RWBY: Dark/Tears

Cinder tried to cry. She tried to shed a tear. But she was too dry, too sore to even muster a single salty tear for her friend.

Roman did not share the same issue. Tears streamed down his face as he stared, unblinking, at the figure before them. Emerald had her hands over her mouth, tears running down her cheeks as well.

“No!” Roman yelled. “No!”

Cinder was appalled. She had seen the worst of people over the years: Lord Ozpin, the Schnees, the Reaper… but whoever did this was truly a complete monster. Cinder could not decide if the abomination that stood before them was made to look like Neo, or if it was Neo… either way, it was sick and cruel.

It was Emerald’s turn to lash out. “Why?!” she screamed. “Who are you?!”

The twisted Neo cocked its head with audible cracking and crunching. It fixed its black, lifeless eyes on them before standing completely still. Slowly, its mouth creaked open, revealing a gaping black and red maw lined with decaying teeth.

Then, from the back of its throat, it emitted most terrifying sound Cinder had heard in her entire life. It was a guttural moan crossed with some kind of heavy exhale, ended in a sharp, high-pitched note like a shriek. The fact that it came from the face of a beloved friend made it all the more horrifying.

Suddenly, there was a flash of light. Cinder blinked and squinted through the sudden brightness, and saw that the bright light was emanating from Neo’s once black eyes. They were as bright as searchlights. Then, without warning, they began to rapidly flash in a strobe effect.

“What is this?” Cinder thought. “It must be some form of disorientation tactic; it’ll attack us while we aren’t able to see…” But Neo stayed still. The rapid flashing would have encompassed Cinder’s entire vision if she had both of her eyes. She just hoped Salem was averting her eyes; she did not want her suffering a seizure, much less seeing Neo in such a horrific state.

Neo remained still. At this point, Cinder was too afraid to question it any more. They had to get moving; the explosion no doubt attracted Grimm, and there was always a chance that metal monster was still active.

“Guys, we have to go!” Cinder yelled.

“She’s right!” Adam shouted. “We need to make a run for it!”

No one answered.

“Guys?” Cinder yelled. “What’s wrong with y-”

Cinder glanced over at Mercury and Roman, and was shocked. They were staring at Neo, mouths agape, their pupils hugely dilated. They seemed frozen in place; neither moved a muscle, only stared at the light.

Cinder craned her sore neck to look over at Emerald and Salem. Emerald was frozen like Mercury and Roman, her pupils enormous and her mouth ajar, a slight hint of drool running from the edge of her mouth. Salem was curled up with her eyes shut tight, silently mouthing words to herself.

“Adam, what’s going on?” Cinder asked frantically.

“I don’t know!” Adam replied, clearly concerned. “What’s wrong with them? Why won’t they move?”

“It’s like the lights have them in some sort of trance,” Cinder said, growing more stressed by the moment. “But why aren’t we affected?”

“It must be my mask,” Adam said. “It blocks some of my vision. For you, it must be your missing eye. Whatever that light’s doing, it must require an unobstructed view. We need to help them! Cinder?”

It was not after Adam had begun to speak that Cinder began to really focus on the light. His words seemed to fade away, and all that seemed to exist was the lights… the lights… there was no need to run. There was no need to resist. There were always the lights…

“Sh*t!” Adam yelled. Careful not to look at Neo’s eyes, Adam adjusted Cinder on his back so he could reach her face. As soon as her dilated eye was in range, he threw his hand up in front of it.

Cinder’s pupil returned to normal, and she blinked a few times. “What… what happened?”

Adam shook his head. “Looks like you can fall for it too. It just takes longer. Close your eye.” Cinder obeyed and shut her eye tightly, leaving her in the dark.

With his hand now free, Adam raised it to shield his view, glancing back up at Neo, careful not to let any of the flashing lights reach his vision. Then he noticed that it was beginning to stagger forward in a twisted, janky nature towards them, quite quickly.

“Cinder!” Adam shouted. “Neo’s headed for them! What do we do?”

Cinder thought for a moment, then attempted to stretch her legs. They hurt, but it was probably possible for her to stand. “How many of them can you carry at once?”

Adam cocked his head slightly. “Two, maybe. But you can’t walk, much less run.”

Cinder groaned as she extended a leg. “I think I can, actually. You need to put me down. Grab Emerald and Salem, and I’ll snap Mercury out of it long enough for him to carry Torchwick away.”

Adam shook his head. “This is a bad idea.”

Cinder’s brow dropped, her eye still shut tight. “But it’s the best we have. Hurry!”

With that, Adam carefully but quickly set Cinder down. As her legs made contact with the ground, she yelped in pain and fell to her knees.

“Cinder!” Adam shouted. He bent down to pick her back up, still shielding his eyes.

“No!” Cinder yelled at him. “Get Emerald and Salem and go! Right now!”

Adam hesitated, but obeyed. He whirled around in place, then charged to Emerald, scooping both her and Salem on her back in his arms, throwing them both over his shoulder. He Emerald’s eyes were still fixed on the lights and she was still drooling, and did not even react to Adam. Salem yelped from the sudden force, but stayed still and kept her eyes shut in fear. He began to sprint away from Neo, still covering his eyes.

Just as Cinder was about to stand up, suddenly she heard a horrific screech. It came from Neo. Before she knew it, she heard rapid but unnaturally paced footsteps run in Adam’s direction. She peeked her eye open to see Neo disjointedly running after Adam, emerald, and Salem. With the weight Adam was carrying, it would only be a matter of time before Neo caught up to them.

However, the shift in Neo’s position was optimal. Cinder strained to her feet, then rushed forward and shoved Mercury and Roman. They stumbled out of the light, and their pupils almost instantly shrunk.

“What the... what the f*ck...” Mercury muttered, holding a hand to his head.

“What did it do to us?” Roman said, blinking rapidly.

“Some sort of trance,” Cinder explained quickly. “Don’t look at its eyes. We need to get out of here!”

“Go after her.” Roman said suddenly.

“What?” Mercury replied. “Are you insane?”

“It’s Neo!” Roman suddenly yelled at the top of his lungs, startling both Cinder and Mercury. “I can’t see her like this!” Tears ran down his cheeks. “I just can’t.”

Mercury and Cinder glanced at each other.

“We need to help Adam anyway.” Cinder said.

Mercury sighed and grunted as he readjusted Roman on his back, then sprinted after Neo. Cinder happened to glance over and see her swords lying on the ground. They must have skidded there after the explosion. She also saw three arrows from the archery range lying nearby, as well as a broken bow. As she reached down to pick up her tools, she got an idea.

Emerald was still entranced, as she faced the lights chasing after them. Adam huffed and strained, but he could not seem to outrun Neo. She was gaining, and quickly.

“A smaller more honest soul. A smaller more honest soul.” Salem ranted quietly.

Mercury and Roman were close behind Neo.

“What do you plan to do?” Mercury asked. “I hate to tell you this, man, but that’s not Neo. It may look like her. It may even be her body. But that’s not her.”

“I know,” Roman said, wiping tears from his eyes. “I know what I have to do. She does not deserve this.”

Roman reached into his pocket and pulled out his collapsed cane, which extended in his hand. He then reached into his vest pocket and pulled out a phial of fire Dust. Careful not to drop either, he slid the entire phial into the end of his cane. A reticle popped up, and he pointed it over Mercury’s shoulder at Neo.

“This is going to be a little loud,” Roman said.

“At this point, I don’t care.” Mercury replied.

Roman peered through the reticle, with the target he wanted to hit the least in front of him.

“I’m sorry, Neo.” he whispered.

He fired, blasting fire from the end of his cane. Mercury cringed from the noise, but the blast hit its mark directly on Neo’s back, causing it to fall forward with a blood-curdling screech. It fell directly on its face, blocking the lights from Emerald’s view.

Emerald came to, blinking rapidly and wiping the drool from her chin. “What’s going on? What happened?”

Adam heard the blast, the screech, and Emerald talk and knew it must be safe to stop. He skidded to a halt and, panting, looked behind him.

Neo extended its bend limbs and pushed itself up. It had only gotten its torso up when it screamed and spun its head back to look at Roman and Mercury, its neck audible cracking and its eyes still flashing.

Just as Mercury and Roman began to fall limp, Cinder skidded in front of them, eye shut tight. In her hands was a crude bow: her two swords, barely held together with string, with a single salvaged drawstring running between their blades. In her fist she held three arrows. Without opening her eye, she armed her bow with an arrow and pulled back.

“Take this, you monster.”

Cinder flashed her eye open, her vision engulfed with flashing lights. She released, and the arrow flew straight. It found its target in Neo’s left eye, shattering the bulb and darkening half of Cinder’s vision. Just as she began to feel dizzy, Neo threw its head backwards, screeching and groaning loudly, taking its gaze off of them. Roman and Mercury stirred as Cinder set up her next shot.

Neo cracked its head back towards her, screeching. It began running towards her, arrow still embedded in its eye socket. Cinder released, and the other arrow flew directly into Neo’s other eye. The strobe lights vanished as the other bulb shattered, embedding the arrow in the other eye socket. Neo screamed and flailed, blinded. It ran towards Cinder, gnashing its teeth and clawing at the air.

Cinder dropped the last arrow and pulled her bow apart into two swards again. She rushed up to Neo and swung her blades, blocking Neo’s advance. Neo craned its neck and chomped at Cinder’s face, but Cinder jumped back. As much as it disgusted her to think of, she knew this creature’s weak spot.

She was there when it was made.

Cinder raised her sword and swung it down on Neo’s head. The blade sunk deep into the skull at the crude seam, slicing all the way down to the neck. Neo’s screech was cut off and replaced with gurgling and groaning, but its arms continued to claw at her. Cinder felt a tear run down her face as she took the other sword and rammed it into Neo’s gut, exactly where the Reaper had struck the killing blow. Hesitating only for a moment, Cinder began sawing her way through the fragile flesh until she had almost split Neo open. Pus and blood leaked from the wounds, and suddenly the creature stopped moving altogether. Cinder shut her eye tight and began to sob as she pulled her blades out of her friend and let the body collapse onto the ground.

Cinder did not even open her eye to observe her kill. She simply turned around, fell to her knees, dropped her swords to her sides, and cried. She was not the only one crying.

If there was any feeling worse than this, Cinder never wanted to know it. Not only was her friend dead, but she had to die twice to be at peace. And the second time was by Cinder’s own hand.

Mercury walked up to Cinder, still holding a weeping Roman. He placed his hand on her shoulder.

“You did what you had to do,” he said solemnly. “That wasn’t Neo.”

Cinder just cried.

The debris shifted as the flames consumed more of the area. The Resistance’s possessions burned or were buried. Where their base once stood, was now a flaming mound of earth and stone.

Suddenly, from below the mound, the ground shifted. Stone cracked as the ground gave way below it, and P.E.N.N.Y. emerged from the destruction, blackened with ash and dirt. Its red eyes scanned the area. It detected human tissue nearby, but it was deceased and did not match any of the members it had scanned. As it surveyed the environment, its interior communicator began to beep. P.E.N.N.Y. answered, and a holographic image of Lord Ozpin appeared before it.

“Report,” he commanded.

“Affirmative,” the machine replied hastily. “Resistance base destroyed. Casualties: one, identity unknown. Survivors have been identified as Cinder Fall, Mercury Black, Emerald Sustrai, Roman Torchwick, Adam Taurus, and a second unknown individual.”

Lord Ozpin raised an eyebrow in annoyance. “Two unknowns? Show me the footage.”

“Affirmative,” P.E.N.N.Y. replied. It focused for a moment, its eyes shifting in their metallic sockets, before returning to normal. “Footage sent.”

Lord Ozpin looked down at the screen on his desk. Before him, he got his first view of the rebels who dared oppose him. There was a woman with an eyepatch, a gruff-looking teen boy, a fit teen girl, a tall man with a bowler hat chomping a cigar, and a shady man with black clothes and a white mask resembling a Grimm.

"You poor thing," the woman with the eyepatch said in the recording. "Well if you change your mind, just ask any of us. And if you feel you need to throw up, just yell and we'll bring you a bin. Don't worry. Everything's going to be alright now.”

Lord Ozpin scoffed. He was disgusted by the woman’s kindness and hospitality.

Then the recording emitted a load moan. P.E.N.N.Y.’s recording shifted and showed another woman wandering out of a hall.

“…prepare your guardians, build your monuments…” the woman said.

Suddenly, Lord Ozpin threw his hands down on his desk with a slam and jolted to a stand. He stared with eyes of rage and fury at the screen.

“No,” he growled through gritted teeth. “That’s not possible.”

Between his clawing fingers, sparks began to form. His eyes shifted from their natural colors to entirely black, and his hair began to glow a dim grey light.

He slammed a fist down on the desk, cracking the wood underneath the blow. A mysterious wind began to circulate around his office, blowing objects over and increasing in strength. As he bared his teeth, he spat the name he hated most from between them.

“Salem!”

They had walked until just before dawn, and finally stopped in a demilitarized house. Cinder had led her team into the house’s basement: a small, cramped, cold concrete cube with a single window allowing moonlight in. Cinder finally got to sit down after what felt like an eternity, and the others finally got a chance to rest as well. They were all tired and exhausted. But none of them wanted sleep. How could they?

The room was silent for almost an hour, with Adam treating Cinder’s wounds, Mercury treating Roman, and Emerald comforting Salem. No one said a word until Cinder spoke up.

“I know what our next mission is,” she said just loud enough for the others to hear.

Roman turned his head towards her. “Mission?” he asked. “What do you mean, ‘mission’? You’re seriously thinking about that at a time like this? Face it, Cinder, we have nothing against them. We’re through! Do you hear me? Through! This Resistance has amounted to nothing!”

“She was my friend too!” Cinder shouted, silencing Roman. She assumed that was where most of his rage was coming from, and was right. Roman quieted, but turned his head away.

“I know what we need to do next,” Cinder said solemnly. “And none of you are going to like it, but I’m using my authority here. Our next move is this: we’re going to attack Beacon Laboratory.”

Every head turned towards her, even Salem’s (though she had no idea what was going on).

Mercury shook his head. “That does it. You can’t lead us anymore.” His voice was grim and frustrated. “You have clearly lost touch with reality, and-“

“Shut the f*ck up, Black!” Cinder shouted, so loud that Mercury winced. His ears were still sensitive from the blast earlier. Salem began to fuss, clearly started by the noise.

Cinder sighed and controlled herself. “If we don’t, they’ll just keep pumping out murder robots and zombies.” she said. “Did you think those two were bad? Wait until Lord Ozpin sends a f*cking armada of Pennys and Zombie Neos after us. How long do you think we’ll survive then?”

Everyone stayed silent.

Cinder leaned her head back. “This has to happen if we have any chances of surviving.”

Emerald shifted, and for the first time spoke against her friend and leader. “Cinder,” she said in the nicest tone she could muster, “Beacon Laboratory is basically a part of Beacon Fortress. It would take an army to breach it. Besides, look at us. We’re in no condition to attack anybody. You and Roman can barely stand. How are we going to destroy Beacon Laboratory?”

Cinder shifted her gaze to Emerald, but then turned away, facing one of the concrete walls. “I don’t know,” she said in a voice just louder than a whisper. “but we have to.”

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