To a certain reviewer who says our 'quality' is falling off- we're two people writing this. Leave us alone about it, we're very tired.
Anyways, here's your chapter. Here's the Discord: /cgFmXz3qJ5
Out in the streets of Mantle, a pack of Sabyrs was circling a nearby house, some of the feline Grimm pacing around impatiently. One of their pack was pouncing and scratching at the door, trying to break in. Inside was a group of five people, friends who had barricaded themselves in when the horde first hit. The group were pretty young, orphaned in one way or the other, so they'd formed a family together. They worked whatever jobs they could find, everything from retail down in Mantle to gathering the Dust needed for the SDC and other companies up in that shining city that was now terrifyingly ominous, casting one of two massive shadows over Mantle.
One of them, a Faunus girl with long, red rabbit ears stood at the ready in case their makeshift barricade broke. Under normal circumstances, there wouldn't be much for her to fight with, but before this all happened, she was preparing to attend Atlas Academy herself. She had her Aura, two swords she had forged herself, and she was a pretty decent fighter. She hadn't fought any Grimm yet, but if she could slow them down even a little to let the rest of her group escape, she'd gladly throw herself to the beasts outside. Every person in that room was like a brother or sister to her. While she was standing at the foot of the stairs, weapons in hand, the rest of her friends were crowded around a hard-light TV screen, with a live news report already playing, probably one of several covering recent events.
The headline at the bottom of the screen was more than enough to incite a new spark of fear in the group. "Developing Story: Mantle Evacuations Halted by Order of General Ironwood." Taking center stage for this broadcast was a blonde reporter in a pure black business suit with a microphone in hand, plastered with the logo of the Atlas Eye.
"With still no word from General Ironwood, Mantle citizens are frightened and perplexed by the sudden withdrawal of military personnel, especially given the massive Grimm horde outside the kingdom," the reporter said, as images of the Grimm whale and various flying beasts, such as Nevermores, Manticores, and even a flying Beringel, appeared on the screen next to him, "I've...I've never seen anything like this. I don't think anyone ever has. It really feels like the end of days."
That did not help with the negativity in the room, something that the Sabyrs outside easily picked up on, their ears perking up as if they heard something.
"But worry not! The Atlas Eye is committed to updating the public till our dying-" someone reached from off screen and snatched the mic from the reporter.
"Hey, you can't just-!" he whined, before Joana slammed her crossbow-staff into the pavement, shutting him up right quick.
"Citizens of Mantle," Joanna began, "General Ironwood has abandoned you, but we have not. If you can hear this, gather what food and supplies you need for warmth that you can carry, then make your way to the Crater. The Grimm are coming back, joining back up with the stragglers from last night. But we can hold them back, if we stand together. If we don't...you've all seen what's out there in the storm."
She paused for a moment, sighing.
"It's time to show your teeth, Mantle," Joana finished, before turning back to the reporter and shoving the mic back into his hands.
"W-well...uh...thank you..very imposing woman," the reporter said, floundering for words before clearing his throat, "We will keep you updated as more information becomes available."
"The Crater?" One of them, a blonde boy with tanned skin, asked, "How the hell are we supposed to get there? We can't even leave the house."
"Yeah, a house with no heating and no weapons," a Faunus girl started, sporting a pair of brown cat ears, "We have to go!"
"And how are we going to get past the Grimm outside?" A taller man, clad in a royal blue coat and hat asked.
"We'll sneak out the back," a larger guy, sporting an eyepatch and cloth wrapped around his head like a bandana, suggested, no Faunus traits to be seen on him. "We can take advantage of their lack of real intelligence and get out that way."
"They may not be smart," the first guy said, "but they can still sense us! We go out the back, they'll just follow anyway, Simon!"
"Unless one of us stays behind to hold them off," the rabbit Faunus girl said, staring at the door and the still-holding barricade.
"No, you are not doing that. Because if you stay, I stay," the cat Faunus added.
"But you never trained to fight them, Mili. I did."
"Yeah? Well, I'm not letting you just play 'Last Stand' by yourself!"
"You'll have to if-" the rabbit Faunus stopped, her ears picking up something faint. Mili could hear it too, her ears reacting and flicking as she picked up the sound.
"Do you hear that?" Mili asked.
"Hear what?" Simon, the larger guy with the eyepatch, asked.
"...engines?"
Outside, the Sabyrs stopped trying to get in upon hearing the engines roar closer to them as well. The one at the door leapt off and rejoined its pack, getting ready to charge whatever was coming their way. Rounding a corner was a squad of four relatively large vehicles, two gray, one orange, and one painted yellow. The vehicles, save for the orange one, were all blocky and were made more with function in mind rather than a pleasing aesthetic. The Sabyrs growled and charged the oncoming group, ignoring their previous prey for now.
Inside, the group of five all gathered at the door as the sounds of combat rang out from beyond their otherwise flimsy wooden shield: blade slashes, a red flash that shone beneath the crack at the bottom of the door, shotgun blasts, and the sounds of the Sabyrs in pain before they faded away.
"I thought they said the military personnel all got pulled back?" the guy with the blue boater hat asked.
"Well, you saw the news, Wally. Could be the Happy Huntresses," Simon suggested. The five of them nearly jumped out of their skins when they heard a knock at the door.
"Hellooooo! Rescue service!" An unfamiliar voice called out.
Elcy (the rabbit faunus) walked to the door, and slowly opened it. "H-hello."
"Oh, hi there! Anyone in there with you or are you alone?" Yang asked.
"There's...five of us," Elcy answered, "Who are you?"
"Yang Xiao Long. And we're here to take you to the Crater," the blonde introduced herself.
"To the...crater?" Simon asked.
"Yeah!" Kylie said, approaching carefully. "You'll be safe there. There's gonna be plenty of other kids too!"
"Wait...aren't you guys wanted by Atlas? Like, full arrest warrants and everything?" Mili asked. Elcy tightened her grip on the hilts of her blades and locked eyes with Yang.
"Are you really here to take us to safety? Or is the general right to have targets on your backs?" the rabbit Faunus asked.
What are they TEACHING these kids down in Mantle? Robyn must be influencing the education system to raise such a precocious bunch. Kylie thought.
"The general," Yang began, "can take a long walk off a short bridge at the edge of his floating island."
"And yet you fail to address the question." Elcy said, crossing her arms. She was a stubborn kid.
"Also, really? That's the best you got for insults?" Mili scoffed, "Kinda standard. You look more creative than that!"
"Ok look. We get it. You're on edge. Believe me, we are too, but you probably heard Joana's broadcast, same as us, right?" Rex asked.
"...we did." Simon admitted, "And I assume you're heading there anyway?"
"Bringing as many people as we can, yeah," Kylie confirmed.
"...give us one good reason why we should trust you." Elcy said.
"Because." Rex said. "Ironwood threw us out for wanting to defend people like you. You know what's going on in Atlas right now? They're carefree. The citizens are having picnics and acting like nothing else is wrong, while you guys are fighting for your lives. Isn't that just...messed up?"
"They...are?" Mili asked, her cat ears drooping.
"But how could they? Don't they see what's in the sky?" Simon asked.
"They do," Albedo said, "but they believe that, under Ironwood's martial law, they'll be safe."
"That's...that's stupid," Elcy said bluntly.
"Tell me about it," Rex huffed. "Sorry to kinda drop a bombshell like that, but it needed to be said."
Elcy took a deep breath. "Hhow many people are at the crater right now?"
"Maybe...half the city?" Kylie guessed.
Elcy looked at the others in her group and sighed, loosening the grip on her weapons' hilts.
"Alright. Crater it is. And...thank you," the rabbit Faunus nodded.
"No problem," Oscar said, "Rex, think you can let the little one ride with you?"
"Sure, why not?" Rex shrugged.
"But...isn't he just using a bike like the others?" Mili asked. The little cat Faunus seemed about ten years old, which might've seemed weird to some that she was so willing to fight against monsters with Elcy. But Ruby fought Vilgax at the same age.
Rex smirked. "You ain't seen nothing yet," He declared, forming the Rex Ride. Mili's eyes lit up.
"SO. COOL." Mili declared, shoving the Outcasts out of her way so she could get on that sick ride.
"Well, they've won over Mili. I don't see much point arguing with them now," Simon shook his head with a small smirk on his face.
"One question," Wally asked, "Are we going right to the Crater?"
"No. We're gonna find as many people as we can and take you all there in one big group," Oscar explained.
"Bigger target for the Grimm..."
"The Grimm won't be much of a problem," Albedo said.
"Hey, isn't that the alien guy?" Wally asked.
"What happened to him? Did he like...get photo negative'd?" Simon asked.
"Doppelganger," Albedo corrected, "Merely look like Ben."
"Oh! So evil clone that went good?" Mili asked.
"Something like that."
"You guys are so… weird." Elcy admitted.
"We get that a lot," Oscar shrugged, leading Elcy to his bike.
With that, the other members of this little group hopped on and let Yang's Outcasts take them towards safety. Of course, the rescuers did hold true to their word here, stopping at every chance they got to find and bring others with them, steadily growing their group. Albedo melted a security camera that was scanning the streets with Goop, knowing that even the slightest sighting would let Ironwood jump at the chance to finish what he started.
As the group of civilians grew though, not only did Yang's Outcasts slow down in order to better protect them all, but something was bothering Oscar.
Oscar, Ozpin started, Something's on your mind...what?
I...look, don't take this wrong way, I'm glad you came and tried to help with Ironwood but... Oscar started.
But?
But a part of me is upset you came back at all. The whole time you were gone, I felt like me. Not the me before I met Ruby and Ben, but the me I always wanted to be. The hero. I was part of this team...but you being back, it just reminds me that my destiny's different. Its set in stone that I'm going to be the next you.
I understand. But even though it feels like I wasn't with you, I was never truly gone. Ozpin said. You're gaining control of my remaining magic, recollecting my memories at a faster rate. We're still on the inevitable fate of becoming one.
Oscar looked ahead. "I don't want that."
Neither do I. Ozpin said. ...we need to find a way to work together. Not just the two of us. All of us.
"...easier said than done." Oscar frowned.
"Who are you talking to?" Elcy asked Oscar.
"Huh? Oh, I said that out loud huh?" the farm boy rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
"Yeah, you did."
"Sorry. Just...talking to myself, I guess."
"...right."
"Can't believe we have to slum it with those animals in the crater," an older woman groaned somewhere in the crowd, "Atlas would be much safer."
"Mother, you can't just say that," the older woman's daughter said, a snow shovel resting on her shoulder while her free hand held her son's.
"The general said we were going up to Atlas, we'd be safe there. So why did he leave us down here with them?"
"Unless you wanna freeze up here, then be my guest." Kylie spat. Woah, too much acid there. Ceres' eyebrows went up when she heard that.
"Excuse me?" The old lady frowned, brow furrowed.
"Either you put aside your bigotry for a while or you die. Easy as that." Kylie frowned.
"But Atlas-"
"Doesn't give two shits about you or your old ass. If they did, you wouldn't be here." Kylie said, before turning back to the kids. "Sorry about that! Old people. They're so full of words that shouldn't be said out loud."
Yang and Ceres shared a look of concern.
"Normally, I'd praise her for being that cutthroat." Min said. "But I don't think she's in the best head space."
Ceres looked away. "I can't blame her."
"How much farther is the Crater?" Rook asked.
"Shouldn't be too long. We've made good time, so I expect-" Albedo began, before a deep and loud bellow made every civilian freeze up and every Outcast go on alert. Thunderous hoof-falls got their attention and they turned towards the source, just in time to see a Minorox barrel down a street, goring a car and sending it rolling into a nearby building.
"Albedo, Rook, shield and spear time." Yang ordered. The two members of her team jumped off their bikes and raced to the side of the crowd, ready to confront the Minorox.
The human Galvan twisted the dial on the Ultimatrix and slammed it down, transforming into Diamondhead after a blinding flash of red. His hands immediately morphed into a collection of crystals, ready to be plunged into the ground. The minotaur Grimm huffed and turned to lock eyes with the crowd of fresh victims. It scraped its hoof against the pavement, lowering its head and leveling its horns at the crowd. Rook and Albedo just got ready, for the former getting into a martial arts pose, while Albedo raised his arms above his head.
And then the beast charged. The crowd began to panic, but Albedo and Rook remained calm. Right as the Grimm reached them, Albedo stabbed its hands into the ground and formed a giant wall of pure Petrosapien crystal. The Minorox slammed head-first into the wall, bouncing off the barrier in a daze.
"Revonnah Kai," Rook muttered, "Stone CUTTER!" He thrust an open-palm strike forward and shattered the wall, sending the fragments forward as a type of improvised buckshot. The shrapnel buried itself into the Minorox's chest, arms, and head, downing it with ease. It disintegrated before it even fell to its knees.
"Wooooooah." Mili said, peeking over Rex's shoulders. "Your friends are AWESOME!"
Rex chuckled at that. "Yeah. They kinda are."
"Hey, mister! Do you think me and my friends could do that one day?"
"One day, maybe," Rook encouraged, "Maybe not exactly like us, but a team attack would be possible for you."
"Huh, hadn't actually thought about that idea before," Elcy muttered.
"It's gonna take a million tries to get it right. We've been improvising since Ben's unconscious." Yang said.
"He is? What happened to him?" Mili asked.
Yang hesitated to answer.
"He got hurt," Albedo said, "Fighting off the Grimm last night. An Alpha Megoliath."
"Kinda find that hard to believe when he fought off a giant squid last week..." Wally muttered.
"Sometimes, the Grimm get lucky. Especially with how many were swarming the city," Rook added.
Simon turned to Wally and shook his head, silently telling him to drop it for Mili's sake.
"Alright, fine. He got owned by some...lame elephant. Okay." Wally huffed. "Happy?"
"Very," Yang nodded.
"They are not actually lame. Megoliaths are actually quite sturdy creatures. Even Paladins may have a hard time with them," Rook explained.
"But, it's all about out-thinking them," Min said for Mili's sake.
"Scary...but I bet we'll be able to take em later on!" Mili said, ever so optimistic.
"That's the spirit, kid," Min smirked. With that little detour out of the way, the group continued on its way towards the crater.
Unseen by them all though was their tag-along. Something had stopped to watch them all make their way towards what passed for safety in these trying times, perched on a bridge connecting two of Mantle's taller buildings. It didn't move, just sitting there, watching, listening, smelling the air. Too many people around for a clean escape. It needed to wait, stalk its prey for a little while longer. It could be patient, unlike its kin.
But when was the best moment to strike?
That was an important question.
In another part of Mantle, one that was seemingly already evacuated, Ruby's Outcasts made their way through the empty streets, ducking down alleys and stealthily racing forward whenever they could. There weren't as many Grimm in this part of town, most of the stragglers from the night before must've been drawn to the still unevacuated blocks. So here, the main threat was automated security. Scant patrols of Knights marched on through the streets, not even catching so much as a speck of red or pink from their targets. New machines accompanied them, as well, though.
Gone were the simple camera drones used solely for security purposes, replaced by a modern contemporary of an older bot. The Atlesian Arbalest-110, upgraded from those that served at Fort Arrowfell by the mind of one Dr. Scarletina, were silver, twin-rotor propelled support drones. They didn't seem heavily armed, but Kevin quickly picked out its actual armaments, two cylinders located at the back of the drone's body.
"Oh...that son of a bitch," Kevin muttered.
"What?" Blake asked.
"The flyers. Ironwood's putting alien tech in them now."
"He what?" Weiss gasped.
"Galvan energy mortars on the back of the drone. Small but still," Kevin explained.
How did he even get ahold of that? Neo signed.
"...Ironwood said that he was going to take over the Plumbers' resources. He might've already taken some tech from them, incorporated it into the new designs," Ruby guessed.
"Ok, so streets aren't the best option anymore," Blake said, looking up, "What about the rooftops?"
"And have a drone detect us? Also not a good idea." May countered. "And a waste of my semblance. For once, I'm trying to be conservative about it."
"What do we do, then?" Kevin asked, looking to Ruby.
"We don't...need to use your Semblance," Ruby said, taking out Crescent Rose and taking aim. "He won't miss three drones."
Three sniper shots rang out, each one imbued with lightning Dust, striking their targets. The Atlesian Knights were overloaded by the currents running through their systems, while the Arbalest began to spin in the air before clanging to the ground, its camera fizzling out to black.
"Easy, right?" Ruby smirked.
Kevin knelt down to examine the remains. "Yeah, we're safe. There's no tracking chips or tech like that in this garbage. Kinda stupid if you ask me."
"You know your tech." May said.
"It's why they keep me around," Kevin joked.
"It's more than that." Weiss rolled her eyes.
Penny looked at the destroyed machines and sighed, her thoughts drifting to a more solemn place again.
That's all Ironwood really thinks of me, isn't it? Just...another machine, Penny thought.
Don't say that. Your memories show that he genuinely cared. As muddled as Ironwood's thoughts are right now, I doubt he'd stoop that low... Eunice said, trying to find a bright side.
And we all thought he was above keeping such massive secrets from us...
Penny... the android's found-sister sighed, wishing she could just physically wrap the redhead protector in the tightest hug imaginable.
"How much farther?" Blake asked.
"What we want is at the edge of the crater," Weiss explained, "We're about...halfway there, I believe?" the heiress turned to May for confirmation.
"Yep. that's right. This might be our only way to Atlas...even if it is a bit of a 'scenic' route." May frowned. "Be thankful your biological dad at least TRIED to make jobs for us. Well, until he had robots take over."
Weiss could only sigh at that, just another issue she wished she could forget at the moment. As if the universe was targeting her specifically today, a buzzing sound reached the group's ears, only to discover that the source was Weiss' Scroll. The heiress pulled it out, thinking maybe it was Kylie calling to check up on her, but her eyes went wide in shock and fear when she saw the called ID.
Dad.
"It's...it's the general," Weiss said.
Ruby paused. Part of her wanted to tell Weiss to ignore it, but another part wanted to...just hear the general out.
"...answer it." Kevin said.
"Are...are you sure?" Weiss said.
"Yeah," Ruby chimed in, supporting the choice.
Weiss took a deep breath and answered, putting the call on speaker.
"H-hello?" Weiss greeted.
"Oh thank god," Ironwood sighed, his voice low enough to where it almost wasn't picked up, "Weiss, are you safe?"
"...why are you talking to me like nothing happened?" Weiss said, almost insulted.
"No matter what has happened between us, I'm still your father," the general said softly.
"After everything...are you really sure of that?"
"Yes. One hundred percent."
"Then if you're still my father, why did you have a file about how to take me down?" Weiss demanded. "That's…that's just low. I'd expect Jacques to do that before you."
"I hated writing that up...I sat looking at the screen for hours, asking myself 'Can I actually do this? These are my daughters for god's sake.' And for the longest time, that answer was 'no.' I wrote up everyone else's first, purely as worst case scenarios. But as time went on...I doubted that answer more and more. You and Winter would never betray me willingly...but like I said last night..." Ironwood explained.
"How can I believe you right now? Weiss asked.
"What?"
"There's a chance this is the honest truth, or a lie you're using to try and win me over. I'm not someone who can be so easily manipulated..." Weiss frowned.
"This...this isn't a conversation to have over the Scroll," Ironwood said, "We need to do this face to face. Where are you? I'll come alone and we can-" Ironwood started.
"I don't even wanna be in the same room with you. I don't even care if this is our last conversation!" Weiss yelled.
For a moment, there was just silence. May's eyes actually went wide at the declaration, that last word echoing out into the cold and quiet city.
"Weiss...I..." the general actually sounded hurt by that, but when he spoke again, he'd gone back to that stern and emotionless tone. "Is Penny with you? Because we need her, Atlas needs her."
"She's not going anywhere until you change your mind on Mantle," Weiss narrowed her eyes at the phone.
"Weiss...I am trying to be civil. I am trying to save lives. If Atlas falls, any hope humanity has left falls with it."
"There are other sources of hope! The Plumbers, the other Kingdoms-!"
"Are no fucking match for her! Atlas is the ONLY one who can actually defend our world! Penny opening the Vault and giving me the staff is the only way that we will survive. Without her...Salem will breach our defenses. It'd only be a matter of time, and everything that follows, every single drop of innocent blood spilled...will be staining your hands. Not mine."
"How?" Weiss asked.
Ironwood said nothing.
"Why do WE have to have to take the blame for this!? We're the ones trying to save everyone, while you're just fine saying goodbye to a whole city full of people! If anything, their blood is on your hands!" Weiss yelled. "You have ALWAYS wanted things to go your way. Didn't you go behind Ozpin's back to get the council to sack him from his job? Didn't you cut off Dust supplies to other nations at a time of worldwide insecurity? And didn't YOU regularly abuse your two council seats while refusing to respect any and all checks and balances?"
Ironwood continued to say nothing.
"I'm SURE you were a decent person, maybe somewhere down the line." Weiss continued her rage-fueled monologue. "But you've been...corrupted by this arrogance and exceptionalism and paranoia. The ice was always going to break one day, James. But it was never US on the ice. It was always you, the tragedy in the making."
Ironwood finally spoke.
"I want to save Atlas," the general droned.
"And we want to save everybody." the heiress countered, "What's important is not standing by and allowing someone to suffer or die because you do nothing. And if you don't get that, you don't get the first thing about being a Hunter."
"...then I have nothing else to say." Ironwood said, hanging up the phone.
Weiss just stared at her Scroll, her hand shaking in rage, her vision blurred by tears welling up in her eyes. She scowled at the device and was about to throw it to the cobblestone, but May stopped her.
"Let GO of me!" Weiss pulled away from the Happy Huntress' grip, still shaking in rage before she leaned against a wall and covered her face with her hands. That was all she needed, really, for the floodgate to break. She thought the night before had exhausted her tears, but this proved her wrong.
"That...that bastard!" Weiss yelled into her hands.
Ruby walked over, and put a hand on her shoulder. "Weiss..."
"I know! I know I should be calm, and focused, and I'm sorry, but I just can't." Weiss huffed. "Maybe I should just go back to the clinic."
"Weiss," May stepped up, "I know I'm not...the closest with you. But trust me, I know what it's like for your family to turn on you. Maybe not to this extreme, but still."
"How...?" Weiss said, lowering her shaking hands away from her face, her eyes red and tears still falling down her face.
"Easy. I looked beyond my own status and saw that Mantle needed me. But to my so-called 'family,' that meant I wasn't their son anymore, they just turned and saw my cousin as their new golden boy. When I got down here, I made damn sure everyone knew I wasn't their daughter."
"...how did you heal from...learning someone you loved was against you from that point on?" Weiss asked.
May paused. "I don't really have an answer for that, Weiss."
"It's...not easy," Kevin chimed in, "Believe me. Me and Kylie...we both know how that feels too, different ways obviously, but it takes time."
"Thank...thank you, Kevin." Weiss said, sniffling a bit and taking a minute to compose herself.
"...do you still want to join us, Weiss?" Ruby asked, worried.
"It's fine, it's fine..." Weiss sighed, trying to regain her composure as she could right now, "I'm fine."
Ruby didn't trust the repeating 'I'm fine', but took her word.
"Then...we better get moving," May said. She was of the same mind as Ruby, she didn't entirely trust that either. But she was gonna hold to Kylie's request, keep an eye on Weiss for her.
"Hey." Kevin said, walking over to Ruby. "Kinda worried about our team's mental health right now, so…gotta ask. What about you? How are you doing?"
"M-me? I'm fine." Ruby said.
"You sure? I know he's on your mind," Kevin said.
"...he is. And," Ruby trailed off, letting out a sigh. "I know she didn't mean anything hurtful by it but, Yang's words...I do have doubts here."
"Hey, it's fine. There's wrong answers in this case. You're both valid." Kevin said. "Especially considering both are benefitting Mantle."
"But...I don't think we can have wrong answers here. Salem's never led an assault before, it was always Cinder, Cass, or Zs'skayr. And we can...sort of handle those. Not beat for good, but we can push them back. But Salem herself? I don't have a plan for her..."
"If her cohorts are anything like her, we can probably read her movements." Blake guessed. "She leaves an imprint on people."
"She's got thousands of years of experience," Ruby frowned. "No way we can gather a plan from that."
"People repeat the same tactics all the time, since the dawn of creation. You just need to 'break it down'."
"But has she? I mean...one of Ozpin's last words to us was that she never fought him directly before. She's doing something not even he was ready for."
"She's also made friends with Zs'skayr, the Forever Knight, whoever the hell Rex met at Haven," Kevin listed off.
"Exactly! She has people that've changed her, made her plans evolve in a way so we have no idea what she'll do! For all we know, her taking to the front was Zs'skayr's idea!"
"Or maybe she's just pulling the strings." Weiss said. "...what if there's some intersection between Salem and Ironwood's mindsets?"
"Like what?" Ruby asked, wondering where this was going.
"You ever notice how most of the time, Salem only sends her lackeys to do the work? Sure, you could say she's 'above' taking on the insects, but it's more...military-like. Like how Ironwood sends us out to do jobs. She has no real reason to hang in the back, unlike the general. The general's only human, but she doesn't have to worry about mortality. Do you think there's a limit to her 'unkillable' nature?"
"...go on." Ruby raised a brow, her curiosity piqued.
"While we've never seen her in combat, just the aftermath, what if her immortality can be strained?"
"Like a healing factor? Push it too far and it takes longer for her to come back?" Blake asked.
"Exactly," the heiress nodded.
"That's one hell of a theory. Gonna take someone crazy enough to test it, though..." Kevin said.
Neo snapped her fingers. ...y'know, I worked for her. You could give me a Q&A.
"Wait, you did?" May asked, looking to Neo.
"Oh, yeah! You were with Salem for bit!" Ruby remembered, "What can you tell us?"
She did always hang in the back. But…there was this one time. Tyrian sort of slashed her up, because that guy has ISSUES. This black liquid came out of her. Neo explained. Then it pulled itself back towards her.
"So, it's not full regeneration like Swampfire." Ruby hummed.
"Black liquid? Was it like tar but not as...I guess viscous?" Blake asked.
Yeah, pretty much, Neo signed.
"Like a Grimm spawning pool," Kevin realized, "She's literally held together by the same shit that makes the Grimm..."
"How long did it take the goop to get back to her body?" Ruby asked.
A few seconds. Neo explained.
"She's a glass cannon." Weiss said. "She deals damage with ease, but since she doesn't have an Aura, landing a few could disable her. That's why she has an extensive army of Grimm, that's why she has these people doing her dirty work. She's always been the puppet master, but we didn't realize how far that went."
"I wouldn't say glass cannon exactly but, still," Kevin shrugged, "Remember, we don't know how many of Ozpin's injuries were from Zs'skayr and how many were from Salem herself."
"But she needed back up." Ruby added. "That's why Zs'skayr was even there."
"Also very telling," Blake said. "If she's so powerful, why didn't she just handle him one on one?"
"Because she cheats." Kevin answered. "Underhanded tactics are a villain's bread and butter."
"Depends on the villain thou-oh shit, heads up!" May said, activating her Semblance and covering the group in a dome of invisibility to hide them. Lumbering down the street was one of the bulkiest, human-sized bots the Outcasts had ever seen.
Instead of sleek and angular, it was more rounded, almost soft-looking, like an Atlesian version of Baymax. Instead of weapons, this bot was armed with two massive shields on both arms. This was an Atlesian Praetor-220, another design updated thanks to Dr. Scarletina's work. Two Arbalests flew above it, their rotor-wings whirring as their larger escort lumbered ahead.
Kevin frowned. "Looks like he really souped them up. I recognize some of that tech. Tetramand design. Normally those guys trick out some vehicles, but seems Ironwood managed to repurpose them for warfare."
"It's another Arrowfell design too," Weiss chimed in, "He's integrated the older models seamlessly..." Even back then, the general was gearing up for this and she didn't see it.
"There's another similarity..." May muttered. "Salem and Ironwood have been prepping for a while. But Salem's got one hell of an upper hand. She can make new Grimm, right?"
"Yeah." Ruby said.
"Hell of a lot faster to make a Grimm than it is to assemble a robot." May frowned.
And her pools aren't running dry any time soon last I saw them, Neo added as the Praetor lumbered on, missing the invisible group entirely.
"It's gonna be a very, very short war of attrition. Even the resources Mantle already stockpiled are gonna dry up..." Weiss frowned.
"Like they weren't already," May scoffed, keeping the shield up for a bit longer, just to be safe.
May swung the gate open and walked on through towards the main warehouse.
"Alright, come on." May said, motioning for people to follow her which they did. May had led them to one of the Schnee corps subsidiary areas. Penny looked around nervously, as if scanning for something.
"I know it's a little too late to say it, but thanks again for coming, May." Kevin said.
"Don't worry about it," May said, closing the gate. "Once Robyn heard about Amity from Blake and Yang, she wouldn't stop talking about it."
"Wherever she is, I hope she's doing okay." Ruby said.
"She'd want us to have the world talking again and not worrying about her. I don't really need to worry about Mantle if Fiona has your friends working in my stead."
"Fair enough," Kevin said, as the group went inside the factory. Inside, numerous robots were manning devices next to large, slightly transparent tubes. A package went up one of the tubes with an audible whoosh after one of the drones pressed a button on the control console.
Neo looked around. She knew this place, kind of. Roman wanted to do a heist here a few years back. SnowShoe Shipping was an SDC subsidiary, after all. The pneumatic tubes allowed for Dust refined in the crater to be sent straight up to Atlas.
"We'll be fine." Weiss said, walking past a drone. "All the drones here report to the company, not the general."
"And another benefit of having your mom in charge of things," Blake nodded.
"Yeah…maybe if we're lucky, I can check on her and Whitley after this," Weiss said, before they dispersed to find the right tube. Penny was the one to find the one they were looking for.
The tube for Atlas Academy.
"Hey."
Penny looked over to see Ruby and Kevin approaching her. "You okay?"
"I do not like it when friends fight." Penny stated.
"I know," Ruby said. "I know Yang and I had a little argument, but-"
"No." Penny said. "The people at Atlas Academy. They were our friends. But then the Ace Ops attacked you. Winter didn't come with us. And the general, he said people were going to die because of us, because of me."
Kevin frowned. "That was a lie. He's trying to hurt you. I've seen that shit first hand, and it's NEVER your fault."
"I…I know I am so much more than a pawn," Penny began. "I was the Protector of Mantle, but now I am more. And a part of me wishes I was not."
Ruby put a hand on Penny's shoulder, and pulled her tight. "But, you're still you Penny. That old lady was right to choose you to become the next Winter Maiden."
"Who cares what some military douche has to say?" Kevin shrugged. "If we say you're cool, you're cool with us. Easy as that."
Penny smiled. "Thank you. I so very much needed to hear that."
The group approached the tube and took a deep breath.
"I guess there's no turning back now." Blake said.
"We've got a pretty stacked line up. And with my Semblance, you couldn't be in better hands." May smirked.
"So, uh, how do we use this thing?" Ruby asked.
"Oh, simple." Weiss said, walking over to a tube. She sat where the cargo was loaded. "If we lie back in the tube and press the la-"
Suddenly, Weiss was sent flying butt first up the tube. She screamed in surprise, and the scream followed her all the way up. Everyone looked over to see Neo, at the console.
Neo gave a half hearted shrug. Figured it out, She signed.