Chapter Eighteen: Breach Battle


When Phoenix regained consciousness the first thing he saw was the crowd of civilians in the streets of downtown Vale. The second thing he noticed was that Ruby was propped up against some rubble with her eyes closed .

"Ruby! Get up! You are not allowed to die!" he yelled as he ran toward her, the rest of her team recovering from the crash. When he got to her she opened her eyes.

"What? Where am I?" She mumbled.

"You're okay! Thank Gods!" Phoenix exclaimed as she got up. Before they could do anything else a King Taijitu burst through the rubble, revealing a large breach that led into the tunnel.

"Well, this should be fun," Phoenix stated, his mood quickly changing. With that, he cracked his neck and charged into the hoard of Grimm that had crawled out of the breach. A king Taijitu lunged at him, but he quickly switched his weapon to shotgun form and blew its head off. He then switched to rifle mode and shot the two Beawolves charging at him from opposite sides. Another Taijitu came up behind him, but just before he shot it, Nora came sailing through the sky and hit it in the head. The rest of team JNPR wasn't far behind.

"Let's move!" Pyrrha ordered, causing Jaune to give a disappointed sigh that he didn't get to say that line. Returning his focus to the fight, Phoenix saw a Boarbatusk charge at him. At the last second he caught its horns in his hooks, breaking them off and kicking the Grimm into the air. He finished it off by linking the two hooks together and slashing it in the gut using a pommel blade. He saw Ruby hook a Grimm on her scythe, spin, and use the momentum to throw it. This gave him an idea.


"I can't believe I'm actually doing this," Phoenix groaned. His swords were hooked on the end of Ruby's scythe.

"Ready?" she asked cheerfully.

"Unfortunately." She proceeded to spin the scythe around at an angle, taking Phoenix with it. When she stopped, the momentum sent Phoenix flying upward towards a Nevermore. "This was a terrible idea!" he yelled as he flew through the air. When he got close to the winged Grimm he pulled out his grapnel gun and used it to pull himself up onto the Nevermore's back. He used his new height advantage to rain fire on the Grimm below while reluctantly staying in the air. When this new mount tried shaking him off, he jumped off onto a nearby rooftop and shot it down. From his vantage point he saw two new arrivals to the battle.

"Nobody move! Junior Detectives!" Sun ordered.

"We have badges so you know it's official," Neptune stated. Behind them stood an exasperated looking Detective Grant. The Junior Detectives' enthusiasm was short lived as they saw the newest combatant.

"Looks like they sent in the big guns," Phoenix thought as he looked up at an Atlesian battleship. Multiple Bullheads and robots deployed from it. Returning to the fray, he jumped off the roof, landing on an Ursa which he immediately shot in the head. "Don't want to pull the type of stunt Nora has," he thought, recalling the time she rode an Ursa to the forest temple.


Phoenix's fighting led him to the town square where a familiar face awaited him. He used his grapnel to pull himself to a Beawolf near Ruby, crushing its head with his gauntlet. When he got close to Ruby he saw an Alpha Beawolf about to attack her. "No!" He yelled as he jumped in front of her, shielding her from the blow. He could feel the searing pain of the wounds left by the beast's strike.

"Phoenix!" Ruby cried out, but he was too absorbed defending her. He tried to ignore the pain from the wound he had suffered as he turned around to fight, opening with a shot to each of the Beawolf's legs, bringing it to its knees. His weapon transformed to shotgun mode and fired into the Grimm's chest, sending it flying back. It charged forward, trying to land another blow against him, but he was ready. When it tried to slash him with its claws, he caught its hand with his sword, digging the hook into the beast's palm. He pulled the arm off and shoved one of his swords, now in rifle mode, into the stub and pulled the trigger, blowing the Beawolf apart from the inside.

Phoenix turned around to look at Ruby. "You okay?" he asked as though nothing had happened.

"I'm fine, but you! Your back!" she exclaimed.

"Like I said before, if it was this easy to kill me, I'd have died a long time ag-." Before he could finish he was hit in the face by a Boarbatusk and sent flying. When he landed he quickly dispatched it, but something was off. The lenses of his mask had been damaged, greatly reducing his ability to see. Despite this, he was able to recognize the person he was now facing: Detective Grant.

"Don't move," he commanded, his pistol aimed at Phoenix.

"Grant, now is not the-" Grant pulled the trigger before Phoenix could finish his sentence. However, the bullet flew over his shoulder and hit a Beawolf that was right behind him.

"Letting you get mauled to death by a Grimm wouldn't be justice," Grant told him. "But I assure you this is a one time thing," Phoenix rolled his eyes while Grant continued to speak. He was becoming louder to make sure he could be heard over the music that had mysteriously started playing. "Now act like the hero you seem to think you are, and defend the city."

The two of them fought together for a bit. As their fighting continued the music grew louder.

"Alright, that's it!" Phoenix finally snapped "What the hell is that music?!" He quickly got his answer when a ship flew over him. The owner of the ship was made obvious by the pilot yelling into the ship's speaker.

"LEEEEEEERRRRROOOOOYYYYYY JEEEENNNNNKKKKIIIIIINNNNNNSSSSS!"

Jenkins had his ship's weapons firing wildly. His random firing lead to the ship's main cannon creating an explosion between Grant and Phoenix.

"Son of a bitch!" they yelled simultaneously as they were sent flying back in opposite directions. Phoenix used the separation as a chance to slip away before the situation was handled and the detective decided that The Flaming Shadow was an enemy again.


The fight concluded shortly after that, ending with Glynda sealing the breach. After that it was just mop up work, mostly handled by Jenkins. "Hey, when you're done with that you mind picking me up?" Phoenix asked him, hiding in an alley so no one would see him. A minute passed before he saw what he thought was an airship overhead. "That you Jenkins?" he inquired.

"Yep. Why do 'ya ask?"

"Long story. I'll get to a clearing so you can land."


"Hey! You're that Fall kid!" Jenkins exclaimed when he saw Phoenix's face.

"Yeah. Please tell me you turned the speaker off," Phoenix replied, not wanting his identity broadcast to Vale. He'd taken his mask off so he could put on his glasses which he kept in one of his pockets.

"Yeah, they're off, but why tell me now?" the pilot asked.

"Well, everyone else I trust has already found out or is about to find out so figured you shouldn't be left out of the fun." Before Phoenix put his glasses on he saw a blur that looked slightly familiar. "What's she doing here," he thought. By the time he got his glasses on they had passed the location. "Turn around!" Phoenix ordered. The Jenkins compiled, but when he saw the roof he thought his mother was on, no one was there.

"What was that about?" Jenkins asked.

"Nothing," he said as he started bandaging his wound, "I guess that boarbatusk hit me harder than I thought. Let's just get this flight over with."


"You're what?" Jaune exclaimed. Phoenix had called teams RWBY and JNPR to his room to tell them everything.

"I'm The Flaming Shadow," Phoenix responded calmly, thankful that his walls and door were soundproofed. "I can explain everything. Ruby, Blake, Weiss, you three can feel free to play a game or something since you've already heard this."


"Wow…" they all said after he told them everything.

"That's the reaction I usually get," Phoenix replied.

"So your mother is behind what happened today?" Yang asked.

"Yep," he answered with a sigh. "This is why I wanted to keep it secret. My mother is a dangerous sociopath hell bent on destroying the world. And I'm the reason she's still walking. Not only am I related to her but I failed to-" he was cut off by Ruby embracing him.

"I told you before you're not your mother. We don't care about your past. We don't care if you didn't stop her. You did everything you could and that's what matters," she declared, blushing.

"Thanks Ruby. I needed that. But could you let go of me. This isn't helping my back."

"OhmygoshI'msosorry!" she exclaimed as she quickly released him.

"Awwwww! My sister is so grown up. You two really are adorable," Yang said, causing both of them to turn bright red and start trying to deny it while the others broke into laughter.


Yet another action chapter. Now that all the main characters know his secret, I can actually use a lot of the suggestions I've gotten. The music Jenkins played during battle was the Puma theme from RvB.

I decided to add character summaries for Jenkins and Grant to the end of this chapter. They have everything from Phoenix's character summary except the personality info.


Name: Leeroy Jenkins

Gender: Male

Age: 25

Height: 6'4"

Weight: 200lbs

Physical appearance: He is very muscular. He has short gray hair, a goatee and blue eyes.

Voice: His voice is the "Leeroy Jenkins" voice.

Occupation: Former pilot at Beacon Academy, pilot for Phoenix Fall AKA The Flaming Shadow

Clothing: Jenkins typically wears Atlas soldier body armor with red highlights. The white parts of the armor have been painted gray. He doesn't wear the armor's helmet, instead choosing to wear his aviator sunglasses. He also keeps a pouch where he stores some of his many explosives.

Weapons: Jenkins' weapon of choice is Sheila, a ship similar in design to the cargo airship Weiss took to Mynstral. The main differences are the weapons added to the ship, the improved armor, and the brown on the ship has been replaced with gray. Sheila has an AI Jenkins accidentally created built into it that is capable of flying, attacking Grimm, and following other basic commands without the aid of a pilot. When not piloting Sheila, he wields Mr. Cuddles, a shotgun shell firing minigun that transforms into a chainsaw. He also has various different types of explosives he designed.

Semblance: He has ridiculous strength and durability, even by RWBY standards.

Fighting Style: Jenkins relies entirely on brute force, using little to no strategy. He does his best fighting from inside Sheila's cockpit, using its weapons as well as his own skills as a pilot to defeat enemies. However, he is more than capable of fighting without it using Mr. Cuddles and his explosives. At a distance he'll use explosives and Mr. Cuddles' minigun form to attack enemies. Up close, he'll use either its chainsaw mode or his fists to fight. His enhanced strength let's him easily use Mr. Cuddles with only one hand despite its size.

Strengths: He is a master pilot and mechanic as well as expert with explosives and heavy weapons.

Weaknesses: He is less than intelligent in regards to all topics except ships, machines, explosives, and heavy weapons, impatient, easily distracted, and reckless.

Likes: His likes include Sheila, Mr. Cuddles, Boss (Phoenix), Boss' friends, flying, building things, blowing things up, and food.

Dislikes: His dislikes include sitting around and doing nothing, Boss' enemies, people who take his food, and people who hurt Sheila.


Name: James Grant

Age: 40

Height: 5'11"

Weight: 160 lbs.

Physical Appearance: He has short dark brown hair, dark green eyes, and tan skin.

Voice: I can't think of a good way to describe it right now. I may come back later and add some info on it if I can come up with a good way to do so.

Occupation: Crime Specialist Huntsman / Detective (He usually chooses to act as a detective rather than a traditional huntsman.)

Clothing: He wears a brown trenchcoat, a white dress shirt, a red tie, black slacks, black dress shoes, and a belt.

Weapons: He uses Enforcer, a pistol that is able to transform into a baton. It can be loaded with several different types of Dust rounds for various different effects.

Semblance: He can enhance his senses at will. This allows him to do things like enhance his sight to the point where he can perceive even the slightest movement with ease.

Fighting Style: Grant's fighting style is simple but effective. He prefers to use ranged attacks. He can shoot accurately from a great distance by using his semblance to enhance his sight. If attacking from a distance increases the risk of whoever he is fighting escaping, then he will switch to close combat. He is skilled in this as well despite his preference for ranged combat. He can often predict what his opponent's next move will be by detecting small changes in things like their stance.

Strengths: He is a master detective, an expert marksman, and is skilled with a baton.

Weaknesses: He is out of practice due to rarely fighting skilled opponents, can become so obsessed with achieving a goal that he forgets to look at the bigger picture, and his senses can become overwhelmed.

Likes: His likes include justice, order, and solving mysteries.

Dislikes: His dislikes include the Flaming Shadow, corruption, and secrets.


If you have any suggestions for what to write, then let me know. Thanks for reading!