Chapter 37: Bringing The Hype

Monday 0845.
Four months and four weeks after F.B.

Coco barely got Gianduja up to block the incoming strike. A furious elephant faunus, having raised something that looked like a sturdy metal pipe over his head, descended towards her rapidly. Metal clashed as the pipe hit the barrels of Coco's gun with force, sending them and the bullhead tumbling down. The impact drove the airship down and into the ground beside the water with power. Coco heard Brush's pained grunt over the communications channel but was too busy falling off the airship's side face-first and hitting the deck hard. Seeing stars, quickly replaced by the spiderwebs of her broken diving mask, Coco ripped the offending device from her face. Get up. Check surroundings. Check Gear. Locate Enemy. Attack.

Coco pushed to her feet and tried to follow her mental checklist. She was not wearing her combat glasses because of the diving mask, but it did not take a genius to figure she was running low on aura. Thankfully, she still had her knife and gun in her hands because a second later, the elephant faunus barreled through the engine smoke of their downed bullhead. Coco raised Gianduja and pulled the trigger. Unfortunately, the bullets never made it out of the minigun. Instead, the metal pipe came down and wedged itself between the rotating barrels, bending them and itself into a tangled mess of steel. Coco let go of her ruined gun and jumped backward, dodging a strike aimed at her head. She quickly adopted a close combat stance, raising her right fist and switching the grip on her knife in her left. With the blade pointing downward, ready to block, she waited for her enemy's next move.

That came as a boasting laugh as the faunus raised himself to its full size, towering over the Colonel. Even with the dense smoke engulfing them, Coco could see that her opponent was battered and wounded. He was bleeding from several cuts and a few bullet wounds, his aura struggling to close them. Even more noticeable were the boils and burns on his arms and chest, indeed acid burns, courtesy of her turning his arm weapons into atlas cheese. She also noted the absence of said weapons. He clearly discarded them before he went for his jump. Still, with Brush crashed and Hacks on the other side of the smoke screen, an unarmed mountain of muscles could prove troublesome.

"Is that a twig? Then, I'll crush you like a bug!"

"Quite the proficient talker, are we?" Coco did not get much further with her taunting as the faunus was on her instantly. Quick bastard.

Blocking a 1, 2 combo with her arms, she ducked under a follow-up head butt, coming up at the faunus' hip to deliver a slash with her knife. The cut was clean, but her enemy's aura held. She frowned and sidestepped an attempt to get tackled with a massive shoulder. Then, seizing the opening again, she tried a kick to the side of the grunt's left knee. Unfortunately, that hit had equally little effect, and she was almost sure it resulted in more damage to her than him. This is bad. I need an opening to finish this fast. And something with a much bigger punch.

Before she could figure something out, though, she was under pressure again. The faunus tried the same punch combo again, and Coco was not dumb enough to dodge in the same way as before. That predictability certainly would have cost her. Unfortunately, her enemy was either a genius or a complete idiot, as the faunus went for the exact same headbutt again. Only this time, because Coco thought she was being lured in and elected to take a step back, she got nailed right in her own head. Her vision went black, and she felt herself grabbed by the throat. A punch to the gut followed, sending her flying, failing to keep her grip on the knife. Skillfully and out of pure instinct, she rolled through the landing, drawing her sidearm, and rested on one knee. Her vision still narrowed with black; she aimed with both hands on the gun.

Her opponent laughed again. "Pathetic. I look forward to seeing that puny gun's effect."

"Me too. Pretty hyped about it, actually." Coco smirked as she activated her semblance. She called upon every last drop of her remaining aura and channeled it into her sidearm. As she pulled the trigger, she could feel her aura condense into the bullet, amplifying its destructive power mid-flight. Consequently, Coco's aura broke just before the bullet hit the elephant faunus right above his smirk. The impact blew his head clean off, blood cascading out of the remains of his neck, as his aura uselessly fizzled out and the rest of the body tumbled to the ground.

Still crouched, Coco took a deep breath and lowered her weapon.

"Hyped about it? Really?" Out of the fog, Hacks came into view. The sniper supported Brush, who was bleeding from the head but managed a weak smile and a thumbs up. "You did not just make a pun about the name of your semblance. CC would be proud."

Monday 0950.
Four months and four weeks after F.B.

Yang sighed as she walked down the hospital corridors, dressed in casual wear for the first time in days. On the one hand, she was glad to be out of her hospital room. Not because of bad company, even though Velvet was so absorbed in her tinkering project the last two days that the faunus hardly qualified as company anymore. No, it was instead simply just because she could. She had recovered quite well, and it felt good to stretch her legs.
On the other hand - metaphorically speaking - she was a bit conflicted about her choice of destination. Her father had always told her that forgiveness and kindness go a long way. Still, paying a recovery visit to someone who had fought against you before felt strange.

Yang rounded the last corner and was surprised to find Doc standing beside an observational window in the corridor. The gray-haired doctor of the battalion looked like he held a silent vigil, only occasionally readjusting his glasses.

"What's up, Doc?" Yang smiled as she approached. Doc barely moved his head before answering in his usual robotic way.

"Carotene intake not of primary interest."

Yang raised an eyebrow at that. "I don't get it."

"Confusion expected." Doc turned around and offered a barely visible smirk. "Greetings, CC. Posture relaxed. Movement fluid. Speed of recovery very welcomed."

"Thanks. I think I got these aura boosters of yours to thank for that. How many of those did you pile into me?"

"Quantity not a concern. Scar tissue a concern."

With that, Doc took a step forward and firmly, but surprisingly gently, took hold of Yang's left arm. He rolled her sleeve up before she even thought of protesting and started to slowly move his fingers over the scar patterns. Frankly, Yang did not mind the scars on her arm. Back in the club, the flames of the White Fang captain had superheated her accessories, resulting in the precious metal melting and burning into her skin. The doctors had removed any leftover metal in the arm, but it left faint scars. However, since her booster-kickstarted aura managed to prevent the scar tissue from becoming too dense and the nerve ends from becoming too dead, all that it left her with was the faintly miss-colored and slightly dented skin pattern of the chains. Honestly, it wouldn't look half bad if I got the pattern inked. Not much of a tattoo enthusiast, but I could make it work.

"This scar tissue not a concern." Seemingly satisfied, Doc let go of the arm and looked into Yang's eyes. He seemed to be waiting for something.

"I am not stripping in a hallway to show you my back scars, Doc." Those, Yang actually did mind. Her back got burned way worse than her arm, and it showed. While she was told that the doctors had performed reconstructive work on her skin tissue, she was also informed that the damage was too severe. Besides the hospital doctors, nobody had seen the damage, not even Velvet. And for that, Yang was grateful. She was not precisely embarrassed about the look, even though the patchy, leathery, in some places, almost charred white skin seriously stained the look of her once pristine complexion. It was more of a weariness, her back being a canvas for what almost happened … again. In that matter, it did not really help that the doctors managed to save virtually every nerve in her back, so she could feel herself shudder at the memory, figuratively speaking.

"Disappointment immeasurable." Doc turned away from Yang and returned to his position at the window. Yang followed and took a look inside. Neopolitan was sitting on the hospital bed, turned away from them, and tilted slightly towards the bedside table. The pink and brown-haired girl was haphazardly poking at some hospital food, looking painfully bored. More importantly, both of her legs were cast up to her thighs. The white plaster was obviously new, but the top half, suspiciously everything in range of Neo's hands, was covered in drawings and scribbles.

"Patient awake for 4 point 3 hours. Idle time, less than 10 minutes."

Yang chuckled at that. "Did you count the minutes, Doc?" When no answer came from the man, Yang gave him a questioning look. "You did count. Were you here the entire time?"

Still no answer from the older soldier. Yang was about to prob for an answer when he hesitantly answered.

"Personal presence seemed … appropriate."

"Why? She isn't even part of the squad."

"Successful recovery seemed … important."

Yang was still a bit confused. "That's odd. Important to who? Shades? I figured she already got what she wanted."

"Meaning of importance directed at you."

"Me?" Yang was taken aback by that. "Why would you think it would be important to me?"

Doc just shrugged at that. "Reasoning felt sound."

Yang bumped her right shoulder and stump against Doc. "Aw. And here I thought you could not feel anything."

Doc just huffed. "Registering feelings of regret and annoyance."

Yang let out a short laugh. "Thanks, Doc. I appreciate you keeping an eye on her. So the operation went well then?"

"Procedure successful. Inflicted damage counteracted. Recovery time intensive."

"Yeah … I figured that." With that, Yang nodded at Doc and moved to the door. She opened it slightly, tapping her left-hand knuckles against the wood to ask permission to enter. Neo's head whipped around immediately, and upon seeing Yang, she reached for a white drawing board and a pink pen. A second later, two miss-matched eyes were staring at Yang intently with the now inscribed whiteboard pointing in her direction and reading: "Rescue me!"

Yang could not stop herself from laughing, her anxiousness about the visit seemingly gone in an instant, diffused by the realization that said whiteboard was probably a toy from a children's ward.

"Don't be so dramatic. You are awake for barely a few hours. You can't be that bored already."

Neo pouted and aggressively erased her board with a sponge-looking pad. "Wanna bet?"

Yang chuckled and rounded the bed. She picked up another pen from the bedside table, a lovely yellow, and lightly tapped Neo's cast. "How are the legs?"

Neo just shrugged. "Bit stiff."

Yang rolled her eyes. "You know, I think that's the point of the cast." Then, when Neo crossed her arms to pout again, Yang popped the pen cap open and almost casually signed her name on the cast above Neo's left ankle. Neo threw her a questioning look.

"What? It's the first part I actually managed to touch when we fought."

Neo narrowed her eyes and started a slow clap.

Yang just huffed. "Be careful. Otherwise, I'll go and sign the second part too." She capped the pen and threw it at Neo, hitting the exposed skin above the cast, high on the upper left thigh, making the petite woman jump slightly.

"Rescue you. Strange thing to ask a former enemy, don't you think?"

Neo had wound up her arm to throw the offending pen back at Yang, but now she hesitated. Then, tilting her head to the side, a crooked frown on her face, she tapped the yellow pen against her forehead. After a few seconds, she simply shook her head.

"No? You think it's normal?"

Neo popped the pen open and put her board to use. "Fight's over. We both lost."

We both lost. Yang's eyes stuck to the words. The meaning was not lost on her, but the realization lagged. She's not wrong. Well, if what she said about Torchwick was true. Not like I can prove that or anything. Felt genuine, though. But even if it isn't … it's apparent that we physically lost. Injured, beaten … broken. Equal. And here we are. Me in another war, she out of it altogether. Fight's over … huh."

"So it's that simple, then? Beacon Academy versus the criminals. Professor Ozpin versus Roman Torchwick. All gone, all over. Me versus you. That's what's left. So we just … end it? Water under the bridge? Just like that?"

Neo shrugged. "Wanna keep going?"

Yang hesitated. She was not thinking about the question. Not really, anyway. Old Yang would hold a grudge; she knew that. But old Yang is gone, isn't she? So she just went with her gut.

"One condition." Neo raised an eyebrow at that. "Once you've recovered … It's rematch time!"

A familiar, dangerous smirk formed on Neo's face, and she offered Yang her hand. The left one. Yang chuckled at the thoughtfulness and shook the offered hand.

"Deal. Bygones." After releasing Neo's hand, Yang tapped her chin in thought. "Now, for a rescue plan … Doc?"

It took a moment for a pair of rimmed glasses to appear in the doorway.

"Please tell me there is a silly-looking wheelchair around where you can sit with both legs lifted up."

"Implication of moving patient. Inadvisable."

"Why? The casts should prevent anything major."

"Aura suppressed. Risk of pain."

Yang just shrugged. "Sounds like a Neo problem to me."

The yellow pen immediately hit Yang in the left eye. "Ow, fine. Bit of a me problem as well. So what do you say, shortcake? Wanna go for a ride?"

"Giddy up!"

A few minutes and a bit of a struggle later, Yang was pushing Neo around in a hospital wheelchair. The chair did indeed look funny. With both leg rests up to accommodate the casts, it almost seemed like Neo was sitting on a plank. However, that didn't stop the vertically-challenged criminal from developing progressively more obscure, whiteboard-written references to various expressions of move commands. Yang's favorites so far were 'Make it so.' and 'Timber!' the latter resulting in instant regret on Neo's part once Yang started to tilt the wheelchair to the side to oblige. Despite the unnecessarily eventful travel, both of them finally settled under a tree in the park area of the hospital, right beside the gymnasium and in view of the hospital ward rooms.

Neo had a forlorn look on her face as they watched other patients undergoing physical rehab in the gym. Yang noticed the absence of snide whiteboard comments and rested her hand on Neo's shoulder.

"Don't worry about it. It might take a while, but I'm sure you'll be just as annoyingly agile as before in no time."

The snide whiteboard comments were about to make a return as a loud voice penetrated the park's peacefulness. "Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaang!"

Neo and Yang turned their heads, unsure where that yell came from, until Neo pointed at an excitingly waving hare faunus in an open window of the hospital ward.

Yang closed her eyes and pinched her nose. "I can't believe her. People are recovering here, and she's yelling like her life depends on it."

Yang felt a slight pull on the underside of her stump, and she opened her eyes just in time to see Velvet land in a crouch on the ground outside their hospital room. Their hospital room on the third floor. As the faunus ran towards them, Neo dryly held her board up, displaying a 7.5.

"There you are! I hadn't noticed you leave!" Velvet was halfway across the park by now, so she was not exactly yelling anymore. Though the excitement in her voice was palpable. "I finished it! Well, it was basically finished earlier, but now it's completely finished! I'm so excited for you to try it!"

Velvet skidded to a halt in front of them, beaming from human ear to human ear, the faunus counterparts twitching excitingly.

"Calm down, Velv. You still haven't told me what you were even crafting."

"This, duh!"

Velvet held up her hands, each containing two very different objects. The object in her right hand was significantly more extensive. It was somewhat cylindrical, with the bottom part thicker and curled like an armband, half a dozen small knobs pointing down into Velvet's palms. The top part mostly consisted of dust vials, the light blue color implying light dust, banded together on the top and the middle by more rings with another half a dozen knobs each. A significantly smaller device, essentially a thicker armband, was in her right hand. This one without knobs but including a consistent opening along the middle of its top side. The bottom side of the armband seemingly also contained light dust if the slight shimmer in the gap was any indicator.

Neo and Yang shared a look, with the former only giving a confused shrug.

"Yeah … need a bit more of an explanation than that, Velv."

"No problem! Come on!" Velvet nodded and moved past them instantly, heading towards the gym. "Come ooooon, Yang! Don't be such a sloth!"

Yang rolled her eyes. "Now hold on, Velvet. I got to drive our patient here."

Velvet dismissed that with a wave. "She'll be fiiiiine. She can push the wheels on her own."

Neo crossed her arms with a huff, and Yang chuckled. "But this way, I'm pushing her around. Put the shoe on the other foot for a change."

Neo instantly shooed Yang away to push the wheels herself. Yang playfully engaged the brake on the handle and followed Velvet to see what all the fuss was about.