RWBY 3: Fall

Part 8 - Unyielding Fate

"Shit..." Emerald peered through a crack in the warehouse door and watched helplessly as the soldiers aggressively forced Cinder into the VTOL and dragged John's unconscious body in with her.

Two soldiers slowly approached the warehouse.

Emerald darted behind some cover. She held her hand over her mouth in an attempt to muffle the panicked breathing sounds she was making.

"So... you think they might be in here?" Cecil asked nervously, his laser rifle scanning the dark, ominous building. Stacks of empty canisters, crates and barrels filled the warehouse, creating a maze filled with places to hide.

Ray sighed "I think so, why else would she be here?". He looked over to his left and peered in the corner. For a moment he felt like he saw something move... but there was nothing there now. "... man, this place give me the creeps..."

The sound of something being knocked over in the distance echoed through the warehouse. The soldiers froze.

"M-Maybe we just tell Qrow that we didn't find anything...?" Cecil panicked. He begun to back towards the door. "I have a daughter man! I wanna watch her grow up!"

Ray shook his head and sighed. "OK!" He started to shout "LISTEN UP YOUR FUCKERS! WE'RE GIVING YOU THIS ONE CHANCE! COME OUT AND SURRENDER, OR WE WILL BURN THIS WAREHOUSE TO THE GROUND!!"

Silence.

Cecil turned to the door.

A relieved smile stretched across Ray's face. "Well, we can say we tried. Let's g-"

Cecil paused. "R-Ray?" he asked as he turned back to where his friend just stood.

He was gone.

"F-Fuck man! Don't joke with me! Come out!"

Silence.

"THIS ISN'T FUNNY!"

Cecil heard movement above him. He looked up-

Then the strangest thing happened. He hit the ground, but he saw his body standing there for a moment without him. It fell to the ground, without his head-

Cecil tried to breath. He couldn't.

Then he realised what had happened. He had just enough time to catch the bandaged man who decapitated him before his brain cells begun to die.

"Mira..." he thought "... I'm so sorry..."

Emerald waited a few minutes until the soldiers outside finally dispersed. "Fuck... Merc, what are we gonna do!?"

"Well, we have two options" Mercury crept out of the shadows, followed closely by Neo. They stood near the thief, keeping their voices to a dull whisper.

"First option, we run. We find a nice place to live, where no one can find us... free from Cinder, Salem, Vale, Mistral... just you and me-" Mercury stopped as he felt the combined glares of Neo and Emerald.

The bandaged man twitched unnaturally and moved closer to the assassin.

"S-Second option... we finish the mission-"

"So we just abandon the boss?" Emerald leaned against the wall. She was tempted by the first option... but Neo and the bandaged man would never let them do it. As far as Emerald knew, those two were Salem's creations - which is why neither could speak... Salem didn't like her creations talking back to her. They were dangerous.

"Yep." the silver assassin backed away from the bandaged man slightly. "F-For now I mean... once shit hits the fan, we can rescue her and her little cat along with Torchwick."