A Step too Far

Chapter 10

An old Titan decides to climb off the walls and take a step away from the Traveler. He never intended to walk so far. He sometimes regretted taking that step.

A groan escaped her as she woke. Her right eye felt puffy, a gentle touch from her hand confirmed that it was still tender. A Black eye, that's probably what she had. With her good eye open a crack, she observed her surroundings. Things were dark, she could tell by how everything looked grey, tiled floors, bland furniture and various medical equipment was scattered around some beds. The room was fairly small, only room for four beds and a small bathroom nestled in the corner.

On the other beds were some recognisable figures. Ruby, Yang and Weiss were all asleep. Ruby and Weiss looked fairly fine, nothing but a few bandages wrapped around their heads, but she and Yang seemed the most injured. Blake noticed that her left arm was hooked into an IV drip, probably some pain suppressant so she could sleep. Yang on the other hand, looked much worse. As well as an IV drip, someone had cast her arm in plaster and even in the dim light, Blake could make out the dark and swollen splotches on her face.

As much as she wanted to shake it off, Blake had to admit to herself that this wasn't just a random fight. Her father attacked her, it was obvious in hind-sight that he wasn't attacking with the intent to kill, but it didn't change the fact that he still did it. And not just her, he hurt her friends. Even when they recover, he did something that she never thought would happen. He broke them down. Even during the fight, Team RWBY was still riding the high that had come with their initiation. They had felt invincible, SHE had felt invincible. That's what gave her the confidence to hold a criminal like Torchwick by the throat.

Praetor took that feeling and squashed it under his heel like a bug.

A chill ran down her spine as she remembered the feel of his blood. Her throat felt dry as she recalled his words and smile. Why would he say that he's proud of her at a time like that?

She needed some water, but as soon as she tried to move, she felt a hand on her shoulder, gently pushing her back down. With her right eye shut, Blake failed to notice Professor Ozpin sitting silently in a guest seat.

"Don't be alarmed." He quietly assured her. "I'm merely keeping watch over my students."

"Professor, about last ni-" she tried to rasp out, before he gently shushed her.

"If there's anything you need to say, you should wait until your friends are awake. They deserve answers, just as you do."

"But-"

"Rest, Blake. You need it from the look of things."

Blake relented, rolling her head to look at her friends before closing her eyes. Whether from exhaustion or sadness, a tear soaked into the pillow.

In the midst of thumping music, hypnotic lights, coloured smoke and dancing people sat a man at a bar, nursing a glass of whiskey. Stood in front of him, on the other side of the bar, was a tense looking bartender absently cleaning a glass while keeping an eye on the man in front of him. The reason for the bartender's nervousness was that his boss gave him very clear orders.

"Don't piss the guy off." The bartender recalled his boss's deathly serious face.

So for the sake of his job (and life), the bartender was told to keep the customer satisfied above all else.

Tap-tap

The customer rapped his knuckles against the bar, signalling that he wanted another drink. At the exact same time, a young-looking playboy swaggered up to the bar pulling an uncomfortable looking lady by the hand.

"Hey barkeep, let's get a drink for the lady."

When the bartender hesitated between serving the newcomer and the quiet man, the playboy snapped at him.

"Hurry up asshole I'm about to seal the deal here!" The youngster slammed a hand onto the bar causing the bartender to fumble with the bottle he was holding and smashing it against the floor. The sudden sound of shattering glass made the quiet man glare up from his empty glass.

Seeing the glare, the bartender froze. The glare then drifted to the playboy who was now slinging colourful insults towards the employee.

"Shut up kid, people are trying to drink here." The quiet man rumbled over the thumping bass, making the young man pause.

"Oh I'm sorry gramps, do you need a drink to wash down your limp dick pills?" The youth spread his arms wide inviting a fight from man. "This aint a nursing home old man, fuck off!"

The man didn't rise to the bait and simply glared at the youth while the bartender backed away towards the 'employee only' area.

"Think you're a fucking tough guy, huh?" The youth turned towards a table occupied by other young men. "Hey guys, I think this old man needs to be taught a lesson."

A sizeable number of men stood up from the table and circled around the glaring man, all of them either cracking their knuckles or sneering at him. At this point, one of the bouncers, a man in black suit and red tie approached the altercation.

"Hey! If you're gonna fight, do it outside." He shouted, his hand hovering over a weapon holstered on his hip.

The gang of youths laughed, edging on the older man as he stood up, easily dwarfing the lot of them, but that didn't stop their jeering. Calmly, the older man strode outside quickly followed by the youths.

Not even twenty minutes later, the gang was admitted into the ICU of the nearest hospital with several broken bones and numerous concussions.

AN: Hey guys, sorry for the long-ass wait, but seriously I couldn't find any drive to continue this as I really had no idea on how to add to it.

I'd appreciate any criticism or ideas thrown my way.

~ Dys