Chapter Thirty-Six: The Power and the Glory

Ruby watched the terminal, still staring into Weiss's Scroll, but finding the broadcast signal now curiously absent. "What happened? Did we lose the connection?"

"We're losing altitude," Weiss explained, disconnecting her mother's gifted Scroll, no longer needing to conceal a doctored transmission. "It looks like Doctor Watts intended for the tower to be high enough to send out his messages and -once it served its purpose- crater right into the ground without the gravity Dust to keep it aloft." Weiss switched displays, showing Ruby a readout of the engines and their reduced power following Watts engaging -and expending- the thrust.

"Any way we can… not crash?" Ruby optimistically suggested.

Weiss rolled her eyes. "I'm not exactly sure how to pilot a floating colosseum… and whatever Doctor Watts did to affect the system, I'm still not able to access it fully…" She sighed. "I'd prefer we had some way to slow our descent or change course so the arena landed somewhere to reduce the damage, but I don't think we have that luxury."

She turned her gaze to Watts, still lying unconscious in the forested biome. "He may be the only one who can undo the damage… we should try and take him to General Ironwood."

Weiss waved her rapier, directing her summoned Gigas to collect the unconscious doctor. Ruby glanced around the arena, using her Semblance to dart back and forth outside, checking to see how rapidly they were descending… and finding a means of escape. "His ship is still parked on the landing pad. Maybe he patched a course in for a return trip?"

"Better than waiting for the arena to be closer to the ground and jumping for it," Weiss dryly observed.

"Can't argue with that!" Ruby agreed, moving out ahead of Weiss to get to the transport. Weiss sighed, waiting for her summon to escort the unconscious doctor from the arena.

When the Gigas set Watts down on the ramp of the ship, Weiss thought she saw his handbag shake… but given how rapidly the colosseum was beginning to descend, she quickly wrote it off and headed to the cockpit alongside Ruby. Her Gigas stood behind their ship, anchoring its sword into the platform and waiting, a stoic sentinel even as Amity drew ever closer to the ground.

Neither of them had much luck with piloting the ships beforehand, but their supposition was correct: Watts had programmed the ship to take off and return to Atlas, and it began its ascent. Weiss stepped back towards the cargo ramp, gingerly maneuvering around Watts. She glanced back at her Gigas standing on the landing platform, increasingly shrinking as the arena fell further and further…

She heard the crack as the Dust crystals hit the ground. She saw sleet fling high in the air, obscuring the arena in a heavy coat. She just barely saw the steel beams of the CCT's support riggings snap and break away, the tower itself toppling over and crashing into the biome.

There went any chance of sending anymore messages to the outside world… she could only hope Ruby's message had been enough.

Ruby joined her at the back of the ship, watching the colosseum roll into the snow, kicking up ever more clouds of white, obscuring it. Their only comfort was that Watts hadn't expended the energy to drop it somewhere more populated.

"So… what now?" Weiss inquired.

Ruby glanced back towards Mantle, many red lights still flaring over the city. "Plenty of Grimm left."

Weiss grimly nodded. "Aren't there always…"

Oscar quickly ran through his options. He may have been able to stall against Hazel when they'd clashed at Haven, but Cinder had far more range in her attacks. She would also probably notice if Oscar took his time to draw things out… to delay and give Winter time to finish the transfer.

If Winter had that time at all. If Neo didn't just strike when Winter's back was turned, after Oscar had vouched for her and tried to persuade Winter to lower her guard…

Focus, Oscar, Ozpin implored. She was already very powerful when I fought her at Beacon. Whatever Salem has done to modify her further has probably only made her more dangerous.

Oscar gazed at the black flesh digging into Cinder's left shoulder. The infection seemed to start further down her arm, but black tendrils stretched further up, digging under the skin and fusing with her bones. It meant she'd have one area where her Aura would be weakest…

Oscar didn't dwell on it further. Ozpin was quietly providing tactical data and -distracting as it was to know that- for the moment Oscar was keen to listen.

But then again, the last time Ozpin faced her, she killed him…

Oscar noted the flame in her right hand. She was already utilizing her Maiden powers, not bothering to utilize a weapon. At Beacon she'd started by attacking with weapons composed from superheated glass: a bow, a sword… she'd switched to exclusively utilizing the magic after she'd obtained the latter half of it from Amber.

She was dependent upon it now. She relied on her power rather than refine other techniques…

Oscar wasn't sure how many of Ozpin's magical powers he could access. The ones he'd used before had been to impart suggestions or convey emotions to others' minds… potentially useful in misdirecting Cinder Fall, but probably not very effective against her onslaught of fire...

"Did you not understand me?" Cinder inquired, narrowing her eye. "Give me the relic. Now."

Cinder didn't know that it was just a trinket with Jinn's questions exhausted. Neo hadn't told her that at least.

"Why do you want it?" Oscar asked, feigning confusion. He'd had enough practice being genuinely surprised by all the people he'd interacted with, he could probably convincingly play it up again.

"Didn't your masters explain it to you?" Cinder mocked. "If they entrusted you to carry it, you'd think they'd keep you in the loop…"

"Well, you know how some people keep secrets," Oscar mused.

Cinder chortled. "True enough." She stepped towards him, flame still rising from her palm. "But I do not enjoy repeating myself. One more chance, boy…"

Oscar glanced at the sealed door. Winter would have no chance defeating both Neo and Cinder. And Cinder's flames would melt that door pretty quickly once she decided to make her approach.

The lamp was effectively useless at the moment, and it may have been wiser to fall back rather than try to engage her… but that meant leaving Winter and an old woman to face this murderer…

Oscar glanced down the hall. If they caused enough of a ruckus, maybe they'd catch the attention of security. No doubt Cinder would prefer to use as little force as possible, and for Oscar to simply comply. Learning from Salem to keep her hand from being detected until it was too late…

Oscar reached for his hip, wrapping his fingers around the hilt of the Long Memory. He extended his cane and leveled it at Cinder.

Cinder grimaced. "Very poor decision…"

"I've made a few of those lately," Oscar flippantly replied.

Cinder scoffed, before opening her hand and dousing the hallway in flames.

Tyrian continued to retch, staggering, off balance without his prosthetic tail to help him stay upright. Toxic purple venom continued to seep from the damaged mechanical appendage, now corroding its own structure when it spat out in globs. Tyrian half-walked, half-crawled towards Raven, taking his eye off Yang completely.

"I thought you'd be content to run and hide," Tyrian observed. "I never expected Raven Branwen would have the audacity to show her face after she betrayed us… but if you want to die that much sooner, I'll be happy to see you on your way."

Raven gripped the hilt of her sword, Omen, with both hands. "The thing about running and hiding is, sometimes it works. If you took off right now, I'd probably choose to help the girl instead of gutting the rest of you." Raven threw in a whimsical shrug. "Probably."

Tyrian cackled. "It sounds to me like we're on the same page." He clamored up to his feet, even unsteady on his feet. "I'll deliver your head to the queen to serve as an example… the fate of all who defy her!"

"Suit yourself," Raven mused. She moved in, slashing in a wide arc. Tyrian clashed against her sword with both of his wrist blades, a brimming smile returning to his face as he pushed against Raven with all his upper body strength.

Raven fell back, breaking off from her attack and letting Tyrian continue, his momentum causing him to stagger again. Raven kicked the Faunus in his midsection, knocking the wind from him and removing another chunk of his already damaged Aura.

Tyrian stumbled, still trying to stay upright, his mechanical tail audibly sparking as his toxin continued to corrode the prosthetic. Tyrian swung that same tail at her, trying to flick the poison Raven's way, causing her to retreat again. Tyrian dropped to all fours and chased after her, wildly contorting his body and somersaulting along the pavement, using his hands to hold himself up and spinning his legs. Raven deflected his boot with her wrist gauntlet, but the force of his impact caused her to skid backwards along the ground, giving Tyrian a chance to right himself and resume the chase.

Raven rotated her sword in her left hand, sheathing it to the scabbard on her hip, selecting a new Dust blade to parry. When Tyrian reached her, she clashed with fire Dust coating her sword, emitting intense heat on Tyrian's face and wrists. Tyrian, however, continued to press his attack -indifferent to heat, indifferent to pain- and cut through her Dust, even as the embers scorched his arms and his cheeks.

Raven didn't indulge him any further. When Tyrian drew closer, she blinked. When her eye opened once more, it was encircled by Aura, leaking through her skin in wisps like flame.

Ice flew from Raven's hands towards Tyrian's already superheated wrist blades, coating each of the Queen's Servants with ice. Accompanying gusts of wind pushed Tyrian away from her, sending him tumbling back a few feet, giving Raven time to draw another blade from her scabbard, rotating through the options.

The metal of Tyrian's blades warped, growing increasingly brittle from the drastic effect of changing temperatures. Raven immediately pressed her attack with a new Fire Dust blade, cutting right through Tyrian's weapons, leaving the blades to fall apart into shards of metal on the ground.

Tyrian was undeterred, however, hoisting up his prosthetic tail. He still had ample toxin to splash her with. If necessary, he'd break off hunks of metal from his own mechanical appendage to continue the fight… Raven didn't seem bothered by this, though she waited for him to charge rather than pursue him.

Or for someone else to finish the fight in her stead… as Tyrian quickly realized when he felt a rhythmic tapping on his shoulder, turning around to meet an entirely different metal prosthetic driving into his chin. Yang's fingers were slow to move, but it was easy enough to ball them into a fist and let them work in unison.

Tyrian's Aura shattered from the force of Yang's impact. Raven moved in, capitalizing at last, slashing across his chest while his barrier was gone. Tyrian looked down at a deep gash in his skin, red blood and purple venom both dribbling out.

He again tried to stay upright before staggering forward, collapsing into the pavement, still twitching. Raven kept her eye on him a moment, waiting to see if he'd continue to try and fight… before finally turning her attention back to Yang.

"I'm glad to see you've learned a few things," Raven observed, Aura fading from her eyes as her powers became dormant once again.

"...I've been busy," Yang dryly replied.

"So I've heard," Raven replied. "I saw your sister's broadcast… your father was very keen on sending some help your way."

Yang raised an eyebrow. "Dad sent you…?"

"I… agreed to do him the favor," Raven quickly clarified.

Yang put a hand on her hip, skeptical. "Riiiight."

Raven averted her gaze, turning her attention back to Tyrian, still face-down in the street. "I don't suppose you have anyone who can take care of that one…? If he's still alive, anyway."

Yang glanced away from Raven and Tyrian, finding a familiar group approaching from distant streets. "Don't worry: I've got friends."

Blake ran ahead of the others: Fiona Thyme, Joanna Greenleaf, and May Marigold- the remaining fighters of the Happy Huntresses. Blake immediately moved over to Yang's side. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Yang assured her, patting Blake's shoulder with her left -still entirely functional- hand. "I… got some help."

Blake turned her gaze towards the woman in red. She was the only one who'd never had the pleasure, having missed out at Haven or the makeshift camp Weiss had been held in…

"So, Blake… this is my mom…"

Neo watched Winter help the old woman up from her bed, guiding her -practically carrying her- towards a pair of steel pods mounted to the wall. Some sort of life support, but apparently with lines connecting the two different man-sized containers…

Patient Room 920 seemed so innocuous from the outside, aside from needing a specific guarded access. But here Atlas hid not only an elderly woman, but some advanced, probably off-the-books technology. Were she still a thief, that'd make for a better prize than this old lady…

Neo shook her head. That wasn't her life any longer. She had no other life -no other purpose- but fulfilling her revenge. She didn't anticipate being alive after she achieved her goal. Some part of her was uncertain she really wanted to be, knowing it'd be that much longer until she and Roman reunited…

She approached slowly, using her Semblance to blend in with the darkness of the wall. The Schnee seemed none the wiser, and the old lady seemed… not very alert at all. She dreamily slumped inside the pod, Winter gingerly strapping her in.

If Neo waited too long, the Winter Maiden would be encased inside. Much harder for her to pounce upon…

Oscar reached down, offering her Roman's old hat. When he could've killed her, when he could've left her to wallow in her despair, he didn't.

The Schnee stepped away from the pod towards an adjacent console. Neo's window was closing.

She remembered looking down at him as he slept and wondering if she could ever shed her disguise. If he'd see her and not recoil knowing whom he'd been with.

Neo heard the pod door hiss. She saw it start to move into place to seal the old woman inside.

Oscar stood between her and the Valkyrie, protecting her, vouching for her, speaking for her: giving her life the voice it had lacked.

Neo fixed her gaze on the woman in the pod. She reminded herself this was the only thing she lived for.

She needed this power to match up to Cinder. Otherwise Cinder would've been dead in the streets of Mistral already. This was the only way she could be sure.

When she slid along the wall, the black derby hat slumped upon her head. A reminder she'd never been meant to wear it.

A reminder she was still alive, and he wasn't… because of-

Neo glanced back at the secure door to the patient room. She told herself it was only to steel her resolve.

Not to dwell on the boy who'd believed in her. He was just a fool; a patsy in her plan. Before that, nothing but a fun way to pass the time.

Neo turned her gaze back to the pod and readied her blade. It was a good distance to dash, but the Schnee was focused on her console and the old woman barely seemed aware of the world around her. One good strike and ensuring she filled the Winter Maiden's field of vision…

All in service of her goal. All for Roman, all for one final chance to burn his flame and remind the world of him.

"What should we do with him?" Fiona inquired, gesturing to the unconscious -possibly bleeding out- scorpion Faunus on the ground.

"Leave him," May harshly instructed. "He tried to kill you and Robyn; he succeeded in killing Forrest and a bunch of the others. He got what was coming to him."

"Finally someone talks sense," Raven observed.

Yang glared at her. "We'll take him to General Ironwood and let him decide what he wants done with the prisoner. Does that work for you?"

"You're working for Ironwood now?" Raven wondered, raising an eyebrow. "I wouldn't have thought you'd be so quick in choosing a new master…"

Yang clenched her left fist. Raven turned her gaze towards her daughter's remaining hand, searching for a familiar tremble… finding none. Yang's hand was steady.

"Mom," Yang finally began. "Thank you for your help - really. But we'll take care of this now. No doubt Salem's goon knows something that might help us fix the mess he caused."

Raven lifted her gaze from Yang's left hand to eye level. Yang was almost exactly her height already; it was easy enough. "Suit yourself."

Blake stepped over to Yang's side, also affixing her gaze on Raven. "I heard you were at Haven. Why turn against Salem now?"

Raven scoffed. "I've never been on her side. Her little minions just needed someone to open the vault and I happened to have the key. Yang already knows how the rest of it went."

"Yang told me plenty about you," Blake confirmed.

Raven turned her attention back to Yang. "Really, now…?"

Yang reached over to take hold of Blake's shoulder, deliberately using her left hand. A softer, more intimate touch in pulling her back. Blake's ears visibly perked up when Yang's hand brushed over her.

So familiar… but Raven bit her tongue. It wasn't too surprising that Yang had found someone else after her abortive first love with Ozpin's vessel… but still, not at all what Raven had anticipated.

The timid sheep Faunus cleared her throat. "You guys helped save Robyn's life. You want to take him to the general, go ahead."

"I'll call Clover," Yang suggested, pulling out her Scroll. "You guys have a place to hole up from the Grimm?"

Fiona nodded. "We've been directing people on the block to a safehouse under the old campaign headquarters. We'll make it through the night."

"Good," Yang nodded. "We've got this. You guys stay safe."

May Marigold cast one last glare Tyrian's way but ultimately relented, following after her friends. Raven watched them depart, but noted out the corner of her eye how Yang's cat Faunus friend continued to keep her attention…

"You have something to say… Blake?" Raven inquired.

"To you? No," Blake harshly replied. "You've done enough."

The cat had claws. Raven rather approved of her daughter's taste in partners…

"I'll bear that in mind," Raven noted. "Hopefully you'll be enough to protect her going forward…"

"Count on it," Blake assured her.

"Blake…" Yang reached over again, trying to soothe her partner, trying to dull conflict before it flared back up. Since when had Yang become such a peacemaker?

Was that the boy's influence, calming her temper? Or something else Raven had missed?

If Yang was safe she could've returned to Tai and reported that. She could say her promise had been fulfilled and once again extricate herself from all of this.

But no, Tai would immediately ask her about Summer's daughter too… and perhaps her brother… there were others she'd need to check on to keep him from barraging her with questions.

But perhaps she wouldn't start with Qrow. There was someone else she'd bonded to she had inquiries for…

"I'll see you once more before the night is done," Raven assured Yang. "You're not the only one I came to check up on."

She drew Omen from its scabbard and concentrated, imbuing the blade with her Semblance, concentrating on another soul she'd bound to through her Kindred Link. When she slashed the empty air, Raven cut a tear in the fabric, constructing a gateway to travel through.

"Yeah… yeah, sure, mom," Yang murmured, concentrating on her Scroll.

Still wanting for some confidence. Stronger, braver, more levelheaded… but still missing something. Still bothered by doubt.

No, not doubt. Guilt. There was something Yang knew that she hadn't shared with the others… some reason her partner's impassioned defense of her left her ashamed.

Raven dwelled on it no longer, turning her head and stepping through her portal. If she needed an answer to that question, she was on her way to the man with all the answers.

Nora finally had the energy to stand again under her own power, her legs not quite so quick to turn to rubber. She appraised her reflection on the surface of her Scroll: a few new scratches lining her arms, her neck, one on her chin… the Grimm had given her something to remember them by.

Still, she was alive, mostly intact… and now she could shoo Jaune away from her. Her Aura had been replenished and helped to cure her wounds. Now Jaune could use his Semblance to boost Ren's Aura instead and further shield the people under their care.

They were milling about now, anxious, frightened… eager to do anything but huddle in the darkness. Nora could relate, but they were only making things harder for Ren to keep them concealed. His already limited reserve of Aura was stretched thinner and thinner the more energy they expended and the further apart they wandered. Nora readied herself to have a word with some of them, to gently remind them of the dangers of Grimm outside…

She never got the chance. A loud crack at their door drew all their attention. Something was outside now, scraping against the wooden entrance they'd all boarded up beforehand.

Nora reached for Magnhild. It didn't feel so heavy in her hand now, and she was eager to get use from it.

Still she glanced back at Ren, straining, even with Jaune anchored to him and boosting his reserves. Nora grudgingly acknowledged she'd avoid combat… if possible.

She stepped towards the door. She pressed her ear against the wood, listening…

"Anyone in here?"

A familiar, high-pitched, rapid, enthusiastic tone.

"We've managed to rout the Grimm for now. You can come out - we have transports ready to evacuate to Atlas."

"Penny?" Nora wondered.

A pause. Suddenly the knocking got much louder, as a very strong mechanical fist pounded on the frame. "Nora! Oh, thank goodness! We heard your position was overrun and we were worried you'd still be fighting!"

Nora glanced back at Jaune. She'd been concerned about girls casting illusions mere minutes beforehand, so she was somewhat wary of letting others inside… but the girl she'd been worried about couldn't talk, so perhaps her concerns were overblown…

Nora removed the battenings placed over the frame. She slowly unlatched the door, only to be immediately pounced upon by the heavy frame of a robot girl, embracing her with a powerful thud. Nora did her best to absorb the impact, but she was all the more grateful for having had her Aura restored…

"Nice to see you too," Nora observed from within Penny's firm grip. Was this what it felt like when she enclosed people in her own hugs…?

Penny peered past Nora to Jaune, Ren, and the small collection of Mantle civilians in their care. "Oh, good. I'm so glad you all managed to get out in time!" She relaxed her grip on Nora, turning to address the crowd. "If you'll all come with me, Atlas military personnel have finally managed to land and set up evac sites! We can escort you to them and get you to relief centers up above!"

Nora turned her own attention away from Penny out to the streets. No more Sabyrs running through the streets and clamoring through the holes in the border wall, no more Teryxes descending to scoop up unwitting prey… still plenty of red lights in the distance, still many fires and crumbling rocks, but the area seemed… quiet.

"What happened?" Nora asked.

"Didn't you hear?" Penny inquired. "Ruby got to Amity and got a message out!"

"A message…?" Nora repeated.

"She sent it out all over Remnant!" Penny continued. "Help is on the way!"

There was nowhere to maneuver in the hall to escape Cinder's flame. Oscar could only try to counteract some of it with a wave of his cane, trusting his Aura to absorb the remaining torrent. Swinging the Long Memory barely halted Cinder's onslaught, and his Aura vanished in seconds. The sheer force of her push sent him flying backwards onto the ground, the hazel hue of his Aura flickering on his frame before fading away.

Oscar, get up! Ozpin urged.

He had reason to be fearful. He'd already been on the receiving end of it…

And Ozpin was so close to completing the merge. He wouldn't have had to worry about trying to work around Oscar… all of that would be for naught if Cinder killed him now and he had to start over with a new host.

Oscar thought that actually offered a degree of comfort. He'd been preparing to shamble on, living as someone else. Maybe he'd die still being the person he was.

Cinder scoffed as Oscar tried to lift himself, propped up on his elbows on the scorched floor. "You never should've defied me."

Oscar looked up at her palm, still drawing wisps of flame. He pressed down with his palms and rose to his feet, anchoring himself ever so slightly on his cane. "I've done a lot of things I never should have. Defying you: I'd do it again."

Cinder's glare intensified. Oscar only saw orange as the flame collected in her hand, feeling the air pull towards her, consumed in her growing fire.

Oscar!

Oscar saw a flash of dark red. When flames streamed towards him, a red blade interceded, parting the fiery onslaught, diverting either stream away from Oscar… and away from the blade's wielder, stepping forth from a portal at Oscar's side.

"Everybody needs saving today…" she grumbled.

Oscar had only heard her voice on a single day of his life. But he'd heard it from very close… she'd been inches from his face, her red eyes burning right through him. Ozpin knew the voice even better: he'd heard it roar and made it sing.

Cinder Fall knew it too. When she saw who'd intercepted her blast, the Aura encircling her eye sprouted across half her face. "You!"

Raven lowered her blade, grimacing at Cinder. "You're still alive? Seems I'm getting sloppy…"

Cinder's rage erupted again, launching another stream of flame at Raven. Raven raised her unoccupied left hand and responded with her own elemental burst, wind and ice meeting her fire and neutralizing it between the two. The same superior knowledge of her powers had seen Raven to defeating Cinder at their clash at Haven: if there were anyone in the world besides Salem herself Cinder would know to fear...

Oscar watched, dumbfounded. Two Maidens about to battle… a third prepped to emerge from the patient room, who could easily fight either of them…

"I'm actually glad you're here, Raven," Cinder snarled. "I was going to hunt you down eventually and you've saved me the trouble."

Oscar, the Grimm enhancements Salem gave her will make Cinder Fall even more dangerous, Ozpin advised. We should not assume that Raven's intercession will be enough to stop her.

Oscar glanced at the door to the patient room. If he could get in there, reach Winter…

He stepped behind Raven. He'd only get in her way if he tried to join the fight. But there may have been another weapon he could deploy.

"The power of a Maiden, the glory of revenge…" Cinder superheated the air around her, forging a new blade right in the palm of her hand. "What are we waiting for?"

Blake stepped towards Tyrian, carefully sliding the cuffs on his wrists and his tail. She still had the Aura to activate her Semblance, so resolved she could escape if he was more alert than he appeared… but Tyrian remained docile, still unconscious. Blake pushed with all her might to roll him over onto his side, finding the deep gash Raven had left. Not Tyrian's only scar, but a particularly nasty one.

He was still breathing, however faintly. Though given the way Atlas treated their Faunus prisoners, Blake wasn't entirely certain death wouldn't have been a reprieve..

"We're prioritizing civilian evacuation," she heard Clover explain on Yang's Scroll. "But for a prisoner with this profile I think we can make an exception. Think you three can squeeze into a Bullhead? Comms are still only partially functional and we've only got so many pilots to spare."

"How soon can you get to us?" Yang asked.

"Ten, maybe fifteen minutes?" Clover hypothesized. "I'm trying to ping your Scroll up to them and it's still cutting through interference… Grimm are pulling out of the city but they're still clogging up the sky and giving the boys plenty of chatter for us to work around."

Yang was about to reply when the roar of an engine cut her off. A transport ship flew in low over the buildings, approaching the empty street where Yang and Blake waited with their prisoner. "Uh… I'm gonna have to call you back."

Yang put her Scroll away and quickly loaded rounds to Ember Celica. Blake swiftly moved to her partner's side. "Eyes up," Yang instructed. "We don't know how many of his friends came along for this trip."

Neo had already infiltrated, sneaking her way into the academy. Weiss claimed a previously thought dead doctor had been the one to hack the election and install Jacques Schnee. Salem didn't seem to want for hired help.

Blake readied Gambol Shroud as the ship deployed its landing gear, rocking as it touched down. Its cargo bay slid open with a long ramp…

...and from it emerged a girl in a red hood, rushing over in a flurry of rose petals, swiftly reemerging and latching onto Yang. "You guys! You're okay!"

"Ruby!" Yang held just as firmly, eagerly embracing her sister. Ruby reached over and pulled Blake into her collective glomp, smiling broadly.

Weiss was much more subdued as she disembarked from the ship, holding her Scroll in her left hand. "It seems like this ship was programmed to rendezvous at these coordinates…" She glanced over at the scorpion Faunus on the ground. "So these two could meet up."

Ruby glanced down at their unconscious adversary. "Tyrian and Watts, huh? They did a pretty good job making a mess of things…"

"We were just talking to Clover," Yang interjected, glancing inside the ship to the unconscious, weedy Watts, sprawled on the metal floor. "We were going to ask for a ship to take Tyrian up to Atlas and hand him over… maybe we can drag mustache lad over there in too."

"Oh? Did you learn how to fly one of these things while you were down here?" Weiss inquired.

Yang grimaced. "Okay, point. I'll just try and raise him again-"

"Or," Weiss suggested. "Maybe we can ask someone already on the ground to help us get a lift?" She ran her index finger over her Scroll contacts, displaying an image of Maria Calavera. "No need for us to pull any resources from the evacuation."

Blake turned her gaze to Yang. It was hard for her to argue.

"Okay, call her," Yang conceded. "We'll drag tail boy onto the ship."

Ruby finally detached from her embrace. "Did you guys see the broadcast? We managed to get a message out all across Remnant!"

Yang quickly put two and two together. She coughed awkwardly into her left hand. "Yeah… somebody answered it."

"Somebody?" Ruby repeated.

Yang wasn't sure how to broach the subject. The last time the two interacted, Ruby's idealism was dismissed and she was blasted by a fireball before being left to the mercies of Cinder Fall.

"My mom," Yang explained. "Ruby- she's here."

Oscar rushed to the door. At his back, he heard Raven and Cinder's blades clash. He felt the heat on his back as flames rushed through the hall.

Oscar started wailing on the entry pad to the room, bashing it repeatedly with his cane. He heard Raven grunt behind him, a weapon shattering and sending shards careening into the wall at Oscar's left.

He'd already been wounded. Try as he might to swing, Oscar barely felt he'd dented the door. He glanced back at the two still fighting, Cinder's left arm extending out and trying to ensnare Raven's face, only for Raven to fall back and avoid Cinder's grip. The Fall Maiden was gaining ground on the Spring…

Oscar searched for some way to open the pad, to find some part of it more sensitive for him to damage than the bleak obelisk he'd yet to scratch. There had to be a way-

Oscar's fingers were nearly pulled into the wall as the door slid open. A familiar figure emerged from the darkness of the patient room. Oscar went to speak her name-

He felt a swift kick to his shin. Oscar tumbled down to one knee, bringing him finally below her eye level. Before he could inquire, she spun him around, bringing up her blade to press below his chin.

She pushed him forward, towards the fray of the clashing Maidens. Oscar tried to speak, to shout a warning, only for her to draw her blade up that much higher, nicking his chin with the steel… confirming he had no more Aura to shield him, if she decided he had no more use to her.

She pulled the blade away and reached down to unclip the lamp from his belt. She nudged him forward with her elbow before kicking the small of his back with her heel, driving Oscar to his knees, clattering loudly enough to finally catch the clashing Maidens' attention.

"Neo!" Cinder called. "Finally!"

Raven turned her gaze to the short woman in the black derby hat, leveling her parasol to the back of Oscar's head. Some genuine surprise reared in her mismatched eyes at the sight of another old adversary having made her way to Atlas… the two hadn't clashed since the train car dispatched from Mountain Glenn.

Neo quickly turned her attention to Cinder, raising the lamp in her left hand. The price paid for her vengeance: a reminder that Cinder would have to now give her the promised reward.

Raven glanced between the two, weighing her options. Normally, she'd recognize a losing battle and retreat, but that meant leaving Oscar to die at the hands of one or both of these psychopaths…

Oscar looked up at her from the ground, subtly shaking his head. He'd been caught, there was no point in her wasting her effort now.

Raven saw Cinder out the corner of her eye, approaching Raven's flank. She barely had time to raise her sword and deflect Cinder's latest forged blade, wincing under the strength of that black Grimm arm of hers'...

Cinder would want Raven's power. But surely she couldn't allow herself to chase after Raven when the Relic of Knowledge was out in the open, being offered to her…

Raven met Oscar's eye again. She knew what she should have done; what made the most tactical sense. Her instincts screamed at her to abandon what was clearly a losing battle.

I'm okay with getting it wrong. I have a lot of time to learn.

...I hope you do.

Raven leveled her free hand. Aura encircled her eyes again as she pushed out a burst of wind, cooled down, freezing moisture in the air, turning every droplet into a deadly shard aimed at the girl at Oscar's back…

...upon striking her, the girl shattered like glass. The lamp clattered to the floor beside Oscar's knee.

An illusion? But why had she dropped the relic? Wasn't that her prize?

Raven turned her attention back to Cinder, watching that black Grimm arm race towards her face…

...only to abruptly halt, Cinder uttering a sudden, desperate gasp. The tip of a blade poked through the left breast of her black garb, coated in Cinder's blood, splattering the black flesh of her Grimm arm and slowly leaking down the front of her clothes.

Cinder craned her head back to look. All Raven saw was the top of a black derby hat.

Neo reached forward with her free hand, pulling Cinder's head around to fix her gaze on her assailant. She saw where Neo drove the blade, where Cinder's Aura had been stripped away as the Grimm flesh had dug further and further up her arm… leaving her vulnerable, just beside her very heart.

The power of a Maiden, the glory of revenge… but not for her.

Cinder tried to reach with her right hand, gathering flames. She tried to expel one final, desperate burst and incinerate the former ally who'd finally made her move.

The flames vanished from her palm in wisps of smoke. Cinder's eyelid grew heavy.

Neo drew the blade from her back and slashed again, severing the black flesh from Cinder's shoulder. The spindly Grimm arm fell to the floor, flopping on the ground for several seconds before vanishing in black smog.

Cinder continued to reach desperately towards Neo with her right hand, blood dribbling down her chin. She tried to summon her flame, or craft a new blade, or at least gouge the traitor's mismatched eyes out…

All the while looking her killer in the eye, even as she fell into Neo's arms… then slid down onto the floor in a heap… her last eye finally sealed.

Orange light rose from Cinder's body, drawing up to its next host, the one who'd inherit the magic… a new Maiden swiftly taking the place of the last. The second time Oscar bore witness to Ozpin's magic reincarnating.

Neo's eyes vanished behind orange Aura. He slowly rose to his feet, tucking the lamp under his arm and glancing back at Raven.

"Tell me this is part of your plan," Raven requested.

Oscar had no words. She'd already deceived and betrayed him. He had no way of knowing if Cinder was the only Maiden Neo had slain.

And more than that, with Cinder Fall dead, Neo would have incredible magical power… and no target to turn it upon. What happened then?

"Arthur Watts…" Pietro mused. "He's definitely seen better days… but -then again- anything's preferable to being dead, I suppose."

Maria climbed up into the cockpit, connecting her prosthetic eyes to the navigation system. "Reminisce later, Pietro. We need to get this thing airborne."

"Yes, of course," Pietro quickly complied, moving his chair to the front of the transport. "It's been a while, but I think I can get through his encoding. Arthur always was more for flash than substance…"

Maria glanced back at Team RWBY strapping in the two prisoners, the cargo bay rattling a bit when they slumped the two grown men into their seats, knocking over Watts' handbag. "I'm sure it's a great story how you managed to subdue these two. Maybe you can give me the short version while we're waiting."

Ruby took the lead on that one. "Oh, man, we had the fight in the arena, you know, like we would during the Vytal Festival? He even pulled out all the old battlefields and everything…"

"Was that the one with the pea shooter or the one leaking grape jelly over the seat?" Maria inquired.

Weiss glanced away from Ruby back to Watts and Tyrian. It all seemed… well, it hadn't been easy to subdue them, but they'd been very fortunate to emerge mostly unscathed. And the Grimm had pulled out even though the monsters could've overrun Mantle while their forces were divided.

And now Raven Branwen… Weiss was hardly thrilled to meet up with her again. The first time they met, she'd taken Weiss prisoner. The second time Raven had sent her goon Vernal to try and kill Weiss. She wasn't sure how their third encounter could top that.

Yang said Raven had used her Semblance to go to someone, but had also said she'd reconvene with Yang later. Was she still somewhere in the kingdom? Weiss supposed distance wasn't relevant with a power like that…

So many questions. Still, if they could fall back to Atlas and regroup -and anymore reinforcements answered Ruby's call- they'd make it to morning with most of the kingdom intact and with the guilty brought to justice. There were always loose ends in the chaos after an attack of this scale, but so far they'd come out the other side…

Weiss turned her attention to Watts' bag. He hadn't deployed any weapon from it, nor seemed to use it while working on the Amity terminal. Why had he gone to the trouble of lugging around something he hadn't bothered to use?

She stepped past Ruby to the bag on the ground. Maybe there was something in there that could provide insight to Watts' plans, or even help Pietro defeat whatever tricks the mad doctor had used to take control of Atlas military craft. Weiss reached down to unlatch the bag-

-a red tendril shot up from within. Weiss immediately drew back, raising Myrtenaster in one hand and drawing a glyph in the other. Yang and Blake turned away from the prisoners and readied their own weapons as more spindly red limbs poked out. Ruby finally ceased conversing with Maria and unclased Crescent Rose from her back.

The spindly limbs pulled the handbag open. Something slid up from within, a mass of black flesh with a baneful red glow… a smooth, almost shimmering faceless surface at its center, thin blades of white bone at the end of each of its long tendrils.

A Grimm. Why would Watts have a Grimm?

A question for later. She readied her blade.

"Wait," Maria quickly instructed. "This one's a Seer: a messenger."

"Messenger?" Ruby repeated.

The Grimm began to shake. Yang leveled her fist at it, waiting for Ruby's order to fire. The way the Grimm was rattling about in the cargo bay, they half-expected it to explode. Instead, the smooth surface of the Grimm's 'head' cracked open. Black smog seeped out as the Seer fell to the ground in a heap.

Had it… killed itself? Was it releasing some sort of poison? All Grimm expelled this smoke when they died…

But that smoke didn't waft and disperse in the air. Instead it congealed, gathering together… taking shape.

The baneful red split in two, forming a terrifying gaze. From the smoke emerged flesh of pale white, laced with lines of ichor.

Weiss saw this same face cast by Emerald at Haven, an illusion of twisting, contorted horror. Then she saw the woman this monster had once been, when Jinn gave them all -save Pietro- a glance into a past so distant only two -cursed with immortality by their creators- remained from it.

Those red eyes fixed upon the girl in the red hood. Yang lowered her gauntlet at last as this smoke creature levitated closer.

Ruby spoke her name, acknowledging what they all beheld; giving their fear its name. "Salem."