Hello guys, (Sigh) I know you were waiting for this chapter but I didn't work on it until lately, a full explanation will be at the end.
Chapter 20: A Much Needed Talk
An arcing slash of fire moves across the black screen, quickly followed by another. There is a brief beat before two more fiery arcs slash across the screen. An irregular circle of flame bursts outward from the center, revealing behind the black a panting Cinder Fall.
She is in a large, empty room. Behind her is a darkened arched hallway. On either side of the arch, the walls of the room have a low ledge the bear several burning white candles. Four Beowulves approach Cinder, moving in a semicircle formation. Cinder swings her left arm at them, sending another slash of fire. It cuts through the middle of all four Grimm and they disintegrate away.
Cinder pants again, still upright yet taking a breather. She doesn't get along, as heavy footsteps approach from her left. She gasps and looks in their direction. A Beringel leaps into the air, ready to deliver a blow to her with its fist. Cinder, however, pulls back her right arm and pushes a ball of flame right at it. It, too, disintegrates. As its body disappears, Cinder falls to her knees, breathing heavily.
"Enough."
Salem walks forward while Cinder continues to struggle for normal breathing. "I thought you were the girl who wanted power. Did you lie to me?" Salem asked.
Cinder winces on the force of Salem's question before looking upward. Turning to face Salem, Cinder shakes her head negatively.
"Then stop holding back. If you wish to master your new powers, you must –"
Salem is cut off by the sound of heavy doors opening. On the opposite end of the stone hall, a sobbing Tyrian Callows enters. He falls to his knees once in the room, both hands flat on the floor and his head bowed. " I'm sorry." Tyrian apologized softly "She'll forgive me. Pleeeease." Tyrian bows again on the last word. "Forgive me..."
"Tyrian!" Salem stands before him. He raises his body but remains sitting on his legs while Cinder rises from the stone floor behind Salem.
"Your task - were you successful?"
"N-no," Tyrian said ashamed.
Cinder's eye widens. Salem also looks surprised for a moment before narrowing her eyes and walking away. Cinder watches their leader for her further reaction without looking at Tyrian.
"But-but Tennyson. He transformed into a weird metallic frog and it was his first time he used it. The ability was interesting a-as he became smaller when he takes enough damage. The thing is, the smaller he becomes, the stronger, and heavier he becomes as I saw….Have I done well? Have I pleased you? Tyrian explained Ben's new transformation, begging.
Cinder got confused and shocked as she tries to understand. While Salem turned her face towards Tyrian. "You know, I would have said 'you disappoint me.' But as I heard this information. Maybe, I'm a little disappointed about you." Salem said as she left.
Tyrian falls forward, wailing. A Beowulf approaches, all focused on Tyrian's negative emotions. It ignored Cinder and leaped upon him. Tyrian sends it away with a single blow and it lands on its back. Still wailing, Tyrian opens his weapons and leaps atop the Beowulf. He slashes at it repeatedly, tears streaming down his face. His wails gradually turn into laughter as he vents his grief into the butchering of the Grimm. Cinder watches horrified.
Salem on the other hand summoned her seer. "I guess the time to meet Tennyson is near. It was just a matter of time " The witch said as she snapped her finger.
…
It has been a few days since RNJR and Ben's encounter with Tyrian Callows. They learned that 'The Queen' was responsible for the attack on Beacon and Cinder was her assistant. The teenagers continued their journey normally but at the same time, they became a bit more cautious. Of course, Qrow Branwen was following them in his bird form.
The teens arrived at 'Kurama' and became close to Haven. Now, they took a stop in a small café to take some rest before continuing. As for Qrow, he went to a bar as it's not obvious.
"This is a problem. Salem wants Ruby and Ben for their abilities. They have to know about her before it's too late or else, Salem will do whatever she wants on them. Just thinking of the terror she can make with The Omnitrix and no one can stop her." Qrow thought while he was drinking. "Yep, they have to know, sooner or later."
…
"Okay guys, we're close to Haven, just a few more days, and can't believe we lived to make it after all of these problems," Ruby said.
"Pretty impressive that 5 teenagers were able to make this far," Jaune said.
"As we would have arrived early if someone didn't throw the map. Seriously, we lost multiple maps by now and we either lost in some places or waited to buy another map." Ben complained from Jaune, throwing the maps in the middle of the road like when he almost lost it when they arrived at Oniyuri.
"Don't forget what Paradox said last time, we might face more problems." Ren reminded. RAGHHHH. "Speak of the problems." The teenagers went to the sound source which wasn't surprising. The Grimm were outside of the town and the huntsmen were fighting the Grimm. Qrow was drinking but didn't become drunk until he heard the Grimm sounds. As he heard them, he stood up and went to the Grimm.
When RNJR and Ben arrived, the huntsmen weren't able to take care of them due to the big amounts of them. "Get back! There are too many of them!" The huntsman said. While the huntsmen went back to fight from the inside, the teenagers, on the other hand, went to fight the Grimm. One of the hunters noticed RNJR and Ben about to go to fight the Grimm. "Hey! What are you doing you, idiots?! Get back before you get hurt." The hunter yelled.
"No way sir, we might be young, but we had some experience with this amount of Grimm," Nora said.
The five-headed were the Grimm and away from the sight of the huntsmen, RNJR pulled their weapons and charged while Ben dialed for his aliens.
…
Ruby charged at the Beowulves with Crescent Rose as she began to slash the Beowulves with ease. She began to aim with the sniper and shot Ursa's head which was able to kill him, she saw an Ursa coming on her left which Ruby flipped backward to avoid it and shot in his stomach, the shot was powerful to make a hole in the Ursa but to go through and kill the Ursa behind him.
Jaune put his Weapon and made his stance, a Beowulf charged and about to attack Jaune, he blocks and stabbed the Beowulf to kill him, he cuts the one behind in half and lifted an Ursa to his back and continue his slashes.
The Ursa was standing up before the hyperactive bomb stomps on the skull and swing the hammer on the back which made the Ursa like a bowling ball to the Grimm behind as they bounced in the air, Ren kicked Bernigel to a King Taijtu. The two-headed snake recovered and engaged on Ren, Ren kicked the white one to the tree then avoided the black one, the black one about to attack before Jaune jumped and stabbed the Grimm's head. The Grimm was struggling from the stab and moved his head but it was no use as Jaune entered the sword more which was able to kill him.
The white one recovered and attacked Ren, Ren just took a step to the left to make the King Taijtu crash in the Death Stalker. Nora turned her hammer to the grenade launcher and shoot the giant scorpion, some of her shots hit King Taijtu while others hit the Death Stalker which made him angry.
The Death Stalker charged forward and prepared his stinger to attack, Ruby came from behind like rose petals with Beringels and Beowulves flying behind her, she cut the tail of the Death Stalker with the stinger fell on the head of the giant scorpion. The Hyperactive girl took the chance and swing Magnhild and crushed the Death Stalker. In a heartbeat, she pressed the trigger and shot a grenade which killed the giant Grimm in the explosion.
More Grimm engaged, Jaune took a note of the coming Grimm and saw an Ursa Major in the front, this made an idea beamed in Jaune's head. "Nora! The explosive Ursa." Jaune ordered. Nora smiled and turned her hammer to the grenade launcher mode. She went to the Ursa Major and pointed her weapon on the Grimm's stomach. She pressed the button and shot Ursa, making him flying to the middle of the horde. "Take cover!" Nora shouted which everyone hides behind a tree. The Ursa continued to fly until the grenade exploded in the air which made the spikes behind the Ursa scatter around to kill the Grimm.
Jaune smiled mostly from the plan he made as he saw Fox made something similar in the Breach. "Can't believe it! It worked better than the last time."
"Come on team. There are more Grimm to fight." Ruby exclaimed and JNR nodded.
…
"Those Grimm made a mistake because they have to handle their Humungous mistake." He said as the icon of Humongousaur appeared as he pressed the dial, Ben expected to be Humongousaur but he appeared as Rath.
RAGGH. "LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING, OMNITRIX. RATH IS SURE THAT HE CHOOSE HUMONGASAUR. EVEN THEN, RATH IS BETTER; BECAUSE RATH CAN KICK THE GRIMM'S BUT MORE THAN THEY CAN KICK RATH'S." Rath shouted with anger to bring more Grimm towards him.
"LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING YOU MONSTERS WHO SEEKS FOR DESTRUCTION AND NEGATIVITY. YOU THINK YOU CAN BEAT RATH, WELL LET ME TELL YOU THAT THE BEATING THAT ABOUT TO HAPPEN IS BIGGER THAN YOU GREED FOR KILLING." Rath exclaimed who gained his teammates' confusion.
"What is that suppose to mean?" Ruby asked.
Rath glared at Ruby. "LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING RUBY ROSE WHO WEILDS A SCYTHE WHO CAN TURN INTO A GUN. RATH DOING WHAT HE WANTS IF YOU HAD A PROBLEM WITH IT THEN YOU HAVE TO DEAL WITH RATH." Rath pointed to Ruby. RNJR deadpanned and decided to ignore him and returned to kill the Grimm. Rath returned to the Grimm who are ready to attack from the sheer anger of Rath.
Rath charged and began his wrestling section by kicking butt. Until an Alpha Beringel known as Red-Backed Beringels, he looked bigger than a normal one with huge muscles, thicker bones, and red marks on the face and the body. Rath barely flinched. "LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING BIG MONKEY. YOU MIGHT BE A STRONGER VERSION OF YOUR BROTHERS WHO FELL UNDER MY RAGE AND FIST. THAT DOESN'T MAKE YOU THINK THAT YOU CAN'T BEAT RATH." Rath shouted.
The giant monkey roared and went to punch Rath, Rath dodged the punch effortlessly. "LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING RED BACKED BERINGEL. AS NOW, I'M A CLONE OF THE REAL BEN TENNYSON AND HAD TO LIVE IN THIS WORLD LIKE THE MANY CLONES OF ME. TODAY, YOU ARE THE FIRST PERSON THAT I WILL USE MY RENAMED WRESTLING MOVES. AND LET ME TELL YOU THAT YOU SHOULD BE HONORED AS MY FIRST PERSON WHO WILL GET THE PAIN MORE THAN YOUR STOMACH CAN TAKE."
"URSA MAJOR RISING UPPERCUT." Rath uppercuts the Grimm to the sky.
"CENTINEL HURRICANRANA." Rath warped his legs around the Beringel's neck and flipped his head upside down to hit him on the ground so hard it made a crater.
Rath released his claws and stabbed the Beriengel in the back, the Grimm roared from the pain but that wasn't the end. "BEOWULF POWERBOMB." Rath jumped and lifted the Grimm with his claws and slammed the Grimm on his shoulders.
The Appoplexian caught both of his legs and began to spin the giant Grimm with his massive strength and threw him to the Griffons.
"LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING YOU GIANT BIRDS. RATH FACED A NEVERMORE WHO MADE SOME CHALLENGE TO PUT DOWN. YOU, ON THE OTHER HAND, ARE IN THE LEVEL OF A BABY NEVERMORE WHO BARELY CAN DO ANYTHING BY ITSELF EVEN IN A GROUP. EATING ROMAN TORCHWICK WHO PREVIOUSLY WAS THE BEST THIEF IN VALE WAS LUCKY TO CAUGHT AND EAT IT ON A HOT MAYHEM. RATH IS DIFFERENT AS RATH EAT HIS OPPONENTS UNTIL THEY FILL UP WITH MY PAIN."
RNJR in the back deadpanned more, like seriously what's with Rath nonsense rage that doesn't make any sense. Rath continued his beating on the Grimm with more wrestling moves until the Beringel backed up and charged on Rath who was busy beating the Griffons.
"TAKE THIS AND THAT AND LOADS OF THAT. LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING YOU GIANT BIRDS THAT-GAHH" Rath was yelling at the Griffon before he got interrupted by a punch from the Beringel.
"LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING YOU GIANT BERINGEL. YOU DARE MAKE RATH ANGRY FROM YOUR PUNCH. WELL, I WILL GIVE THE PUNCH A STRONGER ONE THAT- HUH?!" Rath stopped as he saw the Beringel carrying the already beat down Griffon as he throws it, Rath. Rath caught and swing the Griffon like a racket and made the Beringel flying several feet in the air, sending him crashing into the trees.
"THIS WILL TEACH A LESSON THAT YOU CAN'T PUNCH RATH IN THE FACE AND GETTING AWAY WITH IT."
…
RNJR and Rath were killing more Grimm. As more came they made more tactics while Rath is mostly attacking with anger, bringing more Grimm towards him and Rath don't go down this easy. "SPHINX SPEAR, MANTICORE MOONSAULT, URSA MAJOR RISING UPPERCUT, GOLIATH STOMP." Not even the bigger ones like the Death Stalker was able to handle Rath's strength and wrestling moves. Then a Nevermore landed next to RNJR and Rath. "LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING GIANT BIRD WHO CALLED NEVERMORE. RATH KILLED DIFFERENT GRIMM TODAY AND YOU ARE THE NEXT ONE ON THE LIST, AND LET ME TELL YOU THAT RATH KILLED MULTIPLE NEVERMORE BY HIMSELF IN THE EMERALD FOREST SO PREPARE YOURSELF. AND I DON'T KNOW WHY RATH'S NOSE CAUGHT A WHISKEY SMELL." Rath shouted at the Nevermore.
"So, you are the reason why the Emerald forest was empty from the Grimm when we went to exercise," Ruby exclaimed as she remembered that time when RWBY without Ben went to the Emerald for training.
"LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING RUBY ROSE. RATH WAS BORED AT THAT TIME. SO RATH WENT IN THE EMERALD FOREST CLEANING THE GRIMM FOR SOME FUN AND GETTING SOME INFORMATION ON THE GRIMM THEIR." Rath pointed his reason and returned at the Nevermore who roared.
The Nevermore was about to attack until suddenly a shadow figure appeared out of nowhere and killed the Nevermore. The figure landed and appeared to be Qrow Branwen. "Man, You're trash-talking about the Grimm, and making wrestling moves was entertaining at the cost of bringing more Grimm." The drunkard huntsman said.
"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby got excited and crushed Qrow with a hug. "Oh my god! What are you doing here? I thought you're at home with dad and Yang or stayed to fix the Beacon with Goodwitch."
"Well, Your dad asked me to keep an eye on you on the road and so far you're alive with your friends, and now, I thought I have to help you from this amount of Grimm," Qrow explained.
"LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING QROW BRANWEN, RUBY'S UNCLE, AND THE DRUNK HUNTER WHO SMELLED LIKE A WHISKEY BEFORE YOU ARRIVED. RATH DOESN'T NEED ANY HELP BECAUSE RATH IS CAPABLE OF BEAT THE GRIMM AND MY HAND BEHIND MY BACK." There was silence before someone broke it. "Just ignore him," Ren said.
…
RNJR, Rath, and Qrow went back to the fight and things were looking forward as they were able to kill all the Grimm faster with Qrow's helping. Now, they trying to catch their breath while Qrow looks like he didn't get tired.
"Nice work guys. We did it." Jaune said between the breath.
"TOLD YEA YOU WEAK GRIMM THAT YOU CAN'T BEAT RATH AS I'M THE ONE WHO SHOWED YOU THAT YOU AREN'T ENOUGH." Rath's fist bumped in the air.
"Congratulations! I knew this will be enough to get you out here." A dark and evil feminine voice said.
RNJR and Rath looked around to see who said that. Qrow was 'Oh no!' looking as he knows this voice belongs to one person, the one who wants to destroy Remnant.
"Guys. What is that Grimm?" Ruby asked as JNR, Qrow, and Rath saw what it looks like a jellyfish Grimm. Suddenly, a cloud of black smoke appeared from the jellyfish Grimm. From it, Salem appeared in the smoke. "Looks like neither my Grimm nor Tyrian wasn't able to beat you."
RNJR were scarred, while Rath was unreadable in the look. "So, Ben Tennyson, Wielder of the Omnitrix, and The one who beat Cinder and Tyrian. Am I correct or there are more I didn't mention?" Salem said. "My name is Salem. I'm sure Tyrian said my name or the very least as queen."
RNJR eyes wide opened as they faced Tyrian days ago and described Salem as his queen or goddess. "So I am correct."
"Listen, lady. I don't know who you are or how powerful you are, but I'm sure that you didn't come here to talk. My instinct let me knows how evil you are by just looking at your face." Rath said with a normal tone that feels out of character for someone like Rath.
Salem ignored Rath and turned to Ruby. "We finally met, Ruby Rose. The last silver-eyed warrior. You are gifted with those eyes."
"What?" RNJR said, confused about Ruby's eyes. What's with them?
"You still don't know. (chuckle) You don't know that your eyes are the weak point for the Grimm as the legends say. I'm surprised neither Ozpin nor Qrow told you about it."
RNJR and Qrow got shocked while Rath raised an eyebrow. "LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING SALEM. I DON'T WHAT IS THE PURPOSE WITH A LEGEND OR WHATEVER THE HECK YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT-" "I think you should shut up and watch your mouth kid, as you don't know what I'm capable of as I can send more Grimm here as I wish and simply, I wanted to talk to you in person this time. Especially you, Tennyson. I'm interested in your Omnitrix since Cinder and her minions saw what you did in Beacon ever since you arrived suddenly in Remnant." Salem interrupted Rath in a chilling voice.
RNJR looked at each other, speechless from what Salem said. Qrow became worried as he has a lot of explanation. The Appoplexian became angry as nobody interrupts Rath like this.
"LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING SALEM WHO CAN CONTROL THE GRIMM. NOBODY INTERRUPTS RATH AND GO AWAY. YOU CAN SEND WHATEVER GRIMM YOU CAN. YOU CAN BRING WYVERNS TO ME AND I WILL SEND THEM BACK TO YOUR DOORSTEP BEFORE THEY TURNED TO ASH. YOU CAN SEND MORE MINIONS AND I WILL SEND THEM BACK WITH ONE OR TWO BROKEN BONES." Rath treated with anger.
Salem didn't flinch. Heck, she just got angry. She made her move and tilted her head too close to Rath's face. "Watch your mouth, boy. You should be thankful that I didn't start to fight you. You simply are a weak pawn compared to me. Unless you had something powerful enough to consider yourself a challenge." She put her hands on Rath's shoulders. "It's shame, honestly. When we fight each other that you won't stand a chance, and taking the Omnitrix from you with ease." She got back a step. "So, do yourself a favor and stay away from my plans or-" "OR WHAT SALEM? YOU THINK RATH WILL LEAVE YOU AWAY TO DO YOUR EVIL PLANS. LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING SALEM, IF YOU THOUGHT RATH WILL GO AWAY FROM A GOOD FIGHT, HELL NO. RATH WON'T GO AWAY FROM A GOOD FIGHT, A FIGHT I WILL PROMISE YOU WILL MAKE AN EFFORT TO PUT ME DOWN." The Appoplexian interrupted Salem as she did.
Salem smiled at Rath's attitude. Benjamin Kirby Tennyson himself will fight her and will make her do some effort to it. She might be promised a good fight. "Well Benjamin, when the time comes, you will make your promise as few were able to make a good fight. I'm looking for that day I will teach you a lesson. Remember that you won't see the last of me." With that Salem disappeared in the black smoke.
Now, RNJR, Qrow, and Rath stood silent for a few seconds. Until the Red-Backed Bernigel came back from the launch Rath made with the Griffon. The giant Grimm raised his hand to attack before suddenly, Rath claws stabbed in his neck and moved up to the point Rath removed the Beringel's head. "Should have killed him, but now you have to explain yourself, Qrow" Rath said.
RNJR and Rath looked at Qrow with a serious look. Qrow sighed. "I knew that I had to tell you."
…
Inside the inn, RNJR, Ben, and Qrow sat on beds in the room. Qrow had just finished telling the story of the maidens. There was a silence and Qrow took a swig from his flask. "Really? No questions?" Qrow asked
"Of course we have questions. This is just... a lot to take in." Jaune responded.
"Sure, of course."Qrow sighed.
Ruby turned to her uncle. "So these... Maidens... They're powerful fighters that don't need Dust to use magic."
"Yeah."
"And there are four of them?" Nora continued.
"Yup. Always."
"Which means that, whenever one of them dies, the power transfers to someone - a female - that they cared about?" Ren continued back
"Whoever was in their thoughts last. Important distinction. The best option is someone we can trust. Regardless, their souls become combined, in a way."Qrow explained.
"And that's what you were trying to do to Pyrrha... the night the tower almost fell. You were trying to turn her into one of them." Jaune mentioned what happened in the night Beacon fell as He, Pyrrha and Ozpin went to transfer the maiden powers to Pyrrha but failed.
"The previous Fall Maiden, Amber, had been attacked. She was young, inexperienced. And her assailant, who we now know is Cinder, somehow managed to steal some of her power, but not all of it. We were afraid that if we didn't do something, the rest would go to her as well."Qrow said.
Jaune started to become angry. "So you forced it on Pyrrha."
"We didn't force anything. We explained the situation and gave her the choice, and she chose. You were there, you heard her." Qrow defended himself.
Jaune hangs his head for a brief moment before getting up and walking several feet away from the group. Qrow watches him go.
"That guy, Tyrian. Who works with that creepy woman- why was he after me and Ben?" Ruby asked, worried. Ben was also worried as he knew different villains across his years who wanted his Omnitrix and failed. Salem, was a different case as she felt scary more than most of his villains.
Qrow sighed, he had to do it. "Well, you painted a target on your back with what you did at Beacon. I told you having silver eyes is a rare trait. And the fact that you were able to use them seems to have upset some very powerful people. Not many people know about silver eyes. Those that do aren't very happy that one has surfaced. That's why I've been keeping an eye on you to make sure you were safe. All of you."
"Well, then, why not just travel with us? It seems like that would've been way easier." Ben suggested.
"He was using you as bait," Jaune answered him loudly enough to be heard, but with his back still turned to everyone.
"Look, I wouldn't put it like that - it's complicated." Qrow defended himself.
"What is all of this? Ruby's being hunted, the schools are being attacked, all for what?! What is the point of all of this?! Will, you just tell us what's going on?!"Jaune turned back to face Qrow. One seconded of silence, Qrow stared at him, then slouched over with a sigh. "Would you sit down? You're stressin' me out, 'kid."
Jaune sat back down on his bed and crosses his arms. Qrow took another swig but changed his mind before the flask reaches his lips.
"Not many people are super religious these days," Qrow said as he caped and sat the flask down.
"This world's been around for a long time, long enough that people have created dozens of gods. But if you believe Ozpin, two of them are real."
Pan over to a nearby large rock, where Qrow's story is illustrated with a display of light and shadows from the campfire. "They were two brothers. The older sibling, the God of Light, found joy in creating forces of life. Meanwhile, the younger brother, the God of Darkness, spent his time creating forces of destruction. As you can imagine, they both had pretty different ideas about how things should go. The older one would spend his days creating water, plants, wildlife. And at night, his brother would wake to see all the things that the elder had made and become disgusted. To counteract his brother's creations, the God of Darkness brought drought, fire, famine, all he could do to rid Remnant of life. Life always returned. So one night, the younger brother went and made something - something that shared his innate desire to destroy anything and everything."
"The creatures of Grimm." The red reaper guessed.
"You guessed it. The older brother finally had enough. Knowing that their feud couldn't last like this forever, he proposed that they make one final creation... together, something that they could both be proud of, their masterpiece. The younger brother agreed. This last great creation would be given the power to both create and destroy. It would be given the gift of knowledge so that it could learn about itself and the world around it. And most importantly, it would be given the power to choose, to have free will to take everything it had learned and decide which path to follow - the path of light or the path of darkness. And that is how Humanity came to be."
"But... what does that have to do with us?" Ren asked.
"Well, that's the kicker. See, the four gifts to mankind - knowledge, creation, destruction, and choice - aren't just metaphorical. Each of them exists in a physical form, left behind by the Gods before they abandoned Remnant, and each of them is extraordinarily powerful. If someone were to collect all four, they'd be able to change the world. That's exactly what the enemy wants. The Huntsman Academies were created to train generations of Humanity's protectors, but they also serve another purpose - guarding the Relics. When Ozpin's predecessor founded the schools, he built them around the Relics to act as a fortress. Not only would they be easier to defend, but they would constantly be surrounded by trained warriors. The hope was that hiding them would keep mankind from using them against itself... and, of course, keeping them out of her reach. So yeah, there's that."
"Her. You mean Salem?" Ben asked.
"That's right. Not much is known about her. Quite frankly, that's not what matters. What matters right now is that she wants the Relics, and if she gets them, it's not going to end well."
"Wait. How don't you know much about her? She said she can some more Grimm if she wanted and that can be related to magic, right?" Ben asked.
"She lived for years as Ozpin said, she can use it and it's unknown how powerful Salem is. The only thing we know is she's very powerful." Qrow answered.
"Alright. So, let's say we believe all this. There is this crazy evil being behind these attacks, not just some thugs trying to become powerful. Why doesn't the world know? Why isn't Atlas going after them? Or Mistral?" Jaune asked
"And why aren't we in more of a hurry to get to Haven? Shouldn't we be getting them a message? What if they're next?" Nora continued.
"The Headmaster over there saw what happened to Beacon. He's not dumb. He'll be on his guard. Besides, it takes time to mobilize forces like that. Do you think they planned out that attack on Beacon overnight?" Qrow simply answered before he pointed at Jaune. "And to answer your question, it's the same reason we keep quiet about the Maidens. If the whole world knew about the Relics, about Salem, there would be chaos. There'd be another Great War on our hands, and this time, you'd have to fight." Pointing at Jaune again that made him, turns away.
"Look, I had the same questions, too. But ol' Ozpin would always put his foot down. 'We can't cause a panic.' Heh, can't tell you how many times I've heard that." Qrow said as he picked up his flask. "Salem's smart. She works from the shadows, using others to get what she wants so that when it comes time to place the blame, we can only point at each other. She's trying to divide us - Humanity, and so far she's done a pretty damn good job."
"Alright, so what should we do?" Ruby asked.
"I don't know." Qrow chuckled.
The teens all look at each other, surprised and nervous. They return their gaze to him when he starts speaking again.
"Ozpin has put a lot of trust in the Headmasters. Like I said, the schools are an important part of stopping Salem. Atlas is going to be on high alert after the last attack, and Vacuo is - well, Vacuo. It'll be hard to hire thieves and scoundrels to fight against other thieves and scoundrels. Take that, add in the fact that Cinder and her crew claim to be from Haven, and I think it's likely the next target. So, we're on our way to the Headmaster. Haven't heard from him in a while, even before the attack. I'm hoping he has the answers." Qrow stood. "Alright, I think it's time you kids got some sleep."
"Uncle Qrow?"
"Yeah?"
"This is a lot to take in, and it all sounds crazy, but... I'm willing to do whatever I can to help because I trust you. But why couldn't you trust me? Why couldn't you just travel with us, instead of this secrecy, and-and-" Ruby said, standing like the Drunkard huntsman. Who interrupted her in the middle of talking. "Look, this has nothing to do with trust. I- It's a long story, okay?" Qrow tried to reason.
"Seriously? Now you're tired of telling us stories?" Nora spoke incredulously.
He stares at the teens in silence before speaking. "Did you know that crows are a sign of bad luck? Old superstition, but it's how I got my name. See, some people can absorb electricity and some people can burst into rose petals and some people are just born unlucky. My Semblance isn't like most - it's not exactly something I do. It's always there, whether I like it or not. I bring misfortune." He chuckled bitterly in the middle. "I guess you could call me a bad luck charm. Comes in real handy when I'm fighting an enemy, but it makes it a little hard on friends..." He looked over at Ruby "and family."
Qrow finished and made his move to the door and before he touches the knob of the door. "Where are you going?" Ben asked
"Taking a walk." The Bad Luck Charm simply answered.
"There's nothing else you want to tell us?" Ruby asked.
Qrow looked at Ruby for a second. "Not tonight," Qrow said as he opened the door and closed it behind, leaving the five teenagers to themselves for a bit.
…
"Great! Very Great! Now we're against an old witch who wanted Ruby for her silver eyes, and Ben's Omnitrix." Jaune exclaimed as he was walking back and forth.
"Jaune! Could you please calm down? Walking back and forth won't help anyone." Ben spoke, trying to collect the situation.
"How? Your arrival at Remnant with the Omnitrix, knowing there are universes and dimensions was crazy enough. Now, magic is real, Remnant doesn't know anything about this hidden evil, and-" "ENOUGH" Jaune continued before Ruby interrupted out loud. "Now Jaune, try to take a deep breath and calm down," Ruby instructed. "Look, we want to understand this madness but we won't move forward if we just complained and did nothing."
"This Salem wants to get the relics from the academes and they are powerful to make yourself like a god. Beacon was their first step and next is Haven, if we didn't move who knows what she will do." Nora said.
"The only thing we have is fighting back, I know that I sound crazy but I'm ready to do whatever I can to stop her, if you have another thing to say, say it." The Red Reaper said.
A moment of silence in the room. "I'm will do it. I mean I faced Vilgax who punched me to the moon and still standing, if Salem wants to rule Remnant, I will kick her butt to stop her, she might be powerful as Vilgax. Heck, even stronger, but I'm the wielder of the strongest weapon in the universe and I swore to protect people from evil. What I try to say that I will beat Salem or die trying." Ben broke the silence and cleared his word.
"Me too, we know something dangerous, and doing nothing won't solve anything." The Green ninja said.
"I'm in, they will know the power of 'Thunder Thighs' and break their legs."
Jaune heard them and sighed as he had no choice left. "Alright, I want to avenge what happened to Pyrrha at the tower and I had no choice than joining this."
"It's official. Now as RNJR and Ben are joining the war to defeat the main villain and have to risk their lives for it and rejoin with our teammates is our objective." Ruby said in one breath and lifted her fist in the air.
"Yeah" The others exclaimed in a union.
…
In the land of darkness, Salem was helping Cinder to control her powers. After hours of training, she was watching RNJR, Ben, and Qrow on the road to Mistral.
"Great, they are heading towards that village where my creation lives. We will see if you truly worth the fight." Salem said in a cold tone and raised her hands to do her plan.
AND CUT. Boy, I left this story, for a while. I know you're angry and all of the negative emotions towards me. You can blame me as I didn't work on it since the last chapter, and when I started, the laptop crashed again, thankfully I barely made any progress but when it returned I worked on it slowly until Rath's section came and I enjoyed writing it as I wanted to do something different to Rath's moves.
At the time I didn't write or in the middle of the progress, I went to the old chapters and fixed most if not all the grammar mistakes in most of the chapters and I was like 'Bro, you suck' at my grammar. What I can do, I'm not the greatest in it.
V8 on the other hand is holy shit. It's another reason why I didn't work on the story because I focused on V8 and I know that I could have worked between chapters but I was so lazy to make it. On the other hand, V8 was awesome. The hound, Penny's drama, Cinder's backstory who could have worked for either Adam or Tyrian, Ren's character, and many things in this Volume.
Another thing is EP 100: Dark. The teasers for it was so much painful, man. Ever since the hiatus and I was sad but at the same time, I understand that they had to work in the home and it was a painful process. Now we finally had, the ep was awesome.
Spoiler warning: The Scene where Ruby and Blake were talking was cringe. I understand that Blake thanks Ruby for everything she made to help her in Beacon, but it felt bad. And for some reason, I thought Ruby will kiss Blake. I'm not a Ladybug shipper but it suddenly pictured in mind a scene where Ruby kisses Blake on the lips. The aura was nerfed so much, like seriously the time they arrived at the mansion and rested is enough to charge the aura to 75 to 80% at the very least. Other than that, I liked it. The horror elements always work with the show to the point RWBY could have become a horror show. Just ask the Apathy or the Chill Grimm from the fairy tale book that can make the Apathy looks friendly. The reveal of the hound is phenomenal. A Faunus who is a silver-eyed warrior was shocking and confirms many theories that happened in the first half. Also, Penny's self-destruct was something I felt that Jimmy and Pietro added to Penny if she got hacked or something like that. R.I.P Penny, she was a good person Pietro that you won't able to create it again.
For short, I enjoyed it, and hopefully, the rest is better. Also, don't forget to check out my other story where I post Ben 10 crossover challenges and you will have to make it, not me.
Sincerely, Eslam.
