AN: Hey everyone, sorry it took so long to get anotber chapter out. Life has gotten to me with college and my laziness to update. But I thank you all none the less for sticking with me. Anyways enough of that here is the next chapter to CIR. I hope you enjoy.
Holden and Caboose slowly circled each other with their blades at the ready. They did this for a few seconds before Holden dashed forward bring his blade down in vertical arc, Caboose eyes widened at the speed but reacted in time to block with his own. Holden tried pushing against him to force him back but found he couldn't push Caboose. He was slightly awed by this then stumbled backwards when Caboose shoved his weapon forward, Holden fell onto his rear and Caboose brought his massive weapon up then brought it down. Holden rolled out of the way and got back up, Caboose then pivoted towards him and swung his blade, Holden brought up his blade barely blocking his attack which sent him flying to the shield wall, cracking the barrier slightly. He fell into a crouch and stared at Caboose believing all the rumors he heard about him stopping a horde of Grimm, the young man in front of him definitely had the strength. He looked at his weapon to see their was a chip in the blade.
“Ar-Are you alright?” Caboose asked as he held his stomach.
Holden nodded his head before standing up then raised his weapon above his head in a high guard. “Yeah, I underestimated you… but now that is enough of that.”
Holden rushed forward and brought his blade down, Caboose brought his blade up to block, the sound of metal rang. Holden brought his weapon back and pressed a button changing the long sword into a poleaxe on the fly. He brought it down and again Caboose brought his blade up to block but Holden wasn’t done there as he hooked the buster sword and pulled it down. It surprised Caboose as his blade was almost ripped from his hands from a sudden burst of strength then a pain hit him right in the shoulder forcing him backwards, Holden had jabbed him hard with the tip of the poleaxe. Caboose got back into a ready stance with his enormous blade on his shoulder and Holden returned his weapon to a Long Sword.
The class watching with anticipation to see who would re-engage first. Caboose rushed forward swung his blade a Holden who simple parried the wide attack way but Big Blue kept up the momentum and spun with his sword. Forcing Holden to block the next attack that sent him sliding into the barrier, hard. He shook it off and ducked as Caboose’s blade made contact with the barrier causing it to flash white but Caboose wasn’t done there as he shoulder charged into Holden knocking the other teen over. Caboose brought his blade up quickly and slammed it down hard but Holden rolled out of the way and back onto his feet. He transformed the blade back into a poleaxe and jabbed Caboose hard on his right shoulder forcing him to release his buster sword that was embedded into the ground. He staggered backwards and rubbed his shoulder as Holden came at him again. Something triggered in Caboose’s mind, a memory. Holden was no longer standing in front of him and the rest of the class was gone, the walls around him were gray and bright flood lights showed from the ceiling. In front of him stood a silhouette holding a staff, all he saw was red upon looking at the Silhouette.
“Come on Michael… we knew this was going to happen… the Director always gets what he wants…” The silhouette said as it got into a ready stance with the staff. “If we don’t fight each other, the whole squad will be punished for breaking rank… I know you’re right, I shouldn’t have done that but… would you have let it happen and slept soundly at night… That is right you don’t know… But enough, it is time..”
The Silhouette rushed him and swung the staff in a wide arc, Caboose took a step back dodging the tip barely before stepping in and delivering devastating body shots to the exposed side of the silhouette. Then delivered a haymaker of an uppercut to the silhouette’s jaw causing his head to snap back quickly and a mist of spit to leave his lips. The silhouette recovered and tried to jab at him with the staff but the super soldier side stepped the attack. In the blink of an eye, he ripped the staff out of the silhouette’s hands and smacked it across the face but he wasn't done there as he unleashed a barrage of attacks with the staff on the silhouette. The last hit knocked it into the air but before it could hit the ground, Caboose grabbed it by the ankle and threw him across the room. It hit the ground hard and rolled a few feet farther, he watched it as slowly got back up on its feet. He looked at the staff in his hand before he threw it like a javelin at the Silhouette, it hit him directly on the chest causing it to stagger backwards onto the wall. At that same moment Caboose rushed forward crossing the distance with blinding speed and lifting the silhouette up against the wall by the throat. He pulled his arm back with the intent to end the silhouette’s life for what it did to him… to them. “Take care of them… their your responsibility now…”
“CABOOSE!!!”
His eyes widened as the scenery around him began to fade away replaced with the classroom arena of Beacon. He looked at the Silhouette in front of him but he found Holden in his grasp as he struggled weakly to free himself from his grip. Still struggling to process what had just happened he looked around and up in the stands he could see his fellow classmates faces, in shock and horror. He looked at his teammates to see Weiss and Ruby covering their mouths with their eyes wide as saucers, Yang and Blake had a look of concern and shock. He released Holden and took a step back as he began to hyperventilate as he looked at his hands, his vision became blurry as he staggered further away from Holden as his classmates. Then suddenly everything went black.
Santa rushed over to Holden, who was severely beaten up and out cold, a black eye and a busted lip. He checked his pulse point on his neck and felt a feint beat. Everything had happened so fast, they were having a nice clean fight and suddenly Caboose’s eyes turned bright blue. Then he became a blur as he re-engaged Holden with his bare fist, Santa moved his hand down to check on his ribs and sighed with relief to feel no broken bones but most likely very bruised. Team RWBY and those from team JNPR rushed down from the stands and checked up on their unconscious teammate.
“Guys, please stay back…”
“What happened, Professor?” Ruby asked and everyone even the kids in the stands looked at him.
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry everyone… I have no clue what happened...”
-Nurse Office-
Caboose felt like he was drifting in a vast emptiness, he had no clue what happened to him. He didn’t know how long he had been here but it was driving him mad. He tried to move but his limbs would not obey. He tried to scream but nothing left his mouth, he called out for the girls each by name. He continued to call out for them until he felt tired and his throat became sore. He felt tears sting his eyes, he didn’t want to be alone again… he didn’t want to lose his newfound friends. Ruby, Weiss, Yang, Blake, Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora… he didn’t want to lose anyone ever again. His eyes widened, his sadness turned to confusion, he didn’t understand why he feared being alone… he didn’t understand why he wouldn’t be able to handle losing his newfound friends.
“Caboose…” He heard echoes of the girls’ voices calling out to him from the darkness.
He looked around him frantically hoping to see them as their voices continued to echo from every direction. Suddenly he saw a light in the distance and now the voices were coming from that direction. He smiled as he ran towards… back towards his friends.
Ruby, Weiss, Yang and Blake were sitting quietly as they looked at their unconscious friend, they heard the door open and turn to look and see team JNPR walk in. Jaune spotted them and they jogged over to them.
“Any changes?” Jaune asked as they took a seat on the other side of the bed.
“No… he hasn't moved since they placed him in the bed…” Ruby replied.
“What happened exactly?” Pyrrha asked as she looked at the sleeping super soldier.
“We don't know… they were having a practice duel when suddenly Caboose’s eyes turned bright blue.” Blake stated and the other girls nodded. “You were there weren't you?”
“I was but my brain did not process what happened until it was over.” Pyrrha stated as she looked at them.
“Yeah, one moment were cheering then everything went silent when we watch Caboose just… just snap…” Jaune scratched at his head.
“His aura spiked… from what the reader showed in that instant it went from 75% to 150%... It jumped a whole nother 75%, no one in recorded history has aura recovery that strong.” Weiss explained and everyone's eyes widened.
“You're serious?” Ruby questioned and Weiss nodded.
“Unless the reader is broken then we just witness Aura regeneration first hand.” Weiss said.
“You are full of surprises, aren’t you Big Blue.” Yang smirked as she caught his finger twitch. “Guys… I think he is waking up…”
Everyone stared at him quietly, for a few seconds there was no other sign of waking then suddenly Caboose’s eyes opened as he sat up suddenly. He looked around at everyone before he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Ruby gently rubbed his back as he looked at everyone again to see that they had an inquisitive expression on their face.
“Before you ask… I have no clue what happened… one moment I'm fighting Holden then everything changed. A silhouette of a person took his place, then I suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of hatred crash over me like a wave for the silhouette. Like… I really wanted to kill it… it was saying something but I couldn't understand it…”
Everyone looked at him with concern as he continued. “I've never felt so much rage before or at least I can't remember it…”
“Its ok-” Yang was cut off by Caboose.
“No! It's not okay… I… I really wanted to kill that silhouette… I wanted to beat him into a bloody mess… Is Holden alright?”
They could see that this was eating up Caboose and they smiled softly. Ruby cleared her throat and he turned to her.
“He is asleep a few beds down,” She said and Caboose had a questioning look. “He has a few bruise ribs, a black eye and a busted lip… he’ll be alright in a few days.”
Big Blue let out a sigh of relief before he looked down at his hands. This left him with more questions now. Who was he before he was found in the forest before he met his new friends.