Disclaimer: I own nothing!
"Speech"
Thoughts
Hey guys, sorry it took me a bit longer to get this out than I originally wanted (What else is new right?) unfortunately just a few days after I posted the last chapter, a close friend of mine passed away in a car accident. He wasn't particularly close with any of his family members so I and a couple other friends ended up handling the funeral arrangements and such. Because of this I have decided to take a week or two off from writing to keep my head clear and focused once I have had proper time to grieve. Don't you worry though, I will be getting more chapters done as soon as August comes around! Thank you guys so much for your patience and understanding, and thank you for reading this far. I hope you have a wonderful week!
That's enough out of me! Read on!
Chapter Fifteen: Clandestine
At the Atlesian Military Base, various soldiers and guards work on their jobs. Weiss walking with Cordovin and Saphron, who is holding her son Adrian in her arm. They are also escorted by the two Nubuck Guards. Weiss drags a large luggage case behind her.
"Ah, I was relieved to hear that you came to your senses, Miss Schnee. Many of us were devastated when we heard you would be attending... Beacon Academy" she says the name with disdain "Knowing that you'll be returning to Atlas just warms my old heart"
"It was... time to get my act together and go back to my roots" Weiss pretended to agree with her.
"Oh, I can't wait to see you follow in your sister's footsteps" Cordovin said enthusiastically.
Weiss had an unenthusiastic smile on her face "Absolutely"
"I'm sending two of my best guards to personally escort you. Make sure General Ironwood hears that part" she winks and walks away.
"Allow me to assist you with your bag" the first guard hups over to pick up Weiss' luggage "My, what a heavy bag!"
Weiss keeping her grip on her luggage "That's alright!"
"Nonsense!" the guard insisted.
"Allow me to assist as well!" the second suggested.
"I can take care of it by myself!"
As Cordovin walks away, she overhears Weiss and the Nubuck Guards conversation. She stops in her tracks and gains a suspicious look on her face. Saphron notices this.
Saphron whispers to Adrian "Just like we practiced"
Adrian nods at his mother. The baby then lets out a loud wail that can be heard throughout the base. Adrian "cries" as he fusses in his mother's arms.
"Oh no! Look at that, he's just going to miss you so much! You should hurry on out of here!" Saphron says gaining the attention of the guards.
"A crying child?"
"We must console it!"
The two guards hup over to Adrian as they perform weird poses to amuse him. Cordovin continues walking with an unamused look on her face. While they are distracted, Weiss quickly gets onto the airship with the luggage behind her.
"That was close"
Ruby came through over her earpiece "Is everything okay?"
Maria spoke from inside Weiss' luggage "Call me heavy... It's all muscle! I'll show them a thing or two about heavy!"
"We're on board" she answered.
"Alright, we'll all watch our scrolls. The second Weiss is out of range of the comm tower, that'll mean she's out of range of the radar too" Ruby instructed.
"And that's when Blake steps in. We're almost at the drop off" Yang finished for her sister.
Elsewhere, just outside of Argus Yang is driving Bumblebee with Blake sitting behind her. Blake has her Scroll out receiving instructions from Terra.
"Okay, remember: one, the radar box is seperate from the rest of the communications equipment. So if you disconnect it properly, it won't take out comms for the rest of the city. Two, this conversation never happened" she instructed.
"Don't worry, this isn't the first time I've disabled Atlas security" Blake assured her.
Terra stares back with an unamused look "Never. Happened"
Yang arrives at the drop off point, Blake steps off the bike and proceeds forward. "You sure I shouldn't come with?"
"More intruders means we're more likely to be seen. Besides, stealth isn't exactly your, um..."
Yang stares back at Blake with her arms crossed. "I mean, you're great! And I'll hurry back"
Yang softened her expression "Go" Blake smiles back at her before heading off.
"Heading in on foot. Won't be long" Blake reported over her earpiece.
"Yes! It's all going to plan!" Jaune shouts excitedly. Jaune then looks to Ren and Nora, who just stare at him with neutral looks. Jaune clears his throat "I mean, uh... roger"
Ren and Nora exchange a brief glance while rolling their eyes at their leader. Oscar notices Ruby looking over with concern to Qrow, who is leaning against a tree with an uneasy look on his face.
"Hey, this is gonna work" he assured her.
"Yeah" Ruby smiled nervously back at him.
On the airship, Weiss sits in a passenger seat. She looks down at her scroll and notices her friends' signals slowly going out of range. Upon seeing this, Weiss makes her move. She gets up and heads toward the cockpit.
"Miss Schnee! For your own safety, we must request-"
"What?!" Weiss can be heard activating a glyph.
"Traitor!" Grunts from the guards are heard. The airship is flying by as the two guards are tied together by a black Schnee glyph as a parachute slows their descent.
"This parachute won't excuse you of your treachery!" The glyph deactivates, causing one of the guards to hang onto the other guard for dear life.
Back on the airship, Weiss walks over to the controls with Maria taking the pilot's seat.
"And you're sure you can fly this?"
"Missy, I was the Grimm Reaper! What part of "best Huntress of her generation" don't you understand?"
"Right, but your eyes"
Maria chuckles as she notices a small device plugged in the controls. She takes out the device and plugs it into her goggles. Text on one of the screens read "Transmitting sensory array data" as Maria's prosthetic eyes grow more wide.
"You were saying?"
"That you said your eyes were in desperate need of repair!"
Maria holding a finger out at Weiss "Bup bup bup"
"But-"
"Bup!" Weiss ultimately relents. She puts on her seatbelt as Maria starts to fly around.
Ruby watches her scroll as Weiss' signal disappears "Alright guys, this is it" placing her fingers on her ear "Blake, you're up" No response "Blake?" Ruby looks back to her friends in worry.
Yang sits on the ground next to Bumblebee Ruby spoke over comm "Yang, what's going on?"
Yang gets up and looks over to the relay tower "I don't know" Yang looks to her scroll and sees Weiss' signal coming back on.
"Manta 5-1, this is Argus Base. We see you circled back. What's your status, over" asked one of the terminal soldiers at the base.
"Why can they see us?" Weiss asked confused.
"Somebody dropped the ball. Don't worry, I've worked with Atlas forces before. I know their jargon" Maria picks up the radio.
Maria clears her throat "Argus Base, this is Manta 5-1. Feel free to gaff off. Thought we were going to scrub due to FOD, but we're back up and green across the board, over"
"Manta 5-1, return to base immediately, or you will be treated as hostile, over"
"I thought you said you knew their jargon!"
"Jargon was fine, but our pilots aren't elderly women"
"Huh, well they got me there! Ooh, my mind really is going! Why would you kids let me fly this thing?"
Cordovin's voice came through the radio "Calavera! You and those insolent children are up to something, aren't you?! You thought you could undermine my authority? If you don't return my ship this INSTANT, I will make an example out of you. I will show you the true might of Atlas!" Cordovin heard a crunching sound through her end of the radio.
"You hear that, Cordo?" Cordovin's expression slowly turns enraged.
Maria munches on cashews with her mouth open "That's the sound of me not caring!" she laughs maniacally.
Weiss putting her fingers to her ear "Ruby, we're in trouble. Cordo's onto us, and Maria isn't helping!"
"Maybe we should fly over to help Yang and Blake first?" Nora suggested.
"No, stick to the plan" Slade ordered "If we deviate too much, we'll never get to Atlas. Besides, Blake and Yang can handle themselves. Weiss and Maria need us here"
"Damn it! Cordo's gonna scramble her fighters. We've got maybe ninety seconds before they're in the air, and all over Weiss and Maria. This is all my fault..."
"What are you talking about? Your Semblance?" Jaune asked confused.
"Every choice I've ever made has led me here, and I've dragged you along with me. Oz, myself, the others... We're responsible for the mess the world's in now. I shouldn't have come, shouldn't have let any of you come... What was I thinking?!"
Slade groaned "Qrow, you're not the cause for everyone's problems. Just because you cause bad luck doesn't mean you're the cause of all bad luck" Slade explained.
"But-"
"We're all in this together, and we're all going to do the best we can. That's all anyone can do. And I know it's what you've always aimed for. We would've come whether or not you'd let us, so stop talking like we're your responsibility! We're not! But we could still use Qrow Branwen on our side" Ruby explained passionately.
Qrow pondered his niece's words "Hm... How did you grow up so fast?" he smiled at her.
"I had good role models" she answered smiling back at him.
"How sweet" Slade rolled his eyes "We do still have issues right now, if you two don't mind, we now have to come up with a plan for all the fighter pilots that'll be coming at us in a few minutes-"
"Guys? She's not sending fighters" Weiss reported. The group looks over to the Argus base. Suddenly, the mountain at the base retracts, revealing a colossal mech that overlooks the city of Argus.
"Clearly the people have forgotten that they live in peace thanks to the awesome might of Atlas!" Cordovin spoke through the colossal mech.
"Is Cordovin... piloting that?" Weiss asked surprised.
"Consider this a reminder!" Cordovin charges up the mech's arm cannon, which lets out an electric burst that fires at the ship Weiss and Maria are piloting. The controls go critical as Maria's eyes spin.
"Are you okay?"
"I am, but she's clearly lost her mind!" Maria shouted.
"And that was merely a warning shot! All Atlas personnel standby, and watch how your leader maintains order!" Ruby and her group look over to see Weiss and Maria fly in, with Cordovin in her mech following close behind. "It's time you asked yourselves, children... Do you truly wish to defy me?"
"Hurry back, Weiss. I need you on the ground if we're gonna take this thing down"
"You're joking, right? You want to fight this thing?!" Weiss asked in shock.
"We've fought giant monsters before. This is just a tiny old lady... with one very big robot.
"That thing is big" Slade agreed crossing his arms over his chest.
"Slade!" Nora shouted excitedly "You can stop that thing with your Semblance!"
"What!? No! I've never... I can't... I've never even tried on something that big before! I might be able to stop one of it's arms or something if I give it my all, but there's no way I'm gonna be able to immobilize that thing on my own!"
"What if I used my Semblance in conjunction with yours?" Jaune asked hopefully.
"It doesn't work like that! My Semblance doesn't work the same as Ren's, you can't just amplify it and hope it works better. I could tear myself apart trying to do that"
"Well then, let's not do that" Ruby chuckled nervously.
"Yes, let's please not kill me" Slade sweatdropped "We're gonna have to stop this thing somehow though"
"You little spider-roaches thought you could creep your way to Atlas?! Well, let's see how your resolve holds out against the might of the Atlesian Military!" Cordovin prepares to take down the airship with a missile that pops out from a slot on the arm cannon. The missile fires and tracks the airship, but suddenly, it explodes harmlessly just right behind it. Cordovin turns to see Ruby with her Crescent Rose. Ruby lowers her weapon and glares at Cordovin while the others get ready to fight. Cordovin growls "SO BE IT!" Cordovin prepares to shoot the missile at Ruby and the others. Weiss and Maria sees Cordovin doing so in shock.
"Dive!" Weiss unbuckles her seatbelt and gets off from her seat while Maria dives for the landing. As Maria heads to the others, Weiss approaches the airship door with Myrtenaster in her hand. She jumps off and raises her weapon creating a rock wall and protecting the group from Cordovin's ice Dust attack.
"That was close" Oscar sighed in relief.
"We need to figure out how to stop Cordovin and protect the airhsip until we do" Ruby pointed out.
"Let's give her more targets to focus on" Jaune suggested.
"You mean us, don't you?" Nora asked.
"Look at that thing. It's not designed for small enemies. It's probably meant for giant Grimm that come in from deeper waters. We can turn our size into an advantage. We just have to be smart"
"I like this plan already" Slade smirked.
"Maria, can you keep the ship out of harm's way?"
"They can take my driver's license, but I won't let them take this ship!"
Ren deadpanned "Very reassuring"
"I'll be more useful if I go with her. From up high, I can try to spot a weakness" Oscar offered.
"Well, he's not the only one who can grab a bird's eye view" Qrow smiles at the group.
Slade chuckled "Glad to have you working with us, Bird boy"
"I will hit you" Qrow warned.
"You said you needed me on the ground?" Weiss asked.
"Not exactly" Ruby nervously smiles.
As the team strategizes, Cordovin keeps an eye on their location keenly. Suddenly, her eyes widen as the group splits into three: Jaune, Nora and Ren run down the left path along the cliff, Maria flies the airship to the right, and Ruby and Qrow fly straight up into the air using her Semblance and his corvid form, respectively. Ruby reforms from her Semblance and fires Crescent Rose, cracking the mech's windshield and causing Cordovin to growl. She fires a volley of missiles to Ruby's location. Ruby lands on a tree branch and uses her Semblance to dodge the missiles. She eventually reforms and runs and jump along the missiles before freefalling down to the ocean. An incoming wave is frozen by Weiss as Ruby slides along it.
"Let's go!"
Weiss also slides off the frozen wave before using Myrtenaster to freeze small patches of ice for her and Ruby to leap on toward the mech. Slade uses his Semblance to force the water into almost solid form as he runs along it, returning each patch of water to return to it's original form once his boot stopped making contact before doing the same for his next step. As Cordovin keeps her attention on them, her mech is suddenly struck by a volley of pink grenades.
"Hey! Over here!" Jaune called.
"What?!" Cordovin looks over to Jaune's group as they keep running.
"And you said it wasn't beach season!" Nora shouted to Ren excitedly. The three then take cover behind a boulder for each of them. Nora fires off more grenades from Magnhild, but suddenly, a hexagonal shield pattern appears protecting Cordovin's mech, doing no damage to her.
Cordovin laughs "Surely you knew Atlas was the father of hard-light Dust, or do lesser kingdoms simply lack proper education?" Cordovin charges up her mech's arm cannon again, this time firing rock Dust, forcing Jaune's team to abandon their cover.
"Cordo just activated shields!" Jaune shouted.
"I saw that. We need to find whatever's generating it" Oscar noted.
"You know, in video games, the weak spot's usually on the back of the giant boss!" Ruby pointed out.
"Ruby, this isn't a game!" Weiss chastised.
"I'm just trying to- LOOK OUT!"
Cordovin's mech is seen stomping at a part of the ocean. Unbeknownst to her, Qrow flies around in his avian form. "You are ants! You are lower than ants!
As Qrow flies through the clouds, he transforms back into his human form and takes out Harbinger's scythe form. He propels himself forward and grapples onto the giant mech "Ah! What was that?!"
"Until the shield's down, we're gonna have to get up close and personal with this thing" Qrow starts to fire at the scratch he just made. Suddenly, he notices the mech's giant hand start to reach for him. Qrow dodges out of the way, transforming back into his avian form.
"That's easier said than done!" Ren shouted.
"Not for all of us!" Slade grinned leaping up onto the mech's leg using his wrist blades to hang onto it. Slade launched himself upward, using his momentum to climb the mech easily.
"Well he doesn't seem to be having a problem!" Nora laughed.
"Weiss and I are on it!" Ruby shouted back to Ren. Ruby and Weiss land on a patch of ice on the ocean together.
"Hold on!" Weiss stabs Myrtenaster into the ground, creating an ice attack that knocks Cordovin's mech off balance for a bit. Cordovin let's out a frustrated yell. As the airship flies by, Oscar realizes something.
"Wait, that's it. When she-" Suddenly, Cordovin aims her cannon at Ruby and Weiss. Oscar gasps "RUBY, MOVE!"
Cordovin fires a volley of missiles at Ruby and Weiss, creating a large plume of water. From it, Weiss and Ruby emerge unharmed as they ride Weiss's Queen Lancer summon. Ruby leaps off and uses Cresecent Rose to propel herself onto Cordovin's mech, embedding the scythe's blade into it. Maria cheers Ruby on. The force of Ruby's strike knocks the mech back into the cliffside, the tremors being felt by the citizens in Argus. Cordovin let's out an enraged scream.
"Go!" Jaune shouts.
Jaune, Ren and Nora proceed forward. Ren leaps onto the mech's arm and runs along it, while also using the blades of StormFlower to hang on. Jaune uses the twohandler form of Crocea Mors to slash at the mech's hip joint, while Nora uses the hammer form of Magnhild to smash at the arm cannon. Slade stood himself up on Cordovin's arm, leaping onto the windshield, he began firing Defiance into it.
"Oh, Cordovin!" he called as he started to pass through it with his Semblance.
Cordovin manages to stand the mech back up, causing Ruby to be lowered down into her view on the windshield and Slade to lose his concentration, causing him to fall back through the mech's windshield toward the water below. Ruby hangs on to Crescent Rose as she nervously smiles and waves at Cordovin.
"Get off of me!" Cordovin tries to grab Ruby with the mech's left hand, forcing Ruby to let go as she uses her Semblance to fly downward. Luckily, Weiss flies by on her Queen Lancer summon and catches Ruby and Slade.
"Heh" she looked to her teammate gratefully.
"What if I hadn't caught you?"
"I knew you would" she grins widely.
"Ow" Slade groaned from beneath Ruby.
Weiss just groans. As they fly around the mech, Ren lowers himself down along the mech's back. He notices a panel with a humming machine sound coming from it. Ren uses one of his blades to pry the panel off, but almost falls as the mech keeps moving around. Fortunately, Qrow appears and catches his wrist.
"Gotcha. What'd ya find?" Qrow tosses Ren back up as the both of them look at the panel he just opened. They see a whirring machine with the label "Authorized personnel only, Shield generator" written on top of it "Well, alright then"
Qrow and Ren draw their weapons and shoot at the machinery, disabling the mech's shields. Cordovin watches her screen as the shields are reduced to zero "No, no, no, no!" Cordovin then feels a tremor as Nora fires a volley of grenades at her.
"You get back here with my man!"
"Her what?" Slade asked surprised as he sat up.
As Nora continues firing at Cordovin, Weiss, Slade and Ruby fly by to Ren and Qrow "Jump on!" Weiss called. The two men do so. Nora continues to fire until she runs out of ammo. Suddenly, Jaune notices Cordovin lifting up the mech's arm. He runs over to Nora.
"I've had enough of you ingrates!" Cordovin slams the mech's arm into both Jaune and Nora, knocking them back and breaking their Auras. The two struggle to get back up.
"No!" Ren called concerned.
Suddenly, Weiss gasps as Cordovin fires the mech cannon at her group at point blank range, destroying the Queen Lancer summon and knocking herself, Ren, Qrow, Slade and Ruby back over to the cliff. Ruby uses her Semblance to fly back over to the cliff, but falls short. Ruby embeds the blade of Crescent Rose into the cliffside and holds on for dear life. Slade soared overhead, going right over the trees past where anyone could see him anymore.
"Slade!" Ruby yelled concerned.
"I can't see where he landed!" Oscar shouted worriedly.
Ruby notices Cordovin approaching her "This is what happens when you think you know better than those rightfully in charge!"
From the airship, Oscar notices Ruby in trouble and runs over to Maria "We gotta do something!"
Maria flicks some switches on the controls and flies back over to the mech. Just as Cordovin is about to fire her arm cannon at Ruby, Maria flies by and fires a missile. Suddenly, the mech grabs the missile with its hand, causing Cordovin to turn the mech around to Maria's direction.
"Calavera" she growls. Everyone watches helplessly as Cordovin fires the missile toward the airship's direction. The missile explodes in front of the airship, causing it to rattle "You just couldn't keep this rivalry between us, could you, Calavera?! You had to rope in children to fail with you!"
"Can you do anything besides run?!" Adam shouts chasing after Blake through the forest.
Adam then jumps onto a tree trunk and leaps off of it as he continues to pursue Blake, who continues leaping from branch to branch. Adam then fires Wilt and it crashes into Blake's kusarigama just as she was about to grapple onto another tree. Due to her loss of momentum, Adam manages to catch up and slash at her, but he merely just slashes Blake's trench coat off. Blake then kicks off Adam, knocking him back. As Blake lands back on the ground, she fires at Adam, who blocks some of her shots but some manage to still hit him. The two then leap out of the forest and find themselves on a natural stone bridge in front of a waterfall.
The two then clash again, with Blake evading Adam's attacks with her own Semblance. Blake manages to catch Adam's sword with her own cleaver/sheath, leaving Adam to defend himself with Blush. Eventually, Adam catches Blake's wrist and blocks her katana with Blush.
"I wouldn't have to be doing this if you just behaved!" he shouted enraged. Suddenly, Adam grabs his sword and flings away Blake's cleaver, before knocking her in the side of her head with the hilt of Wilt. Blake gets knocked back several feet "But you're selfish! Adam knocks Blake back again "You're a coward! Adam again knocks Blake back a few feet.
"You're delusional!" Blake shot back from her place on the ground.
Adam then points his sword at Blake's abdominal scar that he gave her before. Adam then uses his Semblance, which causes Blake's katana blade to break in half. The broken weapon clatters a few feet away from Blake.
Adam then stops to remove the blindfold from his eyes "People hurt me long before we met... All sorts of people in all sorts of ways" Blake looks away sadly upon hearing this "but no one hurt me quite like you"
Blake looks back up to Adam as she sees his own eyes. His right eye a healthy blue eye, his left eye scarred permanently with a brand labeled "SDC".
"You didn't leave scars, you just left me alone" As Adam continues talking, Blake hears a certain motorcycle drawing close. "So... tell me, Blake... how does it feel to be alone?"
Blake doesn't pay attention to what Adam says as she hears the noise get closer. Suddenly, Adam raises his sword and lets out a loud yell in fury as he stabs Blake in the abdomen. Suddenly, her form disappears, another Semblance clone. Adam then looks behind him as Blake picks up her cleaver.
"I'm not alone"
Suddenly, from above the waterfall, Yang drives off the cliff and hurls her motorcycle, which crashes into Adam, knocking him down, before falling off into the river below. Yang lands a few feet away from Blake as she stares down Adam.
"You" he growled. Yang fires a shot Adam, which he blocks. Yang then activates the shotgun in her prosthetic arm.
"Yang!" Suddenly, Blake falls to her knee as she holds her stomach in pain.
"It's okay. Catch your breath for a second. I can hold him off"
"She's right, Blake. It's okay, we have... unfinished business"
The two combatants stare each other down. Adam makes the first move, delivering a series of quick slashes and Semblance arcs that knock Yang back a short distance. Eventually, Yang starts to strike back, managing to land some hits on Adam that he wasn't able to block. Yang knocks Adam back a good distance before firing at him. He blocks and absorbs the shots with his sword. Adam then quickly runs in circles around Yang before letting out another Semblance attack that causes Yang to slide back a short distance.
"His Semblance is like yours! He absorbs energy through his sword, stores it up and then sends it back when he's ready"
"He gets to dish out damage without having to feel it?" she sighs "That's just cheap"
The two proceed to trade blows again. Yang lands a series of punches and kicks on Adam, but he manages to send her back when she punches his sword. Yang gets knocked back next to Blake and the two share a glance with each other. Adam notices this and lets out an angered growl. He readies his Semblance once again.
"YANG!"
With a loud yell, Adam lets out a devastating attack with his Semblance. When the smoke clears, Yang is still standing, though her prosthetic arm has some small scratches in it and her foot barely hangs off the edge of the bridge. She lowers her arm and glares at Adam.
"Leave. Us. Alone. This is your last chance"
Adam stares back at the two as he grips the hilt of his sword again. Yang's left arm trembles slightly "Heh, do you really believe that? Or are you just trying to scare me away so you won't have to die trying to protect her?"
Yang, angered, prepares to fight him again despite her hand still trembling. Suddenly, Blake takes Yang's hand with her own "She's not protecting me, Adam. And I'm not protecting her" Adam glares back at the two of them angrily "We're protecting each other" The two friends stand hand in hand in solidarity as they glare at Adam together.
"You knew you couldn't win two-on-one at Haven. What makes you so sure you can win now?" Adam asked confidently.
"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" Yang smiles at her friend's 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"
"Did she make that promise to you? Or to the person you were pretending to be?" Yang asked cocking her eyebrow. She was met with Silence.
"So I just wasn't good enough for you?"
"You know it's so much more than that" Blake replied.
"I know you've made your choice... and I've made mine" Adam growled in anger as he prepared to unleash all of his stored up energy with his Semblance, slashing downward with an enraged roar, Blake and Yang closed their eyes anticipating their demise. They waited for what seemed like forever but nothing ever came, opening their eyes the saw Adam still glowing with his Semblance appeared to be frozen in place, struggling to move. Adam's head turned slightly to his right to find Slade standing there with his hand outstretched toward him, on his knees in pain from his earlier fall.
"Hello there" he greeted with a cocky smirk.
"Slade!" Blake and Yang called in shock "What're you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be with Ruby?"
"I was, until Cordovin's stupid machine threw me all the way out here. I hadn't heard from you and was worried so I came as fast as I could. Besides, They can handle Cordovin just fine"
"You..." Adam growled "I should've killed you long ago"
Slade cocked his head to the side "Who're you again?" he asked pretending not to know him, angering Adam in response. Slade released Adam from his Semblance allowing him to use his own Semblance to attack Slade with all the energy he had stored. As the strike came soaring toward him, Slade outstretched his hand to clash with the arc of energy making it dissipate as it made contact "You're so predictable" he chuckled painfully.
"You filth" Adam growled as Slade slowly made his way over to Blake and Yang.
"You up for this, Slade?" Yang asked concerned.
"Always" he smirked "I've been itching for a chance to teach Taurus a lesson. Particularly, don't send goons to take down someone he's too scared to face himself"
"You think I'm afraid of you?" Adam asked with a laugh "Where'd you ever get an idea like that?"
"You could've killed me back when Cinder murdered her father but you didn't, I refused to be apart of something like that and you just stood there and watched me leave. Then you send your thugs to kill me for the next few months instead of doing it yourself. That's the mark of a coward"
"Yet I am prepared to face you and your friends here and now?"
"When I am injured sure, if I was fit as a fiddle you'd be running just like you did back at Haven. The difference here is you think you have the advantage, but you're sorely mistaken.
The four combatants then take defensive stances, albeit Slade a bit strained as they resume their battle. Blake, Yang and Slade 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 cliffside of the waterfall, depleting her Aura. She nearly falls off the ledge and hangs on for dear life.
"Blake!" Yang calls after her.
Slade clashed his wrist blade's with Adam's own sword but was pushed back, Adam kicked him in the chest causing Slade to stumble painfully "You're in no condition to fight, Slade" he smirked. Yang then turns around and angrily glares at Adam.
Adam takes notice of this "Moment of truth, Yang. Do you think you're faster than you were at Beacon?" This causes Yang to gasp and tremble slightly. Adam notices this and chuckles "Me neither" Adam rushes forward. Yang manages to dodge most of his attacks, but she is then knocked to the ground "Your Aura's bound to be running low.
Yang pants for breath as Adam angrily grunts at her. Meanwhile, Blake struggles to climb up "Hit me already!" Adam yells angrily slicing his blade toward Yang.
Yang dodges "What does she even see in you?!" Yang gets knocked back, Blake continues her climb as Slade struggles to his knees "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"
That's my girl Slade smirked.
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" she pants her own Aura depleted "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 backwards. Suddenly, he notices one half of Gambol Shroud's katana on the ground. He and Blake rush forward to pick it up, but Blake grabs it before he can. Yang then runs forward and grabs the broken blade of Gambol Shroud. Slade pushes himself up to his knees with all his strength turning toward Adam with his wrist blade poised to strike a fatal blow. Both girls then impale Adam from the front and back, each with a piece of Blake's weapon simultaneously as Slade's wrist blade pierces his abdomen. Adam looks down at his bleeding chest as he twitches.
"Oh"
Blake, Slade and Yang all pull their blades 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" Slade sighed collapsing onto his hands once more.
Suddenly, Blake starts to sob and falls to her knees as she breaks down crying. Yang runs over to hug her. Blake hugs back "I... I am not going to break my promise, I swear"
"I know you won't" The two girls continue to embrace as Blake continues to sob.
Slade rolls onto his back in pain as he struggles to catch his breath "We showed him didn't we!" he laughed painfully before coughing up a bit of blood, his vest turning slightly darker as his blood dampened it.
"Slade!" Yang and Blake quickly snapped out of their trance, rushing over to see if their friend was alright.
"Don't worry about me" he coughed out "I'll be fine, it's just a scratch" he assured them.
"We'll let Jaune be the judge of that" Yang pulled him to his feet, slinging his arm over her shoulder as Blake did the same on his opposite side.
"Let's get you back to Ruby and find you some help" Blake added determined.
"Hey, I'm just glad you're both alright. You had me worried when you both dropped out of contact like that"
They both remained silent for a bit as they focused on getting him back to the group, the occasional groan from Slade being the only sound between them "Thank you" Blake finally broke the silence.
"For what?" he asked confused.
"You didn't have to come for us back there, you could've gone back to Ruby and helped with Cordovin. But you decided we needed you, and turns out we did"
"If you hadn't shown up back there, we might not both have come out of that in one piece" Yang agreed with a small smile.
"You both would've been fine" he waved off weakly "I just made your job a little easier is all. Hell, aside from freezing him I really didn't even do much"
"You made him exhaust his Semblance on you instead of us, which is probably why you're even in this condition to begin with" Blake chastised "But you also watched our backs amidst the fighting and even helped deliver the finishing blow. I'd say you helped plenty" Blake had a genuine smile on her face "I can't say I expected you to take to helping me so easily, you're a better person than you give yourself credit for"
"Eh" Slade relented "Maybe I helped you out a bit more than I originally thought, but let's not overdo it" he chuckled "Taurus caused us all a bit of trouble after all. If I had only stayed with Ozpin a year ago you might've never lost your arm" Slade looked up remorsefully at her "You might've never gotten injured" he added looking to Blake, referring to the scar on her abdomen "Pyrrha might never have died... there's a lot of things that could've been better had I stuck around"
"If you had, you might be dead instead" Yang pointed out "There's no point regretting the past, Slade. All we can do, is do better in the future" she smiled.
"Yeah... maybe you're right" he smiled lightly back at her.
Ruby Rose is still holding onto Crescent Rose for dear life. Oscar notices this from the airship "Ruby!" Ruby eventually makes her back up to the top of the cliff by using Crescent Rose's blade to climb back up. She regroups with Weiss, Ren, and Qrow "Ruby, can you hear me? Are you guys okay?" Oscar asked over his earpiece.
"Are we okay?!" Ruby asked indignantly.
"I know, we were supposed to lay low, but listen! I think I finally found a weakness!"
"Well, we're all ears" Nora groaned approaching Ruby, carrying Jaune on her shoulder
"Guys!" Ren called in relief as he rushed over to his teammates.
"The cylinder on Cordo's cannon rotates and locks in a giant Dust cartridge everytime she changes attack styles" Oscar explained.
"We noticed" Weiss sighed.
"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!" he continued.
"We could destroy the entire cannon... Oscar, that's brilliant!" Jaune shouts excitedly.
"Can you... make that kind of shot?" Nora asked concerned.
"We'll only get one chance before she catches on. I'd have to be practically staring down the barrel of her cannon" Ruby answered.
"Well, I've got a way to guarantee that" Maria told as she 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 shouted.
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 taunted.
Cordovin chuckles "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 shouted in terror.
"Sometimes the best approach is simply the most direct!" Maria laughed. 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?!" She readies the arm cannon again, this time about to fire a lightning Dust attack.
"Pull up!" Oscar yelled.
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!"
"No, no, no!"
"Take control!"
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!" The group watches as the airship crash lands into the forest. 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!" Oscar shouted in relief.
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 backup. She looks over to the airship to see Maria repairing her prosthetic eyes as Oscar watches in concern.
"Come on, come on!"
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. Qrow gasps.
"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"
"No!" Ruby yells defiantly. Cordovin gasps 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" the group remained in 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.
Oscar reaching out "Ruby!"
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?!" she screeched.
"She's NUTS!" Nora shouted in shock.
Ruby continues flying into the arm cannon "The missile launcher springs out... but the raw dust gets locked in!" Jaune noted understanding her plan. 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!"
As Ruby flies backwards, her Aura runs out and she 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 Jaune, Ren and Nora run over to her.
"Ruby? Ruby!" 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!"
Cordovin struggles 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!" she presses a button on the controls "All forces converge on my position and eliminate these pests at once!"
"Crap!" Oscar shouted in surprise.
"Everyone on board! We're making a run for it!" Maria called out.
"What about Yang and Blake?" Jaune asked.
"Slade's still missing too!" Nora pointed out.
"We can't leave them!" Qrow agreed with determination.
Back in the mech, one of the screens read "Argus base channel open"
"Ma'am, we've been trying to reach you! Argus is in danger!"
Cordovin's expression widens in horror "What?" In the distance, a towering Grimm can be seen stomping in the water towards Argus. It lets out a terrifying roar. a massive legion of Manticores and Sphinx's in the air above the city of Argus.
"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. multiple Manta aircraft engage in dogfights against Manticores and Sphinx's above the ocean. The Leviathan itself slowly trudges through the water approaching the city. Some aircrafts fly by for a gun run on the towering Grimm. The Leviathan, however, simply dives below the ocean and swims.
"All units, be advised: Leviathan-class Grimm has submerged but is still on approach. Preparing hard-light shields, over!" the Air-Control officer reported.
Ruby and her friends overhear the radio chatter with looks of horror on their faces. Cordovin continues to struggle getting the Colossus' arm cannon out of the water with it being covered in ice and rock Dust.
"We're getting slammed by hostiles out here! Where is Cordovin?!" asked one of the pilots, struggling to keep up with the Grimm.
"This is your fault! Do you hear me?!" Cordovin yelled enraged.
"Ruby!" Yang called rejoining the group with Blake and Slade, the latter of which being carried by the two girls.
"Yang! Blake! Are you okay?" Ruby asked before noticing Slade's condition "What happened?"
"Don't worry about me" Slade coughed painfully "I'll be... fine" he panted catching his breath.
"You don't look fine" Weiss grimaced.
Yang and Blake notice the disabled mech "What happened here?" Blake asked in shock.
The group then hears the Leviathan roaring "Was that a giant Grimm?" Yang asked.
"Yes... and we just ruined the only thing capable of stopping it" Weiss answered.
The group wastes no time boarding the aircraft, Slade was laid down on his back through his pained groans in the center of the aircraft. It begins to fly away. Ruby watches with pity as Cordovin continues to struggle moving the mech.
"This is your fault! YOUR FAULT! This is..." she gives up.
"Ma'am, what's your status? We need an answer, over!" an Atlas soldier yelled urgerntly.
"Your fault" Cordovin looks down sadly.
"I'm so sorry" Blake shook her head in shame.
"Don't be. This isn't on you" Yang assured her.
"But-"
"You're safe, that's all that matters" Ruby offers supportively. Blake smiles at her leader and the two hug. Ruby looks to Yang and the two 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 explained.
"No way!" Yang yelled.
"We can't leave, not like this" Weiss agreed.
"It's like you said, a Huntress is supposed to protect others to the bitter end" Blake used her own words against her.
"Damn right" Slade choked out as Jaune got to work on healing him with his Semblance.
"Keep still" Jaune instructed, Nora held Slade in place as he squirmed underneath him, a pained expression on his face.
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'm not even close to done healing Slade yet!" Jaune answered concerned "In his condition, he's never-" Slade shrugged him off.
"Don't let those people die on my account" Slade said with determination.
"I'm not gonna stop healing you-" Slade glared up at Jaune "Unless you look at me like that" he chuckled nervously.
"I think we can manage" Ren answered with a smirk.
"Got a few ideas?" Jaune asked joining his teammate.
"I've got one" she answered.
"Eyes up, everybody. It's back" Qrow warned. The Leviathan swims for a bit before resurfacing above the water, letting out a terrifying roar.
"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 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.
"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 yelled in shock.
"All squadrons, fall back to evacuation procedures. Disengage Leviathan! I repeat, disengage! Over!" Air-Control commanded.
"No, wait!" Ruby runs up to the radio.
"Ruby!" Qrow called in surprise.
"We can stop it!" she shouted into the radio.
"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!"
Everyone looks at Ruby in shock "We can?" Jaune asked.
"I can" she answered.
"Ruby, when I said "trial by fire" I-" Maria tried.
"I did it at Beacon and at the farm" she argued.
"You really think you can do it now?" Weiss asked concerned.
"I don't have a choice"
"Manta 5-1, your ship is currently flagged as hostile. You will recieve no support, over"
"Fine, we'll do it alone if we have to" Ruby answered.
"When I find out which one of you just decided to hang us out to dry, I am personally going to FLAY YOU WITH-" Slade's threat was cut off on the radio as Ruby released the "Talk" button. From her mech, Cordovin over hears Ruby's radio chatter.
"We can hit it while it's stopped at the next barrier. Ren, you're up!" Ruby ordered.
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 yelled.
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 punched the wall of the aircraft.
"That's all I've got!" Ren gasped exhaustedly.
"It's on the move again! We need to stop it!" Weiss pointed out.
"What do we do?" Yang asked hoping someone had an idea.
Ruby thinks for a moment, before to looking to Weiss.
"Ruby" Slade called sitting himself up against the nearby wall "You'll need to get in close to do any lasting damage to that thing" he groaned.
The Leviathan continues to approach Argus, but suddenly, the aircraft carrying Ruby's group opens up its hatch doors "Eyes on us, ugly!" Nora yelled as she and Yang fired their respective weapons at the Leviathan.
"Is it working?" Blake asked.
"Unfortunately, yes! Hang on!" Maria shouted.
Blake runs over to Weiss, who is maintaining a Glyph she activated. Ruby is riding on the back of Weiss's Queen Lancer summon.
"Okay, okay, you can do this... You have to do this!" she convinced herself aloud.
Eventually, Ruby stops in front of the Leviathan. She closes her eyes and begins to concentrate, the noises all around her slowly muting out.
"Ruby? Ruby, hurry, something-" Yang yelled through her earpiece. 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. 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?" she asked in shock.
"Why'd it turn away?!" Yang asked fearing for her sister.
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!" Suddenly, the Leviathan opens its maw and lunges toward Ruby.
"JINN!" Ruby shouts while reeling back.
Suddenly, time stops. Everything slows down and freezes, even Yang as she calls "Ruby!"
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" she smiled "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... 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...
"Now, Ruby!" Slade's voice could be heard from her place as he used his Semblance to hold the Leviathan's head in place with all his remaining strength.
"Slade!" Yang calls in shock "What're you doing?"
"Buying her... more time" he strained out.
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. Slade collapses in exhaustion, breathing heavily as he struggled to catch his breath. The light retracts back into Ruby's eyes, and she turns around to look at the city of Argus still standing. Suddenly, Ruby hears a stone crackling behind her. The Leviathan's head manages to move and tries to aim at Ruby.
"No" she gasped.
"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.
The Colossus then walks over to Ruby. Its cockpit opens up revealing Cordovin herself standing in stern military manner "Thank you. And... I'm sorry" Ruby apologized.
"The Atlas military can handle the stragglers" she noted.
"What, uh... What are you saying?" Ruby asked confused.
Cordovin smiled "I'm saying I don't think anyone would notice if one more ship went missing in my lengthy report" Ruby smiles back at Cordovin, who then turns the mech around and runs off to join her men in taking down the remaining Grimm.
Jaune rushed over to Slade using his Semblance to help him recover "Damn it, Slade! You could've hurt yourself or worse! Overexerting yourself like that was crazy!"
"Ruby needed... more time" he panted out "Did you... think I... was just... gonna lay... her and... let her... fight... all on her... own?"
"I don't know if I've got enough left in me to fully heal your wounds" Jaune sighed.
"Can I help?" Yang asked kneeling in front of him holding up her hands up "Maybe you could use my Aura instead of yours?"
"I don't think it quite works that way, Yang" Jaune shook his head "But thank you, I'm sure he appreciates it just as much as I do-" Jaune stopped short when he noticed Slade had passed out from exhaustion.
"He did overdo it a bit" Weiss laughed.
"You can say that again" Blake sighed with a small smile.
Yang smiled down at Slade gratefully as she thought back to him rushing to their side, even in his injured state. Leaning down she kissed his forehead "Thank you" she whispered, getting to her feet and joining her teammates in welcoming Ruby back aboard the aircraft.
The airship Ruby and her friends are in flies through the night sky"We should have just enough fuel to make it" Maria told them as she continued piloting the aircraft.
"Thanks, Miss Calavera" Ruby called over to her.
"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 assured him.
Qrow smiles before sighing "I feel like they did all the heavy lifting" he admitted.
"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" she laughed.
"Thanks. You know, it was pretty incredible getting to see the Grimm Reaper in action"
"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, Blake and Yang sit together "I'm sorry you went through that nightmare. But, I'm glad Yang was there for you in time" Weiss smiled at Blake.
Blake and Yang smile before the latter takes the cat Faunus' hand "We were there for each other"
"Took the words right out of my mouth" Nora smiled at them.
"Ahem" Slade cleared his throat having recently become conscious again.
"Oh yeah, Slade showed up too" Yang laughed "Would've been in trouble if he hadn't been there. Even if it was stupid of him!" she called over mockingly.
"Sure, make fun of the injured guy who saved your life. That's gonna get ya far in life" he smirked back at her.
Everyone then looks to Ruby "Hey, stop it!"
"You petrified a Leviathan... after diving down the barrel of a cannon!" Ren shouted still amazed.
Ruby laughs "Don't act like you all haven't done crazy stuff before! I mean, Oscar made a successful crash landing! He's a fourteen year old farm hand!" Ruby pointed out.
"That was seriously impressive" Jaune agreed.
"We'd have been stranded without you" Blake added gratefully.
"I... thanks, but... I've been meaning to tell you guys... I didn't land the ship on my own" Oscar admitted thinking back to when the airship was about to crash land.
"We're gonna crash! We're gonna CRASH!"
Stay calm, it's going to be okay
"Ozpin took control?!" Nora asked shocked.
"No, he guided me... And then he was gone again" he explained.
"So he's still kicking around in there" Slade chuckled actually somewhat relieved to hear it.
"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 pointed out.
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 answered her sister.
"Well... believe it" Weiss smiled at her friends.
The airship comes out of the clouds, and the floating city of Atlas is seen coming into view "Wow!" Nora looked out in awe of the sight in front of her eyes.
"You know, you make the trip up to Atlas over and over, but you never get used to that view" Maria's prosthetic eyes start to act up again "Oh, come on!"
"It's quite something" Slade agreed struggling to his feet.
Weiss leans forward and has a nervous look on her face. Ruby notices this "Weiss, what is it?" Ruby asked concerned.
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..."
"They're set up like they're expecting an attack" Qrow finished.
Suddenly, the radio turns on "Manta 5-1, this is Atlas Air Control. You're scheduled to be escorting the Schnee heiress, please confirm"
"I've got this-" Maria reached for the radio only for Weiss to slap her hand away "Ow!"
"You really want to go through that again?" she asked annoyed.
"Manta 5-1, please respond" the radio spoke again.
"Someone's gotta say something" Qrow sighed.
"Allow me" Slade held his hand out for the radio. Qrow looked a bit reluctant but handed it to him nonetheless.
"Atlas Air Control, this is Manta 5-1. That is a negative on the previous objective, it was logged as a cover for a classified operation. We're currently delivering precious cargo to General James Ironwood with priority one clearance, clearance code Delta-One-Zero-One-Foxtrot . We were derailed aboard the Argus Limited and would very much like to get some much needed rest upon completion of said delivery. We're requesting permission to dock with the General's personal carrier or landing pad if he's topside, over" Slade reported with ease.
There was several moments of silence from the other end of the radio.
"You could've just said yes and we would've landed" Qrow sighed.
"This will get us to Ironwood faster" Slade replied.
"Acknowledged, Manta 5-1. Welcome home" the radio reported.
Slade smirked "See what I mean?"
"Manta 5-1, please land at the coordinates being sent to you at this trajectory" Air Control ordered.
"Well... looks like you did it" Qrow chuckled.
"How'd you know that would work?" Yang asked curiously.
"I'm not an elderly woman and I know how to talk to Atlas Military, I've had brushes with them in the past. Access codes always help too"
"I'm impressed" Nora laughed "Who knew Slade could sweettalk Atlas!"
"I wouldn't go that far" Slade sat back down careful not to reopen his wounds with a slight groan "Let's just get this thing landed Calavera, I don't like being in the sky anymore than I have to be"
In the Land of Darkness, Mercury is looking out the window in the meeting room. Emerald enters the room "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, before turning around and using her magic on the black pools again engulfing herself in the process.
"What could she possibly need all these Grimm for?" Mercury asked confused "She's got plenty of them as it is"
"Salem is planning on showing no mercy to Atlas this time around. The attacks on Argus and Haven were thwarted by Ozpin's group. With Slade having also joined up with them, she's fully prepared to leave the city in ruins like she did with Vale" Hazel explained.
"Doesn't she want Slade to join us?" Emerald asked curiously "How's he gonna do that if he's dead?"
"Slade has had many chances to join our ranks and has denied all of them. If he chooses to remain with Ozpin then he will die with Ozpin" he answered coldly as he turned to leave the room.
Mercury and Emerald continued to watch Salem in horror until they could no longer, quickly leaving the room to avoid seeing her horrid creations.
That's all for now guys! I know two weeks seems like a bit of a wait, but I promise, August 1st you're gonna have chapter 16 sitting in your hands... or lap... or whatever it is you read this on I suppose... the point is you'll have it! Thanks again for reading. I appreciate it!