Sal-U-Tations! Thank you for checking out my story. I don't want to hold anyone up from reading so I'll leave it at that and now let's get things started off with a YANG! (couldn't help it, sorry).

RWBY is owned by Monty Oum and rooster teeth, any likeness or references do not belong to me. Enjoy!

The Ghost:

"Come on, move your asses!" The man yelled, his voice echoing off the warehouse walls. All around men in suits scrambled like ants, carrying crates and large canisters. The warehouse belonged to the Schnee Dust Company, which explained the great care they took with handling them, less the contents, uncut dust shards and ammunition, draw unnecessary attention to their less than legal work. "Torchwick wants this stuff loaded and delivered ASAP. Don't disgrace the bosses' name or we'll all pay."

The others worked faster after hearing this. Hei Xiong or Junior as he called himself, wasn't known for his forgiveness especially after the incident at his club a few nights ago. If they hadn't been so pressed for time they would have noticed a shadow up in the warehouse rafters. Ryder had been observing them for several minutes, they were sloppy even for Junior's boys. He'd heard about the heist from Vinny, a lowly info weasel that owed him for not breaking his spine after a pathetic attempt at pick pocketing Ryder.

Vinny's info was good, he'd checked before making his way to the SDC's warehouse near the docks of Vale and quietly entering. 'Just like a Ghost.' Ryder thought with a smirk. It was the name the criminal underworld of Remnant had given him, 'The ghost who walks' they called him. It was a name that sent shivers down the spines of hardened killers and with good reason. Ryder's handiwork was brutal, merciless but effective.

Some believed the Ghost was a myth, that he was just another criminal trying to take out the competition. They were wrong. "I'm back!" a feminine voice called out. Now normally a woman's voice yelling would have given away his position, however normal wasn't a word Ryder would use to describe himself or his partner. She floated near him her white cloak fluttering even without any wind. He always wondered how she did that, her eyes scanning the area like the trained huntress she had once been. Ryder looked at her out of the corner of his eye. She had short black hair with a tinge of red, her cloak was white as snow with the inner lining a crimson red with a hood pulled down and eyes the color of silver, which were now looking back at him.

"Well?" Ryder asked after a few moments of silence passed. She tilted her head as if confused. He swatted at her in mock annoyance; she always did this to him. Ryder's fake attack passed through her head harmlessly, a large smirk worn on his partner's face. Ryder turned to face her fully, eyebrow raised at the woman who upon closer inspection glowed with a faint white light and was partially transparent. She understood the look and sighed while crossing her arms, "Okay, party pooper, he's not here." She said reluctantly knowing Ryder would be upset with the information.

He was pissed. Ryder had been after Torchwick for weeks. The man was good at not being found, Ryder had left a few bodies in his wake trying to find him and this was the closest he'd been. All for nothing. "It's fine Sum," he said with a sigh making a mental note to pay Vinny a 'visit' later, "We'll deal with them first then track down another lead." Ryder adjusted the bandanna that served as a makeshift mask, a picture of a skeletal face printed on the front, so it wouldn't fall off during the impending fight.

He went over a mental checklist of his arsenal touching each weapon individually. Hades, a triple-barreled shotgun that had been shortened for ease of use, was secured in its holster on his right calf. On his left hip hung Azrael a bone white and gold revolver. Ryder had a few other toys as well: small detonators, a few throwing knives and a couple of flash bangs. Everything was there. The only thing he didn't check, or need to, was the dark gray metal chain he kept wrapped across his body. Hellfire he called it for good reason. It was his main weapon and favorite if he was being honest. On either end of the chain was a long-curved knife like a Grimm's claw that served as a handle for a more whip like attack while both daggers could be used for hand to hand combat.

"Ready?" Ryder asked his partner when he finished. She gave him a small shrug which he took as agreement. He knew she never liked this part but understood it was necessary after all. Ryder grabbed a flash bang from his belt and tossed it towards the largest group of thugs, leaping down as soon as it exploded to begin the hunt, leaving his partner floating in the rafters as the sound of gunfire and screaming filled the warehouse. Not for the first time in the seven years since she met the boy, sighed and looked on. The lingering spirit of the huntress Summer Rose once again wondered if she had made the right choice.

"HELP ME!" The man screamed as he ran out of the SDC warehouse. He fell in his haste, but quickly regained his footing. Every cell in his body told him to keep running until he couldn't move, to not look back at the nightmare he had escaped. He glanced back, his heart dropped at the sight: the warehouse had caught fire from some idiot shooting a barrel of fire dust and now the entire building was engulfed. He could feel the heat even though he was nearly a hundred meters away. The blood drained from his face as the sight of a lone figure walking out of the inferno.

The flames appeared to part for the demon, for no other word could describe what he was seeing. In his right hand he held a chain ablaze with a dark crimson flame. The same weapon he'd seen tear through his men like paper. He stood there as the demon moved towards him, he wanted to run, his mind yelled at him to flee but his legs wouldn't move. Frozen with fear he could only watch as the demon crept slowly towards him.

It wasn't the weapons the demon carried that frightened him or that he walked through fire like a garden of flowers. It was his eyes, those glowing red eyes that seemed to contain hell itself. The sound of the chain sailing towards him reached his ears before he could feel the scorching metal wrap around him before being pulled from his feet into the air. He landed roughly, rolling a few feet before being stopped by a boot.

The man looked up from where he laid on his back staring up into the glowing red eyes of the demon. "Do you know who I am?" Ryder asked, his voice distorted thanks to tech built into his mask. 'makes me sound like I've got a cold.' He thought, but it had the desired effect on his enemies. His captive spoke clearly like a man who knew death was coming, "Yes. You're the Ghost. The one after Torchwick." Ryder knelt down grabbing the man by the front of what was left of his suit and bringing his face inches away from the thug, "Where. Is. Roman?" "You going to kill me if tell you?" Ryder didn't speak which was answer enough.

"Thought so," he sighed, "I'll tell you, but in exchange you have to do something for me." Ryder's grip on Hellfire tightened causing the chain to heat up drawing a scream of pain from the thug. "No deals. No negotiating. And please no begging." He hated when they begged. Ryder loosened his grip, Hellfire cooling down at the action. "J-Just make it q-q-quick," he stammered tears in his eyes, "I-I heard the s-stories, about w-what you do to p-p-people like me. Just make it quick. Please?!"

Ryder thought about it for a second then gave him a slight nod. He may have been a criminal but at least he had the guts to face his death, Ryder could respect that. "I have your word?" the man dared ask. "Yes, it'll be quick." He saw the thug relax at the words, well as best as he could with a chain wrapped around his body. The thug cleared his throat before he began speaking, "Okay, Torchwick is…" "RYDER ON YOUR SIX!" Ryder leaped to the side as he heard Summer's warning not a moment too soon as a pink parasol sailed past where his head had been seconds before. He saw the silver flash of a blade extending from the tip of the parasol before it embedded itself in the thug's throat.

Summer floated towards him as he looked around trying to spot where the deadly missile had come from, "Over there!" his partner warned pointing off to the side, "On the container!" Ryder's eyes locked on a nearby group of shipping containers. True enough there was someone there, but before he could get a good look they hopped of and vanished, a sound like shattering glass could be heard above the burning building nearby. "Where'd they go?" he whispered to his partner. Summer focused, her eyes glowing a bright silver as she scanned the surrounding area. One of the perks of being a spirit is that Summer could see things others couldn't which came in handy against semblances like this one.

"Enemy twelve o' clock!" Ryder drew Azrael from its black holster, cocked the hammer and aimed in a matter of seconds as the attacker reappeared out of thin air. The sound of shattering glass announced her arrival, and it was a her. She wore an unusual white and pink jacket, dark brown pants with matching brown gloves and white and black knee high boots. A few buttons were undone on her top revealing her well-shaped… 'Focus Ryder, don't stare'... She looked at him with mismatched eyes each changing color from white to brown to pink every time she blinked and her hair half brown half pink.

She didn't say anything, only smirking at him, licking her lips like a predator looking at her next meal. Which would have been scary if she wasn't all of five feet tall. Ryder stole a glance at the man still wrapped in his Hellfire chain. He was still alive, blood seeped from his neck and lips as he tried to breathe past the blade in his throat. He locked eyes with Ryder and tried to speak, but coughed up blood instead. When he tried again, Ryder could only see him silently mouth two words: 'Do it'. He was a man of his word. Hellfire ignited, the woman jumped back taking her parasol with her as she somersaulted away from the flames.

A few seconds later the man was nothing but a black husk, small red veins snaked along his body. Instant incineration, no pain. Normally Ryder would take his time with trash like him but a promise is a promise, even to low life's like this. 'Focus' he thought looking back to the woman standing a few feet away. "So you must be the infamous Neo?" he more stated than asked. She nodded, giving a polite bow before twirling her parasol as she straightened, laying it on her right shoulder as it opened, the pink fabric matching part of her hair and one of her eyes.

"Do you know who I am?" Ryder asked, receiving only a shrug from the pint sized killer as if it hardly mattered. Neo point at him with her index finger before bringing it to her neck sliding it across with a murderous smile on her face. Summer floated silently nearby but Ryder could see the crestfallen look on her face as she stared at the remains of the body. He knew that look all too well but he'd comfort her later.

With a flick of his wrist, Hellfire snapped to the side, causing the black husk to dissipate into ashes and engulfing the metal chain in flames. Ryder snapped the chain forward sweeping from right to left a trail of fire whistling through the air. His opponent easily dodged the fiery attack but only realized it was a feint when a hail of bullets flew towards her. She quickly maneuvered her parasol in front of the projectiles which bounced off harmlessly. 'Bullet proof huh?' Ryder snapped Hellfire at an angle causing it to collide with the strange weapon. Neo slid back at the force behind the blow, but had avoided the brunt of the attack. Seeing as how bullets would be wasted here, Ryder holstered Azrael and withdrew Hellfire, catching the other knife handle in his now free left hand.

Normally he liked to fight with chain and gun as his preferred style but with normal bullets he couldn't penetrate the multi-color girls defenses. Ryder could always make them stronger with his semblance but he needed answers, not another corpse, so close quarters combat it was. Ryder dashed toward Neo who had recovered from the previous attack and now stood waiting as her prey came closer. Ryder spun to the right slashing out with Hellfire's chain at his enemy. Neo ducked underneath the attack coming up in time to intercept a stab from the knife still in his grasp with her parasol. Neo deflected the attack twirling in a circle to off balance her opponent, as she spun Neo shot a low kick at Ryder's knee which he deftly dodged.

Ryder pulled his other knife back to his hand as he rushed in with a ferocious assault of slashes and quick stabs. All the attacks couldn't penetrate the weapon's material, he needed to find some of it, and if he got serious she'd be dead and he'd be back at square one. 'Time for a new strategy.' He thought. "Hey, you're not half bad, you'd almost be a threat if you stood taller than my elbow." Ryder noticed Neo's face twitch at the insult, it was faint but there, so he continued. "When I heard Torchwick had a bad-ass killer working with him, I was expecting more. Not some shrimp mute with mental issues."

Oh, that did it. Neo charged twirling her parasol around keeping his blades moving. Suddenly, she closed her parasol catching Ryder off guard as he over extended on a cross slash leaving his chest exposed. Neo could see the fear in his eyes as she lunged forward the hidden blade extending from the tip of her parasol. The sound of steel slicing though flesh filled her ears as she thrust the blade into his heart. Ryder shook dropping his weapon before falling to his knees in shock. Neo was now at eye level with him and gave him a small shrug. She leaned forward giving him a light peck on the cheek, he hadn't been able to do much but he lasted longer than most, so it hadn't been a boring fight.

Neo made to pull her blade free but was stopped when a hand shot out taking hold of her arm. A menacing chuckle escaped Ryder's lips as he raised his eyes to meet hers, "Well that tickled a bit." He said, eye's swirling with dark fire. Neo realized she'd been baited and began tugging frantically at her parasol trying to remove it. Ryder's grip tightened on her arm causing her to wince in pain before growling in anger as she began punching him in the face with her free hand. It felt like a mosquito bite, barely doing any damage, he had her dead to rights.

Unfortunately, lady luck wasn't on his side. An explosion erupted from the warehouse sending a shock wave hurtling towards the two fighters. It felt like getting rammed by a speeding truck, Ryder's grip loosened from Neo's arm as they were sent tumbling away. Ryder tried to roll to absorb the impact as best he could. How he wished he had normal aura right now. When he began to slow down Ryder kicked out flipping back and landing in a crouch. He spotted Neo a few feet away from him. Drawing Azrael, Ryder infused his semblance into the revolver and pulled the trigger launching a small fire ball instead of a bullet toward the kneeling woman. Neo aimed a threatening scowl at him and a middle finger before her parasol popped open in front of her as the fire ball impacted against it. Or should have.

The resounding noise of shattering glass could be heard as the fire ball passed through empty space sailing past where the multi-color woman had been before impacting with a shipping container taking a large chunk of the container as the shot detonated on impact. Ryder scanned in all directions expecting another assault until he heard Summer speak, "She's gone. I don't see her." "Damn it!" Ryder yelled, "All that work that work, weeks of trying to find the bastard and what do I have to show for it? Not a damn thing!" He went for a bit calling Neo and Torchwick some rather vulgar names, Summer let him vent she knew he was angrier with himself than anything.

In the month since they'd been in Vale, Ryder had ate little and slept less as he tried to hunt down Torchwick. And now? After coming so close he hadn't even been able to catch Roman's partner. Ryder, now finished yelling words that would even make a certain dusty old crow blush, let out a long sigh as he angrily returned Azrael into its holster before walking over to retrieve Hellfire where he had dropped it.

"Now what Ry?" Summer asked as he picked up his weapon. "We find a new lead. I owe Vinny a visit in thanks for his 'info'." Ryder pulled out a black and red scroll, it looked different than the others not surprising since he built it. It resembled an older model that flipped open with dial buttons and a small screen. Just an old relic to most but with the press of a button a holo screen popped up from the projector inside of the screen.

He used the number keys to punch in the code to his locator on his bike before clicking the return key and closing the scroll. Ryder didn't like calling it that but couldn't think of a better name. While he waited for his ride to get here, Ryder walked back to his partner wrapping Hellfire across his torso with a flourish. Summer's eyes were gazing at the warehouse, she didn't turn when her partner walked beside where she floated legs crossed sitting in mid-air. "When does it end Ry?" her words barely a whisper, Ryder nearly hadn't heard her. Another sigh escaped his lips one of resignation and exhaustion, 'she always gets like this' for an ex-huntress Ryder figured she'd seen worse when she was alive. "I don't know Summer. We both never planned to be like this."

He gestured to her spirit body and the hole in his jacket where he'd been stabbed which was already mending itself, "But, we make the best of a bad situation. Bad guys die so innocent people can live. That's the deal we made remember?" Summer tilted her head at him and gave him a small smile before answering, "I remember adopting a bratty little boy who's more stubborn than a Boarbatusk." She placed her hand on his head and ruffled his hoodie messing up his hair underneath.

It was strange how she could interact with physical objects, but not the other way around. "Hey, you're not exactly miss charming yourself Summer." He said causing his partner to puff out her cheeks and pout. "Meanie!" was all she said to the now laughing young man. The sound of his bike's engine brought his attention towards the side street. It pulled up beside Ryder before deploying the kickstand and shifting to neutral. He was particularly proud of it because he'd built it from the wheels up from an old junker he'd found in a scrap yard in Vacuo. It was skeletonized chopper without any unnecessary parts or extras besides a seat with a back rest for long trips and a pair of saddle bags.

Ryder called her 'The Reaper'. It had looked like a dried-up pile of bones when he'd found the poor thing. A few personal touches were installed too, like the return function and auto pilot mode for when he had to go on foot. Ryder looked at the still pouting Summer, deciding he'd make it up to her back at their makeshift hideout. Before he could call out to her Ryder could hear approaching engines coming from all directions. Thinking it was more of Junior's boys he got ready for another fight drawing both Azrael and Hades before a flash of red and blue light popped up from in front of him.

The sounds of people exiting their vehicles and guns being cocked filled the area as they all aimed at him. He was surrounded. "This is the Vale police department, step away from the vehicle, place your weapons on the ground and put your hands behind your head!" Fucking cops, how did he let this happen? Ryder had been careful; no cop ever came down here this time of night. He could fight through them with ease but these were good people doing their jobs, Ryder knew a lot of them would get hurt if he tried to especially when he didn't sense any aura from them.

No innocence, he had made that promise to Summer years ago. "You have one minute to comply or we will open fire!" The officer, a female Faunus, said through a bullhorn. Ryder dropped his weapons and put both his hands in the air. As the multiple officers moved in to restrain him, Ryder chuckled to himself, "Great end to a bad night." Was all he said as they slapped cuffs on his wrists.

A mysterious observer stood on a nearby rooftop looking down at the police carting away the young man, he couldn't help but smirk. 'Two in one night' he thought, 'This will be interesting.' He took a sip of his coffee when his scroll buzzed in his pocket. Tucking his cane under his right arm he reached into his pocket for the device pressing the answer key as he removed it, the voice of one of his oldest friends spoke to him, "The knight is secured, however Torchwick escaped. He had help." She sounded apologetic as she sometimes did, a memory of the shy bookworm he'd trained with brought a smile to the older man's face.

"It is all right Glynda. You did your best and the knight is safe. I will meet with her later." He heard her sigh through the receiver, before regaining her usual composure, "Very well Professor Ozpin. What about the other one?" The headmaster of Beacon replayed the scene of this night's events in his mind, nodding to himself as he came to a decision. "I believe we found our king."

That's it for chapter one, hope you all like it and of course, reviews are welcome. If you enjoyed this story and want to see what happens next with Ryder stay tuned for next week's episode of The Demon of Remnant.

Also, side note: If anyone has an idea for a name for Ryder's scroll throw it in the comments and I'll pick a winner before uploading the next chapter. Till next time!