Neo was smirking as she approached menacingly towards Ruby who was suspended in the vastness of the sky and the Grimm sailing below, her hands wrapped around her scythe, hooked into the hull as if it were life support in a losing battle.

Their hijacked Atlas ship was on course for Beacon Academy's courtyard to rendezvous with the White Fang, following the attack on the flying stadium.

Ruby had wrecked havoc on their plans before and she still hasn't learned to stay out of things that did not concern her. Now the luck of the past has decidingly caught up with Ruby, Neo agreed happily to herself.

Ruby's hopelessness gave enough closure for Neo to direct her sight to Roman Torchwick, her accomplice and superior who was going off on a monologue.

Neo liked the mocking tone he used when he spoke to Ruby, calling her "Red", and he always kept his composure even when things tend to go off the deep end. From the day Neo was paired with him, she could feel a connection she thought was forever lost.

From her childhood stemmed a core coldness that radiated deeply from within, cooling those who attempted to become close with her. She pushed them away though she pulled them close. It wasn't her but in her core it was her.

The she met Roman, the man that spoke out freely to whomever he felt, he poked at her too. But he didn't let up, as if he didn't care that Neo was a poison to him. As if he was trying to provoke her, deceiving the thought that Neo had towards the people once around her.

But Roman was Neo's poison.

The way he called her name in the heat of battle, the way he treasured his hat in the same way as Neo to him. The deep character of himself and his smile was like dust calling to the Schnee's. She was his and likewise to Neo.

The screech of a Nevermore as it sailed overhead throwing their clothes into a fuss brought Neo back into the moment. She needed to eliminate Red, for Roman. She saw the fear displayed openly on Ruby's face, much from the man who stood beside Neo; he was laughing.

Roman loosened his gifted grey scarf, "I may be a gambling man but even I know there's some bets you just. Don't. Take." He said to Ruby, as he leaned on his cane, annunciating the last few words as if they were more important than that girl's impending doom.

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Taking her cue, Neo pressed a button on her elegantly embroidered stowed parasol, shooting a bayonet the length of the parasol itself out the tip. She weaved the blade across the metal hull igniting sparks as her boots clicked with every step toward the girl hanging off the ship. Neo flexed her weapon at the heroine.

A flying Grimm appeared out of nowhere and lashed out at the bait at the end of the fishing line but Ruby was not a weak worm, she fended it off with a solid kick to the face, hard enough to hear the crack of its beak. Sending it back to join the growing horde.

Neo could've taken this chance to eliminate her, but she knew that Roman wanted to toy with her some more.

Roman shrugged his shoulders innocently, nearing the two of them. "Like it or not, the people that've hired me are going to change the world." He snickered at Ruby.

"You can't stop them, I can't stop them," Roman drew on, but Neo saw something register on Ruby's face,

"But you know the old saying," Roman continued unaware that something was brewing in the air.

"If you can't beat them---," Roman started to confess, but Ruby lunged forward cutting him off, swinging her body weight up enough to become within arms distance of Neo. It was surprising to Neo, that Ruby still had fight in her, but it was all that was needed for Neo to prepare for a counter attack.

Neo was expecting something different and was startled when Ruby pressed the switch above her fingers. The parasol bloomed in a matter of milliseconds as it expanded from its sleek shape into its full composition. Neo gasped at the sudden realization of the play that was taking place. She immediately attempted to re-press the switch to close the parasol but the wind refused. She tried to release her now sheathed weapon but to her horror, her fingers disobayed her.

With a gust that threatened to rip her arm from its socket, it snatched Neo from the safety of the ship's hull and flung her into the open air. Fear took over Neo's body.

Neo turned to look at roman, with a desperate look on her face as she was catapulted away from him with inhuman ferocity. She tried to yell for him but her stammer, forever giving off the impression of muteness, gave no pity. It triggered a walled-out memory of Emerald at the Vytal Festival. Of Em informing Ruby's team of her introverted teamates. Neo generally disliked the impression of her 'reserved' personality since childhood, as it reflected her muteness. Neo couldn't snap out of that picture in her head, of the disheartening illusion that was very well alive at the moment.

"NEO!" Roman shouted to her. He stretched his cane out, but it could never cover the growing stretch of space between them. Neo desperately tried to connect her boot with the cane but it was now miles away from her, like the truth that needed understanding.

A Grimm flew at her and Neo maneuvered around it, her fingers slipping an inch. "I don't care what you say," she heard ruby respond, amidst the howling of the wind and the increasing distance causing her words to become fainter, "we will stop them, and I will stop you." It was getting harder for Neo to pickup on their actions, she even tried using her parasol as a sail to get back to Roman, but the interfering currents from the Grimms' mighty wings were taking her farther and farther away from her companion.