A close-up of a pool of black slime in a dark red and purple land. A large paw emerged from within the slime and a Beowolf gradually crawled out, slime sliding off of it and onto the ground.
The camera panned out to show several such pools and many Beowolves emerging. It pulled further and further out to show a mostly dark and desolate land made up of red ground, purple crystals and a red and black clouded sky.
The images shimmers and we see Mercury, Juri and Emerald reflected in a window, watching from inside a high building. Emerald had her hand to her mouth while Mercury seemed slightly disgusted and Juri simply looked on indifferently. A gloved hand appeared between two purple crystal formations and snapped its fingers.
A wide shot revealed a large windowed room, at the center of which was a long purple, crystal table. Several people sat at the table with seven chairs. One of them was Cinder, with Azula sat to her left and Medusa to her right. Emerald and Mercury moved away from the window.
There was a close-up of the man sitting across from Cinder, Arthur Watts. He was looking at his Scroll. Dio sat to his right and an empty chair was to his right, where the now-deceased Terumi used to sit.
Next was the man to Medusa's right, Tyrian Callows. He sat in a crouch casually on his chair, resting his arms on his knees.
Across from Tyrian was Hazel Rainart. His arms were crossed and he looked asleep.
Cinder sat quietly, while Mercury and Emerald moved to her side. Emerald nudged Mercury out of her way so that she could be directly next to Cinder.
"Yes, yes, keep your posse in check." Watts ordered.
"You want to say that to my face?!" Juri demanded as Mercury grunted cfand they both made a move toward Watts, but Emerald held them back.
Watts scoffed at this. "You should watch your tone when speaking to those above you" He warned. "And you should've told your underlings to respect your superiors." He told Cinder.
"Oh? And what makes you feel so superior, Watts?" Azula asked. "Don't get me wrong, I'm as happy with Cinder's new condition as anyone, but at leas she's been useful. You may have helped with your little virus, but the robots did little more than distract pro huntsman, whereas Cinder perpetrated and led the assault against Beacon and even lost an eye in the process... To a little girl." She said, although the last point seemed to be more of a taunt towards Cinder.
"If I were you, I'd hunt her down." Tyrian told Cinder while snickering. "Find her and, well, she took your eye, didn't she?" He said, laughing maniacally.
Medusa rolled her eyes at this. "You'd be slaughtered by her Revived bodyguards. Underestimating them has nearly gotten us killed several times." She warned him.
"Indeed. If the great Dio struggles against them, what can you hope to do?" Dio asked.
Cinder only stared at Tyrian while he cackled at her. Cinder tried to speak but only managed to make quiet exhaling noises. Emerald leaned in to hear her.
"Pathetic. Why did you even—" Watts started again.
There was a sound of a heavy metal door being unlatched. The doors open and everyone stood just before Salem entered. She glides alongside the table with soft footsteps before reaching the head of it, jewels jangling from her hair. Salem stops, facing away from them and toward a candle and crystal display.
"Watts." Salem acknowledged the suited man. Watts straightened, looking toward her as she turned towards the table, looking at him. "Do you find such malignance necessary?" She asked as she gestured for all to sit down.
"I apologize, ma'am. I'm not particularly fond of failure." Watts explained as he and Salem sat simultaneously.
"Then I see no reason for your cruelty towards young Cinder. She's become our Fall Maiden, destroyed Beacon Tower, and most importantly, killed dear Ozpin. So I'm curious, to what failures are you referring?" Salem questioned.
"Well, the girl with the Silver Eyes." Watts explained.
"Yes. We've dealt with their kind before. How is it a novice was able to best one of us?" Hazel questioned.
"If I've learned anything, it's that novices always have the most room to grow and prove to be the greatest threats." Medusa said.
Watts scoffed at this. "A novice is a novice. Easy to stamp out. Even without her new power, it should have been effortless." Watts agreed.
"It is because of the Maiden's power. Make no mistake, Cinder, you hold the key to our victory. But your newfound strength brings with it a crippling weakness. Which is why you will remain by my side as we continue your treatment." Salem explained. Cinder was unhappy about this and lowered her head. Emerald looked at her in sympathy. "Dr. Watts, you are to take Cinder's place and meet with our informant in Mistral." Salem ordered.
"Very good." Watts complied.
"Excellent. Watts will finally be making himself useful." Azula taunted, causing the scientist to growl at her.
"Tyrian, I want you to continue your hunt for the Spring Maiden." Salem instructed.
"Gladly." Tyrian laughed.
"And Azula will accompany you." She added, causing the former Fire Nation princess' jaw to drop and Tyrian to break out into even more maniacal laughter.
"And Hazel, I'm sending you and Medusa to the leader of the White Fang. Adam Taurus has arranged the meeting. The boy continues to prove loyal. Ensure that Sienna Khan feels the same." Salem ordered once more.
"Of course, my Queen." Medusa complied.
"As you wish." Hazel confirmed.
Cinder raised a finger. Emerald failed to notice this gesture for a moment. "Emerald." Medusa said, getting the younger girl's attention, moving her eyes towards Cinder, Emerald finally looking towards Cinder and seeing her raised finger.
"Oh!" Emerald realized, leaning in to hear her.
Cinder rasped into her ear. Emerald straightened. "Speak, child." Salem permitted.
"She wants to know..." Emerald started, but then hesitated. "What about the girl?" She asked.
Watts scoffed "What about her? Seems to me that this is Cinder's problem, not ours." He said.
Cinder slammed her fist onto the table and glared at Watts, who grinned at her. "That's enough. Tyrian?" Salem said to the psychopath.
"Yes, my lady?" Tyrian acknowledged.
"Spring can wait. You and Azula find the girl that did this to Cinder." Salem instructed, to which Tyrian giggled elatedly and clapped while Azula smirked. "And bring her to me." She added to the order, at which point Azula huffed and Tyrian froze and groaned disappointedly, pouting for a second, then looked back up at Salem with an acquiescent shrug. "Because of your efforts, Beacon has fallen. And Haven will be next." Salem told them all.
Everyone rose. Tyrian snickered at Cinder and pointed to his left eye. "Eye for an eye." Tyrian said, before laughing wickedly, breaking into an uncontrollable fit of manic laughter, while Cinder grit her teeth.
To the sound of blowing wind, the scene cut to a shot of blue sky above a green forest. There were a few shots inside the forest before Nora was heard speaking. "I'm just sayin'..." She started as she, along with Ryu and Ren emerged from behind a tree, the three walking together. "...There's more members of JNPR in this team than RWBY or SCRN. It just makes sense to go with that one." She explained.
"But 'junior' isn't a color." Ren said.
"Not to mention, it makes us sound juvenile. Like rookies that can't handle themselves. And after our performances at the Fall of Beacon, it wouldn't be hard to believe that." Ryu said.
"True..." Ren admitted.
Nora slouched at this. "Okay, fine. RNJRR it is." She grumbled.
"Guys!" Jaune called, the three turning their heads toward him. "We need to focus." He told them, before... "Also, JNRRR is way cooler." He added.
"But then its 3 R's back to back." Ryu said.
"So is Sun's team." Jaune said, everyone deadpanning at him. "Okay, yeah. Bad example." He said.
"Maybe we shouldn't give ourselves a team name, just stick to being a collection of friends on a mission." Ryu offered.
"That may be the best course of action." Ren agreed.
Suddenly, there was a rumble. "It's here." Jaune said.
The scene changed to Ruby flying backwards from trees, firing Crescent Rose in the direction she came from. A collection of floating boulders with a Grimm mask moved the trees aside, clearly chasing her. Ruby fell, crashing against tree limbs along the way. "Bad... landing... strategy!" She grunted as she bounced off each branch, before landing on her feet on a big tree branch strong enough to hold her weight. She used her Semblance to fly past the Grimm.
Jaune, Ryu, Ren and Nora looked up. "Let's get that thing off her." Jaune said as he and Ryu ran toward them. Ren jumped up into the trees. Ryu changed Dabilahro into the Howling Cannon and fired at the monster, easily staggering it as Jaune pulled out the Blades of Chaos strapped to his shoulders. He looked down sadly at the swords and sighed, before looking up determinedly. "Let's see what these things can do!" He said, changing them into Uzis and firing at the monster's face, forcing it to cover its Grimm mask with its left arm. This allowed Ryu to change the cannon back into its greatsword form and slash away at the right leg, breaking its long rock leg in half and bringing the beast to one knee.
"Yeah! Nice work, Ryu!" Ruby cheered.
"That's my man!" Nora cheered as well.
Ryu jumped away from the beast and landed in front of the girls. "Don't get too excited. The battle isn't over yet." He said as the beast adjusted itself and stood back up, although favoring its left leg like a person with a limp would.
Nora shot the Grimm in the back. Ren hopped around on branches. The Grimm tried to hit Ren. Ren ran up its rock arm, flew into the air and came down upon the Grimm, striking at it with StormFlower. It was ineffective. "Gotta get in closer!" Jaune said as Ren landed beside Jaune.
"My blades don't hurt him!" Ren told him.
"You may need to consider larger blades, Ren." Ryu told him, running in and using the Flying Swallow to slice off the monster's right leg at the knee.
"Yeah!" Ruby cheered.
"Alright, now let's finish him!" Jaune said, changing the Blades of Chaos back into their sword forms and flung them at the beast's Grimm mask, but it moved its arm in the way, the chained swords instead wrapping around the arm, which the beast then swung in a wide arc, sending the Arc boy flying along with it, before the blades came free and the chains unwound, sending Jaune flying back into the forest, where he tumbled along the ground painfully until he hit a boulder between his legs and fell forward. "Ohhh... Why did I choose this fight to try and learn to fight with these?" He groaned, before slowly getting back up and limping towards the team.
Suddenly, black mist came from the injured leg and surrounded the two boulders that were the Grimm's right leg, forming them back into a leg. The Grimm turned, standing upright. "Crap!" Nora said.
"It reforms limbs!" Ryu realized.
"How about this?!" Ruby asked as she loaded a magazine with an image of a lightning bolt on its side into Crescent Rose and fired. Electric bolts encased one of the Grimm's arms. The red lines on the arm glowed brighter and the Grimm slammed it into the ground. All were sent flying backwards, but Ren, Nora, Ryu and Ruby managed to land on their feet. Jaune went flying past them, but Ryu managed to save him by wrapping his Kusari-gama around his leg and reeling him back in.
"That's it!" Nora snapped as she ran forward, tossing Magnhild into the air and transforming it into hammer mode. She jumped into the air and hit it, breaking its arm apart. A large piece flew straight toward Nora, but Ryu flew through the air, catching her in his arms and fly out of the way. The Grimm used its other arm to strike at the couple.
Jaune straightened and stretched and soon had to dodge a barrage of rocks. "Wha? Whoa! Wha? Ho!" He cried out with each dodge, before he landed. "Hey! Be careful!" He called out to them, before a rock the size of his head hit him in the face and sent him into a tree. Jaune landed in a crouch and shook his head to clear the pain.
The Grimm continually tried and failed to hit an evasive Nora and Ryu. The two of them rushed in and attacked the monster's legs, Ryu smashing through the monster's left leg, before it tried to smash its arm down on him, but he masterfully jumped onto and off of the arm, throwing his Windmill Shuriken and slashing the Grimm mask, causing the beast to stagger, where Nora slammed her hammer into its right leg and destroyed the whole thing, causing it to fall once again as Ryu used the Art of Piercing Void to destroy the right leg.
"Yeah! That's it guys!" Jaune cheered as he stood up and looked at the beast. The Grimm's armless shoulder gained a glowing red circle with a symbol of an eye in the middle. The circle spun and then a black, elongated arm with clawed fingers emerged from it. The arm reared back. "Uh-oh." Jaune said fearfully as the Grimm shoved its new arm into the tree Jaune was leaning against and lifted it from the ground. "His arm is a tree! His arm is a tree!" He screamed as he ran away.
"Big mistake!" Ruby declared and spun Crescent Rose and loaded another magazine into it - this one with imagery of fire on its side. She fired and the flaming projectile swung around to the tree arm. Jaune fist pumped. The tree arm swings around to him, on fire.
Jaune lost his smile. "Big mistake!" He screamed, putting his hands into his hair and running.
"Jaune! Remember, it's lost its legs! Just stay at a distance!" Ryu told him.
"Oh, yeah." He said, turning around, changing the swords into Uzis again and firing at the monster, who blocked it with its arms, its rock arm in front, taking most the damage, but the tree arm stopping any rogue bullets. Jaune soon stopped firing when he realized something. "It's protecting its face." He said.
"Then we need to get the limbs out of the way. Good thing it only has its arms left." Ryu said.
"Alright! Come on, team, let's do this." Ruby declared.
"Yeah!" Nora shouted in agreement.
"Right!" Ren confirmed.
"Ren, left. Ruby, right. Ryu, rush him!" Jaune instructed as Ryu, Ren and Ruby departed as told. "Nora, ready to try out the new upgrade?" He asked. Nora nodded and ran. "Right. And I will give suppressing fire" He started, turning back around and firing on the Grimm. The monster once again defended its face, allowing Ryu to rush in, throwing his Windmill Shuriken to cut a decent chunk off the tree arm, then used his tonfas to break away at the rock arm. Ruby attacked the right side. Ren attacked the left. Nora activated a mechanism that generated a current of electricity across the hammerhead of Magnhild.
The Grimm finally targeted Ryu, swinging its wooden arm at him and trying to crush him with its rock arm, but the ninja did several back handsprings to avoid the attacks. Nora charged Magnhild even more and braced her feet. "Ready!" She announced as Ruby landed next to Jaune after another attack.
"Use everything you've got!" Jaune called.
Ruby used her Semblance to fly at the Grimm, taking Nora with her and the red and pink swirls went right for the tree arm. Ruby sliced the tree in half, opening the way for Nora to hit the mask with Magnhild. The rock body shattered and the ephemeral Grimm rose out of it and flew off. Ruby aimed a shot at it and it turned its face right into the flaming projectile. Next was a wide shot of birds taking flight from trees.
"Great shot, Ruby. And you were incredible, Nora." Ryu praised the girls.
"Thanks." Ruby said with a smile.
"Aww, thanks, babe!" Nora said, leaping onto and hugging Ryu.
"A very good first serious mission as a team." Ren said, everyone nodding.
Jaune was breathing heavily before posing with his hands on hips. "Another victory for Team JNRRR!" He declared, only to be met with silence. Jaune deflated at this. "Yeah, okay. Ren, I think you're onto something. I-it's just not sounding great anymore."He said, walking away.
Ruby shook hands with the town Mayor. "We truly can't thank you enough." They mayor told her.
"Just doing our job, sir." Ruby assured him.
"That Geist had been plaguing our village for weeks. We were beginning to wonder if we'd have to relocate." The mayor explained.
"Life outside the kingdoms can be difficult, but what you have here is beautiful. It is certainly worth risking the difficulties for." Ryu said.
"Well, we are on our way to Mistral. You could always come along with us if you don't feel safe." Ruby offered.
Scenes of the idyllic life in the village were shown: people bought fresh produce from a cart, stood and chatted on open balconies overlooking the roads, tended to their horses and generally went about their daily lives peacefully. The village had plentiful trees and green spaces and cobbled roads.
"Ha. I take it you're not from these parts. Anima is a large continent. I'm afraid our people would never survive the long trek to Mistral. It may be safer in the Kingdoms, but we prefer our way of life. I just wish we could pay you more." The mayor explained, amused.
"Our previous arrangement is more than sufficient." Ren assured.
Team RNJRR then bowed respectfully.
A shop door closed. At a counter, a burly man with horns sets down a familiar set of black armor. "There you go, son. It's going to be heavier than what you're used to, but you'll thank me the next time you go up against a set of claws." The Blacksmith explained.
"Wow. That-eh. I don't know what to say." Jaune said in awe.
"Don't gotta say anything! Just put it on! I'll go get the rest." The Faunus blacksmith assured him and turned and went out back.
"Do I really deserve to wear it?" Jaune asked.
"He'd want you to have it. You've earned it." Ryu told him.
"Thanks..." He said with a sad smile.
"So, what are you waiting for?" Nora asked.
"Oh, uh, right!" Jaune cmplied, taking off his old chestplate. "Guess I was going to grow out of it eventually." He said softly.
"A sign of progress." Ren said positively.
"Progress." Jaune repeated and turned around and Ruby gasped, then covered her mouth and tried not to giggle. "What is it?" Jaune asked.
"What is that?" Ruby asked, pointing to his chest.
A bunny emblem was on Jaune's chest. "What, my hoodie? I've always had this." He told her.
Ruby snorted again. "It's got a cute little bunny rabbit!" She cried out and laughed.
It's Pumpkin Pete! You know, from the cereal?" Jaune explained.
"What did you do?! Send in a box top for a prize?" Ruby asked in near hysterics.
"Yeah! Fifty!" Jaune told her, turning away.
Ruby continued to laugh hysterically, her head stylistically expanding, before she fell onto the floor. "Well, I suppose we don't have to grow out of everything." Ren said.
"Jaune, does Pyrrha know you're this obsessed with her? Or worse, does Kratos?" Ryu asked with a small smirk. Ruby chortled from the floor, feet in the air.
The blacksmith returned from out back. "Can't have a Huntsman without his weapon." He said as a wide sword sheath was stuck into the countertop. "Made all the modifications you asked for." He explained as the blade expanded into a shield. "That was some fine metal you brought me. Accents the white nicely. Where'd you get it from?" He asked. The camera panned to show the gold accents on the shield, the design resembling the Blade of Remnant going down the middle of the shield.
"From a friend." Jaune said softly.
Ryu gave a small, sad smile at the detail of his teammates' weapon added onto Jaune's sword. He missed Kratos and could only hope his dear friend would pull through his current condition. It was almost worse than if he was dead. At least that was certain. But as things stand, the thought of Kratos waking up or dying at any point haunted all of the survivors of Beacon. (Your student is doing well, Kratos. He's growing and learning. And while it may take a while, I know one day, he'll become as great of a warrior as you. I'll make sure of it.) He thought.
Ruby, Ren and Nora waited outside the shop. Jaune came out wearing the armor: Kratos' dominus armor now covered Jaune's torso and the Nemean Cestus had been greatly reduced into smaller, more suitable gauntlets for Jaune and the massive lion fists were made into pauldrons to protect Jaune's shoulders. He pulled out the sword and expanded the shield. "He cleans up alright, don't you think?" The blacksmith asked as he came out and stood beside Jaune.
"He certainly does." Ren agreed supportively.
"I still think a grenade launcher would've really brought the look together." Nora said.
"At least he finally has ranged weapons now." Ryu said.
"Nothing's gonna stop Team RNJRR now!" Ruby declared.
"Team JNRRR!" Nora countered.
"Still not a color." Ren reminded her.
"It doesn't matter what we're called. As long as we're together." Jaune told the team.
"You kids sure you won't stick around? You've been real good to this town." The blacksmith offered.
"Sorry, but we've got another mission." Ruby politely declined.
"Perhaps our most important one of all." Ryu said.
"Make it to Haven Academy, no matter what." Nora announced.
"We've heard the next village over has a working Airship." Ren said.
"Mmm, no way to know for sure. Scroll signals were weak enough out here back when Beacon Tower was still up. Haven't heard from Shion Village in a while." The blacksmith told them.
"Well, there's only one way to find out." Ruby said. With a wave, Team RNJRR turned and left. The blacksmith waved back and grunted.
"Food?" Jaune asked.
"Check!" Nora confirmed.
"Water?" Jaune asked again.
"Check!" Nora confirmed once more.
"How about ammo?" He questioned again.
"Locked and loaded! Thank you, Schnee Dust Company!" Nora declared.
"Got the map?" Jaune asked as Ruby was looking down sadly.
"Ren's got it." Nora said.
"No, I don't. You have it." Ren corrected.
"Wait, what?" Nora asked.
"I've got it." Ryu explained, holding it up.
"Oh, thank goodness." Jaune sighed in relief.
As the camera cut to airships in the sky, Weiss and Dante's reflections became visible watching airships fly by through a window. Weiss was sitting in a cushioned chair with her hands folded in her lap as Dante simply looked out the window. There was a knock on the door.
"Yes?" Weiss answered.
A wide shot of the room revealed a large, open space on two levels. On the upper level were two arched bookcases built into the walls and a picture of a knight resembling the Arma Gigas hung between them. A gilded mirror hung above the mantle of a fireplace on the lower level. The door opened and Klein Sieben, a butler, entered.
"Pardon the interruption, Miss Schnee, Sir Schnee, but your father wishes to speak to both of you." Klein told them.
"Wonderful." Dante said sarcastically, walking to the door.
Weiss sighed. "Thank you, Klein." She said as she looked out the window once more before getting up and walking out along with Dante. Her heels clanked across the floor and the door slammed shut.