"So is this where you buried her?" Cole said as he examines the object before the two friends.

"Yeah man, I even wrote her name. See?" Zeke said referring to the grave.

The two friends were currently in front of Trish's grave which was located in Memorial Park. A day has passed since they encountered Ozpin and was granted a trip to Vale. Since the duo knew they wouldn't come back to Empire City for quite some time, Cole decided to pay his respects for his recently deceased girlfriend.

"Ok, could you leave me alone for a bit? This is a bit…personal."

"Ok brother, take your time."

"Thanks man."

As Zeke left the courier alone, Cole sat in front of the grave while looking regretfully at the ground.

"Hey it's me Cole." The courier said softly to the grave. "Something came up and I'm leaving Empire City for a little while." Cole paused to let out a sigh before continuing. "I've been accepted to Beacon, an academy where people attend to become hunters. I agreed to attend because I want to…no...I NEED to be stronger." Cole clenched his hands at the memories of Trish falling to her death. "I'm so sorry Trish, even after two years I wasn't strong enough to save you and I can't let that happen ever again."

Cole then placed a rose on her grave. "Here's something I picked up along the way here. I always knew that roses were your favorite." Cole then stood up and before he could leave, he whispered.

"Goodbye Trish, I love you."


"Man can't believe were getting the first flight out of town. Even with the lockdown." Zeke exclaimed as he made his way to the couch, taking a seat next to Cole.

"Yeah…" Cole said obviously uninterested.

"C'mon Cole! Aren't you excited? We're going to Vale!"

Cole let out a sigh. "It's not like I'm not excited, it's just I'm not going to Vale to have fun or relax. I'm coming there to get stronger. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Oh c'mon from all the shit you've been through, you deserve a chance to relax."

"Whatever." Cole said offhandedly.

Just then, a helicopter landed on their rooftop. The doors open revealing the pilot of the chopper.

"Are you Cole Macgrath and Zeke Dunbar?" The man asked.

"Yeah that's us." Cole replied as he made his way to the copter.

"You're not bringing anything?" Zeke questioned as he picked up his bags.

"All I need is in here." The messenger said as he patted his right pocket of his cargo pants.

Zeke just shrugged and followed suit. As the duo took their respective seats, the copter starts to descend, making its way to Vale. Leaving Empire City once again.

Unbeknownst to the two friends, Kessler was observing the whole time. A smile graced his lips as the helicopter started to take Cole to Vale, where he will start his trainings as a huntsman.

Part two has officially taken action. Everything is going according to plan.


When the helicopter finally arrived at Vale, only one word crossed through the two friends' minds.

Wow…

Vale was an incredibly beautiful city. No, beautiful didn't do it justice, it was gorgeous. The city was composed of a myriad of colors that greatly accentuated the beautifully crafted buildings. The buildings were sculpted to perfection with intricate designs etched on every structure. Vale also had more advance technology such as holographic light posts.

"Damn, I saw pictures and videos, but being in person is just...wow." Zeke said in awe.

"This city place dwarves Empire even before the blast." Cole mused as he admired one of the taller buildings of the city. "Can't wait to climb one of those."

"Haha! You and your urban exploration." Zeke laughed.

"Well you know me." Cole said as he shared a laugh.

"So where are we heading next?"

"Well we need to find a place to stay at before anything else." Cole replied as he walked deeper into the streets with Zeke close behind.

"Well hotels cost money. How much lien do we have?"

"Ozpin gave us enough to last for about a month with a little bit of spending money, enough time for you to find a job."

"What? Why do I have to get a job?"

"Well not sure you know this or not, but I have school first thing tomorrow and I don't have time for part-time jobs."

"Oh yeah forgot you got Beacon to attend too."

"Besides, I think the academy provides a room and food so you'll have to provide for yourself."

"Ah this sucks."

Cole couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Hey look on the bright side, you get to have a whole room to yourself. Now you can spy on chicks in the showers without any interruptions." Cole finished with amusement present in his voice.

"Screw you!" Zeke laughed as he playfully punched Cole on the shoulder.

"No thanks, I'm good." Cole replied with a laugh.

As their laughter died down, they started to explore the city further, seeing if they can get any food and souvenirs.

Hours Later

It was currently nine o'clock in the afternoon and most of the stores were closed, but Zeke still wanted to see everything Vale had to offer, much to Cole's annoyance.

"Zeke its nine o'clock, let's go get some sleep." Cole yawned.

"Not yet brother I still have to buy one more thing before we hit the hay."

"I'm sure you bought more than enough...'necessities'." Spoke the courier as he referred to the bag his friend was holding, which was filled with adult-themed magazines. "I'm still unsure how you convinced the owner to give those to you."

"Hey, you're saying like I'm the only one who bought things." Zeke referred to his best friends' hands.

Boxing tape was currently wrapped tightly around Cole's hands. Recently, the two visited a local armory, in hopes of finding Cole a proper weapon since he didn't have any. In the past, the courier found himself punching anything that got in his way so he thought getting gauntlets would be the suitable choice. However, most of the gauntlets at the armory were way too heavy to be used effectively and felt uncomfortable to wear. The gauntlets that Cole actually liked were too expensive so Cole opted to buy boxing tape instead. Sure boxing tape wasn't the best choice, but it was light so it didn't hinder his speed. It also protected his hands to some extent, as long he doesn't punch solid concrete or metal.

Now that I think about it, I should've probably bought brass knuckles instead; they would've made a perfect conduit for my electricity. Eh whatever, I'll just ask Zeke to add metal plates to my boxing tapes or something. Cole mused to himself.

"Hey! I only bought boxing tape. You probably bought a month's worth of pornos." Cole replied hotly.

"Hey! I need to occupy myself somehow when there aren't any girls showering." Zeke joked.

Cole couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Whatever, where are we heading anyway?"

"We're going to 'From Dust Till Dawn' so I can buy a music album from a band I like."

"The band that made 'Red like Roses'?" Cole questioned.

"That's the one."

When the duo arrived at the store, they were met by a large assortment of dusts. Ranging from dust capsules to crystals. Cole also noticed a short girl with a red hood, was in a corner of the store, reading weapons magazines and listening to music with her headphones. She doesn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary so he turned his attention the dusts.

"Wow. What an impressive selection of dusts." Cole observed.

"Yeah, yeah, let's go find that album." Zeke announced not caring about the dusts.

While the two were searching for the album, the door opened revealing a group of armed men. The majority of the group wore black suits and fedoras, with red shades covering their eyes. However one man stood out the most. The man had bright orange hair with a black bowler hat on top. His outfit also consisted of a white coat, black pants, and a small grey scarf wrapped around his neck. He also carried a black cane with a silver handle and a cigar was sticking out of his mouth.

The orange haired man walks face to face with the owner of the store. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a dust shop open this late?" The man said as one of his goons raised a gun and pointed at the owner's head.

"Please! Just take the lien and leave!" The owner practically yelled with his hands raised.

"Shshsh, calm down we're not here for your money. Grab the dust." The man ordered. His goons immediately set off to work as one of them placed a case on the table, when opened; it revealed several black tubes use for extracting dust. Each of them took one of the tubes and started to collect the dust.

As one of the goons was currently collecting dust, he noticed Cole and Zeke in the music section, completely oblivious to what has taken place inside the store. The goon quickly took out has machete and pointed it at the two.

"Alright put your hands in the air! Now!" This caught their attention, causing Zeke to immediately put up his hands. Cole however, was a lot bolder and walked towards the man.

"And if I don't?" Cole questioned his voice dangerously low.

"Then I'll have to-" He didn't get to finish as his face was met by Cole's fist, knocking him flat on his back.

"Zeke get back this might get...messy." Zeke nodded and made his way to the farthest end of the store.

The goon picked himself off the floor and wiped away the blood that was trailing out of his mouth. "Ok kid, I'm going to wipe the floors with yo-" He was once again silenced as Cole jumped and kicked him in the face. The momentum of the kick caused the two to crash right through the window, bringing Cole outside onto the streets.

Cole stared at the unconscious body for seconds, before kicking him off to the side. He then turned his sights to the store, only to sidestep an incoming body as it came crashing through the other window. Just then, the girl that Cole noticed at the beginning jumped out as well, landing beside him. The girl then took out a metal object from behind and unfolded it, revealing a large metal scythe. She then proceeded to stab the scythe into the ground.

Was the really necessary? Cole thought to himself as he noticed the orange haired man staring blankly at them.

"Ok…" He drawled as he looked at his other men that weren't knocked out. "Get them." He ordered. Immediately, the goons started to flood through the door, with the sole intent of taking the teenagers down.

As one of the goon came close to the girl, she quickly jumped up and balanced herself on her scythe with one hand. With a spin, she sent a strong kick square in the head, causing the man to fall flat on his back.

Huh, maybe it was necessary to stab the scythe in the ground. Cole was broken from his thoughts as a man dashed towards him, machete raised. The courier easily sidestepped the vertically slash and kicked the weapon out of the man's hand. Cole then continued to deliver a powerful punch to the man's stomach, causing the man to hunch over as he held onto his stomach. Deciding to exploit his vulnerability, Cole clasped his hands forming a tight ball, and then brought it down onto the man's back, finishing him off.

Cole turned his head to find a man about to attack the girl from behind. Cole quickly dashed forward and sent a devastating right hook to the goon's face, launching him to a nearby wall, knocking him out.

"Thanks!" The girls yelled. Cole only grunted a response before dispatching another goon with a swift kick to the stomach, followed by an uppercut. After the girl knocked out the last goon, the orange haired man came out looking unamused.

"You were worth every cent, truly you were." He said with sarcasm to the unconscious goon by his feet. "Well red, buzz cut, I think we can all say it's been an eventful evening. And as much as I like to stick around…" He raised his cane. "I'm afraid this is where we part ways." He then fired a high caliber bullet. As the bullet struck the ground, it caused a large explosion, creating a crater in the ground. The girl was able to project herself in the air using the recoil of her scythe/sniper rifle weapon hybrid. Cole dived out of the blast radius, unscathed.

As soon as the smoke cleared, the teens saw the man making his escape by climbing onto the top of one of the many buildings. The girl turned her head towards the store owner who was peering out the door.

"You ok if I go after him?" The old man gave a simple 'Uh huh' before the girl projected herself onto the roof.

Zeke was also peering out the door as well. "Hey brother I think you should chase after that guy as well." Letting out a sigh, Cole raised his right hand and shot a line of red electricity at the roof of the building. Using his lightning tether ability, he pulled himself up towards the roof, landing besides the girl.

"Hey!" The girl called out to the criminal.

"Persistent." The man muttered as a bullhead started to descend, almost out of nowhere. He then jumped in with a red dust crystal in hand. "End of the line kids!" He yelled as he threw the dust crystal and raised his cane, preparing to shoot it.

"Get back!" Cole yelled as he placed himself in front of the girl. He was about to push the crystal away, but the criminal already shot, causing the crystal to blow up.

"Woohoo! Huh?" The man's celebration was cut short when the smoke dissipated, revealing a blond woman with her right hand raised forming a purple shield.

With a quick swipe, the woman sent numerous purple projectiles, each relentlessly striking the aerial vehicle. The criminal stumbled into the cockpit and faced the female pilot.

"We got a huntress!" The pilot quickly swapped seats with the criminal and readied herself to face the blond huntress.

However, the blond huntress didn't halt her assault as she summoned dark clouds over the bullhead. With a simple hand gesture, the clouds started to rain down razor sharp icicles that pierced through the armor of the vehicle. The pilot finally made her appearance; she wore a dark red dress with yellow designs. However, only the lower body was visible as she was masked by the shadows of the vehicle, the only thing visible was one of her eye.

The yellowed eyed woman raised her hands and shot a fireball. The blond huntsman raised her hand and made a purple shield once again, easily nullifying the effects of the fireball. The pyromancer responded by creating a fire pillar underneath the blond, causing chunks of the roof to scatter. The huntress was able to flip out of the way and raised her wand. She used the chunks of the roof to form a spear and launched it at the vehicle. The pyro tried to reciprocate by launching three fireballs at the concrete spear. The fireballs seemed to have done the trick by destroying the spear, but the spear simple reformed itself and struck the bullhead. As the spear struck the vehicle, it once again reformed itself into three separate spears. As it was about the strike the bullhead, the pyro exerted a burst of aura, destroying the spears entirely.

"Impressive…" Cole said in awe.

The girl deciding to join in the fight took out her scythe and switched it to gun form and started to fire at the pyro. The pyro easily blocked the bullets by raising her hand. She then proceeded to swipe her hands, causing numerous orange circles to form under the three. Seeing this, the huntress quickly used her wand and pushed the teens out of the blast radius. Pillars of fire rose from the roof, fortunately no one was harmed. The fire pillars gave the criminals more than enough time to make an escape, leaving the three to helplessly watch as the bullhead leaves.

The girl then turned to the huntress. "You're a huntress!" The woman turned to face the girl, looking unamused. "Can I have your autograph?!" She said with a bright smile.

Cole couldn't help but groan at her words.


Huh, didn't think I would be in a police station this soon. Cole thought to himself as he leaned against the walls of the interrogation room, arms crossed. Sitting in front of a table was the girl with the scythe, looking downhearted. The huntress from before was currently berating us to oblivion.

"I hope you realize your actions tonight will not be taken lightly. You two put yourselves and others in great danger."

"They started it!" The girl in red retaliated, but the woman ignored her outburst and continued.

"If it were up to me. You two would be sent home." She paused. "With a pat on the back…" The girl seemed to have brightened up. "...and a slap on the wrist." She finished as she struck the table with her riding crop, causing the girl to yelp.

"But, there is someone here who would like to meet you two." She moved away from the entrance of the door to let none other than Professor Ozpin to enter, carrying a plate full of cookies and a cup of coffee.

The hell is he here for? Cole thought to himself as he raised his brow.

"Ruby Rose…" Ozpin started as he leaned in. "...you have silver eyes." This comment seemed to have confused the now named Ruby.

"U-um…" Before she could form any words, Ozpin continued.

"So, where did you learn to do this?" He nodded to the scroll that the blond woman was holding, which was playing the battle that happened between the teens and goons.

"Signal Academy." She responded, a bit hesitant.

"They taught you to use one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed?"

"Well one teacher in particular."

"I see…" The headmaster responded as he placed the plate of cookies on the table.

Ruby looked at the cookies before looking back at the headmaster; she then slowly reached for one and placed it in her mouth. She looked back up at Ozpin, seeing that it was ok to keep eating; she started the gorge down the cookies at an alarming pace. Ozpin looked at the scene with mild amusement before turning his sights on Cole.

"As for you Macgrath, how has Vale been treating you and your friend?"

"Not bad, I like the sights this city had to offer, but I would prefer not being robbed by a two-bit orange haired thief and his band of lowly goons." Cole spoke casually, much to the annoyance of the blond in the room.

"I see…" Ozpin paused to take a sip. "I also couldn't help but noticed that you dispatched the criminals in, what could be considered, a brutal manner. Care to explain why?"

What? And crushing someone with a giant scythe isn't? Cole thought incredulously. "There's nothing to explain, I simple fought them in self-defense. I couldn't do anything about how hard I punched them." That was a lie. Cole could've easily dispatched the goons in a more...civil manner. But let's just say that being captured and forced to endure excruciating experiments for two years, really left some pent up anger, and it so happens he released this anger on some goons.

Ozpin gave him a curt nod before turning his attention to Ruby. "It's just that I've only seen one other scythe wielder of that skill before. Dusty Olé Qrow"

"That's my uncle Qrow!" She mumbles through a mouth full of cookies. Ozpin raised his brow indicating that he didn't hear what she said. Ruby quickly swallowed the cookies and continued. "Ah sorry, that's my uncle Qrow. He's a teacher at Signal. I was complete garbage until he took me under his wings. Now I'm all like…" She then proceeded to make hand motions and karate sounds.

"So I've noticed. And what is an adorable girl, such as yourself, doing at a school designed to train warriors?"

"Well, I want to be a huntress."

"You want to slay monsters?"

"Yeah, I only have two more years left at Signal then I'm going to apply for Beacon. You see my sister…" As Ruby continued on about wanting to be a huntress and helping others, Cole was currently deep in thought.

Why did I try to protect her when we were on the roof? I don't even know her. He thought as he trained his eyes on her. Well she has short hair, likes to help others, and seems to like roses. He concluded as he observed the rose emblem on her belt.

Ruby notices Cole's stares and turned away with a blush, not being used to someone staring so intently at her.

She kinda reminds me of Tr- Cole mentally slapped himself. No stop thinking about her...not with people around. After that little internal conflict, Cole turned his attention to Ozpin who was currently offering Ruby a spot in the academy.

"You want to come to my school?"

"More than anything."

Ozpin looked at Glynda for a second, for her to grunt a reply.

"Well ok."

When the words left his mouth, Ruby almost jumped out of her chair. "R-really?" She stammered out shocked.

"Yes." He said simply, with a smile.

Ruby jumped out of her seat and started to cheer. "Yes, yes, yes! I can't believe it, I'm going to Beacon! Oh my gosh, I gotta tell Yang, she'll be so happy!"

"Ok, ok calm down." Ozpin said as Ruby took her seat. "An airship will be here tomorrow to take you to Beacon. So I recommend getting a good night's rest. That goes for you to Macgrath, you also have Beacon as well."

"Yeah, yeah I know." Cole replied offhandedly.

"You two are free to go." He said as the two professors disappeared through the door. Seconds later, the two teens followed suit.

As the two walked through the corridor of the police station, an awkward silence enveloped the two teens. They didn't know what to say to each other since they just met a few minutes ago, and it was during fight, so they didn't have time for proper introductions.

"Um...thanks for saving me on the roof." The voice belonged to Ruby and sounded a bit shy.

Cole gave a brief look before turning away. "You should thank the blond for that, I didn't do much but get in front of the crystal."

"Well maybe, but it was still kinda brave of you to get in front of it like that, heroic even."

"Heroic huh? Just like those books." Cole said under his breath, but Ruby still heard his words.

"Oh! You read books?" Excited that they have something in common, so they could have a proper conversation.

"No not really. I used to, but since the past two years, I didn't have that much time to myself."

"Oh that's a shame. What was the last book you read?"

"Um I don't remember the name, but it's about a queen whose son was captured by a dragon. The queen asked for many knights to slay the dragon and return her son, but they were too terrified…" Cole paused trying to remember what happens next.

"But then one day, a brave woman came to the queen and offered to bring back her son." Ruby continued, knowing what book he was referring to.

"You read that book before?"

"Yep! It's actually one of my favorites."

"Oh. Why's that?"

"Well it's a lot different compared to the other books I read, since it's about a woman saving a prince instead of the other way around."

"Yeah I guess that's true."

They finally reached the entrance of the police station and was about to part ways.

"It was nice meeting you…" Ruby paused for a second and blushed. "O-oh sorry, I didn't ask you for your name...or introduce myself." She started to scratch the back of her head nervously.

Why is she being so nervous? It's like she never talked to a boy before. Cole thought to himself as he stuck out his hand. "The name's Cole Macgrath."

Ruby quickly composed herself and shook his hand. "Ruby Rose, and I hope to see you again in Beacon." She ended with a bright smile.

Cole found Ruby's personality infectious and felt his lips turn into a small smile. "We'll see." Cole let go of her hand. "It's been an...interesting time Ruby." The courier then started to walk away.

"Cya Cole! Can't wait to see ya again!" Ruby yelled out as she started to wave her hands.

Cole gave a simple wave before walking off, ready for a good night's sleep.

Zeke better not have gotten himself kicked out of the hotel.

A/N: Well that's the third chapter, Cole finally interacted with one of the members of RWBY. Well I'll most likely put Delsin and Reggie in Cole's team, but no fourth member yet. I thought about putting Nix or Kuo in Cole's team, but I think it would be kind of strange if only one of them are in Cole's team. They will most likely be included, but probably far into the story. Also thinking about changing the title, I'll probably use a quote from the game or something.