A new future is dawning, one of my own creation. You will be seeing some shades of canon Volume 4, but with entirely new events and new mythos. The world of Remnant is vast and Rooster Teeth can't cover all of it. Plus, there's gonna be far more inclusions, starting from right now. For the record, the two main teams are going to donning the Volume 4 clothes. Pyrrha will be having a new look, with a fully body stocking under her armor and a crimson hood, and yes it was given to her by Ruby. Jaune will be switching to a longer dark blue coat, and will finally have his familiar makeshift armor underneath said coat. Yang has her normal attire, though now with her hair tied back in a ponytail, and of course her new cybernetic arm. Disclaimer: I don't RWBY, Devil May Cry, Sailor Moon, Kid Icarus, or Future Card Buddyfight.
Chapter 37: A New Year
Untold eons ago, on a planet on the outskirts of the galaxy, a planet known as Earth, it's one natural satellite was undergoing turmoil. A force of evil beyond anything anyone had ever known had attacked and decimated what had once been a prosperous kingdom. To give the people of the kingdom a chance, its queen used a magical scepter, powered by a crystal said to contain unlimited energy, in an effort to send the souls of her subjects to Earth, where they would be reincarnated in the future. But the queen lacked the strength to fully aim at Earth, and accidentally shot the spell into the depths of space.
Fortunately, the spell was intercepted on Remnant, where two brothers who controlled the powers of creation and destruction were quarreling. Their fight ended when the spell landed between them. One look at it and they realized what it implied. Putting their differences aside, they used the template from the spell to create a new species, one that had the right to choose their path. This single species would eventually divide into the Humans and Faunus. As for the evil that would eventually emerge, the brother who controlled destruction crafted a powerful substance that could destroy its forces, knowing full well that it could also destroy the Grimm he had crafted.
Ages passed. The Humans learned quickly how to manipulate the Dust to fight back against the Grimm. Civilization began to sprout. Legends rose and scattered. And after many trials and tribulations, the Battle of Beacon had finished in favor of humanity. Heroes were made that day, new legends forged, and a great evil destroyed. Wounds healed in time, and soon, a new year started at Beacon Academy, newly repaired just in time to receive new students. The initiation has just completed, and eager young students are ready to form their new teams.
Blake stood on an upper balcony overlooking the amphitheater were the new teams for the year were being formed. After the Battle of Beacon, her past as a deserter from the White Fang became public knowledge. No one held it against her, especially since she was instrumental in capturing Adam Taurus. As a result, she had long discarded her bow, revealing her Faunus nature to the world. "Hey," came Yang's voice as she came behind her friend and partner, "I see you got back from your first solo mission."
Blake smiled. "Yeah, just in time for the team selection. This year Ozpin went with playing cards. The four students who select a single rank get teamed up together. They're just getting to the last team." As she spoke, Ozpin addressed the four students. "Albus Ikaros, Darien Shields, Nayru Fulgur, Serena Tsukino. You four collected the ace rank of cards, and shall henceforth be known as Team SAND, led by Serena Tsukino." With the final team assembled, Ozpin addressed all the chosen teams for the year. "Your induction into this academy comes on the heels of heroes of the Battle of Beacon. And while I pray you never have to face as great a threat, I also know you will prove to be just as capable as they are."
As the two girls went to reunite with their remaining teammates, they got to talking "So," Blake said, "How's the new arm treating you?" Yang looked at her cybernetics, which unlike Ironwood she was not afraid to show off. There had been complications during the replacement process. The spot where Yang's arm had been severed wound up infected to the point even more of her arm needed to be cut off, her entire elbow specifically. Beyond that the process was smooth, her new arm calibrated to react to her Semblance. It even had one of her bracelets for Ember Celica grafted onto it, ensuring she would never be caught without a weapon.
Yang smiled as she moved the metallic limb as easily as her own flesh. "It took some getting used to, but now it feels like a part of me. Almost like I never lost it. Except, you know, it's not actually flesh. So, next we have that mission to Menagerie. It must be nice to return home after being gone so long." "Yeah," Blake admitted, "First thing I plan on doing is checking in with my folks. Being so far from the Towers, Menagerie can only get local communication, so I haven't been able to keep in touch with Mom and Dad." Yang looked concerned. "Think they'll be okay with a trio of Humans visiting? Especially considering Weiss."
It was actually because of Weiss' family that this mission was happening. Jacques Schnee had reached out to the leaders of the White Fang, hoping to avoid an escalation after the arrest of Adam. Sienna Khan, though willing to talk, wanted a sign of sincerity from the Schnee Family patriarch. The request was a simple one, recognition of Menagerie as its own kingdom. It would take a lot of money and negotiation, but Jacques had lost too many family members to the White Fang to say no. The first step of this was assessing the situation in Menagerie to see what needed to be done, hence Team RWBY's mission.
The reason for selecting them was two-fold. Not only did it mean Weiss could act as a representative of her family, but it was Blake's hometown which meant she knew it better than most. The partners soon reached their dorm, where Weiss and Ruby were finishing their packing. They were expecting to stay in Menagerie at least a month, if not longer. "Hey," Ruby said, "Sorry we missed the teams. How did they look?" "Promising," Blake admitted. "I hope so," Weiss noted, "As important a mission as this is, there still needs to be strong Huntsmen in Vale to hold the fort."
"I should warn you," Blake said, "There is White Fang presence in Menagerie." The other girls looked at each before Ruby spoke up. "Shouldn't that be obvious? We're talking an entire continent where Faunus live." "There's more to it," Blake said, shaking her head, "The whole Grimm mask thing was unique to the Vale branch, so it won't be immediately obvious when you first lay eyes on a member. And they may not take kindly to Humans' perceived interference."
"Yeah, and we'll be having our weapons at all times," Yang said, "They may mistake us for attackers. Well, hopefully we can diffuse any situation quickly." She then spotted something odd. "Hey, did any of you just see a black cat with a yellow crescent on its forehead? Like, right out the window." The girls looked, but there was nothing there. "If it was there, we just missed it," Weiss noted. On the balcony, said cat breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, it was none of those girls," it said in a female voice, "Though their power is certainly close. Dear Queen Serenity, how I wish your spell hadn't been misfired. However will I find the princess in this situation?"
At the same time, Team JNPR was traveling from Mistral's port town to the central city of Haven, where the academy was located. Most enjoyably, they would be traveling along the well-known Tokaido road, the only road that Grimm completely avoided, and as such had a number of tourist hot-spots running along it. "Man," Nora said, "Three whole days of shopping, good food, hot springs. It is great to back." "Wait," Jaune said with amusement, "Am I the only member of this team that was actually born in Vale?" "I guess so," Pyrrha replied, "Anyway, we have a lot to do while we're in this kingdom."
Jaune nodded. Not only was Mistral the traditional home where the hermit from The Story of Seasons had once lived, but the team was also planning on visiting Pyrrha's family on the way. In addition, they were intending to investigate into the mysterious organization Cinder had supposedly belonged to. "Ozpin mentioned Qrow's investigations led him here," Ren said, "And we know Mercury and Emerald were sent out here by Cinder to get them to safety." Jaune still looked sorrowful about what happened. Luckily the rest of kingdom didn't make him a legend for killing Cinder, but for protecting his friends. That made dealing with the situation easier, the fact that people recognized how hard it was to do.
Deciding to change the subject, Nora chimed in, "So Pyrrha, I hear your folks spoke with Jaune's?" Pyrrha nodded, grateful for the chance to talk about something cheerful. "You should have heard Mom squeal when I told her who my boyfriend was. Turns out the Arc family is well-known across Remnant." "And then she made a crazy joke about the amount of kids we might be having," Jaune said, "She actually thought we might wind up with twelve. Seriously, I know my family is known for having so many kids, but we've never had more than eight per generation. My dad has three brothers and a sister." The team laughed as they headed down the road, secretly tailed by Qrow.
In Salem's citadel, the woman herself had gathered her three followers. "I believe we have waited long enough. We must discuss our current situation and determine our next course of action." "I'm afraid it's getting dire," Watts noted, "Our subordinates are deserting in droves. Cinder's failure in Vale has either removed all their fear of us, or instilled a deeper fear of our enemies." "Doesn't help that Cinder was caught off-guard by Ruby Rose," Tyrian said, "We've dealt with silver-eyed warriors before. How on Remnant was she not able to handle the situation?"
"She received a severe weakness when she took the Fall Maiden powers," Salem explained, "A costly oversight on our part that Jaune Arc was able to capitalize on. Still, I never expected him to outright kill an enemy." "Personally I think it was a matter of practicality," Watts admitted, "They weren't just going to let Cinder keep the power. Not when they knew what she planned to use it for. That, and Jaune's nature as an Arc made him see Cinder as a serious threat to his friends and allies." "And Penny's involvement was unexpected as well," Hazel chimed in, "We had no idea Atlas had developed an artificial warrior powerful enough to destroy an ancient Grimm."
"That just shows how little you have truly observed the world," came a deep, booming voice. Salem gasped, and she and the others turned to see a humanoid Grimm approach them. "Yamigedo," Salem said in shock, "But you had been sealed away centuries ago." "I was released during the Great War," Yamigedo explained, "Unfortunately it was right as the war had ended, and the newfound unity of the kingdoms proved a threat to me and my followers. I finally decided to emerge when I was told of your failed attempt to bring about the fall of one of the kingdoms. And that one of your enemies proved strong enough to destroy a Dragon."
"It's not as though we cannot replace it," Watts explained, "But it takes so much of Lady Salem's energy we didn't want to waste it." "If it is time you need," Yamigedo said, "I can provide. While I was sealed I felt the presence of a powerful source of negative energy, enough to keep my entire squadron of followers alive until our release. I will have my forces seek it out and bring it to this plane, though I should warn you it will only be enough to distract. It's power is weak to the point a first-year academy student could destroy it given time." And with that, he left the citadel.
As it happened, Yamigedo's forces, a collection of ancient Grimm collective referred to in legend as the Hundred Demons, were already speaking with the source of the negative energy, a group of dark creatures that referred to themselves as the Dark Kingdom. Their ruler, Queen Beryl, spoke at length about her story and her purpose in life. Yamigedo approached the meeting and spoke with his second-in-command, Zustein. "She's egocentric beyond belief," Zustein explained, "And her generals are no better. Plus, her Youma, as she calls them, are weaker than the weakest Beowolf. Can we really make use of her?"
"We only need her as a distraction," Yamigedo explained, "We can try to draw it out by having her generals work with Salem's faction, but that carries risk. Did she say what her goal is?" "She seeking the means to awaken her master, Metalia," Zustein replied, "As well as get back her former lover, a young prince named Endymion, and take revenge on the princess Serenity for supposedly stealing her from Beryl." Yamigedo scoffed. "I get the feeling he left Beryl of his own volition. In any event, Remnant has no princes or princesses, but there's no need to tell her that."
Back in Vale, Team SAND was staring in disbelief at the cat that had walked right up to Serena and started talking with her as if she knew her. At first Albus and Nayru thought it might be a Grimm, but Serena reminded them that her Semblance, which alerted her to forces of negativity such as the Grimm, did not get triggered by the cat, who called herself Luna. Luna, as it happened, was searching for a long-lost princess, and believed Serena was that princess. They shared information about each other, Luna going into great detail about the Moon Kingdom, and Serena discussing everything that was known about Remnant.
"I must admit it's a little odd seeing a princess taking on what is essentially a mercenary job," Luna noted, "But it's still protecting the innocent, so I suppose it works. I'm just glad I was able to reach you before the Dark Kingdom could attack. You see, they too wound up sent here to this planet." "Don't worry," Serena said, "There's plenty of capable Hunstmen and Huntresses to deal with whatever the Dark Kingdom has to throw at us." Luna smiled. "Some extra allies would be appreciated, but paramount is finding the rest of the Sailor Senshi, your personal guard." That's when the nearby vid-screen, which Albus had been watching, showcased an attack on a local jewel store. An alert came in requesting student aid for the situation.
To be continued...
Nothing like trial under fire, right? We'll continue to look into the adventures of Teams RWBY and JNPR in further chapters, and eventually they'll get mixed up in the whole Dark Kingdom affair. For the record, Albus is meant to be inspired by Pit, while Nayru is inspired by Phosphora. Read and review.