W-welcome to Chapter 14!

Please note that the events in this chapter take place at the same time as those in chapter 13. Also, the machines from the canon, including those in the Black and White trailers, will be appearing here, so yay!

And I'm putting it as 'Ice Flower' not 'White Rose' because in the canon, their combination was referred to as that so I'm assuming that's the official name for the pairing.

"Hey, are they done yet?" Ruby whined, brushing a leaf off her head. "I'm tired of waiting…"

"Have some patience, Ruby," Weiss scolded, chopping Ruby's head with her uninjured hand. "Let them do their thing."

Ruby grumbled, but stayed put. Since they did not want the White Fang to be notified of their actions, they had to disable the tower's functions even if temporarily. They were free to destroy the tower if need be, but their contacts had hopes about being able to use it afterwards. Since they were the ones disabling the tower right now, Team RWBY was forced to remain on standby until they were done.

"I'm bored," Yang declared. She and Blake were in another bush, so Ruby could not see her face, but she had a pretty good idea after years of experience. "Blakey…"

"W-what're you doing?" Blake's panicked voice came from the headset. Ruby vaguely wondered if she knew that she and Weiss could hear them right now. "D-don't just start touching me out of nowhere!"

"Girls, we're on a mission," Weiss sighed. "Team JNPR's probably already fighting for their lives right now, so be a little more serious too, okay?"

"Yes ma'am…" Yang grumbled. Ruby was sure she was pouting right now.

"Say, Weiss," Ruby said suddenly. "Are you… nervous?"

"Don't be silly," Weiss replied. "Of course I'm not; I've survived – no, we've survived worse, so this is a piece of cake. Why; are you nervous, Ruby?"

"S-sort of," Ruby admitted, staring resolutely at the ground.

"Weiss," Yang's voice whispered in Weiss's ear. Ruby didn't react, so she assumed it was on a private channel. "Give her a smooch on the forehead. That's how I always calm her down."

"I-it's a dangerous mission," Ruby continued speaking, breaking the silence caused by Weiss's lack of response; the heiress had been too busy deciding if Yang was serious or if she just wanted her to kiss the dolt to alleviate her boredom. "And I can't help but feel that something bad is going to happen to Team JNPR… When I think that the same thing could happen to us, I… I…"

"For crying out loud," Weiss sighed, flicking her forehead. There were times where she felt that the girl's forehead had been made for her flicking. "You are such a worrywart. We've already come this far, so stop thinking about 'what ifs' and lead us like the confident dolt you are."

"We didn't come that far," Ruby pointed out. "It's actually quite close to our- Eep! N-nothing!"

"Good," Weiss said, withdrawing her finger which had been inches away from delivering another blow. "You know what I mean."

"Yeah, I guess…" Ruby muttered. "But still, you're injured and everything, and-"

Unfortunately, she did not get to finish her sentence with Weiss's lips on hers. Ruby's eyes went so wide it was a wonder they did not pop out of their sockets. Even after their lips parted, she still had that open shock pasted clearly across her face, staring into the distance silently.

"How about now?" she asked. She was embarrassed as well, but she was sure as hell not going to let Ruby see that. "Still nervous?"

For a moment, Weiss thought Ruby's brain had stopped working, causing the girl to remain frozen on the spot (not that she complained; Ruby looked adorable like that), but as time passed, the young girl's face turned pink. Then red. Then deep red. Then very deep red.

"W-what're you blushing so hard for?" Weiss asked, feeling her own face heat up. "I-it's not as if we've never done that before… B-besides, you're going to make me embarrassed as well so snap out of it."

"O-oh," Ruby stammered. "O-okay…"

"So are you still nervous?" Weiss asked, not looking directly at her.

"… One more time," Ruby mumbled.

Weiss spun around so quickly to face Ruby her head almost fell off. She stared at her leader and partner (who seemed determined to give the ground a thorough examination), wide-eyed and speechless.

"… I beg your pardon?" she managed at last.

"One more time…" Ruby muttered somewhat reluctantly. Her face was probably capable of cooking an egg right now. She looked up shyly. "Please?"

Weiss hated those puppy dog eyes. She utterly hated that pleading expression Ruby was so good at. But more than anything, she hated how her determination always swayed whenever she saw it. One of these days, she was going to overcome it and say 'no' to that face. One of these days. Just not now.

"F-fine," she agreed.

"Yang, your grin's getting creepy," Blake pointed out, edging away from her partner.

"I can't help it," Yang replied. Her smug grin was wide enough to split her face in two. "They're just so cute."

"Weiss's gonna kill you once she finds out," Blake sighed. Although, in Yang's defense, Ruby and Weiss had forgotten to disable their mics, so it was not entirely the blonde's fault.

"She sounds happy," Yang said, her mouth now forming a gentle smile. It was at times like this that Blake felt that Yang was more mature than how she usually presented herself. Then again, she was a big sister. "She tries so hard to act tough in front of me, but now she's… honest."

"Yeah, she is," Blake agreed. As she turned to look at her partner, the Faunus noticed the brief glimmer in Yang's eyes. "Are you lonely now that your sister's found another person to open up to?"

"Of course I am," Yang replied honestly without an ounce of sarcasm. "But I'm the big sis, so I'm fine with being glad for her."

"You've got me," Blake offered, making Yang chuckle.

"I guess so," she said thoughtfully. "I always wanted a pet cat."

Grinning toothily at her partner's disgruntled expression, Yang switched her own mic back on and spoke through the team's channel.

"We're good to go," she announced. "Oh, and Weiss? If you dare to make my little Rubes sad, I'll rip out your intestines and feed them to you."

"That escalated quickly," Blake commented as Weiss suddenly came to the realization that Yang had heard her exchange with Ruby.

"A-a-anyway," Ruby's flustered voice said amongst Weiss's embarrassed threats and incoherent words. "L-let's go!"

At those words, four girls emerged from their hiding spots, charging towards their destination.

Blake led the group's advance, blade and sheathe at her sides. The Atlesian Paladin battlesuits patrolling the area picked up their presence instantly, and two stepped forward to fend them off.

Leaping into the air and swinging her blades in a circular motion, Blake sent off two shockwaves from the tips of her weapons. The first burst against the nearest Paladin's right arm, blowing it away instantly. The second managed to bury itself into another Paladin's body, exploding and killing the pilot. Even though the battlesuit was still functional, it simply fell limp like a marionette with its strings cut.

In a shower of rose petals, Ruby charged past Blake, landing on the Paladin without its right arm. Following a series of gunshots, she launched herself into the air, bringing her scythe – and the Paladin's left arm – with her.

Before the pilot could retreat, Weiss froze the battlesuit's legs in place with a chunk of ice from Myrtenaster. As her teammates ran past the two machines that barely offered any resistance, Yang jumped up and rammed her fist into the armless suit, causing it to crash into a squad of incoming defense drones.

"STRIKE!" She cheered, firing her gauntlets at the ground to break her fall.

Seeing that the Paladins were defeated, the Faunus guards retreated, letting the robots take over; in their place, no less than fifty Atlesian Knight-200s charged in, followed closely by more Paladins. To make matters worse, unknown spider-like droids were also dispatched, and their appearance made Blake pause for a split second.

"Weiss!" Ruby called out. "Ice Flower!"

Weiss nodded, instantly setting up a series of glyphs to her side. Ruby steadied Crescent Rose by planting the blade's tip into the ground, and opened fire with the barrel right behind said glyphs.

The bullets – glowing streaks of light blue after going through the glyph – tore through the air and struck the approaching mechanic soldiers. Instead of blowing up, they burst into a cluster of ice crystals, immobilizing the target as more sprouted with each hit, attaching themselves like countless small flowers of ice.

"Freezer burn!" Ruby yelled, and Weiss summoned another glyph in the air right above her head. Yang jumped on it, using it as a foothold. The moment her boots made contact with it, the entire glyph glowed white, sending her up high into the air.

With an energetic war cry, Yang's eyes turned scarlet as she readied her fist, falling towards the group of frozen Knights. The instant she was close enough to hit them, she let loose a devastating punch.

Having been hit by an impact akin to a meteor, the Atlesian Knights were blown apart. The ice that stuck to them shattered, creating a large cloud of mist which proceeded to cover them and their foes. Now that they lost visual on the intruders, the robots stopped briefly, trying to detect them.

Making use of the pause, Team RWBY advanced, this time with Ruby in the lead. The nearest Paladin, having a pilot, launched a series of missiles which exploded blindly across the battlefield. Some even blew up their own mechs, and none reached the girls.

"Checkmate!" Ruby declared. "Right!"

Blake and Weiss broke off from the sisters, heading for the Spider Droid on their right. It was confused, but it was also too close for comfort. When it picked up heat signals approaching, the machine began firing its four cannons, albeit with poor aim due to the mist.

The large caliber bullets dispersed some mist in their wake, giving the droid a clearer visual. Blake instantly flung her weapon at it, attached to its long ribbon. It did nothing except bounce off the Spider Droid's tough armor, so she pulled it back just as it opened fire again.

Dodging the bullets or parrying them with her weapons nimbly, Blake used her Semblance to create clones of herself, further confusing the droid. Immediately after a clone was produced, a glyph would appear at Blake's feet to launch her away, avoiding the shots that end up hitting the clone instead. When the robot finally understood that firing with four cannons did nothing, the Spider Droid combined its four cannons and began charging a large blast, enough to wipe out all the enemies in front of it, regardless of how many clones Blake could produce.

Weiss, having used the time Blake bought to sneak around to the back of the Spider Droid, created a glyph underneath it that prevented it from moving off on its own. Then, with a flick of her wrists, she spun the glyph – and by extension the machine – around and made it fire its cannon at the incoming enemies instead. The first blast managed to blow up a Paladin, several Knights and an incoming Goliath.

The resulting confusion was useful; the White Fang, having decided to bring in more backup, released the Grimm they tamed to further boost their defense. However, with the defense line panicking and Grimm being taken out by the robots that were supposed to be on their side, the remaining ones either escaped or turned on their masters, no longer aiming for just the girls.

Ruby and Yang approached the final Paladin, which stood outside the mist. Ruby stopped abruptly, allowing Yang to jump up using her shoulder as a foothold. The Paladin attempted to lean back to dodge the blonde's attack, but in doing so failed to pay attention to Ruby, who was below but right in front of it as well.

In a burst of speed, Ruby rushed past the Paladin, hooking Crescent Rose around one leg and dragging it with her. Losing its balance, the Paladin fell forward, right into Yang's fist. As Yang's punch sent it flying, Ruby spun herself around using Crescent Rose, which was still hooked around the leg, and fired, launching herself into the direction she had come from. As a result, when the large suit went flying, its leg was torn off as though it had been made of paper.

Following a series of explosions, two of the Spider Droids blew each other up. Blake rolled under the last one, with Weiss summoning a glyph under herself nearby. Creating several clones as she rolled, all powered up with Dust, Blake threw her gun attached to its ribbon at Weiss, who grabbed it with her right and pulled just as she fired herself forward using her glyph. Once Blake was whisked away, the clones exploded violently, blowing up the Droid from underneath.

Landing neatly next to Ruby and Yang, Weiss threw Gambol Shroud into the air, where it was caught by Blake who proceeded to fly over their head and landing in a kneeling position a short distance in front of them.

"That. Was. Awesome!" Ruby cheered. "Ooh, ooh, team pose! Team pose!"

"Ruby," Weiss sighed, flicking her forehead as Blake went ahead. Yang chuckled and followed suit. "We don't have the time."

"Aww," Ruby whined, but she conceded, running after her teammates into the signal tower.

The inside of the tower was guarded, but it was largely just Faunus soldiers or the old Atlesian Knight-130s. Compared to the enemies outside, they were hardly a challenge. Disposing of them easily (and managing to not kill anyone), Team RWBY made their way to the top floor.

"Well, this was a breeze," Yang muttered, as they stood outside the door of the control room. "Wonder if it's going this well for JNPR."

"Yang, focus," Blake said.

Nodding to her teammates, Ruby gave the order to enter. Blake opened one half of the large doors, and Ruby pushed the other. Yang and Weiss instantly charged in, but in the middle of their warning for the people inside to put their hands up, they stopped. When Ruby and Blake entered after them, they saw why.

The room was huge, like a giant hall. Countless monitors could be seen at the far end of it, but the people who were supposed to be operating them were absent. In between Team RWBY and the monitors, however, was a kneeling figure in the middle of the absurdly large space.

As the figure rose, it could be seen that it was a large suit of armor. The design was rather primitive, and it looked like a human could wear it. However, it was certainly not manned; the giant armor was easily twice as tall as the girls, and it wielded a gigantic metal longsword that was as long as its body.

"This is bad," Weiss muttered.

As though replying to her words, the walls on their sides began making odd clanking sounds. The moment their eyes adjusted to the poor lighting of the room, they could see armors similar to the one in front of them, detaching themselves from their places on the wall. However, it was not just one or two.

There were at least twenty of them.

"We can't beat them," Blake said. "Not in a space this tight."

The hall was big, but it was ultimately far smaller than being out in the open. Being vastly outnumbered in such a space was a situation that they could not simply fight themselves out of.

"We can't give up," Ruby tightened her grip on Crescent Rose. "We're so close, and everyone's depending on us; we can't just quit now."

"Well said, sis," Yang said with a nervous laugh. "But even we'll have a hard time in a situation like this."

"Bumble-" Ruby began, but she was too slow.

The giant longsword smashed into the floor where the girls had been merely moments before. The four girls managed to evade it in time, but Weiss and Yang had jumped closer to the giant armor.

Having thrown its sword, the armor attacked using its limbs alone. In one huge stride, it closed in on Yang and sent her flying with a vicious kick, causing a sickening 'crack' as it did so. Yang barely had enough time to register her cracked ribs before she slammed into one of the pillars in the room.

At this, the other suits approached, each wielding a weapon of their own as they marched towards the center of the room. The first one did not pause either; it slammed a fist down at Weiss, who managed to roll out of the way. As Weiss got to her feet and prepared to strike back, the Giant Armor slammed the back of its closed fist into her, sending her flying into the incoming horde of armors which had their weapons ready to hack her into countless pieces.

Blake threw Gambol Shroud, firing off a shot to give it extra speed. It managed to wrap itself around Weiss's arm, and with a tug on the ribbon she managed to pull the heiress away from the murderous monsters.

Ruby was already in motion, jumping into the air to avoid a punch and using her rifle to push herself higher. Hooking Crescent Rose's blade around the armor's head, she tore it off following another series of gunshots.

Yang got up, eyes red and hair flaring like a miniature sun, just in time to see the headless armor make a lunge for Blake, narrowly missing her face. Even removing its head did not work, and there were so many more of them.

"We have to retreat!" she yelled, tasting the blood in her mouth. Her chest felt like it was on fire, and she would have dearly loved to make a pun about it, but now was not the time.

"Pull back!" Ruby yelled, running back to the team and towards the exit.

Blake nodded, making for the door while supporting a weak Yang. Ruby dashed past Weiss, stopping for a while to look back at her.

"Weiss!" she rushed to her side, supporting her just as the white-haired Huntress was about to fall. "Are you alright? Can you run?"

"Sprained my ankle," Weiss muttered, her head bleeding. It was not serious, but the blood got in one eye and she was forced to close it. "Can't walk…"

"Hold on!" Ruby folded up her weapon, and carried Weiss in her arms as she leapt towards the entrance in a burst of speed. However, just as it happened in the past with Penny, Ruby was barely able to travel far when she suddenly veered off course, crashing onto the floor miserably. Weiss tumbled out of her arms, using Myrtenaster to support herself as she got to her feet, leaning against the wall beside the door.

"Go," she said, panting as Ruby picked herself up. "I'll hold them off."

"What?!" Yang exclaimed, coughing up some blood from the effort. She and Blake were just outside the door, waiting to slam it shut once Ruby and Weiss got out. Not that it would stop those monstrosities in the least though. "Don't be stupid, Weiss! We're going to escape together!"

"No time to argue," Weiss snapped, barely keeping her balance. "Before the reinforcements come, get out of here."

"Weiss-" Blake began, but Weiss shot her a sharp glare. "… I understand."

"Wha-" Yang exclaimed, but Blake knocked her out with a blow to the back of the neck.

"Sorry," she muttered, carrying her unconscious partner over her shoulder. As much as she wanted to save Weiss, she managed to comprehend her intentions from that look in her eyes; it was a strange chemistry that had developed between them after Weiss accepted her despite her Faunus nature. As the only other level-headed person in the team, Blake made the choice they both knew was the wise one.

"Get out, Ruby," Weiss commanded, using her trump card – 'The Schnee'. Once she used that tone, Ruby always-

"Not without you!" Ruby protested, tugging on her arm in an attempt to pull her along. The suits of armors raised their swords, ready to slice them as they closed in.

Just like their first time partnering up, Ruby refused to let Weiss have her way. Back then, it was against Beowolves, and now, it was against giant suits of armor. The dolt certainly had not changed.

"Shut up and go!" Weiss screamed, pushing her away and out the door. "Just this once, listen to me and don't get in my way!

"This time, let me show you I can handle myself," she begged, tears brimming from the corner of her eyes. "This time, let me protect you instead, Ruby."

Ruby froze for a split second, spellbound by the smile flooded with sadness on Weiss's face. When that one second finally crawled by, she turned and ran. And ran. And ran.

"Goodness, always such a dolt…" Weiss let out a shaky breath as she collapsed to her knees, unable to keep herself standing anymore; after she took that attack, she had been in no condition to even move, much less escape. "And you're still as soft as ever to those silver eyes, Weiss Schnee."

Bringing up her Aura, Weiss stood against the door, using her own body as a shield. The armors attacked, bringing their weapons down again and again on her small frame, each attack bouncing off without doing damage. However, it was only a matter of time before her Aura ran out.

She could not conjure any more glyphs; she was already at her limit, and Weiss had not managed to get even a minute's rest since they began their attack. The only way she could use her Semblance now was if the glyph was already drawn beforehand, such as with a pen or even if it was carved onto the floor with Myrtenaster. However, under the never-ending flurry of blows, the Ice Queen simply had no such time to spare.

Their mission was to take over the tower, but if that was not possible, they were to destroy the main communication center on the top floor. There was a way to do that, and Weiss could take out all these walking pieces of scrap metal at the same time with that method. She just needed the right opening.

Biding her time, Weiss held on for as long her Aura would allow, before diving forward. She managed to escape through the space in between the legs of one of the armors, maneuvering towards and stopping at the center of the metallic cluster.

Surrounded by the faceless grey knights on all sides, Weiss smiled. She could feel something warm – something different from blood – flowing steadily down her cheeks as her eyes burned. She was not afraid, but she could stop those blazing trails either.

Pointing Myrtenaster towards the ceiling, Weiss let the revolver part of her rapier spin, scattering Dust down onto her like a thin veil of glitter. Her face right then, if anyone saw it, would likely have made them think that it resembled a melting ice sculpture; her exquisite features, unblemished, were marred by the presence of trickling tears that fell from her chin like sparkling diamonds.

When she first saw ice melting as a child, Weiss had thought that it was crying. Experiencing warmth far beyond its cold self, it melts, weeping as it slowly fades to nothing, unable to prevent its inevitable demise. Weiss briefly wondered if it was the same for her – if that dolt's warmth was too much for her to handle. As she wept, embracing those pointless thoughts as Ruby's face swam in and out of her mind, she found herself wanting to know:

Were these tears of sorrow, or of joy?

Slowly, her back began to glow. To be precise, the symbol on her back had begun to shine. The symbol – the logo of the Schnee Dust Company – which had always been on the back of her dress now served as her final glyph. However, since she was this close, there was no question that Weiss would be caught in it as well.

"Goodbye, Ruby," she whispered, her smile faltering.

Her tears turned to ice, and the world was enveloped in a blinding flash of white.

Ruby Rose fell to her knees, her face stricken with horror as all the color drained out of it. She looked, but refused to see, the impossible reality that had been presented to her. She stared, but refused to bear witness to, the structure that was just several meters away from her.

From the highest floor, several huge ice crystals burst through the top of the tower, spreading out as they pointed towards the sky. No matter how hard she wanted to deny it, the spectacle before Ruby's eyes refused to change. No matter how hard she tried, she could not turn away from it either.

Atop the signal tower sat a single Flower of Ice, reaching for the endless skies above.

Okay, maybe that's not why I chose 'Ice Flower' over 'White Rose', but still… Gomen nasai.