92

Chapter 92: Got Your Ghost

Heights had never been something to bother Weiss in the past. She'd spent a good portion of her life tailing behind her father on business trips, watching countrysides and mountain ranges pass lazily below from the decks of SDC airships. Being so high up had held a distant fascination to her, back when a younger, more naive version of herself wondered why her father seemed to enjoy standing at the railings, peering down his nose at the farmlands and tiny villages so far below him.

(Silly girl. Stupid girl. How could you not see back then…)

Her days at Beacon, however, had slowly replaced that fascination with a growing sense of unease.

Watching Yang get thrown from an elevated freeway.

Witnessing, after the fact, how her first unintended flirting with super speed sent her into free fall.

And, of course, how her very first day had her unknowingly launched hundreds of feet over a Grimm-infested forest, soon to be snatched up by an enormous hungry Nevermore.

The same Nevermore whose representation Ruby now controlled and wanted her to ride.

It frightened Weiss to realize how incapable she was of saying no to this girl.

She would deny to her dying day that she screamed when Speedymore soared from the docks, ears ringing with rushing wind and Ruby's excited cheering. Or that it took a full minute of clinging to Ruby's waist for dear life before the speedster convinced her to open her eyes, to see that they were now lazily drifting above the Vale bay. Reluctantly she cracked an eye open, her face still hidden in Ruby's hair…

…and her eyes promptly went wide with a gasp.

In the evening light, the white skyscrapers of Vale were painted in a gamut of golds and oranges, their long shadows giving the illusion of great chasms crisscrossing the city. Taillights dotted the countless streets, a never-ending stream of movements representing the millions that called Vale home. Five Atlassian airships hovered over the city like silent guardians, half in shadow as the sun continued to dip.

From their perch in the sky, Weiss could see the roofs of even the tallest buildings. As she gazed down at the city, she could start to place locations she knew, places of memory that now seemed small enough to fit in the palm of her hand. Even Beacon Academy looked more like a distant castle than a school from where they stood.

She felt Ruby giggle against her. "Quite the view, isn't it?"

Weiss just smiled, putting her chin on Ruby's shoulder. "Yes, it is," she said simply.

Her tranquility lasted until she caught a flash of white to her right. She blinked in surprise as she noticed Winter's Nevermore summon flying over their shoulder.

Weiss felt her mood dip. She was caught between annoyance at her sister observing her and Ruby's intimate moment and melancholy at the reminder that the summon she was riding was not her summon.

Ruby's head tilted up in surprise, Feeling Weiss's diving mood. She glanced back, then followed Weiss's blank gaze to the Nevermore summon. She frowned. "Weiss? Everything okay?"

Weiss shuddered at Ruby's voice, Feeling her sudden Concern. "I'm fine, Ruby," she quickly assured. "Just… thinking."

Ruby's frown deepened. She looked from the Winter's Nevermore down to her own. She bit her bottom lip nervously. "Are you… mad that I figured out how to summon…?"

Weis smirked faintly as Ruby trailed off. "Before me?" She gave Ruby a reaffirming squeeze around the waist when she saw the speedster's face pink. "No, Ruby. I'm amazed, proud, that you managed to pull this off in your own way." She watched a squadron of Bullheads drifting below, angling slightly towards the docks. "I suppose I'm just frustrated that I've spent years trying and failing at the same motions when just a step back and some lateral thinking might have led me to a similar idea.

"Or," she sighed. "More frightening, had I not met you three, and subsequently became Mates with you… I might have just beaten my head against the wall forever." She then huffed to herself, muttering. "I might just still."

Ruby looked back in alarm. "What? Why? If I can summon like this, you definitely can!"

Weiss gave Ruby a side-eye. "Ruby, you summoned Speedymore by pushing all your emotions into her, right?"

Ruby blinked. "That's what you and Winter said."

Weiss grinned bitterly. "Yes. And I've spent the better part of my life clamping down on my emotions as hard as I could. To summon your way, I have to unlearn all that. It's like…" She hesitated, then quietly admitted. "Like I've wasted all that time."

Ruby's brow furrowed, shaking her head at Weiss's words. With a huff, she put her eyes to the horizon. "You would have figured it out," she stated plainly.

Weiss frowned even as her heart skipped a beat at the Confidence and Certainty in her leader's voice. "Ruby…"

"No!" Ruby cut her off, pouting at nothing. To Weiss's surprise, Speedymore growled lowly below them. "Weiss, you're the smartest person I know. Even if you never met me, you would've figured out Winter's summoning all on your own, just like you'll figure out mine. I just… saved you time." Her pout deepened at her lame last words.

Weiss wanted to deny her, but it was hard to argue with the avalanche of Trust, Assuredness, and Incredulity Ruby was raining down on her. So she settled on hugging the speedster from behind, resting her chin on the girl's shoulder with a soft smile. "Okay."

Ruby gave a sharp nod. "Okay."

A moment passed where Weiss could Feel Ruby was still pouting. Feeling brave, she gently nudged her head against Ruby's. "I love you," she murmured.

She almost burst out laughing when Speedymore let out a choked squawk mid-wingbeat. Ruby's emotions practically short-circuited, quickly replaced with Surprise, Approval, Adoration as a wide goofy grin spread across Ruby's face. "I love you, too," she replied, easy as breathing.

Weiss felt her cheeks burn at her open brazenness. She went back to observing the evening skyline. Minutes passed in tranquil silence as the two watched the city's shadows grow longer, the quiet only broken by the occasional beat of Speedymore's wings. Weiss felt her eyes flutter, breathing the clean air deeply. With how steady the Nevermore's flight was, she was tempted to ask if they could sit down to enjoy the view when-

Shock! Confusion! Apprehension.

Speedymore shuddered as Ruby and Weiss's heads shot up. They looked to each other in surprise. "Was that Yang?" Ruby asked worriedly.

"I believe so," Weiss affirmed, looking back towards the docks in surprise. She hadn't even realized the blonde had arrived. "But why-?"

"Traffic control to all airborne forces!"

The two winced as their earpieces crackled to life, the officer's voice clipped and commanding.

"Grimm attack on Dock D! Threat level Alpha Red! Ground forces requesting air support!"

Dread pooled in Weiss's stomach. "Oh, Yang…"

A second voice broke across the airwaves. "Copy that Traffic Control. This is Valkyrie 4." There was a whine as the trio of Bullheads patrolling below them dipped sharply right, their engines speeding up. "Be advised, we have eyes on target. Squad 2 coming about for a strafing run."

"Acknowledged."

Weiss followed their trajectory, making sure that she'd heard right and that they were headed for the pier she and Ruby had left from. From their height, she could just make out a writhing blob meandering across the dockyard. She recognized the pinpricks of white light that were Winter's glyphs, as well as a golden blur that streaked straight toward the blob.

Weiss met Ruby's eyes. Even as trepidation wormed through her chest, she nodded in agreement with the speedster's hardened eyes. Ruby nodded back and faced forward. She pulled Crescent Rose to the side, Speedymore letting out a shriek as she followed the motion, sending them into a dive after the bullheads.

"Aim for the mask!"

At Winter's command, every soldier opened fire on the Geist amalgamation. Before the bullets could reach the creature, scrap metal shifted across its body and up its 'neck', rapidly encasing the porcelain surface until only its glowing eye could be seen. The bullets ricocheted harmlessly off the battered steel, flying off in random directions. A haunting groan sounded from the Geist, and it charged forward on misshapen legs.

Soldiers scattered to the left and right as it raised its club-like appendages over them. As the Grimm went to slam its limbs down, Winter threw her arms up and a massive white glyph burst into existence. The impact thundered throughout the docks, but the glyph held against the Geist's weight, Winter clenching her teeth from the strain.

Before the Grimm could react, a golden streak shot out from under the glyph, Yang leaping up between its makeshift arms with a yell, a fist aimed right at its mask. Again, scrap rippled up from the creature's torso, shielding its 'face' further. Yang growled as her fist buckled the already dented metal, just to the right of its sunken visible eye. The molten orb rolled to look at her first, then stared her in the face. Taking this as mockery, Yang reared back her other arm… and a tendril of wires and cables lashed out and wrapped around her arm.

"Gah! Wha-?!" Yang pulled against the cables, planting her foot firmly against the scrap for leverage… only for the mass of metal to shift under her boots. There was a moment of disconnect before Yang realized, as she sunk to her ankles and felt razor-sharp edges through her leather boots, that the Grimm was trying to absorb her.

"Oh, hell no!" Hair flaming and eyes blazing, Yang gripped the cable around her wrist with her other hand and pulled both ways. The cable snapped in seconds, and Yang started punching frantically around her ankles, her arms blurring as she sent scrap flying. She felt on the edge of panic as every piece of metal she crushed was shifted and replaced in seconds.

Just as she felt metal start digging into her lower legs, there was the hiss of released Dust around her, and a layer of ice encased the scrap beneath her, freezing it in place. Putting her hands together, Yang brought them down right between her feet, shattering her metal prison and sending her falling in a hail of frozen metal. The moment she crashed to the ground she was up and running, scooping up Winter just as the Specialist's glyph shattered.

"Thanks for the save!" Yang yelled as she sped them toward the fledgling defensive line the Atlas soldiers were making.

"Yang, that was very ill-advised!" Winter called out, her face tinting lightly. "And kindly set me down!"

"Just a sec!" With a small jump, Yang lept them over the line of soldiers, coming to a skidding stop. She set Winter back on her feet, whipping around to take aim with Ember Celica. "Okay, any ideas?"

Winter shook off her disorientation, taking in the burgeoning battlefield. Her eyes widened as she watched the Geist step through the piles of scrap littering the dockyard, the metal being absorbed into its construct through its legs. What minor damage Yang had caused vanished as its dents filled in, its height slowly increasing with its mass as it whipped its arms at the surrounding shoulders, sending them scattering. "I'm thinking," Winter said after a moment.

Yang bit back a groan. "I was afraid you'd say that." She threw a punch at the open air, Ember Celica roaring as it fired. The shotgun blast struck the Geist in the shoulder, sending a hail of scrap metal in the air. Before the debris even hit the ground the metal construct shifted around to fill the hole. Yang growled in frustration. "How do we even kill this thing? There's nothing to really hit!"

"The mask is its weak point! If we can just-Move!" Winter tackled Yang to the side as the Geist suddenly rushed forward, throwing its arm over its head as its form thinned slightly. The scrap shifted towards its fist, forming a crude Morningstar as it was brought down.

The two rolled out of the way, Yang bringing her fist up as she took a knee. Seeing how thin the connection between the Geist's shoulder and fist had become, Yang jabbed two shots at it.

She smiled vindictively when she saw daylight through the scrap metal. There was another hiss of Dust, Winter pointing her rapier at the scrap fist buried in the ground. Yang cheered as the Geist tried to pull its frozen fist from the ground, only to snap off with what little connection remained, the disembodied limb collapsing into a pile of scrap. She took the opportunity to turn back to Winter. "Good move, but we're still stuck. How are we supposed to hit its mask when it keeps hiding its face under three feet of metal?"

Winter went to answer, then paused. Her eyes darted to the side as she put a hand to her earpiece. Her eyes went wide, then hardened, staring back at Yang. "We use a bigger gun."

"Wha-?" Before Yang could finish her question, Winter grasped her roughly by the wrist and took off at a run. All around them, Yang could see the soldiers peppering the Geist with gunfire stop shooting, and sprint for better cover, putting as much distance between them and the Geist as possible.

She and Winter dived behind a concrete barricade, and Yang learned why seconds later.

The growing roar of a stressed engine filled the air, immediately followed by the high-pitched whine of a spinning minigun.

Yang popped her head up just in time to see the concrete thirty feet in front of the Geist explode in a shower of flame and debris. The Grimm turned at the sound, only to see too late the trail of destruction racing towards it. The Geist gave a haunting shriek as it was torn asunder, vanishing in a cloud of smoke and flame as broken metal flew everywhere. Cheers sounded from the Atlassian soldiers as a trio of Bullheads streaked overhead, the whine of their guns slowing as they ceased firing.

As the smoke was blown away in the Bullhead's wake, Yang let out a low whistle. The Geist's torso was blown out like a twisted flower, tendrils of glowing orange scraps superheated and melted together. Its legs and arm shuddered as bits and pieces flaked off. At the center of the melted torso, a haphazard sphere of armor plating hung limply between a mesh of snapped and burning cables. Between the plates, Yang could see the writhing black of the Geist's true body, the Grimm's molten eye still burning in its porcelain mask.

Before Yang could be annoyed at the Geist's survival, an increasingly familiar cry sounded above. Like a bolt of crimson lightning, Speedymore slammed into the construct, driving it off its feet and into the concrete. The two Grimm slid across the pavement for several yards before coming to a stop. The brief moment gave time for Ruby and Weiss to jump clear of Speedymore's head before the Nevermore started gouging into the Geist, her talons shredding the metal muck like tissue paper.

Ruby and Weiss scanned the area, running to their elder sisters when they saw Yang waving frantically to them. They blurred across the rubble-strewn dock and vaulted over the barricade to join them. Once in cover, Ruby shifted Crescent Rose to rifle mode and started taking potshots as the two Grimm struggled against each other, bursts of fire Dust blasting the Geist's arm before it could land a proper hit on Speedymore.

Weiss peeked over the barricade to take in the scene fully. After five seconds of watching the Geist construct and red Nevermore wrestle on the dock, she turned incredulously to the older girls. "We were only gone 20 minutes! How!?"

Yang jerked the thumb towards the half-submerged cargo craft crumpled at the end of the dock. "Stowaway from the subway."

Weiss stared for a moment, then pinched the bridge of her nose. "Of course."

Yang snorted in agreement. "Yeah, that joint is the gift that keeps on giving, huh?"

Weiss inhaled sharply, annoyance clear. "Agreed." She turned to Winter. "What's the plan?"

Winter kept her sights on the Geist at all times, a hand on her earpiece. "Squad 2 is circling back for another run. If they hit or expose the Geist's mask, we can end this quickly." She paused as Speedymore's beak suddenly dove into the Geist's chest cavity, tearing out the remnants of a Paladin's upper arm and throwing it into the sea behind her. "Assuming Ruby's summon doesn't just destroy it first. I must admit, Ruby, I'm impressed you're managing to give so many orders so quickly."

Ruby paused between shots, glancing at Winter. "Oh." She squirmed slightly, going back to lining up her next shot. "Uh… I'm not giving her orders right now."

Winter and Weiss gave a slow blink. Yang snorted when both their heads snapped towards Ruby. "Pardon me?" they numbly asked in tandem.

Ruby shrunk at their tone even as she switched magazines, this one embossed with a doodled snowflake. "I'm not telling her to do all that. She's just really mad that that thing tried to hurt you and Yang."

The Schnee sisters could only stare as Ruby pulled the trigger. They slowly turn to watch as Speedymore planted her talons against the construct's waist and arm, grasping the Geist's center shell in her beak like she was going to swallow it. She jerked her head back, ripping the construct's core halfway out of its body, only for it to catch against the cables and scrap tendrils keeping it in place. Speedymore growled in strain as the Geist screeched in protest, its body writhing under her talons. The Schnees couldn't tell if the resulting ear-bleeding shriek came from the shearing metal or the frantically flailing Geist.

Crescent Rose barked once, twice, thrice, and half the sphere's connections were encased in ice. With a final great heave, Speedymore tore the core from the construct in an explosion of ice and steel. Speedy threw the core high into the air, sending a triumphant shriek of her own skyward.

Winter swallowed thickly at the display, her face pale. "Okay, then," she muttered meekly.

Fully separated from the Geist, the scrap construct collapsed under its own weight, becoming just a pile of mangled metal. As the metal core of the construct started to come back down, Yang and Ruby both stood. Yang cocked back her arm, Ruby swapping back to her fire Dust rounds.

"Now!"

At Ruby's call, the sisters fired. Their shots connected in an explosion of flame, the crude metal sphere blasting apart to reveal…

Nothing.

Yang blinked. "What?"

The group watched the flaming scrap metal fall and crash against the concrete, but there was no shadowy mist of a dying Grimm.

Winter tsked in disdain. "It abandoned the body." She started scanning the dockyards, barking orders to the regrouping soldiers. "It's still alive somewhere. Find it!"

Yang growled in frustration, she and Ruby going back to back as they looked for any sign of the ghostly Grimm. Speedymore warbled curiously, poking and prodding at the scrap piles with her beak.

"There!"

Everyone turned at the call of Weiss's voice, finding the younger Schnee pointing towards the opposite end of the docks. Yang caught the tail end of the Geist's cloak-like tail gliding out from behind a warehouse, winding like an oil slick streaking through the air. It was beelining towards a distant pile of scrap.

Yang's eyes narrowed. "Oh, no you don't!" Her hair glowed and her form blurred as she kicked on both her and Ruby's Semblances, blasting towards the Grimm. The Geist looked up at her shout. It shrieked as she leaped up towards it, arm pulled back. It twisted unnaturally out of her way, her fist missing it by millimeters as it dived toward the ground. Yank cursed as she sailed over it, rolling through her landing and skidding through piles of broken steel.

There was a heavy thudding against the concrete as Speedymore waddle-ran to take a snap at it. She growled as her teeth clamped on air, the Geist skimming the pavement as it darted between her legs, its molten eye rolling about frantically. It tried going for another small pile of metal, but a white glyph appeared in its path. The Grimm howled in frustration, then screeched as with the crack of a rifle, fire exploded against its back and threw it forward, crashing against a nearby Warehouse wall.

Seen the opportunity, Yang blurred across the docks to finish it off. Right before her fist made contact, the Geist threw its clawed arms against the ground, rocking itself up and out of reach as it trailed smoke. Yang snarled as her fist buried itself in the warehouse wall, blowing out a two-foot hole in it.

"Damn it!"

Above her, she heard the familiar whistle of a blade cutting through air. She looked up to watch the end of Ruby's leap, yelling as she swung with Crescent Rose. The blade sliced through the last two feet of the Geist's ghostly tail, but outside of a pained shrink, the Grimm barely reacted. They heard the shattering of glass above, and the Geist vanished through the upper windows and into the warehouse.

"Dang it!" Ruby pouted as she landed next to Yang. "I almost had it!"

"It's a slippery bastard, all right." Yang scowled as she reloaded her gauntlets. "I could have sworn you hit it square."

"I did," Ruby groaned mournfully. "I think it's bigger than Professor Port said. Maybe an Alpha?"

"Could be," Yang acknowledged. She gripped the sides of the hole she'd made, tensing to push it wider. "Let's just get in here before it-"

Realization. Dread. Fear.

"Ruby! Yang!"

The two whipped around, more startled by Feeling Weiss's panicked emotions than her yell. They found the Schnee sisters still in cover, staring at them with paling faces.

"Get away from there!" Weiss shouted frantically.

Confused, Ruby and Yang looked back at the warehouse, just now noticing the lettering painted on the wall above them:

D-47.

Ruby tilted her head at the numbering. "Hey, isn't this the warehouse that we've… been…" She and Yang remembered at the same time a tremble started through the ground, their heads snapping to each other with wide eyes. "Oh, no."

Ruby and Yang tried the super-speed away but barely made it five steps before the wall behind them exploded outward, sending them sprawling off their feet. They pushed themselves up as a shadow fell over them. They looked up in shock.

Thick limbs of armor plating, scratched, dented, partly melted, but solid and whole. A stocky torso leading to three digitigrade legs, ending in wheeled feet. The faded remnants of a black and orange paint job, burned away to reveal gray steel underneath, sparks darting through various cracks and tears in the armor.

Behind thick cracked glass, the golden eye of the Geist burned inside the cockpit of a damaged but complete Paladin, formally piloted by one Roman Torchwick.

Yang's eyes shot red instantly, her hair blazing. "Oh, not you again!"

"Oh, man," Ruby whimpered, ignoring the phantom throbbing in her leg.

The two leaped to their feet, weapons ready. A shriek sounded behind them as Speedymore flew at the Paladin, talons first. She crashed into it, sparks erupting against the armor plating as her talons left it…

Without a scratch.

Speedymore let out a warble of confusion, then squawked as a metal fist closed around her neck and the Paladin used all its weight to slam her to the ground.

Ruby gasped at the sudden pain in her back. It turned to a full cry as the Paladin seemed to unpin at the waist, its upper body spinning like a top as it ground Speedymore back-first against the pavement, the summon shrieking all the way.

"Ruby!" Yang rushed to her sister's side, at a loss as the speedster fell to her knees, teeth grit as her back arched in agony.

After four rotations, the Paladin lifted Speedymore mid-motion and released her, sending the Nevermore crashing into the back of the warehouse behind it. It turned its back on her dismissively, looming over the sisters, dented and bent fingers twitching madly.

Yang swallowed thickly. "Ruby, you okay?"

Ruby stared up at the Geist-controlled Mech, the metal monster twitching and sparking with every movement. Her eyes glinted defiantly. She planted the blunt end of Crescent Rose in the ground, using the scythe to rise to her feet. "Yeah," she said. "I'm fine."

Yang frowned, knowing her sister was hurting. But she could Feel Ruby's Determination and Confidence that they could handle it.

"Okay'" she said, taking her place at Ruby's side. She looked up at the rusted behemoth. "Then get ready, Sis."

The two fell into battle stances, the Mecha Gigas letting out a haunting mechanical roar.

"Time for round two!"