Author's Notes: Hello everyone, Roach99 here. I had this little idea in my head for a LONG time now and I just wanted get it out. So here it is. Welcome to RWBY: The Gunman.

First, I just to explain a few things: I'm writing this story because I got bored of reading OC stories (some of them are good, while others... not so much. Not naming names though, I just wanted to point that out. But why am I to judge? I won't know how this'll turn out) and decided to make my own, bringing along something different to the fandom (well, if this can be considered different, but I might as well write this and see where it goes).

Also, I want to clarify that this particular OC is from the future, around more than a decade (2028, to to be precise), so there will be references from this character's future. He's ex-military for less than good reasons, so please excuse any mistakes over the little amount of knowledge concerning any subjects on the military.

And lastly, I want to point out that first few chapters take place FOUR years before the events of RWBY, so some of the characters in the story will be a little different before resuming their canon personalities. That's all I wanted to say.

Now, let's get started.

I do not own RWBY.

"Evil is also not anything small or close to home, and not the worst; otherwise one could grow accustomed to it."
-Jacob Grimm.

-Chapter 1: Brave New World-

So this is what it felt like to die? Huh, I'm actually not surprised. Usually one would think that a choir of angels and a golden stairway to Paradise would greet them, but for people like me, I would've received a fiery pit, what I would see would be a lesson for every sin that I have committed for and against the name of humanity. For others, they expected nothing to happen as they died, just... nothing, ceasing to live, to think, just... not existing.

But it seemed that some other deity had something in store for me. For me, it felt like a dream. Surrounded by darkness and unable to see even two inches in front of me, not even my own hand, which I could still feel. It felt as though I was falling, nothing below me, but I felt no wind. Was this my punishment? Simple oblivion? Leaving me with my own thoughts and no one else to hear them forever? Eh, I guess it'll have to do for a man like me. I felt like I deserved it for some reason, despite the fact that I was one of the best at what I did, it was my misfortune that put a bullet between my eyes.

I actually expected to die much later in my life, at least into my forties, and it had to be pretty epic, like a mixture of alcohol, gunpowder, and explosions AKA Michael Bay's wet dream. But no, my later twenties would have to do. And I was so close to turning thirty! Just two more years!

Did I mention that I was shot in the head? Because that happened too. I had undertook a special mission for a fat sum of money; with high risks and a good chance of death, just my kind of job. I was the best at what I did, and I did it pretty damn well. Too bad Luck was an unpredictable bitch of a factor to take into account. Despite all the training that I had received, all the experience that I had been through, all it took was for the bad guy to easily put a bullet into my cranium. Yeah, Lady Luck can be a cold-hearted bitch, and so here I was.

I just hope They finished my mission for me and recovered my body; and they better fucking burn me, I don't want the Institution to have my body in a coffin, six feet under and placed among the rest of the dead, serving as a lesson for being too unlucky for the recruits.

"This man was the best at what he did, undertaking heroic deeds and transcending beyond what he had done. He will be missed," I imagined them saying. Yeah, 'heroic' my ass.

Well, I guess this is it, just a simple, dark damnation. I closed my eyes in acceptance, this was my life... or lack thereof.

"Not exactly," a voice boomed out from beyond the darkness. This voice sounded old and ragged, like an aged military veteran. That, or he was just old.

I felt my eyes open once more and stare out into the abyss, "Hey? Who's there? Are you God? Cause if you are, pipe down! I'm trying to get some shut-eye here!"

"No, I'm not God," it answered, "I'm... someone else."

"Ooh, so vague, very mysterious. Look, if all you're here to do is give me cryptic bullshit, then just cut to the chase."

"You are impatient."

"You don't say?" I snarked at the voice with an irritated tone.

"Be quiet, you ignorant fool! What I am trying to say is that I can grant you life once more," the loud, booming voice explained, earning the attention of the recently dead man.

"Really? If I believed in reincarnation earlier, I would've been living in the East," I sneered at the voice.

"You are bitter as well," the voice spoke in a low, gravely voice.

"You know me too well!" I gasped mockingly, unafraid of the capabilities of this whatever-it-was' power. I was dead it this point, what did I have to be afraid of at this point? Oh shit, I spoke too soon. Please don't jinx me, Luck, I know you hate me, but please just let me off easy this time.

"What I'm trying to explain to you is that I can bring you back to life and let you live again as you, and only you, as well as extend your lifespan, if only slightly."

I raised an eyebrow, "I'm listening... wait, what's the catch? There's always a catch, isn't there?" I looked into the black void with a suspicious look.

"Correct. First off-"

"Oh great, there's more than one. What, am I going to come back with a third arm or something?" I rolled my eyes at the voice.

"I said, BE QUIET! Ahem, first, you will not return to Earth. You will be transported elsewhere; another world."

"Like what? Mars?"

"No, that is too narrow-minded. You're going somewhere different."

"Definitely not Earth. Another planet that's so different? Who would've guessed?"

"The next condition: You will end up in this world with only the items that you had at the time of your death," the voice continued.

Alright, that had me thinking. What did I bring with me when I died? My suit, my rifle, my wallet, my knife and sidearm, water, whiskey... what were the last ones... oh yeah!

"What about my two, ahem,... 'friends?'" I asked.

"Your two companions will be with you as well."

"Sweet," I grinned at the voice.

"As for the last condition: You will be given a gift from me."

"I'm starting to like you even more, oh great and powerful voice. So, what'll it be?" my mischievous smile grew even wider from the voice's last condition.

"In due time, you will find out," he answered in a vague tone, which certainly killed my mood.

"Okay, you killed it. Why do you have to be so cryptic? Can't you just tell me?" I demanded. I mean seriously, is it too hard to even answer a simple question with an equally plain answer?

"You will have to earn it," the voice chastised me.

Earn it? Well, that either meant money or work, and since this deity didn't sound like he needed cash, so that left work. Oh wait, there was a third option, and I certainly didn't like it.

"By 'earning' it, do you mean I have to learn some sort of moral lesson or something? Is that why I was brought here? Just to make me see the error of my ways?!" I screamed at the voice in fury before finally calming down, taking deep breaths just to prevent myself from going off on another rant.

"Hmph, for one who has grown both physically, as well as from experience, you think too childishly. No, you were brought here by mere chance, there is no magic life lesson to be learned, or a secret meaning nor metaphor. You just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Tell me about it, dying isn't really the best thing to happen to you early in the morning," I agreed, given my circumstances.

I then clapped my hand to my chest, "Well then, it seems that we have run out of things to talk about. So, let's get this over with then."

"I agree. Let us proceed. Good luck, you are going to need it," he said before silence filled the void that I was currently in.

"Yeah, whatever..." I said, waving off the voice's comment, "...Hey, how long is this gonna take? Is there some sort of charge or will it happen in an-"

This was the part where I fell unconscious.

-oOo-

"-Instant?" I finished, my eyes opened to see a blue sky in front of me. I looked over to see that I was laying down. I proceeded to get up and brush off anything dust or grime that happened to accumulate on me.

I looked around to see that I was in a forest, the leaves that densely covered the trees that made up these woods were a bright emerald green, some of them reminded me of oak trees, while a few other sorts of flora looked like pine trees as well. That meant that this place had to at least be similar to Earth in some way.

A pond was nearby, so I clumsily walked over to the small body of water, still trying to get used to walking on my legs once more. I stepped over to the pond and plopped myself in front of it, leaning over to get a better view of my face. Rather than my face, I was greeted by the reflection of a silver helmet, similar to that of a motorcycle helmet, but slimmer as well as having a more militaristic feel to it.

With the realization that I was wearing a helmet, I looked down to see that the rest of my suit was completely intact. No shards of metal embedded in my innards, no bullet wounds strewn across my muscles. It was clean, it was immaculate.

'Activate," I commanded. If I'm right, then the neural link between me and the suit were now intact again.

In less than a second, the near-bulletproof fiberglass that separated me from the outside world spark to life. Code written in Binary suddenly started whirring across the screen before disappearing.

"Hello: Eddy," a feminine robotic voice said to me. Audio system? Functional. I looked down at my hands and flexed each finger successfully. Motor functions? Normal.

"Bring up my HUD," I ordered. Immediately, I was greeted by a screen filled with all the necessary information, as well as a few miscellaneous displays and personal modifications: Armor condition, radar, the KIT meter, physical condition, brainwave scanner (though that was optional, given that I already knew my current mental status), language translator (it's not necessary though, given that I am fluent in several languages), energy/power percentage ( the battery was self-sufficient, thank goodness for modern science and engineering!), thruster pack, ammunition, and currently held weapons.

Oh, speaking of which. I reached over my shoulder and pulled my primary firearm: a fully modernized and re-outfitted M4 Carbine. These babies were put back on the shelf long after the War and were replaced with newer versions. I gave the gun a quick inspection: aiming through the sights, opening the chamber and peering inside to see that it was both clean and empty, etc.

Once I was finished, I slung it over my shoulder and unsheathed the combat knife strapped to my hip, running my fingers across the black, non-reflective surface of my KA-BAR knife. Seeing that it was both clean and pretty damn sharp-looking, I sheathed it with one final confirmation.

Finally, on my other side, I unholstered my sidearm: an old (very old, for emphasis) M1911 semi-automatic pistol, modified so it could be used for the more modern times. Belonged to my great-grandfather during World War One, passed onto my grandfather, where he found use in it during World War Two; which was then passed onto my dad in the 80's when he was a kid, which he held onto until he passed it onto me. I looked at the four-leaf clover carved into the handle, it was a family myth that this gun was actually lucky. I chuckled at the claim, trying to decide that that was either bullshit, given that I took a bullet to the head and died, or the beginning that this gun meant for killing people actually had some sort of voodoo witch doctor powers that had thrown me into meeting with the Voice that brought me back to life.

With all weapons accounted for, I decided to wake up my friends. Tapping the side of my helmet repeatedly with my left index finger, "Wake up, you two!"

At first, I was greeted with silence, but seconds later, I heard a pair of voices come from within my helmet.

"What the-... Whuh? Wait, Eddy?! You're alive?! How!? What!?" a high-pitched feminine voice screamed in my head, I quickly shushed her.

"Eddy? Is that really you? How are you still alive. Your vitals clearly stated that you were dead, completely dead. Mind telling me how you completely defied all logic and somehow resurrected yourself from the dead? Where are we anyway?" a reasoned and calmer masculine voice spoke into my mind. I then turned around and looked up at the sky, although it was daytime, there was still a faint outline of a moon, a shattered moon, confirming the AI's question and furthering my proof that I certainly was not in Kansas anymore.

"First off, Zeta! Calm down! Second, I can explain later, Omicron. I just need to find a way out of here before something tries to kill me," I said, grabbing my rifle from my shoulder and holding it in front of me with the barrel pointed downward.

"Um... about that..." Zeta said nervously. Sheesh, having a computer program with emotions inside one's head was certainly comforting, given the circumstances. But hey, I needed company when I was alone.

"There's movement on your radar," Omicron finished the first AI's sentence. My eyes flicked downward to the lower left level of my screen to see that there was, in fact, a small red blip on the circled map, approximately 50 meters away. No, scratch that, 45 meters.

"Suggestions?"

"Don't engage until we get clear view of what we're dealing with, should they attack, then you have full authority to deal with the threat," the feminine artificial intelligence recommended. I only responded by inserting a magazine, cocking the rifle, turning off the safety, and moving the switch to semi-automatic.

"Perfect," I flicked my eyes downward to see the red dots getting closer, I raised the gun to eye level towards the closest one, which was only fifteen meters away. I lowered the rifle slightly, "Come on out and no one needs to get hurt!"

"Says the guy lugging the gun around like a large, flaccid-"

"Zeta, shut up," Omicron chastised the 'female' computer program. I only rolled my eyes as the two continued to bicker. I watched as the bushes in front of me continued to rustle more and more like a bunch of sexually-frustrated teenagers.

Rather than what I thought was only something harmless, instead, a creature emerged from the shrubbery and strode menacingly closer to me. The creature itself was completely black, save for a white mask-like face with red markings, as well as several bone-like protrusions coming out of it's back and arms. It's face vaguely resembled a wolf, as well as the growls that it was emitting towards me.

The AI's stopped their full-blown arguments and observed the creature as well, reading my thoughts on it's characteristics, "Sounds like a wolf and looks a little like a wolf, you're most likely on it's territory."

'Yeah, no shit!' I mentally hissed at the two of them, knowing that they are able to listen to my thoughts. I decided to do the most reasonable thing when having to deal with an animal; I placed my gun down, slowly and gently, then proceeded to back away.

"Nice killer animal, good doggy. No murder for you," I slowly said, my hands raised above my head in an attempt to calm the creature down.

That was when I realized I made a mistake. This wolf-dog-demon-thing took my passiveness (heh, didn't know that actually belonged in a sentence where I'm the subject!) as a sign of weakness, it threw it's head back and let out a loud howl before charging at me with a look of ravenous fury in it's bright orange eyes.

My enhanced instincts, as well as my military experience, were thrown into full gear as I kicked the gun up into my hands, quickly took aim, and repeatedly fired a barrage of shots at the creature. The beast continued to lumber towards me (albeit much slowly now), ignoring any shots placed on it's body before finally swiping at me with one of it's bowie knife-length claws, I ducked under it's attack and slammed the butt of my rifle against it's head, sending it to the ground. I finished off the monster with a well-placed shot under it's head as it was laying on it's back when it fell.

"My, what big hands you have, granny," I remarked as I then poked at the dead wolf-creature with the end of the barrel, flinching slightly as it's body began to disintegrate.

"That is not a wolf..." Zeta 'exhaled'. I shrugged my shoulders, slung my rifle over my shoulder, and brushed off anything the dirt that had fallen from the creature and onto me.

"Well, considering that we're not on Earth, you're probably right. But for now, the most logical thing to do would be to search for any form of civilization."

"And if there's no civilization to be found?" Omicron wondered.

"Then we make one. Granted, it might take a couple of centuries, and taking into account that you're far from immortal, our chances of success would be slim. But if we can pull it off, we might be able to establish a-"

"Zeta, please be realistic. Right now, we have bigger problems," Omicron advised.

"Like what?" I asked quizzically.

"Well, the creature you just killed is our dilemma. If I'm right, and I usually am, then it's characteristics as a wolf might be a hazard to us," he explained.

"It's not a wolf."

"Just bear with me alright? It howls, it moves on all fours, it's territorial, it even looks a little like a wolf. Are you catching on?"

"Just get to the point," I crossed my arms in irritation.

"What I'm trying to say is that if this thing shares such characteristics, then that howl it emitted earlier was a call for..." the AI's voice faltered as seven more blips surrounded my radar.

"Ah, son of a bitch," I grumbled, removing my rifle from my back and watching as several more creatures circled around me.

"Reinforcements," Omicron finished.

"My, what big teeth you have, grandma," I commented as one of the beasts growled, baring it's fangs at me. I raised my rifle, took aim at the closest wolf-creature, and fired.

-oOo-

Meanwhile...

An anomaly on the map... a stupid anomaly on a freaking map in the Emerald Forest...

"Who would be stupid enough to suddenly end up in the Emerald Forest?" Goodwitch muttered under her breath.

Professor Glynda Goodwitch was having a really bad day. Another day at Beacon meant another day of having to deal with inexperienced students, who would rather do nothing but talk during class, laze around, even some of the fourth-year students had attempted to flirt with her. And now the Headmaster, Ozpin, sends her of all people to deal with this problem, just great...

Glynda continued to walk through the forest at a quick pace, knowing that whoever was in the woods probably wouldn't last long on their own. The negative side of her told her to just leave this person to die, it was their fault that they ended up there, they should pay for the consequences, just go back and tell Ozpin that it was too late and that the person was dead when she arrived. But the other voice, her conscience, the very thing that gave her a reason to be a Huntress, told her that abandoning anyone in need would be wrong, so she complied with her voice of reason.

As she trekked through the woods, Glynda continued to dispatch any Creature of Grimm that had the misfortune of crossing her path, leaving a trail of torn apart and tossed about Grimm in her wake.

Despite her poor attitude during this otherwise beautiful afternoon, she was also perplexed by the fact that a sudden dot appeared on the map of the Emerald Forest. It just... appeared there, dead center of the forest, rather than appearing on the edge of the map and suddenly making their way to the center. This could either go really good, with a person actually ending up here, or really bad for the Ozpin if she just finds nothing and she was sent here just to further darken her mood.

Fortunately for the Headmaster, Glynda heard the sounds of gunshots in the distance . With a thought of confirmation, she broke into a sprint in the direction of the gunfire. Despite the fact that she was still wearing high heels, she actually covered a decent amount of ground, hoping that this unfortunate person was still in one piece by the time she got there.

In just a few minutes, she finally arrived to the scene, only to be greeted by a rather... interesting sight, and by that, she spotted a figure dressed completely in an armored grey outfit fighting a pair of Ursai, with dead Beowolves strewn about the battle still in the middle of fading away into nothing.

And by "fighting" the Grimm, the unfortunate Grimm was lying on the ground with it's face being repeatedly smashed in with the bottom of the figure's foot. In other words, with one Ursa currently stunned and the other basically being curb-stomped, the Professor almost felt sorry for the Grimm.

Almost.

Suddenly, before Glynda could even react, one of the Ursai had recovered from it's previous injuries and quickly lumbered towards the assailant. As the figure was currently in the middle of stomping the Grimm's head into paste, he was unaware of the Ursa that was behind him.

"Look out!" Glynda shouted, the figure stopped in mid-stomp, only for the Ursa to bite down on the figure's hand and quickly pull away, taking the hand with it. Glynda suddenly felt sick as the attacker's left hand was severed from his body, but rather than scream out in agony, he only turned to the Grimm and punched it in the face with the stump of where the figure's hand formerly was.

"YOU MOTHERFUCKER! DO! YOU! KNOW! HOW! MUCH! THESE! THINGS! COST?!" the figure screamed at the Grimm in fury as it kicked it to the ground, pulled out a knife, and started to stab it repeatedly in the head as he continued to yell at the beast, even when it was already dead. Glynda felt herself turn a shade of green as she listened to the sickening sound of a metal knife scraping against bone repeatedly.

After the Grimm had finally faded away, the figure rose to his feet and turned to face Glynda, with the Professor staring back. The figure was dressed in a slim grey bodysuit with thin segments of some kind of plating covering several vital parts of the body: the legs, chest, arms, and back. Covering the figure's head was a helmet, which was grey like the rest of his attire (she assumed that the person was male, given the shape of his body).

Before Glynda could say a word, the figure pulled out a pistol from his holster and pointed it at her, "Don't move."

"I'm only trying to help," Glynda tried to calm him down.

Her hand went to the riding crop that she had been carrying. Obviously, the figure was jumpy, after having to fight a pack of Grimm, it seemed plausible that he would still regard anyone as a-

*BANG!*

Glynda froze as the man fired a single shot at her, but it seemed that he had missed. She finally grabbed onto her riding crop and pointed it at him in defense, but the man spun the pistol in his hand and holstered it.

"So am I," he responded. Glynda gave the man a strange look before hearing a thump from behind her, she turned to see a Beowolf that had fallen over, a single bullet hole between it's eyes, "Thanks for holding still, blondie. Now, what's a pretty woman like you doing out here in the big, bad forest?"

The Professor recollected her thoughts and gave the man a hard stare, "I was sent here to investigate an anomaly in the forest, it seems like I have found it. Come with me."

He looked at the woman for a while, moving his head back and forth for some reason, as though having a conversation between two people. The man finally stopped and looked at her, "All right then, lead the way, beautiful."

Glynda's eye twitched slightly as she nodded, turned, and walked back to Beacon, with the man following closely behind.

With that last comment from the man, she only hoped that Ozpin would give her a raise after this assignment, otherwise she would be thoroughly pissed.

Disclaimer: So what do you think of this story? Leave a review and let me know what you think of this.

And as always, for my fellow reviewers: stay beautiful, ladies and gents.