The intercom crackled – unnecessary, considering how small the Arrowtooth was. Roman's voice sounded overhead.
"Well, I just got off the comms, and I have some bad news and some worse news."
Everyone tensed.
"… Give us the bad news first," Jaune replied.
"Goodwitch can't spare any manpower to give us a landing assist."
"And what's worse?"
"Vale is," Roman said simply, and everyone looked out their closest window.
"Guys… this doesn't look good," Jaune said nervously.
No one commented on the obvious; they were fast approaching the settlement, which was lit up in the darkness like the beacon its former academy had been named for. It was not, however, a beacon of hope and light – it was more that the settlement was aglow in a frenzy of destruction.
"What happened?" Ruby breathed, her eyes glued to the ongoing battle.
Oscar, who was leaning over her shoulder to look, sighed. "You've gone through life in sleep. Never woken to the nightmare."
Ruby turned to look at him and flinched when she realized how close his face was. His hazel eyes were also fixed on the battle outside, but it seemed more like he was seeing something else; perhaps a different battle, in a different time. She drew back to put some distance between them, and the movement caught his attention. His eyes focused and slid over to hers, cutting into her like a knife.
"I tell you, life would be unendurable if you were wide awake." His eyes flicked back to the battle, but this time, he was looking at the present. "The dragon will stir soon, and all the Grimm know it. They gather, and the remnants of the city suffer."
"Wait," Ren said. He'd seated himself next to Nora, closest to the aisle, and had heard Oscar. "Are you sure the dragon's waking up? When Ruby pulled down the barrier, the Grimm flocked to it, but it wasn't moving!"
"The Grimm wouldn't be this agitated otherwise."
Panicking, Ruby pressed herself to the window again, this time with narrowed eyes as she searched for the border of Glynda's settlement. "It shrunk so much! Is this because we attacked Salem?" she cried, horrified.
"Looks like you poked the bear," Oscar said, nodding.
"Well then we're just gonna have to poke it right back! Hey! Roman! Take us right up that dragon's ass!" Nora yelled down the aisle.
There was a faint grunt of acknowledgement from the cockpit, but no answer – Roman looked to be fully focused on piloting, his posture tense. Everyone jerked as they soon found out why: the jet shuddered and the sound of the Arrowtooth's heavy artillery firing filled the cabin.
"We're coming in hot again! Time to dance," he informed them with a mad glee that caused Jaune to pale and groan. With good reason, as Roman banked the plane sharply to the left, barely avoiding collision with the huge black shadow that passed by.
"Yeah! Let's go!" Nora yelled, reaching for her seatbelt, but Ren put his hand over hers, still staring at the window.
"Not yet," he said, pointing outside. "Look."
Ruby tried to brace herself to stare out the window as the plane jerked and shuddered, the whine of its high-powered weaponry constantly firing. Roman was doing the same thing she had in Exsul, she realized; speeding through the clouds of Grimm rushing at them and cutting through the ones he couldn't avoid. "Wait until he brings us in closer!" she yelled.
"And when do we know how close 'close enough' is?" Jaune asked, trying to control his gag reflex.
"When we're… how did she put it?" Oscar answered. He was sitting back in his seat, doing his best to keep his balance through the turbulence, but there was an aura of preternatural calm about him. "… Oh, yes.
Up the dragon's ass," he repeated, grinning.
"How are you not freaking out?!" Jaune wailed, eyes closed and knuckles white against the seat rests.
"I've never been in an actual battle before! This is exciting!"
Ruby glanced over her shoulder at Oscar, wondering how he could lie so confidently under pressure.
"Yeah, until you get hurt," Ren snorted under his breath. "What's our ETA?" he yelled towards the cockpit.
"Don't get your shorts in a twist, Pink. Three minutes, tops!" Roman replied, firing off another burst and cursing. "Oh, and look out," he added, flipping a switch.
A howl of wind filled the cabin as it depressurized; the hatch was slowly opening, giving everyone a tail-end view of exactly how fast they were traveling and the trail of Grimm destruction they were leaving behind. It also revealed just how many Grimm were actively following them.
"Oh boy," Jaune said weakly, erecting a barrier over the opened door that several Grimm immediately smashed against. "RNJR! Activate your Scrolls!" he commanded.
Ruby let out a little scream as the plane barrel-rolled upwards, even as her fingers mashed the power button on the Scroll Oscar had provided for her. He was doing the same, and after a dizzying moment, she managed to check and see that even Roman had linked in through the Arrowtooth's console.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, and Ozpin Reject, we're arriving at our destination," Roman said blithely, in contrast to the hull-breaking speeds he was pushing the jet to. "Make sure your seats are in the upright position."
Ruby managed to avoid being hurled across the cabin only by her seatbelt when the jet shuddered to a stop. It hovered directly over the pedestal of Beacon tower. As soon as she recovered from the shock, she released the clasp of her seatbelt. Next to her, Oscar was already standing. She grabbed his hand and put on a burst of speed, racing for the hatch. Jaune's barrier disappeared just before she hit it, and with a flying leap, she launched Oscar and herself out of the jet. Tucking her legs in for a rolling landing, she kept an iron grip on his wrist, not trusting him to try and escape somehow. To her surprise, his hand snaked around her wrist as well, and when they hit the ground, he executed the roll perfectly, synchronizing with her movements. They both came to a stand at the same time, panting.
Ruby eyed Oscar, eyes wide. "How'd you do that?"
He let go of her wrist and rolled his shoulders. "Live long enough and you learn a thing or two," he replied. Seeing her shock turn into disbelief, he sighed. "Ah, well. I suppose the aura exchange might have had something to do with it as well."
They both ducked as a Ravager buzzed by, clawing at them. Ruby snapped her scythe open just in time to stab it from behind, sweeping it over the side of the platform.
"Don't get your hopes up too highly, though," he continued as he pulled out an ornate handle, activating it; it unfolded rapidly into a baton, gears whirling and clicking audibly as it did. "Oscar is rather terrible at fighting."
Ruby recognized The Long Memory instantly; she'd never seen Ozpin use it as anything other than a walking staff before, though. He whacked away another Ravager even as they were speaking, almost casually.
Blinking, Ruby shook her head. "I don't have time for your mind games," she said shortly, turning around to face the dragon. "We have to destroy this thing before it wakes up!"
Above them, Roman continued to hover, circling the jet slowly while engaging in continuous fire to keep the Grimm away from the platform. The hatch was still open, and Ruby heard more than saw Nora engaging when she left the airship; the girl let out a loud battle scream, smashing through another Ravenger in mid-air. She ripped its wing backwards at an unnatural angle and sent it plummeting to the ground. Landing heavily on its writhing form, she brought her maul down, reducing the creature to an ugly splat.
By contrast Ren was silent as the grave, arms crossed over his chest as he flipped out of the hatch head over heels. He landed on his feet, arms outstretched and both barrels of Stormflower firing while he spun in a concentric circle to the airship, layering the Grimm that tried to approach under a relentless barrage.
Jaune, on the other hand, tumbled out of the hatch clumsily, making a small crater when he hit the ground. He got up shakily, looking like he was about to lose the contents of an entire week's worth of breakfast. After a moment, he recovered, eyes lighting blue. The tell-tale sign of his barrier expanded over all of them, granting them a moment of respite from the seemingly endless Grimm battering the tower.
Ren and Nora made quick work of the few Grimm remaining inside, while Ruby approached the dragon's enormous head. She slowed to a stop, her neck craning as she looked up at it. "What? … It's still frozen!" She whipped her head around to stare at Oscar. "Did you lie?"
Oscar stopped by her side, also studying at it. "Not exactly," he said, falling back into the familiar tone and cadence of Ozpin on his former territory. If he was affected from having experienced near-death by Cinder's hands there, he didn't show it. Instead, he continued to lecture her.
"The Grimm will continue to be attracted to its presence, and Vale will never know rest until this dragon is defeated. But," he looked around. "This renewed activity is more likely Salem's doing. You are an open book, Miss Rose. It's self-evident that you would have returned to your origins as a Huntress to mete out your own brand of justice; it's also evident that Mr. Torchwick would follow you here. I'd consider this something of a surprise that she prepared just for your arrival." He paused, and reached out to place a hand against the dragon's stony hide. "The dragon itself, however, is still quite trapped by your powers, as you can see."
"So then we just have to kill it," Ruby said, stepping forward into a leap and whirling her scythe overhead. When she brought it down, she could feel the gust of burning air she'd created powering her swing. It crashed against the dragon's enormous neck – and bounced harmlessly off of its scales. She managed to land on her feet and bent her knees to try again.
"That won't be of much use," Oscar corrected her mildly. "Your barrier both seals and protects it. You must lower your guard to strike a fatal blow to it."
"But won't it wake up then?" she asked, eying the others and wondering if Team RNJR could take on an entire Grimm dragon by themselves.
Jaune was standing nearly in the center of the platform, both arms out as he concentrated on maintaining his barrier. Occasionally, a glowing blue spike would extend and impale a too-eager Grimm. Nora and Ren were fighting back to back now, ducking and weaving around each other in a practiced dance as they kept the stragglers away from both Jaune and herself. Roman had stilled the airship… and was watching Oscar with an intense look from one narrowed eye.
"Vale will fall if you do not change the status quo here," Oscar replied, leaning close the edge of Jaune's barrier and looking over the ruined city. "Look how the battle rages. General Ironwood has marshalled the technological might of Atlas to assist the locals, and yet…" He paused and gestured.
Ruby watched with a sense of detached horror as she saw now the multiple airships swarming in-between the Grimm below. Arrowteeth, just like their own, along with single-pilot skirmishers, a few larger transports, and several ground infantry mecha were trading blows with the never-ending sea of black amongst the many brightly-attired Huntsmen and Huntresses of the city.
They weren't winning. In fact, most of the firefight they had seen in the distance was not from the burning buildings, but the source of the fire itself – airships being overrun by Grimm and crashing, uncontrolled, into the midst of the ground fight. The tell-tale screech of metal being repaired revealed Glynda's hand at work from time to time. Still, there was no way the woman, no matter how accomplished she was, could keep up with the rate of destruction occurring.
"Ironwood will sound the retreat soon. His forces are taking too many losses, and Atlas is still engaged in a war of attrition with the White Fang. Goodwitch and her Huntsmen will be overrun, and the city will fall… once and for all." Oscar looked back at her. "Unless you wake this dragon and change their fate."
Ruby felt the same panicked, urgent helplessness she had in Exsul as she faced down Neo. For a few long moments, she stood staring at the dragon, willing the power in her eyes to come to life to obliterate it. Every now and then, bursts of light filled the corners of her vision – but it wasn't her own power; merely the Grimm rebounding against Jaune's shield.
"I can't!" she finally sputtered. "I can't just make that silver light pop out on command! I don't know how to be a Silver-Eyed Warrior, Oscar!" Rather than power, tears began to well in her eyes – tears of frustration and anger, of having her feet in both worlds but a grasp on neither.
"Well, fortunately for you, I seem to specialize in manipulating time," Oscar said, holding his hand out towards her.
Ruby looked down at the proffered hand, feeling vaguely sick. "You… are you just using me?"
Oscar's fingers flexed. "Do you have the time to be asking? We both want this dragon released, regardless of our reasons for it. This does not have to be an adversarial relationship, Ruby."
She flinched at the sound of her name on his lips. It felt wrong. She looked up towards the airship.
Roman shook his head slightly at her. "Don't make
another deal with the devil," his voice crackled over her Scroll. "Trust me, you've already tried it."
"Vale
will fall," Oscar repeated. "And Salem and her Grimm will bring everyone you love down with it."
"Ruby? Do we have a plan yet?!" Jaune's strangled voice echoed over the Scroll. "These guys just won't give up!"
"Smash its head in already! Here, let me do it for you!" Nora yelled, charging towards the dragon with Magnhild.
"With your power, I can release it," Oscar promised, and cursing herself, Ruby reached out and grabbed his hand.
Roses exploded in a puff around her as she came into contact with Oscar's aura; the green and red mingled and intertwined, before she felt her aura being pulled out rapidly. "Oscar—w-wait," she gasped. It wasn't as painful as when he'd used the aura transference machine in his bunker, but it still burned a little. "I'll get older again-"
"I can hold back at least this much of your time," Oscar replied, though his voice held a note of tension as he tried to modulate and control her power. "My, but you are a wellspring of surprises," he did manage to say with a bit of wonder. Then, with a faint smile, he raised The Long Memory before his eyes, like a sword. Gears whirred to life on the hilt, releasing some sort of hidden energy that mingled with the spool of aura he'd gathered from them both. With a flick of his wrist, he sent the energy he'd gathered – not into the dragon, as she expected, but blasting back into her own body.
Ruby gasped in shock as she felt her aura pushed painfully through her arm and all the way up her spine. A trickle of blood ran down her nose, paired with an unbearable pressure that worked its way through her sinuses. Oscar forced her aura out of her eyes, tearing the hidden power out alongside it.
It hurts! It hurts so much! she wanted to scream, but Oscar's grip on her hand was iron, and he continued to push relentlessly. She had the presence of mind to keep her gaze focused on where she thought the dragon was, rather than Roman's airship, but the world was nothing more than a wall of blinding light for several agonizing seconds. She staggered.
"Congratulations," she heard Oscar say as the throbbing receded, and her vision returned slowly. "I believe we were successful."
"Ruby! Ruby, you gotta focus!" Roman's voice cut through molasses that was coating her brain. He sounded urgent… worried, even. Vaguely, she registered the sound of gunfire overhead. The riot of color released from the Arrowtooth's exploding dust rounds made her eyes ache. "That dragon's only half-awake right now!" he continued, pushing her to come out of her stupor. "It's a dog-eat-dog world, and you know what you are!"
A pitbull. The thought brought out a strangled laugh, allowing her to work through the pain. She tried to focus on the dragon. It seemed to be moving – as shakily as she was. The Grimm wobbled and swayed like a drunken bumblebee, shattering Jaune's barrier inadvertently with a twitch of its wings as it tried to regain its balance.
This is a race, Ruby realized, tottering on her feet. She ripped her hand out of Oscar's and grabbed onto her scythe instead, planting it into the ground. Leaning heavily into it, she kicked one toe into the ground and then the next, releasing her heel blades. Then she stepped back, whirling the scythe and trying to regain enough balance to make an attack.
Nora beat her to it; even though the other girl was significantly slower, she'd never stopped her headlong charge. With a roar, she sent her hammer smashing against the confused dragon's muzzle – and was tossed backwards by the furious beast, which was completely unphased by the strike.
Jaune tried to catch her with a barrier before she could go sailing over the edge of the platform to meet the same fate they'd sent many other Grimm to. His yelp of surprise echoed when Nora broke through one, then two, then three of the glowing blue shields, before bouncing off of the fourth and rolling to a stop on the ground, stunned.
"Nora!" Ren yelled, racing towards her. The dragon, quickly regaining its power and fury, lunged at Nora at the same time, jaws snapping. Ren dove into a desperate slide, grabbing Nora and phasing out just as a pair of massive jaws splintered the concrete platform below them.
The dragon reared its head up in confusion, roaring for the prey it had missed, and Roman didn't waste the chance to send one of the Arrowtooth's explosive missiles straight under its chin, knocking its head back.
"You can join in on the fun anytime now, Ruby!"
Ruby grit her teeth. "I know," she hissed as she ran, searching for an opening. This wasn't like fighting the Goliath in Exsul, though. Her grip on the scythe shifted nervously; she'd suspected it from her own hit, but after watching Nora's attack being repelled, she knew it for sure: the dragon's skin was even tougher than a Goliath hide. Even if she could defeat it the same way she had before, there wasn't enough surface area on the tower to build up her speed.
"Even a dragon can be slain," Oscar said, panting as he struggled to catch up to her. With Jaune's barrier down, the smaller Grimm were slowly encroaching onto the platform once again, kept only at bay by the thrashing of the dragon, indiscriminate in its destruction, and the rest of Team RNJR.
"Would you like–" Oscar ducked as Ruby whirled her scythe and sent a few wind blades into the swarm of Lancers trying to overrun them. "—some advice?" he wheezed. Apparently he hadn't been entirely lying about not being able to fight well; at least, not yet, in his new and untrained body. "Its weak point is its—"
"EYEBALLS!" Nora screamed through the Scroll as she fought, battered but not beaten from the blow she'd taken. "It's
always the eyeballs!"
"No, sweetheart, it isn't," Roman groaned.
"Actually, yes and no," Oscar rebutted, whipping his baton out and whacking at a Sphinx that pulled entirely too close for comfort. "It does have a weak point. A Grimm is powered by its heart, just like any other creature. This particular Grimm, however, keeps its heart stored not in its breast, but at the base of its tail." He looked at Ruby. "Cut off its tail, and you'll be able to win. Remember: your Semblance isn't the only power at your disposal anymore."
Sucking in a deep breath, Ruby nodded, and then ran towards the edge of the platform. She tried to imagine flying through the air on jets, like she had before, and was gratified to see flames sputter to life around her ankles. "I can do this!" she yelled, leaping off the edge and leaving a trail of fire through the sky. Arms windmilling and heart in her throat, she somehow managed to defy gravity and rise higher into the air with each pump of her legs.
Jaune, Ren, and Nora's screams of dismay through her Scroll reminded her at that moment that she hadn't actually revealed all that much about her Maiden powers to her friends; she heard Roman shouting at them through the Scroll, trying to quell their panic.
"Calm down, she can fly!"
Of course, just then the flames around her ankles sputtered out, and Ruby let out a soft curse.
"I didn't say she could fly well," Roman amended as gravity took hold and she plummeted towards the dragon. She caught sight of him diving after her in the Arrowtooth, but had more pressing and immediate problems in the shape of the dragon right below her, looking to shred her with its outstretched claws.
Twisting, she fired the Crescent Rose and dodged jerkily out of its reach. She caught her scythe on its scaly back with a well-placed swing, doing little damage and instead sending up a plume of sparks behind her. As soon as her feet touched dragon flesh, she turned her fall into a barely-controlled run. Using her scythe as a rudder, she zipped her way towards the base of the dragon's tail, the metal of the blade screeching as it dragged against diamond-hard scales.
"Oscar! Is it just where the spikes connect?" she asked, trying to mark the spot in question as she approached it with terminal velocity.
"Pierce the heart, and the dragon will disintegrate," she heard him reply, still sounding less harried than her friends despite her death-defying stunt. Well, he wasn't the one parkouring off a dragon's back, she reasoned, tamping down on her panic and readying the Crescent Rose.
"I can do this!" she repeated, more a prayer than a conviction.
Her scythe hooked around one of the bony protrusions; it didn't break, as expected, and she used the momentum to send herself swinging around the dragon's tail like a gymnast, slingshoting herself back into the sky.
The dragon was jackknifing, trying to catch her in its open jaws before the swirling Grimm above her could tear her apart. Twisting her torso, Ruby tilted the blade of the scythe outwards and turned her upwards fall into a spin. This time her Maiden powers activated seamlessly, the blades of air coming to life all around her and shedding like deadly flower petals, slicing through the flocks of aerial Grimm blocking her way. Peaking, she arched her back, and then dove head-first towards the dragon, picking up even more speed on the way back down. Bursts of gunfire flashed below her; Roman was clearing her path back down. She focused on the tail, calculating her trajectory and adjusting her fall, scythe at the ready. The blade pressed close to her body; she didn't trust her arms alone to bear the force of her impact against the tail.
All too soon, she was upon the spot she had marked. Prepared to slice through it, she was already planning how to stop her downward momentum and regain the height she'd need to stab the dragon's newly-exposed heart.
And then the breath left her in a whoosh; her fall was abruptly checked by contact with the dragon's tail, which hadn't split open as she'd expected. After the initial moment of shock, the pain settled in; Ruby made a small, strangled noise while struggling to pull air back into her shocked lungs. Even with her aura protecting her from the worst of the damage, she'd still hit the dragon like a speeding truck, and – as she looked – hadn't made a single dent in its scaly hide.
The dragon lashed its tail, and Ruby felt herself sliding off helplessly, unable to catch ahold of anything; it was all she could do to keep her grip on the Crescent Rose. She couldn't hear her teammates anymore, either; the impact had shattered the Scroll on her belt.
This is not how I'm going to die, she thought, feeling unusually calm as she tried to muster enough energy to spark the twin flames from her feet. Then her back hit hard against glass, breaking her concentration and, strangely enough, knocking the breath back into her. She started to slide off, again, but this time managed to flop over and dig her scythe into the window she'd hit. It splintered with a crack, but at least she had purchase now… and was staring directly into Roman's wide, glowing eye.
"You
idiot!" she saw him mouthing furiously as he struggled to control the Arrowtooth while balancing her on the cockpit, all the while avoiding both the smaller swarms of Grimm and the dragon. Sweat had plastered his bright red hair to his forehead, but his movements were sure and controlled as the jet brought her back towards the platform of the tower.
"Thanks," she mouthed, giving him a weak thumbs up, to which he scowled.
"Stop trying to be a hero!" he shouted at her through the glass, tilting the jet just enough to slide her off, and then veering away as the dragon tried to bat him out of the air. Jaune's blue shield kept it from having its way, and suddenly, Ruby felt humbled.
Even Roman is working with the others. Why'd I believe Oscar? I don't have to do this alone!
Suddenly furious, she scrambled to her feet. "We're in this together!" she yelled, racing to rejoin the rest of her team.
"Let us peel the scales off first, then you'll be able to hit it!" Jaune yelled, sending a few quick signals to the rest of the team.
As if to try and prevent her from reaching them, the small Grimm began to swarm her. Roman laid down suppressing fire, keeping the dragon away, and then Nora was at her side, batting the smaller Grimm aside while cackling, giving Ruby a chance to escape.
"About time," Ren said when she reached him. He threw Stormflower past her to deflect a Griffon hot on her tail. Catching it, he gave her a puzzled look. "So you can fly?"
Laughing nervously, she lopped off the Griffon's head. "Sometimes. I think."
"Hey! We can fly too, you know!" Nora said hotly, glaring at Ruby. She lowered Magnhild to the ground. "Ren! Show her!"
"Oh boy," Ren said, balancing himself on the head of the maul while crouching. He leapt off when Nora hurled him up into the air. He didn't make it as far as she had with the help of her Maiden powers, but when he started to fall, his feet touched down on a barrier that sprung to life. Ruby blinked, suddenly reminded of her synergy with Weiss, as Ren raced along Jaune's barriers towards the dragon, a flashing blue dot with each footstep he took. He landed on the dragon's back, much as she had, and slipped and slid his way deftly between the spikes on its spine.
The dragon thrashed, but Ren's martial training – something he'd always pursued more diligently than the rest of the team, due to his small aura pool – proved its worth. Fluidly, he shifted his weight, balancing and counterbalancing against the dragon's attempts to dislodge him as he eased his way towards the base of its tail.
"There!" Oscar yelled when Ren reached the spot Ruby had marked. "You must sever its tail there!"
Nodding, Ren twisted the dagger edge of Stormflower outwards, and punched his hand – suddenly translucent – straight through the dragon's scales. His eyes glowed pink as he concentrated, rematerializing his hand inside of the dragon's body and firing his gun. With a spray of black ichor, he tore the large scale off from the tail from the inside out.
The dragon, having enough, bucked, and Ren went flying – straight into the open hatch of the Arrowtooth. There was a muffled grunt over the Scrolls, and then –
"Get off of my ship, Pink!" and Ren went sliding right back out of the tilting jet. He managed to twist and land like a cat despite the unceremonious exit.
"Now, Ruby!" Jaune yelled, and she nodded. This time, when she leapt, Jaune's barriers gave her the boost she needed. Sensing danger, the dragon tried to twist away from her scythe, but no matter where it flew a foothold appeared for her to jump off of. Following it doggedly, Ruby lunged forward in a burst of speed, eyes on the open wound Ren had created for her. When it came into reach, she twirled for added momentum, using her kinetic energy to slam the tip of her scythe into the wound.
A burst of power flowed through her, and the dragon screamed as its flesh erupted into flames that she'd somehow channeled through the blade. Now, with the weapon glowing orange-red, Ruby planted her feet on the dragon's tail and
ran, dragging the hot metal behind her. The dragon's scales peeled up like an orange, exposing tender black pulsating flesh beneath. All it took was one final yank, and with a sickening wrench the smoking tail separated from the dragon's body, falling away into the darkness below.
Ruby was falling too, and far too quickly; a few bursts from her shotgun sent her in the direction of the platform instead of the ground below. Roman was busy using the jet to keep the dragon from coming after her; there'd be no rescue from him this time. Gritting her teeth, she started pumping her feet, praying for the flames to come back to her. She could see Jaune, Ren, and Nora looking up at her with wide, horrified eyes. And off to the side, Oscar – only involved in the battle insofar as he needed to keep himself safe – was watching her, eyes narrowed in thought.
He raised the Memory and pointed it at her, his whole body glowing green.
"Wha—?!" Ruby screeched, filled with a sense of betrayal. The world slowed to a crawl around her, the air absorbing the sound of her scream while everything else fell quiet. Only Oscar was moving at the same speed as her; he'd trapped them in some sort of time bubble. She was still falling, but so slowly now it was as if she wasn't moving.
"You'd best work on your landing," he called out to her, his voice clear in the sudden quiet. "I can slow your perception of the fall, but I cannot slow your impact."
Realization hit; he was buying her
time. Suddenly energized, she worked her feet harder, kicking out her heels one after the other. The flames spluttered, then spurted to life, and the tell-tale feeling of weightlessness overtook her. "I think I got it!" she yelled, experimenting with each foot and smiling as they both kicked out tiny jets of flame.
"Very well," Oscar replied, flicking the baton down. Time sped up again.
Ruby came to a stop just before her friends, her back bowing from the speed of her fall. But she hit nothing – her feet hovered a few inches over the platform, flames blackening the concrete below.
"Don't scare me like that!" Nora screamed, taking out her frustration on one of the Beetles that had gotten too close.
"We still need to kill it," Ruby said, looking back at the dragon. Jaune was starting to go pale-faced and mute, his massive aura pool dwindling; keeping Roman's airship safe from the dragon's strikes was taking its toll. She glanced at Nora. "Do you
really want to fly up its ass?" she asked, smirking.
"Hey! Killing a Grimm dragon is the
only way to start the weekend!"
Ren was already on his scroll. "Roman! Stop playing around and do something useful down here! We need you to shoot your EMP at Nora!"
There was a curse, and then a beat of silence. "Say what now?" Roman's voice crackled through the Scroll. "You know, there are easier ways to break up with your girlfriend."
Ruby leaned in. "We know what we're doing, Roman! Just trust me!"
"I always will, Ruby." The Arrowtooth broke off from its dogfight and whirled towards them, guns bearing down.
"Oh, sh—" Ren said, grabbing onto Ruby and Jaune and phasing out. Oscar tsked and disappeared, reappearing on the other end of the platform.
Nora squared her shoulders, smiling madly and spreading her arms wide. The low whine of building energy filled the air as the Arrowtooth charged up. It open fired seconds later, blasting the entire area with electricity.
Ren phased them back in when the crackles died out, then fell to one knee. "I'm out," he wheezed, not looking much better than Jaune.
The dragon seemed to have sensed the tide turning and wheeled away from the tower. Nora screamed in fury, skin glowing and hair rising around her in static waves. "It's getting away! Ruuubbby!" she wailed.
"Hold on!" Ducking low, Ruby hefted Nora over her back in a carry –
I really need to stop doing this – and kicked off the ground. The flames roared to life, and wind rushed in her ears as she flew – really
flew – after the retreating dragon. From their vantage point, the open wound of the tail was clearly visible – as was the glowing, orange ball of energy that served as its heart. It pulsed brighter with each flap of the beast's wings.
Tapping into her Semblance, Ruby pushed harder, feeling the flames course through her and shoot out through her soles. If her skin was growing hot to the touch, Nora didn't complain; the other girl's eyes were fixated on the heart, her grip on Magnhild deceptively loose and ready.
"Huup!" Ruby yelled, sending herself into a spin and tossing Nora towards the dragon's tail when they were close enough.
With a fierce yell, Nora brought the hammer down on the pulsing flesh. The energy she was holding onto left her in a rush, creating a blast powerful enough to send a shockwave across the entire city skyline. The dragon roared in pain, and then, slowly, crackled into black dust that blew apart in the atmospheric winds.
Ruby didn't have time to check if the dragon's death had affected the other Grimm; she dove after Nora, catching the other girl with a grunt.
"Whew! Now that's what I call a hit!" Nora said, her smile shaky as aura fatigue began to set in.
"Hang on," Ruby said, racing her way back to Beacon tower. She looked down; it seemed like the tide of battle was turning in favor of Glynda's Huntsmen. Rallying cries sounded, and the black forms of the Grimm were receding from the settlement rapidly. She raced back towards the broken pillar of the tower, eager to rejoin the rest of her team, but paused when she noticed the glint of a few Atlesian airships breaking off from the fight to approach the tower as well.
Roman, she realized, and picked up speed.
When she landed on the tower with a thump, Nora slid out of her grasp limply and sprawled across the floor. "Can I sleep yet?" she groaned, her pale eyes unfocused.
"Good job, team," Jaune managed to say, sunk to one knee. He gave Ruby a warm smile, and then, begrudgingly, looked up at Roman, who was still hovering the Arrowtooth above them. "That means you, too, Roman. Why don't you get down here for the group hug?"
"Kid, you ain't got half of what it takes to be a part of
my team," Roman's voice crackled over the Scroll. There was a smirk on his face. It slid away as his gaze met Ruby's. "You did good," he said more quietly. "You're gonna grow up to be something else, you know. Don't let the Pinhead change you."
"You too. And… remember to ask the right questions." She smiled, or at least tried to, but it stuck halfway through, and she gave up trying. "It's not
what you are, but
who."
For a moment he looked surprised at having his own quip thrown back at him, and then his eyes softened. "I'll… manage that someday, Ruby."
Her eyes grew hot, and she took a swipe at them with the back of her hand. "Are you leaving now? I thought we'd already said our goodbyes." She blinked a few times, doing her best to hold on to her pathetic excuse for a poker face. "I'm not ready anymore."
The silence stretched between them, full of words unsaid. But even that terrible anticipation had to come to an end; the sound of the approaching airships was growing louder and louder. Roman spared a narrow-eyed look over her shoulder, and then turned his attention back towards her. Tipping his hat, he broke the spell and gave her a cocky smile. "Sweetheart,
always leave 'em wanting more."
His eyes stayed on her while he nosed the Arrowhead upwards, and then he winked. The jet turned with a blast and sped off into the night.
"Whoa!" Jaune ducked, raising a barrier over them as a squadron of Atlesian military ships buzzed the tower, giving chase. "Is he gonna be okay?" Noting Ruby's silence, he locked eyes with her. "Are you?"
Wiping her eyes one last time, Ruby straightened. "Yeah," she said softly. "I think so."
You know, I looked up Salem on the RWBY wiki and
