RWBY: The Dark Hunter

Chapter 6

"Usual days"

[May 30th, 2558]

[Beacon Academy, Dorm Rooms]

[7:23 AM, The next day]

Blake eyes slowly flickered open as she began to wake up, being the first of her team, and despite wanting to go back to sleep she knew she couldn't because today was the day that their teachers were expecting them to be back on their normal schedule of classes. She slowly sat up and briefly looked at her surroundings, Ruby and Yang were still deep asleep while Weiss still laid in her bed motionless with Zwei resting at her side, and then there was the desk with the dismantled anti-materiel rifle, magnum, and the rifle's optical package sitting idly. She slowly climbed out of her bed and took a step towards her drawer where she began pulling out her school uniform before she started to get ready, the only thing she was missing now were her shoes which were by the door, and once she crossed into the scope's line of sight the AI pleasantly greeted her with a surprised tone in his voice as he wasn't aware she was awake.

"Oh. Good morning" BB chimed with a whispered tone.

But Belladonna gave no acknowledgement to his greeting as she continues towards the door and grabbed her shoes before heading over to the desk, taking the chair, and started putting them on.

"I get the feeling you're not fond of me at the slightest."

"Mm no . . ." she replied with little interest in the AI.

"Blake isn't it?"

"What's it to you?" she asks sharply.

"Nothing, I was just making sure I knew a face. Speaking of which I've never seen anyone with bright amber eyes such as yours."

"If you're trying to flirt with me, just give up right now" she replies as she finishes up putting her shoes on.

"Was just trying to lighten the mood here."

It was only seconds later when the two heard Yang mumble something before she began to stir from her sleep, only a minute later did she rise up from her bed and saw Belladonna and BB next to one another, "Mornin'" she says as she stretches her arms.

Blake gave a subtle nod while the AI made no response at all, seeing that his own greeting was shot down rather brusquely, as Yang climbed out of bed and nudged her younger sister on the shoulder "Ruby c'mon, we got classes today."

But Rose grumbled half aware of what time it was "Mrm five more minutes . . ." before falling asleep once more.

Long shrugs and begins getting her uniform on as BB asks with interest "So it's off to class today isn't it?"

"Yep" Long replied casually as she got dressed.

"Out of curiosity. What do you learn here at Beacon Academy?"

"Well, it's all really just a bunch of boring history lectures, Grimm stories, dust."

"Curious . . . you find these important things 'boring' and I suppose that type of behavior can cause some problems when it comes to homework."

She was just finishing putting her stockings when she looks at the scope and comments "Eh. I suppose, but that's why I got Ruby to help" before she looks up to see her sister snoring out loud.

Realizing they won't have much time to get to their first class, Long makes her second attempt to wake Rose up "Ruby c'mon, we're gonna be late."

Ruby eventually opens her eyes and turned over to see Yang, in her uniform, nudging her to wake up; she rubs her eyes asking with a yawn "Yang? What time is it?"

"It is currently 7:39 AM . . ." the AI politely answered as Blake stands up waiting by the door.

She groans as she slowly climbs out of bed asking "Why couldn't we sleep in so we can go after Deimos again?"

Blake answered, with her arms crossed, as she stood by the door "Because unlike Deimos, we have school to do."

Ruby sighs as she reaches into her drawers when BB states "I suppose this is your usual day at Beacon then. Because I'm fairly confident you don't go chasing sociopathic arsonists otherwise."

"Pretty much" Yang replies.

It took only several more minutes until Ruby was fully clothed in her school uniform but before she and the others left the room she went over to Weiss, and Zwei next to her, and petted Zwei comfortably before putting her hand over Schnee's forehead.

After a silent moment she takes her hand away as Yang and Blake walks out the door, she follows her teammates part way before stopping next to the desk and looks down at the scope, BB notices her half-sided grin, as if she thought of something, and calmly asks "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Rose took a moment, pondering her next move, before she finally making her choice and grab the scope, "Hey wh-whoa where we going!?"

"To class . . ." Ruby answers with a grin as she carries the scope out of the room and closes the door behind her.

[9:42 AM, Outside the city walls]

SPARTAN Deimos had arrived back to one of his old camping sights, south east of the city of Vale, around midnight and decided to rest for some time. He just woke up minutes prior to find the metal case he stole from the docks yesterday and the orbital care package the UNSC Sahara-Class Heavy Prowler High Up deployed hours after he acquired the former. He had been sleeping against the trunk of a tree until he slowly sat up and scanned his surroundings for the briefest moment before he stands up and walks over to the two cases to examine their contents.

The first case he opens was the one he obtained from the docks, currently holding eight low-yield Atlesian made explosives which only has enough power to blow a small hole through a reinforced wall. Though they don't have the killing power he had hoped for, it was enough for what he had planned for the huntresses.

The second case was large enough to store a mongoose ATV inside and displayed the letters, UNSC, in bold black print against its light grey metal casing. Upon opening the case the SPARTAN found what he had asked for and grinned upon his newfound equipment, a foldable tomahawk weapon capable of withstanding extreme physical force, two M7 Submachine Guns fitted with a top mounted smart-linked scope that wirelessly connects with his helmet's HUD, a BR85 Bullpup Battle Rifle fitted with a holographic sight and a thirty-six round magazine, and a modular Series 12 jetpack for a broader range of tactical flexibility. For heavier ordnance he was given a M319 Individual Grenade Launcher System, a break action launcher capable of firing a single 40mm explosive shell at a distance, an assortment of handheld explosive devices, ranging from mere flashbang grenades to a single brick of C-7 explosives, a M247 General Purpose Machine Gun with four boxes of ammunition, each carrying a hundred rounds each. And as the icing on the cake, a fair portion of the crate had been committed to a single large metallic crate, with the labeling as Z-750, and that alone told the SPARTAN what it was.

Pleased that Major Obadiah had fulfilled his demands, Deimos takes a SMG, pulling the right-sided charging handle back and attaching it to his left thigh, attaches the modular jetpack to his back, the tomahawk weapon latched to his lower back just above the waist bag, and finally the bullpup battle rifle which he intends to carry in his own two hands.

After gearing up with the equipment he sees fit for the day he closes up the two cases and concealed them under a thick pile of branches and leaves that littered the campgrounds before heading out towards the city, though he only made it several meters away from the crates before a sudden, excruciating headache exploded in his head causing him to drop his rifle and fall to his knees roaring out in pain.

He clasped his two hands around the forehead of his helmet as he cried out in anguish; a young feminine voice echoed in his mind ever so softly "Adam . . . why do you continue to fight?"

But the SPARTAN bellowed out in anger "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" as he tried to suppress the voice in whatever way possible.

"You have to let it go Adam . . . I don't want to see you hurt anymore people."

"YOU'RE NOT HER! GET OUT!" Deimos continues to yell out to the top of his lungs.

"This isn't you . . . " the voice calmly replied before it began to slowly fade away from his mind only to be drowned out by the snarl of a rapidly approaching beowolf after hearing the SPARTAN's voice.

Driven by rage, Deimos quickly spots the wolf closing in and pounces for the kill, however he quickly charges and grabs the wolf by its left arm before swinging it with his might into the ground. The wolf scrambles to quickly recover but there was no point when the augmented super soldier raised his right armored foot and slams down into its face, shattering the skull, and left the wolf's head disfigured and maimed.

The SPARTAN collapsed to his knees again, taking heavy breaths as his headache slowly subsided, and reaches for his waist bag pulling out the lighter with the engraving 'D.J.' written in it. He gently holds the lighter in his right gloved hand before firmly wrapping his fingers around it as he tries to bury his past once more, hoping the voice won't come back, it's only been a month since his last mental 'episode'.

"Why do you do this to me?" he asks himself quietly wondering why the voice torments him like this before he lets out a deep sigh and mutters to himself "It doesn't matter anymore . . ." before tucking the lighter back into his bag.

Minutes later did he manage to calm himself down afterwards as he retrieves his battle rifle and resume heading back to the city, leaving the two concealed crates and the rapidly decaying wolf body behind.

[11:23 AM, Industrial District]

The SPARTAN was leaping from roof to roof, crossing large streets with the aid of his jump pack, as he traversed his way through the district on his way to a sector of the city dedicated to several warehouses that were claimed abandoned by the local authorities and only a handful of people, him especially, knew that it was a likely hold out for the White Fang. His only agenda for today was to recon and assess the White Fang presence and find out if they're holding anything he would find useful that he could later implement into his plans.

He was about half of a kilometer away from his destination as he leaped over alleys and streets, hearing the pedestrians and vehicles below, but he pays no attention to anything that might draw attention to him because he knew the moment he activates his optical camouflage he would be a ghost in broad daylight. As he ran along the rooftops he takes a glimpse up into the sky to see two Atlesian airships loom over the city, with gunships flying escort, and thought about the kingdom of Atlas and its military strength compared to that of the UNSC. Though the Atlesians might be able to hold their own on planet-side engagements, through the use of pilotable mechs and drone soldiers, they would never last in aerial conflicts with the UNSC navy, let alone a mere battlegroup of three destroyers.

He turns his attention back onto the task at hand as he leaps over another street, seeing the top of the warehouses during his jump, and activates his camouflage the moment his feet landed on the next rooftop. He slowed down from sprinting to a casual jog, and slowly into a walk, as he finally comes to the edge of the roof with a perfect view of two wore down, two-story concrete warehouses and the large yards they were built upon, surrounded by a withering metal sheet fence.

There was no obvious activity to take note of, not even a single civilian was to be found anywhere, but that quickly changed when the SPARTAN extends his motion tracker setting to its highest output and counted at least twenty contacts roaming about in the nearest structure just ahead of him. Unfortunately it still wasn't enough to tell him what he was dealing with so he was forced to move in for a closer look.

He takes several steps back from the ledge, before getting a good footing for launch, and makes a quick sprint for the edge where he leaps off and activates his jump pack sending him soaring over the last street and into the yard surrounding the warehouses with a firm landing. He makes a quick scan around himself, looking every which way keeping his rifle raised and ready to fire in case he was spotted, but found no one and begins to search for a way inside without notice.

He carefully moves around to the backside of the building to find a single door guarded by two figures, one male and the other female, adorned in the traditional White Fang uniforms as they stood idly and somewhat bored. Deimos moves further out away from the building, towards a pair of giant wooden spools meant to hold large cables, where he could get a better look at the two before finding a way to get pass them.

At first glance there was nothing out of the usual for the two but upon further inspection the SPARTAN was surprised to find out the two were fairly young, probably not even in their twenties, and it made him wonder how the White Fang could even recruit people this young. Despite this startling fact, Deimos needed to get past them, without killing them in order to not raise alarm, and find what he needs inside. The only thing he could do now was to wait for his opening, no matter how long it would take.

[12:28 AM, Lecture Hall]

At the academy, Ruby and the rest of her team were walking into Professor Peter Port's hall where everyone was taking their seats while the man himself, a slightly overweight middle-aged fellow wearing a double-breasted burgundy suit, matching pants, and olive cavalry boots, stood patiently watching his class walk in.

Port greets his students as they walk in "Welcome hunters and huntresses, please take your seats so we may begin today's session. This time, we're going to go over one of the most fearsome creatures of the Grimm hoard, the Deathstalker, now won't that be thrilling?"

Nobody gave a response as they sat down and opened up their books, Ruby sets the scope down on the table with a good view of Port in front of her before opening her book, Yang sees the scope and frantically whispers a question "You brought BB with you?!"

BB in response answered with the same volume "Just to be fair, it wasn't my idea."

But before Ruby could answer her sister's question, Professor Port begins talking aloud "As we all know, the Deathstalker is an arachnid menace with its tough armor and deadly stinger, but just like every other creature of Grimm, they have their weaknesses and it's our job as hunters to exploit them."

On that note Team RWBY, and JNPR that was close by, began to remember the day of their initiation when they were sent into the Emerald Forest to retrieve the chess pieces, as Port continues his rant. What was supposedly a low-risk mission with the expectancy of beowolves and ursai turns into a fight for their lives when they encountered a giant deathstalker and an even larger nevermore, Team JNPR specifically remembered how difficult it was to pierce the stalker's heavily armored cephalothorax until Nora used her hammer and its own stinger to pierce its body.

Professor Port continues "-And therefore, a frontal assault against such a beast can prove to be quite dangerous" he sighs as he begins to remember his time back in the old days "It reminds me of the day back when I used to be a young stunning hunter just like you all, I was taking a stroll through the wilderness in the kingdom of Vacuo when—"

Something glared into his eyes just for the briefest moment; he shields his eyes with his hands and finds the source of the reflecting light, the lens of a silver object sitting in front of Ruby, "Um Ruby?"

"Yes Professor Port?" Rose asks ever so innocently, trying to act calm.

"What is that contraption you have there with you?"

She looks down at the scope, imagining BB giving a casual shrug indicating even he doesn't know what to say, until she carefully answers "It's a uh . . . it's a video recorder! Yeah!"

However Peter Port wasn't quite satisfied with the answer as he raises one eyebrow, Ruby had to continue saying something "So . . . we could record your lectures and fascinating stories! I know Weiss wouldn't want to miss 'em" she finishes with a half-hearted smile.

The professor gave a gentle smile "Well I suppose that is true, my past experiences with death is rather exciting. As I was saying—"

As Port began recounting the time he fought a deathstalker, Yang leans over and whispers "Nice save."

"Indeed" BB adds with a partially made sigh of relief.

[1:29 PM]

"And as I stare defiantly into the fowl creature's eyes, it knew that it was finished. Haha!" Port triumphantly laughs as the end of his rather long story finally draws to a close.

Half of the class was already near half asleep; especially Yang who was already sawing logs with her head laying on her propped up arm until Blake tapped her shoulder and caused her to wake up, until the bell rang loudly throwing everyone out of their semi-trans and the professor wondered "Oh my it's that time already? Well all good things must come to an end; your assignment for tomorrow is to write down a six thousand word essay over the anatomy of the deathstalker, listing out their strengths and weaknesses. Dismissed!"

The classmates slowly got up from their seats one by one and made their way for the exit door, all except Ruby who gathered her books and the scope before proceeding down to where Port stood as he reminisced the old days.

"Professor Port?" Rose asks kindly.

"Hm? Yes dear Rose can I help you with something?"

"You're a great teacher when it comes to hunting Grimm, but what do you know about hunting other people?"

Peter gave a silent pause before asking "This is about that scoundrel named Deimos isn't it?"

"How did you—"

"Headmaster Ozpin informed a select few of his staff about him and told us to give you whatever help you need, advisement and only ideas though."

"That's great!" she cheers with a hopeful tone, "Can you help us?"

"Well certainly. Hunting humans is far more simple than hunting a Grimm, because we think like them, and as humans we all need something. Whatever it may be."

"So if we figure out what Deimos needs, then we'll find him?"

"Precisely my dear."

Rose was glad that Port was able to give her advice but then another problem struck "But, nobody knows what he needs . . ."

The professor gently lays his hand on her shoulder "In due time you will, patience is one of the many great virtues a huntress has."

Ruby smiled gratefully "Thanks Professor" before she heads on out the door without another word.

She appears into the hallway where Yang and Blake were standing waiting for her, once Rose caught up Yang asks "What did Port say?" realizing why Ruby had decided to stay in there for a little longer.

"He said, to find out what Deimos needs, and to have patience . . ."

"Boooooooring!" Long exclaims.

"Sounds right. All we really have to do is find out what he needs. So far he's only been attacking White Fang holdouts, taking only what he needs."

Yang quickly asks "Then what did he take from the docks?"

Ruby thought about the past attacks, starting from the police, going out of his way to a pizzeria, and finally ending up on the pier. The only thing so far that links these events, was the fact that Deimos only took what he needed, not what he wants, including a small crate of dust, and what was supposed to be weapon schematics but failed to do. But for right now the question still lingers, what did he take from the pier before it erupted into a giant fireball?

She then began to wonder about the man himself, military training, high-end equipment and armor unseen or even imagined, even by the Atlesian Military, and seems to be someone broken to their very core with little to no hints of humanity left inside as BB mentioned. This would definitely explain his unmatched brutality towards his victims and how he is able to fend off two separate teams of hunters and huntresses, this being is far stronger and much more organized than any know adversary they could think of.

This of course leads to the matter of this 'UNSC' that had been mentioned several times, there was no doubt in anyone's minds that Deimos was working for them, but the question that remained in everyone's head was 'who are they and what could they possibly want?'

The three stood idly for several seconds before Blake reminds them of today "C'mon let's get to class, we can think about this tonight."

The others nodded in agreement and decided to move on with their daily schedule, making their way to Professor Oobleck's class.

[3:42 PM, Industrial District]

Deimos laid in wait for the near past five hours, still sitting behind the wooden spool in active camouflage, as he listened to the conversation between the two guards even though he had already lost interest.

The man asks "So. You're sure that there isn't like a greater power out there, beyond this world?"

The woman sighed in frustration "Ugh Jeff, for the fifth hundred time, there's no such thing as aliens. Drop it."

"C'mon . . . think about it!"

"Look, if there were aliens out there then I'd be more than happy to meet them. But for now I'd like to enjoy some peace and quiet."

The two guards fell silent once more, giving their hidden lurker a moment of silence which was abruptly short lived when a low roar of thunder echoed through the air prompting everyone to look up and see an approaching storm coming from the ocean.

"Ah man, again?" Jeff whines as he sees the grey clouds slowly roll over the horizon.

"It's been weeks since the last storm came through, quit your complaining. I'm actually glad to see some rain again."

Another clap of thunder swept over the land gradually as the two guards watched the clouds, Deimos on the other hand had much more important things to attend to but perhaps he could use this coming storm to his advantage, 'Only a little longer' he thinks to himself.

Minutes turned into a whole hour just as the storm finally swept over the city and the rain began to fall the rain didn't bother the SPARTAN much as it did the two guards who were trying to shield their heads with their spare arms, the other currently holding their weapons.

"Do we really have to stand out here in the rain!?" Jeff cries out as rain slowly began to pour down hard on the two.

The woman didn't even have to look when she points out a small makeshift stand with a thin sheet of metal to act as a roof just a few meters away and states "Let's get under there, at least we'll be outta the rain, and we can still watch the door."

'This was it, time to move' Deimos thought, seeing that he won't get another chance like this again, as he readies himself to make a run for the door while the kids made a run for shelter. Once the two guards cleared several feet from the door, the SPARTAN leaped into action and sprinted for the door with all the strength he had available, reaching little over forty kilometers an hour, before reaching the door and swiftly enter before the two could've even reached their desired spot to stand guard.

After quietly closing the door behind him, he moves swiftly towards a cluster of shelves full of mechanical components, he takes cover behind one of the shelves and begins to look up, needing an elevated position to efficiently determine the strength of the White Fang here. He finds that the warehouse is fitted with a set of catwalks hanging over his head and that was sufficient enough to suit his needs, conveniently enough there was a set of ladders just a couple meters away that he could use without grabbing too much attention.

With the help of his camouflage, he was able to swiftly and quietly sneak his way over to the ladder, passing several unsuspecting guards as he did so, and carefully climbs the ladder until he reached the catwalk where he'll conduct his reconnaissance. Fortunately the guards were scarce on the catwalk, giving the SPARTAN plenty of space to move around without getting noticed, and he was able to perform his assessment without interruption.

As expected, the White Fang were storing weapons and dust here just like the previous locations he hit, but it didn't take long for him to spot what really made this location important to the criminal organization. In the middle of an open area, vacant of crates or shelves, stood a single massive bipedal mechanized combat suit fitted with a respectable array of weapons, armor, and various other systems that would give its pilot and allies a massive edge in the tide of battle, Deimos easily recognized it as an Atlesian Paladin-290 mech.

It was no wonder why these people try so hard to keep this a secret from the public, which is essentially on the other side of a withering fence, because they knew if word gets out that a stolen suit is lying here with a small army of radical extremists then there was no doubt the Atlesian Military would swoop in and hit this place hard.

Unfortunately the SPARTAN couldn't commandeer it because it would be near impossible even for him to smuggle such a large piece of hardware out of the city without notice, not that he wanted to anyways. He was there several weeks ago when he observed the team, he now knows as RWBY; take on a single mech, piloted by criminal head figure Roman Torchwick, near one of the city's highway junctions. It became clear that after Roman's defeat and the loss of the paladin showed how flawed the mech was, despite its already impressive combat prowess, and that neither the UNSC or ONI would be interested in a combat vehicle that was bested by a team of four young girls.

Nonetheless he needed to be wary around it because even it was more than a match for him, in the hands of a skilled pilot, and therefore he needed time to plan out an effective strategy to take this facility and take what he originally came here for.

[5:32 PM, Dorm Rooms]

As the rain pelted against the window of RWBY's room, the girls themselves were doing their homework with the reluctant aid of their new guest.

Yang was sitting in her bed with her knees propped up, so she could write on her paper, when she looks over to see Ruby, lying in bed as she works on her assignment, and asks "Hey you remember what Oobleck said about that cross continental tower thing?"

Ruby turns her head towards her older sister "Yang were you even paying attention during class?"

Long shrugs "Eh, kinda got bored" before she turned her eyes to the rifle scope that laid next to Rose's side in her bed.

BB caught the look and sighed reluctantly "Professor Oobleck stated 'The Cross Continental Transmit Tower was a gift from the Atlesians to the world as a symbol of peace after the Great War. The towers themselves are able to create a worldwide communications network, allowing instant communications between the four kingdoms'."

"Thanks boxy, I knew you'd be good for something."

"It's BB."

She rolls her eyes casually "Whatever."

The group fell silent afterwards, continuing to work on their assignments, as a roar of thunder slowly swept by. There was no sound to be heard other than the rain hitting against the glass plane but other than that, was complete silence.

During this moment of peace and quiet, the AI began to run down his own report, with his own point, of view of the girls while he had the time:

'Ruby Rose, the team leader, is disappointingly naïve, in casual scenarios, and occasionally reckless in harsh combat situations, evidenced when her entire team was briefly incapacitated by SPARTAN Deimos and she made a dangerous move to attack the SPARTAN-lV head on which resulted in her being disarmed and unable to fend for herself. However this shows that she is bold and deeply cares for her team, going as far as to go toe-to-toe with a much superior foe such as a SPARTAN- something well respected within any military, even the UNSC who had seen more than its fair share of heroism displayed during the Human-Covenant War.

On the plus note, she is naturally innocent and rather curious towards others, despite their 'kind' and origin. This trait was largely shown when I revealed myself to her the day before yesterday, though it ended up on the wrong foot and I was stuffed underneath some blankets. What really struck me odd was that she had shown a degree of the same kind of caring compassion she holds for her team, to me as well, despite learning that I was with Deimos and refused to tell her vital information regarding the SPARTAN or my specific orders. This could a tactic to make feel more comfortable and open up to them or this could be an honest act of passion for her, only time will tell.'

Yang eventually interrupts the peaceful silence, after hearing another clap of thunder, wondering "When do you think the storm will pass?"

"Dunno" her little sister replied.

Long then turned her eyes on BB and asks "Hey Boxy-"

"BB" the AI retorted.

"Whatever- can you read the local forecast or somethin'?"

BB responded with some sarcasm "Of course, as of right now it is a nice sunny evening as temperatures from the mid-sixties drops down to the lower forties. It'll be a cool clear night ahead of us so it'll be a pleasant view of the stars tonight."

She takes one clear look out the window before turning back to the scope ". . .You're being sarcastic."

"Very observant of you Yang, nothing gets by you!" BB continues in the same manner.

Long eventually gives up asking questions and returns to her homework, giving BB time to resume his assessment:

'Yang Xiao Long, fellow member and older half-sister of Ruby, is something of a loose cannon from time to time. It's been noted during the engagement with Deimos is that she is fiercely protective of her younger sister and team, shown when she engages Deimos alone in hand-to-hand combat and win twice before becoming incapacitated during the third. Her skills is at par with the SPARTAN's which speaks volumes about her combat prowess and strength, able to send a super soldier weighing little over half a ton soaring several meters off the ground through the air and into a parked car. However her weakest attribute is her short-fused temper, often losing some control over her actions which will occasionally lead to more trouble than she bargained for. Her carefree personality is also a contributor to her reckless behavior, supposedly joined the hunters 'just for the thrill of the adventures' as she puts it.

Anyone the can certainly hold their own against a SPARTAN definitely demands respect and fear from friend and foe, it'd be wise to not be on her bad side.'

The AI casually glances up to Blake, who was dead silent as she worked on her assignments, and started on her:

'Blake Belladonna is certainly a curious girl, mostly quiet and somewhat reclusive from other students, and it can be said that she is one of the more unique members of her team. As expected, she shows a fair amount of distrust towards me simply due to my origin and cause which is something I can understand, though I could probably say the same for her because of her nature. I regret to inform that there is not much to go off from her but there is something she refuses to announce, what is it she's hiding?'

Knowing Weiss was still lying unconscious beneath him and Ruby, he felt he needed to perform a report summary on her but unfortunately due to the fact that she had been in this state ever since he arrived, he had nothing to say. Luckily though he didn't have to because thanks to Deimos's nine year long tour on Remnant, the Office of Naval Intelligence already has an abundance of information on the Schnee company and family, young Weiss included.

A sudden flash of lightning struck close by followed up with an immediate blast of thunder, startling Ruby by surprise and accidently knocking the scope off the her bunk bed, causing BB to fall to the floor with a loud thud.

"Come on! I know this scope has been tested for durability but I'm not!" the AI cries out agitated.

Zwei jumps down for Weiss's bed and begins to sniff around BB much to his displeasure "Zwei no- no bad dog! Stop licking the lens! That's not meant to be- stop it!"

Ruby looks down and lets out a small chuckle "Woops, sorry BB."

She climbs on down and scoops the scope up from the floor before setting it on the desk along with the anti-materiel rifle and magnum "Next time please just be careful."

"Sure thing" she replies before taking the chair next to the desk and ask "So, what do we do about Deimos?"

Yang and Blake looked up from their homework assignments before Long asks "What was that about waiting for him to get what he needs?"

Blake reminds her partner "Port said that we need to find out what Deimos needs so we can find it and him, and if we're lucky enough to get there before he does, we might be able to lay a trap."

"But the question still lingers- what could he possibly need?"

Everyone shifted their eyes to BB, who had just asked that question, with Rose asking "Don't you know something?"

"I don't know what he needs personally but knowing him he'll need something to complete his objective, to get rid of you."

Blake remarks "Then we can assume he's gathered weapons from the White Fang."

Ruby asks "But what did he take exactly?"

A sudden knock came on the door, prompting Yang to get up and answer it, and allowed Team JNPR to come in, Pyrrha asks caringly "How's everyone?"

"We could be doing better . . ." Rose answers.

Juane was next to ask his question "So what're we going to do about tall dark and scary?"

"Well, we're trying to figure out what Deimos been stealing from the White Fang."

Pyrrha remembers the short list of items "Dust, weapon schematics, he could be building a weapon of his own."

Ren adds "It makes sense, seeing that two of them are right here" as he takes a glimpse at the weapons on the desk.

Ruby states "Well if he's making a new weapon, then it's definitely meant for us. We're all his targets now . . ."

That comment sent a shudder down everyone's spine knowing they most likely pissed off something they already have difficulties beating, but now the fact that he's probably building a weapon specifically tailored to deal with hunters was something they could only imagine.

Pyrrha had to ask "What possible edge do we have against him?"

Jaune was the one to answer that "We have each other, teamwork, it's eight of us against only one of him."

Rose adds as she picks up the scope from the desk "And we have him . . ."

JNPR all looks down at the optical package in Ruby's hands, sitting idly not doing or saying anything, this prompted Ren to ask "Who's 'him'?"

"BB."

The team continues staring down at the scope, waiting for something to happen, before Jaune asks with some worry "Ruby, did Deimos hit you hard or something? You're kinda freaking me out."

But Ruby seemed determined to make the AI talk "BB come on, say something."

Her plea was met with further silence, then Yang steps in "Hey Boxy, you there? Wake up."

Nora slowly leans over to Ren and whispers "Yang to? Wow they're really gone craazy" to which her partner agrees with a subtle nod.

Then Ruby tried something else "Don't make me stuff you in the blankets again!" but there was no response from the scope.

Then she turned to more drastic measures, she kneels down to the floor and holds BB out to Zwei who gave a brief sniff at the lens before he began to lick once more, it was only seconds later before the AI blurted out "Oka-OKAY STOP IT! I'll talk! I'll talk! Zwei stop it you mongrel!"

"Oh hey . . . it does talk . . ." Jaune comments with a surprised expression on his face, something he shared with the rest of his team for that moment.

Rose steadily stands back up and nudged the scope prompting the AI to introduce himself with some reluctance "I am AI designated BBX-8995-1-C, former companion of Deimos, just call me BB . . ."

"I still think we should call you boxy" Yang retorted.

"Shut up you damn b-"

"Finish that sentence and I will throw you out the window."

"Yes go ahead and do that. You break me then you lose your 'edge' against Deimos. Face it. You can't touch me."

"Well then" Pyrrha states with her arms crossed and her eyes staring directly into the lens "I suggest you tell us everything you know about your friend . . ."

Please leave your comments and thoughts. Thank you.