Chapter One

Back in Action

Hey guys, if you're hearing this, congrats. My name is Leonard Church. And until a month ago, I was a student at Beacon Academy and leader of Team CPPR.

Beacon Academy was a school for Hunters; people who trained in combat to fight Grimm. These are soulless monsters who want to kill every other living thing they see. Beacon had over six hundred students, all dedicated to beating the shit out of any Grimm they encountered. In the academy, we were separated into four man teams. These teams did everything together.

Now you might be thinking, what happened? How did such an awesome academy fall? And honestly, I have no idea. It was during the Vytal Festival. For those of you who live under a rock, I'll explain. The Vytal Festival is a giant tournament that the Hunter schools from the four kingdoms of the world participate in every couple of years. Anyway, during one of the final fights, everything went to hell. Beacon was overrun by Grimm and several people died, including half of my team.

Now before you get all sappy on me, stop. I've moved on, quite literally. After Beacon fell, anyone who wasn't dead or injured got out of there as fast as they could. Last I heard there was only one or two teams from beacon still functional. I managed to find some of my friends and get out of there. Yep, you're listening to the leader of the combination between Teams CPRR and KAKI. That's pronounced copper and khaki by the way.

Anyway, I'll give the rundown on the survivors and my new team. First off there's me, Leonard Church and former leader of Team CPRR. I'm what you would call a specialist. I can hit anything with my rifle and it serves a variety of purposes. Not to brag or anything but I'm a bit of a badass with it. Since I'm a ranged fighter, I don't wear a lot of armor. I just cover the essentials; elbows, knees, shoulders, the like.

Next we have my partner, Pirus Tucker. My god, if there is a worse flirt in the world I would die. I swear he flirts with every girl he sees. And to top it all off, he's a complete show off. He wields a rapier and takes enormous pleasure out of disarming his opponents. Every time he does it, he grins like he's the best fighter in the world. He's most definitely a front line guy, and I wish for nothing more than for him to be eaten one day.

Next is Kahel Grif. He used to be a part of Team KAKI. He's the sneaky one of the team. His weapon consists of a pair of retractable claws that sits atop his wrist. Since he's the thief of the group, he wears minimal armor. He always wears the hood of his hoodie up, which in my opinion is a little weird. In combat he commonly sneaks around and hits his opponents when they least expect it. The only problem with that strategy was that he requires someone else to take the heat for him while he sneaks around.

Finally, I draw attention to Ivory Grey, as if she really needs my help. That girl is crazy beyond all belief. She spent the majority of her early life earning over twelve different PhDs before finally "settling down" and joining Beacon. She doesn't exactly fight per se as much as have hoards of diabolic and sadistic drones do her dirty work for her. I wish I was joking about that. If you ever have the misfortune of meeting her, I recommend running as fast as you possibly can.

After Beacon fell, I managed to gather up these guys and we high tailed it out of there before the shit could hit the fan any more than it had already. Team KAKI's leader, a guy who went by Sarge, fled into the night as soon as his "sanctuary" fell. Simmons, the final member of Team KAKI, barely escaped a hoard of Grimm and was soon evacuated back to Vale by his parents.

Anyway, I'm getting off topic. This particular story begins in the woods of the kingdom of Mistral a few months after the fall of Beacon. The others and I had been tracking down the White Fang, a terrorist group who was in charge of the assault on Beacon. Our story begins on the top of a hill, in the middle of a forest.

Church and Tucker were in charge of scouting out the base. The group had been planning this attack for a while now and was finally putting that plan into action that night. They were standing on a hill, hidden in the foliage of the forest. The base that we were scouting was white and circular with two Faunus standing on top of the flat roof, talking to each other with bored expressions on their faces.

A quick lesson for those who live under a rock: Faunus are people with animal-like traits, like ears or tails. The most common variations are mammals but there are other types as well. These two seemed to be feline and deer-esk, based on the ears and antlers that were present on top of both of their heads.

Church was crouched down, looking through the sight of his rifle at the two. Tucker crouched behind him, looking over Church's shoulder.

"What're they doing?" Tucker asked, sounding both bored and curious.

Pirus Tucker had short, dirty blonde hair and olive green eyes. He had tan skin with built physique, despite not working out often. He wore jeans with a green t-shirt and a light green denim jacket. For armor, he only had armored boots and bracers. On his hip was his thin rapier.

Church lowered his rifle and looked over his shoulder at the other boy, annoyed. This was the third time in fifteen minutes Tucker had asked that question.

"What?" Church asked irritably, his annoyance apparent.

Leonard Church had light skin with green eyes and black hair. He wore a dark blue hooded sweatshirt and jeans. Dark purple armor plating covered his shoulders, knees, and elbows. He had black boots that reached his kneepads and wore armored gloves to keep his grip on his rifle…or if he ever wanted to punch Tucker.

"I said, 'What are they doing now?'" Tucker replied, glaring at his partner.

"Goddamn, I'm getting so sick of answering that question!" The former leader snarled quietly.

"Hey, don't get mad at me," Tucker complained. "You have the sniper rifle-I can't see shit. So don't start to bitch at me, because I'm not gonna just sit up here and play with my-"

"Okay, okay, look... they're just standing there and talking, okay?" Church interrupted, turning back to the base. "That's all they're doing. That's all guards ever do: just stand there and talk. That's what they were doing yesterday, that's what they were doing when you asked me five minutes ago. So, five minutes from now, when you ask me, 'What are they doing?' my answer's gonna be, 'They're still just talking, and they're still just standing there!"

The two fall silent for a second, allowing Church a chance to relax and shake off the anger and annoyance. Then Tucker broke the silence again.

"What're they talking about?"

"You know what? I hate you," Church sighed, lowering the rifle once more.

The aforementioned plan was to destroy the assholes that had ransacked Beacon one base at a time. And if Church got revenge at any point along the way then so much the better.

According to the plan, this base was the first of many. After a few hours, with their reconnaissance done, they slipped back to Grey and Grif. Their camp was surrounded and protected from view by the thick forest. When the two boys arrived, Grey had one of her little "friends" lying in pieces all around her, and Grif was napping.

"Okay, so it looks like they've got minimum security," Church said as he stepped into the clearing. Tucker stepped over to the fire that Grey sat beside and began to rub his hands together, trying to warm them up a little.

"Okay!" Grey said happily. "Then my friends can make short work of them!"

Ivory Grey had white skin and dark black hair with purple highlights. Her dark brown eyes never missed a thing, which got her into more fights than Church could count when combined with her raging motor mouth. She wore a dark purple shirt and dark jeans under a white, reinforced lab coat. Completing her attire were white shin pads over knee high dark boots.

"You know? You scare me sometimes." Tucker said as he edged away from Grey and her creepy smile.

"Join the club," Grif groaned sleepily.

Kahel Grif had white skin with pale red hair that poked out of the hood of his hoodie. His bright blue eyes always seemed to shine in the darkness, making him a startling sight on moonless nights. He wore a yellow t-shirt under a hooded orange jacket with sleeves that stopped at his elbow. His weapons were orange gauntlets that, when in standby, looked like fingerless gloves and bracers. He wore light tan pants covered with multiple pockets and dull, orange running shoes.

He rolled over on the ground and tired to go back to sleep as the others began to discuss an assault plan.

Late that night the former students began their attack. It started with Grey flying two of her helio drones over to the base. The drones were about two feet wide and a half-foot tall. Each one carried several different armaments to cause havoc on the battlefield. The one that mattered that night was their ability to launch sticky grenades out of small turrets on their undersides.

The helio drones flew out over the base under the cover of darkness, their small rotors whirring quietly. Grey stood on the hill, using a holographic screen that came out of her white bracer to control her little devil spawn. Church stood beside her, watching the base through his scope once more. There were several bright flashes of light, then Grey began to smile.

"Okay," Grey reported to Church happily as she brushed some of her hair out of her eyes. "My little friends have successfully blown a hole into the side of the base and killed fifteen hostiles, ten more wounded and unable to escape."

Her attention was suddenly ripped away as one of the drones spotted something on one of the wounded terrorists. Grey zoomed in the camera, her eyes lighting up with interest and fascination.

"Oooh, you look interesting. I'd love to get a sample from you," she pressed a few buttons. "Why thank you for volunteering, sir. Your participation will help science invaluably."

"Grey," Church interrupted, feeling uneasy, "please, stop."

The girl's smile never wavered, she only nodded and went back to having her drones cause havoc in the base. Hoping she would stay on track this time, Church knelt down and began to line up a shot. He lined up his sights on a fleeing terrorist. Breathing calmly and steadily, Church slowly followed the panicked Faunus' movements, then fired. The shot hit the man in the leg, sending him tumbling into the dirt.

"I'm in." Grif's voice quietly reported from Church's wrist where his personal Scroll was expertly attached.

"You know what to do, then." Church said as he lined up another shot, ignoring Grey as she laughed and talked to herself. "Be aware, gas incoming."

The warning given, Church pulled the trigger. The modified bullet was launched into the air. It sailed towards the base at high speeds, ejecting small parts as it flew. Once it impacted on the roof, the container shattered, causing a thick green gas to seep out from the point of impact. The gas was something both Grey and Church had cooked up. It was a chemical compound that reacted rather violently with oxygen, causing the thick mist that was slowly coating the area around the base. Let's just say that there was a reason Church had given the warning.

As soon as the Faunus that had fled to the roof came into contact with the green mist, they started to cough and hack violently. Church watched them impassively as they fell to the floor, prepared to shoot them if they got up again. It wasn't a minute later that the gas dissipated and the terrorists lay unconscious on the roof.

"Alright I found it." Grif said. "Have the psychopath send one of her toys to my location."

"Oh, absolutely!" Grey said enthusiastically before fiddling with some controls on her wrist, manipulating one of her drones. "Okay, I'm now in the system."

"And you're sure you know what you're doing?" Grif asked skeptically. "Cause from what I'm seeing, you have no idea."

"I have a PHD in Cryptology," Grey explained, her smile never wavering. "Compared to the final tests, this security is a joke. And they even have the old firewalls. Wow, there really should be a rule on how outdated things can be, don't you agree?"

"Sure, Grey," Church agreed halfheartedly, beginning to relax.

Sometimes things were too similar for his tastes, like the group was back at Beacon and they were simply participating in an exercise put on by one of the teachers. They acted the same as before, but still, it was strange. There were things that weren't right, like the lulls in conversation where they expected someone else to fill in the gaps.

"Excellent!" Grey smiled.

"Excellent. Now; Leonard Church, Pirus Tucker, Raven Frost, and Risa Carolina. You four grabbed the White King piece," Headmaster Ozpin said as he addressed the teens on the stage. "From now on you shall be known as Team Copper, led by Leonard Church."

It was the final stage of the initiation. They had passed! Though now Church was stuck with these idiots for the rest of his time here. Just great. Of all the traditions Beacon had to follow, why did it have to be the stupid teams one? The rest of the students clapped. At least Church thought they did. He wasn't really paying attention, Theta was talking.

"Do you think we'll be able to throw a party?" the fragment asked, from Church's right.

"I highly doubt that the faculty would approve of such an endeavor." Delta said monotonously, appearing on Church's left.

"D," Church whispered, "shut up, let us enjoy this."

"Very well." Delta said with just a hint of a smile on his face.

They stepped off the stage as the next team was called up. Church shook hands with Raven and Risa. They both seemed like asses.

"Krim Ayers, Amón Simmons, Kahel Grif, and Ivory Grey. you four have selected the Black Rook piece," Ozpin said. "From now on you shall be known as Team Khaki, led by Krim Ayers."

"That's Sarge, Dirtbag" Krim growled at Ozpin.

The headmaster smiled then waved them off the stage, faintly muttering "This is going to be an interesting four years."

"Dylan Andrews from Remnant Daily here," a lady said as she stepped in front of the camera.

She had short, light brown hair with dark blue eyes. She wore a white coat with a light blue t-shirt under it, sparse light blue armor on her shoulders and forearms, blue jeans, and white running shoes. She had light blue wires running down her left sleeve, connecting to one of the light blue gloves that covered her hands and had a sub-machine pistol strapped to her hip.

"Today, we will be covering the fall of Beacon and the possible ramifications this could have on the economy of Vale."

Behind her was the sight of the castle-like school. Grimm moved as black swarms in the distance. By one of the towers of the school, a giant black dragon was frozen in mid-flight. Andrews gestured behind her as she spoke.

"As most of you know, nearly a month ago now, Beacon Academy was attacked and overrun by a massive swarm of Grimm. Nobody knows how many survivors there were, but today I have found proof that there at least three whole teams that survived this terrible tragedy."

"Aaaand, cut." Altin York, Andrews' cameraman and friend, said as he flicked off the camera.

"Was it good?" Siva Washington asked as he carefully watched the horizon.

"Yeah it was good, Wash" Dylan said.

Dylan, York, and Wash had been on a team together when they were students at Shade, years ago. Now they were investigative journalists when their duties as hunters didn't call them away from home. But their skills as Hunters made them invaluable to Remnant Daily, as they didn't need a bodyguard when they went into dangerous areas to investigate leads.

York nodded to Wash as he tucked away the camera into his satchel that hung off his shoulder. York had golden, short, spiky hair with a singular right, brown eye. His other eye was pure white, with a spider web-like scar branching out from the useless organ. He wore a light-yellow t-shirt, tan pants and light brown leather boots that reached his knee. At his hip sat a golden broadsword.

Wash nodded and turned around slowly, never taking his eyes off the swarm of evil creatures. He had silver hair with blue eyes and light skin. He wore a dark grey short-sleeved t-shirt with a grey-and-yellow armored vest over it, dark grey cargo pants and black boots. He had black bracers that covered his forearms. At his hips were a pair of black knives with an assault rifle strapped onto his back.

"Then we need to move," Wash said. "Those Grimm are swarming and I don't want to be here when they get here."

"Agreed," Dylan said. "Just let me call Carlos then we'll be on our way."

She walked away from her friends and began calling their boss. York surveyed the destruction of the former school. It was bone chilling. The once vibrant school grounds now stood as husk of its former self. Where there used to be grass and students milling around was now only decay and Grimm.

"Do you really think anyone would want to be Hunters after witnessing something like this?" York asked.

"I don't know." Wash replied. "But I'll be damned if we don't find them. There are more dangerous things in this world than Grimm."

"Yeah," York agreed sadly.

Church walked out of the forest, the remainder of the group following him shortly afterwards. Grey and Tucker were talking to each other while Grif was practically sleeping on his feet. Church was talking to himself, or, more accurately, his fragments.

Church's semblance was called Fragmentation. It allowed him to split himself up into separate emotions or feelings. He had fragmented himself a total of eight times, either by accident or on purpose depending on the fragment. He was currently talking to Theta and Delta, the fragments representing his trust and reasoning respectively. No one else could see them unless he wanted them to.

They looked exactly like him for the most part. Theta wore the same apparel as Church, except where the boy's armor was a dark royal blue, Theta's was purple. Theta was childish, becoming frightened quite easily. He was almost the exact opposite of Delta.

Delta wore Church's old School uniform, except where the uniform was usually brown the fragment had changed it into a bright green. Delta also changed up the appearance by the inclusion of thin wire framed glasses. Both fragments had been created on accident early when Church first discovered his semblance.

"I suggest we follow the lead found by Ms. Grey." Delta was saying.

"But that would take us all the way up to Atlas." Theta argued.

"Guys," Church interrupted, rubbing his eyes with his fingers. They had been having this exact same discussion for an hour now. "Is there any way we can track these bastards without walking across the entire damn world?"

"Well, yeah," Tucker called out. "We could go to Haven."

"And how would that help?" Church asked, turning around to face his partner.

"Well, Beacon has fallen," Tucker explained. "We might be able to regroup with other Hunters there and find a way to fight these guys. It is an Academy after all."

"His logic is not unsound." Delta said to Church's left. Church sighed and turned back around, trudging forwards.

"I guess we're going to Haven then." he muttered.

"Team CKIT away!" Theta laughed

"We are not calling ourselves Team Casket." Church said irritably.

"No one said we were, dude." Grif said lazily.

"Shut up." Church said, stalking away.

"I think it's a great name!" Grey cheered before adding in an undertone. "It perfectly describes where leave our enemies."

"Oh my god," Church yelled, slapping his hand to his head in frustration. "If you say anything else positive, I will fucking kill all four of us right now! What the hell is happening with my life?"

What the hell was happening? He couldn't remember. He had been sparring. He had been dying. Why wasn't he scared. He didn't want to die. Why wasn't he scared.

"Leonard!" Tex shouted at him, quite angrily. This didn't scare him. Why? "Wake up, Cockbite, or I'll knock you into next month."

"Delta, what's wrong?" Church asked monotonously.

He opened his eyes to find himself in the infirmary with Tex and the rest of his team standing by his bed. Delta appeared next to Tex and began looking at a clipboard in his hand.

"Leonard, what's wrong?" Tex asked, sounding worried.

"I'm not scared." Church answered her calmly.

"Problem detected." Delta reported as he became visible to the rest of the team. "We have created a new fragment. Say hello, Eta"

Eta looked like Theta except his armor was bright yellow. The boy looked slightly younger than Church, but his entire posture spoke of fear. He cowered at the sight of the others.

"H-hello," he stuttered

"What happened?" Tex asked, staring at Eta.

"The fight caused severe damage to our internal organs as well as multiple wounds to the torso and head." Delta reported. "We feared the outcome of the fight before we stepped into the arena and that amplified our fear of death when we lost. To preserve itself, our psyche activated our semblance and fragmented our fear."

"Dude, that is badass." Tucker said.

"Correction," Delta interrupted, dispelling the clipboard. "Because of our lack of accessible fear, there is potential for reckless and risky behavior. I would suggest a guardian be appointed to us for the remainder of our stay at Beacon."

Church looked at Tucker, slightly pleadingly. Eta cowered before disappearing. Tucker noticed his partner's look and shook his head.

"Don't look at me, dude," he said, backing away slightly. "I won't be your babysitter.

"I would recommend Raven watch over us for the time being," Delta said. "She has the most flexible schedule at present and is the most experienced in watching others back. She is currently the most logical choice."

"Alright," Tex said, nodding her consent.