The Coming Storm

"Do you have my information?" Cinder asked, meeting with Lil' Miss Malachite at her tavern.

"Of course I do, darling. Lil' Miss always delivers. Although, I can't promise you'll be pleased." Lil' Miss said, while Cinder glares at her. "Word is they were seen boarding the Argus Limited a few weeks back. While that isn't exactly far from here, Argus is rarely a destination for folks. Chances are they'll be going straight to…"

"Atlas." Cinder said, walking away while Lil' Miss smiles at her intuitiveness.

"You know, you turned out to be quite the interesting customer...Cinder."

Cinder stops in her tracks upon hearing her name. She turns around to face Lil' Miss again.

"It's not often a single client brings me double the business." Lil' Miss said, tapping her cigarette holder into an ashtray.

A creak is heard from the walkway above, Cinder looks up to see who it is.

"Wait…" Cinder said.

A pair of high-heeled boots are shown, and Hush is shown to be lowered before its owner places it behind her head. A certain multi-colored girl of pink, brown and white stares down at Cinder from her position...

"Neo?" Cinder asked.

"Maybe put away the good glasses." Lil' Miss said, looking at her henchman.

Neo jumps down and lands a strike on Cinder, only for her form to suddenly shatter. Neo then reappears from another direction and knocks Cinder back.

"What are you doing?!" Cinder exclaimed.

Neo proceeds forward and continues to land blows that push Cinder back to Lil' Miss' table. Lil' Miss stops the ashtray from falling off the shaking table and holds her hand, as if to tell her two bodyguards not to intervene. Cinder pushes off of Lil' Miss' table and begins to fight back, using hand-to-hand to counter Neo's strikes. She then kicks Neo up and the two fight on the bar counter. Neo knocks some bowls into Cinder before the latter throws the umbrella wielder off the counter. Neo lands gracefully back on the ground. The two continue trading blows until Cinder is launched towards the ceiling, she pushes off of it and Neo barely dodges the flaming fist that shatters the table below her. Cinder jumps up to the balcony railing and looks down on Neo.

"That's enough, ladies!" Lil' Miss said, while the bodyguards draw their weapons at the two combatants. "I love dinner and a show, but it's time to take it outside."

Taking the gangster's advice, Cinder is pushed through the window onto the empty street with Neo following her.

Outside the tavern…

Cinder lands back on her feet while Neo's form shatters again.

"Hmph, nice trick." Cinder said, standing straight up to look around for Neo. "You've gotten stronger...so have I."

Cinder conjures a fireball that she launches behind her. Neo blocks the blast with her umbrella. Her clothes are slightly torn and tattered and she wears the hat that once belonged to Roman Torchwick. She steps forward and angrily glares at Cinder.

"I don't have time for your misplaced blame, girl. I didn't kill your boss. If you want revenge, take it up with 'Little Red'." Cinder said, annoyed.

Neo charges forward.

Cinder conjures swords and uses them to block Neo's attacks, "You're not the only one with a grudge against Ruby!"

One of Neo's attacks hits Cinder in the face, causing her to activate her Maiden powers, blowing Neo back a few feet.

"Listen! We both want that girl dead." Cinder said, using her Maiden powers to float into the air, causing Neo to look on in fear. "So quit wasting your time fighting me and let's discuss how we kill her together." Neo stands down. "Okay then...let's talk."

Cinder floats back down to the ground while Neo points at her mouth with an annoyed look on her face.

"Right…" Cinder said, shrugging her shoulders.

Brunswick Farms…

There's a snowstorm and it's making visibility nigh difficult. A wind howling is heard.

"I don't get it. The empty towns I've passed through with Jared were all damaged or unfinished. But this place looks...fine." Ruby said, sighing.

"Yeah, too fine." Jared said, looking around the place. "Earth when it was invaded by the Daleks in the spring of 2009. It was in better shape than this."

Team RWBY, Jared, Qrow, Oscar, and Maria arrive at the porch of a residence.

Weiss is shivering as she wraps her arms around her to keep herself warm, "Maybe everyone left in a hurry. Before things took a turn?"

Qrow tries to open the door, only to notice it was locked.

"Hmm. Stay on guard." Qrow said, kicking the door open, everyone proceeds forward with their weapons drawn.

They cautiously look around the place.

"Close the door already! It's cold enough in here as it is." Maria said, walking into the house.

"I don't do well in cold weather." Jared said, shivering a bit. "Who knew a hoodie and jeans wouldn't work here? I wish I had my three in one coat right about now."

Afterwards, Blake and Oscar push a nearby drawer to block the door.

"I saw a chimney from the outside. Maybe we could get a fire going?" Blake asked.

"Please. I'll look for some blankets." Weiss said.

"Yang, go with her." Qrow said.

Ruby lingers by the entrance hall for the bit while the others look around.

Oscar can be heard opening a door, "Looks like a study. Or, a library?"

Ruby walks forward to notice a group of pictures on the wall of the family that owns Brunswick Farms. Blake and Jared walk up next to Yang.

"What do you think?" Blake asked.

"I don't know." Jared said, taking out his phone. "This place creeps me out. I thought I saw strange things in Pokémon. But this…"

"Something doesn't feel right." Ruby said.

"Yeah. But what is the feeling?"

"Let's look for some…" Blake said.

Suddenly, a high-pitched scream is heard.

"Weiss!" Ruby said.

Ruby, Blake, and Jared head up the stairs and run into the room Yang and Weiss were in. Qrow also arrives.

"Corpses!" Jared said, grabbing Ruby's hand. "You're kidding me, right?"

They look on the bed to see a pair of decomposing corpses.

"I think we should, um, go…" Ruby said, walking away with Jared.

A fire is burning in the fireplace. Weiss watches it, still shaken from what she saw earlier.

"Christmas? Remember that adventure with the Gelth? I tried to block that out of my mind." Weiss said, looking at Jared. "Ghosts possessing dead corpses."

"I know, I know." Jared said, wrapping a blanket around Weiss. "They, they look dead here like they did there. If not worse."

Blake is sitting on the couch Yang is on. The group hears the door open and close, and Qrow walks back in brushing snow off himself.

"It's the same in every house." Qrow said.

"What?" Yang asked.

"Bodies. Every bed in every home. It's like the whole estate just went to sleep and never woke up."

"Then we're not staying here, right?" Weiss asked.

"I, um, I don't want to stay here." Jared said, lying down on Weiss' lap. "This, this is why I hate horror games."

"Same."

"We don't have a choice. Storm outside's only getting worse. We'd freeze to death before we made it anywhere." Qrow said, walking over to the fireplace to warm up.

"Well, might as well get comfortable." Maria said, walking over to a bookshelf.

"Yeah, fat chance." Yang said, scoffing.

"Okay, then, let's do something. If this place wasn't abandoned it might still have supplies we could use." Ruby said, happily.

"Hey, yeah. Maybe even a car." Oscar said.

"I'll do another sweep of the grounds. No one else goes anywhere alone." Qrow said.

"Yang, Jared, and I can search the other buildings for vehicles." Blake said.

"Fine, whatever gets me out of this house." Yang said, annoyed.

"Whatever. It's not like I'm gonna deal with another horror themed adventure later on." Jared said, sarcastically.

Yang, Blake, and Jared leave, with Ruby moving the drawer to let them exit. Afterwards, Ruby looks over to see Weiss at the doorway to the living room with a melancholic look on her face.

"Food always makes me and Jared feel better." Ruby said, chuckling nervously. "Just saying."

"Right…" Weiss said.

Ruby and Weiss leave the room, leaving Oscar and Maria alone together.

"I'll tell you what. You keep that fire fed…" Maria said, finding a book with an 'I' on the cover. "...and I'll find us a story to read before bed."

Maria sits back down on the couch and begins reading while Oscar sighs.

Outside, Blake, Yang and Jared walk through the snowstorm toward a nearby shed.

Shed...

They find rows of shelves full of supplies on it and a tractor.

"A tractor? You have got to be kidding me." Jared said, crossing his arms. "That's not fast at all."

"It isn't." Blake said, looking at the tractor. "Something tells me that's not street legal."

The three of them continue walking through the shed.

"What do you think happened here?" Yang asked.

"There's that well in the square. Maybe water contamination?" Blake asked.

"Yeah, maybe." Yang said.

"Anything is possible." Jared said, sadly. "We've seen all sorts of things together."

Yang and Jared stop and the two of them put their hands on their foreheads.

"Hey, are the two of you okay?" Blake asked, looking between Yang and Jared.

"Yeah...I mean, no. But, I don't know. I'm just tired." Yang said, frowning.

"It's okay. I'm fine, everything's fine. It's going to be okay. There's no need to worry." Jared said, grabbing Blake's hand. "Besides Space 1969. And the Siren, I'm tired too."

"Yeah. You two have been overworking yourselves." Blake said.

Yang continues walking forward with Jared.

"Hey, I found something." Yang said, happily.

Yang and Jared see a flatbed trailer next to a window. Through the window, Yang and Jared sees a figure of Adam Taurus unsheathing his sword. Jared also sees a hatch where the woman in the eyepatch is there.

"He has been dreaming for a while." The Eye Patch Lady said, through the hatch. "And that's good."

The hatch closes and Jared blinked. Yang and Jared gasps and reels back. Blake runs up to them.

"What is it?" Blake asked, looking between Jared and Yang.

"I…" Yang said.

Yang and Jared look back outside and see a tree and there's no hatch in the places where Adam and the Eye Patch Lady stood.

"I was just seeing things. I'm sorry. I still get flashes from that night." Yang said, sighing.

"Same." Jared said.

Blake sees Yang's flesh hand and Jared's hands shaking uncontrollably before they compose themselves.

"I lost a lot of things." Jared said, leaning against the wall. "I don't want to lose more. I had to use the memories, sad and bad ones, to make. To, um, make sure bad guys didn't get access to the TARDIS. I think about Adam and Cinder. Those two won at the Fall of Beacon. And losing Penny, Pyrrha, and Donna. Every night."

"Do you think Adam's still out there?" Yang asked, looking at Blake.

"I don't know. If he went back to the White Fang there would have been serious consequences. But, he never really liked people telling him what to do. Adam's strong, but his real power comes from control. He used to get in my head, make me feel small. But now I see he just wanted to pull me down to his size." Blake said.

The three of them look at Yang's prosthetic hand.

"Hey, I'm not leaving. And if we ever see him again, I promise I'll be there." Blake said, grasping Yang and Jared's hands.

The three share a smile.

"And I'll protect both of you." Blake said.

At this, Yang and Jared's eyes widen and their expressions turn into frowns.

"What?" Yang asked.

"What was that?" Jared asked. "What did you say?"

"What?" Blake asked, oblivious.

Awkward silence.

Jared pulled his hand away from Blake's, "Nothing."

"Forget it. Let's just head back." Yang said, also pulling her hand away from Blake's.

"But what about…" Blake said.

"We're fine. We can hook that flatbed up to Bumblebee in the morning. Should carry everyone. Mission accomplished." Yang said.

"Yup. At least we don't have to walk anymore." Jared said, smiling. "That's all that matters. Less complaining too."

Yang and Jared walk away while Blake looks down sadly.

Brunswick farm...

Back inside, Ruby uses her scroll's flashlight to look around. She finds alcoholic bottles on the shelves.

Weiss uses Myrtenaster to send small flames to light up the candles in the room, "There."

The two look around the room. Shelves are full of alcoholic bottles and a bar is seen as well.

"On second thought, maybe we should keep this room closed." Ruby said, sadly.

"Huh?" Weiss asked.

"I'm just...not sure how well my uncle's taking all of this."

"Oh."

Beat.

"Come on, we'll never get to Atlas on an empty stomach!" Ruby said, walking forward, though Weiss lingers and sadly looks down.

Ruby then opens up another door.

"Ruby? Are we really still going to Atlas?" Weiss asked.

"Why wouldn't we be?" Ruby asked.

"I mean...you heard what Jinn said. If there's no way to kill Salem, then what's the point in all of this?"

"Weiss, you can't be serious."

"Sorry, I...I don't know what I'm saying, I'm just really tired and I really, really hate this place." Weiss said, sighing before walking up to enter the room with Ruby. "Anything in there?"

Ruby turns around and uses her flashlight to look around. She sees more alcoholic bottles arranged on a shelf on the right side of the room.

"More alcohol...at least we'll never have problems starting a fire." Ruby said, annoyed.

"What's that?" Weiss asked.

The two notice a large, metal cellar door in the ground. Its handles are chained together.

"A wine cellar? Great." Weiss said, when Ruby then looks up to her left and lets out a yelp before zooming over. "What? What is it?"

"Food!" Ruby said, holding out a can that says 'THREE BROS. BEANS: SHRIMP FLAVORED, EXTRA SODIUM'.

"Canned food?" Weiss asked, incredulous.

"Oh trust me, you put enough salt on anything, and it will taste juuust fine."

"Well, I guess it's better than nothing."

The two share a smile. Weiss walks over and helps Ruby grab a few cans of food.

"But I still seriously hate this place…" Weiss said.

The two then walk out of the room. Unbeknownst to them, the metal cellar door opens slightly, before shutting again with a startling bang...