a/n: Welp, this took a bit more effort than I originally intended it to.

TW: This chapter contains depictions of domestic violence, and references to pedophilia and human trafficking.

Chapter 13: New Solutions

Sienna Khan sat down in a seat at the small table that had been set up on the catwalk on the Darksyde's bridge, her personal guards eying the large, lion-skinned robot standing in the middle of the dark room with unease.

"Well?" she questioned.

"According to Starscream, the responsible Decepticons have been punished for their actions," Razorclaw stated as he turned away from the monitor of the Darksyde's computer, his glowing, pink eyes meeting Sienna's glare, "Of course, knowing Starscream, I wouldn't expect much more than a reprimanding or a demotion."

"And why didn't you see fit to warn me about these other Eukarians who can disguise themselves as vehicles?" Sienna questioned, an edge to her voice, "You're one of the few people I consider a friend Razorclaw, and you know how rare a commodity trust is in this world."

"It was a treaty issue," Razorclaw replied, "One of the terms of my alliance with the Decepticons is that I couldn't reveal their existence to the inhabitants of worlds they infiltrate. As I have no real authority over the Decepticons as a faction, the most I could do was put in a request that the White Fang be left untouched. Also, let me make one thing clear." His voice lowered to a growl. "The Decepticons never have been and never will be Eukarians. We are to the Transformers of Cybertron, Velicitron, and Caminus what you Faunus are to the humans of Vale, Mistral, and Atlas: a deviation from what they consider the norm, and as such often end up viewed as lesser for it. If they didn't need us to fight back against the Maximals and their Autobot allies, I'm sure Megatron and his Decepticons would've tried to stab us in the back by now. Of course…" Razorclaw grinned. "I would never bow to a Cybertronian, and Megatron will learn true fear if he ever tries to make me!"

"I see…" Sienna said, apparently placated, "The Maximals I'm familiar with, they've been causing trouble in Menagerie for months now, but what about these Autobots?"

"As you no doubt surmised from your conversation with Adam, they are the Decepticons' enemies, ruled over by Optimus Prime," Razorclaw explained, "Whereas the Decepticons, much like your White Fang, tried to overthrow the tyrannical Functionists, the Autobots instead chose to climb the ranks, and that coward Lio Convoy betrayed our ancestors by siding with the very Primes who once exiled us!" He slammed his fist against his desk. "My Predacons would never bow to a Cybertronian the way those Maximals did, and so we aligned ourselves with the Autobots' enemies to drive them off of our world!"

"So it's the old 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' scenario?" Sienna remarked, "But why are the Decepticons here?"

"Simple, while we Predacons established our footing here first, one of our own uncovered a Decepticon stasis pod," Razorclaw answered, "Ultimately, the treaty required that we share this planet, though I don't believe that will last for long."

"Now, why is that?" a new voice asked. Sienna rose to her feet as her guards pointed their weapons at the speaker. He was preached on the guard rails, a trench coat draped over his shoulders, and a scorpion tail curled behind him.

"What do you want?" Razorclaw asked. The scorpion-tailed man giggled and jumped onto the catwalk.

"Starscream thought it best to send one of his allies over to smooth over any rough edges left by his subordinate's short-sighted actions," he answered as he stepped towards Sienna, "So, he sent yours truly to officially bring the White Fang into our little Anti Autobot Alliance." He came to a stop and nudged one of Sienna's guard's spears out of the way. "Which is especially important now that we know that Optimus Prime himself is here."

"I wasn't aware that Megatron had decided to work with the locals," Razorclaw commented.

"He didn't, Starscream took initiative while he was away," the stranger replied, "I just took the Groundbridge over here to deal with any remaining bad blood."

"And who are you, exactly?" Sienna Khan questioned as she put a hand on the chain of Cerebus Whip.

"Oh! Where are my manners?" the stranger said, before bowing. "Please, call me Zarak."


Ruby dashed around the airfield, picking up whatever Yang asked for. She took motors from the wreckage of the Knights, power cores and Burn Dust from what was left of the Spider Droid, and gathered up bits and pieces of the busted hard-light generator. What Ruby couldn't find (such as a blowtorch), Yang would jury-rig from random bits of scrap metal and Dust Ruby brought back.

As for Yang, she reconnected wires, tightened bolts and screws, detached and reattached plates as necessary, and even resorted to welding when all other forms of repair failed to stop the bleeding.

.

"Now what?" Ruby asked. Bumblebee's body was now more-or-less intact, the Autobot laying on his back with his arms at his sides. The bleeding had stopped, but Yang's clothes were covered in pink stains.

"Remember when we helped Dad jump-start Zippy?" Yang asked.

"Yeah?" Ruby replied.

"I think we might end up having to do the same thing to Bumblebee," Yang replied, "Do you have any Lightning Dust I could use?"

"... Erm… I have some Lightning Rounds?" Ruby offered up as she pulled out a Lightning Ammo Clip, "But… The Dust is kinda already inside the munition shells with the bullets, so I'm not sure if you can get the Dust out without shocking yourself."

"... Great… Just…" Yang sighed, before picking at the top of the clip, "Well! I'm dead either way, so-".

"Wait!" Ruby interrupted as she snatched the ammo clip out of Yang's hands, "Why don't we just use a battery from one of the Atlesian Knights?" Ruby asked as she motioned to the pile of Atlesian Knights that had been smashed and/or dismantled to varying degrees.

"... Okay then," Yang exhaled, "I thought I saw a jumper cable laying around here somewhere…"


"Let's see, the G1-Dustfire's battery goes here-" Yang gently removed a metal plate on Bumblebee's body, exposing a mundane vehicle battery in the midst of almost organic-looking machinery, "-when he's in robot mode…"

"The first Knight is ready to go!" Ruby shouted as she put on insulated gloves. Yang nodded and removed Ember Celica from her wrists ("Don't want to take any chances with how explosive Combustion Dust can be.") and put on her own pair of insulated gloves as Ruby connected the two clamps on her end of the jumper cable to the Atlesian Knight's battery.

"Let's see, positive-to-positive," Yang connected the positive alligator clip to the corresponding protrusion on the battery, "Negative-to-ground." She attached the negative clip to Bumblebee's armor plating. "And now!"

Ruby connected two of the Atlesian Knight's wires, and it's visor and Bumblebee's eyes both flashed for a few seconds. Both robots twitched for half a minute, before the Atlesian Knight abruptly shut off.

"It's battery's drained!"

"Then hook up the next one!" Yang shouted before turning to face Bumblebee, "Hang in there, Bee."


The second Atlesian Knight crumpled, it's battery drained, and Bumblebee powered back down.


The third Atlesian Knight collapsed, it's battery drained, and Bumblebee powered back down.


The fifth Atlesian Knight shut down, it's battery drained, and Bumblebee powered back down.


The tenth Knight's battery only lasted for a second, and Bumblebee powered back down.


The fifteenth Knight shut off almost immediately.


Ruby had lost count in the monotony as the last of the knights went limp, it's battery completely expended, the sky outside slowly brightening.

"... Yang… Did it…" Ruby's voice trailed off as Yang disconnected the jumper cable on her end, "Is he…"

"I don't… He's not…" Yang sighed, "I'm sorry Bee. I really thought I could…"

"Ugh…" a familiar voice groaned as Bumblebee's finger twitched, and the sky outside began to brighten.

.

Bumblebee groaned, his vision somewhat pixelated as he finally reactivated.

"That could've gone better," he mumbled as he tried to push himself up-

"BUMBLEBEE!" Only for two pixelated blurs to latch onto him, knocking him back to the ground.

"What the- Mortillus?" The Autobot Scout's vision cleared, and the pixelated blobs became recognizeable, "Wait, Yang? Ruby? How did you-"

"We got here a bit before Dropkick shot you-" Ruby explained as several warnings flashed across Bumblebee's HUD.

PSF Charge: 15%

Danger!: Energon Levels Critically Low!

Chassis Panel Missing!

"Wait! Why is part of my chassis-"

"Oh grapes! I forgot to reattach that!" Yang shouted as she let go of Bumblebee and dashed over to the metal plate lying on the ground, "Sorry about that Bee, I kinda had to remove this to recharge you and I… Uh… Forgot to reattach it in the excitement when you woke up."

"Well… Uh… Thanks," Bumblebee muttered as Yang popped the panel back into place. The Autobot scout did a quick diagnostic scan, "Huh… You did a surprisingly good job considering that you have no medical training."

"... I am at the top of Signal's Engineering class," Yang replied with a smirk.

"... Maybe I should see if Ratchet can give you some actual medical training when we find the- OH SCRAP!" Bumblebee tried to jump to his feet, but hissed in pain and dropped to his knees.

"Bumblebee, be careful!" Yang shouted.

"There's no time, the Decepticons know where the Ark is," Bumblebee explained, "We have to get to Vytal, and fast!"

"Okay!" Ruby remarked as she took out her Scroll, "I'll just call Ozpin and tell him what's-"

"NO!" Bumblebee snapped, "The Decepticons have tapped into your communication system! If you try to contact him, Shatter and Dropkick will be able to set a trap for whoever he sends in!"

"Well what do you suggest we do?" Yang asked, "Sit here and welcome our new metal overlords?"

"No, we have the element of surprise," Bumblebee replied, "If we can get in an airship, we can fly straight to Vytal and ambush the Decepticons."

"Just one problem," Ruby started, "Winter took the only Airship here to chase the Shatter and dropkick."

"... Well, she's a goner," Bumblebee dryly remarked.

"Any other ideas?" Yang asked.

Bumblebee sat down and brought a hand to his chin.

PSF Charge: 20%

"We didn't come this far just to give up now!" Ruby stated, "We have to figure something out."

"Ruby, what are the odds that someone's going to just drop off a Bullhead for us to-"

"GYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-"

Yang whirled to face the entrance as the laughter increased in pitch, her train of thought derailed.

"Who's…" Ruby unfolded Crescent Rose into sniper rifle mode and walked up to the threshold to peek out as Yang took off her insulated gloves and picked up Ember Celica.


Blake stared over the carnage, fighting to keep the contents of her stomach from coming up as birds picked at the corpses.

"This! This is just perfect!" Adam said as soon as he was done laughing, tears rolling down his face, "Here I was, prepared for a massive battle, only to find that these stupid humans already bit off more than they could chew!" He laughed a bit more. "It's about time that things started to go my way! Maybe this week isn't so shitty after all?"

"What now sir?" the Lieutenant asked.

"Atlas doesn't care about casualties," Adam replied, "The men are expendable, easy to replace, but the base isn't. Humans are heartless. We'll have to take their power for ourselves if we ever want to be free." Blake tore her eyes away from the corpses, and noticed something peeking out of the hangar.

"Adam, we aren't the only ones here," she stated.

"Hmm?"

CRACK!

A flaming bullet shot out of the hangar, only to get caught on the flat side of Wilt.

"If you value your lives, I suggest you show yourself!" Adam shouted, "Or you can stay where you are, and let us come to you! The choice is yours!"


"What's he doing here?" Yang hissed as Ruby ducked back into the hangar.

"It doesn't matter," Bumblebee declared as he tried to push himself to his feet, "I've beaten him twice, I can do it a third tiAUGH!" Bumblebee fell to his knees. "Scrap! That hurts!"

"You're in no condition to fight," Ruby stated, "Just leave this to me and Yang until your Aura's recharged."

"But-"

"Bumblebee, he made you bleed through your Aura back at Witwicky's," Yang stated, "If you get hit by his Semblance like this!" She motioned to his battered body. "You will die."

Bumblebee growled as he flopped on the floor.

"Yang and I can be pretty fast when we need to be," Ruby promised, "Me especially! We'll keep them busy until your Aura's recharged! Then you can wipe the floor with him."

"... I hate this," Bumblebee groaned.

"We'll be fine," Yang promised.

"We're waiting!" Adam's voice echoed.

"Here goes nothing," Ruby stated as she stepped over the threshold, Yang following closely afterwards.


Ruby stepped out in front of the hangar, standing on the downed shutter door, followed closely by her sister as the White Fang gathered around Adam, his Lieutenant, and Blake.

"If it isn't the human from the dealership and her…" Adam drew a blank as he stared at Ruby, "Daughter? Girlfriend? Seriously, who the Hell are you?"

"Oh, so now you want to know my name?" Ruby shouted.

"It's not really that important," Adam replied, "A human's a human, as far as I'm concerned."

"What are you doing here, Adam?" Yang asked as she raised her fists.

"Official White Fang business," Adam answered, "Once I destroy this base, the Atlesian Military will officially have no way to operate on my turf."

"Patch doesn't belong to you!" Ruby shouted as she unfurled Crescent Rose into scythe mode.

"Typical human sentiment," the Lieutenant scoffed, "You think you can drive us into the wilderness, but the great Adam Taurus shall lead our people to glory!"

"... You know, Winter Schnee said something similar about Ironwood and Atlas last night," Yang remarked.

"NEVER COMPARE ME TO ONE OF THOSE DAMNED SCHNEES AGAIN!" the Lieutenant roared, "I WILL TEAR YOU APART! DO YOU HEAR ME?"

"... Kinda hard not to…" Ruby deadpanned.

"Judging by the kid's face, I'm guessing that your run-in with Specialist Schnee didn't end well for you," Blake remarked, "Our business here is with Atlas. You don't have to get hurt if you leave now and let us do our jobs."

"Sorry, but even if I'm not a big fan of Atlas, I can't let you near that hangar," Yang stated.

"And how do you intend to stop us?" Adam asked, "There are two of you, and twenty-three of us." The masked swordsman chuckled. "And where's your robot boyfriend? Is he rusting in the scrapyard?"

"That's none of your business," Yang growled through gritted teeth.

"In case you haven't noticed, I have a score to settle with that wretched machine, so I'd say it is!" Adam replied as he unsheathed his blade and pointed it at Yang, "But seeing how it seems to have a soft spot for you humans, I suppose I can make you scream until it comes to your rescue."

"He's not an it!" Yang shouted, before punching an explosive round at Adam.

BOOM!

"Temper temper," Adam chided as the smoke cleared and he sheathed his blade. He held his sheath by his hip as his Aura flared up, his hair and the red markings on his mask and clothes glowing as he was silhouetted by the hellish surge of power.

"Adam! That's not nece-"

Adam interrupted Blake's objection with a roar as he unsheathed his blade, sending a wave of red energy at Ruby and Yang, who vanished into a burst of petals to swerve out of the way. The wave sliced through the now-empty air until it destroyed a Hard-Light Generator and the tree behind it.

.

Yang stumbled out of the cloud of petals as they reformed into Ruby, who stumbled towards the twenty-two Faunus behind Adam and unfolded Crescent Rose into Scythe Mode. The silver-eyed girl let out a war cry as she swung her sniper scythe at the crowd behind Adam. Blake fizzled out of existence as the White Fang stumbled and ducked out of the way of the blunt side of Crescent Rose, Adam dashing away from the crowd in the chaos.

CRACK!

Ruby recoil boosted into the crowd, swatting and batting the figures away.

BANG!

Ruby flinched as Blake's bullet grazed her shoulder from behind and the masked Faunus dispersed to surround her.

"Okay, if that's how you want to play it..." Ruby's musing was cut off as the Lieutenant revved up his chainsaw and charged her with a roar. Ruby swatted the side of his head with Crescent Rose as the rest of the masked figures opened fire. "Eep!" Ruby spun Crescent Rose around herself as she tried to block, deflect, and dodge the bullets that were raining down on her. When she tried to knock over a shorter White Fang grunt, a black ribbon wrapped around Crescent Rose's shaft. "Woah!" Ruby exclaimed as Blake pulled on the ribbon, turning Crescent Rose towards her.

"Gotcha!" Blake exclaimed as Ruby stared between her scythe and the woman it was now pointed at.

CRACK!

Ruby pulled her weapon free as Blake lost her grip on her ribbon, sending the older girl's chain scythe tumbling onto the ground behind her, before recoil boosting towards Blake.

"Hi-yah!" Ruby swung Crescent Rose at Blake, only for the girl to fizzle out of existence. "Again?"

BANG!

Ruby squealed and ducked as the real Blake fired her weapon.

"Look kid, you and your sister are outnumbered and outmatched," she stated, "Just cut your losses and go home, we don't want to hurt you."

"Speak for yourself," Adam's Lieutenant snarled as he walked up next to Blake, "I want to use her to paint the trees red!"

"She's a child!" Blake protested.

"She's a human!" Adam's Lieutenant screamed.

CRACK!

Adam's Lieutenant was struck in the chest by a flaming bullet.

"Look, Yang and I aren't going anywhere until we can find a way to chase down the Decepticons," Ruby stated, "They're the real enemies here!"

"Empty words from a cowardly little brat!" Adam's Lieutenant roared as he charged Ruby.

"Schwarz, wait!" Blake shouted as she ran after him.

Ruby scanned the White Fang and a horrible question crossed her mind.

Where did that creep, Adam go?

.

"Well this is off to a stellar start," Yang groaned as she pushed herself off the ground. She turned her attention to the White Fang, where Ruby was bashing assailants left and right with Crescent Rose. "I can't get a clear shot while she's- Wait, where's-"

CRACK!

Yang was knocked on her side as the hilt of Adam's blade struck the side of her head.

"Well, you're not as lively as you were the last time we met," Adam remarked as he resheathed his blade. Yang glared at Adam as she pushed herself to her feet, briefly wincing in pain as Adam seemed to glance over her, before grinning. "If you weren't human, I'd feel bad for what I'm about to do."

Ka-click!

"No you wouldn't," Yang snarled.

BOOM!

Yang rocketed towards Adam-

Clink!

-who caught her punch on the flat side of his blade and swatted her away with a slash of his katana.

"You know, very few humans are lucky enough to walk away from one fight with me, let alone two," Adam remarked as Yang hissed in pain, "They say that third time's the charm." He lunged forward with a slash, forcing Yang to slide back, his katana slicing through the air a few inches from her neck. Adam raised his katana to jab at her, and Yang swept his legs out from under him before pushing herself back to her feet.

Adam snarled and pointed his scabbard at the scar on Yang's midsection.

CRACK!

The hilt of his blade struck the scar, causing Yang to hiss in pain as Adam grabbed his blade.

"Scream!" Adam ordered as he slashed across Yang's torso, knocking her to the ground, and jabbed the tip of his blade into her scar.

.

Ruby swatted Lieutenant Schwarz away as she heard the scream, glancing over her shoulder in time to see Adam flicking blood off of his blade, Yang's stab wound now reopened.

"Yang!" she shouted before dispersing into petals.


Bumblebee collapsed to the ground as his chassis convulsed.

"C'mon, transform dammit!" he groaned, "I need to get out there!"

They're going to die, and you'll have nobody but yourself to blame, Megatron's voice taunted, You can't save anyone, you useless, cold-constructed, piece of scrap!

"Who asked you?" Bumblebee growled, even as his conversion joints refused to unlock.


"How unfortunate," Adam remarked as he raised his blade, oblivious to the silver-eyed girl standing behind him, "You're gonna die screaming, all alone…" He brought his blade down, only for it to get caught on a crescent shaped blade. "Wha-"

CRACK!

The recoil from Crescent Rose ripped the blade from Adam's grasp as Ruby spun her weapon around and swatted him in the side of his head before dashing to pick up the red katana laying on the ground.

"Why you little-" Adam growled as he rose to his feet, rubbing the side of his head, "Give Wilt back!"

"Come and get it yourself!" Ruby taunted as she dispersed into petals and flew off into the woods.

"Ruby!" Yang shouted as Adam roared and dashed into the woods after her younger sister, "No…" Yang forced herself to her feet, and got ready to launch herself into the woods, only to get hit by a barrage of bullets from the White Fang. With a snarl, Yang turned her now-red eyes towards the White Fang, and threw her fists behind her.

BOOM!

She launched herself into the air above the White Fang as they kept firing after her, rolled up a punch, and rocketed towards the ground in the middle of the crowd as her hair burst into flames.

BOOM!

.

Blake landed on her feet as her brothers and sisters in arms struck the ground around her. She narrowed her eyes at the currently red-eyed human and dashed towards her. The blond human looked up and threw a punch at Blake, who smirked and activated her Semblance. An explosive bullet whizzed through empty air as Blake charged her left side. Yang whirled around and parried her katana-slice with her shot gauntlet.

"Everything was so simple before you came along!" Blake shouted as she pushed her weight into the blade.

"You're the one working with the guy who's willing to let the whole world burn just to settle a grudge match!" Yang refuted, before throwing a punch with her free hand. Blake dodged with her Semblance and kicked Yang in the scar. She winced when the girl cried out in pain and dropped to the ground, particularly when she noticed that she had drawn blood even through the human's Aura, but pushed those thoughts to the back of her head as her brothers and sisters armed themselves and pointed their weapons at the downed human.

"You've lost," Blake stated as she shifted Gambol Shroud into gun mode and pointed it at the human, "I don't want to hurt anyone, but you will be hurt if you keep pushing yourself like this." The golden flames burned out as the human's eyes shifted back to lilac.

"It's not about winning," she stated, "Please, just let me go get my sister. She's only fourteen! Adam will kill her if I don't do anything."

He'd never kill a child, is what Blake wanted to say as most of the Faunus wavered at that declaration.

"So?" Schwarz asked as he brandished his chainsaw, "You humans have no compunctions of killing or harming us Faunus while we're children." He motioned to the shortest of the present Faunus. "River's village murdered his parents and tried to drown him before we rescued him! It's only fair that we return the favor and strike your young down before you can grow old enough to enslave us!" Five of the Faunus under their command voiced their agreement, while the rest (including River himself) had varying looks of disgust and horror visible even through their masks.

"What the Hell is wrong with you?" one of them shouted.

"What, don't you care about the cause?" Schwarz asked.

"Yeah, and I don't see how murdering children helps us!" the Faunus shot back as she stepped forwards, "Seriously, if we go around killing kids, all we're going to do is create martyrs!"

"Speaking of kids, why'd we bring River?" another Faunus asked, "I didn't say anything because nobody else objected, but isn't it kinda irresponsible to take a pre-teen to fight Ironwood's savages?"

"I wanted to go to Menagerie, but Adam said that I owed the White Fang and that I'd have to pay them back," River piped up.

"Oh shut-up you ingrate!" Schwarz snapped, "We've all had to suffer to earn our freedom, so I don't see why you shoul-"

"He's even younger than my brother was!" another Faunus spoke up, "He shouldn't have to 'earn' a chance at a stable home! He didn't choose to join up!"

"So we need to be sure that he can be trusted before we let him return to our homeland!" Schwarz snapped, "Who's side are you on?"

"I'm on the side of Faunus-kind!" the Faunus woman snapped back as Blake realized that, beyond River, Adam, and Schwarz, she didn't know any of their names, "And I don't see how blowing up this hangar would've made things any better for the Faunus who'd end up caught in the crossfire when Atlas retaliates!"

"Some sacrifices will have to be made for victory!"

"So we should just sacrifice the Faunus who can't fight!"

"If they won't stand with us, then they deserve to die with the humans they've betrayed us to!"

The arguing continued as Blake lowered Gambol Shroud, watching the chaos unfold as one thought overwhelmed all of her others.

I want to go home.


Ruby dashed through the forest, sparing the occasional glance over her shoulder, dispersing into petals for a boost of speed whenever Adam's masked face got too close.

CRACK!

Ruby yelped as she felt the bullet graze her thigh, and was about to turn around to return fire when she felt a tug on her cape.

"Aiyee!" the silver-eyed girl shouted as she activated her Semblance to disperse into a cloud of petals and escape. Unfortunately, as Adam was holding on to her cape, he became a part of the cloud as well. The red blob shot through the air and towards a rock where it reformed, and Adam grabbed ahold of Ruby's waist and landed on his feet. The two dispersed into a cloud of petals once more and rocketed towards a tree. Adam's back hit the tree, and his free hand grabbed ahold of Ruby's wrist before they dispersed into petals again. The cloud slammed into the ground, and Adam released Ruby's waist. When she tried to pull her arm free, he rose as well.

"Let go!" Ruby shouted as she tried to throw a punch at Adam with her free hand. Adam swatted her hand away and grabbed ahold of her face.

"Never," he promised as he tightened his grip on both her wrist and face. Ruby tried licking his hand, and he simply tightened his grip. She grabbed a hold of his wrist with her freehand and tried to dig her nails into his skin. Adam simply shoved her to the ground with his full weight, released her face, and grabbed ahold of her other wrist to pin her to the ground. "Can't you see that there's no escape for you?" Adam asked, "You're going to die screaming kid! And mommy and daddy won't even be able to recognize what's left of you by the time I'm done!" Ruby activated her Semblance, and a cloud of petals shot directly into the air past the tree tops, illuminated by the rising sun. When the duo reformed, Ruby released Wilt, forcing Adam to let go of her wrists to grab it, allowing her to retrieve Crescent Rose and fire it at the ground once, using the recoil to tear herself free from Adam's grip. From there, Ruby dove straight for the treetops, landing and unfolding Crescent Rose into scythe mode as she turned to where she expected Adam to land. The malevolent masked man repositioned himself in mid-air, kicked off of a tree-branch, and threw himself at Ruby with a roar.

CRACK!

Ruby recoil-boosted towards him, and sparks flew as their weapons collided. The two kicked away from each other and began to lunge and jump through the trees, the combatants soon becoming two red-and-black blurs as they rushed and dodged at each other, sparks flying whenever the two blurs collided. Eventually, the two of them hit the forest floor, and Adam rushed Ruby once more with a roar as he tried to slash at her. Ruby batted Wilt aside with Crescent Rose, failing to notice that he had a finger on his scabbard's trigger.

CRACK!

Ruby shrieked as the shot sent her flying, before jamming her scythe's blade into the ground to slow herself down, kicking up dirt and uprooting some of the foliage in the process, before she skidded to a halt right in front of a large tree. When she noticed that the barrel was pointed at Adam, she reached for the trigger.

CRACK!

CRACK!

CRACK!

Plink!

Plink!

Plink!

Adam smirked as he sheathed his blade, and grit his teeth as his entire body was enveloped in a crimson glow.

"Uh oh," Ruby stated as she folded Crescent Rose back into rifle mode. Adam roared and unsheathed his blade, sending an arc of blood-red energy at Ruby, who vanished into a cloud of petals and flew out of the way, Adam's Semblance vanishing into an explosion of splinters as it struck the tree that had been behind Ruby. The silver-eyed girl reformed a couple of feet to the right of where she had been standing as the tree groaned and toppled towards Adam.

CRASH!

Ruby took a couple of seconds to steady her breath as she scanned the downed tree for movement. When she saw none, she let out a sigh of relief and switched Crescent Rose back to storage mode and attached it to the back of her belt. The silver-eyed girl turned to walk back to the hangar, only to pause when she heard rustling leaves. She glanced over her shoulder-

"AUGH!"

-just in time to see a roaring Adam lunging straight at her.

Ruby screamed and activated her Semblance, dashing away as Adam's blade slashed through the empty air she had been occupying. She reformed behind a tree to switch Crescent Rose back into scythe mode, only for Wilt to slice right through the trunk. She dashed back towards the hangar, Adam hot on her heels, both of them unaware of the red eyes peering at them from the remaining shadows.


Yang tuned out the bickering of the White Fang members as she glanced at the hangar.

It looks like they don't care about me or Bumblebee at the moment, she rationalized as she started to crawl away, I should be able to sneak off to go help Ru-

BANG!

Yang instinctively yanked her hand back as the ground exploded a few inches away from it.

"You idiots almost let this one get away," one of the Faunus whom had agreed with the Lieutenant's proclamation that they should murder children said as he pointed his still-smoking gun at Yang, "Let's just kill this one and do what we came here to do!" Yang jumped to her feet and threw her arms behind her.

BOOM!

Yang rocketed towards him and delivered a punch to his jaw. The four other pro-child murder Faunus pointed their guns at Yang and opened fire. Yang shielded her face (Aura or no, getting shot in the face hurt), and her eyes turned red as her hair erupted into flames.

BOOM!

She launched herself into the two closest, swatting and kicking both away.

BOOM!

She knocked down the other two, and heard the roar of the chainsaw. She whirled around and parried the blow with her right gauntlet, sparks flying as the chainsaw's teeth grinded against Ember Celica.

"Just let her go, Schwarz!" Blake shouted, "We don't have to kill her to complete our mission!"

"Just who's side are you on? Belladonna!" the Lieutenant snapped. Yang threw a punch at Lieutenant Schwarz's gut to get the chainsaw away. Schwarz snarled and threw himself at her, forcing Yang to roll out of the way.

Ka-click!

BOOM!

BOOM!

Schwarz jumped out of the way of both bullets and charged Yang's left side, forcing the girl to dash away.

"I could use some help here!" Schwarz shouted over his shoulder.

"I still don't see the point of this!" Blake replied, "Adam and I could've taken so much Dust from that SDC cargo-train!"

"Adam didn't train you to think, girl!" Schwarz barked, "Now, learn your place and obey!"

"We're both lieutenants!" Blake shot back.

"Only because you slept your way to the top!" Schwarz snapped as he turned away from Yang, "Unlike you, I earned my place by Adam's side!"

"Hey uh… Excuse me a moment," one of the masked women asked as Yang decided to take the opportunity to sneak her way to the treeline, "How old are you again, Blake?"

"I… Don't see how that's relevant," Blake replied, genuine confusion in her voice as Yang froze.

Did… Did Ruby just get chased into the woods by a… Yang felt her blood run cold, unwilling to finish that thought.

"Seriously woman, would you stop wasting our time with irrelevant outbursts?!" Schwarz snapped.

"I'm just saying, I'm pretty sure Blake's still Combat School aged, and you just implied that she and Adam are an item!" the woman in question stated, "Meanwhile, while I only learned about this organization after you expanded into Vale and I don't know that much about the Fang's history, I'm pretty sure I overheard how Adam is old enough to be her father's peer."

"Blake is old enough to make her own decisions," Schwarz replied with a scoff.

"Erm, then I think we should forget the human and-"

"Not now, Blake!" Schwarz snapped, "The adults are talking!"

"But you just said she wa-"

Whatever she was about to say was cut off when Ruby exploded from the treeline, Adam chasing close behind. Ruby whirled around and tried to strike him with Crescent Rose, only for him to swat Crescent Rose out of the way with Wilt.

CRACK!

Ruby cried out as Adam shot her with his scabbard, shattering her Aura and sending her tumbling across the ground, Crescent Rose clattering to the ground a few feet away.

"RUBY!" Yang shouted, turning tail to try and dash for her, only for a red and black blur to beat her to the punch.

"I wouldn't move if I were you," Adam warned as he yanked Ruby off the ground, "After all-" He held his blade against Ruby's neck, wrapping his free hand around her waist. "With her Aura depleted, it would only take one slip-up to slice her neck open." Yang growled as she lowered her fists, Schwarz chuckling as Blake starred on in disbelief.

"Adam, what are you-"

"Set the charges!" Adam interrupted as Ruby started to struggle, "And as for you!" He pressed the flat side of his blade against the girl's neck. "Remember what I said about slipping?"

.

Blake's arms remained limp by her side as she glanced around the field.

Schwarz and the five Faunus Yang had taken down were eagerly placing down charges around the exterior of the hangar.

River and the others seemed more reluctant.

Yang was standing still, her fear plain on her face, her anger and frustration clear in her red eyes.

When she tried to look at Adam, she didn't see his smile.

No, all she could see was the terror in Ruby's silver eyes as he held Wilt against her neck.

I guess I don't have a choice…

.

Ruby stared at Yang as she tried to steady her breath, trying not to shift too much with the red blade pressed against her neck.

Even if Bumblebee came charging out of that hangar right now, that wouldn't stop Adam from cutting my head off, she realized.

"Adam," Blake started.

"What now?" Adam asked.

"Are you going to let her go once we're done here?" Blake asked. Adam scoffed.

"Of course not!" he answered, "I'll have her sister deliver a ransom note to her family. And if they can't pay, well, I'm sure there are plenty of men in Mistral who'd pay good Lien for a face like-" The blade of a chain scythe hooked onto Wilt right next to Ruby's head, the black ribbon tugging on the trigger.

BANG!

It fired a shot directly into Adam's mask, ripping Wilt from his grasp and causing him to let go of Ruby, allowing her to dash away as Blake caught her weapon.

"Oh darling," Ruby heard as she dashed for Crescent Rose, "Why must you hurt me like this?"

.

"A-Adam I…" Blake stammered out as a cold, blue eye glared at her from the new hole in Adam's mask.

CRACK!

Blake cried out as the bullet from Blush struck her.

"After everything I've done for you," Adam continued as he approached her, the pupil in his visible eye dilating, "You attack me! To protect a wretched little hu-"

BOOM!

Whatever Adam was about to say was cut off when Yang rocketed into him, and began throwing punches.

"Don't!"

POW!

"TOUCH!"

POW!

"MY!"

POW!

"SISTER!"

The roar of a chainsaw grabbed Blake's attention.

"TRAITOR!" Schwarz screamed as he charged Blake. Blake yelped and activated her Semblance as she dodged to the right, Schwarz's chainsaw slicing through the hollow decoy. "I'm going to paint this hangar RED!" Schwarz snapped as he turned to face her. However, he was bombarded with gunfire before he could get anywhere near her.

"You okay?" one of the masked Faunus asked as she lowered her gun, Schwarz struggling to stand.

"You… You dare to betray the White Fang?" he snarled, "Kill the betrayers!"

"You… You realize that you and Adam only have five guys on your side, right?" another Faunus asked as most of the present Faunus pointed their guns at Schwarz.

"... Shit…"

Blake's attention shifted back to Adam, just in time to watch as Yang delivered punch after punch to Adam's face, chest, and gut, before finally firing off an explosive round that launched him away from her. Yang's hair erupted into flames and she rocketed towards him with a scream. Adam dashed out of the way, leaving Yang to punch empty air as he grabbed Wilt and leveled a glare at Blake.

"Nobody betrays me and lives!" he announced before charging right at her.

Blake raised Gambol Shroud and pulled the trigger.

BANG!

He deflected the first shot as Blake thought she heard shifting metal.

BANG!

He deflected the second shot as she heard the roar of an engine, though Blake was too focused on the cold, blue eye glaring into her soul to notice the yellow motorcycle speeding out of the hangar.

BANG!

Adam deflected the third shot, he and Blake both oblivious to the motorcycle unfolding into a bipedal form.

"DIE!" Adam ordered as he swung his sword at Blake's neck.

CLANG!

A glowing, blue blade intercepted Wilt.

.

"Now is that any way to treat your cojunx, Adam?" Bumblebee asked, a smile on his face and an edge to his voice, "Because I think you need a short, sharp lesson in etiquette." A battle mask closed over Bumblebee's face as Adam's eye widened in terror. "Let's begin!" A flick of Bumblebee's Energon blade launched Adam into the air, allowing the Autobot scout to deliver a punch to the airborne Faunus' chest, sending him tumbling across the field and skidding to a halt near the treeline. Bumblebee casually changed his blade out for his Energon shotgun as Adam stumbled to his feet.

BANG!

Adam yelped and held up his katana and scabbard in front of himself, catching the Energon blast on the broadside of his blade before sheathing it.

"Lieutenant!" Adam called as he seethed with rage, "How many betrayed us."

"Sixteen if we count Blake," Adam's Lieutenant shot back.

"... Then we'll bring their heads back to camp as a warning," Adam replied with a grin as Bumblebee deployed both of his Energon blades, Ruby pointed her sniper rifle at Adam, Yang raised her fists, "We'll need an example of what happens to those who betray our cause."

"How does selling a girl into slavery help our cause?" Blake shouted.

"This won't be humanity's world for much longer, Blake," Adam replied, "I'm going to teach the human race what it's like to be the slaves!"

"I never wanted conquest, I wanted equality!" Blake shouted.

"What you want is impossible!" Adam screamed as he tightened his grip on his katana, enveloping himself in a flare of Hellish light, unaware of the red eyes staring down at him from the shadows, "I've suffered in silence for long enough! And it's high time that I get what I deser-"

An Alpha Beowolf lunged from the shadows and bit down on Adam's shoulder.

"ADAM!" the Lieutenant shouted as the Grimm lifted the screaming terrorist off the ground. Adam's flailing launched a red arc of energy harmlessly into the sky as the Grimm dragged him into the woods, more bursting from the treeline to meet Adam's loyalists as they chased after him. Soon, more Grimm crawled out of the woodwork, and a new battle began in earnest.


"Are we all okay?" Bumblebee asked as the last Grimm dissolved.

"I think my Aura's starting to recharge," Ruby explained, "But there were way too many close calls."

"I think we did pretty good, considering that we were up against two of the three Alphas that've been terrorizing the island," Yang replied, "And I think the third one took care of Adam for us! Speaking of…" She turned to Blake. "How are you holding up?"

"I… Why do you care?" Blake replied.

"Let's see…" Yang started, "For one, you saved my sister's life!"

"Thanks for that, by the way!" Ruby chimed in.

"For another," Yang continued, "even if you didn't have that going for you, I can't stand guys like that, and I cannot imagine what dating him must have been like."

"I'll… I'll be okay," Blake insisted as she sheathed her katana, "But… I kinda can't go home anymore… My parents wouldn't want me, and Adam has… Had powerful friends in the White Fang…"

"Okay, this is going to sound kinda cruel, but you should probably worry about that later," Bumblebee replied, "The Decepticons are on their way to the Ark, and if they get there before I can wake up Optimus…" He sighed. "Everyone on this planet will die."

"Where do you need to go?" one of the White Fang defectors asked.

"Vytal," Bumblebee answered.

"I know where we parked the Bullheads!" the defector replied as he took off his mask and lowered his hood, "Hell, I can fly you out there myself! Name's Crimson!"

Crimson had a head full of curly red hair, blue eyes, and two ram-like horns on the side of his head.

"You uh…" Ruby's voice trailed off.

"Look like Adam?" Crimson interrupted, "Yeah, he was not amused the first time he saw my face."

"I can help too!" River said as he removed his own mask, revealing all eight of his eyes.

"Yeah… No," another Faunus said as she grabbed River's arm, "Atlesian soldiers were bad enough, I am not letting you go against the freaks who murdered my brother!"

"There is another way you could help out," Bumblebee replied as he projected a holographic image of an insectoid robot, "The Decepticons somehow tapped into your communications. It had to have happened recently if nobody's noticed that they were bugged."

"... Very literally," Ruby observed.

"... They only check Patch's relay tower when we have signal issues," Yang pointed out, "And there's no way they could've gotten close to Beacon Tower without blowing their cover!"

"In that case, I'll be going with Bumblebee and Crimson to Vytal," Blake declared, "Everyone who doesn't want to come can head to the relay tower and message me when the bug's taken care of."

"Then I'll be able to let Ozpin know about the Ark's location, and we can catch the Decepticons off guard!" Yang announced.

"Okay, in that case, here's the plan-" Bumblebee started.


In the end, only Yang, Ruby, and Blake went with Bumblebee and Crimson to Vytal. As the two Bullheads took flight, Yang gripped her injury.

"I'd very much prefer it that you two go deal with the bug," Bumblebee stated, already in motorcycle mode.

"Sorry Bee," Yang replied as Ruby put a hand on her shoulder, "But you already talked way too many people out of tagging along for the more important mission."

"This isn't your war," Bumblebee insisted.

"The fact that it's our world on the line says otherwise," Yang shot back.

"It's a little too late to turn back anyways," Crimson replied. Ruby noticed how Blake's face fell at that comment.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Ruby asked.

"Hmm?"

"I mean, I guess we could drop you off on the way to Vytal," Ruby stated, "The Decepticons are a lot more dangerous than your run-of-the-mill Grimm."

"That's… Not the issue," Blake replied, "It's… Just…" She sighed. "It's stupid, I…"

"Blake, we've got all day until we get to Vytal," Yang stated as Blake's voice trailed off again. Blake took a deep breath.

"It just hit me that Adam's not going to be a part of my life anymore," she stated, "And I miss him already…"

"Why?" Ruby asked, "From what little I saw, he was awful to you."

"If I had to guess, it's because he was a big part of her life for a long time, so it feels weird now that he's gone," Bumblebee cut in, "Is that right?"

"Yeah… Actually," Blake replied, "How did you-"

"Let's just say that I've been in your tires before."

"... What?"

"I think he's trying to say that he's been in your position before," Yang clarified, "Honestly, we've got all day to just, chat and get to know each other before we face the Decepticons.

"Actually, when was the last time you got some sleep?" Bumblebee asked.

"... Does passing out after getting stabbed by Winter count?" Yang asked.

"No."

"Getting tranquilized in a dark room under a bright light?"

"I knew I heard a scream while I was handcuffed in the back of Winter's airship!" Ruby remarked.

"... Get some sleep, both of you," Bumblebee ordered, "You won't be helping anyone if you pass out before you bring Optimus out of stasis." Yang sighed and sat down against a metal wall next to Ruby, who was very quick to lean against her and pass out.

"Wake me when we get there," she requested as she tried to figure out how not to disturb Ruby.

And so, the Bullhead soared towards Vytal, and the rising sun.


a/n: That scene with Sienna Khan was actually the last scene I wrote for this chapter. Originally, Yang and Ruby were going to finish patching Bumblebee up last chapter, but Yang getting ready to repair Bumblebee just worked too well as a closing point.
And now for the reviews:

Yeah hi sorry: Stardrive's characterization in "Like Judas Thereupon Kissed" is actually a reference to an old Power Rangers/Transformers crossover of mine I never got off the ground. In that fic, had I gotten to the point where she appeared, she would've been an officer of SPD working to improve the public opinion of Transformers after the Autobot/Decepticon war had tarnished her reputation. I reworked her into a normal security officer in this continuity who's trying to be a fair cop in a corrupt system. As for aroace Bumblebee, the main reason I decided on that is because I realized that I don't have a lot of aromantic characters in my fics in spite of being aromantic myself. Given how it always felt out of character to put Bee in a romatnic relationship, I figured I'd write him as aro here.

Mobian: Yeah... Things are going to be interesting for the girls going forwards.

merendinoemiliano: Thanks!

Z-King: Welp, looks like they did!

amrph007: Let's just say that I channeled my frustration at Ironwood's INCREDIBLY TOXIC fandom into how Atlas is characterized here.

Mol2311: I hope this was too your liking!

With just two chapters left, anyone who's listened to "This Will be the Day" would know that "New Solutions" are always followed by "Bloody Evolution". See you next time!