Well, we're back to "Reality" with two straight chapters. As of the moment I'm writing this, it's early April, so things are progressing along pretty smoothly in terms of content coming out. Hopefully by this time, "Through the Rough" is caught up and has a few Season 3 chapters already posted.
Anyways, I don't wanna waste any time. This is probably one of my favorite chapters from the first half of Volume 8. So adapting it is going to be a challenge, but I'll do my best!
Hope you enjoy it!
REALITY
The madness of General James Ironwood was a culmination of events. The closure of Atlas' borders, the blockage of Dust trade, and the numerous setbacks in regards to the Amity Project. What pushed him over the edge… was Salem. His fear of her, which he fails to acknowledge, has led him to make such drastic choices that could result in millions dead as only so many survive.
And as we've learned, he has possession of the one thing stopping Amity itself from launching. Ruby Rose and her group are currently on their way to the Atlas Military Compound to retrieve the clearance code for the station's launch. But they're not the only ones heading there…
"Are you sure about this, Obi-Wan?" a somewhat anxious Tifa asked in concern as the Manta she and the Jedi were aboard approached the bottom half of Atlas, heading toward one of the docking bays.
"For the moment, it's our only option," he responded, flicking a few switches, "Atlas has apparently cut ties with assisting Mantle and its evacuation," he pointed out, "and as such, it's likely that they won't be so kind to any other visitors…" he mentioned with narrowed eyes.
"Then why are we even heading there?" Tifa questioned on.
"We need to know more about the situation at hand like Enji insisted," Obi-Wan replied as the ship was closing in on the bay, "Perhaps we can find a way to remedy things, so long as everyone's willing to cooperate…" he added assuredly. The bar hostess looked out toward the docking bay they were closing in on, seeing a platoon of soldiers gathering together inside. She grimaced a little.
"I don't think that's gonna be possible right now…" she said.
"Nor do I…" the Jedi piloting agreed. The soldiers readied their rifles, taking aim as the airship entered, deploying its landing gear before gently setting down.
"Should we alert General Ironwood?" one man asked, "If this ship is carrying stowaways, then we should probably—"
"He already has his hands full, remember?" a woman beside him interrupted to his surprise, "We need this taken care of quickly," she insisted, "If he finds out that more intruders got in here…" she continued, shuddering at the thought. Just then, the side door slowly slid open. Each of the soldiers took aim, only to seemingly find no one inside. And then, Obi-Wan stepped out into the open.
"Ah, hello there!" he greeted with a wave of his left hand, "Apologies for the sudden intrusion…" he said, "We were coming here from Argus at Special Operative Cordovin's discretion," he told them.
"Likely story…" the woman soldier muttered, keeping her rifle aimed onto him.
"It's true!" Tifa chimed in as she stepped out into the open, holding her hands up, "We came here to help General Ironwood deal with whatever's happening here," she explained.
"You were on radio silence…" the male soldier pointed out. Obi-Wan and Tifa shared a glance.
"We've noticed the… impending threat to the kingdom," the former of the two noted, "We'd like to inform the general of a strategy myself and my colleagues have been developing against our common enemy," he explained on. The soldiers all shared glances with each other.
"Cuff them both," the lieutenant instructed, pulling out a Gravity Bolas from his belt as he approached the pair, "We'll put them in a stockade and figure out what to do with them once things calm down a little," he decided. Tifa frowned, shooting a glare toward Obi-Wan.
"So much for that…" she grumbled, while the Jedi sighed.
"I hoped it wouldn't come to this…" he muttered. He then flicked his right wrist. All of a sudden, the lieutenant found himself lifted off from the floor. In a yelp, he was flung aside as he crashed into a pile of crates.
"Sanders!" one soldier exclaimed.
"Take them out!" another commanded, enticing his colleagues to start firing onto the pair. Obi-Wan quickly drew his lightsaber, pressing its button as the blue blade of light appeared. He quickly slashed through a few shots before extending his left hand out at the soldiers. Their ammunition stopped in midair as they all gasped in surprise.
"Tifa, if you would!" the Jedi called out.
"Gladly," the bar hostess responded, leaping out of the Manta. She went ahead and landed a fierce haymaker to one man to knock him out before proceeding to grab another soldier and fling him into two others.
They tried to fire onto her instead, but suddenly found their rifles slashed in half by Obi-Wan's lightsaber, leaving behind the burning outlines of their weapons. Before they could even do anything, Tifa rushed over and knocked them out with heavy punches to their heads. Panicked, the soldiers spread themselves out, trying to take them on individually.
Unfortunately, that didn't help as the Jedi extended his left hand to a few nearby crates, telekinetically lifting them up from the floor and flinging them at the soldiers, knocking them down upon impact. Meanwhile, the bar hostess managed to get her arms around one soldier, hoisting him up from the floor as he yelped. She swung him around to hit a few others, followed by slamming him against the floor. All that was left of the platoon was the lone female soldier. She trembled before dropping her rifle, turning and running towards the doors.
"Huh…" Obi-Wan sighed, flicking his left wrist. In that instant, the soldier found herself flung aside into a pile of crates, slowly succumbing to unconsciousness as she groaned. Tifa huffed.
"We could've just done that in the first place, you know," she pointed out as she trotted over the defeated soldiers.
"Yes, well…" the Jedi stuttered, clearing his throat and turning off his lightsaber, hooking it back onto his belt, "I'm not so… violent…" he remarked as he followed her.
"Oh, calling me violent now, hm?" she assumed with a teasing grin, "Guessing you weren't exactly popular with girls…" she mentioned to his chagrin as he rolled his eyes and sighed.
"We've definitely come at a critical juncture…" he noted as he stroked his beard, "That said, there's no telling what we should do next…" he pointed out.
"I guess we start by finding those Omni Force guys and letting them know what's up," Tifa replied, stretching her arms out and tightening her gloves.
"That's to say if they're even here," Obi-Wan retorted, making her put her hands onto her hips crossly as she shot a glare at him. All of a sudden, he perked up as he pulled out and reactivated his lightsaber. "Someone's coming," he warned, enticing his colleague to take on a fighting. The doors suddenly slid open… and no one was there.
"Uh… maybe a malfunction?" the bar hostess guessed.
"Holy crap…" a voice uttered, causing them to perk up in surprise. Appearing out of thin air were Danny and May, who both looked around at the unconscious soldiers lying about the docking bay. Obi-Wan gave off a grin, lowering his weapon.
"Well, this makes things slightly easier," he remarked.
X
30 MINUTES EARLIER
"Ow..." Weiss muttered out, pushing herself up to her feet and wincing as she stretched out her back. Getting sucked into the tube without warning was not how she thought this mission to get the clearance code for Amity Tower would start. Though it was her idea in the first place…
"Freeze!" a voice yelled, causing her to perk up as she saw two Atlesian soldiers in front of her, steadying their rifles, "Hands where we can see them!" the man of the pair insisted, enticing the ex-heiress to lift up her hands.
"Please..." she pleaded, "I'm not here to cause trouble..." she claimed as the soldiers sauntered toward her, with the woman readying a Gravity Bolas in her left hand.
"But you've been ordered to be brought in, Miss Schnee," she pointed out, reaching her right hand up to her helmet, "This is Hartner," she communicated, "We've got a—" Her sentence was interjected as she was suddenly frozen in ice.
"Hartner?!" her partner exclaimed in shock, followed by receiving the same chilling fate as well. Weiss glanced back and forth at them before sighing with relief, lowering her arms.
"Sorry I'm late," Danny apologized as he appeared, floating right above her, "I was gonna offer to scout ahead before we shot ourselves up, but..." he told her, seeing her expression shift into an irritated frown.
"I'm going to kill Nora," she bluntly remarked, earning a chuckle out of the half-ghost teen.
"Figured you'd say that," he noted, floating down to take hold of the two frozen Atlas soldiers, "I'm gonna put these guys somewhere else," he told her, "Be back in a sec," he promised, quickly flying off and turning intangible to phase through the wall.
"Huh..." Weiss exhaled, glancing down at the floor in deep thought. A lot of her decision to join Ruby's team to help get Amity up was based on wanting to bring the world together. But she couldn't help but wonder if Yang's plan was better, or if things would go wrong on their end. Right now, this wasn't a good start to her team's mission.
"You okay?" Danny's voice inquired, causing her to snap away from her thoughts as she looked to see him float down beside her, letting rings of light flow up and down his body as he transformed back to normal.
"Oh… I'm… uh… fine, I guess…" she responded slowly, looking away, "Do you think we can really get Amity up and running in time?" she asked of him.
"I… don't know…" he admitted in reply with a shrug of his shoulders, "Honestly, I think we're doing everything we can to make sure that things on both fronts are taken care of," he noted, "With Yang and the others making sure Mantle's people stay safe, that gives us a chance to get this code without worrying about the people Ironwood abandoned," he explained assuredly.
"But… is it a chance that's worth it?" Weiss wondered aloud, sounding concerned. Danny grabbed her right hand with his left, causing her to perk up and look to see the smile on his face.
"We'll make it worth it," he promised. She smiled in agreement, blushing a little as she cutely looked away.
"You know…" she began, "when this is all over, I'm not sure we can go to a movie like I promised…" she pointed out sheepishly.
"Then why not go to one in my world?" the half-ghost teen suggested to her surprise, "I mean... I'm sure you'd wanna meet my family after I met all of yours," he mentioned with another shrug.
"Are… you sure?" Weiss wondered in concern, "What about… your ex?" she inquired on.
"She'll be happy to see that I moved on," Danny assured in reply.
"Well…" the huntress uttered, taking his right hand into her left as she stepped closer, "that's… really nice to know..." she said. The two of them looked at each other lovingly, leaning in and starting to close their eyes. However, a hiss of steam interrupted their moment as they looked to see a figure hop out from the tube.
"Ta-da~!" Nora exclaimed with outstretched arms.
"Uh…" Danny uttered out, cringing as he saw Weiss' expression shift into a glare towards the orange-haired girl. Now she really wanted to kill her. It wasn't long before the others came up through the pneumatic tubes, with clangs echoing from them. Ruby breathed heavily inside the compartment as she came to a stop.
"HUH!" she gasped sharply, regaining her breath as a section of the tube opened, allowing her to step out. May, Penny and Kim were there, helping her step out as she coughed into her right fist.
"Honestly, that could've been way worse…" the spy of the group admitted with a shrug.
"Ow, ow, ow!" Nora yelped repeatedly as Weiss was holding her right ear in her fingers, pulling on it as Danny nervously watched on nearby, "C'mon…!" the orange-haired huntress pleaded to her colleague, "That was a once in a lifetime experience!" she remarked with a shrug. The ex-heiress did ultimately let go of her ear, but it was already pretty red. "Ow…" Nora groaned as she rubbed it.
"Glad to see that you're okay, Weiss," Jenny chimed in as she came out from the tube.
"Well, we almost wound up caught…" the ex-heiress pointed out, shooting a glare toward Nora as she flinched, "But we're all good now," she affirmed.
"Then there's no time to waste," Genji advised as he arrived, stepping out from the tube.
"What about Spidey and Blake?" Ruby asked in concern.
"Uh… Blake is… a little nervous…" the cyborg responded, "She should be coming after Peter…" he assured. As the group waited, the silver-eyed huntress looked around. This was the start of what her sister said would be an impossible and pointless mission. Obviously, the competitive side of her wanted to prove Yang wrong, along with wanting to warn everyone possible. But there was also something else that made her want to do this… At that moment, the tube opened again as Peter jumped out.
"Ta-daaahh~!" he exclaimed with outstretched arms. Nora shot a smirk toward Weiss.
"Told you it's fun…" she remarked, causing the ex-heiress to groan with a roll of her eyes. At that moment, steam emerged from the tube again, with Blake finally stepping out. Her hair was essentially frazzled from the unorthodox method of travel.
"You okay?" Kim asked as she went over to her.
"I never wanna do that again…" she muttered out with a wave of her right hand, fixing her unkempt hair.
"Yeah, you're okay," Kim affirmed with a chuckle. Danny let rings of light flow up and down his body, assuming his human form as he proceeded forward with the group.
"So our options were either this or the academy, huh?" Peter inquired as he looked around, "I feel like either way would be tough…" he admitted.
"Atlas Academy is likely on high alert as a result of our treason against General Ironwood," Penny told him, "At least… that is what they assume we are," she mentioned in correction.
"To think that everything went to shit in just one night because of a crazy immortal witch…" May muttered out.
"And a bastard general who's only focused on his own self-interests…" Weiss added aloud.
"Alright, let's not dwell on the details…" Peter insisted, knowing how bitter both girls were about the situation at hand, "We've still got a job to do," he pointed out.
"Right…" May responded as the group was in front of the bridge leading to the doorway, "Okay robo-girl, you're up," she informed to Penny, folding her arms over her chest, "Which way?" she asked. The Winter Maiden's eyes glowed brightly, allowing her to view the structure of the base in a wireframe view, along with seeing the soldiers wandering about.
"We'll cross the bridge, then go left, straight, right, straight, left, up, up, right, straight, right, right, straight, left, left," she quickly instructed, pointing in the various directions all the while for emphasis. Everyone stared at her with dumbfounded expressions, while Ruby gave off a smug smirk. "And my name… is Penny," the robot girl added to May.
"Heh," Ruby laughed, giving off a sly look to the Happy Huntress as she crossed her arms.
"Tsk…" May scoffed, rolling her eyes. Holding up her left hand, she suddenly hid everyone from view. Inside, Peter and Jenny curiously looked at the wavy aura around them.
"How far can you spread this?" the web-slinger asked.
"Far enough to keep us all out of sight," May replied, "But stay close," she advised seriously, "I'd rather not have to spread it too far," she pointed out with a shake of her head.
"Right, got it," Jenny replied before she and the others proceeded forward with her. A few moments later, they were onboard an elevator, patiently waiting to get to their next floor.
"So no one can hear or see us?" Danny inquired curiously in a whisper.
"Kinda…" May replied with a shake of her right hand, "Sounds get muffled, so I'd just stay as quiet…" she insisted.
"Any idea how we're gonna get ourselves outta here once we got the code?" Blake asked in a whisper.
"Airship, probably," Kim answered as she shrugged, "Though honestly, everything's gonna be easier said than done…" she pointed out.
"Yeah…" the cat Faunus agreed, glancing down sadly for a moment. Ruby looked over at her worriedly. She knew that her teammate was thinking about Ben, still concerned for him after he left. Unconsciously, she balled her hands into fists. All of a sudden, the elevator beeped, causing everyone to lightly gasp. The door opened, enticing them to all cautiously step back while still in May's field, as a pair of Atlas soldiers entered.
"I don't think even the squad captain knows what's going on up there," the male of the two entering admitted, oblivious to the invisible presence of the group already inside, "They can't get close to that storm without getting shocked right out of the air…" he pointed out as the doors closed. Inside the field, May gestured for everyone to remain quiet.
"It's creepy…" the female soldier noted, "all those Grimm just… waiting…" she said, "Worse than if they'd attacked—"
"Hey, don't say that!" her comrade reprimanded quietly as the elevator arrived at the next floor, "You'll jinx us…" he mentioned. Penny gestured for the group inside the invisible field to follow her out. They discreetly squeezed past the soldiers, heading for the elevator door. Though in the process, Nora cheekily went ahead and swiped her right hand over the elevator buttons, tapping each and every one as they shined yellow.
"I just hope the CO can get us some answers soon, or…" the female soldier started to say. At that moment, her colleague glanced at the controls for a moment, and then did a double take upon seeing that all the buttons had been pressed.
"Huh?" he uttered in confusion before the doors closed.
"Phoo…" Peter exhaled in relief. He and the others made their way down a wide corridor to a large locked door with '03' printed upon it. Penny stopped by a nearby console, holding up her left index finger. The tip of it swiveled off, revealing a connector plug, making Ruby's eyes grow wide.
"Cool…" she uttered in amazement. The Winter Maiden then was about to stick her finger into the port to interface with the control panel.
"Wait," Jenny said, enticing her to stop as the rest of the group looked over at her, "If we do this, we're gonna alert the entire base that something's up," she pointed out, "So…" she continued, "I just wanna make sure we're all ready in case a fight starts," she told her colleagues.
"…Yeah, we're ready," Peter affirmed in reply, while many of the others nodded.
"Jenny," Penny said, getting her fellow robot girl's attention, "We'll be fine," she assured with a smile. Blinking in surprise, Jenny smiled back warmly. The Winter Maiden then plugged her finger into the socket. A moment passed before the attached handprint scanner flashed green. A hologram display then popped up, showing Pietro's credentials.
"Welcome back, Doctor Polendina," the console greeted. The door slid open with a whoosh, and the group stepped through.
"Alright…" May uttered afterwards, "where to next, Penny?" she inquired of the robot girl.
"Right through central command!" she answered, pointing to her right. That way, a door opened to reveal the bustling workplace filled with digital workstations, holographic maps, and Atlesian officials and clerks wandering about and working.
"Oh crap," Peter muttered.
"Of course…" Weiss grumbled with a roll of her eyes.
"I can't maneuver us through all that…" May pointed out.
"What about Danny's intangibility?" Kim suggested.
"Yeah, that's not gonna work out," the half-ghost teen responded as he shook his head, "My intangibility can only spread up to four to five people at most," he explained to the group, "And it takes its toll if I use it too much," he mentioned.
"Then why not fly us over there one at a time?" Blake inferred, raising an eyebrow.
"And leave you guys in the lurch when we're already on the clock now?" Danny retorted in question, "I don't think so," he refused with a shake of his head, "Especially with the fact that we could get hit at any moment," he mentioned, "We have to get through fast," he advised of his colleagues.
"Do not worry," Penny assured, getting their attentions, "Ruby is capable of traveling at an extreme velocity from one point to another by breaking herself down to her molecular components," she explained, "then reassembling them at the destination, theoretically making it possible for her to transport all of us in the same way," she told the group thoroughly, "And even though her mass and ours may not be negated, it does not affect her velocity in the slightest," she mentioned.
"…Huh," Peter uttered out afterwards, sounding impressed as he crossed his arms over his chest. However, Ruby herself looked completely dumbfounded.
"I, uh… what?" she said, very confused as she had an eyebrow raised.
"You can use your Semblance on all of us," Penny confirmed in a simpler manner. The silver-eyed huntress still looked stunned by the information, blinking once.
"Did… Penny just figure that out before you did?" Blake inquired, gesturing toward her team leader out of amusement.
"Blake, she knew you were a Faunus before I did!" she retorted in response, shooting her a look.
"That's more a burn on yourself if anything…" Peter chimed in. Ruby rolled her eyes, elbowing him with her left arm. "Ow," he muttered in faux-pain. The group seemed to have a solid plan for the moment. But things were about to get complicated…
X
Elsewhere in the complex, James was walking through the halls as he looked somewhat unkempt. With everything that had been happening in the past 24 hours, he wasn't exactly in the best state of mind. He could hear Ben's words echoing in his head again. He came to a stop, taking a deep breath through his nose. Part of him was wondering why it was the Omni Force leader who essentially made him question himself. Compared to the likes of Ozpin or even Qrow, he wasn't someone the general knew personally for very long.
He exhaled. It wasn't worth mulling over, not when there were more important things to worry about. The door he approached opened up, allowing him to walk inside.
"Apologies for the delay," he apologized, adjusting his prosthetic left arm, "Today has been…" he continued as he adjusted his tie, "busy," he said almost robotically, "Have you made any progress?" he asked. He was speaking to Arthur, as they were in Pietro's workstation. Using a holographic keyboard to type while looking at the revolving wireframe of Penny displayed on one screen, the scientist was hard at work. On the screen to his left was video feed of the new Winter Maiden in her standoff against Cinder with Wendy, Sabo, and Winter. Lines of code scrolled across the screen. "I'd hate for us to have to try motivating you…" the general told the captive scientist before clapping his hands onto his shoulders in a threatening gesture, "again…" he added as Arthur widened his eyes in surprise, pausing momentarily.
"Given what we're after, I've got all the motivation I need…" he affirmed, continuing to type, "Sadly, it doesn't make taking down Pietro's magical science project any less cumbersome…" he grumbled in admittance.
"Oh… I trust you can come up with something…" James retorted as he released his grip on the former Atlesian doctor's shoulders.
"Oh, the trust is palpable…" he remarked back with a roll of his eyes, seeing that four soldiers were around them, each with their rifles aimed onto him in case of any trouble. Arthur ignored them, continuing his work. But then he noticed an alert notification pop up on the screen to his right. He took a moment to inspect it. "Speaking of the man," he began as he pulled up a map of the complex, "are you aware that dear Doctor Polendina is gallivanting around your military compound?" he inquired of the general, who put his right hand onto the scientist's shoulder as he leaned down to inspect the screen. A window with text that read 'DR. POLENDINA'S CREDENTIALS IN USE' has popped up, along with a red, blinking icon as to where it had gone off. "Unless, of course…" Arthur continued, "someone else is using his credentials…" he assumed. That elicited a frustrated growl from James.
"A security threat has been detected in the compound," he announced over the intercom, "Status alert level three: Red," he confirmed on, "Lockdown initiated," he stated, "Authorization granted to handle ANY threats with lethal force," he added to his subordinates. The infiltrating group had heard the whole announcement. Red emergency lighting activated as sirens started blaring.
"You've got to be joking!" Weiss exclaimed in frustration.
"We knew it was only a matter of time, but…" Genji began to say.
"Yeah, that was pretty quick…" Kim pointed out. Penny's eyes glowed momentarily as she was scanning the complex again.
"The pneumatic tubes have all been closed off," she confirmed to the group.
"What about airships?" Peter asked.
"We passed a hangar," May pointed out in remembrance, "I can hijack one and get us off this floating rock," she affirmed to the group
"Wait!" Penny chimed in, causing everyone to look over at her in surprise, "We can still succeed," she pointed out, "We are so close…" she added hopefully.
"First we gotta figure out a way to get through central without being seen…" Peter noted.
"And be quick about it…" Danny mentioned with crossed arms.
"Hmm…" Nora hummed in thought, having her right hand upon her chin. After a moment, she snapped her fingers with an idea on her mind. As an officer left the command center, the veiled May snuck in once the doors were opened, while everyone was braced against the wall, invisible themselves thanks to the half-ghost teen spreading his power to everyone.
The invisible Happy Huntress stood by a wall as an office worker was walking by, carrying a filled mug in his left hand. She stuck her foot out from the veil, and he tripped on it. As he gasped and fell over, he lost the grip on his mug as it went flying through the air. The hot coffee inside spilled all over a nearby workstation, also drenching an operator's lap.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" he screamed in pain from the burning beverage all over his pants, while sparks of electricity spat up from the workstation. His fellow operator turned to where the mug had come from, glaring at the office worker as he stood back up.
"Read the sign, Bill! Read the sign!" he yelled, pointing toward a hand-drawn poster of a large-shark-esque Grimm, with a burger, fries, and drink suspended in water above it. There was also a notice that read 'NO FOOD OR DRINK IN CENTRAL COMMAND'. A majority of the room's occupants turned to stare and shake their heads at their apparently clumsy coworker. "Why don't you ever just pay attention?!" the operator shouted in question, "You're in here late all the time, your coworkers…!" he continued as the scalded operator beside him took off, bellowing in pain as he ran out of the room, leaving the doors open behind him.
"Okay, go!" Danny whispered, making himself and everyone else visible. Ruby then burst into a cluster of rose petals as she zipped around all her colleagues, taking them with her in an instant. They sped through central command completely unnoticed.
"You put salmon in the microwave!" another worker complained to Bill. As shouts were drowned out by the noise, the silver-eyed girl went through a doorway and up the stairs before releasing her Semblance, allowing everyone out from her cluster. She struck a pose and breathed heavily, with Nora, Penny and Peter looking at her in awe. Weiss, Danny, Kim and Genji all smiled as well. But Blake looked extremely terrified, holding onto the wall next to her.
"Another thing I don't wanna do ever again…" she said with a wave of her left arm. Meanwhile, Danny glanced back down the stairs.
"Something wrong?" Weiss asked upon noticing.
"May's gonna need help getting a ship," the half-ghost teen replied, "I doubt Ironwood wouldn't wanna cover all his bases on lockdown," he mentioned to her. She frowned a little in realization, glancing away.
"Just be careful," she advised.
"Promise," he responded with a grin. He then assumed his ghost form again as rings of light flowed up and down his body, followed by him turning invisible as he flew off. The doors closed, and the group had finally cleared another obstacle to their goal.
X
It wasn't long before the remainder of the team made their way across a raised walkway in a cavernous and deserted chamber. At the end of it was a heavily electrified door. Jenny looked around worriedly. There were no guards present at all.
"Stand back, please," Penny advised, drawing her connector plug again to interface with the control panel beside the door. Everyone readied themselves, prepared to take action in case anyone was inside. The electricity ceased, and the door opened. As the overhead lights came on, it revealed a secluded room filled with terminals.
"Huh…" Peter sighed in relief, "At least there's one place without traffic…" he noted as he walked in with the group.
"Uh… where is everyone?" Ruby wondered aloud.
"This is a highly classified area," Penny replied. As everyone was inside, the door closed behind them, humming with electricity again. Nora briefly stopped to regard it before moving on.
"Should we try to contact Daniel and see if he and May have procured a ship?" Genji inquired as he walked over to the terminal at the end of the room alongside Ruby, Jenny, and Penny.
"We could end up blowing their cover, so let's not," the silver-eyed huntress advised in reply. Meanwhile, the Winter Maiden sat herself down in the office chair at the terminal and moved herself up to it, taking a deep breath to calm herself. She set her hands onto the console.
"Hey Dad?" she called out as her communicator pinged, "I'm ready," she confirmed. Her eyes suddenly went from green to yellow.
"Huh?" Ruby uttered in confusion upon noticing, leaning over to get a closer look with Jenny.
"Ahem," Pietro's voice suddenly coughed through Penny, whose movements became considerably more stiff and jerky, "This process is a… little complicated," he noted as the silver-eyed huntress flinched in astonishment, having not expected to hear the doctor's voice coming from her robot friend, "So I'm remoting into Penny from Amity Colosseum," he told her, stretching his daughter's fingers.
"I… see…" Ruby uttered in realization.
"I can relate…" Jenny added with a small smile and a roll of her eyes. They both watched as Pietro began his work with the press of a button, flicking switches and selecting different buttons as well, with his daughter's eyes darting back and forth as her fingers typed rapidly on the holographic keyboards.
In the meantime, everyone else idled by. Kim was checking her bracers, Weiss was leaned against a terminal, Peter was hanging upside down from a web line upon the ceiling, and Blake was swiveling herself around in an office chair. Nora meanwhile, was just wandering about curiously.
"I hope the others are okay," the cat Faunus said as she came to a stop on her chair, getting their attentions, "I've never seen Yang and Ruby fight like this…" she pointed out as she sadly glanced down.
"Don't worry," Weiss assured, causing her to perk up, "They're sisters," she pointed out with a shrug of her shoulders, "Sometimes sisters… just have very different ideas about what's right," she noted on, remembering the arguments between herself and Winter.
"And they're both doing something that's right for the sake of everyone," Kim chimed in.
"Yeah, they'll be fine…" Nora affirmed with her hands at her hips, "Jaune's a great leader, Oscar's grown a ton, and Yang is more than capable of protecting them all in a fight," she listed off confidently. The others waited for her to continue, but she didn't. Peter came down and tilted his head with puzzlement.
"And…?" he uttered, gesturing for the orange-haired huntress to continue, only for Weiss to elbow him, "Ow!" he yelped, shooting her a look.
"Oh, and of course Ren is… um…" Nora tried to say, only for her usual happy-go-lucky composure to break. She averted her eyes. "I don't know what he is…" she admitted as she grabbed her right arm, "Every time I think the two of us are making progress, he…" she kept going, only to ultimately sigh in frustration, "We've been together our whole lives, but I feel like I understand him less now than ever," she told the group, "And I don't know if that's his fault or mine," she mentioned in confession. Blake took a moment to think.
"When you've been at someone's side for so long, after a while they become a part of you," she explained to Nora, putting her right hand over her heart, "But that's just it," she pointed out seriously, "They're only a part of you," she reiterated, "Don't forget about the rest," she advised, "Otherwise, it'll hurt you more than you want it to…" she mentioned as she looked down sadly for a moment. Peter landed on the floor next to her, placing a hand onto her left shoulder reassuringly. Meanwhile, Nora let out a mirthless chuckle.
"I don't actually know who I am… without Ren…" she admitted as she glanced off the side, sounding embarrassed and saddened, letting out a sarcastic laugh, "Pretty sad, huh?" she guessed, arching an eyebrow.
"Well… maybe take this opportunity to find out?" Weiss suggested, "Do something only Nora can do," she mentioned on.
"Like what?" the orange-haired huntress muttered in question, "Be strong and hit stuff?" she assumed.
"Nora…" Kim uttered worriedly. She and Weiss walked over to try and comfort her, but suddenly found themselves distracted from hearing the loud keystrokes from the terminal the others were at.
"Uh… is that a good sound?" Peter wondered, approaching alongside the girls.
"I just have to…" Pietro uttered as he continued typing, "There," he said as he finished moving his daughter's fingers, "Downloading the cloned imprint now," he confirmed as behind him, Weiss turned to Ruby for an explanation as to how the doctor could speak through Penny, but the silver-eyed huntress could only shrug in response, "When Penny gets to Amity, we'll run the launch sequence," Pietro told the group, "Amity's computer will try to connect to the general's terminal," he mentioned as he had his daughter insert her connector plug into a port on the terminal, "but get Penny instead," he finished, letting the Winter Maiden's eyes go back to green.
"And after the launch, I'll return to help you all with the evacuation," she affirmed confidently with a smile. But then, she heard her communicator ping. Her father coughed.
"About that, Penny…" he began, causing her to frown worriedly, "When Amity goes up," he continued, "I think you should be on it with Maria, Carla, and I," he insisted of her. Everyone behind her traded conflicted looks. And Jenny could see how anxious her crush was now.
"But… they need me here," she pointed out as she turned in her chair, "Right?" she assumed, looking to the others.
"Well…" Ruby uttered, glancing off to the side for a moment, "if you stay far out of Salem's reach, then she can't open the vault," she noted, "She can't get to the relic," she added on, "So…" she continued.
"Wait, wait…" Jenny chimed in as she stepped forward, "What if Salem gets knowledge of Amity and sends someone to attack her there?" she inquired on, "We can't let her go alone…" she insisted firmly with a shake of her head.
"Well, what's the best option here?" Peter asked, "Help with Mantle evacuations, which are probably almost done…" he pointed out, "or help make sure the message to the rest of Remnant gets out smoothly from Amity?" he questioned.
"Maybe it is for the best?" Weiss assumed, though she and the others didn't seem too thrilled by the idea.
"Um…" Blake uttered out, noticing some tension starting to build, "we should probably head to the hangar…" she advised. A moment later, Penny approached the control panel to the electrified door again, inserting her finger into the port and deactivating it glumly.
"I guess we all have to do some things we would rather not…" she pointed out. Jenny looked at her worriedly as the electricity faded from the door.
"Penny…" she uttered out as the door opened, "I—" Gasps from the rest of the group interrupted her as she looked ahead and widened her eyes.
"Oh, great…" Peter muttered out.
"Hello, kids," Harriet greeted, standing in line upon the walkway alongside Elm, Vine, and Marrow. The last obstacle to the group's mission had shown itself. And it wouldn't be easy to overcome it…
X
"Time to come home now… Penny," Harriet advised sternly to the robot girl. In that moment, everyone drew their weapons and took on ready stances.
"So losing to Ben wasn't enough for you, huh?" Weiss assumed, pointing her Myrtenaster and glaring at their foes. Penny seemed very reluctant, looking on worriedly at her friends about to fight. Both she and Jenny had yet to ready themselves.
"W-We were holding back!" Marrow stuttered in claim.
"Yeah, right!" Blake retorted, taking on a fierce expression, "If anything, you're lucky that he held back!" she shouted, causing Harriet to gnash her teeth angrily.
"We have all said some things we regret," Vine chimed in, "but please, hear me out," he requested, slowly stepping forward. Peter narrowed his eyes underneath his mask, while Genji aimed his katana. They weren't taking any chances. However, the tall Ace Operative was looking to ignore them, focused instead on Penny. "I know you thought you were doing the right thing when you left with the Maiden power, but Salem is here now," he pointed out to her, "Things have changed," he said, coming to a stop.
"That's one way to put it…" Kim snarled out, activating her Hard-Light gauntlets. Everyone except for the two robot girls stared him down resolutely.
"If General Ironwood plans to leave Mantle behind…" Penny began as she stepped forward, "nothing has changed," she firmly stated with a shake of her head and a wave of her arms. Vine sighed.
"I thought you were supposed to protect the people, not hurt them," he noted to her.
"She would never hurt anyone…" Jenny affirmed as she stepped forward, glaring at the Ace-Ops.
"Well, Winter's in critical condition…" Elm noted, "because of you," she added harshly as her arms were crossed.
"And you repaid her by stealing the power that should have been hers…" Harriet mentioned with a glare.
"You should consider yourselves lucky that neither Sabo nor Wendy are here to hear this…" Genji chimed in, tightening the grip on his katana, "They would beg to disagree…" he said.
"And taking the Maiden power was the only way to stop—!"
"If you keep refusing to do the right thing," Harriet kept going, interrupting Penny and ignoring Genji's words as she approached the group, "people in Atlas AND Mantle are going to die…" she warned firmly.
"You could stop all of this, Penny," Marrow affirmed on, "Just open the Vault, hand over the Relic, and you'll save Atlas," he listed off as instructions.
"But it won't save Atlas!" Ruby argued, "Salem will find her way to the Relic no matter where you go," she pointed out, "Once Ironwood opens the vault, the Relic is as good as—!"
"One more word…" Harriet growled out, interrupting the silver-eyed huntress, "and I'm throwing you in jail right next to your uncle, runt," she threatened. Ruby gnashed her teeth, incensed. But as she tried to move forward, Penny put her left hand out in front of her to hold her back.
"Leave. Her. Alone…" she demanded as she balled her hands into fists, glaring at the Ace-Ops.
"And what are you gonna do about it, tin can?" Harriet questioned back, assuming a fighting stance. Before an answer could be given, something suddenly shot toward her, being a small blue missile. She gasped, rolling aside to evade it as it blasted through the door on the other side of the walkway in a fierce explosion. As everyone was shocked by the sudden destruction, they turned back to see smoke emitting from the missile launcher that protruded from Jenny's right arm. She withdrew it, assuming her normal colors as she glared ahead at the Ace-Ops.
"Don't. Call. Her. That…" she snarled threateningly, stepping forward to stand alongside Penny, whose eyes were shimmering with amazement. But she was grateful, giving her a soft smile. Together, the two robot girls stepped forward, beyond the room's threshold. However, Peter took notice of Harriet pulling out her Scroll from her pocket.
"Oh shoot…!" he yelped out. Unfortunately, the mohawk-haired Ace Operative pressed the button upon her device, causing the door to suddenly close up.
"Penny, no!" Ruby cried out, seeing her and Jenny turn around for a moment before they found themselves separated from their friends.
"Jenny!" Kim exclaimed. Genji rushed forward to slash at the door, but it suddenly electrified again just as he made contact with it, zapping him as he was blown back.
"Genji!" Blake screamed, quickly going over to help him back onto his feet with Nora.
"I'm alright…" he assured as he let out a groan, "But… what about them?" he wondered worriedly. On the other side of the door, Penny turned back to face the Ace Operatives, with green flames of energy rising by her eyes. A small breeze started to swirl.
"Jenny…" she said to her fellow robot girl, getting her attention, "please stand back," she advised as the air blew stronger in their enemies' direction, causing them to brace themselves as Harriet and Elm drew their weapons.
"Got it," Jenny replied, "I'm gonna try and get the door open!" she affirmed, hurrying over to the control panel. Like Penny, she had her right pointer finger twist open to reveal a connector plug, allowing her to insert it into the port. Seeing that, Vine quickly sent out an Aura-formed tendril from his left arm to try and get a hold on her. In that moment though, the Winter Maiden had the wind swirl before sending a powerful current barreling forward.
It knocked her foes off of their feet, with Vine needing to grab a nearby railing thanks to his Semblance. Harriet managed to flip back and land on her feet, while Elm only slid back so far. However, Marrow was at risk of falling off of the walkway from the sudden gust as he yelled.
Thankfully, Elm saved him with her hammer, swinging it out for him to grab and pull him back onto the walkway. She also had Aura-formed roots appear at her feet, latching herself to the floor. Yellow electricity sparked around Harriet as she dashed forward against the current of the wind, slowly making his way towards her foes. Meanwhile, Vine grabbed onto the railing at the opposite side of the walkway with an Aura-formed arm, also using his Semblance at his feet to spring himself up over the airflow, landing down right behind Penny. Jenny noticed and gasped. But her fellow robot girl wasn't remotely deterred as she turned around to face him.
"You will NOT hurt my friends!" she fiercely declared as her energy flames around her eyes went out momentarily and the wind lightened up. Her pack upon her back opened up, allowing her to release the swords of her Floating Array as they spread out. Vine tried to grab her with his Aura-formed arm as he extended it out, but she knocked it away with her blades.
However, Harriet dashed in at her blind spot, ready to bombard her from behind. But all of a sudden, she fell over onto her stomach in a grunt. She looked back to see that her feet were ensnared in webbing.
"Parker…" she growled out, seeing the web-slinger up on the wall above the door. He fired off two web lines to attach to the walkway between Vine. He noticed in the nick of time, avoiding his foe as he shot himself down and struck the floor in a three-pointed pose.
Meanwhile, Harriet ripped the webbing off of her feet before zooming out again at Penny. She was far too quick for the robot girl to counterattack, hammering her with a barrage of high-speed blows from all directions. However, the Winter Maiden was able to predict where was coming next, holding out her right arm for her foe to slam into, causing her to fall over onto her back. She then raised her arms, aiming her swords at the mohawk-haired Ace Operative.
"Penny, heads up!" Peter cried out. The Winter Maiden glanced back to see a pair of rockets heading her way from Elm's Timber. However, they were countered in a fierce explosion by missiles shot from Jenny, whose left arm had shifted into a launcher.
"Come on, come on…!" she pleaded, hoping that interfacing with the control panel would open the door soon. But compared to how easy it was for Penny, she didn't have that luxury. Marrow dashed in past Elm, drawing Fetch in its boomerang form.
The Winter Maiden was quick to counter his blade with her several, but he flipped over her and struck her in the back with a sharp swipe. However, that small victory was rendered moot as Peter shot a few web lines onto the canine Faunus, yanking him down and slamming him into the railing. He widened his eyes underneath his mask before quickly flipping to avoid more rockets shot his way from Elm, who growled angrily as she had Timber shift back into its hammer form.
Jenny was still going through data point after data point on the control panel, gnashing her teeth with frustration at how long the process was taking her. All of a sudden, she found herself ensnared by Vine's Aura-formed tendrils, yanking her away from the control panel as she yelped. She fortunately broke free of his hold by unfolding her metal, eagle-like wings from her back. However, she saw him draw his Thorn from his back, using it to slash the console in order to disable it, with sparks of electricity spurting out.
"I'm sorry…" he apologized, "but this is how things have to be," he affirmed, narrowing his eyes onto the teenage robot. She landed down, transforming both of her arms into large spiked fists.
"Then I'm not holding back…" she declared in response. In the meantime, Penny was swiftly managing to dodge the high-speed attacks of Harriet, kicking her up into the air and knocking her away with a swing of her blades. That allowed for Peter to swing in and snag the mohawk-haired Ace Operative by her feet with a web line, attaching it to the ceiling. She growled, flailing about as the web-slinger landed beneath her.
"So aside from the obvious fact that you tried to murder Ben," he began, "you're still gonna go against us?!" he questioned angrily.
"You're the traitors!" Harriet shouted back angrily, "If Tennyson died that night, you all would've just fallen in line like good little brats!" she added, causing Peter to widen his eyes underneath his mask.
"Oh… you're lucky Blake's behind that door…" he remarked in response, taking a ready stance. He watched as the mohawk-haired Ace Operative rapidly spun around to rip the webbing off again, falling down and landing in a three-point position in front of him. They glared at each other before lunging forward to attack.
Meanwhile, Jenny used her metal wings to deflect Vine's Aura-formed tendrils. She glanced back to see Penny struggling to use her swords to block the heavy swings of Elm's Timber. The burly Ace Operative raised her hammer up, about to slam it down onto the Winter Maiden.
Acting quickly, Jenny had her pigtails pop out from the sockets at her head. Vine looked in surprise to see them come together and unfold into the shape of an x. The drone then turned around and flew toward Elm. She blinked in surprise before being nicked by it, causing her to stumble back. That allowed for Penny to slash her a few times with her Floating Array's blades.
Growling in frustration as she was enduring a constant barrage of attacks, Elm swung her hammer to smash XJ out of the air as it fell below the walkway. Penny and Jenny gasped. The former then glared angrily as the green flames at her eyes flared up again. The burly Ace Operative was suddenly knocked off of her feet by a sudden rush of air, tumbling toward where Peter and Harriet were fighting.
The web-slinger evaded the quick strikes of the mohawk-haired Ace Operative easily. However, she evaded a web line that he shot out by ducking, retaliating with an uppercut to his chin that sent him flying back. He landed down next to Jenny, who withdrew her wings as they faced down Vine and Marrow. However, they were more focused on Penny.
A dark cloud materialized over her, with chunks of hail starting to fall onto the walkway. The canine Faunus braced himself from it with his Fetch, but it left him distracted long enough for Penny to rocket over and land a swing kick with her left leg, sending him flying off of the walkway. Vine quickly formed another Aura tendril, extending it out to grab hold of Marrow and pull him back over before he could fall.
"We gotta get Marrow taken care of first," Peter pointed out to Jenny, getting her attention, "Otherwise, we might lose Penny…" he noted grimly.
"We won't," Jenny affirmed, transforming her left arm into a small cannon that fired off laser bolts toward Vine. He took notice in the nick of time, hopping back to evade them.
"Harriet! Elm!" he called out to his colleagues before taking a glob of webbing to his face, making him stumble back. Elm moved forward, planting herself against the floor with her Aura-formed roots. Jenny dashed out at her, firing off more laser bolts. However, she was caught off guard by Harriet speeding forward and slamming her left fist into her face, sending her tumbling back.
"Jenny!" Penny screamed, turning and glaring at the mohawk-haired Ace Operative. She leapt onto Elm's Timber, letting her eyes flash as she smirked. Her colleague swung, launching her like a baseball that just got hit by a bat. The Winter Maiden had no time to counter, but didn't have to. That was because Peter swung in and kicked Harriet aside just before she could reach her target.
They then engaged in a round of close combat, parrying each other's hits as best they could. The web-slinger found himself losing in terms of speed, so he quickly fired off a web line that attached to the railing to his left. He used the line to clothesline his foe, followed by shooting off a Suspension Matrix from his right shooter onto the floor. It activated, causing Harriet to suspend in the air for a moment.
Peter leapt up, firing another pair of web lines down to attach to the ground. He shot himself downward, slamming feet first into the mohawk-haired Ace Operative as they struck the floor. She let out a pained groan as her pink Aura flickered a little.
"And by the way…" the web-slinger said, getting her attention, "the name's Spider-Man…" he stated firmly. However, he suddenly widened his eyes as he looked up to see Elm's Timber about to be swung down onto him, with boosters propelling the force of the swing. Jenny dashed in to catch the hammer before it could hit her teammate. But in the process, Harriet went ahead and tripped them both with speedy swipes to their legs, knocking them down.
Elm was ready to crush them both, but was suddenly knocked back by Penny's swords, which were shot out at her and her mohawk-haired comrade. The latter dashed forward and used her armored arms to block them, allowing for her colleague to start swinging her weapon in a circular fashion while being propelled by its boosters. Harriet deflected two more of the Winter Maiden's blades before performing a backflip to get out of the way as her burly teammate hurled her weapon out.
Penny gasped, but the hammer was caught by Jenny as she leapt out in front of her. Gritting her teeth, she threw it aside. Unfortunately, Vine caught it with one of his Aura-formed tendrils, granting it back to Elm as she caught it in her hands. Peter stood back up, seeing how their foes were still on their feet and ready to fight.
"Yeah… this might be a minute…" he admitted aloud, narrowing his eyes under his mask. On the other side of the door, Weiss had brought forth her Arma Gigas summon in attempt to break out. It slashed across the door to no avail however, followed by ramming itself against the barricade. Unfortunately, the electricity running through it proved fatal for the summon as it was zapped, dissipating into white ashes instantaneously.
"Dammit!" the ex-heiress cursed, "I can't believe they played us like this!" she exclaimed in frustration.
"Penny's the Winter Maiden, and Jenny's really strong," Ruby pointed out to her, getting her attention, "I'm sure they can hold their own for a little bit," she mentioned.
"Yeah, but you said it yourself!" Nora chimed in emphatically, "The Ace-Ops were giving Ben of all people trouble!" she noted aloud, "We've gotta get out there and fast!" she insisted.
"Working on it…" Weiss responded, readying another glyph upon the floor.
"Uh…" Blake uttered as she looked around in confusion, getting the attentions of her friends, "where's Peter?" she asked. Back on the other side of the door, Jenny was knocked aside by Harriet, allowing Elm to close in and land a fierce blow to Penny in the chest with her Timber, sending her flying back. She managed to bring herself to a stop as her feet made sparks crackle across the surface, but not before Vine launched himself into the air.
With Thorn in his grasp, he spun down in an attempt to slash at her with its blades. She rolled aside to evade him as Peter leapt in and kicked him aside, only for Harriet to rush in and strike him upside the head with a haymaker from her left fist, knocking him onto the floor. She was about to attack him again, only to get herself pushed back by Penny's blades as her eyes flared with the green energy flames once more.
At that moment though, Elm suddenly rushed in from behind, catching her in a bear hug, forming Aura roots to latch herself in place. She squirmed to try and break free as her blades fell onto the floor. Peter tried to fire off a web line, but was thwarted as Harriet dashed in and knocked him down with another strong punch.
"PENNY!" Jenny screamed, about to rush over to help her.
"Stay!" Marrow yelled, snapping his fingers as he looked toward the teenage robot, causing her to suddenly pause in mid-stride. The Winter Maiden gasped with fright, still trying to free herself desperately from Elm's grasp. Ultimately though, the wind died down as the burly Ace-Operative tightened her grip.
"Ergh…" Peter grunted as he tried to push himself back up, only for Harriet to stomp him down onto the floor hard, pressing her foot against his back.
"How do you feel about that, Spider-Man?" she questioned, pressing harder as he winced.
"Hare, easy!" Marrow called out as Vine took hold of Jenny for him in his Aura-formed arms, allowing him to release his Semblance, "They're still just kids…" he noted.
"Kids with a death wish, just like Tennyson," Harriet argued, crouching down to bind the web-slinger's hands behind his back with a Gravity Bolas, also yanking off his mask in the process, "Guess that's another for the trophy collection," she joked with a smirk before walking away.
"Ben's not the idiot you think he is…" Peter said, getting her attention as she stopped for a moment, "And he's more of a man than that guy you call a general…" he mentioned tauntingly, eliciting a growl from the mohawk-haired Ace Operative as she stomped over to him.
"Enough," Vine chimed in, making her stop as she looked over to see him approach with Jenny restrained by his Aura-formed tendrils, "Let's get Penny back to the general and have these two put into the stockades," he advised.
"Tsk…" Harriet scoffed, "Fine…" she muttered, folding her arms over her chest. However, she and the others heard the wind start to pick back up. Penny opened her eyes, having them flare up with green energy. A small breeze wafted off from her before she blew back her enemies in a brilliant flash of blue light. In the process, Jenny got out of Vine's grasp, using the boosters at her feet to fly over to the downed Peter. She quickly formed a blade with her left pointer finger, using it to slice off his bindings.
"Thanks…" he said with gratitude as he pushed himself back up onto his feet. He then fired off a web line to snatch his mask back from Harriet, pulling it into his grasp and putting it on over his head. The mohawk-haired Ace Operative growled, but was then blown back by another shockwave that Penny emitted, sending her tumbling back along the floor. She came to a stop, gnashing her teeth together.
"Marrow!" she called out. The canine Faunus got to his feet and threw Fetch in its boomerang form at Penny, knocking her right off the walkway through the railing. Jenny gasped, but was relieved to see her fellow robot girl fly back up thanks to the boosters at her feet. Two trios of swords were readied beside her, concentrating energy as she was about to unleash their lasers onto her foes.
"Stay!" Marrow commanded with a snap of his fingers as he looked toward her. She gasped as her body and blades ceased moving. Vine then grabbed her with an Aura-formed arm, pulling her down onto the walkway.
"No!" Jenny yelled, flying in to try and catch her, only for Elm to knock her aside with her Timber, making her slam hard enough against the wall that she wound up embedded into it. Peter tried to zip in to help, but was overtaken by Harriet, who swept him off of his feet and pinned him to the ground, having her right foot at his neck.
"Ergh…!" he grunted out, "You're as stubborn as a jackrabbit, huh?!" he assumed, trying to push her off of him. She gnashed her teeth together, wanting nothing more than to break his windpipe.
"Harriet, that's enough," Vine insisted firmly, getting her attention, "Let's focus on detaining Polendina before worrying about those two," he advised on.
"Fine," the mohawk-haired Ace Operative muttered out, quickly landing a right hook to Peter's head to knock him out cold. Jenny gasped, trying to pry herself free from the wall. If she didn't do anything, Penny would be in the general's clutches, and all would likely be lost as a result.
"Anything?" Blake asked of Kim, who was trying to access the control panel beside the door. However, she shook her head.
"Ergh…" Nora growled with frustration at their situation, moving closer to the electrified door, "We have to get out there!" she insisted as the electricity crackled. She stared at it for a moment before coming to a decision. "Be strong…" she began, brandishing Magnhild off of her back in its hammer form, catching it in her right hand, "and hit stuff," she said, rearing her arm back.
"Nora, wait!" Weiss cried out.
"Don't!" Kim screamed. The auburn-haired huntress didn't heed their warnings, jamming her hammer into the power supply at the right side of the door as she yelled. It started siphoning off the electricity, channeling through her body as her eyes crackled with pink sparks. The lights started flickering as everyone watched on in shock and worry.
Nora started screaming from the strain of drawing in so much power. Pink streaks that looked like scars appeared along her arms, chest, and neck. Her hair stood up on end from the electricity as well. Still bellowing, she took a step back before swinging her Magnhild at the door, disappearing in the ensuing explosion of black smoke upon impact.
Just outside, Penny was still paralyzed from Marrow's Semblance. Elm was crouched beside her, about to clamp a Gravity Bolas around her wrists, which her at her back. However, the canine Faunus was starting to appear strained.
"Hurry up, Elm! I can't—!" Before he could finish his warning, the door suddenly exploded outward, sending everyone flying off their feet in a blast of black smoke. As it slowly subsided, Peter awoke, looking over to see the Ace-Ops pushing aside the pieces of the door that had blown them back, getting onto their feet. The smoke cleared at the doorway, revealing Nora there as she was clutching her hammer and breathing heavily, still crackling with pink electricity. The lines of energy that had appeared on her body stopped glowing, making them seem like scars.
"That was pretty awesome…" she admitted tiredly before her Aura shimmered and broke. She fainted onto the floor as her hair fell back to normal.
"Nora!" Penny cried out as she got up and ran forward to check on her fallen ally. Growling, Harriet tried to dash in to grab her, only to screech to a halt in order to miss getting hit by the laser bolt fired from Jenny. She finally pried herself free from the wall, flying down and landing defensively in front of her enemies. Peter got back onto his feet as well, hopping over to her side as he shook his head.
In the meantime, Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Genji and Kim stepped out from the terminal room to face down their foes alongside the others, having their weapons at the ready. Now the odds were back in their favor. And James knew that as he was watched live security footage from his Scroll.
"Damn it!" he cursed, "That was our chance!" he pointed out, turning away putting his fingers to the communicator in his right ear, "I need all available squads to converge on—"
"Wait," Arthur chimed in as he turned around in his chair, interjecting the general, who glanced back at him, "I have a message for your operatives…" he noted, smirking under his moustache. Back at the walkway, Penny drew the blades of her Floating Array once again, hovering over her allies as a large thundercloud form over them, crackling with green thunder.
"Should we take off and get to the hangar?" Kim asked in a whisper to her colleagues.
"I doubt they'll let us…" Weiss answered quietly.
"Fine by me," Jenny chimed in as she formed her arms into a trio of blades each, "They made this personal…" she pointed out, glaring at their foes. At that moment, Harriet perked up upon hearing a message through her communicator.
"But general, we have—!"
"We understand, sir," Marrow affirmed, interjecting her as she turned to look at him skeptically. At that moment, Genji dashed forward. He drew his wakizashi and clashed it against Vine's Thorn, making sparks fly between them. Elm tried to slam him down with her hammer, but was thwarted by Kim as she slid in, projecting a Hard-Light barrier from her gauntlets to defend herself and her teammate.
Penny then zipped forward, unleashing her blades out at her foes. They struck Elm and Vine, knocking them back. Marrow rolled aside to evade them, readying his fingers.
"Sta—!" A glob of webbing splattering onto his mouth interrupted him, having come from Peter. Ruby zipped in and struck him back with her scythe. As Weiss and Blake went ahead to help Genji and Kim, Harriet was oddly staying back for the moment. Jenny noticed, narrowing her eyes onto her. She rocketed down at the mohawk-haired Ace Operative, who smirked. Yellow electricity sparked around her before she sped aside and struck the teenage robot from her right, making her slam against the railing. She didn't even give her a moment to recover as she bombarded her with several quick punches.
"Jenny!" Penny cried out, zooming over to her. The others were ready to help, but not before Vine formed a pair of Aura tendrils over his arms, extending them out and swinging them in an attempt to sweep his foes off their feet. Those of Team RWBY were unlucky enough to get caught as they tumbled off of the walkway, with Marrow almost joining them as he ducked in the nick of time. Thankfully, Peter was not only quick to dodge the tendrils, but also fire off a pair of web lines to snatch the girls before they could plummet as he landed down and pulled hard. Vine was prepared to send him off of the walkway as well, but not before he heard the click of a button.
"RYŪJIN NO KEN WO KURAE!" Genji bellowed, drawing his katana and slashing mightily at Vine before he could turn around in time. His Aura flickered wildly until it shattered apart, followed by him dropping onto his right knee as he breathed heavily.
"Vine!" Elm cried out, bellowing angrily as she charged at the cyborg, who brandished his blade as he clashed it against her Timber. Kim hurried over to help Peter pull Ruby and the others up, all while the battles on the walkway continued. The silver-eyed girl glanced over to see that Penny was fighting against Harriet, confident that she would win. Even so, she didn't want to take any chances. She quickly burst into a cluster of rose petals, snatching Weiss and Blake before zipping back onto the walkway.
Meanwhile, the Winter Maiden had her blades swing around rapidly as she tried to hit the mohawk-haired Ace Operative, who was quick to dodge. She then dashed behind Penny, taking hold of one of her Floating Array's swords. She grabbed onto the wire it was tethered to in her right hand, pulling hard. Jenny watched as it was promptly snapped off, with Harriet rolling forward as the blade was now in her possession.
"Hey!" she yelled angrily, reforming her right arm and stretching it out at the mohawk-haired Ace Operative, only for it to be knocked away by Marrow's Fetch, which he had thrown in its boomerang form as it came back to him. Penny let out a wince for a moment, but recovered quickly as she and the others seemed to have the clear advantage against their foes. However, Elm took stock of the situation and scoffed.
"Let's go," she advised before taking hold of Vine, putting his right arm over her shoulders. Harriet gave off a smirk. She sped up onto the railing and jumped down beneath the walkway.
"Hey, wait!" Peter called out as he started to run forward, only to suddenly stagger as he fell onto his hands and knees, groaning. Elm leapt off the walkway with Vine in tow, leaving Marrow to follow them. However, he stayed behind for a moment, glancing back and forth at the people he once saw as comrades. He wondered if they were the ones in the right as opposed to James. He sighed, vaulting over the railing himself after his colleagues.
"Uh, that was—"
"Very suspicious?" Blake assumed, finishing what Weiss would've likely said as Penny rocketed herself over to Nora. In the meantime, Ruby crouched down and put her hands onto the exhausted Peter.
"Are you okay?" she asked in concern.
"A little concussed… but all good otherwise…" he remarked as a reply, making her let off a little smile of relief. Stowing the remainder of her weapons into her pack, Penny landed and knelt down next to Nora, hauling her upper body into her lap. Jenny jogged over.
"What happened in there?" she questioned, quite shocked by how weakened the auburn-haired huntress seemed, hearing her groan as she briefly opened her eyes for a moment. She fell unconscious again.
"She used her Semblance on the door," Kim answered as she came over, deactivating her Hard-Light gauntlets, "It worked, but…" she continued, looking worriedly at the scarred Nora. Penny reached for her friend's hammer, but a spark of pink electricity arced off of it, making her yelp from the zap.
"I got it," Jenny affirmed, grabbing Magnhild and setting it back into its grenade launcher form, "Are you gonna be okay without that sword?" she inquired of the Winter Maiden, getting her attention as she picked Nora up in her arms.
"I believe so…" she replied as she glanced off to the side in thought, "I cannot imagine why they would think one of my swords would be of use to them…" she noted on.
"We need to go," Blake advised, enticing everyone to nod in response as they stowed their weapons. The group hurriedly headed off to the hangar, with the doors opening for them to enter. They immediately were surprised to see the several unconscious guards strewn about along the floor.
"What the…?" Ruby uttered out. She and the others looked around, seeing nothing in sight within the chamber. However, they heard a whistle.
"You coming or what?" May's voice called out in question. The group moved forward, entering the Happy Huntress' invisibility field. They blinked in surprise to not only see her and Danny with the Manta, but also Obi-Wan and Tifa. "All ready to—?" May stopped herself as she gasped upon spotting Nora in Penny's arms. Danny widened his eyes.
"Wh-What happened?" he stuttered out.
"She's in bad shape," Blake noted as her cat ears flopped a little, "We need to get her somewhere safe," she advised firmly. Penny looked at her auburn-haired comrade with a worried expression. However, Jenny put a hand onto her shoulder, causing her to look over and see her nod reassuringly. A resolute expression came across the Winter Maiden's face before her eyes lit up with green, flaming energy.
A moment later, a minor explosion occurred, blasting a hole through the hangar doors. That allowed for Obi-Wan to fly the Manta out through into the open sky. Inside, Penny gently laid Nora down onto the floor face-up. The others looked on worriedly.
"I'm so… so sorry…" the Winter Maiden apologized sadly.
"You don't need to apologize," Jenny affirmed as she approached, "If it wasn't for Nora, we'd probably all be captured by now," she pointed out with a shake of her head. Penny still looked inconsolable, and the others took notice.
"So, where to next?" Tifa asked of the group, getting their attentions.
"Uh… well…" Ruby started to reply, clearing her throat.
"It is time for me to go, isn't it?" Penny assumed, much to her surprise before she blinked in realization, sighing a little. She turned and pulled her robotic friend into a comforting hug.
"We'll see each other again really soon…" she told her, "I promise…" she added softly. The Winter Maiden hugged her back, though still frowned with worry. She looked over to see her comrades giving her reassuring looks, having faith that they would meet again.
"You're not going alone," Jenny suddenly declared, getting her attention as she let go of Ruby, looking over to see her standing by the door, which opened as the wind's current blew by.
"Jenny… I don't think—"
"I'm staying by your side," Jenny affirmed, interjecting Penny to her surprise, "That's what a friend would do," she mentioned with a smile. The Winter Maiden gratefully smiled back. Together, the two of them made their way to the open door. With one last salute to their colleagues, they flew off into the distance together. The door closed, with Ruby exhaling another sigh.
"So…" she began, turning to Obi-Wan and Tifa, "who are you guys?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. The Jedi chuckled silently.
"That's quite the story we need to tell…" he responded vaguely as the ship kept flying across the skyline. Back in the laboratory, James was holding the sword that the Ace-Ops had procured in his hands. They were standing in front of him.
"Good work," he said.
"Tch…" Harriet scoffed, "Good work would've been capturing Penny…" she grumbled out, glancing at the floor.
"Well, you know what they say…" Arthur chimed in as the general turned around to hand him the sword, "If you can't beat them…" he continued, setting the blade onto the table he was seated at, "then make them join you…" he remarked, smirking underneath his moustache.
And so the pieces have been sewn into place. With this development as well as others, I can only imagine what chaos will follow… and how it will affect our heroes…
We'll know soon just how overwhelming this all is…
END
And that concludes another chapter of "Reality" from one of my personal favorite chapters of the volume! Though I will be honest, I did find how the team didn't try to go after the Ace-Ops to be a little suspect, but it made sense since they likely needed to get out while they had the chance.
I really loved writing the chapter all the same though, especially with Peter and Jenny's fight scenes alongside Penny. It was interesting to really delve into it. And there's only gonna be more fights to come, and a lot of explanations. So with that, we'll be back next week for another chapter.
See you later!