Raider was deep in thought when everyone began to pile into the theater room. The students paused in confusion, wondering what she was thinking about as she stood at the front of the room. Winter walked out of the kitchen with a cup of steaming coffee. She's also curious but now knows that she won't get much out of asking. Raider appears contemplative as she looks back and forth between Weiss and Winter, making the younger Schnee question what this has to do with this. The students take their seats, and Raider finally seems to have come to a decision. "Alright, I'm going to share some information, but the details will be kept unsaid until it gets to that point."
Ruby gasps, "You're gonna share some of the future with us?!" Raider nods, but she doesn't look too excited about it. Was it something bad?
"I'm giving this because it's information that the two of you deserve to know." Raider eyes Winter and Weiss, making Weiss apprehensive as this doesn't sound like anything good. "Before you all went to bed, Winter had come to me and asked me why I never mentioned your father in the people to look out for when you back as he will become a threat in the coming volumes." Weiss looked back at her sister, and a few of the other kids nodded, as they wanted to know about that as well. "That's because in the future, Jacque Schnee…dies."
Everyone's eyes widened at the revelation. Jacque Schnee was going to die? How? Was it by someone? A Grimm? Some kind of disaster? Jaune opened his mouth to say something but quickly shut it as this was the only thing they were going to be told. "Father… dies?" Weiss whispered in disbelief. She was having a bit of a hard time with coming to terms, and so was Winter. Raider gives her confirmation and lets Winter and Weiss have a moment. The others are also quiet as this all sinks in.
Blake stared at Raider. Raider's reasons for telling them was more for Weiss's own future rather than that of Jacque Schnee's. The way it was all said tells them that Raider isn't entirely opposed to the idea of something happening to him.
After another moment, Winter nodded her head. "Thank you. I have a bit more understanding of why you kept it hidden, and we thank you for telling us." Weiss absentmindedly agreed as Ruby was trying to better help her with what she was feeling. Winter felt internally conflicted now. Raider felt terrible for having to put Winter in this position of right and wrong. She knew Weiss would want to save him as that was who she was, but on the other hand, Jacque has done so many horrible things to so many innocent people.
"Winter," the woman broke out of her thoughts at the sound of Weiss's voice, "We have to save him. I know we both hate him, and he is an awful man, but I refuse to let him be the downfall of the Schnee name. I will not allow the Schnee Legacy to end with him." Winter was silent before sighing.
"Very well." Winter will have to make do with having the man waste his life away in a cell. Once the announcement was over, Raider flew to the back of the room with Winter. Everyone looked forward as they prepared themselves for the next episode.
"I know you wouldn't have cared if he died," Raider whispered to Winter without turning her head.
"Of course not. What reason has he given me to show him even an ounce of empathy? And you feel the same, your tone gives it away." Raider was silent, but it spoke volumes of her answer. She didn't wish to discuss the matter anymore and would leave it at that.
(Volume 7 Intro)
Three airships traverse through the air as Clover speaks.
The group still felt somberness from the recent…news, but excitement grew as this must be the mission they were going on with the Ace-Ops. "Ooh, I wonder what we're going to encounter!" Ruby bounces, causing the couch to move along with her movements. Weiss places a hand on Ruby's shoulder, but that doesn't completely stop her. However, Blake and Weiss were curious about how all their styles were going to fair with the Ace-Ops.
"Alright, gather 'round. Our mission today is to secure the launch site for the Amity Communications Tower. The designated area is an abandoned dust mine; since its closure, the Grimm have moved in. The good news is that all that untouched dust is still down there, too." Clover looks over the area on his screens with Ruby, Qrow, and Jaune.
A sudden, saddening feeling came over Blake. Yang quickly noticed the shift. "Hey, you alright?"
"Yeah, yeah, just…something tells me that I know this mine." Yang eyed her with worry, looking like she wanted to say something but thought against it.
"Science team says they'll need it for the first phase of their launch." Pietro takes the students through an opening door and apologizes for the mess.
"And for holding on to your weapons for so long, the upgrades you requested were, uh…well, they were more than I anticipated."
"Can we see these new upgrades?!" Nora shouts impatiently.
"Nora, I'm sure we'll see them in due time," Ren says.
"But I want to see them in action now," Nora pouts, and Ren responds by softly rolling his eyes.
"You and me both," Yang agrees. "You think I had to give him my other arm for him to work on their upgrades as well?"
"Most likely, yes," Winter replied.
"Atlas Military huntsmen are already hard at work clearing out the surrounding tundra, but recon has identified a powerful geist that has managed to evade destruction," Clover explains while the military kill off the Grimm.
Jaune groaned in dismay. "Not another one of those." He was already beginning to have flashbacks of the last time they had to fight one of those things.
"Don't worry, Jaune. We've grown stronger, and we have our friends and the Ace-Ops on our side to give us a hand!" Ruby exclaims. They weren't going to be alone.
"And take several lives. After we increased our numbers, the geist was smart enough to retreat into the mine itself, meaning it's old and extremely dangerous." Clover pulls up a picture of the geist possessing boulders of rock and ice while fighting other huntsmen.
So the one Team RNJR had faced was a younger geist. Still, they had hope in their abilities and believed they'd be able to take it down.
Clover states that that's their target. The students stand in front of shelves holding their upgraded weapons.
Nora was following her counterpart's motions, not being able to sit still herself. She couldn't wait to see the new upgrades in action!
"Your new weapons and armor should be as requested, but I also took the liberty of reviewing your combat footage from the Vytal Festival Tournament as some additional enhancements I'd like to suggest," Pietro said as all of them took their cases and began to open them. "Oh, but for now, these should serve you well enough."
"Lemme see, lemme see, lemme see!" Nora yelled excitedly.
"The mine was a labyrinth, back in the day," Clover explains, showing a layout of the mines.
That dreading feeling was only getting stronger for Blake, and she was sure the rest of her friends were able to sense it. Yang was already worried enough as is, but Blake, feeling like this, was only making it worse. A voice in her head was telling Blake she knew exactly what mine this was, but she tried to push it away as it could be a different mine.
"There's all sorts of tunnels and chambers the gesit can move between, so if we're gonna kill this thing, we'll have to split up and corner it." Jaune sat on his bunk, his case opened and holding a red cloth in his hand.
Jaune's fists clenched tightly. How many times were they going to keep reminding him that Pyrrha was gone? The monument back in Volume 6 had already hurt enough; how much farther were they planning to go?! Raider internally winced as they go pretty far. Pyrrha placed a hand over Jaune's, hoping to get him to loosen up. It worked as Jaune took a heavy breath.
Pyrrha is still with us; Pyrrha is here. Jaune was going to damn well make sure it stays that way.
Jaune touches his hair, and Yang puts on her upgraded arm.
"Hell yeah! Can't wait to see it in action!" Yang yelled.
Blake looked in the mirror, running a hand through her hair.
Yang took a breath. She could do this; she just needed to focus and remind herself of the mission, and everything should be okay. At least, she hoped.
Ruby took out a new cloak from her case as Oscar stepped in the doorway, wanting to talk.
Ruby could feel herself drowning in the guilt that the events happening in the future are partially her fault because she didn't want to tell General Ironwood about the Lamp and what they discovered about Ozpin and Salem. Ruby tried deeply to repress her emotions so as not to make her friends or team worry. Raider frowned as she stared at Ruby.
An Atlas airship burst through a cloud, and the door began to open. Once Ruby's cloak blew out of the way, Team RWBY was revealed.
"Ah! Sorry!" Ruby squealed; she was just so excited about seeing their looks even if they were already wearing them. "We just look so good! And Weiss, you look so beautiful!" Ruby continued to gush about them, and their friends wholeheartedly agreed.
Ruby nodded to her team and jumped out of the airship, laughing all the while. Taking Crescent Rose, she stood on the scythe's blade and slowly began to shoot her way. Weiss swiftly bounded off her glyphs before summoning an Arma Gigas arm to slide down its sword.
"Landing strategies have come a long way since Beacon, haven't they?" Sun joked.
"Heck yeah!" Ruby shouted, and Weiss nodded in agreement.
Blake, taking out a newly fixed Gambol Shroud, changed it to its gun form and swung it. It hooks onto a pole and proceeds to swing herself one after the other. Yang gets really close to the ground and fires from her gaunlets, spinning in air, then sliding along the ice.
"We still got it," Yang says as she wipes her shoulders.
Harriet and Marrow joined them on the ground while Elm, Vine, and Team JNR were still on the ship. Elm called this her favorite part as she and Vine jumped. Team JNR joined them, and Jaune used his newly upgraded shield to land safely.
Jaune nodded. "Definitely came a long way since Beacon." Pyrrha giggled next to him, much to his embarrassment.
"You think Pietro can hook us up with the upgrades once we get back?" Nora asked. It would surely be an improvement while back at Beacon.
Elm burst into laughter. "Perhaps you kids won't get yourselves killed after all." Vine apologizes on her behalf, saying it was meant as a compliment as Nora and Jaune pout.
Team JNR crossed their arms. It certainly felt like a backhanded compliment. "If only they could see all we've been through, then we'd be the ones laughing!" Nora exclaimed. The Ace-Ops have only seen a glimpse of them in action if they happened to see them as they helped save Mantle. "I'd love to have a word with her."
"Yeah, she's assuming much too quickly!" Jaune added. She also commented that only after a successful landing? How much of amateurs does she think they are?
Qrow and Clover slide down another side of the mine, and Clover speaks into his earpiece. "This is Alpha, squad. LZ is clear, proceeding on foot. You've all got fancy new scrolls, so don't forget to use 'em."
"We get new scrolls too? Cool!" Yang shouts in excitement.
"I wonder what other stuff we are going to receive as part of the military package?" Oscar asked himself.
Blake takes out her new scroll and goes through the contacts. "Keep your eyes and ears open, I want an update if you encounter the target, Alpha out." Blake's ear flicks, and she looks up to Yang, who is staring at her. Yang realizes she's been caught and awkwardly tries to explain herself.
"Sorry, just, not used to the new hair yet."
You and me both, Yang laughs to herself.
Blake's ears flatten. Does she think it looks bad?
Blake tucks her hair behind her ear. "Is it…bad?"
"No!" Yang hurriedly yells. "No! Of course, I think it looks good, great even!" Yang was going to be very upset with her counterpart if she made Blake think she was anything less than beautiful. Blake and others were startled from the outburst, but her startledness turned to chuckles.
"No, no! It's good, great even!"
"Y'know, it's funny," Sun began, smirking. "Even after how many months, your flirting hasn't gotten any better." It took a moment for it to register, but when it did, Yang reached over and punched him in the arm as everyone else laughed. Blake's cheeks turned pink as Yang's were red in embarrassment.
"The hair goes great with her…outfit!" Ruby joined, gaining a betrayed look from her sister.
"Ruby! Not you, too!"
Marrow complained that he didn't sign up to be a babysitter. Harriet agrees, "Yeah, well, the rest of us babysit you all the time."
Babysit?
"We don't need to be babysat!" Ruby shouted. "They're treating us like we have to be constantly watched over." They thought they might be able to become friends with the Ace-Ops, but with how they're treating them, they're beginning to rethink that idea.
Marrow frowns, folding his arms and following Harriet. Weiss wipes snow off the logo of the Schnee Dust Company and groans. Team RWBY follows the Ace-Ops as the area around the mine entrance is shown.
Blake gets hit with another feeling like she knows these mines. Her gut is telling her that it's these mines. The mines where Ilia's parents…passed away.
Ruby shivers and shouts that it's freezing.
Back in Volume 6, when they got stranded there, none of them complained. So, how cold was it there?
"Without heating or a projected aura, the cold of Solitas can kill you in a matter of hours, Weiss explains.
The entire felt disgusted, including the feeling of shame from Winter and Weiss. "The Faunus were forced to be subjected to this?" Pyrrha asks in disbelief. Weiss and Winter were going to make sure that things changed, that things became better for both people and Faunus.
Blake suddenly doesn't feel bad about leaving Oscar behind. "Can we…talk about that again?" Yang asks. Ruby looks back at the Ace-Ops, knowing what she's referring too, and questions 'What about it?' "We're really not gonna tell Ironwood what happened to Oz? What we learned about Jinn? About Salem?"
"We are!" Ruby says quickly, but rephrases, "We will…"
But when? When it's too late? When the damage has already been done?! When everything has already begun to fall apart beyond repair, and then it's my fault because I decided not to General Ironwood?! Ruby did her best to keep her breathing normal as she remembered what had happened the last time it had gotten slightly irregular. Ruby took a quick glance at her friends before looking back at the screen, making sure none of them noticed.
"But you saw how things look when we flew into Atlas," Ruby continued.
"The General's heart seems to be in the right place, but that doesn't mean we should trust him yet," Blake adds. Weiss thinks they should play along for a while before they make any major decisions.
But how long is too long? Ruby asks once more.
Yang relents but asks Ruby how Oscar felt. Ruby looks down as she thinks back to the dorms, where she hands the Relic to Oscar, not wanting to have a Relic hanging around like a keychain. Oscar isn't sure, even though Ruby knows he'll keep it safe. "Ruby, h-hiding things from Ironwood…doesn't that feel like what Ozpin did to us?"
All their eyes dropped to the floor…that was exactly what they were doing; they were doing the same thing as Ozpin. He couldn't completely trust them or anyone, so he kept all that information to himself. Now, that's what they are doing, keeping information from the General because their counterparts don't completely trust them.
Now, innocent people and those around them are going to suffer from that same way of thinking. All they're going to end up doing is hurting people. They can't do the same thing as Ozpin because now they're going to watch the consequences of why
Ruby averts her gaze as she knows Oscar is right.
Yet, they're still going to do it anyway.
In the mines, Qrow explains he's still not used to working with other huntsmen in the field. "But you were on a team before, weren't you?" Clover asked, and Qrow sighed. He claims it was a long time ago and figured working alone is for the best. "Well, I think that's a shame." At that moment, Qrow slips, but Clover catches him. He helps right himself and speaks into his earpiece. "Alpha here, give me an update."
"Well, that was lucky. Hey, since his name is Clover, you think his semblance is good fortune?" Yang asks jokingly.
"Yes, it is," Winter answers, shocking Yang. Yang was beginning to become a little more aware that she says specific things, and they actually seem to come true. She made about Salem being immortal, that was true, she joked about them stealing an airship, that was true, and she thought to herself about Penny coming back and another fairytale being real. Penny was alive and well, so would that mean a fairytale they were told as kids is actually true? The Girl in the Tower and the Four Maidens. What was next?
Do I have some kind of other semblance or something? Is it even possible to have two semblances?
"The connecting ice tunnels seem clear," Vine says over his earpiece. "We should be reaching the actual mine any minute now."
"This is so exciting!" Nora exclaims, "It feels like we're an actual huntsmen team!" Nora glances at Ren. "I, um, like what you did with your outfit, Ren."
"Thank you, Nora, but we should probably focus on the mission," Ren said, causing Nora to pout.
"But you just look so good!" Ren's cheeks flushed, and he thanked her again.
Ren suggests that they focus on the mission, and Nora feels a tad dejected at the quick change in topic. Jaune compliments Nora's outfit, but she responds with a frustrated grunt. "Bravo, checking in. We hit a bit of a snag," Harriet reports. "There's been a cave-in in the main entrance. Not sure if it was recent or caused by the original accident."
Blake's ears flattened against her head, and the mood of the room shifted. So they were in that mine. Winter and Weiss felt a stronger determination than ever as to not let another Adam happen. When Winter returned, she was going to make sure some changes were going to be made.
"Either way, we'll have to do a little problem-solving." Blake looks around, realizing where they are. Clover understands and asks to be let known if they need anything. Yang notices Blake's expression and asks if she's okay.
"I just realized where we are. This mine was closed during an explosion." Weiss remembers the disaster, too, or rather, she remembers how furious it made her father. Weiss wishes she could take back the years of pain her family has caused to the Faunus.
Both Weiss and Winter hope to make it better for the Faunus, to repent for all the damage their father has done. Weiss couldn't deny the feeling of pride for her counterpart and herself. She's grown and changed so much. Back then, she used to view all Faunus in a criminal or horrible light, and this is just one of many moments where it shows how she's grown out of her old ways.
"I want to apologize as well, to the both of you," Winter says. "I know I can't remove the pain of what my father has done, but I want to reverse things as much as I can." Weiss and Winter were aware that where they are now holds much more influence, and they can use that to make a difference for everyone.
And all of her complacency in it. Blake places a hand on Weiss's shoulder, showing she appreciates the sentiment. "This society is set up for Faunus to be at the bottom, and humans are willing participants. They benefit from doing nothing to help us, but there are still those who actively abuse us," Marrow explains, and a box of dust seems to catch Blake's attention. "Anyway, I didn't come over looking to solve systemic societal issues. Harriet found a gap in the rubble we think one of you could fit through. Ideally, someone with a knack for seeing in the dark?" Blake is still staring at the case of dust when she's brought out of her train of thought.
No one can blame her when her mind is brought back to Ilia and what she had told them about her parents. Watching that short in Volume 4 also felt like an invasion of privacy because Ilia hadn't consented for anyone to learn that kind of personal information. She told Blake out of trust, but neither of them has earned that kind of trust from her. They do hope to be able to rescue Ilia as she can see reason and what she's doing is the wrong path.
Yang looks over at the box herself, her expression morphing to one of concern.
Yang knew at some point or another, her counterpart was going to bring this up with her Blake. If it's something that's clearly bothering her, it's going to be brought to her attention.
"Alright, Blake, take a look around. Is there any dust in the immediate area?" Marrow asks as Blake makes her way through, taking out Gambol Shroud in the darkness.
There doesn't appear to be anything, but this was building up to a jumpscare; they just knew it.
Blake sees minecarts and dust but no debris. "Good, then it should be safe to blast our way through." Blake looks around more, taking a few more steps, when the geist appears in front of her, startling her.
The students all jumped. They knew something had to be coming; they could feel it, but it still caught them all off guard. A few even released small shrieks, the most prominent being Ruby, Sun, and Jaune.
Blake uses her semblance to get away and fires. On the other side, Harriet curses under her breath, telling Blake to stand back. Harriet, using the tech on her arms, smashes through the rock. All of them proceed to shoot as the geist makes its escape.
None of them were prepared for just how sturdy this geist was. So many shots, yet it remains standing. They needed to quickly take care of it before it did more damage to anyone else or the mines.
"Don't let it get away!" Yang shouts, but she stops dead when a centinel emerges from the ground. It goes to attack, but it lets out a cry after a punch from Yang, green acid dripping from its mouth.
"Ok, now that's just disgusting." Yang grimaces, not having wished to see that. "Man, their Oscar is real lucky he doesn't have to witness any of this because this is just gross."
More of them appear out of the ground, and Yang comments that that was disgusting. All of Team RWBY and Harriet and Marrow jump into action, removing the Grimm from their path. Yang punches two of the centinels, placing tiny bombs on them.
"Wait, what did I put on them?" Yang asked. She could hear the sound of her sticking something on them, but she couldn't quite see.
Getting a close look, they were small, red explosives.
"I have bombs in my weapons now? Awesome!" Yang exclaims, loving the additional weaponry.
Yang moves further back, bringing her arms to her sides, detonating them. The bombs explode, and the centinels drop to the ground. Weiss fired ice dust at another centinel, and Ruby cut one in half, but it wasn't defeated. Smirking, the blade of Crescent Rose switches, and Ruby swings, finishing off the Grimm.
Ruby was bouncing in her seat, so happy to see all of their upgrades getting used in the field and being able to witness all of them. "Our weapons are sooo cool!" Ruby yells.
Ruby uses Crescent Rose to fire when Marrow takes his own weapon and quickly shoots and kills two Grimm. He rolls on the ground and throws his boomerang weapon that cuts at the third centinel. Grabbing it mid-spin, he brings it down and cuts the Grimm in half.
Despite how the Ace-Ops see them at the moment, they couldn't deny they were awesome as hell, especially watching them fight. They were just so professional; it was hard not to admire them while they were fighting.
Two more centinels come towards him in a spiral motion. Using his semblance, Marrow snaps his fingers, telling them to 'Stay,' and they freeze in midair.
"His semblance is so cool," Ruby whispered. Ruby's childlike optimism came back as she couldn't wait to be a huntress.
Harriet rushes in with her own semblance and smashes the centinels into the ground.
Ruby gasps in wonder. Harriet has speed semblance, too? Ruby wished she could ask her so many questions, but alas, they needed to focus.
"This is Bravo!" Harriet shouts in her eairpiece, "We found that target but have fled deeper into the mine, engaging centinel!" After hearing this, Elm shouts for everyone to pick up the pace. Elm, Vine, and JNR slide down an icy slope when centinels pop from the ground. Vine yellows for contact, and he uses his semblance to step himself, Elm doing the same. Jaune speeds past them, using her sword as friction to then blast the Grimm with his shield.
"Soooo, we may not be following your orders, but I'm sure that will be fine," Nora says, waving it off as if it were no big deal. They were just taking a bit more of a…direct approach to defeating the Grimm.
Ren comes from behind, shooting himself a line of his blades and slamming his weight in one of the Grimm before firing.
They knew that would become really handy, but something was nagging at them that they wouldn't like the context of its usage.
A centinel rises behind him, but Nora smashes it with Magnhild and the second one next to her. The three of them have taken out the Grimm as Elm and Vine slide their way to them.
"Will this help them see that we are capable of fighting?" Nora asks. She hopes so. They're not as inexperienced as the Ace-Ops think they are.
"A very….headfirst approach," Vine comments as he walks past. Elm gives them a thumbs up, and Jaune says that's just their style, releasing a breath when they're far enough away.
Weiss declares there's one centinel left, and Ruby states she's got it, but Harriet rushes past both of them, punching a fist through the Grimm.
"Her semblance makes her super fast, just like mine!" Ruby continues to gush. All of the Ace-Ops' semblances were just so amazing.
Harriet calls it cool, but she says she's a little faster, just based on Ruby's reaction time. "This is Alpha!" Clover shouts, "We've engaged the target!" Qrow shoots at the geist with Harbinger, but it dodges the bullets and flees deeper into the mines. "All squads, head toward our position!"
"It's time to take this thing down!" Yang shouts, punching a fist into her palm.
Clover pulls out his weapon, Kingfisher, a fishing rod, and throws the line.
All the students collectively found that a fishing rod for a weapon was a unique choice, but if it works for Clover, who are they to judge? Ruby was beaming at seeing a new weapon in action, her old self beginning to shine through while watching this new experience.
The line just missed the geist. The Grimm possesses an icy rock and calls to other rocks and ice around it to form the rest of its body.
"Holy ice," Yang muttered to herself. They've the picture of it back at the beginning of the episode, but to see how it created its body was something different.
Qrow notices a chunk of ice pushing against a metal beam. He yells for Clover to stop, and he did just in time as the piece of metal crashes in front of him, creating a cloud of dust. Once it's cleared, it reveals a large hole in the ground with the geist gone.
Winter cursed under her breath, but she was thankful to Qrow for warning Clover.
"Darn it, target escaped. Last seen headed east." Clover kicks a pebble in the hole. "Thanks for the callout; that could have been bad." Qrow doesn't thank him as his semblance brings misfortune; sometimes, he can't keep it under control.
Yang and Ruby frowned, hating to see their uncle constantly deprecate himself just because of his semblance. Qrow admitted the reason he keeps a distance from people is because of semblance. The two sisters were now dead set on changing his point of view.
"That so?" Clover looks up at the protruding beam and throws a line for the hook to wrap around the metal. "Don't beat yourself up about it." He pulls, and rubble falls to cover the whole. "My semblance is good fortune, lucky you, huh?"
All the students grew worried. Does this mean their semblances would cancel each other out and put them in great danger? With that in mind, all of them were scared of how things would turn out if the two had to fight alongside each other. They were both now at equal risk of getting seriously hurt.
Clover puts two fingers on his earpiece and begins to talk while Qrow blankly stares. "Charlie, Bravo, you should be able to cut off the target at the heart of the mine. Qrow and I won't be far behind."
Team JNR and Elm and Vine rush into the heart. Ren's boot skids on the ground, and small pebbles float in the air due to the dust. A drop of sweat fell from Jaune's forehead, hitting the ground and immediately evaporating.
"Hey, maybe we could use that- the gravity, I mean," Jaune suggested. They could use the gravity dust to their advantage and be able to use more of the mine to their advantage.
"Yes, but using the gravity dust in this scenario is just as much as a double-ended sword. There's drawbacks to it as well, like hindering movement and giving the geist more opportunities to freely attack," Winter counters. It wasn't a bad suggestion, but it wasn't a good suggestion, either. "Besides, all the raw dust around makes the area much more volatile."
Team RWBY and Harriet and Marrow come in not long after. In an earpiece, Vine advises they use caution, the room is highly active with dust energy. Triggering it could ruin the launch site.
"You know, it could also kill us, too," Weiss adds.
Marrow exclaims that it could vaporize them as well.
"We'd all very much like to get out of this mission in one piece," Ren joins.
Marrow wants to know how that's always second with him.
"Does Vine truly hold such disregard for his own life?" Weiss murmurs.
"I thought the target was supposed to be in here," Nora asks, but she gets her answer from a loud rumbling above. All of them look up, and the geist's body is attached to the ceiling. It breaks free, the weight of its landing creating a gust of wind.
"Is that gravity dust in its body?" Ruby asks with horror
"And my Gods has it gotten so much bigger!" Sun shouts. A sinking thought came to mind: if the geist could attach anything to its body like it is now, could it potentially possess the entire mine and use it as its body?!
They would like to think that they aren't used to these kinds of Grimm situations, but then they'd be lying.
"It added dust to its body? How are supposed to–" Ruby is interrupted by Harriet running in with the other Ace-Ops already knowing what to do. Vine shouts Elm's name, using his semblance to wrap around one of the geist's legs. Vine grasps a supporter and pulls, keeping the geist in place. Elm rushes and grabs hold of the foot, keeping it in place with her semblance and strength.
Woah, both Elm and her semblance were powerful if she's able to keep the Grimm in one place. Her semblance allows her to be rooted into the ground. Another thing to mention: what were the rest of them just standing around for?
Elm shouts Vine's name, and he proceeds to swing around a set of tracks, grabbing one of the arms of the Grimm and pulling. He yells for Marrow, and the Faunus takes his weapon and severs the limb, also causing a crystal of gravity dust to break off.
The students gasped in horror as just one of those dust crystals hitting the ground would cause a chain reaction.
"Harriet!" Marrow screams, and Harriet bolts off, running around the geist and bounding off a set of railings to catch the dust. Team RWBY and JNR watch in utter amazement.
"Once again, what are we just standing around? We can help the Ace-Ops by diverting the Grimms' attention onto us!" Nora exclaims.
Marrow's weapon slices the body of the geist but cuts off another dust crystal. It spins in the air before being caught by a smirking Clover. "What would you do without me?" Clover tosses the crystal to Qrow and leans back off the edge. All Ace-Ops run around the giant body, smashing and hitting it all the while.
The students were left speechless at just how smooth and fluid the Ace-Ops were with all of their movements. They couldn't wait to be just like that when they finally graduated from Beacon. None of them are even saying anything while this is all happening. Come to think of it, they're doing so well that they might just get in the way. It might be better to let them do their thing until it was entirely necessary because their counterparts were merely watching from the sideline.
Clover jumps in front of the Grimm, swinging Kingfisher and hooking his line to wrap around the face. The students look on in amazement as, with a heavy pull, the geist is pulled out of the body.
"I think this is our cue!" Jaune shouts. They needed to make sure none of those other dust crystals made contact with the ground.
The Grimm is pulled out enough that Harriet comes under and uppercuts it. The body begins to fall apart, and the Ace-Ops proceed to catch the dust.
As the high was coming down, the students saw that they didn't do much in taking down the geist, or even the crystals. It was a little disappointing, to say the least.
There's one crystal left, and Clover calls for Harriet. Just as Harriet was about to catch it as it almost hit the ground, Ruby rushes in and holds it close to her as her back hits the wall.
"Mission success?" Oscar's statement comes out more as a question, as none of them have seen the Grimm be completely killed yet.
Harriet goes over and helps Ruby up. "I thought you said your semblance was like mine?" Ruby is confused as she thought it was.
"It is…isn't it?" Ruby asks, now a tad lost herself.
"I've seen other speed semblance before,but that was different. I think there's more going on than you think." Yang jokes about Harriet waiting to see what she can do with her eyes.
Yeah, she can just go and take a look at the petrified wyvern back at Beacon Academy.
The joke makes Blake giggle, and Qrow jumped down to join the others, calling the save a 'Lucky catch'. Clover doesn't think so, he'd chalk it up to talent.
Ruby's chest swelled with pride.
"Atlas Control, this is Clover. Mission accomplished."
Winter watches fondly as the students burst into cheers. A successful mission like that certainly did deserve a celebratory cheer.
Down in Mantle, the same man who was in the airship as the group, Forest, was dropped off by the airship. He yells at them, thanking them for the lift as he walks into an alleyway. The light flickers, and he turns around, thinking he's heard something.
None of them liked where this was heading. Was it going to show Watts or Tyrian again? Because they really don't want the episode to end on such a horrible note after their mission with the Ace-Ops. It also felt like it was building up to another jumpscare.
When Forest turns back around, Tyrian appears under the light, looking menacing.
The students jumped, hating how the lighting on Tyrian was making him look even scarier. Either way, what business did Tyrian even have with the man? They really hoped this wasn't another scenario of another person being killed like last time.
Forest, scared, backs up against a dumpster, asking who Tyrian was. "Me? Oh, well…I'm someone just like you." Tyrian's shadow creeps over the man, his pupils turning from gold to purple. "Someone who wants to mix things up around here." Tyrian's tail I revealed as he began to laugh sadistically. Forest screams as Tyrian's tail lunges at him.
The episode ends, and everyone wonders what the point of that was. What purpose did that even serve? To kill someone?
"Why?!" Ruby screams, wishing she could be given answers. None of them want to see any scenes where it cuts back to Tyrian's childhood or when Salem found him. They don't wish to see anything more related to Tyrian.
A/N (3/9/2025): I appreciate you all reading, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Feel free to comment with feedback so I know what I can do to give you the best experience. I wish you all a good day/night! A heads up about the next chapter: it won't be updated on the weekend as I will be away for a bit, but it should come out a couple of days after the regular time. I wanted to give you all a heads-up just so you are aware. Once again, thank you for reading!