The Lady in the Shoe

Argus...

Caroline Cordovin controls the giant Atlesian mech, which trudges through the ocean, and goes after the airship Maria Calavera and Weiss Schnee took before.

Atlesian Airship...

"You're joking, right? You want to fight this thing?!" Weiss exclaimed.

Argus...

"We've fought giant monsters before. This is just a tiny old lady...with one very big robot." Ruby said, sadly.

"You little spider-roaches thought you could creep your way to Atlas?! Well, let's see how your resolve holds out against the might of the Atlesian Military!" Cordovin said, preparing to take down the airship with a missile that pops out from a slot on the arm cannon.

The missile fires and tracks the airship, but suddenly, it explodes harmlessly just right behind it. Cordovin turns to see Ruby with her Crescent Rose. Ruby lowers her weapon and glares at Cordovin while the others get ready to fight.

"SO BE IT!" Cordovin said, growling.

Cordovin prepares to shoot the missile at Ruby and the others.

Atlesian Airship…

Weiss and Maria sees Cordovin doing so in shock.

"Dive!" Weiss said.

Weiss unbuckles her seatbelt and gets off from her seat while Maria dives for the landing. As Maria heads to the others, Weiss approaches the airship door with Myrtenaster in her hand.

Argus...

Weiss jumps off and raises her weapon creating a rock wall and protecting the group from Cordovin's ice Dust attack.

"That was close." Oscar said.

"We need to figure out how to stop Cordovin and protect the airhsip until we do." Ruby said.

"Let's give her more targets to focus on." Jaune said.

"You mean us, don't you?" Nora asked.

"Look at that thing. It's not designed for small enemies. It's probably meant for giant Grimm that come in from deeper waters. We can turn our size into an advantage. We just have to be smart."

"My darling's right, you and Ruby are good at planning." River said, smiling. "I don't mind being an extra target."

"So, it looks like we have River Song on board for this." Jaune said, looking at River. "How did you get here?"

"Vortex manipulator." River said, looking down at her vortex manipulator. "Less bulky than a TARDIS. A motorbike through traffic. Mine has been modified so I can do dimension travel too. Without losing power."

"Smart. That means you can help us here whenever we need it." Ruby said, looking at River. "Maria, can you keep the ship out of harm's way?"

"They can take my driver's license, but I won't let them take this ship!" Maria said, happily.

"Very reassuring…" Ren said, deadpanned.

"I'll be more useful if I go with her. From up high, I can try to spot a weakness." Oscar said.

"Well, he's not the only one who can grab a bird's eye view." Qrow said, smiling.

"You said you needed me on the ground?" Weiss asked, looking at Ruby.

"Not exactly." Ruby said, while she nervously smiles.

As the team strategizes, Cordovin keeps an eye on their location keenly. Suddenly, her eyes widen as the group splits into three: Jaune, Nora, Ren, and River run down the left path along the cliff, Maria flies the airship to the right, and Ruby and Qrow fly straight up into the air using her Semblance and his corvid form, respectively. Ruby reforms from her Semblance and fires Crescent Rose, cracking the mech's windshield and causing Cordovin to growl. She fires a volley of missiles to Ruby's location.

Ruby lands on a tree branch and uses her Semblance to dodge the missiles. She eventually reforms and runs and jump along the missiles before freefalling down to the ocean. An incoming wave is frozen by Weiss as Ruby slides along it.

"Let's go!" Ruby said, determined.

Weiss also slides off the frozen wave before using Myrtenaster to freeze small patches of ice for her and Ruby to leap on toward the mech. As Cordovin keeps her attention on them, her mech is suddenly struck by a volley of pink grenades.

"Hey! Over here!" Jaune said, angrily.

"What?!" Cordovin exclaimed, looking over to Jaune's group as they kept running.

"And you said it wasn't beach season!" Nora said, looking at Ren.

The four then take cover behind a boulder for each of them.

"Beach season?" River asked. "You guys wanted some rest and relaxation."

Nora fires off more grenades from Magnhild, but suddenly, a hexagonal shield pattern appears protecting Cordovin's mech, doing no damage to her.

"Well, yeah." Nora said, frowning.

"Surely you knew Atlas was the father of hard-light Dust, or do lesser kingdoms simply lack proper education?" Cordovin asked, laughing.

Cordovin charges up her mech's arm cannon again, this time firing rock Dust, forcing Jaune's team to abandon their cover.

"Cordo just activated shields!" Jaune said, worried.

"I saw that. We need to find whatever's generating it." Oscar said.

"You know, in video games, like in the Legend of Zelda or Super Mario Bros, the weak spot's usually on the back of the giant boss!" Ruby said.

"Ruby, this isn't a game!" Weiss said, angrily.

"I'm just trying to...LOOK OUT!"

Cordovin's mech is seen stomping at a part of the ocean. Unbeknownst to her, Qrow flies around in his avian form.

"You are ants! You are lower than ants!" Cordovin said, through the mech.

As Qrow flies through the clouds, he transforms back into his human form and takes out Harbinger's scythe form.

"So, me and Qrow, darling." River said. "You rely on Qrow here. And me in the Doctor's world. That makes a lot of sense."

Qrow propels himself forward and grapples onto the giant mech.

"Ah! What was that?!" Cordovin exclaimed, through the mech.

"Until the shield's down, we're gonna have to get up close and personal with this thing." Qrow said, as he starts to fire at the scratch he just made.

Suddenly, he notices the mech's giant hand start to reach for him. Qrow dodges out of the way, transforming back into his avian form.

"That's easier said than done!" Ren said.

"Weiss and I are on it!" Ruby said.

Ruby and Weiss land on a patch of ice on the ocean together.

"Hold on!" Weiss said, stabbing Myrtenaster into the ground, creating an ice attack that knocks Cordovin's mech off balance for a bit.

Cordovin let's out a frustrated yell. As the airship flies by, Oscar realizes something.

"Wait, that's it. When she…" Oscar said.

Suddenly, Cordovin aims her cannon at Ruby and Weiss.

"RUBY, MOVE!" Oscar said, gasping.

Cordovin fires a volley of missiles at Ruby and Weiss, creating a large plume of water. From it, Weiss and Ruby emerge unharmed as they ride Weiss' Queen Lancer summon. Ruby leaps off and uses Cresecent Rose to propel herself onto Cordovin's mech, embedding the scythe's blade into it. Maria cheers Ruby on. The force of Ruby's strike knocks the mech back into the cliffside, the tremors being felt by the citizens in Argus. Cordovin let's out an enraged scream.

"Go!" Jaune said.

Jaune, Ren, Nora, and River proceed forward. Ren leaps onto the mech's arm and runs along it, while also using the blades of StormFlower to hang on. Jaune uses the twohandler form of Crocea Mors to slash at the mech's hip joint, while Nora uses the hammer form of Magnhild to smash at the arm cannon. River uses her gun to shoot at the windscreen to distract Cordovin as long as they need to.

"I bet this fun would have an easier time against a Dalek." River said, looking down at her gun. "If one of them wasn't at full power."

Cordovin manages to stand the mech back up, causing Ruby to be lowered down into her view on the windshield. Ruby hangs on to Crescent Rose as she nervously smiles and waves at Cordovin.

"Get off of me!" Cordovin said, trying to grab Ruby with the mech's left hand, forcing Ruby to let go as she uses her Semblance to fly downward.

Luckily, Weiss flies by on her Queen Lancer summon and catches Ruby.

"Heh." Ruby said, looking over at Weiss.

"What if I hadn't caught you?" Weiss asked.

"I knew you would." Ruby said, grinning widely.

Weiss just groans. As they fly around the mech, Ren lowers himself down along the mech's back. He notices a panel with a humming machine sound coming from it. Ren uses one of his blades to pry the panel off, but almost falls as the mech keeps moving around. Fortunately, Qrow appears and catches his wrist.

"Gotcha. What'd ya find?" Qrow asked, tossing Ren back up as the both of them look at the panel he just opened.

They see a whirring machine with the label 'AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY, SHIELD GENERATOR' written on top of it.

"Well, alright then." Qrow said.

Qrow and Ren draw their weapons and shoot at the machinery, disabling the mech's shields.

Cordovin watches her screen as the shields are reduced to zero, "No, no, no, no!"

Cordovin then feels a tremor as Nora fires a volley of grenades and River fires single bullets at her.

"You get back here with my man!" Nora said, angrily.

"Don't worry, Nora, sweetheart." River said. "I've got your back."

As Nora and River continue firing at Cordovin, Weiss and Ruby fly by to Ren and Qrow.

"Jump on!" Weiss said.

The two men do so. Nora and River continue to fire until they run out of ammo. Suddenly, Jaune notices Cordovin lifting up the mech's arm. He runs over to Nora and River.

"I've had enough of you ingrates!" Cordovin said.

River types in coordinates into her vortex manipulator and she vanishes in a blue light. Cordovin slams the mech's arm into both Jaune and Nora, knocking them back and breaking their Auras. The two struggle to get back up.

"No!" Ren said.

Suddenly, Weiss gasps as Cordovin fires the mech cannon at her group at point blank range, destroying the Queen Lancer summon and knocking herself, Ren, Qrow and Ruby back over to the cliff. Ruby uses her Semblance to fly back over to the cliff, but falls short. Ruby embeds the blade of Crescent Rose into the cliffside and holds on for dear life. She notices Cordovin approaching her.

"This is what happens when you think you know better than those rightfully in charge!" Cordovin said, angrily.

Atlesian airship...

Oscar notices Ruby in trouble and runs over to Maria.

"We gotta do something!" Oscar said.

Maria flicks some switches on the controls and flies back over to the mech.

Argus...

Just as Cordovin is about to fire her arm cannon at Ruby, Maria flies by and fires a missile. Suddenly, the mech grabs the missile with its hand, causing Cordovin to turn the mech around to Maria's direction.

"Calavera…" Cordovin said, annoyed.

Everyone watches helplessly as Cordovin fires the missile toward the airship's direction. The missile explodes in front of the airship, causing it to rattle...

Forest...

Blake Belladonna and Adam Taurus continue to fight each other intensely. Their blades clang loudly as they clash back and forth. As their blades lock, Blake hears a distant explosion from behind her. Blake's distraction causes her to dodge quickly from Adam's attack. Blake uses the kusarigama form of Gambol Shroud to grapple and swing from tree to tree. Adam gives chase.

"Can you do anything besides run?!" Adam exclaimed, jumping onto a tree trunk and leaps off of it as he continues to pursue Blake, who continues leaping from branch to branch.

Adam then fires Wilt and it crashes into Blake's kusarigama just as she was about to grapple onto another tree. Due to her loss of momentum, Adam manages to catch up and slash at her, but he merely just slashes Blake's trench coat off. Blake then kicks off Adam, knocking him back. As Blake lands back on the ground, she fires at Adam, who blocks some of her shots but some manage to still hit him. The two then leap out of the forest and find themselves on a natural stone bridge in front of a waterfall.

The two then clash again, with Blake evading Adam's attacks with her own Semblance. Blake manages to catch Adam's sword with her own cleaver/sheath, leaving Adam to defend himself with Blush. Eventually, Adam catches Blake's wrist and blocks her katana with Blush.

"I wouldn't have to be doing this if you just behaved!" Adam said, grabbing his sword and flings away Blake's cleaver, before knocking her in the side of her head with the hilt of Wilt.

Blake gets knocked back several feet.

"But you're selfish!" Adam said, knocking Blake back again. "You're a coward!"

Adam again knocks Blake back a few feet.

"You're delusional...!" Blake said, looking at Adam.

Adam then points his sword at Blake's abdominal scar that he gave her before. Adam then uses his Semblance, which causes Blake's katana blade to break in half. The broken weapon clatters a few feet away from Blake.

Adam then stops to remove the blindfold from his eyes.

"People hurt me long before we met...all sorts of people in all sorts of ways…" Adam said, while Blake looks away sadly upon hearing this. "...but no one hurt me quite like you…"

Blake looks back up to Adam as she sees his own eyes: his right eye a healthy blue eye, his left eye scarred permanently with a brand labeled 'SDC'.

"You didn't leave scars, you just left me alone." Adam said.

As Adam continues talking, Blake hears a certain motorcycle and hoverboard drawing close.

"So...tell me, Blake...how does it feel to be alone?" Adam asked.

Blake doesn't pay attention to what Adam says as she hears the noise get closer. Suddenly, Adam raises his sword and lets out a loud yell in fury as he stabs Blake in the abdomen.

Suddenly, her form disappears, another Semblance clone. Adam then looks behind him as Blake picks up her cleaver.

"I'm not alone." Blake said.

Suddenly, from above the waterfall, Yang Xiao Long and Jared Shay drive off the cliff and hurl her motorcycle and his hoverboard, which crashes into Adam, knocking him down, before falling off into the river below.

Yang and Jared land a few feet away from Blake as they stare down Adam.

"You…" Adam said.

Yang and Jared fire shots at Adam, which he blocks.

"Adam…" Jared said, looking down at the weapon in his hand. "Ebb and Flow? I don't know if that can work."

Yang then activates the shotgun in her prosthetic arm.

"Master, what weapon of choice do you want?" Aqours asked, it's voice coming out of the pendant.

"Since Adam has been pissing me off. Ember Gungnir." Jared said, as the dual pistols in his hands transformed into gauntlets. "Thank you."

"Yang! Jared!" Blake said, and she falls to her knee as she holds her stomach in pain.

"It's okay. Catch your breath for a second. I can hold him off." Yang said, sadly.

"No, Yang, we can hold him off." Jared said, standing next to Yang. "If I managed to stop River from killing me and the Doctor yesterday. I can do this, easily."

"That is true. This is no different from that."

"They're right, Blake. It's okay, we have...unfinished business." Adam said.

The three combatants stare each other down. Adam makes the first move, delivering a series of quick slashes and Semblance arcs that knock Yang and Jared back a short distance.

Eventually, Yang starts to strike back, managing to land some hits on Adam that he wasn't able to block.

Jared knocks Adam back a good distance before firing at him. Adam blocks and absorbs the shots with his sword.

"Damn." Jared said, looking down at Ember Gungnir. "What's his plan? His Semblance?"

Adam then quickly runs in circles around Yang and Jared before letting out another Semblance attack that causes them to slide back a short distance.

"Yang, his Semblance is like yours! He absorbs energy through his sword, stores it up and then sends it back when he's ready." Blake said.

"He gets to dish out damage without having to feel it?" Yang asked, sighing. "That's just cheap…"

The three proceed to trade blows again. Yang lands a series of punches and kicks on Adam, and Jared launches his gauntlets forward to turn them into a spear with him running towards Adam, but Adam manages to send them back when they punch his sword.

"Okay, Ember Gungnir is a cool fusion." Yang said, smiling.

Yang and Jared get knocked back next to Blake and the three share a glance with each other.

"Yup. I have the best of both worlds with this fusion. This is one of my favorite combination of weapons." Jared saidX

Adam notices this and lets out an angered growl. He readies his Semblance once again.

"YANG! JARED!" Blake yelled.

With a loud yell, Adam lets out a devastating attack with his Semblance.

When the smoke clears, Yang is still standing next to Jared, though her prosthetic arm has some small scratches in it.

"Man, durable armor." Jared said, sadly. "Can't believe I had to put it on."

Jared's armor has some scratches on it too. Jared and Yang's feet barely hang off the edge of the bridge.

Yang lowers her arm and glares at Adam, "Leave. Us. Alone. This is your last chance."

Adam stares back at the three as he grips the hilt of his sword again.

"You chased us all the way from Mistral. And across Anima!" Jared said, looking at Adam. "Adam, seriously. Talk about a new low. Leave us alone for fuck's sake."

Yang and Jared's left arms tremble slightly.

"Heh, do the both of you really believe that? Or are you two just trying to scare me away so you won't have to die trying to protect her?" Adam asked.

Yang and Jared, angered, prepare to fight him again despite their hands still trembling.

"I…" Jared said, looking at Adam.

Suddenly, Blake takes Yang's hand and Jared's hand with her own.

"Yang is not protecting me and Jared, Adam. And I'm not protecting Yang and Jared. And Jared is not protecting me and Yang." Blake said, while Adam glares back at the three of them angrily. "We're protecting each other."

The three partners stand hand in hand in solidarity as they glare at Adam together...