Out in the Open

Mantle…

The citizens of Mantle run frantically in the streets, being chased by Beowolves and Sabyrs, while Teryxes and Giant Nevermores fly around above them.

On one street, a pair of Atlas Soldiers fire at a pack of Beowolves. A Beowolf manages to tackle one of the soldiers, and the other soldier shoots a fiery bullet at it, killing it. The first soldier does not get up. Five Mantas fly overhead, and one of them is taken down by a Teryx. Three Sabyrs round a corner and attempt to run down the street, only to be defeated by a missile. A group of civilians runs down the street that the Sabyrs came from, passing by the hole in Mantle's outer wall. A herd of Megoliaths is pouring in through the hole, and they almost trample the fleeing civilians.

Somewhere else in Mantle, more Sabyrs are running around, some of which are slain by Fiona Thyme, May Marigold and Joanna Greenleaf. Nearby, a Sabyr stands atop a car and watches the Happy Huntresses, who chase another Sabyr down an alley. The first Sabyr then jumps down from the car and runs down the street, going around a toppled car to find a Faunus woman and child hiding there.

"Here, kitty kitty!" Nora said, excitedly.

The Sabyr turns and looks up, seeing Nora standing atop a nearby roof. She jumps down and slams Magnhild down on its head, killing it. Weiss Schnee directs the Faunus woman on where to run, while Marrow Amin stands nearby with his gun ready. Another large group of Sabyrs approaches from down the street. Nora sighs, and she, Weiss and Marrow get ready to continue fighting.

Elsewhere in Mantle, Blake Belladonna is running from a Megoliath and three Ursai. Two of the Ursai run to either side of the Megoliath, while the third runs behind the Megoliath's hind leg. The Ursa behind the Megoliath shoves one of the other Ursai out of the way. It then attempts to tackle Blake, but she draws her katana and uses Dust to create a fire clone. Upon impact with the fire clone, the Ursa catches on fire and dies. The second Ursa attempts to tackle Blake, and she creates a lightning clone, moving to the other side of the street. As the third Ursa leaps to tackle her, she creates an ice clone, turns around in mid-air and fires her gun at the Ursa's head. The Ursa smashes into the ice clone, tumbles on the ground and is crushed to death under the Megoliath's foot.

Blake turns a corner and keeps running. Due to its momentum, the Megoliath is only able to make a wide turn around the corner, which causes it to slam into a building, breaking the windows on the ground floor and shaking loose some of the accumulated snow. With an angry trumpet, it continues to chase Blake. Just as it swings its trunk, she uses her Semblance to dodge, and it runs straight toward Elm Ederne, who uses her Semblance to root herself in place. Once the Megoliath reaches her, Elm grabs ahold of its face, stopping it in its tracks, which creates a shockwave that shatters all surrounding windows. She then uses the Megoliath's momentum to lift it into the air and proceeds to hold it there.

Down an adjacent street, Yang Xiao Long runs toward the Megoliath and then fires her weapon behind her to propel herself forward. As she slides on her knees under the Megoliath, she plants a series of bombs on it.

"Now!" Yang said.

Elm hurls the Megoliath into the air, and Yang detonates the bombs, killing it. The three take a moment to catch their breath, and Blake turns to some civilians who are hiding behind a toppled car.

"Head to the nearest shelter!" Blake said.

The civilians run away.

"Those shelters are gonna fill up soon." Yang said.

"They're all we've got. We just have to hold off the Grimm." Elm said.

As Elm speaks, a group of Sabyrs begin running toward them from down the street. Blake and Yang look at each other, concerned.

On a rooftop somewhere in Mantle, Qrow Branwen shoots at Teryxes, while Clover Ebi talks on his communicator.

"Okay, yes sir, understood, over and out." Clover said.

"New orders?" Qrow asked.

"Let's go."

Clover and Qrow jump down from the roof.

In an area near Mantle's outer wall, Marrow slays a Sabyr with his weapon. A Beowolf leaps over him and is promptly impaled by Weiss' Arma Gigas summon. The sword stabs into the ground very close to Marrow, who flinches away from it, grabbing onto his tail. Weiss peeks out from behind the sword, giving an apologetic giggle.

Beside the wall, Nora stands protectively in front of a group of civilians. The lights for the streets surrounding the area begin turning red one by one with the Grimm alarms sounding off. Afraid, the civilians back up against the wall.

"Take us to Atlas. We won't survive down here." A girl with a scarf said.

"Why isn't Ironwood doing anything?" A guy with horns asked.

The aggravated civilians begin shouting and walking toward Nora.

"Take us to Atlas!" A male civilian said.

"Please, everyone. We're doing our best. We will get you to safety. Just give us a little more time!" Nora said.

There is a loud ping noise, followed by a cyan glow, and the civilians stop and look up at the wall, where a giant hologram screen depicting Robyn Hill has appeared.

"Atlas, Mantle. I know you're scared. I'm here with General Ironwood, and we have a message for you." Robyn said, on screen.

The camera filming Robyn zooms out to show that she is holding Ironwood's left hand, and their hands are both glowing with green Aura.

"What he has to say may sound unbelievable...but it is all true." Robyn said, on screen.

Confused and still scared, the citizens of Mantle listen. Elsewhere in Mantle, Ruby Rose, Jared Shay, and Harriet Bree work together to kill a Beowolf. They then stop and look at a nearby hologram screen showing Ironwood.

"An ancient and terrible evil lies outside of our kingdom. It was responsible for the destruction of Beacon, the attack on Haven, and for the recent attacks on Mantle. This powerful force goes by the name of Salem." Ironwood said, on screen.

"He's doing it." Ruby said, grinning.

"Took him long enough." Jared said, his back behind Ruby's. "And Aqours is working properly again."

Jared looks down at Ebb and Flow that's in dual swords form. Ruby smirked and the two went back to fighting Grimm with Harriet.

Somewhere else, Lie Ren fires StormFlower's blades to swing from a traffic light, drop down on a Sabyr that is chasing civilians and stab it with his guns' blades.

"Salem seeks only to divide us." Ironwood said, on screen.

Jaune Arc uses his shield to slam another Sabyr against the overturned armored truck that Ren had leaped over. He then cuts the Sabyr in half.

"To turn us against each other. If she can incite hatred in us, then we will lure in the Grimm and destroy ourselves." Ironwood said, on screen.

A group of Sabyrs charges in from the direction that the civilians are fleeing in. Vine Zeki jumps onto an armored truck and uses his Aura arms to split the group of Sabyrs and pin them against the buildings on either side of the road.

"Salem herself does not work alone. Her minions have invaded our very city." Robyn said, on screen.

Hideout…

Cinder Fall and Neopolitan are watching Ironwood's live broadcast on a Scroll.

"Arthur Watts and Tyrian Callows." Ironwood said, on screen.

Neo looks at Cinder, who looks away.

"What?" Cinder asked, muttering.

"These men are the ones responsible for the recent murders in Mantle and for sabotaging the heating grid." Ironwood said, on screen.

Building...

Tyrian and Watts, who are hiding in a building's back patio, look toward Ironwood's voice and then at each other.

"But we cannot let ourselves give in to fear and panic. That is what she wants!" Ironwood said, on screen.

On the screen, Robyn and Ironwood are still holding hands, and the Aura coating their hands continues to glow green.

"Instead, we must unite, and fight back, together. Every single one of us!" Ironwood said, on screen.

Mantle...

Vine still has the Sabyrs pinned, and Jaune calls out to the civilians in front of him with a commanding tone, pointing his finger at them.

"Alright, single file line! Place a hand on the shoulder in front of you, eyes forward, move, move, move!" Jaune said, and as he issue his commands, the citizens look back at him and then begin following his instructions.

A pair of small children stand in front of Jaune, who kneels down and gives them a thumbs up and a grin.

"Show them how it's done, kids!" Jaune said, happily.

The child in a red coat salutes him. The two kids then turn on their heels, the kid in the red coat placing their hand on the other child's shoulder. They then begin marching with serious expressions on their faces.

"Where did you learn to do that?" Vine asked.

Jaune stands back up.

"Uh, morning school route?" Jaune asked, awkwardly.

Jaune places his hand on Ren's shoulder, and they both close their eyes and concentrate. Ren uses his Semblance, which Jaune amplifies, allowing it to conceal the civilians' emotions. The two children grin while they lead the line of scared adults.

"This, my friends, is why I was forced to divert resources from Mantle...for the Amity Communication Tower." Ironwood said, on screen.

Building...

Watts and Tyrian continue to listen to a small hologram screen that is perched in the nearby alleyway. At the moment, the screen is only displaying Ironwood from the chest up.

"Amity Tower is now completed and ready to launch. It will re-establish all global communications…" Ironwood said, on screen.

Watts withdraws his Scroll and taps the screen a few times, bringing up a hologram of Amity Tower, while Tyrian sharpens his weapon with a whet stone.

"The Colosseum remodeling was a communications tower? How did James get this past me?" Watts asked.

"Because the safety of every citizen is imperative, the council and I have decided to evacuate everyone in Mantle to Atlas. I am withdrawing all defenses from Amity in order to assist with repelling the Grimm in Mantle." Ironwood said, on screen.

"We must put aside our differences and band together to defeat this threat. I fully support General Ironwood's plan." Robyn said, on screen.

Mantle...

Mantle's citizens begin cheering, and Nora turns around and looks at the crowd. One of the female civilians picks up a gun from a broken Atlesian Knight-200 and holds it in the air.

Building...

Tyrian screams in anger and punches a concrete wall, cracking it.

"The Grimm should have destroyed our enemies, not made them friends!" Tyrian said, furious.

"Wait." Watts said, turning off the Amity Tower hologram, pockets his Scroll and stands in front of Tyrian. "Our tin soldier's heart has cost him his mind. We need to keep their attention on Mantle for as long as possible."

"You want more chaos than a Grimm invasion?" Tyrian asked, with a crooked grin.

"If anyone on Remnant could deliver that, wouldn't it be you?" Watts asked.

On the nearby screen, Robyn begins speaking, and Tyrian and Watts turn their attention to it. Tyrian hovers his tail's stinger around her face from his point of view.

"If you've made it to your local shelter, stay put. Help is on the way. And for those of you in Sector 17, I'll be seeing you personally." Robyn said, on screen.

"Come to think of it, I do have an idea." Tyrian said, tapping his fingers together.

Tyrian grins.

Hideout...

"I still can't believe those idiots beat us here." Cinder said, while she angrily turns on her toes and walks over to the window, crossing her arms. "Vacuo was supposed to be the next target." She stares out the window for a moment, calming down. ��The timeline has changed." Cinder turns and looks at Neo. "You said the farm boy has the lamp?"

Still sitting in a chair, Neo nods.

"Find him, take it." Cinder said.

Neo stands up with attitude, striking an exaggerated shrugging pose while using her Semblance to look like Ruby.

"No! We get what I need first! Then we get what we want! Now go." Cinder said.

Neo turns away, crossing her arms.

Cinder smirks and walks over to Neo, "Ironwood's been hiding the Winter Maiden for years. Tonight I'm going to find her."

Cinder takes the Scroll from Neo's hand and deploys its screen again, earning an annoyed look from Neo, who drops the Ruby illusion.

"The general's as predictable as his androids." Cinder said, while she begins walking away. "Threaten what he has, and he'll flock to protect it."

Cinder tosses the Scroll back to Neo, who catches it and then looks at her.

Mantle...

A large fleet of Mantas arrive in Mantle, and one lands near the crowd of citizens that Nora, Weiss, Marrow and the Happy Huntresses were defending. The side door slides open, and a ramp deploys. Inside are two Atlas soldiers.

"Get in, get in!" A soldier said.

Civilians begin entering the Manta in a single file line, while Nora guards the ramp. There is a loud bang, and a bright green streak soars across the sky.

Another Manta lands in an intersection near Blake, Yang and Elm. Blake runs into the Manta, while Yang beckons the nearby citizens toward the ramp. Suddenly, there's a rumbling sound, and the Grimm sirens begin blaring. Three Megoliaths turn the corner and head toward the Manta, worrying Yang and Blake.

Elm stands between the Megoliaths and the Manta, holding her hammer, "I've got this!"

Elm roots herself in place with her Semblance and transforms her hammer into a rocket launcher. With a smirk, she takes aim and fires a pair of rockets, her Semblance keeping her stable. The rockets kill the Megoliaths, and the citizens aboard the Manta cheer. Elm turns and looks at them, appearing somewhat surprised. She then grins and does an 'OK' sign with her hand. There is a loud bang, and the bright green streak from earlier soars across the sky.

Ruby, Harriet, and Jared are standing with some civilians, and Ruby is using her communicator.

"Alright, we just need to get everyone to the closest airpad." Ruby said.

"The closest LZ is…" Harriet said, pointing down the street.

Suddenly, the ground begins shaking with a loud thumping noise. A manhole clatters with each thump.

"Okay, that sounds like a Megoliath." Jared said, holding Ebb and Flow in dual swords form. "That sounds easy enough."

In the direction Harriet pointed, a car goes tumbling across the intersection.

Harriet gestures to the intersection, "There."

An Alpha Megoliath walks out from around the corner and turns to face them. It utters a roar and begins charging down the street. However, the green streak from earlier flies by behind it, and then a large green laser swoops across the street in front of it, striking its tusk. This causes it to tilt its head to the side and stop charging. The civilians around Ruby, Harriet, and Jared run away, screaming, and Penny Polendina flies down to stand next to Ruby and Jared. Harriet and Penny nod to each other and then hurry forward to fight the Alpha Megoliath.

"Ruby needs time to think." Jared said, turning Ebb and Flow into dual pistols mode. "I don't have a plan to deal with this."

Ruby closes her eyes and concentrates, partially blocking out the sounds around her. However, the Alpha Megoliath's roar breaks her concentration, and she opens her eyes wide, looking at the fight in front of her.

Penny and Jared are shooting at it with their weapons in gun mode, while Harriet speeds around it.

"So, what do we do?" Penny asked.

"I don't know." Jared said, as he is wearing his suit of armor. He launched himself into the sky with the suit's thrusters. "Think of something, Little Red!"

Ruby glances down at her belt where she used to keep the Relic of Knowledge, then uses her Semblance to get onto a nearby rooftop, where she fruitlessly fires her sniper rifle at the Alpha Megoliath.

"I'm trying." Ruby said, annoyed.

Flying near the Alpha Megoliath, Penny arranges her swords in a circle and spins them like a buzzsaw, slashing at the side of its head. Penny then stabs the swords into the side of its mask, and it trumpets in pain and attempts to turn its head away.

"Nice and gentle…" Jared said, looking at Penny.

Noticing the resistance from Penny pulling on the threads, the Alpha Megoliath looks at Penny, who gasps. It then jerks its head to the side, yanking Penny toward it. She slams into its tusk and is sent flying over the buildings, screaming. Ruby watches Penny and then flies after her with her Semblance. Jared used the thrusters from his suit to fly after Ruby and Penny.

Ruby and Jared find Penny unconscious, having crashed into the road hard enough to damage it.

Ruby drops to her knees beside her with Jared, "Penny, are you okay?"

The light in the middle of Penny's bow turns on, and she opens her eyes and then looks at Ruby and Jared with a smile.

"Ouch." Penny said, hopping to her feet and putting her fists to her hips, and Ruby and Jared stood back up. "Those tusks sure are dangerous."

"They sure are." Ruby said, ruining for a second, then looked at Penny and Jared. "I think I have a plan."

Penny and Jared smile confidently and nod. There is a pause, and then Penny tilts her head in curiosity.

"What is it?" Penny asked.

"What's the plan?" Jared asked.

Harriet continues speeding around the Alpha Megoliath. She leaps and reaches for its trunk, but it kicks her in the back, knocking her to the ground. It then tries to step on her, and she holds its foot up above her. However, the red wires on her weapon begin glowing brightly, and the weapon itself begins to spark with electricity. Just as her weapon begins emitting a noise, she manages to push the Alpha Megoliath's foot away from her, sending herself flying backward and tumbling across the road. Her Aura flickers, and she pushes herself up onto her hands and knees.

Penny fires a laser at the Alpha Megoliath's tusk just in time, distracting it from Harriet, "Over here, you big bag of bones!"

"You piece of shit! You're really fucking annoying! Try and get us!" Jared said, standing next to Penny.

The street lamps along the road that Penny and Jared are on turn red, and the Grimm sirens blare. The Alpha Megoliath starts running toward Penny, who shifts her swords into gun mode and arranges them in a circle. The circle of guns spins rapidly, charging and then firing a huge laser. The Alpha Megoliath tilts its head down to the laser and begins struggling against it, still trying to get to Penny and Jared.

Jared is wearing his version of Ichaival and he sent out a Mega Deth Party at the Alpha Megoliath, "I have to admit, sending out explosives to a Grimm is fun."

The Megoliath slowly makes its way forward, step by step, while Penny and Jared slides backward a little.

"Lower the firepower a bit." Penny said, separating three guns from the circle and uses them to fire a smaller laser directly at the Alpha Megoliath's right front tusk.

"I know that!" Jared said, and his suit transformed for it to return to its normal appearance, for Juliet's Rose to pop up. "Ha!"

Jared sent out a Kill Juliet from the scythe towards the Megoliath. The smaller concentrated beam begins heating and scorching the tusk, and Penny concentrates while the Alpha Megoliath continues to make its way toward her and Jared.

"Now!" Ruby said, angrily.

Penny clenches her fists and pulls back, and the concentrated lasers shut off. Now unimpeded, the Alpha Megoliath charges toward Penny and Jared once again, and Ruby uses her Semblance to fly past her and stops next to the scorched tusk, hooking her scythe on it.

"This will work." Jared said, smirking.

Ruby places her feet against the tusk and then fires her rifle and kicks off, slicing through the burned portion of the tusk. While the Alpha Megoliath rears up and roars, Penny catches the severed tusk and slams it into the road below.

Ruby lands next to the Alpha Megoliath's rear foot, hooks her scythe on its ankle and fires the rifle to give the Alpha Megoliath a painful cut. Jared used his suit to spin around to turn into a top, with his scythe in his hand, to give the Alpha Megoliath another cut.

"Game set." Ruby said, looking at Jared.

"And match." Jared said, giving a Ruby a high five.

It jerks its foot away, jumping and uttering a pained trumpet, before falling over onto the severed horn, which impales its chest. Now deceased, it disintegrates.

The street lamps return to their normal color, and the Grimm sirens shut off. Civilians come out of hiding, looking at Penny.

"Yeah, they saved us!" A guy with dog ears said, his fist in the air.

The citizens begin cheering and clapping.

"The protector of Mantle!�� A woman in the crowd said.

Harriet rolls her shoulder and then looks around, as citizens approach Penny.

"Just sent the ship up. Heading to the next LZ." Yang said, over the communicator.

Harriet rests her fists against her hips and smiles at Penny, who turns and smiles at Ruby and Jared.

"Ditto!" Nora said, over the communicator.

"Same here!" Jaune said, over the communicator.

"Miss. Hill, the southern outskirts are clear." Penny said, using her communicator.

Elsewhere in Mantle, Robyn is standing with Joanna and some civilians, listening to Penny on her communicator.

"It should be safe to begin evacuations now." Penny said, over the communicator.

"Great work, Penny. Over and out." Robyn said, and she stops using her communicator and turns to Joanna. "Make sure you get these people to safety. I'm gonna check for any stragglers."

Joanna nods in affirmation and hurries along the sidewalk with the citizens. Robyn heads down a nearby alleyway alone, and Tyrian watches her from a roof, chuckling. He jumps down into the alley behind her, and she turns and aims her crossbow at him.

"Robyn Hill. For such a little bird, you have quite the impact around here!" Tyrian said, playfully:

Robyn fires a crossbow bolt at Tyrian's head, which he leans and twists to the right to avoid. He turns to face her again and begins walking toward her.

"Bringing hope and a smile wherever you go!" Tyrian said, aggressively. "Just like a fanboy from another universe."

Robyn fires another bolt, but Tyrian catches it between his index and middle fingers.

"I find it…" Tyrian said, sadly with a growl. "...upsetting."

Tyrian turns the bolt to hold it in his hand and then bends it with his thumb. With a flick of his wrist, he tosses the bolt away while simultaneously deploying the blades on his weapon. Laughing maniacally, he charges toward her, deflecting two more crossbow bolts with his blades. Just as he approaches her, a fish hook flies out from somewhere, and he knocks it away and hops backward, landing with his tail propping him up. He looks in the direction the hook came from.

"Huh?" Tyrian asked, looking at Robyn, and Qrow and Clover dropped down behind her.

"Sorry Callows, I really wanted to pummel you on my own, but the General insisted I share." Robyn said.

Qrow and Clover walk forward to stand beside Robyn, with Qrow drawing his weapon and Clover resting his fishing pole on his shoulder. Qrow tilts his sword's blade down to put it into gun mode.

"Well, you're not the only one with a grudge." Clover said.

While Clover speaks, Qrow aims his gun at Tyrian.

"You'll both have to get in line." Qrow said.

Tyrian glares at them and growls.

Amity Colosseum...

A Manta flies toward the Amity Communications Tower, which now has Gravity Dust at its base instead of Wind Dust. Soon afterward, Watts is walking through one of the Colosseum's hallways. Supplies and ladders are still lining the walls, and there are cables hanging from the ceiling. One of the walls has a poster depicting a dog-eared Faunus wearing a hard hat surrounded by purple crystals, with the text 'CAUTION VOLATILE DUST ON-SITE' at the top. He reaches the arena and looks around.

"Hmm…this will certainly do the trick. Although I wouldn't exactly call it finished." Watts said.

Suddenly, metal doors slam shut on all entrances into the arena, and Ironwood's voice echoes throughout the Colosseum.

"Arthur Watts…" Ironwood said.

The arena lights and the light inside the commentator's booth turn on, and Watts looks over his shoulder at the booth, where Ironwood is holding a microphone.

"Welcome." Ironwood said.

Watts walks across the arena floor, toward the booth, staring up at him, "It wasn't finished...it was bait."

Ironwood tosses aside the microphone and leaps out of the booth, landing on the arena floor in a kneel. He stands up.

"You know, James, this place has always been a technological marvel." Watts said, tossing his bag out of the arena, and the two approach each other. "Truly. Even before you went and, uh, did all this." They begin walking in a circle, keeping their eyes on each other. "The different types of Dust, the biome system, and of course, everything that goes into controlling them."

Watts holds up his right hand and wiggles his fingers. With a high-pitched noise, his rings begin glowing cyan, and he slams his hand onto the floor. The arena emits a low ping noise. Four of the biome randomizer screens appear, and the four panels that do not have screens above them begin receding. As Watts straightens up, there is a gunshot, and he blocks the bullet with a hard-light shield projected from his rings. Ironwood is aiming Due Process, his white revolver, at him.

"You always were a pain in the ass." Ironwood said.

The biome randomizer screens finally stop spinning through the options. All four land on a purple icon depicting levitating platforms. The remaining four panels begin receding, and Watts looks around. Ironwood fires another shot just as Watts begins running. Ironwood continues firing at Watts, who leaps off the panel, into the biome below. Gravity biomes begin rising up in the four sections that had the biome randomizer screens. Ironwood looks around, watching these biomes rise up. Finally, he sees Watts standing on a levitating platform on the fourth and final biome that he looks at.

"At the risk of sounding cliche, James…" Watts said, drawing his revolver, spins the chamber and aims it at Ironwood. "I won't be going down without a fight."