This chapter was a ton of fun to write. It's one of those 'go nuts' chapters that lets me put in whatever crazy ideas I have on the fly. And when Nora's one of the passengers, it can get very wild.
As for my writing, I'm gaining ground bit by bit. I miss being a chapter ahead while posting these – it lets me patch continuity errors before they come into the story, or more importantly, it lets me sprinkle in details that can come up in a later chapter.
On the down-side, I managed to slice one of my fingers while cutting some green onions. It was a fairly deep slice, and it took a few minutes to stop the bleeding. Luckily, it healed up well, and it hasn't interfered with my typing or work. Just have to keep it bandaged so I don't do anything stupid with it by accident.
Looks like I have a week's worth of reviews to get through – forgot to comment on them last chapter.
To xfel, I can see how making them all White Fang would work, but I mainly forced them to work with fewer uniforms to make them adapt to their lack of resources. It was a stretch enough for Blake to have four uniforms on hand, and it's not like they'd have the time or contacts to requisition more. As for playing Specialists, it would prevent Cardin and co from assisting the abduction team if things went south. That's not to say changes could have been made – I found the hostage thing awkward as well, as his teammates pointed out, but I think it works.
And to AxDevilman, please, for the love of God, no more cat puns. They hurt my felines.
Chapter Forty-Two: Team White Fang
Sky took as many shortcuts through the early evening traffic as he dared, darting through gaps between cars and rushing through lights that earned the van a chorus of angry honking in its wake. With time running out, minutes if Cardin guessed right, Russell was tempted to forego the formalities of traffic laws altogether, but he sternly reminded himself that it wouldn't be wise to start the police chase before they had Weiss in the back of the van.
Nora and Ren sat in the two back seats. Nora was rambling on about fighting for the White Fang cause and what they would do after they had the heiress to ransom while Ren nodded absently at the slightest pause in the torrent of words. Blake and Sun, sitting in the empty space near the van's back doors, clung for dear life as every swerve of the car turned the loading space into a pinball machine.
"Any luck finding a good spot?" Russell asked, refraining from using Cardin's name. Cheap radios could sometimes be overheard by others, for example, those the cops used. No reply came through the radio.
"They have pretty poor range," Blake said coolly. "We probably won't get a signal."
Russell shot her a flat look. "You could've said that sooner."
Blake shrugged and went back to hanging on for dear life.
Sky floored the gas pedal, but a car in front of him slowed for the yellow light, forcing him to stop. Russell looked ahead, grumbling in frustration as he hunted for the limo, but there was no sign of it in the cross-traffic. Up ahead, he could make out the low, wide building that was the main Bullhead airport. Behind it stretched a landscape of concrete, fences, and bright yellow lines. People hurried through the maze to their Bullheads, and larger transports hauled shipping crates onto the bigger freight aircraft. If they called in a bomb threat, they could ground all the Bullheads, but they'd have the number that called them. Winter might've been able to arrange something. Why hadn't Cardin thought of that earlier?
The sudden silence, left as the engine no longer rumbled and popped with the effort to barrel through traffic, made Russell look anxiously behind him. Hoping to fill the silence, he asked Blake, "Why did you come along? You were completely against the idea before Sun showed up." He raised an eyebrow at the Faunus pair. "Animal magnetism?"
Blake scoffed. "He wishes." Sun shrugged at the rejection, but he seemed interested in the explanation as well. After a moment, when it became clear to everyone that Russell still wanted his answer, she said, "Does it matter?"
"Yes, it does." Russell pointed at the mask he was wearing. "If anyone wanted us dead, these masks would give them the perfect excuse. Once everything gets crazy, it'll be do or die for us. I'd rather not get shot to pieces because you bailed on us."
Blake flinched at his words. She couldn't meet his eyes, but she said, "I'm not going to run away."
"Well? Then why are you here?" Russell studied her downcast expression. "You clearly don't care about Weiss, and it's not like you're doing this for your team. You hate Cardin, and you only came along once it was clear he'd be carrying out his plan. So, either you care about Sun, or you're spying on Cardin."
Blake bit her lip. Taking a deep breath, she said, "Ozpin asked me to keep an eye on him." She gave them a warning look. "And if Cardin is lying, if you do something evil, I will stop you."
Russell laughed at that. "Evil? He's a cold-hearted bastard, but not quite evil. The only reason I'm even along for this ride is I know he wouldn't throw us away, not when we're the only people he has any trust for."
"But you're all spying on him," Blake pointed out.
"I never said he trusted us much. He knows who's lining our pockets, and that's the best he's going to get." He folded his arms and thought over what Blake had said. "Cardin knows you're Ozpin's spy, that's why he trusted you. Alright then." He shifted his gaze to Sun. "What about you? If anything, you've got even less reason to be here."
"I saw him get rushed to the nurse's office," Sun said. "Nasty-looking wounds all over him. I hung around, thinking to ask him what happened, when I caught you all going to Yang's room. I thought I'd have a listen."
"And that's when you popped through the window."
"Pretty much. I kinda owe him for the docks, so I thought, why not?"
Russell held his gaze, but the confident smile on Sun's face didn't waver under scrutiny. The roar of the engine snapped his attention back to the road as Sky raced through the green light. Russell tried the radio again, but he still didn't get an answer. He used his Scroll to text him, but he didn't get an answer.
"Great," Russell said. "How are we supposed to know where to go?"
"Ooh, I have an idea!" Nora pointed up at the ceiling. "If we have some Lightning Dust, I can just throw the car into the air, and you could look from up there!"
"Nora," Ren said, "I don't think that will work."
"Well, we could try a power line if we're out of Dust."
"The van would break when it hit the ground."
"Oh silly," Nora said, "I'd catch it!"
As Nora reached for the door handle, Sky shouted, "Found them!"
The limousine was waiting at an intersection two blocks from the airport's entrance. The light was turning yellow as they approached it.
"Go for it," Russell said.
As the light turned red and the intersection cleared out, Sky drove onto the other side of the street, slammed the brakes, and cranked the steering wheel. The van slid to a stop with its rear within a couple feet of the limousine's front bumper.
After Sky's stunt driving had shaken them like dog toys, Blake and Sun struggled to get on their feet. Nora and Sky vaulted out of their seats, throwing the doors open and helping the two Faunus out of the van. Blake and Sun leapt onto the limo's engine, much to the shock of the portly driver, and went onto the roof. Blake took out the knife and plunged it into the roof, cutting out a neat circle. Sun peered inside and found Weiss and her bodyguards.
"Surprise!" he shouted, pulling the pin on the flashbang and lobbing it inside. All three of the passengers were blinded by the sudden flash. While Weiss and her escort were stunned, Blake and Sun slipped inside, hauled Weiss up through the window, and dragged her down the limo's front and into the van.
Once Weiss was inside, she looked at the masked faces, taking in her situation without a hint of fear or surprise on her face. Glyphs sprang around her, in a multitude of hues that threatened to tear the van and its occupants to scraps. Before any of them activated, Blake brought out the bottle, dipped the cloth in the clear, vaporous liquid, and pressed it to Weiss' face. Her eyes widened and she clawed at Blake's hand, drawing bloody furrows with her fingernails, but Blake kept a firm grip. After a few seconds, Weiss' eyes rolled up, and she fell limp in her arms.
"Damn," Sun said, "You keep that stuff on you?"
"Roll down the windows before we all pass out," Blake told Russell. She put the anesthetic back in her pocket and pointedly looked away from Sun.
The tires squealed and the doors slammed shut as they made their getaway, driving back the way they came past bewildered and frightened bystanders. Their van bumped and skidded off other cars parked on the road, and a few cars had alarms blaring after they passed.
Without warning, police sirens sounded from all sides. From the alley up ahead, cop cars poured out onto the street. In the rear-view mirrors, Russell saw their retreat cut off as well.
"We're boxed in!" Sky shouted. "I don't think we can make it off-road."
"We'll have to go on foot," Russell said. "Ram into the police line, and we'll book it."
As they accelerated, the doors swung open, and a file of policemen rushed out, carrying assault rifles. A hailstorm of bullets flew at them, cracking the bulletproof windshield and leaving sizable dents in the hood and rear door.
"We won't make it," Ren said. "They'll tear us to pieces."
"Ooh, pick me!" Nora shouted in a sing-song voice, waving her hand in the air. "I have an idea! Give me some tingly Dust and I'll get us out of here."
She held out her hand at Ren, who sighed and gave her a yellow vial. She crushed it between her fingers, and sparks raced up her arms. Her hair stood on end for a moment before drifting back to her shoulders.
"Buckle your seat belts!"
She flung the doors open, sprinted out into the gunfire, and wriggled underneath the idling van. The whole vehicle lurched forward as Nora heaved it into the air. With a manic yell, she hurled the car over the police line, sprinted past the wall of stunned cops, stole an officer's cap as she went by, and caught the van as it came down. She ran with the vehicle for a few paces, set it on the ground, and hopped back in the van. She chuckled to herself as she jammed the stolen cap over her hood.
The vehicle's occupants, except for Ren, were pale and visibly shaken by their unexpected flight. It took a renewed barrage of gunfire to get Sky to hit the gas pedal.
"They were waiting for us," Russell said as they drove away. Flashing sirens announced police pursuit as they made their way back towards Cardin. "Cinder must've tipped them off."
Sky's hands were shaking on the wheel. "Does that mean the police know who we are?"
"I don't think so," Russell said, "Otherwise they wouldn't be shooting to kill."
Blake slammed a fist on the side of the van hard enough to leave a dent. "You don't think so? What, you're just hoping we're not all screwed thanks to Cardin?"
"Cardin gains nothing if we're all arrested," Russell pointed out. "This isn't his doing."
More gunshots pinged off the rear doors. A few shots sounded dangerously close to their wheels. Sky swerved back and forth, darting around cars and dodging gunfire.
"Can you try shaking them off?" Russell asked behind him.
Ren drew up his gun and said, "Leave it to us."
They threw open the doors and fired out behind him. The rounds flew off the cars without leaving a dent, but the cars at the front of the pack swerved to avoid the shots, and one officer dropped his gun after a round whacked him in the head.
"Rubber bullets?" Russell asked.
"Nora's idea," Ren said. "Something about being able to shoot more people if the rounds bounced everywhere."
Another blockade started ahead of them, but Sky gunned the engine and drove in the opposite lane, clipping the front of a cop car just before they closed off the street.
"Looks like that's the last of them," Russell said as he watched the streets ahead for more cops. "Sky, head for the docks. Cardin should be in there somewhere." He tried the radio again, but nothing happened.
Out from over the buildings, three Bullheads swooped over them. One hovered from a safe distance, training a camera at their van, while the other two leveled machine guns at them. Nora and Ren slammed the van door shut just in time for heavy caliber fire to turn the thick metal into swiss cheese. One of the tires popped, and Sky frantically cranked the wheel to keep the van from swerving onto the sidewalk.
"We're getting torn to shreds!" Sky shouted. "If anyone has any ideas, now would be a great time!"
Russell rummaged through the gear Cardin had given him, but Blake was a step ahead. She pulled several small, black balls out of her pocket, snapped a tab on the top, and hurled them out the holes in the rear door. Smoke billowed up in their wake, engulfing the two Bullheads. They banked up, climbing out of the smoke, but one Bullhead clipped the other, and they both spun out of control. One Bullhead careened into a building and slid to the ground, but the other righted itself and continued the pursuit.
"I really hope no one died in that," Russell said as he rolled down the window and looked back at the downed Bullhead. He jerked back inside as bullets tore off the sideview mirror. "Any nonlethal ideas for that one?"
"Hey Blake," Sun said, "Got any more smoke?"
"Plenty," she said, drawing out another handful. "You have an idea?"
"I'll use my Semblance once the smoke is up. That way, no one will see, right?"
Blake threw more smoke. Once the cloud thickened, two glowing copies of Sun crowded the rear. Sun and his clones clambered on top of the van, and the two clones served as springboards for Sun to reach the cockpit. He punched through the glass, wrenched the control stick to the side, and leapt away as the other Bullhead flew down an alley. As the Bullhead leveled itself out, its engines got stuck against the buildings, roaring uselessly as they struggled to push past the brick walls.
The cop cars had faded in the distance, obscured by lingering smoke. The fallen Bullhead had blocked half the street, and the cars had to backtrack to turn onto the other side of the road. Russell and Sky exchanged high-fives as they coasted towards the warehouses.
"Perfect. If we can find Cardin, Winter can swoop in before anyone's the wiser."
As he said this, movement on the road caught his eye. A man, wielding an enormous sword, trotted onto their path. He crouched, readying his sword for a downward slash. The meridian cut the van off from the other side of the road, forcing them into the Huntsman's path. Nora and Ren leaned out the windows, firing everything they had at the Huntsman, but the rubber rounds bounced off his Aura.
Well before they came in range of the sword, the Huntsman struck. His blade sank into the street. Neat cracks carved a perfect square in the pavement. As the van rolled onto the square, the pavement heaved up and turned to the side, flipping the van. The van rocketed forward, flew off the concrete, and spun in the air.
Ren and Nora exchanged a nod. Ren snatched a grappling hook and fastened it to the back seat while Nora wrenched one of the doors off the van. They both leapt out the back, Nora sprinting with superhuman speed alongside the van, turning it upright with her hands, while Ren plnated his feet on the door rode it on the twisting asphalt. Sparks bounced off the pavement as paint and metal scraped off on the rough surface.
Nora carried the van over the meridian, setting the van on the other side of the road. Ren leaned out, forcing the grappling hook to stay taut. The stoplights up ahead threatened to snag the cord, leaving him with a second to jump over the meridian. The lashed out with his sword, aiming for Ren's chest, as he skated up to him. Ren sprang up, lifting the door with his feet. The sword slashed through the bottom half, missing Ren's heels by an inch. The door slammed into the Huntsman's face, and Ren pushed off him, tugging hard with his arms. He flew over the meridian, glanced off the stop lights' post, and landed on the other side. Nora pulled him in, and Ren fell to the floor, gasping for breath.
"We are never," Ren said between coughs and wheezes, "Doing that again."
"Why not? That was so much fun! Hey, can I do the skateboard thingy next time?"
Too exhausted to argue, Ren said, "Whatever you say Nora."
Russell watched the Huntsman in the rear windows. He picked himself off the ground and dusted off his armor, but he didn't make a move to chase them. "Keep an eye out. Odds are there'll be more where that came from."
His words proved prophetic, as they hadn't gone a block before a high caliber round tore through the roof at an angle. Sun's Aura took the hit and broke, and the round tore through his thigh. He sank to the floor, clutching his bleeding leg, while Blake tore off a strip of her uniform and tied it around the wound. Sky swerved right, trusting the buildings to cover them, but another round came from the other direction, ripping apart Ren's headrest.
"Evasive action!" Russell shouted. "Brace your Aura!"
Sky wrenched the wheel left and right, swerving in and out of lanes. More rounds broke the ground around them, and one shattered the windshield, but they arrived at the docks without another injury.
"You know," Sun said through gritted teeth, "I'm having second thoughts about cruising around in a White Fang uniform."
Blake pushed harder on the wound, making Sun yelp. "Just hold on, we're almost there. Jaune can get you patched up."
Stray wooden pallets and abandoned crate tops crunched underneath their wheels as they raced through the docks. Russell tried the radio again, but no answer came from Cardin.
"Well?" Blake asked. Her hands were dripping with Sun's blood. "Where the hell is he?"
"How much range do these things have?"
"I don't know, a hundred feet maybe?"
"Seriously? We might as well shout at each other!"
"They're made for battery life, not range. Just find him before more Huntsmen show up."
As if on cue, a heavy thud came from the roof. A spear jabbed through the top, hitting Nora in the shoulder. Her Aura held, and she grabbed the spear, pulling it through the roof. It turned to dust in her fingers, and another one followed, this one just missing the tip of her nose.
Russell looked back, and Nora nodded at him. He gestured for Blake's dagger, and she tossed it to him. They both opened their doors. Nora swung up first, kicking at the Huntress' legs with both feet. While she was distracted, Russell clambered up the side and jabbed the knife at the Huntress' back. Aura flared up, knocking the blow aside. Two spears materialized in her hands, and she spun in a circle, lashing out with both spear-tips. Russell ducked, while Nora grabbed a weapon and flung the Huntress aside. She tripped over a bullet hole, rolled, and fell to the pavement.
As they raced away, she hurled more spears at them. One popped the last rear tire, and another buried itself in Ren's seat, striking his Aura in the back. Russell nearly fell off the van as it lurched back, slowed down by the lack of rear tires.
The wail of police sirens grew louder, and bright flashes of color spun on the concrete docks. Russell peered back in time to see squad cars flood the docks. A few guns poked out of windows, firing at them. Bullets rang off the concrete, but none found their mark.
Russell and Nora swung back into the van. "Any way we can block off the docks? They'll catch up at this rate."
Everyone looked around the van, but no one had any answers. Russell gripped his seat, making the leather creak. "Keep firing. We can't let them catch us."
"We're running out of bullets," Ren said. "We should save them."
Russell growled to himself and tried to think as the van lurched forward, dragged back by its rear bumper. As he was about to give up, Cardin's voice crackled in Russell's ear. "Well? Did you find her yet?"
"Finally!" Russell shouted into the radio. "The range on these things is shit. You're in the docks?"
"Second to last of the boarded-up warehouses."
"Got it. We're coming in hot, tons of cops on our tail. They were waiting for us."
Russell grinned back at the passengers. Ren and Nora gave him weary smiles, while Blake frowned distrustfully at the approaching warehouse. Sun, white-faced and shaking, added another strap of clothing to his makeshift bandage.
"I think that was a whole team after us," Russell said.
"If that's the case, shouldn't there be a fourth?" Ren asked.
"Please don't say that. We're almost there!"
Sky hammered the gas pedal, pushing the van through the last stretch of docks. The doors to the warehouse were flung open, and the darkness beyond invited them in.
A fiery rock fell from above. Sky slammed the brakes, and the rock crashed through the engine, scattering bits of metal all over. Russell and Sky threw their hands up, blocking the shrapnel with their Aura.
"Move move move!" Russell shouted as smoke filled the vehicle. Ren and Sky grabbed Weiss, Blake and Russell took Sun, while Nora fired the last of her bullets at the nimble figure sprinting along the other warehouses' rooftops. The assailant leapt to the ground, scooped chunks of concrete out with her bare hands, and flung them in a blazing barrage. Nora leapt aside and kept firing until the gun clicked empty. She snatched Ren's, but the ammo died out before they made it back in.
"Pop some smoke, hurry!"
Blake fumbled for her smoke bombs, but she couldn't reach them and carry Sun at the same time. At a nod, Nora rushed over and took over for her. Blake threw smoke, obscuring them from the Huntsman. More burning rocks shot through the smoke, but they missed their mark.
Tires squealed as cop cars rushed to a stop within firing range of the warehouse. Risking a look back, Russell saw them forming a firing line, aiming squarely at them. He shouted, urging everyone through the last steps through the door. Just a little further… almost there…
The doors slammed shut as a head-sized boulder flew in, missing Sky by a foot. The rock skidded off the concrete floor and broke off into glowing pieces. A wall of shelves flew to block the door, which was buckling under heavy blows. Bullet holes perforated the surface, and with a sweep of her hand, Pyrrha barred them with metal plates.
"Get Jaune over here, hurry!" Russell shouted, gesturing at Sun. Cardin rushed forward, dragging Weiss over to the chairs, while Jaune pressed his hands to Sun's wound. Within seconds, the color returned to Sun's face, and he stood up on his leg, testing his weight on it.
"What the hell happened out there?" Cardin asked.
"They were waiting for us. Cop cars came out of nowhere, and they had a whole Huntsman team in ambush."
"Then we don't have much time." He called Winter's Scroll, and the moment she answered, he hissed for her to be quiet. He told her where they were and how to get it in, taking care to phrase it as though he were a hostage, taking advantage of his captors' distraction to get a call out. Winter, picking up on the deceit, told him to stay on the line until she arrived.
Cardin signaled for everyone to be quiet and pointed at his Scroll, which lay on the table. Dove nodded and stood up straight. "Alright, everyone, fan out, and be ready. It won't take them long to break through, but if we can just hold out until he gets here, we'll beat those Atlas-hugging bastards. How's our ammo?"
He nodded significantly to Russell, who said, "We've got enough for a few minutes, some more smokes, and a few flashes. Our Aura's pretty beat up."
"Right. Get behind cover and make them pay for what they did to us. I'll keep an eye on the prisoners." Dove walked over and stared down at the Scroll. "Hey! Who the hell are you calling?" He picked it up, read the name, and smashed the Scroll on the ground. Both Dove and Cardin made sure the Scroll was dead before speaking.
"Did you really have to break it?" he asked.
Dove shrugged. "I was going for realism."
Cardin felt at his nose. The implant was coming loose again, and he could feel a chill creeping through the gap. "Crack me one in the face, would you? Might as well make it look convincing."
"You sure?" Dove asked as he cocked back his fist.
"I need a new implant anyways. Go nuts."
Pain blinded him as Dove's fist cracked him in the face. Though the implant didn't break, blood spurted from his smashed nose, and he felt the implant tear away. His nose hung limply to the side, dripping blood onto his shirt.
Dove and Jaune helped Weiss into a seat, while Ruby and Cardin took seats. Pyrrha bound them up, while the ragged band of White Fang fakes took positions behind cover.
"Any idea when they'll be here?" A loud thump shook the door. "It better be soon, or we're screwed."
Pyrrha pushed on the doors, holding them steady under the barrage. More bullets rang off the wall, some punching all the way through, but all at once, they stopped. A loud crash came from overhead as the roof flew apart. Specialists in white uniforms rappelled down from a Bullhead and drew guns as they landed. Shots rang around them, punching holes in the walls. The White Fang fakes dropped their weapons and hit the ground as the Specialists fired around them.
The Bullhead descended through the ruined rooftop, touching down as Pyrrha cleared away the debris. As the loading ramp swung down, Winter strode out, flanked by two more Specialists.
"If I had known it was going to be this bad," she said, "I would have taken her myself."
Cardin sighed and swept his gaze over the students that had followed him. Even as fear gnawed at him, fear of the unknown repercussions of this rash act, he felt a rush of relief, seeing that they hadn't betrayed him yet.