Chapter 32: To Atlas
It wasn't always that Neo went undercover. In fact, this sort of thing happened sporadically, even while Torchwick was still alive. She was more of an enforcer for him, making sure the people paid their dues when they were up. The life of a henchwoman was a hard one, but it paid the bills. She had gone through rigorous training just to make sure she wasn't caught between a gun and a brick wall. Even if she was, she always managed to pull one over on whoever it was she was trying to take out. She had a good track record, and she was proud of it. At least, until she had met Levi and had decided to change her ways.
But that didn't mean the skills she earned during a very long career as a criminal didn't pay off. For instance, she had been following Cinder around for most of the night. It seemed the woman hardly slept, always being wary of her surroundings. Had Neo been who she was a year prior, she would have been spotted easily. But now that she could essentially hide her trace from anyone, she had it made. Blending into the shadows had been as natural to her as a faunus seeing at night.
She had eventually passed out from exhaustion at around two in the morning, but that was when Neo's work truly began. Staying up, making sure her target didn't leave, scan her surroundings to ensure they were alone. Riveting stuff. But it kept her sane, and out of her own thoughts. After all, she loved her inner voice but even she got sick of that ghastly Atlas accent.
At around eight, Cinder had woken up, startled by what sounded like sirens. They were in a shadier part of Argus that likely had a higher crime rate. Seeing she was still wanted for the destruction of Beacon and the attempted destruction of Haven, she decided it was time to move, and so did Neo. What followed was a boring walk through town, with Neo assuming the role of various women to ensure Cinder didn't catch on. She had watched the woman steal some food, convince some kids to give her money, and even threatened a man who got a bit fresh with her. Granted, she'd react the same at the last one, but to hold him at knifepoint in broad daylight? Either she was dumb or she just didn't.
Finally, at around nine, she stepped into a bar. It wasn't very big, and it didn't really stand out. She did notice there was an etching of a spider on the outside, meaning it was connected to Lil' Miss Malachite's organization. She watched Cinder sit down at the back of the bar, and since Neo couldn't really afford to blow her cover now, she decided it would be for the best to figure out how to sneak in through the back. She waited for one of the girls, a server, to leave and assumed her identity, entering through the back door. A few people greeted her, but all she did was nod and smile, at least until she was in the main room, where she blended into the walls, effectively disappearing. Now, she waited.
The wait wasn't long. A familiar-looking man walked in, wearing a trenchcoat over his recognizable black and red-themed outfit. He was wearing a large brim hat, which did its job hiding his horns, but his White Fang mask was ever-present. He sat down across from Cinder, tipping his hat back a bit. Neo leaned forward slightly, making sure not to break the illusion of the wall she was trying to achieve. The server came over to them, placing some drinks on the table.
"May I ask what the fuck you were thinking last night?" Cinder began, taking a sip from her drink, keeping her gaze firm. "When I told you to stir up some trouble, I didn't mean to chase your ex-girlfriend through Argus on a goddamned tow truck."
"She is not my ex-girlfriend. She is my former apprentice, who must pay the price for betrayal. She is guilty of high-treason in the White Fang and must be dealt with accordingly."
"You're a moron," the woman said, earning a growl from the faunus. "Look, I get it, you wanna kill the Belladonna girl because you feel like she wronged you. That's all well and good, but when you risk the overall plan for a chase around Argus, that's when there's a problem. Remember, the Schnees are the true target. Killing Belladonna isn't going to throw Atlas into a tizzy, is it?"
"The Schnees?" Neo thought to herself. "They're aiming to kill Weiss's family? I'll make sure to jot that down in my notes,"
"I understand that, but I have business that I have to attend to. By attacking Blake, it draws out her friends, including Weiss Schnee. It's killing two birds with one stone." Adam said, downing a bit of his drink. "I have something else to share with you, that is of semi-importance."
"Oh? Do tell."
"That boy, the miqo'te faunus you were searching for, were you aware that he has silver eyes?" the faunus asked, causing Cinder to spit what she was drinking at the nearby wall, right into Neo's face. She blinked a few times, and while she wanted to draw Hush, she decided not to. "I take it you didn't know."
"I wasn't aware, I had seen his eyes before. One was blue and the other was amber, but I was aware of his mother having Silver Eyes. This changes things. It's likely my master will want to reclaim him. Especially since he's a miqo'te." Cinder said, rubbing her chin in thought. "He can wait, remember, the Schnees take priority."
"Of course, but that doesn't mean I'll go easy on him. After all, he stopped me from getting to Belladonna. So he has to pay for interfering. Afterward, you may do with him as you wish. Kill him, take him to Salem, whatever,"
"So Adam knows about Salem, eh? Of course. He's been working with Cinder for quite a long time. He wouldn't have been able to attack Sienna without knowing he had someone to go to," Neo thought to herself.
"Hmm… there's still the matter of getting to Atlas. I have managed to procure a Mistralian Military ship, however, it likely won't get through Ironwood's brigade. So I have a bit of a mission for you. I require you to get an Atlas Manta for me. You will be rewarded handsomely, of course," Cinder said, throwing a bag of lien at him.
"What makes you think I desire money?"
"You'll need some new clothes to blend in, you fool. Do you honestly expect to get into Atlas wearing what you are wearing now? You seriously need to drop the White Fang look, especially the mask,"
"I can't do that." Adam hissed, glaring at the woman through the thin slits of his mask. Cinder quirked a brow, taking a sip of her drink.
"Right. Well, if you want to pass for a normal citizen in Atlas, you'll have to work for it," she said, pulling her scroll from her pocket, flicking it open. It showed a map of Atlas and Mantle, along with a blinking dot directly beneath the floating supercity. "This section here is known as "The Crater", it's the spot where Atlas used to sit before it was raised into the sky. That's where most of the poor citizens of Mantle live. That's where you will go."
"You wish for me to go to an area where my brothers and sisters are forced to live? In minimal conditions with little food or water? In one of the most racist nations of Remnant? Tell me why I shouldn't cut your head off where you sit?"
Cinder smirked, activating her maiden powers, her eye glowing a bright flaming orange. "Because if you even attempt it, I'll turn you into a pile of smoldering ash. Then your revenge won't occur and you will never amount to anything. You've lost it all, Adam. This is your one chance, your last opportunity to redeem yourself."
The faunus remained silent, as he rose to his feet, grabbing the bag of lien that had been thrown at him. He shoved it in his pocket, glaring down at Cinder. "Fine, I'll procure your ship. You just make sure to meet me in a place where we won't be found. The last thing we need is the Atlas Military to notice us."
"As if they haven't already, I wasn't the one who chased someone in a tow truck, after all," she said, leaning back in her seat. "Be thankful no one knew it was you. Now, off you go. I expect results, Adam. Focus on your true goal, let Belladonna go."
He said nothing as he swiveled on his heel, slowly but surely heading out of the establishment. Neo looked around for a moment, waiting for Cinder to do something. She instead started typing something on her scroll. Seconds later, Neo's own vibrated in her hand, making her look down.
"Where are you? I need to talk." -Cinder
She mentally hissed, deciding it was time for her to make her escape. Thankfully no one noticed a chunk of the brick wall slowly wiggling toward the kitchen. She dropped her disguise, transforming into the server from before. She raced out of the establishment through the backdoor, returning to her normal self. She looked down at her scroll, smirking a bit as she typed her reply.
"I arrived in Argus not long ago. Am I to assume you wish to speak?"
"Oh? You're already here. This works in our favor, meet me near the edge of town, not far from the northern wall. I have much to discuss with you." she replied. Neo felt herself grinning.
"Levi is going to be so proud of me! I hope he gives me ice cream and headpats, I certainly deserve it." she thought, shaking her head a bit. "Erm… I should focus on the mission. He isn't Roman after all."
Regaining her composure, Neo started walking toward the outer edge of the city, keen on meeting with Cinder. There was much she needed to discuss, and a lot more to catalog for her friends. After all, they needed to plan the woman's downfall and the recovery of the Fall Maiden's powers.
xxx
"Are you sure about this?" Oscar asked, moaning a bit in displeasure from inside the dressing rooms. Levi was leaning back against the wall, the Relic of Knowledge clipped to his belt.
"Kid, I had a woman pick my outfit for me before I left Vale, and look how coordinated I look. Just let Alto and Weiss pick things for you. I'll be the judge." he said, focusing on the puzzle he was playing on his scroll. He was very happy Blake had convinced him to sing. His new iScroll had so much room he could download all of his old games he had to delete. "After all, if two girls who live and breathe fashion can't find you a good outfit, then all of us are pretty screwed, wouldn't you say?"
"I'm so happy you have that level of confidence in them, Levi. Because I certainly don't." the fifteen-year-old said, his voice a bit strained as he put his shirt on. "Is it supposed to be this tight?"
"It's a muscle shirt, Ozzy! It's supposed to hug your body so you can see how much progress you are making with your training!" Alto said cheerfully, as she looked through a nearby rack. "Now, we have to get you some thermals too. It's gonna be cold as hell in Atlas so we need to make sure,"
"It isn't that cold in Atlas, most of the city has dust-powered heating systems that are powered by the Schnee Dust Company. It was something my grandfather installed in both Atlas and Mantle, to ensure the people could survive the blistering cold temperatures of Solitas." Weiss said, picking a thick jacket from a nearby rack.
"Interesting," the miqo'te mumbled, glancing up from his now finished puzzle. He saw Weiss and Alto shoving more clothes over the top of the dressing room, likely drowning Oscar in more options. "Eh… girls, don't you think that's a bit excessive?"
"Of course not! We need to make sure he has options!"
"Believe me, Alto, I have plenty of options. But I won't be able to try them on if I keep being drowned by them!" he exclaimed, voice even more muffled than before. Weiss rubbed her arm in embarrassment.
"Perhaps we should call it quits for now, and wait for him to try things on, see what he likes."
Alto nodded, looking around for a few moments. She noticed a few young men looking at her, pointing at her ears, and then laughing. She sighed but decided not to let their judgemental stares bother her too much. She was all set on clothes, so she really didn't need anything. "Do you think Atlas Academy will help us reforge our weapons?"
"It's likely they will. Especially if we're going to be joining them," Levi said, his hand falling down to Overture. "Though I doubt I'll do anything to change Overture. I designed it specifically for my semblance, so it doesn't need any work. My gloves on the other hand…"
"Are obsolete and useless," Weiss chirped, giving the man a glare. "I told you, all you need to do is channel your aura through your weapon to form your glyphs. You've been practicing everything I've shared with you, correct?"
"Yes."
"Then you shouldn't need them," she said, wagging her finger. "Overture's cylinder isn't there for show. As long as you keep refilling the canisters, you'll be fine. Besides, don't you think placing dust inside your gloves is a waste?"
"I don't think so," he said, glancing at his gloves. "You see, I was thinking of something different for my gloves. Rather than using them to make glyphs with my semblance. I was thinking of making them strictly hold Hard-Light Dust."
"For what, exactly?" the wolf faunus asked curiously. Levi held his hand up, forming a medium-sized white glyph above his hand, channeling aura through it, making it gleam almost as if it was made of glass.
"These white glyphs are ones that I always used as shields. By adding a bit more aura and a bit more hard-light dust to them, they become as strong as stone. Thing is, they're still fragile like glass. So if I add too much weight to them, they shatter. I was thinking of making my gloves have nothing but Hard-Light Dust. That way I can make glyph shields. Not only that, but I can improve the 'Air Step' technique Weiss taught me this way too. After all, I have to apply dust to mine, and hers are naturally imbued with special effects."
"Hmm… I suppose they do still have a good use. But we need to make you brand new ones. The ones you have now are old and worn. The last thing we need is for the dust system to fail on you. I hear hard light dust cuts hurt more than actual swords," Weiss said, making him wince.
"Um… guys?"
The trio turned back to Oscar, the girls gasping a bit, while Levi couldn't help but smile. The young man looked so much different than he once had. He was now wearing a button-down white shirt, with a tan-colored button near the front, holding it closed. He was wearing bandages around his neck, acting almost like a scarf, underneath he was wearing an orange thermal shirt, which peeked beneath his white one. He wore a pair of thick-durable trousers, accompanied by red combat boots, which had bright orange toes. He wore a pair of matching orange u-shape gloves on his hands, with an X pattern on the back. Finally, he wore an olive green coat, with red shoulder pads and matching red belts. Around his waist, he was wearing a belt that contained two pouches, attached to his left hip.
"Now this, this how a huntsman should dress," Levi said, grinning. He reached behind his back, pulling out his old scroll. He looked it over for a moment, making sure everything had been set before handing it to him. "It's my old one, we're likely gonna upgrade you when we get to Atlas, but for now it'll suffice. It doesn't have a license on it or anything, but it will eventually."
"Wow I… thanks, Levi," he said, gratefully accepting the device. He looked at Weiss and Alto, giving them similar smiles. "Thank you, Weiss, Alto. Despite everything that's happened, I almost expected you to hate me, but you've helped me so much."
"We could never hate you, Ozzy. You were just dealt a bad hand, but that doesn't mean we can't make a Royal Flush out of it." Alto said cheerfully. She almost bounced in place as she darted toward him, wrapping her arm around his waist. "Enough waiting, time for contact selfies!"
The boy cringed a bit at the barrage of shutter clicks and odd facial expressions. Alto loved to take various pictures, Levi had noticed. She had been practically telling him all the features his scroll had, along with how to take pictures, video, and everything else. Weiss shook her head, smiling a bit at the two.
"They look cute together, don't you think?"
"I suppose so, but I see them as the siblings I never had. So it's kind of weird to think of them as a couple. Still, I think Oscar needs a girl like Alto in his life. Someone who's peppy and spunky and makes him forget about all the darkness of the world." he said, smiling.
"Oh? What do you see from the rest of your friends?"
"Yang and Ruby feel like cousins to me, but they have sister vibes. Blake is that platonic friend I can talk to about anything, including smut. Jaune and Ren are bros, with Jaune being the hopeless romantic bro that wants to get a good girl, but always puts his foot in his mouth and Ren being the silent bro who always reassures us that everything will be fine. Nora is admittedly, a chick who has attained bro status and as such, must be treated equally among the bros. But she is also off-limits because Ren has staked his claim and she must be respected." he said firmly.
"What about Neo?"
"Neo is the fun-sized member of the group, silent, sneaky, mischievous, ice cream loving, and deserving of headpats. She's a fine lady who has achieved bro status but also has lady status. So she can get down and dirty with the guys while also being a high-class woman. She is also my best friend, as you know." Levi said.
"I see… is that the category you put me into?"
"Nope. You have your own category. I call it, Weiss Schnee."
She punched him in the arm, making him cry in pain. "It was a joke,"
"Then tell me what my label in the group is!" she said, practically demanding his answer from him. "Well?"
"You're…" he paused briefly, giving her a smile. "My best friend and maybe something more."
Her cheeks tinged crimson, surprised by what he had said. She opened her mouth to say something, only for a bright flash of pink to appear beside them. Neo tipped her hat back, grinning as she made her grand entrance.
"Neo, hey!" Oscar cried, finally glad Alto's train of scroll features and functions had been put to a stop. "All of us were worried about you!"
"I was too, but I trust everything has been going well for you all, especially for Levi and Blake. I heard about what happened last night, and both of you are idiots." her scroll said, a look of disappointment on her face. "That's neither here nor there, however, I came back from my meeting with Cinder. Let's just say, things aren't looking good."
"We should go somewhere private to talk about this," Weiss said firmly.
"I'll go with Oscar to the front and pay up, there's a cafe nearby where we can talk," Levi said, gesturing for Oscar to follow. Alto's demeanor changed a bit, as she shared a look with Neo.
"Is it bad?" she asked, earning a nod from the ice-cream-themed woman. She sighed, her lips curving into a frown. "Just when I thought things were getting better,"
It didn't take them long to finish their transaction at the clothing and armor shop. Afterward, the small group headed into a nearby cafe, being guided by the waitress toward the back where the large tables were at. They all put in their orders, settling into their seats. Neo withdrew her scroll from her pocket, placing it on the table, showing a picture of both Adam and Cinder.
"So they're working together? I figured something like this would happen." Levi said, leaning forward a bit as he looked at the picture. He noticed the look on Adam's face, he seemed stressed, tired, but he could also see the anger in his eye. "What were they discussing?"
Neo grabbed her scroll, briefly typing out her reply. "The death of the Schnee Family,"
Weiss froze in place, her eyes filled with surprise and a hint of fear as the mechanical words settled into her mind. "It seems Adam was convinced by Cinder to kill everyone in the Schnee Family, so he could make Atlas fall into disarray. Apparently, killing the richest family in Remnant will have negative effects on Atlas. Cinder wants to use this not only to bring Grimm to Atlas but to slip into the academy to get the Relic of Creation."
"I see… in essence, she wishes to create a panic by having Adam slaughter Weiss's family. This wouldn't just cause strife in the kingdom, but it would also paint the faunus as terrorists." Oscar said, making Alto shrink in her seat.
"Great, as if things for us weren't bad enough,"
"This is only if he can get to Atlas. Let's face it, it's going to be a challenge to even get close to the Schnees. But Cinder and Adam mentioned Weiss, so I'm assuming he'll be targeting her alongside Blake. If he can get Weiss, he can force his way into Atlas and do what he wants. That is not what we want,"
"Then what do we want?" Weiss asked, clearly distressed at what she was hearing. "It's my life on the line, along with my family's. I may dislike my brother but I don't want him to die, and I certainly can say the same for my sister Winter, but my mother? She has suffered enough, and I am not going to let her die at the whim of a madman."
"And they aren't, Weiss. They aren't, we aren't letting him do that," Oscar reassured her, glancing around the table. "But we do need to figure out what we're going to do about him. Catching him and arresting him isn't enough at this point. I believe we may have to go with the other option,"
"The other option?" the wolf faunus asked, her ears flat against her scalp. "You mean… killing him?" she continued, voice above a whisper.
"As much as I hate to consider it, we're gonna have to do it. He put Blake's life in danger, has threatened us countless times, and is now planning the assassination of Weiss's family. This is something we can't ignore. Even if we alert the military police, by the time they get off their asses and do something, it'll be too late." Levi said, sitting back in his seat. "This coincides with us getting out of Mistral. We have to do this, to make sure there are no loose ends here,"
"I… am aware we don't have many options but…" Weiss paused for a moment, glancing up at the ceiling. "Dear gods, are we seriously talking about murdering someone?"
"We've been talking about murdering Cinder for months. This is no different, he is just as guilty as she is." Neo's scroll said. The pink and brown-haired girl placed a hand on her friend's shoulder, giving her a smile. "You'll be fine."
"We have to discuss something else, and that is the safety of the Relic of Knowledge," Oscar said, folding his hands. They all waited for the waitress, who had finally arrived with their orders. Once they had everything and she left, he continued speaking. "I believe we can use it to our advantage."
"For what exactly?"
"Well Levi, Cinder wants to get the relics in order to please her master, Salem. So why don't we just give the Relic of Knowledge to Cinder," he said, making them all go wide-eyed. "Neo, aside from shattering into a million pieces and disguising yourself, what else can you do with your semblance?"
She paused for a moment, a pensive look on her face as she tapped her temple. She suddenly started smiling, a dark and evil smile. She held her hand out to Oscar, focusing her aura in her palm. She had a sugar cube on it, but ever so slightly, she started to use her semblance, molding it into something new. They all watched as light swirled around her calm, the sugar taking the shape of something else entirely. When she was done, they were staring at an exact replica of the Relic of Knowledge, though it was much smaller than the real one.
"That's impressive!" Weiss said, a look of disbelief on her face.
"Have you always been able to do that or is this something new?" Alto continued, poking the miniature relic with her finger. "It looks so real, it's even glowing."
Neo set the mini lamp on the table, allowing it to float slightly as if it was the real relic. Her fingers drummed across her keyboard, as she clicked away at the screen, typing out her reply. She held it out to her friends, the evil smirk never leaving her face. "This is something that I just came up with. My semblance is "Overactive Imagination", it essentially allows me to "Imagine" things into existence, with a little help of my aura. I can disguise myself into anyone I want and even blend into walls. I didn't know I could make things with it, I just went for it and it worked. This is our ticket in."
"Very nice, this works well in our favor. Ladies, Oscar," Levi paused, making Oscar frown as he was singled out. "It's time for us to start planning Cinder's downfall. Neo, you are the key to all this working. You have to earn her trust, by any means necessary, even if it means hurting us. Even if it means doing things to use that you will regret. Just as long as she thinks you are on your side."
The expression on her face changed a bit, as she reached out to him, taking his hand. He could see it on her face. "Why would you suggest that?" It was written clear as day. He frowned, giving her hand a squeeze.
"You know exactly why. We need a conduit for the Fall Maiden's powers. We need to make her trust you and then betray that trust. Get her angry, make her hate your existence, your very soul. That way, when I drive my sword through her heart, her powers will go to you." Levi said, looking deeply into her eyes. "I failed to kill her once, Rosa, but I am not going to fail a second time."
Her shoulders slumped a bit as she gave him her reply. "You know something, you remind me so much of Roman. When he had an idea, a plan, anything, he went for it. 100%, he didn't want failure because he knew what it meant to fail. I'll do what you ask, but I'll hate every second of it,"
"Good, I expect you to hate it. I'm sorry in advance, I shouldn't actively drive my best friend to turn me into a wrecking ball just to drive a point. But we need to iron out the details of this, make sure they're set in stone. But the most important part, this cannot leave this group."
"He's right, planning something like this, and risking the Relic of Knowledge? Ruby wouldn't like that, and neither would the others. We need to make sure this stays between us until we can get back at Cinder, or if something goes wrong." Oscar said, holding his fist out, his friendship bracelet being visible. He looked at it, sighing. "I swear it, on my friendship bracelet."
"I swear it too," Alto said, adding her fist to the circle, followed by Weiss.
"Yes, I do too. Even if Ruby gets mad at me, it's for the good of all of Remnant. So I swear to keep this to myself. This meeting never happened."
Neo silently added hers to the circle, giving the others a nod. The final person was Levi, who fiddled with his bracelet a bit, looking at the charm at the end of it. He looked around the circle, meeting the gazes of his friends. He added his first to the group, a small smirk on his face.
"Alright then, this meeting never happened. Now, let's beginning planning,"
xxx
"O.M.G! Look at you, you look so freaking cute!" Nora practically screamed as she tackled Oscar into a hug. He groaned a bit as his face was sandwiched between her breasts. "Oh, I missed you soooooo much! Will you forgive me, Ozzy?"
"Mphm?"
"Oh, my bad." the orange-haired girl said, letting him breathe. He coughed a bit, his face burning red.
"I forgive you, Nora," he said happily. He turned to face Jaune, who had a sheepish look on his face. Oscar slowly walked forward, holding his hand out to him. "I forgive you too, Jaune. What you did was wrong, but it was an appropriate reaction. Believe me, if I could have slammed myself into a wall when I learned the truth, I would have."
"But I yelled at you, treated you like it was your fault."
"Qrow sucker punched me in the face and sent me flying into a tree, nothing beats that," the olive-eyed boy mused, rubbing his jaw as he remembered the punch the drunken man had delivered not that long ago.
"Still, out was way, way out of line, and what I said was wrong. I shouldn't have said those things, and I shouldn't have blamed Pyrrha's death on you. You had nothing to do with it, and neither did Ozpin, for that matter. Her choices were her own, and I have to accept that."
"It's alright like I said before. These past few days, I've been scared of the same things you were. The same things we all are. I don't know how much longer I'm going to be… me." he paused, looking at his hands. Alto grabbed a hold of his arm, giving it a soft squeeze. "But I did some thinking last night. I want to be like Pyrrha. She lived her life doing everything she could to make everyone around her happy, to make the world a safer place. I want to do everything I can to help with whatever time I have left."
"That's… good. This time wouldn't be the same without you, Oscar." Jaune said happily. Ruby gave him a once-over, tugging on his coat a bit.
"The combat gear looks good, did you pick it out yourself?"
"Uh?" he paused, glancing at Weiss and Alto, who had proud looks on their faces. "I had a little help."
The group all heard a grumble, noticing Qrow had gotten up from the sofa, still a bit dizzy from his drinking spree. Levi hadn't even noticed he was there, but he was sure Ruby and Yang must have found him at some point. Ruby growled, turning to fully face the man.
"Where are you going now?"
"I don't want to get in the way of your celebration," he said, almost sarcastically as he stepped up the steps.
"You've been gone since yesterday! We found you passed out on the neighbor's property! You are lucky they are nice and didn't call the police." she said, rubbing her eyes. "Just sit with us, Uncle Qrow. Please."
"Look, Ruby, I'm glad you kids worked out uh… whatever all that was," he said, gesturing to the group. "But the fact is, we're not a single step closer to Atlas."
"Well uh… actually, I kinda have an idea," Jaune said, holding his hand up slightly, earning curious looks from the others. "But it's a sort of 'no-going-back' idea. An "If we get caught we're totally mega uber fucked" idea. One that'll get us tossed into a hole so deep not even Nevermore shit will and on us."
"Just spit it out man," Levi said, arms crossed in annoyance.
"Erm… well. With Cordo on watch, only Atlas airships have clearance to leave for Solitas. So that means there's only one way we can get to Atlas." he said, looking at Neo. Everyone looked at her, and she looked around, pointing at herself for a moment. "Neo, you know how to fly Atlas Mantas right?"
She gave him a nod. "Well, that settles it. In order to make it to Atlas, we have to steal an Atlas airship."
The silence was so thick it could be cut with a knife. Adrien gave a laugh, clapping his hands happily in Maria's arms.
"Jaune that… that is way worse than breaking the law, that is definitely worse than everything we have ever thought of."
"Worse than openly speaking about murdering people?" Alto questioned, earning even more odd looks from everyone. "What? We gotta kill Cinder right?"
"We do, but that isn't nearly as bad as stealing from the Atlas Military. That's a capital offense in Atlas. We'd be screwed forever!" Blake said firmly.
"How would we even get onto the airfield?" Yang asked arms crossed as she pondered the idea. "There are tons of ships not to mention soldiers all over the place. It would be next to impossible to even approach it."
"Well uh… that part I haven't figured out yet. But I-"
"Okay stop. Just… stop!" Qrow snapped, bringing their attention back to him. "Look, if this thing goes south, it's not something we can' fight our way out of. This is the Atlas Military we are talking about. For your sake, just drop this."
The group looked at him, rather discouraged. Ruby took a deep breath, turning to face her uncle, a look of determination on her face. "Well, I wanna hear him out."
"Ruby."
"No! You listen to me, Qrow. I know that you are trying to protect us, that you're afraid we can't do it. But right now, I don't really care what you think," she said, ignoring the shocked expression on his face. "Just because you don't have an idea, doesn't mean we're out of options! Oz hasn't been there to tell us what to do, but we managed to get this far anyway! We've been in bad situations before, and we didn't need an adult to come save us or to tell us what to do!"
"You tell him, Ruby." Levi thought cheerfully, a small smile on his face as the silver-eyed girl continued laying into the man, with likely every ounce of stress, anger, and determination she had left in her body.
"We did it our way, and I say we keep doing it our way. And if you think you can keep up with us 'kids'... then we'd be happy to have you."
The man's frown shifted into a smile, a look of sheer pride on his face. He leaned back a bit, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "You've grown into a fine young woman, Ruby. I don't think you need a dusty old Qrow like me to cramp your style. But someone has to make sure you don't get yourselves into too much trouble."
"How much trouble could we possibly get for stealing Atlas military equipment?" Yang asked absentmindedly. Neo held her scroll out, her eyes widening. "35 years? For stealing an airship? What do you get for stealing tech? 59? What the hell?"
"Okay, Jaune. You say you have an idea, let's hear it."
"It's simple, but it's going to be in stages," Jaune said, holding out his scroll. "Stage one involves getting into the airfield. Now, this one is admittedly the easiest, but can go south if we don't do things right. We need Miss Calavera and Neo for this one."
"Oh? I get to partake in your shenanigans? I'd be honored. What do you require of me?"
"Well, given your age, you've likely gained experience piloting ships. Neo will need a co-pilot for us to successfully take the ship. But we also have to take her staying behind to deal with Cinder into consideration. Our means of getting inside is Weiss. We'll have Saphron and Adrien accompany her to the airfield under the guise of saying farewell. She'll be taking her suitcases with her, but rather than carrying clothes, Neo and Maria will be hiding within."
"You wanna stuff an old woman into a suitcase?" Saphron cried, eyes wide in surprise. Maria shrugged, smiling at Adrien's giggling.
"Meh, I've been put into weirder situations. Infiltration was one of my specialties, given my semblance. Just make sure to put the little girl in another suitcase." she said, earning a silent huff from Neo.
"Okay, for this phase to work, we need to speak about phase two. Sabotaging the CCT Relay. Terra knows how it works, and she's agreed to help if we need it. After all, she was the one who wrote my fake transcripts for Beacon," Jaune said, giving Terra a smile. She looked away, a nervous look on her face. "We need to disable the tower, that way our stolen ship won't appear on the radar. Once it "leaves Argus", Weiss and Neo will fight the pilots and throw them out of the ship. That's when they'll return the ship to Argus to make the pickup."
"Seems solid so far kid, what about the last phase?" Qrow asked curiously.
"Reaching Mantle shouldn't be too hard, a straight-shot even. It's likely that Atlas Central Command will want us to dock in one of the airships, but we can't afford to do that. We don't know how things are in Mantle, so we have to be careful. We'll touch down in one of the boroughs and send the ship away on Autopilot. It should be registered as a coaster, or even as a threat. If it's taken down, even better. No evidence of our involvement. That is, in a nutshell, how we get to Atlas."
All was silent for a moment, at least until Levi decided to speak. "It's a solid plan but not without its holes. We have a looming threat over us, that being Adam Taurus. He's planning on killing Weiss and her family, we can't leave Argus with him still being alive. Not to mention meeting Ironwood. This plan gets us to Atlas, but how are we going to explain our arrival to the military?"
"He's right. The General said you needed council approval to even board a ship. We'd likely get arrested on the spot." Blake added.
"Not if we give the General the lamp. We also have Oscar here, and he's the next Ozpin. I'll smooth things out with him once we make it to Atlas. Getting there is the important step, we can worry about that after we get there." Qrow said firmly. "Not bad kid, now I can see why Oz picked you to be the leader of your team,"
"Thank you, Qrow."
"Seems good, but what about Adam?" Yang asked.
"He wants Blake, so why don't we just give her to him?" Neo said, earning incredulous looks from the others. She held her hand up in mock surrender. "Don't you all kill me at once. Hear me out first. Adam is after Blake, so all we have to do is use her as bait, but we lay a trap. Blake goes to the CCT Relay and disables it, but leaves herself out in the open. That's when we have Yang, Levi, and Alto nearby to cover her ass. Ruby, Jaune, Ren, and Nora, along with Oscar and Qrow, remain on standby just in case. Miss Calavera, Weiss, and I will handle the ship."
"That seems like a solid enough plan. But wouldn't Adam be privy to that idea?" Weiss questioned firmly.
"Not necessarily. He'd be tracking down Blake, so it works in our favor."
"But he's also tracking Weiss down, isn't he?" Ruby asked, a small smile on her face. "Okay, I just got another idea, one that kills two Nevermores with one stone. We have Neo disguise herself as Weiss, that way, the real Weiss can join Blake at the relay. It'll give Adam enough incentive to follow along. Once he's in our trap, Levi, Yang and Alto ambush him, kill his ass, and then we make the pickup and head to Atlas!"
"Okay, so just to summarize!" Nora began, grinning slightly as she took a deep breath.
"Oh no."
"Alright, we stuff Maria and Neo into a suitcase, have Saph and Adrien take the real Weiss to the airfield. Once there they get in, Neo comes out disguised as Weiss while the real Weiss takes off and meets with Blake. Yang then takes the two of them to the CCT Relay and Sabotage it. Meanwhile, Weiss-Neo and Maria off the two pilots, wait for the signal and turn around, pick the rest of us up, and then we fly to the CCT Relay, where Blake, Weiss, Yang, Alto, and Levi are, fighting Adam. I jump from the ship, shatter his legs with my hammer and we throw the body in a pit where he can't be found. We all get back in the ship, fly to Mantle, set the ship on autopilot, jump out of the ship. We go to the Winchester, have a cold pint, and wait for everything to blow over!" she said, spinning her hammer around, resting it against her shoulder. "How's that for a slice of fried gold?"
"Yeah, boyyyy!" Jaune cried as he fist-bumped the orange-haired girl. The others shook their heads.
"This is probably the dumbest plan we have ever come up with, but when she says it like that in a coherent way, it works," Weiss said, arms crossed over her chest.
"It has fewer holes than a sinking ship, so we have to go with it. But we need to make sure things are flowing smoothly in order for it to work." Levi said, looking at Terra, who had remained silent the entire time. "How do we access the CCT Relay station?"
"Um well…" she closed her eyes for a moment. "You guys are aware that if we're caught I could lose my job, or worse, right?"
"We'll just tell them we held you at gunpoint," he said with a shrug.
"Fine, but listen up because I'm only saying this once. Remember, this conversation never happened,"
Everyone shared a look of joy, for once in their life, something would go their way.
Location: Argus Military Base, Kingdom of Mistral
Weiss looked around nervously, her face as still as she could make it. It had been a couple days since the proposal of their plan, and now the time had come to actually put it into practice. They had been working out the details and getting everything just right. They couldn't wait any longer, it was time for Team RWBY, Team ORNJ, Levi, Neo, and Alto to leave Anima. She walked forward with the grace and poise that had been ingrained in her from a young age. She dragged a pair of suitcases behind her, her hands tightly wrapped around their handles. Beside her, Saphron walked, holding Adrien tightly in her grasp.
"I'm honestly relieved to hear that you came to your senses, Miss Schnee. It was about time you stopped hanging out with the rabel and headed back to Atlas. Many of us were devastated when we heard you'd be attending… ugh… Beacon Academy. Knowing that you'll return to Atlas just warms my heart."
"Considering it's all shriveled up inside, I seriously doubt it." she thought to herself, clearing her throat a bit, making sure her voice sounded raspy. "It was… time to get my act together and go back to my roots."
"Oh, I can't wait to see you follow in your sister's footsteps. She'll be so proud of you!" Cordovin said, not noticing the forced smile on Weiss's face.
"Oh absolutely…"
The old woman continued to smile as they came to a stop next to an Atlas Manta, which was ready to take off. "I'm sending two of my best guards to personally escort you. Make sure General Ironwood hears that part."
Weiss ignored her wink, the woman walking away shortly after. The two guards they had met days prior shot forward, practically retching Weiss's suitcases away from her.
"Allow me to assist you with your bag!" the first said, picking up, huffing a bit. "My, what a heavy bag!"
"This one is heavy too, just what are you carrying in here?"
"Uh… candy?" Weiss said, shaking her head. "Please, I can handle those things myself. I don't mind doing a bit of the heavy lifting."
"Nonsense!"
"Allow us to assist you, Miss Schnee!"
"I can take care of it myself, seriously!" the former heiress said, glancing at Saphron. She gave her a nod, briefly whispering something to her son. The baby started screaming loudly, causing the two guards to drop what they were doing.
"Oh no!" Saphron said, sounding rather disingenuous. "He is just going to miss you so much! You should hurry up and get out of here!"
"A crying child?" Guard one questioned, zooming over to Saphron's side.
"We must console it!"
Weiss rolled her eyes as the two guards 'hup-hup-hupped' their way over to Saphron. This gave Weiss the chance to pull both suitcases into the ship. Once they were safely inside, she unzipped both of them. Neo stepped out first, stretching her arms over her head, a look of anger on her face. She mimed a few things with her hands, waddling a bit as if she was overweight.
"I know you aren't heavy, Neo, just ignore them."
"Call me heavy… it's all muscle! I'll show them a thing or two about being heavy!" Maria added as she stalked her way toward the back of the ship, making sure she wasn't seen. Weiss held her hand over her earpiece, pressing the button.
"We're on board and making the switch now, over."
"Copy that, Weiss. We'll start phase two when you meet with Yang and Blake just outside the military base," Ruby's peppy voice replied. Weiss closed her eyes for a moment, sparing a glance at Neo, who had a saddened look on her face.
"We've been through so much shit together, haven't we? Hard to believe it's been over nine months since we first met. Things will get better soon, okay?" she said, hugging the shorter girl tightly. "I… I'm going to miss you."
"Me too," Neo mouthed, giving her friend a smile. She stepped away from Weiss, closing her eyes as her body started glowing a bright pink. In an instant, Neo changed, her appearance being an exact copy of Weiss. She looked around for a moment, gesturing toward the other door, telling her friend to go.
The pair shared another brief hug, before Weiss jumped from the window, using her semblance to dash away, just as the pilots returned to the ship, looking rather pleased with themselves. "Please take a seat, Miss Schnee!"
"We will be in the air soon, and will assure your safe arrival in Atlas!" the second boasted, as they headed toward the cockpit. Weiss couldn't help but smile. She pulled her scroll out as she sat down, crossing her legs over each other, typing away at her scroll.
xxx
"The Princess has left the nest, I repeat, the Princess has left the nest."
Levi pocketed his scroll as he loaded bullets into Overture, making sure it was locked and ready. He looked over at Alto, who was making sure Milo was loaded with bullets. She stuffed her pockets with spare magazines, just in case she needed them. Her ears twitched a bit, making her look up from what she was doing.
"Something the matter, Levi?"
"No, it's just… I never thought I would be here, with Aria's little sister of all people," he said, smiling a bit. "She'd be proud of the woman you are becoming."
"We're going to kill someone, Levi. I doubt she'd be proud of me for that,"
"Yeah but, the son of a bitch has it coming. He did attack Beacon with Grimm which led to your sister's death. If anything, she'd want you to kick his teeth in for doing her in." he replied. He brushed a bit of hair behind her ear, looking into her eyes. "You look a lot like her."
"That's what my grandmother always told me. She said we have my mother's eyes… I… wish I could have met her. I mean… she wasn't my mother, she was Aria's but… my grandma said we had the same eyes."
"I'm sure you do, and even if Aria's mom wasn't your mom, it doesn't matter. Had she met the spunky and beautiful wolf girl you are, she'd have loved you too. But we can't keep thinking about what-ifs or things like that anymore." he said, closing his eyes. "We should get used to this kind of thing. Death, murder, sadness, regret, despair… it's all just a sign of the times,"
"Levi, this is Yang checking in. Princess has been picked up, we're en route to point Alpha Beta. I'll be leaving Princess and Panther a mile out and heading out myself." Yang said, making Levi nod to himself.
"Copy that, Yang. Me and Alto are heading to the predetermined location, we have the trailer ready for transport," he said, pausing for a moment. He held the button again, speaking into the comm. "You gave Blake the name Panther as a codename?"
"Well she's a black cat and panthers are black, not to mention her father is a panther faunus."
"Well yeah but…"
"Just shut up about it, Levi. Try not to focus so much on something so dumb and pointless," Blake piped up, making him chuckle.
"10-4, over and out," he said, ending the communication. "You ready to go, Alto?"
"Yes sir,"
xxx
Ruby stood at the edge of the cliff, two miles out from the city of Argus. She could still see the city from where she was, looking out into the ocean. Several Argus ships had landed and left in that time, but none were the ship they had been looking for. She heard a beep on her scroll and looked down, seeing Neo's message.
"We're leaving Argus airspace. In about two minutes we'll be far enough from the relay that the radar will lose signal. Once you don't see my connection, proceed with phase two."
She typed back her reply, relaying the message to the others. "Okay, Neo is just about to leave the tower's signal. All we have to do now is wait to give Blake and Weiss the go-ahead."
"I can't believe this is actually working, I'm surprised," Jaune said, causing Oscar to chuckle.
"Give yourself a bit of credit, man. You make good plans, we just haven't had the chance to execute one properly. You did get everyone to Argus safely once we decoupled those train cars."
"Yep yep! You are a natural-born leader and strategist, Jaune!" Nora said happily.
"We're happy to have you as our friend and our strategist. Things will go down according to plan. Let's just hope nothing goes awry." Ren said firmly. Behind them, Qrow stood, arms crossed as he looked out into the ocean, watching Neo's signal himself. It went down from Full bars to two, and then to one.
"Let's hope this thing actually works."
xxx
Yang kept her eyes peeled, making sure they were truly alone as they zoomed up the path. Blake was hugging her tightly, while Weiss managed to hang on to the last part of Bumblebee, making sure she hung out without much issue. The forest was rather beautiful, and if they weren't currently doing what they were attempting to do, she likely would have enjoyed it.
"Alright, you two have to remember what I told you. The radar box is separate from the rest of the communications equipment. So if you disconnect it properly, it won't take out comms for the rest of the city."
"Right, right. We're aware, open the silver box next to the black box. Once open, hit the yellow relay switch, turn the knob and disconnect the red and white wires." Blake said as she looked at her scroll. "Don't worry, it isn't the first time I've disabled Atlas tech."
Terra gave her a glare. "Don't forget, this conversation never happened."
With that, the call ended. Yang slowed to a stop, the two of the tower being visible in the distance. She looked around for a moment, making sure they were truly alone. "Okay girls, we're about a mile from the relay tower. I'll be heading off to meet with Levi and Alto. If anything happens, call me."
"Will do, thanks, Yang. Good luck." Weiss said, sharing a hug with the blonde brawler. She young woman hugged her back, sharing one with Blake. She climbed aboard Bumblebee and drove off, quickly heading in the opposite direction. Weiss drew her sword, making sure the right dust was selected. "Do you think he took the bait?"
"Yeah, I'm certain. We didn't exactly make Oscar and Alto rehearse those lines for nothing," Blake said, winking at her friend. She darted off, heading up the path with Weiss on her heels. The former heiress was suddenly glad she had traveled with Neo and Levi. Her stamina likely would have tanked the moment she tried matching pace with Blake. She reached into her pocket for her scroll, seeing Neo's signal disappearing.
"She's gone. We have about 5 minutes before they start their return trip."
"Then you better hurry up, Schnee, or I'll leave you behind."
"Don't you Schnee me you dumb cat!" the white-haired girl cried, earning a giggle from her friend.
xxx
Neo licked her lips, giving Maria a wink as she saw her connection to Ruby and the others finally disappear. She waited for two more minutes before rising to her feet, slowly drawing Myrtenaster from her waist. She grinned as the rapier slowly morphed back into her signature parasol, the pink energy swirling around it, fading away in little wisps of pink light.
"Miss Schnee?" Guard 1 asked, turning to face the young woman. "For your own safety, we must request that you-"
She bashed the man over the head with her parasol, quickly elbowing the second in the face. She spun around, holding Hush above her head as she bashed and slashed the two, making sure to stun them with each and every hit she delivered. Their aura shattered moments later, allowing her to properly knock them out. She grabbed a hold of the stick, looking around for a moment before hitting the "hover" switch.
She silently sighed as she unbuckled the two men, dragging them out of the cockpit. She held her hand up, catching the rope Maria threw at her. "Good job, girlie. I was expecting you to call for help."
Neo gave her a deadpanned look, rolling her eyes as she finished tying the men up. She looked around for a moment, her smile widening into a Cheshire grin. Maria followed her gaze, spotting the emergency parachutes hidden behind a panel. She shattered the pull cord with her elbow, pulling the red handle down, causing the door to swing open.
"You're insane, you plan on dropping them out over the ocean?"
The disguised girl held her hand up, gesturing for Maria to follow her toward the window. She pointed down to the small island they were floating over. It was a sandbar really, not enough for several people to live on, but enough for the two men to safely land. It even had a palm tree, loaded with coconuts. Maria shrugged. "Well, that's good enough for me."
Neo strapped a parachute to one of them, dragging the pair toward the back door. She pressed the button, opening the cargo bay doors. The wind started blowing a bit as the doors slowed to a stop. She held the two men up, as one of them regained consciousness, his eyes widening a bit as he locked eyes with 'Weiss'
"What are you doing, Miss Schnee? This is treachery!"
Neo held her scroll up, a single phrase highlighted on it as she hit speak. "Get off my ship!"
She pulled the cord with all her strength, deploying their chute. She gave them a cute smile and a wink as she released her hold on them, waving as they were practically sucked out of the Manta. The conscious man's screams were masked by the sound of the doors slowly closing.
"Are you done? We have a schedule to keep," Maria said. Neo skipped toward the front of the ship, gingerly entering the cockpit, dropping her disguise. Maria sat on the pilot's chair, settling into the seat, buckling herself up. "You do know how to fly one of these, right?"
"I do, do you?" her scroll spoke for her, making Maria grin.
"Missy, I was the Grimm Reaper! What part of 'Best huntress of her generation don't you understand?"
Neo quirked a brow, pointing to her mechanical eyes. The woman chuckled, pulling out a data cable, plugging one end into her eyes and the second into the control panel of the ship. She tapped on them, her smile widening as they fully opened up.
"There we are, be a dear and hit that hover switch for me. It's time for us to make a pickup,"
The pink-brown-haired woman shrugged her shoulders, hitting the switch, her hands wrapped around her stick. She let Maria do most of the flying, while she kept an eye on all the fancy knobs and switches on the panel. She only hoped the others were having better luck than her.
xxx
Weiss grit her teeth as she kept pulling herself up. She hadn't been expecting to actually climb to the top of the tower. She figured Blake would have a plan, but she herself got up easily. She almost wished she had Levi's combustion glyphs, it would have certainly made the trip a lot easier on her arms. She didn't have much more to reach the top, just a few more rungs. She pulled herself up, looking around the top of the tower, seeing the watchman unconscious on the floor.
She spotted Blake not far from the man, standing over three boxes. A black one, a silver one and a white one. The silver one was wide open, and she was staring at it with confusion.
"Is something wrong?"
"I sort of forgot what Terra told me."
"Ugh, move over. It's a good thing I have good memory." Weiss said, hitting the switch inside the box. She turned the knob down, grabbing the correct wires. Rather than disconnect them, she yanked them out with all her strength, the box sparking a bit. "That's should it, lets-"
Blake pulled her friend back, just as a red blade of energy cut the floor where she had been standing. The metal was glowing a sickly orange, as it slowly warped and bent out of shape. She looked down, her eyes wide as she saw the man that had been gunning for Blake's life. "He actually took the bait!"
"Stick to the plan!" Blake hissed, drawing Gambol Shroud from her back. She folded the blade back, shooting at the bull faunus. Weiss took a deep breath, pulling Myrtenaster from her hip. Her blade sparked with electricity, a familiar glyph with a clock face appearing beneath her feet.
"Let's get this show on the road!"
Blake grit her teeth as she ducked and dodged the strikes Adam was sending at her. It was obvious he was aiming to end her as quickly as possible. But she wasn't going to let him. She used her semblance, ducking out of the way as his sword sliced her copy in half. She kneed him in the gut, socking him in the face with all her strength. She threw her weapon up, wrapping it around the upper span. She pulled herself over the railing, staring down at Adam.
"I was hoping we would have some alone time together, Blake. But of course, you had to bring your friend with you. And a disgusting gnat of all things," he said, glaring at Weiss. He adjusted his mask, giving her a sickly-sweet smile. "Don't you worry, Miss Schnee. Once I'm done with Blake, I'm coming for you."
"I certainly don't think so, you miscreant!" she returned, swiping her sword, sending a small blast of yellow light directly at Blake. Adam watched as a glyph appeared beneath her feet, ticking very loudly. Blake dashed forward, throwing several power strikes, all of which caught the man off guard.
He matched her pace, moving his katana to and fro to absorb each of her hits, the blade glowing bright crimson from the attacks. He aimed Wilt at her chest, firing it with Blush, knocking Gambol Shroud out of her hand. This gave him an opening, darting forward only for Blake to disappear in a mist.
Weiss flipped over the span, landing hard in front of Adam. She wasted no time in thrusting Myrtenaster at him, landing several strikes on various points on his body. He deflected a few hits, throwing some of his own only for her to dodge or parry them. She kept her right hand behind her back, mimicking the same style that Levi and Neo often used, keeping her legs firmly planted on the ground. Adam threw a wide slash at her, but she was quicker, dodging with a backflip. The slash ended slicing part of the tower clean off, sending it hurling to the ground.
She formed several glyphs around Adam, a grin on her face as she darted forward. She let out a scream as her blade glowed white with Hart Light dust. She jumped back and forth, from glyph to glyph, unleashing a volley of perfect strikes on Adam's body, making him groan and howl in pain. She flung herself into the air, using a glyph as a platform, jumping downward at the man, aiming her rapier down at his head.
Adam was quicker, swiping his sword just in time to counter it. He grabbed a hold of her arm, slamming her into the wall with all his strength. He took aim with Blush, smirking as he wrapped his finger around the trigger, only for the weapon to be shot out of his hand. He looked back at Blake, anger coursing through him.
"Grr… I'll be back for you," he said, throwing Weiss off the tower, her screams echoing through the quiet forest.
"Weiss!" Blake shouted, only to leap back, avoiding Adam's strike. She matched his blows tit for tat, her arms shaking from the power of each hit.
"What did you do to us, Blake? We used to be close friends. We had plans to show the world that the faunus shouldn't be feared. But you took those plans and DESTROYED THEM ALL!"
Blake spun around, slamming Gambol Shroud's stock into his face, backflipping out of the way. She landed on the railing of the tower, loading a new magazine into her weapon. "I didn't do anything to you. What the hell makes you think I would continue being your friend? You killed people out of spite Adam. Your warped sense of justice was only harming the faunus. Look at what it's led you to do. You stalked me all over Anima. You threatened my friend, almost destroyed a school, almost killed Sienna, and now this? And you have the gall to say it's my fault?"
"Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!"
He screamed as he dashed forward, only for a hailstorm of ice to stop him in his tracks. Weiss reappeared beside him, throwing a barrage of jabs and strikes, ending the combo with a glowing black blade of aura, sending him flying off the tower and into the forest.
She gave Blake a nod and raced forward, leaping off the tower with zero reservations. She formed several glyphs beneath her feet, 'skating' down to the ground. At the same time, Blake darted down, using the nearby trees as springboards, wrapping her ribbon around the bough of a tree, landing behind Adam, while Weiss appeared at his front. He slowly stood up, haunched slightly over as he kept his grip on Wilt and Blush tight.
"You know, what hurts, even more, isn't the fact that you left the White Fang. It's the fact that I spent so much time training you, befriending you. I thought you would be our future, Blake. I taught you how to fight, told you of my struggles and strife, and this is how you repay me? By befriending and colluding with a Schnee?" he cried, ripping his White Fang mask off, a black ribbon tied around his face. Blake briefly noticed it was a piece of her own ribbon. Where he had gotten it, she didn't know. "You are a coward."
"If Blake is a coward for standing up to you, then you are the hero the faunus really need. I don't deny that my family didn't do nasty things to your kind. Because they have, and I am planning on fixing all of that. The man you have to blame is Jacques Schnee, no one else." Weiss said, her cylinder clicking loudly. "And believe me, Adam, I am going to take care of him myself,"
"This has to stop, Adam. Look at what you are doing to yourself. You used to be a kind person, with a noble dream. But you've let it corrupt you. This is not how you handle things!"
The man let out a laugh, throwing his head back slightly as he grasped his sword. "Oh Blake, you are a fool if you think I'm going to let this go. I let you go once in my life, and I am not making that mistake again,"
Adam took a step forward and drew his blade.
A/N: And thus, the prelude to the finale begins. My this has been one hell of a story to work on and I have been enjoying it. But sadly, it must come to an end. But not for long, hopefully. I am still making progress on its sequel, Promise: The Atlas Arc, but that will be a bit delayed for personal reasons. I wish to make sure it is the very best it can be so I am going to take my time working on it. I am banking on a lot of canon stuff being changed and I want to make sure everything is well done and not undercooked. So for now, the next story will be in the kitchen until it is baked to perfection!
I'd like to thank everyone who has been reading this so far and leaving reviews. You guys are awesome and the main reason I wrote this. I hope you have enjoyed the story so far and like this ending. It took me two weeks to write these two finale chapters and get them just right. So it is some of my (hopefully) best work. I will be posting the finale tomorrow so it won't be too long of a wait. Well, this is it until tomorrow, see ya later!
