Chapter 34: See This Is Why We Hate Mondays

Character Lucifer

"What do you mean it isn't one of ours," he asked Mammon as she reported on the situation on Serra.

"It is not a demon we know of," Mammon replied, "It is Lambent born."

"The Lambent created their own Magog," Lucifer muttered, "We need to tell K he is probably heading right into that mess."

"Would our aid make any difference," Baal asked.

"Probably not," Lucifer replied, "I suppose we should at least tell him what happened after he left."

"Like he doesn't know," Asteroth commented, "Besides we have an uprising in cell block eight."

"Mam get in touch with K," Lucifer said, "Moloch lets go see about this uprising."

"Freaking Mondays," Moloch said as he and Lucifer headed out to the rows of cells.

"Tell me about it," Lucifer said, "First K comes through here and rewrites history and now we have two sets of memories and are also having to cope with running Hell."

"Only your brother is this crazy," Moloch said, "I guess it runs in the family."

"Yeah I guess it does," Lucifer agreed. "Now to figure out where cell block eight is..."

Character Ruby

They had just returned the Reapers to their universe so the machine race could help in the rebuilding process. Ruby, Yang, Weiss, Blake and Scooter were on the bridge watching as K, Doug and Adam went back and forth about the approach they should use once they got to Serra.

"Ok so does anyone want to explain what just happened," Ruby asked as she straightened her red robe.

"Yeah all I remember is getting hit by a sword and Adam going all red eyed and fiery," Yang added rubbing the spot on her belly where the sword had stabbed her.

"See," Doug, the massive organism that seemed linked to all of the ships in DC, said, "They don't remember... well not much at least."

"That is because I didn't want any of them to remember," Adam said with a flash of red glowing through his hawk-like, bone mask.

"Enough," K said running a hand through his white dreadlocks, "So DC only remembers parts of the time we spent in Hell. That is for the better then isn't it?"

"I told you," Weiss remarked as she filed her nails.

"It seems unlikely," Blake said, "But stranger things have happened to us."

"So that wasn't just some horrible dream then," Ruby said as she moved closer to Yang, "We really fought our way through Hell and Yang did almost die."

"Yes," Adam said flatly, "It seems that I didn't do as good a job as I had hopped at keeping the memories from you all."

"On the contrary," Doug said, "Most of DC doesn't remember it at all, a few do granted. Storm, the Freelances, any who had the capacity to, Soap, etc. Delta, Legion 141, Spyro and his kind, AuRel and his kin... you get the idea."

"So why do we remember then," Scooter asked as he put an arm across Ruby and Yang's shoulders. Yang brushed his arm off but Ruby let him be.

"I think it has to do with what Adam here did to save Yang," K said, "Since you all were close to him his combined use of his power and his void aura probably canceled one another out."

"Jaune's team was with us as were Inarius and Lilith and C," Blake said, "I assume they remember also."

"C, Inarius and Lilith would anyway but you are correct team JNPR is probably trying to come to terms with what they experienced," K said. He then stretched out his hand and nine books appeared between them, glowing but slowly fading to a light tan color and floating in the air. "Each of you take one and give one to each of JNPR's members... This collection should help. These events took place on the planet Earth, in a sister dimension to your own and in the dimension that we are headed to. You should all be able to learn much of me and of what we are and what is expected of you from it."

Ruby took one of the books. The only words to identify it were 'Holy Bible.' She looked at K quizzically before saying. "Is this... is this the true account of the Cross Bearer?"

"The who," K started but realization must have hit him as he smiled, "Yes it is. His name is Jesus and there is more in that book than you will ever be able to find out. Your cloak is held on with crosses, His symbol. I should have know there was some reference to Him in your world there always seems to be."

Ruby ran a finger across one of the two silver crosses that were the clasps for her cloak remembering how she chose them after her mother had died to represent the loss and sorrow she had felt. "How does it end," she asked.

"It ends well," Adam said, "Blake you would really enjoy reading it all the way through."

"You know she is going to make us all read it all the way through," Yang said.

"Multiple times," Blake added as she took one and tossed it to Weiss then one to Scooter and Yang before taking the others to give to JNPR and for herself.

"Serra is on the scanner," Doug said, "It doesn't look good."

They all went to look at the screen that showed what used to be Serra. The planet was cracked and split into several chunks that were held together by some massive organism.

"What is that," Weiss asked.

"The Lambent," K said, "Similar to Doug here but without the cognitive process that he has, or the moral values."

"So it destroyed the planet," Adam remarked, "Hey you don't think that Spyro and Malafor could..."

"If we were to remove the Lambent it is possible," Doug said, "Delta is on their way up to see this for themselves."

"Correction," Fenix said as he, Dom, Cole, Baird, Sam, Anya and Throon dashed through the doorway into the Bridge, "Oh come on, it broke the planet."

"Yeah but it hasn't beaten us," Throon growled.

"And I thought the Fanus were questionable," Weiss commented as she looked over Throon.

"Hey," Blake said as she slapped Weiss on the shoulder.

"I think that we are the reason she thinks Fanus are questionable," Adam said, "Even though I am technically the reforged fragments of K here."

"You are some of the new ones yeah," Sam, the dusky brown woman with black hair, said, "It's good to see some other new faces."

"Fenix," K asked.

"Right this is Samantha I didn't get the chance to introduce you properly to her back on Serra and we've just gotten a chance to regroup," Fenix said, "Yeah Sam it looks like you aren't the only new face around here."

"Nice to meet you," Ruby said, "So that used to be your home?"

"It will be again," Cole declared.

"So this is what you do," Yang asked, "You just travel across creation and help people?"

"It is what we do now," K said, "Now that my brother is back on our side we can focus on helping protect people from the evils that they bring upon themselves or that others bring down upon them."

"Sounds like we got to join up just for the good bits then," Blake said.

"More or less," Fenix replied as he looked over the planet that he used to call home. "It's a total wreck I doubt that any city is even left standing."

"Actually there are three hundred and sixty two cities left standing," Arie said from behind a display, "The Lambent have seemingly gone into a hibernation state. I can only guess that is because they are trying to conserve their food supply or that they ran out of food."

"Last we saw they were feeding on the dead," Fenix said, "If they've run out of food..."

"Then the undead would be gone," Anya finished, "This might be easier than we thought."

K, Doug and Delta went over to join Arie by the surface scanner, Ruby continued to watch the planet as it rotated through its cycle. Adam and Scooter were watching with her as Yang, Weiss and Blake argued over the best outfit for fighting.

"Is it just me or does it look like the planet is moving," Scooter said.

"Of course it is moving," Adam said, "That is what they do."

"No I think he is right," Ruby said, "Look that section there looks like it twitched."

Adam looked between her and Scooter before the three intently watched for movement in the planet. It was slight at first but slowly Ruby started to pick out a pattern to the movements and judging by the widening eyes of Scooter and Adam's mask glowing a deeper shade of red around his eye slots she decided they saw it too.

"Um guys," Ruby called, "Does the planet look like a giant mouth to you?"

K was over by them in an instant with Fenix and Dom right behind him. "Oh. Well that complicates things," K said.

"No freaking way," Dom yelled, "No! That's... that is just so... arrgh!"

"Easy big guy," Sam said, "Yeah it does look like the entire planet is a giant Lambent mouth. I think it is sleeping though." By this time even Arie, Weiss, Blake and Yang had crowded over to them.

"Uh did it just twitch," Yang asked as she pointed to a piece of planet that looked like a tongue. As soon as she said that the mentioned section shout out towards them in an attempt to drag them into it, causing Ruby, Scooter, Weiss, Yang, Blake and Arie to fall over each other as they jumped back from the window. Failing that it slipped back inside the planet which closed around it.

"You all are still a little jumpy I see," Baird said as he helped Ruby up.

Ruby laughed a little before saying, "Yeah I guess you all are used to this sort of thing."

"Not at all we just don't worry about dying anymore," Dom said, "It's a K thing."

"Look just cause I go charging into battle without consideration for my safety doesn't mean I approve of you all doing it," K said.

"If that tongue thing had gotten here I would have just punched it back into its face," Cole said, "You don't got to be scared with the Cole Train around."

"Is that really your name," Blake asked as Ruby tried not to giggle.

"Back when I played Thrashball I was the Cole Train," Cole said, "Had my own cereal named after me. Don't guess it counts for much now though."

"We're getting your planet back," Ruby said, "Maybe you can recreate that cereal."

"Eh something to look forward to at least," Throon said, "The rest of us will never admit it but we would grab a box of your cereal from time to time, to tell the truth we were all scared out of our minds at the possibility of having to fight you."

"And that isn't even counting the rest of us," Sam added, "Man how did you guys ever drag that war on so long?"

"Sounds like you had your own racial war," Blake said, "Recent I take it."

"Don't remind us," Dom said.

"Spyro, Malafor," Doug said interrupting the conversation, "Come on in."

"You got a situation," Spyro said, "Wow that does look pretty bad."

"Not terrible actually," Malafor remarked, "Just get rid of the squishy bits and we can pull that hunk of rock back together."

"Seriously," Yang asked, "You can repair planets?"

"Its a long story," Spyro said, "But yeah we can. Hey you and your friends want to ride in on us?"

"Do we ever," Ruby exclaimed, "Wait can you guys do the holding air around you thing that K can cause otherwise that might prove problematic."

"We might have an even better solution," Spyro said, "Thanks to Sarge."

"Uh what," Weiss asked.

An hour later they had figured out what as each of them, including Adam and Scooter and JNPR members tested out their custom made space suits. They resembled Spartan suits but were lighter to accommodate the teams' speed and agility. Well except Scooter's his was more like a car body suit. It was a suit of armor but could also turn into a car with the flip of a switch.

"Hoo man this is awesome," Scooter exclaimed as he turned his gray-green armor into its car form.

"Do you have room for two," Ruby asked.

"The turret up top can be manned," Sarge said as the older Spartan checked the suits out and Ruby climbed into the turret. "Ok you all look good to go. I do fine work if I must say."

"These are incredibly flexible," Pyrrha remarked, "How did you do it?"

"Its a combination of neutron strands and polyatomic ions," Sarge replied, "Totally airtight, self repairing, and it oxygenates the air inside of it."

The suits were all of a gray-green color but Sarge said they could paint the outside without any effects to the workings of the materials. They were not quite skin tight but gave a slightly bulkier defense against incoming blows. The helmets were round with an eight-shaped view port that allowed for full range of vision. Ruby was already thinking of putting her rose emblem on the back of the suit, coloring the helmet red and applying her rose emblem to the back of the hands while coloring the rest of it black.

"Our weapons all seem to gravitate to the suits," Ren observed as he tossed one of his SMGs out and caught it on the back of his hand.

"The suits are able to channel this Aura of yours so if you will your weapon to you it will amplify the energy to bring it to you," Sarge explained, "Also they are slightly magnetic."

"Sun would love to have one of these," Blake commented, "I wonder how everyone back home is doing."

"They are probably fine," Adam said, "I may have gotten Roman some droids and all but his control over them and the Grimms is very delicate. I would imagine he won't even try anything for several months."

"You seem to be in the middle of everything bad that happens," Weiss said, "The White Fang, stealing an entire train of our Dust, and now this. I'm glad you're finally somewhere where I can keep an eye on you."

"Look I'm just doing what I can to help my kind since your kind won't," Adam replied, "I'll admit I like the feel of power coursing through me, I like it when I hold another life in my hands. But I do see that my actions have been counter productive to my agenda. You could help change that."

"Well we'll have to see about that when we get back," Ruby said as Spyro and Cynder walked in with their suits on. "Looks like its time to go."

"This should be fun," Nora said as she jumped onto Cynder's back. Her smile was visible even through the helmet.

"Adam do you want to ride with us," Jaune asked, "Other wise Spyro will have six on his back."

"Five each huh," Adam said, "I'll go with that."

"I guess I've got to let you change back," Ruby said as she hopped out of Scooter's turret. His armor collapsed back to the almost wall-like block that it appeared as when in its non-car form. "How can you even move in that?"

"It's not as hard as it looks," Scooter replied as he flexed his arms and rolled his head around, "Roomy too."

"Come on you two," Spyro said. Looking over to him Ruby saw that her friends had already mounted up and that everyone was just waiting on them. Ruby jumped to Spyro's back with almost no effort thanks to the suit's strength enhancing properties.

"Wow and I thought I was agile before," Ruby thought as she landed right beside Yang and then reached up with Crescent Rose to pull Scooter down next to them, he had over estimated the force required to get from the ground to Spyro's seventeen foot tall back and had almost hit the ceiling.

"Do try not to break the roof," Yang said.

Ruby laughed, Blake and Weiss paused in their argument over Adam and Scooter seemed to hide in his helmet for a second before saying, "Well lets Catch-a-Ride!"

"And save a planet," Ruby added.

"Hold that thought," Doug said, "It seems that this creature is more than just Lambent, it is also a Magog."

"Wait you mean that demon that keeps showing up," Spyro said, "How is that possible?"

"Allow me to explain," Adam said, "A Magog isn't one demon. It is the combination of evil intent given form and intelligence. This Lambent has become one. I say we kill it anyways."

"Hey Adam," Ruby asked, "Why are the feathers on your mask sticking up from the suit?"

"Feathers," Adam replied confused, "I don't have feathers."

"I think she mistook your horns for feathers," Blake said. "I have a feline aspect, Adam's is that of a bull, or Leviathan or maybe both."

"No it is the bull," Adam replied, "Thus my last name, Taurus. I am simply a Leviathan with these aspects instead of a human."

"So the Fauns are human," Ren remarked, "I had thought as much, how do they get the aspects as you call them?"

"Originally they were the manifestation of Aura that granted the prowess of some animalistic attribute, like hearing or sight or horns or tails," Adam said as Delta met up with them and they headed to the hanger for deployment. "Over the constant use of Aura to keep these traits up they became permanent and the traits were passed on to the generations after them. Oddly enough this didn't reduce the available Aura of the inherited individual, instead they would get all of their Aura and the benefit of the enhancement."

"But if you were a fragment of K," Ruby continued, "Then who were your parents?"

"Even I don't know that," Blake said, "I doubt he will tell you."

"Blake Belladonna, Its been what four years and yet you still seem to know me like the back of your hand," Adam said.

"I get the feeling that we are missing something," Baird said.

"Yeah you are," Spyro said, "Its complicated though so don't bother."

They met Malafor at the hanger along with Grif, who was going to be the driver of the Pelican that Delta was riding in. The idea was that RWBY and JNPR would keep any free Lambent forms from stopping Spyro and Malafor from reconstructing the planet once Doug glassed the Lambent Magog apart with the Ark. Then Delta would land on Serra and join up with the rest of them to mark an appropriate landing site for the Pestilence. Killing anything in their way was a given at this point. Ruby checked to make sure she had ample rounds for Crescent Rose, while doing so she got an idea.

"Scooter," Ruby said, "Your cars seem to construct ammo how does that work?"

"Digi-struct tech," Scooter said, "It takes programmed blue prints and materializes the object through the manipulation of energy."

"Could that be enacted on a smaller scale," Ruby asked.

"I think so," Scooter said, "I even think that some Dahl and Crimson Lance used an experimental version for guns that never ran out of ammo."

"Could you make one up for Crescent Rose," Ruby asked.

"I'd need some equipment," Scooter replied, "But probably, you know why didn't I think of doing that for the whole crew."

"Infinite ammo," Yang whispered, "Is that possible?"

"I hope so," Ruby replied, "Maybe even infinite Dust."

"Dust did I hear Dust," Weiss said stopping her and Blake's argument-turned-critique on Adam.

"What sort of dust," Spyro asked as they exited the hanger, "Space dust, you don't have to worry about that it is so light that even at the insane speeds it travels at it can't get through your suits."

"Not that kind of dust," Ruby said with a little laugh.

"Everyone get clear and cover your... actually never mind that last part," Doug said through the comm array built into the suit.

Looking back Ruby saw the Ark for the first time, its sheer size was breath taking. "Is that a star in the middle of it," she asked.

"Yeah and the catalyst for the glassing beam," Malafor said, "I'd cover your eyes this thing is bright as blarg."

"What thing," Weiss started but then the Ark shot a beam of energy out from the star at its center. The beam was brighter than the star that Serra orbited around. Ruby and the others had to look away as the beam tore through the Lambent Magog. The spectacle was over as quickly as it had started. "Oh that," Weiss concluded.

Serra was now floating apart as the Lambent structure that was holding it together was burned to dust. Spyro and Malafor dove into the dispersing chunks and through some force of power or will seemed to draw the pieces after them. Ruby just held on during the event and watched in amazement as the planet seemed to reform as the two dragons circled around it. Once the planet was loosely brought back together Malafor and Spyro slammed into it from opposite directions causing a massive purple light to flash across the planet, locking all the pieces together. Spyro was visibly tired after the reconstruction as he flopped down on the ground to let them off.

"Well that was a thing," Yang remarked as they got down.

"Spyro are you ok," Ruby asked.

"Yeah I've done this sort of thing before, when I was much younger," Spyro replied, "I had a pretty good catalyst then. This time I was the catalyst, well and Malafor."

"Spyro," Cynder called as she landed next to him and let JNPR off.

"Uh guys," Jaune said as he got down, "What are those."

Looking over to Jaune then following his pointing hand Ruby saw a mass of ash-like people coming towards them.

"Leftover undead," Cynder replied curtly, "I can sense billions of them left... We can't glass the actual planet, it would be uninhabitable then."

"Looks like we are doing this the hard way then," Adam said, "I take it Delta has Malafor's back?"

"They do," Spyro said as he pushed himself up, "These undead should be easier to deal with now that the Lambent is gone."

"We need to find a place for the Pestilence to land," Scooter said as he transformed his armor into its car form. "But until then... Hey Maya you at those controls for the cannon? Oh hey Krieg, we need some cover fire. I've no idea what that meant but I'll take it as a yes, Thanks man."

"Well lets go find this landing zone," Ruby said as she jumped into Scooter's turret and took control of the twin rocket tubes. The horde charged down towards them with a roar.

"See this is why I hate Mondays," Spyro said as they braced themselves for the attack.

Character Fenix

"I. Hate. Mondays. I. Hate. Mondays. I. Hate. Mondays," Fenix chanted as he carved, blasted and beamed his, Delta's and Malafor's way through the undead. Grif had taken the Pelican back to the ship once they got off.

"Man chill," Dom said, "Its not like these guys can actually hurt... ow what the blarg? Die."

"See," Fenix said as he sent an energy bolt through three undead that had jumped onto Malafor's back while he healed the slash that Dom had taken on his arm.

"Isn't Johnson supposed to drop in with some support," Throon asked as he rode up on Pestilence and offered them a hand up.

"I'm good," Dom said to the offer to ride, "Go see if the girls want up."

"Don't be chivalrous," Sam said with a laugh, "The action is down here."

"I'll take that offer," Anya said as she climbed up and chambered her sniper rifle.

Fenix punched through an undead's chest with his lancer, shot the one behind it then sent a nova of energy out from the two corpses temporarily clearing the area with help from Malafor's destructive breath. "Throon you any good with a sniper," Fenix asked.

"I like to think so," Throon replied, "I'll trade you the shotgun."

Fenix tossed up his Longshot and caught the Gnasher as the undead started to regain their lost ground on the team. "This looks bad," Fenix remarked.

"That's probably because it is," Malafor remarked as the group readied themselves for another attack.

"Fenix," Doug said across the radio, "I've got some back up inbound for you. Check the sky."

Looking up Fenix saw the Lavadome hovering in the air after it teleported into the sky.

"Copy that Doug," Fenix replied, "Thanks."

"Hey could you use some help down there," Soap called from the Dome.

"The more lasers the better," Fenix said as he and Dom charged the next wave of zombies. Two dozen lasers started cutting paths through the horde. Malafor unleashed a stream of lava and raging energy from his mouth that kept their backs covered while Delta repulsed the attackers in front.

"We need to get to Spyro," Fenix radioed to Soap, "You know where he is yet?"

"Yeah we are tracking him and his team," Soap replied, "Fly on up here and we'll take you there... hold it got a portal opening to our east. You all stay grounded until we can figure out what this new ship wants."
"New ship what new ship," Fenix yelled back as he reloaded the shotgun, but he didn't get a reply.

"Looks like we are back to square one," Cole said.

"Hey at least Sarge made us this newer armor, if only so we could survive in space," Baird said, "I got to admit it has taken some hits for me though."

"Hope you like it," Malafor said, "It is based off of my scales."

"Blarging Mondays," Fenix muttered as the undead closed upon them again. "Ok Malafor you've got our backs, Throon, Anya lay down covering fire, Baird, Cole, Sam take the left side, Dom, let's do this."

Dom revved his lancer's chainsaw in approval and Sam shouted a "Yeah" as they engaged the undead for a third time. Fenix blasted through several undead with each shot of the Gnasher, his Paladin abilities making each pellet lethal to the risen corpses. Malafor was just as devastating and Pestilence was as implacable as ever but the rest of the team were not as effective against the undead. Most of the bullets would go right through the creatures without even slowing them down, leaving only the chainsaws and other melee weapons for them to use.

"Soap some help here," Fenix yelled into the radio.

"Yeah I know," Soap yelled back, "Got some incoming just stay on the ground for now we still have some hostile aircraft, but the bird looking one that is coming in for you is on our side. Just get in when I give the all clear."

Fenix was about to reply when a ship that was just slightly smaller than Malafor flew in and landed next to the dragon. It had four wings that it "flapped" that seemed to propel the craft with an ion energy field.

"Your bird is here," Fenix said as he flattened another three zombies with the Gnasher, "Are the skies open?"

"Not yet just hold on a little longer," Soap replied, "Should be easier now that our newest friend is there."

Fenix would have asked what Soap was talking about but was to busy wrestling an undead off of Dom. Dom kicked the creature off of him and Fenix put a bolt through it. He then turned around to find another undead about to strike him. Fenix raised the Gnasher to intercept the attack that never came as an explosion rang out and the undead fell to the ground in flames. Outlined in the door of the ship was a man, or Fenix thought it was until he caught sight of the tail. The person had spiky yellow hair an open white shirt above bluejeans, a yellow furred tail, green eyes and a cocky smile that all was behind the barrel of a lever action shotgun/nunchuck, which was the source of the flaming projectile.

"Looks like your in a bit of a mess," the new arrival said as he linked the nunchuck-guns into a staff... like a Gunchaku. "Sun Wukong at your service." This line was punctuated with a bow that turned into a spinning attack against some undead that had gotten past Malafor. He then jumped over to Fenix and Dom and knocked back two more undead. "Well are you going to fight or just stand there in awe?"

"Freaking Mondays," Fenix growled as he cocked the shotgun and continued to flatten undead with his attacks. "So can you fly that thing?"

"No I just ride around in it for fun," Sun replied as he and Fenix swapped places around Dom. Fenix and Delta were used to fighting, but they were used to fighting with guns mostly. Sun was, in comparison, a typhoon of melee prowess. Utilizing his staff/gun weapon in its various forms to drop more undead than even Fenix's paladin abilities allowed him to, for now. Fenix decided in that moment that he would start learning in more detail the true extent of his powers.

"Fenix you're clear," Soap called, "I assume you've met Sun so get in his plane and get up here, Malafor can follow us."

"Ok everyone into the plane," Fenix shouted over the den of gun fire, "Malafor follow us up we're heading to Spyro and his team."

"Good," Malafor replied, "Who's the new guy?"

"Tell you later big guy," Sun said as he opened the door to the plane, "Everyone come aboard."

Fenix and Dom stayed outside keeping the undead at bay as the others climbed into the plane and Pestilence was loaded into the cargo bay. The he and Dom slipped into the door as the ship took to the air along with Malafor.

"Soap you there," Sun called from the communication system in the plane.

"Yeah I'm here," Soap replied, "The entrance to the Dome is up top if you want to come on in."

"Will do," Sun replied, "I got your friends so now you take me to mine."

"That was the deal stowaway," Soap said, "Good thing you called us before you headed out of that carrier we might have shot you down too."

"Yeah well I am a great stowaway," Sun replied, "And I guess thief too since the plane was Roman's originally."

"Wait Roman," Anya said, "Isn't that the guy that Adam got the droids for?"

"Oh I see you know about that," Sun said, "Uh yeah the ship was one of his, it was headed to this universe and since Blake followed RWBY here while chasing that Dust trail and Adam followed her I followed him."

"Fenix you want to explain," Soap asked, "Cause I'm sorry but that didn't make sense."

"Put simply Sun stole the plane we are in from a master thief," Fenix replied.

"Irony," Fenix heard Ghost say from the background.

"Yeah can we sort my past out later," Sun said, "Adam isn't what Blake thinks he is, he isn't really a Fanus."

"Old news there," Sam said, "Adam told us that himself."

"No seriously he is not... wait he already told you," Sun said seeming surprised for the first time since they met.

"Yeah turns out he is actually the reforged souls of two of our old enemies," Fenix explained, "Look kid no matter how crazy your world is your life just got crazier."

"Huh well I like crazy," Sun replied with his cocky smile reappearing on his face, "Now lets go meet up with my fiancee."

"Wait your engaged," Cole asked, "To who... oh its Blake isn't it."

"Chalk one up for the athlete," Sun said as he rang a bell with his tail making a ding ding ding sound.

"How did you know that he was an athlete," Baird asked.

"Man the only way to get pecs that show through armor is to train for sports," Sun said as he tapped his own set of muscles, "These are just from fighting, lean, strong and springy not the bulk of a sports player."

Delta just looked at each other for a moment before Throon asked, "So what can you tell about me?"

"Hmm lets see not human, definitely not Fanus, hard outer shell like an insect, and has a freaking awesome pet," Sun stated the obvious traits of Throon, "A warrior, leader even, dedicated strong and resourceful... one of the last of your kind."

"Impressive," Throon said, "I am Throon leader of the Locust, we number in the hundreds where there used to be trillions."

"Whoa what happened," Sun asked.

"We happened," Fenix said, "Stupid wars, we should have seen this coming."

"So the undead are... wow I'm real sorry," Sun said as the gravity of the situation hit him. "This was your planet?"

"It will be again," Fenix said as they set down in the Lavadome and headed for Spyro.

Character Cynder

They had fought their way to a large plateau, one big enough to land a freighter from Pestilence in with DC on board. Soap had just radioed in that he was bringing Delta, Malafor and a Sun to them. At the mention of Sun Blake got a huge grin, Adam looked surprised even from behind his mask, Jaune looked confused and the rest just blinked before Ruby said. "Well did we really expect him to stay behind?"

"I guess not," Blake remarked, "But neither did we expect to go through a portal to another universe."

"Wait you didn't plan on coming here," Cynder asked.

"Not exactly," Weiss answered, "See we tracked the Dust flow to an island off the coast of Vale. Cinder was apparently using it as her base of operations and when we smashed in we were sucked through the portal that she was funneling the Dust through." Cynder looked at her for a moment before Weiss realized that she and the other Cinder shared the same name. "Oh sorry. Cinder is the leader of the crime syndicate on Vytal."

"She doesn't manipulate shadows or practice necromancy does she," Spyro asked.

"No she uses more fire based attacks," Yang said, "No your completely different, also she is human your Leviathan."

"Wasn't that rhetorical," Ren asked.

"So that is how you ended up near Azmodan," Cynder remarked, "I must admit your timing was perfect."

"Where are all the undead," Nora asked as they waited on the plateau.

"Climbing the side of the cliff," Adam replied, "They will be upon us shortly."

"So what is Vytal," Spyro asked as they waited for either the undead of their friends to show up.

"One of the four kingdoms of Remnant," Adam said, "Our world, Remnant, is basically four human kingdoms with the Fanus living among them wherever they can and the rest is controlled by the Grimm."

"Sounds like our world used to be," Cynder said, "We had four major cities and the rest was wilderness."

"That is pretty much the situation on our world," Pyrrha replied, "That is why Roman having droids and such is so disturbing."

"Not to mention that if Cinder and Roman are still working together," Blake remarked.

"Wow sounds like your world really does have its problems," Spyro said, "Do we need to take you guys back or something?"

"No that is fine," Jaune said, "Between Ozpin, Goodwitch, CRDL, CFVY, Lao, Qrow, and Penny I think they are probably fine."

Spyro and Cynder just looked at each other before nodding and returning their attention to the approaching undead. "I can feel them," Cynder said, "The entire cliff face is covered with them." Spyro sighed as he stretched his wings in preparation for the upcoming fight. Cynder looked at him and couldn't help but feel the sorrow that echoed from his mind to hers. She then focused on the undead that were just reaching the top of the cliff. Cynder weighed their options for a moment before sending out a pulse of necrotic energy towards the undead, growling "Come here you," as she did so. The undead that had reached the top went ridged for a second before turning from Cynder and team towards the other undead that were climbing the cliff.

"What the," Weiss stated.

"Necromancy," Cynder hissed as she locked her armor to keep her upright, "Draining stuff but blarging useful."

"Cyn you didn't have to do that," Spyro said.

"I'll be fine," Cynder replied, "Besides if you don't practice this stuff it gets harder. Maybe I should join Tom from time to time just to keep up my skills."

"How long will the undead hold out," Adam asked.

"Until they are killed," Cynder replied as she unlocked her armor, "Considering that they are on the top of the cliff I'd say that that would take a while."

"You just took command of three-thousand undead," Adam said, "Are you sure your ok?"

"Yes," Cynder said as she felt her energy reserves building back up, "I seem to regenerate energy much faster than even Spyro here." RWBY and JNPR and Adam all looked at her. "It true," she said. Pyrrha walked up to her and placed a hand on her head. After a moment she back up with a shocked expression on her face. "What is it," Cynder asked.

"I don't know," Pyrrha replied, "I can sense and unlock Aura in others. You seem to have several, all working together to generate the energy that you use for your powers. They feel dark though."

"Wind, Shadow, Fear, Poison, Necromancy," Cynder said, "I guess dark is one way of describing them."

"Look the Lavadome is here," Spyro said, "Looks like some sort of dragonfly airship is heading down from it."

"Hello," Price said on the radio, "I see we didn't miss much, Cynder did you get the undead to fight each other... that is inspired."

"I told you I trained her well," Malafor said as he joined the chat and his outline became visible from behind the airship.

"The lava is a nice touch," Nora said as Malafor's glowing body came out from behind the airship.

"He thought so too," Spyro said, "I don't know how he maintains that form though."

"Don't even think about it," Cynder thought to Spyro.

"What," Spyro thought back.

"Blake," came a concerned, male voice on the radio.

"Sun," Blake replied with a laugh, "It really is you. How did... actually I don't care just get down here."

"Rodger that gorgeous," Sun replied, "Got a Delta company on board and the Legion half of Legion 141."

"The who," Ruby asked.

"Reinhardt, Anjali, Ghost and Katarina," Cynder said, "Lucas and Ghost seemed to have switched teams or something."

"We are on the same team," Lucas said, "I'm just sticking this one out with the guys."

"Yes because the men are landing on the battlefield," Reinhardt replied as the airship and Malafor landed and the crew disembarked. Blake ran over and hugged Sun. He was easy to pick out with the tail and open shirt policy.

"Not the most protective of battle gear," Cynder thought as she looked the newest arrival over.

"Hey guys," Baird said as he and Delta walked over to Cynder and Spyro, "Look who we found."

"Didn't Soap find him first," Cynder remarked.

"Yeah but he didn't see him first," Cole said, "When they saw the tail... the looks on their faces. Ha!"

"Ok the Pestilence has sent a frigate out to land here," Soap said, "Should be here in ten minutes, until then we've got your back."

"Now that is a piece of engineering there," Scooter remarked as he circled the airship with his car.

"Ah it will be good to get out of that Dome and burn some stuff," Ghost said as he and the other three from Legion 141 walked over to join the group around Cynder and Spyro.

"Yeah," Yang agreed.

"Well you will have to," Cynder said, "The undead just opened up a hole in the wall. South-East section, I'll go with and I'll take a few riders."

"We're in," Jaune stated as his team assembled to climb onto Cynder.

"What just going to run off and have all the fun," Sun said.

"Don't worry," Malafor said, "If the undead have broken through in one spot then the rest of the wall will be falling pretty soon."

"Like a section directly North of us," Cynder said as she took off with JNPR on her back, "Spyro, Take RWBY and friends, and go North. I'll radio in more positions as they open up."

"Well this will be different," Pyrrha remarked, "Actual undead... it is harder to kill something that has such person like appearance. Those Locust undead are just terrible, they all look..."

"They look lost, confused," Ren continued, "Like they are scared and looking for a direction."

"They are undead," Cynder said, "Any emotion they had was stripped from them when they died."

"Are you sure," Nora asked, "I was certain I saw one of them smiling as I crushed it with Magnhild."

"Yeah they seem almost happy when they die," Jaune said, "Like the helplessness and rage all bleeds out of them and they are just at peace."

Cynder looked back over her shoulder at the team on her back, she couldn't detect any signs of them joking. On a hunch she ran a deeper scan of the undead. What she found was startling even to her.

"You... you may be right," Cynder said after a moment, drawing JNPR's attention to her again. "These creatures are undead, but they are very similar to Doug himself. The bodies are undead and they 'feel' like undead but the symbiotic organism that lives within them is still very much alive and it has feelings and a mind. These things are the Lambent... but now that the Magog that was ruling them is gone they are wandering, lost."

"That is terrible," Pyrrha exclaimed, "There must be something we can do!"

Cynder thought the situation over as she radioed for someone to go hold the line on the West side of the plateau. Malafor informed her that he and Delta were heading to the West and she cut the channel. "To get these Lambent to organize into something other than a planetary mob we will need someone who is like them," Cynder said.

"What do you mean like them," Jaune asked.

"Someone with two souls," Cynder replied. Then she caught herself as an idea formed.

"Doesn't Adam have two souls," Ren asked.

"My thoughts exactly," Cynder said as she sent a radio request to Adam.

"Cynder," Adam answered, "We are a little busy here."

"Well you might be able to make the day a lot less busy," Cynder said, "These undead... they are still Lambent, two souls. It is a long shot but I think that if you tried talking to them they might be able to talk back to you."

There was just gunfire from the other side for a few seconds before Adam picked up the conversation again. "The creatures that we are slaughtering, you think they will just talk to me?"

"Its worth a shot," Cynder said, "I'll tell the others to break off for a bit while we test this."

Character Blake

They had just jumped off of Spyro's back when Cynder sent a message saying to not fight the undead. Cynder then explained how the Lambent were not undead, well not entirely undead. Though they had a body that was reanimated the Lambent themselves were alive and that killing the body was also killing them. Fenix and Throon both vehemently pushed to eradicate all of them after that but Cynder maintained that the Lambent might be saved. As this conversation carried on and Blake and the others watched as the two groups of undead fought each other. Cynder's forces were almost gone when Blake had an idea.

"Cynder how are you controlling the Lambent if they are only part undead," Blake asked.

"I...Um let me get back to you on that," Cynder replied.

"Well that was helpful," Weiss remarked.

Blake, Sun, Weiss and Adam looked at each other then looked to Spyro. Adam raised an eyebrow, Weiss tapped the hilt of Myrtenaster, Sun flipped one of his Gunchaku pairs around with his tail and Blake smiled. "Hey Spyro," Blake called, "How does Cynder control undead?"

"With necromancy," Spyro replied, "What of it?"

"We know that she is a necromancer what we are asking is how does it work," Adam clarified.

"How should I know," Spyro asked.

"Well your mind and hers are linked surely some information seeps through," Sun said, "Give us your best impression."

"Well I guess you could say she 'talks' to them or something," Spyro replied, "I don't see... oh."

"Blake your not thinking about," Weiss started but Blake had already started heading towards the Lambent that had just finished off the last of Cynder's forces. It was a crazy idea but if it would work then the situation would be much easier to resolve.

"Lambent," Blake called to the oncoming mass of creatures, "Why do you fight us?"

The rushing corpses slowed down as they approached her and one stopped right in front of her. They starred at each other for almost a minute before the Lambent spoke. "I fight, I fight because you are, are here. You are not I, and I am this world."

"You are the planet," Blake asked, "But we just fixed the planet, well Spyro and Malafor did. How could you be... That other creature, he wasn't Lambent he just controlled you didn't he?"

"The foreign one was cruel to me," Another Lambent, or more appropriately another form of the Lambent spoke, "But so were the others the Locust that carved and cunt into me, the Serrans as they burned me in their weapons. As they developed the means to kill each other the foreign one showed us the means to kill them."

"So why have you not tried to kill me," Blake asked.

"You are not Serran or Locust," The Lambent replied in its soft almost whispering voice, "You are also foreign, you asked why we fight, you want peace?"

"Yes," Blake replied. She noticed that the others had formed up behind her but didn't want to jeopardize this chance to talk with the Lambent by turning away from it. "We want peace... do you want peace?"

"We want... rest," The lambent replied, "But there are Serrans and Locust among you. They will try to carve and burn again as they once did! We won't allow it."

"Do they even know what you are," Blake asked.

"How could they not," The Lambent replied.

"Do you know what I am," Blake asked.

"You are not Serran, not Locust, Human though," Lambent stated.

Blake smiled as she pulled at the bow that covered her Fanus cat ears, "Wrong," she said. "Just as you could have no knowledge of me if I didn't tell you, how could they know of you if you didn't tell them?"

The Lambent looked at her for a moment before stating, "Not human, not Lambent, not Locust. Serrans and Locust they don't know of me. They live on and within me but are unaware of me. I have made a mistake, an assumption. I will seek to amend this presumption. I thank you foreigner."

"Its Blake actually," Weiss said, "You'll want to talk to Fenix and Throon if you want to get anywhere in conversation."

"I already am," Lambent replied, "I am this world."

"Heads up," Mal called on the radio, "We are landing the frigate on your plateau so don't get burnt."

"Mal," Spyro said, "Don't attack the uh undead/Lambent. They are or it is the planet."

"Hey," Cynder chimed in, "Turns out I was only controlling the undead part, the living part is so big that it seems to cover the planet."

"We already figured that out," Scooter said, "We just asked the Lambent."

"You did what," Cynder asked.

"Blake went and talked with it," Spyro said, "Now that I think about it we really should try that rout more often."

"It did seem to work for K with his brother," Yang said.

"Yeah but it almost got you killed," Ruby exclaimed, "If it hadn't have been for those armored guys and Adam here you would have left me like Mom did!"

"Yikes," Scooter said, "I take it there is some unresolved issues here."

"Yeah don't remind us," Yang said, "What Sis means is that sometimes it is better to shoot first."

"An idea held closely to by your friends it seems," Lambent interjected, "Fenix and Throon are just now figuring out that I am talking to them."

"And how are the others in Delta taking this news," Spyro asked.

"With caution," Lambent said, "Their dragon friend seems to be indifferent though."

"Malafor," Spyro sighed, "He is not as sociable as I am."

"He is also made of lava," Lambent replied, "I was not 'sociable' when I was being burned either. I do wonder how do you hear me?"

"Uh because you are talking," Ruby replied.

"I do not talk," Lambent said, "I express intentions and interpret the same. So how are we communicating?"

"That would be K's spell or something," Spyro said, "It is an effect that lets us understand any communication and lets us communicate in any form."

"I remember a K," Lambent said, "From the long, dark, past. A creature of fury and anger of terror. I recall just shades of impressions of him, him and his kind, the Satan. It seems improbable that this would be the same but I feel that you see him in a similar manner."

"That would explain how he was able to talk to Satan," Blake said, "I guess he really was as bad as he makes himself out to have been."

"It is improbable but this communication effect is something that K carried with him from the earliest of my recollections," Lambent said, "I can only conclude that he is the same. He came here and warned me about the foreign one, tried to help me. I didn't trust him and it cost me, cost everyone here."

"Is that why you are trusting us," Adam asked.

"It is why I am trusting Blake," Lambent replied, "You echo of K and these others are still unknown to me."

"Well I'm Yang," Yang said as she fluffed her hair, "Nice to meet you and not have to fight you."

"Likewise," Lambent replied.

They soon had introduced themselves to Lambent. Lambent wasn't really a multitude of different creatures it was one creature that spread its mind across a network of other living creatures or in this case formerly living creatures. Lambent was very much like Doug in a sense, except where Doug had to take over a body to use it, Lambent only required a small presence within the host organism for both of them to benefit. Lambent would get some of the energy produced by the host and in return the host would gain access to Lambent's mental network. Or that was how it was supposed to work, once the Magog took over Lambent twisted the minds of its hosts until they were just insane killers. Now that the Magog was dispersed Lambent was returning to its normal state. This was evident as it, his, vocabulary increased at a rapid pace his thoughts grew more complex by the hour and a strong, ethical, being emerged from the morass of thousands of years of enslavement.

"I'll be blarged," Fenix said now that the group was back together and waiting outside the frigate so they could introduce Lambent to their comrades. "All this time we could have had a planetary neural network and instead we were getting blarged by a demon."

"Had I listened to the warning I was given this world's history might have turned out quite differently," Lambent said. He had chosen a Locust Boomer body to send with them while the rest of him he moved back away from the site so as not to cause alarm.

"What happen here was tragic yes," Cynder said, "And while we care greatly about our members from this world, I doubt that you could have helped them much."

"The Dragoness speaks truly," Throon said, "If there was a neural network it would only have emphasized the differences between our kinds... war between the Locust and Serrans was inevitable."

"What about now," Blake asked.

"Now... I think we can start to get past it," Dom said.

"Hmm there is weight behind that statement," Lambent observed, "Enough that I believe you may be correct. If your kind, both of your kind, want to return and live here again I have ample labor to help in refitting the infrastructure of the planet."

"Weren't they burning you for fuel," Sun asked. Blake smacked him on the arm but Lambent just laughed.

"That they were, I will have to find an alternate to that situation," Lambent said. "Blake I do wonder what gave you the idea to talk to me?"

"Just a hunch really," Blake said, "Since Cynder was able to control the undead side of you I figured the living side of you could be rational and communicated with."

"And with K's interpretation aura you would be able to speak with me," Lambent said, "Interesting."

"I actually didn't know about that at the time," Blake admitted.

"Brave then," Malafor said, "Still an unusual solution for our group."

"K approaches," Adam said, "Let us see if this is a satisfactory solution."

"Why wouldn't it be," Fenix scoffed.

"If the Magog is still active in Lambent then this may not be a satisfactory solution," K said as he landed beside them. K walked up to Lambent and the two stared at each other for a while. The situation got uncomfortable as everyone just stood there while the two beings appraised one another. "I did warn you," K finally said, "I don't guess I can blame you for not trusting me though."

"And I can not shift the burden of these deaths to any other," Lambent replied.

"No you can't," K said with a sigh, "Just another failure on my part... You know I couldn't help you once Magog got a hold of you."

"What do you mean," Lambent replied, "You have helped me, your team destroyed Magog, Blake reminded me of what I was, and Delta forgave me. If that isn't help then I'm not sure what is."

K nodded then turned to Blake, "Blake Belladonna," K stated then after a pause, "If your friends are made of similar material then perhaps I underestimated the rest of you. I must admit I found it odd that my fragments would take up residence in a world that was so sparse. Now I see that there was no better place for him to go to recuperate, no better person for him to be around."

"Adam you chose me," Blake asked, "I didn't realize... you didn't kill the crew did you?"

"No," Adam replied, "And soon after I left the White Fang."

"So you two used to," Sun asked.

"What no not like you," Blake replied, "Adam was like the big brother I never had. So if we are finished here, what next?"

"Next," K said, "Next is Tuesday."