"Sun, don't j-"
Before anyone could stop him, and even before he knew what he was doing, Sun was in the air and speeding rapidly toward the icy pool below. Acting solely upon instinct, he narrowed his eyes and tried to tap into his aura to call forth his semblance only to find that the precious resource was still missing entirely. Initially, he panicked, but a split second later, he saw a multicolored collection of bolts fly from Weiss' body toward himself, providing him with a protective shell of energy. Just in the nick of time, Sun summoned forth a doppelganger in midair and allowed it to grab him before flinging him off to the side. With a graceful twist, he came to land on the floating glyph right beside Ilia as the sound of roaring flames filled the air.
Sun looked up to see Elm speeding downward behind him, her feet planted firmly upon the head of her hammer as she held the weapon facing downward. Great gouts of fire from the back of the weapon's head propelled her along as Clover kept an arm around her waist, and the pair of them began to circle the pool a good ten feet above the frigid water. Just beneath the surface, matted strands of hair began to coalesce near a single point, blocking out the view of where Harriet could be.
"Redistributing now! We'll all be at even levels!" Clover yelled as he and Elm continued to scan the pool. Again, wisps of aura flew throughout the cavern as they were pulled from Sun, and he lurched forward slightly in reaction to the unfamiliar sensation of losing energy.
"Ilia, you alright!?" Sun asked as he looked back at the smaller faunus.
"I'm fine! I'll get Harriet! You guys regroup and get ready to fight!" Ilia yelled as she stood upon the glyph and wiped her eyes upon her arm.
"What are y-"
Before Sun had a chance to finish his question, Ilia dived from the glyph toward the surface of the water. Just as she touched the liquid, her body seemed to explode into a splash of water and disappeared, leaving Sun very much alone upon Weiss' midair platform.
"Sun!" the former heiress called from the edge of the pool, where she and Yang stood together. "Join us! I can't keep that up much longer!"
As though on cue, the swirling platform below Sun's feet began to flicker, and he felt himself drop a miniscule distance. Without a word, he leapt toward the two girls and called forth a set of clones just at the edge of the pool. The pair caught him before they dissolved away into nothingness, and Sun took up his weapons as he watched Elm and Clover sail over to land beside them.
"What do we do?" Yang asked, her voice full of tension as she watched the surface of the water shift and swirl.
"We wait," Clover instructed as he took up a broadsword in each hand. "Ilia's our best bet at getting Harriet out of there, so we trust her to get it done. Going into freezing, grimm-infested water is suicide without a semblance like hers."
"And once Harriet's on solid ground, we fight!" Elm yelled enthusiastically.
Suddenly, the entire chamber began to rumble, as though a giant had gripped the edges of the cavern and seen fit to shake it back and forth. Sun turned and took in the details of the area, only to find an absolutely massive chamber all around them. Several columns of natural rock connected the floor and ceiling at seemingly random intervals, and dark tunnels extended from various spots around the walls. Natural deposits of glowing purple dust were embedded in some of the pillars and around the edges of the rocky chamber, while something odd and mechanical rested against the far wall, opposite the pool. Sun squinted through the darkness to try to make out the details, only to barely recognize a series of rails and grating.
"Stand ready!" Clover called as a roiling wave of water broke the surface of the pool, headed straight for the group.
Sun whirled just in time to see Harriet's unconscious form being carried aloft upon the wave, the selkiles of the pool snapping their alligator-like maws after the woman. Without any sort of ceremony, Harriet was dumped and sent rolling upon the stone floor as Ilia's watery form rocketed over the edge of the pool and onto solid ground. Just as she splashed down onto the rocks, her body reformed into its usual fleshy appearance, her hair and leather outfit dripping with freezing water.
"S-s-she's alive!" Ilia stammered as she gripped her exposed arms, shivering horribly. "I-I ca-"
"You've done more than enough!" Clover interrupted. "Elm, take her and Harriet away from the fight and get them warm, until we can get in contact with Marrow! The r-"
The orders were cut off by the ear-splitting, furious screams of a horde of grimm denied their meal. Still more beowulfs poured in from the hole in the ceiling, the few daring beasts bursting into ash as they drowned within the water that had seem to come to life all on its own. Nearly a score of selkiles began to emerge from the pool as the entire cavern shook once again, only for a massive, pointed dust crystal of angry red to breach the surface of the water behind them.
Weiss was the first to take several steps backward as she fired a shot for the humanoid head of a selkile, though the others were soon to follow as a massive stony arm rose from the water alongside the rest of the dust crystal.
"What in th-"
"Geist!" Clover called. "Ladies, focus upon the selkiles, and draw them along the right side of the lake! Sun, follow my orders exactly!"
"You got it!" Sun called as Clover broke off into a sprint to the left. He spared a look behind himself to find that Elm had made it to the back of the chamber and set up a small ring of flares. "We need to keep that thing away from Harriet!"
"I know!" Clover agreed as he and Sun arrived at the left side of the pool. "Draw the geist's attention! Shoot it!"
Sun grit his teeth as he took careful aim and fired a shot for the central dust crystal, which stood at double his height. The slug screamed through the air and pinged harmlessly off the side of the construct, only for an angry plume of flame to explode outward from the crystal's side as the geist turned to face him. The spirit grimm had possessed and congealed a whole set of dust crystals and rocks from beneath the floor of the pool, its body resembling an angular, humanoid golem. The creature's mask was partially blocked by fragments of jutting dust, rendering the weak point untargetable from all but point-blank range.
"That… isn't good!" Sun called as he took in the creature's rocky anatomy.
"No, it isn't!" Clover agreed as he idly spun his swords. "We need to think fast! We don't have time t-"
"STAY!"
From inside of one of the side tunnels, Marrow stood with his arm outstretched, his eyes narrowed and finger pointed directly at the geist. The beast's turning speed slowed to become almost nonexistent as Jaune and Corsac rushed forward from either side of Marrow, the former with his shield raised and the latter whirling his pointed staff behind himself.
"Harriet's hurt!" Clover said immediately. "Marrow, get to the back of the cavern!"
"But…!" the faunus protested as he eyed the colossal geist, only to make a frustrated noise as he kept the grimm nearly immobilized and in his line of sight. "I… alright, she needs me! Good luck!"
Sun fired a few more shots for the geist in the few seconds in which it remained under Marrow's influence. The bullets cracked off sections of the creature's dust crystal hood which began to fall in slow motion, only for the fragments to speed toward the pool and explode into bursts of flame as Marrow sprinted for the back of the cavern. Immediately afterward, the geist began to lumber through the pool and toward them. It lifted one gargantuan leg of stone from the depths and braced itself along the edge of the lake, causing a small wave of freezing water to seep up and out toward the party.
"I can be of use, here!" Corsac offered as the group backed away from the frigid liquid. "I'll distract it as we formulate a plan!"
"Then Jaune!" Clover called to get the adolescent's attention. "Support Weiss and Yang, on the other side!"
Jaune cast his eyes across the cavern as the geist finally managed to get out of the pool, its central, pointed crystal scraping along the roof of the cave and causing sparks to rain down around them.
"On it!"
Yang pulled her arms up into a classic boxer's stance, watching the closest selkile out of the remaining pack of over a dozen. The slimy, hair-covered creatures had spread out, crawling over each other and surrounding the two women in an uncoordinated, misshapen ring as the fight drew on. Though Yang and Weiss were both well aware of the lumbering geist-powered golem that had entered the fray, both of the women kept their attention on their waterlogged opponents instead. Yang faked a forward step to bait the massive creature's bestial head to bite forward, before stepping off to the side and pulling back her right arm.
With a satisfied chuckle, Yang clenched her lowered fist and used her mechanical fingers to depress a newly added wide button at the base of her palm. With a satisfying shink, a set of three golden, metallic, foot-long claws sprang forth from her gauntlet and extended over the length of her hand. Yang threw her fist forward and upward toward the side of the beast's face, driving the spring-loaded talons directly into its eye.
As she ripped her arm down and to the side to tear a huge gash into the selkile's head, claws extended from her left gauntlet. With a backward spin, she used the opening created by the flailing alligator head to plunge the metal spikes into the beast's humanoid head, before firing a shotgun shell straight through the skull. The grimm's white mask shattered instantly, and the entire thing soon turned to a blackened cloud of ash as Yang propelled herself into the air with the blast.
"Enjoying your new toys?" Weiss asked flippantly as she cast the other girl a look over her shoulder. The former heiress was engaged within her own duel, as was the summoned Arma Gigas beside her.
"Hell yeah!" Yang called as another selkile clambered over one of its kin to begin speeding toward her across the soggy rocks. "How's your new gear working out?"
The sound of a magnum round rang throughout the chamber in answer, before a cloud of ash rose from the floor up toward the ceiling.
"Better!" Weiss answered with a grin.
Yang steeled herself as she watched the nearest selkile open its maw, its gaping reptilian jaw shaking in anticipation as black drool slid from between its teeth. Suddenly, another beast thundered through the crowd on Yang's right, its mouth wide open and looking to snap shut. Yang began to backpedal to buy herself some time before a spinning shield whizzed through the air, wedging itself firmly between the jaws of the approaching combatant. Yang smiled wide as she watched Jaune leap through the air behind his thrown weapon and grab onto the gator-like creature's head, only to begin crawling his way atop the beast. The stained egg-crate mattress of hair atop his head peeked out into view as he climbed, giving Yang a signal that he was making his way to the top of the beast.
"Hey, you got a plan up there!?" Yang called as she spun into a focused shotgun blast from both arms, directly into the initial selkile's snout as it lunged for her.
"The makings of one, yeah!" Jaune called back.
As he rose to stand atop the larger head of the thrashing selkile, Jaune took a deep breath. With a newfound sort of grace, her ran up toward the selkile's maw and jumped, turning in midair to grab its upper jaw, still held open by the shield. The teen used the momentum of his descent to drag the grimm's alligator head down with him, impaling the sharpened bottom of his shield through the humanoid face and causing the entire thing to burst into a cloud of ash as he hit the ground.
"Excellent!" Weiss praised as she lunged forward, plunging Myrtenaster through the upper palate of another selkile as it lunged forward to bite her. As the beast roared in pain, Weiss stomped the barreled heel of her foot upon its humanoid head and fired, reducing it to dust. "And good to see you, Jaune!"
"You, too!" Jaune agreed as he scooped his shield from the ground and banged his sword against the front of it in a taunting gesture at a nearby grimm. "What's going on down here!?"
"Long story!" Yang answered over the sound of continued gunfire. "C'mon, let's clean these up so we… can…"
Yang stopped speaking abruptly as a bright yellow gemstone of dust began to emerge from the surface of the nearby pool. Embedded deep within the glittering rock was the mask of a second geist, protected in full by the hazardous crystal. Stony limbs rose from the watery basin and began to snap to the sides of the creature, assembling into another stony golem.
Weiss' eyes widened as she looked toward the rising grimm. Before anyone could even catch a breath, the geist began to walk toward the edge of the pool, standing at just over twice Jaune's height.
"Oh… oh, we may be in trouble, now…"
"Hare, 'cmon…" Marrow pleaded as he gripped the unconscious woman's wrist. A slow pulse thrummed through her veins, though it wasn't enough to satisfy him. "I can feel you alive in there. Wake up for me…"
The faunus stared down at his fallen companion, her chest rising and falling slowly. He had stripped her of her sodden clothing and given her his jacket, leaving him shirtless and shivering in the freezing cave. Harriet's rumpled and drenched Ace Ops uniform was bundled in a heap near Ilia, who had her eyes closed as she focused on controlling her breathing.
"…how are you doing?" Marrow asked as he looked toward the faunus girl.
"I'll be fine… just let me get up enough aura, and then I can help you fix h-"
"No," Marrow denied with a shake of his head. "And I don't want you running in to try to fight, either. You're not out of the woods yet, you know. We need to leave this cave as soon as possible."
"Working on it," Elm chimed in as she remained bent over near a rusted control panel next to the metal railings and grates embedded in the rocky wall. "This thing is definitely a cargo elevator… but it's going to need some juice to get it going, and it's stuck in the 'up' position."
"…I can do it," Ilia offered again. "I just need to get my aura up."
Marrow stared across at her and nodded in understanding.
"And then you can electrify yourself. Can you do flames?"
"Yeah," Ilia nodded as she dragged herself into a standing position. "That was my plan to work on Harriet, too. Warm us both up, and then work with Elm on the elevator."
"…Marrow, don't even think about it," Elm warned with a serious look.
"They need me, Elm!" Marrow replied as he stood and summoned his assault rifle up into his hand from the floor of the cave.
"You'll freeze if you get wet!" Elm chided.
"Then I won't get wet!" Marrow replied simply. "Ilia, you're in charge of warming Harriet up! I did what I could to stabilize her, but now, it's just a waiting game. I'll be back!"
Elm opened her mouth to begin a rebuttal, only for Marrow to quite literally turn tail and run toward the fray. Instead, she let out a frustrated grunt and shook her head.
"…we work with a bunch of stubborn asses."
"Don't I know it," Ilia replied as she knelt next to Harriet and pressed her gemmed fingertip to the palm of her gauntlet. Almost immediately, her hand, and then forearm turned into vaguely humanoid torrents of flame. "Wouldn't have it any other way."
Corsac watched in silent anticipation as the larger of the two geists raised its hand above itself. With great force, the beast slammed downward, aimed directly at his head and with enough force to flatten him outright. At the last possible second, Corsac flicked his eyes to the left, where a glowing ball of bright red energy awaited off to the side. With a simple, instinctual motion, the faunus disappeared entirely in a beam of red light, zipping along toward his chosen anchor point and out of the way of what would have been a fatal blow.
The geist let out a resounding roar of frustration as it swung its other arm in a sweeping motion to get at Corsac, only for him to blink upward toward another suspended ball of energy he had planted in midair. As the golem raised its arm yet again to try to grab at the faunus, he blinked over to another waiting focal point, before zipping back to the final one he had planted upon the ground, near to Clover. With the geist's arms spread out to either side, its face was left exposed, and Sun took several potshots at the fringes of dust blocking its mask. More fiery explosions filled the area around its head, and the golem took several steps backward to rebalance itself.
"Nicely done!" Clover praised as he rushed forward. He flipped his broadswords into a reverse grip in his hands as he leapt over the golem's sweeping arm and began making a beeline for its legs. "Keep it distracted a moment, and be ready with a clone, Sun!"
"Got it!" the faunus called back as he continued firing for the giant grimm's head, chipping off one final piece of dust to expose the mask entirely.
Clover deftly leapt to the side to avoid the golem's attempt at a stomp, before pointing the pommels of his broadswords upward and toward the mask. Two high-tension cables fired forth from inside of the handles, latching themselves to the golem's shoulders on either side before retracting and pulling Clover up into the air. With another quick motion, Clover disengaged the cables and snapped his broadswords together at the hilts, just as he got level with the mask. In lieu of any quip, the man merely smirked as he began to rake his blades across the mask in furious swipes, scoring several hits upon the geist as he flourished his weapon. Just as he felt himself beginning to fall, he planted a heel into the grimm's face and kicked off into a backflip, falling freely until he was caught by a golden image of Sun that guided him safely to the ground.
"Alright, problem," Clover called as the image of Sun supporting him dissipated. "Bullets aren't going to crack that mask, and guaranteeing a final hit puts whoever's up there in significant danger of a dust explosion. I can buff someone's aura by tripling down on one of you, but it may not be enough to prevent a point-blank dust explosion from causing serious harm. Any ideas?"
"One," Marrow replied as he ran up to the group, both shirtless and breathless. "Corsac. Your light-dash semblance. If Clover boosts your aura, how many anchor points do you think you can get out there with triple the aura?"
Corsac narrowed his eyes as he watched the golem bash its fists together and begin a furious charge.
"…twenty. Perhaps more."
"Then get it done, and hit the mask as you pass through them!" Marrow called as he took a deep breath and threw out his arm toward the geist. "STAY!"
Just as the golem's run slowed to a crawl, blue and golden wisps flew from Clover and Sun to Corsac and began circling him in a glowing shell of protection. The man raised an arm to point at the golem just as Marrow had, before beginning to trace his finger through the air in a seemingly random pattern. As he did so, a nexus of tiny, tricolored bursts of aura before to flicker to life in midair around the giant grimm's rocky body, and Corsac crouched low. With one final deep breath, the man seemed to disappear as a bright red laser shot forth, rocketing toward one of the suspended orbs of aura.
In no time at all, a laser light show began that would put the nightclubs of Atlas to shame. Corsac rocketed back and forth between his summoned points of aura, making a pass through the geist's mask and materializing for only an instant to strike it with his weapon each time he darted through the grimm's body. Cracks began to appear in the smooth, bony surface in slow motion as Marrow strained to hold time hostage, though Corsac kept up his lightning speed. In the space of only a few seconds, he ended up back upon the ground, crouched and dragging a palm along the smooth stone of the cave floor as he slid backward between Sun and Marrow. Just as Corsac disappeared behind him, Marrow disengaged his semblance, and the mask of the geist began to spiderweb with cracks.
A loud, fiery explosion rang out through the area as the golem began to reel backward, plumes of flame bursting outward from its body as random chunks of stone fell from its limbs. After only a few steps, the giant core of dust fell backward into the pool of water, dousing its flames as the remaining rocks clattered to the edge of the underground lake or rolled harmlessly upon the ground.
"Uh… hate to put a damper on the victory, guys, but there's another one," Sun pointed out as he looked off to the right.
Yang, Weiss, and Jaune were sprinting full tilt toward the group as the sound of clashing steel echoed through the cave. Far in the distance, the Arma Gigas was holding off the second, smaller dust golem. Bolts of electricity flew from the body of the geist as the summoned warrior's sword chipped away at its body, which was constructed almost entirely of dust.
"Problem!" Jaune said breathlessly as he reached the group first and doubled over to catch his breath. "Mask… inside the crystal… can't get at it…"
"That is a problem," Sun agreed. "And we can't just leave it, since we'll need to return to this area to harvest dust. Corsac, Marrow? Can you run that same play again?"
Corsac looked over to Marrow, who was doubled over and shivering.
"I… no can do. I-I need a minute…"
"And I cannot strike at the mask when it's buried inside of dust, even within slowed time…" Corsac pointed out.
"Marrow…?" Weiss asked as she approached, looking worried. "Where's your… are you alright?"
"Fine!" Marrow reassured as he straightened up, though his body continued to subtly shake. "I-I'm fine! Just tired, cold, and drained."
"We need to get out of here," Clover observed as he sheathed his swords and looked toward the back of the cave. "We need to establish an escape route first, but… I may have one, all-or-nothing idea we can throw at that thing before we run."
"Elm… Elm and Ilia are setting up our escape route," Marrow informed between labored breaths. "Cargo elevator, at the back of the cave. Should be ready by now…"
Weiss summoned a small glyph within her palm, from which a flame roughly the size of her head sprang to life. She offered the hand to Marrow, who held it close to his chest as he closed his eyes and took several deep breaths.
"Perfect… provided it works. Yang? I'll need you," Clover began as he waved the woman over. "Does that arm cannon of yours run on aura?"
"It does, yeah," Yang answered with a grin as her right arm began to whirr and buzz, its interlocking parts folding back. "I like where this is going."
"I thought you might," Clover acknowledged with a nod. "Everyone, let me borrow your auras, and we'll let Yang hit it with everything we've got left. The rest of you, make for the cargo elevator, and be ready to get out at a moment's notice."
"…wait," Weiss cut in as all eyes turned to her. "Could I… Yang, do you think you could just expose the mask? Let me get the final shot in?"
"I can try, but… uh, that sounds risky. Why are we doing this?" Yang asked with a quirked brow.
"…because if I can land the shot, a geist would be an incredible asset to have on our side," Weiss explained as she drew her oversized revolver.
"Your summoning ability works like Winter's," Clover mused as he rubbed a hand against his chin. "Do you really think you can land the shot on a running geist?"
Weiss took a deep breath and turned to watch the ongoing battle, her shoulders tense.
"I… if I can't, then Yang can just finish it off. Divert the laser only for a moment."
"Hey," Marrow said softly as he laid a hand upon Weiss' shoulder, earning him a surprised look. "You've got this. Just remember what we've been practicing."
"…right," Weiss agreed with a quick nod. "I've got this."
"Yeah, I hope you do!" Yang called as the sound of clattering metal across the stone floor rang out from the far side of the room. "Here it comes!"
The Arma Gigas burst into flecks of white and dissolved as its sword spun across the cave floor before doing much the same. Shifting clouds of white aura dispersed to reveal the golem with its fist out where the Arma Gigas had previously stood, before it slowly turned to face the gathered fighters on the other side of the cavern.
"Alright, everyone, get to the elevator!" Clover commanded as he siphoned everyone's aura and began redirecting it into Yang. "Yang, into position! Weiss, get ready to take the shot!"
Everyone else in the chamber began to make a mad dash for the elevator as Yang stepped forward, facing down the golem. The grimm began to charge, and Yang narrowed her eyes and raised her arm cannon in challenge. She braced her left hand into the side of the device as Weiss moved to stand next to her without a word. Yang gave the other girl a nod, which Weiss returned before raising her magnum.
"Alright, geist," Yang began as her weaponry began to hum, the rotating tip of the cannon glowing with flickering colors. "Open wide!"
Yang clenched her teeth and dug in her heels as a massive energy beam flew forth and impacted the crystalline grimm, steadily carving into its gemstone body. Wild bolts of electricity and spark showers began to ricochet from its form as the saffron dust melted away, slowly but surely carving through to the mask. Clover drew his swords and ran along the rim of the underground pool, watching carefully from a side view as he waited for the beam to cut through to the mask.
"Now!"
With a strained yell, Yang directed her beam down and into the cave floor, tunneling straight through the stone as Weiss sucked in a steadying breath. She held her revolver with both hands as the grimm came within thirty feet, and then, she pulled the trigger. A high caliber round soared through the air and pinged off the dust just to the left of the mask, resulting in nothing more than a fizzling spark.
"Weiss, come on!" Yang yelled as she began to pull her arm up toward the geist.
"No, don't, I…!" Weiss called, before taking aim once again.
Just as the grimm began to reach dangerous proximity, Weiss squeezed out another round and scored a direct hit on the exposed mask. The bone fixture shattered into nothingness as the dust crystals held together by the grimm spirit flew apart, scattering and rolling along the cave floor toward the women. Yang jumped out of the way as Weiss ducked beneath a flying chunk of dust, just barely managing to get clear. Within seconds, the cavern was entirely silent save for the sound of the waterfall, and then immediately filled with a loud chorus of cheers from the far end of the cave.
Weiss turned to smile and wave at her collected company of supporters, only for a pair of arms to entrap her within a crushing hug from behind.
"Hell yeah, Weiss!" Yang called as she intensified the squeeze. "Look at you, getting all badass!"
"I try," Weiss teased as Yang finally let her go.
"Nice work," Clover praised as he sheathed his weapon and approached the pair. "And good call on taking the final blow. Come on, ladies, let's not keep them waiting."
"Right," Weiss agreed as she holstered her revolver and broke out into a run. "I really hope Harriet's okay…"
"Marrow got there quickly, and Ilia managed to save her from the pool," Clover pointed out as the trio picked up speed. "She's been through worse. Harriet's tough."
"Tough doesn't protect from hypothermia," Yang said sullenly. "Especially when she's unconscious and incapable of using aura…"
"Be that as it may, I have faith," Weiss replied. "And… oh, what is it now?"
Just as Clover, Weiss, and Yang reached the larger group at the other end of the cavern, another unfamiliar sound roared to life within the cave. Rotating, blinking lights affixed to the rails along the elevator began to flash as the upper platform descended. Elm took a step back from the control panel as Ilia gave the Ace a curious look, her left hand made up entirely of arcing lightning.
"…was that you…?"
"No, it wasn't…" Elm said cautiously as she drew her hammer from the back of her belt and stood before the rest of the pack. "We have incoming…"
"Great," Harriet said as she held her head. The woman was standing on shaky legs as she leaned into Jaune, who had an arm around her waist for support. "I'm pissed enough for a fight…"
"You'll do no such thing," Clover warned as he stepped forward to stand beside Elm, his hands upon his swords. "Elm, stand down. It's him."
Elm growled and took a step back as the descending platform revealed several men in white and blue uniforms, armed with assault rifles. As the elevator finally arrived at the bottom, the guards stepped off to the side to reveal their leader, standing tall and unamused with his hands clasped behind his back.
"You know, I was unsurprised to see Ironwood's lackeys rooting around through my mines without permission, but I wasn't expecting you to be involved," Jacques Schnee said with a sneer as he stepped off the platform and looked over the collection of assembled fighters. He narrowed his eyes as he focused upon his daughter, and his mustache twitched. "Hello, Weiss. Home so soon?"
Weiss bristled as she met her father's eyes, her own filled with nothing but hatred.
"Hello, Father…"
Author's Note:
Been a while since we've had a long chapter, but I didn't want to split this fight in two. This story will be updating much earlier next week. Possibly Monday or Tuesday. See you then!
-RD