You know the drill.
"Talking"
'Thinking'
"Pokedex"
Pokemon Moves
'Telepathy'
Flashback
"Narrator/Singing"
Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY or Pokemon
Chapter:72 On Thin Line
Ironwood overlooks the City of Atlas from his office. Manta airships fly by. Someone is heard clearing their throat.
"Sir, we have confirmation that Doctor Watts has escaped military headquarters with the assistance of Cinder Fall," One of the commanders said.
"What about the others?" Ironwood asked him as the pair of Atlas officers stand at attention with nervous looks on their faces. Sweat drips down the side of the commander's face as she addresses the remaining prisoners statuses.
"Sir, Branwen, Hill and Schnee... evaded capture," The commander said.
Atlas soldiers are shown scouring the wreckage of Cinder's break-in to retrieve Watts. A soldier lifts up some debris revealing a crow, which flies into the air before transforming into Qrow, who tackles the soldier to the ground. Hunch also came out of the rubble and used Night Slash on one of them.
"But we are monitoring every exit, so they must still be inside the compound," The commander voiced over.
Another soldier lifts up some debris, revealing Robyn. She lifts her head up as the soldier points his gun at her.
"Hands up! We're moving you to another--" He was cut off when a polar bear with a beard of ice came out the rubble and punched the soldier away while Qrow chokes out another soldier.
Jacques also came out of the rubble and saw the polar bear offering its hand for him.
"Thank you Stalactite," Jacques said as he take his Pokémon's hand and the five quickly escaped.
Back in the office, Ironwood angrily slams his left fist on his desk.
"Damn it!" Ironwood said angrily as he huffs before composing himself. "Search everywhere for them. Do not return to this office until you have Qrow Branwen in custody."
"Of course sir," The commander said as the pair of officers salute before leaving. Ironwood turns around to look outside the large window again. He sighs as he brings his fingers up to his ear to talk into his comlink.
"What's the status of our--"
Suddenly, a series of bright flashes occur outside his window, before a massive explosion is seen engulfing Monstra. The explosion shines so bright as the light is seen engulfing Ironwood's office.
Down on the battlefield, Winter leads the charge as the Ace Operatives carry the bomb that was to blow up Monstra, before they are knocked back from the explosion.
At the Schnee Manor, Weiss enters her room carrying a plate of bread, soup and a drink, but she drops it in shock upon seeing the bright explosion occurring outside her window. Nora, Monarch, and Klein also watch the explosion from the bedside.
The explosion further reaches into the City of Atlas, knocking back and obliterating some Lancers. The entire scene is engulfed in a bright light.
In the explosion's aftermath, Monstra is seen starting to dissipate. The morning sun shines through the particles of the slain Grimm. Through the dust, Neo can be seen happily skipping away from the Grimm with the Relic of Knowledge in her possession while Roman was beside her with their Pokémons behind them.
Elsewhere, Winter gets up to witness the quiet battlefield.
"Is everyone all right?" Winter said to everyone.
"No injuries here," Vine said.
"What?!" Elm shouted as the blasts made her ear rang.
"They... They were still inside," Marrow said with guilt till they received a call from Ironwood on their comms.
"Target destroyed. Good work. But no time to celebrate. Return to the Academy at once. We've got a new problem."
"But... that wasn't us," Marrow said.
"Then we can tell him in person. Load it back up, we're leaving," Winter said as they quickly put back the bomb back inside their ship.
On the roof of a skyscraper in Atlas, Cinder and Watts stare at the disintegrating carcass of Monstra.
"Did... Did anyone respond?" He asked Cinder as she glanced at her Scroll.
"No," She said.
"Well, she'll come back. In the interim we need a plan," Watts said.
"Plan? The plan hasn't changed," Cinder said as she walks a few distance away. "I'm going to rip the Maiden power out of Penny Polendina, because you're going to bring her to me."
"I beg your pardon?"
"You said in your message that you have control over Penny."
"I said I had Penny under control, not that I could telekinetically force her to do whatever I want," Watts said as Cinder turns towards him, looking irritated.
"What?"
"I implanted a virus in her, you dimwit. She's on a set path now. At least, she should be. As much as I hate to admit it, there seems to be some part of her capable of resisting," Watts said as he turns away. "Regardless, it's only the matter of time before her mechanical body succumbs to the virus. She'll open the Vault, then she'll destroy herself and our little Penny problem will be do--"
Suddenly, Cinder's Shadow Hand lashes forward, grabs Watts by the collar and pulls him toward her.
"What do you mean, she'll destroy herself? How am I supposed to take her power if she's dead?!" She yelled at him.
"You know, it's impressive that you haven't realized this yet, but I don't work for you!" Watts rebutted as Cinder extends her arm again, hanging Watts off the edge of the roof. "Please. You can't just threaten me like everyone else."
"You think you're so clever, don't you, Arthur?" She said as she walks over to him.
"Salem sent you to bring me back-"
"Salem isn't here right now, but I think we can still come up with a plan while she's pulling herself together. First, I'm going to watch you plummet to an unremarkable end. And then I'm going to burn a path directly to the Vault where I will wait to tear that magical puppet to pieces," She extends her Shadow Hand further, dangling Watts in the air high above the streets of Atlas. "And take... what is mine."
Cinder conjures a flame in her free hand, smiling confidently, but her smile quickly fades as Watts starts laughing.
"Oh, of course you are! Because that's just what you do, isn't it?" Watt said as he willingly lets go of Cinder's Shadow Hand, as if he is allowing Cinder to drop him. "And how has that worked out for you? You stormed into Fria's room, thinking you can take on Ironwood's top fighter and war machine. But you couldn't."
This made Cinder remember that battle between her, Winter and Penny and lost.
"And that machine became the Winter Maiden. Oh, and let's not forget your deal with Raven Branwen."
She then remembered her defeat from the hands of the bandit leader.
"Get all your enemies in one place so you'd have a shot at revenge. If only someone could have warned you against such a miserable idea. Oh wait, I did! But you pushed ahead and you lost it, when all you had to do was your job!"
Cinder's expression becomes increasingly angry; her Maiden powers form a vortex of orange energy around her.
"You think you're entitled to everything just because you've suffered, but suffering isn't enough!"
Then she remembered the one thing she wished she forgets, her childhood. The pain she had received from those days ago that she wanted to be gone.
"You can't just be strong, you have to be smart! You can't just be deserving, you have to be worthy! But all you have ever been, is a bloody migrane!"
Cinder screams in rage, but instead of dropping Watts, she drags him back, releases him and walks away, breathing heavily. She sits on the edge of the roof, a tear in her eye. Behind her, Watts exhales heavily.
Yang, Ren, Jaune, Pyrrha, Randy, Nomad, U. Pikachu, Oscar and Emerald are left at what remains of Monstra. As the large Grimm decays into the sky above, Yang gets a video call on her scroll and answers it to see it was Blake, who is biting her finger nail in concern. She brightens up when she sees Yang answers the call.
"Blake?" Yang said.
"Yang! Are you okay? Where are you?" Blake asked in worry.
"Yeah, we're fine. Is everyone there all right?" Jaune asked.
"We're... alive. This'll help though. Guys! They're okay," Blake said to to others on her side of the Scroll.
Oscar gets up as Ren and Noamd tries to help him. They look over at Emerald on her knees not too far away, all alone.
"What do we do about her?" Oscar asked.
"Hazel," Emerald muttered as she looks down at her empty palms as black flakes from the dead Grimm fall around her.
"I'm sending you a map. You're in the agricultural area. Just head to this access point to reach the red line subway tunnel then follow the route I've drawn for you," Weiss said.
"Got it. We'll see you soon," Jaune said.
"Just tell the others to not worry a lot," Randy said as Blake waves and the call ends.
Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren, Yang, Oscar, U. Pikachu, Randy and Nomad are walking through the dark subway tunnel. Emerald is walking ahead of them with her hands up in the air. Yang and Nomad have their weapons trained on Emerald with Yang keeping one hand on her. Yang held Emerald's guns on her other hand while Nomad kept a wary look on the thief. Meanwhile, Ren, Pyrrha and Jaune are using their Scrolls as flashlights.
"You can't be serious. You want us to work with her?" Yang questioned the farmhand.
"She's right little man, this is a little too quick," Nomad said in agreement.
"I'm just saying it makes the most sense. We're all enemies of Salem, including her," Oscar said to them.
"No, I'm with blondie and the big guy. You don't like me, I don't like you. So how about we just part ways and you never have to see me again," Emerald said.
"You're not going anywhere. Not after everything you've done," Jaune said.
"Especially if you're still with Cinder," Pyrrha said.
"We can't let all of our actions stem from fear. If she could help us, I think we should consider it," Ren said as he looks towards Emerald and he sees purple petals flicker around her with his semblance.
"She is part of the reason I have this," Yang said as she held up her prosthetic arm. "I'm not going to just forgive her. Everything that happened at Beacon... She lied to us, tricked us. She is dangerous."
"You don't have to forgive her. You have every reason to feel that way. Just maybe give her a second chance. We've already gotten quite a bit of help today from someone we don't exactly trust right now," Oscar said.
"Do you mean Ozpin," Ren guessed as Oscar becomes surprised and looks back at Ren. "I had a feeling."
The group stops walking. Yang, Ren, Pyrrha, Jaune, Randy and Nomad circle around Oscar and U. Pikachu.
"Wait, what?" Yang said.
"Since when?" Nomad said.
"Oz is back?" Jaune said.
"Did he do anything?" Pyrrha said.
"I know how you feel but he saved my life. When we were tortured, he took it. So I wouldn't have to. He entrusted me with this, and the massive amount of power he had stored up in it," Oscar said as he held out The Long Memory. "Kinetic energy that he spent lifetime after lifetime accumulating in the cane he built."
"So that's how you did that? Using all of the stored up power," Jaune said.
"Not all, but most. We have to be careful with how we use the rest. He trusted my judgment and it saved us. I want to reciprocate that trust. There's a lot to sort out, but... Oz really wants to help," Oscar said as he retracts the cane and places it on his back.
'Thank you Oscar,' Ozpin said in appreciation.
The group hears the echo of a baby crying, and decide to run towards the noise.They come across a large group of Atlas citizens taking refuge in the subway.The lights are occasionally flickering as vibrations are felt from the grimm attacks overhead.
"All of Atlas is down here," Jaune said.
"Just what is the General thinking," Randy said.
"I've seen what you can do, Emerald. However this fight ends, we could really use someone like you," Oscar said to the former thief.
Unbeknownst to them, something is following them with a pair of black beady eyes.
Back in Ironwood's office, the general is interacting with holographic interfaces above his table as the Ace Ops make their entry. He looks towards and smiles at all of them.
"It's about time. While we dealt a decisive blow to Salem today--"
"Actually that wasn't our payload, sir. I brought it back with us," Winter cuts in as Ironwood gets a surprised expression on his face.
"Then who could have...?" Ironwood mutters as he brushes his hand against his chin. "But you still have it. This may be useful. Penny still hasn't come to the Vault, meaning Watts was either incompetent or he betrayed us. At this point, we'll never know. Cinder Fall has attacked command and escaped with him. And that's not all we've lost."
"Sir?"
"Qrow, Jacques and Robyn have also escaped."
Harriet gets an angry expression on her face as her eyes begin to glow gold and emits electricity. She turns to begin searching for the escapees, but Ironwood stops her with a motion.
"Salem's creature was destroyed, but that doesn't mean we've stopped her. She will return and she will throw everything she has at us until there is nothing left. And we are perilously close to that already. I need the Winter Maiden, now. It's the only way Atlas can survive. Schnee, bring me Arc, Nikos, Ren, Xiao Long, Ryunosuke and Midway," Ironwood said as Winter grew nervous.
"What for, sir?"
"I had Qrow in my hands and I didn't do what needed to be done. I will not make that mistake again. I know. I'm ashamed I didn't think of it earlier. Leveraging the lives of her friends is the only way to make Penny listen to reason."
"Sir. I'm sorry, but we don't have them. Operative Schnee let them go," Harriet said as Ironwood looks at Winter in disbelief.
"You what?"
Winter looks down at the floor with guilt as Harriet explains.
"Winter allowed them to go on board the creature to rescue their friend and they never came back."
Ironwood lets his hand off Winter's shoulder and walks back to his table.
"They were our last chance... Now... Now I have NOTHING!!" Ironwood yelled in anger as he smashes the table. The holographs flicker, then fade.
"Sir! We are detecting non-military ships on radar, dozens of them!" An officer said from the comms.
"Ships? Whose ships?"
"They appear to be Schnee Dust Company freighters, sir. They're heading straight for Mantle."
On one of Ironwood's holographic interfaces on his desk, he sees the freighters leaving Atlas and heading down to Mantle.
"Weiss... I see. They're trying to save Mantle. This has always been about Mantle, hasn't it? I need to make a call," Ironwood said.
The camera cuts to Watts adjusting his necktie and walking towards Cinder. She pulls out her Scroll to see a message.
"Your boss won't stay dead. But you will without this." It then showed a photo of Roman and Neo having the Lamp with them while their Pokémon are behind them. Cinder angrily growls.
"Who is it? Did someone survive?" Watts asked.
"If you want her name, then you better do your end of the bargain."
Ruby opens the door of Schnee Manor, Weiss, Eis, Blake, Vic and Mel at her side. Yang, Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren, Randy and Nomad are seen standing. Ruby jumps into Yang's arms as they happily hug each other. Ruby began crying tears of joy as she looks at her sister, who smiled back at her.
"I missed you too," Yang said as she then hugs Weiss as Ruby goes to greet the others. Yang then spots Blake, standing with her cat ears lowered. Yang holds the side of Blake's face, blushing, before the two touch foreheads.
"Where's Nora?" Ren asked in worry.
Weiss walks towards Ren as Ruby watches her doing so. Ruby turns to Oscar.
"Oscar, you--" Ruby goes to hug Oscar, stopping when she notices Emerald with him. As Ruby reaches for her weapon, Emerald reaches for her own guns holstered behind her. Oscar stands between the two.
"No, she's okay. I can--" He was cut off whenRuby hears a notification from her scroll. May is calling from Mantle.
"Kids, the cargo ships you sent just made it but they're not alone."
"May? What are you talking about?" Ruby questions.
"Oh my gods, run! Everyone, into the mines!"
"Were those...?" Blake was about to say till everyone hears alarm blaring. Yang and Blake cover their ears when hearing them. Everyone takes out their scroll.
"This is an emergency CCT broadcast"
All CCT's and Scrolls across Atlas show the SDC freighters being shot down by Atlesian Mantas.
"What's going on?" Yang said while Weiss and Eis looked horrified.
"Those ships, they were going to save people! Why would--"
The broadcast changes to show Ironwood standing in the center of a dark room, under a spotlight.
"I have always promised to defend this Kingdom. Its technology, its future, from those who would see it destroyed. Our enemy is crippled, but one individual still denies Atlas its salvation. The Protector of Mantle," Ironwood said as Ruby, Blake, Yang and Vic became displeased as everyone watches. He then continues. "Penny, wherever you and your friends are, I need you all to listen. I know how much Mantle means to you, so I'm going to give you a choice. You can bring yourself to Atlas Academy and do your duty, help me save as much of Atlas as I can, and Mantle will be left to fend for itself. Or... you can all watch as I destroy it."
Weiss and Mel gasps in shock at Ironwood's ultimatum.
"I have one bomb. That's all it will take."
Elsewhere in Atlas, Watts and Cinder watch Ironwood's ultimatum before they look at each other.
"If there is no Mantle then there is no reason for you not to work with me. Neither of us want it to come to that, but one of us is willing to do it. If anyone tries anything other than what I've ordered, Mantle... is gone. You have one hour to respond."
In Weiss's bedroom, Nora, now recovered but worried, watches Ironwood's ultimatum to Penny with Monarch before she looks at Penny who is still unconscious.
"I hope you live up to the title I gave you."
Omake:
More About Team VRMN: Semblance
"Hello there," Vic then showed up with the rest of his team on a small room with a blackboard just behind them. "This part of the chapter will be us showing how our Semblance work."
"Because we know some of you guys are confused to what you have read on the past chapters and now," Mel said.
"So let us tell you how our Semblance so you won't be confused of how we use them," Randy said.
"So let's get right into it," Nomad said as the four bump fists with one another, and Vic took the center.
"So why is my Semblance called Blazing Conquest?" Vic said as he move aside to show the blackboard. "Well it is called that because I can boosts my allies with my own Aura, but not as good as Jaune's."
Then there was a drawing of a stick figure holding a staff with the tip surging to the others.
"I also need a way to direct my Aura to the others since my Semblance is really uncontrollable like a fire and would hit an enemy instead. That is why my weapon is an Aura conductor and I could control where my Aura would go."
Then a drawing of a stick figure with flames and question marks surrounding it is on the board.
"So what is with the fire? Well you could've guessed already, I have a small connection with Reshiram while Nora have a small connection with Zekrom. But for the most parts, it's mainly for design."
Vic then get out of the way as Mel then took the center.
"Now let's talk about my Semblance," Mel said. "Sonicboom just helps me improve my vocals as it would make my voice box more durable with my Aura, so I could let out my signature shouts."
The blackboard then showed a stick figure firing a gun and using a whip, with both causing a shockwave.
"Like Vic, my weapon is an Aura conductor, which means every time I shoot or use my whip, it always results in a shockwave. I even thought of using other weapons as well, but we are kinda busy as you can see."
The blackboard then showed a confident looking stick figure taking on a shockwave.
"As a benefit, my Semblance greatly improves my hearing while also making it durable so I won't go deaf. What I couldn't take are more high pitched sound, so along the same sound type as a dog whistle."
Mel then left as a smoke bomb appeared on the center and blew up, before Randy appeared on the middle.
"Now let's talk about my Semblance: Specter," Randy said. "Its basically gave me some abilities of a ghost like going invisible, passing through walls and a small amount of telekinesis. Of course, those abilities would take a lot of my Aura if I used it for too long."
The blackboard then showed a stick figure being surrounded by small wisps.
"My Specter Form is also one of my abilities that would let me use my other abilities with more focus. While I could create weapons without that Form, but I would make it faster with a costs of more Aura."
The blackboard then showed a stick figure lying down with a massive X over it.
"I will not, I repeat, I WILL not try and kill myself to see if I can still be alive while my Semblance is active. I am not that crazy to do that."
Randy then did a handsign, before switching places with Nomad with his arms crossed.
"Lastly my Semblance," Nomad said as he put his hands on his hips. "Reflection is basically me taking a hit and returning all the damage like Counter, the harder the hit the more powerful I send it back."
The blackboard then showed a stick figure being blown away by an explosion.
"Now this is one of my biggest weakness, I can't take on range attacks. The reason for this is I need to take a hit so I could hit back harder and with how my Semblance work, my weapon aren't that much effective for it since I need to convert all of those damage to energy. And I don't want a big weapon because it would make me a bigger target."
The blackboard then showed a tired looking stick figure.
"Now here is why I don't want a heavy weapon. If I take too much damage then my Aura would sooner break from how much I took, so I need to move around to regain back some before going back to battle. I'm not a tank like Jaune and Yang, so I can't be in battle the whole time."
The four then gathered in the middle while blackboard was moved away.
"And that is it, I hope you learned something today and we might do it another time with a different subject, so we might see each other on the next one," Vic said.
"Don't forget to like and follow this story and we might be innovated enough to do more omakes like this," Mel said.
"For now, we bid our farewell," Randy said.
"Goodbye!" Nomad said as the four of them wave goodbye.
Omake end
And that is it for that chapter.
The end of Volume 8 is nearing and the for the next story to be made. The time of publishing for that story is different with more time for me to create more afterwards. One every week is kinda too fasts so I might do one every three weeks or one every month.
On a side note, I would take the next story with the character having the lives I created after some searching and comparisons, so might be wondering along the way how it went like that.
And that is all that I have to say, and just like Mel said; like and follow the story as I continue it till the entire Volume 9 comes out on the wiki, so I could continue this story more.
For now, I'll see you guys on the next chapter.
Vic out Peace.