The Greatest Kingdom

Atlesian Airship...

Manta airships patrol the skies around the City of Atlas, keeping in communication with each other over radio. As Maria Calavera pilots the group's stolen Manta toward the city, they receive radio contact.

"Manta 5-1. Welcome home. Please continue your approach to Atlas docking bay Omega-12. A security team will meet you there. Over." An Atlas Air Traffic female said, over the radio.

Ruby Rose, Jared Shay, and the others aboard Manta 5-1 look around at the large military air fleet surrounding the kingdom's capital.

"I don't understand. What's happening here?" Ruby asked.

"I don't know." Qrow said.

"This looks like a stalemate." Jared said, sadly. "Whatever is going on here."

"But we are here. We got the lamp to Atlas, so I guess we land and get some answers." Jaune said.

"I'm not so sure. I've never seen our forces deployed so aggressively before. If we land in a stolen ship, there's no way the security team will let us anywhere near Ironwood. They might even take me back to my father." Weiss said.

Blake Belladonna gains a saddened look, while Ruby, Yang Xiao Long, and Jared Shay look at each other, uncertain of what to do.

"So…" Blake said.

Weiss, having gotten an idea, suddenly looks up, "Winter!"

"What about Winter?" Jared asked.

"She could be here." Weiss said, taking out her Scroll. "If she wasn't in Mistral." She looked over at Maria. "Put some distance between us and the fleet."

"You don't have to tell me twice." Maria said.

As Weiss walks to the back of the ship, Maria steers the ship toward Mantle. As people wander the streets of Mantle, the group looks over the city through the Manta's windows. They fly past a giant screen on the side of a skyscraper. Ironwood's voice comes from the screen, catching Ruby, Yang, and Jared's attention.

"...cannot express our appreciation enough. Many describe these as uncertain times, and while that may be the case for the rest of the world, I can tell you what is certain. The Kingdom of Atlas will remain strong, and it will remain safe. That is my promise." Ironwood said, on screen.

Ruby, Yang, and Jared look saddened.

"General Ironwood. He looks…" Yang said.

"...tired." Ruby said.

"Why does this remind me so much of home? Of the United States." Jared said, looking over at Team RWBY and JNR. "I left it before it became something like this. I think it became like this at some point."

"James, what have you been doing?" Qrow asked.

Four Atlesian Knight-200s are seen walking down a street in Mantle, while civilians around them complain about their presence.

"Ugh, not these again." Civilian 1 said.

"Why can't they just leave us be?" Civilian 2 asked.

A small drone floats along a sidewalk, while a pair of small children hide in an alley. One of the children picks up a rock and throws it at the drone, which spins around to look, prompting the children to hide against the wall. Weiss sadly stares out of Manta 5-1's window with her Scroll in her palm. Her Scroll is set to call Winter, who does not answer.

"This isn't right. None of this is right." Weiss said.

"Tell me about it, Weiss." Jared said, walking over to Weiss. "I left my Earth in the fall of 2018. I find out from my parallel self that a global pandemic is happening in 2020."

"So, your world is in a bad state like ours. Will you leave us?" Weiss asked.

"No. I won't. Not again."

Once again, the stolen Manta receives contact over the radio.

"Manta 5-1, we've noticed a detour in your route. You are to make your way to docking bay Omega 12 immediately. Do you copy? Over." Atlas Air Traffic Female said, over the radio.

"We're kind of running out of time here, kids." Maria said.

"We need to ditch the ship." Yang said.

"Agreed. Get lost in Mantle and buy ourselves some time." Qrow said.

"I'm telling you, my sister can take us to Ironwood." Weiss said.

Blake, who has been staring out of a window, looks over her shoulder and speaks up, "Uh, Weiss?"

Weiss walks over to Blake's side and looks out the window with her as a familiar voice plays from a giant screen.

"A reminder." Winter said, on the screen.

"Huh?" Weiss asked, looking at the screen.

"Failure to cooperate with Atlas military personnel is a punishable offense. If your sector is under lockdown…"

"Winter?" Weiss asked, shocked.

"No offense, Weiss. I'm not sure that's a good idea anymore." Qrow said.

Weiss tenses her shoulders and turns to Qrow, fists clenched, "There's obviously something very wrong. If we can just talk to her, then we…"

"Look, I'm not even sure we should be talking to Ironwood until we know exactly what's going on with Mantle." Qrow said.

"But…"

"Like, Atlas and the United States are seen as global superpowers, right?" Jared asked, looking between Weiss and Qrow. "What happened to both? I really don't think we should see both Ironwood or Winter."

"Everyone, calm down." Maria said, sighing. "I know someone who can help with both."

"Manta 5-1, you are to make your…" The Atlas Air Traffic Female said, angrily over the radio.

"Geez, lady, take a hint!" Maria said, shutting off the radio, annoyed.

Mantle...

After landing the stolen Manta in Mantle, Maria cautiously exits an alley by slowly shuffling along with her cane. When she sees the coast is clear, she picks up her cane and walks normally, and everyone else exits the alley with her. In the distance, a small group of Atlas soldiers run down a street in the direction that Maria and the others came from.

"It landed over there, let's go!" A soldier said.

The group begins walking through Mantle together. Trucks drive past, and Atlesian Knight-200s stand on various sidewalks. A small child places a poster of a white-haired woman on a street lamp. There is a hologram board displaying news articles with the following headlines:

Missing Journalist Found Slain'

'Election Imminent

Mantle Hometown Hero vs Atlesian Tycoon'

'Embargo: The Right Call?

Pressure and Criticism Continues to Mount on Council'

'Outer Wall Damaged

Resources Stalled'

The group walks past a garage with graffiti art reading 'Show Your Teeth'

"Wow…" Jared said, grabbing Ruby's hand.

"Come on now, hurry! It shouldn't be much of a walk." Maria said.

"Is this many soldiers normal?" Jaune asked.

"No. At least, I didn't think so." Weiss said, frowning.

"I hate this." Jared said, sadly. "I really do, Weiss."

At the back of the group, Yang notices a whirring sound and stops to take a look.

"Huh?" Yang asked.

There is a small drone hovering to her right. The camera part of the drone lifts up, focused on her. When Yang shrugs it off and resumes walking, the drone follows her. She stops again and looks at it in surprise and confusion. As she leans in to take a closer look, the drone takes a photograph of her face with a bright flash, which Yang recoils from. In response, Yang kicks the drone, knocking it out of the air and causing it to tumble into the street, where it is struck by a car.

"Ooh…" Yang said, cringing at the drone's destruction.

Yang turns to see everyone else in the group staring at her. She awkwardly shifts her posture with a sheepish smile.

"Maybe we should pick up the pace." Yang said.

Everyone resumes walking.

"You have to remember, the Kingdom had just lost the Great War. The people of Mantle needed a sign of a brighter future, and that sign was Atlas. After all, a home in the clouds is as bright as it gets." Maria said.

They look up at the City of Atlas, while the earlier broadcast from Winter plays once again nearby.

"You have no idea how much this rang true for me." Jared said, squeezing Ruby's hand. "After 9/11, everyone was scared. So the United States and my world needed a leader to look up to. But then a recession happened, and people needed that leader. He came and went, the world got that glimmer of hope. But once someone else came in and took that mantle, everyone became scared. Everyone turned against the United States, including the rest of my world."

A pair of trucks drive by with miners, covered in black material, sitting in the beds. Posters depicting a white-haired woman are plastered across one of the buildings that the trucks pass, with the text 'PROTECT MANTLE' printed on them.

"This is like deja vu for you then." Blake said, looking at Jared.

"Yeah. It is. I ran away from it once before like I said, not anymore." Jared said, smiling.

"We are here for your safety. Thank you for your cooperation." Winter said, on the view screen.

Blake and Nora Valkyrie watch the second truck as it drives by.

"Unless you're the one having to look up at it." Nora said, crossing her arms and looking away.

"This whole city, it just seems awful." Blake said.

"Yeah?" A drunk man asked, came stumbling down from a porch. "You don't like it here? There's plenty of space out in the tundra."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to…" Blake said, sighing.

"Atlas is the greatest Kingdom in the world, alright?!"

"Hey!" Ruby said, stepping forward to confront the drunk man.

Jared and Blake step forward ahead of Ruby, speaking quietly to her.

"Ruby, not now…" Jared said, as he felt being pulled by Ruby. "Don't yell."

"Jared's right. We can't cause a scene." Blake said.

The drunk man's equally drunk buddy speaks up, "The embargo...the embargo's got us in a rough patch. But it'll blow over, you'll see."

"We try and help the other Kingdoms, and this is what happens? I say let 'em rot!" The drunk man, speaking loudly.

"I apologize. I didn't mean to insult you." Blake said, disingenuous.

The drunk man spits on the ground, glaring at Blake, "Stupid Faunus like you wouldn't unders…"

He looks down to unscrew his flask and pauses when he sees a black glyph beneath his feet. His glasses hover off his face as his eyes widen in surprise. The glyph flings him into the air, and he falls into a dumpster in the nearby alley, his glasses and flask accompanying him soon after. Yang, Nora, Blake, Ruby, and Jared stare at the dumpster, then turn to see Weiss pointing Myrtenaster where the man had been standing.

"It was worth it." Weiss said, with a shrug and a smile.

The group flees while a pair of Atlesian Knight-200s investigate. The man's drinking buddy hurries down from the porch and looks around in thought, before reaching out toward the girls.

"Hey, wait!" The drinking buddy said, running after them. "You're...that was…"

The drinking buddy trips and collapses to the sidewalk.

Winter's broadcast is heard playing once again, "We are here for your safety. Thank you for your cooperation."

The group approaches a building with a glowing green plus symbol above its front door. The side door opens, and a Faunus with a prosthetic arm exits, waving cheerfully to the man who speaks to her from inside.

"And no more heavy-lifting, yah hear?" Pietro asked.

"Ah, it's good to see you again, old friend." Maria said.

An older man is sitting behind the desk, shuffling things around in a drawer. Maria clears her throat, startling him, and he lifts his head to look at her, shutting the drawer. Maria smiles at him.

"Ah, yes, yes." Pietro said, pushing a stack of papers aside. "Have we met?"

Building...

"Well, this is off to a fantastic start." Ren said, entering the building.

"He doesn't even know who you are." Jared said, letting go of Ruby's hand.

"Cybernetic optical implants." Maria said, pointing to her eyes. "You adjust them. Every ten years or so?"

Pietro stares at Maria for a few moments before throwing his hands cheerfully into the air, "Maria!"

The robotic chair he is sitting in begins walking out from behind the desk.

"Yes, with the cybernetic optical implants! I adjust them every ten years or so." Pietro said, offering his hand to Maria and leading her to an examination table.

"Oh wow, has it been that long already?" Pietro asked, laughing.

"Ah, I know. I age like a fine wine. Would've been here sooner if I hadn't run into these jokers. At the time, I thought they might need my guidance while fighting a little old Sphinx." Maria said.

"Oh, did they?"

"No, no. They had much more complicated issues."

"And this is?" Qrow asked, clearing his throat.

"Who is he?" Jared asked, looking at Maria. "I didn't know you until a couple of weeks ago. Now who's this man?"

"So impatient. Both of you. I didn't think I'd need to introduce one of Atlas' finest minds." Maria said, annoyed.

"Working in a place like this?" Yang asked.

The building creaks, and a ceiling tile falls to the floor.

"He likes to keep a low profile. Something I've come to realize none of you know anything about." Maria said.

"You can call me Pietro." Pietro said.

"Finest heart, too. This pharmacy is just where he volunteers when he's not building the future of Atlas alongside Ironwood, up in the clouds."

"Oh, it's stuffy up there. Down here, I get to help the locals and have a little fun. I'm currently working on shoes that make you dance. Wanna try 'em on?"

"YES!" Nora said, excitedly.

"Before we get to that, we were wondering if you could help us. We came to Atlas hoping to talk to General Ironwood, but um…" Yang said, stepping into the building.

"What exactly has been happening here?" Blake asked.

"Well, the Fall of Beacon took a toll on all of us. James was no different. I couldn't tell you exactly what it was he saw there, but it changed him. He's…" Pietro said, coughing.

"He's scared." Qrow said.

"Like really scared." Jared said, sadly. "As scared as I was when I was a Ganger."

"Paranoid would be the more appropriate term. You have to understand, it wasn't just the Grimm. Someone completely dismantled Atlas security code, made it their play-thing, and made us look like traitors to some and buffoons to everyone else. Whoever managed to do that is either a genius or one of our own. I fear the answer may be both, and so does the general." Pietro said.

"Maybe Atlas isn't as safe as we thought." Ren said, frowning.

"After we came all this way, we can't just leave, can we?" Oscar asked.

"How does the council feel about all of this? Or Winter Schnee? Do you know anything about her?" Weiss asked, stepping forward.

"Well, the council's so scared, they'll agree to whatever he wants. Though, some representatives from Mantle…wait, you're…you're Weiss Schnee!" Pietro said, happily.

Weiss gasps and steps back, with her friends looking nervous.

"Wait, what was it that you were trying to say about Mantle?" Yang asked, stepping forward with her prosthetic arm outstretched.

"You painted it." Pietro said, looking at the prosthetic arm.

"What?" Yang asked, withdrawing her arm, confused.

"And you modified them to your liking." Pietro said, looking at Ebb and Flow in its dual swords form inside their scabbards. "As a memoria."

"Is everything okay?" Ruby asked.

"You're Team RWBY and Jared Shay!"

The Team RWBY girls and Jared look at each other in confusion.

"You know us?!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Oh, my girl, I do. I most certainly do. And I feel like such a dunce for not recognizing you sooner. My daughter's told me so much about you." Pietro said, smiling.

"Your…daughter?" Ruby asked.

"And who is your daughter?" Jared asked, looking at Pietro. "Do I know her?"

Their conversation is interrupted by the sound of an alarm and people screaming.

Mantle...

Civilians are running, and the lights from the street lamps have turned red.

"Ah, trouble." Jaune said.

The group runs outside.

"Of course…" Jared said, looking around. "When isn't there trouble?"

"Wait!" Pietro said, reaching out to them.

Everyone in the group draws their weapons. Upon drawing her katana, Blake looks at the broken blade, exhaling sharply before folding the blade down to wield it as a gun.

"I guess the city defenses aren't doing much." Oscar said.

"Somehow, that doesn't surprise me." Nora said, glancing at Ren.

Down the road from them, growling is heard, and an Atlesian Knight-200 is thrown against a lamp post.

"Hm?" Jaune asked.

Another robot is thrown, and three more back up into view, shooting at Sabyrs, which tackle and destroy them one by one.

"Well, we didn't come this far to fail now!" Ruby said, changing Crescent Rose into scythe form and aimed the sniper barrel toward the Sabyrs, which finished destroying the Atlesian Knight-200s and charged toward her and her friends.

Everyone readies their weapons. Yang charges forth using recoil from her gauntlet, followed by Ren launching himself forward.

"Hey!" Nora said, gasping.

"Oh, boy." Jared said, looking down at Ebb and Flow.

Getting an idea, Nora looks at Jaune, who looks startled. She uses Magnhild to pole vault toward Jaune, who puts up his shield in response, allowing her to land on it. She then kicks off from his shield, launching herself. After Yang uppercuts a Sabyr, Ren lands on another one's back, stabbing his guns' blades into it, and it leaps into the air to knock him off, only for Nora to slam it to the ground with her hammer. Jaune beheads a Sabyr, and when a second one leaps at him, Jared used his dual swords to slice and dice it, protecting Jaune.

Qrow slices two Sabyrs in half, leans back to dodge a third as it attempts to tackle him. He transforms Harbinger into scythe mode and uses it to hook the Grimm as it makes another attempt to tackle him. As he finishes spinning his scythe, he plants its blade into the ground and punches another Sabyr in the head, then uppercuts it into the air. He then kicks Harbinger upward, catches it, straightens the blade, impales the Sabyr, and slices another one that leaps at him from behind the deceased Sabyr's smoke.

"Man, there is a lot of Grimm." Jared said, smirking. "What are they called?"

"Sabyrs." Qrow said, shooting at more Sabyrs, another one turns its attention to Oscar.

"As in saber tooth cats?" Jared asked, while the Sabyr charges Oscar, and the farmboy leaps into the air and stabs at its skull with Ozpin's cane.

While Oscar watches it die, another one leaps at him from behind, only to be sniped by Ruby, who smiles and nods to Oscar.

Ruby transforms her rifle back into scythe mode and runs forward. As a Sabyr leaps at her, she does a flip and slices it in half. She continues running, fires Crescent Rose, and begins using her Semblance to speed down the street, before appearing to split into three blurs of red that go around a Sabyr, which splits apart with a roar. The blurs converge and transform back into Ruby, who stabs the tip of her scythe into the asphalt, swinging forward on it and landing on the ground. She fires Crescent Rose and lets go of it, sending it spinning through a Sabyr and into the air. She leaps onto and kicks off of another Sabyr, spinning and catching her scythe. She fires Crescent Rose to keep up momentum and slams the blade into the ground, sending out a shockwave that takes out two more Sabyrs.

After Weiss slices through a Sabyr, four more come running toward her from another street. She casts four black glyphs, using them to levitate the Grimm. As they flail helplessly in the air, Ren and Jared leap from Sabyr to Sabyr, cutting each of them in half. Meanwhile, another Sabyr attempts to run up behind Yang while she finishes one off, only to be shot by Blake, who smiles and nods to Yang.

"They just keep on coming." Jared said, looking around the place. "When will it end?"

Suddenly, another Sabyr leaps into the air behind Blake, who gasps and turns to face it. Before she can fight back, a green laser fires from the sky, cutting the Grimm in half. More lasers shoot from above, striking down the remaining Grimm. The alarms throughout the city stop, and the street lamps change back to their normal color. Everyone watches as a figure with long hair flies into view, with green jets coming from her feet. She twirls in the air and slowly descends. Pietro and Maria walk outside to join the group, while Ruby and Jared stare at the girl before gasping and gaining a look of recognition.

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

"Darling, why don't you say hello to your friends?" Pietro asked.

Penny turns to look in the direction her father's voice came from. Upon seeing Ruby and Jared, she gasps and her eyes shine with joy. Ruby and Jared smile and the both of them put their weapons away.

Penny leans forward a little, "Sal…"

"Huh?" Ruby asked, confused.

"What's going on?" Jared asked.

Penny lowers to one knee as a high-pitched charging noise is heard, "U…"

"Uh…?" Ruby asked, nervous.

"Crap. I didn't know she would be here!" Jared said, his eyes widening.

Penny begins gleefully sprinting toward Ruby and Jared at high speed, "...tations!"

Penny leaps and activates her jets, rocketing forward and tackling Ruby and Jared, the both of them flailing their hands around in front of them and screams, eyes wide. Upon crashing to the ground, Ruby and Jared groan in pain.

"Now I know why the TARDIS gave me a Penny tackle hug…" Jared said, sadly. "She hinted at her returning."

Everyone else puts their weapons away and approaches the trio. Penny pops back up onto her feet, while Jared recovered quicker than Ruby and he lifted her, as the silver eyed girl has her hand on her head.

"It is such a pleasure to see you all again!" Penny said, happily.

"Penny, we…we...we thought you…" Ruby said, tearfully.

"We, we assume that she…" Jared said, letting out a lot of tears.

"Died?" Pietro asked, riding his chair over to Penny's side. "I guess, in a manner of speaking, she did. But we were able to recover her core from Amity Arena once it had made its way back to Atlas. It took me some time, but…"

"I'm as good as new! Better, even! And now I'm the official protector of the city!" Penny said, happily.

"That's my girl. We're not going to let a little ripping to shreds stop us, are we?" Pietro asked, laughing, then coughing.

"No sir!" Penny said, knocking on her head with a clunking sound.

"You were upgraded. When Aqours got the fusion upgrade." Jared said, looking at Penny.

"It was part of me saying thank you. To you and Ruby. And basically everyone else."

"Ebb and Flow, it's running off of your old design."

"Easily upgradable."

"This is…" Weiss said.

"Strangely wholesome." Blake said.

"Sounds like Penny to me." Yang said.

Penny excitedly grabs Ruby and Jared's shoulders, "We have so many things to catch up about. I cannot wait!"

Just as Penny finishes her sentence with a grin, the city's alarms begin blaring again.

"Same. I missed you to be honest, Penny." Jared said, happily.

"It seems we will have to wait." Penny said, without changing her demeanor.

Penny bounces backward and salutes. As she charges her jets and then rockets off into the sky, she continues speaking quickly to Ruby and Jared even as she takes off.

"Let's talk more later! I can't wait to hear about all of your adventures and tell you how I have been and I am just very excited about the whole experience!" Penny said, excitedly.

"I can't tell if I completely understand what's going on or have, like, a million questions." Nora said.

"And thankfully, I have about a thousand answers. But let's get out of this weather first." Pietro said, on his way back to the pharmacy.

"I have absolutely no idea who that child was. Is she important somehow?" Maria asked, following Pietro.

"That was unexpected." Jaune said.

"Never a dull moment." Ren said.

"But I wouldn't say unwelcome. I was honestly expecting things to go a lot rougher." Qrow said.

The group begins following Maria and Pietro. However, as they walk, Ren senses something behind them. Before anyone can react, several bolases wrap around Nora, Oscar, Jaune and Ren, the spheres at the ends of the ropes locking into place with Gravity Dust. Blake turns to look back at the commotion, just in time for all of Team RWBY and Jared to be caught.

"It's like my guilt is finally gone…" Jared said, sadly. "What the hell?!"

As Ruby lands, the Relic of Knowledge comes unhooked from her belt and clatters to the ground. Qrow draws his sword and looks for their unseen enemy, before being captured himself. Five uniform-clad people come out of hiding and surround the group.

"Good work, team." Clover said.

"Hey! What's going on?!" Oscar exclaimed.

"Hey, pal! I'm a licensed Huntsman! Just helped save everyone?" Qrow asked.

Clover looks down at Qrow, twirling a horseshoe on his finger. He puts the horseshoe away and picks up Qrow's weapon. The other uniformed operatives begin gathering everyone else's weapons, while Atlesian Knight-200s approach, and the operatives hand the confiscated weapons to the robots.

Clover then approaches Ruby, picks up the Relic, and looks at it, "Hm. Let's get them loaded into the next transport."

"Please! We were just trying to help!" Ruby said, angrily.

"What is the meaning of this?" Pietro asked, coughing. "What are the Ace-Ops even doing down here in Mantle?"

"Ace-Ops?"

"The hell are the Ace-Ops?" Jared asked, trying to break free. "I hate being in unknown territory."

"Doctor, good to see you. Well, we heard a report of an unauthorized ship making an unauthorized landing, followed by an unauthorized use of weapons by unlicensed Huntsmen." Clover said.

Maria turns and walks away.

"If we could just talk this out…" Pietro said.

"They'll be able to talk this out once they get to Atlas. Let's move out!" Clover said, tossing the Relic from one hand to the other.

The Ace-Ops split up and leave the area. Team RWBY, Team JNPR, Jared, Oscar, and Qrow are forced into the back of a secure van with their wrists bound.

"Now, this…this is much closer to what I was expecting." Qrow said.

The back doors of the van are slammed shut.