Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or any other familiar media that is shown in this story. This story is also Rated-M due to swearing, blood/gore, future sexual content, etc. Reader discretion is advised.

~Introduction Arc~

Chapter 10: Promising Better Beginnings

(Location: Vale Kingdom, Beacon Academy - Raven's Office)

(Date/Time: Friday, Aug 29, 80 CE - 3:02 PM)

"There we go, all set up," Raven muttered, putting the last finishing touches on her desk. "Still feels surreal that I'm working at the school I attended, let alone a place I thought I'd never set foot in again."

After being hired by Ozpin as well as passing a few exams, Raven was given her own office and was appointed as a teacher assistant to Glynda Goodwitch. Better than being assigned to Port as she would have gone crazy if she had to hear another one of his stories.

"I suppose I should be grateful," A voice said, spooking Raven.

Yang was leaning on the doorframe to her office, arms crossed with a neutral expression. When she first saw her mother on the stage with the rest of the teachers after initiation, many emotions ran through her from shock to confusion, but most prominent being rage and anger.

"You didn't have to come to Beacon. You didn't have to face me, but you did." Yang remarked. "I never understand why you left us…why you left me."

"That's because the circumstances with your birth were something your father likely never told you. I'm not sure if I should blame him for that. I did not want kids…yet. I had my reasons being a fear of them being used against me. You were an accident…and Summer railroaded me to carry you to term despite my issues over it." Raven said, rubbing her face. "I'm sorry if it sounds harsh but it's the truth, I wasn't ready to be a mother as I still had problems I was dealing with at the time. I was not in the right headspace to be a parent…something your father and especially Summer don't understand. They may have been great Hunters but they sucked at understanding a person's mental issues."

Yang took it all in before she quietly took her leave. Raven lets out a mournful sigh before a gentle hand rests on her shoulder making her look up to see Cola giving her a kind motherly smile.

"You did well Raven, despite what you may think you did a great thing in confessing to Yang your reasons for leaving," Cola praised.

"So what do I do now?" The former bandit softly asked.

"For now, nothing. Yang needs time to process. She's only gotten half the picture to go on for a long time until I can get the rest of your old team here for a much-needed group therapy session." Cola said. "As for you, just focus on being a good teacher for not only her but the rest of the students as well. We'll talk more about your family's problems later when things settle down."

Raven agreed as Cola took her leave.

'I promise you Yang, I'll become a better person. It might be too late for you to see me as a mother but if you can see me as family…then that's a win for me,' Raven mentally swore before going back to doing some paperwork.

-KHGM-

(Location: Atlas Kingdom, New Atlas City - Atlas Academy, Ironwood's Office)

(Date/Time: Friday, Aug 29, 80 CE - 7:29 PM)

Back in New Atlas, we find General Ironwood in a meeting with two people that have finally returned after ten years in exile, Dr. Mikhail Cossack and his daughter Kalkina Cossack.

Mikhail was a rather tall man around the general's height in his late fifties being averagely built with fair skin, royal blue eyes, and slick-backed bleach-blond hair. His attire was a black long sleeve dress shirt, khaki pants, brown loafers, and a traditional white lab coat with his family's symbol on each shoulder which was a black crest with a purple stripe and a white snake icon.

Kalkina had grown to become a very beautiful curvy woman of 26 standing at 5ft 9in with the same skin tone and eye color as her father while her hair was in a long curly style reaching past her shoulders. She wears a pale brown fur-lined trench coat with her family insignia on each shoulder, a white turtleneck top, a brown belt with a pistol holster attached to it from the right hip, beige slacks, and brown combat boots.

"Well Mikhail now that you're back in Atlas, what do you plan to do?" Ironwood asks. "Something beneficial to Atlas and won't cause widespread electrical damage I hope."

"I was thinking of getting back to work, but there's a certain person I left in your hands I wish to check up on her," Mikhail remarked. "I do regret leaving her behind, but at the time it was for the best."

"She's currently not here, she's attending Haven Academy in the Mistral Kingdom…and from what I heard recently she's starting to reconnect with a long-lost relative," Ironwood said.

The Cossacks were both surprised and intrigued by this news, they had tried to find any whereabouts of a family that Seraphinite might have had years ago but they came up short.

"And you Kalkina? What would you like to do?" Ironwood asked the young woman.

"I…may have to go after her and become her doctor. Her DNA's makeup is never before seen. I've been using what leftover data we had to study to eventually go after her in case she was still alive," Kalkina explained. "Also, part of my DNA was used to rebuild her so she's the closest thing to a daughter I have."

Ironwood, after some thought, accepted her request and wished to be posted on Seraphinite's condition monthly. Kalkina agreed and excused herself to go and prepare for her trip to Haven.

'I wonder how much she's grown over the past decade?' The young woman mused mentally.

-KHGM-

(Location: Mistral Kingdom, Mt. Refuge - Haven Academy, KHGM's Dorm)

(Date/Time: Friday, Aug 29, 80 CE - 10:29 PM)

Back in Mistral, we find Megumi stepping out of her room into the dorm's living room in her pajamas while drying her hair after taking a shower. Seraphinite and Giovanni could be seen lounging on the couch watching TV while also in their pajamas.

"Sup Megumi," Giovanni greeted as the ranger sat down.

"Hey guys, what are you watching?" Megumi asked as Spleet jumped into her lap making her giggle.

"Nothing, in particular, just channel surfing," The Grimm eater answered.

Seraphinite's scroll dinged making her look at it before she swipes the remote from Giovanni to switch it to the news channel.

"You know you could have asked me and I would have changed it," Giovanni snarked.

"Shush!" The gynoid hissed as the reporter began talking.

"Good evening everyone and welcome to Channel 3 News, Anima's number one new reporting from weather to Grimm incursions and everything in between," The reporter, a female long-eared owl Faunus, spoke. "I'm your host, Hermione Softcloud, and I'm here tonight with breaking news. Less than thirty minutes ago, the local Argus National Museum was broken into and vandalized with the perpetrators spiriting away various priceless items and artifacts. The security detail assigned to the museum was found brutally attacked but thankfully they all will be making a full recovery."

Pictures of the crime scene began to be displayed showing the destructive state the museum was currently in. Shattered glass, cracked floors and walls, and even some blood stains splattered throughout.

"Oh, my Oum…" Megumi murmurs.

"Damn, I'm surprised none of those dudes ended up dead with all that carnage," Giovanni said with a frown. "But what the hell was the point in raiding a museum?"

"I think we're about to find out," Seraphinite said, as the reporter returned to the screen.

"Upon investigation of the crime scene and getting statements from some of the security staff, authorities were able to conclude that the ones responsible were the Grimm Masquerade. In the past, this group seemed to be nothing more than a minor thriving guild that seemed to target and steal anything related to the SDC but went into hiding when said company began using heavy security measures to counter them. Which begs the question as to why they would attack a museum with no connection to the SDC whatsoever and do it in such a brutal fashion no less. Furthermore, investigators were able to conclude that the group is exclusively made up of Faunus but their goals have yet to be made clear, more updates on this story will come in the coming days. In other news…"

The TV was suddenly cut off, the one that did it was Konner, dressed in his pajamas and sporting an annoyed expression on his face.

"And just like that, my evening is ruined hearing about these idiots," The hybrid growled. "I need some air."

Without another word, Konner marches to the dorm's balcony slamming the door on his way out. The rest of the team looks at one another before quickly following him outside, finding him sitting in the balcony's railing.

"Oi, Konner. Do you mind explaining the reaction you had back there?" Giovanni asked as Konner groaned.

"I'd rather not…but considering we're a team I might as well get it off my chest," Konner sighed, turning to face his team. "The Grimm Masquerade is the reason me and my family had to move from our home in Menagerie to Mistral as they managed to turn a large chunk of the residents of Kuo Kuana against us."

"Wait what?! How did they manage that?" Megumi asked aghast.

"The better question is why they would do that to begin with," Seraphinite mused.

"I'm not entirely sure how they managed to do it, possibly from rumors or falsifying some important documents about my family at least from what I heard Grandpa say sometimes," Konner said with a shrug. "As for the way, it probably has to do with the fact my family aren't extremists nor do they support people like that period."

"Extremists?" Giovanni parrots.

"Yeah, the Grimm Masquerade is at its core a group of greedy bastards that want global faunus domination and want to segregate all other races that aren't faunus. They have no problem stepping on and/or 'removing' anyone that gets in their way even if it is a fellow Faunus," Konner explains with a tired sigh. "I think another reason my family was targeted was due to my grandparents and my parents made it their mission to dismantle organizations like theirs due to the fact that most of them have done nothing but attract more and more Grimm attacks to settlements which in turn would summon bigger and stronger Grimm that no one wants to deal with."

"That does make a lot of sense," Seraphinite says. "I…am sorry you and your family had to go through that."

"Yeah, that's completely unfair to you guys!" Megumi agreed.

"Heh, you wanna know something funny? A few years ago an investigation was able to be made and find out that my family was innocent of the bogus 'crimes' we made and the people begged us to come back after driving out the Grimm Masquerade fraction set up there…my Grandfather told them to kindly fuck off," Konner laughed bitterly. "Reason being the main ones that betrayed us were old friends of both my grandparents knew for years and they're still rightfully pissed at them."

"As they should!" Giovanni cackled.

"I would have done the same thing…after beating the shit out of them of course," Megumi adds.

This earns an honest laugh out of Konner, feeling at ease he could share this information with his new team.

"Thanks for listening to me guys…it feels good to get this off my chest," Konner thanks. "I promise you guys, here and now, I'm gonna do my best to be a great leader to you all. I won't be perfect as no one is but I'll damn well do my best to be one you guys can count on."

"And we in turn will do the same for you…leader," Seraphinite adds, a small smile adorning her face.

Megumi and Giovanni voice their agreement as Betty Swoops, Jakker, and Spleet come out to give their own cries of agreement as well.

Suddenly, a bright flash lit up the night sky as a tear in the sky formed, emitting a powerful energy that knocked the young teens on their asses. As the light was fading, KHGM stood back up and could now see time around them frozen.

"Is everyone ok?" Giovanni asked.

"Yeah but…are those birds frozen?" Konner asked.

A small flock of birds was frozen in place mid-flight. Not only that but the few students that were moving around the dorm's courtyard were also frozen in place as well.

"...yeah nah, that is definitely not normal fam," Giovanni said in disbelief.

"What the hell is ha-HOLY SHIT, LOOK UP!" Megumi said pointing up.

Within that tear, they were able to see a place where a battle was raging. A young man with silver eyes and burning ambition crossing blades with another man in ancient armor. They didn't know what was going on but something told them it would be a sight to behold.

They weren't the only ones watching it though as certain people that were not frozen in time could see the spectacle above. Ozpin, Leonardo, and their respective group members were unfrozen and watching the epic battle of swordsmanship…along with a certain ominous woman deep within the Grimmlands who watched everything with a sinister chuckle.

"Well now…perhaps this era won't be as boring as I thought it would be."

-KHGM-

(Location: ?)

(Date/Time: ?)

Meanwhile, in another plane of existence that does not follow the standard rules of time and space, the space owl known as Noxa could be seen observing Konner and his team watching the show in the sky through a star-shaped portal.

"Quite the spectacle they're putting on although I supposed I shouldn't be too surprised. Silver Eyes Warriors have been mutating across time and space. Hopefully, this battle doesn't bleed into my neck of the woods."

Suddenly, the portal started to become unstable before breaking apart into stardust, making Noxa curse slowly.

"Damnit all, my power is draining rapidly. I knew bringing Konner to the Nebula Colosseum would be costly but I didn't realize how much. I'm going to have to go into Divine Stasis in order to recover more of my power. By doing this I won't be able to talk and guide Konner for weeks, possibly months…but I know someone that can."

Noxa spread her wings out and flared her power out in a pulse that spread within and beyond her current plane of existence. Not even a full minute passed before a small flash of blue light shines and floating before her was a large butterfly that was mainly midnight blue in color with yellow and black accents.

"M'Lady? Is that you?" The butterfly who had a soft masculine voice spoke in surprise.

"Hello Fidel, I have an important assignment for you my ever-loyal companion. Are you up to the task?" Noxa asked.

"Of course M'Lady. What would you have me do?" Fidel asks as Noxa begins her explanation.

Once she was finished, Fidel gave the butterfly equivalent of a salute before taking flight out from the heavenly plane in a flash of light. Noxa sighed tiredly as her body began to lose the normally bright luster it usually had.

"That's it, I've drained all of my remaining power in summoning Fidel. Hopefully, he'll be fine without me for a while…and maybe he can relax and find a nice girl down there," The owl chuckled. "Now then, it's time for me to rest."

With the final remnants of her power, Noxa glowed brightly before in her place was an egg-shaped cocoon of cosmic energy and within it was Noxa herself. Her eyes grew heavy as she began to fall into a deep sleep.

'May the shadows of the twilights guide you on your paths…Team KHGM.'

TO BE CONTINUED…

Author's Note: And with that, the first arc for Epics of KHGM comes to a close! This honestly took longer than I liked but at least it's done now and I can finally start thinking up stuff I wanna do for the next arc. But with this first arc complete I'm gonna focus on some other stories I've had on the back burner for now and give them some time so be on the lookout for those. Also, the sky opening up near the end of this chapter is an epic fight scene that happens in the story "Remanant's Four Shadows" which was created by my man yoshi3000 so be sure to go check that out if you wanna see the full thing. That's all for me now, drop a review on your thoughts for this chapter and/or this arc as a whole and I'll see ya next time!