Cold As Ice: RWBY

Hearts of Fire

Yang and I walked into the restaurant and I went up to the reservation desk. "I have a reservation here," I said. "Last name?" the woman asked. "Hasashi," I said. The woman at the desk looked through her notes. "Table 46, and your guests have already arrived," she said. A waiter appeared and took us to our table. "Fashionably late," Weiss said. I sat down in front of her, while Yang sat next to me. "Where's Neptune?" asked Yang. Weiss shook her head. "He's in the bathroom," she replied, "He said the clams I ordered made him sick." I nodded and glanced around the room. It was a nice restaurant, not too over the top. There were numerous decorations resembling stars splattered on the ceiling. There weren't many customers, giving a feeling that that restaurant was very spacious. The windows were lined with black curtains and the wall painted khaki. "What are you going to get?" asked Yang, interrupting my thoughts. "Huh? Oh." I looked at the menu. "I'll have the Gamberoni alla Genovese," I told the waiter. I looked at Yang. "Just a Vitello Picata," she said. She gave me a sly look. "And a strawberry sunrise," she said. I shook my head and looked at Weiss. "And you guys?" I asked. "We already ordered," she replied. I handed our menus to the waiter. "That'll be all, thank you," I said. The waiter bowed and left to prepare our meals. Neptune returned from the restroom and sat down. He put his head on the table and groaned, "My stomach is dying." We all laughed as our food arrived. "Looks great!" exclaimed Yang. "Only the best for you," I said. We dug in, savoring every delicious bite. "That was great!" declared Yang. I waved at a waiter. "Check please." He nodded and went off to retrieve our check.

Suddenly, a group of masked men walked in, carrying weapons. One pointed his gun in the air and fired a few rounds. "Nobody move!" he yelled. One of his goons went up to the register and pointed his weapon at the lady behind the register. "Money in a bag, NOW!" he demanded. Everyone at our table ducked under the table. "We need to do something," Weiss said. Yang nodded in agreement. "But we don't have our weapons," Neptune pointed out. "We can request our lockers, but I only know our approximate location," I said, "I'll distract them while you guys get ready." They all nodded in agreement. Yang gave me a peck on the cheek. "Be careful," she said. I flashed her a thumbs up and exited the table. I rolled behind another table, nearing the robbers. I snuck behind the nearest one and wrapped my arm around his throat, cutting off his oxygen. I dragged him under the table and covered his mouth. He struggled and I added more pressure to his trachea. He finally passed out. I left him under the table and stuck my head out. Yang gave me the thumbs up, signaling the lockers were on the way. "Hey, anyone else hear thet whistling noise?" one of the goons asked. "Shut up Beef," another replied. The first locker crashed through the roof and landed in the middle of the room. 

"What the hell?" said the one called Beef. I ran out from under the table and judo kicked him in the face. I ran towards the locker and opened it. "Ember Celica first eh?" I thought. "YANG! Heads up!" I yelled, tossing them to her. Yang emerged from under the table and caught her gauntlets. Two more lockers crashed through the roof, landing next to Yang's locker. Weiss and Neptune ran to their lockers and equipped their weapons. "Now we're talking!" exclaimed Neptune, as he powered up his rifle. "HEY! What do you think you're doing?!" demanded the ringleader. "Kicking your butt that's what!" replied Yang. She fired off two blasts and hit him in the chest, careening him into the restaurant's walls. More goons ran into the restaurant. "We heard some noise-" he saw us, armed and ready to fight. He ducked behind a table. "WE NEED BACKUP!" he yelled. I saw a truck pull up and more men streamed out. "Why are there so MANY?!" asked Weiss. "Looks like a larger operation than hitting a simple restaurant," I replied. I did a quick head count. "At least 20 guys," I said. Neptune cocked his rifle. "Let's do this," he said. We nodded and took tactical positions. I drew their fire, while Yang and Neptune picked them off one by one. Weiss did her best to immobilize them while I took them out. Things were going great until the enemy decided to bring in the big guns. 

They backed the truck into the front, shattering the intricate artwork on the walls. A turret was mounted in the bed of the truck, aimed straight at us. "Get the civilians out of here!" I yelled. Weiss nodded her head and went to evacuate the bystanders. A goon took control of the turret and started firing at us. I ducked behind cover next to Yang. "Some date night huh?" she asked. I shrugged my shoulders. "Only the best for you," I said. She grimaced, knowing the situation wasn't looking too good. "I'll draw their fire and you take the gunner out," she said. "Let's do it!" I agreed. I turned to Neptune. "Give us some covering fire." He nodded. "Roger that," he said. Yang rolled out into the open and sprinted for the reservation desk. I jumped over the overturned table and ran as fast as I could towards the turret. The gunner must've seen through our plan because he turned his fire to me. I ducked into a booth, pinned down by the constant fire. I saw Yang take matters into her own hands and rush the turret. She leaped towards the turret, sailing through the air, poised to strike. That's when disaster struck. The gunner turned and fired straight at her. 

Bullets raked across her chest, throwing her to the ground. "YANG!" I screamed. I sprinted towards the gunner and threw a piece of a chair at him, momentarily stunning him. I ran behind him and grabbed his head and snapped his neck. I ripped the bullets from the turret and threw them aside. I ran to Yang's side. I checked her pulse, it was there, but just barely. I checked to see how many times she got shot. "Seven times," I thought, fear crawling into my mind. I took off my tuxedo jacket and wrapped it around her chest. "Neptune, call an ambulance!" I yelled. "Got it!" he called back. I kept pressure on Yang's wounds. "Come on, stay alive," I begged. Weiss came back from evacuating. "What happened- OH MY GOD!" she said. "Please stay alive," I whispered, hoping she would be able to hear me. Neptune came back to where we were. "They barred the windows and doors," he said, "I think they're going to set fire to the place." I stood up and looked at Weiss. "Keep pressure on the wound," I said. "Where are you going?" she asked. I left without another word and headed for the front door. "It's barred, you can't open it," repeated Neptune. I was about to kick it down when the doors erupted into flames. I felt the flames heat lick my arms and I backed up. "We need to get out of here!" I yelled. "Weiss, can you put out the flames?" She shook her head. "The flames are too hot!" she exclaimed. 

I saw a shadow enter the restaurant and the situation got a lot more dangerous. "You guys have to go, NOW!" I yelled. The shadow solidified and drew its shotgun. It set its sights on me. I ducked behind a table, the bullets barely missing me. I rolled next to Yang's side and took Ember Celica from her. "I need to borrow these," I told her. I put them on my wrists and activated them. They unfolded and wrapped themselves around my wrists and forearms. "Take Yang and get out of here," I said. "We can't!" Neptune protested. "The doors and windows have us locked in!" I turned and fired off two shot from the gauntlets, blowing a hole where the doors once were. "Hurry up and leave through there before the flames return!" I yelled. I turned my attention to the shadow and fired off four shots. The shadow phased through all of them and rushed me, converting his shotgun into a double sided sword. I held my distance and fired off some more shots. The shadow deflected them all, setting off explosions all around us, compromising the building's structural integrity. Meaning? The building could fall on us at any second. I walked up to the shadow and swung a fist at him and he ducked under my arm and grabbed me by my neck. He picked me up and held me there, choking the life out of me. "Who....are....you?" I choked out. The shadow chuckled darkly and threw me across the room. He changed his sword back into a shotgun and shot the roof above me. A wooden beam fell on top of me, pinning me to the ground. "Die," the shadow said. He turned and disappeared into the flames.

I struggled underneath the beam, trying to free myself. The fired neared ever closer like a beast hungry to devour me. I cocked Ember Celica. "One shot, better make it count," I thought. I fired at the beam point blank. It flew off of me and across the room. I stood up and tried not to breathe in the smoke that was rapidly filling the room. My vision began to waver, the flames dancing across my vision. "I've got to get outside." I limped towards the hole I made earlier. I stumbled out into the outside, fresh air filling my lungs. "Sir, we're going to have to take you to the hospital," a paramedic said. I waved him off. "Just a second." I limped towards Yang, who was on a stretcher. I looked at her soot stained face. "You have to pull through," I thought. I nodded. "Let's go then," I said to the paramedic. He put me on stretcher, gave me an oxygen mask and loaded me into the ambulance. I stared at the roof of the ambulance, thinking about who the shadow could be and trying not to pass out.