So, I have a plan now. A plan that is very planned. The deal is this; After this chapter, I am going to do one more for one of my other stories, and then focus solely on this story for the next month or so. My goal is with this is to finish this story as soon as possible, and the reason why I want this story finished so fast like this is because I will be going back to college very soon, and working full-time as I now will make it very difficult to continue writing four stories and three chapters a week. I would miss time, get stresses, get burned out, and none of us want that.

As a result, prepare yourself, because if all goes well I'll be able to write and post 3-4 chapters a week of this story. I did the math, and if this is the case then I will be able to finish the story within 3-4 weeks, maybe sooner if I am EXTRA fast.

Pray for my Beta, CrowSkull, because he is going to have a lot of words to work through pretty soon.

Destiny Fated Black

Chapter 20

One thing after another… Ack… Fucking tunnels…

Qrow let out a loud huff right before he reached into his shirt and pulled out his signature flask, ignoring the glare he received from Winter beside him, who stood with her arms crossed and her usual expression plastered across her features. Once she was content with the insignificant damage it caused, they both looked at and made their guesses on how the team of teenage huntsman and huntresses in training under their care would manage during their first training mission.

First and foremost, the most obvious among them was the red-headed Pyrrha Nikos, who was easily the strongest out of all of them. She was the champion of Mistral for a reason, and Qrow was forced to watch a lot of her fights thanks to Winter's constant bitching about it. The reason for it was so he understood how exactly the girl fought, but he was a good judge of that department himself coming from a tribe of bandit warriors. Someone who was born and raised there sorta moved out with the sense of being able to tell who was strong and who was weak, and for her age, she was decently strong. Not as strong as he or Raven was at that age, but enough to impress him.

The rest of her teammates however… not so much.

Like the scraggily blonde dangly kid, for example, Jaune Arc. The last name brought an eyebrow raise from the old huntsman, but the moment he laid eyes on him he instantly knew that he was the weakest of the bunch. He had a simple sword and shield, and he barely looked like he knew how to use them. His muscles weren't nearly as hard or toned as his other teammates, and he was green. Too Green. Only one solo Grimm kill to his name apparently. He was definitely the weakest link that he would have to keep an eye on, such a pain.

Then there was the other two, Ren and Nora. They were decent enough, he supposed. Though at first glance he could have sworn that the Ren kid was a girl. He looked like he could handle himself at least, and nowadays that was just enough to get by. The shorter ginger girl beside him, however, was built like a truck. Strong, really strong, probably even more so than Pyrrha. But, he could tell that she relied on that strength a little too much. Honestly, if she wasn't so bubbly and excited to see fully a fully trained huntsman and huntress, she would remind him of his dear older sister. Despite that, he could work with her. Hell, he was a teacher at Signal for a few years before he was called in for more missions by Ozpin. He was sure he could handle this.

If it was a normal mission, that is.

"Greetings, Team JNPR." Winter began. "My name is Winter Schnee, and this is Qrow Branwen," Qrow waved to them with two fingers as he finished the rest of his drink. "We will be your escorting huntsman for this training mission. I apologize that this change of leadership is on such short notice."

"Ah, don't worry about it," the leader of the team, Jaune said with a polite smile. "Two is better than one, right?"

"Yeah, and I heard that it was going to be Oobleck coming with us," Nora shivered. It was no surprise that she wouldn't have liked that, Doctor Oobleck made it impossible for her to sleep in his class, and every time she did so she would get extra homework. Needless to say, Ren had to help her with a lot of extra homework. "I prefer this pair."

"Are you perhaps related to Weiss?" Ren asked curiously.

"I am," Winter confirmed. "Though my relation to my sister shall not arise problems, will it?"

"No mam," Ren assured her, as did his three other teammates.

"Good."

Awkward silence filled the void, everyone knew what the heiress of the SDC was going through at the moment. She was still recovering from the loss of her teammate along with the rest of Team RYS. In fact, none of them have been seen by their peers for several days, and the last time they came out of their rooms was when the headmaster called them up to his office to inform them of some things that occurred because of Blake's death. After that, they simply returned and haven't left their room since. The only visitors they got were from some professors and apparently Ruby and Yang's dad, along with the red-eyed man before them and even the Specialist from Atlas. They were all wise not to continue on that topic, speaking of it wouldn't do anyone any good.

"I'm expecting good things from you champion girl," Qrow broke the silence as he put away his flask. Pyrrha perked up and looked at him attentively. "Make sure you don't disappoint me, I hate being disappointed."

"Of course, sir." Pyrrha nodded her head with determination.

"And you," Jaune perked up next and stood much straighter than he really needed to. "Don't hold us back."

Jaune sagged but nodded his head. He knew he was weak, stronger than most now thanks to Pyrrha's training and his large reserves of aura, but compared to everyone around him at that moment, he might as well be a pool noodle. From the corner of his eye, he caught the glares that lasted less than a second coming from the other three kids, and he ignored them with practiced ease. He was honest when he needed to be, and even when he didn't need to. Besides, it wasn't like he was wrong when it came to the Arc's skills and strengths.

"The mission is just as you were told briefed on before," Winter continued. "A Search and destroy objective. As a team, we will all take a Bullhead to the ruins of Mount Glenn, where we will hunt down and churn the numbers of Grimm. As well as lookout for any suspicious activity such as trespassers, rouge huntsman, and terrorist activity. It is unlikely that we will come across them during this mission, but there is always a possibility."

None of them pointed out the fact that they were being sent there for that specific purpose. Qrow had to stop himself for snorting, there wasn't just a possibility, it was more of a matter of a time. Thanks to the research of Yang's deceased partner that was found hidden in her dorm, she was revealed to be an ex-member of the White Fang and was actively trying to thwart them at every turn. Amidst her research in one of her notebooks, there was a picture of Glenn torn out of an old newspaper back in the day when it wasn't overrun by Grimm, and it was circled in a red pen with the words 'Hidden base located here?' written underneath it.

It was a guess and maybe it wasn't the best idea to listen to the theories of an ex-terrorist. But it was all they had. Ever since the CCT was attacked and Blake was killed, they heard nothing from Vale. No White Fang attacks, no robberies, no assassinations, and no Marcus Black. Absolutely. Nothing. That was obviously concerning for the council and Ozpin, and sending a full team of huntsman to Glenn might as well be screaming to their enemies that they at least had an idea of what they were planning, so they had to disguise it as a simple training mission. It wasn't unheard of that some huntsmen in training took on training missions to the ruins of Mountain Glenn, and Beacon was (Mostly)separate from the power of Vale. This was an temporarily an off the record mission, and there was only so much time before the information and details about the mission had to go public throughout the school, and who knows who may be looking at that information…

It was the best they got, and the second-best first-year team that was qualified to take it was Team JNPR. To make things more difficult, they could only send two fully trained huntsman with them at a time due to stupid policy rules. Honestly, they were lucky enough to even get Winter the okay to go on the mission due to her being Atlesian, but it was still annoying to Qrow. Stupid rules, he could just fly over there and check if there was anything going on, report back, and send the damn Ace Ops there if he found anything. They didn't have to take this stupid risk, but Ozpin insisted on it. To be fair they may not have enough time to organize and send a full team over there, and like he already knew, the mission would have to be public. An Atlesian squad of military-trained Specialists conducting a mission in Valean territory wouldn't go unnoticed, and they could only be hidden for so long.

"-Do you all understand?"

"Yes!"

Qrow snapped himself out of his train of thought as he heard Winter's last few words. He dozed out while she was going more in-depth about the training mission they were about to go on. Team JNPR all saluted them, ranging from most proper to most improvised postures. Qrow grumbled and turned around to get onto the Bullhead waiting for them to take them to Glenn.

Winter followed shortly as did the four members of Team JNPR. He stood out in the corner and committed himself to staring out the window while Winter strapped herself in a seat. He didn't really need to strap himself in, because he could just turn into a bird and fly off if the Bullhead was shot down. It would have sucked for the others in the Bullhead with him, but he'd rather be in healthy shape to help them rather than sticking in there and getting hurt or potentially dying with them.

"Er, Mister Brawnen?"

Oh, great, Qrow lazily turned to the blonde kid as his red-head partner strapped him in for him like she was his mother. Geez. "Just call me Qrow, none of that 'Mister' Bullshit."

"S-sure," Jaune stammered. "Qrow, how is Ruby and them? Are they okay after… after what happened?"

Qrow softened his glare as he suddenly remembered Ruby mentioning that Jaune was her best friend, he never met him but remembered that he wanted to some time after she told him about him. If only they were in different circumstances, maybe he wouldn't be so afraid and nervous around him right now. He didn't imagine he was giving off a positive vibe at the moment with how grumpy he was. And who could blame him? For several days straight he had to comfort Ruby and Yang who constantly cried about their lost teammate. They cried into his chest, arms, shoulder, and it happened so much that he actually had to go out and buy a new shirt so he didn't look too much like shit for this mission Ozpin suddenly sprung on him. It hasn't been a good few weeks, all with Marcus being back and everything that was related to him.

The girls shouldn't have had to deal with the pain of losing a teammate… not this early. He and Tai knew exactly how it felt, and it was only a matter of time until it reopened old wounds that resulted from Summer's death.

"As okay as you can imagine," Qrow said with a sigh, he didn't want to lie to the kid. It was pointless to do so, the girls haven't left their room in days and lying for his sake wasn't going to do anything good. "Just... keep being a friend to them and they'll get better soon. That's all you can do. That's all any of you can do." He explained when he noticed Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha all paying attention to him with eagerness in their eyes. They all wanted to see their friends get better, and his grouchiness faded away at that realization. After this, he'd apologize for being pretty shit at his job in the beginning.

"We're ready to go," Winter radioed to the pilot after everyone got settled in.

The pilot got the permission he needed to shut the shuttle doors and begin hovering into the air. Rising higher and higher before they reached the necessary altitude in order to fly freely through the air and go forth on the route toward Mount Glenn. As he did so, Winter and Qrow gave each other a look, and then decided that it was time. Now that they were off Beacon grounds in a secure ship, they could speak freely.

"Listen to me, all of you." Qrow began this time. "If there is an enemy that you can't fight on your own, or if you feel like you're about to be overrun, retreat. Feeling shameful for running away from a fight is better than staying and dying in one. Especially if you're up against someone better than you." He looked to Pyrrha. "Even you champ, no matter how good you think you are, there is always someone stronger."

"Of course, sir." Pyrrha nodded her head with understanding. She gripped the straps of her seat tightly, suddenly more on edge than before.

"As you've all been told," Winter continued. "Due to Blake Belladonna's research, we have a plausible suspicion that there is White Fang activity or potentially a hidden base within Mount Glenn. Because of this, a certain man may also be present within the lost city."

"Marcus Black…" Ren said out loud. He and the rest of his team shivered at the mention of the name. He has become a sort of infamous figure among the student body of Beacon. No one said his name while feeling any positive emotions.

"Correct," Winter confirmed.

"If things were ideal, we would have sent an entire raid force of fully trained huntsman and specialists here instead of just us. Because of stupid politics and rules however, we are going to be the first scout and strike force." Qrow explained. "So listen here and listen closely, I know I already said it before, but while the White Fang are pretty much fodder, Marcus isn't. If you see a white-haired man with a red shirt, do not even attempt to fight him. Notify me or Winter here, and we'll take care of him."

"In the case that there is no other option," Winter went on. "Do not let him touch you, as you know through Miss Ruby Rose, he will steal your semblance if you give him the chance. Now, how many of you have unlocked your semblance?"

Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha raised their hands.

Qrow cursed under his breath. Of course, the only one who hasn't so far would be Jaune.

"If possible, do not engage." Winter continued. "If you have to, hold out as long as you can and send word to us."

Jaune, being the leader of the team, voiced his understanding of the terms. Qrow had to stop himself from scoffing. This was a bad idea, he just knew it was. Honestly, he was scared. Not for his or Winter's sake, but for the sake of the kids that they were responsible for taking care of. One wrong move, one wrong call or just one wrong step down the wrong dark alley, and any of them could be killed or have their semblances stolen at the very least. They knew that Marcus was already willing to kill kids if he had to, so none of them were safe from his wrath.

They could go over the rules and warnings as much as they wanted, but no plan survived contact with the enemy. The White Fang shouldn't be that much of an issue, it was who they were working with that would, that was the only ray of hope throughout this whole endeavor. That they might not even have to worry about half the problem.

Qrow looked out the window as Winter continued speaking to the team, getting to know them, their strengths and weaknesses. He listened absentmindedly and they seemed to agree to leave him alone for the time being. He couldn't allow himself to go close to them, if he did and they were killed? He probably would have quit being a huntsman because of it.

One week, that was all they had to do they last down there. Just one week.

A large part of him really hoped that they were wrong, that it was just going to be a simple search and destroy mission that only involved Grimm. Grimm were easy, they didn't think and they just ran at you and weren't hard to take down. People were harder, they could think, plan, strategize, and lure you into a trap that not even the strongest huntsman could survive, and then there was Marcus Black. Who would kill you without you even knowing he was behind you for the past twenty minutes, just waiting for you to let your guard down for just a second so he could capitalize and end your life.

Another part of him wanted to stop that, a much smaller, honest, and logical part of him.

And one more, the last part of him wondered.

Could he?

Ozpin, General James Ironwood, and Glynda Goodwitch all stood together in a semi-circle a few feet away from a pod of sorts, a pod that contained and kept alive a woman who held unimaginable power, or what was left of it anyway. Amber was still in the same state she has been in for over a year. Comatose, practically braindead, and her heart barely beating just enough so that blood was able to circulate across her body. She was thing, depressingly so. If it wasn't for the nutrients that were in the liquid keeping her body sustained, she would have starved or died of dehydration months ago.

It was no state for any person to be in, and if she wasn't the fall maiden, Ozpin would have let her pass away in peace. Unfortunately, he couldn't take that risk at the moment.

"No improvements?" Ironwood asked, staring emotionlessly at the comatose maiden.

"None," Ozpin told him. "None, over the last year. I fear that she will never wake up."

"Is the machine ready for the transfer process?" Glynda asked the obvious question that went through all of their minds.

"It is," Ironwood ran his hand over a nearby terminal and looked at the diagnostics. "Everything is green and ready to go, all we need now is a new host for power, preferably someone who won't be as rebellious as she was."

"I wasn't going to imprison her, James," Ozpin said sharply, the General took the hint and refused to say anything more. Amber was a huntress before she was a maiden, and Ozpin knew her personally. Graduating from Mistral, she was a traveler more than anything else. She loved to see new things, meet new people, and slay Grimm while she was at it. Ozpin met her before she was the maiden because she was there for a mission and had to report to him for duty. Little did either of them know that the previous fall maiden would die due to a catastrophic and very rare virus, and Amber would be the one woman unfortunate enough to receive the powers at random. After that, Ozpin was forced to tell her of the situation and explain to her what her powers were, tell her of the factual fairy tales and about Salem.

She took it better than most, and understood her sudden new role in the world of Remnant. She was still a huntress, but she was also the fall maiden. Amber didn't want to let her new role force her into becoming a prisoner of Vale, and Ozpin wasn't going to force her to stay. So he let her roam free, and after some time, he enlisted the help of a certain crow to keep an eye on her. Years passed, a decade or two at least, until Amber was attacked and defeated. Getting half of her magic stolen and for Qrow to arrive only just in time in order to save her before she was killed. That was when Marcus Black made his next appearance after two decades, it was to take down a maiden, and he succeeded.

However, there were two other people with him. Qrow couldn't see who they were because of some kind of semblance, but there were definitely two others. For a man could not hope to wield the magic of a maiden, there had to be someone who helped him.

That was who they were afraid of. The women who helped Marcus defeat and nearly murder Amber. There was an evil person with half the powers of a maiden in her, and she has yet to make an appearance as of now. They had absolutely no idea who she was, what her motives are, or what she is doing. All they know is that she is working with Marcus Black, and by extension, Salem.

"We need to find a candidate," Ironwood continued. "We have to, we don't have time to wait for her to wake up anymore. Not with Marcus and his allies in Vale, too much is at stake."

"Could I take on the powers?" Glynda asked.

"You cannot," Ozpin said with a sigh. "You are too old Glynda, I am sorry. A woman must be under the age of thirty in order to receive the powers at all."

"I understand that," Glynda was thirty-eight, much over the limit. But, she felt that there was still hope. "But this machine that James has had built, is there not some way that we can… force it into me?"

"I would not advise such a thing," Ironwood said with an angry grimace, not at her, but because of the rules. "We don't know what kind of effect it would have on you, it could be beneficial or it would kill you in a very painful way. And if it were to fail, then her power would go to whoever stole part of it in the first place. The risks heavily outweigh the benefits in this situation."

"James is right," Ozpin agreed with the General. "I am sorry Glynda, but we cannot risk it. Though I thank you for volunteering, If there was a way to change the rules, I would have done so already."

"I understand…" Glynda said with a sad look to her face. "It's just… a student? I don't know if it's a good idea to force the issue onto one so young, it's stealing away what life they have left."

"It's all we can do," Ozpin said, he looked tired, resigned. He's been doing this for ages, jumping from one body to the other, some young and some old, stealing away what life they have left and soon stealing their mind and body as well. It wasn't the same with the maidens, but similar. This was simply the first time he was able to pick and choose who the power went to.

"I don't mean to rush the issue, but do you have any in mind?" Ironwood asked. "We are running out of time and I repeat, Marcus and his allies will not wait for us to be fully prepared for whatever it is they are planning."

Ozpin remained silent for a few moments. He did have some ideas, but most were not the best candidates. He thought of Ruby Rose first, because of her silver eyes having the power of the fall maiden with her on top of that would make her nearly unstoppable in battle. However, she was unstable at the moment and doesn't trust him. Not to mention Qrow and Taiyang would have something to say about it if he did go for her. The same went for Yang Xiao Long, and Weiss Schnee was out of the picture due to her current state and ties to the SDC. He couldn't keep her here and under his watch when she was going to have an entire business to run.

There was also Coco Adel, or Velvet Scarlintina, but they weren't even from Vale. Coco hailed from Mistral and Velvet from Vacuo. After graduating, he knows that they have plans to not stay in Vale forever. He couldn't have another Amber on his hands, and they would rebel if he pushed the issue. Transfer students were also out of the question, for they were only in Vale temporarily. No, he needed someone who was definitely going to stay in Vale, and would listen to him. Someone kind and soft, like the original four women of whom he split his power for in the very beginning of fifth live as the lonely wizard in the woods.

"Once Team JNPR returns from their mission, Pyrrha Nikos will gain the maiden power," Ozpin said with a determined nod. "She is kind, polite, and submissive to authority. Quite frankly, I can control her if needs be and she will accept the offer it if meant protecting the ones she cares for."

"Hm." Ironwood hummed in quiet agreement. Glynda remained silent, she didn't like it, but she knew it had to be done. "Doesn't she hail from Mistral?"

"She does, but it is quite clear that she does not wish to return there, at least not for a few years." Ozpin continued. "Strong for her age, a good personality match, easy to control and will stay in Beacon for the next four years to become a huntress. I think she is the best choice."

"And I agree," Ironwood said with a nod. "I would have offered one of the members of the Ace Ops, but none of the women are younger than thirty years old, other than them. I do believe you have picked the correct choice."

"Is this your final choice?" Glynda asked the headmaster.

"Do we have time to consider others?" Ozpin countered. Glynda shook her head sadly.

"Pyrrha Nikos it is," Ironwood said when none of them made to object. "As soon as she returns, we will make the offer to her. Are we in agreement?"

"Aye," Ozpin nodded his head.

"..." Glynda bit her lip nervously, trying to think of any other way or any other candidate, but her thoughts failed her. "Aye…" She hesitantly agreed.

"Good," Ozpin tapped his cane on the ground twice, like a judge when they considered a case dismissed.

"Now that we have that settled," Ironwood stepped away from the terminal after doing some more minor calibrations to make it just a little more comfortable for that comatose maiden. "What are we going to do about this rouge maiden?"

"When the time comes, we have to hunt her down," Ozpin said in an irritated tone. Not at any of them, but for the fact that someone dared to develop a technique to steal the powers of a maiden. He hated it, he created the maidens so that they would help people, not so he had to make sure that they wouldn't hurt people. It was a wonder now how nothing has come up about this rouge maiden so far. "In the meantime, however, we can only deal with what we know is a problem. Keep your Ace Ops ready, we don't know when that time will come."

"I will," Ironwood said with a nod.

That was all they could do, prepare. Ozpin felt frustrated, he really could do nothing in this situation, he had nothing he could go off of and he was angry with himself for being as strong as he was and still not able to do anything to protect the kingdoms and people he has spent so much time making sure we're guided well enough to reach this point in the first place. Salem always found a way to undercut him somehow, and in this generation, that undercut was Marcus Black and this rouge maiden.

She wouldn't win, not this generation. He knew that someday somehow she would eventually win, he couldn't hold her back forever and she was always getting stronger, but not now, not when he was going to be able to build the strongest defense force he could in the past few generations. No matter what, he wouldn't let her win. No matter what it takes.

Perhaps he's been too kind as of late. His kindness leads to the birth of the maidens, to allowing Summer Rose to try and redeem her friend, allowing Amber to roam free, and to allowing Raven Branwen to abandon his cause and betray them. Mistake after mistake, he was getting sick of it.

Pyrrha Nikos would have to become the maiden, and he couldn't afford to give her the illusion of free choice. Apologies would be made later, this was for the greater good of Remnant as a whole.

"You,"

Marcus ignored the brute of the White Fang's call out and continued to sharpen his blade. He had enough on his mind, he wasn't going to waste energy allowing his mind to hear what the masked terrorist was saying.

"Don't ignore me, you fucking human," The towering White Fang lieutenant growled as he slammed a hand on the table before Marcus.

Marcus groaned and turned his head to face the brute.

"You're doing a really good job of getting yourself killed, you sure you want this?" He asked, bored with the entire situation as a whole.

"You bastard, you were the one who forced us into this, weren't you?" Bane asked him, his deep voice growing in anger and intensity as he continued to growl.

"Not really, that was more Cinder than me," Marcus said with a shrug.

"You nearly killed me and took my aura!" The lieutenant shouted.

"That's not how my semblance works dumbass." Marcus laughed darkly. They were drawing a crowd, good, the grunts could use a show of what would happen if they dared approach him. "I can only steal semblances that are unlocked, and you haven't unlocked your semblance. If anything, I just made you piss yourself in front of all your friends while you called for help like a little bitch."

Silence filled the air and the lieutenant seethed, he was about to shout at him more but Marcus had enough of hearing his voice. Bane was shoved against the wall and a blade was pushed up against his neck, his agonized scream was choked out as the edge of Marcus' knife pushed up against his neck and aura so hard that it was actually beginning to strangle him. That was part of how aura could be used against you, it could be your savior, or just make your suffering last longer.

"This is more like it," Marcus said as he reached up and slapped the mask off the man's face. "Fear in your eyes, just like that time a few months ago. I remember you now, you're the idiot that tried to attack me while we were making your leader submit to us. Right?" He pushed the blade deeper, Bane's aura snapped and a slow light trickle of blood flowed down his muscular chest and neck. Any deeper, and Marcus would cut through a major artery, killing the man. He was making this slow and painful, however, the serrations at the end of the knife were not making it feel any better for the larger man he was able to overpower so easily.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Roman called out to them as he noticed what was happening just in time. "Stop that! Come on Marcus this ain't worth it right now, just take it easy."

Marcus acknowledged Roman's words and leaned in deeper to make sure that Bane was hearing him. "Next time, the blade cuts deeper." He said as he slowly pulled his knife out. Bane reached up to his neck, stopping the blood from leaking out any further and then ran away from him. He wouldn't bleed out, but he was getting quite the scare and the other grunts around him were scrambling to try and get medical supplies for him. Marcus saw this and laughed cruelly, that was what he got for messing with him when he was already pissed off.

"Was that really necessary?" Roman asked with a huff as he finally reached him. "He's a lieutenant you know, answers to Adam directly."

"Who?" Marcus asked as he sat back down.

"Adam. Adam Taurus, the guy you and Cinder went to in order to force the White Fang into working with us?"

Marcus shrugged his shoulders. He heard the name before and definitely remembered a guy with red hair and black clothing, but he hasn't seen him since that time. Last he heard, he was somewhere in Vale. Other than that, he wasn't important to him anymore.

"Damn it," Roman sighed and shook his head. "C'mon, let's have a little chat. About time we have one since the last time we spoke."

Marcus huffed through his nose and stood. He followed the criminal throughout the train and noted what he was seeing. It was a miracle that they were able to get the train up and running again with all the repairs that they had to do, but what was strange was that a lot of the dust that they had captured at the docks was being stored in each train car. He also noticed some of the White Fang attaching devices in the compartments in the ceilings of the train cars. One in each.

It wasn't hard to figure out what they were after doing some investigating in his free time. They were bombs.

"I'm sure you figured out what we're going to be doing here in Glenn," Roman asked as they got into the final car, the one with the controls to move the entire train.

"I have an idea…" Marcus said as he kept his guard up. He hasn't seen spoken to Roman since their talk in the tunnels, and for a pretty good reason.

"Yeah, does that idea involve ramming the damn thing into Vale and blowing a hole for the Grimm to crawl through and kill people?" Roman asked.

Marcus was surprised by his brutal honesty, but to answer his question, yes, he did figure that much out on his own. It was easy enough, bombs, train, crates full of dust. These tunnels only lead to two places, to Glenn's subways, and Vale's subways. His guess was that they were going to blow some holes in Glenn to let the Grimm in and chase them, and then they were going to blow one big hole in Vale so that they can all wreak havoc.

He didn't know how Cinder expected him to survive that crash, and he knows for a fact that Vale shut down those tunnels years ago. There wasn't anywhere to go but stay in the train, and when it crashes, no amount of aura in the world would be able to save someone from that.

Which explained why she didn't explain to him the details of this mission. This was supposed to be a one-way mission, a mission that ended the lives of White Fang grunts who had nothing to lose, and to get rid of all the potential threats to her reign. If he managed to survive, great for her, she can keep using him, and if he died… well, that was just too bad.

"From that look in your eyes, I can tell you see the same thing." Roman continued as he sat on the conductor's seat. "This is a one-way mission, there isn't any getting out of it unless I suddenly unlock my immortality semblance that's been dormant all my life."

"Yeah…" Marcus had some ideas, very risky ideas, but they were there.

"On the bright side, if all goes well. Cinder gets everything she wants." Roman continued. "The power of the damn maiden, whatever relic she's been bitching about, and all the strength in the world. Which I guess can be the same thing as power." Roman laughed bitterly. "People like you and I aren't going to be needed anymore after this, and unless I am superbly wrong, which honestly I hope I am, this is Cinder's little gambit to try and take us out for good."

"Yeah? And what's stopping me from leaving the mountain now and getting out of here?"

"Nothing, I guess." Roman shrugged. "I can't stop you, and the only one in this entire city who even has a chance is Neo, and I don't even think she's enough to stop you. You could walk out right now and I wouldn't say anything."

"That's dangerous Roman," Marcus warned him. "You're being too submissive."

"Well, Cinder's not stupid either." Roman countered. "I'm pretty sure she's smart enough to know that you're smart enough to not get caught in a trap like this, and I know she knows I'm not stupid either."

Marcus was confused, he was right. "So why would she try this?"

"Fucking beats me," Roman said. "Nothing is stopping us from working together other than your stubbornness, so why does she think that we're going to get killed off from something so obvious like this?"

"Hm…" Marcus hummed, Roman was right. He was always the strongest member of their team back then and it looked like he has only gotten smarter since then. Cinder expressed multiple times that she was at least fond of him and needed him for a lot of things for her plan, but she also didn't need him as well. He just made things easier for her. Roman, he could understand, she didn't need him as she had all the dust she could ever have, and the White Fang was just her muscle. Why, why, why? That question echoed through his head countless times.

He was confused and needed to think about this. He knew Cinder as much as any other person did, but maybe in his case, it was a little more. He knew nothing about her past or what lead her to this point in her life, but there was a way for him to find out… The organization had many tools that could find out anything about anyone, he just needed to pay them a visit one of these days.

Before he could even consider to tell Roman about this decision, Neo faded into the room out of her semblance, she looked tired and was sweating. Not out of exhaustion, but out of panic.

"What is it?" Roman asked her.

In response, Neo held out her scroll, showing them a recording of a Bullhead with Beacon's symbol on the side of it. The two men cursed as it landed and they saw a team of huntsman and huntresses step out of the ship.

"Damn it, we're out of time." Roman hissed. "Neo, get the animals in gear and ready to go, it's only a matter of time until they find us."

Marcus might have refuted that if Qrow wasn't there, he wouldn't take a mission to train greenhorns unless it was his nieces. Which meant he was there for a reason, he was there for him and the White Fang.

"There's the catch," He whispered underneath his breath.

His knife shined in the light as he took it out. In Glenn, he had hundreds of areas where he could hide and take them out. All he had to do was wait for them by the only entrance into the Subway and hang around there. Before they knew it, he'd be able to take out at least a few of them or incapacitate them.

"Wait," Roman stopped him.

"What is it? There's no more time for you to try and convince me." He pointed out.

"I know, but I have an idea," Roman told him. "Go out there and kill even one of them, and they're going to know we're here. They'd retreat and come back with a damn army."

"I know that, but we can't just do nothing and wait for them to come here and find us."

"Yeah well I didn't say we were going to do that, did I?" Roman hissed. "Neo, make sure the animals get their thumbs out of their asses and you," He gestured to his old partner. "Don't kill them, yet. Keep an eye on them, but do only that. We don't need to start a fight when we don't have too, and where fights start, Grimm will come."

"Fine," Marcus sneered. Neo looked at the two of them with concern, but Roman waved her off to leave. Roman sighed and put his hands on his hips, looking at Marcus was a tired look in his eyes.

"You gotta make a choice soon buddy, I'm not going to pretend like I know everything but I'd like to think that we're still at least friends. And I look after my friends. You can do what you want, but after this joy ride, I'm outta here. It might be better if you're there with me."

"We'd be hunted," Marcus pointed out. Not just by huntsman and assassins, but by Grimm as well.

"We're already hunted," Roman scoffed. And with those parting words, left the assassin alone in the train car.

Again, he found himself with whirling emotions and conflicted thoughts. It was one thing after another, there were no breaks! The bullet hole in his shoulder stung with a phantom pain as he tensed. Everything was so confusing, Cinder, Salem, Ozpin. There was no right or wrong when it came to them, just different shades of evil.

No more thoughts, he cursed himself. He just had to get things done, it was what he was groomed to do, what he was trained to do. Killing and being an assassin were the only things he was good at in life, and that was all he was, a tool. No matter what anyone said-

No. The voice in his head returned. It doesn't have to be this way.

And damn it, it was right.

And there we go, I had to rush that last bit out but I made sure to check it before I posted it. Not much else to say here, but if you don't like this faster-paced storytelling then please let me know

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