v.2 Beta: tuckerman120

(Unknown Location…)

(14 Years Ago…)

The screaming, thrashing, and sounds of furniture being upturned downstairs from the attic grew louder, glass breaking as if bodies were throwing themselves through the glass which was followed by gunfire, small arms. Skin was flensed from bone, muscle was torn, bone was broken, and walls were bored through underneath the weight of the little black-haired, amber-eyed close relations. She huddled in the corner of her attic clutching her security blanket, the only thing that could bring her solace whenever her parents invited their friends and family over for one of – what they would call – their 'adults-only parties'. There would always be screaming, blades being drawn and sharpened, and the mess having to be cleaned up the next day; the blood and the viscera along with other unmentionable fluids best left undescribed.

One last strangled scream followed by a crunch gave way to silence, and the little girl held her blankie that much tighter. She heard the sounds of what sounded like hooves making its way up the wooden stairs while it dragged something behind itself. She shivered when she heard the hoof-steps directly underneath her as it traversed the hallway, tapping the ceiling beneath the attic. She gasped lightly when she heard the ladder leading up to the attic door being lowered and the hoofs climbed upward and push against the attic door, tapping against it multiple times and causing the girl to throw the blanket over her head and whimper.

Silence. The hooves climbed back down the ladder. The girl pulled the blanket from her face, wondering if whatever it was had changed its mind. She heard hoof-steps down the hallway which stopped directly underneath her. Tried as hard as she might she could not stop herself from screaming as what appeared to be a fleshy tail smash itself up through the wooden ceiling into the attic right in front of the girl before the sheer strength behind the tail brought the ceiling down into the hallway, and the black-haired girl with it.

The girl moaned in pain when she realized she had landed on her left arm, possibly breaking it. When she dared to look up at the sight of the creature it numbed her pain. Naked and soaked head to toe in blood that matted its blonde hair and a blindfold covering its eyes. It could easily pass for a Faunus with its ox-horns sticking out of both sides of its head if not for its goat legs, long curling tail, and the black runes tattooed all over its body. Hefted over its shoulder was a bloody, dripping spinal column, the head of the girl's father on the dangling at the end of it, his face a twisted visage of both pain and pleasure.

Dropping her father's head and spine onto the ground the demon reached for the girl, who brought up her blanket in a vain attempt to shield herself. The demon snarled and tore it out of her grasp, ripping it in half before discarding the bloodied halves aside and reached for the girl again. Eldritch power erupted from downstairs, startling both the girl and the demon, which blindly turned around and the girl saw that it started to shiver in fright. Suddenly an unseen forced grabbed the demon by its left leg and tripped him up and felled him.

"NON! NON! NON SUSCIPE ME! EGO NON VOLO UT VADO TERGUM!" the demon screamed as it tried to sink its sharpened nails into the floorboards, until the wood was lifted up and he was dragged down the stairs towards the living room. "NOOOOOOONNNNNNN-!" One loud crack of black magic silenced it, leaving the girl alone in the wrecked hallway, nursing her broken arm.

In a pained daze she stood back up and with her free, uninjured arm she tucked her father's head under it and made her way down the blood covered stair towards the living room, where most of her family's 'adult parties' took place. The walls and floor were covered in blood, the curtains were torn and the windows were smashed, the furniture was upturned and in pieces and in the center of the room was a pentagram drawn with black paint on the wooden floor, candles still burning at the end of each point.

There were no bodies, however. No sign of what else was left of her father, her mother, and their friends. Like their remains had been dragged to Hell along with the demon their proclivities had summoned.

The girl was alone...

(RWBY)

Demon Seed I:
This Train of Pain...

(RWBY)

(Warehouse, Upper Office)
(Vale)

(Present Day...)

The woman thought the nightmares had gone away years ago but they had only recently resurfaced, and right after she had 'acquired' half of what she believed was rightfully hers. Staring up at the darkened warehouse ceiling from the queen-sized bed she laid in a cold sweat, eyes widened when she thought she was suffering from sleep paralysis. After a few minutes, she felt the muscles in her legs spasm from exhaustion, convincing her that she could move. She did so, sliding out from under the blankets and exposing her bare self to the moonlight that shone in from the window as she sat at the end of the bed and sighed into her palms.

"Bad dreams, Cinder?"

She heard the rustling sound of hovering tentacles behind her, the coldness on her back as the Seer Grimm entered the room. Cinder sighed, trying to sound as pleasant as possible, "It's nothing. It's just dreams. They're nothing."

"They will pass in time. And once you have the entirety of Autumn's power, that same nothing will not be able to stand before you," Salem said. "It will fear you."

Cinder smiled, before realizing that if she wanted that power her plans still hinged on the Vytal Festival still happening in Vale. She put on a mask of impassiveness when she turned to face the Seer, "In light of some complications, we may have to accelerate our timetable." She paused, "If they were to cancel the Vytal Festival, however~"

"If that does happen you will find a way to compensate, especially if our new players show themselves again," Salem cut her off, the seriousness of that statement almost causing Cinder to step back away from the Seer, especially with how it raised its tentacle as if ready to wrap them around her throat.

"Understood," Cinder nodded.

"Before any of that however, I want you to deal with the one of those 'complications'," Salem instructed firmly. "William Joseph Blazkowicz the Third. He was responsible for overstimulating my Grimm and causing the first of the frenzies just by his presence in Vale, and, according to Professor Lionheart, he just happened to have nearly singlehandedly fought off the so-called demon invasion of Beacon."

This piqued Cinder's interest, once again smiling sultrily. "And now Ozpin has him?"

"And most likely told only his biased side of the story," Salem replied. "It's only fair that a being as ancient, powerful and no doubt wise as Blazkowicz deserves to be properly enlightened, wouldn't you say?"

Cinder couldn't argue with that. "Yes."

"I'll leave to your it discretion. One way or another, Blazkowicz ceases to be a threat," Salem said. "Demons or no, the events of late will change nothing, understand?" Cinder nodded. "Good."

Salem's voice ceased to be heard. The Seer Grimm turned and floated out of the moonlight and out of the room, leaving the naked woman standing there, a confident smile on her face. So, there exists an immortal killing whose mere existence drives Grimm to madness, and Salem wants him.

Cinder smirked. It was thing to hear about such a man. It was another to actually meet him. And perhaps even kill him.

"A man after my own heart."

(RWBY)

(Training Field #2)
(Beacon Academy)

(Three Days Later...)

Ruby's body ached all over as she tried to push herself up from the ground, the grass and dirt getting all over the gym clothes provided to her by the school. Wiping the dirt from her eyes she quickly made out William running straight for her, and despite the pain she reacted fast enough to avoid getting punted a second time into the air, countering with an upward kick to the side of his head. William blocked it with his left palm, closing it around her foot and lifted it up then sending her falling and screaming comically right on her back.

William grunted, "Your hand to hand sucks."

Ruby coughed, feeling her Aura starting to bottom out. Frowning she retorted, "Really? You didn't happen to notice yesterday? Or the day before? Feels like I've spent more time lying on the back than standing on my feet trying to land a stupid hit."

"..." William put his fists up. "Again! Guard drill. Onslaught. Ten minutes."

"Aww..." Ruby whined, dreading another one of William's patented guard training sessions, where she and the other girls had to each survive ten minutes of the Doom Slayer relentlessly pounding on them, whether be by dodging them or guarding against them. As expected, Yang was the only was to have gone the whole ten minutes without her Aura shattering. "Can't we go back to practicing with our weapons already?" Ruby feebly protested.

"Not until ya' land a hit on me," William responded. "You still haven't." He curved his pointer finger. "Up."

"RUBY! B.J.!" They turned to see Yang running towards them, herself also dressed in gym clothes and looking very unhappy. "Ruby, I thought I said to wait for me before we started."

Ruby dipped her head, "Sorry, Yang. I just...didn't feel like watching William lay you out again."

Yang looked outraged and levelled a glare over at William. For the past three days, they had been performing drill with the Doom Slayer none of them hadn't been able to land a single hit on the guy. Clad in his Praetor suit he would wipe the floor with each of member of Team RWBY – quickly devising strategies against each of their weapons and Semblances and leaving each of them thoroughly bruised, and with just his fists too. Yang had expected him to just break out and declare, 'Guns are for wusses,' at any moment, he was that dangerous with just his own two gauntlets.

Who would have thought someone without Aura could hit so hard? Was it the suit? Was it really just pure strength behind his punches? Was it something else as well?

"Hey, how did Weiss, Blake and JNPR get out of this?" Yang demanded.

"Weiss said she needed to go practice with her glyphs and Blake said something-" Ruby only got that far before William spun around and suddenly grabbed Blake seemingly out of thin hair by the scruff of her shirt, lifted her up in the air and slamming her on the ground. "...about getting the drop on...William?"

"...ow," Blake groaned. "How'd you even~" She stopped when saw how intense William had become.

"..." William noticed he was standing in the center of a spinning glyph. He instinctively dove out of way, quickly noticing a gleam of white out of the corner of his eye and jerked his head sideway to avoid a small, delicate fist from skimming across his face courtesy of Weiss. William caught Weiss' gut with his knee, knocking the wind and saliva right out of her, the Doom Slayer following up with a sweeping kick that sent her flying across the field, bouncing off the ground and landing on her stomach.

He turned toward Yang, crossing his arms to guard against a powerful haymaker courtesy of the blonde brawler, knocking him back and staggering him. With a grin Yang followed up with a dropkick that knocked William down on his ass before launching herself in the air, her Aura ablaze as she brought her fist down at the Slayer. William rolled backward onto his feet, Yang's fist embedding itself into the ground and leaving her open for him to hit Yang with a left hook that sent her falling and landing at Ruby's feet.

"SIS!" Ruby exclaimed, getting on her knee and quickly checking Yang for injuries. Her Aura had held, thankfully.

"I'm fine!" Yang exclaimed. "Lemme' up~"

"Hold on," Ruby cried. "You...you girls planned this?"

"Urghh..." Weiss groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose as she sat up. "It was Yang's idea to try and land at least one hit on Blazkowicz. These past three days have been ridiculous."

"..." William blinked. "I'm annoyin' you that much?"

"Annoying?!" Yang growled and wiped her mouth, muttering, "Three days of this bullshit!" She yelled at William, "Who the hell do you think you are?"

Blake sighed, "Apparently, someone who's being doing this a lot longer than we have~"

"I meant, you're holding back, Blazkowicz!" Yang exclaimed, surprising everyone. Even William's eyes lit up with that declaration. "Don't ask me how but I know that, unlike the rest of us, you're the one not giving it everything you've got."

Ruby gulped, "Yang?"

"..." William snorted. "An' if I brain you by mistake?"

Yang's eyes widened. A predatory grin followed, "You can try."

Weiss looked disgusted, "Excuse you?" The blonde cracked her neck followed by her knuckles. Weiss looked alarmed, "You...you can't be serious."

"HEY!" Ruby smiled nervously and drew Crescent Rose seemingly out of nowhere. "What say we stop skinning our knuckles and go practice with~" Suddenly William slapped the scythe right of out Ruby's hands, as it landed on the grass. Ruby quickly leaned back as she dodged William's uppercut before raising her left arm to guard against his kick. To her teammate's surprise, and Yang's astonishment, she wasn't sent flying; her knees were bent as she leant back, her eyes wide as saucers as her Aura held, and holding William's leg mid-kick.

"..." William lowered his leg. "Guess you ain't totally hopeless without your scythe."

"Hopeless?!" Yang cried. "Did you just call my sister~?!"

"Uh...thanks," Ruby smiled, unsure. She remembered that wasn't the first time William had blindsided her, that first time knocking her a fair bit across the training field. Now it felt like she had sensed it coming and took action, like William had been honing her reflexes over the past three days. Guess this means William wasn't just using her teammates and her as punching bags after all.

William turned to Yang, "That wasn't holdin' back, was it?"

"HEY!" Weiss cried when Yang shoved her aside so that she was in William's face.

"You've got balls picking on my sister right in front of me, Blazkowicz."

"..." William frowned. "Do your hair up."

"What?"

"Do. Your. Hair. Up," William uttered, sinisterly. "We talked 'bout some Baron tearin' your scalp off~"

Yang poked him in the chest, "That's never gonna happen. No one ever touches my hair and get away with~OW!" In the blink of an eye William's hand reached over and grabbed Yang's hair, yanking on it and forcing her down on her knees. "AH...WHAT~? LET GO!"

Weiss and Blake watched on with a mixture of disgust and befuddlement toward the Slayer's abhorrent treatment of Yang. "W-WILLIAM?!" Ruby cried. "Why are you~?! What are you doing?"

"ARGH!" Yang screamed and scratched away at William's hands as William yanked her up and forcing her to stand right back up. Her eyes blazed red, "LET GO OF MY HAIR YOU ASSHOLE!" She shoved William back, gritting her teeth as she massaged her aching scalp. She glared hatefully at William now, "WHAT THE FUCK'S WRONG WITH YOU?!"

Weiss' eyes lit up with realization. She smirked, "He just proved a point, Yang."

Blake shivered and ran a hand through her own hair, imagining a demon getting its hands on it, "Crude as he was."

"I don't care!" Yang shouted, running a hand through her golden locks. "You had no right to mess with my hair!"

"Yang?" Ruby said quietly. "I..."

William glared right back at her, "Neither does Hell." William cracked his knuckles, "You gonna go cry to em' if they ruffle your hair outta shape?"

VIOLENCE
- MICK GORDON, DOOM OST

Ruby gasped lightly and stepped as far back as she could, silently imploring Weiss and Blake to follow suit. Yang narrowed her eyes darkly at the Slayer, "Say that again?"

"...you're deaf now?"

"RAAARGHHHHHH!" Yang literally exploded as she hurled herself at the Doom Slayer, throwing a right hook that William easily dodged, balling his fists together and launching a counter that nailed Yang in the ribs, sending her spiraling in the air and landing on her side on the grass. Yang slammed a fist into the grass and stood back up, to see William raising his fists and getting into his own fighting stance. The brawler cried out as she went for him, launching a straight jab that he batted aside with his left hand before countering with his own cross punch, nailing Yang in the face and winding her long enough to not guard against the insane amount of punches William unleashed, hitting her in the chest and stomach that knocked the wind and saliva out of her and finishing with an uppercut which Yang managed to grab onto to, grinning, as she tried to twist his hand hard enough to force him down on his knees.

In a show of strength, however, William simply lifted Yang off the ground. She had shock on her face when she found herself clutching onto his fist when she realized she was in the air right before William slammed her back on the ground, stretching her foot out to kick her while she was down. She countered by swinging her own leg to strike his leg and using her strength to leave him staggering back on one foot, leaping back up onto her feet and hurling herself at him, unleashing a flurry of punches that he raised his left arm to block against before slamming his head against hers in a headbutt, dazing her long enough for William to get behind her, lock her arms with hers and suplexed her. Yang bounced off the ground and landed on her front while William looked barely even winded.

Yang groaned and struggled to push herself up, feeling like her Semblance was trying to keep up with the amount of damage William was inflicting on her. She pressed on, however, unleashing another hail of punches that William dodged and swerved around. Damn it, how can a guy this big move so fast? Yang thought. William shoulder charged Yang and striking her hip with his knee, leaving her open for another of his own flurry of punches, each blow feeling like it broke something inside her right before William put his foot down on her leg. She grunted in pain as she fell to her knees, and William's knee made impact with face. The crunch loud enough for Ruby, Weiss, and Blake to each recoil, with Ruby grabbing her own face when she believed she felt that.

Like her, William's biggest draw in close-combat was a combination of strength and speed; but unlike her his fighting style was completely offensive, as in pure attack and no room for defense, having to rely on being able to repeatedly dodge his opponent's strikes to avoid damage, and being able to read their movements seemingly before they even made him.

Perfect for dodging fireballs, rockets, and plasma projectiles. Which has proved to be a nightmare for Yang since they had started training together, and he was liberal with his kicks which was something that she always had trouble defending against. Hell, William was just playing off his weaknesses while shrugging off her strengths, namely her ability to tank massive amounts of damage, all the while showing no signs of exertion.

No struggling to stand and feeling like she was one big broken bone with her Aura was finally starting to give out Yang couldn't stop herself from flashing William a coy smile, "Had enough?" William stepped forward and raised a finger to his hairline, pinching a bit of his hair and narrowing his eyes. Yang growled, her eyes going red again and she charged him again, William dodged her punch and stuck his foot out to trip her. And to grab her by the air, keeping her face from hitting the ground and make her feel like he was about to tear her scalp off, before hoisting her backward enough to slam her onto the ground. William finished her off by slamming his foot down on her gut, smashing her Aura and leaving her a pained, exhausted mess as she clutched her stomach in pain as her Aura fizzled out.

"YANG!" Ruby ran past William, practically sliding across the grass as she fell to her knees and wrapped her arms around her sister. "A-are you ok?"

Yang gritted her teeth, in obvious pain, "I...felt that one." So far this was definitely the biggest beaten she had gotten from William. "Ah...fuck..." Yang rubbed her aching face and stared down William angrily. "All of that because of my stupid hair?"

++Making sure your opponent cannot grab hold of anything is paramount to survival in the field, Ms. Xiao Long,++ VEGA communicated from William's scroll that was lying on a rock some feet away. ++As Blazkowicz has mentioned and quite clearly demonstrated, if a demon or any other opponent in general gets a hold if you~++

"It wouldn't be pretty, I get it...ow..." Yang groaned when she felt her scalp. "Anything else about me you want to criticize?"

"Your temper for one," Weiss crossed her arms. "The way you kept throwing yourself at Blazkowicz and leaving yourself open it's like you keep asking for another beating."

Yang felt her left eye twitch, "My...temper?"

The heiress rolled her eyes, bothered that she had to repeat herself, "Your temper."

Ruby chucked nervously, "Heh heh...yeah, sis. No offence but when you get really mad you...well it's like you don't see anything but whoever it is that you're trying to beat up. And that can be a problem."

++Those statements are correct,++ VEGA said. ++Blazkowicz can attest to that.++

William turned to stare angrily at his scroll on the rock, before closing his eyes and exhaling, frustration. "William?" Ruby wondered. "Is there something we should know?"

"...ran on pure rage for eons," William replied. "Til' they dropped a temple on top o' me." And the next thing he knew he was suffering thousands and thousands of years' worth of nightmares, his 'silent suffering' as it were.

Yang blinked, "That's what it took to finally bring you down?" William nodded. The blonde smirked, "Must've been a really big temple." William cast a shadow over the fallen brawler as he stood above her. Yang's eyes widened and she swallowed when the silver in his eyes shone brightly as his head obscured the sun, until William extended his hand toward her.

"Who taught you to fight?" William asked.

"My dad," Yang replied as she accepted his hand and he lifted her up. "Did yours teach you rip and tear through everything in your path?"

"..." William didn't answer at first, right before looked embittered, still holding Yang's hand. "No." Yang glanced down between when she saw they were still holding hands and cringing when she felt his grip tighten, quickly pointing a finger downward. William realized what he was doing and let go of her.

Ruby whistled as she clasped her hands behind her back before turning towards William's scroll, "Sooooo...VEGA, it's been three days already. How are we doing?"

++Through analysis of your-++

Yang growled, "Just give us a number."

++Sixty. Sixty percent chance of imminent death during a Level 4 Widescale Untethered Cross Dimensional Event.++

"..." silence came over Team RWBY, all of them staring wide-eyed and slack-jawed over the AI just casually pointing out the odds of their survival. "I guess we keep 'training', then?" Blake deadpanned.

William walked over toward the rock, reached behind it and picked up the chainsaw. He revved it up and turned toward Team RWBY, a totally dissonant look on his face. "Volunteers?"

Ruby looked like she was close to being overjoyed before snatching Crescent Rose up from the ground, "Me first!"

(Training Field #3)

Striking at the training dummy Ren paused only for a moment when he heard the sounds of Team RWBY training in the next field past the trees, which was cacophony of ecstatic shouting, hurried screaming, blades colliding with each other, explosions and the occasional 'birdy no!' Suddenly he was glad Team JNPR didn't go along with Yang's plan to ambush William just because she felt he wasn't challenging her enough. He was momentarily distracted again when an uplifted tree landed right beside him, blowing dust and leaves everywhere before Nora landed right on top of it, hefting her hammer Magnhild over her shoulder and with a big smile on her face.

"Wow, sounds like Blazko's going all out," Nora chirped. "Almost disappointed we didn't agree to join in."

"I'm not quite ready for Blazkowicz to 'go right out' on us, Nora," Ren admitted, closing his eyes. The way William was about to break his guard and match him blow to blow still fresh in his mind. "Felt like we were training with a monster."

"Yeah, and I thought I knew how to train hard," Nora chuckled. "Speaking of him, how's Jaune and Pyrrha doing?"

They turned in time to see Jaune get laid out "You forgot to keep your shield up, Jaune," Pyrrha pointed out as she lowered Miló in its sword configuration and stared down at Jaune as he laid on his back, Crocea Mors in both of his hands – sword and shield – and looking embarrassed with himself.

"I...uh...just slipped. That's all," Jaune chuckled as he got back up. "Back to it...YAH!" he swung his sword overhead which Pyrrha blocked easily when she raised Akoúo̱, shoulder-charging Jaune and swinging Miló, Jaune blocking her attack with his shield and managing to keep his balance before thrusting his sword, again Pyrrha easily parrying him before quickly transforming her weapon into it's spear configuration and performing a riposte, thrusting Miló into Jaune's chest-plate, stunning him and leaving Pyrrha free to swing her spear into Jaune's chest, causing in to spin in midair as he fell back to the ground.

Pyrrha gasped when she thought she hurt him, "Jaune!" She dropped Miló and magnetized Akoúo̱ to her back as she knelt beside Jaune. "Are you alright?"

Jaune blinked, stunned more by Pyrrha showing concern for him than that fact she nearly impaled him. "I...I'm fine."

"I'm sorry," Pyrrha blurted out, holding her hands as if she couldn't decide whether to touch him or not. "I...I thought that was easy enough for you to counter or doge or~"

Jaune smiled reassuringly and grasped her hands, "Hey Pyrrha, it's ok!" His smile slowly became a nervous one as he gently pushed her back, "I'll be ready for you next time?"

Next time? Pyrrha wondered. Training with Jaune over the past three days in preparation for Beacon's re-opening she could tell his skill was middling at best, almost non-existent at worst; as if the Grimm and undead attack on Vale was the first time he had ever handled a sword; and yet here he was at Beacon, the most prestigious Huntsman academies on Remnant, and he had to have at least gone through Combat School from wherever he came from to get here.

The Champion of Mistral shivered. She didn't want to assume the worst.

"Hey, what up dweebs?!"

Worst came along in the form of Team CRDL stepping onto the field past the tree from the direction of the academy, Cardin with a shit-eating smirk on his face and his mace held over his shoulder, his teammates also looking like they were ready to pick a fight with their weapons out and armor spiff and ready for more blood to be spilled on them. Not demonic blood, human blood.

"Hey, Cardin...right?" Jaune didn't know the guy but tried to be friendly nonetheless. "What are you guys doing here?"

"What does it look like?" Russel asked. "We're here to train."

Pyrrha blinked, "Well, the field's big enough~"

"For one team," Cardin grabbed Jaune by the scruff of his gym shirt and lifted him up so that they were eye to eye. "And a few training dummies." The bully's teeth were almost shark-like, "Guess who just got volunteered?" He paused when he felt Miló javelin poking the side of his skull, "Oh?"

Pyrrha noted Russell, Dove and Sky with their weapon drawn and glaring her way as her extended weapon was pointed at Cardin. "Let go of him. Right. Now." Nora and Ren approached Team CRDL, brandishing StormFlower and Magnhild threateningly.

"Wait, Pyrrha~" Jaune choked out as Cardin started the twist of the fabric of his gym shirt around his neck.

"Yes 'Champion of Mistral', this is between us," Cardin sneered. He narrowed his eyes, "Think I know why Pyrrha Nikos herself got put on your team, you suck this much ~"

Everyone heard the sounds of wood splintering as something was sent hurtling through the trees before skidding across Field #3 on its own two feet and slowing to a stop before Team JNPR and CRDL. Both teams found themselves staring William J. Blazkowicz III's armored back, his arms crossed in front of him like he had just braced himself against a very powerful strike. Lowering his arms and turning to face the mystified 1st Year students they could see smoke rising from a scorch mark on his chest.

"Blazko!" Nora chimed happily.

Cardin let go of Jaune. He coughed as he staggered backward and rubbing his bruised neck the middling swordsman smiled and asked, "D-did Yang manage to land a hit on you?"

"..." William ignored Jaune and turned his attention squarely on Cardin and his team. A lengthy amount of silence passed, Cardin's wide-eyed look of surprise twisted into a scowl.

"Yeah, ease off the silent tough-guy bullshit Blazkowicz, you know it's me...we kicked demon ass together, remember? All five of us," Cardin indicated himself and his team. He gave a half-hearted nudge towards JNPR. "Plus, these losers too I guess." He smiled, "It's another four days 'till classes start and we keep seeing you head out to train with these gimps~"

"...point being?" William interjected, causing Cardin to be taken back. "You want in on this?"

Normally he would have decked the next person to cut him off like that, but William just happened to be wearing his helmet, so Cardin replied with a confident, "I just sayin' that a badass like you can do better than hanging out with bunch of geeks." He pointed at thumb at himself. "Try some real Huntsmen."

"'Real'?" Nora stuck her tongue out.

With William around Jaune felt a confidence boost. "I don't thinking kicking a half-dead Imp counts for anything, Cardin?" he said, Pyrrha and Ren nodding in agreement.

"Why, you little ass~!" Cardin tried reaching for Jaune only for William to grab him wrist. "Hey, what're you~?" The Slayer suddenly raised his free hand and flicked him between the eyes, knocking him off his feet; Russell, Dove and Sky each crying out and leaping out the way as Cardin landed on his posterior on the grass.

"Cardin!" Sky exclaimed as Cardin winced and rubbed his aching behind. "You alright, man?"

"Whoa, one little love tap and Cardin's outta here," Nora declared giddily.

Cardin tore his arm away from Sky when he tried to help him up and grabbed his mace, "You just made a big mistake, you steel freak!"

Everyone questioned Cardin's sanity as he clearly was trying to escalate things. "You do realize whom you're trying to pick a fight with now, right?" Ren pointed out.

"Uh...yeah, Cardin," Dove looked uncertain about what their team leader was getting him and his teammates into. "Maybe we shouldn't piss this guy off."

Cardin wiped his mouth the back of his hand and chuckled scornfully, "Why not?! You take away the guns and the suit and what's left? Nothing!" Cardin's voice was raised now. "No Aura, no Semblance, just some soulless nobody who got lucky and killed a few monsters."

Aiiiiii... Jaune mentally hissed, doing a double take between Cardin and William. Again no one could tell how he was taking Cardin's insults, but judging from his body language it would seem he's fairly composed.

"...wanna go?"

"Huh?" Cardin's eyes widened when William took his helmet revealing the fading bruises on his face beside his narrow-eyed irritation. William dropped his helmet on the ground and cracked the joints in his wrists. "Y-you're serious?"

William's smile looked unsettling to see, "Spent too long relyin' on the suit." He cracked his neck, "Could do with a warmup."

"..." Sky, Bronze and Russell all gripped their weapons tightly and made sure to stay behind Cardin, who appeared to have been taken back by the Doom Slayer's confidence and had thoroughly eaten his words. Cardin played it off, however. He snorted. "Tch...let's get outta here. This golem isn't worth our time." He glared over his shoulder at Jaune as he and his team walked off, "I'll leave you alone with your scraggly butt boy and his team of losers."

"..." William glared as he watched them leave, rightfully disgusted by Cardin's remark. Again, another asshole had to have the last word. He bent over and picked up his helmet, dusting it off around the Mark of the Doom Slayer.

Nora pointed at the direction where Cardin had walked off and asked, "Did he just say...?"

William noticed Jaune was left uncomfortable by Cardin's parting words, even more so when saw that William was staring his way. "Arc?"

"Y-yeah?"

"Relax."

Jaune breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, "Right, yeah. Cardin was just being a di~"

"Scraggly ain't my type," William added understandably freaking Jaune out, and no one could tell if he was being serious or joking around at Jaune's expense. He paused, "Weren't gonna try an' blindside me today?"

He has a type? Jaune thought, bewildered. He shook his head and answered, "Yeah...uh...that was Yang's idea. I decided that we preferred to live."

William stared blankly at Jaune, "I wouldn't have gon' that far." He blinked before adding, "Probably."

"YOOOOHOOOOOOO...WILLIAM!" they heard Ruby call out from the tree line separating the fields.

"WHERE'D YOU GO, B.J.!" Yang shouted. "I DIDN'T PUNCH YA' TOO FAR, DID I?!"

William and Team JNPR turned to see Team RWBY step onto the field from the forest, Blake jumping down from the branches and landing on both feet on the ground, Weiss grimacing as she brushed the leaves off her gym shirt, Yang was rubbing her aching fist while Ruby still had Crescent Rose in her hands. Weiss stuck her tongue out in disgust when she noticed dirt on her hand before seeing that William was with Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha and Ren, "Did we interrupt anything?"

"Nah, you just missed William chasing Cardin off and rejecting Jaune," Nora chimed, drawing a scandalous gasp from Ruby. Jaune looked at her wearily, Pyrrha giving her the stink eye and Ren facepalming. She could only smile and add, "I'm joking. He's knows I'm joking."

William put his helmet on. He saw that the scorch mark on his chest plate was still smoldering, "..."

Yang smirked triumphantly. "Hey VEGA, what do I get for managing to land a hit on B.J.?"

++Knowledge that you stand a modicum of a chance against the demon's elite.++

Yang's mood soured considerably, "That's all?"

"It's only been three days," Blake pointed. "And you just got one hit in. He was just about to wipe the floor with us...again."

"Yes, is this your idea of training to fight demons, Blazkowicz?" Weiss asked heatedly. "You relentlessly coming at us and forcing us to repeatedly avoid your blows and we have to somehow try to remain on the attack because relying on defense just leaves us open?"

"I think that's the point," Ren stated.

"Those demons were relentless," Pyrrha said. "And they didn't leave us much time to keep our guard up." She turned to William, "They rely mostly on offense, overwhelming their target with numbers and firepower, leaving no room for them guard." Pyrrha paused as she reflected on that desperate battle days ago. "Like you."

"..." William nodded. "You don't give em' an inch."

Weiss snorted, "So...it's all about throwing ourselves against the demons harder than they do? Like we are berserkers?"

"...ain't dainty enough for ya'?" William inquired.

Weiss glared at William's attempt to rile her up, "I...am not going to respond to that."

"Jus' did," William sounded like he just smirked, drawing the heiress' ire.

"ANYWAYS!" Yang smirked and backfisted the scorch mark on William's chest-plate. "That's for messing with my hair." She crossed her arms, "I'll be sleeping well tonight."

(RWBY)

(Team RWBY's Room)

(Later that night...)

Yang was having a problem trying to get some shut eye on account of Ruby screaming in her sleep, once again in the grip of yet another horrific night terror, lying in a fetal position and holding her pillow against the back of her head and bending it so that covered her ears. The same were said of Weiss and Blake, each looking utterly bedraggled.

"...Yang...?" Blake groaned out.

Yang gritted her teeth and threw the covers off, tossing her pillow to the side as she went over to Ruby, writhing about in her sleep, "Hey! Ruby? RUBY?!" Yang panicked when she saw her clawing away at her own arms enough to break the skin and draw blood. "C'mon, you have to wake up!"

Ruby jolted awake, a sweating, tearful mess. "Wha~? NO!" Ruby suddenly shoved Yang back and clamored backward toward the wall. ''S-stay away from me!"

Yang looked genuinely hurt, "Ruby?"

"STAY AWAY!" Ruby barked. "I'M DANGEROUS!"

"Ruby!" Blake exclaimed. The Reaper turned to see Blake looking at her pleadingly, "It's over."

"O-over?"

Weiss nodded, "Yes. You're awake."

"And you're here with us," Yang smiled as she reached out for sister, whom thankfully didn't try to resist her and allowed her to wrap her arms around her in a gentle embrace, resting her chin against her shoulder.

Ruby looked at her trembling hands, briefly smiling in relief before it twisted into a pained grimace and she broke down into sobs, crying into her older sister's shoulder and returned the hug. Blake and Weiss watched on, pity and sorrow on their faces though the heiress tried her best to hide it by shifting her weight so that she was facing the door, but occasionally glanced at Ruby over shoulder.

"...we...we were back at the amphitheater on our first day here and...those demonized students that were blocking our way to the portal..." Ruby cried, hiccupping a bit. "...they were crying, asking me 'Why did you kill me, Ruby?' over and over again."

Yang sniffed, closing her eyes as she continued to hold her sister, Ruby...at least it wasn't about mom again.

"They surrounded me and I...I kept screaming for help, but William couldn't get to me and-" Ruby broke out in sobs again.

William? Yang thought. She had hoped William would save her? She let her cry for a bit before she asked, "Ruby?"

"...hmm?"

"Why did you say that you were dangerous?"

"We...I killed those people, remember?" Ruby pulled away from Yang to look her in the eyes.

"There wasn't anything we could have done," Weiss said. "There wasn't anything left of them by that point."

"I know, but~" Ruby dipped her head. "I'm scared...to go back to sleep."

"..." Yang sighed and smiled a bit. "Ruby?"

"Yeah?"

"Lie down for me, would you?"

"Why would I...oh..."

Lights were out once again, this time Ruby was sharing her bed with Yang, the elder sister fast asleep and holding her against her chest, her heartbeat comforting enough for Ruby to settle down and feel her eyelids grow heavy. Ruby smiled a bit, she remembered crawling into Yang's bed at night whenever she had bad dreams, especially after their mother went. Looking over Yang's shoulder she could see that Weiss and Blake were also asleep.

Her sister laid beside her, but she was still afraid to go to sleep. She remembered that it was William she had cried out for in her dream. Looking over at the window she remembered that William was staying in the guest wing of this building. As quietly as she could she slowly lifted her legs out from the covers and as gently and as quietly as she could she moved over her sister.

Her feet on the carpet she tip-toed over towards the window and quietly opened it.

(Blazkowicz's Room)

After a lifetime in Hell sleeping with his back against a wall with weapon in hand and one eye figuratively open, William couldn't see himself sleeping on a soft, comforting bed. And after another lifetime flat on his back in a cold sarcophagus he couldn't bring himself to willfully lay down on his back for any period of time ever. So that left him sitting in the corner opposite the door leading into his room, shotgun in his hands. He didn't look any less peaceful with his eyes closed and his breathing slow, his appearance that of someone who looked like he was finally having a peaceful moment.

Which disappeared when his opened his eyes and looked ahead at the window, and the red blinds covering it. Standing up he grunted as he cracked his back and shoulders before walking over to the window, shotgun in hand, and pulling the blinds apart, revealing Ruby in her black, school-provided pajamas, was standing in front of the closed window with her hands against the glass and an awkward smile on his face.

"..." William blinked tiredly, appearing unsurprised to see her.

Ruby swallowed, seeing him dressed in only a t-shirt and boxers. "I...couldn't sleep."

Was she serious? "..."

"Can I come in?"

"..." William looked like he needed a few moments to contemplate. He opened his window and Ruby came awkwardly tumbling in landing face first on the ground. Ignoring her William shut the window.

Ruby picked herself up brushed herself. Much of his room was bathed in moonlight and she could see how simple he kept it. The desk that had his weapons lying on it, a serious no-no when it came to gun safety and storage, and the crate of ammunition pushed against the wall to the right of the door. She turned to the Slayer, "Um...William?"

William blinked, "Yes?"

"You don't mind if I sleep here tonight?" Ruby gave a small smile and stared down at the floor, shyly. "I've had bad dreams..."

"..." She was serious.

"I...I can't sleep B.J."

"I...I had a bad dream...about grandfather."

"The old bastard can't do anything to us anymore."

"Naughty word!"

"...can I sleep with you? Just for tonight, please?"

"No."

Ruby looked deflated, "No?"

"I don't mind."

The Reaper perked up a bit and smiled, "Oh, thanks." She picked the empty bed to the left that she saw how no one sleeping in it and sighed as she got under the covers. She tried making small talk, "So, William, we've got four days until classes start so what are we~?" She saw that William was sitting down in the corner of the room opposite the door, propping himself up with shotgun in hand.

"..." Ruby breathed in hard. It was same way he slept while they journeyed to Vale. And here at Beacon in his room he felt more comfortable sleeping on the floor. Were things really so horrible for you, you can't even sleep in a bed anymore? Ruby sniffled.

Staring at the ceiling she found sleep wasn't coming to her at all, not with William sitting alone in the corner. She closed her eyes and sighed. Grabbing her pillow, she got out of bed and went over to William and plopping down beside him, the pillow against her back and using it as support as she rested herself against the Slayer's shoulder. William opened his eyes, turning his head slightly to see Ruby's curious behavior and wondering if that girl truly was insane if she thought she'd be safer sleeping right beside him like this.

"..." William studied her face closely and saw that she was already out like a light, a small, peaceful smile on her face.

He sighed, adjusting himself a bit so that Ruby could rest her head comfortably on his shoulder, his shotgun lying on the floor in front of them. Instead of reaching for it William just crossed his arms and closed his eyes, content to just sit in the corner with Ruby and drift off to sleep.

He didn't have any dreams for the rest of the night.

(RWBY)

(Dining Hall)

(The Next Morning)

Four days after the attack on Beacon and the Dining Hall was the second facility to be reopened. The builders were still installing the windows, but at the least the bodies had been removed so that Beacon's upcoming student body could eat their breakfasts sitting at a proper table and not on a grass in at outdoor hospice. And none were happier about that then Weiss as she dug into what she considered to be real food and was quite happily enjoy it. That is Nora resumed reading the new rules for Beacon Academy off her scroll out loud...

"'Whenever engaged in sexual intercourse at least two forms of birth control are recommended to be used at all times,'" Nora said, causing Weiss to gag and nearly choke on her food while Yang just erupted into laughter. "These can be acquired free of charge at the Nurse's Office."

"That's...urghhh!" Weiss made a disgusted face. "Really? That's part of the new rules?"

Blushing, Pyrrha stated, "Well they really can't stop people from...you know, guess all they can do is remind everyone to take precautions."

"Precautions against what?" Ruby looked up from her plate. "Sorry, I wasn't listening~"

"Not for your ears, little sis'," Yang smirked and covered Ruby's ears, causing Ruby to pout comically.

She crossed her arms, "Bet William would tell me." Silence overtook the entire table they were all sitting at, prompting an immediate, insecure response, "What?"

"You...spent the night in Williams' room?" Blake asked.

Ruby nodded, "The nightmares I was having, I felt - I dunno - safer with him, I guess."

"..." Yang became oddly silent. "...I see."

"Nothing against you, sis', I swear," Ruby put her hands up. "I just...didn't want to risk waking you, Weiss and Blake again so..." she looked up from her seat. "I wonder where he is?" Ruby had woken up alone in his room lying on one of the beds, William having obviously laid her there before. Ruby returned to their room, walking in her pajamas down the hallway. Thankfully, no one had seen her exit Williams' room in the guest wing where they wake off misconstrued it in a heartbeat.

Yang however looked like she wasn't convinced it was as pure as Ruby had made it all out to be judging from how unhappy she looked. Nora had to give voice to it. "Gee Yang, you're acting like she snuck into his room so they can~?" Nora suddenly felt Ren cover her mouth and hiss into her ear, "Rennnnnn...?!"

Jaune groaned, ''Aw, jeez."

The air around their table became a bit warmer, Ruby and Blake edging as far away from Yang as her eyes went red, "Stop. Talking."

"About what?" Ruby loudly complained. "Why's everyone getting angry at William? I snuck into his room to do what?" Speak of the devil she noticed William step into the dining hall, tray in hand and dressed in a shirt and pants, sandals on his feet. She smiled as she stood and waved to him, "WILLIAM! OVER HERE!"

The entire hall went silent, every head turning to see the Doom Slayer himself dressed in civvies and holding a tray full of food. At that William shifted his tray so he could hold it with one hand, leaving him to give a small, awkward wave with his free hand. Everyone suddenly went about their business, this awkward exchange ending as quickly as it had started. William saw Ruby waving at him and sighed, stepping over toward them.

Sitting down at the edge of the table beside Blake everyone saw that had filled his tray almost to the brim – two servings of oatmeal, hash, sausages, eggs, various fruits – enough for two people. "You sure you got enough?" Blake remarked.

"Has to be. Blazko's a big guy," Nora stated

William was about to dig in when he noticed Yang glaring at him. Should've seen this coming, William thought. He decided he didn't want this to escalate so he glared back harder at Yang and called her a, "Perv."

This left Yang understandably gob smacked, "What?!"

"..." William continued to glare at the blonde, making her feel considerably small.

"William?" Ruby did a double take between the Slayer and the Brawler. "Yang? Why are you getting angry over me sleeping with~?"

"In the same room as~" William cut in.

"...William?" Ruby finished, confused more than ever.

Weiss covered her face and groaned into her hands, "Good lord."

"Wow, this is actually happening," Jaune piped up.

William turned to Jaune, "What is?" Back to Yang he said, "Nothin's wrong. Nothin' inappropriate happened. Nothin' I'd every betray anyone's trust over." He paused, looking at Yang hard. "Right?"

Yang sensed the stern yet sincerity in his voice and sighed, nearly in relief and smiled, "Nope. Everything's fine."

Now everyone at the table breathed a collective a relief, save for Ruby whom in all her purity was left wondering what had just happened. "Um...could someone please tell me what just happened?"

"OW! HEY!"

Ruby saw that William was once again looking peeved at something behind her. Everything turned to see Team CRDL sitting at another table, Cardin currently accosting Velvet by pulling on her left ear and laughing heartlessly.

The sounds of bone cracking were heard as William balled his hands into fists and he stood up from his seat

"Whoa, B.J. where are you~?" Yang cried as he walked around his chair and headed toward Team CRDL's table. Suddenly his intent became clear. "Oh shit!"

Velvet noticed William walking her way, murder clearly evident on his face and no doubt believing she wasn't able, or willing, to defend herself. Desperate to avoid the inevitable bloodbath Velvet suddenly dropped her tray, reached up to Cardin's hand, dug her fingers into his hand and twisted it hard enough for the 1st Year to shriek in pain and let go of her.

"AH! FAUNUS BITCH!" Cardin exclaimed as he nursed his twisted wrist. He lunged right back at her "I'LL~" And felt a strong, calloused hand grab him by his left ear. "Hey, wha~?"

William was impassive when he asked, "Care to make time now?"

Not waiting for an answer William twisted his ear, causing Cardin to scream out comically in his pitched voice, sending trays and foodstuffs flying everywhere when he began to struggle. Twisting his ear harder Cardin found himself on his knees, pawing desperately at William's hand. "Fuck!" Russell exclaimed as he went for his daggers, stopping when William grabbed a knife off table and held it in reverse grip.

"...come on," William said, daring Russell to keep holding onto his daggers. He looked miffed when Russell suddenly dropped them and put his hands up.

"H-hey, c'mon take it easy Blazkowicz...we we're just fooling around," Russell stuttered with an awkward smiled on his face. William turned to Velvet to see her still rubbing her aching ear, moving him to twist Cardin ear even further, tears of pain forming in his ear.

"..." William turned back to his table and at the people he had been sitting with, looking disappointed at each of them, like he had to be the one to step up. Silence was his answer. That and shame plastered on Team RWBY and JNPR's faces, Blake staring down at the table unable to look at William and Weiss, while trying to appear indifferent, couldn't look at him either. The Slayer tightened his grip on Cardin's ear as he was met with silence save for Cardin's cries of pain and struggling against his arm.

"OW! L-LEGGO! YOU'RE GONNA TEAR MY EAR OFF!" Cardin screamed. He gritted his teeth when he felt the muscle in his ear were beginning to tear. "OW-ARGHH-OWWW!"

"Blazkowicz!" Velvet exclaimed. She thought her hair stood on end as he turned his annoyed gaze on her. "I-I think he's had enough."

"..." William snorted in disgust and released him, causing him stagger forward and fall over onto his back, reaching up to his head to nurse his reddened ear.

"OW...W-WHA...? This was none any of your business, freak!" Cardin angrily exclaimed. Panic gripped him and he immediately regretted his word when William put his foot down on his leg and pinned it to the floor, hard. "WAIT, DON'T...ARGHHH!"

"BLAZKOWICZ!" gasps went all round when they saw Glynda storm into the dining hall, riding crop in hand, furious that William was direction his aggression upon the students. "Explain yourself...now!"

Cardin was close to hyperventilating as William removed is chest, "Ms. Goodwitch, he~"

"He was defending me," Velvet cried before any of CRDL could speak up.

Sky shook his head, "Uh...we were just~"

"I don't like bullies," William replied, he frowned. "Or people who jus' let em' do it."

Glynda felt like that was directed at her as much as everyone else in the hall. And she realized there was no way she could discipline William for this, not because she was incapable of doing so but it also it would send the wrong message that standing up for someone, even if it meant using violence, wasn't something Beacon tolerated.

"Cardin Winchester," Glynda addressed the still downed bully. "Do you have a problem with Blazkowicz?"

Cardin glowered, "I sure do, ma'am."

"Then I suggest you, your team and him work out your differences...in the arena."

A/N: Yeah, the Doom Slayer's idea of 'training' is to see how long Teams RWBY and JNPR can last against him. ^_^ Honestly, I was unsure about how to go about it, and frankly I wanted the scenes to be brief so we can get back to the Grimm/Demon slaughter, right after Team CRDL's inevitable curb-stomping (spoiler warning).

I've been watching a lot of vids on YouTube complaining about all the problems that show has – continuity errors, glaring character flaws, limited amount of fight scenes after Season 3, Blake (honestly, her personality, her mental reasoning, and the way she treats Sun in Season 4 pissed me off...William would rip her hands off if she tried to lay a hand on him) and I'm understandably taking them all into account as I write this fic.

Also, there is the so-called 'villain problem' that RWBY apparently has...and well it kind of does, though I understand there's only so much you can do with a runtime that's usually 15 minutes an episode, especially if you've got an entire rogues gallery to use. And that might have inspired the beginning of this chapter – right off the bat we get a clue into what motivates Cinder.

I doubt we've seen the last of her in canon. But I seriously doubt Rooster Teeth will get around to giving her an actual backstory and motivation for doing the things she does, so it was left to me to fill the void. And it's just as every bit as evil and grotesque as you can imagine.

Guest mentioned God of War. That's what I was playing while writing this chapter. Best game to come out in years I reckon. Single-player games are dying, my ass. ;P

Big shoutout to my new beta tuckerman120. :D

...did anyone spot the Doom comic reference? BTW it wasn't 'Rip and tear' it was another line.

...
...

...

DOOM ETERNAL!

Hayden fucked up somehow and now it's Hell on Earth. Pain Elementals, Archviles, Arachnotrons, Doomguy's wearing what looks like the classic suit...and GODDAMN TENTACLE DEMONS?!

And Team RWBY will be visiting earth sometime in this fic's future... probably after a major time skip or whatever I've got planned. And I've got A LOT planned. ^_^