Interlude 2.

Lights shone down onto a stage as the announcer returned to the stage.

"May I present, the cast of The Power of Dust!"

Cheering went as lights shone on a stage and four chairs. After a few moments, the announcer showed up with a confused look.

"Um…I'm not-"

"HEADS UP!"

Everyone ducks as Jerry Cipher swoops over the crowd of people, the bright light fading as he landed on the stage.

Jerry was wearing black pants, tears in the fabric around knees and shins. A green shirt was underneath a dirt smudged, high collared brown shirt where familiar suspenders rested, what grabbed some audience member's attention was the rose pendant around Jerry's neck and the cut across his cheek.

"Sorry we're late!" he said, raising his hand.

"WEAPON GEEKS!"

"WEAPON GEEKS!"

Cheers filled the air as Jerry sheepishly scratched his neck.

"Hey…" Jerry said. "Can you…"

"Jerry!"

Conner Ward jogged forward. His blonde hair was short and in a pompadour style cut, he retained his previous clothing but it was covered with a mix of dirt and bruise along his neck. Reaching the stage, he hopped onto the stage and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Sorry!" Conner shouted. "We just got off set!"

Two blurs of orange and purple raced through the center aisle.

Hitting the stage, Damian and Will stood in front of the group.

"I win!" They both shouted.

Damian showed the less amount of change, still possessing his normal attire. Will however possessed much longer hair, bangs framing his face and a small ponytail in the back of his head. A scratched, metal chest plate was on his chest, and his grey sleeves had been replaced by a winding black cloth.

"No I do!" They shouted at each other.

"No me!"

As they continued to bicker, Jerry and Conner exchanged glanced before moving up and gripping their collars and jerking them back. They both pouted unhappily as they sat down on the stage.

"Sorry," the announcer said as he handed them all microphones. "No chairs."

"No worries!" Will said. "We'll sit here."

Plopping onto the ground, Will smiled as he sat down onto the stage cross legged. The remaining three glanced at each other before giving a shrug. Conner plopped down and rested an arm on his bent knee, Damian laid down on his stomach and propped himself up with his arms. Jerry sat down and put his legs inside of a lotus position.

"How are you all?" the announcer asked.

"We just finished up the mid-series," Jerry said. "We're all battered, bruised, but we feel great!"

"Excuse me, mid-series?" the announcer asked.

"We'll explain at the end," Damian said. "How are you?"

"I eagerly awaited this next meeting," the announcer said. "Several questions did come in for all of you."

"Yay!" Damian cheered.

"So I will get right into it," the announcer said, lifting up his cards.

"We're ready for anything!" Will stated.

"Volume 3."

Silence.

"Not that," Damian said.

"Anything but that," Will added.

As they both seemed to retract into themselves, Conner and Jerry glanced at each other.

"You see, when the new episodes come out, we all get together and watched them on Stor's monitor," Conner said. "He was so excited in some of the scenes, muttering comments to himself and wondering what he could do next. Then the season finale hit."

"Will, Damian and Stor were shocked at the final scene," Jerry said. "The end credits sent him straight into his room."

"Wow," the announcer said. "What happened then?"

"The idea that followed is the next part of The Power of Dust," Conner said.

"Alright."

The announcer flicked through his cards, "So this is for Damian and Will."

Both nodded.

"Recently there was a Twitter post from Shane Newville," the announcer said. "Stating that with his resignation from RWBY, many things didn't seem to go well for him after Monty's death. How did you guys react when reading that letter?"

As Damian raised his mic, Will cut him off with a raised hand.

Will sighed, "It hit Stor the hardest. As a writer, he knows a difference between continuing a legacy and respecting someone's wishes, when he read about the JNPR vs Raven, and the alternate death of Pyrrha, he went silent. After spending time with him, it wasn't the "Thinking" silence, he was hurt bad. Only other time was with Monty's death and he made the announcement, so I gave him some time."

Will gestured to Damian, "We discussed it, and we both have our opinions. For respect of Monty and RoosterTeeth, that's all we have to say."

The announcer nodded his head, and the crowd was silent as well.

Flicking through his cards, the announcer nodded, "Alright. For Mr. Deregan, I have a question regarding your Faunus ears-"

"Right we fixed that," Will said. "Stor should be making the adjustment soon. So just go back and re-read a few pieces of it and it'll make sense."

"Alright. This is one if from a Ms. Boopadoop. Will Will have a switch on his psychosis?"

Will blinked, "I'm sorry. Switch as in "Will going psycho again?" Or as in there will be a switch to make him go psycho?"

The announcer looked back at the cards, "Doesn't say."

"Well first off, yes. Will go psycho again," Will said calmly. "And yes, there is a sort of "switch" for him. No spoiling."

"Alright," the announcer flicked through his cards, "Damian. Can you explain the relationship between your character and Weiss Schnee?"

He nodded, "Of course. Both were brought up under political parents. Both have an understanding of how to control emotions, however Damian has not gone through the same as Weiss Schnee. Weiss had a bit of a superiority complex before being evened out by the teachers and her own teammates. Damian as trust issues, while he enjoys Weiss' company, that does not mean he has opened up that much."

The announcer frowned, "How do you mean?"

Damian bit his lip, "Forming a physical relationship with Damian is difficult. That sort of growth has been stunted drastically by his mother, Damian is attempting to break out of that stunt and has made some improvement. Essentially, his relationship with Weiss will be very difficult."

The announcer nodded as he flicked back through his cards, "Alright. Now…what is that?"

The announcer pointed at Conner, where something in black was peeking up from underneath his collar.

"Nothing!" he stated, zipping up the jacket fully.

Members of the crowd began to shout up at the stage, as Conner crossed his arms and Jerry looked at him with an exasperated look.

"Conner, we went over this," he said. "Stor has spent several hours lecturing you, and yet…"

"What is it?" the announcer asked with a grin.

"Something for the show," Will stated.

"Alright. To my questions, which from a Mr. Solaris. Will there be new antagonists for our heroes that are just as powerful as them? With them possibly being created by Salem. The second question is that will there be a third group of people? Rather than live in the four Kingdoms, they are sort of…wild men."

Blinking, the four exchanged glances before Jerry started to clap.

"This guy," he said. "Very similar."

Mutters of awe went through the crowd as Jerry lifted a hand.

"In regards to your questions. Yes. There will be. A group of antagonists is a bit of a stretch but they do go against us…as well as Remnant. And no, they are not part of Salem. And for your second question, it is also a yes. But I cant say more."

The announcer blinked in surprise, "So with that bit of excitement, what can you tell us about the second part of The Power of Dust?"

"We actually drew straws here," Jerry said with a grin. "Damian. Take it away!"

"Gladly," Damian said with a smile. "With the second part. A full year has past with the group, and we will be returning to Remnant at the end of Volume 2 and will go into the end of Volume 3."

Conner grinned, "People will get together. Fall in love and such."

Jerry forced back a smirk, "Some will get their hearts torn to pieces, painful memories return and death. Plenty of fighting and death."

Will cleared his throat, "The reason behind this, is that Stor is breaking away from canon."

The crowd went silent.

"Pardon?" the announcer asked.

"Mr. Stor is making his own content. Not to mention more projects he wishes to work on," Will said calmly. "While he loves RWBY, he does not wish to make several extremely long, separate stories, as some people will fall out of reading them. So he has concluded to break cannon and finish this project for good."

"So when your group nears the end of Volume 3…" the announcer said.

Will nodded, "He will have finished everything up."

"Wow."

"Yeah," Jerry said. "I won't say that it won't be heartbreaking, but hey that's life."

"We hope you can respect that," Will said.

"Of course," the announcer said. "Is there anything else for us?"

They all look at each other, "Yes. We're going to show a short trailer of the next season of "The Power of Dust" so just sit back. Relax and enjoy!"

The stage darkens and monitors flick to life.

As the clock continued to tick, Damian lightly drummed his fingers against the table, where a chess board lay. Hazel eyes flicked across the empty library before ending near a bookshelf, "Are you going to be there all day?"

With the sound of heels, Cinder Fall emerged with a frown, "I was not expecting…this."

"I told you, I'd come alone," Damian replied. "Did you do the same?"

The boy gestured to the seat across from him with the black chess pieces. Cinder stepped forward and sat down with an eyebrow raised, "What is it you wish?"

Ignoring how she dodged his question, Damian gestured to the board, "A game, and some light conversation."

Cinder smiled, "As you wish."

Taking a piece, she slid it forward.

Feet pounding against the pavement, Will and Conner sprinted through Vale. Pressing a finger to his ear, Conner says, "How far till we get to the center?"

Jerry swooped over their heads, Lambent Roar glowing from the usage of Dust, "Not far! A few more blocks, Damian you in position?"

"Yes. On your mark."

Jerry grinned, flying over the buildings, he finally saw the Breach. Grimm pouring out of the hole as Team RWBY fought the creatures, Ruby dispatched several more Grimm before a King Taijutsu hissed from behind.

"GET AWAY FROM MY GIRLFRIEND!"

With a whine, Jerry righted himself before blasting the creature into the building. Ruby taking the initiative to take her scythe and slice the creature to pieces.

Jerry held out his hands, stopping his friends from advancing with wide eyes, "Waitwaitwait…is that-"

"Yes Jerry," Damian said calmly. "It is."

Coco Adel strode forward, shifting her bag into the giant gold mini-gun and unleashed torrents of bullets at the horde of Grimm. Ripping apart the Nevermore's from the sky and the Death Stalkers scuttling towards them.

"WHOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAA!"

Taking her rook, Cinder slid the piece forward and took another of Damian's pawns.

"I enjoy chess," Damian said calmly as the woman took his piece, "Feel it's an ambiguous game."

"How so?" Cinder asked. "It is just a game of strategy."

Damian raised an eyebrow, gesturing for her to continue as he moved his bishop.

"Chess is a game of sacrifice and cunning. Manipulating your opponent into feeling safe before taking more of his forces until the final checkmate. If one piece must fall to remove a stronger piece, then it is well worth it in the end."

"Grab her and go!" Will shouted, waving his arm at Sun, "I can handle this!"

Sun lifted Blake up, wrapping his arm around her waist as he helped her move away. Gritting his teeth, Will swung his blades against other members of the White Fang, flicking the weapons up the red haired boy knocked aside the White Fang members sword and whirled around to kick him across the face before taking the weapon into a reverse grip and shoved it through his middle. As blood splattered against his back and shoulders, Will withdrew his blade as the body fell to the ground. Seeing a golden tail move around the corner, Will caught up with the pair and grabbed Blake's other arm.

"I have her," Sun stated.

"Shut it monkey boy," Will shot back.

Blake groaned as they dragged her feet over the fallen bodies of White Fang. As they approached the entrance of the warehouse, a figure dropped down from the ramparts above.

"Hello darling," Adam said with a smile, "Trying to leave again?"

Blake whimpered, which went unnoticed by both boys.

Sun clenched his teeth, "You…did that?" he demanded.

"I needed to remind her of whom she belonged too."

Orange Aura coated Will, who growled audibly and lunged.

"YOU'RE MINE TAURUS!"

"I am afraid I disagree."

Taking a rook, Damian slid across the board, "Chess is a game of strategy yes. It helps develop one's mind, and how to make several moves in advance. As I said before however, it is ambiguous. While all the pieces have their own advantages, that does not mean a bishop is necessarily less valuable than a rook."

Club lights flashed outside of the office windows, which oversaw the dance floor. The door was kicked open before Junior flew inside and crashed onto the top of his desk, his suit was dirtied slightly and the red sunglasses he wore had a broken lens. Conner soon followed after using his foot to close the door behind him.

Junior scrambled up, "Look kid-"

Striding forward, Conner brought back his foot before kicking the older man back onto the desk. As his body hit the wood, Conner leapt onto the desk and hovered over him, gripping the club owners collar.

Conner pulled the man up with a hard look, "The 'blondie' went missing, and she last went here. Tell me what you did?!"

"Kid! I don't know where she went!" Junior said, his eyes wide.

"Bullshit!" Conner shouted.

Before Conner could punch him across the face, Junior quickly said, "Wait! I might know who took Yang!"

Conner stopped his punch an inch from Juniors bruised face.

Taking a knight from Cinder, Damian laced his fingers together, "However I said that this was an ambiguous game. Not just for life, however in this very instance?"

"Really?" Cinder asked. Not denying the spark of curiosity inside of her, she leaned forward. "Do tell."

Damian sighed before gesturing to the board, "You already know about my world, and how my team knows the partial future. Not now though, as it has been completely altered. What caught my attention was a single message, "The Queen has Pawns" near the end of a Volume, that phrase got me thinking quite a bit since we last met."

Damian gestured to the chess pieces on his side of the board, "The pawns, I could easily say are the other Hunters and Huntresses currently attending Beacon. The rooks, Team JNPR due to their steadfast group. The bishops would most definitely be my team, and the knights are Team RWBY."

As Diviner finished, Cinder smiled and slowly pointed at Damian's King piece, "Then, in your mind. Who is the most valuable of all of Vale. Ozpin?"

Damian shook his head, "Ozpin, along with the other faculty of Beacon are the forces of the Queen. The King, I am not sure of."

"I can answer that already."

Cinder smiled, "The King…is Beacon. The shining light for all of Vale, training more and more warriors to fight in a standoff against the Grimm."

The two Beowolves howled, stepping over the broken fragments of the library doors and snapping their jaws at the students.

Standing up, Dust pushed his way through the horde of students, "Excuse me. Pardon."

Finally standing at the front, he waved at the creatures, "Sorry. But I'm going to ask if you could leave."

The Beowolves glanced at each other before making a noise that resembled a gargled laughter.

"I see."

Dust reached for the two satchels hanging at his sides, as he undid the latches he said, "Did you know that there are over five hundred books in this library?"

He snapped his fingers.

Books flew out from the ceiling length shelves, spinning through the air before forming an arch behind Dust. Opening his palm, two small leather books shot out from his satchels and floated just above the palm.

"Thankfully I only need twenty to show you the exit."

Gripping the book, Dust twisted his wrist so the palm face out and pushed. All books snapped open, glowing a bright red before fire roared out towards the Grimm.

Damian shrugged, "You mind if I ask you something?"

Cinder smiled before moving another piece, "Not at all. Check."

Damian moved the piece, "I've had plenty of time to think about all of…this. You especially."

"Oh, should I be flattered?" Cinder asked. "Check."

Damian didn't reply, tapping the table he moved another piece and spoke, "Your pawns are the combined forces of the gangsters from Hei Xiong and the members of White Fang. Your bishops, Roman Torchwick and that woman…Neapolitan I believe? They are very crafty for a pair of thieves…or murderers."

Cinder moved another piece, not answering.

Damian took the silence and continued to speak, "Your rooks, Adam Taurus and the White Fang Lieutenant. The one with a giant chainsaw. Their energy, sporadic unless they are given an end goal. Your remaining knights are those two who you parade around with, the thief Emerald, and the arrogant Mercury. Check."

Cinder frowned but moved the next piece.

"Finally, you, Cinder Fall, are the Queen piece. Check"

Damian moved his piece again, taking up the Queen piece he had just defeated.

"You are quite intelligent," Cinder said.

"Thank you," Damian replied.

"As such, you aren't using this to pass the time until the deadline."

Cinder placed her fingertips together, "Why are we playing this game?"

Damian looked at Cinder, "I have spent the last year pouring over everything available to myself. Information, theory's, all of it. I am using this to pass the time because of I am going to die in the assault, I need to ask an important question."

Damian leaned forward, "If you are the Queen, playing puppet master and pulling the strings in the dark, who is the King that pulls your strings?"

Cinder gave a cold smile, "No one pulls my strings."

Damian raised an eyebrow, "With my teachings, I learned to pick up a thing or two. You…want strength. You want to tower above all and have them quail at the sound of your clinking heels. What you desire above all…is power. But that kind of power is not easily given-"

"What do you know?" Cinder asked.

Damian had a blank face, "You were at the bottom. You had to claw, threaten, blackmail, or even sleep your way to your position. I see a woman who will stop at nothing to achieve what she desires, no matter the consequence."

Fire singed Jerry's cheek as he dodged another of Cinders attacks. Stumbling back across the plain, he narrowly avoided the bodies of…he couldn't tell.

He wasn't sure how much longer he could last. Between the constant fighting and use of Lambent…no. He had to keep going!

Blasting Lambent Roar again, Jerry made the witch dodge before launching forwards. Cocking back his fist, he unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks, Cinder dodged each and batted away some of his kicks with her free hand. Jerry thrusted out his palm again, intending to blast the woman, however the witch had other plans.

Grabbing his wrist, Cinder brought up her other hand and swung it at the wrist. Fire crackled around her fist as it slammed into the gauntlet and a 'Crack!' rang along with Jerry's scream of pain.

Gripping his throat, she brought her heel around his leg and pulled. Bringing the spectacled boy to his knees.

Jerry gasped for air as he tugged on the woman's grip.

"You are quite resilient," Cinder said. "I admire that. It is a shame that you refused my cause, you would have proven quite an addition."

Jerry snarled as he attempted to free his neck.

"Stop."

Bringing her fist back, Cinder swung across Jerry's face. Colliding with Jerry's nose before pulling back and hitting his mouth. Repeating her blows, Cinder stopped as blood dripped down from Jerry's mouth, his eyes struggling to focus behind cracked spectacles.

Holding him out with her left hand, she raised her right. A white glove formed with a red eye before the beetle emerged, chittering eagerly at Jerry's form.

"Now I will take what is yours and make it mine."

"Then you would know not to cross me."

Damian moved another piece before staring back at the woman, hazel eyes hard, "Cinder I would like to inform you that what you've just said, equally applies to my team."

Damian gestured to the board, "Checkmate."

Cinder glanced back at the board, finding her King surrounded by a bishop and knight. Amber eyes glowing slightly, Cinder glared back at Damian, who had crossed his legs and regarded the woman coolly.

"I will take great pleasure in destroying what you love," she growled.

Damian raised a hand, his middle finger and thumb touching, "You will try."

He snapped his fingers and Damian winked out of existence.

The Power of Dust: Part 2.

Coming Soon…