Chapter 87

I really loved Ozpin's monologue in this episode. I think it's one of the best written and most artistically done scenes in the entire show, and I refuse to not include it in the last chapter for this season.

'Please think about what you're doing.' Weiss said, keeping her blade sheathed even as tensions rose in the room.

'You heard the General.' Harriet said. 'Until this is sorted out, you're under arrest.'

She pulled her scroll out from her pocket, activating a command, and the office immediately went into lockdown. Metal shutters bolted over the windows, sealing them inside and blocking the light out as the room took on a red tint which seemed to be synonymous with just about every lockdown procedure to ever exist. Yang raised an eyebrow at the Ace Ops now stacking themselves up before the group.

'Really?' She snorted, folding her arms across her chest. Jaye growled under his breath, hands creeping towards his swords. Vine stepped forwards to the group.

'Please don't make this difficult.' He said, raising his hands in a placating manner. Behind him the Ace Ops set themselves up in formation, weapons staying sheathed but it was clear what the outcome was going to be.

'Don't make us have to get out of here by force.' Blake said, and the girls drew their blades in preparation for combat. The Ace Ops responded in kind, and Jaye heaved a long sigh as he drew his swords again. Marrow raised his hands in shock at his teammates.

'Woah woah, we're not actually going to slug this out, are we?'

'We're not doing anything.' Harriet said, her fists raised in a classic kickboxing stance. 'They decide what happens next.'

'Back to being a criminal again; why am I not surprised.' Jaye shook his head, placing himself at the head of the pack as he squared off with Harriet. 'I guess I saw this coming, even if I didn't want to admit it; my life never has been smooth-sailing.'

'Betraying me again huh? Why am I not surprised?' Harriet hissed at the boy, her fists tightening as Jaye continued to look at her with a raised eyebrow. 'I suppose it comes as easy as you breathe.'

'We both know that's not what's happening right now.' He replied, leveling his swords with the woman. 'You're betraying the oath you swore when you became a huntress; I'm the assassin and I'm the one upholding it. The only one you're betraying is yourself.' He jerked his head down at the floor. 'And everyone down there I suppose.'

'You really think you can take us down?' Harriet scoffed. 'We're the best huntsmen in Atlas.'

'You were.' Ruby grinned at the woman. 'Then you trained us.'

Activating her semblance, she burst through the doors behind the woman, bending the steel outwards as she powered through it. Harriet turned to give chase, her eyes crackling with electricity, and Jaye was just a hair too slow with his ice blast. The floor froze solid where the rabbit girl had been, and he swore as the rest of the Ace Ops charged them. He deflected a glowing hand from Vine, vaulting over the bald man's head and kicking Elm in the back of hers. He darted through the doors after the pair, diving into the hallway where they were locked in combat. Ruby was having trouble keeping up with the woman, unable to place her shots as the faster speedster zipped from place to place. Jaye threw up a wall of ice at the woman, but she flashed over it and swung her fist into his face. He deflected it with his blade, his katana grinding against her metal gauntlets, spinning in a counterattack as she backed out of his reach. He grimaced, raising his swords protectively before the scythe-wielding girl as Harriet pulled to a stop before them, panting in exertion.

'I really thought you'd make the right choice Jaye.' She hissed. 'We were just starting to get along again, but I suppose you really are just a criminal in the end.'

'That's more than a little insulting, considering we're not so different you and I.'

'We are nothing alike!'

'Yeah, you're right. If we were, we wouldn't be having this fight.' Jaye spat, spinning his blades in hand. 'Difference is that I chose humanity over complicity.'

'We're doing what's right to save this world!'

'Sure you are.' He scoffed. 'Try telling it to the souls you're leaving down there. They'll curse your name to their dying breath, no matter what you say. You might not be pulling the trigger, but you ARE killing them.'

'It's a necessary sacrifice!' Harriet hissed, shooting towards the boy with a cry of anger. Sheathing his blades, he seized the girl's fists even as she threw her blows, holding her in place as he glared at her.

'Do this, and your hands will be dripping with way more blood than mine.' He said calmly. 'I don't want you to have to learn how to live with yourself after that. Doing nothing is just as bad as killing them yourself.'

'SHUT UP!' Harriet screamed, wrenching her fists out of his grasp and lashing out with a roundhouse kick to his head. The boy ducked the blow, slamming his fist into her stomach and slipping her counter punch. He loosed a spinning back kick into her midriff, forcing her to back off and create some distance. Taking advantage of her speed, she launched herself past the boy and into the smaller girl, dropkicking her back through the doors and into the room where Weiss and Marrow were fighting. Rolling backwards onto her feet, Ruby deflected Marrow's spinning blade, sending it flying back into his hand. Harriet turned angrily to her comrade.

'Marrow! Cut the crap will you!'

'I'm trying to arrest her, not kill her Hare! You're being excessive!'

'It's not excessive if it's necessary!' She swore, growling at the petal burst as it shot past her and back out the door. She reappeared in a burst of petals, crashing into Jaye's arms as he swung her behind him to intercept the rabbit girl as she engaged them again. He fought her off, evading most of her strikes even as she tried to utilize her speed against him. He seized her by the collar, sweeping her feet out from under her and slamming her into the ground beneath. He released her as she amped up her speed, spinning on her back and kicking him in the chest to get him off. Ruby shot around the woman, slashing with her scythe and bursting away to avoid her flurry. Jaye charged the girl, cursing as she zipped away and bounced off the wall, narrowly evading her flying back kick and firing off a burst of ice at her. She swatted it away with her gauntlet, cursing as her foot was frozen to the floor. Jaye cracked his fist across her face, blocking her counter punch and elbowing her in the nose, grabbing her by her weapon harness and throwing a knee into her stomach. She cracked the ice encasing her foot, kicking him hard in the back of the knee and springing off his chest. She backflipped out of the way, eating a slash from Ruby as she landed. Shooting off the wall, she slammed the girl into the ground, pulling a restraint device from her back. Ruby burst out of the way, snatching the device out of her hands and binding Harriet's arms to her sides. The rabbit girl backed away rapidly, growling at the pair.

'What's wrong Jaye? This isn't anywhere near what a bloodthirsty murderer is capable of, is it?' She goaded, trying to distract the boy, and Jaye sighed heavily at the woman.

'I don't want to hurt you Hare.' He said, fists tightening even as he spoke. 'But I will if I have to. Please don't make me have to.'

'As if you care.'

'I do care about you. I thought we went over this?' He said, lowering himself as the woman prepared to charge.

'If only you meant it.' She murmured, shooting towards the pair with a battle cry. Before she could react, a wall of ice shot up in front of her, and without her hands to defend herself she crashed face first into the wall. The pair glanced at Weiss, evidently done with her fight, Myrtenaster still raised at the woman as she struggled to her feet. Jaye paced over to the Ace Ops member slowly as she staggered drunkenly towards him. He caught her as she fell, unconscious, feeling her go limp against him as her spirit could not deny her body's damage. He lowered her slowly to the floor, laying her as comfortably as he could with the rest of her teammates with her arms still bound behind her back.

'Problem is, I did.' He whispered, brushing a patch of dirt off the woman's face. The girls gathered into a circle, and the boy got to his feet quickly as Ruby addressed the group.

'We have to stop Ironwood. If he can't move the Relic, he can't move Atlas!' She said.

'We just have to get to the Winter Maiden.'

'Blake and I will look for the others.'

'But our scrolls don't work!' Ruby flinched as footsteps approached them from behind, and Pietro and Maria appeared in far too timely of a manner. Jaye waved in greeting, and Maria's face fell as she realized what was coming.

'This is the part where they ask us to help.'

Meanwhile over at Kamina's side.

Alexius swung her shield at the fox boy, eating a foot to the face as he flipped acrobatically over her defensive weapon. She growled in pain as explosive arrows connected with her shoulder and knee, and she swore at the twins as they released more arrows in her direction. She raised her shield, bracing against the explosions, swearing as Kamina's claws raked across her back. Her aura fizzled in response, and she stumbled forwards into Apollo's daggers. She kicked him across the room, eating a flying kick from the fox boy who appeared in front of her again. She hit the wall with a grunt, slamming the point of her shield into the floor to stop her falling forwards. She glanced at the soot plastered across her shield from the explosions, and the trio raised an eyebrow at her as she raised a hand to shoo them away.

'Get out of here. Go.' She said, leaning heavily against the wall and groaning in pain. Kamina raised his eyebrow ever higher at her.

'Pardon?'

'Git you dumb fox. Don't waste any more time; reinforcements will be here soon.' She groaned, shifting with pained difficulty as she placed her shield down beside her. 'Did you have to hit me so hard? Damn.'

'You're letting us go?' Artemis asked, confused, and Alexius nodded. 'Then why'd you fight us?'

'Had to make it look convincing. I trust Ironwood, but I don't always think what he's doing is right.' She shook her head. 'Sacrificing all those people I swore to protect… I can't make that kind of decision. But I can't stop him, not without putting the ones depending on me at risk.' She gave the fox boy a look. 'I'm counting on you.'

'Won't let you down.' Kamina replied, flashing over to her, and she made a sound of irritation as she felt herself seized by the boy again. 'HUUUUUUUUUUUG!'

'Must you do that every time?' She laughed as he raised her into the air, swinging her around with a gentle enthusiasm as she realized that he was still being considerate of her wounds. She felt a strange calm pass over her, and her laugh softened into a gentle smile as she patted the boy on the back. The fox boy grinned back at her, finally letting her back down onto her feet.

'Thank you.' Alexius said, pausing for a moment, hand still on his back, She studied the fox boy's face for a moment, her other hand creeping up to cradle his face, finally pressing her lips to his cheek. She pulled away from him, chuckling gently as Kamina gave her a look of surprise. 'Don't tell anyone. And wipe that grin off your face.'

'I won't. Swear on me mum.' Kamina grinned even wider. 'Can't do anything about the grin though.'

'Piss off.'

'Gladly.' He said, turning to the hallway. Artemis and Apollo both hugged the woman briefly, and she kissed their foreheads as she sent them off. The three disappeared down the hallway, vanishing without a sound, and Alexius sank down onto the floor once more in pain and relief. She leant against her shield, cursing under her breath, praying silently for their success.

Down at the lab

Winter and Penny hurtled through the sky, still in combat with Cinder as she tried to fight her way to the Winter Maiden. Cinder slid under the Schnee's summon, slashing at it as she passed and sending Winter hurtling unguided through the air. Turning, she released a fireball at the falling woman, and with no way to control herself in the air Winter took the full brunt of the blow. Yelling in pain, her aura fortification shorted out as she fell, and Penny gasped in horror as Cinder promptly shot down towards the lab where the Fria, the Winter Maiden, was. Making up her mind, she flew immediately for her friend and ally, snatching the white-haired Schnee out of the air without a second thought. Shaking the stars out of her eyes, Winter made a sound of anger and surprise.

'What are you doing!' She yelled at the android girl. 'My life doesn't matter!'

Penny kept her focus on the trail of fire leading down to the lab, increasing her speed to keep up with the Fall Maiden as she made for the seemingly defenseless old woman down in the facility below.

'I… disagree.'

"The single quality that is common amongst every living creature on this planet is fear."

The remaining members of the party scrambled aboard the ship, fighting off legions of Atlas robot soldiers as they secured their escape route out of the city. Jaye stood at the head of the group, leading the charge through the Atlas forces still hell bent on capturing them regardless of the cost. Down in the depths of the facility, Ruby dropped to her knees in exertion as her eyes faded back to normal. Cinder had vanished from the room, burning herself an escape route through the ice and metal that encased the entirety of what used to be Fria's room.

'Winter!' Weiss ran to her sister's side, her heart breaking as she caught sight of her battered sibling struggling off the icy cold floor.

'What did you do!' She hissed, meeting her sister's eyes with a heavy ferocity. Weiss flinched back almost nervously, more concerned for her sister's health than anything else.

"It's funny then, that as common as fear is, we so easily underestimate its power."

'She's gone.' Penny said, eyes still glued to Fria, the former Winter Maiden, lying motionless before her. She felt the power flowing through her body, and Winter groaned in pain.

'No.' She said. 'She's a part of you now.'

"Fear of growing close to someone. A subsequent fear of loss."

Qrow knelt before the body of Clover, weeping quietly as his breath and energy was spent. Murdered by Qrow's blade, the leader of the Ace Operatives lay motionless in the snow as Tyrian, his murderer, escaped into the endless white and out of sight. Robyn shook herself awake, pushing herself out of the wreckage of the crash as Atlas soldiers closed in on them.

"Fear of failure."

Cinder screamed in rage as she flew away, flames literally pouring from her mouth as she cursed her failure to obtain the power she's sought after for so long. Down below, Blake and Yang ushered the remaining member of Team JNPR into the ship, noting the missing boy between them.

'Where's Oscar?' Yang asked. 'And the relic?'

"And as more people depend on you, those fears can take on greater power."

Qrow opened his fist quietly, staring blankly at the bloodied badge clutched between his fingers. Robyn laid her bound hands on his shoulder, offering some meager form of comfort even as they were brought, shackled like criminals, back to the kingdom of Atlas above.

"But fear itself isn't worthy of concern. It is who we become while in its clutches."

Oscar placed the withdrawn staff behind himself, focusing even as he plummeted through the sky towards the ground below. Betrayed by Ironwood, cast out of the city, still the young boy stayed steadfastly calm with a strength and maturity that went well beyond his years. Down in the facility, Winter pushed herself up against the wall of ice, crying out in the pain and effort it took simply to move herself upright.

'I suggest you all surrender and comply with the General's orders.' She groaned, meeting her sister's gaze. Weiss shook her head slowly, not taking her eyes off her sister for a second.

'We can't do that.'

'Then I suggest you run.'

'No, you're hurt! I'm not going to leave you like this!'

'You're not leaving me!' Winter heaved, steeling her heart against what she was about to do to the sister whom she loved with all her heart. Still the tears threatened to spill down her cheeks, shaking her resolve and putting a quiver in her voice. 'I'm giving you a head start.' She put her finger to her ear. 'This is special operative Schnee in need of immediate medical assistance. Send reinforcements. Over.'

Weiss reeled in her shock at her sister's decision, setting her mouth in a thin line with a strength she didn't know she had in her. 'We all have to carve out our own way.'

The airship dropped down by the hole in the wall, hovering steady as Maria lined the door up with the opening. Yang opened the doors, gasping in shock at the scene of destruction before her. The girls piled on to the ship, even Penny, as Winter averted her gaze to stop her heart going with her sister.

"Will you be proud of that person? Will you forgive them? Will you understand why they felt the need to do the things they did?"

The girls cuddled up to Penny, awarding her some form of reassurance that she was doing the right thing. Pietro smiled at them, looking on at his daughter and her friends as they now embarked on a new adventure. Jaye stood in the corner, leaning against the wall with his team, and the twins pinched him as he stared stoically out the window.

"Will you even recognize them? Or will the person staring back at you be the very thing you should have feared from the start? I suppose we all find out sooner or later."

Oscar yelled in effort as he projected his aura outwards. A ball of green energy enveloped his body, suffusing as he touched down on the ground and protecting him from harm. He stared across his hands quietly, panting in exertion.

'These powers, these memories. You're back, aren't you?' He said. 'You saved me.'

'Actually, you saved us.' Ozpin's familiar voice finally rang through his head once more, and the boy turned concerned to the thundering in the distance as an ensuing storm approached. 'Oscar, I-.'

'Stop.' The boy commanded. 'All I want to know is how we save Atlas next.'

Their second stolen airship cruised away from the massive city, floating in the sky even as a storm formed in the distance before them. The ride went in silence, save for the military radio that crackled to life as reports began to flood in.

'We've got multiple hostiles on radar! Is anyone else seeing this?'

'These readings can't be right!'

The storm in the distance only grew louder as they flew, and the startling bursts of red lightning in its depths only served to add to its ominous nature. Jaye leaned between the pilot seats as he watched the oncoming weather phenomenon.

'That storm doesn't look natural.' He said, narrowing his eyes at the mass ahead of them. 'No storm looks like that.'

Even as he watched, the clouds parted to reveal the biggest Grimm he had ever seen in his life. If he thought the Leviathan was big, this Grimm was at least a hundred times bigger than that. The whale like Grimm was startlingly red, gliding along on tattered wings that spread out on either side of it with a horrific majesty. Even large Grimm looked the size of birds next to it, and the boy could hardly breathe for the sight of it. It glided towards the city with full malevolent intent, glowing and pulsing in its terrifying splendor as an army of Grimm, more than they had ever seen before in their lives, swirled around the creature. If they had any doubts about how terrifying of an opponent Salem could be, those doubts were gone now.

And soon, the city would be too.

That is the end of this season of RWBY. Volume 7 has been my favorite volume so far and I loved writing every bit of it and adding random characters here and there just to spice things up and hopefully kept it interesting for all of you. Since the show is now on hiatus until Volume 8 comes out, therefore I will be too. I may post random shorts on my other story RWBY shorts if I get inspired to write anything, but otherwise I will be back once Volume 8 shows its head. Thanks for supporting me all the way to now, it's been a long journey in the making, and hopefully this will not be the end of it.

Life notes, I will be entering Uni soon, and hopefully majoring in Literature and New Media once I'm in there. Currently I'm taking a different major combined with new media, but my time spent writing and editing my works and really exploring so much of what creative media has to offer has only increased my resolve to enter the industry, and I will be working towards that goal for the future. Hopefully, I will get the chance to release some of my own original works in the future, and I will most definitely share it if I ever get the privilege to do so.