Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY, Zelda, Kid Icarus, Pokemon, Final Fantasy, or any other franchise alluded to or included in this work (I don't own the background music either). All I own is this work and my OCs (these include Aris, Oleana, Nash, and any Grimm ideas I come up with).


At the crack of dawn the next morning, team ALPS woke up and checked out of the village's inn. After going into the village's shops to buy some camping gear and other supplies, they began making their journey to Mistral.

"We need to move quickly if we want to catch up with Ruby and her friends," Cloud said.

"Maybe we could fly," Pit suggested. "Aris, you still have the Power of Flight?"

Aris nodded. "I can only use it once a day, though."

"Then we'll try to spend the entire day flying," Pit said. "Cloud, you and Tifa can ride on Aris's Corviknight."

"Corviknight?" said Cloud. "One of his Pokemon, I presume?"

Aris nodded again, throwing out the Ultra Ball that contained Corviknight. The armored bird cawed upon his release, stretching his midnight-colored wings.

"Hop onto his back," Aris said to Tifa and Cloud. "Corviknights are tremendously strong, to the point where they can carry up to two people on their backs and still fly efficiently."

Cloud clambered onto the Pokemon's back, and Tifa followed behind him. The female gripped Cloud's waist, and Cloud held onto Corviknight's back.

BGM: Sky Station Galaxy - Super Mario Galaxy 2

Pit's wings glowed bright, and he took to the air. Corviknight spread his wings and followed with Cloud and Tifa in tow. Lastly, Aris's golden wings appeared on his back as he exploded into the sky.

Cloud whooped with excitement. "At this rate, we'll catch up in no time flat!"

After checking his Scroll's map again, Pit said, "There's a village called Shion up ahead. Maybe they're there."

Team ALPS flew off towards Shion.

When they got there, however, the sight was really unexpected.

BGM: The Door - Deltarune

Shion was in ruins. The village was absolutely decimated, not a soul in sight.

Aris addressed his team. "Fly around the village, see if you can find anything."

Corviknight flew Cloud and Tifa about the ruins as Aris and Pit scoured the rubble from the air. Nothing but a single dead body, which belonged to a Huntsman. "Maybe Grimm got to this place," Aris said to himself.

Pit flew up to him. "Should we head for the next village?"

Aris nodded. "Get Cloud and Tifa. We should be there by sundown."

Cloud and Tifa joined the Hylian and the angel and left the village.

End BGM

"So, Higanbana is our next destination, correct?" asked Cloud as team ALPS flew through overcast weather.

Aris nodded. "It's a large village with a popular inn. Thank goodness we won't have to worry about rain."

By the time they arrived there, the rain had already started. Aris and Pit landed on the ground, as did Corviknight. Cloud and Tifa dismounted the Pokemon as Aris returned him to his Ultra Ball. The team found the town's inn and paid for their stay.

The next morning...

Team ALPS accidentally overslept that morning. They quickly left the inn and took to the air again. Just like yesterday, Cloud and Tifa rode on Corviknight while Aris and Pit flew on their own.

"We should catch up to Ruby sometime today," Aris said. "I hope."

"I do, too," Pit said in concurrence.

Cloud spoke from Corviknight. "Guys! Look up ahead!"

Team ALPS had reached the next village. That was a surprise.

"The buildings look damaged," said Tifa. "Maybe it's destroyed, like Shion."

"I wonder if we'll find Ruby there," Aris muttered to himself.

BGM: Lavender Town - Pokemon: Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee

Team RNJR, which consisted of Ruby, Nora, Jaune, and Ren, searched for survivors in the ruined village. Not a soul in sight, not even any bodies.

"Anything?" Ruby said to the group.

"Nothing over here!" called Nora from atop a building.

"No one over here either!" said Jaune.

Ren was examining the area. "It almost seems like this town was abandoned.

Ruby stood still, silently longing for her boyfriend's company. She really missed Aris. A lot.

Nora called out, "Hey, guys! I found something!"

Jaune, Ren, and Ruby made their way to her. Nora was examining a sign in the center of the village. She pushed some ivy away, revealing the word on the sign.

"Oniyuri?" she read. "Never heard of it."

"Me neither," said Jaune.

Ren sighed. "I have."

Everyone turned to him. Ren said, "You might think of it as Anima's version of Mountain Glenn, had it never been completed. Years ago, the richest members of Mistral were unhappy about how the kingdom was being run. Frustrated with the council, they pooled their resources to build their own city, with their own laws. They hoped that one day, it could even become its own kingdom. Many thought it would be the future." Ren paced away from the group, walking towards one of the empty buildings. "I know my parents did."

"What happened?" asked a worried Ruby.

Ren wiped some dust off of a cement foundation. "What always happens."

"The Grimm..." said Jaune in understanding.

Ren clenched his fists. "Not just anyone."

"One?" asked Ruby.

"Come on," said Jaune to his comrades. "Let's go. This place creeps me out."

He walked off towards the far end of the village. Nora followed, then Ren, then Ruby.

The former students found themselves in a separate area of Oniyuri, stopping when Ren held out his hand towards them. The black-haired orphan closed his eyes, as if he were a Jedi sensing a disturbance in the Force.

End BGM

Ren lowered his hands to his hips, grabbing his weapons: a pair of bladed submachine guns dubbed Stormflower. Behind him, Ruby, Jaune, and Nora all readied their respective weapons.

Though they were unnoticed by team RNJR, four figures behind them pulled out weapons of their own. One had a sword and shield. Another readied a pair of claws made of light energy. A third figure unsheathed a massive, single-edged blade, and a fourth figure raised her fists.

From the roof of a building jumped a lunatic of a man. The man landed on the ground, a set of blades appearing on each of his wrists. Grinning like a maniac, he assaulted Ren as his long braid of black hair whipped around behind him. The man sent Ren catapulting away through the air.

The man went after Ruby next, then Jaune. Nora attempted to whack the man with her hammer, but the man jumped away on his own, landing atop another building.

"We're not looking for a fight!" Jaune called out to him.

"Who are you?" demanded Ren.

Still smiling that demented grin of his, the man jumped to the ground, landing with a graceful bend of his knees. "Who I am matters not to you," he said, pointing at Ren. "Or you," he pointed at Nora, "or..." he stopped at Jaune, "...well, you do interest me. No, I only matter...to you."

He pointed at Ruby.

"Me?" said the confused scythe-wielder.

The man laughed hysterically. "You...you haven't the slightest clue, do you? Oh, how exciting this must be!"

Ruby narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "What do you want?"

The maniac feigned surprise. "Oh! The rose has thorns! Why, my little flower, I'm here to whisk you away with me!"

Moving to Ruby's side, Nora responded, "Well, what if she doesn't want to go with you?"

The man seemed to think for a moment. "Well, I'll take her."

Jaune moved between Ruby and the man, his sword and shield ready. "We're not going to let you do that."

BGM: Zant Battle - The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

The man zipped around behind Jaune, raising his left hand blades for a strike. Ren fired his weapons at Jaune's shield, the bullets deflecting off the shield and into the man's body. Jaune raised his shield over himself as the man jumped and started twirling atop one of his hand blades. Ruby rushed at the man, only to be kicked away. Jaune tried to attack with his sword, and was kicked away, too.

As the man was running at Nora, Ruby readied her magazine of lightning Dust bullets. Smirking, she fired one at the man. The bullet barely missed, colliding with Nora. The ginger was knocked to the ground.

The man put a hand on the side of his head, thinking that this was a mistake. It wasn't.

Behind the man, Nora rose to her feet, her body being fueled and strengthened by the electricity from the bullet. She dashed around in front of the man, sending her hammer into his face with all her strength. She missed.

"Surprise," said the maniac. He kicked Nora away and jumped to the top of a building. From behind him appeared a black scorpion tail.

"He's...a Faunus!" Ren pointed out.

"What is this about?" Ruby called. "The White Fang? Roman Torchwick?"

"Plastic soldiers and pawns!" the man crooned poetically. "My heart and body belong only to our goddess!"

"Cinder..." Ruby seethed.

The man laughed. "Only in her wildest dreams!"

He leaped down at Ruby, assaulting her with inhuman agility. Ruby was barely able to keep up. She was sent to the ground, and the man went after Ren next. Ren dodged the man's venomous scorpion tail as a crow flew in from above, unnoticed by team RNJR or the four shadowed figures, who were watching and waiting.

The man broke Ruby's aura with a kick to her stomach, sending her to the ground once again. Jaune, Nora, and Ren watched as he loomed over her, raising his tail.

Just as the man's tail was shooting towards Ruby, a man with spiky black hair appeared on the scene, facing away from the man and blocking the blow by holding his sword behind him.

Ruby gasped. It was her uncle Qrow.

"Hey," said the Huntsman.