Outside the walks of Atlas, the defense was beginning. Ironwood sent transports to carry the Champions up to the city, landing in the fields just outside the city gates. The White Fang flew up in their own transports, meeting both the Champions and Atlas's military on the field as the three armies began to set up their defense. Qrow was already at the front, meeting up with Adam, Sienna, and Commander Nicholas Schnee. Robyn had yet to appear.

Nicholas looked at the amassing army. "It's almost time."

Qrow sighed. "Never thought I would live to see the day."

"Get used to it." said a woman's voice. Qrow and the others turned to see Robyn appear. Instead of her usual Huntress outfit, however, she was wearing silver Sentinel armor and, much to almost everyone's surprise, was riding on the back of a deep brown dragon.

Qrow just stared dumbfounded. Adam however, was able to get some questions out. "What the hell is that and where did you get it?"

Robyn patted the creature's flank. "This, my friend, is a Sentinel Dragon. Night Sentinels use them a lot in combat, and they are very loyal to their owners, as for how I got it," Robyn gave a bit of a sheepish smile, "believe it or not, it was an anniversary gift from my husband."

Sienna looked puzzled. "Your husband...gave you that...as an anniversary gift?"

Robyn shrugged. "He's not the best at romance, but he certainly tries his best."

Nicholas chuckled. "That doesn't surprise me."

Qrow decided not to question it any further. "Whatever, we just need to focus on getting ready for when Salem gets here. The minute she does, things are gonna get real ugly real fast."

Robyn nodded. "Let's hope Damian and his team make an escape route for the citizens soon."

Suddenly, Qrow got a call on his scroll. Thinking it was Ironwood and not bothering to look at the caller's icon, he answered. "What, Jimmy?"

"Jimmy?" A familiar woman's voice answered, "I think you have the wrong number, brother."

Qrow's face turned to one of surprise, "Raven...what do you want?"

"Consider this an RSVP." Raven answered.

"For what?"

As if in answer, a red portal opened up behind him, and Raven stepped out, followed by Vernal and still holding her scroll.

Raven smirked at them. "For the fight of course. You really thought I was going to miss this?"

"Actually yes, I did." Qrow responded, "you tend to stay out of a lot of things."

Raven shrugged. "I did, but times have changed now. Katrina's been updating me in everything that has been happening. I began to realize that I can't just sit back anymore, a belief that was cemented when Julius and Ruby sent out that message. So here we are."

Nicholas looked between Raven and Vernal, confused. "Just the two of you?"

Vernal gave a mischievous smirk. "Not exactly."

"Maidens incoming!" One of the Champions shouted. Sure enough, the four Maiden sisters flew in. Well, Khione and Sandra flew, carrying Spring and Autumn in their arms before landing next to the other commanders. Suddenly, Spring looked over to Raven, a bewildered expression on her face. "Hang on, I sense some familiar magic coming off of you. Are you...?"

"The Spring Maiden, if that's what you're wondering." Raven said.

Spring simply nodded, but then started to look at Raven suspiciously, something Qrow noticed as well.

"Easy, there." He told her, "Raven's not like Cinder; hell she even beat Cinder once. You can trust her."

Spring gave Raven one last look before turning away.

"For now" Khione said.

...

The lift down into the Maiden chamber seemed to take forever for Novus, Penny, and team RWBY. Probably because they were in such a hurry, but there was nothing they could do right now about it.

Ruby tapped her foot quickly and impatiently before finally groaning. "How much longer?"

"We get there when we get there, Ruby." Novus said, checking his shotgun "Just be patient."

Yang shook her head. "Patience never really was her thing."

"But this time it's serious!" Ruby argued, "Salem will be here any minute and we need to get everyone out!"

"Here we are!" Penny announced just as the walls opened up into a large, stone chamber similar to the one in Mistral, only this time, there was a set of stairs leading up to the Relic door. The team ran for it the second the elevator stopped, stopping in front of the door.

"Ok, Penny" Novus said, "Do your thing."

Penny walked to the front of the team, nervously reaching out and touching the door. Suddenly, the door began to flare with a bright blue before opening up into what appeared to be a large field of sorts. A stone circle lay in the center and hovering over it was the Staff of Creation. Ruby and Novus were the first to enter, the others following behind. Once they reached the circle, Ruby began to reach out for the Relic, but pulled back, looking to Novus.

"Maybe you should take it." she nervously told him, "you probably know how to handle relics better than me."

Nodding, Novus stepped forward, taking the Staff in his hands before saying loudly. "Ambrosius! We need to talk!"

Suddenly, it seemed as if all time around them seemed to stop before a blue mist poured from the tip of the staff and a blue man similar to Jinn with gold chains and slick hair appeared, stretching out with a relaxed sigh.

"And so, someone has need of my talent once again!" he announces before looking down at the group. His eyes widened as he saw Novus, but he only chuckled. "And it seems like that someone is none other than Damian Hill himself!"

Yang looked confused at Novus. "Your dad's last name is Hill too?"

Novus shook his head. "Dad doesn't exactly have a last name anymore, so I just use my mom's."

"Oh."

Novus returned his attention to Ambrosius. "It's good to see you, but we need your help.

Ambrosius crossed his arms. "Well, I at least expect it would be more worthwhile then my last project. I mean, come on, a floating city?" he scoffs, "How pedestrian."

Novus could definitely see what Ozpin meant by this guy being "a character", but he didn't dwell on it too much; they had more important things at hand. "The Night Sentinels are about to arrive and battle Salem's forces in Atlas. We need to get the civilians to safety."

Ambrosius stroked his chin, his interest growing. "Well, as you know, I'll need a blueprint. I can't work my magic without knowing what I'm doing, you know?"

Ruby projected a blueprint showing a few portals as well as a walkway in front of her as she started to explain. "We need to reach everyone in Atlas at once, giving them a clear path to safety. They can use the doorways, which will lead to a safe area."

Ambrosius seemed to pore over every detail of the schematics with interest. "And where might this safe place be?"

Novus answered. "Sentinel Prime. Just outside the fortress walls, where our defenses will wipe out any Grimm or demon that tries to make a move."

Ambrosius nodded as he muttered to himself, moving his hands as if he was envisioning creating it. "Well let's see...that many locations all to one place...yes, maybe I could..."

Weiss started to get a little impatient. "Well, can you do it or not?"

Novus put a restraining hand on her shoulder. "I've been taught to just let them do their thing. Be patient."

"He's right" Ambrosius chimed in, "You can't rush true art. But yes, I could do it."

Novus nodded to him. "Then have at it."

The spirit cracked his knuckles with glee. "Stand back, children. I'm about to work my magic!"

As they watched, he then proceed to to wave his hands in a certain pattern, with strands of light moving in between them as he began fashioning the portals, the walkway, all of it. After a few moments he stopped, and bowed to them with a proud smile. "It's done. Oh, but I would advise against falling while you're on the walkway."

Confused, Novus looked again at the blueprint, groaning in frustration. "Right...we forgot to add railings..."

"At least it's ready." Ruby said, "We can get everyone to safety and then meet up with the others in Atlas."

Blake nodded in agreement. "We should hurry though, with the new portals made, Atlas will fall soon."

"The city backup stabilizers will hold it up still." Weiss said, "But if the fighting gets intense, there's no telling how long they'll last."

The team began to turn and run out of the chamber, but Novus. quickly pulled Ambrosius aside before the spirit could return to the Staff.

"I may need a personal favor later." he whispered to Ambrosius, which ended up freezing the team in place along with everything else except Novus and Ambrosius

The spirit looked at him curiously. "Oh? And what might that be?"

Novus pointed to Penny. "See her?"

"Yes, what about her?"

"Well...she's not your ordinary girl."

Ambrosius looked with a mixture of surprise and confusion before floating over to Penny, summoning an eyepiece and looking at her through it before chuckling in amazement. "My, my, so she isn't! I would love to speak with whoever did this!"

Novus chuckled as he walked up next to him; the thought of Pietro and Ambrosius meeting amused him. "She may be artificial, but she has a lot of humanity in her. I have something planned for her, and I may need your help."

He leaned over and whispered the plan in Ambrosius's ear, with the latter growing more and more interested.

"I hope you know what it is you're asking of me." the spirit told him when he finished giving the plan.

"I know." Novus replied, "But not yet. Let's get through this fight, and then we'll talk about it."

Ambrosius nodded before giving a small bow and a wink. "Anything for you, little prince."

the spirit then vanished, setting everything around them to normal, and Penny and Team RWBY continued walking out of the maiden chamber, Novus following behind, holding the Staff.

Blake looked over at him as they took the lift. "Where do you plan on putting that?"

"I'll leave it with Dr. Hayden" Novus replied, "He's already packing up his research and is getting ready to leave Atlas. Might as well take the Staff out of harm's way along with the Lamp."

"Guess we don't really have a better option right now." Yang said with a shrug.

Ruby nodded in agreement. "We have more important things to focus on. Right now, we should get to the outside of Atlas's walls and join up with the other armies."

Suddenly, Ruby got a call over her scroll, answering it to see Julius's and Ironwood's icons.

"Ruby" Ironwood said, "What's your status?"

"We're all set. There should be multiple gateways ready to get the people to safety."

"Good. I'll supply some of our AK units to escort them. Your team is needed outside the walls; I've sent a transport to carry you there."

Novus cocked his shotgun. "Yeah, we figured."

Julius's voice sounded excited as he spoke up. "That's not all!"

"What do you mean?" Blake asked.

"Remember that message we sent? Well, it brought quite the party!"

He then sends them a video feed, and the group watches in amazement as a combination of Mistral and Vacuo airships appear flying overhead and landing nearby before depositing the groups of Huntsmen within. Ruby couldn't help but smile.

"It worked." she said.

Penny seemed equally excited, pulling her friend in for a hug. "Our message worked! They heard us!"

Novus chuckled as the others celebrated. They could use this brief moment of happiness. Once they got off the lift, the immediately ran for the Manta craft waiting outside for them. the vehicle took off as soon as everyone was on board, and they could see the ships from the video feed still depositing troops. Once the Manta landed with the rest of the army, the team was greeted by a very ecstatic Julius, who ran up and grabbed Ruby and Yang in a hug.

"We've got a fighting chance now!" he told them.

Blake looked shocked as she recognized the white Fang troops as well. "A-Adam? Sienna? Ilia?"

Adam turned to face her, and gave her a small nod. "Blake."

He could see she still looked uneasy, so he decided to slowly approach her. "Look, I know our last meeting was a bit rough."

Blake scoffed. "That's putting it lightly."

Adam continued. "...but I gotta admit, your boyfriend here is pretty convincing." He pointed to Julius, who nodded to him in acknowledgement.

Blake looked to Julius as Adam said. "I understand if you don't forgive, but I do ask that I have your trust."

Blake looked to Julius who looked back with a determined expression. "I trust him, Blake. It's ok."

Blake seemed to think for a few moments as she looked in between the two boys, gaining a determined expression of her own. "Then I'll trust him too."

Adam smiled to hear this, but the moment was cut short by a deep rumbling noise, causing everyone to look out and see a massive red cloud approaching, the giant Monstra floating within. Robyn immediately yelled a few orders to the Champions in a language no one else recognized, and the Champions immediately took up defensive positions.

Salem had arrived...

Julius's grip on his sword tightened as Summer spoke in his head, Here we go...

Immediately, the armies formed up and made a defensive line in front of Atlas as the Monstra emerged from the cloud and rested on the ledge of the island.

"This is it." Qrow said, looking out.

Raven drew her sword next to him. "No turning back now."

The Monstra opened its maw, vomiting out a disgusting black liquid onto the ground. After a few moments, various Grimm began forming and emerging from the liquid. The ground also rumbled and opened up around the Grimm as Watts's laboratories opened, spewing forth his techno demons: Arachontrons, Tyrants, Dread Knights, and leading the charge was the Cyberdemon, reborn.

Hector growled when he saw it emerge. "Looks like someone's back for Round 2."

Salem watched it all happen from her throne room, flanked by Watts, Dr. Pierce, and Hazel.

She smirked. "Look a them. They are united now, but they will quickly fall like all the others before them. It's time for Atlas to fall."

A wave of her hand was all it took and the Grimm surged forward. The Cyberdemon raised his arm and roared, sending the demons forth too. The defenders raised their weapons, nervous, but ready to fight. Ruby's grip on her scythe tightened as she prepared to surge forward into the fight...but then all was cut short as a deep war horn echoed through the place. Salem's smirk turned to a look of confusion, and she leaned forward. "That horn...it can't be..."

Her growing fear was confirmed as a blood red portal opened right behind the defenders, sending forth the echoing cry of the army behind it...

"RIP AND TEAR! RIP AND TEAR! RIP AND TEAR!"

It begins...