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Tell me... What is your favorite fairytale?
Mankind has always been fond of recounting the exploits of heroes and villains...
You of all know just how easily they forget where they come from. All of us are remnants and byproducts of a long-forgotten past, and while it should sicken us... It's honestly quite amusing.
Wouldn't you say, my dear?
... Man, born from dust, was meant to be creative, destructive, knowledgeable, and capable of choice. He was a great creation, but the world he was born into was cold and unforgiving.
The Creatures of Grimm, the soulless epitomes of destruction, set their sights on mankind and all of its creations. The darkness began to close in, and it seemed that man would soon return to the void from whence he came...
But man is far more resilient than he was initially thought to be.
He is passionate, resourceful, and brimming with ingenuity. He refused to surrender, to give up hope, and he eventually discovered a tool that he appropriately named "Dust". This Dust was nature's very wrath, and with it, man lit his way through the darkness—finding strength and stability, creating life.
The world was filled with light.
But even the brightest lights eventually flicker and die. And when they are gone...
Darkness will return.
So, my dear, you may build your monuments to a so-called "free world" and prepare your champion for the coming battle, but take heed... There will be no victory in strength.
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I'm the one
Who rose out of filth, and was loved by no one!
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A figure stood in an alleyway, leaning against an old building coated in decades' worth of graffiti. She was a dark-skinned teenage girl who looked to be around seventeen years-old with short, layered, mint-green hair with two long tails trailing down her back. Her large eyes were as red as blood.
The girl wore a white top and olive-green undershirt—her emblem, a cut gem, on the back—, white pants and brown chaps that ended at her calves, and an brown twice-wrapped belt with holsters for her weapons and a pouch. There were silver rings on her middle fingers, and she wore high-heeled shoes. A three-ringed silver armband rested on her left arm, and that same arm's wrist held a string of silver beads.
The girl was filing her nails with the roughened blade of a kusarigama that had not been sharpened in some time, her expression bored, then she blinked and looked up as a loud police siren blared. She quickly transformed the kusarigama into a gun and holstered it with its twin at her belt, and she looked around frantically as the siren drew closer.
"Shit, shit, shit, shit..." She blinked again, noticing a fire-escape, then she hopped across some crates before leaping onto the lid of a dumpster, from which she jumped and grabbed the rusty ladder. The girl clambered onto the fire-escape and quickly made her way to the roof of the building
She leapt from rooftop to rooftop, hearing the sirens continuing to approach, then she shouted in surprise as she arrived at the of a building to find a squad of officers aiming their guns up at her. The girl froze, her crimson eyes wide, then she looked back with a gasp to see more officers approaching. They paused and raised their guns, aiming at her as she slowly raised her hands.
"Emerald Sustrai." One officer spoke, glaring. "You are to be placed under arrest for theft in all four kingdoms... Stand down." A moment of silence passed, then the girl smirked and raised an eyebrow.
"Seriously?" She asked, and the officers blinked. "Did you really think it would be that easy?" Her crimson eyes narrowed as she focused on the officer who had spoken.
"Freeze!" The man shouted, and his colleagues looked at him in confusion as he changed where his gun was being aimed. "I said freeze!" Emerald smiled deviously, drawing her gun and loading a clip into it.
"Alright." She replied, then she fired three times at the rooftop. Ice coated the surface, and Emerald nodded her head. The one officer stopped shouting and looked at her in surprise, and she chuckled as it dawned on him and his colleagues that she had trapped them on the ice. If they tried to give chase, they would fall. "Sorry."
The girl leapt onto the ledge and ran, dodging shots fired from officers on the roof and the ground below. She shifted her gun into its kusarigama form and leapt off of the rooftop, loosing the chain so that the blade could catch on the ledge of the next roof and allow her to swing down into the alleyway below.
"After her!" One of the ground-bound officers shouted as they saw the girl run down the alley, and all of his colleagues followed him as he began giving chase to something only he could see. The all ran right past the dumpster Emerald was hiding behind, and the girl grinned before running back to the police-cars and climbing into one.
She turned the key in the ignition to start the engine, then she chuckled as she began driving away. She drove for a few minutes before she heard sirens and looked back to see several squad cars chasing her. Emerald blinked, then she gave a devious grin as she slowed down and let them catch up.
"Come on, come on..." She looked forward again, smiling as she saw a corner ahead. "I've always wanted to try this..." Emerald suddenly made a sharp turn, looking back over her shoulder as the other police-cars crashed into buildings or other vehicles when they failed to follow her. Emerald laughed, then she grabbed the police-radio and raised it to her lips. "Sorry, boys! There's always next time!"
It was dusk when the police-car pulled over outside of the city. Emerald rested her forehead on the wheel, closing her eyes, and she remained there for a few moments in silence. Finally, she opened the door and stepped out, looking up at the sky as it was lit up in pinks, purples, oranges, and faded blues while the sun set, and she walked over to a nearby hill and sat down to stare at the sky.
Hours passed quickly for the young thief as she watched the sun vanish on the horizon, and she finally sighed and stood up as the dark sky turned a deep shade of blue and was pinpricked by thousands of white stars.
"Time to move on." The girl announced to no one in particular, her tone forlorn. With that, she turned and walked away into the great unknown, her tired but resilient form silhouetted against the full moon.
/\/\/\/\
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I'm the one...!
I'll race with your eyes, and you'll never outrun!
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A young man looked down on a rock in the Forest of Forever Fall, sighing as he polished a red blade.
He had red and brown hair that spiked backwards in a windswept way, almost-mimicking flames. A bull-horn was visible amongst the hair on both sides of his head, seeming to almost blend but not quite.
He wore a mask that obscured his eyes and upper face. This mask was whitish-tan with red, flame-like symbols decorating the front and two slits on each side to allow for vision. It gave him the appearance of a Grimm.
The man wore a long-sleeved black coat with slit sleeves, and there were more red designs and a strange white symbol on the left side. The coat was red on the inside, and it had more red flame-like accents at the bottom and a large red and white rose-shaped emblem on the back. He also wore long black pants, black shoes with red soles, black gloves with more red images on the forehands, and a black belt with white domino-marks on it. That belt currently held what appeared to be a shotgun.
"... Adam?" A voice asked quietly. This got the young man's attention, and he looked up.
"Huh?"
There was a young woman standing there, a hand resting on her hip with the other at her side and clenched into a fist. She wore a white shirt that was black along the bottom and had mid-length sleeves, the image of a belladonna flower emblem printed in cream on the left side. She also wore black pants that had a gray stripe on the outer side of each leg and a black belt, which had a black and purple banner-like piece of fabric hanging from the back. Her black high-heeled boots were tall and had belted straps wrapped around them, and she wore black ribbons on her forearms.
Her had was long, wavy, and ebony in color, and a pair of black cat-ears was visible among it. Her eyes and the upper-half of her face were hidden by a silver mask with ornate purple and black details, two slits over each eye.
"It's time." The girl announced simply, like he was meant to understand. Adam sighed, shaking his head and standing up before walking over to the girl who seemed so tiny in comparison to him—but it was clear who held the power in the relationship. He sheathed his blade in the barrel of the shotgun.
"Fine."
The two Faunus ran through the woods, ending up on a cliff overlooking some train-tracks. A train began passing over those tracks, and they leapt down—the girl landing gracefully, the man driving his blade into the train's roof to catch himself. Adam pulled his blade out of the roof, and he and the girl ran across the top of the train-car.
"Here." The girl pointed, and Adam frowned as he shot the lock on the roof entrance. He opened the door so that his partner could leap in, and he followed her.
"... Looks like we're going to be doing this the hard way." Adam announced awkwardly as several Atlesian Knights looked up, his grip tightening on the hilt of his blade. His partner smirked, unsheathing her own black blade.
"Don't be so dramatic." She she insisted, then changed the blade into a gun. "Duck." Adam quickly obeyed, and the cat-Faunus fired shots into several Knight's heads, whipping the bladed gun around on a ribbon to tear several more apart with brutal force.
"Gods..." Adam's eyes widened behind his mask, then he shook his head and took a deep breath. The bull-Faunus joined in, quickly slicing and dicing the androids while occasionally firing at them with his shotgun.
They had obviously practiced these maneuvers many times before and worked well as a team, but there was an obvious difference in their styles of fighting: Adam was quick and precise because he didn't want to draw his fights out to be any longer than they had to be while the girl was more prone to drawing the battle out a bit more and tearing away at their enemies. Against otheir people, they would both be forces of nature—but the man would be a mercy and the girl would be a torturer.
Finally, when all of the Knights in that car were destroyed, Adam and his partner moved on.
The two Faunus arrived in a car full of Dust, all of the crates being labeled Schnee Dust Company.
"Perfect." The cat-Faunus smiled cruelly as she examined the contents of one crate. "I'll head to the next car. Set plenty of charges here, then catch up."
"Wait, what about the crew?" Adam asked, his tone concerned. The girl gave Adam a mildly confused look, resting a hand on her hip.
"What about them?" She asked sincerely. Adam took a step back, surprised.
"Blake?"
"Adam-"
The conversation was interrupted when a huge Spider-Mech crawled down from the ceiling, aiming its weapons at the two Faunus. Adam stepped between the girl—Blake—and the robot, his eyes wide behind the mask as he gripped the hilt of his blade.
"Blake, we've got to go!" He shouted, but the cat-Faunus ducked out from behind him and charged anyway, leaping up and slashing at the machine with her blade. Her attacks had no affect, and the metal monstrosity knocked her back and left her recovering on the ground. "Blake!"
Adam immediately tried to step in, only to get hit back and crash into some crates before he could reach his partner. He barely recovered in time to run forward and scoop Blake up bridal-style, leaping aside before they were both crushed by the Spider-Mech.
"Maybe you're right." Blake admitted, sliding out of his arms, but it was too late for that. Adam quickly stepped forward and shielded Blake with his own body as the Spider-Mech fired its weapons, throwing them out of the car.
"Agh..." Adam forced himself to his hands and knees, looking back to see Blake already standing and glaring down at him. "Huh? What..?"
"I'll buy you some time time!" Blake snapped, and he blinked woozily behind his mask. "Use Moonslice!" At that, Adam was suddenly snapped back into focus as he grew worried.
"What?! Are you sure?!"
"Yes!" Blake ran forward as Adam started glowing red, the girl firing at the Spider-Mech and swiping her blade at it. Adam stood, taking deep breaths as he grabbed the hilt of his blade, then he looked up at Blake.
"Move!" He shouted in warning. Blake got out of the way as the Mech fired a massive blast of white energy, which Adam caught, countered, and absorbed into his blade and his very body. "Agh..."
Adam looked up, baring gritted teeth as his body glowed brightly, then he swiped his glowing blade. An arc of power went out, and the Spider-Mech was reduced to rose-petals as the shockwave threw Blake back.
Adam fell down on one knee, taking deep and shaking breaths. Every time he did that, he remembered the first time. She knew that... He forced himself to stand, and he looked over at Blake with a frown as she began to recover.
"... Adam?" The young woman asked as she noticed him stepping onto another train-car, raising her hand as if to reach out and pull him back. Adam looked back at her in silence before he sighed, reached up, and removed his mask to reveal his eyes.
One, blue, was brimmed with sorrow and regret.
The other, scarred and marred by a SDC brand, gazed forward without seeing.
"I'm sorry." He told her quietly. "Goodbye, Blake." With that, the bull-Faunus shot the link between the train cars.
"What?!" Blake stood and ran to the edge of her car as it and her half of the train began to slow down. "Adam?!" He said nothing in response as they drifted apart, and what could be seen of Blake's face fell. "... What did I do wrong?"
Adam remained silent as he gazed at her, his dark form standing out against the crimson forest and the slightly-shattered moon still visible in the early-morning sky.
/\/\/\/\
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I'm the one
That was born in a nightmare, a murderer's son!
...
A boy with messy grey hair and grey eyes leaned against a kitchen wall of a small house, glaring at the floor. One of his feet rapidly tapped the floor impatiently, but the rest of his body seemed completely stiff. There was a bruise beneath his left eye, and the look in his eyes... Was it hurt? Rage? Determination? Resolve?
Fear?
The boy wore a gray and black jacket that covered his upper body, a belt with a bandana draped over it bearing his emblem—a boot with wings on the back—, grey and black braces on his arms, orange and black pants, and black boots. Bloodied bandages were wrapped around his legs, over his pants.
A door opened somewhere within the house, and the boy's glaring eyes widened as he took a sharp breath. A white-haired man dressed in red and black stumbled into the home, swinging a bottle of liquor around as he braced himself against the door and looked up at the boy woozily.
"Mercury?" The man grunted, and the boy just gazed at him, frozen. "What... What are you lookin' at, boy?" A moment passed in silence, then the boy looked down.
"Sorry." He mumbled, and the man stumbled past him and went to the fridge. Mercury remained silent as he gazed at the floor, hearing the man rummaging about in the fridge, and his fingertips dug into his arms as he tried to will himself to do something, anything.
"I... I saw your teacher, tonight." The man announced, and Mercury blinked before looking up. "Old fart mentioned a black eye, and your legs... I told you to cover them up. I-"
"Sorry."
"I'M NOT DONE TALKING!" The man snapped, throwing a bottle. Mercury dodged it, his eyes wide as he heard it shatter against a wall. "Little bastard... Know your place."
"... I do." Mercury looked up, his grey eyes narrowing. The man paused what he was doing and looked up, his dark eyes hardening.
"What was that?"
"I do." Mercury repeated, clenching his fists. "I know my place... And it's not beneath you, Marcus." The man tried to approach, but Mercury closed his eyes and performed a sweeping kick that sent the man flying into the stove.
"Why, you..!" The man looked up, livid. "What do you think you're doing?!"
"Someting I should have done a long, long time ago." The boy growled, getting into a fighting stance. The man stumbled as he got to his feet, then mimicked the fighting stance.
The two men lunged at each other, exchanging strikes and kicks faster than most people's eyes could track. A strong punch from Marcus sent Mercury stumbling back so that he bumped into a table, and a lantern fell to the floor and broke open. Mercury looked back with wide eyes as a fire began to spread, then he shouted in fright as he was grabbed by the collar and lifted into the air.
"Ungrateful brat!" Marcus snarled, throwing Mercury back. The boy yelped as he collided with a window, shattering the glass, and was sent rolling across the grass in front of the house.
"Agh..." Mercury winced, reaching up and gripping his side as he tried to recover. He forced himself to stand, and he looked up with wide eyes as Marcus lunged through the window, looking like the spawn of Hell as the fire from the house wreathed around him.
"MERCURY!"
Mercury's expression flashed with fear before his eyes narrowed, and he performed a spinning kick. A gun built into his boot was primed, and it fired as the kick collided with its intended target... Mercury stepped past the man, who was now lying on the ground with a gaping hole in his chest, and he paused before briefly looked back at him.
"... Goodbye, Father." The boy spat, his eyes brimming with hate while his expression remained neutral. Then, Mercury turned and walked away with a slight limp, the shattered moon glowing above him.
/\/\/\/\
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I'm the one
That was ripped from the earth and exposed to the sun!
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"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls! I would like to humbly announce the arrival of Remnant's greatest acrobat, Neopolitan Raffiné!"
A foot was placed on a tight-rope. Then, another followed it. Slow, methodical steps...
Nothing held her aloft. One wrong move would send the brave acrobat falling to her doom in a pit of flaming fire-Dust. There was no net. She liked a challenge.
She was focused, completely concentrated, as she made her way across the rope. The girl was strange-looking, no doubt about that.
Half of her long, wavy hair was brown while the other half of it pink with white streaks. One eye was brown, the other pink.
She wore a white jacket with a pink interior, brown pants, and white boots with black buttons high and black heels. Under her jacket was a black corset, curved at the bottom to expose her hips. She also wore a multitude of black beaded necklaces, which hung haphazardly around her neck.
She took a deep breath, silently reminding herself not to focus on the stares of the spellbound crowd or their gasps of admiration. It was just her and the rope... Or just her. The tightrope was fraying at the center.
Neopolitan's mismatched eyes widened before turning white. Whether it was an accident or sabotage, she was in danger. She wouldn't even be able to scream if she fell...
Neopolitan finally quit the act, closing her umbrella as her eyes turned brown and pink again, a smirk curling across her lips. It was time to show the audience a real show.
The young girl started leaping, somersaulting through the air in an effort to make it to safety, performing cartwheels and landing with an almost-inhuman grace. Finally, she made it to the other side just before the rope snapped. The ends hit the aNd caught fire, and Neopolitan looked back as the crowd roared with applause.
Neopolitan took a bow, her eyes glinting in the light of the flames as they slowly narrowed, but she maintained her bright smile... Though now, it looked more like a malicious grin.
Neopolitan walked through the circus grounds late that night, then she paused uneed the shattered moon. She waited a few moments, then she spun around, a blade leaving her umbrella and impaling a would-be assassin... A clown?
The circus had turned against her.
"Neo, Neo, Neo..." A voice tsked softly. The girl turned as several performers left the shadows, most of them glaring or smirking. The strong-man stopped forward to identify himself as their leader, a cruel smile on his face. "Remnant's greatest acrobat. Tell me, how long did you expect to get away with stealing the spotlight from the rest of us, little girl?" Neo glared, remaining silent. "Oh right, you can't."
A moment passed before Neo ripped her blade from the clown and smirked, giving a playful bow as she opened her umbrella and rested it over her shoulder. Seeming to take this as a challenge, the other performers charged and lashed out, but Neo shattered upon contact with the first strike.
The girl reappeared behind the mob, and she slashed with her blade and killed a trapeze-acrobat and a clown. Dodging the lion-tamer's whip, Neo flipped through the air and stabbed him. Everyone else ran off into the sea of tents, cages, and carts, leaving Neo and the strong-man alone.
'You want me?' Neo's arrogant expression of victory spoke for her. 'Come and get me.'
"Why, you little-!" The man charged and threw a punch, but Neo dodged and slashed with her blade, slicing his arm open. The man tried again, only to receive several slashes on his chest and face. He punched, but Neo shattered on contact with his fist. "I'll kill you, you little freak!"
Those were his last words, as Neo's blade sprouted from his chest. Her narrowed eyes turned a bright and cruel shade of red red as the strong-man choked on his own blood, his eyes wide and on the brightening sky.
Neo ripped the blade out of the man and sheathed it within the umbrella, sighing as the man's body collapsed. A moment passed, then she looked to the east and smiled lightly before she turned and walked towards the sunrise.
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That, my love, is where you have always fallen short of understanding the nature of our perpetual conflict.
I'm dreadfully sorry, but...
What ever made you believe that I held the intention of sending a single champion to challenge you?
Placing the fate of the world on the shoulders of one small, honest, young, and innocent soul? Decimating their heart? Breaking and bending their will?
Do you honestly think me to be so cruel?
... I'm not like you. I never was.
I do not break my champions in order to subdue them.
I heal what is already broken, and I watch as they grow stronger.
You will not prevail, for they...
They are stronger than you could ever know.
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It was nighttime in the city of Vale, with one Dust shop left open. One old man worked at the counter, and one customer was browsing in the magazine section.
That was when they entered. At first sight, they looked like trio of students from Beacon Academy. But they were more than what they appeared to be...
"Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a Dust shop open this late?" The leader asked, sounding somewhat sincere. A silver blade with a blue and gold hilt was raised to touch the old man's throat. A silver and pink grenade-launcher and two green pistols raised as well, aiming for the poor vender's torso and head.
The owner of the grenade launcher was an almost innocent-looking girl wearing a white and pink dress with light silver armor and a baby-blue bow, white fingerless-gloves on her hands and white sneakers on her feet. She had short orange hair, turquoise eyes, and a devious smirk lit up her face.
The owner of the green pistols was a boy dressed in green, black, cream, and gold with long black hair adorned with a single pink streak and cold, glaring magenta eyes set upon a serene but serious expression.
The leader and the owner of the sword was a boy wearing jeans, a black/red hoodie, black fingerless-gloves, and sneakers under white armor. He was blonde with blue eyes, and there was actually a polite smile on his face.
"Please, just take my Lien and leave!" The old man pleaded, terrified. The leader sighed and shook his head.
"No, no—you've got us wrong." The boy insisted, and the old man blinked. "We're not here for your money... Guys, just hurry up and grab the Dust. I'm feeling kinda uncomfortable aiming this sword at an old guy."
"Sorry, he's a rookie." The orange-haired girl joked, then she grabbed the black-haired boy's hand. "Come on, Ren!" The girl took some canisters from a briefcase and began taking Dust from the dispensers scattered in the store while the boy had the old man place some crystals in a briefcase.
The orange-haired girl hummed merrily, watching in fascination as a canister was filled with wind-Dust, then she blinked before tilting her head to the side and listening to something intently. There was music being played, somewhere...
...
I'll run circles 'round ya, I can touch the sky!
I'm gonna make ya hurt, and I'm gonna make you cry!
You want to mess around? Well, come on! Let's go!
I got no time to waste, let's start the show!
...
"Huh?" The orange-haired girl followed the music, and she noticed a green-haired girl listening to music in some earbuds while browsing a magazine. She hadn't noticed the robbery taking place. "Hm." The curious redhead walked over and stood next to the green-haired girl, peeking down at the magazine with her big turquoise eyes.
"Um..." The green-haired girl raised an eyebrow as she removed an earbud. "Can I help you?"
"Nope."
"Uh... Why not?"
"'Cause I'm gonna rob you." The redhead replied, and the green-haired girl blinked. "I just want to see what you're reading, first."
"... Okay." The green-haired girl responded, using her free hand to reach down and grab one of her guns. The orange-haired girl seemed pleased by the cooperation.
"I'm Nora, by the way. Nora Valkyrie."
"You don't rob people often, do you?"
"Nope." Nora admitted, still reading the magazine as the other girl raised her gun. "I'm usually guarding a local night-club with my friend Ren, but we got hired out by this blonde noodle-y guy—Jaune, what a doll—and his red-haired lady-friend. No hard feelings, right?"
"Nope."
"So... What's your name, stranger?" Nora looked up at the green-haired girl, smiling. The other girl blinked her crimson eyes, then she grinned deviously.
"Emerald Sustrai."
"Emerald Sustrai..?" Nora mused, then she blinked as the barrel of a gun was pressed between her shoulder-blades. "Uh-oh."
"Yeah. Uh-oh."
The blonde boy and the magenta-eyed boy looked back with wide eyes as Nora was suddenly kicked through the shop window, and they turned to see the mysterious green-haired girl. The girl, Emerald Sustrai, whipped two green pistols out and shot the magenta-eyed boy in the chest three times, sending him flying into the wall of the shop.
The two downed thieves were back on their feet in seconds, so the girl in green took the battle outside with the magenta-eyed boy following her to team up with his partner as Emerald morphed her guns into kurigusama-chains. Emerald threw one chain, wrapping it around the green-wearing boy's waist, spinning around to send him flying and eventually throwing him into his pink-wearing partner before pulling her weapon back inyo her hand.
As Nora and her partner—Ren, she said it was—got back to their feet, Emerald vanished.
"Where'd she go?" Nora asked in surprise, and Ren looked around in confusion. Suddenly, they were both hit in the backs of their heads and they collapsed. Emerald stood behind them, wincing and raising a hand to her head.
"Headache." She groaned softly. "One mind I can handle, but two is a stretch..." Hearing footsteps, Emerald looked up to see the leader of the heist stepping out, sirens blaring as the blonde thief glared at her.
"Alright..." He held a hand up, his blue eye narrowed as he pointed at Emerald. "Those two can be frustrating at times, but they work for me and I consider them friends." Ren and Nora, looking up from the ground, seemed surprised. "And I do not take kindly to you hurting them." Emerald remained silent as she gazed at him. "... I've gotta admit, I was not expecting intervention from the great Emerald Sustrai—but, as much as I want to stick around and swap stories..." The boy raised an Ice-Dust crystal. "I'm afraid that this city's not big enough for two master-thieves."
The boy threw the crystal to the ground, and Ren raised one of his guns and shot it as it arrived at Emerald's Dust exploded, Emerald barely dodging in time to escape an icy tomb, and she looked up to find Ren, Nora, and the blonde boy gone.
"Huh?" Emerald blinked, then she looked back to see the trio climbing a fire escape on a nearby building... The green-haired girl looked back at the shaken shopkeeper as he arrived at the doorway. "I'm going after them."
Emerald pulled herself onto the rooftop, taking a deep breath before standing and glaring as the trio of thieves paused at the other side.
"I'm not done with you, yet!" Emerald spat, raising her guns. The three didn't look back, but...
"You're really persistent, aren't you?" The blonde boy commented, a Bullhead raising into the air from the alleyway he was facing. Emerald watched in dismay as the trio boarded, and the blonde boy looked back with a smirk as he drew another Dust crystal—this one was red, fire. "Sorry, Sustrai, but it's the end of the line!"
The boy threw a fire-Dust crystal, Ren firing his gun to detonate it as it landed in front of Emerald, but a HUGE figure leapt in the way and deflected the blast. The giant man covered in tattoos/scars and dressed in white and black, his eyes brown and his teeth pointed, raised a giant chainsaw as he let out a low growl. The emblem on his back was a reddish-brown, snarling wolf—not the symbol of the White Fang, but still an image that brought the organization to mind... Suddenly, he morphed the chainsaw into a bazooka and started rapidly firing at the Bullhead.
"Whoa!" Emerald blinked, then she grinned. "A Huntsman..."
The blonde thief stumbled into the cockpit, his blue eyes narrowed.
"We've got a Huntsman!" He shouted, then he quickly took the wheel as a feminine figure dressed in red and gold got up and ran to the back. Ren and Nora noticed her, surprised, then Nora grinned.
"Alright, now we've got a show!"
Emerald joined the Huntsman in firing at the airship, but then both of them had to dodge an array of metal objects surrounded by a black aura, which had been summoned from nearby rooftops.
A feminine figure in red and gold with vibrant green eyes stood in the back of the Bullhead, her arms raised as metal shrapnel flew through the air, concentrating in a spear-like shape before flying at the heroes.
"Move!" The Huntsman grabbed Emerald's arm and pulled her aside to escape the flying metal as it sunk into the roof, then they shouted as they barely managed to evade a fire-blast launched by the green-eyed woman. While Emerald and the Huntsman were distracted, the Bullhead escaped into the night.
"... So." Emerald sighed, looking up at the Huntsman "I'm guessing that I'm arrested?" The man raised an eyebrow, scoffing.
"Guessing?"
"Would assuming work better?" Emerald asked, smiling awkwardly as she shrugged. The Huntsman put his weapon away before crossing his arms. "... Okay. You're not a joker. Noted."
/\
Emerald sat at a metal table under a spotlight. The green-haired girl was resting her head in her palm, tapping her fingers on the table, and rolling her eyes as the Huntsman before her paced.
"Emerald Sustrai: wanted for petty-theft in all four kingdoms of Remnant. No activity in the last two months, but-... Just what do you think you were doing?!" The man finally snapped, and Emerald finally cringed. "You may be a criminal, but you're only a child! Going up against these sorts of people will only serve to place yourself in others in danger!"
"Hey, they would have probably shot that old guy if I hadn't done something!" Emerald snapped back, her red eyes narrowing. "I get it, no good deed goes unpunished! Just quit the crap and send me to jail, already!"
"Hey, if it were up to me, you'd be in jail right now." The Huntsman remarked bluntly "So calm down, because—unfortunately-..." He paused as a pale figure stepped into the room, holding a large tray of sandwiches and a glass of water.
"... Emerald Sustrai." A young woman with long, beautiful blonde hair and seemingly-ancient blue eyes smiled kindly. She wore a dress in shades of purple and blue, and Emerald found herself taken aback by her for reason she... Didn't know. "We meet at last."
"Y-you're Professor Salem Blair, the headmistress from Beacon Academy." Emerald managed, stunned. The woman—Salem—nodded, then she set the tray and glass of water down before gesturiny to a large scroll that the Huntsmen was holding up. Emerald realized that it was depicting the fight from earlier.
"Your skills in battle are quite impressive, Ms. Sustrai." Salem told her, and Emerald blinked. "One must wonder how they were acquired."
"I-I've trained all over the world." Emerald answered nervously. "I've picked up techniques on the streets, I study my opponents-"
"Your semblance must help."
"... Yeah." Emerald looked down, seeming uncomfortable. Salem sat down across from her.
"I've heard tell of it, but the accounts are all different." The headmistress noted, and Emerald closed her eyes. "Some say you can teleport, others say you turn invisible, many say you create illusions or change your appearance... Security cameras show you taking jewelry from smiling dealers and walking away unhampered."
"I..." Emerald looked up at Salem. "What do you want, from me."
"... You must be hungry." Salem gestured to the tray and glass of water. Emerald hesitated, then sighed as she took a sandwich and bit into it. "While I agreed with Professor Banesaw in saying that what you did posed quite a risk, it was also very brave. It's exactly what I would expect from any of my students."
"Um... Thanks?" Emerald replied shakily. Salem hummed softly.
"Now... What is a talented girl like you doing, getting by on petty theft when you could be doing something important with your life?"
"Not like I could if I wanted to, with my track-record..."
"Hmm..." Salem smiled somewhat-deviously. "Your track-record? Hm... Here is my deal, Ms. Sustrai."
"Deal?"
"If you attend my school and I see significant strides in you attempting to turn your life around and become a Huntress, I will use my comnections to wipe your track-record." Salem announced, and Emerald's jaw dropped. "You will have a clean slate, a second-chance at life... If you don't agree to this, I fear that you face at least ten years in an Atlesian-prison for your crimes."
"Atlesian?" Emerald's eyes widened. "No one survives Atlesian-prison unscathed! I could be killed with either of those options!"
"Well..." Salem smirked, shrugging. "You must weigh your options. One guarantees a tiny cell, metal bars, aura-dampeners, and an uncomfortable uniform. The other guarantees you strength, freedom, comraderie, and a chance... And a rather stylish uniform."
"... Fine." Emerald sighed quietly, nodding. "I'll do it... I'll attend Beacon, and I'll become a Huntress." Salem's blue eyes glinted.
"Perfect."
Well... That was a thing.
A lot of things are different, in this rewrite.
In the original story, Jaune robbed the store alone and Salem did possess a monstrous form—but now, I've decided to try and improve upon this story with the revelations made in Volume 6 kept in mind.
Plus, I believe that my skills as a writer have improved, so now I'm fixing my old favorites.
Well... You know the gist, of this one.
RWBY's heroes are villains.
RWBY's villains are heroes.
I've made a whole chart and everything. XD
I own nothing. Please read, review, check out my other stories, etc. Thanks! :)