Chapter Sixteen: Queen's Gambit.
It was not easy to stabilise the Bullhead. You couldn't just let it sit and have the autopiloting try and right itself because it does not account for a faulty wing. Furthermore, any pilot without skill would likely overcorrect and cause the entire thing to flip over. It was an art of balancing to find the exact point where the functional wing was able to cover for the faulty one, and even harder to know how to maintain that balance whilst actually making distance. What Roman was trying to say was he wasn't just a dashingly handsome and incredibly successful thief, but also an experienced pilot.
The manoeuvre he was trying to pull off was only possible because of the Bullhead's rotating wings and their ability to provide thrust in a circle. Normally, the two wings were interlocked so that they mirrored each other, but Roman had disabled that feature in order to make the functional wing provide more upwards thrust to keep the ship stable. It was a temporary fix, but, as a result of his quick-thinking, he had avoided a crash which would have otherwise been inevitable in the hands of his no-good lackies. Though he wasn't out of the fire yet, he was out of the firing range of most conceivable threats from the docks. That being said, he was less safe than he had thought.
Though he could not give it his full attention, he noticed a fight beginning to break out behind him due to the reflection in the windshield. He opted to simply ignore it, thinking that the ten or so White Fang members should be able to easily overpower a girl who had just been shoved in a metal box and fired at a multipurpose aircraft with enough force to break through the hull. But why would today be a day where logical things happened? In hindsight, he should have expected the little girl to be able to beat up a small group of organised terrorists, considering the fact that a different little girl just Kamehameha'd two different Bullheads down the centre only a few minutes ago.
As he began to finally make some headway, he glanced over his shoulder and watched as the little girl did some kind of crazy roundhouse jump kick which had knocked the Grimm mask clean off the poor faunus who had been unfortunate enough to get too close to her. They stumbled backwards with a grunt, before their comrades all charged in with reckless abandon. The little girl effortlessly parried, dodged and sidestepped each incoming crude swing, often causing the minions to get caught up in their own ranks, before exploiting their mistakes with deadly efficiency. Every poorly placed punch was met with a nimble evade and kick. Every overzealous swing of a weapon was countered with the girl taking a step back and letting their momentum carry them into the range of a different White Fang member. Whenever someone pointed a gun at her, she was quick to get too close to them to fire accurately and without hitting anyone else or damaging the vital components of the ship.
Needless to say, he was just as impressed with her as he was impressed at the stupidity of his cronies. Would it kill you to just communicate with each other just a little!? Honestly, they were no better than animals.
Roman took another deep sigh, before pinching his side. Alas, this wasn't just some stupid dream which he was trapped in. It sure did feel like it, though, considering everything which had transpired in the past ten minutes, and only about two of those minutes consisted of his goons being knocked out by this particular schoolgirl. They laid in uncomfortable positions, some piled atop one another, still breathing but suffering from multiple bruises, broken bones, and even gunshot wounds as a result of their peer's inadequacy.
That girl then began to approach him, dusting off her hands and examining her nails as if she had just thrown out the garbage. He just took a deep breath and addressed her directly for the first time, looking at her through the reflection of the glass.
"Listen, twintails, I've had a really bad day and I do not need this right now. Any chance I could convince you to just jump back into your box and pretend this never happened? Or, better yet, jump out that massive hole you made in the side of my escape route?"
Neo tapped her chin in thought as she continued to step towards Roman, as if she were actually considering it, then simply shook her head with a smug grin on her face.
"Look, I hate to burst your bubble, kid, but the second I take my hands off this wheel, this whole thing is going to-!" He was interrupted by Neo whacking him upside the head with her parasol and causing the whole Bullhead to suddenly flip around, causing anyone and anything which wasn't strapped down to be sent flying. Various members of the White Fang slid around, comedically, into each other and piled up into the walls, whilst Neo was able to avoid the brunt of the jostling with some fancy footwork which basically made her do a backflip as the Bullhead rolled over. Roman was still strapped in, so the only punishment he took was an umbrella to the temple, and his hat becoming just as tilted as he was.
In a fit of anger, he pulled out his cudgel and swung it at Neo, taking her by surprise. Even with her quick reflexes, he had managed to land a glancing blow against her shoulder, making her stumble backwards as the uneven floor continued to grow more turbulent as Roman's movements had caused the hand holding the steering controls to be jostled.
"You're either incredibly dense, or a complete psychopath, you know?!" He growled, flipping the controls onto autopilot as he unbuckled himself and stood to his full height. "Considering that you were used as ammunition, you're probably both!"
Slowly and gradually, the Bullhead began to tilt to one side, but neither combatant gave it much notice as they began their aerial duel. Immediately, Neo was put on the defensive as Roman twirled and spun that cane of his with incredible skill and prowess, with every swing threatening to take her off her feet from the force and brutality of the blow. His speed and strength gave little room for her to mount any kind of counterattack and every attack which she couldn't block, she was forced to step backwards from. With every passing moment, she was losing ground.
And yet, his movements seemed… so familiar. It was like Neo could feel each attack coming long before Roman even raised his weapon. It was only because of this premonition that she was able to keep up without taking hits. And then, it happened. The slow spinning of the Bullhead had caused the whole thing to flip upside down and then begin accelerating downwards whilst still spinning. In this moment of sudden weightlessness with various goons being thrown around like bags of luggage in an airport, Neo took advantage of Roman's lack of balance to turn the tables. By jumping off what was supposed to be the wall, she launched herself at him and began to swing her parasol at him with a flurry of bludgeoning strikes and thrusts, now putting Roman on the defensive.
It was infuriating to not be able to use her semblance without giving away her identity. This was one character which Neo really didn't want to give any information to. Firstly, because he was a criminal with a long list of violence and grudges to bear. Secondly, because he might have some connection with her past and, considering that she woke up in an alleyway, it might not have ended on good terms. Third, in a battle of equals, a fight is determined by intel. So, if she was to reveal her hidden talent, she would need to do so at a pivotal moment which would ensure her success. If Roman really did know who she was, she would have to hide her identity for as long as possible.
Damn, this brat was tough. Sure, he'd been expecting trouble as soon as she showed how uncaring she was about the situation. But this was different. If he were fighting Little Red right now, she'd have probably tried to find a workaround when he mentioned that crashing into the harbour – or the nearby civilian sectors in the area – was an option, instead of simply walking up behind him and whacking him across the head. Kids usually have an overly… optimistic sense of justice, since they don't have a firm enough grasp on reality to know any better. He had learned that from experience, and the lesson continues to be drilled into him even now.
Speaking of experience, this little girl seemed to have heaps of it. Instead of panicking, getting reckless, or making some kind of Hail Mary, she waited, watched, and then exploited a moment of weakness to turn the tables. For one so young, she clearly had a lot of potential. Unfortunately, he was on the receiving end of said potential, and would probably have to try something different before this Bullhead crashes with him on it. It was not the blaze of glory which he intended to go out with, of course.
And so, in an attempt to make some distance, he fired a shot at her at point-blank. As expected, she dodged to one side. Roman then instantly swivelled around his cane and caught the projectile with the curved end of his weapon, making the explosion arc outwards like a shockwave, causing a lot of damage to the nearby control panels of the ship. To his horror, the girl had somehow anticipated even this and blocked the shockwave by opening her parasol at the last second. This wasn't just incredible reflexes anymore. Nobody could have anticipated such a sudden change of plans from what should have been a perfectly reasonable course of action. Maybe this was some kind of semblance or something.
At least his little manoeuvre had managed to buy him some time, at the cost of…well…the lifejackets, emergency flares and respirators. Damn, on second thought, maybe that idea wasn't the smartest.
The Bullhead had now flipped fully but was getting dangerously close to the harbour again. It seemed like the autopiloting had gotten confused and had gone around in a big loop, likely because it hadn't accounted for the lack of thrust on one side. But one thing was for certain, it was going down. Gradually for now, but once it flips over again, it was definitely going to crash into the nearby warehouses. Time was running short, unless either one of them did something.
The two were locked in an intense battle, with cane pressed harshly against parasol. The melody versus the silence. It was like one of those cliché movie standoffs where hero and villain were equally matched in a tragic sword clash. Except Neo was not one of those heroes, so she knew better than to stand there, trying to push harder than her enemy. Instead, she suddenly rotated Hush around and hooked the handle of her parasol around the Melodic Cudgel, ducked down and pulled, causing Roman's momentum to be turned against him and he tripped over Neo's crouched form, landing flat on his back with his weapon pulled from his grasp by the sudden whiplash of motion. His aura flickered before fading. Looked like, like her, he had sustained some damage prior to the fight.
"You idiot! Now we're both doomed to a watery grave!" He exclaimed, before Neo shut him up by whacking him across the head again with his own weapon. With her adversary out cold for the count, Neo could now focus on the problem at hand. Namely, the whole 'crashing into the harbour' situation.
Fortunately, she had no witnesses, so she could, for the first time in ages, use her semblance at full power. Several versions of herself stepped out of her shadow, whilst the real her raced into the pilot's seat. Fortunately, Neo was actually pretty well versed in piloting, herself. She pulled upwards to the best of her ability, but the crash seemed inevitable at this speed and altitude. All she could do was steer it towards the canal, as to minimize damages. The other Neos began to tie down anything loose or throw out dead weight. Some bundled all the unconscious survivors into the few surviving dinghies, whilst others began restraining said survivors.
All in all, she'd summoned a team of about twenty Neos to prepare for a water landing. And she was glad that she had so much hired help, since she had greatly overestimated how much time she had. She brought the ship in slowly and lowered down to the surface of the water, listening as the wings scratch the surface of the tides, then the underbelly… and, lastly, water flooding over the windshield. Water began to pour in through the hole in the side of the vessel, as Neo opened the rear door, turned off the engines, and then raced to jump onto the life raft which she had saved for herself, and let her illusionary duplicates push the boats out to sea before fizzling away before anyone could see them.
The waves from the water landing crashed against the docks as the Bullhead sunk deeper and deeper into the sea until it could no longer be seen. However, despite the harshness of the current, the vessels stayed afloat. It was very likely that emergency responders were already on the way, considering the fight against the White Fang from earlier, and the likely reports about a rogue Bullhead flying dangerously overhead.
Once the waves settled, she turned her attention to her scroll, which had been buzzing almost nonstop since she crashed into that aircraft.
'Contact name: Little Red.
Message: WERE YOU IN THAT LOCKER!? ARE YOU OKAY!?'
'Contact name: Little Red.
Message: I DIDN'T KNOW YOU WERE PLANNING TO DO THAT! I WOULD'VE GIVEN BETTER COORDINATES, OTHERWISE! I'M SORRY!'
'Contact name: Little Red.
Message: DID YOU BEAT HIM!? Sorry, I'm probably distracting you. Msg me when you can, btw.'
Neo just chuckled as she read through all of the panicked messages with a content sigh. At least someone cared for her wellbeing, unlike her teammates who hadn't even asked where she was going. Well, she had ought to leave her a message, since she was concerned.
'To: Little Red.
Message: Piece of cake. Will tell you about it when I get off this raft.
Message sent.'
It wasn't long before the local law enforcement arrived and began taking statements, closing off the scene and, of course, recovering Neo and the other few life rafts. Naturally, it was difficult for Neo to give her statements, but she was able to manage by typing out her responses to their questions. Neo had stretched the truth a little to be more believable, in a strange twist of irony. It was difficult to explain that she had decided that the only way to take down a hardened group of criminals was to weaponize a school locker and said locker happened to take out their leader which allowed the Huntress-in-training to restrain the remaining members of the gang with the help of a little violence.
She then watched as the law enforcement began to gather up the detained members of the White Fang and begin hauling them off in various police vehicles of different shapes and sizes. Seems like they were desperate enough to bring whatever was on standby to try and control the situation. Various fire suppression groups had banded together to contain the numerous vehicle and dust fires which had blossomed amidst the combat. It was fortunate that none of the surrounding buildings were destroyed, aside from the original warehouses which the crime syndicate were based in.
As Neo looked around to get an idea as to the devastation which had been caused (fortunately, most of it was not done by her,) she felt a sudden force come upon her from behind! She whipped her head around to find that she was being grappled around the shoulders by a pair of small, slightly smoky black sleeves. Said sleeves belonged to a certain Ruby Rose.
"Neo! I'm so glad to see you're here!" She beamed, before releasing her grip on Neo and letting her turn around to face her. The pink and white girl's eyes couldn't help but roll, though the slight smirk on her face implied that she wasn't as moody as one would expect. "If it hadn't been for your locker smashing into Roman's getaway vehicle, he'd have gotten away! But…that must've hurt, right?"
Neo simply shook her head, arms folded with a smug look on her face, as if to say that it hadn't hurt at all, even though she was still shaking off the headache which had been pulsing in her head since impact.
"You even managed to beat Roman and his followers, too! I'm so jealous. You'll make a really good huntress!" Ruby smiled, continuing to be the lovably naïve and innocent little war maiden she was. In the meantime, Neo wasn't entirely sure what to do with that comment. Her, a huntress? Sure, it's what she signed herself up for, but she was pretty sure that one's ability to be a huntress isn't entirely derived from skill or strength but, rather, intention. She could be the most powerful person in Remnant but not be bothered to lift a finger to save the innocent. Or she could be the weakest person in the world who works day and night to protect the masses. Which would be more useful? Definitely not the former. So, hearing that she'd make a good huntress someday just made Neo's heart brim with doubt, because she was only looking to benefit from the perks of the job, as opposed to the job, itself. Does that make her selfish? Probably. Does she care? Not especially. And, as she followed along that thought process, it only furthered to prove her point. She was no guardian of the people; she was a self-centred small lady who solely enjoyed a scant, splendid spat sometimes. And yet, she just decided to accept the compliment with a warm smile and tip of the hat.
In the meantime, Roman shook himself awake, only to find his wrists cuffed uncomfortably tightly behind his back and himself sitting in the back of a police van. Of course, he only really noticed it when he tried to reach up to rub his aching temples. In truth, he wasn't really expecting to be alive right now. By all accounts, he should have plummeted into the warehouses of the harbour or have drowned in the port. There was no way that the girl he was fighting could have piloted the Bullhead effectively enough to avoid an early grave, let alone also set up the emergency dinghies and pile everyone in before crash-landing in the water.
His eyes scanned the scene as he grumbled to himself with displeasure. As expected, he saw Little Red, strange floating sword girl, monkey boy, ex-fang girl and… wait a minute… what was she doing here?!
"…Neo?" He muttered in disbelief, as the door slammed shut, leaving him in the dark.