AN: What what? Another massive update within the same week? Can this truly be happening? Your eyes don't deceive you! It's really here! I hope you all enjoy!


"Why are you researching the White Fang?" She stood with crossed arms, her gaze piercing as she stared him down with a resolute frown.

"I- uh," The boy turned his attention back to his screen where multiple tabs had been opened, each with a distinct title about the White Fang's most recent exploits.

Welp, deniability is out the question.

He instantly thought as he paused, trying to find an answer to her question. His talk with Ozpin had lead to the headmaster requesting that Roxas not reveal what they'd talked about to anyone not already aware of the situation. This left a rye frown on Roxas's lips as he stared back at the darkly dressed girl.

"I took an interest in them. It sounded like they were back at it. It's been all over the News." he paused to look at his screen "Thought I'd look it up, you know, being a Huntsman and all.

Blake's eyes peeled "Yeah no. I don't believe that for a second. An interested person would have looked up one or two News sources, not-" she paused to count all the tabs opened on his screen "Seven, So stop trying to cover it up. I want to know why you've been digging into this so much."

Roxas raised an eyebrow at the girl, taking a moment to question why she was so invested in his interest the the radical group.

"What's it to you?" he fired back rising from his seat "I'm allowed to look this stuff up right? There's nothing saying I cant!" his voice raised, annoyed that he was being treated as if he'd just been caught doing something wrong.

They're heads turned as an extremely annoyed Librarian cleared her throat, giving the two of them looks that would have killed on the spot if that had been possible.

Roxas spoke in a half whisper as he turned his gaze back to Blake who was standing only a foot away, glaring back at him defiantly "Besides, you were looking at the same site. Why don't you tell me why you've been looking into them yourself huh?"

Blake scowled, opening her mouth to respond before pausing and scowling again giving the boy a dismissive look "Whatever." she spoke coldly as she turned and began to walk back towards her console.

Roxas watched her go, forehead creased as he tried to figure out what had just happened. He sighed before reaching out a hand, intending to try and smooth things out between them before he felt the ground beneath his feet begin to rumble.

Simultaneously, a series of loud BOOMS could be heard off in the distance, so many in fact that Roxas lost count with how rapidly they came one after another. If he hadn't known better, he would have thought the sounds to be fireworks.

Both Roxas and Blake turned their heads in the direction of the startling noise before turning to stare at each other with concerned expressions.

"What was-" Blake started before another noise cut her off. A look of worry spread on their faces as emergency sirens began to blare, first distantly all the way out from Vale, then within the very school itself, alerting everyone within Beacon.

Blake shot a terrified look towards Roxas who returned it.

"Get to your team." Roxas said gravely as he felt his feet work beneath him, propelling him towards the door in a flat sprint as he raced down the hallways. Blake was quickly at his side, matching his pace as she moved.

"What's happening?" she asked in between breaths of air.

"I don't know." Roxas admitted "But I know it's nothing good."

Finally the two reached a dividing hallway which they separated, giving each other a knowing nod as they parted and raced towards their respective teams.

Roxas considered summoning a Dark Corridor to reach his team faster now that he was separated from Blake, but quickly decided against it as a flood of students began to stick their heads out from their dorms with each wearing confused or concerned expressions.

Roxas reached the door of his dorm a minute later, lightly panting as he swung the door open without hesitation. To his relief he saw that his team was already getting ready. Ruby had already changed into her battle skirt and was quickly lacing her combat boots. Pyrrha was strapping her bracers to her forearms as Jaune pulled on his chest plate, his hair disheveled.

Their heads lifted as Roxas swung the door open, their eyes flashing surprise, and then worry.

Jaune was the first to speak up "What's going on? What's the emergency siren for?"

Roxas parted his lips to explain that he didn't know when almost on cue Ozpin's voice sounded out from the intercom.

"All able body students are to report to the helipad. Vale is currently overwhelmed by Grimm and needs all they can to support them. Carriers will be arriving shortly so be prepared, and most of all, be careful."

The group turned to each other with wide eyes and shocked expressions.

"Vale is being overwhelmed?" Pyrrha asked disbelievingly "But how would they have been able to get through-"

"I thought it was safe down there?" Ruby cut her teammate off, looking wildly between the group.

Suddenly Jaune called out "That doesn't matter right now!" his voice sounded confident and strong "What matters right now is that we make it the the helipad so that we can get down there as soon as possible and help the people down there."

Ruby, Pyrrha and Roxas all collectively shot surprised looks towards Jaune, eyebrows raised at his command.

"What are you all waiting for?" Jaune asked in a serious tone "Let's go!"

At the snap of his voice the group shot into action, their feet thumping against the floor as they rushed out and into the now sea of students filling the hallway. Before they could get very far however, Roxas felt a hand on his should spinning him around.

To his surprise, the boy saw Ozpin staring down at him with the utmost intensity.

"Roxas. I think you and I both know that a helicopter is something you're group can do without."

Roxas turned his head as Yang and the rest of team Rainbow suddenly appeared at their side, Yang met Roxas's eyes with a knowing look.

"But, you said-" Roxas began recalling their talk about him concealing his magic.

Ozpin raised a hand, cutting him off "I know what I said, listen to what I'm saying now. Bring whoever already knows with you. Go to one of these locations." as he spoke he pushed what appeared to be a map into the boy's hands "In emergency situations, the people of Vale have been ordered to evacuate to these marked shelters. Vale's military force has already been deployed to protect these areas, but it appears that even they are being overwhelmed."

Just then the faces of Weiss and Naminé pulled up alongside Yang's group, appeared worried and disheveled, but ready.

Roxas looked back to the headmaster, his lips forming a thin line before nodding with an intense expression.

"Understood. Which location needs us the most?"

"The upper North East shelter. They were the most unprepared for the attack."

Roxas nodded before turning on his heels and running against the current of students as he pushed back towards their room.

The two teams bore confused looks before Ruby started after the boy "C'mon! Follow Roxas! We have a plan!"

Their feet quickly fell into motion, following Roxas the best they could as a sea of students continued to push against them. After a minute, they found their way into team Purger's dorm room where Ruby quickly locked the door behind them.

"Alright we don't have a lot of time and you three are going to be nervous so we need to skip that part." Roxas spoke with an urgency pointing to Blake, Nora and Ren.

Their faces read confusion at being pointed out.

"What do you-"

Ren began but was cut off as Roxas said "No time to explain. Just trust me, everyone here has gone through it." as he said the last word he raised a hand towards the back wall. A moment later deep black flames engulfed the area with a swirling center of purple.

Roxas turned back to look at the expressions of team Rainbow. Yang looked unfazed having seen this multiple times before, her arms crossed with a serious, all business expression.

Nora's face bore an expression of wonder, her eyes twinkling as her mouth made an O shape. Ren looked mildly concerned as he stared at the black flames, as if he were worried that the room would catch fire. Blakes eyes were wide, her pupils barely the size of peas as she studied the flames.

"What is-" Nora began before Yang cut her off, moving towards Roxas with purpose.

"Where does this lead to?" She asked with a sense of urgency.

"Here." Roxas spoke flatly, pointing to a point on the map that had been circled in red ink. There were several other circles made on the map of Vale's commercial district, but this one was the furthest North East that the city had to offer, almost at the very corner of the entire map.

She nodded with a frown before turning to the rest of her team "Alright, let's head out." she said stiffly before racing into the flames.

"Yang no!" Nora shouted raising a hand to stop her, but the moment the blonde touched the flames, she vanished.

"This is going to be the real deal. Are you ready for this?" Weiss was asked Naminé in the corner of the room, holding her two hands together in an effort to calm the girl. Naminé's demeanor was calm, but her eyes gave the girl away, showing the true fear she had been trying to conceal. Roxas frowned at this. The girl hadn't gotten any real training out in the field aside from a few stray Grimm that decided to intrude on their training sessions.

The blonde nodded in defiance of her fear "I'm ready. Let's do this." she said stubbornly before releasing Weiss's hands and walking swiftly towards the Corridor of Darkness. She stepped through without hesitation, and Weiss with a worried expression followed soon after.

Pyrrha and Jaune had been shown the portals before during training sessions upon Ruby's insistence that their team shouldn't have to keep secrets from one and other. This meant that the two were less awestruck than that of team Rainbow, but at the same time their expressions read 'uneasy'.

"Alright team." Jaune said trying to sound confident, but his eyes held the same fear that Naminé's had "Let's move. They can't handle everything by themselves." Team Purger began to move as a group towards the portal before Roxas paused, turning to look at the remainders of team Rainbow.

"It's safe." he said calmly motioning towards the corridor "I promise to explain later. But right now we don't have the time."

He stepped through.

When he did he was met with what could only be effectively called a war zone. Gun Fire split the air with such a consistency that Roxas could barely make out the sounds of screams and the roars of Grimm. His eyes met with the beady glowing eyes of a Beowulf charging his direction. With a calm scowl Roxas sidestepped the wild swipe of a claw before summoning his Oathkeeper and shoving it deep into the creature's sternum. The beast gasped, its body shuttering before it grew limp and faded away. Roxas scanned the area around them, his mouth in a tight thin line. He could see smoke rising in various locations throughout the city, vehicles were on their sides and cement was cracked in multiple places. He could see Vale Soldiers on one knee aiming down their sights as what could only be considered as an army of Grimm charged towards them. The road was relatively narrow, capable of allowing only two lanes of traffic at most, but it was entirely full from wall to wall with Grimm.

The boy turned his head and saw that Yang had already engaged a small fleet of Ursa, her fists pounding away rapidly at the Grimm's face as she fired shot after shot. Weiss was darting throughout the wave of Grimm, stabbing through any Grimm unfortunate enough to stand in her path. Naminé had begun to fire Dust explosion after Dust explosion, littering the field of Grimm with a barrage of flame.

Roxas looked over his shoulder and saw what they were protecting. What looked to be a 20 by 20 tunnel that led down and underground was currently filled to the brim with people and Faunas alike urgently attempting to push their way through and down to the emergency shelter. Soldiers of Beacon were attempting to wave them through, reminding them not to panic and trying to order them into a general formation to make the transition easier.

Roxas frowned, he could see the whites of each person whenever they would look back towards the chaos of Grimm and Huntsmans fighting. They were terrified, Roxas doubted that a one of them would be able to think clearly enough to make a formation into the Shelter.

He heard footsteps behind him and turned his head, seeing Nora, Ren, and Blake each with wild eyes

"That..." Nora said before her lips curled into a delighted smile "Was awesome!" she shouted before grabbing onto Ren's wrist "C'mon! We got Grimm to beat up!" she raced past Roxas with Ren stumbling behind her, calling out a "Thanks for the ride!" as she passed him.

Roxas allowed the corridor to close before turning his attention back to Blake, who was standing still studying him with a deep gaze. It was as if her mind was calculating something, putting pieces of a puzzle back together...

"You have questions but-" he began trying to urge her that this wasn't the time only to have his words cut off.

"I have answers." The girl responded coldly as her feet began to carry her towards the battle "And I'll have more later." she said meeting his eye. He could tell that this was not a request, it was an order.

"Reinforcements! Thank God reinforcements!" Called out one of the few remaining soldiers baring the symbol of Vale on his chest. Roxas's eyes fell on the man for a moment before noticing all the other soldiers with their backs against flipped cars or anything that they could find to lean against. Many were limp, slumped to the ground and motionless. Roxas winced when his gaze fell on one of these, others were clutching their midsection or legs, disoriented as another soldier with a cross on his arm did his best to attend to the injured.

This needs to end NOW.

The boy turned his head back towards the oncoming wave of Grimm and searched within himself, drawing out the power he held in his core as he summoned the Oblivion to his other hand. He closed his eyes as he felt himself grip the light within, and then release it.

His eyes flashed open as his body was enveloped in a bright white aura, invigorating his body and mind before he darted forward, pushing through the massive hoard of grim as if they were made of paper. His two blades each surrounded by light easily passed through the Grimm with each motion, carving out a decent chunk before he reached what he presumed was the center of the army.

He paused for only a moment, for only as long as it took for him to raise both keyblades above his head before bringing them down with a mighty force that struck the ground with a BANG.

Immediately light shot out from Roxas in all directions, piercing through the Grimm as if they were a sidewalk shadow. After a moment of bright, blinding light that illuminated the street as if the sun were still out, the Grimm were gone. The only remnants of their existence being the small piles of black dust scattered across the road.

Roxas was breathing heavily after this with a sweat running down the side of his face. He allowed the white flame around him to dissipate as he took in a deep breath to calm his body.

Well,that sure took it out of me...

He thought to himself just as he heard "Pfft, what a show off." Yang sneered as she stepped over to the boy "Good job," she said patting him on his back.

Roxas grinned at her "Thanks."

"Althooouugh." Yang added Quickly "Could ya maybe wait for just a little while longer next time the city has a massive Grimm attack? I was just starting to have fun." she said with a coy grin.

Roxas returned her expression "I'll try to remem-"

"Not to be a party pooper." Pyrrha's voice suddenly cut in, her eyes widening as she stared down the road "But you may just get you wish yet Yang." she said pointing out towards where the road turned out of sight.

Roxas turned and his eyes widened as he saw what she was looking at. Storming down the road towards them was an equally dense flood of Grimm, each looking as ravenous and deadly as the last.

"Well then." Yang said with a tight face of determination "Let's not keep our new guests waiting." before charging forward to meet the Grimm. Ruby was charging after her soon after, followed by Jaune and Pyrrha and then the rest of team Rainbow.

Roxas shook himself out of his surprised stupor before his feet began to move on their own and he found himself also charging towards the new hoard of Grimm.

Something told the boy that this battle wasn't going to be over anytime soon.


-Twenty minutes later-

Ozpin's face was grim as the sound of a helicopter's blades filled his ears. He stood on the side of the open bay door as it flew, one hand holding onto the rail above his head, the other resting on his cane. His eyes fell on the scene of the falling city. It's buildings crumbling as its people cried out in anguish, and pain.

This carrier contained the final group of Beacon's finest. He turned his head to look at them. Many of their faces were white with worry, fearful expressions solidifying on their faces. He even caught a few of the first years shaking in fright. They'd trained their lives away for an event like this, but many of them had yet to actually go out into the field, and he could see it.

Having already distributed the rest of his students out to the various other shelters located throughout the city, this group was headed to a shelter positioned South east where the first of the explosions had erupted. From what he'd been told of the night thus far, it seemed that a series of explosions across the city had erupted from underground leaving massive fissures which spilled Grimm by the hundreds into the Vale across various points.

Who would want something like this?

Although his mind had processed the thought, he'd already known the answer when he'd asked.

His face bore a scowl as a single name came to his mind before his thoughts were interrupted by the radio he's attached to his belt.

"-Bzz- need reinforcements -bzzzch- North West Corner- Bzzst- Held up at the stadium -Bzz- never reached the-"

The transmission cut out.

Never reached the Shelter?

Ozpin's scowl grew deeper as he spun around, his face looking over the many youthful faces. The Southeast corner needed as many reinforcements as they could get from the distress and urgency of their request, Ozpin's mind raced with who he could send to help their cause when suddenly-

"We can cover that." Said a feminine voice, and one he knew well.

He turned his head with a frown as Coco Adel, the leader of team Coffee stepped forward, the rest of her team soon rising to their feet having been sitting on one of the benches.

As they rose, Ozpin looked them over, making a mental evaluation of each member as he did so.

First was Coco Adel, a slightly over confident young woman with the skill to back it up. She always wore the most up to date styles of fashion, with this day apparently calling for short, dark brown hair with wavy locks on one side matching with her long, cocoa-colored shirt with a dark brown waist cincher and dark brown trousers with ribbons on her left side. She bore what appeared to be a simple hand back casually hung on her shoulder, but Ozpin knew that it was far more than that.

Next was Fox Alistair, a silent individual who often decided to let his fists speak over his words, in those regards, he was likely the most articulate member of the team. His hair was a fiery dark red that matched the color of his vest. Coating his fists were two red gauntlets that parted into a long blades, starting at his forearm and running as long as the tip of his shoulder. The boy was deadly with these weapons, and the team knew it.

Velvet Scarlatina was the most timid of the team, but that timid nature did not mean that she was weak by any regard. Her brown bunny-like ears atop long brown haired that stretched to her waist displayed her faunus heritage proudly. She wore her typical fighting attire, a brown shirt with bronze shoulder pads and bracers along with brown shorts over black form fitting tights. Resting against the lowest part of her back was a simple, unassuming brown box that wouldn't have drawn any amount of attention if you were one of the many who did not know what lay within it.

Last was Yatsuhashi Daichi, a tall and strong young man with simple short cut black hair and an otherwise undefined expression. His choice of attire was relatively simple with his top consisting of only a long sleeve green robe over a black muscle shirt. His pants were a simple brown with a 5-layer sode resting on his left shoulder. His weapon of choice was as one might guess, simple, a sword in its nature, but larger than any broad sword that one might imagine. It was long, longer than most students as well as almost as long as himself, almost. Its flat was a rustic brown copper as its edges bore a golden sheen, the blade itself was slightly curved, ending in a reversed barb-like hook.

Ozpin's face grew concerned, his lips parted, but coco was quick to cut him off before he could refuse "C'mon now you know us, we've fought worse." Ozpin had doubts about that statement, by the reports and what he could see below, this was the largest Grimm attack since the fall of Vales expansion.

The woman continued, her confident smile unwavering from her lips "Besides, we only have to hold out till the rescue choppers touch down and pick everyone up right? That should be easy." she stressed the final word by flashing a grin as she made a motion with her hand that dismissed the task entirely.

What she had said was true. Not long after the initial attacks were called in as well as the magnitude of the assault, it was ordered that the people of the Commercial district were to be evacuated to the safer districts of Vale. Temporary homes were already being made for the survivors of the attack within the industrial and Agricultural districts. Those with family in towards the upper North or within the residential district were planned to be rerouted there, at least until the Grimm infestation was properly taken care of.

Ozpin released a conflicted sigh "I can't say that you are wrong Coco Adel. You'll have to hold out for some time as the carriers that we do have are still preoccupied with other locations. Are you okay with this?"

Coco smiled "Do you think I'd be offering if I wasn't?"

Ozpin smiled too, the girl's personality had a charm to it that put him at ease "And the rest of you are prepared for what is to come?"

A quiet nod from Fox.

"Yes sir." Spoke out Yatsuhashi.

"I think we'll do just fine professor." Velvet said with a confident grin. He knew pairing the typically timid girl with the likes of Coco had been a good idea.

"Well then, in that case, I suggest jumping now." he said with a sly grin.

"Sorry?" Velvet responded with a tilt of her head, her bunny ears flopping to one side.

"We are flying over the stadium now." His face turned serious "Be careful, and save everyone that you can, but do your best not to put yourselves in danger in doing so, I wouldn't want-" he paused as a hand fell onto his shoulder.

Coco, now standing at the edge of the opening peered over her designer sunglasses "Come now Ozpin, you should know us by now." she grinned at the man "We're always careful."

A snort could be heard from her team "No we're not." Yatsuhashi said with a chuckle.

Coco shot the swordsman a dirty look before meeting Ozpin's eye again "Well," she shrugged "We always come back alive." as she said that she released a small laugh before leaping out of the plane. Before another word could be said, Fox, Velvet, and Yatsuhashi were all out of the plane, diving towards the chaos of gun fire and roars below.

Ozpin's eyes watched them as they descended, hoping that she was right.


Roxas gasped for air as a bead of sweat slipped into his eye. He scowled, wiping at his eye with the back of his hand as Ruby came up to him.

"Do you think that was the last of em?" she asked with a strained expression, appearing equally exhausted.

"I doubt it." Roxas admitted as he straightened his back "But that might have bought us a few minutes to relax. Use them wisely." he'd been talking about the surge of light he'd been using since the start of the battle to wipe away the fleet of Beowolves, Ursa, and all other variety of Grimm that dared to charge their direction. He'd wanted to use them sparingly, as the strain on his body required to wipe out an entire road full of Grimm was nothing to ignore, but alas he'd been forced to use the tactic three times already, with this being the fourth.

The moment the words left his lips he found himself falling backwards before his butt hit the asphalt of the now severely broken road. It felt good to be off his feet, even if only for a minute. His head turned and he saw the rest of the gang go through the same motions. Yang was completely sprawled out on the sidewalk, her chest rising and falling rapidly. Even from where he was sitting Roxas could see the droplets of sweat running down her arms and thighs. The girl had been pushing herself arguably harder than all the others as she took it upon herself to face against any Grimm that was larger that the normal Variety.

Pyrrha had too been pushing herself far past that of her peers, her genuine expertise at battle being invaluable at times as each motion of her spear and shield brought with it death for the Grimm. She was sitting with Jaune a short distance away, the two looked drained, but otherwise unharmed for the most part.

Naminé and Weiss were sitting with the rest of team Rainbow as Nora, having somehow stored snacks somewhere on her person began to share with the group. Her face still bore its usual smile, but Roxas could see exhaustion behind her eyes. As Roxas looked over the group, his eyes met with Blake's, who was casting a serious gaze his direction. The boy frowned at this as he held her gaze, he could tell that she had more questions then seemingly any of the others, but now wasn't the time, and he'd purposely made sure he was a good distance away whenever they would get these short breaks from the action for that reason.

His attention was pulled away from the girl as Ruby plopped down beside him, her corset and tights were sticking to her body with sweat and Roxas found himself staring, but unsure why.

"Jeez this has been a trial." She said crossing her legs and resting her weight on her elbows as she laid back.

Roxas pulled his eyes away from the girl, deciding to focus on turn in the road ahead blocked by buildings. He knew that more were coming, so it was wise not to be taken by surprise.

"Yeah it really has." Roxas confirmed.

"But hey at least we're getting some real action now huh?" She said with a bright smile.

Roxas shot her a strange look wearing a playful half smile "I guess that's one way to look at it."

Ruby laughed falling back and sprawling out "I hope that was the last of em." she said with a tired yawn before shouting out "How long has it been?!"

It was Pyrrha's voice that called back "one hour and ten minutes!"

"Ugggghh." Ruby spoke with a grimace to her tone.

The two grew quiet, as they enjoyed the few minutes of relaxation that they had.

"The stars she are beautiful tonight..." Ruby murmured, her silver eyes glazing over as she looked out into the night.

Roxas's lips parted to respond but heard two sets of heels stepping towards them. Turning, he saw Weiss approaching with Naminé shortly behind her. The girl had become Weiss's shadow of late, feeling particularly close to her teammate.

Weiss's eyes were looking Roxas over with concern "How are you feeling?" she asked with a rye smile.

"Pretty tired." The boy admitted.

"How many of those light bombs do you have left in you?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

Roxas paused at her question, tilting his head he repeated "Light bombs?"

Naminé beamed "It was my idea to call them that." she frowned "Is it a bad name?"

Roxas met the girl's eyes, her expression pleading for approval. Although she had come far over her limited time at Beacon, her timid past self reared its head every now and again.

He smiled "I like the name. 'Light bomb' has a nice ring to it." in truth he'd not come up with a name for the majority of his attacks. He made a note to change that later.

She smiled at his comment.

Weiss met his eye again as she stated "I think you should rest." with a stern expression.

"Huh?" Roxas's brow furrowed "I am resting." he said with a joking smile.

Weiss returned the smile rolling her eyes "Those light bombs have been taking it out of you, we've been able to tell." she said motioning to herself and Naminé.

"Oh it's not so bad." he said making a dismissive gesture.

Weiss and Naminé shot a worried look towards each other before returning their gaze to the boy "We want you to stay out of the next wave." she spoke sternly.

Roxas's mouth gaped as his forehead creased "But I-"

"In all honesty..." Ruby began cutting him off "I kinda agree with Weiss and Naminé here. You've been using that, uh, 'light bomb' thing as well as fighting just as hard as the rest of us." she wiped her brow with her forearm "And I'm utterly exhausted," she said with a smile before her expression turned serious "So I can only imagine what you're going through."

"Exactly my point." Weiss said matter-of-factly "If you keep going like this, you're going to collapse."

Roxas frowned at this comment, his face registering offense "I'm not going to collapse any time soon I can tell you that." he said as he rose to his feet, doing his best to hide the fact that his legs were still shaking "I'm fine." he said stubbornly with crossed arms.

Weiss sighed shaking her head "Look, we all know that you're stronger than the rest of us." she said begrudgingly "There's not a doubt in my mind about that, but... you're always pushing yourself so hard, and every person has their breaking point."

Roxas paused at this comment, looking into as his inner mind reviewing the storage of energy he still held. He had to admit, it was looking pretty low.

He sighed "Fine. But if things start to get hairy, I'm jumping back in."

Weiss smiled, he saw that Ruby and Naminé were smiling too "Good." Weiss spoke cheerfully "And don't worry, you're not the only one being singled out. With all this fighting, I'm going to start a rotation for people to take longer breaks than the one that your 'light bombs' have been providing."

The boy merely nodded as he began to walk towards the entrance of the shelter tunnel where groups of the injured were huddled and waiting, for what? He hadn't a clue.

He had just reached the entrance, which had been closed and gated, but paused as an unexpected noise began to fill his ears.

"Is that-" Jaune began.

"A helicopter?" Pyrrha finished. The whole group looked up to see what was in fact a large carrier descending on the road. It landed swiftly, and to their collective surprise, it was Professor Ozpin hanging out of the side. He stepped off the aircraft casually as his eyes looked over the battlefield.

"I'm glad to see that everything has been going smoothly."


"WOOOOOOO!" Coco's mouth made an O as she felt the rattle of her mini gun within the grips of her fingers. It's multiple barrels spun so fast that they blurred into one continuous image as bullets pumped from the machine, picking the Grimm apart as they charged their way towards her without a hope of reaching her.

Turning her head, she saw Fox punching an outstretched claw meant for his neck before delivering a second fist into the creature's ribcage. After a swiftly delivered kick to it's chin and a piercing elbow strike, the Ursa fell to the ground limp and dead.

She turned to look on her other side and saw Yatsuhashi with his blade raised above his head, his arms tense like a metal spring ready to bounce. He waited, for one...two... three seconds as a swarm of beowolves and smaller Ursa rushed towards him, their strategy seemingly to be to overwhelm the Huntsman before he had time to react to all of them.

Coco's grin couldn't be wider.

"RRRRAAAAAHHHH!" Yatsuhashi roared as at the very last second he brought his weapon down in front of him with a force that tore through the cement with a mighty BOOM.

The resulting crater sent sharp shrapnel pieces of cement into the coming swarm which dropped many of the group swiftly. The few who remained were quickly divided in two as Yatsuhashi brought his blade to his side before cutting horizontally through the rest.

"Keep it up boys!" She called out with pride as the two continued to decimate the oncoming waves of Grimm.

"Hey!" Shouted the offended voice of Velvet as she leapt through the air with what appeared to be a blue spectral version of the Crescent Rose. She came down planting both feet into the face of a mighty looking King Taijitu before stabbing the Scythe into the back of the Snake's neck. The Grimm snarled in pain, swinging its head back and forth as it attempted to shake the girl off, but Velvet held on tight to the Crescent Rose with a rye smile. A moment later, a sniper shot range out, resulting in a massive gash running from the back of the snake's head to the tip of the Grimm's mouth. Velvet rode the corpse down with a quiet 'weeeeeee!'.

"Sorry!" Coco corrected impressed with the girl's mastery of the weapons she'd been using in her box. Being able to replicate another Huntsman or Huntress's weapon in itself was an impressive feat, being able to replicate all of them? That in itself seemed impossible to Coco, but somehow, someway, her team member had managed to figure it out.

They'd been fighting for a little more than 30 minutes now and Coco was having a blast of a time as she continued to mow row after row of Grimm. They had strategically positioned themselves just outside of the coliseum acting as guards to the large four adjacent entrances meant to allow for easy flow of the audience to the stands. Most stadiums typically had their entrances on four sides of the structure to facilitate a more spread out distribution of people flooding into the building, to the relief of team Coffee, this stadium had been designed that there was only one main entrance with four large arches spread out enough for the flood of people that typically swarmed during events. This meant that the team was able to stay together guarding a single point, at the same time though came the difficulty of just how large the single entrance was, making it a tedious job to ensure not even a single Grimm slipped by. She'd originally scowled at the flood of people who had chosen a stadium of all places to hold up in, she'd understood that the closest proper shelter was too far for any of them to make it, but this felt poorly planned, hell, even a supermarket could have made a better place to hold out in. This place was large with a huge entrance and an open ceiling to boot. Thankfully they hadn't seen any flying variants of Grimm, but if some had appeared... Coco didn't want to think about it.

Set a horde of scarred civilians to make important decisions and this is what you get...

There was a sudden crash beside her and Coco raised an eyebrow as a disgruntled looking Fox pushed himself to his feet, a gleam of sweat coating his entire body. His eyes shot daggers towards a particularly sturdy looking Death stalker coming their direction.

"You need help there big boy?" she asked teasingly shooting the young man a glance. Fox returned her gaze with a shake of his head before rushing back towards the Grimm. She watched as he went, her eyes wandering to the lower region of his back as a devilish grin slowly rose to her lips.

Man does he have a nice-

Before she had time to finish her thought she realized that her mini-gun, which had been producing an otherwise constant stream of noise, was now producing nothing more that harmless clicks of an empty chamber.

"Damn it!" she swore under her breath as a lucky Beowolf was able to finally reach her. The girl reared her head back as a set of claws swiped at her face. Scowling, Her minigun swiftly transformed back into the handbag she so typically carried with her and she swung the purse upward with such a force that when it struck the Grimm's jaw the creature was sent flying away.

The next set of Grimm were dispatched in a similar manner as the first before Coco eventually managed to get enough space to convert her hand bag back into a minigun and reload the weapon with the bullet chain she kept around her waist.

"Eat this!" she shouted as the mini-gun roared back to life spraying down the large group of Grimm that had been threatening to breach her doorway.

"Whoaaa!"

Suddenly, Coco felt something ram into her side, knocking her off her feet and forcing her onto her side.

"Little piece of-" Her voice caught in her throat as she pushed herself up and felt a limp form resting on her. Her eyes widened as they fell on two familiar looking bunny ears.

"Velvet? Velvet are you okay?" The young woman said taking the girl's shoulder's in her hands. The faunus's head hung limp, lolling to a side as her eyes remained closed. After only a moment, The girl's eyes flickered open, staring back into Coco's with a confused expression.

"Huh? Wait, what just...?" Velvet's words were disjointed, her mind obviously recovering from her sudden consciousness.

"You need to get up girl, we don't have time for this." Coco said in a stern tone. While she did have concern for her partner, that didn't meant that she would do away with the reality of the situation. Their fight wasn't over, and they didn't have the luxury of relaxing when that effective took half of the team out of the fight.

Velvet was to her feet in a few moments, but Coco noticed a glaze of uncertainty in her eyes.

"You okay?" she asked the Faunus.

"Um, When do you think we're going to get some backup?" The girl turned towards where Fox and Yatsuhashi were still fighting. The former was taking more and more hits as he moved, his face in a tight grimace as he continued to push through, ignoring the few strikes that did make their way to his body. Coco knew the man and that his pride would push him to fight to the very last breath instead of admit he was having a rough time of things. Yatsuhashi was having an easier time as the massive swings of his blade made it difficult for even the most daring Grimm to get close, but when one eventually did...

Coco scowled as she acknowledged that their team was slowly falling apart under the strain of this many Grimm.

How is it possible that so many got into the city?

"Let me worry about that." The leader spoke sternly as she retrieved her scroll from her pocket. Seeing that Velvet was still looking towards her with a concerned expression Coco snapped "What are you still doing standing there? Your team need you! Get to it!"

The Faunus's legs shifted immediately under her weight as she quickly turned back towards the fight. Her box produced two translucent gauntlets identical in design to the young member of that team Rainbow... Coco struggled with the name for a time before dismissing the line of thought. She had more important things to do now.

Raising the Scroll to her face she formed the words in her mind describing just what her team needed.

Help.


Roxas's lips curled into a faint smile as he watched a large chunk of people boarded the carrier before the blades began to spin again. Their faces bore such genuine relief and happiness that it was impossible for the boy to hold his smile back, many even waved and thanked his team and team Rainbow as they ascended into the sky. The group that was being taken away was only a small portion of the total amount of people still huddled within the shelter, but Roxas suspected that after a few more trips, everyone would be safe.

And we'll be able to finally stop fighting.

He thought to himself as he turned back to face the battlefield of Grimm and Huntresses. The sounds of clashing metals and gunfire had practically become the norm to him at this point, the bright flashes hardly forcing a flinch from the boy now.

"And why aren't you in this fight now?" Ozpin asked with a raised eyebrow looking down towards Roxas.

The young man frowned "They insisted that I take a break... apparently I've been pushing myself too much."

The elder man nodded with a grim line on his lips "Well, it's important not to strain yourself past your capabili-"

Just then a massive roar cut through the air that sent a shiver down Roxas's spine. Turning towards the noise, the teen's mouth fell agaped as he watched the stream of Grimm intensify tenfold. Grimm crawling over other Grimm to get to the shelter sooner.

The other three who'd been previously designated by Weiss to take a break, Ren, Ruby, and Jaune, jumped to their feet as they gathered their weapons, knowing that they would be needed in this wave. The trio raced to the aid of their friends as the oncoming wave of Grimm rushed to meet them.

Roxas summoned his keyblades to his hands as his face took on a determined expression. He felt his feet begin to carry him towards the fight just as A feminine voice rang out from Ozpin's hip

"This is the Leader of Team Coffee! We need help! My team is spread too thin to handle them all! We are located at the north west quadrant of Vale at the Stadium! I don't know how much longer we can-"

The voice ended with static.

Ozpin's mouth curved into a frown as he scowled "I never should have sent them by themselves…" turning to meet Roxas's gaze he said "I need you to collect the rest of your team and make your way to…" Ozpin's words fell away as he turned back to the carnage going on behind him.

Ruby zipped through the sea of black, each movement wrapping her Scythe around the throat of yet another Grimm before her finger pressed on the trigger of her Crescent Rose. A sweat ran down the face of Ren as he flipped through the air firing his dual Stormflower into the mass of Grimm before diving down and plunging their blades into a particularly large King Taijitu.

Pyrrha busied herself by drawing away a large chunk of the horde from the main flood to deal with separately, her Spear and shield operating as her disciples of death as they carved through the Grimm with relative ease. Across the battlefield it was hard to determine where Blake actually was as two versions of her always seemed present serving as effective distractions for Yang to catch unsuspecting Grimm off guard with punches powerful enough to tear through solid concrete. Nora's laughter had finally ceased as her eyebrows furrowed, her fingers gripping her Magnhild tightly as she continued to pound each Grimm unfortunate enough to get in her way.

Meanwhile Jaune, Weiss and Naminé were towards the rear of the group; the latter had their rapiers pointed with intent as they fired blast after blast of Dust magic into the crowds of darkness while the former readied his shield for any Grimm lucky enough to push through their collective teams defenses. A particularly stubborn Ursa pushed through the ranks and swung catching Weiss by the wrist forcing her shot to go wild. Within a second Jaune was at the base of the Grimm's feet driving his sword into the beast's leg. Another second later Naminé's petite form split the air as she shot towards the Grimm with her Rapier dawn back. Moments later the beast crumpled to the ground, with Naminé's weapon plunged through it's throat.

Although the spectacle of teamwork was impressive, it soon led to a realization that both Ozpin and Roxas quickly realized: They couldn't sacrifice any of their members to rescue team Coffee, they simply didn't have the numbers.

"Who… do I send?" Ozpin muttered to himself as his eyes glazed over taking in the scene before him.

They can't sacrifice anyone but…

Roxas cursed under his breath as he struggled to decide whether he should rush forward and help his team or…

"Can you show me where they are on the map?" Roxas said urgently allowing his Oblivion to flash away as he retrieved the pocketed map he'd been given earlier.

Roxas watched as the elder headmaster eyed him knowingly "You know your team can't keep this up by themselves right? They'll need you just as much as Coffee does."

"That's why you're here." Roxas said with a deep resolve as he forced a smile "I imagine that the headmaster of a battle school knows a few moves."

Ozpin returned the grin for a moment before frowning again "You won't be enough Roxas."

"I don't plan to be." The teen said frankly "I can't imagine there are a lot of people at the stadium considering it's not one of the shelters. If I throw up a Corridor while I'm there I should be able to send them to Beacon where it's safe."

Ozpin studied Roxas with a small frown.

"C'mon Professor we don't have time for this! Show me on the map so I can get going!" Roxas commanded.

Ozpin released a sigh "I hope you know what you're getting into young man." as he pointed a finger down at the map

Roxas studied the indicated stadium, after a moment, he realized he knew where that was, Weiss and he'd moved past it before on one of their walks "I don't." the teen finally admitted "But it's the best I got."

Roxas allowed a nervous grin to wash over his features as he summoned a Dark Corridor directly behind him "Now go show everyone why they call you headmaster!" the teen cheered before stepping back into the Darkness.

Ozpin allowed a single 'hmph' to escape his lips before turning and directing his gaze towards where Team Rainbow and most of team Purger were still fighting.

"Oh, I plan to." Ozpin said with a confident smile before his feet began to carry him towards the battle.


Before he had a chance to blink Roxas found the shape of a claw swinging towards his head. Narrowly avoiding the swipe, the boy cleaved the Ursa in two before finding two more Beowolves awaiting him. They barely had time to open their mouths before their heads had been dismissed from their bodies.

Stepping past the three corpses Roxas's lips parted in awe as he watched the onslaught. A young woman was batting Grimm after Grimm away with seemingly a simply hand back while a young woman Roxas found familiar wielded a set of weapons mirroring his own.

"What the…?" before he could let out another word he saw a young man in red be thrown across the battlefield, in an instant Roxas was there, catching the red head as they struck a wall.

Roxas felt the air knock out of his lungs as they slumped to the ground, once there, the blonde slowly began to get to his feet "ouch… you okay? That looked like a-" Roxas stopped mid sentence as his eyes took in the condition of the man he'd just caught. His biceps and shoulders were bleeding from scratches, his calves and thighs bore similar injuries as red soaked into his otherwise black pants.

His aura ran out long ago…

Roxas's gaze shifted upward at the sound of running feet "Fox! Fox are you O-" the young woman who Roxas had seen previously fighting Grimm with a handback paused taking in the form of Roxas.

The blonde imagined that behind those designer shades were furrowed eyebrows as she asked "Who are you?"

Roxas pushed himself to his feet, carefully laying this 'Fox' person onto the ground "I'm Roxas of team Purger, I'm here to help."
"Team Purger…" The woman paused, her gaze lowering as she tried to think "That first year team?" she groaned "They sent us first years? Greeeaaaat…" she said sarcastically, but Roxas hear a layer of worry behind her sarcasm.

"Sorry." was all the boy could muster.

"No time to be apologetic." The stylish woman said turning back towards the fight at hand; And what a fight it was. Roxas had thought the hoard challenging his team had been the largest group of Grimm he'd ever seen, but this one made that group look like like Nothing.

Only two more students were fending this hoard off, a young woman with 2 brown bunny ears and a massive young man weilding an appropriately sized sword.

"Wait, where's the rest of your team?" the woman asked confused.

"Uh…" Roxas paused frowning back at her "They're busy with their own fight… I'm the only one who could make it."

This time the woman couldn't hold back the look of nervousness as it washed over her.

"Just one first year as back up…" she mumbled t herself before a cry split the air.

"Gah!" screamed the young woman in brown as Death Stalker's vicious strike finally hit it's mark sending the girl flying.

Her body made a sickening crunch as it slammed against the stadium's walls before crumpling to the ground.

"Velvet!" cried out the last member of team Coffee as he slammed his blade on the Death stalker responsible.

It collapsed under the weight of the blade, just as a Boarbatusk slammed straight against Yatsuhashi's back. The man grunted as he was forced to one knee.

"Yatsuhashi!" called the fashionable woman as she turned away from Roxas and began to sprint towards her injured members with Roxas quickly on her tail.

Her head whipped back as she snapped "You stay with Fox! This fight is too much for a first year! Just make sure that nothing gets to him!" Roxas slowed to a stop in surprise as the young woman continued her charge towards the hoard, handbag gripped tightly.

The former Nobody watched as the woman who he still had no name for leapt into the hoard, smashing the heel of her boot into the face of an Ursa before riding it down and slamming her handbag into a Beowolf leaping for Yatsuhashi's side.

Roxas's eyes wandered over the masses of Grimm still adding to the hoard pushing to reach the single entrance.

Why are there so many…?

The teen thought as he heard the woman from before call out in pain from a Ursa's well placed punch into her back. Another grunt slipped from Yatsuhashi's lips as his feet were pulled out from underneath him due to a smaller King Taijitu's tail lashing out.

They can't hold that for long…

Roxas thought to himself as he felt his feet begin to carry him once again towards the fight. He heard the woman call out his name in worry as he leapt forward and dove straight into the center on the hoard.

"Did he just...?" Coco asked in confusion before a flash of light so bright it could have been the sun exploded from the center of the Grimm. Coco and Yatsuhashi grimaced, forced to close their eyes from the intensity as they tried to block the light with their forearms.

"What was… that?" Yatsuhashi asked as he began to blink his eyes back open.

"I don't…" Coco began as she opened her eyes, her shades having blocked most of the light "Wait… what?"

The leader of team Coffee stood awestruck as her eyes failed to see even a single remaining Grimm charging towards them. Instead, she found the form of Roxas sprawled out on his back, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he panted.

Coco and Yatsuhashi both approached slowly, their eyes wide as they continued to search for even a single Grimm remaining.

They found none.

After a few moments Coco stood over Roxas slack jaw "What… was that?" she asked still stunned.

"My friends GASP, call it GASP, Light…Bomb…" Roxas barely managed to choke out in between breaths.

'Light… bomb?" Coco repeated still not fully understanding.

The blonde finally managed to muster up the strength to push himself up on his elbows "Think of it as...GASP… my semblance."

"Strong Semblance." Yatsuhashi stated 'matter of factly' as he offered a hand to the boy.

Roxas smiled weakly as he reached out and took the hand and was quickly heaved to his feet.

"Yeah…" Coco continued to scan the area which had just a minute ago been packed with Grimm "Seriously strong…"

"We need to check on velvet and Fox." Yatsuhashi said firmly as he turned back towards the stadium.

"...Right!" Coco said turning to run back towards where her two teammates had fallen.

Roxas followed slowly behind them, his legs feeling like jello after that last burst of power, if he had felt spent before, this was running on fumes.

"Are they okay?" Roxas asked as he finally reached where Coco was nelt over the fallen form of Velvet, Yatsuhashi was only a few yards away carrying back Fox on his shoulder.

"A few bruises, some gashs here and there and maybe a cracked rib or two," Coco began with a frown that slowly formed into a smile "but still breathing, and that's what matters." turning to look at Roxas she grinned "You really saved our asses out there kid. Dunno exactly how, but had you came a moment later, Velvet here might not be just walking away from this with some cracked , from the bottom of my heart, Thank you."

Roxas felt heat rise up in his cheeks as he instinctively began scratching the back of his head awkwardly "It was uh.. Well, anytime." he stammered out.

Coco released a soft laugh before turning to Yatsuhashi "How's Fox doing?"

The giant of a man grinned "He'll be fine. Knowing him I bet the only thing that will be wounded will be his pride when he finds out he was the first one to fall in the fight."

Coco returned the smile shaking her head "That guy always seems to push himself too hard…" rising to her feet, she took one of Velvet's limp arms over her shoulder before looking at Roxas "You okay enough to help me carry her inside?"

The boy nodded before pausing and looking over the two unconscious students once more.

"Just one sec… mind holding them still for a moment?" Roxas asked as he hovered his hands over Velvet's otherwise limp form.

This raised an eyebrow from Coco "What are you…?" before a faint green symbol began to hover above the girl's head with trickles of green falling onto her form. Coco and Yatsuhashi watched in stunned silence as the wounds littering the girl's body slowly began to heal, her cuts sealing as bruises began to fade away. The tight grimace pinching Velvet's expression eased as she relaxed into a peaceful sleep.

Roxas breathed a sigh of exhaustion before turning to Fox's form and performing the same process, causing his pained expression to fade as his wounds closed and his breathing relaxed.

"...How did you just… do that?" Coco asked bewildered.

"It wasn't much actually…" Roxas admitted awkwardly scratching the back of his head "If I wasn't so tired I might have been able to restore their aura too. It literally took all I had left to heal just their wounds."

Coco released a laugh "Heal Just their wounds. Didja hear that Yatsuhashi? He only healed their immediate wounds! Might as well have done nothing at all! Am I right?"

Yatsuhashi's lips quickly formed a snicker from Coco's blatant sarcasm.

Roxas felt heat in his cheeks as a blush quickly took his features.

"In all Seriousness though." Coco suddenly said turning back towards Roxas "I don't know who you are or how you're doing all of this, but I'd be lying if I said that it wasn't helping us out a ton overall. So thanks again." Coco grumbled as she shifted the weight of Velvet on her shoulder "Mind taking her other arm now? We still gotta get these guys inside."

Taking the Faunus's other arm and wrapping it around his neck, the two half carried/ half drug the girl inside with Yatsuhashi following behind.

As they stepped inside, Roxas got his answer to why there had been so many Grimm attacking this place. Roxas's feet stopped in place as his wide eyes scanned over an ocean of worried, tearful, and scared looking hundreds of people stood within the walls of the stadium, and they all regarded him with frightful confusion, the stadium echoed with worried voices and Roxas could hear several of them crying in fright.

"Probably children…" the boy mumbled to himself before he heard Coco's annoyed voice call out.

"Hey! Earth to Roxas! Stop gawking and help me carry her over there! They've set up a makeshift infirmary in the corner."

The boy felt his feet begin moving as he began to think about how much Grimm this much concentrated fear would attracted. At least the people at a shelter had the relative comfort of safety from the guards outside and the reinforced walls, here, there was none of that. Just the constant sound of growls and roars from outside and a single team fighting to keep it at bay.

No wonder there are were so many Grimm… this is like a beacon of fear to them…

Which meant…

"I'm sure you already realize that there are gonna be more Grimm coming with this number of people." Coco's voice had lost it's previous bravado, her words low and discrete "I told them that there are helicopters on route to rescue, but I don't think that did much to help their collective panic."

They slowly lowered Velvet's form as they reached the makeshift 'infirmary' which only consisted of several large blankets and pillows where the injured could rest in moderate comfort. Roxas's frown deepened as he saw just how many were injured. There were more than he could count.

Coco continued as Yatsuhashi softly lowered fox onto his own blanket "And now they're seeing that two of the four previous members of the team sent to protect them have been taken out… I'm sure that isn't gonna boost moral." Coca spoke begrudgingly.

"We should get back out there." Yatsuhashi stated flatly.

"I know I know." Coco responded letting exhaustion slip into her words "I'm just explaining the situation to the first year. I'm sure Roxas bought us a few minutes at least. You can go back out to the front if you want. Holler if anything starts coming."

Yatsuhashi gestured a nod before heading back towards the entrance to the Coliseum.

Coco's lips pulled into a small smile as she watched the man go "I swear that guy never gets tired…"

"Are there helicopters actually coming?" Roxas asked bluntly "Or did you just tell them that to ease some of their panic?"

Coco's smile quickly fell "Yes and no. I don't know for certain if there are actually aircraft coming to pick these people up. I was able to get in contact with a few pilots that said they'd be on their way asap but… that was an hour ago and… well, there's no sign of them."

Roxas felt his stomach drop. If these people didn't get out of here soon...

Coco pointed an index finger across the see of people pointing "There's a service tunnel meant for the employees during the big games over there. I've instructed everyone to fall back there if things go south out there or somehow a Grimm slips in while we're fighting."

"Why aren't they in there already?"

Coco chuckled "Kinda hard to load people onto a aircraft if they're all underground. Besides, those doors aren't like the shelters, they're not meant to tank Grimm attacks, I'm sure a few Ursa would be able to tear those down in a matter of minutes." her voice lowered as she said the last part, pulling Roxas's in closer, she continued in a whisper "Honestly,I just told them that so that they can feel like they have a plan B if we fall, something to calm the nerves and all. In all reality… If we go down out there… well… I doubt I have to go into detail what will happen to these people." as she spoke her words grew grim, her expression hard and serious.

Roxas understood as he nodded with an equally grim expression "Well then, guess we have no choice but to fight."

Coco shot the boy a weak smile "That's the spirit."

Roxas turned away from her as he said "I also… might have a solution to the evacuation dilemma."

Raising a hand, a Dark Corridor suddenly erupted from the ground several feet away startling several as a wave of frightened voices called out variations of "IT'S THE GRIMM!" and "THEY'VE MADE IT IN!"

Roxas felt Coco's hand force his arm down as she scolded "I don't know what you're trying to do or what that is but cut it out! They're already scared enough as it is! We don't need them attracting any more Grimm!"

Roxas reluctantly allowed the Corridor to dissipate before turning back towards Coco "It's a way to get them out of here! Look!" He said as he enveloped himself in the flames before stepping out several yards away. The look on Coco's face told him that now she had also been made nervous by his teleportation trick.

"How did you…?"

Roxas released an annoyed sigh "Look, there's really no time to explain, we just need to get as many people as possible to step through while there's no-"

"HERE THEY COME!" Roared Yatsuhashi's voice.

"Damn it!" Coco cursed under her breath before meeting Roxas's gaze "You're telling me that if people walk through this strange black flame of yours you can get them to safety?"

Roxas nodded "I can get them back to Beacon academy."

Coco studied Roxas's face for several seconds trying to catch any hint of a lie, she found none.

She sighed, her head sagging in defeat as she murmured to herself "I really hope that this isn't just some delusion and I'm not just passed out on the floor from a concussion."

Raising her head, she stared Roxas in the eyes and said "I literally have no other choice but to hope you're right. So, I really REALLY hope you're right."

Roxas opened his mouth to reply, but before he could she had turned her back to him facing the crowd as she announced "I need all of you to listen up right now because this could mean literal life or death!" the collective murmurs from the crowd about 'seeing a boy teleport' settled down as they directed their attention to the leader of team Coffee.

She took a deep breath before continuing "This young man is a student of Beacon academy! The same school who trains the Huntsmen and Huntress's fighting back the Grimm currently attacking Vale!" She paused just a moment as the sound of Yatsuhashi's blade slamming against the concrete outside echoed through the confines of the stadium. Worried murmurs spread through the massive crowd of people like a wave.

Coco's worry for her teammate made her turn and look towards the entrance briefly before turning back to the crowd "Now this young man has just presented me with a means to escape this stadium with transport to Beacon academy where it is safe!" Coco paused eying Roxas expectantly for several seconds for the boy realized she wanted him to form the Dark corridor.

Roxas hastily focused as he outstretched a hand, forming a link between the stadium and Beacon academy's front lawn with the swirling black and purple flames. A wave of nervousness and panic hit the crowd at the sight of the darkness.

Coco's petite frame continued to boom authority as she shouted "Now I recognize that that it appears intimidating! But I have been assured that stepping into the flames will transport you safely to Beacon academy! SO! If everyone will please quickly form an orderly line we can begin getting everyone to safety! Step for-"

Just then there was a BOOM and out of the corner of his eye Roxas watched as the bulky form of Yatsuhashi came flying through the main entrance of the coliseum. In an instant the man was back to his feet, but that didn't stop a steady stream of Grimm from flooding through the four arches and into the stadium. Yatsuhashi rushed to meet the horde, but could not push them back as Grimm fought to hold their ground within the walls of the stadium.

Panicked screams echoed throughout the space as many began to flee towards the doors of the service tunnels, others simply fled the opposite way of the entering Grim, pushing their backs against the walls of the stadium with panic stricken expressions. Many ran towards where their presumed loved ones were injured on the blankets, forcing them to their feet as they carried them away from the seemingly endless wave of Grimm.

"Damn!" Coco spat watching as Yatsuhashi struggled to slash through each Beowolf and Ursa that threatened to slip through his defenses. She began to rush towards the conflict before pausing and whipping her head back towards Roxas "Are you able to keep that portal up and fight?"

Roxas felt his heart beating in his chest as he realized the weight of the question. He'd never tried to fight while maintaining the Corridor. Of course he'd used it in battle before to get a one up on his opponent, but in those cases he had only had to use it for the few seconds it took for him to step through before dismissing the darkness. The bottom line was that maintaining a Corridor of Darkness required his continued concentration less the Darkness within grow chaotic, sending its occupant to a random location, such as what had happened to him in his fight against Riku, or perhaps the occupant would never reach a destination, doomed to be lost within the darkness forever.

Roxas shook his head "It's not safe for me to keep the Corridor open and fight."

Coco cursed under her breath before spitting "Then try and get and many people through as possible!" She was already sprinting towards the Grimm beginning to slip by Yatsuhashi's surprisingly rapid strikes "We'll hold them off for as long as we can!"

Roxas's eyes darted away from Coco to a civilian staring dumbly at Roxas with a scared expression "Well? Didn't you hear her? Move it!" Roxas commanded indicating for the frightened man to move towards the Corridor. The man gulped staring down the swirling darkness before nodding and stiffly stepping into it before disappearing.

Those who'd not ran down into the service tunnels or to the other side of the field stared at Roxas with wonder, awe, and fear.

"What are you waiting for!" Roxas's voice shouted louder than he'd ever shouted before "We don't have a lot of time! Get in!"


-In the Air, helicarrier 21-E-

It'd taken almost an hour to respond to the distress call made by team Coffee all the way out at the Velvet Stadium. There'd been so many others Sable had been forced to respond to before this one. A determined expression pushed itself onto his face as his grip on the control stick tightened. The stadium was coming into view, and by the looks of things, it wasn't good. Grimm had broken through the entrance and were slowly forcing their way through, seemingly with some resistance.

Sable grimaced as he cursed under his breath. Despite already moving faster than protocol allowed in a civilian district, the pilot pushed the aircraft harder as he accelerated in the direction of the Stadium. In a less than a minute he was hovering over the stadium and could see that not all was lost at below there were still members of team Coffee fighting back the Grimm trying to force their way through. Sable smiled at this as he began to lower his aircraft into the most relatively empty spot within the field. To his relief, people instinctive made away for his landing gear, giving him a wide berth as he neared the ground. He could see the ecstatic faces of the people below looking up at him with hope in their eyes. Their expressions of relief and happiness brought a smile to Sable's face as he continued to descend,

Just as massive screech filled his ears, and a massive shadow blocked out the light of the moon above.


A smile began to tug at the corner of his lips as the sound of a helicopter's blades filled his ears. Roxas's gaze shot up as his eyes reflected the sight of helicopter blades tearing through the air in rapid succession.

"We're saved!" Called out a random voice quickly followed by cheers of relief from the crowd surrounding Roxas.

The boy turned his head away from the metallic savior to check on the condition of Coco and Yatsuhashi. Despite her incredible battle prowas, Roxas could see visible signs of tears in her otherwise fashionable attire along with shallow but very much present streaks of blood. Yatsuhashi was fairing even worse between the two, his left arm dangling uselessly at his side as he winced in pain with each swipe of his massive blade.

"They can't hold out much longer…" Roxas mumbled to himself with wide, fearful eyes. His head turned back and forth between his Corridor of Darkness which had a steady stream of people flooding into it finally and the shallow remains of what was team Coffee.

Roxas watched in as a Coco cried out in pain when a lucky Death Stalker's tail managed to pierce the girl's thigh, forcing her to one knee.

"Coco!" Roxas called out in panic.

Running to her aid, Yatsuhashi crashed his blade through the Death stalker,

Only to to overwhelmed by an ocean of Beowolfs, engulfing the two entirely in the swarming form of snarling Grimm.

"No!" Roxas shouted as his Corridor of Darkness wavered before disappearing completely after it's last occupant had gone.

The boy heard several 'What?!' and complaining 'What the hell!?'s but he pushed those sounds to the back of his mind as he charged forward summoning both the Oblivion and Oathkeeper to his open hands. Adrenaline forced his legs to push faster than he'd ever felt before as he covered the distance between where he was and where he'd last seen the desperate faces of Coco and Yatsuhashi before they'd gone under.

"Get to the helicopter!" He roared before diving into the hoard of Grimm pilling on

top of where Yatsuhashi and Coco had just been moments before.

A smothered roar could be heard as the sounds of tearing flesh and breaking limbs emanated from the hoard before, in a bright flourish, Roxas's blades shredded the small lump of Beowolves atop the remaining members of team Coco.

His shoulders heaving with each breath, Roxas took a brief moment to look down and study the prone figures of Coco and Yatsuhashi. Coco's clothes were torn to shreds as was Yatsuhashi's, each of their bodies were littered in cuts and bites, with each set of eyes closed in a tight grimace, but in that short glance Roxas was able to distinguish their chests slowly rising and falling.

The boy breathed a sigh of relief as he dodged to the left before driving his Oblivion into the sternum of a Beowolf who'd gotten just a little too confident in its bite. The boy reared back his arms before throwing them out in a flourish, sending both Keyblades forward each spinning with such ferocity that any Grimm unfortunate enough to be in their way quickly found themselves split in half.

Both Keyblades carved straight lines through the oncoming hoard before Roxas eventually called them back just in time to block an Ursa's massive claw.

Just then, the boy noticed the light of the moon above him obstructed the briefest moment causing the teen to look up, his battle driven mind forcing his eyes to take in everything they could in an instant.

What he saw terrified him.

Just above him, swooping down into the open roof of the stadium, was the largest Nevermore the teen had ever seen.

Its talons were extended as it dived, its glowing red eyes were focused and staring forward with dark intent,

As it dived straight towards the aircraft still just barely touching down.

"NO!" Roxas shouted as he tried to turn and do something, anything to stop what was about to happen. He reared back his arm to throw the Oblivion, but it felt as if his arm was stuck in molasses as it moved, his Keyblade had only just left his fingertips when the Nevermore struck.

Just as the aircraft neared ten feet away from brown trampled grass talons tore through its metal husk as the Nevermore roared, pulling the craft off course and causing it to spiral as emergency lights showered the cockpit. Roxas could see the pilot desperately trying to regain control of the aircraft as the Nevermore continued to tear into it with its massive claws.

Roxas attempted to move towards the calamity despite not knowing what he could do when he got there only to watch as the aircraft struck the stadium tearing through the grass and dirt with its wings as it broke apart as the Nevermore continued to tear into it.

The previously delighted civilians who'd been standing ready to board took on expressions of horror as a small flicker of orange lit at the center of the aircraft just before Roxas heard a mighty BOOM.


Rays of sun began to slip over the horizon splattering Vale in selective sections of light. A smile grace Ruby's lips as she reached up and was just barely able to touch some of the rising sun with her fingertips. Her smile widened as she felt the warmth.

"Is it… over?" Jaune gasped out his hands on his knees as he struggled to keep himself standing.

Weiss turned with crossed arms "Well, we haven't seen one for about fifteen minutes so it would be a safe assumption that the bulk of the Grimm have been destroyed."

"Oh thank everything that is good!" Jaune uttered as he sprawled out onthe ground.

Pyrrha smiled as she stood over her exhausted team leader "You know, I don't think that our 'fearless leader' is supposed to collapse on the pavement the moment the fighting is over." she said teasingly.

"Yeah shouldn't you be giving a heroic speech or something?" Ruby added wiping her brow.

"Oh give me a break!" Jaune complained waving Pyrrha away as the girl attempted to help the teen up.

"Watch! It should be like this!" Yang announced with a grin as she spun around on her heel and addressed the less than savory sight of team Rainbow. Ren's shoulders were slumped and Blake looked like she was ready to tip over at the slightest breeze, Nora on the other hand was smiling brightly and standing upright with her hands resting on her hips.

"Team Rainbow!" Yang began "I think we all kicked ass today! Course that's nothing new because we always kick ass!" she threw up two massive thumbs up which Nora eagerly returned. Blake and Ren both shot each other exhausted looks before groaning and forcing their hands to form two thumbs up.

Both Naminé and Weiss approached Ozpin as he wiped down his cane from debri that had gathered during the fight. His eyes darted up as they approached, catching their worried gaze as he put away the cloth he'd been using.

"Any word from team Coffee or Roxas?" Naminé asked.

Ozpin frowned in response, team Coffee had gone completely dark just half an hour before the sun had begun to rise, approximately the same time Roxas had left to help them.

"None just yet, but that could simply be the result of a damaged scroll. Roxas informed me that he'd planned to use his Corridor to transport the people taking refuge in the stadium to Beacon before transporting himself and team Coffee there as well. It's likely they are currently there safe and sound."

"But we're still gonna check the stadium right?" This time it was Ruby's voice drawing concern as the rest of team Purgur followed behind her as she approached the greying man.

Ozpin nodded "The carrier just left with the last of the civilians. It shouldn't be long now that another returns to pick us up. I'll have them transport us to the stadium to ensure that Roxas and team Coffee made it out okay."

Ozpin forced a reassuring smile, but in the back of his mind, he felt doubt.


Ruby was the first one out of the carrier as it touched down, her semblance caused her to race forward towards the entrance of the stadium at blurring speeds. The rest of teams Rainbow and Purgur soon followed along with Naminé and Weiss.

They'd initially planned to just fly over the structure, verifying that no one was still present before heading off to Beacon.

What they'd seen forced them to land.

As Ruby sprinted into the massive space of the stadium before slowing to a stop. Her eyes began to tear as her hand raised to cover her mouth.

Similar reactions washed over the rest of the students as their eyes took in the sight after finally catching up.

The first thing that drew their attention were the bodies. More than twenty forms were sprawled out on the ground, motionless and limp.

"The ones who didn't get away in time…" Nora quietly murmured, distraught written across her features.

Next was the wreckage of a massive helicarrier in the center of the field. It's wings were completely destroyed and it's body showed evidence of an explosion from the darkened soot marks coating its sides. Further evidence supported the theory as not ten feet away surrounding the metallic hust were the remains of several charred-

Ruby looked away before she could take in any further details, he eyes shutting tightly as trickles of tears began to run down her cheeks. A moment later Yang was at her side pulling her into a tight embrace as her eyes took in the tragic sight.

"What… happened here…?" Pyrrha murmured her words barely audible as she tried to process the same sight everyone else was.

"Grimm. The Grimm happened here." Jaune said with rising anger in his voice. His fists began to tighten as he grit his teeth at the sight.

Blake nealt down, placing a two fingers against the neck of one of the motionless figures, she grimaced before rising to her feet and shaking her head towards the rest of the group.

"...you don't think that… Roxas…" Naminé began, her voice beginning to shake as she continued.

"No!" Weiss suddenly interjected, not allowing the girl to finish "Roxas is the strongest person I've ever met! Bar none! I'm sure he's held up somewhere with everyone else right now perfectly fine!"

The rest of the group grew silent.

"We need to check." Jaune suddenly commanded with new found determination in his voice "look around and see if we can find anything that can suggest what actually happened here."

"Please…" Ozpin spoke in a low tone "Be careful." his hand was covering his face as he averted his gaze downward.

The group spread out, purposely avoiding the wreckage in the center of the field before Naminé's voice rang out "Over here! I think I found something!"

The group gathered around a small opening along the side of the stadium wall that lead down into a wide cement hallway.

"The doors… look." Naminé muttered as she knelt down and ran a finger along deep gashes that had torn through the metal door. Both doors lay slashed and broken on the ground, dented and trampled on by clawed feet.

"The Grimm tore through this area… likely chasing…" Ren began as he stared down the dark hallway that turned left after thirty feet.

He didn't have to finish his statement for the others to know what the Grimm would be chasing. They only ever chased one thing.

"Well...we... we still have to make sure. There might be survivors." Jaune said in a focused tone as he walked past the group down the hallway into the darkness.

Ozpin quickly reached out and caught the boy's shoulder as he said "Wait a moment Jaune. While I admire your determination, What you may see down there might be more than any student should be forced to see. I think it would be more appropriate if I go ahead of you children. As a Huntsman I've already seen what horrors this occupation has to offer. I'd like if you-"

"Professor," Blake suddenly interrupted, her gaze cold, her eyes determined "If what we're going to see down there is something we'll have to eventually witness as huntresses and Huntsmen, then shouldn't we just get it over with already?"

Ozpin's lips parted to protest, but before he could utter another word Jaune had already shaken off his hand "I'm sorry professor." his words were grave "But I need to find out what happened to my friend." soon the rest of the group moved past Ozpin who looked on with a frown on his features watching each one of them go.

"...but you're not ready…" he murmured beneath his breath as he turned and followed the group of students bellow.

Jaune and Yang lead the group, their scrolls out providing light as they followed the otherwise dark corridor. Their footsteps echoed down the hallway as they walked in silence mentally preparing themselves for whatever sight awaited them.

Weiss felt tears beginning to form in the corners of her eyes as she tried to push down the thought that everyone was having.

Roxas was gone.

The Schnee turned her head and saw the Ruby was futilely wiping away tears, drenching her sleeves in the process.

Suddenly, Yang and Jaune came to a sudden halt, their eyes wide as their scrolls illuminated a figure.

In the dim light they could make out a mixture of red and black designing its body. Its shoulders were slumped with arms seemingly so long that they scraped against the ground as it slowly trudged forward. It's face was red as it's head lolled up and down as if it was hard to support its own weight.

Terror filled Jaunes voice as he began to murmur "What in the- what is that!?"

Ruby's eyes narrowed as she leaned forward "Wait… is that…?"

"Watch out guys! We've got Grimm!" Yang shouted as her shot gauntlets engaged covering her fists.

Weiss raised her rapier as Blake trained her sights on the figure. Pyrrha readied her spear as Ren, Nora, and Naminé each prepared their weapons.

"WAIT!" Ruby's voiced shouted as she rushed forward, dropping her scythe as she did so.

"Ruby! What are you-!?" Yang shouted reaching out to grab at her sister but missing at the last moment.

Ruby reached the slowly approaching figure and quickly wrapped her arms around its torso, pushing her head into its shoulder.

"...what?" Yang quietly uttered; The rest of the group mirrored her confusion.

Ruby murmured into its shoulder quietly "I'm so glad you're okay…" before turning back towards her friends and shouting "It's Roxas!"

Open mouthed and wide eyed Jaune raised his scroll again as he casted a stronger light on the figure currently wrapped in Ruby's embrace.

His black coat had been cut and torn through, allowing red to seep out and smear across his skin and clothes. A large cut above his forehead had lead a steady stream of blood to run down his face further adding to the accents of red. His sleeve was gone, torn at the shoulder revealing an arm covered in cuts and slashes. What they'd mistaken as deformed arms had just been his keyblades tightly gripped in his trembling hands as he struggled to drag them along with.

"R-Ruby…?" he barely managed to choke out. His eyes were barely open, seemingly only just holding onto consciousness.

"Yes it's me!" she said pulling him into a tighter hug "I'm so sorry it took us so long to get to you." Soon, the rest of the group swarmed around the young man, cheering and hollering in happiness.

"I knew you couldn't be gone!" Weiss cried as she pulled the young man into a hug of her own.

"T-there's…"

"Nothing can keep keep us blondies down eh?" Yang remarked with a toothy grin.

"There's… more…"

"You gave us quite the scare you realize." Jaune commented smiling.

Roxas's still shaking hand dropped the Oblivion, allowing it to loudly clatter to the ground as he raised a wavering finger down the way he'd come from.

"There's… more… survivors… down… there…" His hoarse voice choked out barely able to keep a single eye open.

"There's…" Blake began.

"More…?" Pyrrha finished.

Soon, the group heard a sea of footsteps approaching them from the darkness Jaune and Yang raised their Scrolls as a horde of people extending as far back as the light could touch suddenly became visible. Their eyes were worried and scared, but they were breathing, and they were alive.

"Keep… them… safe…" Roxas managed to utter before his feet gave out and his world went black.


AN:

Sooooo… I'm sure that people weren't expecting this virsion of the breach to be so much more dire eh? I feel the need to explain why these events occurred before people assume I just did it for the drama or something lol. Recall that in canon the breach occurred when it did only due to ruby and gang stumbling upon Roman's plan ahead of time forcing it into action before it was ready. The result was… subpar to say the least. The entire force of Grimm that did invade the district of Vale was so pitiful that it was barely even a threat once back up came( not to mention Ironwood's army which had been present at the time). In this canon, Blake never got the chance to investigate the White Fang leading to the cast of RWBY to never investigating the ruins of what had been Vale's attempting expansion. What this means is that Cinder's plan was able to initiate at the appropriate time when EVERYTHING was properly prepared and readied. What more, due to Demyx's help their progress was sped up over a month in advance (which is why it happened before the dance and additionally, before Ironwood's army arrived) meaning that Vale didn't have the forces of Ironwood's army to assist them in this engagement.

This basically is my interpretation of these events had Roman not been hindered in its execution.

I'm sure that not all of you in the comments needed this explanation as to why this version of these events were so dire, but for those of you who did I thought it might help :-/.

Also, I recognize that things were a tad bit darker in some sections, I tried to handle those scenes as tastefully as possible while staying true to the fact that an attack like this would result in casualties. In the world of RWBY, it makes no sense that a Grimm invasion wouldn't result in some deaths considering the nature of Grimm(despite the fact that in the main cannon no deaths are shown on scene during that fight...)...I think I'm only defending myself so much right now because I'm predicting a lot of hate mail for this chapter for some reason… I'm gonna stop with this AN now lol.

Anyway, this was a pretty big chapter and it was completed pretty quickly next to the last one (take it as my apology for being gone for so long) so it may be a little bit till I'm able to post again. That being said I'll still continue to work on the story going forward and I hope you all enjoyed!

PS: To those of you it concerns I will announce when I have completely KH3 and am open to discussion! Thanks for being patient with me!