Chapter 29: The Gravity Of Ruby And Weiss' Situation
Heyo! Ready for some more action? Why am I asking, I know you are! After all, that's why you keep on coming back, right? Right. Anyway, just out of curiosity, what do you think of this story overall? I mean, it's pretty different from the other stuff I've written. Not completely different, but different enough. Different main protagonists, more violence, that sort of thing. I'd appreciate if you'd give some honest feedback on this. Seriously. Anyway, enough with serious business time! Back to the action, yo!
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Hold on. Let's take a short step back.
Around the same time as Yang and Blake were about to storm the cargo bay and fight the Shiden mech, and when Sun and Neptune were about to breach through the main entrance to arrest whoever they found there, Weiss and Ruby were taking their positions around the side entrance.
To their surprise, the side entrance was completely unguarded. This in particular baffled Weiss. She was under the impression that the terrorists making her family's life a living hell would have SOME shreds of intelligence. But, here they were, and nobody was guarding an entrance to their Vale City hideout. Was the White Fang really this badly run? Were they just dumb? Or was everyone around her suffering from sheer incompetence, and she was the only person to notice? Now that she thought about it, the Schnee Dust Company probably didn't have the smartest people on their board. After all, they were the ones who thought opening a dust based theme park with live and primed dust attractions would be a good idea. Geez, everyone involved were a bunch of morons!
Weiss was snapped out of her thoughts by Ruby tugging at her arm. "Weiss? You alright?" Ruby asked cautiously.
"Y-yeah," Weiss replied. "Just wondering why this entrance is unguarded…"
"Maybe we're lucky!" was Ruby's chipper reply.
"Or maybe there's a trap…" Weiss soberly added.
Ruby pursed her lips together in thought. Weiss certainly did have a point. If playing card games taught her anything, any type of trap (cards) could be activated in enemy territory. And you can't attack the moon in real life to foil the opponent's plans. The moon was already broken, after all. And there was no way Ruby could afford with all her lien to destroy it further.
"…Want to check for any first?" Ruby offered.
Weiss simply shrugged. "I'd prefer it. Yet again, if they are this incompetent, then it would just be a waste of time."
"I'm on it!" Ruby said, activating her semblance. Before Weiss could protest or add in any other suggestions, the cloaked girl vanished in a puff of rose petals. While Weiss was impressed by Ruby's super speed, it still annoyed her that her partner like to jump the gun using it a little too much. She could at least put a little more thought into it.
Huffing in annoyance, Weiss crossed her arms. Now wasn't the time to be treating this like some kind of game. But, as soon as her miffed irritation popped into her mind, it was silenced by the reappearance of Ruby.
"No traps around the door," she reported dutifully.
Weiss unfolded her arms and got Myrtenaster ready. "Then we should be ready," she simply replied.
Nodding, Ruby activated Crescent Rose into its sniper form and pulled back the charging handle. Having a gun to point at someone was certainly going to help in storming a room. The scythe could come in later, if need be.
Ruby and Weiss stalked up to the wall that the side entrance door was on. Pressing their backs against the wall, they were both on either side of the door. The pair didn't break eye contact with each other as they tensed, ready to blow open the door. Ruby held up three fingers, and began to count down on her hand.
Three…
Two…
One…
Breach!
In a flash, Weiss jabbed the point of Myrtenaster into the metal of the door. With a brief pulse of her aura, she activated the dust setting that the multi-action chamber was set on: fire. The door was blown off its hinges as a dust explosion rocked the entrance.
Ruby filed in first, Crescent Rose's barrel pointed at the ready. Weiss dashed in after her, her rapier ready to unleash a barrage of fire dust.
"Everyone stop! Huntresses!" Ruby yelled in a high pitch. Weiss subconsciously raised an eyebrow at that. How could anyone take that threat seriously when she sounded so squeaky and adorable?
Ruby lowered Crescent Rose as she looked around the room. It was completely empty. Not a single White Fang member in sight.
Scratching her head as she looked around, Ruby muttered, "Uhh, kinda thought there'd be more people here…"
Weiss gritted her teeth at Ruby's statement. "This isn't the time to be wondering about this!" she hissed.
A tense beat filled the air as Weiss and Ruby stood in the room, expecting something to happen. Suddenly, they heard an approaching noise. Wait… It was footsteps! People were coming towards them!
Not that that fact should have surprised neither Ruby nor Weiss. Blowing a metal door off its hinges wasn't really an activity one could call quiet. And neither was yelling for people to freeze, and then having a brief chat with your partner. If anything, it was shameful that it took this long for people to take notice and respond to the loud racket.
Just as Team White Rose readied their weapons once more, the door was kicked open by a surprisingly small foot. In came a darker-skinned girl with green hair, followed by a squad of people dressed in full White Fang uniforms. Immediately, the White Fang members pointed their rifles at Ruby and Weiss, and the green haired girl did the same.
"Who the hell are you?!" the green haired girl demanded to know.
Ruby blinked, and then put on her game face. "We're huntresses! Put down your guns, now!"
The barked order hung in the air as Weiss and Ruby stood off with the White Fang squad. Nobody was willing to be the first to pull the trigger. Both groups stood there, obsessed with their opponent's next move, and also worried about what might come to pass.
Finally, the green haired girl's eye briefly twitched. Ruby saw this as the moment of her enemy's weakness. Squeezing the trigger of Crescent Rose, she fired the first shot at the White Fang.
The room exploded into gunfire as both sides began to fire wildly, bullets and dust flying haphazardly into the air. Ruby and Weiss could feel the bullets of the White Fang's rifles whiz past their bodies. Fortunately, they were terrible shots. Unfortunately, the emerald haired girl was a much better shot, and nearly managed to shoot Ruby straight in the head with her revolvers. In fact, Ruby could feel a few hairs off of her head be ripped free by a passing bullet. Now that was too close for comfort. WAY too close.
Weiss and Ruby ducked into cover, behind a table that Weiss had just flipped over. Gritting her teeth, Ruby blind-fired over the rim of the table. Weiss, at the same time, tried to fire as much of her ice dust over the table without exposing herself too much. There wasn't much she could do with her current weapon in this scenario, unfortunately. She couldn't cast any dust accurately while taking cover.
"Any ideas?!" Ruby yelled at Weiss over the roar of gunfire.
"Glyphs, maybe!" Weiss yelled back. As it stood, her gravity glyphs were the only thing that could stand to end this firefight conclusively. They were outnumbered, so they needed to get rid of as many people at the same time as possible. All of them, if they could.
Nodding, Ruby fired another shot over the table before whipping her scroll out of her pocket. Glancing at her team's current aura stats, she couldn't help but question Weiss' idea. If she was going to get rid of a lot of people, she needed to make a big glyph. And, to make a big glyph, Weiss needed a lot of aura. But, her usage of dust had drained it quite a bit. Ruby wasn't sure if she could make a big enough glyph with her current aura amount.
"Can you really do it?!" questioned Ruby.
"…I think so!" Weiss said, pointing the tip of her rapier over the table's rim. She fired a bolt of fire dust that barely managed to hit an unlucky White Fang member. But, all that did was mildly singe one of his arms before he kept on firing.
"I'll help! Try to feel my aura!" Ruby suggested. Not giving Weiss time to protest, Ruby grabbed Weiss' pale hand and tried to expand her own aura. Hopefully, Weiss could use the boost to make her glyph bigger and larger.
The White Fang squad paused as the firing stopped from behind the table. Quickly, Emerald gestured to the White Fang to flank around the table. They were going to use a pincer move against those huntresses.
Just as the White Fang were about to move in place, Weiss could feel the barrier of her aura blend and mix into Ruby's. Yes! She could feel all of it! That warmth! That pulsing, heated energy! Weiss could feel it all! This is what she needed!
Weiss gave a brief, trusting nod at Ruby. Returning the nod, Ruby gave off a half-gritted, half-cocky grin. She was god damn ready for this. This was their counterattack.
Standing up quickly, Weiss and Ruby faced the White Fang members. With a quick motion of her sword hand, Weiss only had one thing to say to the group: "GRAVITY WARP!"
"Wha—" was all that escaped Emerald's lips before a massive white glyph expanded under her feet, and a black glyph expanded several feet above her. After that, all she could do was express pure shock and horror with her eyes.
It was too late for Emerald or the White Fang group to escape the event horizon of the glyphs. The gravity effect was so severe, that time itself became slightly dilated. The seconds seemed to slow down slightly as several loose objects, the White Fang members, and Emerald were all pulled into the center area of the two glyphs.
Those that got closer to the center lump were the unluckiest of them all. The sheer warp of the gravity put a strain on their bones that they just couldn't handle. Their limbs were crushed like twigs as the gravity pulled their limbs into strange and unnatural positions. In fact, if the gravity warp was any stronger, surely their internal organs would have been crushed. But, fortunately for them, Weiss didn't have enough aura for that, even with Ruby's power boost.
"GAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Weiss screamed as she put all the energy as she could into her semblance attack. She was using so much aura, it was beginning to strain her body past what was acceptable limits. Staring from her finger tips, a searing pain traveled through her nervous system. It felt like her veins and nerve endings were being lit on fire.
"AHHHHHHHHH!" she continued to scream, as she began to compress her glyphs more and more, further expanding the operational length of the glyphs. She was doing her damn most to keep those glyphs as wide and powerful as possible. If Ruby was yelling along with her, she couldn't tell. All Weiss could feel now was searing pain and the determination behind her semblance.
At that point, the glyphs creating the gravity warp began to flicker. Weiss had pushed herself far enough. This was all she was able to exude out. By now, Weiss could feel the very nerves in her eyes start to burn. Her vison blurred as she weakly dropped her hand, letting the glyphs disappear. Her Myrtenaster clanged against the floor, it's use completed.
Weiss and the bunch of people and objects collapsed at the same time. The heiress, from pure exertion. The White Fang, because the gravity well that snapped their bones and limbs ceased to exist. How fortunate for them.
Swiftly, Rub moved to try and keep Weiss standing. She was very close to just passing out on the floor, and Ruby just couldn't have that happen. After all, it stood to common sense that it was a bad idea to faint in the middle of a battle ground. More so if the fight was continuing on elsewhere. The sounds coming from the other parts of the warehouse more than gave that away.
"Weiss! You okay?!" Ruby asked in a raspy, concerned tone.
"Gughhh…" Weiss moaned, trying to wiggle out of Ruby's grasp. Putting a hand on the shot up table that once acted as her cover, Weiss tried her best to stand.
Heaving out of Ruby's arms, Weiss leaned against the table. Her shaky legs barely even held her steady. She felt terrible. But, that was the price of semblances. Blood needed to be paid in blood, and physical aura must be paid in internal aura. And now, Weiss was completely drained of her aura reserves. Short of not having any broken limbs, she was feeling just as bad as her gravity warped targets.
Even Ruby could feel the tinges of aura depletion in her body. Judging from how winded she felt, Ruby must have had half of her aura reserve used by Weiss. She could certainly use a short break. Maybe sit down and have a breather.
Weakly, Weiss tried to take a step forward to look at the pile of tortured, writhing bodies. But, the sudden churning in her stomach put a stop to that. There was no stopping what was going to happen next. Uncontrollably, Weiss couldn't help but heave over and vomit profusely. At first, she vomited up her day's food, but that ran out shortly. Instead, she began to expel more and more yellow-green bile. Weiss was vomiting so much, the small blood vessels around her throat and neck began to burst, leaving purple/blue bruise marks.
Acting swiftly, Ruby grabbed Weiss by the waist and dragged her over to an undestroyed heavy crate. With a quick lift, Ruby put her girlfriend on the crate to sit. Luckily, Weiss had stopped vomiting, and now grew even paler than her normal fair-skinned complexion. She felt so cold, that she was staring to tremble in an attempt to generate body heat.
Taking a polishing rag out of her pocket, Ruby wiped away a stray trickle of bile hanging on the corner of Weiss' mouth. "…Okay, I don't think we're trying that again," Ruby noted to herself and Weiss.
"No… *huff* Kidding…" Weiss added.
Ruby tried her best to make Weiss feel better. With a small smile, she said, "Hey. We got them."
"G-good…" Weiss quickly breathed out, trying to repress her gag reflex. There was no way Ruby would appreciate being vomited on.
Ruby flashed another brief smile at Weiss before letting her go. She had to make sure that the White Fang team and the girl with emerald hair no longer posed a threat. Walking over to where she set down Crescent Rose before standing with Weiss, Ruby picked it up and cocked back the bolt. Good, it still had ammo in its current magazine.
With Crescent Rose at the ready, Ruby cautiously walked towards the injured White Fang squad. She made sure to kick away any stray weapons that lie in front of her, making sure they couldn't be used. Not that they were in any operational state, given the crushing gravity that they were just subjected to. Still, it was best to make sure.
Curious, Ruby picked up one weapon. It was one of that green-haired girl's revolvers. Holding it daintily by the grip, a sickle-like blade dangled from its broken hinge. As it stood now, the bed and damaged blade could do no damage. Neither could the warped gun barrel. But, Ruby was thankful that the girl didn't get close enough to use her sickle blades. That would make a physical fight in a firefight. That alone should make it clear how undesirable that situation was.
Tossing the weapon aside, Ruby continued until she stopped in front of the agonized group. Looking at their twisted limbs and pain-filled moans, Ruby couldn't help but feel a measure of pity for them. That one girl who owned the revolvers specifically. From the looks of it, she wasn't fortunate enough to pass out from her pain yet. Instead, she let out quiet, wordless screams in her suffering. Ruby frowned at the sight. Kneeling down, she looked at the face of the girl. "Sorry," she quickly apologized, suddenly feeling awkward for saying sorry to her enemy.
Standing back up, Ruby pulled out her scroll and unlocked the lock screen. Noticing that it was currently open to the aura measurement app, she frowned at what she saw. Weiss was really in desperate need of recovery. There wasn't even anything filling up the stats meter. Weiss was done for the night.
Closing the app, Ruby opened the phone app and dialed the number for emergency services. Not only could she get the police here to arrest all these White Fang terrorists, she could also get the medical attention that Weiss and her gravity warped targets desperately needed.
Holding the phone to her ear, Ruby desperately hoped that her friends were having a better time. As the dial tone buzzed, she could feel her concern grow. If this is what she and Weiss had to resort to, what else could her teammates, Sun, and Neptune be facing?
Hopefully, her call for help would make all those fears go away.
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I hoped that you liked that fight! I mean, I'm sorry that I couldn't put things a little more from Emerald's perspective like the last chapter, but honestly, it wouldn't mesh well with the events of this chapter at all. It would be like mixing fine, aged whiskey with cheap dollar store diet cola. I'm sure you can see what I mean. Anyway, who's ready to see the thrilling fight with Sun and Neptune! I bet you're trembling with excitement! Or, that could be because you're cold. In that case, go use your nearest blanket, heater, or hot tub immediately. Oh, but before you do, be sure to leave me a review. They make me feel important. And like an actual author.
This is The Draigg, and I'm warping out of here, for now!