By the time Nouvs came back to his senses, he found himself inside what he assumed to be the giant whale Grimm Hayden's sensors had been following. the Hound still had him dangling by the collar of his armor, and was sitting obediently near Salem's throne (he could tell it was Salem's because he saw her pale arm resting on it). He then heard maniacal laughter as Tyrian appeared, eyeing the Sentinel over with a wicked grin.
"Well, well, well" he chuckled, "Of all the places I expected you to be...I must admit, here was not one of them."
"Go to hell" Novus growled.
This only seemed to amuse Tyrian, who chuckled some more, "I think Hell has other ideas."
Novus clenched his fists, but then Salem's hand raised, silencing Tyrian, who obediently backed away as Salem herself rose to face Novus.
"I had sent my Hound to retrieve young Julius" she said as she approached him, "But instead it brings back the son of my greatest enemy."
"Surprised?" Novus taunted.
"A little bit, I will admit. However, I'm not disappointed."
"If you plan on using me as a hostage, it won't work."
Salem looked amused. "And why is that?"
"You don't know my allies like I do" Novus replied, "Someone will come here and tear this place apart."
Salem simply chuckled. "Let them come. I'll be ready."
She then leaned closer to Novus's face. "You really think anyone will be able to stop me?"
Novus simply responded by reaching with his free arm and punching Salem in the face. Salem recoiled back from the blow, massaging her jaw.
Novus chuckled. "That felt good."
Salem growled in anger before raising her hand and firing bolts of multicolored lightning from her hands. The bolts struck Novus in the chest, and he groaned in pain.
"Put him in one of the cells" Salem commanded the Hound, "I'll see to it Hazel softens him up a bit."
As the Hound turned away, Novus shouted out. "You won't win! All you're doing is delaying the inevitable; my father will rip you apart!"
Salem ordered the Hound to stop before moving with insane speed to Novus and glaring at him and grabbing him by the neck.
"You have no idea" she hissed, "I've recently made an alliance, and will soon be able to avoid even that death."
Novus didn't seem fazed much. "With Hell? Forget it; you've already lost."
Salem shocked him with magic again. "You know what? Keep him up here. I want him to see Atlas fall firsthand."
The Hound walked Novus over to the throne and dropped him next to it, where Salem summoned multiple Grimm arms to hold him in place.
"It's almost time" she said, "Now I may have lost Cinder to your "Maidens", but that changes nothing. Watts has been constructing a new army that will soon be at my disposal, and with the combined might of it and my Grimm, not even the Night Sentinels will be able to resist.
Novus was in disbelief...at how cocky Salem was. There was no way she thought that a massive army of demons and Grimm could possibly bring down the armies of Sentinel Prime. As the Monstro suddenly lurched forward, Novus realized they were going to be here soon, and hoped that he would be able to get out of here by the time the hammer came down, and that hammer was now beginning to fall.
...
As all this happened, Ironwood, Robyn, Qrow, and Ekaj were discussing their next move in Ironwood's office, with Hayden participating over a call. The consensus was for the message to be broadcasted from Amity as originally planned, then send the military out to face Salem's forces alongside the Champions and Happy Huntresses and hope they would hold out long enough for the Night Sentinels to arrive.
"How long would that even take?" Ironwood asked.
Ekaj chuckled. "They've been preparing to come here the second the barrier was destroyed. Trust me, all they're waiting for is the right moment to trap Salem in a situation she can't escape from."
"I trust they'll do their part" Robyn added.
"Wait" Hayden said, his voice suddenly worried, "something's wrong."
"What else is new?" Qrow sarcastically remarked.
Hayden continued. "I've just received word from Julius that Novus has been captured. Not only that, but Amity is under attack."
Robyn gasped in shock. "No! Not Damian! I have to go get him!"
"No!" Ekaj interrupted. "You're too important. I'll go."
Robyn glared at the serpent. "I appreciate the offer, but he's my son. I'm NOT letting Salem keep her hands on him. You, however, should take care of the situation at Amity."
"I'll send a fighter patrol over there as well." Ironwood added, "That message could mean the difference between victory and defeat right now."
"What about Mantle?" Qrow asked.
"It's secure" Hayden replied, "The Grimm have been driven out."
"Good" Robyn said, "VEGA, open a portal to my son."
A blue vortex appeared and Robyn ran through before anyone could stop her. The portal then closed behind her.
"She's got guts" Qrow observed, his eyes wide in surprise at the thought that Robyn just ran into Salem's domain without a second thought, "I'm starting to see how the big guy fell for her."
"I just hope the other Sentinels are like that." Ironwood added.
"Oh, they are." Ekaj said, "Now, I have other business to attend to. VEGA, get me to Amity!"
A second vortex appeared and Ekaj dashed through. Qrow decided to follow behind as Ironwood immediately began mobilizing his troops in his office. The defense of Atlas had officially begun.
...
Ekaj and Qrow emerged onto the floor of the arena in time to see Ruby get smacked through the air by the Mancubus, with Penny trapped underneath its foot. Katrina dashed around the Arachnotron, which kept her on edge with its laser cannon, which Neo was trying to hack at with the blade in her parasol. Pietro and Maria sat nearby as Pietro concentrated at getting Amity high enough to broadcast.
"Ok, I thought the Grimm were ugly" Qrow said, "but that's on a whole new level."
"You get used to it" Ekaj hissed, "I got the Arachnotron, you take care of the fat one."
With the plan set, the two dashed in separate directions, with Ekaj darting in front of the Arachnotron, the chaingun on his tail unleashing a volley of plasma on the demon. Neo opened her parasol to deflect the rounds that came her direction, shooting the serpent an annoyed look.
Meanwhile, Qrow ran in front of the Mancubus, deflecting one of its heat rounds with his sword. Ruby lit up as she saw her uncle.
"Qrow!" she shouted. Roman stood next to her as he helped her up.
"Bout time someone came to help" Roman remarked, "That fat-ass just refuses to die."
Qrow raised his sword. "Well then, let's just hit it harder."
Before anyone could say anything, Qrow dashed forward, shifting to bird mode to avoid the demon's attacks before turning back to a human right in front of it, driving his sword through its belly. The demon roared and gurgled in pain, but it didn't seem to be falling quite yet, making Qrow growl in annoyance.
"Um, a little help?" Penny asked, still struggling underneath the monster's foot. Qrow responded by drawing his sword out of the Mancubus's belly and slicing at its foot, which forced it to back off, freeing Penny as the demon's foot and belly dripped with blood. However, it was clear the wounds were healing.
"This isn't working!" Penny shouted, "I'm not sure how much longer we'll be able to hold them."
Ruby's face remained determined. "We can't give up. Everyone below is counting on us!"
Roman was panting in exhaustion. "Yeah, well, we're running out of options, Red!"
Ruby then got an idea. She held her scythe up, glaring at the Mancubus. She could also see Katirna, Ekaj, and Neo battling the Arachnotron on the other side of the arena. She then closed her eyes, focusing on her friends. When her eyes opened again, a burst of silver light shot from them as her power activated. The Mancubus immediately stumbled back, screeching in pain as the light burned its skin. The Arachnotron was also caught in the blast, and bean to stumble around, stunned.
Ruby smiled as she raised her scythe to attack, only to stop as a few snowflakes drifted past her face. Confused, she looked up just in time to see a gleaming white figure drop down, landing between her and the Mancubus. The figure was coated in shining white armor, with his sword glowing a bright blue. Ruby gasped in surprise; somehow, she was bale to sense a certain energy coming from him that told her that this man was a Night Sentinel.
The warrior faced the Mancubus before planting his sword in the ground. Much to everyone's surprise, a glyph formed under it as the Sentinel summoned a massive, armored dragon and pointed at the demon. The dragon rushed forward, and the last thing the Mancubus saw was a massive mouth filled with teeth before the dragon quickly ripped the monster apart.
Everyone watching was in shock...except Roman.
"I'm sorry" he remarked, "but where was he this whole time?!"
The Sentinel took no notice of the comment as he dashed with incredible speed to attack the Arachnotron. The demon turned to face him, firing with its plasma gun. However, the shots seemed to bounce off as the warrior thrust his sword forward, driving it right into the creature's brain. A blue web of energy crackled around the demon's body as the energy from the sword quickly killed it from the inside and it slumped to the ground, dead.
Katrina breathed a sigh of relief. "Finally..."
Neo patted her shoulder as she attempted to catch her breath. Meanwhile, the newcomer looked around at the others.
"Is anyone hurt?" he asked.
Ruby nodded. "It's nothing too bad. Thanks for coming to help."
The warrior nodded in return. "Anything for a friend of my grandaughter's"
Ruby looked confused before thinking back to the glyph he had summoned...and how familiar it looked.
The warrior chuckled as he seemed to read Ruby's mind and took off his helmet, revealing a man with flowing white hair and a beard.
"Commander Nicholas Schnee of the Champions of Atlas." he said with a small bow. "At your service."
Ruby stood in amazement as she realized she was now facing Weiss's grandfather. That surprise was cut short by Pietro announcing. "We made it!"
Maria laughed. "And just in the nick of time too."
Pietro shared that laugh. "Now, let's get this thing broadcasted for everyone to hear!"
Pietro pressed a few buttons, and soon every screen in Remnant changed to show a video of Ruby and Julius standing in front of it.
Ruby spoke first. "Oh, um hi. My name is Ruby Rose and this is my brother, Julius. The two of us are Huntsmen, and if everything's done right, then we're talking to all of Remnant right now. Dr. Polendina and Dr. Hayden can explain more later, but right now all you need to know is that the city of Atlas is under attack. Things are dire. and we need help. But please, try not to panic. This isn't some new enemy or invading Kingdom. This is a force we've faced for centuries...Salem. The White Fang, Atlesian drones, even the Grimm have all been controlled and manipulated by her in order to tear down the Huntsmen Academies. I know the idea of the Relics and Maidens seems...crazy, but I've seen these powers at work firsthand; they are very much real. Professor Goodwitch of Beacon and Professor Theodore of Shade can verify this claim.
Julius steps forward. "We didn't have time to prepare for Salem, but now you do! Just because Salem can't be destroyed doesn't mean she can't be beaten. If she really was unstoppable, then she wouldn't have acted with such caution until now! She knows we're a threat, so even if Atlas falls, we can't give up! And besides, there is someone who can destroy Salem, and he has been on our side for as long as the war on Salem has lasted. It's only a matter of time before he shows up, but that doesn't mean we should stand by and watch!"
All over Remnant, people were watching the broadcast as it played. Coco and her team watched from their dorm in Shade. Raven and Vernal watched from their camp. Julius and the others watched from Mantle. The four Maidens even watched from Hayden's lab as they watched over Cinder's holding cell.
Julius continued. "I know we have our differences, but we have a common enemy! We need to put all rivalries aside and unite against this threat. Only then can we truly defeat her long enough for the Doom Slayer to finish the job! I'm not ordering anything. I'm only asking that if any of you have even a sliver of goodness in you...please...help us in our darkest hour!"
With that, the broadcast finished, and everyone in Amity breathed a collective sigh of relief.
"What now?" Katrina asked.
"We wait" Ruby replied, "And pray that someone actually listened to our message."
She had no idea what that message was about to do...
Let me know what you think so far!