Chapter 97

The light could be seen from everywhere, the great eruption breaking out over the entire city and casting a great light out over everything in sight. Jaye shielded his eyes in the Schnee manor, flinching away from the light that erupted from the battlefield without any warning. It blasted away grimm all around, the shockwave of the blow rattling the doors and windows of everything in the kingdom as the all-encompassing light flooded over them. The boy turned away, shielding his eyes as the glare still invaded them, and screwed his eyes shut as the red tint of his eyelids still burned his eyes.

With a great blast of black smoke and ash, the massive grimm spewing out Salem's forces into the battlefield was broken. Dust and ash rained down onto the battlefield, coating the ground in a fine black powder. Through the dust, a single, skipping figure bore a brightly glowing item through the darkness, ominous in the aftermath of the harrowing battle. Coughing ash out of her face, Winter pushed herself to her feet where she'd been sent tumbling head over heels by the force of the explosion. She glanced around at her team.

'Is everyone alright?' She called, taking stock of her members and the still intact bomb beside them. Vine got to his feet, Harriet and Elm appearing beside him. Marrow stood stock still, turning slowly to the crater where the grimm had once been.

'They were still inside!' He gasped, running for the edge of the massive creature. He clambered atop a hill, alighting on the destroyed carcass of the being, tail drooping as he grieved the supposed deaths of the children that he cared too much for. Winter approached him silently, taking in the sight. Her radio crackled to life, Ironwood's voice coming on over the static.

'Target destroyed. Good work, but no time to celebrate. Return to the Academy at once; we've got a new problem.' The Schnee let her hand fall to her side, pondering the outcome quietly. Marrow waved a hand at the remains of the beast that had plagued them for so long.

'But that wasn't us.'

'Then we can tell him in person.' Winter replied evenly, addressing the other members of her team. 'Load it back up; we're leaving.

Yang dusted ash out of her hair, shaking her head to clear it. As her ears recovered, she vaguely noticed her scroll beeping systematically, indicating that there was a call coming in. She opened it, the black fluffy ears of her partner appearing on screen.

'Blake?' She said, almost incredulously, and the faunus girl's ears flickered in response to her voice.

'Yang! Are you okay?' She called, the relief palpable in her voice, face filling the screen as if leaning into the device to see the blonde better. 'Where are you?'

Jaune approached the girls from the back, placing a hand on the blonde's shoulder. 'Yeah, we're fine. Is everyone there alright?'

'We're… alive.' Blake replied, unsure how to describe their current situation in a concise manner. 'This'll help though.' She turned back to the group behind her. 'Guys! They're okay!'

'Well about damn time.' Jaye called, grinning his way onto screen. 'Hey you.'

'Hey you.' Yang replied, smiling at the boy. 'What've you been up to?'

'Whole load of crap… but you look like you've got one hell of a story to tell.'

'Yeah, we kinda do.' She glanced at the green-haired girl kneeling in the soil, staring down at her hands in silence. 'We also picked up a new addition… though we're not so sure what to do about her.'

'Who?'

'Emerald.'

'Who?' Jaye repeated, the name not registering in his head, and Blake elbowed him in the ribs. 'What?'

Some distance away, Oscar got painfully to his feet as he recovered from his recent exertions. He glanced at Emerald.

'What do we do about her?' He asked but received no reply from the stoic boy. No one knew what to do, but the decision was made for them as Yang finally in frustration walked right over to Emerald and shoved the scroll into her face. She blinked in surprise at the boy whose face was on the screen, stunned enough that she didn't think to wipe away the tears brimming over her eyelids and down her face, and he blinked right back.

'Oh. You. Wassup?' He said, and Emerald raised an eyebrow as the blonde walked right back to her group without acknowledging her presence or explaining what had just happened. She got to her feet slowly, watching them as they deliberated over a decision, hearing the voice she recognised as Jaye's emanating from the device. 'Just take her with you then. She's harmless; it'll be fine.'

'I'm sending you a map. You're in the agricultural area; just head to this access point to reach the red line subway tunnel, then follow the route I've drawn for you.' Weiss said, the schematics appearing on screen in holographic blue. Jaune nodded to the girls and one mildly irritated boy on screen.

'Got it, we'll see you soon.' He said, and Yang turned off her scroll, turning angrily to the tan girl.

Inside the subway tunnels

'You can't be serious.' Yang scoffed, folding her arms. 'You want us to work with her?'

'I'm just saying it makes the most sense.' Oscar replied evenly. 'We're all enemies of Salem, including her.'

'No, I'm with blondie.' Emerald cut in. 'You don't like me; I don't like you. So how about we just part ways and you never have to see me again.'

'You're not going anywhere.' Jaune said, raising his sword at the unarmed girl. 'Not after everything you've done.'

'We can't let all of our actions stem from fear.' Ren reasoned. 'If she can help us, I think we should consider it.'

'She is part of the reason I have this.' Yang said, slapping her metal arm. 'I'm not going to just forgive her! Everything that happened at Beacon; she lied to us, tricked us! She's dangerous!'

'You don't have to forgive her.' Oscar interrupted, holding his hands out to placate the angry blonde. 'You have every reason to feel that way, just maybe give her a second chance. If we're going to take into account semantics, then we ought to be holding Jaye at gunpoint every second too.'

'Jaye's different.' Yang replied shortly, and Oscar raised an eyebrow at the still very angry girl.

'Different how? If we're counting lives, he's the next worst thing down from Salem.'

Yang's anger flared. 'Jaye's proved himself to us; that's why we trust him.'

'Yes, because he was given the chance to do so.' Oscar sighed. 'I do still have some of Ozpin's memories, and I know that before Jaye came in and met you, he wasn't anything like the person he is right now. Had you met him then, you likely would've treated him like nothing more than a criminal. To many, he is considered on the same level as a man like Tyrian Callows, no matter the differences. But you know the complicated and self-sacrificing man you see him as today. Nearly four hundred lives sit in his hands; the same ones he holds you with.'

The girl turned angrily to him, and Oscar shook his head at her.

'Had you known who he was, you may not have given him the chance to become the person he is now. If you consider withholding truth to be lying, then he tricked and lied to you right from the moment you met him.' Oscar touched his hand to his cane. 'And besides, we've already gotten quite a bit of help today from someone we don't exactly trust right now.'

'Do you mean Ozpin?' Ren asked, cutting into the moment. Oscar gave him a surprised look. 'I had a feeling.'

The present party erupted into a cacophony of voices.

'Wait what?'

'Oz is back?'

'I know how you feel but he saved my life.' Oscar cut in, holding his hands up to the group. 'When we were tortured, he took it. So I wouldn't have to.'

The boy removed the cane from behind his back, extending it quietly in his hands.

'He entrusted me with this; and the massive amount of power he had stored up in it.' He explained. 'Kinetic energy that he spent lifetime after lifetime accumulating in the cane he built.'

'So that's how you did that?' Jaune asked. 'Using all of the stored-up power?'

'Not all, but most.' Oscar said. 'We have to be careful about how we use the rest. He trusted my judgement and it saved us; I want to reciprocate that trust. There's a lot to sort out, but Oz really wants to help.'

'Thank you, Oscar.' The disembodied voice resonated in their shared head, and the boy turned as the sound of a baby's cry reverberated through the tunnel. The group charged forward, Yang grabbing Emerald as they broke into a run towards the light. They pushed through into a station, where hundreds of people were gathered together inside to take shelter from the grimm attacks before. Packed tightly together in the enclosed space, it was a sad sight to behold in the aftermath of a battle that may not really have been concluded yet. Jaune lowered his light.

'All of Atlas is down here.' He muttered, leading the group through the subway station and out the other end as they continued on their path. Emerald glanced at the people hiding in there, the children curled up in corners of the room, desperately waiting for someone to save them and end the fighting. The fighting that she'd played a large part in causing. They continued forward into the darkness, turning their lights back on again, and Oscar placed a hand on the girl's back.

'I've seen what you can do Emerald.' He said, watching as the girl shrunk in on herself, hugging her arms to her chest. 'However this fight ends; we could really use someone like you.'

In the Atlas Academy Control Room

Ironwood fussed over his consoles, typing quickly as he monitored the situation on the ground. Winter cleared her throat as she entered the room; the Ace Ops falling in line behind. Ironwood looked up from his console, giving the woman an impassive look.

'It's about time.' He said. 'While we dealt a decisive blow to Salem today-.'

'Actually that wasn't our payload sir.' Winter interrupted nervously. 'I brought it back with us.'

Ironwood's eyes widened in shock, rubbing his beard thoughtfully as he paced around the console. 'Then who could've-! But you still have it…' He stopped pacing for a moment. 'This may be useful. Penny still hasn't come to the Vault, meaning Watts was either incompetent, or he betrayed us. At this point we'll never know.' He grimaced. 'Cinder Fall has attacked command and escaped with him. And that's not all we've lost.'

'Sir?' Winter asked, unsure of how to respond to the man who was starting to become more and more unhinged.

'Qrow and Robyn have also escaped.' He said. Harriet's semblance revved up with a burst of sparks, and the General held out a hand to stop her. 'Salem's creature was destroyed, but that doesn't mean we've stopped her. She will return, and she will throw everything she has at us until there is nothing left. And we are perilously close to that already.'

Ironwood turned to his operatives, the tension rising in the room.

'I need the Winter Maiden, now! It's the only way Atlas can survive.' Ironwood took a deep breath, placing his arms behind his back. 'Schnee; bring me Arc, Ren, and Xiao Long.'

Winter paused nervously, watching the man she had once respected with a heavy dose of fear and uncertainty. 'What for, sir?'

Ironwood turned to her. 'I had Qrow in my hands, and I didn't do what needed to be done. I will not make that mistake again.'

He walked up to the woman, oblivious to the horrified look plastered across her face as she watched him devolve further and further. He scoffed at himself.

'I know. I'm ashamed I didn't think of it earlier.' He placed a hand on Winter's shoulder, and she felt herself almost instinctively convulse away from him. 'Leveraging the lives of her friends is the only way to make Penny listen to reason.'

'Sir.' Harriet interrupted. 'I'm sorry, but we don't have them. Operative Schnee let them go.'

Ironwood turned a piercingly angry gaze onto the woman under his hand. 'You… what?'

'Winter allowed them to go on board the creature to rescue their friend.' Harriet continued. 'And they never came back.'

Ironwood's eyes narrowed viciously at the woman, and he took his hand off her shoulder, pacing slowly back to the console in the middle of the room. He placed his hands on it, breathing slowly.

'They were our last chance.' He said, fists tightening against the metal. 'Now I have NOTHING!'

He slammed his fists down into the device, shattering it into pieces. Debris flew around the room, the holographic screens impressively still turned on but flickering before they finally lost power and shut off. Their radios crackled to life.

'Sir! We're detecting non-military ships on radar; dozens of them!' The voice yelled, and Ironwood circled around to his desk which he hadn't smashed.

'Ships? Whose ships.' He said, his voice eerily calm after his prior outburst, turning on his computer.

'They appear to be Schnee Dust Company freighters sir.' The man in Central Command replied, getting up from his seat to look at the large screen. 'They're heading straight for Mantle.'

'Weiss. I see.' Ironwood said, eyes widening in realisation. Winter flinched at the sound of her sister's name, watching the man settle himself into his chair with a villainous chuckle. 'They're trying to save Mantle! This has always been about Mantle, hasn't it?' He sat still, staring out the windows as they slowly appeared from behind the metal shutters surrounding the glass. 'I need to make a call.'

Back at the Schnee Manor

Jaye pulled the doors open, grinning at the new additions that had appeared before them. Yang caught his eye, smiling at him, and catching her sister as she pounced on her in delight. Yang swung her around, hugging her tightly to her chest as tears poured down Ruby's face. She smiled gently at the smol girl.

'I missed you too.' Yang said, relinquishing Ruby to let her greet Jaune and the other boys. She hugged Weiss gently, kissing Jaye, and catching Blake's eye behind, hugging her arm nervously. Jaye waved her away, leaning against the door frame, watching the happy reunion take place. Yang placed a gentle hand on the faunus girl's cheek, unknowingly getting them a bit closer than normal, and placed their foreheads together. Jaye hugged the boys as they came, ruffling Oscar's hair, before noting the green-haired addition to the group. Ruby surged forwards, hand going to her scythe, and Emerald took a tentative step backwards with her hands on her pistols that were returned to her. Oscar stepped between them quickly.

'No, she's okay!' He began, before their reunion was cut off by the sound of Ruby's scroll ringing. She opened the call, the screen popping out to reveal May's face.

'Kid! The cargo ships you sent just made it, but they're not alone!' She called, and Ruby narrowed her eyes in confusion.

'May? What are you talking about?' She said, watching the woman as she heralded people past her and out of sight.

'Oh my gods, run! Everyone into the mines!' She yelled, and the connection abruptly cut off. The girls glanced across each other nervously, and Blake covered her sensitive cat ears with her hands as an emergency alarm rang out from their scrolls. The sound of an emergency broadcast. Ruby projected her device out into the air in front of them, a digital voice declaring the CCT emergency broadcast as if the ear-destroying beeping hadn't done just that. On the screen, an image of Schnee Dust Company Freighters under attack was displayed, each and every one of them going down in flames as the Atlesian fighters bombarded them on all sides. The group erupted into chaos.

'What's going on?'

'Those ships, they were going to save people!'

'That son of a bitch.' Jaye growled, hands going automatically to his swords. 'I knew this would happen sooner or later; I was just hoping we'd resolve everything before it came to this.'

The image abruptly changed to the tyrannical ruler, standing alone under a spotlight. He opened his eyes slowly, and Jaye already knew what as coming from the man standing like a supervillain in the broadcast.

'I have always promised to defend this kingdom. Its technology; it's future. From those who would see it destroyed. Our enemy is crippled; but one individual still denies Atlas its salvation.' He raised a finger into the air. 'The Protector of Mantle. Penny, wherever you and your friends are, I need you all to listen. I know how much Mantle means to you; so I'm going to give you a choice.' He narrowed his eyes at the screen. 'You can bring yourself to Atlas Academy and do your duty; help me save as much of Atlas as I can, and Mantle will be left to fend for itself. Or you can all watch as I destroy it.'

The group gasped in unison, all except Jaye who simply had an eyebrow raised at the crazed dictator the entire time.

'I have one bomb. That's all it will take. If there is no Mantle, then there is no reason for you not to work with me. Neither of us want it to come to that; but one of us is willing to do it.' He placed his arms behind his back. 'If anyone tries anything other than what I've ordered, Mantle is gone. You have one hour to respond. I hope you live up to the title I gave you.'

The broadcast shut off with a digital hiss, leaving the group behind staring incredulously at each other. Jaye raised his eyebrow even further, only limited by the confines of his face.

'So I know I might've botched killing him in the past, but I've never regretted failing that mission more than I do right now.' He said, folding his arms across his chest. 'I think I'd much like to do it proper this time.'