So, this is the first chapter of the first fic i've ever made! The whole story is still a work in progress, and i'd love every criticism and/ or opinion, seeing as i am rather new to all this. Thank you so much for giving this a chance anyway!

I've chosen this fic, and James as the "main" character because let's be honest, i like him. I hate what they have done with him, and i was really sad to see what he had become, but i really did like him as a character.

"And that's checkmate." A female voice said to him. He didn't know who she was, but for some reason it made him angry. And then he was falling.

"James..." Another voice. Now he was... sad? He feared something, but also accepted it, like it was inevitable.

And then he woke up, alone, as he'd been for the last two weeks.

"Waking up with nightmares, every single night. If I knew I'd become like this I wouldn't have joined the military" He sighed.

After Atlas fell, James found himself stranded, barely alive and with only half of his body still functioning. And most importantly, he found himself alone. With not even the Grimm in sight, he spent each day in some abandoned village out the skirts of Mantle, trying to find some food, just to survive. Even if he only wanted to end this.

But he couldn't. Not with him.

"Some great General you are! If it wasn't for me, you would have been dead a long time ago."

"If it wasn't for you, i wouldn't be in this mess! No one would! All those deaths could have been avoided, and it was all for nothing!"

James screamed to the other half of the conversation. Or, well, the other half of himself.

"I would have been better off without a semblance at all!"

He looked directly ahead at what basically, to every other person, was nothing. He was alone in this room, an abandoned building that he was using to sleep in for the last couple of days.

But he saw him, Mettle, his semblance. At first, when he discovered that he could 'see' his semblance he thought himself crazy. Why was this happening to him? Had he finally snapped? Almost dying to Cinder, seeing Atlas destroyed, and knowing that he had hands in all of it had finally rendered him insane?

No, it was almost the opposite.

To save him from himself, that cursed semblance activated itself, 'coming to life' in a way, just so he couldn't snap. In doing so it had effectively lost the power to cloud his judgment but had gained 'conscience', if one were to analyze this. In reality, it was just his cynical part, given form. And it was irritating.

"Yes, of course! Mr. Great General here, thinking he could have made all the right choices." Mettle said, mocking him. "Well, bad news for you: I was the one who made the right choice. Always."

"No! Don't you ever dare say that! Maybe you made the 'Logical' choice." Ironwood as good as spat that word out. "But you didn't have the best solution. We could have saved Mantle! We could have worked with Team RWBY, with Ozpin! We could have done something!"

"And we did. We tried to save Atlas, at all cost."

The most uncanny part of Mettle, at least of its new-found physical form, was that it was him. It was like looking at a mirror, but he knew it was off. Everything was colder. How it acted, how it moved, and even its voice. And he was hating that cold voice. He was hating his voice. "Shut up!" Ironwood roared. "Just shut up! I've had enough of you, i've had enough of all of this. I shouldn't have survived the fall. Not when so many people died."

This outburst seemed to have placated Mettle, seeing as it was now silent. Silent? That was strange, it was the first time since he-

"James? Is that you?" He heard a voice. Not his, for the first time in these cursed weeks. He should, by all account, be ecstatic, he wasn't alone! But this wasn't the case, for he recognized that voice. And, as slowly as he could, trying so hard, as he never did in his life, not to cry, he looked in the direction of the voice. Of the female voice of his old friend, or what could be once considered one. Glynda Goodwitch was in front of him.

She was not expecting survivors when she volunteered to join the search party, she hoped to find someone, even one single person, but deep down she knew that it was only wishful thinking.

So, when she heard a voice in a house, she was downright joyful! She would save someone, anyone, from this mess.

What she wasn't expecting was her old friend, or at least what remained of him.

Even if he was missing for only two weeks, she had never seen the man so destroyed. One of his robotic arms was missing, most likely destroyed. And his face, by the gods his face. It wasn't that much different overall, if not for the longer beard, but she could see that he was hurt.

"James, what are you doing here? I thought you died in the crash, everyone did." He looked like he wanted to cry, like a single word might set off the bomb of emotion that this man had become.

"I-it would be better that way Glynda." As he said this, he immediatly averted the gaze from her eyes.

"I should have died, it's all my fault! Everyone is dead, every single civilian, even all the huntsmen! I killed them, and i should have died with them!" He was broken, she could see as much. "What are you talking about? Last i heard, everyone was safe in Vacuo, or at least most of the civilian were." For the first time since she entered the room, he looked directly in her eyes. She felt sick. Those were not the eyes of the hard but caring man she knew, or not even the cold and calculating eyes he gave off for the military. No, those were the eyes of a man who had, until now, lost all hope. Who passed his days mourning, and hating himself. Who could sleep, and wake up less rested than before.

"Really? But how? The city was flooded, and Atlas came crashing down on it!"

"Team RWBY and JNR, they opened some kind of portal with the relic of creation, and they saved most of the people." As soon as she finished explaining, the mess of a man she had before her eyes started crying. She had never seen him cry, not in how many years she knew him.

After some time, in which the silence was only broken by his sobs, he finally started speaking again.

"I'm glad they're all safe, but even then, I shouldn't have survived, I'm the one who did all this, me and this cursed thing!" Glynda knew it was unlikely that he went mad after only two weeks here, he was stronger than this, but now, that he was pointing, and actually having a conversation with, well, nothing, she was of course a little bit worried. And it showed on her face.

"So, you can't see him can you? Damn, that's not helpful in this situation" He tried to rub his temple, but tried to do so with the missing arm, letting out a groan of frustration. "See who James? We're alone in here."

"She can't see me, at least not yet, but if I do this..." After those words, James heard a panicked gasp from Glynda, she was looking at... Mettle? "Hello there Ms. Goodwitch, be not alarmed, I'm merely Mettle, James semblance, a little... Evolved if you'd like to put it that way"

"That's impossible!" Glynda screamed. "The hasn't been a case of a living semblance since..." At that word James immediatly looked at her face, a face that was now filled with regret over saying such a simple word, and even... Guilt?

"What do you mean living semblance? And what do you mean with since? Has anyone else-"

Before he could finish the questions, he heard a voice from outside, a male one. At first he didn't recognize him, he didn't think of it anything. He was so close to uncovering something, who could blame him?

But then, the world shifted. He was.. on the ground? And he couldn't feel his jaw.

"YOU! YOU SHOULD BE DEAD, LIKE MY NIECES, LIKE ALL OF THEM! IT'S YOUR FAULT!" Nieces, nieces, who could say th-.

And in a single second, it all came to mind. He looked up, just to see an angry man, the angriest he'd ever seen him.

With bags under his eyes, filthy clothes, and unkept black hair, Qrow Branwen was looking at him. And he wasn't happy at all. Just as he was finishing this thought, he felt another punch connect with his face, and, just before he could throw a third one, Qrow stopped.

Or to be more precise, he was stopped by Glynda's Semblance. "Qrow stop! I know you're angry, but just stop!" "Angry?" He as good as roared "It's not only anger! I want him dead, like my nieces! Like their team! He deserves to!"

"I know I do." And at once, just as quick as they started, Qrow screams stopped, only to glare at the mess of a man, who didn't even try to get up from the floor.

"I know I deserve to die, and trust me, I wanted nothing more. Every single dead person in Atlas? In Mantle..." He looked up and, for the first time, Qrow saw his broken eyes, the eyes of something that was no man, not anymore.

"They were all my fault. I as good as pulled the trigger on them."

"Then why are you alive! Why, even after saying all of that, even after destroying everything I cared for, why are you alive?"

"I think I can answer that." For a moment he didn't know who talked. That was Ironwood's voice, but he didn't say those words. When he looked around the room he saw it.

It was like a more "polished" version of James. With a nice shave, his normal hair, and, most importantly, both arms.

"Hello Mr. Branwen. I am Mettle, or at least you would know me by that name. I am, or was in a sense, James's semblance."

"But how is that- How even-" Before he could finish that question, Qrow was once again interrupted by the... Man? Semblance? In front of him. "Allow me to ask a question, Ms. Goodwitch said that almost everyone escaped safely to Vacuo, but you said that Team RWBY and JNR were killed, or am I mistaken?"

Just listening to him talking made his blood boil. At least, even if he hated James with every ounce of his being, he knew that the man hated himself just as much.

But this thing, it was cold, analytical, treating the deaths of the team as nothing more than statistics. And it infuriated him.

"Yes! Yes they are dead! They, and even that Jaune kid! All dead, down the abyss of the place created by the staff, and all because of you!"

And as he said it, he stared back at James, the real one anyway.

"Winter told me some time after the fact, and do you want to know what's worse than them being dead? We will never even have the bodies! They are gone, and all because of you!"

Just as he looked down in his eyes, expecting to see the same regret and dead stare he saw before, he was shocked. The eyes that before held only resentment, and self-hate, were now filled with something else completely.

They were filled with hope.

"You said that they fell in the abyss? The abyss of a place created by the staff?" He was quick on his feet, and that shocked even Glynda, who until now was just staring at the two, ready to intevene if needed.

"Yes, they fell, why are you so interested?"

Now Qrow was getting angrier. Not only at the fact that he still couldn't punch the man in front of him thanks to Glynda's semblance, but more at the fact that said man was looking at him all the more hopeful, like he had understood something.

"Years ago, we studied the staff, as we weren't willing to let Atlas rest on something that could fail, and, in one of the tests we even tried to make more space, as kind of a pocket dimension. And then we explored, we had some accidents, but everyone came back safely. Everyone."

Qrow wished he could punch him right now. What did he care for some stupid experiment they did- And then it clicked in his head. Everyone came back. Supposedly even the ones that fell.

From the gasp he heard from Glynda, he knew she came to the same conclusion. And as she was so deep in thought, her semblance dropped. Faster than one could blink, Qrow was on Ironwood, but this time not with a punch.

He just got so close to him, that they could almost feel each other breath on their face. And then James saw his eyes. The angry eyes of a man who had lost everything, now changed. They were eyes filled with regret, sadness, and now. Just now, a little bit of hope.

"I know how to save them Qrow, I know you all don't trust me, but please, let me try to right some of my wrongs." Mettle could only scoff at this. He was the great General of Atlas! He should have never to steep this low, not for anyone.

"You're right, I don't trust you. And I don't think there are a lot of people left on Remnant who do. But if you have even the slightest clue on how to find them, if they are even alive, I'll come with you. And then we'll settle this."

Glynda could only watch and sigh, as she knew this wouldn't be an easy task, and she refused to let the two (Or maybe three counting the semblance?) go alone.

"I hope you two know that I'll be coming along."

Qrow didn't even listen to her, and just continued staring right at James, who in turn did the same. At least he acknowledged her, closing his eyes briefly.

"You don't have to do this. This is my mess, and I need to at least try to solve it." "I know, but I don't even want to think what you two would do alone, so I'm tagging along."

"So, where do we go to save them?"

"We need to go to Atlas. Or at least what remains of it."

Qrow noticed, that while he was still far from the man he used to be, now James was carrying himself with more composure. He knew what to do, and he was determined to do it, even if it cost his life.

Deep down, as much as he hated the man for all he had done, or even for all he had allowed his Semblance to cloud him into doing, he was almost relieved to see a shred of his old self.

While they were starting to move, none of them looked back at Mettle. If so, they would see that the calm and collected semblance, was now the epitome of anger. That was a face the real James never showed. He wanted to kill the two huntsmen in front of him. He needed James for himself. He needed him to survive.

Or, at least, he needed James's body to survive.

"What's so important in Atlas anyway? It's nothing more than rubble as of now."

Qrow said, still watching him for every move he made. "Yes, that may be the case in the main city, but we outsourced the more "risky" experiments. Never too far, but enough so we wouldn't risk the general population."

"Fat lot of good that did for everyone here!"

"I know!" James roared back. "I know that everyone is dead, and it's all my fault. I know!"

Glynda was watching this ready to cut in with her semblance, but was getting thoroughly irritated by the fourth man in this little voyage, if he could even be called a man.

That damned semblance was almost chuckling back with her, never uttering a word, apart from the occasional insult over James, or has he called him "Mr. Tin General".

Qrow would have laughed if he didn't hate Mettle almost more than he hated James as of now.

After an hour of walking south of Atlas, they suddenly came to a halt. "Well? What's the hang Ironwood?"

"We're here."

Both the rescuers looked around, seeing nothing.

"Are you taking the piss? I didn't kill you right there just because you said we could save my nieces, and then you get us to nothing? You won't make anoth-"

Before he could finish his sentence however James knelt, and opened a secret passage.

"I'm just glad this still works. If there's anything that can save you nieces and all their teams it's down there."

As soon as the General finished talking, a distant roar was heard from inside of the now revealed compound.

"And I think we have company. I'm gonna go first."

"Why, so you can ditch us and look for something to escape with?" Qrow was cynical, he knew, but he couldn't trust his old friend with anything right now.

"No, so he can die first, that fool." Ironwood didn't say anything to rebuke what Mettle said, and both Branwen and Goodwitch winced.

"So, are we gonna go or not?" Ironwood asked, almost impatiently.

"Lead the way."