RWBY & All associated trademarks are property of Rooster Teeth (RIP Monty Oum)

I claim no ownership of anything except my own original characters.

I am making no money from this.

Chapter 99: Solaris Marrs

Rain pattered against the tin roof of the garage of the Xiao Long family home, the sound would have been inexplicably soothing to those within were it not being utterly drowned out by a mixture of music, the sort of sarcastic banter that only siblings and the of best friends could hope to achieve and sound of hard work being done as Felix, along with Corvid and Eagle worked on restoring the Killer-Bee to its' former glory.

"You got that torque wrench?" Corvid enquired, a single grease and oil stained hand protruding out from beneath the muscle car which had been raised from the ground slightly; the rest of the petite Huntress soon following as she slid out, laying on a skateboard kept from her childhood, garish pink and acid green logos and all that had been repurposed for jobs such as this.

"Yeah it's here" Felix reached into one of the many toolboxes that the family shared, maintenance and upgrades being a communal activity in their household and handed over the requested tool. It had been a little over two weeks since Team FADE had returned from their mission and free time had been a rare luxury, meaning that the Killer-Bee had been brought to Patch and left unmended for far too long in Felix's eyes, prompting him to ask his sister to lend her considerable skills and though she had obliged it would no doubt come at a cost.

As her steely grey eyes widened a fraction and she pulled herself into a sitting position Felix realised that the cost would involve being subject to her tormenting

"Oh this is nice" she purred, giving him a smile that was far too sweet and innocent as she examined his new tattoos.

"Here it comes" Felix sighed, deep blue eyes rolling in an exaggerated display that he had no doubt picked up from Diamond whilst nearby Eagle giggled and fidgeted nervously as she hid her own tattoo from view.

"No it is" Corvid assured him in the same amused and sickly tone; the stylised lions' head tattoo that had adorned Felix's right bicep since he was fifteen had been framed by an equally stylised depiction of the sun whilst a second tattoo enveloped his right wrist, reaching back along his forearm which comprised of several of the angular Glyphs that were a signature of the Nikos Tribe, Helios having assured Felix that these similar to tattoos that the redhead himself wore with pride and indicated that Felix had taken part in several acts of heroism. Eagle wore a similar marking on her own right arm, though it was in the far more fluid and primal style of the Frost River Tribe and where Felix had simply shown designs to a local tattooist, Eagle's had been applied by Hellion in what was known simply as 'The old way'

"Did Helios get one as well?" Corvid teased "Have you got matching tattoos now?"

"Yeah all the Anima tribes do 'em" Felix retorted "Hey, you and Onyx could matching tramp stamps; he could probably do yours himself while you're bent-"

"Okay no, you went ta-too far"

"Why is it only ever too far when you get some back" Felix laughed

"I said drop it Fluffy!" Corvid snapped, taking a deep breath and letting out a sigh before apologising "Sorry. It's just me and Onyx….we were never dating, I know he wants to and I keep just hooking up with him….am I taking advantage of the guy?"

"If you are I'm sure he's not complaining" Eagle interjected, quickly covering her mouth and blushing profusely; surprised at herself for the bluntness of the comment.

"You know you can talk to me about anything but I'm going to pretend I didn't hear most of that" Felix, Corvid and Eagle all turned in unison to see Yang who had obviously only recently returned from her weekend patrol of the edge of Patch's woods; golden hair still wet and plastered to her face and producing several brown bags from beneath her jacket, the aroma of the freshly caught and fried fish that made the island beloved by sailors across Remnant wafting across through the garage.

"Ah you're bringing food when you sneak up on us now….fishing for information you might say" Corvid raised an eyebrow and gave Yang a smile

"Gill-ty, I took full advantage of the oppur-tuna-ty" Yang replied, causing Eagle to let out a giggle and Felix's eye to twitch slightly even as he sidled over and pulled his mother into a light hug

"Hey how was work"

"Quiet" Yang shrugged before adding "Spoke to Sun a little though….you know Melanie's funeral was yesterday?"

"I heard" Felix admitted "Wasn't invited so…." he trailed off, news of Melanie's death by causes undisclosed but nonetheless suspected by all had shaken New Vale to it's core and everyone with any knowledge of the Kingdom's criminal underworld, particularly Hunters and law enforcement had been waiting with baited breath for violence to break out between the gangs in earnest, yet so far it hadn't happened

"I want both of you to do me a favour" Yang implored both of her children "Promise me you'll keep an eye on Amethyst, Sun and Miltia say she hasn't spoken in days and she's had to go back to the Academy"

"Will do" Felix promised, in all honesty Yang needn't have asked; he would have been there his old school friend regardless

"Yeah same" Corvid added, wincing slightly before adding "It probably won't be today though. Team CLIR are heading to Lux's place later….oh Iris says thanks for letting us borrow some of your old designs for her upgrading her arm"

"Anytime" Yang answered simply "And you should bring your team around more….We might not see as much of you when you graduate in a few months"

"Oh that reminds me" Eagle added "Felix would you be able to drop me off at Qrow's place on the way back? We were gonna watch some of the Tournament matches in Mistral together"

"Sure" Felix nodded, privately wondering just how many of the tournament matches Qrow watched were because he wanted to keep an eye out for potential fresh recruits to his shadowy group that protected Remnant from things best left unspoken

"Oh and um, I've been thinking and uh…..Do you think maybe you could teach me how to drive? I promise I won't ruin your car" Felix looked at the Killer-Bee, which still needed a little more work and then to Eagle's hopeful expression and found that there was only one possible answer

"Yeah sure, we'll find somewhere quiet for it" another matter soon occurred to Felix however and he found himself with a lump in his throat as he spoke to his mother

"Hey Mum….I'm meeting….her, later on today" there was no need to specify who was meant, he had already told both Blake and Yang that he planned to meet with his biological mother, if only to have questions answered; Yang reached out and gently ruffled his hair

"We'll be here for you no matter what Fluffy, you know that"

"I know" he breathed out; immensely grateful for his families' support as his nerved seemed to abate a fraction "And it really means a lot"

Whilst Felix and Eagle were on Patch Arctus and Diamond had been enjoying the privacy that this had afforded them; slow and sleepy lovemaking followed by a shower together and breakfast before they made plans for their weekend which had been altered almost as soon as they had formed to accommodate a request from Rover and Artemis Tan. Arctus's honorary Aunt and Uncle had called the Bear Faunus's Scroll and asked if he was able to babysit Tuscan for a few hours whilst both of them were working, Arctus had naturally obliged them and both he and Diamond were currently making their way towards Halo Academies' airship terminal, Diamond wearing one of Arctus's hoodies to shield herself from the light rain and Arctus carrying several of their textbooks and currently unfinished assignments in his rucksack; their ongoing conversation about whether or not they would have time to stop off at a toy store on the way and purchase the largest stuffed animal they could find came to a halt as the two of them caught sight of a hooded figure making a beeline towards them

"Is he pissed off or is that just his face? I can never tell" Diamond observed with a bemused sigh, she truly did want to let bygones be bygones and considered Team GORE friends, if not especially close ones but the fact remained that Carcharodon Gore seemed to take everything, especially himself, far too seriously

"Slate" the Shark Faunus rasped out as he drew close, the hood of his thick black cloak pulled low enough to obscure his obsidian eyes, tattooed hairless skull and much of his grey tinged skin, leaving only his blunt nose and fang filled mouth visible in a display that was clearly meant to intimidate by focusing ones' attention on his rows of sharp teeth.

"Seriously, were you just camped out here waiting for us on the off chance we went out today?" Arctus grumbled, utterly unimpressed

"Your father continues to evade me"

"My Dad isn't running from you" Arctus assured him with no small amount of irritable disdain; following their return from their various missions and the subsequent agreement between Teams FADE and GORE to both learn what they could of the speaking and seemingly intelligent Grimm that Team GORE had encountered and combat the threat posed by Rhodium Torchwick, albeit for different reasons, Carcharodon had stopped Arctus and demanded to know if the Bear Faunus had received any word from his father every day without fail

"We need information and I still demand payment for my-"

"Yeah we get it dude, chill" Diamond huffed, growing tired of the incessant pestering herself

"Seriously I don't think you get how busy he is" Arctus sighed "He has an entire branch of the military to run and when he is at home he's got two daughters; calling you to keep you in the loop about things you're not cleared for is gonna be the last thing on his mind. Deal with it" Carcharodon's fists clenched almost reflexively at the perceived insult of the casual dismissal yet he forced himself to be calm; whilst he was a student of the academy he was forced to follow the rules imposed upon him by Professor Goodwitch as much as possible even if did believe that simply beating obedience into those who wouldn't perform a simple task would be effective

"And what of Torchwick? He is still due a reckoning"

"You know every time you call kicking his ass a 'reckoning' you sound even more pretentious" Diamond flashed the Shark Faunus a cocky grin, hoping that a little verbal sparring might help him take things a little less seriously and relax; it was not to be and Carcharodon simply glowered at her in silence until he was given a proper answer

"We haven't heard anything. Everyone knows he killed Melanie Malachite even if nobody can prove it, so he's probably laying low in case of retaliation"

"Like a coward" Carcharodon hissed, every syllable dripping with scorn

"Yeah pretty much" Arctus agreed, stepping past him "But seriously we've got a flight to catch so if that's all?" without waiting for an answer both he and Diamond left and Carcharodon watched them amble towards the airship terminals, simmering with indignation. It was one thing, he thought to himself, to have to follow the rules imposed upon him by the head of this Academy but he was the elected and rightful leader of the last of the Frost River Tribe and to be utterly disregarded was an insult he would not allow to stand; deciding that he would teach Arctus proper manners and respect during their next shared combat class he turned his mind to more important matters, Gangrel Slate had both information and the means to pay Team GORE for the risk they had been placed in when they were sent on a mission without proper information, Carcharodon wanted both and would not be denied and if Arctus was unwilling or incapable of sufficiently motivating his father then another approach would have to be found. Carcharodon remained outside in the light rain for a few moments longer until an idea occurred to him. It would be easy to get what he needed, he would speak with Raffia later and see that it was done.

Raffia found himself hurtling towards the nearest wall at frightening velocity, but rather than simply crumple against its' surface the Axolotl Faunus managed to rotate himself in the air so that when he collided against it he could use the momentum to help him scrabble upwards along the sheet vertical surface; nearing the ceiling he kicked himself off into a backflip that carried him over his opponent and landing in a crouch he launched himself forwards into Onyx's guard, batting the Puma Faunus's attempt to grab him aside and driving an elbow into his gut. The larger Faunus let out a growl of displeasure and blocked Raffia's follow up backhand, promptly grabbing his arm and attempting to manoeuvrer the smaller Faunus into a more manageable position; which Raffia responded to by simply using his small and light frame to his advantage, calmly leaping up and wrapping his arms around Onyx's elbow and making it apparent that either the bulkier Faunus let go of Raffia's arm or he would soon find his own arm broken. Onyx obliged by slamming Raffia into the ground, only for the Axolotl Faunus to handspring himself into a two footed drop-kick that caught Onyx squarely in the ribs and forced him back several paces, allowing Raffia time to recover

The crowd that had formed around them let out a cacophony of cheers.

Onyx and Raffia had found themselves in the gym with the only suitable sparring partner for the amount of tension they wished to release being each other and as such had faced off with no quarter being asked or given; the first and second year students that were given semi-regular and brutal yet effective lessons in combat from Team GORE were the first to take notice of what was happening and had quickly ceased their own exercise and sparring to gather round and watch the spectacle, bringing other onlookers with them as they did so; meaning that as the two of them circled each other it was in the midst of a press of bodies that a lone figure desperately forced their way through and called out

"Onyx, Raffia I need help!" both Faunus halted, yet instinctively remained tense and kept their guard up as they regarded the newcomer with some suspicion. Redshank Bronzewing was unmistakable with his crimson Mohawk and the needlessly overcomplicated sword slung across his back but the fact remained that neither Onyx or Raffia had ever really spoken to the boy and found him seeking them out to be odd, regardless Onyx made a silent gesture to Raffia and the two of them made their way towards Redshank who wasted no time in leading out of the gym and into parts of the academy that neither Faunus had ever properly explored

"What's going on?" Onyx demanded as they continued their brisk pace

"It's Amethyst, she's gonna do something stupid and I can't stop her, I've already tried….Nova and Iridescence are already there-"

"And how is this our problem?" Raffia spat, irked at being denied a good fight by being dragged into other peoples' personal lives.

"Look I didn't know who else to come to, if any of the Professors hear about this she's gonna get kicked out of Halo!" Redshank declared, voice trembling as he marched them beyond the forges and workshops, taking the Faunus lower than the hovering campus's parking lot and into the restricted areas which housed the controls, power supply and workings of the monstrous anti-gravity systems that kept Halo Academy aloft; Onyx's greenish yellow eyes widened a fraction as he took notice of his surroundings and saw that they had entered a storage facility where it seemed that all of the Atlesian robots that were used for various training exercises were stored as well as a vast supply of Dust and ammunition, most likely in case the Academy ever found itself under attack. The sight was enough to give the Puma Faunus suspicions which were soon confirmed when the sound of arguing voices emanated from a store room whose locks had broken off and which Redshank led his impromptu allies towards

"Is this what your Aunt would have wanted?" the voice of Iridescence Lustrous demanded desperately

"THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT SHE WOULD HAVE WANTED!" a voice that could only belong to Amethyst Wukong shot back through tears. Onyx stepped into the previously locked room with Redshank and Raffia close behind him to find that the room was filled with weapons; not the unique and esoteric varieties used by Hunters but instead hundreds of cold utilitarian weapons of destruction, ranging from assault rifles and shotguns to side-arms and even the occasional laser and rocket launcher along with countless sets of body armour. It became immediately obvious what Redshank was trying to prevent from happening

"You're going to war?" he enquired gruffly, Amethyst stopped and looked past her team-mates to the two newcomers

"Aunt Mel is gone" her voice cracked with grief as she almost subconsciously added another pair of high calibre pistols to the plethora of weapons she was carrying on her person "Torchwick did it, everyone knows it but nobody is doing anything"

"Because Torchwick is a lunatic and they'll get themselves killed!" Redshank barked

"How are you even a Hunter when you're such a coward?" Amethyst screamed

"Hey now that's a little-" Amethyst cut across Nova's objections

"NO, YOU'RE ALL WEAK! MY AUNT IS DEAD, YOU UNDERSTAND THAT? DEAD! NOBODY ELSE IS GONNA DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT SO I'M GONNA FIX THIS MYSELF!"

"You're right" Onyx noted, shaking his head in disdain at Team RAIN as he stepped closer to Amethyst "Your team are cowards and weaklings"

"And why are you even here?" the Monkey Faunus snarled as she slung an assault rifle over her shoulder

"Your partner asked as to stop you from doing something stupid" Raffia hissed, pausing just long enough to allow Amethyst to shoot Redshank a hateful glare before adding "Personally I say you should do it, honour demands blood"

"I would agree" Onyx added, mulling over the situation for a moment "Except that revenge like this calls for a lightning strike, catch Torchwick unaware and alone-"

"He's in my Aunt's club! He's taken it over!"

"Which means he's going to be surrounded by well armed allies" Onyx pointed out "And because your team are cowards you'll be fighting them alone; he has weapons and fully trained Hunters fighting for him….This isn't revenge, you'll die before you get close enough to Torchwick to shoot him; this is desperation" Amethyst's tear filled mint green eyes narrowed as she took in the towering Faunus's words before lashing out and punching the nearest wall with a scream of frustration

"Then what am I supposed to do?"

"Wait" Onyx answered simply

"You're not the only one that wants to kill Torchwick" Raffia chimed in, voice dripping with malice

"You said he's at your Aunt's club" Onyx purred "Good to know….We've been looking for him for a while. When we make our move against Torchwick we'll bring you with us; Hellion was only scarred, your claim on his head is greater than ours"

"Promise me this isn't just a way to make me stop, promise that we're actually gonna bring that bastard down"

"You have my word" Onyx grunted gruffly, holding out a hand for Amethyst to shake before turning to leave; intending to tell Carcharodon that they had a possible location for Rhodium Torchwick, stopping to lean down and growl in Redshank's ear as he did so

"You aren't fit to lead….my people would have left a coward like you at sea on a raft with no supplies and forced you to either act or die" with that Onyx and Raffia made their way out of the restricted area, silently agreeing that they had much more important places to be.

If one were to view the sparse woodlands from the air they would have been horrified to observe what appeared to the uninitiated to be several streams of darkness making their way through the tree and converging upon a single roiling mass within the trees; to a well trained eye, or simply to one viewing the situation up close however it became apparent that the streams were in fact no such thing.

They were Creatures of Grimm

Dozens of streams of Grimm weaving and stalking their way through the trees like some terrible migration in seemingly organised formations that stood at odds with their typical behaviour. Within the woodlands, at the centre of the growing horde of monsters and silently conducting their movements from a position perched upon a fallen tree, was Pantheon.

"Silence" the monstrous Grimm snarled at a pair of Beowolves that snarled and snapped at each other, flexing a clawed limb in warning and forcing both of the lesser beasts into submission with a wave of mental dominance. Pantheon surveyed the assembled Grimm before them, a pack of Beowolves numbering roughly two hundred; a sizeable force capable of overwhelming easy prey but far from enough what Pantheon needed.

Beyond the woodlands was a settlement; whilst Pantheon had no knowledge of Remnant's people other than that they were prey to be consumed the settlement was in fact one of the largest on the continent of Vytal outside of the Kingdom's of Vale and New Vale, the latter of which considered the settlement part of its' territory. The settlement was large enough to be considered a small city in its' own right with a population that numbered in the tens of thousands and a train line to the capital city as well as its' own airship terminal; it occupied a vast area of land, all of which was enclosed within walls that Pantheon themselves may have been able to fly over but would repel the Beowolves that the monster had gathered to them with ease.

This presented Pantheon with a conundrum, they had two choices. Their first option was to simply ignore the settlement, to move around it without drawing the attention of its' inhabitants and continue gaining more and more subservient creatures of Grimm by consuming the Alphas that they came across as they made their way towards their target. The second option was to assault the settlement, to breach its' walls through one of its' many entrances and kill everything that lived within, using the psychic backlash of the countless deaths as a beacon to draw other Grimm to the ruined metropolis, where Pantheon would be free to consume the leaders of the various packs and swarms and multiply their own forces with much less wasted time and effort. The deciding factor would be the defences of the settlement, Pantheon had faced the machines that the prey used to defend themselves and would not see their fledgeling horde cut down prematurely; instead the Grimm turned to a small cluster of the gathered Beowolves which included the pair that had been silenced a moment ago

"Take the city" the word city itself was new to Pantheon, part of the rapidly expanding knowledge and intelligence that had come with acknowledging the feminine and all consuming voice in their psyche that they knew only as 'Mother'; Pantheon however ignored such trivial details and instead paid close attention to the cluster of half a dozen Beowolves as they bounded through the trees in the direction of the city. By traversing along the broken remains of the Grimm hive mind, through connections that had been formed when they consumed the packs' former Alpha, Pantheon could see through the lesser Grimm's eyes and subtly influenced their movements, causing them to fan out and burst from the treeline at least a dozen feet apart. The response from the inhabitants was near instantaneous, dozens of weapons mounted along the perimeter wall were brought to bear and in a matter of seconds Pantheon's consciousness was forced to retreat back into their own body as the Beowolves were torn to shreds by gunfire, none of them getting within fifty feet of the wall itself.

"No matter" Pantheon snarled, with the decision made they leapt from the fallen tree that they had been perched upon and unfurled their wings; gliding out in front of their pack and issuing orders as they landed

"Come, we find more of us" Pantheon stalked away from the city and the Beowolves, despite everything that their nature made them followed and obeyed.

Rhodium Torchwick was almost always well dressed and dapper out of habit, years of poverty having given the young man something akin to a phobia of appearing anything less than suave and extravagant in public ever since he had first making his own money by stealing Scrolls at the age of eight. Today however Rhodium was especially well put together as though he wanted to make a point. Dressed in a tailor fitted white suit from a designer whose prices bordered on obscene and an equally expensive black shirt beneath it, a magenta tie the same colour as his Aura hanging loosely around his neck whilst the top two buttons remained undone, displaying a gold chain around his neck which was complemented by several rings adorning his fingers; a black leather duster coat was worn over the suit which anyone with an ounce of sense knew was filled with at least half a dozen hidden holsters for small firearms. The mobster twirled Melodic Cudgel in one hand as he stepped out of his latest imported sports car, this one sporting a glossy white paint job with magenta stripes and glistening chrome wheels; planting his cane on the ground he took a moment to simply take in the sight of his destination.

Junior's nightclub.

Or at least, it had once been Junior's nightclub. Rhodium had, through a mixture of finesse, an extremely well paid legal team, intimidation and blackmail managed to extract an agreement from former mob boss and current member of New Vale's Council Hie 'Junior' Xiong that there would be no more violence and that the broken remains of the Black Bear Syndicate would either submit to Torchwick's leadership or stand aside and hand over their territories. Rhodium had his doubts however, fully expecting Junior to strike once he had mourned his late niece sufficiently; as such security at the nightclub was openly armed and comprised entirely of most reliable people for tonight's grand re-opening.

The Nightclub itself had changed little, except that interior had been refurnished slightly and recoloured to suit Torchwick's personal tastes and aesthetic whilst the most noticeable difference was on the outside, the large sign proclaiming the venues name had been replaced with one that read 'Corona' in bold silver letters; the gangster had glowered at any of his subordinates brazen enough to shoot him knowing glances upon hearing the clubs' new name. Privately Rhodium admitted that he liked the way the name rolled off the tongue and it had the right kind of sexy connotations for a nightclub; although that might have just been him projecting things. After a few moments of marvelling at was in essence a trophy and proof of his conquest of the city Rhodium began to make his way towards the clubs' entrance; many of the security staff nodding in recognition at the sight of their employer whilst Torchwick himself only returned the nod upon seeing Vert was present, the younger man wearing a black suit with a pale green shirt and a needlessly long and heavy chain tucked beneath the collar as if it were a tie, his dyed green dreadlocks were tied back and a pair of holsters containing heavy duty handguns were clearly visible over his waistcoat. Vert didn't speak but simply nodded slightly at something to Rhodium's left; the redhead turned and frowned in annoyance at the sight that greeted him

"We don't open for another two hours, VIP seating is all booked out in advance" the mocking tone was addressed to a small group of police and Hunters who made no effort to disguise their presence or identity despite their lack of uniforms as they pointedly stared down Torchwick and his associates. Chief amongst the group were a trio comprised of a slender man with scarlet hair that was swept to one side and piercing eyes with a clearly cybernetic left hand and a curved sword hanging at his hip; a feline Faunus with mismatched eyes and light brown skin who casually held a modified sniper rifle against their body; the third was a Husky Faunus, a man whose face was hidden by a gunmetal mask which was soon removed to reveal brown skin, a small afro and beard and bright blue eyes. The Husky Faunus scowled at Rhodium and raised two fingers to his own eyes before pointing at the redhead in a gesture that clearly conveyed the message 'I'm watching you'

"Yeah fuck your mothers" with that he sidled into the club, trusting that Vert and his crew of armed thugs would keep the authorities and other annoyances outside. Torchwick made his way through the currently empty venue, dismissing the attempts at small talk from his new employees and making his way through the main club and into the back rooms which had once been a something of a holy grail that aspiring gang members wished to be invited into; Rhodium ignored them and opened a hatch hidden beneath a luxurious rug and leapt dramatically down into an area that was comfortably the size of an apartment intended for a small family, the rumoured bunker beneath Melanie Malachite's stronghold was real and Torchwick had already put the space to good use.

"Ah Mister Torchwick" the grandfatherly voice of Ozymandias Eldritch greeted him, turning businesslike as he continued "Work is progressing on the enhancements for your wounded lady friend, but they're progressing slowly I'm afraid; if she were to visit in person I would be able to make the necessary adjustments much-"

"Corona's still recovering, she'll come when she's good and ready" Rhodium interrupted, suddenly oddly defensive, tone becoming cold and harsh as he palmed one of the many handguns he was carrying "I came to talk about something else….I'm gonna need you to tell me why that last shipment was light Oz; I don't like people short-changing me when I pay for something"

"Ah, that will have to be filed under business overheads I'm afraid; Nickel tested the potency of the batch and took some for the road" Rhodium's eye twitched as he processed first the way that Ozymandias had effectively told him that his drugs had been stolen and he would just have to deal with it and then the arguably more important issue

"Hold the fuck up!" He spat "Your heavy hitter is a Booster fiend? Are you fucking dumb? We give that shit to the runners and nobodies, we don't get high on our own supply, what type of amateur shit are you running here?"

"I understand your concerns" Oz admitted, speaking slowly as if he were explaining slowly "But Nickel Polendina is a special case….In fact it was knowledge of her unique abilities that led to my refining of an early attempt at a combat drug into what you call Booster"

"What abilities?" Rhodium demanded, finger still on the trigger of his weapon

"She is utterly immune to any form of chemical attack or negative side-effects of Booster's narcotic component" Rhodium needed a few moments to process the answer before he spoke again

"So you're telling me" he began hesitantly "That she's got a Semblance that means she can hoover up Booster, get the power up without any problems"

"Precisely" Ozymandias nodded enthusiastically "No addiction, no health risks, no catastrophic loss of higher brain function"

"Well thank fucking Oum that she's a rare case then, we'd be pretty much fucked if our customers could all quit that easy" the redhead growled, finally lowering his weapon before asking a pertinent question "Where is she now, I wanted all hands on deck for tonight….even if she does look about twelve" Ozymandias glanced up from his work station which was surrounded by drugs, mechanical components and countless reams of paper covered with schematics and equations; whilst his face was covered by his beaked mask Rhodium was sure the mad scientist was smiling

"Oh she went out, there was a Hunter whose latest deployment would have caused some problems for my own research and long term goals….Nickel is going to deal with things for me"

Skye Lark grumbled to himself as the sound of windscreen wipers that were in need of replacing squeaking against the bulletproof glass of the windscreen itself, the sound being a source of deep annoyance for the admittedly foul tempered and petulant man. The rain that had persisted all day had relented somewhat even if it had failed to cease entirely and the road leading away from New Vale's capital was thankfully quiet, Skye's repurposed and heavily armoured school bus passing few other vehicles as he embarked on a journey that would carry on through the night and see him arrive at the location of his next mission in the early hours of the morning. These small mercies however were far from enough to bring a halt to the mans' complaining

"Bitch has turned 'em into ungrateful little shits, filled their heads with lies" he growled, alcohol that brought him dangerously close to the legal limit on his breath as he protested against the perceived injustices against him. His divorce had been a messy one that had cost him the house that he had saved for several years to buy and severely limited his access to his children as his ex-wife claimed that he was unfit to raise them; Skye gave no thought to the accusations and simply powered through them with bull-headed ignorance but his own children seemingly trying to avoid him was something that stung despite his best attempts to explain it away and cast blame. His youngest daughter was too young to truly understand what was going on between her parents whilst Skye's middle child, Russ who had been named for the fallen member of Team CRDL, had specifically asked Skye not to pick him up from school, claiming that the sight of the armoured school bus named 'The Road Warrior' was a constant source of embarrassment and that if the other kids found out that his father actually lived in then Russ would have to change school. The final straw however had come when Skye had learned that his eldest child, his fourteen year old daughter was dating a Faunus boy; the revelation having caused a shouting match between him and his ex-wife that had ended with him being ejected from the house that he had bought and told in no uncertain terms that his children were far better off without him.

"Oh now what the fuck?" he demanded to nobody in particular as his headlights cut through the gloom of the early evening, highlighting a lone figure stood in the road.

"Oum damn it all" he grumbled as he brought the Road Warrior to a stop in front of the figure; they were far away enough from the nearest settlement that simply ignoring their plight and continuing to drive would be considered a dereliction of his duty as a Hunter, tempting all manner of legal repercussions that he could ill afford. Skye couldn't make out much due to the glare of his headlights but it seemed that the person blocking the road was a young woman or possibly a teenage girl who oddly didn't seem to be waiting near her broken car, as was the instruction usually given to stranded civilians. Letting out an annoyed huff Skye killed the engine and exited the bus, the girl walking around to the door as he did so

"Okay what happened, where's your car? let's get this over and done with so I can….wait a minute, don't I know you from somewhere?" he peered closet at her and realised that with her emerald green eyes and coppery hair she looked very much like Penny Polendina; though he was sure he remembered roughly when the media had worked themselves into a frenzy over Penny and Ruby's children being born and this girl seemed too old to be one of their twins

"I don't think I'm on any wanted posters yet?" she smiled at him innocently

"Funny" Skye growled, gesturing at his bus "Come on get on, I'll drop you off at the next settlement and get you a hotel room. Pick your car up tomorrow, I've got places to be"

"Slight problem with that buddy" Nickel Polendina's grin turned savage "That thing is clearly not road worthy….not any more" before Skye could furiously demand to know exactly what her problem was Nickel held her right arm out straight, palm open and pointing towards the bus, the bitter mans' eyes widened in fear and an utter lack of comprehension as her bare forearm seemed to peel, half a dozen strips of synthetic flesh and tissue expanding outwards and rotating around the Atlesian Steel that formed her internal framework; an eerie green light forming around each of the hovering and spinning components before transferring to her forearm and streaming into her palm. Skye Lark had a single moment of warning, wasted as he tried to make sense of whatever advanced prosthetic this girl had before the light coalescing in her palm burst forward in a single lance of energy, boring a hole through the side of the Road Warrior with ease.

"WHAT THE FUCK?" Skye roared "HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO PAY FOR THAT?"

"Oh that's a mood" Nickel Polendina smirked, her right arm retracting back into its' default state and a moment later her left lashed out in a backhanded strike that sent Skye bouncing and rolling to a stop on the hard wet asphalt, spitting out a mouthful of teeth as he rose to his feet

"BITCH!" with no more to be said he drew his halberd and charged, caring little for who his attacker was or what she wanted; only that his prized mobile base of operations had been reduced to ruined scrap

"Oh honey no" Nickel laughed as she sidestepped Skye's attack, catching the shaft of his weapon as the broad blade of the halberd passed her and with an almighty screeching of metal breaking the weapon in half whilst spinning away from her opponent; leaving Skye stood in abject shock

"H-How?"

"Not with the power of flex tape, I know that much" with another twisted smirk Nickel hefted the blade of the broken Halberd and, with her Aura crackling around her hurled it directly into Skye's chest. The Hunter sailed several dozen feet backwards through the air, landing on his back with the blade that had pierced his chest jutting out of his damaged armour, he made several failed attempts to rise to his feet before realising the futility of it, his breathing reduced to ragged and laboured gasps though he managed to raise his head enough to see his attacker, allowing him to watch as she unveiled the true scale of her power.

"Oh that's the good stuff" Nickel breathed out as Booster began to course through her system, dispensed with a mere thought and causing her eyes to glow and her Aura to enlarge and ripple as though it had been made unstable somehow. As the drugs took effect the rogue android activated a feature that was absent in her predecessor, panels to the sides of her shoulder blades opening and allowing the collapsed forms of wings and a propulsion system to slide into place and unfurl themselves as Nickel engaged her flight mode.

At this point Skye had seen enough and chose to escape, not realising that it was far too late and had been since the moment he had seen Nickel Polendina in his headlights. The copper haired android stalked over to the remains of the Road Warrior and she grabbed the rear bumper of the ruined vehicle before kicking off of the ground, hauling the bus into the air with her as she adjusted her grip and made sure to angle the spiked plough that had been rammed into many Grimm at high speed over the years downwards and towards her target

"YEET!" she exclaimed with a terrifyingly enthusiastic laugh before hurling the Road Warrior at the wounded and all but crippled Skye Lark whose final utterance was a scream of terror.

The vehicle exploded and Nickel watched the flames for several moments before deciding that her target had certainly been eliminated, at which point she returned to the ground and retracted her wings back into her body whilst walking around the inferno she had created; noting to herself that it would certainly take some time and effort to make this look like a simple traffic accident to avoid suspicion as she had been ordered to do.

Nickel was far less bothered by this fact than she could have been however, she had enjoyed herself after all.

Night had fallen over New Vale and within the monolithic towers that formed the majority of the Hive City the lighting that acted as an artificial day and night cycle had dimmed, one exception to this however were the monorail stations which served as the bulk of the capitals' public transport. Felix Xiao Long was currently exiting one such well lit platform, grumbling to himself as he went

"Seriously, what the hell was that smell?" the loss of the Killer-Bee, however temporary it was, had managed to irk Felix deeply and her had begun to take every annoyance of public transport from the perpetual lateness to his fellow passengers who seemed to have no concept of personal space as a deep and personal insult.

Despite his tribulations however he was close to his destination and now that he didn't have the distractions of the monorail his heart had begun to hammer in his chest and his nerved tightened into a cold dead weight in his stomach; Felix followed the directions he had been given relentlessly in an act of pure willpower and defiance despite the unmistakable temptation to simply turn and walk away. Eventually he found what he sought and lowered the hood of his sleeveless jacket and ran his hands through his dirty blonde curls as he took several slow breaths in a failed attempt to calm his nerves as he took in the sight of the establishment before him. He had found himself in Tower Complex Forty-Five which was home to Ether Arashi of Team NEON who had warned him in advance that this part of the capital had been amalgamated into Rhodium Torchwick's territory for some time; this particular level of the gargantuan tower was a little way above the slums of the lower reaches though still formed a distinctly working class part of town if the amount of tired looking workers clad in overalls and high-visibility vests going about their business were any indication, the business Felix currently stood outside of was a cafe with the unimaginative name of 'The Greasy Spoon' which judging from its' overall appearance and those patrons that could be seen within, seemed to cater to those same tired workers.

"Okay, show time" Felix whispered to nobody in particular in one final attempt to prepare himself before pushing the door open and stepping inside, a wave of comfortable warm air washing over him

"Take a seat, I'll be with you in a-Oh!" the waiter who had begun speaking the moment Felix entered did a double take before pointing to a secluded corner at the back of the cafe "She's over there, she's been waiting to see you"

"Thanks" Felix gave the spindly and acne scarred boy Felix was almost certain was younger than himself a nod before directing his attention towards the table he had pointed to. Everything around Felix seemed to vanish as he found himself staring at a woman who was perhaps a few years younger than Blake and Yang, wearing an apron that suggested that this cafe was her place of work and who first surprised Felix by not being a Lion Faunus; skin perhaps a shade or two darker than his own naturally tanned complexion was adorned with small reptilian scales that were dotted along her cheeks in an imitation of freckles before becoming more prominent along her arms and shoulders, her hazel hair was shoulder length and just as curly as his own and her eyes were a deep sea blue.

The Crocodile Faunus was Myrtle Marrs, Felix's biological mother.

Felix walked over on legs that seemed far more compliant now that he had taken the proverbial plunge and the moment Myrtle caught sight of him her eyes seemed to light up as she gave a broad smile, revealing that her teeth were sharp, though not in the same way as Felix's overlong canines

"Oh my Oum, you're here….look at you" Myrtle gasped, wiping her eyes and evidently forcing herself not to simply pull him into a hug

"Yeah I'm here" Felix nodded, resolutely ignoring how watery his own eyes were becoming "Sorry I took so long to show up….My face has been a bruised up mess from my last mission and y'know, first impressions"

"So like your father" the words were obviously out of Myrtle's mouth before she could stop her, her jaw snapping shut as Felix found himself looking around the cafe for any sign of another Lion Faunus, if Myrtle was Reptilian than his traits must have been inherited from his father

"So….is he meeting us here?" it was obviously the wrong thing to say, Myrtle looked at him in abject horror with tears streaming down her face

"Oh….Oh my, you don't remember do you?" she didn't specify and she didn't need to, Felix shook his head sadly

"I don't remember anything before the orphanage I was in with Corey before we were adopted….Shrinks say I've repressed it all"

"I had you when me and Ingot were both eighteen; I had to drop out of college and his job didn't pay enough so when they started renting out apartments right by the exclusion zone wall for cheap we took one, it was all we could afford" her words took on a frantic edge and she sounded painfully close to an utter breakdown "The Grimm broke through the original wall and we couldn't evacuate fast enough; a Grimm ran the car off the road, you weren't moving and it was ripping through the car to get at Ingot….Oh my Oum I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry I just ran; I thought you were already dead and there were so many people unaccounted for afterwards, I swear if I'd known that you were still out there somewhere I would have found you" Felix reached across the old, battered wooden table and squeezed her hand gently, frantically trying to keep his own composure as he spoke

"We're here now, that's that matters" his mind was racing as he processed answers that he hadn't truly realised how badly he had needed until that moment; he wasn't the abandoned child of some junkies, his life as he knew it had been the result of happen-stance and tragedy yet he knew deep down that he would never wish to change the family he had for any reason.

"I got home from work one night last year and Astra was staying up late watching the Vytal Tournament with Redwood and I saw the end of your doubles round match, the moment I saw you I knew" Felix found himself grinning until a detail that stood out to him seemed to need clarification

"Astra and Redwood?"

"Redwood is my partner….I loved Ingot with everything I had but-"

"You don't have to explain yourself to me" Felix assured her "I'm glad we met and I'm glad that you're happy and doing well"

"Astra is your brother" Myrtle added, shocking Felix into wide-eyed silence "He's nine and a half and he can't wait to meet you" Felix had never even considered the possibility that his biological mother had gone on to have other children; struggling for something to say Felix finally managed

"Well tell him his big bro Felix wants to meet him to" as the words left his lips he caught a brief change in Myrtle's expression, a slight saddening of her eyes that vanished in a moment

"Everything okay?"

"That's not your name" she croaked out, wiping her eyes as she spoke "At least, not the one I gave you"

"I, what?" Felix demanded in utter disbelief; during his brief stay at the orphanage and early into his life with Blake and Yang he had been non-verbal, a silent child who had been capable of expressing anger and little else. Blake and Yang had named him Felix for a childhood friend of Blake's who had died saving her life before the onset of the war against Salem, Felix had no memory of having any other name.

"Your name is Solaris Marrs" she told him tearfully "Or it was, it's not my place to….I mean….I'm sorry, I planned so much for this moment and now that you're here I don't know what to say"

"I know what you mean" Felix replied somewhat absently, still reeling from the twin revelations he had received.

"So, tell me about yourself? We have so much to catch up on" Myrtle asked gently, prompting Felix to nod in agreement as he trying to figure out where to start.

He realised that he was just as lost in this moment as Myrtle was, nothing could have prepared him for this.

Authors Notes:

So, welcome to Vol.8
I would say sorry for being absent for a week but I really did need the break.
Hope this was worth the wait.
Also I was rereading some of Vol.6 and 7, I realised that somewhere Project Lineage became Project Legacy….I can't remember when and why that decision was made but Project Legacy is Nickel and I'll go back at some point and correct all mentions of Project Lineage.
In RWBY related news, who else has seen the character from 'After the Fall' Carmine; you thirsty people all began shipping her with Coco and I can certainly commend your choices.

Anyway, let's summarise shall we:
Rain on the roof….If it wasn't for the colour naming rule then ASMR could have been a team name.
Corey had a skater phase, it's canon now.
Seriously, you can't tell me that repairs and upgrades isn't something that the Xiao Long's and Rose's do as a family.
Felix has a lion's head surrounded by the Sun tattoo now, I'm sure that doesn't require any explanation; he and Eagle have also gotten proper tribal marking that members of the Anima tribes would recognise….though only Eagle had hers done the traditional way.
Yeah, as open and understanding as Yang is I don't think she wants to walk in on conversations about Corey getting casually dicked down.
Eagle learning to drive….I already have a car in mind for her but it won't be for a while yet.
Arctus and Diamond are always adorable, and the polar bear carrying a teddy bear is a mental image you know you needed.
Carcharodon has resting bitch face.
It's a testament to the increasing scale of the antagonists that Team GORE, even Carcharodon just get laughed at and brushed aside now; in first year they were a serious threat.
If a plan starts with "Get Raffia involved" it's probably underhanded.
You know that scene in the Matrix where Neo and Morpheus are sparring and Neo runs up the pillar, that's how I imagined the start of the sparring match scene; honestly just to remind everyone that Raffia is a beast of a fighter when he wants to be.
Redshank Bronzewing really is kinda soft.
Amethyst just geared up with everything she could carry and was prepared to march herself down to Melanie's old bar and take out everyone she could before they killed her.
So, Onyx and Raffia know where they can find Torchwick now.
Life in the Frost River Tribe was rough.
I just want you to think about the level of intelligence that Pantheon showed here; Phobos would never have thought to test the defences of New Vale like that and would definitely never thought of attacking smaller targets just to use them as a beacon to gather more Grimm for the main assault, Pantheon is getting smart.
So Junior is currently not going to war with Rhodey, that can change later.
This isn't even Rhodey being smooth, re-naming the club is Rhodey having a crush and having no idea what he's doing.
So remember how Rover said he had a few good cops who couldn't be bought off? Rover, Artemis, Scarlet and Rover's cop buddies are now openly making a point of trying to shake down Rhodey and his people.
So Corona is fine, she's just not coming out in public at the moment.
The balls of Eldritch lol.
So let's make this clear, Oz started working on Booster specifically as an additional power source for Nickel. He's been playing the long game and having a stronger and more resilient breed of Hunter that can have programmed loyalty was always part of the plan.
Rhodey just assuming that Nickel's Semblance is what allows her to safely process chemicals like Booster is reasonable all things considered.
Skye's life has not gone well for him, but considering that's he's still a racist, bigoted school bully who refuses to take any responsibility for his own failures then there's no reason it should have gone well.
Just take a moment to consider that in First Year Rhodey would be willing to stop his convoy of guns to help anyone who was stranded out on the roads between settlements because he might a mobster but he has standards; now compare that with actual career Huntsman Skye Lark who's only stopping because he could be charged with negligence if he didn't, the guy truly is a dickhead.
So what's Nickel's main weapon, the photon accelerator that Penny's original body had (Where her swords formed the focal point of the attack) Nickel has two more compact versions, one integrated into each arm.
Her flight mode is based on Penny's in the manga (So tempted to have her use the word 'Hip' at some point).
Nickel is a sadistic bitch, it's not just that she's completing an objective; she's having fun doing it in the most over the top way she can.
The real question here is what was Skye's mission that would have interfered with Oz's plans?
No but seriously though, fuck public transport.
So, that's Felix's biological mother and how he came to be in the ruined car that Corey found him in as a child with nobody else around.
I'm not going to lie I was having fun dropping revelation after revelation here.
No Felix is never going to use his birth name or ever really acknowledge it, I just wanted it in there because it's canon that Blake and Yang gave him the name Felix so he obviously had another name beforehand.
Yes we're going to meet Felix's half-brother.

Thank you to SumoSnipe, iSassenach, DizzyDwarf, Ferrous and Funlander for their reviews on the last chapter.
Well that's probably why they formed a shadowy secret society that functions outside of the government.
We'll be getting a little Coral and Athena-Jade next chapter.
Oh it's gonna be a stern talking to for someone.
Nickel….'cos she's worth five Pennies (In her own head at least).
Nickel's way of speaking is supposed to be a caricature played for effect….partially because I want you to genuinely love to hate this character; she's aware of how she sounds and is actively trying to irritate people who can't do anything to her.
Yeah Rhodey did not come to play fair.
I'm toying with the idea of Nickel dying her own hair later on in the story.

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