Chapter 5: Prelude

A few days had passed since the beginning of clases. Gale hadn't had formal education in years and having to do it now was torture for him. He had yet to hear from Junior or Neo. Junior was easy to convince, the man was n information broker much like any he had met before. He was reliable and his prices were surprisingly fair.

Neo on the other hand was... Peculiar, the ice cream themed midget was very resourceful. As she told Gale there were murmuring around town and some sort of cults were forming. She didn't know the location but she promised to contact him once she knew.

Now all that information would cost a fortune normally but she decided that the price would be to take her out for a dance. Gale would have preferred to make Ozpin go bankrupt instead of having to dance with Neo ever again. But that was the situation he found himself in...

"Mr Greene are you paying attention?" A stern voice scolded?

"Huh? Yeah mom" he said sarcastically. Glynda had taken onto herself to tutor the young Demon Hunter. Gale appreciated the help and how dedicated she was to her students but keeping studying was boring to him. Sure he could sit through a few clases but this was cramming an unholy amount of information into a few hours.

"Please pay attention mr Greene" she scolded.

"I'm trying! But I can't take it anymore!" He grumbled. She let out a sigh and closed her book.

"I understand this might be a bit overwhelming... Tell me did you have any sort of formal education?" She asked a bit concerned before he chuckled.

"When I was a kid yeah but after I moved in with grandpa things changed. Became fully invested into demon killing." He said reminiscing. "My grandfather was a raging asshole... His way of teaching was tossing you in and leaving you to fend for yourself. But... He was a man of principals..."

"May I ask what happened to him?" Goodwitch said softly.

"He killed himself." Gale said calmly.

"W-what? Why?" She asked horrified.

"The one other person he was teaching turned to the dark arts. Made a pact. The stain on his honor was too much. The only way to atone for the pain his mistake would bring was suicide." Gale explained tapping his fingers on the table.

"But... What about you? What about stopping his student?" Glynda asked.

"I know you don't understand... Hell even I don't but he was a product of his era. Honor was the most important thing... And he atoned for the ultimate crime by cutting his chest open..."

"Did... Did you ever find the other student?"

"Himiko?" Gale asked his voice full of venom. "Tracked her to an old mine in bumfuck nowhere. Killed her with my own two hands and had the mine collapse on her. My grandfather can rest in peace knowing that."

"I believe we've done enough studying for today..." Glynda said. She stayed quiet for a bit before speaking up. "I will make the correct rearrangements to our sessions now that I know what to expect."

"What?"

"It was foolish to believe I could use the same methods I normally use to teach on you." Glynda explained.

"So you're now going to toss me of cliffs more often?" Gale asked sarcastically.

"Nothing that drastic I can assure you."

"Well... Thanks Glynda" he said with a genuine smile.

"It's okay... Also please call me professor." She said trying to remain stoic but Gale could see she appreciated it.

"Nope! You're Glynda to me, I mean we are all together in this shitty situation." He said jokingly.

"Have you thought about Ozpin's offer?" Glynda asked testing the waters. Gale went silent for a second as if pondering before speaking up. Gale had been approached by Ozpin to join their little order.

"I have and I'm not sure. Don't get me wrong, you and Qrow are pretty cool and I have no issues with joining your group. My issue is with Ozpin."

"I can assure you. He is trustworthy."

"Not doubting his intentions Glynda. I just... How he explained the situation and his reactions... There is something I don't like."

"What do you mean?" She asked curiously.

"There are two types of people. One's who are not willing to go the extra mile and those who are willing to give it all. Ozpin is... Well he wants to give the impression he is willing to do any necessary play. But I don't see it in him. There is something about when he talks about Salem..."

"You believe he is working with her!?" Glynda asked insulted.

"No, not even close. I believe he is willing to fight. I just don't think he is willing to do whatever it takes when the time comes."

"There are some lines that are not meant to be crossed" she argued.

"That's a lie" Hoji said. He was sitting in a corner of the room fiddling around with the blade. "Total war means no boundaries. Specially against them."

"You are doing this out of revenge not out of a higher cause." Glynda said surprising Gale. He looked at Hoji who didn't even look up from the blade.

"Yes I'm doing this out of spite. Guess what? The celestials don't give a fuck. They will only intervene if all hope is gone. They won't get off their high horse so you're stuck with me." Hoji said sarcastically.

"Surely your blade can't be the only weapon capable of bringing the Eternals down." Glynda questioned as Hoji laughed.

"Well according to legend the Celestials made a weapon to take us down. The Spear of Longinus." Hoji explained calmly.

"And where is this spear?" Glynda asked.

"Fuck if I know. We looked high and low for it. No one has ever found that weapon. At this point I'm willing to believe it was a hoax to scare the shit out of us." Hoji said nonchalantly spinning the blade.

"Humanity poured a lot of resources into finding this spear and nothing came from it. Hoji is probably right" Gale said trying to cut through the tension. The spear was supposed to have been forged by a Seraphim to end the Eternals once and for all. But all searches had come up empty. Gale even participated in one of these expeditions to the middle east. 'I hate sand...' He thought to himself.

"I see this is going in circles" Glynda conceded. "You may leave, remember after lunch you have combat class."

"Finally! Something that I can actually do with people" Gale said stretching he grabbed the blade as Hoji materialized. "See you then Glynda!"

"Remember! Professor Goodwitch during clases!"

"Yeah yeah!" He said walking out towards the cafeteria. As he made his way there his scroll received a message. He pulled it out and saw it was Neo.

'Got a lead ;D'

'Holy shit you work fast! What is it?'

'Can't tell you through here :X'

'So what a meetup? Wait Neo you asking on a date?"

'You wish! ;) No someone wants to meet you.'

'I won't get shanked behind the dumpsters?'

'Promise'

'Kay send me the location. I'm expecting special treatment and I want my body unshanked by the end of the night.'

'Course ;)' Gale put his scroll away and let out a sigh.

'You're getting shanked' Hoji said jokingly.

'Probably' he said as he entered the cafeteria. He saw Nora and Ruby enthusiastically waving at him. He got his food and sat next to the two teams.

"How were your classes with Professor Goodwitch?" Pyrrha asked curiously.

"A drag as always. I'm not built for the school life..." Gale groaned as he took a sip from his drink. "Good thing we got combat class after lunch!"

"Someone seems hyped about it" Yang joked.

"Of course I am do you know how tedious it becomes to have to study alone? I'm a social creature I need people! And besides I want to test myself against Pyrrha?"

"What!?" Pyrrha asked surprised.

"Well you got a reputation and I'm kinda bored of beating Yang" he said sarcastically as she glared daggers at him. "Look at it as a friendly spar!" Before he could continue he heard a yelp. He saw Cardin Winchester pulling on the ears of a faunus. His face scrounged up in disgust.

He had heard of Cardin from his friends mostly calling him a meathead. He had also heard he had taken particular interest in bullying Jaune.

'Just do what you have to' Hoji said in defeat already knowing where this would end up going.

"Excuse me. I'm about to let out some pent up aggression my friends" he said calmly as they saw him standing up. Without a word he walked towards the group of bullies.

"What do you-" Cardin never got a chance to finish as Gale punched him in the throat. He gasped for air as Gale smashed his head against the table. Cardin fell to the ground unconscious as Gale glared at the other three.

"You three stooges have any problem?" Gale asked the rest of team CRDL didn't know how to respond and simply left carrying their unconscious teammate away. Gale chuckled as he turned around and saw the faunus girl had already sprinted away.

He went back and sat back. His friends looking at him surprised. "Umm did I over do it?"

"No he got what he deserved" Blake said approvingly.

"I think you could have handled it better" Pyrrha said sweat dropping.

"So anyways... How are your classes guys?" As they told him how they were.

"Professor Oobleck is like a hamster on caffeine" Yang said groaning. It seemed to him they mostly hated their classes.

"Look at the bright side! At least we get combat class now!" He said grinning.

The arena was larger than he expected. He was surprised to see how many teams there were. The thing that caught his attention was that Cardin and his goons were back and Cardin seemed to be looking for blood.

'Good to see you're still good at making friends.' Hoji said sarcastically.

'I am to please! Besides what's chucklefuck over there going to do?' Gale said chuckling.

After a brief explanation about the rules everything seemed to be ready to go. It seemed simple enough, if your aura hits red you lose.

"Who would like to be our first participant?" Glynda asked as Cardin immediately raised his hand.

"Mr Winchester, do you have anyone you want to face?"

"Gale!" He said as his eyes narrowed.

"What was that chucklefuck? Want to go again!?" Masato said standing up.

"Mr Greene! Moderate your language!"

"Okay! Fine you know what I'll take your whole team on! Can we do it professor?" They both looked at professor Goodwitch.

"Mr Winchester are you okay with your team participating?" Glynda asked as he grinned.

"We'll show him!" He said, he was planning on making Gale hurt, hurt a lot. Gale went down to the lockers and got ready. Hoji materialized and leaned against a locker.

"Wanna turn them into kebabs?" Gale chuckled before shaking his head.

"As fun as it sounds killing students would look bad on us." He put his armor on and grabbed his sword. No need for anything else in this fight.

He walked out and saw all of team CRDL who looked ready to go. "A halberd, short sword, daggers and a mace?" Gale said unimpressed. "Talk about basic."

"But you only have a sword!" Yang said as Gale turned around and flipped the bird.

"Stop ruining my vibe Yang!" He yelled.

"Mr Greene I suggest you get a hold of yourself!" Professor Goodwitch scolded, Gale let out a groan and nodded. He looked at his sword before unclasping the sheath.

"Doubt I'll need to unsheath it anyways." He said in a mocking them. Their eyes narrowed as they got ready.

"You think you're better than us!?" Sky asked, Gale tilted his head before chuckling.

"I mean it is pretty obvious!" He said spinning the sword around.

"If you do land a hit I promise I will unsheath my sword." He said calmly the fight started and they all rushed him.

With quick reflexes he dodged each movement carrying every now and then before giving them a hit with the sheath every now and then.

"Stop mocking us!" Cardin bellowed as Gale ducked under his right hook, taking the opportunity Gale punched him right in the stomach before hitting the back of his neck as Cardin tried to catch his breath. Sky went for the low blows as Russel tried to close him down.

"You know, if you didn't fight like a gaggle of dumbasses you may be able to be I don't know... Intimidating?"

They all watched as Gale methodically gave them a beatdown. One that was clearly set up by him as a way to humiliate them in front of their peers.

With inhuman speed every hit missed, every attempt at landing anything completely failed. As chuckles began to fill the room professor Goodwitch spoke up.

"Mr Greene I would like you to take this seriously and stop this humiliation." Gale groaned as he unsheathed his sword. He ducked and kicked them back. He landed and put his left leg in front of him his right one back and crouched. With incredible speed he dashed forward hitting all of them putting them out of commission.

"Match over, Mr Gale Green has won. Next time refrain from putting up another performance like that okay?" Gale simply nodded as the professor turned to the groaning students. "Mr Winchester, next time do not charge head on or get overconfident against your opponent. Also remember that falling to taunting will ensure your defeat."

Cardin got up and saw as people whispered about them, how they laughed. His blood boil, he would make Gale pay, no matter the cost.

Gale cleaned himself up and went to sit back on the stands. They received him as a hero. Well mostly did Pyrrha did say she was disappointed on how he made a mockery of fellow students.

"That was so cool!" Ruby said with childish glee making Gale chuckle.

"Fuck yeah it was!" He said proudly before getting a karate chop to the head courtesy of the resident speedster.

"No swearing!" She scolded.

"Fuck..." He moaned as he got hit again.

"Did you really have to humiliate them that much?" Pyrrha asked.

"Yeah! They are a racist bunch, decided I could take them down a notch."

"After that you dragged them through the mud" Yang joked.

"Even better! Maybe they will rethink their ways. If not then I can always beat them senseless."

"Break their legs!" Nora added excitedly.

"Exactly! That's the spirit!" Gale said giving her a fist bump.

Class had ended rather quickly after some exhibition matches. Gale paid close attention to each fight taking mental notes of how people moved and what their strategies were. You never know when that could be useful.

"That is all for today, you may go." Professor Goodwitch said. "Except you Mr Greene would you mind staying?"

"Sure teach" he said stretching.

"Someone's in trouble!" Yang teased as Gale flipped her off.

"Fuck off Yang" he said before getting kicked in the shin. "Damnit Ruby!"

"Stop swearing!"

"Never!" He said pointing to the sky. "Weiss, seems we will have to postpone our study session a bit."

"That won't be a problem, I'll wait for you to come back." She simply said before Gale tossed her something, she caught it and saw it was a set of keys.

"Eh make yourself at home in my room" he said shrugging. "Just don't touch my stuff."

"Oooh Gale is giving you the keys to his room! Maybe we could find his stache!" Yang said making Weiss blush.

"Stash?" Ruby asked confused, tilting her head.

"You're too young" Blake said blushing a bit herself.

"You ain't finding shit!" He said this time dodging the Ruby kick. "Like I would have some sort of stache! I'm a man of culture, I am beyond that!"

'Dont lie!' Hoji bellowed in his head.

'Shut up!'

"Well nothing to hide nothing to fear right?" Yang said teasingly.

"Eh whatever knock yourself out. You won't find anything."

"Nora want to help us?"

"Hell yeah! Let's go team JNPR!" She said practically dragging Ren.

"Jaune" Gale said putting his hand on his shoulder. "You know the men code right?"

Jaune looked confused before it dawned on him, then he went serious. "I do."

"If push comes to shove, don't hesitate" Gale ordered.

"Aye, aye" he said.

"Godspeed soldier" he said as his friends left leaving only Glynda and him in the arena. "So... Are you going to chew me out?"

"As much as I want to... I know it won't change your mind." She said letting out a sigh.

"Well I appreciate that Glynda."

"No problem... Gale..." She said letting out a faint smile.

"Gale? Not Mr Greene?" If I didn't know better I'd think you totally dig me" he said jokingly.

She looked genuinely taken aback and seemed to be lacking any response before she hit him with her crop.

"You are 17 Mr Greene! Do not even suggest such things!"

"Oh got it" he said as she let out a sigh. "So when I turned 18 you'll actually dig me?" He asked grinning. She glared at him as she looked unamused.

"No"

"I know just pulling your leg. So what you needed?"

"I was thinking of what we've talked about... Is there truly no hope for those lost?" She asked, Gale looked at her and patted her shoulder and gave her a sympathetic smile.

"I wish there was. But it is not possible." He looked a bit saddened when he said that. "I can see your heart is a good place Glynda. Sadly we must give no quarter. They won't give us any either."

"Mr Greene..."

"Yes?"

"Did you ever dream of being something else?" She asked him, he tensed up for a second his eyes going almost empty.

"If I ever dreamed of being something else... It's been too long for me to remember." He simply stated.

"After this is all done you can go back to a normal life" she said trying to give him hope.

"It never ends..." He simply said walking towards the door. He opened it and looked back before leaving. "You are too good of a person for this Glynda." He said as he closed the door.

He walked back to his room. Her words playing on repeat. What would he do when this was over? Part of him had imagined that, maybe settle down? The other part of him had accepted he would never stop fighting and would only stop once dead.

He opened his door and what he saw surprised him. He had expected Yang to pull something but his room was a disaster zone. It looked as if a goddamn tornado had passed through it. Gale leaned on the door frame looking somewhat amused.

"I told you! You ain't finding shit!" He bellowed, they looked at him in surprise. Yang was checking his drawers, Ruby under the bed, Nora... Well she had raided his small fridge. Only ones who seemed to be trying to control the situation were Ren, Pyrrha, Weiss, Jaune and... He would have said Blake but she was caught red handed with his underwear.

"I'm sorry Gale!" Weiss began saying. "I tried to stop them but-"

"No worries at least some of you were being respectful and not turning my room into a warzone." Gale said chuckling. "Seems we won't be studying today! So... How about we watch a movie?" They all looked with interest.

"Movie night!" Nora squealed. "What are we watching!?"

Gale pulled out his phone and scrolled through the ungodly amount of movies he had. His eyes landing on maybe the best place to start.

"Well my energetic friend how about we watch a superhero movie?" Gale said he placed his phone on a table and it projected something on the wall.

"Yes! What is it called!?" Ruby said excitedly as he tried calming her down?

"Iron man, I think you might enjoy it."

They certainly enjoyed the movie. It made Gale feel nice, it had been a while since he enjoyed something like this.

"That was so cool!" Nora said excitedly. "Are there more!?"

"More?" Gale asked amused. "A whole universe of them! We can watch more later" he said looking at the time, he would need to meet up with Neo soon. They all started leaving until, all except Weiss who seemed to be trying to fix the chaos that had been left behind. "You don't need to clean this." He said in an amused tone.

"Nonsense, they did this because I couldn't stop them."

"You know... You are nicer than you seem." He said in an amused tone, she glared at him.

"What is that supposed to mean!?" She asked offended.

"Nothing! Calm down snow angel." He said as she blushed.

"Don't call me that!" She said flustered.

"Tsundere... Anyways wanna make it up to me? How about we go out tomorrow?"

"W-what!? She asked as Gale grinned.

"Yeah I wanna cook something for everyone. Show them some good stuff." He said acting innocently. "Did you think I was asking you on a date?"

"Shut up!"

"You're too cute" he said laughing.

"Shut it!" She threw the first thing she found. Which was a tome of history of remnant hitting Gale straight in the face.

"Fuck!"

"Serves you right you dolt!"

"So do you want to go or not?"

"What?"

"Yeah!"

"I-I guess?" She said as Gale fist pumped.

"See you tomorrow, bring bags. We gonna cook some good shit!" He said as he pushed her out. He laid on the bed and groaned.

"Looks like you're having fun" Hoji said amused.

"Enjoying it while it lasts I guess" Gale said. "Hoji?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think this will ever end?"

Hoji looked at him perplexed, he brought his hand up to his chin and thought about it. "There is a slim chance, you are the best demon hunter in a while."

"Will I get out of this alive?"

"Highly unlikely..."

"Figured..." Hoji sat next to him on the bed and let out a sigh.

"Since when did you care about the future?"

"Dunno, I guess... I like it here." Gale said out letting out a faint smile.

"Well pipsqueak... Let's say we kill them all... Would you want to stay here?" Gale thought about it and hummed tapping his chin.

"Probably, my world would be ready for anything, I think they might need me here."

"Yeah... They really need a dynamic duo like us huh?" Hoji asked chuckling.

"You mean I do the work and you chill?" Gale asked grinning.

"Fuck off."

"Nah"

Gale had arrived and Junior's and saw it was as lively as ever. He saw Junior and walked over to him and sat on a stool.

"Good to see ya Junior."

"Same..." He simply said serving Gale a drink. "Neo is waiting for you, she brought a friend too."

"Junior... Am I get shanked?" Gale asked as Junior looked at him amused.

"Maybe"

"Fuck it! No time like the present." He said downing the drink and walking towards the VIP booth. He saw Neo sitting on the couch drink in hand and a familiar face.

"Wait didn't I shoot a rocket at you a few weeks ago?" Gale asked, sitting next to Neo was Roman Torchwick.

"It's good to see you remember me." He said motioning Gale to sit in front of them.

"So... What do you need?" Gale asked, Roman lit a cigar and looked at him.

"Well, you see... Since you arrived I've seen things that I can't explain... And somehow I think it has something to do with what you are looking for."

"Hmm... Maybe?" Gale said calmly.

"Don't play dumb kid, what do you know?"

"If I were to tell you what would you do with that information?"

"That is something that doesn't involve you."

"Very well Mr Roman, before I tell you I do have a question."

"What is it?"

"Well you see... I know you are a 'criminal mastermind'" Gale said with air quotes. "Why are you robbing ungodly amounts of dust. Doesn't sound like your MO from what I have seen."

"It isn't as simple as you think kid."

"Do they have you by the balls?" Gale asked chuckling.

"My contractor is... Persuasive" he said gritting his teeth.

"I see... Well then let me be honest. The reason I'm looking for these gatherings is because... Well I need to kill them." Neo and Roman exchanged a surprised look.

"Is Ozpin aware of this?"

"Dunno, don't care."

"You appear out of thin air... And now I have to deal with my contractor."

"New friends?"

"This big guy, some kind of nails on his skull and a big hammer." Gale's eyes widened.

"Oh fuck."

"What?"

"Quick question, does the guy look always pissed off?"

"Yes?"

'Oh fuck!' Hoji said.

"Well that would be the champion of Khaine, they call him Goliath. And that big fuckoff hammer is worldbreaker."

"Khaine?" Roman asked.

"Buckle up... This one is a doozy" Gale said as he explained the situation.

And cut! Kept ya waiting huh? Well I'm back and I'm working on more chapters as we speak. The voting has been going and it seems that Weiss is winning with Pyrrha in second place.Now to answer one of your questions. No this story doesn't have a harem, didn't plan it that way but hey if you guys want it you can vote for that option after all you guys decide. As always feedback is always welcomed. UltimateMetroMan out!