Chapter 11 — Resurrection

Weiss stepped into the airship, just in time to see Penny be ripped apart.

The tournament had been queued up on one of the terminals, upon Weiss' request. She had thought, maybe, she could call her team. Warn them in time, maybe even direct them until she arrived at Beacon. Watching the remaining pieces of her friend fall to the floor, all of Weiss' plans were forgotten.

"Penny," she whispered. A part of her noted that Penny was a robot, but the revelation meant little when the light in her eyes faded.

It was then that the broadcast was interrupted.

"This is not a tragedy. This was not an accident."

Weiss' grip on Myrtenaster tightened.

"James," she barked, only remembering the pilot's name because it matched Ironwood's.

"What are your orders, Ma'am?" he asked.

Weiss refused to tear her eyes away from what was left of Penny. "Get us to Beacon. Now. I don't care if this ship is ripped apart in the process."

"Y-yes, Ma'am."

A hand on Weiss' shoulder kept her from digging her fingernails any deeper into her palm. When she turned, it was impossible to miss the concern on Ilia's face.

"Are you going to be okay?" Ilia asked.

Weiss' eyes darted to the soldiers standing near them, who were trying and failing to keep their eyes off the supposed dead girl and her unknown companion. If it weren't for their presence, she would have leaped into Ilia's arms.

Instead, Weiss took a deep breath. "I don't know.

"But when I find Cinder, she won't be."

The Paladin came at them with too much momentum to be stopped, but that didn't stop Blake from trying.

Blake shot her ribbon forward, wrapping it around the Atlas machinery. During her time in the White Fang, she had accepted that there would be a need to fight the most advanced technology Atlas could throw at them. She'd never thought she'd be fighting alongside fellow Huntsmen and Huntresses.

The ribbon had little effect on the Paladin, slowing it down a fraction of an inch. It was enough for Sun and Neptune to get away from its charge.

"Thanks!" Sun called. Blake nodded in response before firing at the robot. The bullets might as well have been spitballs.

Blake scowled. I don't have time for this! While they were all distracted, the White Fang were tearing the school apart!

Breaking apart from the group was out of the question. They were barely holding out as it was. One fighter less, and they wouldn't last.

"Raaagh!" Yang barreled into the robot, punching it with all the force her Semblance allowed.

"Yang!" Blake called. She had been in their dorm when they'd last seen each other.

She'd made it, and not alone. Blake didn't recognize the two Huntsmen beside Yang, but with all three of them, the tide could be turned.

Blake looked toward the cafeteria, which was already in ruins. Despite that, White Fang members were running that way.

"I'll catch up!" Blake called, knowing Yang was too distracted to go after her at the moment. There were just too many threats to waste all their fighters on one.

I won't run. Not again.

Yang grit her teeth. She had no choice but to let Blake go. Not that it mattered, she thought, while denting the hand of the Paladin. She would be right behind Blake once the machine had been reduced to scrap.

And if anyone tried to hurt Blake? Yang would destroy them.

Ruby had thought, when Torchwick captured her in Mountain Glenn, that she would never be as hopeless as she was in that moment, as long as she always had her weapon. Yet now, she had her weapon in hand, and she was the most hopeless she'd ever been.

That probably had something to do with how she was dangling off Ironwood's ship.

She looked below her at the swarm of Grimm invading Beacon. The black tide sweeping upon what had been her home for months was even darker than the night sky surrounding her. And with the robots overridden, the Grimm weren't even the biggest threat! Coming up here to stop the machines had made sense when Ruby had made the decision. But now . . .

The ringing of a blade against metal made Ruby wince, only for her eyes to widen when Neo pointed that blade at her. She would get out of this. She would beat them . . . somehow.

"Like it or not," Torchwick said as Ruby kicked a Griffon away, "the people that hired me are going to change the world." As he spoke, Ruby eyed a button on Neo's umbrella. Could it be that easy?"

"You can't stop 'em. I can't stop 'em!" Torchwick continued in that infuriating tone of his. "You know the old saying. If you can't beat 'em—"

Ruby reached up, pressing the button that opened Neo's umbrella. A gasp from the girl was the last Ruby heard of her before she was carried away by the wind.

"NEO!" Torchwick shouted, actual worry in his voice. Him? Worried? What right did he have? His plans had killed Weiss, and now the people he worked with had killed Penny! He was helping in the slaughter of hundreds of innocents, and he was worried?

Images flashed through Ruby's mind. Weiss, being flung of a train into a hoard of Grimm.

"I don't care what you say," Ruby growled, clawing her way back onto the ship.

Yang, all her spark drained away as she cried over being framed.

"We will stop them, and I will stop you."

Penny, torn into pieces while Mercury smirked.

"BET ON THAT!"

"This is as far as I can take you. Jacques would have my head if I let SDC technology be seen in the middle of all this."

Weiss nodded at James' words. She would have demanded he bring them directly over Beacon, but any fear he may have had of her was far outweighed by fear of her father. As it was, she and Ilia had been dropped off at the outskirts of Beacon. And even then, Grimm rushed passed them, ignoring them in favor of the fear and despair coming from further inward.

"Return to Atlas," Weiss said. "We'll handle things from here."

She could see his hesitation. His eyes darted to Ilia beside Weiss, then to Weiss herself. What she could see of his face scrunched up, and he opened his mouth as though to speak.

He shut it, turning to the ship without another word. He stepped inside, the doors shutting behind him. A moment later, the whirring of the ship's engines drowned out all other noise. Weiss and Ilia watched in stoic silence as the ship took off, disappearing from sight.

"Are you okay?" Weiss asked once they were alone.

Ilia turned toward her with an incredulous expression. "Am I okay?"

Weiss nodded. "This," she waved her arm over the distant carnage, "is the White Fang's doing. Cinder, too, but she couldn't have done it by herself. How are you feeling?"

Ilia sighed, and Weiss could tell she would only get a glimpse at the whirring emotions going on inside her girlfriend. "I've accepted that the White Fang isn't the same group I joined," Ilia murmured. She looked down. "Or maybe I'm the one that's changed."

Weiss wrapped her arms around Ilia. "You're here now," she whispered. "That's all that matters."

Ilia smiled and returned the hug, but even up close, there was no missing the tears welling in her eyes. "Thank you," she whispered.

For a minute, Beacon was forgotten. The Grimm, the White Fang, and Cinder were all distant worries. In Ilia's arms, Weiss didn't have to think about them. As long as she had that warm embrace to return to, she could handle anything.

If only it could last forever. They separated, with one last nod to each other.

"We stopped the major tide of mutated Grimm," Ilia said, "but Adam must have prepared some beforehand. They will be in the school by now."

"We'll deal with them," Weiss promised. "And we'll find my team, too. Blake would have gone after the White Fang."

"Do we split up?"

Weiss felt a pang at Ilia's question. They had parted far too often already. After all they'd been through, it would only make sense that they stay together until the end. But the Grimm and White Fang were two different threats. If they stuck together, Weiss and Ilia couldn't be everywhere at once.

"Stay safe?" Weiss tried to make it a statement, but couldn't hide the plea in her voice. Ilia's eyes softened, and she leaned in to peck Weiss on the lips.

Weiss grasped Ilia's shoulders, pulling her in. Ilia barely had time to gasp before Weiss slammed their lips together. Not that Ilia had any protests, leaning deeper into Weiss and returning the kiss with the same ferociousness Weiss felt. Weiss' legs almost gave out beneath her. She wrapped her arms around Ilia, clutching the girl like a lifeline.

They said no words when the separated, only taking off. Side by side, the sprinted to Beacon, the sounds of destruction getting closer, until they burst into the field behind the school.

"The cafeteria," Ilia gasped. "It would be the perfect place to draw someone out."

Weiss knew what Ilia was thinking. Blake wouldn't fall for that, would she?

Weiss couldn't take the risk. With one final nod to Ilia, she headed in that direction, while Ilia ran for the tower.

Time blurred, and the cafeteria was suddenly in sight. Weiss' focus returned to her at the sight of it, just in time for her to hear a feminine scream.

"Blake!" Weiss blurted, but her voice was drowned out by another scream. Not of pain, but of pure rage.

With a push from her gauntlets, Yang Xiao Long launched herself toward the deadly terrorist hovering over Blake.

No! Weiss had just stepped in to view, only making out the distinct shapes of her friends and enemy, but she could tell what was about to happen. She knew Yang well enough, and Ilia had warned Weiss about Adam.

Yang wouldn't come out of this in one piece.

The glyph formed behind Weiss without conscious thought. Weiss was almost taken by surprise when the Alpha Beowolf came out of it and smacked her with all its might, turning her into a human cannonball.

Weiss had no time dilation in place, but time slowed regardless. Yang's flying form grew closer, enough for Weiss to make out the volcanic rage erupting from the other girl. She also could see the neutral grin on Adam's.

I won't let you hurt her!

Weiss drew her sword, just as Adam swung his.

The mutated Ursa roared with enough fury to make Ilia cover her ears. That nearly cost her her life, the claw swipe missing her neck by mere centimeters.

This was right. More right than anything she had done in years. The White Fang had claimed justice, but they didn't truly care about the Faunus. If they had, they wouldn't have dumped these killing machines on a school where Faunus trained to be better. They wouldn't slaughter innocents for nothing but their own spite.

Ilia's whip struck the center of the Ursa, which proved to be the end of the beast's limits. With one final whimper, it collapsed.

I won't lie to myself any longer. I won't fight for my own selfish desires. I'll fight for people like Weiss. For those that will put anything aside to defend this world.

I won't let Adam deceive me again.

Another mutated Grimm went down to Ilia's assault. The field wasn't overflowing with them like it once would have, but those that remained could still bring down an unsuspecting Huntsman. Among those fighting, Weiss and Ilia were the only ones who knew what the mutated Grimm were truly capable of.

All the better that Adam will leave Merlot to rot after what we did to his lab.

Ilia finally made it to the courtyard, weapon ready to strike at any threats.

There weren't any. Just a rocket locker flying above her, and a red-headed girl running into the tower.

What was that about? It took her a moment to decide, but Ilia ran after the girl. If there were more threats inside the tower, Ilia wouldn't leave her to fight them alone.

It didn't matter. Ilia barely stepped into the lobby before the elevator launched upward, despite clearly having no support.

Ilia bit her lip. What was going on?

This is my fault.

That was all Blake could think as Yang flew through the air, intent on punching Adam's face in. She had no chance, throwing herself at him like that. Adam was ready for her, and that meant he could . . .

Blake closed her eyes, knowing it would do nothing to stop what came next, nor would it stop the image from coming to her head. She awaited the sound of metal cutting flesh.

Her eyes flung open when she instead heard two metal blades strike one another.

"What?" Adam shouted, attention snapping to the newcomer, who landed before him. Yang flew further, landing beside Blake. Crouching beside her, they both stared in awe at the one who now stood between them and Adam.

Her clothes were tattered, her hair a mess, her frame even thinner than before, and her everything covered in dirt. Weeks ago, the girl would have been mortified at the state of herself.

Now, Weiss Schnee brandished her weapon, a glyph forming beneath her.

"W-Weiss?" Yang blurted. Blake couldn't even do that. The ghost, person, Weiss in front of them had practically taken away her thought.

"Schnee," Adam growled, his own weapon sheathed, yet ready for combat. "I had heard rumors that some of my men fought you in those tunnels. I'd dismissed them as foolishness driven by paranoia. Not that it matters. You have come here far too late to stop me."

Blake had to be hearing things, because Weiss laughed at Adam's taunt.

"Stop you?" Weiss asked. Weiss asked. Weiss was alive!

"I'm not here to stop you, Adam," Weiss said, and even Blake could see the deadly grin on her face that formed from Adam's confusion. "I've spent weeks crawling through the lowest this world has to offer. I've almost died a hundred times over. I dropped a bomb on your men, and you think I'm here to stop you?"

Weiss shook her head, and the glyph below her started to spin faster.

"Adam Taurus, I'm not here to stop you. I'm here to kill you!"