"Aye... Are you sure about this?" Alcove, waddled over with his cane, wearing a gloomy face. "We've picked up rumors speaking nothing but chaos from that place. And I know I'm not one to decide for you, but I worry we may not see each other again once you step off."

"I know." Ruby reached over, setting her hand over his. "And I am grateful for both your conviction in bringing me so far along, as well as your concern. However, this is something I must do."

"You've been set on this since the day we first set sail, aven't you?" Ruby nodded, and the old coot sighed a hefty sigh. "I see there's no changing your mind. But might I ask about the lad?" His sight trailed over to Pebble, who was conversing with Veronica one final time on the ramp. Protected by a pair of bodyguards, she spoke unheard words to the boy, of which Ruby would never ask, for it was his choice whether to tell them. "Mobius is no place for children of any sort from what's been said, even strong young men like him."

"Believe me, I wish he'd stay with them as well." Ruby watched the pair share one last hug, looking no different than mother and son, before they parted with Pebble throwing out one final wave to her retreating form, of which Veronica returned only briefly while shadowing tears. The bracelet bestowed upon her from Pebble would perhaps be the final reminder Veronica would have of the young boy, and the sight of it had Ruby subconsciously twiddling with her own. "But he's determined to stick by my side until the end, he's said as much himself, and who am I to deprive him of that."

Perhaps it was greed who aided in her decision to betray her common sense, but a small portion of herself was genuinely happy he'd chosen to stick with her, even if it would most likely lead to his death. As for herself, well...

Her end was necessary; the final step of her journey, and the final piece to the puzzle that was their scheme.

"True enough." The captain managed to tip her with a small knowing grin. "And I suppose having a strapping young lad to defend the fair maiden isn't too bad; bards wouldn't be singing stories 'bout it otherwise."

Oh yes, stories would be sung, but Ruby had to withhold her giggles, lest the truth of who's defending who was to leak from her loosened lips.

The old man bid his farewell for now, off to see his men and make the final preparations for the last of their trips. Ruby returned her gaze to the recovering city, seeing both Human and Faunus aiding in the repairs. The assault had, supposedly, ended when she'd struck the final blow, or so she assumed based on what the local guard reported. With the sudden turning of brothers on brothers and sisters on sisters, the people were at a loss for what to do.

Ruby hadn't cared; instead shooting towards the mansion with the speed of a falling star. Her arrival was met with immediate convergence from the staff, who quickly took her up to the room housing both lord and mistress. The first thing she received upon her return was attention from Pebble, who scurried on over to accost her with questions and news. Veronica came to her then, and the pair were relieved to hear of Monolith's demise; although they soon admitted they had a hunch she'd passed.

All sporadic traces of warfare suddenly stopped at quite the queer hour, soon after The Embracer itself spit apart, and its root lifted a tower. Those under the control of the madness afflicting the people were freed, which led to pure chaos as everyone still retained their shock from the mental wave. Apparently, this was when Veronica made her move, having her surplus of extra servants and guards, anyone they could spare, take to the streets and aid the wounded. No harm was to befall anyone, and soon rumors spread of their clergy's corruption.

A fiction drafted by Veronica herself, no doubt, as a way to centralize blame to the pack of fools who'd held up both trade and traveler alike.

Upon receiving a brief explanation, provided by Ruby herself, it was then leaked that those responsible for their guardian tree's assumed anger had perished, and that its newly earned complacency had quelled the wild insanity. Seeing a chance to make some real change, Ruby asked Veronica to spread about one final fib; a trick of her own design. It was a gamble whether it would matter, but at the very least it would help clear her conscience a bit. And so, as Ruby and Pebble said their final farewells to the bedridden lord of the manner, they were greeted by the fast acting effects of her lie not a couple hours later.

So far, nearly every kingdom she'd visited was left in disarray, having gotten no further aid from herself to write their wrongs. And so, she'd opted to change that. The first kingdom to fall belonged to those bearing hatred so vile she'd mercilessly eviscerated it. The second, a frozen wasteland, had been left with no seat of power, and its rulers cast among the common crowds in their cavernous home; defenseless and breached. The third had their queen restored, but said ruler was untested; destined to fail as a result. This, being her last chance to really help anyone, was one she would not turn from. And so her rumor, while small, held the potential to shift hatred to the wayside. It wouldn't work immediately, but the wary eyes of the common folk towards the slaves aiding in the restoration of the dirtied streets was enough to tell it had, at least, bore some fruit.

A final aspect was blamed for the outbreak of violence, and that aspect was the enslavement of innocence; or, as is being translated by supposedly shaky servants: The Embracer, to a select holy few, revealed how much it despised the treatment of half its kin.

A little convenient for sure, and not guaranteed to do much immediately. However, for a people so reliant on the wisdom of their living divine, it was sure to aid in loosening the bonds of the slaves, and with time, potentially shatter them whole.

"We're headed out soon, right?" Pebble bounced over to her, and Ruby gave a small little smile and nod. Curiously, the boy reached into one of his pockets, pulling out what appeared to be a little pouch. "Here."

"What's this?" On the outside, it looked like an ordinary coin purse, and yet there was something already inside it. Based on the shape, it was no coin.

"Miss Rose said to give you this. It's a thank you present... I think." He gave a little shrug, and followed up with a lost looking grin. True to the boy's word, as she reached inside to pull out the mystery object, her breath ended up caught in her throat.

Fitting snugly in the palm of her hand now sat a small little rose emblem, carved from what was surely silver, and absolutely radiating royalty. Of the same sort Thorn himself often wore when passing information to the court of the land they were set on returning to, her time in their service granted her the information necessary to unravel the meaning wrapped within the little gift.

Presented only to direct blood descendants of the clan, it was normally given on the day a member becomes of age, and is to be worn only on special occasions, but always kept within close distance to its owner. It was an identification that one bore the noble blood of the Rose. It was forbidden to bequeath this emblem upon any not tied to the family via marriage or flesh. However, the wedding emblems were bronze, whereas this one was silver. This mattered greatly because Veronica would have possessed a bronze one, meaning she was only allowed to deal in bronze, and never above. The only way she could have handed this to Pebble was if she had permission from Thorn himself. Both of them, then, had elected to pass on this mark of their prestige to her. They'd accepted her indirect claims, perhaps as a reaction to her namesake.

Or, in other words, they recognised her as one of their family; a testament truer than they would ever know.

Clutching the small, and probably by this point useless, piece of jewelry to her chest, Ruby felt a distinctly familial pressure pumping through her core. The closest thing to even be compared to the emotional eruption battering her heart were the hours she'd been allowed to spend with the little boy looking curiously up into her eyes. Ruby knew how it felt to give love, but to receive it in a place wholly unexpected was... new. Not a bad new, mind you, just...

It felt as though she were blessed anew.

"They believe in you." Pebble reached up, giving her arm a little pat. Ruby, in response, pinned the small stud of silver right above her heart, before taking the boy's hand within her own.

"They believe in us."

And regardless of how things turned out, she was fully set on letting their faith carry her for as long as it would hold.

.

.

Pyrrha knew something was wrong even before the shield began to split.

Apparently, this was one of the events almost guaranteed to occur. Through the phantom of V's who'd invaded her dreams, she'd seen the world as Ruby had, splintered into fragments of forgotten memory from times long gone. The man himself chose not to believe in destiny, and while the evidence of her mind said otherwise, she too had an inkling he was right; at least partially. Grand changes fell into place, and yet all of them were just a little different than last time. One could call this fate, but the word itself felt like a cheeky little tease. She hadn't yet decrypted why she felt this way, but there was no avoiding the facts who now laid before her.

And said facts came in the form of a fear-stricken cacophony of voices, belonging to the pointing and shouting masses her team was charged with defending.

"That's not supposed to happen, is it?" Jaune came up behind her, just a step away, and she nodded while watching the darkness in the distance. Enough Grimm to blot out the sky, broken up only by specks of crimson sprinkled throughout, along with small touches of white interspersed.

The ground split apart just ahead of them, and both stone and dust were scattered into the air. Even with the shock forcing them both a step back, Pyrrha recognised the silhouette immediately. V, with neither time nor regard for anyone, marched ahead, breaking out into a dash and leaping once more into the air and towards the city. It didn't take a genius to guess where he was headed, and before Pyrrha could do much else, Jaune piped up again, coughing as he cleared away some of the chalk smoking up his lungs.

"Was that V just now?"

"He's headed for her." Salem was his target, and like it or not, Pyrrha knew this was the path he'd been created for; although whether he stuck to that path or defied it, she couldn't quite predict.

A great burst of wind cleared the air, and taking a glance behind showed Nora twirling her hammer in her hand before resting it over her shoulder. Apparently, the sight of them unharmed was enough to coax a relieved smirk from her. Nora's sight then turned to the figure in the distance, who popped up only occasionally as he traversed the path of least resistance atop the roofs, vanishing moments later as he widened the distance and fell below the farther edge of the city.

"I'ma go out on a limb and guess V's got a plan."

"Not a clue." Jaune admitted, brushing off his garments and looking away from Nora and back to her. "You okay?"

Pyrrha couldn't help the loving expression contorting her face. Though unproven in this life, she couldn't shake the fact that in many others she'd been the center of his world. Unfortunately, that was the one change to this life she didn't much care for: with all this commotion surrounding V, Jaune would never know how much he really meant to her. Had her mind remained untouched, then perhaps she too could declare a similar stance, but unfortunately, her spirit was awakened to all.

"I'm fine, thank you." But that didn't mean her emotions were wrong. Hundreds of Jaunes covered the expanse of her memory, and while she'd never truly be able to feel their affections, she would cherish them nonetheless. He was, after all, the same Jaune she recalled, even if his heart did not belong to her in this outcome.

Pyrrha actually had to stop herself this time, and sent her vision towards the people being rounded up by the soldiers who'd accompanied them. So much emotion for a man who, as of yet, hadn't shown any real signs of affection for her. A twang played somberly in her stomach, and a new sense of obscurity came into place. Was this, by chance, a sign of her impending demise?

Had destiny arrived to claim its dues so soon?

"Pyrrha?" His hands were on her, shaking her awake, and she saw his concerned expression. "Pyrrha, are you there?"

"I'm sorry." She gave, gently pulling his hands off her arms. "I was just caught up in thought."

Relief colored his features, shading the edges of panic with a more relaxed texture.

"It's fine. Trust me, I get it: nothing's really going to plan all that well." Correction, everything was going to plan; destiny's plan, to be specific. Ignorant to what she perceived the truth, Jaune gained a touch of visible courage, which seemed to bear its own charisma as it helped to melt some of her inner doubts away; yet another skill of the man she could never profess her love to. "But we got this far without much of a plan, haven't we?" She nodded, and he kept going, this time with vigor. "So what if we're outnumbered? We haven't lost yet, and we never will."

Pyrrha found that a bit odd to exclaim all of a sudden, and soon held back some improper giggles as she realized what he was doing.

"You said it, fearless leader!" Nora bounded over, hopping past and gripping her weapon tight in her grip. "One or one million, it doesn't matter!" She stabbed the blunt object towards the mass in the distance; something one usually does with a pointed weapon such as a sword or spear, but Pyrrha wasn't going to correct her friend. "I can't wait to cut you all down! You hear me out there you inky dogs!"

Ren popped over, and even though he leaned into Jaune's ear, Pyrrha could still hear the question he whispered.

"You're terrified, aren't you?"

"Indescribably."

Ren shook his head, but wore a pleased look regardless.

"Figures. Still, it takes guts to say something so cheesy in the face of certain death."

"Please don't say that." Their leader whined, and a few giggles slipped past Pyrrha's lips as she attempted to keep her laughing to a minimum. "It's taking everything in me not to scream."

"Certainly not out of fear, I hope." Ren prodded, stealing a small chuckle from Jaune.

"I'm fearless, remember? I can't be afraid." Swallowing hard, he threw up the least believable smirk this side of Remnant. "I'm just feeling cautious. Very, very cautious... Hey, Ren?"

"Yes, oh fearless leader?"

"Is this the part where I get a sudden bout of strength to look certain death in the eyes and laugh?"

"Most likely not. I'm fairly sure you need some adrenaline from battle first, as well as a bit of a morale boost; usually taken from that same battle."

"So basically, we need to be at death's door before we can shout "freedom" and die."

"Yes."

Jaune's head sank into his shoulders a little, and both Ren and Pyrrha laid comforting hands on each one as he gave a subdued battle cry.

"Yay."

.

.

"Now is really not the time to be stealing control!"

"I'm sorry, but we don't have time to argue about this."

He'd opted to leave it to the children: what they did with the relic, and how they went about things henceforth was entirely their own right to decide. Ozpin had stuck true to that belief throughout everything so far, even when they'd called upon Jinn for a second time. He couldn't blame them; he wouldn't blame them; he had no right to do so. Their disposition towards him was one entirely of his own making; this he would never deny.

But things were different now.

"Come on! You haven't said a word since you up and abandoned us, so why should I let you have control of my body?!"

There was no reason aside from the fact Ozpin knew just asking for it all of a sudden would yield few results, and in a situation so dire as this, he couldn't afford to take that risk. But that didn't mean he had nothing to say, because there were many things he'd neglected to say purely out of a lacking need to; things that weren't so secretive that he couldn't divulge.

"I know I have no right, and I apologize, but I must speak with James."

Whipping around a corner, they slid by a few more soldiers, leaving them staggered for a moment as they dashed by. Ozpin could already see the telltale signs of James's work about to unfold, and with Salem having approached so willingly, he couldn't allow the man to make the mistake Ozpin knew he would. James Ironwood is a man of immediate action, even in cases where it usually isn't required. Although not always major or overt, Ozpin knew his friend like the back of his favorite book; with their foe so close by, James wouldn't miss the opportunity to try and confront her.

A fruitless endeavor, and one which Ozpin would risk everything to stop; not that there was much left for him to personally lose.

Already there were men beginning to scrounge throughout the halls, and some even attempted to confront and slow their charge, but Ozpin simply avoided their lunges. They'd surely been ordered to watch over and relocate any rampant citizens and students, and while their intentions were of good faith, there were greater things at stake. He'd lost them by shooting into one of the lifts, taking off before anyone could intercept, and had begun moving up.

"Oscar?" Ozpin paused upon the utterance of his host's name, coming to a sudden stop before Yang. She was joined only by her partner, and if he had to guess, Miss Schnee had paired with their team leader. James had, if consistency was to ring true, most likely split the team in half, assigning each to different tasks. While Miss Belladonna and Miss Xiao Long were both skilled young huntresses in their own right, the silver eyes of their leader had most certainly earned some special attention from James.

He had no time for this, and hoped both of his students could eventually forgive him for abandoning them a second time.

"What's happen-!" Shock sprung across her face, and with eyes wide she leaped away. He'd made the elaborate decision to dash right into her, and while it wasn't anything too complex, it gave him the desired action. Blake mirrored her teammate in thought and action, giving him a clear path right between them; one which Ozpin carried on running through, even through their shared cries. "Wait! Hold up!"

They trailed behind him now, but by this point he'd already reached the office. A sudden stop, followed by a burst of speed and he was inside, staring at the unusual sight of his long-time friend slumped at his desk. Miss Rose stood anxiously on his right, along with her partner. On his left stood Robyn, joined by May, Qrow, and even Winter. Roman sat off at the end of the line, looking tired and with his partner watching over him. Nobody seemed ready to do much of anything, except maybe scowl and complain, but said complaints were made with their features, and not their words.

James came out above the rest in that regard: worse off and leaning into his linked hands, laying his forehead atop them as if someone had just reported the complete destruction of his very way of life; considering the danger they all faced, that idea may not be so far off. A few sets of eyes darted towards him, but not the general, and so Ozpin broke the silence instead, knowing his presence would force a response.

"James." Those in the know hid their surprise well; all except Roman and Neo, who like Robyn and her woman, merely steeled their attention, making it clear they found the sudden change of voice no more than odd. His real target, though, came up from his depressed hunch, but his face carried no better mood.

"Hello again, Ozpin. It's been some time, hasn't it?" His voice prattled out with little intrigue, akin to one repeating their lines to the point they knew the script by heart. The only one's genuinely confused by the acknowledgement were Robyn and her follower, who looked towards James, and then back at him. This didn't stop his worn out ally, who leaned back to address him proper. "I assume you're here to put a cap on any ideas of direct conflict with Salem."

"I am." Something wasn't right; his response came almost too easy, and it sounded as though he hadn't prepared an excuse. Normally, James would lay out the benefits of bringing the fight to Salem and her pawns, but not this time. Instead, He offered up his question, and nothing more. This was certainly unlike his usual self. "Or, rather, I was. However, from the way you ask, I'd hazard a guess and assume that you weren't plotting such a thing right yet."

A smile clotted from wet mud made up Ironwood's resolve, and he leaned forward again.

"Ozpin, might I ask you something?" With eyes narrowing only a touch, Ozpin was hesitant to allow it. However his previous actions, or lack thereof, did not really afford him the right to refuse, now did they? He was letting them make the calls for now, wasn't he, and so it seemed only fair to fall in with their ideas.

Things really couldn't go much worse from here.

"I will answer what I can." He could hear a deep growl from behind, and a hush he could make out as belonging to Miss Belladonna.

"What you can? Pfft~ Yeah right."

"I know you have little faith in me, Oscar, and I do not blame you for that. But this time, I'm telling the truth."

"Oh really? Look, I don't get it, and I know that, but even from my place as a farm boy nobody, I can tell that trusting you to tell anything remotely close to the solid truth is a huge risk. And even then, I can't recall a time where we haven't fumbled with things just a little bit to make them easier. How is now any different?"

"Information is dangerous, and in the wrong hands, even a simple unchanging truth can shatter people's perceptions and morals. I've watched good men and women devote themselves to darkness when granted such revelations. But... at the same time: I know there's nothing to be protected by hiding things now. Salem is on our doorstep, and I've turned you all against me with my cowardice. I dug my own grave, and while well intended, it is nothing more than that: a grave. I now have a choice: either I pull the earth over my tomb and rot away, or I claw myself back to the surface with what little strength I have left."

"Bullshit you will!"

"Yang!"

"Oh save it!" Ozpin turned their shared body around to see the eldest of Qrow's nieces approach, subsequently hoisting him up by the collar. "Just who the Dust do you think you are? Coming back after abandoning everyone!"

"Stop it, Yang, you'll only hurt Oscar." Ruby called, nearly void of energy and a good bit less forceful than he knew she could be. However, Ozpin immediately felt the magic radiating throughout her form, and if he assumed they'd dealt with Cinder Fall, then that would mean this sudden flood of ancient energy could only be that of the magic he'd once bestowed whilst creating the great four. Strangely, he could only feel one set of magic in her, and even stranger still, it appeared as though Raven was the carrier of two.

If Ruby got her power from Cinder, then the only way she'd have ended up with one set was if Miss Fall herself had failed to take the Winter Maiden's portion; or, in other words, Raven had beat her to the punch, and the fight following after was out of rage on Cinder's part.

"Please, just let him go." Blake pleaded, coming up and laying her hands over the arm holding him hostage. Yang never budged though, and merely stared deep into his eyes.

"I hate you... so, so much." Each breath was rattling with restrained rage, but also something else, something almost... jaded. "Everything you do always has some ulterior motive; some extra nonsense only applicable because you hid everything under a blanket of lies."

Bit by bit, her arm fell, and Ozpin found himself standing back on the ground. Miss Xiao Long didn't sound nearly as furious anymore, and her eyes had trouble staying on his.

"But what do I expect when we're guilty of the same damn thing? At least with you, your lies are always covering up something reasonable. Your excuse is always fear. To prevent panic, you lie about how dangerous the world is. You lie about just how fucked we are so we won't run off to join the wining side, or to keep people from abandoning you when you need them most. Kind of like us, right?" Something appeared to snap in her voice, and he heard a short, coarse snort slip out as she continued to rant. "And what do we do it for? What's our great reason for throwing around fibs left and right? Simple: we're afraid of what'll happen if someone we don't trust finds out. AKA, we're cut from the same dirty cloth as you."

Ozpin found himself a tad out of touch. One one hand, Miss Xiao Long appeared to have done a bit of self discovery - although for how long she'd felt this way remained a mystery to him. On the other hand, he couldn't make heads or tails of what saying this would accomplish for her. Why bring up their similarities? Was this her way of saying they're the same? What advantage did that give her?

Apparently, he was overthinking things a bit, as she spelled it out for him next.

"There." Taking a step back, Yang crossed her arms, standing with Blake who simply retained her grip on the young woman, comforting her in the hopes of de-escalating the situation. "Now everyone's on an even playing field, right? There's no reason for us to hide shit from each other anymore."

Ahhh, so that's what this was. Ozpin let a thankful look cover his face, nodding and accepting the terms given. Raven Branwen had a habit of forcing deals into situations by pointing out and applying similarities between both parties back in the day, and it appeared that trait was passed down to her daughter as well. Yang had, spontaneously, worded out a contract in which neither they, nor he, had need to obscure information from one another, and she did so by erasing any notions of mental debts on either side. She was right, they were fairly similar, and with both parties having shared similar amounts of deception with one another, there really was no need to feel like they were owed anything anymore.

Along with that, she'd laid out the reasoning for each decision on both sides plainly, meaning there weren't any major misunderstandings on either end. They now understood both the lies, and reasonings, for said decisions to lie, and both were the same for each. To put it simply - as he saw it anyway - they shared the same goals and mindsets now, so lying amongst one another was effectively useless, and an added detriment now that Salem had shown herself.

Lies were what turned Salem against him, and similar disinformation had swayed the gods from Remnant's grace. Misdirection had only ever increased the severity of problems while providing temporary reprieve, so it was only logical to try another route this time in an attempt to make true change in the world.

Accepting Yang's terms and sealing the contract, Ozpin nodded, before turning back to Ironwood and motioning him to make his inquiry.

It was here the headmaster of Atlas Academy's tone took on some life.

"Tell me, when the barrier protecting Atlas began to split, did you feel anything strange within your mind?"

"No." Nothing unusual challenged his perception from within the depths of Oscar; however that question compelled him to throw that idea back out. "Had you?"

"To an extent." James sighed, standing from his seat. "But that's neither here nor there. Miss Rose has just finished revealing a basic account of what really happened with your disappearance, along with the true threat Salem proposes."

That would certainly explain his disheartened look, but Ozpin challenged the idea regardless, just to make sure they were up to date on the same information.

"I take it you're referring to her immortality?"

Ironwood nodded. "I am. Along with that, I've given the order for all staff to secure everyone in the school, and I'll soon have my men and any available hunters set up a defense against the incoming waves of Grimm." His eyes went over to Robyn. "On the topic of lies, I've also rectified a few of my own shortly after Miss Rose's telling, and now everyone in this room is up to date on Salem and what she brings."

Robyn, in response, rolled out some thoughts of her own. "You're all assholes, you know that? Brother's sake, with how much shit you feed one another it's a wonder you've kept yourselves together for all this time."

"We're aware." Roman popped in, crossing his arms with a sideways look. "Believe me on that."

"Regardless." James cut in again, reeling back control and restoring them to the original topic. "This changes things. If we are unable to harm her directly, there's little more to do than fall back."

"So is that the plan?" Blake began, voice steady, but still tinted with worry. "With all the people of Atlas and Mantle combined, it'll take a few days at least to get them all moving, and with Salem quite literally off in the distance, will we have enough time? Scratch that, do we even have enough ships for everyone."

"Easy there." Yang took her partner's hand, rubbing the back of it and butting in. "You're starting to spiral." She shot her focus back to the general. "Atlas has its own relic, right?"

"Of course." The man's lower lip twisted thoughtfully. "The staff of creation."

Yang nodded. "Okay then. Think there's a chance we can pull something from it? Make some sort of ship to sail everyone away."

"Yes... but it'll cost us the kingdom." Ozpin could already tell where this was going, and his foresight was proven correct when his friend began explaining how their kingdom would fall. "One crucial thing to keep in mind is that it can only bear one creation at a time, which is a problem because the relic was used to create the system which keeps Atlas aloft."

Yang scratched her head. "Hold on... I thought that was running on Dust?"

"That's the official story. Truthfully, there wouldn't be enough Dust on the planet to keep this city running as fluidly as it is."

While Yang seemed to mull that over, Weiss intervened with a thought of her own. "So does that mean the relic is acting like a battery right now, and if we remove it the city will fall?"

"Not quite." This was something perhaps best explained by the man who set up the whole system in the first place. "While the relic may have been used to power it, the structure floating Atlas runs autonomously. The issue lies not in removing the relic, but using it to create something new."

"I don't follow." Yang's mindset appeared to be shared by everyone, and so he put it in lighter words.

"Think of it like how the lamp has three questions. Use a question, and you have to wait a century before that question is available to you again. However, unlike the lamp, there is no time limit for the staff of creation. You can use it as much as you please, but you only get to keep one construction. Your creation will last potentially forever, but should you create something else with the staff's power, the original creation will fade away."

He saw the way Miss Schnee's eyes lit up; it seemed like she'd got it first.

"So, if I understand this right: you can move the staff anywhere you want, but once you make something new with its power, that's when the original thing will vanish."

"Precisely." Ironwood stole the mic again. "If we use the staff, Atlas will fall, and with its current position above Mantle, it'll take the lower city out with it."

"Then what the heck are we supposed to do?" Yang growled, becoming more fed up with every passing second. "Salem's already here, and we can't kill her, so our only choice is to run."

"You're right." Ironwood's admittance threw Yang for a loop, and even Ozpin found himself intrigued. Spitting a hearty sigh, he carried on. "We don't really have a choice in the matter. Securing the relic's safety is all we can do for now."

"Securing the relic?" Robyn stepped in, eyeing the general harshly. "It's starting to sound like you plan on leaving everyone else behind."

"I considered it for a moment." Ironwood answered without hesitation, leaving Ozpin once again with a raised brow, and Robyn a dark and furious scowl. "However, if I abandon everyone here I'll be no better than those I've worked so hard to outpace. I'm not Jacques: I don't see everyone else as a means to an end. I know better than most the value of an experienced soldier."

A short chuckle escaped him, and he spoke almost knowingly.

"And to be honest, I feel as though I already know what fate awaits me should I go through with forgoing my allies."

Ozpin cut in before whatever dark considerations had overtaken his friend's mind succeeded in dragging him away.

"What do you have in mind?"

That did the trick, and a bit of life bloomed in his stature.

"We'll make something with the relic, and while I haven't worked out exactly what, I do have a plan to buy us enough time to come up with a few ideas."

For the first time throughout the entire conversation, Qrow himself chose to step in, and from the looks of it, Winter simply continued to listen attentively.

"So basically, we're stalling." He didn't sound all that impressed, and the following sigh at the sight of Ironwood's nod mirrored that idea... although his words did not. "Figures. But I guess every second counts. Alright Jimmy, what's the game plan?"

"A series of smaller attacks meant to hold off the waves of her army for hopefully a day if applied in regularity, but it won't be enough." He tapped the surface of his desk, bringing up a holographic keyboard which he proceeded to beat away at. This seemed to trigger a projection before them of a small, orb-like piece of tech: a strange metal ball segmented in pieces.

The militant leader within took over then, and with a newfound authority, his voice tore the air from everyone's lungs as he pumped out his explanation.

"Back in my youth I'd worked on a device capable of stopping the essential functions of both man and machine; similar to an electromagnetic pulse, but viable against organic targets as well. It was known as the P.O.W, or "pow" as we'd come to call it. Back then, I'd only ever made non-lethal variants."

"Back then?" Roman spoke up, with his face slowly falling into a disgruntled frown. "So I take it you've upgraded from pull-ups to boxers in that regard, eh?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes." James typed away again, and soon enough the orb shrunk, and several others spread all about, followed by a much larger one in the shape of a cylinder. "While no longer my personal project, I've had my research and development teams prototype and finalize several variants which are specifically designed to permanently cease the internal processes of specified creatures. One works to completely stop the brain functions of both Humans and Faunus, and has never seen any practical use outside of some unfortunate testing."

"Yeesh, I can see why." Roman grit his teeth, swallowing a little. "Sounding pretty crazy right about now, but then again, weapons are your thing, and I'm assuming it was only tried on the worst of the kingdom, right?"

Ironwood ignored him and continued; eyes locked to the hologram.

"Another more widely employed build works to temporarily remove the Grimm's ability to sense negativity, although only for a few hours, whereas a more standard crowd control version is tossed beforehand to stun for a single hour."

"Why not combine them?" Miss Belladonna questioned, only for James to sadly erase that idea.

"We made attempts before to do just that, however the Dust mixture from our standard build unfortunately nullifies the negativity hindering effects of the specialized version. As of yet, we've not cracked down on a specific formula that does both, and have settled for stunning first, and then after the Dust in the air has fizzled out completely after fifteen minutes, we then toss out the second one."

"Wouldn't that still fail though? With the Dust in their system from the first pow, shouldn't that counteract the second one?" A fair point from Miss Schnee.

"Fortunately, no. Once inside their bodies, we've observed our Dust splitting apart as it's absorbed into their mass. It appears to be drawn to their core, but as for why, we have yet to discover. Similar effects occur when the Grimm are shot, so we theorize that they simply absorb all Dust indiscriminately, even to their detriment. From what we've observed, the employment of the second pow faces little hindrance if done about fifteen minutes later, at the earliest. Any sooner and the time of which their senses are diminished shortens."

"Do we have enough "pows" of yours to deal with Salem's army?" The most important question of all. An explanation was all well and good, but they were running on individual grains worth of time, so the basics were all they needed.

James looked to sense his hurry, and wrapped it up himself.

"I'm unsure, but from the looks of it right now, we should have enough to buy ourselves half a day. It's not much, but it's all we can afford. After that, we'll be facing them the old fashioned way." Halfway through that, Ironwood scrunched up his nose. "The real issue is that massive behemoth she's brought. I don't know what it's capable of, but I'm not willing to just leave it there."

"Any bright ideas for that too?" Robyn stepped in again, thumbing towards the window. "Because we can barely see it in that sea of black."

"A bomb."

Curling her brow upwards, Robyn repeated his answer in the form of a question. "A bomb?"

"A bomb." Soon all other pows left the three-dimensional display, and what remained was the cylinder. "Because relating it to its initial design would be disingenuous at best. Within it lies the makeup of one hundred individual pows. However, during our later experiments, we discovered that if we were to overcharge them with at least double the amount of Lightning Dust in comparison to the combined portions within, we can forgo their original body-stopping functions in exchange for an explosive blast ten times the size of our highest graded charges."

Weiss once again reacted fastest. "Are... are you talking about the bombs used to clear open caverns? As in, the kind used to open new mines or clear away collapsed rubble?"

"Similar in scope, but ours are meant to deal with large quantities of Grimm. The type your family business employs is a downgraded variant designed with a more controlled radius in mind." Ironwood's voice became heavy. "What I'm showing here would be enough to level almost half of the city, leaving it little more than a massive crater."

This left them shocked into silence, and why wouldn't it? An explosive that large had the potential to not only destroy their target, but also the landmass around it. It would take out the Grimm alright, but the after effects would be felt by not only everyone in the city, but also those down below in Mantle. The force alone would burst the eardrums of anyone even remotely close to the blast, meaning they'd need to pull back before it went off.

And with Salem so close to the city, who was to say part of it wouldn't be destroyed as well?

"What about V?" Ruby's simple idea earned her some wary looks from all save the general, who kept his faultless expression of absolute control. "He's going after Salem himself, right? What'll happen to him?"

"He'll pop back up in Mantle." Weiss exclaimed calmly. "Every time he dies, he'll have a choice to restore himself at any given obelisk he's found; he made that detail clear in his story, remember?"

"I know that." Ruby's voice fell off, and the faint aura of power around her appeared to completely die out, right as the glimmer of control left her eyes. "But the one he found down in the abandoned mine took his emotions away..." A sublime horror slipped into her tone, and vanished a moment later. "What if it takes more than just that next time?"

"What if we were to find him beforehand?" Stepping back in as things were getting hot, Ozpin opted to add his own seasoning into the mix, in the hopes of correcting the overpowering dread tainting their dish. "His dedication to who Salem once was may be strong, but perhaps the sight of her as she is now might sway his resolve. If we can get to him after the veil has been lifted from his eyes, we might be able to convince him to flee with us."

"Will that even work? That V guy is pretty stubborn from what I've heard and seen."

"He is, but I believe he's merely running on hope. He's praying to anyone willing to listen that the woman he'd once devoted himself to still holds a piece of her old self together. Sadly, that is not the case, and when he sees that, I believe his mind will begin to crumble. At that moment, we may be able to reach him."

"That sounds really, really manipulative."

"It is, and I only hope he can forgive me later on."

"It's risky, but we may have a chance." Ironwood cut off the hologram and turned towards Raven. "Can you make a portal to him?"

"Effortlessly." Her response, delivered with a deep smirk, soon coated itself in an unsure fog. "But I can't see anything until I step through. We'd need to guess when he makes it to Salem."

"Two hours."

"Miss Rose?"

"Hear me out, okay?" She looked... not quite sure, but her face was certain enough that he gave an approving nod, clearing her to continue. "V is fast with his armor on, right? And once he gets past the city, it's a straight trip to Salem."

"Yeah; with an army of Grimm biting at his heels." Roman's sass, while expected, didn't seem to be appreciated by the young maiden's teammates. But Ruby herself seemed to perk up, which threw the man for a loop when he saw her grin.

"Exactly. But there's something we haven't thought about yet; something that might get rid of that issue."

"And what is that?"

"He's chasing down Salem... So, what if she's doing the same?"

"She has a point there."

Oscar's thoughts were noted, and the expecting eyes of the girl showed how much she wanted a second opinion in the matter.

"Ordinarily, I'd question if even a sliver of her Humanity remained... but there might be a chance V's reappearance could have awakened some of her dormant decency. It's slim... but you might be onto something." All the pieces began falling into place. "And if that were the case, you would be correct about the Grimm as well. Unlike the natural beasts of the wild, Salem has distinctly brought this army upon us of her own volition, meaning they all answer to her. It's possible, based on my earlier days with her, that she may have ordered them to leave him be."

"Hold up, earlier days?" Robyn shoved herself into things. "What the Dust do you mean early days?"

"That's a story for later: when we make it out of this mess." Shooting his focus from Robyn's interruption and back onto Ironwood, Ozpin asked bluntly. "It's best we assume Miss Rose is correct. With that being the case, what do you propose we do until then?"

Robyn certainly didn't like being thrown away like that, but the idea of doing things as opposed to waiting around sort of eased the blow. Taking charge again, Ironwood appeared to favor the plan enough to work through it.

"I'll have my men form a defense around the city as planned. Both team RWBY and Robyn's huntresses will protect and evacuate who they can of Mantle, bringing them up into the city, where we'll be hoarding the citizens into the underground transit system until a method of transport is conceptualized for the staff. Team JNPR can aid within the front lines up here, buying time with our pow supply until the two hour mark." Shooting a look at Raven, Ironwood then added, "at that point you are to link up with RWBY and Ozpin, bring them to V, and bring him back at all costs. We can send the bomb through with you at the same time, killing two birds with one stone."

Receiving her nod, Ironwood then shot his eyes to Winter. "Specialist Schnee, inform -"

"Already done sir." She settled her scroll away, returning her attention front and center. "I've informed JNPR the moment you included them, and I've also received an update from Clover: he's made it to Pietro's without issue. They're midway through locking down our hacker's position."

Ironwood offered a solid nod, but Ruby broke the calm with a startled cry.

"Is Penny okay?!"

"She's fine." Winter quickly informed, although her voice softened a bit in volume. "But for safety's sake, they've got her in a sort of safe mode. She functions well enough, but most of her battle systems are locked off. She's in no state to fight anything beyond a few simple Grimm. Not entirely defenseless, but Clover will be doing most of the heavy lifting."

Upon hearing this, Ruby looked to bury herself in thought, and just as it peaked and before anyone else could open their mouths, she spun around on the general.

"Can we check on Penny while defending Mantle?" Her reasons for that were anything but a mystery, and while the shroud of her desire was obscured in what amounted to a transparent cloak, that didn't appear to bother Ironwood. Ozpin saw the tiny grin near the corner of his mouth, and the little bit of light flickering in his old friend's eyes. Penny was as much a daughter to him as she was Pietro, although the man would rarely claim such sentiments out in the open.

"I see no problem with it, and considering her current status, I can even add it to your assigned objective. However, by now I'm sure our hacker friend knows of our tampering, so tell me: do you think you're capable of protecting her even if our enemy attempts to make a move?"

Ozpin felt a tiny glimmer of nostalgia in the certainty of which Ruby answered, and dare he say it thrilled him to see the stance she took as she rattled out with a grin.

"I am combat ready!"

Author's note

...

Okay, so this week wasn't so bad after all; I take that to mean it'll be next week where shit hits the fan for me.

On the bright side, in a bid of rushed panic I ended up speeding through a good bit of my writing, meaning this chapter in particular got unintentionally doubled in length. Don't go expecting that from now on, I just had a moment of inspiration while writing this.

Most of it boiled down to plotting on how to move forward, but with Raven's ability to get from one person to the next, it comes down to running out the clock until they think V's made it to Salem. A bit of a wild idea, but probably the best they can hope for while also plotting how to use the staff of creation.

A little wonky, but Salem's presence kind of threw everyone for a look. But even so, Ruby's still worried for Penny, and from the sounds of it, they've nearly locked down on Watts.

Things are zooming, even when they're not.

Until next time.