RWBY||Defender of Remnant

Chapter 12: Living in a Nightmare: Part 2

3rd Person POV

Dreamscape

"Weiss?" Sincline asked, staring at the young woman before him in shock, his mind whirling. He didn't even register the numerous weapons still trained on him by the drones, nor the steadily increasing snowfall. All he could focus on was the sight of his teammate standing opposite him, the dark chill radiating from her body sending shivers down his spine. "How—what are you—?!"

"Be silent!" she snapped, her gaze as cold and sharp as ice. "Who gave you permission to speak? An abomination of power and deceit... nothing more than a worthless weapon!"

What? Ever so slowly, Sincline backed away until he could feel the sharp tip of one of the drone's blades poking into his spine. This couldn't be her; this couldn't be Weiss... but deep down, he knew it was. "Weiss...?"

"I told you to be silent," she ordered, her ice-blue eyes narrowing ever so slightly as she held up her book. "Alright, Sister Winter, your verdict," she murmured.

Sister Winter? Sincline wondered, his eyes narrowing as he slowly reached into his core and began drawing on his power. His instincts were screaming at him, warning him to get away as fast as possible.

Weiss opened her book and watched the reflective pages glow, revealing the silhouette of a tall woman with long white hair, the back tied in a bun with bangs hanging along the right side of her face.

"The powerless return to Dust. The wicked will wander the void. Punish the traitor to the Empire and imprison him for eternity."

A harsh click, and Weiss snapped the book shut. "You have been weighed. You have been measured. And you have been found wanting," she declared. Placing the book on the back of the robotic dog, she shrugged off her trench coat and drew her rapier with a menacing ring. "Either you come with me... or you will be punished."

Sincline's eyes narrowed, and he summoned his scimitars, the Ion blades gleaming as they caught the sunlight. "I don't know what happened to you, but..." His body flashed, and his armor formed, the brief burst of energy that followed the transformation forcing all the snowflakes away from the two of them. "You're not the Weiss I know!"

What Sincline was almost sure was hurt flashed through her eyes, but it was quickly replaced by a cold glare that could have frozen fire. Weiss raised her rapier, and a swirl of flaming blue energy gathered along its edge. She swung, and a massive explosion ripped the courtyard in half, a geyser of azure fire erupting into the sky as Sincline blurred upward.

What the Hell was that?! That was stronger than anything I've seen here on Remnant, Sincline thought, coming to a stop over a hundred feet in the air. At first, he thought he was safe... but that notion was quickly crushed as Weiss flew out of the smoke. She spun, landing on a summoned glyph, and launched herself toward him, her rapier poised to pierce his heart.

Working entirely on instinct, Sincline jerked one of his scimitars up, barely catching her strike on the hilt of his weapon. Their eyes met, icy blue meeting glowing purple, and Sincline's thrusters flared, the mech-turned-human shooting backward and dodging a brutal swing at his torso.

Undeterred, Weiss spun midair and whipped her blade down, a glyph briefly forming beneath her feet as she sent six streams of icy energy flying toward Sincline.

Sincline swerved, dodging to the right, and one of the energy streams plowed through a line of building complexes, wiping them out in a brilliant explosion of icy energy. He flipped left, skating through the air, and the energy streams followed, two more blowing through a factory and ripping it apart. Those things are seekers?!