Outside on the quad of Haven Academy. The battle between the White Fang and the Menagerie Faunus as well as the Mistral police force continues.
One of the Mistral airships shines its searchlight on three White Fang soldiers "Cease fire, immediately!"
The three try to run away, but they are stopped by a combined group of Menagerie Faunus, Haven huntsmen, and Mistral policemen led by Ilia. Eventually, two of the White Fang soldiers drop their weapons and hold their hands in the air to surrender when they are surrounded. The last White Fang soldier tries to fire his weapon, but it is whipped out of his hands and he is tackled and restrained to the ground by Ilia.
A Female Rabbit Faunus smiles at her "Thank you".
Ilia looks at the rabbit Faunus, then smiles and nods back. Elsewhere, Blake stands proudly over Adam, who was on his knees before standing back up.
Adam was seething "I'm going to make you regret ever coming back..."
"More police are on their way, Adam, and the Huntsmen are already here. " Blake said.
Adam chuckled evilly "Still too afraid to face me on your own".
"I'm here for Haven, not you" Blake said calmly.
Angered, Adam points Blush in front of Blake with Wilt in his left hand, while Blake draws Gambol Shroud "Heh, you are still afraid, and you should be. I've made powerful friends while you've been away".
"Oh yeah?" Adam look to his left as Sun approaches him holding Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang in its staff form "Where?"
Adam points Wilt towards Sun "Tell me, does Blake make all of her classmates fight for her?".
"Nah, it's a volunteer gig. I'm just sayin', for someone who claims to have such great friends, there doesn't seem to be a lot of people here willing to fight for you" Sun said.
Adam looks around, seeing his followers surrendering to the overwhelming numbers of forces Blake brought with her, only made greater from the Branwen bandits and the Mistral Huntsmen, proving Sun's point right. A searchlight then shines down on him.
"You can try and make me regret coming here, Adam, but honestly... I've got more important things to deal with" Blake said. It was clear she was not afraid of him anymore.
Adam lets out a frustrated growl and swings his sword at Sun, but the monkey Faunus counters his attacks by swinging his gunchucks. Adam then blocks Blake's sword swings as she comes at him, followed up by Adam getting surprised by Velvet, who slammed him away with a holographic Magnhild. Adam bolts, with Sun giving chase.
Adam runs away into the bushes and trees while Sun continues to pursue him, but Blake calls out to him "Sun, wait!".
"But he's getting away! We could take him!" Sun argued
Blake ran up to him while sheathing her katana "No, we can't. He wants to lure us away so he can pick us off. We need to protect the school and the people here. Besides... now he can see what it feels like to run away. Thank you".
Velvet nodded at Blake, a determined expression on her face. Sun smiled: "Eh, we all need help sometimes" Sun's attention is then drawn to Haven's Great Hall where he and Blake see their old friends and allies fighting off their enemies "I think there's a few people who could use yours".
Sun is about to run off to help finish the fight, but Blake stops him before he leaves "Be careful".
"No promises" Sun said with a smile and runs off with Velvet as Blake smiles at his last remark, before she too runs to finish the fight.
…
Back inside the Great Hall, Hazel launches fireballs from his fists with his fire-Dust enhanced arms at Weiss' summoned Queen Lancer. The Lancer dodges out of the way of the blasts. Meanwhile, the remaining members of Team JNPR fend themselves from Emerald's shots.
"You guys okay?" Jaune asked.
Ren coughs while Nora groans in exhaustion "Surviving..."
"I don't know how that big guy is still standing. He recharges his Aura faster than I've ever seen!" Nora said
Ozpin watches Qrow fly in with his bird form, before transforming back into his usual self.
Qrow grunts in pain "He's sheer willpower".
Ozpin takes cover behind a nearby column "We just need to get him to his limit!".
The Queen Lancer summon is then shown firing projectiles at Hazel, distracting him. Hazel uses the opportunity to launch a combined fire and lightning attack which causes the Lancer summon to dissipate. Weiss stares in shock as her summon disappears. Suddenly, Blake jumps in and kicks Hazel to the ground before jumping next to Weiss and Ruby.
"Are you hurt?" Blake asked.
"N- No! I just remembered you being more of the quiet one" Weiss said in surprise.
"Not today" Blake draws Gambol Shroud, while Ruby holds up Crescent Rose.
"Alright. Well, what's the plan, Ruby?" Weiss asked.
Ruby nods. Lionheart tries to launch an attack on Emerald, but Hazel steps in and blocks the shot. Glaring at Lionheart in rage for going behind their backs.
Lionheart runs out of the room through the doors behind him in fear. Roman notices this and takes off after him.
Dante lowered his guns: "Ah, great."
Mercury watches Lionheart run away "You've gotta be kidding me...".
Hazel lets out a fearsome roar, while Emerald just watches him. Ruby calls out their team attack "Checkmate!".
Blake and Weiss run forward, followed closely behind by their leader.
…
While everyone was fighting above, Julius had quickly teleported his way down into the Maiden vault…and right into the middle of a massive fight. Ducking behind a stone for cover, he peeked out to see Cinder and Raven clashing above, their Maiden powers activated.
Wait…Summer said, RAVEN'S the Spring Maiden?!
"Apparently" Julius replied, "Looks like there's a lot that happened when I was gone."
No kidding.
Julius then looked around; where was Vernal? He then spotted her lying on the ground nearby, then teleported over to her, grabbing her and teleporting back. He quickly looked at the wound on her torso.
"It's bad" he said.
You can fix it Summer said.
"You know I'm not a fan of doing that kind of thing!" Julius snapped.
Yeah, well it's that or let her die.
Julius groaned; she had a point. Realizing he had no other option; he placed his hand over the wound and focused…channeling the magic within him. The energy flowed into Vernal, healing her quickly. Once he was certain it was healed, Julius pulled back his hand, just as Vernal opened her eyes again.
"Julius?" she asked.
Julius nodded: "What happened?"
Vernal managed to sit up: "Cinder tried to kill me and take the power for herself. Of course, she didn't realize Raven was actually the Maiden until it was too late. But there's something else. Her arm…it's Grimm."
Julius widened his eyes in shock: "What?!"
Suddenly, Raven and Cinder crashed back to the ground, both had their auras depleted. Julius turned back to Vernal: "I have an idea."
Vernal smirked.
Meanwhile, Raven, stood back up to face Cinder: "Had enough?"
"Shut up!" Cinder yelled.
"If you were stronger or more clever" Raven said, "Then maybe…you'd remember to watch your back."
Cinder stood back up just as Vernal appeared from behind the rock and threw one of her weapons at Cinder, slicing her Grimm arm off. As Cinder was distracted in her pain from the arm growing back, Julius ran up behind her and drew one of his revolvers. Once Cinder's arm had regenerated, she turned to find the gun's barrel right at her face…and the one holding it.
Cinder's eye had never been wider: "What? You…but…how?!"
Julius cocked back the hammer on the gun: "I'll let you figure that out." Then, he pulled the trigger, sending Cinder flying back. Raven ran up, blasting Cinder off the cliff with her Maiden powers and freezing her as she fell. Once Raven was sure Cinder was gone, she turned back to Vernal and Julius.
"Vernal, you're alright." Raven said in amazement.
Vernal pointed to Julius: "Thank him."
Raven looked at Julius and smiled: "That's my nephew."
Julius nodded, then Raven walked over to the vault door. Activating her Maiden powers, she touched the door, which then flared with a blue light before opening. Raven was about to go and retrieve the Relic when they turned around to the sound of a gunshot as Yang dropped down into the vault. As she stood back up, she assessed the situation.
"Took you long enough" Yang said, noticing Julius, "You missed a lot of the fun."
Julius shrugged: "Well, I had plenty down here."
Yang nodded, then looked at Raven: "And you?"
Raven sighed. Julius looked at her: "She's your daughter. You can't keep shunning her."
"What are you suggesting?"
"I'll go get the Relic; you mend fences. At least try."
Raven sighed again: "Fine, but only because you said so."
Julius nodded and walked through the door. Meanwhile, Raven turned to Yang: "Still have a lot of questions, I'm guessing."
"You could say that" Yang replied.
"If you're wondering why I treat Julius better than you; he's more than you realize."
"What are you talking about?"
"He didn't tell you?"
Yang remained unmoving, so Raven continued: "He can wield magic, just like Ozpin."
Yang was still skeptical: "Then why have I never seen it?"
"He chooses not to use it because it was that very thing that painted a target on his back, the reason Salem tried to kill him when he was merely a child. What he is meant to do…let's just say Salem has a reason to be afraid."
"That still doesn't explain why you left your own daughter, but accept him."
"To be honest" Julius replied as he came out, holding a gold and blue lamp, "I was wondering that same thing."
"One of my priorities is to make those I care about stronger. Yang had a chance to do that with Tai and Ruby. You didn't; hell, you were almost dead when we found you. Now look at you, you can take someone down with just one hand and one eye, and Yang can hold off an entire group of my bandits on her own."
"You think that's even a good reason to leave your family?" Yang demanded.
"Wait" Julius said, "You said you make those you care about stronger."
Raven gritted her teeth; she backed herself into that corner: "Okay, fine. Yes, I still care about Yang, but I need to make my own path and make sure my clan survives. You know what Salem's capable of, Julius. You've seen what she's done to people."
"I have, and if you want to make sure that same thing happens to everyone else" Julius said, "Then let's do it…together. Yang and I are your family, after all."
Raven thought for a few moments, then noticed Julius's revolvers and gasped: "Are those…?"
"Summer's? Yes, they are. She entrusted them to me, knowing I would use them when I was ready. She would have stood with us."
"Yeah, and then she died." Raven said.
I wouldn't be too sure about that said a voice in Raven's head. Startled, Raven caught a glimpse of Summer's shimmering form next to Julius. It disappeared the second she saw it.
Julius nodded while Yang spoke "Even so, she was your friend; you used to stand with her. If you are still the fighter that Dad always said you were, then please, fight with us."
"You're a Maiden, so you can bet Salem will be after you. Not even you can face her alone." Julius argued.
Raven was silent for a few moments, but then sighed: "Looks like I don't have a choice. Fine, I'll go."
Julius nodded: "Good, because we still have some business to finish upstairs."
"We should go now while we can" Vernal advised, "There's no telling what we'll encounter back up there."
Julius nodded, then turned to Yang: "I know you and Raven don't always see eye to eye, but please, trust me on this."
Yang sighed: "Alright then."
"Besides, think of this as the opportunity to start mending fences with her."
Yang simply nodded as the four headed for the lift to take them back up.
…
Back upstairs, the fight seemed to last with no end.
"That's enough! Just give up" Ruby demanded.
Mercury snarls and yells in frustration, slamming his fist into the ground.
"It's not over! Cinder will come back, she'll have the Relic, and she'll stop all of you! She won't let us down" Emerald shot back.
The platform leading to the vault is heard coming back up. Everyone stares as Yang, Vernal, Raven, and Julius come back up with Yang holding the Relic of Knowledge in her hand. Emerald looks in surprise as Cinder didn't come back up. All of Yang's friends look up to her and smile.
"Yang..." Ruby said in relief.
Blake's eyes widen at the sight of Julius and she gasps: "Is that…?"
"It's a long story" Weiss explained. Blake stumbled back as the gravity of seeing her boyfriend alive and well (though missing his robotic parts) fell on her.
Hazel seethes while tears stream from Emerald's eyes. Yang smiles back down to her friends and Julius shares a brief glance with Blake, who looks down for a bit before looking back up to him, tears streaming from her eyes. Emerald falls to her knees and begins to sob. Mercury and Hazel slowly back away. The four jump down from the balcony, joining the other Huntsmen on the floor.
"Raven?" Qrow asked.
"I'll explain later." Raven replied.
"Emerald, get up, we need to go" Mercury said but Emerald shakes her head and remains stationary "Emerald!".
Emerald looks around as her breathing gets frantic. She holds her head and lets out a loud scream, activating her Semblance. Suddenly, the room turns dark as black smoke rises from the ground nearby. From it, a giant effigy of Salem, limbs bent and deformed, towers above everyone in the room. Julius widens his eyes in fear and recognition. The giant Salem opens her eyes, and lets out an ear-piercing scream as it swoops down over everyone. However, Julius leaps in front of everyone and thrusts his hand forward.
"NOOOO!" he shouted. Suddenly a massive blast of energy shoots from his hand, breaking the illusion. The screen goes black for a moment. Afterwards, everything returns to normal…almost; a large chunk of the podium was destroyed from the blast. Ruby shakes in fear as she comes to terms with what she had just witnessed. Everyone in the room is still present, with the exception of the villains. Julius had fallen to the ground, exhausted from the energy blast.
"Wha... what was that?" Blake asked in shock.
"An illusion. But an accurate one. That... was Salem" Ozpin said.
Outside, Hazel is running and carrying an unconscious Emerald over his shoulder, with Mercury following not too far behind him. Up in the tree branches, Adam watches his allies run, before he too leaves.
Back at Haven, Ruby leans down to help Julius sit up.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
Julius puts his hand to his head: "I-I guess so."
"That blast" Weiss asked, "What was that?"
Julius sighed: "Something I wanted to keep hidden. You can probably guess why."
"Uh, does it have something to do with that?" Nora asked, pointing to Julius's hand. As everyone looks, they all gasp in surprise; Julius's hand had turned a pure white.
Julius simply growled in frustration as he stood up: "It's nothing. I'll be fine."
Before anyone could further question, Blake ran over and tackled Julius back to the ground, laughing as she did.
"I watched you die…" she softly said.
Julius processed what just happened before realizing it was Blake and hugged her back: "I don't die that easily."
Blake pulled back before bringing Julius in, kissing him full on the lips, which Julius softly melted into. The other members of Team RWBY smiled at the reunion.
After a few long moments, Weiss clears her throat: "Ehem, are we interrupting something?"
Blake then pulled back, both she and Julius blushing in embarrassment. The two quickly stood back up. Blake then hears the sounds of her parents and Sun run into the great hall. The Belladonnas share a hug together while Sun looks on.
"The police and the Huntsmen rounded up the remaining White Fang members. Haven is safe" Kali said.
"Unfortunately, it appears that Adam escaped" Ghira said and they all look down.
"It's okay" Ilia spoke while walking into the building, Hector following behind "He was the only one to escape tonight. Those in the White Fang that followed him? They won't support a leader that abandons his people. He won't have their help after this. He'll have no one at all. And the White Fang will be left divided".
"We've been fighting amongst ourselves for too long. Perhaps it's time for a new brotherhood. A new family for Faunus truly working towards a better world" Ghira said.
"And they'll need a new leader" Kali pointed out.
"And it won't be me" Sienna said as she walked in, "I tried and failed. You would be a better leader than me, Ghira."
Ghira nods in acknowledgement. Sun peeks behind Ghira and notices his old friends from Beacon, waving to them. He then wraps his tail around Blake to turn her around and have her see her old friends too. She slowly walks towards them nervously while Sun and her parents smile. Yang hands the Relic to her uncle.
"What happened?" Qrow asked.
"I don't know exactly. When I got down there, Cinder was gone, and Raven, Vernal and Julius were about to get the Relic." Yang explained.
"And you, Raven?" Qrow asked.
Raven smirked: "Let's just say I decided to ally with someone who I trust far more."
Suddenly, Ruby groans and falls to her knees. Weiss catches her "Are you okay?"
"I feel like I should be asking you guys" Ruby said before both look up to see Blake approaching them. Yang walks over and drops to her sister's side "So Blake, what're you doing here?".
"I... I was gonna ask you three the same thing" Blake said.
Ruby, Weiss, and Yang, share glances with each other before Ruby spoke "That's... a looooong story".
"Well... I'm not going anywhere" Blake said.
"That's all that matters" Ruby said with a giggle "That we're all here together. Right?"
Ruby looks to Yang as she says that. Blake briefly looks away with a sorrowful expression on her face. Yang looks up at her and smiles "Yeah".
Blake looks back over to them and smiles. Weiss offers a hand out to her, and the cat Faunus eagerly joins in to Team RWBY's first group hug after a long time of being apart. The four girls embrace each other while their friends look on smiling.
Meanwhile, Hector noticed Julius and immediately walked up to him, grabbed his shoulders, and shook him like a pinata, yelling: "WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK, DUDE!?"
Team RWBY laughed as they watched it happen. Julius teleported backwards a few feet, incredibly dizzy.
"How are you still alive?" Hector demanded.
Yang called over: "Turns out he can heal really fast"
Hector raised a skeptical eyebrow, and then whipped one of his arm blades across Julius's face, cutting his cheek.
"OW!" Julius yelled. Hector simply watched as the cut quickly healed.
"Huh, impressive." He said.
Ruby then looked around: "Hey, where's Roman?"
As if in answer, the doors behind them burst open as Lionheart was thrown through them. Roman and Neo walk up behind him.
"There he is." Julius said.
"We caught this guy messing with something he shouldn't have." Roman said.
Neo grunted in agreement and signed; Creepy looking Grimm and monster almost killed him. I dealt with it.
Hector then perked up: "Something's up."
A roar echoed from the doorway as a Hell Knight jumped through.
Everyone started back in fright.
"What is that?!" Nora yelled.
"Oh, come on!" Roman yelled, "just DIE ALREADY!"
The demon turned back to Roman, growling. Suddenly, a hammer flew through the main doors, slamming into its face as Anton charged in. Novus jumped onto its back, bringing his sword down into its head while Anton grabbed his hammer, charging it with electricity. Nora widened her eyes in recognition and smiled: "Dad?"
"Novus, move!" Anton yelled. Novus promptly did so, which was hard considering the Hell Knight was flailing around. Once he had jumped off, Anton swung his hammer, the resulting blast taking the demon's head clean off.
Once everyone had calmed down, Anton looked over to Novus and nodded.
"DADDY!" Nora yelled, tackling Anton to the ground.
Anton, recognizing his daughter, returned the hug and laughed: "You've gotten so big!"
"I missed you" Nora cried.
"As did I. We have so much to talk about."
Novus smiled at the reunion, then turned to Lionheart, who began backing away: "Please, I can explain…"
Roman stepped in between the two: "Relax, he was acting as our…temporary spy in this little operation. Though your attacking Oscar was a bit questionable."
"I was just trying to survive in the moment. Being loyal to opposing sides is difficult." Lionheart argued.
Roman shrugged: "Fair enough. Though you do have some explaining to do to your Huntsmen that you almost killed."
Lionheart noticed the Haven huntsmen as they entered, then sighed as he walked over to them.
"Roman!" Ruby yelled, getting his attention before smiling, "Thanks for the help" Roman tipped his hat: "A pleasure, little Red."
Neo looked over at Julius and ran to him, hugging him.
Julius chuckled: "Yeah, I missed you too."
Yang quickly put the pieces together: "Wait, Roman, you were working with JULIUS?!"
Roman shrugged: "Let's just say there's a lot going on that you're not aware of, blondie."
Qrow, still holding the Relic, then approaches a panting Oscar, who is kneeling on the ground "I don't know how, but we did it, Oz. You okay?".
"I'm alright" Oscar said.
Qrow blinked "Kid?".
"He's resting. Too much energy fighting" Oscar said in a strained voice.
"Hey, wizard, don't strain yourself!" Qrow said
"No! He had... a message..." Oscar began before taking a few more pants "We must... get the lamp to... Atlas".
Oscar groans and falls, but Qrow catches him. He lays the exhausted farm boy on the ground and looks over as Team RWBY finishes their embrace, and JRHD finishes high fiving all around. Qrow then stands back up, and looks to the Relic he holds in his hand. He had a feeling this adventure had merely just begun.
…
A portal opens in a throne room of sorts. Dante and V walk in, heading towards the throne at the end of the room that faced away from them. A large gauntleted hand could be seen resting on it, the rest of the figure hidden.
Dante and V stop in front of the throne.
"I'm back" Dante announced, "And I've got some news. First off, there's an issue with V here, apparently he's been drained of a lot of power; I had to spare more of my own than usual to help him through. I figured you guys could help with that."
There are a few more moments of silence before Dante continues: "Oh, and, uh, Salem's back. Apparently, she was the one behind the attacks on Beacon and Haven, like we guessed. We stopped the one at Haven, but she's got a LOT of pawns. It's getting serious down there."
"The good news" V added, "is that the one who is able to break the barrier on this world is alive and on our side. Soon, Sentinel Prime will be unleashed, and you will have your vengeance."
The figure rose from the throne and walked over to the window, in his hand was what seemed like the hilt of a sword, a red, angular symbol shone on it. As Dante and V watched, the figure ignited the blade and looked into it. The camera turns around to reveal the figure as the Doom Slayer himself. The Slayer looks down over the railing and watches the army of Night Sentinels amassing below.
Yes, soon they will be unleashed…and Salem would be very sorry for ever showing her face again.
The Doom Slayer is coming. But with Volume 5 now out of the way, I've decided to give a little hiatus from the main story. Prepare yourselves…JRHD Chibi is next.