Atlas soldiers are scouring the wreckage of Cinder’s break-in to retrieve Watts. A soldier lifts up some debris revealing a crow, which flies into the air before transforming into Qrow, who tackles the soldier to the ground.
Another soldier lifts up some debris, revealing Robyn. She lifts her head up as the soldier points his gun at her, "Hands up! We're moving you to another-"
As he says this, Qrow chokes out a nearby soldier before bringing up his fist to punch the soldier holding Robyn at gunpoint. He grabs the soldier by his collar, "Where is (Y/n)?"
"The Lieutenant? She's... She's to be detained." Qrow punches the soldier unconscious. "Just wait for me, (Y/n)."
Ironwood overlooks the City of Atlas from his office. Manta airships fly by. An Atlas Commander clears their throat, "Sir, we have confirmation that Doctor Watts has escaped military headquarters with the assistance of Cinder Fall. We do have Jacques Schnee in custody-"
"I don't give a damn about Jacques Schnee. What about the other two?"
The pair of Atlas officers stand at attention with nervous looks on their faces. Sweat drips down the side of the commander's face as she addresses the remaining prisoners statuses, "Sir, Branwen and Hill have... evaded capture."
"But we are monitoring every exit, so they must still be inside the compound."
Ironwood angrily slams his left fist on his desk, "Damn it! If (Y/n) finds out..." He huffs angrily before composing himself, "Search everywhere for them. Do not return to this office until you have Qrow Branwen in custody. The Lieutenant will not know about this." Little did he know you were already outside the room, a crooked smile was on your face, "That tin-man lied to me." You composed yourself and pretend you didn't hear anything, "I'll make you pay for what you did, James Ironwood." You stare at Qrow's ring, 'He must have took it from him.'
"Of course, sir." The pair of officers salute before leaving. Ironwood turns around to look outside the large window again.
Not a second later you enter the room, there was something off about you, Ironwood could feel an overwhelming aura around you, "What did you do?"
You walk towards the window over looking Atlas, "I manage to contact someone."
Ironwood clinches his fist, "Who did you contact?"
"My creator. He seemed pleased to hear from me, at this rate he will came to take me back." You place your hand on the window watching the Monstra. "Not that it matters to you but I do believe in gods. That's because I served them a long time ago."
"Your Gods-" Suddenly, a series of bright flashes occur outside his window, before a massive explosion is engulfing Monstra. The explosion shines so bright as the light floods Ironwood’s office. The light manage to remove the black markings on your arms. It wasn't a painful process but you felt the light warm. You knew it was Ozpin's power.
Down on the battlefield, Winter leads the charge as the Ace Ops carry the bomb that was to blow up Monstra, before they are knocked back from the explosion.
At the Schnee Manor, Weiss enters her room carrying a plate of bread, soup and a drink, but she drops it in shock upon seeing the bright explosion occurring outside her window. Nora and Klein also watch the explosion from the bedside. The explosion further reaches into the City of Atlas, knocking back and obliterating some Lancers. The entire scene is engulfed in a bright light.
In the explosion’s aftermath, Monstra is starting to dissipate. The morning sun shines through the particles of the slain Grimm. Through the dust, Neopolitan can be seen happily skipping away from the Grimm with the Relic of Knowledge in her possession.
Elsewhere, Winter gets up to witness the quiet battlefield, "Is everyone all right?"
"No injuries here."
"What?!"
"They... They were still inside."
Ironwood talks over the comms, "Target destroyed. Good work. But no time to celebrate. Return to the Academy at once. We've got a new problem."
"But... that wasn't us."
"Then we can tell him in person. Load it back up, we're leaving."
On the roof of a skyscraper in Atlas, Cinder and Watts stare at the disintegrating carcass of Monstra, "Did... Did anyone respond?"
Cinder glances at her Scroll, "No."
"Well, she'll come back. In the interim we need a plan."
"Plan? The plan hasn't changed." Cinder walks a short distance away, "I'm going to rip the Maiden power out of Penny Polendina, because you're going to bring her to me."
"I beg your pardon?" Watts looks at her with disbelief.
"You said in your message that you have control over Penny."
"I said I had Penny under control, not that I could telekinetically force her to do whatever I want."
Cinder turns around, looking irritated, "What?"
"I implanted a virus in her, you dimwit. She's on a set path now. At least, she should be. As much as I hate to admit it, there seems to be some part of her capable of resisting." Watts turns away, "Regardless, it's only the matter of time before her mechanical body succumbs to the virus. She'll open the Vault, then she'll destroy herself and our little Penny problem will be do-"
Cinder's Shadow Hand lashes forward, grabs Watts by the collar and pulls him toward her, "What do you mean, she'll destroy herself? How am I supposed to take her power if she's dead?!"
"You know, it's impressive that you haven't realized this yet, but I don't work for you!"
Cinder extends her arm again, hanging Watts off the edge of the roof, "Please. You can't just threaten me like everyone else."
"You think you're so clever, don't you, Arthur?" She begins walking toward him.
"Salem sent you to bring me back-"
"Salem isn't here right now, but I think we can still come up with a plan while she's pulling herself together. First, I'm going to watch you plummet to an unremarkable end. And then I'm going to burn a path directly to the Vault where I will wait to tear that magical puppet to pieces." Cinder extends her Shadow Hand further, dangling Watts in the air high above the streets of Atlas, "And take... what is mine."
Cinder conjures a flame in her free hand, smiling confidently, but her smile quickly fades as Watts starts laughing, "Oh, of course you are! Because that's just what you do, isn't it?"
Watts willingly lets go of Cinder's Shadow Hand, as if he is allowing Cinder to drop him, "And how has that worked out for you? You stormed into Fria's room, thinking you can take on Ironwood's top fighter and war machine. But you couldn't. And that machine became the Winter Maiden. Oh, and let's not forget your deal with Raven Branwen."
Watts began raising his voice, "Most embarrassing of them all was your battle with Saint, Salem told you to stay in your lane. She told you not to interfere with the Saint! Surprisingly Saint was merciful to let you live! Get all your enemies in one place so you'd have a shot at revenge. If only someone could have warned you against such a miserable idea. Oh wait, I did! But you pushed ahead and you lost it, when all you had to do was your job!" Cinder began to have flash backs of her battles beginning with Winter and Penny, following her defeat with Raven, lastly a shiver goes down her spine remembering the night at the Beacon Tower. She remembered the fear she felt when you held her, it was over powering. A power she wanted. Cinder's expression becomes increasingly angry; her Maiden powers form a vortex of orange energy around her.
"You think you're entitled to everything just because you've suffered, but suffering isn't enough! You can't just be strong, you have to be smart! You can't just be deserving, you have to be worthy! But all you have ever been, is a bloody migrane!"
Cinder screams in rage, but instead of dropping Watts, she drags him back, releases him and walks away, breathing heavily. She sits on the edge of the roof, a tear in her eye. Behind her, Watts exhales heavily.
Yang, Ren, Jaune, Oscar and Emerald are left at what remains of Monstra. As the large Grimm decays into the sky above, Yang gets a video call on her scroll and answers it to see it was Blake, who is biting her finger nail in concern. She brightens up when she sees Yang answers the call, "Blake?"
"Yang! Are you okay? Where are you?"
"Yeah, we're fine. Is everyone there all right?"
"We're... alive. This'll help though. Guys! They're okay."
Oscar gets up and Ren tries to help him. They look over at Emerald on her knees not too far away, all alone, "What do we do about her?"
"Hazel?" Emerald looks down at her empty palms as black flakes from the dead Grimm fall around her.
"I'm sending you a map. You're in the agricultural area. Just head to this access point to reach the red line subway tunnel then follow the route I've drawn for you."
"Got it. We'll see you soon." Blake waves and the call ends.
Jaune, Ren, Yang, and Oscar are walking through the dark subway tunnel. Emerald is walking ahead of them with her hands up in the air. Yang has her gauntlet trained on Emerald with one hand, and is holding Emerald's guns in the other. Meanwhile, Ren and Jaune are using their Scrolls as flashlights, "You can't be serious. You want us to work with her?"
"I'm just saying it makes the most sense. We're all enemies of Salem, including her."
"No, I'm with blondie. You don't like me, I don't like you. So how about we just part ways and you never have to see me again."
"You're not going anywhere. Not after everything you've done."
"We can't let all of our actions stem from fear. If she could help us, I think we should consider it." Ren looks towards Emerald and he sees purple petals flicker around her with his semblance.
"She is part of the reason I have this." Yang holds up her arm, "I'm not going to just forgive her. Everything that happened at Beacon... She lied to us, tricked us. She is dangerous."
"You don't have to forgive her. You have every reason to feel that way. Just maybe give her a second chance. We've already gotten quite a bit of help today from someone we don't exactly trust right now."
"Do you mean Ozpin?" Oscar becomes surprised and looks back at Ren, "I had a feeling."
The group stops walking. Yang, Ren, and Jaune circle around Oscar, "Wait, what? Oz is back?"
"I know how you feel but he saved my life. When we were tortured, he took it. So I wouldn't have to. He entrusted me with this, and the massive amount of power he had stored up in it."
Oscar holds out The Long Memory, "Kinetic energy that he spent lifetime after lifetime accumulating in the cane he built."
"So that's how you did that? Using all of the stored up power."
"Not all, but most. We have to be careful with how we use the rest. He trusted my judgment and it saved us. I want to reciprocate that trust. There's a lot to sort out, but... Oz really wants to help."
He retracts the cane and places it on his back, "Thank you, Oscar."
The group hears the echo of a baby crying, and decide to run towards the noise. They come across a large group of Atlas citizens taking refuge in the subway. The lights are occasionally flickering as vibrations are felt from the grimm attacks overhead, "All of Atlas is down here."
"I've seen what you can do, Emerald. However this fight ends, we could really use someone like you." Oscar speaks out.
Back in Ironwood's office, the general interacts with holographic interfaces above his table as the Ace-Ops make their entry. He looks towards and smiles at all of them, "It's about time. While we dealt a decisive blow to Salem today-"
"Actually that wasn't our payload, sir. I brought it back with us."
Ironwood gets a surprised expression on his face, "Then who could have...?" He brushes his hand against his chin, "But you still have it. This may be useful. Penny still hasn't come to the Vault, meaning Watts was either incompetent or he betrayed us. At this point, we'll never know. Cinder Fall has attacked command and escaped with him. And that's not all we've lost."
"Sir?"
"Qrow and Robyn have also escaped."
Harriet gets an angry expression on her face as her eyes begin to glow gold and emits electricity. She turns to begin searching for the escapees, but Ironwood stops her with a motion, "Salem's creature was destroyed, but that doesn't mean we've stopped her. She will return, and she will throw everything she has at us until there is nothing left. And we are perilously close to that already. I need the Winter Maiden, now. It's the only way Atlas can survive. Schnee, bring me Arc, Ren, and Xiao Long."
Winter nervously asks, "What for, sir?"
"I had Qrow in my hands, and I didn't do what needed to be done. I will not make that mistake again. I know. I'm ashamed I didn't think of it earlier. Leveraging the lives of her friends is the only way to make Penny listen to reason. Along with (Y/n), she will do whatever it takes to keep those she cares about safe."
"Sir. I'm sorry, but we don't have them. Operative Schnee let them go."
Ironwood looks at Winter in disbelief, "You what?"
Winter looks down at the floor with guilt as Harriet explains, "Winter allowed them to go onboard the creature to rescue their friend, and they never came back."
Ironwood lets his hand off Winter's shoulder and walks back to his table, "They were our last chance... Now... Now I have NOTHING!!" Ironwood smashes the table. The holographs flicker, then fade.
An Atlas Officer speaks over comms, "Sir! We are detecting non-military ships on radar, dozens of them!"
"Ships? Whose ships?"
"They appear to be Schnee Dust Company freighters, sir. They're heading straight for Mantle."
On one of Ironwood's holographic interfaces on his desk, he sees the freighters leaving Atlas and heading down to Mantle, "Weiss... I see. They're trying to save Mantle. This has always been about Mantle, hasn't it? I need to make a call."
Elsewhere, Watts is adjusting his necktie and walking towards Cinder. She pulls out her Scroll, 'Your boss won't stay dead. But you will without this.'
Neo posts a picture of herself holding the Lamp. Cinder angrily growls, "Who is it? Did someone survive?"
'If you want her name, you know what you owe me.'
Ruby opens the door of Schnee Manor, Weiss and Blake at her side. Yang, Jaune, and Ren are seen standing. Ruby jumps into Yang's arms as they happily hug each other. Ruby began crying tears of joy as she looks at her sister, who smiled back at her, "I missed you too."
Yang hugs Weiss as Ruby goes to greet Jaune and Ren. Yang then spots Blake, standing with her cat ears lowered. Yang holds the side of Blake's face, blushing, before the two touch foreheads, "Where's Nora?"
Weiss walks towards Ren as Ruby watches her doing so. Ruby turns to Oscar, "Oscar, you-"
Ruby goes to hug Oscar, stopping when she notices Emerald with him. As Ruby reaches for her weapon, Emerald reaches for her own guns holstered behind her. Oscar stands between the two, "No, she's okay. I can-"
Ruby hears a notification from her scroll. May is calling from Mantle, "Kids, the cargo ships you sent just made it but they're not alone."
"May? What are you talking about?"
"Oh my gods, run! Everyone, into the mines!"
"Were those...?" Everyone hears alarm blaring. Yang and Blake cover their ears when hearing them. Everyone takes out their scroll.
'This is an emergency CCT broadcast.' All CCT's and Scrolls across Atlas show the SDC freighters being shot down by Atlesian Mantas, "What's going on?"
"Those ships, they were going to save people! Why would-"
The broadcast changes to show Ironwood standing in the center of a dark room, under a spotlight, "I have always promised to defend this Kingdom. Its technology, its future, from those who would see it destroyed. Our enemy is crippled, but one individual still denies Atlas its salvation. The Protector of Mantle."
As Ironwood continues, Ruby, Blake and Yang became displeased as everyone watches, "Penny, wherever you and your friends are, I need you all to listen. I know how much Mantle means to you, so I'm going to give you a choice. You can bring yourself to Atlas Academy and do your duty, help me save as much of Atlas as I can, and Mantle will be left to fend for itself. Or... you can all watch as I destroy it."
Weiss gasps in shock at Ironwood's request.
"I have one bomb. That's all it will take."
Elsewhere in Atlas, Watts and Cinder watch Ironwood's demand before they look at each other.
"If there is no Mantle then there is no reason for you not to work with me. Neither of us want it to come to that, but one of us is willing to do it. If anyone tries anything other than what I've ordered, Mantle... is gone. You have one hour to respond."
In Weiss's bedroom, Nora, now recovered but worried, watches Ironwood's demands to Penny before she looks at Penny who is still unconscious.
"I hope you live up to the title I gave you."
End of Vol. 8 Chapter 10
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