Yang didn't take much of a chance as she pulled Jae onto the bike and roared after the stampeding robot chasing after Sun and Blake. "HOLD ON!" Yang yelled back at him as she pushed the throttle to it's highest.
Jae meanwhile was more accustomed to Yang's driving at this point and somehow seemed to enjoy the adrenaline rush that was practically waterboarding his brain; "You drive, I shoot!" He warned her as he drew his revolver and started loading Ice rounds into it, before taking aim at the Paladin; "Don't wanna risk killing someone if I miss…" He thought as he took aim at the Paladin's legs and started to shoot. Grimacing in annoyance as it did very little to help since the buildup of ice had quickly dispersed but then had an idea of his own; "Pull me up close to one of the cars!" He yelled for Yang to hear.
"Are you nuts? This is rush hour traffic and even YOU could turn into strawberry jam on the road if you slip!" The blonde rightly questioned it though inched herself closer nonetheless.
"Yeah, but if I get closer then I can get some better shots and maybe do some more damage to slow it down!" Jae would reply as he readied himself to jump onto a red car nearby; "Besides, now's a good a time as any to test out my new abilities."
Yang would've yelled at him to sit back down but she knew that he was kind of right about getting better chances at a closer range; "I hope you know what you're doing!" She yelled as she pulled herself closer to the car.
As Jae jumped off the bike and onto the roof of the car; he turned back to Yang; "If I screw up, then you can yell at me from the hospital bed!" he would joke before rushing towards the Paladin by jumping from car to car, loading up Lightning Dust rounds into his gun while Sun followed suit in jumping.
"Hey Sun! I'll try and short circuit it and you try to bash it with your staff." Jae issued a plan as he took aim at the back where the Paladin's head was.
"You got it, you think you can take it down?" Sun asked as he used his Semblance to clone himself and rush forward.
"What's to take? Aim enough electricity at the head and that might fry it's circuits!" Jae remarked as he started firing directly for the Paladin's back as he hopped between cars to keep up with Sun.
Torchwick was having fun with the Paladin; bowling cars over felt like he was kicking pebbles and the fact that being in a several ton war machine on top of it was an added bonus as there was a sudden alarm blaring followed by a series of jerks and loud bangs. "What in…Oh it's you!" He growled as he saw Jae lining up to take another shot while getting closer.
"Payback Time, Torchwick!" Jae yelled out as he clambered on top of the robot and started emptying his electric rounds into the Paladin, before rearing his hand back to summon up his hammer Behemoth.
Though his first strike managed to dent in the framework and knock off a good chunk of durability, trying to hold on while doing it was not as easy with Torchwick using the mech to throw him away; hitting Sun in mid-jump and sending them over the side and into the underpass below, leaving Team RWBY to try stopping Torchwick on their own.
——Meanwhile in…Somewhere?—
"So, here we are again, you've really gotta get a handle on taking a hit."
"Who…Are you exactly?"
"Eh, doubt that's really necessary, but since you can actually hear me this time means that you've gotten a handle on that mindset of your's."
"Mindset? What's that supposed to mean?"
"Simple, You're a Demon…Since you've started to consider that you are, your body i-"
"….ae…."
"Jae…."
"JAE, WAKE UP!" Sun yelled as Jae finally snapped back into consciousness and staggered to his feet. "Dude, I thought you were out for good! But since you're awake we can try finding the girls, I'm guessing you don't know where we are, do you?"
"Well…If I'm remembering right, we fell off the highway." Jae tried to remember before looking up; seeing that he was in what looked like a dilapidated building and a collapsed hole in the roof; "…All the way to the bottom."
"Yeah, that giant robot threw you off and knocked both of us over the side, I tried to grab you but you sank like a rock into this old warehouse." Sun explained; "I managed to land on the roof but you hit the weak spot and fell straight through to the ground floor."
Jae groaned as he stretched; "Weird, I don't feel like it did.." He mentioned as the sight of the broken roof and the fact that Sun looked more worried then laid back meant that he got a pretty good idea on the reason why; "Then again; I think after the whole container thing back at the docks, part of my perks as a Demon means that I can take a hit better."
"Well, the first time I saw you fight was when you lifted a giant container like it was nothing. Something like that could work against a robot like that, but so far we're kinda stuck in this junkyard." Sun pointed out as he saw the piles and piles of broken down junk once they left the building.
"This looks like a chop shop more than anything; Broken down cars and discarded bikes as far as the eye can see...Maybe I could take one back for a fixup." Jae mentioned; "Funny how a couple of rides on Yang's bike can jumpstart an adrenaline kick for one of those."
Sun grinned; "That right? Well maybe she can help give you pointers…once we get this gate open." He remarked as he pushed against a giant metal door with no success. "Looks like they locked it up tight."
"Maybe…But it looks like someone welded the door shut." Jae mentioned as he ran his finger along the fused seam of the door; "Whoever closed up didn't want anything in." He mentioned as he turned to see what Sun was doing and noticed he was staring at something.
"Jae…You might wanna take a look at this." Sun said as he waved Jae over; showing a deep hole in the ground, it looked like someone had been digging what looked like the foundation for a melting pit but never finished.
"Wait…I think I know this place, I remember seeing on the news that a junkyard got attacked by a Grimm when they were expanding, so they ended up cordoning it off." Jae elaborated as he could remember seeing the report while shifting boxes at an old job for money.
Hearing that was more then enough for Sun to decide what, where and how fast they should do; "I think we should leave here…." However while the blonde Faunus was scrambling over the piles of discarded junk, he didn't notice that something was watching them.
"…you…."
Jae could hear a haunting whisper glide over the air while he kept a watchful eye; "Sun, that's not funny…"
"What's not funny?" Sun asked as he peeked over what looked like a hollowed out muscle car.
"…Kill…You…"
"That…Stop doing that!" Jae repeated as he was starting to get unnerved from the words he could hear.
"Dude, I'm not even saying anything…" Sun admitted as he could feel this place starting to feel creepier the more he looked around.
Jae was more and more on edge as he then began making his way over to the pile where Sun was, but before he could confront him; he saw a glint in his peripheral and then heard a metallic creak, getting flashbacks to the docks: he quickly reached forward to pull on the back of Sun's shirt; "GET BACK!"
The yelp that Sun let out was overshadowed by the sudden loud crash from dozens of metal shrapnel hitting where he was. "JAE! What is your…problem?" He trailed off when he saw junk flying towards a singular spot and forming into a giant colossus with a giant right arm that looked like a shredder with a rusted buzzsaw and a more spindly arm made up of sharpened pipes.
"Who dares to tread upon my hallowed ground?! Filthy Meat Puppets that assume the land is their's!" That same whispery voice echoed in Jae's head as he watched the being make itself know; There was only one Grimm that could stand to benefit in a place where nature hadn't been able to reach.
"Geist, I guess that answers the question on what drove people out." Jae mentioned blankly as he summoned up Behemoth in his hands. "So what's your story? Because you're a long way from the forest."
"There's a Geist here in Vale?! And why the hell are you talking to it?" Sun yelled out as he saw Jae draw out his hammer and then he put his own staff together.
"Your kind hath woke me from my sleep when they burrowed into the ground of my territory. I saw fit to punish them when they refused to prostrate themselves to me…And then YOU awaken me with your trampling!" The Geist started to make it's amalgamated parts shake in rage as it screamed it's vile hate into them, or more specifically at Jae; "But you…You have a presence that severely aggravates me… My desire to kill you rises, just from having my gaze on you!"
Jae however was getting both annoyed and bored at this Geist's longwinded rant; "Hey, we landed in here by accident. It's not my fault that you're such a light sleeper." He snarked at the Geist like it wasn't threatening to kill them in all manner of ways.
"Jae…Can you…understand it?" Sun asked, from his perspective; the Geist was making those repeated gasps and ethereal moans at them both with Jae talking back to it like it was a regular person.
"You don't hear it talking?" Jae asked Sun in confusion but a deeper and more angry groan was heard and interrupted them as the Geist raised it's arm back, before thrusting it's arm made of jagged metal at the two.
Thankfully, the angered Geist's movements were easy to predict as the boys moved out of the way and started to rush forward and attack the lumbering junk giant.
"Okay, more questions on that later…You got anything that could take it out?" Sun asked as he used his staff to knock the spindly arm away from him and aimed the gun barrel to shoot it's body with little effect.
"I read up on them at Beacon a little, but knocking away the limbs are going to take forever since there's enough broken junk here to repair it!" Jae mentioned as he made Behemoth grown into it's larger warhammer form and swung it down on the arm, smashing the collective pieces on it that turned the combined parts of a car engine into tinsel.
"Then we go for the face! You got the heavy duty stuff so I'll use my Semblance to distract it and you try and get a clean shot to the dome!" Sun planned it out as he used the nunchaku form of his weapon to whittle down the lunging limbs.
"You may know my limitations fleshling but you will not live to make me bow to your inferiority!" The Geist bellowed in Jae's head as it started to assimilate more broken down parts into a bigger colossus; the shatter parts of car bodies formed into armour and even a broken down wrecking ball was taken in on it's right arm to try smashing them.
Sun separated himself with his Semblance and used his clones to make more targets to split off the attention; "Good a time as any, dude…Get it!"
Jae nodded as he twisted the barrel of his gun from a revolver into it's bigger hand cannon mode and loaded up with fire dust; "Steady…Steady…." He thought to himself before unloading six heavy duty explosive shots into the Colossus, stripping it's "Armour" away before rushing forward with the Behemoth, "Grow, Grow, Grow!" He yelled out as he pumped Aura into the hammer, making it gradually bigger and bigger until it went from the size of a regular hammer to the size of a small car, driving it into the exposed heart of the Geist and knocked it's torso free of it's assimilated junk body.
"NO! You arrogant, savage little fleshbag! I'll reform more and once I do…Then I WILL MAKE SURE YOU AL-" The Geist shrieked in Jae's ear before getting cut off as the paralysed Grimm was staring at the jagged tip of Fenrir with it's one eye; "I…I see that you are no mere Huntsman…That presence of your's, it resembles that of my kin along with your weapons." The Geist mentioned as it started to recognise the vague essence of Grimm in Jae's weapons now that it was up close and against the car tailpipe that it called a throat.
"You can stop the roundabout talk because you're not gonna change anything." Jae bluntly said to it, getting annoyed by the Geist's rather chatty nature before poising the spear to run it through.
"WAIT! I recognise your skill, you're one of the few meatpuppets that have forced my hand…Allow me to baptise you in my corruption…Become my follower and I will grant it all to you; Wealth, Power, Anything you desire!"
Jae rolled his eyes in annoyance, this was the textbook plea from a villain if he ever saw one; so rather then try to humour the Grimm, he drove the spear through the mask and watched the smoke dissipate while the fused junk crashed to the ground.
"Jae, there are so many questions that I have." Sun mentioned as he headed over to regroup. "Starting specifically with HOW THE HELL DO YOU UNDERSTAND GRIMM?!" He would yell out at the boy while the floating orb that was formerly where the Geist was bobbed up and down.
"I'm…honestly not sure." Jae admitted, honestly it was difficult for him to explain it without sounding like a crazy person; "I could just…hear someone talking and when I first heard it; I thought it was you trying to prank me in a creepy junkyard but the more I heard it, the more I quickly figured it out that the Geist was the only thing that could've done that." Jae surmised, cautiously making sure that he didn't mention about the other two voices he heard since Beacon.
"But that's crazy, I've listened in on classes at Beacon and at Vacuo but I don't think I've EVER heard of a Grimm being able to talk…Well…unless you count The Chill…" Sun mentioned; trying his best to understand. "But that's just a fairy tale…Then again, I saw you doing some equally crazy stuff before so I'm not gonna bother denying."
"I guess so…But this is the first time that I ever heard a Grimm actually addressing me, normally they just roar or screech." Jae added as he walked over to the orb and reached his hand out to touch it, feeling that same familiar tug as the orb began to draw into him but something broke his concentration and the orb retracted.
He would hear a sudden grunt of pain from Sun and a sound of a body hitting the ground made him turn around; he saw a short girl with pink and brown hair brandishing a parasol and eyeing him curiously. "I didn't think that this place would get so popular…" He quipped as he saw the girl in front of him.
Neo was on her way after Torchwick while he stomped about on the robot but the chaos up top was too dangerous so she kept a distance on her parasol; though the sudden crashes and loud noises from the junkyard got her attention. Her gaze on Jae turned from satisfaction at finding him to a playful curiosity and than started to gesture from her to him and then tapped her wrist like she was wearing a watch.
Confused at this but noticing that she wasn't really talking meant that she either wouldn't talk to him or couldn't; "So…Have we met before?" Jae asked her as he kept a watchful eye on her in case she tried anything with him or Sun.
She rolled her eyes, before reaching into her pocket and pulled out a Scroll before tapping quickly; "I'm Neo, you may not have seen me before but I have certainly met you~" The scroll read out in a Text to Speech tone and both explained yet didn't explain anything to him.
"I'm kind of in a rush right now, you think this can wait? Kinda worried about my friends right about now." Jae mentioned as he carefully shuffled his way over and tried to get closer to Sun.
Neo however had nimbly closed the distance and was practically face to face with him; "What's the hurry, cute stuff? I thought you and I could take this time to get to know each other." The synthetic voice on her Scroll echoed as Neo swung the crook of her parasol up and caught Jae under the chin to knock him back.
"Lady, you're coming on a little strong and I really don't have the time." Jae asserted as he rubbed his chin, confusing Neo as that kind of knock was meant to either stun him or knock a tooth out but suffice to say, Jae had neither happen but he was sufficiently annoyed.
"So maybe Roman was right about you, I could see your fight earlier. You're certainly tougher and weirder then you look…But I don't mind that, I like weird anyway~" Neo thrust her weapon more as she swung and jabbed at him like she was dancing around.
Jae was on the back foot, like Yang; he was equally as strong but with a smaller target like Neo who could jab him like that was more challenging then the giant he fought earlier; "Wait, you're with Torchwick? Where'd he go because I want to settle something with him." He asked Neo as he parried another swing of her Parasol with his Saber.
"Maybe I do know, but what do I get out of it? Roman's on edge because of you and I can't have that." She responded and then flipped backwards with a kick upwards. "Y'know, if you join us…I'm sure we can make a pretty good deal, Roman's pretty reasonable and after what I heard from him…I think I could offer some things that could "Interest" you into staying around~" Neo amped up the tease as she shook her hips seductively during another dodge from Jae's swing.
"Not gonna happen, besides…I've got something better to do then jumping into crime…Ask me four years ago and I would've said yes." Jae refused before summoning up the Grimm Spear and used the non sharp pommel to swing her back.
Pouting at both his rejection and the fact that she was getting several messages from Torchwick requesting her for help; "Duty calls~ just keep me in mind, handsome and maybe I might sweeten the deal for you next time~" Neo's Scroll said to him as she rushed forward to him with a more rapid speed, sneaking a kiss on his cheek before she shattered like glass and vanished from his sight.
Jae was shaking off the blush from his cheeks and rushed over towards the unconscious Sun; "Sun! Sun, you okay?!" He would yell and shake Sun as he came to.
"What happened? I was talking and next thing I know, I got clocked in the head by an…umbrella?" Sun grumbled as he got to his feet; "So what happened with our friend in the Junk Heap?"
"Well, with him distracted…I was able to knock him out of his limbs and put him down." Jae mentioned and started to explain what happened after he got knocked out.
"So there's someone else working with Torchwick? People just keep coming out of the woodwork for this guy!" Sun groaned as he looked around; "Wait, if she's going to help him, we need to catch up with the others!" He said and realised as the panic settled in; "We don't know how far they are and if that girl was able to move around you like that along with a giant robot could be trouble!"
Jae meanwhile was assimilating the Geist's essence and the form started to take a new look; however parts of broken down scrap were being sucked in to the ball of light which grew bigger and bigger. As the light dimmed down and the panicking Sun was starting to calm down, the only thing that could be heard in the Junkyard was the sound of a roaring engine and grinding metal.
—Meanwhile at the Underpass—
Roman was standing off with Team RWBY and was saved by Neo when she blocked one of Yang's rockets; "Ladies….Ice Queen~"
"Hey!" Weiss interjected with offence as she pointed her rapier.
"Always a pleasure! Neo, if you would." He would smirk as Neo took a bow and had them shatter when Yang tried to punch them, giving them the chance to get away.
"So…Looks like our friend got a new henchman." Yang remarked, frustrated that she was deprived of her chance to punch both Roman and Neo's smug face.
"Well, she did certainly make our plans…fall apart?" Weiss tried to joke with a small chuckle as it brought a giggle out of Ruby but for Blake and Yang, it wasn't all that amusing.
"At least I'm tr-" Weiss tried to protest but there was the sound of rumbling and the distant roar of an engine; "What in the world?"
Yang turned around as she recognised the sound of a bike engine; "Someone better not have touched my….Oh…." She trailed off when she saw something that wasn't her bike.
Jae was riding towards them on a black and white Motorcycle with red tubing under it's body into it's engine; with a frantic Sun trying to hold on, the others could see that the front of the bike had a Grimm's mask as it's front ornament. There were no three guesses as to what kind of fight Jae was in.
"What. In Remnant's name….is that?!" Weiss was the first one to address the new addition as Jae climbed off and grinned widely; "That's a weapon?"
Yang was more then just a little excited once she got a closer look; "Nah….This is a bike…and it's a Grimm too?" She mentioned in confusion, "This IS a bike, isn't it?" She would ask Jae as he walked over.
"Yes and No." He would say, placing a hand on the seat and then with a brief push; his hand went through the seat and it looked like he was pulling a two handed sword hilt out from the seat that looked like a handlebar from the bike. "It's more than that." He elaborated as he reached a second hand in and pulled out another hilt; as each hilt was pulled, more of the weapons started to form, the inner engine work formed the hilt guard as the piping formed up the sides of the blades like veins and the tires had wrapped around the edges and segmented themselves into teeth.
"Ho…" Ruby started.
"…Ly…" Blake and Weiss continued it.
"Shit!" Sun and Yang both had the same reactions as what appeared in Jae's hands were a pair of slender but serrated greatswords that almost looked like saws.
"And that's not the best part." Jae added with a grin as he was still running the high of a new weapon and squeezed the right sword's hilt before twisting; the hilt roared into life and the serrated teeth started to spin and roar like a chainsaw.
"CHAINSAW GREATSWORDS!" Both Ruby and Jae yelled out with an equal level of excitement as the two geeked out over his new weapon set.
"Just when I think this guy can't surprise us anymore…He does stuff like this." Blake remarked in a mix of awe and tiredness.
"Well, at least we know he's not gonna make things boring." Yang admitted as she was still thinking on why exactly his new weapon could turn into a bike. "I think I might've woken up a new adrenaline junkie…But then again riding that bike is a good look on him~"
"Motorcycle weapon or not, we should head back…If we stay out too long then we will definitely get into trouble." Weiss pointed out; "Though with being here…how exactly do we get back? Yang and Jae, I get but what about Sun, Ruby and I?"
"Well, we can share rides but that leaves two people." Yang suggested; "Ruby can ride with me since I'm worried she's gonna take apart Jae's bike?…weapon? His new ride…"
"Me and Sun can navigate the rooftops so we won't need to worry." Blake mentioned as she and Sun headed off, The blonde leaping off while Blake used her Ribbon to swing out of sight.
"So that means that…I ride with him?" Weiss asked as she looked to Jae and to Yang. "Alright, but if I do this…We're obeying traffic laws!" Weiss ordered as she headed over to Jae as he reassembled the bike; surprised to see the weapon interchange between swords and bike like it was a liquid.
"Where's the fun in that?!" Yang yelled out as she roared up her bike and sped off into the night, leaving Weiss and Jae alone.
"Alright, considering this is an emergency; I want to ensure we get back quickly but I also want to ensure that you don't drive crazy!" Weiss said as she watched him climb onto the bike and started it up; "A-And I won't be happy if you get us lo-"
"Look, do you want a ride or not? It's a long way back to Beacon after all." Jae interrupted her, partially impatient to try riding the bike again and partly because the constant worrying was getting to him; "Besides, I can make sure to be careful….Just climb on and hold on tight."
Weiss huffed at being interrupted mainly due to his rudeness but she had to accept the condition as she climbed on the back and put her arms around his waist and gripped him with tight hold like a vice.
"GUH! Ta-Take it easy…I need the air…." Jae wheezed as her squeezing was pushing all of the oxygen out of his body but sighed in relief as she relaxed a little, though subconsciously; he was trying to figure out why he wasn't freaking out with Weiss's arms around his waist. "Alright, next stop: Beacon Academy…Keep arms and legs inside the bike and try not to flip off traffic." Jae said with a faux attendant voice to joke about.
Weiss shut her eyes tight as she felt them speed up into the city; her hands holding tightly together since she had spent most rides in airships and luxury cars as a Schnee. She also had a sudden realisation; even though it wasn't the way she was imagining it, she was closer to Jae now and keeping him in this hug seemed to put her a little at ease and over the drone of the engine…She could almost find herself at peace like this. "It's settled, once we're back at Beacon…I'm going to be completely honest with him!" She would think to herself as they rounded a corner.
Thankfully, it only took about a half hour to get out of the bad side of town and back in to Beacon. Though since Yang was still locking up her bike, Jae had the advantage of not being see since Weiss was struggling to walk after the long bike ride; "You know, I can always ask Yang to help you back to your room."
"Oh hush...If she saw me having trouble walking back to the dorm rooms, she would never let me hear the end of it." Weiss remarked with a pout; ever since she climbed off the bike, her legs were like jelly on top of aching from the long fight and it cost her all of her pride to ask Jae to carry her back. "Plus I know for a fact that you aren't the type of man to blab about something like this." She added with a slightly softer tone, it never stopped surprising her that he was strong enough to lift her like she was light as a feather, along with the fact that every time she moved in his arms, she could feel firm muscle on his body.
"Well, if you had still been the same way you were at the start of the year, I might've considered it but you're not that person anymore...That and I've gotten past the point of holding things as a grudge." Jae mentioned honestly; "Besides, it's not like it's a big deal...Friends help each other out after all."
Weiss turned her head away as she heard that; "F-Friends...Right..." She said with the faintest hint of a falter and decided to start letting her more subdued thoughts come to light; "I...I still meant what I said earlier; Thank you...Really, not just for saving me in the forest but for giving me another chance. I know I don't deserve it all that much but it still means a lot that you did."
"Weiss...I know you didn't exactly like me and honestly; I never exactly gave you much reason to in most cases but if our teams are going to be hanging out together, I want to make sure that we can be civil at the very least." Jae confessed; "Besides, I know that there's more to you then just your family name...You're a capable fighter, you're graceful and smart, plus it might be Ruby's optimism rubbing off on me but I do know that you're a good person if you're given a chance."
This compliment seemed to turn the pale girl a rosy pink as she hadn't expected for Jae to be this open towards her; "H-Here's my dorm...You should probably get back to your's too, I can imagine that your team must be worried...That and Nora might be louder than normal with your new weapon exposure." Weiss said with a somewhat pleasant tone as she was let down, trying her best to stand up on shaky legs.
"Well, if you and the others need help than...you know where to find me." Jae said and gave Weiss a small smile to reassure her and to offer his assistance in the future.
She nodded; "I-I'll keep you in mind...and before you go...I'd like to consider this one last thank you." Weiss said and after taking a deep, contemplative breath, she grabbed him by the cheeks and pulled him down to her level so that her lips could press on his in a quick but passionate gesture.
Jae had been confused by Weiss's mention of a last thank you but that was quickly turned into surprise when the smaller girl had quickly grabbed him and pulled him in for a deep kiss, his hands reflexively reached towards her's but rather than indulging in his compulsion to pull away, he could feel something deep inside him start to melt away a little; something that didn't feel exciting or scary...it just felt...right.
When the two finally broke apart, the pair were in a state of shock; Jae was dumbfounded and his face was pink in the cheeks and his ears while Weiss's face looked like a tomato in a white haired wig; "OkayJaeitwasverynicetalkingtoyouIhavetogonowsogoodnight!" She stammered out in a speed that could put Ruby to shame as she quickly opened up the door and shut it behind her just as quickly. Weiss staggered over to her bed and flopped onto it, converting what was her internal screaming into external screaming into her pillow.
Jae on the other hand walked like a zombie towards his room with his scroll in hand, thankfully his team were all asleep by the time he had returned and with the recent revelations plus the exertion of creating a new weapon managed to drain all of the energy out of him.
One thing was for certain though; as the two lay on their beds in silence, there was a single thought that went through their minds and it certainly wasn't going to be leaving anytime soon as the last few minutes ran through their heads on repeat.
"What just happened?!"