(A/N: It was so very close as well, but it must be unanimous)

(3rd Person POV)

Ruby: Ironwood's declaring martial law and abandoning Mantle! Salem is coming and he's going to use the Staff to move Atlas. If we don't stop him Mantle's going to be de--

Inside a flying Manta, Robyn and Qrow were looking at Clover, who was sitting beside a restrained Tyrian.

Robyn: Declaring martial law? We can not let him do this.

Clover: Ms. Hill, I'm sure the General understands the enormity of his--

Clover's scroll made a noise, and he brought it out to check it. The screen showed mugshots of Team RWBY, Jaune, Nora, Ren, Oscar, and Qrow. There was text above the mugshots, reading:

"!WANTED!

Detain on sight"

Clover put his scroll away, stood up with a sigh, and began approaching Qrow, who gripped the hilt of his weapon.

Qrow: Clover...

Robyn's scroll vibrated, and she brought it out to see the same Wanted notification.

Clover: Qrow, you should know that I've been asked to bring you in.

Tyrian: A free ride and a show!

Clover: There's also an alert out for Team RWBY's arrest.

Qrow: What? Has James lost his mind?

Robyn: He's trying to stop anybody who might get in the way of this inhumane plan.

Robyn stood up from her seat and deployed her crossbow.

Robyn: Looks like he underestimated me. Again.

Clover: Only Qrow is under arrest. After everything we've been through tonight please don't make me arrest you too.

Robyn clenched her teeth and glared at Clover, the bolt on her crossbow being pulled back against the string. In response, Clover drew his fishing rod.

Qrow: Cut it out! Both of you. We're almost back to Atlas. Let's talk to James personally and--

Tyrian: It's taking a very long time for this show to get to the good part.

Qrow: Shut up.

Robyn: He's right. Let's get this over with.

Qrow: Robyn!

Robyn fired the bolt, but Clover casually blocked it with his fishing rod. She shifted her crossbow into bladed shield form and charged at Clover, who blocked and then immediately shortened the rod, hooked the crossbow and pulled on it, knocking Robyn to the floor.

Qrow: Fine.

Qrow got up, drawing his sword and swinging it at Clover, who jumped out of the way. He swung again, and Clover blocked with his rod, locking weapons with him.

Clover: I wish it hadn't come to this.

Qrow: It doesn't have to!

Robyn hopped back into the fight, swinging her shield down on Clover's rod, and Clover jumped backward away from the two.

Robyn: You can hug it out once we've taken him down!

Clover sent his fishing hook at Robyn, who deflected it with her shield, accidentally sending it toward Tyrian. Tyrian lifted his leg out of the way, allowing the hook to break a bar beneath his seat, which the Gravity Bolas securing his wrists was hooked onto with a metal ring. 

Qrow and Robyn swung their weapons at Clover, who blocked with his rod, and Tyrian slid the ring on his bolas off of the broken bar and hurried toward the pilots, excitedly snickering to himself. Clover continued blocking strikes and a crossbow bolt from Qrow and Robyn.

Suddenly, the ship shook, causing the three of them to fall over. Hearing maniacal laughter, Qrow looked up to see Tyrian crouched on the ship's console, wearing the pilot's hat. The pilot was slumped over and was not moving. 

Qrow hurried to his feet, grabbed onto Tyrian's upper arms and shook him.

Qrow: What are you doing?

Tyrian: The will of our goddess!

Tyrian kicked off of Qrow, landing in the lap of an Atlas soldier, who appeared unconscious or dead. 

He then grabbed onto the co-pilot control stick and jerked it to the side, causing the ship to veer toward the ground. Clover opened the airship's side door and jumped out. 

Soon after, the ship crashed into the ground, and Robyn yelped as the impact knocked her over.

In a hallway in the research facility, Winter was looking at the Wanted notice on her scroll. Penny was standing behind her, looking concerned.

Winter: Weiss. What did you do?

Penny: The General is leaving Mantle to perish?

Winter: He's saving Remnant. We can't let the Relics fall to Salem.

Winter began walking ahead.

Penny: But all those people we just protected, they won't survive.

Penny looked over her shoulder, while Winter continued to walk.

Winter: We don't have time to--

Penny glared at Winter.

Penny: That doesn't bother you?

Winter stopped walking and stood with her back to Penny and an upset expression on her face.

Penny: What about your sister? Our friends?

Winter collected herself and turned to face Penny.

Winter: My personal feelings don't matter. We have orders. I'm to retrieve the power of the Winter Maiden so we can access the Relic. You're here to ensure my safety. Now come on. We've already lost enough time.

Penny: It should matter.

Winter thought for a moment. Her expression softened, and she walked over to Penny.

Winter: Penny. The general is making hard choices so we don't have to. For the good of all, not just a few.

Winter took Penny's hands, but Penny pulled her hands away.

Penny: I do not see what is good about any of this.

Winter watched as Penny walked ahead.

Winter: On that we can agree.

Winter followed Penny down the hall toward a door guarded by Atlesian Knight-200s.

Weiss: Please, think about what you're doing.

Team RWBY and the Ace Operatives were standing in Ironwood's office, with (Y/N) standing behind Team RWBY, his mind made up.

Harriet: You heard the general. Until this is sorted out, you're under arrest.

Harriet brought out her scroll and hit a button. The blue lights throughout the room turned red, and metal covered the windows. Yang looked at the windows, then at Harriet.

Yang: Really?

Vine stepped forward, raising a hand.

Vine: Please. Don't make this difficult.

Blake stepped forward.

Blake: Don't make us have to get out of here by force.

Yang deployed her weapons, and Blake and Weiss drew theirs. On the other side of the room, Vine activated his Semblance while Harriet and Elm drew their weapons. Marrow waved his hands.

Marrow: Whoa, whoa, whoa. We're not actually going to slug this out, are we?

Harriet: We're not doing anything. They decide what happens next.

Ruby walked over from Ironwood's desk to stand with her teammates and transformed Crescent Rose into scythe form. Marrow sighed and drew his gun.

Harriet: You think you're going to stop us. We're the best Huntsmen in Atlas.

Ruby: You were. Then you trained us.

Ruby used her semblance to rush past the Ace-Ops, smashing straight through the door, and Harriet angrily chased after her with her own semblance. 

The remaining members of RWBY and Ace-Ops charged forward and attacked; Yang fought Elm, Blake fought Marrow, and Weiss fought Vine.

(Y/N) walked forward, around the fight, heading for the elevator, trying to track where JNR and Oscar were from their last known location on their scrolls.

Ruby zoomed across the foyer and up the stairs, stopping in front of the elevators. Before she had a chance to do anything, Harriet caught up, rushed around her, and kicked her in the head, knocking her against a pair of elevator doors hard enough to dent them. She then began walking toward Ruby.

Ruby: Come on Harriet! We're playing right into Salem's hands! You know we need to be working together.

Harriet: Oh don't give me that crap! I had you kids pegged right from the start.

Harriet zoomed forward with her semblance again, when she was slammed into the opposite wall by a ball of fire. Ruby looked to see (Y/N) running towards her.

(Y/N): Do you need any help?

Ruby shook her head.

Ruby: Go help the others.

(Y/N) nodded, opening the elevator, and stepping through. As he stepped through, he got a notification that he was placed on the same Wanted list, sighing as the doors closed.

Meanwhile, Yang and Elm were descending the stairs from Ironwood's office into the foyer. Elm was blocking a rapid flurry of punches with her hammer, and Yang managed to punch her in the face, knocking her the rest of the way down the stairs. 

Yang then propelled herself forward with the recoil from her weapons, ready to punch, but Elm used her semblance to stand her ground and then swung her head to headbutt Yang. 

She then slammed her hammer into Yang, sending her flying through a doorway. Vine used his semblance to chase Blake, who was swinging around the foyer with Gambol Shroud in kusarigama form.

Blake landed on the floor with a roll and dodged as Vine sent his energy arms toward her. Yang ducked under one of his energy arms and left a trail of small bombs as Elm chased her around the room. She detonated the bombs, but Elm was unfazed. 

Yang continued to run around the room, while Blake resumed swinging around with her kusarigama. 

Vine finally managed to catch Blake and tossed her to Elm, who caught her while using her semblance. She held her hammer's pole against Blake to keep Blake pressed against herself.

Yang: Huh?

Noticing Blake had been captured, Yang stopped running and faced Elm and Vine.

Vine: If you come peacefully, we won't hurt you.

Elm: Speak for yourself! They betrayed us!

Blake: You're betraying the people you've sworn to protect!

Yang: It's not worth it, Blake. They're just following orders now.

Infuriated, Elm threw Blake against a wall and charged toward Yang. Vine sighed and used his semblance on his feet to raise himself up to a ledge.

In Ironwood's office, Weiss used her glyphs to swiftly move around the room, slashing at Marrow with her rapier, but Marrow kept blocking with his boomerang. He threw his boomerang at Weiss, and she deflected it, then stabbed the tip of her rapier onto the floor, using Ice Dust to create a thin layer of ice in a triangle in front of her. 

While Marrow tried to keep his footing, Weiss switched Dust types and sent a horizontal arc of fire toward him. He leapt over the fire, singing the tip of his tail as he did so. The ice melted, and a mist formed in the room.

Marrow: I know you Schnees are used to getting what you want. But it's time to let this one go!

Multiple glyphs appeared and began shooting ice crystals at Marrow, who blocked them with his boomerang.

Weiss: This is my home. And I'm not giving it up without a fight.

The mist cleared, and Marrow saw Weiss standing atop Ironwood's desk. She swung her rapier to the side, striking a pose while her Arma Gigas summon stood up behind her and readied its sword.

In the tundra outside Mantle, Qrow stumbled out of the wreckage of the Manta and saw Robyn lying among the debris. He hurried over to her and pressed his fingers to her neck, checking for a pulse, then sighed in relief.

Clover: Robyn needs help.

Qrow stood and turned to see Clover walking toward him.

Clover: Surrender and we can take her to Atlas, get her patched up.

Qrow drew his weapon, switching it into scythe form.

Qrow: Never pegged you for the manipulative type. But I've learned a lot of things tonight.

Qrow and Clover began walking in a circle around each other.

Clover: I enjoyed working with you, you know. Even with that endless cynicism of yours.

Qrow: I'm usually proven right.

Clover: We don't have to fight, friend.

Qrow: You don't know my friends. That's how it always goes.

Qrow smiled bitterly, and Clover sighed. The two of them charged toward each other and swung their weapons.

Tyrian was sitting in the wreckage, pretending to be unconscious. He opened his eyes and looked around, before grinning and fiddling with his right thumb. He continued working at it, squirming, licking his lips and chuckling, until there was a cracking sound. He grunted in pain, then laughed and slipped his hand out of the bolas' restraint, his dislocated thumb dangling loosely. 

He pushed his thumb against the floor, popping it back into place. He then chuckled and pulled the second bolas off of himself, freeing his tail. He got up, turning toward the shattered windshield, through which he could see Qrow and Clover fighting.

Qrow and Clover spun and swung their weapons, blocking and dodging each other's strikes. Clover hooked Qrow's scythe with his rod, pulled Qrow toward him, and punched him in the cheek. 

Qrow spun his scythe to slash at Clover multiple times, but Clover blocked with his rod. He then placed the blade of his scythe behind Clover's legs and pulled, and Clover jumped over it, only for Qrow to then kick him. Clover landed on his feet, sliding backward, and Tyrian approached the fight from behind Qrow.

Tyrian: Oh, don't stop on my account.

Qrow: Wasn't planning on it.

Qrow charged toward Tyrian and swung his scythe at him three times, with Tyrian blocking the first two strikes and leaping into a backflip to dodge the third. When Qrow attempted to go after him, the hook from Clover's rod latched onto Qrow's scythe, and Clover pulled back, causing Qrow to turn toward him, lose balance and fall to one knee. 

Clover then charged forward and swung his weapon at him, but Qrow blocked. Qrow swung his scythe at Clover, who leapt into the air above him, swinging his rod, which Qrow blocked. Tyrian watched this and then grinned, subtly nodding.

Qrow slid backward, and Clover charged toward him, only for Tyrian's tail to suddenly come up and block his fishing rod. Qrow, who was ready to block, looked surprised as he realized that Tyrian was standing between him and Clover. 

Tyrian swung his weapon at Clover, who dodged the first attack and blocked the second. Tyrian then blocked an attack from Qrow and then swung his leg to kick Clover, who dodged. Qrow and Clover both swung their weapons at Tyrian, who blocked with both of his own. 

He then stood on his hands and deflected Clover's rod with his foot before swinging his foot down in an attempt to kick Clover in the head. Immediately after, he brought his arm up to block another attack from Qrow. Clover leapt over Tyrian's attempt to slash at his ankles, and Tyrian kicked him hard enough to send him flying. Clover flipped in mid-air, landing on his feet and sliding backward. 

Qrow swung his scythe down at Tyrian, who jumped forward and stood on his hands to dodge it. Qrow pushed his scythe forward toward him, but Tyrian leapt into the air, flipped over, landed on his feet and blocked another attack with his tail. He turned to face Qrow and leaned back to dodge as Qrow swung his scythe upward at him.

Qrow: Me and you have a score to settle.

Qrow continued swinging his scythe at Tyrian, who continually leaned out of the way of each swing.

Tyrian: Oh I agree.

Tyrian leapt over a couple more of Qrow's attacks.

Tyrian: So what's say we put the kid to bed and then finish it.

Tyrian glanced over at Clover. Qrow charged in the direction of Tyrian and Clover, so Clover charged forward, sent out his fishing line, and hooked Qrow's scythe. He leapt over Qrow and pulled on the line, making Qrow fall to his knees. 

Qrow stood up and jerked on his scythe, pulling it free of the fishing hook, and Clover threw a horseshoe, which Qrow blocked. Clover dashed forward, caught the horseshoe, pushed Qrow's scythe aside with his rod and jabbed him in the chest with the horseshoe.

Clover then swung his rod at Qrow a couple more times, and Qrow blocked both strikes. Tyrian suddenly kicked Clover in the side of the head, knocking him aside and landing next to Qrow. 

He looked at Qrow with a grin, while Qrow looked back at him with a serious expression. Qrow charged toward Clover, and Tyrian laughed maniacally before following suit. The two then leapt into the air.

Ruby zoomed across the foyer with her semblance and stopped at the top of the staircase in front of Ironwood's office, with Harriet chasing her. Harriet leapt over the stairs and kicked Ruby in the chest, knocking her into the office, just in time for her to see Marrow throwing his boomerang toward Weiss. 

Weiss readied her rapier, but Ruby uses her semblance to rush to her side and deflect the boomerang with her scythe. Marrow caught the boomerang, and Harriet rushed into the office and stopped beside Marrow.

Harriet: Marrow! Cut the crap, will you?

Marrow: I'm trying to arrest her, not kill her, Hare. You're being excessive!

The two ducked under the Arma Gigas' sword as it swung toward them.

Harriet: It's not excessive if it's necessary.

They heard the characteristic sound of Ruby's semblance, and Harriet looked over at Ironwood's desk, where she could only see Weiss, the Arma Gigas summon and some falling rose petals. Behind her, Ruby was already on her way through the door, and Harriet growled and chased after her.

Yang held onto Gambol Shroud's ribbon, and Blake swung her forward, sending her flying toward Elm, who attempted and failed to block Yang's punch. Yang turned around and rushed toward Elm again, but Elm rooted herself with her semblance and slammed the top of her hammer into her, knocking her backward. 

She heard a gunshot behind her and turned and leaned just in time to see the kusarigama form of Gambol Shroud flying toward her. She set her hammer down, grabbed the sickle with one hand and the ribbon with the other, and pulled, jerking Blake through the air toward her. 

She picked her hammer back up, spun it, and slammed it into Blake's torso, sending her flying straight up into the air where she was caught by Vine's semblance. Vine slammed Blake into a stone square in the wall, cracking it and causing her aura to flicker. He proceeded to hold her there.

Seeing this, Yang gasped and then returned her attention to Elm, diving under Elm's hammer as she swung it toward her. Elm then swung her hammer down at Yang, who grabbed the hammer's pole and then shot Elm in the face, sending her flying backward. 

Yang then fired at Vine, who attempted to block with his free arm, but the bullet bursted into a small explosion, causing him to cry out and loosen his grip on Blake. Blake broke free and dropped down to the floor.

Elm: Time to wrap this up, Vine. They've had their chance. Don't be soft.

Yang stood beside Blake and tossed Gambol Shroud back to her.

Vine: Are you telling me? Or yourself?

Vine used his semblance to grab chunks of the broken part of the wall, and Elm looked annoyed. Blake and Yang exchanged a look, smiling at each other. Yang readied her weapons, and Blake unfolded Gambol Shroud into katana form. The two then rushed forward, Yang using recoil to propel herself.

Elm swung her hammer horizontally at them, but Yang ducked down and slid under it, while Blake backflipped and then grabbed onto the hammer's head, using the momentum to fling herself into the air past Elm. 

The two ran from Elm, and Yang used her recoil to dodge the stone chunks that Vine threw at her before finally catching one of the chunks. She rapidly attached several bombs to the chunk and tossed it into the air. 

Above her, Blake was dangling from the ceiling with Gambol Shroud's ribbon and kicked the stone toward Vine, who knocked it away with his semblance. He then used his energy arms to catch Blake as she began to drop from the ceiling.

Vine pulled Blake over to him and soon found that, not only was her back covered in the bombs that Yang had attached to the stone, but she was actually a clone. The clone vanished as the bombs began beeping, and the blast from the explosion sent Vine into the air. 

Yang shot at the floor, using the recoil to send herself up toward Vine. As she passed him, she stole his bolas from the back of his belt. Once she was above him, she threw the bolas down, wrapping it around him. 

She then used recoil to send herself spinning down toward him, grabbed his legs, spun through the air, and sent him hurtling toward the floor. The impact sent a web of cracks through the floor and broke his aura.

Yang landed on the floor, and Blake dropped down from a ledge on the wall. Elm looked down at Vine and then looked at Blake and Yang, surprised.

Ruby, Harriet, Marrow and Weiss briefly stopped their fights to look over at Vine. Ruby and Harriet had moved their fight back to the hall with the elevators.

Marrow turned to look back at Weiss, and his eyes widened upon seeing the Arma Gigas summon preparing to swing its sword down at him. He moved out of the way, and Weiss created glyphs over the bookshelves along one wall, with ice spikes sprouting from the centers of the glyphs. 

As Marrow landed on his feet, she created another glyph, which blew him toward the ice spikes, and he barely managed to avoid hitting any of them. He then leapt out of the way as the Arma Gigas swung its sword down, shattering the ice spikes he was surrounded by less than a second ago.

The Arma Gigas continued to swing its sword through the ice spikes as Marrow made his way across them. He threw his boomerang, sending it curving through the air toward Weiss, who deflected it with her rapier. He caught it, then snapped his fingers and pointed at her.

Marrow: Stay!

Weiss was forced to freeze in places, but her Arma Gigas still rushed toward him, smashing through the ice spikes. Marrow leapt from the ice spike he was standing on, landing on the floor.

The Arma Gigas moved in front of him and raised its sword, and he snapped his fingers and pointed at it just as it began swinging the sword down at him.

Marrow: Stay!

The sword stopped just above his head, and he took a moment to catch his breath. Weiss created four glyphs and channeled Fire Dust through them to send four fireballs through the air. The fireballs converged and slammed into Marrow, knocking him to the floor and breaking his aura.

Harriet used her semblance to repeatedly rush around the room, up and down walls, passing Ruby and attacking her each time. 

Finally, she stopped behind Ruby, leapt into the air, and punched her in the back of the head, knocking her down with enough force to crack the floor. She stood over Ruby with her feet to either side of her and pinned Ruby's arms to her back.

She grabbed her bolas, and Ruby looked back and used her semblance, splitting into two blurs that both moved behind Harriet. One of the blurs moved past the hand that Harriet was holding her bolas with, and by the time Ruby reappeared behind her, Ruby had tied the bolas around Harriet. 

She then punched Harriet in the back of the head with a confident smile and landed on one knee over Harriet's back. Harriet swung her head back, headbutting Ruby in the face, then got to her feet and began sprinting with her semblance.

Yang, who was holding onto the kusarigama form of Gambol Shroud, swung Blake overhead toward Elm, who had rooted herself in place with her semblance. Elm pushed the pole of her hammer at Blake, who used it to bounce herself up into the air over Elm and swung her kusarigama at her.

Elm turned and swung her hammer at Blake as she dropped down, only for Blake to create a clone to take the hit and propelled herself into the air. While Elm continued to attack Blake, who shot at her, Yang fired explosive bullets at the floor all over the room, creating deep cracks.

Blake then used her kusarigama to swing away from Elm, who turned to face Yang and rooted herself in place again. Elm noticed that the ground beneath her feet was loose and lifted her foot to find that the floor was completely shattered. 

She glared at Yang and spun her hammer, deactivating her semblance. Yang propelled herself forward with her weapons' recoil, and Elm shifted her hammer into its rocket launcher form. 

Yang stopped herself just short of Elm, activated her semblance and punched the floor, creating an outward blast that sent Elm flying into the air and shattered the floor even more.

High above them, Blake kicked off from the sky light to send herself toward Elm, and Yang used recoil to propel herself upward with her semblance still active. As the two passed Elm in mid-air, Yang punched her and Blake slashed her with her katana. 

Elm screamed as her aura shimmered, and her aura finally broke when she landed on the floor. Blake and Yang landed on the floor behind her, and Yang deactivated her semblance.

Ruby shot at Harriet who continued to speed around the room. Harriet then leapt forward, wrapped her legs around Ruby's neck, spun around and slammed Ruby onto the floor. She and Ruby got up, and Ruby dodged as Harriet flipped through the air toward her. Ruby backed away while Harriet sped toward her and then used her semblance to flee as Harriet attempted to kick her. 

Harriet stopped and panted, and Ruby readied her scythe. Harriet charged her semblance and screamed, her eyes flashing yellow. She made a mad dash toward Ruby, only to slam her head against an ice wall that suddenly sprouted up from the floor.

Harriet fell over, and her aura broke. Ruby looked over to Weiss, who was standing in the doorway with her rapier pointed toward the ice wall. Ruby and Weiss watched as Harriet stood up, panting with her eyes heavily dilated. Her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed, unconscious.

Soon afterward, Ruby dropped Harriet onto the floor in the foyer.

Ruby: We have to stop Ironwood. If he can't access the Relic, he can't move Atlas.

Weiss: We just have to get to the Winter Maiden.

Weiss was dragging an unconscious and bound Marrow across the floor, and Blake and Yang were carrying an unconscious Elm with her arms over their shoulders.

Yang: Blake and I will look for the others.

Ruby: But our Scrolls don't--

One of the elevators made a ping noise, and Ruby gasped and turned to look, her eyes widening. Pietro and Maria came rushing out of one of the elevators. Maria had her scroll in her hand, with the Wanted notice on the screen. 

They stopped and looked at Team RWBY, who were staring at them, frozen in very guilty poses. Weiss dropped Marrow's feet.

Pietro: Oh!

Maria: This is the part where they ask us to help.

Jaune, Nora and Ren were looking into a dorm room that had broken AK-200s on the floor and black marks on the walls.

Nora: Oscar must be around here.

Nora hurried off, calling out for Oscar.

Nora: Oscar! Oscar?

Oscar walked out from around a corner in one of the nearby hallways, and Nora noticed him.

Nora: Oscar! You're here!

Nora excitedly ran over to Oscar, who looked at her with a friendly smile. Suddenly, Oscar's voice came from down the hall that he had just come from.

Oscar: No!

Nora gasped and looked in the direction of the voice in confusion, while Oscar looked down the hall in annoyance. Another Oscar, who was covered in filth, rounded a corner from down that hallway, charged forward and punched the first Oscar in the face. 

A pink, glass-like aura passed over the first Oscar, revealing him to actually be Neo in disguise. Neo went flying down the hall and righted herself in mid-air, landing on her feet. 

The Relic of Knowledge bounced on the floor next to the real Oscar, with a clanging sound. Jaune and Ren hurried over, and they, along with Nora, drew their weapons, and Oscar picked up the Lamp.

Oscar: This crazy girl showed up and attacked me. But she looked like someone else.

Frowning, Neo pointed Hush at them with the hidden blade protruding from the end.

Nora: Neopolitan.

Oscar: You know her?

Jaune: We haven't exactly heard good things.

Oscar held the Lamp close, and Neo narrowed her eyes at them.

Winter: I hope it will be painless for her.

Penny: You said your personal feelings do not matter.

In Fria's room, Winter and Penny had gotten Fria into one of the pods of the aura transfer machine. Penny was using a scroll.

Winter: They won't change my actions. What I'm committed to. The power of the Winter Maiden and the Relic must be kept from our enemies. Even if it means she dies.

Winter walked over to the pod, and she and Penny looked at Fria.

Winter: But yes Penny, we must still acknowledge our personal feelings, wrestle with them. It ensures us that we're on the right path. It's what makes us human.

Penny: I think... I think I understand.

They heard the sound of an explosion, and the room shook.

Winter: What was that?

There was another explosion, and the room shook once again, rattling Fria's teacups. There was a third explosion, and an alarm started going off. Although she was unconscious, Fria moved her head a little.

Winter hurried out into the now darkened hallway. Red lights that ran along the ceiling were flickering on and off, there were broken AK-200s on the floor and the walls had black marks on them. 

At the end of the hall stood Cinder Fall, who smirked and shot a fireball at Winter. Winter's eyes widened, and she rushed back to Fria's room, dodging the fireball. She used a hologram panel with a number pad on it to shut the door and drew her sword, but the door was blasted out of the wall immediately after. 

The explosion knocked Winter and Penny to the floor, and Cinder walked into the room through the large hole in the wall with a fireball in her palm.

Cinder: Hmm. Both of Ironwood's puppets. Lucky me.

Winter and Penny got up, and Winter pointed her sword at Cinder.

Winter: Cinder.

Penny: You were responsible for Beacon. For what happened to me.

Cinder: It was unfortunately temporary. Now step aside or there won't be anything left to salvage this time.

Cinder aimed the fireball at Penny.

Cinder: What do you think of that?

Penny: I think...

Penny clenched her fists and narrowed her eyes. Her swords emerged from her back and hovered behind her as she used her jets to float into the air.

Penny: It gives me personal feelings.

She pointed the swords at Cinder.

Qrow hopped up, placed his foot on Tyrian's back, leapt off and kicked his sword toward Clover, who jumped back and dodged. He then landed on the ground, picked up his sword and swung at Clover, who continued to dodge. 

Tyrian moved over to Qrow, wrapped his tail around Qrow's waist and pivoted himself around Qrow to swing his weapon at Clover, sending Qrow spinning off-balance while Clover blocked the attack. Clover swung his rod at Tyrian, who leapt into the air, while Qrow fired his gun at Clover, who was unable to block in time.

Now behind Clover, Tyrian rushed over, leapt into the air, and spun, swinging his weapons at Clover, who turned and blocked with his rod. Clover dodged as Tyrian attempted to stab him in the face with his tail, which caused him to notice and thus dodge Qrow's sword. 

While he was distracted, Tyrian kicked him in the side, and then Qrow punched him in the chest. Clover punched Qrow in the face, and while Qrow stumbled backward gripping his head, Tyrian jumped up and brought his weapons down toward Clover, who blocked with his rod. Tyrian kicked off from Clover, and Qrow took the opportunity to slash Clover's back with his sword.

Tyrian moved toward Clover, who leapt and maneuvered in the air to simultaneously avoid Tyrian kicking at his feet and Qrow swinging his sword. Clover whipped his fish hook at Qrow, then Tyrian, then Qrow again, but Qrow blocked and Tyrian dodged. 

Tyrian rushed toward Clover, only to be kicked away, and Qrow ran, leapt, and swung his sword down at Clover, who blocked. Clover dodged as Qrow swung his sword at him and then punched Qrow in the face.

Clover then grabbed Qrow's arm and swung him over his shoulder, throwing him. Qrow bounced on his back and turned over to land on his feet, while Tyrian ran to be behind Qrow. As Qrow slid to a stop, Tyrian used his tail to shove him toward Clover. 

Qrow used the momentum and thrusted his sword toward Clover, who sidestepped and then dodged as Qrow swung his sword at him twice. Clover crouched down, hooked his fishing rod on Qrow's ankle and pulled, knocking Qrow onto his back. He then let the fishing line loose and used it to swing Qrow through the air over him and slammed him onto the ground.

Tyrian repeatedly shot Clover in the back, and then both Tyrian and Qrow charged toward Clover, who slipped past Tyrian and grabbed Tyrian's braid. He hit Tyrian in the back of the head with his weapon, sending him stumbling forward. 

As Tyrian bent down and continued forward, Qrow swung his sword at Clover, who blocked it with his rod. Tyrian placed his hand against Qrow's pelvis and pushed, stopping his own momentum while causing Qrow to lose his balance. Tyrian turned to face Clover, while Qrow dropped down and caught himself with his hands.

As Tyrian charged forward, Clover sent his hook past him to hook onto the hole in Qrow's sword. He swung his pole, jerking the sword from Qrow's hands and sending it flying to stab into the ground. While the sword stabbed into the ground, Clover stepped back to avoid Tyrian kicking at his legs. 

Tyrian activated his semblance and swiped at Clover, who barely managed to dodge. He then grabbed onto Clover's rod with his left hand while clawing at Clover's face with his right. Clover swung his rod at Tyrian, who blocked and dodged. He then jumped at Tyrian, who put his arms up to block, allowing Clover to kick off from his arms and land several feet away.

Tyrian ran toward Clover, who sent his fishing line to wrap around Tyrian, binding his arms to his sides. Tyrian fell forward onto the ground and glared at him. Qrow got to his feet, looking over at his sword and instead ran toward Clover. 

Watching this, Tyrian grinned and chuckled. As Clover turned toward him, Qrow delivered a heavy punch to his gut, sending him tumbling across the ground and breaking his aura.

Qrow: Why couldn't you just do the right thing instead of the thing you were told?

Clover put his hand to his stomach and got up on one knee, looking at Qrow.

Clover: Sometimes the right decision is the hardest to make. I trust James with my life!

He got to his feet.

Clover: I wanted to trust you.

Suddenly, Qrow's sword was thrust forward, and Clover bent back, yelping in pain. Blood splattered onto the snow. 

Tyrian had plunged Harbinger straight through Clover's back. Qrow stared in shock, while Tyrian chuckled and pulled the sword from Clover's body. Clover stumbled forward, dripping blood onto the snow. 

His clover pin fell from his shirt. He dropped to the ground, panting, and turned over onto his back, covering the snow beneath him in a puddle of his blood. Tyrian took a few steps forward and rested Harbinger across his shoulders.

Tyrian: Doesn't look like your friend's going to make it.

Qrow glared at Tyrian.

Qrow: I'LL KILL YOU!

Tyrian: Oh, you mean... like you just killed Clover?

He chuckled and threw the sword down onto the snow. Qrow looked down at his bloodied sword with wide eyes, then glared at Tyrian. The sound of an airship engine approached, and Tyrian looked to the sky.

Tyrian: Ah, here they come. Right on time.

A Manta flew overhead from Mantle. Qrow screamed and charged toward Tyrian, attempting to punch him, but Tyrian jumped away. Tyrian posed and gestured as he spoke.

Tyrian: Ah, looks like our score will have to wait. You know my track record with the authorities!

Tyrian ran away, laughing, and Qrow ran after him for a few steps before stopping and looking at Clover. He looked at Tyrian, then ran to Clover and dropped to his knees beside him. 

It began snowing.

Clover: Someone had to take the fall.

Qrow: James will take the fall. I'll make sure of it.

The tundra slowly began to light up as they spoke, and Clover looked off toward the sunrise on the horizon. Qrow turned to look, as well.

Clover: Good luck.

Qrow turned to look down at Clover, who was smiling at him. The light in his eyes faded away, as did his smile. Qrow began to cry and screamed out in emotional pain.

The finale next.

The rematch next.

The soul is still split.

Until next time!