We're in the home stretch, folks. Working on this story has been quite the treat, and a major part of my FanFiction journey. I won't lie, these next few chapters are going to be a pain because of how I need to rewrite most of the scenes to fit in with the story, but they're gonna be a lot of fun for you to read, so it'll be worth it.
In terms of this chapter in particular, I enjoyed the tension for the most part. There are some things that bugged me, but we'll get into that a little later. Anyways, it's time to get things started with Xiaomei's usual introduction. Welcome back to "Reality"!
REALITY
What does it mean to be worthy? Is it something you earn or something you're given? Do you believe worthiness is something to strive for or something you accept?
All these questions can be posed to our heroes and villains as the final stage has been set. With the spirit of the Staff of Creation's help, Team RWBY has created a gateway for everyone in Atlas and Mantle to escape to the continent of Vacuo. All the while, they've dealt with General Ironwood and the remaining Ace Operatives.
All seems well… Too well in fact… As Atlas descends toward Mantle below with Ben and Gaara hoping to at least salvage both cities, the rest of our heroes are to help guide the people to safety. But are they worthy of protecting them? I guess we'll have to find out…
As Kevin led the way, the group of Oscar, Jaune, Nora, Ren, Emerald and Hazel all showed concern on their faces. The CCT went down at the exact worst possible moment before their message of reassurance could come out after stating that Atlas was descending. They turned a corner, coming to a stop to find one of the portals right ahead of them. They took a moment to stare at it, wondering what they could do.
Outside, Kryptoknight placed his hands underneath the floating mass of land that was Atlas. With a grunt, he pushed against it, trying to slow its descent toward the earth below. He could hear the wisps of sand flying by, letting out a chuckle as he saw Gaara emerge from the hole in the landmass.
"Plan's in order?" the Kryptionian assumed, seeing the sand expand and push against Atlas with him.
"For the most part, yes," the Kazekage replied, floating beside him, "But comms just went down as the message was being delivered…" he pointed out grimly.
"So now there could be more panic…" Kryptoknight realized.
"And no one knows our plan…" Gaara added. The Kryptonian took a deep breath.
"They'll be fine," he assured confidently, "I'm sure they can figure out a way to counter whatever bugged out comms," he affirmed on, "Let's just stick to what we need to do right now," he advised seriously, "When we get low enough, I'll go Way Big and make sure to place Atlas at the crater," he told his colleague, who nodded. Back inside, Oscar's group continued to stare at the portal for a few more moments.
"What's the call, guys?" Kevin asked, turning to his comrades. After a moment, Hazel stepped forward.
"We stick to the plan," he responded firmly.
"How?" Nora asked, "Without the CCT, there's no way we can tell all of Atlas and Mantle to just step into a bunch of freaky magic doors," she pointed out. As the group pondered, Emerald cautiously approached the portal.
"But there is," Ren chimed in, "We use the portals ourselves, and spread the word on foot," he instructed of the group, "It'll take longer, sure," he admitted, "But at least that way, everyone will know what to do," he affirmed.
"Are… we positive these things even work?" Emerald asked, getting the group's attention as she gestured to the rift.
"Only one way to find out…" Kevin remarked, turning with the others to look towards Jaune. Realizing all eyes were on him, he slouched his shoulders and groaned. A moment later, he had entered the rift in space-time, screaming as he was propelled out of it into the pocket dimension. He landed face first onto a platform, pushing himself up as he stifled his urge to vomit from the experience. The rest of the group entered through the rift, marveling the sight of the pocket dimension.
"Okay, we can do this…" the Team JNPR leader affirmed as he stood up, taking a deep breath to calm himself, "Nora and I will get people through the gates," he told the others, "Everyone else, keep to your roles," he advised on, "Remember, the evacuation is priority one no matter what else happens," he added firmly with a wave of his left arm.
"You sure you won't need more help?" Ren inquired out of concern.
"Shade is armed to the teeth with Huntsmen and Huntresses," Nora chimed in, "but we're about to throw a kingdom's worth of negativity on their doorstep…" she pointed out grimly, "If anyone will need help, it's them," she stated. The ponytailed huntsman gave her a proud and determined nod, heading off for the large portal in the distance. Emerald sighed with a roll of her eyes, sharing a look with Oscar before reluctantly jogging after Ren. The former farmhand then gave a salute to his colleagues before going after the others himself. Meanwhile, Kevin stared back at the rift worriedly for a moment.
"He'll be alright," Hazel affirmed, getting his attention.
"Heh," he chuckled, "Yeah, I know," he said, "He's too stubborn to get killed…" he grumbled out as he rolled his eyes. The scarred man gave him a small grin before they both went after the others, leaving Nora and Jaune behind. The latter placed his hand onto her left shoulder, then ran off and leapt from the platform, drawing Crocea Mors shield and using its Hard-Light upgrade to glide off to another portal nearby. Meanwhile, the orange-haired huntress pulled Magnhild off of her back, riding it like a witch on her broomstick thanks to its jet propulsion, heading through a distant portal.
In the Atlas subway, the refugees gathered had taken cover behind the stairs, railings, and platforms. The sudden appearance of the many portals left them frightened and confused. They were all wary of even attempting to check where they led, peeking out from wherever they hid.
"Wh-What is it?" one citizen stuttered out in question, seeing the portal's golden glow brim brightly. A nervous, bespectacled man was suddenly pushed to the front of the crowd by someone behind him. He glared back at him as he looked away, pretending nothing had happened. The man then turned to the rift. He picked a rock up from the floor, chucking it to the portal and bracing for whatever could happen next, shutting his eyes and grabbing his head.
"Everyone—!" Jaune's shout just as he emerged from the portal was undercut by the rock colliding with his head. "OW!" he yelled, clutching his face. Everyone dove back behind cover out of shock. They peeked out a moment later to see the blonde-haired huntsman rubbing his hurting head. "I'm, uh…" he began with a sheepish grin, "gonna need your attention," he advised, opening up his Scroll to show them his huntsman license. Escorting the citizens to safety was the hard part, but no one realized just how difficult things were about to become…
X
Heading through the portal together, Penny and Jenny stepped out onto the platform, as the former still had the Staff of Creation in her grasp. They both widened their eyes at the sight of the pocket dimension. Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, Peter and Danny came through next, marveling the sight of the bizarre world around them.
"Well, Ambrosius sure pulled off something big here…" the half-ghost teen of the group noted, placing his hands onto his hips.
"I'm surprised it's not bigger…" the blonde-haired huntress added as she placed her hands onto her hips. Meanwhile, her sister caught sight of a newly-entered Fiona. She took notice of the silver-eyed huntress and waved to her, while other citizens were pouring in through the rifts.
"Uh… is anyone else worried about the lack of guardrails?" Peter chimed in out of concern.
"I don't think that's going to be a problem," Weiss answered with a shake of her head, "The paths seem wide enough," she mentioned assuredly.
"Keep moving, come on!" Jaune called out from afar.
"That's it, watch your step!" Nora yelled elsewhere in the pocket dimension. The others saw her take off on Magnhild again, zooming past Joanna as she was with a large group on a single platform.
"Hey, no pushing," she advised seriously. Meanwhile, May spotted the orange-haired huntress as she zipped by, flashing her a thumbs up.
"Figured you wouldn't let us down!" she exclaimed, saluting her colleagues. The first citizens had begun to reach the central platform in front of the large was leading to Vacuo. Penny and the Omni Force members moved onward.
"I thought there'd be more people by now…" Weiss admitted as she looked around.
"Considering comms got trashed, I bet the message had to get spread in person…" Peter noted to her.
"So now our job is getting Penny and the Staff to Vacuo," Ruby affirmed of the group, "Until then, we have to trust the others," she insisted, "I'm sure they can handle it," she mentioned confidently.
"Ruby!" a voice called out, getting her attention as she took notice of Kim, Genji and Obi-Wan hurrying down another pathway to the central platform.
"Kim!" Jenny exclaimed, jogging off with the others as well to meet with them. Meanwhile, Ren, Emerald, Kevin, Hazel and Oscar were mere steps away from the Vacuo portal, heading up to it.
"We should end up just outside the city limits of Vacuo," the former farmhand affirmed, "Enough space for refugees but still within range of communication," he added.
"All right, I'll focus on masking emotions for as long as I can," the ponytailed huntsman decided, "Call for help as soon as we cross," he advised of his colleagues. They then moved through the portal, only to be brought to their knees by a whirling sandstorm. They shielded their eyes as they got back up.
"You've gotta be kidding me…" Emerald muttered out.
"Of course there had to be a sandstorm when we didn't need it…" Kevin grumbled on.
"Which way is the city?" Ren asked, looking around.
"It has to be here somewhere!" Oscar yelled over the raging storm. As they looked around, Emerald pulled out her Scroll to see if she could pinpoint where exactly the group needed to go. Unfortunately…
"Guys…" she called out, "the sandstorm isn't just killing visibility…" she noted to their surprise as they turned to see her hold up her device, showing the 'NO SIGNAL' prominently displayed on its screen.
"We need to hold off the refugees until we get a clear sign of where we need to go," Hazel insisted.
"Too late for that…" Kevin grumbled out as he looked back. The portal rumbled as the first few citizens made their way through, wincing and groaning from the sudden harsh weather.
"Where are we?" one woman with children asked. The group grimly turned to face the bewildered refugees.
"Welcome… to Vacuo," Ren remarked as a response. Already, the plan was starting to fall apart. Back in the pocket dimension, Ruby and Kim exchanged a quick hug.
"I'm so glad you guys are okay…" the former said as she pulled herself back from her spy colleague.
"After the issue of Ironwood's ultimatum, we weren't sure if things would work out…" Genji admitted.
"But you pulled it off all the same…" Kim noted with a grin.
"We should probably help get more people through who haven't made it just yet," Peter advised, chiming into the conversation.
"I agree," Obi-Wan responded, "Shall we?" he offered to the web-slinger, who merely chuckled. The two then headed off without another word.
"Okay, let's keep moving," Ruby insisted, enticing the others to follow her towards the portal to Vacuo.
"Head down and follow everyone else to the exit," Nora advised from another platform in the pocket dimension, herding more people. She shifted Magnhild back into its grenade launcher form again, taking off aboard it to head elsewhere. But as she left, a cloaked figure stepped into view, letting off an ominous smirk.
"Big portal at the end, that's where you need to go," Peter instructed of citizens as he jogged up the pathways. However, he paused for a moment as he felt a sudden tingle in his head. He looked around immediately, trying to find what triggered his sixth sense that alerted him to danger.
Obi-Wan also felt himself get plagued with a foreboding feeling. He looked around before spotting the cloaked figure upon one of the connecting platforms. His eyes widened. All of a sudden, a huge explosion occurred, with several citizens rocketing off of the platform they were upon.
"NO!" Peter screamed, immediately lunging out and firing off multiple webs to catch as many of them as he could. Obi-Wan also arrived, sticking his hands out and gritting his teeth as he telekinetically took hold of the other people that were plummeting to the void, stopping them in the nick of time. "Ergh…!" the web-slinger grunted as he tried to pull on everyone in his webs, desperately hoping they wouldn't snap. May watched on in horror as the crowd behind her panicked, scrambling off. Overhearing the commotion, Ruby and the others turned to see what was happening.
"No!" Ruby exclaimed, heading back.
"Keep going," Blake insisted to a startled Penny, who was still with Kim and Genji, "we'll handle this," she assured, grabbing her Gambol Shroud before hurrying off with the rest of her fellow Omni Force members. Jenny assumed her regular colors, deploying her eagle-like wings before taking off toward the platform where several people hung, whether thanks to Peter's webs or Obi-Wan's Force. Danny followed, having taken on his ghost form beforehand.
"Come on, we gotta move," Kim insisted of the Winter Maiden, who watched on as she clutched the Staff of Creation. Now uncloaked, Cinder propelled herself into the air with the flames she expelled from her hands, grinning wickedly. She spotted those of Team RWBY making their way up to one of the connecting platforms, jetting off towards them. Ruby quickly burst into a cluster of rose petals, gathering her teammates before zipping up to the platform. However, she was forced to recoil, letting out a pained grunt from the wall of flames that suddenly appeared to block her path. She wisped over to the other side of the platform, reforming with her teammates as they took ready stances, raising their weapons at the Fall Maiden, who wielded a pair of blades in her hands.
"Your little friend Oscar was right…" she noted, aiming her blades at the quartet of huntresses, "but the easy part ends here…" she declared. Her opponents exchanged puzzled looks, wondering just how Cinder appeared to know about their plans. "How'd she know about that?" she voiced out mockingly, insinuating their expressions. Ruby took on an undeterred look. It didn't matter if their foe learned their plans. What mattered now was protecting everyone. She blasted herself forward with a shot from her Crescent Rose, swinging its blade at her target as she yelled.
Meanwhile, Jenny helped grab a few people and brought them down onto the platform, allowing them to run off to the large portal in the distance. Danny was doing the same, easing the burdens that Obi-Wan and Peter were having with pulling everyone who was blasted off back to safety. One little girl was pulled up by the web-slinger, hugging him out of gratitude after getting back onto the platform. He patted her head as he crouched down, pointing off to the portal in the distance and nodded. She nodded back, hurrying off.
"You okay, Pete?" the half-ghost teen asked as he came over alongside Jenny and Obi-Wan.
"Fine, all things considered…" he responded as he reloaded his web shooters with new cartridges, "But that's the bigger problem…" he pointed out, looking over to see Ruby and Blake attempting a pincer attack on Cinder, only to be blasted back by her flames.
"Did she know what we were up to?" Jenny inquired out of disbelief.
"That doesn't matter," Danny responded with a shake of his head, "We need to stop her before anyone else gets blown off," he advised seriously.
"While you do that, I'll head to the Vacuo portal and let them know our situation," Obi-Wan added.
"Okay, then let's move!" Peter insisted, letting Danny grab his hand before they flew off towards the battle taking place afar. The Jedi was about head off as well, but not before Jenny grabbed his arm, enticing him to look back at her.
"Help keep Penny safe…" she requested of him, "please…" she pleaded on. Obi-Wan nodded, hurrying off. With that, the teenage robot rocketed off after her colleagues, ready to face the Fall Maiden. She was essentially toying with Team RWBY, parrying their attacks thanks to her blades and easily evading others. Having known their plan from the start was her greatest advantage. And keeping her foes discombobulated was just the beginning…
X
FLASHBACK
Arthur had just finished intercepting Ruby and James' message from the downed Atlesian Knight he tinkered with. Neopolitan had arrived, pointing the blade of her Hush at him. He stood up.
"Neopolitan, was it?" he assumed, "Now isn't the time to hold grudges…" he pointed out seriously.
"No," Cinder said as she stepped forward beside him, holding up her Shadow Hand to quiet him, "She's right to be angry," she admitted, "I… know I haven't upheld my end of the bargain…" she noted on, glancing away ashamedly, "I'm... sorry," she finally apologized, placing her right hand over her chest remorsefully. The mute girl narrowed her eyes with suspicion. But she lowered her umbrella, crossing her arms. "I will get you Ruby Rose," the Fall Maiden vowed, "Today," she added firmly, "But to do that, I need to ask the Lamp a question…" she mentioned, holding her hand out expectantly toward Neopolitan.
Arthur rolled his eyes and sighed, knowing that the turmoil between the two young women could lead to even more complications. But after a pause to think, the mute girl put her umbrella onto her left arm, using her right hand to take off her former employer's bowler hat from her head. She reached in and pulled out the Relic of Knowledge like a rabbit out of a hat, letting it quickly grow to its full size as she put her hat back onto her head.
Cinder then stepped forward, grabbing the Lamp's handle loop. But as she pulled on it, Neopolitan gripped it tight. The two women stared at each other in a tense moment. However, the mute girl did end up letting go.
"Jinn," Cinder uttered. With time stopped, the spirit of the relic emerged to greet the trio.
"You have a question for me?" she inquired, cocking an eyebrow suspiciously as she regarded the Fall Maiden.
"I do," she responded, stepping forward. Meanwhile, Arthur was staring slack-jawed at Jinn, while Neopolitan had her gaze fixed on Cinder, wondering what she would ask. "What have Ruby and her teammates planned?" she finally questioned. The spirit's expression changed to one of shock before she furrowed her brow in regret. As much as she didn't want to answer the question, she was compelled by her own being. In a swirl of cyan smoke, the alleyway scenery was replaced by a visual of the enemy group's discussions at Schnee Manor. They were seated on the ground just after Penny's virus had been dealt with thanks to Ben.
"We've been so worried about keeping the Vault closed that... we've never considered using what's inside," Jaune had pointed out.
"The Staff of Creation…" Oscar said.
"Maybe we can use it to get everyone in Atlas and Mantle back to safety…" Ruby inferred. As the conversation continued, Cinder walked around the oblivious group with a self-satisfied smile, knowing their plans right away. But her expression fell upon catching sight of Emerald and Hazel, much to her surprise. She huffed indignantly.
The scenery changed again in another cyan swirl of smoke. Now, the team was in the dining room of the manor. They were discussing the finer details of their operation.
"After you guys broadcast the evac procedure, you'll walk through the portal near the CCT Center," Ruby explained, "And when we're done in the Vault, we'll take Penny and the Staff," she concluded. The Fall Maiden listened to the plans unfold before her, while both Arthur and Neopolitan were at her sides. She let off a chuckle.
"You tore this kingdom apart with nothing but your intellect…" she noted to the former Atlesian scientist beside her, getting his attention, "How about we finish what you started?" she suggested of him. Hearing that, he smirked. The vision then ceased, with Jinn disappearing. Now the trio had a plan of their own.
Inside the Atlas Military Compound's central command, clerks and operators were still bustling about, trying to do whatever duties their general had dealt to them in this critical juncture. They had yet to realize that everything was about to change. The doors opened. The trio of Cinder, Arthur, and Neopolitan stood at the doorway, having exited a hall littered with subdued guards.
The Lamp swung by the mute girl's hip as she raised her umbrella. The former Atlesian scientist wielded a gun he had taken from one of the soldiers. As they stepped into the command center, the clerks and workers slowly started to notice their presence. The door closed behind them as Cinder conjured a flame in her right palm. The floor erupted into a chaos of screams and running employees…
It was only a matter of moments before it became a quick bloodbath. The red glow of the emergency lights flickered as some workstations were left aflame. Clerks were motionless, with some having failed to even leave their chairs in the wake of the attack.
"You have everything you need?" Cinder inquired of Arthur, who was operating at one of the still functioning workstations.
"Oh, believe me…" he started to reply, "this is everything I've ever wanted…" he affirmed while behind them, Neopolitan cracked her Hush against a still-groaning employee's temple to knock him out, having a look of unrestrained glee upon her face. The Fall Maiden then stood up from the workstation as she and the mute girl headed for the exit. But she paused on her way out, placing her hand against the doorway.
"You deserve this, Arthur," she said, getting his attention as he glanced over to her in surprise, "We'll be back," she added. The scientist nodded to her, prompting her to leave. He continued typing as pages appeared upon the holographic screen in front of him. With just a few more keystrokes, he displayed the live footage of Jaune and his group, as their banter became audible.
"You're live," Ren pointed out.
"Everyone can hear you…" Emerald mentioned.
"Oh!" Jaune yelped in realization, clearing his throat to compose himself, "Citizens of Atlas, Mantle," he began as Arthur picked up a bloodstained green apple from beside a clerk's corpse next to him, taking a bite out of it, "what we have to tell you is very important," the blonde-haired huntsman stated, making the former doctor smirk as he raised his left pointer finger, "Atlas is falling, but—!" Leisurely hitting a button on the keyboard in front of him, Arthur brought down the message entirely. Multiple screens in the ruined command center were all suddenly occupied by a color test card with the 'NO SIGNAL' sign upon it, including his. He swiped the broadcast window out of the way, bringing surveillance footage of the hangar into focus. He squinted at the small, grainy image as he leaned closer to it, knowing that there was a bomb set to be taken to Mantle from there. The building then suddenly rumbled around him, giving him a start as he looked around.
Elsewhere, Cinder donned a cloak she had found as she wandered the shaking streets of Atlas alongside Neopolitan, warding off the Grimm as they headed for one of the subway tunnels. The Fall Maiden was feeling confident, more so than she had ever been before. However, she couldn't help but catch a glimpse of someone lurking within an alleyway, causing her to pause. The mute girl she was with stopped as well, only to see nothing in the same direction. She arched an eyebrow to her colleague, who sighed.
"Just focus," she advised, "You'll get Ruby, and I'll get Penny," she affirmed. They walked off afterwards without another word. What Cinder had seen in the alleyway was none other than Xiaomei, who peeked out and narrowed her eyes onto her. Everything was about to come together. And how it would end was yet to truly be determined…
END FLASHBACK
X
"Huh… huh…" Wendy breathed out, rounding a corner and running into the hangar. She turned to find the motionless Ace Operatives there, still being held by Marrow's Semblance.
"I thought all you kids were gonna meet us on the other side," Robyn remarked, getting the Sky Dragon Slayer's attention, "We got these guys," she affirmed, "We'll meet you in Vacuo," she promised on.
"So they're using the Staff?" Elm questioned, causing everyone to look over at her as Qrow was binding her arms behind her back with a Gravity Bolas, while the remnants of her hammer skidded across the floor from the rumbling Atlas as it fell, "Are they crazy?!" she exclaimed, "They'll destroy the kingdom!" she pointed out emphatically with widened eyes.
"What do you think a kingdom is?" Robyn asked back as she walked over, "The people, or just the chunk of land they live on?" she inquired, moving over to go and restrain Harriet.
"Either way, it's over now," Qrow commented, "Ironwood's down," he noted, much to the collective surprise of the Ace Operatives. As the caped huntsman proceeded to Vine, he deactivated his Aura-formed arms in surrender, accepting his restraint without comment. In the meantime, Enji and Raven were in the cargo hold of the dropship, examining the bomb.
"Shit, we're tilting…" the Spring Maiden noted, seeing some cargo supplies slide across the hangar floor. It wouldn't be long before the ships in the hangar would meet the same fate.
"Let's move the bomb for now," the Flame Hero decided, looking out towards the others, "Marvell!" he called out, getting Wendy's attention, "We need your help with this," he noted, gesturing to the device.
"Right, I'm coming—! AH!" she suddenly yelped, keeling over onto her hands and knees.
"Whoa, kid?!" Qrow exclaimed as he and Robyn hurried over, crouching down beside her.
"What's wrong?" the Happy Huntresses' leader asked. The Sky Dragon Slayer winced, grabbing at her head.
'Wendy, you're going to have to let me take control at some point…' the voice in her mind noted as she struggled to compose herself. At that moment, one of the doors leading into the hangar opened. A new platoon of Atlesian Knights was entering, though none of them wielded weapons.
"What the hell…?" Raven uttered in confusion. As it turned out, the platoon of robot soldiers was being remotely controlled by Arthur, who had them all turn towards those with the restrained Ace Operatives.
"Uh, guys?" Marrow called out, enticing both Qrow and Robyn to get onto their feet and draw their weapons. The displays on the faces of the Atlesian Knights turned from blue to red, and they started sprinting towards their targets.
"Stop them!" Enji called out, shooting off fireballs quickly to strike some of the robot soldiers down. Others that continued were emitting a beeping sound, which quickened with their sprints. Qrow and Robyn tried to shoot them all down, but they were closing in on the group, much to their shock.
"Guys, move!" Raven called out, enticing her brother and the Happy Huntresses' leader to jump back. Unfortunately, they gasped upon realizing that the downed Wendy was still on her hands and knees, too exhausted to be aware of the incoming Atlesian Knights.
"NO!" Marrow screamed as he scrambled forward, throwing himself forward between her and the robots before they exploded. The ensuing blast left behind a thick cloud of smoke, which dissipated. Wendy looked up and gasped to find the canine Faunus lying motionless on the ground, thankfully alive as his blue Aura shimmered before fading away.
"Marrow!" she exclaimed, quickly going over to his side as she heard him groan. Qrow and Robyn hurried over as well, sighing with breaths of relief to see that their colleague. However, without his Semblance, the other Ace Operatives were free to move again. And to make matters worse, with a distant rumble of machinery, the building started to list to one side.
"Crap, we gotta move!" Raven yelled. Meanwhile, the bound Elm writhed on the ground as her freed teammates struggle to keep their balance. Harriet spared her teammates a glance before catching sight of the bomb carrier sliding across the hangar, with the Flame Hero and the Spring Maiden still aboard it. With yellow electricity crackling around her, she sped her way onto the ship, kicking Enji and Raven out before they could react in time, and zipping up to the cockpit.
The others were left to watch as she activated the carrier's engines, which hummed with energy. Vine got to his feet and ran after the dropship. As some of the other carriers fell out of the entryway into the Atlesian sky, the one with the bomb achieved liftoff. In that moment, Vine formed a pair of Aura-formed arms to stretch out and latch onto the ship's open hatch as it flew off into the distance. Everyone watching on widened their eyes in disbelief, staring at each other and wondering what to do next. However, Enji took on a determined expression.
"Let's go!" he yelled, rocketing out of the entryway with flames expelling from his feet, pursuing the bomb carrier. Qrow and Raven looked to each other and nodded, running and jumping out of the entryway as they assumed their corvid forms. That left Robyn with Wendy and the downed Marrow and Elm.
"Come on, kid," the Happy Huntresses leader insisted of the Sky Dragon Slayer, "There's still one ship left," she pointed out, standing up. However, her colleague grabbed her hand, much to her surprise as she looked back at her.
"We're not leaving anyone," she stated firmly, much to Elm's surprise as she blinked. Back outside underneath the floating landmass, Kryptoknight and Gaara gritted their teeth as they pressed up against it as hard as they could, slowing its descent, but not stopping. The Kryptonian was already strained enough with what he was going up against. But he could also hear the voices of panic and fright coming from almost everywhere. Or rather…
"Gaara, let me take this from here!" he called out to the Kazekage, getting his attention as he blinked in surprise, "I think something's going wrong wherever Ruby and the others are!" he noted, letting out a grimace as he gnashed his teeth together, "I can hear people screaming left and right from those portals…" he mentioned on.
"Ben, I can't just leave you!" Gaara retorted firmly.
"I know…" Kryptoknight responded as he lowered his head, "But I also know that they're gonna need you in Vacuo more than they need me," he pointed out seriously, "Just go, please," he pleaded of the Kazekage. He sighed, retracting the large tendrils of sand he had brought forth.
"If it doesn't work out, get into a portal the second you can," he insisted of the Kryptonian, who merely nodded. He watched as his colleague flew off up through the hole in the landmass, heading up the shaft into the Vault. Taking a deep breath, Kryptoknight pressed his hands hard against Atlas once more, continuing to slow its descent as much as he could. Back in the holding cells, a shower of dust rained down onto the unconscious James, making him blink awake. He slowly pulled himself up into a sitting position.
"Well, I see you're awake, finally," Jacques noted in a snarky tone from the adjacent cell, "Atlas is falling under your watch," he mentioned as the general took a moment cradle his aching forehead, "How does it feel, James?" he questioned.
"They… They've got the Staff!" the cyborg realized as he stood up in alarm with widened eyes of disbelief.
"That's right, you lose…" the disgraced S.D.C. president bitterly remarked as he turned to his former adversary, "We both lose…" he confirmed, glancing down ashamedly at the floor. The general hung his head in defeat, holding it with both of his hands. Atlas could no longer be saved. His enemies had seemingly won. But at that moment, he heard something buzzing. He glanced over to find that the Hard-Light cell wall was flickering out. "What?" Jacques uttered in disbelief as the barrier became inactive.
James slowly exited the cell, regaining his composure. He still had a chance to keep things on track for himself. He noticed that both his Due Process and the cannon attachment for them was lying nearby, having not yet been put away.
"You're going to open mine too… right?" Jacques asked, watching as the general reassembled his cannon, inserting the revolvers into it as it warbled with energy. He swung it in the Schnee patriarch's direction as the barrel glowed a pale green, while his target's expression fell. His eyes grew wide with horror upon realizing what was about to happen.
"Sure thing," James emotionlessly said, pulling the triggers. Jacques put his arms up to shield himself, but it was meaningless as the green beam of light slammed into him through the Hard-Light walls. As the ensuing greenish smoke faded, all the cell walls were shorted out, a huge portion of the floor lied in ruins, and green flames were smoldering where the former S.D.C. president used to be standing. With one interference out of the way, the general robotically took his leave. He was going to accomplish his mission no matter what.
X
Cinder was essentially toying with her foes back in the pocket dimension. After parrying slashes from Ruby, she moved away from powerful punches by Yang, followed by continuing to block off the blades of Weiss and Blake. Even as the ex-heiress was using her glyphs she summoned to help give her teammates leverage, it still wasn't enough to even touch their foe. She let off a smirk, stabbing her blades into the surface at her feet, boosting herself upwards on a vortex of flames.
"I knew your plan would be bold, but I never could have predicted all of this…" she admitted to the huntresses as she reclaimed her blades, looking around the pocket dimension while panicked people hurried for the Vacuo portal, "At least, not without a little help from Jinn," she mentioned as her foes glared up at her, "I suppose I have all of you to thank for one last lesson…" she added as in the background, a citizen with short brown hair and a hat was walking around unhurriedly in contrast to the rest of the crowd, carrying a briefcase as the Lamp of Knowledge swung on her hip. "Sometimes…" the Fall Maiden began as Ruby let her silver eyes start to glow, "if you want to win…" she continued as the suspicious woman looked up, revealing her mismatched eye colors. As Yang pumped her fists to adjust her weapons, she noticed her approaching. "…you simply can't do it alone!" Cinder proclaimed. In that moment, the briefcase shimmered and morphed into an umbrella, as the disguised Neopolitan drew the hidden blade from it and smirked. She then charged at the silver-eyed huntress, who was oblivious to her presence.
"RUBY!" her sister screamed, igniting her hair with a fiery energy as her eyes turned red. She fired off her gauntlets behind herself, using their recoil to hurl herself forward in the attempt to knock the silver-eyed huntress out of the way. But it didn't look like she'd make it in time.
Ruby turned and widened her eyes to see the approaching Neopolitan as she revealed herself in pink shimmer, about to bear a powerful slash. But all of a sudden, a familiar costumed foot came in and kicked her upside the head, knocking her away. Everyone gasped to see that it was Peter, who stuck a three-point landing.
"Just in time…" he remarked as Yang brought herself to a stop, sighing deeply with relief as her hair and eyes went back to normal. Meanwhile, the mute girl got her feet, gnashing her teeth together angrily. Her one chance to seize revenge, and it was seemingly taken from her.
"Hmph," Cinder scoffed, "And here I thought you'd be too busy with saving lives…" she grumbled out with a shake of her head as she grinned.
"Heh," the web-slinger chuckled, "You're right about one thing, one-eyed wonder," he admitted as he turned to her alongside Ruby and Yang, "Can't do everything alone…" he noted with a shrug.
"That's why we're all here to fight you!" another voice yelled, catching the Fall Maiden's attention as she whipped around to meet a pair of punches from Danny and Jenny, sending her flying back. She caught herself with flames expelling from her hands and feet, glaring at her new foes.
"Okay, Omni Force…" Peter said as he took on a ready stance alongside those of Team RWBY, "hero time!" he yelled, enticing them to all lunge out in various directions. Yang and Blake fired onto Cinder, forcing her on the defensive as she blocked their ammunition with her swords. However, it left her wide open for the web-slinger below to fire up a pair of web lines to attach to her legs. He yanked hard, pulling her down as Ruby leapt up, ready to deal a devastating slash with her Crescent Rose.
But like how Peter saved her, Neopolitan kicked her aside before she could land her attack. That allowed the Fall Maiden to burn off the webs at her legs and unleash a stream of fire from her right hand toward the web-slinger, whose eyes widened under his mask. He flipped back to evade the fire, while his foe conjured another pair of obsidian swords in her hands. She sneered left and right to see Danny and Jenny attempting to get her in a pincer attack, with the latter morphing her arm into a blade. She clashed it against those of her foe's, making sparks fly.
The half-ghost teen zipped in with his fists cloaked in a greenish energy, attempting to punch Cinder. But she weaved aside to evade his attacks, followed by blasting him back by breathing fire from her mouth like a dragon. He was able to conjure an energy shield around himself before getting blown back, crossing his arms over his face.
"Why are you still trying to fight us at this point?!" Jenny inquired of the Fall Maiden, getting her attention, "Wasn't Penny beating your sorry butt the last time enough?!" she questioned on.
"Hmph," her opponent huffed with a smirk, "You don't understand…" she noted as she shook her head, "Unlike you, I have a drive that keeps me going," she pointed out, "And thanks to all of you, I've realized that it's better to share that drive with others…" she affirmed on, glancing down toward Neopolitan, who was locked in a battle against Ruby, Peter, and Yang. Cinder zipped over, much to Jenny's surprise as she gasped, flying after her. The silver-eyed girl swung her Crescent Rose around to parry her mute foe's slashes, allowing for her sister and the web-slinger to close in and overwhelm her with a barrage of kicks and punches respectively. However, they failed to take notice of the approaching Fall Maiden. She conjured an array of black glass swords, having them pierce into the platform's surface in front of her foes as they were approaching her ally. They glowed brightly and promptly exploded, blowing them back.
As she was veiled by the ensuing smoke, Neopolitan looked over to her colleague, who nodded to her. Aside from their interference in their foes' operation, they had one more trick up their sleeves…
FLASHBACK
"Ruby is their greatest asset going into a place like Vacuo," Cinder pointed out as she and her mute colleague approached the subway tunnel entrance, "Her eyes could do away with so many Grimm all at once…" she noted on. Neopolitan raised an eyebrow toward her, wondering what the point of her telling her this was. "Whatever happens, Ruby will be defended to the teeth," she mentioned seriously, "You're not going to be able to kill her without having to deal with three or four of those others," she added.
Rolling her eyes, Neopolitan crossed her arms over her chest. The Fall Maiden looked over to her and let out a sigh. She hadn't meant to come across that way.
"You'll get Ruby, but you have to be smart about it," she advised seriously, "She and her friends will have every opportunity to take us down without a problem," she pointed out, "So we need to separate them," she declared, much to the mute girl's surprise as she arched her eyebrow again, "When one falls, they all fall," she remarked, "You just have to pick the right target," she noted. The bicolored-haired girl tapped her left pointer finger against her chin in thought, wondering who she would end up going after first. And then, she came to an answer as she smirked, snapping her fingers.
END FLASHBACK
"Pete! Ruby!" Yang called out from within the black smoke as she coughed, "You two okay?!" she yelled in question. All of a sudden, she was met with a sudden slash from Neopolitan, who rushed through the smoke. "AH!" she yelped as her yellow Aura flickered.
"Yang?!" Ruby exclaimed as the smoke started to settle, allowing her and Peter to see that the blonde-haired huntresses was in battle against the mute girl, trying to parry her blows with her Ember Celica gauntlets. Taking notice, Weiss and Blake hurried over, only to be blocked off by a wall of flames that Cinder ignited in front of them, forcing them to stop. She looked to Neopolitan, who nodded as she kicked Yang back, heading after the silver-eyed girl.
Peter leapt in between them, only for the mute girl to flip over and kick him aside as she continued her charge onto her main target. Ruby tried to stop her as she swung her Crescent Rose, but her foe ducked underneath it, about to retaliate with her own slash as she stood up. Yang noticed, widening her eyes.
"RUBY!" she screamed, igniting her hair in a fiery energy as her eyes went red. Like before, she launched herself forward thanks to the recoil of the shots from her gauntlets. She was aiming to knock the daylights out of Neopolitan.
But that's what the mute girl was planning on as she smirked. After she lifted her left leg up to kick the silver-eyed huntress aside, she turned and swiped at the incoming Yang. Bearing the brunt of the sudden slash, she screamed. Her Aura immediately dissipated as she was thrown backward, tumbling bodily over the platform. Weiss and Ruby could only stare in shock as Blake hurried over with Peter, who just got back up.
Cinder smirked, stretching out her Shadow Hand to take hold of an airborne Jenny, yanking her back before she could fly down to try and save her teammate. As she was falling, the blonde-haired huntress was going in and out of consciousness, cracking her eyelids open to see both the cat Faunus and the superhero attempting to reach out and her with Gambol Shroud and a web line respectively. The latter was suddenly eviscerated though by a fireball shot from the Fall Maiden, while the former continued. However, it ran out of ribbon just before it could reach Yang's feet.
She plummeted helplessly past platforms and walkways into the darkness. Her image then seemed to shimmer gold, dissolving before she completely disappeared. All the while, her teammates watched in horror. Blake was the most mortified, with her cat ears drooping and tears trickling down her cheeks.
"YANG!" she screamed as she reached out toward the dark abyss. Hearing her anguished cry just as she and Obi-Wan were about to enter the Vacuo portal, Penny casted a worried look back. The Jedi looked over to her, seeing her green flames of energy emit from her eyes as she took on a serious expression while clenching her teeth together.
"Penny, I must insist, we have to—!" His imploration was only met with the Winter Maiden flying off. "Penny!" he yelled, letting out a grunt of frustration. Back on the platform, Ruby got back onto her feet. She was completely shell-shocked from what she had just witnessed.
"Yang...?" she uttered out. She almost was unaware of Neopolitan coming after her again, ready to strike with her Hush's blade. The silver-eyed huntress quickly countered her slashes, but was easily being outmaneuvered as the mute girl flipped over and kicked her back, blocking her own attacks with her umbrella.
"When one falls…" Cinder remarked as she chuckled evilly, noticing just how disorganized the Omni Force members were after losing their colleague. Blake was desperately reaching into the air where Yang was last seen as she was knelt by the edge of the platform, with Weiss holding her back from leaning too far. Peter, who seemed very conflicted, turned and ran over to try and help Ruby deal with Neopolitan. And Jenny was shell-shocked herself from seeing her teammate disappear into nothingness.
"CINDER!" a familiar voice bellowed, belonging to Danny as he zipped over with his legs formed into a ghostly tail. He fired blue beams of icy energy from his hands towards her, but she countered by unleashing flames from her own, resulting in an explosion of steam. That was enough to snap the airborne robot girl out of her stupor as she flew over, rearing her right fist back as she morphed it into a giant, spiked extremity.
However, the Fall Maiden saw her coming as she flew away, rocketing through the steam toward Danny. She readied another blade of hot black glass. But to her surprise, he puffed his chest out before unleashing a powerful sonic scream of green, wavy energy, blowing her back.
Meanwhile, Blake was still weeping. She held her head in her hands as her tears kept falling. This was the feeling that Ben had told her about. Now she had lost someone close to her.
And all she could think about next was avenging her. With her cat ears folding in rage, she grabbed her Gambol Shroud and turned to charge towards where Ruby and Peter were fighting Neopolitan. Weiss reached out for her to no avail. She then caught sight of Cinder, who seemed amused. Grabbing her Myrtenaster, the ex-heiress had her own expression of rage upon her face.
The silver-eyed huntress was doing all she could to deflect her mute foe's strikes. After blocking a slash, Ruby attempted her own, only for Neopolitan to flip over her scythe. Peter charged in an attempt to punch her, but was nicked at his left wrist by her blade as he yelped in pain.
"Peter!" the silver-eyed huntress cried out. She was left wide open as her mute foe knocked her weapon back, readying to strike with a critical blow. But as she reared her arm back, it was suddenly tethered by Gambol Shroud's ribbon. She looked over in surprise to see Blake charging over to land a blow with her sheath. However, she turned out to be an illusion, which shattered like glass.
The cat Faunus growled indignantly, turning to locate her target battling against the Team RWBY leader and the web-slinger on one of the walkways. She charged forward, readying her blades. In the meantime, Jenny unleashed an array of mini-missiles from that launchers that sprung out at her shoulders. They were all knocked aside by the Fall Maiden, who didn't even flinch as they exploded behind her.
Danny zipped in, unleashing green and blue beams of light onto his foe, which she easily evaded before forming a large fireball in her hands. She fired it out at the half-ghost teen, who quickly threw up another green energy barrier to block it. The moment he brought it down though, he was immediately met with a stream of flames squarely to his chest, knocking him back down onto the platform.
"Danny!" Weiss screamed. She then saw the Fall Maiden reform her twin blades, swinging them out to unleash fiery arcs down towards her foes. Using her glyphs to not only block them, the ex-heiress skated along, trying to find an opening. It did provide a good distraction as it allowed for Jenny to land a heavy blow with her giant fist, knocking Cinder back. However, that moment of victory soon passed.
"Why'd you have to come back?!" a familiar voice called out in question, getting her attention along with that of the Fall Maiden's as they saw Penny flying over.
"Penny, no!" Jenny cried out, reaching out to her. Cinder just smirked.
"Why didn't you just learn your lesson?!" the Winter Maiden bellowed, landing a fierce right hook onto her foe to knock her back. However, she quickly righted herself with flames expelling from her hands and feet.
"Oh, Penny…" she uttered out mockingly as she summoned forth another blade, cockily tweaking her nose in the process, "I did," she affirmed. Frowning, the Winter Maiden rocketed out at her as Jenny widened her eyes in fright. Cinder scoffed, zooming forward. But she suddenly weaved around Penny, much to her surprise. She actually was going after the other robot girl, landing a powerful slash with her blade before she could react, slicing off her right arm.
"AH!" she yelped in pain before the Fall Maiden planted her right foot against her stomach, blasting her back in a burst of fire.
"JENNY!" Penny screamed, seeing her plummet. Fortunately, Danny flew in to catch her, zipping over to land on the central platform and set her down. The Winter Maiden was relieved, but then turned and growled indignantly toward her opponent, who merely smirked. With her eye-flames burning a bright green, Penny not only brought forth the blades of her Floating Array, but also conjured solid replications of them that were more jagged in appearance.
As she plunged headfirst into battle with Cinder, Weiss was skating along her white glyphs upon a walkway, trying to get to higher ground. The two Maidens clashed, with their blades colliding every few moments as they managed to nick each other. At one point, Penny seemed to have an opening to land a critical blow with all of her blades at once. But it left her wide open as the Fall Maiden flew over the attack, unleashing a wave flames to blow her foe back.
She tried to fly after her to keep up the pressure and hopefully take her power for certain. But without warning, she was pulled back by a gravitational force. It was from a black glyph that appeared behind her, courtesy of Weiss. Cinder growled, igniting a fireball in her hand to eviscerate it once she got pulled in.
She then turned her attention onto the ex-heiress. She stuck her Grimm arm out, conjuring an array of flaming obsidian projectiles. Weiss was prepared to deal with them… until she faltered upon seeing several people come into the pocket dimension from the portals nearby. The obsidian projectiles were fired, heading towards them.
The ex-heiress quickly held her Myrtenaster up, sliding her fingers down its blade to bring forth a white glyph beside her. With a swing of her weapon, she projected a large broadsword from the glyph, blocking off most of the ammunition sent her way as they shattered against the flat side of the blade. However, some managed to get through, forcing people to duck and cover as the embedded onto the platform's surface.
More of the projectiles zipped through the portal right behind the frightened citizens. Jaune, who was on the other side in the Atlas subway, quickly took notice of them coming through, drawing his shield as people around him ducked down. Once the projectiles subsided, he casted a worried look, wondering what was going on inside the pocket dimension.
Weiss, panting from her exertion, didn't notice the glass projectiles glowing until they were about to detonate, gasping as she widened her eyes. She was catapulted skyward in an explosion of flames, which Danny and Jenny noticed from afar. The former's eyes widened in fright.
"WEISS!" he screamed. Fortunately, the ex-heiress cushioned her fall with a black glyph she quickly conjured behind her. But it was that clear the battle was taking its toll on her endurance as she breathed heavily. Danny grimaced.
"Go!" Jenny insisted as she cradled what remained of her right arm, getting his attention as he looked to her in surprise, "I'll catch up in a sec!" she promised. With that, the half-ghost teen nodded before flying off to rejoin the battle. Cinder narrowly flipped away from Penny's swords, restarting their fight as they flew around the pocket dimension. All the while, Ruby, Peter and Blake were keeping the pressure on Neopolitan, forcing her back along the walkway they were upon, clashing blades and flipping about. As the web-slinger managed to kick her back and continue the advance on their foe with the silver-eyed girl, the cat Faunus stopped as she heard Penny's scream.
She looked over to see her and the Fall Maiden still fighting, exchanging blasts of snow and fire respectively. She also caught sight of Weiss' predicament, but took notice of Danny flying over to her aid. Jenny was also getting back into action, redeploying her eagle-like wings as she took off after the two Maidens. Looking around at all the chaos, Blake didn't know where to go next. Would she help take down Neopolitan? Would she intervene in the battle between Maidens? Or would she help save the citizens before it was too late?
Her choice was yet to come. Granules of sand were seeping through each of the portals in the pocket dimension. One other person had seen Yang's apparent demise. And anguished as he was, he was far more vengeful now than he had ever been…
X
The bomb carrier was flying through the Atlesian skies toward Mantle, while refugees below were hurrying into a portal on the street level. Harriet was determined to see her objective through. But at that moment, an alert on the ship's console drew her attention, seeing that the cargo bay door was still open. She narrowed her eyes with suspicion for a moment, flicking a few switches and pressing a couple buttons to access a keypad on the screen, typing in a passcode to engage the vessel's autopilot. She then got up from her seat and headed down to the cargo bay. Inside, Vine had managed to climb aboard, with the door shutting behind him. He looked exhausted, crouching down as he panted for breath.
"Vine," Harriet said, getting his attention as he saw her climb down, "Glad someone made it," she noted with a slight grin, "Watch for a tail," she advised, "I need to make sure this thing's still armed," she pointed out as she walked over to the bomb. Pressing an icon upon its screen, it then prompted her to activate it. Before she could tap the 'YES' icon in order to prime it though, an Aura-formed arm from her colleague grabbed her hand. He slowly approached her from the other side of the bomb.
"I'm no longer certain this is the most logical course of action," he admitted to her. She frowned, leaning in.
"Do you really wanna do this, Zeki?" she threatened in question. Vine deactivated his Aura-formed arm.
"No, I don't," he responded, holding up his left hand in a placating manner, "Harriet, the general is no longer in charge," he pointed out, "Ruby and the others have used the Staff," he continued as his tone grew somewhat louder, "Atlas is falling," he affirmed on, "but its people will be safe," he assured, "Unless you—"
"It's the principle, Vine!" his mohawk-haired teammate argued as she slammed her right fist on the bomb's exterior, her face a mixture indignation and rage, "It's about loyalty!" she added angrily, "Clover understood that! Clover would see this through!" she proclaimed. Her teammate took a moment before responding
"…Then perhaps Clover was wrong, too," he said.
"Don't you dare!" Harriet screamed irately, "Clover was… He was..." she tried to say, with her expression becoming more morose as she spoke. Vine gave off a worried look.
"…Important to you," he finished for his colleague, who ultimately turned away from him as she stifled a couple of sobs, sniffling as her eyes welled up with tears. Beside herself with grief, she stepped away from the bomb, keeping her back turned to Vine. "Harriet…" he began as he approached her, reaching out to put a steadying hand onto her shoulder, "you are not the only one—"
Without warning, the ship suddenly lurched to its left, throwing both Ace Operative against the cargo bay wall. There was another carrier ramming into theirs, attempting to knock it off course. It was being piloted by Robyn, who yelled defiantly. She wasn't about to let Mantle be destroyed.
Back in the cargo bay, Harriet shot one last grimace at Vine. She sped over to arm the explosive by pressing her hand against its screen, followed by opening the cargo door. The airflow sucked her teammate out of the ship, but he managed to tether himself with his Aura-formed arms.
However, he looked up in surprise to find his mohawk-haired colleague lunging out and kicking him off, sending him flying through the air before she sped back up to the cockpit. Vine tumbled through the air, passing by both ships as he barely missed grabbing one of the wing-like attachments upon it. However, he found himself caught by none other than Enji, who flew onward with him.
"Hold on!" he advised, looking to the other vessel and nodding to Robyn. She nodded back, pulling her ship away from Harriet's. Inside the latter's, she was entering her passcode to disengage the autopilot, taking control back as she grabbed the wheel. But then she noticed something peculiar through the windscreen, squinting a little. A dark bird appeared to be drawing closer. As a cloud passed in front of it, a screaming Qrow was revealed with his Harbinger drawn, much to the mohawk-haired Ace Operative's shock. He drove his sword into the windscreen, shattering through it as he and his foe tumbled down the hatch leading into the cargo bay.
"Looks like you're getting that fight after all…" he taunted, pinning her to the ground as his blade was pierced through the floor right next to her head. Growling, Harriet kicked him off, followed by lunging in for a punch, which he blocked with his blade. As they fought around the explosive, another black bird flew in through the shattered windscreen, transforming back into Raven as she turned to the pilot's seat.
"Okay… this shouldn't be too hard…" she mumbled, sitting down and taking the wheel. What she didn't realize was her control on the ship was about to be taken. Back in the command center, Arthur had just finished his apple, tossing the core that remained behind him. Stretching his fingers, he then swiped screens to display an image of the carrier ship. The Spring Maiden noticed the console screen start to glitch before the keypad appeared, automatically typing a passcode. The 'AUTOPILOT ENGAGED' icon then appeared, followed by the wheel being steered to the right. "Shit!" she cursed in realization, gritting her teeth as she tried to take back control. The ship was continuing its descent toward Mantle. And it seemed like nothing would be able to stop it…
"I repeat, is anybody receiving these messages?" Winter asked as she and Tifa were in the landing of the Atlas Vault, pacing towards the portal as the former was staring at her Scroll, "Can anyone report status on the evacuation?" she questioned on after a moment. She received no response. "Huh…" she sighed, pocketing her device, "I assume you're not getting anything either…" she guessed of her colleague.
"Nope," she replied, putting her own Scroll away, "I get the feeling that a lot more than just comms went wrong…" she admitted grimly.
"So do I…" Winter agreed. She noticed that there were wisps of sand being pulled into the portal, narrowing her eyes onto them.
"Uh, Winter?" Tifa said, getting her attention as they both looked down to see a red luminous dot on the surface in front of them. They were confused for a moment before the dot suddenly moved and climbed up, settling somewhere between the two. The special operative then heard a familiar warbling, letting out a gasp of realization.
"Get back!" she yelled, hopping in front of the bar hostess and conjuring a white glyph, only for a green beam of light to tear right through it, blasting both women back as they tumbled to a stop upon their stomachs. As green flames smoldered around them, they looked up to see James riding the elevator down, holding his smoking cannon aloft. He had what could only be described as a murderous look in his eyes.
"I've chased a lot of shadows over the years…" he pointed out, stepping off of the platform, "always expecting betrayal…" he noted on, "But never once… did I think it would ever come from you…" he mentioned admittedly as he approached the downed pair of women, with Winter staring at him from her kneeling position, holding her saber aloft, "I know what's best for Atlas, and I'm going to do whatever it takes to get that Staff," he declared on with a fierce expression upon his face, "So… consider this my last order," he stated, "Step aside," he said. Both women looked to each other, wondering what they could do. Already, the plan was looking to be falling apart based on how communications were down and how the general had escaped his cell. They couldn't let him get to the staff, not now. He aimed his cannon at them again, launching another powerful green ray of light.
"FIRE PILLAR!" a familiar voice roared, with a column of flames shooting down onto the beam before it could reach the two women, resulting in a strong implosion with ensuing black smoke. James gritted his teeth as he looked up find none other than Sabo landing in between him and his foes. "Sorry, General…" he apologized, drawing his lead pipe as he spun it into a firm grip, "But I'm afraid we can't allow that," he remarked as he tipped his top hat, grinning all the while.
"Sabo…" Winter uttered out. She then painstakingly pulled herself into a standing position. "Tifa, go through the portal," she instructed of the bar hostess, who blinked in surprise, "We'll handle things here," she promised, "Just hurry and help out on the other side," she advised seriously.
"Right, on it!" Tifa responded, pushing herself onto her feet and hurrying off to the portal. James didn't seem to care for her as she vanished into the rift. His only focus was on his former subordinate and the Flame-Flame user beside her.
"So whaddaya say, Ice Queen?" he inquired, imbuing his pipe in the black coating of Armament Haki, "Should we step aside?" he questioned on. The special operative huffed, letting off a grin.
"I've never wavered in fighting the enemies of this kingdom…" she noted, swinging her saber up before deploying the smaller blade from it, catching it in her left hand as she pointed them both at the general, "…And I won't start now…" she declared firmly. James' eyes narrowed ever so slightly as a single tear trickled down his left cheek. The pair facing him noticed the rare display of emotion, but it was already too late. They charged at each other, with the general's charging cannon meeting Winter's swords and Sabo's pipe.
X
Meanwhile, by the portal on Vacuo's side, a crowd of refugees were waiting out the sandstorm, their emotions masked by Ren's semblance. However, his Aura was quickly depleting from having to cover so many people at once. It ultimately dissipated, leaving him panting on his hands and knees.
"I'm spent…" he breathed out.
"There's too many to mask all at once," Kim noted as she crouched down to his side, "We need to be prepared to hold the line," she advised of the others.
"But where's Penny?" Emerald asked as she peered through the sand in the portal's direction, "Couldn't she deal with this storm?" she inquired on, looking over to Oscar and Genji.
"You're right…" the cyborg agreed, "She should've been here by now…" he pointed out to the former farmhand, whose eyes widened in realization.
"Something's wrong…" he said, jogging toward the portal. Kevin and Hazel were standing by it as more refugees were pouring out. One person in particular happened to be Obi-Wan.
"We have a problem!" he called out to his colleagues as Oscar approached with Genji and Kim following.
"What's happening?" the hybrid Osmosian asked.
"Cinder found her way in," the Jedi replied to the group's collective shock, "Everyone still inside is fending her off, including Penny," he told them, "We need to get back in there and help stop her," he insisted.
"Right," Oscar agreed, going up to the portal, "Let's—!" Upon contact with the rift, he was thrown back, sprawled on the sand as he grimaced. Everyone widened their eyes. "What?!" the former farmhand exclaimed, "Why can't I—?!"
'Oh dear…' Ozpin's voice echoed in his head, getting his attention, 'Ambrosius…' he said. A look of realization crossed Oscar's face. When discussing the evacuation plans, including the portal network that the spirit from the Staff of Creation would make, the group had failed to consider their choices thoroughly enough. Or rather, their words were taken more seriously than intended.
Weiss' remarks of the network being a one-way ticket to Vacuo held true. Ambrosius had made the network exactly as was described. And now, anyone who was in Vacuo couldn't go back in.
"Oh, fuck me…" Kevin muttered out after hearing Oscar's explanation.
"What do we do?" Kim asked as she looked around at her colleagues. A sudden unearthly scream was heard in the distance, getting their attentions. Flying through the sandstorm was a flock of shrieking, bat-like Grimm. They had bone-like masks with red markings on them, as well as spikes protruding from their backs, and a bone-like ribcage over their pitch black fur. Additionally, they also had large fangs that interlocked over their jaws. One of them promptly seized a refugee on the ground in its claws, about to carry him away. However, Genji dashed and slashed it instantaneously with his katana, rendering it into ashes as the man fell to the ground, running away and screaming. Many of the people were also terrified, panicking as they braced themselves from the sandstorm and the Grimm.
The group of their protectors traded worried looks too each other. However, Hazel took on a serious expression, stepping out in front of them. He plunged a pair of Electric Dust crystals from his pouches into his shoulders, letting out a grunt as his eyes flashed gold.
"We're holding the line!" he declared, "Don't let a single Grimm get close!" he commanded of his colleagues. With that, everyone drew their weapons. They weren't about to let their plans to save everyone be for nothing…
Are our heroes worthy of saving everyone? The final chapter to this tale is soon approaching. Even I'm not sure how it all ends. But what I can say… is that there's still some semblance of hope.
END
And that'll do it for this chapter! Like I said before, these last final episodes of the volume were kinda what brought the series down overall for me. One of the moments that really would've been more impactful was kinda brought down by how rushed it seemed.
Yang lost her Aura after just one hit? That… didn't seem likely. It ruined what otherwise was a powerful moment. Along with that, I wanted to make our villains seem a bit more strategic.
Cinder usually fights with the sense that she can overwhelm her opponents with pure power, but look where that's got her in the past, especially in this volume. I figured that after she learned her lesson in previous chapters, she'd be more inclined to think of a better counter than just overpowering opponents. I liked how she progressed to this point, as it made sense in my eyes.
Next up is agony, folks. Just pure, unadulterated agony. You all better be ready for the pain ahead. Until next time, I'll see you later!