Death Magnetic: The Judas Kiss

The bullhead had taken them to a base of operations. Pyrrha had been left with blue-gray prison clothes, which she thought was just a way to remind her what she was. It wasn't remotely like what she had been wearing while she was incarcerated. She stood outside Weiss' room, waiting for her to come out. There was a legitimate concern that she felt Weiss needed to hear about.

Sure enough, the door opened and Weiss stepped out. She wasted no time. "What do you want?"

Pyrrha took a moment to look her over first. "You're impeccably clean. Your upgrades must be waterproof, right?"

Weiss didn't respond. She just stared at Pyrrha, unamused.

Sighing, Pyrrha held up her hand, presenting her palm so Weiss could see. It was merely a demonstration, and there was nothing special to see, but Weiss got the message.

"You've noticed, finally. Yes, your aura has been tampered with. Remember, they put a spike in your head to keep you from escaping with your semblance. The spike, not like a physical metal spike or anything, it's actually more like an organic version of a computer virus made entirely out of information injected straight into your brain. Anyway, we've altered it now so you have some control over your semblance and some protection from your aura. But not enough to make you a real threat in battle if you should turn on us."

Pyrrha put her hand down, stuffing it in her pocket. "Marvelous. How am I supposed to help you beat Jaune like this?"

Weiss gave the slightest hint of a smug grin. "I can take Jaune on my own. And yes, they are waterproof. They're also non-magnetic." She stepped past Pyrrha and walked away. "Get ready. We're attacking in ten minutes."

Pyrrha wasn't surprised to find that Weiss had a separate room for gearing up. She entered the room she and Coco would be sharing and stopped in the doorway, startled, facing Coco's back. The young woman seemed to be totally immobile.

Slowly, Pyrrha closed the door. "Are… you going to be ready?"

Coco's voice came back low and quiet. "I don't care what Weiss does. Understand?"

Pyrrha found the statement strange in a number of ways. So, no, she didn't understand. "What do you mean?"

Coco stood up, turning to face her. "I know you're going to try to turn us against her. She's changed. She's become brutal and unrelenting. We've seen her kill several people already. I don't care."

Pyrrha sighed, shaking her head. "She told me that all witnesses must be eliminated. I have no doubt she's going to kill us as well when this is over."

Coco shrugged. "I'm here for Velvet and Yatsuhashi. Nothing more. They were murdered, and I will see justice for them. That's all that matters."

There was nothing Pyrrha could say to that. No way to refute Coco's mindset. Not then, at least. Pyrrha shook it off and started searching for a locker with her name. She found it quickly enough, opening it to find herself disappointed by the lack of change of clothes. There was something that lightened her mood, though. A familiar red and gold spear was the locker's only contents, but it was enough.

She turned back just in time to see Coco pulling her boots on. She noticed Pyrrha watching her, but barely showed it. She had made herself clear, and that was all she was willing to say. But Pyrrha's mind was already working around it.

"What about Fox?"

Coco looked up from fitting on her boot. "What?"

"What about Fox? If Weiss plans on killing everyone who knows about this, then doesn't that put both of you in danger? Sure, maybe Jaune killed those two, your friends, but would Velvet and Yatsuhashi want you both to throw your lives away for revenge?"

Coco sighed, caving. "If… when the time comes, if Weiss tries to kill us, we'll be ready. We won't go down without a fight."

Pyrrha sat down beside her, resting her spear on the bench. "When the time comes, it will be too late. If Weiss wants you dead, she won't go for a fair fight. She won't even tell you before you're already dead. She's not above stabbing you in the back."

Pulling on her other boot, Coco stood up. She was ready to go. "Pyrrha, I have enough traitors to keep an eye out for. I don't need another one."

On her way out of the change room, Coco detoured off to the maintenance bay for Weiss' Paladin. She knew she would find Weiss there, prepping for the assault. Entering the bay, she confidently strode up to the Paladin and climbed up to the pilot's seat where Weiss was strapped in.

"Pyrrha is on to you. She knows your planning to kill us all when this is over."

Weiss glanced up. "Oh?"

Coco didn't move. "For the record, the rest of us know too."

"I see."

"Not going to deny it?"

Weiss shook her head. "Well, you're wrong. First of all, I don't plan. That stopped working for me a while ago. Now I just do things."

Coco nodded. "Alright. Anything else you want to tell me? Like anything else I'm wrong about?"

"You are wrong about something else as well." Weiss offered a very hollow and forced smile. "I am going to deny it."

"You've wiped everyone else out. Why not us too?"

Weiss returned to her systems check, answering as she went. "I'm methodical, logical. I follow a set route and protocol. You four are useful, and will continue to be useful. Besides, killing Huntresses and Huntsmen seems counterproductive seeing as we're out here to get someone who did just that."

"You have a point." Something had, of course, been nagging at her mind. "I mean, yeah, Jaune killed them. But Pyrrha did the same thing. She was imprisoned. Jaune is going to be hunted down and killed on sight… What changed?"

It was impossible to tell with the visor, but Coco was sure Weiss was giving her some sort of condescending look when she answered. "You remember that Jaune was captured, and then he escaped and killed Professor Goodwitch, right?"

Coco grunted. "Okay, I'll give you that one. But how about this? Pyrrha was caught in the act, everything pointed to her besides, and ultimately she confessed. On the other hand, Jaune insisted the entire time that he was innocent. No hard evidence pointed to him. There were no fingerprints, for one, at any of the crime scenes save for those of the victims."

Weiss held up a hand to stop her. "Just because Pyrrha knows when to give up doesn't mean Jaune does too. Different people, different senses of when things are over. Jaune thinks he still has a way out."

"So does Pyrrha."

"Are you profiling, Coco?"

Coco smirked. "I profile everyone I meet, starting when I first meet them and never stop."

"Then what can you tell me about Pyrrha Nikos right now?"

Coco leaned into the cockpit, lowering her voice. "Pyrrha always thought she'd get a way out. She never stopped thinking that, even after two years. Now you've given her that window, she won't hesitate to kill when the opportunity presents itself. And she won't until she has the chance to kill you. She wants you first, and everyone else is either simply expendable or not her concern."

Weiss reached up and started pulling the canopy down around her. "I know. Pyrrha made her choice two years ago, and she's a fool if she doesn't think her life is forfeit. She'll die the moment her purpose is expended. Now, if that will be all, we have an assault in two minutes."

Coco stepped down from the Paladin, allowing Weiss to close it up. The machine stood to its full height, the rumble of its engine filling the otherwise empty garage as it stomped out through he gate.

Things weren't going as planned. They'd breached the warehouse to find themselves taking on the White Fang, and Weiss was up against three opposing Paladins. Ren and Fox quickly diverted to an attached office building on the East end, while Pyrrha and Coco ducked into a corridor to the West that led to a power plant. Weiss was not happy to have things fall apart so quickly.

Reaching the other Paladins, she shredded through the legs of two of them before her right machine gun was blasted off. The pilots, a young green-haired woman and a gray-haired man both got out and took cover as the third Paladin opened fire. This one was particularly difficult, as the pilot had complete focus on piloting. It was a two-seater, with space for someone manning the weapons. And they'd clearly practiced.

Sparking and smoking, Weiss' Paladin collapsed to the floor, crushing several wooden crates in the way. Knowing time was short, she opted for the explosive bolts to send the canopy flying off. As the canopy clattered to the floor two dozen meters away, the remaining enemy Paladin stomped into view. Weiss drew Myrtenaster to face it.

"Figures. I'm going to have to recall that machinery. Get out of my mech."

A large metal hand reached in to grab her. Intercepting, Weiss' arm split and the metal tentacle straightened into a spike. She speared the hand, stopping the entire machine dead. Effectively a command jack, she used it to open the canopy and rotate the ankle gears forward. She smiled at the cries of surprise as the Paladin toppled onto its back.

A woman's voice came from the fallen Paladin. "Emerald! Mercury! Get her!"

The young man and woman who had been piloting the other two Paladins appeared, darting about and closing the distance between them and Weiss. She watched them, gauging how long it would take them to attack and how long before the pilot and gunner from the third Paladin made it out to assist. Odds were against her, but Weiss was hardly one for retreat. Sometimes, she knew, the best tactic is a show of fearlessness.

Standing up out of the cockpit, Weiss casually tracked the two. Once she was confident she had their patterns down, she threw her sword like a spear. Myrtenaster struck dead on, punching a hole clean through Emerald and burying its tip into the warehouse floor, pinning her. She went limp after only a momentary gasp. Distracted, Mercury sealed his own end.

Weiss leaped off the Paladin, coiling her metal whip behind her. When Mercury turned to face her after less than a second of acknowledging his partner's demise, she brought the whip down on his head. It cut through his aura, and then through him, hardly slowing until it had spun several times around Weiss and lashed long gouges into the concrete.

Cinder looked over the chaos the Schnee heiress had caused in a matter of seconds. Irreparable damage to her plans. "Damn it. Damn it! Roman! Kill her!"

Weiss watched Cinder for a moment, then turned and headed back to her Paladin. Cinder fumed, but made no move to pursue her. She wasn't so sure of herself after what had just happened, and she had one lackey that she cared very little for. She just had to wait for Roman to get out of their fallen Paladin.

"Roman, get out here!"

Roman, meanwhile, had disappeared into the night. He was not interested in a losing battle.

Weiss glanced back at Cinder, who was starting to feel herself getting nervous. Reaching up to the still-intact left machine gun, she grabbed it. The metal tentacles made their way out of her arm and crawled up the side of the large gun, wrapping around it and disconnecting it. She pulled the whole thing loose and hoisted it in Cinder's direction.

Cinder wanted very much to not be in this situation. She wanted to never run away from a fight, and to never have to think of herself as a coward. She wanted to never be defeated. Cinder wanted to stand strong against whatever challenges she faced, and never have to say she was out of her league. Cinder does not always get what Cinder wants.

Weiss took only a fraction of a second to analyze the direction her foe was running. The office building. It would be much easier to duck and hide around walls. Walls that, with her new weapon, meant very little to Weiss. She allowed herself a grin. She was on the hunt.

Cinder slid into the first hallway, aware that Weiss was chasing her and gaining. That fact horrified her. Something unnatural was going on with Weiss. Her thoughts on what she was dealing with, plus her constantly checking behind her, contributed to her not being able to detect Fox until he kicked her in the face and sent her reeling.

Righting herself, Cinder chided herself. This was no time to allow for delays. She lit a fire in her hand and launched it at Fox, who jumped out of the way and ran along the wall several steps, leaping off and kicking at her face again. She raised her arms to block, but was still knocked back a few steps.

Keeping his momentum, Fox jumped and spun, kicking at her again. She took a step back, narrowly avoiding his attack. She took the opportunity to dash forward and deliver a punch to the side of his head. He took the blow, but turned and elbowed her in the side, knocking her into the wall. There, he quickly grabbed her neck and slammed her against the wall twice.

"Fox, hold her there!"

Still dazed, Cinder looked down the hall at the source of the voice. Weiss stood menacingly, aiming her gun at the both of them.

We've both caused so much damage, brought so much pain. I can never find redemption, but through putting an end to us both. Let this be the end.

Next: Suicide & Redemption