Worst Case Scenario.
Penny sits alone on an examination table in Pietro's Atlas laboratory. A robotic arm reaches out and gently pats her head, before moving away. She sadly looks at her reflection in a nearby glass wall.
The giant screens in Mantle play a message from Ironwood, while a woman in a red coat nervously carries her child across a street "Citizens of Mantle - Following the most recent Grimm attack, a temporary prohibition of assembly is in place".
The woman holds her child in a more protective manner and watches as three Mantas fly overhead. Some buildings in the city have soldiers stationed atop their roofs.
Ironwood "There are to be no public gatherings of any kind. Please conduct your business and return to your homes before curfew".
Two of the children Jaune previously escorted to school are hiding behind a dumpster in an alleyway, while a soldier and a camera drone pass by.
Ironwood "This is for your own safety".
Two soldiers walk out from behind a corner and see two civilians walking along a sidewalk.
"Hey, stop right there!" One of the soldiers said and the two civilians run away, forcing the soldiers to pursue them "Stop running! Wait!".
Metal bars cover nearby TV screens, which are playing a news broadcast that shows Watts' edited footage of the attack at Robyn's party.
Newscaster "Though military officials have gone on record to say the footage was doctored, many citizens are still insisting that the Protector of Mantle be deactivated".
An armored truck drives past the TV's and continues on its way down the road, while Robyn, Joanna and Fiona follow it via the rooftops. The Atlesian Knight-200 drivers bring the truck to a screeching halt when they find May standing in its path.
"Civilian, you are obstructing an Atlas military operation. Please, step aside" The driver said.
Down the road to the left, a pair of soldiers come running from around a corner to check on the source of screeching tires.
"Everything alright over here?" When the soldiers make it around the corner, they only see an empty intersection "Uhhh, hello?".
May is using her Semblance to project a dome around the truck and the Happy Huntresses, which renders them invisible to all outside the dome. Fiona is sitting on the truck's hood, while Joanna pushes the damaged AK-200 robots out of it. Robyn stands nearby, overseeing them. Fiona places her hand on the truck, and a shockwave travels from the truck to her hand, which shimmers with Aura. The truck begins disintegrating from the back, forward. Fiona jumps down from the hood, and the powder flows into a black hole in her palm, which disappears as she makes a fist.
As soldiers were moving in to investigate, the voice of a woman was heard, humming a gentle tune. This caused the soldiers to suddenly feel very sleepy before passing out on the ground. As the slept, Dorothea walked over them and smiled. No one can resist her singing voice.
Sometime later, Ironwood is in his office, reviewing footage of the truck becoming invisible.
"This is the worst case scenario" He angrily slams his fist on his desk "More people are dead, Penny's been framed, and somehow, Jacques Schnee is sitting on the council".
Ren, Nora, Lucina, Ruby, Qrow, Winter, Ingrid and Clover are present in Ironwood's office.
"That's the second shipment for Amity that was hit today. It seems election night was the last push Robyn needed to go from hometown hero to full-on vigilante" Clover said.
"I'm afraid the problem is more complicated than that" Winter said.
Ironwood sighs and begins pacing behind his desk "It seems Robyn has emboldened our suppliers in Mantle. They're refusing to sell us provisions until the city is adequately repaired. With Robyn redistributing the goods her team has stolen, the Amity Project is completely stalled".
"But we're so close. There has to be some way we can finish the tower" Robyn said desperately.
"There is - declaring martial law" Winter said in a cold tone.
Ruby and Nora's eyes widen, and they look at Ironwood, who stares outside through the window.
"You're not actually considering that, are you?" Nora asked.
"What's more important? Establishing communications, unite the world? Or appeasing a few city blocks?" Ironwood asked.
Nora grew more emotional "Don't make it sound trivial when you know it isn't. You keep talking about how we just need a little more time, but you're not the one having to struggle".
Ironwood turns around to face her "We have all had to make sacrifices for the greater good. Mantle has had to bear a lot of the burden, yes, but-".
Nora interrupts him and approaches his desk, becoming even more upset "They're bearing all of it! The longer this waiting game goes on, the harder each day gets for people down there and now you wanna send in more soldiers? You can't just force people to fall in line. If you do that, you'll just be trading all of these problems for the Grimm!".
"Know your place!" Ingrid said angrily, making Nora look at her in surprise "What you think now that you're a huntress that you know everything? That your new title means you can preach to us like you know better? You are still outsiders, you don't know our kingdom and you sure as hell don't know anything about our struggles. It's easy to act all holier than thou when you've never had to sacrifice anything for the greater good!".
"Ingrid" Ironwood said making his adopted daughter look at him "You've made your point. Now please, calm down and get some rest. You will need it for your next mission".
Ingrid said nothing, she just gave Nora one last glare before walking out of the room. Ironwood watched her leave before he sighs and lowers himself into his chair and rests his face in his hands.
Ruby walks forward to stand next to Nora "Please, General Ironwood. Squeezing Mantle this way… That kind of division plays right into Salem's hands" She rests a hand on Nora's shoulder "That's why Tyrian is here framing you".
"Right, the reason we called you here in the first place. You're sure this was the man you saw?" Clover steps toward Ruby, brings out his Scroll, and presses a button to project a screen that displays a file about Tyrian. The file contains a photograph of Tyrian's face, as well as an image of Tyrian from undercover footage. Portions of the file's text appear to be classified.
Lucina glared at the picture "Oh it's him alright. That hideous face is hard to forget".
"Tyrian Callows was accused of murders all across Anima. A homicidal maniac who escaped justice when his prison transport was attacked by Grimm. After that, he was never seen again" Winter said.
"Well, he works for Salem and he's here" Ruby said.
"If we ever had any doubts Atlas was Salem's next target, I think those are officially out the window" Qrow said.
"But now we have a suspect. We can tell the people" Ruby pointed out.
"That a long-lost serial killer is loose in Mantle and the military has no idea where he is - might make things worse before they get better" Clover said.
Nora groans in frustration "I am so sick of secrets! If we just told everyone about Amity, about Salem-".
"We can't!" Ironwood said sharply and everyone turns to look at him "If we talk about Amity now, we risk Salem's forces, who we know are here, working to sabotage it. If we tell them about Salem now, we risk falling to the Grimm before we can reunite Remnant" He stands up, slamming his hands down onto his desk "We have to finish the tower. I want Robyn Hill in custody".
Lucina, Ruby and Nora look surprised.
"We can offer her a deal if she gets Mantle to cooperate" Ironwood continued.
"We'll figure it out" Clover said.
"Anyone not assisting with Robyn needs to focus on Tyrian" Ironwood begins heading for the door, hands clasped behind his back "I want to know who he's working with, where he's hiding, what he's planning, and how exactly that video of Penny got all over my kingdom" He stops in front of the door and turns to look at everyone as he speaks sternly "Do I make myself clear?".
Clover and Winter "Yes, sir".
"Yes, sir" Lucina, Ruby and Nora give Ren a surprised look, and Ren stares calmly ahead.
In the early evening in Mantle, an armored truck drives along a road, passing by a grocery market.
"Looks like we're approaching 51st" Yang said.
Severa, Blake and Yang are riding inside the cargo area of the truck with their Scrolls in their hands.
Blake is reviewing a file about Robyn's thefts, while Yang is in a video call with Clover "Thanks for the assist on this, you three. Now, we may all be split between different trucks, but we need to be ready to act as one in case Robyn's team takes the bait. If your truck is hit, pursue immediately. Everyone else will move in as fast as possible. Going radio silent. Over".
The video call ends, and Yang collapses her Scroll's screen, looking uncertain "Do you… Do you two think we should've told Ironwood about Salem, before he put so much on the line for Amity?".
"Sounds like you do" Blake answered.
Yang sighs "I trust Ruby, but I think he deserves to know what he's stepping into. We all did".
"You can say that again" Severa said.
Blake remains quiet, her cat ears folding over a little. Yang turns and looks at her "You don't agree".
Blake collapses her Scroll and puts it away "Look around. The embargo, the military presence, the restrictions on assembly. He's a bit prone to overreacting".
"The constant threat of the grimm, not to mention what happened at the rally. Yeah, I see why someone could overreact to that" Severa said.
"Yeah, hard to argue with that. Still, he didn't have a lot of good options" Yang said.
"I'm not sure there are many good options left for any of us anymore. Keeping secrets, taking lives? It makes you wonder how far we're gonna have to go to keep doing the right thing" Blake said.
Severa's face grew dark "Well thanks for bringing that up".
Blake gasped "I'm sorry Severa, I'm not judging you for that".
"Well that makes one of us" Severa said grimly.
"Severa" Yang said and Severa looks at her "You did... what you had to do".
"Don't sugar coat me, Yang!" Severa said angrily "I killed someone, plain a simple. I have blood on my hands that can never be washed away, no matter how much I try".
Her hands shake and Blake gently takes them in to her own "I know. But next time, I wanna make sure we don't have to, and I can tell you, ambushing a Huntress who's just trying to help isn't an option I'm thrilled about choosing".
"Then, maybe we shouldn't" Blake's cat ears stand upright, and she looks at Yang.
Severa looks at her for a moment before she understood what she meant "No, no way! We are not doing that! Not after all the secrets we kept from Ironwood".
"Taking Robyn in to custody will only make Mantle even more hostile. Maybe if we tell her the truth, she will be more reasonable" Yang argued.
"Or we risk handing classified information right in to the hands of one of Salem's agents" Severa shot back.
"Severa, that's ridiculous" Blake said.
"Is it? How many times have we been tricked by someone we thought we could trust? Cinder and her flunkies walked all over us, Lionhart was the freaking headmaster and even he was spooked over to Salem's side!" Severa pointed out "I've learned my lessons, it's going to take a lot more than a friendly smile and some cleverly chosen words to make me trust Robyn".
"She knew Lucina's father. Remember she told us about that. If Lucina trusts her, then why can't you?" Yang asked.
"Ozpin knew Chrom too, and we know how trustworthy he was" Severa reminded before she stood up "If you want to become hypocrites and reveal Ironwood's secrets while keeping your own. Then I refuse to be a part of it".
With her mind spoken, Severa opens the back and jumps out of the moving truck.
"Severa!" Blake called after her but it was to late.
Yang looked down. She really expected her cousin would back them up on this... she did not expect that she would be completely against it.
Severa had climbed a building and was looking over the city. She really hoped Yang and Blake wouldn't actually go through with their stupid plan. They knew next to nothing about Robyn, surely they didn't believe she could be trusted that easily. She heard someone approaching her from behind.
"Blake, is that-" She began as she turned around but stopped when she noticed it wasn't Blake.
Dorothea smiled at her "Hello there, afraid I'm not this Blake you speak of".
"You are one of Robyn's happy huntresses. Sorry but I'm gonna have to ask you to come with me" Severa said as she put a hand on her sword.
"Oh, aren't you the bold one. At least by me dinner first" Dorothea said playfully.
Severa pulls her sword out "Sorry, but I'm spoken for".
"What a shame. Still I'm afraid I can't let you bother my friends" Dorothea said calmly.
Severa looked ready to fight, but Dorothea began humming a calmly tune again and Severa felt her body becoming sluggish.
"What... are you doing...?" Severa asked as she fell to her knees.
Dorothea kept singing her tune as she gently laid Severa down who couldn't stay awake anymore and slowly drifted of to sleep.
"Sorry, I'm more of a lover than a fighter. Good thing I honed my semblance all these years" Dorothea said before contacting her friends "I've dealt with the Huntress, you are free to move in".
Once again, May stands in the middle of the road, causing an armored truck to stop. Robyn opens the back doors. Her eyes widen, her shoulders tense, and she lets out a small startled noise. Yang and Blake are standing in the doorway with their hands up in surrender.
"Robyn-" Yang began but was cut short.
Robyn turns and waves her hand to signal her Huntresses "Scramble!".
"No, wait!" Blake called out.
Robyn and the other Happy Huntresses flee, and Blake and Yang chase after Robyn "Split up, and regroup at the hideout".
Robyn runs across a busy road, just as cars begin speeding by. She runs down an alley, while Blake looks up at a balcony across the street. Blake throws her kusarigama at the balcony and uses it to swing across the street and into the alleyway, where she gives chase. She swings the kusarigama and throws it at Robyn, who leaps over it, runs up a wall, and leaps across the alley, dodging another of Blake's attempts to hook her. Robyn tucks, rolls, and turns to face Blake while deploying her crossbow.
She fires three bolts in rapid succession, and Blake dodges them "Please stop, we just want to-".
Robyn charges forward and swings her weapon's bladed wings at Blake, who blocks it with her katana. She swings again, but Blake blocks with her cleaver. Robyn spins around, places her foot on Blake's leg, and uses it to leap into the air while pushing Blake down. She raises her weapon up and slashes downward as she descends. Blake puts both of her swords up to block and deploys a clone mixed with Fire Dust. Blake then fires her gun at the fire clone while she leaps back, just as Robyn brings her weapon down on the clone, causing it to explode. During the explosion, Robyn blocks with her weapon, and Blake does a couple of back-handsprings.
Yang jumps down from a roof to Robyn's right and attempts to grab Robyn in her arms as she lands, but Robyn leaps away. Yang straightens up and shoots three fire bullets at Robyn, who blocks them with her weapon. Once the fire bullets are done hitting Robyn's weapon, Blake approaches her and swings her katana, causing Robyn to step back and dodge it. Immediately afterward, Blake bends down, allowing Yang to run up her back and leap over Robyn, firing a bullet at her from above, which Robyn blocks.
Yang flips over Robyn and lands behind her, while Blake straightens up and spins around to slash with her katana. Robyn blocks the katana with her leg and then blocks a bullet-backed punch from Yang with her weapon a fraction of a second later. She turns to Blake while pushing Yang away, causing the latter to stumble. She then fires a crossbow bolt at Blake, who blocks it with her swords.
Robyn turns around to face Yang, who has steadied herself, while Blake sheathes her cleaver and shifts her katana into kusarigama mode. Robyn slashes at Yang, who blocks with her gauntlet. Blake throws her kusarigama, and Robyn leans out of its way. Yang catches the sickle and pulls, while Blake leaps toward Robyn. Blake puts her feet out in front of her, being pulled by Yang, and once her feet plant themselves against Robyn's abdomen, Blake kicks off from her, sending her into a circular pavilion. Robyn slides to a stop and backs away, while Blake and Yang run to meet with her.
She glares at them from the shadows, gripping her arm "If Ironwood wants me, he'll have to send more than a couple of kids".
"He is. Stopping the trucks alerted the Ace-Ops. We don't have long before they arrive, so please listen to us. You need to know the truth" Yang said.
"You're stalling" Robyn said.
"Amity Colosseum, all these supplies, they're for…" Blake pauses and looks to Yang, who nods to her "They're for a new communications tower".
Robyn looked confused "That doesn't make any sense".
"A new tower means the kingdoms can finally-" Yang began explaining but Robyn held up a hand to stop her.
"I know what the tower means, Fisticuffs" Robyn steps out of the shadows and into the moonlight, extending her hand to Blake and Yang "One of you take my hand".
"What?" Yang asked confused.
"You said time is short. Either take it, or I'm gone" Robyn said, Yang looks at Blake with uncertainty. Blake cautiously walks forward and takes Robyn's hand. Pale lilac Aura manifests over their hands and forearms "Tell me again what is Ironwood building out in the tundra?".
"A new communications tower. He's trying to help... everyone" Blake answered.
The Aura abruptly turns green, and Robyn lets go of Blake's hand in surprise, the Aura quickly returning to its former lilac color as she does so "You're telling the truth".
Blake backs away, looking at her own hand in surprise as Yang smirks "Handy Semblance".
"Why keep that a secret?" Robyn asked.
"Because he doesn't know who he can trust. Atlas isn't out to get anybody. The people murdering civilians in Mantle are just trying to make it look that way. And if those same people learn about Amity, they'd do everything in their power to destroy it" Blake explained.
"So, who are "they"? Who's actually behind this?" Robyn demanded.
Harriet speaks over the communicator "Yang, Blake, Severa, where are you?".
"We can't tell you that part yet" Yang said.
Robyn glares "Bullsh-".
Yang takes a few steps toward Robyn "Look, we are trusting you, so trust us when we say that Amity Tower needs to stay a secret until it's done. We just need a little more time".
They hear soldiers' voices echoing in the distance "This way, come on, over here. We saw them over this way".
"Run, we'll throw them off" Blake runs away. After a moment, Robyn backs away into the shadows.
"I won't stop until I know the whole truth" Robyn runs off, and after a couple seconds, Yang runs in the opposite direction.
"Severa... Severa!" Said girl blinks as she finally woke up and noticed Blake looking down on her "Thank goodness you are ok. Got worried when you didn't answer your scroll. What happened?".
Severa groans as she sits up "One of Robyn's huntresses found me. It seems her semblance allows her to put people to sleep by simply singing to them. Where is Robyn?".
"She's gone" Blake answered.
Severa looked at her "Blake... please tell me you didn't...".
Blake closed her eyes for a second "Yes... we did. She knows the truth now".
"Seriously Blake!" Severa said, she really hoped Blake and Yang wouldn't do something so stupid.
"We did what we had to. You can be mad at me as much as you want, Severa. I don't regret my choice" Blake said, refusing to just let Severa rage on her.
"Well let's see if you can still say the same once we and all our friends ends up in prison!" Severa said as she stood up.
"What do you mean?" Blake asked.
"What do I-!? Blake when Ironwood finds out what you and Yang did, not if WHEN! We all could all be branded traitors and end up arrested" Severa said before looking at Blake in disbelief "You... you didn't think about that... You just put us all on a very dangerous landmine and you didn't even know it!".
"I... I'm sorry Severa. We only wanted to help everyone, I swear we never meant to endanger anyone" Blake said.
Severa sighed "Blake... I love you, but Gawds you can be such an idiot sometimes".
"I know... you... you won't break up with me over this, right?" Blake asked in worry.
"Are you daft? Of course not, I will stick with you forever, even in prison. But I would prefer not to go there" Severa said "And don't worry, I won't tell anyone about this".
Blake smiled in relief "Thank you Severa".
"You owe me big time... Let's just hope we survive long enough for me to collect" Severa said as she looked over the city.
Blake took her hand as she stood next to her. Things were looking really unpredictable right now. All they could do was hope that things works out.
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Cut out the parts I didn't feel I could add anything to.
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Tell me what you think.
