I do not own RWBY or any of the characters.
Rescue
Fox stared into the distance in the direction of Amity, frowning. Ava stepped up beside him, her own brow creasing as she gripped her weapon tightly. They'd taken Penny back to Pietro and he'd done something that he said would stop them from hacking into her system, but where it was Arthur Watts, he couldn't be sure. Once she was done that, she, Pietro, and Maria headed to Amity together.
"What is it?" Ruby asked.
"Something's wrong," Fox said. "I can sense Cinder heading for Amity."
"We need to go, then!" Weiss said.
"No," Ava said. "You all need to find a place to lay low. Go to Weiss's house. Make sure there aren't any more Arma Gigas there."
"Right," Weiss nodded. "That's the last thing we need."
"No, the last thing we need is the Generals coming back to finish the job," Fox said. "Ava and I will-"
"No," Ava said. "I'll go help Penny alone. You need to go find Blake."
"Ava-"
"No, Fox," Ava said, turning to him. "You need to go find Blake. Trust me. I can handle Cinder just as well as you."
Fox hesitated before sighing and nodding. "Alright. Be careful."
Ava nodded and gave Wulfe a quick kiss before spreading her wings and taking off. Ruby turned to Fox.
"How will you get to them?" Ruby asked. "Do you have a vehicle?"
"Better," Fox said. "I know how my powers work now."
He formed himself a pair of shining white wings and smirked. "We'll be back soon."
The others all nodded and Fox took off, flying toward the whale. He closed his eyes as he flew, feeling for the emerald ring Blake was wearing. Finally, he found it and headed that way, flying away from the city rapidly before landing outside a small building in the middle of the tundra. Just as he opened the door, Ruby's message to the world began to play.
"Fox!" Blake gasped, throwing her arms around him. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Fox said, pulling back and cupping her face. "Are you alright?"
Blake nodded, though her eyes dropped. "We couldn't save Oscar."
"He's strong," Fox said. "He won't break so easily. There's a reason Ozpin was reincarnated into him. Are you all okay?"
The others all glanced around unsurely, except for Ren, who glared at the floor in silence. Fox nodded.
"At least everyone here is safe," Fox said. "We'll rescue Oscar. But first-"
The signal playing on their scrolls suddenly cut out, playing a high tone instead.
"No!" Yang said. "That was the broadcast! Why did we lose signal?"
Fox stiffened suddenly, sensing something outside. He turned, frowning. "Something's wrong."
He ran outside, the others following. After a few seconds, he stopped as he reached a crack in the ice, a thick, black and red river of some kind flowing along the bottom.
"What is that?" Yang asked.
"It's a river of Grimm," Fox said, following its flow and seeing it was headed for Mantle. "This is going to be bad."
"What do we do?" Blake asked.
"We need to get to the city. "Yang, can you get that bike working again?"
"Yes!" Yang nodded, turning and sprinting back to the building.
"Ren, Nora, find something to make a sled for us to ride on," Fox said. "Anything."
Both nodded and ran off to do as they were told.
"Jaune, call anyone you can get ahold of," Fox said. "Warn them."
Jaune nodded, pulling out his scroll and beginning to call over an open channel.
"What about us?" Blake asked, indicating herself and Pyrrha.
"The three of us are going to do the hard part," Fox said. "We're going to ahead."
They both nodded and Pyrrha jogged over to Jaune, letting him know what they were doing before giving him a quick kiss and returning to the other two. Then, they all began to run. After a few minutes, Yang sped up beside them with Nora on the seat behind her and Jaune and Ren riding on a sheet of metal dragging behind it. Blake and Pyrrha jumped onto the sled and Fox used his wings to fly alongside them as they sped up. However, within another couple of minutes, a plane flew down to land in front of them, the Ace Ops and Winter stepping out of the plane.
"Where's Penn-"
Fox cut Harriet off by grabbing her and Winter and flying them to the right, over the river of Grimm and forcing them to look down. "Bigger fucking problems!"
Just as he said that, several Grimm skulls floated up out of the river and both women gaped at it as Fox landed back where they had been, stepping back.
"Worry about Penny later," Fox said. "One of ours will be with her so Salem can't get the Winter Maiden's power. We need your help to deal with that."
The Ace Ops and Winter all looked at each other, only to stop as the ground began to shake violently. For a moment, it stopped. Then, it began again, more violently. This time, it was accompanied by the Grimm river exploding skyward into the underside of Atlas. The hardlight shields on the floating chunk of rock held for a few moments, but then faded, allowing the goo to splatter over the side of the stone. Three massive Centinels burst out of the goo, scurrying along the stone for a moment before beginning to burrow into it. More began to form from the goo. A warship over them fired at them, but only hit one. Two began to tunnel into Atlas below another shield generator tower, as the first group had, and both towers broke free, falling off and disabling the entire shield. Instantly, the whale roared, flying forward rapidly, clearing the distance in seconds thanks to its massive size. Then, as it landed on top of Atlas, a massive flood of Grimm goo washed out of its mouth, Wyverns and other massive Grimm formed from the goo instantly, and Fox's entire body went numb.
"What do we do?" Pyrrha asked, looking at him.
"Fox!" Blake said urgently when he didn't respond, getting his attention. "What do we do?"
Fox stared at her for a moment, mind reeling before getting traction and working rapidly. "I'm going to go and help Atlas slow the Grimm. I expect Ava will be there as well, so we can handle anything they send at us. You all hurry back to the city and find the others. You'll need to defend the citizens in the crater. They'll be in a panic."
The others all nodded and Blake wrapped her arms around him.
"Be careful," Blake said.
"I will," Fox said. "You be careful, too."
Blake nodded, kissing him.
"I love you, Fox," Blake said as she pulled back.
"I love you, too," Fox said, then looked to Yang. "Keep her safe."
"To my dying breath," Yang nodded.
Fox sighed, smiling wryly. "The three of us are going to have to have a very serious talk after this situation ends."
Yang smiled and nodded. Fox sighed, kissing Blake one last time before forming himself a set of wings and taking off, streaking toward Atlas. As he neared it, Ironwood called for an evacuation. Atlas' army was assembled before the Grimm, but they were being slaughtered. Goliaths were charging straight through them, and there was a sea of Sabyrs slaughtering their way through, though they were being slowed slightly by Atlas. Above them, filling the air, was an army-sized swarm of Lancers, and Wyverns. Fox tapped into all of the Emerald he was wearing, streaking into the city after the Lancers before flipping and forming his bow, firing into the air, the arrow splitting into hundreds more before raining down on the airborne Grimm, slaughtering them all. Below him, citizens began to cheer as Fox flipped, streaking back to the front line and forming a sword from his energy, extending the blade enough to slash through a Goliath. He spun, hurling it into another, and it exploded, blasting Sabyrs below it. He formed a scythe, landing and streaking forward, shredding his way through the sea of Sabyrs for a moment before hurling it outward through them, allowing it to explode just before the other three Goliaths behind him all burst into darkness and Ava flashed past him, her weapon as a katana currently.
Fox grinned, streaking after her, landing beside her as both began to shred the Grimm just as more of the black sludge flooded out of the whale. His grin dropped off his face and he narrowed his eyes.
"This is not going to go well!" Fox shouted over the shrieks of dying Grimm as more and more flooded toward them, ignoring Atlas's troops.
"Doesn't have to!" Ava said. "Just has to go!"
Fox glanced at the whale and froze for a half-second, seeing the Generals all lined up on top of the whale. However, when Ava spun around him with a scythe, slaughtering the Grimm he had stopped holding back, he returned to the fight.
"If they come, we'll fight them!" Ava said.
"Where's Penny?" Fox asked.
"I dropped her off at Weiss's house to rest!" Ava said. "She was pretty banged up and exhausted from fighting Cinder!"
Fox nodded, glancing around as he fought. They were at a stalemate. The whale was creating Grimm as fast as Fox and Ava were destroying them along with the help of the Atlas Military firing into the horde around them. And the Manta Squadrons flying overhead were barely able to deal with the flying Grimm while the Atlas Mechs spread through the army were struggling to deal with the Goliaths still alive, a new once created once per flood of goo. Fox grit his teeth and fired an arrow into the air as Ava covered him seamlessly, then collapsed the bow again and returned to the fight. The arrow separated, slaughtering the flying Grimm and one of the Goliaths, allowing the Manta Squadrons to help the mechs clear the rest, then turn to begin bottlenecking the whale's mouth against more flying Grimm. Fox glanced at the Generals, seeing them glaring at him, except for Nero, who was glaring at the Manta Squadrons. Then, Fox was back to fighting. A Sabyr leapt at him from the left and he spun, an energy sword slashing it and knocking it aside before it went spinning into the army and exploded. A pair of silver chakrams spun out into the army from Ava, then returned and were spun into naginata. Just as they were, Fox jumped, spinning as he did, and fired a beam of green energy into the Grimm around them, making two complete circles before landing on his feet again. And then, the first General was there. Moryo. Fox and Ava both swore, leaping away as the Grimm army once again ignored them, flooding toward Atlas again. Fox swallowed hard, pulling the earpiece from his scroll and putting it in, the earpiece automatically calling Blake, as he had it programmed to.
"Fox?" Blake asked. "We were arrested by the Ace Ops. They're going to-"
"Blake, listen to me very carefully," Fox interrupted, spinning around a slash from Moryo, slashing back, only for his sword to pass through, as did Ava's scythe. "The Generals are here. Currently, we're only fighting Moryo, so between Ava and I-" he paused to flip over Moryo, Ava slashing at him with her longsword, only for the strike to again pass through him, "we should be able to handle it. But if the fight starts to turn in our favor, Nero Shade will use his Semblance again."
"Shit!" Blake swore. "What do we do? Me and the others, we're going into the whale to rescue Oscar."
Fox's eyes widened just as Moryo's claws slammed into his sword, the force hurling him backward at the Sabyrs, only for him to flip and slash a line of them.
"The Ace Ops are going to deploy a bomb inside the whale," Blake said. "If Nero Shade uses his Semblance to make the whale bigger and stronger, would the bomb still work? Can we still win this?"
"You don't understand," Fox said, ducking aside from a punch and slashing, his strike passing through Moryo just in time for Moryo's other hand to pass through Ava as he spun to slash at her. "This isn't about winning anymore. We've already lost. Atlas has fallen." He deflected a punch with an energy shield, then leapt backward, firing an arrow through Moryo, the arrow exploding amidst the Sabyrs behind him. "This fight isn't about winning, it's about getting out alive."
"We can't leave without Oscar!" Blake said.
"I know," Fox said, blocking a punch with his shield and skidding backward before stopping. "Ava and I will keep their focus here. Do what you need to do, but be careful!"
"You, too," Blake said. "You won't have another life if you die again."
"I know," Fox said. "I'll see you soon."
Blake hung up and Fox slipped the earbud out as he spun, his scythe passing through Moryo twice as he put it away. Moryo roared, leaping forward just as Fox smirked.
"Time's up," Fox said.
Then, he exploded forward, flashing past Moryo just as Ava passed him the other way, their swords both tearing through him. He roared in agony, staggering away before both spun, extending a hand and firing beams of energy into him from opposite sides, Ava having finally tapped into the Emeralds in her circlet. Moryo roared in pain before the beams suddenly passed through him, slamming into each other and exploding, hurling both Fox and Ava away. Both flipped, tearing into the Sabyrs to clear a landing spot, then into the few that attacked them as they landed. Fox turned his eyes back to Moryo as he began to laugh, flexing his hands as his claws extended. Fox narrowed his eyes. He'd learned from their last fight. He'd been using it exclusively when they attacked him. His earlier lack of intangibility was only a feint. Fox and ava both crouched, narrowing their eyes before exploding forward again, their blades passing through him over and over as he punched and slashed at them again and again. Finally, Fox's sword managed to land a solid hit, though it skipped off of his ribs. Moryo roared angrily instantly, leaping away from Ava, and Fox fired an arrow at him. However, just before it could hit, Jug dropped past, his sword slamming into the arrow and dispersing it before he crashed down hard, Wendigo rising from Moryo's shadow to retrieve him, then returning to the top of the Whale.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me," Fox growled, breathing heavily from protected fighting and use of his Semblance, Ava only slightly better off.
"They're just wearing us down and keeping us busy," Ava said.
"Joy of fucking joys," Fox growled. "We need Penny."
Just then, Fox's scroll began to beep and he pulled out the earpiece again, answering the call this time.
"Something's wrong with Penny!" Ruby shrieked.
"What?" Fox asked.
"She was saying something about opening the vault, then self-terminating!" Ruby said.
Fox swore. "Is she conscious and herself right now?" He spun out of Jug's way, then slammed an energy gauntlet into his chest, launching him backward.
"No!" Ruby said. "A Grimm got into the house to try to take her! It knocked her out, but we killed it! Fox...there was a person inside of it!"
"Yeah, can't really focus on that last bit right now!" Fox said, barely managing to deflect a series of slashes from Jug before Ava slammed a hammer into him, launching him. "When she gets back, ask her if her sword was networked to her, and if it was, see if you can sever the connection, or if she can! Got to go!"
He hung up, then flipped over Jug's sword, slashing downward at him, only for him to block the blade, shoving it aside and spinning, slashing at him. Fox grit his teeth, shouting in effort as he blocked the slash, skidding backward but keeping from being bisected or launched, allowing Ava to slash Jug across the back.
"People really need to solve their own problems right now!" Fox growled, launching himself forward and flipping past Jug's sword, his own sword slashing up Jug's front, barely making it through his armor. He flipped, landing on his feet behind Jug just as Ava slammed a gauntlet into Jug's face, the gauntlet springing outward and sending him exploding backward through the Grimm.
"We're not going to be able to hold out if they keep this gauntlet shit up," Ava said, just as Wendigo retrieved Jug.
Fox looked to the top of the whale, but all five were there. "Now what?"
Just then, the Grimm around them all flooded inward, this time including scorpion-like Grimm with one eye, a pair of horns, and three tails, each about half the size of a Sabyr. Fox and Ava both shouted in annoyance and frustration, returning to slaughtering Grimm. Then, a dozen Wulfe clones burst out of the Grimm on one side, spreading around them with their claws as three more leapt into the air, firing their lasers before landing and firing again, the real Wulfe stepping up beside Fox and Ava.
"Sorry I'm late," Wulfe said. "Glad to see you got the party started without me."
"Yeah, you being a part of the party was only ever optional," Fox shrugged. "Everyone knows Ava's the muscle and I'm the figure head."
"And I'm also the brains," Ava said.
Wulfe rolled his eyes, just as Fox yanked him forward by the shoulder, his energy shield blocking Wendigo's claws. Wendigo narrowed her eyes, then sank into the shadows again. Then, the Grimm were flooding past the Wulfe clones, all three of them struggling to fend them off again. And then Wendigo was there, her claws suddenly flashing out through a disintegrating Grimm to strike at Fox, who leaned out of the way, then retracting back into the disintegrating Grimm, using the darkness they transformed into when dying to strike. Fox grit his teeth. Leave it to Wendigo to figure out the most effective way to fight without them being able to fight back.
"Did you leave anyone to help Ruby and Weiss?" Fox asked.
"I left a dozen clones with them!" Wulfe said. "Six died fighting the Grimm that attacked! Six are still there!"
Fox as he destroyed a Sabyr, then immediately turned sideways, avoiding Wendigo's claws as he stabbed into the shadows, his blade sprouting from the shadows below Wendigo where she'd stabbed from. As she withdrew her hand, the end of his blade was severed from the rest, exploding instantly, hurling everyone but Moryo and Jug, Moryo being intangible and Jug withstanding the blast. As the blast ended and Fox shifted his blade into a scythe, three fireballs suddenly flew out of the whale's mouth. Fox looked over, seeing Blake and the others lying scattered around the floor as Hazel fought Salem, Hazel having six different types of Dust stabbed into his shoulders and Salem firing beams of magic energy like dozens of thin beams all spiraling and waving together in each strike. She was holding back. She wasn't fighting Hazel like she once fought him, but then, that could be a perfect chance.
"Wulfe, Ava, can you two hold out?" Fox asked.
"Briefly!" Ava said. "Go fast!"
Fox nodded, forming himself wings again and launching himself into the air, sending an arrow into the air, which then multiplied to begin shredding the Grimm swarming them as Fox streaked toward the Whale. Jug and Moryo both leapt at him, but he flipped around both, streaking into the Whale just in time to impale Salem on a massive trident, tacking her to the wall.
"Get out, now!" Fox roared.
Hazel leapt instantly, the others all doing the same before Fox beat his wings hard, launching himself backward as the trident exploded, splattering Salem across the wall. He landed beside Wulfe in time to deflect Wendigo's claws, then spun, blocking Jug's sword, the ground cratering.
"Fuck...OFF!" Fox roared, a massive beam exploding from his chest into Jug, launching him backward and shattering his armor.
As he crashed backward through the Grimm, Moryo leapt through him, roaring as he charged, only for Hazel to explode down on top of him, smashing him into the ground. Moryo shot up, passing through Hazel, and before he could attack him, Hazel was out of reach, tearing through the Grimm. Then, Salem was there. As she held her arms over her head, a massive blast of magic forming, Wulfe fired his laser up into her face. Her magic self-destructed, sending her exploding into the ground. She began to rise instantly, only for Fox and Ava to pass her, Fox removing her head and Ava separating her body at the waist. Grimm launched themselves at them, but Yang shot past, planting an explosive on each before detonating them all. Moryo leapt at her, but her gauntlets launched her through him, Yang timing it to leave an explosive inside of him. Just as it left, he became tangible again, allowing it to stick to his back, and Yang detonated it, sending him bouncing away.
Fox flipped, launching himself downward and slashing with a sword, the blade crashing into Jug's, stopping him from going after Blake. Just as the ground under him cratered, Oscar blasted Jug in the newly-unarmored torso with a dozen strikes in under a second, launching him backward at Hazel, who slammed a punch into him, sending him bouncing across the ground. As Fox stood, he spun, forming a spherical barrier around himself, blocking a blast of magic from Salem, the barrier being sent rocketing backward until the blast ended. He let the barrier fade instantly, stopping himself as Salem spun, backhanding Ava and sending her blasting into the ground, only for Wulfe clones to swarm past her, keeping the Grimm at bay.
"I've had far more than enough of you!" Salem seethed. "This time, I'll make sure you don't reincarnate!"
Fox narrowed his eyes as Ava rose into the air again. "Bring it on, Salem. Things won't end the same way again."
Salem shrieked in rage, exploding forward with all the speed and power he remembered. But this time, he was ready. When she reached out to grab him, energy exploded off of him in a massive pulse, launching her away. As she flipped and spun, Ava shot past, her weapon formed into a massive wire-mesh screen, like a giant tennis racket but with razor-wire netting, and she used it to instantly cube Salem. Just as she did, Ozpin began to focus his magic into a massive blast.
"Hold them all off," Oscar said, just as bloody light washed across the world in a wave and the Generals all shot toward Ozpin.
Fox swallowed hard as all of the Wulfe clones fired their lasers into Death at once. He plummeted to the ground as Hazel bounced past Ozpin, leaving Ava and Fox as the only two in front of him who weren't Grimm. Nero shot down toward Ozpin from above as Moryo shot toward him from below. Just as Moryo moved to attack Ozpin, Wulf's laze exploded into him, launching him backward, and as Nero neared him, Fox and Ava both slashed, his blades blocking their, but allowing them to hurl him away. Death exploded out of the Grimm in front of Ozpin and Blake blocked his scythe before Yang slammed a fist into him, only for the explosion to do nothing. Death roared, spinning and swiping at them with the shaft, only for Yang to tackle Blake to the ground, both managing to just barely avoid the strike. Then, Fox and Ava both slammed a gauntlet-enhanced punch into Death's face, sending him exploding backward. As they landed, Ozpin stepped up beside them.
"Get back," Ozpin said.
Fox grabbed Blake and Yang, leaping backward as Ava followed. Then, as Ozpin's fingers moved to the trigger and fingerguard of his cane, which he had to squeeze to use the spell, Salem appeared in front of him, hand pulled back.
"Too late," Ozpin said, firing his spell.
The spell went off like an explosion, washing over the entirety of Atlas in under a second, though only the front half of the whale was destroyed, where as the entirety of Salem's army was gone, as was Salem.
"Did he get them?" Blake asked as they stood, the air clogged with dust, ash, and disintegrating Grimm. "Even the Generals?"
"No," Fox said. "Wendigo got the Generals to safety. But he got Salem. That's what's important."
Blake nodded, then pulled Fox into a kiss, Fox sighing and kissing her back instantly. A moment later, Wulfe stepped up behind Ava, who spun even before he could do anything, throwing herself at him. Wulfe chuckled into their kiss, wrapping his arms around her. Yang sighed knowingly, then looked toward Atlas.
Fox pulled back from Blake, glancing at Yang, then also toward Atlas. "We need to get to the others. We need to save Penny."
The others nodded and Fox pulled his scroll out, calling Ruby.
"Fox!" Ruby gasped. "The others, are they..."
"We're alright," Yang said, leaning next to him so Ruby could see her.
"Oh, thank God!" Ruby sighed.
"Ruby, we're going to make our way back, have Weiss send us a map and a route to take," Fox said. "Ava and Wulfe are going to fly ahead in case you need help with anything, including keeping Penny where she is."
Ruby nodded as Ava took off with Wulfe, and Fox hung up, Weiss sending him a map with a route marked by a red line a moment later.
"Hey, I know you all need some rest, but there's no time," Fox said. "Something's happened to Penny, so we need to get back to Weiss's house to see if we can fix her."
Nora and Ren both slumped forward before Ren nodded and Nora held up a thumbs up. Pyrrha simply picked up her sword and shield and nodded, and Jaune sighed, sheathing his sword. Then, they were off, Hazel and Emerald ahead of them, Hazel now free of Dust and Emerald with her guns in their holsters, both with their hands raised and Ren's guns on them, despite Oscar and Fox's argument.
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