In the Vault of the Spring Maiden under Haven Academy, the sound of a weapon clanging is heard. Neo stares at the door that once guarded the Relic of Knowledge; the door itself is now a stone wall since the Relic has been taken out.
"Now you understand" Cinder began, who is sitting on a boulder, flicking her dagger and changing its form "I've got to get the Relic before it can be secured in Atlas. It's the only way that Salem..." She sighs before she finishes "It's the only way we can accomplish our goal". Neo looks back at Cinder "You're not the only one who wants to get back at your enemies. But unfortunately, Salem does not feel the same way..." Neo places her umbrella on her shoulder and walks toward Cinder "I've been... instructed not to kill Ruby..." Cinder melts her dagger in her hand "But you... You have no such orders. You can do as you please" Cinder's dagger disintegrates and she stands up to walk towards Neo "Help me get to Atlas, help me find her... and the rest is up to you".
Neo ponders Cinder's words for a moment before smiling at her and holding her hand out. Cinder takes Neo's hand with her own, sealing the deal with a handshake, or so Cinder thought, as she didn't notice Neo crossing her fingers behind her back.
…
Wind is heard howling. In a mountainous region, a lone, a cloaked feminine figure with a skull mask concealing her face crosses a rickety bridge. Halfway across the bridge, she hears the screech of a Nevermore. She turns to her left to see the Nevermore appear from the fog, and she draws her weapons - a pair of sickles.
The young Maria backflips off the bridge just as the Nevermore rams through it, splitting the bridge in half. She throws one of her sickles at one of the Nevermore's wing and uses the gravity Dust imbued in it to pull herself back up, while also dragging the Nevermore down. She grabs her other sickle on her way back up, getting above the Nevermore, and uses the recoil of her weapon to spin and grapple onto the Nevermore. She then throws one of her sickles to a mountain, pulling the Nevermore with it. The Nevermore crashes into the mountainside, losing its balance, before crash landing to the ground. Maria's other sickle is called back and lands on the ground in front of it.
Maria takes out the sickle from the Nevermore's wing, catching her breath. She looks over to the Nevermore's head, whose eyes stare back at her, causing her to gasp. The Nevermore tries to snap its beak at Maria, forcing her off. It swipes at her, knocking Maria back and forcing her to drop her sickle. The Nevermore charges forward, but Maria's eyes glow brightly, engulfing the area around her. She stands back up and notices the Nevermore petrified in midair, before dropping down and crumbling. Maria walks over to her sickle to pick it up, using the gravity Dust to call her other sickle back to her.
Suddenly, Maria deflects a bullet aimed at her. She notices three men - one with a giant hammer, one carrying a rifle, and one with a machete - come out of hiding. Another woman, a crocodile Faunus named Tock, then walks up behind her.
"Well, that's a fancy trick now, innit? 'Fraid it comes with a price though, love" Tock said as she crushes a small piece of the petrified Nevermore in her hand.
Maria turns around to face Tock, while the three men ready their weapons "I don't think you realize who I am".
"Course I do" Tock takes out an alarm clock, setting the timer and placing it on her belt "You're the Grimm Reaper, and these... are the last sixty seconds of your life".
Tock hits the button on her clock, starting the timer's countdown. She then draws a pair of saber swords and activates her Aura. The ticking clock can be heard in the background as the battle begins. Tock rushes forward and clashes blades with Maria. Maria attacks back, but Tock's Aura knocks her sickle out of her hand. Tock kicks Maria back, with the latter summoning her other sickle back to her hand. She then proceeds to fight the three men, deflecting their bullets. She cuts down the rifle-wielding man, knocks out the machete-wielder, and dodges out of the way of the hammer user before cutting him down. She then blocks another attack from Tock, who manages to push Maria back, causing her Aura to flicker.
Maria's sickles then circle around her due to the gravity Dust, before combining together to form a double-edged scythe. Tock and the machete-wielder rush forward to attack, but Maria blocks them. The Grimm Reaper then takes down the machete-wielder before proceeding to clash with Tock again. The two lock weapons with each other, before Tock uses her razor-sharp metal teeth to chomp through Maria's weapon. The crocodile Faunus headbutts the Grimm Reaper, shattering her skull mask in the process. Maria briefly opens up her silver eyes for a bit, when suddenly, Tock slashes at her eyes, permanently blinding Maria.
Silence for a moment, before Maria screams out in pain, her eyes bleeding. She continues to cry out as Tock's alarm clock rings. Tock presses the button on her clock as her Aura deactivates.
"It was a close call, I'll give you that" Tock walks over menacingly to Maria, who continues to cry out in pain as she holds her blinded eyes. Maria manages to grab one of her sickles and tries to fire at Tock, who nonchalantly dodges out of the way. A clicking sound can then be heard from Maria's sickle, indicating her weapon is out of ammo "You know, the only reason my master wants you dead is 'cause of your eyes. But seein' as you ain't got 'em no more, you might be able to convince me to spare your life" In response, Maria tries to throw her sickle at Tock, but she dodges that too. She chuckles "Well, I respect that, a fighter to the end".
Tock readies her saber to kill Maria, but then a voice was heard "Hey!".
Tock looked and saw a massively built armored warrior approach her: a Night Sentinel.
"That's enough." The warrior growled.
Tock scoffed, annoyed she had been interrupted, "Get lost, tin man, this doesn't concern you."
"Those of silver eyes are indeed of my concern" the warrior shot back, "You have no idea what you have just brought on yourself."
Tock looks nervous at the warrior's tone, but then smirks "I could probably say the same for you."
The sound of a gun cocking is heard as the other bandits, now recovered, surrounded the warrior, their weapons ready. The Night Sentinel only shakes his head in disappointment as he reaches for a hilt on his belt, pulling it out and igniting the blue blade. The other bandits looked warily, before rushing in. Before they could attack, the warrior lashed out with inhuman speed and swung his sword in a deadly circle, taking them all down in the course of three seconds and leaving only Tock remaining.
Seeing her bandits taken down so quickly really made her nervous now, and she slowly backed away "Ok, easy now. Maybe we can work something out…"
Before she could continue, the warrior swung his sword once more, taking her head clean off. As Tock's decapitated body fell to the floor, the warrior walked over to Maria, holstering his sword and helping her up.
"Come with me" he said as he led her off.
"Who…who are you?" Maria asked.
"A warrior who is much like you" the Night Sentinel replied.
"I went into hiding soon after" Maria finished her story to the others, who all have wide-eyed expressions.
Qrow was astounded "I can't believe it. You... You're the Grimm Reaper, you were a legend! And then you disappeared...".
"How exactly does a legend just disappear?" Oscar asked.
"You never used your name, never showed your face. Lots of us thought you were just layin' low. Eventually, we just came to accept that you were probably dead. But the stories about you, I based my weapon off of yours. I wanted to be as good as the Grimm Reaper" Qrow said.
"Well, I'm nothing but a disappointment, so you're well on your way" Maria said, clearly disappointed in herself.
"How can you say that?" Blake asked.
"Child, a Huntress is supposed to protect others to the bitter end. But after I lost my eyes, I only ever looked after myself. Even after my surgery, I was too afraid to fight. Afraid someone would find me again, finish what the others started. Of course, I didn't realize the warrior who saved me was a Night Sentinel and that you would have to be absolutely insane to face one of them. You shouldn't aspire to be like me, especially when some of you are clearly stronger already" Maria explained. Upon hearing this, Yang looks down sadly "It's... comforting, seeing that your generation seems up to the task of inheriting this world. I'm just sorry I didn't do more to leave it in better shape".
"Well, maybe you can do something now. Teach me to use my powers the way you did" Ruby said as Maria looks back at her, a Scroll's ringtone can be heard. Ruby pulls her Scroll out and gasps in excitement "It's Jaune!".
Yang and Julius stop their bikes, looking back in surprise. Everyone says "Huh?" as they wonder how Jaune contacted them.
"How?" Weiss asked.
Ruby quickly answered her Scroll "Uh, hello?".
"Ruby! Oh, thank you! I've been checking my Scroll for your signal since we made it to the city!" Jaune said.
"The city? Wait..." Ruby looks to her Scroll, then looks at the little signal symbol under Jaune's portrait, watching it get better as she points her Scroll toward the road ahead. The group sees a hill where the snow ends.
Yang proceeds forward to drive them up the hill. At the top of the hill, the group sees a walled city in the distance along the ocean. Yang smiles "Ladies and gentlemen, we have arrived in Argus".
"Well," Julius said with a relieved smile, "It's about damn time."
At the entrance to the city of Argus, Yang inputs a code, "4-5-8", to lock Bumblebee, Julius's bike, and the trailer in a garage. Everyone take the time to admire their surroundings. Through the crowd, a certain bubbly ginger-haired girl in pink zooms in.
"Cute! Boy! OZ!" Nora screams as she points her finger to the group. Oscar looks over in confusion, only to get tackle hugged by Nora "Oh, come here!
"Are you all okay?" Ren asked as he hugs Yang.
"We were so worried!" Jaune said as he hugs Blake.
"It's been kind of a crazy trip" Yang said.
"That's an understatement" Weiss added.
Nora noticed Maria "Wait, who's the old lady?".
Julius walked up and high-fived Hector "Glad to see you guys made it."
"You too." Hector replied, "And in one piece, thankfully. Well, mostly in one piece."
Julius got an unamused expression "That's not funny."
Suddenly, Julius got slammed into by a very happy Katrina.
"You're okay!" she shouted as she hugged him tight.
"Yeah…" Julius gasped, "But I won't be if you keep crushing me like that!"
Katrina pulled back and blushed in embarrassment "Oh, right…sorry."
Everyone shared a chuckle. Later on, the group is seen traveling through the city on a trolley.
"It's a lot bigger than I thought it'd be" Yang commented.
"It's actually one of the largest non-capital cities in all of Remnant" Ren said.
Ruby gasps "No way! But wait, wouldn't it be harder to settle something this big away from the main Kingdom?".
"Well, it was, until Mantle showed up. Early settlement attempts by Mistral didn't go well. But colonists from Mantle were able to help them brave the cold climate and return for goods that Solitas couldn't provide" Jaune explained.
"The two nations worked together to create a hybrid city. While it falls under Mistral domain, Atlas keeps a military presence here to help keep the people safe and keep trade between the two nations steady" Ren finished.
"Well, until recently..." Nora said before the trolley makes a stop and everyone hops off.
"We should probably start looking for a ship" Blake said.
"So, where have you guys been staying?" Oscar asked.
"Uh..." Jaune chuckles nervously.
"There you are!" As the trolley leaves, a blonde woman, with her baby son, Adrian, in her arm is seen on the other side of the street waving to Jaune.
"Is that...?" Yang began
"Hey, Saph" Jaune said as he smiles and waves back.
Ruby then zooms in, all starry-eyed. She looks back and forth between Jaune and the woman, and gasps upon realizing who the woman is.
"Talk about a turn of events" Julius said.
"Well, it could be worse" Blake replied, "A lot worse."
Julius nodded in wholehearted agreement.
The group later reconvenes in a living room at Saphron's home. Yang was playing with the baby boy Adrian using a toy plane.
"I can't believe I'm meeting your sister! I have so many questions" Ruby said.
"Oh, I can give you the rundown later!" Nora said with a smirk
"Will you guys knock it off?" Jaune said in annoyance.
"What? I love telling stories about my baby brother" Saphron squeezes Jaune's cheek.
Jaune groans while also flailing his arms at his elder sister "I am not a baby! That is a baby" He points at Adrian, who huffs back at him.
Yang and Weiss get all wide-eyed as they fuss over Adrian. Both of them make baby talk at him.
Yang "Aww, you're so cute! Yes you are! Oh, look at your little face!".
Weiss "Aww, coochie-coochie! Aw, baby! Oh my!".
Julius smiled at the sight; he wondered if that was going to be him and Blake one day, sitting in a quiet home with a kid of their own. One could only dream right now.
Blake smiles at Adrian before asking "So Saphron, you're the only Arc living here".
"Yep! Moved the second I could. Jaune and I are the only two living away from home" Saphron said before speaking in a teasing voice "I guess he just wanted to be like his big sis".
"I, uh..." Jaune began but groans.
"Aw, you didn't deny it!" Saphron teased and the two siblings play fight with each other by pulling each other's cheeks. Then, a door is heard opening. A dark-haired woman with glasses is seen walking in with bags of groceries "Everyone, this is my wife, Terra Cotta".
Everyone greets both as Terra chuckles "Why, hello there! Wow, quite a party, you weren't kidding. Hun, can I get some help please?".
Saphron quickly runs over to help Terra in the kitchen.
Julius looked confused "Wait, she's her…"
Hector stopped him with a look "Don't question it."
Later on, Jaune, Ren and Nora are preparing sandwiches for everyone while the others sit around the living room.
"And you're sure it's alright if we stay with you?" Weiss asked.
"Of course, we're happy to house Huntsmen and Huntresses" Saphron assured.
"You all risk so much to keep people like us safe. It's the least we can do" Terra said before turning to Qrow "Especially for such an elite Huntsman like yourself. Although, I will say I was surprised to learn you had students helping you. Is that even... legal?".
Qrow was not paying attention until he gets his arm bumped by his niece "Uh, of course. Think of it as an extended training mission. Trust me, I was a professor. Even went to the same academy as them. Let me tell ya, these kids are way better than we were at their age" Jaune, Ren and Nora walk back into the room with plates full of sandwiches. Ruby gasps happily upon seeing them "Well, not better than me specifically, but a lot of students-".
"Shut up there's food!" Ruby said as she put a sandwich in Qrow's hands.
Everyone heartily eats the sandwiches, many enjoying the first proper meal they've had in a long time. Saphron and Terra share a look with each other, before the latter's Scroll is heard buzzing.
Terra sighs "Excuse me, I'll be right back" She answers her Scroll and walks out of the room Hello?".
"Is everything okay?" Blake asked.
"Oh, yeah, it will be. Terra's a technician for the town's relay tower. Unfortunately, the military's radar system is also housed there" Saphron explained before making baby talk at Adrian "Guess what's been on the fritz lately and who's getting falsely blamed".
Terra peeks back into the room and points at herself "Me".
"So, what's your plan for tomorrow?" Saphron asked.
Ruby's mouth was still stuffed "Well..." She gulps it down "We're trying to make our way to Atlas. We'll probably start with the military base".
Nora and Ren share concerned looks as Jaune speaks nervously "So, we kind of already tried that, and... it didn't go... super great".
"You mean it went to shit after the first two minutes" Hector corrected.
"Come on, it couldn't be that bad..." Yang argued.
"It's the military" Julius added, "They know Novus. All we need to do is have him give some of his persuasion and we'll be off. How hard could it be?"
The next day, everyone walks up to the Atlesian Military base on the island off the coast of Argus, only for the gates to abruptly close on them before they could even enter.
Well Summer said in Julius's head, This is juuust perfect.
And just like that, they were stuck.