Haven's Fate.
Outside on the quad of Haven Academy, the battle between the White Fang and the Menagerie Faunus as well as the Mistral police force continues.
One of the Mistral airships shines its searchlight on three White Fang soldiers "Cease fire, immediately!".
The three try to run away, but they are stopped by a combined group of Menagerie Faunus and Mistral policemen led by Ilia. Eventually, two of the White Fang soldiers drop their weapons and hold their hands in the air to surrender when they are surrounded. The last White Fang soldier tries to fire his weapon, but it is whipped out of his hands by Lightning Lash and he is tackled to the ground by Ilia who restrains him.
A Female Rabbit Faunus smiles at her "Thank you".
Ilia looks at the rabbit Faunus and smiles and nods back. Elsewhere, Blake stands proudly over Adam, who was on his knees before standing back up.
Adam was seething "I'm going to make you regret ever coming back...".
"More police are on their way, Adam. Huntsmen too" Blake said.
Adam chuckles evilly "Still too afraid to face me on your own".
"I'm here for Haven, not you" Blake answered.
Angered, Adam points Blush at Blake with Wilt in his left hand, while Blake draws Gambol Shroud "Heh, you are still afraid, and you should be. I've made powerful friends while you've been away".
"Oh yeah?" Adam look to his left as Sun approaches him holding his weapons in its staff form "Where?".
"Yeah, I don't see anyone who could possibly want to be your friend" Lyre said as she approaches the group.
Adam points Wilt towards them "Tell me, does Blake make all of her classmates fight for her?".
"Nah, it's a volunteer gig. I'm just sayin', for someone who claims to have such great friends, there doesn't seem to be a lot of people here willing to fight for you" Sun said.
Adam looks around, seeing his followers surrendering to the overwhelming numbers of forces Blake brought with her, only proving Sun's point right. A searchlight then shines down on him.
"You can try and make me regret coming here, Adam, but honestly... I've got more important things to deal with" Blak said.
Adam lets out a frustrated growl and swings his sword at Sun, but the monkey Faunus counters his attacks by swinging his shotgun nunchucks. Adam then blocks Blake's sword swings as she comes at him, followed up by Adam getting hit in the face by Sun, and Lyre delivers a kick to his back, causing him to tumble across the ground. Adam bolts, with Sun giving chase.
Adam runs away into the bushes and trees while Sun moves to follow, but Blake calls out to him "Sun, wait!".
"But he's getting away! We could take him!" Sun said.
Blake sheaths her katana "No, we can't. He wants to lure us away so he can pick us off. We need to protect the school and the people here. Besides... now he can see what it feels like to run away. Thank you".
Sun smiles "Eh, we all need help sometimes" Sun's attention is then drawn to Haven's Great Hall where he and Blake see their old friends and allies fighting off their enemies "I think there's a few people who could use yours".
Sun is about to run off to help finish the fight, but Blake stops him before he leaves "Be careful".
"No promises" Sun runs off as Blake smiles at his last remark.
"Ok Blake, time to end this. Our friends needs us" Lyre said and Blak nods before both runs to finish the fight.
Back inside the Great Hall, Zelgius and Hazel clash. Zelgius swings his blade several times while Hazel dodged it before grabbing Zelgius sword arm and tried punching him with his free hand. But Zelgius used his own free hand to catch Hazel's fist and headbutted him in the face, causing him to stagger. Zelgius used the opening to stab through Hazel's side. Despite the pain, Hazel just let out a furious roar before delivering a hard punch to Zelgius' armored chest, making him slide back.
Zelgius rubs his chest "Still fighting after taking so much punishment... What incredible willpower".
Ozpin walks up next to him "We just need to get him to his limit!".
"Does he even have one?" Bernadetta asked.
Suddenly, Blake and Lyre jumps in and kicks Hazel to the ground before jumping next to their teammates.
"Are you hurt?" Blake asked.
Weiss looked surprised "N-No! I just remembered you being more of the quiet one".
Líf, Hazel, Emerald, and Mercury slowly advance toward them.
"Not today" Blake draws Gambol Shroud, while Ruby holds up Crescent Rose.
"Alright" Weiss holds Myrtenaster defensively "Well, what's the plan, Ruby?".
Ruby nods as Lionheart tries to aim Stalwart from his perch, but Ruby shoots at his shoulder. His Aura flickers before he runs out of the room through the doors behind him in fear.
Mercury watches Lionheart run away "You've gotta be kidding me...".
Hazel lets out a fearsome roar, while Líf, Emerald and Mercury silently watch him.
Ruby calls out their team attack "Checkmate!".
Blake and Weiss run forward, followed closely behind by their leader.
"Lucina! We got this! Don't let that traitor get away!" Severa said as she stood ready.
"You sure?" Lucina asked.
"Yes! If he escapes, he might never face justice for all the people that died because of him. Trust us, Lucina" Bernadetta said with surprising confidence.
Lucina looks at her teammates before smiling "Be sure to give them a good thrashing. That's an order".
"You got it boss!" Severa said before rushing to join the battle.
Lucina smiled in pride. Her team was amazing. She then hurries to follow Lionheart.
"Good to see you, Lyre" Bernadetta said.
Lyre smiles at her "Likewise. Expect a big hug when this is over. But for now, we have trash to take out".
Bernadetta nods and they join the fight.
Lionheart bursts into his office and runs behind his desk, frantically opening drawers trying to look for something. Suddenly, he hears ominous clicking noises, and looks up to notice a Seer floating menacingly in front of his desk.
A familiar voice comes from it "And where might you be going?".
Lionheart began stammering "Uh, your grace! I was just looking for something".
"Leonardo, do you have something you wish to tell me?" Salem asked in a calm yet dangerous tone.
Lionheart doesn't say anything for a bit, before telling Salem his response "It was Cinder! She altered the plan! Huntsmen showed up here! Qrow! Several students, two with the Silver Eyes! The White Fang attack, it was stopped! I don't know that they'll be able to recover the Relic... Your grace, I can still be of assistance! If I leave now, I- I can avoid the authorities and come find you, I'll do whatever it takes!... Your grace?".
Out of options, Lionheart aims his weapon at the Seer, but it uses one of its tentacles to knock it off his wrist. Lionheart tries to run, but the Seer wraps one of its tentacles around Lionheart's ankle, causing him to trip and fall.
Lionheart began begging pathetically "Please, ma'am! I'll do anything! I can still be useful!" The Seer aims its sharp tentacles at Lionheart. He tries to crawl away, but more tentacles wrap around his body "Please! PLEEEAAASE!" Despite his pleas, Lionheart is dragged towards the Seer. The sound of a stab can be heard "Please...".
Lionheart's dying breath can be heard as another stab is heard as well.
Moments later, Lucina barged in, having heard Lionheart's screams... Only to realize she was to late as she saw Lionheart's dead body on the floor. She noticed the Seer and quickly raised her blade.
"Well, this is certainly a surprise. But not and unwelcoming one" Salem said.
"You... You're Salem" Lucina realized.
"Indeed. Sorry I could not be here in person, I am a busy woman" Salem said.
Lucina glares at the Seer "To bad, I would love for a chance to make you pay for everything you did".
"Such anger. Seems you didn't inherit your mother's calm nature" Salem said.
Lucina growls when she mentioned her mother "Leave her out of this! Don't speak like you know her!".
Salem chuckled "Oh dear child. I know her better than you do".
"What does that mean?" Lucina demanded.
"I could tell you. But I would much rather we had this talk in person. And now that I know you are involved in all this, you just spared me the trouble of having to find you. Don't worry, we will meet each other soon enough" Salem said before the Seer suddenly died and vanished in smoke.
Lucina looks at the vanishing grimm... Unnerved by having spoken to Salem... and worried about what she was talking about.
Meanwhile, Ozpin is bracing himself on his cane near an exhausted Qrow while Ruby and her friends hold off their opponents, who are all exhausted as well.
"That's enough! Just give up" Ruby demanded.
Mercury snarls and yells in frustration, slamming his fist into the ground. Líf is leaning on his blade barely able to even move.
Emerald glares at the heroes "It's not over! Cinder will come back, she'll have the Relic, and she'll stop all of you! She won't let us down".
The platform leading to the vault is heard coming back up. Everyone stares as Yang comes back up with the Relic of Knowledge in her hand. Emerald looks in surprise as Cinder didn't come back up. All of Yang's friends look up to her and smile.
"Yang..." Ruby said.
Hazel seethes while tears stream from Emerald's eyes. Yang smiles back down to her friends and shares a brief glance with Blake, who looks down for a bit before looking back up to her. Emerald falls to her knees and begins to sob. Líf, Mercury and Hazel slowly back away.
"Emerald, get up, we need to go" Mercury said, Emerald shakes her head and remains stationary "Emerald!",
Emerald looks around as her breathing gets frantic. She holds her head and lets out a loud scream, activating her Semblance. Suddenly, the room turns dark as black smoke rises from the ground nearby. From it, a giant effigy of Salem, limbs bent and deformed, towers above everyone in the room. The giant Salem opens her eyes, and lets out an ear-piercing scream as it swoops down over everyone. The screen goes black for a moment. Afterwards, everything returns to normal, Ruby shakes in fear as she comes to terms with what she had just witnessed. Everyone in the room is still present, with the exception of villains, who have disappeared.
"Wha- what was that?" Blake asked.
"An illusion. But an accurate one. That... was Salem" Ozpin answered.
"She looked even scarier than I imagined" Bernadetta said.
"Yeah... But the bastards got away" Severa said in disappointment.
"Yeah, but we still won the battle. Have is safe. It's over, for now" Qrow said.
Blake sighs in relief now that the battle is over, before she hears the sounds of her parents and Sun run into the great hall. The Belladonnas share a hug together while Sun looks on.
"The police rounded up the remaining White Fang members. Haven is safe" Kali said.
"Unfortunately, it appears that Adam escaped" Ghira added.
"It's okay" Ilia said while walking into the building alongside Lethe "He was the only one to escape tonight. Those in the White Fang that followed him? Won't support a leader that abandons his people. He won't have their help after this. He'll have no one at all. And the White Fang will be left divided".
"For all his talk about helping the faunus, he only used us for his own end... And then he just abandon us" Lethe said in anger.
"We've been fighting amongst ourselves for too long. Perhaps it's time for a new brotherhood. A new family for Faunus truly working towards a better world" Ghira said.
Kali smiles at him "And they'll need a new leader".
Ghira nods in acknowledgement "Looks like Zelgius is gone".
"He warped away soon after those bad guys vanished. I have a feeling he won't oppose you in the future" Lethe said.
Sun peeks behind Ghira and notices his old friends from Beacon, waving to them. He then wraps his tail around Blake to turn her around and have her see her old friends too. She slowly walks towards them nervously while Sun and her parents smile. Yang walks down the stairs and hands the Relic to her uncle.
"What happened?" Qrow asked.
"I don't know exactly. When I got down there, Cinder was gone, and Vernal was dead" Yang answered.
"And Raven?" Qrow asked.
Yang looked down "Gone".
"Well, we're all glad you're still here, firecracker" Qrow said while placing an assuring hand on Yang's shoulder.
Yang looks around "Where is Mareeta?".
Qrow looks around as well "She must've slipped away when we were distracted... Doubt we'll be seeing her again anytime soon".
Yang looked sad at that, she was hoping Mareeta could be convinced to join them. Suddenly, Ruby groans and falls to her knees.
Weiss catches her "Are you okay?".
Ruby sighs "I feel like I should be asking you guys".
They both look up to see Blake approaching them. Yang walks over and drops to her sister's side.
"So Blake, what're you doing here?" Ruby asked.
Blake looked away awkwardly "I... I was gonna ask you three the same thing".
Ruby, Weiss, and Yang, share glances with each other.
"That's... a looooong story" Ruby said.
"Well... I'm not going anywhere" Blake said.
"That's all that matters" Ruby said before giggling "That we're all here together. Right?".
Ruby looks to Yang as she says that. Blake briefly looks away with a sorrowful expression on her face.
Yang looks up at her and smiles "Yeah".
Blake looks back over to them and smiles. Weiss offers a hand out to her, and the cat Faunus eagerly joins in to Team RWBY's first group hug after a long time of being apart. The four girls embrace each other while their friends look on smiling.
Meanwhile, Lucina returns and before she could even react, Lyre tackles her to the floor in a strong hug.
Lucina grunts but smiles as she rubs Lyre's back "Missed you too Lyre".
"You haven't changed at all since I last saw you. Even your breasts are still flat" Lyre said, earning a punch from a now blushing Lucina.
"And you are still an idiot!" Lucina said.
Lyre only smiles sheepishly... Before members of team LSBL shared a good laugh, God knows they needed it after everything that's happened. Once their laughter died down, they all shared a long overdue group hug.
Qrow, still holding the Relic, then approaches a panting Oscar, who is kneeling on the ground "I don't know how, but we did it, Oz. You okay?".
"I'm alright" Oscar answered.
Qrow blinks "Kid?".
"He's resting. Too much energy fighting" Oscar said while panting.
"Hey, don't strain yourself!" Qrow said.
"No! He had... a message..." Oscar said, taking a few more pants before continuing "We must... get the Lamp to... Atlas".
Oscar groans and falls, but Qrow catches him. He lays the exhausted farm boy on the ground and looks over as Team RWBY finishes their embrace. Qrow then stands back up, and looks to the Relic he holds in his hand.
After the teams had their much needed reunion, it was time for other reunions. Blake looks at Severa who looked back at her. With some urging from their teammates they finally walked up to each other. There was a very awkward silence.
"Severa, I-" Blake began before receiving a hard slap from Severa, which caused everyone nearby to winch.
"That was for leaving me you stupid idiot!" Severa said in anger, making Blake look down in guilt... before she was surprised by Severa hugging her "And this... Is for coming back".
Blake quickly hugged her back "I'm sorry Severa... I'm so sorry... I... I'll understand if you don't want to be with me anymore...".
Severa pulls back and looks at her "You... broke your promise Blake... It will take a while before I can forgive you for that... But I am willing to give you one final chance... if you bother to stick around this time".
"I won't leave you again... I will never hurt you again... I promise" Blake said, though she had a feeling Severa will need more than a promise.
"You will have your chance to prove it... Don't waste it" Severa said, the pain of being abandoned was still there, but it was also clear Severa still loved her.
"I won't... If you don't mind I..." Blake said before shyly motioning to her lips.
Severa blushed but kissed Blake anyway. Yup they still loved each other. While the two of them kissed, Lyre moves next to Weiss.
"So Weiss... I don't have a big speech prepared for you but-" Lyre began but Weiss grabbed her face.
"Just be quiet" Weiss said before kissing her right on the lips. Lyre was surprised but quickly kissed back.
Ruby and Yang looked at each other before both smiled and decided to go and kiss their own girlfriends. Qrow rolls his eyes but smiled anyway. All in all it was an happy end to a major ordeal.
Back in Patch. Tai is tending to his garden. He then hears the sound of flapping bird feathers and notices a falling black feather. Taiyang sighs before he hears another sound. He looks and noticed someone hiding behind a tree. Without a word the mysterious figure walked out from behind the trees.
It was Mareeta... And she looked broken. Taiyang looked at her for several moments... Before understanding who she was... and why she was here.
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Finally, Volume 5 is over. And boy am I excited to begin Volume 6. I have something massive planned for that Volume.
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But until then, tell me what you think.
