RWBY S

by J.S. Everest

After a night of complete despair, Ruby Rose was given the opportunity to enter Beacon Academy so that she could turn her life around. But her decision to accept had slowly put her into something much bigger than anything she could have ever imagined. Now she and her ragtag allies are pursued by spies, the kingdoms, the world's secrets, and her own painful past.

19. Snow White Pt I

Sitting at the back seat alongside Pyrrha – with Ren driving the truck they rented and Nora riding shotgun – Jaune had his arms crossed as he mulled on their mission ahead, with Team RWBY, Qrow, and Jacques on another rented truck, leading the way.

They were heading towards the Atlas mainframe, a specialized computer system housed within a military base, located closer to them than the railgun itself, normally defended to the teeth due to its importance of being the central unit of Atlas's data network, which Ironwood strangely left guarded only by a skeleton crew based on their info. But they just received news that the man was headed there – with Willow probably there as well – so it was an opportunity to complete the mission that they just couldn't ignore; the chance to end things quickly and go home was too good to pass up.

Jaune looked at the surroundings they passed by. As bare bones as the mainframe defenses were said to be, he still had to consider fights that could come up nonetheless, but thinking of that was difficult for him right now. Mainly due to him recalling Jacques admitting to his crimes, which ruined Jaune's mood.

Stopping his own team from intervening in what happened earlier spoke to his own ability to hold himself back, which was saying something, because as the eldest brother of multiple younger sisters, Jaune couldn't imagine doing what Jacques did. And it was a miracle that Weiss didn't lay a hand on him, especially after hearing her father tell her that she was too weak to sortie. Because Jacques managed to bring up old wounds in Jaune's head to the point that he was insulted by it, due to his team not fighting as well as they could... Jaune himself hadn't been fighting as well as he could.

Being unable to battle Cinder at the train, and that battle at the Schnee Manor... The former couldn't be helped, but Jaune still felt guilty about it, and that guilt only increased when they lost their fight against Ironwood's agents, powerful enemies that they would most likely fight again. Jaune recalled their Semblances; three elementals wielding water, wood and wind, one that could shoot aura missiles, and an arcane that seemed to stop time...

Jaune rubbed his hands for warmth. Some of Atlas's areas were colder than others – the location of the Atlas mainframe in particular – and seeing signs of the upcoming winter season didn't help.

It also didn't help that Blake, a member of Ruby's team, was missing ever since they fell from the bridge...

...and that despite Ruby's intentions and efforts, Jaune felt that they was no stopping them from being involved in something much bigger than themselves.

"You ok, Jaune?"

Jaune turned right to see Pyrrha tapping his shoulder, with a soft smile on her face, her green eyes as beautiful as the first time he saw them.

"You're really taking this seriously, aren't you?" Pyrrha leaned forward to give Jaune a quick kiss on the lips. "Relax, Jaune. We're going to be ok."

"This is like our fight at the Schnee Manor though, except with even higher stakes... And I don't want any of you guys to taken like Willow or vanish like Blake."

"No, don't give up on Blake just yet, because Ruby sure hasn't. And I myself believe that she's still out there, I'm sure of it. But even Blake would tell us that we have to focus on this mission first, and that's exactly what we're going to do. We're going to rescue Willow this time, I'm sure of that too."

"I hope so." Jaune took a deep breath, and rubbed his forehead with his fingers. Pyrrha looked calm enough... Was he just thinking too much? But Jacques's words and Blake being MIA, coupled with their recent failures... "Sorry, but hearing Jacques put me in a bad mood."

"You really wanted to punch him, didn't you?"

"That's one way of putting it."

"Good thing you held back. Because I remember you telling me about your family, how proud of you they were, and that you were the breadwinner, so I can understand that you were so pissed off... You were clenching your fists the whole time. You and Weiss were descended from esteemed Grimm slaying families after all, so there's that heritage to protect too... That pride."

"..."

"Tradition is a powerful thing." So saying, Pyrrha also spared a look at the last few buildings they were about to pass by, as the road and the moonlight of the shattered moon revealed a more open field. "I should know, I was born and raised here. Now I'm sure it's the same too for Vale, but Atlas can have very cold winters, and back in the old days when Dust wasn't discovered yet, the closest kingdom from here was Mantle, too many miles away to reliably get help from the Grimm. So the Atlas people took pride in surviving both those monsters and the elements, with only ourselves to rely on... I think that's why the citizens are sympathetic towards Ironwood. Because being branded as a coward and a fraud isn't seen very well here, even in prisons. I'm sure that's why Jacques was so afraid for his life." Pyrrha then looked back at Jaune. "And that's why, to be honest, I got pissed off at him too... So thank you for also holding me back."

Jaune slowly nodded; this wasn't exactly how he thought about the situation, but it was a new perspective that was close enough, and one that he agreed on too.

"It would've been nice if I had been born into that kind of family too... But no use pining for what can't be." Pyrrha then reached out to hold Jaune's right hand with her left, which he responded in kind. "I'm already happy with what I have."

"Pyrrha..."

"I understand why you're unsure right now, and I'm sorry that things haven't gone great for us. But I'm here, Jaune. Things will be different this time, and everything will be ok, I promise."

"...alright."

Pyrrha then turned her attention to Nora and Ren, who had gone silent. "Anything I can help you guys with?"

"Nah, you two go ahead," Ren said. "I can always appreciate a sweet love story."

"Like you would know a good love story if it hit you in the head," Nora replied.

"Hey, I watched that film with you one time, and it's now my favorite movie!"

"You only did that when you lost a bet, and you were trying to weasel out of it."

"I did say I might drool, didn't I?"

"And you were about to if I didn't wake you up!"

"But I still finished the movie!"

Nora sighed. "Yeah, right. I bet you don't remember anything about it. Much less the lead's name."

"Well don't worry, if I ever forget my name, I can always call myself yours." Ren then laughed. "What, you forgot already? That was a legit line in that movie!"

"Wait, it was?!"

"Hell no."

If one could go through shock, denial, embarrassment, and laughter in seconds, it would be Nora, as the two went through their usual back and forth.

"They'll never change, will they?" Pyrrha whispered.

"Nope," Jaune whispered back. "They won't."

"And if they can stay the same after everything, then so can we, right?"

"Right." Jaune squeezed Pyrrha's hand in response. "I love you Pyrrha."

Pyrrha squeezed his hand a bit tighter. "I love you too, Jaune."

It sounded so simple, that exchange of theirs. And with Pyrrha's words of encouragement – along with seeing her smile – Jaune thought that would be the end of his troubles.

But Jaune then remembered how he used to worry about how his relationship with Pyrrha would progress, starting from when they confessed to each other's feelings back in the graduation ball. He thought of how he would handle stupid arguments, off days, things like that... Normal problems that lovers had. But Jaune realized that all this time he worried about how Pyrrha would live to see the next day during a mission, even though he didn't doubt her strength. Because seeing Pyrrha getting hurt was...

You managed to heal Weiss, who was almost at the brink of death. And you still don't realize the full extent of what you can do with your power?

Power? What power? I couldn't even–

I forget that you're still a fresh graduate. And that you're too kind.

Jaune recalled that brief talk he had with Fiona, one of Robyn's teammates. He was too kind? What did she mean by that?

And it was at that point when Jaune's worries began to turn into dread, and soon turned into a dark rage he didn't know he was capable of.

...what's wrong with me? Jaune had always thought of himself as a relaxed guy who just so happened to have fallen head over heels for a girl, and he did his best reigning in his anxieties and looking at the brighter side. Jaune thought he had it all figured out more or less. But things have piled on his mental for some time now; he thought he would recover, but Jacques was what tipped the scales for him, and...

No, he was on a mission, Jaune had no time dealing with this right now. What was he even doing entertaining these thoughts? He had to focus. And so he just brushed his feelings aside, and simply made a vow in his head. I'll protect you too, Pyrrha. I promise.

Jaune soon lost track of how much time had passed after that. But when Pyrrha grabbed his attention again, their vehicle had just come to a stop, right behind Team RWBY's.

They had arrived a stone's throw away from a huge base, said to be one of the biggest structures in all of Atlas. With the power plants destroyed, the whole base had to be running on backup power, but when Team JNPR got off their car to meet up with the others, they found that the area was completely silent, without so much as an alarm, and more importantly, its front gate was seemingly unguarded.

And when they went closer to that gate, they found their first clues as to what actually happened in this base; the remains of a few bodies were sprawled on the ground, all killed by violent means, either burned alive or crushed to death by various steel objects.

What the hell happened here?

"What did you say Ironwood's Semblance was again?" Jaune heard Qrow ask Jacques.

"He wields two large dustmetal handguns, each powerful enough to blast a head clean off even at long range. Ironwood's weapons have no melee mode like many dustmetals, but he has a Semblance of having the thickest metal body you'll ever see to make up for it, a body stronger than steel, nearly impenetrable, more than strong enough to withstand a full barrage of cannon fire or opposing Semblances."

"Way to hype him up, Jacques. But I get the idea... Ironwood's just a walking brick with toys."

"I could say the reverse Qrow, you make it sound like Ironwood will be an easy fight. Don't underestimate him. And consider that there's a good chance Ironwood will not be all alone when we do find him... You'd be hard pressed to find any public info about the Ace Ops, much less those loyal to Ironwood. Who knows what they're truly capable of?"

"...you think that it's not just Ironwood who's here, don't you? Like the ones who destroyed the Atlas power plants..."

"I was hoping we were the first to deal with either Ironwood or the railgun." Qrow frowned. "Shit, everyone and their mother wants to be involved in Atlas's mess..."

"But you're still going to the Járnviðr rail cannon with me, correct?"

"..."

Hearing their conversation didn't give Jaune any assurances; the cold air, the softly falling snow, and the eerie atmosphere was of no help.

A thought struck Jaune, one he didn't want to think about. But if there really were other enemies in this base they had to deal with, then was it possible they got to Ironwood first? And that Willow was–

Suddenly two powerful explosions happened, both in quick succession, located somewhere at the far left side of the base, and everyone was put on high alert.

"Looks like we'll be in the thick of things sooner than expected." Qrow then looked at Teams RWBY and JNPR, and they all lined up upon hearing Qrow's command. As the Hunter with seniority here, Qrow acted as overall leader; Jacques meanwhile stood by Qrow's side. "Listen up, all of you. There's something weird going on here, and a fight might be coming up based on those explosions, so I want to make sure you're all prepared for it before I leave with Jacques for the railgun..."

Qrow then went silent for a while, thinking things through, and it almost felt like the man hesitated to continue as they planned earlier, right before heading for the Atlas mainframe. But Jaune knew Qrow had to do what Vale asked of him regardless. And not only that, in a race against time to both save Willow and to avoid what Qrow considered to be Atlas's act of aggression on the other kingdoms, their chances of doing both got slimmer with each passing hour, and that left them with little choice.

Qrow slowly nodded to himself, then looked at Ruby and Jaune. "Team RWBY will go to the right, while Team JNPR will go to the left, so that you guys can cover the most ground in the quickest time possible. Reminder that we bought new phones for everyone... If one of you guys find Willow in some cell, secure her asap then contact the other team so that you can get out of here. But if one of you guys find Willow with Ironwood, contact the other immediately so an ambush can be set up, run away if necessary, don't engage until then. Any questions?"

"None sir, we understand." Both Ruby and Jaune said, representing their teams as their respective leaders.

Qrow then looked at Ruby in particular. "Also..."

"Yes?"

"..."

"...?"

"...I know you don't want anyone here to have anything to do in Atlas politics, and you did the right thing by refusing to be involved a much as possible. But hopefully everything goes well enough that you guys still have plausible deniability on your side once everything's said and done, just in case people get too nosy on you guys. Because remember that this is just a rescue mission, not an assassination... Ironwood is still a favorite of the Atlas people at the end of the day, and if you guys can get away with knocking him out instead of killing him to rescue Willow, then that would be great."

"Got it."

"...and be careful, alright?"

Ruby nodded back.

Jaune found it notable that Ruby was calm throughout all this, even as her father Qrow leveraged his senior status, talking about battle plans and all. In fact, it looked like it was Qrow who was having second thoughts...

But it was only for a moment; Qrow was back to a serious mood, as if that brief moment of his never happened, and Jaune knew he had to follow suit. I should do the same. Worrying about things like this won't do my team any good.

"Alright, now everyone get ready. The gods willing, you guys get out of here with Willow in no time flat, and I get that railgun deactivated one way or another before we have a worldwide war on our hands." Qrow made a nod to everyone. "Good luck, and keep an eye out... Go mosey in."

And so Teams RWBY and JNPR did just that, with everyone going past the unmanned front gate before going to their respective directions; Jaune looked back to see Qrow and Jacques get in their vehicle, no doubt headed towards the railgun to disable it.

"...mosey?" Jaune heard Nora ask. "What's that?"

"He means move out in the coolest way you can think of," Ren whispered back. "Not gonna lie, I like his style."

"Ruby's dad has more style than you, I'll say that."

"Big talk for someone who fell for the 'if I forgot my name' line!"

"Real funny, Ren! Would it kill you to have better lines? Or have something better to look forward to rather than annoying me every time?!"

"What do you mean? You and me in a scary base on a cold winter night? This a dream come true. Not for us to get killed here of course, that's not a dream come true, let's hope the enemy doesn't do that."

"Ugh, Ren!"

Jaune heard Nora and Ren going at it again of course, but that was how they dealt with pretty much everything else, so them bantering like this to relieve the stress of an important battle ahead didn't sound so out of place.

Team JNPR entered buildings barely illuminated by flickering lights to look for clues, but the deeper they got, the more they saw signs of struggle, and they eventually found a few more dead bodies, with the same telltale marks of their deaths like the ones from outside.

"Still nothing?" Jaune said to his team after some time of searching.

"None as of right now," Pyrrha replied, shaking her head. "But we'll find Willow here tonight, I have a good feeling about it."

Jaune wondered where Pyrrha got her optimism; the silence around the base was slowly turning into an uncanny feeling for him, one that Jaune didn't like one bit.

And it was at that point when Jaune's calmness steadily went away, replaced with a gnawing doubt.

"We'll be ok," Pyrrha said, as if she read Jaune's mind. "I know there's a chance we get ourselves in a fight, but there's four of us, and we can always fall back if needed. We're going to be ok as long as we stick together."

Jaune nodded back, but Pyrrha's words didn't ease the uncertainties in his head.

It's just a rescue mission. Jaune kept repeating Qrow's commands in his head, in an effort to focus and calm his nerves. You're here to get Willow, and get the hell out.

Team JNPR checked every corner as much as they could to not miss a clue that could help them in their mission, all while still keeping a brisk pace, as per Jaune's command. But there was nothing other than the sound of his team's boots on the floor tiles, a few more dead bodies, and still no sign of Willow. Where was she? And where was the enemy for that matter? They've been moving around for some time now; surely they would've seen something by now, even with nothing but dim indoor lights and the shattered moon to work with.

Then, after what seemed to a long period of eerie silence, came the sound of metal loudly banging on metal, far into the distance; this time Jaune was sure his friends heard the same. It was a sound that they couldn't ignore, and so Jaune pointed to where the noise came from and directed that they all go to it.

But Jaune suddenly had a gut feeling that they were being watched.

It's just a rescue mission. Jaune repeated in his head, just as an unwanted memory of seeing Pyrrha taken down by Ironwood's Ace Ops came to mind. No, he had to keep calm, and find out where the enemy was. You can do this, Jaune. There are four of you, and everyone in your team can fight. It can't go wrong a third time for you–

Jaune abruptly stopped in his tracks, and so did the rest of his teammates.

"...Jaune?" Pyrrha asked.

Jaune signaled his teammates to keep quiet; he had sensed something, he was sure of it.

There was the sound of metal grinding this time, but there was also a vague presence somewhere in the dark that Jaune's couldn't quite place, right when they reached a dimly lit large area inside one of the buildings they entered... They were in what seemed to be a huge indoor gym for soldiers, complete with a basketball court.

Jaune then took out his sword and shield Pallida Mors, and seized his Semblance, well before he even thought of telling his teammates to do the same.

And that was because Jaune had only a moment's warning to get out his barrier and envelop him and his team in a sphere of protection, as metal objects – barbells, kettleballs, weight machines, treadmills, and other gym equipment – came flying straight towards them... A trap!

His barrier held despite the barrage, but Jaune felt his muscles and bones almost burst from the sheer force of the impact, and he cried out in pain; Pyrrha quickly helped out by using earth as another shield. But that did little as seemingly even more metal piled up on them, and soon all of Team JNPR were on their knees, much like miners ducking in a tiny pathway. Except the pathway was slowly collapsing on them; they were threatened to be buried alive by metal, and the sheer weight of the steel threatened to pop Jaune's shield at any moment.

"I don't know who any of you are," said a tanned man with a distinct mustache and in his middle years, walking towards them from the darkness where he hid, wielding what appeared to be a pair of dustmetal sais, twirling them in his hands. "And I don't know why you're here, but this is about as far as any of you will go."

Jaune grunted. This amount of metal forcing its way to crush them, and the effort needed to keep them at bay... The enemy had finally shown himself to have a magnetism Semblance, just as Jaune suspected earlier, and the trap they were caught on made sure that they were unable to launch any form of counterattack.

Damnit, did we just fall into a trap this quickly?!

Jaune knew they were in a bind – hearing his teammates groan from having huge weights press on their backs didn't help either – but surely there was something he could do here...

"Who are you?" Jaune shouted. "And are you working for Ironwood? Where's Willow?!"

"Willow? I have no idea who that is. But it's funny you ask about Ironwood. Because I've been trying to kill the man, but a Grimm I've never seen before just so happened to crash our party... Tch, blame Atlas and their weak defenses for that, they need work in plugging up the holes in their walls. But by the time that Grimm ran away, Ironwood disappeared, and I've been looking for him since. Yet all I've found are a ragtag bunch like yourselves, no doubt still wet behind the ears."

Grimm? What Grimm? Was this man talking about the battle at the Atlas walls? The thought of that didn't sit well with Jaune, but he hid his concerns regardless. "You were watching us earlier, weren't you?!"

"From a distance, yes, shortly before you fell into my trap. This wasn't meant for you by the way, I was hoping I snagged Ironwood or that Grimm. I can't stand the idea of being outsmarted or beaten by anybody, you see. But it got your group instead, and I'll be damned if I lose to some glory seeking punks."

"...!"

"What, you resent that remark? But let me ask you, why exactly are you looking for Ironwood and this Willow person? Because you're a bunch of vigilantes, is that it? Fool, you don't even know what you're getting into." The man laughed at that. "But I'm willing to make a deal. Tell me all you know, and if I find it useful, then I'll spare your lives."

Talking about Ruby and the others was out of the question of course; Jaune scowled, knowing through instinct that this man's word was no good. "Who are you anyway?!"

"Feel free to call me Arthur Watts... I like it when people to have something to call me by when I kill them, all because they didn't do what I say..."

"Sorry, but we don't know shit, so I don't even know where to start wasting your time. But if you stand down–"

"Then I've heard enough from you."

Arthur twirled his sais, preparing to attract more metal objects to crush them in a concentrated burst of steel. But just as Jaune anticipated, the man had to channel... Right there... The opening he was looking for!

Jaune used his aura to use Arthur's power against him, and repelled it right back at him like he would in a duel, pushing all the metal away in a full 360 degrees with the intent of defeating their enemy with his own weapons. And with Pyrrha's earth also being launched as a result of Jaune's technique, a thick cloud of dust formed that hid Arthur from view; Jaune knew he got him good, and he couldn't have had the time to dodge.

This also came at the cost of sapping much of Jaune's strength however, and so the blond fell his knees, gasping for breath; his vision hazy; Jaune fought for coherence.

Fortunately Jaune's teammates were quick to take advantage of the opening he created, and so a torrent of jagged earth spikes, roaring lightning, glowing green weaves soon went straight towards Arthur, still enveloped by a dusty cloud...

"That was pretty interesting."

Peering through the now slowly dissipating dust, Team JNPR saw that Arthur had summoned thick metal sheets ripped straight from the walls, shielding him from all of their attacks; Jaune scowled.

"That was a nice counterattack, I'll give you that, that would've worked against just about anyone else. But I'm not most people, of course. And making a fool out of me right when I was about to end your lives won't do you any good... I'll make sure you suffer for that."

"There are four of us, Arthur! You can't take down every one of us!" From the corner of his eye, Jaune saw that his teammates were at the ready. "I don't know who you work for, but we'll be forced to defend ourselves if you don't stand down and leave!"

It became clear that Arthur knew this as well. He seemed primed to attack again with his metal, but with four people to deal with, it was a matter of him taking the risk of attacking just to be blindsided by at least one of them, and so a standoff soon emerged.

"I notice that two of you wear attire similar to the old warriors of the world," Arthur said. "What a coincidence that people like us are in this kind of situation, because I myself was born from an old lineage of warriors of Mantle, believe it or not."

"Mantle?" Pyrrha said. "But that's–"

"Yes, one of the many kingdoms that used to exist in Solitas that were overrun by the Grimm well before Dust could be discovered. But Mantle's beauty, memory, and wisdom live on through those that managed to escape from its destruction, with most settling here in Atlas, including my ancestors."

"You're from Atlas? Then why are you betraying–"

"I can't betray Atlas if my blood isn't from Atlas, now can I?" Arthur replied, with a hint of anger in his voice. "Especially when I've been betrayed by one of Atlas's own, when my family was scammed out of its fortune due to fraud. But don't worry, I've been doing just fine since then, ripping off precious metals from people's cars and property as soon as the gods blessed me to be able to. It's only right, after all. Atlas took advantage of me, so it's only right that I do the same in turn."

"So you're just a criminal, just like those who wronged you in the past," Jaune shot back. "So is that why you're attacking Atlas? Because of what some bad people did–"

"Normally I wouldn't bother caring about what this kingdom wants. But the King of Atlas is an ailing old man, who somehow chose that rabid dog Ironwood to act in his stead, and the latter's hard stance against crime made my business very difficult. So I had to look for other sources of income... Imagine my luck when I got into the winning team, one headed by someone who I'll admit is not all there in the head, but he pays very good money to make up for it... Him hating Atlas is just a bonus."

"What do you mean by that?" Pyrrha asked.

"Who knows, I honestly think my client is insane." Arthur shrugged. "But as a professional, I just do what the client tells me. And it would be a shame to let this whole blackout go to waste... He told me to make sure that no one disrupts his plans, so that's exactly what I'm going to do."

Wait, blackout? Jaune realized something. "...you're one of Hazel's men, aren't you? You're part of those that destroyed the Atlas power plants!"

"Hazel? Ah, you know him by name... So you're involved with the people he fought, yes? Ha! I should've known that blowhard was all hot air when faced with any form of resistance." The man smirked. "But he and his party completed their mission, so those good for nothings were good for something at least. I'll just have to clean up after them, then. And for making me regret underestimating you, I'll start by burying you all alive."

Arthur twirled his sais, and began to channel, crying out while still keeping metal sheets by his side to serve as his shields.

"You think you have the numbers advantage? You think you got me cornered just because you're Hunters too? Think again... As if any of you have the firepower to take me down!"

No time to contact the others, no time to even run away. But at least everyone in Team JNPR knew what was about to happen, as if the whole gym starting to shake violently wasn't more than enough evidence. And so Jaune strengthened his barrier for all it was worth to protect everyone – with this much warning, he gave it everything he had – all while Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren launched their respective Semblances to take down Arthur, but his metal plates protected him just long enough for him to channel uninterrupted.

"Now die!"

His last metal sheet blew open right as Arthur yelled at the top of his lungs, and the sound of rebar and massive girders being forcibly ripped off the concrete foundations of the building filled Jaune's ears; the steel objects rushed towards them seconds later...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Did you hear that?" Ruby whispered, holding Weiss's shoulder.

Weiss thought she heard something too, somewhere far at the left side of the base. But even with the eerie silence, Weiss still couldn't be certain. Did she really hear screams? Yang didn't appear to have heard anything. Was it all just Weiss's imagination?

Ruby seemed to have heard something though, and so the two looked at each other, trying to make sense of it. But neither Ruby nor Weiss could give the other any assurances of what really happened, assuming that they even heard the same thing in the first place.

"...it's probably nothing," Weiss said, finally dropping the topic, and Ruby slowly nodded, going back to checking on some hard copies on a desk.

Weiss happened to be near a window near a bookshelf; she looked at the night sky. The shattered moon and the stars gave no clues to that sound she heard of course, only that the snow continued to fall down at a slow pace, bound to pick up the pace soon enough, as every other winter season before it did. But even with the lack of answers, the night sky was a much prettier sight compared to this place.

It was quiet... Everything was too quiet ever since they got here, finding nothing but a few more dead bodies in dimly lit rooms that had to be powered by backup generators, still with no alarms or sirens whatsoever. It was like a darkness swallowed up everyone here, that this became a grave in all but name. So much so that despite her best efforts to be calm and focused, Weiss could feel her confidence washing away since coming here, to the point that her fears seemed to come alive on their own. Her fear of forever losing her mother, fear of disappointing Winter, and fear of losing her friends...

Weiss glanced at the others, who were all trying to find clues on what happened here – and what they could be faced with – and at Ruby in particular. If not the others... Could she be feeling the same?

Weiss suddenly thought of Pyrrha, who was also from Atlas, and whom she was acquainted with through their old academies in joint combat training before they met again in Vale. Not that Weiss often thought of or even hung around with the girl, but she couldn't help but wonder what Pyrrha would say if she saw her like this.

Weiss then thought of Team JNPR... Wait. Could something have happened to them?

"You ok?"

Not sure of what to say, Weiss turned towards Ruby, who was now staring at her with a concerned look... Before the latter approached her and showed a small smile.

"It'll be ok, Weiss. Everything's going to be ok." Having said that, Ruby walked towards Weiss. "This whole place isn't helping, huh?"

Weiss shook her head.

"If you're worried about Team JNPR, I'm sure they're ok. They're Hunters just like us, they know how to fight. And if they need help, I'm sure they'll call us asap. As for us, don't worry, we'll make it through tonight, as long as we have each other."

Weiss slowly nodded.

Ruby then put her right hand on Weiss's shoulder. "But if you're still thinking about what happened earlier... It's alright, Weiss. It's ok. Thanks for hearing me out about it, even if I don't think I say things as well as I should." Ruby then gave a passing glance at Yang, who was busy looking through some books. "I know it's very difficult... It's not something anyone can just do on the fly... But you did the right thing, even though things may not make any sense for you right now."

Weiss knew what Ruby meant, that she made the right choice in refraining from taking vengeance on Jacques for what he did. It was still difficult for Weiss to accept and forgive though; she wondered if she could ever find it in her heart to forgive her father, or even get back to speaking terms... Weiss drew a blank on that. All she knew right now was that her mother Willow needed to be rescued, and that was the only thing she could come up with in her mind.

And with that, Weiss made a small prayer in her head to the gods – and to Winter too – asking for all the help she could get to tell her mother the truth, all without breaking her heart and have her spiral down into her old addictions. And while she was at it, Weiss prayed for wisdom too; wisdom to get the mission done, to truly understand why things happened the way they did, and maybe, just maybe, to forgive.

All this seemed impossible for Weiss to have thought of just a few hours ago, back when she was in complete despair, and so once she was done praying, she made this known to Ruby, adding, "I can't imagine being here if it weren't for you."

"And I wouldn't be here without you backing me up and believing in me, it's a team effort." Ruby showed a small smile again. "Thanks for still believing in me as your leader. I know I haven't been extraordinary in the grand scheme of things, even with my blink..."

"You don't have to be," Weiss replied; she gave Ruby a kind look. "...you being you is already special enough." Weiss smiled. "And I'm glad that you're you, and that you're my friend."

Ruby paused, then showed a soft, wistful smile back.

"I got nothing here," Yang said as she threw away a folder, grabbing everyone's attention; giving them a cursory look, she then walked towards the door ahead. "And it looks like none of you guys have found anything either. Can we go ahead into the next room, Ruby?"

Ruby slowly nodded. "...yeah, it's fine. There's just no clues here, so let's move forward."

"Got it. Opening door number whatever to see what we have."

And so Yang did, revealing a warehouse, and a big one too; already Weiss could see multiple doors at its walls. The area was more than three stories tall, housing columns of pallets that stretched as far as the eye could see. But the place was so dimly lit and quiet that everyone didn't move any more than a few steps forward from the door, wary of what could lay ahead.

"Pretty big space we got here," Yang said.

"It's fine, I'll scout ahead," Ruby replied. "Can't have people trying to ambush us... I'm not taking any chances."

Weiss was well aware of how Ruby made sure they weren't falling into traps, and that meant she scouted huge areas ahead every now and then with her blitzes, maintaining enough stamina for blinks just in case. And while that delayed their search for Willow significantly, Weiss didn't argue. Because even though she wanted to see her mother asap, Ruby had done so much for her in her moment of weakness, and Weiss wished to return the favor, at least in some small way...

Ruby soon blitzed back to them from her scouting soon enough, taking Weiss out of her thoughts. "I think I found a group up ahead," she said to them. "I couldn't get closer without being spotted, but I–"

Suddenly there were two gunshots, and Ruby cried out in pain as she fell to the ground, bleeding from both her right arm and right leg.

"Ruby!" Weiss felt her blood freeze at the sight, and she head Yang gasp in shock.

Thinking fast, Weiss embraced her Semblance and summoned an ice wall to protect themselves from further attack, making sure that no one else was hurt by any more bullets. And just in time too, as more gunshots were fired right after, creating cracks on Weiss's ice wall as bullets collided with it; the enemy was approaching fast.

"Ruby, are you ok?!" Her heart breaking at seeing Ruby in so much pain, and at the same time quelling her rage, Weiss hurried to be by Ruby's side and applied first aid, making sure her friend was alright. "Talk to me!"

"I'm ok..." Ruby groaned and breathed heavily as she made a furtive glance at the wound on her right arm, then turned away just as quickly, wincing as she did; blood steadily poured out of her injuries, blood that Weiss did her best to staunch. "It just hurts a lot..."

"It'll be ok, Ruby. Everything's going to be ok." The irony of repeating what Ruby just told her a few minutes ago wasn't lost on Weiss; stifling her tears at what she saw – even though they were glancing shots, they still dealt a lot of damage – Weiss took care of the gunshot wounds on her friend's limbs.

"How's Ruby?" Yang had already embraced her own Semblance, her greatsword and hair blazing bright with fire, but there was a distinct change in her tone now; no longer furious like she often was – or even like a few moments earlier – there a deathly calmness to her voice, with a dark look on her face to match.

"She's hurt in both her arm and her leg," Weiss replied. "The bleeding's under control, but she's in no condition to fight."

"Make sure she's not in the crossfire." Right as Yang said that, and with how quiet the place was, Weiss thought she heard footsteps from the distance, coming straight for them. "Get Ruby out of here, I'll cover your escape first before I follow suit... Contact the others, find out if they're ok."

Weiss nodded, and carried Ruby back to the room they were at earlier, ensuring that the latter was protected by making her sit in a corner, far from what was surely an impending fight.

"I'm sorry, Ruby... Your wounds should be ok now, but you're still going to have to sit this one out." Weiss began to contact Team JNPR, but there was no response.

"...no signal, huh? It's ok... I'm sure they're fine. And don't be sorry for a clumsy girl like me..." Breathing deep, Ruby held Weiss's hand tight. "Tell Yang to retreat now too, she doesn't have to fight the enemy to cover our escape... She can carry me on her back while you make more ice walls–"

Ruby was cut off by the shouts of soldiers saying that they were being attacked from behind... Weiss heard the telltale sound of a distinct aura beam being let loose, along with the faint shouts of a man showing off a familiar bravado, followed quickly by the raging sound of Yang's flames; Weiss could've sworn she heard her ice wall shatter as the loud grumblings of Yang's dragon came out.

"That's Dad shouting... He came back for us..." Ruby breathed a sigh of relief. "I knew he was having second thoughts earlier, he always did trust his gut. And if he was forced to open up the fight like that, then that means it's a strong enemy we're up against..."

"...it's Ironwood!" Yang yelled. "He's here, and he has Willow with him!"

Weiss's eyes widened, and she felt her heart skip a beat.

She then heard Qrow shout demands that Willow be released immediately, followed up by Ironwood outright refusing to do so, calling them all enemies of Atlas to boot... Unless they surrendered Jacques first.

Weiss's heart skipped another beat.

"Looks like we found your mom after all..." Ruby groaned as she stood up feebly, using her scythe as a makeshift crutch. "We can't run away now, but there's no avoiding a fight... Still, we can't let this opportunity slip past us. You're just going to have to be team leader in my place though..." Ruby groaned. "I'll be fine, I can fall back on my own..."

"...Ruby!" Time seemed to slow for Weiss; even with a battle raging just a few meters behind them – and a gnawing feeling in her heart that both of her parents are in danger – she couldn't just leave her friend behind. "No, you can't just leave on your own–"

"Weiss, you have to listen to me. You can do this. You'll rescue your mother, I know you will."

"No, Ruby!" Weiss began to panic; she knew where this was going. "No! I..."

"Weiss, calm down and listen."

"...!"

"I know that holding yourself back from hurting Jacques was hard, and forgiving him seems to be impossible... But I also know that you'll make the right choices in the end... Just make sure you don't do what I did, getting carried away by your anger, and you'll complete the mission just fine..."

Weiss gulped, trying to find the right words. Or the strength to even say anything at all. Or even do what had to be done; Weiss knew she should be out there backing up Yang and Qrow right now, but her hands shook and her lips quivered...

"You'll do well, Weiss. Take care of Yang for me."

"...I will, just as soon as you do your part too. Don't think of looking back, just retreat to safety, ok?" Weiss had to pull herself together here; she forced herself to smile. "Besides, you have to live so that you can meet your boyfriend Cale again, remember?"

"Yeah, so that you and the others can tease me more about him again, right? But you do that again, I'm going to tell your mom that you're... A goody two shoes A+ student, how about that?"

Ruby chuckled softly and showed a soft smile as if everything was ok, but she couldn't hide the fact that she was out of the fight, and the girl soon winced to deal with the pain, along with what could only be described as complete disappointment in herself etched on her face.

"Really now? That's what you're going to tell my mother, huh?" Weiss couldn't help but smile a bit too, but it hurt her that Ruby was handling her situation well, even though she surely felt differently inside; Weiss held back tears. "Why don't you start by telling her that you're the best friend I've ever had, that you inspire me to be more forgiving, more understanding... That you're not mediocre at all, you're a lot stronger than you think you are, and that's why I've been trying to pull off something close to what you can do, all this time..."

"Weiss..."

There was a pause, as Weiss gathered strength for the upcoming fight ahead. "I know what you told me is the right thing to do, even though it's difficult... That's why I have to keep up with you, because I still have a long way to go... So don't think of making it harder for me to do that. So please..." Weiss gulped, knowing what Ruby was likely to do, given their past battles; her next could well be her last. But if Ruby truly believed in her... Weiss wiped her eye. "...if you think that I'll do well, then promise that you'll fall back and rest, ok? Promise me..."

"I promise..." Ruby slowly nodded. "And yes, I believe in you, Weiss... Just like how Winter believes in you too."

It's ok, Weiss. I understand. We make our own choices…

Memories of Winter came to mind, and unlike previous times when she reminisced about her sister, Weiss felt something warm in her heart instead.

And with that, Weiss smiled warmly in turn. "We'll be back after this fight, I promise. And thank you, Ruby. For everything."

And with that, Weiss left Ruby to go back to join the others, preparing herself for battle. It took effort to keep herself calm and leave her friend behind to fall back on her own, but Weiss knew she had to, because Ruby's life depended on it.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jaune groaned as he regained consciousness, and he struggled to get up. He was alive... His body hurt like hell, but he was alive. And even as his sight filled of the entire gym having collapsed, roof, walls, and all – the outside and the night sky were visible now, and Jaune could feel the soft snow slowly falling down his skin – it was clear that his barrier managed to hold. Somehow it remained active through all this time... His shield wasn't enough to protect them from the shock of the collapse it seemed, but at least it saved him and his friends from certain death, and even from the dirt and dust of the collapse, all while he was knocked out cold.

Finally releasing the barrier to save what little strength he had – his head was throbbing in pain – Jaune turned, and he immediately saw Nora and Ren behind him; walking towards them, he saw that both were unconscious, but still alive.

Jaune took a deep breath. With his dustmetal weapon Pallida Mors on hand, he began to heal Nora and Ren to speed up their recovery, and took stock of their situation. Arthur clearly wasn't here with them in the wreckage; if he was, then Jaune figured they would be an easy target–

Wait. Pyrrha. Where was Pyrrha?!

His heart racing, Jaune looked for her frantically, his eyes darting at every direction; how could he not have noticed she was missing earlier?! Surely she was here somewhere?! But no matter where he looked, Pyrrha was nowhere to be seen.

Then Jaune heard the familiar sound of rocks being ripped apart from the earth; that was Pyrrha's Semblance! And that it was somewhere at the buildings ahead...

Jaune frowned; Nora and Ren were stable, but he reluctantly had to leave them behind to check on Pyrrha, and so he did, slowly making his way towards the sound.

More sounds from Pyrrha's Semblance came to Jaune's ears, but among them was an unusual one; this time one of metal being sheared off from where it was riveted down... Arthur! Pyrrha had to be fighting him alone, and the mere thought of that made Jaune quicken his pace despite his fatigue.

"Even so, what you experienced in the past doesn't give you the right to do the same!"

"No right you say? Then who's going to stop me? You?!"

"Yes, I'm the one who's going to stop you! That's why this ends here, Arthur! I won't let you hurt my friends!"

"Ha! As if you can take me on by yourself, when only power matters, and mine is stronger than yours. And I'm not about to be lectured otherwise by some woman, so that's why the only thing that will end here is your life!"

They had to be fighting, as those shouts were definitely their voices; they were faint to Jaune due to distance, but it had to be them, and so Jaune's brisk pace turned into a run.

Jaune turned left, and that was when he saw them in combat against each other, just as he feared. He saw that metal and earth was being thrown everywhere – acting as both their parry and their offense – and that Pyrrha switched her dustmetal weapon from rifle to spear once she got up close, lunging forward with a thrust.

Which Arthur blocked with two of his sais, their prongs locking on to Pyrrha's spear, the latter's sharp point mere inches away from Arthur's face.

"I've got you now!"

Two large metal shards sprang out from Arthur's hips, and Arthur launched them straight at Pyrrha's stomach... She cried out in pain, blindsided by the surprise attack, and she crumpled to the ground, dropping her weapon and ultimately her Semblance.

"Pyrrha!"

Arthur turned to look at Jaune; breathing heavily, he laughed. "Fool! You arrived too late!"

And with that said, Arthur summoned metal wiring to wrap around Pyrrha, who was still alive, even as her blood stained the pavement, those two metal shards still stuck in her body.

"Now just stay there and watch me wring out the life from your friend, nice and slow..."

Raging filling his vision, Jaune knew that he was still far off from them, but not far enough that a run wouldn't close the distance–

And that was when Jaune was greeted by a much larger metal spike going straight to his chest; in his anger, he didn't see the attack at all, and it brought him to his knees.

"I said stay there and watch me!"

His own blood flowing down from his chest, Jaune could barely move his hands to heal himself even a tiny bit; his mind was a haze, his fatigue from keeping up his barrier catching up to him, Pyrrha's screams a dull sound.

"A pity that your friend over there can't bring himself to save you." Arthur said to Pyrrha. "After all that talk about saving them, as if they were any worth saving. Look at him, just kneeling there watching you die!"

"Jaune!" Pyrrha gasped, as she struggled to suck in air, as Arthur's metal was slowly suffocating her; tears fell down from her green eyes... Eyes that were looking straight at him, desperately asking for help. "...Jaune!"

"Too bad for you, I'm not above making hardheaded people suffer. And you were an annoying woman with a mouth too big for her own good, so let me return the favor. With interest."

It's just… you're like the knights of the Remnant Era, you know?

I wouldn't say that I'm exactly like them…

But that's really what you sound like.

Drained both physically and mentally, memories of how Jaune first met Pyrrha came to mind.

You're really fun to be with, you know that? You're also kind and honest too… And that means a whole lot to me, more than you know.

Did I ever miss any moments with you?

You're cute when you're flustered like this, Jaune.

More memories flooded into Jaune's head...

…so what now? I don't want to push you away…

Then we stay together. Because we have everything to gain, and what else do we have to lose?

Jaune… I want to be with you so much…"

Then be with me. There's a reason why we both feel this way.

…even after what I told you?

It doesn't matter to me. Because I love you too much for that.

"...Jaune!"

"He can't hear you, girl. Your friend over there's pretty much dead, he couldn't even get close to save you... Pretty useless if you ask me. Then again, I was right in thinking that you were nothing more than glory seeking punks to begin with."

"...!"

"But enough about him." Arthur breathed deep as he took a moment to pause. "You know, you're very pretty, now that I'm looking at you. Maybe I should just break your limbs and bring you with me for a while. I haven't had one in a long time, after all..."

Pyrrha's screams and cries filled Jaune's ears, but it was that last part Arthur said that truly pierced through the fog in Jaune's head...

Yeah, that's me alright. The girl you fell in love with. Well, what can you say about that?

Disappointment over their earlier battles and a disgust over what Jacques did to Weiss had been bothering Jaune for some time now. But now all of that was magnified by guilt and shame, alongside a boiling, raging anger...

And that was when something snapped inside Jaune, right then and there.

Somehow getting the strength he needed to ignore the metal spike in his chest and the bleeding it caused, Jaune ran straight towards Arthur, heater shield in his left hand, knight's sword in his right, his Semblance at the ready.

"Got a second wind, eh? Just so you can die here?" Arthur smirked. "Did you get pissed off at what I just said? Good! Then why don't I give you exactly what you want!"

Arthur let loose multiple jagged metal spikes and shared, aimed straight at Jaune, but he had his barrier up to defend with, and he parried the projectiles easily. And with how fast Jaune was running, Arthur wouldn't have enough time to channel and throw more dangerous stuff... Soon Jaune was nose to nose with Arthur himself.

"You think you can take me on, boy?! I just took down your girl, and you won't be any different!"

But Jaune didn't hear any of Arthur's boasts; they were nothing but noise to him, as Jaune took the offensive. And why shouldn't he? Jaune was familiar with duels, and all he wanted right now was to make Arthur kneel. Yes, he wanted the man to squirm in pain... To the point that everything else blurred; the snow, the night sky, the mission... Even Pyrrha herself.

Jaune continued his barrage, and Arthur was so overwhelmed by the onslaught that he let go of the metal wiring that was suffocating Pyrrha, though Jaune barely noticed it.

"...Jaune!" Pyrrha gasped. "...wait!"

"Stand back!"

"But–"

"Shut your mouth! I said stand back!" Jaune didn't know how cold and rough he said it, but he only ordered it just to keep Pyrrha out of harm's way, that was how he thought of it. She was hurt and bleeding, and he didn't have the time to heal her wounds... Surely she would understand. Because Jaune had Arthur to take care of first, and mercy was just about the last thing on his mind.

Attack, dodge, parry, attack... At this close range, Jaune parried everything Arthur managed to throw at him with his heater shield and superior defensive Semblance, and with his knight's sword, Jaune knew he had his opponent on the ropes. Arthur was visibly tired... Outlasting him was a forgone conclusion.

A small smirk formed on Jaune's lips.

"You think you have me beat, you little shit?!" Arthur grunted. "Then why don't I–"

But Jaune already anticipated Arthur using Pyrrha was bait, and the moment he saw Arthur prepare to do just that, Jaune had the correct counter at the ready... Because Arthur inadvertently left himself briefly defenseless by even attempting to bait him with Pyrrha as a hostage, and that was the opening Jaune was waiting for; he dropped his shield and grabbed his opponent by the neck with his left hand, and began to strangle him.

"...you!" Arthur cried out, desperately trying suck in air... Yes, just like what he did to Pyrrha. Good. The smirk on Jaune's face widened.

Jaune thought he heard Pyrrha cry out to him, but he might have misheard. Didn't he just command her to shut up earlier? She really should, because everything was kind of a blur right now to him anyways, other than his hatred of Arthur...

And so, with his sword on his right hand, Jaune stabbed Arthur at his side, his blood flowing instantly, but not enough to kill him outright, of course. Just enough to stop any more magnetic shenanigans, as well as make a shallow – but very painful – wound...

Jaune began to heal Arthur right after that.

"Jaune!"

Jaune thought he heard Pyrrha again, but it couldn't be her. His attention was all on Arthur, but it still couldn't be Pyrrha. Because she was supposed to have fallen back and kept quiet, just as he commanded her to do.

"...damn you!" Arthur snarled as he winced from the pain. "Who the hell do you think you are? You–"

"You're going to pay for what you did to her." Jaune didn't want to hear anything from Arthur anymore. He just wanted to hurt him, and he said as much, adding, "And you're going to suffer. With interest."

Once Jaune got Arthur sufficiently healed – not enough to make him fight again of course, but just enough to close up the wound on his side – Jaune stabbed Arthur again. And healed him again. Stab, heal. Over and over. Yes... Jaune continued to torture Arthur, making him cry out and in writhe in pain every time, because Arthur deserved it.

Meanwhile Fiona's words to Jaune loomed inside his head like an overcast, which was saying something, given that he barely knew her. But her words stuck themselves in his mind nonetheless. Only very rarely did Jaune imagine that his healing Semblance could be twisted into something like this – it was barely even touched on in class actually – and when he did, he forgot about it quickly. Mainly because he never thought he would ever be in a position to do so, much less want it enough to continue doing it.

But the power... The full extent of his Semblance was at his disposal, and Jaune hadn't felt quite so alive before. He was enjoying all this, actually... Was this what Fiona truly meant?

Jaune's smirk – which he held all this time – grew even wider as he stabbed Arthur again for the upteempth time. Except this time he made it just a little bit more painful... Just because. And Jaune let Arthur endure the pain just a bit more too before healing him again. Also just because.

"What now, Arthur? Got nothing to say?" So saying, Jaune began to cackle, because it felt right. "Yeah, I figured. But don't worry, I'll make sure you'll have something to say. Because I'm going to make your life a living hell for what you did to–"

Jaune felt someone grab his right arm with two hands, and he soon heard Pyrrha sob on his back.

"Not like this..." Pyrrha whispered. "Not like this..."

"I told you to stay back." Now how did Pyrrha get to him? Jaune wasn't sure, but the first thing he suspected was that Pyrrha simply powered through the pain, and when he saw her bleeding from her stomach, barely able to stand... The sight infuriated him. "Damnit, I haven't even healed you yet... Get back, now!"

"I can't bear to see you do this, Jaune... You're losing yourself..."

"Shut up! You don't know how to follow orders?! I told you to get back!"

"Jaune... What's happening to you?" Pyrrha sobbed. "You're not like this... You're not like this at all..."

Jaune frowned. What was Pyrrha even talking about? He was only doing what any self respecting man would naturally do when his love was being tortured, nothing more or less. And it infuriated him even more that Pyrrha was asking him questions with obvious answers too...

"Please, Jaune. Just let him go, he can't fight anymore–"

"Don't be a nuisance, Pyrrha. Don't make me have to drag you!"

"But Jaune–"

"For fuck's sake Pyrrha, I already commanded you to get back! What the hell is wrong with you?! Damn it, I'm the leader, so listen to me and know your place!"

Pushing Arthur to the ground, Jaune turned to gave Pyrrha a cold stare, towering over her with the full intent of intimidating her to follow his commands... Only to meet soft teary green eyes in turn, filled with pain and worry for him, even as she held her bloody stomach.

"Jaune..."

But seeing the metal spike embedded in Jaune's chest proved too much for Pyrrha. Her knees buckled and gave way as she fainted, and she began to fall.

"Pyrrha!"

Jaune caught and held Pyrrha close to him, and quickly began to heal her. In doing so his vision went fuzzy, and he began to feel the ache in his wound caused by the metal spike again, but he ignored it all; Pyrrha came first. But that didn't remove the cold hardness etched in his face.

"You... You bastard!"

Turning, Jaune saw that Arthur had crawled some distance away from him, and was preparing to fire another metal spike at Pyrrha... He still had enough in him to fight? Jaune grit his teeth.

But a charged aura arrow came crashing down at Arthur before Jaune could do anything, and while it missed piercing Arthur's body, the arrow erupted with enough energy that the man went flying a fair distance, and hit the pavement with a hard thud from the impact.

From the corner of Jaune's eye, that was when the one who shot that arrow appeared from the shadows... Robyn Hill!

"Looks like I got here just in time," Robyn said, with a notable shortness of breath. "Sorry, but I need him alive for now... I need some answers first."

"How did you get here?" Jaune asked, taken by surprise. "How did you know that we would be–"

"I got wind of rumors that there was something happening here at the Atlas mainframe..." Robyn answered, this time with a pained tone in her voice; Jaune noticed that there was a hastily bandaged wound on her side. "Looks like there's some truth to that. I followed the loud sounds, and luck got me to you. As to how I got here? Just so happened that I was running for my life from a monster, and I was lucky enough to escape by hijacking a car..."

"Wait, what do you mean by that?"

"Fiona, May, Joanna... They're all dead, Jaune. Killed by something that shouldn't even exist... A hybrid between human and Grimm." Robyn slowly shook her head, her tone shaky. "And to see people like him running around can't be a coincidence, so I want to know if this guy's involved... Call it a gut feeling."

News of it hit Jaune hard like a truck; they were all dead? Fiona's last words hit much differently now. To realize that someone he just met had died so suddenly, and to think that the same could've happened to Pyrrha...

Jaune held Pyrrha tight as he healed her. He didn't want to imagine losing her, but his mind did nonetheless, and he began to entertain dark thoughts of what exactly he would do if it were to happen... All because Pyrrha had the idiotic idea of showing mercy...

To his shock, Jaune found himself blaming Pyrrha for distracting him from Arthur, which he quickly shook off.

"I can tell you're pretty angry, so sit this one out for a bit and take care of Pyrrha for now. Let me handle this."

Jaune saw Robyn turn towards Athur, who was still reeling from her attack; she had another charged arrow aimed at him, and at this range, it would be impossible for her to miss. "Who are you? Who do you work for? And do you know a woman with a Grimm arm and a scythe dustmetal weapon?"

"...damnit, she played around with her food again?" Arthur scowled as he tried to sit up; he barely managed to. "Unreliable... Absolutely unreliable... I'm the only one that's worth a damn in the whole group!"

Wait, a Grimm arm? Scythe? Jaune quickly connected the dots, recalling what Ruby told them in her report about the train mission. "...Cinder?"

Arthur scowled. "She plays around and flaunts herself like a haughty hag, but still leaves the job unfinished, fuck it all..."

"I don't think you're humble yourself," Robyn shot back. "But I guess that's just par for the course for someone acquainted with that abomination."

"You make it sound like I enjoy being with her," Arthur replied. "Far from it. Now I'm sure that my client had something to do with her existence, but I prefer she just died in a ditch if you ask me..."

"You really despise that monster enough to tell me this so openly, huh? Then don't stop now, go ahead and tell me more. I'll believe just about anything at this point." Robyn pulled back her bowstring for that extra power, seemingly for good measure. "I mean, what else do you have to lose, other than your life?"

Arthur hesitated to talk; Jaune meanwhile had his eyes fixed on Arthur's moves as he continued to heal Pyrrha. She was starting to wake up from having fainted, and Jaune didn't want the man to have any more chances to slip away or kill them with any more sneak attacks.

"Well, Arthur? Don't tell me you don't value your life–"

Suddenly there was a sniper shot, and Robyn's words were cut off as her left leg got shot; crying out in pain, the woman dropped her bow and arrow, and fell to the ground.

Jaune's eyes widened only briefly before grimacing. Where did that attack come from?! And Arthur... He was already trying to attack–

"Jaune! Robyn! Get down!"

That voice!

Jaune did so, taking Pyrrha with him, and a few moments later, a thick pillar of black light sliced its way through, so intense it crackled.

Then came a gust of wind – a strong but familiar one too, like someone had blitzed in – and Jaune thought he saw a few autumn leaves pass him by.

Ice colder and more violent than anything Jaune saw Weiss summon suddenly formed in front of Arthur, just in time to shield him from the black bar of light aimed directly at him; it did so without so much as a crack, even as the attack ran its course.

"I assure you that I prefer to see you die in a ditch as well, Arthur. The feeling is very mutual."

Jaune saw a woman's silhouette show up near Arthur, with a sniper rifle that transformed into a scythe, and a left arm that definitely did not look anywhere close to a normal human arm.

"But the client doesn't like us killing each other, and he puts effort to keep all of us civil, so I do my part to keep our little group together just as he wants it. Even though you haven't been pulling your weight recently, if I do say so myself."

"Tch, don't act as if you're saving me, Cinder. I'm here exactly because the client ordered me to guard his trail, and I have these fools at the palm of my hand. Meanwhile you haven't even found Ironwood yet, much less killed him!"

"You act as if a weakling like you can kill anybody on a whim... A weakling with the gall to say that he wants me dead, as if I'm not the one doing the heavy lifting around here." Cinder went closer towards Arthur, and for a very brief moment, Jaune thought he saw the latter flinch. "I do wonder sometimes if the client still needs to hear anything from you moving forward."

Jaune grimaced. Cinder... This was that woman Ruby said she fought at the train, and already he found himself grasping his knight's sword tighter. It wasn't an exaggeration; Jaune could feel a dark aura emanate from her even though there was an ice wall separating them – an aura only a few steps away from full on murderous intent – and Jaune was sure that Arthur felt the same, no matter how much the latter tried to hide it.

"Jaune, Robyn, you guys ok? I got your back!"

Jaune turned, and sure enough, an all too familiar faunus went running up to him, with her black dustmetal rifle Shadow Piercer on hand. "Blake! You're ok! Where have you been? We couldn't find you since what happened at the bridge."

"Sorry for the absence. I lost my phone because I got swept away by the river, and I had to fight my way through some soldiers trying to find my way back to you guys." Blake went into position, aiming her bulky rifle at Cinder, and her amber eyes narrowed; Jaune noticed she had a few flesh wounds on her body. "Eventually I stumbled my way here, and I was forced to hide from some unknown invading group, and from an Atlas force that made their way in afterwards. But I guess I have my answers now as to who the invaders were, at least..."

"You mind a couple of gatecrashers?"

Ren's voice was unmistakable, and soon Jaune saw him and Nora running towards them to take position, with Nora's lightning crackling around her hammer, while Ren's weaves were glowing green in his hands, forming a structure much like the ones he often does whenever he played cat's cradle. "Looks like we've arrived just in time to fight the final boss too! About time we got some screen time!"

"We found Blake approaching us shortly after we woke up." Nora gave Jaune a nod. "And thanks for the heals, Jaune... Pyrrha looks like she needed it a lot herself."

Jaune looked back to Pyrrha, just in time to see her open her emerald eyes.

"Jaune..." Pyrrha whispered. "Are you back to–"

Pyrrha stopped, most likely because Jaune knew he still had a cold look on his face even though Blake was here, and he had no intention of letting go of it.

"Why did you fight Arthur alone?" Jaune growled, with a frustrated tone in his voice; not even Blake being ok lightened his dark mood. "You could've stalled while you waited for any of us to wake up."

"..."

"Why?"

"Because I thought I could take him on... I couldn't risk him hurting any of you guys..."

"Well you obviously can't, stupid! So don't go doing things on your own and just follow my commands!"

Pyrrha went silent, and Jaune squelched a desire to drag on the argument any further; he made sure she was on her feet before going to Robyn to heal her, who grunted as she held her wounded leg.

"Shit, I thought I lost that bitch..." Robyn mumbled as she breathed heavily. "So much for me being part of the estemeed 31st Atlas Brigade Combat Team... Did Internal Affairs really make me too slow at everything?" Robyn continued to mumble to herself with an unmistakable tone of regret. "Sorry Jaune, Cinder managed to follow me..."

"Calm down Robyn, I'll heal you."

"I should be the one saying that to you," Robyn replied in between groans. "Look, we need to work together, that woman is no joke... But shouting at your teammates won't help things."

Jaune realized he had shouted at Pyrrha just a few moments ago, but he didn't reply to it as he healed Robyn; he didn't even spare Pyrrha a look. Jaune didn't know what to say to her anyways, and there was a much bigger issue to worry about, as he looked at their new opponent.

"Enough, Arthur... You know, you're really bad at hiding your fear of me, no matter how you hard try to hide it." Cinder chuckled. "But without the client to oversee us, I guess I should remind you just how much of a punching bag you are to me. I haven't made that known to you in a long while, so that's why you get to live another day. Lucky you, eh?"

Cinder then grabbed Arthur's head using her inhuman left arm, and began to squeeze; Arthur cried out in pain.

"...how the hell did Merlot even manage to create something like you?!"

"He has his own reasons, and I have mine. But why does any of that matter to you? All you want is lien, right? So why care about the ramblings of a senile old man? You don't really believe in his devout fanaticism, do you? Much less my own goals... There's no way in hell I'm more than just an abomination made in a lab, am I right?" Cinder cackled at that; she relished hearing her own words, and Arthur's cries as she squeezed hard on his skull. "All you care about is money, money, money, all so that you can rule this floating rock in space. Now I don't care what you do with your income in your spare time, but I do suggest you open your mind... Do you want me to open it for you? Because none of what you want matters in the end, Arthur. None of it."

"Cinder... You... You goddamned–"

"That's enough punishment for you today." Cinder then let go of Arthur's head, and the man fell to his knees. "Now get out of here, you know where the doctor is. Make yourself useful by ensuring that his two objectives are completed. I'll handle these children myself."

"...this isn't over!" Arthur hissed. "...not one bit!"

"Best not miss the next time then. Because I won't."

And with that, Arthur limped away, rubbing his forehead and cursing as he did, his exit as ungracious as himself. But even that went ignored, as Robyn shouted to Cinder, "...Merlot? Lusus Merlot?!"

"Oh, you know him?" Cinder replied. "What a coincidence, the good doctor's name gets around. But it's not like it's a secret he's particular in keeping... If Ironwood had a brain then he would know the truth by now, not that he would be able to do anything about it, and he'd be dead anyways before the sun rises. Unless you tell me where Ironwood is of course, in which case he'll be dead much much sooner." A few moments after saying that, Cinder cackled again. "You should've accepted my offer earlier, I'm a fair person to deal with. I could've spared your friends if you had just been honest as to where Ironwood was. Then again, I hate spies like you with a passion, even though I am one myself. You remind me of someone I especially hate, you see... Very very much. But tough luck I guess, your friends were just fated to die by my hand. Oopsie!"

"Damn you! Damn you to hell where you came from!"

Cinder's cackle grew louder, and Jaune was convinced that she was totally insane, just as Team RWBY reported; calming down after some time, the woman then pointed at Blake with her scythe, even though there was an ice wall in between them. "Speaking of which... Hey faunus, you over there, I know you, you're from Ruby's team. Why isn't that girl with you? Because I feel like talking to her for a moment, if you don't mind."

"Ruby's not here," Blake said bluntly, her bulky sniper rifle gathering energy at its muzzle. "And none of us here have any idea where she is."

"Hmph. Yet another one who thinks they're too good to talk about things."

Cinder snapped her fingers, and her ice wall shattered, showing herself to Jaune and the others in her full glory; a woman wearing an eyepatch, clad in black with gold trimming, with a Grimm left arm more grotesque than anything Jaune could have thought of, and held a black scythe in her right hand – a more sinister version of Ruby's Crescent Rose, actually – that Cinder twirled around and around like a child would with a stick, as if she had no care in the world.

Blake wasted no time firing another pillar of black light, but Cinder didn't even defend or dodge the attack. Instead she just took the attack in full, even as the attack tore off a chunk of her flesh, and the dark light swallowed her up... With how much Blake had been charging that, it would've been over had it been any normal opponent.

But just as Jaune feared, the dust cleared up to reveal Cinder's flesh regenerating instantly, with the hallmark black skin of the Grimm visible as she healed herself.

"Was that your best shot, faunus? You haven't changed at all... It was horribly disappointing. To think I even bothered tanking it, thinking you'd gotten stronger."

"...!"

"You really think six of you are enough to beat me, though? Absolutely delusional... And people say I'm insane." Cinder stepped towards them, twirling her scythe as she did; Jaune prepared his barrier. "Time to play around with you then," Cinder continued, smirking as she did, "Maybe this time you'll tell me where Ironwood is. Or maybe you'll be dead instead... I wonder which will come first?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Good to see you finally showed up, Jacques. About time you did. Did you really think I left the Atlas mainframe undefended for no reason though? I knew that Atlas's enemies would be lured here, so I just had to set the stage so I can wipe you all out in one fell swoop!"

Weiss grunted as she dueled on the cyborg hybrid M374, while Qrow fought Ironwood and Yang took on the latter's soldiers, with the blonde already outside the huge warehouse to deal with the rest of Ironwood's forces. This was pretty much the best strategy any of them could think of under the circumstances, but it wasn't going according to plan; Yang still hadn't come back to support them – Weiss had no clue just how many soldiers were actually here – and Qrow wasn't making headway against Ironwood, given that the latter's Semblance was just as her father Jacques described... Along with wielding dual handguns, Ironwood's metallic skin served as heavy armor that shrugged off everything Qrow threw at it.

And Weiss herself was having trouble keeping up against M374 as they fought, even more so than the last time they fought at the Schnee Manor, which compounded her frustrations. Because not only was Ironwood here – the man who freely admitted to shooting Ruby, and ordered Winter to be killed – but that her mother Willow was being held hostage right now, handcuffed to a railing not far away, sobbing as she covered her face.

Weiss grit her teeth as she fought on, trying her best to incapacitate her opponent long enough for Willow to be rescued, but M374 was having none of it, which only aggravated Weiss. She was so close to saving her mother, and yet she was falling short, even as she desperately fought to gain some kind of advantage.

"You're really giving it your all, aren't you?" Ironwood yelled; from the corner of her eye, Weiss saw that Qrow struggled to take the man down. "Not bad at all. But definitely not enough."

"You're one to talk. Your men can't beat one single girl!" Qrow shot back.

"You mean the one with the dragon? Nothing that a bunch more of my soldiers can't take care of. Especially when she pales compared to what we just fought."

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"Interested now, are we... Hmph. To be honest, you'd all be dead right now if it weren't for that Grimm splitting my forces. But reinforcements from the army are headed here as we speak, and you'll all be overwhelmed soon enough."

"...?!"

"You heard me, Atlas isn't as weak as you all think it is, we finally prevailed against the Grimm invasion just now. But there was a leak at the walls before victory was achieved, and among those that got in was an unknown Grimm of such strength that it stopped me from dealing with those other terrorists we found in this base, and my forces have been looking all over for it after it escaped. But maybe you'll be lucky enough to see it before I kill you, and witness just what the Grimm are truly capable of, like I've always warned people about."

There was a new kind of Grimm running around from a leak in the walls... The defenses had been breached? But how did a Grimm get this far into the kingdom unnoticed? Remembering her studies on evolved Grimm, Weiss wondered what exactly was out here to give Ironwood such a hard time... Even while fighting against M374, that made Weiss worry about what was really going on in this base. Because Ruby was–

"You look preoccupied, Weiss."

Weiss scowled as M374 dodged the icicles thrown at her, and lunged with her chainsaws, with her floating array of eight swords right behind the attack... Too close! Weiss quickly formed an ice shield to defend herself.

"Are you thinking about what Ironwood said? Or your father?" M374 said in that soft voice of hers, as her chainsaws roared loudly against Weiss's ice shield; her floating swords, while limited in reach and movement, were still ready to pierce Weiss the moment an opening was found, her bright but dead green eyes looking straight at her target. "I don't think you should if it's the latter. He doesn't deserve your thoughts."

"Shut up!" But Weiss's arms were starting to ache; she feared it wouldn't be long before they gave way. And as much as she didn't want to admit it, M374 was much harder to fight against compared to before... What kind of repairs did they do to her? Dogged and unrelenting like an actual machine, if M374 kept up this pace...

"I remember our fight last time. You couldn't beat me back then either. But you fought on nonetheless, even when you had every incentive to give us Robyn Hill." There was a quick flash of red, much like a Grimm's flaring eyes, in M374's green ones. "And I've always wondered about that."

"Get off me and give me my mother back!"

Weiss forced M374 to back off through a burst of ice from her ice shield – a technique she learned from Winter long ago – and as they continued their duel, with Weiss fighting as hard as she could to rescue her mother, she could hear the others shouting from the distance.

"I didn't think the esteemed general of Atlas is this much of a loudmouth!" Qrow yelled. "You know, having Grimm leak from a hole in the walls is one thing, and I'm sorry your people have to deal with an idiot like you, but you can still spare everyone a lot of trouble if you just give Willow back!"

"Just as soon as you give up that traitor Jacques in exchange!" Ironwood growled. "But you refuse and continue to protect him, because you need him to get to the railgun and destroy it! Don't bother pretending that Willow here is your client, I know that you're one of the spies Robyn Hill is in contact with alongside Jacques, working on behalf of the other kingdoms, waiting for the right time to strike, all because I was brave enough to do what they themselves could not! So what did you expect me to do but to take the woman hostage to lure you all out? I even gave you all a chance to redeem yourselves by surrendering... But mercy is pearls before swine after all!"

"Great, you're also a paranoid asshole! Now shut up so I can drag you to jail for kidnapping an innocent woman, and whatever else a bastard like you does behind closed doors!"

"I'd like to see you try... With what, though? You and two girls that are barely adults? One of which is Jacques's own daughter?" Ironwood laughed at that. "I know you can hear me back there, Jacques. Don't you feel any shame at all that Weiss involved with Atlas's enemies behind your back, and that even now, you rely on her to protect you? And you think I'm going to lose against the likes of you? I'll finish you off once I'm done with these fools, and smoke out wherever Robyn Hill's hiding and be done with her as well!"

Jacques hid behind a stack of crates as far as Weiss knew, protected by Qrow, but he kept silent despite being called out, and that made Weiss wonder what her father was thinking of.

"You're preoccupied again."

Weiss narrowly dodged a chainsaw to her face, but was soon met with a strong kick to the gut, and Weiss was knocked back a few feet away; not enough to make her fall, but she saw that M374 headed straight for her...

But her opponent didn't look like she thought of her defenses as she charged... Did she just make a mistake? Weiss had to take advantage, she couldn't ignore the opportunity. Taking the chance, she thrust her rapier Myrtenaster forward, pouring much of her energy into it, and a blizzard went howling forth that swallowed M374 in a freezing attack, followed by jagged ice spikes that jutted out of the floor.

But Weiss heard the sound of chainsaws and swords chopping through her ice, and the next thing she knew, boots went straight to her left cheek, then another kick to her gut again, then a powerful one to her chest, sending her flying straight through crates and pallets.

Weiss thought she heard Yang and Qrow shout her name, but the thought of that slipped her mind as quickly as it came, as she landed on a pile of cardboard boxes full of ammunition; pain coursed through her body as she struggled to keep conscious.

Weiss thought she heard her mother bawl and cry out her name, but it sounded so faint; Willow had to be far away from where Weiss was.

"Surely you have to know now that this fight is decided, yes?"

Weiss was terribly weakened from the attack, but still had her rapier and Semblance; she couldn't give up now. And so Weiss took the effort to stand, and pointed her weapon at M374 approaching her even as her hands shook. Surely there was a way she could turn this around. Because her mother was here... She was right here...

"I know pretty much what you can throw at me, you're only prolonging the inevitable." The chainsaws from M374's arms roared as she walked towards Weiss. "Soon you'll fall for good, and your teammates over there will follow suit... Is that what you want? It's not too late to give up Jacques, Ironwood can still show mercy, I'm sure of it."

Weiss winced, her vision darkening. No, it couldn't be over, not like this. But she could barely hear Qrow now... Did he lure Ironwood elsewhere maybe, in an attempt to stop the latter from killing her on the spot? Regardless, she had to keep fighting. Besides, Ruby told her she was going to complete the mission...

Suddenly, M374 stopped her chainsaws, and retracted both them and her floating array of swords; her green aura vanished. "And yet you don't want to... You still persist. Why?"

What Weiss thought was nothing more than boasting from her opponent suddenly became something else entirely, if she heard M374's tone right; the girl looked to her left for some time, as if assessing something, before going back to Weiss.

"We seem to be alone now, Ironwood's opponent appears to have dragged their fight elsewhere. But the general won't be beaten with such tricks, and I can kill you anytime I want."

"Is that so? Then don't just stand there!" Weiss groaned in pain as she tried to goad M374 to do something, anything. "C'mon, I'm right here, I'm still standing. You think I'm beaten just because you got some kicks in?"

"Your body is hurting, Weiss. You can't even hide it, so I wouldn't bother pretending any further if I were you. But even if you could fight, you'd just be distracted again, and your next attempt will be your last."

"...!"

"If you heard what Ironwood said to his opponent, then you must realize how bad your situation is. The Atlas army has indeed won a difficult but decisive battle against the Grimm, and are currently sending teams to help out Ironwood. And that means dealing with those other terrorists that are no doubt headed for the rail cannon to destroy it, as well as that Grimm that stopped our efforts–"

The sound of a phone ringing suddenly came up, but it wasn't from Weiss's; M374 instead revealed her own phone, which came out of a compartment straight out of her mechanical left arm. She attended to it, dealing with a soldier on the other line with a loud and stern voice, though her green eyes were still locked on to Weiss.

"Yes, this is M374, I hear you Hogs 3. What is it?"

"M374, this is the captain of Hogs 3 speaking. Code 102, reporting on current situation, but the general can't seem to be contacted. Is everything alright back there?"

"Code 302, the general's just preoccupied with cleaning up newfound enemies, but everything's under control." M374 frowned at Weiss to go with her response. "Code 404, still no sign of that Grimm 'Harlequin' on our end. What's your report, Captain? Have you found it?"

"Negative on 'Harlequin' as well for us. But we have more bad news, we got a visual of a new kind of Grimm wandering some miles off the Atlas mainframe base, code name 'Big Bad'. But said Grimm became aware of our presence and is unusually evasive, and we lost visual of it soon after... We got a real troublemaker brewing here. Sending you an image of it now and its last known coordinates."

"A new one?" Weiss saw M374's eyes briefly dart back and forth between her and her phone; Weiss noticed the girl's eyebrows narrow. "...acknowledged. Sending Code 101 to the Ace Ops and their squad, they'll splinter off from the party looking for 'Harlequin' and assist in eliminating 'Big Bad' asap."

"Roger that," was the reply from the man on the other line, and the call was dropped.

"Looks like you're a busy girl. You have Grimm to kill, right? No time for someone like me anymore?"

"..."

"Then why aren't you finishing me off? If I'm really doomed as you claim, then why not just be done with me?"

"...what are you fighting for?"

Weiss thought she was buying time with her previous questions, but M374's newest one caught her off guard. Especially when it didn't feel like the type of question to stall or rhetorically boast with. Was M374 genuinely asking? Weiss had to reply regardless. "I'm fighting to get my mother... She had nothing to do with any of this, yet you still took her from me, even when we begged to have you give her back!"

"But Willow is a single person among many, and Ironwood was willing to give her up in exchange for your father Jacques, who betrayed us and threatens to unravel everything we've worked for, which is to protect all of Atlas. And that's not counting the other things Jacques has done. Surely you know what he did to you and your family by now... Why is he even here with you if not to lead you all to the railgun, which he had a hand in developing?" There was another flash of red in M374's eyes, as if picking up that Weiss was indeed aware. "So you do know that Jacques is guilty. And yet you didn't give him up, even when you had every opportunity. Why?"

Weiss grimaced, not wanting to relive those painful memories... And at the same time, not wanting to answer the question itself.

"Ironwood only wishes to protect the whole of Atlas from not just the Grimm, but also from humans too afraid of what they can't understand. It should be easy to glean from that who has the better purpose to fight for, yes? And I don't think the gods would give me another chance at life to serve him if he wasn't in the right. So why fight to protect him too?" M374's beautiful but dead eyes suddenly had a red spark in them now, and they began to flare up for longer. "Why didn't you tell your allies to give up your father? Ironwood is a fair man compared to him, he would've kept his promise to let Willow go free..."

"Ironwood would've killed my father!" Weiss cried out with such intensity that it surprised Weiss herself.

"And what if he did?"

"...!"

"Surely killing him crossed your mind after knowing what he did, didn't it? So why aren't you surrendering him? Are you really fighting for Willow, Weiss? How selfish to want your cake and eat it too... I don't think I would be that selfish of a daughter if I was in your shoes."

Weiss realized just now that she was crying, but she let the tears fall down, even as she struggled to keep up a brave face against M374; an unbridled hatred welled up instead, one that Weiss was all too willing to release. "What would you know about having any parents? I bet you weren't even human at one point to begin with... You're nothing more than a tin can, a bunch of nuts and bolts given life by some despicable Grimm experiment, and you just came along with a bag of flesh so that you could pretend to be–"

"Shut up!"

M374 lunged forward with a surprising speed, and threw a right punch straight at Weiss's gut; the latter gasped, almost blacking out from it.

"You work for that traitor Robyn Hill because you have every motive to do so!" M374 then punched Weiss to the face with a left cross; Weiss fell to the floor alongside her weapon Myrtenaster. "This is your revenge for what happened to Winter, isn't it? It has to be. But doing so meant that you endangered Willow... Of course you want her back, but then you find Jacques, or he surrendered himself to you... Either way, you had to have known what he did to you at that point... Because your father put the blame on you and made you take the fall, all so he could save himself from going to jail... He's only using his knowledge of the Atlas railgun as a way to save himself again! Surely you brought him here to surrender him to Ironwood as a bargaining chip if it came down to it, didn't you? So why not do that?! Is the railgun being destroyed that much more important than Willow?! Because I never even knew my mother, and yet you... You..."

Picking up Myrtenaster, Weiss struggled to stand up, but she noticed that M374 was holding her head with her left hand, as if she was having a terrible, splitting headache. And that...

"...you're letting me live, M374." Weiss finally got to her feet, and she saw that M374 had wide, confused eyes. "Why? Is it because you don't know why I want my father alive, railgun or not?" Tears flowed down Weiss's pale blue eyes as she said that, because even she herself didn't know why. "Or is it because you want me to hear about your mother too?"

"...my mother?"

Weiss was convinced there was something wrong with M374; a side effect of her hybridization? The calmness the girl once had was nowhere to be found, replaced by something else...

"My mother left me in an orphanage as a baby, that's what the nuns told me during my time growing up there. But a couple of years ago there was a fire done by domestic terrorists that destroyed the orphanage I was at using chemical weapons... Those criminals were caught, but when I became conscious again, I was the only survivor, and within an inch of my life." M374's green eyes suddenly turned flaring red, the exact same as a Grimm's, and she began to tremble. "I spent the next years completely on life support, kept alive by a man named Pietro Polendina, a scientist who backed the funding of the orphanage I used to be at. But even he couldn't relieve the unbearable pain I was in, no matter how much I begged to be released from it!"

Weiss found enough strength to embrace her Semblance again, with a wintry aura enveloping her once more, along with snow crystals slowly swirling around, and Myrtenaster became a weapon of pure ice, reflecting even the dim lights of the warehouse. But M374 didn't even react to it... That was how bad her mental state was.

"I asked him every time he visited... What was the purpose of me continuing to exist? I was completely helpless without machines, I was useless to anyone but to Doctor Polendina... My only purpose was to ease his guilt at what happened at the orphanage! I was just a trophy to him, and I told him as much! But he kept me alive... And then one day I find out that I was selected to be part of Grimm experiments, because he put me in there without my consent!" M374 began to cry out, wincing as she did, still holding her head and trembling terribly; she made many steps back. "It hurt, it hurt so much, what they did to me... But that's why I have a new life now, and that is to protect Atlas, to protect Atlas, to protect Atlas... There can be no greater reason than the glory of the kingdom itself!"

Weiss didn't know what was happening to M374, but the way she talked and acted... Was she brainwashed while she was experimented on? Because she seemed obsessed in making sure everyone fought for clear and logical reasons, and the way she was confused at Weiss's own motives – ones that didn't make sense to Weiss herself either – was throwing M374 off, and that made Weiss pity her; the girl was a victim like she was.

"I've devoted my whole life to Atlas now!" M374 yelled, her red eyes flaring, and her teeth clenched. "And I'm not about to let someone like you get away... Someone like you who doesn't make any sense! Because you can't possibly still love your father enough to protect him, to the point that you refuse to give him up! He allowed your sister to be killed, have you forgotten about that?! And I thought I was right to pity you when Ironwood used your mother as a lure! You–"

"Even you found what Ironwood did to my mother that bad, huh?" Weiss sniffled; her tears were still falling down, but she managed to show a small smile afterwards. "Figures."

"...!"

"I'm sorry for what they did to you, M374... They didn't even give you a proper name. But my father... He's still my father at the end of the day. Do I really need any more reasons to protect him?"

M374 shrieked as if she was a monstrous Grimm herself, and embraced her Semblance again as her green aura reappeared, and in so doing her chainsaws and floating array of swords came out once more; Weiss in turn took a stance, pointing Myrtenaster at her opponent. So M374 wasn't going to spare her after all... Weiss knew what would happen next, and what she had to do.

"If you believe that I'm wrong, that Atlas was right in taking a radical path that the citizens came to understand and want, and that I'm a fool to think of my father differently, then end me here right now." Weiss took a deep, labored breath, then gave M374 a determined look; one attack would decide the fight. "But if you think I'm right that my parents don't need to be involved any more than they already have been, then step aside... Because I have to get my mother back, and finish the mission."

With flaring red eyes, M374 charged forward, and Weiss countered by running to meet her opponent, planning to somehow riposte all attacks by–

I will protect you too, Weiss.

Weiss gasped, knowing all too well who that person's voice was in her head; she was sure she didn't imagine it. But it was impossible, because she–

A strong gust of cold wind got inside the warehouse, rushing forth to the two as they reached melee range; M374 swung her weapons in a cold and calculating manner, while Weiss...

As if the cold hitting her replenished all of her strength and then some, Weiss dodged every one of M374's attacks.

"...what?!"

Weiss then cried out, and summoned a raging blizzard that hit M374 at point blank range...

...and when the blizzard finally subsided, it revealed M374 on the floor without her green aura, her joints and weapons frozen solid; the girl was unable to fight. Meanwhile Weiss was standing right beside her opponent, breathing hard and very tired, but her Semblance was still active.

"You were like a falcon hunting in winter..." M374 whispered, looking directly at Weiss as she lay on her back. "You briefly even had wings..."

"..."

"...why don't you finish it?"

"You let me live, so I returned the favor."

"I see..." None of M374's crazed behavior was present now, and neither were her flaring red eyes; they were back to her green ones, but more alive now than before; she sighed. "Atlas... I'm sorry..."

"I'm sorry too." Understanding the difference between them on that topic – M374 didn't curse her, so it was only right that she didn't lecture the girl in turn – Weiss only wanted to ask one more thing. "...how did you survive the experiments?"

"...I thought of the people at the orphanage. And of my mother, wondering what she looked like, and why she left me behind."

To yearn for a mother that she never even met before... So that was why M374 was so conflicted.

Weiss slowly nodded, and began to slowly walk away... She was still tired and breathing heavily, so she had to be careful, because there was no telling when her next fight would–

"...my real name is Penny."

Weiss looked back at the girl, but she had already closed her eyes, not wanting to talk anymore... Fair enough.

With Myrtenaster still in hand and her Semblance embraced, Weiss made her way towards her mother Willow to rescue her, leaving Penny behind and sparing her life.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ruby winced as she limped her way out of the base, using her scythe Crescent Rose as a crutch. She managed to leave before the enemy could reach her and make her a liability to her team, but it still felt wrong to leave the others behind.

Ruby shook her head in regret, being taken out of the fight like this. She wanted so much to help in any way she could – guilt at being so weak once again gnawing at her heart – but she knew that any further action on her part would just cause her to be a sitting duck to the enemy in exchange, and being a burden was the last thing she wanted to be for her teammates.

Sorry I can't be with you right now, Weiss. But I know you can do this, I know you have it in you.

The vehicles they left parked outside should be close now... Ruby continued to limp towards them. It hurt to admit it, but she had no choice but to stay there and wait, even though she barely thought of taking care of herself, only thinking of what she could be doing right now if she hadn't been shot–

Ruby thought she heard something; she stopped and gulped, looking around in the dimly lit area outside where she was, with only emergency lights to work with. But there was nothing, no enemies... Only the cold nip of an approaching winter, and the slow falling of snow.

There really was an eeriness here, just like what Weiss said. Something dark and foreboding, as if there was an unnatural presence lurking around, one that Ruby had felt since entering this place and lingered at the back of her mind. The others must have felt it too and just downplayed it in their head like she did. But Ruby felt it take its toll on her in full now that she was alone and defenseless, and so she quickened her pace, even if only for a little bit, just to get away from here as fast as she possibly could, breathing hard as she did.

Please be ok out there, Weiss.

And after what seemed like an hour of painful limping, Ruby could tell that the front gate of the base should be just ahead right after turning left from this narrow outside passage she was at, and so Ruby quickened her steps a bit more...

"You there! Drop your weapon and hands up!"

Bright lights highlighted Ruby from the dark just a few moments after making the turn, so much so that Ruby had to cover her eyes with her left hand. But that was the extent of what she could do as she froze where she stood, fear gripping her at being caught.

"I said drop your weapon and hands up! Now!"

Ruby tried to peer through the light, and managed to see light pods strapped on jeeps, tanks, and helicopters that were aimed at her, along with a lot of soldiers, Atlas ones. There were so many of them... Were these platoons? No, more than that. Just how many people were here?! Did they come all the way from the walls?!

"Wait, sir! She's no civilian! She matches the previous Ace Ops reports... She's 'Little Red'!"

"She is?! Then don't let her get away! Everyone fire!"

Wait, what?!

Ruby saw weapons being pointed at her, and shots from all sorts of munitions were fired immediately, reducing the spot where she stood into rubble.

Except Ruby wasn't there anymore, leaving only a circle of rose petals behind, all without her being aware of it.

It was all instinct; next thing Ruby knew, she had blinked to a building she remembered passing by earlier, with her back leaning on a wall, the structure serving as her sole protection from certain death.

But her safety wasn't going to last long, as Ruby breathed hard and groaned through all this, because both her wounds had opened up again, her blood seeping through the bandages and trickling down her limbs and to the pavement.

"Code 404, lost visual of the enemy, verified to be 'Little Red', the one with the mutated speed Semblance... Priority target for termination. Relaying information to the Ace Ops... Delta Team will move forward as per Ironwood's commands, and begin search and removal of both her and any Grimm we encounter."

"Roger that. Meanwhile Alpha Team will meet up with Gamma Team to start pincer attack at the warehouse as discussed. Moving out now."

"Code 200, acknowledged. Everyone else, find and eliminate the target!"

The fact that she could hear the enemy shout commands at each other only confirmed the danger she was in; having not blinked far enough, if her petals and the smell of her roses being carried by the wind failed to lead the enemy to her, then her gasps and her blood would surely–

A wave of weakness suddenly washed over her, and that was enough to bring Ruby from barely standing to falling to the ground; Ruby bit her lip hard to stop herself from crying out in pain, and drew blood from it.

"There's some blood here, likely blown by the wind right before she blinked... 'Little Red' is wounded and can't be far... Follow the wind!"

They're picking up on her trail already...

Ruby breathed deep, trying desperately to move, but it was no use. She was too hurt to pick herself up from the ground, and her instinctive blink sapped her remaining strength. What more could she even do here? It was all happening so fast, she didn't even have time to think of what to do... She now heard the sound of boots getting close now, and that meant it was only a matter of time before she was killed.

Tasting her own blood from her bleeding lip, Ruby stretched out her right arm, hoping she could grab on to something, anything, that could help her out... But there was nothing to hold on to, and her vision darkened.

But Cale's broken wolf pendant – which she turned into a bracelet that she wore on her right wrist – managed to still be on her sights, and Ruby felt tears well up in her eyes.

"Code 502... Code 502!"

"Wait, hold on! Alpha Team... What's going on there?! Alpha Team! Do you read?!"

Ruby could've sworn she heard a deep growl somewhere, far in the distance.

Then she heard the sharp cries of death, even from so far away, and that was when Ruby knew that something awful had happened.

"The line was cut off, sir! But transmission was recovered before signal was lost... Alpha Team was ambushed by 'Big Bad', and that Grimm's heading this way!"

"What?! The Ace Ops... What are the hell are they doing? They still haven't dealt with it? How did it that Grimm get past them?!"

"It's here already! Open fire!"

Ruby thought she heard something land with a thud somewhere, and that was when all hell broke loose, with gunfire from rifles and gatling guns along with bazookas and tank cannons fired simultaneously; Ruby flinched from hearing all the noise.

But even that amount of firepower wasn't enough to drown out the screams, the sound of metal being ripped apart, and of things exploding, and what were once shouts of confident soldiers soon turned into cries for help, all piercing the otherwise deathly quiet base...

And amid the chaos, Ruby heared the loud snarls and growls of what seemed to be a rabid dog.

Except it couldn't possibly be a dog... A beowolf, it had to be. Except beowolves were the weakest class of Grimm in the world, and there was no way a single one could put up such a fight against so many soldiers, much less massacre them...

That was when Ruby remembered that beowolf she found that fateful night, evolved Grimm as discussed in her lessons back at Beacon. Were there more of these things roaming around the wilds of the other kingdoms too?

Right at that moment Ruby saw a man's lower half land just a stone's throw away, ripped apart and sent flying with such force, and that was when fear took hold of her once again, terrified of suffering the same fate, defenseless as she was.

"The hell is this thing?! Are we even sure it's still a Class One beowolf?! It could be a Class Three we're dealing with here!"

"Send more backup, we need more backup! All our vehicles have been destroyed... Code 511! Code 511! Send more reinforcements from the wall!"

"The Ace Ops just replied, they're almost here... They're coming in from the other side as we speak!"

But even the news of incoming backup didn't help the soldiers one bit, as their screams continued to flood Ruby's ears as if they were all lined up, just waiting for their turn to be killed.

Ruby had to get away from here. She had to move! She had to hide somewhere! But even with an evolved Grimm out there, her body still didn't have enough strength to pick herself up, no matter how much she tried.

Feeling a few tears run down her cheeks, Ruby looked at Cale's wolf pendant again.

And that was when it landed some feet in front of her with a loud thud, taking Ruby completely by surprise.

Beowolves were mockeries of real wolves with their oversized and disproportionate figures, but this one, while still sizable, was smaller and sleeker in comparison with its more wolf like shape, wielding a large greatsword seemingly made from the starry depths of outer space, nebula coming out of it as if it was smoking hot.

"Lost visual! Repeat, lost visual!"

"It's so fast! But why did it run away from us?!"

"Who the fucking hell knows! Just find it and kill it, we can't let it get to the civilians! Now move, move!"

Ruby trembled at the sight of the beowolf; she had fought many Grimm before, but there was something about how uniquely terrifying this one was, stained with so much blood. And with how much of a wolf it looked, it evoked a primal sense of fear in her too, especially when Ruby was unable to defend herself, just like the first time it saw a beowolf like it back in Vale.

It then shook its body like a wet dog would, with bullets falling off from it while doing so, and it shed its bony armor too, in fact all of it. And when it finally stopped shaking, Ruby saw the luster of sleek steel armor where she supposed its bluish fur would be under the discarded bony armor, and its flaring eyes changed from red... To a more reddish brown.

The beowolf then approached her, and opened its jaws to reveal its bloody teeth. That was when Ruby closed her eyes, not wanting to witness any more of her death, but she was so terrified of the monster in front of her that she couldn't properly say her goodbyes in her head.

But moments passed, and the end didn't come for her at all, much to Ruby's surprise.

"'Big Bad' is right over there, Clover!"

"I see it! Marrow, Harriet, Elm, Vine, with me, we'll take it on alongside Delta Team! Meanwhile all of Squad 725 will keep watch until further orders!"

"Roger that!"

Wait, those voices... The Ace Ops finally arrived, the ones that they fought at the Schnee Manor!

"You know Semblances like mine don't work very well against Grimm, so make sure you guys cover me!"

"We're not expecting you to stop time for it completely, Marrow. Just make it slow enough while we think of a way to bring it down!"

"You're the boss, Clover!"

And soon enough Ruby heard the sound of water spouts, wooden stakes, gusts of wind and aura missiles heading straight for her; were they the ones who would finish her off? With her eyes still closed, Ruby braced for impact, but nothing happened to her either.

"What the hell?! My Semblance isn't working at all against it... Not even a little bit!"

"It's not just yours, Marrow! We're not even making a scratch on the damned thing!"

"It's not moving though... It's just standing there with its back turned against us!"

"It looks to be distracted with something... Me and my unit will investigate!"

"Negative, Squad 725! 'Harlequin' still hasn't been found, and we don't know just how many more of these damned Grimm are out here, waiting to ambush us!"

"And so what?"

"I said keep watch and wait for Delta Team, Squad 725! I've already sent them our coordinates!"

"The hell with that, we're taking initiative here, Clover! You Ace Ops... Don't you look down on us! We Hunters working in the military are skilled in our own way too, and this beowolf is our way of climbing up the ranks!"

What was going on?! Wondering why she was still alive, Ruby opened her eyes...

And that was when she saw the beowolf covering her from the Ace Ops assault with its back, shrugging it all off like their attacks were nothing. Its greatsword meanwhile was impaled on the ground, covering Ruby's own back for good measure; a weapon that not only had outer space swirling in its blade, but had glowing engraved runes on its guard too, runes from a language that Ruby didn't understand.

Confused, Ruby looked at the beowolf, only to see its reddish brown flaring eyes looking straight down at her, which made her shudder at the sight of it.

"It's got a girl with it... It's 'Little Red', we found her!"

Ruby turned to see a Hunter blitzing towards her, but it was over for the latter before he even knew it; the beowolf swiftly grabbed the Hunter's head with its left hand and crushed it before discarding the now limp body away. And in doing so, its backhand eliminated the other Hunter blitzing for it, sending him crashing to the floor like a ragdoll before he finally went still.

The beowolf snarled as it sniffed the air, then it raised its greatsword a fair bit and slammed it on the exact spot it was at earlier; out came blue sparkling light that formed a circle around the beowolf and eviscerated six more Hunters that were trying to pile on the Grimm's back, with Ruby hearing their death cries before their blood stained the ground.

"Don't engage 'Big Bad' in melee combat!" Ruby heard Clover shout. "Repeat to all other units in Squad 725, don't engage that Grimm in a melee! Kill it from range by throwing everything you have, Delta Team will be arriving soon!"

But before any pincer attack from the enemy could commence, the beowolf then grabbed Ruby using its mouth in the gentlest way possible; an inhibited bite, like a mother dog would do to hold her puppy, an act that once again caught Ruby by surprise.

Ruby held on to Crescent Rose for dear life, but she couldn't have imagined what the beowolf did next.

"Move, move! 'Big Bad' is running away, with 'Little Red' in its mouth!"

"Is 'Little Red' dead?"

"She better be! But what the hell is that Grimm anyways?! It's way too strong!"

"Where's it going?!"

"It's on the roof!"

"The hell?! A beowolf's on a roof?!"

"On what roof? On what partition of the mainframe is it?"

"It ain't on any damned partition, it's climbing on walls and jumping on rooftops!"

"We're going to lose visual again!"

"Watch out! Incoming!"

Ruby didn't know how a beowolf could be so agile in its movement, all while carrying a greatsword in its right hand as it scaled walls and leapt from building to building, shrugging off any gunfire or Semblance attack that managed to hit it... And every now and then using its greatsword to fire off a wave of what Ruby could only describe as blue moonlight against the pursuing Atlas soldiers, annihilating them on impact.

But if the beowolf's strength was a mystery to her, then all the more she had no clue what this Grimm even planned to do to her, no idea as to what its intentions were, if it had any. Why go through all this just to kill her?

...why?

Ruby noticed that the beowolf had shaken off the pursuing soldiers off its tail, and after some time of running, it landed on a dim corner in between some buildings, then let go of Ruby gently, in a way that made sure she sat with her back leaned on a wall. That didn't stop Ruby from flinching in fear of the Grimm of course, but she now wondered what the Grimm would do next now that they were alone, other than just constantly stare at her with its reddish brown eyes.

A cold wind blew past, and with snow slowly falling down on them under the shattered moon's light, Ruby soon found herself asking the beowolf one thing.

"...why?"

Silence; the beowolf just kept staring at her, and Ruby had no more words.

Then, with a low growl, the beowolf left Ruby behind, scaling walls again, seemingly heading back to the Atlas soldiers... To slaughter them.

Her heart beating wildly through all that, Ruby didn't know what to make of the whole experience. Why would a beowolf do this for her? Why? Grimm killed every human they could ever since they appeared in the world, incapable of mercy or pity, and they were never recorded to have shown anything otherwise.

So why...

"...why?" she asked again, but the gods were silent, and fatigue caught up to her right after that, hitting her with another wave of weakness.

Still bleeding from her gunshot wounds, Ruby looked at Cale's pendant on her wrist again, and closed her eyes.

"Wake up, it's not safe here anymore. A lot more Atlas soldiers are headed this way from the walls, so we have to hide."

Ruby was stirred awake by a woman with tiger ears and tiger stripes on her arms... A faunus was staring at her with piercing yellow eyes.

"...what?" Ruby groaned, unsure of how long she fell asleep, but her body felt incredibly tired; Ruby held her now aching head. "...who are you?"

"I'll take care of your wounds right now... I can't have you bleed to death here." The woman's eyes were cold, but her tone was different... As if she was relieved she found her, even though Ruby had no idea who she was. "But you're coming with me, Ruby. Whether you want to or not."