Refuge

Prison...

Qrow Branwen is holding Clover Ebi's bloodied pin in his hand, staring somberly at it, while sitting in a prison cell made of Hard-Light Dust. Footsteps can be heard pacing.

"This is your fault. You realize that, don't you? All I wanted was to bring people together, to give them a chance at a better life. But you…" Robyn said, sighing.

Robyn angrily glares to the individual in the next cell over.

"Me? I am a victim!" Jacques said, while Robyn scoffs upon hearing this. "I'll admit I was duped. Used! And although my hands may not be clean, at least I am not…" He slightly turns to Qrow. "...a murderer!"

Qrow looks up upon hearing that. Robyn gives him a sympathetic look.

"He didn't kill anybody…" Robyn said, raising her voice. "And I'm not gonna stand here and be lectured by some snake with a mustache who helped that man tear us all apart!"

Qrow and Jacques look over to another adjacent cell, where said man is revealed as Arthur Watts, shown contently lying down on his bench with his hands propped behind his head.

"Yes, well…I suppose we're all stuck in it together now." Watts said, raising his hand.

"Speak for yourself, I know the right people. I'm sure Whitley has reached out to my legal team and will have me out of here before you can say…" Jacques said.

"SHUT UP!" Robyn said, punching the Hard-Light Dust wall, startling Jacques.

Suddenly, a buzzer sound is heard, getting the prisoners' attention. Qrow hides Clover's pin. A squad of Atlesian military soldiers enter the room and disable the hard-light Dust for Watts' cell and enter.

"You do realize you already caught me." Watts said.

One of the soldiers uses his gun to bash Watts' head, knocking him out. Jacques is startled at the sight. The prisoners watch the soldiers drag Watts away and out of the room.

"I hate not being able to do anything…" Robyn said, sighing and sitting back down on her bench.

"We can do something…" Qrow said, lifting his head up with a dark look in his eyes. "We can kill the man who put us here…"

Mantle...

A news report is playing, showing a picture of James Ironwood with the symbol of Atlas behind him. The news network Atlas Eye has the subtitle 'DEVELOPING STORY: GENERAL IRONWOOD HALTS MANTLE EVACUATIONS' displayed on the bottom of the screen.

"With still no word from General Ironwood, Mantle citizens are frightened and perplexed by the sudden withdrawal of military personnel, especially given the massive Grimm horde outside the kingdom." A reporter said, while images of various flying Grimm as well as the Monstra are shown on screen. "I've…never seen anything quite like this."

In the background, civilians can be seen evacuating in the streets. Joanna Greenleaf is seen looking over it before turning around to notice the news team.

"It truly feels like the end of days, but the Atlas Eye is committed to updating the public, until our dying…" The reporter said.

Suddenly, Joanna grabs the microphone from the reporter.

"Wha--? Hey, wait!" The reporter said, angrily.

Joanna stabs her weapon in the ground and glares at the reporter, startling him.

Joanna then looks to the camera and starts speaking, "Citizens of Mantle, General Ironwood has abandoned you, but we have not! If you can hear this, gather any food and supplies you need to stay warm, then head to the Mantle crater."

While she speaks, a montage of Mantle citizens are shown leaving their homes and making their way down the streets to safety. A pair of Atlesian Knight-130s are shown investigating Pietro Polendina's pharmacy, but they are gunned down by Yang Xiao Long, accompanied by Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Oscar Pine, and Ozzie Oswald.

"The Grimm are starting to make their way back into the city, but we can hold the line if we all come together. If we don't, well…you've all seen what's waiting for us out in the storm. It's time to show your teeth, Mantle." Joanna said, walking away from the camera and shoves the microphone back into the reporter's hands.

Pietro's pharmacy…

Yang opens a door to a darkened room. Jaune finds the light switch to turn it on. Yang gasps and smiles in glee upon seeing what is in the room, with Ren, Oscar, and Ozzie peeking over too.

"Motorcycle." Ozzie said, smiling. "Now this is more of my style."

"You like bikes. You're my kind of girl." Yang said, looking at Ozzie. "Alright, the others are definitely missing out."

Mantle...

Out in the streets, Yang, Jaune, Ren, and Ozzie pilot a quartet of hoverbikes, with Oscar riding backseat with Yang. Yang then notices a ramp she wants to jump off of.

"Yang! Yang, no! No!" Oscar said, panicking.

Too late. Yang jumps off the ramp and uses Ember Celica to fire a round off the wall and do a flip in midair on the hoverbike. As Yang smiles at the thrill, some of her hair gets caught in Oscar's mouth, which he tries to spit out. They land safely back on the ground.

"Yang, she's awesome." Ozzie said, revving the hover bike she is on. "Wow."

Jaune and Ren exchange a look, with Jaune bumping over a piece of debris. As the four continue their ride through the Mantle streets, they are unawarily being watched by a Grimm-like figure perched on a bridge overhead.

"Yeah…" Jaune said, sadly. "She is."

Later on, Ozzie is shooting a security camera with her bow, disabling it.

"At least I'm helping." Ozzie said, looking down at her bow.

Oscar helps evacuate people, knocking on the doors of people's homes. A large group of civilians are gathered.

Jaune is seen doing a fist bump handshake with a child, before looking to his parent, "Only take what you need."

Yang is seen standing before the large group of civilians.

"The crater? Are you sure it's safe out there?" The mother asked.

"Absolutely ma'am." Yang said.

Suddenly, Yang hears people screaming behind her. They are seen running away from a pair of Sabyrs. They charge forward.

Jaune runs up and takes out a unique device that charges up, "Heads up!"

Jaune throws the device a distance away, with it activating a large hard light shield upon impact that prevents the Sabyrs from going any further.

"Force field. Nice." Ozzie said, looking at Jaune. "Can Grimm go through it?"

As the Sabyrs try to claw at it, Ren comes in from above and stabs them with his blades, causing them to dissipate.

"I don't think so." Ren said, studying Ozzie closely. "You look familiar. Have we met?"

The shield deactivates and Ren kicks the device back to Jaune's shield, which grabs it with gravity Dust.

"Way better than a hover bike." Jaune said, smirking.

"Have the Grimm already pushed this far in?" Oscar asked.

"No, I think those were more from last night. Still…Ren! If Jaune hits you with his Aura Amp, think you can mask everyone?" Yang asked.

"We can give it a shot, but it is a lengthy trip through Mantle." Ren said.

"No, no, that's a great idea." Jaune said.

"Amplifying someone's Aura. Will it work?" Ozzie asked.

"It has to."

"Do we really gotta shack up with those animals down in the slums? I'd feel a lot safer being up in Atlas." The disgruntled grandmother said, sadly.

"Yeah, I'm sure you would. But the people up top have decided you're not worth the trouble. The Faunus, on the other hand, have been willing to lend all the help they can. Regardless of whether or not you deserve it." Yang said.

"So, I'll just…go get our things then." The mother said.

Yang, Jaune, Ren, Oscar, and Ozzie guide the people throughout the streets of Mantle using with Ren's Semblance.

"I don't want to go to the slums." The disgruntled grandmother said.

"Mother!" The mother said, angrily.

"General Ironwood said we were going to Atlas."

"You're setting a bad example!"

"Those kids should…" The disgruntled grandmother said, making unintelligible grunts.

"It should not be this hard getting people to just cooperate." Oscar said.

"She didn't need to yell at me." The disgruntled grandmother said.

"Mother, it's fine. It's fine." The mother said.

"And yet, it's something I'm becoming increasingly concerned about." Ozpin said, in Oscar's head.

"You know I really don't need your additional commentary right now." Oscar said.

"You all have every right to be upset, especially you Oscar. I'm sorry I left you."

"I'm not upset that you left. I'm upset you came back. I started to feel like me. Not the same me I was before all of this but, the me I always wanted to be. I felt, like I was actually part of the team."

"I understand. But even though it may not have felt like I was with you, I was never truly gone. You're gaining control of my remaining magic, recollecting my longest held memories. Which means our two souls are still on the inevitable path to becoming one."

"But I don't want that." Oscar said.

"Neither do I." Ozpin said, in Oscar's head.

"Hey, you good?" Jaune asked.

"It's just a lot to focus on." Ren said.

"You can do it Ren. We're almost to the Crater…"

"I don't need a pep talk. I need to focus."

"Right."

"We need to find a way to work together, not just the two of us, all of us." Ozpin said, in Oscar's head.

"Things don't look so bad." Ozzie said, smiling. "We're saving people from Grimm. This is easy."

Snowshine Shipping...

"Alright, come on." May said.

"Thanks again for coming." Nora said.

"We really appreciate it." Jared said, happily. "I've been in unknown territory for a while. I wouldn't have thought about coming here."

"Don't mention it. Once Robyn learned about Amity Tower, she wouldn't shut up about it. Wherever she is, I'm sure she would want us doing what we can to get it up in the air and get the world talking again." May said. "Besides, Fiona's got your friends helping out in my stead."

"Yeah." Nora said.

"Are you sure this is safe?" Ruby asked.

"Snowshoe Shipping is an SDC subsidiary, meaning all the drones here report to the company, not the general." Weiss said, walking around the room. "The pneumatic tubes allow for Dust refined in the crater to be sent straight up to Atlas. We just need to find the one for the military base."

"So, this is like Futurama." Jared said, happily.

"Futurama?" May asked.

"It's this TV show Jared watched back home." Weiss said, crossing her arms. "He watched too much TV."

"Are there any buildings in Atlas that your family doesn't own?" Blake asked, looking at Weiss.

"That isn't relevant at the moment."

"Hey." Ruby said, walking up to Penny.

"Are you okay?" Jared asked, looking at Penny.

"I do not like it when friends fight." Penny said.

"I know. Yang and I may not agree on how best to save Mantle, and Jared tried to do our way to save the Earth, but…" Ruby said, sadly.

"No. I mean Winter. The general. They were our friends. But then the Ace Ops attacked you. And the general, he said people were going to die, because of me." Penny said.

"Ironwood was lying." Jared said, looking at Penny. "He was saying it to hurt you, that's all."

"I was the protector of Mantle, but now, I am much more than that, and I wish I was not."

"But, you're still you Penny. By becoming the Winter Maiden you did protect Mantle." Ruby said, grabbing Jared's hand.

"Thank you Ruby, Jared."

"I found it!" Nora said, excitedly.

"I suppose there's no turning back now." Blake said.

"Between our secret weapon and my Semblance, you all couldn't be in better hands." May said, disappearing and reappearing.

"Your Semblance is just like mine!" Jared said, happily. "That's awesome!"

"Did you just…" Blake said, rolling her eyes. "Copy what Ruby said to Harriet?"

"He did…" Weiss said.

"So how do we use this thing?" Nora asked.

"It should be simple. If you lie back in the tube and press launch…"

Nora presses a button on the nearby console, sending Weiss up the tube, causing her to scream in surprise.

"Weiss Schnee is not the Impostor."' Jared said, smirking.

As the others look on with bewildered expressions, Nora expresses joy at the sight.

"Um, you played way too much Among Us." Ruby said.

Slums...

"No Crimson, I need you and your team over in Sector 11. Mantle police are helping us clear the hospital, but they're going to need backup." Fiona said.

"You're doing great Fi. Robyn would be proud." Joanna said.

"I feel like you should be doing this after flexing on the news like that."

"How else was I supposed to get the word out? Besides it seems to be working." Joanna said, chuckling.

"Where's this group coming in from?" Fiona asked.

"That would be Sector 7." Yang said.

"You cleared 7 already? That's great! To be honest, I wasn't sure how you'd be doing without all of your teammates."

"Well, as you can see we're doing just fine."

"But where are you putting everyone?" Oscar asked.

"We're working to get most of them settled in houses or other shelters. A large portion of the community is also trying to get old mine shafts into a livable condition." Fiona said.

"We've got a lot of people to keep warm. Looting the SDC refineries is our best source of Dust. Fortunately no one's getting arrested during the apocalypse." Joanna said.

"Why are the Grimm circling around Atlas and Mantle?" Ozzie asked. "What are they waiting for? I don't like this one bit."

"Fi! We got another fight breaking out." Fiona's Uncle said.

"Crap. Thanks uncle! We'll handle it…" Fiona said.

"I'll handle it. You've got enough to worry about." Joanna said, running away.

"Fiona? Crimson again. We spotted a decent sized group of Grimm moving in from the east. Can't take them with all these civvies." Crimson said, over the earpiece.

"Oh, for crying out loud." Fiona said, walking away.

"Did he say east?" Yang asked.

Mantle...

"Ready?" Oscar asked.

"Now!" Yang said, getting rid of the Grimm. "Okay Fiona. That's one more problem taken care of."

"Good, cause we're getting reports of more Grimm coming in from the west. The Huntsmen there coil really use some backup." Fiona said.

"Okay. We're on our way." Yang said, letting out a sigh.

"Talk about herding up some Grimm." Ozzie said, frowning.

"It's all the negativity. Salem's forces aren't moving in, but it's enough to start attracting the stragglers." Oscar said.

"Oh. That's not good."

"Guys, we're not finished." Ren said, looking at the Grimm.

"All right. We need to hurry this up and take…" Yang said.

"What just happened?" Ren asked.

"What are they doing?" Ozzie asked.

"They ran. I've never seen Grimm act that way before." Jaune said.

"But what were they running from?" Oscar asked.

"Oscar!" Ozzie said, when Oscar got picked up by a Grimm.

"Wait! It's using Oscar as a shield." Yang said.

"But Grimm aren't that smart." Jaune said.

"Give him back!" Ren said.

The Hound held out Oscar between the four Huntsmen.

"No." The Hound said, and he sprouted out wings, flew off and carried Oscar with him.

"Did it just...?" Jaune asked.

"Yeah. It flew." Ozzie said, sadly.

"Kids, what's your status? West side's taking damage." Fiona said, over the comms.

"What do we do?" Ren asked.

"Kids. What's your status?" Fiona asked, over the comms.

"We've got an emergency, we're not going to make it." Yang said, looking at the Hound.

"What? What kind of emergency?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."