From the bottom to the top (Titanfall x RWBY)

The Pilot in Plain Sight

Rose's PoV:

I watched as (Y/N) fell out of sight. Tears stained my cheeks, but I didn't care. Grabbing my spear, I stood up and aimed it at the officers that cornered him.

"You MONSTERS! What did he ever do to you?!?"

The mayor looked at me, unimpressed. "He's a Faunus."

"SO?!?"

"They are vermin. Parasites. They deserve to die."

Glynda and Ozpin stood in front of us, ready for a battle. Glynda narrowed her eyes. "That's not a very nice thing to say, Mayor Winchester."

He smirked. "Try to stop me. I dare you."

Suddenly, several Bullheads flew overhead and around three Titans slammed into the ground, weapons drawn. There was an Ion, a Legion, and a Ronnin and all had their weapons pointed at us. Those around me froze as I began to cry harder.

TOM: I AM INBOUND.

Tears were spilling down my face as I fell to my knees. The Ion started to activate its Laser Core, but it suddenly exploded. Looking up, I saw A Vanguard-Class Titan standing before me, Expedition Loadout in hand. Turning around, the Titan grabbed me and lifted me up to its cockpit.

Still crying, I lept in and sat down, taking control of the one thing I could ever trust, TOM-87878. The display winked on and I simply blacked out. When I came-to, I was laying on the ground with someone in a glowing blue visor hovering over me. Groaning, I sat up.

"Wh-what happened?"

The person stood up. "You engaged those Apex Predators in combat and they almost took you out if it wasn't for FS-1041 and I jumping in."

A throbbing headache started in my head and the Pilot noticed. "Hey, you alright?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I just tend to get headaches when I Pilot TOM."

The Pilot looked away and muttered, "You haven't been given the injection..."

He then looked at me and reached for something. I watched, then yelped when he stabbed something into me. There was a hiss and my vision began to blur. I passed out yet again and when I woke up, I was in the dorm. Seeing a bed above me, I looked to my left and saw a set of bunk beds. Realizing I was in (Y/N)'s bed, I began to cry uncontrollably. There was a knock on the door, but I was too busy crying to care. The one person I care more about than my tiny little brother is gone. (Y/N), gone. My parents, gone. My infant brother, gone.

TOM didn't try to comfort me; he knew how futile it was. Not wanting to hurt anymore, I reached for the SMART Pistol I kept on the dresser, but my arms would not move. TOM was preventing me from moving.

Why?!? I just want to stop hurting!!!

TOM: PROTOCOL THREE: PROTECT THE PILOT. I WILL NOT LET YOU HARM YOURSELF. (Y/N) WOULD NOT LIKE IT IF YOU COMMITTED SUICIDE.

My tears came harder. Felix came in and saw me bawling. He had no clue of the battle that my mind was going through.

"Rose? What's wrong?"

I couldn't answer and honestly, I didn't want to. TOM lost some control over my arm and I struggled against him to try and grab the pistol. Locus came in, saw what was going on, and snatched the SMART Pistol away from me. Glynda tried coming in, but I ignored her.

JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!

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Your PoV:

Ion, Snake, and I were on the outskirts of Vale, ready to take a boat to Mistral when I turned around and took one last look at the fading school of Beacon. A single tear rolled down my cheek when I thought of my Team and the friends I was leaving behind.

This is for everyone's sake. I have to show the world how far Winchester has fallen and the only way to do that is through the Council.

Looking out at sea, I saw the gentle curve of the world falling away and felt a sense of... lonely-ness. Retreating to my bed, I fell asleep and when I woke up, it was to the crash of thunder. Walking out of my room, my visor was covered in water as the rain slammed relentlessly into the deck. I walked over to Snake and stood beside him as the rain soaked through my Pilot uniform and drenched the tank-top and shorts I had underneath. Lightning occasionally illuminated the night sky as the purple lights from my helmet and Snake's data core gave the heavy fog an ominous purple color. Ion joined us and together, we watched as the ship bravely journeyed through the storm. A crow landed next to me and Snake gazed at it.

"IS THAT YOU, QROW BRANWEN?"

The bird seemed shocked and by the next flash of lightning, the crow was gone and Qrow stood tall on the railing. He gazed at the Ronnin-Class Titan with great curiosity.

"How did you know?"

Snake thought fast. Heh, fast. "YOU MAY NOT KNOW, BUT I HAVE SCANNED YOU ONCE BEFORE IN THE PAST. WHEN I FOUND A CONSCIOUSNESS SIMILAR TO YOURS INSIDE A BIRD, I KNEW SOMETHING WAS ADMIST."

Qrow stared at him in shock, then shook his head and smirked. "Well then. Good to know. Say, where you headed..." he turned his gaze to my visor, "(Y/N)?"

I growled. "The name's Ether."

Qrow smiled and took out his flask. "I'll remember that. Anyways, want an update on your team?"

I gazed off into the distance. "... Sure."

"Locus is still the strong, silent type; Felix still is the fighter with a mouth he's been; Rose has utterly broken down. We're trying to help her but she keeps locking us out of her dorm. She even managed to reconfigure the lock system once, just to keep us out."

I snapped my head towards him, then looked down. "... I can't go back. Not yet. Not until he's been dethroned."

Qrow understood. "The mayor, right?"

"Yes." I gazed into the void.

"You're going to the Council, aren't ya? Gunna show the world Winchester's wrongs?"

I nodded.

"Got enough proof?"

I nodded.

Qrow chuckled, then did something rare. He offered me his flask. "Here. A drink here and there can help sooth the mind."

I gazed at it. "You realize I'm 17, right?"

Qrow smirked. "Yeah, I know (Y/N)'s 17, but I thought Ether was around eighteen?"

I smirked. "You're right. I am 18."

Qrow tossed me the flask and I caught it. Folding my helmet away, I took a quick sip, then tossed Qrow the flask back. He caught it and put it away. Qrow watched as my helmet folded back into its normal shape and tossed me a folded Scroll and I gazed at it, curious. Instead of the usual gold diamond, it was an (f/c) sword. The Scroll was a matt black and it was thinner and lighter than usual. Smiling, I pressed the sword and pulled the screen out, seeing several non-standard and probably illegal programs, one of them being an eavesdropping function.

I looked up at Qrow. "Is this legal?"

He crossed his arms. "Is being a gun-for-hire legal? Look, kid, think of it this way: (Y/N) is dead, only Ether remains. You aren't held down by laws anymore, you're your own man. Just... don't lose yourself, okay?"

I thought it over for a while. "Understood."

Qrow gave me one last nod before a flash of lightning blinded me and once I regained my eyesight, I looked around, but he was nowhere to be found. Smiling, I returned to my cabin and took a nice, hot shower to help my body get back to normal after standing in the freezing rain for so long. After that was done, I hung my towel and uniform to dry and changed into some shorts and climbed into bed, tuning out the pounding rain and booming thunder as I drifted into the deeper parts of sleep.

I'm sorry for causing you so much pain, Rose, but I need to do this. Good night, friend.