Dranik sat on the couch, flipping through the channels on the T.V., bored out of his mind, when he came across the news channel. Slightly intrigued with the segment about weapon mods, he decided to leave it there.

"Wow, you must be bored out of your mind to be watching the news," said a voice behind him. He turned to look at the person who spoke. It was Ekiyo. He walked over to sit on the couch. "Like, seriously, weapon mod tutorials? I don't understand how people can watch these things." He paused. "You don't mind me sitting down here, do you?"

Dranik finally spoke. "Oh, no, no. It's fine. It's your place after all." He looked around, not knowing what to say. "You're Ekiyo, right? The scorpion Faunus? Where's your tail?"

Ekiyo chuckled a bit. "You know, Newyn actually just asked me the same thing. And…"

"That I did, and your way of doing it is smart, yet stupid, and would definitely be a turn-off for the ladies." Dranik and Ekiyo both looked at the voice. It was Newyn. "Do you know what he does? He takes advantage of those," pointing at Ekiyo's baggy cargo pants. "and coils it around his leg. Imagine, being his girlfriend, going downstairs for the first time, not knowing he's a Faunus. He'll be a virgin forever." Newyn shuddered. "I'm Newyn, by the way," he said extending his hand out. "You must be Dranik, the creepy emo scythe wielder, who tends to talk to himself."

"Um… yeah," he replied shaking Newyn's hand, while rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. "How… how do you know so much about me? Like, that was spot on."

"I may have sneaked a peek at Qrow's scroll on the way here. That's how his friend described you at least."

"His… friend?"

Newyn shook his head. "I dunno, some guy in Mistral I guess."

"Mistral… dammit. It was the blacksmith guy."

"Blacksmith guy?"

"Yeah, he was the one who made these for me." He quickly took his gauntlets out of sheathed mode. The other two gasped.

"Woah, now that is awesome," Newyn said.

"No, it's actually Atlas tech. You wouldn't happen to have gotten those from a certain James Flynn, would you?"

Not looking at the person who talked, Dranik replied saying, "You must be Dygmann." He turned. "Now, could you describe this James Flynn?"

"Oh, you know, tall, a bit pale, probably wore his hair in a military fashion."

"Yep, that's the guy."

"Well, those gauntlets you're wearing are using Atlas, military-grade titanium Dust alloy. That tech is still in the prototype stage, so please feel grateful. Many would kill to get their hands on those," Dygmann stated. "Take very good care of those."

"I will."

"Good," he said, clapping his hands together. "Now, where can I get some good grub?"

"Actually…" Just then, a loud fanfare blared from the T.V.

"Breaking news. A large amount of Grimm has attacked a small village just outside of the city limits. Huntsmen from Shade Academy and afar have just arrived on the scene, but their efforts are not enough. The Vacuo Council has ordered an immediate evacuation of the village, but not many have survived. If there are any huntsmen or huntresses out there who can help, you are needed. More news, coming soon." Then the screen cut black.

The four of them looked at each other. "Dude, we have to do something," Ekiyo said to the others.

"What help could we do?" asked Dygmann. "Us, four untrained warriors, what could we possibly do?"

"Oh, shut up, Newyn," Dygmann replied. "You know damn well that you and I can handle ourselves."

"You could barely survive one Grimm, let alone a whole horde of them! How stupid do you have to be?"

"Actually," Dranik said. "If we all sparked the interests of Ironwood and Qrow, I really think we can do this." He looked at Ekiyo. "You were accepted into Shade early." Then at Dygmann and Newyn. "And you two manage to survive a Grimm invasion and convince Qrow Branwen, from Team STRQ, to bring you here. We CAN do this. I know that I'm going to go. Are you guys going to come help?" The other three looked at each other, then nodded.

"We may not be ready," said Newyn. "But what better way to learn than on the job?" He patted Dygmann on the back. "We could use this to see the power of your shotguns." Dygmann nodded.

"Alright, I'll just go tell my mom that we're leaving," Ekiyo said. "You all should pack up. Just in case." With that, he went upstairs. The other three grabbed their packs and added whatever they need to them, food, water, ammo, etc. They were all waiting by the door, when finally, Ekiyo came downstairs.

"Guys, I can't find my mom. Did she come down here at all?"

The guys shook their heads. "Maybe it would be best if we didn't tell her," Dranik spoke up. "If she knew what we were trying to do, she would try to stop us."

"Fair point. I did leave her a note."

"Alright guys," Newyn said, clearing his throat. "If that's that, I did steal a bit of Lien from Qrow. It's enough to take a shuttle to the town. Let's go." With that, they all left the house.


A sergeant of the local militia and one of privates from his squad were hiding behind a wall in the town, wary of all the Grimm.

"Sir, the Grimm have overrun our troops. The huntsmen may have to be used now rather than later!"

"Look Tien, we just have to hold them off a bit longer. I just got word that there's another shuttle on its way, from Shade. Word is, Jarvis Korvac is on that shuttle."

"Jarvis Korvac? As in the genetic engineer, who retired to teach at Shade? That Jarvis Korvac?"

"Why, who else?"

"Oh no, one…"

At that moment, a Boarbatusk charged right through the wall and sent the sergeant and the private flying. The private tries to stand up, then grunts and falls back to the ground. Worried, the sergeant stands up and rushed over to him.

The sergeant shoke him a little. "Private, are you okay?" The private didn't stir. The sergeant checked his pulse, then let go of the body. Shaking off his emotions, the sergeant stood back up, grabbed his rifle and started firing at the Grimm. He did not let up, until he heard the whirring of blades above him. He looked and saw a bunch of shuttles fly towards the village. Standing in one of them was a man wearing a bowler hat and a trenchcoat. All of the shuttles landed not too far from the battle. The man exited the one closest to the sergeant.

"Good day, sir," he said, tipping his hat to the sergeant. "The name is Korvac, Jarvis Korvac. How are you today? Don't answer that." He held up his hand. "We have more pressing matters at hand." He took off his hat and pulled a chrome hunting rifle. "You have an Ursa behind you."

Confused, the sergeant looked behind him, a little too late. He was knocked to the ground, and the Ursa was ready to attack when an arc of lightning shot the Grimm backwards. He looked back over to Korvac. He was in full metallic armor and holding a spear with electricity arcing across the length. He walked over to the sergeant, and held out his hand. "Sir, you have to get up." He helps the sergeant up, and directs him to the shuttles.

"Alright, you freaks. I will politely tell you what I'm about to do to you. FIrst, I'm going to make an incision here," he cuts off a Beowulf's head. "Then, I'll treat you with some acupuncture." He stabs his spear into the back of Ursa Major. "And, finally, I'm going to test your reflexes." He turns his spear into a hunting rifle and shoots an Alpha Beowulf in the knee.

Suddenly, he hears a whoosh over him. He looks up and sees a flaming shuttle crash into the forest at the other edge of the village. SIghing, Jarvis shook his head and fought his way through the horde to reach the wreckage.


"Dygmann, what the hell? Why did you kill the pilot?" Dranik yelled.

"What the fuck do you mean? I went to sleep and when I woke up, he was dead."

"Honest to Oum, I saw you stand up, pull out your shotgun and pull the trigger on the back of his

head, and them go and sit back down, and the rest is history."

"Well, what do we do now?" Ekiyo chimed in. "We're kind of crashing right now."

As he said this, the shuttle crashed into the ground, throwing them all over the place, knocking them all out.

A few minutes later, Newyn woke to the sound of tapping on glass. He looked to the source of the sound. He saw a man in armor tapping the glass with a spear. "Hello?" he said. "I do believe that you are in quite a pickle."

"Well, no shit Sherlock, of course we are," Newyn replied. "Can you get us out?"

"First of all, the name is Jarvis Korvac, not whoever Sherlock is. And second, if you were a little more polite, I would help you."

"Okay, Korvac, will you fucking help us?!"

"Fine, fine, give me a minute." Korvac stepped away from the window and began tearing into the metal, opening up a hole in the hull of the ship. "Alright, now wake up your friends, and get on out of there. We need to get you boys to safety."

Newyn nudged all of the others awake, leading them out of the ship. As they followed Korvac away from the ship, a figure dropped in front of them. "Step away from the boys. Now." Korvac, not wishing for a fight, quickly complied. The figure stepped closer, revealing themselves as a woman with short black hair and a red dress. "Now, boys, I thought I told you to stay home."

Ekiyo, confused, asked, "Mom?"

The woman lifted her head, laughing, replied, "Ha, you really thought I was your mother? I killed your mother. You're almost as pathetic as her."

"What, what are you talking about?"

"It's quite simple, little Ekiyo. I. Killed. Your. Mother."

"Your monster!" Ekiyo rushed at the woman, his nunchucks flailing around. The woman quickly pushed him away, and kept walking towards the rest of the group.

"You all have no idea who you really are, do you?" she asked.

Dranik stepped forward, scythe in hand. "What the hell do you mean, lady? Who are we really?"

"That's not a question for me to answer, young one. You'll have to wait until the proper time. I'm simply here to see how well you fight."

As Ekiyo stood, he said, "Oh, you're about to find that out." The group all drew their weapons, rushing at the lady. Calm as ever, she pulled out two swords, and started parrying all of their attacks. "Dranik," Ekiyo called. "Use your sickles and draw her blades down." Dranik nodded in response, quickly separating his scythe. He dove towards the lady, caught her blades, and slid between her legs, disarming her. As he stood, he saw her look back at him with a scowl on her face. Dranik, panicking, quickly slid his scroll back into his pocket.

"I swear, I didn't see anything." Then, after dodging a fireball, he muttered under his breath, "But really, pink is your choice?" Angered, the lady slams her hand on the ground, sending the boys flying.

"You all disappoint me," she said. "I went easy on you, and yet I can still see that you not ready. I will be back. I do hope you all prepare. Tata, for now." Then, she walked off, leaving everyone in silence. Korvac quickly rushed over.

"Are you boys okay?" He asked.

"Yeah," Ekiyo relied. "Do you have anywhere we can go to rest?"

"Of course. Follow me."


Ozpin paced his office, worried. He saw the reports of the attack in Vacuo, and was worried about the boys in the care of Mrs. Tokugawa. Suddenly, he got a call on his computer. It was an anonymous caller. He answered, "Hello?"

"The boys are here. What do I do?"

"Why, accept them into Shade."