CHAPTER TWO - THE INHUMAN


Remnant is a very sophisticated planet. It has many human civilisations, be it in kingdoms, forests, deserts, islands or anything else imaginable.

Except here.

Large, dark purple crystals, ranging in size from a few feet tall to as tall as skyscrapers, protruded from the sharp, rocky and barren wasteland, shrouded in darkness, the only light from the cracked moon on the horizon. The sky was red and black, with thin clouds covering the sky, slightly brightened by the moon.

Black pools scattered the ground, completely opaque and reflecting the sky above. Occasionally, the black liquid rippled as a young Beowolf would crawl it's way out of the liquid, shaking and growling the black substance off itself, and walked away as more Grimm came out.

Inside a high building, overlooking the barren landscape, Mercury and Emerald looked outside, both with mixed expressions of disgust and fear. The room itself was half a dozen times higher than either of them, with stone pillars surrounding the room with large glass panels between them, detailed with metal frames around them. Purple crystals, roughly 6 feet tall, stood at the base of each pillar, with a candle situated on the peak. In the centre of the room, a long table with eight seats, seven of them made from wood, three on each side and one at the bottom of the table, and a larger, purple crystal throne at the head of the table. Five of the seven wooden chairs were occupied, the crystal throne empty too.

Mercury and Emerald's attention was caught by a snap of Cinder's fingers, the two walking over to her. Cinder's attire had changed, now having shorter black hair, a black mask over her left eye, with a noticeable scarring beneath it, along with a grey glove over her right arm with a gold coloured ring with curvy branches holding it up. Her dress now supports a gold detailing across the chest and left arm, similar to the gold ring at the top of her arm.

Across from her sat Dr. Watts, who was a man with short black hair and an undercut with unshaved sideburns, along with a moustache and green eyes. He wore a dark blue overcoat with yellow linings, a yellow-buttoned black undercoat and yellow blouse with a black necktie and brown fingerless gloves. He was looking a his scroll.

To Cinder's right sat Tyrian, who was a man with a brown braided ponytail and orange eyes, who wore a white sleeveless jacket with leather belts strapped to it along with white pants. His jacket was open, exposing his chest, which was criss-crossed with scars. His arms were covered with purple bandages and leather vambraces with leather boots covering his entire shin with knee guards. He was crouched on his wooden chair, resting his arms on his knees.

Opposite Tyrian was Hazel, who was a muscular man with short brown hair, a beard and hazel eyes. He wore a grey and brown coat with yellow buttons and linings, and a large belt. His arms were hairy with scarring near his sleeves. He wore brown boots and black pants. His arms were crossed, and looked asleep.

At the bottom of the table was Reginald, who was a man with grey hair, a thin beard and black eyes, with a scar across the bridge of his nose. He wore a white lab coat with a grey shirt, the top three buttons undone, with a white undershirt, along with black work trousers and black boots with a black belt. He was quietly talking with his associate, Ashley, who wore a black turtleneck shirt with black trousers which went to her knees, beneath the knees were prosthetic legs, black stumps with silver spikes and balances to act as feet.

Mercury and Emerald walked over to Cinder, Emerald nudging Mercury aside so she can lean forward and speak to Cinder.

"Yes, yes, keep your posse in check." Watts told Cinder mockingly. Mercury growled angrily and stepped forward, but Emerald held him back. "You hear that? Silence." Watts joked. Hazel, opening his eyes, gave Watts an unimpressed glance. "I've half a mind to thank the little girl that bested you."

"If I were you, I'd hunt her down." Tyrian snickered to Cinder. "Find her and, well, she took your eye, didn't she?" Tyrian cackled.

"She should be lucky it was only her eye." Reginald stated to Tyrian. "Silver Eyed warriors shouldn't be taken lightly. Even the child."

Cinder glanced over at Reginald and tried to speak up, but only soft exhaling noises escaped. Emerald leant closer to her.

"Pathetic." Watts insulted. "Why did you even-"

The heavy metal door behind Reginald opened, silencing Watts as everyone in the room, bar Reginald, stood up as Salem entered the room, who seemingly glided along the floor and around the table before reaching the head of it, the jewels in her hair jingling as she stopped. She looked at the candle and crystal display behind her chair, against the wall.

"Watts." Salem said, causing the man to straighten. She turned to him, her red eyes glaring directly at him. "Do you find such malignance necessary?" She gestured the rest to sit, which they did.

"I apologise, ma'am." Watts told Salem. "I'm not particularly fond of failure." He explained to her as the two sat down in their respective seats.

"Then I see no reason for your cruelty towards young Cinder. She's become our Fall Maiden, destroyed Beacon Tower, and most importantly, killed dear Ozpin." Salem told Watts. "So I'm curious, to what failures are you referring?"

"Well, the girl with the Silver Eyes, and the Inhuman." Watts told Salem.

"Yes. We've dealt with the Silver Eyes before. How is it she was able to best one of us?" Hazel asked.

"It's because of The Inhuman." Reginald stated. "He fought Cinder and almost killed her, were it not for the intervention of Nikos, he could have killed her."

"But with Cinder's new power, defeating them should have been effortless." Watts added.

"The Inhuman was an anomaly in the plan, we do not know his strength and skills. He was designed, along with the rest of his kind, to be my pawns, but he betrayed us." Salem stated, glaring at Reginald. "The Maiden's power may be able to defeat an Inhuman, but the power was the reason the girl defeated Cinder. Make no mistake, Cinder, you hold the key to our victory. But your newfound strength brings with it a crippling weakness. Which is why you will remain by my side as we continue your treatment." Salem told Cinder, who lowered her head unhappily.

"Dr. Watts, you are to take Cinder's place and meet with our informant in Mistral." Salem instructed him.

"Very good." Watts stated.

"Tyrian, I want you to continue your hunt for the Spring Maiden." Salem instructed him.

"Gladly." Tyrian stated with a maniacal laugh.

"Hazel, I'm sending you to the leader of the White Fang. Adam Taurus has arranged a meeting. The boy continues to prove loyal. Ensure that Sienna Khan feels the same." Salem instructed him.

"As you wish." Hazel acknowledged. Cinder raised her finger, catching Emerald's attention, who leant in closer to her. Cinder whispered into Emerald's ear, causing her to straighten.

"Speak, child." Salem told Emerald.

"She wants to know...what about the girl-"

"What about her? Seems to me that this is Cinder's problem, not ours." Watts interrupted. Cinder slammed her fist on the table angrily, who grinned back at her.

"...and the Inhuman?" Emerald added.

"That's enough." Salem silences Watts. "Reginald." Salem turned to him. "You created The Inhuman, how do you destroy him?"

"He is enhanced in every aspect: aura, semblance, senses and reflexes. The only way to stop him is by surprise." Reginald explained. Salem thought about it for a second.

"Tyrian?" Salem turned to him.

"Yes, milady?" Tyrian asked with a grin.

"Spring can wait. Find the girl that did this to Cinder. And bring her to me." Salem instructed him, who groaned disappointingly, pouting. "Kill The Inhuman." Salem added grimly, causing Tyrian to giggle in joy.

"Because of your efforts, Beacon has fallen. And Haven will be next." Salem stated as everybody rose. Tyrian snickered, turned to Cinder, and pointed to his left eye.

"Eye for an eye." Tyrian laughed wickedly, which turned into complete maniacally laughter, causing Cinder to grit her teeth angrily. Reginald turned to Ashley, and whispered into her ear, which she nodded to.


In the loft of a barn, a boy with freckles and hazel eyes shot up in a panic, quickly sighing in relief after looking around. He looked over to the door, and gasped when he saw someone. Quickly getting up, he ran over and opened the door, and saw a hooded figure open the barn door, walking out. The boy leant down and picked up a crow feather, looking at it curiously. He climbed down the ladder, and looked outside for the hooded figure, but it was gone. HE shook his head, rubbing his eyes.

He must be imagining things.

The boy was wearing patched khaki pants, a white shirt, and orange suspenders and gloves. Tucked into his pocket is an orange-based multi-coloured cloth. He looked out at the peaceful countryside scenery with the rising sun and tweeting birds. White mountains are background to a dirt road, grass and a few trees, along with a green water pump.

He put a blue bucket at the hose of a pump, and started pumping water. He glanced away, smiling at the scenery, but quickly looked back and sighed when he realised he was pumping too much water into the bucket.

The boy filled and shut a green compost tumbler that was marked with a yellow crown bearing the initials CK, and started spinning it.

The boy started to hoe in the garden, but his attention was caught, causing him to straighten up and look out into the distance.


In a deep green forest, with a blue sky, Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren emerged from behind a tree, walking together.

"I'm just sayin' there's more members of JNPR in this team than RWBY. It just makes sense to go with that one." Nora justified.

"But 'junior' isn't a color." Ren stated. Nora groaned loudly.

"How can I be more clear?" Nora asked, putting out her hand as the letters JNRR...somehow...popped into existence. "One, two three." She pointed to 'J' 'N' 'R'. "That's more than one." She pointed to the second 'R'.

"But we're helping Ruby with her objective." Ren reminded her, and popped the letters RNJR into existence. He pointed to the first 'R'. "Wouldn't that make her the leader?" Nora just groaned. "Also, what about when David comes back?" A 'D' appeared and the letters rearranged, making DNJRR. "Danger...that's...misleading to say the least."

"David's been gone for over a month, who knows if he'll ever come back?" Nora wondered out loud.

"Guys!" Jaune yelled, causing them to turn to him. "We need to focus." Nora and Ren made the letters pop out of existence. "Also, JNRR is way cooler."

"Exactly!" Nora exclaimed. Ren raised a finger to make a point but instead just groaned.

The ground rumbled.

"It's here." Jaune stated.

Elsewhere in the forest, Ruby shot out of the trees, firing Crescent Rose in the direction she came from. From the trees, a large, boulder monster came crashing through, the 'head' of the monster supporting a Grimm mask. It lunged at her, but she avoided and fell, crashing against tree limbs along the way.

"Bad...landing...strategy!" Ruby yelled, hitting trees. Just as she was about to hit another tree, something grabbed her by her shoulders, and she reappeared on a large branch on her feet. Ruby reached for her shoulders, but nothing was there. She looked around. Nobody was there. "Huh." She looked and saw the Grimm coming, so she used her semblance and flew past it.

Jaune, Ren and Nora looked up at the Grimm chasing Ruby.

"Let's get that thing off her." Jaune told them. Jaune ran forward, Ren leapt up into the trees.

"Don't forget me!" Nora yelled, pulling out Magnhild and shot the ground, rising into the air and landing next to Ren.

"We need to draw it's attention from Ruby!" Ren told her.

"Could use some help!" Ruby yelled, flying past them. Nora raised her hammer, morphing it into the grenade launcher, and shot the Grimm in the back, catching it's attention.

Ren hopped off the tree, flying into the air and struck it's head with StormFlower, but the blades were ineffective. He landed next to Jaune.

In another tree, David watched, thinking what to do next. He unfolded Storm Qrow, and teleported away, leaving a pile of crow feathers.

"Gotta get it closer!" Jaune yelled.

"My blades don't hurt him!" Ren told him. The Grimm turned to Nora.

"Crap!" She exclaimed. Ruby zoomed past her.

"How about this?!" Ruby yelled, loading a new round into Crescent Rose branded with an electric bolt symbol. She fired a shot at it's right arm, but proved ineffective. It slammed it's arm into the ground, knocking all four of them back.

David reappeared, slashing his scythe against the Grimm's face, digging into the rock, causing it to recoil and cover it's face. David folded the scythe into LMG form, firing the gun at the Grimm, causing no damage. David narrowed his eyes and teleported away as the Grimm lunged at him.

The four got to his feet, Jaune having crashed his genitalia into a large boulder.

"'You'll be fine without a weapon. You're the strategist'." Jaune mimicked sarcastically.

"THAT'S IT!" Nora yelled angrily, tossing Magnhild into the air, turning it into the hammer form, and slammed it into the Grimm's right arm, destroying it. A large chunk flew towards Nora, who covered herself with her arms to defend herself.

David appeared in front of Nora, unfolding his scythe and sliced the boulder in half, and quickly disappeared as Nora looked at the two pieces of the boulder, confused. The Grimm swung it's other arm at Nora, Ruby quickly grabbing her and moving her out of the way.

Several chunks flew towards Jaune, who narrowly avoided them, a small one hitting him in the face, knocking him back. He landed against a tree and shook his head, watching the Grimm continuously swing at Ruby and Nora.

The Grimm's right shoulder glowed red, a red circle with an eye symbol appearing. It spun and a black, elongated arm with clawed fingers emerged. The arm reared back and shoved it's arm into a tree trunk Jaune was leaning against, lifting it out of the ground.

"Uh-oh." Jaune muttered fearfully, and started running away. "His arm is a tree! His arm is a tree!"

"Big mistake!" Ruby yelled, loading a new clip into Crescent Rose, with a fire symbol engraved into the clip. She fired a shot, which caused the Grimm's trunk arm to ignite, Jaune fist bumping in joy. The trunk swung at Jaune, causing his smile to fade.

"Big mistake!" Jaune yelled, running as the Grimm chased him, missing twice, but Jaune fell. As it lunged at him again, David reappeared and slashed the trunk, causing a deep gash in the wood and causing the Grimm to fall back. In an instant, David teleported away.

Ren landed next to Jaune, along with Ruby and Nora.

"Okay, how do we do this?" Jaune asked.

"His body is too thick to break through." Ren stated.

"It doesn't care about its body..." Jaune deduced.

"Plus it can keep grabbing new limbs!" Nora added.

"But it keeps protecting its face..." Jaune continued.

"We can't break it!" Ruby added.

"Ugh, if we knock all of its limbs off at once and went for the..." Jaune's eyes widened in realisation as the Grimm got back up. "Guys, I got it! We hit it harder!"

"...Is that it?" Ren asked, confused.

"No, seriously. It's trying to keep us from its face. If we kill the limbs, we'll have a shot to kill the whole thing!" Jaune told them. "We just need to distract it." The Grimm turned and lunged at them.

David appeared, slashing it's left arm in half, the two half's falling to the ground. The Grim swung it's trunk arm, which David dug his scythe into, swinging around and slicing it's back. The four hunters looked up, confused.

"Who is that!?" Nora exclaimed.

"Who cares, they've got it distracted!" Jaune yelled. "Ren, left. Ruby, right!"

"Got it!" The two acknowledged, moving into position.

"Nora, ready to try out the new upgrade?" Jaune asked her. She nodded enthusiastically, charging up Magnhild, generating a large amount of electricity. Jaune watched as David swung at the Grim again, getting knocked back and teleporting away.

"Hey, over here!" Jaune yelled, the Grimm turning and running after him as Jaune ran. It stopped when Ruby and Ren attacked it, confusing it.

"Ready!" Nora exclaimed. Ruby landed next to Jaune.

"Use everything you've got!" He ordered. Ruby used her semblance and picked up Nora, the two flying towards the Grimm and slammed Nora's hammer into the mask, the body shattering to the ground.

"Another victory for Team JNRR!" Jaune exclaimed cheerfully.

Silence.

"...Yeah, okay. Ren, I think you're onto something. I-it's just not sounding great anymore." Jaune stated, deflated.

"Hey, look!" Ruby yelled, pointing to the rubble.

A Geist Grimm emerged from the rubble, floating away. As it reached the trees, David appeared, aiming the LMG at it's head and pulled the trigger, killing the ghostly grimm. He turned to Ruby, Jaune, Ren and Nora, who all looked at him, curiously.

Not yet.

David attached Storm Qrow to his back, and teleported away.


Ruby shook hands with a male official in the nearby town.

"We truly can't thank you enough." He told her.

"Just doing our job, sir." Ruby told him.

"That Geist has been plaguing our village for weeks. We were beginning to wonder if we'd have to relocate." The Official told Ruby.

"Well, we didn't actually kill the Geist, someone else did. Do you know who? They wore a black cloak." Ruby stated.

"You saw him?" The Official asked. Ruby nodded. "He's been around these parts for a day or two, we don't know his name, he only identified himself as The Inhuman. He stopped some other Grimm before you arrived."

"Well...we are on our way to Mistral. You could always come along with us if you don't feel safe." Ruby suggested. The Official just chuckled.

"I take it you're not from these parts. Anima is a large continent. I'm afraid our people would never survive the long trek to Mistral, even with your four, and The Inhuman. It may be safer in the Kingdoms, but we prefer our way of life." The Official explained to Ruby. "I just wish we could pay you more."

"Our previous arrangement is more than sufficient." Ren told him, and the four bowed respectfully.


David removed his cloak, handing it on the wall as he put Storm Qrow on the Blacksmith's table, grabbing a screwdriver and started to dismantle it. He was low on ammo, so needed an alternative firing mechanism. He removed a chunk of the scythe just in front of the ammo clip, and made it hollow. He them put a lever on the scythe, which he pulled, which sucked in air, and he slammed it shut. David smirked, satisfied, and attached Storm Qrow to the back of his belt again.

"It's got a cute little bunny on it!" Ruby exclaimed from the front of the shop, David narrowing his eyes and looking at Jaune, who was wearing his hoodie without his chest piece, revealing...a cartoon bunny rabbit.

"It's Pumpkin Pete! You know, from the cereal!" Jaune exclaimed. David rolled his eyes, putting his cloak back on. As he walked to the door, the Blacksmith walked in.

"Hey, kid, pass me that sheath, will ya?" The Blacksmith asked. David glanced over at the sword and sheath on the table, which he recognised as a modified Crocea Mors, which had gold metal applied to the sword and sheath. David recognised it as the metal from Pyrrha's shield. He frowned, remembering the girl he couldn't save. David handed the sheath to the Blacksmith. "Thanks. You sure you won't stick around? We could use your skills here, Inhuman."

"Sorry, I'm on a mission. Have faith you'll survive." David told the Blacksmith, who sighed and turned and walked to the front of the blacksmith.

David turned, pulling his hood over his head, and exited the blacksmith through the back door.


"Food?" Jaune asked.

"Check!" Nora cheered.

"Water?" Jaune asked.

"Check!" Nora cheered.

"How about ammo?" Jaune asked her.

"Locked and loaded! Thank you, Schnee Dust Company!" Nora cheered. Ruby sighed and looked down sadly, remembering her teammate.

"Got the map?" Jaune asked.

"Ren's got it." Nora stated.

"No, I don't. You have it." Ren denied.

"Wait, what?" Nora asked, confused.

Up in the trees, David looked down at them, looking at their map, which he found. He folded it up and hopped onto the next tree, following them on their mission.


In Atlas, Weiss looked out of the window at group of airships flying past the window, sitting in her hair with her legs crossed. Next to her, Vanessa silently leant against the bookshelf, reading a book.

Vanessa had brown hair, a large fringe between her eyes, and her hair reaching to just below her shoulders, with hazel coloured eyes. In each ear were small silver metal earrings. She wore a black vest with a sleeveless brown leather jacket, a piece of electric blue cloth tied around her neck and a necklace around her neck, a small rectangular blue crystal just above her chest. She wore dark blue jeans, with a brown belt, and brown boots. A holster hung against her right thigh, a revolver holstered securely, with 14 daggers attached to her belt, and one on each wrist, held on by thick brown leather magnetic bracelet.

The door knocked.

"Vanessa?" Weiss asked. Vanessa sighed, putting down her book, and opened the door, and she let a butler in.

"Pardon the interruption, Miss Schnee, but your father wishes to speak to you and Miss Hazel." The butler told Weiss.

"Thank you, Klein." Weiss thanked with a soft sigh. Weiss looked out the window once more, and walked to the door, past Vanessa. Vanessa followed Weiss, slamming the door shut.


So, wow, this was...wow, a lot of stuff happened. New characters, new stories and more questions. And who the hell is that kid at the barn? Like, seriously, who is he!?

In terms of this story, I decided that Team RNJR don't know that David is following them yet, but he will reveal himself soon. Also, just to clear up any confusion, David travelled with them for most of the journey, but about a month prior to this chapter, he disappeared for other reasons, which will be explained later.

And we got introduced to Vanessa, a character from my other stories, who has also got a different outfit. So, two down, two to go. The relationship between Vanessa and Weiss will be complicated, and explained soon, hopefully.

Two other OC's, Reginald and Ashley, will factor into the story, but not as much as David and Vanessa, along with Alex and Epsilon. As stated, more may appear.

So, with that, remember to follow, favourite and leave a review, and keep an eye out for the next update.