Back in Mistral... Oscar, who is currently letting Ozpin take over, and Qrow are seen sitting together.
Qrow takes a sip from his cup, "Things aren't looking good, Oz." he pointed out.
"Ever the optimist." Ozpin replied as takes a sip from his cup, "While I would not say our current predicament is... ideal, I think we can both agree that the situation could be much worse." he said, "Humanity is a resilient force." he stated.
"Oz, pro Huntsmen like that don't just bite it all at once." Qrow pointed out, "Salem's powerful. It seems like her reach is growing by the day." he stated, "What does that say about humanity?" he asked.
"That there are indeed a misguided few who have filled their hearts with malice." Ozpin replied, "It doesn't take a great number of people to cause harm, but I still believe there are far more people in this world willing to prevent it." he stated.
As Ozpin is about to take another sip, Ruby is heard walking into the room, "Um, excuse me?" she called out.
"Ah, Miss Rose, join us." Ozpin greeted, "We were just about to gather everyone to discuss our next steps." he claimed.
"Oh, uh, great." Ruby said.
"Something on your mind kiddo?" Qrow asked.
"Uh... uh, it's... if it's okay to ask." Ruby said nervously.
Qrow nodded, "Of course." he replied.
"Well, uh... we've been talking about the Relic at Haven... and the Spring Maiden, but... what about the Fall Maiden?" Ruby asked.
"Cinder?" Ozpin pointed out.
"Does that mean... Salem has the Beacon Relic?" Ruby asked.
Ozpin and Qrow share a brief look with each other, "Very astute, Miss Rose, I was wondering who would be the first to ask." Ozpin mused, "No, thankfully she does not." he replied, "It's true that the Relic at Haven is very much at risk, and for now, that should remain our primary focus. Let's just say I made finding the Relic at Beacon a... bit more challenging than at the other schools." he stated.
"Oh." Ruby quipped as she sighs in relief, "That's good to hear." she said.
"It is, but let's not forget the challenges that still lie before us." Ozpin reminded as Ruby nods, "Now is there anything else we can help you with?" he asked.
"Oh, uh... well, I did have one more question." Ruby replied.
"No, my cane is not a Relic." Ozpin pointed out.
"I have no more questions." Ruby quipped as they all giggled.
"Yes, while this cane is indeed very precious to me, it is also just that - precious to me." Ozpin said, "While I admit it still has a few more tricks up its sleeve, I can firmly say that being a Relic isn't one of them." he admitted, "Now why don't you run and get the others?" he suggested.
Suddenly, Qrow's scroll is heard vibrating. He takes it out from his pocket to see "LEO LIONHEART" calling. He takes the call, "Yeah? ... Okay... yeah, we'll be there." he said before hanging up.
"Who was it?" Ruby asked.
Qrow sighs while taking out his flask, "It was Leo, says he had a breakthrough with the council." he replied, "Thinks he might be able to get together a small raiding party for the bandits. He wants us to meet up at the school tomorrow night to walk us through it." he stated.
Before anyone could speak, Shadow came in running to the room, "Qrow!" he called.
"What is it, Shadow?'' Qrow asked.
"Did you get a call from Lionheart?'' Shadow asked.
Qrow nodded, "Yeah... I got one just a minute ago.'' he replied, "What's going on?'' he asked.
Death the Kid then enters the room, "It looks our suspicions towards Lionheart is true." he said, "But it's worst than we thought." he admitted.
"What? What's going on?" Ruby asks in concern.
Kid's face turns serious, "Lionheart... has been secretly working with Salem all along.'' he revealed.
Ruby gasped in shock, Ozpin frowned while Qrow let's out an angry nasal sound, "Son of a bitch." Qrow cursed in anger.
"H-How?'' Ruby asked in shock.
Shadow the spoke, "It's just as what Kid said, Lionheart has been working for Salem for a long time." he said, "He has been sending her information that allowed her to kill numerous Huntsmen and Huntresses dispatched throughout Mistral.'' he explained, much to Qrow's horror.
"How did you know about this?'' Ozpin asked.
"I've been suspicious to Lionheart ever since I first met him." Kid replied, "So, I decided to have Shadow snoop around Lionheart's office to gather evidence." he explained, "And let's just say that we have more than enough proof that Lionheart has been fooling us all along.'' he claimed.
Ozpin nodded, "I see." he replied, "Anything else?'' he asked.
"The call Qrow had earlier with Lionheart." Shadow spoke, "Telling us to meet up with him tomorrow night." he pointed out, "It's just part of an ambush plan that will be initiated by Salem's group." he stated, "They also had additional people to help them out." he added.
"Who?'' Ozpin asked.
"A woman named Raven Branwen." Kid replied.
Ruby gasped in shock, Ozpin frowned while Qrow let's out an angry nasal sound, "You got to be kidding me." Qrow growled in anger.
"Yang's mom? But why?'' Ruby asked in confusion.
"That I don't know." Shadow replied, "But I got a hunch that she's after the relic as well." he claimed.
Qrow let's out a groan, "Ugh! Things just got worst!" he exclaimed.
"Not if we come up with a better plan." Kid replied.
"You had something in your mind?'' Ozpin mused.
Kid nodded, "Now we know their plan of ambush." he said as he brought up his tablet, "We're the ones who's going to ambush them." he claimed, "With overwhelming numbers.'' he added with a grin.
Bzzzttt...
In Menagerie, the assault on the Belladonna Family Home continues. In the darkened tea room, Kali, Alisa and a guard fire back at unseen assailants while Ciel stays at one room treating the injured guards. Kali runs out of ammo in her pistol and throws it to the ground in annoyance. She then picks up a tea tray to block another shot.
She looks to Alisa and a wounded female guard leaning against a pillar, who just stares back, "Do you have a better idea?" Kali asked.
Suddenly, Yuma flies in and knocks down the other guard to the ground. He wraps his hands around the guard's throat to choke him out, "Quiet now..." Yuma said but was kick away by Alisa which releases the guard from Yuma's grip.
Kali then lifts the tea tray above her head, and does a loud battle cry as she runs toward Yuma, "Ma'am, no!" Alisa shouted.
Yuma got up and he looks back in surprise as Kali approaches him. The sound of a thunk is heard as it transitions to the next scene.
Elsewhere, Blake and Ilia stare at each other from their positions, both holding their weapons.
"Did you come in here to hide?" Blake pointed out.
"I told you, I didn't want this." Ilia replied.
"But you're still here!" Blake exclaimed.
"I don't have a choice!" Ilia admitted.
"Of course you do!" Blake shouted as Ilia doesn't say anything, she just looks away, "Just... stay out of my way." she said.
Blake puts Gambol Shroud on her back and starts walking away. Suddenly, Ilia leaps and charges at Blake but her form disappears. Blake then reappears a few feet away behind Ilia. Blake holds Gambol Shroud in a defensive stance, while Ilia begins to attack with the whip form of her weapon. Blake dodges and rolls. She runs along the desks and chairs in the room as Ilia tries to use her whip to hit her. Blake manages to dodge and block Ilia's attacks, and uses her ribbon to wrap around Ilia's wrist. Ilia is pulled toward Blake, followed up with the latter kicking the chameleon Faunus to the ground. The two then lock blades with each other.
"Why do you feel like we have to hurt people to get our way?!" Blake demanded.
Ilia grunted, "Because it works!" she replied.
"That doesn't make it right!" Blake exclaimed.
Ilia pulls the trigger on her weapon, giving an electrical charge that causes Blake to drop her katana a few feet away from her. Blake pulls out her cleaver, but Ilia jumps from the desk and does a turn kick that knocks Blake over another desk, causing her to drop her weapon. Ilia whips at Blake again, but she uses her Semblance to get out of the way. Blake takes cover behind a desk.
"Stop lecturing me!" Ilia shouted.
Blake peeks from behind the desk and notices Ilia's Grimm mask left behind on the ground. Ilia quietly turns the lights off in the room, causing it to go dark. Blake quickly goes to pick up her katana while Ilia sneaks around the room camouflaged. Blake hears a creak on the floor, Ilia quickly knocks her back. Blake uses the pistol form of her weapon to shoot at Ilia, who quickly evades the shots.
"Why couldn't you just leave?!" Ilia demanded.
Blake then transforms her pistol to katana form, "Because I run away too much." she replied.
Blake dodges a couple more whips from Ilia. As she takes cover from behind the desk, Blake takes out two cartridges - one with fire Dust and the other with ice. She loads the fire Dust cartridge in her weapon and aims at the shrubbery at the top corner of the room.
"Sorry, dad." Blake quipped.
Blake fires her weapon and the spreading flames start to light up the room, revealing Ilia's location. With camouflage not an option anymore, Ilia engages Blake in combat. The two start off with a mixture of sword clashes and hand-to-hand. Blake dodges out of the way of one of Ilia's attacks and starts shooting at her with the pistol form of her weapon. Ilia deflects the shots with her whip.
"Quit taking potshots and fight me like you mean it!" Ilia demanded as Blake dodges another one of Ilia's whips and lands on the balcony above her. She takes cover behind the railing as Ilia rants at her, "You used to see things the way I did! The way Adam did!" she ranted, "If no one's going to do anything to stop the humans that attack us, then the only choice we have left... is to attack back!" she exclaimed.
Blake loads another cartridge in her pistol and begins to fire at Ilia again. Ilia deflects the shots, but when she goes to use her whip again, her weapon is frozen in place. Suddenly, a ribbon is wrapped around her weapon as Blake pulls it away and she leaps from the balcony to kick Ilia to the ground. Blake holds Ilia down.
"You're wrong, there's always another choice." Blake replied as Ilia struggles to get up as Blake continues to hold her down, "Ilia... please. You're a good person but you're making all the wrong decisions!" she pointed out.
"SHUT UP!" Ilia shouted.
"Is this really what your parents would've wanted?!" Blake asked.
Suddenly, Ilia ceases her struggling, "I don't know what else to do!" she said her voice cracking, "I don't know what else to do..." she sobbed.
As Ilia continues sobbing, Blake hears a rumble. Corsac is thrown through the wall, dropping his weapons. Ghira jumps into the room as he growls at Corsac, a White Fang soldier tried to sneak up at Ghira but Tukson takes the soldier down with a spear.
He then notices his daughter pinning Ilia to the ground, "Blake!" Ghira shouted when suddenly, Fennec stabs Ghira in the back, who cries out in pain and slumps toward the ground.
"Dad!" Blake cried.
With Blake distracted, Ilia gets her off her and kicks her into a nearby chair, knocking Blake out momentarily. Ghira then gets Fennec off his back and tosses him away as Corsac runs to him. Ghira pulls the dagger out of his back and clashes fists with Corsac. The two then struggle to push each other as their hands interlock. Ilia just stares in disbelief at what's going on around her, before a voice snaps her out of her trance.
"Ilia! What are you doing?! Fight!" Fennec demanded.
Fennec pulls out another dagger and charges at Ghira. The chieftain manages to push off Corsac, Tukson then kicks Corsac on the face while Ghira dodges Fennec's swipes as he begins to fight both of them at once. Fennec gets tossed away for a bit and begins to charge his weapon while Corsac and Tukson continue exchanging blows. Fennec then charges in again, giving a loud battle cry. Ghira notices him and grabs his wrist, pointing his weapon as it fires at Corsac, who gets blown back several feet away and is knocked unconscious.
"BROTHER!" Fennec shouted.
Fennec tries to attack Ghira again, but Sun jumps in and kicks him away. Sun sees Blake struggling to get back up and angrily glares at Ilia.
"Go help Blake!" Ghira exclaimed as Tukson catches Corsac with a Collision Course.
Sun nodded, "On it!" he replied.
Sun pulls out Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang and engages Ilia in combat. He delivers a flurry of attacks with his shotgun nunchucks that overwhelms Ilia and disarms her. She is then pushed against pillar by Sun. As she struggles to get out of his hold, the pillar she is getting pushed against starts to crack.
"Stop!" Blake shouted as
Sun and Ilia stop to look at Blake, "Please..." she pleaded as tears start streaming down her eyes.
Ilia manages to push Sun off her and falls to the ground. Suddenly the pillar starts to crack even more, Sun moves out of the way quickly as the balcony above Ilia starts to give way. Ilia yelps as the balcony is about to fall on her. Suddenly, Ghira is shown lifting the broken part of the balcony with his own strength. Ilia stares in awe.
"Go!" Ghira shouted.
Ilia quickly gets out of the way as Ghira is forced down on one knee to keep the balcony from falling on him, Tukson immediately went towards Ghira and helps him lift the balcony. Sun uses his Semblance to summon two light clones that go and help them lift. Blake grabs her katana and transforms it into her kusarigama form. Unbeknownst to them, Fennec gets back up and sees his brother still unconscious. He grabs both of their daggers and runs towards Ghira. Blake sees this and quickly uses her weapon to wrap it around her father's and Tukson's torso and pulls them out as Fennec lands just below the falling balcony. Fennec is then crushed by the balcony, and the Dust in the daggers explode from impact, killing the younger Albain for good.
Afterwards, Kali enters the room dragging an unconscious Yuma with Alisa and Ciel behind her, who has his hands tied behind his back, "Mom!" Blake cried as Kali drops Yuma as her daughter comes up to hug her as Alisa and Ciel went towards Tukson.
Their embrace is cut short as a voice gets their attention, "What have you done?" he accused as he stood back up, "You ruined everything..." he inhaled, "EVERYTHIIIIIIING!" he shouted.
The Belladonnas, Tukson, Alisa, Ciel and Sun take defensive stances. Corsac angrily runs forward, but suddenly, Ilia's weapon wraps around his body, electrocuting him and knocking him unconscious. With the battle over, Ilia starts to cry and falls to her knees as she breaks down, with the Belladonnas, Tukson, Alisa, Ciel and Sun looking on.
Bzzzttt...
Outside of the Belladonna's home, a large crowd of Faunus gathers outside, noticing the smoke coming from the building. Though crowd couldn't help but noticed the pile of unconscious White Fang Soldiers piled upwards with Rhodey sitting on top.
"Wow, Rhodey... your strength is on par with the Saiyans." Nana mused.
Rhodey snorted, "Saiyans?'' he repeated, "I'm freaking Superman." he claimed with a boastful grin.
Nana facefaulted, "Sure." she grumbled in annoyance.
"Back! Everyone, stay back!" a Menagerie Guard barked, "We've got people inside doing their best." she stated.
"Look!" one Faunus pointed out.
From the smoky doorway, Ghira walks out carrying the motionless bodies of a White Fang soldier and a Menagerie Guard on each of his shoulders. He hands the bodies to two guards as Saber arrives.
"Get in there! Search for any stragglers!" Saber ordered as more guards walk out keeping Corsac restrained, followed by Blake, Kali, Sun, Ilia, Tukson, Alisa and Ciel. Saber turns to Ghira, "We came as soon as we got the call." he said when he notices Corsac being forced to his knees, "And Fennec?" he asked as Ghira sadly shakes his head. Saber then walks over to Corsac, "Was it worth it?" he asked snarkingly as Corsac looks down in defeat.
As the commotion continues, a few Menagerie Guards went towards Ciel and thanks her for helping their comrades while Blake shares brief looks with Sun and Ilia. Blake takes a deep sigh as she goes down the steps. Ghira notices his daughter walking away, "Blake!" Ghira called and he could go any further, his wife stops him, and both look on.
Blake then stops at one of the steps as she begins to address the crowd., "Humans didn't do this." she pointed at the smoke coming from her house as Rhodey and Nana joins them, "We did this: Faunus. We did this to ourselves." she admitted, "We are just as capable of hate and violence as the humans, but I don't think any of us would jump at the chance to point that out." she stated, "So why are we letting Adam do it for us?!"she asked, "By doing nothing and staying silent, we let others speak and act in our place. And if we're not proud of the choices they make, then we have no one to blame but ourselves. This is the message that Adam Taurus will bring to the world if no one stops him." she pointed out, "But we can stop him! You have to understand that all of you are looking for simple answers to a very complicated problem." she claimed, "And I can't give that to you. I don't know how to make hate go away, I don't." she admitted, "But I know that this kind of violence is not the solution." she said, "I understand that to ask you to leave your homes and protect Haven Academy is asking you to put your lives at risk." she admitted, "But that's what's at stake. So I'm going, and I'll stand by myself if I have to." she declared.
"I'll stand with you!" Ilia shouted as Blake turns around with a surprised look on her face as Ilia stands up. Her pained expression then looks down, "If... if you'd have me." she said.
"Isn't that the White Fang girl?" a male Faunus pointed out.
"I thought she hated the Belladonnas." a female Faunus said.
Despite some of the crowd's murmuring amongst themselves, Blake smiles at her old friend. As Ilia proceeds forward, Saber suddenly stops her, "You're not going anywhere!" he demanded.
"Let her come." Blake said.
"Huh? You're just going to forgive her? After everything she did?!" Saber demanded in surprise.
"I am." Blake replied.
Saber looks to Ghira, who nods to let Ilia go. Ilia continues to walk down the steps to stand next to her friend, "What does she think she's doing?" Saber asked.
Ghira smiled, "She's learned a lesson that evaded me until I was much older: That there is strength in forgiveness." he explained.
Blake puts a hand on Ilia's shoulder, sharing a smile together.
Mata the ram Faunus steps forward and raises his hand, "I'll go!" he volunteered making Sun smile.
"I'll go too!" Female Aquatic Faunus said.
"I'll stand by you!" another Faunus followed.
Then a group of gay faunus steps forward, "We'll come too.'' one of them said while sending a wink at Tukson, whom cringed.
"I'll come too!" another faunus said, "As long as you tell me what's Electronic Arts is.'' he said.
Alisa blinks before turning to Tukson, "Tukson." she said.
Tukson covered his face with his right hand, "Is it too late to head back inside, so the smoke would kill me?" he asked as Ciel shook her head.
As more Faunus start to give Blake their support, Sun, Rhodey and Nana walks down the steps to join her and Ilia. The crowd is heard cheering as a majority agree to volunteer. They all smile at the crowd.
"Looks like we've got work to do." Sun claimed.
"Thank you." Blake said with a smile.
Sun pointed a finger at Ilia, "You stabbed me." he said.
Ilia looks down sorrowfully, "I-" she tried to say when Sun playfully pinches her arm, "Ow!" she yelped as Rhodey and Nana giggles.
"There. Let's just call it even." Sun mused.
Ghira, Kali, Tukson, Alisa and Ciel then walks down the steps to join their daughter and her friends, "We have about two weeks before Adam's attack on Haven." Ghira said, "We're going to need shields, training, whatever we can do to protect as many people as possible." he stated.
"We'll need transportation too. For everyone." Kali added,
Blake smiled, "I think I know a ship captain who owes us a favor." she claimed as Sun grins and nods in agreement.
Suddenly, Rhodey got in between Sun and Blake, "This is gonna be awesome!" he cheered, "We get to go to Mistral and kick Adam's sorry butt!" he exclaimed in excitement, "Oh yeah! High-five!" he offered spreading his hands out with his eyes closed, "High five everybody! High five!" he offered. Everyone, minus Ilia, rolls their eyes before walking away leaving him alone, "Come on, everybody! Give me a high five! High five! Wooh! Give me, give me a high five! An awesome high five! High five baby! High five!" he cheered not knowing that everyone has left him alone.
A/N: Inspired from someonestupED, damnlastwords, Hope the Victor and Ace Neptune. All OCs and concepts not created by moi were given permission for me to use by it's respected creators.