"The effort you put forth to anything transcends yourself, for there is no futility even in death." -Monty Oum


RWBY x Red vs Blue Crossover:

"Metastability"


Chapter 4: War is Hell

"...son of a bitch."

[Play: Extraction - Jeff Williams]

Those four words that came out of Washington's words had never been so true. In honesty, Maine was pretty damn scared himself. The "Pirate" was a freaking alien, a brute of one at that, and was armed to the teeth. From the look of it, it was pissed, it was angry, it was furious, and it just found an outlet in the form of three Freelancers, who just so happened to be right in front of it. It let out a monstrous growl and raised its arm. The green containers on its arm began to glow, and energy began to gather around the muzzle, as if ready to fire.

Carolina was the first to react. "SCATTER!"

When it fired, it a burst of green fire. The three were forced to throw thenselves to the ground in order to evade, while the console they gathered around previously was destroyed, reduced to sparking circuitry and burning metal. Maine quickly picked himself up from the ground, shaking off the slight dizziness he received when he hit the ground. He took aim with his magnum and opened fire. The bullets struck the armor, but became indented, concaving in on themselves and clattering to the ground. Washington also fired away at it with his assault rifle, though the bullets only seemed to bounce off. Carolina also took her shot at it, firing away with her twin weapons, but the energy blasts were repelled. Unlike before when it simply took the hits, it shielded itself with the large metal sheet over its left arm.

When it became clear nothing was working, the red-haired Freelancer scowled and decided to charge straight at it. "Carolina, wait!" She didn't listen. She charged right toward it, letting out a battle cry as she ran. The giant brute saw her, and swung. Carolina jumped over it, firing away at it from above before she landed behind it. She whirled around, seeing the exposed muscle on its back, and was about to fire away at it until the Pirate whirled around, and smacked her away with the shield, throwing her aside. "Shit," Washington cursed. "Maine, cover Carolina! I'm gonna grab this asshole's attention!"

"Got it!" Maine shouted back, running to his friend. Meanwhile, the dark-armored soldier unloaded his clip at the thing's back, causing it to let out a screech, feeling pain and whirling around, smashing the ground with rage. It aimed its cannon at him and fired. He rolled out of the way, avoiding it while continuing to shoot. Meanwhile, Maine helped a stunned Carolina up. "You okay?"

Carolina grunted. "I'll live," she told him before turning her attention to the Pirate. "Goddammit, intel said nothing about Pirates being here!"

"What the fuck even IS that thing?!"

"Remember the Covenant?" she asked. "Well, meet their heaviest brutes. The Hunters. Looks like those bastards got one with them."

"How the fuck is that even possible?!" The new Freelancer gaped in shock. Just what did these guys do to get one of the members of the Genocidal, Religious alien race humanity was at war with?! It didn't make any fucking sense!

"Don't know," Carolina said as she shrugged off the damage. "But if want to get out of here...we need to get rid of ugly. Maine, get to one of the consoles, find a schematic of the place!"

"Why?!"

"Shut up and do it!"

"Okay, okay!" The soldier relented as he rushed over to one of the remaining, intact consoles. Immediately, he typed in keys and scoured through stored information to find the information he was looking for. He needed to find it...and fast.

He began to type into the console furiously, looking for the requested data. Meanwhile, Carolina helped Washington. "Hey, ugly!" she shouted. The Hunter stopped and turned, finding the teal-armored woman shooting at it with her twin guns. "Kiss my ass!"

The Covenant being roared as it swung it's weaponized arm around and aimed the barrel at her. It let loose. She dodged just as it was about to strike her, vaulting over it and aiming her guns. Rather than attack blindly, she aimed for the arm with the cannon. The Hunter let out a growl as it shielded the arm, avoiding any damage. "Wash!" she shouted. "How many sticky grenades do you have?!"

"I have four on me! Why?!" The Freelancer asked as he popped out of his cover to shoot the creature in the back.

"I got an idea!" she called back. The Hunter let out a cry as it turned back to Washington, who immediately gulped. It then charged at him rather than shoot at him, forcing him to quickly move away. Its shield barreled through the consoles in front of it, tearing it up from the ground before clashing into the ground. "Maine! Got the schematics?!"

"One sec...YES!" the blonde cheered as he took a chip from the console. "Got it!" He tossed it over to Carolina, who immediately placed it into one of the slots in her helmet. The Hunter removed itself from the wall, and turned to glare at them. Maine immediately squeaked. "U-um...Carolina, please tell me this plan of yours doesn't involve us dying, cause I think the big guy REALLY wants to kill us!"

She ignored him. The Hunter slowly advanced, the cylinders on its weaponized arm glowing as energy gathered at the muzzle. "F.I.L.S.S, we're doing a shock drop! Give me the best route!"

"AFFIRMATIVE." The Freelancer AI program responded as the schematics of the base pulled up on the visor within her helmet. A split second after that, a bright red line was drawn from their current position to their designated target.

Carolina glared at the map schematics, memorizing them before she turned to her comrades. "Come on, you two!" she barked. "We're leaving!"

"On it!" Maine and Wash turned to the Hunter, firing a few rounds at it before following Carolina out of the room.

The Hunter let out a bellow of rage. It soon began to chase after them, plowing through the doors that did nothing to halt it and charged down the halls, speeding up behind them. Washington and Maine provided cover fire, though they should have known that the bullets would do nothing. They rounded a corner, though Maine slid and nearly fell on his own feet before catching himself and continue his sprint. The Hunter was not as graceful. It turned its body so only its side crashed into the wall, breaking the pipes and causing steam to blow in its armored face. It then resumed its chase after them.


"...okay, this is both exciting and terrifying all the same time," Yang said. Part of her felt scared for what that giant thing would do to them if it caught them, while on the other hand it greatly reminded her of a movie she had once seen. "But seriously, WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT THING?!"

"SWEAR!" came the squeak of disapproval from the leader of Team RWBY.

"Not the time, Ruby! I mean, do you see that thing?! Not even Beringel's are that beefy!"

What they were seeing was a monstrosity that put even the ape-like Grimm to shame. It even had a WEAPON for an arm for Oum's sake!

"Ren! Ren!" Nora cried with stars in her eyes. "Can I keep it?!"

"One," the teenage boy of NPR replied calmly. "This is a memory. You can't actually interact with it. Two, no. Last thing I need is for you to ride that thing's back and destroy everything in sight."

The orange-haired girl pouted, shoulders slumping. Weiss, meanwhile, looked terrified and starstruck. 'Aliens,' she thought in total shock. 'Aliens...actually exist... They are big, they are mean, and they are real.' Unknown to her, a gulp traveled down her throat. Somehow, the idea of one of those things coming down to Remnant scared the shit out of her, and she was sure others would agree with her. Going by the firepower it had...Aura wouldn't do much good against a weapon like that.


"So what's the plan?!" Maine shouted as they were still running. That passed through another door, and busted straight through a few guards that were in front of them and continued to run like hell. The Hunter killed the two, either by stomping over their downed bodies in their charge or crushing them with its arm and throwing them aside. "We keep running and hoping the big man tires out?!"

"There's a power plant in the middle of the facility!" Carolina answered, ahead of the two men. "If we blow it up with the grenades, we can kill this fucker! Now shut up and keep running!"

Maine held his tongue as he pumped more strength into his legs. Their feet thundered across the metal floor, but the sound they made paled in comparison to the stomps of the Hunter. Adrenaline coursed through Maine's veins as the fight or flight response became initiated. It was just like before, on that first mission. The lives of the soldiers he took. This situation. The threat of him dying. Him standing on the edge of a very thin tightrope. That feeling from before had come back, only stronger than ever.

Somehow, he remembered. That here, he couldn't afford to be some idiot who wanted to be a hero of some sort for whatever reason. Here, he was a man in armor, gun in hand, ready to follow orders. On the battlefield, he was a soldier. A warrior...a feeling he both despied, and welcomed.

He accepted it because it was what was asked of him. He hated it because it wasn't right.

But even if he hated it, it mattered little. His own feelings were useless in the battlefield. The mission took precedence above his emotions. For once, he let himself go. As he ran, his breathing began to calm, and his pants became lower. His heart rate lowered down. Then his eyes became more focused. For a moment, the red irises burned with even greater intensity, and his pupils shrank.

He suppressed his own fear, disgust, and panic into the deepest corner of his mind and allowed the soldier he was molded into through training take over.

In that one moment, in that one second...the man who would soon become one of the most terrifying forces the world would see had taken to the battlefield.


(Outside of Memory Sequence)

"...Director," the Counselor, Aiden Price, said as he looked at the bio-readings. "It would appear the augmentation is beginning to take affect."

The Director simply stared back at the holoscreen, eyes focused. "That hardly matters, Counselor," he retorted. "All that matters now is seeing Maine's progress. After all...this is just the first of a thousand steps before he can be the soldier we've been looking for."

"Understood." Then the dark skinned man turned to his superior, a tinge of concern in his eyes. "If I may Director...are we certain that this is the best option to take?"

"I've said it before, Counselor...the system will determine the order."


"We're about to hit the plant!" Carolina shouted. "Wash, get the grenades ready!"

"On it!" The Freelancer responded as he pulled two sticky grenades from his belt.

"And Maine?"

"...yeah?"

"Keep our little guest busy! Buy us five minutes!"

Maine's feet slid across the metal, whirling around to face the Hunter while the other two Freelancers ran towards the power plant. The Hunter stopped, and let out a roar. In response, Maine slammed his fist into his palm, cracking his knuckles, neck and shoulders. No matter what happened, he was going to follow through with his orders. If they needed five minutes, they'll get them...no matter what it took.

"...well, jackass?" he growled. His voice sounded menacing, almost like the voice of a predator. "You coming...or what?"


"...uh oh. I know where this is going," Yang paled. "A-and...is it just me, or does Vomit Boy sound like...well, you know...?"

"You mean that he now sounds very scary?" Ruby offered. Truth be told, she was terrified. Somehow, his voice reminded her of how she was when they reunited back at the Forever Fall; though he was unable to speak, the groans, growls, and snarls were all menacing, reminiscent to that of a predator zeroing in on his prey.

But...how did that happen? He was fine moments earlier. Why did his personality to a complete 360?

"Jaune..." Pyrrha whimpered, her fear growing.


The Hunter let out a screech, and then aimed its cannon at him, opening fire. Maine dove out of the way before rolling back on his feet, whipping out his pistol. He aimed right in the Alien's face and pulled the trigger. The bullets flew and impacted the abomination in the visor and mouth. The bullets barely fazed it, as it only let out a grunt of annoyance before it charged at him, intending to crush him with its shield.

Maine holstered his weapon and dove out of the charge at the last moment. The beast ran past him. It then skidded to a stop to turn and face him, only for Maine to run towards it. The Hunter raised its weaponized arm before bringing it down on top of the approaching Freelancer, fully intent on crushing him. With a surprising show of herculean strength, Maine caught the arm. The Hunter reared its head back, as if shocked. Beneath his helmet, a savage smile formed on his face.

"...my turn."

He dug his fingers into the limb and positioned his feet so he would produce more torque from leverage. He twisted his body and moved the arm over his shoulder. The Hunter let out a roar of confusion and fear as it found itself flying through the air. When it crashed into the ground, metal scrapped against steel, creating a horrifying and ear-grating sound that sounded worse than nails scratching against chalkboard. It slowly raised itself back up, slightly dazed. It looked up, and then found itself smacked with a straight hook that caused the metal to dent. But it didn't stop with a single strike. Another punch impacted the other side of its face. Then another. Then another. As it tried to get up, it was continuously pummeled back to the ground by two heavy fists.

Eventually, the beatings stopped, and it was grabbed by the head. With great strength, Maine threw its body all the way down the hall. When it landed, it began to tumble like a rag doll, bouncing through the halls before it smashed through the double doors, and fell inside a large room. It was at least twice the size of the training room at Beacon Academy, and most of it was nothing but an empty center with machinery wired up to what looked like a gigantic turbine with wires and tubes hooked up to it, falling inside the cavity it hung over.

Washington and Carolina, who stood by a console, were startled but became slackjawed when they saw the Hunter with a dented and ruined metal helmet, trying to get up while Maine walked through the destroyed entrance nonchalantly, cracking his knuckles. "...what. The. Fuck?" the gray-armored soldier repeated Maine's words earlier, unable to believe what he was seeing. "D-did he? I mean, was-was that?"

"Maine's been holding out on us," Carolina remarked, though even she felt shocked. "Wash, how much longer before you can overload this thing?"

"O-One more minute!" Her comrade responded as he snapped out of his former stupor. He immediately returned to working on the console.

Meanwhile, the Hunter managed to get back up, and let out a guttering roar at Maine. His only response was the notorious universal gesture. Eranged by the shisno's arrogance, the Covenant being aimed its weaponized arm at the human, energy charging up at the tip.


"...um, is it just me, or did that thing just call Jaune poop?" Nora asked, tilting her head. Everyone stared at her. "What? Seriously, I could've sworn it just called him poop!"


Maine wasn't about to let it fire. He immediately rushed in as the weapon charged and pulled out his shotgun. He spun the weapon in his grip and slammed it as hard as he could into the intricate machinery in the alien's limb. With a pull of the trigger, the shells blew straight into the arm. In the next moment, green flashed, and bits of metal, bone, machinery, and green fluid went spraying all across the air, splattering against the walls and floor. Most of it splattered against his armor. The Hunter screeched in agony as its nerves were connected to the weapon, and we're now being fried from the explosion.

Maine smirked. Without stopping his streak, he rammed the shotgun into its chest and pulled the trigger. First shot barely caused it to move. The second caused it to jerk. Third made it flinch. The fourth nearly caused its feet to move. Fifth caused it to gasp in pain. Sixth made its feet lift off the ground. Then came the seventh round. Eighth. Ninth. At the tenth round, it was now a few inches above the ground.

He then switched out for his magnum pistol and fired right into the wounds caused by the shotgun rounds. Now that most of the plating had been destroyed, the pistol's bullets tore through the remainders and dug into its flesh. The Hunter's cries of pain escalated. The flesh was exposed, revealing sinews of bloody, ripped meat. "Oi, Wash!" he shouted as he delivered a kick, knocking it back. "You have a grenade on ya?!"

"Y-yeah, why?!"

"Toss it to me."

"G-Got it!" Hoping that Maine knew what he was doing, the black-clad Freelancer tossed him the item. He caught it easily. Meanwhile, the Hunter, now enraged, let out a roar in his face. Beneath his helmet, Maine glared back as he pulled the pin.

"...piss off."

He reared his arm back and shoved the grenade straight into the massive, bleeding hole in the Hunter's torso. He then punched it away from him and his team mates before retreating. "Wait, did you just-?!" Wash got no further than that Carolina grabbed him by the neck and pulled him down while Maine slid next to them, taking cover.

The Hunter let out a pained cry, the bleeding even worse, before it noticed the object in its chest. It then looked up, and growled. The Freelancers didn't understand alien...but they knew what it was saying. Four very familiar words.

'Son of a bitch.'

The next moment, the Hunter's torso completely ruptured from the force of the grenade detonating. Shrapnel and alien innards sprayed all over the room, some of which flew over the Freelancers' heads.

"...I can't believe you did that," Washington murmured. "Y-you...blew up...a fucking Hunter."

Carolina looked at the white-armored soldier. "...Maine?"

The white-armored soldier suddenly froze. The tension left his body, and his eyes dulled, returning to their regular sheen. For a moment, he was confused. What...just happened? It felt like he just blacked out for a moment. "Y-Yeah..." The white Freelancer asked, his voice now back to normal. He tried to play it off, but he cringed upon noticing the obvious cringe and worry in his voice.

"Remind me to never piss you off." With a playful punch, the woman laughed. "Alright, Wash. You got everything set?"

"Y-yeah," he nodded, slowly standing. "Got the reactor set...though I gotta ask. How are we getting out of here? I mean, when I overload the reactor, its gonna blow in, like, a couple of minutes...and we're DEFINITELY not gonna get out of the way in time."

Carolina's response was to tap her helmet, opening up a communication feed. "Four, you read me? I need to ask...your Pelican got a rocket launcher? Need you to make us a hole."

Wash and Maine glanced at one another. Rocket launcher? They didn't really like the sound of that...

"...you get the feeling like the roof is gonna crash down on our heads?"

"Yeeeeeeep. Think it's a Tuesday."

"I'm wondering why we're even here."

"...that is the question, isn't it?"


"...why do I get the feeling that question is gonna be asked a lot?" Weiss muttered before she frowned. "But what WAS that? He seemed like a totally different person."

Ren frowned, folding his arms. "Yeah...though something about that seemed unnatural. You don't change personalities like that, especially not as drastic or as fast as that."

"Agreed." Pyrrha nodded, still digesting what she just saw. "...It was as if he was...made to act like that..."

Ruby frowned heavily. She wasn't sure why...but when Jaune fought that big alien...for a moment, her mind raced back to their reunion at the Forever Fall forest. He was...a brute. Relentless, fierce, scary, and strong. He completely beat them into the ground without any form of mercy... If she didn't know any better...it was like how her dad fought when he was angry. The only difference was, Jaune was being driven solely by what seemed like primal rage, or a sense of duty that she couldn't understand. She remembered what the Director, that mean old man, said. Jaune was acting like how he described...and that didn't sit right with her. At all. "A-at least...he's back to normal."

"Yeah...but for how long?" Her sister was the one to ask the question. For all they knew it could only be temporary until he went back on another mission.

Blake was silent. Something about this whole thing didn't sit right with her. She wasn't sure what it was...but it was odd how he was sent out on another mission, only a month after his first one. Normally, he'd have breathing room to relax...but that wasn't the case. She could see it. The others might not have, but she could.

There was a small, tiny crack forming in Jaune. A crack that popped up right when he did a 180. 'Is the Director...?'

Was he...was he trying to break Jaune? To break him and make him into a soldier?

Her fingers curled into fists. Her molars gnashed against one another. How could he be so heartless? He didn't care about Jaune, all he cared about was making him into a weapon! She knew what it was like to take a life. In fact, she knew better than anyone else in this goddamn room. It was one of the reasons why she left the White Fang. She couldn't stomach it anymore. Even now, when she closes her eyes, she can still see the faces of the people who died by her hands. She didn't dare to forget. She couldn't allow herself to forget.

And she knew Jaune wasn't about to let himself forget either...but the way he was going, he was going to crack, and the Director would have his perfect little soldier.

'Stay strong, Jaune,' she thought. Even if it was a sequence of events that have already transpired...she still hoped. She had to hope. 'Please...if not for our sake's, or yours...'

Amber eyes fell upon the red-haired spartan.

'...then at least for hers.'


"Well, newbie, I'd say you've made yourself a hell of a resume," 479er said with a chipper tone as the Pelican flew away. In the distance, a giant mushroom pile of smoke emerged, followed by the red burning marks of flames rising up with it as a result of the base being turned into molten metal and smoldering rubble, left to disappear in the sands. "Killing a Hunter? That'll earn you a spot on the leaderboard."

Maine gave a nervous chuckle, scratching the back of his head. His helmet rested next to him, the visor reflecting the interior of the ship. "W-well, I don't exactly remember much," he said abashed. "I think it was just adrenaline pumping."

"Well, it must have been a hell of a rush," Washington scoffed, staring at the blonde with slight fear and amazement. "You, my friend, were TERRIFYING. Seriously, were you channeling your inner beast or something?"

"I don't really know...like I said, I'm pretty sure it was just the tension of the fight..." Maine shrugged. He honestly did not have much of an idea about what had happened. But whatever he did, he managed to take down the 12ft tall weaponized Covenant bastard.

Carolina huffed. "Well, it saved our asses," she said. "I was going to have Wash plant the sticky bombs on its back before throwing it to the reactor, but what you did worked too."

"Well, it was just in the heat of the moment. I mean, I already made the hole in its chest so I figured, why not plant a grenade and blow it up?"

"Helluva way to do it," 479er laughed. "Anyway, we'll be home in an hour. Until then, NO PUKING. Got it?"

"Yes, ma'am!" The soldier saluted, not eager to be kicked out of the air craft.

The two other Freelancers laughed, shaking their heads. "You're a funny guy, Maine," Washington chuckled. "Actually, after this, you free?"

"Er...I think so. Why?"

"Me and North know a good bar."

The blonde did a dry spit-take. His eyes went to the size of dinner plates. "What?!" he gawked. "B-but I'm underage!"

"Underage? Dude, you're in the military! There's no age restriction for drinking! As the rule goes, if you're old enough to shoot someone, you're old enough to drink." Wash laughed.

Carolina laughed. "You should ask how old York was when he started drinking," she said. "Anyway, you sure you're okay, kid? Your looking kind of pale."

"I...guess I'm still a bit overwhelmed," Maine sighed. "I mean, this is my second mission...and I still can't get over the idea of killing people. I know you said it never gets easy, but...fuck, I don't know. It just feels like sooner or later, I'm going to start seeing dead people, and I'm going to screw up."

The two, older Freelancers glanced at one another before turning back to Maine. "...Well, if that ever does happen, you won't be alone..." Wash shook his head. Maine blinked. Wash gave him a troubled smile, almost worn. "I joined Project Freelancer six months ago, and I still have nightmares," he confessed to the blonde. "More than anyone would care to admit. Carolina was right, killing never gets easier...but do you know what does get easier?" Maine shook his head. "Having people there to hold the burden for you. Don't forget, Maine, you're not the only misfit in this family."

"Misfit?" the red-haired woman frowned. "Aren't you talking more about yourself and North?"

"Hey! It was one time! How the hell was I supposed to know that was gonna happen?"

"You still blew up the cafeteria, Wash."

"It. Was. An. Accident!" He countered. "Again, how was I supposed to know that the oven was on the fritz?!"

The rookie Freelancer tried to muffle a laugh, but failed. "Y-you blew up a cafeteria with a broken oven?" he asked, his earlier unease nowhere to be found. "How'd you manage that?"

"Would you believe me if I said it involved a car and diesel fuel?"

"You're serious?!" Maine questioned him.

Washington groaned. "I thought I could get the stove to work if I used gasoline, alright?" he snapped. "So what?! I only did it once!"

"Doesn't matter. Me and the others are holding that over your head for the rest of your life."

"Oh, come on, Carolina!" Wash whined. Maine couldn't hold himself any longer. He reared his head back, and roared with laughter. "Not you too, Maine! Stop laughing!"

"S-sorry, Wash...but that's too fucking funny!" Maine laughed heartedly. Tears were beginning to fall from his face. "O-oh god! That's just hilarious!"

"If you think that's funny, I got more for ya!" 479er offered from the cockpit. Wash's heart sank further. Now even the pilot was teasing him?! The hell! "I've got a number of inappropriate and guaranteed Wash-embarrassing stories to share!"

"Oh, I'd love to hear these..." The white Freelancer grinned.

"Don't you dare Four!" Wash yelled in a panic.

"Did you know that Wash here has bad luck with cars?" The pilot continued.

Wash let out a wail, throwing up his arms.

Suddenly, ending up like Georgia sounded like a good idea right about now...


"Well, at least these guys are pretty swell," Ruby sighed in relief. "To be honest...I was kind of worried they'd be like those mercenary guys from the movies dad and I watched."

"Yeah? Like those callous, 'complete the mission and follow orders' and 'we're in it for the money' type of guys?" Yang asked her.

"Yeah..."

Nora tilted her head. "...Hey, Renny?"

"Yes, Nora?"

"...do you think I can find a car and blow up Cardin?"

Ren sighed. "No, you may not."

"Awww..." The hyperactive Ginger pouted. "But why nooot...?!"

"Because, it's an act of vandalism and murder."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "While Cardin disappearing off the face of the earth would be fun to see, let's not and say we did," she said. Then the room began to return to normal, showing that the doctor had finished with his Semblance.

Pyrrha frowned, opening her mouth as if to protest, but a gentle hand touched her shoulder. She turned, and found Ozpin standing there. "I know you want to know more about what happened," he said, trying to placate her. "And while I cannot speak for Mr. Arc, who is unconscious...but I don't think he would want you to push yourselves." The girl's green eyes widened, as if taken aback, and then looked at the unconscious form of the lovable idiot who she grew so fond of. Ozpin then turned to address all of the students. "Now then, everyone, I believe it would best if you returned to your dorm rooms. After all, you can't spend the night here in the infirmary."

"B-but," Ruby tried to protest. "W-what if Jaune wakes up? We-we want to be there when-"

The Headmaster raised a hand. "When Mr. Arc awakes, I'll let you all know," he told them. "For now...get some rest. ALL of you." He emphasized his words as his gaze scanned across all the students, particularly an anxious Spartan.

"Yes sir..." The group collectively responded. One by one, they left the infirmary to head back to their rooms, Team NPR being the last ones to leave.

Soon, the room was left vacant. Dr. Reed also vacated, seeing his job done for the day. As he bid the two farewell, he slipped out of the room, and closed the door. "...you do realize that what comes next isn't going to be pretty for them," Glynda said, her eyes closing before she looked at Jaune's comatose form. "Especially for Ms. Nikos."

Ozpin sighed. His tone was tired, and he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Believe me, I'm more than aware," he muttered. "Truth be told...I should be following my own advice. In all of my life, little have I felt such anger towards another...but this Director? The man who made Mr. Arc into the man who sleeps in that bed?" He slowly turned, and his brown eyes were somber, yet held a cold anger. "It is enough to make me wish I had an army at my disposal, all so I could bring it all down on his head."

Glynda remained silent. Very rarely did she ever see Ozpin this enraged. But when he does...hell would seem like paradise to those who have earned his wrath. She could agree with him on this Director. She was angry herself. What sort of monster takes a boy and tries to break them in order to make them into a weapon at their disposal?

Not even Ironwood was that bad.

Just then, Ozpin's scroll rang. The man gave another sigh as he removed it from his pocket, and answered the call. "Ozpin speaking."

[Oz...it's me,] a familiar, gruff voice said. [We need to talk.]

"I take it...this is about what I sent you?"

[Yes. I've done what you've asked, but...I think it's better if you come and see me in person.]

"Very well. I will be there shortly." The Headmaster responded.

[See ya then.] The caller then hung up.

Ozpin then slipped his Scroll back into his pocket. "Was that James?" Glynda asked. "What did he call about?"

"...it was about the Meta."


When it opened its eyes, it didn't know where it was.

It was a blank, white space. No, that wasn't right...it was too defined to be that. It looked like some kind of facility. Somehow, it reminded him of the old base. The walls were metal, glowing circuits running down them, while the floor stretched on. It was just a long hallway with machinery running all along the walls.

Where was this? Moreover...where was everyone?

"Where's...Wash?" It asked as it rested a hand on its helmet-clad head. its memories were in a complete jumble. What had happened since it conked out? What happened to the Freelancer that helped save their asses when the Meta...

...THE META!

It head lashed around, now remembering. That's right...Meta. Agent Maine. That mute who was after the AIs! Where was he?! Wait, where the hell even was this place?! Why could it barely remember anything?!

"Hello?!" it screamed. "Is anyone here?! Hey!"

Silence. Not a sound greeted it.

"Hey! Is anybody out there! This is an emergency! There is a psychopathic, crazy-scary mute out there ready to fuck our shit up if we don't stop him!"

Again, only silence. Soon, irritation began to form in its chest.

"Is anyone here?! Seriously! I am not fucking around! Will somebody just-?!"

[[...oh! Thank goodness, you're awake!]] Relief and surprise registered in it when the voice echoed, but grew confused when it couldn't find the source. [[It must be confusing right now, but I promise everything will make sense! Oh, right, you only just now woke up,]] the voice giggled, abashed by their mistake. [[This place is the Sub-Home Mainframe of my Interface System. Think of it like...a storage room!]]

"...okay, seriously, what the fuck," it deadpanned. "You're telling me that I'm in some kind of digital storage room?"

[[Something like that, yes! I must say, though...you're much different than what I expected. I've never seen such a complex AI before!]]

It groaned. Again with this crap?! How many times does he have to say it?! "Okay...look lady-"

[[Oh! My apologies,]] the voice cut him off, sounding apologetic. [[My name is Penny Polendina!]]

"Okay...Penny. Look, I'll tell you the same thing that I told Wash, okay? You know about EMP, right?"

[[Electromagnetic Pulse. I'm familiar with it.]]

"And you know it only affects anything remotely electronic, right?"

[[Yes...why?]]

"That crap doesn't work on me," it stated plainly as it looked up at what it assumed was where the voice was emanating from. "Because I'm not an AI, or anything remotely computer-ish."

If the confused sound was any indication, the voice was befuddled. [[O-oh, I see... But...if that's the case, then...what are you?]]

"Easy!" it smirked, folding its arms. "I...am a motherfucking ghost!"


"Maybe you're all here because this is the only place you fit in. Maybe you're here because you don't have anywhere else to go. Maybe you're all here, because deep down, you want to be here. The reason doesn't matter. What matters is that you're here!" -Sarge


A/N: ...wow, we really have nothing better to do. I mean, we REALLY have nothing better to do other than just write this out. Then again, can you blame us? I mean, this story got freakishly popular! I swear, if this makes it to the TV Tropes stuff, I will shit a brick! Only story of mine that ever got there was Code Geass R-eset, one of my first stories, though it was just a recommendation. Still made me happy someone did that.

On another note...Church is in da house baby! HAH! Bet none of you expected that one, did ya! ...I just hope me and Daemon didn't show him off TOO early.

Now, lets talk about something...first of all, Jaune's behavior when he and the Hunter fought. I'm sorry if the fight scene was awkward and short, but I hope Jaune demolishing its ass was cool for you guys. If you remember what Connie said last chapter, coupled with what the Director and Price were talking about here...it's obvious that something is wrong with Jaune. I won't go explicitly into detail, because that would make the memory chapters too long, and I want to keep it at five, so chapter 6, we will be exploring the Freelancer Saga. Around Ch. 9 or 10, we will hit Volume 2! Another reason for this is because I don't want to dive too deeply into Jaune's journey to becoming the warrior known as Maine. That being said, he will have those awesome moments.

Also, for the record, no, I will NOT be covering the events of Recollection Trilogy, namely because Jaune's memories by that point would be so fucked up thanks to having multiple AIs in his head. He would remember bits and pieces, but not all of it.

One last thing before I go. Originally, I decided that the poll would end when we hit Dance Dance Revolution...but now I've decided to end it with the publication of chapter 5. In other words, for those who have yet to vote, this will be your last chance to do so. I've also made it a blind poll to build up suspense, since the votes have DRASTICALLY change since then! After all, Carolina's been catching up!

Actually, regarding that...I'm gonna be honest with you guys. I'm not sure if I will be able to pull off a Carolina x Jaune/Maine pairing if that's the finishing result. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I'm gonna pussy out of it just because I'm not okay with the outcome, its just...its hard for me to pull off romantic shit. Also, Daemon's stated that if Carolina wins, his motivation for writing this story is gonna drop. I don't blame him. We're both avid fans of Arkos, and I would have made that the official pairing from the get go, but since this is a Jaune who's been through hell and came out a scarred (both mentally and physically) bastard, so the idea of him being with someone is like a fresh start. Something for him to say, 'there's at least one person who thinks of you as a human being, not broken or fractured...or a soldier.'

Well, that's it for me. Later losers, and I'll see you all next chapter!