Cover art by CHE3ZY

I'm glad I was able to get this one out sooner than I anticipated. As usual, please, please, please, leave your thoughts in the reviews section. Always curious what you all think. Please forgive me if this one has some grammatical errors. I sometimes miss the errors during my proofreading sessions. Be sure to like and share this fic and don't forget to vote for your favorite OC. Please enjoy the conclusion to "A Night Out" with part IV.

Blake's worst fears had been confirmed. Faline was still with the White Fang and what was even worse was that Faline was in the process of facilitating an arms deal for the organization. To think that this once peaceful movement had become a violent terrorist organization broke her heart. It was an insult to the dream her father strove to achieve. Blake couldn't believe she was once counted among the numbers of these now criminals. The cat faunus looked on with slight apprehension from her hiding spot as Faline and the others stood there and waited for their two comrades to return.

Faline tapped her foot impatiently as she glanced at her watch. George and Ferdinand had been gone for over ten minutes and still hadn't returned. She wasn't the only one growing impatient, however. Her brothers and sisters in the White Fang were also becoming restless.

"You think they're okay?" Asked a female fox faunus who looked worried.

"I hope so," replied a male lizard faunus.

A brief moment of silence passed before it was interrupted.

"This is stupid," said a male dog faunus, "let's go and see what's taking them so long."

"You think they're dead?" Asked a female bat faunus.

"I have a bad feeling about this," said a male sheep faunus, "I think we should get out of here."

"ENOUGH!" Yelled the leader horse faunus. "No one is leaving until-"

BOOM!

It was as if a lightning bolt struck at point-blank range. The flash blinded their eyes, and the noise left their sensitive ears in agonizing pain. Faline was lucky enough to have been standing near the outer edge of the group when the flashbang grenade detonated, but that didn't stop the deafening ringing in her ears or the black spots that encompassed her vision. The deer faunus struggled to pick herself off the ground, the less-than-lethal explosive left her extremely disoriented. Slowly, Faline's vision began to return. As the black spots faded from view, the first thing she saw was the bloodied, disembodied head of a familiar horse faunus. Faline couldn't hear the sound of her terrified yell as the ringing in her ears drowned it out. Faline, still in her disoriented state, stumbled back and fell to the ground. She clawed at the dirt and steadied herself enough to look up and witness a black-clad figure mowing her comrades down as though they were wheat in a field. Her pupils dilated as she witnessed it tear her brothers and sisters apart without mercy. Thankfully, some of her comrades had still been completely disoriented. Otherwise, they would have had to witness the brutality of it all.

The ones who could see or hear attacked the unknown assailant with everything they had. Faline couldn't believe what she was seeing. This thing was massive and yet it moved with speed that she'd never thought was possible. Huntsmen were incredibly fast, but this thing was far faster than any Huntsman or Huntress could ever be. The assailant dodged all of their attacks with apparent ease before using a pair of twin swords to slash the bat faunus to literal pieces before moving to the next victim.

Faline watched in horror as it shoved a curved combat knife underneath the jaw of one of its victims before it used its free hand to fire off a series of precise, high-powered rounds from its suppressed assault rifle, killing another target. Normally, in a scenario such as this, the deer faunus would have run for her life, but she couldn't. She was paralyzed with fear. She watched as the monster brutally battered a male sheep faunus with the most devasting combination of strikes she'd ever witnessed. She watched helplessly as the bloodied sheep faunus' opened to scream in pain as the assailant literally tore the unfortunate soul apart limb from limb with its bare hands. Faline couldn't stop herself from vomiting in disgust at the sight of such a monstrous act. Faline wished she was still blind so as to not have seen such a gruesome sight. Thankfully, she still couldn't hear anything.

Everything she'd witnessed, all the death and violence her eyes saw, had transpired in less than ten seconds. That's how fast this thing was. It didn't matter that some of her brothers and sisters were trained in the use of aura because they too were slaughtered easily enough. The ringing in Faline's ears began to subside and the ambient sounds once again became audible. She watched as a bloodied fox faunus attempted to crawl away with her life hanging on by a thread. Her legs were missing, and she was bleeding out. Tears streamed down her face as her cries were the only sounds heard in the scrapyard.

The assailant wiped the blood off of its blade before casually observing the scene. It was at this point that Faline got a good look at the assailant. It was dressed in mostly black and wore a White Fang mask as well as a breastplate that was adorned with the symbol of the White Fang. Faline was still too terrified to say or do anything. All she could do was watch as the killing machine retrieved a pistol from a drop holster and fired.

BANG!

Faline flinched. She opened her eyes and saw that the fox faunus' body was motionless. Her pain-filled cries were no more.

The assailant was now looking directly at her. Faline felt as though her heart was going to burst out of her chest. She never imagined a fear such as this. This couldn't be real. It just had to be a nightmare. She pinched herself and to her great dismay, she could feel the pain, a pain that was nothing in comparison to the fear she felt. A million thoughts ran through her head, and they all pointed to one thing.

The Harvester, the devil incarnate.

There was only one photo of the Harvester, a blurred photo of its massive silhouette, and this thing matched that silhouette's size. She'd seen the remains of her brothers and sisters who fell victim to one of the demon's attacks before and the carnage matched the scene before her spot on. This killing machine displayed monstrous strength and speed and butchered her comrades with brutal efficiency. No one, not human or faunus, could have done the things she'd witnessed. There was no mistaking it. The demon from the darkest of nightmares had come for her.

She found herself breathing harder and faster; she was practically hyperventilating. The tall monster casually approached her and while she wanted to run away for dear life, she couldn't. Her body wouldn't move no matter how much she mentally ordered it to.

"I have some questions for you, and you will answer them," it spoke in a cold, emotionless voice as it closed in on her. The voice didn't sound natural to Faline. It almost sounded digital in her opinion.

Faline didn't say anything, and she didn't do anything. She simply stared at the approaching monster with a thousand-yard stare. She was far too traumatized to respond. In all honesty, she was surprised that she was still alive. It had kept her alive because it wanted her alive.

Faline watched as the devil abruptly stopped in its tracks. It took its eyes off of her and shifted elsewhere.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!"

Faline was abruptly snapped out of her trance.

That voice. It couldn't be. Could it?

The deer faunus' eyes went wide as a familiar cat faunus landed in front of her.

"BLAKE?!" Yelled a surprised Faline.

Blake was too focused on the assassin in front of her to respond to Faline. Blake was unarmed, but that didn't stop her from assuming a fighting stance.

"I don't know what your vendetta against the White Fang is, but this senseless murder stops here! The White Fang may not be the peaceful organization it once was, but that doesn't mean its members deserve to die like this. No one deserves this! I won't let you kill her!"

Faline looked on in wonder as the Harvester merely stood there, observing them with something akin to curiosity. This behavior was a complete 180 from what it displayed earlier.

Terre, meanwhile, was contemplating the appropriate course of action in his mind. Blake was unarmed and it was clear that she knew this girl from her days in the White Fang. If he had to guess, Blake must have followed Faline from the club and observed everything from a distance. Judging by Faline's surprise to see Blake, it's clear that she wasn't aware of Blake's presence. Terre was honestly impressed with Blake's ability to stay hidden. He hadn't noticed her until she deliberately showed herself.

Blake's presence here posed a significant problem. Faline was the objective. She could lead them to Taurus or Torchwick, but Blake was willing to fight him to keep him from interrogating her. Terre wasn't entirely sure what to do about Blake. He couldn't kill her. No. The General's orders were clear. She was only to be eliminated if she posed a threat to the safety of Ruby, Weiss, and Pyrrha. The past months had demonstrated that she wasn't a threat to them. She wasn't a member of the White Fang anymore, though that didn't change the fact that he and his brothers didn't trust her. To be fair, they didn't trust anyone except for a select few.

Terre observed the cat faunus for a moment before he moved to walk around her, but he was quickly stopped by Blake once again positioning herself between Faline and him.

"If you want her then you'll have to get through me!" Blake may have sounded confident and fearless, but internally she was terrified.

She'd seen what this thing did to the other White Fang members. It had killed everyone in only a matter of seconds, and in that time, Blake was too traumatized by it all to do anything. Though in all honesty, she wouldn't have been fast enough to stop this thing. Blake was in over her head, and she knew it. It'd been nothing short of a miracle that she didn't run after seeing this monster effortlessly massacre the other White Fang members. She'd managed to shake herself out of her fear-induced paralysis just in time to put herself between Faline and this…whatever this thing was.

Throughout her life, she'd seen many capable fighters. Her father, while a peaceful man, was capable of extraordinary feats of strength, and Adam was arguably one of the best fighters she'd ever seen. She'd witnessed Adam commit barbaric acts against humans and faunus alike in the pursuit of his goals, but nothing could ever amount to the slaughter she just witnessed take place. While this assailant was dressed in White Fang attire, it was obviously a disguise. She would have assumed that this assailant was some rogue Huntsman with a vendetta against the White Fang, but after seeing what she just saw she quickly ruled that out. Her time at Beacon exposed her to some of the most skilled Huntsmen and Huntresses in the world, including Professor Glynda Goodwitch, and she realized that this assailant was far, far more lethal than anyone she'd ever encountered. No human or faunus could ever be as fast or as strong. Whatever this thing was, it certainly wasn't faunus or human. Maybe it was some sort of robot? That certainly would have explained the digital voice it spoke in, but at the same time, no robot could move so fluidly.

What the hell is this thing?

Blake didn't have the slightest idea. All she knew was that she didn't stand a chance against this thing, but she didn't care. She couldn't let her friend die too.

"I'm not leaving her here," Blake whispered to herself with determination as she slowly backed away towards Faline.

Terre observed her for a moment, taking note of the subtle quivers of her body with his enhanced vision. It was clear that she was terrified, but she remained resolute in her decision to stay. Terre merely nodded before he rushed forward without warning, intent on incapacitating her. Terre's hand reached out to grab hold of the cat faunus, but quickly found her body turning into ice, freezing his hand in place.

Blake and Faline were gone.

A shadow clone imbued with Ice Dust.

Blake's semblance was quite useful for making escapes. With minimal effort, Terre shattered the ice that had encased his hand. The super soldier observed the landscape thoroughly, searching for any sign of the two. They'd managed to disappear without a trace. Terre retrieved his tracking device from his pocket and glanced at it momentarily before he activated his goggle's infrared mode and then took off in a sprint in pursuit of his objective.

Blake and Faline were panting heavily. Blake had used a great deal of aura to put as much distance between them and that monster as possible via her semblance, shadow. They ran for dear life as fast as they could until they stopped here. The two were currently catching their breath inside one of the many abandoned airships. The shipyard was massive; for them to get out of it and make it to the nearest inhabited area would have taken even more time and kept them exposed longer. Blake opted to hide in the maze instead and stay out of sight. They'd been hiding here for the last 20 minutes. Blake's keen cat ears listened closely for any movement; seeing as the coast was clear she turned her attention to Faline.

"What's going on?" She asked in the softest of whispers that only fellow faunus could hear. "Who or what is trying to kill you?"

"Nice to see you too," replied the deer faunus who was no longer paralyzed with fear.

"I'm serious Faline. I just saved your life so you better talk."

"I don't know what that thing was, and I don't know why it killed everyone else and kept me alive. It said it had some questions for me and that I would answer them."

Blake nodded.

"I heard that much, but that doesn't explain what you and the White Fang are doing here in Vale."

Faline narrowed her eyes at Blake.

"You really think I'll tell a traitor like you about our business here?"

"I'm no traitor, Faline. The White Fang is a twisted perversion of what it once was. I left because I believed in the original goal. Equality through peace. Not supremacy through violence."

Faline wanted to laugh but doing so would have caused unnecessary noise. She refrained from laughing but shot Blake a smug grin instead.

"You're just like your delusional father. Sienna saw his weakness and saved the White Fang from his leadership."

Blake grabbed Faline by the shirt and glared dangerously at her.

"First, don't ever speak about my father, and second stop stalling and tell me why you're here. I didn't have to save you."

"Are you sure about that?" Whispered Faline. "Are you sure you didn't do it to prove to yourself that you could actually avoid running away for once in your life?"

If there wasn't a literal monster chasing them, Blake would have knocked the deer faunus' teeth out. Blake merely remained silent as she continued to stare down her once good friend.

"I'm not telling you anything Blake. Now, let me go. That monster is out there I don't want to stick around for it to find either of us."

Blake moved to reply but was interrupted by the loud sound of metal scraping against metal. The fuselage was torn open as if it were cardboard, revealing the familiar sight of the masked assailant. Blake and Faline looked horrified.

"HOW THE HELL DID IT FIND US?!" Faline looked as though she was going to have a panic attack.

Terre stood silent and motionless for a moment as he observed the two. Blake moved to put herself in front of Faline. She was still adamant about protecting her.

"This doesn't concern you," he said to Blake, "leave now."

Without warning, the masked monster brought its armored arm up to block a kick from a familiar monkey faunus. The monster quickly grabbed Sun's leg and spun before throwing him across the scrapyard effortlessly mid-spin.

Terre halted in time to see teams RWBY and JNPR land in front of him with their weapons at the ready. Sun quickly rejoined the others and brought his weapon forth too.

"I think this does concern us pal, and if anyone is leaving it's you!" Sun's words echoed throughout the scrapyard.

Blake breathed a sigh of relief as she saw that her friends had finally arrived. Faline looked at Blake questioningly.

"You know them?" She asked.

Blake nodded.

"They're my friends. I called them when I saw that monster attack you."

"How did they get here so fast?" Asked Faline perplexed.

"We borrowed a bullhead!" Yelled Sun with a mischievous grin.

"Stole a bullhead!" Yelled an irritated Weiss.

Terre's eyes darted about as he took everything in. This wasn't good. Blake's interference had been troubling enough, but now that teams JNPR and RWBY, and Sun Wukong were involved, it all became even more complicated. He would have to fight all of them if he wanted to get Faline. He wasn't worried about losing; he was more than capable of handling them all with ease but that didn't mean he wanted to fight them.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Asked Yang as her eyes turned red and her hair was engulfed in a flaming aura.

Terre observed her for a moment before he replied.

"My reason for being here is not important. What is important is that you all leave now."

"We're not going anywhere! We won't let you hurt Blake or her friend!" Yelled Ruby.

Terre didn't bother responding. There was no point. He wouldn't be able to convince them to walk away and leave Faline behind. He was going to have to do this the hard way. Terre assumed his stance with his left foot forward, his knees slightly bent, and his arms close in. Yang tossed Blake her weapon, Gambol Shroud, catching it with ease as she moved to stand between Sun and Yang. Faline remained where she was, watching the entire thing unfold. She didn't have the suicidal urge to fight the devil.

The members of RWBY and JNPR, and Sun Wukong had the Guardian nearly surrounded. It was nine against one and to any observer, it would have seemed that the odds were stacked heavily in one corner. And they would have been right except that they placed the odds in the wrong corner. Terre's eyes analyzed everything, taking the whole situation in. He observed the different stances of the nine students before him, examining their body language. Terre could tell that they all were on edge, especially Jaune and Blake.

No one moved.

Terre raised his hands slowly. He calmly unslung his rifle and dropped it on the ground before he likewise retrieved his dual swords and pistol and dropped them on the ground too. He did the same with his combat knife. The students looked relieved. It appeared that he was surrendering.

Faster than anyone could follow, Terre retrieved a smoke grenade and threw it to the ground, encompassing the entire area in a blinding cloud of smoke.

Ruby rushed forward to where Terre once was with Crescent Rose at the ready with Yang, Blake, Weiss, and Sun right behind her. Team RWBY and Sun immediately stopped once they saw that the towering assailant was gone. The five searched frantically but couldn't see anything in the cloud of smoke. The little show of false surrender had bought the mysterious person a window of time and opportunity.

"Where'd he go?!" Yelled Yang.

"I don't know!" Replied Weiss.

Team JNPR remained outside the smoke to secure the area. They could hear Yang and Weiss yelling, and all the while team JNPR kept their heads on swivels as they searched for any sign of the mysterious person. The four members of JNPR inched their way towards the smoke as they continued to scan the area, completely unaware of the silent touchdown of boots behind them. Terre moved quickly and silently as he approached the unsuspecting blonde leader of team JNPR.

The Guardian struck.

Terre delivered a series of strong, controlled blows along Jaune's back and neck. Before Jaune's screams reached the ears of his teammates, the novice leader's legs were kicked out from under him, sending him to the ground. Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha immediately turned and attacked the super soldier. Terre ducked underneath a sword slash from an angry Pyrrha before leaping back into a backflip to avoid a swing from Nora's hammer. Ren unloaded a volley of automatic fire towards the super soldier, but the shots missed their target as Terre's unnatural agility kept him out of harm's way. By this time, the smoke had dispersed, and team RWBY and Sun could see Jaune on the ground, struggling to get up, but otherwise okay. They could also see the masked assailant keeping his distance while seamlessly dodging Ren's automatic fire and Pyrrha's semi-automatic fire.

"REN, PYRRHA, GET BACK!" Yelled Nora as Magnhild transformed into its grenade launcher function.

Pyrrha and Ren did as they were told right before the energetic redhead fired off several grenades at the fast-moving target. Terre used both his enhanced strength and his aura to enhance his jump as he leaped out of harm's way and out of view in the dark sky, his dark clothing did an excellent job of minimizing his visibility. Everyone fired into the sky blindly in hopes of hitting the assailant. The students were too busy shooting into the air to notice a pair of flashbang grenades drop down near them.

BOOM!

"AHHHH!" Yelled Weiss.

The students had to shield their eyes from the intense flash of light, but that didn't stop them from becoming disoriented from the flashbang grenades. Faline had noticed the flashbang grenades and had promptly closed her eyes and covered her ears before they went off. The deer faunus took note of the window of opportunity before her. This was her chance to escape. Faline took off in a dash at full speed, hoping to get the hell away from that monster and everything else. The deer faunus didn't get far, though. She stopped in her tracks upon seeing the devil standing there, waiting for her. She didn't get the chance to run the other way as a powerful hand clamped around her arm, bringing her face to face with the Harvester.

No words were spoken, but she understood the message. She wasn't going anywhere.

Faline gasped in surprise as the monster suddenly threw her into a pile of scrap before he turned to deflect a sword slash from the blonde boy with his vambrace.

Jaune looked angry; he was angry. Faline, meanwhile, watched the whole thing.

The novice repeatedly slashed away at the Guardian, but the slashes were either deflected off Terre's vambraces or simply dodged. Jaune continued to advance, forcing Terre to backup. As Terre retreated, he couldn't help but notice the vast improvement in the skills of the leader of Team JNPR. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't impressed. It looked as though Jaune's training with Jai and Pyrrha was paying off. Jaune swung Crocea Mors down with all of his strength. Terre caught the blonde boy's sword between the palms of its hands with no effort.

Jaune had a look of disbelief plastered on his face. Crocea Mors was suddenly yanked out of Jaune's hands before it was tossed away. Jaune didn't have time to register what was happening as Terre delivered a powerful open-palm strike to Jaune's midsection, causing the novice to gasp for air. Jaune ignored the pain as he rushed forward again and threw a right cross which was caught by the super soldier. Terre delivered a controlled blow to Jaune's throat before trapping the boy's arm and flipping him to the ground with enough force to shatter his aura.

Jaune didn't get up. The leader of Team JNPR was out cold.

Terre examined the unconscious boy for a moment before he turned his attention to Faline. Before he could move to re-apprehend her, Terre found himself jumping back to avoid a wall of ice that encased the area he once was.

"HYAH!"

Terre's hands shot up and caught the incoming gauntlet encased fists of Yang. The red eyes and the fiery hair made the energetic blonde of team RWBY look menacing. Yang fired Ember Celica point-blank, sending the Guardian sliding back. His armor and aura did a good job of absorbing the damage.

Terre's enhanced reflexes caught a red blur speeding past him. The Guardian instinctively dove into a combat roll to the side to avoid the slash from Crescent Rose from behind. Terre immediately pushed off the ground with his hands to send himself into the air to avoid another wall of ice from Weiss.

Terre landed but didn't get much time to adjust as he found himself surrounded by a series of glyphs. Weiss used her glyph's time dilation ability to increase her speed far beyond its limits. The Schnee became a blur and Terre found himself having to work harder to react fast enough to block the heiress' slashes from Myrtenaster. As he blocked the incoming strikes from the speeding Weiss, Ruby fired off a few rounds from Crescent Rose, but Terre managed to roll out of harm's way and avoid them. Ruby became a red blur as she sped past Terre. The super soldier blocked a strike from the scythe that was aimed at his head with his vambrace before he wrapped his arm around the scythe and spun around to face her. The silver-eyed warrior gasped in surprise as she found herself staring into the dark eye slits of the mask. Without warning, her scythe was forced out of her hands and sent flying. Ruby tried to punch the masked stranger in the face but found her fist effortlessly caught by the assailant. Terre abruptly let her go.

The Guardian turned and caught Weiss by the hand, the one holding Myrtenaster.

"Let go of me!"

Weiss activated the Ice Dust within Myrtenaster, encasing Terre in a block of ice. Weiss landed on the ground, having accidentally dropped Myrtenaster, as she panted, but she didn't get much of an opportunity to rest because Terre immediately broke out of the ice with relative ease. The heiress' eyes went wide as the Guardian rushed forward and seized her hands in one hand. Weiss struggled to escape the stranger's powerful grip but found her efforts in vain. The Guardian reached forward with his free hand as it glowed green.

Weiss flinched.

Terre lightly touched the heiress on the head, causing Weiss to look at him with a confused gaze. She didn't get the chance to question what he was doing as she quickly found her vision going dark and her muscles becoming weak. Having used his semblance in a similar, yet different, fashion as he did against Specialist Ebi, Terre gently guided Weiss' unconscious form to the ground. The super soldier quickly grabbed Myrtenaster.

"WEISS!"

Ruby rushed forward with Crescent Rose, intent on cleaving the Guardian in two but Terre moved faster than she could anticipate and jumped high into the air and away from Ruby. Terre threw Myrtenaster as if it were a dart full force. The rapier went flying through the air and pinned Faline's boot into the ground.

"AHHH!" The deer faunus yelped in shock.

Terre had spotted her trying to sneak away again and he wasn't having any of it.

Terre spun his body in midair to avoid the incoming bullets from Ren, Blake, and Sun. Terre landed but soon found himself on the defensive again as Nora and Yang rushed in and attacked the super soldier. The two powerhouses weren't prepared for the amazing speed that the masked assailant moved at. Terre managed to avoid them entirely as he rushed toward Ren, Blake, and Sun.

Ruby, meanwhile, checked on Weiss. The silver-eyed warrior looked worried, but she quickly relaxed once she saw that Weiss was merely unconscious.

Faline watched the whole thing unfold. She didn't dare try to run again. The Harvester could have killed her, and she knew it, but it managed to pin her boot to the ground with the Schnee's weapon in midair. It even managed to avoid her toes. That kind of precision and accuracy was unnatural. Even though the Harvester was preoccupied with the others, it was still keeping tabs on her, making sure she stayed where she was.

How did it find me and Blake?

She honestly didn't know. All she knew was that this thing had an uncanny ability to track her. She desperately hoped that Blake and her friends won this fight, but she knew that they didn't stand a chance against this monster. Faline was too busy watching the battle that she failed to notice a pair of mismatched eyes, one brown and one pink, staring at her out of the metal scrap. The eyes shifted out as a feminine silhouette, its body matching its surroundings, moved towards her. Faline gasped as she felt a pair of hands clamp over her mouth. Did another Harvester come for her? She didn't get the chance to find out because she suddenly found her body taking on the appearance of the surrounding environment before she was pulled away.

Blake, Sun, and Ren continued firing at the advancing super soldier. Terre closed the distance between them in a matter of seconds. Blake's eyes widened in fear as the Guardian raced towards them. Sun, meanwhile, didn't look the least bit worried.

"Bring it on!" He yelled.

The monkey faunus ran forward, intent on fighting the Guardian head-on. Sun retrieved Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang, his nun-chucks that also served as a staff as well shotguns, before swinging the nun-chucks about skillfully before he engaged the Guardian.

Sun swung his weapon down, firing off several shotgun blasts as he did so, but Terre was far faster than he anticipated. The Guardian dove over the monkey faunus and landed behind him. Sun wasn't fast enough to prevent the super soldier from grabbing hold of him and delivering a vicious suplex that sent poor Sun into the dirt, his aura flickered repeatedly. While Sun struggled to get up, Blake and Ren rushed forward and engaged the Guardian at the same time.

Ren and Blake proved to be a quick and nimble pair of fighters. Whenever Terre struck at Blake, her body dissolved into the shadows, leaving him open for Ren to strike. Ren's aura enhanced blows missed their mark, however. Terre was too fast to be hit by them. Terre immediately seized Ren by the collar of his shirt and threw him towards Blake, who had attempted to attack him from behind. Blake couldn't dodge in time because Terre had thrown Ren with so much force that he had effectively become a projectile. The two crashed into each other in a dazed heap, their auras flickering. Terre rushed forward to incapacitate them but was stopped by Sun who had recovered from the suplex into the ground.

Sun now had his weapon in its staff form and swung frantically at the Guardian, hoping to land a hit. Terre seized the staff in a mid-downward strike before yanking the faunus towards him and into a vicious headbutt that left the monkey faunus dazed. Terre delivered a powerful punch to the center of his chest followed by a powerful spinning kick to the side of his head, shattering his aura and sending Sun flying and into a pile of scrap metal.

Blake and Ren were still picking themselves up from the floor when they suddenly found themselves lifted unceremoniously into the air by their necks. The two struggled against the powerful grip of the Guardian's hands for a moment before Terre clashed their heads together with a controlled amount of force. Their auras shattered and just like that they were out cold.

The Guardian didn't get even a second before he found himself engaged by Nora and Yang again. Terre avoided the blasts from Ember Celica via a series of back handsprings that put some distance between the two. Terre stopped but quickly found himself catching Nora's hammer by the hilt before he forcefully yanked it out of her hands. The Guardian kicked the hyperactive redhead in the stomach, sending her flying back and crashing into one of the many gutted airships. The Guardian leaped over an incoming Yang, avoiding another shotgun blast, and landed behind her. Terre swung Magnhild and hit Yang in the ribs, sending her tumbling away and crashing next to Nora.

Without warning, Magnhild was forced out of Terre's hands by an unknown force and sent flying away. Terre turned and saw that he was facing down the Invincible Girl, Pyrrha Nikos, herself. Within his mind, Terre was grateful that the armor he wore wasn't metal but rather carbon fiber, otherwise it would have made fighting Pyrrha nearly impossible. That fortune did not extend itself to his weapons. They contained metal and that was the main reason he avoided using them during this entire fight because he knew Pyrrha would be able to manipulate them. The super soldier found himself dodging the precise slashes of the Invincible Girl. Terre found himself on the defensive as the red-haired champion of Mistral came at him with everything she had. Pyrrha slashed away with Miló as Terre blocked with his vambraces. Terre attempted to counter but he found his blows blocked by Akoúo̱. Pyrrha attempted a leg sweep, but Terre managed to step back and avoid it. Pyrrha rushed forward and caught the masked assailant by surprise with a backflip kick that he barely managed to avoid.

The red-haired champion rushed forward again and launched a vicious onslaught of sword slashes and shield strikes that the Guardian managed to block or evade. Even though she wasn't doing any damage, she was at least keeping him on the defensive. Terre fell back into a roll before he launched himself further back with his hands propelling him off the ground.

Pyrrha activated Miló's rifle form and fired off a series of precise shots that forced the Guardian into a series of acrobatic flips to avoid the shots. Pyrrha ceased her firing before she ran forward, sending a flying knee towards his face. Terre moved his head to avoid the strike before he brought his arm up to block a spinning kick. Terre grabbed the champion's leg and threw her into the air.

In midair, Pyrrha enabled Miló's javelin function and then threw it using her semblance to amplify its speed. Terre barely managed to move his head to the side in time and avoid the javelin, but not before he reached out and caught it and threw it back at her. Pyrrha jumped and flipped over Miló as she flung Akoúo̱ towards him like a speeding disk, having once again used her semblance to amplify its speed.

Terre managed to catch the shield with both hands, but he was sent skidding back a few feet from the force of it. Terre moved to throw the shield back at the Invincible Girl, but the shield was forced out of his hands and came back to Pyrrha who held Miló in her other hand. Terre stood to full height as he faced down the prodigy, silently admiring her skill. Her powerful semblance wasn't the only thing that made her such an incredible fighter. She was good. Very good.

The sound of rushed footsteps alerted the Guardian. He looked over and saw Ruby, Yang, and Nora rushing to help Pyrrha. The three girls stopped as soon as they reached their friend. All of them had their weapons ready and they all looked determined to keep fighting. Terre couldn't help but respect their determination. The Guardian's head moved slightly to glance over to where he last saw Faline, Pyrrha's eyes followed his gaze. Terre's eyes went wide underneath his dark goggles. She was gone.

She must've snuck off while I was occupied. This needs to end now.

"Give up now!" Yelled Nora.

Terre ignored her. The Guardian reached behind his back and retrieved a flashbang grenade and a smoke grenade. Terre dashed forward in a full sprint, taking care to avoid the incoming shots from Yang, Ruby, and Pyrrha, and taking even more care to avoid the incoming grenades from Nora. Terre activated the smoke grenade and threw it at the feet of the Huntresses before he jumped high into the air and dropped the flashbang grenade not too far from them. The smoke had masked the flashbang grenade and the four Huntresses in training were unprepared for the bright light and deafening noise that left them temporarily disoriented.

Terre landed in front of his discarded weapons. The super soldier immediately grabbed them before rushing off in pursuit of his target.

Ruby's ears ceased ringing and her vision returned to normal. That had been a very unpleasant experience.

"Is everyone okay?" Asked the silver-eyed warrior.

"Yeah we're good," replied Yang.

Pyrrha's head was on a swivel, frantically searching for any sign of the masked stranger.

"Where did he go?" Asked Pyrrha.

"Not sure," replied Nora, "but it looks like both he and Blake's friend are gone." The redhead looked disheartened as did Ruby and Yang.

"He got away with her?" Asked Ruby.

"I don't think so," replied Pyrrha, "I saw that she wasn't there. He must have gone after her."

"I hope she's okay," said Nora.

Ruby observed the aftermath of the battle. They were originally nine of them standing and now only four were left. The others had been knocked unconscious, which was very lucky for them because if that thing had wanted them dead it could have easily made that a reality.

The red-hooded warrior breathed a tired sigh.

"Let's go home," said Ruby.

"WHAT?!" Yelled Yang. "We've got to go after them!"

Pyrrha placed a comforting hand on Yang's shoulder.

"I think Ruby is right," she said, "we aren't in any condition to pursue. Over half of our team is down and we don't have the slightest clue as to where they went."

Yang wanted to say something, anything really, but deep down she knew Pyrrha was right. They were long gone, and the priority was getting their friends back to Beacon.

"What was that thing?" Asked Yang.

"I don't know," replied Nora, "all I know is that we didn't stand a chance against it."

Ruby couldn't help but visibly shudder at the thought of how outmatched they were. Fast, strong, agile, efficient, those were the words that could only begin to describe what they'd faced. What was even more strange was how it could have killed them, but it didn't.

"You think Team PGRT would have made a difference had they been here?" Asked Yang.

"Perhaps," replied Pyrrha.

Ruby mentally berated herself for being in such a rush when Blake called for help. The first thing she did was go and look for Team PGRT in their room, but they weren't there. Instead of going to look for them, she merely forwarded them Blake's message in hopes they would respond. If only she hadn't been so rushed.

Ruby sighed. She was tired. It'd been too long of a night.

Faline found herself staring down a familiar diminutive girl, Neo if she remembered correctly. She was Roman's righthand. Everywhere he went, she went, except in this case, it seemed. The two were standing in the middle of the woods, the shadows of the trees shielded them from the moonlight.

"Why the hell were you following me?"

Neo had her arms crossed and had a single eyebrow raised.

"Answer me!"

Neo rolled her eyes in annoyance before she retrieved her scroll and typed a message before presenting it to her.

Is that how you thank someone when they save your life? If it wasn't for me, you'd be dead.

Faline simmered down. Neo had a point. Were it not for her, she'd be with that monster right now.

She sighed.

"Okay," she admitted, "you're right. Thanks for saving my life, but that doesn't explain why you were following me."

Neo typed another message.

Roman wanted a closer eye kept on the White Fang. It's clear to him that none of you know how to keep a low profile. You're all amateurs when it comes to operating in the city.

Faline took that personally.

"You'd better watch your mouth, girl."

Neo wasn't intimidated in the slightest by the deer faunus. The mute girl walked toward Faline before abruptly shoving her up against a tree.

"W-What are you doing?" Faline asked as she struggled against the small, yet surprisingly strong, girl's grip.

Neo ignored her as she patted her down from top to bottom. Faline could only watch as Neo stopped at her boot. The mute girl reached inside and retrieved a small device before standing up and showing it to her.

Faline looked completely shocked while Neo looked angry.

"So that's how it found me…"

The mute girl dropped the device on the ground before stomping on it with her heeled boot, destroying it.

Neo glared at the deer faunus, unhappy with her carelessness. She'd let herself get tagged with a tracking device and didn't figure it out. Roman was going to go to town when he heard about this. The sound of a twig snapping in the distance alerted the two. Before anything could happen, Neo clamped a hand over Faline's mouth and pressed the two of them up against the tree. Neo activated her semblance and altered the appearance of the entire area. The footsteps she and Faline made were now gone, the remains of the tracking device disappeared, and the two of them were no longer visible.

Neo's hand covered Faline's mouth and nose, keeping her from making any noise. Neo, meanwhile, held her breath.

Within a few moments a familiar, towering figure appeared out of the clearing. Its head was on a swivel as it searched in every direction for any sign of the two as it sprinted in their direction. Neo couldn't help but look on in astonishment at how fast it moved. The mysterious being stopped abruptly as it retrieved a device from its pocket before examining it. The masked figure crouched and observed the ground, searching for any footprints or any other clues. While it searched, Neo studied the being close. Faline, meanwhile, was shaking internally. Neo had seen it brutally massacre those White Fang members and she saw it take on nine Huntsmen without any trouble. She was a deadly fighter, but even she knew when she was outmatched; she wasn't going to try her luck against this thing. She didn't have a death wish.

What did this thing want?

It could have killed Faline at any time, but it didn't. It only killed her comrades. Furthermore, it actively held back against those kids. It was pretty obvious it wasn't trying to hurt them. To this thing, they'd seemed more of a nuisance than anything else.

The masked figure stood up abruptly before it took off in a full-on sprint. Neo waited until she was absolutely certain that the coast was clear before she removed her hand from Faline's face. The deer faunus forced herself to breathe quietly as she filled her lungs with much-needed air. Once she caught her breath, she turned to face Neo with an angry expression.

Neo typed a message.

If you want to get out of here alive, you're going to shut up and do as I say.

Faline reluctantly nodded. Had it not been for Neo back there, the demon would have caught her.

Also, we're going to have a talk later.

Looks like the main cast bit off more than they could chew by taking on a Guardian. As you can see, Terre wasn't trying to hurt them. Facing off against the three people you're assigned to protect as well as their friends complicates things a lot.

I'll go into more depth as to Team PGRT's alibi for their absence from this fight. If Penny, Rahm, and Jai showed up without Terre it would have raised some serious questions. If all of them are missing then it is less suspicious.

No one at Beacon knows what the semblances of Terre, Rahm, or Jai are. If you recall, this was part of the mission requirement prior to arriving to Beacon. Terre's semblance is also pretty versatile so it would be difficult to determine exactly what it is. That's also why they asked for untraceable weapons so that they couldn't be identified.

It was Neo the whole time. Hopefully you all figured she was the mysterious girl encountered through the past three chapters. Faline owes Neo big time for saving her life haha. Neo is not stupid. She saw what Terre could do. She wasn't going to fight him because she knew she would die. Neo is smart. She would rather give Terre the slip rather than engage him.

Hopefully I've tied all the loose ends.

See you all next time!

-Dude64