The group wanted to take a moment to calm down and relax as a lot had happened in the last episode. With all their adrenaline and energy coming down a few things were hitting them at full force. It was Weiss who was the one to shout, "I can't believe it took me this long to finally realize what we are doing! We're stealing an Atlas Airship!" Their counterparts were becoming criminals in less than a day. All of their eyes widened at the revelation that slapped them.
"Ooooh, yeah," Yang trailed, feeling a bit awkward as she previously showed the most excitement about the idea watching the previous two episodes. She knew this should have been something that came to her earlier and the only thing she might be able to give was a heat-of-the-moment excitement at the rash idea, but that wasn't a pliable excuse. Not by a long shot.
"When we return, we need to come up with a plan that doesn't involve breaking the law," Weiss added. Her anxiety was building at what their punishment would be if they got to Atlas and were confronted by the military. Nora wasn't going to say anything as she was just as guilty as Yang for her previous reactions.
"The only solution I can think of at the moment is why not ask for the General to assign someone to come pick you guys up at a designated spot?" Sun suggested. That wasn't a terrible idea, but there is a chance that they could be stopped and it wouldn't arrive or some other horrible disaster. More plans would be work-shopped at a later time if they can think of others that would remain discreet and not raise any questions from other people.
Jaune rubbed the back of his head, not daring to meet anyone's gaze as he was the one to suggest the idea in the first place. It was like Sun suggested, they could have sent the General a message asking to come to retrieve them, Qrow had the General's number, didn't he? They remember he got onto him back in Volume 2 for not informing him. They could explain that Cordovin refused. They're stupidly coming to terms that this was a scenario that could have been easily resolved with a simple conversation.
After that was cleared, for a small bit of it, there was still the upcoming fight between Yang and Blake against Adam as well as how the others were going to handle Cordovin. They were scared about how each fight was going to end. Blake and Yang were startled when Raider flew in front of them, both handing them a respective bucket. "Trust me, you'll thank me when you know what they're for. You're going to need them." The whole room was apprehensive, what did that mean?
Her final words before beginning the episode were, "I wouldn't recommend eating anything."
(Volume 6 Intro)
Back at the Argus base, many of Cordovin's guards were watching with vast interest.
They couldn't help but find it a little odd that all of them were watching, did Cordovin tell them to stay behind? "Wouldn't the capture have been more efficient to her if she brought more calvary?" Jaune asked, a little confused. Then Cordovin would have had all of them surrounded and they would all be taken in.
"You just couldn't keep this rivalry between us, couldn't you Calavera?! You had to rope in children to fail you with you." Four guards were cheering on the captain, and they didn't notice their radars were signaling an incoming Grimm.
"Hey, it's an all-for-one and one-for-all!" Ruby shouted.
Couldn't they also have cheered Cordovin on while still remaining in their seats? Did they really have to go up to the screen? "Can one of the guards, any of them in the room, point out that notice on the radar? Or could they not hear it over those four's shouting?" Yang exclaimed.
Jaune took a closer inspection and it revealed that it was a massive Grimm coming towards Argus. Are those guards insane?! They need to prepare for an attack and Jaune realizes that his comment about larger Grimm coming from the waters was foreshadowing!
All the panic outside in Argus was attracting all the Grimm from the fight between them and Cordovin. Is it too late to ask if they could try talking this out one more time, or would that not work because they already stole the airship from the military base?
…
Ok, now that they pointed it out earlier and it's on their minds it's more clear to them that they're literally criminals. What were their past selves thinking? Encouraging them for breaking the law? Yeah, they all plan to come up with something a lot more legal.
Ruby continues to hang on as Maria flies past her. She slowly but surely gets herself back on land and Oscar asks if she and they are okay.
Yang and Weiss release a sigh of relief. Ruby was fine and she was back on the ground. "You better not give us that big of a heart attack again," Yang states sternly. Ruby tells Yang that she'll try, but she can't say the same for her counterpart.
Ruby repeats his question incredulously. " I know, we were supposed to lay low, but listen, I think I finally found a weakness ."
They were all ears, so say away, Oscar.
Nora replies that they're all ears, holding up Jaune as he has his arm wrapped around her shoulder.
Ren and Pyrrha eye the two with extreme worry. The two took a massive hit from the robot and they were both filled with nothing but dread after seeing their auras break. Pyrrha won't admit to anyone she got exceedingly flustered when she thought about Jaune and his endurance to the attack, but that was beside the point. The two's faces were etched with fret.
Ren happily ran over to his teammates, elated that they were okay. " The cylinder on Cordo's cannon rotates and locks in a giant dust cartridge," Oscar explains.
How much dust was going into the cartridge? They are abruptly overtaken by their curiosity of just how the…they don't really know the name. Whatever, they were overtaken by their curiosity of just how the entire thing works. They all shook their heads, though, as now wasn't the time for any of that.
"Every time she changes attack style." Weiss sarcastically says they've noticed. "Right, but her missile launcher doesn't lock in, it pops out."
So, if they could destroy one of the cartridges it would create a reaction that destroys the entire cannon- no, the entire arm!
"Without her shields, one well-placed shot can detonate the missiles while they're still in the launcher." All of this was being said while Maria evades blasts from Cordovin and the fire dust missile cartridge is exposed. Jaune calls Oscar brilliant as that would destroy the whole cannon.
The downside that would ruin everything is that they only have a single shot of pulling it off because Cordovin would immediately catch on. They would also need to close enough to as if they were far away the cartridge would close before the bullet can make it.
Nora apprehensively asks Ruby if she can make that kind of shot. "We'll only get one chance before she catches on, I'd have to be practically staring down the barrel of her cannon," Ruby replies.
Yang got a horrible feeling when Ruby said that like it was going to become more literal than any of the group was thinking. She sincerely hoped she was wrong. Weiss was given the same feeling as everyone else.
Maria tells them she has a way of guaranteeing that. Maria takes the airship and pulls up next to the ledge for Ruby to get on. Qrow reaches out to Ruby, asking what she's doing at Maria quickly flies off. From inside the Colossus, Cordovin receives an incoming call.
For a single flash of a second, they think it's the army base, informing Cordovin that a Grimm is heading towards Argus, but it is most likely Maria as her troops are standing in front of the screen not paying attention to the radar!
"Hey, Cordo!" Maria shouts, and the captain winces from the volume.
Oh no, what was she going to say?
"I got one missile left and I know exactly where I'm gonna stick it!"
All of them stared at the screen with a deadpan expression, some of them shaking their heads. In the back of the room, Raider was laughing.
Cordo's eyes widen before she chuckles with a smirk as Maria flies toward the bot. "One missile you say? That's a shame, Maria, because I have plenty!" Maria is heading right for the cartridge as it pops out.
All of their eyes widened. "Wouldn't it be better to fly around instead of being directly in its line of fire!" Oscar yells.
"Are you two crazy?!" Oscar shouts.
That's what Oscar would like to know.
"Sometimes the best approach is simply the most direct!" Maria yells. Ruby takes her stance and Cordovin notices.
No, no, no, no!
Cordovin enhances onto Ruby. The girl takes her shot and Cordovin closes the cartridge, the bullet bouncing off the metal.
No, they should have been closer! And it also would have helped if Cordovin hadn't noticed Ruby.
All of them gasped. "You thought you could fool me?!" Cordovin shouted. Oscar yells for Maria to pull up as electric dust charges inside the cannon. The glow flashes across Ruby's eyes and the airship pulls up but they are still hit, causing everything to go haywire. The group on the ground narrowly missed being hit as well.
All of them scream for their friends as Yang's heart races in absolute panic. Please make it to the ground, please make it to the ground, PLEASE MAKE IT TO THE GROUND! They were more worried about each of their friends, but what were they going to do now to destroy the cannon?
Maria shouts that she can't see, her eyes shutting and she yells for Oscar to take control. Oscar pulls up, almost hitting the water, but he still has trouble controlling the ship. "We're gonna crash! We're gonna crash!"
Everyone gripped something tightly, praying they would all make it out of this okay. They all felt their hearts stop when they thought the airship was going to slam into the water.
The group on the cliff steps out of the smoke and Jaune points to the ship as it slams into the trees.
All of them chanted for the three of them to be okay.
Qrow jumps off the cliff, changing into his bird form to fly over to the airship. Oscar grabs his bearings, not being able to believe that they're still in one piece. Ruby stumbles out as Cordovin laughs. "Very clever, but even the smartest apes can't compete with the intellect of man." Ruby looks over at Oscar and Maria, the older woman struggling to get her eyes to work. Ruby seems set on something and begins walking forward.
"Ruby, whatever you're planning on doing, don't!" Yang shouts, "I'm sure there's another way around the problem." Ruby knows what her counterpart is planning to do. The missile cartridge might be able to retract, but the raw dust of the cannon gets locked in.
"Ruby…" Her sister says in warning. Ruby knows she's about to get up and personal with the barrel of the cannon.
Qrow rushes to Ruby and grabs her hand. The look gives him when she turns her head makes him gasp.
Ruby frowned, he saw mom at that moment, didn't he?
"I need you to trust me," Ruby tells him. Qrow grits his teeth and begrudgingly let's go.
All of them were tense, except for Ruby, but they trusted their friend to know what she was doing. Whatever that may be.
Ruby stands before Cordovin and the woman points the mechanical finger at her. "Surrender for your crimes and accept your punishment." Ruby stabs the handle of Crescent Rose on the ground, firmly telling Cordovin 'No'.
They didn't cheer when Ruby defied her as Cordovin was only doing her job and upholding the law for them stealing an airship. However, they needed to get to Atlas with the lamp and see General Ironwood and unfortunately for Cordovin, they weren't going down without a fight.
"We're going to Atlas!" Ruby screamed, "Bigger people than you have tried to stop us and failed, but we're supposed to be on the same side!"
The hope is for Cordovin to let them go to see the General. He and the military there where he could punish them himself for stealing an airship, but they need to get to Atlas.
"We're supposed to use our power to protect people." Cordovin looked down in thought as Ruby spoke. "But you just used yours to look down on everyone."
A few of them clicked their tongues. Ruby had a bit of a point there.
"We didn't want to steal from you, we did it because you gave us no other choice. Now I'm giving you one last chance to stand down and hear us out."
Cordovin's grip on her controls tightened, "I've heard enough." The cannon was pointed directly at Ruby.
"RUBY!"
"NO!"
"PLEASE, DON'T!"
All of them were screaming, but Ruby only glared at the screen, staring down the mech alongside her counterpart. All of their bloods ran cold as the whirring of the cannon loading echoed in their heads. Please, I can't lose my sister, please, Yang begged. She could feel tears brimming her eyes. She hoped one of her friends would save her. Of course, this had to happen when she wasn't even there!
Ruby's friends all rushed to her, Oscar reached out his hand, screaming her name, and Qrow looked on in horror. Everyone is shocked when Ruby uses her semblance to fly inside the cannon.
"RUBY!" Now they were all screaming in horror and disbelief.
"What are you doing?!" Weiss screeches, feeling like she's about to faint.
They were all terrified from the feeling they got earlier when Ruby stated that she'd need to be staring down the barrel.
Nora yells that she's nuts.
"I'll say!" Nora shouts in agreement.
"The missile launcher springs out, but the raw dust gets locked in!" Jaune exclaims.
Everyone was watching in trepidation.
"Ruby, I swear to whoever-!" Yang shouts.
Ruby points Crescent Rose at the cannon and Cordovin's pupils shrink.
Raider lets out a short laugh, the face of someone who knows they've lost.
Ruby takes one breath, then fires. It creates a catalyst as Ruby launches herself out of the barrel and the arm crashes into the water from the weight.
All of them let out massive sighs of relief that Ruby was okay.
Ruby's aura breaks and Weiss uses her glyphs to bring Ruby down more safely. Weiss falls to her knees in exhaustion as Qrow catches his niece.
Ruby turned to ask if Weiss was okay, as she heard a sniffle and she froze. Weiss was glaring daggers at her with tears streaming down her face, "Weiss, what's–!" Ruby was brought into a tight hug as Weiss screamed into her shoulder.
"Don't you ever do that again, Ruby Rose! I couldn't bear it if I ever lost you! We couldn't bear it!" Ruby returned the embrace, rubbing Weiss's back. Ruby knew Weiss's grip wasn't going to lessen any time soon.
"Don't you ever do that to any of us!" Yang yelled, her voice slightly wobbly. She was scared she was going to lose her sister and she wouldn't even have been there to protect her.
Qrow shakes Ruby awake and the girl smiles. "I told you."
Yes, but they hoped she wouldn't give them a scare like that ever again. They don't know if they'd be able to handle it.
Maria is disappointed that she missed everything.
"Maria…" Ruby sighed as they all shook their heads.
"You knew you couldn't win two-on-one at Haven," Adam told the two girls.
The atmosphere of the room became much more serious. Blake and Yang were still confused about the buckets on the floor in front of them.
"What makes you so sure you can win now?" Adam asks.
Weiss's stomach clenches at the sigh of the branding over his eye. It will remain as a reminder of what her father created and how it affected so many innocent lives of humans and Faunus.
"Because I have people who actually care about me and love me! So I don't plan to die now!" Blake shouts.
"I don't have a choice. I have people whoactuallycare about me," Blake retorts, her hand tightening around Yang's. "And I promised I'd never leave them again! So I'm not dying now!" Yang looks at Blake and smiles before it returns to the frown directed at Adam.
"Y'know, she made a promise to me once, that she'd always be at my side," Adam chuckles, "And look how well she's kept it."
Blake tensed as she stared at the screen, but instantly relaxed when she felt Yang's hand grip hers, grounding her. Blake glanced at Yang who was smiling at her warmly, silently telling her that they were there for her and everything was going to be okay.
"Did she make that promise to you or to the person you were pretending to be?" Yang asked.
She promised those words to the mask Adam was hiding behind.
Adam looks over toward Blake, "So I just wasn't good enough for you."
"You know it's so much more than that," Blake spits out.
"You know it's so much more than that," Blake tells him.
"I know you've made your choice, and I've made mine." Adam puts his hand on his blade, staring at the two. Yang gets in a fighting stance, and with one more look from Blake, so does she.
They all waited with that one moment of pause before the fight began. Yang promised herself that she wouldn't let Blake's hand go, not even for a second as she knew this was going to be hard to watch for her. She planned for her hand to be her anchor.
Blake and Yang charged toward Adam. Blake jumped and spun over him and Yang slid under, dodging his advances. Blake sliced him from above and Yang grabbed his arm, elbowing him in the stomach.
Yang could feel Blake's hand squeezing as she watched each movement. Yang spared her a glance and Blake's mouth was a tight line. The whole room was quiet, unlike all the cheering from previous fights against their enemies.
Yang was a few ways in front of Adam as Blake swung Gambol Shroud and used her semblance to avoid his strikes. Blake uses Wilt and Blush to propel behind him. She kicked him which sent him flying toward Yang, who repeated the same action.
Nora forced herself to not cheer as this was a serious fight her friends were in. All she did do was hope were friends would both come out of the battle victorious and well.
Blake slashed at him, followed by Yang punching him. He moved backward to avoid their assault and Blake back hand-springed to Gambol Shroud that lay on the ground. She threw the blade at him which swiftly came back, spinning rapidly from Adam hitting it.
Yang gasped, her hand now the one squeezing Blake's. Yang found it laughable that for a moment she was just Blake's anchor. No, they were each others, and they both knew it, but something was stopping them from saying it aloud.
Yang gasped, planting her feet and launching herself to take hold of the blade. The ribbon goes taut as Yang yanks it to send Blake to Adam. When Blake makes contact, both her and Adam's blades push against the other. The power throws them back, but Blake crashes into the side of the waterfall, her aura breaking as she grasps onto the edge.
"Blake!" All of them scream in desperate fear for their friend.
"You son of a bitch!" Yang shouts, terrified for her partner, pleading that she makes it out okay.
Yang and Blake's hands were holding the other so tightly they couldn't deny that they felt a twinge of pain, but neither of them cared. Yang and the others kept repeating to themselves that Blake was fine, she could get herself out of that mess, and they had faith in her.
Yang shouts for her partner as she turns and glares at the man in front of her. "Moment of truth, Yang, do you think you're faster than you were at Beacon?"
Blake could feel Yang's whole body tense, so she moved closer and rested her head on Yang's shoulder. It worked as Yang's body quickly loosened. Blake didn't know what she was doing, but a small voice inside of her was telling her that this just felt… right.
Yang's fists slightly lowered and began shaking. Adam noticed and smirked, "Me neither."
Yang clenched her fists. She didn't need to be faster or stronger, she just needed to be smarter. "You don't let him get into your head," Yang grits out.
Adam runs towards Yang and swings Wilt and Blush over and over. Yang is dealt some of the hits but dodges others. Yang pants on the ground as she looks up at him. "Your aura's bound to be running low." Yang sees Blake climbing the cliff behind him and Adam lets out a noise of frustration.
All of them whispered under their breaths, encouraging Blake to get to safer grounds.
Blake grasps a jutted-out rock, viewing behind her to Adam making his way towards Yang. She hoists herself higher as Adam continues to slash at Yang. "Come on, hit me already!"
No, Yang knows her counterpart is waiting for the perfect moment, storing up all of her energy to use at once.
"What does she even see in you?!" Adam screams.
For a moment, Yang is confused by the outburst until…
"A lot more than I ever did you because I love her!" Blake screams, standing up from her seat. The room is dead silent.
"What…" Yang whispers and Blake's head whips around, realizing what she shouted. She finds Yang's blush flushed a dark crimson and mix between astonishment and utter adoration in her eyes. Blake now feels her own cheeks burning.
"I, uh, um…" Blake can't form any words.
"R-Really?" Yang asks, her small as she was afraid what she heard wasn't true.
Blake mutters out a quiet 'yes'. Blake swiftly sits back down and refuses to say anything more.
"You know we're going to talk about this later, right?" Blake gives Yang a tiny nod.
Adam's blade spins in the air and brings it down on Yang. She huffs on the ground as she looks over at Blake again who's jumping across from one side to another.
Ruby's brain focuses back on the fight as they all feel like they were abruptly tossed back into it after Blake confesses her feelings for Yang.
Adam releases the energy from his sword. "You're just a coward like her!"
Blake's head snaps up.
"Blake is not a coward!"
"Don't you dare call Yang a coward!"
Both of them shouted at the same time.
Yang's eyes turned red and Adam ran and brought his sword down. When the dust cleared, Adam's eyes widened.
All of them were apprehensive, what was wrong? What happened to Yang?!
"Yang…?" Blake mumbled with fear.
Yang grips the blade with her robotic arm, her hair flaring, and eyes blazing. "Gotch ya'..."
All of them are on the edge of their seats, not being able to hold back some of their grins.
With a cry, Yang uses all of her power and punches Adam in the stomach. He crashes through the ground, his aura breaking with his blade still in Yang's hand.
Then, Nora and Sun stood up from their seats, applauding as all of them now cheered. Raider joined them the two, even whistling too. Yang had never felt this much satisfaction before, but she had an inkling of a feeling it wouldn't last for long. Blake released a breath as Yang was unharmed.
Raider rubbed her hands together as she knew what would be coming next. That's why she had given the two the buckets just in case.
Adam tried reaching for his sword but found it wasn't there. "I may not be faster," Yang's aura depletes, "But I'm smarter."
They all smiled. Yes, she was.
Yang tosses his sword over the ledge and into the water.
"Eat shit asshole!" Yang shouted, pointing a finger at the screen, "Eat shit!"
"NO!" Adam screamed, running over and reaching for his sword, but was startled by Blake slamming into him.
"Yes!" Raider yelled from the back. Finish him!
Adam stumbles back and steps over the broken Gambol Shroud. He and Blake look down and the two go for it, Yang following. They each grab a piece of the broken blade and stab him.
What once was an amped room became cold as Blake and Yang stared wide-eyed at the screen. They…killed him…they killed a person. Raider, mid-clap, quickly brings her hands down and puts them behind her back. They don't need to see her reaction as it wouldn't do any good for them.
Blake understands why Raider had given them buckets as she now feels sick to her stomach. She grabs it and holds it up just in case, but the image it was paused on didn't help in the slightest. Blake and Yang felt the sickening feeling worsen and both of them began to gag into their respective buckets. Everyone had their own buckets now as Raider knew the noise and actions were going to trigger someone.
Raider turned down the brightness of the screen to get rid of the image that it was paused on. Thoughts were running rampant in all their minds. Yang and Blake killed someone…it was necessary as it was life or death, but they took someone's life…
Adam looks down at the blade and mutters a single word, "Oh…" Yang is the first to remove her blade, then Blake. Adam stumbles to the ledge, dropping to his knees when the last of his life leaves him and his body leans forward, hitting a drop and dropping into the water.
Blake's body began to tremble as tears streamed down her cheeks. Blake let the bucket drop to the floor and Yang rushed to hold her. "I'm not gonna break my promise, I swear…" Blake chokes and Yang rests their foreheads together.
"I know you won't," Yang replies. Everyone around, joins in the comfort, letting Blake know that she won't be alone in this. She will never be alone.
Blake's hands shake and she drops the blade, falling to her knees and cries. Yang runs over, bringing her into a hug. "I-I'm not gonna break my promise, I swear," Blake manages to say through her sobs.
Everyone's hold on Blake tightens as the same words are repeated. "We're all going to be here for you," Ruby whispers.
Yang holds onto Blake, their foreheads touching as Yang lets Blake cry.
"No, no!" Cordovin shouts as she tries to raise the mech arm, but fails.
Were the people making this seriously going to have this as the next scene after what they all watched?! Have they no soul?!
"You, you're never getting to Atlas! Do you hear me? Never!"
This doesn't even seem like it's about them stealing the airship anymore. Was this all about pride now? That she was bested by a group of children?
"All forces!" Cordovin shouts into her radio, "Convert on my position and eliminate these pests at once!" Maria shouts for everyone to get on board, they're making a run for it. Jaune asks about Yang and Blake.
"Yeah, don't think you're leaving any of us behind!" Yang yells.
The base wasn't answering because…because of the giant Grimm heading straight for Argus! They needed to do something!
" Ma'am, we've been trying to reach you," one of the forces cried.
Oh no, what have they all done?! They've put an entire city in danger!
Cordovin lets out a noise of horror. At the base, all the soldiers are running and two of them stare off into the water as a leviathan slowly makes its way to the city.
All of them gasp and stare in horror. No! They needed to get to the city to protect those people! That's the kind of Grimm the giant is used for and THEY ALL JUST MADE IT INOPERABLE!
The man staring gulps and the leviathan lets out a roar, bringing more Grimm in that fly from above.
"They need to get back to the city, now!" Ruby yells. Couldn't anyone catch a single break?! How were they going to beat that thing if they couldn't use the giant robot? The only thing they could think of was…oh no…
"It's a leviathan! It began to approach during your battle,"the man shouted, "We need you!" All of them looked over at Cordovin who struggled to get back up.
The screen went dark and the room broke into an uproar about where it ended. "Play the next episode!" Ruby yelled. Raider looked over at Yang and Blake who were just as frantic. Raider supposed they could clear the air when they finished the finale.
Raider sighed, telling all of them to sit down. She took back the buckets seeing as none of them threw up, which was good. So, Raider let them have their little break in between and moved on.