Chapter Two: A New Approach

The view of Mantle from the prison bus was no better than it had been from Manta 5-1. Lights glittered below from cramped houses, but none of the sounds of pedestrian life could penetrate the bus's windows.

Ruby turned away from the view, head bowed into her lap. They had come so far, done so much, only to now find their destinies out of their hands. After all that had happened in the past week, the way the rug had been pulled out from under them by the commandos seemed almost comical. She sighed. The only thing to do now was wait and hope for the best.

She looked up and across the aisle to see how the others were doing. Ren sat with his eyes meditatively closed, but even his passive face displayed subtle worry. Nora was busying herself trying to gnaw through the thick cables that bound her cuffs together, to little avail. Ruby might have smiled at her determination under other circumstances. Jaune and Qrow both glared at the floor, no doubt angry that they had so easily been had.

Her own team didn't seem any more cheerful. Blake was staring at the back of Yang's head worriedly, while Yang was hunched forward with her hands on her knees anxiously. Weiss sat at the end of the row and directed her bleak eyes to the floor like Qrow and Jaune, and sitting between the heiress and her sister was Oscar, who seemed fixated on his cuffed hands.

Hesitantly, Ruby ventured a question to break the silence. "Where do you think they're taking us?"

"I'm gonna go with jail," Qrow replied bluntly.

Beside him, Jaune scowled. "I still can't believe that… fishing pole guy took us out like it was nothing."

"Welcome to Atlas," Weiss replied, seeming unsurprised. "Those were Ironwood's Ace Operatives."

The group wasn't alone in the back of the prison bus. Another man dressed in brown with a loose ponytail, brown goatee, and a green scarf was seated beside Ren toward the front of the prisoner bay. Upon hearing Weiss's words, his eyes widened and he turned to them. "You guys had a run-in with the Ace Ops? Ironwood must really have a bone to pick with you."

The captives turned to regard him. Weiss was dismissive. "They're not that big of a deal."

The man turned to her sharply. "Not that big of a deal?" he repeated. "The Ace Ops are the elite of elite military Huntsmen," he spat the next part, "and Ironwood's personal attack dogs."

Nora leaned forward, her attempts to chew through her cuffs momentarily forgotten. "So they got you too, huh?"

The man scoffed. "I wouldn't allow myself be caught by them. I'm here because I've been speaking out against Atlas's exploitation of Mantle, and General Ironwood is trying to silence me!"

The pilots had turned at the sound of the man's rant. One of them retorted, "You threw a brick at our ship!"

"It's worth it if it gets people talking about our cause!" the man replied with a proud grin. The pilot shrugged dismissively and turned back to his controls.

"'Our cause?'" Blake repeated.

"Yes! The fight for better conditions in Mantle, led by the charismatic, talented, lovely, Robyn Hill and her Happy Huntresses." As it became clear their prisoner wouldn't shut up, one of the pilots pressed a button and a glass pane began rolling up between the cockpit and the hold. If anything, it emboldened the man, who stood up from his seat and began shouting before the glass closed, "They were all top Atlas Academy graduates, who could've signed up for the military, but Robyn and the Huntresses chose to stay in Mantle! She's gunning for a seat on the Kingdom's council, and when she gets it, she's gonna put an end to Ironwood's tyranny!"

Oscar stared at the man, who'd begun hopping during his last few sentences, and repeated dubiously, "Happy… Huntresses."

"Is that their real name?" Yang asked dryly.

"Don't you think 'tyranny' is a little dramatic?" Weiss asked.

The man turned back to her, but before he replied, his eyes went wide with surprise and recognition. However, his expression quickly shifted to one of derisive contempt as he snapped back, "Easy to say for a Schnee heiress, living comfortably up in Atlas."

The words stung, and Weiss drew back slowly with a sigh and stared out the rear windows as Mantle sank further away. "Not anymore," she mused sadly.
The ship broke through the upper cloud layer and emerged in front of the city of Atlas. Despite their circumstances, Ruby felt herself gawking in awe at the sight. Her earlier estimation of the city as an array of jewels hadn't been incorrect; every inch of every building glittered in the moonlight, looking more like an expensive model than an actual city. The clouds wreathing the floating island on which the city sat gave it a mystical, fantastic appearance, and the mountains in the background capped with snow and aurora borealis overhead completed the effect. This truly was the Jewel of Remnant.

"Woah," Ruby breathed, "it's gorgeous up here!" Jaune stood and walked over to her window to get a better look, and Nora, who had once more been chewing at her restraints, also paused as she and Ren too took in the sight of the futuristic metropolis.

Weiss was unimpressed, not even bothering to look out the window. "Don't let that fool you." Despite his earlier comments, the man beside Ren turned at her statement, surprised at her callous disregard for Atlas. However, before he could mention it, he stood and peered through the cockpit's viewport toward their destination as the prison bus began taxiing down. Confused, he said, "This isn't the police station."

Qrow looked out as well, surprised dawning on his face as well. While he may have been years out from his graduation from Beacon, Professor Oobleck's stressing of the importance of history made it hard to forget anything from his class, and even if he could, the older Huntsman knew he'd never forget the sight of the tall, blue spire before him from his numerous travels to the Kingdom. "It's Atlas Academy."

Once again, Ruby found herself comparing the past to the present. Beacon had seemed almost medieval with its appearance almost that of a castle and its broadcasting tower being built directly into the clocktower housing Ozpin's office. Despite, or perhaps because of, its solemn majesty, the architecture of the school and courtyard both seemed to convey the quiet nature of Vale. Similarly, Haven in Mistral was a work of art, built as a bridge between two mountains in the heart of the capital city and speaking to the culture that surrounded it.

In this instance, Atlas was no different. The school was a towering citadel of a structure that flattened out towards its base. A series of four supporting towers were gathered around its base, and a landing platform extended from the main entrance and awaited the descending airship. With its angular, precise features and crystalline, stalagmite appearance, Atlas Academy conveyed that it was a place of serious business and military operation, home to the top echelons of the Huntsman elite.

The prison bus circled and landed, and two human Atlesian soldiers unlocked the doors and swung them open, allowing Ruby and her friends to emerge from the bus. From the ground, the spire that was Atlas Academy appeared even more impressive and looming. A group of four soldiers awaited them at the top and bottom of a staircase leading to the main entrance, and the two that had opened the doors beckoned them forward with a tilt of the head.

Ruby's brow quirked. Fate worked in strange ways. "I guess we will be seeing the General," she remarked. "For better or worse." With that, the group followed her forward as the soldiers began to escort them towards the front doors.

Once inside the academy, the prisoners had been ushered into an elevator by their escort, and a button pushed had them travelling upward, presumably toward Ironwood's office.

"So, what do we do?" Ren whispered to Ruby as the elevator climbed.

"I don't know yet," Ruby replied. "But we should be careful with what we say." One of the guards gave her a curious look at her comment, but remained silent.

"We'll follow your lead, Ruby," Blake said, and her leader smiled briefly before a ding signalled that they'd arrived to their floor. The elevator slowed to a stop, and the doors slid open with a quiet whoosh. The soldiers strode out, leading Ruby and her friends down a hallway to a flight of stairs. They walked carefully down the steps into a large, dodecagonal room with a skylight allowing the moon's gentle glow in overhead. Before them, another flight of stairs led up to a large set of doors, but before the soldiers could lead them to the stairs, another group entered the room from the side.

For the first time in over a year, Ruby laid eyes on General James Ironwood in the flesh. The last time she'd seen him, he had boarded a ship during the Fall of Beacon in an effort to retake his flagship from Roman Torchwick and Neopolitan. However, due to a computer virus Cinder's group had unleashed, the Atlesian Knights in his ship had turned on him, and she had watched in horror as his ship hurtled to the ground, trailing smoke from its cockpit. Though she'd learned in the next months that he had survived the ordeal, it was still reassuring to see him again in person.

Ironwood was flanked by Winter Schnee and Penny Polendina, and he didn't even seem to notice them at first as he spoke to the other two. "I swear, if I have to sit through one more council meeting like that…"

Before he could finish his thought, Penny turned and saw the group, her eyes lighting up at the sight of her friends. "Yay! You're here!" she greeted them.

Ironwood turned at her words, his brow lifting in surprise at the sight of Teams RWBY and JNPR, as well as Qrow.

Ruby remained silent, waiting to be spoken to, before Weiss gently nudged around her and addressed her sibling. "Winter."

Winter Schnee's eyes widened. Like everyone else, this was the first she'd seen of Weiss since before the Fall of Beacon, and though she hadn't been present at Schnee Manor for a long time, news had travelled fast when Weiss had sneaked out of Atlas before the General had closed the Kingdom's borders, and she had obviously been worried for her younger sister.

However, before Winter could say anything, Nora leaned towards Weiss with a cheeky grin, wiggling her fingers as she lifted up her bound wrists. "Anyone wanna give us a hand with these?" she asked.

Upon seeing the cuffs on Weiss's wrists as well, Winter straightened, her arms travelling behind her back as she gazed coolly at the soldiers that had escorted them. "You have ten seconds to take those off before I start hurting you," she ordered. Despite her tone of severity, Ironwood smiled at her protectiveness of her sister.

The guards glanced at one another nervously and hurried to their task, apologizing profusely all the while and not stopping until every set of cuffs had hit the floor. A word from Ironwood instructed the soldiers to return to their duties as he made quick greetings and led the students to his office. "Please, come in," he told them all with a sincere smile. "It is so good to see all of you."

The doors shut behind them, Yang not being the only one still rubbing sore wrists. "Our reception didn't really convey that."

Ironwood sighed, truly troubled by the children's ordeal. "I sincerely regret how you were treated by my team," he apologized. Qrow discreetly rolled his eyes. "When a rogue airship entered our airspace, it raised some… red flags," the General continued as he rounded his desk to take a seat at his chair. Penny and Winter stood to his right and left respectively. "We assumed the ship was stolen."

"Stolen?" Ruby repeated with a sheepish chuckle. The smile fell from her lips as she held a bashful hand to her head. "Okay, yeah, it was stolen."

Ironwood's eyes widened momentarily in surprise, and for a moment, the girl thought he might be angry until she saw the hint of a smile beneath his thick beard and his shoulders go up and down in a silent chuckle. Winter, however, was far less amused. When her own shock had worn off, she glared indignantly at Weiss. "You stole an Atlas airship?!" Weiss looked up at her sister's approach as Winter stepped down the small set of stairs and berated, "What were you thinking?! You might've been shot down! How unbelievably irresponsi—"

Weiss cut off the elder Schnee by stepping forward and wrapping her arms around her. Winter faltered at the surprise embrace. For a moment, Weiss just stood there, holding tightly to her sister. Though she didn't let it show on her face, a feeling of reassurance fell over her like a warm blanket in the presence of her older sibling. "I'm sorry I worried you," she murmured sincerely into Winter's ear. "But we did what we had to do."

Winter paused. "I…" she sighed and relented, pulling closer to Weiss, "...I suppose I understand." Her anger returned, however, when she looked up to the children's ward. "But I cannot believe that you allowed this to happen, Qrow."

While some of her heat may have been residual from their last encounter during the Vytal Festival, Qrow shrugged it off and thumbed towards Ruby. "You try stoppin' these kids when the have their mind set on something." The Huntsman turned towards Ironwood. "Speaking of which, we have some important information for you that's… confidential."

Penny leaned in, chipper smile ever present on her face. "Oh, is it about the Relics?"

Winter had turned to walk back to her position at Ironwood's left and now pivoted to face Qrow. "Or perhaps the Winter Maiden?"

Qrow blinked, as did Ruby and the others. Surprise colored his voice. "You told them?"

Ironwood had that little, beard-hidden smile again. "Hmm," he laughed softly. He stood from his chair and reached down, pulling out one of the desk drawers. His hand reached within, and when it returned, it held the Relic of Knowledge by its golden ring, the magical artifact growing in his hand. "Did you really think you were the only one who got to work on a new plan after Beacon? With Ozpin gone, I needed my own team of people I could trust. So yes, I told them. The Ace Ops too. Which is why I'm so glad you're here," he gestured to the lamp, "with this.

"Until now, I believed it was impossible to… truly turn the tide against Salem. Oz had pushed her back, has kept victory out of her claws, but she will keep returning, stronger and stronger… unless we destroy her." The General placed the Relic on his desk, where it hovered by its own power.

Ruby was thoughtful for a moment. The General obviously didn't know what they had learned in the past few days, about Ozpin, about Salem. Having seen the state of Mantle and Atlas, the military state the kingdom had become, she didn't know how he would react to the news. Their group had barely been able to absorb it themselves and come up with a new plan beyond getting to Atlas. For the moment, she kept the concern to herself. "But… what about the Atlas Relic?"

"You mean the Staff of Creation?" Ironwood replied.

"It's safe inside the Vault!" Penny informed.

"And the Winter Maiden?" Qrow asked.

Winter responded, "She is secure, and in stable condition."

"Stable condition?" Yang asked. "What does that—"

Qrow answered the question. "She's, uh, not exactly a spring chicken."

Silence hung in the air for a moment, interrupted only by Ironwood's sigh. "I know how this all looks. Recalling my military? The embargo? I probably don't seem the most trustworthy right now." Ruby's eyes shifted at the word trustworthy.

"Then why continue it?" Blake asked.

"The people of Mantle are hurting!" Nora agreed.

"I needed to ensure Salem couldn't infiltrate Atlas. And I wanted my military here, protecting my people."

"But it's not protecting them!" Yang countered. "It's making everyone hate you."

Ironwood sighed again. Ruby was reminded of her earlier statement that the General looked tired, desperate for rest and yet unable to do so until his duty was served. "It's a price I'm willing to pay." Ironwood tapped a holographic button on his desk, causing massive shutters to close over the window and shut the group off from the nighttime sky illuminating the office. "Just as you all have been entrusted with the knowledge of Salem's existence, I need you all to trust me. I have a plan."

Beneath Ruby and Oscar's feet, the floor began raising upward. The two stepped off the segment that quickly rose and expanded to become a tabletop holographic projector. Ironwood moved from behind his desk to walk down the stairs toward the table, flanked by Penny and Winter. "Ozpin believed the best way to fight Salem was to do so in secret. Whether that was the right choice or not isn't for me to say." He stopped between Jaune and Oscar as the table clanked to a stop. "But we find ourselves in a position of needing, well, a new approach."

"And what do you suggest?" Qrow asked.

In response, Ironwood pulled out a small remote and clicked a button. At his command, the holotable winked to life, projecting a familiar image of a floating pantheon that cast a blue glow across the observers' faces.

Jaune recognized the image immediately. "That's… Amity Colosseum."

"Where the Vytal Festival is held?" Oscar asked.

"Indeed," Ironwood confirmed. "When Beacon fell and everyone on Remnant lost contact with one another, I knew our current system was outdated. Amity was built to bring the nations together, and it will serve that purpose once again." With another click of the button, a new addition appeared on top of Amity Colosseum: a thin broadcast tower, projecting up into the sky.

"Isn't it great?" Penny said, drawing eyes. "We're not going to just replace Beacon Tower. Building a new tower on top of Amity Colosseum will reestablish global communications!"

"By launching the tower high into the atmosphere," Winter continued the explanation, "our scientists believe we can create a sort of… satellite. Out of reach of the Grimm and capable of maintaining global communications even if we were to lose another tower."

Ruby gazed at the hologram. "That is great," she murmured.

Qrow's eyes, however, were fixed on Ironwood. "James, you don't need the entire military for this."

Ironwood looked hard at him, sensing the underlying question. "I will for the next part. Where I finally tell the people about Salem."

Silence reigned for a handful of moments as the group absorbed the General's words. Qrow was the first to speak. "So that's why you withdrew your troops, to handle the panic that will break out in Atlas."

"Yes." Ironwood's face was set in stone. "Panic is inevitable, and panic brings Grimm. But I believe we are ready. Once Atlas has come to grips with the fight ahead, I'll use Amity Tower to spread the message to all of Remnant."

"But everything will fall apart!" Weiss protested. "Grimm will be everywhere!"

"You're right," Winter reassured, "but Atlas is willing and prepared to assist."

"Trying to hide the truth from the world will eventually kill us all," Ironwood finished severely. At a click of the remote, the table receded back into the floor and the blinds receded to let the broken moon illuminate the room once more.

Ruby felt self-conscious heat run across her face at the General's words, which struck dangerously close to home. What should they tell him about Salem? How much did he already know? What Ozpin had told them all? More? Less? And most importantly, how would he react?

Qrow appeared equally thoughtful. "Oz spent his whole life, many lives, keeping this secret."

"I know," Ironwood acknowledged. "But since Beacon, things have changed. Without him here to guide us, all I can do is use my best judgement." He turned, walking towards his desk again, before the new silence reached an uncomfortable level and he turned back to them, taking in unsure faces. "What is it?"

Practically unnoticed until this instant, Oscar hesitantly stepped forward. "Actually, Oz isn't completely gone."

Qrow gestured toward the boy. "Uh, Oscar here is… is the next Ozpin."

Ironwood's eyes took on a new, hopeful shine "Oz?" he murmured. Quickly, he hurried toward the boy, who appeared uncomfortable. "I am so glad you're here! I didn't think you—"

"N-not quite," Oscar cut off, raising his hands to pause the General, who had dropped to one knee before him. "He's kind of, um, gone at the moment?"

Ironwood shook his head, processing the new development. "That's not normal. How did he—"

"We don't know."

Ironwood looked over to Ruby, who had blurted out the words. "We were in a train crash, and ever since, well, suddenly Oz wasn't there anymore." As Ironwood had laid out the plan for Amity Tower, Ruby had become more and more uneasy about the knowledge Jinn had given them. Upon hearing his plan to tell the world about Salem, she had blanched. How would the General react upon hearing that everything he'd been working towards for the past year or more might be for nothing? Besides, she'd been puzzling over Jinn's vision ever since it had ended, and something the sprite from the lamp had said kept nagging at her. As such, for now, she had decided, albeit uncertainly, that the truth was best kept among their group until they could further assess both the General and the information.

Oscar had looked over at her outburst as well, and she couldn't quite tell if the look in his eye was grateful or questioning, but she didn't hold his gaze long enough to find out. Ironwood himself sighed again and stood. "That's the worst news yet. Did you learn anything about the Relics before…?"

"He told us the lamp can answer three questions. But all the questions were used up already."

Unseen by Ruby, Blake and Yang traded a glance but remained silent behind her.

"Right, right," Ironwood said, walking toward the window to stare out over his school. "Ozpin told us that too, once upon a time." He paused, then turned and offered Oscar a warm smile. "At least we have you, Oscar. You're safe here in Atlas. Maybe together, we can figure out how to bring Ozpin back."

"Thank you, sir. I mean, uh, General. Uh, Ironwood?" The boy fidgeted awkwardly.

The General nodded at him, then picked up the Relic of Knowledge from his desk and walked back down to Ruby. Wordlessly, he extended his hand.

Ruby gazed at the Relic questioningly. "You're giving it back to me?"

"After what happened with the Ace Ops, I don't want you to think I'm keeping anything from you, especially something as important as this. For the time being, I think it's safest with the people who brought it here." He handed the lamp to her, which shrunk to accommodate her size in her hands.

Despite standing by her decision, Ruby felt a pang in her conscience at the words. Hoping her voice didn't betray her hesitation, she accepted the Relic and placed it back on her belt. "Um, thank you."

Ironwood gazed around, addressing the group as a whole. "We must work together if we're to fight Salem and win. Now, if you're all onboard…?"

After a slight pause, Ruby met his eyes. "Tell us how we can help."

Ironwood smiled at her. "Good. Because getting the Amity Tower ready to launch won't be easy. But first," he turned to walk back to his desk, calling up a video feed of their fight earlier against the Sabyrs, "I think we need to get those weapons of yours up to our standards."

The video displayed Blake wielding her broken Gambol Shroud. She winced and grabbed her arm bashfully, embarrassed by her lack of performance.

"Remember," Winter said, "this is Atlas. While assisting the military, we will provide you with the best equipment our scientists can devise."

The group as a whole gasped in surprise and excitement at the potential of upgrades. With a laugh, the General thanked them once again for escorting the lamp safely to him and directed Penny to take them to their quarters. The android girl bounced happily to her task, leading them back down the steps leading to Ironwood's office to the large room with the skylight they'd crossed over earlier when still handcuffed.

Now, however, another group was waiting to meet them, whom Ruby quickly recognized as the Ace Ops, the elite soldiers who had apprehended them down in Mantle. She took a quick survey of them all. The handsome man with the clover lapel was the one she'd taken to be the leader. Currently, he was standing next to a dark skinned Faunus operative with black hair and a gray wolf's tail. The Faunus was telling a story to the other three, a woman with lighter brown skin than him and shaved brown hair with a blonde highlight in the middle; another woman with broad shoulders, brown hair pulled back in a short ponytail, and a wide grin; and a pale, wiry man with a line of circles tattooed down the center of his face.

As they approached, the Faunus man was saying, "So that was the second time I got banned. Then there was the third time, when—"

"Alright, cut the chatter," the handsome man interrupted, hearing their approach as he and his team turned to greet them. The Ace Ops stepped forward, and the leader offered a hand. "I'd like to sincerely apologize for the miscommunication down in Mantle. We didn't intend to—"

"I feel so bad, honestly!" said the ponytailed woman as she pushed her way forward and took Ruby by the hand with a vigorous handshake that left the girl dizzied and stumbling on her feet. "If we had known who you were, we'd be laughing over a hot meal right now, and—"

Ruby groaned, eyes spinning. "I understand, you were just following orders."

She continued to shake her head as Weiss gave the Ace Ops a deadpan. "I mean, you could have asked us some questions first."

The Faunus man stepped forward. "Questions are for the weak, but we're all on the same team now. Not that I'm happy about it." His involuntarily wagging tail said otherwise, and he reached down to physically stop it, drawing a laugh from the small, skinny woman with the blond highlight.

"We just wanted to say we're sorry," the leader said, "and that we're looking forward to working with you on our next mission. You might be students, but you've been fighting just as hard as we have, if not harder." He sounded impressed, no doubt having been filled in by Ironwood at some point at exactly what the group had been through.

The thin woman smirked. "Exactly why I'm looking forward to seeing what you kids can do."

Behind her, the pale, tattooed man sighed. "Not everything's a competition, Hare."

From behind them, Penny suddenly appeared, an eager smile lighting up her face. "Come on!" she encouraged. "Let me show you around campus!" The children moved to follow her, Qrow bringing up the rear, before Ironwood's voice from behind stopped him.

"Qrow." The Huntsman turned to see the General walking down the stairs toward him, his expression unreadable and his arms behind his back. Once he reached the bottom, however, the small smile reappeared beneath his bushy beard. "I meant it when I said it was good to see you again."

Qrow was momentarily taken aback. While he and 'Jimmy' had never been outright enemies, Qrow had made his voice prominently heard in objection to Ozpin bringing Ironwood into their secret circle as well as the actions James had taken at Beacon and during the Vytal Festival Tournament, and the few interactions they had shared during that week before everything went to hell had been curt and frosty. Not quite knowing how to respond, he scratched his head and said, "Uh, yeah, you too."

Ironwood surprised him further, stepping forward to embrace him. Qrow froze for a second before he relaxed and gingerly wrapped his arms around Ironwood. He rolled his eyes and gave the other man a pat on the back, a rueful smile playing on his lips. For all of his faults, Ironwood was a good man, and with the situation how it was now, Qrow would do what he could to assist the General and Atlas in their defense from Salem.

The kids had moved on without Qrow, Penny acting as their guide and clearly thrilled by the job as she took them on a tour of the school grounds. Though there was some initial wonder, most of Atlas Academy's interior had the repetitive crispness that any military institution would have, and the group quickly became bored. As Penny gave them the expose on where cafeterias, training rooms, and classrooms were located, the group of students began to droop from exhaustion. They had still had an action packed day, between their fight with Cordovin, encounter with Adam, and close shave with the Grimm in Argus, and everyone was feeling the fatigue that came with that adventure.

Ruby stretched back with a yawn, blinking heavy lids. "This all looks great, Penny," she mumbled, "but where are we staying?"

"Remember," her friend replied, oblivious to their tired faces, "you're in Atlas now! As the most well-funded school on Remnant, every teen at Atlas Academy gets their own room. And if that wasn't enough—"

"So we're staying in the dorms?" Ren cut off. Nora was perched on his shoulder, asleep on her feet and only staying up because of him.

"It'll be just like Beacon again!" Penny said with an excited little dance and a hop. The kids were too tired to share her enthusiasm. Nora finally fell free of Ren to the floor, barely stirring enough to murmur.

Down in Mantle, it had begun to rain almost as soon as the friends had been picked up and carted away by the police. Thanks to the Kingdom's heating system, the drizzle remained a mere nuisance on a bleak, chilly evening rather than a deadly snowstorm like those that ravaged the tundra surrounding the Kingdom. The civilian population was used to frequent Grimm attacks at this point, and though there was some heat going around from local politician Robyn Hill about why the city's defenses and wall couldn't be adequately repaired, the people had realized that until she was hopefully elected, there was nothing they could do but rely on Atlesian Knights and personnel to take the Grimm out before too much damage was done. After Penny had eliminated the attacking Sabyrs, life had gone pretty much back to normal, people roaming the streets freely as they went about their business.

As such, no one took special notice of the thin, wiry man in the purple coat with the fur-lined hood walking down the sidewalk, an umbrella shielding him from the rain in one hand and a briefcase in the other. If one were to take a closer look at him, they might realize just how expensive the purple coat was, or might see the many rings that adorned his fingers, and realize that he appeared quite out of place in the dank, damp streets of Mantle. His refined, tanned features, bushy yet neatly trimmed mustache, and sharp green eyes would look more at home at an Atlesian dinner party upstairs.

However, no one gave close enough attention to Arthur Watts to pay those small details any mind. Overhead, Ironwood was parroting out his propaganda, prattling on about how the Kingdom would remain safe. Watts smirked at the man's ignorance.

"For the last time," the doctor murmured, "a singular hideout makes us more susceptible to discovery."

Over his earpiece radio, the hissing voice of Tyrian Callows replied, "but what if we're seen? What if we're recognized?"

"We stay mobile," Watts replied.

This did not placate Tyrian. Watts didn't flinch as the background noise of stabbing carried over the comm channel. Tyrian grunted as he carried out whatever he was working on and replied, "We're walking around a city with a thousand eyes."

Watts thumbed a control on his umbrella, and before him, the traffic signal changed from stop to cross. He didn't break stride as he made his way across the street, ignoring the blaring of vehicles that pulled up just short of hitting him, and sighed. "While cyber security has been stepped up in Atlas, as usual, noe of the code was updated in Mantle." He thumbed his control again as he crossed another street, causing a blockade of posts to emerge from the street and bring another vehicle to a crashing halt before it could hit him. The surrounding street denizens hurried to help the vehicle, paying no mind to the doctor as he crossed without incident.

Tyrian gave a low laugh, and Watts was glad, not for the first time, that Salem kept him on a strong leash. "That certainly sounds useful."

Watts thumbed a new switch, this one on his left hand's index ring, and the cameras around the block went dead as he turned into an alleyway toward their hideout. "It should be. I helped write that code, after all."

A few alleys over, Tyrian emerged from a small apartment, wearing his brown coat and a sadistic grin. His tail, now entirely encased in metal and wielding a wicked stinger at the end, flicked around him like a serpent before moving to wrap itself around his waist. "Well, I suppose we all have our talents." He walked away from the domicile, leaving a pool of blood to seep out beneath the door. The cameras watched with deadened eyes as the crimson liquid spread—a silent, grisly testament to the crime within.