Before anything else, I own nothing but the original characters. Any content created by RT, or any mentioned artist belongs to them, and them alone. Rest in peace Monty, your vision lives on in us all.

Note: This story is rated M for a reason. This is the only real warning that will be issued.

Any comments made toward any race, color, sex, religion, nationality, or other group, within the context of the the story and the parrallels they draw to the real world, are not opinions I hold.

That all said and done, let's get into the story.

RED TRAILER.

"Legends. Stories scattered through time. Mankind has grown quite fond of recounting the exploits of heroes and villains, forgetting so easily that we are remnants, byproducts, of a forgotten past.

Man, born from dust, was strong, wise, and resourceful, but he was born into an unforgiving world. An inevitable darkness, creatures of destruction, the creatures of Grimm, set their sights on man and all of his creations. These forces clashed, and it seemed the darkness was intent on returning man's brief existence to the void.

However, even the smallest spark of hope is enough to ignite change, and in time, man's passion, resourcefulness, and ingenuity led them to the tools that would help even the odds. This power was appropriately named "Dust".

Nature's wrath in hand, man lit their way through the darkness, and in the shadow's absence came strength, civilization, and most importantly, life.

But even the most brilliant lights eventually flicker and die. And when they are gone... darkness will return.

So you may prepare your guardians, build your monuments to a so-called "free world", but take heed... There will be no victory in strength."

"But perhaps victory is in the simpler things that you've long forgotten. Things that require a smaller, more honest soul. One that can vanquish darkness in it's entirety, and bring order to our world."

"And perhaps you've long forgotten that it was the gods who set that darkness upon us, who gave us this chaos."

"And yet with the gods comes peace."

"And without them, true freedom."

"Perhaps both of you, so old, have forgotten that all it takes is an ideal, spread knowingly or unknowingly, to both keep the darkness at bay, and break the chains that bind the people to their lords, finding balance between freedom and peace, chaos and order. But what would either of you know of such ideals? What would you know of silver linings?"

It was the eve of the 25th of December, 79th year after the end of the war.

A young man and woman had motored across the strait of Patch into Vale River. The young woman was garbed in a black dress and a red cloak, and the young man in a red winter coat. Once moored, they'd walked the streets past midnight to a club under siege. The cloaked woman had gotten a call from her sister, an elder by only 3 months, and at her request, the young man had ferried her from her island home to the Mainland. It was faster than waiting around for a Bullhead, and the young girl knew she could count on her beloved.

The young man pumped his shortened shotgun axe, King Slayer, cracked his neck, and looked down at the girl he'd known and loved since they'd enrolled at signal together. A 17 year old Ruby Rose nodded, as she deployed Crescent Rose. Clayton Sanguis raised his thumbed bare foot, and kicked the door of the club open, joining his girlfriend and her sister in a brawl against The Blackshirt Gang. With the three young huntsmen and huntresses in training working together, the Blackshirt Gang had to bring out their best. Only their best wasn't good enough.

Clayton stood strong in the center of the club, his back to Yang Xiao Long. The two shared a smirk, before Clayton held up his foot, and grabbed a Blackshirt by his head, the hand-like appendage catching the thug by surprise. The gorilla faunus among them threw the goon to the floor, then pumped off a few shotgun shells at men who were approaching him, only for Ruby to sweep in from the sidelines and drag them into the bar with her scythe. The DJ from up above had pulled out a submachine gun, and a rain of dust bullets came down on the red and yellow duo.

Clayton pushed Yang out of the way, and began using his semblance, "Thick Skin." As more and more bullets made their mark, the less damage they did to his aura, until eventually, they did nothing at all. Taking off into a run, slinging his shotgun, and dropping to all fours, Clayton leapt up onto one of the four lighting supports, then climbed up until he was level with the mook using the sub machine gun. Jumping to the platform, fists raised, Clayton let out a roar, before landing all 400 pounds on top of the goon, and hammer fisting him until he stopped moving.

The sisters on the dance floor below swapped a look, before the eldest spoke.

"And I thought I was monkeying around." Yang said, only for Ruby to sigh.

"Clayton is an ape faunus, not a monkey faunus, Yang, you know those are two totally different things, and I know you know how he feels about that." Ruby said, as the large man in question, jumped from the platform he was on, swung off the nearest light fixture, and landed with a thud, on top of the last goon that had tried to sneak up on the sisters. Taking his shotgun off his back, Clayton pointed at two women who approached them. Red and white… Soon to be black and blue. The three spun around as they heard the club's owner pull himself out from behind the booth he'd landed in before the Crimson Couple had entered the establishment.

Clayton looked down at Yang. "I'll take the one with the knife-heeled boots." He said.

"I'll get the girl in red." Ruby said, working the bolt on her baby.

"You guys are just going to leave me to fight the big guy with a rocket launcher and I haven't even built up my semblance? You're like 7 feet tall, you should get Junior." Yang asked.

Clayton shrugged. "I'm actually 6 foot 10, and with all our sparring, you still can't fight people who use their feet."

Yang rounded on him. "Your feet don't count, they're extra hands." She said, as Clayton smirked.

"I got an idea of how you could activate your semblance." He said. Yang's lilac eyes went wide, as Clayton performed a move she'd seen him pull with Ruby during class. Clayton grabbed Yang by her ankle with his opposable foot, swung her around in a kick-like motion, and sent her flying at Junior like a rocket to deal with him on her own. Not missing a beat, Ruby took off to fight the red twin.

Readying his shotgun axe, Sanguis waited for the white twin to charge him, and charge him she did. She attempted to slice at him at first, which only marginally impacted his aura, building up his resistance even further. Swinging low, Clayton attempted to hook one of the girl's feet, and knock her down, however that only gave her a momentary platform to kick off, allowing her to send a shin into his face.

Clayton jumped into the air, and kicked into a spin, catching his opponent by the arm with his feet. Landing with a heavy thud, Clayton gripped the girl harder, and spiked her against the dancefloor repeatedly. Once she looked dazed enough, he tossed her into a barstool, and turned to help his girlfriend, only for a momentarily blinding flash to go off.

Yang and Ruby stood victorious over an unconscious Junior, and a stunned Miltia. Smiling at their small victory, the three gave a resounding round of cheers, only to panic slightly when they heard the police sirens in the distance. Yang took off on her motorcycle, and the Crimson Couple booked it back to the Sanguis family boat. No amount of lecturing from an angry Taiyang Xiao Long about sneaking out past curfew could be worse than being arrested for a big faunus like Clayton.