Our Way.
In Argus, multiple Manta aircraft engage in dogfights against Manticores and Sphinxs above the ocean. The Leviathan itself slowly trudges through the water approaching the city. Some aircraft fly by for a gun run on the towering Grimm. The Leviathan, however, simply dives below the ocean and swims.
Air Control "All units, be advised: Leviathan-class Grimm has submerged but is still on approach. Preparing hard-light shields, over!".
Elsewhere, Ruby and her friends overhear the radio chatter with looks of horror on their faces. Cordovin continues to struggle to get the Colossus' arm cannon out of the water with it being covered in ice and rock Dust.
Manta Two-Two "We're getting slammed by hostiles out here! Where is Cordovin?!".
"This is your fault! Do you hear me?!" Cordovin screams.
"Ruby!" Yang, Severa and Blake runs out of the forest to rejoin the group.
Ruby: Yang! Severa! Blake! Are you okay?
The three girls notice the disabled mech.
"What happened?" Blake asked.
The group then hears the Leviathan roaring.
"What the hell was that?" Severa asked.
"Was that a giant Grimm?" Yang asked.
"Yes... and we just ruined the only thing capable of stopping it..." Weiss answered.
"The grimm is going to destroy Argus" Lucina said in worry.
The group wastes no time boarding the aircraft. It begins to fly away. Ruby watches with pity as Cordovin continues to struggle to move the mech.
Cordovin herself yells out in anger "This is your fault! YOUR FAULT! This is...".
She was slowly giving up as a Soldier spoke over the radio "Ma'am, what's your status? We need an answer, over!".
"... your fault..." Cordovin whispered as she looks down sadly.
Back on the airship Blake looked down in shame at her inability to stop their plan from being ruined "I'm so sorry...".
"Don't be. This isn't on you" Yang said.
Blake looks up "But-".
Ruby takes her hand "You're safe, that's all that matters".
Blake smiles at her leader and the two hug. Ruby looks to Yang and Severa, and the three share a smile.
"I suppose I have to be the bad guy and say it, getting the lamp to Atlas is still our top priority, and right now we have the perfect opportunity to head straight for it. We may not get another chance like this" Maria said.
"No way!" Yang refused.
"We can't leave, not like this" Weiss said.
"It's like you said, a Huntress is supposed to protect others to the bitter end" Blake said.
"She's right. We don't deserve to make it to Atlas if we run away now that innocent people need our help" Lucina declared.
"Yeah!" Lyre agreed.
Maria looks to Ruby, who just shrugs and smiles. Maria smiles back and continues to fly.
"We need to head for the Leviathan. Jaune, can you and Ren be ready to mask our ship?" Ruby asked.
"I think we can manage" Ren answered.
"Got a few ideas?" Jaune asked.
"I've got one" Ruby answered.
"Eyes up, everybody. It's back" Qrow said.
The Leviathan swims for a bit before resurfacing above the water, letting out a terrifying roar.
Manta Three-Four "Argus Base, this is Manta 3-4! Leviathan has hit the shallows and resurfaced! We need those shields up now, over!".
From the city, a large crowd gathers as they look out to the ocean with concern. Terra is seen making her way through the crowd, eventually reuniting with her wife Saphron and their son Adrian, before looking out to the ocean again in concern. As the Leviathan approaches Argus, a hard-light Dust barrier is erected, halting its progress.
Manta Two-One "Target stopped! Engaging, over!".
A pair of Manta aircraft are seen firing shots at the Leviathan. Suddenly, the Leviathan unleashes an energy beam attack from its mouth. It shifts the beam over to one of the poles powering the hard-light Dust barrier, destroying it. The Leviathan roars.
Ruby and her friends watch in horror from their aircraft.
"It tore straight through...!" Oscar said.
"It's power matches it's size" Severa said.
Air Control "All squadrons, fall back to evacuation procedures. Disengage Leviathan! I repeat, disengage! Over!".
"No, wait!" Ruby runs up to the radio.
"Ruby!" Qrow said as Ruby grabbed the radio.
"We can stop it!" Ruby said.
Air Control "Who is this? Identify yourself!".
"I'm a Huntress. My team and I are heading to the Leviathan and can weaken it for you to attack!" Ruby said and everyone looks at her in shock.
"We can?" Jaune asked.
"I can" Ruby answered.
Maria looks at her "Ruby, when I said trial by fire-".
"I did it at Beacon and at the farm" Ruby said.
"You really think you can do it now?" Weiss asked.
"I don't have a choice" Ruby said.
Air Control "Manta 5-1, your ship is currently flagged as hostile. You will receive no support, over".
Ruby picks up radio "Fine, we'll do it alone if we have to. We can hit it while it's stopped at the next barrier. Ren, you're up!".
Ren and Jaune proceed to combine their Semblances, masking the airship as it weaves between the air battles between Grimm and Atlas forces. The Leviathan makes its way to the next barrier and charges its energy breath again.
"We're too late! Pull up!" Qrow shouts.
The Manta aircraft pulls up out of the way as the Leviathan fires its breath, destroying the next barrier and toppling a cupola off one of the buildings in Argus. Ren and Jaune collapse as their Auras are drained.
"Damn it...!" Jaune said.
"That's all I've got!" Ren said.
"It's on the move again! We need to stop it!" Blake said.
"What do we do?" Yang asked.
Ruby thinks for a moment, before to looking to Weiss. The Leviathan continues to approach Argus, but suddenly, the aircraft carrying Ruby's group opens up its hatch doors.
"Eyes on us, ugly!" Nora, Bernadetta and Yang fire their respective weapons at the Leviathan.
"Is it working?" Blake asked.
"Unfortunately, yes! Hang on!" Maria ordered.
Blake runs over to Weiss, who is maintaining a Glyph she activated. Ruby is riding on the back of Weiss' Queen Lancer summoning. Lucina watches her with worried eyes, not liking her idea at all.
"Okay, okay, you can do this... You have to do this!" Eventually, Ruby stops in front of the Leviathan. She closes her eyes and begins to concentrate, the noises all around her slowly muting out.
Yang speaks over her earpiece "Ruby? Ruby, hurry, something-".
Annoyed by the distraction, Ruby takes out her earpiece and tosses it into the water below. She closes her eyes again to concentrate. As she concentrates, Ruby thinks back on various memories: She thinks of her father and sister, when Zwei first arrived at Team RWBY's dorm room, when she and her team are about to start a food fight, and when they get noodles after their victory in the tournament.
She then thinks of Penny, then to when she first saw Jaune, of Team JNPR, of Pyrrha... Suddenly, Ruby starts to frown as bad memories start to flood her mind: the night when Jaune trained alone with a recording of Pyrrha, when she saw her friends wounded as Beacon was being evacuated, when Yang sank into depression over the loss of her arm, when Lucina was nearly killed by Cinder... Ruby whimpers upon remembering the deaths of both Pyrrha and Penny...
Suddenly, Ruby opens her eyes again and notices the Leviathan standing face to face with her "What?".
"Why'd it turn away?!" Yang asked.
"Oh no... The Relic!" Lucina realized in horror.
Ruby then remembers she has the Relic of Knowledge on her belt, which caused the Leviathan to have its attention on her "No, no, no, no!".
"NO!" Lucina screams as she suddenly leaps out of the airship.
"Lucina! What are you doing!?" Bernadetta calls after her.
Suddenly, the Leviathan opens its maw and lunges toward Ruby... Before Lucina decends from the sky and stabs her blade straight in to it's eye. The massive Grimm roars in pain and rage as it began to viciously shake it's head, trying to get Lucina of it as she holds on for dear life. The stab to the eye was painful, but due to the Grimm's size, it was the equivilant of getting a splinter in the eye, painful but not life threatening.
Ruby watches in horror as her girlfriend was in serious danger "J-JINN!".
Suddenly, time stops. Everything slows down and freezes. Ruby then breathes a sigh of relief as she hears the rattling chains of Jinn.
"I'm sorry... I don't have a question for you. I just... I just needed a little more time..." Ruby looks to Jinn, who has a stern look on her face.
"I know... and while you don't seek knowledge, just this once, I shall give it freely. I will not allow you to use me without a question again..." Jhin warned before smiling "Even if this was clever".
Ruby nods at Jinn. She then turns to face the Leviathan again and closes her eyes to concentrate once more. Time slowly starts to go back to normal.
She thinks back to when Team RWBY decorated their dorm room, when Weiss gave her coffee, when Blake cheered for Weiss in Professor Port's class, when Yang was training her before leaving for Beacon, when Team RWBY celebrated their victory after saving Vale.
Ruby smiles as she thinks back to the Beacon Dance and Team JNPR again, and then to when Qrow arrived at Beacon, to talking with Oscar, and then to Maria, and to Penny again... She thinks of when whe and Lucina finally became a couple and when she learned Severa was her cousin.
And finally, Ruby thinks back to her mother, her white cloak blowing in the wind as she overlooks a cliff watching a sunset. She then turns around, offering a warm smile. Her own Silver Eyes reflect back to her daughter's...
Ruby's own eyes then shine bright, the brightest it has ever been. A massive white light engulfs the area, turning the Leviathan to stone. The citizens of Argus and the Atlas military cheer as the Grimm threat has been nullified. Ruby's friends give proud smiles and Maria breathes a sigh of relief.
Lucina falls of the the petrified grimm and was quickly caught by Ruby and Weiss' summoning.
"Are you ok?!" Ruby asked in concern.
"I am now" Lucina said as she smiled at her girlfriend who smiled back.
Suddenly, they hear a stone crackling behind them. The Leviathan's head manages to move and tries to aim at them.
"No..." Ruby said.
"What's it gonna take to kill that thing?" Lucina asked.
"I'll take it from here!" Suddenly, Cordovin shows up in the Colossus, its arm cannon now detached. Everyone looks in shock. Without the weight of the cannon, the Colossus begins to run toward the semi-petrified Leviathan "After all, I was sworn to protect the people!".
The Colossus' left hand then transforms into a giant drill. Cordovin uses the drill to destroy the Leviathan, causing it to dissipate. The people of Argus cheer while the Arc family looks on with stupefied expressions and Adrian throws up his arms as he cheers.
The Colossus then walks over to Ruby. Its cockpit opens up revealing Cordovin herself standing in a stern military manner.
"Thank you. And... I'm sorry" Ruby said.
"The Atlas military can handle the stragglers" Cordovin said.
Ruby looked confused "What, uh... What are you saying?".
Cordovin smiles "I'm saying I don't think anyone would notice if one more ship went missing in my lengthy report".
"Thank you, Miss Cordovin. We won't forget this" Lucina said in relief.
Ruby smiles back at Cordovin, who then turns the mech around and runs off to join her men in taking down the remaining Grimm.
The airship flies through the night sky.
"We should have just enough fuel to make it" Maria said.
"Thanks, Miss Calavera" Ruby said.
"Hey, Ruby. You did great out there today, kid. Just don't go giving me heart attacks like that again" Qrow is about to take a drink from his flask, but ultimately decides not to.
Ruby hugs her uncle "I love you, too".
Qrow smiles at his niece as she walks away to join her friends.
"You weren't half bad yourself today, Qrow" Maria said.
Qrow smiles before sighing "I feel like they did all the heavy lifting".
"But you were there to help when they asked for it, and you were there to catch them when they fell. Literally, if I recall" Maria reminded.
"Thanks. You know, it was pretty incredible getting to see the Grimm Reaper in action" Qrow said.
Maria smirks "Ha, you should have seen me when I was your age!".
Qrow smiles as the two of them look out the cockpit's window to the night sky. In the back of the aircraft, Weiss, Severa Blake and Yang sit together.
"I'm sorry you went through that nightmare. But, I'm glad Yang and Severa was there for you in time" Weiss said.
Yang smiled "We were there for each other".
"Took the words right out of my mouth" Nora said.
"Well I couldn't do nothing while my cousin and girlfriend were getting their assess kicked" Severa said in her usual cool manner.
Blake smiled at hearing Severa refer to her as her girlfriend again and kissed Severa on the cheek, causing her face to become as red as her hair. This earned some laughs from their friends.
Everyone then looks to Ruby.
"Hey, stop it!" She said, feeling awkward from all the attention.
"You petrified a Leviathan... after diving down the barrel of a cannon!" Ren said.
"I really need to learn how to use my own silver eyes... but I'd rather not end up in a situation like that to make them work" Bernadetta said.
Ruby laughs nervously "Don't act like you all haven't done crazy stuff before! I mean, Lucina leapt out of the ship to attack it with only her sword!".
"Yeah, that must be one of the most insane things you've ever done, boss" Lyre said with a teasing smile.
"Hey, I didn't have time to think, Ok! I saw Ruby in danger and I just reacted" Lucina said, a little embarrassed.
"And Oscar made a successful crash landing! He's a fourteen-year-old farm hand!" Ruby continued.
"That was seriously impressive" Jaune said.
"We'd have been stranded without you" Blake said.
"I... thanks, but... I've been meaning to tell you guys... I didn't land the ship on my own" Oscar said as he explained that he heard Ozpin's voice in his head before he could crash.
"Ozpin took control?!" Nora asked.
Oscar shook his head "No, he guided me... And then he was gone again...".
"Does that mean he's been watching us this whole time?" Yang asked.
"I don't know, but... it at least means he was looking out for us" Oscar said.
Everyone ponders this revelation before Qrow speaks up "Hey, if you've never seen Atlas in person before, you don't wanna miss this".
Ruby and her friends walk up to the cockpit window "Is it weird that I'm sorta nervous?".
"No, I'll believe we've made it to Atlas when I see it" Yang said.
Weiss smiles "Well... believe it".
The airship comes out of the clouds, and the floating city of Atlas is seen coming into view.
"Wow!" Nora said in awe.
"You know, you make the trip up to Atlas over and over, but you never get used to that view" Maria said before her prosthetic eyes start to act up again "Oh, come on!".
Severa whistles "Gotta hand it to Atlas. They sure know how to make things look flashy".
Weiss leans forward and has a nervous look on her face. Ruby notices this "Weiss, what is it?".
Everyone looks up, and notice above the city of Atlas many Atlas Airships.
"The Atlas air fleet... I knew all of our ships were called back, but..." Weiss trailed of.
"They're set up like they're expecting an attack..." Qrow finished for her.
"What happened while we were gone?" Bernadetta wondered.
Suddenly, the radio turns on "Manta 5-1, welcome home...".
In the Land of Darkness, Mercury is seen looking out the window in the meeting room. Emerald then walks in.
"Mercury, I wanted to..." Suddenly, she notices Mercury's face has an expression of horror as he looks out the window. Emerald looks to where he's looking "What is she doing?".
A Beringel is seen crawling out of one of the black, tar-like pits, with Salem herself standing close by. She then uses her magic as Nevermore wings suddenly sprout from the back of the Beringel. The Beringel gets used to its new appendages, before flying up to join many other Beringels also grafted with wings. Emerald and Mercury continue to watch in horror.
"There's an old saying" The two notice Hazel enter the room and stand next to them "If you want something done right... do it yourself".
Salem looks up to the army of Grimm she has gathered and smiled "Now that I know where you are, my dear granddaughter. I will make sure you return to your real home and I will finally have you by my side".
She then turns around and using her magic on the black pools again, engulfing the entire area...
.
And that is the end of Volume 6. Not much I could change so I just added some stuff. But we all know in the next Volume, things will heat up even more.
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Tell me what you think.