Out in the Open.
The citizens of Mantle run frantically in the streets, being chased by Beowolves and Sabyrs, while Teryxes and Giant Nevermores fly around above them.
On one street, a pair of Atlas Soldiers fire at a pack of Beowolves. A Beowolf manages to tackle one of the soldiers, and the other soldier shoots a fiery bullet at it, killing it. The first soldier does not get up. Five Mantas fly overhead, and one of them is taken down by a Teryx. Three Sabyrs round a corner and attempt to run down the street, only to be defeated by a missile. A group of civilians runs down the street that the Sabyrs came from, passing by the hole in Mantle's outer wall. A herd of Megoliaths is pouring in through the hole, and they almost trample the fleeing civilians.
Somewhere else in Mantle, more Sabyrs are running around, some of which are slain by Fiona Thyme, May Marigold and Joanna Greenleaf. Nearby, a Sabyr stands atop a car and watches the Happy Huntresses, who chase another Sabyr down an alley. The first Sabyr then jumps down from the car and runs down the street, going around a toppled car to find a Faunus woman and child hiding there.
"Here, kitty kitty!" The Sabyr turns and looks up, seeing Nora standing atop a nearby roof.
She jumps down and slams Magnhild down on its head, killing it. Weiss directs the Faunus woman on where to run, while Marrow stands nearby with his gun ready and Lyre keeping an eye out for more.
"Nora, I would really appreciate if you'd never say kitty kitty around me again" Lyre said with a frown earning an apologetic smile from Nora.
Another large group of Sabyrs approaches from down the street. Nora sighs, and she, Lyre, Weiss and Marrow get ready to continue fighting.
Elsewhere in Mantle, Blake is running from a Megoliath and three Ursai. Two of the Ursai run to either side of the Megoliath, while the third runs behind the Megoliath's hind leg. The Ursa behind the Megoliath shoves one of the other Ursai out of the way. It then attempts to tackle Blake, but she draws her katana and uses Dust to create a fire clone. Upon impact with the fire clone, the Ursa catches on fire and dies. The second Ursa attempts to tackle Blake, and she creates a lightning clone, moving to the other side of the street. As the third Ursa leaps to tackle her, she creates an ice clone, turns around in mid-air and fires her gun at the Ursa's head. The Ursa smashes into the ice clone, tumbles on the ground and is crushed to death under the Megoliath's foot.
Blake turns a corner and keeps running. Due to its momentum, the Megoliath is only able to make a wide turn around the corner, which causes it to slam into a building, breaking the windows on the ground floor and shaking loose some of the accumulated snow. With an angry trumpet, it continues to chase Blake. Just as it swings its trunk, she uses her Semblance to dodge, and it runs straight toward Elm, who uses her Semblance to root herself in place. Once the Megoliath reaches her, Elm grabs ahold of its face, stopping it in its tracks, which creates a shockwave that shatters all surrounding windows. She then uses the Megoliath's momentum to lift it into the air and proceeds to hold it there.
Down an adjacent street, Yang runs toward the Megoliath and then fires her weapon behind her to propel herself forward. As she slides on her knees under the Megoliath, she plants a series of bombs on it.
"Now!" She shouts.
Elm hurls the Megoliath into the air, and Yang detonates the bombs, killing it. An Ursai was heading towards them, but Severa's shield hit it in the face, making it crash to the ground, allowing said girl to drop down from the roof and killed it with a well placed stab to the neck.
The four ladies take a moment to catch their breath, and Blake turns to some civilians who are hiding behind a toppled car.
"Head to the nearest shelter!" She instructed and the civilians run away.
"Those shelters are gonna fill up soon" Yang said.
"And once they do, the remaining civilians will be trapped" Severa added.
"They're all we've got. We just have to hold off the Grimm" As Elm speaks, a group of Sabyrs begin running toward them from down the street. Severa, Blake and Yang look at each other, concerned.
Elsewhere, Bernadetta stands on a roof top, shooting any grimm on the street she could see while civilians were fleeing in panic.
"Don't stop! Hurry to the safe zones!" Bernadetta shouted as she hit an Ursa in the eye, killing it.
She gasped as a flying grimm approached her from behind, she backflips, landing on it's back before making an ice arrow and stabs it in the grimm's head, causing it to crash and Bernadetta had to land on the ground. A Sabyr leaps at her, only for her to deliver a roundhouse kick to it's jaw, knocking it down and allowing Bernadetta to finish it off with a well placed arrow to the neck. She sighs before another Ursa towers over her, ready to slam it's paws down on her. Before it could though, an ax hit it the chest, making it fall to the ground, dead. Bernadetta looked and saw Edelgard walking towards her.
"Thank you" Bernadetta said in relief.
"Thank me once this is over. Don't let your guard down" Edelgard ordered while pulling her ax free.
"Right" Bernadetta said as she followed Edelgard to aid more civilians.
In an area near Mantle's outer wall, Marrow slays a Sabyr with his weapon. A Beowolf leaps over him and is promptly impaled by Weiss' Arma Gigas summon. The sword stabs into the ground very close to Marrow, who flinches away from it, grabbing onto his tail. Weiss peeks out from behind the sword, giving an apologetic giggle.
Beside the wall, Nora and Lyre stands protectively in front of a group of civilians. The lights for the streets surrounding the area begin turning red one by one with the Grimm alarms sounding off. Afraid, the civilians back up against the wall.
"Take us to Atlas. We won't survive down here" A girl said.
A male faunus stepped forward looking scared and frustrated "Why isn't Ironwood doing anything?".
The aggravated civilians begin shouting and walking toward Nora and Lyre.
"Take us to Atlas!" Another man shouts.
"Please, everyone. We're doing our best. We will get you to safety. Just give us a little more time!" Nora pleaded.
"People! You need to calm down! Or you will just lead the grimm right to us!" Lyre shouts, prefering not to have to fight more grimm because the people wouldn't stop panicking
There is a loud ping noise, followed by a cyan glow, and the civilians stop and look up at the wall, where a giant hologram screen depicting Robyn has appeared "Atlas, Mantle. I know you're scared. I'm here with General Ironwood, and we have a message for you" The camera filming Robyn zooms out to show that she is holding Ironwood's left hand, and their hands are both glowing with green Aura "What he has to say may sound unbelievable... but it is all true".
Confused and still scared, the citizens of Mantle listen.
Elsewhere in Mantle, Lucina, Ruby and Harriet work together to kill a Beowolf. They then stop and look at a nearby hologram screen showing Ironwood.
Ironwood "An ancient and terrible evil lies outside of our Kingdom. It was responsible for the destruction of Beacon, the attack on Haven, and for the recent attacks on Mantle. This powerful force goes by the name of Salem".
Ruby grins "He's doing it".
"Finally" Lucina said smiling.
Somewhere else, Ren fires StormFlower's blades to swing from a traffic light, drop down on a Sabyr that is chasing civilians and stab it with his guns' blades.
Ironwood "Salem seeks only to divide us".
Jaune uses his shield to slam another Sabyr against the overturned armored truck that Ren had leaped over. He then cuts the Sabyr in half.
Ironwood "To turn us against each other. If she can incite hatred in us, then we will lure in the Grimm and destroy ourselves".
A group of Sabyrs charges in from the direction that the civilians are fleeing in. Vine jumps onto an armored truck and uses his Aura arms to split the group of Sabyrs and pin them against the buildings on either side of the road.
Robyn "Salem herself does not work alone. Her minions have invaded our very city".
In their hideaway, Cinder and Neo are watching Ironwood's live broadcast on a Scroll.
Ironwood "Arthur Watts and Tyrian Callows".
Neo looks at Cinder, who looks away muttering "What?".
Ironwood "These men are the ones responsible for the recent murders in Mantle and for sabotaging the heating grid".
Tyrian and Watts, who are hiding in a building's back patio, look toward Ironwood's voice and then at each other.
Ironwood "But we cannot let ourselves give in to fear and panic. That is what she wants!".
On the screen, Robyn and Ironwood are still holding hands, and the Aura coating their hands continues to glow green.
Ironwood "Instead, we must unite, and fight back, together. Every single one of us!".
Vine still has the Sabyrs pinned, and Jaune calls out to the civilians in front of him with a commanding tone, pointing his finger at them "Alright, single file line! Place a hand on the shoulder in front of you, eyes forward, move, move, move!" As he issue his commands, the citizens look back at him and then begin following his instructions. A pair of small children stand in front of Jaune, who kneels down and gives them a thumbs up and a grin "Show them how it's done, kids!".
The child in a red coat salutes him. The two kids then turn on their heels, the kid in the red coat placing their hand on the other child's shoulder. They then begin marching with serious expressions on their faces.
"Where did you learn to do that?" Vine asked.
Jaune stands back up and smiles awkwardly "Uh, morning school route?".
Jaune places his hand on Ren's shoulder, and they both close their eyes and concentrate. Ren uses his Semblance, which Jaune amplifies, allowing it to conceal the civilians' emotions. The two children grin while they lead the line of scared adults.
Ironwood "This, my friends, is why I was forced to divert resources from Mantle - for the Amity Communication Tower".
Watts and Tyrian continue to listen to a small hologram screen that is perched in the nearby alleyway. At the moment, the screen is only displaying Ironwood from the chest up.
Ironwood "Amity Tower is now completed and ready to launch. It will re-establish all global communications".
Watts withdraws his Scroll and taps the screen a few times, bringing up a hologram of Amity Tower, while Tyrian sharpens his weapon with a whet stone "The Colosseum remodeling was a communications tower? How did James get this past me?".
Ironwood "Because the safety of every citizen is imperative, the council and I have decided to evacuate everyone in Mantle to Atlas. I am withdrawing all defenses from Amity in order to assist with repelling the Grimm in Mantle".
Robyn "We must put aside our differences and band together to defeat this threat. I fully support General Ironwood's plan".
Mantle's citizens begin cheering, and Nora turns around and looks at the crowd. One of the female civilians picks up a gun from a broken Atlesian Knight-200 and holds it in the air.
"I still can't believe those idiots beat us here" Cinder angrily turns on her toes and walks over to the window, crossing her arms "Vacuo was supposed to be the next target. The timeline has changed" She turns and looks at Neo "You said the farm boy has the Lamp?".
Still sitting in a chair, Neo nods.
"Find him, take it" Cinder ordered.
Neo stands up with attitude, striking an exaggerated shrugging pose while using her Semblance to look like Ruby.
"No! We get what I need first! Then we get what we want! Now go" Cinder orders. Neo turns away, crossing her arms. Cinder smirks and walks over to her "Ironwood's been hiding the Winter Maiden for years. Tonight I'm going to find her".
Cinder takes the Scroll from Neo's hand and deploys its screen again, earning an annoyed look from Neo, who drops the Ruby illusion.
"The general's as predictable as his androids" Cinder begins walking away "Threaten what he has, and he'll flock to protect it".
She tosses the Scroll back to Neo, who catches it and then looks at her. Cinder hears Neo changing her appearance again. She looks and sees that Neo was now looking like Lucina.
Cinder was silent for a moment "I knew she was still alive..." She then smiles evilly "Well then, once I have what I need, I will find her. And this time she will be mine, or she will burn".
A large fleet of Mantas arrive in Mantle, and one lands near the crowd of citizens that Nora, Weiss, Marrow and the Happy Huntresses were defending. The side door slides open, and a ramp deploys.
Inside are two Atlas soldiers "Get in, get in!".
Civilians begin entering the Manta in a single file line, while Nora guards the ramp. There is a loud bang, and a bright green streak soars across the sky.
Another Manta lands in an intersection near Severam Blake, Yang and Elm. Blake runs into the Manta, while Severa and Yang beckons the nearby citizens toward the ramp. Suddenly, there's a rumbling sound, and the Grimm sirens begin blaring. Three Megoliaths turn the corner and head toward the Manta, worrying Severa, Yang and Blake.
Elm stands between the Megoliaths and the Manta, holding her hammer "I've got this!".
She roots herself in place with her Semblance and transforms her hammer into a rocket launcher. With a smirk, she takes aim and fires a pair of rockets, her Semblance keeping her stable. The rockets kill the Megoliaths, and the citizens aboard the Manta cheer. Elm turns and looks at them, appearing somewhat surprised. She then grins and does an "OK" sign with her hand. There is a loud bang, and the bright green streak from earlier soars across the sky.
Lucina, Ruby and Harriet are standing with some civilians.
Ruby is using her communicator "Alright, we just need to get everyone to the closest airpad".
"The closest LZ is-" Harriet points down the street. Suddenly, the ground begins shaking with a loud thumping noise. A manhole clatters with each thump. In the direction Harriet pointed, a car goes tumbling across the intersection. Harriet gestures to the intersection "There".
An Alpha Megoliath walks out from around the corner and turns to face them. It utters a roar and begins charging down the street. However, the green streak from earlier flies by behind it, and then a large green laser swoops across the street in front of it, striking its tusk. This causes it to tilt its head to the side and stop charging. The civilians around the other huntresses run away, screaming, and Penny flies down to stand next to Ruby. Harriet and Penny nod to each other and then hurry forward to fight the Alpha Megoliath.
Ruby closes her eyes and concentrates, partially blocking out the sounds around her. However, the Alpha Megoliath's roar breaks her concentration, and she opens her eyes wide, looking at the fight in front of her. Penny is shooting at it with her weapon in gun mode, while Harriet speeds around it. Ruby glances down at her belt where she used to keep the Relic of Knowledge, then uses her Semblance to get onto a nearby rooftop, where she fruitlessly fires her sniper rifle at the Alpha Megoliath.
Flying near the Alpha Megoliath, Penny arranges her swords in a circle and spins them like a buzzsaw, slashing at the side of its head. She then stabs the swords into the side of its mask, and it trumpets in pain and attempts to turn its head away. Noticing the resistance from Penny pulling on the threads, the Alpha Megoliath looks at Penny, who gasps. It then jerks its head to the side, yanking Penny toward it. She slams into its tusk and is sent flying over the buildings, screaming. Ruby watches Penny and then flies after her with her Semblance.
This left Lucina and Harriet to take on the massive grimm alone. Harriet uses her speed to blitz the Megoliath, angering it to the point it stomps the ground, shaking it enough to briefly unbalance Harriet, but this was enough time for it to smack her away with it's trunk. Lucina leaps of a building, stabbing the large grimm in the back, but due to it's size, her blade doesn't go deep enough, so her stabbing only angers it and makes it violently shake it's body to get her of it's back. Lucina falls of but lands on her feet. She quickly blocked a strike from the Megoliath's tusks, but the force of the blow sends her flying in to a nearby car.
She groans in pain before gasping as the large grimm was already towering over her and lifted it's foot to crush her. Lucina braced herself... but felt nothing. She looked up and saw the Megoliath had stopped it's attack and was now looking at her... like it knew her somehow... This was just like with the Geist in old mines... Why were some grimm suddenly so hesitant to attack her?
Suddenly Penny fires a laser at the Alpha Megoliath's tusk, distracting it from Lucina "Over here, you big bag of bones!".
The street lamps along the road that Penny is on turn red, and the Grimm sirens blare. The Alpha Megoliath starts running toward Penny, who shifts her swords into gun mode and arranges them in a circle. The circle of guns spins rapidly, charging and then firing a huge laser. The Alpha Megoliath tilts its head down to the laser and begins struggling against it, still trying to get to Penny. It slowly makes its way forward, step by step, while Penny slides backward a little. She separates three guns from the circle and uses them to fire a smaller laser directly at the Alpha Megoliath's right front tusk. The smaller concentrated beam begins heating and scorching the tusk, and Penny concentrates while the Alpha Megoliath continues to make its way toward her.
"Now!" Ruby shouts.
Penny clenches her fists and pulls back, and the concentrated lasers shut off. Now unimpeded, the Alpha Megoliath charges toward Penny once again, and Ruby uses her Semblance to fly past her and stops next to the scorched tusk, hooking her scythe on it. She places her feet against the tusk and then fires her rifle and kicks off, slicing through the burned portion of the tusk. While the Alpha Megoliath rears up and roars, Penny catches the severed tusk and slams it into the road below. Ruby lands next to the Alpha Megoliath's rear foot, hooks her scythe on its ankle and fires the rifle to give the Alpha Megoliath a painful cut. It jerks its foot away, jumping and uttering a pained trumpet, before falling over onto the severed horn, which impales its chest. Now deceased, it disintegrates.
The street lamps return to their normal color, and the Grimm sirens shut off. Civilians come out of hiding, looking at Penny.
A Guy with dog ears raised his fist in the air "Yeah, they saved us!".
The citizens begin cheering and clapping.
"The protector of Mantle!" A woman cheered.
Harriet rolls her shoulder and then looks around, as citizens approach Penny.
Yang speaks over the communicator "Just sent the ship up. Heading to the next LZ".
Harriet rests her fists against her hips and smiles at Penny, who turns and smiles at Ruby.
Nora speaks over communicator "Ditto!".
Jaune "Same here!".
Penny uses her own communicator "Miss. Hill, the southern outskirts are clear. It should be safe to begin evacuations now".
"Great work, Penny. Over and out" Robyn said.
Ruby looks at Lucina who hadn't moved "You ok? Are you hurt?".
"No, I'm fine" Lucina said as she stood up "But we're needed elsewhere now".
"You're right, let's go" Ruby said as she, Penny and Harriet hurried to find more people to help.
Lucina looked at her hand... for a second she could've sworn it turned ghostly pale, only to return to normal just as quickly. Lucina had a very bad feeling growing in her chest. But until she knew for sure, she'd rather avoid unnecessary worry. For now, there was people who needed help, and as a huntress, it was her duty to do so.
Little did she know... her bad feeling was right... And soon she would figure out why.
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Tell me what you think.