Crimson Immoderation Part 26: Step Two

“Well well!” Cinder tries to purr as she examines the scroll in her hands, though with my cock drilling deep in her ass it comes out more as an uneven yelp. “You, managed this, that easily?”

“I wouldn’t call it easy,” I pant, swatting her backside while I fuck her. “The seeds were sown when I got to spend so much time with her every week. All I needed after that was that little tool of yours and an opportunity to get our scrolls close enough to activate near-field communication. But that last part was the most difficult.”

“Who would have, nngh!” Her comment is aborted, the scroll dropped as I pull her hips back to drive as deep as I can, my fingers strumming her pussy lips hard and fast enough she squirts all over the floor. Glad we got rid of the carpets in here. “Nghh, hah, hah, let a woman talk, would you?” she demands as I go right back to slamming her ass with an unrepentant grin. “I never would have thought the downfall of Ozpin’s plans would be his assistant’s fetish for bestial men.”

“Well, bestial in attitude at least,” I acknowledge. I don’t think Glynda has a thing for faunus.

What Cinder so carelessly dropped on the floor of our dorm is a scroll. More specifically, it’s my scroll. One with a particular program installed on it, courtesy of Cinder, given to her by one Arthur Watts. Essentially a catch-all virus. It can do pretty much anything you want it to do with the standard smart devices of Remnant. Atlas being the predominant technological development hub and with him once being a highly regarded scientist there, he was able to create a program to... Well, do whatever he wanted with someone’s device, so long as the program could find a way in.

In canon, Cinder used this to add overrides to the Vale CCT for her grand speech. From what I have to assume, getting access to Ironwood’s scroll was luck and happenstance from him connecting it directly to the system.

Well, Cinder still had it here of course. But my plans for it were a little less grand. All I needed was for it to duplicate one scroll. Glynda’s. And with it, duplicate her digital key to all levels of the Vale CCT tower. A program that can break open all digital security in the entire kingdom... And all I’m using it for is to copy a key. It would be silly were it not for that key being the most important key in the kingdom, with the possible exception of the fall maiden.

But then, this will allow us to get to the fall maiden so...

“When do we, go?” Cinder pants, already feeling that familiar heat building again. Anal slut femme fatale that she is now. I trained her well.

“We have more preparations to make,” I tell her as I lean forward to maul her tits. “I’ll be sending Ilia to watch the CCT tonight. Just to make sure there aren’t any unpleasant surprises like some kind of patrolling guard, or Ozpin being up and about at ridiculous hours.” I pull her back up with me, presenting her sweat soaked body for anyone of my team who might want a look.

I pinch and twist her nipples and her cunt instantly gushes again as though that were the switch to trigger her orgasm. Her reluctant groan of pleasure and her asshole constricting around my cock are enough to suck the semen right out of me, filling her intestines with sticky, white cum. I bask in the sensation and the afterglow for a few seconds as I hold Cinder flush against me. “We have enough riding on this I don’t want it to mess up because of some ridiculous factor we don’t account for.” My cock withdraws from her clenching sphincter before I toss her face down on the bed, settling next to her with my cock pointing skyward. “Emerald. Clean up.”

Our chocolate-skinned sub follows my finger as I point first at the puddle of girlcum on the floor, then my cum-coated cock, then the trickle of white already flowing out of Cinder’s backdoor. “Yes sir.”

“There’s a good girl.” I let her work as she gets on her knees to lick Cinder’s mess off the floor, turning my head Cinder’s way. “We make sure everything is accounted for. Then we can make our move.”

“Mmmmmm...”

-(-)-

You know, I actually have a lot of stuff to do even with a lot of my most immediate concerns dealt with. Most notably, I actually have to get my weapon repaired. The cable is still broken on it from Auburn’s bullshit sword.

I just mention it to give context. Explain why I’m not a fan of this week being the week I get dragged off by one of my women.

“Come with me,” Yang orders, not even giving me time to follow that order before her hand is fisted in my collar and forcibly dragging me backwards toward the school building.

I can see Ruby falling into the distance as I’m pulled along. “Sorry Vlad!” she yells after us.

“You know, not that I’m averse to a little role reversal, cave woman dragging off the caveman and all.” Hell, I did the same thing to Pyrrha a few weeks ago. “But I can walk on my own?”

“More satisfying this way,” she growls.

“Well, alright. You’ll warn me if there are stairs though, right?” Silence. “Right?”

She does not. And I am too tall for the descent into the basement floor to not be a fumbling stumbling mess. As she continues to drag me I can hear the rough buzzer of denied access over and over again, seeing the symbol on the door each time as we pass it. Finally one pings acceptance and I’m dragged into an unoccupied training room. She lets go of my collar and I can finally straighten myself. “Huh,” I sigh. “So. Why?”

“I need to blow off some steam,” Yang informs me. “You wanna keep having great sex? Indulge me.” She quickly settles into her usual boxing stance.

“You know my weapon’s broken, right–? OH-kay, you don’t care!” I yelp as she charges at me with a flurry of punches that I barely dodge most of. The crack of her fist against my jaw enough to send me sprawling but also giving me time to snap together what’s left of my spear. Or staff, as the case happens to be. That’s all the time I get before she’s on me again.

I don’t like fighting Yang. I get the feeling most people don’t like fighting Yang. She’s a powerhouse, she’s relentless, and pissing her off is generally a bad idea. Sadly for me, the state she came to me in was already angry. And me with a broken weapon, the best I can manage is trying to hold my own while she tries to beat me, or at least my aura, into paste. The fact that my weapon doesn’t get bent to all buggery form her unceasing punches is a small mercy to my aching body by the end of it.

“So,” I pant, holding my staff up defensively as she takes a breather, just in case she’s suddenly ready again. “Want to talk about it?”

She works her jaw for a few seconds, nods to herself, sniffs a few breaths. “Nope.” And comes at me again.

Shit.

I don’t even know how long we’ve spent in here at this point. It feels lit it’s been a very long time. At the very least, it seems like Yang has run out a lot of her fiercest emotions already. Wish it weren’t done via her fists and my face, but I’ll settle for it being over. “How about now?”

“Why do you want me to talk so bad?” the blonde asks sullenly. Her fire having burned out for the moment.

“Because it’s more likely to make you feel better than punching me.” Well, “Also not a big fan of you punching me. I mean if my weapon was good and we could turn it into a real spar, I’m all about it but...”

She sighs. dumping herself in one of the training room chairs. “I just... Heard some things I didn’t want to hear, that’s all.”

Huh. You know, I could guess what that means? But for Yang there’s quite a few things that could mean. And she is being deliberately vague. I take my own chair and park it next to hers. This might be the first time I’ve used this particular power for an undeniably good purpose. “Talk to me.”

At this moment, feeling low, feeling emotionally drained, she can’t fight the command. “My mom is a bitch,” the words tumble out of her mouth. And as if that sentence opens the floodgates, many more follow. “No, bitch is too nice. She’s... She’s the worst! Like, I could try to think of someone being a worse person and I would have to really try, get imaginative! She...!” She manages to stop herself. The command is fulfilled. But... She doesn’t stop herself anymore. “She abandoned me. Right after I was born.”

... Summer told her then. “I see.”

She snorts, “You see,” echoing my words sarcastically. “That was the easy part. She ran off, and then I got a real mom. Ruby’s mom. She was the best, and then she died. It was hard for a while. But sometimes when I was little I’d get jealous of Ruby. Summer was so amazing, treated me like her own daughter. It didn’t matter that I was Raven’s. But when she was gone I couldn’t help but wonder why my mom, why Raven wasn’t like that. I just wanted to understand. I did a lot of stupid things trying to. And now I do. They warned me, everyone warned me that I’d regret it. And now I do.” She takes a long, ragged breath. “She abandoned her daughter to join a bandit clan.”

I don’t say anything. It’s not my job to talk right now. But Yang takes my silence and assigns her own meaning to it. “I know. Funny right?” she lets out a sickly laugh, jumps out of her chair and starts pacing angrily. “She decided having a loving family, raising her daughter, that wasn’t for her. That instead she should go back to being one of the worst people on the face of Remnant! What does that even say about her? What...” Her pacing slows, a look of despair on her face. “What does it say about me? She’s– Part of me comes from her! Am I going to end up like her? Just up and leave everyone behind, do whatever I want no matter who it hurts? Oh, gods, I already do that! I just–!”

“Yang,” I quickly move over to her, putting her face between my hands. “I want you to listen to me. You’re not her.”

“But–!”

“The choices we make are ours and no one elses. She made hers. I don’t know her and from what you’ve told me I don’t care to. But I know you. I know caring, fun, upbeat and feisty Yang Xiao Long. Can you imagine any world where you would abandon your sister? Just leave her to fend for herself?”

“No!” she sounds almost horrified at the idea.

My forehead leans against hers. “You make your own choices, Yang. If you don’t want to be who she was, then don’t be. Be who you want to be. Make the choices that are right for you.”

She stares at me, for a good few seconds. Her head tilts back and lifts to press her lips against mine, her arms wrapping around my neck to pull me down into a deeper kiss. She pulls away. Her look of uncertainty unusual on her face, before it turns into a confident smirk I’m used to. “Thanks.” She follows up with another peck on the lips.

“Well, you’re welcome,” I utter, a little uncertain. “Talking helped, I take it?”

“Yeah. And you’re right. I make my own choices. And so far... I’m pretty happy about ‘em.”

“I’m glad,” still no idea what she’s referring to, but so long as she’s happy. I detach the end piece of my poor crippled weapon, getting ready to store it in my sleeve again. “You know if you ever need to talk, I mean you have your team of course. But I’ll also be willing to lend an ear. Not like I’m going any–” ... Wait.

Oh bloody hell, I’m an idiot!

“You know if you’re looking to get that fixed Ruby would love to help out,” Yang notes with a smirk. “She’s all about fondling weapons.”

“Right, right, I’ll have to ask her about that,” I answer absently, my mind preoccupied with other things.

-(-)-

“–And as you can see behind me, emergency services are still recovering bodies, many of whom wearing the Grimm masks recently popularised among members of the White Fang. Officials refuse to comment on the record, but we have received anonymous reports that one of the bodies recovered was of notorious terrorist Auburn Taurus.”

“Olive, have they found any survivors?”

“No sign of any as yet, Lisa. However, those on the scene remain hopeful, even if only to find out what might have been the cause of this much destruction.”

“Thanks, Olive. That was Olive Burgundy at the site of a catastrophic dust explosion in the wee hours of this morning. For those just joining us, this incident preceded the announcement of a mass escape attempt of White Fang members from police custody after their arrest Sunday morning. Cyril Ian is on the scene at the Vale Police Department. Cyril?”

“Thanks, Lisa! Yes, it seems today was truly a dark day for the White Fang and as such perhaps a brighter one for the peaceful citizens of Vale. With me I have Sergeant Lugh Alabaster from the–”

Blake’s breathing was heavy. Not just heavy, laboured. Like every intake of air didn’t register, like it wasn’t enough, her mind shut down and racing all at once.

They were gone... They were... They were all... They were all they were all they were all theywerealltheywereall–!

“Blake?” The cat faunus’ wide, dilated eyes snapped to her partner, the blonde girl putting a supportive hand on her arm that almost made her recoil away. “Are you okay?”

Golden eyes flicked, panicked from Yang’s face, to Weiss’ to Ruby’s, to Pyrrha’s, to Jaune’s, to Vlad’s, to– “I need to go.” She threw herself off of the cafeteria bench, only to feel a pair of arms wrap around her. “Let–!” What would have been a yell was silenced as she realised she wasn’t being restrained. It was... A hug. Her sluggish, frazzled mind managing to pull the pieces together. Weiss with her arms wrapped around the faunus. She had leapt across the table to do it. She...

“We’re here for you,” Weiss said, words Blake would never have expected to hear from her at a time like this. “Just remember that, okay?”

She swallowed, forced past the lump in her throat. Feeling a wetness on her cheeks. She gave a tight nod and the white princess let go, allowing Blake to make a more sedate exit from the cafeteria into the courtyard. She wiped at her eyes, wondering why she was crying in the first place. Auburn was gone. Dead. That left her with enough confusing feelings. Was she sad about that? Regretful? Absolutely. But there was also the kernel of relief that just wouldn’t go away, and the lake of guilt it sat in. That was to say nothing about the other White Fang members. She hadn’t known all of them well but they had been her brothers and sisters at one time. And while she hated what they had reduced themselves to, she couldn’t shake the feeling that they had been simply led astray. That if she could only get through to them...

Too late now.

Her scroll shook in her pocket. A sensation she ignored. She couldn’t deal with anything else right now. Likewise she ignored the next two.

The pebble clacking off of the stone bench she sat on she couldn’t so readily ignore. Old instincts snapping to attention as she sought the source. Her sharp eyes cut through the night to find it, a shadowed figure perched on the rooftop of the dorms. She could pick out an electronic glow.

Her scroll shook again. In an instant of inattention as she looked down at her waist, the figure disappeared. Worry gripped her. She pulled out her scroll and checked her messages.

The first. ‘334383 north cliff.’ A White Fang code for meetup location.

The second. ‘Come.’

The third. ‘Dammit, Blake!’ That would be the one right before whoever it was threw the rock then.

The fourth. Not text. A picture. A familiar face.

Indecision. She stood rooted to the spot for a moment. She glanced back to the cafeteria where her team, her friends were still eating.

‘We’re here for you. Just remember that, okay?’

They were. Blake was grateful for that. And that was why she had to keep them out of her messes if she could help it. She tore her gaze away from the people she cared about, instead heading north, toward the cliff overlooking Forever Fall.

She knew who she would find there. And yet it still came as a surprise. Chestnut brown hair, freckles and a... No, she wasn’t wearing a mask. She sat on the cliff edge, staring morosely out at the forest below. “Ilia?”

The chameleon faunus half-turned to look back at her, smiling sadly. “I’m glad you came.”

“I... I thought you stayed on Menagerie,” Blake said, not knowing what she wanted to stay so settling for that, “Working for the Albain brothers.”

“I was. A lot of things happened, kind of all at once.” Her knees pulled up as she turned, returning to her feet. She took a tentative step, then as Blake didn’t move away at all, another and another and another until she was close enough to pull the cat faunus into a hug. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Ilia, what happened?” Blake asked, embracing the older girl, “The news is saying Auburn is–!”

The chameleon girl did her best to suppress the jealousy at Auburn getting brought up so quickly. “She’s dead,” Ilia answered, unable to hide the vindictive venom in her words. “Good riddance.”

Blake pulled away in shock. “What?! Ilia–!”

“She wanted to hurt you, Blake,” Ilia said, “She wanted to use me to hurt you. She wanted you to suffer.”

“I... I don’t understand!”

“I got a message, a few weeks ago. Auburn wanted me to come to Vale. Didn’t say why. I got in last night, she came to pick me up herself.” The woman shuddered in remembrance. “I wish I’d understood then. When I saw her, she seemed different. I felt on edge just being around her, and when I asked how you were...” Her arms circled around her waist. “I never imagined Auburn would ever hurt a faunus but I knew she wanted to kill me in that moment.”

“I...” Blake felt the guilt rising up again. “I ended things badly. I shouldn’t have–”

“No!” Ilia’s hands flew to Blake’s arms, holding her and staring her dead in the eyes. “Don’t ever think that! Whatever you did, it was the right thing if it got you away from that psycho!”

“Ilia, help me understand! You loved Auburn!”

‘Only because you did.’ An unvoiced thought. “When... When we got to our base I went to get settled in. It couldn’t have been more than a few minutes before Auburn had come for me, wrapped her hands around my throat.” Blake looked horrified, her hands covering her mouth. “The next thing I knew I was locked in a chair, Auburn telling me exactly what she wanted to do. That she was going to... Use me to send you a message.” It was hard enough to get those words out, to remember that night where she almost lost her life to her own comrades. She couldn’t bring herself to keep going.

Thankfully, she didn’t have to. “Oh, Ilia!” Blake dragged her into a hug an order of magnitude fiercer than Ilia’s had been. The chameleon faunus felt the moisture of her friend’s tears as the cat faunus cried on her shoulder. “I’m so sorry! I should’ve stopped her! I should’ve–!”

“No!” Ilia stopped her again. “You did the exact right thing! You’re alive, I’m alive and she’s rotting like she deserves! That’s all that matters!”

“Is she... Is she really...?” Blake tried to ask but couldn’t get the words out. “How did you get away?” she asked instead.

“Someone else came to rescue me,” Ilia answered evasively, her freckles turning a pale pink colour, “They got me out before the place blew up. I didn’t see it but... Yeah, she’s gone.”

“Who was it?” Blake asked, “Someone else from the White Fang? Did someone survive?”

“No, it was... It was an outside party,” Ilia continued to evade. “All of our people.. .They went right along with Auburn killing me. Just to get back at you,” she choked. “I thought we were fighting for something!”

“We were,” Blake tried to soothe. “But... I guess that was a long time ago. We just didn’t notice when it changed.” The two girls sank to the grass, continuing to hold each other, to seek comfort in each other. “Ilia, who saved you?”

“I... Can’t say.”

“Why not?”

The chameleon girl rubbed at her neck awkwardly, her freckles turning pink again. “I owe them. And all that they asked from me was that I not tell you who they were.”

“Are they dangerous?”

To them specifically, Ilia appended to the question in her head. “No.”

Blake hesitated to pry more. “I just... I want to make sure you’ll be okay. I almost lost you without even knowing!”

A war raged inside Ilia. She had promised her new allies, her rescuer, that she wouldn’t tell anyone about them. She knew she owed them. But on the other hand, Blake was... Worried. For her. “They’re... They’re closer than you might think.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Please don’t ask me to say anymore,” Ilia pleaded, fearing that if Blake did, she would tell her.

“... What will you do now?” Blake asked instead.

“I’ll be in the city for a while. If you ever want to talk, just send me a message. I can’t promise I’ll answer right away, but I’ll answer as soon as I can!” Ilia promised eagerly, smiling at her old friend that she prayed would one day be something more. “Can we just... Stay like this for a while?” she asked, threading her fingers between Blake’s.

For as confused as Blake was by the gesture, she couldn’t deny the comfort she felt in the other girl’s arms. Something she needed. “All right.”

-(-)-

“Are we ready?”

“Ilia said we’re good?”

“No one anywhere even close.”

“... Alright then. Let’s go.”

The elevator ride is long. Long enough for me to wonder just how deep under the cliffside academy the vault actually is. Something we’ll have to take into account for our escape plan. A lot of things we’ll need to calculate to figure out the best way to leave.

“This place is enormous!”

“Shh!” Cinder hushes Emerald. “Neo, any surveillance?”

Our little sociopath puts her hand on the wall, looks along the walls with both eyes and semblance. She grins, shaking her head.

“Surveillance would mean someone else would have eyes down here,” I reason out. “Monitors need to be monitored after all and Ozpin and Glynda are far too busy for that. Let’s keep moving.”

Long hallway. Long, ostentatious hallway. This had to be used for something else before this, I’m sure. Not that I can imagine what that would be that would give reason for it to be so fancy. Maybe a more traditional purpose for a vault. Fancy jewels, money, that sort of thing. Who knows.

“And there she is.” Aura is a funny thing. Even torn as hers is, even if it can’t keep her alive and awake, it can keep her body pristine. Her body isn’t failing in any way. Her soul is dying.

The fingers of Cinder’s left hand twitch. I watch her with half an eye just in case she decides to do something stupid, or if the parasite has a little more control than I think it does. My accomplice takes a steadying breath, pulling the infested hand behind her with her other. “So. We got in with no issues. Now is the difficult part. Getting out.”

“Emerald, how long do you think, this hallway?” I ask. She probably has the best head for that kind of estimate.

“Few hundred meters at least. We’ve definitely gone underneath the school buildings based on the direction.”

“Alright then,” I can’t hold back my grin. Not that I want to. “Let’s get a plan together, shall we?”

After all, we can get down here whenever we want.

And until I purge the parasite, Amber isn’t going anywhere.