Chapter Twenty-Eight: Jab at the Heart.

Funnily enough, most of that battle went smoothly, considering she was wearing someone else's clothes, using someone else's big and clunky weapon, and stealing someone else's voice. Well, actually, that was only visually true. She had just cleverly merged a bit of camouflage and a non-tangible illusion to make it look like Ruby, even when it was only herself there. The rifle shots were somewhat difficult to pull off, so she did actually have to make a rudimentary pistol out of her semblance. It was a bit more effective than she had imagined it would be, in truth, and she had her doubts that it would even function at all since that was the first time that she'd actually tried to make a firearm with it. Well, to her knowledge, at least. Shamelessly stealing Ruby's voice was child's play since she'd been around it so much during her time at Beacon.

What did, however, get under Neo's skin was how Adam was able to get away so easily. As much as she wanted to imagine a giant fly swatter and whack that metal bug out the air, doing so was neither realistic nor clever. It would only blow her cover and potentially alter the course of history too much to be salvaged. So, against her wishes, she had to watch as her prize flew off into the horizon, whilst she had gained absolutely nothing from this endeavour, except the fact that she may have already mucked things up too much by capturing Roman from the last time she intervened.

And then, there was this fine mess which she'd found herself in. Before she could even begin to fabricate some kind of excuse, she'd already blown her chances of deception by not knowing something which, clearly, Ruby knew about. But that wasn't all. Ever since they mentioned that word, something was itching at the back of her head. It was uncomfortable. Unnerving. Terrifying. Before she knew it, her fingers were trembling, and her disguise was beginning to crack and shatter at the seams. The people around her… she could see their lips moving. Their bodies turning to face her, fully. Their faces twisting into various expressions. Happiness. Surprise. Thankfulness. And anger.

And despite the things they were saying, she couldn't hear them over the painful ringing in her ears and the music playing in her head. She was dancing with the devil up there. Or, more accurately, the devil was dancing her. Reality slowly turned fuzzy around her, before gradually fading into static.

"Neo? Is that you?!" Pyrrha asked, a mixture of shock that she'd found her so quickly after having lost sleep about the situation last night, and genuine glee. Her mind was ablaze with things she needed to say. Questions to ask about that book. About her mental health. About what to do next. She just wanted to hug her tightly and tell her that everything was okay, and that she believed in her innocence. "I was so worried!" Those were the only words which her mouth managed to force out after being bombarded with trains of thought.

"I thought, for sure, that I was fighting alongside Ruby back there. You're really impressive, Neo." Blake admitted, her ears sending mixed signals. Pointed backwards slightly as a sign of distrust and aggression but raised high as a sign of happiness. "But how did you know about our moves so much? And just how capable each of us were? Have you been spying on us?" In truth, Blake felt a little afraid to be looking into the soulless eyes of someone she thought to be her friend. As she looked closer, she didn't see anything in those fake, silver eyes. Not even her own reflection looking back on her. And there wasn't a hint of emotion on that youthful girl's face. She was horrified that she'd so easily fallen for her façade.

Weiss sighed. "It doesn't really matter, honestly. She came to our aid when we needed it. Even came up with some impressively quick judgements which incorporated our skills to take down a foe which I was having my own doubts about towards the end." The so-called Snow-Angel was trying her best not to smile at the false Ruby. In truth, she almost admired how she had so boldly risked her own life to save people which had so quickly given up on her. It made her regret not sticking up for her in that meeting. But how could she have known, back then? When confronted with so much evidence of her history, it would only be natural to assume the worst, right? Criminals don't often change their ways.

Yang, however, was suppressing the urge to punch those soulless eyes into the stratosphere. How dare she make a mockery of her?! To take the guise of her own sister and begin calling the shots like that?! Neo was right to call her 'scary' when she slipped up in her disguise. She felt her hair shifting brighter again as her eyes followed suit and began to turn red. She stepped closer with fire brimming in her veins and smoke coming out of her ears. Maybe she just felt insecure because she didn't realise that that Ruby was a pretender. That she couldn't tell the difference between a criminal and her own beloved sister. "I don't care that you helped us, you psycho! Give me a good reason not to cave your make-up-coated face in!" She reached a hand forward and grabbed Neo's neck, feeling the illusion of Ruby shatter around her fist. Her hand tightly hooked into the scarf which Neo wore, twisted slightly, then lifted her up as if she were about to spike her like a volleyball. All the while, Neo didn't respond. Not an eyebrow was raised, nor did her mouth twitch. It was like holding a limp body.

"Yang, stop!" Jaune exclaimed, as he suddenly jolted forwards and stood between the unresponsive Neo and the enraged tomboy. Or, well, did his best to. "What's gotten into you?!"
"Get out of my way. I'm stopping this sociopath once and for all!" Yang swung her fist at Neo's face as Jaune flinched and ducked out of the way. And yet, Yang's fist didn't connect with Neo at all. Somehow, she had managed to miss by a fraction of a millimetre and had only cracked the illusion of Ruby further.

A large gash of the deception was spread across her cheek and began to spread across her face. Yang pulled back her fist, confused at how she'd managed to miss at point blank, against a target which she was holding by the throat. This time, her fist was grabbed by a particularly furious Pyrrha. Yang turned around in shock, only to have her balance thrown-off by a shove from the red-haired warrior. She stumbled backwards and tripped over Jaune, who was still bent over from Yang's first swing. Both the mute and the blonde hit the ground, shattering the illusion entirely on impact with the floor.

Yang quickly stood up and raised a fist at Pyrrha, only to stop dead in her tracks when she saw the look of intense concern on Pyrrha's face as she looked down at Neo. Considering how she'd gone from anger to anxiety in a split second, Yang also turned her head to see the fractured illusion on the floor next to her. There was silence. The wind stopped howling. The sound of the emergency services and car alarms overhead were dulled as their attention was now fixated on the impossible.

Neo's body was rapidly shifting into a dark purple colour. She was growing taller and slender, with yellowish, bone-like claws at the ends of her limbs. A long, purple tail extended from the base of her spine. As the pink shards of fabrication wandered up her face, it was rapidly engulfed by a metallic-looking grey mask, with four purple and yellow horns protruding out the sides of her head.

"…Is she… turning into a Grimm?!" Jaune mumbled in disbelief as he staggered backwards.
"That's no Grimm I've ever seen…" Pyrrha murmured, too in shock to move a muscle.

The creature before them suddenly lurched to their feet, in a hunched-over posture. Despite looking bipedal, it loomed in a strangely alien position. Its face twitched impossibly, leaving behind the faintest of after-images, as if it were glitching in a video game. Then, it spoke in a strangely robotic, enigmatic alien-esque voice which required no movement of the mouth.

"Surviving… Maintaining… Continuing…"

"What in the fffff…" Yang began, as the creature stepped forwards on all fours and stared at the group, who stared back, in turn.
"Wh-what do we do?!" Jaune asked in desperation, only to see that none of them knew, themselves.
"Neo! This isn't funny… Can we talk? We need you to come home, Neo!" Pyrrha begged, not wanting things to get any more complicated than they already were.

"…Assessing…" The peculiar creature stated, as it then began to circle the group like some kind of predator. "Evaluating…" It was casting its gaze across the group, as if wondering which one were the weakest… or the tastiest. "Multiplying…"

It was then that two more identical creatures began to manifest, also encircling their position like a pack of famished hyenas. The once stunned and concerned group now began to realize that the problem was growing swiftly. And it didn't seem like Neo was even responding to anything they said. It was more likely that she wasn't in control, judging from how unresponsive she'd been a moment ago. But then…what do they do? Inside that creature was a person – one which most of the group present wanted to save. However, now it seemed like they didn't have much of a choice.

"…Engaging."

One of the creatures lashed out suddenly with its bony talons. Pyrrha was too caught up in the moment to react to the swing. Still not quite able to make sense of what she was seeing, or perhaps convinced that this was all some kind of vivid hallucination. Fortunately, Jaune was quick enough to leap in front of her with his shield at the ready. Even so, the blow landed heavily and sent the two of them flying backwards, mostly unharmed. It was a shocking moment for everyone since their strongest warrior seemed to be dissociating from reality. As the two of them rolled backwards, Jaune held her tightly and, as such, was the first to see those emerald green eyes of hers when they finally stopped tumbling. Her pupils were shrunken and glossy as they quaked in her sockets.

Blake and Weiss were not taken as off-guard as Pyrrha, fortunately. As the creature lunged forwards, they were able to nimbly dodge to the sides, before crossing themselves across the creature, aiming to land a co-ordinated strike across the creature's exposed flank. However, despite their speed and accuracy, the creature was somehow able to anticipate their combined effort. It swung its hindlegs to the side to dodge the swing, before coiling its tail around Weiss's leg and grabbing Blake's forearm with its other arm. With a cunning sideways flip, it tossed both of them into the concrete ground beneath them. They landed violently on the ground, with Weiss's aura flickering, nearing depletion. She'd still not had the luxury of recovering her strength after the last battle against the mech.

"Weiss!" Blake cried out as she staggered to her feet. The snow angel slowly climbed onto her knees, wincing in pain.
"I…I think I need a lie down…after this…" She grumbled, as she used her rapier-esque weapon as a walking stick.
"Retreat for now. I'll cover you." Blake instructed.
"But…" Weiss hesitated. That creature was strong. Could she really leave Blake to handle it by herself? Even if the others were close by, could she defend herself long enough for the others to mount their own attacks?
"Just…! Go." Blake insisted, breathing in sharply through her teeth as she held her Gambol Shroud aloft and faced the creature which seemed to have been mocking them by giving them time to address their wounds and collaborate. The peace was short-lived, however, as Blake leapt forward to give Weiss the space that she needed to make her retreat.

Yang, however, was taking a much more direct approach. Her hair ablaze and eyes glowing red with fury, she swung with incredible force and with speeds which threatened to shatter the sound barrier. But the truth of the matter was, like Weiss, she had suffered quite a heavy blow in the battle before. She doubted her aura could take much more damage before it gave way. As such, she knew this fight had to wrap up quickly. However, this unusual creature seemed to be well-aware of Yang's threatening swings as well as her metaphorical short fuse. Both towards her temper and her endurance. It was playing incredibly defensive. Each swing was nimbly dodged with a backwards step. Wide strikes were parried at the inner forearm. Ranged shots were deflected or sidestepped.

How did this creature know all of her moves before she'd made them?

Just as the thought crossed her mind, a particularly reckless swing was caught in the creature's claw. She stared in shock for a moment. Was the creature going to throw her? Unleash a counter with its free claw or tail, whilst her guard was grabbed? No. Instead, she was dragged closer to the beastly purple creature. Her other arm was grabbed by the monster as she was yanked inwards. And then, the creature's maw was revealed, as the grey mask-like visage unhinged and revealed a dark, drooling maw with an almost beaklike appearance. She wanted to scream out, but nothing escaped her lips.
"Anticipating… Restraining… Consuming…!"

"Snap out of it, Pyrrha! It's coming!" Jaune begged as he slapped her harshly across the face.
"Neo's in there. We have to save her…" She murmured, as Jaune turned around to see the third purple nightmare coming closer.
"We can't save her if we're dead. We're in no position to fight like this! We need to get out of here."

Jaune raised his shield and braced his sword arm, ready to take another swing from this approaching demon which had been just as cruel as it had been kind to grant them time. Maybe it was enjoying prolonging their suffering. Or was merely toying with their food.

As the devil pounced upon him, he couldn't help but cover his face with his shield, blinding him from the sight of Pyrrha blasting the creature with her rifle. It struck it squarely in the shoulder, causing it to stagger back with a hiss. A second shot was fired at its leg, but it jumped upwards and out of the way of the strike. Jaune finally took use of the space created by Pyrrha and charged forward, smashing into the creature with his shield, causing the creature to reel backwards with an unholy shriek.

In the meantime, Blake was continuing to do battle with the beast. It lunged forwards at her, piercing her through the stomach. Only then did it find out that there was a reason why there was no resistance since it had pierced through the ninja's after-image which now manifested as a statue of ice. Whilst distracted by its flash-frozen talons, Blake had leapt upwards and slashed down a hailstorm of strikes from her weapon at range. The creature hissed in annoyance, as its tail whipped at her and the ice shattered as its other claw struck the pillar. The creature swung around with a quick claw slice, but it swung widely, allowing Blake to land a couple of cheap shots from her pistol before the hellspawn could dodge. It pounced forwards once more with a flurry of lunges which quickly pushed Blake back into a corner. The beast loomed over her, as the cat had its back to the wall of concrete behind her.

Yang felt a sense of impending doom cross over her chest, but she could not allow herself to give in to despair. Even as those claws dug into her sides and she felt her aura depleting as she struggled to resist having her flesh clawed into by six sharpened hydraulic presses, she refused to lay down and accept her end. She squirmed and writhed, staring up at the descending maw as she thrashed her legs around, trying to kick the creature away, only for it to be too lanky for her to reach its torso. That led her to a deadly last resort. With that spiked maw of the void coming closer, she did the only thing she could, and unleashed an atomic headbutt which sent the creature reeling backwards as she suffered a similar wound upon her forehead. Her aura had shattered as she made contact and, as she hit the ground, she clutched her forehead whilst hissing out her own pained sigh. Her semblance faded as her aura did, and she simply collapsed from over-exertion.

The beast eventually recovered from that devastating headbutt and grinned as it stared down at the incapacitated blonde on the ground before it. Before it could chow down, however, its dinner was quickly whisked away as Yang's arms suddenly lifted upwards and she was pulled backwards, out of harm's way. The creature's eyes followed its food, as its gaze settled on the red-haired warrior who had used her semblance to remove the injured blonde from battle and stood between the two of them.

"…I'm sorry, Neo. I promise… I will save you!" She muttered to herself, as she stepped forwards and faced down the creature before her.

Jaune continued to plough forwards with that creature being tackled upon his shield. However, as a result of the weight and forward-momentum, he stumbled forwards and fell over, accidentally pinning the creature to the ground beneath him. He stabbed down with his sword into its flailing leg, listening to it cry out, before it faded into pink petals, revealing no trace of Neo. He quickly surmised that this wasn't the real one as he quickly looked around. In truth, he was just glad that he hadn't actually stabbed the girl underneath. It was hard to take down a powerful foe without aiming for the vitals.

"Jaune!" He heard the snow angel shout out from a nearby rooftop. He turned to face her, only for her to shout out once more. "Jaune! Go help Blake! She won't be able to handle that thing for long!"
"On it!" He yelled in return, as he spotted the two doing battle some ways away. He raced towards the bridge and attacked from behind, as the creature threateningly advanced on the cornered cat.

The creature lunged forwards at the cat, and he lamented for a moment that he might have already been too late, only for a statue of flame to combust out from where Blake had been standing. As the creature reeled backwards with a hiss, the real Blake slid between its legs and yanked at its tail, taking the creature by surprise. As it lost its footing, Jaune collided with the back of the creature, causing its upper body to tumble to the ground, as Blake's tail pull forced its lower body onto the floor. Before the creature could stand its ground once more, Jaune and Blake stabbed deeply into its shoulder and thigh, causing it to once again disappear into pink shards which fluttered away in the wind. Once again, however, there was no sign of Neo within its shell.

The battle between Pyrrha and the demon was quite the spectacle. The creature always stayed close, seemingly aware of Pyrrha's capabilities at range and how poor of a matchup it would be. This one fought particularly smartly and seemed acutely aware of Pyrrha's strengths and weaknesses. Pyrrha's quick jabs, swings and shield slams were rapidly dodged, parried and countered at incredible speed. Whenever Pyrrha had the opportunity to, she tried to create distance between herself and the foe, but she couldn't risk putting the unconscious Yang between herself and the creature. As such, she was forced to fight this creature as it wanted; up close and personal.

Sparks flew as talon met steel. As its tail whipped at her legs, she hopped nimbly over it. Then, with gravity on her side, she turned her sword into a javelin and launched it at the creature. When it moved its claw to deflect it, she altered its trajectory with her polarity semblance, causing it to arc instead of going straight down. It moved its other claw to intercept, but it was too slow to react to such a strategy and, as such, it struck heavily in the flank, pierced through, and anchored in place through its hind leg. And that wasn't all, as Pyrrha crash-landed upon the distracted creature. She sent her shield forcefully into the creature's metallic face and felt it crunch under its weight as she followed through. The creature was sent downwards into the concrete below, causing a small crater to form underneath the weight.

Just as Pyrrha had thought victory was achieved, the clawed hand reached over the side of her shield and grabbed her by the throat as it tossed her backwards and stood back up. The warrior landed elegantly on her feet, as the beast stood to its full height. One claw reached down to Pyrrha's javelin and yanked it from its leg, leaving behind a crack in its purple illusion. When the warrior looked up, she saw the face had a large gash across it, which was gradually knitting itself back together. The horrifying part was what she saw between the gaps in its flesh. The face of Neo staring back at her with a sunken, dead expression. Even with her face looking like her soul was in another world, she could see her lips move as if she were speaking to her. Despite not being an expert of lip reading, it was clear what they were saying: 'Save… me…' As the words were spoken, the javelin was released.

As she stood there, stunned, the beast's grey visage rapidly covered itself over. The remaining members of the group rushed to Pyrrha's side as they stared down the abomination with confused but nonetheless defiant expressions.

"Recalculating… Regenerating… Retreating…" It spoke with that same dialect, before it turned around and leapt into the air and clambered up a building, before disappearing into the darkening horizon.

"We need to go after her!" Pyrrha insisted, as she went to run after the creature. "I can't lose her again!" However, Jaune held her back with an arm outstretched in front of her. He probably couldn't stop her if he tried, so he just bought time for reason to kick in.
"We're in no position to give chase, and you can't go out there by yourself!" He pleaded.
"What if we never find her again!? What if that thing completely consumes her!? I saw her. She was begging for help in there. I can't let her suffer any longer!"
"Pyrrha." Blake began. "I promise you. We will find her again. We just need to gather our strength and get more reinforcements. Something like that will be much easier to find than Neo, herself. The police will surely be on her tail."
"What if they hurt her…?" She murmured, slowly losing the strength to pursue Neo.
"If you couldn't bring her down with a strike like that, I doubt the police could." Weiss chimed in, having finally caught up to the group, despite being battered and bruised.
"…Do you think she'll hurt other people…?" Jaune wondered.
"…Yes." Pyrrha exhaled, before dropping to her knees in defeat. "…She's… not herself. That thing's got her in its clutches. I've no idea what that demon is… but I will strike it down and save her, if it's the last thing I do."
"You don't have to do it alone." Jaune smiled as he sat down next to her and placed his hand upon her shoulder. "We're here to help you." He then looked around at Blake and Weiss who kinda half-pouted at him. "Or… well… I'm here to help. I guess I shouldn't speak on their behalf, if, y'know, they've got better places to be, or something."

There was a moment of calm as a cold wind blew across them. Blake and Weiss moved to lift up Yang's unconscious form, whilst Jaune and Pyrrha sat down together for a moment.

"… How could this have happened…? She was so close. She was right here with us. She spoke to us! But… she's so far away. Always has been. But now she's further than ever." Pyrrha murmured.