Back with the gang, Cordovin was attacking the ship that Maria, Katrina, and Oscar where in "You just couldn't keep this rivalry between us, could you, Calavera?! You had to rope in children to fail with you!".
Ruby is still holding onto Crescent Rose for dear life. Oscar notices this from the airship "Ruby!" Ruby eventually makes her back up to the top of the cliff by using Crescent Rose's blade to climb back up, with Novus helping her back up near the top. The two regroup with the rest. Oscar spoke over the comms "Ruby, can you hear me? Are you guys okay?".
"Are we okay?!" Ruby demanded since she was not happy about how the fight was going.
"I know, we were supposed to lay low, but listen! I think I finally found a weakness!" Oscar said.
"Well, we're all ears" Ruby and her friends notice Nora helping Jaune over.
"Guys!" Ren runs over to his teammates.
Oscar then continued "The cylinder on Cordo's cannon rotates and locks in a giant Dust cartridge every time she changes attack styles".
"We noticed" Weiss pointed out.
"Right, but her missile launcher doesn't lock in, it pops out! Without her shields, one well-placed shot could detonate the missiles while they're still in the launcher!" Oscar explained.
"We could destroy the entire cannon... Oscar, that's brilliant!" Jaune said, clearly impressed.
Nora looked at Ruby "Can you... make that kind of shot?".
"We'll only get one chance before she catches on. I'd have to be practically staring down the barrel of her cannon" Ruby said.
"Well, I've got a way to guarantee that" Maria flies the airship back over to Ruby's group. She stops with the hatch doors open. Ruby runs forward.
"Ruby, what are you doing?!" Qrow called out, only for Hector to hold him back "Relax, she knows what she's doing."
Ruby hops into the airship and heads off to do her part. The others watch the airship heading towards Cordo's mech. Ruby smiles at Maria and Oscar. In the mech, one of the screens has a popup message saying "ARGUS BASE INCOMING CALL". Cordovin notices this, but her attention is then drawn away.
"Hey, Cordo! I've got one missile left and I know exactly where I'm gonna stick it!" Maria said.
Cordovin chuckles "One missile you say? That's a shame, Maria, because I have plenty!".
Cordovin has the missile launcher pop out from the mech's arm cannon while Maria continues flying toward her.
"ARE YOU TWO CRAZY?!" Oscar screamed.
"Sometimes the best approach is simply the most direct!" Maria declared.
"Agreed!" Katrina shouted, having moved to the copilot seat.
Hector raised his eyebrows in surprise; who knew Maria shared his tastes when it came to a fight.
As the airship moves closer, Ruby gets into position and aims at Cordovin's mech cannon. Cordovin gasps as she pulls up a screen, noticing Ruby and catching on to her plan "You!" Ruby pulls the trigger, but suddenly, the missile launcher retracts back into the arm cannon and the bullet is deflected. Everyone gasps in shock as Cordovin shouted "You thought you could fool me?!".
She readies the arm cannon again, this time about to fire a lightning Dust attack. Oscar noticed it and shouts "Pull up!".
Maria pulls up the airship, but it still gets partially caught in the blast. The rest of the group on the cliff move out of the way. The airship is affected by the electricity, and Maria screams in pain as her prosthetic eyes close shut "I can't see! My eyes!".
"No, no, no!" Oscar said in his growing panic.
"Take control!" Maria ordered.
Oscar grabs the joystick as he barely gains control of the airship "We're gonna crash! We're gonna CRASH!".
The rest of the group emerge from the smoke on the cliff-side, coughing Jaune got wide eyes "Look!"
The group watches as the airship crash lands into the forest. As Weiss gasps, Qrow runs and transforms into his avian form and flies over to the crash site. At the crash site, the engines can be heard shutting down. Fortunately, Oscar, Maria, and Ruby emerge unharmed.
"We're... we're still in one piece!" Suddenly, Oscar hears the stomping of Cordovin's mech. Ruby stumbles out of the airship before collapsing to her knees.
Cordovin laughs "Very clever, but even the smartest apes can't compete with the intellect of man".
Ruby uses Crescent Rose to stand herself back up. She looks over to the airship to see Maria repairing her prosthetic eyes as Oscar watches in concern "Come on, come on!".
Ruby then looks toward Cordovin with a determined expression and walks forward. Suddenly, Qrow appears and takes his niece's hand "Ruby, stop!".
Ruby looks back to her uncle, still bearing her determined expression "I need you to trust me".
Qrow closes his eyes and ultimately relents as Ruby pulls her hand away. She walks to the edge of the cliff and stands face to face with Cordovin's mech.
"Surrender for your crimes, and accept your punishment" Cordovin ordered.
"No!" Ruby spoke defiantly, Cordovin gasps in shock as Ruby's friends look to her "We're going to Atlas. Bigger people than you have tried to stop us and failed, but we're supposed to be on the same side! We're supposed to use our power to protect people, but you just use yours to look down on everyone!" Cordovin ponders Ruby's words as Ruby continued, "We didn't want to steal from you. We did it because you gave us no other choice! Now I'm giving you one last chance to stand down and hear us out".
There was silence for a moment. Novus was impressed by Ruby's words; this girl was definitely a descendant of the Night Sentinels.
"I've heard enough..." Cordovin then aims her arm cannon at Ruby. Ruby's friends run over to her in panic.
Oscar reaches out "Ruby!".
Qrow gains a look of horror on his face as Cordovin fires up the arm cannon. Suddenly Ruby uses her Semblance and flies into the arm cannon "WHAT?!".
"She's NUTS!" Nora shouts.
"The missile launcher springs out... but the raw dust gets locked in!" Jaune realized.
Hector widened his eyes in the same realization: "Holy fuck…she's a mad genius!"
Inside the arm cannon, Ruby plants Crescent Rose into the ground and takes aim at the buildup of Dust. She fires and uses her Semblance to quickly get out of the arm cannon. Suddenly, the arm cannon explodes, covering it in ice and stone.
"What?! No! NO!" Cordovin screams.
As Ruby flies backward, her Aura runs out and falls unconscious. Luckily, Novus jumps up and catches her, landing on the ground safely.
The others smiled as the airship's engines can be heard coming back on as it hovers lightly above the ground. Maria managed to fix her eyes "Oh, don't tell me I missed it!".
Hector chuckled "Yeah, you missed it."
…
Back at the waterfall, Julius and Adam faced off.
"Tell me" Adam asked, "how is it that Blake ended up falling for a human as broken as you? What makes you think you deserve her?"
"My scars come from standing up for everyone" Julius replied, "I protect humans and faunus alike. Blake is the most amazing person I have ever met. And you're right; I don't deserve her. That won't stop me from protecting her, as well as everyone else I care about."
Blake smiled, feeling happy inside as she heard her boyfriend speak, but Adam simply chuckled "You say that now, but she'll leave you, just as she left me."
"You're wrong!" Blake spoke up "I made a promise this time, and I am not going back on it!".
Adam glanced at Blake before looking back at Julius "You know, she made a promise to me once. That she'd always be at my side. Heh, and look how well she's kept it".
"Tell me this" Julius replied, "was that promise to the person you were before, or who you are now?"
Adam glared at Julius before looking at Blake "So I just wasn't good enough for you?".
"You know it's so much more than that" Blake said.
"Leave her out of this, Adam." Julius replied, raising his knife, "This is between you and me alone."
Adam looked back at Julius and smirked "Well, even if I don't kill Blake, at least she'll have to live knowing I killed you."
Adam readied his own sword. Both stared each other down as they began to circle each other, both waiting for the other to make a move. This lasted for 30 seconds before they finally made a move at the same time. Their blades clashed as they began to push against each other. The blade lock only lasted for a couple of seconds before they broke of and began clashing their blades against each other. Much to Adam's surprise, Julius was holding his own very well despite only having one arm.
"This doesn't have to be like this!" Julius shouted as they traded blows, "You can fight with us! We have a common enemy!"
"I already made my choice!" Adam shouted back, "Humanity will pay for what they've done! I don't expect you to understand."
You're gonna need to beat this guy down some more if you even want him to listen Summer advised.
No shit! Julius thought back, but how do I do that?!
First off, watch the language; I'm still your mom. Second, look behind you.
Julius risked a glance behind him to see the cliff and the waterfall, then got an idea. He braced himself just as Adam lashed out again, using his semblance and slicing Julius right down the middle, breaking his semblance in the process.
"JULIUS!" Blake and Yang cried in terror. However, when the dust cleared, Adam looked in total shock as Julius still stood, the entitre wound down his body healing before his very eyes.
"What…" Adam gasped.
Julius held up his knife "My turn."
Suddenly, Julius sheathed his knife and teleported behind Adam, lashing out with a flurry of kicks, slashes and punches that stunned Adam and finally broke his aura after a final kick to the head. Growling in anger, Adam tried to swing his sword down again, only for Julius to catch it with his knife, and, in a twist of motion, ripped the weapon from Adam's hands, sending it flying over the cliff into the water below, and then brought his own blade in front of Adam's neck, trapping him. Adam was wide eyed in shock.
"How…with all that you're missing…how?" Adam asked.
"Because I learned to push past this." Julius replied, "Just as you need to push past what happened with you and Blake."
"Easy for you to say" Adam sneered, "You probably haven't experienced half of what I have."
"I beg to differ" Julius replied, sheathing his knife and pulling off his eyepatch. Adam could only stare in slight terror at the hideous array of scars as well as the empty socket where Julius's eye should be.
"I've noticed your scar" Julius said, "and what the SDC did to you is unforgivable, I admit. But there's something out there that is nearly a hundred times worse. Salem won't stop until both humans and faunus are wiped from existence. She took my eye and my arm when I was just a kid. I understand your suffering, I really do. I don't want to kill you; we need to work together if we are to even survive what's coming. We have a common enemy, Salem, so let's face it…together.
Adam stood in silence for a few tense moments as he pondered Julius's words, then he said, "You know, you're not like most humans that I know. Who exactly ARE you?"
Julius shrugged "Just someone who wants to protect those I care about. I don't care if I die or not, so long as our enemy falls."
Adam actually felt a tad impressed "You're definitely not like other humans." Then, after a few moments "I never thought I'd say this, but I'll listen to what you have to say. IfSalem really is who you say she is, then maybe my allegiances are in the wrong place, something I would like to correct."
Julius nodded "I'm glad to hear it."
Adam nodded in return "First, however, I'll need some time to clear my head, but I'll find a way to contact you as soon as I can."
"Do what you need to" Julius replied. Adam then looked to Blake and Yang, both of whom were surprised at this sudden change of heart, one last time before turning and walking away.
Julius turned to the two girls as he put his eyepatch back on "He won't be bothering us any time soon."
Blake ran up and hugged him tightly "I'll never break my promise…I swear."
Julius hugged back "I know. And I won't break my promise to you either."
The two shared a gentle kiss, then Julius turned to Yang "Same goes for you."
Yang smiled "I know."
The two were then alerted to the sound of an explosion in the distance.
"Well, we certainly missed something" Julius remarked.
"Let's go!" Yang called, and the two ran off back towards the others.
…
Back at the cliff side Cordovin is struggling to pick up the mech's arm cannon "No! No, no, no, NO! You! You're never getting to Atlas! Do you hear me?! NEVER!" She presses a button on the controls "All forces converge on my position and eliminate these pests at once!".
"Crap!" Oscar said.
"Everyone on board! We're making a run for it!" Maria called out.
"What about Julius, Yang and Blake?" Jaune asked.
"Ma'am, we've been trying to reach you! Argus is in danger!" A soldier said to Cordovin over the comms.
Cordovin's expression widens in horror "What?"
At the Argus base, various Atlas personnel all rush to their battle stations. A pair of guards are seen looking out at the ocean. In the distance, a towering Grimm can be seen stomping in the water towards Argus. It lets out a terrifying roar.
The Atlas guards then turn around and notice a massive legion of Manticores and Sphinxs in the air above the city of Argus.
"It's a Leviathan! It began its approach during your battle! We need you!" The soldier said.
Ruby looks back to her friends in horror, who all share equally concerned expressions. They look to Cordovin's mech, still struggling to lift up its arm cannon...
…
Nighttime at a forest clearing. A Mistral airship can be seen landing. The doors open, revealing its occupant as Neo, who drops her disguise and is revealed to be wearing a new outfit. She looks to see someone step out of the forest, revealed to be Cinder also sporting some new clothes: a cape which conceals her Grimm-ified left arm as well as an eyepatch that covers the left half of her scarred face. She stops to inspect the airship.
"It should get us to Solitas. After that, you might want to try materializing yourself some snow boots" Cinder said as she continues walking.
Neo rolls her eyes at Cinder's remark. She steps out of the airship and holds her hand out, and Cinder stops walking and has an irritated look on her face. Neo then places her hand on the airship and uses her Semblance to transform it into an Atlesian Manta aircraft. Cinder smiles at this. She then retracts the disguise and snaps her fingers with a smirk on her face.
Cinder smiled at her before turning back to Neo "You know, Neo, someone once asked me if I believed in destiny" All three board the airship "And I'm happy to say I still do".
You'll wish you hadn't Neo thought to herself with a smirk.
…
Back in Argus, multiple Manta aircraft engage in dogfights against Manticores and Sphinxs above the ocean. The Leviathan itself slowly trudges through the water approaching the city. Some aircraft fly by for a gun run on the towering Grimm. The Leviathan, however, simply dives below the ocean and swims.
"All units, be advised: Leviathan-class Grimm has submerged but is still on approach. Preparing hard-light shields, over!" Air-Control said.
Elsewhere, Ruby and her friends overhear the radio chatter with looks of horror on their faces. Cordovin continues to struggle to get the Colossus' arm cannon out of the water with it being covered in ice and rock Dust.
"We're getting slammed by hostiles out here! Where is Cordovin?!" A soldier demanded.
"This is your fault! Do you hear me?!" Cordovin screams.
"Ruby!" Yang, Blake and Julius runs out of the forest to rejoin the group.
"Yang! Blake! Julius! Are you okay?" Ruby asked in worry.
The group then hears the Leviathan roaring.
"Was that a giant Grimm?" Yang asked.
"Yes... and we just ruined the only thing capable of stopping it..." Weiss said. The group wastes no time boarding the aircraft. It begins to fly away. Ruby watches with pity as Cordovin continues to struggle to move the mech.
Cordovin herself yells out in anger "This is your fault! YOUR FAULT! This is...".
A Soldier spoke over the radio "Ma'am, what's your status? We need an answer, over!".
"... Your fault..." Cordovin whispered as she looks down sadly. Despite her words, she knew she was also to blame for this.
Back in the airship Blake looked down "I'm so sorry...".
"Don't be. This isn't on you" Yang assured.
"But-" Blake began but Ruby stopped her.
"You're safe, that's all that matters" Ruby said as she took Blake's hands in to her own. Blake smiles at her leader and the two hug. Ruby looks to Yang and the two share a smile.
"I suppose I have to be the bad guy and say it, getting the lamp to Atlas is still our top priority, and right now we have the perfect opportunity to head straight for it. We may not get another chance like this" Maria said.
There was a short silence until Yang spoke "No way!".
"We can't leave, not like this" Weiss added.
"It's like you said, a Huntress is supposed to protect others to the bitter end" Blake finished.
Maria looks to Ruby, who just shrugs and smiles. Maria smiles back and continues to fly.
"We need to head for the Leviathan. Jaune, can you and Ren be ready to mask our ship?" Ruby asked.
"I think we can manage" Ren said.
"Got a few ideas?" Jaune asked.
"I've got one" Ruby answered.
"So do I" Julius said.
"Eyes up, everybody. It's back" Qrow said.
The Leviathan swims for a bit before resurfacing above the water, letting out a terrifying roar. From the city, a large crowd gathers as they look out to the ocean with concern. Terra is seen making her way through the crowd, eventually reuniting with her wife Saphron and their son Adrian, before looking out to the ocean again in concern. As the Leviathan approaches Argus, a hard-light Dust barrier is erected, halting its progress.
A pair of Manta aircraft are seen firing shots at the Leviathan. Suddenly, the Leviathan unleashes an energy beam attack from its mouth. It shifts the beam over to one of the poles powering the hard-light Dust barrier, destroying it. The Leviathan roars.
The gang watch in horror from their aircraft.
"It tore straight through...!" Oscar said in shock.
"All squadrons, fall back to evacuation procedures. Disengage Leviathan! I repeat, disengage! Over!" Air-Control said.
"No, wait!" Ruby runs up to the radio.
"Ruby!" Qrow said as Ruby grabs the radio.
"We can stop it!" Ruby said.
"Who is this? Identify yourself!" Air Control demanded.
"I'm a Huntress. My team and I are heading to the Leviathan and can weaken it for you to attack!" Everyone looks at Ruby in shock.
"We can?" Jaune asked
"I can" Ruby clarified.
Maria looks at the young Rose "Ruby, when I said trial by fire-"
"I did it at Beacon and at the farm" Ruby reminded.
"You really think you can do it now?" Weiss asked.
"I don't have a choice" Ruby said.
Julius shrugged "It's insane, but I don't have a better idea."
"Manta 5-1, your ship is currently flagged as hostile. You will receive no support, over" Air Control said.
Ruby picks up radio "Fine, we'll do it alone if we have to" From her mech, Cordovin overhears Ruby's radio chatter "We can hit it while it's stopped at the next barrier".
Ruby looked at Ren and Jaune "Ren, you're up!".
Ren and Jaune proceed to combine their Semblances, masking the airship as it weaves between the air battles between Grimm and Atlas forces. The Leviathan makes its way to the next barrier and charges its energy breath again.
"We're too late! Pull up!" Qrow shouted.
The Manta aircraft pulls up out of the way as the Leviathan fires its breath, destroying the next barrier and toppling a cupola off one of the buildings in Argus. Ren and Jaune collapse as their Auras are drained.
"Damn it...!" Jaune said.
"That's all I've got!" Ren said, he was drained.
"It's on the move again! We need to stop it!" Blake said in desperation.
"What do we do?" Yang asked.
The Leviathan continues to approach Argus, but suddenly, the aircraft carrying Ruby's group opens up its hatch doors. Julius stands there and he raises his hand. Just then, the Grimm roars in frustration and begins struggling as it tries to move forward. AS everyone watches, they notice Julius was using magic in an attempt to hold it back as a massive glyph with the rose symbol appeared in front of it.
"Eyes on us, ugly!" Nora, Novus, and Yang fire their respective weapons at the Leviathan, with Novus having used up all the BFG's ammo and was now firing from a gauss cannon in siege mode
"Is it working?" Blake asked.
"Unfortunately, yes! Hang on!" Maria ordered.
"Hurry!" Julius said, beginning to strain himself as he held the glyph "I'm not sure how much longer I can hold it!"
"Weiss," Ruby said, "I'm gonna need some help to get in front of it!"
Weiss nodded and summoned a Queen Lancer that Ruby promptly jumped on as it took off.
"Just focus on keeping us from falling, I'll handle the rest" Ruby said to Weiss before she takes a deep breath and speaks to herself " Okay, okay, you can do this... You have to do this!".
A few moments after Julius falls to his knees "I can't…" and then his eyes close as he passes out. Qrow immediately shoots out a hand, catching his before he could fall out of the ship and props him up on one of the seats in the ship.
"Easy, kid." He said, "You did good."
Eventually, the Lancer carrying stops in front of the Leviathan, who now proceeded unhindered with the glyph gone. Ruby closes her eyes and begins to concentrate, the noises all around her slowly muting out, but she is distracted by Yang "Ruby? Ruby, hurry, something-".
Ruby takes out her earpiece and tosses it into the water below. She closes her eyes again to concentrate. As she concentrates, Ruby thinks back on various memories:
She thinks of her father and sister, when Zwei first arrived at Team RWBY's dorm room, when she and her team are about to start a food fight, and when they get noodles after their victory in the tournament. She remembers when she first met Julius for the first time in years and their antics at Beacon.
She then thinks of Penny, then to when she first saw Jaune, of Team JNPR, of Pyrrha...
Suddenly, Ruby starts to frown as bad memories start to flood her mind: the night when Jaune trained alone with a recording of Pyrrha, when she saw her friends wounded as Beacon was being evacuated, when Yang sank into depression over the loss of her arm.
Ruby whimpers upon remembering the deaths of both Pyrrha and Penny...
Suddenly, Ruby opens her eyes again and notices the Leviathan standing face to face with her "What?".
"Why'd it turn away?!" Yang asked out loud.
"Oh, shit. The Relic!" Hector cried.
Ruby then remembers she has the Relic of Knowledge on her belt, which caused the Leviathan to have its attention on her.
"No, no, no, no!" Ruby said and suddenly, the Leviathan opens its maw and lunges toward "J-JINN!".
Suddenly, time stops. Everything slows down and freezes, even Yang who calls out her sister's name.
Ruby then breathes a sigh of relief as she hears the rattling chains of Jinn "I'm sorry... I don't have a question for you. I just... I just needed a little more time...".
Ruby looks to Jinn, who has a stern look on her face "I know... and while you don't seek knowledge, just this once, I shall give it freely. I will not allow you to use me without a question again..." She then smiles "Even if this was clever".
Ruby nods at Jinn. She then turns to face the Leviathan again and closes her eyes to concentrate once more. Time slowly starts to go back to normal.
She thinks back to when Team RWBY decorated their dorm room, when Weiss gave her coffee, when Blake cheered for Weiss in Professor Port's class, when Yang was training her before leaving for Beacon, when Team RWBY celebrated their victory after saving Vale.
Ruby smiles as she thinks back to the Beacon Dance and Team JNPR again, and then to when Qrow arrived at Beacon, to when she learned Julius was her brother, to talking with Oscar, and then to Maria, and to Penny again.
And finally, Ruby thinks back to her mother, her white cloak blowing in the wind as she overlooks a cliff watching a sunset. She then turns around, offering a warm smile. Her own Silver Eyes reflect back to her daughter's...
Ruby's own eyes then shine bright, the brightest it has ever been. A massive white light engulfs the area, turning the Leviathan to stone. The citizens of Argus and the Atlas military cheer as the Grimm threat has been nullified. Ruby's friends give proud smiles and Maria breathes a sigh of relief.
The light retracts back into Ruby's eyes, and she turns around to look at the city of Argus still standing. Suddenly, Ruby hears a stone crackling behind her. The Leviathan's head manages to move and tries to aim at Ruby.
"No..." Ruby whispered.
"I'll take it from here!" Suddenly, Cordovin shows up in the Colossus, its arm cannon now detached. Everyone looks in shock. Without the weight of the cannon, the Colossus begins to run toward the semi-petrified Leviathan "After all, I was sworn to protect the people!".
The Colossus' left hand then transforms into a giant drill. Cordovin uses the drill to destroy the Leviathan, causing it to dissipate. The people of Argus cheer while the Arc family looks on with stupefied expressions.
The Colossus then walks over to Ruby. Its cockpit opens up revealing Cordovin herself standing in a stern military manner.
"Thank you. And... I'm sorry" Ruby said.
"The Atlas military can handle the stragglers" Cordovin said.
Ruby looked confused "What, uh... What are you saying?".
Cordovin smiles "I'm saying I don't think anyone would notice if one more ship went missing in my lengthy report".
Ruby smiles back at Cordovin, who then turns the mech around and runs off to join her men in taking down the remaining Grimm. Weiss's lancer returns to the ship, and Ruby hops inside as it dissipates.
Just then, she notices, Julius unconscious in one of the seats and gasps "Is he okay?"
"He'll be fine" Qrow replied, "Just used a bit more magic than he's used to. He just needs some rest."
…
Later, everyone flies through the night sky.
"We should have just enough fuel to make it" Maria said.
"Thanks, Miss Calavera" Ruby said.
"Hey, Ruby. You did great out there today, kid. Just don't go giving me heart attacks like that again" Qrow is about to take a drink from his flask, but ultimately decides not to.
Ruby hugs her uncle "I love you, too".
Qrow smiles at his niece as she walks away to join her friends.
"You weren't half bad yourself today, Qrow" Maria said.
Qrow smiles before sighing "I feel like they did all the heavy lifting".
"But you were there to help when they asked for it, and you were there to catch them when they fell. Literally, if I recall" Maria pointed out.
"Thanks. You know, it was pretty incredible getting to see the Grimm Reaper in action" Qrow said.
"Ha, you should have seen me when I was your age!" Maria said with pride. Qrow smiles as the two of them look out the cockpit's window to the night sky.
In the back of the aircraft, Katrina, Weiss, Blake and Yang sit together as a now recovered Julius, Blake and Yang explained what happened.
"I'm sorry you went through that nightmare. But, I'm glad Yang and Julius were there for you in time" Weiss said.
Blake and Yang smile before the latter takes the cat Faunus' hand "We were there for each other".
"Took the words right out of my mouth" Nora said.
Blake looked at Julius "I'm still not quite sure what happened between you and Adam, but…"
"What happened, happened" Julius said, "I just didn't want to see you get hurt anymore."
Blake smiles, then leans in for a kiss, which the two share for a few moments.
Everyone smiles at them and then look to Ruby "Hey, stop it!".
"You petrified a Leviathan... after diving down the barrel of a cannon!" Ren pointed out.
"AND after you completely got in Cordo's face and showed her who's boss!" Katrina added.
Ruby laughs "Don't act like you all haven't done crazy stuff before! I mean, Oscar made a successful crash landing! He's a fourteen-year-old farm hand!".
"That was seriously impressive" Jaune agreed.
"We'd have been stranded without you" Blake said.
"I... thanks, but... I've been meaning to tell you guys... I didn't land the ship on my own. Ozpin did" Oscar informed them.
"Ozpin took control?!" Nora asked surprised.
"No, he guided me... And then he was gone again..." Oscar answered.
"Does that mean he's been watching us this whole time?" Yang asked.
"I don't know, but... it at least means he was looking out for us" Oscar answered.
Everyone ponders this revelation before Qrow speaks up "Hey, if you've never seen Atlas in person before, you don't wanna miss this".
Ruby and her friends walk up to the cockpit window "Is it weird that I'm sorta nervous?".
"No, I'll believe we've made it to Atlas when I see it" Yang said.
"Well... believe it" Weiss said.
The airship comes out of the clouds, and the floating city of Atlas is seen coming into view.
"Wow!" Nora said in awe.
"Now THAT'S impressive." Julius remarked.
"You know, you make the trip up to Atlas over and over, but you never get used to that view" Maria said before her prosthetic eyes start to act up again "Oh, come on!".
Weiss leans forward and has a nervous look on her face. Ruby notices this "Weiss, what is it?".
Everyone looks up, and notice above the city of Atlas many Atlas Airships "The Atlas air fleet... I knew all of our ships were called back, but...".
"They're set up like they're expecting an attack..." Qrow finished for her.
Suddenly, the radio turns on "Manta 5-1, welcome home...".
Julius and Hector both looked nervous "Uh oh…"
…
A Night Sentinel guard is seen running into the throne room of the Slayer, where the Slayer himself is sitting on his iron throne, speaking with Valen. Noticing the guard's approach, the Slayer looks up.
"They're here." The guard said. The Slayer nodded in response.
"Bring them in." Valen commanded, and the guard bowed and left the room. A few moments later, four young women in custom Night Sentinel armor walked into the room. Each had a different colored energy glowing from their suit: one blue, one orange, one light green, and one yellow. The four approached the throne and knelt before the Slayer.
"Rise" the Slayer commanded, and the four girls stood up.
"You four will be going to Atlas" the Slayer continued, "Do whatever you can to ensure that it does not fall like Beacon. If she appears, do not hesitate to contact us. Do you understand?"
The four girls saluted in unison.
"We understand, Slayer" the blue one said.
The Slayer nodded in response "Go."
The four turned to leave as Valen turned back to the Slayer "We've trained them well. I have full confidence in them."
The Slayer simply watched them as they left; the four Maidens were only the beginning, and it was only a matter of time before his army followed…