Author's Note This chapter should a somewhat lighter and was supposed to be a bit shorter, enjoy

Roman and Adam were forced to make their way on foot back to his apartment, the rain thankfully stopped pouring about halfway there. Roman's car, well actually it wasn't really his he'd stolen it from some poor rich bastard back in Vacuo, had been smashed flat in the ensuing melee with the Vanguard. they were greeted to the sight of Neo fast asleep on the couch and a shivering mass of blankets sitting nearby while some poor teenager on the screen was made the next victim by the film's slasher villain, a half human-half grimm hybrid.

"Oh I forgot, Red's here." Roman mumbled offhandedly as he walked over and turned the TV off. Adam raised an eyebrow, but said nothing for the moment. Roman carefully picked up Neo and took her back to her bed upstairs and tucked her in. Adam meanwhile, went and started the coffee maker. The discussion was kept at a low volume, to avoid the living room's sole occupant from hearing them.

"How bad are things going to be during the attack?" Adam asked bluntly after Roman returned downstairs and they'd both sat down at the kitchen table

"...Bad" Roman said after a moment.

"How, bad?" Adam asked, somewhat agitated by the unintuitive response, he much preferred his reports to be detailed and precise.

"Much much worse than anyone's expecting." Roman said as he sipped his coffee.

"How many demons?"

"You sure you want to know?"

"Yes, of course." Why was Roman being so evasive? these were the same questions he'd asked in the past and the answers had never been so vague.

"With Major demons there are currently thirteen, minor demons I've lost count, easily in the dozens possibly the hundreds." Adam barely kept himself from spewing his coffee everywhere.

"You're certain of those numbers?" The disbelief could be heard clearly in Adam's voice. After all from what Roman had told him previously, there was typically only one or two major or 'archdemons' within an area the size of Vale, this many seemed like deliberate overkill.

"The minor demons no, the Major demons yes, Eight in Vale, three at Beacon, one on one of Ironwood's smaller ships." After a moment Roman added, "The way my skin's been crawling I'm guessing that there's quite a few biding their time outside the city's walls as well

"Any reason there's so many?"

"We've been the largest thorn in it's side as of late, though that's hardly saying much. This is simply implied retribution." At which point there was a long pause as a somber silence fell between them. Adam had no reason to doubt his skills, but even with Roman's aid he would be hard pressed to deal with the numbers Roman had just given him.

"What do we do then?"

"We'll deal with them as they come. There's no real way that I can think of for all of the archdemons to come at the same time, which would be our major concern. The taxing nature of summoning forth so many demons, the only place where there would be enough souls to even make such an attempt worth the risk would be-"

"At the Vytal tournament." Adam finished for him.

"Precisely, and with it a month away I doubt that the plan is for these creatures to remain Idle for so very long."

"So what's your plan then?"

"Well, currently I'm supposed to get captured in a short while. I'll end up on Ironwood's ship, and use the weapons on Vale's defenses after Neo breaks me out. You'll be spearheading an attack on beacon, if what little we've found out about the plan so far holds true. Honestly Perry was a godsend in that regard."

"I'm just glad he managed to get the information and avoid getting caught, there aren't many of us left from back when the White Fang wasn't..."

"A pack of psychotic murderers?"

"So militant in its methods."

"Weren't you a proponent of that militarization though?"

"I believe violence for the pursuit of that which is right is justified, slaughter for the sake of slaughter is not."

"Eh, sure Adam, whatever floats your boat. I'm not exactly in a position to make any judgments in regards to morality or what is right or wrong." to which Adam smirked. "Care to share with the rest of us what's so amusing?"

"I was simply thinking, for a criminal and a freedom fighter-

"Terrorist. criminal and terrorist Adam."

"-You and I have spent a great deal in the past discussing morality. For an individual supposedly devoid of morals, you seem intensely fascinated about them." To which Roman huffed and forcibly returned the conversation to it's initial purpose.

"Regardless we're getting off track. To the original plan I propose an addendum. You and Mary shall accompany Neo, Mary was part of Atlas's military once upon a time wasn't she?" To which Adam nodded."We'll say there was unexpected resistance on the airship and we needed assistance in facilitating my escape and seizure of the vessel." He paused to finish his coffee. "From there, The White Fang will be hesitant to attack Beacon without their leader back to guide them and lead the charge, so to speak."

"That delays the attack on Beacon, but how does that help with the Demons?"

"Simple, we take our sweet time, shoot the larger demons with the weapons on board the ship and give the little brats at Beacon time to organize. We let Cinder more or less go in alone and we pull back with the majority of the White Fang after the tide turns against her and she calls for a retreat. From there the paltry demons remaining will be overwhelmed by the little brats and our demon issue is solved."

"Let's assume everything you proposed works, which it rarely does. What's stopping those very same students from then pursuing us? I'm certain they'll be out for blood for the damage we are going to cause." Adam paused for a moment before speaking under his breath, "Not to mention the civilian casualties."

"Ah, but you forget, There is one final set of players on the board who will be critical in regards to distracting our dear little hunters. The Grimm." "With as much destruction as we are assuming, the Grimm will come in droves. The little hunters will be none the wiser as to the Demon's true origins, they'll just confuse them for strange looking Grimm. We leave with a couple pretty new pieces of Atlas tech, we lose a smaller portion of people as we're retreating early, and best of all you may finally deal with the 'damned witch' as you call her, and if you're lucky her little sycophants too."

"You make that sound easy. If history has proven anything, it's that Cinder will find away to slither away unscathed, and that your plans always end up going astray."

"How is Red's ability to somehow continually throw a monkey wrench into my perfectly designed plans in any way my fault?" Roman said throwing his arms wide in mock exasperation. "If she lives we'll cross that bridge if we come to it and I'm sure you'll find another way to be rid of her."

"Are we really going to do this?" Adam spoke after a moment his voice low.

"Do you like living with her high heel eternally pressed against your throat? I'm not seeing a better opportunity than this for you."

"Of course not, it's just… Everything up to this point makes her seem unstoppable."

"Heh, I know, believe me. Cinder does seems to fancy herself if not a god, certainly godlike. if one was to judge by her success thus far at least, I can certainly understand where she gets such a perception. I have, however, seen gods fall Adam, and rest assured Cinder shall be no exception."

"I hope you're right, Roman, for both our sakes." With that Adam made his way to the guest room, he'd only used it on a few select occasions, but Roman found himself thinking more and more of the guest room as Adam's room. It was a harrowing thought to say the least. It had taken years for him to accept Neo's room as her own, and not just the guest room he was loaning to her. Now Adam had his own room in at most the third the time? If Red started to… No, just no, this was a one night thing. Speaking of which he glanced over in her direction before switching the light off in the kitchen, enveloping everything in pitch darkness and leaving just him and his thoughts.

In the inky darkness he contemplated whether or not Cinder's death was something he really wished for. She was his crutch to justify the things he did that would otherwise keep him up at night. Kill an innocent, well Cinder's plan will kill them anyways. Ruin some poor innocent person's life, well Cinder wanted a lesson to be given to others who might oppose her. Was he really without choice as he so often told himself, or was Cinder merely an excuse to indulge in his own vile nature. The answer should have been obvious, but it all felt cloudy and unclear. He sat in the dark, ruminating on the matter, before like a bolt of lightning, it struck him. Talking to himself would solve nothing, but it just so happened he had a paragon of virtue and righteousness that he could discuss this with.

He calmly walked through the shadowed room over to Red's quivering form and picked her up. It was surprising how fragile she seemed in his arms, so very easy to even accidentally break down and destroy. He opened the door to the Penthouse's terrace and stepped outside, didn't want to wake anyone with this little talk. Besides the storm had finally subsided and the view was simply amazing from up here. Roman placed her in a chair and sat opposite to her. For a moment he simply basked in the quiet hum of the city around him and relaxed. To his shock he felt the black eye orb had begun to thump painfully within his chest. A mere moment later he found himself whisked away in a bright white fog.

This dream tonight was so much worse. Tonight Ruby didn't see herself fighting some crazed lunatic or beast. Rather, she was walking around her home back in Patch. She was younger now, perhaps no older then twelve, everything was almost exactly as she remembered it. Except pinned on every wall and on the ceilings by masses of long barbed spines, were the corpses of her friends and family, seemingly having been flayed open by some kind of long curved blade. From those wounds a thick black sludge was flowing out and pooling on the floor. After trying desperately to try and remove the spikes to no avail, Ruby found herself at a loss. Her only goal now was to find a way to save them, as she made her way into what was some kind of kitchen/living room Ruby saw them.

Twisted hollow imitations of her loved ones, milling about until they'd spotted her. The eyes were a solid black mass to match their twisted, jagged, obsidian teeth. Their skin was as white as newly fallen snow, and almost resemble porcelain in a way. Beyond that, their appearance perfectly matched the shape and dimensions of her friends. The monsters let loose an earsplitting shriek like the death screams of pigs at a slaughterhouse. As one they charged her, running on all fours like a pack of wild beasts. She did the only thing she could do, she ran. She'd managed to get back to her room and lock her door behind her. Ruby had than hidden herself in her closet, but she still heard them clawing and throwing themselves at the door to her room, slowly cracking the door and causing pieces of the frame to snap.

Ruby felt her mind and body regressing, growing younger and younger as the noises increased in tempo and ferocity. She resembled herself at the age of five, when the door exploded off it's hinges. Silence now hung in the air as the lone figure walked into the room. Behind him fire coated the entryway preventing any form of escape, she was trapped. Ruby wrapped herself up in a coat to hide herself, crying softly and shaking horribly in the fetal position. The monsters had gotten through, she was sure. There was no one to help. she was going to die alone, no no please she didn't want to die not like this. Soon they'd find her, oh god oh god. With a sudden swift tug, the closet door was flung open. She screamed and turned away, not wanting to see her killer's face.

"Red, I'd love to help you but you're going to need to meet me at least halfway here."

What? Hesitantly Ruby peeked out from her jacket. It was Roman, but he was glowing yellow like the knight of her previous dreams. Before Ruby could say anything, a warped hateful wail could be heard coming down the hallway behind him. He turned around and was confronted by a hateful warped visage of what was might once have been a woman walking towards him. The she-beast attempted to approach them, it's empty eye sockets filled with malicious intent. It halted as the flames swirling around the entryway burst to life, bathing the hallway leading to them in a brilliant radiance and forming a flaming barrier between them. After a few moments the creature retreated back, further into the darkness and out of sight growling all the while.

With the creatures sufficiently repelled for the moment Roman turned his attention back to Red.

"Red, when last I checked you weren't the tallest lady I knew, but I remember you reached higher then my knee."

"I-I don't know everything was just, and then I saw everyone and then the monsters and…" At that moment She broke down into hysterical sobs. Sighing Roman picked her up and sat her on the bed, he found a chair and sat in it next to her. She had a death grip on his left arm throughout the whole time, which made grabbing the chair somewhat more of a chore than he'd expected.

"Now Red, look at me. I know whatever you saw probably scared you worse than anything before. The Abyss is a warped place, trust me I've been there enough times to know. But we're not going to get anywhere if you can't pull yourself together. You've foiled me enough times for me to know you're stronger than this."

Was he… Giving her a pep talk? Whether it was his encouragement or just simply the fact that now she was no longer alone, she felt herself return to normal, albeit slowly.

"Better?"

"Uh, yeah I think so."

"Excellent and Red…"

"Yeah?"

"While I do so dearly love holding hands, as well as all the other things young couples such as us enjoy, could you stop attempting to crush all the bones in my hand please?"

"Huh, ahh!" A bright red blush appeared on her face after she realized the thing she'd been cradling was in fact Roman's left arm. His comments did little to alleviate her embarrassment.

"What's the matter Red, don't tell me holding hands is embarrassing for you is it?" Ruby didn't respond, she just hid her head as her blush grew brighter.

"You're sinfully innocent, you know that Red?" Roman chuckled. And he allowed himself a cigar as a calm silence settled over both of them for a while. Eventually Ruby spoke up.

"Please don't smoke in my room." Which cause roman to go into a coughing fit as he attempted to laugh and smoke at the same time.

"Okay, Red, your house your rules."

"Oh, and Roman?" Ruby said looking up at the taller man

"Yes, Red?" Roman said meeting her gaze.

"Thanks, for saving me."

"Anytime, Red, Anytime. Don't thank me yet though, we still need to get you out of here. You have that oversized gardening tool with you?" After searching for a moment Ruby managed to locate Crescent Rose. As Ruby got ready to go, She noticed Roman looking at her oddly.

"Huh, so that's what you look like without your little red hood on. You look different without it. I like you better with it on, I think."

She turned to look at herself in a mirror, then promptly turned beat red once more and flew into her closet.

"Why didn't you tell me I was in my nightclothes!"

"Kinda figured you knew what you were wearing Red."

"Just, just stay out there while I change clothes." Roman dutifully stood outside, idly naming the demons he'd Slain in alphabetical order. He'd gotten to the Moonlight Butterfly when Red stepped back out fully clothed in her huntress gear. Her blush was severely diminished but wasn't fully gone yet.

"Promise me you won't tell anyone you saw me like that."

"Sure Red, I promise." Roman rolled his eyes, honestly of all the things, Red truly was too innocent.

He turned towards the door and began advancing with Ruby following along beside him. They walked along several winding corridors, seeing nothing but further extensions of endless hallway. No corpses, no monsters just silence except for the echos of their steps.

"Red, any idea where we are?"

"I thought we were at my home in Patch, but I don't recognize these hallways anymore."

"What floor is your room on by chance?"

"Second, Wh-" Boom!

The floor ahead was now a sporting a massive smoking hole, courtesy of Melodic Cudgel.

"There we are, now if you'll hold on for one moment." At which point Roman aimed the tip of his his cane into the hole, After completing the incantation the miracle burst to life. A massive burst of sunlight burst out from the end of the cane and irradiated the room below, in holy light. The light reduced several hollows waiting in ambush below to ashes. A few blasts afterwards proved sufficient to illuminate what turned out to be a library of sorts. Seeing no threats directly visible the two dropped down into the rather spacious library. Towards the center of the room was something Ruby had never seen before, but Roman was intimately familiar with.

Though how there was a Bonfire in Red's house was a mystery for another time. He walked over to the curtains around the windows and tore them off allowing light to flow through and permitted the two to see the room much more clearly.

"While we'll definitely have to explore this place further, I believe I've just found our way out Red."

"Huh Where?" Ruby said, looking around frantically.

"Come over here, I'll show you."

Before Red had made it halfway that awful wail began again. The mutilated woman fell between the two with a sickening wet crunch before slowly making her way to her feet. Slumping to one side. She turned her attention towards Ruby. Before Roman could intervene he felt a sharp pain in his back as he was stabbed in the spine by an unseen assailant. With a swift toss Roman was flung across the room, slamming into a bookshelf and remaining on the ground unmoving. a figure previously unseen stepped into view., wrapped in leather and adorned by a silver mask, the visage of Ringfinger Leonhard was now visible. The Murderer of Rosaria, Goddess of rebirth stood there a look of dark satisfaction evident in his manic blue eyes. Wisps of darkness occasionally emanated from his figure giving him an aura of shadow, even as he stood directly in the light.

"My, my, what have we here? A little girl and her pet monster all alone. Oh I remember you, you vile wretch. How you took for yourself the very Soul of Rosaria, you mongrel. Yuria, you and your pets may deal with the girl, he is mine." the last few words came out a feral snarl, as he began quaking in rage and bloodlust at the man who had defiled the very soul of his Goddess was now finally within his grasp.

"Oh my and dare I ask who art thou to command me, little assassin?" A voice came from the ceiling as a robed figure wearing an elaborate metallic mask stood on the precipice of the hole, looking down at the people below.

"I will not allow you to spoil my vengeance for the sake of your inane pride! Now deal with the girl this instant lest I decide to-" He was cut off as a spear of sunlight lacerated him across the chest and sent him careening back. "Ha, it seems there might yet be some fight, in you good, I want to see you suffer for what you've done." though now there was a new emotion present behind his expressionless silver mask. It was fear, fear that even though he'd gotten the drop on Roman it might not be enough.

"I suppose that thine little brat doth ought to be cared for." With that Yuria snapped her fingers and several shadowy figures leapt down through the hole and confronted Ruby. They were tall, emaciated creatures. Their skin was ashen, wrinkled and smelled of rot. They were clothed in degraded iron armors, as decayed as the creatures that bore it. They wielded various swords and maces, held limply in their arms as they focused themselves on the young huntress.

They approached slowly, but served their intended purpose of isolating Roman from Ruby and leaving him without support as Yuria leapt down and rushed to engage Roman along with Leonhard, much to his consternation. Ruby unfurled Crescent Rose And dashed at the growing mob, Trying to break through their sheer numbers and finding for each monster she cut down a new one took it's place. Roman did his utmost to deal with his two assailants but found him being driven further and further back. Ruby had little issue dispatching the individuals within the shambling mass confronting her, but with sheer numbers, as they continued to pour in from the ceiling they were begin to reduce her area to maneuver in.

Meanwhile Roman found himself slowly being overcome as while he was able to match the deicidal spectre blow for blow, Yuria's dark sorceries were carving him to pieces, if he couldn't find a way to silence her casting he would be torn apart at range with no recourse. Spying Yuria standing just a bit too close to a window, he sensed his opportunity and seized it.

His hands ignited into flame with his right hand he imbued sacred fire into his cane and struck leonhard's crescent blade, causing leonhard to stumble back, clutching his arm in searing pain as the fire erupted forth from his cane engulfing the madman's blade and hand along with it. With his left hand he launched an orb of Chaos Fire that slammed into Yuria's gut, interrupting her casting mid-word. Running forward he managed to get close enough to Yuria before she had fully recovered, and with a quick cast he unleashed a quick burst of Force that sent Yuria hurtling back, and smashing her through the window, removing her from the fight.

Like the flicking of a switch the mob fighting Ruby seemed to fall apart at the seams and Ruby was able to make swift progress through the horde of monsters. Slashing and cutting her way through them, there was little now little threat from what up until a moment previously had been a somewhat dire threat.

Roman whirled around and felt dull pain exploding through his shoulder as a kukri blade buried itself in his arm that he was using to wield his cane. Try as he might Roman was swiftly disarmed, his cane was flung several dozen feet away, well out of reach in his current state. Roman soon found himself pinned to the ground trying desperately to keep himself from getting decapitated by Leonhard's blade. Even as he struggled Roman felt his strength fading, that kukri must have been dipped in some kind of poison or sedative. Roman wouldn't stay dead, of course. Phantoms struck down simply returned to their world, no worse for wear.

For whatever reason, however, the state he'd found Red in flashed into his mind, terrified and cowering in a closet while monsters were clawing hungrily at her door. She was innocent of this hell that surrounded her, yet just like all the people he'd tried to save before her, the Abyss had seen fit to try and drag her down into it's depths regardless. He wanted to protect her, and it enraged him that he wasn't strong enough anymore to do so. But then, had he ever truly been strong enough? He reached for a firebomb, planning to at least take his enemy with him. Before he could light the bomb, however, Leonhard was viciously thrown off of him by the timely intervention of one Ruby Rose, who'd managed to break through as the horde had ceased to maintain its numbers or cohesion after Yuria's departure. She hooked Crescent Rose around his waist and flung Leonhard off Roman and sent the former assassin careening into a bookshelf.

He was slow to rise, and when he did Leonhard swayed back and forth unsteadily. He glared hatefully at Ruby and fell to one knee. He held up a black crystal in his hand and it began to glow.

"This is far from over, you insolent dogs." And helped along by a parting shot from Crescent Rose, he dispersed into a cloud of black smog that dissipated shortly thereafter.

As quickly as it had begun silence once again reigned over the library. No more creatures fell from the ceiling, and none of those on the floor showed any signs of life. Rather they slumped like slightly diced marionettes with their strings cut.

"Hey Red, thanks for saving me."

"Anytime Roman, Anytime."

"You mind grabbing that sword over there for me?"

"O-okay." With the action abruptly over the loss of adrenaline made Ruby uncharacteristically out of breath and she stumbled slightly before grabbing the hilt of the coiled blade.

With the slight touch the fire ignited and he felt his connection to this plane begin to ebb immediately. Ruby seemed confused until she too began to fade away. A few minutes later he felt himself return back to the terrace, where he'd started from. After a moment he saw Red beginning to wake up.

"Well that was exciting. Let's not do that again shall we Red?"

"Wait, what was that we just did?" Ruby said, confused at the new settings she found herself in.

"That was a fight on a plane of existence separate, but connected to our own. Best to think of it merely as a dream, except if such things persist, we may have a problem." The look she was giving him made him sigh. "Has then already been a constant problem Red?"

"It's been going on for a few weeks now, usually It's just monsters and I have to fight them. It's not usually like that."

"Alright then, roll up your sleeve and let me see your arm."

"Wha?" Ruby looked at him blushing and wringing her hands.

"Honestly Red, I'm not even asking for you to take your top off, just pull up your sleeve for a moment. Would you please calm down?" Her blush deepened severely. She was about to call him a pervert as loudly as she could, only to have him cover her mouth with his hand.

"Red, Neo is sleeping right now, do you want to wake her a second time?" At the mention of Neo's name the color almost completely drained from Ruby's face. That look of fear made Roman uncomfortable, had Neo done something to Red? If so, they were going to have a talk later.

"Look, I'll tell you what, just close your eyes, and keep them closed until I say so." After a moment's hesitation Ruby closed her eyes. She felt something touching her neck, making it's way up to her left cheek. It felt warm, and oddly soothing, and she left with a sense of loss when the feeling disappeared.

"Okay Red, I'm finished."

"What did you do?"

"Just put a little mark on you, If you ever end up having a dream like what we just had. Just touch your cheek there and I'll be there to help you out."

"What? What if someone at school sees it, or what if I brush against it by accident and you appear in the middle of class? Oh no, then I'll never get to be a huntress, and I'll be grounded for life once dad finds out! He'll kick me out of the house and I'll become a panhandler on the street, then I'll-"

"Red, stop, take a deep breath for me. One, take a look in this mirror." He held up a little pocket mirror to her face, to which she didn't see any mark. It was at this point he touched her cheek and a bright white set of scribbles appeared. "This will only show up, when you or I come into contact with it and wish for assistance. Try it and see for yourself." She did so and by all appearances it worked exactly as advertised.

"Two. No one's going to find out, after tonight we're going to not cross paths like this again, things will go back to the way they were before. It'll be like tonight never happened." Something about that statement felt wrong after Roman said it, though he pushed the thought out of his mind for the moment. "Three, no, if you were out on the streets I or an associate of mine would come and hire you for your demonstrated capabilities within the hour."

"What if, I wanted to stay in touch?" Tonight had been terrifying. Yet, sitting here after he'd helped save her from a rather awful nightmare that was apparently more than just a nightmare made her feel at ease in a way she hadn't felt at Beacon for a while now. As much as her mind agreed with his words, that it was best to pretend that this night never happened, some other part of her wanted more then anything for this nightly rendezvous to become a regular fixture in her routine.

"...I should like to ask why it is you'd want to keep in touch with Vale's most wanted criminal, and specifically why you'd want to be able to talk to me of all people, but fine. Let me see your arm, and this time please don't throw a fit." This time she obediently presented her arm to him. He removed an orange stone and after placing his own arm against her and pressed the stone onto their exposed skin and with it drew yet more strange symbols. After a few moments the markings faded. Ruby presumed, correctly, that it would work the same as the new invisible marks on her face did. "Anything else I can help you with Red?" Roman asked.

"...Why did you help me?" It had been gnawing away at her for some time now. Why was he helping her? He didn't have to do any of this. Logically he should have simply shot her and killed her on that rooftop, instead he takes her home and does his best to put her at ease, even apparently saving her from some kind of attack. This wasn't how things were supposed to go.

"..." Roman remained silent looking silently at her for a long moment, seemingly searching for something. He abruptly stood up from his chair."Come on Red, it's easier if I just show you." Roman said as he dug around in his pocket and produced a cigar. Ruby stood to follow him, and proceeded to fall flat on her face. Roman stood there staring down on her for a moment before realizing her legs were still restrained. He unshackled her feet and led her back to the elevator, taking longer due to Ruby repeated bumping and falling over the furniture on the way there. This was eventually solved by Roman Picked Ruby up bridal style and carrying her through the pitch black room. The darkness did well to hide the bright red blush adorning Ruby's face.

They rode the elevator down. Beneath the basement and first two secret basements. It opened into a dark void. Roman reached along the left side and after a moment of fiddling he managed to grasp a lever and pull it. A set of ominous torches ignited bathing an ancient hallway in a dim ominous light. Still holding Ruby bridal style Roman walked along the hallway to the end of the hallway, ending in an ornate circle, with the center slightly walked over and depressed the center causing a door to close behind them, and with a slight start accompanied with the sound of grinding stone the circle began descending.

"Uhh...Torchwick, could you please put me down?"

"Hmm, must I though? You look positively incredible at the moment Red."

"Uhh…Y-yeah." Her blush, which had never fully disappeared returned with a vengeance. Roman couldn't help smiling, Red was simply too easy to tease, honestly he found her embarrassment far cuter then perhaps he ought to.

"Oh alright." and he set her down. They stood in silence for a few moments, and they arrived at a chamber that was better lit by several bright the middle stood a broken statue. Across from the stairwell there was a balcony of some sort that seemed shrouded in darkness, the only such place in sight. That balcony overlooked the Abyss, a tentacled mass of shadow and, in Roman's opinion, unmitigated evil. "Come on, there's something you need to see." Roman said. They made their way to the balcony and he had Ruby look down and let the visage of the Abyss sink in. This is what Roman had seen when he'd first awakened. This was what he'd set himself ablaze time and time again, until Roman was rendered unfit to link the fire ever again. He'd never forgotten his friends, how time and again they'd aided him against the myriad of demons that barred his progress. Seeing that darkness, still there undaunted almost mocking him, after all he'd done it was pointless in the end.

"What is it?"

"That would be the Abyss, Red. It's the source of the Grimm the world over, as well as quite a few nastier things."

"What? The Grimm come from that?" On the one hand it sounded ridiculous, Why of all people would Torchwick know that. On the other it seemed to feel like a grimm, like a void where normal aura should be and it certainly looked evil. As they spoke the Abyss began to pulsate and after a moment a massive bright red egg formed from the dark miasma.

"Well Red, You're going to get to see first hand how it works." at which point the egg cracked and a fully grown Nevermore burst forward charging straight at them. Mere feet from the balcony a massive symbol, a blade with a crescent moon appears and reduced the nevermore to ashes as it attempted to fly through the symbol. This was the final gift from the last company commander of the Blades of the Darkmoon, who he found out had been Sirris of the Sunless Realms only by reading the epitaph inscribed on the floor he was now standing on. She had given her life here creating a permanent barrier from which no creature devoid of a soul could pass. She had taken his body from the Kiln of the first Flame and entombed him here. She promised to follow his example and so sacrificed herself as well to halt the advance of the Abyss as he had done. At least, that was what was written at least.

From this tomb the last of the Blades of the Darkmoon met with the Warriors of Sunlight and founded their city, a fortress to stand against the Grimm. From this ancient bulwark, the city of Vale rose. Ruby was oddly silent as Roman led them back to the to the Altar of of Sunlight. "Red. This is it. This is what all the heroism and ideals in the world gets you. Believe it or not this marks the final resting places of the only people before the discovery of dust able to keep humanity alive from the Grimm, they were the blades of the Darkmoon and Warriors of Sunlight. This is a tomb to the forgotten hero, unsung and forgotten. This is the road you're walking down, It's the path I walked down before you. I don't know why I'm saying this, if I was was talking to my younger self I sure as shit wouldn't believe me. I just, I just want to try and keep you from repeating my same mistakes."

"So you just gave up?" A hint of accusation now in her voice as she met his stare with a look of solemn determination.

"...You don't understand how far I went-"

"Then tell me!"

"Just watch Red, I'll do you one better." Roman snarled back. With that he extended his arm and rolled up his own sleeve. After a few moments his arm turned to grey ash before Ruby's very eyes. The sh proceeded to splatter to the ground before returning and reforming into an arm. "I went on until my body couldn't physically continue further. My body is ash, controlled solely by my aura." instead of speaking Ruby simply looked on, horrified.

"Everything feels so very cold, I can't even feel pain or really anything anymore, I did all of this of my own volition, because I believed that it would stop that." Roman said pointing back towards the Abyss. "And you know what? All I did, all the friends I lost, the mountains I climbed, the monsters I slayed, it was for jack shit." Ruby was about to respond when she spied a particular mural behind him to his left.

"Red, are you hearing a word I said?"

"...Is that you?" Ruby asked. Roman looked behind him and saw him standing in a knight's regalia, with the same hairstyle looking down clutching a longsword looking positively angelic.

"Sirris always had bit a flair for the hyperbolic, but yeah, that's supposed to be me."

"How old are you?"

"I've been asleep a long time, Red." She looked at him disbelievingly. "When you're a pile of sentient ash, You can make yourself look however you like." To demonstrate, his face flashed and after a moment perfectly resembled Ruby's own face, before returning to Roman's own a moment later.

"Urgh, that's really creepy, could you please not do that again?"

"Sure, sure Red. I'm done, with my little rant, anything to say in retort?"

"Yeah, I want you to help me stop it."

"...What?" Roman's mind proceeded to short circuit at that point. Of all the responses he'd expected and had thought up witty replies handy, this was not one of them. He simply stood there slack jawed, honestly it was a rather hilarious sight. She couldn't honestly be serious, could she? "Red, I think I must have misheard you, could you repeat that?"

"Can you help me fight this thing, you apparently know more about Grimm then anyone else it seems." Ruby said motioning back towards the Abyss. Roman would later claim that his response was the result of a short but intense bout of utter insanity.

"...Sure." his assent hung heavily in the air.

"Did, did you just say yes?"

"I did bu-" He suddenly found himself gripped in a incredibly tight hug.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" Ruby was practically jumping for joy. She was going to be the one to stop the Grimm once and for all!

"Red, deep breaths, deep breaths." Roman said, somewhat disquieted. He was rather unused to people touching him. When he did it to others it was fine, but when people touched him it was a whole different matter.

"Okay! So, how do we do that?"

"Well first you need to-," The sound of crackling suddenly became almost deafening. Four dark spirits, glowing a deep scarlet began to materialize around them. "Ooooookay, I'll explain later, right now we need to go." he heard no complaints as the two fled back to the elevator, activating it just as the invaders took their first solid steps out of their summoning circles. One of the invaders threw their spear nearly impaling Ruby's skull, who managed to duck just in the nick of time. The Spear imbedded itself in the elevator's stone wall, but otherwise had no further effects. "Alright then Red. First lesson, always keep a weapon handy, had you been with that weed whacker of yours we might have been able to fight them, as it stands we're lucky we got out in time."

"What were those things?" Ruby said, looking at the massive spear easily twice as thick as her arm that had nearly punched a hole in her head.

"Invaders. If you want to deal with the Abyss, you'll be facing a lot more dangerous things than just Grimm, The Abyss always breaks out it's best tools when it feels threatened, and I think it heard you just do."

"Good, it should be afraid, because we're going to be the ones to beat it once and for all! So what's step one now that we're safe?"

"That would be getting you back to Beacon. I'll compile my notes on the various demons and I'll have them sent over for you to read." Ruby seemed to deflate at his explanation for what the first step was.

"Aww, that sounds like schoolwork. I was hoping for more action, you know fighting hordes of monsters and posing dramatically over my fallen enemies like in the movies." When Ruby had first discovered that Grimm disappeared too quickly to do such things, she had been sorely disappointed, requiring two whole platefuls of cookies to get over her depression.

"Heh, I'll tell you what, when we get to monster slaying, I'll record you slaying a giant demon and we'll upload it to the dustnet." She seemed to brighten back up at that comment.

"Can we put awesome background music in like something from Steel Bullhead?" Ruby's were glowing like Roman had just offered her a plate of chocolate cookies and a glass of milk.

"Sure Red, Sure." Honestly what was wrong with him, in the span of one measly night he lets Red of all people somehow get past the miles and miles of mental fortifications and defenses he'd spent years entrenching himself with. At breakfast the next morning they actually had an almost normal conversation, well normal by Remnant standards. He did have to explain to Red why she and adam had to eat a normal breakfast and Neo got to have an ice cream tub, mint chocolate chip. He'd had to bribe Red with a plate of cookies to get her to head off to the car, Junior had obligingly sent for her at his request. The poor driver had ended up waiting close to an hour as Roman was nothing if not a perfectionist in regards to his culinary capacity.

As he baked his cookies Roman idly surveyed his life in Remnant, while in the background Adam and Neo bickered like children over which show to watch on the TV and Ruby hovered near the kitchen like a vulture spying some delicious prey. This world he'd awoken to truly was an odd one. And now, Roman was experiencing something he honestly thought had been lost for the rest of his wretched existence. As he stood making some fresh sweets for his newest little partner he was struck by a stark truth. He felt hope, that maybe, just maybe they might just be able to win, if only for this coming battle. Oh how wrong he would turn out to be.

He contacted Junior after he'd finally managed to convince Red to get in the car that would get her to the station to transport her from Vale to Beacon. They also decided on the fallback position, Patch it was decided. Junior began to ship the massive quantities of old weapons and armors to a warehouse Roman owned under an assumed name there. Junior also began moving his own resources to Patch, by the time the Vytal festival would begin in earnest Junior and his associates would be safely away from the upcoming mayhem. Junior had initially stayed firm wanting to stay at his bar and weather the storm. It wasn't until Roman had literally shown up at his doorstep and begged him that Junior got a sense of how concerned his friend was for his safety. It was the first time Junior had seen Roman visibly upset to the point of near tears. After that, Junior just went with the flow, it was simply easier on them both.

It was in fact later that month that after Roman had been captured that it occurred. Neo and Adam, bidding their time before they were to go and rescue him, were with some White Fang were transporting the last things from the warehouse to Junior's temporary new nightclub in Patch, when the city of Vale went to hell. But first before we recount Vale's struggle for survival, we must return to that fateful night for a brief interlude and introduce a few other actors to our little tragedy. It would be their actions as well, that would come to shape Vale's fate, and ultimately the fate of Remnant itself.

Jaune was in a oddly dark place. All around him shadows seemed to move and twist going still once he focused his attention on them. He'd felt like he'd been stumbling around blindly for hours. His legs burned and he was exhausted. His voice had grown hoarse, shouting first for his team, then his family, ending with frantic for someone anyone. Jaune didn't know how long he'd been lying there in the pitch black darkness before he finally received a response.

Well, what do we have here? An unseen figure spoke up suddenly. It's gender was indeterminate, but seemed oddly both deep and strangely immature.

"Huh, who's there?" Jaune said looking around frantically

Oh, just me.

"Who're you?"

I'm just they who lurk in darkness, who're you?

"Jaune, Jaune Arc, um where exactly are you?"

Just look up Jaune. Jaune looked upwards and to his shock a massive winged creature sat huddled above him. It's face was entirely covered by a white hood, but the hood was surprisingly animated and Jaune felt that it was staring back at him.

So, how did you get on the ceiling?

"I'm pretty sure you're on the ceiling, you have wings, and I don't…" Well things had certainly taken a strange turn, but it was better than wandering in the dark.

Hmm, I never thought of that… Okay! With that the Darklurker stood and spread their wings and proceeded to fly down to Jaune.

"Um, Hi…" Jaune said awkwardly, what exactly was he supposed to say, this creature was close to twelve feet tall, had four arms and massive wings.

You know, your soul is really dark, like really, really dark.

"Huh? My soul?" Jaune looked at his chest, as far he was aware his soul was somewhere in there, and he didn't see any particular darkness.

Yeah, not like mine, mine used to be super bright! With that it threw all four hands in the air as high as it could to emphasize its point.

"Uh, okay."

Oh! That's right, you're here to learn from the slab aren't you?

"Slab?" This was the first Jaune had heard of any slab...

Yeah everyone who comes here is to read from the Slab and then go off to save… Something I don't remember what it was Grandpa called it… To which the hood seemed to deflate and the angelic creature returned to huddling on the ground mumbling to itself.

"He-hey, I'm sure you'll remember! You've been really helpful so far…" It wasn't a lie, while strange this creature seemed to be at the very least friendly, and Jaune wouldn't mind a friend in this lonely void he found himself in.

You mean it?

"Yes, before I met you I was wandering around in the dark for I don't know how long. Now, where is this slab again?" Jaune said hoping to keep the angel on track, maybe the slab she kept mentioning said how to get out of here. To which the Darklurker suddenly grabbed him and pulled him into a bone crushing hug. It was from the softness pressing against him that Jaune was able to determine his new angelic friend was indeed a woman, given her rather androgynous voice and neutral clothing it had been difficult to determine. Did angels even have genders? Jaune was struck by a myriad of new questions he'd probably never receive an answer to as he was swaddled in the Darklurker.

Thank you! You're the best friend ever! I'll get that Slab for you right now! Just stay right here. At which point she flew off with blinding speed. When she found the slab, she was surprised to realize she had neglected to let go of Jaune and had in fact taken him to the slab instead of the other way around.

Oops, well, here's the slab…

"Ahh, okay thank you." With that Jaune managed to disentangle himself and find the slab he had heard so much about. It was massive, easily twice the size of the Darklurker. How she was planning to carry this back to him, he didn't know. As he ran his hand over the carvings he was struck by a feeling of euphoria. It was like the universe suddenly clicked into place to Jaune and he saw what was needed of him. It was beautiful, so very beautiful. He couldn't contain himself and tears of joy began to flow freely.

Umm, Jaune? Are you okay? Are you cry- oh dear you're crying! Um um, what do I do, umm no, that won't work… Jaune turned back to the Darklurker and smiled.

"It's alright, it's just I was...Unprepared."

Oh okay, well I guess I'll be the one watching over you from now on, so if you've got any questions just ask.

With that Jaune suddenly felt exhaustion slam into him. He stumbled and would have fallen over had the Darklurker not caught him. He'd only read a part of the slab's first passage but he already wanted to spend hours reading it. As he allowed sleep to overwhelm, him he felt strangely content. While the Darklurker was busy caring for Jaune's unconscious body, they both failed to see the pair of scarlet eyes keenly observing them. After a moment the eyes disappeared unnoticed and relayed the new information back to it's master.

In team JNPR's room two shadowy figures made their way uninvited over to Nora and Ren's beds. One was a woman with ghostly pale yellow hair and wore a golden domino mask. She wore a black robe with golden embroidery. The other was a giant of a man easily seven feet tall with the massive black plate armor he wore that seemed to radiate a coldness that would make those around him shiver. The two were barely visible, illuminated only by the light of the broken moon above and better resembled dark spirits, not a bad descriptor of them really. For a moment, they stood unmoving in silence. The woman then approached Ren's bed and crouched down, slowly tracing her index finger along the contours of Ren's face, a mere hair's breadth away.

"The girl is useless to us." The man's voice was deep and hard, every syllable carried with it an almost sneering contempt for the subject of its attention. As the figure gazed down on Nora, the blade in his hand began to twitch and shake with bloodlust. These little cretins thought their precious aura would protect them, oh they would learn that the Abyss was more than capable of bypassing that simple parlor trick. The bile began to rise in his throat and his rage began to near its breaking point.

"Yurt, calm yourself. Her time will come I assure you, but that time is not now."

"...As you wish." Yurt replied slowly sheathing his blade. "What of the boy?"

"Oh I see great potential in him. Perhaps, even greater potential than what I saw within you." Yurt bristled at the comment before slowly relaxing as his companion let out an amused chuckle. "Honestly my dear, dear, Silent Chief, your armor may be harder than steel, but your skin is thinner than paper."

"Lady Mephistopheles, I simply don't find the idea of my death very funny." To which she smirked at him

"Oh Yurt. I would never think to replace you, rather I was merely saying that he is a tool of exceptional craftsmanship. We will discard him after his service is complete, rest assured. We must go soon, the blonde boy will awaken shortly. Should they survive, I imagine things shall get rather exciting for us." Even with his helmet obscuring his face, Mephistopheles saw the mad glee that glimmered in his eyes. It was matched by the sadistic glee that was twinkling in her own eyes. When Jaune jerked awake, his mind filled with vague memories of angels and slabs, he saw nothing out of place and after a few moments settled back down to sleep a few more hours. This time he had a pleasant dreamless slumber, oblivious to all the players weaving around him trying to change the game to their personal advantage.

Headmaster Ozpin rarely had much time to devote to his hobbies these days. Between his official job as a school's headmaster running as prestigious a hunting academy as Beacon, playing politician to Vale's council to get them to stop second-guessing him. Not to mention playing detective attempting to uncover the identity of a shadowy figure that was quite possibly a delusion created by his overworked mind, it was a miracle he could still find the free time left over to breath.

As he sat in his office, enjoying a rare reprieve he noticed a box was sitting in the middle of his desk. Deciding to take a closer look, he opened the box and found an exquisite yellow scarf inside. As he tried it on, he was suddenly struck by an unceasing rage. Panic seized him as he tried desperately to retain his mind as a miasma of hate began to settle over his mind. With a crash he flung the contents on top of his desk to the ground as he began stumbling around blindly, barely able to keep to his feet.

Slowly, Ozpin sunk to his knees and his movements became slower and less erratic. Finally, he stopped struggling altogether and merely remained on his knees still as a statue. After a moment Ozpin began to slowly get to his feet and rearrange the things back on his desk as if nothing had happened. Ozpin returned to his seat and clicked open several other secret compartments on the box. From these compartments a host of small strange insectoid creatures made their way out and began to scurry around his office with some leaving through an opening and proceeding to descend and infest the rest of Beacon. As Ozpin sat in his office like a stone sculpture, a grin began to grow on his face.

It grew longer and wider, eventually splitting the skin resulting in blood beginning to pour forth from his torn lips. As Ozpin sat in his chair with a manic grin he felt a dark sense of fulfillment begin to take hold. Soon, so very soon. The old order would all come crashing down and in the darkness that awaited he would rule. Though as the spirit of the Old Monk grew accustomed to it's latest host, it felt a sense of unease, as if it's host was not completely overwhelmed by its magnificence. The demon discarded the thoughts a few moments later. It was an Archdemon after all, there was no way for a mere mortal could hope to defy it.

Standing around watching her partner threaten to beat some poor student to death was not how Blake Belladonna had expected to spend her nights at Beacon. For the past few weeks however, Yang had been on a utter warpath. Blake had been hearing the same rumors as well, but had thought little of them. It was salacious to be sure, but it was also ultimately harmless. After all, no one could truly believe such trash, could they? But Yang had been adamant, and had somehow managed to rope Blake into finding the source of these rumors and stamping them out once and for all. This two woman campaign had taken it's toll and frankly Blake had fallen asleep so many times in Professor Port's class that he'd been obliging enough to let her bring her pillow and blanket to class now. Sometimes Blake wondered if this wasn't isolating Ruby further, as both she and Yang kept their distance busy searching for the culprit.

It was already well past midnight and this poor sack of flesh which might have once been a person wasn't going to tell them anything they didn't already know. Yang finally let go of him and the poor kid didn't even run away, he just curled into a ball and sobbed. Yang sighed in frustration.

"They just don't make'em like they used to Blakey." To which, Blake's bow twitched.

"One: This one lasted seven minutes before screaming in terror, a new record. And two: Don't call me that." Yang looked over at her and smirked.

"Aww, come on, you know you love it." To which Blake simply glared in response. Before she could respond, Yang's scroll went off and distracted the two of them. Yang answered it, and blake Idly noticed the poor student crawling slowly away, a part of her pitied him, his friend had tripped him up, causing Yang to pounce on him. The look of betrayal on his face had been positively heartbreaking.

"Hello, hey! No, I mean yes. Damnit, You can't honestly be calling this late over something as small as that! She-she did what! Okay, thanks for the heads up I guess, bye."

"Something the matter, Yang?"

"Glynda apparently called my dad and scheduled a meeting for after the festival! She apparently said I have anger issues!" Blake couldn't help but look at the bloodtrail that the anonymous student had left in his wake as he had crawled away.

"So that was your dad then?"

"No, that was Junior."

"Isn't he the owner of the bar you destroyed? How does he know about these kinds of things?"

"Yeah, but he also has contacts all over the place and after I nearly burned his bar down, we made a deal."

"Oh?" This was something she hadn't heard of before.

"I promise to make sure no one else ever burns the bar down and he gives me heads up on what's going on with Vale's criminals."

"Think he could help us find Torchwick?"

"Already asked Blakey. Said he couldn't do that, apparently their friends and Junor refuses to rat him out."

"That's surprising."

"I know, who'd of thought Roman had any friends."

"Roman, so we've gotten to a first name basis now?"

"Sorry, Junior keeps calling him that and it rubs off after a while. Listen can we just move on?" Yang said blushing slightly in embarrassment. Something clicked suddenly in Blake's mind. While her face was utterly placid, internally however the grin Blake had resembled a cat that had finally cornered it's prey. Blake may have finally found a chink in Yang's armor. Since they'd first met Yang had seemed utterly shameless and had taken immense pleasure in finding all sorts of ways to tease and embarrass her. Well, now there was something that she might be able to use against Yang in the future. Blake may not know yet what it was about Junior that made Yang embarrassed but she would find out, and her revenge on Yang would be oh so sweet. While Blake filed away this little bit of information for later investigation Yang barely stifled a yawn

"Well, we didn't get much from him, want to see if we can find another lead?"

"Yang, it's one in the morning. Can we please go to bed? I already sleep through Port's class most days, I don't think Glynda will be so forgiving if I fall asleep in her class as well."

"Fine, but don't you give up on me now. We're getting close, I can feel it. When I do get my hands on them, I swear I'll make those bastards pay." Blake felt a bit of pity rise within her once more. Not for Yang's future victim and/or victims mind you, rather Blake pitied the poor janitor who'd have to scrap those victims off the ceiling and walls after Yang was through with them.

Well, that pretty much wraps up Chapter 2. I had a few other ideas of characters I wanted to highlight but this was getting long enough as it was. One quick thing to note, this Darklurker is descended from the one fought in DS2. As to why it's acting so bizarrely, it's the remnants of the original Darklurker's soul, having been destroyed, with the holes in it's soul patched up by whatever scraps it managed to find lying around within the Abyss. This caused it to possess a childlike and innocent demeanor, whether that behavior remains down the road… Well, we'll just have to wait and see. If I'm allowed some self-criticism, I feel that Jaune's part in particular may be in need of a rewrite, but that'll have to wait until something really strikes me, as I know where I want it to go, it just the road getting there that's tricky.

Also it's possible I may be able to get a second chapter out this month, it'll depend mostly on how this week turns out, but this coming chapter was actually where I'd first considered starting the story.

I've received a few reviews since my first chapter:

Guest: Not to worry, I have a plan for him and Lautrec both, but that's still being ironed out so I chose not to disclose too many details this chapter

Roach99: Thank you very much. I'm glad you liked the first chapter.

Otaku-Nation666: Thank you.

Touhou is Life: That's quite alright, I hope this chapter was enough to convince you, was there anything in particular that you didn't care for?

Ultron emperor: 'kay

Until next time.