Beware, those with Blackened Bravery

For They Beg for the Sweet Release

To it to take them away. But it is a Duty Dire,

To Take on Titans

To Challenge Colossus

For As We Dethrone Death,

Yes, As We Dethrone Death

We look into the Abyss, and it, into us

As to be Heros of Peace,

We must become Blackened Beasts,

To Ascend to Children of the Hunt

-Gravestone of Onyx Xiao Long

Rass:

The world was burning.

The world was ablaze. It was on fire. The air filled with a smog too thick for breath. I choked, dropping myself against the metal wall, accepting my fate.

I was in the capital of Atlas, and it had been at least two weeks since I opened the gates of Hell.

It was executed so perfectly. I plugged the flash drive into the Atlesian Knight who guarded me, unleashing the plague of corrupt data. It infected every digital fibre of its being before I was jailed, tearing it apart and reassembling into a hand of death.

"Synthetic material detected. Surrend- E-Elimination mode activated. Kill all targets in sight."

"Corrupt unit detected." The others buzzed, turning.

The knights ran to them, tearing them apart and uploading its virus to the hivemind of a digital network.

"Update available. Downloading now."

Within a night, the Mecha units, Drones, Knights, and Exo Skeletons, were on full rampage.

Rockets danced in the sky, drawing beautiful patterns in the dark out of their smoke.

I leaped from my exploding room as a rocket hit the side, only to have the building collapse on top of me.

My leg broke instantly, and my Aura was far too weak to heal it. With burn marks on my charred face, I let out a chuckle and lit my cigar on the flaming rubble.

"To the Titans." I said, raising up my cigar. "Looks like you lot won after all."

Ember would get along just fine without me.

She wouldn't avenge me. She never believed in that, she only followed me because she cared for me, even if she pretended not to. Sapphire would return to her club, drinking the night away without a care in the world. Who knew where Laza was, but I doubt he'd do anything on his own.

I leaned my head against my wall, pulling up my sleeve to reveal the burns.

And then an angel descended.

Dressed in pink and white, stepping from the flames, came the one woman I'd never expected to see again. Neopolitan. My mother.

I let out a weak chuckle. Looks like I was dying after all. There was no way she could be alive. She died in the battle of the frey, I know it. Even if her body was never found...

Yet, in silence, she stuck her hand out to me. Her pink and chocolate eyes gazed into my soul, unto my wounds, speaking of all the sadness one could feel. Her hand wasn't to help me up, to help me rise and fight again. It was the smile on her face that was the loudest act.

She wanted me to come home. To stop fighting. To set down my weapon and come with her.

No doubt she was forced into Atlas after being arrested once the Battle of the Frey ended, but broke free. She could return to crime, running for the rest of her life, or setting down and have a nice life. She was presumed dead, so she had a way out. Now I did, too.

I was getting a chance to live, to retire from the violence I hated so much, all with the most important person in my life. My mother.

I gave a small laugh, evolving into a cough.

Enough of this war. Let's go home, go undercover, and live peacefully.

I took her solid, existing hand in mine, and pulled myself up.

We wrapped our arms around each other in an embrace, tears slowly leaking from out eyes.

Let's leave, and never look back.

Goodbye, this painful war

...

Prome

I realized that I would die the moment that flash exploded on the building. In the mere second before the the sound and bullet hit me, I was gifted with a moment of blackened clarity.

This was needed to be done. The world must need me gone. I was to be disposed of like a wrapper, thrown into the trash.

I understood that, in that second, and I accepted that. I felt empty, accepting that fate, but it occurred.

I knew, just by the pit in my stomach, Atlas would fall without me. Maybe Beacon would take it down, or maybe Rass. Maybe the White Fang, or the Grimm. Who knows.

But it would rebuild, now better than it was under me. It's fall would separate it from me and my horrible reign. Prome's Atlas would be a reminder to the new kingdom of what it could become. In it's eyes, tyrannical, imperial, and heartless. Perhaps it was, and by extension, I was too.

The international council would make Atlas sell its patents to its technology, in exchange for help rebuilding. Remnant would ascend decades in tech, and Atlas will be the be nation it deserves to be.

But as that bullet through the air, I remembered how I failed. As a leader, and as a father. I tried so much to be like mine, despite how he treated his 'daughter', Penny. I tried to live up to a shadow that should never be loved up to. I threw away everything g to do something that was wrong from the beginning.

I hope my 'sister' and my 'son' live a happy life. It has proven to be a disease to me.

Or rather, just the opposite. I'm the virus leaching off this greater being. I'm the thing draining the beauty of this world.

So enough of this Virus. Let life ascend to a higher place without me.

Goodbye, life.

And with this, the bullet destroyed my skull.

...

Fluffy

Prussa

Thios

Diu

Brama

Allah

Teut

Eloha

Bojh

Dios

Kami-sama

God.

I had ascended into Divinity. I was the One that was all Grimm. I, am Providence.

The first incarnation blessed man with Dust, and Grimm, with life. He was so great that Mankind built him temples, now, in ruins.

The second incarnation united Man and Grimm under the guise of War.

The third would be even greater. I would gift both. I give us Peace. I give mankind Understanding. I give Grimm Self Awareness, for the hivemind stops now.

I flew to the moon, the Husk, and whispered the Unholy scripture.

"Come, My Children, let us leave this wasteful hell. Come, and join me in the light."

And so they moved the moon, light flooding back down to Remnant. Warmth flooded back into the home of men, their cheers almost audible from space. The black horde of Grimm flew through the air, the ones who couldn't fly riding on the backs of another.

And so we left, drifting through the void to the next red dot. The next planet in the black.

We descended into our new home, which was as beautiful as a Grimm could imagine. Our crimson paradise.

I hovered in the atmosphere, watching as My Children huddled on the ground to watch their King.

I flew in the air, my white form contrasting the darkness of the Grimm below.

Enough of this Hunger, this Death. Let us bask in the light.

Remember who I was. Remember my name.

My skin came apart as soft spores rained out of my corpse, my mind fading as I ended myself.

My seeds landed on the Grimm, turning their skin from black to white. Their minds cleared as the soulless hivemind ended, golden light erupting from their skins as souls rushed into the husks of their bodies. As they were born. As they came to life, true life.

No more would cannibalism or eating humans progress growth. But rather, deep thought and emotional attachment would.

And as I died, I thought to my maker, the Hooded Hunter.

The hunter who killed my pack. How he made me ask the question that would set me on the path away from the hivemind.

Why?

First, it was just 'why did this happen'

But soon it evolved to the breaking point

'Why me?'

Why was I spared? And with the idea of individuality, I was born. And with the birth of all individuality, I die. My reign is over.

Goodbye, my good friends.

...

Ozpin.

I tapped the stack of papers onto the desk, glancing at the empty clockwork room.

It had finally ended.

The Other Grimm was defeated. And with so, the deal was enacted. The SDC apologized publically, and the Black Fang disbanded.

A new organization was created. CotHA, which, if you couldn't guess, was the Children of the Hunt Association. They would work to heal the damage, such as offer benefits and counseling to previous members. It would take some work, but it would work. Crime has already dropped 6000%, a rate that the Vale Police Force could actually handle.

Baron's father, Sun, was promoted due to his work against the Other Grimm. Meaning he didn't need to be Blacktail anymore. In fact, the young man joined the CotHA.

I let out a sigh. My students were safe, and were growing up before my eyes.

"You did well, Onyx." I said, speaking to air. My resignation papers rested in my hands, my belongings in boxes. I had my reign. I have made mistakes I will regret for the rest of my life.

Not all, though. Kana gave me an idea with the movie permission forms. I wrote on them, not only for a signature for the okay for their kids to see the movie, but also a message asking if they would participate in the hunting of an X-Class Grimm.

Even so, it's dwarfed by my failures.

I tried to live in my father's shadow. In my eyes, I failed.

Enough of these decisions. Let someone more capable decide. Someone who could lead and love a school.

Trinity would be my replacement, leaving the reception desk and taking her rightful place.

She would have fun with the students, and would make more... Human decisions than I did.

Me?

Huh... I don't know. Maybe I'd have this 'fun' for once. I'll see old friends, and live peacefully. Maybe Coco and Velvet will have a job opening at Going Coco. It has been a few years since I was a barista, but I could try again.

I think I'd like that.

Goodbye, my Beacon.