RWBY : Volume ? Episode ?

1. Winter & Raven vs Cinder

2. Emerald & CFVY vs Mercury

3. Qrow, Robyn & Harriet vs Tryant

4. JNR vs Gillian

5. Beacon's Teacher, Elm, & Oscar vs Marrow & Jax

6. Willow & Whitley vs Arthur

7. JNR & Oscar vs RWBY

8. Jaune vs Ruby

9. RWBY, JNR & Oscar vs Salem

[Disclaimer: This AU story is my own original work, the story does not include RWBY: Before the dawn or After the fall but I took some characters from those stories such as the Asturias twins and Theodore.]

A few days after Team RWBY and Jaune returned from the Ever After, they brought a glimmer of hope to some in Vacuo. Yet their arrival changed little: refugees there still lived in daily terror as Grimm kept pouring in. Winter, now the Winter Maiden, worked tirelessly to fend off threats too great for ordinary Huntsmen and Huntresses to handle.

Beyond the Grimm, deep divisions remained. People of Mantle still seethed at Atlas for General Ironwood’s selfishness, directing scorn even at Willow and Whitley Schnee despite all they had done to help.

Defenders could not fight both battles at once. They were exhausted by the endless waves of monsters—even Nora, once the most bright and spirited, had grown quiet and solemn under the weight. Jaune’s return lightened her burden only slightly.

Things grew worse when refugees from Vale arrived. Food was already scarce, and even the drought‐resistant crops grown with Vacuan technology could not feed everyone. This sparked resentment among Vacuo’s own citizens toward the newcomers; some Mantle survivors who had witnessed Atlas’s fall now blamed Ruby and her team for bringing them here.

Some saw Team RWBY as heroes, but others blamed them for every hardship—an idea reinforced by the fact that Cinder and Salem always seemed to strike wherever the team went, just as they had at Haven. This added to the strain on the defenders, especially Winter, who now carried both Ironwood’s former command and the immense power of the Winter Maiden.

Team RWBY, Team JNR, and other allies gathered in a meeting room at Shade Academy. They had reached a dead end. Ruby’s vision of uniting Remnant had failed; instead of hope, they had brought fear to Vacuo. But Weiss, Blake, and Yang stood beside their leader, refusing to let her give in to despair.

For now, they could only wait for Salem to come for the Relic of Destruction—the last remaining one, after she had seized the other three and destroyed Vale. With the Relic of Choice already in her hands, the fight looked impossible. Their only order: stand their ground and fight with everything they had.

Chaos in Vacuo opened a door for Salem’s agents. From her Inner Circle came Jax Asturias, whose mind‐control Semblance lay behind much of the unrest. He did not come alone: Mercury Black, Tyrian Callows, and his twin sister Gillian Asturias had slipped in easily, blending with the rioting crowds.

Tyrian, unable to hold back any longer, began slaughtering those around him, sending people fleeing in panic. Qrow Branwen and Robyn Hill rushed to stop him, but Qrow, still consumed by grief and rage over Clover’s death, fought poorly and was quickly struck down. Tyrian escaped. Elsewhere, Emerald, Nora, and Velvet ran into Mercury—an awkward reunion between former allies.

As panic spread, Jaune and Ren stepped in to calm the crowd. Jaune used his Semblance to restore people’s Aura, until a chain‐like aura coiled around him and began draining his strength: Gillian’s Aura Siphon, a power similar to his own but used to take rather than give. Ren tried to help, but Gillian drained him as well, leaving both men weak.

Inside Shade Academy, Jax tried to manipulate students into revealing the vault’s location—only to be caught by Team RWBY. A fight broke out, and in the confusion Jax seized control of Weiss and Blake, ordering them to turn on Ruby and Yang. Elm and Marrow arrived to help, but Jax understood Marrow’s Semblance all too well; he bent Marrow to his will and commanded him to freeze Ruby, Yang, and Elm in place, leaving them helpless against Weiss and Blake’s attacks.

Mercury, meanwhile, easily defeated Nora, Velvet, and Emerald—his prosthetic legs upgraded by Arthur Watts with Atlas technology, granting him terrifying speed. Qrow, Robyn, and Harriet fared no better against Tyrian, who left them broken on the ground as he continued his rampage.

The crisis deepened as hundreds of Grimm assaulted Vacuo’s borders. Coco Adel, Sun Wukong, Neptune, and local fighters stood together to hold the line, while high above Cinder watched with a cruel smile, hurling fireballs to raze the city. She was stopped only by Winter, who had raced back after clearing a horde far from the capital.

As the two Maidens clashed, Winter spotted a terrifying sight: an endless sea of Grimm sweeping toward Vacuo, led by Salem herself. Worse still were Salem’s new creations—Grimm twisted into forms resembling Atlesian mechs—and multiple Monstra. Wyverns and Nevermore tore through the allied airships. Winter was torn: stop Cinder, or turn back to face Salem?

Back at the academy, Jax brought Ruby and Yang down, leaving them unconscious. Elm, still resisting, was thrown aside by Weiss’s summoned Arma Gigas. Satisfied, Jax departed with Weiss, Blake, Marrow, and the two unconscious teammates. Jaune and Ren remained sprawled on the ground, their Aura completely siphoned away.

The defenders had been routed. Winter stood alone against the sky threats, while Oscar searched the academy for Team RWBY. He stumbled upon a gathering of villains—including Theodore, Shade’s headmaster, now under Jax’s control. As he backed away, he bumped into someone else; turning, he froze in horror at the sight of Team RWBY, fully enslaved by Jax’s influence.

In the end, Vacuo and Shade Academy fell to Salem. The population was forced into servitude. But before the conquest was complete, Raven Branwen rescued as many as she could: Team JNR, CFVY, FNKI, SSSN, Qrow, Harriet, Elm, Robyn and the Happy Huntresses, Willow, Whitley, Winter, Klein, Emerald, Pietro, and Maria. They hid on Vacuo’s outskirts, where Raven had already gathered others like Port, Oobleck, and Glynda.

Winter was frantic with worry for her sister. Elm confirmed that Weiss and Blake were trapped by Jax’s mind control. Winter moved to rescue them, but Raven stopped her: if she fell, the Winter Maiden’s power would pass to Cinder. Willow helped calm her daughter, while the group faced their own wounds: Jaune and Ren still weak from Aura loss, Qrow hollowed out by guilt over Clover and the slaughter he could not stop.

Raven proposed a desperate strike: attack Salem directly while she was still consolidating her hold. Many objected, but Winter, seeing no other way, agreed. After long debate, all consented—driven by the threat of two enemy Maidens and the ticking clock. Squads were formed.

The next night, they launched their plan. Winter and Raven flew straight for Shade Academy to draw Salem out, but it was Cinder who met them. In the city, Team JNR split off to approach the academy from the north, while others took south, west, and east.

The path was far from clear. SSSN and FNKI held back swarms of Grimm, allowing JNR and CFVY to press forward. At the south gate, CFVY was blocked by Mercury—until Emerald stepped in to help. At the north gate, Tyrian barred Team JNR’s way, but Qrow, Robyn, Harriet, and the Happy Huntresses held him off so the others could pass.

Meanwhile, Arthur Watts tracked Raven’s hidden refuge and approached alone. Klein urged everyone to hide, but when they saw Watts armed, Willow stepped forward to fight, with Whitley drawing attention away. At the west entrance, Oobleck, Port, Glynda, and Elm slipped past the thinly guarded perimeter and found Oscar being tortured by Jax; they fought to free him.

Jaune, Nora, and Ren fought their way upward to the academy’s peak, where Salem waited. She sat perfectly still, until four figures stepped into view: Team RWBY, transformed beyond recognition—pale skin, black eyes rimmed with red, weapons warped and dark.

Salem called them her Grimm Maidens: Huntress fused with Grimm essence, stronger than they had ever been. Without warning, Yang slammed her fist into the floor, sending Team JNR and the corrupted RWBY plummeting down to the level where Jax battled Oobleck, Port, Glynda, and Elm. Oscar, now free, ran to meet them—and saw his friends turned into monsters.

Nora faced Yang, Ren faced Blake, Jaune faced Weiss, and Oscar faced Ruby. The corrupted team held the clear advantage, until the three Maidens’ battle above shattered the academy, scattering everyone. Jaune found himself trapped in the basement with Ruby. Refusing to harm her, he took every blow, pleading for her to remember who she was—until Ruby’s silver eyes flared, burning away the corruption and restoring her.

Weiss, Blake, and Yang soon followed, freed from Salem’s grip. They rejoined Team JNR and Oscar, but Salem came for them then, drawn by the return of the silver eyes. Team RWBY, JNR, and Oscar stood together to shield Ruby.

Yet Salem, wielding three Relics, was nearly unstoppable. She grew stronger still with the Relics of Choice and Creation, then tore the Fall Maiden’s power from Cinder and absorbed every Grimm across Remnant. Her form swelled to colossal size, and the remaining defenders of Remnant united for one final stand.