Before I begin this chapter, I have a few things to say. First off, I'm saw that a few of you left reviews talking about what President Biden addressed the nation on and your opinions on the matter but let me make this clear. I agree with the banning of assault rifles and high-capacity magazines, increasing background and mental health checks for those who try to buy guns. Many of you may not know this and I haven't really told anyone about this, but I have a learning disability and somewhat of a mental health issue, so I have to take medication to keep myself sane. Without those medications, I… well let's just say I don't act like other people.

That being said, I wanted to get a gun years ago for the purpose of hunting, but it never fell through and looking back, I am glad that I never got a gun. Sure, I like guns when it comes to videogames, movies and such, but I like many others have their own views on what kind of guns a person should be allowed to own. I ask again, how much more blood needs to be spilled before we act?

Second, I saw the trailer for the new season of the Bad Batch coming out on the 28th of September, along with a new animated Star Wars show that features some episodes focusing on Ahsoka's younger days. I am looking forward to them, especially the second season of the Bad Batch. I love those guys.

Third, I have been watching Kenobi and it seems to be going well, but damn there's a whole lot of stuff that Disney up and threw out the window when they took over. Still, it's a good show.

Alright, let's get onto the reviews.

Monster King: Thanks.

54Godamora: Kenobi is an okay series, but I wish they would have stuck more to canon, or at the very least give Obi-Wan some insight as to what happened to his former comrades like Boil and Cody. And no, there isn't anything else underneath the farm.

BlindFaunusGirl: Thanks, and yes March does know something is wrong. Now about your message, I'm surprised you used too own guns and that you gave them away. I won't ask what kind they were, but I'm glad there are people like the two of us who agree with the changes the President suggested in his speech to the nation. How many more children have to pay the ultimate price when they have so much more to do. Tell you the truth, I once thought about joining the NRA but I am glad I haven't, especially with what has happened lately. Also, mental health is a big issue as well and the responsible gun owners should be saying enough is enough.

Johnberger51: I'm not having that problem.

Luffy L Deathwalker: All I am saying is that we need to ban certain types of weapons from the general public and keep those with mental health issues or those related to someone with mental health issues away from guns. Let's not get into politics, ok. That being said, you'll have to wait and see what happens to our heroes this chapter.

Darth Cody: Yes, Tyrian is about to become a full cyborg. I'll send you a PM following this chapter about the training you mentioned.

Mr. Shades42: AR rifles are classified as sporting rifles? Who the fuck came up with that logic? Assault Rifles were built for war, not for civilian hands. I'm glad that we agree that we need mental health checks for those who purchase guns and not blame those who make the guns, but those who conduct these heinous acts of urban terrorism.

SilverFox3456: Damn right that farm is one creepy ass place! And the Apathy is one creepy ass and nasty Grimm, you'd need a ranged weapon to take down those damn things before they can scream and drain a person's aura or just take them down quickly. To answer your questions, Salem doesn't have the entire droid army. Her droid army that Maul is commanding in her name consists of the droids the ships were transporting and consists of B1's, Commando droids, AAT's, B2's, Hailfires, Spider droids, Dwarf Spider droids, Advanced Dwarf Spider droids, droid fighters, Tank droids, Ground attack tanks and other vehicles that the separatists used during the war, like I said, a lot of ships did crash on Remnant. Now about Darth Malgus, he's a Sith Lord from the days of the Old Republic, years after Revan and such. Now about Ironwood, that's a secret but things will be different than canon when it comes to his, well you know what.

Spartan-626: You'll have to wait and see, and thanks.

: Raven doesn't deserve redemption after everything she's done. She's no mother, just a leader of a tribe of murderers and thieves.

Alright, onto the story. Only one song this chapter and it's 'Beauty of Annihilation' from World at War zombies. It fits considering that what lies underneath the farm reminds me of zombies.

Chapter 88: Alone in the Woods

The snow drizzled outside the farmhouse as Ruby stared at the moon through the window from her seat on the staircase. Blake, Yang and Weiss were sitting on the rug and staring at the fireplace as Kara tossed another log onto the fire. Maria continued to read the book she picked up earlier while Faye and Fordo discussed the cause of the dead bodies in the farmhouse. Rex and the Bad Batch waited in the kitchen as Tech worked on his scanner so they could call in a few Hellcats since the cart that Yang, Blake, Rose and Faye found. Rose had already fallen asleep while Arthur headed out into the snow to check on March, Ahsoka and Grogu.

As for Galen, he and Oscar/Ozpin were searching the rest of the farmhouse for any clues as to what killed the people and where the killer might be. Qrow on the other hand was sitting nearby the window on the first floor with his feet propped against the drawer. "Looks like the storm's cleared up for now. We should be able to leave by morning." Qrow said.

"That's good." Ruby sighed with relief.

"No… I don't have a good feeling about this place, and not because I am around. Something that March kid said really bothered me, it's like he knows there's something here." Qrow explained, a wine bottle by his feet. "Yeah, I've been drinking a bit. Everything that Oz dropped on us is still hard to believe. Look, tell everyone to get some sleep. I'll wake you guys up before sunrise." He answered and tried to reach for the bottle before Ruby pulled the bottle away with the Force. "Heh, you're really getting the hang of that power." Ruby sighed and walked away from her uncle, pausing to look back at her uncle before she narrowed her eyes downward.

Back in the other room, the fire continued to burn as Maria read a third book with two other books on a nearby table. "It's a dairy?" Faye asked as she walked into the room with Fordo by her side.

"The head of this household, Bartleby. Apparently, he and several other families founded this little settlement to try and live on their own. It sounds like it worked, at least for a spell." Maria explained.

"Let me guess, Grimm?" Fordo surmised.

"Just one of the many hardships. Slowed down their farming, made everything harder… it's a shame, really. He seemed like quite the ambitious fellow, always thinking of new schemes to overcome the odds." Maria added.

"Sounds a lot like several separatists during the war." Faye noted. Just then, Ruby walked in and told everyone that they were going to head out early the next morning, so they had better get some sleep. The others were quick to fall asleep, while Maria moved from the couch to an armchair, turning the lamp on near her as she continued to read her book.

Everyone, but Galen, Oscar/Ozpin and the clones were asleep. "Something doesn't make sense." He said as he looked at one of the decomposing corpses, still in the same place it was when they found it. "People don't just stay in bed and die without any reason. These people, something else killed them and I think I have a good idea what it is." Galen theorized.

"The creatures of Grimm?" Ozpin suggested, currently in control of Oscar's body.

"Exactly. There has to be at least some species of Grimm that the world doesn't know about. Probably because Salem either just created it or that it's so rare that no one thinks it exists." Galen said, looking through the drawers of one of the stands near the bed and found a fully loaded revolver. "Looks like someone loaded this weapon, but never used it." he murmured, grabbing the nearby holster and all the ammo he could find and tied it around his waist.

"You're taking that gun with you?" Ozpin questioned.

"Look, I may not know a lot about using guns or blasters, but it's good to have a backup weapon in case I can't rely on my sabers." Galen answered, before he turned to face Ozpin. "I'd like to talk to Oscar if you don't mind."

Ozpin agreed and gave Oscar control of his body again. "What is it?" Oscar asked.

"You said you lived on a farm with your aunt and fought the occasional small Grimm, did you ever hear anything about a farm where everyone died mysteriously? Or a new type of Grimm wandering the world?" Galen asked back.

"I'm sorry, Galen. But I don't know anything about this. I'm just as much in the dark about this place as much as you are. I don't know about a type of Grimm that can do something like this. Not even Ozpin knows what it is." Oscar answered.

"Well, at least you two are honest." Galen said, pulling the blanket off the bed and handed it the Oscar. "Here, you'll need this. I'll grab one from one of the other rooms and head outside."

"You're not sleeping inside?" Oscar asked.

"No, I need to do a little work on the Shark. The machineguns seemed to be off, I need to make sure they don't malfunction if we run into Grimm when we leave this place." Galen answered as he grabbed a blanket and headed outside towards the barn where March, Ahsoka and Grogu were in. "You three got room for one more?"

"Finally decided to believe me that something is off with that house?" March asked with arms crossed.

"Look, I never doubted you that something was off with the barn. It's just hard to believe you when it comes to your 'interesting' personality." Galen admitted.

"It's like I told you before, I act insane so I can keep focused on the mission and prevent what happened to my village from happening again. But this time, I'm being dead serious. Something is here and whatever it is, its far more deadly than anything we've seen before." March said for what appeared to be the umpteenth time. "Hunter believes me, isn't that right, Sergeant?" March asked.

Sure enough, Hunter and his squad along with Rex walked into the barn covered in snow. "Kid might be crazy when it comes to combat, but he's not wrong about this. Something about this place, it feels off. There's something here." Hunter agreed.

"And it ain't no man!" Wrecker added as he sat down next to Grogu who snuggled up close to the muscular clone for warmth. "I tell you; I feel like there's something living here and it's going to lay eggs inside us, which will then kill us when they hatch!"

"That's from a movie, Wrecker." Crosshair pointed out.

"Well, it feels like something is here and it's going to try and kill us. Let's just get those Hellcats here so we can leave first thing in the morning!" the large clone said in defense.

"You're calling in some Hellcats?" Ahsoka asked.

"That trailer the kids found isn't large enough for all of us. Tech made a remote control for a few Hellcats that Commander Bly left us after the attack. The six of us can fly those to Argus once the storm lets up. They'll home in on our location and land first thing in the morning." Rex explained, checking his pistols. "Hunter and I will take the first watch, the rest of you get some sleep."

"Just yell if you see anything!" March said as he went back to sleep. The others followed suit, leaving Rex and Hunter up and all alone.

By the following morning, the fire had died down when March woke up before the others. The rabbit faunus noticed that the snow had stopped falling but the others were still asleep. "Hey! Rise and shine, it's time to get the hell out of here!" he shouted. Grogu was the first to wake up after hearing March, followed by the others who yawned and stretched their arms. Galen, who had fallen asleep after he checked the machineguns on the Shark powered up the vehicle and drove it out of the barn where they found the Hellcats already waiting for them, along with Fordo. "Where's everybody else?"

"They're still sleeping. It's almost like they don't want to get up." The ARC captain answered. Just seconds later, the others emerged from the farmhouse. As Weiss welded a metal ball to the makeshift trailer hitch, March noted that Weiss, Blake, Yang, Oscar, Qrow, Rose, Arthur and Kara's pupils appeared to be dilated, while Ruby and Faye's pupils seemed to be their normal size.

"Can we just go back to bed?" Oscar complained.

"If we're all so tired, maybe we should make breakfast?" Blake suggested.

"You wanna make it?" Oscar asked.

"Not really." Blake answered, tiredly.

"Can we just get the hell out of here! This place is really starting to get on my last nerves!" March exclaimed, his heavy blaster rifle in his hands and at the ready while Ruby and Qrow pushed the flatbed trailer behind Bumblebee. "Alright, trailer is hitched. Everyone who's not flying or driving get onboard and let's…" he began only for Qrow's semblance to activate and caused the tire on the opposite side to go flat. "Seriously!?" March groaned.

"You people are just beacons for bad luck, aren't you?" Maria said sarcastically.

"Not. Helping!" March said frustrated.

"Why don't we just stay here for another night? I mean, it's better to have a roof over our heads incase it starts to snow again." Rose said unenergetically.

"I agree with her." Arthur added.

"I'm starting to think the universe doesn't want us getting to Atlas." Yang complained.

"It's just a flat tire, I'm sure there's a spare." Ruby said with a sigh.

"It's not just that, it's everything. Storms, crashes, monsters… I'm so tired…" Yang sighed back.

"Me too. It feels like we're always having to fight to get by." Blake agreed.

"Yeah, but that's what we signed up for. Especially with the Empire, Maul, Salem's army and Salem herself." Ruby countered.

"But we signed up to try and save the world, not just… delay the inevitable." Oscar said.

"Maybe, but we all know that Salem has a weakness. We just have to find it." Ahsoka said as she placed her helmet on.

"Last night, I… I couldn't stop thinking – why are we going to Atlas." Weiss said before the others shared the same troubled look.

"Weiss, we have to." Ruby countered.

"Why? Ozpin hid the Relics behind giant doors under enormous schools, but… how long would it take Salem to find a lamp in the middle of nowhere?" Yang asked as she stood back up.

"What? The Grimm might—" Ruby began.

"They'd fine it eventually, sure, but bury it or just throw it down the well, it would take years. It might not even happen in our lifetime. But we could be done with it now." Yang continued.

"So that's it? Just give up now and let someone else take the burden?" March questioned. "If we just give up now, Salem wins. Sure, she might have a droid army and the Grimm, plus a horn headed bastard with some revenge issues and who knows what else, but that's not a reason to give up. I don't know about the rest of you, but I am going to keep on fighting. If you guys want to curl up and die, then go do it somewhere else instead of this damn place."

"Kid actually makes sense for once." Rex noted impressively.

Ruby, however, was starting to feel her pupils become dilated as detached the relic from her belt, glancing at it before she looked to her teammates and friends who all appeared to be in a trance as she walked towards the well. The dazed look on her face was noticed by Galen, Faye, the clones, Ahsoka and Maria who watched as she held the relic over the well. Before she could drop it, she noticed that Grogu was standing in on the edge of the well, directly in her way and holding onto the relic. She started to hesitate for a bit before composing herself and started to pull the relic back, but she noticed a pair of glowing red eyes from the bottom of the well, startling her and snapping her out of her trance but in her fright, she dropped the relic into the well and accidentally knocked Grogu into the well.

"No! No! No! I didn't mean to!" She cried out.

"Ruby, it's okay." Weiss said, still having the same dazed look like the others.

"No! No, there's something down there! I saw it, it was looking at me!" she protested, only to look back inside the well and found the eyes had vanished.

"Hey, it's okay. You just said you're tired. It's probably nothing. Now let's go." Yang said, still in her dazed state as well as she placed a hand on her sister's shoulder only for Ruby to swat it away.

"What's wrong with you?! We can't just leave; we have to go down there! We have to get the Lamp back and get Grogu! Oh, what was I thinking?!" she exclaimed, facepalming.

"All we have to do is fix this trailer. Hey, farm boy, check the shed for a spare." Qrow said to Oscar, also still in a dazed state.

"I'm not leaving without the Lamp or Grogu!" she shouted. Her teammates were still in a dazed stare before her teammates decided to go with her while Qrow went back inside the house, no doubt to the bar while Maria stayed outside, reading another of Bartleby's diaries.

"Wrecker, Hunter, you two are with me and March. We're going down there. Keep your weapons ready and try not to shoot the little guy." Galen told the two troopers before he leapt down the well and landed beside the others in the underground waterway. Galen ignited one of his lightsabers to light the way as the two Bad Batch soldiers landed behind them, along with Rex.

"Maybe the current carried it away?" Yang suggested.

"What about the little guy? You think he was carried away as well?" March scolded, his blaster at the ready. The group soon started to proceed forward cautiously, noticing more tunnel openings along the path as they sloshed through the waterway. "Ok, Ruby. Is this where you dropped the relic?"

"Yes! I mean, I think so! Ack! I can't remember!" Ruby groaned.

"Turn off your lights and just look for the glow?" Blake suggested. Ruby, Yang and Galen did so as Ruby pulled out her trusty scythe and proceeded forward with caution while Galen pulled out the revolver, he picked up the night before. Blake soon pointed in the direction of the blue glow of the Relic as it moved closer and closer to them. Ruby soon ran forward and found Grogu walking with the Relic in his hands. The little guy cooed as Ruby picked them off.

"I'm sorry I knocked you down. Guys, I—" Ruby started to say before behind Grogu were multiple humanoid-looking Grimm standing together, bunched up before they turned their heads towards Ruby, reaching their arms out at her and caused her to scream, snapping her teammates out of their trance-like states and their pupils returning to normal.

"Ruby?!" Yang gasped as her sister ran out of the tunnel while the skeletal Grimm slowly trudged out of the tunnel. Ruby unsheathed her blaster and fired several shots at the Grimm, only for the creatures to let out an ear-piercing scream, causing them to struggle stand and their weapons felt heavy, except for March who had a nasty look on his face before he snapped his blaster to his shoulder and opened fire. Wrecker, Hunter and Rex soon arrived, saw the Grimm and immediately started to open fire on the Grimm.

(Beauty of Annihilation starts)

"Guys… what's… going on…?" Galen asked, also struggling to get up as the roar of weapon fire echoed through the waterway. He then saw the Grimm.

"Run! Now!" Maria shouted from behind them as the Grimm horde started to move towards them. Several Grimm were taken down by blaster fire as the group ran for their lives back towards well, but more Grimm arrived and cut them before another ear-piercing scream affected the group, except for March.

"This way!" Ruby shouted as the large group continued to run through the underground passages doing their best to avoid more Grimm. They kept on running until they reached a large underground room, but a much larger group of Grimm from the opposite end continued towards them, letting out another scream and causing the group to collapse to the floor.

"I can't… do this… I can't…" Yang panted.

"That does it!" March shouted and cut loose with his blaster, mowing down several Grimm with his weapon. "I won't let you guys kill my friends!" he roared as he kept his finger on the trigger and kept on shooting, until his blaster jammed. Throwing down the weapon, he grabbed one of Galen's sabers and ignited it as he drew his own sword before he sprinted towards the Grimm.

Again, the Grimm let out a scream, but March wasn't affected by it in the slightest. "Guess I'm not losing my ear drums from those nails on chalkboards!" he joked as he cut down multiple Grimm with his blades using his semblance to get behind several of them before they even had a chance to react. "Anytime you guys want to jump in and help me out would really be appreciated!"

Wrecker, who was coming back to his senses heard March's voice and raised his shotgun. "Finally! I've been waiting to shoot something all day!" he cheered, pulling the trigger of his shotgun and sent buckshot towards the Grimm. "Hey Cap! Boss! Let's take 'em down!" he shouted to Rex and Hunter who also had come back to their senses and started to fire at the Grimm as well.

As the blaster and gunfire echoed through out the tunnels, Maria got back to her feet by using her cane only to collapse once more. On her fall, she saw a set of stairs in front of her. "An exit. An exit!" she shouted. Ruby looked up and saw the stairs leading to the cellar door as she crawled towards Weiss only to hear a weapon drop behind her. Turning around, she saw Blake collapse to the ground as March started to fire his swords shotgun mode at the Grimm.

"Blake… get… up!" Ruby shouted, but Blake was starting to become dazed again as more Grimm started to come down the tunnel they just came from. Bullets fell to the ground as the clones continued to pour it on the Grimm, but their numbers kept increasing as Blake continued to lay motionless. "BLAAAAAKE!" Ruby shouted.

Upon yelling out her friend's name, Ruby's eyes started to glow brightly, causing the Grimm to back away in pain. Those effected by the Grimm's screams quickly came back to their selves while the Grimm backed away in pain. "I've got her!" Ruby shouted as she helped Weiss back to her feet. Maria was stunned by what she had just witnessed while Weiss ran towards the stairs and tried to open the door but found it wouldn't budge.

"They're locked!" Weiss exclaimed.

"Out of my way!" Yang shouted as she ran up the stairs, ready to ignite her lightsaber but the Grimm recovered from their incapacitation and let out another scream, causing everyone to collapse once again. "No… No…!" Yang shouted.

The Grimm continued to creep closer to the entrance as March was once again the only one fighting the oncoming horde, until Galen pulled himself together and raised his revolver, firing a few shots at the Grimm as Maria said something to Ruby about her eyes, family and friends before he reloaded. What happened next surprised him as a gleaming silver light drove the Grimm back and disintegrated them, causing Galen to look in awe as Yang punched the door open, finding themselves back in the same room from the day before, with Qrow passed out on the counter. "Uncle Qrow, get up!" Ruby shouted to her uncle.

"Hey! Get off me! What are you doing here?" Qrow asked with a slur in his voice before Maria told him they were leaving. But Weiss looked back towards the basement entrance.

(End song)

Outside, Oscar had finished replacing the tire for the trailer as he filled it up with air, the noise of the air machine muffling the sound of those calling his name. "Oscar!" Yang and Maria shouted at the same time as they along with Blake.

"Someone want to tell me what's going on?" Ahsoka asked as the house suddenly caught fire, courtesy of Weiss who ignited several bottles of Alcohol with a fire glyph, setting the remaining Grimm on fire much to Qrow's surprise. "What's…"

"No time to explain, commander! We've got to go now!" Rex shouted as he took the turret position of one of the hellcats while everyone else sat on the trailer or in March's case, the secondary seat of the Shark before they all drove away from the burning house.

Once they got clear from the house, they stopped and caught their breaths. "What were those things?" Weiss asked.

"The Apathy. They're not strong or ferocious. They drain your will to go on. Bartleby's estate was hemorrhaging money towards the end. He wanted to cut costs on Huntsman protection, but in order to do that, he needed everyone calm… always." Maria explained, remembering the passage from the book she read earlier.

"Managed to get two away from their pack. Hike back was miserable but got the bastards in the cellar. Wife thinks I was out sealing the waterway entrance. I'll do it tomorrow and tell her the truth once these things take the edge off everyone. I'm tired." Oscar read from the book before Maria took it back.

"The next page proves that he did, but not before the rest of the pack followed their missing pair all the way home. My guess is they made their way beneath the estate through the water tunnels that Bartleby sealed up the next morning. Bartleby's plan worked. No one was angry or sad or scared. No one was anything. And then… no one was left." Maria finished, tossing the book into the snow.

"That explains why everyone was acting out of character. The Grimm were slowly draining away our will to go on. We would have ended up like that idiot Bartleby and the rest of the estate had we not acted sooner." March said, handing Galen back his lightsaber.

"I should have known. The signs were all there, but I'd never seen an entire settlement withered away like that. I suppose my mind isn't what it used to be." Maria sighed.

"You can't blame yourself; it could have happened to anyone." Arthur said.

"I got a question, why wasn't Mister Crazy Rabbit wasn't affected by those things?" Rose asked.

"Must have been my state of mind. I mean, I act crazy to coup with the loss of my village, so maybe I guess that's what made me immune to their will draining." March shrugged.

"And here I thought you were always crazy when it came to battle." Galen chuckled. "Thanks, March. We ow you, our lives."

"Nah, you guys don't ow me anything. You would have done the same for me." March said with a smile.

"Miss Calavera? How do you know so much about the Grimm? And in the tunnels, you knew exactly what to say to make me… to make my eyes do that. How?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah, I'm wondering about that myself. You seemed to know more than any of us." Rex agreed.

"Well, isn't it obvious, girl? I had silver eyes." Maria revealed. "And I also happened to ow a certain Jedi my life, a Jedi by the name of Yoda."

And chapter is done. Now, I bet you all weren't expecting to see this when it comes to the Apathy now, did you? Well, for those of you who were wondering if March would get some character development or time in the spotlight, you got your wish.

Now, let me give you part of the voice cast for my series.

Ruby Rose-Lindsey Jones

Weiss Schnee-Kara Eberie

Blake Belladonna-Arryn Zech

Yang Xiao Long-Barbara Dunkelman

Jaune Arc-Miles Luna

Nora Valkyrie-Samantha Ireland

Pyrrha Niko-Jen Brown

Lie Ren-Neath Oum

Qrow Branwen-Vic Mignogna

Ozpin-Shannon McCormick

Oscar Pine-Aaron Dismuke

Penny Polendina-Taylor McNee

Maria Calavera-Melissa Sternenberg

Darth Vader-James Earl Jones

Galen Marek, Darth Maul, Darth Sidious-Sam Witer

Ahsoka Tano-Ashley Eckstein

Clone Troopers, Boba Fett-Dee Bradley Baker

Salem-Jen Taylor

I'll add more to the cast in later chapters, but I do need voice actors for March, Rose, Seyden and Arthur. If you have any suggestions, please leave your suggestions in a review or PM and I'll look the guy up.

Until then, please read and review. Oh and the revolver Galen picked up is basically the Remington 1858 New Army, so you'll be seeing him use that again sometime soon.