Author's Note: The previous chapter may have been my favorite, but this is #2. It may be the finale, but I'm working on (and will soon be posting) a sequel that takes place 5 years later called Formula RWBY.

Chapter 15

One Week Before the Atlas Grand Prix

"How is Penny?" Mr. Schnee asked. It had been two weeks since Mountain Glenn.

"She's conscious." Ironwood replied. "The doctors expect her to recover. She's just...she's traumatized. I don't think that will get better."

"From a little bump to the head?" Mr. Schnee scoffed. "Then she's not fit to drive."

"Sir, it was not a little bump." Ironwood said. "She very nearly died."

"But she didn't." Mr. Schnee said. "And you still withdrew from the race."

"It was the right thing to do." Ironwood said.

"We have a constructor's championship on the line!" Mr. Schnee shouted. "What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that it was the right thing to do." Ironwood persisted. "And Ciel wasn't fast enough to score points anyway. There was no reason to put everyone through it."

"Do you plan to race this weekend?" Mr. Schnee asked.

"No." Ironwood replied. "Like I said, Ciel isn't fast enough. No one we can get for the race will be anyway."

"I am." Winter said.

"How long have you been here?" Mr. Schnee asked.

"Not long." Winter answered. "The doctors say my arm is healed."

"Are you sure?" Ironwood asked. "There's no sense in rushing back and making things worse. We need you healthy for next year."

"I'm fine." Winter assured him. "Besides, I can still win the driver's title. There's too much on the line not to race."

"I guess we're racing then." Ironwood said. "I assume Ciel is a suitable teammate?"

"Of course." Winter said. "My teammate is irrelevant. I'm going to win the race and there's not a driver out there who can stop me."

Present Day

"Thank you all for visiting me." Penny said. Ruby, Blake, Yang and Weiss crowded into her hospital room. She had been moved to Atlas as soon as the doctors determined it was safe and this was their first good chance to see her after her accident. "It's been very lonely."

"You don't get many visitors?" Ruby asked.

"So far only Mr. Ironwood, Winter and Ciel have come to see me." Penny said. "Winter and Ciel have been busy getting ready for the race so only Mr. Ironwood comes regularly and his visits are usually short. He says Mr. Schnee is too busy to visit."

"He's not." Weiss sighed. "He just doesn't care. To him drivers are interchangeable parts. He wouldn't even care about Winter if she wasn't so fast. He's always been more worried about his cars than their pilots."

"Weiss, could you try to not be depressing here?" Yang said. "We're just happy you're alright Penny. We were all really scared for you."

"Is Pyrrha alright?" Penny asked. The two were very similar in that they were always more concerned with the well being of others. "She sent me flowers and called me. She kept apologizing like this was her fault. I tried to tell her it wasn't and that she shouldn't blame herself, but I don't think I changed her mind."

"We had the same discussion with her too." Blake said. "She's a stubborn one."

"So when do you think we'll see you back in the car?" Yang asked. "It's not the same out there without you."

Penny's mood darkened. "I...I don't think I'll be coming back." Penny sighed. "When Tukson and Amber died, at least I could say it would never happen to me. Now though...I don't think I can keep lying to myself. I'm pretty good with engines, but I don't think I'll be driving anymore."

"Don't give up." Ruby encouraged. "Maybe one day you'll feel differently. I just want you to be happy."

"Mr. Ironwood said the same thing." Penny said. "I'll definitely give it some thought. It was really fun to race and meet all of you. Whatever happens now I'm glad I did it."

The Atlas Circuit was something of an oddity. Half of it mirrored Forever Fall with long straights and sweeping turns. The other half was a tight and twisting as any track could be. One of the reason for the track's split-personality was it's multi-purpose nature. The fast sections were part of a oval track, used for the kind of racing more popular in Vacuo. The two longest straights and the sweeping, banked final curve were both part of the oval. To be fast would require the complete package of chassis, engine and driver. It was no surprise then that Winter dominated the practice sessions. Yang and Weiss were close but Winter was in another league. Coffee Inc. and Phase Two may have had the engines, but they lacked the chassis to properly compete and were comprehensively outdone by Haven Racing Team. Pyrrha was behind them, fast in the winding parts of the track but painfully slow on the straights. Ciel would be lucky to crack the top 10, let alone score. Heading into time trials it looked as though the race would come down to Winter and the year's impressive crop of rookies.

Winter blew everyone away with her first qualifying lap. It was significantly quicker than any lap anyone, herself included, had set all weekend. She pulled into the garage and waited to see what the rest of the field had for her, but they never really rose to the challenge. The real fight would be for second.

Yang took to the track near the end of the session. She was a few tenths adrift of Weiss for the all-important second position. Even if Winter won the race, if one of the pair finished second, they would beat her. With Pyrrha as slow as she was it looked as if Winter was the only one they needed to worry about. Yang wound up her car through the final corner, Pear Tree. She roared onto the long start/finish straight. The straightaway was over a kilometer long, nothing like those at Vytal or Mistral, but given the speed cars already had by the time they started it, it could be just as fearsome. The first corner was one of the trickiest anywhere in the world. Yang braked then coasted through the right-hand corner as it continuously tightened until it was finally punctuated by an extremely sharp right followed immediately by a left that was just as tight. Yang slid her car through what was effectively a chicane and accelerated onto the backstretch.

Yang braked considerably for turn 4, a sweeping left. Along with turn 5 it was called the Lake Complex. She wrestled the car through the corner, keeping it all the way to the left side of the track. After an incredibly short straight it was time for turn 5. She braked hard for the tight right-hander, took a good line and got a fast exit onto the decently long straight that followed. Reaching the end, Yang braked hard, harder than anywhere else on the track. Turn six, The Hairpin, was highly-banked and the tightest turn anywhere other than the streets of Vale. She hit the throttle and got too much wheelspin, but got the car under control and blasted off toward the Esses. Left, right, left, right, left, right, left. The Esses were a seemingly never-ending series of corners with widely varying angles and tightnesses. This was the part of the track where Yang could really make up time on Winter and the cars with more powerful engines. Yang launched out of the final Ess and onto the Oval Straight. She braked lightly for Pear Tree and got as good a run as possible out onto the start/finish straight. She flashed across the line to complete her lap.

Yang's lap was not fast enough to beat Weiss, though it had been very close. At the end of qualifying Winter had the top time and her sister would share the front row with her for their home race. Yang would line up beside Neptune who was having the best race of his short career, with Sun just behind her. Sixth was Coco, followed by Yatsuhashi, Emerald, Pyrrha, Mercury and Ciel.

The day of the race was cloudy and extremely humid. It seemed as if it could begin raining at any moment but the weather held off and it was still dry when the cars rolled out to the grid. This one race would decide the title and there were four drivers with a shot. The only way Pyrrha could be champion if Winter won the race was for her to score at least one point, so things were looking grim given her poor starting position. Yang would need to get the better of Weiss and finish at least second or else lose the title. Weiss just needed to hold her position, even if Winter won. Winter had to win and needed help. It was a strange position for Winter. She was the two-time defending champion and in both of her title seasons she had clinched with multiple races left. Atlas had just been a victory lap. Now everything was on the line and she did not even control her own destiny.

The drivers' meeting before the race had been more crowded than usual. It was packed with the drivers, team owners, track and series officials. For the first time in many years the title race was truly competitive and everyone wanted to ensure there would be no manipulation of the result. Ironwood promised Ciel would stay out of the way. Glynda did the same for Jaune. Ozpin vowed that he would allow his drivers to race rather than dictating their finishing positions. Everyone else agreed not to do anything stupid. The penalties for failing to follow through were promised to be draconian. If the championship contenders took each other out, fine. If anyone else took them out, there would be hell to pay.

The start was going to be critical. It was very difficult to pass at this track and more often than not, the position a driver was in at the first turn was where that driver finished, barring mechanical issues or crashes. The field lined up on the grid after the parade lap and the starter raised his flag. The drivers only had to wait seconds but it felt like an eternity. The flag dropped and the cars roared away. Winter got a perfect start and her more powerful engine gave her a clean run into the lead. Weiss and Yang both got good starts, but with Weiss clearly ahead Yang was forced to yield. Neptune and Sun had to fight off challenges from Coco and the other cars with better engines, but their superior handling proved enough to keep them in position in turn 1. Pyrrha fell back behind Mercury and Ciel and almost lost out to a hard charging Neon, but managed to stop the bleeding in the first corner. She even managed to round up Ciel for tenth.

The cars pretty much held their positions during the next several laps. Winter drove off into the distance as Weiss and Yang ran nose-to-tail, too similar in speed for either to gain a real advantage. Pyrrha managed to move up to ninth as Mercury's engine began to sour, but in front of her Emerald was just too quick in a straight line. Just about the only thing of note that happened was that Jaune clipped one of the tires half-buried in the ground inside a corner in the Esses. The impact flipped him over and he skidded along the track that way until his car reached the grass and flipped back over. He finished his season just as it had started, in an embarrassing crash.

The turning point of the race came with under twenty of the schedule 65 laps remaining. The skies, threatening all day, finally opened up in a steady rain that quickly soaked the circuit. The drivers had a choice to make. The race was almost over and they could stay out on dry tires. They would have much less grip but not lose time pitting. Alternatively they could pit for rain tires and hope to gain enough speed to overcome the time given up by stopping.

Winter drove on in the rain. She was confident. She knew the track and knew that with her big lead there was no reason to risk a stop. Weiss followed her sister. She was in the position she needed to be champion and not about to give it up. Yang dove into the pits. She needed to pass Weiss and was not going to be able without some strategy. Neptune pit but Sun stayed out, and Coco and Yatsuhashi matched that split strategy. Emerald remained on the track and Pyrrha came in for rain tires. The other cars still running pit as well, with the lone exception of Ciel. Ciel remained on track, hoping to hold up Yang and Pyrrha enough to ensure Winter would win the title.

Once the pit stops were over the running order was Winter, Weiss, Sun, Yatsuhashi, Emerald, Ciel, Yang, Neptune, Coco and Pyrrha with just fifteen laps remaining. The first four may as well have been driving on ice, but they had a decent margin over those who had stopped. Ciel should have stopped. She spun off the track in the Lake Complex and ended up stuck in the mud. With 13 laps remaining Yang and Neptune passed Emerald; Coco and Pyrrha doing so the following lap. With 10 to go it was Yatsuhashi's turn. Yang flew past on entry to the first corner and Neptune got him in the Esses. Coco and Pyrrha caught up in Pear Tree and passed him by the time they reached turn 1. With 5 laps remaining Yang finally caught Sun. She made quick work of him in The Hairpin and set off in pursuit of Weiss, still several seconds ahead.

As the final lap started, Yang had Weiss in her sights. Winter was long gone in the lead but even a win would not be enough if one of the pair ran runner-up. Winter crossed the line to take the victory as Weiss and Yang exited the Esses. Winter would finish with 33 points. Yang was close and followed her teammate down the Oval Straight. When they got to Pear Tree, it was a foregone conclusion. Yang flew around Weiss on the outside to take second. She rounded the corner without incident to finish in second place, with a season total of 34 points. Weiss came home in third to bring her total to 33. Sun finished fourth and Neptune fifth.

In the Beacon GP garage there was wild celebration. Yang had defeated Winter to take it! The mighty Schnee Automotive had been brought down and at their home race no less! Then the cheering turned to stunned silence. Shortly after Neptune exited Pear Tree and crossed the line, Pyrrha rounded the turn, Coco nowhere to be seen. As it was, her engine had failed at the exit of The Hairpin. Pyrrha finished sixth, scoring one point, taking her total to 34. The first tiebreaker was wins. She and Yang were level at two. The second tiebreaker was second place finishes. They were tied at one. The third tiebreaker was third place finishes. Yang had one. Pyrrha had two.

Team Juniper went wild. At the start of the season they had never imagined it could be possible. They took the driver's championship, a first for Pyrrha and the team. Even Ren could not help but join in the celebration, even if he was far more subdued than the absolutely ecstatic Nora.

Pyrrha drove down the pit lane and came to a stop before her garage. It had been a trying race and a trying season, and she was glad it was over. She switched off the engine and prepared to climb from the car. Nora rushed to the car and grabbed her by the shoulders. "You did it!" Nora yelled before jumping around some more.

"I did what?" Pyrrha asked.

"You won the championship!" Glynda cheered. "What are you doing here? You should be in the winner's circle!"

Pyrrha was flabbergasted. She did not even know exactly where she had finished and now she was being hailed as champion. It was the best surprise she could have hoped for. She tried to refire the engine to drive to the winner's circle but it would not start. She hurriedly undid her belts and jumped out before sprinting for the podium. She was exhausted and soaking wet, but she was champion.

Yang pulled to a stop near the podium. She got out of her car and held her hands high. "Did I do it?" She asked. "Am I champion?" No one around seemed to know.

"I'll get you next year." Weiss said with a smile. They were still rivals, but friendly rivals now. It was difficult for Weiss, coming so close only to be edged out at the last moment, but she was determined not to be a sore loser.

"Great driving Xiao-Long." Winter said. "I'm sure your father's proud of you. Your mother would be too."

Yang was just about to ready start celebrating when she saw Pyrrha running toward them. A short distance behind was the rest of her team and they looked positively jubilant. "I'm not the champion, am I?" She asked. No one answered. Finally one of the officials came over and broke the news. Yang was devastated. Now she knew exactly how her father had felt losing to Summer and how Weiss and Winter must have felt now.

As the rain continued to fall the top three were called to the podium. The national anthem of Atlas played and the drivers were given their trophies for the race. They were asked to hold off on the champagne. Ironwood was already there for the team win in the race and was presented with the Constructor's Championship Trophy. Schnee Automotive beat Beacon GP by a single point, 68 to 67. Next, it was time for the presentation of the World Driver's Championship Trophy. Winter, Yang and Weiss graciously stepped aside as Pyrrha stood atop the podium. Pyrrha stood there with tears in her eyes as the national anthem of Mistral played. It was the most unexpected of outcomes to all involved.

Pyrrha was handed her trophy and a bottle of champagne. She held them aloft. "This is for Penny Polendina!" She shouted. "I hope you'll be back soon!"

Penny, watching from her hospital bed, could not have been more excited for both Pyrrha's success and the shoutout. It seemed she had another friend at the track. Maybe she would come back, even if it was not to drive.

Yang, Weiss, and even Ironwood shook up their bottles of champagne, popped the corks and gave Pyrrha a good drenching. Given that she was soaked from the rain she could barely notice. Unlike in Mountain Glenn the spraying was all in good fun. After taking it in for a moment Pyrrha shook up her bottle and sprayed the others before spraying what remained over the cheering crowd below.

"Congratulations Pyrrha, you absolutely deserve this." Yang said. Pyrrha held out her hand to shake but Yang pulled her in for a hug. "I won't make it so easy on you next year."

"You did an amazing job." Weiss added, slapping Pyrrha on the back. "I'm so happy for you."

"I'm sure both of you have championships in your future." Pyrrha said. "I still can't believe I won. I never dreamed this day would come, and so soon!"

Winter walked over with a stern look. She had dominated the season before her injury and looked like she would be the runaway champion. Then she came back before her arm was fully healed and drove in excruciating pain, winning the race but losing the title. She could not have been in the best of moods. Pyrrha, Yang and Weiss looked at her, beginning to fear her reaction. Winter smiled and laughed. "How can I be mad?" She laughed. "You were all wonderful this year. I'm looking forward to seeing if you can keep it up."

"Next year I will beat you." Weiss declared. She had technically tied her sister but lost the tiebreaker.

"You can try." Winter teased. "I'm more worried about Xiao-Long and Nikos."

"Whoa there Winter, don't make your sister mad." Yang warned. "She's a hell of a tackler and she has a mean right hook."

"Come on now, I'm sure our teams want to celebrate with us too." Pyrrha cut in before the conversation got more antagonistic. It was a good idea. The four descended from the podium platform. They headed for Team Juniper's garage where the party was already well underway. Everyone was invited. To everyone's surprise, even the Schnee Automotive team showed up.

Ironwood arrived late to the party and looked troubled. He approached Pyrrha, Yang and Weiss who were still celebrating together. "Can I have a word with you three?" Ironwood asked.

"Of course." Pyrrha replied. "What is it?"

"Mr. Schnee has commanded that I again offer you all a seat on our team." Ironwood sighed. "His order of preference goes Nikos, Xiao-Long, Schnee."

"We all already told you we're not interested." Yang said. "My answer hasn't changed and I know Weiss' hasn't." Weiss nodded her agreement.

"I'm not interested either." Pyrrha said.

"He wanted me to point out that remaining with your current teams could have detrimental effect on your careers." Ironwood continued. Judging by the look on his face, he was not happy to be saying what he was saying. The drivers were unmoved. Ironwood sighed. "It pains me but I'll get right to it. He says neither of your teams are getting an engine deal unless one of you drives for him. He has also promised to do everything in his power to block any deals with other manufacturers. Effectively, he aims to run your teams out of business unless one of you drives for him."

"What about Penny?" Pyrrha asked. "What happens to her if one of us joins?"

"She's already been fired." Ironwood said. "Mr. Schnee wants nothing to do with her anymore. And Ciel's going back to sports cars."

"No deal." Weiss said firmly. "We'll build our own engines if we have to. After all, we've got Blake, Ren and now Penny to help us. She did say she was good with engines."

"The best if you ask me." Ironwood admitted. "I fear Mr. Schnee's strategy is very much shortsighted. Without Penny to help with next year's engine, I don't know how competitive we'll be."

"Are you trying to convince us to join your team or not?" Yang asked.

"What do you think?" Ironwood replied. "I just want you to make an informed decision."

"Not a chance." Yang said.

"Not while my father still runs things." Weiss said.

"I'm happy where I am." Pyrrha said.

"Very good." Ironwood said with a sigh of relief. "Now, if I could only get Winter to drive somewhere else."

"I hear Jaune's not all that committed." Yang suggested. "Perhaps there could be an opening at Juniper, if she were interested of course."

"And a strategist of your caliber would always be welcome with one of our teams." Weiss said.

"You really are committed to tearing down your father's empire." Ironwood mused. "Oh well, we'll see what happens. For now, enjoy your success. I'm sure there's plenty more to come." Ironwood walked away looking much happier than he had when he arrived.

"Next season sure will be interesting." Yang said.

"I know." Weiss said. "I'll make an interesting champion."

"You both need to beat me first." Pyrrha laughed. "When I get a real engine in the back of the car, look out."

Standings after nine races:

Drivers:

1st - Pyrrha Nikos - 34 (2-1-2)

2nd - Yang Xiao-Long - 34 (2-1-1)

3rd - Winter Schnee - 33 (3)

4th - Weiss Schnee - 33 (2)

5th - Penny Polendina - 27

6th - Coco Adel - 15

7th - Sun Wukong - 14

8th - Yatsuhashi Daichi - 11

9th - Ciel Soleil - 8

10th - Neptune Vasilias - 7

11th - Mercury Black - 6

12th - Emerald Sustrai - 3

Constructors:

1st - Schnee Automotive - 68

2nd - Beacon Grand Prix - 67

3rd - Team Juniper - 34

4th - Coffee Inc. - 26

5th - Haven Racing Team - 21

6th - Phase Two - 9

END

But it's not really the end! The story will continue soon in Formula RWBY!

Inspirations

- Mr. Schnee's callousness is based on Enzo Ferrari. I went over it in detail a few chapters ago.

- The Atlas Circuit is based on Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City. They layout described is accurate to the time period.

- The use of the specific word "draconian" to describe penalties that would result from manipulating the championship directly refers to 1997. Schumacher went into the final race with a one point lead over Villeneuve. If both failed to score, Schumacher would be champion. After Schumacher had taken out Damon Hill in 1994 to win the title in identical circumstances, it was promised that a repeat would result in "draconian" punishment. When Schumacher unsuccessfully tried to take Villeneuve out, his entire season was disqualified. Draconian indeed.

- The championship scenario is based on the final race of 2008. It's too complicated to adequately explain, so watch a YouTube video or something. I've never seen a group of people go from celebrating to crying so quickly.

Inaccuracies and Anachronisms

- One of the big reasons the real-life track is so fast, one not mentioned here because of the change of setting, is because of the high altitude. The thinner air slashes drag and with today's turbo engines has little effect on the horsepower. They run Monaco wings just to get Monza downforce!

- The race-day weather conditions are not accurate to 1966.

- All the driver probably would have pitted for rain tires, but in 1966 the decision would not have been as simple as today. Back then, dry weather tires were not slicks, so they could theoretically run in wet conditions.

- In 1966 only a driver's best 5 results counted towards the championship. I decided against this for three reasons. One, it's stupid. Two, plot. Three, it would make the math annoying.

- The constructors standings were not calculated as here either. I combined the total points for all the teams' drivers as is done today. Since teams would often run more than two cars, and there were many one car entries, in 1966 only a team's best result for each race counted. The reasons for the change are the same as the above.