Flames of Betrayal (RWBY X Villain Male Reader) *REDUX*

Act 1: The Stygian Machine

"The sun went down with practiced bravado. Twilight crawled across the sky, laden with foreboding. I didn't like the way the show started. But they had given me the best seat in the house. Front row center."

– Max Payne

XXXXXXXXX

Y/N wasn't sure how much time had passed since that day, but it seemed like a day or two when 071 had finally returned back to their prison cell. He had been stunned into a state of disbelief after he was returned to his cell, with 987 and 484 attempting to snap him out of it with no luck. The shock had been far too great for what his mind could handle, finally realizing that he was never going escape the prison he was now locked in. The day 071 came back had come as a shock to them, with the entire cell block going deathly silent, waiting for any kind of response or groan from the older man. They were met with nothing as their cell was opened and the man was thrown back inside, collapsing onto the ground with nothing but a whimper of agony.

"071. It's good to see you're in one piece." 484 said with a nod to nothing in particular as he used his hands to comb 987's hair, calming her down as she hugged the older man.

"Argh...mmph..." 071 rolled over, his body clearly in some kind of contortion as he looked up at the others. Y/N didn't dare make eye contact, huddling in a corner with his knees to his chest. The welt from the knee that the warden gave him was still a dark purple, the boy dealing with the agonizing lasting pain.

"Belladonna, the doctor would like to see you." The soldier said staring at the small boy. "We are under orders to not harm you, but we must escort you there to assure you do not do something stupid. Come along peacefully or the girl will be next."

"W-What?" Y/N said, but his body was already moving up and toward the guard out of raw instinct alone. The guard placed a stiff hand on his shoulder, guiding him on the cell. 484 nodded to him as he disappeared from the cell, being taken down the dimly lit hallway of the cell block. "Why does he want to see me?"

"I don't know, don't speak without permission." The guard said sternly as Y/N was paraded through the cell block now. He was roughly pulled through the area, getting chided from some of the prisoners as he shrunk down in fear.

Soon they came to giant wall Y/N had been stopped by before then taking a right into a giant mechanical room with machines whirring everywhere, with beeping and crunching of all different kinds of things. Y/N took note of the dried blood on the floor, feeling an overwhelming sense of dread as the figure of the man in the lab coat came into vision. The older crazed man turned around as he heard the guard before waving him off and making himself known.

"Welcome! Welcome! Come in dear boy!" Padraig clapped gleefully as the guards let Y/N go and dropped him, giving him a snide snort before walking out of the room, leaving him to the devices of Padraig. The older man dashed around his room, doing a particular experiment with what looked to be some kind of chemical canister and a handful of tubes and dishes. Bubbling sounds came through the apparatuses as Padraig didn't bother to wear any kind of protective gear from the chemicals splashing onto him and burning away his clothes and outer layer of skin. "Just a second dear boy, I've almost got it."

"W-What are you doing?" Y/N asked as he tried to pull himself up and off the ground, falling down in a heap of weakness and lethargy. "You're burning."

"Bah, you say tomato I say tomato, I'm on the verge of a breakthrough here. If I can find the right chemical compound to combine the aura of an individual with the natural components of an elemental dust crystal, I believe I could reach a new level of artificial power." Padraig rambled like a mad man as the chemicals began to bubble while both the aura inside a canister and the crushed up dust crystal were slowly poured into the off-putting bubbling mixture. It combined with a splash as Padraig quickly backed up and grabbed Y/N up and off the ground in one fluid motion. He threw him behind a metal shield with a window in the middle as the two of them watched on with bated breath at what was about to happen. "I don't know if this will work, but if it doesn't nuke everyone in the building we should be on track to finding out the right factors that we're missing!"