A/N: Hey guys! Here's the latest chapter! I hope you have as much fun reading it as I did writing it!
Chapter Eleven: ...And Into The Fire
Ruby, Blake, and Yang had made their way back from Downtown Vale. The whole way to Ozpin's office, Blake had been staring in her hand, analyzing the dart that had semi-sedated Ruby. They climbed the massive spiral staircase to Ozpin's office. Ruby, now almost fully recovered, began wailing on Ozpin's office door.
"ProfessorOzpinPofessorOzpinProfessorOzpin!" Ruby yelled, smacking her fists against the door.
It wasn't long before movement was heard on the other side. With his signature cup of coffee in hand, he opened the door.
"How can I help you, Ruby?" He calmly asked.
Ruby was talking so fast that she was barely coherent. "WeissandIwerewalkingandtheWhiteFangcameandwefoughtthemandWeissgothitwithadartaandItriedtostopthembut...!"
"Ruby," Ozpin held his hand up, silencing her. "Slow down and breathe."
Ruby took a deep breath and held it before exhaling. "Okay."
"Good," Ozpin put his free hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Now tell me what happened."
"Weiss was kidnapped by the White Fang and Mason went after them!"
Ozpin raised his eyebrows. "You girls were right to bring this to my attention."
"What can we do?!" Yang asked anxiously.
Ozpin sighed. "Not much, I'm afraid. Have you had any contact with either of them up until now?"
"I did." Blake said. "I talked to him right before he went after her."
"But you haven't spoken to either of them since then?" He asked.
"No, Sir." Blake responded.
Ozpin pulled out his jet black scroll made a call. "Glynda, it's an emergency. It seems we have two students behind enemy lines."
Mason and Weiss made their way to the roof. On their way up the stairs, they passed the two unconscious guards on the ground.
"Are they dead?" Weiss asked.
"Nope," Mason forced the heavy metal door open. "Just knocked out."
Weiss followed Mason through the open door and out into the evening air. "You could've killed them. Why didn't you?"
"Because if I had, then I would be no better then they are." He walked toward the Bullhead and inspected it. "It looks like this thing's seen better days. I'm surprised the White Fang is even still using this."
"Whoa, wait a minute," Weiss stepped in front of Mason. "You're not suggesting that we actually fly this rust bucket, are you?!"
Mason looked at Weiss, then back at the Bullhead. "Yep!"
Weiss stepped aside as Mason opened the cockpit door and motioned for Weiss to climb inside.
"Are you sure about this?" She asked with hesitation lingering in her voice.
"How else are we gonna get home?" Mason held his hand out to Weiss. "Ladies first!"
Weiss reluctantly took his hand and he helped her into the co-pilot's seat. He shut the door and ran over to the pilot's seat. Mason climbed into the cockpit and strapped himself in.
"Do you know how to fly this thing?" Weiss nervously asked.
"Uh...yeah," Mason smiled unconvincingly. "Of course I do!"
He flipped a few switches on the instrument panel and a female voice began to speak throughout the cockpit's speakers that made both Mason and Weiss jump in their seats.
"Hello," The voice said. "Welcome to the 36-D Bullhead. I am this aircraft's artificial intelligence. My name is Sheila. How may I be of assistance?"
"Hi, Sheila, it's nice to meet you," Mason said politely. "Can you plot a course to Beacon Academy?"
"Absolutely!" Sheila's voice replied. "But it seems as if you do not have the proper credentials to pilot this aircraft, would you like me to run the tutorial program?"
Mason heard noises back inside the building. "Sorry, Sheila, it looks like we're going to have to wing it."
"Are you sure?" Sheila asked.
"Yeah, we need to get this thing in the air right now." Mason replied.
"What's wrong?" Weiss asked him.
Mason sidestepped her question. "Strap yourself in tight, Princess."
"Don't call me that!" Weiss said as she obeyed him and strapped herself in the harness.
Mason turned to her and smiled. "I only work with what you give me."
She folded her arms with a slight blush as Mason started the engines. In seconds, they roared to life. He shut the cockpit door as the Bullhead lifted off of the roof. It rose into the air and slowed to a hover.
"Sheila," Mason looked at the control panel. "How do I get this thing going?"
"To disengage the hover function, you must first engage the forward thrusters and use the steering apparatus to..."
Mason glanced over at the door on the roof. It was being forced open.
"IN PLAIN ENGLISH, SHEILA!" He shouted.
"Hit the red button, push the lever forward, and steer with the rotor wheel." Sheila sharply replied.
"Thank you." Mason did as the A.I suggested and the Bullhead rocketed off into the violet sky. Weiss looked uneasy and Mason could see it in her face.
"Sheila, do you have an autopilot setting?" Mason asked.
"I do," She replied. "Would you like me to activate this aircraft's autopilot?"
"Yes, please."
Sheila's voice responded in an automated tone. "Autopilot is now enabled. Now plotting a course for...Beacon Academy."
Mason turned to Weiss. Her hand was gripping the arm rest of the seat like her life depended on it. He rested his own hand on hers. Her hand immediately relaxed.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
"Yeah," Weiss sighed. "I just...I don't like flying."
"Hey," Mason slid his hand underneath hers and gently squeezed. "I gotcha out of that place in one piece, I'm not letting anything happen to you now. You're safe with me."
Weiss closed her eyes and exhaled. "I know."
Mason thought of a good way to distract her. "Weiss..."
"Hmm?" She hummed.
"What do you wanna do when we get back?"
Weiss raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, we'll go out and do something," Mason said softly. "It'll be just you and me...tomorrow night...and we'll do anything you want. Interested?"
Her face lit up like a light. "Anything I want, and we'll do it?"
"Yes," He nodded. "Anything at all."
After a moment, with a smile on her face, Weiss said, "I'll think about it."
With a smile, Mason gave her hand one last gentle squeeze before sitting back in the pilot's seat.
Yang stormed through the door to their dorm, nearly knocking off its hinges.
"I can't BELIEVE they won't let us help!" Yang said, leaping into her bed. "It's ridiculous!"
Blake and Ruby soon followed her into the room.
"You heard Professor Ozpin," Blake said, slowly sitting down on her bed. "We helped as much as we could."
"Yeah," Ruby said semi-cheerfully. "Besides, Mason is like a tank, he's almost invincible!"
"But Ruby," Yang said forcefully, leaning over the edge of her bunk bed. "All it would take is for him to take on more than he could handle, and he's done."
The cheerfulness on Ruby's face was vaporized as Yang continued.
"If Mason got really hurt too quickly and didn't heal himself fast enough, he'd die..." Small tears began to flow from Yang's eyes.
Ruby saw this and stepped up onto the edge of Blake's bed, bringing her to eye level with Yang. She wrapped her arms around her older sister.
"I know you're worried about Mason and Weiss." Ruby said calmly. "We're all worried about them. But Mason knows his limits, he'll be fine."
"I know," Yang's voiced calmed back down. "I'd just feel better if I knew that they were okay."
Yang's scroll began beeping furiously. She didn't even think to look at the name before putting it on speaker for everyone to hear.
"Hello?" She asked, anxiety straining in her voice.
It only took a second for Mason's voice to reply from the scroll's speaker.
"Goldilocks, this is Tiger-One. I repeat, this is Tiger-One. The jelly is in the donut, over."
"Mason!" Yang almost fell out of her bed with excitement. "Mason, are you two okay!?"
Mason's voice smugly replied, "Goldilocks, please use call-signs and say 'over' when you're finished talking, over."
Yang rolled her eyes in frustration. "Tiger-One, are you okay, Tiger-One? Over."
"That's a big Ten-Four, Goldilocks. Ice Princess and I are en route to...OW!" Mason shouted. "Weiss, what was that for?!"
Weiss' voice came through in the background. "Don't call me 'Ice Princess'!"
Ruby and Yang looked at each other and laughed.
"How far are you from here? Yang asked.
"Not far, Goldilocks," Mason replied. "We should be there in a few minutes. We kind of stole a White Fang Bullhead, so listen for our engines. Tiger-One, out."
Yang hung up and leapt off of her bed. "C'mon, let's go wait for them!"
She and the others ran out the balcony door, waiting for Mason and Weiss to show up.
Mason rubbed his arm. "That hurt, you know!"
"Good," Weiss crossed her arms. "It was meant to!"
Mason looked into the distance and saw Beacon Tower in the fading sunlight. "We'll be there soon."
Weiss stared at him as he watched the horizon. She could see the tiredness in his eyes. Weiss realized that Mason had been through just as much as she had, and it was beginning to show as Mason closed his eyes for a moment and leaned his head against the headrest.
The silence was interrupted by Sheila's feminine robotic voice.
"We are now crossing into Beacon Academy airspace."
When he heard Sheila, Mason opened his eyes. He looked over at Weiss and smiled. "We're home!"
Weiss just smiled back and grabbed his hand and held it tightly.
Their touching moment was shattered by an ear piercing alarm as Sheila's voice echoed throughout the cabin.
"Warning, warning. Unknown projectile inbound." Her voice was eerily calm.
Mason frantically scanned their surroundings. He saw exactly what she was referring to. A bright missile was coming at them head on. "Sheila can't you take evasive action?!"
"I'm afraid I cannot." She replied. "This version of Adobe Flash is outdated. Please download the latest version at..."
"Sheila, hand over the controls!" Mason shouted, grabbing the 'w' shaped steering yoke.
"Manual override authorized." She said in a chipper manner. "Autopilot is now disengaged."
"Hang on!" Mason yanked back on the yoke, sending the Bullhead rocketing upwards into the air.
Weiss felt the blood rush to her head as the small airship climbed at a ninety degree angle. The safety harness tightened around her as Mason completed a loop-de-loop. The missile followed close behind.
"Looks like we have a heat seeker!" Mason turned his attention to Sheila. "Do we have any countermeasures on this heap?!"
"Yes!" She happily replied. "Would you like to..."
Mason cut her off. "Just do it!"
"Now deploying flares."
The Bullhead released a flurry of small, bright flares. The missile flew straight into the bright cloud behind them and exploded in a bright red flash.
"Mason," Weiss pointed at the red cloud left behind by the exploded missile. "They're loaded with Red Dust!"
"Well that's not good!" Mason stated. "Sheila, who's firing at us?"
"It seems as if we are being viewed as a threat by the Beacon Academy Defense Systems." She replied. "They are taking offensive actions against us."
"Oh, perfect!" Mason said, frustration cracking in his voice. "Weiss, use your scroll and get a hold of Ozpin. Tell him we aren't a threat!"
Weiss reached for it, but realized that she had left it on her bed in the dorm. "I don't have it!"
"Why don't you have it?!" Mason hurriedly asked. "You should never leave without your scroll!"
"Oh, I'm SORRY," Weiss sassily replied. "I forgot to grab it before I was KIDNAPPED!"
Mason handed her his own scroll. "Here, use this."
Weiss took it and activated the screen.
Sheila's voice interrupted once again with even more dreadful news. "Warning, incoming projectile detected. Impact is imminent."
Mason looked out the window and saw the Dust-filled missile approaching quickly from the left side.
"Sheila," Mason shouted. "Suggestions?"
After a brief bout of silence, as if she were pondering his query, she responded.
"...Do a barrel roll."
Mason shrugged his shoulders and rolled the aircraft.
Weiss screamed in fear. In her panic, she lost her grip on Mason's scroll and it flew around the cabin. She desperately tried to grab it, but when Mason righted the Bullhead, it fell to the floor in front of her and slid underneath her seat.
Weiss tried to unfasten her harness so she could reach down and search for the scroll but Mason's arm shot out and stopped her.
"Leave it!" He said. "It's too dangerous!"
She followed his orders and sat back in her seat, clenching both of the arm rests with her hands.
Mason looked out his window again and saw the missile, still fast approaching.
"It's still behind us!" Mason shouted over the blaring alarms.
"I gave you a suggestion, didn't I?" Sheila innocently asked.
Mason rolled his eyes. "Yeah, any other bright ideas?"
Again, Sheila was silent for a blinking moment. "...Hold on to your asses."
Mason and Weiss let out yells of terror as missile crashed into the underside of the Bullhead.
"Sheila, give me a damage report!" Mason coughed.
"The fuel line has burst and the engines are losing power." Sheila responded. "Immediate evacuation is recommended."
Mason had very little control of the Bullhead, now. If they continued on the path that they were descending, they would crash into Beacon. Mason had to think, and he had to think fast.
He came to only one conclusion: He was going to have to make a crash landing in order to spare the school. The only problem was that the angle of descent was going to be incredibly steep, and the crash would almost certainly kill anyone else. He had to get Weiss out of there.
Mason looked at Weiss' feet and saw a yellow and black striped handle. "Hey, Weiss..."
"What?!" She shouted in a panic.
"I have to make a crash landing..."
Weiss was baffled. "What do you mean?! If you crash this thing, you'll kill us both!"
"No," Mason said. "Not both of us..." He grabbed a hold of the handle at her feet.
Weiss realized what he was about to do.
"No!" She cried out, trying to free herself from the harness. "I'm not leaving you!"
"Weiss," He said calmly. "If you stay, you won't make it."
Tears began streaming from her eyes. "And you will?"
"I might." He replied.
Weiss lurched forward and latched onto his neck, trapping him in a hug.
"You'd better!" She said, squeezing him tightly. "I'm not losing you this soon!"
"See ya soon, Princess!" He said with a wink.
"Don't call me thaaaaat!""
Weiss couldn't finish her sentence before Mason pulled the handle, ejecting her and her seat through the roof of the Bullhead.
Mason picked up his scroll from the empty space where the copilot's seat used to be. He took the memory chip out of the back of the scroll and slid it in the slot in the control panel. "Sheila, I'm taking you with me. Transfer yourself to that chip NOW!"
"Beginning A.I. Core transfer...Transfer complete."
Mason yanked the chip from the panel and stuck it back into his scroll. He looked back and saw Weiss' parachute floating safely behind the Bullhead.
He stared out of the windshield and saw Beacon approaching fast. He took a hold of the yoke and buried it in the console, sending the Bullhead into a weak dive.
If Mason had waited any longer, then it would have been too late. The Bullhead had transitioned into a full nose dive only meters away from Beacon's main building. Mason narrowly avoided leveling the school, but now he was hurtling toward the ground.
Mason twisted the Bullhead away from the school and ripped the yoke backward. The failing engines strained to pull the aircraft upwards, but it was too little too late.
The engines only had enough power to slightly ease the angle of descent, and the ground was fast approaching. The last thing Mason remembered was the Bullhead making contact with Beacon's front lawn.
Weiss watched in horror as the aircraft barreled into the ground, like an aluminum can being crushed against cement. It flipped end over end until it screeched to a halt in a fiery mess.
She released her harness, freeing herself from the safety of the parachute and dropped to a free fall before landing on a glyph. Weiss began hopping from glyph to glyph, making her way down to the crash site as quickly as she could, praying to whatever deity that happened to be listening for him to be okay.
Ruby, Blake, and Yang ran out of the building along with the whole of team JNPR, who had heard the commotion from across the hall. Weiss was closing the distance between her and the rest of her teammates. They all collectively swarmed the crash site, desperately searching for any sign of life.
"Mason!" Ruby shouted. "Mason, can you hear me?!"
Weiss landed and ran to her friends. "Is he okay?!"
Ruby shook her head. "We can't find him!"
"C'mon, Tiger," Yang said in a panic. "Say something!"
A low deep moan came from a ways from the crash. Everybody's heads turned and saw Mason, still strapped into his seat and lying face up.
Everybody ran over to Mason. He had a long cut across his forehead, and blood was pouring out..
Weiss knelt next to his head. "Mason, can you hear me?"
He opened his eyes and nodded. "Can you help me out of this thing?"
Jaune knelt down beside him as well. "Sure thing, buddy."
Together, Jaune and Weiss unhooked Mason's harness and helped him to his feet. They used their bodies to brace him up, but he still struggled to stay on his feet.
"I think I'm gonna throw up..." He muttered. "...Yep."
Mason leaned over and wretched. It took a minute for him to straighten himself out, but not for long. He tried to take a step forward, and landed face-first in the grass before passing out.
A/N: Well, thanks for reading! Please leave a review and let me know how I'm doing. I want to know what you guys think of the story this far. As always, leave a comment or drop me a message!
