Some time during Volume 2...
Hundreds of Grimm crowded around a manifestation of dark energy. A gateway to another world. Blue lightning forked out of the purple swirl of the portal, latching on to anything it touched and sucked it into the unknown on the other side. Beowulfs howled into the night at this spectacle.
A flash of red and a Grimm lost his head.
A flicker of white denies him his might.
A blaze of yellow before he could bellow.
A swish of black and he'll never come back.
Ruby's scythe, Crescent Rose, cut through Grimm like wheat on a farm, Weiss's rapier, Myrtenaster, stabbed Grimm through their guts, Yang's shot gauntlets, Ember Celica, pounded Grimm to nothing before her, and Blake's Gambol Shroud sliced them down like they were nothing.
"Does anyone else think that this is getting way too easy?" Ruby yelled as she fired a final round into the last remaining Grimm in the area. Doctor Oobleck zoomed ahead of the group and came to an abrupt stop in front of the portal.
"Fine work girls. Now, let's see what's going on here!" He extended his hand towards the purple swirl and just as his fingertips skimmed its surface, 4 figures flew out of it, landing painfully.
"OOOWWWW!" screamed one of the shadowy figures as the portal closed behind him.
"Errr..." Yang responded "Who are those guys?"
Shadow, Jason, Chad and Will flew through the hazy black mist before flying past a shimmering purple barrier and over the heads of 4 teenage girls and a young man. Chad screamed out in pain as the purple barrier shrank to nothing behind him. Jason rushed over to check that Chad was okay to walk and only then did the group notice the 5 pairs of eyes glued to them.
"W-well..." Will stammered, "T-this is awkward..."
A young girl, the youngest by the look of them, wielding an oversized scythe exclaimed in a childish manner, "Oh my GOD! Aliens!"
At this, Chad snapped back "Who in the hell are you calling an alien?!"
As the young girl's weapon transformed into a sniper rifle before Chad's very eyes, he swiftly apologised to save his own skin. Then he noticed Jason and Will looking at their limbs in turn. He checked his own.
"Oh my god! I'm a kid again! Yay!"
Only Jason noticed Shadow sneaking into the darkness... He grinned broadly. 'Now let's even the odds...'
All of the Assassin's wore their standard robes which had appeared to shrink to fit their new, child bodies perfectly. Jason was a little above average height, with long, sandy brown hair and a tanned skin tone formed from years of work exposed to the sun combined with his heritage. His Assassin's robes were a mud brown and the sleeves had been ripped crudely off, showing the tattoo of a cobra winding around his right arm with the gaping mouth placed perfectly over the palm of his hand. Chad and Will both wore the regular pure white robes with red and black accents. Chad had a small mass of curly black hair over his head and Will had a formerly neatly trimmed hair but had begun balding at an early age. Now the balding hairstyle did not suit his new body.
"Who are you?" Weiss asked to the trio of boys in front of her.
"What do you want?" continued Yang.
"Did you open that purple portal?" finished Blake.
Jason, Will and Chad were taken back by the sheer number of questions thrown in their direction.
"Err... guys?" Chad stammered, "M-maybe you should worry less about us and more about those motherfu- What you looking at?" As one, the group turned on their heels and faced the renewed tidal wave of Grimm slowly trudging their way to meet them. As soon as they were spotted, the Grimm charged the teenagers with astonishing speed. Will drew his oversized bearded axe and yelled in alarm.
"Nuts! Forgot I was a kid!" as his axe dragged his arms to the earth in front of him. Fortunately, an unfortunate Beowulf's head came between Will's axe and the ground, splitting his skull and the floor.
"Damn!" yelled Chad as his hidden sword flicked open to combat the oncoming horde.
Blake was preoccupied with Will's first kill in Remnant; so she didn't notice the Ursa rearing up behind her. She turned around and her eyes widened at the sight of the attacking Grimm. Its large claws fell towards her and before she could use her semblance to defend herself, she flinched but a French Bastard sword intercepted the blow. The sweeping claws knocked Shadow's sword aside, but as it reared up for a second attack, Blake swore she saw a blade extend from the boy's wrist and then retract to conceal itself as he thrust his hand to the beast's throat, the 'hidden blade' killing it instantly. Shadow retrieved his sword and ran off to assist his friends, giving Blake a cheeky wink and a smile as he passed her. 'Really!' she thought, 'First Sun and now him! Who will it be next? He isn't too bad on the eyes though.' She smiled inwardly.
Blake watched the 4 boys fight back against the Grimm, each with their own fighting style. The boy with the large axe recklessly chopped and swung the weapon around wildly, clearly not used to the weight of the weapon. Still, the Grimm were wary to approach him and those that did ended up lacking limbs. Another one of the boys, the one with the sword that flicked into position from the hilt, charged headlong into the tide of monstrous Grimm, fighting with reckless abandon. He cut viciously this way and that, ending the life of Grimm with many deadly strikes hitting every part of the body that was exposed. He was as reckless as the boy with the axe but he was intentionally so. He took wound after wound but he shrugged off each one in turn, not caring for the damage he received. The third boy, the one who had saved her fought with astounding grace and agility. He leapt from foe to foe, felling each one in turn with the same elegance. His large, heavy sword deceptively fast, sweeping down the onrushing Grimm while the boy didn't even break a sweat. And when his sword failed him, she always saw the slight glimmer of a blade ejecting from his wrist and slicing a lethal blow to a Grimm before disappearing again. She would definitely have to check that out later. The four boy waited calmly for the incoming horde and took on each one with his bare hands. Every now and again, though, she saw the same blade flicking free of his wrist and killing before disappearing as well. He killed with lethal efficiency. It wasn't long before the horde became nothing more than a few stragglers licking their wounds, then nothing at all.
After the battle, doctor Oobleck decided that the boys were friendly enough to take them back to Beacon and after informing them of what Beacon is, they asked to apply.
"Only Ozpin can answer that one, boys!" Oobleck told them. Shadow suddenly stopped in his tracks and went a deathly pale.
"Shadow?" Jason asked, "Everything alright?" Then colour returned to Shadow's face as a monkey tail unfurled behind him.
"Whoa!" the girls shouted, "You're a Faunus?!"
"A who-da-what now?" enquired Chad.
"A Faunus." answered Blake, "Part animal, part human. Just like- Never mind..."
"Well... This is interesting. This is very interesting..." responded Shadow as a smile slowly creased across his face.
On the trek back to 'Beacon,' Oobleck led the way with Zwei at his side. Behind him, the 4 boys and 4 girls walked in pairs, chatting enthusiastically with one another. Jason and Weiss walking hand in hand, Chad and Ruby were chatting eagerly behind them, giggling like small children. Behind them, Will and Yang hiked together, watching Ruby and Chad getting along well and exchanging gentle nudges. At the very back was Shadow and Blake. The walked slowly behind the others, preferring to stay out of the way and observe than be the centre of attention. It was here that Blake took Shadow's hand and strode in front of him, turning to face him and blocking his way forward.
"We need to talk." She said.
Shadow was caught off-guard by this, something he didn't experience often. She continued.
"Earlier, when you saved me, I saw something. Like a blade, or something, jumping from your wrist before killing the Ursa and hiding again. What was it?"
Shadow gently pulled his hands free of hers and pulled up the sleeve of his left hand, showing her a complex mechanism strapped to the underside of his wrist. Blake leaned in close, examining it in amazement.
"Stand back." Shadow told her, and she obeyed quietly. Then she saw why he asked her to do that. He flicked his wrist and something in the mechanism moved and a blade ejected and extended from under his up-turned hand. With another flick of the wrist, the blade returned.
"That," Shadow said, "Is our little secret."
Blake nodded in agreement. She edged closer to him, cradling her hands nervously and blushing red.
"Thank you." She said before quickly kissing him on the cheek. Before he could react, she jogged off to walk behind the others again. Shadow stood in place for several moments, not believing what just happened. After recovering, he jogged to catch up as well, taking his place back at Blake's side. The pair of them smiled at each other and trekked closer to each other than before. Time flew by and it wasn't long before they reached Beacon.
Author's Note: Hey guys! Well, as promised, it's 2017 and I'm re-writing JSBB. Some of it will stay the same, but expect some serious changes in the plot later on. Longer chapters will be posted from now on and I hope that my quality of writing has changed dramatically. I seriously hated the original story so the changes might be quite major. As usual, I have no idea where this story is going so don't expect much. Otherwise, enjoy!