Yo!

Back again. Getting into the Atlas portion of this story! Hope you guys enjoy it!

Start Chapter 19

"Attention passengers, we will soon be landing at Atlas Internation Airport. Please fasten your seatbelts as we begin our descent."

Weiss did as she was asked by the intercom, and buckled her seat belt. To her right, Jasmine did much the same, although Cinder, to her left, seemed to relish in doing the exact opposite, which was to say she almost flaunted the fact that she had not buckled her seat belt.

It was like she was trying to get into the world's lamest fight with one of the flight attendants.

Unfortunately for her, no one rose to the bait. The plane touched down some fifteen minutes later to little fanfare, and suddenly, there they were.

Weiss was home.

It was… odd to just step out of the plane and suddenly be faced with a rather familiar locale.

She had come to this airport many times with her family over the years. It wasn't exactly a place she liked to come to, but she held a certain fondness for it in the back of her heart.

Of course, her family had never once flown in coach as she just had; her father had had his own private jet to travel anywhere in the world at a moment's notice, and honestly, even though he never admitted it, Weiss was fairly sure he had more than one.

"Well," Cheshire grinned as they stepped out of the tunnel, stretching out their back. "That was certainly an interesting experience. Rather cramped, if I do say so myself."

"Do people actually fly like that?" Cinder sounded disgusted. "We were packed in there like we were damned sardines."

"Yes, everyone flies like that." Jasmine, once more, began to butt heads with Cinder. "Pretty much everyone who's not some crazy homicidal idiot does!"

"You–"

Somehow, those two never got tired of arguing. Weiss wished she had half of their energy.

She was too exhausted to even pretend like she cared what they were saying.

Meanwhile, Cheshire was walking ahead of her, investigating every little piece and part of the airport. Everything seemed to interest them, ranging from colorful signs, racks of magazines, or even different looking wall tiles

Weiss had sort of given up attempting to understand Cheshire. They were just… weird.

Well, Weiss also didn't trust them at all. There was just something about Cheshire that had Weiss on edge. From the way Jasmine seemed to be attempting to avoid them as well, that was not at all only a 'her' thing.

Cinder had no problem with them, but she was Cinder. That meant literally nothing.

In the end, it took them a good twenty or thirty minutes to get out of the airport proper. That was mostly because of Jasmine and Cinder petulantly arguing back and forth, but the fact that Cheshire would sometimes simply disappear for a minute or two only to come back with something Weiss was almost certain they hadn't bought did not help.

"Aha!" Jaune let out as she brought him out of her suitcase, after having exited the airport. "I must say, tis dreadfully boring to sit in absolute darkness with no company at all for an entire day!"

"I… can imagine." She felt a bit bad about that, but it wasn't like they'd had any other option. She couldn't simply bring along a giant mirror as a carry-on item.

…Well, she couldn't in a normal world, but to be fair, she'd entered the twilight zone somewhere around when she'd landed in Mistral, so perhaps she was the one being a bit too serious about this.

She probably could have just introduced Jaune to the people on the airplane, and they would have all accepted him immediately.

She groaned out loud, running a hand down her face.

"What is the problem, Weiss?"

She looked down at Jaune with a sigh. "Simply lamenting the fact that this world went crazy when I wasn't looking."

"Ah. I find a good way of coping is to simply ebb with the tides! Go a little crazy thyself."

"Was that the strategy that you implemented?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

Jaune laughed. "Let us hope not."

That didn't really inspire confidence.

Atlas was, unsurprisingly, very cold. Weiss had had just about enough of the cold, and so the first stop on their itinerary was to head to a local clothing store and buy a few layers that she could immediately bundle up with.

Luckily, one wasn't all that far. It seemed that there had been at least one person on Atlas who had realized that people coming into the kingdom might not have been nearly as well dressed as they thought they were, and had thus moved to capitalize on taking advantage of their weakness by being first in line to buy a thicker outfit.

Weiss hated the man for charging her one and a half times what any other shop would have almost as much as she was glad that he existed. After all, him being there meant that she could warm herself up as soon as possible. It was a rather difficult conundrum.

Jasmine did the same as her, buying more than one layer that she could immediately throw on, but Cinder stayed in her normal outfit, only throwing a designer jacket on overtop that looked like it had a lot more form than function.

Weiss would have asked, but then, she didn't actually care.

They paid for their newfound supplies – a frankly ridiculous number of lien that Weiss would not be repeating here – and exited the building. At this point, having flown for the better part of a full day, Weiss very much wanted to just relax. Maybe they could find a hotel that Cinder could book with her obscene amounts of money from Salem?

"Cinder, can you rent us out a hotel?"

She shrugged. "Sure. It wouldn't even be unusual for me to rent out separate rooms, given that I was never much a fan of sharing."

"I'll take 'least surprising news' for 500, Alex." Jasmine quipped.

Cinder just glared at her.

Weiss sighed.

It was as they were walking about, however, that Jasmine suddenly stopped. Weiss wasn't quite sure why, but she answered a moment later.

"There's… quite a few ships up there."

Weiss peered up, and, sure enough, hovering above them in the sky were at least two dozen Atlesian Battleships. They were heavy duty, and seemingly armed.

"I didn't notice while we were flying in, but…" Jasmine seemed concerned. "What's going on, do you think? I haven't heard anything about this."

Last Weiss had been in Atlas, there had, admittedly, been an embargo about to be put in place, and Dust was going to be kept in Atlas for longer in case it was needed before being shipped outside the Kingdom. Yet even so, this felt like a step up from that.

"It's as if they're preparing for war." Cinder spoke, before chuckling. "Not that they'd have a chance, if their enemy is who I assume it to be."

"What?"

"They believe that Salem is coming." Cinder explained. "And that she will destroy their entire Kingdom. In truth, she cares not for Atlas, although she will bring ruin to it in a heartbeat to gain that which she desires."

"And that is…?"

"Firstly, him." Cinder pointed towards the mirror on Weiss' back. "But if not him, then she would be here for the four relics of the old world. And she would do anything to obtain them."

Weiss realized that the Relic of Knowledge was in her suitcase, which she was currently lugging around behind her as if it was a souvenir.

"I see." She coughed. "That's… very intriguing. …So, it's pretty cold out, huh?"

"It is a bit cold." Jasmine commented. "But back on the whole 'Atlas is preparing for war' thing… what's going on, exactly?"

"Well, according to some of the people we passed by," Cheshire sounded amused. "The General here is on a bit of a 'power trip.'"

"Really?"

"That is what was said." Cheshire confirmed. "Whether or not that information is accurate; I do not know."

That was fair. Cheshire was only repeating the words of others. It was becoming increasingly more apparent that there was something… different about Cheshire, but Weiss wasn't going to question that for the moment. She had other things for her brain to throw about in her head.

To hear such things about the General, though… Weiss was surprised, given that didn't at all sound like the General Ironwood she knew. He'd always been willing to take any precaution to protect Atlas and its interests, and because of that he could look forceful, even occasionally domineering, but his heart was in the right place.

Or, well… it always seemed like it had been, at least.

Now she wasn't quite so sure.

It was as they were walking to their destination – a hotel that had apparently been reviewed well, but not so well as to be exorbitantly expensive – that Jaune suddenly chimed in, sounding worried.

"Be aware. We are being both watched and followed."

Weiss felt her heart jump, and she turned behind her to see…

No one.

Before, with the White Fang, she'd had no trouble spotting those same figures that Jaune had warned her about. Here… here was different.

She couldn't see, hear, or sense anyone.

"Where!?" She hissed out in a whisper. Jaune gave a noise of consternation.

"I cannot be sure. Above us, for certain."

She looked up, and saw no one yet again. She wondered what it was that she was supposed to be looking for, even.

"In the buildings?"

"Either in, or above, the buildings. I believe that to be the case. They are likely waiting for you to head to a less populated area in order to strike."

Weiss bit down on her bottom lip.

"You know they're going to strike?

"They radiate… not malice, but the intent to harm. Whether that is thee, or I, or all of us… I cannot be sure."

She swore beneath her breath, even as she turned back towards the others.

They nodded back to her, clearly in the know about what it was that Jaune had just said. There was someone watching them, and making to attack them when they could.

Their job was to not allow that.

Weiss just wasn't sure how.

"What do we do?" She asked all of them.

"Given that we are likely surrounded," Cinder took charge, evidently having been in such a scenario before. "Our options are simple; we either fight, or make it out of their effective operating range. We must first figure out who it is that is hunting us. Then, we will be able to identify our strategy."

"So… what, we bait them out!?"

"That is one method of going about things." Cinder shrugged. "Unless you have a significantly better plan, then I would simply do what I say."

She didn't, and so they did.

They broke off purposefully from the buildings, but not in a suspicious way. They simply took the first corner of the street that they'd been walking down. Jaune confirmed the presence was following them even then, which meant that they likely were atop the buildings, rather than inside of them. They entered a nearby department store, bought a few candy bars, just to have had a purpose to go in, and kept walking.

They were definitely being followed. If it hadn't been obvious before, then it was now. Whoever it was tracking them had waited for them, and was still on their tails.

Who would be so committed? Was it Ruby and the others? No, that made no sense. They would likely only just now be getting on board a flight to Atlas. It would be a few days until they were hunting them.

"Let's just get this over with." Cinder turned to her, either suggesting or demanding, and either way, Weiss did agree.

"Right." She sighed out, even as she took a right into a nearby alleyway. It would be better for them if they knew where their enemy was going to be coming from, and in here, there would only be three possible entrances.

Either they would come from behind, in front, or above.

Above seemed the most likely. Jasmine was watching behind, and Cinder in front. Cheshire was…

Well, giggling to themselves as they summoned their spectral claws, and impatiently twitching their fingers.

They stayed that way for a good minute and a half. Weiss was fairly certain that whoever it was that was chasing them was waiting to attack in an attempt to unnerve them. Unfortunately for them, Jaune was going to tell Weiss exactly when they–

"They're coming!"

She swore out under her breath, even as she drew out Myrtenaster, and took a stance. Above her, two small objects were thrown down at her group, and she had just enough time to realize they were some sort of electric bolas before Cinder had shot them both out of the sky with arrows from her bow.

And then figures came at them from both the front of the alley, and the back.

They were people who Weiss didn't recognize. From the front, a man who held a rifle, with darker skin and a tail. A faunus, it seemed. Behind him came a hulking woman with a giant hammer, which looked like it would hurt quite a bit.

From the back, a man wielding a fishing rod as a weapon, alongside a woman who blitzed directly towards Weiss at a staggering speed, reaching out towards Jaune's mirror. She was stopped by Cheshire, who swung directly for her, and forced the woman to duck underneath the strike, and end up on the opposite side of the alleyway, with the big woman and the faunus.

Weiss summoned her Arma Gigas as the chaos ensued. There were four of the both of them – their group and the assailants – but judging by the regalia they wore; she was fairly certain that these people were Atlas Special Forces.

They had a snappy name, but Weiss, if she had known it once, had long since forgotten it.

"Focus on the front!" Cinder growled out as she separated her bow into twin blades. "I'll handle this one."

Cinder seemed quite confident going up against fishing-rod-guy, but given that he seemed to be the leader, Weiss wasn't all that upset about it. Besides, if she could cordon off the front of the battlefield with her Arma Gigas' blade, she could prevent the other three from making any quick advances on them.

The problem, really, was that Weiss was pretty sure there were more than four of these guys.

Someone had thrown bolas at them from above, and unless that speedy-girl was able to defy gravity then there was almost certainly a fifth, or potentially even a sixth member above them, judging by the dual bolas.

That was a problem. Weiss just wasn't sure how to solve it.

For the moment, she would focus on the immediate problems; those in front of them. She swung down with the Arma Gigas' blade, but unfortunately, given she had to leave room for her own people to dodge it, she couldn't exactly cover the entire alley with the blade, and her opponents were far too good to actually get hit by a slow moving, hefty weapon like the Arma Gigas'.

Weiss swore below her breath, even as she shrunk her armor down to a more reasonable size, and set it off after the man with the rifle, and tail.

"STAY!" He called out, and Weiss felt her entire body just…

Freeze.

She couldn't do a thing, and neither could her summon. Because of that, it was eliminated a moment later by the big woman. Fast lady was coming right at them, and worse, both Jasmine and Cheshire were entirely frozen.

She was gunning right for the mirror on Weiss' back.

Except before she could reach it, Cheshire moved. Irrespective of whatever weird power had fallen over them, Cheshire swung their claws down, and sent the quick lady – who had clearly not expected any resistance – careening into the opposite wall. She recovered quickly, managing to dodge the follow-up attack, but she couldn't make a play for the mirror any longer, and again retreated out of reach.

Weiss could move again a second later, and clenched her jaw as she tried to work out a solution to this problem.

She took stock of the situation first and foremost. They were struggling. Jasmine was a healer with minimal offensive capabilities, and Weiss honestly needed someone to guard her to properly utilize her summons. Cinder…

Had actually already handled her assailant. They had been forced to back away, and Cinder was slowly falling back towards them, coming to reinforce the three of them against their own enemies.

Huh. Having Cinder Fall as an ally and not a hated enemy was actually kind of nice.

Still, with Cheshire having been the only one to resist that weird… call earlier, Weiss didn't fancy their chances unless something changed.

"Can't you remove the evil from them?" She hissed out at Jaune, and the man answered rather simply.

"They are not evil. They might be acting on the orders of someone who is – I know little of their circumstances – but much like Ozma, they genuinely believe that they are fighting to make the world a better place. They do so out of a sense of good. Sapping what little evil lies within this group would change nothing. They would still continue to battle on, but just as better people."

Weiss bit down on her bottom lip. Of course, the spell wasn't going to just be a get-out-of-battle-free card.

"Enough!" A voice suddenly called out, and Weiss and the other members of their number flinched. The voice had come from above, and Weiss looked up to see…

Her breath caught.

Because while two people fell from above – the first a long-limbed, slim man – the person who landed right beside fishing-rod guy, with steel in their gaze and a fire in their heart…

Was her sister, Winter Schnee.

"Winter!" She called out, thinking they'd been saved. "You're here!"

"I am indeed." Winter spoke, even as she took a step forward. Cinder didn't hesitate to notch an arrow into her bow and raise it so that it was pointed directly at Winter's face.

Winter didn't back down, but she did glare.

"Lower your weapon!" Weiss shouted at Cinder.

"I will not." Cinder argued back. "She is not here to rescue you, only to parley for that mirror on your back."

Weiss' eyes widened, and she turned towards Winter with hurt in her gaze.

"…Is that true?"

Winter looked a bit bothered by it, but she nodded all the same. "I am here to take that mirror from you."

Perhaps it shouldn't have been such a shock. As a Specialist, Winter was a member, if not perhaps outright the leader, of this group. It would not have happened without her express involvement, at the very least.

"How do you even know about it!?" She questioned.

Winter bristled a bit. "General Ironwood has been informed by Ozpin of its existence, and what must be done to stop it from rampaging across this world. We do this for the safety of Atlas, Weiss."

She bit down on her bottom lip as she looked around, trying to find an angle out of this. One wasn't really presenting itself.

"And what's more…" Winter sighed. "Father is no longer willing to put up with your shenanigans. You are wanted back at the manor."

"And you care!?"

"No." Winter spat out, as if that was obvious. "But if I catch you, that means the people father sends after you can't. More than that, I can prevent this… corruption from overcoming you any further."

Ah. So winter was trying to save her from her father by capturing her herself, and save her from 'Jaune's manipulation'. It was as magnanimous as it was completely unneeded. Weiss wasn't going to fall to a bunch of two-bit bodyguards trying to apprehend her, nor was Jaune some evil, maniacal dark lord – no matter how much he might've wanted to be. She was a damn-near fully-realized Huntress. She could handle herself.

But then, Winter had always looked at her like a child. That wasn't likely to change in a single afternoon, no matter how capable she'd become.

…They were outnumbered. Alone, or maybe even two against one, Weiss was confident that Cinder could handle any combination of people she'd be put up against. The problem, of course, was that Jasmine in a straight fight wasn't worth much, and Weiss without someone to back her up wasn't nearly as versatile.

They weren't winning this.

Which meant they needed a way out.

That was all well and good, but there were two things preventing them from doing so. The first thing was the faunus man's odd semblance. He could simply call out for them to stay put, and they would. Perhaps it lessened in effect every time he used it, but that was a gamble that Weiss wasn't willing to take.

The other was the girl with super speed. Weiss turning her back on her would be tantamount to giving up Jaune.

…They had to find a way to neutralize both. Once they had…

She could institute the final part of their plan.

For the first, she turned to Cheshire.

"Can you buy us time!?" She asked them. "Distract the man who shouted at us."

"Why, I likely could." Cheshire nodded. "His abilities seemed to have no effect on me."

"Then keep him here!"

Cheshire nodded, taking a more aggressive stance. They weren't going to leap into the fray until Weiss gave the order, which was actually far more restraint than she'd expected.

"Jaune," She whispered. "The fast one; can you tie her down somehow?"

"I can increase her weight by a factor of five. I doubt she'll be able to run, semblance or no, once that's been done."

"Got it." Weiss nodded.

"And what will you do?" Jaune asked, even as Weiss prepared to execute the plan.

She wasn't exactly proud of what she was about to say, but…

Well, needs must, and all that.

"What else?" She spoke, before throwing her hand down, and unleashing pandemonium.

"Run away."

/

"WEISS!" Winter's voice called out from behind her, steadily growing in volume after it had become somewhat muted into the background.

"We need to go faster!" Jasmine panted out, despite the fact that Weiss was doing the best that she could to keep their Queen Lancer both pointed straight ahead, and moving quickly.

It was easier said than done!

"Stop complaining or help!" Cinder snarled, firing off another pair of shots as she somehow kept up with them – running alongside them – whilst sniping back at the Specialist group. "Preferably both!"

"Oh, bite me, bitch!"

Weiss groaned.

Cheshire was somewhere around here. They'd attacked the 'stay' guy, and then promptly gotten dog-piled by the whole enemy group. Despite that, Weiss knew for a fact they hadn't managed to catch Cheshire, for she'd seen them jumping atop nearby buildings, barely continuing to evade capture.

Weiss had… she wasn't quite sure what she'd expected. Maybe for the Specialists to break off from them, and disengage, realizing the folly of continuing to chase them? Maybe for one of Weiss' group to get captured? Maybe for all of them to get captured?

Honestly, they were doing pretty well.

That luck, of course, had to wear out.

Because as they ran past a couple of barriers – labeled with 'Do not enter' signs – Weiss came face to face with something she'd never actually been near in her entire life.

The edge of Atlas.

She was thinking about simply leaving Cinder and Cheshire behind. One of them could maybe follow, and honestly, letting Cinder be taken in by Atlesian Specialists was probably about what she deserved. Unfortunately, a white feather from a hoard of Winter's Nevermore skewered straight through Weiss' Lancer, and sent both she and Jasmine hurtling out of the sky.

She swore below her breath, even as she barely managed to keep herself from falling off of the edge. Her foot was maybe a few inches or so from the lip of the rim, and that had her more than a little anxious as she stood back up.

It was… quite a way down.

She swore below her breath, even as she turned to see Winter, fishing-pole-guy, stay-guy, big woman, and skinny guy stepping into a line formation in front of them.

They had them pinned, well and truly.

Their final member, the fast lady, had been incapacitated by Jaune's spell that had rendered her entire body five times heavier. Jaune explained to Weiss that it would wear off in a few hours, but that they had enough time to get away.

It seemed that wasn't quite in the cards anymore.

"Surrender, Weiss." Her sister called out to her. "This is the end of the line, and you know it."

In a very literal sense, Winter was right; this was, in fact, where the line ended.

But at the same time…

"Jaune…" She muttered. "If you can increase the weights of things, can you decrease them?"

"Surely. What for?"

"Could you make the four of us light enough that we could safely fall to Mantle below us?"

She couldn't see Jaune's reaction, but she had a feeling it was rather animated.

"Buy me a few minutes."

She didn't nod, but did take a step forward.

"Tell me, sister; do you have no faith in me?"

"Faith in–" Winter hissed out. "Of course I have faith in my sister! But I can see through your trickery. I was fooled earlier, but I know now; you are not my sister, warlock! Do not speak to me with her voice!"

Oh. Right. Everyone thought she was being entirely controlled by Jaune.

Cool. Great.

…Could she… use that?

…

Eh, in for a lien.

"Fine then," Weiss dropped her voice an octave, and took on a more casual, very not Weiss Schnee stance. "It seems you've seen right through me. But I am no warlock, Girl," She channeled some of the energy that Jaune had once spoken to her with, when they'd first met. "I am the Dread King Jaune D'Arc, Chief among the Lords of Light, and bringer of this land's demise!"

It was… really stupid. It was a stupid thing she was doing.

Annoyingly enough, if she knew the world, then that meant…

"You fiend!" Her sister cried out, totally falling for it. Weiss had to bite back a sigh. "Unhand my sister, now!"

"And what would you be willing to give up in exchange for her?"

"What?"

"I need not a pawn as fragile as this one." Weiss spoke, demeaning herself purposefully. If she knew Winter, then she knew her sister would not take kindly to her making little of herself – or, well, to 'Jaune' making little of 'Weiss'. No, she would be unsteady, prone to error like this.

And she might be able to keep her talking.

"So, I am willing to make an exchange." Weiss held out her hand, splayed as if for a handshake, towards Winter. "If you would become my pawn!"

It was bullshit. In fact, it was A-Grade, ethically sourced bullshit.

Unfortunately…

"…You will surrender Weiss to me beforehand." Winter spoke; her voice clipped. The other members of her special forces unit looked to her in shock. "Do so, and I shall become your pawn."

Okay… uhm…

"You care so much for her?" She tried to keep her emotions in check, but…

"Of course, I do!" Winter shouted, and she seemed both terrified and furious in equal measure. "She is my sister, my baby sister! I would do anything I could to protect her!"

Oh. Wow. That… that actually meant a lot for Weiss to hear. Without realizing, she'd teared up, and one streaked down her cheek.

"Weiss!" Winter shouted out, and she thought her cover was completely blown. "You're still in there! I know you can hear me!"

…Oh. Never mind.

The world was dumb. Everyone was dumb.

"H-Hah, even if she resists," Weiss continued to play along, despite the way her voice cracked. "I still hold dominion over her–"

"The magic's ready."

"Oh, thank the gods." She wheezed out. "I can only do that impression for so long before my brain begins to turn to mush."

"I am going to attempt to not take offense to that."

Winter's eyes widened. "Wait, what about–

Weiss ignored her sister – though when this was all over, they would have to spend some time together, just the two of them. Maybe have a long talk – as she turned towards the others, and raced towards the edge of Atlas.

"Jump!" She screamed. "We'll be fine!"

Jasmine's eyes widened. She looked down at the massive drop, back up at Weiss, paled, and then back down at the massive drop.

"Uh, can I just elect to get arrested inst–"

"Oh, quit being a baby!" Cinder snarled, before practically tackling Jasmine off of the edge of Atlas. Weiss and Cheshire leapt a moment later.

And Jasmine screamed the whole way down.

End Chapter 19

Ladies and gentleman, it happened; Weiss has embraced the bullshit, and begun to use it to her advantage!

Well, sort of, at least.

There will be no update for this story next week. Sorry about that! Some stuff's come up, so it will instead be updated two weeks from now.

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