A/N: Hathor Isatari belongs to my friend, decode09, as does Mirai International.
While Team COAL and Ruby's group headed up to Atlas, Yang's group got to work evacuating Mantle. A news reporter was discussing the situation and Ironwood's sudden cessation of the evacuation process, when suddenly Joanna Greenleaf interrupted and told everyone to head for the crater in the middle of the city. While she did that, Yang and her friends went to the pharmacy to pick up the equipment that Pietro told them about. When Yang saw what they would find there, she was positively delighted. Her face lit up in a way that no one had seen it light up in a long time.
"Alright, the others are definitely missing out!" She yelled in excitement.
"So, you like hoverbikes?" Kent asked.
"You bet! What about you, though?"
"My hometown has a kind of trolley system. I don't really do much driving. Or motorcycle riding, for that matter."
"Well, you're going to love this! Come on, let's go!"
They rode out on the motorcycles, with Kent riding with Yang. She was having a blast, and saw a ramp in the street. Without hesitation, she rode over to it and drove off it."
"YAAAAAANNNNG!" Kent cried out in protest, clearly terrified. Yang just laughed, and everyone else laughed with her. Later, they gathered a large crowd of citizens.
"Only take what you need," Jaune told them.
"The crater?" A random woman asked. "Are you sure it's safe out there?"
"Absolutely, ma'am!" Yang replied with a smile.
Just then, they heard people screaming. A pair of Sabyr Grimm was chasing a group of citizens. Jaune threw a device toward them, which activated a hard light shield that kept them away. Then, Ren went over and stabbed them with his weapons. Their bodies disappeared in a dark mist.
"Way better than a hover bike," Jaune said with a smirk.
"Have the Grimm already pushed this far in?" Oscar asked.
"I think those were more from last night. Still…Ren, if Jaune hits you with his aura amp, do you think you can mask everyone?"
"We can give it a shot, but it is a lengthy trip through Mantle."
"No, no, that's a great idea," said Jaune. "We'll have a Grimm free journey all the way to the crater."
They all set out. Everything went smoothly, and just as Jaune predicted, they weren't having any trouble with Grimm. However, Oscar seemed to be deep in thought about something. Kent turned over to Yang.
"Uh, Yang?" He asked. "What's going on with Oscar over there?"
"Sometimes he gets like that. He might just be having an internal conversation with Ozpin. You should leave him alone."
"Ohh…" Kent said sadly. "I can't imagine what the boy must be going through. Having the husband of Salem reincarnated in his body and mind."
"Oh, I know," Yang replied. "Eventually, their minds will fuse together and they'll become one person."
"What?! You mean Oscar's gonna die?!"
Yang nodded sadly. "For all intents and purposes, yes. Oscar will basically be assimilated into Ozpin's consciousness. As an individual, he will no longer exist."
"Is there anything we can do to help him?"
"I don't think there is."
"Well, still, it was brave of him to come help us save the people of Mantle. He's much braver than I was at 14."
"Heheh, yeah," Yang replied. "But you're pretty brave to come here too…" She paused for a moment. "Where did you come from, anyway?"
"I'm from Mistral. Argus, to be exact. I went to Haven for my huntsman school."
"I'm from Vale, and I went to Beacon before it…You know. That's why I have this robot arm here."
"Really?!" Kent asked sadly. "That's awful. But you didn't let that stop you from doing what was right."
"You're right, I didn't. But that's all part of being a huntress."
"And a huntsman," Kent said with a smile. "I was there too. A White Fang sniper shot me in the chest. I still have a scar there."
Yang smirked. "You may have to show me sometime!" She chuckled. "But for now, let's focus on saving the people of Mantle. We're hunters, and that's what we do."
Meanwhile, with Ruby's group…
Anne followed Ruby, Penny, and the others through the streets of Mantle, hoping that they could find a way up to Atlas. On the way there, Penny led them past a house.
"Penny?" Anne asked. "What are we doing here?"
"This place is on the way, and I just thought I'd show you something," Penny replied with a huge grin. "Come on in." She led them into the house and toward a room with a bunch of fish tanks in it.
"Salutations, fish!" Penny called out before turning to everyone. "I love betta fish," she told them. "I have an entire room in my house dedicated to my fish!"
"Wow," Ruby said when she looked around at all the fish. "This is quite an impressive betta fish collection you have here."
"Yeah…" Blake added, looking at the fish hungrily.
"Blake!" Weiss called over to the cat faunus. "These are our friend's fish. Leave them alone."
"Okay, fine…"
After they looked around at the fish for a while, they continued toward their destination. On the way there, Ruby decided to ask Anne a few questions.
"Were you really Penny's teammate at Atlas Academy?" She asked.
"I sure was. We had a great time together, going on missions with each other and playing games."
"I imagine you did. I loved to hang out with her when she came to Beacon for the tournament. But why did you decide to become a huntress?"
"The life of a huntress always looked really exciting," Anne explained. "I grew up in Atlas, which is a very boring place to live. I wanted to do something more fun and more meaningful with my life. My parents work for Mirai International, which is probably the SDC's biggest competitor, and they wanted me to do the same when I grew up. They called me stupid. But I didn't let them stop me. So I snuck down to Atlas to train with a huntsman I met whenever I had the chance. I met Lily while I was down there."
"Ah, Lily," Weiss said. "She and I didn't get along well at first, what with me being a Schnee and her being a faunus from Mantle, but we learned to get along after a while. And to be fair, I was kind of a bitch when I first started going to Beacon. But my friendship with the other members of Team RWBY gave me a much-needed attitude adjustment.
"Yeah," Anne replied. "Everyone needs friends. I'm glad Penny and I can be friends to each other."
"Me too!" Penny shouted happily. "And now, we're going to save Mantle with the power of friendship!" Everyone laughed. They kept going until they eventually climbed up onto a rooftop, where they could see many civilians evacuating. Nora turned to May, who was opening a gate with a sign saying, "authorized personnel only."
"Thanks again for coming," she told May.
"Don't mention it. Once Robyn learned about Amity Tower, she wouldn't shut up about it. Wherever she is, I'm sure she would want us doing what we can to get it up in the air and get the world talking again." Once everyone was on the other side, she closed the gate. "Besides, Fiona's got your friends helping out in my stead." She was referring to Fiona Thyme, an adorable sheep faunus who was also a member of the Happy Huntresses.
Nora looked away. "Yeah."
The group then entered a factory-like area with robots loading packages into transparent tubes and sending them upward. "Are you sure this is safe?" Ruby asked.
"Snowshoes Shipping is an SDC subsidiary," Weiss replied. "Meaning the drones here report to the company, not the General. The pneumatic tubes allow dust refined in the crater to be sent straight up to Atlas. We just need to find the one for the military base."
"Are there any buildings in Atlas that your family doesn't own?" Nora giggled at the comment.
"Mirai International owns a few buildings, but we wouldn't have been able to get into any of theirs."
"Anyway, that isn't relevant at the moment," Weiss added. Blake giggled as well. Meanwhile, Penny was staring at a panel that said "terminal destination: Atlas Academy." Ruby walked over to her, and Anne went as well.
"Hey," Ruby said as she approached.
"I do not like it when friends fight," Penny replied.
"I know. Yang and I may not agree on how best to save Mantle, but-"
"No, I mean Winter. The General. They were our friends. But then the Ace Ops attacked you. And the general, he said people were going to die because of me."
"That was a lie. And he was only saying it to hurt you."
"I was the Protector of Mantle, but now, I am much more than that, and I wish I was not."
"But you're still you, Penny. By becoming the Winter Maiden, you did protect Mantle."
"Thank you, Ruby." Penny and Ruby hugged, and then looked over to see that Anne had turned her back toward them and was looking away. Something seemed to be on her mind.
"Is something wrong, Anne?" Penny asked.
"Anne looked over her shoulder, a bit startled. No…" She replied. "Nothing's wrong."
"If you say so."
"Found it!" Nora called over to everyone. They went over to the tube.
"I suppose there's no turning back now…" Blake said nervously.
May spoke up. "Between our secret weapon, and my semblance…" She turned invisible for a moment. "You all couldn't be in better hands."
"So how do we use this thing?" Nora asked.
"It should be simple," Weiss answered as she got into the tube. "If you lie back in the tube and press launch-"
Before Weiss could finish her sentence, Nora pressed a button on a nearby console that sent Weiss flying up the tube. She screamed as she shot up toward Atlas. Everyone looked on apprehensively except Nora, who seemed excited about using the tubes.
Meanwhile, on the east side of Atlas…
The members of Team COAL put on their Red Fang disguises and boarded the airship to the abandoned warehouse on the east end of Atlas. They didn't know how the terrorists could have gotten so many of their troops into the city from Mantle, but they knew they had to stop whatever the Red Fang were up to. Not just to save lives in Atlas, but also to gain Ironwood's trust and get back to him before he tried to capture Penny. If he captured her, he could force her to retrieve the Staff of Creation for him. And this would mean doom for everyone on Remnant who didn't live in Atlas. The airship they were flying was painted the Red Fang colors so that the Fang wouldn't know the huntsmen aboard were working for Ironwood.
When they arrived, they got out and were greeted by a faunus wearing an outfit like theirs. This person didn't think anything of the new arrivals, indicating that the disguises were working.
"So, you're the new recruits?" He asked. If they could see under his mask, they'd know that he was smiling. "I'm glad you could join us. Finally, after years of preparation, the Revolution is at hand."
"We're uhh…glad to help," Hathor replied awkwardly. "Could you tell us where to go next?"
"Just go on in. Our leaders, Ares Vesa and Marten Steinbrecher, will be giving a rousing speech soon. You'll want to hear it."
"Good," said Colby. "Alright, everyone. Let's go."
They entered the warehouse to find a bunch of humans and faunus standing around and talking. The members of Team COAL could only guess that these individuals were disgruntled workers from Mantle who had been driven to violence by their poverty and the oppression of entities like the SDC. They felt bad for these people, but couldn't let them succeed in their plan. The Atlesian forces were stretched thin as it was, and there was no way they'd be able to hold out against the Red Fang and Salem's forces. They left the main room and entered a hallway where they were sure no one could hear them and then began to discuss their plan.
"So the good news is, these guys are all going to be distracted during the speech," Lily told them. "But while that's going on, we need someone to sneak back into the offices so we can learn more about their plan.
"I'll handle that," Hathor told Lily. "I'm the smallest, and I'm pretty good at sneaking around when I need to."
"Sounds like a plan. Okay, let's go."
They all went back into the main room except for Hathor. Just as they entered, a ram faunus with red hair and who was wearing a Red Fang outfit walked up onto what looked like a makeshift stage. Standing next to him was a human who looked to be a bit older than Ironwood. He had dark hair and was wearing an outfit similar to Ares'.
"Comrades," Ares said as he addressed the other members of the Red Fang. "The day of our Revolution is at hand. If the events of the past few weeks have taught us anything, it is that capitalism has failed us. But the SDC and its pawns on the Atlesian Council have oppressed us long enough. We will destroy them and build a new Atlas. An Atlas with no more class divisions or pointless conflicts between humans and faunus. An Atlas where the workers rule!"
The crowd cheered. The members of Team COAL looked on in disgust, knowing that if the Red Fang succeeded, Atlas would surely fall and everyone would die. Whether these people knew it or not, they were all pawns in Salem's scheme. Once everyone finished cheering, Steinbrecher began speaking.
"I know the cruelty of the Atlesian regime firsthand," he told everyone. "For years, I fought to protect this land. To keep it safe from the monsters beyond our walls. But most of all, I fought for equality. I fought for the little guy, the workers who keep this kingdom going. And how was I repaid? With slander and imprisonment!"
Everyone booed. The members of Team COAL wondered if what he was saying was true. Lily in particular knew that like in all places, politics in Atlas were very cutthroat. But regardless, Steinbrecher was a threat to Atlas. They couldn't let themselves forget that because of his potentially tragic backstory.
"They murdered my wife and framed me for it!" He shouted in fury. "I would never have hurt her, and they knew it. Even in her unfaithfulness, I loved her with all my heart. But they killed her and put the blame on me because I spoke the truth about Atlesian society!"
Everyone booed again, cursing the Atlesian Council and capitalism.
"But they couldn't silence me forever. No prison can contain me or the will of the people of this kingdom. Surely enough, I escaped so that I can lead our glorious Revolution! And now, Ironwood and all the other corporate pawns will pay for their greed!"
Everyone cheered again. Lily felt especially bad for him, as she had seen firsthand how cruel Atlas's economic system could be. But she knew that she had to stop him. The fate of Atlas was at stake, and at any rate Lily reminded herself of what she had decided years ago when her friend Polaris had invited her to the White Fang: that violence would not solve the problem. It would only inflame more hatred, which would lead to even more oppression, hatred, and violence. Only a peaceful solution would bring about long-lasting change. Her experiences in Vacuo only reinforced this belief.
While Ares and Steinbrecher were speaking. Hathor was sneaking around through the offices in the back of the building. Although she had her Red Fang disguise on, she had seen a sign saying that only authorized personnel were allowed back there. Her disguise would protect her from immediate exposure, but she would have some tricky explaining to do if she were caught in an area that she did not have clearance to be in.
Hathor looked around the corner to see a couple of guards coming by, then retreated into a nearby office to hide from them. After they had gone, she tiptoed through the hallway until she reached another corner where she saw a guard standing in front of a staircase. She knew that she would need to go up the stairs in order to get to where she needed to be, but she had to get rid of the guard somehow. After retreating into a nearby office, she grabbed a pencil and threw it against the corner wall.
"Huh?" The guard asked as he noticed the pencil hitting the wall. As he went over to pick it up, he turned his back toward Hathor. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the goat girl tackled him from behind and slammed him into the ground before delivering a knockout punch. After that, she dragged his unconscious body into the office and went up the stairs to the next hallway. She didn't see any guards in it, but after walking to the end she saw what looked like a pretty important-looking office. But after walking up to the door, she found that it was locked.
"Great," she thought to herself. "Who has the key to this door?"
The answer came right then when Hathor heard a toiled flush nearby. She followed the noise to a nearby mens' room. Thinking the person inside might have the key, she went in. After opening the door, she saw a faunus washing his hands.
"Huh?" He asked as he saw her, a little startled. "What the hell are you-?" Before he could finish, Hathor rushed up to him and punched him, knocking him out. She then dragged him into the nearest stall and searched his pockets. Luckily enough, she found the key in his pocket.
"Perfect," she thought to herself as she grabbed the key and went back to the office. She inserted the key and turned the door, and surely enough it opened. Going inside, she found a large piece of paper lying on one of the desks. After looking it over, she knew she had found the enemy's plans and they were worse than she thought. She grabbed the paper and headed back to the main room, where the Red Fang leaders were still speaking.
"The gentle laborer shall no longer suffer from the noxious greed of James Ironwood!" Ares Vesa proclaimed loudly. "We will dismantle oppression board by board! We'll saw the foundation of big business in half! Even if it takes an eternity! With your support, we will send the hammer of the people's will crashing through the windows of James Ironwood's HOUSE OF SERVITUDE!"
The crowd gave their loudest cheer yet. The members of Team COAL had to concede that Ares Vesa and Marten Steinbrecher were brilliant public speakers. They wished that the two men could have used their abilities for good. Shortly after the applause ended, Hathor returned with the plans.
"Did you find what you were looking for?" Autumn asked.
"Yeah," Hathor told her. "Now let's get out of here!"
They all exited the building and returned to their airship. As the ship took off, Hathor called General Ironwood.
"General, we have the enemy's plan."
"That's excellent news," the General replied, sounding relieved. "What are they up to?"
"Steinbrecher is going to use his semblance to cause an earthquake that will devastate the city of Atlas. His semblance allows him to interact with Remnant's tectonic plates and create earthquakes, and Atlas has a major fault line that goes right under the Academy. To distract us, Ares is going to lead his main force to attack the school on the surface while Steinbrecher and a team of his best men sneak through an abandoned SDC mine to reach the fault line. If he uses his semblance there, the damage to the city will be catastrophic."
"That does sound bad. But thanks to you, we have a chance to stop Steinbrecher and his allies. I have important business to attend to right now, so I'll put you in contact with Commander Gokhan Ganbataar. He's one of the Atlesian Army's finest commanders, and he will help you prepare our defenses. He'll meet you at the helipad outside the Academy when you return. Good luck, now."
"Thank you, sir." With that, General Ironwood hung up.
"Great," Hathor thought to herself. "I'm not sure we'll be able to protect Penny at all if we're too busy fighting off a Red Fang invasion of Atlas Academy." The airship continued to the Academy, where Team COAL would begin to work out a plan of defense for Atlas Academy. They told themselves that this mission was just as important for saving Atlas as evacuating Mantle or launching Amity. They just hoped Ironwood wouldn't be able to hurt Penny while they were too busy fighting the Red Fang.
Meanwhile, in Mantle…
Yang's group led the civilians into the crater, where Fiona Thyme and Joanna Greenleaf were waiting for them.
"Where's this group coming in from?" The sheep faunus asked when she saw the citizens coming.
"That would be Sector 7," Yang replied with a smile on her face.
Fiona smiled and her ears perked up. "You cleared 7 already? That's great!" She hopped over to Yang's group happily. "To be honest, I wasn't sure how you'd be doing without all your teammates."
"Well, as you can see, we're doing just fine."
"But where are you putting everyone?" Oscar asked the sheep girl.
"We're working to get most of them settled in houses or other shelters. A large portion of the community is also working to get old mineshafts into a livable condition."
"We've got a lot of people to keep warm," Joanna added. "Looting the SDC refineries is our best source of dust. Fortunately, no one's getting arrested during the apocalypse." She looked up at Atlas. "Just knowing those Grimm are circling out there doesn't feel great. What are they waiting for?"
Just then, an older male sheep faunus approached the group in a panic.
"Fi!" He shouted. "We got another fight breaking out!"
"Crap!" Fiona shouted in frustration. "Thanks, uncle. We'll handle it…"
Joanna put her hand on Fiona's shoulder. "I'll handle it. You have enough to worry about."
Joanna walked away cracking her knuckles while Fiona's earpiece went off. She heard a huntsman on the other end.
"Fiona? Crimson again. We spotted a decent sized group of Grimm coming in from the east. We can't take them with all these civvies."
"Oh, for crying out loud!" Fiona shouted in frustration as she used her semblance to remove a map from the pocket dimension that her semblance allowed her to put items in and looked at it.
"Did he say 'east?'" Yang asked with a smile.
Later, Yang and her friends were fighting the Grimm on their hoverbikes. They jumped off their bikes to engage the monsters close up, and before long the Grimm were defeated. Once they were all taken care of, Yang contacted Fiona again.
"Okay, Fiona. That's another problem taken care of."
"Good, 'cause we're getting reports of more Grimm coming in from the west. The huntsmen there could really use some backup."
Yang sighed and slumped in her seat. "Okay, we're on our way."
"It's all the negativity," Oscar added. "Salem's forces aren't moving in, but it's enough to start attracting the stragglers."
"The people are losing hope," Kent replied sadly. "It's easy to lose hope in times like these. We need to show everyone that they can still count on us."
"Guys," Ren told them. "We're not finished." Three Sabyr Grimm approached the group.
"Alright!" Yang shouted. "We need to hurry this up and take-"
Just then, something happened that no one in Yang's group had seen before. The Sabyrs turned around and ran away.
"What just happened?" Ren asked in confusion.
"They ran," Jaune answered. "I've never seen Grimm act that way before."
"But what were they running from?" Oscar asked.
The answer was swift and unpleasant. A huge Grimm that none of the hunters had seen before tackled Oscar from above, knocking him and Ren off their bike. Oscar tried to get up, but the Grimm bit him in the arm and knocked him to the ground again.
"Oscar!" Ren shouted in horror.
The Grimm then placed all its weight on Oscar, shattering his aura. He tried to hit its leg away from him, but it bit him again and then swiped its paw at him, knocking him out. It then howled, and its body seemed to undergo lots of weird spasms before the creature finally assumed a bipedal form and picked up Oscar with one of its hands.
"Oscar!" Yang shouted as she charged at the best, preparing to punch it with her shotgun gauntlets. But the Grimm caught her in its other hand and threw her against a nearby wall.
Ren fired a few shots at the Grimm with his weapons, causing it to turn around. When it did, he threw the grappling hooks of his weapons at it and dragged it toward him, hoping to kick it. But then, the Grimm's arm grew and knocked Ren off his bike and sent him flying into another wall. Jaune and Kent drew their swords and prepared to charge in, but the Grimm then raised Oscar between itself and them.
"Wait!" Yang shouted. "It's using Oscar as a shield!"
"But Grimm aren't that smart!" Jaune shouted back. Ren pointed his guns at the Grimm, which then placed Oscar between itself and Ren.
"Give Oscar back!" Jaune demanded. No one could have prepared him for the Grimm's response.
"No," it answered as it started walking away from the group.
"Did it just…?" Jaune asked in shock.
The Grimm then roared one final time as it grew a pair of wings and then placed Oscar in its mouth before flying away. Just then, Yang's earpiece went live again.
"Kids, what's your status?" Fiona asked. "West side's taking damage!"
"What do we do?" Ren asked in despair.
"Kids, what's your status?" Fiona asked again. The remaining members of Yang's group jumped back on their hoverbikes to chase after the Grimm that had just taken Oscar.
"We've got an emergency," Yang told Fiona. "We aren't going to make it."
"What? What kind of emergency?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Yang and the other members of her group went after the Grimm to rescue Oscar, determined to rescue their friend. They just hoped that they could do it and still have time to save Atlas.
A/N: The scene with the betta fish is a reference to the fact that Penny's VA loves betta fish and has a Youtube channel about them.