Chapter 63
Atlas, the floating fortress island that put even accomplishments like the Amity Colosseum to shame. For several decades it levitated off of the surface of the planet. The few airborne Grimm that could even come close were easily annihilated by its many defenses and weaponry. With its firepower a war against Atlas would be little more than a pushing contest. The moment it managed to fly overhead an enemy's territory, it would destroy the opposition in hours.
It was easily the most powerful of the four kingdoms; the most well defended and armed. It not for certain factors, it had the potential to dominate the entire world, and it was on this floating city that Madara tread on once more. This time, however, he had company.
Upon their entrance into the academy's main hall, a sudden noise erupted and remained. All around them were Atlas' students, donning their white and gray uniforms. Their eyes tracked the "foreigners", some with curiosity and others with suspicion. In particular the presence of Weiss Schnee, who chose Beacon over Atlas, was something that piqued their interests. Unfortunately, Blake received much less flattering gazes. Her uncovered animal ears gained the looks she had hidden away from for so long. However, she completely Ignored them, they weren't even there in her mind.
Ruby looked up, marvelling at the height of the building. It was at least ten meters high, with some rooms seemingly even taller. The plain gray of the walls and floor were lackluster, leaving little to the imagination. The strips of navy blue fabric that decorated the walls didn't help to improve the rather gloomy atmosphere. Although despite the lack of "life" in the environment, two things stood out to her. Two rooms with the words "Weapon Maintenance" and "Robotics" written above them seemed to practically glow. Or rather her eyes were glinting at the sight.
To her disappointment, they continued past them and into another room. After a few more minutes of walking in a straight line, they reached a wide and circular room. Waiting ahead of them was a staircase that led to yet another corridor.
As they reached the foot of the staircase, they heard footsteps coming from ahead. At the top, there was a single man making his way down. He was an older man with graying hair, green eyes and glasses. He wore a long white lab coat, an orange shirt underneath, and an unwelcoming grimace. They quickly descended the stairs, before stopping beside Winter.
"Hello Winter. Are these the ones the General's waiting for?" The man asked as he glanced at team RWBY.
"Hello to you as well Doctor. And yes, they are." Winter answered promptly.
"Hm… Alright then." without saying anything else, the aging man strolled away, humming a tune that only got quieter and quieter. Likewise they resumed their march, climbing the stairs at a steady pace.
"Wow, who was that guy?" Yang asked, glancing behind herself unnerved.
"That… was Doctor McArthy, one of the professors who works here." Winter explained simply.
"What does he teach?" Ruby chimed in.
"Mostly computer science, but also robotics."
Finally, they reached a large pair of doors. Two Atlesian soldiers stood on guard at both sides. Or rather, they were probably supposed to be guarding the door. Instead they sat on one side playing cards, completely unaware. Winter was stunned, looking at the two in complete disbelief. After a few seconds of silence, she cleared her throat as loudly as possible, alerting them of her presence. The two looked at her, and though nobody else could see the face she was making, and were scared onto their feet. As if their semblances were speed-based, the cards vanished from sight and they stood upright and at attention.
"M-M-Ms. Sch- I mean Ms. Eis." One of the guards stuttered, saluting his superior. Sweat rolled down from his face.
"Is the General present." She asked.
"Yes ma'am."
"Good. at ease." she commanded. The two breathed sighs of relief before opening the doors.
They walked into a large circular office. The design was practically the same as Ozpin's, save for a difference in furniture and color scheme. The interior was white and gray, with glowing blue lights spread across the ground and walls. Behind a long desk were multiple glass panes showing a bright blue sky. General ironwood sat behind the desk, looking out into the clouds.
"General." Winter called for Ironwood, causing him to turn around.
The man looked passed Winter, and right at the black haired boy."Mr. Uchiha, you're earlier than expected." he remarked. "And these are?"
"We're team RWBY, and i'm our team leader, Ruby." Ruby answered, smiling pridefully.
"…I see, Ozpin mentioned he wouldn't be alone… that said, I didn't quite expect to see you here, Ms. Hail. Last I heard, you were reported missing two months ago." Ironwood said sounding irritated.
Jacqueline shrugged. "Well, you know how things are. Better to be free than having a bunch of people constantly trying to look after you or convince you debilitation is for the 'greater good'. Still refuse to do that by the way."
"Nonetheless, I'm glad that you are here and safe. I can finally call off the search parties. Now then, I'd like a moment alone with Mr. Uchiha and Ms. Hail. In that time, please explore our academy to your heart's content."
With a salute, Winter lead team RWBY out of the office, Ruby in particular seeming more excited than the rest of her team.
The doors closed, and with the press of a button, they locked. Metal shutters fell down, covering the windows. The lights darkened, and there was a mechanical whirring under their feet. A hole opened in the middle of the room, and a circular black table arose. The top of the table was a screen that flickered to life. It projected holograms into the air, displaying a map of the planet.
"Mr. Uchiha, first of all I'd like to thank you for your efforts and your cooperation. It is because of you that Beacon remains standing, and a large number of crises have been averted. As you know, we've been using drones to search for concentrations of chakra, or rather magic. As of now, we've pinpointed at least two."
The hologram focused and expanded a single area. The unoccupied dragon-shaped continent north of Vacuou and west of Vale. two glowing red dots blinked at the center of the landmass.
"For a long time, this continent has been a looming problem. In the past, there have been hundreds of attempts to establish colonize, but none could so much as make landfall. The reason being, a concentration of Grimm unlike anywhere else. There's many Grimm that we don't have on record here. That's… where things become complicated." Ironwood sighed. With the click of a button, the map changed into a bar graph. "The council is adamant on keeping as far from that place as possible."
"This is why I hate the political stuff." Jacqueline remarked, looking at Madara sympathetically. "The people in power don't ever want anything to happen, and the people who can actually do anything have to listen to those people. If something can be done and should be done, then-"
"Then it must be." Madara finished.
"Exactly."
"Which is why I've chosen to ignore the council's decision. As a general, it's my duty to fight for humanity, whatever the cost."
Madara paused, before grunting in acknowledgement. "There's no need to send your soldiers or machines with me. I can easily wipe out any Grimm." he said confidently.
"While I don't doubt you, sending reinforcements would be nonetheless a safer bet. We're prepared to supply you with what is necessary. It will only take two days at most, and you and your companions can take that time to rest."
"If you're willing to give me anything, I need the Relic." Madara promptly demanded.
Ironwood stared at Madara, recognizing the sincerity in his tone and face. He then looked at Jacqueline, who waved at him nonchalauntly. "In that case, it makes sense why she's here. That said, handing over the Relic is something I am reluctant to do." He pressed a button on his Scroll, and the hologram changed again. It displayed Beacon Academy during the Grimm invasion.
"With just this many grimm, we were pushed beyond our limits. Vale's CCCT and the Amity Colosseum were nearly lost, and I shudder to think about what that could've led to. Here in Atlas, the Relic is used to power multiple crucial systems. Without it, we might as well be defenseless."
"I don't need to take it anywhere, just to-" Before Madara could finish, there was a disruption. The ground shook slightly, immediately followed by an alarm in the room blaring.
Upon regaining balance, Madara immediately pushed open and ran through the door. It wasn't an ordinary explosion, as ordinary as one could possibly be. Just before the explosion, he sensed chakra being used.
With his Sharingan activated, he ran through the hallways towards where the explosion came from. The doorway to the Weapons Maintenance room was open, or rather the door wasn't even on its hinges anymore and instead sat against the adjacent wall. Many students were watching from a distance while some guards had their weapons at the ready. Just by peering in, he didn't even need his Sharingan to see what happened.
The room had several small impact craters on the ground, walls, and ceiling. Chunks of red and black colored metal, presumably pieces of Crescent Rose, were embedded in a number of areas and had smoke trails emanating from them. Ruby was leaning against the side of a desk, her eyes wide with shock and body shaking. Nearby the rest of her team hid behind tables, simultaneously poking their heads up.
Madara had a certain familiar look on his face. There was some confusion of course, mixed with irritation and humor, but most difficult to discern: concern. Together, simply said "what just happened here?"
He walked towards Ruby, picking her up and sitting her atop a table and examining her. He checked her arms, legs, underneath her hair, and came out surprised. Despite being at ground zero, as evidenced by the largest scorch mark being beside her, there were no marks on her. Her aura was untouched, but the chakra in her was almost completely depleted. In other words, whatever happened, she used her chakra to somehow protect herself
Madara looked Ruby dead in the eyes. He was surprised to see a faint glow in her platinum-colored eye. It faded quickly, but there was most certainly something. Likewise, it was where her chakra was concentrated at, before levelling out just as quickly.
"Is she alright?" Yang asked as she, Blake, and Weiss got out from behind their crude blast shield.
"She's fine." he answered, letting go of her. "Ruby, what did you do?"
"Uh, well," Ruby stuttered, rubbing her head nervously. "I wanted to do some work on Crescent Rose, give it a little more 'oomph'. But uh, since I didn't know how much time I had, I tried to... speed things up with my semblance. Then I think I didn't secure the bolts well enough and it sorta unravelled."
"No, not that… although never do that again." He said sternly. "How are you completely fine?"
"Oh." Ruby paused to look down at her hands. "I don't know. I remember being really scared, then something saved me I guess…" she said, her expression faltering for a moment. "well, I saw something white-ish appear in front of me."
"Hm… I see." for a moment, Madara just seemed to look at Ruby aimlessly. But of course, he was never aimless. He took particular note of the situation, or rather Ruby's lack of reaction. All he did next was put a hand atop her head and ruffled her hair, much to her chagrin as she shook away the gesture.
By that time, Ironwood stood in the middle of the doorway, the weapons of his men lowered. "Is everything alright?"
"It seems we'll be needing those days." Madara said, and Ironwood nodded. He soon walked out of the room, subtly taking out his Scroll as he did.
"Well sis, you got some cleaning to do." Yang said, patting her sister on the back.
Once again team RWBY scattered, leaving Ruby to the mess she made. The silver lining was that the explosion caused little to no actual damage, save for indents caused by shrapnel. If anything, the only true loss was Crescent Rose, which all things considered was in dire need of a makeover. She grabbed one of the pieces that stuck out of the wall, part of the blade. She pulled, but the chunk of metal wouldn't budge.
"Wait, I got it!" Ruby thought, clenching the blund side of the blade tightly. She directed her chakra into it, smiling as it sparked to life. With it getting rid of the resistance, she easily yanked it out. Unfortunately, before she could revel in her ingenuity, she noticed a larger hole in the wall.
A couple of hours of exploring what the academy had to offer went by even slower than expected. The almost complete uniformity of its facilities was as boring as one could imagine. Every hope that the next room would have something visually stimulating was extinguished almost with prejudice. Never before had she attended Atlas Academy, and never before had she been more glad about the fact.
As night fell, she finally exited the nearly suffocating atmosphere within the academy's walls, and out she walked onto one of its balconies. The frigid air felt natural for her, something she and most of Atlas would probably consider "fresh". She wasn't alone, however, and she didn't come here to be alone. Before she arrived, there was already someone present. Unlikely as it may have been, but it was seemingly a first time experience for Weiss. She couldn't recall seeing such a scene before.
He sat on the railing with his legs crossed. An impact from that height could lead to severe injuries and even death. However, he was perfectly balanced. Even the wind seemed to move through him.
"I got your message." Weiss said just barely loud enough to be heard. Of course, her company heard it clearly. She walked towards him, standing to his side and leaning her arms on the railing. "It's a little unnerving how you can sit up there so easily."
"It can't be helped. I can sit, stand, or lie on anything." He answered.
"When you, Ruby, and Yang were all kids, did they try to test that too? Push on you, knock you over, anything like that?"
Madara allowed a short smile on his face. "More than I can count. Your brother tried as well?"
"Well, more like my brother and me. We would try to prank Winter, get her to react and sometimes get scolded for our troubles." Weiss said, looking away slightly embarrassed. "It's a bit childish, but sometimes I wish I was still a kid and everything was fine."
"We all do." he replied. "Remind me, why did you decide to become a huntress?"
Weiss paused for a moment, thinking to herself. "To be honest, to make a name for myself. I wanted to split off from the family and do something for me instead. I thought 'Weiss Schnee, Professional Huntress and Slayer of Grimm sounded a bit better than 'Weiss Schnee, CEO of Schnee Dust Company', especially considering what my father chose to do with it."
"Indeed… That said, what would you do if you couldn't be either?"
"What do you mean?" She raised an eyebrow.
"After the next few days, the Grimm will not be a danger anymore. The whole world will be at peace. What do you plan to do if there aren't anymore Grimm to fight?"
Her eyes widened. With an uncertain face, Weiss looked away, at the ground several stories below. She never had a reason to think about a world without Grimm. It was an everlasting war, one humanity never seemed to be able to truly win. But what would she do?
"Well, it's not like I can go back to the company, not that I'd want to. So, I think that I'd want to start my own company." Weiss nodded to herself. "Yeah, a company that treats both humans and faunus alike, one for the good of everyone, not just the upper class, but I don't think I'll have to worry about that for quite awhile."
His head turned slightly, catching the girl in the corner of his eye. "And why's that?"
"Because even without the Grimm, I know that there will always be something out there. Those giant creatures you go after; I know there's more of them."
"I'll take care of them."
"And what about after that? What are you going to do after you've rounded them all up?"
His answer came quickly, but just a tad slower than usual. "I'll be leaving. You will likely never see me again."
"Yeah, that's not going to happen." Weiss declared confidently. "I figured you would want to do that, but get this feeling that leaving you alone too long is a really bad idea. So if you decide to run off somewhere, I will go with you whether you want that or not."
"No matter how much faster you get, you won't be able to catch me."
"That doesn't mean I can't try." She said, unwaveringly. "Because until the day I die, I'm going to keep trying to reach where you are, or at least somewhere near that, so that I can help you." And after finally giving pause, she noticed that he was looking directly at her. Under the light of the moon, there was a visible smile on his face.
He turned his head away from her, looking out at the sky once more, but his face didn't change. In the silence, he let out a chuckle, ironically putting her off.
"What?" she asked.
"Nothing." he muttered. "Well, you seem unusually bold "
Weiss stared at him confused. And like a balloon being inflated, it built and built before finally popping. She quickly turned away, keeping her red-turning face from his view..
"I-is that so. Then, how about this."
Weiss put both hands on the railing, hoisting herself over and past. A moment later, and gravity took control. Without the support of solid ground or her Glyphs, Weiss made a quick descent. She closed her eyes as she neared the ground.
The impact, one that may have broken more than just her aura, never came. Instead of accelerating she felt her body slow, yet she did not use her semblance. Something caught hold of her legs, and another pressed against her back. She soon realized that those things were arms, prompting her to open her eyes. She would never be able to properly describe what she saw next, either because what she saw was unclear, or she herself was unsure. In either case, she could only use one word.
Surprise.
And somewhere else, somewhere within the furthest corners of the Uchiha's mind, there was a choir; a choir not of music, but laughter.
END