Nega-Ilia was conflicted about her next choice; She COULD bring this second Jae in to her Empress and make her happier then she had ever been but at the cost of swallowing her pride and watching the woman that she had guarded focus on someone that she felt never deserved her…Or she could make a choice to cut out the last remaining tie that diverted her Empress's attention, telling him that he resisted too hard or that the Beast claimed him in their fight…Yet she felt that telling her this could backfire or worse yet: The Empress would find out the truth. "I could end this now…Remove this intruder and do my duty to the Empress…But perhaps I could get Blake to appreciate me if I bring him to her unharmed…" Nega-Ilia mused as she then grabbed her weapon from her hip and monitored him while he navigated the brush.
Jae was utilising a small sawtoothed blade as a way to navigate the deep overgrown greenery that surrounded the palace; "First it was all hot and dry, now I'm stuck trying to navigate this damp jungle? I just hope getting inside is less of an issue." He mentally grumbled to himself as he cut down another bramble to navigate the path ahead while watching below, thankfully Ruby told him it was a cellar door but she neglected to say where exactly. He could feel the fatigue from the last fight catching up and figured he could use a rest so he reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of coins; he took one bronze coin out of the group and flicked it towards the ground to make a large phone booth appear.
——Meanwhile, In the Real World——
Everyone was looking tense following what happened with Jae; Ruby was still shaken up, Weiss somehow looked paler then before and Shion was tapping her foot as she watched both Jae and Yang in their sleep states alongside Blake.
"You those two are okay in there?" Weiss asked as she looked up to Shion who seemed to be monitoring their progress.
"Hard to say; I gave them those coins so that they can both communicate with us on the outside and also so they have their exit out." The witch woman would mention as she had witnessed Jae's chest compress and the surrounding panic it brought.
Before Ruby could ask how they would find out, the nearby phone where Shion was started to ring loudly; bringing the tension down as Shion picked it up; "It's Mr. Cielo."
"Hello? Miss Shion? I made it into what looks like the main area of Blake's mindscape, it looks like your typical palace in an oasis kind of thing…" Jae's voice echoed from the phone, earning a quiet sigh of relief from the two girls.
"You're cutting it close; The longer that the two of you stay in there, the more difficult it'll be to get the two of you out of there!" Shion warned him as she noticed the hourglass by the containment jar slowly dwindled down to show how much time they had left.
"YOU!" A second voice was heard over the phone before the connection died and reverted their contact to static.
"Cielo…CIELO!" Shion yelled as she started to get concerned. "Just remember to use your coins and get out if it's an emergency…"
——In the Mindscape——
Jae heard the voice while Shion talked and managed to roll away after hearing it, though he lost the phone and the coin he used in the process; "Hey! I'm not here for trouble, just let me into the palace and I'll be gone before you know it." Jae questioned the figure as he got to his feet but kept the blade in hand as he was ready to either defend or run.
"You're not going anywhere, outsider!" Nega-Ilia would snarl as she readied her saber and pointed it at him; "You have two choices right now…"
"Let me guess, submit myself to the Empress or be executed?" Jae remarked with a sarcastic shrug; "Look, I'm kind of running the clock right now so just point me where to go and we won't have a problem." He said to try and bargain with her.
"…Is what I would say, but The Empress is having enough strife as it is to keep one Darling safe on top of that blonde ape that looks like the Barbarian Queen…You would only make things worse so I'll be taking you out of the equation myself!" Nega-Ilia threatened him as she rushed him; "He survived the wastelands but all he holds is a dagger? such a waste and an easy wi-" Ilia thought but as she tried to rush him; she ducked under when she saw him throw the knife at her at a quick pace before he threw a quick jab to knock her back.
"I told you I'm in a hurry so we can save the fight and show me where the Nightmare is, once we do that…I'll leave you, your darling and your Empress alone." Jae once again tried to get through to her but it seemed like this only seemed to anger her more.
"MY Darling?" Ilia growled as she felt disgust and offence when he mentioned that part; "How dare you assume that I would find that worthless, disgusting little weevil to be anything remotely attractive!" She yelled as she converted her saber into a whip and lashed out in both senses at Jae who ended up taking it by surprise.
Once he managed to feel what he was up against; Jae got back on the offensive but this time making the knife extend into the spear, "Alright then, let's do this…" Jae would snark hut then noticed that the girl in front of him was now gone literally right before his eyes. "Wait….What?"
——Meanwhile——
Yang was ducking and blocking against the vicious swings of Nega-Jae as he made for several quick punches against her.
"I can't let him get the upper hand on this…But I'm gonna need my Ember Celica to stand a chance…" Yang thought as she glanced around to find her gauntlets and find a way to fight back.
"You finally decide to show your face, Barbarian Queen…All your days here teasing me for being stuck as a love slave…Now I get to exact my payback for all your taunting, your bragging…" Nega Jae growled as he seemed to be equally as affected. though it looked like Nega Ilia had taken away the chance for Yang to re-arm herself as she saw the two gauntlets knocked to the floor behind the guy that stared daggers into her.
"Look, Jae…I know what that weird girl and this whole "Empress" did was bad but I had nothing to do with it…my beef is with that slimy thing behind you!" She admitted and noticed the red eye glaring at her from the darkness before the ground under them started crumbling; Taking it, Yang and Nega Jae with it into the darker depths of the palace.
—Outside—
Jae turned back as he heard the rumbling from outside and then drew his gun as he heard another crack and that same whip lashed out to try hitting him. "Damn it…This forest is too thick for me to see her…" He muttered as he then scanned the treeline to see where it was coming from; "You know…A Grimm gun would come in reeeeal handy right about now…" He would then have an idea as he pulled out several red tinted rounds from his pouch and loaded them into his gun.
"He's slow but he's starting to catch on…" Nega-Ilia muttered as she then heard a volley of gunfire whistle into the trees; noticing that they weren't hitting her and instead vanishing into the canopy; "The hell's he….No….How dare he…." She began to bristle and growl when she noticed that amidst the greenery, a faint orange started to flare outward.
"Heh…She can't hide in the trees if there's nothing to cover…Her?" He grinned but trailed off when he saw Nega-Ilia re-emerge as the colour green practically washed off of her and her masked face was a vision of rage.
"How…You insolent rodent!" She yelled at him as she gripped the handle of her weapon tightly and seethed as her mask then cracked; showing part of her scaled face and an eye that had turned reptilian.
"Simple, I'm fighting back…You keep whipping me and I'll find a way to make you stop, I'd rather not fight since there's only one thing I intend to go at….So please, just step aside." Jae offered a deal to let him through.
"You burned the Empress's Garden, threaten her new Captain of the Guard and kill the former one! I won't stop until you're either in a cell!" She yelled out as her voice deepened and her body began to warp.
"You're kidding me….Another one?" Jae would think as he saw Nega-Ilia quickly transform into a bipedal lizard with a myriad of colours flashing along her back and a skinny tail that resembled her whip.
"OR IN THE GROUND!" She roared out; Though her form seemed different then Beast Adam's, she was only a head taller then Jae was and she was fully capable of talking coherently. "The Empress will not be beaten down or toyed with by the likes of you!" Beast-Ilia growled as she opened her mouth and lashed out a long tongue to knock him backwards into a tree trunk.
Jae yelled out in pain as the tongue hit him like a truck and the tree behind him was reduced to splinters; "You're not messing around anymore…So neither will I, Scale-Face!" Jae yelled out as he summoned up the katars in hand for a fight.
Beast-Ilia hissed out and rushed him down and started swiping her spindly arms on him; while Beast-Adam struck him down with a powerful swing, Beast-Ilia was lightning fast and for every hit landed on Jae; she could dish out three more on top of it.
Jae took his chance and ducked under her next swing and slammed the blades into her shoulders, causing Beast-Ilia to let out a violent shriek and kicked him off; taking the golden blades of the Katars with her as she began to change colours into a black shade and disappeared into the dark undergrowth. "Chameleon traits…It would be pretty cool if she wasn't trying to kill me…" Jae thought as he darted his eyes back and forth in the darkest patches.
Beast-Ilia was faster and could cloak herself; it made for a much more dangerous fight then the straightforward fight against Beast-Adam.
"Hold on…If I could improve Ripper during my fight with Adam…Then this shouldn't be a stretch." Jae mumbled to himself and then thrust his arms outward in a goading stance while mentally shouting one word in his mind; "SWORDMASTER!".
In that moment as Beast-Ilia dashed out of the bramble with blinding speed, she was ready to finish him off; "IN THE NAME OF EMPRESS BLAKE! I WILL END YOU!" She shrieked out once she got into a range that was too close to deflect.
Jae caught a glimpse of gold from the blade and then bashed the two Katars together. Beast-Ilia was ready to claw off his face but when she heard that metallic clang as he was in reach; the glowing blades in her shoulders started glowing brighter and then exploded, causing her to reflexively pull her arms back. "MY ARMS! What did you DO?!" She venomously yelled at him; suddenly noticing that her arms were turning a shade of violet that trailed down her arms from her shoulders to her clawed fingertips.
Jae smirked as he figured out the effects when he saw his weapon's secret effect; "Funny thing about scorpion stingers, you always have to be careful about the poison that they carry." He quipped as when Beast-Ilia was ready to swipe at him once more…
Nothing happened; Beast-Ilia tried and tried to lift her arms to attack, but something seemed to stop her; "Poison…No, this is paralytic…You never intended to kill me…" She accused as her tail lashed behind her out of anger.
"Never did, like I told you: The only thing I want to kill is probably living in that palace of your's. So please, just let me through and you'll never see me anymore…Plus that Venom's not potent, you'll regain the use of your arms eventually." Jae tried to convince her but Beast-Ilia let out a howling roar as this really pushed her to her boiling point.
"NO! I WILL NOT BE TALKED DOWN TO AND CONDESCENDED BY SOME EXPENDABLE, LOW CLASS VILE EXCUSE FOR A LOVE SLAVE!" Beast-Ilia yowled and then rushed at him with the ferocity and the desperation of a rabid animal; though with her arms paralysed, it looked more like she was ready to either skewer him with her tail or to try using her tongue again to bludgeon him.
Jae however smirked; If dealing with the last Beast taught him anything, it was to take any chance he can get. With a refill of his revolver with some dark purple tinted rounds, he switched the barrel to the Heavy duty form and took aim at the charging Ilia. "Come on…Focus…FOCUS…It worked for the sword so let me do this too…..GUNSLINGER!" He mentally charged up as his gun took a rather strange turn when it started to glow purple in the barrel and intensified with the more time that passed.
"For the sake of EMPRESS BLAKE! I…I…DESTROY YOU!" Nega-Ilia roared out as she began to slowly lose her reason with each passing second she was like this.
Jae felt his perceptions slow down for a brief moment and aimed the brightly glowing barrel of his gun at Beast-Ilia's chest. "Alrighty, sorry this is a little rough but I'm running out of time here." He apologised and then pulled the trigger; there was a powerful "BOOM!" From the gun as Jae was knocked off his feet and skidding along the ground.
Beast-Ilia however hadn't just been knocked off, she got sent flying off the ground and rocketing through several of the trees before hitting the ground. As she lay there trying to get to her feet, the trees that had been hit collapsed around her and blocked the way between her and her prey. "You…You can never hope to love Blake like I do! I sacrifice my life and my honor to keep her safe and happy!"
Jae staggered to his feet, ignoring the feral rambling of Beast-Ilia and looked to his smoking gun; "Jeez…That one had a lot of wallop in it…I should probably pace myself next time or not charge it so…Huh, Charge Shot…I like that idea." He thought to himself as he sprinted off towards the stone wall and cut away the undergrowth until he found a neglected looking cellar door. "Jackpot." He grinned as he then used the butt of his sword to smash open the lock and then headed into the dark that lay below.
As he ventured down the long corridor; he watched the sconces light up as he ran, dimly illuminating the hall before he entered what looked like an derelict grand hall, standing at the centre of it was a dark haired woman clad in a black and gold mask but instead of her usual flowing kimono that shimmered in the luxuriant light from when Yang saw her, she was instead wearing a tight yet sleek body suit with a katana strapped to her left hip. "So…You must be the Empress that everyone was so eager to fawn over."
"That isn't very nice of you to speak like that, my darling~" The woman purred as the lights flickered on after she snapped her fingers; everything around them was illuminated and besides the broken down throne in the center, it was solid stone all around and a worn carpet leading up the stairs to it. "I won't question how you escaped…But your actions as of late have me concerned of your intentions, did you wish to run back to me so eagerly or do you wish to follow in the same path that Adam and Ilia have." Nega-Blake spoke with her Empress voice and glanced him up and down from behind her mask.
"Look, I'm all about fighting for what you love…But this whole thing here is really not healthy." Jae stated as he kept his eye on her; Adam could shrug off every attack he had, Ilia turned invisible and had a strong tongue to knock him around, he was not willing to take someone titled "The Empress" lightly.
"And can you blame me for any of this? My first love turned into a monster in front of my very eyes and I was too blind to see it until he threatened not just me but everyone around me…Ilia was more composed and level headed but I could tell it was only a matter of time before she ended up the same!" Nega-Blake ranted at him as she stomped down the stairs to be at his level; "Yang and her sister ran off when I told them about my plans to put up the barrier to stop everyone I cared about from getting hurt anymore! That one was the few things that hurt me the most…Is it truly evil to stop the ones I love from leaving…Or from getting hurt by what's outside there?"
"All that just so you could stop people from leaving you alone?" Jae asked as he looked her down; "If you truly loved them…Then you'd let them leave and make their own choices to stay or not…Putting up this barrier only makes this place a prison, not a Palace!"
Nega-Blake was silent before reaching for her mask and then pulling it off; Showing a near spitting image of Blake but with a more mournful look on her face, "That's exactly what they said…Once they left, I only had you…And Ilia left in my Kingdom. She did everything for me but so did Adam at first…The only one who could truly understand my pain was my own Darling, but ever since I put him in his new chambers, he refused to be anywhere near me…He told me the same thing you did…So I put the bars up so I could ensure he could stay where I could see him."
Jae was horrified, "You…This is too much." He then narrowed his eyes; "I won't get locked up in a cage…And I refuse to let anyone else hold me down and tell me what I can and can't do!" He then summoned up his sword and readied himself.
Nega-Blake felt herself smile sadly; "I know…That rebellious attitude and your tenacity is why I fell for you, my darling…" She then placed the mask back on and she became a practically different person; "I did all this for all of you, I gave you all of this! I failed to stop you before when you resisted…But I can't…No…I WON'T let you get away from me again!" She declared and unsheathed her sword; gripping the two halves of Gambol Shroud in each hand.