For a moment, everything stood still as if time was frozen. Max and Steel were branded fugitives in the dream, surrounded by those weird drones, now Weiss stood in front of them in a military attire. With a mechanical dog standing at her side carrying a book on its back.
Steel: Weiss, is that you?
Max: Oh thank Goodness we-
Nightmare Weiss: Silence fools!
Max/Steel: Huh?
Nightmare Weiss: I don't recall giving you or your pet permission to speak! An immature basic child and his insufferable pet drone wondering around without permission! How disgusting!
Max felt hurt, as did Steel. This attitude was worse than when they first met Weiss in the forest. Yeah she had her distrust in the boys, but she never disrespected them like Makino had when he nearly killed them during their many encounters.
Max: What's wrong with you? How could you say that about your friends?! About us?!
Steel: Okay, normally I'd call you the Ice Queen as a joke. But this, this is beyond your usual Ice Queen self. It's as if, you've been influenced by Makino!
Weiss: I don't believe I gave you permission to speak.
Steel: You're acting worse than ever Ice Queen!
Weiss: Alright Winter, it's time for your verdict.
Immediately she picked up the book from the dogs back. Flipped several pages, until two pages carrying a silhouette resembling Winter appeared covering both pages.
Winter: The weak return to dust, and the wicked will wonder the void, punish these traitors! Lock them away for eternity!
Steel: Am I hearing things or did that book actually talk to her about our sentence?
Max: That's your focus?!
Weiss slammed her book shut, scaring the duo out of there little argument. It was then that they realized, that Weiss was scarier here, than back in the real world.
Weiss: It seems, you've both been found guilty!(following her shout, she removed her coat and armed her rapier, preparing her fighting stance.) Prepare yourself Max Steel!
Steel: Okay, if this wasn't horrifying, I'd say you almost sound like Miles Dredd.
Max: Steel, Let's-
Max/Steel: GO TURBO!
Right before Weiss could strike the duo, they linked up, and with a bright flash of turbo energy, the drones, bat Whitley and Negative Weiss, were all blinded by the light and forced to shield their eyes.
When the light died down, Weiss, her drones, and bat Whitley were in disbelief. Max Steel was gone.
Bat Whitley: He escaped Sister.
Nightmare Weiss: Fool! He has a stealth armor rendering him invisible! For all we know, he could still be here! Get Angry Klein to mobilize all imperial forces and find them!
Bat Whitley: As you wish dear sister. He he.
Elsewhere....
Max Steel was running down an alley, completely invisible to the naked eye. With the adrenaline pumping through his heart, and his mind spiraling with more thoughts than he could process.
Max: No way, that's not, possible. That can't be Weiss, she may not trust us, but she'd never try to imprison us!
Steel: Or kill us!
Right as they were running, Weiss jumped in the air, summoned a glyph, and sent several dust projectiles from her glyph, attacking them from behind
Authors Note: Just replace the background with Weiss's Nightmare Empire, and pretend it was Weiss who blasted them, NOT DREDD :-)
Steel(embedded in Max's chest): Okay, that, hurt, a lot. Ow...
Max: Yeah, I, definitely felt that.
Steel(embedded in Max's chest): Okay, I know Weiss is pretty strong as a fighter, but she is not THAT strong.
Max: Later, right now we need to stay alive!
Nightmare Weiss gently floated down towards our heroes, scaring them even more.
Steel(embedded in Max's chest): Seriously?! She can do that?! What is she, a Jedi?!
Nightmare Weiss: You think you can hide from me, Max Steel? You two WON'T escape my judgement!
Max: I don't like where this is going.
Steel(embedded in Max's chest): Then-
Max/Steel: GO TURBO! SPEED!
Nightmare Weiss: What?!
Once again she was blinded once again by turbo energy.
When she opened her eyes, she barely caught a glimpse of them speeding off in Speed mode. this made her furious.
Nightmare Weiss: Ugh!!!! You won't escape so easily!
Meanwhile...
Max: Okay, that was too close!
Steel: I can't believe I'm saying this, but she's almost as dangerous as Makino! And that's saying something!
Max: No two ways about it, we have to call the girls and warn them about Nightmare Weiss!
Steel immediately dialed up Ruby, Yang and Blake's scroll #'s.
Ruby: Huh?
Yang: Oh, hi guys.
Blake: Are you guys al-
Max/Steel: RUN FOR IT GANG, WEISS IS ON THE HUNT FOR US!
Ruby: Ouch. Not so-
Yang: Wait, you guys found Weiss?! That's awesome!
Steel: No, NOT AWESOME. SHE'S GONE MAD! SHE'S TRYINNG TO KILL US!
Blake/Ruby/Yang: WHAT?!
Max: It's true, she's stronger than anyone we've ever faced. The nightmare must be controlling her. Either way, we have to wake up. Abort mission!
Ruby: Agreed, I used up two coins setting up check points across the city, they've gotten us closer to the main tower.
Yang: I have one coin left.
Blake: I used all mine up setting those check points, and mapping out the city.
Max: good let's meet up at-
Before he could finish speaking, Weiss blasted the ground Infront of them, causing them to spiral out of control and crash. the impact was so strong, they reverted back to their standard turbo suit form.
Max: I know this is a dream but, but...
Steel: It sure feels like we're taking a beating.
?: I told you before dummies.
Max/Steel: NYAGH!
They were startled when Weiss stepped out of the shadows of an alley. Causing them both to sweat.
Nightmare Weiss: You can't hide from me.
Realizing that Weiss would continue to hunt them down no mater what Turbo mode they used. Max dusted himself off, as Steel continued analyzing the fighting data from Nightmare Weiss to plan a counterstrike.
Max: Okay Weiss, if we have to beat the crud out of you in order to save you!-
Steel: Than that's exactly how it's going down! No more running!
Nightmare Weiss: (She curled her lips with a smile as she took a fighting stance saying) It's about time.
Max/Steel: GO TURBO, STRENGTH!
After being blinded by turbo energy once more, Weiss found herself standing in front of a taller, stronger Max Steel, whose height surpassed her's by 5 ft.
Max: you've left us no choice Weiss, if it's a fight you want.
Steel: Then it's a fight you'll never forget!
Nightmare Weiss: You won't escape my judgement!
She exclaimed! To her shock, Max caught her blade in his grip.
Max: Nice try. But you're not the first sword wielding maniac we've fought.
But as Max tried to relieve Weiss of her weapon, he found, that she to had a strong grip, and wouldn't let go. And surprisingly, she kept her cool, even when they were spinning her like a rag doll.
Max: Come one Weiss! Drop the sword! We promise we'll get you a different one!
But as they were spinning her, Weiss regained her footing, and used her impressive strength, and threw the hero into a trash can, humiliating him.
Max/Steel: WOAH!
Max/Steel: Ouch...
Steel: Could this be anymore humiliating...
Soon, Weiss's heel clicks grew louder as she slowly approached them, rapier in hand.
Nightmare Weiss: Face it Max Steel your powers may be strong, but it s nothing compared to my skills. YOU ARE UNWORTHY!
Hearing that, brought back terrible memories of Makino's tyranny. This got them furious.
The duo began to slowly get back up,
Max: Let's see if you can keep up!
Max/Steel: Go Turbo, Speed!
Weiss was blinded once more, and when the flash died down, she saw they were gone. But as she saw them speeding off, she noticed that there were, 8 Max Steels dawning speed mode.
Nightmare Weiss: What?!
While the clones continued speeding down the streets, they split up, Meanwhile, the real Max Steel caught up with Ruby, Yang and Blake at a nearby Dust Shop. The girls were relieved to find the boys, but seeing how beat up their turbo mode was, they rushed to their aid.
Max: That, was, intense...
Steel: Never knew, Ice Queen, could be, so, mean...
He stated, as he and max collapsed to the floor out of exhaustion and fatigue from their encounter with Nightmare Weiss.
Ruby/Blake/Yang: MAX!
They rushed to check on the collapsed heroes.
Max: Weiss...Strong....Crazy....hunting us.....
Steel: She's....Protecting....Grimm....Must....Wake...Up.
Yang: Okay, were leaving!
Ruby: Agreed. If they barely survived taking on Weiss unprepared-
Blake: Then we won't be able to take her out without a plan.
Yang: And our Turbo Powered hero.
Blake: Of course.
Ruby: Done.
Back in reality....
Ruby used her coin to wake everyone up. And back in reality, Shion had received the message from her computer. And using her wand, she woke up everyone from the dream. Ruby, Blake and yang were gasping, but none of them were gasping as hard as Max Steel. When Max awoke from the dream, the minute he sat up, Steel unlinked from Max's chest, expressing the same reaction as his partner. What startled everyone, was Max's Turbo energy being triggered as they woke up. Burning off Shions purple threads wrapped around Max's head.
Authors Note: Just pretend they're in that Room with Shion, Ozpin and Glynda. And that they're on Shion's Purple Thread Web, alongside Yang, Blake and Ruby. And that Max is in his Turbo suit, minus the helmet.
Max: Gasps!
Steel: Woah! That was, intense, and not in the fun way.
Max: I know what you mean.
Glynda: Are you boys alright?
Yang: Yeah, given your reactions, and the surprising use of your Turbo Energy just now. It looks like you guys had it worse than we did.
Max: Well, we found Weiss in the dream. So that's some good news.
Steel: But did something go wrong. I mean, did we fail?
Shion: I'd say that for a first recon mission, you all performed well. Please describe in full detail, what you all saw and heard.
Timeskip.....
Soon everyone was gathered around a table, looking at drawn out diagram of the layout of the city. With a map of what everyone explored, the different levels, as well as where they had set up door check points. But what surprised everyone, was how Steel was able to project a hologram displaying footage of the experience within the dream.
Shion: With this new information, as well as the added video feed from Steel-
Steel: Glad to help.
Shion: We know have a better understanding of what we're up against.
Blake: There was a wall inside the city.
Yang: But we couldn't find the entrance to the area with that enormous statue, yet.
Ozpin: It seems the closer you get to the city center, the deeper you get into Weiss's mind.
Shion: It appears the city itself is acting as a fortress that the Nightmare created out of Weiss's thoughts and fears. More likely the Nightmare is inside the core of her mind.
Glynda: Max, Steel. When you encountered Weiss in the dream, how exactly was she acting?
Max: She was so mad, it seemed like she hated us.
Yang: She's the same way awake.
Blake: Yang.
Steel: Worse, she was trying to capture us.
Max: It was, a near traumatic experience.
Steel: Yeah, she was almost as cold and ruthless as Makino. It was, horrible.
Shion placed a reassuring hand on Max's shoulder.
Shion: There's no need for worry, that's just what the Nightmare wants you to believe.
Glynda: While there's no doubt that experience was quite traumatic. Remember, this creature distorts truth, that wasn't Weiss's true self.
Ozpin: We should differentiate this Weiss from the Weiss you Know. Let's call her, Negative Weiss.
Yang: Negative, you make it sound like we've ever seen a positive Weiss.
Blake: Hush.
Steel: Eh, I think we should shorten it. Call her, Nega-Weiss, it sounds cooler.
Soon everyone was staring at him with an expression that read, "Really?"
Steel: Alright fine, we'll stick with Negative Weiss, sheesh.
Max: Anyway, there's something else you should know. She was extremely strong in there.
Steel: We never stood a chance, even with our Turbo Modes. All we could do was barely hold her off.
Shion: That to is because it's inside a dream. The Nightmare will want to keep the upper hand. It'll want to keep Negative Weiss the strongest in the dream.
She then picked up a strange hourglass with sand in one end, and small purple flowers at the other end. When she set it down with the flowers below the sand, the sand turned into the small flowers as it seeped through the glass to the other end.
Shion: When my Aura is finished recovering, you will each have to decide who is entering the dream next.
Max/Steel: Us.
Ruby: Me.
Yang: I'll go to.
Blake: I'm going in as well.
Max: Hold it. You sure you want to come along?
Blake: What's the problem we went in as a team before.
Yang: Not happening guys, you aren't doing this all alone.
Ruby: Why are you so afraid of us facing Weiss.
Yang: Oh I get it, it's because Dream Weiss is really really mean.
Blake: It's Negative Weiss Yang.
Ruby: We stand a greater chance going in together, than just one person. Or in your guys case, as a duo.
Max: It's not that guys, it's the threat that she posses.
Steel: You saw the footage I shared, she was unstoppable. She almost destroyed us, if it wasn't for our Turbo Powers.
Ruby: Guys, we understand you want to keep us safe. But we're not sitting this out.
Yang: Yeah, you forget that we're training to become Huntresses? Facing Danger is practically part of our job description when it comes to protecting the innocent.
Blake: Plus, Weiss is our teammate. If it was one of us, she'd do whatever it took to free us from this beast. We must do the same.
Max: Fair enough, alright I'm convinced.
Steel: Can't argue with your arguments their. I understand.
Soon, everyone heard knocking at the doors, and Team JNPR stepped in.
Jaune: Excuse us professors, may we come in?
Glynda: What do all of you want? Don't you have class right now? The only reason Mr. McGrath and Steel are here, is because of their experiences in situations similar to this.
Pyrrha: We wanted to check on Weiss, and Max and Steel to.
Nora: She hasn't woken up yet?
Ruby: No, we have to go back into the dream to wake her up again.
Max: We'll set her free.
Steel: You bet we will.
Nora: Alright, but promise me you'll share footage of your experience Steel! Please?
She asked as she made puppy dog eyes.
Steel: No, not the puppy dog eyes! Oh, okay okay okay, consider it done.
Nora: Works every time.
Ruby: Yeah!
She exclaimed as she and Nora high-fived.
Pyrrha: We have faith in you all.
Glynda: Alright now, you four (Talking about Team JNPR minus Max Steel) need to get to class.
Ozpin: I'll check in again later. I'm also a believer in Team RWBY and Max Steel.
Max/Steel/Ruby: We'll do our best!
Soon afterwards, Shions Aura had finished replenishing itself, and she performed the same steps she did earlier. And sent them all once again back into the dream. After waking up once again in the dream, they regrouped.
Max: Alright Gang, let's see how many coins we got.
Everyone dug into their pockets and held out all the coins they each possessed.
Yang: It looks like we have the same amount as before.
Blake: Then we should use them sparingly as before.
Ruby: At least we won't have to travel far.
Max: Yep. Alright let's go!
Steel/Blake/Yang/Ruby: Yeah!
After which. The group traversed the gorge, until they reached the check point they left behind, which teleported them back into the city.
Max: Remember, stay alert. Now more than ever.
Steel: Make no mistake, Weiss will be hunting us.
Blake: Then let's split up. Just like we did before.
Everyone nodded in agreement, and as they went their separate ways, Max reformed his helmet&visor as he and Steel linked back up and dawned Stealth Mode to increase their odds of sneaking past enemy patrols.
Yang P.O.V....
Yang: I, have no idea what any of this means.(She thought to herself as she was looking though a shops window, which had multiple do's and don'ts signs) Ugh. Why does she have to be as complicated here as she is in real life?
Meanwhile, Blake was jumping across rooftops, when she spotted a group of shadows, walking directly into a frozen fountain, then vanishing.
Blake P.O.V...
Blake: Hmm, interesting, wonder where you lead?
Ruby P.O.V...
Ruby: Ugh, this would be easier if there was a sign on how to get to the city center. Up, there, to that giant golden statue. Or, if those bots, weren't roaming around.
Meanwhile, Max and Steel were following the route Steel had mapped last time.
Max: Well, i'm suprised you managed to retain what you recorded during our last visit here Steel. I mean, not even my scroll kept the map I layed out on it.
Steel: I don't know how that's the case. Just be glad that we aren't going in blind this time.
Max: Yep, still, how do you think we'll take on Weiss next time we find her.
Steel: Easy, we take her down the same way we took Makino down.
Max: You want to throw her into the Sun?!
Steel: Wait, what, no, no that's not what I meant, shoot, I almost forgot. That was the only way we beat Makino once and for all.
Max: Well, there was the time we shot him back into his own wormhole, with his warship smashing him as it was sucked in with him.
Steel: If only that got rid of him the first time. Still I see your point, well, we could use Titan mode, but maybe that'd be too much?
Max: Yeah maybe, we'll have to brainstorm this with the others.
Steel: Right!
As the sprinted down the streets, invisible to the naked eye. But Bat Whitley, being the ever disobedient punk he was, snuck out again, and spotted footprints in the snow, just magically appearing, as if someone was there. He hung upside down from a gutter, facing the direction of the foot prints.
Bat Whitley: Well well well, look who's back. The dummy has come to once again be humiliated. What a pity.(He said with sarcasm in his snarky tone.)