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Chapter 165: Seven Years Later (Epilogue)

It had been roughly seven years since the battle against Salem on some unnamed and unimportant mass of rock in an island chain somewhere between the continents of Anima and Vytal and in that time Remnant had changed greatly and largely, in the opinion of most of its' inhabitants for the better.

The Creatures of Grimm were still a threat and it seemed that they would inhabit Remnant for as long as people did but, without a truly intelligent of malevolent consciousness guiding them they were little more than admittedly extremely dangerous animals that were congregating and being led by thankfully uncommon instances of an Alpha Grimm of some variety rising above the primal hunger of their species and taking control of some shattered fragment of what had once been their Hive-Mind; this division of the man-eating monsters along with developments of the Fracture compound that had first been tested in New Vale making the destruction of Spawning Pits had meant that though there was always work for a team of skilled Hunters the Kingdoms had been able to expand outwards.

The maps had changed over the last seven years with the most notable change being that the various settlements of Menagerie had united and been declared a Kingdom in their own right with Port Alistair, where the Academy founded by Team CFVY was based being its' Capital. The Kingdom of New Vale had been expanded outwards, reclaiming vast stretches of land whilst its' own Capital City was rebuilt in the wake of Salem's siege against it and renamed Neo Vale with Halo Academy continuing to form an instantly recognisable part of its' skyline whilst what had once been the Exclusion Zone had also been reclaimed and Beacon Academy had been transformed into a museum to celebrate Hunters throughout the history of Remnant. In Mistral and Atlas things had begun notably more turbulent in recent years, though political tensions were yet to spill into outright violence as separatist movements took hold; in Atlas those smaller settlements built out in the tundra far from the protection of the Hive Cities had begun to, once again declare themselves outside of the Kingdoms' jurisdiction whilst in Mistral things were perhaps a little more complicated; there had been a move to unite the various tribes of Anima into a true, diasporic nation who would share the continent and its' resources with the Mistralis and to say that this had concerned some of those who lived within the Kingdom and its' outlying settlements was an understatement.

However from her current position in the air, looking down at it all Hellion found that those changes made very little difference at all.

The Dragonfly Faunus had undergone her own great changes with the first and most unavoidable amongst them being her apparent death and resurrection. She had lost a year of her life whilst Antonia Arc struggled to find a way to safely transfer her soul and consciousness into another vessel and when she had awoken she had not been the same person, a fact denoted by the fact that her full name was down Hellion Arc; Eagle had been beside her the moment that she had awoken and the blonde had produced a ring soon after, telling Hellion that whilst she understood that the tribes did not have marriage in the same sense that the Kingdoms did she wanted to spend the rest of her life with them together and Hellion had naturally agreed, the last name she had been given belonging to a family she had never met being something she was happy to exchange for a lifetime of happiness with the woman she loved.

Another change that could not be ignored was Hellion's new body which, whilst being built to resemble her previous self; wrapped in artificial skin and aged naturally so that the Faunus did not appear to be permanently twenty-one was also entirely robotic, as was proven by the fact that she was currently flying through the air at great speed and laughing madly at the pure exhilaration it gave her. During the construction of her robotic body it had been noted that getting Hellion's wings to act with all the finesse that they had previously possessed was extremely difficult and Antonia Arc and her team had given their patient the gift of flight almost as an apology, the four faux-gossamer wings that lay flat across her back reorienting and shifting to the sides whilst a pair of Dust powered thrusters unfurled from her shoulder blades. Hellion rocketed through the air, performing several entirely unnecessary loops and spins before honing in on the sight of the Nemesis Kharybdis, its' gleaming hull shining in the Vaccuan sun and appearing all the more powerfully imposing next to the cargo ships and fishing boats that surrounded it where it was docked close to Vaccuo's Capital.

"Doot doot, da doot doot" the mechanical chirps and bleeps coming from her side reminded Hellion, who had lost herself in the moment that she was not alone and was in fact part of a larger and undeniably odd flock that had claimed Vaccuo's skyline as their own.

Unfortunately the process of extracting Hellion's soul from Marauder had been too much for the bird of prey to bare and they had not survived the procedure, once she had grieved the loss of her avian partner however Hellion had found another clutch of eggs on a mission which had hatched into a flock of formidable feathered raptors whom Hellion had lovingly reared; to Hellion's right was Eagle in her own avian form and to the left was the source of the noise.

Sentinel Two.

Where Sentinel was solid and blocky in his construction the droids' successor was a sleek and streamlined, loosely avian machine whose smooth cranium sported a singular bleeping optic and was mounted on a long a slender neck leading to a small and well armoured body kept aloft a propulsion system and a pair of wings formed from the spayed open form of the droids' shield mode, each wing having a compact mini-gun slung under it. Eventually Hellion grew tired of racing through the air and streaked downwards towards the Nemesis Kharybdis; the contrail of light that she left in her wake flickering away as her thrusters collapsed back into her body and her wings repositioned themselves as she landed gracefully in the crows' nest that was built onto the ships completely unnecessary mast, the sails and banners Carcharodon insisted on flying being put away whilst they were docked. Her flock of raptors circled in the air above her, keen eyes no doubt looking for fish or any food they could steal from unsuspecting pedestrians on the docks whilst Sentinel Two, or simply Sentinel as the new droid was often called swooped down beside her and transformed back into shield mode before being collected by his master.

Hellion's wife.

Eagle looked truly striking and the years had been kind to her. The freckled blonde woman was more powerfully built than ever, with broad shoulders and biceps easily as large as Hellion's chest with sculpted back muscles whilst he golden yellow hair was currently worn in a messy undercut that had been loosely tied back for the moment. Eagle's skin was now covered in tribal tattoos that Hellion herself had designed for her whilst re-applying her own markings to her new body; the tank-top she wore beneath her armour leaving her arms bare to display the stylised images of various worthy opponents and terrifying beasts she had overcome, including an image intended to evoke Salem herself yet even beneath the dark ink it was clear to see that she had tanned in the Vaccuan sun and her cheeks seemed to have more freckles than usual.

"It's great when we get to just fly right?" Eagle noted as Hellion leaned into her "No Grimm chasing us, not being the diversion for somebody; just us and the open air"

"Everything is better when it's with you Little Canary" Hellion noted, smiling at the contented noise that escaped Eagle upon hearing the old nickname. The two of them simply enjoyed one another's company for a while, petting Hellion's birds as they landed close by and soaking up the warmth of the midday sun before Eagle spoke again

"It's our last night in Vaccuo….anything you want to do here before we leave?" Hellion thought for a moment before lacing her fingers through Eagle's and answering

"Just as long as we get to watch the sunset here one last time before we leave"


Deep down in the bowels of the Nemesis Kharybdis, far from where the blazing Vaccuan sun could scorch his gaunt and grey-tinged flesh Carcharodon Gore, Captain of the Nemesis Kharybdis, head of the Frost River Tribe and Hunter of esteem and renown was hard at work.

The ship had naturally been rebuilt following the damage it had received during the assault on Salem's island which had marked the true beginning of team FADE, NEON and GORE's careers and over the years it had been steadily upgraded and modified until it was a truly unique vessel that defied any and all attempts to classify it; Dust engines built almost entirely from scratch made the Nemesis Kharybdis and incredibly fast ship whilst its' armaments had been added to, the addition of a shield generator along with thicker armour on its' hull giving it defensive capabilities to match the offensive and the AI that operated the ship had been improved to the point where it could effectively handle any day to day tasks and maintenance issues that may arise though Carcharodon would never allow that; some traditions must be maintained after all and the Captain of a ship should be involved in its' upkeep, which owing to the amount of people that lived on the Nemesis Kharybdis at least part-time was a seemingly endless litany of tasks. He, Hellion and Onyx shared their home with Team FADE, though the Puma Faunus was currently not aboard the ship along with Helios and eight of them were often joined by the other members of Team NEON, Corvid Xiao Long or Team SNST who, after being taken under Carcharodon's wing had graduated from Halo Academy with distinction and gone on to become well respected Hunters in their own right or occasionally other members of the vast network of contacts that Carcharodon had gone on to establish across Remnant in both his role as a Hunter and as the presumptive successor to Qrow Branwen's role of secret protector against unseen threats.

It was in fact Shine Jua, leader of Team SNST's truck that Carcharodon was currently working on.

The cargo hold of the Nemesis Kharybdis had begun to be jokingly referred to as a garage by those who lived aboard it owing to the various vehicles that the inhabitants of the ship owned, though not all of them were present at that moment. The Bull-Head that the eight of them used primarily for missions had been taken by Onyx who was expected to return in a matter of days and the heavily modified Vaccuan muscle car that Felix had finally bought and modified to his liking during their last visit to the desert Kingdom several years ago was currently absent, what was in the cargo hold however was the latest iteration of the Lightning Bug; which Eagle had purchased as a rusted heap of scrap and converted into something truly impressive along with Carcharodon's motorbike, a sleek and fierce looking thing whose streamline curves gave it the air of some oceanic predator and which the Shark Faunus freely admitted he had acquired simply for his own ego and entertainment.

The truck belonging to Shine that he was working on was admittedly less ostentatiously impressive, though it was certainly a reliable thing; a stripped down and repurposed military vehicle with raised suspension and heavy armour plating which bore scratches and dents from the last engagement Team SNST had been in, along with other damage that was not visible from the outside that was in serious need of correction.

Something that would be much easier if people didn't keep borrowing Carcharodon's tools.

"Which one of these insufferable ingrates?" the Shark Faunus rasped out in exasperated annoyance as he saw the empty spaces on his meticulously well kept toolbox where the missing items should have been, rising up from the ground where he had been working under the vehicle the Shark Faunus continued to mutter under his breath in irritation, scouring his toolbox to see if the missing items had simply been misplaced or if whoever had borrowed them had at least given him the courtesy of a note; finding nothing Carcharodon mused that there would have been a time when he removed the fingers of whoever committed such an offence and found himself, not for the first time musing about reinstating some of the tribes' old traditions.

Until he was distracted by the sound of meowing.

"And I presume that you want food….if you've left anything dead in my cloak there will be consequences" Carcharodon noted quietly as he turned towards the source of the noise, he had removed the hooded black cloak that he still often wore whilst he worked and draped it over a nearby crate where it had been promptly commandeered by the midnight black cat that resided aboard the Nemesis Kharybdis named 'Sneak'. Sneak had earned their name upon being discovered as a small and half-feral kitten stowing away and dealing with the ships' rat problem along with eating anything else he could get his paws on and upon his discover had soon taken to curling up in Carcharodon's lap or discarded cloak at any opportunity, which the Shark Faunus was more than happy to allow despite his initial protestations and the teasing his friends had subjected him to.

Sneak had also gotten quite fat in this time.

"If you get any heavier then we're going to have to throw something overboard to compensate for the weight" Carcharodon murmured, quietly amusing himself as he picked the remarkably heavy animal up "I suggest we start with whoever it was that took my tools" Carcharodon continued to talk to himself under the guise of talking to Sneak the cat as he meandered through the corridors of his largely deserted ship, Eagle and Hellion might have returned but none of the others were expected to return before nightfall and he currently had peace and quiet. He supposed he should allow himself to relax and enjoy it before the important meetings he would be part of in a matter of hours.

"Here" Carcharodon set down an admittedly far too large helping of chicken for his cat before making himself something to eat and wondering how he, head of the Frost River Tribe had become an advisor of sorts to the Queen of the Nikosi.

He was sure it was Helios and by extension Felix's fault.

Syneffo Nikos had officially succeeded her mother, with Kataigida abdicating the role of leader and taking her place among the tribal elders, serving as an advisor and spiritual guide to the young Silver Eyed ruler. Syneffo, after spending some time within the Kingdoms had learned the value of unity in the face of the Grimm and as such had been the first to propose the idea of the Anima Diaspora, uniting the various nomadic peoples who lived beyond the Kingdoms into a single nation without the use tyranny or threat of violence with Carcharodon being amongst the first of the tribal leaders that she had spoken with. The Shark Faunus had agreed with her ideas and, knowing that whilst his official title remained intact the Frost River Tribe itself was all but gone had taken to advising the young ruler, giving her an outside perspective that she often needed and treating her as an equal.

"Would you be proud of me Mizu?" Carcharodon murmured to himself as he considered how his life had unfolded since he had led the last remains of his people to New Vale all those years ago.

The tribe was gone but in its' place he had built something new, a network of Hunters and allies that spanned all of Remnant gave him a reach that the Frost River Tribe could only dream of; from the gutters of every city to the vaunted halls of each of the Academies and the shadowy back rooms where deals were made and even a generation of children, those who had been taken in by the staff of Halo Academy who regarded him as a sort distant older cousin who visited rarely but brought great gifts and stories. He was a Captain and a ruler but he did not lead as one, having learned to compromise and work with his peers rather than use the iron fist he had been raised under. He had become a Hunter; something that would once have been unthinkable to him and yet he was more renowned than he could ever have been as a simple pirate and had helped save Remnant itself.

In the end Carcharodon decided that were she still here his sister would have been proud of him, as it was however he was proud of himself, he was happy and content with his life and that was what mattered.


"Y'know….I think that went really well" Arctus noted

"Yeah, no questions from conspiracy theorists this time" Diamond noted earning herself a soft chuckle from the towering Bear Faunus who had, for the last three years been her husband.

The two of them were in the Capital City of Vaccuo, more specifically they were on the grounds of Shade Academy itself; the campus being located roughly an hours' walk away from 'Vulture Bay' where the Nemesis Kharybdis had been docked.

Team FADE's thesis on the steadily increasing intelligence of Alpha Grimm had eventually been completed and published over a year after their graduation, the four of them having collectively gathered more evidence to support it during the course of their careers and Arctus and Diamond had both represented their team by accepting an invitation from the Grimm Studies Professor at Shade Academy to give a lecture and seminar on the subject to the academies' upper classmen; this was not the only reason that Team FADE and their friends had travelled to the desert Kingdom though it was certainly one of the most noteworthy.

After explaining their research and its' practical applications the two of them had found themselves answering questions that began with the initial topic of discussion but had quickly veered off into different territories which they had both chosen to allow, being asked about the battle on Salem's island, other famous battles they had taken part in both before and after Salem, the Vytal Tournament and even the inevitable questions about other heroic Hunters that they knew such as Ruby Rose.

With the seminar ended the two of them had taken a stroll through the grounds of Shade Academy, noting how different it was to Halo or Atlas, their only frame of references before realising after sitting on a bench together for a while that several of the younger students were watching them from a distance, seemingly to star-struck to come any closer.

"I think you've got fans Big Guy" Diamond chuckled

"Nah, they're definitely your fans" Arctus replied, shifting his weight and allowing his wife to rest her head on his shoulder to make herself comfortable.

To say that the pair were striking in appearance was an understatement and the attention that the students paid to them was entirely understandable.

With Vaccuo's lax approach to things such as professional attire the two had decided against wearing suits for the occasion and instead worn their everyday combat gear; with Diamond sporting comfortable black pants that allowed her to move freely and a pair of practical, well worn sneakers with armour plating fitted to them and a pale green tank-top which showed off not only her slender but well defined right arm but also a hint of her toned stomach, over this was a bandolier that was slung across her shoulder which featured a harness which kept Lex Talionis secure against her back; she silver hair had been let down and cascaded over her shoulders and her Cybernetic left arm had been fitted with extra armour plates, painted matte black to give the thing a utilitarian but sleek and futuristic look about which Diamond decided the wedding ring on her finger did nothing to detract from. Arctus was just as much of tall, broad-shouldered and burly slab of muscle as he had been as a student, perhaps even more so. Clad in simple white pants and a sleeveless jacket over a plain white t-shirt which his bulging arms strained against the fabric of the Bear Faunus's appearance had changed little over the years though he now wore a small amount of stubble along his jawline and his snowy white had had an almost permanently windswept look about it.

More than the simple fact that the pair were both legendary Hunters whom the students currently gawking at them idolised and both being frankly very attractive individuals they also effortlessly exuded charisma, silent power and control radiating from them and assuring those around them that they were safe in the presence of these Hunters.

Eventually a bell rang somewhere in the Academy and the students departed, leaving Arctus and Diamond alone; with the Bear Faunus being the one to break the peaceful silence between them.

"Y'know what….I think we should take some students on missions" the idea was spoken aloud almost of its' own volition and Arctus paused, considering for a moment before adding "I mean it's a lot of paperwork but still, I think it'd be good for us y'know; we could start when the next semester starts up" Diamond regarded her husband for a moment, before her face morphed into a bright smile and her cherry red eyes seemed to light up with mischief

"Dude I know what this is really about" she teased, nuzzling into him a little closer and whispering in his ear "Athena starts at one of the Academies next semester and you want us to take her team on a mission" Arctus fidgeted for a moment, not at all surprised that Diamond had managed to read his intentions so easily and instead wrapping an arm around her waist as he replied with an amused smile of his own

"I mean….I'm sure I pinky-promised her a mission together at some point"

"Then we've got to do it, those are legally binding" Diamond nodded, her tone suddenly far more serious and earnest though the smirk never left her features as she added "Has she picked which Academy she's going to?"

"Not yet and all five have provisionally accepted her based on her grades" Arctus let out a sigh "Final exams are in a few months, she needs to make a choice soon" despite his concerned tone he was ultimately extremely proud of his sister who had turned seventeen only a few short months ago and had, the last time they had spoken been trying to choose between Atlas Academy where their father was still a teacher, Halo Academy to follow the apparent family tradition of moving to Vale to study or perhaps the Academy Team CFVY had founded on Menagerie where she could train under Ruby Rose herself.

All of those thoughts were pushed from Arctus's mind with Diamond's next words.

"Besides, dealing with moody teenagers with an unlocked Aura is always great practice for when we have kids" the Bear Faunus managed to choke on thin air and amuse Diamond with his sputtering for a few moments before answering

"When?"

"I mean….we've discussed it" Diamond shrugged "And I'm not saying I wanna have one right now but, we've got enough Lien, we're secure, if we didn't want to raise the kid on a ship we could just go and stay in Neo Vale for a while at the house….I'm just saying it's an option that we can think about"

"Yeah, yeah it is" Arctus noted, realising that she was right; remaining silent as he found himself appreciating just how truly amazing his life was until Diamond rolled her eyes and gently nudged his shoulder

"Come on Big Guy, we've got stuff to do….we can talk about this more later"


Far from the Kingdom of Vaccuo the icy winds howled around a landscape that could not be more different and the sound of snarling Grimm and weapons being fired filled the air as a battle raged in the icy tundra of Atlas. A Goliath was torn neatly in half with a single devastating blow and it became clear to any onlookers that might have seen the spectacle that the lone Huntress ploughing through the monsters that assaulted her was truly one of the greatest of them all.

Corvid Xiao Long had improved over the years after all.

She wore the uniform of an Atlesian Specialist, having been fully inducted into the Specialist Branch five years ago. Black boots and gloves that reached her elbows complementing a white uniform a steely grey trim and light gunmetal coloured armour laid over it in strategic places, the coat of her uniform featuring a fur collar and a pair of tails that trailed dramatically behind her in the air; all of this was made more striking by the presence of the Omega Wing which had been modified and improved endlessly over the years and elevated Corvid's appearance from merely imposing to utterly awe-inspiring.

Where the Battle-suit had sported four wings in a signature X formation before it was now carried by six jet black wings each with their own directional thrusters, splayed wide to give Corvid the appearance of some avenging mechanical angel leaving a contrail of light and flames in her wake whilst the shoulder mounted rail-guns had been replaced with a newer and more powerful pair that had the advantage of being collapsible; her limbs and torso were covered in extra layers of black armour that no snow had yet fallen on as it was kept at bay by the rippling energy field of translucent and pale cyan light of the Omega Wings' forcefield. The trio of blades that had once adorned each of her forearms had been removed and replaced with a much more direct weapon; Corvid had taken Venus Rising and worked the oversized mace that her fallen team-mate had carried into her own weapon as a tribute to Iris's memory and as the next of the heard of Goliaths stampeded towards her she paid tribute once again by swinging the weapon into the Grimm's skull with enough force to shatter bone, striking the monster like a comet and felling it with a single blow.

"Deploy secondary drone" Corvid held the mace directly out in front of her and at her command warnings flashed across the heads up display of the featureless black helmet that she wore before the head of the mace detached and surged forwards, flying under its' own power. When Iris had detached the spiked head of her weapon she had done so with her own telekinesis and used the various cameras and sensors hidden within the weapon to allow to act as an extra set of eyes and ears, Corvid had expanded on that idea by turning Venus Rising into a secondary drone that the Omega Wing could deploy and as it zoomed between remaining mass of stampeding elephantine monsters she swiftly entered a series of commands into the computerised gauntlet mounted on her left arm, prompting the drone to hover on place before deploying a series of lasers which seared glowing wounds into the bony armour of the Grimm, causing them to all turn towards the drone and stampede towards it.

Exactly where Corvid wanted them.

She opened fire with her rail-guns and the recently upgraded weapons displayed their devastating power, each explosive round blasting a Goliath into nothingness and causing the snow covered ground to tremble under the impact, flinging great clouds of the powdery substance high into the air until only a single Grimm remained and Corvid found herself wearing a smile as she took aim

"Go-liath down and playeth dead" she chuckled to herself as she prepared to fire.

And then the Grimm exploded a booming sound shook the air itself.

Corvid, made a show of pouting in the air before swooping down to the ground and holding out the haft of Venus rising so that the head of the weapon could be recalled and reattached, as she sunk it into the snow the wings of her battle-suit collapsed and folded along her back, only adding to the angelic theme whilst her shoulder mounted weapons retracted and the visor of her helmet slid away before she removed it entirely, allowing her to shake out hair that she had allowed to grow and was currently worn loose.

"Okay, come out" she called, her smile carrying into her voice which echoed through the tundra.

Corvid fought alone as a Specialist, she had opted against a career path that would have seen her in command of a warship of squad of well trained soldiers and Team CLIR had officially disbanded shortly after Iris's funeral though it had been made abundantly clear that there was not and would never be any bad blood or resentment between them; Lux and Rusty had simply chosen to remain in New Vale when Corvid returned to Atlas, leaving the Specialist program and focusing their efforts and careers as Hunters on the effort to reclaim more land from the Grimm so that new settlements could be built to replace what had been lost in the war against Salem, Lux and Rusty had married soon after and had adopted one of the children that had been left at Halo Academy; with Corvid making an effort to see her two former team-mates and their son any time she was in Vale visiting family.

Which meant there was only one person she could think of who would come all this way just to interrupt her dealing with Grimm.

"Admit it, you love it when I make an entrance like that" Onyx announced himself with a rumbling chuckle, seeming to appear from nowhere with the abilities he carried from his previous life as a raider despite a tall and powerful build that was still seemingly unsuited for stealth.

"Admit it, you love seeing me work and the uniform only makes it hotter" Corvid shot back, flashing him a cocky smirk and a wink of her steely grey eye whilst her cybernetic optic remained hidden beneath an eye-patch.

She and the Puma Faunus had carried on much as they had been over the last seven years, they were together, they loved each other dearly and each of them knew it yet they were unsuited to a relationship in the more traditional sense and so instead they made do with what they had; Onyx was part of the crew of the Nemesis Kharybdis and the ship was his home, the only places on dry land he truly considered home were Eagle's house in what was now called Neo Vale which Olivine and Ether currently lived in and Teams FADE and GORE often returned to or alternatively Corvid's apartment in Atlas's Capital of Eisenstadt Prime which she returned to on the rare occasions she was on base. It had been difficult, they often went months at a time without seeing one another and the distance was bothersome yet they had made it work and had no intention of allowing that to change.

"Aren't you sill technically banned from Atlas?" Corvid noted conversationally, Team GORE's legality within the icy Kingdom, whatever it was had gone without enforcement for years at this point and was regarded as nothing more than a joke that she, Onyx and occasionally Winter were privy to.

"Is this technically Atlas?" Onyx countered as he gestured to the snow around him "The tundra is contested territory, although I think I respect the sovereignty of the free-settlements" his voice was teasing and Corvid chewed her lip, doing her best to keep at least some Semblance of self control even as the Omega Wing and Venus Rising both peeled away from her body and merged as they transformed into their drone form.

"So you're here as a provocateur?" she grinned, shifting her weight

"No more provocative than the last photos you sent" Onyx chuckled and then suddenly he was on the floor, Corvid having launched herself at him with all of her considerable strength and tackled him; the next thing the Puma Faunus was aware of was Corvid smiling down at him as she straddled him, her hands pinning his wrists until she moved one to cup his cheek and stroke snow away from his beard, Onyx using the sudden freedom wrap an arm around her and pull her down into a slow searing kiss.

"I've missed you" he growled into her as rolled on top, pinning her beneath him "Schnee overworks you"

"Yeah but I'm here now" Corvid smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck and shifting her weight as her long time and long distance boyfriends' weight pressed against her, kissing him again before adding

"Happy late anniversary"


The sound of Nyanza howling with laughter was not an uncommon sound, but the particularly demented edge to his current bout of cackling was more than a little concerning.

"Babe?" a voice that was seemingly unable to decide whether it should be concerned or bemused asked.

The speaker was Razzmatazz, short and slender as she had always been and still with her hair dyed a shockingly vibrant colour; currently it was a vivid neon pink with highlights of various other garish colours that clashed spectacularly with one another although the fact the colourful mass had fallen in front of the eye that had been blinded in whilst she was a student was not a stylistic choice and more to do with the fact that she was suffered from a case of bedhead despite it being mid-afternoon.

Her relationship with Nyanza had been an odd one, the two reconnecting shortly after the battle against Salem and Razzmatazz's graduation where they had quickly fallen head over heels in love again and yet had danced around the matter for far longer than was sensible; they had been dating and breaking up with the agreement that they would be better as friends for years by the time they moved in together, Nyanza whilst still considering himself a part of Team NEON and having nothing but love for his friends had reached a point where he felt the need to branch out from the shadow of the more revered Hunters aboard the Nemesis Kharybdis and so had moved to Mistral, living not too far from where Diamond Slate, formerly Sustrai-Black's parents lived where he and Razzmatazz had continued to be uncertain about whether they were a couple or simply room-mates and somehow keep the entire arrangement from ever becoming awkward. The two of them alternated between taking missions together, alone or working with others fairly regularly and had both recently arrived back in Mistral's Capital of Anquan-Jia after spending several weeks apart; Razzmatazz rejoining Team GRAY to take down a Large Spawning Pit whilst Nyanza had asked to act as a mediator and bodyguard by Syneffo Nikos whilst the her tribe visited an outlying Mistrali settlement. The life of a Hunter being what it was meant that they worked long and inconsistent hours, which along with the fact that they had practically torn each others' clothes off and thrown each other into bed the moment they had seen each other was the reason for Razzmatazz's current dishevelled state as she padded through the apartment wearing a half-buttoned shirt and very little else with mussed hair as she searched for the still cackling Nyanza.

She found him in the kitchen, clearly mid-way through making them both a snack when whatever had caught his attention had happened. The bushy tailed feline Faunus had aged well and had the appearance of someone who was both in peak physical form and loving every moment of a life that they lived to the fullest; his face had never quite lost the round-cheeked boyishness it had always had though after years of following Helios Nikos's training regimen Nyanza was a physically imposing figure with defined muscles beneath tanned skin marred only by the thin web of scars left behind by the Grimm infection he had suffered from, a feature which only made him more distinctive looking and had gotten the Faunus more than one sponsorship over the years. Overall Nyanza was happy, healthy, enjoying his life as a Hunter, protecting the people of Remnant and being paid very well for it; being able to give his parents Lien until they asked him to stop and take care of himself first.

Eventually he managed to stop laughing enough to wipe away the tears streaming down his face, catching sight of Razzmatazz as he did so and pointing at his Scroll as he breathlessly tried to speak

"Use your words babe" Razzmatazz noted with an amused snort, Nyanza finally managed to stand upright and take several deep breaths

"Okay, okay I'm good" he assured her, servos of his cybernetic leg whirring as he shifted his weight and struggled to keep his freshly regained composure before adding "I just got the funniest, best news ever"

"You gonna tell me or make me guess?"

"Steven Tealberg wants to make a movie about Team NEON" Nyanza found himself in hysterics again

"You're serious?" Razzmatazz asked, stunned by the answer

"Yeah, apparently they've got scripts for like an entire cinematic universe….Like three Team NEON movies and a spin off" the Faunus cackled "But they need to get clearances and paperwork signed and nobody has been able to get a hold of Heely-"

"Aren't you supposed to be hearing from everyone tonight?" Razzmatazz asked, suddenly feeling giddy as Nyanza's contagious excitability spread to her; ever since Team NEON had gone their separate ways the various members of Team FADE and NEON tried, wherever possible to video call each other at least once a week to stay in touch and the Faunus nodded with barely contained glee

"Yeah, which means I get to be the one to tell him" he was cackling again "Oh he's gonna hate it, all those years of complaining about action films and pop culture references and now he's gonna be the main character….the tribal warrior from some exotic land who came to the big city and met a cute Lion Faunus, who just happened to be the son of one of the last people to save the world it's beautiful" Razzmatazz joined Nyanza in his fit of hysterics, having spent enough time around Helios or at least talking to him over the years to understand just how entertaining his reaction to this news would be until a thought crossed her mind and she immediately needed an answer to the new question

"Okay but if they're making a Team NEON movie, then you're in it….which means I'm in it right?"

"Oh definitely in the sequel" Nyanza nodded enthusiastically "Think about the royalties we're gonna get from this, my folks can retire, we are gonna have so much Lien"

"It's gonna be amazing" Razzmatazz sprung forward and pulled Nyanza into a hug, the two of them barely clothed and drunk on their on excitement doing an impromptu dance in their apartment kitchen until she leaned up and flicked his nose as she delivered a teasing warning

"Don't you turn into a little diva on me now Nyanza" she grinned "I remember the first time you got fan-mail" Nyanza flashed her a bright smile before responding with teasing of his own

"But babe…..I'm gonna convince 'em to have Auburn Freeman voicing me" his girlfriend, debatable as that title sometimes was merely rolled her eye and kissed him

"You're lucky you're cute"

"I'm just lucky" Nyanza countered without missing a beat.


Outside of the limits of Vaccuo's walls the blazing sun had passed its' zenith yet its' rays were no less scorching and the ground was barren and cracked was disturbed further still as the all terrain tires of Felix's car sped across the dusty and lifeless terrain.

The Lion Faunus had named this car the Killer Bee, making it a true spiritual successor to the car his mothers had bought for his eighteenth birthday, though despite them both being muscle cars of Vaccuan origin it was clear from even the most cursory of glances that the two were entirely different beasts. The original Killer Bee has been all broad surfaces and angular let sleek lines that gave it an aggressive appearance whilst this car, an even older vintage vehicle that had been lovingly and painstakingly restored and customised over several long years could only be described as rugged in a way that spoke to something almost primal. A wide yet thin nose with multiple lights and a large, gleaming grill was covered by a heavily armoured cage like contraption whilst the grill led to a large, sweeping hood from which a roaring supercharger protruded; the cars sleek yet brutal form accentuated by wide wheel arches and raised and improved suspension along with all terrain tires, a light rig and armoured roll cage encasing much of its' body and finally a monstrous propulsion system that had clearly been appropriated and jerry-rigged from some kind of aircraft plainly visible and taking up much of the space where the trunk of the car used to be, leaving the new Killer be spewing a trail of flames as it raced forwards; its' matte black paint adorned with a pair of yellow stripes giving the appearance of a comet hurtling towards an impact.

"We should be at the target soon" Helios noted.

"Well look for a cow skull that's nowhere near the rest of the dead cow….that's always the landmark in places like this right, and where is the rest of the cow?" Felix replied almost conversationally despite the seriousness of their situation, managing to make Helios laugh despite himself.

The years had been as kind to the two of them as they had any of their friends and the couple had gone on to become some of the most recognised and well respected Hunters of their generation; appearing wherever they were needed most across Remnant with their friends in tow, laying waste to the Grimm and apprehending organised criminals by the dozen in a seemingly never-ending string of heroic actions.

Felix was perhaps a little taller, though certainly not enough to keep him from being irked by his own height or lack thereof and his cybernetic tail and been replaced and painted a bright, reflective gold as had the cybernetic right forearm that he gripped the steering wheel with; the tribal marking that Helios had tattooed onto the blonde's wrist years ago had been painted onto the limbs surface and was joined by an intricate web of interconnecting tattoos that crossed the point where metal meant flesh and framed the cheap and admittedly tacky lions' head tattoo in a faux-tribal styling that Felix had gotten illicitly as a sixteen year old. Currently he wore an outfit that was simply an evolution of the style of combat gear that he had worn for years, a heavy duty harness adorned with countless patches and cannisters slung across his chest with its' main strap running at an angle and a simple white t-shirt beneath it whilst his jeans, ripped and faded as always were littered with patches he had added himself including rainbow flags and other similar adornments; his usual comfortable and well-worn sneakers had been replaced with a pair of equally broken in armoured hiking boots to account for any inhospitable terrain that they might encounter and he wore additional lightweight armour plating on his shins, left forearm and the knuckles of his single fingerless glove. The Lion Faunus's mane of dirty blonde curls had grown out into something that had to be tied back and simply tamed as best as possible to keep from falling in-front of his eyes and his naturally tanned skin had darkened a shade or two in the sun; overall Felix exuded a feeling of calm happiness even whilst on a mission.

Helios looked much as he always had and the passage of time had simply magnified the effect of his striking appearance; his features were sharper, his green eyes seemed even more vibrant and held the promise of hard-earned wisdom, his naturally spiky crimson hair was cut short at the sides and swept forwards whilst he sported a full but well-kept beard that reached to his collarbones. His armour had been improved over the years, his sisters' ascendency within the Nikosi granting him a near limitless supply of the metal used to make it combined with sheer amount of undisputed geniuses and master weapon-smiths he happened to know had led to the ornate and sigil covered suit of gleaming golden armour being made into something collapse and semi-automated, a true extension of himself although it was currently fully deployed, robbing him the opportunity of a dramatic reveal later; over all Helios looked every part the figure of a dashing warrior prince.

The two of them had never married, though this was simply a matter of circumstance as each of them fully intended for them to spend the rest of their lives together. The Nikosi were not a people who had a marriage ceremony in the sense that the Kingdoms understood it and for Felix making feelings that were known and understood a matter of legal paperwork seemed redundant, instead the two had simply lived together for years both on the Nemesis Kharybdis and in Eagle's house on the outskirts of what was now called Neo Vale and only rarely went on missions that separated them, with Helios being widely regarded as an unofficial fifth member of Team FADE. The Killer continued onwards and the two of them made a little more small-talk with Felix cracking jokes and lowering the radio enough to be properly aware of his surroundings as they neared the general area of their target. The mission was a simple one, infrastructure in the Kingdom of Vaccuo was a questionable thing at the best of times and the roads between the Capital and outlying settlements were often so poorly maintained that they were little more than barren dirt-tracks with only the merest pretence of safety from the Grimm; a condition which prompted many drivers journeying to and from the Capital to brave simply crossing the wastelands themselves to save time and braving the few Grimm that they might encounter, though few were foolhardy enough to venture out into the desert beyond the wastelands without several Hunters accompanying them.

Problems had arisen when signs of a Spawning Pit had been detected in the wasteland an hour or so's drive from the city.

It was likely a newly formed Pit, caused by some coalescing negativity and Grimm that had gone unimpeded for far too long and Felix had noted that some criminal activity here had likely served as a catalyst, possibly a Vaccuan crime family using the vast expanse of nothingness to dispose of the bodies of their opposition. It was all conjecture however, the true size and scale of this potential threat was unknown and the wasteland had never been properly mapped by anybody willing to share that information and so Team FADE had been contacted, the Vaccuan council offering the job to them because of their experience in the matter of dealing with Spawning Pits both with and without the use of the Fracture compound, the monstrous creatures that they produced and any potentially intelligent beasts that might be lurking close by with Felix being the one to represent his team, at least for this initial round of scouting operations and Helios joining him.

An explosion in the distance demanded their attention and made it clear to the pair that they were almost certainly on the right track.

"It came from ahead!" Helios noted as Felix sent the Killer Bee rocketing forwards at even greater speeds, racing towards the source of the impact until finally it came screeching to a halt in a cloud of dust with flames still spewing behind it as the two Hunters leapt out and into action; Felix unsheathing the weapon that had replaced Hack and Slash, a larger machine gun that was still intended to be wielded with a single hand and could be transformed into a chainsaw-bladed longsword which bore close similarities to its' predecessors and had been named simply "Overkill" in what its' owner had considered a stroke of inspiration.

The sight that greeted them was not exactly what they had expected.

The had been a Spawning Pit present, that much was obvious yet it seemed that someone had already beaten them to it. The pit had been destroyed, with the only possible clue being what appeared to be an armoured camper van parked close by but upon its' destruction it had spawned something typically large and destructive, this particular Creature of Grimm was largely saurian in appearance and easily a dozen feet tall and comfortably double that in length if one included its' lashing tail and its' sept forward posture not unlike that of a flightless bird. Its' skeletal form was supported by a pair of wide, three-toed feet and its bony, armoured carapace was wrapped around a mass of rippling black muscle, key features being a the jagged fork that its' tail ended in, the row of large, streamlines spines along its' back and finally its' heavily armoured skull; the things' head was a blunted wedge coated in layers of jutting ridges and adorned with a pair of prominent horns that reached forwards whilst its' snout released twin streams of noxious black smog, the dying embers of some ranged attack still visibly dying down within its' body as a low rumbling snarl that was felt as well as heard escaped the thing.

"Diablotaurus" Helios noted, dispassionately naming the thing.

"Excellent" Felix grinned, twirling overkill in its' sword form effortlessly "You missed out the last time I dealt with one of these….Hold it in place, this is gonna be quick" seeing his long term boyfriend and soulmate smiling so confidently Helios couldn't help but oblige him and quickly activated his Semblance, using the lapse of a few second where the Grimm was torn between unleashing its' rage on whatever had attacked the Spawning Pit or the almost innocuous camper van parked nearby or turning its' ire towards this new target that loudly demanded its' attention. A moment later the saurian Grimm was held firmly in place by the force of gravity as it was enveloped in Helios's crushing Semblance and as the beast roared, with a volcanic glow beginning to emanate from deep within its' core Felix braced himself; shifting his weight and readying his own Semblance as he prepared to surge upwards and decapitate the monster in a single attack.

That was not what happened.

Both men were caught off guard as something burst from inside the camper van and leapt into the air before a blinding flash of light and deafening explosion filled the air and when Felix's keen senses were no longer addled by the force of the attack both he and Helios saw that they had been joined by a third person, only for the sight of the newcomer to leave the Lion Faunus in slack-jawed disbelief; his sword dropping for a fraction of a second before he gathered himself and brandished it

"You!" he spat

"It's been a while hasn't it" the newcomer noted conversationally, the woman was perhaps in her late thirties or early forties and wore her shimmering, platinum coloured hair tied back. Her outfit had the air of having been much more striking at some point in the past with the twin-tails of the sleeveless jacket she wore being somewhat tattered and her mechanical arm being in clear need of some maintenance as Felix could see where dust and grit had built up in exposed workings left bare when an outer covering had been removed; most notable of all however was the fact that the woman was a Mantis Shrimp Faunus whose sleeveless jacket left the iridescent exoskeleton patches adorning her shoulders clearly visible; vibrant things that shifted in colour from deep blue to a shockingly bright orange in a display that Felix would recognise anywhere.

This was Corona, disgraced Huntress and former accomplice of the late Rhodium Torchwick.

The silence was tense and oppressive, broken only by the whistling breeze that kicked clouds of dust into the air as Felix and Helios braced themselves, fingers tightening around the their weapons in case Corona made any sudden movements whilst the former Huntress regarded them with equal suspicion until the entire stand-off was brought to an oddly anticlimactic ending by the arrival of another newcomer, their presence announced by a child's voice.

"Did you get 'em Mum? Is the Grimm gone?" Felix took one look at the little girl that emerged from within the camper van and knew immediately who she was, he didn't need to guess her approximate age and match it against the time when Corona had left New Vale to know that this was Rhodium Torchwick's daughter; her parentage was plain to see in the fiery orange curls of hair that fell over her freckled face and the vibrant colouring of a Mantis Shrimp Faunus which had also taken her fathers' colours, glimmering bronze with flecks and highlights of the magenta colour of Rhodium's Aura. Felix and Corona locked eyes for a moment longer and once he saw the pleading look on the woman's face he turned to the little girl

"Yeah, she got 'em good….what's your name?"

"Rainbow Torchwick, but everyone calls me Rainy" she declared happily, a wide smile showing a missing front tooth.

"Rainy sweetie, go back inside; I'll be with you in a minute" if Rainbow Torchwick heard any of the sudden and just as suddenly buried uncertainty in her mothers' voice she didn't show it, instead she simply skidded happily back into the camper van and left Corona facing down Helios and Felix, the atmosphere between them still unspeakably tense and yet undeniably different until, after what seemed like an age Felix finally spoke

"What're you doing here?"

"I live in Vaccuo….Rhodey sent me out here to stay with his Mum right before everything happened" Corona shook her head and let out a bitter sigh "He never knew I was pregnant, I only realised about a month after"

"Oh" Felix said simply, unsure of what else to add. Corona braced herself as she spoke again

"I couldn't get anyone to watch Rainy for a few days while I took a job on so I told her to wait in the van while I dealt with the Grimm….Not this pit, a smaller job in one of the settlements, where they don't care if your license is revoked-"

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I know I'm still wanted in Vale and I know we've got unfinished business" Corona looked as though she was ready to strike at the slightest hint of provocation as she added "So I want to know if you're gonna try and bring me in or get payback in front of my little girl" Felix tensed, considering his options carefully before realising that there was only one answer that made any kind of sense to him and instead he completely relaxed himself and slung his weapon into its' sheath on his back.

"No" he answered simply "Keep hunting Grimm, keep out of trouble and I don't have any reason to come after you….we're done here, we got what we came for" with that Felix turned on his heel and walked away, Helios close behind and the two of them remaining silent until they were inside the Killer Bee watching Corona climb back into her own vehicle, though it was unlikely that she would leave before they did in case she was followed.

"Was that wise?" Helios asked

"Maybe not" Felix shrugged "But it felt right….If we brought her in fifteen years from now we'd be dealing with another Torchwick crime boss, besides I don't wanna grab someone in front of their kids like that, it's messed up"

"I understand" Helios nodded "So what now?" the Lion Faunus considered, looking at the sun beginning to set and judging both how far they had to travel and how much paperwork they would have to deal with upon their return to Vaccuo before answering.

"Well I know we've got something planned for tonight but I think we can make it back and get the payment for this job collected" Felix gave a roguish smile and a wink "I let her go but she's not stealing a Grimm we were contracted to deal with from right under us" and with that the Killer Bee roared into life once again, with Felix and Helios heading first into the city and then to the ship that they called home.


Neo Vale was a city with a vastly different air and overall demeanour about itself than its' predecessor New Vale or even simply Vale; something that Olivine couldn't help but muse over on her journey home. Where New Vale had been a seemingly endless maze of colossal and interconnected Hive Towers that reached up into the sky like vast monoliths New Vale was more spacious, many of the destroyed Hive Towers had never been rebuilt and instead the expansion of the cities' limits and construction of new settlements had allowed for a less claustrophobic landscape to take their place; a central mass of Hive Towers still existed of course, woven together by hundred of bridges, walkways and monorail tracks which then ventured out into low-rise apartment blocks and affordable houses that had sprung up between them and then the suburbs of the city, all of it connected by an impressive public transport network and watched over by the plethora of anti-gravity platforms, chief among which was Halo Academy where Professor Ren still presided as headmaster with Nora as his deputy and the ageing Qrow Branwen as a trusted advisor; the academy also doubled as a foster home for the lost and forgotten children of the city who slipped through the cracks of the system as Ren and Nora both strived to make the Academy something even greater than it had previously been under their tenure. For a while after Salem's embargo around the city it had seemed that politics would continue as normal and those who called the Kingdom home would largely be left to their own devices where helping them was not profitable, things had changed for the better however when a new force had entered the political arena and carried on the legacy left by Hie 'Junior' Xiong of putting the city and its' inhabitants first and foremost.

Artemis Tan nee Blush, former member of Team GRAP, Arctus Slate's honorary aunt and veteran search and rescue Huntress had run for office and had been elected to a seat within the Kingdom of New Vale's council, representing the poorer districts of Neo Vale City. These facts were pushed from Olivine's mind by simple tiredness mixed with giddy and nervous excitement as she alighted from the monorail, the station close to Eagle Arc's house being one that had been recently constructed and began making her way home.

Life had not turned out exactly the way she or Ether had expected but the two of them were no less happy for it.

They had married soon after Salem' defeat, almost as soon as their injuries had healed enough for them to be considered well again as neither wanted to risk wasting moments that might never come again. Since then Ether, whose career as a Hunter was curtailed for some time but not entirely ended by his injuries had gone on to become one of the Hunters in charge of Neo Vale's defences, guarding the city and Kingdom as a whole, leading an entire division of less experiences Hunters and well trained and equipped soldiers; important work but notably less adventurous in these times of peace. Olivine had the eye she had lost replaced with a cybernetic and several operations, cybernetic implants to repair nerve and tendon damage and skin grafts later her arms and hands had been saved allowing her to live a largely normal life with only the occasional discomfort and some scars that been described in several ways, with her favourite adjective being 'gnarly' to remind her of the battle on Salem's island; for years she had worked as part of and eventually a leader within the engineering teams restoring the city to its' former glory and then even further beyond it but had, for the last few months been taking night classes in order to qualify for a teaching position after hearing from Nora that Professor Peach was planning on retiring; the position of Dust studies Professor was an exciting opportunity and, at least for the foreseeable Olivine was not intending to be working in the field.

Eventually she reached Eagle Arc's house, the home where she and Ether still lived; their blonde friend taking no money from them and simply stating that the house shouldn't sit empty while she was away and stepped inside where Ether's voice greeted her the moment the door had closed behind her.

"Hey babe, how was it?" Ether appeared before her in a cloud of mist, her husband using his Semblance around the house as much as he ever had in battle "Are you hungry, tired? You might have time for a nap before-"

"Ether, Ether I'm good" Olivine grinned as she reached up to kiss him gently, he'd been fussing over her for weeks now and whilst it was endearing it was hardly necessary; the two melted into one another Ether kissing her back until the two locked eyes and a moment later she was lifted off of the ground and pinned against the hallway wall with her legs locked around his waist.

Only for their moment to be interrupted by an incoming call that they were alerted to by the AI system that Eagle an installed in the home as part of her endeavours to make it truly her own.

"I thought we had time?" Olivine laughed

"We did, they must have called early" Ether countered

"You told 'em it was important didn't you?" she noted with a knowing smirk "Don't spoil the surprise"

"Wouldn't dream of it" with that the two of them made their way into the living room, answering the incoming video group call and sending it to the television screen. Ether and Olivine spoke with their former team-mates and their friends aboard the Nemesis Kharybdis on a regular basis and tonight was one such scheduled call.

"Hey guys" Olivine waved as Team FADE, Carcharodon and Helios all came into view on one screen where they were gathered together in a communal area of their ship, Carcharodon's cat curled up on his lap and glaring at Hellion's flock of birds which glared right back. On another screen was Nyanza with Razzmatazz draped lazily across his lap wearing the amused smirk of someone who knew something that others didn't

"How are you guys?" Eagle chirped happily as the remade Sentinel walked behind her in the background with its' hopping avian gait

"We're good" Olivine answered with a stifled yawn "Just got home"

"We're probably gonna be leaving Vaccuo in the morning" Felix added "The job's finished and Arctus and Diamond's seminar went great, so Onyx can just meet us back at the house"

"I'm great" Nyanza noted, his smirk now matching that of his girlfriend "You guys are gonna love this-"

"Nope" Olivine interjected "Nope, we've got big news, me first"

"Okay fine" the Feline Faunus laughed and Olivine paused for a moment before a wide smile split her face as she gave the news

"I'm pregnant" the response could only be described as commotion, an uproar of congratulations, cheers and other such sounds until Diamond's voice managed to be discernable in the midst of it all

"Around three months" at the news Helios fell silent and seemed to consider something before finally speaking up.

"I'll take missions for the next three months then I'll remain in Neo Vale until the child is born to help you with anything you need" he offered, though before Ether and Olivine could thank him he spoke again "Ether...Ollie….You're not of the tribes, but you are still my family….there are certain rites and rituals performed for a newborn among my people, would you allow me the honour of making your child an honorary Nikosi?"

"Heely that would be….that would be perfect" Olivine swallowed thickly, wiping her eye before nodding and turning to Ether as she added "I told you years ago that our kids were gonna have the best Aunts and Uncles" surprisingly it was Carcharodon that spoke next, his rasping voice coming from a gloomy corner of the room

"The tribes are uniting under the Nikosi banner, the Frost River Tribe among them and you've been friends to me for years now….I would happily name your child a ward of my people, should the worst ever happen they would protected and cared for"

"I mean I can't do anything with that much gravitas but I can definitely spoil 'em rotten and teach 'em how to throw a punch" Felix added with a toothy grin, the comment leaving the group laughing.

The call went on for some time and every member of Teams FADE, NEON and GORE that was present found themselves, at various points realising the same undeniable truth; that despite everything they had endure from criminals and monsters to fanatics with devious schemes and even the Queen of the Grimm themselves they had endured.

They were together, they had faced everything life had to throw at them together and they would continue to do so for years to come.


The island Salem had built her fortress upon and made her last stand was no more, it had been bombed to oblivion by the Atlesian forces and the area around it scoured with laser-fire and missiles launched into the depths over a period of months during which the entire island chain was sealed off from any and all outside interference until finally it had been deemed safe to assume that the threat of the Witch had ended and now there was simply nothing there at all. No island upon which to build a monument to the events that had transpired, no exclusion zone to constrain any lingering traces of the great darkness; only an empty space in the midst of a string of largely uninhabited islands that stretched across the vast ocean between two continents.

Yet Salem was not the only great darkness upon Remnant and as long as misery, rage and death existed then so to would the Creatures of Grimm and the Grimm were not as bereft in this new world as the Hunters had allowed themselves to believe.

Pantheon lived.

Their survival roughly seven years ago had been a near thing as they had been trapped with the wreckage of an imploded Atlesian aircraft and cast into the depths of the ocean to be consigned to the darkness and simply forgotten but some malicious twist of irony the same mass of crushed and twisted steel that had intended t serve as their tomb had instead protected them, allowing Pantheon to survive and slowly recover from their catastrophic wounds whilst reaching out to the sole Spawning Pit that they had remained connected to after they had severed their connections to the greater Grimm consciousness and Hive-Mind in order to keep Salem at bay.

For seven long years Pantheon had been slowly rebuilding.

Aquatic Grimm had dragged the remains of the Atlesian craft into the Spawning Pit that the sentient horror held dominion over and, upon realising that Salem's presence was entirely absent from their shared psyche Pantheon had used this sole Spawning Pit to build themselves a fortress worthy of their title as leader of the Grimm species. From the outside the fortress resembled masses of glistening black rock, twisted and jagged spires interspersed amongst broken slabs of sea-floor that rose up at odd angles whilst being given an ominous glow by the exposed magma venting up from beneath them; in truth however these spires were hardened Grimm tissue that served as the first line of defence for a seat of power that had been burrowed far into the seabed, vast chambers hollowed out of the rock and filled with interconnected Spawning Pits and ever expanding tunnel networks in a vast maze a the centre of which sat Pantheon themselves. The Grimm seemed more imposing than ever, their body growing larger, wings growing into a ragged cape whilst the armoured carapace of their skull twisted into a jagged crown; the ruler of the Grimm rarely left their throne however and had not taken to the surface in all the time that they resided in the darkness.

It was not time yet.

The Grimm Hive-Mind was being steadily rebuilt as Pantheon willed it, the Grimm under their sway assaulting other Spawning Pits and bringing them into the fold, each new Pit in turn bringing countless ravenous monsters under Pantheon's command and their hungering, primal psyches rushing into the back of their own mind yet the ruler of the Grimm had made an interesting discovery; the Grimm were continuing to evolve. The Hunters and their new weapons, combined with the sudden absence of Salem's guiding hand had caused the Grimm species to collectively grow beyond what it had been and upon sending scouts to all corners of Remnant Pantheon had learned that sentient Grimm were becoming steadily more common as Alphas crossed some unknown Rubicon and rose above their base instincts or else a Grimm with the ability to reason and plan to some extent or another was simply spawned in some hidden part of Remnant and promptly unleashed themselves upon their surroundings. Pantheon had learned of more than a dozen and whilst many of them had fallen it had proven to them that the situation was one that should be studied, simply consuming and absorbing all of the Grimm into their own forces may not be the best solution after all; Remnant was changing and the Creatures of Grimm were changing along with it, one thing was certain however and Pantheon let out a low, rumbling snarl as they considered one undeniable certainty.

The struggle would continue.

The struggle would always continue.

Authors Notes:

So…..there we are, after almost three and a half years of writing we're finished and I am honestly feeling a lot of things right now.
First off I want to thank every single one of my readers, especially those of you who've left reviews, shared the story to your friends and those of you who started with Downward Spiral and have watched a story that started out with the premise "What if Velvet joined the White Fang" grow into four years of writing a story that spans almost twenty-five years in universe and two battles for the fate of the world.
Also I want to take a few seconds to name some specific names, SumoSnipe has been here the entire time and commented on every single chapter and even wrote his own fan-fiction based on FADE and I think that's worth a mention. Readers like Funlander, TigerRose and FleetOfWarships who've made artwork, you do me an honour far above my station and I can't thank you all enough and any writer who has taken inspiration from my work, whether it be in terms of ideas or simply the motivation to start writing, that is the highest compliment I can receive as a writer and if I may borrow words from a far greater creative mind than my own then all I can say is "Keep Moving Forwards"

As for what comes next….I have a few ideas
First thing's first, my Power Rangers story Aegis is going to have my attention from now and I'm only going to be able to write one chapter a week due to my new work schedule; that story is going to take a few months to finish off so anything else I write will be after RWBY Vol.8 is over and done with.
That being said I do have two more stories I want to tell in the Downward Spiral/FADE verse, a one-shot showing what Jade is doing in this new Remnant (Featuring Nickel) and, as was hinted at in this epilogue I have ideas for another large story involving Athena-Jade and Astra attending one of the Academies.
I've also had the idea of a superhero story in my head for a while and My Hero Academia provides a great setting for the kind of ideas I want to explore with it.
Overall though it's safe to say that I specialise in larger stories that focus on Original Characters because I like using the world of a series as my own sandbox….that being said, whatever I create next I'll be glad to have you all with me.

Now that that's out of the way, let's summarise shall we….one last time?:
Seven year time-skip, because a) it sets up for the potential spin-off/sequel and b) it puts the teams in their late 20s rather than almost 40 like the time-skip Epilogue of Harry Potter.
And also I wanted to show that unlike the "Nineteen years later" epilogue the actions of the heroes have actually had a meaningful effect, rather than the chosen one becoming a cop to uphold the same system that has done nothing to improve itself or prevent another war.
So now the Kingdoms are: Atlas, Mistral, Vaccuo, New Vale (With it's Capital being called Neo Vale) and Menagerie with the Anima Diaspora and Free cities of Mantle are attempting to gain Kingdom status in their own right.
Yep, robot Hellion and as you may have noticed she's actually a later model than Penny and Nickel; they can either have internal weapons/flight systems or a realistic layer of skin, Hellion actually has both….Mainly because the idea of her finally being able to fly after having wings for so long is great; just gave her a big ol' pair of rocket boosters in her back.
THEY GOT MARRIED…Because of course they did, Eagle having a ring ready for the moment Hellion woke up just fit.
Oh did you really think Eagle was never gonna rebuild Sentinel? Sentinel One was a shield/tank-droid, Sentinel two is a Horizon Zero Dawn looking thing.
Marauder is gone, but Hellion has a whole flock of Marauders now.
Eagle in her late twenties, in her prime….Abby from The Last Of Us 2 wants what Eagle has…..She probably still has the old leather jacket around somewhere as well but it's too hot in Vaccuo.
Where else would Car be if he's not fighting but workin on his ship and of course it's been customised to the point of being impossible to classify.
So the ship is home to everyone and everyone is one big family, whilst Car is also preparing to take up the mantle when Qrow finally chooses to pass it on.
I just like the idea of them having a reliable car pool…..And Car having a motorbike, inadvertently taking a side in the ongoing discourse about bikes Vs muscle cars in the Xiao Long household.
Car adopting a stowaway cat was a stroke of genius that I wasn't prepared for until I wrote it.
So Syneffo is the official Queen of the Nikosi now, in her early twenties….She's the one leading the move to unite the tribes and Carcharodon is her advisor, specifically because she wants to hear from someone who will take no nonsense.
Yeah, Car has effectively rebuilt the tribe.
Also, it gets mentioned a few times so here it is; those children that Shine took to the Academy were the first batch of many, Nora and Ren opened part of the campus up as a foster home and since Qrow still lives there Team FADE and Carcharodon are their cool older cousins/siblings/aunts and uncles and the idea of Car as the grumpy but kind-hearted one who teaches the lessons that the Professors can't or lets them play with knives is great.
I felt like it was really important to show Car move beyond needing the validation of his dead sister, but at the same time knowing that he would have earned it.
Of course there would be conspiracy theories about what "Really" happened on Salem's island….the official story is that Team FADE held the line for Ruby to get there after all; in fact what do you think the craziest conspiracy would be, leave a comment.
Arctus and Diamond got married when they were good and ready.
Also I wanted Team FADE to be amazing in their own right and not just coasting off of the victory from the finale of the story…..you can't peak at 21, that's where a lot of fiction fails.
Yeah, they look good in the way that makes you stop and stare, they just radiate "Power couple" energy.
So after seven years they still haven't progressed to taking students out yet, meaning that there's still stuff left for them to achieve.
Pinky promises are legally binding and also, obvious teaser for a possible spin-off was obvious….So who wants the AJ story?
No kids yet but they're a possibility for the future.
"The house" 'cos Ollie and Ether live there but Eagle still owns it and the others all still stay there when they're in town….Basically it's in the trend of not doing what Rowling did, the idea that after everything everybody goes and has 2.5 kids and a semi-detached house in the suburbs somewhere doesn't sit right, especially not for a line of work like Hunters.
So Corvid has repaired and upgraded the Omega Wing to its' full potential and worked Venus's weapon into it; she's also become a fully fledged Atlesian Specialist.
There had to be a pun.
Lux and Rusty are fine, they've got an adopted kid and Corey talks to them regularly; people just have different priorities as they age.
So Air-Raid is most definitely a thing and they're both living their best life…..Which occasionally includes Onyx sneaking into a Kingdom he's technically banned from just to surprise Corvid at work.
Mid-Afternoon behead = she got fucked senseless, let's be real about it.
So yeah Team CLIR officially broke up, Team NEON still exists on paper even if they can be on three different continents sometimes.
Nyanza is doing great, he just needed to branch out on his own….And him and Razzmatazz being off and on again just felt like it fit.
Steven Tealberg no I'm not sorry.
Okay but here me out, if all that Remnant knows is that Teams FADE, NEON and GORE held the line for Ruby….It's actually not inconceivable that people would mistake Helios as the main character of that story and that he'd be the star of any adaptations of it.
…...Oh my god the movie would be like a cross between the MCU and Ember Island Players.
Auburn Freeman…..Because of course.
The new Killer Bee is basically a Dodge Charger adjacent with a jet engine and roll cage to give it a kinda mad-max feel.
The cow skull comment was obviously based on Phineas & Ferb.
Felix and Helios loo great, Fluffy is built like a tank and Heely just looks like pure distilled bad-ass….Also yeah, it was an aside but his armour can collapse now.
They never got married, just 'cos they never felt a need.
Had to have a little Grimm action even in the epilogue, so have a Carnotaurus Grimm just because I was low on ideas (But don't worry I've got plenty for the spin-off).
Yeah flamethrower breath still doesn't work on Fluffy.
Surprise, bet you didn't think we'd see Corona again…..Something something topical.
Even more surprise, there's a child…..Rhodey Torchwick, just like Roman died before he could be a parent to his kid.
And they never saw each other again.
So yeah, Vale is looking good as well.
Artemis of Team GRAP went into politics and took Junior's vacant spot.
Ollie and Ether marrying just makes sense.
They've both got injuries but they can live with them, Ether is basically a Hunter on reduced duties and Olivine is going to be taking a teaching job at Halo Academy
soon.
I dropped a few hints to the reveal before-hand and I hope at least one of you picked it up.
HA one last cock-block, and for once it wasn't Arctus and Diamond.
The last scene of everyone together being a group-chat is the most 2020 thing ever.
See everyone is one big happy family.
….And then I drop the Pantheon post credits scene.
Pantheon is bigger and nastier and has an underwater palace from which they've been rebuilding the Grimm Hive-Mind, only to stop because they want to see how the Grimm evolve without interference first.
….Sounds like spin-off material to me.

Thank you to SumoSnipe, Funlander, MajorBrony95 and Haldrack for their reviews on the last chapter.
Let him start small, he's got a whole lifetime to grow into those hero boots.
I honestly debated with the idea of Eagle & Hellion adopting one of the kids that lives at Halo Academy now, have them be the first of a new generation of the tribe but honestly I don't think they're there yet; this epilogue isn't really an ending, it can be seen as a glimpse at a life that's got plenty of living left to be done
Well they got married when they were good and ready, so Weiss got to break the big binder out at least once and hey, she's got other kids.
Good, I wish every fate worse than death on pencil pushers, bureaucrats and peddlers of weasel words.
You were close to right, they still technically live in the same house; it's just that Ollie and Ether are the only ones that live there full time.
I considered a time-skip to a wedding and then decided against it, it would have been too obvious honestly.
I was never a fan of Adventure Time so I might be biased when I say I don't really see it; there's plenty of ending songs that fit better.
I'm glad that people have enjoyed the Spiral-Verse as much as I've enjoyed creating it.
Yeah everyone is struggling in the last chapter because everything is so raw and fresh, that's why the time-skip is good here, it puts some distance and time to heal between the characters and their experiences.
No Diamond Dust babies, but they're being considered.
The idea that someone has been watching my stories unfold silently for so long is amazing to me and all I can really say is that your presence is appreciated and I'm glad you finally chose to comment.
It's been an absolute experience to say the least and the sudden outpouring of support that I've had these last few chapters has honestly refuelled my passion for writing RWBY stories, so my priorities and to-do list might have to be reorganised a little.

As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review