Seeing Red.
At the Argus base, the Atlesian guards watch the screen as Cordovin's Colossus is seen trying to swipe at the airship Maria and Oscar are in.
"You just couldn't keep this rivalry between us, could you, Calavera?! You had to rope in children to fail with you!" Cordovin said.
The guards cheer on their boss as she fires another shot from the mech's arm cannon. Unbeknownst to them, a red dot appears on one of the radar's screens approaching Argus.
Back at the cliffside, Lyre was holding on to the wall for dear life, having narrowly avoided being crushed by the giant robot's hand.
"Lyre!" Weiss called out in worry.
Lyre eventually makes her back up to the top of the cliff by using her claws and semblance to climb back up. She regroups with the rest.
Weiss quickly grabbed her shoulders "Are you ok? Are you hurt?".
"I'm fine, but man that was scary" Lyre said.
Oscar spoke over comms "Ruby, can you hear me? Are you guys okay?".
"Are we okay?!" Ruby asked a little annoyed.
"I know, we were supposed to lay low, but listen! I think I finally found a weakness!" Oscar said.
"Well, we're all ears" Ruby and her friends notice Nora helping Jaune and Bernadetta over.
"Guys!" Ren runs over to his teammates relived.
"The cylinder on Cordo's cannon rotates and locks in a giant Dust cartridge every time she changes attack styles" Oscar said.
"We noticed" Weiss said.
"Right, but her missile launcher doesn't lock in, it pops out! Without her shields, one well-placed shot could detonate the missiles while they're still in the launcher!" Oscar said.
"We could destroy the entire cannon... Oscar, that's brilliant!" Jaune said.
"Can you... make that kind of shot?" Nora asked.
"We'll only get one chance before she catches on. I'd have to be practically staring down the barrel of her cannon" Ruby said.
"Well, I've got a way to guarantee that" Maria flies the airship back over to Ruby's group. She stops with the hatch doors open. Ruby runs forward.
"Ruby, what are you doing?!" Qrow asked in worry.
Ruby hops into the airship and heads off to do her part. The others watch the airship heading towards Cordo's mech. Ruby smiles at Maria and Oscar.
In the mech, one of the screens has a popup message saying "ARGUS BASE INCOMING CALL". Cordovin notices this, but her attention is then drawn away.
"Hey, Cordo! I've got one missile left and I know exactly where I'm gonna stick it!" Maria said
"One missile you say? That's a shame, Maria, because I have plenty!" Cordovin has the missile launcher pop out from the mech's arm cannon while Maria continues flying toward her.
"ARE YOU TWO CRAZY?!" Oscar screamed.
"Sometimes the best approach is simply the most direct!" Maria declared.
As the airship moves closer, Ruby gets into position and aims at Cordovin's mech cannon. Cordovin gasps as she pulls up a screen, noticing Ruby and catching on to her plan "You!".
Ruby pulls the trigger, but suddenly, the missile launcher retracts back into the arm cannon and the bullet is deflected. Everyone gasps in shock.
"You thought you could fool me?!" Cordovin readies the arm cannon again, this time about to fire a lightning Dust attack.
"Pull up!" Oscar shouts
Maria pulls up the airship, but it still gets partially caught in the blast. The rest of the group on the cliff move out of the way. The airship is affected by the electricity, and Maria screams in pain as her prosthetic eyes close shut.
"I can't see! My eyes!" Maria cries out.
"No, no, no!" Oscar shouts in panic.
"Take control!" Maria ordered.
Oscar grabs the joystick as he barely gains control of the airship "We're gonna crash! We're gonna CRASH!".
The rest of the group emerge from the smoke on the cliffside, coughing.
"Look!" Jaune said.
The group watches as the airship crash lands into the forest.
"RUBY!" Lucina shouts.
As Weiss gasps, Qrow runs and transforms into his avian form and flies over to the crash site. At the crash site, the engines can be heard shutting down.
"We're... we're still in one piece!" Suddenly, Oscar hears the stomping of Cordovin's mech. Ruby stumbles out of the airship before collapsing to her knees.
Cordovin laughs "Very clever, but even the smartest apes can't compete with the intellect of man".
Ruby uses Crescent Rose to stand herself back up. She looks over to the airship to see Maria repairing her prosthetic eyes as Oscar watches in concern.
"Come on, come on!" Maria said in annoyance.
Ruby then looks toward Cordovin with a determined expression and walks forward.
Suddenly, Qrow appears and takes his niece's hand "Ruby, stop!".
Ruby looks back to her uncle, still bearing her determined expression "I need you to trust me".
Qrow closes his eyes and ultimately relents as Ruby pulls her hand away. She walks to the edge of the cliff and stands face to face with Cordovin's mech.
"Surrender for your crimes, and accept your punishment" Cordovin said.
"No!" Ruby said defiantly making Cordovin gasp in shock as Ruby's friends look to her "We're going to Atlas. Bigger people than you have tried to stop us and failed, but we're supposed to be on the same side! We're supposed to use our power to protect people, but you just use yours to look down on everyone!".
Cordovin ponders Ruby's words.
"We didn't want to steal from you. We did it because you gave us no other choice! Now I'm giving you one last chance to stand down and hear us out" Ruby said and there was silence for a moment.
"I've heard enough..." Cordovin then aims her arm cannon at Ruby. Ruby's friends run over to her in panic.
"RUBY! MOVE!" Lucina screamed in terror.
Qrow gains a look of horror on his face as Cordovin fires up the arm cannon. Suddenly Ruby uses her Semblance and flies into the arm cannon.
"WHAT?!" Cordovin yelled in shock.
"She's NUTS!" Nora yelled.
"RUBY! GET OUT OF THERE" Lucina screams.
Ruby continues flying into the arm cannon.
"The missile launcher springs out... but the raw dust gets locked in!" Jaune said.
Inside the arm cannon, Ruby plants Crescent Rose into the ground and takes aim at the buildup of Dust. She fires and uses her Semblance to quickly get out of the arm cannon. Suddenly, the arm cannon explodes, covering it in ice and stone.
"What?! No! NO!" Cordovin yelled in despair.
As Ruby flies backward, her Aura runs out and falls unconscious. Her fall is slowed down by black Glyphs from Weiss, and Qrow catches his niece in his arms. Weiss collapses in exhaustion as the rest ran up to her.
"Ruby!" Lucina yelled as she rushed over to her girlfriend.
Ruby opens her eyes and smiles at her uncle "Told ya".
The Atlesian airship's engines can be heard coming back on as it hovers lightly above the ground.
Maria managed to fix her eyes "Oh, don't tell me I missed it!".
"Ruby! Ruby are you ok?!" Lucina asked in worry.
Ruby smiles at her "I'm fine".
"You idiot! Don't scare me like that!" Lucina said, sounding angry.
"Sorry..." Ruby said as she took Lucina's hand, who sighed, unable to stay mad at her girlfriend.
Meanwhile, Severa, Blake and Yang were facing of with Adam.
"You knew you couldn't win three-on-one at Haven. What makes you so sure you can win now?" Adam asked arrogantly.
"I don't have a choice. I have people who actually care about me, and I promised I'd never leave them again. So I'm not dying now" Blake declared.
Yang and Severa smiles at her words before glaring back at Adam.
"You know, she made a promise to me once. That she'd always be at my side. Heh, and look how well she's kept it" Adam said.
"Did she make that promise to you? Or to the person you were pretending to be?" Yang asked.
"You keep blaming others for everything bad that happens to you. Are you really so blind that you can't see that everything that happened was because of your own actions? Actions have consequences, and no one in their right mind could stay with you after all the atrocities you did, so of course she couldn't keep her promise" Severa said.
Adam was silent for a moment before looking at Blake "So I wasn't just good enough for you?".
"You know it's so much more than that" Blake said.
"I know you've made your choice... and I've made mine" Adam said as he readies himself.
The four combatants then take defensive stances as they resume their battle. The girls rush forward together. The three of them work together to strike at Adam with a series of back and forth blows and slashes. Blake grabs the bottom portion of her broken Gambol Shroud katana and throws it at Adam, but he deflects it back at her. Yang notices this and grabs the pistol and uses the ribbon to swing Blake around. Blake uses her cleaver to clash with Adam's sword, but he sends her flying back. Blake's back hits the cliff-side of the waterfall, depleting her Aura. She nearly falls off the ledge and hangs on for dear life.
"Blake!" Yang and Severa yelled in concern.
They then turn around and angrily glares at Adam. Severa rushed him, Adam immediately fired rounds from Blush but Severa blocked each blast. The Faunus easily blocked the slash and the two locked up before Adam kicked Severa back. Severa parried a decapitation attempt and mounted a comeback, stabbing at Adam's chest. Again, Adam dodged and he backhanded Severa in the face before sheathing his blade, he then used the firing mechanism to deliver a faster and stronger strike which sent Severa to the ground, her aura flickering.
"Severa!" Yang cried out.
"Moment of truth, Yang. Do you think you're faster than you were at Beacon?" Adam asked. This causes Yang to gasp and tremble slightly. Adam notices this and chuckles "Me neither".
Adam rushes forward unsheathing his sword. Yang manages to dodge the swing, then rolls away from a second. Adam lands two kicks before Yang dodges a slash, followed up by another. Then Adam brings the sword down diagonally while Yang backs away. But then Adam rams her and she is knocked to the ground. Transitioning into a roll, Yang gets distance before stopping on hands and feet, huffing slightly.
"Your Aura's bound to be running low" Adam said.
Yang pants for breath as Adam angrily grunts at her. Meanwhile, Blake struggles to climb up, briefly glancing over to spot Adam advancing on Yang who has gotten back up.
"Hit me already!" Adam yelled as Yang dodges his next two swings "What does she even see in you?!".
Adam rushes forward, tossing Wilt as it spins like a buzz-saw. Yang tries to block only to be overpowered and damaged, Adam grabs the sword and activates his Semblance before bringing it down. With her guard broken Yang gets knocked back and tumbles across the ground. Blake continues her climb.
"You're just a coward like her!" Adam unleashes an attack with his Semblance toward Yang.
However, at the last second, Yang's eyes turn red. The attack hits Yang, creating a cloud of dust. Adam rushes forward and swings his sword down. When the dust clears, Adam looks in shock as Yang has caught his sword with her prosthetic hand. Her hair burns bright, activating her Semblance.
"Gotcha..." Yang then cocks her left arm's Ember Celica.
She pulls Adam toward her and punches him hard enough to disarm him and send him flying back. The force of the attack depletes Adam's Aura. Adam stands back up and tries to fight again, only to realize his sword is missing. Yang still has it in her hand.
"I may not be faster... but I'm smarter" Yang then throws Wilt over the bridge.
"No!" Adam fails to reach his sword in time as he watches it fall.
Suddenly, Blake reappears and uppercuts Adam as she jumps back on to the bridge. Adam stumbles backward. Suddenly, a sword emerged from his chest. He gasped in shock, before weakly looking behind him, seeing Severa who had stabbed him from behind.
"Oh..." Adam said weakly as Severa pulls her blade out and watch Adam stumble towards the edge of the bridge. He falls to his knees and his eyes start to roll back. He slumps forward and falls off the bridge. On his fall down, his body hits the cliffside with a sickening crunch, before disappearing into the water below.
Adam Taurus is finally dead.
Severa falls to her knees and began to vomit before breathing hard and was shaking, struggling with the fact she had just killed someone. Blake and Yang ran up to her and both hugged her hard.
"Wh-What did I just do?!" Severa asked while still shaking.
"It's ok Severa... it's ok" Yang said, trying to comfort her cousin.
Blake hugged her harder with tears in her eyes "I... I am not going to break my promise, I swear".
Severa finally accepts the hugs "We know you wont...".
The girls continue to embrace as Blake continues to sob.
Back at the cliffside...
Cordovin was struggling to pick up the mech's arm cannon "No! No, no, no, NO! You! You're never getting to Atlas! Do you hear me?! NEVER! All forces converge on my position and eliminate these pests at once!".
"Crap!" Oscar said.
"Everyone on board! We're making a run for it!" Maria said
"What about Severa, Yang and Blake?" Jaune asked.
Back in the mech, one of the screens read "ARGUS BASE CHANNEL OPEN".
Atlas Soldier "Ma'am, we've been trying to reach you! Argus is in danger!".
Cordovin's expression widens in horror "What?".
At the Argus base, various Atlas personnel all rush to their battle stations. A pair of guards are seen looking out at the ocean. In the distance, a towering Grimm can be seen stomping in the water towards Argus. It lets out a terrifying roar.
The Atlas guards then turn around and notice a massive legion of Manticores and Sphinxs in the air above the city of Argus.
Atlas Soldier "It's a Leviathan! It began its approach during your battle! We need you!".
Ruby looks back to her friends in horror, who all share equally concerned expressions. They look to Cordovin's mech, still struggling to lift up its arm cannon... A giant grimm was attacking... and they had just crippled the only thing capable of stopping it.
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Tell me what you think.