The time was 2:28 P.M.

Yang and George had escaped the collapse of Building 2 by climbing up the stairs of Building 3 to the 3rd floor to avoid debris. Once the dust had settled, they decided to get as far away from Building 3 as possible and report to Protection's station for accountability.

As soon as they walked in, Yang immediately saw Ruby and bolted to her, screaming, "Ruby!"

Ruby immediately noticed her and stood up, having been sitting on the floor, tired out, and extended her arms out as Yang wrapped her arms around her and cried. Ruby also began crying, saying, "Yang, oh my God... I thought you were dead..."

"I'm so glad you're okay," Yang said. "Oh, thank God. I thought I lost you." She then looked at Weiss and split from Ruby, asking her, "Weiss... Are... What's that thing on your helmet?"

Weiss stood up and told her bluntly, "Most of my family is dead, and so are most of our lieutenants and all of our captains. I am now the Acting 1st Captain, Yang."

"Oh my God..." Yang's eyes widened with shock. "Who's left?"

"The 7th, 8th, and 9th lieutenants."

"Fucking hell," Yang replied as she buried her face in her hands. "Everyone we know is dead..."

Suddenly, they all heard a rumbling noise outside. As Ruby ran out to see what it was, another volunteer firefighter yelled, "Building 3's coming down now! Holy shit!"

Ruby immediately ran back in as a third giant dust cloud came rolling down the street and several firefighters and police officers on the street ran in to escape it. She yelled to the gang, "The last tower of the three collapsed!"

George said to Yang, "I need to find out about my company." He then gave Yang a quick kiss before he went off to an accountability table to check in.

The time was 2:45 P.M.

At the Semzona Central Terminal, the hostage crisis was now on its first hour. 4 snipers from the Menagerian Army's Red Impulse SOU had taken positions in the train station secretly, all located on the third floor balcony in the lobby in its four corners. All they needed was a go-ahead to fire.

Chief Vaugeois, after much deliberation, decided to give the go-ahead. He radioed in English to the snipers, "It has been made. Begin."

All 4 snipers then readied themselves, taking aim at 4 random terrorists as a police SWAT team readied itself at the front doors to begin entry once the first 4 shots were fired. All 4 waited for a couple of seconds to aim. Then, as if they were all linked together, they squeezed their triggers at almost the exact same time.

Instantly, the sound of 4 gunshots rang out, and 4 of the 10 terrorists dropped to the floor, dead from bullets to the head. The leader of the terrorists yelled in Fanusian, "Shit! The cops are coming!"

Immediately afterwards, a team of 20 heavily armed SWAT officers stormed the train station lobby as they were met with a hail of bullets. The 32 hostages quickly made their escape to one of train platform entrances on the right side of the lobby, where they were met with 5 more SWAT officers waiting for them.

For the next 17 minutes, the police and the 6 remaining terrorists battled each other, pinning each other down in a hail of bullets. Then, at 3:02 P.M., the firing ceased from the terrorists. 2 sets of hands extended up from the ticket counter in surrender, one of them with a bullet hole in the right arm. 4 officers quickly moved in and found the last 2 alive terrorists, badly hurt and afraid. One of the officers yelled in Fanusian as he aimed his rifle at them, "Get out of the booth now! Come out with your hands up!"

As they both exited, 2 stretchers were wheeled out to them. The last 2 terrorists, too weak to resist, simply collapsed onto them and gave up.

Finally, the crisis was over. 34 civilians, 12 police officers (8 before the final raid and 4 during the final raid), and 8 terrorists were killed in the attack on the train station, with over 80 people injured as well. None of the 32 hostages that were taken were killed, though 16 were injured.

The time was 3:17 P.M.

Blake Belladonna adjusted her vision as she slowly opened her eyes to a dark and desolate place. She said to herself, "Ugh... Where...?" She tried to get up, but instead hit her head on something. "Agh, fuck! Where am I?!" She looked down and saw that her hip boots were badly cut up by pieces of metal. She looked above her and saw a giant piece of rebar on top of her. "Holy shit... I'm in... I got buried..." Then, she suddenly passed out again.

When she woke up, she was standing upright in an empty white room, or, at least, it seemed t be an empty white room. She looked around and saw nobody.

"Okay," Blake said, now really confused. "First, I was underneath a huge debris pile, and now, I'm in whatever the hell this place is. What's going on here?!"

Suddenly, a voice called out from behind, "I can help you."

Blake jumped and turned around, yelping in fright. When she saw the person in front of her, she asked herself, "Wait... Raven?!"

"Yeah," Raven Branwen replied. Or, well, what seemed to be Raven Branwen, wearing her normal hunting outfit. "It's me." She had what seemed to be a long scar running around her neck.

"But... But you're dead! Does that mean I'm dead?!" Blake was now scared out of her wits.

"No, you're not dead, Blake." Raven then sighed. "Unfortunately, a lot of people are." She then began to hang her head. "Including Tai."

Blake, shocked, asked her, "What?! Ruby and Yang's dad is dead?!"

"He was crushed by Building 2 when it fell while trying to help an injured civilian out of a damaged subway station," Raven replied, saddened. "You were crushed, too, but you were crushed by Building 1, unlike him, and you found an air pocket, also unlike him."

Blake, shocked, stared at her in silence for a few seconds. Then, she said, "Oh my God... Is Team RWBY alive?"

"Yep, they all made it." Raven then noticed something behind Blake. "What the hell is that?"

Blake turned around and saw a giant red portal that had just formed. "Is that a portal of some kind?"

"Looks kinda like the ones I made when I was alive," Raven replied, noticing the similarities. "No idea what it does, though."

"I think it's a portal back to the real world," Blake said. "It's gotta be." She then questioned herself. "Wait, could this just be a hallucination or something?"

"Oh, I remember," Raven said to Blake, now remembering what the portal was for. "Yeah, that goes back to the real world. It only pops up when not quite dead people come here. This is the second time this has happened to me since I got murdered, the first being with a random stranger who got run over by a taxi on his bike a month ago."

"Oh," Blake replied, confused. "So Ii just go through it?"

"Yup, it's that simple."

Blake then thought to herself. "Raven, you should come with me."

Raven looked at Blake in disbelief as she said, "What?"

"Do you know what happens if a dead person crosses through?"

Raven replied, "No, but I don't want to take that chance, considering I got decapitated."

"Raven," Blake explained to her. "Taiyang Xiao Long, the father of your child and your stepchild and the love of your life, is dead. Ruby and Yang are going to be orphans. If there is a way for you to come back, take this chance. They will need you now more than ever. You should have seen how torn up Yang was about your death. She brutally killed the guys that killed you a few days afterwards."

Raven, now considering it, said, "What if I only come back as a ghost, or I come back and instantly die since my body is rotting and decapitated in a grave somewhere on Patch?"

"I'd take that chance," Blake said to Raven. "Do it for your daughter. Do it for your husband. Do it for your stepdaughter."

Raven then sighed and took Blake's hand. "You know what? I'll take that chance." They then slowly walked into the portal together. As they did, Raven closed her eyes and hoped for the best, but expected the worst.

Immediately, Blake woke back up in the debris pile and opened her eyes, breathing hard and fast. She then calmed herself down and said to herself, "I... Was that real?" She then continued to look around, finding only more concrete, rebar, and steel surrounding her. "God, I hope they get me out of here soon..." Then, a sharp pain hit her left leg and left arm. As she screamed in pain, she realized that they were both broken. As soon as that happened, she began to feel the same sharp pain in her chest. "Agh, fuck! How many fucking bones did I break, God damn it?!"

On Patch Island, Raven suddenly found herself standing in front of a grave in a deserted cemetery. She immediately felt herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming as she said, "I... I'm alive...?" She then looked down at the grave below her and recognized the name. "Oh my God... This is my grave!" Raven then immediately drew her sword and began cutting up the ground in a giant square. Once that was done, she dropped down to her knees and began digging with her bare hands, sometimes using her sword to assist.

After a few minutes, she gave up and decided to run back to Taiyang's house, which was just a few houses down from the cemetery. As she ran out of the cemetery, thoughts began racing through her head about Yang and Ruby.

After a few more minutes, she came back to her own grave with a shovel, her hands filthy from the dirt. Amazingly, she had attracted no attention due to everyone being so focused on the attacks on the T.V. She immediately started digging into the ground, having just barely dug up a foot through a small hole with her bare hands.

After about 25 minutes of intense digging, her shovel hit the lid of her coffin in the small hole she had made. She immediately drew her sword again and drove it right through the coffin, cutting out a small hole in its lid. As she peered down, she could barely see, so she used a flashlight she kept on her hunting outfit to peer down.

To her shock, there was no body in the coffin from what she could see. "Oh my God... I... How did that happen?!" She then fell to her knees and covered her mouth in shock. "How... How do I explain that?! What am I supposed to say about that?! I'm back from the dead... But how?!" She then ran out of the cemetery, still holding the shovel and her sword, back to Taiyang's house, which was deserted.

After putting the shovel away, she found that the front door was unlocked. "God damn it, Tai," she said to herself. "You forgot to lock the door again." As she walked in, she took her shoes off and sat down at the kitchen table, grabbing a notepad and a pen before writing down a lengthy note explaining what had happened to her. "I hope someone believes me."

The time was 4:45 P.M.

By now, a fourth building had collapsed about half an hour earlier, Building 6, a short 75-story office building that had been heavily damaged by the three previous collapses.

Delwyn had just arrived at the disaster site. As soon as he stepped out of the royal limo, he was met by the acting incident commander, Assistant Fire Commissioner Ryan Roth. Ryan said to him, "Your Majesty, we have had four building collapses and countless fatalities and injuries for both civilians and first responders." He then saluted him.

Delwyn shook his hand and saluted him before saying, "How bad are the casualties for first responders?"

"So far," Ryan said to him. "We have at least 1,000 firefighters and 400 police officers either dead or missing, and both of those numbers are climbing. Your Majesty, this is by far the worst tragedy in the fire service and the law enforcement service in all of Remnant history."

Then, they both heard a voice behind Ryan call out, "Delwyn?! Is that you?!"

Delwyn peered behind Ryan and immediately recognized the female voice calling out to him. "Ruby?! Oh my God, you're okay!"

Ruby immediately ran up to him and hugged him. Delwyn returned it, not caring that his outfit was getting covered in dust from Ruby's turnout gear. Ruby burst into tears, saying, "Delwyn... Oh my God..."

Delwyn then kissed her without a second thought. As Ruby returned the favor, tears still streamed down her face. Once they split, Delwyn said to her, "I'm going to give a speech. I need you to be beside me, my love."

"I will be," Ruby replied. They then both held hands as they walked to the disaster site.

Ryan asked Delwyn, "So, this is the girl you are with, Your Majesty?"

"Yes, she is," Delwyn replied as they continued to talk. "Firefighter Ruby Rose of the Vigilant Fire Company."

"Oh man. The Vigilants were hit pretty hard." Ryan the shook his head in disbelief. "How do you react to losing a couple hundred guys? How?! That isn't something you plan for, ever!" He then sighed. "This has been a rough day..."

At 5:15, the King began his speech, holding a bullhorn as he stood on a crate in front of Protection's fire station with Ruby, Assistant Fire Commissioner Roth, and Assistant Police Commissioner Darren Hassle by his side along with three bodyguards. "Now, I know this seems a bit impromptu, with me holding a bullhorn instead of being behind a podium in a press conference room or something, but I felt that I had to go down here. I had to go down here and experience this. My subjects need me down here. Anyways, I want you all to know that the entirety of Vale is behind you all. Hell, all of Remnant who stand for decency and justice is behind you all. Despite this great tragedy, we will not cower in fear and give in to hate, because the minute we do, the people that knocked these buildings down win. Now, I don't know about you, but I would rather not have them win if this is what they think winning is. Rather, we all must come together. We all need to rebuild. We all need to stand up."

After a round of applause from the many firefighters and police officers that watched, he continued, saying, "When the White Fang claimed responsibility for this cowardly attack, they asked us if we could hear their pathetic excuse for so-called "vengeance." Well, yes. I can hear you. We hear you. All of Vale hears you. All of Remnant hears you. Soon, though, you'll hear from us!" As Delwyn shouted that last part as loud as he could, the crowd applauded him and began chanting 'Long Live Vale!'

"I want to close out with this: The first responders here have gone above and beyond the call of duty today. Sadly, many have paid with their lives. However, let me be the first to tell you that their deaths were not in vain! Sure, thousands may be dead, but thousands more owe their lives right now to your work today. These buildings... These buildings held over 100,000 people each. I talked to Assistant Fire Commissioner Roth, and he has confirmed that the death toll will not exceed 20,000. That is far too many people, far too many. Even so, that's 20,000 out of over 300,000 people, and that's the absolute worst estimate. Those over 280,000 others owe their lives to you all, including the ones amongst you who made the ultimate sacrifice today. That alone means that your efforts were not in vain, right there!" The crowd went wild with applause afterwards, agreeing with him. "Vale will always stand behind its first responders and support them through thick and thin, and you can tell them that King Delwyn IV said that!"

Ruby thought to herself, "Delwyn, you've grown so much since we met. You're no longer the timid young king you once were." She stood, tall and proud, next to Delwyn.

Delwyn then took Ruby's hand as they walked into the Protection firehouse as the crowd continued to cheer for him and chant 'Long Live Vale!' Once they reached the middle of the apparatus bay, Delwyn said to her, "Ruby, are you alright?"

"Well..." Ruby became saddened. "Not really. This has been an awful day for me."

Delwyn then grabbed something out of his coat. "Ruby, I wanted to do this tomorrow, but due to the circumstances, I feel the need to do it now." He then sighed with worry as he knelt down on one knee and took Ruby's left hand before revealing what he had grabbed, a ring.

Instantly, Ruby's face lit up as, for the first time since the disaster began, she smiled. "Oh my God..."

"Ruby Rose, I love you," Delwyn began. "You are the best friend I could ever have, and the best girlfriend I could ever have. With you, I opened up, and without you, I would not be the man nor the ruler of this kingdom I am today. Every day, I picture spending my whole life with you. I know this may seem a bit pressuring to you, due to my social and political status, but forget about all that. Even if I was just a commoner, or if you were in my place, I would feel no different about you." She then presented the ring to her. "Ruby Rose, will you marry me?"

Ruby began crying again, but this time, she felt elated as she nodded and said, "Yes... Yes... Yes!" She then hugged Delwyn as she said, "I would love to!"

Yang immediately ran over and said to George, "Oh my God, my baby sister got engaged!" She smiled, too, enjoying this momentary distraction from the daunting task at hand.

George said to Yang, "That was an amazing proposal." He then held Yang's hand as they continued to watch.

A bodyguard looked at Delwyn and said to him, "Congratulations, Your Majesty."

After Ruby and Delwyn split, Delwyn put the ring on Ruby's left ring finger. He said to her, "I know this is a tough day for you. I'm glad I was able to brighten it up at least a little bit, my Queen."

Ruby laughed slightly and replied to him, "Wow... I really am going to be a queen..."

The time was around 7:45 P.M.

The entirety of the Vigilant Fire Company that had been accounted for had been returned to their station. However, they had no trucks, since Truck 201, Rescue 201, and Ambulance 201 had all been destroyed. The military had brought them back on their own apparatus instead. Delwyn had to run back to the Royal Palace to begin planning for tomorrow's operations.

As Team RWBY, minus Blake, sat in the officer's office, Weiss cleaned a brand new red helmet while sniffling, still upset at the deaths of her father, her uncle, and her sister, but putting it in the back of her mind.

Then, a soldier ran into the office, saying, "I got a message for Ruby Rose, Yang Xiao Long, and Captain Weiss Schnee."

"That would be us," Ruby replied. "What is it?"

"I...," the soldier began. "I have good news and bad news. The good news is that they just found Blake Belladonna alive and rescued her from the debris pile."

Yang immediately said, "She's alive?! Thank God!" She then breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"But... Ruby, Yang, it is with deep regret that I inform you that your father, Taiyang Xiao Long, is deceased." The soldier's mood drastically changed. "They found part of his body not too long ago."

Ruby was in disbelief. "No... No way... That's... He's alive! There's no way he's dead!" As tears welled up in her eyes, she turned to Yang and said, "Dad... Dad isn't dead, right?"

"Ruby," Yang, also now getting ready to cry, said back. "Dad's dead... Oh my God..." She then broke down and fell to the floor, sobbing uncontrollably as Ruby then joined her.

Weiss got up and said to the soldier, "I will take care of this."

All of a sudden, Yang got up off the ground, having suddenly stopped crying as she wobbled around and dunked her face into a nearby trash can before throwing up vomit into it. Ruby yelled, "Yang, what's wrong?!" She was still distraught over Taiyang's death.

The soldier said, "I'll grab a medical kit from our engine."

Yang said as she fell to the floor again and grabbed her stomach, "Ugh... Now I don't feel so good..." She was still crying. Then, she turned around and threw up into the trash can again.

"That's it," Weiss said. "I'm not taking any chances. Yang, you're going to the hospital. Now." She and a sniffling Ruby then helped a sick and weakened Yang up and out of the office. As the soldier passed by, Weis said to him, "We're bringing her to the hospital." She then turned to Denis and Theresa, who were talking amongst themselves near Denis's gear locker, "Denis, Kush, go clean the front trash can in my office. Yang threw up in it."

Theresa replied, "Got it." She and Denis then walked away to grab cleaning supplies.

The time was around 9:00 P.M.

"So," Yang asked a doctor at the hospital, surrounded by Ruby, George, Weiss, Ren, Nora (holding Leona), and Penny. "What's wrong with me, doctor? Also, how's Blake doing?" Blake happened to be in the same hospital, but on a different floor.

"Miss Belladonna is in surgery right now," the doctor replied. "So far, so good, so let's hope it stays that way. As for you, well, you don't have any food poisoning or anything weird in your bodily fluids."

Yang breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Thank God..."

"But, we did find something in your urine sample." The doctor then showed her the urine results. "Look at the hCG levels."

"Wait a minute," Yang said in disbelief. "These hCG levels... Doctor, am..."

"Yang Xiao Long," the doctor said. "You are pregnant."

George, shocked, said, "Wait... Pregnant?! Oh my God..."

Yang did not know how to process the news. It was supposed to be happy news, but due to the day's events, she did not know what to think of it. "I... George..." She then looked at her boyfriend. "Honey, we're gonna be parents..."

Ren said to Yang, "Welcome to my world, Yang." He then turned to Leona and gave her a kiss, his infant daughter giggling in response.

"Oh my God," Ruby said. "If only Dad was here..." Ruby and Yang then both began to slightly cry again.

"It isn't fair," Weiss replied. "I know life is never fair, but this is going too God damn far."

Then, Jaune and Sun walked in. Sun said, "Hey, guys." As everyone said hi in response, Jaune walked in and gave Weiss a hug, tears streaming from her eyes. "Well, today has been... Something..."

"I heard the news," Jaune told Weiss. "Damn it, that's rough..." He was deeply concerned for Weiss.

Back at Taiyang's house, Raven was watching the T.V., having gotten done with her sobbing and crying not too long ago. As she did, she heard the front door open.

Qrow walked into the house, not expecting the lights to be on and hearing the T.V. Sensing a presence, he asked, "Who's there?! The man that owns this house is dead!"

Raven got up from the kitchen table and walked in the front living room. "Qrow..."

Qrow immediately took a step back, shocked to see his dead sister standing in front of her. "Is... Is this some kind of sick joke?!"

"No," Raven replied. "I got a second chance, brother. It's me, Raven."

"No, this can't be real." Qrow was still in disbelief. "I buried you! I saw your head chopped off!"

Raven grabbed the shovel she had used to dig up her own grave, which she had left in the living room. "I used this to dig up my own empty grave. Brother, I came back, and when I did, my old body disappeared. I will literally show you my grave, Qrow."

"I will prove to you that she is dead, imposter!" Qrow then raced out of the house and got into his captain's car. Raven quickly ran behind him and got in the front seat next to him.

When they reached the cemetery, Raven pointed to her grave and said, "See?! I dug it up!"

Qrow and Raven quickly got out of the car and saw the partially dug up grave. "What?! What happened?!"

"Peer down that hole and see that there is no body," Raven told Qrow. As he did, his mouth opened in shock. "See?"

"Prove to me you're Raven," Qrow said. "What did Tai make me wear on the first day at Beacon?" Qrow was sure this "Raven imposter" would not know this.

"A female uniform, complete with a skirt." Raven stunned Qrow, who was finally beginning to accept her as the real Raven.

"No way... You are Raven..." Qrow then began to cry as he hugged her. "Oh my God... Raven, I missed you..." It was rare for Qrow to cry, even when he was drunk.

"I know, I know," Raven replied as she returned the hug. After they split, Raven said to him, "Qrow, I came back because Ruby and Yang need me now more than ever with their father dead. I need to reestablish my life and watch over them. I cannot screw things up again." Raven was dead serious. It was going to take a lot of work to get her life started again, but she and Qrow knew that it was necessary and that Ruby and Yang needed her now more than ever before.

Weiss and Jaune talked to each other outside of Yang's room. "So, you're the 1st Captain now, huh?"

"I'm afraid so," Weiss replied. "I've always wanted to be Captain, but never like this. This is awful." She then leaned on Jaune and sighed, holding his hand. "Jaune, thank you for being here with me."

"You're welcome, Weiss," Jaune replied. He thought to himself, "I feel so helpless... Weiss is going through so much at once, and I feel like an outsider, even though I'm her boyfriend! Ugh... What do I do?"

"Jaune," Weiss told him. "Have I mentioned to you yet that you complete my life?"

Jaune was taken aback a bit by this. He replied with, "Well... Not in words, but you've always shown me that through your actions..."

Weiss smiled and hugged him, saying, "I'm glad you're in my life, Jaune. You have no idea how much your support means to me right now." Jaune returned the hug with a short kiss before hugging Weiss as well.