Hello everyone! It's been a while, I know. This semester was super crazy packed with projects so I hadn't gotten much time to myself.

This was originally 2 chapters, but I combined them into one since I kept you guys waiting for like 4 months.

Without further ado: Dragon's Rise Volume 8 Finale -


Chapter 75: We Will Live To Fight Another Day


Neo was brought to the vault where Ironwood stood imposingly, his stature a firm and strict figure of power. His back was turned to her as he stared intensely at the large doors that separated them from the staff of creation. As Neo drew ever closer, she could feel the tingling pull of the Maiden's powers, beckoning her to open it. It was strong and almost magnetic.

The Ace-Ops who cautiously escorted her into the room ushered her forward in with gestures, she offered no resistance to the whole ordeal despite her clear apprehension to Ironwood himself.

"So, you're the face of the new Winter Maiden," he said without looking at her, his voice an even and steady tone.

When he was met with no response, "It is rude to not respond, though I do not blame you, after all, the circumstances could be better."

Harriet hesitantly spoke up, "Sir she's mute. She is unable to speak…"

Ironwood dropped his folded arms and turned around to look at the rather annoyed Neopolitan, "My apologies." he offered but from her facial expression he could tell she just wanted to get this over and done with. "I'll get straight to the point then, you are to open the vault to the staff of creation, from there I will handle things, after which you will be escorted to a room or a holding cell depending on your behavior."

Neo shot him a quizzical look that seemed to ask "I'm cooperating, isn't it obvious?". Letting out an inaudible sigh she stepped forward, the arms of the Ace-Ops readying in the event she made any sudden movements, but their paranoia was unwarranted.

The Maiden's power seemed to ignite in her instinctively as if responding to her will to open the door. Shards of ice began forming around the area causing Ironwood to take two steps back lest his feet be frozen to the floor. In a grand display of frozen beauty, Neo let her power flow through her and into the seal that barred the heavy gates, prying them open with the dramatic sound of stone grating against metal following in her wake.

The staff lay bare in the open room, a glistening, golden staff with ornate curved prongs on either side, encompassing a large blue pointed crystal with a pair of golden windings curling around its smooth exterior.

She had but a moment to glimpse its magnificence before Ironwood pulled her back, just as she landed on the metal flooring. "That's enough," he said firmly, "I'll take it from here."

Harriet gingerly grasped Neo's shoulder, though her eyes were not on the mute girl, instead, they were warily directed toward Ironwood, Neo could see clearly the apprehension in her eyes, the uncertainty in them. 'You're starting to realize that you're on the wrong side aren't you?' Neo signed toward her.

The dark-skinned girl said nothing, simply pushing Neo forward lightly, toward the elevator.


The halls of Atlas had become desolate and empty. The once-thriving hallways of guards and students had been reduced to a ghost town with naught but the cold and monotonous droning of machinery in the walls. A tell-tale sign that Atlas Academy had fallen.

They approached the dorms as Harriet stopped in front of a familiar door, one which Neo had grown fond of.

"You are confined to this room for the time being since you were so cooperative. Be grateful this isn't a jail cell, criminal." Harriet spat, though despite her attempted scorn there was no energy behind her words as she lightly shoved Neo into the room that was once team RWBY's.

Neo gave her a pitying look before stepping inside, the doors closing shut tightly behind her. Grumbling internally she flopped down onto the nearest bed only for the smell of Weiss Schnee to enter her nostrils. Realizing whose bed she had landed on she smiled contently, grabbing one of the two pillows and pulling it close to her chest, drinking in the scent of vanilla and expensive black tea that Weiss seemed to radiate, letting all her troubles and exhaustion melt into the soft bed. At least there was some comfort in her confinement.

Stuck with nothing but time and her thoughts, she rolled back and forth trying to determine her proceedings.

'If I disguise myself as a guard and try to get them to let me out… maybe?', she pondered. 'Nope, that won't work. They already know what my semblance does….'. 'Maybe I can sneak out when they come to give me meals or something... no they have thermal sensors and Harriet is a speedster...' she groaned as the hopelessness began to sink in 'Am I actually stuck?' she dragged her palms across her face before slamming it against the bed, 'Being the captive is the fucking worst!'

'I just hope the others don't resent me for what I've done...'

Rumbling and the feeling of being pulled down ripped her from her thoughts as her face morphed into worry, Atlas had taken flight.


-With The Team-

Meanwhile back at the Schnee manor, the team was recovering from their recent defeat, the spirits of everyone rapidly sinking in the wake of their failure. The dining room had officially become their conference room, with all the remaining members gathered around it attempting to make heads or tails of what to do.

All the members present had their faces plastered with the same solemn look, but their fire was not burnt out, not yet.

Ruby looked the worst out of them all, despite her attempt at a strong appearance, she did not look healthy in the slightest as she folded her hands across her chest, glaring down at the empty table as if it was the one withholding the means to solve their problems from her.

All of a sudden, the ground began to shake as the sound of turbine engines roared to life all around them. Their gazes dragged to the nearby window where they could see the sky beginning to descend around them.

"Either the sky is falling… or we're going up…" Nitro pointed out dryly, his fingers gripping onto the armrest of his chair for dear life.

Ruby bit her lip, "Looks like Ironwood's succeeded in getting Atlas airborne," she faced them clearly, "But he hasn't won yet! It just makes things more complicated..." it seemed that little effort she put into her voice was enough to make her dizzy as she teetered unsteadily, grasping the table just to keep herself up. This brought about concerned reactions from everyone.

"Ruby, I think you should…" Yang was going to tell her to get rest but the younger sibling shot her a glare that shut her down instantly.

"We have no time."

Arguments could have been made before as for the state of her health, but time for that had long passed. Whatever moments of reprieve they had were long gone.

As if to cement that idea, another quake shook the city accompanied by the sound of shattering glass.

MMMMMRROOOOOAAAAAAARRRRR!

A deep, resonating bellow like the cry of a whale shook the very ground they stood on.

It came from their blind spot. So pre-occupied with their circumstances that they'd forgotten the ever-looming threat that rested just outside their field of vision. The very thing that had been the root cause of it all, the spark that ignited the flame had now brought fuel to the fire once more.

Salem and her forces had arrived.

The gargantuan flying fortress, bigger than any leviathan class Grimm they'd seen before made its feature appearance on the outer reaches of Atlas' now airspace and along with it, an army of monstrous creatures that blackened the sky like ants swarming around their nest.

It sat there, hovering like an angel of death, a shadow in the night sky, just out of reach, but close enough so they knew that the time was at hand.

The circumstances had just taken a heavy plunge.

Ruby felt the cold wave of panic wash over her, threatening to submerge her under its crushing pressure. All eyes were on her. She had to make decisions and she had to do it now.

Taking command she stood at the head of the table, mustering all her strength she tried to exude as much strength as she could because she was their leader, and she had to be strong.

"We can't sit idle anymore." she said with command, "The luxury of rest is gone and you all know it." walking toward the window now, she pointed toward the large creature, "Salem is here for the staff and Neo so I'll be brief. Whatever you knew about the workings of the world beforehand should be thrown out. The only thing that matters now is making sure the staff and Neo don't fall into Salem's hands and protecting the people of Mantle and Atlas from certain death. Any questions?"

Whitely, who'd been silently standing in the corner of the room raised his hand, "Um, how do you propose mother and I do this? We're not exactly combatants-"

Weiss made a 'tch' sound, "It's time to fucking grow a pair Whitely. You can't fight but that doesn't mean there aren't other things you can do."

"I'm not hiding Weiss," Whitely snapped back, "I'm not stupid. I know we're not going to get out of this without working together. I was merely suggesting that if you had any ideas of what we should do then I'd be open to it. Let me finish next time, sister."

The older sibling was taken by genuine surprise by her brother's snappy retort, "Well you're the new C.E.O of the S.D.C so come up with it."

Ruby folded her arms again, "Alright so we have two objectives, The staff and Neo, and the civilians. Jaune," she turned to look at the blonde boy, "How many people did you manage to evacuate to the safe zones?"

Jaune did a mental check before answering, "Most of the remaining blocks were adhered to, but I think Blocks D and B are still populated for the most part."

"Right. Jaune you take your team and get down there…"

At that moment Ren and Nora walked in, the orange Valkyrie looked worse for wear. Her aura had healed her wounds but she was still weak as the lightning scars still ran across her pale skin.

"What can we do to help?" Ren looked firm but Ruby waved her hand.

"Ren no, you'll be looking after Nora."

The girl in question held up a fist, "No Ruby! I can fight! I'm done dragging you guys down!" the fire in her eyes was there, but the strength in her body was not as she faltered slightly.

"Nora, I appreciate your willingness but a time will come when your strengths are needed. Until that time, you need to get it back first. I don't think I need to say this but Ren, I'm assigning you to look after her. You'll be joining Jaune with the evacuations but Nora is NOT to engage in combat. Is that clear?"

Ren nodded affirmatively, "Yes, understood."

"The rest of us will head to Atlas Academy to…"

MMMRROOAAARR! The beast in the distance roared once more and now they saw it. Amongst the clouds hidden in the shadows was what could only be described as an army of Grimm. They began their swarm.

At that moment, Hex's scroll rang, it was the team at Amity.

"Yo guys? What's up? We haven't heard back from you since you got the communications back up."

"Yeah about that. *Crash* *BOOM* Looks like we might be shot on that end" It was Elain.

"Mom?! What's going on?" Luna looked worried at the sounds of combat.

"The Grimm have broken through. Amity is under heavy attack! WE NEED BACKUP OR THIS WHOLE THING IS GOING TO GO DOWN! *BOOM* " The call ended just after that.

Ruby clenched her fists in rage, "FUCK!" she slammed it against the table.

"Okay, we need to redirect our forces. We can't lose intercontinental communication a second time. It took too much to get it back up…. We could keep Jaune's team on Mantle, send myself over to… no that won't work…." She was muttering to herself, "FUCK IF ONLY WE HAD MORE PEOPLE ON OUR SIDE!"

"Ruby Rose, James Ironwood!" A sickeningly familiar voice echoed like a vile resonance throughout the atmosphere.

All eyes turned to the window once more and went wide. There was no time to spare as all of the members of the team rushed out into the Schnee courtyard overlooking Atlas to witness what appeared to be the enormous visage of Salem projected onto the center of the city.

"I OFFER YOU A CHANCE TO REDEEM YOURSELVES!" her voice boomed. "I HAVE YOUR PRECIOUS PRINCE AND OZPIN LOCKED IN MY FORTRESS. IF YOU WANT TO SAVE THEM, THEN BRING ME THE STAFF AND THE MAIDEN." With that, she disappeared.

"Now we confirmed it…" Luna said morbidly, "Our boys are in there." She pointed at the leviathan, "What should we do Ruby?"

The red leader was silent, biting down on her lip so hard it bled, her eyes shadowed over.

"… Ruby?"

"I don't know…" she said it so quietly that no one heard.

"What was that…?" Luna asked unsurely.

"I SAID I DON'T KNOW!" Ruby shouted.

"IT WAS MANAGEABLE! Up until a few moments ago all we had to do was evacuate Mantle and protect Neo and the staff but now that's all gone to shit!" She looked on the verge of losing it. "Now we need to decide how to split our forces! Do we go to the Academy and Mantle and forsake Nova and Oscar?! Do we take the fight to Salem and give up the people of Mantle?! What if we split it all the ways we can and end up dead because we didn't have enough power? AND WHAT ABOUT UNCLE QROW? HE'S STILL IN JAIL FOR ALL WE KNOW!"

She looked at Luna pleadingly, "I can't make the decision to abandon him…"

She was suddenly enveloped by a soft warmth of a small body, "You don't have to."

"What…?"

Luna held Ruby's hand and tried to console her, "Think about it Ruby, if Salem wanted to kill Nova and Oscar she'd have done it already. She needs them alive just as much as we do. I think she's trying to bait us into a trap."

"What do you mean?" Ruby was curious.

"I think Salem wants to use our emotions against us. Drive us to desperation so we attack Ironwood and tear each other apart, then whoever comes out victorious is easy pickings for her. If Ironwood kills us or captures us then Salem can easily remove whatever's left of his forces. If we beat Ironwood then she slaughters us all and takes the relics for free. If we act on Nova and Oscar we get checkmated."

"Luna you small genius, you're right." Ruby turned back to the team, "Okay so here's the plan. If we think about it, Ironwood doesn't want Neo or the staff to end up in Salem's hands either. I hate to admit it but Neo is much safer if we just leave her be. Our primary focus should be on evacuating Mantle and then stopping Salem."

"So… what? We go down there and then go after Salem? How do you propose we get into that Fortress?"

Whitely was the one to speak up this time as he stepped forward, "If I can access Dad's office computer, I can start rerouting SDC trade ships for evacuation, you guys can take one into that thing…" he pointed at the whale.

"Whitely you've fucking redeemed yourself!" Weiss squealed as she hugged her brother, for the first time in perhaps a decade.

"Did Weiss just swear?" Yang looked bewildered. "I don't think I've ever heard her…"

Hex pinched her arm, "Shhh let her have this…"

Ruby was quick on the uptake, "We can split it like this. Jaune, you, Ren, and Nora will handle the rest of the evacuations. Hex and Nitro you guys can take a ship to Amity and see if you can stop that from going down. Team RWBY and Luna, we'll be heading for the throat."

They all looked at their leader with serious faces, not one dared to question her.

"Alright. Let's not waste any more time."


In the Academy, Ironwood stood against the large window in his office looking at the giant Grimm that had appeared followed by Salem's message.

"Harriet." He called to the girl standing at the door of his office.

"Yes sir?"

"Tighten security around the Winter Maiden and Qrow Branwen. Prepare for assault if those kids show up for the staff. I doubt they'd be stupid enough to follow through but it can't hurt to be careful."

"Understood sir," Harriet saluted. "What about the Grimm, sir. What do we do about that?"

Ironwood turned around with a dark look, "Send soldiers to the front lines on Mantle. Amass the army and prepare for an all-out attack. As of thirty seconds ago, we are at war. In the meantime, prepare the bomb, that oversized Leviathan is going to pop and hopefully Salem with it."

Harriet was hesitant, "Sir… given the radius of the explosion, that would take out half of the north side of Mantle along with it…"

"I've said it once, and I'll say it again," Ironwood's voice was detached and emotionless, "Mantle is of no consequence to us anymore."

The Ace-Ops captain simply nodded her understanding ever so reluctantly before leaving.

As soon as she left, Ironwood sat in his chair and glared intently at the landscape, "Your move Salem."


The team stood on the prepared shuttle as it was about to take off from the Schnee Manor, Weiss hung back in the courtyard to say her goodbyes to her family.

"Thank you, Whitely. I never thought I'd be saying these words…" she smiled gently before petting her little brother on the head.

The airship took off for the giant leviathan class Grimm with Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, and Luna on board. They had a mission to fulfill.

As they crossed over the burning city of Mantle they could very clearly see the extent of the destruction. Soldiers stood at the border, sleepless and dead on their feet watching the posts. Citizens huddled in refugee camps within the walls, and most of the surroundings were an abysmal collection of destruction and death. Ruby could only morbidly think that this is a brief look at what the world would look like if Salem wins.

Gripping her scythe she steeled her mind, firmly resolving herself to stop that from happening.

The Fortress came into view now, they found it out that it was smooth sailing until the Grimm started coming in droves.

Camouflaged against the night sky they swarmed silhouetted by moonlight.

"Showtime girls." Ruby said as she opened the airship door, "Don't get yourselves killed okay? I can't handle anyone else…"

"He's not dead Ruby. My brother is still alive and so is Oscar, you have to believe."

"No I meant getting hurt… we can't afford any more losses."

With that she jumped out of the airship in a flurry of Rose Petals, ripping a swarm of Manticore Grimm to shreds before exhaustedly landing on the top of the ship.

"Save your strength, Ruby! Let us handle this for once." Yang yelled out as she and the others took to action.

Weiss summoned Glyphs for them to walk on while summoning several Lancers to fight alongside them. Blake sprang into the air with a wall of shadows, tossing her ribbon to Yang who gripped it around her fist, swinging into a horde of flying Grimm before exploding them all in a full-powered Aura explosion punch.

Ruby felt hope brimming in her chest, seeing how strong her team had grown.

The radio on the ship began to beep, "Unidentified Vessel, make yourself known."

Luna who'd stayed behind to pilot the ship looked nervously at the communications, "Uh… guys?"

They were all unfortunately busy.

"I repeat this is Captain Harriet Bree of the Ace-Ops. Unregistered vessel, identify yourself or we will open fire."

Luna blinked rapidly at the radio transmission. Was this bitch serious?! Now?! "HARRIET?! WHAT THE FUCK?!" Luna screamed as she picked up the communications.

"Dragon brat?!" Harriet's voice harshly echoed on the airwaves. "Why are you flying into a Grimm Storm? Have you finally given up?"

"WHAT?! NO! WHY ARE YOU FLYING INTO A GRIMM STORM THEN?!" She asked, finally noticing the carrier vessel that hovered in pace with her just to her left.

"We are on a mission for General Ironwood to destroy that thing."

"WHAT?! HOW?!"

Harriet bit her lip on board debating on whether to tell her or not. On one hand, it was against her directive to tell the mission details but on the other hand, if she didn't then she'd be sending the little girl to her death if she didn't get out of the blast radius.

Her orders, or her conscience.

She had to make a choice.

"I repeat, Harriet how in the living hell do you plan on destroying that thing? Maybe we can help you?"

Harriet quickly picked up the comm again, "We're driving the ship into the beast and detonating the sub-nuclear bomb on board. Of course, we'll be ejecting long before we can get hit but…"

"YOU'RE GOING TO WHAT?!"

"You heard me. Get out of here now. I don't know what you and your team are doing but I'm giving you a final warning. Get far out of the blast radius before it detonates or you will go down with it."

"NO! HARRIET YOU…! NOVA AND OSCAR ARE CONFIRMED TO BE ON BOARD! IF YOU DO THAT YOU'LL KILL THEM!"

"The Fall Maiden is on board?!"

"YES AND OSCAR!"

The Ace-Ops' eyes widened. If they detonated it then the Fall Maiden might fall into the wrong hands but then….! Harriet called Ironwood.

"General Ironwood, Nova the Fall Maiden, and Ozpin's incarnation are on board. Do you still wish to proceed?!"

James' voice was ice-cold as it cut clear across the channel, "They are no longer of consequence to us. Your orders are final."

"Sir…!"

There was no response as the line went dead.

"Harriet what should we do?! We can't do that!" Marrow exclaimed.

Harriet bit her lip, "Get out of here. I'll go alone. Let me be the only one to carry this burden."

"NO! We are a team. We go down as a team! This is all of our burdens." Elm stood firm.

"Funny you should bring that up now. It certainly didn't feel like a team to me… a real team…" as she looked at the Black, Yellow, Red, and White blurs that were annihilating a line of Grimm and clearing a path.

Without warning she hit the hanger door, the instant opening and shift in pressure created an intense vacuum that began sucking everyone out of the plane.

"NO WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Vine tried to squeeze out as he hung on by his semblance.

"What needs to be done." Within the blink of an eye, she unstrapped herself from the seat and zipped passed them. Knocking them all out of the plane before returning to her seat. "Good soldiers follow orders."

The air carrier zoomed ahead of the small airship, its dark shadow looming overhead as Ruby radioed Luna, "Luna what's going on? Who's that?"

"RUBY WE NEED TO STOP THAT SHIP NOW! IT'S HARRIET SHE'S GOING TO BLOW UP THE FORTRESS!"

"WHAT?! BUT NOVA AND OSCAR!"

"She doesn't care. Now we need to bring down that ship!"

"WEISS, YANG, BLAKE! New objective, stop that ship!" Ruby called out as she began tearing through the hoard of Grimm.

The gang took to action, trying to shoot down the airplane from a distance but it was fitted with dust shields. All of their firepower was bouncing off.

"FUCK. We need to get closer!" Yang swore.

"Tell that to the Grimm!" Weiss called back as more and more kept coming.

The closer they got to the Fortress the denser the collection of monsters. The larger carrier was unaffected thanks to the shields and defenses as it was making headway through the thick cloud.

"WE NEED TO GO NOW!" Luna shouted through their earpieces.

Ruby took a deep breath and concentrated on her emotions. Her desire to protect, her desire for a future, clutching her medallion, the silver heart, she tried to summon the power of her eyes.

"Come on, please… if there was ever a time I needed you to work… please…" Her eyes flickered on for a moment but it wasn't strong.

"Come on come on… we have to save Nova, we have to save Oscar… PLEASE!" Images of Nova's corpse burnt and blood strewn across the snow alongside Oscar, alongside her friends pervaded her mind.

Her eyes began to activate but the reaction was violent.

"NO! PLEASE! Desire to protect. Desire to pro-!" her voice caught in her throat as she saw how close the carrier was now, and the monstrous wall of Grimm that separated her from them.

"Oh… no! NO! NO! NO!" Her eyes finally activated as her desperation took hold.

A blinding silver light shot out of her eyes as her hood bathed in the silver light appeared around her, petrifying all the Grimm in the nearby surroundings… she was successful… but it was too late.

The Grimm that fell from the sky like rain came crashing around them like hailstones. One hit the engine.

Smoke. Fire. Their altitude was dropping.

Panic firmly grasped her heart, the icy grip of despair.

"-no, NO! WE'RE GOING DOWN!" Luna called out as the ship began its rapid descent.

Ruby barely processed the harsh cold snow hitting her face as the ship came to a dragging crash, Luna doing her best to land them as safely as possible.

White noise.

That was all she heard as she woke up, her body flung several feet from the site of the crash. Her eyes were blurry, barely registering her comrades all crawling out of the crash.

Their voices were inaudible to her.

She had no time. She could still make it if she tried!

Scrambling to her feet she pushed through the snow, the pain from the head injury, and the blood leaking from her leg and shoulder were invisible to her.

Activating her semblance she pushed forward in a flurry of rose petals. Dodging remaining Grimm, jumping on them like stepping stones, desperate to make it up!

She was so close…

But once again, it wasn't in time.

Her swollen left eye barely struggled open as she saw it, echoing like a dull vibration, intensifying the white noise in her ears.

The air carrier above had reached the mouth of the Grimm, detonating in a massive explosion that vaporized every Grimm in its radius, knocking her back down to the snow, coughing blood out as her back impacted the tundra surface.

"We failed…" she mouthed.

MRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOARRR! The leviathan fortress screamed as it came crashing down out of the sky, its head exploding in a burst of black smoke and entrails. The sheer force of the bomb forced everyone to take cover, taking shelter in the rubble of a fallen ship, barely surviving the scorching heat thanks to their Aura.

Tears sprung from her eyes like waterfalls of sadness, "W-We f-failed…. NO! I REFUSE!" she and the gang raced to the sight of the crash.

The ground was covered in disgusting entrails and remains of the explosion. There were no signs of life anywhere.

Ruby dug through the rubble, searching high and low for any sign of them, until she saw, just buried in the snow was Nova's jacket. It was torn asunder, blood and holes riddled its once clean white design. Realization sunk in like a ship with no hull.

Luna held up by Weiss had no tears, her eyes were glazed over and dead inside.

Yang tried to move Ruby but the red leader was finally broken.

"Nova… I failed… to save you…" the words were mere whispers that ghosted her lips. "I failed again…"

"No… you didn't fail." An elderly voice was heard off to her side.

She turned teary-faced to see none other than Raisa Calavera, stumbling over the rubble clutching an unconscious Oscar in her arms.

"What…? How…?"

"OSCAR!" Luna rushed over to him, holding him tightly, caressing his head, "You dumbass…"

"Old lady? How are you here? What?" Yang was confused.

"Just look at this…" Raisa held up a scroll to Ruby and the others.

It was a video screen showing Nova, standing at a desk, his face bloody and beaten, "Hey red…"

Ruby felt the tears flowing once more, "N-Nova…?"

"Yeah heh… I'm not dead so that's a thing?" he smiled weakly.

"Where are you?! You had me so worried I… I thought I failed to save you again…" she sniffled and clutched the scroll close to her chest.

Nova sighed, "Love, not that I don't mind the view, but I don't have a lot of time…"

"Huh…?"

"I know you have questions so I'll be brief. I found my dad."

Luna heard this and her eyes went wide, "You found dad?!"

Nova nodded, "Yeah, he's in this base where I'm calling you from. Thanks to a friend I was able to escape the airship before it exploded, but I don't think I can make it back to you guys and save dad at the same time. There's also the issue with the relic at Beacon."

"Nova, I don't understand. What're you talking about? Please just… come here. I miss you! We all do!" Ruby tried but failed to keep a stoic expression as she looked about ready to break.

"I miss you too, my love but I don't have the luxury of coming to you right now. I'll meet you guys at Vacuo. Alright? I won't be gone long but you have to trust me, Raisa can explain a bit more, and Ozpin hopefully when he wakes up."

Ruby looked ready to break down but she held herself up, knowing Nova he wanted nothing more than to be by her side, but whatever it was he was doing must be extremely important, "This is so fucking unfair! Why does it have to be you? Why can't someone else do it for once!" she hissed.

Nova's expression softened, "You know there's no one else…"

"I know but… I just want you back!" she cried out in frustration. "I just want things to go back to the way they were in Beacon. Where the end of the world was the least of our worries…"

"So do I, babe, so do I." he looked on the verge of tears, "Look, the moment I save my dad, the moment it's over. I'll be heading straight for you. Also, it's not like we won't be able to see each other every once in a while, CCT Tower is up again right? We just need to hold out a little longer."

Ruby sniffled and caressed the screen, "Please be safe… I love you."

A tear leaked down Nova's red-eye as he smiled warmly at the screen, "I love you too… more than anything."

The little girl pouted, "You shithead, you better come back okay? Mom's gonna kill you if you die, heck I'll kill you if I find out you're dead!"

Weiss rolled her eyes and draped an arm around them, "Don't worry cousin, I'll look after them."

"Big sis has it covered too," Yang said with a wink and a thumbs up.

"Alright, and kitty cat who is hiding in the back, I'm gonna miss you too okay? Since you're the only responsible person here it's up to you to hold them together."

Blake flexed a band of shadow, "Got it covered"

"Nice, well I'll check you guys soon okay? Remember, Shade Academy, Vacuo. That's where I'm headed once this is over."

A few minutes after the call ended, Ruby and the others were leaving the site of the crash. The red leader looked over the horizon to see the distant city of Mantle, its outer walls and houses charred and destroyed by the explosion.

"I hope the others are okay..." Luna muttered as she held Oscar up, making sure to be careful of his injuries.

Ruby grunted as she dragged her feet, her eyes had dark circles and were stained from the tears, "We got a lot of ground to cover. We gotta keep moving..."

A large golden-orange gateway opened out of thin air forcing everyone to stop in their tracks.

"Okay, now what?" Yang said stepping forward, cracking her knuckles and gearing up for a fight, "I've had just about enough of this shit. Whatever bad guy is gonna come through that I'm gonna beat the ever-loving shi- Wahhhh?"


-30 Minutes Earlier, On Board the Flying Fortress-

Nova hung from his cell, thoroughly exhausted and very much starved. The torture had stopped because his body had gotten to the point where physical trauma could put him into a catatonic state, as a result, Summer was tasked was readministering his nanomachine reactivation serum in increments to ensure his body regenerated enough to stay alive. To think the reactivation serum had a booster that could jumpstart the recovery process so much that it stopped his body from death by starvation.

A serum of such potential could do wonders in the medical world, but here it was, being used for evil. Just another of the many reasons on Nova's list that he could not allow his father to remain in their hands anymore.

The faint smell of flowers wafted through his nose as he faded in and out of consciousness. He was so tired…

"Wake up kid, we don't have much time!" a familiar elderly voice said in his ear.

He jolted awake, "What?!"

Raisa Calavera stood in all her three-foot-tall glory at the door to his cell, the distinct colouring of flower petals behind her suggesting her semblance had been used.

"What are you doing here?!" he hissed, more startled by the fact that she willingly walked in here than her actually showing up out of nowhere.

She bonked his head with her walking stick, "Our mutual friend on the inside snuck me in. I'd been waiting at the Faunus village when it was attacked. Low and behold you come swooping in to save the day… then off you go… again."

He looked at her dryly, "Why didn't you say anything before? We were looking for you…"

"Were you?"

"… No… sorry, it's just that…"

"I get it. In hindsight, I should have actually told you where I'd be in Atlas but I got… sidetracked so I took a little detour." She tried to make an excuse.

"You got drunk and ended up in a ditch somewhere?"

"NO! Cordovin actually reached out to me for once in her meager existence and asked me to help her in dealing with some things, namely, Vale-related things. That's when I learned that they've discovered the location of the vault under Beacon and were planning to retake it, but then all this shit in Atlas started happening."

"That doesn't explain how Summer smuggled you in here, let alone how you even got here. I thought your semblance only works on places you've been?"

"It also works on places that my flowers grow. I met Summer when I was scrambling to your last known location, you know when you chased that army?" She started describing how she chased his trail of destruction all the way up to when Onyx and his goons ambushed Nova. She had buried herself in a snow pile to avoid detection when Summer found her.

At first, Raisa thought Summer was an enemy but when she revealed her face and what she knew about Silver Eyes, Raisa understood what had occurred. Entrusting Summer with one of her semblance flowers in the form of a small seed, Summer was able to smuggle it on board without Salem's detection.

"It took a bit for the seed to sprout but I think I made it just in time." She said smugly.

"So you're here to bust me out? What about Oscar? He's here too!" As he said that her smug look morphed into horror.

"THERE'S MORE THAN ONE OF YOU?!" Raisa looked exasperated. "How the hell did you manage to get TWO of you captured?! I was prepared for ONE, not TWO!" she held up two fingers for emphasis. "And he's Ozpin's incarnation… oh boy…"

"Get him out first. I'll make it out of here on my own." Nova said with a serious tone.

Raisa just quizzically raised an eyebrow, "Kid, I hate to say this but Ozpin will just reincarnate, you on the other hand are priority target numero uno."

"I don't give a flying fuck about Ozpin, I care about Oscar! There's only one of him and I will not lose my friend." He glared daggers at her.

She recoiled, "Sheesh alright, alright. Now come on, let's see if we can get you out first, then I teleport back inside and get Oscar. It'll be risky but…"

"That might be an issue."

They both turned around to see Summer manifesting in a burst of white petals much like Ruby's semblance. Seeing the familiar sight on a familiar face made Nova's heart sting… he missed her so much.

"Summer?!"

Summer Rose had a grim look, the expression, not her face, "Two ships are heading toward us right now. One looks like an aircraft carrier and the other looks like a transport vessel. The small one shows signs of...four teenagers? We're not sure about the big one but it looks hardly manned and is on a collision course with us."

"Four teenagers… could it be your team?" Raisa looked at Nova.

"They came to get me!" Nova almost squealed with delight. The thought of finally seeing their faces again was enough to make him smile for the first time since he'd been taken, hostage. But… it only lasted moments as his mind wandered to his sister, then his mother, then… his father. His poor father who'd thought they were dead. Who was still stuck in a robot body in an isolated cave in the tundra, under Onyx's command?

"FUCK!"

"What now?" Raisa groaned.

"They're coming for me but…"

"They'll never make it through the wall of Grimm…" Summer said darkly.

"Even if they do Salem will crush them to pieces…" Raisa followed up.

"… And I need you to teleport me to the Tundra as close to Onyx's remote base as possible. I have to get my dad." Nova finished.

"..."

"..."

"..."

(A/N Raisa's Face: (┛◉Д◉)┛彡┻━┻ )

Raisa looked about ready to object when Nova cut her off, "No I can't leave him behind. He's so close. Please, you can't send me back to my friends… not yet. I need to save my dad."

Raisa hesitated for a moment, "Well I wasn't going to send you back there anyway."

"Huh?!" he was confused.

"I was going to send you to Vale, or at least as close as possible."

"What do you mean? Why Vale?"

"To pick up the relic under Beacon. You'll need it in order to stop Salem." She stated simply as if it was common knowledge.

Nova was now fully confused, "But the crown is located in the vault, which currently only I can access. So why would I go get the crown of choice when the aim of the game is to play keep away from the wicked witch of the west?"

"Because of the power of that crown. The lamp tells you the truth, the staff can create anything. That crown will show you the future. You'll need it if you want to make the right decisions going forward. We are at a point now where any and all future decisions you make..." she prodded a finger into his chest, "...is going to impact the outcome of this war."

"You mean my team, right? Not just me?" He asked hesitantly.

"No. I mean specifically you!"

"WHY ME?!"

"Are you seriously asking that?"

When he just gave her a blank look she sighed, "Because you're the Fall Maiden, you're the primordial energy of fire and keeper of the Agniseki. You're The eldest prince of the Faunus Kingdom from ancient history and the only one with the legitimacy of uniting the people against Salem."

"You're the one who has to bring humans and Faunus together, the chain link that binds the strength of the people." she continued to lecture him.

"Your father is a robot, your mom isn't of royal blood and your sister is much too young to lead. All weight is on your shoulders… well yours and that Ruby girl. You have a duty to fulfill." she finally finished.

Summer felt sorry for the young boy, to have this much burden at such a young age. She pulled off her cloak and wrapped it around Nova, smiling tenderly as she held his face admiring the young boy that held the weight of the world on his shoulders, "The tundra is pretty cold. I know you don't get cold but the winds can still be pretty harsh..."

Nova's eyes widened as he felt the soft white fabric around his neck, "But... Summer this is..."

She just shook her head, "Keep it. When we meet again you can give this back to me."

"A touching moment, really... sorry to say that he won't be going anywhere" A soft, even yet menacing tone came from behind them, and at that moment, everyone felt the cold creeping sensation of dread run down their spines.

"I find it amusing, your attempt at escape. Did you think I wouldn't know? This Grimm is my creation and I see and hear everything my creations do, Summer."

The woman in question tensed up, "You've been aware this whole time...? Why...?"

"Why didn't I act sooner?" Salem pointed a pale finger toward Raisa, "An opportunity to obliterate you all at once... after all, it's not every day your enemies are foolish enough to step into your territory."

"I'd thought if anyone was going to find us it'd be Cinder or Onyx considering you hide behind your pawns instead of ever going out yourself," Nova said condescendingly as he leaned on Calavera for support.

Salem smirked, "The thing about pawns in a game of chess is, that a few need to be sent out for the queen to make her move..."

Nova paled, "Ruby and the others can handle anything you throw at them. They aren't so weak to fall easily."

"No...? Shame, it just means their deaths will be all the more painful..."

"If there is one thing I won't allow you to do..." Summer said threateningly, "It's hurt my daughter while I can still do something about it!"

In a flurry of white petals, Summer tackled Salem out of the room.

"NOW'S THE TIME!" Raisa grabbed Nova's hand and teleported him out of the airship.

-Bleak Tundra just outside the abandoned mine base-

Nova felt his stomach lurch as he landed on the soft snow, throwing up a heaping load of nothing out of his stomach as he struggled to gather himself.

"Sorry about that kid, wish the ride could've been smoother," she said apologetically.

"... It's fine..." he replied in between coughs, "I'll go find my dad, you go get Oscar."


Summer managed to send Salem flying into the throne room of the ship, getting her far enough away from the holding cells to give Raisa time to get Oscar out.

"Why do you fight me, Summer? You know what's coming better than anyone else. You are fully aware of the futility of your actions, yet you continue on this path." Salem said as she gracefully landed on the end of the large room, staring down her opponent from the opposite side. "I made you in my image, granted you powers beyond your wildest dreams, and yet you still manage to defy me. Curious..."

"I never asked for any of that!" Summer said as she pulled out a black and white scythe from behind her back, one very reminiscent of Crescent Rose. "You took everything from me!" she launched herself at Salem, her blade striking hard against the witch only to be caught bare-handed, so she recoiled and went for a leg sweep.

"My freedom!" Summer struck again, "My life!" and again, "And my happiness!"

Salem caught the blade again, her hands glowing with the dark red aura of magic as she looked on with apathy.

"I WILL NOT LET YOU TAKE MY DAUGHTER TOO!" Summer summoned her Grimm powers, coating her hand in a large mass of blackened Grimm ichor and grasping Salem by the neck, an act which shocked the queen, dragging her in a burst of flower petals to the sky before throwing her hard into the solid floor, rupturing it in a crater before firing several bullets from her scythe onto the witch.

Salem's body cracked and writhed as she stood up from the crater, her bones snapped and bent in all manner of directions, bullet holes all over her body, but not a single drop of blood was seen as the bones cracked and snapped back into place, the bullets fell out and the wounds closed, her neck fixing into place and her crushed windpipe reforming.

"You can't kill me Summer. I took away your only means of doing so several years ago. This fight is meaningless."

With one swift and purposeful motion, Salem crossed her palms and the glow of magic erupted around her, as she blasted Summer with an eruption of dark energy so fast that she couldn't react in time, sending the other girl flying across the room. Not letting up for a moment, she continued by telekinetically restraining Summer with one hand and using the other to summon several Wyvern heads around her all sending out blasts of explosive fire at close range.

Summer attempted to use the blast recoil to propel herself back into the fight, out of the smoke she closed the distance to Salem while her vision was obscured.

The witch simply raised her right hand, just as Summer's scythe was within a hair's length of Salem's neck, she froze.

"Your body can't defy its creator dear," Salem said calmly. "Even if you had the means to kill me... you couldn't do it."

"I don't need to kill you..." Summer said through the stasis, "I just needed to buy time."

Salem had barely a moment to register what was happening before the side of the throne room exploded in a brilliant inferno.


-Atlas Academy at the same time earlier-

"Is Ironwood sane?!" a male voice said outside of Neopolitan's door.

The ice-cream-haired girl's ears perked up as she pressed them to the cold steel. Something was going on.

"SHHH! Don't let him catch you saying that!" the other replied hastily.

"But I'm right! He's going to blow up half of Mantle along with that flying Leviathan. He'll kill thousands!"

Neo's eyes widened in horror, she knew Ironwood was drastic but this was taking it too far!

"I heard he's going to take this flying city into the upper atmosphere. He thinks that'll keep us out of reach of the enemy."

"But who is the enemy? Is it still the Grimm? I feel like I don't even know who the enemy is anymore. Why are we fighting?" the other said, one could discern the level of disenchantment in his voice.

"I don't know, but orders are orders..."

"So how'd he even get this place airborne?"

"The staff of creation or some shit. Honestly, I thought it was a myth, but here we are guarding the Winter Maiden..."

"That's who we're guarding?"

The staff! Neo exclaimed in her mind as an idea began worming its way into her head. If the Ace-Ops weren't the ones guarding her... then maybe she had a chance... one shot to at least do something worthwhile.

Meekly she knocked on the door, rapidly tapping a few times.

"Oi! keep it down in there. What do you want?"

When there was no response the guard continued, "Speak up. We were ordered to be hospitable so if you need something..."

"Dude she's a mute."

"Oh fuck, for real?"

The door slid open to reveal the helmeted guards on the other side, Neo wasted no time, disguising herself as Harriet she stood with her arms folded and an annoyed face.

"Captain?! What are you doing in here?! Where's the prisoner?"

Neo as Harriet simply shook her head and sighed, walked up to the guard and bonked him on the helmet while making a 'tsk' sound irritably.

"Sir if we messed up, we're sorry..."

But Neo was already walking off.

By the time the guards realized what happened it was too late. She was already on her way to the vault, at least she hoped she remembered the layout of the place.


As she rounded her third corner she found herself in a dark-green, dimly lit room that was held tightly shut by a coded lock pannel. The sound of approaching guards could be heard from around the corner, she only had one option in this dead-end corridor.

'Come on... come on... stupid Atlas and their stupid advanced locks...'

Using her expert skills as a thief she broke into the highly advanced lock just in time to shut the door behind her. Turning around she was met with 3 pairs of bewildered eyes.

"... Who...?" Robyn Hill muttered in question.

"What're you doing here? If you're looking for the staff you're in the wrong place, not like you could get it." Qrow said with his eyes narrowing on Neo, "Bold of Salem to send only one person in..."

Jacques straightened his body, "If you aren't one of Ironwood's goons then release us, no doubt you can if you broke in here."

"Shut it, Jacques. That's one of Salem's dogs..." Qrow sneered.

Neo looked offended and signed 'I'm not working for Salem anymore. I'm with Team ASHNRWBY'.

Qrow raised an eyebrow, "What's she saying...?"

"She says she isn't with Salem anymore." Robyn translated.

Qrow snorted in distaste, "Really? You expect us to believe that load of bullshit?"

With the sound of guards attempting to unlock the door, she looked back in panic, 'Really! I'm not!'

Qrow folded his arms still not understanding her sign language, "If you aren't with Salem then free us right now."

The door behind her rattled again.

Groaning Neo summoned the power of the Winter Maiden, causing all eyes to widen in surprise as she froze the mechanisms for the cages and disabled them.

"Winter Maiden? You?! If you did something..." Qrow looked threatening.

'I'm not with Salem I swear! We need to get to the staff. I think we can use it to help evacuate Mantle! Ironwood's going to blow it all to smithereens!'

Robyn's eyes widened in horror.

"What did she say?" Qrow demanded.

"She says that Ironwood's going to blow up Mantle and we need the staff of creation to save them!"

Qrow got into a fighting stance, "Aha! So this is about the staff!"

'Look we don't have time for this if I look like I'm gonna run off with the staff then you have full permission to kill me. WE DO NOT HAVE TIME YOU HAVE TO TRUST ME'

Robyn translated and Qrow muttered something under his breath and sighed, "Fine but I'm watching you..."

At that moment the guards broke down the door, guns ready... only to be met with sudden jamming of all their weapons as Qrow, Neo and Robyn knocked them all out, running down the corridor to find the weapons locker to reclaim their effects.

"WAIT FOR ME!" Jacques hollered as he jogged behind, quite clearly not able to keep up with their speed.


-The Vault-

Ironwood placed the staff of creation back onto its glimmering pedestal as he was done finalizing the details of Atlas as an airborne city. He had finally done it. He'd won, his plans of keeping the Staff out of reach of Salem had succeeded. Now it was only a matter of time, soon the leviathan would be destroyed.

He'd played the game of chess, he'd taken out the pawns and delayed the queen. He was so close to checkmate, but there were still a few loose ends to tie up, the number one being the criminal that lurked around his base.

The sound of the descending elevator pierced the deadly silent atmosphere alerting him, "Just in time..." he said with distaste.

"I had expected you to come alone, but it seems you brought Qrow and Hill with you," Ironwood said noticing them as he placed his arms behind his back.

"I'm here too!" Jacques said meekly but he was ignored.

Qrow stared down Ironwood, "What have you done James?! Do you realize how many lives you're sacrificing?!"

"I have done what's best for the world of Remnant. I've done what's best for keeping the staff safe, and I've done what's best for the future of the world. A few thousand lives are nothing in the grand scheme of things." James said calmly.

Robyn grit her teeth, "How can you say that? Those are living, breathing people!"

"If Salem gets the staff then there won't be any people left to live or breathe," his eyes shadowed over with darkness.

'We're wasting time.' Neo signed.

"She's right. James, stand aside and give us the staff. You're outnumbered and outgunned. Don't make us do this." Robyn threatened, holding her crossbow to him.

Ironwood smirked, "Am I?"

At that moment the elevator came back down, and with it, an army of guards with Winter at the head.

Neo and the others were surrounded.

"Why don't you come quietly, and maybe I won't execute you on the spot."

Neo didn't hesitate as she summoned the Winter Maiden's power and flew into the air, calling down an ice storm.

"Death it is..." James said darkly as he signaled the guards to attack.

The brawl had begun.

Qrow's eyes scanned the battlefield and locked in on his target, turning into a crow briefly to dash in and out of the ongoing commotion, he knocked Ironwood to one side, isolating him. With Harbinger trained on the general Qrow bared his teeth, "It's because of you that Clover couldn't see reason!"

"Because of me?" James dodged a swing and fired off his gun, Qrow dodged the bullets at close range, his eyes glowing red with rage. "I never made Clover do anything. He was a good soldier, he followed orders, it was his weakness that killed him."

"HIS WEAKNESS?!" Qrow dashed in low and punched Ironwood in his jaw sending him flying, "He was stronger than you, he was one of the strongest people out there and his loyalty to you killed him. Yet here you stand, feeling no remorse."

"I don't have the luxury of emotions, Qrow, not when the world is collapsing around us." Ironwood grabbed hold of Qrow mid-air as he was flying toward him and flung him to the floor with immense force, the sound of mechanisms whirring to life in his arm. With an audible clicking, the arm sprung to life coated in an electrifying aura.

"Have a taste of Atlasian technology..." James pummelled Qrow in the stomach with a barrage of attacks, effectively cracking his aura in a matter of seconds, and he would have continued had the gauntlet's aura suddenly fizzled out and sputtered due to Qrow's semblance.

Before he could make another move a large shard of ice hurtled toward him out of the corner of his eye forcing him aside as Neo stood menacingly above the battlefield. She too was interrupted when Winter blasted her from the side with a shot from what looked like a rapid-fire railgun, followed by several miniature white Nevermores that flocked toward her.

'You don't have to do this Winter!' Neo quickly signed in the middle of aerial dodges.

"I have a duty to this kingdom! A duty to protect it!" Winter shouted atop her lungs.

"A duty to the kingdom?! The people are what make the Kingdom, Winter, and you're on the side that's killing them!" Robyn shouted as she handled a squadron of guards alone.

Jacques simply took cover behind a nearby crate hoping not to be caught in the crossfire.

Ironwood pulled out his gun and fired several rounds at Qrow, most seemed to miss but one of them luckily ricocheted off a metal wall and hit Qrow in the back as he was closing the gap to James once more. "FUCK!" he cursed his bad luck.

Neo tried her best to fend off Winter's assault while desperately signing to the girl, 'Please Winter, we don't have much time! James will kill everyone unless you stop this!'

"What're you talking about?" she growled, sending a black gravity glyph to anchor Neo as she shot a blast from the Railgun at her, which Neo barely blocked by throwing up a wall of ice.

"Bomb, Mantle, he's blowing up the Grimm with them," Robyn stated as she danced over a guard's head, firing a crossbow into their chest.

"WHAT?!" she turned to James with utter disbelief.

James made no attempt to defend himself from the accusations, instead choosing to defend himself from Qrow's onslaught of attacks from Harbinger.

More guards began to show up as Robyn started to run out of steam. She'd been dealing with them all but now that a fresh seven had shown up, things weren't looking good.

Qrow, on the other hand, seemed to finally be gaining on James as after a single flurry of scythe swings James' shirt was torn at the sleeve and he had several cuts and bruises, Qrow's semblance was working on James for now but as if the ironic timing couldn't be any better, James' arm began working again, but the reaper had no way of seeing it in time as his scythe was just nearing Ironwood's throat, the General detonated a shockwave that flung Qrow across the room, crashing into a wall with immense force knocking him out.

Neo rushed to help him but couldn't anticipate the gravity glyph that appeared to her right, repelling her leftward and sending her sprawling in a heap.

With the Winter Maiden down and Qrow out of commission, Robyn, completely out of breath and arrows raised her hands in surrender.

"It was a valiant effort, but I'm afraid it was wasted. You coming here was part of my plan after all. I might not have expected backup from them," as Ironwood gestured to the fallen Qrow, approaching Neo with a dark look in his eyes. "But getting you here and executing you in this fashion would ensure that the Maiden powers would be in our hands. Especially when our dear Winter would be the one doing it."

'The guards at my door... the lack of security in the halls... this was all your plan?!' Neo signed weakly as she struggled to stand.

"Of course."

'Why not execute me normally? I'm sure that would've been easier.' she looked ready to fight but Winter shut her down by hitting her on the side of the head as a pair of guards grabbed hold of Neo's arms, restraining her and forcing her to stand. Winter had the rifle aimed at Neo's head.

"The human mind is a complicated thing, but when you stare into the eyes of death after all hope is crushed, then I can assure you your last memories won't be of Weiss or your friends. It'll be of your hatred toward your enemy." he justified.

Neo signed a distasteful, 'Fuck you!' with her free fingers.

James did not react as he walked passed her and behind, so he stood in line with her from the back so she couldn't see him.

"Winter. Execute."

Winter, however, remained still and frozen.

"What are you waiting for Winter? I order you to kill her!" James barked.

Winter's eyes were clouded and Neo couldn't discern her expression but then Winter motioned two fingers downward. The act was subtle but purposeful.

"Yes sir. Good soldiers follow orders..." she squeezed the trigger, Neo shut her eyes in anticipation, placing her faith in Winter. The shot rang out with a piercing zap, Neo awaited her inevitable end... but nothing came as she heard a loud thud behind her.

"I'm done being a good soldier," Winter said as she flung the weapon aside, elbowing past the shocked guards and releasing Neopolitan, the ice-cream-haired girl who looked on in horror at Ironwood's corpse, a large hole blown through his head.

"All soldiers. James Ironwood is dead, and as his second in command, you follow me now. Stand down." she ordered, the shadows under her eyes, a dark haze.

When no one moved she barked louder, "DID YOU NOT HEAR ME?! STAND DOWN NOW OR ELSE!". The soldiers one by one began dropping their weapons as Neo looked shakily at James. It almost didn't feel real.

"Go. The staff is yours. Do what you need to do."

Without wasting any more time Neo ran past her and entered the chamber, grasping hold of the staff. A large blue man with pointed ears and chains around his naked form which bore no genitalia rose from it.

He looked at her with curiosity, "Well... I didn't expect to be awoken so soon..."

Neo wasted no time, 'I need you to help evacuate Mantle.'

"Well I can create anything but I need exact details and schematics of what you want. I can't just magically make something without a plan." the blue man stared down at her while his arms were folded.

'Fuck! I don't have any...' suddenly an idea came to mind, 'Wait can you do this?'

The creature attempted to read her mind as it saw a concept for multiple gateways that formed all over Atlas, "I can do that."

"Once it's done," he continued, "All you have to do is walk through them... but make sure not to fall over the sides."

'What happens if I do?' she asked.

"You don't want to know... trust me..."


-Mantle City Just before the explosion-

Jaune and the others were evacuating Mantle with May. Barely managing to get people out of the immediate danger zones. Things were looking dire and they didn't have the workforce to get everyone out, especially with Hex and Nitro going over to the Amity tower.

"Jaune, we have two more blocks to evacuate we need to move faster!" Ren shouted from across the barren gray landscape that was once Mantle.

Nora was finishing up on her end when she noticed a spark of orange in the corner of her eye, "What's that?!" she pointed toward what seemed to now be a large orange gateway that was forming.

"I have no idea..." Jaune was about to comment further when he noticed the skies. A ship was heading directly into the Leviathan Grimm that was hovering just above them, a sinking feeling worming its way into his stomach. "No this isn't..."

Nora stuck her head inside the gate.

"NORA DON'T JUST DO THINGS LIKE THAT!" Ren exclaimed as he attempted to pull his girlfriend out, quickly checking her for wounds.

"It's like an entire world in there, paths leading to other portals!" she said in amazement.

"Still we shouldn't just go in there. What if..." Jaune was about to continue further when someone came through the gate. It was Neo, looking battered and bruised from her fight.

"You!" Ren started but Neo cut him off.

'We don't have time! Get the remaining people through these gates. I got them connected to all the blocks, move NOW!"


-Amity Arena-

The tower was crumbling and it was only a matter of time before they lost all altitude. Elain nervously but quickly handled the main controls with Dr. Polendina to keep things stable while Penny fought off the Grimm with Maria and Fenrir.

"We can't hold out much longer. How long until backup gets here?!" Olwen yelled as she tried to freeze the break in the ceiling shut.

"No clue! We...!" Elain was about to respond when a large orange gate opened up.

"WHAT NOW?!" Fenrir cried out in frustration. Just as he did the blockades they'd built collapsed once more as a Wyvern broke through tearing the roof off. "FUCK!"

"NO IDEA BUT IT LOOKS LIKE SOME SORT OF GATE!" Elain yelled over the rushing wind. Amity was about to fall once more.

"I don't care what it is but I'm taking my chances!" Raisa shouted as she jumped through the gate, narrowly avoiding an explosive fire blast from the mouth of the giant Grimm.

Olwen groaned, "Goddamnit we got no choice! Everyone follow that crazy old woman!"

"Which one?" Fenrir asked but Olwen rang his ears and pulled him into the gate. The others followed soon after.


-Mantle Tundra, Crash Site-

Yang stopped when out of the portal walked Neopolitan, she looked bruised but had a smug look on her face, 'Hey guys~' she signed. Weiss immediately shoved past everyone and tackled the girl in a tight hug, "I'm so glad you're okay..."

Blushing heavily, Neo nuzzled her head in the crook of Weiss' neck and returned the embrace before releasing her. 'I'll explain everything later. For now, let's just get these people to safety.'

"Right." Ruby nodded.

Neo took note of how weak Ruby looked but said nothing. They couldn't afford to sit anyone out now...

As the others entered, Weiss hung back with Neo. The Schnee took Neo's hands in hers as she stared into her eyes.

Neo freed a hand and began to sign, 'I'm so-'

Weiss caught it and squeezed it tightly, "You did what you had to do to protect us. I understand that. You're not at fault for what's happening here, you did your best."

Tears began to spring forth from Neo's eyes involuntarily, this prompted Weiss to gently wipe them away, caressing the side of her face she leaned ever closer. Neo wasn't sure what was happening but she found herself leaning closer as well. They were only a few inches apart when suddenly,

"Yo, you guys coming?!" Yang hollered from out of the portal, forcing the two apart.

Weiss blushed furiously, "W-We should go..."

'Yeah...'

Upon entering they saw a large open space of interconnected golden pathways that led to a central platform with a massive gate. Jaune and the others were already evacuating people from Mantle and Atlas.

Ruby was so mesmerized by the whole thing she didn't notice a tall slender person tapping her on the shoulder, "Hey kiddo, long time no see..." Qrow said hesitantly.

The red leader spun around so fast she almost got dizzy as she crashed her arms around her Uncle Qrow, "Thank god you're alive," she said her face muffled by his shirt.

Qrow simply tussled her hair, "Sorry for leaving you for so long. I know it must've been hard..." he said softly, "But I'm here now."

Ruby relinquished hold of him and nodded, "Yeah... wait what about Ironwood?"

"A railgun to the head and his brain was gone. Courtesy of our resident Winter Schnee of course..." he pointed behind him to where Winter was using the Atlas military to assist with the evacuation.

Ruby looked shocked, "So he's... gone?"

"Yeah. Can't say I blame her though. It had to be done, James was too far gone." Qrow said solemnly.

The two observed Weiss crash into Winter and hug her tightly, Willow Schnee and Whitely, close behind with Jacques keeping his distance amongst the crowd. At least one family was able to stay together, dysfunctional as they are.


-Mining Base outside of Mantle-

Nova made his way through the tunnels with precision and purpose, checking every room and every space he could trying to find Bortz Flint Flareheart's robot body. "Come on dad... where are you..." he said as he passed through the corridors.

One door, in particular, stood out as he almost bypassed it with his quick movements.

"Hello~ What do we have here?" He spied through the glass an array of weaponry. "Well... a little detour wouldn't hurt~"

On the walls were various tools of destruction, "Rocket launchers, railguns, grenades... I'll take those~" he said pocketing a line of grenades, "... OH IS THIS WHAT I THINK IT IS?!" he spied a locked container about the size of his arm's length. Smashing it open with his draconic arm he spotted it.

Resting in an outline of foam and packaging, in all of its beautiful bright orange and black metallic glory, "Oh my sweet baby, did you miss me?" he cooed as he picked up Helios and strapped it around his waist. "I certainly missed you~"

"It's strange to talk to your weapons son, not that I blame you, she is a fine piece of work." A male, robotic voice said in the doorway. Nova spun around to see the android form of Bortz Flareheart standing there.

"DAD! I was just coming to look for you!" Nova said with delight as he hugged the robot, then remembered its programming, "Uh... you're not gonna lock me up and torture me again are you...?"

"No. My order directives are ceased, for now. I'm glad to see you're okay. I was afraid they'd..." he faltered as he scanned Nova's body, picking up multiple lacerations, broken bones, skeletal bruising, and malnutrition. "Oh god..."

Nova shrugged weakly, "It's fine... they inhibited my self-healing and my aura... but I an still stand so that's a plus..."

The robot walked up, "Let me fix that. I still have a few doses of the activator..." with a swift and precise motion he injected a syringe into Nova's arm. With that, his scales returned and his body began to slowly repair itself, though it would still be quite a while before it was one hundred percent. The Agniseki, which had been silent ever since finally began to glow dimly.

"Thanks, dad... I... we have a lot to catch up on don't we..." he said nervously.

Bortz placed a cold metallic hand on his son's shoulder, "We do, but for now I'm glad you're safe, but you need to get out of here." his words implied that he wasn't leaving.

"Why? The whole point of me coming back here was to get you, so come on, let's both leave." Nova said reading his father's meaning.

The robot shook its head, "I can't leave. My directive prevents me from disobeying Onyx, and as long as I'm with you he'd be able to track you down using me."

Nova didn't like where this was going, "We can work with that! Hex can reprogram you and..."

"No, what I mean is, this isn't my body."

"Of course, it isn't..." Nova sighed glumly, he'd finally gotten his father back, and here he was finding himself at another wall.

"My brain is hooked up to their main headquarters. If you want to save me then you need to find me, but if you want my advice? Leave me alone. I'm done putting you all in danger. If you're going to find me then you're going to have to promise to kill me." Bortz said darkly.

Nova was shaken, "Are you listening to what you're saying?! Dad, I can't kill you!"

"I know this is asking too much of you but... please you must understand. I know what's going to come. I know their plans. It won't end here, not until you bring them down at the head. It's the only logical way."

The teen clenched his fists, "All that time spent in a robot body must've messed up your brain. There is always an alternative."

As he said that an orange portal opened up near him.

"I believe that's your queue," Bortz said as he gestured to the gateway. "I'm reading this as a cross-dimensional space and several of your friends on the other side."

"You can detect that?!"

"I'm highly advanced..."

"But I can't just leave you... I'll be back. I promise." with that, Nova stepped through the portal.


On the other side, Nova saw a vast open space of quite literally space. It looked almost surreal as he saw several hordes of people walking through as Team RWBY and JNR along with Hex, Nitro, and their parents filed everyone through one large gateway in the center of the several interconnecting golden pathways. Even the team from Amity, with his mother, were there with Luna and Oscar.

He spotted Ruby, focused intently on her job as she ensured everyone was moving along smoothly, gazing longingly at her, drinking in the sight of her while he could.

Their eyes met, and in that brief moment, all was right with the world. Both their eyes began to tear up as Nova sprinted across the golden pathway, desperation overriding his brain. He missed her so much, but his heart was soon filled with worry as he saw how sluggish she moved, he could tell she was long past running on empty.

However, their reunion was not meant to be as their enemies reared their ugly heads once more. Having paths connected all over Atlas and Mantle also meant they were easily found.

The dark silhouette of Onyx stomped in from an elevated gateway, "WRETCHED HUMANS!" he boomed as all heads turned toward him, and the figure that stood just behind him, Cinder.

Immediately Nova unsheathed Helios and all able-bodied members of Team ASHNRWBYJNR pulled out their weapons.

"Big mistake coming here Onyx!" Nova said with scorn, "You can't handle all of us together!"

"Can't we?" Onyx smirked maliciously as he unleashed a wave of Miasma that began to choke the life out of all the normal people. Men, women, and children began to drop unconscious or worse causing panic to rise as people became unruly.

"Of course, you wouldn't fight fair..." he muttered.

"Jaune, Ren, Nora, and Neo get everyone to safety quickly!" he heard Ruby shout across from the platform.

It was time for them to make one final stand to hold off the enemy.

Nova smirked as he stood on the platform, his scythe extended in a reaping stance as he yelled at the top of his lungs, "TEAM ASHNRWBY!" all their eyes landed on their leader, "Let's send these losers back where they came from aye?"

Shadows sprouted like pillars of darkness from Blake as she aimed them to restrain Cinder who responded by summoning two Wyvern heads on her arms and blasting them away, rushing forward into the crowd and landing with a dramatic flair. "Aspects of Remnant and their powers... all will fall before the might of Grimm!" she said, expanding the shadow under her and summoning seven Ursa that began running at the people who were still evacuating.

"We'll take care of these guys!" Hex said as she and her brother took action.

Hex flung Loki and Eres' chains roping two Ursa before she shot herself in and stabbed through both, embedding a small explosive charge on one that detonated after she ripped the chain sending them into piles of black dust and smoke.

An explosion erupted just at the corner of her eyes where she turned around to see Yang punching an Ursa with full Aura boosted Ember Celia, smashing it instantly, "Got your back babe. Focus on what's in front of you!" she said. Hex almost swooned at how cool her girlfriend looked at that moment as she blushed and gave Yang a fist bump.

Nitro on the other hand was already zipping around the platform with his jet-propelled fists, boxing Grimm one after the other, but they kept respawning and running after the people. "Fuck this is getting out of hand..." he growled as he observed Cinder taking to the skies, aiming her Wyvern heads at him.

"OH NO, YOU DON'T!" Weiss yelled as she called on the Cryoseki's power, freezing the air around Cinder's hands, causing the explosion to backfire.

Ruby, Nova, and Luna picked Onyx out from the crowd as the red leader burst into a flurry of petals, sweeping Luna up with her as she flew into Onyx, coming out of her semblance just above his head. Onyx thought he was ready for one but hadn't expected the little girl wielding a giant glowing battle-axe to come bursting out of the petals with the red reaper. Crescent Rose and Galaxia came crashing down on Onyx forcing him to block with his hands coated in Miasma and the black shell of his Aspect powers.

The ancient Seki stone around Onyx's neck began to glow in response to coming into contact with Luna, as its power began to fluctuate with instability. Luna's scales grew along her forearms in response as the young girl's eyes turned into dragon irises and tinged with a cyan blue glow.

With a great roar that sounded like a bear, Onyx's entire body went black, speckled with stars as he unleashed a shockwave that knocked Luna and Ruby back.

Nova was prepared as he dashed into the sky propelled by a fire trail, catching Ruby in one hand and Luna in the other. They impacted his still broken ribs and the unhealed scar on his torso, he grits his teeth through the pain as he smirked at them, "You guys miss me?"

Luna rolled her eyes, "We can talk about it later. Fight first."

"Glad to see you still alive, my love," Ruby said endearingly as she touched his face tenderly just when they landed.

Nova's expression softened, "I..."

"Can you two not flirt while I'm here?" Luna said as she relinquished herself from her brother's arms.

"I agree. You two sicken me. Faunus and Human, you tarnish your royal blood, Flareheart boy." Onyx sneered, his voice sounding multi-layered.

"You wouldn't know happiness if it hit you in the face." Nova snorted in distaste, though the very act seemed to make him flinch as Onyx took notice of it.

The large man cracked his knuckles, "Looks like you're still injured from before. Are you sure you can even fight?" taking note of Ruby's rapid and shallow breathing, "Guess crushing you both would be easier than I thought..."

The dragon leader didn't want to admit it, but Onyx was right. Nova's eye flared with the Maiden's power, the Agniseki responding in kind as the flash of orange and dragon scales donned his body. "I can still do enough."

Despite his bravado, it was evident he wasn't in any condition to be fighting for long and neither was Ruby, she placed a hand on his shoulder in worry. Nova responded by placing his own atop hers and giving them a light squeeze. "We might not be able to beat them here, but I have a plan," he said revealing a line of grenades he'd stolen from Onyx's base.

"Follow my lead." he instructed, nodding to Luna, "Ever played baseball?"

Grabbing hold of Ruby's hand the two jumped into the air landing on the flat part of Luna's blade. Scales glowed along the little girl's body as her muscles rippled, "GO!" she yelled as she swung with all her might, propelling the two teens with immense force, a sonic boom and the rush of wind followed the swing ass both scythe wielders launched a combined attack in a flurry of orange, white, red and black as both scythes spun like blender blades toward Onyx.

"Yang!" Luna yelled out, getting the brawler's attention. "Knock that bitch into them!" she pointed toward Onyx.

The blonde nodded as she backflipped away from a King Taijutu that slithered passed her and into Blake who restrained it. Her eyes locked on Cinder who was occupied with Weiss and saw her opportunity to attack. "WEISS MOVE!" she yelled as she jumped just behind Cinder, lining up the strike.

Cinder who was too preoccupied with the Schnee wasn't prepared when Yang bottled up all of her aura in a single strike. The sound of all Ember Celia's shotgun shells loading into the chamber as the moment the fist collided with Cinder's body, the yellow aura exploded outward, rippling the sky as she crashed toward Nova and the others as a smoldering projectile.

"Trying to take us out at once huh? Foolish to think you can handle me let alone both..." Onyx glowered, catching both blades that struck him and throwing the wielders along with them into the air. Jumping upward with enough force to release a shockwave, Onyx eliminated the space between Nova, Ruby, and Cinder forcing them to collide at maximum velocity, then took out his giant scimitar and swung from an impossible distance that connected with all three at once. Aura broke and blood-splattered, Ruby hand a long gaping scar across her torso as the sheer force of the impact tore at her mid-riff. Nova's chest wound was reopened and Cinder took a slice to the back which began to leak black ooze.

"Do you understand now? I am your death. I am the end and I will ensure you fall here!" Onyx towered as they came crashing down onto the main platform.

Ruby struggled to stand but her body wasn't compliant. She'd finally pushed too far over her limit. With her aura broken and the wound stretching as far as it did, she could barely hold consciousness.

Nova scrambled toward her, checking her state. The wound was deep, extremely deep. She would bleed out if something wasn't done soon. "Come on Ruby... you're okay... you're gonna be okay. Please be okay..." he repeatedly muttered, though his own blood streamed down his chest. Seeing no other option he cursed, "Grit your teeth babe, I'm going to seal this..."

"Do what you have to..." she coughed out.

"I'm sorry but this will hurt... a lot." he summoned an intense, white flame from his left hand and began cauterizing the wound. "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Ruby screamed as the fire burned across her pale skin, leaving a long-running scar, her screaming stopped when she passed out from the pain.

The situation was at its peak. Dire wasn't even capable of describing the gravity of the scene, if they didn't escape now, all their efforts would be for nothing, they'd become the victims of a tragedy.

"Nova, we need to run away!" Luna said in disbelief at her own words, "We can't win this fight!"

Cinder had recovered as she rose from behind, "Onyx... I'll get you back for this after we deal with these brats..." she glowered, a pair of large Nevermore wings appearing behind her as her arms turned into long shadowy claws.

All around them people were still dropping unconscious or dying. The team was doing their best to get everyone out but they didn't have time as long as Onyx was still unleashing his Miasma and Cinder was still a threat.

"Fuck... is this for real?" Nova cursed as he picked up Helios. "What the actual fuck is wrong with you people? What have they done to deserve this? Why are you bringing innocent people into this mess?!"

"Our goals are beyond your understanding. It makes no sense to explain..." Onyx said as he ripped his scimitar through the air, rending the space and coming so close to Nova. The dragon would've dodged but just behind him was the unconscious form of his lover, so he took the strike again. His scales did their best to protect him and thankfully due to his semblance he was able to minimize the damage, but it was still enough to send his blood splattering across the ground.

"DON'T TOUCH HIM!" Luna screamed as the fury in her eyes drew forth her powers as Onyx felt a crushing gravity pulling him downward.

"What is this...?!" he growled out, struggling to even stand until his stone glowed black, as the gravity began to lessen.

"Foolish child, I'm still here!" Cinder said, preparing to blast Luna.

"I haven't forgotten..." Luna said darkly as she switched focus, grasping hold of Galaxia she threw it at Cinder mid-blast, a bright glow around the weapon as it struck her with some kind of repelling force that caused the Wyvern head explosion to backfire again, "That was for Oscar!" Luna yelled out as the axe came flying back into her hand. Cinder on the other hand wasn't so lucky as to come full circle as the force of the explosion sent her careening off the edge of the platform, into the void of space below.

Nova took the opportunity while Onyx was recovering and dashed into him, grappling his massive form with all the strength he could muster, "What are you doing brat?" Onyx struggled as Nova clamped down hard.

"What needs to be done!" Nova screamed out as he ripped all the pins off the grenade belt at once and tossed them onto Onyx. As the explosion detonated with shockwaves rippling across the space, Nova tried to mediate the blast, but it wasn't enough as the force threw Onyx into the void below and him along as well.

Nova saluted as he fell into the void, "Take care of her Luna, please..."

"NO!" Luna screamed out as she glowed bright blue, exhausting the last of her energy, she didn't know what she did before collapsing into unconsciousness, but she saw Nova's trajectory change from the deep void to one of the gates that led outside.

Everything after that faded into black.


So it's finally done. The long-awaited Volume 8 Finale. I'm not going to keep you guys waiting for too long, hopefully. I've already gotten the next chapter in the works so I'll be on that as soon as possible. Be sure to leave a review, I know this chapter wasn't perfect so any advice on improving it would be welcome.

'Til next time.