Chapter 45: Atlas 2246

Atlas Academy was empty, no one knew what had happened inside the academy expect for Julien Gemstone. The lights in Ironwood's office was flickering, while the hall was pitch black, the dorms were sealed tightly. No way in or no way out of the rooms, the bloody message started to harden and turn crusty.

The war was still going on outside, but none of the Atlas soldiers or Winter knew Ironwood was dead. The bomb was almost ready to be sent into the Monstra so it could be blown sky high along with Salem and the others. But something made the air feel eerie and dark.

Back at the Schnee Manor, Ruby was trying to get in touch with Yang, but noticed Julien's number instead. She hesitated for a bit, she wasn't sure if he knew where she was at. She wanted to make sure everyone was safe, but at the rate things were going. She was starting to lose hope in everything.

"Ruby.." Blake said looking at her. "Is everything okay?"

Ruby was silent as she puts her scroll away. "Y-Yeah, I was just debating on if I should give Julien a call or not." She walked out of the room and into the Willow's room. She took a deep breath as she looked out the window seeing the chaos going on. "Yang...please be safe..."

There is a knocking heard at the front of the Schnee Manor, not panicked, but almost slow and weak. The person on the other end was more than likely exhausted, or it was a Grimm trap, attempting to lure people out.

Blake's ears perked up as she slowly made her way to the door, she gripped onto her weapon as she looked at the door. "Who's there?!"

"I'm just here because of a quick search on public records... Is the team of Yang Xiao Long here? The scroll ping said that there were some members here." Julien stated calmly. He had traveled on foot to the Schnee Manor following the only lead he knew being Yang Xiao Long.

"Who are you?" Blake asked.

Ruby peered out and went down the hall. "It's Julien...let him in." She stood there by the steps watching Blake open the door.

Julien slowly stepped in with a sigh. He looks to Ruby and his heart sank, "I take it that you're Ruby... I heard some great things about you girls. I was even happy to make Yang's arm... But..." He seemed to be beating around the bush, struggling to find the words to tell Ruby what he had found in the office about the message. He took a deep breath and exclaimed, "Yang and the General are both dead... Their names were written in blood in his office. I only have a few ideas on who could have done this, but there is no way some bloody Grimm was smart enough to write their names on the wall."

Ruby's heart sank, as she looked pale. "Y-You're lying....Y-Yang wouldn't be dead....t-this is some sort of joke.." She was shaking her head as she covered her ears. "It's a lie."

Blake was silent as she clinched her fist. "D-Damn it...she's going to kill us all..."

Julien looked around the area, trying to avoid further eye contact, "There was someone with what looked like... Nevermore wings I think? Red hair? Anyway she was flying away, and flipped me off which I promptly returned the favor-that's besides the point I am going on tangent, sorry." Julien paused before asking, "Does "she" resemble the girl I described?" He asked Blake.

Ruby's eyes widen. "Scarlet...that....she." She was lost for words. "S-She killed my sister....she killed Derek...she killed Willow and Whitley...Vest...Krystal..." She seemed even paler than before. "I-I need.."

Blake looked over to her. "This is a warning....I know you want to save everyone Ruby...but....Salem's already here, Scarlet's killing us left and right..."

Julien looks back to Ruby, "If it means anything, I am on board with trying to take her down. That's a Gemstone promise." As he spoke he looked between both Blake and Ruby to show that he meant that to both of them.

~~~

Suddenly, Ruby's scroll started to ring. She took her scroll out seeing a unknown number as she looked at Julien and Blake. She answered the call soon after ."H-Hello...??"

"Hello Ruby....do you know who this is?" Scarlet asked.

Ruby fell silent as she had her on speaker. "Y-you...you killed my sister!"

"Say my name...say it." Scarlet said.

"S-Scarlet." Ruby said.

Scarlet smirked. "Ooh I love it when you say my name." She snickered a little.

Julien got on guard, "So it was her... Now I've got a name to curse at." Julien mumbled to himself to try and keep himself calm, but he was completely on edge.

"Why are you doing this?" Ruby asked. "Where are you?!"

"Ruby.." Blake said.

"Why? Because...unlike you my dear little sister..I get pleasure out of killing." Scarlet said as she laughed. "But don't you worry your little head...once I've killed everyone else...you'll be my personal toy..."

Ruby's hands were shaking as she gulps. "W-What do you mean...kill everyone else? You're heartless and cruel!"

"Aw..that's so sweet." Scarlet said. "You see...I have your friends here with me...Jaune, Draken, Ren and Oscar...One swipe to their necks will end them."

Julien heard the threat and turns to the door, "We need to..." He debated leaving the manor and going in search of Ruby's friends to stop them from being killed, but not for them, but to get revenge for Ironwood. However, he had no clue about anything else about the situation or what was happening. He stood there, almost frozen in time with his thoughts.

"Until then...it's time you and your other friends played with my pets." Scarlet said as she hung up.

"Pets?" Blake asked. "She doesn't mean...."

Ruby dropped her scroll as she wipes her tears away. "....You're right....I can't save everyone...but this is going too far..." She glanced over to Blake and Julien. "Everyone's counting on us to get Salem and them out of Atlas and Mantle..."

Julien nodded as he turned around to face them, "Yeah, you're right. I might not be much of a fighter, but I am a weapon technician and know my way around vehicles and airships. I'll do my best to help out in combat or just boosting our gear. Just tell me what to do, and I'll do my part to help bring an end to this nightmare." Julien then jokingly said to himself, "Even if I ain't gettin' paid."

"We need to tell Nora and Weiss about this first.." Blake said. "Penny's out of commission still, I get the feeling it won't be long before she's back to her feet...but not the same old Penny though."

Ruby looked down. "Right...let's go tell them then."

"Penny? Wait the defender of Mantle is here?" Julien asked them, shocked.

Blake nods. "She is, but we think someone hacked her systems to make her act differently." She went up the stairs and looked at Julien. "Their in Weiss' room, since that's where we had to put Nora at.."

Ruby followed behind Blake, staying silent not saying a word. Her heart did ache from the finding out what happened. But her soul was burning to make sure Scarlet would never hurt anyone else.

"I can run a system diagnostic to try and figure out what is going on. I don't know much about code and such, however there has to be some sort of connection that they are using to interface with her." Julien theorized as he started to go up the steps as well. He paused halfway up the steps, "So... where is Weiss's room? I'm not exactly versed in Schnee architecture." He sassed playfully, trying to bring a little bit of their spirits up, but knew it was most likely in vain.

"Just follow me." Blake said.

Julien felt a little awkward as his joke fell through, "R... Right." He continued up the stairs and was ready to continue following Blake to the room where Penny was.

Ruby slowly followed behind them. "This whole plan is going up in flames...if only Scarlet was never cloned from my DNA.."

Julien flinched a little as he heard Ruby speak, "Wait a second, what? There is so much I need to learn about this whole mess, by the gods..." He muttered.

~~~

They arrived at Weiss' room where Weiss, Penny and Nora were still at. Ruby walked in with Blake and Julien.

"Hmm..something's wrong here." Weiss said looking at them. "Care to explain?"

Julien sighs, "I suppose I should explain why I'm here and how I found out first." Julien with a little sass, readied himself and introduced himself to Weiss, "Hello Ms.Schnee, I am Julien Gemstone, the heir to Gemstone Mechanical. I was working here on a job for Ironwood, and made Yang's mechanical arm." He stammered as he lost his fire quick as he got to the bad news, "I... I came here because I followed what was on public records to tell Yang's team that she was killed. I found out she had died as well as General Ironwood. I'm... sorry." All of Julien's spirit just died as he spoke. He stopped speaking so Ruby could explain what she was told by Scarlet.

"Scarlet did that.." Ruby said as she saw Weiss gasp, Nora was silent as a small glimmer of a shine flickered in her eyes. "Scarlet's got Ren and the other's captive too.."

"WHAT!!" Nora shouted as her eyes fully glowed.

"N-Nora, your maiden powers.." Weiss said. "You'll burn the room up."

Julien jumped back in shock, "What in dust is that?!" Julien exclaimed as he saw Nora's eyes flare up with magical energy.

"Vest was the summer Maiden, she gave Nora her powers." Weiss said.

Nora calmed down as she clinched her fist. "That creep....she won't get away with this."

"She already has." Ruby said. "She's sending Grimm here to stall for time..."

"The what now?" Julien asked even more bewildered before he put his hand up, "Explanations later. Where is Penny, I might be able to fix her up and find what's going on with her." He pulled out his scroll, extending it and folding it to make a mini laptop, "The Scroll Pro 13 is pretty nice ain't it?" He says with a smile as he tried to add a little hope on the situation.

"Over here." Klein said. "She's over here."

Julien rushed over and took a look at her, "Well, time to do what I do best." He sets his Scroll down on a nearby nightstand, he unlatched a cable from the main compartment that would just reach Penny. Julien scanned her until he found a place where he could create a hardwired connection between Penny and his Scroll, "I'll work on her if you want to go after your friends. You have my word." Julien promised as he turned back to the group.

"We don't even know where they're at." Weiss said.

"I have a hunch.." Ruby said. "That huge Grimm Whale.."

Julien heard the desperation in their voices as he turned back to his Scroll, now filled with even more fire to help in any way he could. Unfortunately, he already hit a roadblock and more than likely will be stuck trying to get into her system first for a while before he could even run the diagnostic.

Ruby looked at Julien. "Scarlet is my clone,...but she was made by Doctor Merlot..."

"Doctor Merlot? I swear I've heard my father say that name before." Julien said, engrossed with his attempts at system breaches. He paused and looked back to her, "I'll get Penny up and running again, just... do your best to save the others. Your sister would want you to stay alive, but also continue being a huntress to help others." He smiled to her.

"Let me go too." Nora said.

"New team... RWBN...move out." Ruby said. "Make sure no Grimm get in...Penny's still covered in green oil..so they're likely to come for her."

Klein nods. "Of course, do be safe...all of you.."

"We'll be rooting for you. Kick her ass!" Julien raised his hand up in a fist to act as a rally cry.

A/N: [I can't take credit for Julien's character Draken or Vest, credit goes to my friends on Discord]