A/N: I've been looking forward to writing COAL's Atlas arc for a long time. The main story has been mostly the same as canon up until this point in the series because my characters have been mostly doing their own thing, but now they're getting involved in the main story. As a result, you should expect a few things to change during this arc. Also, Hathor belongs to my friend decode9.

The members of Team COAL and their friends Kent and Hathor flew to Atlas aboard their airship as fast as it could go. A Few hours before, they had learned that Salem was attacking the city and resolved to defend it at all costs. The horrors of the Fall of Beacon were still fresh in their minds, and they swore never to let it happen again.

"Urgh…" Autumn groaned. "This flight is so boring! How much further to Atlas?!"

"It can't be long now, Autumn," Lily replied. "I just hope we don't get there too late. I was born in Mantle. Spent my childhood there. It's a dump, but it's my dump."

"We cannot allow the horror of Beacon to repeat itself," Colby said to everyone with a grim determination. "I need everyone to give it their all. No matter what comes after us, we need to be ready. The fate of the world depends on this battle."

"I hear ya, Colby," Kent replied. "I may not have been a student at Beacon, but I'll never forget that night. I promise, Atlas will survive."

"It's noble of you to come and save a kingdom that isn't yours," Ouranos told Kent.

"Well, you all did the same back in Mistral. I need to follow your example."

"And so do I," Hathor said to them. "It's time for me to make up for my past as a bandit, and I will do that by helping you save Atlas."

"I appreciate it, Hathor," Colby replied. "This may be a chance to avenge the Fall of Beacon too. If Cinder or any of her teammates are here, I will kill them!"

"Colby, please don't let revenge get in the way of the mission," Lily told him. "We don't want another wild Grimm chase."

"Okay, fine. But if I get a chance to kill Cinder without compromising the mission, I'll take her head as weregild for everyone who died in the Fall."

"Dude," Hathor said. "That's what my mom did to her enemies. Don't do it. It's morbid and not to mention unsanitary."

"Well, I can at least agree that our top priority is to defend Atlas. There can't be that much further to go until we get there."

The airship was in a cloud when he said this, and suddenly Autumn's semblance, which allowed her to detect when Grimm were nearby, was triggered. "Guys, I'm picking up Grimm!" The dog faunus shouted.

When the ship exited the cloud, they would see the two cities of Atlas and Mantle in addition to what appeared to be a giant whale Grimm in the distance. The whale Grimm looked like it was preparing to attack Atlas.

"That must be where Salem is!" Colby told everyone as he pointed to the giant whale. "Let's go take her out!"

"Colby, are you insane?!" Kent asked him. "We can't take on a great big whale like that! We'll need an army to destroy that thing! Or a massive bomb."

"Urgh, fine. What do we need to do next?"

"The wisest course of action would probably be to talk to General Ironwood," Ouranos told him. "He'll tell us about the situation and how we can help."

Lily sighed. "As much as I hate the General, talking to him is probably the best thing we can do right now." She turned to the pilot. "Take us to Atlas Academy."

The pilot moved the ship up toward Atlas, but apparently the Grimm had noticed it. A winged reptilian Grimm called a Teryx flew toward the ship.

"Take evasive maneuvers!" Autumn shouted to the pilot.

But it was too late. The Grimm's talons critically damaged one of the ship's wings, causing it to spiral down toward the tundra below.

"Brace for impact!" Lily shouted as the airship plummeted toward the ground. The ship crashed into the frozen tundra and slid several feet before finally coming to a stop.

"Is everyone okay?" Lily asked once the ship stopped.

She quickly saw that while all the hunters in the ship were unhurt due to their auras, the pilot was dead.

"Damn it!" Colby shouted when he saw the man's lifeless body. "How many lives will Salem take?"

"Forget him," Ouranos told Colby. "We need to get into Mantle before more Grimm get to us. We'll find a way into Atlas from there."

"Alright," Colby replied as he composed himself. "Let's go!"

But as they exited the wrecked airship, they saw that they were not alone. The teryx was descending upon them, and more had joined in. The hunters all either put their weapons in their ranged modes or pulled out ranged sidearms.

"Let's take these Grimm down!" Colby called out to everyone.

But before they could fire a shot, they saw the Grimm get hit with lasers that seemed to come from Mantle. Turning around, they saw a flying red-haired girl with swords floating around her. The Grimm were quickly killed, and the girl descended to greet them.

"Salutations!" The girl said to them with a smile on her face. "I saw your airship come down. Are you all okay?" The members of Team COAL and Kent immediately recognized this girl. She looked different from the last time they'd seen her, but her behavior and mannerisms were unmistakable.

"Penny Polendina?!" Lily asked in disbelief. "You're alive! But how? We saw you die during the tournament! Pyrrha Nikos tore you to pieces!"

Penny laughed. "I'm a robot, remember? My father recovered my core and built a new body for me. Say, you all look kinda familiar. Have we met before?"

"We're Team COAL of Beacon," Colby told her. "We watched you in the tournament, but this is our first time really talking to you."

"Team COAL…Oh yeah! You were the guy who lost to Sun Wukong in the Doubles round!" Colby sighed and facepalmed.

"Don't feel bad," Penny said to him. "My friends on Team RWBY and the three members of Team JNPR have said a lot of good things about you."

"I do remember seeing you with them in the hallways at Beacon sometimes," Ouranos recalled. "But it's nice of them to say such things."

"Yep! They said you went to Vacuo to rescue your fellow students from the White Fang after the Fall!"

"WHAT?!" Autumn asked. "You've spoken to them since the Fall?!"

"I have, as a matter of fact. They're here, in Mantle! Let me take you to them!"

"We'd love to see them again!" Lily shouted happily. "But before we go, I'd like to introduce you to our two new friends, Kent Kasai and Hathor Hazan." She was using Hathor's fake last name in case anyone in Mantle or Atlas knew who Hathor's mother was. "We came here from Mistral, and they helped us with some huntsman business there."

"Salutations, Kent and Hathor!" Penny beamed.

"Salutations," Hathor replied awkwardly. "Now can we please head into the city before more Grimm show up?"

"Affirmative, friend Hathor! Follow me!" She ran back toward Mantle, and the others followed her. They made it into town without incident, and Penny led them to an abandoned restaurant.

"Salutations, friends!" Penny called into the restaurant as she opened the door. "I'm back, and I brought even more friends! Come see them!"

As the members of Team COAL entered the restaurant with Penny, Kent, and Hathor, they saw none other than the members of Teams RWBY and JNPR (minus Pyrrha) waiting for them.

"Team COAL!" Ruby shouted happily. "It's so good to see you all again!" She activated her semblance to rush up to Colby and hug him.

"Wah!" Colby shouted as she collided with him. "Easy, Ruby. I'm glad you're so happy to see us, but don't run like that!" Ruby ignored him and used her semblance to rush up to and hug the other members of COAL. Jaune, Nora, and Ren of Team JNPR also approached.

"You were right, Jaune," Colby told the blond boy with a smile as he approached. "Continuing to fight for our victory even after suffering a defeat like the Fall of Beacon is the best way I could honor those who died. I know that somewhere right now, Pyrrha is smiling at us."

"Indeed," Jaune replied. "Her and everyone else who died that night."

"And now we're going to bring about the world that she fought for by saving Atlas!" Autumn said with determination. "We will put an end to her threat here, in this kingdom."

Team RWBY's cat faunus, Blake Belladonna, shook her head. "I'm sorry, but it's too late to save Atlas."

"What?!" Autumn shouted back. "What do you mean?"

"Salem's army is overwhelming, and she even managed to get Cinder Fall, Arthur Watts, and Tyrian Callows past our defenses. To make things even worse, Mantle has lost all its heat and everyone's negativity is drawing Grimm into the city. But worst of all, General Ironwood has declared martial law and is planning to use the Staff of Creation to raise Atlas into orbit. He's going to leave Mantle to die."

"Damn him!" Lily shouted angrily. "I knew he never cared for Mantle." She took a few moments to regain her composure, then spoke again. "This turn of events lowers our chances of winning this battle by a lot. But what is this 'Staff of Creation' thing?"

"We'll explain later," said Yang. "But we can't give up. You all taught me that back on Patch last year. And thanks to you, look where I am now!"

"We may not be able to save Atlas," Weiss Schnee added, "but we can save the people. If the people of this kingdom live to fight another day, we'll have a much better chance of winning in the end."

"What's going on in here?!" Shouted a female voice from the next room over. Looking over, everyone saw two blue-haired women enter the room, one more muscular and one less muscular. Next to them was a black-haired girl who wore a blue outfit. Lily's face lit up when she saw the black-haired girl.

"Anne!" The fox faunus shouted as she ran up to hug the girl.

"You know her?" Autumn asked.

"We were friends before I went to Beacon. It was me, her, and Polaris."

"Good to see you again, Lily." Anne turned to everyone else. "I'm Andromeda Lumiere, but everyone calls me Anne. As my foxy friend has told you, I was her friend growing up in Mantle. Well, really, I was from Atlas but came down here to train with a local huntsman. And I was also Penny's teammate at Atlas Academy. So naturally, I'm going to help her save the people of Atlas."

The less muscular blue-haired girl spoke. "I'm May Marigold, proud member of the Happy Huntresses. We help the people of Mantle, and we're committed to getting everyone out of here safely."

"And I'm Joanna Greenleaf," the more muscular one added. "Also a proud Happy Huntress. Like May said, we look out for the people of Mantle first and foremost."

"I haven't introduced myself yet," said Kent. "I'm Kent Kasai, also called Kent the Samurai. And this is my friend Hathor Hazan."

"A Samurai?" Yang asked with a big grin. "That is so cool!"

"Indeed," Kent replied with a smile. "But not as cool as this city!" They both laughed.

Just then, a boy who appeared to be around Hathor's age walked into the room. "And I'm Oscar Pine," he said as he introduced himself to them. "But the members of Team COAL may remember me as Professor Ozpin."

"WHAT?!" Lily shouted in disbelief. "That's impossible! Professor Ozpin died during the Fall of Beacon! The probability of him being here is zero!"

Oscar laughed. "Your semblance only works with information you know, Lily. It can be wrong if there's something important that you don't know."

"Wha-how did you know that?!"

"Like I said, I'm Professor Ozpin. I have the power to reincarnate in a random host's body after I die. It's a long story."

Ouranos looked at him suspiciously. "If you're really Professor Ozpin, then answer me this: which chess pieces did my teammates and I pick up on initiation day at Beacon?"

Oscar smiled. "That's an easy one. The black kings."

Lily's jaw dropped. "By the gods, you are Professor Ozpin! But how are you able to reincarnate like this?"

"We'll explain later," Weiss answered. "Now that introductions are out of the way, we're going to have a meeting to discuss our next course of action. Follow me." She led them into another room, where an older man was waiting for them. He was a bit heavy, hard darker skin, and was sitting on what looked like a high-tech wheelchair with legs.

"Hello, father," Penny said when she saw him. "These are my friends on Team COAL from Beacon."

The man smiled. "Ah, Team COAL. My daughter and her friends have said good things about you. I'm Pietro Polendina, Penny's creator."

"You ready to work?" Joanna asked everyone. There was no response, and she continued talking. "The largest Grimm horde ever seen is hovering over the tundra, and out there is a city with no heat and, from what you told us, no more military protection. And while we're happy to give you guys a place to lie low for a while…it's time to get those people some help."

"How?" Asked Lie Ren, one of the three surviving members of Team JNPR. "Ironwood stopped all evacuations to Atlas, and we can't get them out of the city with Salem's forces surrounding us."

"The crater," Joanna replied. "Beneath Atlas. It's not safe, but it's warm and with everyone in one place, it'll be easier to protect them. May can send you where you're needed the most. We've got to get everyone in the crater before nightfall. In the slums, we might have a chance." With that, Joanna turned around and went back into the kitchen.

"We're never going to sleep again," said Weiss. "I just know it."

Joanna turned around and looked back at Weiss. "Either you're helping, or you're baggage."

Yang stood up. "We need to get out there and do what we can for Mantle."

"We need to do what we can for everyone. What about Amity? And telling the world about Salem? We can't do this alone. We need help."

Blake stood up. "Ruby's right. The Happy Huntresses are handling the evacuation better than we could. And then there's a bigger picture."

"But Amity isn't even finished. It's still under construction…"

Ruby and Yang continued arguing for a while, and Pietro revealed that to launch Amity, they would need clearance from Ironwood's terminal. Fortunately, there were multiple terminals, one in Atlas Academy and the other in Ironwood's military compound, and the easier one to access would be in the compound. After they had argued for long enough about what to do, Jaune spoke up.

"Okay, okay," he said. "Then let's go for both. Get Amity up and running and evacuate Mantle."

"But that's how Salem got this far," Ruby objected. "By dividing us. We need to work together."

"No," Oscar answered. "What Salem wants is to turn us against each other. Just like this. Jaune has a point. We can work separately and still be united."

"Or," Penny added, "let me take the Relic to Salem. And then maybe she will call off her attack on the Kingdom."

"I don't think we can trust Salem to actually do that," Oscar replied. "And the moment she uses the staff to create anything else, Atlas falls onto Mantle."

"Nobody's turning you over to anybody," Yang said. "That's the one thing we can all agree on."

Ruby sighed. "Okay. Then I guess we're going to Atlas." She turned to Pietro. "Can you help us get to that terminal?"

"I suppose someone needs to help you bypass security."

"I'll go," Penny said in a soft but firm voice.

"Penny," Pietro replied nervously. "We can't risk-"

Then Penny did something that no one on Team COAL nor their allies expected her to do. Her eyes lit up with green flames around them, and she turned back toward her father with a determined expression.

"I'll go!" She shouted more forcefully.

"What the?!" Lily asked. "How did you do that? Are you a…?"

"Yes," Penny told her as the flames around her eyes disappeared. "I am the Winter Maiden.

"Where'd you learn about the Maidens?" Ruby asked.

"That's not important. The important thing is, what can my teammates and I do to help?"

Ruby thought for a moment. "General Ironwood is going to be hunting Penny," she told Lily. "He needs her powers to open the vault in Atlas Academy that contains the Relic of Creation. You see, there are four Relics in Remnant, each located inside one of the huntsman schools. Only the power of a Maiden can open them. For Atlas, that's the Winter Maiden."

"What are these relics?"

"Each Relic represents a concept," Oscar explained. "Creation, destruction, knowledge, and choice. When all four are collected, the two Brother Gods who created Remnant will return to our world and judge humanity. If they find humanity unworthy, they will destroy Remnant. Salem's plan is to use the Relics to summon the Gods back and convince them that humanity should be destroyed. And Ironwood wants to use the Relic to raise Atlas into orbit so that the Relic of Creation and the Winter Maiden powers will be out of Salem's reach."

"The Brother Gods are real?" Lily asked in confusion. "Oh great. How many other Remnant fairy tales are real? And more importantly, how do you know all this?"

"A long time ago, I was Ozma, Salem's husband. After she staged a rebellion against the Gods, they cursed her to never die until she appreciated the importance of life and death. And I was given the ability to reincarnate so that I could lead humanity to peace and unity. It is only if humanity is united that they will be judged worthy of survival. If that happens, the Gods will come and live with us again."

"I…I see…"

"I know it's a lot to take in. But I just can't keep it a secret any longer. I kept it secret from Ironwood, and his feeling of betrayal after he found out is a big part of what turned him crazy. So I'm not telling any more lies or keeping any more secrets."

"That's good," said Hathor. "Then I won't tell lies either. I'm not Hathor Hazan. My real last name is Isatari. I'm the daughter of the Bandit Queen, Helenium Isatari. But she died recently. Before she died, she said she wanted me to live a better life. So I decided to join all of you."

"I didn't know Helen had a daughter," said Oscar, "but it's very honest of you to tell me this. Thanks for trusting us. And I'm sorry about your mother."

"Thanks," Hathor replied. "But wait. Did you say she was cursed to 'never die'? Does that mean she can't be killed?"

Oscar nodded. "Yes, it does. However, if we can keep the Relics away from her until the time comes when humanity would be judged worthy to live with the Gods, we will have won. We don't have to kill Salem to defeat her."

"We're getting off topic here," Colby told everyone. "What can my team do?"

"We need you to sabotage Ironwood's efforts to capture Penny," Ruby told him. "He needs her power to open the vault, and he's sure to try to catch her somehow. You all just arrived here, and as far as Ironwood knows, you haven't had any contact with us since the Fall of Beacon. You can pretend to be on his side and sabotage his efforts."

"That's a good idea, Ruby!" Ouranos told Ruby. "Ironwood has no reason to suspect that we came here to help you. We'll keep him off your back."

Everyone went about deciding which group they would join. Ruby, Weiss, Blake, May, Nora, and Penny would go to Ironwood's compound and give clearance for Amity to launch while Yang, Jaune, Ren, and Oscar would evacuate Mantle.

"I'm going to Atlas too," Anne told everyone. "Penny is my teammate, and I'll be with her no matter what comes our way."

"My teammates and I will go trick Ironwood," Colby announced. "But how will we get up to Atlas? No one down here is allowed up there, right?"

"I can give you Ironwood's contact info," Pietro explained. "I was one of his scientists. Just don't mention that you saw us."

"We won't."

"I'll go with Team COAL," said Hathor. "They all helped me see the error of my old way of life, and I'm determined to help them protect Remnant in any way I can."

"What about you, Kent?"

The Samurai thought about it for a while, and then made his decision known. "Yang's group could use another member. I'll go with them."

"Why thanks," Yang told him. "We sure could use another hand!" She burst out laughing while gesturing to her robot arm. Kent laughed with her.

"Yang, go check out the pharmacy," Pietro told her. "I have some stuff there for you that might come in handy."

"Alright, Pietro."

Before everyone left, Colby thought of one more thing he wanted to ask.

"Hey Ruby?" He asked his former classmate.

"Yeah?"

"I know this might be difficult to talk about, but…do you remember exactly how Pyrrha died? She was our friend too, and knowing how she died might give us some closure."

"How dare you ask her that?!" Yang shouted angrily. "Why bring back such a traumatic memory?"

"No, sis." Ruby responded. "They deserve to know." She paused and then turned to Team COAL. "Pyrrha was fighting Cinder on top of the tower at Beacon. I rushed up there as fast as I could, and when I got up there, Pyrrha was on her knees and Cinder was about to shoot her with an arrow. I stopped her from firing the arrow and Pyrrha got back up and a fight broke out. But then, Cinder kicked Pyrrha off the tower. No one can survive a fall from that high. Not even Pyrrha Nikos."

"I'm so sorry to hear all of that," Lily said sadly. "But why was Cinder fighting Pyrrha? What were they doing up there?"

"Cinder was after the Fall Maiden powers. Pyrrha was supposed to inherit them from the last Fall Maiden, but Cinder stole them. She's the Fall Maiden now."

"I'll avenge Pyrrha," Colby told her angrily. "I'll save this world. It's what she would have wanted."

"Indeed it is. But there's one more thing I should tell you before we leave since we're no longer keeping secrets from each other: when Pyrrha died, the grief activated the power of my silver eyes. Silver eyes allow people to instantly kill Grimm."

"We know," Colby told her. "We met another silver-eyed person in Mistral a few days ago."

"Really?" Ruby asked. "Wow. I hope that person can stay safe. Salem seems to be hunting silver-eyed people. Anyway, good luck, Colby!"

"Good luck, Ruby."

Everyone waved goodbye and left on their respective missions. Once they were a safe distance away from the restaurant, Colby pulled out his scroll and used the number Pietro gave him to call General Ironwood.

"Who is it?" The General answered in an irritated voice. "I'm very busy right now."

"General Ironwood, this is Team COAL of Beacon. We heard of the situation here in Atlas, and we came here to help. But our airship crashed, and we're stuck down here in Mantle. Could you get us a ride to Atlas?"

'How did you learn of the situation here?" Ironwood asked in surprise. "I guess that doesn't matter right now. I'm glad you came to help. I'll send an airship down there to get you."

They waited for a while, and then an airship arrived in Mantle to take the team and their friend Hathor to Atlas. When the ship rose above the floating island of Atlas, everyone couldn't help but be awestruck at the beauty of the city. It was a stark contrast to Mantle below.

"I never thought I'd come back to this place," said Lily. "Nor did I ever want to."

"We're doing the right thing, Lily," Autumn told her. "We'll save everyone. Just you wait."

The airship continued until it reached Atlas Academy, a large castle in the middle of the city. After it landed, everyone got out and walked up to General Ironwood's office on the top floor. He was waiting for them there, and his appearance was noticeably different from when they had last seen him. He had grown a beard, and everyone could tell that he was scared and exhausted. It almost made them feel sorry for him, but they remembered that he was going to abandon Mantle if they didn't stop him.

"Thank you all for coming," Ironwood told the team as they entered. "With all this chaos going on, we need all the help we can get."

"We're just doing our jobs," Autumn replied with a smile.

"You've done far more than your jobs just by coming here, and I thank you for it. Headmaster Theodore of Shade told me all about your deeds there, and I must say you may be some of the greatest hunters of your generation." He paused and turned to Hathor. "But you there, what's your name?"

Hathor figured that her and Oscar's decision not to tell lies didn't apply to her enemies. "Hathor Hazan," she answered.

"It's good to meet you. You look kind of similar to the bandit leader, Helenium Isatari, but that's probably just a coincidence. But why would a little girl like you come to this dangerous place?"

"She knows how to fight," Lily told him. "She'll help save your kingdom." Lily struggled to resist the urge to tear him apart, both figuratively and literally, for abandoning her hometown.

"Well, I'm not exactly in a position to refuse her help. I have a job for all of you."

"A job?" Colby asked. "What kind of job?" He hoped it would allow him and his friends to interfere in Ironwood's attempt to capture Penny.

"We've received intelligence that a terrorist group called the Red Fang has aligned itself with Salem. In case you didn't know, the Red Fang are an offshoot of the White Fang that's more anti-capitalist than anti-human. They think faunus exploitation is a natural result of our capitalist economy, and they even allow humans to join since humans have suffered under capitalism too. They're planning something big, and our forces are stretched thin as it is. That's why I need you to deal with them."

"Are you sure you can't spare any forces to deal with them?" Lily asked. She didn't want to be sent away from where she could help protect Penny.

"Lily, the largest Grimm horde in Remnant's history is approaching the city. You of all people should know that the odds are stacked heavily against us. We can't spread our forces any thinner."

Lily figured she couldn't push the issue any further, or else Ironwood would become suspicious. Based on her knowledge of his personality and how paranoid he was at the moment, the chances of him getting suspicious were quite high. She had to do what he said and hope an opportunity to sabotage him opened up. And, of course, that he wouldn't try to capture Penny while she was tied down with this task.

The foxgirl sighed. "Fine. What do you need us to do?"

Ironwood smiled. "I knew I could count on you. Okay, so we've located the Red Fang's base at an abandoned warehouse on the east side of town. They took advantage of all the chaos of the past weeks to sneak up here from Mantle. We know they're planning something, and we need you to find out what and put a stop to it."

"Understood, sir." Ouranos replied.

"There's one more thing I need you to do. The Red Fang have two major leaders, Ares Vesa and Marten Steinbrecher. Ares Vesa is a ram faunus who was once a leader of the Mantle branch of the White Fang before he had a falling out with them over whether humans or capitalism were more responsible for faunus oppression. The Red Fang were once a fringe here, but they've been becoming more and more popular after the political chaos of the last few months. It helps that they're willing to let humans join. The way they see it, humans and faunus are in the revolutionary struggle together."

"And Marten Steinbrecher?"

"He used to be a general in the Atlesian military. He was always a communist, but he developed a special grudge against Atlas for imprisoning him."

"What did he do to deserve getting imprisoned?"

"He killed his wife. She had been cheating on him, so he killed her. After a few years, he escaped and swore vengeance on this kingdom. He and his most dedicated followers have joined forces with the Red Fang, including some of the troops he commanded in the Atlesian Army. I think he made a deal with Salem. I don't think it's a coincidence that he made his move right when Salem made hers."

"I see," Lily replied. "There has to be more to it than that," she thought to herself.

"I need you to either capture or kill both of them," Ironwood continued. "It'd be preferable to take them alive, of course, but don't hesitate to kill them if that's what it takes to stop them."

"Understood, sir."

"That's all. Unless you all have any questions, you're dismissed."

"None, sir," said Colby.

"Good. You all can go. We'll give you some Red Fang uniforms we recovered from them so you can sneak in. Once you have those on, I'll have an airship take you to their hideout. Good luck." He paused, and as they got up, he remembered one more thing. "Oh, and Team COAL?"

"Yeah?"

"You're going to learn this one way or another, so it's better that you hear it from me. Your friends from Teams RWBY and JNPR are down in Mantle. They've lied to me and betrayed me because they think their misguided plan to save this kingdom is better than mine. I know this is a lot to ask of you, but if you should encounter them either up here or down there, forget your past friendship with them. They're your enemies now, and you need to treat them accordingly."

"I…I understand, General."

"Good. I know it'll be hard for you, but you can't let them stop you from completing your mission. I know I can count on you. Godspeed."

"Thanks, General." They all left to put on their disguises and head to the Red Fang's hideout. They knew they had to deal with the Red Fang quickly so that they could earn Ironwood's trust and be able to stop him from capturing Penny. If Ironwood got his hands on the Staff, Mantle would be lost. And with Atlas abandoning the fight, the other kingdoms would be easy prey for Salem. But the members of Team COAL and their friend Hathor weren't going to let that happen. They knew that running away from evil was never a good solution. They were hunters, and their job was to fight evil wherever it revealed itself.

A/N: Because the characters have split up into three groups, the chapters of this arc will switch between the perspectives of Team COAL and Hathor, Ruby's group (from Anne's perspective), and Yang's group (from Kent's perspective).