Chapter 10: A Challenger Approaches!

Friday

7/17

0900

The students of Beacon slowly filtered into the amphitheater, every single one of them curious about the purpose of this assembly. When the students had awoken that morning, there was a message on each one of their scrolls: Disregard standard class schedule. Special assembly; amphitheater; 9:00. No other information had been given. As such, rumors were flying thicker than the snow in the middle of an Atlesian winter. A gentle roar across the room was evidence that even now, when the reason was about to be revealed, rumors were propagating wildly.

Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang were all contributing the noise and flow of rumors in the room. They discussed some of the most likely rumors, trying to figure out what this could all be about. Before they had much time to talk, Professor Goodwitch signaled for quiet.

Ozpin walked out of the shadows in the wings of the stage, moving to stand in front of the mic. The students all quieted within seconds, eager to hear whatever he would say. "I'm sure you are all wondering why we have called this assembly today instead of classes. I've heard some interesting explanations, but none of them were even remotely close." Ozpin gestured to the screens above and behind him and a line graph appeared, one that looked mostly stable, with a small peak near the beginning and a large mountain all the way at the right side.

"The graph on the screens, generously created by Dr. Oobleck, displays the Grimm population and activity for the region of Mountain Glenn. As you can see, there have been no major shifts for quite a while. However, in recent reconnaissance, Dr. Oobleck discovered that the Grimm population has spiked by a large margin. The council does not feel comfortable with such a large amount of Grimm near our borders and has organized a full-scale Hunt. I have taken the liberty of signing up Beacon Academy as participants in this hunt, as a bit of real-world training. Rest assured, you will be assisted by regular Huntsmen. However, do not become complacent. This is still a real-world scenario, and complacency will only lead to your death. Prepare your teams, we board the transports at noon. Dismissed." An excited babble arose in the room once more as Ozpin stepped back and the students streamed out of the auditorium.

"So, what do you think of this?" Verdan asked the other three girls carefully. His relationship with them was slightly touchy. Blake, Weiss, and especially Yang had not taken kindly to him yelling at Ruby on their previous mission. They had forgiven him once he and Ruby explained his reasoning, but they had yet to forget it.

"Sounds dangerous. That means it's exciting!" Yang cheered, punching the air.

"Of course it does to you. I think this is a good chance to hone our skills, to get a taste of the real world," Weiss said calmly.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go get ready!" Ruby called out, running out the door already.

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"Listen up everyone!" Professor Port shouted from the back hatch of the transport. "Once you get off this transport, you will be in a real-world field scenario! Full Huntsmen have cleared a landing zone and rally point for us, but keep alert at all times! Once we leave the ship, I will give you your assignments. Do not stray too far from myself or another teacher, and we will shield you from any serious harm. And remember, have fun!" The professor chuckled to himself as he hit the button for the ramp and shouldered his blunderbax.

With the whir of hydraulics, the ramp lowered. In a staggered fashion, students unbuckled their restraints and stood, grabbing their weapons. They slowly walked out of the airship and onto the ground, looking around in awe and curiosity. The square they had disembarked showed its age, the buildings crumbling and collapsing and plants growing everywhere. However, there were also signs of its new function. Crates and shipping containers were stacked in several distinct areas, with several Huntsmen going through them and marking things off on a clipboard. There was also a computer terminal attached to a large dish antenna to one side of the plaza.

Professor Port was the final person to leave the dropship, after which it flew away. The students congregated around him, ready for their next instructions. "As soon as I give you your directions, you are dismissed. Maps have been synced to your scrolls. Team CRDL, you lucky dogs, will be on the front lines! Grid A4, working with a Ms. Lavi!" Team CRDL grinned and fistbumped each other before jogging out of the square. "Team FLMR, you will be on demolition duty in grid H14, clearing the streets of rubble to allow heavy weapon teams to move forward! Light explosives are in the red and gray crates." Flynn nodded in acknowledgment, the rest of his team forming up around him as they retrieved their supplies and headed off. "Team RWBY, you will be in charge of cleaning up grid R2! The front lines have moved past it, but Grimm have still been appearing in that area. Deal with them"

Yang grumbled as Ruby acknowledged the order, the five teammates following her to their assignment.

Δ Insert Scene Change Here Δ

Friday

7/17

1350

"Grah!" With a grunt of exertion and detonation of minor explosives, Yang slammed her fist into the Ursa's muzzle, crumpling it like a paper cup and causing the Grimm to evaporate head-first. "I'm at twenty-seven!"

"How have you killed so many Grimm already?" Weiss demanded in shock, flicking her rapier to get Grimm ichor off of it. "I've only gotten nine so far!"

"Seriously? Nine? Keep up, Snowflake!" Yang cackled madly as she tossed two chains of shells into the air, catching them in the intake feeds on her bracers.

"All clear for now!" Ruby called out from the top of a skeletal structure. She hopped down, digging her scythe into the wall to slow the last part of her descent. "I didn't see any Grimm nearby, take a breather, team!"

"How did you find so many Grimm on your patrol, Yang?" Blake asked as she checked her weapon. Finding nothing requiring attention, she returned it to her back before sitting down and looking at Yang.

"I found a building with a really weird basement," Yang said before taking a drink from her water bottle. "It seems to have had a cave dug into it."

"Ooh, what's this about caves? What'd I miss?" Verdan asked, returning from chasing down a Beowulf. He clambered over rubble and debris to make his way into the circle. "Someone found a cave? I love caves!"

"We know!" the four girls said loudly in unison. "But yeah," Yang said. "There's a basement in a building near here that has a collapsed wall."

"Do you think-?" Blake asked, standing up and looking at Weiss.

"Yes, this is likely the source of the Grimm in this area," Weiss declared authoritatively. She turned to Ruby. "Ruby, we need to check this out."

"Well duh!" Ruby exclaimed, sounding rather insulted by Weiss's tone and insinuation. "I'm not an idiot!" She assumed a heroic pose, pointing in the direction Yang had left earlier and come back from. "Team RWBY – forward!"

After nearly ten minutes of travel, climbing over rubble and winding around buildings, they made it to the half-collapsed building Yang was leading them to. "It looks like it was probably some office building," Yang said, standing near the hole she used as an entrance as the others climbed through. "I guess their business really collapsed."

Verdan paused to frown at Yang before he ducked through the hole. "That was weak, Yang. Do better next time." He finished climbing through as Yang scoffed.

Yang led the other four through the building, taking them to a staircase near the center of the structure, one that led down into the darkness. Verdan passed around several Light Dust crystals from his bag, and they all went downstairs carefully. When they reached the bottom, they found a massive hole in the wall, one that twisted to the side a few meters in.

"So. . . Who takes the front?" Yang asked. Everyone looked at each other before Yang put her finger to her nose, an action that was quickly imitated by Ruby and Verdan. Blake and Weiss, meanwhile, just looked at the three like they were crazy. Eventually Ruby sighed heavily and said she'd go first.

The five made their way through the twisting and turning tunnel. There were no branches to the tunnel, it was a single track to travel. The tunnel slowly sloped down the entire travel time. Blake stopped to examine the floor more closely under the glow of her light Dust. "Guys, do you see this?" she asked. She ran her fingers down several scratches and gouges in the rock. "It looks like Grimm claws."

After a minute more, there appeared a dim light in the distance around the bend. The students fed more Aura into their Dust, causing the light to flare brighter before going out. Verdan collected the crystals and returned them to his bag, and the five Huntsmen slowly walked around the corner.

The tunnel opened up into a massive grotto filled with buildings, a large underground city! The tunnel terminated on top of the roof of a building. Looking into the center of the cave, the teenagers saw that there was a set of train tracks running down an open space in the middle of the cave. There were several large light Dust crystals fastened to the sides of some of the buildings on the edge of the middle. There were voices coming from the far right end of the cavern, muddled and indistinct.

"Guys," Ruby hissed. "Let's try to get closer."

"Why? Why should we?" Weiss asked. "Let's just go back to the surface and report this." She looked at her Scroll. "Exactly as I thought, no reception."

"Don't you remember what Blake found out at the White Fang meeting?" Ruby responded. "There was something in the southeast, according to Torchwick. Mountain Glenn's to the southeast of Vale! This could be it!"

Weiss humped. "Fine. But just know, I am strongly against this."

"Look, as soon as we find out what's going on, we can go back and report to the Hunters," Yang said calmly. "But we need to get more information to tell them. Everyone fine with that?" Ruby and Blake nodded, Ruby excitedly and Blake acceptingly. Weiss made a noise of agreement while Verdan shrugged. "Glad we got that hashed out. Let's go."

They quickly found a way into the building from the roof and descended to the ground floor. When they exited, they found that the voices had disappeared. However, they were still determined to figure out what was going on in the cave, so they wound their way around buildings and rubble, slowly making their way to the end of the cave they had heard the voices coming from.

As they got closer, they could once more hear the voices. Blake pointed them out first, able to hear them even when nobody else could. The group became more careful to travel quietly: if Blake could hear the mystery people, any Faunus among the mystery people (which were likely the White Fang) could hear them.

"Blake, can you hear what they're saying?" Ruby very quietly asked her Faunus friend. If they could figure out what the other people were saying, Ruby reasoned, they might be able to figure out what they're doing without needing to get closer.

Blake nodded. "I can hear what they're saying, but it's nothing telling us anything. Just general moaning and complaining, really." She closed her eyes for a moment, to better concentrate on the voices. "It sounds like they're working on some project, know nothing, and are impatient to start it."

"That certainly doesn't sound reassuring," Weiss commented sarcastically.

Yang opened her mouth to speak before – "Let's see if we can get closer." – being interrupted by Verdan. She closed her mouth and nodded. "What he said," Yang added in, pointing at Verdan in case the subject of the preposition 'he' was unclear.

The fearless five slowly picked their way through streets and back alleys until Blake signaled them that the voices were coming from right around the corner. Blake and Ruby dashed across the street to the building on the other side, allowing the three behind the original building to have room to all look around the corner. Ruby held up a hand, all fingers extended. Slowly, she counted down to zero and at zero, they all slowly looked around the corner.

What they saw was a train made up entirely of box cars, or at least as much as they could currently see, which was several cars. There were crates scattered about, both inside the cars and out, stacked in piles five and six deep outside on the ground and carefully and methodically packed inside the car with the open door. What was interesting, however, was the group of people that they had heard – the White Fang. Some had guns and were wandering around, scanning the area. Some had crowbars and sealant guns and were checking and resealing crates. Some appeared to be packing the crates with Dust and sealing them up. There was one White Fang grunt inside the open box car with a pen and a clipboard, who appeared to be taking inventory.

The five teens heard a thumping noise, and then the White Fang suddenly became the second-most interesting they saw. A Grimm walked into their line of sight, an Ursa to be exact. But that was not what made it interesting – what made it interesting was the fact that it was not mauling everyone in its vicinity. Instead, it was carrying one of the crates to the open railroad car. The Ursa simply stepped up inside, moved to beside the White Fang grunt with the clipboard, and set the crate down before straightening up and jumping out, likely to go retrieve another crate.

"OW!" The White Fang inventory manager exclaimed. "Dammit freak, one of your pets dropped a box on my foot! Those things are freakin' heavy!"

It was at first a mystery at whom the man was yelling, but soon the target of the grunt's rage wandered into the guy and girls' view. He was wearing clothes almost like the White Fang's, yet still distinctly different. He was wearing black pants and a white shirt, with some sort of short coat or robe over his shirt and the top of his pants. The coat was black with some sort of symbol in red on the back, almost like an eye.

"My apologies," the mysterious man said slowly with a hoarse voice. Several of the others working on packaging and inspecting crates stopped their work to watch. "I do not control their fine motor functions, it did that of its own accord."

"Bullcrap," the grunt with the clipboard spat. "I've seen the monsters write things down for you before!" His face changed from pure anger to a mix of anger and disdain. "Why are you even here, anyways? We coulda done this ourselves without your ungodly help."

"Our mistress decided for it to be so, and it was," the black-clad man said. The Ursa returned with another crate and perked up, no doubt enticed by the negative emotions of the foreman. "Savand poshat; conavinue followaumn mausan orderuk." he said, waving his hand slightly. A faint purple and black mist emanated from his hand. The man kept walking down the length of the train, until he was out of view of the eavesdroppers. For some reason, he even made the crunching of gravel underneath his feet sound ominous. Some of the crate packagers and inspectors returned to their work and the Ursa climbed back in the car, setting down the crate and leaving once more.

"It ain't natural, getting help from the Grimm. I feel like one of these days, his control's gonna slip and we'll all end up dead." The foreman shuddered. "I tell ya, it ain't natural."

"Keep your voice down!" a woman, among those who had not yet returned to work, admonished him. "Or we'll die and he'll still be in control!"

"Gundy ain't a Faunus, he's a lowly human," the foreman replied dismissively. "Ain't no way he can hear as well as we can."

"I've heard rumors," a third worker chimed in, this one looking much younger than the previous two. "Roy told me that someone told him that once he was telling a story and Gundy was nowhere near them, and several days later Gundy mentioned a detail he told in the story and no other time."

The foreman shook his head in disgust. "Reduced to working with human crooks and freaks, what has the world come to?"

Team RWBY-V looked at each other in shock and horror. Somehow the White Fang was controlling the Grimm! More accurately, that freaky guy was controlling the Grimm, but still! This was important, they had to report it at once. Weiss jerked her head to the side, asking a silent question. Can we go now? Ruby nodded once immediately, satisfied with the information they had gathered.

Ruby and Blake dashed back across the open alley to the same side as the other three, and they all turned to leave. One by one, they quietly sneaked away, alternating between looking over their shoulders to make sure they hadn't been spotted and looking ahead to make sure they didn't run into anything. However, none of them realized there was a fist-sized chunk of masonry on the ground. One by one, they stepped over it without realizing. That is, until Verdan stepped on its edge and it went flying out from under his feet. It ricocheted off a wall with a sharp *crack!* and Verdan stumbled against the building, his rifle butt clinking against it.

Verdan stood up again and made eye contact with the other four, one with disapproval in her eyes. Sorry, he mouthed. Yang was stifling chuckles behind her hand and Ruby and even Blake were grinning. However, their mirthful looks were quickly replaced by ones of horror when they heard voices calling out behind them. "You guys hear that? It came from over there!" Hurry quietly! Verdan mouthed at the others, pushing Blake and Weiss along as he started half-running, Yang and Ruby having already gotten started.

After two seconds of trying to leave quickly and quietly, a voice rang out. "You there! Hey kids, stop!" Verdan looked back to see several White Fang grunts leveling their rifles at the group. "Never mind, just run fast!" Verdan called out, pushing Blake and Weiss to go faster. Shots began peppering the walls around them. C'mon, what kind of Dust do I have loaded? He looked at the magazine but it was a new one that he had not yet labeled. Crud. I hope it's ice or something. He pulled his rifle off his back and looked behind him, trying to aim for the Faunus chasing them. However, his aim was thrown off when he abruptly ran into Blake, who had stopped in front of him. "Blake? Why in the world did you. . . stop. . ." Verdan trailed off upon seeing what was in front of the now-stopped five.

The mysterious man, whose name seemed to be Gundy, was standing in front of them, a strange dark crystalline sword held off to his side and two heavily-matured Beowulves flanking him, with many more younger ones behind them. "That's. . . far enough," he slowly said, one of the Beowulves seeming to growl in agreement.

Δ Insert Scene Change Here Δ

As the White Fang soldiers escorted their new prisoners to the boss, Gundy stepped aside and ducked into a building. He entered the darkest corner, before pulling a crystal out of his pocket and concentrating on it. After a second, he opened his eyes and saw a vision in front of him, as if the corner had suddenly become a portal to an otherworldly place. He knelt down before the only other being present.

"My queen, I have dire news for you," Gundy said slowly, quietly, and reverently. "The silver-eyed ones are not extinct as we had previously assured you."

"And how do you know this?" The queen asked. Her voice was low, seemingly reassuring yet decidedly dangerous.

"One has attempted to interrupt the course of our mission."

"Attempted? He has failed?"

"She, my queen. And yes, she has failed. With my assistance, the White Fang have just captured her and four compatriots."

"And what of her powers?"

"I sense nothing emanating from her, other than a normal Aura. Her powers appear to be latent."

"Excellent," the queen slowly said. "If she was turned, she would be an excellent tool. . ." she mused. "You and your brethren have an additional directive: capture this silver-eyed woman and bring her to me."

"Yes, my queen. And she is no woman, she is a mere girl."

"Then it should be all the easier. Dismissed."

Gundy bowed his head before lifting it and standing up, the image of the alien realm disappearing and returning once more into the simple extensive shadows of the room. He slipped the crystal back into his pocket and marched out, ready to deliver new orders to Torchwick.

Δ Insert Scene Change Here Δ

"And I'm telling you, unless you pay me extra, I will not get it done two days extra! In case it escaped your notice, you are not my sole employer, I have other jobs ongoing now too! We agreed upon a price and a time of completion, those two are linked!" Roman sighed and dragged his hand down his face. "Yes, if you come up with more money we can discuss my completing it earlier. Until then, I have work to attend to." Roman ended the call before tossing the Scroll onto his desk, dragging his hat over his eyes, and leaning back in his chair. It was a nice chair, too. For an abandoned city, there were some high-value goods scattered here and there.

A knock on the door drew Roman out of his exasperation-induced rest. He sat up and reseated the hat firmly on his head, revealing Perry knocking on the door frame of his office. "Yes, what is it?" he asked irritably.

"We got something you might wanna see, boss." Perry said. "We, ah, we found some people snooping around down here."

Roman sighed heavily before taking his feet off his desk and standing up. "Perry, I appreciate all you do, truly I do," he said as he walked to the door, "but for right now, would you please just take ca-" He broke off as he saw just who Perry was referring to.

Kneeling to the side on the street adjacent to the railroad were Red and friends, each with their hands bound behind their back, their weapons tossed in a pile to the side, and a gun held to their head by a mutt, with several more guards arrayed around them. "Well, well, well," Roman said, in a tone far more pleased than previously. "If it isn't Red's Rainbow. Tell me, what are you lovely ladies and you handsome gentleman doing here at this time of night?"

"Uh, actually, boss. . . It's just after midday," one of the extra guards interjected with a raised finger.

"Did I ask you? No? Then button your beak!" Roman said frustratedly. "Now, where was I? Ah yes, why are you here?" Roman began friendly enough, but growled out his question at the end.

"We're here to stop you!" Red naively declared.

"Hah! As if!" Roman chuckled, waving his hands around. "Do you see what I've got here, kid? An army, enough Dust to supply it, and my new best friend here!" He indicated Gundy, who had seemed to appear out of the shadows as he stepped into the light.

Gundy turned to Roman. "Torchwick, I have ne-" An explosion cut him off. Roman, Gundy, and the White Fang soldiers looked up from their captives to catch another fireball fly into a building across the street. As everyone started looking around, trying to figure out where the attack was coming from, a barrage of a dozen fireballs impacted the ground around them.

"It's some Hunters!" one of the White Fang called out. "What do we do?" his buddy asked Roman.

Roman growled in annoyance, why is it that Red always had to show up and throw a monkey wrench into his plans? "Retreat! Board the train, forget what's unloaded, we're leaving now!" He started to run to the engine before stopping and turning around to point directly at the he blamed for his predicament. "There will be a reckoning between you and me, Red. Count on it!" He left to get to the engine of the train.

With their guards gone and none of the freaky mind-controlled Grimm nearby either, Blake was able to shuffle over to their pile of weapons and withdraw hers, using it to cut her teammates' bindings before Ruby used it to cut hers. As the other four were retrieving their weapons and everyone was working circulation back into their hands, Oobleck arrived.

"Students! Is everyone okay?" he asked, eyes flitting from one to the next.

"We're all okay Professor," Weiss reassured him. "But where's everyone else?"

"Everyone else? Nonsense, it's just me here," Oobleck quickly responded.

"But how? The attacks? There were so many? How did-" Weiss questioned confusedly.

"I may not be as quick as Ms. Rose here," Oobleck said proudly, "but I can certainly move quickly when the situation demands it! Now, what is the situation?"

"But how did you know? Never mind, not the time," Weiss cut herself off.

"Roman Torchwick and the White Fang are here," Ruby said. "They're about to take off in that train."

"There's someone else there, too. He seems to be able to control the Grimm!" Blake said worriedly. "They've been using them for manual labor."

"This is indeed worrying news. However! Nothing can be done if we do not catch up to that train!" Oobleck pointed at the train, which had indeed started moving while they were talking and was quickly picking up speed.

The group of six ran after the train, desperate to catch up. Ruby was the first to board the train, her speed-based Semblance serving her well. Oobleck was the second, as the situation clearly demanded he move quickly. Blake launched the ribbon-bound part of Gambol Shroud at the rear car, the blade wrapping around around a handrail and giving her a firm anchor point to pull herself onto the train with. Verdan and Weiss were the next to reach the car, Weiss dashing along with her glyphs before forming another on the rear of the car to draw herself to it. Verdan just ran and jumped, magnetizing to the train to draw himself in. And finally Yang leaped onto the roof of the train, using her gauntlets to propel herself.

As the six slipped across the train car, looking down the side they saw a White Fang grunt speaking into his scroll. "Hey, I think they're on the train!" Oobleck beat him over the head with his flamethrowing club, but alas, it was too late. The entire train had been alerted to their presence.

Meanwhile, Roman and Gundy were in the engine, along with the engineer. The door slid open and a WF member stuck his head inside. "Boss, they're on the train!"

Roman sighed and rolled his eyes before turning around. "Then take some cargo and get them off!" he yelled in exasperation. "Man, animals, every one of 'em," he mumbled as he turned to look out the window once more. Noticing the affronted look of the engineer, he quickly reassured him. "Not you, though. You're, hehe, you're great." He addressed Gundy, who was standing stoic to his right. "We'll hold them off long enough for you to do your thing." Gundy nodded, before turning around and climbing through the roof hatch to the top of the locomotive.

"Now," Oobleck said at the end of the train. "We must get to the locomotive and take control of this train!"

"Uh, professor," Weiss asked, looking down into the hatch she had just opened, belonging to the next car. Oobleck corrected her, "Doctor!" before giving her his attention. "What's that?" Weiss pointed into the train car.

"That, my dear," Oobleck said as he knelt down. "Appears to be a bomb." The four girls flinched back from the hatch as Verdan just hung his head and shook it. "I knew things were too easy," he muttered. Of course, as if his words had cursed them all, the bomb activated, the screen flashing a timer: :30. . . :29. . . :28. . .

The five students rushed to jump to the next car, Oobleck stopping Blake for a moment. "Blake! Detach the car!" She nodded and jumped down to the coupling. She drew her blade and prepared to sever the coupling before it became a pointless activity: the train car decoupled itself.

"It came off itself!" Blake called up to Oobleck, who was leaning over the side and watching. "This one's got a bomb too!" Ruby realized, looking in the hatch of the new last car. Oobleck straightened up and ran towards the front of the train, checking the hatches of the next two cars as well. "They all have bombs!" The car that had decoupled blew up.

Yang pointed towards the front of the train. "Guys, the freaky dude is back." The other four students looked toward the locomotive, confirming her statement. The man had indeed perched atop the locomotive and was facing towards them, his arms raised to head height and extended slightly outwards. He seemed to be rhythmically chanting, but the wind stole the words away.

"He's not the only one out!" Ruby called out. Two cars behind the locomotive, White Fang troopers were pouring out of the roof hatch, slowly making their way towards the students and teacher. The six rushed towards them, jumping off the car just before it decoupled and drifted backwards slowly. The students rushed forward, knocking the soldiers aside with their varied weapons, Yang even punching one guy straight through the roof.

The car exploded, bouncing off the rails and into the ceiling of the tunnel, which combined with the explosion tore a hole through the concrete, rebar exposed along the jagged edges. As Oobleck watched, Grimm slowly rose from the rubble, more dropping from the hole to the outside. "It's the Grimm!" he called out to RWBY-V as they finished mopping up the White Fang. "The bombs blow holes in the tunnel, allowing the Grimm access to the tunnel! He's leading them to the city!"

When the first wave of soldiers had been disposed of, they devised their plan of action, the next car decoupling and slowing before exploding. "We have to stop this train now!" Weiss said, stabbing the air for emphasis.

"Really, we should have stopped it three minutes ago before the Grimm got in here in the first place," Verdan commented, "but better late than never."

"Alright, you three go below and make your way to the engine," Ruby said, pointing out Blake, Weiss, and her sister. "Dr. Oobleck, Verdan, and I will do the same up here." Everyone nodded, accepting that plan.

Yang hugged her sister as Blake and Weiss dropped through the hole she had created. "Be safe, sis." Ruby nodded when Yang leaned back to look at her. Yang released her and patted her on the head a couple times before jumping down after Weiss and Blake.

"Let's do this!" Ruby shouted excitedly as she readied her scythe. Verdan cycled the intake gate on his railgun and nodded confidently at her.

Oobleck shouldered his fireball cannon. "Lead the way, Ms. Rose." Seconds after Oobleck spoke, they heard a noise that Verdan recognized.

"Mechs!" Verdan called out, pointing down the train to where two mechs had just jumped onto the roof from a flatbed car, scraping the ceiling and sending up sparks. With Ruby supplying a battle cry, the three dashed forward across the train to meet their foes.

Verdan peppered the control cabin of the first mech with steel bullets, causing the pilot falter on instinct. Ruby took advantage of the opportunity this presented, dashing forward to slice one leg off, sending the mech toppling over the side of the train and onto the ground of the tunnel. Dr. Oobleck sent a highly-contained stream of fire at the second one, softening the armor until it had covered the hull cameras under its own weight. Blinded, the pilot stumbled around until he fell off the train as well, the three Hunters(-in-training) simply getting out of his way.

"More mechs!" Verdan called out, pointing to the rear of the train. Turning, Oobleck and Ruby saw that he was correct, several more mechs had torn a hole in the ceiling of the last car and were climbing out and stomping up the train.

"Ms. Rose!" Oobleck said loudly. "Make your way to the front of the train! You need to incapacitate that man and attempt to seize control of the train. Mr. Allen, you go below and see if your other teammates need assistance!"

"What about you?" Ruby asked with worry.

"I shall teach these gentlemen a lesson!" Oobleck said firmly. He ran off towards the mechs, flamethermos in hand.

Ruby and Verdan looked at each other for a minute. "We can do this," Ruby said.

Verdan nodded. "Get going, we'll meet you at the locomotive." Ruby ran off as Verdan unlatched the hatch and dropped down. It was an empty car. "Forward or back?" he asked, looking in both directions. "Forward it is." He held his rifle at the ready as he punched the button to open the door between cars.

When the door opened, it revealed a train car with more crates stacked to the sides and Weiss dueling with a chainsaw-wielding man. Weiss was bouncing around the man from glyph to glyph slicing at the man with her rapier. He tried to slash at her with his chainsaw, but he was continuously too slow, only hitting thin air as he attacked where Weiss hadjust been.

Both of the combatants glanced back slightly to see what caused the door to open. Chainsaw dude was the first to recover, grabbing out at Weiss's face as she passed by him while she was distracted. "C'mere, Schnee!" he growled out, Weiss's cry of surprise muffled by his hand.

Verdan leveled his rifle at chainsaw guy, aiming to hit the opposite of him from Weiss. His rifle fired two or three shots before making a clicking noise. Verdan's mind blanked out in horror at what was about to happen.

The shots connected with Chainsaw's chainsaw-holding arm, temporarily drawing his attention to Verdan. Recognizing the deer in headlights look on Verdan's face, he cackled happily. "Enjoy the show!" he called out as he held Weiss at arm's length and drew back his weapon to slice her in half.

However, distracted by gloating as he was, he had not noticed the determined look in Weiss's eye. A black glyph appeared behind his head, drawing a full crate into it and therefore into his head. His body wavered slightly before collapsing, the chainsaw stopping and Weiss being released. She stood up and brushed herself off before looking over at Verdan, who was still frozen with his rifle by his side. She walked to him and shook his shoulder several times. "Verdan? Verdan, snap out of it!"

Verdan blinked several times. "Huh? Sorry, I was uh. . ." He trailed off, not finishing his sentence.

Weiss waited several seconds but when it became apparent that he would never do so, she grabbed his arm and led him to the end of the car. "Come on, we need to go!" she said as she punched the button for the door.

The door revealed Torchwick lying on the floor, his cane out of reach and Blake's heel in his sternum. "We're on the same side, and you know it!" he said calmly and confidently. In response, Blake just jumped up slightly and kicked his head, knocking him out. She looked up at the other two. "You two alright?" They nodded and Blake followed up with, "Where's Yang?"

"I'm here," they heard behind them. Turning around, they saw Yang had just entered Weiss's battleground. "Let's get to the engine, now!"

Δ Insert Scene Change Here Δ

Ruby slowly and deliberately went up the train, fighting the wind to maintain her footing. As she got closer to the mysterious man, she was able to make out snippets of what he was chanting. ". . .breavhren. . . comppak. . .heun. . .pros. . .silvar" By the time she was standing right in front of him, scythe held out behind her as she crouched to attack, the mysterious man had finished and was staring at her with anticipation, his sword dimly glowing on his belt. Thin trails of black smoke were drifting off him.

"Come to see our completion, little one?" The man asked with glee. "Come to see your demise close at hand?" He cackled as he withdrew his sword, holding it across his chest. He beckoned to her. "Come! Challenge your fate and find its futility!"

Ruby did as he asked, dashing at him with a grimace as she swung her scythe at him. However, no matter where she attacked or how quickly, he was always able to block her attacks or deflect them off his sword, a crystalline ringing emanating from it each time he did so. For nearly a minute their dance went on, the man matching Ruby's speed almost inhumanly as he seemed to toy with her. In the back of her mind, Ruby noticed the black smoke becoming thicker and thicker and seeming to be drawn to his sword. Finally, when Ruby had wound up with her back to the front of the train, he took his eyes off hers and looked over her shoulder.

"It appears our time together is up. Such a pity," the man said grandiosely. "I quite enjoyed it. No matter, my purpose is done! The Sons of Destiny shall be victorious!" He held his sword skyward, the smoke thickening more and more. "Conukume mausan ukoul avo comppak wiavh mausan pupouke!" Ruby noticed that as the smoke grew darker, he seemed to be slowly disappearing. A few second's watching confirmed her theory, he was dissolving into dust before her eyes! Not all of the smoke was being absorbed by his sword, though. Thin, barely-visible wisps trailed away into the pack of Grimm, Ruby only being able to see it with her sharp sniper's eyes. The man disappeared more and more, nearly entirely a silhouette of black smoke now, with eyes that had begun emitting red light. The sword glowed brighter and brighter purple as it absorbed more and more. Finally, Ruby made up her mind. She did not know what was happening, but she knew it was not good! Before the man could react, she tilted her scythe and fired one shot, directly at the flat of the sword. Even with his freaky speed, he was caught off guard. The bullet struck the sword, shattering it with the sound of broken glass.

The shards of the sword flew apart, losing their glow the farther they got from the source. The smokey figure dissipated almost instantly, torn apart by the wind, the light from his eyes seeming to remain even after all the smoke was gone. Behind the train, the pack of Grimm seemed to lose cohesiveness – instead of chasing after the train, some of them turned and fell upon each other, tearing and ripping at other Grimm, causing the tide to slow down and fall apart. There were still Grimm following the train, just nowhere near as many as before.

Ruby turned around just as Weiss, Blake, Yang, and Verdan climbed out of the hatch on the locomotive. "Any luck?" she asked. Yang shook her head.

"I took a look at the controls. I think we closed the throttle and applied the brakes, but I don't kn-" The train jerked as Yang spoke and threw them to the roof, starting to slow. "Well, never mind then."

"It's not enough, look!" Blake raised her finger to point at the end of the tunnel that was quickly approaching, at this point only about thirty seconds away. Ruby nodded at Weiss, who instantly understood her meaning. Ruby herded everyone to huddle around Weiss, who stabbed the roof with her rapier and made a cocoon of ice sprout around them.

The cocoon did its job, as the train shattered through the barricade into a plaza of Vale, the five children were protected from most damage. The ice did eventually shatter, allowing them to be flung into the center of the square, but they were unharmed. Shortly after they came through, a pack of Grimm followed them. It was heavily reduced from what had been chasing the train, but it was still a serious threat. Alarms started blaring as civilians panicked and ran away, a handful of Grimm giving chase.

RWBY-V quickly recovered, destroying the chasing Grimm before they could get out of the square and beginning to battle the others. It was a difficult fight, but the addition of many, many reinforcements from Beacon and the Atlasian army resulted in a victory. And the cherry on top was that two of the transfer students were able to capture Torchwick, delivering him to an Atlesian dropship and the custody of General Ironwood himself.

Δ Insert Scene Change Here Δ

Several hours later, RWBY-V were sitting on one of Beacon's landing pads, looking out across the city. "Well, I think we did great work today!" Ruby said happily.

"We still don't know exactly what they were doing, or why," Blake said unhappily.

"A lot of bad men are behind bars now, we should feel proud of our work," Weiss answered reassuringly.

"Woo-hoo, go team, great work guy," Yang said tiredly as she fell back. "What about you, Verdan, what do you think? You've been quiet."

Verdan turned his head from the city to the four girls. "I. . ." he began. "I think I'm going home."

The four girls started slightly, Verdan's declaration surprising them. "You're going home?" Weiss asked. Verdan nodded slowly.

"But why?" Ruby cried out in shock.

"I've realized something today," Verdan said. "I nearly let another ally get killed, right in front of me this time."

"Are you talking about the train?" Weiss asked. "Look, I'm over it. Your weapon simply had less ammo then you thought, it could happen to anyone. Plus, I'm perfectly fine now. All that was was a lesson to learn from."

"Exactly. I've learned that I don't think I'm meant to be a Hunter." Verdan stood up, brushing off his pants. "Girls. . . It's actually been kinda nice knowing you." He stepped away some before turning to face them. "Good luck with your training, I think you'll all do really well." He walked towards the dorms.

The four girls looked at each other, unsure of what to do. "I'm not sure we can do anything," Weiss carefully said, answering the unspoken question. "I don't think we can change his mind about this."

Later that day, when the team finally returned to their dorm after processing the events of the past two days, it had been emptied of Verdan's gear. The dorm now looked exactly like it had when they first moved in, except for two details. One was a note resting on the bookshelf.

Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang:

Like I told you, I'm going back home. It's clear that I am not cut out to be a Hunter, not if I can't even stop letting my teammates die. However, I have surprisingly enjoyed our time together. You four grew on me. If you're ever in Vacuo, give me a call and we can meet up, maybe even show you my home. Don't bother trying to call me and convince me to come back, though. There is nothing that will convince me to come back. Ruby, I'm giving you my rifle. Take good care of it, my sister made it for me. Much as I treasure it because of that, you are clearly far better suited to wield it than I am.

Good luck, my friends.

Verdan Allen

AN: Well, I did indeed start this chapter with the author's note! And immediately had nothing to say. Ah well.

I'm sorry this chapter took so long to come out. At this point, I'm not even sure I have a good reason other than lack of motivation. I feel like nobody's really reading and enjoying this, even though the fact that there are a handful of reviews, follows, and favorites says otherwise. But hey, it's pretty long so you got that going for you, which is good.

I'm going to go ahead and say now, some parts of this story might have the same or a similar thing as canon happen, but with many of these, I had actually devised before they were revealed in canon. Of course, I might change my mind and some of these may never happen, but some will. I just wanted to announce this now, before I get to any of these (beside the idea of a master of the Grimm.)

I also started planning another story, one that I feel might be a little easier to write. It's supposed to be pretty short, and it will have no OCs. Okay, one or two. But they won't be major OCs like in this story, the major players should all be canon. This should, in theory, make writing it a little bit easier as I don't have to craft entirely new personalities, simply write the ones we are shown in canon. I will still have to craft a world and plot, though. This one's gonna be a major AU. So with any luck, I'll be posting this new story soon and updating it often, updating Ancient Wonders not quite so often but still updating throughout the new story's life.

Gundy and Roy are both color-related. Gundy's from burgundy and Roy is from royal blue.

I skipped over the Breach in one paragraph because it was exactly the same as canon, just without Zwei but with Verdan. Nothing major happened. Now, the train? Well, that just kicked off my primary original plot. Yay! Only took ten chapters to do so!

I'd appreciate your reviews and feedback!

All credit belongs to the Lord and have a blessed day!