Chapter Eleven as promised! I've been working on writing as much as I possibly can, the next chapter will be coming as soon as possible.

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

"Speech"

Thoughts

Chapter Eleven: The Argus Limited

We need to take the Relic to Atlas? Ruby asked.

Team RWBY, JNPR, Slade and Qrow are sitting back at the house in Mistral

"That's what Oz said "Qrow answered.

Everybody looks to Weiss Schnee "You've got to be joking..."

"I mean, bright side, we finally get out of this house!" Nora shouts excitedly, Weiss sighs.

"Well trust me, I'm not crazy about it either. And without the Spring Maiden here to seal the Relic back in its Vault, it's our best option"

"Unfortunately, Qrow is right" Slade sighed "As much as I was hoping to avoid Ironwood"

"Atlas may be the safest kingdom we have at the moment, but their borders are closed. General Ironwood called everyone back" Ren explained.

"Eh, not everyone" Qrow activates his scroll, showing a hologram of a highlighted portion of land "The city of Argus is a ways north of us and it's the primary trading port between Anima and Solitas. They've got the largest Atlas military base outside the kingdom. There's no way they'd leave it abandoned, and if we play our cards right, I think there's a good chance we could convince them to escort us straight to Ironwood" Qrow explained.

"I mean, we do have the missing Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company" Blake pointed out.

"Ex-Heiress, actually" Weiss corrected.

"True, true. But if there's a chance of reward money, I say we go for it" Yang offered.

"Ugh..." Weiss groaned.

"How much money are we talking?" Slade asked curiously, earning a small laugh from the group.

"Ever the mercenary" Yang shook her head with a playful smile.

"It's a legitimate question" Slade defended crossing his arms indignantly.

"Hopefully the first option will suffice" Oscar Pine, letting Ozpin take over, walks into the room.

"Glad to see you're feeling better" Qrow smiled lightly.

"Likewise, and while I'm sure we could all use more time to recover, I'm afraid time is of the essence"

"Right, as long as that thing's out in the open, its power could fall into the wrong hands" Blake agreed.

"Speaking of, what does it do exactly? Qrow never really told us" Jaune asked curiously.

Everyone looks to Ozpin, who turns around to face them "Of course" he detaches the Relic from his hip "The Relic of Knowledge has a wonderful, and incredibly dangerous ability" the Relic grows into it's original size as it was found "Its user can ask any question, and the lamp will provide an answer" Ozpin places the Relic down, and it floats on the table.

Ren stared in awe "Intriguing..."

"That's incredible..." Blake agreed.

"Indeed" Ozpin's expression turned serious.

"What's the catch?" Slade asked.

"Very astute, Mr. Stroud. It's not without drawbacks. The lamp cannot tell of events that have yet to happen, and it will only ever answer three questions every one hundred years"

"Well, I guess that's not so bad. Adds a lot of pressure though" Yang shrugged.

"Then let's put it to a vote! What should we ask first? Oh! Can we ask for more questions? CAN WE ASK FOR MORE QUESTIONS?!" Nora asked zipping between seats near her friends.

Ren facepalmed "They're not wishes..."

Ozpin chuckled "I'm afraid you won't be able to ask it anything at the moment" Nora grunts in frustration "The questions were used before I sealed it away"

"Well, at least now we know what it is. And we'll be sure to keep it safe!" Ruby pointed out optimistically.

Slade eyed Ozpin skeptically Just how much are you telling us, old man? he wondered. For the moment he decided to keep his thoughts to himself.

"Slade?" Yang called "Is everything alright?" she asked concerned.

Slade figured he was staring for too long and sighed "I'm fine, Yang. Just working through some trust issues is all" he answered honestly.

"Understandably so, considering how things were left between us" Ozpin sighed "I know it doesn't count for much anymore, but I feel the need to say it anyway" Ozpin paused for a moment, taking a deep breath "I'm sorry... for lying to you... for keeping your sister's fate from you and most of all for getting your family killed"

Slade stared back expressionlessly pondering his words, looking the man in front of him up and down for any signs of insincerity "Thank you... I cannot forgive you yet... but it's a step closer" Slade stood from his place beside Ruby "I don't completely trust you. But I trust you far more than I trust Salem"

"I'll take what I can get" Ozpin smiled at him.

"You've got a long way to go, old man" he stepped toward him "But I promise you one thing, if you get any of these kids killed for withholding something from us like you did with my team... I will find a way to separate you from Oscar so I can make you suffer for the rest of your short miserable existence" he stepped past him, leaving the room. Everyone stare in shock at his statement.

"Don't think too harshly of him" Ozpin pleaded "Salem and I have put him through a lot... sometimes I wonder which one of us did more good for him and which of us did more harm" Ozpin sat down beside Qrow with a deep sigh.

"Slade's been forged by his experiences and what he's lost" Yang added "It's understandable that he wouldn't trust anyone again so easily, especially you"

"He seems to trust you just fine" Qrow pointed out with a smirk "Don't abuse that like we did" he warned.

"I don't plan on it"

Qrow stood in a train station in Mistral. People go about their business around him whether they're buying a train ticket, going shopping, eating food, and more. Holographic screens show different locations, amongst them are Argus, Wind Path, Kuchinashi, Shion, and Vale, the latter shown to be crossed out with an "Out of Service" message next to it. Qrow holds a letter he wrote to James Ironwood, detailing recent events, he places the letter in a mail box. Suddenly, Ruby runs by and bumps into him.

"Hey, what's with the running?" Qrow asked turning with her as she ran by him.

"And what's with the standing? It's almost time!" she yelled turning back to him before quickly rushing off. Ruby sees the people chattering in the station lobby. She uses her Semblance to get something and fly through the gate. She then emerges smiling and humming with an excited sway of her hips, approaching the benches where her companions, excluding Blake and Slade, are waiting.

"And?" Yang asked.

"Ahh!" Ruby shows off the bag excitedly.

"What an absolute waste of time-" Weiss began before she was interrupted by an excited Yang.

"What did you get me?" she asked.

"You'll have to wait and see!" she sang in a singsong tone.

"No fair!" Ruby sticks her tongue out, Yang attempts to snatch the bag from Ruby, who recoils; then Nora jumps from between them excitedly.

"Oh, I can't believe we're taking the train to Argus! The beautiful northern coastline... You really think it's too early for beach season?" she asked curiously.

"Unfortunately, but we will be one step closer to Atlas" Ren offered.

"Well, I'm glad you're all excited. But I don't think you appreciate the trouble I went through to leave Atlas" Weiss huffed.

"I know you're worried, Weiss, but trust us. Team RWBY won't leave your side for a second! I promise" Ruby assured her.

"No one's gotta be worried with us around" a voice called from behind them.

A pair of Huntsmen, confront Ruby and her friends with proud looks on their faces, holding their weapons.

"Aaaand you are?" Nora asked with a tone that said "Why should I care?"

"Why Dee and Dudley of course. The Argus Limited's very own Huntsmen. We'll be keeping everyone safe as we pass through Grimm territory" Dee introduced the pair.

"But for a generous tip, we can make sure your passenger car gets extra special attention should things get dangerous" Dudley added before winking at Ruby. Weiss, Yang and Nora give unamused looks; Nora has her arms crossed and Weiss rolls her eyes.

"Yeah, I got a tip for ya" Qrow called from behind Ruby as he approached.

"Huh?" the pair said in unison. They turn to see Qrow confronting them. Qrow has his hands in his pockets and gives Dee and Dudley a frown.

"Buzz off" he stands between Ruby and Yang as they make faces, mocking Dee and Dudley behind him "Looks like Mistral's really scraping the bottom of the barrel these days" he added.

"Hey! You're talking to a-"

Qrow holds his huntsman license up, showing Dee and Dudley "A professional Huntsman, right" he finished mockingly with a small sigh "Well, it seems one of you heroes left the staff entrance to the caboose wide open" Dee and Dudley turn around to the left in surprise at this revelation "It'd be a shame to lose your job before it even started" he finished crossing his arms.

"I... I didn't do it!" Dudley said defensively as he turned to Dee.

"Come on, dummy" Dee scoffed "Well, I didn't do it either..." he argued as they walked away.

I do hope those weren't Beacon graduates Ozpin mused aloud to Oscar.

"You know sometimes the burden of saving the world feels overwhelming" Oscar turned to the others "But then people like that come along and make me grateful that it's our jobs instead of theirs" Everyone collectively agrees with Oscar as they nod at him together.

"Uh-huh" Ruby nodded in agreement.

"Yeah" Jaune smiled lightly.

Slade approached behind Qrow with a smirk on his face, Qrow matched with his own smirk held his hand up for a high five. Slade clapped his hand against Qrow's without looking at him as they both chuckled "Nice one, Kid"

"They seemed to be bothering you guys. Figured they could use a distraction" Slade offered with a shrug.

"Well you did a fine job, would've probably started a fight myself had you not opened the staff entrance" Qrow turned to the others "So, you kids ready to go? Bike all loaded up?"

"Yep!" Yang answered.

"Just waiting on Blake. As usual" Weiss sighed.

"Let Blake have her moment, she's been through a lot too" Slade said sitting down onto the open space on the bench as Qrow, Ruby and Yang all followed suit.

"We'll make sure she doesn't take too long, we wouldn't want to miss the train now would we?" Qrow offered taking out his flask and sipping from it. Turning toward Slade, he offered it to him. Slade accepted it with a grateful nod before sipping from it as well.

"That reminds me" Ruby pointed her finger upward suddenly as she jumped slightly in her seat "What did you mean when you said you knew Blake was coming to Mistral?" she asked leaning forward to look at Slade.

Slade took another swig from the flask before returning it to Qrow as the entire group stared at him in anticipation "It's not as outlandish as you might be thinking" he chuckled "I met with an information broker here in town and they gave me information on Blake's whereabouts"

"You asked an information broker to find me?" Blake asked as she joined the group.

"Ruby had mentioned you all lost a close friend when Beacon was destroyed and that you left not long afterward. I figured if I gave them your location they could decide whether or not to go after you, it was meant to be a parting gift when I left the city"

"Why didn't you tell us then?" Yang asked confused.

"Because he talked to a really good information broker" Qrow answered.

"Indeed, I was informed Blake was on her way to Mistral from Menagerie. I figured the choice was already made for you"

"Why would you look for me? You barely even know any of us" Blake asked surprised.

"I thought it was the right thing to do" Slade shrugged "Yang assisted me in finding Raven, I figured I owed her something in return"

"You didn't even get the bounty on her head" Yang laughed "Plus, you helped me find her. I didn't even have a clue where to find her and you already had a pretty good lead"

"I got lucky it panned out"

"My point is if anything I owe you for your help, especially after saving our asses in Haven"

"Ah, whatever" Slade waved off dismissively "Who's keeping track anyway?"

"You never did tell us why you came back" Nora pointed out.

"You did seem pretty adamant about not fighting with us against Salem anymore" Yang agreed.

"I fully intended to leave the city and allow you to fight this yourselves when I said that, Yang. Unfortunately for me, Salem sent Cinder and her goon squad to recruit me to her cause again. She wasn't very happy when I declined but she didn't try and force me as she had pressing matters to attend to that evening"

"The attack on Haven" Oscar concluded.

Slade gave a nod "I decided to leave before things got any worse and put as much distance between me and Cinder as I possibly could. But when I thought about it, I was never going to get away from this war... Salem was going to force me into it sooner or later. I decided it was time to choose my own path instead of allowing her to plot my future for me... so I came back" he explained.

"Wow... that's... deep" Ruby pointed out.

"Well it turned out you needed my help anyway" Slade chuckled lightly winking at Yang "If that's everything, I believe we should get going. The train is going to be leaving soon" he stood from his place beside Qrow.

"Kid has a point" Qrow sighed standing as the rest of the group followed suit "Let's get ourselves settled in our rooms before anything else"

Slade stopped suddenly as he gripped his head in pain causing Yang and Ruby to rush to his side to catch him from falling "Slade? Slade, are you alright?!" Ruby asked concerned but he couldn't hear.

You don't believe in fate do you? an unknown female voice asked. Slade recognized the voice from one of his previous visions but still didn't know to who it belonged.

No his own voice answered.

Why? Ruby's voice asked.

The Huntsmen were consumed by darkness... I fought for a long time... I was consumed by fear... I did not foresee it Ozpin's voice explained.

In him... my friend... Salem had already turned his heart, and it was beyond anything I had ever imagined Qrow's voice echoed He would bring destruction, pain, and death. The end of everything I love because of what he would become and in the briefest moment of pure instinct I thought I could stop it his voice continued.

I failed you Yang's voice said, sounding as if she was in tears I'm sorry

You keep messing with everyone's lives, wrecking everything and we're left behind to pick up the pieces from your mistakes! Yang's voice shouted angrily.

Who's the villain, Slade? Now who's the villain!? Mercury's voice yelled as his surroundings came back to him.

Slade shook his head slightly standing himself back up "I'm fine" he shook Yang and Ruby off of him.

"Are you sure?" Yang asked

"You looked like you were about to drop just now" Weiss added.

"I said I'm fine" he snapped surprising the group. Noticing their reaction, he internally scolded himself "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that, I just... I just need some rest" he hurried away from them toward the train before anything more could be said.

"Wait, Slade-" Yang called after him.

"Let him go, Yang" Qrow said placing his hand onto her shoulder, stopping her in place.

"But-" Yang began but stopped when she saw Qrow's stern glare "Fine" she sighed, knowing better than to try and argue with her uncle.

"What was that all about?" Blake asked confused.

"He saw something" Qrow answered.

"Saw something?" Blake asked not understanding.

"We've got some explaining to do" Jaune sighed "It's gonna take awhile so let's get onto the train first before we start into it, but suffice to say: Slade just had a vision of something or heard something that may or may not have already happened"

Blake slumped cocking her head to the side "Huh?!" she was even more confused than before.

"C'mon" Qrow chuckled "We'll explain once we're aboard. Let's give Slade some space for now"

Several Months Ago

Slade sat silently in the bullhead as it soared over the forest below, fiddling with the knife in his hand. Twirling it slightly, he fixated on his own reflection staring back at him. Slade sighed placing the knife back into it's sheath before turning to watch the treetops disappear from view, indicating they were ascending. Suddenly, a loud scraping sound attracted his attention as he looked to his left, finding Adam Taurus sharpening his blade with a whetstone. Roman Torchwick and his partner Neopolitan sat to his left with Mercury Black to theirs. Emerald Sustrai and Cinder Fall sat to Slade's right and Hazel Reinhart to his left.

"You know I love this weapon more than any other thing in the whole wide world. Do you wanna know why?" he asked looking up to Hazel.

"No" he answered without looking at him.

"It's memorable" he smiled "Sure, it's a little bulky, tough to get on a plane. You whip out a sword at your ex-girlfriend's graduation, she will never, ever forget it" he explained.

That sounds rather specific... Adam must have an old flame that pissed him off Slade concluded silently.

"That's funny, Taurus. I think you confuse me with someone who gives a shit" Hazel replied.

"Right" Adam scoffed "It's probably not as intimidating as having a gun or wrist-blades or a bad case of masochism" he taunted.

Hazel sat silently with a glare, his hands together in front of him, slightly tightening his grip from annoyance. Adam's hand moved to the hilt of his blade, earning a small smirk from Hazel "Need a fix?" Adam asked as his smirk changed into a grin.

"Easy" Slade warned "Wouldn't want to hurt the calf now would you?" he added earning a laugh from Hazel and an angry glare from Adam.

The bullhead descended quickly causing Slade to groan in discomfort "Oh, God" he whispered leaning forward.

"You alright?" Emerald asked, mildly concerned.

"If we were meant to fly, we'd grow wings" Slade replied.

"Relax, princess. More people die driving than flying" Mercury taunted.

"How about from impaling?" Slade asked with a growl causing Mercury to drop his cocky grin nervously.

"Hey, be nice" Torchwick said with a small smile "Or be your understanding of nice" he added "We're all working together here"

"So long as I'm getting paid, I am" Slade replied.

Neo made a few hand signs toward Roman causing him to laugh "Neo wants to know if you'd like a bucket"

"No" Slade answered quickly with a shake of his head "Thank you, but no" he added earning a smile from her.

"Enough" Cinder ordered standing over them "I'm tired of hearing your voices"

"Then maybe you should've taken a different ride" Slade said back.

"I would were it not full of Adam's followers" she answered nodding toward him "They're already at our destination securing the town for our arrival"

"Well, Slade as you've yet to meet... this here is-" Roman began.

"Cinder Fall" Slade finished "We've met" he glared up at her.

"Ah, so you have" Roman went quite noticing the animosity between the two. Neo extended her hand toward Cinder for a handshake, when she received nothing she signed a few times causing Roman to chuckle "She say's "My name is Neo, nice to meet you"

"Continue to annoy me and I will kill you all now" Cinder growled.

Neo turned back to Roman "She seems nice" she signed back, causing him to stifle a laugh.

"What exactly are we doing there?" Slade asked "Roman didn't exactly specify what the job was when he called me" he explained looking to Torchwick before glancing back over at Cinder.

"The mayor of the little town we're visiting today has something of mine. I simply need him to give it back" she answered.

"This is quite a team you've put together for such a simple task" he pointed out knowing there was more to it than that.

"The mayor refuses to turn it over to me and is going to be taking it to the Vale authorities when they arrive tomorrow. I've asked you all here today to help me secure the town and take the residents prisoner so they won't get themselves hurt. No one is to be harmed. Understood?"

"I've got no issue sparing some lives" Slade answered "I wonder about the rest of these reprobates though" he added looking directly as Adam.

"If anyone kills someone without my express permission, you are to terminate them" Cinder said as the bullhead came to a stop.

"We're here" Roman said standing from his seat.

Slade looked out to see they had landed in the town square as the doors opened and gunfire could be heard. Stepping off the bullhead he found the White Fang to be capturing civilians as they tried to run away while security seemed to be dropping like flies "So much for no one getting hurt" he sighed.

"Put your hands where I can see them!" yelled an officer as he pointed his gun at Slade.

"Put that thing away before someone gets hurt" Slade replied stepping toward him.

"Stop right-" he was interrupted as Hazel grabbed him from behind breaking the gun in his hand before tossing him toward the group of captured civilians.

"Things seem to be going smoothly without us" Mercury frowned "Here I thought I was going to have some fun"

"Looks like we've already got what we came for" Adam pointed out gesturing toward the old man being carried by two White Fang members holding him by his arms.

"Not quite" Cinder stepped past him off the bullhead

What have you gotten me involved in Roman? Slade wondered as he shifted uncomfortably.

"Well, thank goodness no one got hurt" Roman joked.

Slade turned to look at him, knowing sarcasm was only used by Torchwick when he was either angry or scared... and he definitely wasn't angry. Neo looked to Slade nervously making a few hand signs saying "I don't like this"

"Me neither, Neo" Slade replied watching the interaction between Cinder and the mayor.

Cinder approached him with a smile on her face "Look at how weak you've become" she smirked.

"Something far worse has happened to you" he answered.

"You know what I've come for"

"I know where you've come from. Before you called yourself, "Cinder Fall"

"The Fall Maiden" Cinder stepped toward him threateningly "We know you've hidden her away here" she turned away from him looking toward the man's office building "You're going to turn her over to me"

"Your master rose from the darkness. You did not"

Cinder twisted around a fireball in her hand "I'll show you darkness!" she growled menacingly.

"You may try" he replied unfazed "But you cannot deny the truth" he replied "We were family once"

Cinder burned him with the fire in her hand, forcing him back to his knees in pain as she grinned maliciously "Tell me where she is"

"I will not"

"Now!" she yelled increasing the amount of flame coming from her hand.

"There is nothing... you can do to me... that will make me... talk" he forced out through the pain. Cinder was surprised by the amount of pain he was able to take and still stay upright. She was unaware of Slade using his Semblance to protect the man from the majority of the flames.

What the hell did I walk into here Slade sighed looking over to Roman, he shrugged lightly. Slade narrowed his eyes, knowing Roman was aware Cinder would be pulling something like this.

Cinder suddenly stopped burning the man "You're so right... Father" she created a blade of flame in her hand before cutting him down effortlessly.

"Oh, great. Now we're killing the elderly" Slade sighed I don't like this one bit... one more wrong move and I'm out of here

"Who hasn't committed a little patricide every now and again?" Roman asked sarcastically.

A single gunshot rang out from behind her as the round stopped just behind her head, Slade had stopped it with his Semblance whilst simultaneously holding the attacker in place without looking toward him. Mercury raced toward the man punching him in the gut and pulling him toward Cinder. The man stared at the bullet stuck in the air, shaking from the momentum still being trapped inside the metal. Mercury stopped him in front of Cinder forcing the man to his knees. Cinder crouched down, looking the man in the eye. He appeared to be the captain of security for the town by his outfit.

"The old man... where did he hide her?" she asked.

"Sorry, my ears are still ringing from the gunfire I couldn't hear you" he replied mockingly.

"If you don't tell me her location I will kill you and everyone in this town" Cinder threatened standing back up "You wouldn't want that now would you?"

"I don't know who you're talking about" he answered truthfully.

Cinder cocked her head to the side "Then you're of no use to me" she turned away from him "We're not going to stop until we've found the Maiden. Once we're done here, I want you to spread out and find her" she ordered approaching Adam, stopping beside him "You know what to do" she stepped onto the bullhead, sitting down with her legs crossed.

Adam smirked "Kill them all" he ordered.

The White Fang members pointed their guns toward the civilians, causing the women and children to begin crying in terror. Slade looked at him in shock before quickly turning his attention back to his men "No!" Slade yelled reaching out his hand as gunfire began, drowning out his voice. Slade used his Semblance stopping the bullets in place as they fired allowing for several civilians to run as the bullets dropped to the ground.

Mercury began firing at them as they ran using his boots before Slade tackled him to the ground. Adam unsheathed his blade as he prepared to stab the woman in his grip, he was stopped when Slade grabbed him by the wrist.

"Don't even think about it" he warned the Faunus "I didn't sign up for this" The group stood uncomfortably around them wondering what would happen next. Cinder stood from her place curious to what he would do "Put her down" Slade ordered. Reluctantly, Adam released the woman in his grip allowing her to drop onto the ground before running away. Slade released Adam's wrist as he took a step back from him.

"What're you doing?" Roman asked pulling him aside "We've finally got a good thing going here, don't screw this up"

"Enough. That's enough" Slade answered with a sigh "We've done enough"

"These are not people you want to piss off" Roman warned fearfully "These are the kind of people you join up with because you can't beat them"

"Is that why you're here?" Slade asked cocking his eyebrow "Because you're scared of them" he gestured to the group.

"Who do you think you are?" Adam asked "This is what we do"

"It's not what I do" Slade replied stepping around Torchwick "I help people, I put people like you behind bars. I took this job as a courtesy to Roman, he's done right by me. I never agreed to slaughtering innocents" he got right up in Adam's face, earning a low growl in response.

"Roman is just as bad as the rest of us" Cinder said stepping off the bullhead once more "He's only here because he wants to save his own skin. If not for him you wouldn't even have a place here with us"

"Oh really?" Slade asked "I'm sure Salem had nothing to do with this" he rolled his eyes.

The group reeled back in shock at the mention of her name "How do you know about Salem?" Hazel asked.

"Why don't you ask Cinder" he answered turning away from the group "I'm done"

"Slade!" Cinder called after him, stopping him in place. Slade turned back to look at her "We can't just let you walk away" Slade scoffed turning away from her, continuing out of the town "Slade!" she called earning nothing from him in response "Slade!" she called again. Slade said nothing as he disappeared from view into the forest.

Neo waved goodbye with a deep frown on her face as she looked up at Roman "I know, Neo. I'm gonna miss him too" he sighed. The bullet fired by the security captain still hovering in the air suddenly raced forward into a potted plant, shattering it. The group twisted in surprise excluding Roman and Neo as they had already known about his power.

"Salem's not going to be happy we're letting him get away" Mercury pointed out looking to Cinder "Should we-"

"She wants Slade to join of his own free will" Cinder turned back to the bullhead "She'll be disappointed in his decision... but she'll know what to do next"

"You and your master have been trying to get him to your side for years now. Manipulating events to your liking in an attempt to take everything from him... to turn him against Ozpin" Adam mused "How's that working out for you?" he asked mockingly.

"Slade's smart" Roman pointed out "When it comes down to it, he'll choose the winning side" he turned to look at Cinder "Especially if it pays"

"Slade may believe himself to be a mercenary, but there wasn't any amount of money I offered that convinced him to join us" Cinder replied "I don't know how else to motivate him now"

"Some jobs just aren't worth taking" Roman sighed "Slade apparently believes working for you is more trouble than your worth"

"Perhaps he's right" Hazel agreed.

"Enough, if anyone else tries to leave, I'll kill you" Adam warned.

"Stop arguing and start searching, she's around her somewhere. She can't be far with the injuries she's already sustained from us" Cinder ordered in annoyance.

Present Day

The Argus Limited races through the snow covered countryside. The four girls of Team RWBY are all on beds reminiscent to their old dorm room from Beacon. Weiss is reading a book, Ruby plays a game on her Scroll, Yang is reading a magazine, and Blake is looking out the window.

"All right, girls, I think it's time for an official team exercise" Ruby sighed "Who wants to play video games?"

"I mean, if you want me to kick your butt, yeah sure. Let me grab my scroll" Yang goes to grab her scroll from her bag. Blake notices this and quickly walks over to her.

"Here, let me help you with that" Blake helps get Yang's bag down from the shelf, much to Yang's dismay.

"Blake, you don't have to that" she says with a frown as she takes her bag.

"I don't know what you're talking about" Blake replied saddened.

"I'm fine. We're gonna be fine. It's just gonna be a bit before things are back to normal. But... I am glad we're all back together" she assured Blake placing a comforting hand on her shoulder, the two smile at each other, with Ruby and Weiss joining in as well.

"Yeah, okay"

"How touching" Qrow's voice called from the doorway. Qrow is at the doorway holding a cocktail in his hand.

"Oh hey, Uncle Qrow! You wanna play too?" Ruby asked.

Qrow chuckled "Kick your butts? Sure" he shrugged Suddenly, the train jolts, causing Qrow to drop his drink. Passengers can be heard screaming in fear.

"What was that?" Blake asked concerned

"Exactly what it sounds like" Weiss answered.

"Just my luck" she sighed.

Qrow looked out the window seeing Grimm flying around the train "It's not yours... grab your weapons!"

Qrow runs out of the room and Team RWBY follow suit, grabbing their respective weapons on their way out the door.

Slade a couple of rooms over was resting peacefully in bed until another jolt ripped through the train, throwing him onto the floor with a small groan. Standing up he looked to see Team RWBY run past with their weapons in hand. Sighing deeply, he checked his holster ensuring Defiance was still in place "So much for getting some rest"

Qrow climbs to the top of the train and notices a group of Manticores approaching from the back. Dee and Dudley are already up top and prepare to fight the Grimm. A much larger Grimm, a Sphinx, lands on the train and lets out a loud roar. A few train cars down, Team RWBY join Qrow as they too arrive on top of the train with their weapons out. Dee charges his weapon, an electrical spiked club, and charges forward to attack. The Sphinx roars and a Manticore flies by to snatch up Dee.

"Dee!" Dudley yells helplessly watching his partner get dragged down to the forest to his unfortunate death. The Sphinx roars again and all of the Manticores fly forward to attack.

"What's the plan, Ruby?" Blake asked.

"Don't let anyone else die!" she yelled with determination.

Team RWBY and Qrow charge forward into battle. Down below in the train, Oscar opens up a window to see the commotion, a Manticore barely missing him.

Shall I? Ozpin asked.

"No, I'm keeping control" Oscar replied.

Oscar walks out and bumps into Jaune, with Ren and Nora behind him "What's going on?" Jaune asked. Oscar tries to answer, but is interrupted by another jolt as passengers scream in fear. Jaune's expression then turns determined. Back outside, Team RWBY and Qrow get to work on cutting down Manticores.

One of the Manticores roars at Ruby and Yang as they prepared to attack. Suddenly a blade came out from the train car, piercing the Manticore's foot, earning a roar of pain just before Defiance poked through between it's legs. Firing several shots into it's head left the Manticore dead, dropping off the side of the train. Slade's hand came up out of the roof of the train as he used his Semblance to pass through the roof, only making contact with his hands as he pulled himself up.

"Nice work" Ruby complimented.

"Thanks, but we're not done yet" Slade joined the fighting.

Dudley runs toward the front of the train and takes his scroll out, activating the train's defense systems "Come on, come on" The train's armor activates, with reinforced plating covering most of the train while metal bars crisscross on the windows. After that, a series of turrets rise above the train and begin targeting the midair Grimm. A group of Manticores get shot down "Ah, yes!" Dudley yells pumping his fist.

Meanwhile, Qrow engages the Sphinx, using the scythe form of Harbinger to attack. The Sphinx tries to crush Qrow with its paw, but Qrow manages to transform into his bird form before returning to normal to land an attack from above. The turrets fire at the Sphinx from behind, causing it let out another loud roar. Two Manticores fly down, one does a tuck and roll into a turret, destroying it. The other evades turret blasts and spits a fireball at one, destroying it. The passengers inside the turret's train car scream as it jolts from being destroyed.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Qrow yelled to Dudley.

Oscar and Team JNPR climb up to the top of the train to join the battle.

"Why is it always something?!" Nora yelled exasperated.

Oscar runs over to Qrow, who is shooting at Grimm "How can I help?" he asked quickly

"You can get that idiot to shut off the turrets. They're just drawing the Grimm toward the passengers!" Qrow answered as he continued to fight off the attacking Grimm.

"Right!" Oscar runs forward, dodging Grimm attacks along the way. He manages to approach Dudley, who is firing at Grimm with his own rifle "Stop! You've gotta shut the turrets off!"

"Are you crazy? No way!" Dudley yelled back. A turret continues fire, knocking more Grimm out of the sky "Yes! Another one down!"

Oscar placed his hands on Dudley "Stop! We have to lure the Grimm to the back"

"What does it matter if they're dead?" he shoved Oscar off and continues to fire at the Manticores. Suddenly, they notice the Sphinx and the rest of the Grimm fly off the train, keeping their distance.

"Where are they going?" Dudley asked confused.

Oscar, realizing something, quickly turns around "TUNNEL!"

"Huh?"

They take notice of the fast approaching tunnel. Oscar quickly gets below the train. Dudley does the same, but inadvertently leaves his arm stretched out as it impacts the wall of the tunnel. The sound of a bone snap and Dudley yelling in pain is heard over the train.

Team RWBY and JNPR quickly run into the train car as Oscar tends to Dudley, who holds his bruised arm in pain. Qrow and Slade enter and approach Dudley.

"I said, turn those damn things off!" Qrow picks up Dudley and shoves him into the wall.

Dudley groaned in pain "Those things are keeping us alive!"

"Us, sure, but they're putting the passengers in danger!"

"I'm the one they hired for this job, okay?! I'm in charge here!"

"Forgive me if I'm not exactly reassured"

"You don't inspire much confidence" Slade agreed.

While the two argue, Ruby looks out the window and notices the Manticores enter the tunnel, continuing their pursuit of the train. She then looks behind her friends at the passengers, a baby can be heard crying as passengers murmur among themselves. Ruby then walks forward to her uncle and Dudley.

"Get off me!" Dudley yelled.

"Look, if you bozos had been doing your job instead of shaking down passengers, maybe we wouldn't be in this-" Qrow berated the man.

Ruby stops her uncle and walks up to Dudley "Please just shut off the turrets"

"Trust us, we know what we're doing" Jaune activates his Semblance to heal Dudley's arm.

Dudley looks to the students before giving his answer "Fine" Ruby nods in acceptance.

"Ren, could you use your Semblance to mask everyone on this train? With the guns off and emotions hidden, they might lose track of us!" Nora offered

"Hm, I never attempted to affect this many people" Ren pondered unsure.

"Well, you've never had Jaune's help before" Ruby pointed out.

"He could amplify your Aura!" Weiss agreed.

"Yeah, that's an alright plan" Qrow smirked.

"Don't look so worried, Ren. You can totally do this!" Nora encouraged.

May I? Oscar's eyes glow as Ozpin takes over.

"I'm afraid there's one complication... The Grimm are also attracted to this" he gestures to the Relic of Knowledge on his hip.

"What's that?" Dudley asked confused.

"None of your business. Oz, are you serious?" Qrow asked.

"Why wouldn't you tell us that?!" Yang asked angrily.

"I-"

"It doesn't matter right now" Ruby interjected. Yang crosses her arms in annoyance.

"Every second we're on board this train, we're putting everyone else in danger. Get the passengers to the front cars, you'll still mask the emotions and kill the turrets... we just can't come with you. If we cut the back cars with us and the Relic on them, we can deal with the Grimm. You just make sure the rest of the train makes it safely to Argus"

Upon hearing this, Jaune finishes up healing Dudley's arm and walks over to Ruby with a conflicted expression.

"Only if you'll promise you'll meet us there"

Ruby smiles back at him "Promise"

"I'm not gonna let you have all the fun" Slade added walking toward Yang "I've been itching for a good fight anyway"

"We'll be glad to have the help" Ruby smiled at him with a slight nod.

Team JNPR begins evacuating all of the passengers to the front half of the train.

Outside, the turrets are shut off. Blake jumps down and decouples the train, allowing the front half to continue forward. When she looks up, she notices a hooded figure resembling Adam in front of her on the next train car. Blake prepares for a fight, but then realizes that no one is there and it was just her imagination. Blake sighs before jumping back up to the top of the train. Ruby is seen a few train cars down looking at her scroll, which shows portraits of her teammates and Nora, the latter's signal low compared to the rest. Ruby looks back up and notices the Manticores and Sphinx exiting the tunnel and taking flight once again. The Sphinx lands on the train.

"Now!" Ruby yelled.

Nora gets Ruby's message and gives the okay to Jaune and Ren. The two boys combine their Semblances, with Jaune enhancing Ren's Aura to the point where the entire front half of the train is grayed out by Ren's Semblance. Oscar watches the train as it disappears into the snowstorm, before being attacked by a Manticore. He manages to fend it off temporarily while team RWBY take out several Manticores one by one. Ruby notices Oscar's struggle and takes advantage of Weiss taking one down in order to send it crashing into Oscar's Manticore.

Slade easily killed several Manticores as they attacked him with Defiance, easily managing to reload the weapon between kills. Meanwhile, Qrow is seen struggling against the Sphinx. Ruby notices this and she and her team go to assist him.

"We need to ground it!" Ruby yelled.

"On it! Yang!" Blake yells.

Yang takes out a Manticore before launching off it and runs towards the Sphinx, ducking under it. Blake spins her weapon, with Yang punching it back and forth, the ribbon wrapping around the Sphinx's torso. Yang punches Gambol Shroud one more time, embedding the blade to the train's roof, and she and Blake pull the ribbon together, keeping the Sphinx down. Weiss uses her Glyphs to freeze the Sphinx's wings, with Slade firing his weapon shattering them. Ruby and Qrow ready their scythes as the Sphinx prepares to launch one more fireball. Qrow and Ruby launch forward, spinning their scythes together rapidly as they bisect the Sphinx's torso, finishing it off for good. Before it dies however, the Sphinx launches the fireball, destroying the rails in front of the train. Weiss activates her black Glyphs to hold everyone in place as the train derails and crashes into the snow. Slade managed to use his Semblance to slow the train and lessen the impact but was not close enough to Weiss to enter her glyph in time and was thrown over the side as it came to a stop.

The back half of the Argus Limited is completely derailed, with the train cars crashed in the snow. Qrow, Oscar, and Team RWBY all get back up "Is everyone okay?" Qrow asked.

"I'm fine" Weiss called.

"Yeah" Blake agreed.

"Where's Slade?" Yang asked concerned.

"He wasn't in range of my glyph when we crashed" Weiss pointed out.

"Look around! Slade might be injured and could need help" Qrow ordered.

"Too bad Jaune isn't here to heal him" Ruby sighed.

"There's no point worrying about that now" Blake looked around for any sign of him.

Then, an unfamiliar voice is heard "Still alive!" Everyone looks up and notices the elderly woman, Maria Calavera, stepping out from the train "That sure was a close one, huh?"

That's all for this time, hope you guys all liked it. Next chapter will be coming as soon as it's finished. Thank you guys for your patience.