War

Farm plains/Atlesian military base...

There are a bunch of Atlesian Military soldiers holding guns nearby. As they watch, Grimm starts running through the fields.

"Yes, sir?" A soldier asked.

"I am evacuating all citizens to the subway. Prepare Manta Squad Omega, and dispatch to every part of Atlas." Ironwood said.

"But sir…"

"Now!"

Atlas...

"Citizens of Atlas, please proceed to the nearest underground subway station for shelter." Ironwood said, on screen.

"Dad? Look!" A son said.

"We need to go!" A father said.

Atlesian military base/Atlesian airship…

"We can't get the Hard Light shields back up, sir. The generators took too much damage!" Commander 1 said.

"Then don't waste resources on them. Beta Squad, the creature?" Ironwood asked.

"We tried bombs, missiles, but we can't make a dent, sir." Commander 2 said.

"Sir, Schnee here. Penny is still MIA, but we've apprehended Arc, Xiao Long, and Ren." Winter said.

"Stand by for further orders, and don't let those fugitives out of your sight." Ironwood said.

"Yes, sir. Of course." Winter said.

"Still just following orders." Yang said, scoffing.

"That's where the Grimm took Oscar. IT's even bigger than I thought." Jaune said.

"Grimm don't take prisoners." Vine said.

"This one did. If you would just let us go…" Yang said.

"Cease fire. Manta squads, concentrate on secondary hostiles. Command is working on a solution for the creature." Ironwood said.

"What do you have in mind, sir?" Winter asked.

"We aren't making any progress attacking the thing from the outside. But from the inside, it could be vulnerable. Science team is putting together a bomb. When it's ready, we'll drop it off as close to the target as possible. Then, your team will deliver it on foot. Sending your rendezvous coordinates now."

"Of course, sir. We will hold the point and we will get it done."

"But Oscar's in there!" Jaune said, worried.

"You can't do this!" Yang said, looking at Winter.

Monstra...

Emerald puts her ear to the door. Struggles can be heard. In the torture chamber, blood drips onto the floor.

Torture chamber...

"That stunt you pulled. She'd have killed you if you didn't just pop up somewhere else. Still, you can make things easier on yourself if you start telling the truth." Hazel said, walking up to Oscar, who has two black eyes and clothes caked with dried blood.

"You've never wondered why she recruited you? You, specifically, to help her find the Relics." Ozpin said.

"We share a vision. She's gonna create a new world order, no Kingdoms, and no Huntsmen Academies."

"New world order. No. When Salem gets all four Relics, there will be no world left at all. Don't you get it? She's been alive longer than you can comprehend. All she craves now is release. Death." Ozpin said, chuckling.

Hazel punches Oscar, dripping more blood on the floor.

"Stop lying! Salem can't be killed." Hazel said, walking over to Oscar. "When she came for me, I killed her over and over again. The longest she was gone was only a few hours, before she put herself back together. When I couldn't lift my arms anymore, she showed me that, through her, I could have the vengeance I needed."

"Oh, Hazel, don't you see? That is why she came for you. Because she could make you believe that this is what you needed." Ozpin said.

"This is what you deserve!"

"Yes! But Oscar? The people of Atlas, Remnant? You haven't done what you've done for justice. You've done it for yourself. Because she pushed you to think it would help you. Well, has it?"

Weiss' bedroom...

"Now what am I good for?" Nora asked, lying down on Weiss' bed.

"How is she?" Ruby asked.

"I've done what I can, but she needs a doctor." Weiss said.

"We're not having the Doctor waste regeneration energy on Nora." Jared said, sadly. "We need an actual medical doctor."

"You're not wrong. That Time Lord is in his final life."

"Hopefully, May's able to reach the others. I'm…I really hope they're okay." Blake said, walking towards the window to look outside. "Salem's monster is making Grimm faster than the Atlas military can kill them. The city won't stand a chance unless we stop it."

"It's massive. Way bigger than a Leviathan. What can we even do?" Ruby asked.

"I don't know. I really don't. This is one of the hardest decisions we had to make together." Jared said, sadly.

"Penny launched Amity and our message went out. Hopefully it reached the Doctor's world too. There's Symphogear, the SAO survivors, and Magical Girls there. Do we just wait for someone to come? If they even come." Weiss said.

"How did it all get like this?" Ruby asked.

"I don't know. Maybe it's the Silence. Or the Master?" Jared asked. "Some outside influence. Besides Salem."

"Fiona said your friends haven't been heard from in a while. Unfortunately, the last thing they're worried about is a couple of kids." May said, walking towards the door. "Come on, I've got the ship ready to head back and…"

"What? We can't leave." Weiss said.

"It's chaos at the crater. Atlas has its army, but Mantle only has us. People are dying." May said.

"People are dying here, too. Don't you have family in Atlas?" Weiss asked.

"No. Mantle needed me, and to the Marigolds, that meant I wasn't their son anymore. And I made sure that everyone knew that I wasn't their daughter. So forget 'em. They've got Henry, yours have Whitley. You get what I'm saying."

"I don't know about…"

"Which side are you on, anyway?" May asked.

"We've heard that before." Blake said.

"Yeah. From General Ironwood and the Ace Ops." Jared said, sadly.

"There are no sides! We want to help everyone. We're all facing Salem together. And together is the only way we're going to get out of it." Ruby said.

"So, how exactly do we get out of it?" May asked, letting out a sigh.

Torture chamber...

"So long as this world turns, you shall walk its face." Opzin said. "That was the curse cast upon her. But if Salem can divide Humanity beyond repair and bring all four Relics together, she believes that maybe her curse will be broken. The Gods will rule against us and destroy Remnant, once and for all."

"Nice story. But if Gretchen's death taught me one thing, it was never to trust you." Hazel said.

"Please, let me." Oscar said, in his head.

"But, Oscar…" Ozpin said, in Oscar's head.

"You want him to trust us? Then trust me."

Oscar's eyes glowed green and the farm boy took control of his body from Ozpin.

"Her name is Jinn." Oscar said, as Hazel is walking away from him. "You want her to come out of the Lamp? Just say her name. She can still answer one more question."

"After all that, you're just going to give Salem the password?" Hazel asked.

"No, I'm giving you the password and hoping you'll find the truth for yourself."

Monstra...

"He's a prisoner, Em. He'll say what he thinks will get him out." Mercury said.

"So you're still going to Vacuo, after what I just told you?" Emerald asked.

"Those are Salem's new orders, and I know better than to disobey Salem."

"But…"

"Look, even if what he said was true, we can't stop Salem. You told me yourself, Hazel tried. He failed and he got in line. Big guy's not going to pick fights he can't win, and neither should we." Mercury said, walking away from Emerald. "And all of this is pointless, anyway. Salem's not ending the world."

"Of course she is! You're surprised? Salem is destruction incarnate!" Tyrian said, laughing. "Our mistress wishes to see the end of it all! There is no ideal more beautiful." He walked over to Mercury. "If you couldn't see that from the start, you must be out of your mind." Tyrian dragged Mercury away from Emerald, laughing away. "Now come along, Mr. Black. You and I have a date with the desert."

Atlesian airship...

"That creature causes more damage every minute. We cannot wait." Vine said.

"Please, Winter, give us a chance to try to rescue him first! We…we could be your test run. You don't know what'll be waiting for you inside, right? So we can go ahead to check it out, and look for Oscar while we're inside." Jaune said.

"You want to go inside that thing alone?" Marrow asked.

"Wouldn't you do it for Elm? Harriet? Vine?" Yang asked.

"We don't let feelings get in the way of making the right call. Trading three lives for one is stupid." Elm said.

"No, it's not. He's our friend. We will do whatever it takes to find him, because we care about him." Ren said.

"I really had you pegged as the most level-headed of the bunch, but I guess you're just as naive." Harriet said, scoffing. "Feelings don't matter, the job matters. When you lose someone on your team, you move on. Replace them, like Marrow replaced Tortuga and Winter replaced…"

"No! No one is replaceable." Ren said, staring at Harriet, who has red flecks surrounding her. "You don't really believe that. You are furious about losing Clover, and you, you miss him."

"You don't know anything about me!"

"That's why you lost against Team RWBY. You, you try to fight how you feel about each other, so you'll never truly work as a team." Ren said, glancing at Marrow, who has blue flecks surrounding him, Elm, who has red and yellow flecks surrounding her, and Vine, who has green flecks surrounding him.

"Shut up! You don't know what you're talking about!" Elm said, angrily.

"Everyone, calm down." Winter said, looking at Jaune, Ren, and Yang. "Fine. We will drop you as close as we can to the monster."

"You can't be serious. They're fugitives and traitors!" Harriet said.

"I outrank you." Winter said, looking at Harriet, before walking up to Jaune, Ren, and Yang. "If you aren't out in time, we drop the payload. No matter what."

"We understand." Jaune said.

"You don't like this either. In fact, you don't want to be a part of it at all anymore." Ren said, looking at Marrow.

"I…I have a job to do, and I'm going to do it." Marrow said.

"I know you don't, either." Ren said, looking at Winter.

Winter, in Ren's eyes, has red, yellow, green, and blue flecks surrounding her.

Schnee Mansion…

"Wait, what about Qrow and Robyn? Well, maybe if we can get them out of wherever they're being held, they could…" Ruby said.

"No, see, you just don't get it! This is not a situation where everyone wins. Now, you call can come with me to help in Mantle, or I can drop you off near the front lines, if you still want to help Atlas." May said, looking at Ruby. "Your uncle and Robyn can't save us. We have to choose. So choose."

A sound at the door draws everyone's attention. Everybody draws their weapons.

"Ruby, I think we should…" Jared said, looking at Ebb and Flow that's in its bow form. "Who is it?"

They creep to the door. Weiss opens it cautiously, eyes widening in delight when she sees who it is.

"Klein!" Weiss said, gasping.

"Miss Schnee! I heard there was a patient here who needed my help." Klein said.

"I, I am so sorry, Klein. It's my fault that Father…"

"Please don't worry, my snowflake, it had nothing to do with you. And everything to do with Jacques." Klein said, as his eyes turned red.

"Well, that's sweet of you. But wait, how did you know…" Weiss said, looking at Jared. "Did you call him?"

"No, I didn't, Ice Queen." Jared said, frowning. "I don't even have his number."

"Ah, young Whitley. I'm so glad that you rang! May I please see the patient? I understand it's urgent." Klein said, walking up to Whitley.

"Yes, she's in Weiss's room. Just go up the…" Whitley said, walking down the stairs.

"I haven't been gone that long, Master Whitley. I believe I can find it."

"You called Klein?" Weiss asked.

"That girl needs a doctor. I didn't do it for you." Whitley said.

"I know. That's why it means so much to me." Weiss said, hugging Whitley, who, after some hesitation, hugs her back. "Did you call anyone else?"

Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Jared run out to see Penny, covered with neon green goop lying in front of the doors.

"I'm…I'm sorry." Penny said, collapsing to the ground.