The Lunatic's gallery

[Weiss Schnee]

Weiss woke up with a thud, a sharp impact on her shoulder forcing her awake as she sprawled on unfamiliar ground.
“Welcome home, Weiss.”  A distant voice called, as Weiss struggled to open her eyes.
Where was she? Last she recalled, that ghastly thing had impaled her, and…
Weiss turned over onto her back, instinctively grabbing at her stomach. Shockingly, she didn’t feel a single mark. If it weren’t for the cuts she could feel in her shirt, she would’ve thought it had just been a dream.


Weiss opened her eyes with more effort than she’d ever put into the task in her life, and immediately wished she hadn’t. Above her hung countless monstrous creatures. Some were things she’d seen in fairy tales - Werewolves, a cruel tale told to discourage children from speaking with Faunus, ghosts, beings who were newly dead.



Most, though, seemed to have a few unifying features - animalistic shapes, gigantic, muscled bodies, and pale white masks that reminded Weiss of the Grimm. These were no grimm though, and as Weiss looked closer, she realized that there was intelligence gleaming within their eyes.

They stood in black marble stands above her, and their gazes were all fixed on Weiss with a look approaching anticipation. Weiss couldn’t help but shiver as a cacaphony of sounds, humanoid yelling and applause combined with beastly howls and completely otherwordly shrieks and chants filled the area.
Looking down at her more immediate surrounding, Weiss realized with a chill just what she’d been placed into.


Gray, dingy sand sat within the dim light of the room, and the black walls all around her were punctuated by doors - many, with barred windows. This was an arena, like one she’d heard the ancient tournaments had been held in on Remnant, once upon a time, or like the coliseum she’d fought Okor Paleblood in.
But those had been held to show the best humanity has to offer. To test people’s limits and encourage them to shine. Weiss looked around at the barren pit she now inhabited, and noticed spatters of crimson mixed among the grey sand covering the circle she now lay within.

This looked more like it was just a horror show. A chill crept up Weiss’s spine as she realized she had taken on the starring role, and she jumped up with as much energy as her shivering legs could give her, placing her hands on the wall as she forced her aching legs to a standing position.

“Weiss Schnee.” That familiar voice rang out, and as she looked up, a single face popped out to her among the crowd.
The woman was tall - taller than Jaune, at the very least, and wore what looked like some 19th century finery in a state of disrepair. A set of knives - no, Weiss realized, they were her Claws - rapped against her legs as she fixed weiss with a terrifying smile.
“Ladies and gentleman, our guest of honor, the prime who will make our army grow to new heights, and become my new… apprentice.” the woman stated with a grin, and Weiss’s hands immediately went to her hilt.
To Weiss’s chagrin, there was nothing but air in the space her hands felt for, and she realized she was very much unarmed. Damn it, what did Saiko do with her weapon--
Hold on a minute.
Weiss looked up to the sadistic murderer at the top of the stands, her arms stretched wide in a gesture of greeting, and knew, without a doubt, that this was Saiko Kiga.
why?

But Saiko wasn’t going to give her a chance to figure it out, as she motioned to a large door Weiss had missed before. There was a screech as the hinges struggled, and the door slid upwards, into the stands above. “And to graciously help her in learning to become one of us, I’ve brought a familiar friend  to assist her.” the woman finished with a smile,
A feral roar echoed as two furry, black limbs lumbered forward,  and Weiss realized how hopeless her situation was.


Black, elongated forelimbs with enough muscle to crush concrete like candy. A skull-like face partially comprised of exposed bone. Two glaring red-eyes on top of a thick, pear-shaped skull.
A fanged, skull-masked gorilla the size of a truck.
A beringel.
A creature of Grimm.
Weiss had seen Beringel in action, and even with Myrtenaster, with her full power, she wouldn’t have had much of a shot at taking one out alone. They were brutal, agile, and built to take and dish out damage above what a hunter of her caliber could overcome.
And she didn’t have Myrtenaster.

“Worried, darling?” the smiling killer stated from above - Weiss wasn’t sure how she knew this either, though it might have just been common sense, but the woman above her had killed hundreds.

“Here. How about I make you a deal?” The woman stated with a grin, walking forward, and onto the air above Weiss, the pale specter of a woman walking across the air as easily as she had the stone walls of the arena - no, the prison - that she’d locked Weiss in.
“Beat the Beringel. Use the strength of a human to… impress me.” Saiko continued, her eyes flitting back and forth between Weiss and the monstrous ape. “And you can go free. Speak with Ms. Rose. I won’t bother you again. Not - once.” Saiko stated with a smirk.
“But only if you do so as a human being.”

Weiss glared at the woman above her with suspicion. Only if she did so as a human being?
“What are you talking about?” Weiss finally snapped. What was going on? Why the hell had this woman kidnapped her. What was the point of throwing her in this pit. Why her?

For god’s sakes, why her?

Why couldn’t this all… stop?

Weiss’s only response was a childish giggle from Saiko, one that scared her far more than the Beringel’s accompanying roar, and Weiss realized her only choice was to play this woman’s game for now.
Looking at the Beringel, and steeling herself against the cold fear that knotted in her chest, though, she really wished she had Ruby with her right now. She was a lot better at finding a way out of an impossible situation.
Weiss planted her feet, ready for the monstrous simians first move. She didn’t have a chance… but it didn’t matter. She was tired of being a pawn. She was tired of being pushed around.
She wanted her life back, and if retaking it required her to win this battle somehow, she’d find a way. She refused to be caged by this woman. She refused to surrender her life.

[Weiss Schnee]

Weiss could feel the rush of air against her legs as she hopped just above the Beringel’s massive fist, the Grimm’s haymaker leaving cracks in the wall behind her. If she’d still been standing there… Weiss shrugged off the thought as she flipped through the air, turning only to see the grimm had already recovered from its last attack. The Beringel was fast, and it was crafty - The huntress knew she wasn’t going to be dodging it’s attacks forever, especially with how weak she felt since waking up. She had no idea how long she’d been knocked out, but she was certain drugs had to have been involved; Her limbs ached, her body felt like she was wearing weighted clothing, and her stomach was all too willing to inform Weiss that it felt like she hadn’t eaten in weeks.

Even healthy, The Beringel wasn’t something she thought she could take out, and as Weiss ducked under a pair of brutal hooks, and sprung to the side of a wide slap, she knew she couldn’t keep this up - She was using way more energy dodging than the beringel was by attacking, and Weiss didn’t have a lot left in reserve. If she wanted to beat this thing, she’d have to do it now, before her meager energy reserves ran out.


The Beringel charged again, and Weiss backed away, hugging the rounded wall of the coliseum as the Massive Grimm smashed the ground she was just standing on with an overhand slap that exploded into a shower of grey sand. Weiss glared directly into the Beringel’s eyes, and then Saiko, the unearthly woman flashing a sadistic grin from the stands in response.
You want to see what a human can do? I’ll show you!

The Beringel charged forward, and threw a volley of punches and slaps, attacking Weiss from every possible direction as it attempted to beat her down. The Beringel’s only reward was the trembling thud of it’s attacks connecting with the wall behind her, As Weiss ducked, weaved, jumped, and sidestepped each attack like a white blur of unrestrained motion. A growl escaped the massive grimm as it grabbed and smashed furiously at the tiny girl in front of it, and it’s anger only became more incensed as it saw the passive glare on the girl’s face refuse to fade or change, her movements made with almost robotic precision as she evaded every attack the Beringel made with practiced grace.

The oversized Gorilla had finally had enough, as it brought it’s arm all the way back, and then threw a full-body punch aimed straight for Weiss’s head.

The experienced huntress had seen this attack coming from a mile away, though, and the titanic strike only managed to smash a crater into the wall, sending dust and chunks of jagged rock everywhere. Weiss, ducking under the blow, saw her opportunity and took it, grabbing one of the flying projectiles from mid-air before disappearing from vision.

The clever huntress reappeared behind the Beringel, holding a vaguely knife-shaped chunk of Obsidian, before jumping right above the gorilla’s skull-like head, and bringing it down with a cry of defiance as she impaled the makeshift dagger into the abomination’s neck.

A smile crossed her face as her improvised weapon dug into the Grimm Gorilla’s thick neck. She’d finally done it. She had no idea if the woman above her would hold to her promise, but she at least had a chance now! And if the woman refused again, well, Weiss had a weapon, at least.
Weiss turned to Saiko, jumping off the monster as it fell and staring straight at the woman with conviction.
“I won. Let me go. Now.”
The woman merely laughed in response like the Schnee Huntress had told the best joke she’d ever heard.. “Such an expert attack. You’ve truly gained some skill before bringing this fight here, Weiss Schnee. It truly is surprising…”
A booming roar resounded behind Weiss, and a chill ran down her spine.
“That you’d make such an amateur mistake, that is.”

[Weiss Schnee]

Weiss turned around just in time for a meaty fist to impact squarely with the center of her body. The world sort of fizzled and faded to black for a moment, before she found herself groaning in a pile of dust and blood. She reached a hand back to touch her head, before feeling a sharp, stinging pain. Retracting it with a groan, her eyes widened in shock as she took a look at her bloodied hand and realized it was now coated in blood.

“Have you figured it out yet?” Saiko’s smooth voice taunted from the stands of her gladiatorial arena, and the cheers of the creatures organized was raised ti a fever pitch. It seemed they weren’t happy with the match until Weiss had taken that tumble.
Ugh.

Weiss simply did her best to ignore the voice as she focused instead on planting her hand against the nearest wall, pushing herself up to a sitting position, only for a black, furry hand to grab her by the waist and swing her body up into the air.

“You had a window to out-think this creature. That moment has passed. There is no plan that’ll allow you to beat this creature of Grimm, is there?” Saiko stated, and Weiss hated imagining the grin on Saiko’s features.

Unfortunately, Weiss knew she was right, even as she struggled uselessly to free her arms. Her body felt unnaturally sluggish, awkward. Weiss chalked it up to the blood loss. Her eyes began to slip closed, and as she felt, rather than saw, the creature fling her into the nearby wall.


The impact was crushing, and as Weiss felt her limbs go numb, she cursed under her breath. Her breathing slowed, as she returned to a familiar setting. This wasn’t the first time she’d been put through the ringer like this, and every time, she’d been forced to see the same, inevitable end result: Defeat. As she looked up at her opponent, the beringel seemed to morph, shifting from its monstrous form into familiar foes.
A large, tattooed black man, the White Fang lieutenant that had left her unconscious and broken on their mission to Mountain Glenn, forcing Blake to save her.
A skinnier, smirking face holding a trumpet - Flynn, in the Vytal festival tournament.
The massive, armored form of Okor Paleblood, in the same rotting condition it had been left in at the colosseum, all those years ago.

Weiss clearly remembered fighting each and every one of them. Some of these were battles were to show her skills, her spirit. Others were to protect what little semblance of a free life she’d managed to clutch onto.
All of them ended with defeat - losses that shattered her pride and smashed her life into pieces. A pattern every bit of Weiss’s determination and training couldn’t break.
An uncharacteristic growl escaped Weiss’s throat. Her face formed into a scowl as her growl became a frustrated scream.

“Damnit… I’m so… sick of this...”


Weiss put a hand on the stone wall behind her, and pushed herself back onto her feet. Her legs felt numb, but they responded eerily well. Standing up, she looked at the beringel.
It was the same every time. It was the same every damn time. She fought hard for her own freedom and every single time she hit a wall and found herself stuck right back where she started.

But this time, she just couldn’t find the strength to let her legs give out. If she lost here, it wasn’t back to the beginning.

Weiss gritted her teeth. No. She couldn’t do this again. This woman was trying to chain her up - and if she let her, Weiss knew she’d do just the same to Ruby. The partner she’d forged trust with over a year of battles and arguments and hardships. The girl she knew was counting on her to help them find their team. And the friend who’d cry harder than ever if she let Saiko have her way.

Weiss brushed her hand onto her face, as she felt every bit of rage and frustration she’d been holding back start to slip. She was done losing.

She centered her vision on the beringel, as snakes of white energy circled her protectively.

Her body felt light. Her arms felt strong. And as the beringel charged her with a hungry look, the Icy huntress found herself charging back, faster than she’d ever moved before.

The beringel roared, biting for Weiss’s head, only to hit air.

“So this is the path you’ve taken, Weiss Schnee… just like I thought.”

Weiss ignored the mocking voice of Saiko above her as she stood, arms folded, behind the beringel. Her vision felt perfect. Her body was light. Her breathing came easily. All the pain was gone.
Weiss didn’t know what changed - what was going on with her body - but she knew she’d never felt remotely this good in her life, and with that knowledge came an uncharacteristic grin.
The beringel turned around immediately, beating it’s chest with a primal roar. It threw a flurry of punches, beating the ground into a sandy pulp in it’s attempt to finally crush the speedy princess. Weiss simply jumped from one foot to the other, dodging each blow without even unfolding her arms.

“You’ve gotten slower. You should really work on your aim, too.”

The creature of Grimm, lacking the intelligence to properly defend itself from the verbal taunt, merely replied by putting both of it’s hands together and attempting to hammer Weiss into the ground.

The Beringel struck only air, though, and Weiss’s next line came from on top of it’s back, accompanied with a low, red hum.

“And your guard is awful, too.“

Weiss smirked, as crimson energy glowed across her fingertips. The beringel tried to slap her off, but a quick hop allowed her to jump straight up in the air, avoiding the beast’s paws. Holding out her palm, Weiss grinned as an orb of ruby energy collected in her palm.

“Cero.”

A red beam of light lanced from the changed huntress’s hands, and the beringel put it’s arms up in a futile gesture of defence. It might as well have been holding up reeds - Wherever the light touched, the Beringel’s body burned, and bright crimson light lit up every corner of the arena.
When the light finally faded enough for onlookers to see, there was nothing more than a smoking crater where the Beringel once was.

[Weiss Schnee]

Weiss landed on the ground with a broad grin. Some part of her felt like she should be questioning just what the hell was going on. Even with her aura as a hunter, she’d never been able to pull off anything like she’d just managed. She was nearly as fast as she used to be, and definitely way stronger. She had a feeling that she could’ve stopped the Beringel’s attacks with her bare hands, if she’d really wanted to. But there was more to it.

She’d felt the nearly complete absence of her aura since she’d gotten here - that protective barrier that had kept hunters safe from otherwise lethal damage, and empowered their fighting abilities  - and initially, she’d thought this was her aura coming back to it’s prime.

This wasn’t aura, though. Aura felt like a protective barrier. Like a smooth wall of water, incredibly soft and incredibly strong at the same time. It calmed the user and lent them a quiet strength.

Weiss balled her hand in and out of a fist. This was more like lightning running through her body. Raw, destructive force that was only barely contained. Her hands shook with excitement, and the malaise that had slowly crept in her soul seemed completely gone right now.

The grin she was wearing was completely wrong. It wasn’t her. The excitement that floated through her as Saiko floated to the ground with a sick grin wasn’t her either.
Right now, she didn’t care. She had no idea where this strength had came from, or why, but it was her ticket back to her comrade. She’d question it after she’d dealt with her kidnapper.

“I beat your monster - just like we agreed. Are you going to let me go, or am I going to have to force my way out?” Weiss asked with a smirk.

The woman in the ripped dress simply shook her head, her unnatural grin unyielding. “Oh, my, you really believe that, don’t you?  How oblivious have you become, Weiss?” Saiko stated with a cock of her head. “The rush is getting to you, I assume. It’s the only way you could have missed it.”

Weiss looked around with suddenly widened eyes. She couldn’t mean…

“Oh, no, you’ve crushed the creature of Grimm that confronted you.” Saiko stated with a smile. “Quite beautifully. You’ve simply forgotten the last part of our deal.”

“What are you saying?”

“I must say, though, I was more impressed with your earlier performance. You came so close to destroying the Beringel with your own power.” Saiko stated with a grin. “You showed skill. You showed talent. And you came so close. In the end, though, you exhibited the failings so many have before you. The reason human stock is traditionally so useless. At the last second, you fell to your own weakness.”.

Saiko frowned, even as Weiss glared at her with gritted teeth. She was tired of all of these surprises. She’d made the deal,she’d beaten the damn grimm, and she was sick of all of these interruptions.
She was leaving - even if she had to go through Saiko to do it.

“Hahahahaha… hehehehehehe!” Saiko laughed suddenly, and Weiss’s hands balled into fists. What was it now?

“You forgot the second part of the deal, Weiss Schnee.” The corpselike captor stated with a disappointed expression. “You failed to do the job as a human.”

“I…” Weiss started to object, before things started to connect in her head. A chill crept through her body as her hands started to shake.

“What are you saying… what did you do to me?!”

“I simply opened the path. You chose to accept it. You were willing to sacrifice anything just to win that battle… so you sacrificed your humanity.” Saiko stated with a grin. “Of course… That’s not to say you had a choice, after your last death. I simply… sped up the transformation.”

Weiss’s glare intensified. “I want out of your arena. I don’t care who you are or what you’re trying to do.”

Saiko just cocked her head, moving to an impossible angle in response. “Really now? But you seemed so interested before. Or maybe… could it be there’s something you don’t want to hear?”

Heat flashed in Weiss’s vision, and without even thinking about it, she held out her hand. What Omni had told her about Omnilium flashed in her mind, but somehow, she didn’t think this was directly connected. Similarly, the red blade of energy she gripped  had a passing resemblance to Myrtenaster at best.

She didn’t care, so long as it could cut.

“Shut up!” Weiss screamed in frustration, as she bolted forward. Gripping her makeshift rapier with both hands, she cut down on Saiko’s form with every bit of force her augmented muscles could muster.

“My, aren’t you feisty?” A voice asked from behind her.

Weiss turned around to see the grinning specter with a lazy grin. “How the hell-?!”
Saiko’s response was a forest of claws, blows Weiss could barely match, and she suddenly found herself on the defensive again as she was forced to block and dodge as best she could.

“I suppose it would be worth it to test your new power a little more. Come on then, Weiss Schnee. I know you can do more than that now. You’re no ordinary hollow, after all. Show me that!”

The ghoulish figure in front of her broke into laughter, and Weiss gritted her teeth as she blocked and dodged past most of the attacks. She could finally see the claws that served for Saiko’s nails now, and they seemed as sharp as Kukri’s. Nor was she seemingly using them in any pattern Weiss could use against her - the Insane woman was just throwing an avalanche of quick attacks that Weiss had little response for, dodging and weaving but still being forced to accept a quickly piling number of nicks and cuts all over her body.

Weiss glared. She refused to accept this.

“Saiko!” The huntress yelled, trying to break through Saiko’s guard with a fierce counter-attack, swinging her blade with both hands. The woman simply neatly side-stepped, putting her hands at her side.

“Now, now, what is this brute force approach?” Saiko asked with a grin. “Surely you can-”

The look of surprise Saiko had on her face when she stepped into Weiss’s glowing hand pushed her to grin just a little.

“Cero.”

A beam of destructive energy engulfed her demonic tormentor, and Weiss stepped back with a glare, immediately looking around. She’d just destroyed the leader of these demonic beings, so she doubted she was going to get out of here without a fight. As she looked around the arena, though, she was surprised to see the various horrors with expressions of excitement on her face.

Laughter echoed anew from behind her, and a chill ran down Weiss’s spine.

“Clever.”

Weiss groaned as she turned, only for a sudden pain to arc through her back.

Her eyes slowly angled down, as she saw boney protrusions piercing through her stomach, picture perfect to when she’d first been kidnapped and brought here.

“N-no… this is-” Weiss stumbled, trying to find the words as her brain started to fail her.

“Don’t worry, when next I wake you, you’ll find yourself far more interested in working with me…” Saiko whispered, her breath tickling the beaten huntress’s ear.

Weiss felt herself start to fade, her blade fading into nothingness, and she realized that even now she was losing the ability to hold onto her consciousness. This was past the point of combat…
This was the point she had to give-

“...What?!”

her captor suddenly jumped to attention, and Weiss suddenly found herself struggling to regain consciousness as the wall near her exploded.

The next few moments just felt like a confusing blur of light and sounds to her. She could hear the distorted screams of grimm and other entities she assumed were far from human, and a constant smattering of explosions. Weiss Looked at the breach that was made, but her eyes started to blur and tear up, as she fell to the ground. Dimly, all her eyes could communicate to her was vivid splashes of red over brown and gray hues, before she found them disobeying her thoughts and closing, regardless of her opinion on the subject.

“I’ve found-”
“Already-”
“Can’t we-”
“-a prime.”
“Saiko is-”
“Then you take her!”


Weiss heard these voices dimly, and part of her wanted to wake up, to see what the hell was going on.
The more exhausted part of her body wanted to pass out and fall into merciful unconsciousness, and eventually, that part won out.