Chapter 13: Damn Teenagers

As Hansel Kobalt frantically raced towards Don Anthonio Corleone to try and reach whoever had disobeyed him before they got hurt, or worse, Team RWBY stared down the crime boss. They were still trying to figure out just who this guy was and why Hansel was after him. Well, most of them were trying to figure it out.

Ruby Rose, however, was focused on only one thing. She was focused on taking this guy down and making Hansel proud. At least she hoped that would be the case. She did not exactly want Hansel to yell at her either. Thankfully, taking a guy like this down, even Hansel would have to be proud of them if they pulled this off, right? She could see it now…

"Ruby Rose, you disobeyed my orders…but," Fantasy Hansel turned to see a tied up and beaten Corleone, "I have to admit, I'm impressed."

"Aww, it was nothing." Fantasy Ruby blushed in embarrassment. "Well, I mean, it was definitely something. We totally took down a big, bad crime boss."

Fantasy Hansel then gave Fantasy Ruby a big smile and patted her on the head affectionately. The fact that Hansel had such a big smile should be a giveaway this is all a fantasy "Ruby, you did well." He told her. "You surpassed my expectations as a Huntress. I'm not even mad that you disobeyed me. Your instincts netted you one of the most dangerous men in all of Remnant. I'm really proud of you. Consider yourself an A-Student for the time being."

Ruby grinned in reality. "Yeah, that's gonna be awesome." She muttered.

Corleone glared at Ruby. "HEY, BRAT!" He screamed. "I don't know what you're thinking about, but you better pull your damn head out of your ass! Focus on the fact that I'm literally going to kill you and make peace with whatever god you believe in!"

Yang coughed, getting Ruby's attention. "Ruby…whatever you're thinking about, you might want to tone it down."

"Err…right." Ruby chuckled as she pointed Crescent Rose at Corleone. "Okay, Mr. Crime Boss! I hope you're ready, because you're about to lose to a bunch of kids!"

Corleone smirked. "Well, well, we've got a feisty one." He mused. "Got a couple screws loose, but you're pretty damn feisty."

Corleone smashed his two prosthetic fists together. They lit up with an orange light. Weiss Schnee gasped. "Those prosthetic hands…everyone, those things have Dust stored up inside of them!"

Corleone laughed. "I'd expect nothing less from a Schnee. You're right, I've put tons of Dust cartridges inside of these babies. My real hands...well, consider them a sacrifice for the power I gained."

"That is messed up." Blake Belladonna muttered.

Weiss gasped. "You know I'm a Schnee?"

"Oh sweetie, you are the spitting image of your old man." Corleone taunted. "Of course I know you're a Schnee."

"Anyway, here's the reality of your situation, brats. Someone, who is willing to go as far as I am for power…do you brats really think you can do anything to me?" Corleone taunted. "Don't. Make. Me. Laugh."

Ruby smirked. "It's not really a question of whether we think we can do anything do you…it's that we have to, so put up your dukes and get ready to fight. More importantly, get ready to lose."

"Team RWBY, move out!"

The battle began, Hansel continued to run through the gorge. However, something else began running through his mind as he made his way to the location of the battle. There's still something that doesn't add up. Hansel thought to himself. There was supposed to be some "King" that rules this gorge. Where is that thing?

Indeed, there was a King of the Gorge. A powerful Grimm, in fact; one that Corleone and his men could not kill. In reality, that thing could not be killed by a bunch of two-bit mobsters. They had to install motion-sensor turrets stolen from an Atlas base just to push that thing away from their headquarters. Thankfully, they had managed to keep the King at bay.

And so, the King of the Gorge slithered about in what was left of his domain. If the Grimm could grimace in frustration, the King would. And just what was this Grimm? An eight-headed beast with beady red eyes. A rare but deadly Grimm known as the Black Orochi; an eight-headed King Taijitu.

Just one is strong enough to wipe out an entire settlement single handedly. One horrifying tale in particular was when a settlement of three hundred people was devoured by a Black Orochi in the span of a single night. Even the Huntsmen who had been assigned to protect that settlement were unable to stop it.

Above this particular Black Orochi there were brief gleams of light that fell from the heavens. The Black Orochi hissed at the gleams as they landed on the ground. A black cloak blew in the wind from the impact. Then, the owner of the cloak gazed up at the Black Orochi, who trained all eight of its heads on the new arrivals. The black-cloaked man gaze back at the Black Orochi. He stared at the Black Orochi through his mask, a simple skull-mask that hid his identity from all who did not already know of him.

A few of the skull-man's comrades gazed at the Black Orochi all backed away in fright at the sight of the Grimm. The skull-man shook his head as he brandished a long staff. "Stow your fears away." He said. "You have nothing to fear as long as I'm here."

The skull-man smirked beneath his mask as the Black Orochi hissed at him with its eight heads. "So, this is the infamous King of the Gorge." He mused. "…I'm disappointed."

The Black Orochi hissed angrily as though it could understand the skull-man's insults. Then, it reared its heads back, preparing to lunge at him. The Black Orochi's eight heads vanished into the slipstream as they lunged at the skull-man.

However, almost immediately, the skull-man vanished into a slipstream of his own. The comrades of this man struggled to watch as he sped around the heads of the Black Orochi, which suddenly froze in-place, mid-lunge. The only reason they were able to keep up at all was because of a golden light that gave his location away.

The skull-man landed gracefully on the ground behind the Black Orochi. He lowered his staff as the golden light faded around it. Then, as soon as the light was gone, the Black Orochi exploded into black miasma.

Seven seconds; that was all it took for this man to kill one of the most threatening Grimm in recorded history. The Black Orochi was no more, dead at the hands of a far superior predator. One of the skull-man's comrades almost fell over at the sight of this carnage. An older member of this group saw the young man's disbelief and chuckled. "You're new," he noted, "don't worry, you'll get used to it. The chief's even stronger than him."

"But still, he's pretty amazing too. That is just…Reaper for you."

The man known as Reaper walked back towards his teammates. "Okay," he said smugly, "that was a nice and quick workout. But, we've got a job to do. The sooner we steal Corleone's Dust, the sooner we can all go home as triumphant heroes. So, let's get moving!"

"Yes, Sir!" Reaper's teammates yelled in unison.

Back at the battle between Corleone and Team RWBY, the mob boss grinned with sheer malicious glee. "I have to admit, it's been awhile since I've had some real exercise, I wonder if I should savor it."

Ruby immediately set forth her first strategy. "First formation!" She yelled. "Go, White Dwarf!"

Weiss and Yang immediately moved forward. The Schnee and the bimbo with the tits, huh? Fine by me. Corleone thought with a grin.

Weiss narrowed her eyes with fury. She did not know why Corleone knew her father, and she did not care at the moment. All she knew was that if she did not fight with all her might, she would most likely lose her friends. She could not allow that. She would deal with the implications of the Don knowing her father later.

White Dwarf was a very simple formation. A strong offense mixed with a strong defense. Weiss quickly cycled through Myrtenaster's chamber to her Ice Dust. "Let's go!" Weiss yelled, creating a large glyph in front of her and Yang.

Corleone threw a punch forward as the glyph erected a wall of ice between himself and the girls. The punch created an explosion of fire that destroyed the wall, kicking up a thick mist in the process. "Shit!" Corleone cursed in frustration.

Then, Yang suddenly appeared from the mist. "White Dwarf, bitch!" Yang yelled, throwing a punch of her own with Ember Celica.

Corleone grunted as Yang struck him in the stomach. Then, Yang unloaded a shotgun shell into him, pushing him back. Yang smirked, thinking she was going to send the fat bastard flying with that punch. However, Corleone then dug his feet into the ground, bracing himself and stopping himself from skidding too far.

Yang's eyes widened in disbelief. He shrugged off a blast from Ember Celica…

Corleone grinned. "Well, that tickled." He taunted Yang. "Come on, brat, did you really think that would work?"

Yang smirked as multiple fireballs came streaking out of the mist like comets, courtesy of Weiss Schnee switching from ice to fire. Corleone was peppered with the fireballs, stunning him. Just like that, the White Dwarf strategy continued, with Weiss now switching to offense in order to provide Yang a sort of defense for her next move.

"Well of course it tickled." Yang growled. "A punch like that had to have bounced off that disgusting gut of yours."

"So let's really see that belly of yours jiggle you fat bastard!" Yang yelled, firing off long-ranged shells.

Corleone just frowned at that statement. "Now there's no need to be rude, I just enjoy basking in my wealth." He muttered, switching his prosthetic limbs to lightning dust.

Corleone threw a simple punch forward that discharged a tremendous amount of electricity that formed into a defensive barrier. Yang's shotgun shells sailed into the barrier, only to have their momentum stopped and then fall to the ground. "My turn now!" Corleone yelled, rocketing forward with bolts of lightning.

"Yang, fall back!" Ruby yelled. "Blake, Scarlet Night!"

Blake quickly created a shadow clone that moved in front of Yang, who managed to get herself away from Corleone before he could throw a punch of his own at her. Yang's eyes widened, still feeling the force of his punch in spite of the distance she had managed to gain.

Blake's shadow clone took the hit, which then exploded, blinding Corleone. Then, Blake and another shadow clone rushed forward. Blake peppered Corleone with bullets from Gambol Shroud while her Shadow Clone leapt towards the Mob Boss.

"RAH!" Corleone let out a furious scream, discharging more electricity that destroyed the clone.

Blake quickly created another clone as Corleone turned his attention to her. The clone took the hit, allowing Blake to put some more distance between herself and Corleone. Then, Ruby sped in to fight while Corleone was distracted. This was the "scarlet" part of the Scarlet Night strategy. A purely offensive move that overwhelmed opponents with the speed of Team RWBY's two fastest members.

Ruby reformed herself and slashed Corleone, making him stumble for a brief moment before balancing himself once more. However, that provided Blake the opportunity she needed to wrap his neck with Gambol Shroud's kusarigama form, pulling him off balance once again. Another shadow clone rushed in, exploding in front of Corleone. Ruby once again assaulted Corleone with a slash before firing a high-caliber bullet in midair, letting her momentum carry her a safe distance from him.

"Little brats!" Corleone yelled, grabbing Gambol Shroud and discharging electricity from his prosthetics once more, delivering a devastating shock to Blake in the process.

"Blake!" Yang called out to her partner.

"Now take this!" Corleone yelled, punching the ground and sending out an extremely powerful shockwave that hit all four members of Team RWBY.

The girls only had time to let out shrieks of pain as their skeletons became visible for a brief moment. By the time the literal shockwave let up, they were already stumbling about, trying to regain their bearings from the attack. This gave Corleone the opening he needed to begin picking them off one by one. First, the toughest of the bunch. He trained his attention on Yang Xiao Long.

Corleone pushed off the ground, leaping towards Yang and cocking one of his prosthetic fists back while charging more electricity into the blow. However, Corleone underestimated Yang's recovery time and managed to avoid the attack just in time by leaning to the side. The girl's hair still stood up from the static electricity coursing around her. She felt the force and gasp.

Oh shit, if that had landed, I'd have been taking a dirt nap! Yang realized as she suddenly found herself remembering Hansel's lesson.

"Fight conservatively"..."don't take too many stupid hits"...get out of my damn head! Yang could not help but feel frustrated. The last thing I need right now is Teach's lessons running through my mind when I'm trying not to die here!

Weiss' eyes widened, horrified at how Yang had almost taken what would have been a fatal blow. Without thinking, the girl summoned a glyph in front of her, and out came a Boarbatusk made of ice.

Weiss gasped at the sight. I...successfully summoned again?

Weiss then watched as the Boarbatusk charged Corleone. Yang saw the Boarbatusk and took advantage of the opening Corleone had left when he attacked her. The blonde brawler threw a powerful uppercut into Corleone's jaw, sending the mobster reeling. Yang even emptied a shotgun shell from Ember Celica into the man for added effect.

Corleone stumbled backwards from the blow, and was then nailed in the side by Weiss' summoned Boarbatusk. Ruby smiled as she recovered from the electric shock she had received earlier. Nice work both of you! She thought, proud of her teammates.

I don't get it...what was different this time? Weiss wondered to herself.

The brief celebration was cut short when Corleone regained his balance and struck the Boarbatusk in the snout, making it shatter in almost an instant. "You would not believe the men I had to sacrifice to get away from your bitch of a sister's summoning abilities! Hell, it was those summoning abilities that cost me my fucking hands in the first place!" He snarled angrily at Weiss. "It was months before we thought it was safe to do business in Atlas again! Months of profit, lost because of her!"

Weiss was surprised by this. Winter was not the type of person who would maim her opponents like that, even if they were filthy mobsters. Was it perhaps when she was a less experienced soldier? She could not think of that now.

Corleone then calmed down and smiled with a sort of dissonant serenity. "Well, not like I hold a grudge. These new hands are way better."

Weiss narrowed her eyes. "So my sister and my father, you've had dealings with the both of them?"

Corleone laughed. "I guess you could say I've seen both the good and the bad side of your family." He noted. "Though, I think we might have vastly different definitions of those two terms."

Yang charged Corleone once more. "Quit taunting Weiss, you piece of shit!" She yelled. "Leave her family out of this!"

This time, Corleone was ready, the man weaved in and out of Yang's punches with the greatest of ease in spite of his massive girth. "She's the one getting all the taunts, and yet you're the one whose skin I'm getting under. Kinda funny don't you think?"

Corleone cocked his fist back. Sparks flew around the prosthetic fist. Yang's eyes widened, remembering the sheer force of the last punch she barely avoided. Shit, shit, shit, shit! Yang thought frantically.

Yang barely managed to duck underneath Corleone's next punch, feeling the force of the punch blow past her. She heard Ruby yell and looked over her shoulder to see Ruby blasted away by the force of the blow. "Ruby!" She yelled.

"Nice try, brat." Corleone grinned at the red reaper.

Ruby then smirked and held Crescent Rose out in front of her. Blake then planted her feet firmly on the flat-end of Crescent Rose's blade and launched herself off. Gambol Shroud's chain from its kusarigama form wrapped around Yang and yanked her safely away from Corleone. Corleone watched as Blake flew towards him. "I won't fall for the same trick twice!" Corleone told her, pointing the palm of his hand at her. "I don't appreciate getting caught in explosives!"

Corleone then fired a concentrated bolt of lightning straight into Blake, only for the Faunus to suddenly reveal herself underneath the stricken one. "My Shadows aren't just meant for blowing up. They take the hit so I keep fighting!" Blake declared, rushing towards Corleone with Gambol Shroud now in machine gun form.

Coleone was forced to stand his ground as Blake peppered him with machine gun fire. "Stupid animal!" Corleone was not fooled by the bow, he knew that was a Faunus charging him.

Knowing that if he attacked Blake head-on, she would just avoid him with a clone and he would be left wide open by a counterattack. So, instead, he went for an attack that would leave Blake wide open instead.

Roaring, Corleone slammed the palms of his hands into the ground, discharging electricity that struck Blake in the legs and then travelled up her body. However, that Blake was once again revealed as a shadow clone. The real Blake was airborne...and wide open.

Corleone's prosthetic hands changed Dust once more into fire. He held one hand out behind him and was rocketed forward by flames like a jet engine. Blake's eyes widened for a brief moment before taking a devastating punch to the stomach that sent her flying back.

"Blake!" Yang's eyes turned red with rage at seeing her partner and best friend get knocked to the ground right next to her.

"Oh, don't worry, I've got plenty more where that came from!" Corleone declared, firing a large fireball at Ruby, Blake and Yang.

Ruby's eyes widened. They had no way of blocking that and she could not get Yang and Blake out of the way in time. Thankfully, Weiss made her presence known once again, regrouping with the team and creating a glyph to shield them from the fireball. Team RWBY could not help but breath a sigh of relief as the glyph barely held up against the fireball. They could still feel the intense heat around them, but they were safe.

"Thanks, Weiss!" Ruby said gratefully.

"Don't thank me yet, we're nowhere near out of danger." Weiss replied. "This guy has an answer to practically everything we've got. Torchwick was a cakewalk compared to him."

"Of course Roman was, that failure probably folded real easily against a bunch of brats like you. Everybody else knew that he sucked at fighting just as much as he sucks at poker!" Corleone clearly overheard that statement. "Do you want to know why he lasted as long as he did? Because he was good at hiding behind the skirts of powerful allies! Like that annoying little mute girl who constantly shadowed him, or that Cinder broad! I, on the other hand, earned this particular title: that which is handed out to only the one with the most power in the criminal underworld of Remnant."

"The Underworld King."

"Various kinds of Dust, an insane physical strength, and enough Aura to tank everything we throw at him." Weiss muttered in frustration. "Damn it, how are we supposed to fight someone like this? If he lands a few good hits on us, we're doomed."

Yang helped Blake to her feet. "You okay?" She asked.

"I've been better. But I just need to walk it off." Blake replied.

Yang looked over at Ruby. "Any ideas, Rubes?" She asked. "Because, honestly, even I'm starting to worry we might be out of our league here."

Corleone chuckled. "Don't be like that, it's not you kids did terrible. You're just outmatched here. Brats like you, who think you've got the whole world in their hands, they're always the first to go in battle as soon as they run into a more experienced opponent. Sure, you hit hard, but in the end, you're outmatched by a vastly superior combatant who has had to fight every day to survive and thrive. Do you really think you can take down someone like that? Really, with how hotblooded you kids are, killing you is a kindness before you run into something much, much worse."

With that statement, Corleone's two prosthetic hands lit up in a dark brown and white light respectively. "He's changing Dust again." Weiss noted. "...And this time he's using two!"

Team RWBY watched as Corleone's body was suddenly covered in what appeared to be a mixture of ice and rock, starting with his hands and then spreading like a virus. "Earth Dust and Ice Dust, mixed together to form a powerful armor." Corleone revealed himself in a makeshift-suit of brown and white armor. "I've toyed with you enough. I haven't heard anything from the Boarbatusk Brothers, so I'm left to assume that Kobalt took them out. So, I think I'll strike you down now."

"Great, if this guy doesn't kill us, Teach will for disobeying him like this." Yang rolled her eyes.

Ruby stared hard at Corleone's makeshift armor before giving a small smile as realization hit her. "Guys, we can still win this." She said simply.

"Ever the optimist." Blake muttered.

"Think about it though!" Ruby insisted. "People put on armor when they're afraid of taking a hit! He's desperate!"

"I guess that's one way to look it." Weiss sighed. "But still, Ruby, how do we break the armor?"

Ruby gazed at the approaching Corleone, trying to figure that out herself. He's desperate to finish this because he knows Professor Kobalt is on his way back. Ruby noted. We could try to hold out, but playing not to lose isn't a winning strategy.

That armor is clearly going to slow him down. Dust creates whatever element it uses after all and ice and earth are solid matter. But the tradeoff is that he gains power and defense, which makes him even more dangerous. Our new advantage in speed means nothing if we can't…

Ruby suddenly trailed off as an idea slowly came to her mind. Speed? Yeah, that could work! He hasn't gotten a full dose of my Semblance yet, and with the armor slowing him down...yeah, it will work, I know it!

"Okay, Team RWBY, I have a new plan." Ruby announced.

"You always do." Weiss muttered fondly.

"You three keep him pinned with gunfire and other long-ranged attacks. I'm going to attack him head-on." Ruby said simply.

"...Ruby that is a terrible plan." Yang said bluntly. "I should be the one to do that, I'm more suited for up-close and personal stuff."

"No offense, Yang, but this plan will only work if I'm the one going up-close and personal." Ruby insisted. "I need you three to just trust me on this."

Yang hesitated for a moment, but remembered that her little sister was the leader for a reason and nodded. "Okay, Rubes." She said obediently. "Weiss, Blake, you two ready?"

"Always." Weiss replied while Blake nodded simply

"Yang, Blake, scatter!" Ruby ordered, putting her plan into motion. "Weiss, make some Glyphs to increase my momentum. I'm going right up the middle."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Reckless as always." She muttered. "You're lucky you're so damn good at what you do."

With that, a line of glyphs was formed between Ruby and the Don. Corleone gazed at the line in interest and watched as Yang and Blake moved off to the side. Ruby then rushed the Don, right up the middle, just like she said. Her speed increased thanks to the glyphs and not her Semblance "A last gasp huh?" Corleone mused, putting up both his fists to bring down the annoying reaper girl.

Corleone then felt both Yang and Blake blast him with gunfire. He winced slightly as his ears rang from Yang's shotgun blasts from Ember Celica strike him in the side of his "helmet"-clad head. He also noticed that Blake's gunfire was laced with Fire Dust. "Shit, is she trying to melt the ice in my armor?" He wondered.

Ruby then appeared in front of the Don. Corleone gasped. Shit, I was distracted!

"Boom." Ruby said simply, whipping Crescent Rose out in front of her and blasting the Don with an explosive-bullet that sent the man stumbling.

Ruby was knocked back from the force of her own explosion, only to whip Crescent Rose behind her, fire again and propel herself back towards the stumbling Don, whose armor was surprisingly intact from the blast.

"Hiyah!" Ruby yelled, slashing at the man's midsection with Crescent Rose's blade.

Gotta aim for the center mass here, I need to be dead-on in order for this to work! She reminded herself.

"You little brat!" Corleone sneered, raising his fist to cave Ruby's skull in with a single punch.

Ruby then gave Corleone a confident smirk and suddenly sped up her movements at will, avoiding Corleone's much slower but more powerful punches with tremendous ease. Of course, all that insane power meant nothing if the mobster could not even hit his target. Ruby knew that as well as anyone

She had watched Professor Kobalt utterly decimate Yang in a spar after avoiding each of her punches with ease. And most importantly, the hit-and-run tactic she had learned from the professor just the day before? That was the key to her victory tonight.

"Keep hitting him with gunfire!" Ruby yelled before adding meekly. "But don't hit me, please."

Blake noticed the now-frustrated look on the Don's face. He had gone from insanely confident to frantic in the span of a few minutes. So that's her game. Blake realized before smiling, impressed with her leader's quick thinking. She shouted out to Weiss and Yang. "Keep firing!"

Ruby continued avoiding each of the Don's attacks. Then, as soon as one haymaker in particular had left a glaring opening, Ruby moved in and swung Crescent Rose across the Don's midsection again.

Growling angrily, the Don created spikes of ice one of his fists to increase his reach a little and stab at Ruby, trying to ignore the gunfire the other Huntresses were peppering him with. Then Ruby blasted him dead in the face with a bullet from Crescent Rose. Thankfully, Corleone's Aura managed to shield him from the blast, but it was another explosive bullet. It was definitely starting to wear on him.

Corleone flailed about angrily, like a giant baby throwing a temper tantrum. Here, Ruby sped up again. Blake, meanwhile, aimed down the sight of Gambol Shroud, melting the ice spikes on Corleone's fist with fire bullets.

Corleone came out of the blast, now focused on attacking Ruby entirely. He knew if he went for any of the shooters, she would be on him like white on rice. No matter how experienced or strong a guy was, if he went up against a group that knew how to fight effectively as a team, he would be the one at a disadvantage. Ozpin was a big believer in teamwork for a reason.

Ruby smirked confidently as she speedily weaved past all of Corleone's attacks, speeding up once more. She gazed at the spot on his armor she was concentrating her attacks on, smiling inwardly when she saw chinks and cracks beginning to appear in the middle. Her plan was working.

Okay, time to really kick things up a notch! Ruby thought to herself, now rushing in, in the middle of Corleone's frantic flurry of punches.

What is she… Yang shook those thoughts away, deciding to trust Ruby and continued firing on Corleone to keep him pinned down.

Thinking Ruby had gotten sloppy, Corleone, forcefully generated more earth around his right fist, intent on bringing her down with what basically looked like a golem's arm. Ruby then gave Corleone a victorious smirk and leapt into the air, transforming into her Semblance form and speeding above the Don as he threw a haymaker that generated another shockwave from the force of the punch.

Ruby immediately came out of her "Rose Petal" form and aimed right down the sight, shooting Corleone in the back of the head, making him stumble forward. Landing, Ruby ran at Corleone once more. Recovering, the mobster snarled as he generated an icy blade on his other arm. "You bitch!" He screamed, spinning around, intent on decapitating Ruby, only to have the ice shattered by fireballs that converged on it.

He looked off to the side to see that Weiss Schnee had made her move, using Myrtenaster to generate those fireballs. Now even more frantic, Corleone lifted his giant stone arm, feeling its slowness now. Ruby held Crescent Rose to the side and fired a stray bullet, letting the momentum from the blast help create a speedy but powerful spinning attack as she began slashing at Corleone's midsection repeatedly with the blade of her scythe.

Corleone winced, feeling the blade dig into his armor. Damn, that would hurt were it not for that. However, because he was still protected by his crumbling armor, he could still bring her down.

Then, Corleone felt something wrap around his stone arm. He turned to see that Gambol Shroud had struck once more. Blake Belladonna, winced as she visibly struggled to keep Corleone held back from throwing such a powerful haymaker at her leader and friend.

Yang then ran over and grabbed onto Blake, helping her best friend hold down Corleone. Weiss, meanwhile, launched more fireballs from Myrtenaster which sailed past Ruby, whose assault was slowing down with the momentum slowly dying, and struck Corleone in multiple spots on his body.

This proved to be the straw that broke the camel's back, as Corleone's armor suddenly crumbled away. Ruby managed to get in a few final swings that brought Corleone's Aura down to a dangerous level before finally coming to a stop. She briefly retreated to regroup and put the final phase of her plan in action.

Blake and Yang had actually been a great help, going off script like that. She had honestly not expected them to improvise by stopping that giant arm with Gambol Shroud, but she was glad they did. She had no plan for that.

"Let go!" Corleone demanded of Blake and Yang. "You stupid brats!"

Corleone frantically drew on what little Dust he had left stored up in his hands and tried to burn Gambol Shroud off of him. He swung a fiery hand to ward off Ruby. A last, desperate gasp to try to avoid what was to come.

"Need anything else from me, Ruby?" Weiss asked, coming up to her friend from behind.

"Give me that stuff you used to increase Blake's speed back when we fought that Paladin." Ruby told her.

Weiss nodded and smiled. "Finish him off for me, will you." She told her best friend as a glyph appeared beneath Ruby's feet.

Ruby's body lit up in a bright yellow light. Weiss had combined her glyphs with lightning dust, creating a time dilation field that gave Ruby an incredible boost in speed.

"I said let go!" Corleone yelled. "Get away! Don't you brats know who I am?"

"How could we?" Ruby taunted. "We're just foolish, stupid kids, remember."

Ruby sped towards Corleone, transforming into rose petals once again, but now shining with the bright, golden light of Weiss's time dilation field. The girl now looked like a shooting star, streaking towards the Don.

"Shit!" Corleone yelled frantically. "Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!"

Corleone tried to blast Ruby away with his flames, only for the flames to die out before they could come near her. His eyes widened in horror. He was out of Dust. Ruby then rematerialized and slashed right through Corleone's remaining Aura, tearing into his body and knocking the mobster off his feet.

"And guess what! You just lost to us! The foolish, stupid kids in way over their heads!" Ruby declared as Don Anthonio Corleone, top crime boss in three of the four kingdoms in Remnant was knocked flat on his back, arms splayed out and mouth open wide in a silent scream.

It was around this time, Hansel Kobalt finally managed to reach the battlefield, visibly worried for whoever was fighting Corleone. He then gasped in disbelief as Ruby landed the final blow on the Don. For a moment, he forgot his anger at being disobeyed when he realized just what had happened.

Team RWBY...they actually did it. They took down Corleone themselves. Those damn brats actually…

Hansel then remembered he was supposed to be pissed at them, and his lips curled into a furious snarl.

Meanwhile, Ruby panted, exhausted from her efforts in bringing down the Don. She grinned triumphantly at the downed mobster. "Gotcha," she said, "so what'd you think of my hit-and-run strategy you big jerk?"

Yang laughed as she came up to her sister, flanked by Weiss and Blake. "You trying to take all the credit, Rubes?" She joked.

Ruby laughed sheepishly. "Right, sorry Yang, sorry Weiss, sorry Blake."

"To be fair, Ruby was the one to come up with this plan, as reckless as it was." Weiss folded her arms.

"And it was perfectly executed." Blake complimented. "Nice job, Ruby. He landed some good hits in, but I'd honestly call this our most dominant victory yet."

"And, we managed to deal a blow to the criminal underworld. Which I'd say is a bonus!" Yang added.

The quartet then heard the sounds of approaching footsteps. They turned and noticed Hansel's entry into view for the first time. Their combat professor had an unreadable expression on his face. Blake was immediately on guard. Her animal instincts immediately warned her that Hansel was not happy.

Ruby, unfortunately, had no such instinct. She ran right up to her teacher and cheered. "Check it out, Professor!" She said proudly. "We took down a mob boss! Isn't that awesome?"

Hansel took a deep breath. "You four just beat up a guy I've been trailing for a good long time." He noted. "You disobeyed my orders to remain at the campsite...but in doing so, you worked together and beat one of the most dangerous men in Remnant's criminal underworld. I have to say, I'm impressed."

Weiss and Yang looked at Hansel in confusion. Blake still looked very worried. Ruby, however, was utterly thrilled. "Really?!" She asked with stars in her eyes.

And then, Hansel exploded…

"Is that seriously what you expected me to say you idiot?!" Hansel screamed, making Ruby flinch and leap back in fear.

Hansel panted from that sudden outburst, trying to catch his breath. However, he continued his tirade without missing a beat. "What did I say? I certainly did not stutter when I said that none of you were to leave the campsite! You disobeyed a direct order from a professor! I could have all four of you expelled for this!"

Weiss, Blake and Yang all winced at how harsh Hansel sounded. "We were just trying to help…" Ruby said softly, trying to placate her teacher.

"And when did I ever give the impression I needed your help?" Hansel harshly demanded. "Hell, why would I ever need your help?"

"Teach, we just took down a dangerous mobster, the least you could do is give a bit of credit." Yang suggested.

"And I wouldn't have?" Hansel shot back. "Did you really think he was going to escape this place? Even if he did leave the gorge, he wouldn't have gotten far! I would've caught up and brought him down without dealing with this headache! Don't you get it? I've been doing this alone ever since I started training to be a Huntsman! I don't need help to take down guys like him, and I certainly don't need it from a bunch of gung-ho students like you!"

All four members of Team RWBY looked down in shame at Hansel's extremely harsh dressing down. Hansel then walked to Corleone. "Now I am going to restrain this guy." He said. "We are going to take him back to camp, and we'll continue this conversation later when I decide what an appropriate punishment is-"

Hansel froze in place as his battle instincts suddenly flared, big time. He looked back into the gorge, sensing a brand new presence for the first time, even though it had arrived much earlier. What the hell is that? He wondered. I'm picking up an Aura signature that's leagues above Corleone's...just who the hell is that?

Hansel then remembered what else was that way. Shit, all the stuff Corleone stole for Gray Jackal! If they're after those stolen goods, I need to stop whoever it is. Those goods need to be used as evidence to make sure Corleone goes away for good. And to prove the threat-level Gray Jackal is to the professor.

Hansel quickly moved up to the Don, who was slowly beginning to stir awake. He then noticed Hansel looming over him. "Oh well, look who's here." Corleone muttered sarcastically.

"Oh good," Hansel said, "you'll feel this and you'll understand what I want from you."

Without missing a beat, Hansel slammed his foot into Corleone's shin, shattering it. Corleone let out a scream while Team RWBY winced at how brutal it was. Hansel quickly broke the other one. "In case you haven't figured it out, I don't want you to move. I've gotta go keep someone from stealing what you stole."

Hansel turned to his disobedient students. "You girls keep an eye out for him. Something else just came up. I'm going to go check it out." He ordered.

Hansel then turned to Yang. "You, hold my cloak. I want it back as soon as I'm done."

Hansel tossed his cloak to Yang. The blonde caught it, only to yelp in surprise at the weight as she was knocked over. "Yang!" Blake yelled worriedly.

"The hell? This thing weighs a ton for a cloak!" Yang exclaimed.

"What kind of thing came up?" Ruby asked curiously, ignoring her sister's small plight.

"The kind of thing that's none of your damn business." Hansel told her harshly as he began to move back into the deeper area of the gorge. "You're staying here."

Ruby began running after him. "But, Professor, we want to-"

Hansel spun around and looked Ruby dead in the eye, stopping the girl in her tracks with a harsh glare. "You're. Staying. Here!" He said in a tone that left absolutely no room for argument.

Ruby felt her body freeze from fear of Hansel's anger and frustration with her. Seeing she was not moving at all, Hansel nodded in satisfaction and moved deeper into the gorge. "You okay, Rubes?" Yang asked softly when Hansel was out of earshot.

"I thought he would be proud." Ruby whimpered slightly.

"We still disobeyed a teacher, Ruby." Blake pointed out. "There are still rules to follow."

"I'm sorry I dragged you all into this." Ruby said to them. "You're all in trouble because of me."

"We chose to follow you, Ruby." Weiss kindly reminded her. "Don't act like you're at fault for this."

"Whatever punishment the professor decides to give us, we'll take it...as long as it's not a repeat of that first day of class." Blake noted.

"You don't think he would do that again, would he?" Weiss asked. "I mean…"

"I know he promised to be better...but he was as angry as he was on the first day." Blake pointed out.

Yang remained silent throughout Blake and Weiss's small debate on what Hansel planned to do as punishment, as though she were contemplating different matters.

Meanwhile, Reaper and his team arrived at the spot where Corleone's men had stored all their stolen goods. "Dust, weapons, and all kinds of cool stuff." Reaper could not help but whistle in appreciation. "Say what you want about the man, but he definitely knew how to amass quite a collection."

Reaper then clapped his hands together. "Okay, chop-chop," he said, "gather as much as you can carry. One of you call the boss and let her know we're ready for pickup."

"You know, Reaper." One of his subordinates spoke up, taking note of the carnage around the stolen goods. "We could actually steal everything. It looks like someone took out all the guards."

Reaper took note of this and nodded. "Good thinking," he said, "but let's not get too greedy though. We can't afford to get caught with our pants down when we're in the middle of stealing shit."

Reaper then heard the sounds of a rapidly approaching mass. "Speaking of which," he muttered, "nevermind, just take what you can carry and let's get the hell out of here! Someone get the chief on the line, now!"

Reaper's eyes widened slightly behind the mask as a black fireball came sailing into view. He quickly drew his staff. Pressing a button, an apparatus rotated at the head of the staff and then a green blade appeared, transforming the staff into a scythe. The reaper's scythe had revealed itself in all its glory.

Reaper let out a yell as he swung his green scythe forward, generating a powerful gust of wind that cancelled out the fireball, which dissipated into the winds. Reaper's attacker then revealed himself. Hansel Kobalt leapt into view, Wolf Fang already drawn and ready to feast on the blood of this new enemy.

Reaper chuckled, recognizing the young man almost instantly. "Well, well, well, well, well," he said casually, "to think we'd be graced by the presence of the Blue Demon himself. Don't I feel...honored."

"Oh shit, that is the Blue Demon." One of Reaper's men said fearfully. "He looks young, but he's just as intimidating in person as the stories make him out to be!"

Hansel narrowed his eyes, recognizing the attire on his new opponent. "The Reaper." He growled.

Reaper chuckled and turned to his subordinates. "Change of plans again, boys." He said. "Belay that call to the chief."

Reaper turned back to Hansel and brandished his scythe threateningly. "I think it's time to add a new notch to my blade...as the Huntsmen Hunter!" He declared.

A.N: Corleone is down, but this is not over yet folks. The one called Reaper is still running around. And no, I don't play Overwatch. He has a true name, he just uses Reaper as something of a codename to play up his "Huntsmen Hunter" status.