Chapter Two: A Rough Neighbourhood
Maria had set the airship down in an abandoned lot, and they'd rapidly put some distance between them and the stolen craft, avoiding any patrolling soldiers. As they made their way through the streets, Jaune looked at the buildings around him. Grey was his overwhelming impression. Part of that was the way the late hour made everything look, but the whole city exuded grey in a way that went beyond the visual. It was reflected in the faces of the people they passed, and in the boarded-up businesses they walked past. It reminded him of some of the more run-down parts of Vale, although there was little graffiti here. The neighbourhoods were tidy for the most part, but also visibly wearing out, with many of the buildings either side of them in need of some repair.
High up in the eastern half of the sky was Atlas, and although many of its lights were hidden from this angle, some dotted the vast bulk of the floating island upon which it was built. Vast tethers connected the floating city with the one below it, although none descended near them that Jaune could see. His attention was called back to street level as a series of trucks roared past them. He quickened his pace to stay with Pyrrha and the others, keeping a wide berth of the occasional Atlesian Knight that was keeping watch. The last time Jaune had seen those androids was when they'd been hacked during the fall of Beacon, and he had little desire to get close.
He'd seen a lot of different places in the last couple of year, encountered many different things. But if there were a scale, and the rustic setting that provided his upbringing were at one end of it, Jaune felt sure that this would be at the other.
"Hurry up! We're almost there!" the old lady, Maria, called out. She seemed to know what she was doing, and no one else had a plan, so he was willing to go along with it. Hopefully they could sort this out, find some way of depositing the relic, and then work something out from there. They moved along, walking past another holographic board. He glanced at it, noticing various news announcements – something about a dead journalist, the embargo, an upcoming election – before it cut away again for another recorded broadcast from Weiss's sister.
Picking up the pace a little, he drew near to Maria. "Has it always been like this?" he asked.
"This?" Maria replied. "It does seem to have gotten rougher. I suppose the Dust embargo is taking its toll. Though it's always been a bit like this. Mantle was defeated, demoralised after the Great War. They needed a new destiny, something brighter to look up to. And that destiny was Atlas. After all, living amongst the clouds is about as bright as one can get!"
They looked up, towards the city in the sky above them. Another pair of trucks drove past, miners soiled with labour lying in their backs.
"Rough on those left behind," murmured Blake from behind them.
"A whole city on a pedestal," Pyrrha whispered quietly. Jaune caught her implicit criticism, he knew how she felt about pedestals: what people saw was rarely the actual thing.
"Come on now, we're just about there!" Maria called out, crossing the street. She approached a building at the corner of a junction, one illuminated with a glowing green cross above its front door. She placed her hand on her chin for a moment in thought, and then approached a side door, giving it a loud knock with the walking stick she never actually seemed to lean upon.
"I'm afraid it's late," a rich voice called out. "Unless that's you, Sandra, and you have a sudden issue with that arm, the clinic's closing up for the night."
Maria opened the door. "Surely you have some time for an old friend?" she asked, waltzing in. With several glances at each other, the others followed her in.
Inside was a little room in some structural disrepair, with a damaged wall and a severely scuffed wooden floor. In better repair were the bookcases, upon which a variety of files were stored, and a tidy desk, while at the far end of the room sat a neat examination table. A variety of prosthetics dotted the room, while a stocking man was seated behind the desk. He was an older gentleman, stocky with brown skin and balding white hair with a beard. He remained seated as he looked at them.
"Do I know you?" he asked quizzically.
Maria tapped her robotic lenses. "Cybernetic optical implants. You adjust them for me every decade or so?"
He peered at her for a few moments over his glasses, before smiling. "Maria! Has it been that long already?" His chair began to move from behind the desk, and it as it came into view it became clear it was some form of mobility chair with robotic legs.
"Oh, I know," Maria laughed. "Time passes more swiftly with every year. But I'd have actually been here sooner, but then I ran into these kids. At first, I thought they just needed some help with some Grimm, but it turns out they had a whole host of issues!"
Qrow coughed. "Lady, who is this?"
"The impatience of the young!" Maria complained. "I really shouldn't have to introduce one of Atlas's finest scientific minds."
"Now Maria, it's no problem," the man chuckled. "I'm Pietro."
"And when he's not down here, he's up in the clouds helping Ironwood as one of Atlas's chief scientists," Maria added.
Yang looked around at the flaking walls and decrepit ceiling. "And why exactly are you down here in a place like this?"
"The pharmacy gives me a little space to run this clinic," Pietro said with a wave of his hand. "Lot of people 'round here would struggle to buy prosthetics. I like to give a little back to the community. I didn't get where I am all by myself, after all."
"One of the finest hearts, too," Maria said softly.
"But enough about me," Pietro cut in gently. "How can I help you? You were lucky to catch me."
"We were hoping to speak to General Ironwood," Yang said. "But then we got here, and we…"
"We wondered what was going on." Blake finished.
"I see," Pietro replied. He shut his eyes for a second, before reopening them. "It's been difficult since the fall of Beacon. That took its toll on many of us." For a moment his eyes became detached, looking at something only he could see. "It affected James too. He took the failure very personally. He's been driven since, worried–"
"Scared?" Qrow added.
"Yes, I believe he is. I don't know who exactly he's scared of, but you have to understand, it's not just a matter of Grimm or the White Fang. Someone managed to manipulate our security codes as if it were a child's plaything. The Knights, the Paladins – automated weapons that the General favoured as a means of reducing human casualties – were turned against us and the civilians they were meant to protect. It made us look like either traitors or buffoons, but worse still it means there's an enemy out there who can cut through our strongest defences and turn our own tools against us. That whatever enemy was responsible for the fall of Beacon has either a genius, or one of our own in their employ, probably both. And after we heard tell of the attack on Haven, it doesn't take a genius to suspect we may be next."
Silence greeted his words for a moment, as they all turned towards each other.
"Maybe Atlas isn't the safest place?" suggested Blake.
"We can hardly go anywhere else," replied Oscar.
Weiss turned back towards Pietro. "What about Winter Schnee? How does she feel about this?"
"The General's aide?" Pietro replied. "I can't say I'm a confidant of hers. As far as I can tell–" he paused suddenly, in mid-flow, and peered at Weiss more closely. "You're a Schnee!" he realised.
Weiss paled, and took a step back.
"Hey, that doesn't matter," Yang said with a wave of her hand. "Now what's been happening down here in Mantle?"
Pietro ignored her for a moment, his eyes fixed upon Yang's cybernetic limb. "You painted it!" he exclaimed.
"Er… yeah," Yang said, drawing her outstretched arm back a bit. "You know about my arm?"
"Well of course I do, the General had me make it for you. You're Yang Xiao Long, which means your friend is Weiss Schnee. Which means you," he looked towards Ruby, "must be Ruby Rose!"
"You know who we are?" asked Ruby.
"Why certainly! My daughter told me so much about you! My apologies for not recognising you sooner."
"Your… daughter?" Ruby looked confused, and she wasn't the only one.
"Any idea who he's talking about?" he whispered to Pyrrha.
"I'm afraid not," Pyrrha murmured in response.
The excited scientist continued to speak with Ruby. "Yes, she'll be so excited to see you again! I'm sure we can–"
He was cut off as a piercing alarm began blaring though the streets aside. The street lighting switched to red. Faint screams grew louder.
"It's trouble," Jaune said, looking towards the doorway. "We should get out there." They may not have completed their schooling, they may not have licenses, but they were still huntsmen. They had a duty.
They didn't hesitate. He barely heard Pietro call for them to wait as they rushed through the door back outside. The streets now lit by a red glow, enough people were still out that clusters of scared civilians ran past them as they looked around the junction. Their attention was soon caught by the sound of gunfire at the end of one of the streets. Atlesian knights were firing their weapons as they backed into view, yet their shots did little to stop the oncoming rush. In seconds the robots were smashed apart by a wave of black claw, white bone and glowing red eyes.
The distinctive colours of the soulless Creatures of Grimm.
Jaune pulled Crocea Mors from its scabbard, then unfolded the scabbard into its shield form, as his friends likewise drew their weapons. Having torn the androids asunder, the Grimm – giant, cat-like, Sabyrs – turned their way, and with roars, charged towards them.
Ruby gave orders to her team, Yang already darting forwards. Jaune prepared to do the same, before he remembered with a pang that Ren and Nora weren't here. He glanced in Pyrrha's direction, relieved to see she wasn't charging off ahead. She'd changed tack after Haven, although they still really needed to speak about all that. Soon. When they got a chance.
At least now there was no berserker charge. She was calm and focused as she fired Miló into charging horde, much as she'd been at Beacon. She glanced back at him between shots.
"Any instructions?" she asked.
"Up and over," he said. "Then when you need me…"
"Got it," she said, a smile playing on her lips.
He braced himself, shield held upwards. Turning away from the Grimm, Pyrrha took several steps and leapt, somersaulting to land upon his shield. Then, as he shoved forwards, she pushed off again, sending herself over the approaching Sabyrs. Those she flew over became distracted, and turned, snapping at her heels as she passed overhead. Flicking Miló into its javelin mode, she descended, stabbing out as she crashed down into one of the trailing Grimm. Rolling through the smoke of its evaporating remains, she stood, lunging to run Miló through the side of another Sabyr, before kicking one on the other side. Another threw itself at her only to be met with her shield, Akoúo. In one smooth movement, she switched Miló into its short sword form, and brought in round in a slash that gutted the beast.
Jaune's attention shifted. Several Sabyrs had slipped past Pyrrha and the others. One leapt towards him; with a swing he carved through its neck, beheading it. A second clawed at him, but he bashed it with his shield and then stabbed out. Like the others – like all Grimm – the corpse dissipated in a cloud of black vapour.
His immediate surroundings clear, Jaune looked back towards Pyrrha and the others, noting another wave of Sabyrs closing in and surrounding them. Pyrrha cut left and right, lashing out with Miló, before twisting out of the way and impaling another. As another Sabyr came between them, she caught Jaune's eye. He readied himself.
Pyrrha's semblance couldn't directly affect Grimm. It allowed her to move metal by will alone, a deadly power when fighting other people, but the Grimm used no weapons. Yet it had its uses even against Grimm. She could summon her own weapons back to her hand after using them as projectiles. She could manipulate a metal-filled environment. And she could do this, as Jaune felt a tug on his own armour. With a sudden jolt, he was pulled through the air towards them. He braced himself behind his shield.
Jaune smashed into the Sabyr from behind shield first. At the same time, Pyrrha smacked it with her own shield, crushing the beast between the two shields. A final stab from Miló, and the creature shuddered and stilled, before dissolving into fumes.
Without pausing Jaune moved to guard Pyrrha's back. Flipping round, she struck out again to finish off another of the Grimm, as Jaune took a moment to assess the situation. They'd nearly finished the horde, Team RWBY and Qrow cutting their own swathe through the monsters. Blake seemed to be having some difficulty however, as a few stragglers threw themselves at her.
Her weapon's broken, he remembered in alarm. "Pyrrha!" he called, nodding towards Blake when she glanced at him. She began moving, dashing forward, before a blinding green beam of light struck down from above. In moments, the Sabyrs attacking Blake were carved apart by the laser. Several seconds later, the beam lit the night again, cutting the remaining Sabyrs apart.
The group looked up, to see someone flying above them, seeming propelled by jets of green fire from its feet. They continued to stare, as alarm stopped and the streetlights returned to their normal hue, to see the figure silhouetted by the broken moon, the figure taking on a distinctly feminine form. Then she descended, green jets burning, as she landed in the street facing away from them.
He heard Pyrrha gasp. Heard Ruby exclaim "Penny?!"
How could this be?
"Darling!" Pietro called out, his chair scuttling forward, having emerged from the pharmacy. "Why don't you say hello to your friends?"
The figure turned, and Jaune could see how much she resembled the Penny they knew. She looked at them with bright green eyes, on a pale freckled face, framed by curly orange hair. The hair was longer than he remembered, and he didn't remember her being able to fly, but otherwise she was the very image of the Penny they knew. All doubt was removed when she gasped as her eyes alighted on Ruby.
Somehow this was indeed Penny Polendina. The android girl with a soul. Ruby's friend… and the girl Pyrrha had been tricked into killing.
"SA-LU-TATIONS!" the robot girl exclaimed, propelling herself forward towards Ruby. She collided with her, bringing her into a tight hug, and swung her round as she found her own footing. Ruby looked at her with shock for a moment, before she laughed and hugged her back.
"How is this possible?" Pyrrha murmured quietly.
"I don't know," Jaune admitted, drawing closer, placing a hand on her shoulder. He could feel the tension within her. But this was good, right? It had to be good.
Penny let go of Ruby, letting Ruby breathe a little. "It is sensational to see you!"
"Penny," Ruby looked at her friend with a tear in her eye. "I… I thought you had died!"
"And in a way, she had," Pietro replied, in a sombre tone. He looked at Penny with tender eyes. "But we were able to recovery her core once Amity Arena had returned to Atlas. It took me time and… well, more, but I was able to patch her up as good as new."
"Better than new!" Penny said cheerfully. "And I've been named the official protector of Mantle!"
"That's my girl," Pietro said, a smile coming to his lips. "Never letting anything slow you down."
"It is a great pleasure to see you all again!" Penny said, looking around at the others. And the moment Jaune had dreaded came, as Penny caught sight of Pyrrha.
He didn't realise an android could go pale.
Penny looked at Pyrrha for a second, as Pyrrha herself averted her eyes. Jaune squeezed his hand in a comforting gesture.
"Pyrrha Nikos," Penny said eventually, almost haltingly.
"Hello Penny," Pyrrha looked up for a moment, before her face dropped again. "I'm sorry!"
"Pyrrha Nikos, I want you to know I hold no hard feelings for acts done in error or under perception-altering semblances." The robot girl paused, clearly still a little nervous. "Though please be careful with your semblance."
"I will," Pyrrha said quickly. "I'm… I'm glad to see you're okay."
Penny turned back to Ruby, and Jaune breathed a sigh of relief. He pulled Pyrrha into a hug. Perhaps this will do some good, although he was sure seeing Penny again dredged up some feelings. At least the girl herself seemed to have taken it well, all things considered. He looked over at the others.
"We have so much to catch up on," Penny said, grabbing Ruby's shoulders once more. "I cannot wait!"
A faint alarm began sounding, in a more distant part of the city.
"We will have to wait," Penny announced, her expression not changing a whit. She took several steps back, and with a gout of green flame began to launch herself in the air. "We will have to talk later! I want to hear about all your adventures and find out how you've been and I'm really looking forward to it…" she said in parting, continuing to speak even as she ascended, until her rush of words faded away as she flew into the sky.
"Well, that was odd," said Weiss, deadpan.
"I was thinking strange but good, myself," Blake said with a smile.
"Yeah, if only all surprises could be that cheering," Yang added. She glanced at her sister. Ruby remained silent, but had a wide grin affixed as she continued to look upwards.
Pietro spoke up, a fond smile on his face. "Well, now we've got the reunion out of the way, perhaps we can venture back inside out of this weather. We'll see about addressing your other questions."
His chair began walking back the way it came. The others followed, but Jaune and Pyrrha remained where they were for a moment.
"You okay?" he asked her softly.
"I'm… I'm glad for Penny. And for Ruby," she said after a moment.
"So am I," he said. "And for you."
She glanced at him. They began walking along after the others, trailing a little.
"It's okay to have some complicated feelings about this," he gently said. "But I'm also glad that there's one less thing for you to beat yourself up about." This was sensitive territory, he realised. Things were better since Haven, yet they'd still not really talked about what went on before. And he wanted to get there eventually. They needed to get there eventually.
She looked at him intently, and then her gaze softened.
"It hardly excuses what I did," she replied.
"Pyrrha, it wasn't your fault. You know Emerald tricked you." And our teachers didn't do you any favours, he thought with a flash of anger. "And now Penny's back. And not even she blames you."
"I'm not used to failing… and that was one of my biggest."
"And some failures can be fixed," he offered.
"But some can't. Even if Penny's okay, the panic unleashed that day…"
"Was part of Cinder's plan, one Professor Ozpin played into with the stress they put upon you."
Pyrrha turned her emerald eyes away for a moment, before looking back.
"Thank you," she said. "I'm not sure I can completely believe you yet but thank you for trying."
He couldn't resist the smile that came to his face. Progress, he hoped. "We all have our regrets, Pyrrha. If things were a little different, I'm sure I'd be drowning in them. But I know what you'd say to that."
"I'm sorry."
"No, not that," he said a little playfully. "Honestly Pyrrha, I think one of these days I'm going to order you to stop apologising for a while just to break the habit."
She looked at him sharply, but then a giggle showed she took the remark in its intended spirit.
He smiled back, then turned to catch up with the others. Only to be surprised as several cords suddenly appeared from nowhere, wrapping themselves around his body. His limbs abruptly bound, he yelped as he tipped over.
-000-
It was good throw, Marrow though, his gravity bolas taking the tall blond down. Harriet's took down the redhead, the two evidently distracted by their conversation.
At their cry, the others turned, yet were struck themselves, bolases wrapping around them and knocking them off their feet as the rest of the Ace-Ops acted. Seeing their targets down, Marrow and Harriet dropped out of cover, making their way over. He moved to secure the trailing pair's weapons.
"Easy now," he said, removing the scabbard from the blond, trying to keep them calm. Harriet simply rolled her eyes as she divested the redhead of her weapons.
"This is beyond embarrassing," the redhead said to her fellow captive.
"I think they got all of us," the blond offered.
"That's not the point, Jaune," the redhead huffed.
"Just cooperate, and this will go easier," Marrow offered, though the exchange puzzled him. It seemed so innocent, hardly the sort of thing one would expect servants of the enemy of all life to say. They both looked young, too, academy age. The redhead also looked familiar, although for the life of him Marrow had no idea why. Were these really enemy agents?
"Good work, everyone," Clover called out. "We've got a transport on-route for the prisoners, ETA 5 minutes."
"Look pal, I'm a licensed huntsman!" one prisoner, older than the teens around him, growled in complaint. Clover ignored him, as he ensured their remaining weapons were gathered.
"Please, we were just trying to help!" said another of the prisoners. That one seemed younger still, possibly not even an adult. She'd dropped something, and Marrow noticed Clover kneel down to pick it up. It didn't look like a weapon, more like some antique lamp. Clover appeared to look at it thoughtfully, weighing it in his hands.
"What is going on here?!" The Ace Ops turned to see another figure approaching them, an older man in a walking chair, an old lady just behind him. Did they need to arrest them too?
"Doctor Polendina, it's good to see you again," Clover replied with a nod. Evidently not. "An unauthorised, possibly stolen, ship made an unauthorised landing in Mantle. We've cause to believe the individuals here are linked to that, especially with their unauthorised use of weapons."
"If we could just talk this over, I'm sure we can straighten things out."
"They'll have that opportunity once we're back in Atlas, but you know we need to investigate all security breaches. Though if you've any further information to offer, I'm sure the General would appreciate hearing it."
"I'll do that," the doctor replied, sounding disgruntled, before withdrawing.
It wasn't long before the transport arrived. After making sure the prisoners and their weapons were safely stowed and sent on their way to Atlas Academy, the team were soon on their own Manta heading back aloft. As they sat in silence, Marrow thought over the encounter.
"I'm not sure they were agents of Salem," he eventually said.
"No kidding," said Harriet. "Sure, they were armed, but they were a bunch of kids."
"Old enough to be huntsmen-in-training," Vine replied. "The infiltrators at Beacon can't have been much older. And one definitely seemed like a seasoned huntsman."
"And another looked like he was twelve!" Harriet said. "Fourteen tops. No way he was old enough to even be an academy student."
"What do you think, sir?" Elm asked Clover, who'd remained seated silently, lost in thought as he stared at the lamp in his hand.
"Hmmm?" he said, before looking up. "Oh, I think Marrow and Harriet are onto something."
"Why?"
"Harriet, hold this for me, will you?" he asked, passing the lamp towards her. She took it, and to her shock it shrank.
"What the hell?!" she exclaimed.
"Now pass it to Elm," Clover asked.
She did, and the team looked with surprise as it grew. Clover held his hand out, and Elm returned it. Once more the object seemed to shift in size, though not quite as much.
"I noticed it when I picked it up," Clover said. "It adjusts its size to whoever's carrying it."
"That's a neat little party trick," said Elm. "Does it do anything else?"
"You've all been briefed," Clover said. "Our enemy is after the four relics. One of which – the one in Haven, which was attacked not too long ago – takes the form of a lamp…"
The eyes of the team returned to the lamp more warily.
Clover pulled out his Scroll, picking out a contact and waiting until it connected.
"Winter, Clover here. I've got urgent news for the General…"
Author's Note: Thank you for all the reviews and comments so far. For trashlad: yes, it was recently brought to my attention how – with a few noble exceptions – there's a paucity of post v3 Arkos. And while Arkos (which as you may have gathered from these last two chapters) hasn't properly set sail yet, that relationship is one of – though by no means the only – strands of this story.
So far many of the beats of the story have been similar to the show, although some light has been shed on most on our principal actors. Next chapter will see both the introduction of the remaining primary protagonists, and the first significant domino in the divergences to come.