"Alright," Ironwood asked, "Tell me again why you're here."
"Well, General," A man said, pulling up a slide, "Machines that I have placed around Remnant have been reporting in spikes in strange energy that have been not been declining, but rising since that Grimm dragon appeared. I hope that we can use that energy to power all the electrical devices in Remnant."
"So you're thinking that all the kingdoms harvest this energy and use it?" Ironwood asked.
"Yes, it would prove to be a very valuable source of energy," The man replied.
Ironwood looked at the slide, which showed how this new source of energy could provide vast quantities of electric power to all the kingdoms. He knew that could put first word in, but the final outcome of this project would have to be decided upon the people in charge of Remnant. Remnant would definitely benefit from it, but the dangers of actually acquiring it were unknown. He thought about the scientific side of things, as no side would be left out in the deciding moments.
"It's too dangerous," Ironwood finally said.
"What? How?" The man asked almost immediately.
"We don't know the safest way to extract this energy," Ironwood explained, "Plus, it's too risky to try and extract, as it could cause a disaster that Remnant has not seen yet. So my answer is no."
"Very well," The man said, "I shall explore this topic more, and will come back later."
The man left just as Ryan walked in with Kai. Kai looked back at the man and stopped, examining how he looked.
"What are you doing here Ryan?" Ironwood asked.
"I'm here to tell you about something," Ryan told him.
"What is it?" Ironwood asked.
"The Mad King has come back," Ryan informed Ironwood.
"The Mad Kimg?" Ironwood said, "That old nursery rhyme? Come back when you have something more important to tell me."
The screen turned on to show one of Ironwood's men on.
"General, Sir!" He said.
"What is it soldier?" Ironwood asked.
"There's something wrong down here, we think it might be-," The feed cut out on the screen and another broadcast showed up on the screen.
"Dear residents of Remnant," The man on the screen said, "Many of you don't know who I am, so ill introduce myself. I am The Mad King, but feel free to call me King Ryan so that I can cut your head of those pathetic little shoulders. I am giving a warning to all military and political leaders of Remnant, I will be taking Remant back in two weeks time. I will allow your petty politicians to vote on a peaceful surrender, and will check back when the time is up. You have two days to decide, make sure this isn't the last choice of your worthless lives."
The feed cut out and Ironwood looked back at Ryan and Kai.
"We need to start getting ready for a war!" Ironwood exclaimed.
"May I ask why?" Kai asked.
"Because there's no way that the vote to surrender will pass, and it's going to be impossible to prepare when we have less than two weeks," Ironwood explained to Kai.
"Correct, he wants us to be ill prepared," Ryan agreed, "I'll go back to Vale and gather the Huntsmen and Huntresses, Kai you go and rally every Huntsmen and Huntress you can find here in Atlas. Ironwood, get your army in shape for the upcoming conflict. I'll update Torchwick and Attwell when I get back to Vale."
"I'll talk to Mr. Schnee first," Kai said, "Try to get some dust for weapons."
Kai and Ryan walked out leaving Ironwood alone in his office. Ironwood turned on a communicator and started talking into it.
Ruby Rose walked into the warehouse used for the Fallen Remnants operations, and walked up to Zodiac and Tyrant when she saw them.
"Have any of you seen Ryan?" She asked the two.
"Not since he left to go talk to General Ironwood," Zodiac told Ruby.
"Why do you need him?" Tyrant asked.
"I wanted to ask him something," Ruby said, looking around at the people moving weapons equipment.
Ruby walked away from Zodiac and Tyrant, to go over towards the rest of team RWBY.
"Hey Zodiac, wanna know what my team name was at Beacon?" Ruby heard Tyrant ask Zodiac.
"What was it?" Zodiac replied.
"TEAM," Tyrant told him.
"Team what?" Zodiac asked not knowing that was the actual team name.
"TEAM," Tyrant told him, "That was the actual name for my team."
"Strange," Zodiac said.
Ruby finally reached the rest of team RWBY and saw them talking to Attwell.
"Suuure you are," Weiss said to Attwell.
"What's going on here?" Ruby asked.
"Attwell's trying to say that he's a Faunus," Yang told Ruby.
"I am!" Attwell practically shouted.
"And what do have to prove it?" Blake asked him, "Cause I want to believe you, but I need proof first."
Attwell took off the jacket that he's always worn no matter what, and Eagle wings appeared from his back. Yang, Blake, Ruby, and Weiss all gasped at the same.
"Is that proof enough?" Attwell asked.
"Wow," Blake said, "I was wrong."
"Actually," Attwell said, "I used to be the leader of our people."
"I've never seen your name in the archives, when I studied them," Blake pondered, "Unless..."
"My name isn't Attwell," Attwell interrupted Blake, "My name is actually Aeolus."
"Wait, what?!" Blake asked, surprised.
"Yes, it's true," Aeolus said, "I was once leader of the Faunus, but I failed them. I was supposed to protect everyone and lead them to be strong and wise, but I ended up letting a enemy in thinking he was a friend. Almost half of our people died then. Therefore, I had lost my honor and left the Faunus forever."
"How are you still alive?" Blake asked, "That was back when the kingdoms were just starting out."
"What was the name of the guy?" Weiss asked.
"Ryan Bana," Aeolus told Weiss, "Name means Little King Slayer. He was once the Fall Knight. I thought he was a friend, until he murdered those innocent Faunus. But he was hungry for power, the power of the Fall Knight got to him. I had found out a couple days after I left, that he had murdered The Winter and Summer Knights in an attemp to get their powers."
"Did it work?" Ruby asked, completely sucked into the story and forgetting why she went to talk to Zodiac.
"Yes and no," Aeolus told Ruby, "After he took the power from the other two Knights, the power started to eat him alive, but he still wanted more. That's why he attacked the Faunus, to get to me."
"That's dark," Ruby said, "I guess it's a good thing I'm not related to him."
"It's a good thing his bloodline isn't in anyone." Aeolus said, "By the way, where's Ryan?"
"That's what I asked Zodiac and Tyrant, they said they didn't know." Ruby explained.
"Well, considering how he uses a jet to get around Remnant, he should've been here by now..." Aeolus said, "Something's definitely happened..."
Ryan woke up in a white area, to where all he could see was a very light background. He tried to look around for a way to get out when someone started talking.
"You can't get out right know." A female voice explained.
"Who are you?" Ryan asked out loud.
"Forgive me, I forgot to introduce myself," The voice said, "I'm Athena."
"Where am I?" Ryan asked.
"This is your subconscious," Athena told him, "And I am your inner demon. Well, half of it."
"What about the other half?" Ryan asked.
"The Mad King," Athena told him, "That's where the other half is. Remember when you were illegally tested on?"
"How could I forget that awful experience?" Ryan scoffed.
"The Whitefang found the contained body of the Mad King," Athena explained, "They tested to see if they could build super soldiers by separating the light from the dark. They used you to get the dark part of you out, and replaced it with the Mad King's Light. It was more useful than they could have imagined. In fact it worked so well, that the Mad King escaped, leaving you to be the main experiment. Then pretty soon, you escaped yourself. They found out that perfect Warriors can be built from replacing the light with the dark, and the dark with the light. They had a setback when the lab blew up."
"So why am I here?" Ryan asked.
"You don't remember fainting from exhaustion at all?" Athena asked.
"No, I don't..." Ryan told her, "Last thing I remember was that I was walking through the forest, to get back to Vale, when I suddenly woke up here."
"Most people usually remember fainting..." Athena told him, "But then again, not that many people have had this power before you..."
"what power?" Ryan asked Athena.
"The power of the Fall Knight," Athena reminded Ryan.
"Who was the person before me?" Ryan asked.
"A big shot criminal," Athena said, "But then it found a more suitable host, You."
"What's so special about me that separates me from the rest of the users?" Ryan inquired.
"Your Semblance," Athena answered, "Your ability to create objects from Dark Matter. Your semblance acts as a charger for the Fall Knight power, like a battery that almost never depletes."
The environment rumbled and Ryan fell on the ground. The environment faded and a testing area appeared.
"How did I get here?" Ryan mumbled to himself.
"Ah, you're here," A man said on an intercom, "It's always such a drag trying to find someone that I can use my test subjects on."
"Thanks for the warm welcome," Ryan said Sarcastically, "Who are you?"
"Forgive me, I forgot it again," the man said, "I'm Dr. Merlot."
"I've heard about you, Merlot." Ryan told him, "From both Ozpin and Team RWBY."
"Ah yes," Merlot said, "Good old Oz. but I can see that you're not one of his students anymore, are you a Professor perhaps?"
"That is correct, Dr." Ryan said, "I have actually studied tactics while in my first years of teaching at Beacon. And I used to be one of Ozpin's star pupils."
"Since you're on a different level from this Team RWBY You're talking about," Merlot explained, "I will use my best batch of serum. I've done lots of research over the years after those students forced me to destroy all of my equipment."
Parts of the floor opened up and cages were lifted up to the surface. Ryan pulled up his fists and readied himself for a fight. The cage doors opened, and nothing happened for a couple of seconds.
"Is that it?" Ryan asked Dr. Merlot.
Just then a one-horned Grimm charged out of the cage and rammed Ryan into a wall. Ryan grabbed hold of the horn and began to try and break it off. The Grimm backed up, to make sure it didn't lose the horn.
"At this rate," Dr. Merlot chuckled, "You'll be dead and I can use this to kill those insufferable children."
Ryan held his arms out, and the metal started to form up his arms to his hands. As this happened, black arms with white armor pieces were being revealed. The metal on Ryan's arm had formed into dual rail guns, and he put them on his back.
"That's impossible!" Dr. Merlot said, "I've been working on making arms like those for years! How do you have them?!"
"Your worked with the White Fang." Ryan informed him, "They had initially reported it a failure and requested more so that they could make these more powerful in strength. It is with these that my semblance and power as the Fall Knight are being amplified."
"Those liars!" Dr. Merlot said, frustrated, "No matter, I'll just kill you and take those."
The one-horned Grimm charged again, but was stopped by Ryan putting his hands out to stop the charge. Ryan was holding onto the horn and easily snapped it this time, and used it to impale the Grimm in the underbelly, killing it.
"If you can find some way to kill me," Ryan said, "Then they're all yours."
Ryan formed Grimm out of Dark Matter for the numerous amount of Mutated Grimm Dr. Merlot was sending out. Ryan send them in as a distraction as he teleported, leaving a Dark Matter statue of himself and successfully escaped. Ryan made his way out of the facility, to find himself in a cave network littered with false passages to confuse anyone trying to find a way out. Ryan pulled out his scanner as to scan the walls of the network, and to find a way out.
"But the thing is," Blake said, "How are you still alive?"
"I had a curse out on me." Aeolus said, "By a wicked witch who only wanted pain and agony throughout the world."
"Can't be that bad." Weiss stated.
"That's where you're wrong," Aeolus reminisced, "You've never had to watch your family and friends die one by one, while you remain ageless! You've never had to witness everything wrong with Remnant! You bloody well never had to be tourtured over and over for information you didn't have, just because you couldn't die! Until you know that pain, you haven't seen terror, evil, hopeless battles, or a worthless feud between two equal men! That horrid day, I had lost many friends, and most of all, a brother. The man I considered my brother betrayed me, and I repaid him in the natural sense. I locked his body away in a mountain."
"What mountain was it?" Ruby asked.
"Mountain Glenn." Aeolus said, "And then that woman had to go and release his soul along with the beast."