A/N: Apologies to the wait. I'll do my best to keep a consistent schedule, but I've got projects pulling me in different directions. I promise I won't just up and vanish this time. Anyway, NEW CHAPTER!

Chapter 12: Where There's Smoke

The Vault Hunters all met up in the cafeteria to grab breakfast since, well, none of them had really seen each other the previous day. Maya was playing video games with Jaune, Zer0 enjoyed some quiet reading with Blake, Gaige was working with Arthur, Axton went out drinking with Winter and Salvador and Krieg were out in the woods taking on some Grimm for kicks. All of them were starting to branch out and find other things to do rather than stay stapled to one another.

"And you were telling us to stick together." Gaige chuckled as she at her pancakes. She remembered when they first got here and were told to treat everything with suspicion and stay close to one another. Now they were off hanging out with their own friends from the world and just living their lives. It was actually pretty nice. She went on "Maya is hanging out with a younger man…"

"Hey! No need to make it sound so… dirty." Maya barked, pointing her fork at Gaige. Sure, Jaune was quite a bit younger than her, but there was nothing sexual about their relationship. They were just good friends and enjoyed hanging out with one another.

"Zer0 has been spending a lot of time with a certain sneaky lady…"

"It is not like that. I enjoy the quiet time. Nothing more than that." Zer0 reminded, looking down at his empty plate. He had reminded them countless times that he and Blake were merely reading partners and nothing more. Sure, there was no denying that Blake was a lovely woman, but he had no intentions of getting romantic with her.

"Then Axton is out grabbing a drink with the lovely Winter Schnee."

"What can I say? Birds of a feather." Axton chuckled before shoveling eggs in his mouth. Yeah, he was out grabbing a drink with the eldest Schnee, but it was hardly a date. In reality, Winter did most of the talking that night. It was also more like venting since she seemed to have quite a bit bottled up. Lucky for her, he was a pretty good listener and understood the usual garbage that came with the military lifestyle. Unlucky for him, the younger Schnee heard Gaige's comment.

"You did WHAT?!" Weiss barked as she marched over to Axton, making the Vault Hunters chuckle. The rest of Team RWBY was right behind her, all of them with smiles on their faces. Weiss could not believe what she had heard; her sister was going out with the perverted mercenary that plagued their existence. There was no way Winter would stoop so low as to go on a date with him. She continued "There is no possible way you went on a date with Winter!"

"Relax Weiss, it wasn't a date. We just went out for a few beers and to chat between soldiers. Nothing more, nothing less." Axton assured as he finished his eggs. He figured this would happen when he agreed to grabbing a drink with Winter since Weiss was not his not a fan of him. He looked up at her, seeing her glare that screamed that she didn't believe him. He chuckled "Ask her yourself and she'll tell you."

"Believe me, I will." Weiss nearly growled as she marched over to the breakfast line, her teammates right behind her. Her friends were giggling at her rage, which simply irritated her. She barked "Can you not laugh at this?! It's serious!"

"Come on. Your sister is just hanging out with Axton." Yang assured as she grabbed a sausage and egg omelet. They were just two soldiers hanging out and just shooting the breeze, although she'd seen Axton hit on just about anything that moved. Plus he'd already hit on Winter, so if they were starting to get friendly then it would only be a matter of time. Yang laughed "Unless you're worried about him becoming your brother-in-law."

"Do not even entertain that thought." Weiss hissed as she grabbed her own breakfast, an egg white omelet with turkey bacon and a side of fruit.

"Aw, want him for yourself?"

"Ruby, is there a way to stop her from talking?"

"I usually stop responding." Ruby replied as she grabbed some chocolate chip pancakes with an egregious amount of syrup. Team RWBY joined their Vault Hunter friends even though most of them were already done with breakfast and started eating. Naturally, Ruby took a seat next to Gaige and started talking shop, "So, I think we've got enough of the plans done to start a prototype of your weapon."

"Hell yeah! You're the best, Ruby!" Gaige cheered as she hooked a friendly arm around Ruby's shoulder. She was enjoying her friendship with someone much closer to her own age. Maya and Lilith were great girl friends, but it was much better when your friends aren't nearly old enough to be your parents. She questioned "Should we get some parts today?"

"Sadly, your plans will have to wait." A familiar voice called out. All of them turned to see Headmaster Ozpin walking over to them in the same garb he always wore. He stood at the head of the table and looked over the group. He had a good feeling about the Vault Hunters and their intentions since they had only been helpful, if not a touch cautious. He was also pleased that they had integrated relatively seamlessly into society, even going so far as to make friends. He went on "I am in need of your services once again, Vault Hunters."

"HARK, DOTH THE GREEN MAN SING?!" Krieg bellowed. It roused a few laughs and giggles before Ozpin continued.

"There have been some strange Grimm sightings out in the area known as Mountain Glenn."

"Mountain Glenn? That's quite the name." Maya added.

"It was one of Vale's greatest failures. An attempt to move out of the city and start anew."

"Guessing the local Grimm didn't care for it?"

"No… they didn't." He sighed. Mountain Glenn was a colossal failure that costed the lives of thousands, including many colleagues. Once the city was starting to establish itself, waves of Grimm tore into the city and left nothing but ruins. He went on "I simply want to side with caution on this, so I would like you and Team RWBY to go investigate, since they have been there once before. If it turns out to be nothing, then it will just be some Grimm cleaning."

"And if it isn't?" Axton questioned as he finished up his breakfast. He'd gone on extermination missions before, but he wasn't the happiest with dealing in unknown areas.

"Then I would like some idea on what we are dealing with, whether it be some new Grimm mutation or a growing nest." Ozpin replied. He'd heard about the damage that the Slag Wolf had done to the town. The last thing he wanted to deal with was another Elemental Grimm running around and stirring the local Grimm into a frenzy.

"Sounds awesome! What do we need? Other than our guns!" Salvador cheered as he raised his arms. The Grimm he had encountered with Krieg in the woods were fun if you like just tearing through enemies without getting much payout other than the joy of it. He wanted something with meat on its bones, and those Slag Wolves put up a real fight.

"Overnight gear. Sleeping bags, tents, rations and the such. You will be out there until next weekend, so be prepared. Your airship will be leaving at 1300."

Everyone nodded and finished their breakfasts up, cleaning their tables up and heading out to either buy the gear or gather what they had. Team RWBY was excited to be heading out on an extended mission once again, even if it was somewhere they had been before. They had gone to the city before to deal with a White Fang cell that was planning on unleashing Grimm into the main city using the underground tunnels that ran between the two. The time arrived and everyone showed up to the landing pad with large bags ready to set up. The airship was cramped once again with everyone piled into it, but they kept the sides open so at least there was a breeze.

"Alright, so what are we going to be dealing with?" Axton questioned over the howl of the wind going by. This reminded him of combat drops during corporate wars, the only thing missing were the missiles and rounds shooting past the airship, nearly ending his contract early.

"Beowolves and Ursa are pretty common. Maybe some Creeps when we get below ground. Possibly a King Taijitu or two." Blake answered. She remembered the train rolling down the tracks, leaving explosives behind to blow holes in the forest to lead Grimm into the city. She explained "King Taijitu are big snakes with a head on each end. Creeps are little… dinosaur like Grimm with no front arms or legs."

"They go down easy enough?"

"Creeps, yes. Taijitu, not so much."

"Got it. Gotta know what type of armaments to use."

The airship started coming up on the city, and it looked exactly like it sounded like. There were the remains of large buildings, hollowed out and falling into ruin as vines and trees grew from the building skeletons. The Vault Hunters could see this definitely had the chance of becoming a major city like Vale, had the Grimm not rushed through and torn the place down. Streets were cracked with piles of rubble making some areas damn near impossible to get around. The airship landed, the pilot informing them they would be back at this time on Friday and to not be late.

Everyone drew their weapons and started the push into the city, looking for any signs of abnormal Grimm. It wasn't long before Grimm started to crawl out of the wreckage and gun for them, ready to tear them to shreds. It was just a horde of Beowolves, normal ones at that, so the fight wasn't going to be long. Krieg and Salvador rushed forward, Krieg hacking and slashing with ease while Salvador just gunned them down without a care. Axton and Ruby took some pop shots at the wolves that had distance on them, taking heads off and letting corpses hit the ground.

They were quickly dispatched and they kept pushing into the city, fighting more and more of the usual Grimm. Soon enough, night started to fall and the crew went and found a building that was stable enough to set up a camp in. Axton made a fire while everyone set up their bedrolls and tried to figure out who would take what kind of watch schedule. Dinner was full of jokes and jests, but nothing to life changing or revealing. Ruby and Gaige were the first ones to go on watch, so they took a seat on the ledge of the building that they were in.

"Man, this is quite a sight. I know it's a ruined city, but still." Gaige sighed as she looked out at the ruined city. It was something new she hadn't really looked out at; the night sky. Stars filling the sky with the light pollution down to a minimum since they were so far away from Vale. It was a gorgeous night and she was enjoying the simplicity of it. Gaige's head rolling over to the side to look at Ruby, who was leaned back and looking at the sky. The warm glow of the fire behind them washed Ruby in an aura of orange that complimented her black and crimson aesthetic.

"Wow, I never noticed how cute Ruby was." Gaige thought as her eyes lingered on the crimson reaper. She stared for a moment before realization struck her on what she just thought. Why the hell was she thinking something like that!? She was straight! She was thirsting on Hammerlock for a while, but that was pointless since he was gay, but still! There was no reason for her to start crushing on her new bestie! Another thought pushed through "Yeah, but you've never met a girl like Ruby before."

Gaige forced herself to look away from Ruby, not struggling with some new feelings that were starting to bubble. Ruby was her friend, the one helping her put together a weapon and showing her around town, not the person you should develop a crush on.

"Isn't the night sky so beautiful?" Ruby questioned, her legs swinging over the edge. She was enjoying spending some simple quiet time with her bestie. She was having the best time hanging out with Gaige and designing a cool new weapon.

"Yeah… beautiful…" Gaige agreed, looking out at the sky and doing her best not to thinking about Ruby. She did not need this kind of complication in her life, especially not with her new best friend. Gaige leaned forward, looking out at the city as she wrestled with her budding feelings. She stared blankly at the ruined buildings when she noticed a light moving around in the distance. She pointed out "Hey Ruby… do you see that?"

"Yeah… I do… what is that?" Ruby questioned as she stood up, pulling out Crescent Rose and aimed down the scope to see if she could get a better view on the source. She could see the source of the light was definitely a flame since the light would dance and waver in whatever direction the main flame went. It was still too far to tell what it was, but then two more lights came around the corner with it. All three lights seemed to come close before they turned, and it looked like they were coming towards the camp. She pointed out "It looks like those lights are coming towards us."

"You think so?" Gaige stated as she got up and pulled out her scoped SMG to try and get her own look at the light source. The two sat and watched until the source finally came clear to Ruby; three large Ursa, and they were on fire.

"Three Ursa, and they're on fire."

"Like, burning to death on fire?"

"No, they aren't in a panic. Wake the others… because they are definitely heading this way." Ruby stated as she watched them. The movements were too deliberate and direct to be a panicked Grimm that were burning to death. Gaige went to wake the others while Ruby continued her watch, seeing more just beyond the light of the flaming Ursa. Beowolves, and a lot of them, and they were tailing the Ursa. She barked "Double time! We got Beowolves too!"

Everyone scrambled to get their gear, grabbing their weapons and pants while Ruby held her position. The second they got close enough, Ruby let off a shot and nailed a Beowolf in the head. She knew she didn't have the stopping power to bring down an Ursa in just one shot, but she could easily bring down their support. She was able to pick off three before everyone leaped into action, literally. All of them jumped off the building and landing with their weapons drawn and ready.

Yang was the first to jump into the fray and started blasting her shotgun rounds at the Fire Ursa. The blasts slammed into the burning beasts, but they hardly seemed phased by them. Maya was up next and went straight for the faithful Phase Lock, which came through as she grabbed one of them and slowed the other two down. Salvador and Weiss started to unload into the Grimm that was held in place with a storm of bullets and electrical blasts. The beasts took the blasts like a champ while the two others gained their footing and continued their charge with the Beowolves catching up.

Gaige called up Deathtrap off to the side of the Beowolves so he could get the flank on the Grimm. She raised her SMG and started firing, letting the bullets fly in every direction so they could bounce and ricochet into the intended targets. Several of them fell, but more simply took their place. Ruby shot up behind Gaige when she started reloading, swinging her scythe and cleaving several in half with ease. Krieg was up next in the charge, going headstrong straight into the first Fire Ursa with his Meat Bicycle revving hard.

The Grimm launched itself with a great flaming paw raised, but Krieg was used to the flames of war and battle. When the beast brought its hand down, he rolled out of the way with the flames just licking his arms. As he rolled, he used the momentum to slash the beast's side and earned a roar of pain. Blake followed up, swinging her bladed pistol, Gambol Shroud, while still attached to her ribbon. The distance from the beast gave the swing a harder strike and slashed the opposite side. The Fire Ursa roared again as its claws gouged the concrete for footing and launched itself back at the two.

The Grimm threw its head and spewed a column of flames as it the beast were a living flame thrower. Krieg roared and pushed through the flames as if they were nothing, because to him they simply were nothing. He reared his blade back and swing it through the fire, connecting with the Grimm's mouth and slicing hard, ripping the mouth of the beast wide open. The beast dragged to a stop as it struggled with the sawblade currently ripping into its face. Blake took the opportunity to swing her blade around and then down, spearing the blade into the top of Grimm's head, killing it.

Axton took the next step and tossed out his turrets onto nearby building walls, letting them get the angle on the oncoming Beowolves while he focused down the next Fire Ursa. The beast barreled down on him while he pulled out his assault rifle and started unloading rounds into it. The rounds bounced off of beast's tough hide, but he knew that was going to happen. He just wanted the beast close enough for the next part of his plan. He whipped out his shotgun, Sledge's Shotgun, and started to rain buckshot directly into the face of the Fire Ursa.

Now the hide and plates may have been too tough for the shot to go through, but the eyes nose and mouth of the beast were nice and soft. The pellets penetrated the soft tissue, blinding the Grimm as it roared in pain and continued charging. Axton rolled out of the way, letting the massive Grimm ram itself into a mess of rebar and impale its head in several places.

The Grimm that Maya held finally broke its hold and dropped to the ground, riddled with bullets stuck in its skin and electrical burns. It roared, causing the fires that enveloped it to flare into an inferno of rage and fury.

"Oh hell yes!" Salvador cheered as he rushed forward, flipping the beast the bird to simply piss the creature off. The beast took the bait and started to rush Sal, letting out a column of flames in rage and letting the fire wash over everything around it. He swapped from his assault rifle and SMG to his favorite pair of weapons, the Conference Call shot gun and the Grog Nozzle pistol. He fired a few rounds from the pistol, slagging the beast up nice and good before he started blasting away with his shotgun, the rounds slamming into the Grimm. The beast roared, but continued its charge until it slammed into Salvador, sending him flying back.

He crashed into the ground and rolled, stopping only to see the Grimm still coming at him with pure hatred in its eyes. He scrambled to grab his guns when Zer0 appeared in front of him, swinging his sword as the beast crossed his path and took its head off with a single blue lined swipe. The headless corpse dropped and slid to a halt a foot from Salvador's face.

"Where the hell have you been?!" Sal cursed as he got up, grabbing his guns and stashing them. Zer0 pointed his sword towards a side route that they had ignored, seeing dozens of Beowolf corpses with their heads cut off and sliced in half. Salvador scratched the back of his head as Zer0 sheathed his sword. Sal grumbled "I guess that makes up for it."

Zer0 ignored Salvador and went to Blake, who was busy wrapping her ribbons up after ripping the blade out of the Ursa's head. He had noticed something about the Beowolves he had killed and needed another opinion. He questioned "I have to ask you, something very important. Can you control Grimm?"

Blake raised an eyebrow as she finished wrapping up since that was an odd question. Could they control Grimm? That seemed like an obvious answer, so she answered it with the accompanying tone of skepticism. She replied "Can we control Grimm? Obviously not."

"We may have something. They all have control panels, also transmitters." Zer0 pointed out as he went to a Beowolf corpse and pushed it onto its back, revealing the metal panel that was imbedded into it. Blake's eyes went wide as she eyes the blinking lights and tubes that were on it since this was unheard of. She gasped as Zer0 slashed under the panel and liquid eridium started to leak out of it.

"What the fuck are we dealing with?" Blake gasped as she watched the corpse bleed. This was something beyond what they signed up for. Someone had done the impossible; they were controlling Grimm, and using them as weapons.

A/N: Dun dun DUN! Isn't that something? Remote controlled Grimm paired with flaming Ursa. Who could be behind such a feat? What will the crew do to find the perpetrator? What could they want? Find out next time! As per usual, PM or review with any thoughts, comments or concerns. Until next time!