"You sure about this kid? If you do this, then chances are, the fight against YHVH will be all that much harder."

...

"Hah...still holding on to that idea that your friends are the only things that make you human, eh? Don't forget, your the one who chose this path."

...

"...yes, that's right. We can use the other souls to build a foundation for the new universe."

...

"Whatever you say kid...just remember this: bonds will only drag you down."


RWBY: Final Judgment


interludium III: You Say God, I Say Bow Down

It was impossible...it should have been impossible, and yet, the fact was still staring, glaring so, Nanashi straight in the face.

The toothy grin on Walter, the Samurai of the Eastern Kingdom of Mikado, who died to fuse with Lucifer and restore his power, never left his face. "I'm Walter Ironwood," he greeted jovially. "Good to meet you!"

This did not make sense...It...it just couldn't! His soul should've been part of Lucifer when Satan was fused! How the hell is he here?! And why the hell was he a student at Beacon like him?!

"Hey, you doing okay, man?" Walter's words snapped him out of his stupor, his jovial grin replaced by a frown of concern. "You looked like you've seen a ghost."

"It-it's nothing," he replied shakily. "You just...look like someone I used to know." It was the truth, technically speaking. He had no idea what the hell is happening right now, but he might as well continue one. "My name is Nanashi Xiao Long. A pleasure."

Walter smiled back with a quirked eyebrow. "No-name? The hell kind of a name is that?"

"Beats me. Try asking the people who named me that."


Cris could honestly say that he hated his father right now.

First thing he had done today to tick him off was tell him that he was being enrolled at Beacon at the very last second. The action alone caused his heart to stop. All of his life, his dad taught him how to fight. How to swing a blade. How to survive. It may have been harsh, but it was necessary. He had seen some pretty gruesome stuff while traveling with his dad...most of which could be attributed to his aunt, the she-devil known as Raven. She had a slight hand in teaching him, and it made him all the more stronger...didn't mean he came out unscathed.

The second thing was the fact that because of this damned decision of his dad's that he was now trekking through Emerald Forest, constantly on the alert for Grimm, looking for someone to partner with...and looking for a damned temple.

"When I see that drunk, I'm gonna clock him." Cris decided with a nod, hoisting his trusty companion and lifelong friend, Monochrome Crown, on his shoulder.

It was a weapon that he forged with his own hands. It vaguely resembled his father's own weapon, but is in another league in its own. Sure, it could transform into a sword and a scythe...but it could also turn into an axe, a spear, and a long sword. It allowed for versatile combat styles that could help him out, should problems ever arise. The main issue to it if one would ever point it out was that it had no ranged capability. With all the Melee modifications he made, he was unable to make a firearm mode. That being said, he always kept a trusty firearm on hand, since slung over his back was a 36 round Dust battle rifle.

It wasn't as fancy as his Monochrome Crown, but he had to at least get some sort of ranged means of attack. Then again, he could tweak his weapon around. He should probably consult with Ruby, given his cousin was a massive weapons freak. Who better to ask how to modify a weapon than his dorky cousin? Speaking of the red reaper, he hoped she was doing okay. He wasn't too worried about Nanashi or Yang. Those two were pretty strong, especially the former. He didn't have any Aura because of his 'condition' but he was downright terrifying with just a katana and a firearm. As for Yang...what needed to be said? She could just bash in any heads she came across...that, and he pitied any Grimm who touched her hair. He felt a shiver run down his spine, recalling the sight of Yang with the same eyes as his aunt, and hair set ablaze.

Ruby, though...she was a bit of an airhead. Sometimes, she didn't understand how much danger she was in, and underestimated her opponents. That, and she could get a bit too excited. He was happy that she was accepted into Beacon two years early, but that just meant more danger for her. In conparison to he rest of the students this year, she was two years behind in combat experience. Sure she may be gifted and taught personally by his dad, but it was different from true experience in the field. He should know, since his dad took him along for his Huntsman jobs.

His fingers traced the small scar around his abdomen, where a Beowolf had struck him in the past. It was an attack he received when he was still a greenhorn and arrogant in his own abilities. He almost lost some vital organs because of his mistake. His dad never said anything. In fact, he was damned worried about him. He never scolded or berated him...he was just worried. Regardless, the incident served as a lesson for him.

Since then, he's been more careful. The scar he had now was a sign of his survival, and a reminder to keep a level head. "You idiots better be okay," Cris muttered, adjusting the strap holding his rifle, still walking the barren path. However, he soon paused when he heard something in the distance...something that was coming close. "What the-"

He caught the sight of something blue and yellow flying by him, crashing through a small tree. His eyes widened, and looked at what was thrown. It was a student like him with curly black hair and orange eyes, wielding a slender naked blade with a dual edge. He then looked at the direction where he came from, and he promptly cursed.

"Fuck me."

Standing not far from him was a Beringel...a very pissed off Beringel.

The teen groaned as he got up, rubbing his back. "Well, that's certainly one way to relief back ache," he muttered before noticing Cris. "Ah, another fellow I see...sorry, but would you mind helping me out?"

"Sure," Cris shrugged, switching Monochrome Crown into it's longsword form. "You got a name, curly?"

"Jonathan."

"Jonathan, huh? The name's Nightingale, but just call me Cris." he told his new partner, as the Grimm ape let out a battle cry, pounding it's fists against its chest, glaring at them with seething rage. Cris' eyes burned red as he fell into a stance. "Alright, you oversized monkey!" he shouted. "Come and get me!"


"Well, that is an interesting pair," Ozpin commented, taking a drink of his coffee. "The heir of the Arc family, and Qrow's son...this will be interesting to see."

"Indeed." Glynda nodded in agreement. Although, she also pondered on the partnership of Nanashi Xiao Long and Walter Ironwood.

She was still confused by the two's interact. Nanashi had seemed...shocked to see him, as if he was seeing a ghost. As far as the records during his time in the care of Summer Rose and Taiyang Xiao Long, he had traveled around the world at times, in part of Qrow Branwen's doing. While most of the records only recounted their exploits, there was no mention of Nanashi growing close to anyone, with the exception of Weiss Schnee. Speaking of which, Glynda felt a pang of sorrow for Ruby Rose, as she and Weiss were now partners. The blonde witch immediately knew that Weiss Schnee was spoiled rotten, having obtained everything she asked for. Being the heiress of a company had a lot of weight, so naturally people had to listen to her. She received tutors and combat instructors...but she lacked something that Ruby Rose had; experience in the field. While most of her battles were mere skirmishes, nowhere near the level a Huntsman would engage in, she still had experience. Weiss had simulated battles.

Either way, she hoped things would work out. After all, Ruby was just like her mother; always able to make something extraordinary happen. Just thinking about it made her heart grew heavy. Even now, it was difficult to believe that Summer Rose is gone...

"Your creasing your brow again, Glynda," Ozpin chimed, removing her from her train of thought. "You seem to be doing that quite frequently."

"My apologies, headmaster."

The man smiled, waving his hand in dismissal. "It's fine," he told her. "Although, I do believe we should continue watching our students' progress. Who knows? We might get to see something curious."


"Ruuuuuuby? Helloooooo?" Yang called out as she trekked through the woods. It had already been five minutes since she landed, and still no sign of her sisters.

The blonde brawler wasn't worried about her, knowing full well that she was perfectly capable of protecting herself...but at the same time, she couldn't help but try to find her, in spite of her insistence that Ruby try to find other people to fight alongside with. Perhaps it was her sisterly nature acting up, but she still couldn't help but feel anxious. After all, both of her siblings entered Beacon two years early. She was worried that they may not even fit in with their fellow students. To be frank, she wasn't all that worried about Nanashi. It was her sister she was worried for.

"Rubes?" she called out. "Hey! Ruby! You here?! Hello!" she bellowed out, only to receive her own echo as a response. A shake of the head followed, and a sigh came after. "Why am I not surprised?" She scratched the back of her head as she observed her surroundings. The forest was oddly quiet, but she could hear fighting off in the distance. Most likely, teams were being formed as they speak. Now, don't get her wrong, she was looking for a team herself, but she was looking for Ruby because she was worried about her. She came to Beacon two years ahead of everyone else, so she was easily nervous, despite her confidence in her skills. She would form a team with Ruby, there was little doubt about that, but she wanted her sister to strike out on her own. After all, she wouldn't be there to cuddle her forever.

Suddenly, movement was seen out of the corner of her eye. "Ruby?" Yang asked, peeking through the brushel. "Is that you?"

"Grrrr..." The black shadow growled. It stood on all fours before it rose up and stood on its hind legs. It was a massive, bear-like creature with fur as black as midnight. It's back was covered with ivory spikes while a white mask with red markings was present on its face.

Yang's smile dropped. "...nope." She quickly jumped back, avoiding being thrashed when the Ursa swung it's paw at her, as if to rip off her head. "Hey, big guy." Yang waved at the Creature of Grimm, known as the Ursai Major. "You seen a little girl with a red hood or a kid with different pair of eyes, would ya?" In response, the Ursa roared, and swung it's paw down. Yang leaped back, performing a backflip to achieve some distance. She flipped her hair back as she she grinned. "You could have just said no instead of 'rawr.'" The Ursa roared again before charging. Yang grinned and cocked her wrists, activating her yellow shotgun gauntlets from their bracelet form: Ember Celica. The beast roared up, running toward her at top speed. Yang slammed her fists into the ground, creating a loud 'bang' as she was propelled into the air, a result of Ember Celica's kickback. She vaulted over the Ursa, shooting off another blast. The beast staggered a bit, swaying through it's charge before it slammed into the trunk of a tree. "Oof," she giggled. "That had to hurt." The Grimm pulled itself away, shaking it's head before turning to Yang, fangs bared in anger. She was about to brace herself for another charge when a loud, bellowing cry emerged from her side. Acting quickly, she brought up her arms, and was thrown back by the sheer amount of force that was put into the strike. Her body tumbled through the ground before she came to a stop.

Looking up, she found another Ursa. This one was glaring at her as well, snapping a loud roar.

"Two for the price of one, huh?" she said as she dusted herself off. "Okay then!" She jumped up, curling her legs up into a ball, leaving the third Ursa to charge in, and run into the second, causing them both to tumble into the ground. As she hit the ground, Yang pounded her fists together. "Sweet~" she said cheekily, excited. She was going to get to fight three Ursa, all at once! This was going to be a lot of fun! ...wait, she was supposed to find Ruby, wasn't she? Eh, oh well. It could wait. Her sister was tough, so she wasn't too worried about her. After all, their uncle taught her how to use that scythe of hers, so she'll be kicking ass and taking names.

That meant... she could kick the shit out of these suckers~!

"Alright boys," Yang smirked. "Who wants a taste of Yang?" The one on the right growled before charging in first. It stopped just short of her, and swung it's paw. She ducked underneath it, and delivered an uppercut to it's jaw, knocking it upward. With a follow up, she swiveled around on her feet, cocked her fist back, and threw a right hook, hitting it's underbelly. Almost like a boartusk, it's body flipped about into a ball for a few short seconds before hitting the ground, left in a daze. One of the two Grimm from earlier, got back up, and charged at her again. This time, it was ready to bite off her head. Not wanting to get her hair damaged, she instead chose for the direct approach, and rammed her fist in it's jaw, causing it to stagger back. The third Ursa came up from behind the second, ready to slam it's weight on her. She avoided it by flipping backwards on her hands, launching herself into the air to make some distance. Once she did, she unloaded two shots. One hit the first one in the face, causing it to recoil, while the other hit it's shoulder, causing to it cramp down on it's leg.

Meanwhile, the first Ursa charged in, now seething with anger. Yang cracked a cocky grin as she charged in to meet it's advance. Without stopping, she ducked underneath the swipe of it's paw, and swiveled around on her foot. Now behind the Ursa, she jumped up on it's back, and reared back both of her fists. With a swift succession, she began to unload Ember Celica as her fists pounded away at it's armor on it's back. Each struggle caused it to strain to stay on it's legs. Unfortunately it could no longer bear the weight, as she reared both arms back, and swung them both down. A resounding BOOM echoed in the air as Yang was blown off, flying through the air before landing back on the ground. The Ursa cried weakly as it fell on it's stomach, the armor on it's back completely shattered, and it's fur singed. "One down!" she cheered before turning her attention back to the other two.

A massive black paw swung, hitting her on the side.

"Oof!" She grunted as she was thrown into the air. She hit the ground. Hard. But she tumbled and pulled herself up on her feet. "Not bad. So what else can...you..." Her words died in her throat as she saw it. It floated slowly to the ground before her.

A strand of blonde hair.

HER blonde hair.

The Grimm suddenly felt tense when they saw her body trembling. "Y-you..." Creatures of Grimm held only instincts within them. They knew where to find prey by the feeling of aura, a power that belonged only to humans, those with a soul. It was within their instincts to destroy and maim and kill whatever possessed a soul, yet it was also within their instincts to recognize a potential threat. "Y-you...!" And now, a threat stood before them. Yang's head snapped up, her hair suddenly glowing like fire, and her lilac eyes turning bright crimson.

"YOU MONSTERS!"

She flung her fists behind her, allowing the recoil of her gauntlets to propel her foreward to the closest Ursa. Once she was right in the enemy's face she swung her right arm in a jaw-shattering right hook followed with a left handed uppercut. This time, it's body was thrown back, thrashing to the ground before hitting a tree. Before it even had a chance to recover, the Ursa was suddenly bombarded with strike after strike after strike. The tree threatened to break was the Grimm was pressed further into it, it's belly being torn apart with each shot. The Ursa howled in agony. Yang delivered once final blow right in the throat. The tree gave way. The bark snapped away, and the Ursa plowed through it, neck crushed and broken. The tree fell over, hitting the ground with a thud. The earth shuddered below their feet. A bellow from behind her reminded that Yang there was another Ursa behind her. She was still seething from the damaging of her hair. She wouldn't be happy until she bashed it apart.

"You're next..." She seethed.

The Ursa roared. But before it could even move, a sharp blade stabbed itself into the back of its skull. The blade was then torn free and sliced through the Grimm's neck and upper back. The bear-like creature swayed a bit before toppling over. Yang raised a brow at the sudden action, then saw who stood behind the Ursa.

It was Blake.

The two stared at each other, with the latter pulling out her black blade from the dead beast, slipping it into it's holster.

Yang broke the silence. "...I could have taken it."


Jaune was convinced that today was a bad day for him.

First, he woke up late in the morning. Second, he took a cold shower due to all the hot water being used up in that specific stall. Third, the cafeteria ran out of pancakes just when it got to him, so they gave him bland scrambled eggs and oatmeal instead. Fourth, he misplaced his weapons locker. And finally, he was flung off the side of a cliff from a hydraulic launching platform without any form of preparation. He was thankful that girl with the red hair, Pyrrha he thinks her name was, stopped him from breaking his neck by impaling his shirt into a tree, like earlier, but... did she have to pin him so high up?! How in the heck was he supposed to get down?! "Hello?!" He called out again, hoping someone was within hearing range. "Can someone please get me down from here?!" Again, he was only met with silence.

A sigh escaped him. "...anyone...?"

Once more, silence. No one was coming.

He hung his head low, a dark cloud hanging over his head. "Why do these things always happen to me...?" Jaune lamented.

Thankfully, however, he received some salvation, noticing the rustling of bushes. Looking down, he found a familiar white-haired girl emerging from the bushes, dusting off her dress. "H-hey..." he waved at her weakly. "Little help?" Weiss stared at him, her face flat, and promptly turned back around into the bush. "H-hey, uh, miss?!" She disappeared into the greenery. The blonde's face fell. "W-Wait! Please! Who's going to get me down from here?!" He pleaded.

She didn't come back. Again, another sigh, this time with despair evident.

It just wasn't his day.

"Hello?" The knight looked down, and to his relief, he found someone standing at the base of the tree. It was a red-haired girl, the one he saw talking to that Weiss lass back in the locker room. "Are you alright?"

"Um, y-yeah..." he said meekly. "C-can you please just get me down?"


'...it's a bit quiet here,' Ren thought as he entered a small clearing within the Emerald Forest. It had been twenty minutes since he had landed, and had already begun making his way to the temple, believing that he would encounter his partner on the way. He had a good idea where it might be, and found himself here. In spite of the quiet, serene feeling the clearing gave, the silence was anything but to anyone aware of the dangers of anyone who knew what lied within the forest. 'Too quiet.'

In the next moment, he heard something slithering behind him. He quickly looked over his shoulder to see a gargantuan black snake with red markings and red eyes.

It was a King Taijutu.

The snake hissed, and lashed out at Ren, only for him to vault over it's head, an impressive feet given it's lightening quick snaps. He quickly put distance between the two, and took out his weapons, a pair of dual green guns with blades attached to the barrels. The long Grimm ripped through the ground as it advanced, pieces of earth sent flying and ripped apart in it's charging advance. Ren maneuvered away, a series of backflips allowing him to evade it's charge. However, as he was going through the air, the Grimm rammed it's body forward. At that moment, the teen called upon his Aura, and brought up his arms to defend against the attack. The force of the headbutt threw him quite a ways away, but he landed safely on his feet.

As he regained his bearings, Ren noticed that the snake had begun to coil around him, circling around his prey. Just before it could close in on him, he jumped up, and away from it's grasp. Ren opened fire on the beast, though his bullets did little to it's skin, which was as thick as armor. It hissed and screeched as it snapped toward him, however Ren propelled himself away from it as he parried it, using the side of it's head as a launching pad, and throwing himself onto it's body, sliding along it's spine as he continued to shoot at it. As the snake regained sight of it's target, it tried to swallow him whole, mouth open, but Ren was far quicker. In a rapid movement, he rammed his palms into the side of it's head, causing it to stagger as it reeled from the effects of the blow, and followed up with a swift kick to the head. This strike caused it's head to strike into the ground, leaving it's neck exposed. As it tried to get up, Ren quickly took the initiative, and the blades from his guns extended, slashing across the neck, and cutting through the armor.

The Grimm screamed out in rage, and snaked all around the air before slamming it's head into where Ren stood. He jumped up to avoid it, a cloud of dust and debris flying through the air below him. He took the initative, and threw himself back down to the ground, ramming his blades into the Taijutu's skull. The strength behind his attack forced back into the ground.

It didn't get back up.

Ren sighed, slightly exhausted from his encounter, but frowned when he heard something rustling behind him. He looked over his shoulder, and found himself staring at a white body with red markings, and a familiar face staring back at him, hissing and bearing it's fangs while it's red eyes glared at him.

"...shit!" he cursed as he jumped off to the side, avoiding the white Grimm from slamming into him. As he brought up his guard, his magenta eyes frowned heavily when he saw the black snake move up, it's form slightly drowsy form the attack. Upon a closer look, the white Taijutu and the black Taijutu were actually apart of the same body, dancing and moving together as they glared down on him. Dread filled him as he clenched his grip over his weapons, wishing he had some backup right about now. Mustering his courage, he ran over. He jumped over the white head's assault, running along it's back, and sliding along it's spine, and began to open fire on the creatures. He continuously moved his body around as he slid along the body of the Grimm, aiming for various parts, but found that none of his attacks were making a dent. As he jumped up, intending to get a better vantage point, one of the heads shout out from nowhere, and batted him away, tossing him to the ground, and his guns thrown out of his hands.

Ren groaned as he stood up to his knee, a hand on his head. "That hurt..." he muttered before looking up, finding the black head of the Taijutu glaring down at him, it's mouth open. It's head snapped forward with the intent on devouring him. Ren brought up his hands, and braced himself. The snake tried to bite down on him. Keyword was tried, as its fangs were stopped by a glowing plan on Ren's hands. The teen struggled against the force behind the strike, but stood his ground. In a swift motion, he pushed his hands forward, snapping the fangs in his hands, grabbed them, and with a fierce palm strike powered by his aura, shot the ivory spire through the Grimm's eye.

It's form quaked as the fang went out through the other end. A second later, it's head imploded. The black half of the snake fell to the ground, now lifeless. Ren turned his attention to the white half of the Taijutu, and narrowed his eyes. "...one down." The snake hissed in fury, and charged forward. Ren followed up as well.


Ruby was starting to think that she should have chosen to follow Weiss' example when they met earlier, and walked away in favor of finding a new partner.

The reason? Why, it is because they were lost of course. That and the girls rants were no help either.

"God, you are unbearable!" Weiss growled. "How is it that someone as immature and childish as you even made it here in the first place?!"

...Is it too late to find a new partner? The more she listened to Weiss' words, the more annoyed she became. Seriously! Just what does Nanashi see in her?! She usually never wanted to hurt someone, but this girl was seriously pushing it. She was THIS close to smacking her! "Look, I'm sorry I don't meet your expectations, princess!" she shouted back, clearly hurt by her words. "But quit acting like your better than me! Besides, you don't even know me, so quit judging me!" She realized she got in Beacon two years early, but it didn't give her the right to give her any flak for it. The white-haired girl had continued to bag on her, even though she knew literally nothing about her. She was trying, she really was! She was trying hard to get along with her, to prove she wasn't a waste of space or anything, but this girl's attitude! Gah, it was just like those snobby girls Yang talked about back at Signal! The ones who kept on bragging about their looks and their boyfriends! ...not that she knew about anything about that, but still! That was what Weiss was acting like!

"Then quit acting like a child!" the heiress shouted.

"I will if you quit acting like you're perfect or something!"

"I'm not perfect!" She snapped at her before turning away. "...at least not yet" she muttered under her breath. She then narrowed her eyes at the girl intensely. "But I'm at least better than you."

Ruby scowled. "You don't even know me," she whispered bitterly, watching the ice queen walk away from her in a strut. "How did Nanashi end up with someone like her..."


Ren panted heavily as he slipped his weapons into his sleeves, exhausted as he stood atop the corpse of the slowly dissolving Taijutu. The battle was far longer than he anticipated, but he was finally able to defeat the damned thing. He wiped the sweat from his forehead as he straightened himself out, rubbing his shoulders and dusting himself off. 'That was more difficult than I thought,' he thought to himself as he wiped off the dirt on his sleeves. 'I hope there are still people I can team up with.' He paused. '...I wonder how Nora's doing?'

"Bhhrrrra! Bhhrrra!"

He smiled softly. 'Speak of the Devil.' He looked behind him, and found Nora, hanging from a tree branch, upside down with a massive grin on her face. "I still don't think that's what a sloth sounds like."

The orange haired girl let out a broad grin. "Boop!" She took her finger and tapped him on the nose.


"So...your name is Jaune?"

"Y-yeah," the blonde nodded as they walked through the Emerald Forest. It had been a few minutes since she had brought him down, which he was grateful for. That, and it seemed like his new partner looked pretty strong, so that was a plus. "And your...Pyrrha, was it?"

The Amazon nodded with a smile. "That's right," she said. "Oh, and I'm very sorry about pinning you to a tree!"

"It's fine...better than being stuck in a forest with Grimm, or breaking some bones," he told her sheepishly. "So...how far until we reach the temple. No offense, but my feet are starting to hurt."

"I think we're almost there." the warrior girl answered as she pushed a branch away from her face. Unfortunately, as she let go, it whipped across at Jaune's face, causing him to be thrown back. The girl whirled around in panic, startled. "Jaune, are you alright?!" she asked in concern, bending down to help him up. "I'm so sorry!"

The knight accepted her hand, and pulled himself up. "It's alright..." he told her, wincing as he gently touched the small cut on his cheek. He hissed in pain as it became irritated. "Ow... Talk about a cut." He drew his fingers away and noticed the amount of blood on them. Yep, definitely a nasty cut.

"That looks like it smarts." Pyrrha noted as she pulled out a small handkerchief from her pocket, and gently wiped away the blood. She then frowned in confusion. "Jaune, why didn't you activate you're Aura?"

"My what?" Jaune asked in confusion.

"Your Aura." She repeated.

"Bless you."

The girl frowned heavily, now even more confused. "Jaune," she asked. "Do you know what aura is?"

Instantly, the blonde became nervous. He knew he heard the term 'aura' somewhere before, but he wasn't sure where. However, his mind became worried about the possibility that perhaps Aura was a major part on being a Huntsman, an tried to play it off. "O-of course I know!" he lied, cringing inside as he realized how obvious he sounded. "Do you know?"

Pyrrha nodded. "Aura is the manifestation of one's soul. It bears our burdens, and shields our hearts." Jaune raised an eyebrow at this, not quite getting it, though he recalled his older brother saying something similar. Seeing his confusion, the girl used an example. "Have you ever felt like you were being watched without knowing that someone was there?"

"Uh... Yeah."

"With practice, our aura can be our shield. Everyone has it, even animals."

"What about monsters?"

"No, the monsters we fight lack a soul." He already knew what she was talking about. Hell, there wasn't anyone in Remnant who didn't know what she was referring to. It was hard not to, given that they were the natural enemy of humanity, and plastered in almost every possible piece of literature or news. "They are the Creatures of Grimm. The manifestation of anonymity. "They are the darkness, and we are the light."

"Right. That's why we fight them."

Pyrrha smiled, shaking her head. "It's not about why, it's about knowing. Understanding both dark and light helps us manifest our Aura. Everyone has some of both. By bearing your soul outward as a force, you can deflect harm. You project yourself and your soul with fighting." Jaune still didn't quite get what she was talking about. From his point of view...it kind of sounded like a force field from one of his video games, or something. "Now, close your eyes, and concentrate." Pyrrha instructed. Jaune couldn't help but blush when her hand touched his cheek, and how close she was. 'Wow, she's beautiful...' he thought, clearly embarrassed. He had seen plenty of beautiful girls back home, but Pyrrha? She was...on a whole other level.

"U-uh..." Jaune did as he was told, and closed his eyes. He tried to picture what a physical representation of Aura was like. Given Pyrrha's lecture, he assumed it was like a sword and shield, so he visioned it as such, much like Crocoa Mars. He pictured a blade within a sword, decorated and clearly meant to cut down everything in it's path, while the shield, strong and sturdy, would protect everyone around him, and even himself.

With the image now in his mind, Pyrrha closed her eyes as well. However, as she opened them, her green eyes glowed, and a light red aura danced around her body. "For it is in passing that we achieve immortality," she recited the words that had been passed down to her when she had her Aura unlocked. Soon, a white aura began to dance around Jaune. "Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death." Gently, her hand touched his breastplate. "I release your soul. And by my shoulder, protect thee."

As soon as her hands left him, Jaune could feel...something within him rising to the surface. He opened his blue eyes, and looked down at himself. "Okay," he said with a giddy smile, noticing the white light around his body. "This is so cool." He then turned back to Pyrrha, intending to thank her, but grew concerned when he noticed her breathing rather heavily, her hands on her knees. "P-Pyrrha?"

"It's alright." she told him, gaining her strength back as she straightened herself out. "I used my aura to unlock yours, but the energy that protects you now is your own." She smiled as she saw the cut on Jaune's face heal instantly, almost as if it was never there to begin with. "You have a lot of it."

"Whoa...really...?" Jaune was amazed with himself...an confused. He really had that much power...? Another smile crossed his face, and clenched his hand. "Alright...!"


"Our last pair has been formed, sir." Glynda informed, loading up the screen on her Scroll. "Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren." A sad expression crossed her face as she recalled the video footage of her battle with the Grimm on her way to find her partner. She had never seen someone so hyperactive and wild. She actually pitied the poor Grimm that ended up on the receiving end of her hammer. "Poor boy. I can't possibly imagine those two getting along." She paused as she loaded up another screen. "Still, he's probably better off than Ms. Nikos." Ozpin raised an eyebrow as he looked at the woman, her face set into an angry frown. "I don't care what his transcripts say, that Jaune fellow is not ready for this level of combat."

She had read his transcripts, and quite frankly, she was finding it difficult to believe what she read.

According to the records, he was the brother of Jonathan Arc, thus immediately, there was a curious interest. The transcripts stated that he was at least above average, but nothing extraordinary like his sibling. However...what she saw was completely lackluster. For goodness sake's, he didn't even have his Aura unlocked! That alone raised eyebrows. No matter the circumstances, on the first day of any training academy, a person's Aura was to be immediately unlocked. The fact that he his Aura remained locked meant that he was without any sort of training, meant that his transcripts were completely, and utterly, falsified.

That left her angry.

What was this body thinking? Did he think it was some sort of game? The job of a Huntsman was NOT to be taken so lightly! If it weren't for Ms. Nikos, he would have surely ended up crashing horribly! Best case scenario, he would have at least a few broken bones! She would have had him escorted out of this school immediately, were it not for the fact that Ozpin had made it so teachers could not interfere. Eventually, though, a sigh escaped her. "I guess we'll find out soon enough." the blonde-haired teacher said as she exited out of the video footage, and slid the Scroll back to it's inactive form. "At their current pace, they should reach the temple within just a few minutes." Unknown to Glynda, Ozpin was watching two video feeds from the cameras that were placed in the Emerald forest. One showed Ruby and Weiss, the two bickering about which way they should go, and the other showed Nanashi and Walter, who remained mindful surroundings. "Speaking of which," Glynda said as she turned around to face the man. "What did you use as relics this year?"

The man didn't answer, instead more focused on the screen presented to him.

"Ozpin?"

The headmaster smiled somewhat, looking away. "The same thing as last year," he said simply. "A relic used in a certain game that's been around since the days of Vytal. Regarding Mr. Arc, I do believe we'll something interesting out of him yet." There was a mysterious twinkle in his eye, as he looked back at his Scroll. "After all, he is an Arc."

"Perhaps," Glynda said begrudgingly. "However, if you ask me, that boy is trying to get himself killed."

"As is everyone else in that forest," he countered. "Trying to become Huntsmen and Huntresses, all in pursuit of their goals. There's really nothing curious about his case, other than the obvious lie in his transcripts."

Glynda stared at the man as if he had grown a second head. "Sir, are you telling me you KNEW about his transcripts?"

"Come now, Glynda, I may be getting on in years, more so than Peter, but I haven't gone senile yet."


"Say, Nanashi," Walter said. "I've been meaning to ask...what's with the scar?"

After breaking the ice and Nanashi regaining his composure, they two have gotten into light conversation to get to know the other better. If they were going to be partners for the next four years, then it would be best to know who they will be working with. Nanashi scratched his thumb over the green mark on his face. Over the past decade, a lot of people have asked him about it. "I got it when I was five," he answered simply. "Same with the mark on my hand."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

Walter shrugged. "Just curious," the wild boy replied. "Although, I do gotta admit, it does have a certain charm to it."

Nanashi raised an eyebrow. "How do you figure?"

"I don't really know." He shrugged. "It's like...how should I put it...it's like they have a certain aura to them. Sorta like a feeling of power or something."

'Well, he's rather perceptive,' Nanashi thought. 'Though he isn't necessarily wrong...after all, this scar, my eyes, and the mark on my hand...their proof that I'm a Godslayer.' A whimsical smile formed across his face. 'It's been a long time since I thought about how it all started.' A pained expression formed on his face, if only for a brief moment. 'Nikkari...Manabu...what would the both of you say...the people who taught me and Asahi...if you could see what's happened to me?'

What would his mentors say about the path he's chosen? The choices he made? Would they understand? Or would they have opposed him like the rest?

"No time for thinking about the dead, kid." Dagda interjected his musings. "Remember, your the one who decided to choose to embrace your role as my Godslayer, so why ponder on the past? Focus on the present. After all...just because we're in a world separated from our own doesn't mean you should slack off. Even if this whole exercise about getting to know your partner is a complete waste of time."

Nanashi grew silent. He knew Dagda had a point, but he can't help but remember that he was once human, who once cherished those close to him. These past ten years on Remnant with his new family reminded him that. "Hoy!" Walter called. "I think I found the temple!"

Nanashi snapped out of his mental debate and looked on ahead. Through the gaps in the trees. He was able to see a stone monument surrounded by fractured pillars. "Well, that was easier than I thought," the Godslayer mused as he and his partner stepped into the mass clearing. It was a pretty big area free of trees and foliage. The only prominent features were the stonework and temple in the middle of the area. Within the circle of the temple stood several podiums, each supporting a single chess piece.

Walter quirked an eyebrow. "...chess pieces?" he questioned. "Don't tell me these are the relics we're supposed to retrieve."

"Well, unless you know any other temples in the forest, I believe they are." His partner responded. That being said, Nanashi was also confused. Why chess pieces? Sure, they've been around for a long time, but he doubted they could even be considered relics. He saw that there were quite a few pieces missing, implying that others have already found the temple, and have taken their leave already. Among the remaining pieces were knights, rooks, bishops, pawns, yet no king or queen piece. Additionally, the pieces were black and white, much like traditional pieces were. He strode over to one of the pedestals, taking a black bishop piece. "Think this will do?" he asked, holding the piece up to Walter. The boy nodded. "Alright...guess we have our relic."

"Great," Walter said. "Now we just have to find our way back to the cliff. Shouldn't be too hard, right?"

Yeah, it wouldn't...if they weren't tossed around in direction from their landing strategies on top of combating the Grimm along the way. Nanashi sighed as he scratched the back of his head. It would be easier if he could use a demon to scout the area, but it was too risky. Chances were, the teachers had the entire area under surveillance, and he didn't want to risk being exposed. As irksome as it was, he played the role he had, the role of a Huntsman-in-training. As he thought more about the situation, he slipped the black bishop piece into his pocket. He then noticed two other figures approaching. One he recognized as his cousin, Cris, and the other...

"...you've got to be shitting me."

Walking right next to his cousin, dressed in a white shirt and pants, blue coat, and yellow scarf was none other than Johnathan. Former companion to Flynn and Walter and the embodiment of God's Chariot, Merkahbah. First Walter...and now Jonathan?! "Oi, Dagda!" Nanashi whispered. "The fuck is going on here?!"

"You got me, kid..." The Celtic God, too, was confused by this revelation. First the host of Lucifer, now the Host of Merkahbah?! It was too much to be mere coincidence. But how? This world was supposed to be severed from the Axiom!

"How the hell is this possible?" the boy asked. "They were supposed to be apart of Satan when Lucifer and Merkabah merged together, so why are they here? I thought you said this place wasn't apart of the Axiom!"

"It is...and yet, here they are," Dagda said. "Hm...interesting. I can feel the Demon Lord and the Chariot's power from them, but it's pretty damn weak. At the very least, they're stronger than the average Hunter. Still, this is interesting...if these guys are here, perhaps that idea of going back to our world may not be farfetched after all, kid."

Those very words from the Irish God's mouth sparked hope within the God Slayer. A chance...yes...a chance to go back home! After all of this time, there was a chance...a chance for him to get back to his world, and bring back his friends. After all, two people from his world were here...of course, this begged the question; how did they come here? It would be took risky to try and outright confront them, otherwise they would suspicious. For now, he would just observe, and see if there were any changes. Given what he learned from Walter...it seemed like that they were reborn in Remnant, since Walter was the son of the Altesian General, James Ironwood. If there was the slightest chance one of them remembered anything about coming to this world, despite being "born" in it...then even the smallest bit of information would be helpful.

'Hold on, everyone...' Nanashi thought, clenching his fists. 'I'm going to see you all again, soon...even if you all hate me for the rest of my life.'

From his place within the smartphone, Dagda stayed silent. Despite everything he told the kid, he still clung unto his friends...though it wasn't for the sake of strength. No, he didn't believe that. He didn't believe that choosing to bond with his friends would grant him strength. He knew that his power was his own, that he alone could allow his strength to reach new potential. He knew that he had the potential to become something greater...something MORE than human!

Yet he still clung to his friends. Dagda once questioned him about it. Why was he so fixated on them...when it was by his hands that cut them down?

Nanashi had given him his answer: "I cherish them because they stood by my side all this time. They helped me become the man I am now. Especially her..."

Humanity. That was what they were to him...the last vestiges of humanity. Personally speaking, Dagda thought it was useless. A Godslayer did not need humanity...but a God did, otherwise they would be no better than the stagnant, decaying deities that thrived in their world. Deities like the Divine Powers. In that case, Dagda supposed that those companions of his were a good thing. They taught him how to accept weakness and evolve, unknowingly molding him into a better Creator God than YHVH himself.

As much as he hated to admit it...those parasites were good for something at least.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in," Walter grinned, noticing Jonathan approaching. "What took you?"

"Sorry about that...we were caught up in the rampage of a passing Beringel." Johnathan rubbed the back of his neck.

"Beringel...wait, you fought an ape?!"

"Gorilla, actually," the black-haired partner of Jonathan's corrected. "A very, very pissed off gorilla."

"Man...you get all the luck, Johnathan...all Nanashi here and I got were a few wayward Beowolves and the occasional Ursa." Walter pouted.

"Nanashi?" Jonathan asked. He then noticed the green-eyed boy standing not far from him. "Oh...my apologies, I didn't see you there," he said apologetically before walking over, offering his hand in greeting. "My name's Jonathan. I'm a childhood friend of Walters. I hope he wasn't too much trouble."

"Oi! I resent that!"

Nanashi smirked. "Nah, he was fine," he said. "Plus, it's more like trouble comes to us."

"Ain't that the truth..." Cris stated as he walked into view.

"So, your Jonathan's partner?" Walter asked.

"Yep. Name's Cris. Walter, right?"

"The one and only~"

"Good to meet ya. Johnathan's told me a lot about you." Cris extended his hand in greeting. Walter took it and gave it a firm shake.

"Good things I hope."


"...and there is our first team formation," Glynda said, observing the scene with a slight smile. "Quite ironic...Qrow's son with James', the heir of the Arc Family, and Nanashi Xiao Long. Quite the unusual team."

"Not true," Ozpin chuckled. "You forget about STRQ. THEY were the unusual team."

"...You got me there." She shook her head. "Still, I am curious to see how this dynamic works out."


"...oi, Nanashi!" a familiar voice cried out. The boy blinked, and looked off to the side to find a familiar mess of long blonde hair waving at him, accompanied by a black-clad girl. "Yoo! What's up?!"

Nanashi promptly groaned, and Cris visibly flinched. Walter and Jonathan looked at the girl curiously, having never seen her before. "Who's she?" Walter asked. "Friend of yours?"

"My sister," he answered. "Yang Xiao Long."

"Huh?" The wild-looking teen turned back to Yang, then to Nanashi, back to Yang, and back to Nanashi again. "...You two don't look alike at all."

"I'm adopted. That's why." Came the simple reply.

The two boys looked surprised at this, with Walter looking slightly ashamed of himself, and Jonathan with a sorrow look. Nanashi ignored them, and turned his attention the blonde brawler and her apparent partner. "Yo," he nodded to them. "Finally made it."

"Eh, ran into some trouble on the way here," Yang shrugged before grinning. "And nice to see you to, Ashi~"

Nanashi felt his eyebrow twitch. "...please don't call me that."

"Oh come on! It's your nickname! Why can't I call you that?"

"One, because it's annoying. And two, because I don't want you to."

Yang pouted. "Party pooper."

Blake ignored her antics, and instead looked at the relics with a frown. "Chess pieces?" she questioned, much like Walter had. "Are these the relics we're supposed to collect?"

"It would appear so," Jonathan said as he took one of the black bishop pieces, inspecting it. "Hm...despite the lustrous shine to them, there are quite a few cracks and nicks. I'm assuming that these have been used before."

"Is that so..."

Yang looked over to the relics. Curious, she picked up one of the pieces. It was the white knight piece. Grinning, she held it up to Blake. "How about the cute little pony?"

Blake gave a shrug, not caring either way. "Actually, miss Xiao Long," Jonathan chimed in. "That's the knight piece."

Walter sighed, shaking his head. "Seriously, Jonathan, you really need to-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Suddenly, the group was thrown on edge, as the scream echoed loudly into the air. "What in blazes was that?!" Walter shouted, looking around. "Damnation, that sounded like a woman screaming her head off!"

"Feh," Dagda scoffed. "More like a man who's balls haven't dropped yet."

"I'm betting it's Jaune." Nanashi muttered in response.

Johnathan, on the other hand looked up in thought. That scream...it sounded REALLY familiar...

Unfortunately, the surprises didn't end there, as they soon heard the sound of roars and snarls coming from behind them. The group whirled around to find an Ursa emerging from the forest, standing on it's hind legs and roaring and snarling. As the three prepared for combat, a loud voice yelled "YEEHAW!" before the large beast suddenly ceased, it's body swaying and falling to the ground. Falling off of it was a girl with short orange hair and turquoise eyes. Her clothing was a mix and match of some sort, with different colors and themes. She wore a collared black vest that ended at her waist. Her apparent emblem, a hammer with a lightning bolt, was found on the back. Under the vest were two layers of clothing, colored red and light-blue respectively. She sported a turquoise bow at the back of her skirt. She also wore a white sleeveless top that forms a tiny heart shape between her cleavage and collarbone, with a white detached sleeve on each arm. She wore matching fingerless gloves on each hand. She sported a pink skirt that starts at the waist and ends mid-thigh. Her shoes were a mix of pink and white with pink laces, displaying her emblem on their soles. She also wore armor that began in the middle of the shoulder and neck and ends by the waist. "Aww, it's broken!" the girl pouted before she hopped atop it's body, looking down at the corpse. "Ewww..."

"Nora...?" a weak voice called out. Staggering away from the Ursa, clearly winded, was a male teenager with long black hair tied into a ponytail that ended midway down his back. There was a magenta streak on the left side of his hair. His eyes were pale pink, and wore a dark green, diagonally-buttoned, long-sleeved tailcoat that was red on the inside, with black and gold trimming and pink cuffs. The trimming went down the right side of his torso and formed a black collar. He also wore a black, long-sleeved shirt beneath the suit, and light-tan pants with black shoes. "Please," he begged. "Never do that again." To his confusion, the girl was gone, causing him to look around wildly for her.

He didn't have to look far, as in a split second, she was right next to Yang, looking at a white Rook piece. "Ooooh~!" she said, ogling the piece before she darted around with the chess piece atop her head. "I'm Queen of the Castle~! I'm Queen of the Castle~!"

"NORA!"

Nora stopped her little dance and grinned. "Heehee...Coming Ren~" She saluted as she dropped the Rook from her head into her hand and skipped over to her partner.

The six teens blinked rapidly at what they had seen before Walter spoke up, voicing the thoughts on everyone's mind. "Did that girl...just come here...riding atop an Ursa?"

"Uh..." Yang tried to answer, but stopped when she heard very familiar screams of terror. Nanashi heard them as well.

"Uh, Yang..." Blake heard the sound before either of the siblings and simply pointed upward.

And then they promptly panicked.

"RUBY!"

The silver-eyed girl was falling down from the sky at break-neck speed, flailing her arms helplessly as she came ever closer to the earth, awaiting to become a sickening splat. "HEEEEAAAAADS UUUUUUUP!"

However, as she continued to fall, a yellow blur flew in and intercepted her fall, causing both figures to crash into a tree instead. The large tower of wood shook, and a few birds flew out. The group looked on in worry, though once Walter and Jonathan got a look at what hit Ruby and knocked her into the tree, thus saving her life, their eyes widened.

"JAUNE?!"

The blonde knight was too dizzy to respond to the outcries of his friend and brother, as swirls were rolling in his eyes, and Nevermores dancing around his head. On the ground, the two teens minds were racing with questions. Why was Jaune here? How did he get here? What is he doing here? Why isn't he at home? Doesn't he know how dangerous it is? Etc.

Blake, however, was still surprised by what she had seen. "...did your sister just fall from the sky?"

Yang opened her mouth, but before she could breathe out a word, a familiar red-head emerged from the forest, running at top speed while breaking through the thicket, much to the group's utter shock and horror, was a gigantic creature covered in thick white armor, two pincers for claws, a giant golden stinger attached to it's tail, and several red eyes. 'Oh, hell...' Nanashi groaned. 'Of all the Grimm...'

On Pyrrha's tail was a Deathstalker, one the size of an average bus. Based on this, he deduced it to be an Elder Deathstalker, one that's been around from quite sometime.

"Did she just come here with a Deathstalker on her tail?" Blake questioned, growing further confused by every passing moment.

"Grr..." Yang growled. The Godslayer looked at her sister. She looked about ready to blow. That was never a good sign. "...GRAAAAAGH! I can't take it anymore! Can't everyone just chill out for like, two seconds before something crazy happens?!" As if on cue, Pyrrha brought up her shield, defending against the lashing of one of the pincers, throwing her back. Ruby snapped out of her daze, shaking her head, and looked at the sight in front of her. "Oh, crap!" Her eyes widened as she quickly lept up. "Sorry, Jaune! Be right back!"

"W-wait, Ruby-!"

She was already leaping out of the tree, using the recoil of her gun to launch her forward, speeding toward to catch Pyrrha. The two tumbled through the ground, eventually coming to a stop next to Rouge and the others.

"Uh, Hi guys!" Ruby waved at her brother and sister from the ground.

"Ruby!" Yang cheered, running to hug her sister.

"Yang!" Ruby cried as she leaped up to her feet, about to reciprocate-

"NORA!"

The ginger girl jumped up from between them, causing interference.

"Well isn't she chipper?" Nanashi mused.

Ren sighed. "You have no idea..."

"...wait," Pyrrha looked around, clearly troubled. "Where's Weiss?"

"YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUU DDDDDDDUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNCCCCCCCCCCEEEEEEEE!"

Everyone looked up to the sky. "...found her." Nanashi deadpanned. The Schnee Heiress was hanging onto the Nevermore's feathers for dear life.

"...I said jump..." Ruby retorted meekly.

"She's gonna fall." Blake pointed out.

"She'll be fine." Ruby said in fake assurance.

"She's falling." Ren stated.

The white-haired girl was now plummeting downwards, arms and legs flailing all the while screaming. Jaune finally managed to remove himself from whatever was holding him, and looked up to find the girl falling. He was about to run in and grab her as she fell, but then looked at the ground. He gulped, seeing the distance down. "O-oh boy..." he gaped, feeling his stomach beginning to churn in ways it was not supposed to. "This is...so gonna hurt, isn't it?" He took a deep breath, tapping his cheeks as he took a few steps back. "O-okay... You can do this, Jaune. You can do this. Just..."

He gulped.

"...don't die."

He jumped.

In midflight, he managed to catch the falling girl in his arms. 'Whew! Made it! Still alive too!' He mentally sighed with relief. It took him a second to remember that they were still in mid-air, prompting him to panic.

"OOOOOOH CRAAAAAAAAP!"

Jaune fell on the ground first. Weiss followed immediately after, on his back.

"My hero," she said as he looked at her nails, disinterested.

Jaune, however, groaned. He wasn't going to tell her how heavy she was, but he was most certainly going to complain about the pain she had inflicted on his body. "My back..."

"Are you two alright?!" Johnathan asked in concern as he and Walter moved in to help them up.

Weiss nodded gratefully to Jonathan while Walter hoisted Jaune up, who groaned and winced in pain. "Owowowowow..." he repeated in pain. "Gah...I really wanna say something, but I don't want to get smacked for it."

"Well, least your still alive," Walter quipped. "Anyway, what the heck are you doing here? I thought you were back home!"

Jaune chuckled nervously, scratching his cheek. "K-kind of a...long story..."

"Great!" Yang threw her hands in the air, looking rather exasperated by the long string of events. "Now we get to die together!"

They had two Grimm, some of the more dangerous species, blocking them off back to the Cliff. The Deathstalker, which was slowly advancing towards them with the intent on skewering them with it's stinger, and up above, the Nevermore was circling around, as if looking for it's prey

Jaune paled as he saw the Grimm, not liking the odds. "We are so screwed..."

"Not if I can help it!" Ruby cried, suddenly ran forward, reaching for Crescent Rose, which unfurled into it's scythe form. Yang shouted for her to stop, but Ruby was already in motion. The scythe suddenly let loose a loud 'BANG!', causing it to recoil, and send her flying straight towards the Death Stalker. Rouge' eyes widened in horror. What in the hell was she thinking?! She was being stupid! She couldn't go up against a Death Stalker by herself! This fact was made evident when it swung it's pincer at her, knocking her away. Her body slid across the ground before she stood back up on shaky feet, easily rattled by the attack. "D-do-don't worry!" she called out weakly. "Totally fine!" She aimed the tip of her scythe, allowing another 'BANG!' to pierce in the air. The shot didn't even so much as affect the Death Stalker, it's armor to thick to penetrate.

Seeing her attack ineffective, Ruby chose the correct course of action. She disengaged her weapon as it folded in on itself, and slipped it behind her back as she took off in a run. "Ruby!" Yang called out in concern, running after her sister. Unfortunately, the Nevermore had noticed them, and began to chase after the red-hooded girl. It let out a blood-curdling caw as it swung it's wings, shooting several fathers that would make the girl it's pincushion. Thankfully, none of them hit her, but one did impale itself on her cape, halting her movements, while the rest impeded Yang's progress. Her eyes widened in horror as she saw the Death Stalker creep up on the smaller girl. "Ruby, get out of there!"

"I'm trying!" she shouted back, but only now realized the dire situation as the Death Stalker reared back it's stinger, intent on running her through. She shut her eyes.

She awaiting the unbearable pain of her body being run through by the pointed appendage...yet nothing came.

"You are so childish!"

The girl opened her eyes, and found an incredible sight in front of her...a gigantic block of ice that trapped the giant scorpion's stinger and right pincer.

Weiss Schnee glared at her as she removed Myrtenaster, turning to face her young partner with a cross look on her face. Ruby gawked, seeing that had chewed her out relentlessly earlier standing right in front of her. The white-haired heiress' rapier that she had removed from the ground was orginally embedded into the earth, trapping the stinger in its frozen prison. "And dim-witted, and hyperactive..." Weiss continued as she stood up, glaring at her with scrutiny. "...and don't even get me started on your fighting style." She paused. "And, I suppose..." she looked away, appearing to be slightly abashed. "I can be a bit... difficult."

"...but if we're going to do this," she looked back at Ruby, narrowing her eyes. "We're going to have to do this together. So, if YOU quit trying to show off, I'll be..." She hesitated once more, mentally cursing herself for doing so twice in a row. "Nicer."

Ruby looked at the ground. "I'm not trying to show off," she insisted. "I want you guys to know, I can do this."

"You're fine." Weiss shook her head, a miniscule smile on her face.

The others smiled at the heartwarming scene...until the sound of crashing trees and thundering footsteps echoed through the clearing. Clearly, the Mevermore and Deathstalker were not the only things they had to worry about. Whatever was coming...it was big.

"Great," Cris groaned. "What now?!"

His rhetorical question was answered as a hulking shadow jumped from the treeline and landed in the clearing in a thundering crash, the ground cracking beneath its feet. The figure was crouched in a landing, before it rose to its full height. It's massive fists drumming against its chest.

Walter's eyes widened. "...Jonathan," he said quietly. "Cris...by any chance, was this the Beringel you pissed off?"

"No," Cris answered grimly. "Namely...because this thing is bigger."

The massive Grimm dropped down to all fours, it's fists making deep indentations in the ground and shaking the foundation it stood. It's mask was fracked and scarred as its red eyes glowered right at them.

"...okay," Yang sweated. "Anyone in favor of running?"

"Yeah. Our objective is to retrieve the artifacts and make it back to the cliff. We don't have to fight them." Ruby reminded them.

"Run and live. An idea I can get behind by." Jaune sighed in relief.

Ruby smiled as she took one of the white chess pieces, the same one that Yang had taken earlier; the white Knight. She looked back at Jaune as he took a white rook piece, and he nodded back at her. Cris took the same piece that Nanashi had, the black bishop, and soon joined the two. They then pocketed away the relics, and quickly moved away from the sight. "Let's go!" the red reaper said as she ran up the hill. Others followed behind her, with the Grimm behind them giving chase.

Nanashi's eyes narrowed. 'Even if we reach the cliff, the odds are still bad,' he thought. 'The Nevermore and Deathstalker could be easy, but that Beringel...it's size is huge.' A scowl formed across his face. 'If it weren't for the fact that there were so many people here, and that we're being watched, I could use my abilities here. The Grimm aren't like demons...no matter the size, they can't compare to what I've fought.' That said, the odds weren't looking good. If they fought all three at once, it would be a disaster.

Then, an idea came to him.

"Walter, Cris, Jonathan," he called to the three. "I have an idea!"

"What is it?!" Cris asked. "For our sakes, I hope it's good!"

"Ruby, we'll meet up with you later!"

That caused the silver-eyed girl to look over her shoulder in shock. "N-Nanashi, what are you-?!"

The Godslayer stopped in his tracks, and whirled around. He took out his gun, and opened fire...right at the large Beringel. "Hey! King Kong!" he jeered. "Over here!" The bullets ricocheted off the Grimm's face. Nevertheless, the action focused its attention on, Nanashi. Lethal red eyes met green as the Godlsyer continued to fire bullets before running further from the group.

"Nanashi?!" Cris gawked, running after his friend. "Have you gone mad?!"

Walter boomed with laughter. "Now that's my kind of guy~" he howled. "Come on, Jonathan! Break a leg! We've got an ape to take down!"

The swordsman could barely believe what was happening. The sheer scale of madness that was happening here was absolutely ludicrous . A part of him wondered if his friend had gone mad, if he found something like this exciting. He then chased after the others, with the Beringel chasing after them at top speed. The others, meanwhile, were in shock by what happened. That was Nanashi's plan?! Leading it away?! What was he thinking?! That thing could flatten him!

Unfortunately, the squawk of the Nevermore above them, and the hiss of the Deathstalker, reminded them that they needed to keep moving.


(Blue Dragon OST - Eternity)

Nanashi wasn't quite sure how long he had run with his partner, cousin, and Jonathan. He didn't bother to think. Instead, he just ran as fast as he could, adrenaline pumping in his veins with the roar of the Beringel behind them, not out of sight. "Alright, you got it's attention, Ashi!" Cris shouted, running beside him. "Now what?!"

"Now, we lead it away from the others and into a secure location! Then...we take it down!" He responded.

The wild boy smirked. "Nanashi...have I ever told you how much I like you right now?"

The Beringel let out a roar as it leaped up, latching on to one of the trees. It pounded on it's chest before it grabbed one of the trees near it. Effortlessly, it ripped off a good portion of the tree, lifting it up, and throwing it at the four. Cris' eyes widened, and shouted, "SCATTER!" The four huntsmen in training shot off to different directions as the massive piece of foliage impacted the spot they previous stood. The wood splintered upon impact, breaking apart into large pieces. They quickly took cover behind the trees, while the Beringel remained up on it's perch.

Nanashi's mind raced, trying to devise a strategy to take this massive Grimm down.

'Che...this would be so easier if I could use magic.'

He had the power and ability to take down this Beringle in a matter of seconds, and he can't do it lest he expose his true nature. He had been careful during his time here in Remnant. As far as he knew, no one could use magic, except the characters in the fairy tale; the Seasonal Maidens. Spring, Summer, Winter, and Fall. His abilities could definitely arouse suspicion...especially if they ever saw a demon. As painstaking as it was, he would rather not expose himself, and end up fighting off everyone around him. He had enough massacre to last him a lifetime. He had slain the majority of the Hunter Association, Ring of Gaea, and the Samurai, when they tried to oppose him upon learning he intended to create a new universe. He tried to tell them that it was useless, that they stood no chance against them and that they should just leave him be, lest they join his friends...but like them, they refused, and fought to the bitter end.

And they all became naught but a pile of corpses before his feet. By his hand, all three groups were eradicated. He became the sole person in Tokyo able to summon Demons. After that, he went to the Kingdom of Mikado on a mission. When he arrived, every citizen was infected by another damned machination of YHVH, the Demon Gene. If left alone, the Demon Gene would corrupt everyone in Tokyo. For the few people alive in that city, he did what he could, and slaughtered everyone in Mikado. Including Hugo, who had become the "incubator" of the Demonic Gene. What might have been the proud millennium kingdom...was now the lifeless ruins of a country.

The society built by his previous incarnation, Akira, was torn apart and erased by his own hand in a single day. Anyway, back to the matter at hand, how was he supposed to deal with that damned Beringel? It's armor was thick, and it had quite a bit of muscle, so he doubted any of his rounds could pierce it, unless he used his Awakened Power.

Also...was it just his imagination, or was that damned King Kong wannabe looking directly at him?

The Beringels eyes were not trained on any of the others, but him! It's face warped into a raging snarl. It took him a second to realize why. After all, he was the reason it was even here.

"..well, shit."

The Beringel let out a roar, and leaped, arms raised. It hit the ground and broke out into a mad dash on all fours straight at the God Slayer.

"Oh, shit!" Cris cried out. "Nanashi, get out of the way!"

The fifteen year old didn't need to be told twice. He hopped out of his shelter and sprinted away from the beast's charge. He landed on his hand, using it to leap further out of the way. The Beringel plowed through a few trees, and skidded to a stop. Without missing a beat, it grabbed one of the destroyed pieces, and threw it. Nanashi quickly jumped up to avoid crashing into it, stabbing his sword into the trunk of a large tree. He flipped himself up on top of his weapon, and stared down at the Beringel with narrowed eyes. The creature was still focused on him. A curse escaped him again. He was seriously wishing that these guys weren't around and that he wasn't being watched. It would make dealing with this son of a bitch so much easier!

Cris, however, seemed to grow tired of waiting for the opportune moment to strike. He emerged from his hiding spot, holding his rifle, and opened fire. The bullet pierced into the skin and pounced off the armor, but none of it did any actual damage. To the large Grimm, it was probably very annoying. The Beringel glowered, glaring down at him, and roared. It smashed its hands into the ground, fingers digging into the earth, and proceeded to tear out a large chunk of stone, causing everyone to look on in shock. 'How the hell is it even that strong?!' Walter thought in disbelief. He knew it was an elder Grimm, and that Beringel were powerhouses, but the physical strength alone was...insane! Gripping the debris, the Grimm threw it at Cris. It was too big to dodge.

Walter, however, had a surprise. He was quickly in front of his friend, and his scimitar drawn. His eyes turned dark red, and the edge of his blade glowed brightly. Steam began rising off of it. He held it with both hands, and swung with all of his might, letting out a battle cry in the process. "TWWWORRRAAAGH!" The swing left behind a blazing trail, slicing straight through the debris. As it hit the ground, it broke apart, revealing that the swing had sliced it into two halves, leaving the broken pieces to scatter around them.

"Interesting," Dagda noted. "Looks like he applied Agi-elemental abilities into his sword. Chances are, it's related to what little power he has of Lucifer's, which is probably his Semblance now."

Nanashi silently nodded. If they really were reincarnations of Lucifer's and Merkabah's hosts, they they were sure to have residual traces of their powers. If those flames were Walter's ability, he assumed Johnathan's was related to light.

"Damn," Walter said gruffly as the Beringel roared at him in rage. "He's a real charmer, isn't he?"

"T-thanks for the save, Walter."

"Don't mention it, Cris." The wild boy may have just met him, but he could tell he was a pretty decent guy. He'd have no qualms if he were on his team. But for now...he had to ensure that all of them made it out of this alive.

Johnathan shared his friend's sentiments as he moved out from his position and drew his own sword. "Walter...how good do you think are odds are?"

Walter smirked wryly. "Chances are...we're not gonna come out of this without a few broken bones," a chuckle escaped him. "I hear girls dig scars, though...course that means killing King Kong over here!"

"In that case," Cris smirked, his eyes turning red. He swiped his weapon, and Monochrome Chrome entered it's scythe form, resembling a mix of his cousin's Crescent Rose, and his father's own weapon. "Let's get to work! Hey, Ashi! Get the lead out!"

Nanashi sighed. "I'll let it slide this once," he said as he stared down the Beringel. "Alright...IKUZE!"

"Right!" In agreement, the four moved into position to take down the massive Grimm. Nanashi took the vanguard while Johnathan and Walter moved to either side of the Beringel while Cris took up the rear of the pack. The Grimm let out a beastial roar, and pounded at it's chest, as if making a declaration of war. Nanashi let his body fall from his perch, pulling out his sword as he descended, and went straight for the large black ape.


This was a bad situation. She vaguely remembered the saying, "a rock and a hard place," but this was just outright ridiculous. Not only were they dealing with a Death Stalker, who Nora and Ren stated that they would hold off, but they were also trying to deal with a Nevermore that was trying to turn them into it's own personal pincushion. Needless to say, this was NOT the sort of situation Ruby wanted to be in. The girl ran further into the ruins with the girls and Jaune. As they did, Pyrrha slid her feet before coming to a halt, bringing out her weapon. "Go, go!" she shouted at them as she went to help the two. She took to Ren's side, and her sword shifted into a double-barreled rifle. They opened fire on the beast as it chased after Nora, who was quickly fleeing to avoid it, but the rounds merely bounced off the shells. Once the excited girl ran past them, they quickly fell back as it swung it's pincers together in an attempt to grab them, only to swipe at air. Due to the narrowness of the bridge, it was impossible for to track after them.

Unfortunately for them, the Nevermore had not forgotten about them as it quickly flew by the large structures around the bridge. It's target was clear in sight. Ruby' eyes widened, and turned to her partner, friend, and teammate. "Brace yourselves!" The next second, the bird Grimm rammed it's body into the bridge, causing it to break apart into debris. The group was scattered, with Blake, Pyrrha, and Ren falling to where the Death Stalker was, and the rest on the other side, close to the cliff. Jaune groaned, feeling the impact of being flung away, rubbing his head and back before he turned his attention to the three fighting the scorpion. His eyes widened in concern as he watched Blake, who was the only one among the group without a long-range weapon, get flung back after being hit by one of it's pincers.

"Oh crap!" he exclaimed in fright. "We have to help them!" He frowned heavily at the gap. There was no way to jump the gap, so how were they supposed to get over there? He looked around his surroundings, trying to find some way to reach them. It was then that he noticed the fissures running along the destroyed portion of the bridge, which ran all the way behind him. An idea streaked across his mind, but it made him pale and gulp. 'This is crazy...' he thought. 'Totally, utterly crazy, but...' He turned to Nora, who looked concern for Ren's safety. "U-um... Nora, right?" The girl turned to him, nodding. "T-this is gonna sound crazy, but... can we make this thing into a launching pad?"

The girl cocked her head to the side, but she quickly got the idea. "Aye aye, Captain~!" she sung as she brandished her weapon, which quickly turned into a large silver hammer. Jaune knew this was going to be a bad idea, but if it was going to help him save his friends, then it was worth doing... He just hoped it wouldn't get him killed. He quickly made his way to where the fissures end, while Nora stood at the opposing side. "You ready?!"

"Honestly?" he deadpanned. "...no."

Nora took this as a 'yes,' grinning like a demented madman, and jumped up. She reared back her hammer, and swung down, creating an explosive blast. The fissures broke apart, and the platform they stood on broke apart, becoming a makeshift launching pad for Jaune. Nora, meanwhile, hopped atop the large head of her axe, and fired off another explosive blast, sending her flying with him. The blonde hit the ground hard, groaning as he landed on his face while Nora fired off another blast as soon as she reached them, launching her into the air. "Nora SMASH!" she cried as she swung her hammer down on the Death Stalker. The force of the swing, with the explosive kickback, as enough to knock it into the ground. Hissing in anger, the scorpion tried to impale her with it's stinger, only for her to jump back. Sadly, she hadn't noticed Blake behind her.

The two collided, and Blake was sent flying off the bridge, spiraling towards the abyss below her. She quickly reoriented herself, and slipped her weapon into it's secondary form. She swung it while a black band wrapped around her wrist. Gambal Shroud struck the side of the bridge, allowing her to swing through the air. Her eyes caught sight of the Nevermore, and narrowed her eyes. She quickly pulled back her weapon, which came flying back to her thanks to the retraction system, and then began another swinging movement by throwing it at the tower close by. Her body swung through the air, and was now in the Nevermore's path.

Another swift tug brought the weapon back, and returned to it's original form. The Nevermore was now directly in front of her.

"...my turn."

She changed her weapon, Gambol Shroud, into its firearm mode. She grabbed the Nevermore by the face as it flew straight at her and aimed the barrel of her gun right in its eye. She pulled the trigger. The creature squealed in pain before Blake quickly delivered several quick slashes. She then jumped up to it's back, and ran along it's spine, hacking away at it before jumping off, landing atop a portion of the ruined tower before joining Yang, Ruby, and Weiss. "It's tougher than it looks!" she mentioned, slightly winded.

Yang glared at the black bird before them as she rammed her fists together. "Then let's hit it with everything we've got!" she declared. At this, everyone brandished their weapons. Ruby's Crescent Rose unfurled into it's scythe form while Weiss twirled about, runes dancing underneath her as streaks of blue and red formed around her. Blake switched Gambal Shroud into it's firearm, and took aim. Everyone then began to shoot at the Nevermore. However, it simply withstood all the blasts and let out a caw as it swung it's wings again, shooting out several feathers with the intent to skewer them. The group braced themselves, as the hail of feathers came straight for them. They managed to endure, knocking them back. However, the Nevermore came in forwards, as it had done before. It rammed it's body once again into the structure, causing it to break apart and fall. The girls were resourceful and used the rubble to jump up back to ground, with Yang and Ruby using the recoil of their weapons to shoot them upward. Blake relied on their own agility and dexterity to reach the bridge again, while Weiss simply used her runes to jump along the air. Yang landed on the opposite side of Ruby and Weiss as she charged in once again. The heiress scowled heavily, glaring at the Nevermore as it flew above them. "None of this is working!" Ruby looked concerned before she noticed Blake landing on another platform, having used Gambal Shroud to swing over to it. The gears in her head began to whirl as she turned her attention to Yang, who was unloading shot after shot with her Ember Celica, also taking care to avoid being skewered by the incoming feathers.

Her silver eyes widened, a picture forming in her head, and turned to Weiss. "I have a plan!"


"We gotta move!" Jaune called out as the platform beneath them began to gave way after the death Stalker rammed it's stinger into the ground, failing to hit Nora as she jumped back to avoid being stung. The force of the strike caused the platform to break apart and fall. The four were quick to run up the descending platform, running straight into the jaws of the Grimm in front of them. It swung it's pincer at them, intending to crush them, but Pyrrha intercepted, defending against it before parrying with her blade. The swing pincer tried to attack her blind spot, but Jaune moved in to defend her, using his shield to block it. Pyrrha used this opportunity to knock back the second pincer, leaving it open. Ren moved in, dashing to the side to avoid being hit by the stinger before latching unto it. He began to open fire on the beast, now directly above it while Nora unloaded her grenade launcher into the bast. The beast, now livid, tried to crush her with both pincers at once, but the two shield-bearers moved in to defend her at once. The brunt of the attack sent them both sliding back, with Jaune tumbling to the ground. The red-haired warrior, however, threw her weapon, now in the form of a javelin. It tried to defend itself, but the javelin went through the small gap between the pincers, and struck it in the eye.

It wailed in pain as it swung it's tail violently, throwing Ren off of it. "Ren!" Nora cried in concern as he was thrown against a pillar. Jaune was about to call over to him, but then noticed the now dangling stinger above the Death Stalker's head. 'It's loose?' he questioned before his eyes widened. 'Wait, that's it!'

"Pyrrha!"

The girl understood the plan immediately, grinning. "Done!" She swung her shield, which span right for the target. The sharpness of the edge was enough to cleanly cut through the remaining flesh binding the tail and stinger together, causing it to lodge in the armor.

"Nora!"

Said girl smiled like a madman as she jumped atop Pyrrha's shield, which returned to her like a boomerang, her weapon already in hammer form. Pyrrha thrusted her upward at the same time Nora fired off her weapon, leaving her to fly through the air, smiling as she sat atop the shaft of her weapon before descending towards the Death Stalker. "BOOM BABY!" she cried as she slammed the hammer down on the stinger, forcing it to break through the air, and straight into the body of the beast. The force of the impact, both from altitude velocity and the amount of strength the explosive kickback, caused the ground beneath them to break apart. Jaune and Pyrrha quickly jumped out of harm's way, while Nora used another explosive kickback to throw her to her friends, leaving the Death Stalker to fall to the misty depths below them.

The ginger flipped in the air from the impact and landed on her feet. Pyrrha and Jaune knelt on the ground out of exhaustion from their fight. Meanwhile, a tired Ren slowly walked up to the group...only to fall face first on the ground.

"I hurt...all over..."

Jaune agreed with him completely.


"I!"

BANG!

"Hope!"

BANG!

"You're!"

BANG!

"Hungry!"

BANG!

Yang screamed as she fired shotgun rounds into the Nevermore's open beak. The gigantic Grimm flew and tumbled in the air, no doubt feeling the pain of bullets entering its esophagus. With her part done, Yang jumped away, landing on the ground while leaving the Nevermore to crash into the wall. The blonde brawler smirked as Weiss shot past her, leaping into the air with runes dancing along the shaft of her raper. With a thrust, ice formed and captured the beast by it's tail, ensuring no chances of escape from it. She then returned to her comrades, leaping back to them via bouncing off a rune. Blake released Gambal Shroud, launching it at Yang, who caught the blade and then embedded it into another pillar, thus creating a band. Ruby shot forward, propelling herself forward and catching the band with her scythe.

"Of course you would come up with this idea." Weiss scoffed as she pulled Ruby back with another rune, keeping her in place.

The girl smiled. "Think you can make the shot?"

"Hmph," the heiress grunted. "Can I?"

The silver-eyed girl cocked her head to the side, turning to Weiss. "Can-"

"Of course I can!" she snapped angrily. Ruby nodded, and released the shell casing, leaving a new round to enter the chamber. As soon as Weiss dismissed the sigil, Ruby pulled the trigger, and her Semblance roared to life, causing her to shoot forward at top speed towards the pinned gigantic bird. She landed on the face of the cliff, her scythe catching the Nevermore by the throat. Weiss created glyphs beneath the girl's feet to maintain her traction. Ruby then broke out into a run immediately after landing. As she ran, more glyphs appeared. The Grimm cawed and struggled as it was yanked up by the neck. Ruby fired a shot every so often to give her a boost of speed to overcome gravity. Her speed semblance also helped as she did not lose any momentum. As soon as she made it past the edge of the cliff, she gave one final gunshot, causing the blade of her weapon to give an abrupt jerk, beheading the massive creature.

Red petals danced in the air as the now headless Grimm descended into the abyss to join the Death Stalker, slowly dissolving in the air, thus joining the scattering roses. From where he stood, Jaune was left gaping. "...whoa..."

"Well." Yang grinned. "That was a thing."


"Gah!"

"Ghurk!"

Cris and Jonathan grunted as they were thrown back, their bodies tumbling through the ground. As they soon reached their stop, their bodies ached and throbbed in pain, likely due to the Beringel throwing and tossing and bashing them around like rag dolls. Once they stopped, they groaned, feeling pain running through their body. Ahead of them, Walter and Nanashi were darting around, avoiding the Beringel as it continued to swing it's arms around wildly, hoping to crush them. They had to duck and weave around the Grimm's massive fists. Even then, they still can't get close enough. Nanashi has been firing bullets while Walter created blazing arcs from his sword to attack from their distance. But none of it worked.

"Dammit!" Walter growled. "Nothing's working!"

"Walter, to your left!" Nanashi called. The Beringel swung it's arm at an angle, as if to squash the wild boy. He jumped away to avoid it, but the strike tore up the ground. Nanashi leaped away to avoid being squashed as well when it focused it's attention on him. "Tch...stubborn monkey."

The massive ape roared before beating its chest in rage.

"Congrats, Nanashi," Walter joked. "You just pissed it off."

"I'm surprised it can even hear me with all the noise it's making."

The Beringel seemed to grow even more infuriated with him, and began to strike wildly at him again. The two continued to dodge it and try to strike at it, dealing only small damage. The terrain was being ripped apart, from the earth being upturned to the trees being pulled from the roots...anything around it was being used as a weapon. 'Why is this reminding me of that one video game Yang showed me. Where that gorilla was throwing barrels down a ramp?' Nanashi mused as he evaded the debris. He briefly remembered the title, 'Donkey Kong,' or something along those lines. Regardless, he was beginning to feel like the character who the gorilla was trying to kill. It was quite frustrating, knowing that he could end this in an instant, but was unable to due to having to limit himself. He kept his power under low key, but with how this was going, he was beginning to feel that he should just screw secrecy and kill it here and now.

As he thought this, Walter found himself being put on the defensive, as he raised his blade and activated his Semblance, as the Beringel slammed it's hand down on him. The earth shuddered, and the ground beneath him cracked. The blunt end of the blade began to dig into his hand as he used his free hand to keep it from falling, while the edge of the blade cut into the skin. The blistering heat and intense flame caused the skin to enflame and blister, leaving behind red cracks with flames burning from it. The Beringel receded it's hand, screaming out in rage before roaring and slamming it's hand into him, sending him flying. "Gah!" he cried as his body smacked into a tree, breaking through it and causing it to timber. He hit the ground harshly, crying out in pain as he tried to stand, only to fall on all fours.

"Walter!" Nanashi cried in concern, taking his eyes off of the Grimm.

It proved to be a fatal mistake.

As soon as he averted his gaze from his foe, the Beringel rushed up to him and wrapped its hand around his body in an iron grip. Nanashi felt his bone crack from the quick and heavy constriction. But the Grimm did not stop there. It raised his clenched hand holding Nanashi high before slamming him back into the ground. The body felt the impact shatter his bones. But the Beringel did not stop there. It raised its arm, then slammed it down. Raised it up, slammed it down. Over and over and over and over. Knowing that its prey was caught, it will keep doing so until it was reduced to a stain of blood and bone fragments.

The three teens could only watch in horror as the green-clad boy was being thrashed around like a rag doll. Blood filled the cracks of the crater from the point of impact, and the sickening crunch of bone and squelch of internal organs resounded through the air with each devastating blow. Finally, it ended it's sickening onslaught by grabbing him by the leg, and thrown straight into the largest tree. As soon as his body struck the trunk, the bark was completely torn off. His body hung there, limp, before he fell to the ground.

He didn't get back up. Walter had to avert his gaze while biting his lip. Johnathan could only stare silently with an expression of pure distress. Cris felt like throwing up.

Nanashi's body...or rather...what's left of it, was a complete, bloody mess. His limbs were mangled so badly that pieces of bone were protruding from several spots along his flesh. His arms looked like they have been pressed and crushed by a vice. They looked like fat, flat noodles. His legs were no better. The knees were bending in the reverse direction and his femurs and shins were broken off, only hanging on by sinews of muscle tissue and skin. His torso looked like a crumpled soda can, completely crushed and malformed. His ribs were shattered, several of them broke the skin, and quite possibly several vital organs like his lungs and heart. His spine was broken in several places, making his upper torso slump forward in awkward angles. His neck was snapped as well, his head being turned around more than it was supposed to and his neck bent in the opposite direction from his face, which was doing no better. His jaw was shattered, his cranium looked like it was crumpled with his skull completely fractured with blood and what appeared to be gray matter leaking through the gaps. Blood pours down his nose, mouth, and numerous gashes along his face.

None of them even hoped he would survive that, least of all Cris who knew of his cousin's Aura deficiency. There was no use in denying it after what they saw.

Nanashi was dead.

"N-no...no way..." Walter gaped. "T-this...this can't be..."

The Beringel, seeing it's work, let out a triumphant roar, banging it's fists against it's chest.


When Nanashi opened his eyes, he found himself standing in a very familiar place, and immediately felt irritation. "...I got killed by a fucking oversized ape," he said. There was no emotion in his voice, yet it was clear that there was something behind it. "Out of all the things that could have killed me in Remnant...it was a stupid. Fucking. APE."

"That's what you get for worrying about other people, kid." Dagda said, standing before his Godslayer with his arms folded across his chest. "I've told you before...stop relying on others. Bonds holds you back. Friendship makes you weak. Surely, you understand that by now. After all, you've made it this far, haven't you?"

Nanashi held his tongue. Dagda was right...up to a point. He DID make it this far, but for the majority of his journey, he had his friends to support him. However, it all changed after she was killed by Shesa for protecting him. At that moment, everything suddenly spiraled out of control. Every feeling he had...every hope he had...gone...vanished as quickly as her death. Nanashi's hand went to the pair of goggles wrapped around his neck, the only thing that could be salvaged from her remains. He felt dread. He felt sorrow. He felt rage. He felt emptiness. He felt despair. He felt like he lost what kept him human.

Asahi...was the only light he had. Even when he became a Godslayer, he still hung close to her. It was like she was his humanity...but overtime, that role also extended to his friends. To Navarre, to Nozomi, to Hallelujah, to Gaston, to Toki, to Isabeau...everyone he thought as a friend, was his last link to humanity.

And it was by his own two hands that he stopped being "human."

Even though it brought forth untold despair, sorrow, and grief into his heart, he severed his bonds, and embraced his newfound self. The human called Nanashi was gone...and all that was left was Nanashi the Godslayer. The boy that was brought back from death by the hands of the God known as Dagda.

"So, enlighten me, kid...why do you still think you can actually put any stock in bonds, when you know how fragile they are?" Dagda questioned, waving his hand. "When it came down to it, you turned on your own friends, all to ensure a world free from YHVH. You CHOSE this path. You could have gone against me...even though it would have ended with you going back to being a corpse." He let out a dark chuckle at that. "So, answer me...why do you still think you can trust this notion of friendship, when you obviously have no need for it?"

"...because I need it to remind me of who I used to be." Nanashi answered quietly. "If I give up on that...then I really will stop being 'human.' My friends...Asahi...and everyone...even the family I made in Remnant...they remind me what it used to be like before I met you. Before I died." Slowly, he lifted his head, and looked at the god before him. "Dagda...believe it or not, I was grateful to you. Even though I knew I had become nothing but a pawn to you, I was happy you brought me back. Asahi was the world to me. I was fine with being your puppet, so long as I could be with her. Then I met everyone else, and that feeling grew."

Then, his eyes grew somber.

"...then, she died. And suddenly, I felt like I lost a piece of me. Even though everyone was with me, and the possibility of her coming back was there, I still felt like I had died again. When I was forced to choose between destroying the Cosmic Egg, or using it to make a new universe, I seriously considered siding with my friends."

"But you didn't," Dagda pointed out. "And why is that?"

The boy didn't look away. "Because of one thought...even if we defeated YHVH...freed him from humanity...what if something else came along? Something worse than Him? When I thought that...fear went through me. It felt like there was a possibility that tragedy would repeat, over and over again. That's why...I chose to create a new universe. If I could take his place, and make a new universe...then that wouldn't happen. I could make a brand new world, free from control. A world where my friends could be there...even Asahi." A sigh escaped him. "I knew what I was doing, even when I begged them to run. To stop all of this. Even back then, I felt like I was still human because of them. If they were alive in that new universe...if Asahi was there...then I could live with it. The pain of killing them."

His hand balled into a fist.

"That's why...I refuse to let things end like this," Nanashi declared. "If there's a chance I can go home, I'll take it! I'll create a new universe, one where my friends exist! One where gods have NO RIGHT to control us! And, if anyone dares to try and stop me, to try and tell me otherwise...I will cut them down."

Power burned through his being. The markings on his body, and his eyes, glowed in tandem to his resolution. And so he leveled a glare at Dagda, who remained unfazed.

"And that...includes you too, Dagda."

The Irish God said nothing as his eyes locked with those of his Godslayer. Words did not need to be exchanged, only the conveying of their will. After what seemed like eternity, Dagda let out a small smile. "...now that's more I like it," he said, clearly happy with his puppet's response. "That's the sort of thing my Godslayer should say. I suppose there was some use to having those brats around."

"Enough with the semantics, Dagda, just hurry up and bring me back to life already," the boy said impatiently. "I have a gorilla to maim."

"Done with the secrecy, kid?"

"Damn right...I'm done holding back."


"N...Nanashi..." Cris Branwen whispered in dread and despair. His own cousin...killed right before his eyes...and he couldn't do a damned thing! Some friend he was!

"I..." Jonathan hung his head low, unable to believe what had happened. He had chosen to enroll at Beacon to become strong...to become strong enough to create a peace the world could enjoy, to ensure that such a peace could last forever, yet he couldn't even save one boy. "I..."

Walter banged his fist against the earth. "D-dammit...Dammmit!"

The Beringel continued to perform it's victroy dance. It continued to roar and pound at it's chest. Soon, however, it would turn its attention to the three youths, and end them. Their Auras were low, and would be easier to kill.

However...it was unaware of the green aura that began to dance around Nanashi's corpse. His smartphone's screen lit up, revealing Dagda's face, his green eyes burning.

"Time to put an end to this charade," he said to the dead teen. "Enough of this pathetic farce, kid...show them. Show them what it means to be a Godslayer!"

At first, there was nothing. However, the markings on his hand glowed, as did the scar. His eyelids twitched. Then, they opened, revealing glowing green irises.

At last, the power that had remained hidden inside of him for ten years...the power of one who enacted deicide upon his world...was set loose.


As soon as a blast of green light seemingly erupted around the corpse of Nanashi Xiao Long, the video feed was reduced to horrible static. The two teachers couldn't understand what was going on. At first, they were shocked and horrified by what they had seen. Nanashi had been brutally pounded and crushed and beaten to death. However, not even seconds afterwards, a green light had begun to flow from his being.

"W-what was that?" Glynda asked, clearly shaken. "S-surely, he couldn't still be..."

Ozpin's eyes narrowed as he adjusted his glasses. That light was unearthly, and unnatural...and VERY familiar. He can't quite exactly put his finger on it...but one thing is for sure...the feeling from that light was completely ominous. He could feel an old wound flare up in slight pain.

"...Glynda" he said in a low tone. "Can you please contact Qrow for me? Tell him...it's urgent."

"Yes, sir." The woman nodded as she begun to dial up the number on her scroll.

Ozpin kept his attention on the screen, still covered in static. His mind raced back to before the feed was cut off. It was garbled, but he heard the words clearly.

'...the power of a Godslayer.'

A Godslayer...the very name troubled him. And for good reason, as he knew only one person with such a title.

"Interesting times, indeed..."


When the green pillar of light faded, Nanashi felt his body back in working order. Bones mended back into place, cracks healed, organs repaired...it was as if the damage done to his body have never happened. However, there was one difference now...he was no longer suppressing his power.

The glow on his markings and in his eyes were proof of that. He couldn't help but stare at his hand as he flexed it, feeling the familiar power that had slaughtered countless opponents flowing through him. Soon, a toothy grin formed across his face as he leered at the Beringel, who stared back at him with utter confusion. He didn't care for the bewildered stares his partner and the two Samurai were giving him. He could deal with them later. Right now, he had a oversized ape to maim and slaughter.

"...my turn."

(Clattanoia - OxT)

Electricity danced at his fingertips. In a swift motion, he flung his hand forward, producing an arc of lightning. "Zionga!" The spear of lightning shot towards the Beringel. The power behind it was greater than any Lightning dust could ever hope to achieve, breaking through the skin. A hole was plowed straight through it's chest, and thrown off of it's feet, letting out a cry of pain. But Nanashi was not done. He slid his katana from its sheath, the black blade crackling with energy. "...Oni-Kagura!" With an incredible burst of speed, he was in front of the Beringel, and swung Kamikira.

An arc of energy tore across the air and ripped apart the ground. The attack struck the Beringel dead on in the chest, piercing through its bone armor. The trail left behind nothing but a deep gash. Black liquid spewed out from the wound while the Grimm stumbled back, letting out another cry of pain. In retaliation, it swung it's fist down on him, hoping to crush him. Nanashi instead smirked, as he leaped forward, his sword trailing behind him. Passing by the Beringel like a green blur, another gash formed on the Grimm...only it soon became apparent that it was a stump, as the arm fell to the earth, and began to dissolve. It let loose a wail, roaring and howling while Nanashi stood atop a branch, looking down on the creature with a confident smile.

To those watching it, it was incredible. They could barely comprehend any of it. How was this even possible? Nanashi was dead on the ground one moment, and the next...he was alive. Alive and kicking.

And he was utterly dominating the thing that had demolished him only seconds ago, and the thing they had so much damned trouble taking down.

It was astonishing. It was unbelievable. It was just...surreal!

"H-how...the hell...?!" Walter gaped, staring at the sight with unbelievable awe and intrigue. That strength his partner displayed...it was...incredible.

"I-I don't...what?!" Jonathan could barely believe his eyes. He had seen Walter's partner die before his eyes, and yet the man was standing...and showing off incredible power as well. Was he hiding his true talent? And the power he was displaying...what on Earth was it? It didn't look like anything he had ever seen before, and the power behind it was...incredible.

Cris was crying tears of relief, a grin across his face as he looked at Nanashi with crinkled eyes. "D-dammit man...making me cry like this..." he sobbed. "Y-you got a lot of nerve!"

Nanashi smiled at their reaction. It was going to take some explaining...but for now, he had an ape to kill. With that in mind, he sheathed his sword, and took out his firearm; a simple black gun. It's design wasn't too different from a Desert Eagle handgun, but the power it had was certainly something to behold. He was able to handle the kickback far better than most, as the gunshop owner had stated that the last time someone used the gun, they had been thrown back to the ground after firing just one bullet.

The markings on his hand glowed, and power began to gather. The Beringel roared, and slammed it's remaining fist straight at him. Nanashi simply smirked, and easily avoided it by jumping atop it's hand. The Grimm's red eyes widened, especially when he saw the light that was gathering at the muzzle, which was aimed right at him.

The last thing it would ever see was that demonic smile of the Godslayer's, and his glowing green eyes.

"...Megido."

And he pulled the trigger back. A small sphere of energy shot out of the barrel. As it grew closer to the Grimm, it seemed to shrink as if compacting itself. By the time it reached its target, all the compressed energy in the sphere exploded all at once. A massive shockwave followed it's release. Were it not for the fact that they were all using their weapons to stay to the ground, they would have been caught by the roaring wind. The Beringel's neck and shoulders were completely blown apart, the muscles and skin and bone being ripped apart the almighty power of the spell. The arms fell from their arm sockets and crashed to the ground. The rest of the body collapsed on its knees before falling forward with a heavy thud.

In seconds, it's body began to dissolve. Nanashi jumped down from atop it's corpse, cracking his neck.

"Much," he said with satisfaction. "Much better..."

"N-Nanashi!" The boy craned his head, and found Ruby and Yang with their partners, and Jaune with his group. Their faces were set with panic as the rushed towards him in a hurry. "Are you alright?! We saw this green light, and-WHOA!" The red-clad girl skidded to a stop, eyes widening at the sight of the corpse of the Beringel. "H-holy honkers that's a huge Grimm..."

Weiss stared at Nanashi in disbelief, looking to Jonathan and the others as they slowly got up, managing to get their second wind. "...Nanashi," she said slowly. "Did you...kill this thing...by yourself?"

The green-eyed boy sighed. 'This...is going to take a while.'


Several hours after Initiation had come to an end, all the students that had completed the initiation stood together on a large stage. The rest of the student body gathered in the large auditorium and looked on as Professor Ozpin stood at the front by a microphone as he addressed all in attendance regarding the new hunters' success after watching their exploits on the many large screens around them.

"Russell Thrush, Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing, and Sky Lark. You four retreived the black bishop pieces. From this day forward you will be working as team CRDL. Led by, Cardin Winchester." the crowd applauded as the newly appointed team stood proud.

The headmaster turned to the next team as they stood ready. "Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrah Nykos, and Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward you will work together as team JNPR. Led by, Jaune Arc."

Jaune paled when he heard the man, "Huh?...led by?" he asked while the team congratulated him. Ozpin nodded, "Congradulations, young man." Pyrrah punched Jaune in the arm and he toppled over not expecting it.

Smiling lightly at the display, Ozpin turned to face the next batch of students. He noticed how uncomfortable poor Ruby looked, being on the center stage while also being looked at by the audience around them. "And lastly... Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward you will work together as team RWBY. Led by, Ruby Rose."

To say the girl was shocked was an understatement. Her eyes were wide, her mouth open and speechless. Yang wrapped an arm around her sister's shoulders, a smile of joy and pride on her face. Blake looked indifferent, but she was happy for the girl. Weiss, meanwhile, looked shocked beyond recognition. It was clear that she had expected to be the one to be chosen leader...but that was not what she had anticipated. Ruby, however, was shocked beyond all belief. She...was made leader?

"M-Me...?" She questioned while pointing to herself. Ozpin nodded in confirmation.

Soon, the girls left the stage. Taking their place was Nanashi, Walter, Cris, and Jonathan. The four stood before Ozpin with their hands behind their backs, faces proud. Ozpin looked somewhat tense as he looked at Nanashi. The boy realized it was most likely because of what happened back the forest. Their eyes met, seemingly locked with one another. Soon, the man broke his gaze, and spoke. "Finally...Nanashi Xiao Long, Walter Ironwood, 'Cris' Nightingale Branwen, and Jonathan Arc. The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. As of today, the four you will work together..."

The four boys smiled.

"...as Team NICA. Led by, Nanashi Xiao Long."

Nanashi's smile promptly faded, and blinked. "Wait, what?"

"Congrats, partner!" Walter congratulated, draping his arm over the boy's shoulder with a smirk. "Looks like we're going to be in for some awesome times here! Looking forward to working with ya, Leader~" The wild boy gave him a wink. Nanashi felt a familiar sensation wash over him, recalling how Hallelujah once called him that before as well.

Jonathan smiled, nodding. "I feel fine with the arrangement."

"Me too," Cris said. "After all, I'm more the ideas man, not the executive."

"Heh, looks like your back to your old spot again, kid," Dagda said in amusement. "Congrats...as of today, you spend four years in this useless prison you call school."

"You and your pessimism, Dagda..." Nanashi remarked wryly. Nevertheless, he was fine with this. It was just like old times...


-You Say God, I Say Bow Down: END-


Preview:

"What a priss...I'd wager she could don an iron helmet, and you wouldn't notice the difference."

"Ozpin made a mistake making you leader."

"They are indeed the Walter and Jonathan who became apart of our flesh and blood...but they are not the ones you are familiar with, dear neighbor."

"Tell me, Qrow...what can you tell me about young Nanashi?"

"Asahi...I promise, I'll see you soon. You, and everyone else.

Next Time: Promises and School Days


Author's Note:
Want to make this perfectly clear before you people start raising the pitch forks and cry out, "WHY ARE YOU NERFING NANASHI?! HE KILLED YHVH FOR CHRIST'S SAKE! AND THIS IS ANARCHY!NANASHI TOO!" Let me explain.

Remnant has no actual concept of magic, the closest one can get to that is Semblance. Plus, they have Grimm. The only ones with actual magic are the Four Maidens, and the only people aware of their existence shown in the series so far is Ozpin's inner circle, and Salem. Nanashi is unaware of this, of course, but he knows that people will react badly to the appearance of demons, but he can pass off magic and such as apart of his Semblance...which is a total lie, but others don't know that yet. He's playing it safe.

However...he hates dying. Literally. He's died so many times that it's natural to him by this point, and he hates it. So yeah, you kill him, and he'll be in a foul mood...worse if you kill him in an embarrassing fashion. Such as the fact that he was killed by a Grimm, WHICH ARE WEAKER THAN DEMONS.

In other words...Nanashi's death in the story is merely for comedic purposes, and how easy it is to tick him off.

He won't be dying so often in the story, but trust me when I say this, what's about to happen in Remnant is going to be INSANE. I can't say much because of story purposes and spoiler territory, but Nanashi's adventure here in this new world is going to be quite the interesting one.

Anyway...I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. See ya