Our Way

Forest clearing…

It's nighttime and a Mistral airship can be seen landing. The doors open, revealing its occupant as Neopolitan, who drops her disguise and is revealed to be wearing a new outfit. She looks to see someone step out of the forest, revealed to be Cinder Fall also sporting some new clothes: a cape which conceals her Grimm-ified left arm as well as an eyepatch that covers the left half of her scarred face. She stops to inspect the airship.

"It should get us to Solitas. After that, you might want to try materializing yourself some snow boots." Cinder said, as she continues walking towards Neo.

Neo rolls her eyes at Cinder's remark. She steps out of the airship and holds her hand out, and Cinder stops walking and has an irritated look on her face. Neo then places her hand on the airship and uses her Semblance to transform it into an Atlesian Manta aircraft. Cinder smiles at this. She then retracts the disguise and snaps her fingers with a smirk on her face.

"You know, Neo, someone once asked me if I believed in destiny." Cinder said, as the two of them board the airship. "And I'm happy to say I still do."

The two smile evilly as the airship's door closes.

Argus…

Multiple Manta aircraft engage in dogfights against Manticores and Sphinxs above the ocean. The Leviathan itself slowly trudges through the water approaching the city. Some aircraft fly by for a gun run on the towering Grimm. The Leviathan, however, simply dives below the ocean and swims.

"All units, be advised: Leviathan-class Grimm has submerged but is still on approach. Preparing hard-light shields, over!" Air control said, over the comms.

Elsewhere, Ruby Rose and her friends overhear the radio chatter with looks of horror on their faces. Caroline Cordovin continues to struggle to get the Colossus' arm cannon out of the water with it being covered in ice and rock Dust.

"We're getting slammed by hostiles out here! Where is Cordovin?!" Manta Two-Two exclaimed, over the comms.

"This is your fault! Do you hear me?!" Cordovin exclaimed, through the mech.

"Ruby!" Yang said.

Yang Xiao Long, Blake Belladonna, and Jared Shay are running out of the forest to rejoin the group.

"Hey, Little Red." Jared said, holding Ember Gungnir in spear form.

"Yang! Blake! Jared! Are you okay?" Ruby asked.

Yang, Blake, and Jared notice the disabled mech.

"What happened?" Blake asked

The group then hears the Leviathan roaring.

"Was that a giant Grimm?" Yang asked.

"Yes...and we just ruined the only thing capable of stopping it…" Weiss said, sadly.

"You're kidding me…" Jared said, frowning. "A giant mech that's unusable and a leviathan."

The group wastes no time boarding the aircraft. It begins to fly away.

"That is what the Grimm is actually called. A Leviathan." Maria said, looking at Jared.

Ruby and Jared watch with pity as Cordovin continues to struggle to move the mech. Cordovin herself yells out in anger.

Mech...

"This is your fault!! YOUR FAULT!!! This is…" Cordovin said, giving up.

"Ma'am, what's your status? We need an answer, over!" A soldier said, over the radio.

"...your fault…" Cordovin said, looking down sadly.

Atlesian Airship...

"I'm so sorry…" Blake said.

"Don't be. This isn't on you." Yang said.

"But…"

"You're safe, that's all that matters." Ruby said.

Blake smiles at her leader and the two hug. Ruby looks to Yang and Jared and the three share a smile.

"We went up against Adam Taurus, Ruby." Jared said, sadly. "And we barely won."

"I suppose I have to be the bad guy and say it, getting the lamp to Atlas is still our top priority, and right now we have the perfect opportunity to head straight for it. We may not get another chance like this." Maria said.

"No way!" Yang said, angrily.

"We can't leave, not like this." Weiss said.

"It's like you said, a Huntress is supposed to protect others to the bitter end." Blake said.

Maria looks to Ruby, who just shrugs and smiles. Maria smiles back and continues to fly.

"We need to head for the Leviathan. Jaune, can you, Ren, and Jared be ready to mask our ship?" Ruby asked.

"I think we can manage." Ren said.

"Got a few ideas?" Jaune asked.

"I've got one." Ruby said.

"Which is?" Jared asked.

"Eyes up, everybody. It's back." Qrow said.

The Leviathan swims for a bit before resurfacing above the water, letting out a terrifying roar.

"Argus Base, this is Manta 3-4! Leviathan has hit the shallows and resurfaced! We need those shields up now, over!" Manta Three-Four said, over the radio.

Argus...

From the city, a large crowd gathers as they look out to the ocean with concern. Terra Cotta-Arc is seen making her way through the crowd, eventually reuniting with her wife Saphron and their son Adrian, before looking out to the ocean again in concern. As the Leviathan approaches Argus, a hard-light Dust barrier is erected, halting its progress.

"Target stopped! Engaging, over!" Manta Two-One said, over the radio.

A pair of Manta aircraft are firing shots at the Leviathan. Suddenly, the Leviathan unleashes an energy beam attack from its mouth. It shifts the beam over to one of the poles powering the hard-light Dust barrier, destroying it. The Leviathan roars.

Atlesian Aircraft…

"Oh, my god…" Jared said, grabbing Ruby's hand. "That can happen?"

Ruby, Jared, and their friends watch in horror from their aircraft.

"It tore straight through...!" Oscar said, worried.

"All squadrons, fall back to evacuation procedures. Disengage Leviathan! I repeat, disengage! Over!" Air Control said, over the radio.

"No, wait!" Ruby said, running up to the radio.

"Ruby!" Qrow and Jared said, at the same time.

"The hell are you doing?" Jared asked.

"I'm doing what you did. When you tried to stop the 456." Ruby said, looking at Jared. "With Torchwood. We can stop it!"

"Who is this? Identify yourself!" Air Control said, over the radio.

"I'm a Huntress. My team and I are heading to the Leviathan and can weaken it for you to attack!"

Everyone looks at Ruby in shock.

"We can?" Jaune asked.

"I can." Ruby said.

"Ruby, when I said 'trial by fire'..." Maria said.

"I did it at Beacon and at the farm."

"And you did it at Haven." Jared said, shrugging his shoulders.

"You really think you can do it now?" Weiss asked.

"I don't have a choice." Ruby said, sadly.

"Manta 5-1, your ship is currently flagged as hostile. You will receive no support, over." Air Control said, over the radio.

"Fine, we'll do it alone if we have to." Ruby said, picking up the radio.

Mech...

Cordovin overhears Ruby's radio chatter.

Atlesian Airship...

"We can hit it while it's stopped at the next barrier. Ren, Jared, you're up!" Ruby said, looking between Ren and Jared.

"Right, never done this before." Jared said, smiling. "Let's do this."

Ren, Jared, and Jaune proceed to combine their Semblances, masking the airship and making it invisible as it weaves between the air battles between Grimm and Atlas forces. The Leviathan makes its way to the next barrier and charges its energy breath again.

"We're too late! Pull up!" Qrow said.

The Manta aircraft pulls up out of the way as the Leviathan fires its breath, destroying the next barrier and toppling a cupola off one of the buildings in Argus. Ren, Jared, and Jaune collapse as their Auras are drained.

"Damn it...!" Jaune said, annoyed.

"That's all I've got!" Ren said.

"I'm still drained after fighting Adam with Blake and Yang!" Jared said, crossing his arms.

"It's on the move again! We need to stop it!" Blake said.

"What do we do?" Yang asked.

Ruby thinks for a moment, before to looking to Weiss.

Argus...

The Leviathan continues to approach Argus, but suddenly, the aircraft carrying Ruby's group opens up its hatch doors.

"Eyes on us, ugly!" Nora said.

"I still have a bit of energy for a distraction." Jared said, with Ebb and Flow in dual pistols mode. "Hey! Over here!"

Atlesian Airship...

Nora, Yang, and Jared fire their respective weapons at the Leviathan.

"Is it working?" Blake asked.

"Unfortunately, yes! Hang on!" Maria said.

Blake runs over to Weiss, who is maintaining a Glyph she activated.

Argus...

Ruby is riding on the back of Weiss' Queen Lancer summoning.

"Okay, okay, you can do this...you have to do this!" Ruby said, talking to herself.

Eventually, Ruby stops in front of the Leviathan. She closes her eyes and begins to concentrate, the noises all around her slowly muting out.

"Ruby? Ruby, hurry, something…" Yang said, over the comms.

"Be careful Lit…" Jared said, over the comms.

Ruby takes out her earpiece and tosses it into the water below. She closes her eyes again to concentrate. As she concentrates, Ruby thinks back on various memories.

She thinks of her father and sister, when Zwei first arrived at Team RWBY's dorm room, when she and her team are about to start a food fight, and when they get noodles after their victory in the tournament.

She then thinks of Penny Polendina, then to when she first saw Jaune, of Team JNPR, of Pyrrha.

Suddenly, Ruby starts to frown as bad memories start to flood her mind: the night when Jaune trained alone with a recording of Pyrrha, when she saw her friends wounded as Beacon was being evacuated, when Yang sank into depression over the loss of her arm.

Ruby whimpers upon remembering the deaths of both Pyrrha and Penny.

Suddenly, Ruby opens her eyes again and notices the Leviathan standing face to face with her, "What?"

"Why'd it turn away?!" Yang exclaimed.

"I don't know." Jared said, looking at what Ruby is carrying. "Ruby! The Relic!"

"Oh." Ruby said, looking down to see that she has the Relic of Knowledge on her belt, which caused the Leviathan to have its attention on her. "No, no, no, no!"

Suddenly, the Leviathan opens its maw and lunges toward Ruby...

"J...JINN!" Ruby said, reeling back.

Suddenly, time stops. Everything slows down and freezes, Yang who calls out her sister's name, and even Jared who calls out his best friend's name.

"Ruby!" Yang and Jared yelled, at the same time.

Ruby then breathes a sigh of relief as she hears the rattling chains of Jinn.

"I'm sorry...I don't have a question for you. I just...I just needed a little more time…" Ruby said, looking over at Jinn, who has a stern look on her face. "I tried to do the memory technique the Doctor told Jared to use against the Shansheeth. For him to stop them from getting the TARDIS key. And I got a bit distracted. When trying to use it against the Grimm."

"I know...and while you don't seek knowledge, just this once, I shall give it freely. I will not allow you to use me without a question again…" Jinn said, smiling. "...even if this was clever."

Ruby nods at Jinn. She then turns to face the Leviathan again and closes her eyes to concentrate once more. Time slowly starts to go back to normal.

She thinks back to when Team RWBY decorated their dorm room, when Weiss gave her coffee, when Blake cheered for Weiss in Professor Port's class, when Yang was training her before leaving for Beacon, when Team RWBY celebrated their victory after saving Vale.

Ruby smiles as she thinks back to the Beacon Dance and Team JNPR again, and then to when Qrow arrived at Beacon, to talking with Oscar, and then to Maria, and to Penny again...

And finally, Ruby thinks back to her mother, her white cloak blowing in the wind as she overlooks a cliff watching a sunset. She then turns around, offering a warm smile. Her own Silver Eyes reflect back to her daughter's...

Ruby's own eyes then shine bright, the brightest it has ever been. A massive white light engulfs the area, turning the Leviathan to stone. The citizens of Argus and the Atlas military cheer as the Grimm threat has been nullified. Ruby's friends give proud smiles and Maria breathes a sigh of relief.

"My god, that was a close one." Jared said, letting out a sigh of relief. "I wonder if her memories are different from mine…"

The light retracts back into Ruby's eyes, and she turns around to look at the city of Argus still standing. Suddenly, Ruby hears a stone crackling behind her. The Leviathan's head manages to move and tries to aim at Ruby.

"No…" Ruby said, looking at the Leviathan.

"I'll take it from here!" Cordovin said, showing up in the Colossus, its arm cannon now detached.

Everyone looks in shock. Without the weight of the cannon, the Colossus begins to run toward the semi-petrified Leviathan.

"After all, I was sworn to protect the people!" Cordovin said, smiling.

The Colossus' left hand then transforms into a giant drill. Cordovin uses the drill to destroy the Leviathan, causing it to dissipate. The people of Argus cheer while the Arc family looks on with stupefied expressions.

The Colossus then walks over to Ruby. Its cockpit opens up revealing Cordovin herself standing in a stern military manner.

"Thank you. And...I'm sorry." Ruby said, sadly.

"The Atlas military can handle the stragglers." Cordovin said.

"What, uh...what are you saying?"

"I'm saying I don't think anyone would notice if one more ship went missing in my lengthy report." Cordovin said, smiling.

Ruby smiles back at Cordovin, who then turns the mech around and runs off to join her men in taking down the remaining Grimm.

Atlesian Airship...

The airship flies through the night sky.

"We should have just enough fuel to make it." Maria said.

"Thanks, Miss Calavera." Ruby said.

"Hey, Ruby. You did great out there today, kid. Just don't go giving me heart attacks like that again." Qrow said, and he is about to take a drink from his flask, but ultimately decides not to.

Ruby hugs her uncle, "I love you, too."

Qrow smiles at his niece as she walks away to join her friends.

"You weren't half bad yourself today, Qrow." Maria said.

"I feel like they did all the heavy lifting." Qrow said, smiling before sighing.

"But you were there to help when they asked for it, and you were there to catch them when they fell. Literally, if I recall."

"Thanks. You know, it was pretty incredible getting to see the Grimm Reaper in action."

"Ha, you should have seen me when I was your age!"

Qrow smiles as the two of them look out the cockpit's window to the night sky.

In the back of the aircraft, Weiss, Blake, Yang, and Jared sit together.

"I'm sorry you went through that nightmare. But, I'm glad Yang and Jared were there for you in time." Weiss said.

Blake, Yang, and Jared smile before the blonde and the fanboy take the cat Faunus' hand.

"We were there for each other." Yang said.

"And I ship Bumblebee to the end." Jared said, happily. "I was there for the both of you. Since I care. At least now you both know."

"Took the words right out of my mouth." Nora said.

Everyone then looks to Ruby.

"Hey, stop it!" Ruby said, angrily.

"You petrified a Leviathan...after diving down the barrel of a cannon!" Ren said, worried.

"Don't act like you all haven't done crazy stuff before! I mean, Oscar made a successful crash landing! He's a fourteen-year-old farm hand!" Ruby said, laughing.

"That was seriously impressive." Jaune said.

"We'd have been stranded without you." Blake said.

"Yeah. Like, how did you manage to fly the ship?" Jared asked. "It was amazing."

"I...thanks, but...I've been meaning to tell you guys...I didn't land the ship on my own." Oscar said, thinking back to when the airship was about to crash land.

Memory...

"We're gonna crash! We're gonna CRASH!" Oscar said, terrified.

"Stay calm, it's going to be okay." Ozpin said.

Atlesian Airship...

"Ozpin took control?!" Nora exclaimed.

"How?" Jared asked.

"No, he guided me...and then he was gone again…" Oscar said, sadly.

"Does that mean he's been watching us this whole time?" Yang asked.

"I don't know, but...it at least means he was looking out for us.

Everyone ponders this revelation before Qrow speaks up.

"Hey, if you've never seen Atlas in person before, you don't wanna miss this." Qrow said.

Ruby, Jared, and their friends walk up to the cockpit window.

"Is it weird that I'm sorta nervous?" Ruby asked.

"No, I'll believe we've made it to Atlas when I see it." Yang said.

"It's been a long few years since the Fall of Beacon. Walking across Mistral and finally making it to Atlas." Jared said, frowning. "I still can't believe we made it."

"Well...believe it." Weiss said.

The airship comes out of the clouds, and the floating city of Atlas is seen coming into view.

"Wow!" Nora said, happily.

"This is as amazing as New New York!" Jared said, excitedly. "Or well, Aincrad or the World Tree."

"You know, you make the trip up to Atlas over and over, but you never get used to that view." Maria said, while her prosthetic eyes start to act up again. "Oh, come on!"

Weiss leans forward and has a nervous look on her face.

Ruby notices this, "Weiss, what is it?"

Everyone looks up, and notice above the city of Atlas many Atlas Airships.

"The Atlas air fleet...I knew all of our ships were called back, but…" Weiss said.

"They're set up like they're expecting an attack…" Qrow said.

"From Grimm? Or Salem?" Jared asked.

Suddenly, the radio turns on.

"Manta 5-1, welcome home…" Atlas Air Control said, over the radio.

The Land of Darkness…

Mercury Black is looking out the window in the meeting room.

Emerald Sustrai then walks in, "Mercury, I wanted to…"

Suddenly, she notices Mercury's face has an expression of horror as he looks out the window. Emerald looks to where he's looking.

"What is she doing?" Emerald asked.

A Beringel is seen crawling out of one of the black, tar-like pits, with Salem herself standing close by. She then uses her magic as Nevermore wings suddenly sprout from the back of the Beringel. The Beringel gets used to its new appendages, before flying up to join many other Beringels also grafted with wings. Emerald and Mercury continue to watch in horror.

"There's an old saying." Hazel said.

The two notice Hazel Rainart enter the room and stand next to them.

"If you want something done right...do it yourself." Hazel said.

Salem looks up to the army of Grimm she has gathered, before turning around and using her magic on the black pools again.