadn't been affected as a result of their brawl.

It hurt and the Masque hated that she cried out like that. She absolutely detested it.

But she wasn't going to let Yang have the last laugh.

"I don't think the other you killed Maria, you know..."

The Masque murmured, so quietly you could have confused it for a whisper.

"She's kind, sweet, beautiful, but a killer? I dunno....Maybe I'm misjudging. No, I think someone else did the deed.."

Glancing at a nearby mirror which she was surprised hadn't been shattered, she grimaced. She looked like she'd been through an absolute bloodbath.

"If it's who I think it is...I think she's quit his dream....She'll probably kill us too."

The Masque grinned.

"I think I'll pay her a visit...But, Yang? Before I go, you cry..."

*FLASH*

A blur of rose petals moved in the light, sword at the ready...

*SLASH*

Most of the arm itself had crumbled to pieces upon contact. But the slice the Masque had meant was meant to cleave off a bit of the actual stump as well.

Just enough to really sting. Even if it healed faster than the Masque would have liked, it's those precious few seconds that counted.

Grabbing her hood off the back off the door, the Masque looked over her shoulder.

"Like a little bitch.~"

The door was shut and she was gone, her pillow taken with her as well.

~~~

She'd done her best to put up a brave front while trying to keep up with Yang and that strange new Grimm.

But it'd taken more of her energy than she'd admit. Her breaths were coming out harder and it was starting to become a chore to even blitz around.

It was part of what they'd come here to do and the Masque wasn't going back to the motel.

At least not without finally getting a new arm.

"Can't....Can't face Weiss like this..." She grumbled. "Too...weak."

If Weiss had really killed Maria, she wasn't to be trifled with.

Pulling her hood up, she coughed and staggered from side to side.

View attachment 717056

'Why had she given up on his dream...?'

Warm tears stroked the Masque's cheeks as she tried to think of where she could possibly rest to pick up her strength.

Sleeping in an alleyway was nothing new. Wasn't comfortable but you made due.

Getting to Weiss wasn't going to be easy...She couldn't go in exhausted like this...

She hated to admit it but there was only one person she could turn to and it was liking into the mirror of the same woman who'd left her a bloodstained mess.

"Yang..."

'I'll always be here if you change your mind.'

"Tch..."

If only it were so easy....

Under the circumstances, Yang's response to all the Masque's unhinged rambling and tryhard emo nonsense was just about the most nonchalantly insulting one imaginable.

"...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!"

She just kept not listening, kept her eyes screwed tight so they never once so much as cracked to meet the silver ones trying so delectably hard to oppress her.

And she kept laughing. It was like she couldn't stop. Every time Ruby tried to get a word in edgewise, every time it looked like the manic fit of giggles had finally subsided, something set her off and she just doubled over to promptly bust her gut with at least twice the fervent intensity she had left it on, feet kicking against the floor and hands on her belly by the time the Masque made her preparations to leave.

But she wasn't going to let Yang have the last laugh.

"I don't think the other you killed Maria, you know..."

The Masque murmured, so quietly you could have confused it for a whisper.

"She's kind, sweet, beautiful, but a killer? I dunno....Maybe I'm misjudging. No, I think someone else did the deed.."

Glancing at a nearby mirror which she was surprised hadn't been shattered, she grimaced. She looked like she'd been through an absolute bloodbath.

"If it's who I think it is...I think she's quit his dream....She'll probably kill us too."

The Masque grinned.

"Hey Ruby?"



"Tell somebody who gives a shit! Pfffffffff-"

For the very brief moments she was able to sustain it before completely and utterly losing her mind again, her shit-eating grin practically sparkled with how much she honestly, truly did not care. A few seconds ago she had been scared; Terrified, even.

But then she thought about it. And then, just like it promised it would, just like it hadn't failed to do once?

Her new friend pulled her just a little bit tighter into its embrace, and it all just went away.

"-hahahahaha! H-hooooo boy, I'm sorry but no, no no no no dial it back you do NOT get to just gloss over how actually fucking embarrassing everything you did and said just now was! You broke me??? Are you fucking KIDDING ME?!???! I'VE COMPLETELY SHATTERED YOU AND I WASN'T EVEN TRYING TO! MAN, AM I GOOD! WHEN YOU WALKED IN THIS ROOM I THOUGHT YOU WERE THE DEMON HELL SPAT OUT, I WAS TERRIFIED OF YOU, BUT NOW I KNOW ALL YOU ARE'S ANOTHER REPRESSED LITTLE BALL OF HORNY WHO CAN'T GET ME OFF HER MIND! YOU COMPLETELY HUMILIATED YOURSELF! I'M GONNA TELL EVERYBODY WE KNOW THE RED MASQUE IS JUST A FREAKING INCEL!"

Her crimson eyes blinked as she broke it down to those terms, and she proceeded to absolutely lose her shit again as she flopped onto her back and kicked her legs in the air like a puppy having a dream.

And, oh yeah. This dream was turning out to be the best kind.

"I think I'll pay her a visit...But, Yang? Before I go, you cry..."

*FLASH*

A blur of rose petals moved in the light, sword at the ready...

*SLASH*

Most of the arm itself had crumbled to pieces upon contact. But the slice the Masque had meant was meant to cleave off a bit of the actual stump as well.

Just enough to really sting. Even if it healed faster than the Masque would have liked, it's those precious few seconds that counted.

Grabbing her hood off the back off the door, the Masque looked over her shoulder.

"Like a little bitch.~"

The outcome was just a little bit different this go around.

"-hahahahAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEE-"

Her breath hitched. Her pupils dilated. Both eyes flared wide, just like before. She screamed, an agonized, feral shriek that came all the way from the bottom of her lungs.

Only this time?

"-EEEEEEEEHEHEHEHEHEEEEEEEEEE! OH, YEAH!"

Ruby had overplayed her one trick on someone who got off on pain, and Yang arched her back in sheer lustful fulfillment as her hands started at her thighs and slid all the way up under her top. To the Masque, the sight of the depraved, masochistic lunatic she'd played her part in creating then spiraled well outside her capacity to control being such a giant sub and baring her neck was probably just a little bit inviting.

"Phew! Sorry, lost my cool there for a sec. Hey sis, between us? There's nothing wrong with being someone's bitch every once in a while, long as they're strong enough to take what they want. Too bad you're the weakest fucking person I've ever met. You're never getting any of this. And one last thing?"

So it was unfortunate that when she came in and made one last effort at imparting one of her childhood lessons with a sword, this happened.

"Don't. Push it."

It was almost kinda funny. Had anyone else been able to put the kind of hurt on her Masque had over the last couple of minutes, she probably really would've laid down for them. Let them collar her, muzzle her and lead her around on a leash if that was what they wanted. Sounded like a good time honestly, and it always came back to her turn sooner or later.

But not her.

Never her.

There it was. Her one line. And now that she knew just how badly it was twisting her up inside?

It was a safe bet that she was never gonna let this bitch forget it.

---

Not long after finding a healthier, more independent method of working out all the pent up excitement all that abject humiliation had roused in her, Yang stood in the center of what really was a super fucking totaled room with a wide stance and hands planted on her hips. She whistled. Shit.

Well, she probably wasn't gonna be getting that deposit back anyway.

She tossed her scroll back onto the bed and turned, only managing a step or two before she caught sight of herself in the mirror. She jolted.

"FUCKER!"

The flicker of color she saw only lasted a second, but her reprisal was immediate as she threw herself forward with a rabid shriek and slammed her fist into the reflective surface to shatter it, an unsteady, berserk rise and fall to her shoulders like she'd just spotted the world's ugliest and most dangerous spider. And was really, really passionate about killing spiders for some reason.

She stalled there for a minute, mind a bit of a single-tone blank in that moment as she stared hard at herself in the broken spiderweb. For a second she thought those eyes looking back hadn't been hers, but no. Still red. No pathetic little slices of grimm bait in sight. It was her imagination. Had to be. Just to be sure though, after a few more seconds of scanning her own inscrutable features she reached out and picked a particularly big shard of mirror away from her handiwork, carefully raising it to her locks.

Who wanted to go around looking like such a fucking weakling, anyway?​

 

[MyrtenRose]

he gates started to open and the people who'd been steadily watching the two quickly began to disperse. Aurora paid it little mind.

"Sorry for all the folks staring at you. it's just...The Boss is a very private person. Nobody here's ever even seen what he looks like. I've always respected that though. To be able to hold so much influence and all from the comfort of your own home. Be careful though, okay? The security here is all automated so it won't react well if you were to go wandering off..." Once they were both inside, the gates snapped shut behind them. "The mansion sure does look nice, huh? The Boss hired some of Mistral's best contractors to make it. Even with all the trouble going on from the killings to the Grimm, it's stood here like a testament to his authority and the gang's power.."

He sheepishly rubbed his head.

"It's not actually where you'll be staying though...I'm the only one the Boss lets inside the mansion..." For Verna's destination, the two moved to the backyard/garden area behind the mansion itself. Situated in the lush field was a modest enough looking home that accommodated potential business partners/lawyers whenever deals or potential legal issues arose. Thus it'd gotten something of a reputation as 'The House where the law and lawless' met. For Aurora most of the time though? it was where he rested his weary head after a long's day work of making sure everyone else was doing their jobs and then reporting back to the Boss.

"It's not as great as the Boss's digs but I don't complain." Stepping up the steps, he pulled a key from his backpocket and unlocked the front doors. Motioning for Vernal to go on ahead inside, he smiled.

"It's a bit modest but probably a lot better than the motel you were staying at! It's got a couch, a bathroom, a rec room, and bedroom.." He giggled. "Between you and me? It's one of the best beds I've ever slept in! Though I imagine you'll wanna get out of those clothes first, huh...? I'll head into town and see if I can get you some if you'll be staying here a while! If you wanna get freshened up though, there should be some spare clothes in the guest closet! They might be a bit big though so you may wanna try em on first!"

As he started to head for the porch, he looked back over his shoulder at her.

"Please don't go snooping around. You're a guest here and you'll be treated accordingly but I'd hate to see any trouble happen..."

Then he smiled warmly and pulled off his cap.

"I'll be back!~"

And to think her whole bumping into this dude had been purposefully done, just so she could sneak a few pokes through his pockets and see what she could nab. Now here she was, a few exchanged words and a couple pushes and punches later, the guy was giving her something of a tour! Like she was some kind of motivated customer looking to buy or rent a place, and not some drunken stranger whose name he still didn't know and who he'd just met in the street like twenty minutes ago. Either this dude was out of this world levels of gullible and foolish, the ultimate mark for any pickpockets or con artists to swindle...or he was up to something on his end. The possibility for the latter had even this drunk of a Vernal making sure to keep a wary eye out for anything suspicious or sketchy, but at the same time, it had been some time since she had gotten to live more comfortably. Might as fucking well take advantage of that.

So it was that roughly twenty minutes later, the same outfit she'd been wearing the whole time since Haven and before had been tossed into the washing machine, with the somewhat cleaner feeling drunk former maiden having gone through to find something else to wear in the meantime. She'd settled on a black tank top and boxers and...not much else. Didn't really see the need honestly. Besides a lot of the stuff there were pretty weird. Not her style.

The guy was right on one thing at least though, it was a pretty nice bed.

Still, she couldn't help thinking and saying out loud the same thing simultaneously.

"The fuck am I doing here?"​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

“Hey don’t give me that tone, I told you I didn’t hate them. That I can’t hate them. I also told you that despite the tough feelings on the issue, they have to be taken down. If fighting them has to be done to do it, then I’ll do it. And I certainly wouldn’t kick you through a wall to defend them from you, were you trying to take one of them down! In fact I specifically told you that pretty much!!! So cool it with that judgement I hear in your voice.” Ilia pointed out.

“It’s complicated.”​

"Hey, hey, I 100% believe you" Yang said with a disarming grin as she pushed herself up to her feet and dusted off her legs before she crossed her arms. "I don't know those people like you do. Not in this world, and not in the other world, except for maybe Blake. Honestly I hadn't even heard the name Sienna until after she was already gone. Whatever you say has to be done about them, I'll believe you, whether that means taking them apart from the ground up in all out war or taking their social calls. When it comes to whichever color Fang, I'm fine with calling you the expert."

she let one hand fall to her hip as she idly waved the other one as she started for the door

"Just, y'know, hope you give me the same benefit of the doubt with the lady who's my teammate, best friend, and most recently captor. I'm a Weixpert. Schnee Scholar? Schnelar? Whatever, not important. C'mon, I think they're expecting us sooner rather than later."

 

[MyrtenRose]

"Hey, hey, I 100% believe you" Yang said with a disarming grin as she pushed herself up to her feet and dusted off her legs before she crossed her arms. "I don't know those people like you do. Not in this world, and not in the other world, except for maybe Blake. Honestly I hadn't even heard the name Sienna until after she was already gone. Whatever you say has to be done about them, I'll believe you, whether that means taking them apart from the ground up in all out war or taking their social calls. When it comes to whichever color Fang, I'm fine with calling you the expert."

she let one hand fall to her hip as she idly waved the other one as she started for the door

"Just, y'know, hope you give me the same benefit of the doubt with the lady who's my teammate, best friend, and most recently captor. I'm a Weixpert. Schnee Scholar? Schnelar? Whatever, not important. C'mon, I think they're expecting us sooner rather than later."

"...Now you're just making me even more confused. You see the reasoning behind taking down Blake and the Shadow Fang full on, but...you hold back on Weiss because you're...what? A Weixpert or whatever??? EXCEPT THAT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE BECAUSE WHO COULD YOU POSSIBLY KNOW BETTER THAN YOURSELF AND YET YOU DON'T SEEM TO BE AT ALL ABOUT TRYING TO BE FRIENDLY WITH THAT DARK VERSION OF YOURSELF?" *beat* "Though I do get it because she seems nuts and that arm was nasty but like...why Weiss but not yourself? Just because one seems friendlier to you, is that it? That she seems less violent? But you know what, actually, if you want to reserve the right to act like that Weiss is somebody you can befriend, that’s your right. That’s your call. I’ll not argue about it further with you. But for me? She, Yang, Blake the ones here are all bad people that need to be taken down, I know that. They were all in that ominous frightening room when I was..." Ilia trailed off, not wanting to go on any further with that as she followed after Yang.​

 

[MidwayLives]

~~Sometime later~~

Sleeping in the alleys hadn't been as fun as it used to be.

Too much on her mind.

How her Yang had just...laughed at her when before she used to do whatever she was told. Not to mention the Grimm that she had growing where her arm used to be. It'd taken multiple shots from her eyes and kept on ticking. Faster than any other Grimm she'd encountered for that matter. Wasn't something the Masque liked, at all. Pushing herself up, she gripped onto the nearest wall and sighed. Going back to the other Yang sounded so nice after what'd she just went through. Kind words, a warm embrace, praises that things would be alright. The mere thought of it sent flutters through the Masque's body.

But what would she do if she went with the other Yang?

Get caught by and interrogated by those Resistance goons? Get tossed in yet another cell?

No....No, she couldn't do that. Not again....

Looking up at the sky, she frowned.

"Should have waited before I left. Kinda in need of a shower..."

Maybe she just ought to bite the bullet and go for it.

See Weiss and just...talk to her...See why she'd decided to apparently leave his dreams and wishes behind. Why she'd...

The Masque gulped and sniffled.

Why she'd killed one of the only people in this messed up world to show the Masque a blip of kindness.

Come to think of it.....? She'd never been to Weiss's house before!

~~~



The side she'd shown against her otherself and even against her own Yang were that of a feral animal. One that when pushed to it's breaking points would bare it's teeth and do it's damndest to make sure that if you were going to kill it? It'd leave something behind to make sure you never forgot it. In a way the Masque had already done that with her Yang, no matter how much the brusier tried to deny it or blow it off.

"Heh."

That thought alone brought a smile to her on this gloomy night.

Still, growing up as the Bandit King's daughter hadn't been easy. Privilege and respect was something you earned. Way of the cutthroats and that, y'know. She fought for every scrap of dignity she could muster up and hang onto like her life depended on it. Strutting around the camp like she owned it was only a feeling that came later but the Masque never openly flaunted it. It was just another tool of her repertoire. Being cruel was the name of the game. Bandits didn't thrive on kindness and politeness. Those were customs for a society different from the one that the Masque had been born and bred in.

It's also why she preferred to be called the Masque rather than Ruby.

It was a sign, a symbol that she had stepped out from the shadow of just being the 'Boss's daughter.' She was a criminal all her own. Whole communities talked about her and made up rumors about who she was, her motives, even what she was. But in the road to get there, she'd played a part in turning her Yang into what she was today.

Did she regret it?

Yes.

Did she admit she was cruel?

Yes.

Would she go back and change it?

No.

The past was the past. What's done was done and the Masque wasn't perfect herself by any means. She desired affection. Whether it be raw carnal desires overtaking her and having her throw herself at anyone who so much as smiled at her and offered her a warm embrace or just being appreciated. It was affection she sought and craved. The pinnacle of what drove the Red Masque beyond whatever rumors and myths were out there in the general public's mind. She'd even heard some people wonder if there were different people behind the mask.

...Come to think of it, she hadn't worn the mask in a while.

Looking at her stump, she scoffed.

"Haven't had an arm in a while either.."

Ok.

Time to focus.

'hi weiss. omw. '

She blitzed through, trying to knock over or incapacitate any guards whom she deemed too close to her as she moved. Didn't want to kill them and didn't want to expend energy fighting them. Better to just knock them out and keep them from calling reinforcements. She wasn't a pushover by any means, even with only one arm and a weapon she wasn't even an expert in. But fighting a whole bunch of Atlesian security and whomever else? It just wasn't in the cards tonight. Once she got to the nearest window, the Masque hyped herself up mentally and leaped.

*CRASH*

"Ugh!!! Aghhhhh!!"

The glass shards raked against her aura and she felt a couple of objects clatter onto her. If the lights were on, she'd have seen that it was kitchen implements. As they weren't, she couldn't and instead fumbled for her scroll to use the microphone option.

'In kitchen. I think. Come down.~'

She sent a selfie too with an attached message.

'Not your men's blood. Mine. DW!!'

​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Tyrian took a moment of that necessary silence and realized what he'd said.

"Oh! Uh, well, actually...It's not really like that. It's just...she and I..."

Ugh, he was hardly the most eloquent of people when he wasn't nursing a horrible headache.

"Her and I used to be in the same faunus fight club??? For a while anyway, these days she uh..."

He never knew a good way to put this.

"She 'entertains' people..."
​

Neopolitan's eyes were suddenly as wide awake as they could be. She stared blankly ahead, trying in vain to do the requisite emotional turnaround that Tyrian going from dropping some grade A girltalk on her to mentioning that he was in a racially motivated fight club demanded. By the time she managed to even form a thought on the subject and began to turn her head with a look of horrified sympathy, he was already going down an entirely different track, not even looking at her as he ruffled her hair. She huffed and flopped back down, accepting the fact that she wasn't exactly the most well equipped friend to have a conversation with him about it.

It definitely raised a hell of a lot of questions though.

As Neo emerged from the pillows, Tyrian reached down to rustle her already messy hair.

"Sorry, couldn't resist."

A soft chuckle escaped his lips before he took his gaze away from Neo.

"Mercury said not to involve you guys so I won't. But I think I got so caught up in trying to hunt down the Shadow Fang, I was losing track of things around me. Partying with you guys may have been just what I needed to screw my head back on..." Well, let's not get crazy here.

"It's...nice to not be looking for a fight every other second. Something I haven't really felt in a while."

He looked down at Neo again.

"You kinda sat by yourself last night. I didn't really get to talk to you much...Sorry about that. Smashing Mercury through uhh....a table kinda took priority." He joked but the melancholy in his expression showed that he had more on his mind. "Are you happy doing...whatever it is you guys are doing here?"

She gave a lazy flap of one her hands as he mentioned putting Mercury through a table, clearly not all that concerned with the prospect of Mercury getting put through a table or two in a fight she was... preeetty sure he started. Last night was honestly a little hazy in her head, outside of the fact that the emotions she thought she'd been getting a better handle on the last few weeks had come gurgling back up to the surface with a vengeance, and that she had been absolutely devastated at one point to remember knights couldn't move in straight lines. She rolled Tyrian's question over a few times in her brain with her feet idly kicking behind her.

Happy?

It was something to do. It made sure her skills weren't going to rust over the last month. It was nice to use her skills to help people, especially in a city as messed up as Mistral was right now. But had it made her happy? It had made her less sad, sure, but....

She wasn't sure there was a point where she'd been happy she'd felt since she left Beacon.

Tyrian got a shrug in response, Neo staring off into space with a slightly glazed look in her eye, not wholly dissimilar to the one she had for the whole week long car ride down to the Branwen camp. Then she rolled backwards half way just to roll back forwards and shoved Tyrian off the bed, waving him towards the door with a yawn so she could get ready for the day

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

"...Now you're just making me even more confused. You see the reasoning behind taking down Blake and the Shadow Fang full on, but...you hold back on Weiss because you're...what? A Weixpert or whatever??? EXCEPT THAT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE BECAUSE WHO COULD YOU POSSIBLY KNOW BETTER THAN YOURSELF AND YET YOU DON'T SEEM TO BE AT ALL ABOUT TRYING TO BE FRIENDLY WITH THAT DARK VERSION OF YOURSELF?" *beat* "Though I do get it because she seems nuts and that arm was nasty but like...why Weiss but not yourself? Just because one seems friendlier to you, is that it? That she seems less violent? But you know what, actually, if you want to reserve the right to act like that Weiss is somebody you can befriend, that’s your right. That’s your call. I’ll not argue about it further with you. But for me? She, Yang, Blake the ones here are all bad people that need to be taken down, I know that. They were all in that ominous frightening room when I was..." Ilia trailed off, not wanting to go on any further with that as she followed after Yang.​

Yang sighed and shook her head as they moved down the hall "Nope. Still not getting it." pressed the button on the elevator before she leaned on the wall next to it with a calm frown.

"Its not that I think that the people doing bad things don't need to be stopped. The very first thing I did to the Blake from here was shoot her and help Eve knock her out. But you're coming at this from the wrong angle. This world isn't 'ours but opposite', its 'ours but different.'" She looked down at the floor with a flicker of pain. "Blake's... she's a zealot here. All the stuff our Blake hated about the White Fang must've stuck in her head way worse than it did back home. She's totally bought into this whole culty bullshit that humans gotta be wiped out if the world's ever gonna get better, and a conversation isn't gonna change her mind. I'm gonna be her enemy no matter what, especially as a human. and the other me... she..."

She wanted to believe that there was no way she could've end up like that. Even if she got the childhood from hell treatment. That it would've just made her stronger sooner, or that she would've ran away at the first chance she got and never looked back. That even if she didn't, it would've never gotten so bad that she'd end up like that murder happy freakazoid. She liked to think that was the case, even if this seemed like pretty clear cut proof that wasn't the case.

She rubbed her arm as she continued. "...she's broken, somehow. I think we both saw that. There was something wrong in that girl's head even before she got some flesh eating monster grafted to her." she muttered before she glanced back up and crossed her arms, started to talk, then held up a finger and turned around to face the corner.

"Weiss is different. I'm sure you're the last person I have to tell that Jacques Schnee was a monster, but he wasn't just one to the faunus. Unlike me and Blake, it looks like a lot of Weiss' life was pretty similar to the one I know, except it took her even longer to get out from under his thumb. She's spent her whole life fighting monsters like Ozpin. FIghting her isn't going to solve anything for anyone, not for her, not for us, and not for the resistance, not when we've all got the same goal in mind. Its just going to push her further and further into the mindset that she's the only one she can trust."

The elevator dinged, and Yang spun around and gave Ilia a wide shrug as she spun around and went back into the elevator. "Or at least, that's my take on it. You can bust into her house and start zapping again if you think it'll really change anything, and I won't be there to kick you through any walls."

 

[Gus Gungus]

'hi weiss. omw. '

The dull, vibrating tone of her scroll's reply came at instantaneous speeds the likes of which were only achievable by paranoid control freak gremlins who didn't sleep and got random, overly familiar text messages from unidentified numbers.

'Excuse me???? Who is this????????'

Texts didn't have volumes, but somehow this one sounded... loud.

She blitzed through, trying to knock over or incapacitate any guards whom she deemed too close to her as she moved. Didn't want to kill them and didn't want to expend energy fighting them. Better to just knock them out and keep them from calling reinforcements. She wasn't a pushover by any means, even with only one arm and a weapon she wasn't even an expert in. But fighting a whole bunch of Atlesian security and whomever else? It just wasn't in the cards tonight. Once she got to the nearest window, the Masque hyped herself up mentally and leaped.

*CRASH*

"Ugh!!! Aghhhhh!!"

The glass shards raked against her aura and she felt a couple of objects clatter onto her. If the lights were on, she'd have seen that it was kitchen implements. As they weren't, she couldn't and instead fumbled for her scroll to use the microphone option.

'In kitchen. I think. Come down.~'

She sent a selfie too with an attached message.

'Not your men's blood. Mine. DW!!'

As she made her way across the sprawling manor grounds towards the expansive palace that sat in its center, Ruby found the number of guards whose patrol routes she actually crossed sparse. Strangely so. It was as if they'd been told to clear a path. As she flung herself into Weiss's kitchen with an awful racket that set a distant throng of dogs howling somewhere else in the mansion, the immediate chill and ensuing quiet were almost eerie as she fished out her scroll again, the room pitch black save for the soft glow it emitted.

That was when she felt it. A cold, slender ghost of a touch registering in the most peripheral corner of her aura's sensory warning level, the impression it left too faint to be anything other than someone who had mastered fine aura control to the point they could conceal their presence almost completely. Anyone less competent than the Masque wouldn't have been able to sense anything at all, but she could tell almost right away.

She wasn't alone.

There was someone else present. And what was more, the aura signature felt... close. Extremely close, come to think of it. It was as if... It almost felt like it was right behind...



"HEY!"

The pure, unadulterated outrage Weiss channeled into her booming shrill at having to suffer the insult of yet another nuisance breaking into her home at unacceptable hours and causing property damage was worthy of merit, it had to be said.

If the power of her lungs alone didn't fling Ozpin's killer all the way down to the other end of the room, Weiss made sure to carry out the job with one of the many other tools in her arsenal as a glyph ricocheted Masque across the span of the kitchen like a pinball into the waiting trappings of five others, one around the wrist, each ankle, and the neck for good measure. They suspended her there, immaterial yet perfectly potent in their ability to hold someone, and a far tinier one glowed over the switch by the door to raise the lights in the room and reveal the councilwoman standing there in all her incensed, nightgown-wearing glory.

The half-prepared fixings of an extremely intricate sandwich were laid out neatly on the counter behind her, as was her scroll.

"Do you realize there are at least six different unaffiliated groups I'm expecting to make an attempt on my life in the coming weeks??? You showed up on every camera. You triggered every alarm! You even gave me prior warning! This would've been the most uncoordinated, unprofessional, embarrassing assassination effort I'd ever SEEN!"

She raised an eyebrow, sleek and elegantly sculpted down to the last hair.

"...It's not. Why in the world are you here?"

Considering the fact that Weiss had instantly shut down literally every attempt the Red Masque ever made at engaging in conversation with her before now, the curiosity in her voice was entirely genuine. She was curious. Sue her. She understood perfectly well that some of the more... feral... among Ozpin's acolytes had a bit of a tendency for going rogue, or at least pursuing their own twisted agendas in whatever way, and anything with even the slightest potential to be turned against the man in some way was a thread worthy of pulling on.

Maybe he should've thought of that when he chose to work with crazy people.​

 

[MidwayLives]

She gave a lazy flap of one her hands as he mentioned putting Mercury through a table, clearly not all that concerned with the prospect of Mercury getting put through a table or two in a fight she was... preeetty sure he started. Last night was honestly a little hazy in her head, outside of the fact that the emotions she thought she'd been getting a better handle on the last few weeks had come gurgling back up to the surface with a vengeance, and that she had been absolutely devastated at one point to remember knights couldn't move in straight lines. She rolled Tyrian's question over a few times in her brain with her feet idly kicking behind her.

Happy?

It was something to do. It made sure her skills weren't going to rust over the last month. It was nice to use her skills to help people, especially in a city as messed up as Mistral was right now. But had it made her happy? It had made her less sad, sure, but....

She wasn't sure there was a point where she'd been happy she'd felt since she left Beacon.

Tyrian got a shrug in response, Neo staring off into space with a slightly glazed look in her eye, not wholly dissimilar to the one she had for the whole week long car ride down to the Branwen camp.

"...Neo?"

He started to reach out in concern after seeing the look in her eyes.

Maybe it was a question he shouldn't have asked.

Maybe it was because the answer had been so obvious.

Things had changed since Roman died and they weren't gonna get better just over a couple of drinks.
​

she rolled backwards half way just to roll back forwards and shoved Tyrian off the bed, waving him towards the door with a yawn so she could get ready for the day

"Agh!"

Tyrian fell off the bed with much gusto, his arms flailing and tail swinging from side to side like a wet noodle.

He laid on the floor for a good minute or two before pulling himself back up with a bit of a wobble to his stance. Ugh, this was why he didn't want to take Trifa here. Places like this lured you in with good drinks and then by the next day? You were wishing you were dead.

Looking back over at Neo, he frowned.

He was emotional sure. His display after 'losing' Cinder was a surefire sign of that. But he'd never been the best kind of person to compartmentalize or handle those feelings in the right way. It'd always been about the next fight. Who would be the asshole Tyrian would take down next.

Fox probably hadn't lost any sleep thinking about Tyrian trying to track them down. The bastard probably thought of Tyrian seeking vengeance in the same way you would a rabid dog that needed to clearly be put down. 'Aw, what a poor beast. Maybe someone should put it out of it's misery.' Fox could have killed Trifa and him that day and they didn't.

It fucking pissed Tyrian off something fierce.

To be mocked like that. It....It....Made him feel small in a way he hadn't felt since he'd been a boy.

Or since he'd met someone like Carneilan.

But meeting what remained of Team MTEN? It was...nice.

"Push me off the bed, eh...?" Tyrian's tail swayed before he turned and scooped up Neo in a hug. Embraced as the ice cream was, Tyrian turned his head downwards to meet her eyes.

"Hey, uh, sorry to drop all that heavy stuff on you. I get more talkative after I drink. Who knew?? Thanks for listening-hey...did you do something with your hair?" He found himself increasingly at a loss of things to say while staring at Neo's face even with that messed up hair. "Welp, off you go."

He set Neo back down onto the bed with a plop

"I'm not all that well put together myself but if you ever need me....I'll be around." He smiled as he turned towards the door. Okay, so maybe he'd wrecked some tables and smashed a few glasses so what??? That pillow was one of the worst he'd ever laid upon in his life! This place was totally getting a bad review on Yelp!

'Huh....Weird looking pink haired kid...' Tyrian thought idly as he caught a load of Aurora at the counter.

'Huh, weird looking scorpion....Scorpion???'

Aurora turned his attention to Tyrian who matched him and over the next two or so minutes felt increasingly uncomfortable with the stare he was getting.

And then Aurora broke it off.

"....Okay then." The faunus murmured as he tried to find somewhere to sit down. "Ugh, Trifa's probably so pissed off..." ​

 

[MidwayLives]

There was someone else present. And what was more, the aura signature felt... close. Extremely close, come to think of it. It was as if... It almost felt like it was right behind...

"HEY!"

The pure, unadulterated outrage Weiss channeled into her booming shrill at having to suffer the insult of yet another nuisance breaking into her home at unacceptable hours and causing property damage was worthy of merit, it had to be said.

"EEEEEEEEK!!!"

Just felt like it was warranted, y'know?

Turning to face Weiss, the Masque was quick to try and explain herself.

"Weiss! Heh, it's so funny to see you! Right where I landed, oh the fun we have! Hahahaha-"

The Masque really hoped Weiss didn't kill her.
​

If the power of her lungs alone didn't fling Ozpin's killer all the way down to the other end of the room, Weiss made sure to carry out the job with one of the many other tools in her arsenal as a glyph ricocheted Masque across the span of the kitchen like a pinball into the waiting trappings of five others, one around the wrist, each ankle, and the neck for good measure. They suspended her there, immaterial yet perfectly potent in their ability to hold someone, and a far tinier one glowed over the switch by the door to raise the lights in the room and reveal the councilwoman standing there in all her incensed, nightgown-wearing glory.

The half-prepared fixings of an extremely intricate sandwich were laid out neatly on the counter behind her, as was her scroll.

"weeeeEEEEEEEE!~-"

Well, her night had been terrible but at least now she got carted through the air-and ohp, now she was caught.

Dang, Weiss was so thorough, she couldn't even waggle her empty sleeve like she enjoyed doing.

Now that the lights were on...

"Oh my gosh you're so pretty and beautiful and..."

OK! That wasn't why you were here, Masque. At least not entirely why.

"Ahem...well..."
​

"Do you realize there are at least six different unaffiliated groups I'm expecting to make an attempt on my life in the coming weeks??? You showed up on every camera. You triggered every alarm! You even gave me prior warning! This would've been the most uncoordinated, unprofessional, embarrassing assassination effort I'd ever SEEN!"

She couldn't exactly count on her fingers since Weiss's glyphs were holding her neck and everything else in place.

"The Shadow Fang....Those Resistance guys....That's not a whole lot is it...??"

At the mention of assassination, the Masque gasped.

"Nonono! I didn't come here to kill you! I don't even think I could!"

She tried in vain to wave her sleeve.

"I'm down an arm!"

She coughed.

"have been for a couple of months actually..."
​

"...It's not. Why in the world are you here?"

Considering the fact that Weiss had instantly shut down literally every attempt the Red Masque ever made at engaging in conversation with her before now, the curiosity in her voice was entirely genuine. She was curious. Sue her. She understood perfectly well that some of the more... feral... among Ozpin's acolytes had a bit of a tendency for going rogue, or at least pursuing their own twisted agendas in whatever way, and anything with even the slightest potential to be turned against the man in some way was a thread worthy of pulling on.

Maybe he should've thought of that when he chose to work with crazy people.

The above gif was an accurate representation of how quickly the Masque's smile faded.

"I....I got into a really bad fight with my Yang. I didn't wanna stay with her anymore..." The Masque sniffled. "She's just too strong for me to stop her from doing what she wants these days. But before that I ran into the other world's Yang and we played Go Fish! I did pretty badly at it so I think she cheated but the point is-"

The Masque mewled.

"I....I just don't know what to do, Weiss. I know you probably think of me as some low life bandit garbage and you're not far off. You're just the only other person besides the other Yang that I could talk to....Sorry about the window by the way..." ​

 

[MyrtenRose]

Yang sighed and shook her head as they moved down the hall "Nope. Still not getting it." pressed the button on the elevator before she leaned on the wall next to it with a calm frown.

"Its not that I think that the people doing bad things don't need to be stopped. The very first thing I did to the Blake from here was shoot her and help Eve knock her out. But you're coming at this from the wrong angle. This world isn't 'ours but opposite', its 'ours but different.'" She looked down at the floor with a flicker of pain. "Blake's... she's a zealot here. All the stuff our Blake hated about the White Fang must've stuck in her head way worse than it did back home. She's totally bought into this whole culty bullshit that humans gotta be wiped out if the world's ever gonna get better, and a conversation isn't gonna change her mind. I'm gonna be her enemy no matter what, especially as a human. and the other me... she..."

She wanted to believe that there was no way she could've end up like that. Even if she got the childhood from hell treatment. That it would've just made her stronger sooner, or that she would've ran away at the first chance she got and never looked back. That even if she didn't, it would've never gotten so bad that she'd end up like that murder happy freakazoid. She liked to think that was the case, even if this seemed like pretty clear cut proof that wasn't the case.

She rubbed her arm as she continued. "...she's broken, somehow. I think we both saw that. There was something wrong in that girl's head even before she got some flesh eating monster grafted to her." she muttered before she glanced back up and crossed her arms, started to talk, then held up a finger and turned around to face the corner.

"Weiss is different. I'm sure you're the last person I have to tell that Jacques Schnee was a monster, but he wasn't just one to the faunus. Unlike me and Blake, it looks like a lot of Weiss' life was pretty similar to the one I know, except it took her even longer to get out from under his thumb. She's spent her whole life fighting monsters like Ozpin. FIghting her isn't going to solve anything for anyone, not for her, not for us, and not for the resistance, not when we've all got the same goal in mind. Its just going to push her further and further into the mindset that she's the only one she can trust."

The elevator dinged, and Yang spun around and gave Ilia a wide shrug as she spun around and went back into the elevator. "Or at least, that's my take on it. You can bust into her house and start zapping again if you think it'll really change anything, and I won't be there to kick you through any walls."

“I still think you’re wrong.” Ilia commented with a sad shake of her head. “I think after seeing this Blake, after seeing this version of yourself...that you’re really hoping that the Weiss here is not so far removed from the Weiss you know back home. You’re so hopeful in fact, that I think you’re seeing what you want to see, instead of seeing what actually is. Just so you can have something familiar to hold on to that makes sense in this messed up world. And that Weiss realized that, and is taking advantage of it. If there’s one thing Schnees excel at the most, it’s PR. That was true for Jacques, and I’m confident it’s just as true for his daughter.” Ilia nervously rubbed her hand before continuing.

“Fighting against men like Ozpin her whole life? You don’t fight against monsters like Ozpin by taking a seat at their table for who knows how long. You say you helped knock out Blake, and I believe you. You probably put her in a cell after Beacon. Yet she is free, right now. Care to hazard a guess who got her out? I know the answer, I was there.” Ilia hesitated for a second. “Where I was doing pretty much the same thing, it should be said. I was trying to get Blake free, but that was when I thought about this Blake in a similar way you’re thinking about Weiss. But I digress. Point is, Weiss set Blake free and everything Blake’s done since then, including blowing up Haven’s CCT and bringing down world communication, stabbing me, and probably killing a lot of people directly by her own hand and indirectly after by causing panic that brought grimm...that’s all, to some degree, also in Weiss’s hands because of that prison break.” Ilia released a heavy bitter sigh.

“So, I guess in the end I’ll just have to say I disagree with your take. Though I doubt either of us will be swayed by the other with just words here, so I’ll just say...you do what you think you have to do, and I’ll do the same. That’s all any of us can do.”​

 

[Gus Gungus]

Just felt like it was warranted, y'know?

Turning to face Weiss, the Masque was quick to try and explain herself.

"Weiss! Heh, it's so funny to see you! Right where I landed, oh the fun we have! Hahahaha-"

The Masque really hoped Weiss didn't kill her.

She didn't. Yet.

"Oh my gosh you're so pretty and beautiful and..."

She knew she was both those things.

She couldn't exactly count on her fingers since Weiss's glyphs were holding her neck and everything else in place.

"The Shadow Fang....Those Resistance guys....That's not a whole lot is it...??"

Her lips said nothing, but her eyes were perfectly forthcoming as to who the one asking the questions here was.

At the mention of assassination, the Masque gasped.

"Nonono! I didn't come here to kill you! I don't even think I could!"

She tried in vain to wave her sleeve.

"I'm down an arm!"

She coughed.

"have been for a couple of months actually..."

Why exactly was that her problem? What was she now, a charity for the disabled?

The above gif was an accurate representation of how quickly the Masque's smile faded.

"I....I got into a really bad fight with my Yang. I didn't wanna stay with her anymore..." The Masque sniffled. "She's just too strong for me to stop her from doing what she wants these days. But before that I ran into the other world's Yang and we played Go Fish! I did pretty badly at it so I think she cheated but the point is-"

The Masque mewled.

"I....I just don't know what to do, Weiss. I know you probably think of me as some low life bandit garbage and you're not far off. You're just the only other person besides the other Yang that I could talk to....Sorry about the window by the way..."

"...Oh."

Crippling loneliness, then. That old chestnut. The tone she ended up settling on when she finally deigned to speak again after her period of scrutinizing silence left Masque with multiple Weiss degree burns was... perplexed. She made note of several things throughout the woman's string of nervous babbling; One, Ozpin had clearly been growing impatient with her for some time then, to have dispatched his two most rabid dogs to her city long enough ago that they were obviously weren't abreast of the latest developments. That wasn't overly enlightening, though. She already knew as much from her encounter with the Grimm Reaper.

Two, something she supposed she already knew on some level: Yang (her Yang, not the fiend from this world) was completely and utterly under the boot of her own sentimentality. Perhaps it was something she'd allowed to rub off on her enough to cloud her view of things, but really she'd first registered it when she saw the girl actively spurn and turn on her own allies that night in her defense. Apparently, regardless of depravity, morality, or what they'd done, any face familiar enough to trigger the appropriate chemical response in Yang's brain was deserving of the same compassion and understanding she'd spoiled Weiss with for weeks. It was all just a show. She still didn't truly respect Weiss, her goals, her ideals. Merely saw her as another broken bird with clipped wings who'd strayed from the righteous path and could be tempted back from the shadows through patience and affection and warmth.

That was... disappointing. If not altogether surprising. Weiss had reasons aplenty for choosing to cut that particular string loose, after all. She knew that to achieve her dream, she was going to have to go to places Yang's kind heart and gentle spirit could never follow, nor approve of. That much had never been in question, and she was never going to allow herself to be swayed. Not when she had already come this far.

But humans were social creatures, at the end of the day. Yet another advantage they possessed over the pestilence known as Grimm and their master; they could use that closeness to their advantage, to help each other endure, thrive, and prosper. Those bonds and the feelings they created were their entire core motivation to protect what was theirs, to survive. Weiss wasn't deluded enough to have lost sight of that, even if she firmly believed most humans were far too petty and selfish to do anything to resist the trappings of greed, spite, and prejudice that inevitably grew in their shadows too. That was what she held herself apart from, why she felt humanity had led itself to a period of decadence and cruelty by its leaders' refusal to resist their own base temptations, and why a heart of stone and firm guiding hand of calculated reason was the only thing that could right the course at this point, regardless of whose kind hearts and gentle spirits disagreed with her methods towards achieving it. Oh, she was well aware that everyone much preferred to live in a fantasy world where that wasn't the case, full of platitudes such as 'it isn't necessary', 'there's a better way', 'you're going too far'. Weiss's own brain had brought to bear every possible variation of every single one of those arguments against itself in the years since she'd decided to pursue this path, and none of them survived the cold, harsh winds of logic. Things weren't acceptable. There wasn't a better way. It only took a glance around at the state of things and their utter lack of progress toward fixing any of it for anyone not deluding themselves with sentiment to see that. At best, Weiss considered those people naive; At worst, completely negligent.

Still, the fact remained: humans could only perform at their best when they experienced that social connection, at least every once in a while. Weiss's discipline and will could only retain their full integrity if she allowed herself a reminder every now and then, one of the type of person she sought to create this new world for, to ensure she never lost sight of them no matter how deeply into the nest of insects and vipers she lowered herself to secure it; the ones whose cruelty and lack of compassion were nothing but boons in the current paradigm. The rest of humanity? They deserved better. Yang deserved better, regardless of what world she originated from, better than to have a mother who abandoned her and a lifelong trauma inflicted by a vindictive man who didn't have any reason to harm her in the slightest. Who had done it for no reason other than to hurt someone else. Sentiment was a tricky thing. It would become a threat to her resolve if she let it, but in terms of executing her vision that perspective was key.

And truthfully, she supposed not even the most hardened or disciplined were immune to the burden of loneliness.

Which circled back to the third thing she took note of during Ruby's chattering. Which was that somehow, over the course of Weiss refusing to ever acknowledge, engage, or otherwise interact with her in any way, this girl had become completely infatuated with her. She wasn't too put out by it or anything. It was a common enough occurrence. On a surface level at least, people liked a woman who seemed hard to reach. They liked poise. And in all honesty, Weiss really did consider herself pretty and beautiful. So it was something she'd simply learned to anticipate.

And how to use.

The glyphs all vanished, and Weiss turned away to look back over the sandwich makings with a prim air about her.

"In that case, would you care for something to eat? I have... everything. And I don't 'think' anything of you. I've never had a reason to speak with you. Don't assume to know what's going on in my head, dear; very few people can."

The scrutiny and demanding bluntness had all disappeared from her voice, leaving only the breezily cordial, if formal, tones of an esteemed businesswoman receiving a colleague in their home.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"MERCURY, GET OUT OF THE BATHROOM!"​

"BLUWWARAARRFGHFHHG-"​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

“I still think you’re wrong.” Ilia commented with a sad shake of her head. “I think after seeing this Blake, after seeing this version of yourself...that you’re really hoping that the Weiss here is not so far removed from the Weiss you know back home. You’re so hopeful in fact, that I think you’re seeing what you want to see, instead of seeing what actually is. Just so you can have something familiar to hold on to that makes sense in this messed up world. And that Weiss realized that, and is taking advantage of it. If there’s one thing Schnees excel at the most, it’s PR. That was true for Jacques, and I’m confident it’s just as true for his daughter.” Ilia nervously rubbed her hand before continuing.

“Fighting against men like Ozpin her whole life? You don’t fight against monsters like Ozpin by taking a seat at their table for who knows how long. You say you helped knock out Blake, and I believe you. You probably put her in a cell after Beacon. Yet she is free, right now. Care to hazard a guess who got her out? I know the answer, I was there.” Ilia hesitated for a second. “Where I was doing pretty much the same thing, it should be said. I was trying to get Blake free, but that was when I thought about this Blake in a similar way you’re thinking about Weiss. But I digress. Point is, Weiss set Blake free and everything Blake’s done since then, including blowing up Haven’s CCT and bringing down world communication, stabbing me, and probably killing a lot of people directly by her own hand and indirectly after by causing panic that brought grimm...that’s all, to some degree, also in Weiss’s hands because of that prison break.” Ilia released a heavy bitter sigh.

“So, I guess in the end I’ll just have to say I disagree with your take. Though I doubt either of us will be swayed by the other with just words here, so I’ll just say...you do what you think you have to do, and I’ll do the same. That’s all any of us can do.”​

"Yep, agree to disagree!" Yang said cheerfully as she pressed the button on the elevator to take them down to the lobby

....

At approximately floor thirty two she added without quite opening her mouth "Even though you're totally wrong and I'm right"

She stuck her tongue out briefly at the faunus before she settled against the handbars in the back of the elevator as she watched the numbers ticking down. "So, what is this mystery mode of movement you've got hidden away, I'm curious. Ooh, is a motorcycle? If it is can I drive?!" She asked with a hopeful grin as she got herself hyped up on exactly zero evidence.

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

"...Neo?"

He started to reach out in concern after seeing the look in her eyes.

Maybe it was a question he shouldn't have asked.

Maybe it was because the answer had been so obvious.

Things had changed since Roman died and they weren't gonna get better just over a couple of drinks.


"Agh!"

Tyrian fell off the bed with much gusto, his arms flailing and tail swinging from side to side like a wet noodle.

He laid on the floor for a good minute or two before pulling himself back up with a bit of a wobble to his stance. Ugh, this was why he didn't want to take Trifa here. Places like this lured you in with good drinks and then by the next day? You were wishing you were dead.

Looking back over at Neo, he frowned.

He was emotional sure. His display after 'losing' Cinder was a surefire sign of that. But he'd never been the best kind of person to compartmentalize or handle those feelings in the right way. It'd always been about the next fight. Who would be the asshole Tyrian would take down next.

Fox probably hadn't lost any sleep thinking about Tyrian trying to track them down. The bastard probably thought of Tyrian seeking vengeance in the same way you would a rabid dog that needed to clearly be put down. 'Aw, what a poor beast. Maybe someone should put it out of it's misery.' Fox could have killed Trifa and him that day and they didn't.

It fucking pissed Tyrian off something fierce.

To be mocked like that. It....It....Made him feel small in a way he hadn't felt since he'd been a boy.

Or since he'd met someone like Carneilan.

But meeting what remained of Team MTEN? It was...nice.

"Push me off the bed, eh...?" Tyrian's tail swayed before he turned and scooped up Neo in a hug. Embraced as the ice cream was, Tyrian turned his head downwards to meet her eyes.

"Hey, uh, sorry to drop all that heavy stuff on you. I get more talkative after I drink. Who knew?? Thanks for listening-hey...did you do something with your hair?" He found himself increasingly at a loss of things to say while staring at Neo's face even with that messed up hair. "Welp, off you go."

He set Neo back down onto the bed with a plop

"I'm not all that well put together myself but if you ever need me....I'll be around." He smiled as he turned towards the door. Okay, so maybe he'd wrecked some tables and smashed a few glasses so what??? That pillow was one of the worst he'd ever laid upon in his life! This place was totally getting a bad review on Yelp!

'Huh....Weird looking pink haired kid...' Tyrian thought idly as he caught a load of Aurora at the counter.

'Huh, weird looking scorpion....Scorpion???'

Aurora turned his attention to Tyrian who matched him and over the next two or so minutes felt increasingly uncomfortable with the stare he was getting.

And then Aurora broke it off.

"....Okay then." The faunus murmured as he tried to find somewhere to sit down. "Ugh, Trifa's probably so pissed off..." ​

The bartender eyed the pair as they had their sudden staredown with a dull frown, because this particular patron getting into it with that particular patron was quite literally the last thing she needed, especially today. Her eyes flickered to the door, just waiting for their recent visitor to make their way inside again, but it seemed they were taking their sweet damn time this morning. Just like the bosses in the back were.

She gave a long sigh and glowered at Tyrian as she jerked her head towards the door. "Mr. Callows. If you don't have business or if you ain't spendin lien here, I'mma have to ask you to skedaddle. This ain't freeloader country." She gave a pair of flicks with her fingers towards the same door before she turned towards Aurora with an excellent customer service smile materializing from the void on her face.

"I apologize Mr. Beige, what was your question again? Gifts for a lady friend? I s'ppose it depends on the girl sir. Some like boquets, some like bullets. I'd be happy to lend some advice if you could tell me bit more 'bout what she's like."

 

[MyrtenRose]

At approximately floor thirty two she added without quite opening her mouth "Even though you're totally wrong and I'm right"

She rolled her eyes.​

She stuck her tongue out briefly at the faunus

​

And again.​

"So, what is this mystery mode of movement you've got hidden away, I'm curious. Ooh, is a motorcycle? If it is can I drive?!" She asked with a hopeful grin as she got herself hyped up on exactly zero evidence.

“No but yes you pretty much have to drive, I gotta keep my eyes shut, remember? Don’t want them to discover this place.”​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

She rolled her eyes.



And again.



“No but yes you pretty much have to drive, I gotta keep my eyes shut, remember? Don’t want them to discover this place.”​

"right, right..." Yang said, definitely not devastated at her theory being tossed aside. as she stared forlornly at the doors. "So............ what is it?"

 

[Gus Gungus]

"right, right..." Yang said, definitely not devastated at her theory being tossed aside. as she stared forlornly at the doors. "So............ what is it?"

There was still a really really fucked up all black Bumblebee up the road a ways from Schnee Manor that hadn't been impounded yet​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"right, right..." Yang said, definitely not devastated at her theory being tossed aside. as she stared forlornly at the doors. "So............ what is it?"

"Just....a truck....." Ilia responded, having no clue why that really mattered to Yang. The chameleon's words were proven to be true once the doors had opened and Ilia led the way out all the way to said ride and revealed it to indeed be just a plain looking truck.

"So......shall we go?"​