RWBY||Rising Phoenix

Chapter 29: A Deal with the Devil

Beacon

3rd Person POV

"You can't be serious," Cinder said as she, Emerald, Mercury, and Phoenix walked toward his Berg.

"Actually, I can, it just takes a lot of energy," Phoenix replied, pulling out his keys and clicking them, causing the Berg's door to open.

Mercury stared at him. "You seriously use keys?"

"No, I used the keys," Phoenix corrected, slipping his keys back into his pocket and boarding the Bullhead. "And don't worry, they just open the door when I'm too lazy to type in the code."

"Why am I not surprised?" Emerald sighed as they followed him inside.

Glancing over and seeing his sister's worried gaze, Phoenix's expression softened. "Don't worry, sis; it'll be fine."

"Really? Then why are you going to walk right into Salem's own territory when we literally had a six-page discussion about how corrupted she is?" Cinder deadpanned.

"Trust me," Phoenix said, closing the Bullhead doors and walking over to the cockpit. "If we're going to stop Ozpin, we're gonna need her help."

"And you seriously think that he's not going to notice that we left?" Emerald asked disbelievingly. "He's going to get suspicious."

"That's pretty much the point," Phoenix said, reaching up and flicking several switches. "It'll take some of his attention off his plan, causing him to make some mistakes."

"That's... actually pretty smart," Emerald realized. "Then why not bring Team RWBY and the others?"

Mercury gave her a deadpan look. "You seriously think Ozpin wouldn't mind if we disappeared with his 'secret ace?' He'd hunt us down even faster. At least this way, he'll have more important things to worry about."

Phoenix pointed at him. "And that, my friends, is exactly my point."

Cinder nodded. "I see. Still, when we get back, you do know you'll have Hell to pay from Weiss."

Phoenix fell silent for a long moment. "That's why I'm hoping that if we save the world, she might have mercy on me."

"Dude, if being an assassin has informed me of anything," Mercury explained, "it's that women can be just as ruthless and merciless as the strongest assassin."

"Gee, thanks for the help," Phoenix complained, and the Berg lifted off. "So... directions?"

Cinder rattled off some coordinates, and Phoenix put them in.

As Phoenix eased the Berg in the direction of the Land of Darkness, his eyes narrowed. "Hey, Merc, mind running the protocol for trackers over there? It's the blue button."

Mercury nodded and ran the program. "Nothing."

Phoenix's eyes narrowed. "Transpose the dynamics and run the program again."

Mercury did so, and a beeping occurred.

Emerald stared in shock at the diagram of Phoenix's ship, and the small blinking dot that represented the tracker. "How did you..."

"This ain't my first time leaving from a trap disguised as a paradise," Phoenix replied and glanced at his sister. "Mind doing the honors?"

She nodded and raised her hands. Fire flickered around her, and she thrust her hands out, unleashing a wave of fire that flew through the ship, incinerating the bug.