RWBY: Team CRML

Chapter 62

Minutes later

Liam

With Marek down helping with the Grimm invasion, Liam, Clover and Qrow were still fighting the Teryx. As Liam shot one from the sky, Clover pressed his fingers against his ear. "Okay, yes sir, understood, over and out."

"New orders?" Qrow asked.

"Let's go."

"What's going on?" Liam asked.

"Tyrian is going to be targeting Robyn." Clover replied. "We're going to head over and stop him.

Minutes later

Watching Robyn from the rooftops, she headed down a nearby alleyway alone. Suddenly, Tyrian jumps down into the alley behind her, and she turns and aims her crossbow at him.

"Robyn Hill. For such a little bird, you have quite the impact around here!" Tyrian said, playfully. Robyn fires a crossbow bolt at his head, which he leans and twists to the right to avoid. He turns to face her again and begins walking toward her. "Bringing hope and a smile wherever you go!" Tyrian said, this time aggressively. Robyn fires another bolt, but he catches it between his index and middle fingers.

"I find it…upsetting." Tyrian turns the bolt to hold it in his hand and then bends it with his thumb. With a flick of his wrist, he tosses the bolt away while simultaneously deploying the blades on his weapon. Laughing maniacally, he charges toward her, deflecting two more crossbow bolts with his blades. Just as he approaches her, Clover intervenes with his fish hook, but he knocks it away and hops backward, landing with his tail propping him up. He looks in the direction the hook came from.

"Huh?" He then looks at Robyn, as Qrow, Liam and Clover drop down behind her.

"Sorry Callows, I really wanted to pummel you on my own, but the General insisted I share." Robyn said.

Qrow and Clover walk forward to stand beside Robyn, with Qrow drawing his weapon and Clover resting his fishing pole on his shoulder. Liam brought up the rear, the blade of his weapon slowly being engulfed by ice.

"Well, you're not the only one with a grudge." Clover said. While Clover speaks, Qrow aims his gun at Tyrian.

"You'll both have to get in line." Qrow told them.

Tyrian glares at them and growls. "Tyrian Callows, you're under arrest." Clover said.

"Not yet." another voice echoed in the alley. Looking back, Liam was grabbed by Mist. She held her halberd against his neck. "Now, hand Robyn over."

Liam pulled against Mist's halberd before smashing the back of his head against Mist's nose. Stumbling away, Mist quickly recovered. "Okay." suddenly, a pair of black wings sprouted from her back. Liam went to slash at her, but she jumped to the side. Grabbing Liam's arm, she pulled him into the air. Flying higher into the air, she began heading for the tundra.

With his free hand, Liam slashed at Mist, getting her to drop him. Falling to the ground below, Liam changed into his avian form before changing back as he got closer to the ground.

Mist was close behind, landing near Liam and readying herself. "So, the wings new?" Liam asked. "I couldn't help but notice you didn't have them before."

"You like 'em?" Mist asked. "Watts perfected his Grimm DNA treatments. New and improved!"

Liam replied by firing a shot at Mist which she easily blocked with her halberd. "No monologue or chitchat?" she asked sarcastically. "Just right to the point, huh?"

Liam rushed Mist and locked with her halberd. Quickly pushing him back, Liam slashed only for Mist to block it. The two traded blows, each blocking and deflecting their attacks.

Jumping back as Liam slashed, Mist used her wings to fly a bit off the ground before dive bombing Liam, tackling him to the ground and pushing the hilt of her halberd into his neck. Pushing Mist off, she flipped over onto her back.

The two rolled onto their stomachs, each pointing the barrel of their gun at each other. Mist fired off a shot just as Liam rolled to the side. Aiming his weapon at her, she pushed it away with her hand before aiming at him herself. Kicking the barrel of her gun upwards, Liam changed his weapon back to its sword form. Using a gravity dust cartridge, the blade of his sword turned black.

Swinging it at Mist, the gravity dust sent her rolling away. Coming to a stop, Mist slowly got to her feet. "Guess... I'm not... the only one... sporting upgrades." she said with a chuckle.

Liam rushed Mist and as he got near, he swung his blade. However, Mist's image faded as his blade went right through.

Looking around, he was hit from behind. Turning to face Mist, he stopped as he realized he was back on Beacon Tower. Pyrrha was on her knees with Cinder aiming an arrow at her chest.

"You couldn't save her." Mist's voice echoed.

Cinder let go, the arrow piercing Pyrrha's chest.

The scene replayed over and over again as Liam fell to his knees, his breathing beginning to quicken. He felt like he couldn't catch his breath.

Clutching his chest, Mist appeared behind him, her weapon raised.

As she brought it down, a shot rang out, hitting Mist in the shoulder and causing the image before Liam to fade. Clover, Robyn and Qrow arrived with Tyrian restrained. Pointing their weapons at Mist, she slowly sheathed her weapon. "Guess this'll have to wait."

She flew upwards and back towards the city. Seeing her leave, Qrow rushed over to his son. "Liam, Liam, you okay?"

Catching his breath, Liam slowly sat back on his knees. "Yeah." he took a slow, shaky breath. "I'm fine."

Minutes later

Chrome/Nicci

Following Winter and Penny, Winter suddenly stopped. "Yes, sir?" there was a pause. "N-no." after a few more seconds Winter suddenly began sprinting towards the school. Chrome and Nicci followed.

Marek

Following Ruby and her team back up to Atlas after clearing the Grimm, the five of them, along with the Ace-Ops, entered the academy and went up to Ironwood's office. "

General Ironwood.

Ironwood turns his chair to face them. "We have made a critical error." He places a queen chess piece made of black glass on his desk. "The Black Queen was the symbol Salem showed us before we lost everything. Her way of telling us she was inside. That it was too late. We stopped Watts. We stopped Callows, but someone was here. They put this in my office to tell me that-" A look of realization crosses his face. "What if Mantle was just a distraction? What if it was just to draw us away from the academy to, to-"

"Sir. I-it's going to be okay. We've got Mantle on our side now, and-"

"How do we know that wasn't part of their plan?" Ironwood shouted. He brings his hand down on his desk and stands up. Ruby and Weiss look at him with concern, while Blake and Yang look at him tensely.

"How do we know they didn't want us to bring people into Atlas by the thousands?" Ironwood asked.

"In trying to save everyone, we left ourselves most vulnerable." Elm said.

"Salem has been one step ahead of us this entire time!" Ironwood angrily slams his fist down on his desk, denting it. The impact bounces Watts' bag and the chess piece, and the latter falls over and rolls across the desk, emitting the characteristic noises of glass. Ruby steps forward, staring at the chess piece.

"It's… glass." Vine, Marrow, Elm and Harriet look at Ruby, uncertain of what she means. "Black glass. This was Cinder."

"She's alive? And she's here?!" Yang shouted.

"If Cinder's here, then, for all we know, Hazel's here, too!"

"Sir, this isn't over yet. We're with you." Blake said. She places her hand to her chest and gives Ironwood an encouraging look. He looks at her and straightens up, his voice gaining an ominously serious tone.

"Are you with me?"

Blake's cat ears fold over, and Ironwood walks around to stand next to his desk where Watts' bag is, while Vine and Marrow look confused.

"Sir?"

Blake backs up to stand in line with her teammates again, her ears still folded over.

"How did Robyn know about the Global Communications Project?" he asked.

The Ace Operatives look at Team RWBY. Blake and Yang look nervous. Yang looks to the side in thought for a moment, then looks at Ironwood.

"We told her. The night of the ambush."

"You did what?!" Elm shouted.

"We were trying to help." Yang said.

Something inside of Watts' bag pushes outward.

"By going behind our backs?" Harriet walks over to Yang, glaring at her. Blake's cat ears are standing up again, alert. "Wait. Does that mean you let her escape?"

"Robyn is on our side! She always has been."

"We didn't know that for sure."

The thing inside of Watts' bag presses outward again. Weiss grips her head. "None of this matters right now!" Marek shouted.

"Loyalty always matters!" Ironwood shouted back, twice as loud.

Suddenly, red tentacles spring forth beside Ironwood, who yelps and moves away, drawing and aiming his white revolver at the Seer that has emerged from Watts' bag. Everyone else in the room steps backward with widened eyes. Ruby gasps, Yang brings her fists up and Marek places a hand on his weapon. The Seer rises up high in front of the desk, and Salem's voice comes from it.

"General Ironwood."

The Seer's tentacles tense and curl up, and it trembles, emitting a high-pitched screech as its head cracks. Ironwood watches in fear, backing up against a wall with his gun still aimed at the Grimm. The Seer withdraws its tentacles against itself, turns over, and drops to the floor, the red smoke inside of its head fading away. It bounces down the steps, stopping in front of Team RWBY, and black smoke pours from the crack, swirling into the air and forming an apparition of Salem. Her voice echoes out from the apparition as it speaks.

"The brave Huntsmen and Huntresses bested Arthur Watts. Congratulations."

Weiss, Blake and Yang stare at her in fear. Ruby speaks up, showing no fear.

"We stopped Tyrian, too. And we'll stop Cinder, and anyone else you try to send here." Ruby told her.

"Dear girl, their goal was never victory. It was merely to set the stage." Salem replied.

"For what?"

Salem turns her head to look at Ironwood and smiles.

"For me."

The Salem apparition drifts over to Ironwood. "Time isn't on your side, James. It's always been on mine. The people of Atlas have suffered enough. Surrender the Staff and the Lamp to me, and they needn't suffer any further."

Ironwood lowers his gun. "That's… not going to happen."

The Salem apparition leans down to look him in the eyes. "Simply accept the futility of your situation…" She shows him a soft and gentle-looking smile. "And this can all be over."

"We've seen what you're capable of. The lamp showed us." Salem's feigned smile disappears, and she straightens up. Ruby is staring confidently at her. "It showed us everything." Salem turns her head to look at Ruby, and then the rest of her body turns as well. "We've seen that you can't be killed. But we've also seen you fail."

Salem stares at Ruby with narrowed eyes. She drifts across the floor to hover in front of Ruby. "We don't have to kill you to stop you. And we will stop you."

"Your mother said those words to me."

Ruby loses her confident expression. "My… mother?"

"She was wrong, too." Salem said.

Ruby begins crying and quickly lowers her head and presses her hands to her eyes. Ruby frantically wipes her tears away. Her silver eyes flicker a couple of times, and then she yelps as her eyes emit a brief flash. She whimpers, gripping her head and swaying. Salem watches as Ruby drops to her knees, sobbing and whimpering with her head in her hands. Yang hurries to Ruby's side and drops to her knees beside her, and Ruby leans over to rest her head on Yang's lap. Yang rests her hands on Ruby, looking distraught, and Blake kneels down beside her with the tips of her cat ears folded, while Weiss watches with wide eyes.

Feeling his anger rise, Marek stepped forward. "You're a monster!" he growled at her. "How many people have you hurt for this...goal of yours?!"

Salem looked down at Marek. "My dear son. You're choosing the wrong path." as Salem spoke, Ironwood and the Ace-Ops stared at Marek.

"I'm not your fucking son!" Marek growled. "You killed my parents and replaced my memories of them! You kidnapped me and my sister! I'm going to cut your head off and bury it in cement! You might not be dead but you'll wish you were!"

Salem looked at Marek with sorrow. "We'll see."

With that, the apparition of Salem vanished.

"That's Salem?! That's who we're up against?!"

"And she's apparently on her way."

"But we'd be alerted if any forces had approached the Kingdom. We have long-range proximity alarms all along the coast, and-"

"They're offline. With all of the chaos, we didn't notice."

"Watts must have shut them down!"

The Ace-Ops talked with one another.

"Or they've already been destroyed." Ironwood walks over to the window and stares outside.

"What? All of them?"

"You said in your speech that Amity Tower was ready to launch. Was that true?" Marek asked.

Ironwood stood in silence. "No. You just said that... to lure out Watts."

"General Ironwood?" Weiss said softly.

"I sent your sister to claim the power of the Winter Maiden." Ironwood said.

"What?"

"When I realized we'd been compromised, I knew we couldn't wait any longer. The Staff and the Lamp have to be locked away." Ironwood told her.

"I thought… you said we could keep it." Ruby wiped her eyes.

"Well, that was before you lied to me about the Lamp. Before you lied to us about Robyn, before Salem was right on our doorstep. And her son was apparently here the whole time!"

He suddenly drew his gun, aiming it at Marek. Slowly raising his hands, the Ace-Ops stared in shock. "General, I am not on her side. She killed my parents. I want her dead just as you."

He lashes out, hitting Watts' bag off of his desk. He takes a moment to calm down and sets his gun on the desk.

"The timeline has changed. And so we must change accordingly." He picks up the queen chess piece. Harriet stands at attention.

"What are our orders, sir?"

"We are going to take our plan for Amity Tower and apply it to the city of Atlas." He crushes the chess piece in his hand, and Ruby jumps to her feet.

"What?!"

Ironwood drops the shattered glass from his hand. "It was Oz's plan in a former life. But he didn't take it far enough. If we harness the power of the Staff, and raise ourselves high into the atmosphere, the city's artificial climate will keep citizens and food supplies unharmed. Always out of reach of whatever Salem may try to send our way."

"But we're nowhere near finished evacuating everyone! You'd be leaving Mantle to die." Blake said.

"Yes… I would."

Ruby and Blake stare in shock, while Yang glares and Weiss is on the verge of tears. Marek had a hand on his weapon.

"We can't allow Salem to capture the Relics. This is our best chance at getting the Staff, the Lamp, and the Maiden as far away from her as possible."

"But we have an opportunity to reunite the world. If we launch the tower, we can all work together again. We could even call for help. If we can hold out long enough-"

While Ruby speaks, Ironwood picks his gun back up, holsters it, and walks over to her. "Sometimes, doing the right thing means making tough decisions."

"You're right. And I think the right thing to do would be to stand our ground." Marek said.

"Me too." the four members of Team RWBY said.

Ruby looks confidently at Ironwood and then looks over her shoulder at Vine and Marrow. Vine's expression shows no emotion, and Marrow is sadly looking away. Surprised, she turns to look at Elm and Harriet, who also show no sign of siding with her.

"We ran ourselves ragged trying to save Mantle tonight. We try that again against an even larger force-" Harriet said.

"But you're Huntsmen and Huntresses! You can't just back down from a fight!"

"You can't focus on one single fight while trying to win a war." Marrow said.

"What's the council going to say?"

"Nothing. Once I declare Martial Law." Ironwood said.

"You can't!"

"What about Robyn?" Blake asked.

"Who exactly are you loyal to?" Elm asked them.

"We're loyal to the people counting on us to save them!" Ruby replied.

"We are saving who we can." Ruby turns and looks at Ironwood, who looks at her with no visible emotion in his eyes. "And you're standing in our way."

Ruby, Weiss and Blake look upset, and Yang glares daggers at him. Suddenly, Ruby's Scroll flashes and vibrates. It then lights up with a ping noise and emits Jaune's voice, causing Ruby to look at it. "It's Jaune! We've got a serious problem!"

Ruby's eyes widen. She looks at Ironwood, who furrows his brows. Ruby gains a determined expression and reaches for her Scroll. Ironwood steps toward her, bringing his hand out from behind his back, and Ruby uses her Semblance to split into two separate blurs and quickly fly past Ironwood. The blurs converge behind his desk and turn back into Ruby, who is holding her Scroll with the group communications chat open.

"Ironwood's declaring Martial Law and abandoning Mantle! Salem is coming, and he's going to use the Staff to move Atlas. If we don't stop him, then Mantle's going to be des-" the connection was suddenly cut. "What? No!"

She stands up from behind the desk and looks at Ironwood, who is holding his Scroll up. He puts his Scroll away and heads for the door.

"I'm sorry it's come to this, but until Atlas and the Relics are safe, you're all under arrest."

Weiss and Blake glare at him, and Yang looks furious. As for Marek, he already had his weapon drawn.

"We won't just let you take us."

Ironwood stops in front of the door, and the Ace-Ops move to stand between him and Team RWBY, staring at Ruby and her teammates. Ironwood glances over his shoulder at them. "I know."

He leaves his office, the doors closing behind him.

End of chapter 62