A suffocating weight, like ten Ursa's stacked on top of one another, crushed him. His mind flared awake and he took a steadying breath. He had passed out from the pain.
He coughed, his body instinctively reacting to the thick dust in the air. Although his headgear filtered the toxic material. Hacking for a few more times, he stopped and took in the situation.
Small motes of gold, purple, and red light shone through his shut eyelids. His aura moved around his entire body, like conscious cool water, protecting him against the pressure of the broken.
His aura strongly coalesced on his back, protecting him from the highest amount of crushing weight. Parts of the broken house poked his entire body. It was like he was in a barbed cocoon.
The golden aura would hold for a long time on account of his reserves but they needed to go after the Fang and he needed to conserve his aura for battle.
Beneath his chest and in his arms, the steady movement of his partners' chests comforted him. Pyrrha and Blake shifted in his arms and pressed their hands gently against his chest.
He slowly opened his eyes and lifted his head, aura numbing the pain of an entire house. The bright purple and red aura's of Pyrrha and Blake greeted him, filling his vision and their surrounding slice of darkness.
Both girls' eyes were closed. Their faces pressed against his chest, unhurt. All around them, debris poked their stealth suits.
Sooner or later his partners' auras would shatter from the sudden pressure. He needed to expedite their escape.
He whispered through his headgear's still functioning mic piece, rasping, "Are you two injured?"
Both girls jolted and slowly opened their eyes. Their green and amber eyes respectively widened in shock, looking over him.
A small hole opened in the debris above Blake and a trail of dust fell onto the floor next to her hair. A beam of moonlight, a sliver of freedom, shone through the hole.
The trio looked over one another, assessing each one another for injuries. The house shifted and a piece of debris shifted into his back, stabbing his aura and making him groan in pain.
He bared his teeth and spread out his body, making sure nothing fell on the two women below him.
Turning their eyes back to him, Blake spoke in a bare whisper, "I think we're fine. Thanks, Jaune for saving us."
Pyrrha nodded and stretched out a hand, cupping his face and speaking with high-pitched concern, "Jaune are you okay!?"
He chuckled, even with pain stabbing him on all sides, "On account of the ton of broken house digging into my back, I don't think I am."
Pyrrha mumbled under her breath, dragging her hand back to her chest, "Sorry…"
He smiled, trying to instill confidence in the two women, "It's alright, and to you Blake, I haven't saved you two just yet. We still have to get out of here alive."
Blake and Pyrrha nodded and tried to move under him. But because of the house pushing his mass onto them, they couldn't move without hitting his head.
Jaune groaned once more as the house seemed to grow heavier. His aura flickered a slight shade duller, indicating aura drainage.
Pyrrha winced, trying to elbow out some space in the debris, but the sharp broken material around her groaned ominously.
She looked at him and spoke with a cough, "How do we get out of here?"
He sighed, not liking the insane plan forming in his head, "I have a plan. I'll wrap both of you up and push us through the debris. The moment you guys turn upwards and your feet touch the ground, push help me push. I know it's not the best of plans…"
Blake cut him off, "But it's all we have. We can get it done Jaune."
He nodded, looking into Blake's amber eyes, and steady hope filled him. Blake nodded.
Taking a deep breath, he slowly pushed himself into a squatting position. The pain grew and he almost fell on top of the girls, but he grit through it.
The mountain of debris on top of him creaked. His muscles shuddered at the weight on top of them, but he willed them to keep firm. He tried to rationalize the exertion as a tough workout for his body, trying to keep his beating heartbeat at bay.
Hunched over, trying to spread out the debris over his back, he scooped his teammates into his arms.
Blake put her head on top of his shoulder, brushing his neck with her ear. Pyrrha shoved her face into his shoulder. Her breathing rattled his body. Both of them tightly grasped onto him, not going to let go anytime soon.
He found solace in their grip and apparent confidence. He internalized images of their happy faces, vowing to protect them.
Rasping into his headgear, he asked, "Are both of you ready?"
Both women hummed, grasping him even tighter.
He squatted lower and shuffled back, slightly raising the top half of Pyrrha and Blake.
Pushing aura to his feet, he braced his jaw for the impact.
He pushed aura to his legs and jumped into the debris, creating a mighty boom. His head smashed against sharp edges and hard brick. He rammed through the pain, flying higher,
A second force, Pyrrha and Blake's feet, pushed him further. He couldn't bear the pain anymore and grasped.
More brick and plaster ripped against his shoulder.
He broke through more debris and his head popped into cool air. His entire body, Blake, and Pyrrha swept out a moment later. They flew out of the mountain of rubble and landed on top of it in a heap.
Loose debris rained down on them. Smoldering debris shifted under them. They tumbled down the debris hill and onto the yard.
On the soft grass, he turned over to his back and ripped off his mask and goggles, throwing them to the side. He took deep gulps of fresh clean sweet air. He rolled on his face and kissed the yard, happier to be on greenery than ever before. His heart calmed and a shiver raced through him.
But he couldn't celebrate yet. He needed to check on his teammates.
He slowly rolled to face the sky and stood on his knees, trembling. He opened his eyes to Blake's face planted on his chest.
The black hair faunus girl clung to him in a vice grip. He hadn't even noticed her. Slightly afraid the woman might have lost unconsciousness, he unclasped her.
She gasped and moved away from him. She skidded back on the grass and took deep long breaths. She looked at him and flashed him a dopey smile, a pure instinctual show of glee at their survival. He flashed one back.
A motion drew him to the side. Pyrrha lay on the grass, spread eagle and groaning. He scooted over to her and gently helped her up. His partner, without opening her eyes, clung to his arms and draped herself on him.
Supporting her into a sitting position, she rubbed her eyes and coughed a few times. He sat there wrapped in his partner, taking in the night sky. He would never take it for granted.
Pyrrha opened her eyes and looked at him, a smile etching her lips. She took off her headgear and unzipped her suit, revealing her hunter wear. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his face into her chest in a tight hug.
He enjoyed her warm chest smothering his face and the cool edge of her armor tickling his chin for a few selfish moments.
With a frustrated sigh, he pulled away. She nodded and let go of him. Blake came over and grabbed his arm, helping him up. Pyrrha took his hand and pulled herself up.
He strained his back, aura pulsing on his skin, and took in the scene in front of him.
The house lay in complete ruin, a pile of charred red and gray debris. Whatever that bomb was did its job ten times over, nothing of value would have survived.
He took in the destruction, grateful for their survival. Trick bomb or not, they would survive whatever the Fang threw at them. He turned to his partners and took another steadying breath. They gave him nods, massaging their arms and necks.
Dust and other particles covered all of their stealth suits in a fine stark gray layer.
Pyrrha zipped up her suit and rubbed the dust off of it. He and Blake copied her, turning their suits back into their midnight black color, although they couldn't get rid of all the gray. He stretched out his legs and arms, getting ready for any upcoming fights.
He headed into the yard. Pyrrha and Blake followed at his side. They jogged to the end of the yard and found two giant metal panels sticking out from the ground at an angle. Fake grass and dirt stuck to the underside of the panels.
A concrete ramp took up the open space granted by the flipped-out panels, leading into the ground, into darkness.
They stood on the peak of the rap. It led down into a lit cramped tunnel. Dark frenzy tire tracks carried out of the darkness and up the ramp.
The tire tracks trailed onto the yard and around the blown-up house.
Jaune moved forward, ready to slide down the ramp, but Blake caught his side and pointed towards a set of bare-bones steel stairs hugging the dirt next to the ramp, leading further down. The stairs went past the ramp.
He nodded, understanding dawning on him.
The trio jogged to the stairs and jumped onto its steps. They ran down the stairs, further into the dirt. The ramp tunnel disappeared above them and the walls of thin steel replaced dirt, closing in around them.
Reaching the end of the staircase, the trio emptied into a tunnel. Small lights adorned the tunnel ceiling, blinking red. They ran down the tunnel and burst out of a door at the end.
White sterile lights replaced flashing red. The sudden shift in light color stunned him. He blinked away the blurriness and took in their surroundings.
They stood in a wide hallway. Gray metal plates and smooth silver metal made up the floors and walls. It all looked like an imitation of an Atlas military base. Large windows dotted the walls on either side of the hallway. Doors stood next to the windows, creating a series of rooms.
He went up to the window inside on the wall in front of them and peered inside. The glass overlooked a small medium-sized office filled with upturned chairs. Maps and monitors took up the wall across from the window. Some monitors showed live views of Vale while others buzzed with static. Scattered papers littered the office floor.
They stood in the middle of the long hallway. Pyrrha shuffled off to his right while Blake walked over to his left.
Adrenaline pumped through his body, ready to meet any surprise Fang attacks, but they needed a solid plan first.
He buzzed into his partners' heads, "Let's quickly search for anything of value, but remember our main priority is catching up with the Fang."
Both women nodded and he turned to Blake. She led him and Pyrrha down the side of the hallway. They passed by rooms similar in size to the office, but some served different functions. They passed by storage areas, sleeping quarters, and even a kitchen. Red lights blinked inside of each room, spinning around hypnotically.
Reaching the end of the short hallway they turned back and faced all of the rooms they had passed. Trails of messy items led away from the rooms and to the other end of the hall.
They walked into the room next to the metal wall that made the end of the hall and searched it. They proceeded down the hall and searched every single room but didn't find anything of value.
They did find evidence of Fang activity. From the Fang issue weapons, crates full of dust, and Fang armor. Several boxes inside of rooms were scattered on the floor, spilling out their contents.
They returned to the surveillance office and searched it quickly. He looked through the monitors. Did one of them have a live feed of the house?
He wouldn't be able to find out on account of a slick oil covering a server connected to the monitors, filled to the brim with hard drives with some taken out.
Going out of the surveillance room, the trio walked down the other side of the hall. They searched all of the rooms they passed but, like the other end of the hall, they didn't find anything of note.
Reaching the end, they stopped at an opulent office. At the end of the hall, torches lit up either side of a large archway that led into a wide chamber.
They elected to head into the office first. Heading inside, they spread around the office.
Menagerie-style tapestries, similar to those from the office outpost, draped the walls. A small round meeting desk took up the middle of the room, papers and office chairs thrown around it.
A pair of desks and chairs took up the remaining space of the cramped room.
The smaller desk held a jumble of documents and a small incense burner, puffing out a thin chain of smoke. The smell from the burner tickled his nose and filled his head with a strange warmth. He leaned away from the burner before the smell entrapped him.
The larger of the two desks stood bare. He walked around the large desk. A beowolf skull, on its side, rested against a desk leg. He picked up the skull and turned it over to the photo of Banesaw and the mouse woman. Banesaw's strange beowolf skull. He must have forgotten it during the Fang's scramble to leave.
He tucked the skull into his pocket and went over to his teammates.
The trio didn't find anything.
They exited into the hall and jogged through the torch-lit archway. They stepped into a large cavernous room.
In the middle of the room, giant metal poles reached towards the sky out of an open section of the floor, supporting the bottom of a large platform.
A bright red button blinked on a console, a key inserted in it, near the metal poles. Tire tracks ran from the base of the poles to the other side of the room: an empty garage/mechanic area.
They ran over to the garage space and investigated. Among the smaller regular tracks, they found gigantic tracks, which could have only been made by a giant vehicle. Such a large vehicle would only have one reasonable load. The Paladin.
A lone jeep stood at the far corner of the empty garage space.
They rushed over to inspect the jeep. The car was a dark moss green with no roof or doors. Only a thick frame and a meaty windshield took up the top half of the car. Old dried mud caked the edge of the jeep and a light sheen of dust marred the windshield. The leather seating sported worn cracks.
He spoke into both of his teammate's heads, "I think we've just found our ride."
His two partners nodded and the trio stepped into the jeep.
The vehicle would do better on the marshes of Mistral than the concrete jungle of Vale, but they didn't have any other options. He would take anything they could get.
Blake slid the driver's seat, he took shotgun, and Pyrrha hopped onto the passenger seats. He helped Blake search for the car keys and, only after a few moments, they found it in the glove compartment.
He handed the chipped key to Blake, "Looks like the Fang weren't expecting unwanted guests from using their rides."
Blake smiled, putting the key into the ignition, "Lucky Us."
She dislodged the handbrake and thumbed the key, rumbling the jeep to life. The engine roared like an agitated animal, making him bounce on his seat. his seat. Blake put the car into gear and sped them to the raised elevator.
Spinning the car around before it crashed into the outstretched metal poles, she shifted the car to the side and stopped it in front of the elevator console. He got off his seat and ran to the blinking console.
He smashed his hand down on the giant red button. The metal poles groaned and hydraulics hissed, filling the room with a metallic noise. The elevator slowly slid back down.
He ran back to the jeep. The elevator slowly moved down and the metal poles disappeared into the ground. The platform moved too slowly. He held the top of the jeep frame in a white knuckle grip and anxiously tapped his feet against the bottom of the frame.
In what felt like an eternity, the elevator slid down and clicked into the ground, creating a massive shudder. Blake gently rolled the jeep onto the elevator, a giant glorified slab of concrete.
Dark tire tracks of all sizes marred the surface of the elevator, creating a maze of sharp black shapes.
A replica of the console near the elevator blinked on the elevator. This time, Pyrrha held out her hand and used her semblance to push down the button.
The elevator shook and started to move up.
He glanced back to Pyrrha and shook his head playfully, "Show-off."
She flashed him a playful smile and shrugged. He shook his head and turned back, going back into a focused state.
Blake took her hands off the wheel as the elevator rose higher. She flexed her wrists and arms, no doubt readying for some intense driving. He observed her for a few moments until she turned her head and gave him a nod.
He turned away and looked out the front window of the jeep. Grimey metal walls, interlaced with vents and piping slowly passed them. Straining his neck, he spotted the edge of a tunnel, high above them.
Not wanting to be more anxious, he stopped focusing on the slow elevator ride and closed his eyes. He took deep breaths and flowed aura throughout his body like Ren had taught him. The technique calmed him down.
The elevator stopped moving and clicked into place. The sudden motion jolted him out of his trance. He steadied himself and held onto the door frame.
Blake pushed her foot down on the pedal, shooting the car off the platform and into the tunnel. She sped the car through a straight passageway made out of the same steel as everything else in the outpost. Vertical lights clung to the ceiling of the tunnel, flashing red.
Moonlight lanced out from the tunnel exit. The car rumbled out of the tunnel and up the ramp. Blake followed the tire tracks of the Fang and barreled into the yard.
They threaded on grass for the pile of rubble that was once the house.
Right before Blake crashed the car into the mountain of rubble, she spun the car and moved it up the shortest edge of the rubble. The car shook slightly on the uneven terrain but Blake kept it steady.
He bounced on his seat and a small jagged house piece, sticking out of the rubble, cut into his aura. He ignored it, focusing on the drive. The car overcame the hill and shot into the front yard.
The jeep moved through the now broken black fence, no doubt a result of the Fang's mad dash to escape. Blake turned the jeep into the street and sped by a group of onlookers. They gasped at their presence and backed away, allowing them ample space on the road.
The car down the streets towards the sounds of wailing police sirens. They sped by groups of people milling on the streets, looking towards the Fang outpost in confusion.
Blake ignored traffic lights and expertly sped the car through speed bumps. Thankfully, no one drove at this hour to encounter her mad driving.
The wailing sirens grew closer and closer.
Jaune shouted over the roar of the jeep's engine, turning towards Pyrrha "Give Blake the Fang's course from the map."
Pyrrha nodded and fished out her scroll. She scooted closer to Blake's seats, grasping it. She consulted her scroll and shouted directions to Blake, pointing down the road.
He took out his scroll and dialed a familiar number.
When Qrow picked up, Jaune spoke first, "The Fang are heading towards Vale's highway carrying dangerous weapons."
Qrow answered back gruffly, "I'm on that right now. But the Fang are already on the highway, we've managed to shut some of it down, but everything is disorganized this late. I'm heading there with a few huntsmen and we'll coordinate with the police chasing the Fang."
"They're trying to head towards Mountain Glenn."
"We'll be there at the end to greet them."
"Good luck Qrow."
Qrow barked out a laugh, "I would say I don't need it, but I've never had it in the first place. I hope you don't have an eventful evening Tungsten."
The older huntsman hung up with a chuckle. Jaune put his scroll back and turned to his partners.
He shouted over the gale wind, "I just got us reinforcements."
The two girls nodded, the road having most of their attention.
He fell into his seat and held onto the door frame. The streets sped past them, becoming a muted blob of black and gray. Getting closer to the wailing sirens, they passed into more and more populated streets.
Blake narrowly dodged civilians or other cars, opting to use the entirety of the jeep's speedometer. Missed civilians shouted obscenities at them. He would have done so as well considering Blake's mad driving.
No police cars or other authorities came out of the woodwork to chase them down and their illegal driving practices. The entire police force of the city was concentrated on the Fang.
They turned a few more corners. The car roared into a wide main street. Blake sped through the largest mass of cars they had encountered thus far. She, in a show of expert driving, whipped the jeep through the masses of meta, not hitting a thing.
Although, at the end of the road, a car sped out of a side street and almost crashed into them. Blake managed to turn the car at the last second, only scraping against the other errant car.
The driver of the car poked their head out and began to shout at them, but the jeep engine drowned out their voice. Soon, the distance Blake put between them and the driver faded the voice into the background of the city.
Pyrrha pointed to the entrances of a highway. Blake pivoted the car and shot towards the highway, ignoring the bevy of cars driving out of its entrances and those who drove past it.
The reason why so many cars were being pulled out of the highway or were avoiding it popped into view.
A mass of police officers, both in and out of SWAT gear milled in front of all the highway entrances. Police squad cars and armored trucks stood on the sides of the road leading up to the highway, sirens wailing in a chorus of banshees. The lights cast the entire area in alternating shades of red and blue.
Several regular uniform officers, working alongside people in bright vests, laid down steel police barricades in front of the highway entrances.
Under those barricades, they laid down spike lines that gleamed high into the air. The spikes' could shred an entire car into bits rather than only its wheels, Squads of VCPD SWAT members guarded the front of the barricades, keeping a steady gaze and gripping high-tech rifles.
This highway wasn't the one team RWBY fought Roman in his Paladin. This one stood closer to the border of Vale near mountain Glenn, the perfect escape route for the Fang.
Driving closer to the barricades, the jeep stood out as the lone car headed towards the highway.
A few of the SWAT officers shuffled forwards and raised their weapons. The rest of the officers looked around at one another in confusion. Blake sped closer to the barricades, unheeding the officer's anxious gazes.
She drove them past the parked police cars, bathing them in blue and red. The distinction of their clothes being pitch black instead of having the white pieces of the Fang could have stopped the police from immediately firing, giving Pyrrha enough time to point Blake towards a small highway entrance. The small entryway happened to have the least amount of barricades, with officers still putting some in place.
Blake shoved the car forward, pushing the red dial of the speedometer to the end of its arc. The wind battered the top of his stealth suit, howling through the jeep. If it weren't for the windshield and the door frame he clung onto, the wind would have flung him out of the car.
He gripped his seat as the car raced down the road. His breath hitched up at the thought of a collision going at their speed.
A police officer in full SWAT gear, which bore heavy plating like a bomb suit, stepped in front of the car's path and shouted into a megaphone, "Stop at once!"
His voice fought against the howling wind and sirens, but he still reached them.
Blake ignored his commands. The man shouted once more as they neared, but when they didn't respond, he turned back to the line of SWAT officers behind him.
The officers crouched and aimed their guns at the jeep. Red reticles filled up the car cabin and some danced on his chest, like very dangerous fireflies.
Blake shot the car forward and, right as the officers pulled their triggers, she orientated the car towards the non-fully defended entryway.
A shower of bullets pelted into the windshield's side. The bullets bloomed tiny cracks into the windshield and sparked against the metal car frame, none hitting the vital engine.
He thanked the brothers for the Fang's paranoia and their insistence to make all of their vehicles bulletproof.
The sudden wash of bullets made him flinch. Some bullets hit his seat, ripping parts of it off like tiny hot scissors, but the rest harmlessly pinged off his aura.
He stood tall and braced against the hail of gunfire. Pyrrha did the same, moving out of a similar crouched position.
Blake hadn't moved from her position on the wheel, keeping a tight leash on the car. Bullets pinged off her aura and scraped the dashboard, but she kept a tight grip on the car.
The car sped through the line of squat officers, making them scatter, and thundered to the not fully barred highway entrance. Blake spun the car from side to side, bleeding off a hail of bullets behind them.
She drove the car through the thin metal barrier, ripping through it like paper. The car narrowly avoided the giant spikes, which were halfway set up.
The hail of gunfire stopped, no doubt the police officers not wanting to shoot their own. The car drove through the last of the metal barricades and into a free open highway.
He turned back and spotted, in the distance, a few squad cars and armored cars gunning through the destroyed metal barriers.
Pyrrha slowly stood from her bullet ripped seat. She faced the approaching cars and held out a hand, unfazed by the roaring wind slamming into her.
Using her semblance, she gently rolled the speeding cars into one another. The cars crashed into one another in small spark-filled explosions. The cars in the center created a domino effect, pushing the cars at the edge of the group into the highway walls.
But Pyrrha used her semblance to right cars right before they flipped over and before they destroyed one another.
She created a massive pile-up. He spotted the tiny dots of police workers crawling out of cars and helping each other out from the wreckage, most of them looked unharmed.
He turned back in his seat and collapsed into it. They hadn't done any undue harm nor had they slowed down. He took a steadying breath and focused on the path ahead.
They traveled down the highway in peace. The sirens of the police cars grew fainter until they disappeared.
Pyrrha lay nestled between the two seats in the back, eyes alert and sweeping around. Her cheeks were slightly red and the hand she used her semblance with shook slightly. She brushed away loose leather, broken up and torn by the bullets, from her thighs.
Meeting his gaze, she gave him a thumbs up. He turned to his other more feline partner. Blake looked at the road, hands gripping the wheel. Her cat ears wriggled under her headgear. One of her feet pushed down on a pedal, while the other hovered above the other. She flexed her legs straining her toned muscles against the stealth suit.
Deep scratches and grooves marred the dashboard and parts of the steering wheel. One bullet gleamed inside of the windshield, stuck in a small crater of cracked glass.
He hunched over and plucked the bullet out of the windshield. He turned the golden projectile in his fingers. From its size, if they didn't have their aura's the bullets would have been fatal.
He shuddered at the thought and threw the bullet out of the window, not needing a reminder of how dangerous things were.
They came upon the first sign of the Fang: a broken police cruiser lay on its head, crushed against the highway hall. Smoke rose out of the battered engine, graying the moonlit sky.
Blake sped by the broken police car. He spotted a body halfway through the shattered window driver-side door, face down. Looking away, a shiver ran through his spine.
The image of the officer's dead body flashed in his head like an unwanted pop-up. An image of Neo's crushed corpse overlayed the dead police officer.
His breathing hitched up and he dug his fingers into the frame of the door. He took a shuddering breath and closed his eyes, dissipating the images.
Slowly sliding back onto his seat, he took another breath, finding solace that he had already dealt with his trauma regarding Neo.
Blake flashed him a look. Her head snapped back to the road and she kept driving.
A warmness grew in his heart at his partner's concern. He scooted over and placed a hand on her knee. He squeezed, letting her know he was fine.
She nodded and kept on driving. He leaned back in his seat.
Glass shards and pieces of metal littered the highway in a trail leading further down. Bullet casings intermixed with the other debris, forming a path for them to follow.
They spotted the second sign of the battle. A turned-over jeep, similar to their own, rested against the highway wall, crushed beyond imagination. The front half of the jeep was entirely shredded, like a crushed paper bag. Flames licked out of the engine, slowly spreading.
The moonlight reflected the glimmer of a bone-white mask from the driver's seat of the car. Half the body of another Fang member slumped over the shotgun side window, their bone mask cracked. Two more Fang members laid turned over on the road, near the back of the jeep.
Jaune didn't feel any remorse at the sight of the bodies. As far as he was concerned, the Fang were finally facing the consequences of their actions. He shook his head and looked down the road.
Blake drove past the Fang jeep, giving it a cursory glance. Pyrrha gasped and looked away. The jeep passed more and more examples of the Fang convoy passage through the highway.
The throbbing booms of a helicopter slowly emerged in the air behind them. He whipped his head to the source of the noise. In the sky, a long-distance behind the jeep, a white light flew through the clouds. He squinted his eyes at the black outline of a helicopter behind the white light.
Blake noticed the helicopter too. She put more pressure on the pedal, but they were already going at the jeeps' ludicrous top speed.
The craft flew high in the air but at their current speed, it wouldn't be catching up to them anytime soon.
The sounds of gunfire, shouting, and bright orange lights bloomed in the distance. The jeep pushed past the remaining road and came upon the Fang convoy.
A massive force of police cars and armored trucks followed right behind the Fang convoy, nipping at their heels.
He sighed at the giant police force blocking their way into the Fang. It looked like their work was cut out for them.
Blake sped the jeep up to the police force, unnoticed.
The convoy of Fang traded gunfire with the police. A giant truck drove in the middle of the convoy, a tarped object loomed on the truck's open bed.
The smaller cars of the Fang convoy were spread out enough for a car to pass through, but the Fang's hail of gunfire deterred any police cruisers from getting closer.
Shooting back, the police didn't let the Fang off scot-free. They managed to shoot down some Fang off of truck beds or out of the open backs of armored vans. Some officers managed to hit Fang drivers, crashing cars and cutting down the convoy's size. But the police only made a dent in the convoy, considering the massive size of it.
The beat of the helicopter grew closer.
Blake drove closer to the police force. He looked through a mass of black and white cars, looking for a route into the Fang convoy. Blake and Pyrrha did the same, darting their heads from side to side.
A shout stopped any such plans of finding an easy way into the police. He whipped his head to a person in SWAT armor sticking their head out of a car pointing a gun at them. He shouted once more, getting the attention of other officers in the cars onto them.
The officers raised their guns and fired. Looks like they weren't taking any chances of who they could be. Blake swerved the car, directly careening into a police cruiser.
Bullets pinged off of the side of the jeep. He didn't shy away from the hail of gunfire, puffing out his frame so his considerable laura pools could take the bullets, instead of his two teammates.
The plan worked and he winced at the amount of molten golden stingers biting into him.
Turning the car at the last minute, Blake shot them through the initial layer of police cars. The cars moved out of the way, confused. The hail of fire stopped behind them.
Blake used the reprieve to their advantage, twisting and turning their jeep through the onslaught of police cruisers. He held onto the door frame for dear life with an aura-enhanced grip, afraid he might be flung out.
The police occasionally popped small bursts of gunfire but most of the bullets missed. Blakes's tactic worked and she, using the police's momentary confusion and her driving skills, pushed the jeep into the Fang convoy.
Gunfire erupted from the police once more. Pyrrha ducked behind her seat and turned the swarm of police cars.
She used her semblance to redirect the hail of bullets to the nearest Fang cars, keeping their vehicle sturdy.
The Fang vehicles didn't shoot at them and a few cars opened up clear paths, not noticing Pyrrha's semblance use. Blake used the Fang's generosity to their advantage and moved the jeep deeper into the convoy.
Deep in enemy territory, the jeep shimmied past groups of Fang firing outside of windows or out of the back of vans. One Fang member even fired from the turret of an Atlas issue military truck. Their cars fluidly swept past one another; it looked like a group of ants protecting their mother queen.
Halfway towards the Paladin, no more cars created any more space for them. Blake tried to penetrate deeper, but cars cut them off at every chance.
He looked over at Blake and they passed a silent message between their blue lensed goggles.
He shouted over the wind into both of his teammates' heads, "We have to go from car to car until we get to the Paladin truck."
Blake and Pyrrha both nodded. He centered himself in the storm of chaos all around them, trying to center himself.
Pushing aura to his feet, he pointed over to a nearby armored van. Blake nodded and angled the jeep closer to the van.
Two Fang grunts fired out of the open Van doors. The doors flapped in the wind, like metal wings. The two Fang growled, shooting wildly at the police force.
They didn't notice Blake driving the jeep right next to them. Right as they stopped shooting and turned to them, Blake crashed the front bumper of the jeep into the side of the van.
Bumper scraping against steel, he pushed down and jumped into the open van back. Pyrrha jumped in behind him. His feet crashed into the face of one of the Fang, too disoriented by Blake's sudden crash to fight back. Pyrrha crashed into the other Fang.
The Fang's aura flared pitifully to life, slow to protect their users.
He picked up the two knocked-out bodies by the collars of their uniforms and dumped them out of the open doors. The Fang tumbled down the road incredibly fast, aura flickering to life, ensuring that they would live. But they would be waking up wishing that they were dead. As long as they lived he didn't care.
Turning back and going down the Van, he and Pyrrha approached the lone Fang driver. The driver picked up a pistol near him and fired at them. Jaune puffed out his stature, tanking the bullets.
He ran at the driver and wrenched the gun out of his hand. He punched the man's face with his gauntlet. The man's bone mask shattered and he groaned, dazed. His aura fired to life but didn't break.
Jaune threw the driver to Pyrrha. His redheaded partner caught the bulky Fang like he weighed nothing, and threw him out of the van to meet the same fate as his comrades.
He took the driver's seat and wrenched the steering wheel in an imitation of Blake, trying to get the van under control. Outside of the side window, Blake, driving the jeep, gave him a small thumbs up.
He reached over and popped open the side door, letting the wind rush in. Blake got out of the jeep's driver seat and crouched, like a tiger ready to pounce.
Right as the jeep began to slow down, Blake jumped through the open van door. She landed gracefully in the seat next to him. He smiled, happy his partner made the stunt.
He swapped seats with Blake. The feline faunus took easy control of the Van and gunned them closer to the massive truck.
He sat next to her and Pyrrha stood behind him, grasping his seat.
Bullets pinged off of the van.
Blake smashed into smaller cars and other vans, pushing Fang off the road and creating utter confusion among their ranks. Her reckless driving also created a clearer path to the convoy.
The van moved down the clear path, going through a shower of bullets coming from either side. The bullets detented the van plating, creating an array of dips inside the van's back.
Blake shoved past one of the smaller cars, spinning it into the light dust highway barrier. The car crashed in a screech of metal. Flashes of aura emanated from the car. He hoped the Fang survived, not because of some misplaced sympathy but because he wanted them to face justice.
The gunner of the turret-mounted armored truck shot into their window. A large bullet shattered the windshield and impaled the floor, a few inches from his seat.
He shared a look between Pyrrha and Blake. They needed to get on the Paladin truck before the turret killed them.
The Fang gunner continued to shoot heavy rounds. Bullets ripped through the van interior and scraped against the plated van walls. One ripped through the side door and slammed into his aura. He gasped and clutched his side.
Blake ducked her head behind the wheel, moving the van erratically. The gunmen proved skillful and kept his aim steady.
At the rate he was shooting, there wouldn't be enough Van left for them to be in.
He turned to Pyrrha and motioned to the Fang turret.
Pyrrha nodded and stretched out a hand towards the turret. She used her semblance and covered the turret in a black glow. The Fang member ignored the glow and pulled the trigger of the turret gun. The entire weapon blew up in a shower of fire.
Jaune shot out of his seat and ran to the back of the van, Pyrrha right behind him, and jumped out. He grabbed onto the van roof and hauled himself onto it. Pyrrha flipped onto the roof, landing next to him.
The pair ran against the wind and the slippery roof to the van's front.
Using aura to pump his legs, he jumped towards the turret of the armored truck. He landed next to the gun and grasped its metal shield. The wind tugged at his feet, trying to pull him into the air.
He tightened his hold and stood. The Fang member, who had manned the turret, clutched her head. The fire of the smoldering turret lapped at the woman's aura.
Jaune used the woman's confusion to pull her out of the turret seat. He threw her against the passing highway hall, hoping that she didn't get trampled.
Pyrrha landed by his side and grabbed onto his shoulder pauldron. He grabbed her hand and pulled her to his side, keeping her from flying.
A Fang member stuck their body out from the truck's side window and aimed a rifle at Pyrrha. His redhead partner used an aura-enhanced punch to bat the gun to the side. She let go of his pauldron and leaned over to the Fang member.
Grasping his arm, she pulled the Fang out of the car and threw him down the highway.
The driver didn't come out but the car still moved. Jaune turned to Blake, still driving the van. She drove a few feet behind them, but the distance widened as their car hitched forward.
Blake glanced at him and he nodded. His feline faunus partner turned the van into the end of the turret truck. She, at that exact moment, shot out of the van through the broken front windshield.
She flew through the air, flying towards him. But the distance between her and them grew wider. Hunter instinct kicking into overdrive, he ran to the end of the car's roof and struck out a hand.
Blake stretched out her hand mid-air. He leaned and grasped her hand, right before she met the speeding concrete.
She slammed into the back of the car, bouncing into the air. He pulled her up. They fell and collapsed into one another in a tangle of limbs. Pyrrha came up behind him, pulling him and Blake to the front of the armored truck.
Blake groaned into his chest. She clutched his arms and her aura flared on her front. He grimaced at the thought of the massive bruise that was going to cover her entire chest, come morning.
She pushed her head deeper into him, staying there for a few long seconds. He enjoyed her warmth for the same amount of time, trying to find a bit of comfort in the middle of battle.
But they couldn't idle. Blake slowly got off of him and shakily stood, trying to fight against the wind. Pyrrha to her side and helped her up. He already missed her warmth, but he needed to get up.
Groaning, he slowly stood. He glanced at the two women, making sure they were alright. Blake shook out of Pyrrha's help and stretched. Pyrrha moved on the balls of her feet, ready to fight.
They stood and looked out at the open flatbed of the giant truck, which held the tarped form of the Paladin.
The dark green tarp over the Paladin didn't make the machine stand out. It highlighted the blocky edges of the Paladin's top half but, because the tarp was tied to the ends of the truck bed, the tarp hid the bottom half of the Paladin.
The gap between them and the truck was a small jump. They wouldn't even need aura to cross it.
Fewer Fang shot at them than before. The police force pushed closer into the convoy, distracting the Fang, and keeping eyes off of them.
Steeling himself, he leaped over the gap and rolled onto the tarp. Pyrrha landed by his side and Blake landed a few feet in front of them in a graceful flip.
They moved over the tarp, careful not to slip off of it, towards the front. Reaching the other side of the Paladin, they stopped.
The truck driver's door popped open and a familiar figure popped out of it. Banesaw latched onto the truck head roof and climbed onto it, his bulk taking up a large portion of its space.
The truck momentarily slipped out of its original path but whoever Baensaw left the driving to wrenched the truck back.
Banesaw wore his Fang uniform and mask, fixed up by patches of black cloth. He didn't have his chainsaw on his back, instead, a giant black high-tech assault rifle flew in the wind strapped to his back. He held a giant steel cleaver the length of his arm, ready to drip with their blood.
The moonlight reflected off the cleaver, showing his and his two teammates' faces reflecting on it
Banesaw's eyes glowed red and he roared, raising his voice against the guttural growl of the truck's engine.
He pointed his cleaver at them and shouted, "You dare follow me? You will regret coming here!"
He used his other free hand to rip off the assault rifle from his back. He aimed the giant weapon at them, steadying it on his hips.
Jaune pushed all of his aura to his legs, ready to jump at Banesaw.
The roar of the helicopter, which he had tuned out, thumped above them. He had completely forgotten it.
Right as Banesaw moved his finger to pull the rifle's trigger and right as he pushed his feet down to lunge, a bright glaring white light shone covered the entire open truck bed.
The sudden light caused Banesaw to pull his rifle up and shoot wildly, missing them.
Jaune, shocked by the light as well, stopped himself from jumping at the last minute. He couldn't get rid of all his initial force, tripping onto his feet.
He shot back up, facing Banesaw through the light. The hulking masked figure fumed, looking up to the source light. Jaune looked to the helicopter beaming down the light, which followed the truck bed.
Someone from the helicopter shouted through a microphone, "This is your last chance to stop! Put down your weapons and stop your vehicles!"
Banesaw answered the orders by shooting at the helicopter. Most of the bullets missed, but a few pinged off the helicopter's metal chassis.
The helicopter dove out of the way and higher, scattering the searchlight.
Banesaw roared like a feral beast, his eyes glowing bright red in the momentary darkness. He threw his rifle to the ground and flew at them, cleaver raised to cut all of them in half in a single hit.
Jaune took out Corcrea Mors from his side and stepped forward, activating his shield.
He caught Banesaw's cleaver swing. The impact pushed him back and aura flared across his shield arm. He dogged to the side, leaving his teammates space to hit Banesaw.
A faint whizz of something metallic filled the air above them. All four combatants stopped and turned to the sound. Something hit the paladin and bounced off of it, rolling to Banesaw's feet.
The round ball blinked a deep black and purple. It tinked agent Banesaw's boot.
Jaunes' eyes widened.
The blinking stopped and the bomb blew up. He closed his eyes and pushed all of his aura around him, hearing the pained screams of Banesaw, intermixed with Pyrrha and Blake.
The force of a bullhead flung his body off the truck bed. His body fell through the air but didn't hit the hard highway wall. He flew down and down through unobstructed air.
His vision went black, pain stabbing into his body from all sides.
The first thing he noticed was darkness. He blinked and cupped his hand, standing somewhere inky.
A sense of apathy filled his heart. He looked around in the darkness. Nothing called out to him.
He shrugged and sat down in the limitless void. After a few moments, he grew bored and lay on his back. He looked up at the blackness above him in easy neutrality.
Nothing bothered him but nothing excited him either.
Putting his hands behind his head for a cushion, he relaxed. The darkness lapped around his body, like water. Slowly, he sunk into the dark, letting it lap up more of his body. He didn't move from his position, not caring.
The dark pulled him further down until his entire body was inside of it, except for his face and a small portion of his chest. He let out a deep yawn that shook his very bones.
He could do with some sleep.
Closing his eyes, he let himself be dragged down.
A garbled feminine voice erupted throughout the void.
His eyes shot open and he gasped, emotions filling his neutral core. A deep fear exploded in his heart coupled with a deep sense of longing to hear the voice.
He tried to pull himself out of the inky waves, but the darkness locked around him like chains. He trashed against the dark and managed to turn himself upright, jolting his upper half and head out of the inky black.
Kicking his legs he fought against the void. The inky liquid defied all laws and traveled up his body like reverse black raindrops. Each small drop weighed a hundred pounds.
The water pulled half of his torso down, going against his thrashing.
He stopped struggling and took a deep breath, focusing on the voice echoing throughout the void.
He, with renewed vigor, grit his teeth. He spread his arms and, in the defiance of the liquid, pressed his hands down onto the dark liquid like it was a solid object.
Slowly, bit by bit, he overpowered the lapping darkness and pulled himself out of the black. He slammed down onto solid darkness, feeling the black liquid drip off of him and melt into the ground.
Taking a deep breath, he used his determination and fear to push himself to his feet.
He flexed his legs and ran through the void, towards the sound of the voice. The voice became clearer and clearer the closer he got to it.
A mote of pure white light popped up in the distance. He bolted towards it.
The white light grew larger and the voice became more distinct. Reaching it, the mass of light caused him to stop in his tracks.
He raised his arm but the white light shone through and filled his entire view.
It spoke to him, "Jau-"
"-ne, Jaune! Get up!" Blake's worried voice cracked at the side of his ears.
His eyes shot open to a blurry view of grays and blacks. He blinked, trying to focus his vision, and, at the same time, he tried to move his body.
Pain dug into him like a thousand angry ants, squeezing him. He groaned but pushed past it, slowly taking in his senses.
His cheeks brushed against hard rough concrete and the smell of ferns filled his nostrils. A ringing bobbed his ears, but it grew faint as he thought about it.
Blake's blurry form came closer at his side and slung an arm under his arm. He took her support and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, almost pulling the lithe girl down. He slowly got up on shaky legs, switching his arms so that he had one over Blake's shoulder.
He took deep breaths, his vision slowly returning to him.
Pyrrha lay a few feet to his side. She groaned and slowly got up, her stealth armor ripped in a few places. He looked down and noted a few new holes on his stealth suit as well.
He shook out Blake's grasp and helped his redhead partner. She muttered small thanks but stood on her own.
His leg stumbled and he almost fell back, but Blake caught him.
Using her as support he stood, aura flashing throughout his body.
They stood in the underpass of the highway, a similar underpass to the one team RWBY fought Roman, except this one was much smaller. The highway loomed above them and its roots of concrete spread out in the distance.
This underpass was also much lusher. A few old trees dotted the edge of gigantic pillars that supported the highway. From the trees, flowers and ferns branched out into the open concrete, undisturbed by human or faunus activity. Grass splintered the ground and a tuft of grass brushed his feet.
The broken moon shone down from between the highway paths.
The giant truck, which once held the Paladin, was on its side in a pile of bushes. It was crushed to a pulp and fire lapped out of its engine. The Paladin was nowhere near it.
His sword and shield lay a few feet in front of him. He slowly walked over to his weapons and picked them up, his partners did the same for their scattered weapons.
An electric hiss echoed from the other side of the underpass. He moved forward and raised his shield, his two teammates took up positions behind him.
From a billowing cloud of smoke, a pair of red optical lasers shot out from a hulking shadowy form.
The hulking thing stepped out of the smoke to reveal itself: a massive Paladin, not quite the same as the one from the video. The words Paladin Excalibur emblazoned its side.
It stopped and Baensaw's guttural voice echoed from the machine, "This is where you meet your end!"
The machine hissed and a thousand lights lit up on its exterior, filling the underpass in teal light dust color.
The Paladin bounced on its metallic legs and shot towards them, leaving a crater in its wake.
AN:
I hope all of you enjoyed this chapter. I took some suggestions from the reviews and changed up small parts of chapters 13 and 14, mainly Lisa's news broadcast in 13 and the reason for the house's destruction in chapter 14.
I also have some important life stuff coming up, so I won't be posting for quite a while. I'll put out a chapter when I can!