Dead Man Walking

by Mtop70

Jackson Wesson stands as the shell of a man he once was. Three years after a pivotal moment in his life, a brush with death drops him in the arms of Team RWBY, and someone he never thought he'd see again. Over time he creates bonds with RWBY and others, and collects pieces of himself as well. But when truths are revealed, can he forgive and forget, or will he burn it to the ground?

14. Mountain Glenn: Down The Rabbit Hole

AN: Hey everyone, welcome back to another chapter of Dead Man Walking! Now, someone pointed out to me how lackluster my summary was for my story. And looking back at it…Jesus Christ they were right. SO! There is now an updated story description to Dead Man Walking, just thought I'd put it out there, for those that may not notice it, and to the newcomers. Shoutout to aArahex CEO, The Kakapo, NaberRend, Rustler of Jimmies, firebirdnamedsam, and GodzillaRed-Senpai (another phenomenal name by the way) for following/favoriting the story, let's begin!

Also, a pre-warning to the audience, if you felt like the story hasn't been deserving of the title M-Rated, well it's about to earn it in this chapter. Children, elderly, and the faint-of-heart will be notified appropriately.

…

The fall was longer than he thought.

Hopping into the hole, Jackson was unable to see exactly how far down it lead, and it wasn't until he saw a faint green hue beneath his feet, did he realize how close he was to landing, and braced his legs moments before impact. Upon landing, a plume of dust was blown upwards as the the floor beneath his feet began to crack under the immediate pressure of Jackson's weight and force of impact. Standing up to his full height, he looked out to the underground skyline.

It was an almost exact replica of the abandoned city above him, the only difference being that this one was in much better condition, and it now had a ceiling. Not even a minute after he landed did Jackson begin to hear the whirring of machines, and the barking of orders, although the voice giving orders sounded familiar. Regardless, Ruby was still down here somewhere, and he was determined to find her. After looking around at his surroundings, he found himself standing atop one of the larger buildings in the underground village. He had to make his way to the street, but he had absolutely no clue what he expects to find down here, so he decided to keep to the high ground. He found a nearby rooftop, and got a running start before jumping off the ledge and sent towards the other building. He came to a rough landing on the next rooftop, but he managed to keep his footing and kept himself from falling off the roof. He repeated the process, and continued to hop from roof to roof, until he reached the building that resided at the edge of the street below him, and giving him a much better view of what's going on below him.

What he saw slightly drained the color from his face. In the streets below, to his left, he saw multiple White Fang members carrying and loading crates onto a nearby train, a very long one at that, carrying God knows what. Weapons, ammo, infantry, Dust; whatever the case, Jackson had no intention of seeing where it planned on going. And located just to the front of the train, he found Ruby, surrounded by White Fang members, with-

"Torchwick?" Jackson asked. Popping the scope on Khvostov, he looked through the sights to get a better view to confirm his suspicions. Sure enough, after close inspection, it was indeed him, one of Vale's Most Wanted.

"That bastard…" Jackson said. "That snake will do anything to save his own ass." Right as he said that, he saw Roman walk up to where Ruby currently stood, without anything to defend herself, and backhanded her, sending her to the ground. Jackson bit back his tongue as he inhaled sharply, his body jumping. His grip on Khvostov tightened immensely as he had to hold himself back from screaming out. Ruby pulled herself back up, and ran at Roman, attempting to land a hit on him. But he simply sidestepped the attack, and stuck his leg out, tripping her and causing her to fall back down. They were playing with her, like a predator playing with their food like a toy. That was it.

Jackson began to jump between roofs once again, sticking to the buildings and making his way closer to where Ruby currently was. Eventually, after being forced to climb up to some of the roofs on the way there, Jackson was finally there, as close as he could get to Ruby while still staying on the rooftop. Now that he was much closer, he didn't need the scope, and went back to the simple holographic sight. Taking aim once more, he got them back in his sights just in time to watch Ruby attempt to make a run for it. Using her semblance, Ruby went from standing in front of Torchwick, to ending up fifteen feet away from him, a flurry of rose petals where she once stood. It looked like Ruby might actually get away, and Jackson had a glimmer of hope that it may be true, until Roman pointed his cane towards her, the handle pointing towards her, and pushed a button located somewhere along the body of the cane.

As soon as he pushed the button, the handle shot out, attached by a string of industrial-strength nylon, and careened towards Ruby. It soon caught up with her, and hooked onto her shoulder, bringing her to an abrupt stop, yanking her upper body backwards hard and causing her to fall flat on her back. As soon as she landed, the nylon string began to be pulled back, some small mechanism within the cane doing the pulling, dragging Ruby with it. He had to do something, he wasn't just gonna stand around and watch this happen. He pulled back from the edge of the roof, all the way to the opposite edge of the roof from where he was just moments ago. Pressing a button on Khvostov, it transformed to its axe counterpart, and Jackson held it with both hands. He hefted the axe around, trying to get a feel for it, since this is the first time he will actually be using it in battle. Once he's familiarized himself with it, and grown comfortable with wielding it, Jackson broke out into a full-blown sprint.

'Let's get this show on the road!'

He began to quickly near the edge of the roof, and right before he was set to run straight off the edge, Jackson got low and used his legs to spring himself upwards off the roof. Jackson soared through the air straight towards the group of insurgents, still unbeknownst to them of his presence, but he'll drop in soon enough.

He was on a set collision course with one of the White Fang members, so he adjusted accordingly. Jackson's feet crashed into his back, and sent him to the floor, with Jackson landing on top of him feet first, full force. Jackson practically rode him like a surfboard for two feet, until the corpse came to a grinding halt. Everyone was thrown off by his surprise appearance, and Jackson used these precious few seconds to free Ruby. Hefting his axe upwards, he brought it down straight on top of the nylon cord, severing it in two and essentially freeing Ruby from Torchwick's grasp. After taking a moment to process it, the remaining insurgents pulled out their weapons and opened fire, and Roman was upset about his cane.

"Aw…" Roman said.

Acting quickly, Jackson brought up his axe and sent it into the insurgent's leg on his right. The axe dug deep into their leg, right above the knee, as they screamed out in agony. Quickly yanking it out, he brought it around a full 360 degrees, turning his body with the axe, until it collided with the same person's back, the blunt side making contact right between their shoulder blades. With one leg out of commission, they were sent toppling over, with severe spinal damage done to them. With him out of the way, Jackson placed Khvostov on his back, right next to Crescent Rose, and began to make a beeline for Ruby. He paid no attention to the man whose rib cage he caved in with his feet, both his lungs collapsing as he slowly suffocated.

Ruby made no effort to unhinge herself from Torchwick's hook handle as she was being dragged back, but when the line suddenly went slack and she stopped moving, she just lied there, confused as to why she stopped. When she began to hear gunfire and someone scream out in pain, she began to take action. But before she could so much as lift herself back up, she was scooped up by someone, and ran off with her in their arms away from the White Fang. She was about to try and wriggle free of their grasp, but then they spoke.

"Ruby!" Jackson exclaimed. "Are you alright?"

"Jackson!" Ruby exclaimed as well. She couldn't be happier that he was here with her. "I'm fine. Thanks for the help back there." As Ruby continued to talk, Jackson kept up his pace, running towards the nearest building as rounds collided with the ceramic plate on his back. Shielding Ruby as much as he could, Jackson collided with the door with his right shoulder, bashing it down with ease. Setting Ruby down, she was finally allowed to use her own two feet, though the hail of incoming fire sent her down to her knees, while Jackson opened fire back at the White Fang. He eased off the fire for a moment to take Crescent Rose off his back and hand it to its rightful owner.

Ruby gratefully took back her weapon, but as she did so, she got a good look at Jackson, and let out a gasp.

"Jackson…" Ruby trailed off. She saw him covered in bruises and dirt, cuts and tears all over his shirt, his somewhat heavy breathing, and especially the large slash on his shirt at his midsection. It was difficult to notice, but Ruby was able to make out the separate shards of the ceramic plates on his chest, as well as hear the faint chink of two or more shards colliding as he moved around.

Jackson understood what she was thinking, based on her facial expression, and quickly waved her off. "Don't worry about it," Jackson assured. "I can still shoot a gun, which means I can still kick some ass." Another volley of fire impacted with the building they were using as cover, and it brought them back down, pushing themselves against the wall.

"Wait, where are the others?" Ruby asked. She began to return fire alongside Jackson, who was using the burst fire on Khvostov.

"Yang went to get the others," Jackson quickly replied. "They'll be here soon, but until then, we gotta hold out." Ruby nodded and returned to firing at the insurgents. But when she went to peek over her cover, a hail of fire descended upon her, sending her quickly back down.

"What the heck?!" Ruby exclaimed. "Where'd the extra help come from?"

Jackson and Ruby had caused a large commotion, and more White Fang members hopped out of the train, arming themselves with the weapons they found in the nearby weapon crates, and unloading in their direction. Soon, it became too concentrated for either of them to pop out of cover for more than a second, so Jackson had a change of plans.

"Ruby, you stay here," Jackson said. "Make sure they don't get anywhere near here for at least a few minutes." As soon as he finished his sentence, Jackson ran farther into the building and out of sight.

"Jackson wait!" Ruby called out. She tried to go after him, but the White Fang kept her pinned down in her current spot. "Damn it…" Ruby cursed under her breath as she loaded a round into Crescent Rose. As the White Fang kept fire on the building, Roman inspected his now defunct cane, and looked at it with displeasure.

"That damn brat," Roman grumbled. Pressing a button on his cane, the inner mechanism ejected the remainder of the nylon cord, as he pulled out another handle from his trench coat, with a brand new nylon cord attached to it. He may be a very cocky individual, but he's not stupid. It never hurts to prepare for any contingency. Feeding the nylon cord back into the inside of the cane, the small inner mechanism eventually took over, and wound up the remainder of the cord once it was fed enough, and the handle popped back into place, like it never happened. Once his cane was fully functional again, he finally decided to take part in the assault. Lifting his cane, a small sight popped up towards the very end of the cane, and revealed a barrel at the bottom of the cane. Taking aim, Roman fired, sending explosive projectiles towards Ruby, and doing some serious damage towards her cover.

Ruby's cover began to break away at an alarming rate, and if something didn't change soon, she'd end up like swiss cheese…whatever the hell that was. "Dang it Jackson, where are you?!" Ruby screamed.

To answer her question, bursts of fire could be heard from above her head, and the oncoming hail of bullets either dramatically lowered or stopped altogether. Popping her head over her cover, she found multiple White Fang members on the floor, wounded, while the others, as well as Torchwick, scrambled for cover. Quickly dispatching an empty magazine, Jackson popped in a new one and returned to delivering Hell from above. As he continued his onslaught, Ruby heard an explosion off in the distance, and looking to her left, she found multiple White Fang Members run out into the street from the street perpendicular to it, with Team WBY and Doctor Oobleck taking up the rear of the fleeing insurgents. Ruby couldn't be happier to see them, and while Jackson couldn't directly see her, when he saw WBY appear in his peripherals, he could make an accurate assumption.

"Hey Ruby!" Jackson called out from above. "You might want to fill them in on what's happening here. On my mark, use your speed and make a run for it towards them, I'll cover you!"

"Got it!" Ruby acknowledged. Loading a round into Crescent Rose, she fired it off behind her, propelling her through the doorway and out towards her group.

Roman saw her propel out of the building and called out to the White Fang. "Kill her!" He exclaimed, firing at her. The others followed suit and opened fire on her, though it didn't last long as Jackson resumed his own onslaught on them, taking down two more White Fang members. Roman had gotten real fed up with Jackson. Pulling a large red Dust crystal out of his pocket, he chucked it towards Jackson's little nest, and took aim. As soon as it passed through one of the windows entering the floor Jackson was on, Torchwick fired. Jackson saw the crystal fly through a window to his right, and his eyes widened.

"SHIT!" Jackson screamed, scrambling for cover.

Roman's aim was true, as it impacted the crystal and an explosion engulfed the entire floor, setting it all ablaze. When he felt like he had taken care of Jackson, he made his way toward the train and climbed aboard.

Using her semblance, Ruby reunited with her team, getting a bear hug from Yang.

"Thank God you're okay!" Yang gushed. She let go of her younger sibling so she can fill them in on what's going on.

"Guys, the White Fang loaded a train filled with fighters and weapons and a bunch of other stuff!" Ruby quickly spewed. "They're heading somewhere with all that on-board."

"Impossible!" Oobleck stated. "Every subway has been sealed off, there's nowhere for a train to go!"

The sound of an explosion caught all of their attention. Facing the disturbance, they found themselves facing a building with a whole floor bursting into flames. And to prove Oobleck wrong, they heard a large HISSSS, and found out the train Ruby spoke of earlier began to move. It was moving very slowly, but it started to pick up speed, and quickly.

"Well," Weiss said. "It's going somewhere!

As they stood there, overwhelmed by the sudden overload of events, They were caught even more off guard, when they saw Jackson jump through a window, the fire licking at his heels as he made his escape. He hit the ground and went into a roll, coming to a stop on top of the train tracks. He looked to his left, and made brief eye contact with team RWBY and Doctor Oobleck, before looking to his right, and breaking out into a sprint towards the train.

"What are you guys waiting for?!" Jackson called over his shoulder. "We've got a train to catch!"

The group snapped out of it and began to run towards the train as well. By the time they neared the tail-end of the train, Jackson had already climbed aboard, extending a hand to them to help them up. Ruby was the first of them to be helped aboard, using her semblance to quickly catch up to the train, Oobleck following close behind by the sheer amount of caffeinated energy he had by practically breathing in coffee 24/7. Yang used her gauntlets to propel herself onto the back of the train, not needing Jackson's help. Weiss used a glyph or two to propel herself forward as well. By the time it was Blake's turn, the train's speed was high enough to slowly start increasing the gap between itself and Blake, unable to keep up.

Blake responded by transforming Gambol shroud into a boomerang-like shape, and threw it at Jackson.

"Jackson, catch!" Blake called out. As it spiraled through the air, Jackson noticed that there was a ribbon attached to Gambol Shroud. Gripping a metal bar behind him with his left, he stuck his right arm out, catching Gambol Shroud and keeping an iron grip on it. Giving it a hard tug, he pulled Blake close enough to the train, where Yang was able to come in and stick a hand out to meet Blake, who took it without hesitation.

As soon as she was aboard the train, Jackson handed back Gambol Shroud to Blake. Once everyone was accounted for, they began to take the metal rungs to the roof of the train. However, their unauthorized boarding didn't go unnoticed. One of the White Fang members aboard the train took notice of them, and attempted to notify the others, but a blow to the head by none other than Yang quickly put him out of commission. However, word still managed to make its way to the head of the train, and right into Roman's ear.

Jackson and the others all currently stood on the roof on the very back of the train, trying to figure out where the hell this train was going, until they heard footsteps ahead of them. Looking towards the front of the train, they found multiple White Fang members climbing on the roof from the boxcars beneath them, filled to the brim with soldiers.

"Get the humans!" One of the female insurgents exclaimed.

Team RWBY and Jackson sprung into action, holding their ground and fighting them back. One of the White Fang members came towards Jackson with only their his fists. He took a few swings at Jackson, but Jackson was able to dodge them all with ease. He was quick with his hands, but this guy didn't know the first thing about hand-to-hand combat, otherwise he would've known not to come in unarmed. Jackson ducked under the next punch he threw, and used Axe Khvostov to sweep the man's legs out from under him, causing him to be suspended in the air for a moment, enough for Jackson to bring his axe up and bring it down hard on his chest. The insurgent came crashing down on the roof hard, with Jackson proceeding kick him off the side of the train, rolling to a stop on the dirt tracks below.

Jackson and the others proceeded to fight the insurgents climbing to the roof, until Weiss had called out to Oobleck for something, catching the rest of the group's attention.

"Uh, Professor Oobleck?" Weiss asked.

"Doctor…" Oobleck said.

Weiss gave him a quick scowl, before returning to the matter at hand, and pointed at an opened hatch. "What is that?"

Walking up next to Weiss, and taking a peek inside the hatch, he found himself face-to-face with a large metal box with a blank screen and two wires jutting out, one red, one blue.

"That my dear, would be a bomb," Oobleck simply stated.

"What?!" Everyone cried out in unison. Right after they cried out, the bomb armed itself, and the blank screen began to flash on and off as it gave off a beeping noise that slowly began to speed up.

"Everyone, hop onto the next boxcar!" Oobleck exclaimed. "Blake, hop down and detach this one from the rest of the train!" Everyone nodded their heads and quickly hopped over to the next boxcar ahead, while Blake dropped down to the hitch attaching the explosive one to the rest of the train.

However, right as she lifted Gambol Shroud, the boxcar detached itself, Blake having done nothing.

"Huh?" Blake thought aloud. Oobleck loomed over the edge of the boxcar they were currently on to see how Blake was doing, and when she finally noticed him, she told him what had happened.

"The boxcar detached itself!" Blake exclaimed.

"What?" Oobleck also asked aloud. The detached boxcar quickly began to lose speed, and soon after, went up in a ball of fire and twisted metal as it popped off the tracks and tumbled like a large boulder.

He had no time to dwell in it, as Jackson called out to the rest of the group. "Uh, guys," Jackson said. "There's another bomb in this one too!"

"What?!" Oobleck cried out again. Sure enough, after coming up next to Jackson, there lied a bomb in the top hatch of the boxcar. Oobleck felt his heart drop, and began running up to the next cart.

"No no no no no no no no," Oobleck said as he opened up the next hatch. Lo and behold, another bomb.

He turned back to the others. "They're all loaded with a bomb!"

As soon as he finished saying that, the boxcar team RWBY and Jackson were currently standing on detached as well, and was losing speed fast, and the second bomb armed itself as well.

"Run for it!" Ruby yelled. The others didn't have to be told twice. They all broke out into a sprint to make it to the next boxcar, with Ruby reaching it first. Weiss and Yang made it afterwards, and Jackson and Blake lagged behind, the distance between the two carts already grown to be a bit long. Both jumped for the other cart, and they both made it, though Jackson stumbled a bit on the landing.

Looking back at the cart, it lost speed quickly, before detonating and flying off the tracks as well. However, upon closer inspection, what Oobleck saw made his blood run cold.

Among the destruction of the boxcars and the debris from the surrounding tunnels, through the gaping holes came large amounts of Grimm, trapped within small pockets in the wall for God knows how long. Soon enough, Deathstalkers came through the walls, and a King Taijitu from the ceiling came plummeting down. Every Grimm was focused on the moving train, and quickly began to chase after it.

Oobleck snapped his fingers and got the attention of the group. "Listen up, the White Fang are using the boxcars to blow holes in the mountain, releasing Grimm and luring them to the city!"

"How do you know the train's heading for Vale?" Jackson asked.

"I checked my compass," Oobleck said. "This train is pointed to the North-East, heading straight for the City of Vale. If this train continues on the path it's currently on, it will lure massive amounts of Grimm to the heart of the city, inside the walls!

"Mister Wesson!" Oobleck said. "Take Miss Xiao Long, Miss Belladonna and Miss Schnee with you and head for the front of the train and stop it before it can arrive to its destination!"

"What about us?" Ruby asked, speaking about herself, Oobleck, and Zwei.

"You and I will handle any White Fang that come our way as we make our way to the front of the train as well. We will remain above while the others got through each boxcar on their way to the front. Hurry now, we don't have much time!"

Quickly nodding, Yang looked for the nearest hatch that didn't house another bomb, and punched it in with her gauntlets, creating an entrance for herself and the others to enter through. Once Jackson and the others had entered, Oobleck, Ruby and Zwei made their way to the front of the train, ready for whatever comes their way.

…

Yang was the first to enter the boxcar, Jackson shortly after, Weiss and Blake following suit. Each landing thud echoed and bounced off the walls within the metal container, and what they saw waiting for them came as a surprise. Standing in the middle of the room, there was a very small girl, around Ruby's height, but the aura she emitted made her older. She wore a long-sleeve white jacket, however the front portion was cropped only to reach the bottom of her bosom, and the coattails had reached down to her butt. She wore black skin-tight jeans and boots with four-inch heels that reached up to just below her knees. Underneath it all, she wore some kind of one-piece, and black gloves as well. Sporting a smile, she held an umbrella in her right hand, intricately designed with complex patterns and weaved with precision. However, the most intriguing was her hair and eyes. Her hair was pink and brown, separated straight down the middle, including her eyes, one pink, the other brown. But Jackson could've sworn he saw the girl's eyes change color when she blinked.

Since their encounter, the girl hadn't spoken a single word to them, leading Jackson to believe she might be some kind of mute. Before dwelling in it any further, Yang had stepped forward, clenching her fists.

"This one's mine," Yang said. They all nodded silently, having faith that Yang could handle her. Knowing what Yang was capable of, this should be a quick fight. But looks can be deceiving.

Jackson, Weiss and Blake began to run towards the door behind the mystery girl. Before she could make any attempt to stop them, Yang had suddenly dashed forward and sent a fist darting towards her, but she quickly parried the blow, and allowed enough time for the three to get through to the other room, the door sliding shut behind them. They were now once boxcar closer, but now they had another obstacle in front of them. And this one looked much more intimidating.

The obstacle in question was another White Fang insurgent, but this one was different than the rest. For one, this man was a giant compared to the rest of the insurgents they've seen thus far. He was far more built than the others, and he was quite tall, close to, if not more than Jackson's own height. He sported a White Fang mask that covered his whole face, instead of the upper-half and wore the signature White Fang attire, but the vest had no sleeves on it, with tattoos on his left arm. As if his stature wasn't enough to ward off any individuals stupid enough to go up against him, his weapon of choice put the bloody cherry on top. Wielded in both hands was the equivalent of a chainsaw hopped up on steroids. The motor was something you'd see on a motorized scooter, and the saw itself was very broad and very long. The length of the weapon was long enough that it would reach the brute's collarbone if it stood up. Revving up the chainsaw, it let out a roar that gave the cry of an Ursa a run for its money.

They all readied themselves to try and take this behemoth down, but Weiss spoke up. "You guys go on ahead," she said. "I've got this one."

At the sound of that, Jackson turned towards Weiss, worry etched on his face. "Weiss, are you sure about this? I can take this clown."

The worry for her safety in his voice didn't go unnoticed by Weiss, and she gave him a small smile for reassurance. "Don't worry about me, Jackson. I'll be fine."

Jackson was conflicted to let her go against this man, but he decided to trust her. He looked back towards Blake, who gave him a nod to add to the reassurance. He gave her a nod in return, and stole one last glance at Weiss, before he advanced forward with Blake. The man paid no attention to either of them, instead all of his focus was pinned on Weiss, and that already threw Jackson off.

Up ahead was the final boxcar before they arrived to the control room. As Blake and Jackson transitioned from the last boxcar to the current, the ground beneath them shook, as well as the roof above, as they could hear a distant thumping from the roof of the train. That wasn't a good sign, but there were more important matters to tend to, which was stopping this train. Entering into the new boxcar, they saw yet another obstacle, but this one bore a familiar face and familiar attire. Roman twirled his cane in his right hand as he shot a smile at the duo.

"Well, isn't this a surprise," He said with mock pleasantry. "Hey there Kitty Cat. Y'know we really need to stop meeting like this, people are gonna talk…"

He then looked at Jackson, and his smile turned to a sneer. "And you, I thought I left you in a burning heap."

"Please, as if it'd be that easy to get rid of me," Jackson shot back. "Oh, I'm gonna enjoy punching your teeth in for that." Jackson began to advance towards Roman, but before he could go any further, Blake placed an arm across his chest, stopping him.

"No," Blake said coldly. "Roman's mine. You go ahead and stop the train."

Jackson looked at her that said 'You can't be serious'. Blake sent back a look that had murder written all over it, so Jackson begrudgingly nodded. Allowing Blake to lower her hand, Jackson advanced once again, but this time past Roman, straight for the door behind him. Again, Roman paid no mind to him, and kept all of his focus on Blake.

Running through the door, Jackson now found himself in the front of the train, the control room. However, there was someone manning the controls, another White Fang insurgent, and he heard the sliding of the doors behind him, but didn't he didn't bother to turn around.

"Back already, Torchwick?" The man called out. "I thought the fight would've lasted longer." Before he knew it, he felt something cold come into contact with the back of his head, and the audible sound of a click as Jackson pulled the hammer back on Titán, now only a pull away from his brains being splattered on the window in front of him.

"Roman's occupied at the moment," Jackson said. "Looks like you're gonna have to settle for little old me. Now, listen carefully-"

Jackson didn't even get to finish his sentence before the insurgent sprung into action. He quickly crouched down and spun around, lashing out at Jackson's right side with a quick jab and causing him to clench his fist and fire off a bullet at the window by accident. It left a hole in the windshield, but the cracks began to branch out, as the air slamming against it caused it to slowly weaken. Jackson knew he didn't have long before the windshield gave out altogether.

Acting quickly, he brought his arm down on top of the insurgent, making contact with the top of his head and putting him into a temporary daze. Before he could recover, Jackson flipped Titán so he was holding the barrel, and swung it hard against the insurgent's head, the grip dealing a heavy blow to him. He toppled over and fell in a heap, still conscious. He let out a groan as he brought a hand to his left temple, unknowingly rubbing it to soothe the pain, but Jackson wasted no time. Holding Titán by the grip once again, Jackson took aim, and shot the man's left kneecap. That definitely woke him up, as he screamed out in pain, clutching his injured knee, blood pouring out between his fingers. Grabbing the front of his vest, Jackson yanked him back up, and placed Titán right below his head, aiming it upwards.

"Nice try asshole," Jackson spat. "Now listen carefully, because I'm not gonna ask again. I'm gonna bring you over to the controls, and you're gonna bring this train to a grinding halt, nice and easy, right where I can see you. Otherwise, I'll hang you in front of this train and drop you into the mouth of this metal monster."

The fear quickly drained from the man's eyes, and was replaced with humor. He chuckled at first, then broke out into crazed laughter, which immediately got on Jackson's nerves.

"Something seem funny to you?" Jackson asked.

The insurgent calmed down enough to speak, but a few snickers slipped out here. "Hehe, you think that you can stop this train? The brakes are cut, pal. There's no way to stop this speeding bullet from running it's course!" He returned to snickering in Jackson's face, only angering him even more. Soon enough, an old friend made his appearance.

Out of the corner of his eye, a column of black smoke rose from the floor, and began to take shape. After a moment, the hazy figure solidified, and revealed itself to be Jackson's doppelganger, with a great big smile on his face. Jackson felt himself slowly lose control over himself, his doppelganger taking the wheel. But Jackson didn't put up much of a fight to keep him at bay.

'i'Ll taKe ThIngS oVer froM HeRe foR A bIt,' his doppelganger said. 'yOu'Ll rEgaIn coNtroL sOon EnoUgH.' The doppelganger lined himself up with Jackson, and moved so that his body matched Jackson's in every aspect, and took over.

He began to speak, and Jackson mimicked him exactly. "So you're telling me you can't stop this train," Jackson said. "Well, there's only one thing to do now…"

With the doppelganger controlling him, he kept his grip on the insurgent's vest, and dragged him over to a nearby door, leading to the outside of the train, and to the very front of it as well. Opening it up with one hand, a large gust of air burst into the control room, causing Jackson to lose his balance for a moment, but he soon regained his footing, and stepped outside. The rush of air blowing past him caused him to close his eyes, but he opened them again, and advanced towards the front of the train.

The smirk that was on the insurgent's face was quickly replaced with a look of fear and desperation. He thrashed around in Jackson's hand in an attempt to break free from his grasp, but Jackson's grip held strong, and eventually, they were now standing in front of the train, the railing in front of them keeping them from falling in front of the train. Heaving the faunus over the railing, the insurgent now dangled in the air, six feet above certain death. Doppelganger Jackson stood right next to the real Jackson, still continuing to hold control over him.

The White Fang member looked at Jackson in the eye, showing desperation and plea. "Please," he begged. "Don't kill me, I want to live!"

"I told you what would happen if you couldn't stop the train," Jackson said. "Now here we are, and I'm now gonna use you to try and stop the train, an alternative solution."

"My body won't even slow this damn thing down, let alone stop it!" He screamed. "Please, let me go, PLEASE!"

Jackson paused, seeming to consider what he said. After a moment, he finally responded. "Maybe you're right, maybe your corpse won't bring this train to a stop." The insurgent was flooded with relief to hear that. Then Jackson spoke again, and his doppelganger spoke as well with a toothy grin at the same time, rather than just lip sync.

"But it's worth a shot."

"bUt iT's WorTh A shOt."

Without hesitation, Jackson tossed him forward, the man letting out a blood-curdling scream as he fell towards the tracks. As soon as he hit the ground, he lost a large amount of speed, and was engulfed by the train immediately after, falling out of Jackson's line of sight. (AN: Here's where the M-Rating kicks in.)

The insurgent was thrashed and battered around very violently underneath the train. Bones were shattered, muscles were torn apart, limbs and torso were twisted, turned, and compacted in ways that weren't humanly possible. At some point, the insurgent's upper body had popped out of the train's undercarriage, and his midsection now lied in the way of the train's wheels, as immediate as the upper body popped out, it was immediately torn off from its lower body, the train's wheels acting like a very dull, but very heavy knife.

By the time the full length of the train had fully passed over the corpse, there was nothing recognizable about it. Blood was splattered along the tracks for half a mile, and the corpse(s) was thrashed about to the point it was a literal bloody pulp. Bone powder mixed into the bloody chum that was a mashed mixture of muscle tissue and intestines, as well as bile and other body fluids for both the upper and lower body portions, smaller amounts of it splattered and smeared all along the tracks. The White Fang mask was shattered beyond repair, and the clothing was soaked in blood and buried under the disgusting pile of chum. Some bones remained intact, and jutted out of the piles of grounded meat. When the Grimm reached the location, they looked down at what remained of the insurgent, and even most of them reeled away from the sight of it, continuing to follow the train. However, some stayed behind and began to feast on the bloody chum placed before them, not caring what it was or where it came from.

Jackson remained at the front of the train, staring at the tracks in front of him, before one lone thought made it into his mind.

'…wElL thAt dIdn'T wORk.'

The doppelganger released his grip on Jackson, who immediately fell to his knees, breathing heavily.

"i'Ve Had mY fUN," The doppelganger said. "I'lL lEavE yoU To iT, jAcKsoN. gO sEe wHat YOuR lItTlE gRouP Is uP tO." Without uttering another word, he slowly began to dissipate, letting out a deep chuckle as he did so, eventually gone entirely.

Jackson looked at his hands, and he saw that they were shaking horribly, not wanting to believe that he had just done that. But he did, and what made it worse is that he believed it was him that did it. Not his mystical doppelganger, him. After all, the bastard had to have come from somewhere. The idea of murder didn't make Jackson shiver in his boots, it was how he decided to go about it. He could've planted a bullet between his eyes, and that would've been it, a quick, painless, humane death. He was shaken, but he made himself remember that this isn't the first time it's happened. The burning village, the White Fang responsible for the murder of his family, his friends. He killed them, and he felt like they were deserving of it. He took deep breaths, and calmed himself down. He was alright. He was cool.

Slowly standing back up, he looked back at the tracks for a brief moment, before returning back inside the front cabin, and heading towards the way he came in to notify the rest of the group. Pulling out Khvostov, he readied himself for whatever may be on the other side of the door, and advanced. But before the door could even slide open, Jackson heard a loud and hard thud against the door, and he didn't know whether to be concerned, or relieved. When he was sure there wouldn't be any more projectiles flying towards the door, Jackson opened it up and stepped through.

Quickly bringing Khvostov to bear, he was prepared to dispose of any obstacle set before him. Thankfully, he didn't have to, as he saw Blake holding Roman at gunpoint, his cane out of arm's reach. Blake tore her eyes away from Torchwick to face Jackson.

"Jackson," Blake started, "Why are we still moving?"

Jackson merely sighed. "The brakes are cut, we've got no way of stopping this train."

Roman let out a chuckle as he lied on the floor. "Looks like you're outta luck pal. Before long, this train's gonna crash into the heart of Vale, and there's not a damn thing you kids can do about it!" He broke out into laughter, and really pissed off Jackson, and got a sneer from Blake as well. Jackson walked over to where he lied on the floor, and pulling his left leg back, sent it straight into the left temple, snapping his head to the right and knocking him out cold.

"This guy's really getting on my nerves," Jackson simply said. "I say we toss him out the back end of this train and let the Grimm deal with him."

Blake shot him a dirty look after his remark. "Jackson, now isn't the time to joke around, we've got a serious problem on our hands."

With a straight face, Jackson asked, "What makes you think I was joking?"

Before Blake could even respond, the door behind her slid open, and coming out of the boxcar, came Weiss, sliding and rolling across the floor, unmoving. Jackson saw the whole thing unfold, and his heart dropped down into the deep pit in his stomach. He immediately ran over to her, and knelt down. With so many things going through his mind, and none of them good, he placed a finger on her neck to make sure she still had a pulse. Jackson felt a pulse, and let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. But Weiss still looked to be in bad shape. Her clothing was covered in dust, cuts in the fabric here and there, and while having cuts on her body as well, her face was all bruised.

Seeing Weiss in her current state made Jackson's heart lurch and caused his eyes to water, and he was about to fix her up, but someone stepped out of the boxcar Weiss just flew out of, and it was the large insurgent Weiss had gone up against. With his chainsaw in tow, he let out a low chuckle as he looked at Jackson and Blake.

Jackson went from heartbreak to pure unbridled rage, as he knew that he was responsible for beating up Weiss. Picking her up bridal style, Jackson carried her over to where Blake currently stood, still nearby an unconscious Torchwick. He placed Weiss in Blake's arms, who she took without hesitation, and turned back towards the giant, switching Khvostov to its axe form, itching for a fight with him.

The insurgent could clearly see his displeasure with him, and laughed out loud. "You got a problem with me pummeling your girlfriend?" He asked. "That bitch and her family have been fucking over faunus for generations, and that's going to continue to happen if something doesn't change, and that change starts with her."

Jackson's grip tightened on Khvostov immensely, as his vision turned red. "I'm gonna enjoy cleaving your skull straight down the middle of your head."

The insurgent revved up his chainsaw. "Go ahead, just try and do it."

"Gladly." Without another word uttered, Jackson charged.

As Jackson continued to close the gap, the insurgent held his ground, ready to clash with him, bringing up his chainsaw. Soon, Jackson was right in front of him, lifting up his axe and bringing it back down with ferocity. Quickly bringing up his beefed-up chainsaw, the insurgent was able to block the strike as a flurry of sparks appeared as the weapons clashed against each other. Pushing the axe away from his person, the insurgent sent a boot to Jackson's chest, sending him stumbling backwards. As Jackson struggled to regain his footing, the giant dashed forward and slashed his chainsaw horizontally in a wide arc. Jackson knew he wouldn't be able to effectively block the attack, it would either disarm him, or disarm him. Instead of making a feeble attempt to parry the blow, he stopped trying to regain his balance, and allowed himself to fall to the ground.

As he fell back, the chainsaw flew past him mere inches above his face. His back finally made contact with the ground, and as soon as he did, he pressed a button on Khvostov's handle, causing a barrel to open up right where the eye of the axe is located, and a small trigger to pop out from the throat of the handle. Jamming the head of the axe at his stomach, Jackson pressed down on the trigger and opened fire.

During melee form, Khvostov can only fire in semi-auto mode. So, Jackson was only able to fire off four shots, the shells being quickly discarded by a mechanical slot located at the middle of the handle, before the insurgent quickly backed off and allowed Jackson room to breathe. He quickly picked himself back up and looked at the insurgent, who was clutching his stomach. Jackson began to smile, until the man pulled his hand away from his stomach, and his smile quickly faded. The four bullets that Jackson that Jackson had fired were embedded in the vest, but didn't penetrate the skin. The vest was bulletproof, and the shots did nothing but piss off the giant.

Jackson switched Khvostov back to its gun form, and placed it on his back, replacing it with Titán, as he felt much more comfortable with his magnum. Switching to its Bowie counterpart, he gestured at the insurgent, urging him to come forth and take his lumps like a man. Letting out a low growl, the insurgent ran forwards towards Jackson. Once again, the insurgent swung his chainsaw in a wide arc, and Jackson parried the attack and quickly countered with a slash at his dominant arm. He was successful in cutting his arm, as it began to draw blood, and caused him to lose his grip on his weapon. He barked out in pain as he grabbed his forearm with his left hand. Just as he looked back at Jackson, he saw a blur and a flash of white as it collided with his face.

His head snapped back as he fell backwards, small chips from the mask flying about around him. A large thud could be heard as he fell down, and the ground shook a fair amount once he collided with the ground in a daze. Before he could pick himself back up, Jackson pounced on top of him, pinning him to the ground. Without restraint, Jackson began to wail on him in quick succession. Blow after blow, the insurgent's mask slowly chipped away around the edges, as cracks began to appear around the mask. He was able to defend himself against Jackson's attacks somewhat, but with rage coursing through his veins, his powerful blows made it difficult for the insurgent to keep it up for very long. Eventually, his defenses were worn out, and Jackson continued to sock his face until he, as well, was worn out. Looking down at the insurgent, his mask was badly damaged, large chips around the edges broken off, and cracks making their way across the whole mask and branching out in random directions.

Breathing heavily, Jackson stood back up and holstered Titán, bringing out Khvostov once again. Transforming it to its axe counterpart, Jackson walked over to where his head was, his body perpendicular to the insurgent's. As soon as he placed the axe on his neck, Blake knew exactly what he planned on doing, and immediately left Weiss' side to head straight towards him.

Jackson had brought the axe upwards with both hands on it, currently hanging above his head, and just as he was about to bring it down, Blake grabbed his arms and held the axe in place, preventing any further advancement. Jackson looked at Blake, who gave him a very aggressive look.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Blake demanded.

"I'm wiping this bastard off the face of Remnant," Jackson replied without hesitation.

"You can't kill this man!" Blake exclaimed.

"And why is that?" Jackson asked.

"These are people, Jackson!" Blake said.

"These 'people' have been responsible for murder, terrorism, robbery, destruction of public and private property, I could go on."

"But this isn't the way to go about it," Blake argued. In the midst of their argument, they didn't notice the insurgent wake up from his brief unconsciousness, and reach for his chainsaw. For a walking mountain, the man was surprisingly able to keep the noise he made to a minimum.

"I can guarantee you, with one-hundred-percent certainty, that the insurgent would kill me without a second thought," Jackson said.

"They're misguided," Blake rebutted. "They wouldn't be like this if they had been treated properly, and they thought the peaceful organization it once was wasn't working."

"It WAS working!" Jackson exclaimed. "The sit-ins, the boycotts, peaceful protests, they were noble actions that was gaining positive attention, slowly but surely, but they weren't patient enough. Instead, they decided to change mindsets. Boycotts turned to vandalism of racist businesses, peaceful protests turned to terrorizing citizens, everything the organization stood for was twisted into a new, sick motive."

Blake began to get very upset, almost to the point where steam could be seen spewing out of her ears. "Maybe they're tired of being treated like second-class citizens! Maybe they're sick of the constant verbal abuse and physical attacks!"

"And they think that inflicting the same to them is gonna magically fix it?" Jackson demanded. "They think that now that humans know what it's like to be treated like trash, they'll see the error of their ways and try to make amends? Blake, never in the history of Remnant has that ever worked out. If you hit them hard, they'll hit you harder back, and then you'll hit even harder back, until war breaks out and serious damage is done.

"Ever since the White Fang turned violent, things have been no better off for the faunus. Hell, they might be even worse now! Sure, more people are starting to respect the faunus, but for all the wrong reasons. And the stubborn meatheads like Cardin and his goons, that aggression towards humans have only fueled the hate-filled fire they have inside. The White Fang have gone from the goal of peaceful co-habitation, to the extinction of the human race. There are faunus that are in good relations with humans, something the old organization would've been ecstatic to witness. But now, they've been branded as traitors to their race, and will be executed without a second thought. You've been branded as a traitor Blake, from your own race, for something they fought so hard to achieve five years ago."

Blake tried to come up with a response, but everything Jackson said was true. But no, she couldn't give in, she still had hope, however faint it may be. "Maybe so," Blake said. "But I still genuinely believe we can change them for the better. We just need to give them a chance to open their eyes."

"…I'm done giving them chances Blake," Jackson said. "I respected and admired them for what they did for their cause back then. I had hope that they could still change for the better after the violent change in power, my parents did too. Now, they're gone, done in by the same people they were rooting for. As long as they wear those masks, they'll never see the damage they've done." Pulling out Titán, he aimed it for where the insurgent lied,

Only to find where he once was an empty space.

Jackson's eyes widened as his mind went into overdrive, trying to find where he went, until he saw a new shadow appear to his right. Looking that way, he found the insurgent, standing right behind Blake, with his chainsaw raised and ready to let loose. Blake wasn't aware of the imminent danger behind her, she only gave Jackson a confused/angry/disappointed look, oblivious of what was behind her. By the time she realized there was something behind her, Jackson was already in motion, as well as the chainsaw.

"BLAKE WATCH OUT!" Jackson screamed. He was able to grab a hold of her, and completely turn her around, away from the insurgent, Jackson's back facing him instead. The chainsaw came down in a diagonal slash across his upper back. Once it came into contact with him, the teeth dug into his back, chewing its way through his ceramic plating to the skin below as it made its way across. The pain he felt was terrible, he clenched his teeth very hard and let out a restrained scream as it slid its way through his teeth. His grip loosened on Blake as he fell forward on his hands and knees.

"JACKSON!" Blake shrieked. She turned her attention towards the insurgent, with fury in her eyes. Switching Gambol Shroud into a grapple of sorts, she threw it towards the man, and managed to hook the handle of the weapon. With more force than she expected, Blake yanked on the cord and ripped the weapon from the insurgent's grasp as it flew across the boxcar clattered to the ground in a corner, very far out of arm's reach. He stumbled forward as he attempted to keep a hold on his weapon, but was ultimately feeble, and was kicked back by Blake, now being forced to resort back to his own two hands, and was visibly upset. Clenching his fists, he took one step forward, but one step was all he could take before his right kneecap was blown out.

The insurgent screamed in agony as he fell down to his one uninjured knee, clutching the right one in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Looking behind her, Blake found Jackson holding Titán in his right hand, a small plume of smoke emanating from the barrel. Jackson placed his hand back down, and picked himself back up with a great amount of effort needed. After standing up, he walked over to where the insurgent currently kneeled as he brought his head up to stare Jackson straight in the eyes. He couldn't see them, but he could feel him glaring daggers at him.

Pulling out Titán, Jackson began to bring it up to the insurgent's head, before he felt a hand placed on his shoulder. Turning his head, Blake stood behind him, with a pleading look in her eyes. Jackson held the stare for what seemed like an eternity, not moving a muscle. Finally, after a tense silence, Jackson turned back to the insurgent with a nasty look. Tossing Titán in the air, he caught it by the barrel, and proceeded to swing towards his temple, colliding with his skull with a large amount of force. The insurgent toppled over sideways and lied on the floor unconscious. After he fell over, Jackson reared his left leg back and kicked the insurgent in the face.

You know, just to be sure.

Blake flinched at the double-tap Jackson performed, and she was unhappy about it, but at least he was alive, so she'll have to settle with what she can get from him. It'll be difficult to change Jackson's feelings about the White Fang, but this is a good start. Jackson looked down at him for a few seconds, before diverting his attention elsewhere, towards Weiss. As he began to walk towards Weiss, the door behind him opened up once again, and Jackson immediately whipped out Titán and aimed it at the doorway at the sound of the hiss, as well as Blake. Thankfully, they put away their weapons once they realized it was Yang who stepped into the boxcar. Holstering Titán once more, he turned back to Weiss, who currently lied on the floor, still unconscious. Yang dismissed the sudden aggression, and placed a hand on her head, while slightly shaking her head.

Blake noticed this and began to slightly worry. "Yang, are you alright?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Yang replied. "It's just, I thought I saw something…"

"What?"

"Well, I was fighting ice-cream girl back there," Yang started, "but she got the better of me and knocked me out for a quick second. When I came to, I could've sworn I saw someone walk into a portal, but when I blinked it disappeared, like it was never there. Plus, the girl was gone. I thought she left me behind and went for you guys."

"No, she come anywhere near us," Blake said. "Only Torchwick and the lieutenant." She pointed to the unconscious giant for Yang to see.

"Sheesh, he doesn't look too good," Yang remarked.

"Yeah well, he's alive to say the least," Blake said. "If it wasn't for me, his head would be rolling around the train floor right now."

"Wait, what?!" Yang exclaimed. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about Jackson being half a second away from decapitating him!" Blake answered. "It was like second nature to him! If I wasn't there to stop him, he'd be dead."

Yang took some time to think this over. "Just give him time, Blake. Hopefully we can change his perspective on the White Fang."

"I hope," Blake said. 'For my sake.'

Now finished with their little conversation, Blake and Yang turned to where Jackson was headed, and found him kneeling over Weiss, with Roman still knocked out not too far away. He pulled off his gloves, and then hooked his left hand across her and under her back, gently pulling her up until he was sitting upright. With his right hand, he brushed aside some of her bangs that covered her face, and looked at her. She looked…peaceful, as funny as it may seem at a time like this. Jackson gave a small smile as he continued to stare at her.

"I've got you Weiss," Jackson spoke softly. "Let me fix you right up."

Jackson's hands began to glow red, and soon Weiss was outlined with red as well. Almost immediately, all her injuries began to fade away. Her cuts were quickly sealed up, the bruises on her faded away, and it seemed like there was more color in her skin than usual, more lively than usual, though that might've been the contrast between the red hue and her very pale skin. Soon, the hue slowly faded away,and Jackson let out a shaky breath from using his semblance, especially in the terrible shape he was in.

Before long, Weiss began to stir in his arms, and her eyes began to flutter open. She set her eyes on Jackson, who was currently giving her a warm smile. "Jackson?" She asked.

Jackson gave a happy chuckle. "There's my little snowflake."

"Wh-What happened?" She placed a hand on her head as she tried to remember what transpired moments ago.

"Well, from my perspective," Jackson started, "You were flung in here, unconscious, by the same person you were fighting earlier before. But don't worry about him." Jackson tilted his head to the direction of the unconscious lieutenant for Weiss to see.

Releasing Weiss from his grasp, Jackson stood up, and extended a hand for Weiss, which she gratefully took. He decided to fill her in on what's happening. "While you were out, I attempted to stop the train using the controls up front, but the brakes have been cut, and we've got now way of stopping this train from heading towards Vale."

"What?!" Weiss exclaimed. "What are we gonna do then?"

"I don't know, Weiss," Jackson replied. "We need to tell Oobleck about this, maybe he has an idea of what can be done." Weiss nodded as he spoke. Blake proceeded to fill in Yang as well about their current situation.

Once everyone knew what was happening, Jackson picked up Myrtenaster that was on the ground, and handed it to Weiss. After grabbing her weapon, Jackson took Khvostov off his back and turned towards the door to exit the boxcar and climb atop. But as soon as he turned, he heard a loud gasp come from Weiss behind him, and suddenly, felt a pair of dainty hands on his back.

"Jackson," Weiss said. "You're hurt, badly." She took notice of the ceramic plating that was cut in two, and the horrible gash on his back. The bleeding has slowed down greatly, mainly due to his half-semblance, but he was still in bad shape.

"Weiss, I'm fine," Jackson assured, as he turned to face her. "Besides, we've got bigger things to take care of at the moment, my well-being can wait."

"Like hell it can!" Weiss said. "Jackson, you're too injured to properly fi-" Weiss stopped in her tracks as she began to look over Jackson, and see what exactly happened to him.

Not only was there a large cut on his back, but there was another cut through his shirt at the midsection, and the ceramic plate on his chest was shattered, she could make out the separate shards within the woven space, with a hole on the shoulder portion of his shirt. At this point, his shirt were basically rags, what with all the tears and holes in them, big or small.

"Jackson, what on Remnant happened to you?!" Weiss demanded. "You look like you've gone through Hell and back!"

Jackson then realized just how terrible he may have looked to her. "I uh, got ambushed by Grimm during my watch." He glanced over at Yang. "I heard some rubble move, a bit too close for comfort, and I went to check it out. When I turned a corner, I came face-to-face with a beowolf, along with four of his friends. I got nicked a few times, but I was able to handle them."

"Jackson," Weiss stated. "Just stay here and keep an eye on Torchwick, rest up. You've done enough for today."

"Weiss, you know I can't just stand around and do nothing," Jackson said, as he pulled back on the loading mechanism on Khvostov. "I can still shoot a gun, which means I can still fight. Plus, I gotta be around in case one of you guys get hurt."

"Right now, the only person hurt here is you," Weiss said, pointing a finger at him. "Please Jackson, just rest. Let us handle this."

Yang called out from halfway across the train in a teasing manner. "Come on, just kiss already!"

Blake had to stifle a giggle, while Weiss blushed furiously. "YANG, NOW IS NOT THE TIME FOR YOUR PETTY-"

Weiss didn't get to finish her scolding, because before she knew it, Jackson had turned her head back towards him, and pressed his lips against hers, shocking her at first, but she soon melted into the kiss, her eyes closing as she kissed back.

Yang and Blake gaped at Jackson's action, as they didn't expect him to go through with it, and it shut them right up.

For Weiss and Jackson, the kiss lasted for what felt like an eternity, before they finally broke it off, and Jackson just stared at Weiss as he gave a sincere smile.

"I've been waiting three years to do that," Jackson said.

Weiss was at a loss for words. She didn't know what to say, what to do, how to react. Jackson nudged her in the shoulder, snapping her out of her state, and came back to Remnant to see Jackson with Khvostov locked and loaded.

"Come on Weiss," Jackson said. "We've got a city to save." And with that, Jackson exited the boxcar, Blake and Yang following suit. Weiss lagged behind, as she was still wrapping her head around what just happened. As she exited the boxcar, she was surprised to find Jackson standing on the opposite side of the door waiting for her with a smirk on his face.

"Did you really think I was gonna leave you behind after that?" Jackson asked. He gestured, as if he were interacting with royalty, to the metal rungs leading to the roof, being the ever-so chivalrous person he was. "After you, m'lady."

Weiss could only smile at his silly display. This was the same Jackson she met all those years ago, the same one who kissed her without warning. She'd be lying if she said the thought of them together hadn't occurred to her at least once during their seven years of knowing each other. But she would quickly dismiss it, mainly due to the fear of if she did ask, and he said no, it could cause some sort of awkward tension between them, and she wasn't willing to lose such a close friend over wanting something more than what she already had. Aside from family, Jackson was one out of a handful of people who liked her for who she was, and not her title, and the only one out of the group her own age. And that, to her, was something far more valuable than any amount of Dust of Lien could muster. However, she had built up the courage to express her true feelings for him on his 14th birthday, but she never got the chance to do so, and she feared that she never will after what happened. But here they were, three years later, with Jackson having made the first move.

Weiss grabbed onto one of the rungs, and began to climb, Jackson close behind. Soon, they both had reached the roof, and they found Ruby and Oobleck already conversing with Blake and Yang, Zwei running around amongst them. They all took notice of Jackson and Weiss' presence, and waved the both of them over. They went over to where they currently stood at a brisk pace.

"Did you fill them in on what the situation is?" Jackson asked.

"Indeed they have, Mister Wesson," Oobleck responded. "The brakes of the train have been cut, and we have no way of stopping the train by controls."

"So, what do we do?" Jackson questioned.

"Well, we have approximately fifteen seconds until impact, so I suggest you hold onto something anD BRACE YOURSELF!" Quickly pointing to the front of the train, RWBY and Jackson found themselves looking at a wall rapidly approaching them, causing them to break out into a small panic, except for Ruby and Weiss. They both exchanged a look, as well as a smile, before calling out to the rest of the group.

"Everyone huddle up!" Ruby called out. They didn't have to be told twice. As they grouped up, Weiss closed her eyes and began to focus. Soon, a large glyph appeared beneath their feet, with Weiss stabbing Myrtenaster into the roof. Almost immediately, large spikes of ice began to form around and above them, and before long, they were all put in an ice shield of sorts. It was crude, but it was far better than nothing. By the time the ice shield was up, they were mere seconds away from a full-on collision with the wall in front of them. There was just enough room inside the ice dome for everyone to move around if needed, and Jackson took this space to re-position himself. He managed to place himself between the front of the dome and Weiss, and as soon as he did, he wrapped his arms around her from behind, using himself as a meat shield to further protect Weiss from the crash.

"Jackson, what are you doing?!" Weiss exclaimed.

"Protecting you!" Jackson quickly replied, gripping her tighter. "EVERYONE BRACE FOR IMPACT!"

Not two seconds later did the train hit the wall with full-force, and fling the group towards the front of the dome. After that, there came a thunderous crash and a flash of white, before everything went dark.

…

Beacon Academy

6:03 am

Cinder and her two lackeys were looking out the the Vale skyline from the air docks for the Bullheads, but their main focus was the large plume of smoke rising from somewhere within the city. They knew what the plume of smoke indicated, and Cinder was twitching in one eye, but didn't say a single word.

"You don't think…" Emerald asked.

"Sure looks like it,," Mercury replied.

"That's still days away!" Amidst their speculation, the group didn't notice a team of Huntsmen-in-training board one of the idle Bullheads and take it straight towards the pillar of smoke.

"So," Mercury said, "What do we do?"

Cinder finally spoke up. "Why don't we pay a visit to Vale Square? I hear it's a lovely place for a stroll this time of year." As soon as she finished speaking, she turned on her heels and walked towards the nearest Bullhead, Emerald and Mercury giving each other a look before ultimately following her.

…

Vale Square

6:05 am

Darkness.

That's all Jackson could see, though he was positive he had his eyes open…at least, he thought he did. Looking around, he did indeed have his eyes open, because he saw small pillars of light out of his peripherals. When he tried to move, there was something above him that prevented him from getting up. Eventually, he found out that he was under a layer of rubble, as he heard the movement of broken cement blocks and the grazing of them against each other. Almost immediately after, he realized he was clutching onto Weiss when they impacted, and checked to see if she was still in his grasp. He let out a sigh of relief to find Weiss still in his arms, but unconscious. Letting go of her for the time being, he placed his hands on the ground under him, and pushed himself upwards. Using what strength he could muster, Jackson was able to free himself and Weiss of their cement trap. Looking around, he found the remainder of team RWBY scattered about, unconscious as well. Looking back down at where he lied moments ago, he found Weiss laying in there. Jackson bent over and picked her up in his arms, and brought her over to where a large piece of concrete stood upright and intact. Gently setting her down, he propped her upright by setting her against the slab, and cupped her left cheek in his right hand. Out of nowhere, he began to hear growls come from all around him, and the color drained from his face.

'Oh no…'

Popping from the rubble and the gaping hole made from the train, Grimm of all sorts began to rise. Beowolves, Ursa, Creeps, Deathstalkers, even a King Taijitu. Citizens were running in all directions as they were chased by the different Grimm, praying to God they didn't get caught or overrun. One person in particular caught his attention.

A man was running from a Beowolf who was nipping at his heels. As he ran for his life, he tripped on a piece of rubble that flew far from the point of impact, and caused him to roll before coming to a stop. Before he could pick himself up, the Beowolf already loomed over him, ready to end his life.

The Beowolf brought up its claw, ready to bring it down on the cowering man before it. But it never got the chance as it's head was blown off by a controlled burst of fire, falling over and disappearing in a cloud of darkness. Tracing it back to where the bullets were fired, the man found himself staring at Jackson, clutching Khvostov in his arms with smoke emanating from the barrel.

"Get out of here!" Jackson exclaimed. "Find a safe place to ride this out!"

The man quickly nodded and thanked Jackson for saving him before running into a building and locking the door behind him. As Jackson watched the man run into the building, he didn't notice the Grimm put all their attention on him until moments later. The civilians were able to get away safely, because the Grimm now focused on the one immediate threat in the vicinity: Jackson. With a large horde beginning to form, Jackson now became uncertain of his own capabilities, and that's when the weight of everything that has happened was thrown onto his shoulders.

Jackson was beaten like a punching bag and thrown like a rag doll when he went up against Gage, though that's not to say Gage didn't receive the same treatment from him. And with the explosion of a Dust crystal five feet away from him and his battle with the large insurgent to go along with it, it was a miracle Jackson hadn't collapsed yet. The adrenaline was wearing off, and his body quickly turned to lead from the constant stress it was put under. To take on the whole horde of Grimm was suicide in his condition, but he'd be damned if he were gonna take this sitting down. Time seemed to have frozen, as Jackson and the Grimm stayed absolutely still, neither side making the first move. Growls could be heard among the group of Grimm as they waited in anticipation. Then, without warning, Jackson attacked.

Quickly bringing up Khvostov to bear, Jackson resorted to the cold and calculating portion of himself if he were to have any chance of making it out of this. In a controlled manner, Jackson fired Khvostov in quick bursts, hitting his target and putting them down in rapid succession. He was able to bring down seven Grimm before having to reload. It only took two seconds to pop in another magazine, but it doesn't take much time to go a long distance. By the time he was ready to fire again, the Grimm had practically cut the distance between them in half. He fired again in bursts, taking down eight Grimm this time, before hearing the gun click.

He wouldn't have time to reload, and he didn't feel confident going into this battle with an axe, so placing Khvostov on his back, he pulled out Titán and opened fire, aiming for the Ursa specifically. His aim was true, as each bullet was planted between their eyes and stopped them dead in their tracks before falling over dead. With five of the heavy-hitters down, he felt a bit safer going against them, but in this case, safe was only a relative term.

The first to get within striking range was a Beowolf who attempted to swipe at him, to which Jackson just simply ducked under the incoming claws and followed it up with an upwards slash that cut deep into the Grimm, and kicked it back, knocking over a few others with it. A Creep was the next one to get near, and it looked hideous. Its teeth were sharp and jagged, and it was heavily armored, except for its underside. Jackson could barely make out the eyes on it, as they were basically slits on the very thick bone-plate on its head. Also, instead of four legs, Creeps had only two hind legs, and used the large tail they had for balance, and sometimes attacks. Because of the lack of limbs, the Creep resorted to chomping down on their prey or charging them, using their skull as the battering ram, which is exactly what it did.

As it charged, Jackson attempted to shoot it down before it could reach him, but the bullets bounced off the front-facing bone plate, only angering it. The Creep soon collided with Jackson, and began to carry him across away from the rubble into the courtyard nearby. Switching Titán to Bowie form, Jackson began to stab at it in the soft spots on its back between the different armor plates. After sustaining enough damage, the Creep finally collapsed and began to dissipate as Jackson rolled a few feet across the floor. He let out a groan, and picked himself up, but after looking around him, he found himself in a very bad position.

The Creep had carried him a good distance away from the point of impact, and dropped him in the middle of the courtyard. When Jackson stood up, he found himself surrounded from all sides by Grimm. Slowly, they began to converge on his position, and Jackson had no hope of making his way out of this. Loading Khvostov and Titán, he was ready to take as many of these bastards down with him. An Ursa Major had pushed its way through the ring of Grimm, and let out a thundering roar as he stood on his hind legs. During his billowing display, Jackson had taken it upon himself to take it out before it had any chance of attack, but similar to the Creep, the burst of bullets simply bounced off the bone plating.

"Well, shit," Jackson muttered. The Ursa got on all fours and began to charge towards Jackson, who stood with Titán in hand, and uncertainty beginning to take root. As the Ursa continued to near, Jackson braced himself to go up against the walking mountain.

Just as it was right on top of him, three shots rang out, each one hitting the Ursa in the upper chest, stopping it in its tracks. The Ursa struggled to keep its balance after the sudden attack, but it never regained it as a flurry of rose petals appeared from seemingly nowhere, and cut the Ursa in a diagonal slash, falling in two and disappearing in a puff of smoke. The flurry of petals had taken form, and it was none other than Ruby.

"Need a hand?" She asked, a confident smile plastered on her face.

Jackson was relieved to see Ruby here by his side. "I'll have you know, I had the situation completely under control," Jackson rebutted with mock offense. "But, it's nice to have some help from time to time." Jackson didn't notice a Beowolf come up behind him, and it was about to slice him in two, had it not been for the blonde brawler that peppered it with her shotgun gauntlets.

Yang used her gauntlets to propel herself over the ring of Grimm, and landed not too far from Ruby and Jackson, spotting the sneaking Beowolf and took it upon herself to take care of it.

"You weren't planning on hogging all the Grimm for yourself, were you Jackson?" Yang asked.

"By all means," Jackson said. "Help yourself Yang."

Soon enough, Blake and Weiss appeared alongside them as well, and they occupied the middle courtyard, facing the ring of Grimm. Both sides had reverted back to remaining in an idle position, each one waiting for the other to make the first move. The silence was broken when a King Taijitu had risen, and let out a roar, causing the Grimm to charge towards the group in the middle.

"Time to get the show on the road!" Yang exclaimed. She began to unload into the crowd of Grimm, the explosive shells flinging and eviscerating any Grimm it came into contact with or caught in the blast radius. Those that got close enough to her received a mean uppercut that sent them twenty five feet into the air before coming back down and splattering another Grimm in the crowd. Each attack was done in rapid succession, and was always capable of taking out two or three at a time.

Ruby had Crescent Rose in scythe form, its sniper counterpart wouldn't be effective at this close of a range. Using her semblance to her advantage, she dashed out into the middle of a small group, and twirled her scythe around in a deadly manner. Grimm were cut in two, or sometimes writhed on the floor in pain from extremely deep cuts. She was soon surrounded by a pack of Beowolves, though she didn't seem very concerned. Instead, she planted Crescent Rose into the ground and held on tightly to the handle. Using her speed to gain momentum, she began to spin around with Crescent Rose serving as an anchor to keep her from flying off. It acted like a very crude merry-go-round, and as Ruby spun, she planted her feet against each Beowolf she passed, kicking them back with a great amount of force and causing them to fall backwards. Once the circle of Grimm was cleared, she pulled Crescent Rose out of the ground and quickly dashed out of there, deciding to keep her distance for the time being.

Blake seemed to have an easier time handling the Grimm compared to Ruby, and possibly more than Yang. Gambol Shroud, alongside Ember Celica, was made for close-quarters scenarios just like this. Using her katana, she sliced at beowolves and proceeded to stab one from underneath their head, quickly yanking it out from the limp corpse. With the push of a button, Gambol Shroud transformed into her pistol in a split-second, and in a sweeping motion, Blake shot down multiple Grimm that were making their way towards her with deadly precision.

Weiss was holding her own as well. As the Grimm came at her, each one was cut down to size or ran through by her rapier. Once she was given enough time, Weiss summoned a glyph beneath her, and in a wide arc, slashed at a multitude of Grimm, who were caught in the ice arc that materialized as her rapier passed by and cut into the Grimm.

Jackson managed to hold his own against the Grimm alongside the rest of them. With Axe Khvostov in arms, he was cleaving into whatever got near him. A Beowolf had gotten close enough to swipe at him, but Jackson ducked under the attack, and stuck out Khvostov, managing to hook it behind one of the Grimm's hind legs, and yank it out from below it. The Beowolf hung in the air just long enough for Jackson to bring back his axe, bring it up, and bring it smashing down on the center of its chest, cleaving into it. As he wrenched Khvostov out of the vaporizing corpse with his left arm, he brought out Titán with his right and shot any Grimm that came too close for his comfort. He freed Khvostov of its trap and quickly swung it into the neck of another Beowolf that was upon him, blood(?) gushing out of the gaping wound in its neck. Pulling it out once more, he turned around and was face-to-face with a charging Creep, raising up his axe in a defensive position by instinct. The Creep tackled him to the ground and bit onto the handle of the axe, beginning to wrestle with Jackson over control of the weapon. Jackson struggled to keep the damn beat away from him, but at last he was able to turn the fight in his favor by flipping the Creep over onto its back, with Jackson now having the upper-hand. Quickly pulling out Titán, he unloaded all five bullets into its exposed underside, the Creep beginning to gargle a sound before releasing its last breath and begin to dissipate. Wrenching the axe out of its mouth, he hopped down from the corpse and returned to fighting the Grimm.

Each member managed to fend off the Grimm for a while, but eventually, it slowly turned into an uphill battle, as there were simply too many Grimm for the five of them to take on by themselves. As Ruby cut down another Grimm, she stole a glance to her left, and suddenly put all her attention to what she saw. Fifteen feet away from her, the King Taijitu began to slither the rest of itself out of the breach, but it stopped moving as it, and Ruby, heard a loud BOOM! go off in the distance. When Ruby turned towards the source of the disturbance, she saw a small dot fly across the sky, and as it got closer, it was made apparent that it was Nora Valkyrie on Magnhild, straight towards the King Taijitu. Nora collided with the snake Grimm, and swinging her war hammer down, sent a grenade straight into its head while propelling herself away from it. The Grimm was immediately put out of the fight as it fell down and slowly began to dissipate. Plopping down in the courtyard, Nora regrouped with the rest of her team, ready to join the fight.

Jackson took notice of their presence, and was relieved to have some extra help. "Thank God you guys are here," Jackson exclaimed, as he planted a bullet between the eyes of a Beowolf. "Feel free to hop in at any time!"

"Let's go team!" Pyrrha said, each individual member splitting up, inadvertently leaving Jaune behind. But there were bigger fish to fry at the moment.

Jackson resumed to fighting the Grimm he was with, and found himself going up against an Ursa Major. It bellowed out before running at Jackson. While Ursas, especially Ursa Majors, are known to be the hard hitters, they were clumsy and slow in their strikes, so it made it easier for Jackson to dodge and weave. In between strikes, Jackson made an attempt to chop down on the Ursa with Khvostov, and while he was successful in making contact, the axe was now stuck in its hide between two bone plates. The large Grimm didn't even register its presence as it continued its onslaught against Jackson. Still swiping at him and lunging at him with its jaws, Jackson carefully waited for his moment to strike. Jackson knew he'd have a lot of trouble to chip away at the armor from the outside, but maybe he'll have better luck attacking from the inside. With Titán in hand, he had his finger on the trigger with a small amount of pressure, keeping it at the ready for when the opportunity presents itself. When the Ursa attempted to take a chunk out of him, he struck. As soon as the Grimm opened its mouth to try and bite Jackson, he quickly brought up Titán and aimed it at the Ursa's open mouth, and fired. His idea proved to be effective, as the back of its head was blown outward and it collapsed forward in a heap.

He continued to kill Grimm, and as he did so, he noticed two new people that arrived out of his peripherals. One was a monkey faunus, who had short blonde hair and a golden tail. He wore regular blue jeans and sneakers with a white button-up shirt that wasn't buttoned up at all. As for his companion, he wore a dark red jacket with a large collar popped up over a white dress shirt and a tie, finger-less gloves, blue hair and a pair of goggles. However, instead of jumping into the fight, they just kind of…stood there, not really doing anything. What they did do was pull something from out of their pockets, and after a close inspection, he found out they were displaying badges of some sort.

'Really?' Jackson thought. 'Now is not the time to show off a pair of badges.' Because of his mental scolding at them, he didn't notice the Beowolf charge him and swipe at him until it was too late. By the time he snapped back to what was happening, the paw was already in motion, with Jackson raising up his hands in a feeble attempt to block it as he closed his eyes.

PING!

Instead of being flung across the courtyard as he feared, he opened his eyes and found Jaune with his shield up, blocking the Beowolf's attack. Pushing back, Jaune managed to throw the Grimm's arm back, leaving it open for an attack, to which Jackson had brought up Titán and opened fire on its chest, knocking it back and ultimately killing it.

Jackson walked up to Jaune and place a hand on his shoulder. "Thanks Jaune," he said. "I owe you one for saving my ass."

"Heh, don't mention it," Jaune dismissed. "You would've done the same for me."

Jackson nodded at him and turned back towards the duo. He was about to call out to them and see why they were just standing there, but a large hum silenced him before he could even speak. Looking up, he was shocked to see what was in the air.

Hovering over the city skyline and into view, Jackson, along with everyone else, saw an enormous Atlesian fleet make their way to their current position, filling the sky with airships. Jackson managed to pry his eyes away from the sky just in time to see an Ursa creep up on Ruby, and was ready to tear her apart. But before he could even so much as get a word out, the sound of rapid gunfire was heard, as the Ursa was peppered with bullets. Looking back up at the sky, Jackson found one of the airships' turrets whirring, with smoke coming from the barrels, Ruby waving at the pilot of the airship. To add to the shock and awe, they all began to see dots coming from the separate airships and began to fall down to Remnant. They soon reached terminal velocity, and threw up a plume of dust as they impacted the ground. Standing up from their crouched position, they revealed themselves to be the brand-new Atlesian Knights General Ironwood has displayed to the audience. Jackson was aware of the new models of the Atlesian Knights, they caused quite a stir in the criminal underground. They were armed to the teeth, and began to unload onto all Grimm in the immediate vicinity, some even resorting to close-quarters combat with built-in swords.

Jackson couldn't be happier with this turn of events. "Hell yeah!" He screamed out loud. "The cavalry's here!" But the battle was far from over, they still had to clear out the Grimm, though now that they had the Knights, it would be a far easier task to accomplish.

After the Knights were deployed, a Bullhead swooped in above the courtyard and hovered close to the ground. The doors opened on each side of the Bullhead, and showed the cabin's occupants. Within the cabin, it was Professor Port, and what Team RWBY have come to know as Team CFVY: Coco Adel, Fox Alistair, Velvet Scarlatina, and Yatsuhashi Daichi. Jackson only knew Velvet, the other three from the team were a mystery to him. He's seen them around campus, sometimes separate, sometimes together, but he was still none the wiser as to what their names were or who they are. They all disembarked from the Bullhead, which quickly took off after their departure.

As soon as they arrived, they had begun to wreak havoc among the Grimm, well, except for Velvet, she resorted to hand-to-hand combat, for some reason. Almost immediately after landing, Yatsuhashi had unsheathed his bronze greatsword, and slammed it into the ground, clearing the entire middle of the courtyard, as well as destroying the courtyard itself to some capacity. Fox had a pair of orange blades, and he was damn effective at using them. Going up against an Ursa Major, he had handled the Grimm like it was no issue whatsoever, and to top it off, with an Aura-infused punch, he sent it flying into a crowd of Grimm. What was so phenomenal about it was that as soon as it stopped, the corpse began to quickly inflate, until it popped like a balloon, sending the jagged spikes on its back flying in all directions, impaling the surrounding Grimm and killing them.

Coco had walked up behind him and spanked him on the ass. "Nice hustle, Fox," Coco remarked. With a sway in her hips, and sass absolutely dripping from her person, Coco walked up to a Beowolf that was three times her size. As it let out a roar, she didn't even so much as flinch, and it sent a swipe at her. Using the small designer handbag she held in her hand, she smacked away the Grimm's paw and smashed it into the its shin, causing it to fall down on its face. As it brought up its head to stare at Coco, she brought up her handbag and sent it slamming into its head, hard. The result was that the Beowolf's skull was embedded deep into the ground, killing it instantly. She proceeded to do the same thing to the next few Grimm who were unlucky enough to go up against her, before a Deathstalker had taken center stage to challenge her. It was in for a surprise.

Pressing a button located somewhere on her handbag, Coco's weapon went from an additional item to a fashion ensemble to a gatling gun, capable of leveling a whole forest if she wanted to do so. As it began to whir, she let out a smirk as she finally let all Hell break loose. As soon as her gatling gun fired, the Deathstalker was absolutely shredded, torn to bits and killed before it even knew what happened. She didn't let off on the trigger as she continued to grind every Grimm placed in front of her, not just the Deathstalker. Soon enough, her weapon overheated, and whirred down to a halt, nothing but destruction left in its wake.

Jackson was simply awestruck at the power behind the handbag. He didn't get to gawk for long though, because from the rubble, a large mech hand burst through, and pulled itself out of the wreck. Jackson was ready to riddle whoever came out the mech with bullets, but as soon as he saw Zwei pop his head above the mech, Jackson immediately lowered his weapon. Zwei jumped down from the head, on a collision course with a Beowolf, but the dog didn't seem the least bit concerned. When he was close enough, Zwei delivered a crippling headbutt to the Grimm. Exiting from the pilot seat came Doctor Oobleck, no worse for wear it seems. As he hopped down, he took a sip from his thermos as Professor Port walked to his side, and gave him a quick salute before facing the issue at hand. Raising his Blunderbuss/Battle Axe, along with Oobleck extending his thermos to it's full form, Port opened fire on the charging Grimm while Oobleck, quite literally, opened fire on the Grimm. Ursai, Beowolves, and Creeps were burned to a crisp as the balls of fire flew into the crowd.

So many things were happening at once, Jackson could barely process it all at once, and even amongst the chaos that ensued, he still managed to see Miss Goodwitch appear from the nearby streets, and she looked upset. Then again, she always looks upset with something. With the flick of her riding crop, any Grimm that came near her were flung away, crashing into nearby buildings or impaled with glowing purple projectiles that materialized from her crop. She walked up to the wreckage where the train popped out of the ground, and pointed her riding crop at it, intending to reverse the damage done.

"Wait!" Jackson called out to her. He got her attention, but by the way she looked at him, it wouldn't last for long. He quickly ran over to the wreckage, and straight to the nearest entrance to the train. "Just wait a moment." Before she could even reply, Jackson entered the train, knowing she wouldn't entomb her.

At least, he hoped.

…

Entering the train, Jackson saw that all the lights were broken, shattered upon impact. Sparks flew all over the inside of the boxcars, still having some juice in them. Every window was blown out, and some rubble had made its way in. As Jackson looked around, everything was thrown all over the place, making it a bit more difficult to find what he was looking for. Eventually, he found him.

Roman was buried under some boxes that flew out of place when they crashed, flung into a far corner of the boxcar. After pushing cargo out of the way, he was still unconscious, sleeping like a baby. He found his cane not too far away from his person, and after throwing Torchwick over his shoulder, he decided to pick up his cane as well. As he began to exit the boxcar, Jackson noticed one crucial piece that he didn't notice upon entry: the lieutenant was nowhere to be seen, even his chainsaw disappeared. But now wasn't the time to be wondering where he went, he's long gone by now. Right now, what mattered was getting Roman behind bars.

'oR i coUlD SnaP hIs neCk AnD saY hE dIed iN The cRasH…'

Jackson shook his head violently, getting the thought out of his head as soon as it appeared. No, as much as he would prefer being done with him for good, it would be too easy for Roman. Death isn't a just punishment for a man like him, he's done too many bad things for death to make up for it. Plus, what Blake said earlier kind of stuck with him, if only a little. Jackson made his decision and exited the train with Torchwick in tow.

…

Glynda was growing impatient with Jackson and what he was doing inside the train. She was about ready to trap him underground to prevent any further Grimm from entering, but then he finally reappeared from the wreckage with something, or rather, someone, slung over his shoulder. As soon as he cleared the wreckage, Glynda immediately went to work, and used her semblance to repair the damage done. Through an invisible force, large chunks of the road thrown outwards were pulled back to the point of impact, and began to hover above the gaping hole. The moment she flicked her riding crop downwards, every broken piece of debris plopped down in the exact spot from where it used to be, and all of them fitting together like puzzle pieces and sealing the hole, the train being pushed back into the sealed-off tunnel. The cracks between each piece shrunk as they mended together once more, repairing the damage done. In mere seconds, every bit of damage was undone with no trace of it to be found, as if it never happened to begin with.

With that taken care of, Glynda turned her attention to Jackson, who proceeded to toss Roman onto the ground for her to see. It seemed to be he regained consciousness, because he let out a pained groan once he collided with the ground. Opening his eyes, Roman saw Jackson looming over him with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face. He growled and began to get up, but when a riding crop appeared in front of him, as well as Glynda, he slowly raised his hands in surrender, knowing which fights to pick. This one he knew he had no chance of winning, especially in such a vulnerable position.

"Thank you Mister Wesson," Glynda said. "I can handle it from here. Go regroup with your team." Jackson nodded and looked over to the courtyard.

Bullheads and Atlesian Airships began to land among the clearing, the airships picking up a majority of the Atlesian Knights and taking them back for recalibration and any repairs if needed, the rest keeping guard around the square and putting this whole area under lockdown. Port and Oobleck chatted amongst themselves, while the other teams did the same. Team RWBY conversed with JNPR, recalling the events and attacks they did mere moments ago, with Yang relaxing under a tree away from the crowd. Meanwhile, Team CFVY stood smiling in silence, looking over the courtyard, proud that they managed to help in detaining the breach before it could get any worse, as each member of CFVY did their own gesture of gratitude towards each other. Nearby one of the airships, Roman could be seen being escorted into the cabin of the aircraft by two Knights, who didn't hesitate to 'encourage' him if needed.

Among all the conversations, and all the little things happening throughout the courtyard, the only thing that caught Jackson's attention was Weiss. Now that they had the time to talk without being forced to look around every five seconds, Jackson decided he might as well tell her now about his feelings, and what happened in the train. Taking in a deep breath, he began to walk towards her. As he made his way towards her, he heard someone call out to him.

"Hey Jackson!"

Turning to the sound of the voice, Jackson found out that the voice belonged to Yang, who had a backpack in hand, his string backpack, to be precise. She tossed it towards him, catching it with ease. Opening it up, he found his sketchbook, as well as his hoodie, inside the bag. But at the moment, the sketchbook is what was more important.

"Go get her, tiger," Yang said, giving him a quick wink. Jackson gave her a two-finger salute and a smile as he returned to walking towards Weiss. She was still oblivious to Jackson's coming, as she was still conversing with the other girls, mainly Blake and Pyrrha. Jackson had butterflies in his stomach as the moment inched ever so closer, but now wasn't the time to get all clammy. Steeling himself and digesting said butterflies, he prepared himself for what he wanted to say.

But the universe has a twisted sense of humor.

Just as he began to near her, a voice called out from behind him.

"Weiss!" The owner of that voice made its way past him, and went straight for Weiss. Once they passed him, Jackson found out that the voice belonged to the blue-haired fellow he saw alongside the monkey faunus, or who RWBY and JNPR came to know as Neptune Vasilias, and the monkey faunus known as Sun Wukong. Running up to Weiss, Neptune stopped right in front of her, before wrapping his arms around her.

"Thank God!" Neptune exclaimed. He let go of her from his hug, but still kept a grip on her shoulders. "Are you hurt? Do you feel alright?"

Weiss was surprised, to say the least, at Neptune's sudden appearance. "Don't worry Neptune," Weiss said, giving him a smile for reassurance. "I'm completely fine, and it's thanks to-" Her eyes widened immensely as she came to a sudden realization. As her eyes darted from side-to-side, until they finally landed on what they were looking for, and she took a stricken look.

"Jackson…" She whispered.

Jackson just stood there, watching as he felt his heart get ripped in two. It seems Weiss was already taken, based on the sincerity and worry for her well-being Neptune displayed. What's worse was that Jackson kissed Weiss, a woman who was already in a relationship with another man. Not only was his crush taken, he now felt like a home-wrecker for his sudden affection. He lost his grip on his string backpack, and it plopped down on the ground next to him, but he made no move to pick it up. Instead, he took a step back, then another, then another, before turning on his heels and making a dash to the nearest Bullhead.

Yang seemed just as distressed as Weiss. She could definitely see the both of them together, and saw the connection they had, but she had completely forgotten about Weiss' connection with Neptune, and just how uninformed Jackson was. It was true, Neptune and Weiss shared an interest in each other, but they never made their relationship official. And Neptune…well, he could never seem to be restrained to one woman. He was always flirting with various girls across campus and the other academies, and at times it would work, just like it did with Weiss, and other times he would be rejected, but it did nothing to discourage him. She would know, Yang fell victim to his constant flirting. She grabbed the sides of her head as she looked at Jackson make a run for it to the nearest Bullhead.

"No, no no no no no no!" Yang shouted. "Jackson, stop!"

Even Blake felt terrible for Jackson. She was a bit confused at first when Weiss looked stricken when she was interacting with Neptune, and it wasn't until she followed her line of vision and land on Jackson did she finally realize what was going on. She saw them kiss on the train, and she could only imagine what he must be feeling right now witnessing the somewhat-out of context scenario. She brought a hand up to her mouth as she realized what was happening, and let out a slow gasp. Ruby and JNPR were utterly confused to what was happening and what caused such drama, but they realized that now wasn't the time to ask. Weiss attempted to chase after Jackson and explain, but Neptune prevented him from doing so.

"Whoa," Neptune said, cutting off her path. "What's wrong?"

"Neptune, get out of the way!" Weiss exclaimed.

"Not until you tell me what's going on with you," Neptune replied. "You got this look of distress right after I asked you if you were okay, what happened?"

"Damnit Neptune, now isn't the time for your concern," Weiss angrily said. "Get out of the damn way!" Shoving him aside, Weiss sprinted after Jackson.

Jackson made his way to the closest Bullhead, and jumped in without hesitation. "Take me back to Beacon, now," Jackson said.

"You sure you don't wanna wait for your pals?" The pilot asked. "One of them looks to be making their way over here ri-"

"TAKE ME BACK TO BEACON, RIGHT-FUCKING-NOW!" Jackson bellowed in his baritone voice. He caused the pilot to jump, and this time obey his command, but with angered reluctance. The Bullhead began to rise from the floor, and was gaining altitude before it could take off.

Weiss got close to the Bullhead, but she wasn't able to reach it before it started to climb into the air. Before long, it was out of reach, and with the engines, quickly out of earshot. But she still tried anyway.

"JACKSON!" Weiss shrieked, hoping she could get his attention. But it was to no avail, as it continued to climb into the sky. During the Bullhead's climb, Jackson looked out to the courtyard that was now below him, and settled his eyes on his group of friends. Gazing over them, he eventually settled on one person in particular, which happened to be Neptune.

Suddenly, there seemed to be another passenger aboard the Bullhead. "kIlL hiM," Jackson's doppelganger said. "uSe KhVosToV aND plAnT A buLleT BetWeEN hIs EyeS, i knOw yoU'rE cApaBlE oF mAkIng thE ShOt. tHey'Ll nEvER knOw whERe It CamE frOm."

"Don't try and pollute my thoughts, you sick monster," Jackson hissed. "…Besides, I don't have a suppressor, if I were to shoot him, they'd hear the gunshot and trace it back to me anyways."

"aH WeLl, It wAs woRtH A sHot," D.J sighed. "SO, hOw aBouT yoUr lIttlE sNowfLakE?"

Jackson grabbed onto his doppelganger's clothes, and threw him out of the cabin just as the side doors began to close. D.J laughed hysterically as he fell, and turned into a puff of smoke, whisked away by the winds, before the side doors fully closed. Taking a seat, he placed his head in his hands, thinking things over.

Pulling up his head, he called out to the pilot. "Hey, sorry I snapped at you back there, it's just been a stressful day, and I've had enough of today's events. I just want to get back to Beacon and rest."

There was silence for a moment, before the pilot spoke. "Forget about it," he said. "With days like these, even the best of us get pretty cranky."

"Thank you," Jackson said. He couldn't see it, but the pilot nodded in response to his thanks. For the rest of the ride back to Beacon, Jackson simply sat in his seat, completely lost and heartbroken.

'I need some time alone,' he thought to himself. The rest of the ride back to Beacon was spent in complete silence, in the real world and in his mind.

…

AN: And that's the chapter! Bet you didn't see that coming, did ya? A quick note, anytime Jackson's doppelganger makes an appearance in the story, I will refer to him as D.J, which stands for 'Doppelganger Jackson'. Also, holy shit, this is my biggest chapter to date! Eighteen THOUSAND words! I could've broken this off into two chapters, but I didn't want the part two to this end up being really short, like six or seven thousand. And by the time I realized I could break this off into two parts, I was almost done with this chapter anyways, so I said, eh, fuck it. Follow, Favorite, leave a review, have a happy Thanksgiving, and I'll see you all in the next chapter of Dead Man Walking! See ya!