I'm working on another crossover featuring Felwinter. More details on that to come when I draft up more ideas. So far, it's gonna start end of or mid-season 2.
Lisbon swerves the Sparrow to the side, parking it in front of the smuggler's ship.
"What's the plan?" He asks, disembarking the Sparrow and approaching the cargo bay of the ship.
"We are going to stop the massive beast in the horizon, Hunter!" Saint says, cackling afterwards. "It's time to prove ourselves!"
Lisbon thinks about it for a second, squinting at the giant, Godzilla-esque creature approaching Argus from the sea. "Did we figure that out?"
Ruby steps up, her voice surprisingly commanding and firm. "We don't have much time before it breaks through the barriers. Jaune, Ren, you guys mask our ship so we don't get blown out of the sky." She pauses, watching the Leviathan's slow approach. It charges something in its mouth before unleashing a beam of fire that takes down an outer Hard Light barricade, forcing the poles that weave the protective fabric together to retract back into the water. "We have to go, now!"
"You heard her, let's move!" Saint yells as he swings his arm in the direction of the ship. "A born fireteam leader, I see!"
Ruby smiles and nods shortly at him before entering the ship. Once everyone is in, the cargo bay door closes and white lights come on. The entire group makes their way out of the cargo section and into an empty passenger hold. They all crowd around the windows, peeking out to see the situation unfolding outside.
"Alright ladies and gents! Suicide mission is a go, and after we book straight to Atlas, ye!?" The pilot yells, laughing maniacally afterwards. "I swear, this is the worst idea I've ever been a part of! Whatever, just, tell me where to fly!"
An Atlesian Manta ship gets taken down by a winged Grimm by latching on its wings and bringing it down in an explosion that rocks their ship.
"Ren, Jaune, you know what to do!" Ruby turns to the two aforementioned Huntsmen and gives them a small smile as they look to each other and nod in agreement. Ren descends to one knee and holds his palm against the floor. Jaune holds his partner's shoulder with an arm that shimmers white. "Pilot, you can go through the Grimm, they won't see us!"
"Ya bloody serious, eh!?" The surroundings turn grey, and the pilot looks at his now greyed-out palm, uttering a simple "oh" to himself. "Looks like they're all ignorin' us, we're goin in!"
Saint stands behind the pilot seat, observing silently before turning to Lisbon. "Lisbon, I trust you can keep the beast immobilized so Ruby can take it down?"
"I got a Tether ready, just let me know when to use it," the Hunter says. "We need to distract it so it doesn't focus on the barriers."
"Unknown civilian airship in quadrant F-Six, you are to immediately evacuate and land at the nearest secure pad," Cordovin's voice comes through a small handheld radio situated on the center of the pilot's controls. Her voice is controlled, level-headed and commanding, which is a stark contrast from the group's first encounter.
Osiris takes the radio and holds his thumb over the talk button. He waits for a moment, then glances at Ruby, before shaking his head. "Cordovin, it is good to hear from you again," he says, his tone contradicting the statement.
"Wha-you again!?" The Atlesian officer exclaims, all of a sudden enraged. "What are you doing up there!?"
"I suppose you do not need our assistance with the Grimm on rapid approach to Argus?" Osiris says. "We have a full fireteam of Huntsmen and Huntresses ready to assist."
"NEGATIVE! You are to vacate the airspace IMMEDIATELY!" Cordovin's shrill voice piercing through the static-filled speaker makes the Warlock wince.
Osiris sighs. "It appears we may have to advance without your approval. We are on approach of the Grimm." He flicks a switch that mutes whatever is coming from the other side and slots the radio back in its place. "Ruby, I hope you know what you're doing. Saint and I, we're more than capable of taking-"
"Which is why you two will be helping me. I did this at Beacon, and at the farm. I can do it again. Weiss, I need one of those ice wasps to carry me in front of the Leviathan." Ruby turns to the white-haired girl in the pale-blue dress, who readies her weapon.
"It's called a Lancer, but you got it, Ruby," Weiss says, spinning the wheel of Dust cartridges in her rapier. "Whenever you're ready."
"Osiris, I need you to-"
"I will weaken it," Osiris says promptly. He slides open a side-door and jumps out. Two wings made of fire appear on his back and he soars towards the Grimm.
"We're going to hit it before it gets to the next barrier!" Ruby says. The ship makes a fast approach to the Leviathan as it charges up another fire beam. The beast makes a sudden detour as what can only be seen as a little ball of flaming orange lobs arcs of fire to it. "Osiris, keep it up!"
"Understood," Osiris replies, sounding almost bored.
Weiss crouches and stabs her rapier into the floor, creating a white rune that spins underneath. An ice-blue wasp the size of a bear spawns just outside of the Manta.
"Alright luvs we're gettin' real close! Can your guy hold out any longer!?"
"He's doing fine, now," Ruby pushes up a strand of hair that's going over her eye, before smirking at her teammates. "I'll see you guys later." Without giving any time for them to respond, she hops out and rides the magical wasp that makes a straight line towards the Leviathan.
"Oh, I cannot just sit here and do nothing!" Saint exclaims, grumbling to himself. "Pilot, hold right here. Everyone else, ready your weapons!"
/
Osiris dashes to the right, evading the fire from the gigantic seaborn Grimm's mouth and returns with a few swipes of his Dawnblade. They all land on target, leaving black marks that dig into the Grimm's bone mask that covers the upper half of its head. He spots Ruby on approach, using a bright-white Lancer as her mode of transport.
"That's pretty cool," Sagira notes. "You want to let her do her thing?"
Osiris hesitates. "This can go wrong in many ways," he says. "A simple Nova Bomb would destroy it."
"What if she manages to pull one off?" Sagira says. "Or something equivalent?"
"Then we may have another contender for 'Chosen One.'" Osiris replies simply, readjusting his scarf over his nose. He locks eyes with the crimson-haired girl, who regards him with a determined stare, ready to prove him wrong. Perhaps she senses his doubt in her.
Perhaps it may be misplaced.
In the next few minutes Osiris would find out.
"Osiris, you can let up. I can do this," Ruby says, that same determination he saw in her eyes showing itself in her voice.
"…I trust you have it under control," Osiris says, backing away from the Leviathan as it then focuses towards the source of a myriad of gunfire and explosions originating from the smuggler's ship. He flies back inside, transmats Monte Carlo into his hands, and assists them.
Something seems off. A feeling in the back of his mind is making him uneasy.
"The Relic," he mumbles. "Ruby, it will focus on you!"
He receives nothing but static. The girl is still standing on the Lancer, just staring at it while it rotates its massive pointy head towards her.
"Tether is out," Lisbon says as he sends out a purple arrow that stabs into the Leviathan's side, around its torso, and turns into a dark purple mass. "I don't know how long it'll hold, Ruby are you listening?"
Nothing.
"Ruby?" Osiris repeats.
"She threw her earpiece into the water," Sagira says. "Let her focus."
"Shit, RUBY!" Yang yells, in an attempt to reach out to her little sister. "It's turning to her!"
Osiris doesn't wait for anything else and is already in the airs, carrying a massive charge of Void in his hands, preparing it to destroy the Leviathan at the subatomic level. He makes good distance, covering the amount needed to be close enough to send the Nova Bomb.
In the middle of his flight, time seems to slow around him, before everything grinds to a halt. He stops mid-air, and looks around. Everything is still. He looks back to the ship. It's stationary, alongside everyone inside it, except for Saint. Yang has her arm reached out in Ruby's direction, while the little girl is staring down the snout of the Leviathan.
A sky-blue woman wrapped in gold chains is floating behind Ruby, a small smirk on their face.
"That must be Jinn," Osiris mumbles.
"An Ahamkara inside a lamp, I wonder where that idea came from," Sagira sneers. "We're going to kill that thing sometime, right?"
Osiris ignores the question, assuming that his Ghost already knows the answer.
"Ruby!" Osiris calls out, his voice echoing. Ruby makes a surprised sound and looks to him. "I hope you are going to use this moment to show me what you are capable of."
"Y-Yeah, I got it under control." Ruby takes a deep breath and closes her eyes.
Osiris peers at Jinn, who returns with a smug smirk.
~My, my, Saint-Fourteen, now Osiris?~
Time begins to restart while Jinn dissipates. A second later, there is a blinding white flash that overtakes what looks like everything, blinding Osiris for a moment before it all returns to normal.
/
She felt it. Someone called for the Light. It was a faint signal, but it was there. This wasn't the first time this someone called out to her.
Her connection to the new Light-bearer strains as a little Ghost tries to empower them with whatever Light she can send.
It takes a few moments, but she knows she succeeded.
The Ghost falters in her flight, garnering notice from a few students surrounding her. Cafeteria is quite crowded and most are too busy amongst themselves, but some notice the little prism flying in the air, minding its own business.
"Red, you alright?" A short girl, face weathered by battle scars asks, raising an eyebrow that's half burnt-off. "Something happen?"
"I'm fine," the Ghost says rapidly, turning away from the student.
"You sure?" The girl pries, which annoys the Ghost slightly.
"Yes, don't worry about me," the Ghost snaps. "And don't call me Red."
"Okay, I'm sorry."
/
The blinding flash subsides, leaving nothing unchanged except for Ruby. In that she's on fire and holding a golden revolver that flares with burning fury.
"A Golden Gun?" Saint whispers, lowering Bastion as he watches the small girl initially look confused at the new weapon before shaking her head and taking aim.
"How did she do that?" Yang asks, her hand faltering slightly.
Saint stays silent, observing Ruby steadying her aim as the Leviathan prepares to swipe its claws at her. It roars at her, making her cape blow backwards and almost making her falter. She doesn't wait much longer after to disintegrate the beast with a single payload of molten Light that pierces right through its massive skull and melts it away. There isn't so much as a roar from the beast as it is completely obliterated into ashes, a final fiery explosion topping it off as it disappears into the ocean's breeze.
"Whoa…" Jaune mutters. "Since when could she do that?"
"…Your answer is as good as mine," Saint says. "She is indeed special."
. . .
On the way to Atlas…
Ruby leans in between the cockpit seats, looking towards Qrow who returns with a small, somewhat impressed smirk.
"You did great out there, kid." Qrow chuckles once, bringing up his flask to his face. "What you did…reminded me a lot of your mother." He prepares to take a swig but stops just short, and lowers the flask. "Exact same heart attacks too, heh."
Ruby wraps her uncle in a tight hug. "I love you too." She returns to her team.
The crimson-haired fireteam leader regards her seated teammates, who converse amongst themselves, and she notices Yang placing a reassuring hand over Blake's own.
Saint, Osiris and Lisbon are nowhere to be seen, though. They must be in the cargo hold.
"I'm sorry you had to go through that nightmare," Weiss says, directing herself to Blake. "I'm glad Lisbon was there in time."
The mention of Lisbon makes Yang's mood shift. "About Lisbon, what was that about 'Guardian down?'" She says, her expression slightly suspicious mixed with worry.
"I don't know," Blake says, looking to her knees. "I saw him get cut in half by Adam but he just…came back after, like nothing ever happened. He said he could 'rebuild himself.' Whatever that meant."
"Uh huh…did you notice anything, like, off, about him?" Yang asks, gently squeezing her prosthetic hand.
"No, it was weird-" Blake gets interrupted by a panel in the floor swinging out, and stopping just short of smacking her nose. Saint steps out and closes it underneath him. He takes a breath, then sighs.
"Unfortunately, I am to separate paths with you all," he says, disappointment in his voice but still understanding of whatever situation he's in. "Blake, I must ask you to step aside."
Blake stands up and moves away from the side door of the ship, relocating towards the backs of the pilot and copilot seats. Yang follows and sits beside the Faunus.
"Where are you going?" Blake asks.
"I am to deal with an outbreak in Mantle, and this is where I am to…enter." The hesitation at the last word makes it seem like Saint had to carefully select the word. "It is possible I will encounter you all, but I will promise that I will return after this situation has been dealt with."
"Hey, if you've never seen Atlas in person, then you don't wanna miss this," Qrow says, turning his head to address them all.
Team RWBY stands to look at the cockpit window while the rest use the side door glass. Saint only needs to turn, his height advantage allowing him to do so. The ship breaks through a cloud, revealing a floating island tethered by several thick ropes to the ground, populated by tall towers and buildings, all faintly glowing light-blue which accents the blue, green and yellow colors that flutter in the night sky that isn't too far above it. From this perspective, the island floats beside a shattered moon, dwarfing it in size.
Below, there is a city that expulses thick dark clouds of smoke and lit up by orange and yellow lights. It alarms Saint, reminding him of torched villages, engulfed by the bright flames started by sadistic fools of the Dark. He shakes his head of the thought and mutters near-silent promises to himself.
Weiss leans forward, using the pilot and copilot seats as stabilization. She's looking upwards, towards a massive fleet of twig-like ships in an organized ring, forming a barrier around the island.
"What the Hell…" Qrow mumbles.
"The Atlas air fleet…I knew all our ships were called back but…" Weiss cuts herself short, consumed by shock.
"They're set up like they're expecting an attack," Qrow says, somewhat alarmed.
"Manta callsign Bird-One…you are to dock in hangar ATL-Two. A squadron will be sent out to escort. If you deviate from flight path Victor-Two, you will be treated as hostile and fired upon." A controlled, female voice comes through the radio.
"Hey, it's just lil' ol' me! Calm down, eh bruv?"
The operator on the other side sighs in exasperation. "Gabriel, you need to cut your shit. I don't want to see anything come out from that ship of yours or else we will have problems."
"Alright, alright, not a problem!" The pilot lets go of the talk button and turns to Saint. "If you're leavin' get the fuck out now."
Saint nods and opens the side door, before jumping out. It takes a few moments for someone to come up to close it.
"Bird-One, we just detected a discharge, what did I just say!?"
"What? Discharge? You're jokin' mate." The pilot laughs, although it sounds more like a fake one than genuine. "Look, I'm on Victor-Two, aight? No problems on my end, check your systems or somethin'."
In what looked like a pop into existence, two Manta gunships are at the sides of the ship, with two more behind it.
Ruby's gut drops as they approach Atlas.
. . .
Atlas Academy.
The introduction to Atlas authority isn't a soft one. Upon landing in a wide hangar bustling with activity, around two dozen soldiers were surrounding the ship, their weapons drawn and pointed at it. Their first order was for everyone to come out of the cargo bay door with their hands raised and palms clearly shown.
Osiris and Lisbon are surprisingly quick to turn themselves in, exiting first while being almost suspiciously cooperative with the soldiers who put them on their stomachs and tied their hands behind their backs. The rest of the team are subjected to the same treatment except for the pilot and Maria. The former is dragged away by an angry officer, yelling and screaming the entire way. The latter is handled much more gently considering her age and height, though she snaps at the soldiers handling her with snide comments which seem to make them think about reconsidering. Their weapons are all confiscated and taken away. Ruby tries to resist when they find the Relic, but it too gets relinquished for fear of getting her head smacked by the butt of an assault rifle.
"Several HVTs have been discovered on board," a soldier says into his earpiece. "Beacon students, a licensed Huntsman, Lima-Thirteen, and an unknown." He nods a few times. "Roger."
He looks towards his partners and flicks his palm upwards. The soldiers holding everyone down drag them all up to their feet and form them into a single line, before herding them towards a lift that's barricaded by metal railings. Around a half-dozen soldiers are left to guard them.
Lights pass-by as the lift doesn't stop for anything, taking them up a tower. There is a transition from dusty, dull warehouse grays into flat whites and an impeccably clean environment. They stop here, and are all shoved into a smaller elevator that has a window that provides a bird's-eye view of the kingdom of Atlas. Half of the remaining soldiers disperse, leaving only three to escort them.
Osiris whispers something to Lisbon, too low to hear the details of but loud enough for most people to pick up on. A soldier glares at him from under their mask and he quiet down.
The elevator stops.
"Lima-Thirteen, you are to follow me," a soldier says, turning towards Lisbon, who rolls his eyes.
Osiris slyly nods at Lisbon, who returns it. There is a positive ding as the elevator stops, and the doors slide open. The two remaining soldiers take the right of the hallway, while Lisbon and his personal one takes the left. They stop at an open, circular part of the hallway, with a roof lantern that lets in the faint moonlight from above.
"I swear if they send another councilman…" General Ironwood, in a fancy white coat, is talking to a person beside him with his back turned and walking to what seems like his office, judging from the flight of stairs that lead to a doorway in front of him.
"Sir," one soldier says. The general stops, and turns. His aide turns too, revealing herself as Winter Schnee, in her white, long sleeve coat that runs down to her ankles. She wears a collared undershirt underneath that has a navy-blue necktie that runs beneath a girdle.
Ironwood blinks a few times, before a smile forms on his face. Winter, however, is not as amused, instead showing quite scary amounts of sternness when looking at them.
Weiss steps in front of Ruby. "Winter," is the only thing she says. Winter Schnee's stern look is replaced by momentary surprise, before going back.
"You have ten seconds to take those off before I start hurting you," she says, her tone commanding and bluffing nowhere to be seen. The two soldiers glance at each other with confused looks on their faces before scrambling to undo the handcuffs. Once unlocked, the restraints collapse into metal balls that clink against the floor.
"Please, come in," Ironwood says, relaxed and almost casual.
/
"I'm picking up another Ghost in this place. Somewhere in the cafeteria, around the bottom levels of Atlas Academy," Sagira says.
"Well done on downloading schematics," Osiris compliments, craning his head side-to-side to take in General Ironwood's grand office, with some sort of hard, smooth flooring, round pillars at the walls with bookshelves in between, leading up to some small steps that host his desk and behind it, a rounded glass wall that gives a bird's eye view of Atlas. There are no imperfections to be seen, everything is in its perfectly thought out place.
"It is so good to see all of you," Ironwood says, standing beside the group as they all walk further in, led by Winter Schnee.
"Our reception didn't convey that…" Yang mumbles, loud enough for everyone to hear.
Ironwood sighs, and softly shakes his head. "I sincerely regret the treatment you have all received by my soldiers." He pauses. "A rogue airship entering our airspace with an immediate discharge of an unknown mass upon the mention of discharges, coming from a pilot that is…less than reputable. It's without a doubt that it…raises quite a bit of alarms. We assumed it was an illegally launched ship."
Osiris snorts. "A reasonable deduction," he says, crossing his arms.
"I believe we haven't been introduced, yet," Ironwood points himself towards Osiris, regarding him with a small smile.
"Osiris," the Warlock says, returning the general's observant gaze with a passive, unrevealing one. "It was my plan."
"Hey!"
Ironwood chuckles. "Quite a gambit. I suppose it worked in the end, considering you are all standing in front of me."
Winter Schnee, on the other hand is not having this at all. "You took them with a smuggler!? How unbelievably irresponsible of you to do such a-" The white-haired authority figure starts stepping towards Osiris, obviously not happy with him.
Weiss is quick to wrap the woman in a hug, which catches her off guard, and her hands suspend themselves in the air for a moment as she figures out how to proceed. "I'm sorry that we worried you, but we did what we had to do."
Winter takes a sharp breath, before returning the hug. "I…" she's caught at a loss for words. "I suppose I understand." She sighs. Her attention turns towards Qrow, afterwards.
"But I cannot believe that you allowed this to happen, Qrow." She glares at him.
"You try stopping these kids and this guy when their minds are set on something." Qrow points his thumb at Ruby and chuckles afterwards. "Speaking of which…" He turns towards the general. "We have some important information for you that's…confidential."
Osiris slinks to the back of the crowd.
"I can assume it's about the Relics," Ironwood says, and turns his head to his aide, who is now standing beside him.
"Or the Winter Maiden?" Winter says, her hands locked behind her back.
Qrow's hands leave his pockets. "You told her?"
"There is another one who is aware, but has some…personal issues that she's currently dealing with right now." Ironwood chuckles. "Miss Rose, I am sure you know her, since she speaks quite a bit about you, not with me, but to her other…friends." His hand moves under his desk, and a drawer slides open. He pulls out the Relic and gently places it down.
"…I don't follow," Ruby says meekly.
"Penny?"
"Penny!? I thought she-"
"Yes, she did, but we were able to recover her from Amity Arena and rebuild her, this time even better while maintaining her original personality and memories. She would be quite pleased to see you." Ironwood smiles. "But back on topic. With Ozpin gone, I needed my own team of people I could trust, so yes, I told them. And my Ace-Ops too, which you will meet soon."
/
Deep in Mantle. The Red Lands.
Saint-14 keeps his landing modest but still heavy, loud enough for anyone, or anything, nearby to hear. He raises Bastion and scans the road in front of him, then the sides, before covering the back. Once confirming it's all clear, he lowers his weapon and looks up at a red, glowing SIVA vein that pierces through a window, into an apartment building and then growing up, breaking through the roof. Most of the buildings in the area are victims of this uncontrolled growth.
He takes a deep breath, and exhales. He takes out his Scroll and tries to interact with it, only to find that it's scrambled, unable to react to any of his commands. He grumbles before stashing it away.
Saint begins to walk down the wide road, enough to fit two trucks side-by-side. He's slow, methodical, in order to allow himself to scan every window and little corner carefully, so he doesn't have any surprises. Street poles and the like are mostly toppled over, unrooted and their electronics occasionally blinking erratically. All is quiet, except for the occasional pulse from the SIVA veins or wind blowing small debris around him. He keeps his eyes peeled for any potential threat, but his gun is pointed downwards.
The city is dark, most of the streetlights having been knocked out. The only sources of illumination are burning trash bins that are roaring strong, which must mean they have been lit recently. Saint walks a block or so forward, watching for anything that could attack him.
A scuffling somewhere above him, around a rooftop to his right. He snaps his head in that direction and scans the roofs for anyone that might be up there. Nothing. He stops, and readies his voice.
If these damned cowards think he isn't aware of them, he will prove them wrong.
Before he begins to yell, a mass the size of a ball that fits in his palm lands on the floor in front of him. It doesn't clink hard, and looks like it fell instead of being thrown. It bounces a few times before coming to a stop a few feet away from him.
Saint crouches down to pick it up, and feels it around to find out it's some sort of container. He pops it open, splitting the ball in two, revealing a crumpled piece of cloth inside. He takes it out, unfolds it and reads the hastily inked inscriptions.
UNSAFE RUN
CONSUMES CONSUMES CONSUMES
GROWS GROWS GROWS
enhanced
ATLAS ARE LIARS
WATTS IS A FRAUD
ENLIGHTEN
Saint furrows his brows at the text, before he crumples it back and shoves it into its ball before tucking it away.
Scurrying to his sides. He readies Bastion and his finger waits to charge it up.
Jeez. It's been an entire month and a week. Sorry for the delays, a lot of stuff to catch up to for me.