Rise Of The Grimm Reaper

by BlackDragonDevilGod

For ever path traveled in one reality, another one is taken. In one version of the world, Loki's invasion failed and his allies fell. But in another, the invasion still failed but Loki's Servant attempted to spite the Avengers and as a result, two worlds have become one. How will our heroes fare in this new world of bloody evolution.

23. Chapter 23

Hello once again my ever lovely and loyal peeps!

So here we go, the moment we've all been waiting for, when the truth is revealed to everyone. Not just Xero and Gudako's truth, but the truth of Ozpin, OZMA's past. Along with the truth of Salem, the gods and their true history. Even his own cruse to reincarnate forever with a like minded individual.

No matter how much he doesn't want to do it, he no longer has a choice. As Null isn't the only story the Curator has recorded.

This idea came to me, cause i wanted to make this story stand out and to basically put a lot of emphasis on the Multiverse theory and how it can damage things if someone knew how to access data on other worlds similar to the one you're in now.

Stories like Null.

Showing just how far the rich and powerful will go to protect their own interest, regardless of how wrong it is. After all, what does one family's justice mean against a kingdom's stability.

It amounts to nothing.

Nothing at all. They say you can't sacrifice a 1,000 lives just to save one but there is a line that has to be drawn. There is just so much evil you can put up with before you decide to do something about it and as they say, fight fire with fire.

Fight Monsters with monsters.

But that's besides the point, as let's just jump into this chapter. I was pretty eager to write this, so that's why it came out so quickly and because i have a long weekend this week, with little to no work to do, i'm free to do all the writing i want! So as always i own nothing but my OC's.

So please read, review and "What the fuc-BOOM"

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Chapter 17: Unforeseen Deadly Repercussions And Forging New Alliances

Two Hours Earlier

"I normally don't do this, as it is not my place to judge, but i do believe you'll find a certain book very interesting. You see, i haven't recorded just you're world and it's varies possibilities, i have recorded many more, the world of Remnant included. While this version is just one of it's many possibilities, it is, how shall we say a late bloomer so to speak. One that coming along but not quite there yet, as it's future has yet to be decided. Now as i have done for you in the past, i'm going to give you a hint, should you wish to accept my help of course. But given our past dealings, i do believe we already know what you're answer will be."

"Oh bloody hell, where is it?"

Xero shook his hair, as the Curator words rang in his head. He was in the 'library' or at least another section of the Curator's repository, looking the same as everywhere else. It was kinda annoying to be honest, as he was looking through a section labeled R.W.B.Y

The fact Remnant was named after one team might give those four a big head and it also granted on his nerves a bit. Xero liked to think he was a good judge of character, he was very paranoid and having that skill was essential in finding out who you can and cannot trust.

Out of the four girls, only Ruby was okay in his book. Shy but determined to be a good person and wanting to do the right thing made it easy to get along with her. She might be a but naive but at least she was willing to listen to reason and not just bull on ahead, ignoring everything else. That kind of thinking got people killed and in the Magus world, just touching something could end up with you being cursed for all eternity.

Not like the others.

Yang was you're typical hotheaded, gun-ho, popular teenage girl. The kind that believed she was never in the wrong, could get anything she wanted because she was pretty and if she couldn't get it on looks, she'd do it with violence. Not to mention she was clearly very bullheaded and had a temper, so regardless if she would listen to reason, she'd lose all sense of reason and charge in with little to no concept of the consequences of her actions. But she loved her family to death, took pride in being a big sister and would do anything to keep Ruby safe. She also saw things in a black and white way, not in a naive manner just the fact she liked to keep things simple.

Not necessarily a bad attitude all things considered and can easily be ironed out. That made dealing with Yang the easiest one out of the four girl team and someone he could work with.

Ruby was a bit more naive and would have a hard time doing what needed to be done but like Yang, he could iron out the details later.

These details were important to know, cause with his luck, he'd more then likely be forced to work with them all at some point in the future. Especially if Ruby and her mother really did turn out to be kin to him, which she more then likely would be.

The other two, Schnee and Belladonna, not so much. Oh goddess, where did he start, both of them were complete little shits and worse then Nero in arrogance. Sure, he loved the short blonde and while she is still very arrogant, she was the kind type of arrogant, not like the "holier than thou" Belladonna had or as Shuten put it, the massive ego of the Schnee.

The little Oni had told him, she could actually sense the ego the younger Schnee had and it sent the demoness into a laughing fit.

Well, the easiest one to start off with would be the Schnee. Coming from a high class family, Xero could see Weiss got everything she wanted in life on a sliver platter but that kind of life would lead to a not so stable family. Jackass father, equally jackass son, a distant sister with a stick so far up her ass it take a crane to get it out and the icing on the cake is a drunken mother that couldn't be bothered to care about anyone or anything expect her next drink.

Which turned the girl bitter and arrogant thanks to the money, the ability to get the best of everything no matter what.

On one hand he can understand her reasoning to be distrustful and maybe even arrogant, as he'd be lying if he said he wasn't a tab bit arrogant himself at time. Hell being arrogant is what got Xero sent the hospital in the first place but in turn had allowed Xero to met his father, so it worked out okay.

Schnee...no, Weiss Schnee was just a bitch and her being a Schnee meant she was above everyone else, something beyond human.

While that behavior was taught and could be dis-learned, for the moment Xero would be unable to work with the white haired girl. Especially when the damn girl kept trying to steal his family away! Just who the hell did she think she was?

Xero sighed, as he rubbed his forehead.

Even then, she wasn't the worst of the four. Sure, Schnee was a bitch but she could become better over time. Under all that bitchyness was an underlining amount of genuine good that she really, truly wanted to help. She became a huntress to change the world and forge her own path, one not dictated by her family.

Something Xero could understand and even respect her for it.

But she wasn't the worst of them.

The worst one was that goddess damned hypocritical, higher than thou, cowardly huntress known as Blake Belladonna.

Just looking at her was like looking at a skittish cat, jumping at shadows and the slightest thing and looked wary at everyone. Him most of all and originally, he couldn't blame the girl. He was indeed a monster and despite how young she was, he wouldn't have hesitated to kill the girl if needed, if only to protect his family or his friends.

But nope.

No, the reason she was wary of him was because he was a 'Monster' simply because he kills to protect those he loves and the innocent. Not to mention the arrogance that she believed only she, Blake, knew what was best and everyone else was wrong. The world was wrong cause she disagreed and that was that. While she had a good moral compass, that did not excuse her trying to turn his Servants against him.

The girl had the audacity to believe he had forcefully enslaved his more animalistic Servants.

While he could understand she could mistaken them for Faunus, that did not mean he forcefully made them work for him. Xero could see it in those eyes, those damned eyes condemning him for 'enslaving' her fellow 'Faunus' despite not even knowing the full story. And don't even get him started on her cowardness, the girl practical reeked of fear it nearly made him sick.

How that girl could become a huntress, was beyond him.

Strong in body but weak in mind, spirit and emotions.

Nothing at all like his lovely Servants, teammates, friends and Gudako. Hell even the Curator was better then her, despite all his cryptic shit but if there was one word used to described him, it be this.

Enigma.

He was an enigma.

The Curator had always been an enigma to Xero and more then likely, will always be one. But he could not deny the man had been very helpful and if he said reading a book called 'Null' will help ensure his future, then Xero would make sure to read every inch of it. It was unlike him to do something like this, to give him such a straight forward clue but the man bent the rules for him before, so he'd follow up on it.

But first he had to find the bloody damn thing first!

"Mr. Reindeer, Mr. Reindeer!"

He blinked, as the small form of J-Lily came rushing down the pathway, a bright smile on her face and a book clutched to her small chest. She came to a full stop in front of him, kicking up dust as she did so and held her hands up with a large smile,"I found it, i found it!"

"Good job J-Lily."

The small Lancer all but purred, as she leaned into his hand, as he rubbed her head, as he looked at the book titled Null. with a smile"Well, time to see what the Curator wanted me to find."

That smile wouldn't even last five minutes in.

Present

Glup, Glup, Gulp

Alcohol had never once tasted so bitter to Tony until now, sitting at a bar that Curator was happy to point out to him, when all was said and done. The brownish liquid burned his throat, as his mind started to fall into the state of being 'Not quite drunk but i'm getting there' state of mind. Which is what he was going for.

Not drunk but to completely blitzed out, dead to right drunk right now. The alcohol would burn his throat good and he hoped it burn his mind too, if only to get out the images his genius mind created within his mind's eye. Idly he knew that if he wanted to get deader then dead drunk, he'd should have asked Shuten for a helping of her personal stash.

That'd get him good and drunk, hopefully knock him out for a while so he could forget the horror of what he just learn, if only for a few hours at best. And forget the guilt that threaten to eat him alive.

Whoever said knowledge is both a blessing and a curse, they were right dead on the money.

Tony had forgo a glass shot and simply snatched the entire bottle, sitting his ass on the stool, as he drank his sorrows and anger away. God(Or was it goddess?) that had been the longest one hour, twenty three minute and fifteen second of his entire life. Nothing, not even Stane's betrayal or his parents death had ever hit Tony as hard as his kid's life had.

"How hard would i have to hit my head on the counter until i pass out from blood loss or pain?"

That idea was becoming more and more appealing he almost did it, had not capsicle arrived at the last second. Steve grabbed the bottle he had and gave him a look between pity and understanding. Eh, damn soldier boy.

"I would ask if you're okay but i think we both know the answer to that question."

Oh, really? Yeah, like Tony wouldn't have thought of that. The oldest Stark snorted, as he leaned on the wooden counter,"What were you doing when you were fifteen years old Steve?"

The blonde super soldier blinked, caught off guard by the sudden question but answered never the less,"Oh. Uh, i was actually in school, working on getting good grades and trying to kept Bucky out of trouble. Not that it meant much, trouble always found us."

"Is that so? Well here's what i was doing and what i've always done: Partying my ass off, dating and sextening every hot blonde and them some."

Steve hesitant took a seat next to the son of his friend, as Tony begin to rant,"You know what Xero did? You know, Xero my wonderful son, one of you're old war buddies and our leader, do you know what he was doing?"

Steve nodded, closing his eyes in shame.

By god, did he know.

"Let me remind you then, Xero, my ONLY son was fighting for not just his life but for the life and future of our entire world. Yeah, we kinda did the same thing, only our world was already destroyed, leaving Chaldea as the last bastion of humanity and even then, they were already fucked right from the start. All because some asshole sold us all out for power. Then my son and adopted daughter had to literary wage a war across time itself with little to not help from any other human, all to restore humanity, while summoning legendary heroes and villains from the past to help. Sounds like a good idea at first, but then comes all the pain of BEING a master and having to fight various battles, ON HIS OWN no less just because of some bullshit excuse or reason. So yeah, forgive me if i'm not in a cheery mood, when i realized at his age, i was having the time of my life, while my son was having to go through hell itself and then some."

Yeah, isn't that the truth?

Steve sighed, as he sat on a stool next to Tony,"Min sharing that?"

Wordless, Tony grabbed another bottle and gave it to Steve, who opened it's cork and began to drink it.

God, never once in his entire life had Steve ever felt like complete and utter shit, then he has in the last hour of listening to Xero's tale. Neither he nor Gudako held back on the details, even if he basically sum everything up, Steve got the gist of it all:

Chaldea, Grand Order, Lev's betrayal, Demon God Pillars, Heroic Spirits, Dream Cycle, Rayshifitng, Moon Cell, Holy Grail War, Xero's Memory Problems, Miria, The Warriors, The Yoma, Awakened Beings, The Creatures Of The Abyss, The Six Infinity Stones, Singularity's, The Black Plague, The Man of Medan, Little Hope, the House of Ashes, Solomon, Beast Class Servants, Goetia, Lostbelts, World War 2, Inferno Prison, Servant universe, Multiverse, even Avenger Xero and the true reason why he tried to 'kill' his younger self...And the biggest betrayal possible.

The entire thing sounded like it came straight out of a fantasy book and yet, after everything he's seen and experienced, Steve can't find it himself to actually believe he is lying.

Not only did his friend suck at lying, Xero had never once mislead or deceived.

Not once.

Steve trusted his friend, so he believed what he told him. After all, it couldn't be any crazier then what Ozpin had told them about his own past. Now that was some scary shit.

Flashback

"...So everything we've done, our entire history, the fight against the Grimm, it's all been one big fat lie? That...that my family and i, we're destined to become criminals, all because the 'greatest kingdom on Remnant' wanted my semblance as a weapon? My youngest sister's semblance? Just because we have something unique, just because we have something different from everyone else, we are criminals simple because we wanted justice for the inhumane things that were, WILL, be done to us?"

Jaune Arc's voice was uncharacteristically bitter, full of hate and venom as he glared at Ozpin and those from Atlas, like they committed some great crime towards him. Which they had indeed.

In a sense.

The Brother Gods, Relic's, the origins of Remnant's magical powers, the Sliver Eyed Warriors, the Academy's true purposes, the four Maidens, the Pools of Darkness, the Destruction of the Moon, how Remnant became the way it was thanks to said Brother Gods and old Oz's curse.

...And Salem's immortality.

Everything they all knew, everything they were taught to believe, all of it...was it all a lie? Cause it most certainly sounded like it! Hell, it sounded like even the Great War itself was constructed and manipulated by Salem herself.

Is that all their history was?

Nothing more then pure manipulation from two shadowy figures bitching it out and using people's lives as chest pieces?!

"You're telling me?"

Yang sneered at Ozpin, making her headmaster, soon to be FORMER HEADMASTER, flinch at her anger,"That you would willingly throw away my SISTER, condemn her to a life of pure hell, all just you wouldn't want to risk you're new 'weapon' life? Is that right?"

"Ms. Xiao Long please understand-"

"NO! SHUT THE FUCK UP! I AM NOT GOING TO LISTEN TO WHATEVER FUCKED UP REASONS YOU HAVE! YOU STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM MY SISTER!"

"Ms. Xiao Long, you will show you're headmaster the proper respect!

Yang just glared death at Goodwitch,"GO TO HELL GOODBITCH! HE IS NOT MY HEADMASTER, NOT ANYMORE! NOT AFTER THE SHIT HE, NO HE WILL PULL, FUCK THAT! THE HELL WITH IT, I'M QUITING BEACON AND I'M TAKING MY SISTER WITH ME! HELL, I'LL TAKE JAUNE WITH ME TOO, JUST TO DENY YOU YOU'RE NEW TOY!"

The words cut deep into Ozpin, looking like he aged a few years at those words, even Glynda flinched, as if those words had slapped her too. She may have not been attacked but the venom in Yang's words certainly stung the deputy headmistress.

"Watch you're tongue you cur! I will not be spoken with such disrespect."

Atlas wouldn't allow it, we are better then you, it went unsaid as Jacques glared at Jaune, who glared right back with hate in his eyes.

"Or what? You going to stick me in one of you're little mines till i die or maybe just strap me to a table to be experimented on like some lab rat? Maybe you'll actually get you're hands dirty and do it yourself for once, unless you're too weak to do it? Just like the rest of Atlas, seeing as they can't be strong without the blood of innocent people greasing the wheels of it's oh so great machine?"

Jacques saw red and moved to actually slap Jaune, regardless of all the witness present, only to be stopped by Berserker Lancelot, who easily stood over the business man.

"Grrrrrr"

Red eyes sparked with madness and bloodlust, silently begging his queen to allow him to do the world a favor and rid it of this shit stain before him. Despite being literary man handled by the Berserker, Jacques didn't know when to shut up,"Let go of me you damn beast! Ironwood do-"

"Jacques, SHUT. UP. Lord Mazoku, please have your Knight release him."

Xero quirked an eyebrow at Ironwood's sudden politeness,"Well, since you asked so politely, Berserker release the shit stain. As much as i'd like to see him become a stain on the ground, we don't start things. We finish them."

The Berserker grumbled something that sounded like "Yes my queen" before he none too gently, threw Jacques to the ground with more force then strictly necessary. Something that made many quietly laugh at Jacques prone form, face still red in anger, as he tried to regain what little dignity he had left.

That mattered little to Ozpin, as he realized Ms. Xiao Long was serious and seeing the fearful look on Ms. Rose's face, he knew she go along with it.

Admittedly, Ozpin couldn't blame them one bit for feeling fearful of him. No matter how much he wanted to deny it, no what argument he could come up with, it didn't matter because what happened in the reality of "Null" COULD happen in their reality. James had asked the Curator, why he felt the need to turn everyone against them, against Atlas, when the story was finished.

Even if he wanted to question Ozpin on why he didn't mention anything about Salem's apparent immortally, James needed to stop the catastrophe of a huge international incident. Human experimentation was highly illegal and if Atlas really was doing it, it could spark a second Great War.

Especially if a certain "Faunus sterilization plan" was actually being created by Chivalric Arms.

But back to the point, when asked why the Curator lead Xero to that book, his answer was simple but very dangerous in it's implications:

"Because out of all the realities in the Multiverse, this reality and Null's a very similar. One can easy draw parallels between the two and the events that happened in Null...CAN happen in this reality. I might be bending the rules a bit but as i told Xero, i am merely giving him a hint, something to go on, so to speak. I would advise you look closely at Chivalric Arms general Ironwood, you may find something rather disturbing brewing within the bowls of the kingdom you have swore you're life too."

It was more then likely, that was the straw that broke the Nuckelavee's back.

Leading to right now.

Where Summer and Qrow walked up to him, Ozpin had a terrible feeling forming in his gut. Not a bad feeling, a terrible feeling.

"Mrs. Rose-"

SLAP

"Don't."

A bright, hand imprint appeared quickly on Ozpin's face, mouth open in shock, as Summer glared DEATH at him, sliver eyes a glow with power,"I don't care if this is possible future, reality or whatever it is, i will not have you use my daughter, my family as some sort of sacrificial pawn in you're games. I'm pulling both Yang AND Ruby from Beacon as soon as we get back, then you can lose our number. No more, we're done."

"Mrs. Ro-Summer, i-"

"WE'RE DONE!"

Summer screamed, nearly deafening everyone, as tears ran down her cheeks,"How could you? I trusted you and what do i get for that trust? You throw my daughter away like an old hat, when she needed help, you're help, the most!"

She crocked on her own breath, tears freely falling from her face.

"Raven was right. You really are a monster worse then Salem! At least the queen bitch is honest but you? You would throw away all our lives on a whim, just so you can kept you're new 'weapon' in check! Don't you ever come near my family again!"

Without a second thought, Summer reached for her scroll and with a loud "CRACK" crushed it between her fingers, flinging it at Ozpin and stomping her way towards Xero,"Lord Mazoku, i know this is sudden but i would like to request for my family, my daughter to be placed under you're protection. Please, i beg of you, i will give you anything, whatever you want and i will give it to you. Just...please, i do not want my daughter to suffer as some lab rat."

Summer had bowed before him, even going so far as to get on her knee's and beg Xero for help, with her forehead on the floor as she spoke from the heart. At least she knew he would never allow such a thing to happen to one of his own and he had the power to fight anyone off with ill intent.

Many from Remnant were shocked to see one of the strongest huntress to ever come out of Vale, prostration herself before the leader of the Avengers, proving to everyone just how serious she was. The woman was basically giving the teen a blank check and told to do with as he pleased with it, something no one would ever do willingly as it would destroy anyone pride as a Hunter and reputation.

Summer knew that, she knew she was basically selling herself out to a possible slavery but if it was to ensure her daughter's future, she'd gladly pay the price.

Thankful, she wouldn't have to cash that blank check, as she felt a hand on her shoulder and heard Xero's voice,"Summer, stand up. I will not ask anything of my family asking for protection against such evil. Otherwise, i'd be a terrible clan head or another Genghis Khan."

The Master helped Summer to her feet, as one word stuck to her.

Family.

He wouldn't ask family anything for protection? Did that mean, where they?

"Yes, it's true."

Xero nodded, when he saw the question on the tip of her tongue and the hope in her eyes, as he nodded his head towards Caster Morgan,"Morgan is the best when it comes to matter like these, her skills are otherworldly and there is no doubt about it, you and i are family."

"Distant cousins actually but close enough."

The veiled covered woman spoke with a small giggle, as she watched an excited Ruby run up to Xero and wrap him in a tight hug, beaming for the first time since the Null begin,"It actually makes a lot of sense when you think about it. While you are not directly related, there is enough DNA on both sides of master's family, for you and Ruby to be related to him. However, since everyone is now aware of that, you will be targeted simply because you are related. We've already explained this before, as Witch Hunters have targeted anyone and everyone that they think have a connection to a Magus. To that end, there are things we can do to ensure you're strong enough to fight both them and Salem's agents off. But first, i'm certain many are questioning on how a family from Remnant is related to someone on Earth, a completely different, separate worlds? It's because Remnant and Earth aren't separate worlds, they are in fact parallel worlds, parallel realties so to speak and that is how we we're merged. Out of all the worlds, all the realties in the Multiverse why did our world get merged with Remnant? Because it is a parallel one of Earth or it could be Earth that is parallel to Remnant, who knows. What i do know for certain, is that our world and Remnant are the same in more ways then one. In fact we believe there may be a connection to aura and yoki-"

"RAGH!"

WHACK

Everyone heard the sound of flesh being smacked, as Ozpin suddenly went flying from...Qrow?!

"Qrow! What are you-"

"I WAS CURSED!"

The man didn't listen or answer Glynda, too busy shaking from either rage or sorrow, no one knew for certain. His hand were clenching so hard, it was a wonder why he didn't draw blood, as he glared at Ozpin, who was nursing a very bruised face,"No one wanted me. I thought when i was working for you, i was finally doing some good but clearly that was a lie too."

"No, wait you are, were doing som-"

"Meeting you...was the WORST luck of my life."

Ozpin just stared at his oldest agent of this generation with a look of pure shock and hurt, unable to say anything. No one said anything, cause there was nothing anyone could say.

Not anymore.

Flashback

"It's all one huge mess right now Tony and we need you sober right now."

Despite his words, Steve felt like getting drunk as Tony, despite not being able too do so.

It only degraded from there.

Alliance's and friendships fell apart with new ones forming. For one, no country on Earth wanted anything to do with Atlas, not if they we're actually doing human experimentation, it didn't matter if it was confirmed or not, the chance it was true was more then enough for them to turn away from Atlas. The same could be said of Father Vincent, as the Church and Mage's Association will never allow Atlas anywhere near one of their own or any Magus for that matter.

Mostly out of self-preservative and self-defense then anything else.

The same with the Avengers and SHEILD, as this kind of thing is what they were ALL against and no matter how 'necessary' it was to sacrifice for the 'greater good' for all. Jacques had the audacity to say what happened in the world of Null was for the betterment of all, effectively destroying/burning any bridges that could have been built between them all.

Something Ironwood would try to rectify but Tony knew that would be an uphill battle.

In the rain.

Atlas wasn't the only one to suffer, Ozpin had taken a huge blow when his little secret came out and nearly lost all his allies. From James, Qrow, Summer, Lionheart, Theo and even his own council. Although he had technically done no wrong, other then trying to kept Remnant from falling to Salem's thrall, the fact he was immortal in a sense and kept such a huge secret hidden was more then enough for those fools to see him as a threat.

They even used his other self's actions in Null to try and cowed him, only for one person to stand up and defend him. One person that no one and i do mean NO ONE, not even Tony himself ever saw coming to Ozpin's defense:

Xero himself.

"I'm not saying what he did in Null is right, no it's wrong on every level possible, even on a logical level. However i cannot blame him, as he is not a villain willingly, Ozpin is as much a victim as Amber is and do you know why? Because, no matter what he does, no matter what anyone does, Ozpin will kept on living, if not as he is now then someone new. Ozpin isn't some evil, master manipulator who slits babies throats or eat puppies, he is a desperate man doing anything and everything he can to keep humanity in Remnant going. You all fail to understand just what kind of damage living for centuries does to a person's mind and how it can twist even the most kind people into monsters. The worst part is, he has no choice and in fact clearly tricked into holding this burden that was placed upon him by the TRUE villains in all this: The Brother Gods. THEY are the ones to blame, not Ozpin and like whining children when they didn't get what they wanted, left in a fit of rage, instead of cleaning up their own mess. While i will never trust my back to Ozpin, nor do i condone his action, i do understand why he did it, no matter how wrong it is. However that does not mean i will place the whole blame on him, when it is clearly not his fault, not entirely at least. I will place the blame where it truly belongs and before you all go blaming him for every bad thing that has happened in Remnant, take a good look in the mirror. Ozpin may have taken Amber from Null but Atlas is the one who created him, so if you want to blame someone, blame the policy of a kingdom that will do everything to remain on top. Even selfishly sacrifice an innocent person, for their own fucking greed. Cause that's what this story is all about, how far people's greed for power will take them to keep that power. So go ahead, try it and see what happens but let me give you a little preview, it won't end well for you."

Basically, blame the Brother Gods and Atlas for this fuck up, as they were the ones responsible. Ozpin saw a chance to end his never ending war and like the desperate man he is, he took it by both horns and did not let go until the end.

It was a very mature thing to do.

If it were up to Tony, he'd would have spit on Ozpin and tossed him to the curb for good measure. Lucky for Ozpin however, his wonderful and much more merciful son decide he could work with Ozpin, not for him.

As much as he hated to admit, there was no one who knew Salem better then old Ozpin himself and frankly, Ozpin was just trying to make the best of a bad situation. But that didn't mean Xero would trust him. No never, he would never trust his back to him, have faith in him or any of that shit. He would work with the old man but beyond that, once Salem was defeated, that be it.

Their little alliance only existed so long as Salem did and once she was dealt with, they go their separate ways.

Something Ozpin accepted with nothing more then a head bow and left it at that, looking like he'd just aged a fifty years. But Tony could see the spark of hope, such a mad, desperate hope at the prospect of having his long war with no end in sight, suddenly see a light at the end of the tunnel would cause Ozpin to agree with anything Xero said.

If only to see him end Salem once and for all.

"No dad, i don't trust him. Not one bit but no matter how you look at it, Salem is an enemy to us all. She won't let a threat like me alone and will do everything she can to kill me, you, Gudako, everyone. We already got enough on our plate as it is, so here's my plan. We kill her before she can kill us, sound good? Well, it doesn't matter cause this is the best you're going to get."

And to be fair, it was.

As for the whole Yoki and aura connection?

Xero and Caster Morgan have come to believe that aura is actually just a purified version of Yoki. The two energies were very similar in a lot of ways but until they actually examine aura, say like Ruby's and compare it to Xero's Yoki, they won't know for certain.

It was just a theory at the moment but too much evidence says otherwise.

On the bright side, they got a new agent in the form on Qrow. He, much like Summer, had offered up his services in exchanged that he not only end Salem once and for all but to protect Ruby from darker forces. Not that he needed to, as Ruby was kin to him and that made her family.

IE, as clan head it was his job to ensure their survival and to protect the people of the Mazoku clan. No matter what or who dared to threaten them and if he had to go to war with another kingdom, then that was fine with him.

In his own words, "Bring It On."

Though that did leave an elephant in the room. Said "elephant" were the bad guys, Cinder and her little team, who were clearly working with Salem. Though how they figured it out, was quite shocking to say the least.

Flashback

"Ya know, that explains why you reek so bad."

Wha?

Cinder felt her shoulders stiff, as all eyes looked towards her, sweat beginning to drip down her forehead,"I have no idea what you mean Lord-"

"Oh cut the shit Cindy, even if boss didn't know you were just like you're other self in Null, i would have told him."

Emerald glared at Roman, who blatantly hid behind Xero with a cocky, taunting smirk on his face, acting like they couldn't touch him. Neo even went so far, as to pull eye lid down and stuck her tongue out in a childish manner.

"Really i-fine."

Cinder decided to drop the act, glaring hatefully at Roman and Xero,"You caught me but it doesn't matter. Salem can't be stopped or killed, you're a fool to defy her. I just did the smart thing and joined the winning side, you be smart to do so too Mazoku. You can't win, no matter how powerful you are, you and the rest of you're little family are doomed!"

Cinder forced a grin at the duo, as Xero merely raised an eyebrow, causing her stomach to drop. Surely these fools couldn't kill Salem, she was immortal, she couldn't-

"Yeah? What about it? Who cares if she's immortal, we don't have to necessarily kill Salem to beat her. There are tons of other ways to defeat her."

"You're bluffing!"

"Am i?"

Cinder felt the sinking pit in her stomach get worse, as Xero's other eyebrow went up.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, seeing as your boss is content to be a coward and hide away in the shadows. Why do you think she's remained hidden for so long? It's because she knows if her existence becomes public, all of humanity and Faunus kind would untie against her, she knows she will lose if that happens. So, immortal or not, she's clearly a coward or just weak."

"Shut up you."

Cinder switched from glaring at Xero to Levi, who mirrored Xero's face,"What? Can't stand the truth? Sorry bitch but we all have to face it and you can bet you're ass, once Salem is dealt with, we'll be coming for you next. You can lie to yourself all you want but that won't change fact."

"No! You can't! Salem can't be stopped, you're a pack of fools!"

All eyes slide to a clearly terrified Lionheart, who glared at the captain and master,"I don't care how powerful you are, Salem is-"

"Nothing but a weakling."

Sherlock Holmes took a puff of his pipe, before looking at Lionheart with disdain clear in his eyes,"Salem is not as powerful as you think, nor is she a force of nature. If she were oh so powerful and had all the Grimm under her control, why hasn't she destroyed the kingdoms yet? If it were me, i would have spent years creating and making new Grimm and personally lead an assault of never ending Grimm against the humans or just send every Grimm on Remnant against all four kingdoms at once? Even if humanity was able to wipe out my Grimm army, i'm immortal, so it shouldn't matter how strong they are, i cannot die. Even if i can get tired, i cannot die so why worry? No, more importantly, why have i allowed humanity to grow and evolve to such a point where they can be a threat to me, instead of wiping them out personally, when they we're in their infancy?"

That got him blank stares and surprised faces.

Yes, that made sense. Why hasn't Salem just send the entire Grimm army to wipe out the four kingdoms before they were even created?

Seeing the questioning look on everyone's faces, the Ruler put on the pressure,"The answer is simple, it's cause she CAN'T. Because Salem does NOT have control over EVERY Grimm in Remnant, which means her control is not as good as you think. IE, she is not as powerful as you think she is and Salem knows it, hence why she hides in the shadows. While she might have an army of Grimm, alone, she isn't much of a threat. Being immortal and not having to fight for so long has more then likely made her laxed and lazy. Her skills in combat have more then likely become so rusty, she will rely heavily on her magic to fight or Grimm magic but seeing as she is just one person, she can be bested by our magic users. Not to mention, my fellow Servants who have magic resistance, which all but neutered her in terms of combat. Besides, as Xero pointed out, we don't have to kill her to win. We can just seal her away, send her to another world or even another dimension. So tell me, do you still believe Salem is still unstoppable?"

His explanation brought slack jaws and fearful eyes from Salem's agents and a burning hope in those who are willingly to fight her. He could see the gears turning in the villains heads, their new reality slowing sinking in as the fear took ahold of them. But as much as the Ruler would have loved to see them squirm, he had more pressing matters to attend too.

Looking at primary master of Chaldea, he spoke,"Xero, i do believe you have new intel to tell everyone of a new threat to all of us."

The master nodded, as he started messing with his focus, allowing it to create a large, TV like visual of Ko-Rel, in a holographic imagery.

"Alright Ko-Rel, tell everyone what you told me about Thanos."

Flashback End

"Yeah and one of those big threats is Thanos himself."

Tony gripped the bottle, Thanos the Mad Titan.

The one who sent that psycho Loki to New York and his little CANNON-FODDER army no less. When someone doesn't care to lose that many troops in the heat of some sort of scouting mission, then you know their not to be fucked with.

Talk about terrifying and Tony was at a complete lost at what to do.

"Well, on the bright side we known what we're up against now and we've beaten them back before, so that's something."

Ever the optimistic, Tony mused that's what allowed Steve to overcome impossible odds during the WW2. And his son fighting off Cu Alter, Red Skull's own Servant and wasn't that just a shock.

"Let's get one thing straight, Red Skull wasn't a Magus. He was just a wannabe, who was able to brute force a summoning through the Cube, nothing more, nothing less. If Steve didn't beat him, he would have fallen to the Cruse Of Ymir. Keep that in mind, least others repeat his mistake. Then again, morons like him never learn when you should not meddle with things that are not meant to be meddled with, so it's no surprise his own greed for power destroyed him. A fitting end to a fool like him and all those who crave power. It always ends the same way, destroyed by what they craved so badly and threw everything away to gain it."

The Curse of Ymir.

Anyone who is not a natural born Magus and acquires magical power will die in thirteen years. But before then, the subject will fall prey to degradation in the form of physical and mental deterioration over a long period of time. An ironclad law set fourth by the Goddess of Magic that no one can escape or stop and people from all ages and era's have fallen to the deadly cruse.

At least according to Xero and Adenela anyway.

Even if someone disagreed, even if no one actually believed him it wouldn't matter. Like he told that bull headed edge lord, it doesn't matter if you believe him or not, that was the truth. Seeing as he described that twisted fucker the Grand ASSHOLE Inquisitor Vitalis after he tried to steal Hugo's ability, Tony wasn't too keen on trying to awaken his own magic(If he had any to begin with) if that was the fate that awaited him.

He liked his handsome face just the way it was and he wanted to kept it that way.

But that was besides the point, as Xero and Gudako interfering WW2 to prevent the destruction of much of the world. As it turned out, the reason the duo messed with the timeline of that era, was because without them, the Allies would lose the war.

Because of Red Skull's deadly Servant, Berserker Cu Alter.

It was honestly terrifying to known how such a small change in history can drastically change history. Even more so, when said history is change from one reality the Nazi's won and the Allies lost.

The timeline where Xero grew up in or did he?

Truth be told neither Steve nor Tony could even begin to image just how much had changed before and after Xero ensure their new timeline begin. It was like the butterfly effect, where one small thing can change the fate of everything and everyone around it based on just one choice, that creates a chain reaction from that one choice.

How ironic.

"Mind if we join you?"

The two Avengers looked over their shoulders to see Qrow and Ironwood approaching with a blonde man. His hair was shoulder length, blue eyes with a growing beard, tanned skin and a tattoo on his shoulder. He wore a yellow shirt with a brown vest over it and a pair of cargo shorts with brown combat boots.

"What, no other bar in this unbelievable place that you can pop a squat at or did you come here, purely just to annoy me?"

Tony asked a tab bit bitterly, still feeling his anger simmer under his skin. Steve gently elbowed Tony, trying to get him to cool his already hot jets but thankful the three didn't seem to mind, as they took a seat next to the pair.

"Not really, this place is too big for us to go wondering out and about. Probably get lost somewhere and never be see again."

Tai smiled lightly as he took a swing of his drink, as Qrow did the same before speaking,"Just wanted to thank ya for accommodating us, even though you have ever right not to and to distrust us."

"You mean distrust Atlas."

Qrow actually winced at James's own bitter tone, as the general did the same as Tony and snatched an entire bottle to drink from. Not that Qrow blamed him, reading just the pure evil shit coming out of Fields mouth during the reading of Null would make anyone's stomach turn. What made it worse, was that the world they lived in wasn't just alike as Null.

There were many aspects of the Null world that matched the Remnant James lived in. Sol, Willow brother's death, CA's manufacturer and even when he proposed that they look into CA's infrastructure, Jacques shot it down.

Quickly and desperately.

Very desperately.

Ironwood wouldn't believe Jacques would be apart of such a terrible group but then again, he didn't think Ozpin would hide such critical need to know information like Salem being immortal and the fact that Atlas would willingly conduct such heinous crimes like human experimentation. While he had no idea if it was real or not, it didn't change the fact it MIGHT be true.

He saw the look in Jacques's eye when Ozpin was forced to reveal what the Maiden power were and the fact Mikasa and Gudako were now the Summer and Winter Maidens respectively.

James knew the man craved power and ambitious enough to take the Schnee name over his own, as a sign of ownership of the name. He had emotionally broken Willow to be the drunk she is now, made his son a mirror image of himself and drove both daughter off, even if he still held some power over them. There was no doubt Jacques wanted the power of the Maidens under his control, at least the Winter Maiden, as only she could unlock the Staff that kept Atlas afloat and didn't that tab bit of info send Sleet and Jacques into a rage.

To allow someone that can quite literary bring their entire kingdom down is a terrible idea and that redheaded brat need to be brought under the SDC's control.

The last part was Jacques, not him and honestly, the general in James said that what they should do.

At anytime, the girl can easily sneak into Atlas via her own magic and bring Atlas crashing do before anyone realizes what happened. But if he dared provoke them, then she'll do that cause Atlas attacked her out of sheer paranoia and that'll destroy Atlas's image.

Jacques wanted to attack and kidnap a girl, a WIFE of the man who was not only planning to end Salem but do what Remnant has been trying to do since the gods left.

Destroy the Grimm once and for all.

And something told Ironwood, he could do it too. But even if he did do that, it would lead to a whole new can of worms.

As Earth has proven, without an eternal enemy to fight, the kingdoms WILL turn on each other for a whole number of reasons like land, Dust and ideals or turn on Earth for them housing such a powerful people in it. Be they mutants, Magus or even genius's like Tony Stark. Even with the threat of going to war with all of Earth, the Atlas council wanted Tony dead, bought out, forced to work for them and or something else equally insane.

That wasn't even including the man's children of their teammates either.

Who's to say the council won't go behind his back, set up some sort of bounty on the Stark/Mazoku's or worse, wait till after the Grimm are dealt with then attack?!

The worst part was that the other kingdoms would be forced to get involved, as there was a chance if Atlas DID attack, then all of Remnant would be blamed. Sure, Remnant had bigger and stronger weapons but that didn't change the fact they were outnumbered ten to one. Not to mention, once the Grimm and Salem were dealt with, where did that leave the Huntsmen?

Without the threat of Grimm, huntsman and huntress would be trained purely just so they can either enlist in the military or just become mercenaries.

It would completely uproot the entire huntsmen community and destroy their entire culture! One that revolved around hunting and slaying Grimm, without them there would technically destroying Brothers knows how many lives.

"Not to mention when certain information leaks, there be uproar. Jacques would make sure of it, if nothing else just to spite Mazoku and that fat slob Winchester for daring to 'mock' them."

Ironwood's metal arm tighten around the bottle, as a certain detail of the Dead War came to life.

Flashback

"What? What do you mean?!"

"What i mean..."

Xero drawn-out slowly as he sighed deeply, rubbing his forehead to ease the incoming headache he knew was coming. There was no doubt his enemies would use this against him but they needed to know,"...is that while Gudako and i were dealing with the Demon God Pillars, it was basically sending out an SOS to the Rotten World. Which was saying 'We're right here, here we are, come and get some'. Of course that's my theory at least but knowing my lucky, one of my personal adventures had announced to them, where we all are."

"You mean, WE did master."

The Queen of Sheba said simply, as the dark skinned woman had a serious look on her face looking at everyone,"While we believe the real reason why Solomon or Goetia destroyed humanity was out of a twisted sense of love. Thanks to his unique skill of Clairvoyance, he saw the future. A future where we are invaded by the Rotten World and we all know how that ended."

With humanity dying out and Xero himself dying, cold and alone as the last human before turning.

Avenger Xero did anyway.

"In a sense, king Solomon did the merciful thing. Rather then let humanity die a slow, painful death, he gave it a quick and painless one. Twisted as it may be, he did it for the right reasons. As they say, the road to hell is paved with good intentions."

Berserker Vlad said, as he took a sip of his fine wine, a frown on his bearded face,"Never once in my immortal life have i ever seen a finer example of that."

"Even if humanity did turn on master and his allies in the end."

Charlie muttered to himself,"So not cool man."

"So you're saying that this, what will befall humanity and has now doomed us all, is because of him?"

The large and fat council member of Vale known as Dean Winchester was quick to point out how it was Xero's fault, something Jacques was all to happy to help point out,"If that is the truth, then he should be arrest for endangering humanity!"

"Hey it's not boss's fault this is happening!"

Thankful Eren was more then happy to defending the man he looked up to since he was a child,"He did what he had to, to not only save humanity but it's future too! You're just twisting his words!"

"Yeah, sounds like that to me. Even if it is Xero's fault, it doesn't change the fact he is the only one who knows what's coming. You saw how powerful Zed was and he was what, the weakest of the Six? Even if you lock him up and probably just so you can figure out how to steal his power, it doesn't change the fact they're coming, one way or another. So who's going to stop them, you?"

Roman was also quick to prove himself to his new boss, so that his new one wouldn't throw him away like a pair of old shoes.

The two council members looked ready to tear into the soldier/thief duo, faces red in anger but Xero stopped them.

"Alright, enough of that. Eren, Roman i appreciate you're words but you need not defend me. Not against two wind bags full of nothing but hot air."

Many giggled or out right laughed at that, as Dean glared hatefully at the younger man,"I am the council member of Vale and i am due respect!"

"And i'm the king of lollipop land but you don't see me going off like a court jester. Full of hot air and stuffed like a fat, spoiled pig."

The laughter got louder, making Winchester's face actually turn purple of all things, as he mouthed off again,"I WON'T BE TALKED DOWN BY A BROTHERS DAMNED FREAK LIKE YOU! YOU WILL SHOW ME RESPECT OR I'LL-"

"What? Yell so loud you'll pop like a balloon? Sweat so bad just by standing up, you'll drown us in sweat? Really how hard is it for you to actually get up and move? Must be a real work out to go to the bathroom."

"Oh, maybe he'll go so red his head will pop off his shoulders Oni-chan. Then again it's nice to see this little piggy squeal, showing his true colors."

"True. But this little piggy won't make good bacon for us, we'd probably get diarrhea from it."

The two masters laughed, as did the rest of their friends, as Dean actually did the stupidest thing he could have done in that moment. He got up and moved to strike Gudako, who, in his mind, was clearly the weaker of the two.

CLAP

Only for Tristan to grabbed his hand, normally closed eyes fully open and glaring at the man who dared to try and strike his master and queen.

"That was a big mistake."

C-CRACK

"AGH!"

Winchester fell on his fat ass, fat tears gathering in his eyes as he held his now shattered wrist,"You fucking bastard, you broke my wrist!"

"Next time, i'll break more then that."

"I'll have you hanged for this, you-"

"Winchester shut up!"

Coppersmith finally had enough, unable to stop Winchester making a fool of himself and causing Vale to look very bad in front of Earth's ambassadors,"You have done enough!"

"But-"

"SHUT. UP."

Dean glared death at the older man, gritted his teeth but kept his silent, promising retribution on those who dared to humiliate him. The mayor of Vale could only sigh deeply, cradling his head into his hands. This was going to come back to bite them in the ass, he just knew it.

"It really isn't master's fault, one way or another, the Rotten World would have found this world and quite possible, yours as well. All my sexy master did was speed up the process of them finding us. It is inevitable after all but take heart, now that we are here, you have a fighting chance."

Merlin, still in her new form said a bit too cheerfully, while Xero grumbled at the 'sexy' part.

Bloody pervy Caster.

Flashback

To be fair, James had the same thoughts as Jacques, as it became apparent that the younger Stark was a sassy person by nature and sassed everyone at ever chance he got. That kind of behavior that annoyed the elder Schnee to no end and to him, it was the greatest disrespect he could endure.

Due to his position as the head of the SDC, no one ever disrespected Jacques and when someone did, they paid for it dearly. So to be repeatable sassed and mocked, unable to do anything about it would send the man to do something beyond stupid. For all intent and purposes, Jacques could do nothing to Xero, as he was just as high up in the food chain as Jacques within Earth.

Not to mention he, like his father couldn't care less what the public thought of him and he would soon be known as a world wide hero, who saved humanity four times over.

It would PR suicide for Jacques to try anything but Ironwood had no doubt he tried something anyway.

Now that Ironwood had all the facts, he knew his usual approach would only end in disaster and now that he knew just how corrupt his kingdom could get or worse, truly was, then he had a lot of house cleaning to do. For all his faults, Ironwood would NEVER condone human experimentation.

Even if a powerful semblance like Null could turn the tide of battle, the cost was far too high and James would not allow his kingdom tp fall because of human greed. Oh he knew there would be those who would say it was for the greater good or Remnant but Ironwood couldn't help but feel that so called 'greater good' would get them all killed.

Damn, foolish, moronic, greedy idiots!

"...any idea what they're going to do to Ozpin? I know he lied about Salem to you, to the entire world but by all rights, Ozpin didn't technically do anything wrong. Unless keeping humanity alive is suddenly a crime in Remnant."

Ironwood was pulled out of his thoughts, as he heard Steve ask the question to Qrow, who snorted,"Don't know, don't care. I'd image the council might try to use that to get Ozpin dismissed as headmaster but what are they going to say? Old Oz is in a real shitty position and he is very beloved by the people in Vale, as he always sided with them on many matters that supported them most of all, hence why the council doesn't like him too much. He actually does right by them but in turn, steps on quite a few toes in doing so and that has made him a lot of enemies over the years. So, who knows? Maybe they'll pull their heads out of their asses and realize Ozpin is needed or do the stupid thing, sacking Ozpin. Which will earn them ire's from both the common folk and the huntsmen. But between you and me, i expect they'll do the stupid thing, since ya know, they're politicians and what not."

Sounds about right.

"Captain, Mr. Stark."

Winter and a scout, Armin if Ironwood remember right, spoke as he stepped into the bar like room,"Director Fury and Commander Erwin are calling a meeting. Boss wants to discuss how we will proceed from here and the plan to stop Judgement Day. Mr. Branwen, since you're a new agent you can come too, your skills might be able to help us."

"Yeah. ACTUALLY help and not just waste my time trying to stop the impossible."

Qrow grumbled, as he took a swing of his own drink and got up, as did the other two men.

And Ironwood.

This made Tony glare, as he pointed at Ironwood,"Nu-uh, don't even think about it Tin-Man. You aren't going any where near my kids, not after the shit you're kingdom pulled in that Null book."

"Watch how you speak to general Ironwood Stark."

Tony rolled his eyes at Winter,"Oh yeah, what if i don't? What you going to do about it? Arrest me? Attack me? Either of those would cause an international incident and then my son, the one that is much better then you in everyway by the way, would kick your sorry ass six ways to Sunday. So forgive me miss Ice Queen if i don't care for what rank you or general IronDICK are, i can mock you all i want and you'd have to grit you're teeth and smile like a good little soldier. Or drone, so i suggest you get moving dronie, i've got to work on actually saving the world and not just delaying an enemy. Heh, no wonder Fria decide my daughter be a much better host then your stupid, dronie ass."

Winter's face went through several shades of red that had Qrow laughing up a storm, as he patted the elder Stark's shoulder,"I think you and i are going to get along fine Stark."

"I think so too."

Tony grinned, as Winter physically vibrate in anger and looked ready to stab the elder Stark dead. Tai however moved them to get away from the Schnee before she burst a blood vessel, as Ironwood stayed behind, knowing full well he was right and while he didn't care for Stark's tone but he was used to being talked like that by the more arrogant councillors.

"You son of a-"

"Schnee, leave it."

Ironwood sighed, as the small group left, not bothering to follow them as he grabbed another drink.

Today just kept getting worse and worse.

Elsewhere

Today was just getting worse and worse by the second.

Never once had Cinder ever had a bad day like this one. In just one fell swoop, all her plans, schemes and even her destiny seemed to be slipping away faster then she could even grab it.

Once before, if someone like Xero or even Gudako was in Remnant, Cinder would have just forced them to work for her or just killed them, so they couldn't become a threat to her plans but now, it was all over. Everything.

They knew who she was, they knew who Salem was and quite possible had a way to defeat her.

Originally, such a thought would have made Cinder scoff and laugh, that was impossible. No one could kill an immortal but sealing her away with magic that was completely different from the Maidens or just tossing her into another world or parallel universe?

Yeah, that could actually do it.

"What do i do, what do i do? Even if i do escape, Ozpin had spilled the beans and everyone is against Salem, regardless of how foolish it is to fight her. If Mazoku does pull it off, where does that leave me? I can't hide anymore, Ozpin, the kingdoms, Earth, everyone knows who i am, there is no where i'll be able to go without someone hunting me! Even if i go back to Salem, she'll kill me, simply for allowing all this information coming out, where can i go?!"

Fuck, Salem might just kill her out of pure spite or just throw her against the coming armies, that will more then likely come banging down her door. Not to mention the number of allies were dwelling down quickly, Lionheart was outed, when he couldn't control his mouth about Salem being unbeatable.

Which means they just lost their hold on Haven.

Taurus will more then likely lose his position in the White Fang, thanks to that damned Null book revealing her ENTIRE PLAN! Not to mention her ace in the hole, Emerald's semblance was also revealed, meaning she couldn't manipulate the events, cause everyone would be on high alert of Emerald messing with them. Not that it mattered, cause she would no doubt be declared a traitor to humanity when this was over.

Even if that book casted doubt and suspicion on Atlas's main weapon manufacturers and honestly, that would be nothing more then a great boon to Stark Industries. The elder Stark can just as easily restart his weapon creations again, allowing Remnant to get new type of weapons and destroying Atlas's credibility even further if they find so much as an inch of evidence of human experimentation, Chivalric Arms would be done for.

Even if Atlas would defend their interest to the last breath, that wouldn't stop Mazoku from dragging their crimes out into the opening, forcing the kingdom to take action or suffer the worst PR backlash ever.

But that was besides the point, cause Cinder had no where to go!

No where to hide!

"W-what am i going to do?"

Yet her thoughts never once went to Emerald or Mercury, who followed her out of loyalty, only on her own pain.

Typical.

However Cinder wasn't the only one that was having a terrible day, neither was Ironwood, as Raven Branwen was feeling the weight of the world beginning to crash on her shoulders, as she held her head in one hand, deep in thought. Her tribe would be done for, if Mazoku did do as he promised and kill Salem, then wiping out the Grimm.

Originally she was absolutely ecstatic to see Ozpin not only lose his allies but because he lost them, was of the past he sought to hide. Only for it to be forcefully pried out by the same boy she sought to recruit, which made her day.

Then it died an ugly, painful death.

If, when Mazoku did indeed kill Salem or do whatever he needed to do in order to defeat her, the Grimm would be wiped out for good and Remnant would be rid of the threat of the Grimm...But where did that leave her? And the tribe?

Her entire life, the very reason why she left Tai and Yang was because of her fear of Salem but suddenly, here comes Mazoku on a flaming horse, ready to rid Remnant of the greatest evil Remnant has ever seen and if he does it, what will become of her?

The main reason why no one came after the tribe was, not because of their strength but because of both, her Maiden powers and the fact the Grimm were simply a bigger threat then her and her 'family'. Only now did she realize there were much, much BIGGER threats out there like the Six Dark Purveyors and the Mad Titan, Thanos.

What were they suppose to do something with that kind of power?

If that wasn't bad enough, the reality of a world without Grimm slowly but surely dawned on Raven. Without the Grimm, the Mistral council and it's huntsman, all huntsman, would be free to hunt down her tribe and destroy them. She and the tribe were strong but the Grimm acted as a buffer for her. They could never be pinned down thanks to them, since Grimm are on the constant move and attack on site, regardless of who it was.

But without them, the Mistral council can easily request help from other kingdoms, like Atlas. Despite their apparent mistrust, she was sure old Ironwood would jump at the chance to rid the world of 'scum' like her and Mazoku would probably be happy to join in!

There would be no where to run!

"I...i have nothing they want. Mazoku hates bandits and in the eyes of everyone else, i'm just a criminal to them, not even Summer would help me. They'll just leave me out to dry. Not even the Relic could get me out of this, hell it probably put an even BIGGER target on my back. We can't fight everyone, even if it is the right for the strong to trample over the weak, no one would listen, even if it is the truth."

Even if Mazoku dealt with Salem, one way or another it would spell the end of the Branwen tribe and there was very little she could do! Without the Grimm, everyone would be free to hunt the tribe, hunt her!

She was trapped!

"W-what can i do?"

What could she do to ensure their survival?!

With Xero

"Good, you're all here. Now we can get down to busi-"

Xero, the Avengers, Father Vincent, Adenela, Xenovia, Irina, Peter Parker, Pieck, Pepper, the 104th, Saber Artoria, Mash, Medea, Emyia, Chiyome, Jeanne, Da Vinic, Hercules, Rider Medusa, Cu Lancer, Scathach, Fury, Ember, Summer, Tai, Gudako and Diarmuid Lancer were in a room that could only be described as a "Board Meeting Room" as it look like one of those office/military meeting points where you plan strategy.

Which left Xero sitting on the highest point in the room, a black marble table with Artoria on his right and Mash on his left. A running joke between him and Gudako, describing Artoria as his right hand woman, his sharp sword that defeated his enemies and Mash his left hand woman, his mighty shield that protected him from all harm.

Given that the two were his Servants, that was a pretty accurate assessment.

Gudako even went as so far as to make little titles for his first batch of Servants. Originally he thought she was just blowing hot smoke but after reading her little sheet, he had to admit, she hit the nail on the head with it.

Jeanne was his brave flag bearer, the one that lead and lite their way to victory and flew their flag.

Emyia was his bow, the one to destroy his enemies from afar and see what he could not.

Medea his witch, the one that would use her magic to guide him out of anything and defeat anything magical that came his way.

Da Vinic his inventor, the one that would pave the way for him and create anything magical or otherwise he would need to walk the path he chose to walk.

Medusa was his scout, his legs, the one that took him anywhere he wanted to go and always made sure to ensure wherever he went was safe.

Cu was his back, the one who guarded him from behind and protected him and his allies with his deadly spear.

Chiyome was his shadow, his spy master, the one that remained by his side no matter what and gathered what info he needed on anything, she'd get it for him.

Hercules was his fists, the one that would completely and utterly destroy anyone who tried to stand in his way.

Once again, this was besides the point as Xero decide now would be a good time to gather his allies and install the next step in his plan. With HYDRA now dealt with, the world leaders knowing his past and the threat to come, he decide now was the time to let those he called friends in on his endgame for the Rotten World. Along with dealing with Thanos too.

Which is why his teacher was there too, as Scathach would be apart of putting his plan into action.

But before he could do it, a very pouty and very anger Tamamo No Mae came stomping in and promptly sat herself on his lap, wrapping her arms(And tails) around him. He'd only seen her THIS anger a few times and it was different from the times she fought with one of her 'love rivals' like Nero or shockingly enough, Tomoe.

"Something wrong Tamamo?"

"Ugh, she makes me so mad! I wanted to kick her stupid head off her shoulders!"

The fox maiden bristled, as Xero gently petted her ears, making her bristled tails slowly lower, while he wrapped an arm around her waist.

"Who did Lady Tamamo?"

Artoria questioned, feeling a surge of annoyance and jealously rip throw her but she forced it down. She agreed to their little plan and she would deal with it, her pride demanded she honor the pack. Though when the Caster head shot up from his chest, her eyebrows would go up in surprise,

"That damned Belladonna girl! The hypocritical! She wanted me to abandoned my darling just because he's Not the man you once knew and she actually believes my husband Enslaved me! Oh that isn't even the worst part, that stupid bitch wanted me to become HER Servant! As if i'd betrayal my darling!"

Why was no one surprised?

Did Blake really not understand the words he spoke about the Servants, how they work and how they HAVE to have a master, in order to survive in the physical world? Not to mention they answered HIS call, not the other way around.

"Why that little bit-"

"Leave it Jeager, we've got more important things to deal with."

Levi stopped Eren before he could go and find the black haired bitch. Not that he could blame him, as Blake was the type of person he hated the most.

The spineless type, one that was fine with taking the high ground, when she herself was not personal involved but when it's her friend that's been kidnapped, she was all for it. Eren growled but did as his captain said, sitting back down as Erwin looked at the leader of the Avengers,"Well Xero, what do you have for us?"

"First off, Pieck, we're going to ramp up those upgrades for the ODM gear. With both the Grimm, huntsman and very possible CA coming after us, our soldiers will need ever advantage they can get."

"Understood Xero-dono, though i will need some help with it."

"Da Vinic and i can ensure that."

The Lazy eyed woman nodded, as he turned his attention back to Asia,"Asia, i know you're not going to like this but i need you to stay cautious and alert. I know you love helping people but once they realize what you can do and how effective you're Twilight Healing is, i have no doubt they'll try to con you into coming into their services. But when that fails, they'll try to kidnap you, stating it's 'Best for humanity' or some other excuse like that. We've all seen how far Atlas went with Null and i'm not about to let that happen to you Asia. The same goes for you too Spider, no doubt they'll try to figure out what makes you tick and turn you into Frog-Man, simply because you'll be dissected like one."

"Yeah/Got it."

The duo shivered in revulsion and fear. They most certainly did not want to end up like Null and that was one of the reasons why Peter kept his mask on, even now, among friends. Until they were certain they'd be safe, they wouldn't take any chances.

Xero might be fine with dealing 'in chances', he wouldn't be gambling with the lives of his friends.

"Xenovia, Irina we are going to step up you're training. I know we haven't even gotten started but yet but with these new threats, we have no other choice. I'm going to put you two through hell, so be ready for that."

"Understood Xero-sensei/Got is sensei.~"

Xenovia nodded, as Irina ever so cheerfully nodded, smiling brightly as she did so.

"Do you really think they'll risk an international incident Xero-sama?"

Asia asked fearful, as Jean answered her,"Come on, you saw how easily Chivalric Arms of the Null world out right ignored laws, sweep iron-clad evidence under the rug and willingly killed their own people to keep their secrets. I wouldn't put it past them to actually INVADE New York and deny all involvement, even if we have their own soldiers and data to show for it."

"No kidding. I'm betting money they'll be coming for all of us by the end of the week, probably by starting with our pipsqueak captain."

Ymir ignored the death glare sent her way by said pipsqueak captain, as she looked at her boss,"If nothing else, i'd expect they'll try to kidnap one of us, just to draw you out boss. It's no secret how far you'd go to ensure our safety ya know."

"Not to mention Atlas will protect it's own, they won't ever give up CA. Willingly at least, as far as there concern, we're all freaks of nature and are better off being used as guinea pigs better served for the betterment of mankind."

Medusa scoffed at that, despite her face being in a prefect poker look,"They've long since gotten use to getting what they want and will go to any length to keep the status quote, no matter what. Which is why i suggest Mrs. Rose and her entire family leave Patch as soon as this is over. Once you're life is revealed to the world master, they'll be coming for us and will use any angle they can get. I am unaware if Jacques is in on it or not, but seeing as he now knows the connection between you and my master, more then likely he'll lump you in with master, trying to discredit us."

Summer winced at that,"That bad?"

"I have seen plenty of men like that during my time Mrs. Rose, he won't allow anyone like master be free, not without being brought low. Master is the type of person he fears most, someone who can't be bought, bullied or conned into doing what he wants. Master ignores the red tape, forceful drags out people's crimes and Jacques is the type of person master would target. He knows that and he's trying to nip it in the bud before it's too late."

Emyia shook his head and sighed, crossing his well toned arms over his chest,"Even if it'll amount to nothing, men like him don't know when to quit."

"You got that right."

Reiner spoke, looking at Erwin,"So commander, what's our next step? Do you really think it'll come to war, if CA actually goes through with it?"

"I do not know."

Erwin put a hand on his chin, brows furrowed,"In all likely hood, the USA may or may not make an alliance with Atlas and it would be outright foolish for them to try and demanded Xero or Gudako to be secure within their kingdom. Not only would the USA refuse, he is the only one who knows what to expect from the Rotten World, not to mention Xero and the rest of the Avengers are world wide heroes at this point, even the soldiers that fought against Loki. It would be political suicide for them to do so, but from what we seen in Null, that won't stop Chivalric Arms. For now, i do believe it's best we ALL processed with extreme caution. Us, the Avengers, even the X Men and Fantastic Four. Logan, you and Laura should also watch yourselves, once they realize what you can do, they might come after you too."

"Yeah, i'd figure that."

Logan grumbled, as Laura looked at Storm,"Ororo, might be a good idea to warn Charles of CA too. Who knows, they might come after them too, so it be best to kept an open ear and mind out there."

"Yeah, that's what i'm afraid of. Mutants are just starting to get accepted by the world, the last thing we need is another organization that is all for human experimentation. We've already have enough of them around, it'll destroy what little trust humans and mutants have right now. Spider Man already got a head start in putting a good word for the rest of us but CA actions can lead to war in the worst case scenario if Atlas does nothing about their own people experimenting or worse, defends their actions."

Ororo rubbed her forehead worryingly, as her mind was already conjuring up plenty of terrible scenes in her mind's eye. Unknowingly supporting people that were conducting human experimentation was bad but to knowingly do it and support it would cause people to riot.

Especially if those people were mutants.

"Before that, i have something for you all."

Xero's voice cut Ororo from her thoughts, as the dark skinned woman look towards her leader, as he seemly summon a brown box to his lap,"Seeing as we have a new world apart of our own and with how easily some of the Networks can be hacked, i decide we we're going to need a new form of communication. Something we can all use without fear of being hacked or recorded by our enemies. This will also allow you to recorded sensitive information, store it and you will be able to call any of us, regardless of where you are. In addition, no one will be able to steal if from you, so whatever you have on it, will be safe from pirying eyes."

Ororo's eyes widen, as he opened the box to reveal several Focus's, just like his own!

"Oh sweet, we get our own Focus's!"

Eren grinned ear to ear, as Sasha squealed and quickly reached for one of her own.

"Hold on now."

Xero waved his hand in front of the grabbing hands, as Da Vinic took over,"Yes, yes you can praise me and my darling master for our great work but first we need blood from you all. Just a simple tap, one little drop of blood to create the blood seal on the Focus's, a little insurance. Those Focus's are will all be neuralink to you're minds so you can use them the same way my master can."

"Okay, i get that but didn't you say, you would explain how you would deal with the Rotten World?"

Levi, of course having to be a party pooper, made it all about business again, making Da Vinic pout, even as her master begin to speak again.

"Yes, i did. You see, i have not been ideal in the years since i left Chaldea. You see, as i have been taking out HYDRA and Cultist all over the world, i have also been forging alliances with people. One of my main backers, being the princess of Symkaria, Silver Sablinova, also known by her aliasSilver Sable. She is not only the ruler of her country but is also head of the international mercenary group, Sable International and the leader of its Wild Pack. The woman herself is no slouch and she can kick some serious ass, if you look at her the wrong way. I guess you could call her a sliver version of Natasha over there."

The Black Widow blinked at that, as she slowly put the Focus on her right temple,"She's that good?"

"Well, she was Trained from early childhood by the most accomplished warriors in the world, Silver Sable is an extraordinary hand-to-hand combatant, and skilled in various martial arts. I should know, i had a little spar with her and while she was no match for me, Sliver wasn't a weakling either, she knew what she was doing and is damn good at it. She is also a formidable and lethal marksman, having immense skill with numerous ranged weapons. Sable, through rigorous training and her mercenary escapades, is the epitome of physical prowess, with her agility, speed, strength, durability and even reflexes that can match Natasha's. She is more then capable of going toe to toe with many super-humans and win easily. Plus she is also very fluent in multiple languages, including Symkarian and English."

"Sounds like you got one hell of an ally in you're back pocket."

Clint was personally impressed, he'd never image he would hear of another person that can rival Natasha in terms of skill and abilities,"How did you met her?"

"You remember how Taskmaster showed up, teaming up with Kenny of all people? Well, i originally helped end the civil war in Symkaria and Taskmaster was leading the charge for the bad guy's side. That was the first time he failed a contract and as you can see, Taskmaster didn't take that lying down."

"So basically, master did what he always does. Save the day, save the princess and her country but makes a powerful enemy in the process."

Cu chuckled at that, tapping his spear on his shoulder, as Fury nodded,"I remember reading about the civil war in Symkaria, something about an old family advisor taking the throne after Sliver's father was murdred and became a dictator when he refused to give up the throne, after Sliver became of age and sent the whole country into a bloody war to kept said throne, right?"

"Pretty much. My queen was able to help Ms. Sliver out and in return for not only saving her country but purging her ranks of traitors, she became a swore ally of my queen."

Saber Artoria spoke, as Xero nodded,"My second main backer is actually Wakanda. It wasn't easy to get them to trust me, let alone have them support me but after i helped track down all the stolen Vibranium, they opened themselves up to talks with me."

"Vibranium huh? Wasn't it stolen by the black market arms dealer, Ulysses Klaue?"

Banner asked, as Xero nodded, allowing Chiyome to speak,"You are correct, Lord Banner. I and my fellow Assassins were able to track him down to an abandoned ship graveyard, killed all his soldiers and brought him back to Wakanda for judgement of what he's done."

"After that, king T'Chaka made me a swore friend to the nation of Wakanda and i was even able to befriend his son, prince T'Challa. Naturally i had told both, T'Chaka and Sliver about the Cult, which actually cleared some things up for them, as they've had some of the Cults agents infiltrate their nations. Thankful, after clearing up just what they were up against, they were able to send the Cultist members packing and out of their nations."

"Which really put the squeeze on them, making them desperate enough to send the last remnants of HYDRA to attack the Peace Summit."

Sasha finished for Xero, as she secured her Focus on her head, looking at her boss,"You are getting some serious backing and firepower on our side boss."

"Don't forget we also got the Church to support us too."

Connie spoke but paused for a second, as he looked at Father Vincent, who merely smiled a warm smile at the ash haired man,"Worry not Mr. Springer, we are allies, as Lord Mazoku is allied with SHEILD, so shall the Church. Director Fury, if i may be so bold as to say this, i believe it would be a good idea for SHEILD to make alliances with Wakanda and Symkaria. Lord Mazoku will be able to set up the meetings of course, which should make things run much smoother in the long run."

"I plan too."

Fury nodded, smiling a little,"Yes, i can certainly see how this would benefit us. We can pool our resources together and..."

That smile was lost, as realization dawned on the director of SHEILD, as he looked Xero dead in the eye and spoke slowly, like he couldn't believe the words about to come out of his mouth but he spoke them, never the less.

"You...You're building an army."

"I am."

Xero nodded, as everyone(Save for his Servants) as he looked around the room,"This is the first phase of my plan. Aside from weakening and dismantling the Cult's operations and by that extension, Baron Umber's power base, i knew it wouldn't be enough. So, after seeking Adenela for help in figuring out what to do, even if we can stop the Rotten World's poison seeping into out world..."

"I-it wouldn't be eno-enough."

The purple haired Magus spoke for the first time, drawing everyone eyes to her,"I-It's like Xe-Xero said, the Si-Six won't be st-stalled forever. Th-they'll come for us even-eventually, s-so, we dec-decide to take it a st-step further."

"By stealing this."

Xero reached into his pocket dimension and pulled out a black, cylinder shaped object with a pentagram atop the item.

"The fuck is that?"

Qrow craned his neck to get a better look at it, as Remy titled his head,"Looks like some kind of cylinder cone."

"Honestly, i have no idea."

That got several blinks, as Xero pushed on,"I have no idea what it is exactly or how it was made, let alone what it was made out of but i can tell you this it's not of this world. For all intents and purposes, it's a complete unknown but what i do know for certain, is that there are three of these things. During the Dead War, the Allies figured out this thing was some kind of key. One of three that are connected to Baron Umber somehow but i do not known how either. The only thing i know for certain, is that THIS particular key can create large interdimensional portals. To our world...to the Rotten World."

"Wait! Are you saying this thing can open the portal that can connect our world to the Rotten one? Then why don't we destroy it?!"

Eren demanded once Xero nodded, as Jean sighed tiredly,"And once again you miss the point entirely, you suicidal bastard."

"What was that, Horse-Face?"

"Why you!"

"Both of you, shut up!"

Both soldiers quickly shut their mouths at Levi's anger face, not wanting to anger the captain any further, least they face his wrath.

"I'm going to take a wild guess and say, you have no idea what will happen if you destroy it?"

Summer asked, seeing how quickly that could go wrong, as they had little to no knowledge of this item. This made Xero nod,"Right. I, we, have no idea what will happen if we destroy it, let alone if we CAN destroy it."

"So, rather then leave it in the Cult's hands, we decide to steal it and kept it with us for safe keeping. But in doing so, we came up with a new plan to deal with the Rotten World, though you may not like it."

Jeanne normally cheery tone slowly died down, as her face became serious, making everyone subconsciously straighten up. This couldn't be good.

"I thought about this long and hard."

Xero sighed, as he ran a hand through his hair,"I have a feeling none of you will like it, i don't like it and it's basically a suicide mission of the highest order. Believe me, if there was another way, i'd go for it but after everything that has happened and everything that WILL happen, i see no other way to end this."

"Enough with the cryptic talk Zee, tell us, just what is this 'suicide mission' you have in mind and we'll decide if it's truly a suicide mission or not."

Venom, finally having enough with the suspension and cryptic talks, finally poped over Eddie's shoulder, speaking his mind. His host nodded,"Yeah, tell us. Whether it is a suicide mission or not, we'll be the judge of that. Besides, we're all dead if we do nothing and so far, you've done a pretty good job of keeping everyone alive, so tell us. What is you're endgame?"

"My endgame is simple, my plan..."

Xero took a deep breath, reading himself for what was to come, the yelling, disbelief and maybe even anger but this needed to be done. There was simply no other way and whether everyone agreed or not, wouldn't matter. Doing nothing would only lead to their deaths, just like in Avenger Xero's timeline. Never the less, it was time to face the music:

"...IS TO INVADE THE ROTTEN WORLD."

---

Done and Oh SHIT!

Xero's endgame is finally revealed and this is a big one!

Regardless of what he does, no matter how many he kills, Xero knows that the Cult and Baron Umber aren't the biggest threat out there. It won't change the fact the Rotten World knows of his world and will invade at one point or another, so his only choice is to basically pull a Final Season Eren move:

Invade them before they invade us.

And Xero has gained some pretty powerful allies in the past few years, building up his army in preparation to fight the Six. No one can deny Xero has been sitting on his ass for the past two years and a half, this boy's been gearing up for war, ready to fight against the monsters in the night but now the situation has gotten even worse.

Now his allies know, his father, friends and SHEILD know.

How will this end? What exactly did Xero and Gudako do during WW2 and just how different is the world now that the Allies won from Xero's original timeline?

Find out next chapter!

Devil out.