Hey guys, Oni here back at you with yet another new chapter. So soon, you ask? Hell yeah so soon, it's a Volume Finale! I can't just leave you guys waiting like that. After all, with Volume 7 having recently come to a close, I really wanna catch up, as I have big plans for the story between now and then. I can't give you guys any specifics, but just note that some things are going to take rather heavy departure from the standard RWBY story. Gotta keep it interesting, right? Anyway, feast your eyes on this, my brand new chapter.

Chapter 25

Breach

As for Team JNPR, they were all asleep in their dorm room. In particular, Jaune was sleeping rather oddly, contorted in a position that just couldn't possibly be comfortable. "Waffles..." he mumbled, apparently having a nice dream about the breakfast food.

His dream was cut short, however, when his phone rang, rousing him from his slumber.

"Hello?" he asked groggily, hearing nothing but a few seconds of static from the other end, looking at the caller ID to see that it was Ruby who was calling him before the call ended.

"Uh, Ruby?" Jaune asked, staring at the call ended screen.

The next day, Team JNPR woke at dawn to head off to their mission, preparing to load onto their Bullhead to head out. Jaune, however, wasn't feeling to up to it, Pyrrha picking this up and moving to comfort him.

"I'm sure they're fine," she said, patting him on the shoulder.

"You think?" Jaune said, Nora wondering aloud.

"Probably a butt dial..." she said, Ren taking this chance to express his feelings.

"Team RWBY has always performed exceptionally in the field," he said. "We should be focusing on our own mission."

"We're gonna be deputies!" Nora cheered.

Jaune, however, simply wasn't having it. "I just got this feeling... I don't know."

"Jaune..." Pyrrha said in worry. Jaune was a very good person, but sadly this led to him caring for the wellbeing of others more than his own. Before she could could try to comfort him, however, the alarms in Vale began sounding, and smoke was made visible from the city.

"We're changing our mission," Jaune said, refusing to take his eyes off of the smoke. "Everyone on board!"

He made a break towards the Bullhead, his team quickly following behind, looking on in mild horror as the smoke got thicker. Jaune quickly turned to make sure everyone was there, mentally checking them off as he boarded.

"Ren, we'll make it to that village another time," Jaune declared. "Take us into the city!"

Ren nodded and the Bullhead took off, Cinder, Mercury, and Emerald watching as it did.

"You don't think..." Emerald asked, Mercury simply shrugging in response.

"Sure looks like it," he said, examining the smoke and screams from the city below.

"That's still days away!" Emerald said.

"So?" Mercury asked. "What do we do?"

The two simply turned to Cinder, who thought for a moment and smiled, her eye glowing a burnt orange as she did.

OOO

Team RWBY took a good look around themselves, each drawing their weapons as they sized up their competition. Slowly surrounding was a horde of many different types of Grimm, from more common types like Ursai and Beowolves, to rarer types like King Taijitu and Creeps, large bipedal Grimm. Each member present backed into a circle such to cover each other's back, locking and loading to make sure nothing would catch them off guard. As always, Link and Ruby stood next to each other, clearly not letting the other get out of their sight.

"Just be ready," Ruby said, everyone nodding in understanding.

"You got it," said Yang.

"Understood," said Weiss.

"Copy that," said Blake.

"Always," said Link.

"None of you said aye..." Ruby said, sighing.

As if on queue, the King Taijitu roared, signaling for the others to attack. A Beowolf quickly closed in on Ruby, though she planted her scythe into the ground, giving her a good platform to spin around on and kick it away, Link chasing it down and executing it. Yang merely used her gauntlets to propel herself upwards in order to combat some of the aerial Grimm in the area, only to be knocked back down when a few Nevermores grounded her. Blake went to work taking out a few Grimm of her own, cutting a few down before shooting a few more. Weiss cut three down at once before summoning a glyph of hers, a large spike of ice jutting forth from it and spearing a a few more. Ruby cut another down, Link at her back before looking around, seeing that despite what they had done, there had hardly been a dent made in their numbers. Behind her, the King Taijitu reared back to attack her, Link more than ready to end its life for this, but before he could Nora came out of nowhere and smashed its head down onto Link, who cut upwards and took its head off.

"Nora Smash!" she shouted as she did so, Jaune, Pyrrha, and Ren following her in.

"Let's move!" Pyrrha shouted, quickly going to work on many Grimm, killing most with one shot. Jaune simply sighed while Nora smashed away a Creep that tried to approach her while Ren killed two more that did the same. Figuring he might as well do something, he hyped himself up and looked around, sword drawn and shield bared.

"Okay, who's first?" he asked, turned around when he heard growling, coming face-to-face with an Ursa Major. He tensed up, as everyone present was busy dealing with battles of their own and couldn't help him if he needed it. Pyrrha only saw out of the corner of her eye after she speared a nearby Beowolf that Jaune was getting into a battle of his own, and she was very quickly met by more Grimm.

"Oh-oh-okay, you're first, huh? Okay, no, that's fine. Totally fine, done this before, done this before..." Jaune said, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, opening them back up and letting loose a war cry that statrled the Ursa, giving him a chance to land a few solid attacks that actually managed to take it down, Pyrrha noticing and smiling, as he was taking her lessons to heart.

Shortly after Jaune had done his part with the Ursa, Sun and Neptune made their way to the scene, each flashing their police badges.

"Nobody move! Junior detectives!" Sun shouted, waving his badge around.

"We have badges so you know it's official!" Neptune added, doing the same.

Engines quickly became heard from overhead, most present looking up to see ships from the Atlesian Military show up overhead, many dropping Atlesian Knights. Even General Ironwood's personal flagship was present, likely to supervise the military's involvement with this breach. Sun and Neptune looked up in awe at the sheer number of ships, Sun even dropping his badge. Team RWBY was looking up in awe as well, an Ursa taking this chance to attack Ruby, though Link merely shot it without taking his eyes off of the drop ships. Incidentally, one of said drop ships opened to reveal the other members of Team VDMR, as well as Noctus.

"Did you miss us?" he asked snarkily as he dropped from the ship, impaling a King Taijitu as he landed, swinging upwards when the other head came around, killing the beast.

Many Knights began gunning down multitudes of Grimm that swarmed the area, and though some were destroyed amid the chaos, they were quickly avenged by other Knights. Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury arrived soon thereafter, Cinder nodding and having her subordinates start taking out Grimm as well, the two doing so rather quickly.

More and more Knights arrived to take more Grimm out, and eventually the most important player in this entire game arrived on the scene; Zwei. Our little hero was quickly joined by his sidekick Bartholomew Oobleck, who was piloting one of the few Paladins that he hadn't completely destroyed.

Right after his arrival though came another set of powerful players. From the airship that showed up exited Professor Port, followed by the members of the second year Team CFVY; Coco Adel, Fox Alistair, Velvet Scarletina, and Yatsuhashi Daichi. Yatsuhashi was the first to act, unsheathing his sword as he was surrounded by Grimm. Rather than take them on one by one, he just slammed his sword into the ground, the resulting shockwave blowing them all away with ease, the resulting impact proving fatal to most of them. Nearby, Fox and Velvet punch and kick away a pair of Grimm, Fox taking it a step further and impaling a Creep. An Ursa roared at them in challenge and charged, Fox meeting it halfway before hitting it with a devastating combo, ending with a single powerful punch that sent the beast flying. As it landed it somehow exploded, likely due to something Fox had done to it, its spines blasting out and impaling many other Grimm, killing them.

"Nice hustle, Fox," Coco said, giving him a reassuring pat on the butt. "Good job."

She continued walking, standing face to face with a large Beowolf, the beast growling at her as she did so.

"You just destroyed my favorite clothing store," she said to it, spitting at the ground. "Prepare to die."

The monster went to claw at her, but Coco merely used her hand bag to swat its hand away, kicking it in its junk, which somehow seemed to greatly affect it despite their lack of... well, 'junk.' She didn't dwell on this though, and just smashed its head into the pavement with her bag. More Beowolves tried their hand to best her, but were swatted away with similar degrees of ease, a Deathstalker trying to spear her with its tail, though she leaned back to dodge it, blowing her hair out of her eyes. Velvet stepped forward and began reaching for her weapon, but Coco saw and stopped her.

"Hey, come on," she said, "you just spent all the semester building that up. Don't waste it here."

Coco instead reached to her own bag, which quickly transformed into a minigun of impressive size, the impossibly sized weapon somehow all fitting within the tiny handbag she was carrying moments before, the barrels spinning to a good RPM to fire before laying waste to any and all Grimm that it hit. Port and Oobleck turned to each other and nodded, heading towards the opening and opening fire into the opening, Glynda having arrived and moving to close the hole. However, right before she could, a hulking Grimm burst forth and looked around, everyone taken aback by its size.

This new arrival was a Titan, a massive, humanoid Grimm with a hunched back and a mask similar to a dragon head, spines running down its back and bone-like plating covering its chest and forearms.

"Uh oh," the three teachers said in unison as it roared at them, the ground shaking as the three were pushed back. Coco aimed her weapon at the beast and opened fire, but her bullets proved ineffective in taking down this beast, the Titan merely turning to her and roaring, grabbing a large section of rubble and chucking it at her, Yatsuhashi being forced to intervene, smashing the rubble to pieces before it could do the same to her.

"I didn't think there were any Titans in Vale!" Velvet shouted.

"There's about to be one less, I can tell you that much!" shouted a new voice.

From around the corner came Link Satane, who drew his sword and hurled it at the beast, the Titan attempting to block it to no avail, his blade going right through its forearm and becoming lodged in its neck, Satane leaping up to it and grabbing the handle, dragging it through the rest of its neck and tearing it off, decapitating it. Its severed head was thrown high into the air, crashing down in the distance with a loud boom, the beast quickly dissolving into black smoke, Glynda quickly sealing the hole in case any more hidden horrors were hidden underground.

"Told ya," Satane said as he shouldered his sword, a simple blade that seemed to have no additional functions.

"That he did," Glynda said to herself, looking at the Huntsman in training before her. "That he did."

OOO

Later on, after Glynda had finished fully repairing the area, everyone gathered as Mercury and Emerald basically dragged Roman towards a military transport.

"Oh, I can't believe that you caught me, you've really taught me the error of my ways," he said sarcastically rolling his eyes as he was passed to a Knight, who grabbed him roughly enough to knock his hat off his head. "He-hey, watch the hat!" he said as he watched Noctus pick it up, who twirled it smugly on his finger as he watched Roman get taken away. "I hate you so much, you know," he said, Noctus' smile getting even more smug.

"Good," he said, narrowing his eyes at the criminal as he was locked away. Turning back towards Teams RWBY, VDMR, JNPR, and CFVY, he looked at the hat and sighed.

"Holy hell he had bad taste, like look at this thing!" he said holding the hat up.

"I heard that, you di- Ah hey, easy with the cuffs!" Roman said as he was cuffed.

"Good!" replied Noctus as he turned back to Roman. They really hated each other, it seemed. "Anyway, you guys did a good job out there. I think I can speak for all of your teachers when I say you did well."

Everyone began smiling at each other, Ruby yawning and throwing her hands up to stretch, as she hadn't really slept for God knows how long.

"I am so ready to head back!" she cheered, Link cracking his neck and agreeing.

"Agreed. My bed sounds so inviting right about now..."

Ruby lowered her arms and looked up, basking in the warmth the golden dusk exuded, knowing she had done a good job that day.

OOO

Back at Beacon, Team RWBY sat overlooking Vale across the lake from the landing platform, Link heading over to join them. Even Zwei was there, and he yapped a happy greeting to the green-clad knight before him, Link smiling and petting him on the head.

"Well, we did it," Yang said, breaking the silence.

"We did it," Blake repeated, just to have that satisfaction run through her again.

"If we don't get extra credit for that, I'm gonna be seriously disappointed," Weiss said, sitting up and crossing her arms.

"Weiss, a two-headed snake literally crushed a bakery," Yang said, laughing. "I wouldn't count on it."

"Plus, I mean, we didn't solve everything," Ruby said. "A lot of people were hurt, and we still don't even know why they did this, or who those mystery people were."

"Well, not every story has a neat and tidy ending," Weiss admitted, as much as she hoped deep down that it was true.

"We might not have all the answers, but we do have a lot of dangerous people behind bars. And I think that's something we could be proud of," Blake said resting her head in her hands, smirking at the thought of Torchwick finally being in jail.

"Yeah!" Ruby said, looking to the bright side. "And if anyone tries something like this again, we'll be there to stop them."

"Oh yeah, you can count on us!" Weiss cheered, Ruby turning to her.

"Oh Weiss, a little birdie told me that you have something you need to tell me..." Ruby said, glaring at Weiss.

"Huh?" the heiress asked in response, blinking. She had no idea what Ruby was talking about.

"Stop having dreams about Link as your knight!" Ruby said, flailing her arms around, Weiss' face going instantly red.

"I-!" she said, not having a proper response at the moment, instead turning to Blake and Yang. "I thought we agreed to never speak of that again!"

"Uh, no," Yang said, "you and Link did. We never agreed to that at all, and come on, it's kinda funny."

Weiss merely cupped her head in her hands to hide her blush and admit defeat, Ruby patting her on the back.

"Ah, don't worry about it," she said as she attempted to sooth her. "I can't blame you. I mean, just look at him. I think we can all agree that he makes quite the knight in shining armor."

"Alrighty then," Link said, patting his thighs, "I think it's time for bed. Let's all agree to never talk about this again, deal?"

Only Weiss and Ruby said 'sure', so Link glared intensely at Yang and Blake. "Deal?" he said again, almost threateningly.

"Deal," both of them said almost instantly. Link was cool and all, but he could be scary when he was angry.

"Good," Link said as he stood, helping Ruby up as well. "I'm serious though, I could very well sleep for a month right now, today was quite the day..."

"Please," Yang said as she stood. "I've been needing some good rest."

"Absolutely," Blake said, doing the same, Weiss, too, agreeing and rising.

"I'm going to sleep forever," Yang said as she stretched out her arms.

Zwei merely yapped in glee as he followed them all back to the dorm, tail wagging as he bounced behind them.

OOO

Things weren't going as smoothly for Headmaster Ozpin, unfortunately. He had just been called by the Governing Council of Vale, and that typically wasn't a good thing. At the exact moment, however, he was staring out his window at something in the distance, but the Council was not fond of this.

"Ozpin?" called one member of the Council, yet received no response. "Ozpin!"

This finally prompted Ozpin to turn his chair toward his desk, facing the communication screen that was being displayed.

"Yes, Councilman," he said in somber greeting, looking more closely at the screen. In the corner was an additionally link, that being for General Ironwood.

"You've left us no choice!" the Councilman said in apparent displeasure. "The Vytal Festival tournament cannot be broadcast, let alone held, if we are unable to ensure the safety of the citizens."

Ozpin listened intently, but merely sipped from his cup.

"Ahem..." he said, making sure he was keeping Ozpin's attention. "Therefore, we have reached out to the Atlas Council and together have decided that the best action is to appoint General Ironwood as head of security for the event."

"Thank you, Councilman," Ironwood said over the screen. "Our Kingdom is happy to lend as many troops as it takes to ensure that the event runs smoothly and safely as possible."

"And we thank you, General," the Councilman said, Ironwood offering a small bow of respect.

"Will that be all?" Ozpin asked.

"For now," the Councilman said, looking at a few documents in his hands. "But after this festival comes to a close, we are going to have a serious discussion about your position at Beacon Academy. General Ironwood's reports over the last few weeks have left us somewhat... concerned. I am sure you understand."

The Councilman's feed cut out shortly thereafter, leaving Ozpin and Ironwood to stare at each other for a moment, Ironwood being the first to muster up the courage to speak.

"This is the right move, Ozpin. I promise, I will keep our people safe, you have to trust me," he said, hanging up after he finished.

Ozpin then turned back to his window, sighing as he looked upon the large Atlesian airship still in his airspace.

From within the very same airship, Ironwood glared back at Beacon Tower, more specifically at Ozpin's office, shaking his head.

"You brought this on yourself," he said in disappointment as he turned away from the bridge, back into the holding cells within the hull, though to be more specific he made his way to Roman's cell, a pair of guards standing in front.

"Leave us," Ironwood said, the guards complying as Ironwood glared at Roman, who was still missing his hat. Noctus, you cheeky Huntsman you. "I've been informed that so far you've refused to co-operate with the authorities."

"I know this might be hard to believe, General, but uh..." Roman said, leaning forward in his cell. "I'm not the biggest fan of local law enforcement."

"How about the world's strongest military power?" Ironwood said, placing his hands behind his back, Roman looking around, critically examining his surroundings.

"Hmm..." he said in thought, apparently considering his next words wisely, "first impressions... not great," he said, proving me wrong.

"I'm going to give you one chance," Ironwood said as he help up a finger to prove his point. "Who's really behind all this?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Roman said, visibly confused. Thinking he had broken him, Ironwood leaned forward to hear his answer, Roman smirking and saying, "You're looking at him."

"Hm.. Very well then," Ironwood said in response, walking away.

"What's the matter, General?" Roman said in jest. "I thought you wanted to talk."

"The council's given me custody over you for as long as I see fit," Ironwood explained as he continued to walk away, "So you can make yourself comfortable. I can be sure that you'll have plenty of time to talk."

"Oh, wonderful. Hehehe..." Roman laughed, leaning back in his cell, placing his arms behind his head and getting comfortable. He'd dealt with prison cells enough to know how to do it. He then continued to laugh as his cell closed, sealing him away.

OOO

Later that very same evening, Cinder, Emerald, Mercury, and Noctus met secretly on a rooftop. Cinder kicking off their meeting.

"All in all, I call today a success," she said, looking into the distance.

"Those stupid kids really made a mess of things..." Emerald said, not proud of what had occurred. Things went way out of order, far too much for her liking.

"Yeah. A lot of Faunus didn't make it out the tunnels," Mercury said in agreement.

"It's a shame, too," Noctus said, crossing his arms. "There were some good people down there too. You still think the White Fang's gonna listen to you?"

"No, but they'll listen to me," said a new voice from behind them, the group turning to look.

Approaching them was a man who seemed familiar, but not to Noctus. This man was Adam Taurus, the leader of the Vale branch of the White Fang.

OOO

Later on that night, Satane returned to the warehouse he was created in, angrily kicking in the door.

"Alright," he said, clearly upset, "why can't I use my own damn weapons? They were made specifically for me, right? Then let me use them, damn it!"

"Um, Mister Black Heart, Sir," said one scientist, being extremely careful not to upset him, as he killed the first scientist he met simply because he had met him, "you used your standard weapons during Cinder's infiltration, and we can't risk you being found out due to you using the same weapons."

"Oh, so you give me this crap?" he replied, drawing the sword he had been given to act as a replacement for the time being. Even his rifle and gauntlets had been replaced for now, and he clearly didn't like this. "I literally never asked for this, and yet here it is!"

Before the scientist could try once more to calm him, Satane kicked him in the chest throwing his into the shadows. From within the very same shadows he heard an unamused grunt, followed by the same scientist being thrown out of the shadows, a pair of angry golden eyes glaring at him from within.

"You will continue to use the weapons I have given you until I say you can use your original ones, understand?" said the figure from within the shadows, who based on our previous knowledge seemed to be the man known only as D.

"Um, no, gimme back my equipment," Satane said, crossing his arms.

"Would you care to repeat yourself?" D said, his eyes narrowing, evidently displeased.

"Gimme. Back. My. Stuff," Satane said, annoyed.

D did not like that.

The lights flickered for a moment as heavy steps were heard approaching him, eventually just going out and putting the warehouse in utter darkness, only the faint glow of the two's eyes still visible. D eventually made his way to Satane, looking down at his creation for a moment before grabbing him by the throat, lifting him off the ground and nearly crushing his windpipe with what seemed like minimal effort.

"Not only do you exist based solely on my own actions, but your continued existence is a result of my charity," he said, glaring at Satane as he struggled fruitlessly in his grip for air. "Pray I do not retract my previous niceties."

With that, he dropped Satane back on the floor, returning to his place in the depths of the building, the lights returning to life. Satane was still struggling to regain his breath, and reached up to his now heavily bruised neck in pain, wincing as he touched it. D's strength was otherworldly, to say the least.

"Fine," Satane said, still taking a few deep breaths to stabilize himself. "But I'm not gonna like it."

"Your desires are not my concern," D said, Satane unable to tell where he was. "All I care for is your ability to perform. If you begin to disappoint me, you will be exterminated and replaced, and I will do it myself. Thus, I think we can at the very least agree that it is within your best interests not to fail me."

"Yeah, got it," Satane said begrudgingly, still rubbing his neck in pain.

END OF VOLUME 2

So yep, there we go, not only another chapter done, but another whole Volume! Yeah, I'm really trying to make up for my lost time here. And don't worry Mr. Prime, I made sure to give you some more cute Weiss. To be completely honest though, there are a few main reasons I want to try and catch up, and one of them is coming up rather quickly in Volume 3. I'd say more, but I don't want to spoil anything. All I hope is that when the time comes, you guys are as excited for it as I am! Now, I was gonna post this chapter earlier, but I wanted to add something... extra.

ViftV Chibi!

Bonus Chapter 2

A Day in the Life of Oni Strife.

"Do I... Do I really have to do this?"

Gradivus was currently recording Oni on his scroll, a few others present to get different angles. Oni himself sat at his desk in his study, a rather massive room.

"Yes, Sir," Gradivus replied. "What better way to prove to the people that you're on their side than with a transparent campaign? It's bound to get people to trust you!"

"Gradivus, this idea is completely idiotic," Oni said, resting his head in his hand. "Not only is the entire point of infiltration to go unnoticed, but I genuinely do not want to do this. This cannot be what you wanted the rest of GOLD here for..."

"No, Sir, but I figured they could help!" Gradivus cheered, giving Oni a thumbs up.

"Ugh, fine, just... get this over with. I have things to do," Oni said, rubbing his eyes.

"Alright sweet, let's get going!" Gradivus said cheerfully. "3...2...1...Action! What's up world, I'm Gradivus for CCT Cribs, and today we've got an extra special treat for you, we've come all the way to a secluded sector of Vale to show off the glorious compound of none other than Helix King Oni!"

"Shut up, Gradivus," Oni said. "You will not refer to me by that name on camera."

"Ok, ok, sorry," Gradivus said. "I mean, special guest Oni Strife!"

"Better," Oni said, standing, placing his arms behind his back. Gradivus didn't anticipate this and didn't pan the camera up right, focussing only on his lower torso for a moment before panning up and smiling meekly.

"So, tell us a little bit about yourself, Mr. Strife!"

"My name is Oni Strife. I am a Huntsman. My goals are classified, as is my operational history."

"Sir, we can't use that," Gradivus said, covering the camera. "You sound too spooky."

"Then what do you want me to say?" Oni asked, glaring at Gradivus.

"I don't know, maybe tell us about some hobbies?"

"Ugh... Very well," Oni said, pacing around the room. "I have taken a liking to collecting antique weapons, restoring many of them myself."

"Ohhh, see? That's a neat fact!" Gradivus said, giving him a thumbs up which Oni ignored. "So, got any family? Wife, kids, siblings?"

"I had a sister who was killed in a Grimm attack. She left behind a son who I raised for a few years, eventually sending him off to Signal Academy."

"Ohhh, sweet, we've got a family man! Say, as for your hobby of collecting weapons, are a few of them stored in this locker?" he asked, pointing to a large, ornate locker.

"Yes," Oni said.

"Then let's take a look at another part of your fine collection then," Gradivus said, reaching for the locker, Oni slapping his hand away.

"You will do no such thing," Oni commanded. "You're a very poor host, Gradivus," he declared, glaring into the camera.

"Jeez, Sir, you don't have to be so mean," Gradivus said, covering the camera with his free hand.

"You don't have to be so stupid, yet here we are," Oni said as he walked towards the door.

"U-uh, Sir! We aren't done! We've gotta pad the episode out to get ad revenue!"

"I don't need it," Oni simply said, walking out the door, Gradivus following him closely.

"U-uh..." Gradivus said, trying to think of more questions. "Do you have any pets?"

"No, the Grimm would kill them," Oni replied.

"Got any cars?"

"No."

"Boats? Any form of transportation other than your feet?"

"No."

"Where are we headed now, Sir?"

"The exit."

"Wait what?"

Before Gradivus could fully comprehend what was happening, he had been locked outside of Oni's compound, along with the few others there with him.

"Yeah, guys, I don't think we can use any of this footage..." he said dejectedly as he deleted it. "So much for stardom..."

"Shut up, Gradivus," called Oni from inside, silencing him.

Yep, another bonus chapter. Been too long since we had one of these. I'm just glad I had an idea for one in time for this chapter, I figured a Volume Finale could have used one.

OniHelix out!