RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and created by the late and great Monty Oum.

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RWBY: Destiny of Remnant

Chapter 21: Fallout

It was already after two in the morning when Qrow, Glynda, Oobleck, Ellis, Argo, and several members of Haven Academy's staff arrived at the ruins of the CraftTech factory. Atlas soldiers and police officers were scattered about the area, closing it off and looking for survivors of the battle.

"Funny that the cops are here, considering Ante was the reason they steered clear of this area until we started blowing shit up." Qrow stated as their shuttle landed.

"Well now that Ante is on the run I assume the commissioner of the police is taking charge, maybe now he or she will be in command since Ante is out of the city." Oobleck speculated as they got out of the ship.

The place was quite simply a mess; ruined Grimm Knights, unconscious guards, frozen Grimm, debris and wreckage was scattered about the complex, a few fires were even going.

"Headmaster Argo, Professor Goodwitch, Dr. Oobleck, Branwen, it's good to see you're all here. We'll need some help if we're to get inside of the factory." Samson said as he approached them.

"The rubble needs lifting?" Glynda inquired, which he confirmed with a nod. "I'll take care of it, just tell me where your crews are." She said.

Samson pointed her in the right direction and said "Okay, now can I get an explanation as to what's happening? Cinder Fall is in Haven after our agent confirms he hadn't seen so much as a hair of hers and that Ante was not in league with her and yet Ante's men were fighting alongside her, not to mention the fact that Pyrrha Nikos is still alive."

"Well, from what we've been able to gather your agent is either dead or imprisoned, not only that but if what Qrow Branwen says is true then we are all in grave danger." Argo began.

"What do you mean?" Samson questioned.

"Jimmy is being controlled by a traitor in his midst, don't know who it is but it's one of his most trusted suck-ups. Whoever the traitor is probably gave both Ironwood and you false 'all clear' messages. As for Nikos turns out Fall didn't kill her or Ozpin, just teleported them. Oz was kept a prisoner while Nikos was brainwashed and turned into a Grimm hybrid." Qrow said, rather bluntly.

"Wait, what?!" exclaimed Samson.

"Why the hell didn't you mention that earlier?!" demanded Ellis.

"Because Miss Nikos is no longer a hybrid," lied Oobleck, knowing they would want to do unspeakable things to both Pyrrha and Jaune if they knew they were still hybrids, "She and Mr. Arc were both healed and cured by a powerful relic that our new ally Ashe Kasai was in possession of."

Samson sighed and muttered "This is going to be a nightmare to report."

Qrow walked away and made his way to the spot where they had fought Cinder, picking up the two halves of Crescent Rose, at first obscured by the debris of the wrecked Grimm Knights but he managed to easily spot it. "There you are, can't let the little hood go without you." He said before he walked back to the shuttle.

"What's that?" Ellis asked, gesturing to Crescent Rose.

"My niece's weapon, Cinder broke it in half after Ruby used it to slash her across the face." Qrow informed. Ellis was a little shocked at first, but considering the events of the night so far he quickly accepted it.

"Dr. Oobleck, are you sure Nikos is cured her... condition? And are you absolutely correct when you say 'Grimm hybrids'? The police did report a woman with the wings of a Nevermore and a man who led Beowolves, so am I correct in assuming there are more of these things?" Samson asked.

"Correct, two of them, Ziz and Steppenwolffe from what I have been told, were here but a third one if elsewhere. And you are correct when you think I am not telling you everything, because as of now we are not sure if we can trust anyone loyal to Ironwood." Oobleck said.

"If what you're saying is true then we need to get the General here so we can confront him about it, maybe even root out this traitor while doing so. For now I need you all to go about the facility and help in whatever way you can; clear wreckage, search for survivors, take prisoners, look for any potential information on our enemies' activities. Move out." Samson commanded.

As Argo, Oobleck, and the staff of Haven went about the complex Samson whispered to Ellis "Contact the General at once and get him here. I don't know what's going on anymore but if he is being controlled maybe these people can do something about it."

"What about the hybrid? I mean Rose and Arc were apparently captives here for a few days, what if they were transformed as well? What are we going to do about them or the Polendina robot, not to mention the ones who raided the headquarters?" Ellis pointed out.

"I think it's safe to assume that if we move against them we'll not only have their friends to answer to, but Goodwitch, Branwen, and the other professional Hunters as well. Contact headquarters now and send this" Samson said as he took out a flash drive, "to the General, I recorded some of the battle, as well as Nikos' attack on Fall. I think he'd be most interested in that."

Ellis saluted and said "Right away sir!" before he ran off to the ship as Qrow exited it and approached Samson.

"Have any of your men gotten to the roof yet?" he asked grimly.

"Not yet, looks too unstable but we will have our men rope down soon enough. Why?" Samson inquired.

"Someone's up there, somebody very important to me. I'll go myself. We had two fatalities, one on the roof and one in the labs, though given how burned up that part of the factory looks I doubt you'll find the poor kid's body." Qrow said as he walked forward.

"Are you sure you want to go up to the roof alone? I could easily have some..." Samson began before Qrow stopped him.

"No. I need to be alone." He said before he ran to the building as fast as his legs would allow and ran up the walls, jumping over the occasional fire or bit of debris stabbing out. He landed atop the roof and looked behind him to see the troops and police officers marching around, arresting the recovering guards, tasing any who tried to fight back.

Glynda used her powers to lift the rubble and debris away so the soldiers could pour into the building and scour it for any surviving guards or workers. Hell maybe Cinder was still there but it was doubtful, she didn't get to where she was today by being reckless so she had an escape plan without a doubt so she and Salem's other cronies were probably long gone by now.

He looked around the ruined top of the building, searching for the place where Raven's body had been left. He came to the warehouse room and entered through the blown open wall to see debris and some burning fires strewn about the massive room.

He looked over to see his sister's dead body, lying where he left it, cold and still.

He walked over to her and knelt down before his sister's body.

"Son of a bitch Raven why the hell didn't you save yourself?" he muttered as he sat down.

What was he to do? No doubt he'd have to take her to the others, get her to a morgue or something like that. Years ago when they had ran into each other he had jokingly asked her how she'd like her funeral but to his surprise she had answered him seriously, telling him she wanted to be cremated and for her ashes to be scattered on the cliff-side where Summer had been buried. At the time Qrow didn't know weather to believe her about that or not but maybe she was right. He wiped his tears and said "Damn it Raven, you know I hate to cry."

Yang... oh god, how was his niece going to handle this? She had just come out of her depression over the loss of her arm and things had looked hopeful, it looked like Raven and her daughter could really connect and mend the gap between them, hell maybe even the gap between Taiyang and Raven but now...

She was gone and three people were to blame: Raven herself for performing one of the most selfless things Qrow had ever seen her do. That bitch Cinder, who wanted more power, took it from Raven, and yet in the end she still got her ass kicked. The final one to blame was himself for not being good enough, or fast enough, or strong enough, or...

It should have been him.

He looked down to his sister's body and sighed. "Sis I... I'm so sorry. Say hi to Summer for me, okay? Tell her me, Ruby, Yang, and Tai all miss her like we'll miss you. We all love you, sis."

He carefully picked up his sister's body and walked away with her, unaware of a black bird observing them from the rafters above.

Down below and within the factory Glynda moved a large piece of metal aside so the troops could get further into the building.

"Man, what the hell happened to this place?" asked the Sergeant she had gone with, a man named Jungha.

"The Guerrilla Huntsman who allied himself with us claimed that they had a small container of Hau Bakuhatsu, so he used it to blow the factory." Glynda elaborated.

"A Guerrilla? Gods, this keeps getting more and more interesting. So what are you gonna do with this guy once this is over? Let him go?" Sergeant Jungha inquired.

Glynda considered the question and said "I honestly do not know but I do not intend to punish him nor allow him to be arrested. After all he has done, at great risk to his own life I might add; I think he deserves our gratitude."

"Hey, if he managed to mess these creeps up this badly I'll start a freaking fan club for him." A female solider joked.

A moan got their attention, making them stop.

"Scanner?" asked the Sergeant.

"It says we got two life-signs and a third one fading quickly up ahead and around the right corner." A corporal reported.

Sergeant Jungha walked ahead with several soldiers trailing behind him. He jumped around the corner and yelled "Freeze!"

A female guard and a male worked stood before an injured guard whose lower body had been crushed by some rubble. The guard and the worker both shot their hands up, the guard's weapon out of reach on the floor.

"On your knees!" Sergeant Jungha ordered as he kicked her gun away. The guard and the worker had no choice so they obliged and got to their knees as Glynda and the other soldiers came up before Jungha said "Go down the halls and begin looking for more survivors and Cinder Fall herself."

"You won't find her here, she and anyone of importance has already gotten away." The worker said.

"How?" Glynda asked.

"First my friend in the rubble, help him and I'll tell you what I can." The guard bargained.

The Sergeant looked to Glynda who nodded. "Okay then, Gage get up here!" he called to the medic who ran forward and created a healing glyph to begin tending to the injured guard.

"Where has Cinder gone?" Glynda asked.

"Escape ship, a vessel their engineers created that can transform between boat, sub, and airship, not to mention the cloaking tech it has installed. Chances are they're probably long gone and if they aren't I doubt you'll find them. Sorry but that's all you're getting out of me." The guard said.

"Why would you protect them? They left you to die." Glynda pointed out.

"I have no love for Cinder or any of the others but I know one thing about them that guarantees my silence; you people have limits, lines you won't cross. Cinder and her master? They have no rules or lines they won't cross. You can interrogate us, lock us up for years, but in the end I'd gladly take your punishment for us over anything the Mistress of Grimm would do. She will kill us if we say anything more." The guard said. Glynda could see a look of dread in the eyes of the guard. She looked over to see a similar, unsure expression on the face of the worker.

"Take them into custody. Do you have a prison ship coming?" the teacher asked the Sergeant, who nodded.

"It'll be here within seven minutes. Tseng, Brigs, and Orna, I want you to take these two outside with the others we've apprehended." He ordered.

"Yes sir." One of the three said as he led the two away with his comrades.

"You think they're telling the truth?" Jungha asked Glynda.

"They have no reason to lie to us other than to protect their own lives at this point. I do not disbelieve them when they say they do not want to entice the wrath of Cinder's master." Glynda stated.

"This... 'Mistress of Grimm' she spoke of?" Jungha asked.

"Correct. Now let's get back to work searching for more survivors." Glynda said as she led them deeper into the factory. While the opportunity to capture Cinder, any of her followers, or the Grimm Commanders they still had a chance to save the lives of those left behind, and maybe one of those souls could tell them something of use.

Far away in the headquarters of the Atlesian Military General Ironwood sat behind his desk with Chamberlain and Cy watching the recording of the battle that Samson had made. Ellis had sent it to them from the shuttle after he had been sure that Qrow and the others hadn't been watching him.

Ironwood grimaced, his fist clinched a bit as he voiced "This is insanity, how the hell did this happen?" While he was relieved that Ozpin and many of these students were alright, but it seemed to him that something major went down in Haven.

"I don't know, I'll try to contact Agent 501 and see what he has to say for himself." Cy said before he rushed out of the room.

"What about Nikos? How is it possible that she is still alive?" Chamberlain questioned. This was another huge revelation, not to mention one that was very confusing.

"I don't know sir, but if what they have told me is true than she was a Grimm hybrid before something happened. They made a stand against us when we tried to apprehend Weiss Schnee, Qrow Branwen, the others involved in the raid and they made it clear they will not allow us to take back Penny Polendina. We tried sir, but the odds were not in our favor." Ellis reported.

"It's alright soldier, we'll deal with them tomorrow. Ready the flagship, we're going to Haven." Ironwood said with a small sigh. This was just embarrassing; his own men being backed down by a teenage girl and her friends.

"Sir, there is still a great deal of protest against our presence here; I do not think the fleet..." Ellis began before Ironwood held up his hand.

"Not the fleet, just the flagship. We shall contact the mayor and the council of Mistral before we arrive to get clearance but given the recent developments and discoveries I do not think they will hinder us. I look forward to seeing Ozpin in person again, I'm happy he's alright. However I also look forward to the... punishments I will deal out to Branwen, the Schnee girl, her friends, and the robot. Make sure to keep an eye on Nikos, if she was turned into a human Grimm hybrid then we may be able to learn something from her. Just make sure Branwen and the others don't try to leave before we get there, use whatever force necessary." Ironwood said.

"Sir, one more thing... Branwen and Goodwitch both claim that your cybernetic implants are being overridden and are being used to control you by a traitor amongst your staff, do you think they're making this up to confuse us?" Ellis asked.

"Without a doubt, I swear to you I am in complete control of my own actions. You are dismissed." Ironwood said before he cut the transmission. He looked over to Chamberlain and said "Go prepare the flagship; I want it ready to launch in an hour."

"Yes sir, but I think you should contact the council, not just of Atlas but of Mistral as well. If we're to take our flagship over a heavily populated city such as Haven we will need express permission from the councils." Chamberlain said.

Ironwood's robotic hand twitched somewhat, an involuntary action that Chamberlain had not missed. "Jackson, contrary to Branwen's belief I am not a fool. I will get permission and thanks to Samson's review they will allow us to go to Haven easily. Who knows, maybe it was a good thing they hijacked Penny Polendina; in the end they did draw Cinder Fall out of hiding. All we have to do know is take care of the fallout." Ironwood stated.

Chamberlain saluted him and left the room. He looked to Cy who was talking on his scroll to somebody. "Okay, alright, goodbye. Love you." Cy, he looked to Chamberlain and said "Just checking on my wife, I already called Agent 501 but no answer."

"How is Gina?" Chamberlain asked, despite some differences Chamberlain and Cy were good friends outside of the workplace and knew each other's family's personally.

"Fine, as is my son. I don't know what could have happened to 501 but we'll get to the bottom of it soon enough. What are our orders?" Cy asked.

"To ready the flagship and only the flagship, General Ironwood is getting permission from the councils as we speak to go to Haven and after all that's gone down there I think it's safe to say we'll be there soon enough." Chamberlain stated.

"I hope so." Was all Cy could say in return.

Ante looked over to Jude, the sight of the man who was half flesh and bone and half robotic skeleton was still a sight he couldn't really get over, but right now that was the least of his concerns. He gently rubbed the base of his skull where the explosive device had been implanted, right now all he needed to worry about was making sure Jude's plan went right and to get his cargo and operations out of the city as quickly as possible. He rubbed his newly regrown arm, the aura it took up was tremendous but would be well worth it.

"Douglas, how far until we get to the city?" he yelled up.

"I estimate we'll make it to our base in about twenty minutes!" the newly awake Douglas called from the pilot's seat of the airship they had been given.

Ante nodded and looked back to see the rest of his men, getting some well earned rest after the hectic battle they had lost mere hours ago. Tom-Tom, Lao, and Douglas had all recovered nicely even if Lao needed some healing before he was ready to go.

Merrick lazily sat against the wall with his gun propped up next to him while Trooper, Little Steve, and Zhan all sat on the row of seats with Lao and Tom-Tom while Fireball was just curled up on the floor. Curious how the pyro could do that since his burns should be hurting him but Ante paid no mind to that.

He looked to Jude and asked "So what exactly do you plan on doing to Ashe?"

Jude's head turned towards him, the disturbing half and half head staring right into Ante's eyes with one side a dark scowl and the other side a mechanical skull. Presently he was examining his newly repaired arm, which had been given a new whip and the gun function now had settings on it so the pain it could dish out would now vary depending on the settings, a good way to lure an enemy in with a false sense of security if used correctly.

"I intend to finish it. If he does not die I will force him to kill me. Mark my words, Ante, one way or the other one of us will be dead by tonight." Jude said darkly.

Ante nodded and said "So how do you plan to lure him out? I mean, it won't be easy and Salem will probably want that crystal thing and Nikos to boot so you're probably have to do something pretty damn big in order to get his attention."

Jude looked back at him and attempted a smile.

"Oh no, Mr. Ante, I intend to do something both big and small. Just assure me you will give me over twenty-five of your best gang members, I have been going on this all wrong; I need to ware him down before I make my final strike. I will make him fight so many of your little thugs that by the time he and I battle he will have no chance against me. Then and only then I will end his miserable life." Jude revealed.

"Okay, but what do you plan to take hostage? Kids?" Damien inquired.

Jude smiled and said "Are there any abandoned subway tunnels in the city?"

"Yeah, one big one that leads to a bunch of smaller ones, why?" asked Damien.

"I need one that goes under a school, one where we can break in and make an easy escape." Jude stated before he noticed the doubtful look on Ante's face.

"What? A Huntsmen Academy?" he queried.

"No, one much smaller, one with less security, and one that's students are far... younger." Jude answered with a sinister grin.

Soon enough they made their arrival to Haven and to Ante's base. "Okay rise and shine boys, we got one hell of a busy day ahead of us." He said to his enforcers before he led them off the ship to be greeted by a crowd of thugs and underlings.

"Alright so I suppose the word's out that we're moving out and it's true. Transfer our data to drives, load up our Dust, weapons, anything and everything we can to ships, airships, trains, anything you can and get it out of town right now capisce? Okay, get moving, all of you. Zhan, Trooper, and Lao you guys will take on the operations to the northern part of town and make sure everything's on schedule. Douglas and Fireball you two will take on our more techno stuff to the east while Little Steve and Tom-Tom take on the cargo and Dust to the west and make sure it's loaded up. We've already got the gangs in the south taking care of our crap down there so Merrick you're staying here to safeguard me until I'm ready for another fight." Ante said, as he was still feeling exhausted from the heavy aura drainage. He looked over to Jude who was ignoring the shocked stares he was getting. "Oh, and I want somebody to get me the Fury Gang, Mr. Jude here has a job and they're the perfect candidates." He added.

They really were, the Fury Gang, a group of forty-two thugs and criminals that were the dominant force in the west side until Ante began to expand his territory but once he reached them they knew well enough to submit to him but Ante knew they were quite the force to be reckoned with.

Whatever Jude wanted to do with Ashe he knew it wouldn't be pleasant, and the Fury Gang was a group that knew all about the unpleasant side of this city's criminal element and reveled in it.

He watched as the men and women who worked for him scattered about the yard to go to their assigned jobs. Ante looked out to the giant city around him and sighed. "I'm gonna miss this place." He voiced.

Ashe opened his eyes and smiled as he felt a weight on his chest and the skin of another human being against his own bare flesh. He glanced down to see Mila sleeping peacefully, cuddled into his chest. He smiled as he brushed his hand through her raven black hair and hummed quietly to himself while his other hand rested on her rear.

On her finger was the engagement ring he had proposed to her with last night and after a full ten second period of silence and nodding she exploded into a cheering of the typical 'Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!' one would expect from a woman as in love as she was. Luckily it had been easier to acquire the ring than he initially thought as his friend Deno had managed to persuade the town's jeweler to give it Ashe relatively cheaply for all his Grimm hunting services to the town. He had it custom made so his family's emblem, the shape of the Aura Crystal inside of a flame was delicately carved into the sapphire that sat atop the gold ring and despite still being a bit expensive the happiness she felt was worth every lien he had paid.

Ashe stretched up a bit and groaned; one thing he'd never get use to was how... enthusiastic she was when they made love. Not that he was complaining as her wonderful naked form was always a welcomed sight, but good gods she drained his energy like nothing else could.

Mila's eyes fluttered open and with a yawn she managed to say "Morning lover boy."

"Morning." He said in return as she examined her ring once more. "Like it?"

"I love it." Mila answered with a smile. She began to crawl up his chest, planting kisses all the way until she made it to his head and let her body down to press against his. "Want to go one more time?"

"I can go for ten more times, but I don't think we have time for it, it's half past eight." Ashe said, smiling a bit as her sapphire eyes jolted open and fully awake.

"Eight-thirty?!" she exclaimed as she jumped up and looked to the clock, confirming his words. "Oh crap, the shop opens in half an hour!" she cried before she ran into the bathroom and turned the shower on. She looked back as Ashe pulled his boxers on and asked "Want to join me?"

"No, I'll shower later; right now I gotta start my rounds." He said as he got up to get a shirt from the drawers.

"You sure? Won't the Grimm smell you?" she asked as she placed her ring on the nightstand, covering herself with a towel.

"Bring 'em on. Plus I once went two weeks in the wilds without a shower, I'll be fine." He assured her as he pulled on his trousers. He walked over to her and pulled her in for a kiss and said "See you in a few hours, love."

"Don't be too long." She said with an alluring smile.

"I won't be, love you." He said as he began to prepare his weapons.

A few minutes later he walked down the stairs from the loft to the book store and went out the front door, locking it behind him before he set off to the woods that surrounded the town of Otium.

The next few hours went as usual; kill a Beowulf here, an Ursa there, pretty normal all things considered. A little after noon he reentered to Otium and took a drink from his water bottle before heading into the church, a building that did not serve just one religion, but several depending on the villager's mixed heritages. He saw his friend, the holy man of the village; he was a kind man in his mid-forties with tanned skin and slightly graying brown hair.

"Good afternoon Ashe, any Grimm in the woods today?" he asked.

"A few but no more than usual, it's a good break from the crazy shit I've seen out there." Ashe said.

"Language." Deno said with a joking wag of the finger.

"Sorry preacher but I don't think a few of your sermons will take." Ashe joked as he sat down on the ground.

"Then I'll have to preach more. Congratulations on your proposal going over so well by the way, the word has already spread." Deno said. That made sense, being that the town of Otium's population was only around six hundred.

"Ah boy, and before you ask; no, we have not set a date for the wedding." Ashe said.

Deno chuckled good-naturedly and said "Well anyways, I am happy for both of you. It is obvious you both care for each other very much and I know you will make one another very happy."

Ashe smiled and nodded as he looked back up to Deno and noticed a somewhat troubled look on his face. "What's wrong?"

"Some men came by the mayor's office today with a proposition... one I am very much opposed to. I may not be a seasoned as you are with the criminal element Ashe but I can tell a criminal when I see one." Deno said grimly.

"Who were these men?" Ashe inquired.

"One man and some... 'bodyguards' as he called them. The leader called himself Saul Jude."

Ashe nodded and asked "Well what exactly did this Saul Jude guy want?"

"He wants to use the town to move his 'merchandise' or at the very least store it for him." Deno answered.

Ashe sighed and said "I'll look into the guy later, what did the mayor say?"

"He told Jude he'd think on it. Jude has already taken up residence in that old mansion two miles south-east of the town." Deno stated.

"Okay, I'll deal with it later, right now I need to go see the love of my life." Ashe said as he got up and walked away to the building on the other side of the village that served as both Mila's home and workplace.

He walked in just as Mila finished stocking a shelf and said "How's work been today?"

"Slower than usual but that's fine by me. Kara came in earlier today to donate an old book and she saw the ring so naturally the housewives have already gossiping about us." Mila said as she walked over to him.

"Well knowing how many of the younger ladies in town have tried to hit on me I guess we just broke a few hearts." Ashe joked.

"Hey, their loss is my gain!" Mila joked back as she hugged him and leaned up to kiss him. He kissed her back and then made his way to the steps.

"I'm gonna take that shower now, feel free to join me." Ashe teased as he made his way up the staircase to her loft.

Mila smiled and went over to the door, locked it, put up the 'On Break' sign and ran up stairs after him.

As he began undressing he saw Mila come in, swaying her hips seductively before she tripped over his shoes. He leapt forward to catch her and she crashed down on him.

"Smooth move..." she muttered, embarrassed.

"Hey, you're gorgeous even when you trip over something." Ashe said encouragingly as she got up. "Deno told me some guy called Saul Jude came into town today, wanting to move some quote on quote merchandise through town."

"What kind of merchandise?" Mila inquired as she took off her shirt.

"Dust, drugs, guns, who knows? If this guy tries anything I know I can handle it." Ashe said confidently as he turned the shower on.

"You sure? Some people can be way worse than the Grimm, you know. At least the Grimm are just mindless animals, what's our excuse?" Mila said as she walked into the bathroom with him.

Ashe looked at her and smiled. "I promise you Mila, if this guy tires anything funny I'll scare him off. Now let's get cleaned up."

"Gladly, hansom." She said as she got into the shower first.

Before Ashe could join her he heard a voice whisper "Doves to Heaven, Crows to Purgatory, Sparrows to Hell, and Ravens to..."

What the...?

Ashe opened his eyes and groaned in annoyance. What the hell was that?

He continued to lie on his bed, staring at the ceiling as he considered that voice and what it had whispered; doves, crows, sparrows, and ravens? Okay what new madness were his dreams telling him now? Was it something to do with Raven Branwen? He didn't exactly have warm feeling towards the recently deceased warrior but he did not wish to see her dead.

There was a slight feeling of guilt over her death like... like maybe...

He decided he'd deal with those nagging thoughts later and his thoughts strayed to Mila.

Mila...

He had failed her, he promised her he'd take care of Jude if he ever tried anything and yet...

And yet here he was, five years later. Mila was gone, so was Deno, all because he hadn't been good enough at the time.

Well at least Jude was, ironically, nothing but ashes now.

Maybe these kids and helping them was some divine being's way of allowing Ashe to redeem himself for his failure so long ago, maybe the soul of Mila was looking over him with a loving smile. For all he knew her spirit could have never left him and she was in the room right now.

He looked down to the floor at the case where the Aura Crystal was contained and then he looked his nightstand. He picked up the engagement ring and examined it.

"Mila... I think I know someone who needs this more than I do right now." He said to himself with a smile.

He thought about Mila's song 'I'm Going to Go Back There Someday' and thought 'Maybe I should go back to Otium someday.'

He felt his rugged face and knew he needed a shave, he also felt pretty ripe and knew that a shower sounded really damn good right about now so he got up and walked into the bathroom.

Pyrrha opened her eyes and smiled at the sight of the sleeping Jaune in front of her, steadily breathing in and out as he held her to his body. Pyrrha tightened her grip around his torso and snuggled into his chest, loving the feelings their close proximity made her feel; loved, safe, and warm.

She smiled, content and serene with him, thankful that she had him once again and this time their relationship would be more romantic, just as she wanted it to be, and extremely grateful that he was alive after he came incredibly close to death last night.

The redhead was somewhat thankful she had no dreams during her sleep, as any dreams would no doubt be nightmares of him dying and choking up blood. She knew that the things she had done and witnessed the other day would stay with her forever; the death, the chaos, almost losing Jaune, regaining her memory, she'd always remember it. All of it. Some of it she wanted to remember but some of it she'd rather forget but in the end it was okay, because she was back with her team, her friends, and Jaune.

Her thoughts strayed to her parents and she worried about the pain they must have endured when they thought she had died, worst of all it was a pain they still felt since they probably still believed she was dead. That was something she'd have to correct as soon as possible.

She felt a small, subtle change in Jaune's breathing and heard him moan out "Pyrrha?"

"Yes Jaune?" she asked.

"A-are you there?"

"Of course I am! Can't you feel me?" she asked as she removed her hand from his shoulder and cupped his cheek. She could see and feel him subtly shudder under her grip and she could see a tear coming out from under his eyelid.

"Jaune, open your eyes. What's wrong?" she asked.

"I don't want to open my eyes." He said miserably.

What was wrong with him? A nightmare perhaps? She didn't feel him shake or jerk about at all in the night so what could be the matter?

"Why not?" she inquired.

"I'm afraid." He answered simply.

"What are you afraid of?" she asked him gently.

"Pyrrha... I'm afraid that if I open my eyes I'll lose you. I'm terrified of opening my eyes and not seeing you again. I'm afraid that if I open my eyes you'll fade away because there's always the possibility that all this was just a dream and if I open my eyes I won't see you, but I'll be back in that horrible place, inside of that cell waiting for them to do who knows what to me..." he said as he began sobbing.

Tears began welling in Pyrrha's eyes, it was obvious how utterly traumatized he was from what Cinder and the others did to him or...

Or was he traumatized by losing her?

"I'm afraid that if I open my eyes I'll wake up in the middle of the woods with Ruby, Nora, and Ren and none of this was real! That we're still hopelessly trying to find Cinder and that I'll never get you back! That's what I'm afraid of Pyrrha!" he cried as he buried his face into the crook of her neck, sobbing uncontrollably as he held onto her for dear life, but gently as if he was afraid she'd fade away in his grasp.

Pyrrha cried a little as well as she hugged him, rubbing his back soothingly to try and calm him.

"Jaune, don't be afraid." She said as she grabbed his head and pulled him back to face her. She used her thumbs to wipe away his tears and she leaned him to kiss him. "I'm right here Jaune, and I promise I will never leave you like that again." She promised, remembering that horrible night.

"How do I know this is real and not just my mind desperate to get you back?" he asked, his eyes still closed.

"Do you feel my hands on your body?" she asked. He nodded. "That's real." She added as she took his head and laid it against her breasts. "Do you hear the beat of my heart? That's real." She said before she pulled his head back up and said "Please open your eyes Jaune."

Jaune did so, his eyes were clouded at first by tears and light but his vision soon cleared and he could see Pyrrha's beautiful face mere inches away from his own, her emerald eyes filled with love and a warm smile.

"We are real, no matter what may have happened to us in another time or another world we are here, together, and that is all that matters." She said.

"Pyrrha!" he cried as he launched himself forward and hugged her as tightly as he could. He pressed his lips onto her and kissed her with as much passion as he could muster, which she gladly returned.

"Jaune, I'm so sorry I hurt you like that, I promise I will never abandon you again, I promise that from now on whatever happens to us we will face it together." She swore as she kissed his back, rubbing his back to calm him.

"Pyrrha... hold me." Jaune pleaded. Pyrrha smiled, she kept one hand on his back while she moved the other to his head and held him tightly against her body.

They stayed in that position for an untold amount of time, just enjoying each other's company before Jaune asked "Can I see your scar?"

"Scar?" Pyrrha inquired.

"Where her arrow hit you." Jaune said.

Pyrrha nodded and pulled down the collar of her shirt to show that scar where Cinder's arrow had pierced her chest, right above her cleavage and to the right of her heart. Jaune looked at the wound, glanced up at Pyrrha, then leaned in and kissed it.

Pyrrha tried and failed to hold back a moan as he looked back up at and pulled his shirt up to show her where Cinder's arrow had torn through him. Pyrrha nodded before she leaned down and kissed his scar as well.

"Pyrrha, what are we going to do once everyone finds out we're... freaks? I mean they'll have to tell someone that we're hybrids." Jaune pointed out.

Pyrrha looked at him and said "Someone might want to experiment on us, it's true, but I don't plan on letting that happen. I am yours and I will protect you."

"And I belong to you and I will always protect you." Jaune promised in return.

"Not only that, but our friends will always stand with us, last night proved that. And I'm sure that our families will understand, my parents love me and they will not care how much I have changed and from your sisters' reactions last night it is safe to say that your family will love you no matter what." Pyrrha stated as she got up.

Jaune nodded as he got up from the bed as well and stretched with a mighty groan. "Oh man, that was the best sleep I've had in months." He said.

"To be honest, it was for me as well." Pyrrha agreed before their attention was stolen by a knock at the door. "Come in." she called. The door opened to reveal the other two members of team JNPR as well as Penny and Neo.

"Morning you two." Nora greeted as she jumped into the room.

"Morning yourself, you guys holding up okay?" Jaune asked.

"We're fine but we should be asking that question of you, after all that happened last night with Cinder and the crystal. Speaking of which I suppose you will take over guardian duties from Ashe today, correct?" Ren asked.

"I guess so; he said he'd watch over it last night while we got some rest. How are you guys holding up?" Jaune questioned.

"We're doing just fine now that we're all together. As in you and Pyrrha are FINALLY together-together and me and Renny are together-together too." Nora said cheerfully.

"Wait, you and Ren?" Jaune asked incredulously.

"Yep." Nora answered as she winked at Ren who smiled in return.

Pyrrha was happy for her two friends but their relationship soon faded from her mind when she noticed Penny staring at her.

"Penny... I hope there are no hard feelings between us after what... happened at the tournament." She said nervously.

Penny gave her a kind smile and said "It's okay Pyrrha, the reason I came to see you was because I wanted you to know I do not hold you responsible for what happened to me. It was an accident caused by Cinder's manipulation, she, her master, and their accomplices. So please do not blame yourself for what happened to me."

Pyrrha smiled and said "Thank you Penny, I would be honored if you considered me your friend."

"That would be nice, as my list of friends gets ever longer. You put up a wonderful fight by the way." Penny said with a smile.

Pyrrha thanked her and looked over to Neo. "So Neo, what are you going to do now? You could stay with us, you're welcome to it." Pyrrha said.

Neo looked at her and shook her head. "No, sorry Nikos but this whole Huntress gig just ain't for me. Won't lie though, it suits me better than working with terrorists but I think I'll just go back to what I was doing before Roman and me got mixed up with those creeps." The petite girl said.

"Being a thief?" Nora asked, only to receive a light elbow to the ribs from Ren.

"Yeah, robbing and messing with people that deserved it, that's what I was best at. I was good at it even before I met Roman." She said nostalgically.

"What about Torchwick? You said the reason you were helping us was his 'final order', so what was it?" Jaune asked.

Neo smirked and said "Well, to be honest Roman's last order was only part of it, I'll explain later to you guys and to Ruby and her lot as well. It's been nice being a good girl for once but I think I'll just split once this mess is all sorted out."

Pyrrha nodded and said "Well I just want you to know that no matter what, I am in your debt for helping me rediscover who I truly am. If it wasn't for you I don't think Jaune would be alive, I would have still been Fotia Drakos and killed him and he wouldn't have been able to free my true self. If you ever need us just call."

"Yeah, just don't do anything too illegal." Jaune said with a chuckle.

"What shall I do? Maybe something good, maybe something bad, maybe a bit of both, but in the end I'll be Neopolitan again." Neo said with a proud smirk on her face.

"Now then, I think we should go get Ruby and the others up as well, because I know that today is going to be a very busy day." Ren stated. The others agreed but first they let Jaune take the shower he was too tired to take last night. Once he was done they all left the room and made their way to go visit Team RWBY.

Yang opened her eyes and could feel the weight against her. She glanced down to see Ruby cuddled against her and she couldn't help but smile, her little sister was always so cute when she was asleep. Zwei was also sleeping with them at the foot of their bed, turning on his back.

Yang examined her once again crippled arm and flexed it a bit. It wasn't totally destroyed but it would need repairs without a doubt, Kimball did warn her to be careful with it, after all. Luckily the Ember Celica was undamaged save for some scorching that could easily be taken care of. She looked around the room to see Blake was still asleep as was Weiss, no surprise since summoning that armored knight twice in such a short amount of time must have taken a lot out of the heiress.

But there was someone else in the room Yang had not expected to see; Uncle Qrow sat on a chair, snoring lightly with the two halves of Crescent Rose propped up against the wall.

"Uncle Qrow?" she said, not loud enough wake everyone up, but loud enough to get Qrow's attention. Qrow opened one eye and attempted a smile.

"Morning kid, how'd you sleep?" he asked.

"Way better than I thought I would. Good to know you found Crescent Rose. That'll make Ruby happy." Yang said with a small smile.

"Yeah, well, after all the hard work she put into this baby I couldn't just let it go to waste. I've already called Kimball and he's agreed to come and fix up your arm for you." Qrow informed her.

Yang let out a relieved sigh. "Good, I don't want to keep his burned up one long." She said before her face got serious. "What about mom's body?"

Qrow shook his head and said "We got it back, it's in a morgue. Your dad and I decided to talk about funeral preparations later, once we're done with Ironwood."

"Ironwood's coming?" Yang asked as she moved a bit, unintentionally waking Ruby up.

"Yang? What time is it?" she asked before letting out a yawn.

"A little after nine in the morning, I gotta gift for you." Qrow said, announcing his presence. Ruby looked over to him and he gestured to the recovered Crescent Rose.

Ruby let out a cheer of happiness and ran towards Qrow and jumped on him, grabbing him in a powerful hug. "Thank you Uncle Qrow! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she exclaimed, her excited cheers waking up Blake and Weiss in the process.

"Ugh... way too early for this..." moaned Weiss as she leaned up.

"Actually we've slept pretty late by our standards." Blake said before she noticed Ruby hugging Qrow. "Hello there, when did you get back?" she asked.

"A few hours ago, so I've only gotten about four hours of sleep, boy once today is done I'm just gonna sleep for gods know how long." Qrow said as he pried Ruby off of his torso. Blake nodded but then noticed a somewhat troubled look on Ruby's face as she stared at Crescent Rose's blade.

"So Ironwood is coming?" Yang asked, getting everyone's attention. Qrow sighed and nodded.

"Yeah, Jimmy's coming. Ozpin's been formulating a plan to free him from the control he's under and I'm sure it'll work, but I'm more concerned about his men just shooting first and asking questions later." Qrow stated.

"If Ironwood is coming and if he is under Salem's control we may be in for another fight." Blake pointed out, noticing Ruby was still just staring at Crescent Rose.

"We'll be ready for one. I don't know if everyone will walk out of it okay but I'm pretty sure it'll work out in the end." Qrow assured them.

"What about Jaune and Pyrrha? If they find out what that doctor did to them they might want to have them experimented on." Weiss said, getting a strong reaction from Ruby, who snapped out of the light trance she was in.

"No! We just got them back, we can't lose them again! Not again!" she cried.

"Relax kid, we won't let them lay a finger on your buddies, none of them, not even Penny." Qrow said calmingly.

"Are you sure? By all rights Flynt, Neon, Team CFVY, you, and myself are all wanted criminals for rescuing Penny. Even if we prove Ironwood is being controlled their might be some consequences for what we did." Weiss said.

"What you did was the right thing!" Ruby objected.

"You're right Ruby, but some people won't see it that way." Blake voiced.

Yang looked at her uncle and asked "How long until they get here?"

He thought about it, looked at his scroll and said "Ah shit, half an hour."

"Then we better get ready." Yang voiced.

Blake looked at her leader and asked "Ruby, what's wrong?"

Ruby looked up at her and said "Oh! Uh... nothing, I'm okay just a little dazed is all..."

Weiss was a little weirded out by Ruby's reaction to the question, but then again she knew she could never claim to fully understand the younger girl, the others however could tell something was wrong with the youngest person in the room. Blake could sense that something was off, that look Ruby had on her face reminded her of some looks she had seen on the faces of other Faunus in the White Fang; faces that were reeling from the shock of killing someone.

Yang, being a big sister, could naturally tell something was wrong with her little sister. The look on her face changed, trying to assure them that all was right but the look in her eyes suggested other wise. It was a look of shame and guilt, one Yang was all too familiar with as she had seen it in hero own eyes through the reflection of a mirror during her depression.

Qrow took one look at Ruby and instantly knew what was wrong with his niece, but that didn't make it any less shocking to him.

The look on her face was that of someone who had killed.

"Ruby, what happened in that factory?" he asked.

Ruby looked at him, took a deep breath and answered "A lot of terrible things happened to Jaune but me... Cinder just fought me a few times, trained me. She wanted to test the powers these stupid eyes give me. It worked because I know she had to overwhelm me to win, I could tell she wore herself out to stop me... and..." Ruby stopped. She remembered the recordings Cinder had showed her of the murders she had unintentionally committed.

"Ruby, I can tell there something else bothering you. What happened?" Qrow asked gently.

Ruby looked down to her feet, not having the will to look her friends and family in the eyes as she knew she had to tell them.

"The reason Jaune and me got captured is because we decided to try and fight Ante and his henchmen off, knock them all out, then force Ante to tell us where Cinder was hiding. I wanted to go through with his plan even though he was having second thoughts but I... I just wanted to catch Cinder so bad..." Ruby said as tears began to fall from her eyes.

Qrow, Yang, Weiss, and Blake all stayed respectfully silent and listened as Ruby recovered and continued. "But... Ante had a lot of street punks and thugs come to help him catch us and one... one of the cars charged at us so I used Crescent Rose to shoot out its tires and... the car went flying into this bulldozer or whatever it was and just." Ruby stopped as she buried her face in her hands and sobbed several times before she yelled out "It exploded and it killed the driver!"

She cried for a bit, but Weiss went forward and hugged her partner. "Oh Ruby, it's okay. It wasn't your fault. It was self-defense." She said to the younger girl who shook her head.

Qrow remained dreadfully silent as Yang and Blake just looked in disbelief at the girl.

"Th-that's not all..." Ruby said. The others looked at her, wondering what could possibly have happen after that, but Qrow could tell by the way she was looking at Crescent Rose's scythe it wasn't good.

"I got knocked down by a blast and this guy was charging at me... I didn't know what else to do so my body... just took over I guess. I slammed Crescent Rose into him and I killed him!" she said as she broke out into sobs again.

Yang couldn't stand seeing her little sister like this so she got up and darted over to her, hugging her along with Weiss.

"It's okay Ruby, you killed in self-defense. It wasn't your fault." Yang said soothingly.

"Yes it was! If I... if I..."

Weiss stopped her partner by placing her hand over the smaller girl's mouth and firmly said "No. Ruby, none of that was your fault; you may have taken two lives but only in self defense. Did you mean to kill them?"

Ruby shook her head.

"Then no one can blame you. Cinder and her followers are the only ones to blame. It is true those men did not deserve to die but it was all you could do to protect yourself." Weiss said as she hugged Ruby a little tighter.

Then it was Blake's turn, "When I was in the White Fang Adam was always pressuring me to kill whenever I needed to but I never did. Other, however, did. I consoled them, assured them it would be alright, I tried to convince not only them, but myself, that we were the good guys fighting the oppression all of Faunus-kind had been facing for centuries. Soon enough I realized no matter what killing was wrong and the only ones who are beyond redemption are the ones who feel no guilt. You obviously feel guilty over what you did, so to me that is proof of what I know to be true of you Ruby, you are a kind, pure, and simple soul. The fact that you feel guilt over this proves that you are a good person, that kind of person we cannot do without. We all care about you Ruby, and we will not let you face this guilt alone." She finished.

Ruby lurched forward and hugged Blake, dragging Yang and Weiss with her. Ruby cried it out as her three teammates hugged her comfortingly. Ruby still felt shame and regret over killing those men, guilt she knew she may never get over, but she knew she wouldn't be alone. She'd always have her friends.

Qrow smiled at the sight and said "I'll leave you girls to get dressed while I wake up your friends who were involved in Penny's rescue, we're all gonna have to face Ironwood together if we're gonna come out on top."

Ruby looked up at him and those big silver eyes just tore at his heartstrings.

"Ruby... I've killed a lot of people in my time, a lot of them in self-defense. Sometimes when you have blood on your hands because of something you did deliberately you can never really wash it off but you? The blood on your hands is because of an accident, you killed in self-defense but you didn't mean to. It'll wash off easily. I love you Ruby." He said.

Ruby smiled as she wiped some tears away from her eye and said "I love you too, Uncle Qrow."

Qrow smiled back at her and opened the door, then closed it behind him. When he turned around he saw Team JNPR, Penny, Neo, and Sun all standing outside the room.

"Everything okay in there?" Sun asked, he had just come down to see if Blake was okay, as he had been concerned about her ear injury.

"We heard crying, what's wrong?" Penny inquired.

"Just working out some emotional issues. Ruby came clean about accidentally killing a couple of Ante's thugs, but I think she'll be okay. Ironwood will be here soon so you kids better tell the kids involved in your rescue to get ready." Qrow said to Penny who noticeably looked worried. "Don't worry kid, we got you covered. They ain't taking you, hell I think Ruby would take down the entire flagship crew herself if Jimmy even tried." He assured her with a grin.

"Alright, but are you sure Ruby will be okay?" asked Jaune.

"She's got her team again, I know she will be." Qrow said to the younger man.

Jaune nodded and Pyrrha said "We'll wake the others up for you, do you have a plan to deal with General Ironwood? Or even a way to free him from their control?"

"Ozpin's been working on something, hopefully it'll be okay in the end." Qrow told them as a voice sounded off from down the hallway.

"Morning Jaune!" called Indigo as she and the other Arc sisters came down the hall.

"Morning girls, you all sleep well? Is your shoulder okay Violet?" Jaune asked.

Violet laughed and said "You got stabbed, nearly beaten to death, and an arrow shot through your torso and yet you think a bullet-wound to the shoulder is bad? Jaune, you got some weird priorities."

"But is it okay?" he asked.

Violet nodded with a smile.

"That's our Jaune, always worrying about someone else. But seriously are you okay?" Shani asked him.

"I'm fine, to be honest I slept better last night than I have in months." He said as he looked at Pyrrha and smiled.

"I think we'll leave it at that and leave the rest of you two lovers' night up to our imaginations." Indigo teased, which made both Jaune and Pyrrha blush wildly.

Bianca held back a snicker and said "Okay, so the General from Atlas is coming?"

Qrow nodded and said "Should be here pretty soon."

"Right, okay if you guys are going to wake up your friends we'll wake up Ashe." Bianca said.

"Fine by us, I believe his room is down the hall third on the left from the end." Ren informed them.

"Okay then, I'll get my team up, if Ironwood's soldiers try anything we'll be there to help out." Sun said before he dashed down the hallway.

Pyrrha, Jaune, and Nora went to wake Team CFVY up while Ren held Qrow back.

"Do you think we are in for a fight with the Atlas soldiers?" he inquired.

Qrow shook his head. "Can't say for sure, but just in case be ready. We'll be up in Argo's office when the time comes so once you're all ready head up there, the monkey Faunus probably knows that way. Tell that to Ruby, Yang and their team too, we'll need them up there." He said.

"I will tell them, I'll just wait out here." Penny said as Neo leaned against the wall.

Ren nodded and left to join his Teammates while Qrow walked down to the end of the hallway to go see Ozpin and Glynda. He knew that Ozpin could find a way to free Ironwood from Salem's control; he just hoped it wouldn't hurt the general in the process. Despite the fact that he and Ironwood could barely stand one another he didn't want to see the General hurt.

Bianca knocked on Ashe's door, but received no answer. "Hello, Ashe? It's Bianca, listen something is about to go down and I think you should be there for it." She called.

No answer came.

"Hold on, he might be asleep." Sienna said before she pounded on the door a little louder.

"Wait a minute; I think the door's unlocked." Violet said before she simply turned the knob and pushed the door open.

"Why didn't we notice that earlier?" Indigo asked.

"Well none of you have police training." Violet joked as Bianca and Shani went inside, but saw that the room was empty.

"Maybe he already woke up." Shani suggested as Bianca looked at the bed to see the black trench coat was still there and the two photographs, the ring, and the whistle were still on the nightstand.

"I don't think so, his stuff is still here. I don't hear the shower running, check in the bathroom." Bianca said.

Shani nodded and knocked on the bathroom door, only to hear Ashe's voice call "Who is it?"

"It's Jaune's sisters, are you decent?" Shani inquired.

"Yeah, I'm just shaving, you can open the door." Ashe answered from inside.

Shani did so and once she did she liked what she saw.

Ashe was topless as he shaved his rugged face, she could see his muscled body covered with scars that hinted at a life of hard battles. His chest, abs, arms, all showed signs of what a physically powerful man he was even though his clothes made him appear to look quite average Shani couldn't speak for a brief moment but Ashe snapped her out of her trance by saying "You okay?"

Shani quickly nodded, "We'll wait out here for you!" she said before she closed the door. She turned to her sisters, blushing madly.

"Shani, what's wrong?" Sienna asked.

"Oh good gods, he's hot." Was all Shani could say.

"What? How hot we talking?" Indigo inquired mischievously, despite the fact that she wasn't into men she couldn't help but poke fun at how her older sister was acting.

"If's he's not a perfect ten I don't know what is." Shani said, ignoring the laugh from Violet.

"Oh boy, you're acting like a teenager again." Sienna deadpanned as she shook her head.

"You would be too if you saw what I did!" Shani shot back as Ashe, now fully clothed, exited the bathroom.

"Sorry, I needed a shave and a shower like you wouldn't believe. So is there any particular reason you women are in my room all at once?" Ashe asked, which got a snicker out of Indigo as she knew full well there really wasn't.

"Qrow says General Ironwood will be here soon, you probably want to be there in case something major happens." Bianca informed him.

Ashe nodded and said "Thanks for letting me know, did he tell you what they're gonna do?"

"No, I guess that's a need-to-know surprise for the time being." Violet stated.

"Sounds typical, I'll go down the hall and join up with the others, what will you be doing?" Ashe inquired.

"Get some breakfast for one thing." Sienna murmured.

Ashe chuckled and said "Enjoy it." He grabbed the case that contained the Aura Crystal, placed the photos in his coat pocket, and put the necklaces around his neck

As he made his way to the door Bianca said "Ashe, wait."

Ashe turned to face the five sisters only to be surprised by Bianca kissing him on the cheek.

"That's for keeping your promise and saving my brother's life." She said with a small blush, ignoring the gaping looks her sisters were giving her.

Ashe smiled in return and said "No payment necessary. He's a good kid, he'll be a better guardian of the crystal than I ever was, at least he'll have someone to share the burden with."

With that Ashe left the room and walked down the hall to join his young friends while four of the five Arc sisters stared at the eldest in disbelief.

"You lucky witch." Shani said grumpily.

Bianca laughed and said "Don't worry, I can guarantee you girls that one of can kiss him next time."

"As if." Snarked Indigo.

"Oh I wouldn't mind." Shani stated, which got a laugh out of the others.

"Me neither, he is kinda cute." Sienna agreed.

Qrow walked into Argo's office, walking in on a conversation between the Headmaster of Haven was having with Ozpin and Glynda.

"The kids are getting up, the ones we'll need will be up here soon enough. How much time until Jimmy gets here?" he asked.

"Not long, the flagship of the Atlesian Fleet was just spotted flying over the outskirts of the city. He has the blessings of not only the councils of Mistral and Atlas, but of the mayor and governor. So if we make a stand against him you better have a plan to free him, Ozpin." Argo said.

"I have a plan; I came up with it years ago after I learned such a thing was possible. I always knew there was the possibility that James could fall under enemy control, as did he. From what I can surmise the traitors in Atlas must have bypassed his safeguards during the surgery you told me about." Ozpin said to Qrow.

"It won't hurt him will it? Ironwood may be a jackass but I don't want to see him hurt." Qrow voiced.

"Neither do I, but from what Ozpin has told me there will be some pain but it will be enough to free Ironwood for a few precious moments, long enough for him to tell us who the traitor is, then the soldiers will know you were telling the truth and James has been under control the entire time. The traitor will be unmasked and we can hopefully help James recover what has been done to him." Glynda stated, out of all of them she was probably the most concerned about Ironwood's well-being. She didn't care for him in a romantic sense as some people thought but she did think of him as a friend.

Ozpin nodded and asked Headmaster Argo "Have you contacted Miss Nikos' parents?"

Argo nodded and answered "I sent an airship to their residence, I didn't tell them why they needed to come here but they have agreed to come. I estimate they'll be here this afternoon."

"Good, they deserve to know the truth about their daughter." Glynda said, knowing that a happy reunion was in the not too distant future.

"Oobleck going to be joining us?" Qrow asked.

"No, he only got to sleep about an hour ago. As odd as it may seem coffee can only carry him so far." Glynda stated.

Ozpin turned and looked out the window of Argo's office. "There's the ship now." He said. Everyone else turned to see the long, massive airship approaching the city, the nacelles housing the engines lightly firing off as it glided along the sky with three spines on each side to keep it balanced.

"They'll be sending a shuttle craft with Ironwood and some soldiers I suppose." Argo surmised.

"Not to mention Chamberlain and Cy, and those soldiers are probably armed for a fight and aim to arrest me, those kids, and Penny." Qrow added.

"Jason, please inform your students to return to their dorm rooms and remain inside and tell your staff to prepare for a battle, just in case." Glynda said.

Argo nodded, but looked to Glynda and asked "Do you really think it will come to a battle?"

"With James under the control of our enemies, it is not unlikely."

In a large lobby room Ashe sat on a chair as Teams RWBY, JNPR, CFVY, SSSN, along with the present half of Team FNKI, Penny, and Neo.

Weiss had just gotten done telling Ruby the whole story of their daring rescue of Penny and what Ironwood, or by extension Salem, originally had in store for her. To say Ruby was angry was an understatement, she was flat out furious and wanted to ring someone's, namely Cinder or Salem, neck. That said she couldn't help but be proud of Weiss' crazy stunt with the bomb and the Nevermore on the isle.

"Did we really have to bring our weapons? If Professor Ozpin has a plan to free General Ironwood then why do we need to prepare for a battle?" Velvet asked.

"After everything we have faced in the past few days I wouldn't doubt another battle is possible, but I hope it doesn't come to that." Yatsuhashi agreed as he looked over to Ashe, Jaune, and Pyrrha.

"He's giving it to them now?" Fox voiced.

"I don't pretend to understand all this mumbo jumbo but I guess it's time for them to take charge of it." Coco said.

Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora all sat down on a couch that was across from Ashe's chair, separated by a table.

Ashe smiled at the two teenagers the case and said "Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, I present to both of you the Aura Crystal." He placed the case down and opened it, revealing the Aura Crystal within.

Jaune and Pyrrha both placed their hands on the case and nodded.

"We will try to honor the crystal and its legacy, as well as all of those who defended it previously." Pyrrha said modestly.

"I know you will." Ashe said pressed his finger on the print-lock of the case and slid his finger sideways, causing a small slip to come out. "I'm changing the lock to remove my clearance, so to speak, and replace it with yours."

He opened a small compartment inside of the case and carefully took out two more slips. "One for each of you." He said as he handed them over.

They nodded and pressed their fingers against the slips, allowing the two small pieces of tech to recognize them.

"Where did you get those things, anyway?" Nora asked.

"A security firm in Atlas, all I said was that I needed a print lock that would need changing in the future and they did it for me no questions asked." Ashe answered.

Jaune and Pyrrha placed the two slips upon the lock and they were both accepted by the case's security system.

"Okay, you two are now officially the new Guardians of the Aura Crystal. You guys are lucky to share it, I think the reason it wouldn't accept me for a long time was because I was alone and there are usually two guardians; one to handle the more physical aspects and one to handle the mystic stuff but it's not out of the question for you two to share those duties, it has happened before." Ashe informed them.

"That's good to know." Jaune said as Ruby looked out the window.

"There's an Atlas shuttle coming." She said as Penny approached her.

"Ruby, what will happen to me when this is all over? Even if the General is being controlled I don't know what they will do to me or my father once this ends." The robot girl said.

"Don't worry Penny, we got your back." Yang assured her.

"Hey, we got you this far, didn't we? I don't think any of us will let them take you after everything we've gone through together." Weiss said confidently.

Ruby nodded as she put a comforting hand on Penny's and said "We'll stand by you Penny, you're our friend and nothing will change that."

Penny smiled and hugged Ruby as the elevator in the lobby opened up to reveal Glynda.

"Children, please start heading up stairs. I will stay here to greet General Ironwood." She said.

Ruby nodded and led her team, Penny, Neon, Flynt, Sun, Neptune, and Neo into the elevator for the first load up.

"Are you sure Ozpin's plan will work?" Ashe asked as Teams JNPR and CFVY as well as Scarlet and Sage all got ready to go up as well.

Glynda nodded and said "I am sure it will work, I just hope he'll be alright."

"And what happens if it doesn't work? If they try to arrest us or retake Penny you know we'll all be fighting them, right?" Coco inquired.

Glynda sighed and said "I know it all too well."

Pyrrha let Jaune hold the case, they looked at each other and didn't need to speak as they both knew they could feel the power of the Aura Crystal now, the same strange sensation that had healed Jaune and restored their original physical appearances but more subtle and relaxed, more refined.

Neither of them could describe it, but the sensation made them feel hopeful for the future for some reason, it made them think that the days and challenges ahead would not be as dark as those behind them.

The elevator came back down and Ashe and the remaining Hunters-in-training all piled in as Glynda remained behind.

Glynda walked out the lobby's front door to meet Professor Echo and several other teachers of Haven Academy, as well as Samson and Ellis, as the Atlesian Shuttle landed.

The ramp descended and a total of twelve Atlesian Knights, six on each side, marched down the ramp and stood to attention as General Ironwood, Cy, Chamberlain, and about two dozen Atlas soldiers all disembarked from the ship. Ironwood looked down at Glynda and while his expression seemed soft for a brief second it quickly turned into a glare, something Glynda did not miss.

"James." she greeted.

"Goodwitch. I should be angry that you lied to me and did not tell me the full situation but given what I have been told about Cinder Fall you may have made the right choice." As he said this Glynda noticed his robotic hand shaking a bit.

"I am sorry for the deception James but it was necessary. I trust your men have filled you in on the details?" she asked.

"They have; Cinder Fall has been in the city the entire time contrary to our agent's reports..."

"An agent who has yet to respond to any of our communications since last night. Maybe he was a traitor." Cy chimed in.

"Yes... about Agent 501, sir... while we were interrogating the guards of Cinder Fall's factory several of them confirmed that an Atlas Agent known as 501 was fed to a Grimm abomination created by a scientist working with Fall known as Victor Giger, whose corpse was found in the rubble of his lab. This would explain why Agent 501 hasn't responded." Samson said grimly.

"What?!" Jackson cried.

"That... is most upsetting." Ironwood said grimly.

"Yes... quite." agreed Cy.

"What else have they told you?" Glynda asked.

"That Pyrrha Nikos is somehow alive AND was a Grimm hybrid, something I am most interested in... seeing for myself. Even if she was cured by what was only vaguely described as a relic used by a Guerrilla Huntsman, as Ellis informed me on the way here. Not to mention Penny Polendina has been here the entire time, along with the ones who stole her from us, all of whom I expect to be handed over to us for trial and for the robot to be returned to us. Not to mention I want Branwen in custody within the hour." Ironwood demanded harshly as they walked back into the lobby.

"I think you'll have to talk it out with some... people who will oppose you, James. Did they tell you about Ozpin?" Glynda inquired.

"They have, and while I am glad to hear he is alive I am more concerned with apprehending the criminals who raided our headquarters and the Grimm hybrid." Ironwood stated. Glynda nodded, knowing full well what was really happening and what unfortunately had to happen to James in order to free him.

"This way please." Glynda said as she led them into the elevator. "Stay here, keep an eye out for any... trouble." she whispered to Professor Echo, who nodded and signaled for her fellow Haven teachers to stay with her. Glynda, Ironwood, Chamberlain, Cy, two Atlesian Knights, and five soldiers all walked into the elevator and Glynda pushed the button to take them them up and with that the doors closed and the lift began to ascend.

The short ride up was quiet, save for a conversation between Goodwitch and Ironwood. "James, please do not start a fight. You don't need to resort to violence in order to get to the bottom of things."

"Oh but I do, Qrow made that perfectly clear when he assaulted me and turned one of my top specialists against me. Speaking of which maybe I shall postpone Specialist Schnee's trial so we can do this all at once. But you do have my word Glynda that if any of the children make a move against me and they were not involved with the robbery I will not arrest them, merely have them stunned. Men, Knights; set weapons to stun." Ironwood ordered.

They all followed his instructions as Glynda glared at him. 'The true James Ironwood is in there somewhere, you can fight this, I know you can.' she thought.

They soon arrived at Argo's office, which was a mere four floors above the school grounds. The doors opened to reveal Ozpin, Argo, Qrow, Penny, Neo, Ashe, Flynt, Neon, and Teams RWBY, JNPR, SSSN, and CFVY. One of the men had a surprised look on his face when he saw Jaune in the room, alive.

Glynda walked out first as Ironwood and his men poured out of the elevator. Ironwood eyes them all, but Ozpin caught his eye first.

"Hello Ozpin, it is good to see you alive and well. I must admit I was worried I'd never see you again." Ironwood confessed.

"It is good to see you as well James, even though I wish it could be under better circumstances." Ozpin agreed.

Ironwood nodded and said "Weiss Schnee, Team CFVY, Flynt Coat, Neon Katt, and Qrow Branwen..." he spat the last name, "you are all under arrest for treason, theft of military property, assault, destruction of military property, espionage, resisting arrest, spreading dissension, lies and slander, mutiny, and a myriad of other crimes against the Kingdom of Atlas and its military forces. Come quietly."

"The hell we will." Qrow snarled as he whipped Reaper out in sword mode.

The younger Huntsmen and Huntresses all got their weapons ready.

"Yeah, we helped save this city and stopped you from making a horrible mistake, you at least owe us that." Flynt said as he loaded a Dust vial into his trumpet. While Penny, who knew her weapons would be far too deadly in a confined space, got behind Ruby, ready to transform her slightly damaged arm.

"It is true you did help in nearly catching Cinder Fall, keyword being nearly, but that does not excuse what you did." Cy stated.

"What we did was stop you from playing right into Cinder's hands! She wanted you to use Penny as a bomb, she wanted to set it off in a public place so it could kill hundreds of people, then the fact that you sent her there would get out and a war would break out between Mistral and Atlas." Weiss said, ignoring the angry look on Ruby's face.

"So you claim but do you have any proof to back that up? I have been told that Miss Rose, Mr. Arc and... Miss Nikos were all inside of the factory, either against their will or brainwashed. Did any of you hear confirmation of their claims?" the General asked.

Ruby and Jaune remained silent as Ironwood looked to Pyrrha. "Not even you? You were controlled into being on their side, surely you knew of Cinder's plans?" he asked.

"No, they didn't tell me much and what they did was lies. I knew nothing of what they had planned for Penny." Pyrrha said truthfully.

"So, there we have it. I will take them all into custody and you as well Miss Nikos." he said, getting a furious reaction from Jaune.

"What? Why?!" he demanded.

"Because from what I have been told she was a Grimm hybrid, a humanoid who can control the Grimm from what I have been told, and if she was who is to say those effects won't linger? We will need to study her." Ironwood said.

Ruby looked to Ozpin who was remaining calm despite how tense the atmosphere in the air was.

"If you take her you'll have to take me, I was a hybrid too." Jaune confessed, knowing not to reveal that they still were hybrids.

"What?! I... I was not informed of that..." he said hesitantly. Ashe, Team SSSN, Yang, Blake, Weiss, Ren, and Nora all got their weapons out, ready to go.

"James, stand down. These children are prepared to fight you in order for their friend's safety. After all that they have been through surely you can try to stop and look at the situation from out points of view." Ozpin said calmly.

"No Ozpin, let us deal with these malignancies, we shall get to the bottom of this on our own terms." Ironwood said.

"What did you just call us?" Velvet asked.

"Malignancies, not all of you are but two of you may be. If Nikos and Arc are indeed hybrids then they are a malignancy, a cancer, a disease that needs to be dealt with." he said rather bluntly.

"You do not mean that James." Glynda voiced.

"I do. Anyone who stands... against me will be... arrested." Ironwood stammered.

Argo and Ozpin glanced at each other.

"Oz, whatever you're gonna do to free him from the mind control now would be the perfect time to do it." Ashe said as he grasped his sword.

"Mind control? Do you honestly believe Qrow's laughable claims? I took precautions against such possibilities years ago." Ironwood said.

"Did you? We have reason to believe there is a traitor among your men and you might know who it is. We will help you, old friend." Ozpin promised Ironwood.

"How do you intend to help me?" Ironwood asked as the soldiers and the two Knights aimed their rifles up. Ironwood grabbed his pistol and this did not go unnoticed by the Hunters on the other side of the room as they all got ready for a fight when Ozpin held up his hands.

"James, do you remember when we first met?" he asked.

Ironwood looked at him strangely and answered "Y-yes i do... it was when you were a teacher at Beacon and I was a private in the military... we were assigned to overlook the security of the Vytal Fesitval together and..."

"James! Do you remember when we first met? The night we shared together?" Glynda asked.

Ironwood's eyes darted over to look at Glynda and said "I... yes. It was after I had been promoted to Lieutenant and Ozpin had became the Headmaster of Beacon and you had became a teacher... you were so... you're still so beautiful Glynda..." he said his body beginning to convulse and shake.

"Sir, what's going on?" Chamberlain asked as he signaled the troops to stand down.

Ozpin sighed, what was happening was the cure for certain types of mind control, more specifically one that could easily overcome the control of a person with cybernetic implants such as Ironwood but it depended on the bond of the controlled and the ones trying to free him, as well as the will of the one being controlled. Ozpin could tell by the tremors rocking Ironwood's body that he was fighting it. He looked to Qrow and nodded.

Qrow faced Ozpin and said "Jimmy, remember the first assignment we went on together? It was back before my Team had graduated and after you had been promoted to General, but way before you got to the place you are now. We were assigned to take out a horde of Grimm off the coast of an island that was smack dab in the middle of the oceans that separated Vale and Atlas. I'll be honest Jimbo, I thought you were a stuck-up prick who pretended he was better than everyone, but even I could tell you wanted to do some good. You came up with the plan to let us and the bulk of your forces take on the Grimm while you and some others rescued the civilians that were held up in the shelters. Once you got all the people out, with some help from Raven and Summer kicking ass you came right back into the fight. I was pinned down by some Beowolves and with my aura drained and no ammo it looked like I was screwed. Then you saved me. I... Summer had to thank you for that 'cause I was too full of myself to admit I was wrong about you. Thank you for saving me. I was wrong then Jimmy, so prove me wrong again, here and now." he beckoned.

Ironwood held his gun out as his body was still shaking madly.

"What's happening to the General?" asked a soldier.

"Side effects of fighting mind control. Come on James, you can do it, I know you can." Ozpin called.

"Fight it, James! Prove that you are better than them." Glynda encouraged.

"You can do it James." Qrow said before Ironwood fell to his knees, screaming in agony.

"What's happening?!" cried Velvet.

"The control must be a hell of a lot stronger than we thought!" Coco guessed as Ironwood began to lift the pistol up.

"I... am not... her tool! It was... AH!" Ironwood screamed as he fired his pistol at Ozpin, only for Argo to pull him out of the way.

Ironwood yelled out if fury as he screamed "NO!" He began to point the pistol at his head and cried out "Cy! It was him!"

He fired the pistol and it grazed it hit his implants, causing a burst of spark to fly out of his head as he fell to the ground.

"No!" Glynda, Qrow, and Ozpin all shouted as Ironwood fell to the ground.

"Oh god! Get the medics up here now! There's been an accident and we need to get him to a hospital now!" Argo cried into his intercom. Ruby and the others were all too shocked to move, the fact that Ironwood had shot himself so he wouldn't hurt them proved there was good in him.

Cy stood frozen in terror as everyone who was armed aimed their weapons at him while Glynda, Ozpin, and one of the soldiers with medical training quickly began to attend to the wounded Ironwood.

Qrow picked Cy up and slammed him into the wall.

"Why'd you do it? Huh? Why you son of a bitch?!" Qrow snarled as he transformed Reaper into scythe mode.

"Wait! We need him alive!" Chamberlain objected as Ashe and Yatsuhashi grabbed Qrow and held him back. They did need him alive, if he knew something about Cinder, or maybe even Salem, then they could use it to their advantage. Chamberlain looked Cy right in the eye and asked "Why did you do it Ulysses?"

"For my family... she approached me, I had no choice Jackson... I'm sorry." Cy said before he slammed his fist into Chamberlain's gut, threw him down, the blasted a window open.

"Stop him!" exclaimed Scarlet who fired his flintlock at Cy, who easily dodged and jumped out the window. He landed roughly on the ground and rolled to ease the fall. His knees were a little injured from the fall but that didn't matter. He had failed and he knew full well what the price of failure was. He looked over to the edge of the school grounds and ran for the sheer drop.

"I'll get him." Qrow said as he jumped out of the window as well.

Chamberlain got up as one of the soldiers spoke into the radio; "Colonel Cy is a traitor, repeat; Cy is a traitor. Ironwood was being controlled all along, Branwen was telling the truth. Get the shuttle up here, we need to get him to the ship's medbay now!" It made sense to do that, since the flagship had several doctors who were more than capable of saving Ironwood's life, as some of them had experience with cyborgs such as him.

Chamberlain nodded and said "Professor Goodwitch, throw me at him!"

Glynda looked at him as if he was made, but nodded. "I'm coming with you. Children, back away and give the General breathing room. Have the medics transfer him to the shuttle so it can take him to the ship." she ordered as she grabbed Chamberlain with her telekinesis and jumped out the window, going far as she took the military officer with her. She soared through the sky and began to come down close to where Cy was running, with Qrow not too far behind, so she did her best to aim right as she kicked downwards and scored a hit on the back of Cy's head as she rolled and landed safely on one knee while Chamberlain landed no so gracefully on his back.

Cy fell, the kick to the head caused a nose bleed as he tried to get up and make his way to the long drop over the edge, only for a Dust blast to hit the ground in front of him. He got up and looked back to see Qrow, Glynda, and Chamberlain all ready to fight him as more soldiers and Knights began to rush in from behind while the shuttle lifted off to reach Argo's office.

"What about your family? What do you mean you had no choice?" Chamberlain prodded as Qrow scoffed.

"All lies to make himself look a little better, face it bud; you're royally..."

"I know I am." Cy said as he backed up to the ledge. "But I am telling the truth when I say I had no choice. She same to me, her, the Mistress of Grimm herself! She wanted me to keep Ironwood under control for her, to escalate the political hostilities between the Four Kingdom. At first I refused but then she... she said she would have my wife and son killed if I didn't comply! I had to do it... for my family. I lied to everyone about Agent 501, I told her he was in Haven, I told her about Penny, I told her everything she wanted me to, no matter how much it disgusted me."

Qrow and Glynda looked at each other before she said "The Atlas Military can protect your family, all it takes is a simple call and they'll be placed under heavy guard."

"No Goodwitch, it's too late. She watches me, she has eyes and ears on everyone who serves her. My family... oh gods I've killed them!" he cried as tears began to fall from his eyes. He stepped closer and closer to the ledge, to the five hundred foot drop that led down to the city streets.

"No Ulysses! We can help you!" Chamberlain shouted.

Cy looked at his friend and said "No, protect my family if you can, Jackson. I wasn't good enough. I am a traitor to my Kingdom and a failure of a husband and father. I deserve this."

He jumped backwards and plummeted to his death. Glynda tried to catch him but his body weight made him drop too fast and he was out of reach before she could save him.

Chamberlain stood still and silent as he waited to hear the impact of his friend's body hitting the ground, but it never came. They were too high up to hear it.

Qrow placed a hand on Chamberlain's shoulder and said "I'm sorry. Maybe he was an okay guy, the fact that he didn't want to... crap."

He walked away, no good at comforting someone he barely knew.

Glynda spoke up; "Colonel Chamberlain, I suggest you prepare to inform the councils of the truth, as well as getting some protection on Cy's family in Atlas. It will not be easy, but right now dealing with this is the best way to avenge him."

Chamberlain looked at her and said "Right... right. I better get... get to work. Just give me a moment to recover." He sat down on the ground and buried his face in his hands as the shuttle departed from the building and flew to the massive airship while the soldiers began heading below to recover Cy's body.

Qrow looked up to the sky and grimaced, he knew that somewhere Salem may have been set back by everything that had happened to her minions and operations, but she was laughing.

To Be Continued...

Sorry this chapter is a little weak, I think it took long to write because I've pretty much accomplished the main thing I set out to do with this story (bring Pyrrha back) so my motivation might have been a little lacking but I'm determined to keep this story going and to make it as good as it can be, even if it has a few weak chapters. Plus I think I'm just eager to go ahead and get to the bigger parts of the story, which I am much better at writing than the small parts.

Please tell me what you thought about the scene with Jaune and Pyrrha waking up, I wanted that to be as good as I could make it and honestly I feel as though it's the only good part of this chapter.

I think I named the village where Mila lived something different in an earlier chapter but I can't remember it nor can I find it.

So I bet everyone saw the reveal of the traitor being Cy coming from a mile away? Originally I planned him to be just another evil minion of Salem's but I wanted to add more depth to him so I had Salem strong-arm him into being her spy.

Next time: Jude's move is made, we catch up with Winter, Neo backstory time, and we'll be checking up on the others who took part in the battle.

If you read this on fanfiction . net review, fave, and follow but if you're reading this on An Archive of Our Own leave a kudos and a comment. Thanks for all your feedback, it keeps me and this story going.