Alright, new story. This one takes place three years after The Heartless Angel, with its established character deaths and three OCs. There will be no more. So without further ado, enjoy.

Four sets of rapid footsteps echoed around the corridor, two of them stopping momentarily. A heavy grinding was heard, followed by heavy breathing. Then the footsteps started again. Team RWBY slowed up ahead, resting for a few minutes, leaning on the crystal that made up the walls of the corridor. A flame flared in the dark, rippling from the blonde woman's hand. She lifted her night vision goggles and looked at the other three women with her. Two of them lifted their goggles, while the other stared back with amber eyes, her feline ears twitching atop her head. She spoke.

"I'm sorry... I should have scouted that trap. This one's on me."

Ruby stood up, pushing herself away from the wall. A pulse of white travelled down the corridor, momentarily illuminating it. She leant into Blake, embracing her, ignoring the sweat that covered them both.

"Hey, it's not your fault..."

"It is though."

"How can it be? You saw that corridor change right in front of us. This place is always changing. We're still alive, aren't we?"

A crashing sound, followed by a guttural snarl caught their attention. Weiss spoke up.

"We need to keep running. That thing just keeps absorbing our attacks."

She pulled her goggles back on and started to walk ahead. Ruby did the same, and Yang extinguished the flame as she replaced her goggles. A roar spurred them to begin running again, and they did, Blake leading them through the darkened tunnel while pulling the pin from a flash grenade and hurling it down the corridor behind her, facing away as it exploded and grinning when she heard a startled, pained yelp.

The Team came upon another door, Yang stepping forward and cracking her knuckles before punching the door. She managed two punches before Weiss stopped her and cast a quick glyph. The crystal slab slid apart, the two halves sliding into the walls. They ran into the room behind, Weiss closing the door again before destroying the glyph with a Dust-enhanced slash from Myrtenaster. While Ruby and Yang rested, Blake took a small device from a pouch in her armour and began talking into it. Weiss backed away from the door as the creature began clawing at the other side, the sound of claws on crystal making her cringe. She turned to Yang.

"Should we set up a drone?"

"A Bumblebee? Nah, save the ammo and fuel. We might find something we can actually kill up ahead."

The answer apparently satisfied Weiss, who shrugged before inspecting the huge machine that lay across from the door, running a hand over the metal doors, peering into the vials on the outside of the chassis. The group turned, staring at the door as a wicked claw punctured it, an eye staring through the hole, followed by a roar. Yang stood up, pulling a metallic orb from her bandolier and throwing it into the air, the drone unfolding, taking flight and aiming its weapon at the door.

"On second thoughts, they may be more useful now."

She launched two more, the black and yellow colours of the Bumblebee drones standing out against the pale blue crystals. Another white pulse lit the room before vanishing down the corridor. Ruby stood up, swinging Crescent Rose and embedding the blade in the ground and training the high-calibre rifle on the door. Lightning arced between the barrel and the blade. Weiss levelled her sabre at the door, the blade glowing faintly. Another pulse travelled through the crystal, the heiress' pallid eyes tracing it. She frowned.

"They're getting more frequent."

Blake wound the Gambol Shroud's ribbon around her right arm and took the sheath in her left. She began to cycle the gunblade around as the hole in the door got wider, shards of crystal scattering across the floor as the creature on the other side tore into it. The Bumblebee drones began cycling their weapons, converging on the laser that Yang was shining on the creature. The small robots opened fire, a hail of energy pellets causing the creature to shriek and back away. Seconds later, several heavy footsteps preceded its entrance to the room, the creature using its bulk to slam the door open. The drones opened fire again, focussing on its eyes as directed by Yang. Ruby opened fire, lightning-infused bullets causing the beast to shudder. It roared, pulling itself into the chamber and using its tail to force Ruby to move. Blake ghosted out of the way of an attack, pale fire spreading down her blade and amputating the arm that destroyed her decoy. By the time she landed, it was already growing back.

Weiss was working on boxing it in and forcing it out. Two circles formed a wedge, preventing it from advancing while a third slammed into its head, stunning it. She pushed it back, straining with the effort it took.

"I can hold it for a while! Get those doors open!"

Yang moved to the doors, running her hands over them, looking for an access panel. She moved to the frame, tapping at it, before smiling and ripping a panel off. A small dish lay inside, two metal rods pointed into it.

"It runs on Dust! Give me some red, it's the most energetic!"

"You'll have to come and get it, just don't distract me too much while you search me."

Cracking another grin, she jogged to Weiss, quickly looking over the vials that Weiss kept slung across the small of her back. She opened a pouch and pulled out a vial of red Dust, slapping Weiss lightly on the rear and watching her bite her lip in a mix of anger and joy before running back over to the machine. She carefully emptied the contents of the vial into the dish, watching as the rods absorbed it. The crystal lit up, a constant red glow as the Dust powered the machine. The doors opened, a foot of solid, unidentifiable metal moving as if it weighed nothing as Weiss's glyphs shattered.

"Run! Into the machine!"

Yang launched flares at the creature, the explosives forcing it to move back. It swatted the Bumblebee drones out of the air, roaring as the doors ground shut.

-Beacon Academy, Ozpin's Office-

Ozpin sat with his eyes closed, listening to the endless clockworks of his office while Oobleck stood behind him. He was waiting with a vexed expression on his face, twitching nervously. He had good reason to be nervous. They both had.

Ozpin raised his head and opened his eyes as he heard a knock on his door. He pressed the button on his desk, the door unlocking to allow access to the Team waiting to enter. Jaune walked in first. He'd gotten taller over the years, and also bulked up as a result of Beacon's brutal training regimes. His face was still young, but a scar starting above his left brow and ending below his right eye told anyone that he had been through more than his face suggested.

Behind him, Pyrrha followed, carrying herself with a grace that belied her prowess in combat. She bore no scars, her skill with her shield having served her well over the years.

Nora skipped into the room next, apparently having not matured much in her time at Beacon. She was humming under her breath, swinging her arms heavily; lugging Maghnild around the battlefield demanded strength.

Ren filed in after her. He was mostly unchanged, except for a strange glow to his eyes. He had excelled in the use of Aura, and it changed him, his focus manifesting as the glow in his eyes, a power he combined with martial arts to confound his foes and incapacitate them in a scant few blows.

Team JNPR fell in in front of the desk, waiting for Ozpin to speak. Jaune raised an eyebrow at Oobleck, curious as to what may have caused him to look so nervous. Ozpin sipped from his coffee mug before talking.

"Thank you for taking time from your studies to talk. I believe you four will find the subject as high-priority as me. Now, you were quite close to Team RWBY, weren't you?"

"They're our best friends. Great fighters too." Jaune said.

"Good. Perhaps you'd like to tell me what you know about each of them?"

Jaune looked to his Team, who just shrugged. He began talking.

"Well, Ruby's their leader. She came to Beacon two years early, and uses a scythe with her speed Semblance. She improved it a lot since she built it, made it lighter and stronger. She uses a Bolt Drive with it. She came up with her own signature scythe attack, Radiant Bloom, I think."

"Good. And Weiss, Pyrrha?"

"She uses Dust with a rapier to create glyphs. She specialises in all forms of Dust manipulation. She also found a way suspend a target in time, and she taught the medical service how to do it to save lives."

"Alright. Nora, what about Blake?"

"She used to be part of the White Fang, but then she ran away, came to Beacon. She's sneaky, likes to creep around like a ninja." Nora's expression momentarily became grim. "She was possessed a few years ago, but ended up with awesome fiery powers!"

"Close enough. And Yang, Ren?"

"She's a mechanic. Ruby's sister. She absorbs energy from hits she takes to power up. She developed her own personal drones with Blake, as well as extremely durable data recorders. She's more intelligent than people give her credit for."

Ozpin smiled.

"It seems you are indeed very close to them. Very well, I will not beat around the bush any longer. I've called you up here because Team RWBY has not returned from their mission given to them that was meant to end two weeks ago. It was a routine extermination of Grimm in the eastern forest. Oobleck, if you please."

Oobleck stepped forward, unrolling a map of the eastern forest on the desk.

"This was the area where a subterranean Grimm nest was found. Mostly Creeps and Taijitu, nothing that Team RWBY couldn't handle. After a few days of eradicating Grimm on the surface, they went into the caves. Now, this would have been fine, except they found a cavern that should not have been there, as it was not on the maps. Since they were fourth-year students, I gave them permission to explore. I lost communication soon after, as well as the visual feed from their body cams." He stopped and took a steadying breath. "They still have not emerged. What's worse, seismometers have been recording tremors. That forest is in the dead centre of a tectonic plate. If it's not earthquakes, we have no idea what could be causing those tremors. Worst of all, they could be trapped down there."

"What do you want us to do?" Ren questioned.

"Oobleck wants you to investigate the cave, look for signs as to where Team RWBY could be and, should the situation have become hopeless, find their bodies for a proper burial."

The room fell silent, save for the noise of grinding gears. Ozpin gave JNPR a little smile.

"I don't need an answer now. Go back to your courses. It's still early in the day. Give me an answer by the end of the week. Dismissed."

Team JNPR were headed to the arena, walking across the campus in anxious silence. Each of them carried a bag.

"What d'you think could've happened to RWBY?" Jaune asked, scratching the back of his head nervously.

"I can't imagine. I don't want to." Was the reply from Pyrrha. Jaune put an arm around her, pulling her close.

"Here. This should take your mind off things."

They reached the arena, the flat expanse empty since Jaune had booked it out for the next few hours. The last thing they wanted was some unfortunate First-Year to catch the brunt of one of their attacks. They walked in as one of the caretakers walked out, having finished clearing away the training apparatus left by the last users. He nodded at Jaune.

"Four hours, then you have to be out."

"Sure."

The caretaker walked away. Team JNPR stepped into the individual changing room, each member removing their uniform and replacing it with their combat gear, bracers and pauldrons taking the place of blazers and shirts. They stepped into the arena, splitting apart to face off against their partners. Jaune cocked his head at Pyrrha, practically radiating confidence.

"Maybe this will be the day I beat you."

"Not today, Jaune. You're fighting Ren this time."

The dark-haired boy looked to Nora for confirmation before shrugging. He and Pyrrha swapped places, Nora bouncing at the prospect of a different opponent, twisting Maghnild in her grip. She holstered it and sat in the stands with Pyrrha, waiting for the match to begin.

Jaune looked a lot less confident, and he entered his defensive stance; shield up, sword pointed forward. He had saved up his money and bought a Blaze Drive that was installed in his shield. The metal now looked volcanic, vicious heat wreathing the front face while the back remained cool.

Ren performed a short kata, the edges of StormFlower taking on a pinkish hue when he drew them, the glow in his eyes intensifying. Pyrrha called out from the stands.

"The match ends when one of you can no longer fight! Go!"

Both men carefully circled around each other, neither of them willing to make the first move. Ren retracted StormFlower, the twin pistols vanishing into his sleeves. He took on a meditative pose, bringing his hands over his chest and standing on just one leg, the other resting against his knee. Jaune frowned. He knew that Ren would counter if he attacked, and Ren's counters were nigh-unavoidable. Piecing together a quick strategy, Jaune dashed forward for a quick slash before crouching and lowering his shield to block the kick aimed to dislocate his knee. He hopped as it connected, a pink flash launching him across the arena; the heat of the shield taking a small amount of Ren's Aura to block. Jaune stood up, seeking to attack again, but he was forced to dodge a hail of bullets from StormFlower, blocking some and allowing his Aura to absorb the others. He thrust his shield forward, trying to stagger Ren, but he merely flipped backwards and unleashed another volley of bullets in mid-air. Jaune ignored them, instead charging forward to slash at Ren's torso. The successful hit cleaved a large amount of Ren's Aura away, yet he showed no signs of tiredness. Instead, he caught Jaune's downward swing in the curves of his blade and twisted, disarming the blonde man before closing in with a flurry of kicks and punches, Jaune's Aura plummeting. He found himself flat out, groaning with pain. It had taken less than a minute for the fight to end. Ren bowed as Jaune pulled himself into the stands and sat down heavily.

"Ren." He called out. "Will you judge their match?"

"Of course."

Nora jumped into the arena, Maghnild unfolding in her arms into its hammer form. Pyrrha slid Akoúo into place and took aim with Miló.

"Begin."

An explosion rocked the floor as Nora grenade jumped into the air, avoiding Pyrrha's bullets before bringing the hammer down with an exuberant "Smash!"

Pyrrha braced herself behind Akoúo, the force of the hit forcing her onto one knee but allowing her to get close, close enough to slash at Nora before she could recover. She took the full force of the first slash and almost avoided the second, the tip glancing off her Aura. Nora was back into her effective range, and swung Maghnild again, kicking up a cloud of dust with several downward swings. Pyrrha shielding her eyes, using her Semblance to detect repulsion between her shield and Maghnild. She felt it to her left, and threw Akoúo, the clang of impact reverberating around the arena. She dived out of its way as it came back to her far too fast- Nora had hit it back. It stuck in the ground, and Pyrrha was quick to recover it. She batted back a grenade, wincing as it exploded on contact with Miló and drove her back. She repelled the next one, suspending it before her, unseen by Nora due to the dust cloud. She suspended four more grenades before flinging them back to their sender, the explosions launching Nora into the air. Pyrrha aimed carefully and threw Miló, grinning as the spear pinned Nora to the wall by her skirt. She couldn't move, and pouted at Pyrrha.

"That wasn't fair!"

She glared at Ren when he raised his hand to designate Pyrrha as the winner. With a quick magnetic pull, the spear removed itself from the wall in a shower of dust and returned to its owner's hand, leaving Nora to free fall to the ground, landing hard on her back. Ren helped her up.

"Nice landing strategy."

"Re~en..."

Later on, after their four hours had expired, Team JNPR was in its dorm, the four members sat in tense silence, each on their own bed, save for Nora, who was leaning against Ren. Jaune decided to break the silence.

"Like it or not, we need to talk about Team RWBY. Like, what could have happened. We already know that they're somewhere underground, otherwise they'd have called in by now. There could also be Grimm where they last were. What else?"

"They could be trapped by rubble. Oobleck mentioned seismic activity." Ren suggested.

"A few rocks probably wouldn't stop Yang, though." Pyrrha objected. "She would quite literally punch through them to escape."

Silence.

"What if they found something down there?" Jaune asked. "Maybe they just want to keep it secret."

"Why would they? What could possibly be so valuable that a child prodigy, heiress, former White Fang zealot and brawler all felt the need to stay with it? That's not possible." Pyrrha argued again.

"I don't like this. Something about this whole thing just stinks, like something awful is going to happen. I think there's one thing we can agree on, though."

"What's that?"

"We're sure as hell going to help."

Let me know what you think about this story via review or PM, and I'll do my best to answer any questions.

Aura, out.