Main theme: Metro Exodus rap by Jt Music, featuring Andrea Storm Kaden
Arc Theme: Through The Valley by Shawn James (The Last Of Us 2 trailer edition)
Theme: Look Within from the Destiny 2: Beyond Light soundtrack

Upon the blood of our fathers and mothers, upon the blood of our sons and daughters, we shall hold Remnant.

Until the light of silver touches us once again.

Recovered saying found within the ruins of the Emerald Forest, classified by Headmaster Ozpin

"You think they'll be alright?"

Ren turned away from the sleeping Nora for a second, to look at the Techion Vulture known as Bayonet as she knelt down next to them, "Huh?"

The female Techion pointed to the old battlefield in the distance, in the heart of the Sleeping City. The fighting had died down, and the dead city had fallen silent, save for a few claps of sound echoing outwards from the giant mausoleum's centre.

"I asked if you thought that everyone within the centre of the city would be alright," Bayonet continued, "The fighting's stopped."

There was a long pause from Ren, before he finally replied with, "I don't know."

"I do," nearby, Shadestep shut off his comms as he briefly turned his head away from the perimeter that he, Sayber, Afterburner, and Kayble had made around their injured, and went, "I just got word from DJ over the comms. Battle's practically over," he chuckled, "They've practically won."

Nearby, Toil and Trouble looked up from the grounded Voltage, having been trying to repair his armour and mechanisms, and pumped their metal fists into the air, "Hell yeah!"

"That's the Beacon way, baby!"

Lavender looked up from treating Nora's still smarting burn wounds, readjusted the pointed witch hat atop her head, and asked, "Any casualties? Any injuries?"

"No casualties on our end, though we do have wounded. Jolie Kobal got hit the worst, and a lot of other people have burn wounds."

She sighed, and ceased the steady green hum that had been flowing from the end of her staff into Nora, "Alright then. I'll conserve my aura for when we-"

"Wait wait wait, what are you doing?" Ren called out to her as she pulled herself back, "Treat her! Keep treating her wounds! They're not properly healed!"

"I've done all that I can for now, Ren," Lavender chastised him with as she got up, "We're not exactly in a hospital, Ren. I don't have the supplies to treat her wounds like this, and even then, now, I've got other people to worry about. At best, she's going to have these scars for life."

She stepped away from Ren and Nora, and leaned herself against the wall.

"Then again, they won't be the first scars that any of us got."

"..."

Ren just looked away, and looked back down at Nora. The burnt armour that had once covered her like a second skin had been taken off and peeled away, revealing the singed protective clothing underneath, and the spiderwebbing of scars upon her skin as well, red and raw as her pink tinged aura slowly began to sooth her in her sleep, the girl turning her head from side to side as she whimpered in her slumber.

All that Ren could do was hold her hand, and pray for her deliverance from her suffering.

"Please be okay...

"Please.

"Be.

"Okay..."

Ruby and Attis stared down Templar and his fellow, human and Techion against Techion and Grimm.

The effigy was hidden behind Templar and Adonai, the two of them protecting their prize as the High Priest of the now dead Choir of Silver glared down his former idol, and former minion, with cold blue optics that shone of both ice and fire.

Ruby took a step forward, "You want to live?" she raised her swords, and pointed them to him, "Give me the list."

Templar barked out a laugh, "Oh, my dear little rose, I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Don't give me that!" Ruby yelled at him, "You have a list! A list of dens where your agents in Vale are hiding in! And you have a way to communicate with them on you! So either you can hand over the list and comms, and walk away from all of this with your hands behind your back and your tail between your legs, or I can pull them off of your corpse."

She narrowed her eyes.

"The choice is yours."

Another laugh from Templar, "You would kill me, my apostate goddess?"

"If I have to."

It was a bluff, of course.

Ruby wasn't planning on killing Templar, of course. Merely incapacitating him for capture. Killing Grimm, she could handle. People, not so much. All that she had to do was take out his attendant Grimm- The one with the hands made completely of ice- Knock out the oversized former religious leader, and take the list of targets and communication devices off of him.

Clean as anything.

Unfortunately, Templar didn't buy her bluff, as once more, he laughed at her, and then turned to Attis, "And you, my most loyal subject-"

"Not to you," Attis responded with as he flexed his lower two and aimed his Flame Belcher at the red and blue Techion, "Not anymore."

"Yes," Templar's voice dropped several octaves into a low growl, "I can see that clearly. Shame on me for hiring such poor help."

"Why are you doing this, Attis?" Templar's Grimm assistant called out, her voice (She knew it to be a woman, for her voice was that of a woman) Scrapping and questioning as she took a step forwards, icy smoke dancing off of her hands as she spoke, "You were one of us, weren't you?"

"If I was, then you never considered me it, Adonai," was Attis' reply, "You wished me dead! You and the rest of the Silver Court! You wished for me to be your obedient little pet! A pet that you could murder and discard at your whims! I was not your equal, or even your lesser! I was nothing! And of that, I could have forgiven- I would have forgiven-"

He turned a hand to Ruby, her bionic left eye glowing and unearthly crimson underneath her bloodied hair.

"-Had you not defiled the goddess that I worship."

Ruby flinched at the comment, but didn't say anything.

Templar scoffed, "I was removing imperfection-"

"You were creating imperfection!"

"From your perspective."

"From every perspective."

"Enough of this," Ruby called out as she took another step forwards, "Give us the list and comms, and maybe- Just maybe- You can walk out of this place with your life."

"Do you really think that you have the will to take my life, my dear Rose?"

"Do you really want to find out?"

"Oh? And without seeing my newest memento to our silver eyed gods?"

Ruby paused, "What?"

Templar and 'Adonai' looked to each other, and then stepped to the side, revealing the ugly creation that had been hidden behind their backs.

"My dear little Rose," Templar began with a roll of his hand, "Meet our effigy to your mother, Summer Rose."

It was hunched and jutted with spikes and loose panels, like a Frankenstein of parts and pieces, discoloured and mismatching as it began to turn on, stuttering and jittering in place as the hunched thing began to life its head underneath its torn and dirtied white cloak.

It was a humanoid machine. An android. One with a larger, bulkier left hindleg than its right humanoid leg, giving it an off centre of balance as it got itself up onto its feet, its arms covered in rusted armour and a spiked pauldron on its left shoulder, the cloak on its body covering the right side of its broken form as the lights covering it flickered and flashed with instability, like a broken scroll trying to cling to life.

Its head raised up, and it was an ugly thing, with a single red eye on its right side, and a tri-scope of three green optics on its right, a hanging metal jaw of loose chips for teeth, and empty void where the nose should be, and loose stands of black and red sparking wires dangling from the top of the horrid machine's scalp, chipped and slightly opened at the robot began to shakily walked forwards.

In its hands, it held her Crescent Rose, using it like a walking stick to balance itself as wires dangled downwards from the machine's segmented torso, travelling down and coiling around its mismatching legs, before letting out a low, animalistic growl, tinged by an electronic vibration as it tried to croak out... Something.

Words.

It was trying to form words.

[M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-MY D-D-D-D-D-D-D-DEAR LIT-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-TLE ROSEBUD]

There was no accent to its words. No tone. It wasn't even in the voice of a male or a female. It was just a glitchy scratching of sound that had somehow formed words.

It was the most disgusting thing that Ruby had ever heard.

She took a step back, this time, "What have you... What have you done?"

"I have created a reflection of Summer," Templar said as he stroked the metal abomination's arm, the mechanical creature squirming under the touch as he continued, "An idol in her image."

"That is the work of Hephaestus," Attis choked out his disgust at the creature as he pointed at his, "And it is an mechanical monstrosity!"

"Agreed," Ruby got out, "That... That is not my mother. That is an abomination of your own design."

"Oh?" Templar began as he looked to the younger girl, "I must ask: Where was this fire from you before? Where was this will to fight on and on and on, in defiance of me? Where was this strength of will when I brought you before my Court before? What brought about this change?"

"You took my eye out, Templar. That's what happened. That's what changed. That's what granted me the will to fight on," Ruby growled at him, before finally yelling out, "Now enough of this... This... Farce! Give up the list, and the comms to Vale! Now!"

It occurred to Ruby that she was still playing to the god role that she had used to trick Attis into letting her go, and internally raised an eyebrow at it. Did she really need it anymore, now that she was facing down Templar? Maybe, because she still needed Attis at her side. However, Ruby wasn't entirely sure.

"Ah," Templar pulled out his personal computer, and held it out to her in his hand, "You mean this?"

She narrowed his eyes, "Templar, what are you-"

{CRACK}

Templar crushed his communicator in his hands, and let the broken remains drop to the floor. To make sure that it was truly destroyed, he raised his foot and brought it squarely down onto the broken hunk of metal, flattening it like a pancake.

"Oops."

Ruby growled once more at the Techion, as he gestured to the broken mockery of her mother between him and Adonai.

"Now then, my dearest gift to Summer Rose," he began, pointing to Ruby and Attis as he then called out, "I believe that it is time for you to punish your daughter for her sins."

If he could grin, Ruby knew that it would be wide and full of teeth.

"Make it hurt."

The machine roared, and, in contrast to its lanky, broken form, shot forwards like a rocket towards Ruby Rose, her commandeered Crescent Rose twirling in the metal creature's hand as its broken jaw chattered in place, gnawing and gnashing as it rushed her.

Ruby's eyes widened, and she burst into rose petals as the metal monster charged her, reforming and clinging to the domed ceiling above as the junk robot, with rocket jets in its legs, launched itself upwards and-

[RRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR]

{SLAM}

{CRASH}

-Slammed itself into that same part of the ceiling, Ruby bursting to the side once more across the ceiling as the robot began to chase after her, the both of them now running across the ceiling as rose petals-

{BURST}

{BURST}

{BURST}

{BURST}

-Burst continuously behind her as she ran and ran and ran.

Meanwhile, down below-

{FWOOSH}

{SHOOM}

-Attis and Adonai began a battle of powers, Adonai throwing columns of ice at the rogue Grimm, only for the crystal shards to be picked up by Attis' gravity powers, and shot back at her like missiles, pelting themselves into her cloth, armour, and body, her helmet chipping underneath the bullets of ice as she growled in response, throwing more ice into the traitor Grimm, the metal man raising its four arms up, a purple glow coming over them as metal sheets began to tear themselves out of the walls, and-

{FWOOSH}

{CLANG}

-Throw themselves at Adonai, the Grimm deflecting them with walls of ice and freezing crystal as she then created a chain of ice in her hands, and then whipping it at Attis, smashing it into his Flame Belcher and-

{BOOM}

-Causing it to explode in his hands, throwing him backwards into the wall as flames danced off of him, his upper two hands broken and fizzing as Black Ether and Grimm blood dripped out of the twisted, smoking metal.

However, Attis didn't pay it any mind as he roared in response, priming the arm blades on his lower two arms as he charged forwards towards Adonai, intending to end the Grimm's life with his own bare hands and blades.

Templar, of course, held his hands behind himself, and stood in the middle of the room, watching the chaos around him in amusement. It was almost like he was so convinced he was going to win, that he wasn't even bothering to fight. He was just going to watch the chaos unfold.

Was that why he had crushed his own communicator in his hands? Because he was so reassured his victory that he could just throw away his own devices willy nilly, knowing that they could be replaced? Or because he just wanted to spite her?

Maybe it was both.

Yeah, it probably was both.

Ruby launched her feet into the wall with a burst of petals, and the android chasing her-

{CRASH}

-Slamming into the same wall and creating a shockwave that rippled across the entire room, throwing Ruby off of the wall and towards the ground, only for the junk robot to-

{SLAM}

[RRAAAAUUUUUGGGHHHHHRRRRRRRR]

-Crash into her in mid-air, forcing her down onto the metal grated floor, taking a chunk out of her aura and winding her, leaving her without any air in her lungs to scream as the raging machine raised up her own Crescent Rose, and brought it down onto her, but was stopped by-

{CLASH}

-Ruby's swords, Wither and Blossom, as she held them into a cross position against the blade of her own weapon, pushing her aura into her feet as she applied them to the segmented gut of the robot above her-

{SHOVE}

{CRASH}

-And kicked it off of her, the strength of her aura pooled into her feet providing the necessary kinetic charge to throw it into the wall and allow her to jump back up onto her feet, just as the robot got up and charged at her once more, their blades-

{CLASH}

{CLANG}

{CLASH}

-Crashing together time after time again as the machine continued to pile combat subroutine after combat subroutine onto her, its programming learning and adapting to her every move as they danced their way around the room, blades clanging and crashing against each other, sometimes drawing up sparks as they ground themselves upon the other, steel colliding with each other in a symphony of battle and blood that was not yet spilt.

"Like it?" Templar asked calmly as he stood in the centre of the room, the two battles sounding off around him as he looked to Ruby and the effigy of Summer Rose, "I made it myself. Designed the combat routines to constantly adapt to an opponent. I like to think that I did a good job."

"That abomination is not of your design," Attis called out as he dodged a column of ice flying directly towards him, and, with his gravity powers, threw another hailstorm of ice shards at his opponent, "I can recognise Hephaestus' handiwork when I see it!"

The High Priest scoffed, "Yes, well, perhaps he would be receiving more of the credit if he hadn't decided to betray me and leave me for dead. For all of the good that will do him when I get my hands on him..."

Attis gestured his head in the form of a questioning blink, "Hephaestus has fled?" but quickly returned to his battle of Adonai as he ripped apart the floor below him, and threw a swarm of snake-like wires at the Grimm Baron, curling around her body and electrocuting her in a fiery yellow glow, only for the Grimm woman to summon a casing of ice around her, short-circuiting the wires and electronics around her, before freeing herself from the broken wires and ice crystal, and continued her attack once more.

"Yes, he has," Templar sneered as he continued to observe the fights around him, "And once I get my hands on him when my plans come to fruition, I shall rip his limbs free from his body, drain him of his blood, and let him watch as my new kingdom across Remnant digs itself out of the ashes of the old world."

"Are you going to do that yourself, Templar? Or are you going to let other people get their hands dirty for you?" Ruby yelled out to him as she herself continued her fight against the abominable reflection of Summer Rose, the machine firing her Crescent Rose at her, the girl bursting into rose petals continuously as she dodged each bullet flying at her, "Is that how you operate? Let other people dirty their hands so that you can keep yourself clean?"

"Well yes, of course," the Techion chuckled in response, "After all, why should I? I am a ruler, am I not? A priest need not muddy his hands with the works of the sinners. Only when they cleave themselves of their own sins can they truly be saved."

"You're just saying things without any meaning behind them!" was Ruby's reply as she planted her feet on the chest of the junk robot, and sent herself flying across the chamber as she raised her Silver Bloom wrist guns, and-

{BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG}

-Sent silver streams of light sailing across the large room and into the cloaked machine, ignoring the ringing in her ears once more as she then yelled out, "No matter how fancy you try to make your words, you're still just talking about nothing but nonsense!"

"Is that so?" he asked rhetorically, as if he didn't believe her in the slightest, "And yet, here I am, winning, in both mind and body. My army stands still and strong, swayed by my might, and my righteous will, to my side."

"Your army is gone, Templar! Your followers are killing each other!" Ruby responded with as she continued to dance around the junk robot before her, "Your armies are dead and dying, your plans are falling apart, and you still think that you can win this fight?!"

"Oh, I know that I can win, little Rose-"

The effigy of Summer Rose planted its broken fist into Ruby's gut, and sent her flying into the wall.

"-Unlike you."

To the side, Attis abandoned his fight with Adonai, and grabbed hold of the Summer Rose intimidation with his gravity powers, picking it up and flinging it into Adonai, saving Ruby from its killing blows, if only for a few moments, as she got back up to her own feet once more, and cracked her neck and shoulders.

"Attis, forget his Grimm and machine," she told him as they now stood together, side by side as they looked down the Techion before him, "We need to focus on Templar, take him out, and get the list from him."

Attis nodded, "Understood, my goddess," he said as he flexed his lower two arms and blades, his upper two arms still sparking and oozing Black Ether and oil as they readied themselves.

Ruby flexed her swords, and threw them forwards, "Let move."

And with that, they charged forwards.

Attis reshaped the world beneath them with his gravity powers, and freed dozens of metal panels from the floor, spinning them like razor blades, and sending them flinging into the bulky Techion, impaling themselves on him as he was forced to take a step back, finally breaking his calm as he ripped these panels out of his body, all the while Ruby weaved her way between the floating panels that flowed through the air, and-

"HYAH!"

-Swung her swords down onto the robotic High Priest, Wither and Blossom catching on the freshly opened cuts in his body from Attis' work, and tearing open the metal and circuits beneath it, before Templar took hold of her and threw him off of her, sending her spinning through the air and onto the ground, just as Attis picked him up with his gravity powers, the Techion overcome with a purple glow, just before-

{CRASH}

-He was flung into the wall nearby, crushing and pulling apart the metal beneath him as he growled in response, unsheathing his sword from his back, and throwing himself forwards with a roar of his own, his calm finally lost as Attis was engaged by Adonai once more, as well as the effigy of Summer Rose as it-

[RAAAAUUUUUGGGGHHHHHRRRRRRRRRRR]

-Slammed itself into the Grimm Techion, stabbing Crescent Rose into his body repeatedly, tearing apart motors and components, letting out wires and metal shards as splattered of oil and Black Ether stained the ground beneath him as his body began to collapse and malfunction, though he still kept fighting against them as he impaled an arm blade into the thigh of junk robot, pulling apart metal and splattering oil, though the effigy didn't notice or care as it continued to frenetically attack him like a rabid animal. Adonai, meanwhile, continuing to pelt him with continuous ice attacks, covering him in snow and frost, freezing his mechanics and the liquid in his synthetic veins as he screamed out in pain from it all.

"ATTIS!" Ruby cried out as she rushed towards him, only for-

{SLAM}

"ACK!"

-A metal fist to implant itself in her gut, and send her crashing into the wall once more, the girl barely having enough time to recover and-

{BURST}

-Reshape herself into rose petals as-

{SWING}

{SLICE}

-Templar's sword came down on where she once was, tearing apart the metal where she had once made her place in the wall, and leaving his sword stuck in the metal for a moment as Templar moved to pull it out, which was more than enough time for Ruby as she jumped onto his back, and-

{STAB STAB}

"AUGH!"

-Stabbed Wither and Blossom into the shoulder joints of Templar, intent on cutting the cyborg's arms clean off of his body. Unfortunately, it was not enough as the Techion reached his hands back, grabbed hold of Ruby-

{TOSS}

{CLATTER}

-And threw him off of her, the red and black themed girl crashing into a mess of metal and ice, covering her in flickers of frost and water as she picked herself up once more, slipping on the ice beneath her as she burst into rose petals once more and got out of the way of Templar's next rushing blow towards her as he sped across the corridor towards her, her swords still in his shoulders and bringing forth streams of Black Ether as Ruby reformed nearby, and brought her Silver Bloom wrist guns to bare once more, arm blades on metal mantis limbs extending outwards as-

{BANG BANG BANG BANG}

-She unleashed silver rounds into the bulky Grimm, before bringing her arm blades up to-

{CLANG}

-Block an axe blow from Templar's sword, metal crashing against metal as Ruby fired off another pair of bolts into the red and blue Techion, embedding themselves into his armour, before duelling with him again and letting their blades clang and slam against each other as she continued to fend him off, the brute continuing to wail on her with blow after blow, slowing forcing her further and further back towards a nearby wall as his red and blue frame was dirtied by Black Ether, stained a darker, shiny wet hue as he continued to break down her defences-

{CLANG}

-With blow-

{CLANG}

-After blow-

{CLANG}

-After blow-

{CLANG}

-After blow.

Ruby was being forced against the wall, her arms and knees beginning to buckle underneath Templar's constant attacks as sweat poured down her face. The left side of her face was beginning to act up. She was beginning to feel phantom pains from an eye that did not exist. Everything was beginning to hurt and remind her of-

"Don't worry, little Rose... I'll be gentle."

She wavered. That was long enough.

Templar brought her guard down, and applied his boot to her head. He slammed her face into the wall behind her, and ended up breaking her nose. Blood began to pour down her face as she slumped downwards in pain, her arms beginning to raise themselves up once more as nearby-

{STAB}

{SHATTER}

"AAAAAUGH!"

-Attis was still being torn to pieces, the left side of his lower torso broken and split apart, opened to the world as the armour across his head was split open, his light beginning to fade and fail as Adonai and the effigy to Summer Rose continued to tear him apart, shedding him of his metal hide and life support systems, until, finally-

{CLATTER}

-His lights faded to nothing, and he fell limp to the floor.

Ruby reached out a hand to him, "No! Attis-"

{CRASH}

Templar brought his foot back down onto Ruby, and brought forth more blood as she crumpled to the floor, painting herself red with the ether that wept from her nose and face as she gulped down breathes of air into her greedy lungs, heaving them into herself as Templar swung his sword in his hands, his two remaining minions, Adonai and the effigy to Summer Rose, came to join him at his side, their work with Attis done and buried.

"Ordinarily, I would do this myself, and relish in it," Templar said to himself as he ran his sword across his palm, "But, well, I do like the irony of a parent- A mother- Slaying their child."

The effigy to Summer Rose clumsily stepped forwards, itself now coated in a sickly black paint that glistening in the lights overhead, the banners that once covered the walls now clumsily collapsed to the floor beneath them as the junk robot carelessly stepped over one of them.

"Oh well, I can always make personal use of your body after your death," he shrugged callously, "And it would be good publicity to have a martyr to my cause. Besides, it's not like I can't find another Silver-Eyed Warrior to make my idol."

And so, with a smug confidence to himself, Templar stepped backwards, and allowed the effigy to Summer Rose stepped before her, and raise her own Crescent Rose above its head.

"Goodbye, little Ruby Rose."

Ruby's eyes widened, and then closed.

The effigy to Summer Rose brought the scythe down-

"NO!"

-Only for Attis to jump upwards towards them, in front of Ruby, and-

{STAB}

-Intercept the killing blow for her.

Ruby's eyes opened with a series of blinks, and she looked upwards towards her Grimm saviour, "A... Attis?"

The Grimm Techion, now beginning to die, looked downwards at her, and... And...

Ruby could somehow tell that he was smiling down at her.

And then, with a defiant roar of his own, he threw his arm blades into the effigy of Summer Rose, and-

{SLICE SLICE}

[AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-MY-MY-MY-MY-MY-MY-MY-MY LITTLE-BTTZZZZZZZZZZ]

-Tore it to pieces, black oil spraying outwards as the destroyed junk robot crumbled to the ground, sparking and chattering before falling silent forever, just as Attis, Crescent Rose still impaled within himself, turned to face Templar and Adonai, before the latter summoned several spikes of ice into being, and-

{STAB}

{STAB}

{STAB}

{STAB}

-Impaled them through Attis' body.

Ruby was splattered in Black Ether and fading Grimm blood as smoke began to pour out from between the Grimm Techion's wounds, but Attis did not pay mind to any of this at all as his remaining hands glowed a bright purple, enveloping Adonai in a soft violet hue as well, before, finally, with all of his concentration no longer being directed towards anything but a singular target, he pushed all of his power into the now panicking Grimm, and-

{TEAR}

"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!"

-Tearing her to blackened bloody pieces, spraying the ground in a smoking black as what was left of her crumpled to the floor, and began to fade away underneath the cloaks and armour that she once wore.

Ruby crawled to Attis side as he slid himself off of the shards of metal and onto the ground, Black Ether pooling beneath his metal body as smoke rose out of his wounds, his remaining hands pawing at the floor beneath him as Ruby took one of them into her hands.

"A... A... Attis?" Ruby slowly began, "W... Why?"

"...F... Forgive me... My goddess..."

The smoke began to slowly cease.

"I was... Never worthy... Of you..."

His lights began to flicker off once more.

"I... Never... Was..."

And then...

He went limped.

Attis died before her.

"...A... Attis?"

She let go of his hand, letting it crumple to the ground, as she shook his corpse uselessly.

"Attis... Attis, please..."

A tear leaked down her face, and mixed with blood.

"Please don't go..."

She knelt her head down, and cried at his death.

Nearby, Templar kicked aside the broken remains of his effigy, and called out, "Useless! All of you! Can't even attempt to kill someone without finding a spectacular new way to screw up!"

He growled.

"Well, as the old saying goes," he twirled his sword in his hand, and approached Ruby as she stayed still next to Attis' corpse, "If you want something done right, do it yourself."

There was a long pause from Ruby as Templar readied himself, before she raised an arm to her face and wiped her bloody tear away, smudging her cheek even more with crimson ether.

Templar raised his sword over his head-

"May you join that little traitor Attis in hell."

-And then brought it down onto her.

{CLANG}

With a single hand, Ruby raised one of her arm blades, and deflected the blow.

Templar stepped backwards in shock, and Ruby looked upwards to him, her silver and red eyes glowing and glaring at him.

Without a single word, she stood back onto her feet, and charged forwards at the High Priest of the Choir of Silver.

{TEAR}

Went the sound of her arm blades digging into his armour and tearing it apart even more, exposing his inner components and circuity as his systems began to fail under the assault.

{SLICE}

Was the noise of her blades carving through the backs of his leg motors, forcing him to his knees as she continued to slowly disassemble him, taking him apart piece by piece with each passing second.

Raising his sword up, he then went to counter her rapid movements, but-

{CARVE}

-Went her blades through his abdomen as he cried out in shock at the sudden debilitation, before he finally brought his sword up into an optimum position and-

{CLASH}

-Deflected a passing blow from her.

"Tell me, Templar: How many fights have you been in since you left Beacon, all those years ago?"

Another blow to his leg. One that Templar couldn't stop.

"How many battles have you personally fought in?"

Another blow to his back.

"You are a failure of a fighter."

One to his knee.

"A coward."

One to his arm.

"A faker."

One to his faceplate.

"Whereas I am a progeny."

One to his abdomen.

"I was the best in Signal-"

One to his waist.

"-And am one of the best in Beacon."

One to his chest.

"I am one of the best fighters on Remnant."

One to his optic.

"Compared to me, you are nothing."

One to his head.

"So who the hell are you, a weak willed mockery of a warrior-"

And then, she grabbed the swords from his shoulder joints-

"-To stand against me?"

-And pulled them clean out, severing his sword holding arm and letting it fall to the ground.

Templar screamed, and fell to his knees, hands pawing uselessly at the place where his arm once was as black and red blood and oil leaked out like a waterfall, his frame colouring itself black from liquid as his systems began to fail and break down, compromising his life support systems and leaving him nothing but a broken husk of what he once was.

"N-No..." Templar quietly muttered to himself, "My empire... My kingdom... It was all... It was all meant to be mine... Mine... Mine..."

Before him, Ruby pointed her swords towards his person, and narrowed her eyes once more.

"Give. Me. The. List."

"...No..."

His remaining hand reached down-

"Not with my dying breath..."

-And found the sword on the blackening ground.

"Not while I draw breath..."

He began to pick himself off of the ground.

"Summer Rose will finally accept me..."

He began to march forwards.

"She will finally love me..."

And then, he brought his sword upwards-

"SHE WILL FINALLY BE MINE!"

-And rushed Ruby with a fanatical charge that-

Ruby swung her swords at him, severing his neck in a single motion so quick that he never even saw it happen.

His head fell off his body in a spray of black and red blood and clattered on the floor, his corpse collapsed to the ground, and his life slipped away forever.

Ruby Rose had gone against her previous wishes, and executed Templar.

The reign of the Choir of Silver was over before it ever began.

"...Damn you..."

Ruby uselessly kicked Templar's corpse with a growl and blare of rage.

"DAMN YOU!" she screamed out at his corpse, before finding herself short of breath, and collapsing to her knees, "Damn you for making me do that..."

She pawed her hands through her hair, and let her lungs greedily gulp down some much needed air.

She thought that she would feel more at the fact that she had just murdered someone.

Horror?

Guilt?

Disgust?

Something?

Anything?

…

All that she felt was tired.

Oh so unbearably tired.

…

…

…

…

"Ruby!?"

Nearby, a new party entered through the broken door, and into the room.

Jaune, and Melanie.

They had come for her.

They, and everyone else, it would seem.

They walked up to her, and Jaune patted her on the shoulder, "Ruby... Are you okay?"

…

She just nodded in response.

They knelt down to her sides, and Melanie went to move the hair on the left side of her face, to see the bionic optic underneath, but Ruby forced her hand away before she could, "S-Sorry," Melanie stammered out.

Ruby just nodded.

"Does it... Does it hurt?"

…

She nodded again.

Jaune looked around, and tried to elevate the mood, "Wow... You've... You've been busy."

…

"I just killed someone."

They both looked at her.

"Not just a Grimm, but a person... An actual person."

They both leaned in closer to her.

"...I just want to go home."

They pulled her into an embrace.

"Shhh…" it was Jaune who said this, "It's okay, Ruby. It's okay... It wasn't your fault. You did what you had to do."

And somehow, despite everything...

Ruby believed him.

"...The list."

Jaune and Melanie blinked at her, ""What?"" they asked in unison.

Ruby wormed her way out of their hug, and moved to Templar's corpse, feeling over his mechanical body for any hidden compartments in his ruined frame, "Templar had a list of Grimm within Vale. They were going to begin a terror campaign against the city on his orders, but he's supposed to have a personal list of their safehouses on him that we can use to-"

A secret compartment on the side of his waist opened up upon her touch, and inside it, she could see a folded piece of paper.

"-Bingo."

She pulled it out, and unfolded it. Across the scrap of paper were a list of addresses. Places closest to hospitals, government buildings, military stations, public areas, the works. All of them housing, in total, a hundred Grimm across the city.

"We need to find a way to contact the city," Ruby said, "Call Ozpin, call Atlas, anything. There's a hundred Grimm in Vale, and with no orders from Templar, they'll just rise up on their own and murder hundreds of people. Problem is that there's a jamming signal over the Sleeping City, and Templar just destroyed the only ways to-"

[BWEEP BWOOP BEEP]

Nearby, Eri floated towards them and spun around in the air, and Jaune responded with, "Really? You did?"

[BEEP BEEP BEEP BOOP]

"Well that's great! You really are coming in with the saves today, aren't you?"

Eri let out a happy chirp and spin, and Melanie asked, "What's up?"

"Apparently Eri's been creating her own spoof key to access the jamming network around the Sleeping City, ever since she got to the coliseum. We've now got the means to bypass the jamming network and contact the city!"

"Oh, great! That's great!" Ruby went as she waved the paper slip in front of her, before asking, "So, er, does anyone have a scroll on them? Mine kind of, you know, got itself crushed in Templar's hand."

Jaune nodded, "I think I still have a line to Winter and Ironwood from our team leader internships. I can try and call them," Ruby nodded, and Eri connected her signal to Jaune's communications, accessing the jamming network and breaking it apart, before finally contacting the world outside of the Sleeping City.

A few seconds later, a curt, cold voice- One that Ruby recognised from the night of the warehouse raid- Sounded off through Jaune's helmet, "Arc? Where are you? Are you still in the Sleeping City?"

"Winter!" Jaune hurrahed with a fist pump, "Thank god you're there! Listen, there's about a hundred Grimm in Vale, right now!"

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Can she hear me?" Ruby asked, to which Jaune replied that she should be able to, and she called out with, "Winter- It's Winter, right?"

"Hm? Yes, my name is Winter."

"Winter, listen: There's a faction of Grimm known as the Choir of Silver inside of Vale, scattered across a dozen different safehouses across the city, all of them totalling around a hundred Grimm in strength. If they're not stopped as soon as possible, then they'll begin a terrorist campaign all across the city. Tell Ozpin and the people in charge of the Atlesian forces not to leave Vale! Not until Templar's forces have been taken out!"

There was a pause from Winter, before she finally responded with, "Do you have any actionable intelligence to back up your claims?"

"Yes! Yes I do!" Ruby went as she waved around the list in her hand, "I've got a list of addresses on me right now. I can list them off now if you'd-"

Suddenly, the world around them began to rumble and shake, and shards of dislodged metal and dust began to flutter down from the shattered ceiling above them. In the far distance, something began to split and break apart, crumbling and breaking into pieces as those within the room fell to the floor and clutched onto whatever they could grab.

"Arc?" Winter called out over the comms, "Arc, what's going on over there?"

Nearby, Skipjack scuttled into the room, and yelled out, "Yo, guys! You might want to see this!"

They understood what he meant, and followed him out of the effigy chamber, and down a corridor to where a shattered window looking outside was located, seeing what was in the distance, far away from the cathedral in the centre of the city.

A ship, coloured silver and red, was rising up from the edge of the Sleeping City, hidden in between the gaping holes and gaps that littered the structure's frame and body. A long airship, though much smaller than an Atlesian battle ship, with a segmented hull, holding individual gun ports in between each segment, and two large, hulking rectangular engines strapped to the back, with a main central cannon attached to the bottom of the ship, a pair of small wings pointing downwards at a 45 degree angle from underneath the engines, and the main bridge of the ship located at the end of the ship, right in front of the engines, as a soft orange glow began to trail behind the ship as it moved.

"The Pilgrim's Flight..." Ruby muttered to herself as the cruiser began to lift into the sky, "Templar's ship..."

The cruiser began to lift into the sky, turning on its axis in a new heading, and then took off...

In the opposite direction of Vale.

Huh?

That didn't make sense.

Wasn't the Pilgrim's Flight supposed to be following Templars plan?

If they weren't, then...

"Hephaestus," Ruby realised as her eyes widened, "It must be that guy in the cruiser..."

Templar had said that Hephaestus had abandoned him back in the effigy chamber. He must be the one commanding that ship.

As the Pilgrim's Flight began to fly off into the distance, Jaune radioed it into Winter, and then turned to Ruby, "Should we... Should we go after it?"

"...No," she shook her head, "At the rate that it's going, we'll never catch up to it... There's no point."

Ruby just rested her head against the wall, list still in hand, and let out a tired sigh.

Her phantom eye began to twitch once more.

She just really wanted to go home.

"Well, now that that problem is dealt with," the Tinkerer said to himself as he looked away from the Sleeping City, "It's time that we were off."

"Where too?" Croft asked from his station on the bridge, the rest of his loyalists jogging about between their stations and manning the controls.

The Tinkerer tapped his hands against his chair, and underneath his helmet, simulated, as best he could, a smile.

"To Sky-Mantle... To Atlas. It's time to meet our masters once more."

As the Pilgrim's Flight continued to take off into the distance, the Disciple looked to the rest of its fellows in their group, and saw an opening to escape the necropolis.

Slipping past the sights of the gathering Hunter children, the gathering of tired and battered Disciples, Barons, Lancers, and Clerics, numbering only a few dozen, began to worm their way through the burning rubble of the cathedral and its towers, climbing down and up from the still warm craters that littered the grounds, and hid behind many shards of dislodged metal and broken pieces of building.

Ditching their silver cloaks and wear, they began to slink their way out of sight from the Hunters and their steeds, and planned their trip out of this dead city. Perhaps they would meet up with the other members of the Choir of Silver that had slipped out of the city already and scattered into the wild. Or maybe they would defect back to the Ascendant Court, and try to pass themselves off as already loyal members. Or maybe they would just turn mercenary, and strike out on their own.

Decisions, decisions, deci-

The Thunderstorm Dragon jumped down in front of them, its three heads aiming downwards and letting out streams of fire into the metal floor before them, forcing them to stop and step back in a panic as the Thunderstorm began to box them into an unmoveable position.

Behind them, as they began to turn around, the Hunter children spotted them, and aimed their weapons at the dozens of battered and worn down Grimm fighters.

"You want to live?" one of them called out to them, "Now's the time to make a choice."

The Grimm said nothing.

"The choice on wherever you want to make it out of this place alive or not."

They said nothing once more.

The Disciple at the front of the crowd- The same one that the Silver-Eyed Warrior and the Grimm traitor had encountered in the cathedral earlier- Looked back at the Grimm behind him, considered his options, and then came to a solid conclusion.

He put his hands behind his head, and put his knees to the floor.

Everyone else followed shortly afterwards.

"And the last address on the list is... Here. Twenty-fourth, Lifeline Avenue, near the police station. Entire- Wow, entire house this time. Not just the basement or attic. Might want to get a drone up in the air for surveillance," Ruby finished off with as she, Jaune, Melanie, Eri, and everyone else joined the first years outside, dozens of Grimm on their knees nearby as a swarm of Dragons surrounded them. This was enough to give Ruby pause for a few moments, but she resolved to talk about it later as she focused herself on informing Winter about the Grimm hideouts within Vale, "And yeah, that's about all of them. Did you get all of them?"

There was the clicking of keys of a keyboard on the other side of the line, before Winter finally responded with, "Yes, all of them have been written down, and General Ironwood has already been alerted as we speak."

Nearby, Weiss looked towards them, surprise writ across her face, but upon moving to walk towards them, was stopped by Tusks and Sora Auburn.

It was Jaune who then asked, "You've already sent him a message?"

"He's been listening in," revealed Winter.

"Indeed," came in the voice of General Ironwood over the communications.

"Oh, sir!" Jaune quickly got out awkwardly, which elicited a giggle from Ruby as he then stammered out, "I, um, I didn't know that you were listening in."

"I had assumed that it wouldn't be an issue," Winter cut in with.

"Well, no, it's not. Very much not. Just surprised me, is all."

"Well, that's not surprising for me at all," Ironwood chuckled, as he then replied, "Thank you, Mr Arc. Once again, you might just have saved many lives today."

Ruby blinked and looked up at him with a smile, but Jaune quickly cut in with, "It's not me who deserves the praise today, sir. That belongs to Ruby and Eri. Without them, well, we wouldn't have the list, and we all would be dead as well."

Ruby blushed at the praise, and Eri spun happily in the sky as the red and black themed girl warmly went, "Oh, it's- It's no problem, sir. Just- Just doing what a Huntress should do, is all."

"Yes, well, with that attitude, I can see a great career ahead of you in the future."

For all of her humbleness, Ruby couldn't help but lap at the praise.

Huh, she thought to herself, Templar must've had a bigger effect on me than I thought...

And speaking about Templar...

"Do you know where Headmaster Ozpin is, sir?" Ruby asked over the comms, a sharpness to her voice as she spoke, "I need to have a talk with him."

Next to her, Jaune and Melanie couldn't help but take a step back.

"Not right now, at the moment," was Ironwood's reply, "But I can have him connected to the comms, if you would like. I'm sure that he'd love to know that his students are okay."

"...No. No, don't do that," Ruby responded with, "I'd rather talk to him in person. Just- Please just send him an update on us, and let him know that I'll talk to him in person, okay?"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Yeah, yes, I'm sure."

"Well, if that is what you want."

"Sir, we've got wounded over here," Jaune finally continued, as he looked to the recently arrived Lavender and Vultures healing the burnt Jolie Kobal and Yang Xiao Long, the still unconscious Nora, Voltage, Miss Goodwitch, and Mr Watts to her side as their Grimm captives stayed knelt down against the floor, "As well as some Grimm captives that I know that you'd love to interrogate."

This got him to pause for a moment, an audible air of surprise to him as Winter then got in, "You have Grimm prisoners?"

"Yep," was Jaune's response, "We'll be sending our prisoners, and our wounded," he gestured quickly to Ruby, "To you, but the rest of us will need some time to lock up and shut down the Sleeping City before we return."

"What about your teachers?"

"Both unconscious. Minor injuries, but out for the count at the moment."

After a pause from Ironwood, he then finally responded with, "Understood. I'll send some auxiliary units to the city to relieve you and escort you home. In the meantime, how are you planning on getting back to the city?"

"Oh, don't worry-"

Nearby, a Dragon leaned its head down, and allowed Jaune to pat it on the beak.

"-We've got our own rides back home."

"...No," Ruby quietly muttered in disbelief as she stepped back.

Next to her, Melanie smiled, "Yes."

Ruby couldn't help but smile as well, "No..."

"Yes."

"How?"

Melanie gestured a thumb to Jaune, "Magic hands."

Ruby looked at Jaune, and smiled widely.

Incredible, once again...

"Hey, since I guess we're both about to leave, you want me to get Crescent Rose for you?" Ruby looked at Melanie once again as the burnt white themed girl continued, "I mean... When we were in that big chamber, you didn't take Crescent Rose with you, and I know that you really like that weapon, so I just... You want me to go grab it for you?"

Visions flashed in front of her only good eye.

A Techion using the blade to claw out an imperfect eye.

An effigy attacking her with it.

An ally being impaled by it.

"...No."

Ruby shook her head and looked away.

"No, I... No."

Melanie blinked, "You... You sure?"

She shook her head once more.

"No... Please, just... No."

And with that, another past of her self withered away, and died.

Reviewer response time:

rarrarshark: Thank you for taking the time out of your day to read this!

Guest: Yeah... Sorry... Attis kind of had to die, in order to further Ruby's character arc. It was either that or be shot immediately by Atlas' soldiers, despite her protests. After all, they might think- Ozpin would definitely think- That he was trying to manipulate an coerce her to his side. So, really, there wasn't any other good way that he was going to get out of this situation without being taken prisoner and then being killed, or just straight up being killed.

avatarlopes: Yeah, when the other Jaunes are able to fly a dragon, they can come talk to me. Until then, they're not allowed at the cool kids table. No, I don't care how many BS OP Gamer powers they have. They don't have a dragon? They don't have a place at the cool kids table!

And here we are. The Battle of the Sleeping City is over.

Now, it's time to deal with the aftermath

Next time, of course!

Until then, stay safe, stay healthy, leave a review, follow, favourite, and I shall see you all next time!

Titanmaster117 out!