I've graduated finally!
…now what?
Anyways, here's your chapter. Here's the Discord: /cgFmXz3qJ5
Yang's Outcasts, plus all of Team FNKI, were making their way further down the dark, now abandoned train tunnel. Flynt, Blonko, Rex, and Kylie were providing lighter in various ways, be it from the Scrolls or ProtoTool. Emerald and Oscar were in the middle of both teams, the green haired girl hadn't said a word the entire trip over. The farm boy couldn't help but try and talk with her.
"Emerald?" Oscar ventured.
"You want to know...don't you?" Emerald finally spoke up, though her voice was small.
"About what?"
"About why I joined up with Salem."
"I would be lying if I said I wasn't curious. But that's not my question."
"Then what is it?" Emerald asked.
"I just wanted to see how you're holding up," Oscar said carefully.
"Fucking great! A few hours ago, I saw the start of this whole damn war, how Salem was just a darker take on Rapunzel, how she and Ozma got together...how she lost him. Then, I'm going against said evil immortal Rapunzel and breaking you out of jail and then Hazel stayed behind and everything else and I just-!"
"It's overwhelming," Oscar sighed, "I know. You always read stories about this, how the hero's thrust into a life of adventure because of some whirlwind of circumstances they can't control and they just...roll with it. But that's not how people are. You can't just expect someone to deal with one major, life-changing event after another and expect them to be fine. That was...kinda how it was with me, for a bit."
"It was?"
"Mhm. One minute, I'm just a normal farmboy, out in the middle of rural nowhere, doing whatever needed doing. Tending crops, fixing fences, that sorta thing. Then, one day, a weird trio of big shots from Atlas walked into town and ended up staying the night. Pretty sure it was originally meant to be just two, but someone decided to tag along," Oscar chuckled a bit as he reminisced.
"Lemme guess," Emerald interjected, "Their names were Ruby, Ben, and...that Cammie girl?"
"Two out of three. The third one was Rex. Anyway, those three weirdos show up and then everything goes crazy. First, we run into a couple of mutated bulls that tried to kill me, then I start acting weird while the other three fight off the bulls. I was doing parkour up a tree when I barely even knew I had a Semblance. And the day ends with a big fight against a mummy and a Frankenstein's monster!"
"Viktor and Ahmunet...you were there?"
"Didn't just sit on the sidelines, either. I helped. After fighting them and the mutated sheriff of my town, I learned I'm the reincarnation of a millenia old wizard who used to be the headmaster of Beacon. And that took some getting used to."
"But I- me and Hope...we shouldn't be here! This isn't our war! Hope's got her own problems and the only reason she's sticking around with Salem is because that witch-!" Emerald ranted, but stopped herself before she gave too much away. The story wasn't her's to tell.
"...only reason is?" Oscar asked.
"All you need to know is that Salem promised her something...something she desperately wants," Emerald answered vaguely.
"So...lemme get this straight," Flynt spoke up, "You expect us to give you and your girlfriend a free pass here? You helped take down two Hunter Academies, which lead to the deaths of who knows how many people, and because you have problems, no matter how relatable they might be, you just want a 'We forgive you?' Hell, you said this Hope wasn't even in Atlas, so where else could she be but Vacuo? God knows what she's doing over there too!"
Emerald balled her hand into a fist, her melancholy being replaced with a newfound anger. She wanted to deck Flynt in the face for that, but then she felt the sigil Min drew on her back start to activate. She quickly dropped it and the effect didn't take hold.
"Not a free pass...just that, when it comes to it, you let me go. I don't like you, you don't like me. Once we're out, we can part ways, I'll find Hope and you'll never see us again. Thief's honor," Emerald promised.
"I thought the expression was 'no honor among thieves,'" Blonko pointed out.
"Like Flynt said, you got a lot to answer for," Yang added, "So you just getting to walk's already up for debate."
"Fear can't dictate every action we take. If there's a chance she can help, I say we let her. Besides, you let me and Neo join. Why is she different?" Albedo asked.
"He...does have a point," Kylie chimed in.
"We don't need to forgive her," Oscar explained, "You have every reason to feel that way, but...giving someone a second chance can go a long way. Already gotten quite a bit of help today from someone we don't really trust..."
"You mean Ozpin?" Albedo asked, "I knew he couldn't hide forever."
"Figures he'd show up now. All that time silent and I bet he hasn't even really changed his mind on anything," Yang scoffed.
"I know, I know. We don't really like him right now...but he saved my life," Oscar said, "When we were tortured, Ozpin took the brunt of it so I wouldn't have to. He entrusted me with this," the farmboy held up the headmaster's cane, "and all the power he stored up in it. Kinetic energy, built up over lifetimes in the cane he built with his own two hands."
"And...that's how you did that?" Rex asked, jabbing his thumb back towards the ruined farmlands, "Used up all the stored power?"
"Not all, but most. Gotta be careful with how we use the rest. He trusted my judgment and it saved us. I wanna return that trust. Still a lot to sort out with him, but...Ozpin really does want to help."
With that, the farmboy retracted the cane and put it on his back.
Thank you, Oscar, Ozpin mentally said.
You still gotta apologize to them personally, Oscar responded.
As the group pressed on, the faint echo of a baby's cry pierced through the deafening roar of the Grimm overhead. Instinctively, they began to run towards the source of the noise. The echoes grew louder, and as they rounded the corner, the Outcasts stumbled upon a harrowing scene- Atlas citizens huddled together, their expressions desperate and fearful. The harsh fluorescent lights flickered intermittently, casting an unearthly glow over the makeshift shelter.
The ground shook with each passing boom, a cacophony of malicious intent from the beasts above. Fear engulfed the group as they realized they had little time. The air was thick with tension and the group knew they had to act fast in the face of this growing danger. With trembling hands and racing hearts, the group scanned the huddled crowds searching desperately for the source of the cries. Their eyes finally alighted on a small bundle, the only baby in the shelter, crying for all the lost souls who were no longer able to do the same.
"All of Atlas is down here," Ceres frowned.
Emerald walked past the crowd, feeling their accusatory stares follow her every move. It was as if every critical gaze was a sharp jab that pierced through her skin and burrowed deep into her very being. It was nothing new, this oppressive judgment from others, but this time something felt different.
Despite the freedom she now had from the grasp of Salem, Emerald's body felt like it was made of lead. Every step felt labored, every breath felt like she was gasping for air. She tried to shake off the suffocating weight that was holding her down, but her body wouldn't cooperate. Her mind screamed for escape, but her limbs felt like they were tied down, refusing to budge.
She knew that her emotions were raging and could explode at any moment, but fear held her back.
This was no place to break down.
Flynt looked at all the refugees and frowned. Shoving all the scared and anxious people down into the subways "Hey, guys…I think we're gonna break off here." Flynt said.
"Understandable." Yang said. "These people need someone here."
Ironwood was looking over the losses from the battle on various holographic displays and to say it wasn't pretty was an understatement. On just the report from the first battalion alone, out of twelve Paladins, only six survived, the rest were now just hunks of scrap littering the fields outside his city. In terms of manpower, this force would've fielded 105 squads, and now, nearly half of those squads were listed as defunct, slaughtered to a man. The once proud Atlesian airfleet didn't fare any better. Forty carrier-cruisers defended Atlas bravely from the flying Grimm and even the odd Tempest that got close to the city, but out of those, only 15 survived. Let's not even get into the details on the Mantas, Sharks, and other machines that were destroyed as a result of the conflict. A small part of the general's heart ached especially hard when he began scrolling through the confirmed casualties on the specialists side. Some of them were old veterans, while others he himself had seen accepted into the academy.
As he looked over the reports and processed just how much he had lost, the doors to his office hissed open, allowing the Ace-Ops to enter.
"It's about time," Ironwood said with a sigh of relief and, to Winter, it almost sounded genuine, "While we've dealt a decisive blow to Salem-"
"Sir," Winter cut him off, "That wasn't our payload."
"...what?"
"I brought it back with us. You can check with the pilot in the hangar."
"Then...what could've…? Who could've..." the general stroked his beard in thought before his eyes narrowed, the gears turning in his mind as he began to realize something, "But you still have it. That...that could prove useful."
"You said there was another problem though, sir?" Chiffon spoke up.
"I did. Penny still hasn't returned to the Vault, which can only mean Watts was either incompetent or he betrayed us. We'll never know which since, during the chaos, he was broken out. By Cinder Fall," Ironwood brought up a recording of Cinder breaking into the holding area with a fiery explosion before she took out the cameras, "What's more...Qrow, Robyn, and Marrow have also escaped."
"What about Jacques? Is he still rotting in his-?" Nesmith began.
"I couldn't give a damn about Jacques Gele right now. We have bigger priorities right now."
"Then we'll scour the base until we find whatever hole they're hiding in," Harriet growled.
"No," Ironwood countered, stopping her with a motion, "I have teams already searching for them. Now, Salem's...leviathan may have been destroyed but that doesn't mean we've stopped her. She'll return, and when she does, she will throw everything she has at us until our city is nothing but a smoking heap. We're teetering on the edge of that fate already. I need the Winter Maiden, now. She's the only way Atlas can survive."
"What's your plan then, sir?" Winter asked.
"The Outcasts. Albedo, Rex, Rook, Kylie, Ceres, and Min. Bring them all to me."
"...why?"
"I had Qrow in my hands and I didn't do what was necessary. Nostalgia got the better of me for a moment, but I won't make that mistake again. I know. I'm ashamed I didn't think of it sooner, after all the time we've spent as allies. Leveraging the lives of her friends is the only way to make Penny listen to reason."
"Unfortunately sir," Nesmith stepped up, "We no longer have them."
"Excuse you?" the general raised a brow in confusion.
"I can vouch, sir," Harriet stepped up as well, "The fugitives were released...on Specialist Schnee's orders."
"You...you let them go?" Ironwood looked to Winter, his eyes flickering between dull and reflecting actual emotional pain.
"It was part of a 'brilliant' plan to scout the beast for the payload. They never came back," Nesmith explained. Winter balled her hands into fists as she refused to look the general in the eye any longer.
"They...they were our last chance," Ironwood said, breathlessly, stepping back to the holo-table, "Now we- now I have nothing."
The general tightened his grip on the table's edges before his anger reached its breaking point.
"Nothing!" Atlas' tinman roared, slamming both of his fists down on the table and breaking it in half.
Most of the Ace Ops stared at their commanding officer in shock, but Harriet's eyes were locked onto Winter, the elder Schnee sister daring not to even flinch. Showing any sign of weakness right now would be a grave error.
The air was tense for a few moments, but thankfully, the sounds of someone on the comm links broke it up.
"Sir!" a radar technician called in, "We're detecting non-military ships on radar, dozens of them!"
"...Whose ships?" Ironwood demanded to know, his voice low and edging towards outright fury. What other bad news would the world throw at him now?
"They appear to be Schnee Dust Company freighters, sir. They're heading straight for Mantle."
On one of Ironwood's holographic interfaces on his desk, he saw the freighters leaving Atlas and heading down to Mantle. His gaze shifted to that trademark snowflake emblazoned on the hull and he broke out of his rage-induced trance, starting to chuckle to himself.
"...sir?" Cammie asked.
"Weiss... I see. They're trying to save Mantle. This has always been about Mantle, hasn't it?" Ironwood frowned. "I need to make a call."
Harriet raised an eyebrow. "Sir...you're not actually going t-"
One look from Ironwood sent a wave of malice through the room. Ironwood's eyes weren't just blank, they were horrible, spinning black and white spirals that seemed to just terrify anyone who looked at them. Seeing the voids began eating away at Harriet's confidence rather quickly.
Winter froze. This overwhelming aura, she'd never experienced it personally, but this lined up so perfectly. Is this…is this Ironwood's Berserker?
Without even saying another word, the general just brushed the Ace Ops, pushing aside Nesmith and walking out to the command center. Under any other circumstances, the billionaire Iron Man bootleg would've made some snide remark, like how he just finished buffing the suit or that the paint had enough scratches from the fight. Instead, in a rare moment of genuine shock, Nesmith just let the act slide.
Cammie was downright terrified as she watched the tin-hearted general walk and disappear down the hall towards the "brain" of the Atlesian military.
Please...don't tell me he's doing this, Cammie mentally begged, I need to find Weller.
Ruby was pacing back and forth in the foyer of the Schnee manor, arms crossed and mind racing.
"Ya know, Willow might get a bit upset if you end up forming a divot in the tiles like that," Ben quipped in an attempt to lighten the mood. He walked down the stairs with two fancy looking cups in his hand as a pleasant aroma of sweetness reached Ruby.
"Is that-?" Ruby asked, stopping in her tracks for a moment.
"Hot chocolate? Yep. Turns out, Weiss and Winter had a tradition of having the stuff during big events. Birthdays, holidays, even when Weiss was accepted into Beacon. Weiss brought it out to try and warm everyone up after last night. Thought you could use a cup too."
"I...I could, yeah," Ruby admitted, walking up to her boyfriend and taking the cup from him before taking a seat on the bottom of the stairs. Ben quickly took a seat next to her.
"Speaking of...last night..." Ben started, "How um, how are you holding up?"
"I...I dunno, Ben. That's kind of a loaded question." Ruby admitted. "Every time I close my eyes, I just see...him. Whoever the Hound was, Salem tortured him. Brainwashed him. Just...broke him until he was nothing. And..."
Ruby hesitated.
"...there had to be a way to figure out she could do that. There had to be one thing, one person, that changed it all. My mom," the hooded Huntress finally answered.
"Don't...don't think about that right now," Ben said, "I knew the moment we saw that your mind would go there."
"But it's true. Salem's had her since I was...god, I don't even remember how young I was when we got the news. She's had her for years, most of my life! I don't know what she did to- to- ugh, it doesn't even feel right calling him 'the Hound!' He had a life before this, a name, a soul, and she just stripped that all away from him!"
Ben closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I used to think we could...maybe save Salem in some way. Help her come to terms with everything. But I can see now that there's no helping her, especially when she commits an atrocity like this."
"What would even drive her to do that? Was it just some sick way to make a minion immune to these?" Ruby pointed to her silver eyes, "Was that it?"
"...maybe it was because she doesn't have full dominance over all her cronies." Ben pondered. "Emerald was with Yang, right? Maybe she can't sway everyone...so she has to break them or something. I dunno."
"I...I just," Ruby couldn't find the right words to express just how much anger she felt towards Salem right now. When she first heard Ozpin's story, she thought that the gods unjustly punished her, that maybe there was a human being to still reason with somewhere in all that Grimm malice. But it was clear now, that whatever innocence there was had long been subsumed by hate. Salem had embraced the role of monster and seemed to revel in it, in her own sick way.
Before her anger could spill over to mix together with sadness and anxiety, the duo heard a knock at the door.
Ruby exchanged a meaningful glance with Ben before approaching the door where Weiss, Blake, and Neo were already waiting. With a steady hand, Ruby turned the knob of Schnee Manor and was greeted by the sight of Yang, Ceres, Rex, Min, Kylie, and Albedo standing before her. Overcome with emotion, Ruby swiftly embraced Yang, and tears of pure delight began to stream down her face as she gazed upon her beloved sister, who beamed back at her.
"I missed you too." Yang smiled back.
Yang hugged Weiss as Ruby went to greet Ceres and Min. Yang then spotted Blake, standing with her cat ears lowered. Yang held the side of Blake's face, blushed, before the two touched foreheads. Weiss immediately threw herself into Kylie's arms, and she hugged back tightly.
Albedo walked over to Neo, and cleared his throat. "Hello."
Hi, Neo signed back.
Everyone was a bit shocked when Albedo scooped Neo up and kissed her.
Emerald awkwardly stood outside as everyone reunited, trying to keep distance. Albedo spotted her after he broke away from his kiss with Neo. He gave her an affirmative nod, as if to show there were no hard feelings.
It helped, honestly, it really did.
"Is...now a bad time?" Elm called down from upstairs. She heard the knock at the door and decided to check on things as well.
Kylie's eyes widened. "Elm! Oh, my god! What are you doing here?" Kevin's sister asked, breaking from Weiss' embrace.
"I...kinda broke off from the Ace Ops." Elm confessed. "Probably for the best."
"Harriet drove you away, didn't she?" Rex guessed.
"She played a huge part in it." Elm nodded.
"That tracks, given how she acted last we saw her."
"Nice to see you guys are doing alright," Oscar said with a smirk, walking up with Ozpin's cane in hand. The burns from Salem's torture were still obvious on his coat.
"Oscar?" Ben asked, taken aback by the burn marks.
"My host's hospitality wasn't...really the best."
Ruby put her hands to her mouth, before she and Ben wrapped the younger boy in a tight hug.
"We're just glad you're safe..." the red-cloaked Huntress muttered.
Min walked around, confused. "Hey, where's Kevin?"
"He's...upstairs," Blake said, turning to look at the chaos demon, "He's awake but he's still resting after what happened."
"After what happened?" Min asked, as a look of worry spread across her face. Ruby was about to explain when she heard a call from her Scroll. It was from May, probably calling to ask about the ships sent down.
Ruby answered the phone to enter a video call with , down at the crater. She looked panicked. "Kids, the cargo ships I'm assuming you sent just made it but they're not alone!"
"W-what?" Ruby asked. "May, what do you me-"
"Oh my gods, RUN!" May screamed, after looking up at the sky. "Everyone, into the mines!" Something flew overhead, the sounds of roaring engines and what sounded like an explosion filling the air, before the call abruptly ended.
"Was that-?!" Blake began to ask, her voice panicked, before a high-pitched and rather annoying alarm went off. The feline Faunus covered her ears from the sound as it droned on, with even Yang covering one of her ears from the grating whine.
"What the hell?" Yang asked. As if to answer, Ruby's Scroll changed to show an Atlas Broadcasting Network logo, just a simple ABN taking up most of the screen. The same was true not just for everyone's Scrolls, but for single screen in Atlas and Mantle.
"Attention citizens," an automated female voice droned, "This is an emergency CCT broadcast. Please stand by." Ruby, Ben and Oscar raced back inside. The red-hooded Huntress held up her Scroll and projected the large ABN logo from her Scroll as a massive holo-screen.
In a flash, the image changed from the logo to the fleet of SDC freighters making their way down to Mantle. It seemed fine at first, until squads of Mantas and Sharks fired upon the empty cargo ships. Engines exploded, trails of smoke began rising off the hull before the ships themselves slowly fell.
"W-what...what's going on?" Yang gasped upon seeing the ships fall. One ship even outright exploded entirely, one of the shots must have gotten lucky and struck something important, possibly even the reactor itself.
"Those...those ships! They were heading to the crater, they were going to save people! Why would-?!" Weiss began.
Her question was answered when the broadcast shifted once again to reveal Ironwood, standing in a dark room, illuminated only by a single spotlight from above.
"I have always promised to defend this Kingdom." Ironwood began, his eyes hidden from view, "Its technology, its very future, from those who would see it destroyed. Our enemy is crippled, but one individual still denies Atlas its salvation. The Protector of Mantle."
Ruby, Ben and everyone else quickly became absolutely disgusted or outright shocked at the audacity on display as they watched the message.
"He seriously can't be-" Weiss muttered.
"Penny, wherever you and your friends are, I need you all to listen. I know how much Mantle means to you, so I'm going to give you a simple choice. You can bring yourself to Atlas Academy and do your duty, help me save as much of Atlas as we can, and Mantle will be left to fend for itself." Atlas' headmaster paused before taking a step forward and raising his head to show his dull eyes, making the group flinch. "Or... you can all watch as I destroy it."
The group went dead silent.
" I have one bomb. That's all it will take."
"A bomb?" Blake repeated.
"...the payload," Albedo muttered in shock, "The one meant for Salem's whale."
"The logic is simple. If there is no Mantle then there is no reason for you not to work with me," Ironwood explained, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "Neither of us want it to come to that, but one of us is willing to do it. If anyone tries anything other than what I've ordered, Mantle. Is. gone. You have one hour to respond," the general added.
"One...one hour?" Oscar repeated.
"I hope you live up to the title I gave you," Ironwood finished, before the broadcast cut out.
The group stood there. Petrified. Confused. Conflicted.
"...I chose the wrong time to switch sides." Emerald muttered.
"Has…has he lost it that badly?!" Elm asked.
Ruby began to hyperventilate. Ben and Yang immediately took notice and led her away.
"Give us a few minutes," Yang said, leaving the group alone.
It didn't take long after that for Min and Kylie to both run upstairs to see Kevin.
"No...no, no, no, no. This wasn't...this wasn't supposed to happen. I know he's not all there but, but this? THIS?!" Ruby panicked, "How do we...h-how do we-?"
"Ruby, Ruby, look at me, ok? Breathe. Just in and out, ok? Just-" Yang tried to calm her sister.
"Yang, I'm sorry, but that's not helping right now! This is just the latest in a series of massive twists! Cause a few hours ago, we found out what Salem does to people like me! Like mom! And it's been stuck in my head the entire time!"
"W-what? What the hell are you talking about?" Yang asked, this horrible feeling forming in her chest.
"We...encountered this thing." Ben explained. "It was this Grimm, it spoke, and-"
"Oh, my god. You saw it too." the blonde gasped, remembering how her body froze in fear upon hearing the Hound's nightmare of a voice. That confirmation made Ben and Ruby's blood run cold.
"T-too?" Ruby asked.
"It ambushed us in Mantle. It...it went after Oscar. Used him as a shield before it took him to Salem."
"And it almost took Penny," Ben added.
"It...it came for her?" Yang muttered.
"I hit it...with my Silver Eyes..." Ruby began, "Y-yang...it wasn't just a Grimm..."
"W-what? N-no, it was just some nightmare Salem cooked up in whatever pools the Grimm spawn from right? She just figured out how to-" the brawler tried to rationalize, tried to deny what was coming.
"There was a person in there." Ben interrupted, "And they had-"
"Silver Eyes." Ruby frowned.
"S-silver..." Yang repeated in shock, whatever other words she wanted to say got caught in her throat.
"You know...what that means, right?" Ruby's voice broke, tears starting to form in her eyes again.
"...yeah," Yang said, her voice barely above a whisper. Hearing those two words, those two simple words, almost broke her. She staggered a bit before falling to her knees, her legs outright failing her.
"When I saw its eyes, I knew. Salem used to kill people with Silver Eyes, like Maria. But she's always wanted me alive. But why would that change unless, when she met Mom, she learned she could do something new?" Ruby asked, tears streaming down her cheeks, "M-maybe…maybe Albedo didn't know. He just knew she was alive. He didn't know what state she was in…"
"Ruby..." Yang sniffled for a moment before pulling her sister into a tight hug, the blonde's own tears starting to flow.
"I'm sorry," Ruby whispered, "I...I was lying to myself when I thought this would work. I wasted time by trying to get Amity back up. I thought help would come, but it didn't. And not only did Amity fall, but Penny...Penny's hurt and Eunice isn't answering. I was just being...stupidly childish…!"
"No. No. You hear me? You weren't being childish in the slightest. You were being optimistic." Ben interjected, clenching his fist hearing Ruby put herself down like that, "Don't confuse your blind optimism with something like that. You were trying to see the good in a situation. That's not a weakness, Ruby, it's a strength."
Ruby looked up at Ben with surprise in her eyes, as if she couldn't believe that someone was defending her.
"But what if I'm wrong about...everything?" the red hooded huntress sniffled, trying to wipe away some of her tears.
"Then we learn and try again," Ben replied firmly. "But that doesn't mean we should stop trying or give up hope. I will not watch your smile die today or ever. You always have to believe in yourself, Ruby, because if you don't, who will?"
"You still," Yang started, wiping away some of her tears, "You still got a warning out. These types of things...they're called risks for a reason. My plan for Mantle didn't work out either. But we got Oscar back and we met up with Team FNKI. They're helping out in the subway, taking care of the people as best they can. We...we accomplished so much more than what was in the original plan."
Ruby didn't say anything at first, just letting it sink in, but Yang wasn't done just yet.
"Mom took a risk, too. The day she left. It...it didn't work out the way she wanted," Yang whispered, gently hugging her sister close, "But she's still my hero."
Ruby embraced the hug, her emotions on the brink of spilling over. Ben instinctively wrapped his arms around her too, offering comfort and support.
They'd get through this together, like always, but to say it was going to be hard was the understatement of the century.
Kevin was still in bed, well, sitting on the side of it and looking out the window. He could still see the mist that lazily hung in the air outside. He hadn't really said much the past few hours, though. Just him and Doppler looking out to the city they were meant to help save and keeping an eye on Penny. After the Hound had grabbed her and tried to get away with her, Elm and Neo had moved the robotic girl back into the bedroom.
"You think she's ok?" Kevin finally said.
"Who? Min? Kylie? Or Penny?" Doppler asked.
"Yes."
"Well, the first two can take care of themselves. Wouldn't worry too much. But Penny... I don't know what happened with her," Doppler admitted, "We could check her systems as Daft Punk."
"We ask the others first on that and only if you can morph just my arm there," Kevin suggested..
"Right..."
Kevin sat on the bed, staring at the wall.
"Do you think we're doing enough? To help them?" the AntiTrix wielder asked after a moment of silence. "I've been nearly useless these past…how long has it been?"
"Not even two days," Doppler answered.
"Jesus, it feels like months."
"War feels like that. But to answer your first question, as reckless as your little Wired stunt was , without you blasting away Jimmy's 'loyal robots,' they would've gotten Penny and Amity wouldn't have risen," Doppler answered, "The message wouldn't have gone out."
"Yeah. And after that, what have I done? While everyone else was risking their lives, fighting...whatever the fuck that Hound thing was, where was I? In bed, like nothing was wrong," Kevin grumbled.
"Dude, you took a never-ending current from Dust. Conductoids are good, but hybrids still have limits. You needed to recover."
"I know I have limits. I just...why am I sticking at square one when everyone else is leveling up!?" Kevin frowned.
"Why everyone else is leveling up..." Doppler muttered to himself. There...was something he could try, but would it-?
Before he could finish the thought, the door to Kevin's room was flung open, Kevin quickly looking over his shoulder to see who it was. Kylie and Min stood in the doorway, wide-eyed from noticing the lightning-like scars snaking up his body.
"K-kevin?" Kylie gasped.
"You...you're back?" Kevin asked, "And this...I'm not having a lucid dream right now?"
Min ran right up to her boyfriend, wrapped him in a hug, and planted a kiss on his cheek.
"That proof enough?" Min asked, smiling while tears welled up in her eyes.
"Yeah...yeah, it is."
"Oh, my god, your body!" Kylie gasped, scanning her brother up and down. "I got a tiny explanation from Weiss, but...I never knew it was gonna be this bad."
"Yeah it's uh, it looks worse than it is," Kevin shrugged.
"Worse than it..." Min repeated, "How high was the voltage?!"
"Oh...you know..."
"I'm not the best at measuring Dust voltage but gonna hazard a guess of 'pretty damn high,'" Doppler answered.
"Yikes." Kylie frowned. "Kinda makes my hypothermia look like small potatoes..."
"Hypothermia?!" Kevin and Doppler yelled simultaneously.
"My Aura got shattered by the weird...Hound thing," Kylie explained, "We chased it out into the tundra so...yeah, the cold hit hard."
"But don't worry, she had me there to make sure she didn't freeze to death," Min smirked a little.
Kylie calling the Grimm a "thing" did make Kevin flinch a bit.
"They...never gave you the rundown on that thing, huh?" the AntiTrix wielder asked.
"There's more to it than just being some super advanced demonic bloodhound that Salem cooked up in her living ship?" Min asked.
"...know what? Let's just stick with that for now, I'm exhausted." Kevin frowned. "But I still want to help. I'm tired of having to be held back by my own inabilities. I want to properly fight."
"If you give me some time," Doppler spoke up, "I might be able to restore more of your forms. I've been...kinda busy on that front. Why I haven't exactly said much before now."
"How much longer do you need?" Kevin frowned. "It's been nearly two years. You have to have made SOME dent in it, right?"
Doppler didn't respond.
"...right?"
"Look it...it's not that simple," Doppler said, "Mainly because I've been...multitasking. I work on one form a day for most of the day and then I move to the next one and then, at the end of the week, I cycle back to the first form. I'm doing it like that because...because I don't know what will happen if I bring so many back at once. Better to have a surplus than some kind of...super heart attack."
"I only had 30." Kevin frowned. "You should have been done a long time ago. So, talk. What's the delay?"
"Hey, some of the forms take more time than others to fix! I mean, you have any idea how hard it is to stabilize mutated Otrovian DNA? Its pretty hard!"
"...Doppler," Kylie spoke up, "You're scared, aren't you?"
"H-huh? How can you-?"
"I've heard people put on fake courage enough over the past day or so that I can just...pick it up now. You're scared of being replaced, aren't you?"
Kevin stared at Doppler. "Are you serious? That's what this is about!?"
"I...don't want to be forgotten, okay?" Doppler admitted.
"It...it does make sense," Min admitted, "Can you name someone who'd actually be ok with that?"
"It still doesn't excuse him delaying this," Kevin frowned. "I need to be at full power for this fight!"
"I know! Ok?" Doppler shouted, "This is a literal apocalypse and here I am wasting your fucking time! Most of the forms are close to done anyway so I can just fix 'em up and then you can call up Ceres, Ari, and Lev and they can offline me! That work for you?!"
"Yeah!" Kevin frowned.
"Do you seriously not care if I go!? Do I mean that little in the grand scheme of things?!"
"Yes. You lied about something that could have been completed in a few months. All because...what, you thought you were gonna be obsolete?" Kevin frowned.
"I don't think I'm gonna be obsolete, I know I will be! I was never supposed to be a permanent thing! It was always a matter of time! Can you imagine that?! Can you imagine knowing your existence is on a fucking time limit, especially when you don't even know how long you have left?!. Most people are given something specific, right? Years, months, but me? I got nothing! Because it all depends on when your body is strong enough to handle this fucking tumor of a watch on its own! What happens to me when it's over?! Huh?! What happens?!"
"Doppler…" Kevin sighed, his expression softening, "I'm sorry. I didn't realize you felt like this."
"Because no one ever asked." Doppler frowned.
"Doppler..." Kylie asked.
"No one ever asks the machine how they feel. I'm not like her, like Penny, like Eunice. Woulda been easier to ask me about these kinds of things if I wasn't a glob of nanobots, right? Human factor and all that..."
"Listen." Kevin huffed. "I need to be at full power for this, okay? I'm fine with...lying for a bit, if it means you stick around a bit longer. Hell, maybe Ceres and the others can find a new use for you."
"Believe it when I hear it from them," Doppler huffed.
Before the silver construct could meld back into the AntiTrix, he found that his services would need to be called on again. Penny's eyes opened and she jolted out of bed, turning to the window. She quickly grabbed the nearest piece of furniture and threw it at the window, shattering it to pieces.
"Oh, not again…" Doppler muttered.
"I can no longer be delayed," Penny droned, her thrusters roaring to life.
"Penny!" Kylie yelled. The android quickly launched herself out of the window, only for Min to do something reckless as hell.
"Sorry about this, Pen!" Min said. With her hand outstretched, the chaos demon formed a barrier of purple energy that the mechanical girl slammed into, bouncing off it and dropping to the ground below.
"Get the others! I'll be with you soon!" Kevin ordered, looking out the broken and down at the slowly recovering Penny.
"Ruby! Yang! Guys! Hurry! We got a problem!" Kylie shouted, her words echoing through the manor and grabbing the Outcasts' attention.
Everyone immediately ran outside to see Penny marching out. The hacked Protector of Mantle began to assume a flight-ready pose, her thrusters slowly activating. Ruby tackled her and grabbed her by the waist as the android girl's eyes settled on red.
"Penny! Stop!" Ruby begged.
Penny ignored her and tried flying off once the thrusters were operational.
" I must open the Vault and self-terminate..." Pietro's daughter repeated and began to ascend. Ben morphed into Spidermonkey and latched some web onto Penny's leg to prevent her from flying off.
Ceres and Min moved to help out Ben, grabbing hold of the web-line like a rope and pulling against Penny's lift-off. At the same time, Penny's other leg was suddenly wrapped up by Gambol Shroud's ribbon. Blake, Yang, and Neo all pulled on the weapon, hoping to contribute more force against the android girl's thrusters. A grappling hook wrapped around her left arm while a large whip wrapped around her right, courtesy of Blonko and Rex respectively. Albedo slammed down on the Ultimatrix and morphed into his version of a Tetramand, a massive blue alien clad in a golden gladiator's harness, and grabbed hold of both. With two arms on each, he pulled against the thrust and, for a moment, the Outcasts seemed to be winning, Penny slowly but surely being pulled back down.
That all changed when Penny's Maiden flames flared at the corner of her eyes. Using the Maiden magic, a large wind storm spread out with the Protector of Mantle at its eye. The force the Outcasts were putting into their respective anchors began to falter as they were buffeted by the gale force winds. Penny's thrusters roared as she began to regain some altitude, before three more things grabbed hold of her. The first was courtesy of Weiss, the heiress having summoned up a dark purple gravity Glyph beneath the android girl, catching her in its pull. The second was a pair of green mana ropes that wrapped around her torso and shoulders, the constructs built over the chains for Thief's Respite.
"Could use...a little help…over here!" Emerald struggled. Oscar raced in and hesitated for a moment as he looked at one of the extensions of Emerald's magic.
"Just grab it! It won't sting you!" the green haired girl called out. With that confirmation, the farm boy grabbed hold and pulled on the mana-rope.
The third thing to help keep Penny in place was the late addition of several thick vines that wrapped around Penny's legs, courtesy of Kevin and Savage Garden.
"Penny! You have to listen to me!" Ruby pleaded.
"Negative. I have to open the Vault and then self-terminate," Penny refuted. With that, the wind storm intensified, threatening to blow them all away and let Penny fly off. At the last moment, however, glowing roots emerged from the cobblestone of the courtyard and wrapped around everyone's feet, securing them in place. Kylie looked over her shoulder to see Elm, her entire body save her head wrapped in those same roots, her eyes glowing with her Aura's energy. It was dangerous for her to go Berserk right now, but it was a risk she needed to take.
"Penny! Eunice! You're both stronger than this!" Ben called out to her, "You're more than just your programming! Whatever this is, you can fight this! Please! Tell us how to help!"
"...kill me," Penny whispered in a moment of lucidity, even if her eyes were still an uncharacteristic red. Ruby's eyes went wide when she heard that, looking up at Penny in shock.
"If you kill me, Ruby. I can make sure that the power goes to you that way," Penny explained, "Please...you have to. I cannot...I cannot fight this...I cannot fight him. Eunice...Eunice isn't answering. I am alone..." her usually cheerful voice was static, emotionless, but if she could cry, tears would be flowing down her cheeks.
"YOU ARE NOT FUCKING ALONE!" Doppler, of all people, yelled over the biting winds, "Look at all the people trying to *help you! And a virus? Lemme tell you something about viruses! They're not all of you, just a part!"
"He's right!" Ceres yelled, "Whatever the virus is ordering you to do, you can shut it out!"
"If you were just a machine," Ruby began, "You wouldn't have been able to laugh with us, enjoy music with us! You wouldn't have any hobbies! But you do! So please! PLEASE! Fight this!"
"I...I..." Penny stammered.
In her digital mindscape, Penny's avatar, a green collection of nebulous particles similar to Eunice's, was slowly being corrupted by virus' physical representation, that damned octahedron with Watts' personal emblem emblazoned all over it. Wires and tubes were plugged into the nebula, corrupting the green into that same deep crimson. Already half of Penny's nebula was corrupted.
"You will open the Vault and then self-terminate. You will open the Vault and then self-terminate. You will open the Vault and then self-terminate," the virus Watts repeated like a mantra, "Go on. Relay your orders back to me. P.E.N.N.Y."
"I...I will...open the Vault...and then self-terminate," Penny repeated and the virus's data consumed more of her avatar.
"I will open the Vault...a-and then s-self terminate," Penny's voice glitched and more of her body turned red.
"I...I will-"
"YOU WILL DO NO SUCH THING!" a familiar voice, long thought silenced, called out. In a split second, the mindscape changed. Before, it was far more ordered, almost what one would expect to find in a digital mind, but now, it was what Penny thought a beach should be like. Waves made of pixels lapped at the shore, the sky was filled with images of Penny's memories. The avatars that represented Penny and the virus also changed, the former going from an octahedron to a glitchy red version of Watts while the latter was a green version of Penny, though slightly covered by the virus' red corruption. The virus, his hands on Penny's shoulders, turned his head to see the source of the voice. Penny turned to look as well and while the virus felt fear and anger, the Protector of Mantle felt nothing but pure joy.
The cause of all these drastic changes was a digital representation of Eunice. Her avatar was a perfect recreation of Penny with the only difference being what she wore. She was clad in a white dress with a black collar and one black stripe running down the middle of the dress, black fingerless gloves, with one glove sporting a green hourglass logo while the other bore a green power symbol, Penny's personal emblem. What was once probably a pristine and clean outfit was now caked in soot as if she just walked off a battlefield.
"What?!" the invasive program yelled, "How are you even-? I deleted you!"
"You deleted a fake. I have been figuring out how you worked...for the longest time," Eunice hissed between breaths, sounding exhausted, "Every moment you gained the upper hand was a calculated sacrifice. I need to get as much data on you as I could. You wanted to delete my personality program...without even considering the possibility that I could do the same. When all is said and done, I am sending a very vulgar message to your creator. And it will be littered with what's left of your code. You threatened my sister, turned her into a tool, attempted to strip her of her agency all because your creator has an inferiority complex against our father. And it's about time someone told you this. You are inferior. "
"W-what?!" the virus asked as Penny's virtual self began to be uncorrupted. In a nice bit of role reversal, the virus Watts began to turn green, starting at the legs and quickly spreading.
"You and your creator are inferior minds, not because you're not intelligent, but because of your self-centered, egotistical and arrogant worldview. Watts believed the general stole his achievements and stood atop them to make himself a giant, but then Watts does the same, standing atop the ruined accomplishments of those around him, all to soothe his fragile sense of self-worth. A bruised ego will not do us in. Right, sis?"
Penny's virtual self regained clarity and stood upright, her green light shining brighter than ever before.
"Right," Penny agreed with a confident smile, her voice strong and determined.
Together, with Eunice's guidance, they began to quarantine and purge the virus from their collective systems. The pixelated waves heeded the sisters' commands and they washed over the glitchy duplicate of Watts. He fought back, of course, tried to split the waves or outright dismiss them, but Eunice had prepared for this. She had a collection of anti-virus protocols and countermeasures that she had been developing during her silence. With each attempted reprisal, Eunice and Penny would counter with those new firewalls, taking the form of various constructs taken from their memories. Among the constructs were several armed figures, including one wielding a rapier, one with two gauntlets, one with a katana, one with chakrams, one that resembled a Petrosapien, and one that wielded a powerful scythe. Slowly but surely, each of the successive strikes weakened the virus's hold on Penny's systems. Each wound left behind by the constructs served to spread their anti-virus protocols faster.
"No. No, this...this was supposed to be flawless!" Watts' virus countered.
Outside, Penny twitched a bit, physical repercussions of the battle in her mind. Soon, one of her eyes switched from red back to green.
In the mindscape, the virus' program continued to be whittled away by the combined efforts of the sisters, each bit of code taken out made the virus' avatar smaller and smaller.
"All programs have flaws," Eunice began.
"Even ones made by a 'genius,'" Penny finished. The two raised their hands to summon up one final massive construct. Erupting from the ocean behind them, a *whale surface and came crashing down on the virus.
"No, no, NO-!" the embodiment of Watts' corruption cried out before the whale slammed down on him, shattering him out of existence, the virus completely deleted.
Up in the lab where Watts had installed the virus, Ironwood, after delivering his ultimatum, was looking over Penny's sword. He ran his fingers along the length of the blade, almost regretfully. Did he truly think she deserved to be controlled like this? No one would ever know, thanks to his Semblance firing on all cylinders with no signs of stopping. As he held it though, he noticed the red light of the power symbol flicker before shifting back to green.
"What...?" Ironwood muttered, before the middle part of the blade's guard began to spark. The general tossed the blade away, just in time to avoid a small explosion that let out a small spray of shrapnel.
"No...no, no, no! NO!" the general yelled, racing over and quickly picking up the blade again. He ripped off the casing and his eyes widened in horror as he saw the microchip Watts had placed into the weapon was fried.
Ironwood's mind was clouded with fury and frustration. Without a second thought, he swept his arm across the desktop, sending equipment crashing to the ground and shattering everything. His anger fueled his actions as he vented his frustration on everything in sight. The once orderly and pristine laboratory now resembled the chaotic aftermath of a storm passing through the enclosed space.
After the lab was properly wrecked, someone cautiously approached and opened the door, drawn by all the commotion. Dr. Scarlatina, who had been working (or at least trying to, he was under a LOT of stress) in the adjacent workspace, peeked through the doorway, his eyes widening in shock at the sight of Ironwood's rampage.
"General Ironwood! What...what happened in here?" Dr. Scarlatina stammered, his voice laced with concern.
In his blind rage, Ironwood turned towards the scientist, his gun still clutched tightly in his hand. Without a moment's hesitation, driven by his uncontrollable wrath, he pointed the weapon at the scientist and fired a shot that narrowly missed his shoulder, lodging itself into the wall behind him.
Ironwood's eyes burned with fury, covering a small bit of anguish, as he stormed out of the room, leaving the shocked scientist trembling in his wake. The sound of his heavy footsteps echoed down the corridor, mingling with the distant alarms that blared throughout the facility.
Dr. Scarlatina just slid down the wall, slumped to the floor, and cried.
Back at the Schnee manor, the windstorm ravaging the courtyard slowly began to die down. The thrusters in her lower legs quieted as Penny lowered herself back down to the cobblestone. The flames burning at the corners of her eyes extinguished and she fell to her knees, Ruby letting go and dropping to the stones as well. The red-hooded huntress scrambled over to her friend to check up on her.
"Penny! Penny, are you-?" Ruby asked.
"We...are fine," Penny and Eunice said, their voices overlapping, "We...we purged Watts' program. And have sent him a very strongly worded letter. Most of the words we included came from you."
"I almost feel sorry for how badly he's about to get roasted," Ruby grinned, pulling her mechanical friend into a hug.
"Almost, huh?" Ben chuckled.
"Biiiiig air quotes."
"Fuck..." Emerald muttered as she began to huff, having put so much effort into keeping the Protector from taking off, "Keep forgetting she's that strong."
"So," Oscar began, "still think you picked a bad time?"
Emerald looked back to the others and sighed. Oscar nodded encouragingly, letting her take the first word here.
"Uh...hey," the mage-thief spoke up, getting the Outcasts' attention, "You guys...looked panicked before. I mean, justifiably. I would be too if someone threatened a whole city with a nuke. But...I know you guys. You're not the kind to give up. So don't ruin that little track record of yours just cause I switched sides."
"Switched sides, eh?" Albedo smirked.
Ahhhh I knew you were a softie deep down, Neo teased.
"Wha- H-hey, l-listen-!" Emerald stammered.
"Aww," Yang teased.
"I-! You-! God damn it," the mage just shook her head.
"Hey, it's all part of the initiation," Oscar chuckled, patting her on the arm, "You get used to it. Now," the farm boy turned to address the whole group, "I think Ozpin has something he'd like to say."
"Finally ready to talk with us huh?" Ben asked.
"Apparently." Rook shrugged. "But please. Go ahead."
If I may? Ozpin asked. Oscar nodded and closed his eyes, letting the immortal consciousness take control.
"I was reminded of an old fairy tale, recently. A young girl flees the consequences of a choice to a magical place. But she never learned from her initial failure. As she ran, she only succeeded in spreading that failure to those around her," Ozpin said.
"The Girl Who Fell Through the World," Weiss pointed out.
"A favorite of yours, Miss Schnee?"
"Who doesn't have it as a favorite?" Weiss countered, getting a chuckle out of Ozpin.
"Well, that's certainly true I suppose. But...in this case, I have failed you. All of you. I should've told you sooner about Summer, about my suspicions. I didn't want to be wrong. Not again. Not so severely."
"You should have disclosed it...but I don't even know how you'd bring something like that up naturally." Albedo frowned.
"I know. And I doubt that...you may ever truly forgive me, Ruby, Yang," Ozpin said, looking to the two siblings that this secret had hurt the most.
"...I can't say I forgive you." Ruby admitted. "Not just yet."
"You sat on a big secret." Yang frowned. "And in recent news, that's just gotten worse. So, don't be shocked if we're not exactly 'cordial' to you."
"It...got worse?" Ozpin's eyes actually widened at that.
"It's a long story. We'll...tell you later," Ruby said.
"But...after the last couple of days," Yang started.
"I think we all understand what trust can be to some," Blake continued.
"It's a risk," Weiss finished.
"I can only hope that...it's a risk you can take on me again," Ozpin said with a bowed head, "That being said, there may be a course of action we can take."
"We don't really have a choice with moral leaders right now so...shoot." Yang agreed to hear him out.
"Well, it's Oscar's plan. I'm just here to explain the more specific parts of it," Ozpin nodded, "Let's take this back inside, hm?"
"Agreed." Ben said, as he and Ruby helped Penny up. "How're you feeling?"
"Dandy. So much better than before." Penny said. "Felt like I flushed out a nasty headache. That's how it works, right?"
"Hehe, sure," Ruby smirked, "Just glad to have you both back."