Promised (Reluctant) Victory In Remnant

Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction based on multiple existing anime/manga series. The characters and settings used in this story belong to their respective owners and creators, and no copyright infringement is intended. This story is purely for entertainment purposes and is not intended to infringe upon any existing intellectual property. I do not own any of the original works that inspired this fanfiction, and I fully support the original creators and their works.

I'm also occasionally chilling in JaxWolf4's (Author of Nah, I'd Adapt and Zenin Days) Discord Server. It's a chaotic lobotomy mess. Not for the faint of heart.

Here's the link:

Disc: HrPrTeam

(Special thanks to Glorious4EyedKing for the Beta Reading Labor!)

-Story Start-

Patch.

A small rural island to the west of Vale's shores.

Home to the Patch Combat School and the widely acclaimed primary combat school known as Signal Academy.

Covered from head to toe in forests and hills and the geographical advantage an island has when it comes to the dangers of the Grimm, many families raise their kin in this nigh-ideal environment.

A cabin nestled atop a forested hill appeared like the perfect place to raise children.

At least, that was the belief of the Rose Xiao Long Family:

"Can you tell another story, Mom!?" A squeaky and excited tone reverberated within the wooden cabin.

The aforementioned voice lay on a bed wrapped in a cocoon of sheets, a four-year-old little girl with wide, enthusiastic silver eyes and a wide smile.

A smile directed at the grown woman sitting at her bedside on a weary wooden chair, donning comfortable pajamas.

The woman's warm silver eyes stood out in the mostly shadowed bedroom, it was the little girl's light in the dark.

The excited inquiry was only lightly muffled by the heavy rain outside; yet the warmth of the cabin and sheets kept both cold and discomfort far, far away.

The mother of the child replied with a loving smile, filled with mirth and amusement.

Though, her eyes twitched with a sprinkle of exhaustion, because...

'This is the twentieth fairy tale I recounted...' Summer Rose couldn't help but complain with a sense of irony as she shook her head lightly.

With a short movement, the wooden chair nestled between the two beds of the bedroom creaked.

Turning her head to look over her shoulder, Summer smiled warmly at the little firecracker fast asleep on her own bed.

"Out like a light..." She noted as she fought the urge to take a picture of her beloved stepdaughter.

Turning around once more to meet the impatient look of her daughter, Summer nodded with a raised finger, "Alright." She lowered her voice, "But we have to keep quiet, your sister's asleep, okay Little Rose?"

Blinking, Ruby nodded, "Okay!" raising her hand as high as she could albeit with the discretion of lowering her shout a couple of decibels.

Nodding in satisfaction, Summer's smile froze.

Truly, the prodigious Huntress and Leader of the sorta-retired Team STRQ found herself in dire straits.

'...I've run out of Hero stories to tell her!' She screamed internally, her mind scrambling to find an alternative.

After a few seconds of contemplation, she found it.

'Oh... I think this could work, it's ingrained in me a vital lesson even when I was a little huntress.' She confirmed her choice as she tapped her chin in contemplation.

To be honest, Summer should have reconsidered her choice if she had to find a justification for narrating this particular ancient yet effective tale.

Coughing lightly into her hand to grasp her daughter's attention, a little eerie yet delighted smirk formed on her face as she retold the tale as it had been told to her when she was a wee little girl.

"Listen well, Little Rose, this is a story passed down from generation to generation of Huntsmen, from my mother to myself, and from myself to you."

"Grandma?!" Ruby interrupted with shock and perplexion lacing her features.

Nodding, Summer continued, "Yes! This is a story set in the vast deserts of Sanus, before the formation of the Kingdom of Vacuo itself."

"The story... of the mighty and restless Ghoramu."

"Ghor...amu?" Ruby repeated with a shiver.

"His size rivals mountains, his steps quake the earth, his aimless wandering affects the elements and stirs sandstorms."

"Atop his two mounds is the resting place of all Nevermore both young and old, a super-ancient Grimm that knows no equal."

"S-Super Ancient Grimm?"

Summer nodded as she continued her tale with a hint of lecturing, "Before the formation of Kingdoms, before even the rise of mankind from the Dust, Ghoramu lived and roamed, growing larger with each passing day."

Summer paused, letting the fearful Ruby digest the information.

Only for a surprising admission to exit the older Rose's lips, "But that's all he did." She shrugged matter-of-factly.

"So he's not a bad Grimm?" Ruby blinked in puzzlement.

"Not exactly," replied Summer as her lips curled into a knowing smile, "To those traversing the deserts of Sanus, he always was and always is a hazard."

"And so, one day, a group of Huntsmen decided he was too much of a bother so-"

"They set out to beat him up?" Ruby hazarded a guess.

"You listen too much to your sister, Ruby. But yes, that's the gist of it."

Her gaze sharpened as her tone turned serious and heavy, "They came at Ghoramu with hundreds of huntsmen and huntresses. While mecha shift weaponry and Dust technology were not as advanced as it is today, they struck with all they had."

"As they did, Ghoramu managed to ignore most of their attacks, having not dealt enough damage to grasp his attention - that was until an explosion of substantial amounts of Dust tied to one of his back legs managed to draw blood from the Grimm."

"W-What then?" Ruby clutched at her sheets with anxious anticipation.

"He turned to them, and took a single, large step towards them... his size made it so that a single step of his was far, far faster and encompassed a larger area than what most of the huntsmen there could cover with their speed, gear, and semblances."

"And then..."

"A-And then...?"

"Splat."

A horrified look crossed Ruby's silver eyes.

"All that was left was a pool of blood decorating the sand, squashed like bugs - the only survivors were those with Semblances that allowed them to escape the single step. And with that settled, Ghoramu continued on his endless, cyclical path."

Bringing her face closer to Ruby, Summer's voice gained a deep ominous edge, "Don't disrupt Ghoramu, for he does not chase, he does not hunt."

"He only walks."

"But should you wound him..."

"His steps will be the last you hear."

With the last sentence of Summer's foreboding tale said, right on cue - the dam broke.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Ruby broke into a fearful, screeching wail shaking the entire cabin and forcing the in-retrospect stupid Summer to gain a regretful look.

Rushing to her daughter's side, she hugged her tightly and attempted to calm the frightened child.

The door immediately slammed open loudly, as Taiyang's figure entered the room.

"Summer, what happened?!"

"I just told Ruby the old Ghoramu story, that's all!" She said as if she were innocent, though the guilty expression on her face said otherwise.

A disappointed frown found its place on Taiyang's face, "Dear, she's four. That's not a fairy tale by any means." He shook his head.

"I was told it when I was five! It serves as both an important lesson and metaphor for all Huntsmen!" She pouted as she attempted to justify herself.

...

Indeed, the lesson in this old tale is timeless.

Huntsmen, know when to pick your battles.

Do not stand against an unstoppable force.

Lest your end be...

SPLAT.

-----------------------------

Within the campus and inside one of the many hallways that practically made a maze out of Beacon's interior was one of many vending machines.

A man with a bad case of bed hair stood with a deadpan look as he swiped his scroll to pay for the drink of his choice.

With a beep to confirm the purchase, the sound of the aluminum GRIMM ENERGY™ dropping on the shelf reverberated.

The rather conspicuous man extended his free left hand to withdraw the prized drink.

Since his right hand was grasping tightly onto Excalibur, of course.

With a swift movement, his fingers dug into the can attempting to open it in the traditional way - by flicking the lid up.

He overshot it a little and launched the poor lid straight into the ceiling of the hallway, embedding it.

The sharp hiss of the carbonation escaping into the air was accompanied by an annoyed frown etched onto the man's face.

"My control's all off." He stated to himself in a casual tone.

Alex needed to point no fingers at the core reason behind such a state.

Though that wasn't his core issue at the moment - he had a more pressing problem and source of irritation.

Namely...

'I can't find them.' He noted as he took a casual sip of the caffeine-filled drink.

Calling the reckless idiots?

Their phones are off.

A clue or message in one of the many and unnecessary numbers of chat groups they all had thanks to Nora opening one for every little reason - like a pancake recipe chat group.

Nothing, zilch.

Truly, Alex was stumped.

The thought of wandering around Vale in search of them, or even running at his full speed crossed his mind but...

'The first would take too long, the second would kill people or cause major property damage.' Alex immediately crossed those options off the list.

He couldn't help but sigh tiredly, 'Should have heard them out at least up to the location part of their 'plan' or whatever.' He shook his head helplessly.

Thinking wasn't his best quality, so Alex ran through his options once more as best he could...

Until he arrived at a rather simple solution to finding the dumbasses.

Swiftly gulping the can's contents, he crushed it into a tiny speck in his left hand and threw it accurately at the trash can to his left.

Withdrawing his scroll from his pocket once more he settled on an action he would have usually never done.

'Desperate times call for desperate measures, if anyone can find them it's him.' He confirmed to himself with a casual yet determined nod.

It was time...

To snitch.

The scroll's screen flashed as it announced loudly:

[Calling Headmaster Ozpin.]

[Letting the others do the work for you, Master? Quite the ingenious way to keep that low-effort philosophy of yours going~!]

Alex hadn't dignified his tormentor with a response this time around.

Only the tightening of his grip on Excalibur's hilt, lamenting the fact he can't slice that parasite into nothingness.

-----------------------------

"This is quite the mess you've found yourself in, Ozpin." A stern, steely voice echoed in Ozpin's office as the hologram showcased a tall, muscular middle-aged man with black hair.

Ozpin kept a composed thin line on his face, "Do spare me if you've called to waste my time with senseless commentary, James. I get enough of it from the Vale Council as it is."

Shaking his head, the now-named James smiled, "On the contrary, I am glad you are taking things into your own hands, I had feared you would be too passive in lieu of this event."

"There are times for inaction and there are times for action. This is the time for action." Ozpin affirmed, gesturing at the hologram of James, "Now is there something you wish to convey to me otherwise? I am certain the Atlas Military's General is a busy man."

Nodding, James gave his two cents, "If you need Atlas's support in dealing with those Terrorist scum, don't hesitate in calling for my aid. I am set to arrive with my Military and Atlas Academy Students for the Vytal Festival in any case. I don't mind expediting the arrival."

"Not necessary. But I appreciate it nonetheless, James. I've got it handled." Ozpin smiled confidently and reassuringly.

Seeing the paranoia not yet wiped off James's face, Ozpin reiterated, "I highly doubt this is her machinations, if that is what ails you."

James huffed, a mirthful smile crossing his lips as he changed the subject, "Is the council breathing down your neck on this?"

"The opposite in fact, they'd be more than glad if you provided your support. However, Vale being in lockdown for any longer is stirring up the Grimm. I believe my Huntsmen will finish this off in less than a day."

Nodding, James's features softened a note, "You should have done this sooner. Jacques has been rather distraught with the White Fang's actions and eliminating their Vale branch will only bring good, Vale and Atlas need our Dust trade intact."

Shaking his head, James mentioned, "On a more positive note, I heard you have a shining prospect of a student - I believe he had effortlessly defeated Nikos?"

Sighing audibly, Ozpin retorted, "If you wish to gossip, bother Glynda. That'll be all." He immediately hung up the call, pinching the bridge of his nose with an unreadable expression.

Extending his hand towards his scroll, he intended to check on an update from the Teams he sent in search of any White Fang hideout or sign of Blake.

Yet before his hand had grasped it, the scroll shook as he was met with a call from a rather unexpected caller.

"Alex Andrite?" He repeated with an incredulous look.

With narrowed eyes and a suspicion crossing his features thanks to his gut feeling being sharpened by centuries of experience, Ozpin answered the call with a note of skepticism, "Yes, Mister Andrite? I hope you are feeling bette-"

His suspicions proved correct, as his heart sank to his chest at Alex's simple yet serious request that interrupted his own sentence.

He hadn't heard such a tenseness in Alex's tone before, it lacked the usual nonchalantness he attributed to the immensely powerful Huntsman.

"My Team and YRN went out to save Blake. I can't find them, can you help me?"

Years of being met with tragedy after tragedy, disappointment after disappointment were the only things that held Ozpin back from shattering his expensive table with a fist full of rage.

Taking a deep breath, Ozpin nodded:

"My office. Now."

-----------------------------

Mountain Glenn.

Many words and titles could be used to describe this place, but none are more fitting than the following two:

Vale's worst embarrassment; an unsightly stain in recent history.

And the more dreadful title:

The World's Largest Tomb.

It is the result of a failed attempt at the expansion of Vale, lacking the natural barriers the City of Vale had, the city was overrun by Creatures Of Grimm, and defending it was too costly and an inevitable losing battle of attrition.

An abandoned city to the south-east of Vale connected by sealed-off tunnels to the Main City of Vale.

Ruins and Grimm decorate the place.

Truly, it was a testament to how cornered humanity is and a reality check to all those under the smoke and mirrors of city life that...

Most of Remnant was uninhabitable with only semi-successful settlements and four City Bastions that held their ground.

The sun had risen considerably over the horizon in the cloudy sky, as a team of runaways prospective huntsmen, and huntresses sat in a makeshift camp inside one of the many ruined buildings that decorated Mountain Glenn, guarding themselves from the harsh sunrays.

The gentle crackle of the flame accompanied by the sizzling of canned food brought comfort and contrasted the weariness and tenseness of the resting party.

"It took us way too long to get here," Yang complained with a sour expression.

Ren shook his head, "The city is on lockdown until Blake is found, if we tried to do this quickly we would've been caught."

"Leaving on foot is still allowed! it's not a complete lockdown-"

Ruby chastised, "It's pointless to complain, what's done is done!" She shook her head with finality clapping her hands to stop the arguments with an uneasy look on her face.

"I don't have to remind all of you that all this arguing will draw the Grimm to us!"

The air was tense for all of them, a heavy weight pressing down their shoulders as they caught their breath, having fought off a decent number of Grimm to reach this place.

Weiss surveyed her gear, making sure the Dust Canisters were in their proper chambers of her weapon Myrtenaster.

Each did their own preparation and rest, for the simple reason that...

"The White Fang's hideout is below us, right?" Nora's inquiry held no humor as she looked not her Team Leader.

Yang turned to her with a firm nod, "Yeah, in the old tunnel systems of Mountain Glenn, we just need to find a good place of entry."

"Weiss, how's your Aura, do you need more rest?" Pyrrha inquired with a steely look.

"I should be fine in an hour or so, the Ursa didn't hit me that hard." Weiss waved off her concern with a reassuring smile.

Yang nodded at Weiss, "Good, then we look for an entrance, bust in there, save Blake, and get the hell out of there."

"Which one did you say was troublesome?" Pyrrha mentioned with a sharp glint in her emerald eyes.

Yang turned to Pyrrha with a bitten lip and an expression of swallowed pride, "A short mute girl, her hair is an ugly half pink half brown-" she paused as she recalled her fight, "She has some sort of illusion Semblance or something more complicated but she's hella strong, she's even more of a problem than Torchwick and that weapons of hers, a makeshift umbrella is tough, it tanked my explosive shells."

"Any weaknesses?" Ren voiced out.

Shaking her head with a troubled frown, Yang replied, "Nothing I noticed, it all happened so quickly..."

A firm nod from Pyrrha, accompanied by her determined tone reverberated, "Got it, leave her to me."

Arching an eyebrow, Weiss retorted, "We outnumber them, don't we? With the exception of that uncouth criminal and the illusion-wielding girl, the rest are plain wild animals are they not? There is no reason for you to be taking her on your own, Pyrrha."

Clenching her fist and gesturing with Ember Cecila, Yang nodded with fervor, "That's right. I owe that girl some payback..."

Ruby frowned and answered in Pyrrha's place, "That's us going under the assumption there is no one else scary strong in there," she turned to Pyrrha with a grateful smile, "But If we focus our efforts on snatching Blake out of there and Pyrrha meanwhile deals with that scary girl we can all just beat up Roman together and then run right out of there!"

"I'm against letting Pyr handle her alone." Yang firmly stated with folded arms.

She turned to Pyrrha, "This is not me doubting your skills or anything, I know you're stronger than me, and that she's stronger than me as well... but at least let me take part in the fight, we can take her down together." She nodded firmly.

Pyrrha considered Yang's plea as she mulled the idea over, only to meet the blonde with a warm smile, "Alright, but if the others need your help to grab Blake then leave her to me - our victory goal is to get out of there alive with all of us."

Nora mentioned with a tilted head, "We aren't planning on breaking everyone's legs in there?"

Ren sighed audibly, as he threw his two cents, "Rescue is the priority, if we prove more than a match for whatever we'll find in there we can break everyone's legs. If we're not, I believe we're adept enough to make our escape... did I get that right, Ruby?"

A cheerful thumbs-up met his inquiry, "Yup! That's the gist of it! Now eat up, we're overcooking the food!" she pointed at the canned food nestled above the crackling flames of their makeshift campfire.

They all nodded and went ahead to dig in, making sure to be as ready as can be for the upcoming rescue operation.

"It's best if we can sneak in and out... your team doesn't have a secret invisibility or sneaky semblance by chance?" Ruby asked Yang as she chewed on her food.

With a gulp, Yang shook her head, "It's not really my style but..."

As the conversation shifted into trying to see if a stealth operation was possible one of the teammates couldn't help but hold a hesitant look, their fingers tracing their pocketed scroll as a deliberation crossed their mind.

A deliberation they acted upon soon after.

A message was sent.

[Under Mountain Glenn.]

-----------------------------

It was a dimly lit yet spacious manmade cavern, with rusted train tracks and pillars that kept the place from caving in.

Most of the cavern's openings, at least those that the train tracks led to, were sealed off with reinforced steel, with nothing beyond them but rubble upon rubble for miles.

Up until recently, it was empty, soulless, filled to the brim with decayed human remains and Grimm.

But now?

"Easy there, easy; we don't want any Dust-related accident to transpire now do we?" Roman Torchwick's voice echoed loudly in the cavernous setting he stood at.

A slew of White Fang members hauled conspicuous amounts of packaged Dust, some struggling under the weight while the heaviest loads were transported by labor vehicles.

All to be filled into an old train that had seen better days - though efforts of its restoration had already begun to show.

Though it could be months at the very least before it would be fully functional once again.

Nevertheless, as Torchwick barked orders at his reluctant partners in crime he had to quickly turn around at the rapid approach of quite distraught footsteps.

"Roman, what the fuck have you done?" A brown-skinned, emerald-haired, and red-eyed girl stopped right in front of the flamboyant criminal, a clear scowl etched on her face.

"Well if it isn't my dear employers' henchmen brats!" he mocked with a tip of his hat, "To what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you kids again?"

Clicking her tongue, Emerald Sustrai hissed only to be stopped by the hand of her fellow teammate's hand on her shoulder.

A pale young man with gray hair and eyes, whose tone reverberates in a calm yet serious inquiry, "We're serious, Lady Cinder wants to be informed when you cause such... drastic actions that might affect our plans."

He added with a casual note, "Oh, and an explanation would be great."

Tilting his head, Roman snorted, "Isn't it just fantastic that I don't even know the plans that will be affected? Keeping me in the dark is not doing you any favors." He met Mercury Black's gaze with thinly veiled displeasure.

Seeing they won't budge, Roman shrugged and pointed with his cane towards a far-off yet dark corner of the gigantic cavern, "But if you want to know the reason behind us getting pushed off the rails of Ozpin's patience... you'll have to ask good ol' Adam, he was very insistent."

The two visitors turned towards the said corner at Roman's gesture, to which he continued, "He's keeping that Beacon Student we nabbed captive there, you can find him there as well."

Nodding, the two immediately diverted their attention from Vale's King Pin and headed straight towards the corner.

Whispering to his side as the sound of shattered glass resonated beside him, replaced by a woman, he mentioned with genuine amusement, "An animal keeping another animal captive, quite ironic don't you think?"

The woman shrugged uncaringly, to which he added, "You think that might be what gets them on?" He practically cackled as he stated it aloud.

To which the distant working White Fang couldn't help but bite their lips with frustration keeping restraint.

-----------------------------

It was a cold, isolated corner of the cavern.

There, a makeshift prison cell was set up, a young Faunus behind bars and chained to the wall helplessly.

Rats and bugs crawled around the place, as the scattered skeletons of the distant deceased decorated the place.

Not to mention the odor of excrement from the nearby restroom.

As if to mock her.

Once more, footsteps approached the cell of the girl.

Her expression was one of despair, mental exhaustion, and regret - but a flame lingered beneath her eyes nonetheless.

As the footsteps drew closer, she raised her head to greet her would-be visitor.

Truth be told, she already knew who was coming to converse.

It had happened a multitude of times, after all.

"When will you let me go, Adam?" Blake pleaded with a weak glare.

Her eyes were directed towards a tall, auburn-haired young man.

A Bull Faunus to be exact, with a Grimm-like mask obstructing the view of his eyes.

He answered her inquiry with a statement, "My patience is running thin, my love. You have some semblance of hope that you'll be found but you won't be."

Entering the cell, he approached Blake following his statement and lowered himself to her eye level.

"As we speak, Beacon's Headmaster is exhausting every effort to search for you in every corner of Vale."

He leaned in closer, causing a fearful shiver to run down Blake's spine as he whispered:

"But we're not in Vale."

Her eyes dilated at that admission and he leaned back a safe distance to let her digest his words.

He started, "I've suffered the shame and embarrassment of being branded when I was a slave to the Schnee's, and a great many other tragedies and lost ones for the sake of our cause."

He admitted with a hand on his chest and gritted teeth...

"YET NOTHING OF THOSE HURT AS MUCH AS YOUR BETRAYAL!" He roared with unbridled fury.

"WHY! WHY DID YOU BETRAY OUR CAUSE?!"

"WHY DID YOU BETRAY ME?!"

...

He was only met with Blake's defiant silence.

Only fueling his rage as he shot forward in an instant, his hand tightening around her neck as he lifted her in the air, only held back by the shackles painfully holding her up to a certain distance.

Blake's eyes widened in a panic, her face paling as she attempted to move her chained limbs to unlatch his hand from her neck.

She began to choke as he roared out at her face:

"ANSWER ME!"

Her lips moved with struggle as she choked, but she weakly voiced out the answer he demanded:

"B-BECAUSE Y-YOU'VE CHANGED!" She growled out with the little breath she held.

At her answer, Adam immediately released his grip on her neck, forcing her to drop to the ground on her knees with a thud, coughing rapidly to recover.

"Changed?" He repeated with a confused look settling on the coughing Blake.

Then, it was Blake's turn to let her frustration known:

She raised her eyes to glare in clear defiance, dismay, and loathing towards Adam.

Yet, her eyes also held a little lingering warmth in there; a tiny flame yet to fade.

A complex look he, himself could not decipher - she was in a storm of emotions as she roared.

"YOU AND ALL THE WHITE FANG HAVE LOST THEIR MINDS! FIRST, THE BRUTAL DISREGARD FOR INNOCENTS IN THE NAME OF OUR STRUGGLE! AND SECONDLY, WORKING WITH HUMANS?!"

"YOU USED TO BE SO JUST, SO DETERMINED, AND THIS IS HOW YOU TURNED OUT?! I LEFT YOU ON THAT TRAIN BECAUSE THAT WAS THE BEST CHOICE FOR ME!"

"I COULDN'T TAKE THIS PATH ANYMORE! I COULDN'T!" She repeated.

She yanked on her chains with fury, not being able to move any further, "I WANTED TO FORGE A BETTER PATH FOR THE FAUNUS MY WAY! IN A WAY THE OLD WHITE FANG COULD BE PROUD OF!"

"BUT NOW? YOU CAN'T GET MORE HYPOCRITCAL THAN THAT, ADA-" A sharp slap reverberated, only blocked out by Blake's remaining Aura.

Adam retorted with a growl, "Don't lecture me on hypocrisy, my beloved, when you participated in it as well-"

As he was about to continue his statement, his attention was seized by a duo of footsteps rapidly approaching the cell to which he turned around to be met with two teenagers.

Familiar teenagers simply stared at his back with clear impatience.

Clicking his tongue, Adam rose up and turned around to head out of the cell, but not before giving Blake his parting words, "We're not done here, you will be receiving judgment for your callous betrayal soon."

"Hah, if anyone here is callous... it's you." Blake defiantly bit back as Adam left the cell, his back distancing into the darkness to meet with the two teenagers.

-----------------------------

"You're on thin ice, humans. Don't question me, and don't test my patience." Adam growled.

Mercury calmly retorted, "Do I need to remind you who's holding the leash, Adam Taurus? Obey, or Lady Cinder might just tighten it... with a little extra flair."

With his eyes twitching behind his mask, Adam reluctantly replied, "My men and your criminal rat made sure to leave no sign of having taken her here."

Emerald smirked mockingly, "I see you still have your wits with you, at least. At the rate, things are going Ozpin will come up empty, and keeping Vale in a lockdown for more than a day will already brew trouble - especially from the Grimm side."

Mercury nodded, "It's a risky but decent spontaneous move, it does accelerate our purpose all the more, albeit rather prematurely."

"However, that is on the account you left no trace of having brought her here, not to mention any further Dust Robberies and the White Fang's presence in Vale is no longer welcome, we'll either have to settle with what you've gathered thus far or... well, that's enough out of me."

"It never was welcome with all the Humans here-" Adam admitted with Mercury cutting him off with a casual proposal as an issue suddenly made itself apparent in his head:

"But when are you planning on killing her? I doubt it's efficient to keep her alive for months until this place fulfills its purpose," he then offered, "if you'd like, I can kill her myself-"

Before Adam could voice his vehement protest at such a suggestion, his sharpened instincts and the sound of something whizzing at a rapid speed through the air caught his attention.

With a blindingly fast draw of his katana, he blocked an explosive round of dust that was shot at him, absorbing the impact into his blade.

"SNIPER!" He roared out as loud as could be, and with his shout emerged five individuals who rapidly ran towards the trio of Adam, Emerald, and Mercury.

Yang, Weiss, Nora, Ren, and Pyrrha headed the charge with their weapons drawn.

Just behind them, Ruby ran as quickly as she could shifting Crescent Rose from its sniper form to the usual scythe.

Weiss slowed down a pace and pointed her rapier towards Ruby, with the prepared Lightning Dust coupled with her Glyphs Semblance a glyph appeared below the little reaper.

A Time Dilation Glyph.

A yellowish glow enveloped the rose, and her sprint accelerated beyond normal means with more glyphs appearing in front of her as she charged past Weiss and then the others.

Emerald withdrew her dual revolvers and shot at the speeding bullet, only for Ren to cease their trajectory with his own reply of bullets from his pair of machine pistols.

Adam's grip tightened at the edge of his katana as he was about to slice the rapidly approaching rose but...

With the help of Weiss's glyphs and the sudden additional burst of speed thanks to Ruby's own Petal Burst semblance his katana was met with a burst of air instead of the expected sliced head.

Understanding crossed his features and with it the accompanying fury, as he disregarded the opponents in front of him to turn around to chase the speedy Rose.

A snarl on his face at the realization that she is headed to free his 'beloved'.

Nevertheless, his keen battle awareness forced him to duck below a thrown javelin.

A tall redhead met his gaze as she swung her shield at him to which he rose up and slashed at her with his blade.

He blocked it with relative ease, as they stood in a headlock, with Emerald and Mercury somehow managing to hold off against four other opponents rather well but it was clear that Yang's aggression was pushing them into a corner.

For now, it was a 1 on 1 match.

Pyrrha's eyes narrowed as she used her semblance and the javelin-form Milo flew at a rapid pace, slicing through the air only for Adam to kick Pyrrha away and narrowly avoid its trajectory.

Milo having found itself back into Pyrrha's hands was swiftly transformed into its semi-automatic rifle form and she rapidly shot at the defensive Adam who easily blocked the flying bullets with his blade, once more strangely negating their impact.

She threw her javelin once more towards Adam who slapped it aside with his katana, to which Pyrrha charged ahead and caught with her semblance and went into a rapid exchange of blows.

The resonating sound of steel meeting steel with Milo impacting the katana reverberated and mixed with the surrounding sounds of chaos, dust explosions, and gunshots.

It was this exchange of blows that forced Pyrrha to back away with no immediate progress made against the mostly defensive Adam who only seemed to block each blow with his katana.

That sent a sense of dread down her spine.

'He's strong... I can't end this quickly before their reinforcements arrive.'

As she considered her options, a strange reddish subtle glow enveloped him and his katana.

With it, Pyrrha's sense of dread increased by magnitudes as her grip on her weapons tightened.

His grip tightened on his katana and his stance was clear for yet another swift drawing strike, but Pyrrha could note she was obviously out of range.

'Unless he can hit me with his Semblance... I need to figure it out, but I mustn't get hit.'

Once more she threw her javelin at Adam, but this wasn't an offensive act, but a means to either stop him and free her own hand.

He wasn't daunted as his stance hadn't shifted even a bit.

Pyrrha directed her hand and her Semblance specifically at his katana.

Making sure not to stop his action, but only to...

Adam swung with lethal precision - a beam of condensed energy erupted from his blade, carving a deep scar through the coarse ground as it tore everything in its path.

However, thanks to Pyrrha adjusting the angle of the blade through a subtle use of her semblance, it only slightly grazed her ear, her Aura failing to protect such a sharp and powerful blow as blood ran down her face.

A troubled sweat trickled down Pyrrha's face, but her determination only grew at the sight of Adam's surprised mask visage, he didn't expect to miss.

"Looks like I'm your worst opponent." She admitted with a knowing glint directed at his blade.

He snarled back, "Don't get carried away, Human."

-----------------------------

Ruby ran as fast as she could, in fact, she ran as fast as she had ever had.

With only mild reluctance crossing her features at leaving her teammates behind as the sounds of battle and chaos grew distant in her ears, she had reached Blake's cell.

The cat faunus had a curious yet hopeful expression on her, and her surprise only grew at the appearance of her savior.

If she were honest, it's the second most unexpected person she could have imagined.

Ruby immediately sliced the steel bars with a powerful swipe of Crescent Rose and approached Blake.

"I know we don't like each other, but I can't be mad at you when you're locked up like this!" Ruby swiftly mentioned as she sliced apart the chains that held Blake captive, the chains falling down to the ground with a resonating clang.

An extended hand met Blake's eyes to which their eyes met once more, and Ruby only lightly frowned, "Hurry up, everyone's fighting!"

A subtle smile tugged at Blake's lips as she nodded with genuine gratitude, "Right, thanks."

"Don't mention it!" Ruby replied as she pulled Blake up.

"Do you know where my weapons are at?"

Ruby shook her head, "That doesn't matter right now, we've got to get out of here there are too many bad guys." She began to run ahead with Blake following close by albeit a bit more shaken up in the run.

"Then how do I fight?"

"The plan is to run out of here, but if you have to just grab some bad guy's weapon!" Ruby suggested as they ran, their steps muffled as the chaos grew louder and louder.

Once they got close enough, their eyes widened in panic as they saw the mess in front of them:

Reinforcements had arrived - the duo of Emerald and Mercury had gained the assistance of a bunch of White Fang grunts and most alarmingly the duo of Torchwick and the pink-haired girl that had defeated Yang in her lonesome.

The quartet of Ren, Yang, Nora, and Weiss were being pushed back hard.

Weiss's aura ran out due to over usage of glyphs, as blood trickled down her face and small cuts on her body.

The cavern-turned battlefield was decorated with knocked-out and perhaps dead White Fang members lying unmoving on the ground.

Another battle raged on adjacent to the quartet's battle - Adam Taurus and Pyrrha Nikos were fighting to the death.

Adam seemed to be weaponless, and yet not completely helpless as he fought Pyrrha who disarmed his katana with her semblance.

He used what he could get, grabbed onto her own thrown javelin, and kicked her away.

They were in a stalemate even in this case.

Pyrrha's growing frustration seemed to mirror Adam's growing fury at his katana being thrown away each time.

"YOU'LL RUN OUT OF AURA EVENTUALLY HUMAN!" He roared with certainty.

"You'll have lost by then." Pyrrha coldly asserted, their battle raging on.

'Pyrrha... in a stalemate against someone who isn't Alex?!' Ruby's mind boggled, things were not looking good.

To the rapidly approaching duo of Ruby and Blake, this appeared like the worst imaginable scenario.

Or at least, the coming of it.

...

Escape was no longer an option.

It was victory or death.

Ruby had to make a decision.

Turning to Blake, she nodded and gave short decisive orders, "You help the others, I help Pyrrha, and we'll join you once we've beaten this guy."

Hesitation crossed Blake's features but she nodded nonetheless, "Be careful, Adam's strong semblance lets him absorb damage and then send it back at you." She informed swiftly.

Nodding in gratitude, Ruby nodded and charged towards Pyrrha and Adam.

Blake burst into motion took a scimitar pistol from one of the unconcious White Fang members and headed toward her teammates who were at the end of their ropes.

With the swift usage of her clone Semblance, Blake managed to arrive at their side, surrounded by enemies in the same predicament as her weary teammates.

Torchwick could only comment with a mixture of amusement and distaste, "I am getting quite the heavy case of Deja Vu with you rejoining the fray, Black. I see you're also a friend of Red."

"The only difference will be you losing this time around."

"Somehow I doubt that."

And without any further exchange of words, the battle raged on.

-----------------------------

The sun peeked over the horizon, noon having passed not too long ago a typhoon was rapidly approaching Mountain Glenn.

At its epicenter was a massive quantity of aura with no equal - an amount that would grasp the attention of most young Grimm that overflowed in this wilderness and the abandoned Mountain Glenn area.

Even so, they hadn't managed to so much as get close before the typhoon ran past them or blew them away.

In but a few short minutes the typhoon had reached the abandoned city, eventually stopping its rapid pace.

Revealing itself to be none other than Alex Andrite.

"Ozpin said there should be an intricate cave system under here... how do I get down there without caving the place in?" He murmured aloud with Excalibur tightly gripped at his side.

He looked over at the distant horizon, contemplating his next move, "Waiting for reinforcements to guide me is pointless."

Indeed, after all, he had headed out here alone since he could reach this place the fastest.

'Pyrrha should have sent a GPS marker for the place of entry instead of a text...' Alex sighed.

He really didn't like this situation.

'I assume the old Grimm shelters would lead into the cave system since the traditional railroad entrances are blocked...'

[That shouldn't bother you, just dig your way through the rubble at the entrance, it won't cause a collapse of the cavern.]

He didn't listen to the parasite's advice and ran through the city, a whirlwind accompanying his every move until he found an old Grimm Shelter.

Entering its greenery-covered and rusty interior, he found what he was looking for.

"Nice." He nodded at the stairs leading downwards.

Without further issue, he ran ahead.

A pack of Beowolves met his charge once he got down into the actual artificial cave system.

With a swift and deadly slash of Excalibur, he beheaded the pack of four young Beowolves rather easily and went on ahead.

Keeping both his eyes and ears peeled for any sign of conflict or people.

-----------------------------

It was only a few more minutes and dead-ends until Alex found something, another dead-end yet just beyond it...

He could hear the sounds of steel meeting steel and loud yet muffled shouts echoing beyond it.

"Should be here..."

He readied Excalibur as he was about to slash an opening, only to pause at a sudden... familiar sound.

Loud.

Agonized.

Regretful.

Pained.

Disturbed.

Distraught.

Tortured.

A howl of agony and mourning.

It was too familiar.

The familiarity had begun to affect Alex's sight.

The world, the wall in front of him...

It didn't seem so tangible.

In fact, it appeared...

Ever-shifting.

And with it, came an accompanying dreadful sound:

[PING!]

[Main Quest - "Save Your Friends" has been issued!]

-Main Quests-

↓

[NEW!] Save Your Friends↓

Requirements - Your friends have found themselves in dire straits. Only you can save them!

Static Rewards - 10,000 Lien & 1 Gacha Coupon

Performance-Based Rewards - Significantly raised Relationship Progress with Team RWP & Team YRN (#N/A).

Time Limit - 10 Minutes or the death of any member of Team YRN & Team RWP

Punishment For Failure - A week in Purgatory & Significantly reduced relationship progress with...

Difficulty - C+

The notification had been muffled in Alex's mind...

His figure burst through the wall with explosive force, entering from a narrow passageway into a spacious cavern overwhelmed with the sounds of combat.

Alex's eyes shifted towards the figure whose scream sounded oh-so-familiar.

It was Yang, her figure injured, bloody, and shivering as her face was a mess riddled with the flow of tears.

Her look was horrified, directed at a... body.

A headless, body.

Belonging to none other than Blake.

Her head separated cleanly from the rest of her lower head, as if sliced off by a katana, she looked as if she didn't even have the chance for any final words...

Alex's gaze shifted towards the rest of his teammates and friends who stood at diverse distances from one another, the fight raging on even with Yang's despair.

Most were injured and unmoving, with Pyrrha and Ruby also having tears and a panicked expression on their faces - the clear sense of dread and fear covering their faces against their much more skilled and numbered opponents.

"SHE BLOCKED IT FOR ME!" Ruby cried out with a roar as she blocked a blow from Adam directed at the stupefied Yang and kicked him away.

Only for the same girl that had defeated Yang not once, but twice to emerge and aim her weapon with a sadistic grin at Ruby's unguarded back.

Ruby could only turn around in a panic, she could use her semblance to dodge it, but that'll leave Yang open...

'I-I have enough Aura to take this, but that'll hurt...' She gritted her teeth with a sisterly determination.

Ren attempted to lift his arm to shoot, only for Mercury's prosthetic leg to kick away his weapon, having been disarmed and defeated.

But then...

Alex's Dragon Aura Core thrummed with power, crushing and overwhelming both the ground and air around him.

And with it, he made his move:

"Aura Burst."

An eardrum-rupturing explosion reverberated as it drew everyone's attention to the spot Alex was at earlier, and all of a sudden a man with a golden, sacred blade found himself in front of the pink-brown-haired girl.

Her eyes widened at the sudden appearance of the man as she moved to activate her aura, to move her weapon to block.

To do anything.

Ruby's eyes widened when all of a sudden the dangerous woman aiming to strike her back...

The familiar sound of aura shattering echoed once more, and the woman's panicked expression was removed quickly.

It had been removed because no face was there to express emotion.

Rapid slashes, faster than the eye could see, the woman, her weapon included had been diced apart.

From whole to pieces of flesh, from pieces of flesh to liquid flesh mixed with blood.

So quick it was, so powerful it was that all it had resulted was...

In one moment, it was a woman.

In the next, it was a powerful blowing wind, sending Ruby and anyone close who hadn't held their ground flying.

And finally...

Blood and liquidized flesh spread by the wind across the cavern - not a trace of her existence except the knowledge that it had been previously hers.

Not even on the sacred, golden blade that overwhelmed all who set their eyes on it had a trace of blood on it.

Roman's eyes dilated as he was the first to react to the erasure of his beloved partner:

"N-Neo?"

Just like that...

Just like all of them were taught.

Just like Ruby had heard from her Mother...

SPLAT.

To Be Continued!

-Author Note Start-

Hello, my lovelies!

Been a while.

Now, now.

I know a lot of you are surprised at what has happened (or not idk).

But I did promise Canon being derailed.

Now the situation has yet to be resolved, but I do want to mention something.

RWBY throughout Volumes 4-9 have had ZERO consequences for their rashness.

As promised, this is that issue being ripped out of the ground and spat on.

Stupid and risky actions will have adequate consequences and the characters will gonna have to learn a thing or two thanks to that.

This thing is to serve more of a lesson to the RWBY cast rather than Alex himself - though he has a bone or two to pick here and something to learn which you'll see next chappie.

Hope the chapter's been to your enjoyment and hope to snuff in quality as I hope I ain't too rusty.

RIP Neopolitan you were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

But well, skill issue.

Anywho! Love ya'll and see you later!