Author's Note: Short one before we begin; I don't own 'RWBY' or 'Elsword'. They are owned by Rooster Teeth and KOG respectively. This story is for entertainment purposes only. Anyway, enjoy guys.

A/N 2: Here's the first of the updated chapters! please read the A/N at the bottom to see why.


Chapter 1: Fall of Onyx


"Fall back!" a girl in a black and red corset with a red cape yelled. Her silver eyes were wide in terror, as the scene unfolding in front of her were not the stories of chivalry or of honorable hunters fighting the darkness of the monstrous Grimm. No, the scene in front of her was something akin to her worse nightmares. And as far as she knew, there wasn't a thing she could do.

The girl was fifteen year old Ruby Rose, student of Beacon Academy and team leader of Team RWBY. She was a combat prodigy, having been taught to use her scythe/sniper rifle Crescent Rose by her Uncle Qrow, and she wanted to help anyone and everyone she could. Yet even for the person who helped stopped Roman Torchwick on numerous occasions and dealt with Grimm like they were nothing more than trash, she was unprepared for the carnage in front of her.

She, along with the rest of her team and Team CME were dispatched with Professor Port to the minor industrial city of Onyx, to deal with a Grimm infestation of the town's quarry mine. It supposedly was supposed to be a small infestation; nothing more than Boarbatusks and Beowolves. Instead it was more akin to a Grimm invasion.

When they arrived, they only had an hour before the Grimm came en masse, with the aforementioned species leading the charge. Then a number of Death Stalkers and Giant Nevermores came to support the smaller Grimm. The eight hunters and the city's militia were outnumbered, but they had the advantage in being able to funnel the Grimm towards the narrow bridge that was over a ravine that the Grimm had to cross over to get from the quarry to the city.

But that advantage meant that the militia, thinking that the quarry was the only source of Grimm, left the other parts of the city undefended. This shortsightedness allowed for what was now happening to occur.

~Ten minutes ago~

"This is how we kill Grimm!" yelled Professor Port, inspiring the city's militia with his positive attitude. "They keep coming, we keep killing!"

Ruby nodded, for once glad that Port was here. While in the classroom he could talk an entire class into slumber, in the field he showed that his tales might not have been exaggerated. He had been swinging the axe portion of his weapon and lopping the limbs off various Beowolves, before switching to his blunderbuss and eviscerated Boarbatusks with a single well placed head shot. Despite his size, he seemed to dance around the Grimm, a very bloody and masculine fashion of dance, but seemed to dance he did.

This in turned inspired the militia, who had been equipped with standard issue weapons, mostly hunting rifles and the occasional light machine gun. Team RWBY and CME meanwhile had been dealing with the threats posed by the Nevermores, using their weapons to pummel the blasted black birds. Ruby had been firing Crescent Rose at a Nevermore that was trying to quit the field when she heard a massive crash.

Turning around, she heard screams echoing from the other side of the city. Ruby looked at her partner Weiss.

"Weiss, I'm going to check what is going on at the other side of town!" Ruby shouted over the gunfire. Weiss stared at her, her annoyance clear.

"Are you serious?!" Weiss yelled back. "The fight is here; whatever is happening on the other side of town is probably nothing, maybe someone panicked and caused a small explosion!" Ruby hesitated before nodding, deciding to hold her position.

"Okay Weiss," Ruby said. She started to fire upon a couple of Beowulf Alphas, but she kept hearing more screaming and crashing from the other side of the city. It got to the point to where the militia was getting distracted by the new source of noise, and Port had to act as the lead Hunter.

"Men, the fight is in front of you!" he boomed. "Focus on them with all your might! Team RWBY, investigate the source of all that commotion and report back if it is something major!"

"Yes sir!" all the members of RWBY shouted, acknowledging their orders. Ruby lead her team, quickly sprinting, only to be confused by all the people running towards the prepped evacuation shuttles.

"What do you think is going on?" Yang, Ruby's sister, asked. The others shrugged.

"Whatever it is, it must be bad, considering how everyone appears to be running for their lives," Blake noted. Ruby was about to speak when she got to an intersection and saw what the commotion was all about. The sight wasn't anything she could've imagined.

In front of her was now a section of the City's wall that now lay in ruin, with various Grimm pouring in. But it was the arrival of two Grimm species that was causing all the chaos.

The first was the Goliath, an elephant-like Grimm that was one of the largest species of Grimm to exist. Being known as one of the toughest and smartest of the Grimm, the danger of a Goliath was in being able to knock aside vehicles and smash through barricades. While not being adapted for killing like Beowolves, they could still kill by crushing their victims or throwing them into the ground with tremendous force.

The other Grimm species that had appeared however was an entirely different story. Known as a Tyrant, they were analogues to a large carnivorous dinosaur. With thick black scales and white armored skull, the Tyrant was designed to kill and maim. Its jaws were the most powerful of any known Grimm, being able to send their thirty centimeter long teeth through solid steel, they forelimbs were long with the fingers tipped with sickle like claws, and their hind limbs were powerful, allowing the Tyrant to run down anyone who tried to flee on foot.

The chaos caused by this new breach was sickening. The Grimm were already ripping apart the city's citizens, with the Goliaths not even taking notice when they stepped on fallen citizens, and the Tyrants were devouring people in a couple bits. The blood was running freely on the streets, and several cars had crashed into buildings by panicked citizens, causing a couple of fire.

"Oh my god." Yang uttered out trying to not throw up at the terrible sight in front of her. Ruby aimed crescent Rose and began blasting at a couple of the Beowolves, trying to get them off a citizen. She succeeded, but only for a moment, as when the citizen tried to get up, a nearby Tyrant saw her and closed the distance. Ruby could only watch in horror as the Tyrant snapped its jaws around the person's mid-section, ripping the citizen apart.

"Fall back!" Ruby yelled. "We have to warn the others!" The others nodded, and they began to retreat back. However, they had attracted the attention of an Arch-Tyrant, who was recognizable due to his sheer size and the crown of spikes the lined above his eyebrow. He began to give chase, forcing RWBY to react.

"Weiss, slow it down!" Ruby ordered. Weiss nodded and created an wall of ice and created a repulsion glyph in the middle of the wall. However the Arch-Tyrant didn't care and smashed his way through like an unstoppable force of nature.

"Um, that didn't work!" Yang announced. "However, let's see if this works!" Yang began firing several red dust shells at the face of the Arch-Tyrant, hoping to slowing it down. It did work, but not in the fashion Yang had intended. The Arch-Tyrant, being blinded and made temporarily deaf, veered off course and crashed into a building, where team RWBY heard to their terror several people screaming.

"I-I-I didn't mean to do that!" Yang cried out as the screams of the people gave way to the unmistakable sound of people getting devoured. Ruby felt bile rising up her throat, but she forced it back down; she still had a job to do, and she needed to warn Port to evacuate.

"Blake, get my sister and take her to the evac shuttles!" Ruby ordered. She turned to Weiss. "Weiss, keep them safe; I got to get back and help Port guard the bridge until we can leave."

"Ruby, you can't be serious!" Weiss and Blake shouted at her. "You're telling us to leave?!" Ruby nodded.

"Yes damn it!" Ruby swore for the first time. "I don't want to see any of you getting killed here, so get to the evac shuttles and keep the citizens safe there!"

Weiss and Blake were about to argue, but an explosion caused by a car getting crushed by a Golaith gave them the clear message; the city was lost. The only thing that mattered now was keeping the body count as low as possible.

"Fine," Weiss conceded, and Blake grabbed the still in shock Yang. "But Ruby, you better be on one of the damn shuttles. Ruby only nodded, before disappearing into a flow of red petals. She quickly navigated the city, making sure to avoid the occasional feather strafes the Nevermore were doing and the fleeing citizens, to get back to Professor Port. She saw that he was in the midst of a frantic fight with the militia against the ever encroaching Grimm.

"Professor Port!" Ruby yelled. "There is another breach on the other side of the city!"

Port blasted a Beowulf and turned to face Ruby.

"How bad?!" he barked out.

"Goliaths and Tyrants sir!" Ruby replied, jumping down to help Port out, quickly decapitating two Beowolves in quick succession. She saw Port falter for a moment, before taking a deep breath.

"Damn it, then the city is lost," he muttered. He slammed his axe head into a charging boarbatusk and threw it off the bridge, into the ravine below. "Alright, this is Huntsman Port, and I am calling for a full scale retreat from this city!"

Several of the militia men glared at Port, but as they began their protests, they heard the thunderous roar of the Arch-Tyrant, sending shivers down everyone's spine and seemingly rallied the Grimm to become more coordinated. Ruby felt the air get thick, and she could smell the stench of death in the air. She wanted to do nothing more than make a break for the evac shuttles, but it was not to be.

After that roar, many of the militia began breaking formation and began running.

"What're you doing?!" Port bellowed out. "You fucking idiots, you're going to get yourself slaughtered!" And sadly, his words weren't far off the mark.

With several of the militia men retreating, Ruby watched as around her the remaining militia men, not as well trained as her and without their comrades to fall back upon, were set upon by the Grimm. The Beowolves were merciless, tearing at the throats of several of the militia men, or ripping their guts open. The Boarbatusks gored many of the men in the legs, nicking their arteries and causing them to bleed out quickly.

"Ms. Rose, I have to fall back to keep the idiots alive; I expect you and team CME to stay alive until we swing a shuttle this way!" Port ordered. She nodded, and Port began cleaving his way through the beowolves that chose to not stay and fight at the bridge but breakthrough a rampage the city.

Ruby began swinging Crescent Rose in a spherical manner, all in a manner to keeping the Grimm off of her and to take as many of them with her as possible. She saw team CME holding their ground at the ramparts that overlooked the bridge effortlessly, as though the Grimm weren't paying attention to them.

"Hey, you need help down?" asked Cinder. Ruby didn't know much about her, but she could tell she was quite capable with her fire dust, as she was burning the Grimm before they could become a threat.

"That would be appreciated!" Ruby replied, swing Crescent Rose around the back of a Beowulf's neck before shooting another in the head, causing the first to lose its head. Cinder dropped down and quickly set ablaze several of the Grimm, before making her way to Ruby.

"Hey, thanks for helping out down here," Ruby began, reloading Crescent Rose. "But are you sure your teammates are going to be-" Before Ruby could finish her question, she felt a sudden stabbing sensation in the back of her leg.

"ARGH!" Ruby cried out, collapsing to the ground. She turned and saw that team CME was standing over her, and the Grimm were merely charging past them. She paled; never before had Grimm ignored anyone with a soul, so why were they ignoring Cinder and her teammates?

"I'm sure you are in shock at this turn of events," Cinder began, thrusting the black blade that was now in her hand into Ruby's upper thigh. "But don't worry; everyone is going to think you valiantly tried to stop the flow of Grimm and buy the survivors' time to evacuate."

Ruby felt her eyes stinging with her tears. She couldn't understand; why was Cinder and her team betraying her, betraying the city?!

"Oh, I'm sure you have many questions," Cinder continued. "Why I allowed this city to fall to the Grimm, why I betrayed you, why the Grimm aren't attacking us? Well, I could tell you, but the truth is simple; you, this city, the hunters and huntress at Beacon, are in the way of my plans. Plans that you, my dear Rose, have been a thorn in."

"What?" Ruby asked. She tried to swing Crescent Rose, but Mercury took her lousy attempt and used his boots to fire a round off into Ruby's shoulders. She cried out in pain once more.

"Naughty little girl aren't you?" Cinder taunted the young huntress. "Well, let's see; you stopped my little thief Roman one too many times, you nearly caught me when I was hacking into the Comm tower in Beacon, and you accelerated the Breach of Vale to where the city could defend itself. I might say, despite your tender age, you have been quite the threat to my plans. But after today, you won't be. You will be dead, your body never found, your team shattered by the loss of their beloved leader, and all anyone is going to remember is that you tried to save Onyx." She smirked viciously for a moment.

"I can see it now; a memorial, with your likeness made in a statue, commemorating the loss of this petty city and the idiots that tried to save it. Your sister and father will weep in sorrow at it every time they see it, and it will serve as a reminder that you failed."

Cinder sighed, as she and Ruby looked up and saw the first of the evac shuttles began to leave.

"Pity that my partners and I have appearances to keep," Cinder coldly stated. "I would love to watch as the Arch-Tyrant rip you apart, like a spoiled child would do to a doll, but my plans rely on everyone thinking you did one valiant act of heroism. So lie still, and wait for the explosion to send you into the ravine below. I promise; if the fall doesn't kill you, the local Grimm you finish you off, or perhaps you could always commit suicide. Oh well, time for me to leave."

And with that, Cinder, Mercury, and Emerald left, leaving Ruby alone on the bridge, unable to get up and leave. She crawled weakly to Crescent Rose, whimpering in pain as blood seeped out of her. She grabbed the handle, caressing it like it was a child. She felt tears roll down her cheeks as she continued to hear the wretched screams of the condemned die horrible deaths in the depths of the city.

She heard a series of loud explosions as the bombs that were laid on the bridge supports detonated, and Ruby felt herself free falling. She stared at the bottom of the ravine, as though it was her abyss, and she felt that it was staring back at her, taunting her for her failure.

She failed to keep her promise to Weiss and Port. She failed to protect the city and its citizens from the Grimm. She failed to fulfill her dream of becoming a Huntress, to have a loving family of her own. She failed to find out how her mother died. She failed to uphold her sacred promise to her mother. And it was all due to Cinder. She closed her eyes, waiting for the darkness to embrace her one final time.


Ozpin stared at the screen in silence. In his office was Glynda Goodwitch, his friend James Ironwood, Peter Port, Qrow, and Taiyang Xiao Long. On screen was the news report about the fall of Onyx, and the images were not unlike the reports of when Mt. Glen fell to the Grimm. He sighed; it was never easy to hear about the loss of so many lives, especially when one of those lives impacted so many he knew.

Glynda and Peter, being Ruby's instructor and having experienced times when small towns fell, weren't free of any of the guilt that came with the fell of Onyx. Glynda was uncomfortable, her mind probably racing thinking if there wasn't something she could've taught Ruby, even indirectly, that might've kept her alive. She would have to comfort the others of Team RWBY, being the academy's sole huntress with a degree in battlefield psychology. Peter meanwhile was clearly guilt ridden, as Ozpin knew from looking at his old friend.

Taiyang, a tall blonde hair man and Ruby's father, was shaking with silent sobs. Ozpin remembered when Summer Rose had died, and this seemed to have an even greater impact on his life. He looked like all he wanted was to end his life. Qrow was silent, but Ozpin could see that in his old friend's eye that look of pain at the loss of his niece. Ozpin knew how Qrow saw Ruby; Ruby filled the void left behind in Qrow's heart when his sister Summer died.

The only one in the room that seemed nonplussed by all this was James Ironwood. Ozpin mentally didn't like Ironwood's stance on events like these. He would try and say that if the military had gotten involved, this wouldn't have happened. Which was bullshit as far as Ozpin was concerned; the military, despite Ironwood's insistence, was full of corrupt leaders and the lower echelons weren't as well equipped nor trained as the officers. This was partly why Atlas focused on having an army of droids; it was less damning to say it was budget cuts that cost men lives if said men were droids, something easy to build and mass produced.

"Peter, what happened?" Ozpin asked. Peter Port sighed wearily. He was having trouble keeping his own composure, feeling responsible for the disaster.

"Everything was going at plan," Port began. "We were holding the bridge, killing and even pushing the Grimm back. But while our focus was on the bridge, Goliaths and Tyrants breached the other side of the city, and it was like the flood gates to hell had broken. It wasn't long until the milita's lines broke and I had to rally everyone to evacuate the city."

He paused, swallowing his guilt and trying not to shed any tears.

"I had Ruby Rose, who ordered her team to get on the evac shuttles, and Team CME to hold that bridge. While we were getting the last of the civilians boarded onto the shuttles, a massive explosion occurred. According to Team CME, the explosion was Ruby's doing, as she destroyed the bridge with the charges we set to stem the flow of Grimm from the quarry into the city."

"In total, we only managed to get around three hundred civilians, ten militia men, Team CME and, except for Ms. Rose, Team RWBY," Port stated. He collapsed in his chair. "It was utter chaos, unlike anything I had seen before. At the second breach, it was a scene I wouldn't want to see occur in any other city. There were some many bodies, and the screams. God, I don't want to hear those screams ever again."

Port shuddered, trying to maintain his cool. He couldn't get the image he had just moments before he got on the evac shuttle. There was a little faunus girl, no more than ten year olds, getting tugged apart by two beowolves. Her ear piercing scream, her tear stained face, her utter look of despair and pain were haunting Port's memories.

"The city is completely lost," Port concluded. "Whoever insisted this was a low scale Grimm infestation was a fucking liar, and as a result the city's citizens paid the price."

"Is there a chance we can send a larger group of hunters in and reclaim the city?" Ozpin asked, though he probably shouldn't have asked. It was pointless; with all that death and despair, the Grimm will harbor over that area like vultures over a carcass.

"No," Port replied stiffly. "I counted at least twenty Goliaths and perhaps ten Tyrants, including an Arch-Tyrant. The city is lost, with no hope in recovery unless we have major military involvement, which I don't see happening."

"Alright, Port, you can be excused," Ozpin said. Peter nodded and left, saying a quick apology to both Qrow and Taiyang before he left. Ozpin looked at Glynda. He had her do a quick mission debrief on team RWBY when they arrived and before this meeting. "Glynda, how are the others of RWBY doing?"

"Not good at all," Glynda said quietly. "Ms. Schnee and Ms. Belladonna are in shock over Ruby's death, and are taking to blaming themselves for her death. But the worse is with Ms. Xiao Long."

"What?" Taiyang asked, raised his head to look at Glynda. "Of course Yang is going to be worse; Ruby and her were extremely close, and-" Glynda shook her head and raised her hand to stop Taiyang.

"That isn't all," Glynda said. "She apparently was trying to distract the Arch-Tyrant with her gauntlets, only to force it into a building; which several people were hiding in." She didn't say what the end result of that was, as the others knew.

"Dear God," Taiyang uttered out. "Yang wouldn't- she wouldn't- it must've been outside her control…"

"It was," Glynda confirmed. "Ms. Schnee and Ms. Belladonna stated that your daughter couldn't have known what would've happened, but it still remains that over Ruby's death and feeling responsible of those in the building, Yang is in need of serious help. I would recommend getting her to see a therapist, along with Ms. Belladonna and Ms. Schnee, perhaps even giving them medical leave to recover."

"Thank you for your assessment Glynda," Ozpin said. "James, is there anything you have to report with regards to this incident?" Ironwood nodded.

"As far as the governments' are concerned, mainly the council, they are in the middle of talks that will determine if military spending is increased and if conscription enacted," Ironwood stated. "My intelligence officers have concluded that they will, but not by much, perhaps five to ten percent increase in the budget. As far as conscription, my officers say it is unlikely, due to mainly economic reasons."

"I see," Ozpin said. He hated politics, as the ones in power were more concerned with gaining voter approval than doing what was needed, when it was needed, despite the outcry that could occur. The Grimm had taken a minor industrial city, not some village of a couple families, but one where the casualties were in the thousands. Action had to be taken, but sadly his hands were being tied by incompetent leaders.

"Ozpin, if I may," Ironwood began. "While it may not be the best solution to dealing with the recent activity of the Grimm, with the recent breach in Vale and now this attack in less than a month, I can contact the military scientists and see about getting more of those prototypes I was talking about and get them embedded in the minor cities that pocket our kingdom."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow, his curiosity winning out over his desire to flat out reject Ironwood's idea. Lately, it has seemed that his friend has been trying to expand the military's influence in any way possible, to include making those blasted droids to equip most of the Atlas military. However, the prototypes were synthetic combat AIs that were on par with a beginning hunter after rolling out of the factory line, and thus were a viable option.

Oddly enough, Ozpin knew next to nothing about the prototype's creator, who Ironwood only referred to as Dr. L.W. After reading about the performance of the prototype in the docks of Vale against Roman Torchwick and the White fang, Ozpin knew that Dr. L.W. was a true savant in the creation of combat robot platforms, unlike those idiots that created that Spider Droid.

"How many of those prototypes could your researcher put out to defend the minor cities and by when?" Ozpin asked. Ironwood suddenly had the eyes of Glynda and two men who he called friends that had just lost family due to the Grimm staring right back at him. He mentally cursed himself for not waiting until Qrow or Taiyang to leave before speaking up about this option; both men, despite their time being as Huntsman, were highly emotional and didn't respond to the line of reason in the face of needing to do something. Perhaps that was why they were such good hunters; they killed the Grimm despite the sheer risk to their lives when the alternative wasn't an option.

"I would have to ask, but last I check, he was projected to go into mass production, which in this case means twenty units a month for the first year, in four maybe five months," Ironwood replied. Ozpin sighed.

"So we have roughly five months before the mass production of these units begin," Ozpin mused to himself. "And when it starts, we are looking at twenty a month? Surely it can't be that hard to mass produce the platforms."

"I agree," muttered Qrow darkly. "Twenty units a month? That is nothing compared to the hundreds you could produce if you used droids, and right now we need numbers to deal with the Grimm."

"And I understand that," Ironwood said, seething a little. "However, the combat droids you refer to are quite limited and extremely basic. The platforms that the researchers have come up with can hold their own against a hunter. So while they can't be as easily mass produced as the combat droids, they are more efficient."

Qrow and Taiyang glared at Ironwood, both going for their weapons. Qrow was reaching for his black scythe while Taiyang readied his katars. Ironwood subtlety placed his hand on his hip, where he always kept his pistol at the ready. But before the office became a brawl room, Ozpin intervened.

"Gentlemen, if you draw your weapons I will forcibly take you all down until you have calmed down," Ozpin stated, gripping his cane tightly. "I know that we're all stressed out with what has happened, but now isn't the time to be fighting each other. We have the Grimm to worry about, so let's save your anger and frustration for the Grimm and do good with those emotions."

The three men stood down, each removing their hands from their weapons. Ironwood sighed, looking at the clock.

"If you will excuse me, I think it would be for the best I get in contact with the researchers about those platforms," Ironwood stated. Ozpin nodded, and Ironwood quietly left the office. Ozpin turned to his two friends and gave his advice.

"Qrow, Taiyang, I know that you lost a family member today, and for that, I'm sorry. However, you still have Yang Xiao Long, and if what Glynda says is indicative of anything, she will need you guys to help her. Please, go see her and take the time you need to recover from this loss," Ozpin said. The men nodded, and walked out. Ozpin slumped in his chair.

"This job never gets easier," Ozpin muttered. "I hate telling my closest friend that one of their love one dies, especially one as gifted as Ms. Rose. Reminds me all too well of when her mother passed." Glynda sat down across from Ozpin.

"Yeah, Ms. Rose was a lot like her mother, so gifted, yet so innocent," Glynda commented. "A pity that she died, truly a pity."

"Yes it is," Ozpin said. "However, should Team RWBY become fit for duty again and if they decided to continue, should I find a leader for them, or should I…"

"Ozpin, quit thinking about it," Glynda spoke up. "Right now, let's see what they are going to do. It is too early to know what will become of Team RWBY." Ozpin nodded, and grabbed a mug. He pulled out a bottle of bourbon and poured some into the mug.

"God I feel like shit," Ozpin muttered, hissing as the alcohol rolled down his throat. He shifted his gaze, ignoring Glynda reaching for the bottle, wondering where it had gone all so wrong.


Cinder was smirking as she, Mercury, and Emerald walked into the private room where they were to meet someone very important. She was in her red dress, which made others to seemingly respect and fear her. She checked around the warehouse, to insure no one unimportant observed the meeting; it was pressed into her that secrecy was key.

She opened the door and strolled into the room, only to see their benefactor sitting in the shadows, his features obscured by the shadows. He made sure no one knew what he looked like; not even Cinder knew what he looked like. However, when he spoke, it carried with it a weight of power, as though he had earned it by his own mettle.

However, his voice wasn't the only thing impressive about him; what he offered and what he could do was truly breathtaking. He bested Emerald and Mercury without so much as breaking a sweat, he walked among the Grimm as though they were his pets, and he was able to equal Cinder's power with half of the Fall Maiden's powers, a feat that was impressive enough to listen to his offer. It also helped that he had given her...a gift that she was informed would, at the right time, grant her more power.

"So, I have seen Onyx has fallen," the benefactor stated coolly. "And I heard from a little birdy that a certain rose has wilted. Tell me, did it all go as plan?"

"Yes it did," Cinder said, taking a seat at the table. "It wasn't hard to convince a White Fang operative that was operating in the area to lay the charges that ensured the second breach. The Grimm did their job; I am surprised you managed to find so many Goliaths and Tyrants to lead the breakthrough, but it was worth it. Supposedly, only three hundred civilians survived the attack."

"And of the rose, how was she pruned?" the benefactor asked. Before Cinder could respond, Mercury, being the cocky asshole he was, spoke up.

"After Cinder stabbed her twice in the legs and I shot her in the shoulder, we detonated the bridge and sent her into the ravine. She is as good as dead," Mercury said, plopping in a chair and putting his feet on the table.

Cinder glanced at her benefactor and could instantly tell he wasn't amused by the response. She felt a distinct chill of fear creep up her neck as their benefactor remained silent. When he finally spoke, one could be forgiven for mistaking his tone as though nothing was wrong.

"Oh really?" Their benefactor began. "And you think that have two stab wounds, a bullet wound, probably exhaustion from fighting the Grimm, and falling into a ravine are enough to cosign someone to death?" Mercury, being extremely smug, nodded.

"Yeah, so what?" he asked. Before Cinder could react, she saw her benefactor pull out a red blade and sliced off one of Mercury's arm. Mercury fell onto the floor, grasping at his arm's stump, which was gushing with blood.

"SON OF A BITCH!" Mercury cried out. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT-"

"Silence!" her benefactor snarled out. "That is for failing your job! I instructed you to kill Ms. Rose. I didn't say 'Make Ms. Rose fall down into a ravine', I said 'Kill Ms. Rose'. When I say kill, I mean just that; you kill her, decapitate her head, rip her heart out, and ensure that she is dead. Hell, force feeding her to the Grimm would've been fine."

"But no, you thought you would make it fancy, and have her fall, with the bridge and the Grimm on it, into the ravine!" The benefactor yelled, standing up in anger. Cinder stepped back, not knowing what might happen next. "You realize that people have survived much worse that a couple hundred feet fall with a couple of wounds, right?! She could be alive, and knowing your need for theatrics Ms. Fall, she probably knows your faces! I don't care how, but I want you three back at Onyx, searching that ravine and finding her corpse or finishing the damn job! Do I make myself clear?!"

"Yes sir!" Cinder instinctively snapped. "But what about his arm; it would arise too many questions –" Her benefactor held his hand up, shutting Cinder up.

"He will lose his arm and have to deal with a prosthetic," her benefactor grounded out. "That is his punishment for being a colossal imbecile. If there is nothing else, I have other business to attend to."

Before cinder could reply, the room was bathed in darkness for a second, only to become clear as day, with the shadow in the room now gone. Cinder looked at Mercury, before sighing. She created a small fireball in her hand.

"Sorry Mr. Black, but this is going to hurt," Cinder said, and soon, Mercury's cries of pain as Cinder cauterized the wound were silenced to the confines of the room. Cinder however could only hope that they could prove Ruby was, beyond a shadow of a doubt, dead.


Elsewhere a figure was overlooking the carnage of Onyx, grinning at the destruction that was brought forth. The fear, agony, terror, hate, and ultimately despair that the attack left was drawing forth the creatures of Grimm into the city. Placing his fedora on his head, he tightened his tie before smirking.

"Well, it would appear the cycle has begun," he said. Grabbing his twin butterfly knives, he threw them on either side of him. They bit into the ground, before they began to burrow around the city. A green glow began to eminate from the chains the knives had attached to them, and the figure began to recite his ritual.

"Restriction 666 released! Dimensional Interference Force Field Deployed! Consumed the darkness within the infinity!" At the end of the recitation, the two knives met, and the green glow enveloped the entirety of Onyx. The Grimm tried to flee, but were helpless as ethereal serpents began consuming them en masse. The man grinned as the circle that his knives made began to shrink until it was wrapped around the concentration of darkness the Grimm left behind about the size of a small baseball.

"I've been through this cycle so many times it's utterly predictable now," the man mused to himself. "But now that I have an understanding of every variable, no one, not Ozpin and his Huntsmens and Huntresses, not Ironwood and his military, not Adam and his white Fang, not Salem and her Grimm, and certainly not the Edgelord are going to be able to stop me. Only then will they know..."

As the man spoke, a green glow enveloped him, before he struck out with the ambient energy, bringing ruin to what remained of Onyx.

"The only truth is DESPAIR!"


Author's Note: I know I said I was going to cancel this, but enough of you convinced me to not do so, so here I am, refining the story so it makes more sense, isn't bogged down by so many outside ideas, and is easier to write new content for! This shall be the end of corner writing! So what changed in this version of chapter 1; not much.

I made it flow better with events that have occurred in Season 3-4 of RWBY, replaced Merc's leg getting cut off with his arm (he is on par with Vader for amputed limbs!), and added a scene that will build up a plot-line I had planned much better. So yeah, nothing too big, but sufficient to let you guys know.

Anyway, take care guys, and as always, please follow, favorite, and review!