7Artemis7: long time no see :) A very fetishistic woman once said that they wouldn't be able to find happiness in life. Nobody corrected her.

RedGOzilla: No problem. Word of advice though, even though you probably won't read this. Don't look at the RWBY fandom; X chromosomes get shipped together like no tomorrow.

Tuutje07: Nice, thank you. Glad to see that worked out well. Also, if he doesn't want to be found, he won't be. But what if he does want to be found?

The post-story babbling? Happened around…four years ago.


"If we can synthesize Semblances from rare Grimm species, why can't we let two innocent girls live their lives?"


Vale city District, the night before current events, 2:51

Arnold Braunschweiger and his Junior were two absolute badasses. Loose cannons, cops on a role. Or something like that. The Junior wouldn't agree with those thoughts though; he was the sidekick. He did things by the book. He was a by-the-book guy. He was scared of the tough-looking people around them.

Of course that didn't make any sense. Junior was in fact an information-broker for the underworld He had probably seen and done nasty things. So what were they?

Braunschweiger wasn't so certain of what they were. The truth was, he hadn't even asked Junior about it. His brief time as a henchman for mister Torchwick was still a source of great shame and terrible dishonor. Being a cleaning-lady didn't make that disappear. No, to redeem himself, he had to do something really heroic. Something to make his wife and children proud of him. He couldn't settle for saving the world…

"So what do we know about this guy, anyway?" Junior asked in a very annoyed manner.

So he would go for saving the city from the evil. "We know he is da enemy."

Junior performed a magnificent facepalm. "He's not the enemy, you moron! Blondie said he's one of the good Onyx guys."

"We know he is NOT da enemy. He is just misunderstood."

"Of all the people to work with…"

Where was he again? Oh yes, being the action hero. He would probably be one of the last action heroes to show up, seeing as little girls fought better than he did these days, but still. He would need more ammo….perhaps the choppah from the kitchen.

He wished he had a choppah with him. "Right. I have decided on what to do."

"Really? Do tell me."

The various shattered buildings around them somehow managed to increase the volume of his voice even more than usual. "When we find this kid, we find him a daddy and get him to chill out. And then I'll contact some of my old buddies. Vaele could use some help."

Junior pinched the bridge of his nose and patiently said, "It's Vale, not Vaele, you stupid lump. What good would buddies do here, anyway? Help cook and clean?"

"Chill out, Juniah. My buddies do what they do best; shoot big guns."

"You been in the army then? You're kidding me."

"No, I do not joahk! I fought for a few years, before I met my wife."

"You killed any people then?"

"Yes, but they were all bad! Hey, just like you were." He grinned. "Funny how that goes, right?"

"Yeah…funny. Got any tracking skills in that funny head of yours?"

"I never tracked. I just shot."

"Again, great. Why are we supposed to do this again?"

Onyx…weird people who employed kiddos who were way too young. This "Ash" kid had to be really young, too. Braunschweiger remembered when he was young; running with the army since sixteen, stopping to take civilian jobs only for that to fall apart again. Met the wrong people, made dumb decisions, owed money to dangerous people. That wasn't a life anyone wanted to live. "Because it is a good thing to do. Maybe even the best."

"In case you didn't notice it, I lost most of my guys to Onyx. I don't have any reason to do this. I don't want those little psychos anywhere near me."

"They just need a good person telling them what not to do. And Juniah; you could stay behind. Leave this to me."

Junior huffed. "To you? Beacon's cleaning lady? I'm the information dealer. If they want this punk found, they won't use a walking brick like you."

"I take offense to zat one!" Braunschweiger yelled. "I do moahr dan walking! You hear me? MOAHR!"

The two of them waked past one of the last few bookstores in Vale, gibbering on about irrelevant things. About a few hundred meters from their position, Penny was walking down the side of the road when she heard sounds. It was a bit late, around three o'clock in the night, so there really shouldn't be people out. The city was also a nearly-ruined wasteland filled with Atlas soldiers and policemen and –women who tried to take care of the rising anarchy.

So why, she wondered, were there people screaming outside? That wasn't supposed to happen. They were supposed to say in their homes at night, as per martial law. If they were fighting, she needed to break them up.

She focused on the sounds she was hearing and concluded that they were combat sounds. People were definitely fighting each other and that was bad, because everybody human needed to gather their strength to fight the Grimm

Not wasting any time, Penny rushed to the site of fighting. She could make out one distinct voice that was screaming louder than the others. Said others were yelling soothingly, attempting to calm the screaming one.

Now she was certain that this was something that demanded her attention. She needed to safeguard the peace and welfare of all the people, which meant that no fights were allowed.

The girl ran around the corner of a dark alley and stumbled upon the source of the chaos and screaming. A soldier half-clad in black armour was fighting several Atlesian soldiers with a metal pipe, screaming and moving like a Grimm. The soldiers were attempting to take him down without violence, but that didn't work out. They had their stun-batons and own armour, but there were still two bloodied soldiers lying on the ground, either groaning and twisting around or simply unmoving.

Penny's first response was to grab the soldier and smash him into the ground, both making sure he wasn't a danger to the other soldiers and securing victory. But she didn't. She didn't move and she didn't attack. She wondered why.

"No!" the soldier screamed and battered the stun-baton of a blue-ranked Atlesian soldier aside with the metal pipe. "Go away! Leave me alone!"

He sounded so afraid…so frightened. Out of his mind, like a wounded little doggie biting everybody it encountered. Penny knew his voice, and she knew his behavior. She had heard things about him, and she had seen things about him. He was her little puppy.

"Calm down soldier!" One of the Atlas personnel shouted at him. His reply existed out of a very aggressive swipe at the man's visor, only narrowly dodged.

Another soldier jumped at him and tried to pin him against the wall, using his superior strength and size against him. It went about as well as Penny expected; her Atlas ally found himself lying on the ground with a broken arm, while Ash's curious fury only increased

This was a dilemma. Ash was her dearest friend, but he was also with Onyx. Her enemy. These Atlas soldiers were her allies, but they were also trying to hurt her dearest friend. What would she do?"

Ash jammed his elbow into one man's sternum, flattened his feet with a well-placed kick and nearly cracked his skull open with the leaden pipe. Only Aura saved his life, but it still meant another unconscious body to take care of.

Enough was enough. Penny didn't want Ash to work himself into more problems; she had to act.

The last conscious Atlesian trooper cursed and attempted to draw his sidearm. Ash was leagues faster than him; he hit the man with the flat end of the pipe, striking him in his stomach, before literally jumping on top of him and beating his helmet to pieces with his bare hands.

Penny couldn't stand watching it. It was too hard. She knew what to do

Ash hadn't even finished beating his victim to a bloody pulp when she wrapped her arms around his chest and pulled him up and away from the fallen soldier, pinning his arms to his chest in the process.

"Easy," she muttered. "Ssshhh…I've got you."

He didn't stop screaming. Attempted to hurt her by bashing his elbow into her sides, multiple times. When that didn't work, he started convulsing and struggling in her grip. She didn't let him.

"Ash…it's me. Please cease trying to hurt me."

There was no reason left for him. For whatever reason, his behavior had been reduced to that of an animal. He could only scream and fight against her, trying to hurt her in all manners possible for him at that moment. Penny could increase her grip on his chest and strangle him into unconsciousness, or she could otherwise impair his movements until he wasn't a threat anymore.

She didn't. She let him strike at her with his elbows and his legs, she let him try to bash the back of his head into her face and she let him struggle all he wanted. Eventually she had no choice but to hold him tighter, because he would escape her otherwise. Initially, the increased grip drove him to a frenzy. That lasted only a few seconds before he started to calm down somewhat. Just a bit. His movements grew less animalistic and his screams less feral, as if the demons driving him calmed down as well. He stopped his attempts to hurt her body and the lead pipe dropped from his loose grip.

"Ash, can you hear me? It's Penny; nobody will harm you here."

He didn't respond. How could he, when driven to such madness? The only thing he did was go slack in her arms, stopping his movement altogether.

Penny didn't understand. She didn't know how to do this. Humans weren't supposed to behave like this, let alone the young ones like Ash. He was being dangerous to himself and to others, but without any reason.

She did not know Ash. He did not know her, but she did not know him either. How could she, when he was human and she was not? How could she understand what was going through his head when she could not even figure herself out?

The three soldiers were down. They didn't move. Her first response in this situation should have been to aid them in a dangerous situation and deal with the one hurting then. But they weren't her priority now. At least, not to her.

After a few minutes of quietly grunting and struggling, Ash calmed down. He stopped moving and let his head hang. He wasn't wearing his helmet ,which made his skin look even paler in comparison. He had a small scar on the side of his chin, but the bloody rash on his cheek and the bruise around his eye were what got her attention.

"I want to go home…" he whispered.

"I…do not understand. Why do you not go then?"

He did not answer her. He said something, but she didn't hear it. Or she did and she didn't understand what it was.

"Why are you here, on your own?"

No reply either. Somehow, that frightened Penny. She hadn't felt frightened in a long time, but there was something weird about Ash now. How he behaved…the uncontrolled violence. Why? What had happened?

She still stayed like that for at least another few minutes before he stirred again, mumbling something about a "Cal" being worried.

"Where do you want to go then?" she asked.

After a pause, he quietly muttered, "Beacon."

Penny smiled. She had a friend at Beacon. Maybe she was his friend as well?


Present day, downtown Vale, 15:30

Ruby sighed and sat back in the chair of the terrace, trying to keep the ever-increasing amount of worries and thoughts from disturbing the brief moment of peace.

"Stop worrying," Weiss said without taking her eyes off the menu. "It really won't help you."

"I know, I know…it's just hard to stop worrying."

"Just as hard as it is to find a terrace that's still open in the city, I wonder?"

"Well…"

Weiss smiled. "There you have it. Here," she offered Ruby the menu chart. "Order something; I don't think we can overstay our welcome."

Ruby's little Heiress was right; because of the extreme damage to the city, most things that were taken for granted, like libraries, shops and terraces, had suddenly become luxuries. The people in control – the police, most members from Beacon and other persons with experience in taking charge- were responsible for keeping anarchy and chaos out.

The result? No more than thirty minutes service per individual per time unit. Could be a day, could be multiple days. Everybody needed to shop at least once a day, but not everybody needed to rent books every day. Things like that made it easier on the people who had lost their homes, because everybody had to work together now.

At least, that was the idea. It didn't work out like that in reality though; the terrace was empty. Most people hid in their homes, with whatever arms and barricades they could use to defend themselves. Ruby didn't know if it was the result of the Onyx thing, or simple paranoia.

Well, it wasn't paranoia if it was based on real things.

She ordered herself and Weiss a cup of coffee and a piece of cake, before moving on to the more serious stuff. She had lots of things she wanted to go through with Weiss, some more pressing than others. All were equally important for their future though. "Hey, uhm…listen, I…" damnit, this was so hard. Weiss's smug expression didn't really help either. "Things got difficult real soon. In the train, you and Yang lost. Both of you wouldn't have been alive now if you hadn't been saved."

Weiss nodded solemnly. Only Blake's timely intervention had saved her from a painful death by that chainsaw-wielding White Fang member. And Yang…even she hadn't seen who the woman who had saved her life had gone. More people had team RWBY in their eyes than just Onyx, it seemed. "It will only get harder from here on out."

"It will. But nobody walks away from nearly dying, Weiss. Not without changing. Yang…she went through this once. She's still dealing with it."

"It's what we've been training for-"

"No," Ruby sharply said. She hated cutting her partner off like that, but this was something she wanted out of the way first. "Saving people is what we train for. What people expect from us. Killing monsters, maybe even taking lives, that's what we train for. Going through enough stress and emotions to cause traumas? Dying? That's not just part of our jobs. Onyx trains their soldiers with all of that in mind, and look what happened."

"I…am not sure I understand?" Weiss said. "I'm accustomed to attempts at my life. Death has been around me since the White Fang first formed, for five years now. I don't want to grow used to it, but it's not the first time I've had to fear for my life."

Ruby reached for Weiss's hand. "Sorry. I just don't want anyone to get hurt, thinking that they're supposed to. Because it's part of the job."

"I can imagine how people senselessly endangering themselves would get at you, yes."

Ruby remembered how Will had been, ever before his suicidal behavior had started to get her attention. Thinking how his life was dedicating all he had to fight and nothing else. It was a sad, pitiful existence, and it had left a bad taste with her. A life was not meant to be sacrificed like that. Only in rare instances. "I don't want to lose you, Weiss. I don't want to lose anyone."

Weiss smiled and gripped her hand tightly. "That won't happen. It all turned out alright, didn't it? Now, there was something you wanted to talk about?"

Ruby waited until the waiter brought their drinks and cake before replying. She didn't need to have random people listening in on their conversations. "About the thing that Oobleck told us…"

"You mean that soul-bind thing?"

"Yes."

"Ruby…you do know why they ceased to perform those rituals after the Grimm war?"

She nodded. "I know. The downsides are the same as the upsides; you get to share everything with the bonded partner. But…imagine if you could communicate with the speed of thought during fighting! If you could share battle plans and immediately figure out if your team is in danger or not."

Weiss sighed, but she did so with a smile. "I'm sorry for bursting your bubble, but that was not what Oobleck said the bonding was."

Ruby blinked. "No?"

"No. At least, not completely. You can't read the thoughts of your bonded partner, only their feelings. You become attuned to their mind ,but not actually linked to it. That would be the soul."

"How do you know that?" Ruby asked.

"Oh, I just asked Professor Adamant about what he knew on the subject. He was too busy to do anything but properly answer."

"But…but that still sounds pretty cool! I mean, Remnant couldn't be closer to the past than it was now, so imagine if people started the rituals again! Soldiers bonding in combat, partners side-by-side to battle the Grimm masses! It would be like using humanity's only weapon and then turning it even more awesome."

"You're joking, right? It's not something that can be undone easily, and if one of the pairs goes down, the other one won't be able to fight properly."

"But that would be mitigated by the increased abilities, right?"

"It isn't…wait, you're actually serious?"

Ruby nodded, imagining how her large silver eyes must be like puppy eyes to Weiss. "It could help in normal life, too. Oobleck said you always know if your partner is alright, no matter the distance."

"Right. Adamant said something about that too, except he rambled on about time, space and souls. It was…not hard to get him going."

She smirked. "No, it's not. But I was just wondering…Beacon is now somewhat in control over Vale, right? We've become important?"

"Yes," Weiss said with a thoughtful nod. "We are."

So satisfying. "If people at Beacon were to restart the bonding rituals…won't that mean other people will follow?"

"Ruby, you can't just bond to anyone…I believe it can only happen between people who are extremely intimate, or very much in love." He halted. "Or just very close."

"So what if we tried it?" Ruby then carefully said, avoiding Weiss's eyes as if her young life depended on it.

The Heiress was understandably taken aback. "Excuse me? You want to do it with me?" The two students then winced, both wishing that nobody had heard that. Weiss then continued on a softer tone. "Ruby…I'm…well, I'm flattered actually, but that's not the point. It's dangerous! If something were to happen to me…you wouldn't know how to shut off your feelings. I don't even think Ozpin can."

Ruby loved how Weiss's first concern was not herself, but her partner. "I know the risks. But if our teamwork gets better because of it, we won't have to get in danger. We ca coordinate without needing to talk and we won't have to keep an eye on each other. They did it during the Grimm wars, so shouldn't it be necessary here?"

"Rubes…apart from that, do you know how the ritual works?"

"No, not really. Oobleck never told me."

"Well, Matt told me. He made it sound painful and horrible. Do you know what is is?"

"No?" She was starting to get a little bit scared.

Weiss scraped her throat. "It involves two people getting very intimate together. Physically so."

"What?"

"The major requisite for the bonding ritual is becoming "intertwined" in the physical method first, before the soul can join."

Ruby could feel her cheeks stinging with heat. Her heart pretty much increased its tempo a hundred percent and she was suddenly very aware of where Weiss' legs were, there under the table. Brushing close against hers. "But…but you said it could happen to people who were close together. Just close!"

"Sure, that's possible, but that would still take hours' worth of meditations and herbs and…well, a deep knowledge of each other already," Weiss said, talking faster than she normally did.

Was it really that much of a problem? She had been aching to get closer to Weiss than before; to feel her soft skin and run her hand through her long hair. There wasn't anything bad about that, was there? In books people always grew more intimate together in war than in peace. It was only natural; if you could die any moment, you needed to live your life quicker. "But we can travel down the intimate road, can't we?"

Weiss looked troubled. "I would like that…I really would…but I can't. No, that's not right. We can't. Ruby, look around." She took her hand before she continued. "We are fighting a war. We can't just ignore that."

"Do you know what shore leave is?" Ruby then asked, a new idea shooting through her head like a mini copy of Crescent Rose. "In war-time, soldier need time off to clear their minds and just relax. It's good for their motivation. You know, we did the dance because of that."

"That's actually a thing?"

Ruby nodded. "Of course it is. And Weiss, in all seriousness, I really don't want to lose you. We don't have anything to lose if we…you know…do it."

Weiss was heavily blushing when she replied. "I….well…If it's for shore leave, I don't think anyone would mind."

A scroll went off, buzzing and playing a cheerful little tone. It took Ruby a few moments to realize that it was hers, and that the message wasn't cheerful at all. "Damnit…"

"What? What is it?" Weiss asked.

"It's Blake…something's come up. Says she was approached by…by Opzin? That can't be good. Oh…"

"What is it?"

Ruby sighed and clenched her fists. Deep down, she knew that this might have happened, but she had always hoped that this could get to a good ending. "CFVY failed. They need a new team to go after him."

Weiss stood and bumped into her chair, nearly knocking it to the ground. Some people turned to look. "And he picked us?"

"Who else? What team is good enough to fight him and stand a chance? What team can get through to him without hurting him?"

"They could send JNPR and LACG…anyone."

"It never was just anyone," Ruby muttered. All the joy and dangerous feelings she had been feeling just now had disappeared, like snow melting in the sun. "From the moment he started to get attached to us, it had to our team."

Weiss didn't say anything else. Neither did Ruby know what else could be said. In silence they returned to the staging ground with the dropships, where they got on one of the upgraded dropships back to Beacon. The ride went smooth; without sound, or rattling walls or leather straps that could break off and send people flying. She hated every second of it. Why did everything have to change? Why couldn't things just stay the same? Weiss and her could build a relationship, Blake could get accustomed to the school and start to really get to know Alice and Sun and Yang and Will could start their own relationship. She would have given all of them green light, damnit! She would have loved seeing her sister enjoy herself!

Now, nothing of that would come to pass. Even if Weiss and Blake could get themselves to fight him, it would still tear Yang apart.

The two of them reached the dormitories. Too soon, in Ruby's opinion. Weiss and her hadn't gotten the chance to talk too often and now that they had finally gotten that chance, this had turned up.

Did Ozpin know? Did he understand how much strife and pain this would cause within their team? Pitting friends against friends? If he did, he was being cruel. If he didn't…Ruby didn't know what he would be if not.

Blake was the only one in the dormitories. When Ruby entered, she immediately saw that something was wrong. More wrong than normal. Blake's eyes were somewhat blurry and reddish, just like her cheeks. She had either cried or come to crying. Why?

"Hey Blake," Ruby carefully said, looking around the room. No big sister. "Yang taking a shower?"

The girl shook her head. "She…" she scraped her throat and continued with a clearer voice. "She hit the gym a while ago. Said something about working off frustrations."

Ruby spotted a laptop resting on Yang's bed. The source of said frustrations? Something worse? Probably. It would be better to leave Yang to her work and…probably gear up. "What's that?"

Blake only shook her head. She still had tears in her eyes, which was really odd, because Blake was normally very stoic. She rarely every got really emotional about things. Then again…she was big on empathy. Really big.

Weiss walked over to the laptop and took a look, while Ruby gently rubbed Blake's ears. No longer hidden behind her little bow.

"What's this? Is that an Onyx insignia?"

"It's the cracked version of the DSM Will and Alice went to get," Blake softly said. "Alice gave it to Alessa to hand it to him, but she never did. She cracked the codes, but never got to reading. Imagine if she did…"

Ruby didn't really want to.

"No, I mean…what's this about? What's a Catalyst?"

"A what?"

Ruby tried to contact Yang with her scroll, while Weiss continued reading. "How can you read this? It's covered in black ink!"

"It's the parts without the ink," Blake said.

That piqued Ruby's interest. She let her scroll for what it was and joined Weiss, staring at the screen that held some very classified dossiers. Some of them were…deeply disturbing.

"What's this all about?" Weiss said with a look of disgust. "Why is this all blacked out?"

Ruby knew why it was blacked out. The first part of the dossier described something that had the words "procedure" and "Vytal" as parts of its name. It also described some form of sophisticated torture, if the few words that were visible were to be believed.

But it wasn't until Ruby got to the very end that she understood why Blake was so upset; why Yang had lost her patience and left for the gym. Why Will had lost his mind so deeply since his arrival at Beacon.

"Oh god…" she whispered, clutching her mouth with horror. She didn't know what else she could say –what she should say. The only thing she knew was that these files had just destroyed every chance they had at solving this at all, let alone peacefully.

For once, she was glad that Onyx covered everything up.


Atlas, abandoned warehouse near Schnee Dust Company HQ, 4,5 years ago.

The Faunus was close. Too close. Operative Greystone wasn't sure if he could make it step away again without hurting it. Without killing it.

"You don't get to lock us in here!" the Faunus shouted. "We have rights!"

Operative Mantis was securing the rear, making sure these people wouldn't get out before everything was done.

"You will be released tomorrow, and paid a recompense for your troubles," the Operative said, but his words only seemed to agitate the collected Faunus. They started yelling and screaming, pushing and making their way forwards. There were twenty-one of them, all of them potential threats to the coming event. They couldn't be allowed to get close; they could resort to terrorist attacks and turn into a threat for the members of the Schnee family. Their Heiress had to stay safe.

The man came closer again. Stepped within two feet distance of Greystone, staring him down. He didn't have a tail, but he had sharp teeth and animalistic eyes. A dog Faunus. "Get out of here, human! You won't imprison us again!"

The Operative felt his body tense up and prepare for a fight. Blood pounded, his stomach clenched. One hand relaxed, preparing a movement that he had performed many times in the past. "Sir, I will have to ask you to step back."

"Don't tell us what to do!"

"I won't ask you again-"

The man made his move and tried to shove him. The Operative responded with trained reflexes, pulled his sidearm out of its holster and shot the threat in the head, two times, A thin layer of Aura protected against the first bullet, but the second one found its mark. Just as Blackwood had predicted; workers didn't have advanced training in Aura mastery.

Instead of calming down or panicking when shots were fired, the crowd went berserk. About half of them dropped to the floor and sought cover, while the other half leaped at everything human in sight. Only him and Mantis. All of them screamed, except for the Operatives, who responded to the display of violence without hesitation.

Greystone emptied his clip into four people, Mantis moved like water and carved through throats and necks and before ten seconds had passed, only eleven of the twenty-one Faunus had survived. The ones who had fled, dropped to the ground or otherwise chosen a less-aggressive action.

Slowly stepping out of her martial position, Mantis said, "You will be released over seventeen hours."

There wasn't more to say. More to do. They were done here. They left the flagged individuals behind in the secure warehouse, stored away from the places they could do damage. All of them were potential enemies, and now they couldn't be. It was a good solution. One that wouldn't result in damage to the SDC.

Except…Greystone looked at his hands, wondering if it was a good thing for them to be covered with red human-like blood or not. It was prove of their skills, of their skills in following orders. They were good at killing and that was something good in itself. But if they killed too much, there would be fewer left to save. And while the first life he had taken had never bothered him once, these ones didn't feel quite that good.

He shook his head and didn't give the deaths more thought. Mantis nodded at him and together they left the warehouse, moving towards the rendezvous point where Blackwood would be waiting for them. The sun had already risen and they couldn't afford to run late for the SDC event. Why the Schnee man had chosen to take his daughter with him on that strange diplomatic event, he didn't know. The only thing he knew was that there were threats that needed to be eliminated.

"You think it fits?" Mantis asked him when he handed her the newest product of Atlas' clothes that he had stolen a day prior.

"I washed it with very hot water, rinsed it with that fatty soap and used the Dust you stole. It should fit you perfectly."

She disappeared behind a building with the clothes, probably to prevent people from peeking in on her. She worried about such trivial things.

"And?" he asked her from around the corner, making sure to keep his face away from her.

"It's a bit too loose…but I can work with it."

"Good."

They made their way to the main street, where the SDC hall lay. They'd be arriving with Weiss Schnee out soon, and that would be the ideal moment to strike for the White Fang.

Greystone didn't understand these people. He knew the SDC was responsible for mining and distributing Dust and that they used labor forces to do so. He also knew that they preferred to use Faunus people over human people, because those tended to be stronger and fitter. Only those Faunus people didn't like working, or they didn't get enough paid, or they worked too much, or whatever human reason they had for their actions.

He didn't care. Nothing could every justify terrorism or attacking innocent people. The White Fang were hostiles and he would treat them accordingly.

"Remember," Operative Blackwood told him over their radio, "building across the street. Package is waiting there."

"Copy your last," Greystone confirmed. He split up from Mantis and went for the hotel on the opposite side of the SDC structure, sneaking past the various guards and civilians who would panic and open fire as soon as they saw him. It was easy though; people were still sleepy, but at the same time excited by the idea of an official statement made by the CEO in charge of "the biggest corporation on Remnant". They were so easy to slip by. They wouldn't even see their own death coming like this.

Why was it that the adults were the least disciplined ones? Dumb, disgusting people.

Greystone made his way to the roof, picking up the package in the meantime. It was a suitcase filled with all the components he needed to put a sniper rifle together. He liked sniping; picking off enemies one by one, challenging himself to make as many headshots as possible…it gave him the peace and tranquility he needed to calm himself, much like Alice's meditations did to her.

While he sat cross-legged on the top of the building, assembling his sniper, he took some occasional glances at where all the action was supposed to start with his binoculars. Most Onyx sniper teams had a spotted and a shooter. This was something like that; Mantis would spot his targets while he shot them.

Mantis and Blackwood were down there as well. Mantis as a civilian, watching the SDC man step to the podium. Blackwood blending in with the security detail, looking just like any Atlas soldier. He wasn't as tall or muscled as the fully armoured soldiers, but he didn't get any attention either.

Apart from them, there were other people walking around too. But there wasn't so much to shoot. Well, not much that actually needed to be shot, anyway. Among some other people he would get to later, he could see Weiss Schnee stepping out an armored car and awkwardly looking around. She looked pretty; her skin was pale and her eyes were a bit dull, but her face was charming. He wasn't fond of her hair though; girls were prettier with longer hair.

If the White Fang wanted her dead, all they had to do was send one guy with a large gun up one of these roofs. He could blow her head off with one shot, so they could too.

Strange. All this fuss about one girl. Her life in their hands. What was one life worth if all that was necessary to take it was a simple pull of the trigger? One single shot?

Greystone smirked and pulled the trigger. A terrorist sniper who had hidden himself at the top floor of one of the large buildings suddenly found himself with a new hole in his head, moments before he slumped over and fell.

The shot of his sniper echoed weirdly over the town square. The SDC man had been interrupted before he could have even started and already were people panicking, running around and screaming. The hidden White Fang members who had been watching all reached for their concealed weapons and Blackwood was the first to engage.

Moments later, Mantis started engaging the White Fang radicals as well. She was armed with nothing more than her knife, but she didn't need more than that. It was satisfying to see how much she had learned from the martial arts lessons, even though it wasn't her favorite subject. The probably-adult Faunus didn't stand a chance against her; she "danced" past their attacks, weaved through their ranks and dealt death blows without stopping.

Unfortunately, the Atlas military –or PMC's, whoever they were- didn't see the civilian fighting with the enemy as an ally. Instead, they saw her as the enemy, and opened fire on her as well as on the White Fang members.

Greystone sighed and shifted his aim. He shot two of the Faunus in the heads, before sending a few rounds through the legs of the security forces who had been about to shoot at Mantis. He could see father, being pushed to safety by his delegation. His daughter, the Heiress, frozen with fear when the violence had started. In the chaos and the fray, one of the Faunus managed to pull off a few shots with his rifle right before Mantis slit a knife through his neck.

Blackwood stepped in front of the little Schnee and took the brunt of the attack, before retaliating with one of the rifles he had procured when he had taken one of the uniforms.

Greystone was forced to relocate when the door behind him got roughly kicked open, whereupon a fireteam of Atlas soldiers poured onto the roof.

"Drop your weapon!" one shouted, aiming his weapon at the Onyx shooter. "Do it!"

The Operative sighed with frustration and leaped off the roof, hoping that he had finally gotten his knots working. The steel cable attached to his waist went limp for a few seconds before he pushed at the brakes, whereupon he came to a jarring halt.

Peeking over the edge of the rooftop, the officers spotted him and opened fire. Greystone could have returned fire and killed them all, but something made him stay his hand. Instead, he pushed himself off of the side of the building and shot the glass panels in his way, making his way into one of the larger hotel-rooms.

It was filled to the brim with civilians, wearing all sorts of bright clothes and pieces of jewelry. All of them started shouting and talking, filling the room with their incomprehensible banter and babbling. It was an assault on Will's senses, more than he could take at that moment. He screamed at them to shut their stupid faces, fired his sniper into the ceiling to get them to shut up. He despised them. The masses, the people who knew nothing and went through their lives both blind as deaf.

They only moved when more Atlas troopers burst into the room, shouting at them as well. Why did they obey them, and not him? Why couldn't they just see that he was trying to do his duty here? That he was trying to help?

He resisted shooting the civilians and instead focused on the Atlas soldiers.

Their mission turned into a success. Weiss Schnee was alive, the SDC man was alive and the White Fang cell had perished. Four Atlas soldiers had lost their lives, six more had been wounded and the city-block had been fenced off to search for more terrorists.

When questioned about the deaths of good men and women who had been doing their duties, Greystone and Blackwood gave their reply as they had been taught.

"They were interfering with the mission sir," Blackwood said. "If we hadn't removed them, the mission might have failed."

That was enough for the General questioning them. They were allowed to have warm supper before they had to move to another night session of "hide and hunt".

Time went by fast when every second of it was spent training and fighting. Wars popped up all around the world, no matter how much peace there was supposed to be. Only half of it was actually fighting Grimm; the other half was ending the lives of dangerous humans. Warlords, terrorists, criminals and rebels, it didn't matter who rose up to cause death and destruction, there was always another one to pick up where others had stopped.

Greystone never learnt why. He never understood how. He completed objectives, killed dangerous people and saved innocent ones. But he never thought about the lives he took, about the things that had gone wrong. He never received any responsibilities except for taking care of his own body, which he often neglected.

They didn't always win. They lost sometimes, too. Things went especially wrong with the assignment against Professor Cassandra Tyrian, the professor who had stolen various important dossiers before fleeing to Vacuo. They had been sent to apprehend her, burn whatever research she was working on and destroy the lab she was working in. In that specific order.

Of course they had found her; their tracking skills were sublime and nobody escaped Onyx's eyes for long. The only problem was that the woman wasn't just an ordinary researcher; in her past, she had been a Huntress, and an awfully good one at that. She had escaped from the three Operatives sent to get her, but she had been unable to take most of her research with her. As a result, they had burned all her papers, dossiers and test tubes and left her lab a smoking crater in the ground.

She had not been amused about that. There had been ambushes, attacks and private military contractors and eventually, Thyrian's payback. Blackwood had escaped her, but she had managed to capture both Greystone as Mantis.

Greystone had never broken. Not quite. Not mentally, at least. It was the same as the instructors who had thrown him down a flight of stairs a few years ago, claiming he had tripped. Only this wasn't a flight of stairs, but a crowbar. And it wasn't a few handlers, it was a Huntress with a large amount of spite and vengeance to work out.

He didn't know what she had done to Mantis. He had only suffered a cracked rib, minor internal bleeding and lots of bruises and cuts. Concussions, maybe. Whatever she had done to Mantis had left the Operative without visible scars, but it had also changed her. She didn't want people to touch her anymore and she grew more…stoic. Disillusioned with life, no longer cracking jokes and worst of all, no more signs of affection.

Blackwood had retrieved her, but he hadn't really saved her. At least now Mantis was fully ready to embrace her role in the protection of mankind –before she had been reluctant about taking lives and killing people.

She also had a burning hatred and need for revenge, which scared Greystone somewhat. Her changes scared him.

Something beautiful had been irreversibly lost.

Life didn't change for the better after that. They trained and perfected their abilities, Mantis achieved her Semblance through her sessions of Zen meditation and the Grimm started massing in the North. Remnant was no longer the safe paradise that it had once been; since Cassandra had managed to abduct two of them through a week-long campaign of ambushes and attacks, they no longer saw things like beauty and joy. Every tall building that had once been gaped upon with wonder and awe became a monument of fear and apprehension, as the enemy was everywhere.

It was only when he was called to the same room he had been taken eight years ago that that changed. That everything changed. It was the same camp, with the same shower-block and the same playgrounds. Only there was a new building now; large and C-shaped, with dozens of armed guards and strange vehicles. They were tube-shaped, with domed glass. Like they could carry a person. Medical advancements to heal critically-wounded individuals? Carrying the dead?

"Welcome Greystone. If you would proceed to the medical room please?"

The Operative looked at the doctor with suspicion. He had spotted the man before, but he had just seemed irrelevant. Now that he spoke to him, he had to deal with that too. "Who are you?"

"I'm Professor Jet. I'll be helping you today."

Professor then. Helping him with what? Of all the people who were staring at him, he was the least interested in the Professor. But he had been called here, so he would keep going. "What's going on?"

"Today, you are going to meet someone very special," a female voice said. Greystone turned around and looked at Doctor Greene, one of the only women he feared. When he thought of Greene, he wanted to hide in a corner with a loaded handgun. He wasn't too sure why.

Greystone saluted. "Special, ma'am?"

"Oh yes. If you would follow me?"

Professor Greene was equally important as General Eventide, and that man was the commander of Onyx's forces. He could get away with lots of things, but he wasn't going to risk ignoring an order from Greene.

So he followed her. He followed her inside the C-shaped building and past at least five security checkpoints. This place looked like a bunker, only with strange medical compartments and rooms. Was he about to meet the Themeluesi? This place seemed like it would withstand bombing runs for days at an end, which was something that Onyx's shadowy founder might need in a pinch.

The bunker gave off some bad vibes. People were walking behind them, armed to the teeth and heavily armoured. He doubted he could beat them with just close combat if it came to a fight.

Professor Greene led him to a large chamber all the way at the back. There were no fewer than three security checkpoints oriented towards a single surgery bed in the middle of the area, all of them covered at the front with thick bullet-proof glass .Three armed soldiers with helmets stood at each of those checkpoints. Did they expect trouble?

Was he the trouble they expected? Had he done something wrong?

"Welcome," Greene said, "to the beginning of our newest operation. We call it"wallstorm".

Silly name. "How can I be of assistance, ma'am?"

"As you are most certainly aware, mankind is not doing good in the war against the Grimm. In fact, they are failing."

He nodded. There had been news about the war-effort south of Vacuo, where stranger forms of Grimm had arrived. Hunters were dying, armies were failing and the Atlas military was being pushed back. His sister would be among the fighters, still alive and kicking. He always thought about how she would fight whenever he was in trouble; it helped him stay focused.

"If we are to preserve mankind, we must take direct steps. Sacrifices are required for victory."

Not answering her, Greystone looked around. Something was wrong. He could feel it like an tingle at the base of his spine. Whispers in the air. Was someone talking to him?

Nobody behind him. Who was whispering? "If you say so, ma'am."

She looked at him with a hint of disappointment. Or bitterness. Maybe just annoyance; he didn't know. "Operative Greystone, I am going to ask you to give us a part of yourself. To make a sacrifice for the future of our race."

He straightened his back. "I am ready, ma'am." He thought of Jasmine and Mantis and Blackwood. Of the vague memories that had once been family. Of the innocent people, whose blood had been spilled too many times by the wicked. The evil in the world. To fix that, tools were needed. Them. Soldiers, Operatives, Agents.

Greene smiled. "I am glad to hear that. If you would please seat yourself on that bed, we can start the procedure."

Greystone did as she said. "What will happen?"

"We are going to give you the tools you need to survive in this world. We cannot continue to teach you. We cannot continue to instruct you. If you are to work as we want to, you will need to change."

"I don't think I follow, ma'am."

"I didn't expect you to. Don't worry; leave that to us."

He nodded again. He had to trust them.

The Operative lay down on the table and two scientists strapped his arms down. The preparations were…odd. Shimmering cables, needles and scalpels, a strange tube that was more than a foot wide.

A sedative was given to him and soon, his eyelids started to feel heavy and obstructive. Light burned his eyes and his limbs started to feel strange.

Things went blurry. Dark. Mumbling. Voices, vague and indistinct.

Felt something at his neck. Tingling. Pleasant.

Darkness. More whispers. Blackness became white, light entered his vision. Bright. Unbearable. Emotions not his edged into his mind, filled his being. Confused him. Frightened him.

And then the screaming started. Piercing, animalistic screaming, striking at the core of his being. Hitting something primal. The plains of his mind shattered to pieces. A part of himself, lost. Rage, hatred, pain, grief, sorrow and above all, the animalistic malice. It consumed him. Made him a part of it. Enveloped hi consciousness and subjugated it.

The screams came out of his own body as well. His arms hurt. His head felt like it would explode. It was too much. He'd go insane. Lose himself.

His throat became sore, his arms bleeding. His vision blurred, darkened and brightened all at once.

Didn't stop. Never stopped. Time simply passed, the raging inferno of raw feelings ravaging his mind. His mind. That lost its meaning. Parts of himself lost meaning. His identity fell apart. Memories, an influx of terrible fear and pain, alien to him, settled within him.

His sense of self disappeared. All that was left was the swirling pool of intertwined feelings, memories and above all, the screaming. The never-ending screaming. It was his.

It wasn't his.

There wasn't him.

Outside, hands grabbed, more screaming joined the first and weapons were discharged. A face, with bright eyes and golden hair enveloping it.

A sharp pain in the neck. More blackness.

Blackness took over and made it all go away.

In the days that followed, it never ceased. She never ceased. Will learned of her gender when he had managed to recollect enough of his sense of self to recognize sounds. The screaming, groaning and shrieking was feminine. Vaguely so, but still enough to notice. Time became a concept, doomed to fail. The sun set and rose with irregular timing. He stumbled his way throughout the camp, avoiding everyone with a feeling of terror that he could not comprehend, let alone push away.

He took a wavering breath and nearly threw up. He didn't know where he was, or what had happened, but there was a…a thing inside of his head. A presence, a consciousness. Apart from him. An invading entity. It drove him to desperation; he couldn't walk properly, he couldn't think properly. Being on the constant move was the only way to stay sane, if only for a small period of time.

"What do you want!" he screamed at her. He couldn't distance himself from the entity that had stolen his mind. He couldn't pull away from the convoluted mess that was its consciousness. He was trapped in a living nightmare.

There was no reply. No reprieve.


Present day -18:12- established battleground between Greystone and target.

Ruby stood on the grass plains with Crescent Rose unfolded, working hard to keep her face calm. Her team stood by her side, silent and unwavering. Blake with Gambol Shroud, Weiss with Myrtenaster and Yang with the Ember Celica's. At least they had restocked on Dust and ammo, because there was no way this would end well if they ran out.

Beacon had been…especially considerate. State-of-the-art dropship, enough Dust and ammo to supply a small army and medical supplies to spare. Two other Dropships were circling around the area, keeping the area under tight surveillance. They had already reported movement. Every path led this way, and not just figuratively.

If the people were to be believed, the facility at their back would either contain General James Ironwood during a secret meeting, or otherwise important materials or people that Will would target.

That he would target…Ruby still couldn't grasp why this had to happen. Why things couldn't remain the same. She didn't want to fight a friend…but she knew that she would have to, to preserve the peace. Sacrifice her own feelings for others.

So this was what Onyx did.

They didn't talk. What was there to talk about? Their decision had been made. This fight was going to take place. Nothing could change that

Ruby knew that her teammates wouldn't hold back. Weiss would fight to protect them all, no holds barred. Blake could distance herself from those she needed to fight, making it easier on her to face off against people whom had been her allies once –like the White Fang troopers. Yang…Ruby honestly didn't know what Yang would do. She was just as likely to fall apart as she was to try to break his legs. She did know that she wouldn't get him back if she didn't go all out though…Will had held back in the past. One-on-one, he could best every single one of them. He and Yang had talked about it as well; how Yang's fighting style could get her killed if she were to fight someone trained like him or Blackwood.

They would find out today.

They had made a small camp just a few dozen meters back, where a single mountain rose from amidst the trees. It was a peculiar spot to place a building, but it made sense. Enough plains to set ambushes and traps, trees for cover and the base of the mountain for cover. It was no wonder that Ironwood was here. And it was no wonder that Will was taking this slowly; they hadn't had any contact for at least two hours.

But he would come. The ships had confirmed his presence, though Ruby did not know how. There were so many things she didn't know. One thing she did know; she was going to have some serious talks once this was over, Ozpin being the first on top of that list.

There was a reason that CFVY had failed. It was fairly simple, even though their injuries didn't indicate simple. They weren't ream RWBY. Now that didn't mean that RWBY was so good; it just meant that he was so good. But no matter how good he was, he would be holding back here. And that was why he would lose.

Eventually, Ruby gave in to the silence. Not hearing anything proved to be more frustrating than she could handle and she soon asked Blake, "do you see anything?"

She imagined that she would be saying that a lot today.

Blake shook her head. "No."

"Do you…think you will be seeing him?"

"I don't know."

"Right." Should she be saying something? Was she supposed to keep morale high as the teamleader?

She didn't know what to say. Maybe it was better that way.

The sun slowly moved down towards the horizon, casting long and pointy shadows over the land. It reminded Ruby somewhat of the Grimm, which didn't really help things. After all…and she really hated herself for having those sorts of thoughts…Will reminded her of a creature of Grimm somewhat. At his most honest and emotional moments, he clearly showed an uncanny hatred for everyone around him, human or not. If there wasn't anyone to hold him back, he would commit large-scale murder simply because people might be threats, future or otherwise.

As much as Ruby wanted to feel that she could understand who he was, there were times where she had to face the fact that he could never fit into this world as it was now. The complete lack of mutual understanding made that impossible.

As alien to the people as the Grimm. Did humans look like Grimm to him? Not in appearance, but in soul? Strange creatures he couldn't understand?

Ruby shook her head. Thinking up silly thoughts wouldn't get her anywhere. This moment, here and now, she had to be focused for her team.

And it was a good thing that she did, because at the same moment she managed to free herself of the dark thoughts creeping up on her, Blake straightened her back and raised her head.

"He's here," she quietly said.

Nodding, Ruby prepared Crescent Rose and, after a brief moment of hesitation, aimed its sniper form at the tree-line. She didn't see anything, but they had been fooled before. She would trust Blake.

Weiss clicked the revolver of her rapier and let it rest on its red contents. Yang cocked her gauntlets once –a gesture that she performed purely because it was familiar to her- and their ranged weapons were pointed at the direction from which a dark figure had appeared, standing in-between two trees. They could see him, so he could see them.

Would he approach them? Talk to them? Immediately open fire?

Ruby could feel her pulse quicken. Decisions in combat were made on the fly, in split seconds. Each moment she didn't know what to do would be a moment where one of them could get hurt. One advantage, she thought. We have Aura. He doesn't.

This time, it wasn't a surprise. She knew why –and while she couldn't possibly understand- she still knew.

"That's him alright," Weiss said. "What now? Do we shoot or talk?"

"Both. But not at the same time."

He calmly approached them, seemingly unarmed. His pale face wasn't covered up for a change and neither did he wear his black suit. He was still clad in black though, as if he had the same thing for dark clothes that Blake had. A dark coat that seemed to flutter in the wind somewhat…and an orange scarf tied around his right arm.

That was one of Yang's. As if this wasn't hard enough.

Ruby didn't want to shout from this distance, but she wasn't stupid either. She wouldn't allow him to get close when his state of mind like this; troubled and confused.

He stopped when he was half a dozen meters away from them. His expression, while normally stoic and controlled, seemed to have lapsed somewhat. He looked tired…and sad. Which was new.

Yang took a step towards him, her arms extended as if she wanted to take him in an embrace. A gesture to demonstrate that she was willing to forget and forgive. Or, as Yang normally put it, kiss and make up. "Come on Will," she loudly said, "don't be stupid. Doesn't suit you. We're going home."

He shook his head, but didn't reply. Not vocally.

So Yang lowered her arms. Her expression grew tenser and she clenched her fists. "You can't continue like this and you know it."

"Punish me later," he said, his voice low and strangely emotional. I need to do this. Now. "

"I'm not going to punish you!" Yang said, looking stricken by his choice of words. "I-

"Weiss!" Ruby snapped as soon as Will burst into movement. The Heiress did not hesitate a second and coated the area with ice, turning the ground that the Operative was standing on into one giant prison.

The movement for his part consisted of him pushing his jacket open and detonating what looked like several small explosives. He hadn't allowed Yang to finish talking and the small moment of initiative that Ruby had wanted to take for herself seemed to have blown by. Now it was time for action.

Large clouds of smoke appeared where he had let the bombs go off, completely hiding him and making it impossible to see if Weiss got it.

"Did I get him?" she asked, more towards Ruby than Blake, even though the latter could determine that more accurately.

Still, Ruby was the one who answered. "No. Stay alert!"

The smokescreen that Will had created was large enough to consume half the battlefield. He must have used several of the grenades at once. The team took a few steps backwards, but stayed vigilant. Ruby knew what would come and she was ready for it.

True enough, he burst from the screen and engaged the one who stood the closest to him. Or perhaps he simply sought her out first, because he would be able to use his energy to deal the most non-lethal damage before moving to more simpler –and brutal- means.

Yang intercepted Will before he could properly leave his improvised cover. Ruby didn't see what happened, but she heard the steady "thumps" of her shotgun gauntlets emptying their clips and Blake's pistol going off.

Weiss and Ruby repositioned, finding a spot from where they had a better view on things. Ruby could see Yang Will trading blows in an odd manner; Yang did what she normally did, overwhelming her foe with a rapid series of full-power punches and jabs, occasionally switching to using her legs. Blake was fighting a few meters away from them, supporting her partner by placing shots at crucial moments and using the elastic cord on her weapon to attack from range.

Only it didn't work. Will wasn't dodging per se, as he was still forcing Yang back. He didn't touch her, didn't block or counter, he just weaved past her attacks as if he knew what she was going to do. As if he wasn't concerned with her movements, only with his.

Yang spun around and kicked at his face, but he dove underneath her blow and pushed against her stomach. Somehow, it unbalanced Yang enough that she stumbled backwards and he managed to slip past her.

Blake was there to stop him, fortunately. Weiss and Ruby had moved to good positions with superior lines of sight, but the fighting was taking place too close to their friends to risk ranged attacks.

And they had another problem. It was a bit obvious; Blake wasn't Yang. While never resorting to opening fire with his weapons, Will still drastically altered his fighting style. Nothing too serious, just the fact that he pulled out what looked like a sword.

It wasn't a real sword, much or Ruby's relief. It was just a broad machete on a stick made out of synthetic material.

Which she supposed was a sword by any other name. Stylishly tinted in Onyx's black tints, of course.

Great.

Blake and him clashed before Yang understood what had happened. Swords clashed in mid-air with the sharp noise of metal striking metal and Blake's flickering after-images faded away as Will cut them down, moving faster than the Faunus could create them. He spun around, blocked several of Yang's ranged projectiles with the blade of his machete and dodged a series of slashes that were aimed at his legs.

His proficiency with the weapon was…odd. On one hand, he was exceptionally fast –maybe faster than Blake- but he lacked finesse. His movements were jerky and even stiff, lacking in technique and accuracy.

He blocked another series of sword-attacks before jumping aside and throwing Weiss' aim off, as she had just been about to launch another one of her glyphs to trap him.

"Damnit," Weiss cursed before readjusting her aim. Too late though; Yang clashed with Will again and this time, she was serious. She was riled up badly; flames enveloped her body and scorched the ground underneath her feet, leaving the foliage underneath her feet blackened and burned.

The Operative ducked low and dodged the first blow, but the second and third one came a lot closer to hitting him. By the time Yang attempted to land a fourth blow, he could no longer dance around her and hope that he would stay safe. He didn't use the machete-sword-stick against her though, which confirmed Ruby's suspicions that he didn't want to hurt Yang.

Noticing how her attacks didn't hit anything, Yang went on the offensive with heavier attacks. Will couldn't block them and he knew it; instead of going toe-to-toe with her, he spun around her and placed a hand in her neck. Yang's momentum kept her going and he spun her around, throwing her to the ground over his hip.

Seconds later, both Weiss as Blake were on him. Machete-sword-thing clashed with sword and rapier, black hair and white hair wavered in the wind and weapons discharged.

Ruby had seen Will in action before, during their first skirmish and later, during his fight with Mercury. But she had never actually seen him fight. Never seen how he was when he went all out and threw everything he had in action. She wasn't even sure if he was doing that right now, because he want fighting to kill them, but this had to be getting very close. He fast –maybe not as fast as Alice was, but Blake and Weiss together couldn't keep up. Even though his skill with his weapon was nothing compared to how the students at Beacon worked with theirs, he was still forcing Weiss and Blake back.

Twelve years of training and action in manners that she didn't even want to think about. That was what they were up against; someone who had the training and skillset of a Hunter. They would either have to work together and grievously harm him enough that he couldn't move anymore, or bet on his increasingly-unstable movements to cause him to make a mistake.

Ruby steeled her heart and jumped into the fray. She brought her scythe to bear and swung it sideways, increasing its velocity many times by firing off a few rounds with the built-in sniper. Will managed to dodge the first strike, but the second and third were probably too erratic for him to predict. He disengaged and took several large steps backwards, raising his weapon with one hand.

They continued to clash together, students and Operative. Will was too fast for them to beat in simple combat; all they could do was pin him down long enough for someone to deal a heavy blow.

Ruby found out how to deal such a blow. She nodded at Yang, who leaped at Will and drove him back towards a location where Weiss would place down one of her Glyph, allowing Blake to have a chance at distracting him long enough.

Too late did Will saw her coming. Ruby shouted and pulled the trigger at the same time, using the recoil to boost the power of her strike. The massive blade of her scythe impacted on the black weapon, its monstrous momentum carrying it through and smashing through Will's attempt to guard himself. His blade shattered into several pieces and the remaining energy of the attack sent him tumbling over the ground.

The scythe buried itself into the ground and Ruby watched her friend jump to his feet before he could even roll to a stop. He held the ruined remains of his blade in his hand and wiped a few patches of dirt from his clothes.

Fine, Ruby thought. She didn't want to hurt him, but he didn't give her a choice.

"Don't get close," Yang snapped, stopping left of Ruby and glaring at the lone soldier. Then, when Weiss and Blake stopped at their right flank, she went on the offensive again. Blake joined her and together, the two partners charged towards their now disarmed foe. Weiss and Ruby jumped to the sides and laid down a thunderous fire, pocketing the ground that Will was standing on with high-caliber bullets and fields of ice.

The wind picked up and blew past the trees, flattening the grass field. Greystone was still faster though; while the bullets tore large holes into the ground underneath his feet, he picked the right moment to leap away before Weiss's ice impacted. The field exploded into a spikes made out of ice, none of which harmed the airborne soldier.

Yang and Blake were on him the moment the soldier landed and slipped on the ice; fire exploded and gunshots rang out and another close-quarters fight was joined. Ruby could see that this time, they had Will on the defensive. He was forced to back up considerably while the two partners wailed on him, alternating their attacks as to keep a relentless series of punches, slashes and shots aimed at him.

Will backed against a glass spire and ducked a split-second before Yang shattered it into a dozen pieces with a single punch. He whipped out his combat knife and deflected Blake's cleaver, before kicking at Yang's bared midriff and forcing her back. Back and forth, dividing his attention between the two attacking girls without slipping once, because if he did, they would down him with one combined attack.

Blake drew first blood. Ruby couldn't see where she had hit, but droplets of blood impacted on the shattered ice underneath their feet. Will never reacted to injuries unless they were severe enough to threaten his life, so she couldn't judge his response to the injury either.

The next hit was his. He broke through Blake's defenses, landed an open-hand strike on her stomach and knocked her on her back.

Soon after the Faunus hit the ground, Yang landed a hook kick on Will's head. Ruby gasped as she saw the soldier sink to the ground, with her sister showing no signs of stopping. If Yang couldn't control herself-

The Operative scrambled backwards and flicked a piece of ice at Yang's face, throwing her off balance. It bought him the few seconds he needed to roll back to his feet and stagger away, holding his hand to his head.

Yang stopped and said something that Ruby couldn't hear. Weiss and she were rapidly approaching the fight and she could see Blake react with visible shock to what was going on.

Whatever Will's reply was, it seemed to eat away at Yang's motivation. Her stance weakened and she lowered her hands.

Ruby didn't want to see her sister get hurt. No matter how much Will felt for her, right now he wasn't in his most rational state of mind. Things were going to get ugly.

Crescent Rose whirled through the air as Ruby spun her hands around, bringing its blade to bear. Will saw her coming and instantly went on the offensive again, throwing his knife at her right hand-

Weiss intercepted the projectile with Myrtenaster, swatting it out of the air. It didn't do much to deter the approaching soldier, but at least Ruby could stay in the fight now. With no time to thank her girlfriend, she lashed out at Will with a fast series of swinging strikes, twisting her weapon behind her back, over her head and around her entire body to speed up her attacks. He only managed to retrieve his knife before it hit the ground, but that was all he could do before Ruby forced him back. Swords were standard issue, just like shields and spears. Scythes though? Only Qrow fought with those and he was unparalleled. You couldn't defend against attacks you didn't see coming and scythes were almost never trained with. No matter what Onyx had put their Operatives through, scythes were probably not part of the deal.

It showed. His knife was nothing compared to her weapon and, while Weiss and Yang kept him occupied, Ruby landed several blows after each other in quick succession. Will couldn't escape; Yang had cut off his options and Weiss was joining the attack. A combination of scythe and rapier served to break through the Operative's defenses, cutting his clothes and sending him stumbling.

Blake recovered and leaped forwards again, clutching her stomach with her hand. The four members of team RWBY then combined their techniques and attacks, surrounded the lone Operative and formed and interlocking formation. Jumping back and forth to avoid counter-attacks and feints, switching positions to prevent him from predicting their attacks and doing everything they could to keep him utterly pinned down.

Ruby couldn't see if his Semblance was kicking in or not. Finely attuned with her weapon as she was, she started analyzing how this situation could develop before something new showed up. They were keeping their attacks from mutilating or killing him, but at that level of fighting they were also hard-pressed to retain their formations. His healing couldn't work without something regulating it and it couldn't work in the middle of fighting, because it would seal off bacteria and other icky things. However, they didn't have him locked down yet. He could keep this up for hours and she seriously doubted if any member of team RWBY whose name wasn't Yang could do that. Either they finished this now, or he would beat them back and slip through.

Then Weiss slipped up. That or she couldn't keep up with the fast pace of the fight. The attacks from her direction lessened in force and that allowed Will to punch through. The first one he removed from the fight was Yang. She threw a punch at him, but he lowered himself and ducked underneath her arm, pulling it with him. He then pinned her arm over her shoulder against her back and threw her against the ground.

Weiss, seemingly trying to correct her mistake, lunged for him and aimed at his chest with the point of her rapier. He effortlessly stepped out of the way, kicked an attacking Blake in the side and hit Weiss two times, once with an elbow against her neck and once with a normal fist against her chest. She grunted and dropped to the ground.

"Weiss!" Ruby yelled. She jammed the blade of her scythe in the ground and switched to its sniper form, sending a few rounds towards the Operative.

Unfortunately, he was already tangled with Yang. Ruby aborted her attack after the last round nearly hit her sister and sped towards the fallen Heiress, making sure to keep a close eye on the ongoing fight. Blake stood bent over, clutching her side with her hand. Her sword hung loosely in her grip and she leered at Will with her yellow eyes, panting.

Then she gritted her teeth and lunged forwards again, joining her partner once more. Yang couldn't get her hands on the Operative for longer than a second before he reversed the grip, feigned a strike to her face or simply threw her to the ground with some complicated move.

Ruby hauled Weiss to her feet. "Weiss, can you walk? Can you hear me? Weiss!"

The Heiress didn't respond. She was still alive, but…Ruby didn't know what to do. She had thought that Will would hold back against them somewhat, but the only one he truly spared was Yang and that simply frustrated her to no end.

She was distracted by an explosion that went off close-by. She felt waves of overpressure wash over her and she crashed to the ground. She groaned and slowly pushed herself up again. She saw Blake lying on the ground and Yang trying to avenge her. It didn't seem to work; she couldn't hit Will. One hit would be enough to get him out of the fight, but she couldn't. He was bleeding from multiple cuts and gashes on his body and he moved with a serious limp, but he was still moving. He dodged a few blasts of Yang's shotgun gauntlets, closed the distance with a flat sprint and kicked her in the back of her knee, nearly dropping her.

Mistake. Yang reached up and reached for his face. He allowed her to get back up again and Ruby saw that he said something to her sister. She wished she could hear what it was.

Yang shook her head. Ruby could have sworn that she apologized for something. The next second, it became obvious why. She lashed out with her leg and kneed him in his stomach, before punching him hard enough to send him tumbling half a dozen meters across the ragged ice.

Only he had created his own trap as well. Ruby crawled back to her feet a moment before the flashbang went off at Yang's feet.

She knew what would happen. She knew and she wouldn't let it happen. She activated her Semblance and lunged for Will, who was getting ready for one final sprint towards his goal.

Ruby crashed into him before he could get more than two meters away from their fight. They crashed to the ground together and rolled to a messy standstill.

She could hear people shouting her name, but she ignored them. Will dragged himself upright and her with him.

His arms snaked out and grabbed her by her neck. She felt his fingers dig into her skin and his thumb tracing the upper parts of her breast bone. Searching for her throat. She could see his face, pale and tired. Blood from the corner of his mouth. She could see the hesitation in his eyes, the self-loathing. He was going to do it.

"Ruby!"

Something whirled through the air, speeding towards the two of them. She saw the corners of Will's eyes flash towards the source and she reached out, her fingers eagerly searching for something she could use.

They closed around a handle, cold and solid.

Ruby did what her instinct told her to do and attacked. She drove Myrtenaster through his abdomen, all the way up to the hilt. Blood dripped down the handle, staining her hands and her cloak with the colour of flesh blood.

No Aura to protect him.

Ruby gasped and let go of the handle, a terrible feeling rising up in her throat.

Will didn't gasp. His eyes widened and he uttered a soft grunt that sounded more like a growl. More blood sipped from his mouth and the force on his hand weakened.

"I…" she stammered. "I didn't mean to…wait...!"

The Operative slumped against her, pressing his head against her neck and shoulder. His hands moved without coordination, weakly pressing against her throat as if to continue the attack, but there wasn't any power left in them. His strength left his body even as his life's blood did.

This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be true. Not him. "You can heal…" she whispered, nearly begged. His thumb had never left her breast bone, where it had rested without causing harm. Just like in martial art lessons, simulating a chokehold.

Ruby's legs buckled and she fell to the ground. Will with her. His hands found her wrists and he gently pushed them back, away from his wound.

Then he wrapped both of his hands around the protruding hilt and pulled, ripping it free from the wound.

"Wait," Ruby breathed. "Don't-"

Too late. He pulled Myrtenaster out and, with a surprisingly powerful move for someone who was as wounded as he was, broke it across his knee. The once-formidable weapon clattered to the ground in two halves.

"Ruby!" Yang shouted. "Will!"

Three days of war. Barely thirty minutes of fighting. He had once been nearly torn in half by the Tormentor and it hadn't stopped him. This couldn't stop him.

"Wait-"

With one smooth movement, he tore Myrtenaster's broken blade from the ground and pulled Ruby from the ground, pressing the tip against her throat.

Yang stopped in her tracks. "What are you doing?" she asked, annoyed. She didn't believe he would do it.

Will leant more against Ruby than that he was pulling on her. She still couldn't believe what she had done –it was an accident. It had been an accident. She never wanted to do that.

"I'm sorry," he croaked. His voice broke halfway through his sentence. "Soon."

He jammed the tip of the blade in Ruby's shoulder and let her go. Ruby didn't see what happened next; she cried out in pain and fell to the ground, feeling a terrible heat spread from the place where Will had stabbed her.

I'm sorry.

Yang didn't pursue Will as he limped away, broken in everything but his resolve. She cradled Ruby in her arms and called her name, asking her what had happened.

Ruby didn't reply at first. She could see Weiss slowly getting back to her feet, before she approached Blake. Both of them were still capable of walking. "Yang…"

"I'm here."

"We need to stop him. He's going to die without our help."

Yang kissed her on her forehead. "Are you sure? What about you?"

She reached for her wound, only to find that Myrtenaster's shard had already been removed. "I...I'm sure. Just patch me up."

The first time in her life that she had mortally wounded another person and it had been a close friend. Not just that; a friend who had been confused and in need of help. It was an accident, it really was! But she hadn't failed yet. She could still do this. They could still do this.


The ghastly whispers in his mind reached a crescendo; loud enough to drown out the sounds around, deep enough to remove the sense of touching. They were impossible to decipher, yet he could understand them. They called out to him, calling his name, pleading for him. He couldn't ignore them.

Battered and wounded, the sole fragment that was left of the person who had once been Will made its way deeper into the facility. Doors slid open, lockdowns lifted themselves, but the voices never left. They guided it, shaped it. Told it where to go, now that its senses had been removed.

Blood dripped down the halfway, leaving a distinctive path. It paid its injuries no heed; it had been wounded worse before.

The crescendo of voices died down until there was just one voice left, singing its song without limitations. The machine could not fully hold it like a body could; like she could. It limited her, yet increased its potential to harm.

Bodies of dead animals were sporadically scattered across the facility, most of them small and of simple soul. Some human bodies too. Greater souls, snuffed out like a candle.

The entity didn't see where it went; it just moved. Followed the calling voice until it reached the accursed machine; the mockery of a vessel, the year-long torture. The missing year.

She.

It knew what to do. Deep within the shattered, broken-down mind, memories took control over movements. It entered controls, pressed buttons, then smashed the control-panel. Power flickered and died and the rooms were bathed in darkness.

The entity slid down against a wall and smiled. Happiness swelled within its heart. It would soon be reunited.

Seconds later, the familiar animalistic screaming stared. And it consumed all.