Chapter 35

Beware that the Light is Fading

The monochrome pair followed the fiery blonde as she plowed through train car after train car with nothing but her fists. Each one they entered had a bomb located in the top left hand corner, and so she focused her efforts running on the opposite side. Mostly...

Both girls were terrified that Yang's power and recklessness would set an explosive off but so far the only blasts had come from Ember Celica and from the cars in the back. Just to be safe though they gave her a wide berth.

As they emerged in another train car she came to a halt, and Weiss not paying attention plowed into her.

"Hey!" she snapped. "Watch it!"

Both Yang and Blake froze in front of her, but it took a moment for Weiss' eyes to adjust to the bright lights. Standing on the tips of her toes and looking around the pair, she noticed a door lying on the ground meaning they'd finally made it to the main cargo holds, and let out a sigh of relief as cool air hit her pale skin causing her to shiver.

However, her breath caught when she noticed why her teammates had stopped so abruptly. In the middle of the room was a mechanical spider propped up with boxes and its cannons pointed toward them.

"Intruder, halt." The mechanical voice gave Blake the feeling of deja vu.

"What is that?" Yang asked, moving her friends behind her. "Looks like a metal cockroach."

"It's an Atlesian Arachnid," Weiss explained. "The company uses them to protect our cargo."

"Doing a bang up job," she remarked, noting the painted on White Fang logo on its side.

'So they got it working again,' Blake mused, remembering what she and Adam had done to it. 'Looks like it's seen better days.'

Indeed, the spider seemed to have been put back together with half its legs missing and only one eye sensor left. It also seemed to be missing half of its torso and underbelly.

Despite that however two of its cannons were pointed directly at them, and it seemed someone had also added a Paladin's rocket launcher to its arsenal. Red dots appeared on their chests making them grimace, and Yang tried to back them away from certain death but she was interrupted by a nervous voice.

"D-don't move!" said a male from behind the machine.

For the first time the team noticed six masked men cowering behind the robot carrying wrenches, hammers, and even brooms as weapons. Clearly everyone with guns had gone up above to shoot at their leader while they were left behind.

Blake could practically hear their knees shaking, and following her partner's lead unsheathed her katana prepared to finished the job she had started earlier that year. However, Weiss squeezed in between the pair and with her chin raised high took a step forward.

"What are you doing?" Yang hissed trying to block her. Weiss ducked under her thick arms and all three red dots suddenly appeared on her chest.

"Intruder, halt. Identify yourself."

The heiress cleared her throat. "Weiss Schnee," she said in a commanding tone, "along with my friend Blake Belladonna and acquaintance Yang Xiao Long."

The machine stared at her with its unblinking red eye, and the girls behind her held their breath as a soft hum filled the tiny room. Just as they were about to strike, the red dots disappeared from her jacket and the machine powered down.

Weiss stood looking smug while the White Fang stared in horror and her teammates in awe, even lowering their weapons.

Yang shook her head to make sure she had seen that correctly. "How-"

"Did you do that?" Blake finished.

Weiss turned around with her arms crossed wearing a proud smile. "We're riding a Schnee transport vehicle and that robot was built by none other than the Schnee Dust Company. You don't think we'd install some safety protocols do you? I'll have you know that not shooting the heiress to the company is at the top of its priorities."

The White Fang's ears perked up as they recognized the SDC logo on the back of her custom made jacket and realized what she'd just said. A Schnee was standing right there with her back turned towards them.

They glanced at each other and nodded. They'd never get an opportunity like this again. The lieutenant had been promoted for supposedly killing a Schnee. Maybe they'd get the same respect...

Meanwhile Weiss bowed to the thunderous applause in her mind not seeing the weapons raised behind her.

"Look out!" Blake cried as they lunged forward.

Without even opening her eyes Weiss flicked her wrist and an ice glyph appeared before their feet causing them to slip and fall. With another hand motion the masked men were sent flying to the other side of the car hitting the cold steel.

"Ouch." Yang winced. "That hurt." Weiss stood up straight with her face beaming. "You know, I think you've been hanging out with my sister too long..."

Weiss shrugged but was nearly knocked off her feet by a light jab in the shoulder. "What was that for!?" she demanded, rubbing the injury.

"For calling me your acquaintance..."

Her eyes narrowed but eventually seemed to accept the answer.

"Come on," Blake grumbled, shoving past the pair. "We're not done yet so save it."

Weiss peeked over at the fallen thieves and smiled. It felt good to get some justice for her family. "That's for stealing my train."

Yang slid the door open to the next car breaking the glass window and causing her to jump.

"Oops," she chuckled. "My bad."

Before Weiss could scold her, Blake's nose twitched and she glanced at her teammates.

"Why does it smell like strawberry ice cream in there?"

They took a whiff of the air before stepping inside.

"I think you need to have your nose checked, Blake," Weiss said. "That's definitely vanilla."

They turned their heads confused. "Now it's chocolate?" they asked.

Something didn't seem right. Yang pointed at a poster hanging on the far wall with knives embedded in a woman's face as if it were a dartboard.

"I'm wondering more what that woman did to deserve that."

"Looks like they were on fire." Weiss squinted but couldn't tell who the woman was. All she could see was dark hair on a distorted and burned face.

Blake glanced down and noticed a red stain on the tile floor which she recognized instantly as blood.

"Whoever did this is one sick puppy," she observed and the others agreed.

*crunch*

The girls raised their weapons hearing the sound of glass being broken under foot, and from behind a small crate an equally as small woman carrying an umbrella stepped into view.

Yang let out a low growl as she recognized the mismatched hair and umbrella. Her pink hair was parted on the right side and had a white streak while the left was chocolate brown. In the darkness under the overpass she hadn't noticed but the woman's eyes were as her hair, but the left eye pink and the right brown. It gave Weiss a headache just looking.

The newcomer who might've been their age or just a couple years older looked between them and appeared as though she were trying to contain a smile.

Yang began reloading her gauntlets but the small woman simply twirled her umbrella as if this were a picnic on a sunny day.

"Let's take her," Weiss whispered to her teammates. Slowly she began to spin Myrtenaster's cylinder to its white dust crystal.

The newcomer with mismatched eyes shook her head before raising two fingers. She pointed to the door behind her and raised two fingers again then she lowered one and pointed to the bloodstain.

"We don't have time for charades!" Yang snapped as her hair began to spark. "Just tell us what you want!"

The woman smiled as if this idea amused her, and repeated her actions but more slowly this time and with a condescending look on her face.

"I think," Weiss swallowed, "that she's saying two of us can go but someone has to stay behind."

Across the room she clapped politely but didn't seem particularly impressed.

"Let's just take her on all at once," Yang suggested. The woman shook her head and pointed to the ground with one finger, her lip curling into a wicked grin.

"We don't have much of a choice," Blake breathed. "We're running out of time."

Both girls nodded in agreement but stood in place. Despite the fact the woman had the element of surprise on them she confronted all three girls at once. Clearly she was confident she could beat them on her own.

"Your name's Neo right?" Blake asked.

She closed her eyes and took a bow as if she were on a stage. When she reopened them her eyes had swapped colors.

"Show off..." Weiss muttered.

"So if we leave one person here, Neo," Blake continued, "you'll let the other two go?"

She nodded with her smile unsettling both Blake and Weiss.

Yang however stepped forward cracking her knuckles. "You guys go on ahead," she commanded. "I'll catch up. Shouldn't take too long."

The pair blinked looking up at her.

"You sure?" Blake asked, glancing at the bloodstain on the floor.

She nodded. "I've got some unfinished business and something I'd like to ask."

Blake glanced at Weiss unsure if this was a wise decision.

'If anyone can handle herself it's Yang,' her weary eyes said. She seemed to be trying to convince herself just as much as the other girl.

Yang was by far the most powerful member of the team and nearly invulnerable when her semblance was active. Blake and Weiss had seen her kill Ursas Major and tear apart a Paladin with nothing more than her bare hands, but something about the mismatched eyes of Neo disturbed them.

Something else worried them though. Leaving Yang behind would also mean they would be without the strongest members of their team.

'We'll be fine,' Weiss eyes said again. Even less confident this time.

They didn't have much of a choice...

Blake nodded and together with Weiss circled around Neo keeping their weapons up and never putting themselves in a vulnerable position. A part of Blake wanted to attack while her back was turned and surrounded. If it meant stopping the White Fang she was more than willing to disregard her huntress pride and honor. All that mattered was stopping them.

Weiss glanced over and shook her head reading the faunus' mind.

'No,' she mouthed. 'She want's you to do it.'

Blake looked over at Neo and could feel the aura radiating off of her and pushed the thought of a sneak attack away remembering what Weiss had done to the men in the room prior. She wouldn't be any better than them, and Neo was baiting her. Attacking suddenly felt much less appealing. She quickened her pace making it to the door just as Weiss was pushing it aside with sweaty palms. Both girls were breathing heavy as the train car began to be filled with violent aura. Yang's felt much like a burning sun in summer, but Neo's felt disorderly and twisted but just as violent if not more.

Without even turning her head the woman could feel their anxiety and appeared to relish every second of it. Her delicate fingers wrapped around her umbrella as if petting it.

Blake stole a final glance back at her partner.

'Be careful.'

Yang nodded. 'I will.'

She turned and fled the room with Weiss by her side, leaving her partner and best friend to deal with a psychopath...

With her friends gone Yang sized up her opponent and wasn't impressed. Neo's head didn't even reach her chin, and she was sure one well placed punch could break her jaw if not her entire skull. First though she needed answers, and Neo couldn't answer if her jaw was wired shut.

"A few days ago a woman in a Beowolf mask attacked the CCT and my sister. Tell me who she is and this doesn't have to get ugly."

Neo smiled and brought her fingers to her mouth as if to zip it shut.

'My lips are sealed,' she seemed to say.

"I guess I'm just gonna have to beat it out of you." She slammed her fists together causing sparks behind her, but merely Neo winked and twirled her umbrella behind her.

Yang roared and charged the much smaller woman, but Neo leaned back dodging an uppercut and danced through her fists with ease. She back flipped out of the way but was quickly corralled into a corner. Yang didn't care if she threw a hundred punches and the first ninety-nine missed. All she needed was one to end a fight.

The mismatched eyes turned red just a moment before the uppercut hit her rolled up umbrella. Yang gritted her teeth from the sheer force she'd had brought down on her arm, and no matter how much aura she used Neo seemed to match it.

Her eyes turned white and the umbrella suddenly raised up hitting Yang squarely across the chin and swatted her across the room. Yang got to her feet quickly holding her jaw and burned crimson eyes into the now mismatched ones of Neo.

The blonde discharged her weapons and rocketed towards her but Neo merely leaned back and caught Yang in the side of the head with the umbrella, sending her sprawling onto the floor.

'What the hell?' Yang thought in a daze as she stared at the ceiling. 'My aura barely did a thing to stop her. Where's that pipsqueak hiding those muscles?'

Yang got back to her feet more gingerly this time and saw Neo walking back and forth on a small crack in the tile as though she were on a balance beam twirling her umbrella for show. When her routine ended she bowed again. Suddenly the flips and moves she had done made more sense to her. Neo was some sort of acrobat.

"This isn't the circus you know?"

Neo took a deep breath and drew a small thin blade from the handle of her umbrella, and gave a sick, twisted smile as her eyes glowed white again.

"Anyone ever tell you you're insane?" Yang joked, hiding the fact that sweat was running down her brow

Neo nodded gleefully and put the blade to her throat mimicking someone having their throat slit.

Yang got the message loud and clear. She needed a plan before the same was done to her. Unfortunately she wasn't any good at plans. That was her sister's talent. She just wanted to punch things until they stopped moving. Normally she wouldn't mind getting hit and actually thrived on it in battle due to her semblance, but if a simple umbrella could go through her aura then she had no doubt that Neo's blade could do even better.

She circled her opponent looking for an opening to strike. Her jaw still stung from where she'd been hit reminding her of the boxing matches with her dad...

Yang paused. That's exactly what it felt like!

Suddenly Neo's eyes changing color made some sense to her. At least them changing to red did.

"If you're going to steal my aura, the least you could do is buy a girl dinner first," she remarked with a crooked grin.

From Neo's surprised face Yang knew she had guessed correctly. It hadn't been the umbrella that cut through Yang's aura, it had been Yang.

All those years of training with her father and exhibition matches with aura manipulators like Ren were finally paying off.

The mismatched eyes swapped colors again and the woman smirked. She twirled the little blade in her fingers causing Yang to put up her guard. She remembered the throwing knives embedded in the poster.

Yang felt as though she was being taunted by the blade. It was as though she was saying, 'I don't care if you know my little trick, I'll still gut you.'

And Yang half believed her...

She charged again but this time she let Neo do all the flips and dodges she wanted. She still didn't quite understand what her power was but knew enough about aura manipulation to know it wasn't her semblance, and was now grateful for all the times Goodwitch had matched her up with Ren. He was an expert at the technique and had used her own aura against her more times that she could count, but nothing had ever come close to feeling like this. Yang knew the trick, but she also knew she needed to end this fast and get her semblance into the fight.

Yang threw another flurry of punches but left her side exposed on purpose, and waited until she saw Neo's eyes flash white.

The umbrella came crashing down on her right shoulder causing her to grimace and gasp, but quickly coiled her arm around the weapon while deflecting Neo's blade with her gauntlets.

"Bad move," Yang growled as she headbutted the woman sending her flying across the room.

A fire sparked in the blonde's mane as she felt her semblance activate again. She had gone so long without fuel being added to the fire that it had begun to dwindle down.

Neo got to her feet wiping the trickle of blood from her brow, the look in her eyes absolutely murderous.

Yang unceremoniously tossed the umbrella to the side happy to be rid of it. "Sorry, was that important to you?"

The woman lunged for her throat and for the first time Yang was on the defensive. She couldn't throw a single punch with Neo moving so fast as she would be left completely open. And with her higher center of gravity, she also had to keep her gauntlets low and ended up taking a boot to the head.

The acrobat ducked under another fist trying to cut her throat, but Yang spun around and the knife caught a lock of hair.

Her semblance flared as she realized what had happened even before she turned around, but the second her eyes caught Neo's she received another boot for her trouble. She didn't even have time to register the hit as Neo tried driving the blade into her heart.

Inches from her chest Yang grabbed the sharp blade surprising the woman.

She gritted her teeth as her knuckles turned white and blood ran down her left hand onto the floor. She placed her other hand around Neo's wrist but the short woman still wouldn't budge. Yang was using all of her aura just to keep her fingers from being cut to pieces, and a small flicker in her hair caused her to grin despite the curses going through her mind as they were caught on the back of her throat.

Her body became engulfed in flames as her semblance began taking over. Neo's eyes turned red and Yang could feel her own power working against her, but it didn't matter now. Neo may have been able to manipulate some of her aura, but Yang knew no one could ever truly harness her semblance.

Neo frowned when she saw Yang pull her fist back. The blonde was beginning to become more trouble than she was worth...

With a loud roar Yang slammed Ember Celica into Neo's face, discharging and sending her across the room in a cloud of red dust.

The dagger dropped from Yang's grasp covered in her own blood as Yang fell to her knees. She glanced down at the deep gashes in her skin but paid it little mind. The pain just made her mad.

Neo got back to her feet as if on autopilot and bore holes into her. She was breathing deeply and had a nasty burn across her face, and blood dripped from her brow to her chin and onto the tile.

Her lip snarled and eyes narrowed, and Yang stood back up knowing what that look meant. This wouldn't end until one of them was dead...

"Come on!" Yang shouted.

They both charged and exchanged blows. Yang clipped Neo's shoulder while Neo hit her with the same force through her aura with a kick to the knee. She didn't care if the other woman was using her own powers against her. At this point she just wanted to punch something.

Finally Yang saw an opening, and punched the short woman square in the jaw as hard as possible discharging her weapon again in the process.

Neo didn't move however. She planted her feet and her mouth opened as if she were silently screaming.

Her eyes turned completely crimson matching Yang's before turning back to white. She brought her own fist to Yang's chin and the pair stood unleashing their full auras waiting for the other one to blink.

The train car became engulfed in flames and both were thrown across the room with such force the tile floor was ripped apart and the doors blew out. Both hit their heads on opposite walls and left impressions as they hit the ground.

Neo's fingers twitched however and a moment later pushed herself up with a shaky hand and looked up to see her opponent lying still.

She crawled to her knife and while holding her jaw tightly. When she reached her weapon Neo couldn't help but enjoy the feeling of the blonde's warm blood on her fingers. She smiled looking over at the unconscious girl, and got to her knees and brought the knife inches from Yang's face.

Neo looked to the side and saw her reflection in a broken mirror, and raised the knife into the air smiling ear to ear.

*Wwooosssh!*

Neo spun around hearing the sound of wings beating as a crimson light filled the room and every shadow began pointing toward her. Black feathers appeared and a feminine figure in tattered red clothes stepped out of the darkness just as Neo backed away from the fallen girl.

'No, no,' she mouthed, shaking her head as malice and wrath radiated off the intruder.

Like the White Fang the woman wore a Grimm mask, this of a Nevermore which appeared to be the source of the crimson light. In her hand was a massive matching blade resembling a katana but twice the size of its wielder.

Neo charged with her knife but the blade ran through her chest shattering her into millions of pieces. Tiny fragments of a mirror landed on the ground all staring back at the woman.

The Nevermore growled and turned around to see Neo grabbing her umbrella and a small box laying on a shelf.

The mismatched woman froze as she realized her illusion had no effect, and the Nevermore took a step towards her. The tile beneath Neo's feet shattered and she dropped down with her umbrella over her shoulder with the look of terror on her face.

The Nevermore sheathed her weapon and took a long glance at the blonde who was beginning to push herself up with her elbows.

"I had that under control," she growled, staring back at her with her own crimson eyes.

The Nevermore hissed and stepped back into the red light it had appeared from, and a feather floated down to Yang's face who blew it away.

She got to her feet using the help of the wall, out of breath and physically drained but could feel her semblance slowly returning to normal. At least she no longer felt the uncontrollable rage she'd been overcome by.

Taking deep breaths she willed her semblance to calm down so she didn't waste any more aura. Normally she would have let it all burn up but she knew her team might need it for later. Once she felt the fire under control she opened her lilac eyes to where the Nevermore had been standing.

"Raven..."

'Mom...'

(A/N: Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed. I changed this fight up quite a bit and took some liberties with Neo's powers but I hope you don't mind. I still wanted to convey that Neo is a more skilled fighter and a bad match up for Yang but it's entirely up to you whether Yang was playing opossum or not at the end of the fight. The real winner is unclear but Yang put up a good fight. I'll leave speculation about who Raven is up to you. I have my own ideas but I'll keep them to myself for now. Once again thank you for all of the support you all have given me and for being patient for the slight delay. I love writing for all of you. All credit goes to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ who has made this story possible. God bless)