It was one thing to deploy poison gas against civilians, but in this case it was acceptable to use these weapons. Pavel Morozov tried to reason with the usage of such toxic canisters, but he couldn't forget the sight of seeing those people succumb by choking to death. If there had been any other way, he would take it, but that man in the black clothes was far too good at killing his men.

The sewers became their refuge when they fled from the fighting in hopes of finding a way out. Boots splashing through waste and contaminated water with the low-quality air conditions they had to endure. They kept running with a hope that their attackers would abandon the chase. One of the men was breathing heavily as he asked the man in charge. "Sir, what are we going to do?"

It was simple to Major Morozov. "We get out of these tunnels and make our way back to the Red Line. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir." The soldier replied.

"Good, all we just need to do is find an opening." To Pavel's surprise, he found a ladder waiting for him and his comrades. "Opa, we just found our exit. Let's get going men." The major arrived at the base of the ladder and looked around. "I'll cover you, but climb fast." He ordered.

Once the last man climbed up the latter, Pavel followed him out, but he could hear the splashing of the dirty water in the distance. They were coming and he would leave a surprise for them. When he reached the surface, Pavel pulled a grenade from his chest and looked down in the manhole, only to see three people from that masked organization looking up at him. He wouldn't give them the opportunity as his lighter lit the fuse and he dropped the grenade down below.

"Have a great time." He said. There was a slight 'plop' in the sewers, but it was quickly followed by a blast as he closed the manhole cover. "Alright, we should get out of here."

Then Pavel looked around, only to find his men surrounded in an environment he hadn't seen before. Was it a dream, an illusion, or was it real? People were living in their apartments, an entire park filled with kids, and cars driving to and fro. They were all staring at him, but the Red Line officer didn't know what to make of it.

"Are you guys seeing what I'm seeing?" He questioned.

The situation changed when the children were torn away from the playground by their parents as people ran away from their direction. This couldn't be real, can it? One of his soldiers tapped him by the shoulder and garnered his attention. "Major, I think you should see this."

"Not now. I'm trying to sink this in."

"We have a guy pointing a gun at us."

"What are you talking abou-oh?" Pavel had turned around and found a lone man with his pistol aimed directly towards him. "Okay, why is he aiming his gun at us?"

The man was shaking his gun as he spoke. "O-Okay… d-drop your weapons, I'm warning you!" Clearly this young man was delusional if he could try and take on some special forces from the Red Line.

The major stepped forward, but he also made himself a target to the freshly shaved man. "Look, we don't want no trouble, but my comrades and I were lost. Most of all we were being chased by a bunch of people wearing white masks."

"The White Fang? What business do you have with them?"

Pavel shrugged his shoulders. "Hell if I would know, but they almost tried to kill us."

"W-Well, I can't let you go. You almost threatened the Vale Park with a grenade. I need to take you in."

"Us? Kid, are you crazy?"

"I-I'm seriou-" A gunshot hit him, but its origins came from behind. He screamed in agony as he landed on his back with blood seeping through his clothes.

Pavel looked over his shoulder, only to see one of his men have their pistol drawn out. "Bitch was annoying, enough talk."

No, this could not be tolerated. This boy was scared and he didn't deserve what his comrade did to him. The major confronted his soldier and grabbed him by the collar. "What the fuck is wrong with you, suka? You shot him!"

"What? He was just delaying the inevitable? I just wanted to be quick and get it over with."

"You just shot a kid!" Pavel pointed out before he slapped him on the back of his head. "Next time you do that, I will put a fucking bullet in you!" Soon, he departed from his soldier and made his way to the bleeding young man while he pulled out his medkit. "You're going to be alright, just stay awake, okay?"

The bleeding young man looked up at Pavel as he removed a cap from one of the needles and stuck it into his body. "I-I understand. Why are you doing this?"

"I'm not an asshole." Then he glanced over to his soldiers, who were scanning the entire area. "Hey, does someone have bandages?"

"I do." One of the men stated. "But we can't just waste it on him. We need it for us."

"I know that, but we just shot the kid. Hand it over."

The soldier begrudgingly tossed the roll of bandages to his superior before he began to patch him up.

"Kid, stay with me. You're going to be okay, do you hear?" Pavel calmy said to the boy.

The young man looked up at him as he slowly breathed.

"Breathe slowly and we might get you some help."

Sounds of motorized vehicles caught Pavel's attention as he raised his gaze away from the wounded young man to seeing moving vehicles coming towards him with loud sirens blaring in the surroundings. They stopped in the street as multiple people stepped out of the vehicle with sidearms raised. "Lay down your weapon and step away from the officer!" A woman shouted from their ranks.

Pavel took a step back as he raised his hands. "Help has just arrived and I think it's time for us to RUN!" The Red Line major fled in the other direction before his soldiers followed after him along with gunshots from the Vale Police Department.

Dating.

If Winter even mentioned such a subject to her father, he would have dozens if not hundreds of young men to come up to her and ask to take her out. A way for him to advance the family's line with the sons of Atlas' aristocracy of wealthy families. Because of this, it was why she had joined the Atlas Military in the first place, to avoid the number of suitors her father recommended to be with for business matters. However, ever since she had worked in the military, she never actually gotten the opportunity until now.

Now if she told her father that she was going on a date with a friend post-apocalypse from another world, he would have none of it. Then he would go rant about how it would tarnish the family name just trying to be with him and how she was selfish in trying to avoid her legacy. At the very least, her grandfather would be willing to listen and understand her situation and give her some Lien for her sake.

Stepping out of the car, Specialist Schnee looked around and hoped no one would recognize her. To her surprise, it appeared as if the populace of Vale didn't care or was too busy with their lives, a small victory for times like this. Although she was dressed for the occasion in a blue dress, her friend stepped out of the other side of the car's back seat with his Ranger's uniform with only a pistol and his gasmask.

She had tried to convince Artyom to not bring it, but he was very insistent on keeping it on his person. Winter reasoned it was a cultural reason or just habit ever since she departed from Artyom on that one day. Oddly enough, it matched his uniform while they walked into the restaurant… where she had reserved some seats for the two of them.

Once they were brought to the table, Artyom looked around like how a child would wonder at his other surroudings. "So, are we at some kind of bar?" He questioned.

It almost reminded her of that one station after she rescued him from those monsters. Although she wanted him to look around in his surroundings, she needed to make sure he had the right idea of the establishment. "No, it's not a bar it's a restaurant."

He turned his full attention to her as he nodded in her words. "Ah, makes sense now."

Wait? He knew what it was? "Wait, how do you know about a restaurant?" Winter questioned. She learned that the post-apocalypse did a cruel removal of information, but this was news to her.

"Uhlman brought me to a restaurant once. It was smaller than this place, but it served food nonetheless." Artyom answered. "The one I know and perhaps the only place in the Metro is currently in Polis, which makes sense since there are some people there with some pre-war skills I don't know about." He explained to her.

"I'll be honest, I didn't even think the Metro even have a restaurant."

"So, when do we eat?"

Winter took out the menus and passed one to him. "We look at what we want and they'll write it down for the cooks. Let's see what I want."

As she scanned through the lists of food, she heard Artyom bring an issue to her. "Winter, I think we have a problem."

"What would that be?" She said, not caring to look at the matter.

"I can't read this."

She placed down her menu and looked at him. "How can that be?"

"I'm serious, I can't read any of this. I'm used to reading Russian, but this is different entirely."

At that moment, the specialist felt some degree of guilt on her part. How could she ever believe that he would read Vytalian? She would have to help him out if there were going out like this. "I'll think you having chicken parmesian would be a good start."

When a waitress came around, the orders for their table were filled while Winter and Artyom found some time to spend together. Yet, there was a problem, how was she going to start the conversation?

"Artyom, how have things been for you?" She asked.

"Me? I've been doing fine ever since I was inducted into the Order. Aside from that, I've been put on patrols and scouting outposts consisting of Reds or Nazis and being called by civilian stations to fight off a mutant attacks."

"No, I mean after we were… separated. How did you feel when I was gone."

"I was horrified." He answered. "I thought the Dark Ones killed you or sent you to a place where you could never be found. Were it not for Bourbon, I wouldn't be able to go on from there."

"I'm sorry that happened to you. The Dark Ones brought me home, because I didn't do what they wanted?"

"What they wanted?"

"Yes. They sent me to get rid of you." Winter explained. "I didn't do what they asked and they brought me back to Remnant as a result. The reason why they took me away was that they weren't happy with me helping you."

"In other words, they metaphorically forced you to work for them at gunpoint."

"That is not how I would put it, but yes." Then she saw the Ranger smile. "Why are you smiling?"

"I am often troubled whenever I think about the destruction of the Dark Ones if I had did the right thing or something was lost in the missiles. Now that you told me, it's comforting to know that my actions in some way helped you."

She returned a smile knowing there was something that made him comfortable. "Anything funny that happened before we met?"

"In some ways, yes. I recall one time Colonel Miller and I were fighting a biomass monster before it became the base of the Spartans' operations." Artyom admitted. "After we killed these strange radioactive balls, Uhlman scared the shit out of me through the speakers."

"Biomass monster?"

"Do you remember D6? A year ago, the reactor room and the level above were covered in this strange stuff that oozed and poisoned the air. I don't know what happened to the previous inhabitants, but we killed it burning it out with flamethrowers."

"Biomass monster? You nearly got yourself killed for what reason?" Winter wondered.

"True, but we needed the reactor room was the only source of power for D6." Artyom answered.

The specialist shook her head. "Then I think this meal should celebrate that you're alive now that I think about it."

"Is there any alcohol involved?"

"No, not at all. Considering that this your first meal on Remnant, but there is going to be deserts."

"Deserts?"

"Yes. Believe me, it is a treat after you have your dinner." The specialist stated.

The specialist and the Ranger heard gunfire outside, but as everyone in the restaurant fell to their ground she saw the shooters outside. There were men almost resembling the stalkers of the Metro running out on the sidewalks as they fired their weapons. When Artyom turned his head to see the people running past the restaurant, the following words surprised her. "What are the Reds doing here?"

"Artyom, do you recognize them?" Winter questioned.

"Yes, I recognize those men. They are wearing Red Line uniforms." Then he rose from his seat and pulled out a revolver from his holster.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to get their attention."

When he walked out of the restaurant, Winter followed after him as he pulled a revolver out of his holster. Then his other hand reached for his tags and brought them out. "No, don't get yourself killed today. I'm paying for your meal." She whispered to herself.

The few soldiers, who were chased away by Vale's police, turned their full attention towards Artyom approach to their position on the side walk. They pointed their weapons at him, but Winter witnessed a bizarre moment when he presented his tags out. "Don't fire!"

One of the men lowered his weapon and spoke to the other soldiers. "Shit, it's a Polis Ranger. Stand down, men! Stand down!" Without question, the others lowered their weapons while the police surrounded them with their officers presenting their guns. "What the hell is a Polis Ranger doing here?!"

"I could say the same for you."

Before Winter could walk to them, one of the police officers stopped her. "Ma'am, stay back. Let us take care of this."

No, she wouldn't take this. Artyom had a chance to get shot it was better if she told them. She pulled out her mlitary identity card and presented it to him. "Atlesian Military, I'm here for the one holding the tags."

The police officer looked over at the situation and glanced back at her. "Are you two-"

"First time, now let me through."

"Those guys shot one of our officers, be careful." The specialist was quickly allowed past the police force surrounding the soldiers as she saw Artyom confront the Red Line soldiers.

"Why did you shoot their men?" Artyom demanded.

The leader of the group took off his gas mask and revealed his shaved head to the Ranger. "An idiot of a soldiers thought it was good idea to shoot him. I managed to bandage the kid up before we were chased by these guys? Why do you care?"

"I could tell the police to stand down."

One of the police officers spoke up. "Stand down?! These guys shot one our guys. Fuck that!"

"They also tried to help him." The Ranger answered, looking over his shoulder. "I know one of your people is injured, but let me take care of these guys. They're in my jurisdiction."

"Who the hell are you then?" The officer demanded.

"Ask the headmaster of Beacon, he will tellyou." Artyom replied.

The news coverage of the situation was not something Colonel Miller wanted, but he should have known better than to get comfortable with the easiness due to recent events. In the same room as the professors and the Atlesian general, he shook his head before looking over to General Ironwood. "Shit, I got to present this to the Council. General Ironwood, I'm going to bring some Rangers to take those Reds in could you offer them a ride there."

The Atlesian officer nodded his head in approval. "Yes, I'll allow it, but we would like to know why they are here in Vale in the first place if they are from your world."

"Very well, I'll accept that condition." Miller replied. The Red Line better have a fucking answer for this situation.

A pair of footsteps behind him had caught his attention, but it was the person who made those steps that made Miller freeze in his boots. It was the man who told him and his Rangers that Artyom was still alive when he was left behind in the Library, but most of all he was the person who came to him every now and then when it came to certain matters that affected the Metro. His words carried weight and for and old man walking amongst the stalkers, Khan deserved some degree of respect. "Colonel Miller, I hope my presence has surprised you."

Everyone turned around, only to see him confront the arrival in Ozpin's tower. "Khan, what the hell are you doing here? Actually, how did you get here in the first place?! You would have gotten through D6. Now answer me, god-damnit!"

The older man chuckled. "It's complicated, very complicated. You would be suspicious of me if I told you."

"I'm already suspicious of you." The Spartan Ranger commander stated. "The reason why I haven't called my Rangers to take you in is because you helped us against the Dark Ones."

"Be ready for what I have to say." Khan replied. "I am this world's god."

The colonel froze in his boots as the staff got into his view with his mouth open. "As a normal rational person, I would dismiss that, but after fighting a biomass monster in D6 and witnessing an anomaly I will believe you."

Professor Goodwitch was quick to look at Khan and Miller. "You would easily believe Khan?"

"Trust me, woman, Although I want to dismiss Khan's reasoning that he's a fucking god, I've also can't dismiss that fact that weird shit starts happening when he's around." Miller answered.

Khan laughed at his reply. "He's not wrong, you know. Now I have to tell Hunter about this."

"Hunter? I thought he was dead?"

"I hate to divulge this information like this, but he's my brother."

The Ranger commander shook his head. "He better have some fucking answers about his disappearance then."

"I'll bring him out when Artyom and Winter Schnee return from their date."

While everyone was shocked at this information, Colonel Miller saw General Ironwood'sright hand twitch. It made him wonder, but there was something about that man that made him wonder. Although Khan was strange, there was a feeling that he was hiding something.

Author's Note: Originally, I wanted that scene with Pavel and his men causing a weapon to be used. I'm not going to name it, but it requires more time to show up.

TheShadowofZama: As much as I want to say it, I won't. Originally, the canisters were supposed to be something else, but I needed time before it actually makes a return.

As for the destuction of the world, I was thinking along the lines of man-made destruction.

Altogether, thanks for the review.

LT. Frostdromeda: What I mean is, I have outside life to take care of. So chapter updates depend on my school since college takes priority over making a chapter. I hope that clear things up.

TinBoy: Not really.

Guest: Khan's brother is not actually evil, he is the god of darkness and darkness does not mean evil. How should I put it, both have two different lines of thought that should be taken into account. Khan is someone who does not believe that fighting and trying to kill something should be the first option, but trying to understand it should be. His brother's line of thought should be simple and easily recognizable in the Metro series. "If it's hostile, kill it." I hope you get that.