Capítulo 140: 42
Chapter 42 - Five nights at Neo's
It was something of a stand-off. He sat, arms crossed, within a small metallic bird cage. Where she'd gotten it from, he had no idea. Presumably teleportation was good for that sort of thing, and probably just about every sort of thing that ever existed. Seriously, someone had rolled the Semblance lottery.
The girl stood on the other side of the thin, flimsy bars, watching with him with strange eyes that seemed to change colour each time she blinked. Despite their respective positions, it was she who looked at him with barely concealed fear.
"If you're so worried about me then send me back," he sighed, head dipping when there was no visible reaction from her. She'd seen him move, his actions necessary to save Yang, but it still seemed it was only Blake who could actually hear him. He stood up within the cage, making wide, sweeping motions with his stubby arms. She flinched back a little, but otherwise kept watching.
If only he knew what the universal had gesture for `I want to go back to the train underneath a mountain with Grimm so that I can make up and hang out with my friend who can see and hear my dead ass.` Sign language had never been something he'd bothered to learn… not that it would be any use anyway, given the lack of hands and fingers.
"Note to self, install something into arms. Why didn't I think of putting a scroll in my body or something, or attack a knife to my arm?" Hmm, probably because Blake would have drawn the line far before giving him an actual weapon, lest he re-enact one of those horror movies. The scroll wouldn't have been a bad idea though, since he could punch in numbers with his arms and then speak into it.
Maybe… would his spectral voice carry through a physical system so that Blake could hear it? At the very least he could have written a message to her.
Oh sure, I'm trapped by some teleporting girl. No, I don't know where I am. No, I have no way of escaping or making your job of finding me easier.
Such incredible value.
Blake would be oh so impressed.
In the end he settled for pointing once towards the girl, then at himself, before finally levelling his arm at the door of his cage.
She responded by sprinting out the door of the room.
"Not what I meant… damn, I'm bad at charades." A few seconds later, however, he heard her coming back. And if the actual sound of a voice following her was any indication, not alone. Maybe it was a pointless endeavour, since she already knew the truth, but instincts drilled into him by Blake had his furry body collapsing against the bars, arms falling limply to his sides.
"Miss Neo," the middle-aged man who was dragged into the room sighed, "Please understand, with the boss out on his mission we need to prepare for the final stages, we can't-" the man gulped and went silent as the diminutive girl turned on him, eyes flashing. Jaune watched with curiosity as she dragged him further into the room by his red tie. One of Torchwick's goons, if he recalled the uniform correctly… not White Fang anyway, as though the lack of animal features wasn't a giveaway.
The reluctant man was dragged towards the cage, before the girl finally let go and frantically pointed towards Jaune.
Jaune didn't move.
"That's… that's a very cute bear," the goon spoke with the kind of voice reserved for small children. "It's very nice Miss Neo. Can I go back to my work now?"
Neo, if that was her real name, looked between the bear and the man incredulously, before rearing back and pointing towards Jaune once more, this time more insistently. The older male sighed, walking forwards and taking the cage in one hand. Jaune watched the girl hide half-behind his arm, even as he gently clicked the door open.
It was hard not to move as he was picked up by a stranger. Memories of Cardin's rough treatment and the danger of being destroyed before he could reunite with Blake flashing through his mind. "It's a teddy bear… is that what you wanted me to say?"
Neo frowned, crossing her arms and silently snorting to the side. "Not paid enough…" the man grumbled, placing Jaune down on the side before backing away. Pink and brown eyes glared down at him as the man headed back to the door.
Since his cover with the girl was already blown he took the time to bend over and slap his ass towards her.
"..!...!" The girl hopped up and down, teleporting in front of the man just as he was about to leave the room and pointing back towards the desk. He sighed audibly, turning in time to see the bear sat exactly where it had been left.
"Yes Miss Neo, it's your teddy bear – it's very nice."
The door clicked shut a moment later, leaving the girl and the possessed toy alone. Jaune watched as her entire frame shook, hands clenching at her side as she stomped one foot angrily onto the floor. Baleful eyes turned back to him as she stalked over, but this time he remained still.
Her face tilted, she was almost cute but it was impossible to forget the smile on her face as she had prepared to kill Yang. One finger snaked out, touching his leg before recoiling. When he didn't move she dared to step a little closer, she poked his nose.
"Rargh!" Jaune struck like… well, a teddy bear. One fluffy appendage slapped onto her finger, while the other grabbed her hand. The girl screamed – for all the lack of volume behind it – but her mouth opened and she reared back in naked horror, flipping her hand into the air. Jaune let go mid-flight, sailing through the air like a yellow-furred missile. "Oof," he landed and bounced across the floor, just noting out the corner of his eye how the girl was frantically rubbing her hand against her clothes. That wasn't the true goal, however. "Freedom, here I come!" On stubby legs, Jaune Arc toddled towards the door.
He almost reached it too. One arm even touched the wood, before he was swept off his feet, bouncing and rattling into the cage which the girl was wielding with two hands. The door was clipped shut, the metal frame slammed down onto the floor in the middle of the room.
A bright red face, eyes wide but panting appeared on the other side of the bars. The criminal's shoulders were heaving, great gasps coming from her as she glared at him.
"Let me go, crazy bitch," he head-butted the bars angrily, "I cannot be caged! Well… I can, ergo this whole situation – but I shouldn't be!" He didn't think she got his message, if the scowl she gave him was any indication. Jaune flopped back against the bars, trying to convey all his frustration in a single button-eyed gaze.
This sucked. No, worse than that, this was really, really bad. Cardin had been bad enough, but this was about a million times worse. There was no way Blake would be able to rescue him from this because not only did she have no idea where he was, but she didn't even know he had left Beacon. Even if she did know he'd been captured, she would have no way of finding him or beating this girl – if Yang's defeat was an example of her strength.
It was quite possible that he would be stuck here until the end of his days… which given his unlife might be eternity. Or at least until this psychopath got bored and tore him to shreds. It was a very real possibility that he would never see Blake again.
And that the last time they had spoken, was when they had been arguing.
"I don't want our parting to be like that…" It was too cruel, after all they had been through, to think that he'd never get a chance to make amends. To laugh with her, or see her smile as he said something silly. Or even to see her angry, as he purposefully did something to provoke her - just to get a reaction.
The cage rattled, his face lifting up as something was pushed through the bars. A crumpled piece of paper, stained with a little black ink. The words were clumsy, almost illegible and rushed.
Can understand me?
He looked up towards the short girl, in time to catch her nodding at the parchment and tilting her head.
Oh…
This?
This had potential…
Yang coughed and hacked as she made her way down the train, rushing towards the front. Whatever she had seen, whomever it had been… she had no idea why they had saved her life, but there was no time to think about that. If any of the others were as strong as that little bitch, then her team might be in trouble.
She sprinted past downed boxes and White Fang, pasty even a bigger one with a gently humming chainsaw by his side. Voices ahead, shouting and cursing. Yang burst into the next compartment, even as two sets of weapons whirled towards her.
"Yang!" Ruby gasped, turning aside her scythe at the last second. Weiss had no such luck, having launched a dust attack, but Yang batted it aside with ease. She barely paid them any attention, rushing towards her downed partner.
"Blake!?" The girl writhed on the floor, clutching the left side of her chest as her legs kicked out. "Blake, what's wrong!?"
"Hurts," the faunus whispered, a low whine cutting off the rest, "Why does it hurt? Make it stop!"
Shit, shit, shit – Yang stared at Ruby and Weiss, begging an explanation.
"We don't know," Weiss' voice was agonised. "She came out dragging Torchwick behind her, she was unarmed… she'd won. But then she just grabbed her heart and collapsed, screaming in pain. She hasn't stopped since!"
"Her aura is going insane," Ruby whimpered, holding out her scroll for Yang to snatch. The bar was dipping and rising, hovering around the 80% mark, but going down to 72 and then back up to 84 or so. It didn't make any sense. "We need a doctor…"
"Oobleck?"
"He's still up top fighting off the Paladins."
"Hurts… please…" Blake sobbed, the first time Yang had ever heard such a sound from her. It broke her heart. "Make it stop."
"Er, guys?" Weiss called, backing away from a window at the front of the train. "I think we have another problem coming up. Coming up real fast."
Yang looked towards where she was pointing, spotting it in an instant and letting out a quick sigh. "This really isn't my day." She coiled over Blake's form, holding her close while preparing for an explosion of pain. Around them she could hear crackling ice, as pale blue crept over their position.
And then all she could hear was an explosion.
As Team RWBY welcomed themselves back to Vale.
Status de energia semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Pedra de
Poder