Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth. I only own the Goddess of Empty/Agatha Griseo
Chapter 10
Arriving In Atlas
We all looked at the airfleet stunned as the woman on the radio continued. "Please continue your approach to docking bay Omega-12. A security team will meet you there. Over."
"What exactly is going on here?" Ruby asked.
"I'm not sure." Was all Qrow said.
Jaune looked slightly hopeful though, "Well, we got the lamp to Atlas, so I guess we land and get some answers."
Weiss looked scared at the prospect. "I've never seen our forces deployed so aggressively before. If we land in a stolen ship, there's no way the security team will let us anywhere near Ironwood." She pointed out. Then she tensed, fidgeting in place as her fear doubled. "They might even take me back to my father ."
No one looked happy at that idea. Even though I only know Jacques Schnee through the grapevine, that grapevine rarely had good things to say about the man.
Weiss' eyes lit up in realization. "Winter!" She pulled out her scroll. She told Maria to keep us from the fleet.
"You don't have to tell me twice," Maria said as she started to descend more towards Mantle.
As we passed over the lower part of the kingdom, I couldn't help but notice the state of it. Things did not seem to be in great shape. Atlas drones patrolled the streets, keeping watch. Even from up above, I could tell the citizens weren't happy.
Ironwood was on a screen assuring that he intends to keep everyone safe. It rang out as hollow. Nobody looked safe here- they looked terrified and oppressed. Oppression with humans never turned out well.
Perhaps adding to my feeling, Ironwood himself looked haggard and worn. The battles he'd fought since Beacon hadn't served him well.
"General Ironwood. He looks..." Yang noticed but trailed off.
Ruby finished her thought. "Tired."
"James. What have you been doing ?" Qrow asked himself.
I put a hand on his shoulder. He and James were friends before. Both of them were close with Ozpin, if I had to guess. Seeing a friend like this would hurt. Maybe another friend would help him. Just because Ironwood looked like a ticking time bomb doesn't mean the rest of us needed to be.
The radio chirped back up again. "Manta 5-1, we noticed a detour in your route. You are to make your way over to docking bay Omega-12 immediately. Do you copy? Over."
"We're running out of time here," Maria stated.
"We need to ditch the ship," Yang suggested.
"Agreed. Get lost in Mantle and buy ourselves some time," Qrow added.
Weiss came up to them. "I'm telling you, my sister can get us through to Ironwood."
"Um...Weiss," Blake called and pointed out a screen from the window.
There stood the familiar face of Winter reminding everyone about consequences for disobedience. Stars, she looked even colder than when I last saw her at the Vytal Festival eight years ago. Then again, the last time I saw her she just sent Marik flying in the semifinals so she's probably always been like this.
Weiss looked shocked as Qrow spoke up. "No offense, Weiss, but I don't think that's a good idea anymore."
Weiss tried to argue her sister's defense but Qrow spoke over her. "Look I don't think it's a good idea to even talk to Ironwood until we know exactly what's going on with Mantle."
That gave me an idea. "Hey, aren't there some scientists that work directly with both Mantle and Atlas? Maybe we can find one of them in Mantle and talk to them." I suggested.
Maria then turned to me. "As a matter of fact, I know just the guy you're talking about."
The radio then squawked again. The woman was losing her patience. "Manta 5-1, you are to make your-"
Maria turned off the radio, cutting her off.
"Geez, lady, take a hint!" She shouted, to which I laughed. Maria always has a way of brightening the mood.
We got out of the airship to follow Maria down the streets. As we looked around we saw just how bad things seemed to be. Not only were there a lot of soldiers, both human and robotic, but a bulletin board we passed had a bunch of headlines that made me worry. Dead journalists, outer wall damage, stalled supplies, and an upcoming election.
How has this kingdom fallen so far?
James, what sort of things are you getting into behind the scenes?
A bright flash caught my attention. When I turned to see what it was, I wasn't even surprised. Yang kicked what looked like a drone out onto the street where it was then run over by a car.
We all gave her weird looks as she awkwardly said "We should pick up the pace."
Maria spoke up. "You have to remember the kingdom had just lost the Great War. The people of Mantle needed a sign of a better future, and that sign was Atlas. After all, a home the clouds is as bright as it gets."
As she explained this, a truck drove by. The truck was packed with mine workers, all covered in grime. Not a happy face amongst them.
'Better sign for the future', yeah right. Humans have said that before. If you have to convince yourself of something's greatness, it's not really that great.
"Unless you're the ones looking up at it," Nora said. I couldn't help but agree.
"This whole city, it just seems awful," Blake said.
A slurred voice called out to us. "Yeah?"
We turned to see a man stumble towards us, bottle in hand. It didn't help that it looked like he already had a few. "You don't like it here? There's plenty of space out in the tundra!" He yelled.
Blake gave a sigh, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"Atlas is the greatest kingdom in the world alright!" He insisted.
Ruby stepped up to defend her friend. Blake held her back. "We can't cause a scene."
"Trust me Blake that won't be necessary," I assured her before the drunken man's buddy spoke up.
"The embargo... The embargo's got us in a rough patch. But it'll blow over you'll see." Okay that one wasn't so bad but his friend needed to stop.
He just continued yelling. "We try to help the other kingdoms, and this is what happens? I say let them rot."
At this point I got in the man's face. The kids shouldn't have to put up with this. "Look pal, you're drunk so you should go home and lie down. Before you do something you regret."
I moved my jacket to show him one of my tonfas. This guy was all talk. I, however, could back up my claim. By the look in his foggy eyes, he knew it. Knowing he was backed in a corner, he backed off.
Blake came up towards me. "Thank you."
I gave her a nod. "We should be careful with what we say around here. Not every drunken ass is a wimp like him."
"Hey, what's the hold up?!" Qrow called out.
When I looked over, I saw others ahead of us.
"Come on. We're going to leave you behind," Nora shouted. Ruby, Blake, and I rushed to catch up to them.
Maria finally walked into what looked like some kind of doctor's building where a faunus with a prosthetic arm was just leaving. She addressed the older man as the rest of us entered. "Ah, it's good to see you again, old friend."
The man (who I presumed was the doctor) was shuffling around in his desk so he didn't notice the rest of us entering. Maria had to clear her throat to get his attention. When he saw her he pushed a stack of papers aside saying, "Ah, yes yes. Have we met?"
Okay I swear by the Great Tree I did not intend for humans to have a memory problem the older they got. That just happens.
"Well this is off to a great start." Ren muttered.
Maria pointed to her eyes. "Cybernetic optical implants. You adjust them. Every ten years or so." She reminded him. That did the trick as he then recognized her and pretty much repeated the same thing she said. Again the memory problem was not my idea.
The doctor offered Maria his hand and led her to an examination table. "Has it been that long already?" He asked.
Maria laughed as she got on the table. "I know I age like a fine wine. Would have gotten here sooner if I hadn't ran into these jokers. At the time, I thought they might need my guidance while fighting a little old Sphinx."
"Oh, did they?" He asked her.
"No, no. They had much more complicated issues," Maria answered.
The two were interrupted by Qrow clearing his throat. "And this is?" He asked.
Maria tsked. "So impatient. I didn't think I'd need to introduce one of Atlas' finest minds."
"Working in a place like this?" Yang asked skeptical just as a ceiling tile fell at mine and Qrow's feet.
"He likes to keep a low profile." Maria explained. "Something I've come to realize none of you know anything about."
"Hey, I keep a great low profile," I couldn't help but brag. After all, no one's figured out I'm a Goddess in the twenty years I've been back.
Maria gave a small giggle.
The doctor finally introduced himself. "You can call me Pietro."
"He's got the finest heart too," Maria added. "This pharmacy is just where he volunteers when he's not building the future of Atlas alongside Ironwood, up in the clouds."
"Oh it's stuffy up there," Pietro told us. "Down here, I get to help the locals and have a little fun. I'm currently working on shoes that make you dance. Any of you want to try them on?"
Nora and I squealed at the prospect. Yang stepped in, getting us back to business. "We came to Atlas hoping to talk to General Ironwood but..." She trailed off.
"What exactly has been happening here?" Blake asked.
Pietro gave a cough before he answered. "The Fall of Beacon took a toll on all of us. James was no different."
While I sympathize with James' plight, I was also worried. There was 'taking a toll' and there was 'a complete mental shutdown'. And sadly, it looks like the General is leaning towards the latter.
"I couldn't tell you what he saw up there," Pietro continued snapping me out of my thoughts. "But it changed him. He's-"
"He's scared," Qrow finished for him.
"Paranoid would be the more appropriate term," Pietro corrected. "You have to understand it wasn't just the Grimm. Someone completely dismantled Atlas security code, made it their play-thing, and made us look like traitors to some and buffoons to everyone else. Whoever managed to do that is either a genius or one of our own. I fear the answer may be both, and so does the general."
"Then doesn't he have some kind of suspect list then?" I asked him. If that was the case, then Ironwood must have some idea as to who would be working with Salem.
To my dismay, Pietro shook his head. "We've looked into everyone who could have been a suspect and they all checked out."
"Maybe Atlas isn't as safe as we thought," Ren said and I looked to see all the kids were starting to look disheartening.
Weiss then stepped forward asking about the council and her sister. Pietro told us about how the council was too scared to even oppose James. Before he could start talking about Mantle representatives he stopped himself, recognizing the heiress. Yang tried to change the topic back to the council but as she did so she held up her prosthetic arm which he seemed to recognize as well.
Pietro looked to Blake and Ruby as he realized "You're team RWBY!"
Everyone looked at each other for a few seconds before Ruby excitedly asked "You know us?"
Pietro tried to chuckle but it turned into another cough. Is he going to be okay? The weather around here wasn't really helpful if you were sick. Going back and forth between here and up in the sky definitely didn't help matters.
"Oh, my girl, I do. I most certainly do. And I feel like such a dunce for not recognizing you sooner. My daughter has told me so much about you." Before more could be said, or before Pietro could even call this daughter out to meet us, we heard alarms ringing outside along with screaming.
Looking out the open door, I could see the street lamps turning red.
We all run outside with our weapons drawn. Civilians were running down the street and we could hear gunfire coming from another alley. We waited until we saw one of the Atlas robots being thrown to the side followed by another one. Three more started backing into our view before some Sabyrs jumped on them and destroyed them all.
Robots. Completely useless.
I looked at the others. Ruby was undisturbed. "Well we didn't come this far to fail now." She declared. Everyone launched themselves forwards with their weapons, Nora needed some help from Jaune, and we got to fighting.
I put Yin and Yang back in their holsters. The Sabyrs were small. I didn't need my weapon for this. I ran towards an alley and five Sabyrs broke off from their group to follow me. Suckers. Once I reached the end I turned back around to see them 'corner' me. Smiling, I slowly walked towards them before breaking into a run. The Sabyrs looked surprised but quickly put that aside and started charging at me. I quickly threw Void Sphere after Void Sphere. When I made it back to the entrance of the alley each Grimm was encased in one of my orbs. Clenching my fists, the orbs shrunk, taking the Sabyrs with them.
Checking back with the group I saw another Sabyr jump up on Blake from behind but before I could activate my semblance a green laser showed up from above and sliced the thing in two. More started raining from the sky decimating what was left of the Grimm. When the street lamps switched back from red to blue we looked to the sky and saw a dark figure fly up in front of the shattered moon before descending down where we could get a better look at her and- YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS?!
Landing in front of us was a young 'girl' (and I use that term very loosely) that I somewhat recognized from about a year ago when the Fall of Beacon started. Right before Cinder broadcast her message I saw what I thought was a human about to get torn to shreds. But what came out of her was not blood and bones but wires and circuits. I was fuming so bad I must have attracted about twenty Grimm to me when they started coming to Vaccuo's borders.
The fact that Atlas, that someone in general, would even try to replicate a human being using machinery... They couldn't partner up and have kids the normal way or adopt like Jaune's sister and sister-in-law! No! They felt the need to make one by hand.
The nerve!
The audacity!
THIS WAS NOT HOW I INTENDED HUMANS TO CREATE LIFE DAMMIT!
However, I kept my anger to a minimum as not only did I not want to attract more Grimm after we just got done fighting a group, the kids were all happily surprised at seeing that thing again. Ruby in particular.
Pietro then approached us. "Darling, why don't you say hi to your friends." He suggested.
What? This was his 'daughter' ? And to think I started to respect the man. But now after knowing he went and made this, my feelings on him have completely changed.
The thing's 'eyes' lit up upon seeing us as we put away our weapons. It started to speak as it got into a running position. "Sal-U-Tations!" It started running to Ruby and even fired its rocket boots to go faster as it crashed into Ruby in what I suppose you could call a hug. Not like the thing could feel it.
The two got back up although Ruby had some difficulty. And no wonder that thing must weigh a ton. Or maybe Ruby was used to the weight, what with Crescent Rose.
"It is such a pleasure to see you again." It said.
"Penny," Ruby stammered. So that's what that thing liked to call itself. "I-I thought you-"
"Died?" Pietro cut in. "Well in a manner of speaking I guess, she did. But we were able to recover her core from Animity Arena. It took me some time but-"
"I'm as good as new," Penny finished. "Better even. And now I'm the official protector of the city."
"That's my girl. We're not going to let a little ripping to shreds stop us, are we?" Pietro jokes as he busts into another coughing fit.
"No sir," Penny answered, knocking on it's metal head.
"This is-" Weiss struggled to find the right word.
Blake was able to answer for her. "Strangely wholesome."
"Speak for yourself," I grumbled, crossing my arms and turning away from them. My own feelings about this fake girl were set. Still. I wouldn't ruin the mood for the rest of these poor kids. As far as they were aware, the robot was their friend. Maybe when I saw a robot torn apart, they saw a friend brutally murdered. So I'll give them some slack.
I still won't like the thing.
It's a fake.
Pietro took my job.
Just because I'm gone, what? A couple centuries? He thinks "Oh I'll just start making life like the Goddess" NO SIR!
"We have so much to talk about. I can't wait," Penny said, grabbing Ruby by her shoulders. Another alarm went off and Penny spoke again. "It seems we will have to wait."
It took off to fight more Grimm. It started talking so fast even I couldn't keep up.
"I can't tell if I understand what's going on here or have, like, a million questions," Nora said once she recovered from her shock.
"And thankfully I have about a thousand answers," Pietro said, guiding us back into his warm office.
Maria was confused. "I have absolutely no idea who that child was. Is she important somehow?"
"Never a dull moment," Ren said happily.
"But I wouldn't say unwelcome," Qrow added. "I was honestly expecting things to go a lot rougher."
Walking up to Qrow's side I said. "I know, right? You'd think we would have been arrested by now."
I should not have said that.
I should NOT have said THAT!
No sooner had I said that, the kids all started dropping one by one. They were all tied up by what looked like gravity bolos that came out of nowhere. Qrow and I were able to draw our weapons and I turned around trying to find whoever's doing this. I only saw another pair of bolos fly at me and before I could do anything about that, they had snagged me and I landed on my back while another pair got Qrow from behind and he landed on his stomach like the others.
I looked at Qrow and said. "Okay, you can pin this one on me."
"Good work, team!" A deep voice spoke from behind me. I let my head fall back and saw a soldier that seemed to be high rank given that his uniform seemed to be personalized. With no sleeves.
In the middle of Solitas, is he serious?
"Hey Hotshot, what gives?" I called out to him as he approached me and Qrow.
"Yeah, pal, the two of us are licensed huntsmen!" Qrow added with a nod towards me. "Just helped save everyone?"
Hotshot here said nothing as he put away the horseshoe he was twirling between his fingers and confiscated our weapons. I saw other soldiers and some robots join us. They took the rest of our weapons. Hotshot went over to Ruby to pick up the lamp.
I stiffened as he examined the object. Could he know what it is?
"Let's get them loaded into the next transport!" He ordered the others.
"Please! We were just trying to help!" Ruby tried to explain.
"What is the meaning of this?" Pietro demanded before he started coughing again. Seriously, is he going to be okay? "What are the Ace Ops even doing in Mantle?"
Ruby questioned the name while Hotshot spoke to the doctor. "Well we've heard a report of an unauthorized ship making an unauthorized landing, followed by an unauthorized use of weapons by unlicensed huntsmen."
Maria quickly walked away not wanting to get caught in the mix though none of us really wanted to throw her under the bus anyway.
"If we could just talk this out-" Pietro tried to explain but Hotshot cut him off.
"They'll be able to explain once they're in Atlas," He stated. He ordered his team to get going before taking out a...fishing pole... and using that to grapple away from us.
As we were thrown into a prison transport I heard Qrow mutter, "Now this... This is much closer to what I was expecting." And the doors slammed shut.
You expected a man with no sleeves to grapple away on a fish hook?
Oh he means us getting arrested.
RWBY VOL. 7 OPENING
Silhouettes of RWBY and ALPN are shown before we see Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang looking at Atlas.
You keep dreaming of a better world
You keep wishing for some clarity
Always hoping that a lighting bolt
Is gonna save you from this gravity
Team RWBY showcases their abilities while switching from their Beacon looks to their Mistrial looks and finally their new Atlas looks.
You're hoping for some romantic life
Maybe your wake up in a world of charm
Oh but what's here can set you free
You don't have to dream
Ironwood looks over a holographic map of Atlas with Amity Colosseum on the side, surrounded by constellations.
Your life's a masterpiece
If you just believe
A gloved hand catches a shamrock charm before cutting to silhouetted individual and then a full group version of the Ace Ops.
And all you see
Is all you need
Watts is looking at the Ace Ops on his screen before typing something. Tyrian jumps around and lands on his tail.
Right now your hopes are shattered
Ironwood shoots at something before looking down in despair.
Those pointless ever afters
Jacques and Whitley are at Schnee Manor
Weiss is looking at Winter nervously while Winter crosses her arms and smirks.
Pietro and Maria are at the clinic.
But in time your find through love
Your power just shines
Ruby stands in the middle of Mantle surrounded by her team along with ALPN.
Agatha glares at Penny who simply turns and smiles.
When you don't know where to turn to
And your sure all hope is gone
Yang activates her semblance to take on some Sabyrs.
Nora and Ren come flying out to handle some more.
Jaune comes out to take down the last of them.
When the day you waited for won't come
And the dark won't yield to dawn
The Ace Ops all gang on a Frosted Petra Gigas. Elm swings down her hammer on the thing.
Trust love
And open up your eyes
Robyn looks at a group of civilians throwing rocks at a screen with Ironwood on it.
As a rock hits, it briefly flickers to Jacques.
Trust love
Ironwood and Oscar are sparring.
The truth is there but sometimes in disguise
Weiss and Blake are in a mine taking on some Centinels.
The way's uncertain but we're together
Tyrian starts fighting Robyn. Qrow, Clover and Agatha quickly assist her.
Moving toward the light
Everything fades to white save for Agatha who reaches out to a surprised Clover.
And we trust in love
And open up our eyes
Silhouettes of RWBY show their moves one more time.
Everyone is standing in front of Atlas Academy.
The Staff of Creation is briefly seen.