Dead End

Atlesian Military base...

Team RWBY, Qrow Branwen, Oscar Pine and Maria Calavera are standing outside of the gates to the Atlesian Military base on the island off the coast of Argus.

Yang Xiao Long puts her hands on the bars of the gate to speak to the guards, "Come on! You didn't even hear us out!"

"Our orders are clear: The Mistral-Atlas border is closed!" Nubuck Guard 1 said.

"Please!" Nubuck Guard 2 said.

"Have a good day!"

"But…" Yang said.

"A good day!" Both Nubian guards said.

"This is like the United States and Canada all over again." Jared said, rolling his eyes. "I bet back home it's even worse. Due to there being a global pandemic. Still surprised to hear that."

"What if history repeats itself for you?" Weiss asked.

"That's the last thing I would want. I hate being proven right. Hence why I ran away from it. To be here with you guys."

"Hey, if you don't wanna believe that I'm friends with Ironwood…" Qrow said, annoyed.

"General Ironwood!" Both Nubuck guards said, angrily.

"Yeah, General Ironwood, then fine. But look, we have Weiss Schnee with us and we're trying to get her home safely."

Weiss looks down with reluctance upon hearing Qrow say that. The two guards look to each other before turning their attention back to the group.

"Approach!" Both Nubuck guards said.

Weiss shares a look with Blake Belladonna, who just shrugs.

"Go." Jared said, sadly. "It's okay. We've got your back, Ice Queen."

Weiss then walks up to the gate and the two guards step up and bend down to inspect her. After a moment, both guards stand straight back up.

"Very well!" Both Nubuck guards said.

"You may speak with our commanding officer!" Guard 2 said.

"We will fetch her at once!" Guard 1 said.

The two guards turn around in sync, and chant 'Hup hup hup' and 'Atlas Atlas Atlas' as they run to get their superior.

"They were...kind of…" Blake said, frowning.

"Super weird? Uh, yeah." Ruby said.

"And I know weird when I see it." Jared said, crossing his arms. "Torchwood and Symphogear, they're more undercover. More organized. That, it felt like a stage play."

"Hmm…" Maria said.

"What's wrong?" Oscar asked.

"Well, I...may know this commanding officer…"

"That's good, isn't it? If she's your friend, then maybe she'd be more willing to help us." Ruby said, happily.

"I wouldn't exactly call us...'friends'." Maria said.

"Acquaintances?" Weiss asked.

"Not quite."

"Colleagues?" Blake asked.

"Warmer.�� Maria said.

"Enemies?" Yang asked.

"That's the one!"

"Great. So it's like me and Davros." Jared said, scoffing. "I don't like him at all. Of course we'll be meeting the Grimm Reaper's arch enemy. Like why?"

"Wait, what?" Oscar asked.

"Oh, yes. I come through here about once every ten years to get my eyes checked up in Atlas. You bring outside cashews on one flight, and suddenly you're placed on the additional screening list for life!" Maria said, angrily.

"You've gotta be kidding me…" Qrow said.

"Now, now, let's not give up hope yet." Maria said, striking a pose. "Maybe she's dead!"

Suddenly, the gates open up quickly, and the two guards return.

"Introducing!" Guard 1 said.

"Special operative!" Guard 2 said.

"Caroline Cordovin!" Both Nubuck guards said.

A short-statured elderly woman around Maria's age wearing the standard Atlesian officer uniform is walking towards us.

Cordovin steps forward and glares at Maria, "Witch."

"She-devil." Maria said.

"Hm. I've seen you've chosen larger contraband to smuggle this time." Cordovin said.

"Oh, Cordo. You know they say time changes people, but I see you've still got that stick right up your…"

"H-hello! Miss, uh, Cordovin. My name is Ruby Rose, and I was wondering if you would hear us out about…" Ruby said, interrupting the argument.

"I've already heard what your other little friends had to say, Miss Rose." Cordovin said, looking behind Ruby, noticing Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, and Lie Ren standing a little ways away behind the group. "What are you doing back here?! I thought I told you to leave!"

"And I told you we wouldn't rest until you let us through!" Nora said, trying to charge forward, only to be held back by Ren and Jaune.

"Nice to see you again as well!" Ren said, nervously smiling and waving.

"You civilians are clearly incapable of comprehending the importance of our mission here in Argus. So allow me to say this slowly, with smaller words: This base, that relay tower, the very safety of Argus are all gifts from the glorious Kingdom of Atlas!" Cordovin said, and the two guards took out a backdrop showing the Atlesian flag to wave behind her. "And it is my duty to uphold them, as only I have the wit and tenacity for such a task."

"Such wit!" Guard Nubuck 1 said.

"Such tenacity!" Guard Nubuck 2 said.

The guards folded the giant flag quickly.

"Or maybe Atlas just wanted to get you as far from the kingdom as possible." Maria said.

"You're just like the rest of these Argus ingrates! This city wouldn't even be here if it weren't for our Atlesian ancestors, and what do we get in return? The entire world is ready to put a knife to our throats!" Cordovin yelled.

"Please, we know your kingdom had nothing to do with the Fall of Beacon. We were there." Ruby said, sadly.

"No one's happy about the Atlas borders or embargo, but I know General Ironwood is just worried. It's why we need to talk to…" Weiss said.

"The General is no coward! Atlas is strong. If all the kingdoms plan to make us their enemy, then so be it! Atlas will prevail!" Cordovin said.

"Atlas will prevail!" Both Nubuck guards said.

"Do you guys seriously have to do that?" Yang asked, unimpressed.

"Now I know why I'm not as patriotic for the US nowadays." Jared said, scoffing. "It's just...wow."

"If Miss Schnee has truly come to her senses and wishes to return to her family, then, of course, the Atlas military will escort her home." Cordovin said, sighing. "But the kingdom will not be responsible for her 'friends' of...questionable character."

Cordovin glances at Blake specifically upon saying her last statement.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Weiss asked, in a hostile tone.

"It means we're done here." Cordovin said.

The gates to the base are shown closing quickly, leaving the group outside once again.

"Oh yeah? Well, your face looks...like a big dumb boot!" Nora said, angrily.

"Way to show her, Nora…" Jaune said, deadpanned.

Ruby, Blake, Yang, and Jared look to Weiss.

"I don't…" Weiss said.

"Weiss. I told you we wouldn't leave your side for a second. We'll find a way to Atlas. Together." Ruby said, placing a hand on Weiss' shoulder.

"I'm not leaving Team RWBY and JNR ever again." Jared said, as he placed a hand on Weiss' other shoulder. "I left a year ago. Never gonna do that again. Losing you is the last thing I would want."

Weiss smiles and nods back at her friends. Qrow starts to walk away.

"So...where are we going now?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah, what's the plan?" Nora asked.

"The plan? The plan just got shut on our face three times over. I'm going for a drink." Qrow said, bitterly.

"Uncle Qrow, I really think we should try and come up with something…" Ruby said, running over to her uncle but he walked away before she could finish. "...together."

"What's his problem? It's not your fault we can't go on." Jaune said.

"If he's gonna be a jerk then we'll just come up with something without him. I mean, we've got Ozpin with us! He usually knows what to do." Nora said.

Upon hearing this, Oscar looks down sadly, and Weiss, Blake, Yang, and Jared exchange troubled looks.

"What is it?" Ren asked, noticing this.

Saphron's home…

Jaune punches the wall, leaving a very large crack in it.

"Jaune!" Ruby said.

"Don't worry!" Jared said, walking up to Jaune. "We can think of something!"

"No, we can't! Everything we did was for nothing!" Jaune said.

"That's not true." Blake said.

"Really? Cuz it sure does sound like it." Nora said, angrily.

"I, um…"

"If Salem can't be killed, then how are we supposed to win this?" Ren asked.

Everyone remains silent.

"Wow...great plan everyone!" Jaune said, sarcastically.

"Look, none of this is great, we know. But we're not the bad guys here." Oscar said.

"Are we sure about that?" Jaune asked, hostile.

"What?"

"He's in your head, isn't he? Did you already know about this?" Jaune asked, angrily walking over to Oscar.

"He didn't know any of it!" Weiss said.

"He really didn't." Jared said.

"How much longer can we even trust him?!" Jaune exclaimed, grabbing Oscar and shoves him against the wall.

"Jaune!" Yang said.

"How do we even know it's really him?! What if we have been talking to that liar this whole time?!"

"Jaune!" Ruby said, angrily glaring at Jaune, who glares back at her.

"And Jared, why didn't you tell us you were a Ganger?" Jaune asked, looking over at Jared. "What if you���re wearing a wire?"

"I don't know how to break the connection." Jared said, sadly. "Sorry. My physical self is somewhere. I'm only a Flesh duplicate."

"Great. So we can't even trust you either! That means we have two liars in this household. On our team." Jaune said, looking between Oscar and Jared, who are cowering in fear. "Jared, you even made a promise. That you broke!"

Jaune, realizing what he has done, lets go of Oscar and he looks at him and Jared with an apologetic look on his face. Jaune then goes upstairs. A door can be heard opening and slamming shut.

"Is he...gonna be okay?" Yang asked.

"I don't know!" Nora said, getting up and leaving.

"I think it would be best if we had some time to ourselves." Ren said, leaves and heads upstairs as well.

Team RWBY, Oscar, and Jared remain in the living room.

"Maybe we could all use some space." Blake said.

Everyone stays silent. Oscar and Jared looks down sadly.

Later on, Ruby heads outside onto the backyard porch with Jared and her Scroll to her ear.

"Come on, please…" Ruby said, taking away the Scroll from her ear, looking at the screen with Qrow's portrait on it and text above it in red letters saying 'NO ANSWER'.

"He's off drinking again, I think." Jared said, sadly.

"That's the last thing I want." Ruby said, frustrated. "Where are you?!"

Ruby throws her Scroll into the yard.

"You know, I came out here to avoid the yelling." Maria said.

Ruby and Jared notices Maria sitting next to a small table with a plate of fruit on it.

"Sorry. The others went to get food for tonight." Ruby said.

"Why not go with them?" Maria asked.

"I don't know…" Ruby said, sitting down on the porch. "I don't know anything...what do I tell Jaune and his team when we don't even have a plan? Qrow's out drinking, Jared's a Ganger, Ozpin hasn't come back and even if he did, I don't know if I could trust him."

"Ruby, I want to help you, I do." Jared said, sitting down on the porch too. "But I don't know how to. Without getting massive headaches."

"It's okay. But you're here, and that's all that matters. And there's always Jinn, but...we only have one more question we can ask her. I feel like I'm letting everyone down…"

"No, I'm letting everyone down, Ruby. I'm beyond what I know. I only know the Doctor Who side of things up to the Twelfth Doctor. And over here. I knew up to Team RWBY reuniting. I don't know what to do at this point. I'm in even more of a mess than you."

"You know, the two of you don't give yourselves enough credit." Maria said, looking between Ruby and Jared.

"Oh…" Ruby said, chuckling. "Thanks."

"Thanks, we really appreciate it." Jared said, smiling. "It's been a rough couple of weeks after all."

"That wasn't a compliment." Maria said.

"Uh...what?" Ruby asked.

"I'm lost. Explain." Jared said, placing his hand on top of Ruby's.

"If I have to explain it to the both of you, it will just defeat the purpose. But if you're tired of not knowing anything. Ruby, first, how about we discuss those eyes of yours?" Maria asked.

"Oh!" Ruby said, standing up. "Yes, ma'am, I would be honored!"

"Sit back down, for Pete's sake." Maria said, and Ruby does so. "Let's start with what you do know. Tell me."

"Uh...Silver-Eyed people are supposed to be legendary warriors. Or something. And at the Fall of Beacon, I turned a giant Wyvern into stone."

"Oh, boy." Maria said, shaking her head.

"Yeah, that's the explanation Qrow and I gave her. After the Fall of Beacon." Jared said, looking down. "I didn't know about them, okay?"

"Don't know why you said that. Since your abilities are different from mine."

"Look, if I already knew everything I wouldn't be asking for help!" Ruby said, crossing her arms and huffs.

"Yelling…" Maria said, and Ruby looks back up with a sorrowful expression on her face. "It's not your fault. I had my father to teach me, and even he didn't have all the answers. But what he told me makes sense, given what I've seen."

"Was he a Huntsman too?"

"It wasn't really an official title back in his day. I only knew him as an old soldier and an excellent teacher. I never attended one of those fancy academies of yours, but I scored higher on the license exam than any other Huntsman or Huntress that day."

"You must've been proud." Ruby said, smiling.

"Heh, he would've scolded me for showing off. He'd never been able to find much information about our abilities. Just legends of warriors whose eyes shone like mirrors, reflecting the light of the world onto darkness. He found so little, in fact, that it made him cautious. How could such powerful bloodlines be so rare? Unless something was actively seeking to destroy them." Maria said.

"In this world, it's Salem." Jared said, frowning. "And in the Doctor's world, it's the Daleks."

"I tried to keep my powers a secret, but as you know, it wasn't enough. I owe my life to my training, and my Semblance. At the end of the day, those are still your most powerful tools."

"Well, what's your Semblance?" Jared asked. "Mine is turning invisible, Ruby has her speed, Weiss has her glyphs, Blake has her shadows, and Yang has a temper tantrum."

A lemon is shown dropping from the tree, which Maria catches before it could hit the plate of fruit.

"'Preflexes'! A silly name I came up with. Hard to explain, but I can sense everything better than most and react to attacks almost before they happen. Combine that with my training and secret ability to turn Grimm to stone, or blind them, or vaporize them." Maria said, clearing her throat. "And that's how you become the Grimm Reaper!"

Maria smiles.

"So, how do I laser beam monsters with my eyeballs?" Ruby asked.

"First, you stop thinking like that!" Maria said, smacking Ruby on the head with her cane. "I want you to think of all the times you've triggered your powers. What did those moments have in common?"

"I…was scared, and stressed. Is it emotional? Like unlocking a Semblance?" Ruby asked, rubbing her head.

"It's emotional but more focused than that. Think, what is it you wanted?"

"I wanted to protect my friends." Ruby said, clenching her hands.

"Oh, my god. Like at the Fall of Beacon. You tried to use Silver Eyes to protect Pyrrha." Jared said, his eyes widening. "While we were trying to save Haven. Jaune and Cinder were facing off. You used Silver Eyes there. And when we were at that farm. We were against the Apathy. Ruby, you used Silver Eyes to save Blake first. Then all of us afterwards!"

Jared clutched his head in pain.

"Precisely! It is the desire to preserve life which fuels the light inside you, Ruby. And to make no mistake, it is light. Preservation is an extension of creation, or, at the very least, an enemy of destruction. The Creatures of Grimm were made by the God of Darkness, but your light comes from his brother." Maria said, looking at Ruby.

"How do you know that?" Ruby asked.

"I always knew how to use the light, but never why it only worked on the Grimm. Then, Jinn showed us her vision. Were you paying attention?"

Ruby and Jared close their eyes and think back to when the God of Light destroyed all the Grimm in the Land of Darkness. The God of Light transforms into his dragon form, revealing his own pair of Silver Eyes.

"Oh my god…" Jared said, opening his eyes. "How did I not see that sooner?"

Jared got another headache just from remembering that.

"The God of Light...his eyes!" Ruby said, standing up. "Okay, where do we start?"

"Well, not here. The light will only work in the presence of Grimm. Meaning the only practice you'll get will be a trial by fire. But, what you can do is focus on creating a state of mind that you can tap into when you need it. Don't think about your light as a means of destroying evil, but as a way to protect the people of Remnant." Maria said.

"But, that can't be right."

"Hm?"

"You said the light only reacts to Grimm, but...Jared, you're right, I used it during our battle at Haven. It reacted to Cinder."

"Interesting...perhaps there was something that you just weren't seeing?"

Jared closed his eyes and thought about what Ruby could have missed at the time.

Jared's mind palace…

Jared is walking around his version of Team RWBY's bedroom. He placed his phone on the ground. The fanboy loaded up a video in the process.

"Aura can't protect your arm, it's Grimm." Raven said.

Cinder pulls the shrapnel out of her arm and faces Raven again.

���You turned yourself into a monster just for power." Raven said.

"Look who's talking…" Cinder said, conjuring another weapon while glaring at Raven.

Saphron's home…

Jared opened his eyes and he looked between Ruby and Maria, "Cinder, her arm, it's made out of Grimm. Aura can't protect it."

Jared clutched his head in pain.

"Oh." Ruby said, sadly. "When did that happen?"

"At least Jared caught on as to what you missed." Maria said.

"Ruby! Jared!" Yang said.

Ruby and Jared notice Yang at the door. Ruby and Jared walk back into the house to see Weiss, Blake, and there are three Symphogear wielders present as well.

"Oh, hey guys." Ruby said.

"What's going on?" Jaune asked, also walking into the room with Ren and Nora.

"It's Oscar. He's missing." Blake said, sadly.

Ruby, Jaune, Nora, Ren, and Jared become shocked to hear Oscar went missing as Ruby, Jaune, and Jared look at each other with concerned looks on their faces.

"Jared, Elfnein helped us figure out how to break the signal." Tsubasa said.

"We have to sing one of our songs. In the frequency the Doctor used to break your Flesh duplicate." Chris said, staring at Jared. "It's a stupid plan. It won't work."

"It can work!" Hibiki said, excitedly. "Believe in the songs in our hearts. In our Symphogears."

"Can you girls give your radiant force?" Jared asked.

"Sure. We can."

"Jared, we'll find you." Ruby said, walking up to Jared. "I promise. We won't let them keep you forever."

"We won't let that pass." Weiss said, crossing her arms. "You were an idiot for getting reckless."

"I know." Jared said, sadly.

"Don't do it again. You got that?" Yang asked.

"Yeah."

"Do it. Sing your song." Blake said. "So we can save Jared."

"The beginning of a song and the beginning of this beat. The resounding sound of hope. Says to 'never give up on life'." Hibiki, Tsubasa, and Chris said, at the same time.

"The dawn…" Hibiki said.

"Of this…" Tsubasa said.

"Heated dream…" Chris said.

"Bursts through…"

"To…"

"This miracle…" Hibiki said.

"That holds no lies…" Hibiki, Tsubasa, and Chris said, at the same time.

Jared goes sploosh, turning into a puddle of liquid, "Thank you."