Yang was good to her word. We made it back to Beacon grounds in the span of about twenty-five minutes, max. The trip wasn't particularly smooth, but I'd call it graceful. The road was bumpy and pitted, but Yang knew what she was doing. Tried to keep things as consistent as possible. Helped mitigate my discomfort enough that it wasn't as mind-numbing. Helped me focus more on staying awake as we went. I was afraid if I conked out again, I wouldn't be waking up for a few hours, minimum.
Considering we were flying down the road, that could become a permanent condition.
We made it back in one relative piece at least. If the Fang were following us, they were doing a damn fine job of it. Yang tooled her bike down the back road near the weapons workshop, and pulled us into the parking lot. She killed the engine, and we both got off.
"The way through the school is locked." Yang said, motioning around the side of the building "We can cut around to the dorms from there…" She gave me a curious look "I can't tell, have you actually been shot? It's too dark to see."
"Several times actually." I said, looking at the door to the workshop. I knew the way to the infirmary from there, even if they wouldn't be open. The only question was if I needed to pick the lock and get a few supplies. But given my condition, I realized it would be easier said than done. I could make do with what was at the dorms. "Don't worry, it feels worse than it looks."
Yang gave me a once over, but said nothing. Just looking at me leery-eyed.
We walked, or stumbled, around the buildings back to the dorms. It took a few more minutes, but it at least seemed like we weren't going to run into any trouble. Almost everyone seemed to be asleep at that hour, as they should've been. Part of me wished I could do the same. But that wasn't going to happen until I addressed my lingering issues. As we made our way back, I could feel myself slowing down. Whatever adrenaline that'd worked its way back into my system was basically gone, again. The cumulative exhaustion wasn't helping. I remember almost tripping over my own feet at one point, and only narrowly catching myself. Which earned another concerned look from Yang.
After slowly stumbling back to the dorms, we climbed the stairs to our floor and were in the homestretch.
Which is when I actually tripped and hit the ground. Wasn't exactly a quiet landing either. Like a barbell slipping out of your hand and hitting the floor.
Immediately Yang turned to look at me again, concern evident on her face. As she moved back to help me though, I raised a hand and waved her off. Though I may have been a mess that was tripping over his own two feet, I could at least make it back to the dorm.
She didn't really seem to buy that, but I picked myself up all the same.
As we reached our room door, it opened ahead of us, and I was shown the sight of a half-asleep Ruby. Barely awake, but clearly waiting for us.
She sobered as soon as she saw me.
"Oh my gosh- Six!" She started.
Immediately, I shushed her. "Quiet, middle of the night. Inside, now."
Ruby got the gist, and stepped out of the way, letting Yang and me through before shutting the door behind us. Ruby was still dressed in her pajamas. Different pair from normal, black pants and shirt, pink dots, buttons, and silver trim on her shirt. Oddly formal for her. Formal for pajamas anyway.
The rest of our room was lit by dim lamp light. It cast everything in a warm, sleepy yellow glow. Zwei was resting on my cot. Weiss and Blake, likely woken up by my call, were sitting on their respective bunks. They both looked tired and barely awake. My sudden arrival did little to remedy the bags and wrinkles under their eyes. But they certainly tried to come to some form of attention as Ruby shut the door behind me and Yang.
"There you are." Weiss groused, stifling a yawn "Do you have any idea what time it is?"
"Mm." I grunted, struggling to shoulder out of my duster. With a degree of discomfort, I managed to slip it off. Letting it hit the floor in a holey heap.
"It's the literal middle of the night." Weiss continued "When we said we wanted to help, that was preferably before you got yourself into a mess."
"Yep." I answered, unbelting my armor and tilting forward, letting it clatter to the floor, my back creaking gratefully as the weight fell off of me.
"Then there's… Wait, are you ignoring me?" Weiss snipped. "Don't ignore me, I'm trying to criticize you!"
"Uh huh." I agreed, stripping off my under shirt.
"And will you stop stripping!?" she squeaked.
"… no." I answered. "Keep your voice down, people are trying to sleep."
Weiss gave me an exasperated look, and I went over to my cot. Seating myself beside Zwei, I dug out my box of tricks and fished out what I was going to need. Namely a doctor's bag. I tried to keep one on hand for situations like this, but trying to carry it with me everywhere was difficult. Most importantly though, I pulled out one of my precious jars of moonshine. It was going to be sacrificial here, but it was at least for a good cause. Not the least of which was its ability as a painkiller, though the last thing I needed before surgery was a blood thinner.
I fished through my pocket and pulled out the mangled wad of lead that was the original bullet. Setting it nearby, I'd use it for reference of how much might be left in me. Under normal circumstances, I could've left it in until I was actually in a position to address it. Which could've been a long ways off. As long as a bullet isn't causing trouble, you could get away with leaving it alone. However, I was partly glad I'd taken the initiative in the case. By the time I'd have realized it had fragmented, things would've gotten a lot worse.
My teammates drew a little closer, and began to loom over me as I prepped for surgery. Ruby in particular was eyeing the bullet.
"Is… Is that the bullet?" She asked, almost transfixed.
"Part of it." I said, sucking back some of my moonshine "…The rest of it's still stuck in my arm."
"How did you get it out?" Weiss asked, looking very off-put.
"Stabbed myself with a bowie knife until it came out one of the holes." I answered.
"Y-you what!?" Weiss screeched.
"Snowflake, please, keep your voice down." I repeated.
"What happened?" Blake asked, alert and as awake as could be expected.
"A fuckin' trap." I said "Long story, I'll tell you it later. Suffice to say, someone got the drop on me and got lucky."
"And there's more of it in your arm still?" Yang asked, before taking a deep breath. "… Ok, we need to get you to the nurse."
"No." I said, setting my surgery equipment into the moonshine to sterilize, then swabbing down my arm. "I'll be fine, I know what I'm doing."
It took Weiss a moment, looking at the situation, before she connected the dots ahead of the others. When she next spoke, her voice was full of dawning horror. "… Y-you're not seriously planning to take it out yourself, are you?"
"I know what I'm doing." I reiterated, prepping my tourniquet. "I'm also far more equipped to handle it than most people."
The color drained from my teammates' faces.
After tying off my arm once again, I slipped a medical brace over my arm. It wasn't the best fit for the job, but it worked as an improvised retractor in this case. Used it as such in the past. The moonshine hadn't kicked in yet, but it was going to before long. I'd rather get to work while my hand and mind were still relatively sharp. Pulling a scalpel out of the jar, I gave it a quick shake to get the excess liquor off. Then, carefully, I looked over my arm to find the previous incision. With luck, the shrapnel wouldn't be too far off from it, and I could work it out.
Carefully, I set the tip of the surgical blade against my arm.
"Stop!" Weiss shrieked. "Are you crazy!?"
"…" I looked up at Weiss. "Have you not been paying attention?"
I sank the tip of the scalpel back into my arm. Felt it cut deep as I once again opened my arm up. Felt blood beginning to roll, slowly, down my arm again. I tried my best to keep the muscle relaxed, make it less painful.
Weiss's jaw hit the floor.
Ruby, Blake, and Yang physically recoiled as I set to work. Blake in particular seemed the most affected. Sharpened senses, I guess. Meant the smell of blood hit her harder and more quickly.
Soon as I cut a space big enough to work in, I set the scalpel aside. With any luck, I wouldn't need to cut myself any deeper. Using the brace as a fixture, I began to spread the incision open enough for me to get a better look. Looking at your raw muscles isn't a pleasant experience, but neither was getting shot. Reaching back towards my jar, I grabbed a pair of forceps.
"I think I'm going to be sick," Ruby whined, shifting restlessly.
"Wait until I've at least got my arm taken care of," I grunted, beginning to probe with the forceps. Unfortunately, as I did, I began to realize that even with the improved lighting, it was still too dim for me to get a proper look of things. It was better than the alley, but considering I wasn't in one anymore, I knew I could do better. Meaning, unfortunately, I was going to need help. I looked over to my teammates briefly, before coming to a decision. "… Weiss, grab your scroll and come over here."
"Huh?" Weiss grunted.
"There's not enough light." I said. "If I'm going to do this I need to be able to see what I'm doing. Take your scroll and hold it so I can see what I'm doing."
"… What?" Weiss repeated.
I took a deep breath, and calmly repeated myself. "I have a fucking bullet in my arm still, and I can't see it. Hold the damn light so I can get it out before I bleed to death."
Weiss, however, continued to stand there, frozen. Then after a moment, she managed to knock herself out of her stupor and start moving. She walked to her bunk and picked up her scroll. She then opened it, turned on a light, and trotted back over to me. Cautiously, she approached my side, looking over my wound. As she did, I could see her face turning green.
"O-oh." Weis shuddered.
"You don't have to look at it, just keep the light steady so I can see what I'm doing." I repeated
Weiss muttered to herself, sounded more like a whine, but kept the light steady while I began to probe the wound. Blood began to weep from the muscle tissue as I dug, looking for discolored tissue. Signs of where the extra shrapnel could be sitting. After a moment or so, with the better light, I noticed a dark wafer of material poking out of the muscle fibers.
'There's one.'
I caught the tip of it with the forceps and gently tweezed and coaxed it out of place. As I did, I noticed Weiss, having found some resolve, was watching with horrified fascination. Trying very hard to keep from fidgeting. Funny the things people start to do, once they get past their own squeamishness.
With a little more discomfort, and a bit of blood, I pulled the small piece of metal from the muscle. I then removed it from my wound and set it with the rest of the bullet. I could see where it had sheared off from, had an idea of how much might be left yet.
Frankly, too much.
"Is… that it?" Weiss gagged, eyes still tracing my handiwork.
"No." I said. "There's still some left. Gotta go back in."
Weiss grimaced but said nothing. By this point Ruby, Blake, and Yang had turned away. They knew better than to keep watching if it was uncomfortable. Though judging by the tension about them, it was cold comfort.
With a stiffening hand, I went back in, continuing to probe for shrapnel. I can't say for how long I kept at it. Might've only been ten minutes, could've been an hour. But it was a long and painful process, even having quaffed some moonshine. The arm I'd tied off had long gone numb by the time I was done. But I'd managed to fish out two decently sized pieces, along with some smaller pieces, thoroughly staining my hands, and my cot, with blood in the process. If there was more of it in me, I couldn't see it. Unless it started causing me problems, I wasn't concerned with removing it either. Wouldn't be the first bits of metal still stick in me.
"… Alright, you can move the light." I said. "Think I'm done."
Weiss nodded, gratefully, and stepped back. "Ok… now what are you going to do?" She asked, looking pale and queasy "You're going to need to get… that taken care of. Otherwise you'll die."
I nodded, looking down at my arm. I could feel my body getting sluggish. "Not my finest work, but better than some." Keeping the tourniquet in place, I fished a stimpack out of my supplies. "… Wanna see something cool?"
Weiss looked at me in confusion, and my teammates turned to look at me. Clearly worried and stressed by the situation.
Unceremoniously, I stuck my arm with the hypodermic and let the medicine do its work. As it did, I released the retractors and slid the brace off. For a brief moment, I got to see the muscle fibers stitch and knit themselves back into place. Like threads being weaved into a bolt of cloth. The skin of my arm seaming itself back together like the teeth of a zipper. Blood and plasma briefly wept out of the space, before drying and flaking off like an old scab. Leaving behind fresh scar tissue.
As I returned my equipment to the doctor's bag, I noticed the looks that my teammates were giving me.
"Cool, ey?" I asked, voice a bit strained.
"…That was freaky." Ruby said, voice numb and a bit distant.
I nodded to that, using a damp rag to begin cleaning the blood off my arm. There were a lot of things I needed to do. Get my equipment sterilized and properly put away. Clean up the blood that'd spilled out. Organize my equipment for repairs.
The first thing I did, was unbind the tourniquet from my arm, let the blood flow back into it. Then I…
I…
...
I awoke in darkness. My body aching and screaming at me from every nerve ending. Hollowed with pain whose source was both everywhere and nowhere. Impossible to pin to any one point on my body.
But I could start with the tingling in my arm, as something wormed up it.
Thoughts and memories flashed through my mind like lightning in a desert storm. There and gone within a breath. The Villa, the bell tower, and the Madre. Flashing gold and vibrant as the memories sequenced.
Then the Ghosts. How they hunted me through the streets like an animal. Like a child trapped in a nightmare.
Where the monster won.
How I had missed that trap, I didn't know. Had the Ghost people set a new one when I wasn't looking? Had I just somehow missed it the first time I'd gone through? That happened sometimes. It hadn't happened then. The blast had thrown me, left my body numb and barely responsive. Opening fire on them had been my last desperate bid against them.
It didn't work.
It flashed to the front of my mind, what happened. How the Ghost People fell on me in a black tide. The crushing force of them colliding with me. The bite of their weapons and pounding of their fists. How I disappeared beneath a rasping ocean, struggling to breathe. I lost consciousness amidst the darkness and pain. Felt as they tried to tear me apart. That's where it should have ended. Don't know why it didn't.
Domino had said that the Ghost people don't always kill. That, sometimes, they like to drag people away. Take them to god knows where, to do god knows what.
Well, after they got through with beating me, I got to know too.
Everything after the beatings was muddy and murky, barely bubbling to the surface. Flashes of pain and spiteful twists of the senses. Only the vaguest notions of motion to show I wasn't going to lay dead against the wall. The creak of old wood and the stink of mold as I was put down on something. The stinging twinge in both my arms, as something bit at them. But none of them were enough to pull me back to the surface.
Only after the tide had long ebbed away, did I finally come up for air. No idea of how long I'd been under, where I'd been carried, or how I was still alive.
But the IV catheter in my arm had me asking questions. Especially as my bleary vision traced it to a length of surgical tubing. Then back to a jar of vaguely green liquid.
With an adrenaline jolt, I shot upright. Strangling back a yelp and struggling to keep it down as pain emboldened it. My eyes quickly searched the room, trying to pick out anything identifying. Figure out where I was. Small things had memories bubbling to the surface. Debris on the floor, a bit of graffiti on the way looking like a frown-y face… a skeleton on the floor beside me.
I was back in the Campanas del Sol. A side room I had to pass through to get to the bell tower.
I was… alive. Barely, looking at my Pip-boy. The Ghost people had beaten me within an inch of my life.
Closer still, one of my arms was bleeding. The one without the catheter had been nicked. A steady trail of bright crimson trailing down it to the floor. Whatever had been intended, they needed to bleed me dry first. I was hard pressed to stop it too. Moving was next to impossible. Maybe it was being beaten near to death, or whatever it was they were pumping into me. But my body struggled to respond to my commands. It was only with great effort and concentration I was able to pull the catheter out and, painfully, fall off the table I was laid on.
With a grimace, I reached for a stimpack, and came to the realization that I was buck naked. Perhaps it made sense that they'd do that, as much sense as anything the Ghost People did. They probably hadn't been expecting me to re-awaken after whatever they'd done to me. My clothes, and equipment, were tossed in a heap to the far corner of the room. Pushing off the pain in me, I dragged myself over to the pile and fished a stimpack out of it. A pair actually. One for my arm specifically, to properly shut the gash they'd put in me. The other pushed back the damage everything else had done.
I stayed on the ground for several moments, waiting for my wounds to close and the damage to pass. Gave me a chance to catch my breath, examine what the Ghost People had tried to do to me. Looking at my arm, I could almost trace the veins where the fluid had traveled. Even as blood and stim-fluid flooded back into its place, something lingered. If I didn't have bigger problems to deal with, I would've kept a better eye on it.
Forcing back the pain and sudden vertigo, I pulled my clothes back on and checked my weapons. Everything that happened after the Ghosts People caught me was a blur. I could remember gunfire, the smell of smoke and the thunder of explosions. Checking my weapons, I could see I'd burned through the last of my .308 ammo. The cylinder of my Police Pistol was loaded with dead rounds, so I'd given everything I had to keep them at arm's length.
Keeping my head on a swivel, I reloaded the cylinder and put myself back to rights. Before heading out, I grabbed a jar of the green liquid. Not my highest priority, but if I survived, I'd want Keely or someone from the Followers to take a look at it. Whatever was in it couldn't have been good for me.
With aching steps, I moved back out into the Campanas Courtyard. Even with the stimpack, I was only barely at the point where I could keep on my feet. Made me wish I'd thought to keep some Med-X on hand. Either that or a bottle of something strong and brown. I traced quickly, and cautiously over the courtyard, half expecting to find the Ghost People still milling about. But to my relief, and worry, the courtyard was empty. Good news: I didn't see any Ghost People.
Bad News: I didn't see any Ghost People.
How long had I been out? Couldn't have been long, but long enough that they'd vanished?
In either case, I took it for what it was worth and stepped back out into the crimson Cloud. Carefully watching for any signs of movement. Listening for the tell-tale rasp amidst the rumble of distant thunder and the siren…
The Siren.
My head turned towards the bell-tower. The siren I'd heard blaring through the Madre was fading. I could still just barely hear it.
The Gala was almost finished. With it, my chance to get into the Madre.
If I missed it, I didn't imagine Elijah would see much point in keeping me around. There wouldn't be any second chances at making it happen either. Not by myself.
Throwing caution to the wind, I took off towards the stairs a second time, keeping my ears trained. Knowing that, with as badly hurt as I was, hopefully if they caught me I'd just die instead. I wasn't going to chance… whatever they had in store for me.
I took the stairs down two at a time, easily re-tracing my path, now that I wasn't being chased. Down the stairs, to the side wall, into the store. As I came to the next set of stairs again, I found the Vending Machine I'd used as a barricade. Haplessly tossed to one side and broken into about a dozen pieces. Some of them were even trailing up the stairs.
Climbing to the second floor, I found myself stuck once more in the loop I'd been originally trapped in. Off in the distance, I could hear the drone of the siren fading.
Tick-tock.
I leapt back down to street level, and faced with the accursed split in the path once more, I ran right. With the threat of the Ghost people replaced with the threat of being too late there was no room for mistakes. Needed to pay attention to the ones I'd already made. I followed the direction my compass pointed me, racing down a long stretch of straight alley. At the far end of it, spilling into a cramped crossroads, was a small patch of Cloud. I could remember having barreled through it, vaguely, during my initial mad sprint. I barreled through it a second time and found myself facing out onto the crossroads.
Directly across from me, hidden under the eve of the overhanging terrace, was a hole in the wall. Easily missed, if you came from the wrong way, or moved too quickly.
My compass was pointing right towards it.
Once more cursing my own inability to slow down and keep calm, I bolted through it. Passing through a familiar looking store-room and climbing another set of stairs. Leading to a cramped apartment, and a door.
It opened onto a balcony of Salida del Sol.
I got the briefest sense of relief. Lasting all of a Bighorner fart in a dust devil.
The siren was all but gone.
Taking the stairs down from the balcony, I ran through the cramped streets of Salida del Sol. As I did, trickling from somewhere nearby, I could hear the crackle and pop of old-speakers. Big band music trickling from them in a song I could remember from the Mojave, but couldn't put my finger on. An Instrumental piece. Brass horns blaring and strings whining.
I wasn't out of time yet.
My feet pounded the cobblestone streets. The way guided by the compass on my wrists, and the return of street signs, pointing the way to the Fountain. All the while the music blared from speakers I couldn't see, or were too far to affect me. I passed through several crossroads, turning where directed.
Then the doorway separating the Fountain from Salida del Sol loomed golden in the crimson gloom. Down the far end of an alley.
I was almost free.
Then the rasping returned.
A knife spear sailed past my leg and buried itself into the stone.
I didn't even waste a moment to turn around and see who threw it. Didn't matter.
I ran for the door, my heart suddenly thundering in my ears.
The Ghost People were on me again.
I bolted down the alley and crashed through the doorway, stumbling but managing to catch myself. I could hear the tramp of foot-falls behind me.
A lot of them. Enough that I could hear them tearing the door to Salida del Sol off the hinges as they pursued me. Gave me a reason to not slow down, avoid tripping. The rasp of their breathing coalescing into a reverberating buzz. Echoing and bouncing off the close walls of the alleys.
I raced ahead, knowing how close they were behind me.
As if there wasn't enough incentive, suddenly, my collar began to beep. Either Elijah decided he was done waiting, or the speakers were getting closer.
Cutting corners and rebounding off of walls, I tore my way down the alleys. The closer we got to the Fountain, the less I needed the street signs to point the way. The whole way, my heart was pounding out of my chest. Felt like it was going to explode if so much as one more thing went wrong.
But, somehow, it didn't. I rounded the last corner and faced the final straight to the Fountain. Without a moment's hesitation, I darted down it, coming out into the fountain plaza. I could hear the rasping growing distant behind me. The Ghost People feared the holograms, even the non-security ones. Vera was still standing proudly over the Fountain, a glowing beacon of protection.
As I came within view of the Madre's gates, my collar finally stopped beeping. Meaning Elijah finally got the message. But the music was coming to an end. Not wasting a second, I ran for the gates of the Madre, and found them unlocked. With a heave, I pulled the centuries-old gate open, found myself staring at the long path up to the Madre, far on the mesa overhead. As I looked up at it, I had a moment to stop and breathe.
I was finally out of the Villa.
Weeks of being trapped there, finally over.
Only to trade it for whatever lay ahead.
Before I could start up the steps to the Madre, I heard the rasping return. Still behind me, beyond the gate.
I forced myself to calm down, then turned and looked to the Villa behind me.
The Ghost People were there.
Dozens, maybe even a hundred of them. Mask lenses glowing like green eyes in the gloom of the Madre. Their breath rasping in a chorus. How they mustered the courage to get past the Vera hologram, I don't know. But they were there. Looking at me.
Waiting.
I half expected them to throw a hail of spear at me through the bars of the gate. Just further punctuate how poorly things had gone. But it never happened. All of them simply stood there, watching me. Completely still and calm.
At that moment, I was reminded.
They'd all been human. Once.
As terrified as they made me, as dangerous as they were, as alien as they could be. They had been once.
Even if they weren't anymore.
I brought my fingers to my security helmet in a two-fingered salute, then turned and kept running, climbing the hill.
The Madre was waiting.
…
When I came back to, the first thing I noticed was how dry my mouth was, and the way my head throbbed. Common signs of a hangover.
They were quickly followed, and drowned-out, however, by the pain shooting through the rest of me.
With great reluctance, I forced my eyes open. Accepting the searing light beyond, and the way it drove screws into my brain. It took a moment or two for my vision to clear, before I started to get a picture of things.
I was still in the dorm room, and it was… morning, I had to guess. Couldn't say what time until I checked the clock, but I couldn't have conked out for that long. I was laid out rather stiffly on my cot. Like they'd been preparing to put me into a pine box. Arms at my sides, everything straight. Blanket tucked underneath me even. Can't tell if that was someone's attempt to make me comfortable or not. I was still wearing my cargo pants and boots, but could feel the cloth of the blanket against my chest. That or my natural insulation had learned to weave itself.
Blinking the sleep out of my eyes, I looked around, sending an aching jolt up my arm, and a wave of bitter soreness over the rest of me. A familiar feeling. Hangovers are a hell of a thing, and in my experience, there were only two ways to get them: hard drinking, and fighting. Fighting being the worst of the two, because at least I'd have been drunk the other way. Dehydration's a bitch.
The bruises and beatings were non-negotiable. Drunk or not, I was bound to do something that caused me physical harm.
As the sleep vacated my eyes, the room came into focus. It was… better than I could remember it being. Still in disarray, like not much effort had gone into cleaning up after my arrival. My doctor bag was still open on the floor next to my cot, and there was still some amount of blood on the floor. But it looked like someone had at least attempted to try and make the mess a bit smaller.
Beside that fact, I could see I was alone.
Well, mostly. Zwei had apparently deemed it an appropriate time to cuddle-up next to me. Painfully, and with just a smidge of trepidation, I managed to wiggle my arms free, and give him a scratch. He raised his head into it and gave a wide mouthed yawn. It was even more of a trick to roll out of my cot without disturbing him. Despite the protest my body put up, I managed it and got to my feet. Took me a moment after that to find my balance, and had to steady myself on a wall.
"… Girls?" I asked, looking around the deserted room, confirming I was indeed alone. Then started a mental play-back of everything that happened.
Investigated the Fang.
Got my ass beat and escaped.
Performed self-surgery.
Got my ass-beat again.
Lost the sole of my boot.
Had Yang get me.
Performed a more successful round of surgery.
Everything after that was a blank. I must have passed out. Figures that once all of the adrenaline was gone everything would…
I craned my head towards the window. My eyes stung as the morning sunlight lanced my retinas. Immediately, I pulled my Pip-boy up and checked the time.
9:30 AM.
I'd missed the first two classes of the day.
"…Son of a fuck-knuckle." I growled. Now I was going to have to tack missing class onto the list as well.
If there was any bright side, it was that the third period would be starting shortly. If I got my ass in gear, I could make it with minimal trouble. Just figures they wouldn't bother to try and get me up for class. How… Thoughtful of them, actually. I suppose the appropriate reaction to someone needing rest is to let them. Guess they earned double points for not dragging me to the nurse, since I did pass out on them. Probably would have if I didn't wake up.
I struggled to get myself dressed, hard to do when nothing wants to cooperate, then stumbled out the door. By some miracle, I managed to get down the first flight of stairs, then immediately rolled down the next two, before saying 'fuck it', and throwing myself down the last. If I wasn't allowed to go down them normally, I'd at least handle it of my own accord.
After falling down the stairs, I began my mad dash across campus. Last time something like this happened, I at least managed to make it to class on time. Might have missed the first couple classes, but I could at least make this one on time. Even as I was sucking wind and feeling like my bones were gelatin. My attempts to weave my way past students had all the grace of a drunk pack-brahmin. Pretty sure I wound up slamming a guy and girl into a locker when I stumbled at one point. Their fault for being so close together to begin with.
It took a few minutes to get to the classroom, one of the lecture halls. If I had my days lined up, that made the class I was about to barrel into Math. Algebra, I think. All about finding angles and figuring out missing numbers. Good for when you need to build a house, or know how high to arc your shot.
I crashed into the door and sent it slamming back on its hinges. Had to catch myself on the frame to keep from doubling over. Even then I was completely out of breath.
My crash landing immediately caught the attention of everyone else currently in class. Including my teammates, who I could see in our usual spot on the third row.
From the front of the room, near the chalk boards and podium, Professor Oobleck twitched irritably.
"Ah, Mister Six." Oobleck spoke "How nice of you to join us, I was just about to mark you absent."
Except when he said it, it sounded like: "AhmisterSixhowniceofyoutojoinusIwasjustabouttomarkyouabsent."
Clearly one of us had gotten their morning cuppa, at least.
"Alarm's broken." I huffed, pushing off the frame. I didn't bother with anything snider than that. My breath was better saved for climbing the stairs. Wisely, anyone currently in my way got out of it, and I took my seat next to my teammates. Who were giving looks that sat somewhere between concerned, confused, and consternated.
Rather than disrupt their present formation, I sat to one end, next to Yang. Whose concern was probably the most thinly veiled. Next to Ruby's, anyway. Yang seemed to at least know the importance of trying to appear miffed.
Oobleck watched me, as I climbed up to my seat. He waited until I was seated quietly before he went back to discussing Mathematical theorems and formulae. Which was honestly an impressive display of self-control, given he tied with Ruby for most hyper-active person in the room. Quite the accomplishment for him, really.
Relieved to be at rest once more, my body eased back into my seat, while my mind listlessly observed., trying to pay attention to what Oobleck was saying. He was talking about parabolas, finding their vertexes or something. Before I could even begin to get an idea of what he was saying, he'd already scrawled numbers onto the board and was scratching out an equation. Determined to cram everything in wholesale regardless of if anyone was getting it. Best I could do was just try and keep marginal notes as he went.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
As I was making them though, my scroll vibrated.
Despite the potential for trouble it would earn me, I pulled it out, keeping it beneath the desk.
There was a new text-message.
(391414113151418151212): ["R u ok?"]
It took me a moment to recognize the number as Ruby's. After a moment, I looked down our line up and saw her head bowed, seemingly looking towards the desk. But I could make out a faint glow, just out of sight.
After a pause, another message popped up.
(391414113151418151212): ["We didnt know If u'd wake up."]
I gave it a moment, then answered.
(914010169311125): ["So you were just going to leave me comatose until you got back from class?"]
(391414113151418151212): ["we were goin to chek on u after Oobleck was don"]
(391414113151418151212): ["done"]
(914010169311125): ["Well at least you didn't take me to the Nurse. That would've been a mess and a half."]
(251920791812): ["We should have done that, because at least then you would have stayed in bed!"]
It took me a moment of staring at the new string of numbers to realize Ruby hadn't sent that. Upon further examination, despite having only seen it once or twice, I recognized Weiss's Scroll ID.
(914010169311125): ["Is that you Weiss?"]
(1618914351919): ["I'm pretty sure that's her number."]
'the fuck?'
(914010169311125): ["Who're you?"]
(1618914351919): ["Bake."]
(1618914351919): ["Bake."]
I heard Blake sigh heavily, then start tapping on her Scroll really hard.
(1618914351919): ["BLAKE."]
(914010169311125): ["Got it Bake, thanks."]
(192114418171514): ["Port wasn't happy you missed class, apparently you're the only one who tries to answer his questions :p [https://forums.spacebattles.com/styles/sbforums/smilies/tongue.gif]"]
I looked at my Scroll once more in confusion. Rather than look away from it though, I took a wild guess.
(914010169311125): ["Yang?"]
(192114418171514): ["Got it in one ;D"]
(914010169311125): ["How are you all reading this?"]
(251920791812): ["We made a group chat after you passed out last night."]
(914010169311125): ["You can do that? I've only ever dealt with messages that had to be individually sent."]
(1618914351919): ["Well we thought it'd be better the next time you got your butt handed to you :/"]
(914010169311125): ["Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence."]
(391414113151418151212): ["She didn mean it lik that]
'ok, this is getting annoying.'
I fiddled with my Scroll for a moment, trying to figure out how I could save their numbers. That way I wouldn't have to try and remember them every time someone else spoke… wrote?
I double tapped their numbers and got the option to save their numbers to the contacts in my Scroll's directory. Even got the option to give them each a name, which I did.
As I finished inputting them, a new message popped up, proving it worked.
(Snowflake): ["Well, what do you have to say for yourself?"]
(914010169311125): ["say what?"]
(Snowflake): ["About what happened last night. How you literally called us in the middle of the night, then came back and cut yourself open? We still need to finish cleaning!"]
"… Are you serious right now?" I muttered, glancing towards Weiss. Possibly to keep up appearances, she kept looking straight ahead. Humorously though, I could see each of my teammates was under lit by the glow of their Scroll's beneath the desktop. Then my Scroll buzzed again, and I looked down.
(TinyFlowers): ["Wut even happnd last nite? Evrything was fine when u left."]
(MsSunshine): ["Aside from the fact you seemed kinda tired anyway :p [https://forums.spacebattles.com/styles/sbforums/smilies/tongue.gif]"]
(914010169311125): ["shit, that's what. Now's not the place to talk about it."]
(PrincessKitten): ["Am I alowed to say I was riht?"]
(PrincessKitten): ["riht"]
(PrincessKitten): ["riht"]
(PrincessKitten): ["riht"]
Blake audibly sighed through her nose.
(914010169311125): ["since that's not a word, sure."]
I did my best to ignore my Scroll after that. At least for a little while. Tried to pay more attention to Oobleck's lesson, no small feat given how he spat information. But ultimately a fruitful one. He might have a different focus than Port, but that made it no less important. I could see, in my periphery, that my teammates were still tapping away at their Scrolls, but attempting the same as me. Causing my Scroll to buzz as they continue messaging me.
Eventually though, my hand started going numb from the buzzing and I finally looked back down to it.
(TinyFlowers): ["Six, srsly, we need 2 talk abt last nite."]
(914010169311125): ["can it wait until we're back in the fucking dorms? When we're not surrounded by prying eyes?"]
A moment passed, and I noticed the girls put their Scrolls away.
Except for Weiss, who waited a little bit longer than the rest.
My Scroll buzzed again.
(Snowflake): ["… We're still angry, and I don't like the fact that you have a point."]
…
The rest of class blurred by after I got there. Partly from me fighting to stay awake, partly from my own crumbling coherency. After letting us out, I can vaguely recall shambling with my teammates and JNPR over to the weapons workshop. Everyone seemed intent to keep working on their equipment, and I could remember trying to as well. Unfortunately, my concentration was basically shot. Even as I tried to maintain a coherent idea of what I needed to get done, I would struggle to actually accomplish it. The things I needed to do were important: making more Dust rounds, repairing my armor, and figuring out what to do with my Cattle Prod. If memory serves, I'd started on armor repairs. Patching holes in my coat and hammering the dings from the armor plates. Think the only thing I really managed to accomplish was pricking myself and mashing my fingers once or twice. If nothing else it helped to keep me awake, a nice little jolt to my system.
But, after it passed, we were off to sparring. Though we kept CFVY waiting, as I found myself getting sluggish. Something which only got worse, as we got into the thick of things.
Naturally, not good in a fight.
We were in the side-room of the arena, and I was deep in concentration. Trying to keep up with the punches coming my way. Only to wind up eating a boot instead, when Velvet would slip into a kick.
I swear, no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't get a read on the way Velvet fought. It was like trying to follow footprints in a sandstorm. One wrong step and you'd lose them and trip over a rock.
Or have the rock catch you in the teeth, as the case was.
The two of us began circling each other. I kept my guard up and gauged the distance, using it to catch my breath. I could see from the way Velvet was breathing she was doing the same. There was an equally wary motion to her steps, her eyes scanning over me.
From the corner of the room, I could see her teammates and mine resting, they'd taken a pause in their sparring.
"What's the matter kid?" Coco called. "You're normally a lot more fiery than this."
"It's hot out." I answered. "Cut me some slack."
"Sounds like an excuse." Coco smirked. "Kick him again Vel!"
Hearing the bell, Velvet sprang at me, sweeping her leading leg into a kick at my mid-section. My arm fell to block it, and her other leg spun after it in a butterfly kick, aimed for my head. Narrowly, my other arm went to catch it, and I felt it sting through my training gear.
Then Velvet's other foot touched down and she spun into a hook, effortlessly arcing around my guard and catching me in the side of the head.
My Aura shattered, and I tumbled to a knee, my arms and legs feeling like lead and chest heaving. Head felt hot and fuzzy, like radio static was bouncing between my ears, screwing with my sight. I tried to blink it away, but it wasn't working.
As I struggled, Velvet slowly dropped her stance, and looked at me curiously. "Are you alright?"
"All sunshine and rainbows." I answered stiffly. "Just need to catch my breath."
"Are you sure about that kid?" Coco called. "You seem a bit off today."
"I'll be fine, just had a rough morning." I said, steadying my breathing. Velvet didn't look particularly convinced, and briefly looked towards her teammates. Perhaps just a little concerned.
With a smidgen of effort, I pushed myself back to my feet and resisted the urge to let myself slump. Damn shoulders were starting to twinge, once they went it'd be my knees next. I dusted myself off and stood straight, rolling my shoulder to work the twinge out, really only made it worse. My mind cleared and I focused on the warmth in my chest. Began to draw on it, pulled my aura back to full. I knew it wouldn't be easy, or effortless. Repeated enough times, I knew it would wear on your stamina. I must've been standing there longer than I thought I was, because then Ruby cut in.
"Maybe we should stop for the day." She said, likely trying to give me an out. "You don't seem so good."
"I'll be fine." I answered, my voice noticeably thin, even to me.
I focused, trying to draw the warmth out of my chest. Spread it through the rest of me. It worked fine at first, moving smoothly, but with great effort. Without warning however, some unseen resistance began to push back against it. Like I was trying to pull against some kind of vacuum.
My breathing got a little unsteady as I began trying to fight against it. But the more I pushed against it, the harder it pushed back. With each passing second, it only grew stronger.
Without warning, I felt lightning arc up my back, and everything fell out of focus.
I don't recall what happened, there's a several second gap in my memory. One moment, I was standing upright, pushing against an invisible wall. The next, I was face first on the ground with a dull pain rolling from the front to the back of my head. Judging from experience, that'd probably been the thing to hit first.
My first instinct was to try and pick myself up again. Unfortunately, my arms picked that moment to stop paying attention, and made moving a non-option.
Around me I could hear the shuffle of footsteps and voices, and carefully craned my head to look. I could see CFVY and my teammates looking down on me in concern. I tried to say "I'm fine", but the little of it I could hear came out sounding like "M'fern."
They were saying something, but it was stuck behind a tinnitus whine. I tried to pick myself up again, and could feel a little control returning. Not enough to make a difference, but it was a start.
Without warning, I was suddenly hauled off of the ground. Seized by Yatsuhashi and pulled upright, my feet touched the ground, and it took a conscious effort to lock my legs in place. If I didn't I'd have crumbled back to the floor. After he let go of me, I had to consciously try to keep my balance.
Crowded slightly around me, my teammates were checking me over. By all accounts, I'd just collapsed.
"Are you okay?" Ruby asked.
"fern." I answered, then relaxed my jaw. "Fine- 'm fine."
"Yeah, I ain't buying that kid." Coco answered, taking a few steps back, and giving Fox a quick look. "What happened?"
"Dunno." I answered. "Went to tap my aura again and I hit the floor. Felt like I was pushing against a wall."
Fox's copper brow knit, and he cocked his head slightly.
Coco paused a moment, looked at Fox in confusion, then back to me. "You managed to hit the wall?"
"I… huh, guess that's where the figure of speech comes from." I said. "Means I hit the point where I couldn't go any further, right?"
"Yeah." Coco answered. "But it's not easy to push your aura to it, you'd need to be completely exhausted to even come close to hitting it."
My teammates looked at Coco, then back to me vindictively.
"… I have the right to remain silent." I answered.
"Seriously kid?" Coco asked again.
"The past couple of days have been busy for me." I answered. "Haven't had much time to rest."
"Rookie mistake." Yatsu rumbled, moving back to his teammates. "Everyone's got limits."
"Not me. I'm Unstoppable." I said blearily, only realizing after a collective eye-roll that my internal monologue was shorted-out.
"Right." Coco said. "… Well, I think we can call it early today, kid. You try to push any harder, we'll probably have to take you to the Nurse's Office."
I wanted to argue it, but then had a brief wonder about why it was the nurse's office rather than the Doctor's office. There was a doctor on staff, so he'd take precedent over the nurse. Which made me wonder about how much budget was allocated for him to be on the school's payroll. Then how much use he actually saw because of aura and-
By the time I threw myself off that particular train of thought, I realized Coco had a point.
"Yeah, ok." I said, gently lowering myself back to the floor. Unbidden, I took a seat, then laid back on the hard concrete.
Everyone looked down at me in utter confusion.
"What are you doing?" Weiss asked.
"Resting, Snowflake." I said, putting my hands behind my head. "Doctor's orders."
"I'm a doctor now?" Coco asked.
"No, I am, and stubborn though I may be, I'm not gonna argue I need a minute to breathe." I looked towards Coco, pausing for a moment. "… Did you ever get that back brace I told you about?"
Smirks wormed their way onto her teammate's faces.
"Yeah, no." Coco said coolly. "Think your diagnosis is a bit off, I feel fine."
"Whatever you say." I sniped back. "… Just a heads up though, Scoliosis affects the legs too. If it becomes a problem, you'll start losing feeling in them, which'll make getting around in those lady-stilts of yours a bit harder."
Coco's teammates gave me a beseeching look. Like they were silently asking if I really needed to go there.
Coco, however, was suddenly paying a lot more attention.
Funny, hit where it hurts and people listen.
For a moment, I thought I was going to be the only one on the ground and look like a complete weirdo. Then Ruby decided to join me and sat cross-legged nearby. She was followed fairly quickly by Yang, Blake, and Weiss. Once they were down, CFVY followed suit. Why stand around waiting for class to end if we weren't going to fight?
We settled in and started talking. Or, rather, some people started talking, and others listened. Ruby was speaking rather animatedly to Fox about his arm blades, who had the decency to nod politely. Yang and Blake, mostly Yang, started talking with Yatsu, before flexing an arm at him. He, in turn, flexed his arm and earned a nod of approval. Weiss sat primly near me, along with Coco and Velvet. Coco was fiddling with her Scroll. I'm not a peeper, don't think I am anyway, but she was looking at some article about women's fashion.
"Excuse me?" Velvet asked.
I swiveled my head over to her, and found her looking down at me in turn.
"'Sup?" I asked.
"Just out of curiosity, how'd you hit the wall?" She asked. "It's really not that easy to do."
"Haven't been able to rest for long." I answered. "Been keeping busy."
"With what?" she asked again, giving me an inquisitive look.
"Extra-curricular… activity." I said, stifling a yawn. "Get kept busy by… things."
"Like clubs?" Velvet asked innocently. "I'm pretty sure the gardening club is done fairly early."
"I got hobbies." I said, vaguely. "When I'm done, I just move onto the next. Just keeps me up at night."
Velvet looked like she was going to say something, but before she did, her jaw snapped shut, her lips suddenly pressing into a thin line. Likewise, Weiss and Coco turned to look at me. Coco with her brow knit in confusion, head tipped so she could look at me over her sunglasses. Weiss with a perturbed look about her.
"… what?" I asked. "A guy's gotta keep busy."
"… Right." Coco said. "Must be pretty hard with other people around."
My confusion mounted. "Other people? Most of my business is soli… oh."
My brain caught up with my mouth.
Weiss and Velvet flushed slightly, while Coco started chuckling. Velvet did too, after a moment.
"Real classy Coco." I said. "Get your mind out of the gutter."
"Hey, I'm not judging, kid." Coco smirked. "If you want to hang out with Rose Palmer that's your business."
"Rose who?" Ruby asked, apparently catching the conversation.
"Ok, first off, no I'm not." I answered. "Second, even if I was, I'm surrounded by people basically 24/7. You might have time to slip off and visit her brother Ross, but me and 'Ms. Palmer' aren't exactly what you'd call 'acquainted'."
"Oh gods will you please stop." Weiss whined. "You make me want to gag."
Coco flashed Weiss a cocky smile, but said nothing. Her teammates merely rolled their eyes, probably used to whatever her usual antics were. Though clearly my teammates weren't, for the most part, judging by the look on Yang and Weiss's faces. Blake clearly wasn't bothered by it, even chuckling.
Ruby merely looked blankly at us, the whole thing flying right over her head.
"Alright, so if you're not wining and dining Rosie, what's your game?" Coco grilled. "Like Velvet said, you'd need to keep pushing yourself really hard to get where you are."
I didn't answer for a moment, as I tried to think of a lie that would work. Except, as I thought about it, there wasn't much of a point to lying, it was just a matter of not telling the whole truth. And there was some truth to my answer.
"Honestly?" I said "… I've spent the past week or two practicing."
"…" Coco's smile redoubled.
"Oh fuck off already." I groused. "I mean I've been practicing with my aura."
"Mm, I've heard that can be fun." Coco drawled.
"I've got a lot of ground to cover." I pressed on, ignoring her. "And while your help has been invaluable, there's a level I need to be at that in-class training isn't going to get me to. Hence I do some extra training on the side."
"And you wind up going so long you're not sleeping?" Velvet questioned.
"Well, yeah." I said "Completely honest… having an aura is a bit exhilarating." I sat up slightly, bracing myself against my elbows. "I've spent my whole life relying solely on muscle power and endurance. Now, suddenly, I'm hitting harder and moving faster than I've been able to, and it's only getting stronger. You try not going overboard when you've been sandbagged your whole life."
"For what it's worth, I can understand that." Velvet said. "But you shouldn't push yourself that hard. Because you did, now you might have set yourself back quite badly."
"It's a little annoying." Ruby said "We keep offering to help him but he keeps turning us down."
"…"
CFVY collectively turned to look at Ruby. So did Blake, Yang, Weiss, and Me.
Ruby looked blankly back at all of us. "… What? I mean we have."
"Ruby." Weiss groaned, as Fox, Yatsu, and Coco began to snicker. Velvet looked like she wanted to as well, but just kinda started blushing.
"… You guys are just a gift that keeps on giving." Coco said, wiping a tear from her eye.
"Seriously Coco, get your mind out of the gutter." I said. "That's a good way to get sick."
"Whatever you say, 'Doctor' Six." Coco said, going back to her Scroll. She began to sift through whatever article she was reading, then flicked it aside with her finger pulling up another one. "Better be more careful though, unless you want to run into Crazy Steve."
I noticed my teammates sober slightly, and turn towards Coco in confusion.
"… Crazy who-now?" I asked.
"Crazy Steve." Coco answered, taking note of my teammate's confusion and returning it with her own. "… You guys know about him, right?"
"… Assume we don't." Weiss said.
"He's a Vigilante that's been running around Vale recently." Velvet supplied "It seems like he's the only thing the News has been focused on recently."
"… What?" Yang asked.
"Do none of you watch the News?" Yatsu asked.
"Who watches the News?" I asked. "It's all propaganda and advertisements."
"…"
Coco continued tapping at her Scroll until something popped up on it and made her pause. "Talk about a Chill and it turns up, looks like there's another one today."
"Seriously?" Yatsu asked. "That's gotta be the third one today."
"Slow News week." I said snidely.
"Lemme see." Ruby said, scooting away from Fox and towards Coco.
Coco gave Ruby a dry look, then tapped at her Scroll and set it down. A holographic projection shot up from it, a video recording began to play back through it, the images carrying a light blue tint from the light that projected them.
The projection was that of a brick wall, a perspective shot. The wall had a massive impact mark in it, like it'd been hit by a runaway car. A newsfeed scrolled across the bottom, and a logo in the right-hand corner. VNN, Vale News Network. A splash of text read 'Property Destruction in the Industrial Ward. Vigilante still at large.'. The camera panned to the side, revealing a massive hole blown out of the brick wall. Machinery beyond it, electrical substation equipment.
"Well that looks familiar." I muttered.
"Hm?" Velvet hummed, looking towards me.
I kept my mouth shut and acted like I hadn't said anything.
Coco messed with her Scroll, and sound began to echo from it. It came out a bit crushed and tinny, but audible.
"-operty damage continues to mount in the face of growing gang warfare in the streets of our fair Kingdom." The Newscaster spoke. "Although Vale Police Department have refused to comment on the present situation, the scene was reportedly found deserted by eye-witness accounts."
The screen then changed to a different feed. The camera angles shook and rattled, the microphone picking up random static and background noise. The images were darker, I would put it somewhere in the early morning. But the scene was the same, two damaged brick walls, now being picked over by what I assumed were laborers. Dressed in work clothes, and brightly colored vests, muttering muted curses and expletives. Clearly they were going to need to be the ones to clean things up, and weren't happy about it.
I was less happy about the fact that the chainsaw-wielding giant was gone. Didn't want to meet him again if I could avoid it.
"Workers of the Joules Electric Union claiming that the night's previous rolling blackouts may have been a result of the damage caused by the fighting within the building." The Newscaster continued. "However, onsite security was disabled, and no suspects are currently being pursued."
"Well isn't that just convenient?" Weiss said snidely, only to get shushed by Ruby.
The camera feed changed once more, going back to what I assumed was the newsroom, backed in a vibrant cyan. The Newscaster was a man, another banner at the bottom of the feed dubbing him 'Cyril Ian'.
"These events continue a growing trend of criminal activity seen throughout Vale in the past weeks." Cyril spoke, keeping a neutral face for the camera. "A trend that leave many questioning the efficacy of the Vale Police Department. Coinciding with this however, perhaps counter to the trend, reports of Vigilante Justice have begun to swell."
The feed changed once more, filtering through a series of camera angles and footage. Quality varied through most of it, but the general gist seemed to be consistent. White Fang, dressed in their black and white, beaten senseless and strewn about. Sometimes out in the streets, sometimes in vehicles rammed into street fixtures. Sometimes littering the halls of buildings that belonged in a warzone. Stockpiles of munitions, Dust, Plans, and everything a would-be revolutionary-cum-terrorist needs in their toolkit. Sometimes VPD was nearby in the frame, writing reports and carting people away. Other times it was ambulances.
"Almost in tandem with the rise of violent crime in our streets, it would appear Vale has found itself with a resurgence of vigilante justice." Cyril spoke as the videos played. "What started with an incident at a small branch of Vale Municipal Trust and Loan in our Kingdom's Financial District, has only continued to grow further out of control." The feed changed, showing the exterior of a brick building. I recognized the place, it was the bank I'd visited on my first night in Vale. Further, I recognized a wounded female officer being loaded into the back of an ambulance, a bandage around her eyes. "Responding to the silent alarm, Officers Bullit and Sapele found themselves under heavy fire from a band of the former religious group, the confrontation sadly claiming the life of Officer Sapele. However, once aid arrived, Officer Bullit was found wounded outside, and the insurgents disposed of. When questioned, Officer Bullit had this to say:-"
The feed cut to an interview with the officer in a hospital bed. There were still bandages around her eyes, but she looked far better than I'd last seen her.
"I- I thought I was dead." Bullit said, voice thready with the weight of painkillers. "I heard them get He- O-officer Sapele and I was next. They practically had a gun up against my head." Bullit paused, and her face softened "Then, suddenly, someone showed up. I don't know who, but they saved me, me. Told me everything would be alright…" Bullit shook her head, disbelieving.
The feed cut back to another feed, this time with a Laundromat, the windows blown out.
"Officer Bullit's testimony is one of many similar stories present throughout Vale." Cyril said. "Others have also found themselves in similar situations and found themselves receiving unexpected aid."
Another shift, another focus, this time an older man, shrunken with age, hair long gone gray.
"I held my own against them I tell you. In my day we made upstart f*bleep*s eat their hair for the things they wanted to do to me." The man said. "I wasn't expecting anyone to come help me… but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't glad they did."
"The help being referred to here is that of an individual referring to themselves as 'Crazy Steve'." Cyril cut in.
The feed then cut to footage of what I readily identified as a stash house. The first one I'd taken, in fact. I could make out where I'd lit a couple of them on fire.
Then my voice started playing.
"LISTEN HERE YOU JACKASS." The recording rolled. "I have SPENT enough time WATCHING you fucking IDIOTS screw around TRYING to DEAL with the WHITE FANG. YOU were LUCKY I was there at the bank last night, OR YOU'D already be LOOKING for a new JOB!"
It was very subtle, well not very, but I noticed my teammates perk-up at the recording. Whether or not CFVY picked up on it, or recognized my voice from the recording I wasn't sure.
"This excerpt-" Cyril explained. "Was provided by VPD following a previously anonymous tip towards a White Fang Rallying point. The intervention of which, undoubtedly saved the lives of several dozen people."
Another feed change. More amateur footage, this time overlooking a street as a van and police car barreled down it. The recording paused partway through, and zoomed in onto an opposing rooftop. Visible in the nightly gloom, a vaguely humanoid shape with glowing red eyes.
"Reports continue to circulate of a dark figure appearing on Vale's rooftops." Cyril spoke. "What follows, is being hailed by those who encounter it as acts of unexpected heroism. When questioned on this, Walter Nutte, Chief of VPD, released the following public statement:"
The image of a man, dressed in a dark blue suit, an officer's uniform, appeared at a podium. He had all the kindness and cheer of a snarling Gecko.
"The fine men and women of this department have not, nor will ever condone Vigilante Justice." The Man, Nutte, spoke, voice like a funeral bell. "We didn't condone it back during the Xiong Turf wars, we properly outlawed it after the incident at Aurora Mutual Trust Reserve, and we will brook no arguments now. So, Steve, as you call yourself, I give you one warning: quit while you're ahead."
Personally, I didn't take any offense to it. He wasn't the first person to try and 'warn' me off.
The feed cut back, once more to the Newsroom, Cyril looking calmly into the camera. Then, without exception, he quirked a smile. "Despite this however, there are many citizens both within and outside the Kingdom's borders who feel that the sudden rash of vigilantism has been much needed, and call attention to inadequacies within the Kingdom's security practices. Standing example to this, I recently had the opportunity to speak with a family that had the chance to come face to face with the Vigilante himself."
The image of a family cut onto the screen, a mother, father, and daughter. All dark haired and cool-eyed. I recognized them immediately as well, they'd been on the hit-list that I'd found. The only new addition among them was a reedy, older man in a tuxedo, serving beverages to the family and Cyril. The absolute pinnacle of stateliness. They were all seated around a table, the daughter and her mother sat to one side with sheets of paper and crayons. The father, a charming façade about him, smiled wolfishly at Cyril. The banner along the bottom of the image identified him and his wife as Bruce and Selena.
"We'd come to visit for the Vytal Festival, and had been coming out of the movies when it happened." Bruce explained "Hadn't seen it coming. Considering my family's history, we should have been more careful." He reached out and ruffled his daughter's hair, he giggled and squirmed her way out from under his mitt. "We'd been heading back to the car when we came under attack. There must've been six or seven of them." Bruce's expression grew distant, almost calculating for a moment, then the smile came back. "Then, out of nowhere, he crashed down on top of them. Turned everything around… I used to have nightmares as a kid, about the things that had happened to my family. At that moment, I was afraid I was going to watch it happen again." The expression on Bruce's face softened considerably. "I didn't."
"There are many who wouldn't share that sentiment unfortunately." Cyril said, clinically. "However, over the past several weeks, the amount of reported criminal activity has dropped significantly. Informally, it's being attributed to the efforts of the man you saw. Could you tell us-"
"I'm sorry, no." Bruce said, shaking his head. "Everything happened so fast, I could hardly get a look at them. They looked human but for all I know they were a faunus. I'm just glad we were able to get through unharmed. Even if Helena has found a new obsession."
As Bruce spoke, his daughter picked up the piece of paper she was scribbling on and turned towards him. She lifted it for him to look at, inadvertently flashing the camera with it. There wasn't much to it, just the scribbling of a child. A lot of blue in the background, and splotches of white, a cloudy sky. There were two vague blobs of color in the center of it, I had to guess they were flying. One was of a dark figure with bright red eyes, something flared out behind them, like a cape or a pair of wings. Beside them was a smaller blob, colored in shades of violet and purple. A splotch of dark hair on their head, and a big smile on their face.
"Aww." Weiss cooed, before realizing the noise she'd made and tried to back-pedal.
Before she could, however, Yang made a noise of her own. "No, that's pretty adorable."
"Hm." I hummed.
Bruce looked at his daughter and smiled in a way that could flourish crops and cure even the most dire of illnesses. With that same smile, he looked directly at the camera. "Whoever you are, if you're out there… Thank you."
"…"
I felt my chest tighten up, and only narrowly resisted the urge to say 'You're Welcome.'.
Not like they'd have heard it anyway.
The feed changed back to the newsroom once more, Cyril nodding appreciatively at his own handiwork. "We'll bring you more news as the investigation develops. Until then, I'm Cyril Ian with VNN. Back to you, Lisa."
The News Feed came to an end, and Coco closed her Scroll. "Pretty wild, huh?"
I pointedly ignored the looks my teammates were giving me.
"… Yeah." I agreed. "News can be pretty weird sometimes."