Team JNPR continued onwards with their travels towards the next town. Much like before, this one seemed to be in ruins. However, this town had always been this way even before they had arrived. It had been an abandoned town with no one coming back to resettle. Still, it made most of team JNPR feel down knowing the number of lives that must have been lost here, even if it were like those distant kinds.

They continued to proceed through this town. The cold and unfeeling buildings that have been abandoned looked as if it could fall at any moment. The pillars and beams that were the skeleton of these structures appeared old that any effort on them would result in their breaking. Cobwebs littered the corners and many dust bunnies could be seen everywhere as though it was their own territory. Pyrrha even sneezed in a rather dainty manner when a small breeze went over them.

Moving further inward, JNPR could see the other end of the town and it wouldn't take long for them to get there and make it out. The town had been mostly bereft of many things that much of the pathways were clear and made the town smaller than it actually was.

Then, Ren raised his hand, stopping the rest of team JNPR. They all looked at him with concern. The usually calm and stoic boy never had reason to stop them so suddenly. Ren's head turned as he concentrated. Something was wrong in the air. A sound, a faint one, was heard. He wasn't sure where it was coming from at first but that sound then began to become clearer for Ren.

The others have not heard it yet but when Ren began to ready his weapon, everyone else did the same. Jaune put on his helmet. Jeanne's eyes began to glow the fire of the Holy Maiden. Nora was generating what little static electricity she could. Pyrrha's weapon was in its rifle form. Everyone was then back-to-back with another, watching all around them for any sort of attack.

As it was now, they were in an open-wide area. There was little in the way of covering in an ambush les one has incredible speeds. The sounds were slowly getting louder that the others began to hear it as well. It was still too faint that they could not tell where it was coming from. There was a fountain and some few other structures of unknown purpose which would be some kind of cover in a ranged fight.

Soon, all members turned their heads on a singular direction as the faint noises became clearer and clearer.

"Ren," Jaune said. His tone was low. "Scout the area. Find any place that could be used to our advantage."

The boy in question nodded and, along with Nora, separated from the group. Right now, team JNPR wasn't that certain of their terrain and there was a chance that their enemy just might. There is more to combat than simply knowing your enemy and knowing yourself. There was also the use of terrain. He could retreat to recesses of the earth and strike from the heavens or something like that.

That left behind the trio, Jaune, Jeanne, and Pyrrha. With Jaune and Pyrrha having the shields, the two of them were at the front with Jeanne at the back. Pyrrha's rifle made her position in the second row with Jaune taking the front lines. They were spread out like points of a triangle as their grips on their weapons relaxed as they calmed themselves. The sound, now made clear enough to be deciphered as running, was getting closer. Whoever was going for them would come from one of the buildings.

They bent their knees and readied themselves when the attacker had revealed himself. There was no introduction, he immediately went for the attack. His expression was that of excitement. There was an age to him that indicated that he was older than anyone on team JNPR. The attacker pretty much ignored Jaune and Pyrrha and went straight for Jeanne. His weapon of choice was mounted on his wrists that shot out a multitude of bullets.

It was clear that JNPR were outmatched. The attacker must have been an older huntsman, with experience at his belt, he easily held Jeanne, Jaune, and Pyrrha at bay. It was as though none of them were able to hit him at all. Jaune especially as it seemed that the attacker knew at any given time when and where the blonde knight would fight back. Pyrrha was not faring any better even at range. The attacker's body would say in unorthodox manner and it appeared much closer to wild flailing, a weakness for someone who often fights with strong technical like Pyrrha. Jeanne was faring the best out of the three of them and even she was struggling to keep up, only able to match the deranged man with the powers as a Maiden.

The attacker must have experience in dealing with them. Either that, or Jeanne was still inexperienced as this Maiden. She will not deny that she had been using the Maiden powers primarily as a fuel source to maintain herself but fought as she normally would have. She had not trained herself extensively nor did she test the limits of the Maiden powers. Usually, she would be using it as a light during the night or to create fire which saved them on supplies. Here as she was, the attacker was proving himself to match her, especially when she uses her banner as a weapon.

Pyrrha and Tyrian clashed once more. Out of all of them barring Jeanne, Pyrrha was the most experienced in finding out an opponent's weakness. Her experience in the competitive circles have taught her to be able to think on the fly and fight like a duelist. Everyone was capable in their own right but Pyrrha in particular was more accustomed to human fighters than she would Grimm. Still, her opponent wasn't exactly a competitive fighter but rather an experienced huntsman and one who has certainly faced his fair share of human opponents. It is only by her semblance of polarity that she had been able to keep up at all.

A roundhouse kick came for her head which she had to block with the hand that held her sword. She had to toss the blade in the air but with her semblance, it would be as though she had calculated precisely the spin and time it had in the air while also being able to apply enough force to stop an incoming attack. She had the title of Invincible Girl after all, and she was intending on proving just how invincible she was.

The sword would have made it back to her hand and she even opened up her palm to do so. However, it had been knocked out of her reach.

"Yoink!" said the attacker. The moment's surprise caught her off-guard that the man spinning like a top managed to kick her shield multiple times making her retreat.

She had to dig in her heels when she had been knocked back. When she looked up to see her opponent again, Pyrrha, along with everyone else, were just shocked as she was. Their opponent had a third limb, a scorpion's tail, making him a faunus.

"Bravo!" he said. He even gave them applause. "So that's how the Invincible Girl got her title! No wonder she had been champion!"

"You can detect metal," Pyrrha said.

The attacker only laughed louder and applauded with more intensity. "And an observant little student as well!"

"What's this all about?" Jeanne took her chance. There was a moment of pause and she was going to use it. Ren and Nora had also just returned, ready to enter the fray at any time. "The White Fang?"

"Psh!" The faunus waved his hand dismissively. "As if I, Tyrian Callows, would side with mere lowlifes who think themselves just in their pursuit of vengeance. No. I only serve the Queen."

It was Jaune who responded saying, "Salem." He readied his shield. With Tyrian Callows having the capacity to detect metal, it was no wonder that both Jaune and Pyrrha were the ones that were struggling the most. Still, the blonde knight wasn't willing to back down. "What brings you here then?"

"Oh my dear knight," Tyrian said, trying to sound endearing. It came across as creepy instead. "I only have one reason. Or rather two." He pointed at both Jaune and Jeanne.

"Us?" Jeanne asked.

Tyrian nodded. "My Queen has need of you two. She has been rather upset of the interlopers that dare defy her what is rightfully hers."

Jaune and Jeanne stared at one another. Neither knew the answer and shrugged in sync.

"One doesn't just defy the Queen," Tyrian continued. "So that is what I must do. To bring you both in so that she may correct this mistake."

"We won't let you do that," said Nora Valkyrie who had stepped in between them.

"Good," Tyrian said, smilingly devilishly. He then readied himself for another attack.

The scorpion faunus then launched himself at Nora. He didn't appear at all winded. In fact, he looked he had just his warmup and was now ready for the main workout. Nora fired at him repeatedly with Ren's weapons.

Tyrian never made it Nora as his head had been struck by Ren's foot. There was a momentum behind Tyrian's charge that he still fell forward even as he had been struck.

Ren, on the other hand, had adopted a significantly different fighting stance than what was normally expected of the boy. But it was one that the rest of Team JNPR, especially Nora, recognized. He had heard Pyrrha's comment about Tyrian being able to detect metal and so opted for a different strategy. With his fingers shaping a point and his legs spread apart, Ren was like a human Mantis as Tyrian went back to his feet. Instead of being angry or frustrated, the scorpion faunus appeared to be livid. He was enjoying the development of his query.

Without his weapons, Ren put himself at a disadvantage as Tyrian Callows had definite advantage at both range and melee. Without his weapons, Ren had to rely primarily on his aura for both defense and offense. However, the metals of team JNPR all proved to be far more disadvantageous than if they did without.

Jeanne and Nora were the ones who could keep up with Ren. The former due to her using her Maiden powers more and the latter due to sheer experience in being his partner. Despite their heavy use of metal in their weapons and armor, Jaune and Pyrrha proved to be a useful distraction, forcing Tyrian to block them which made it easier for Ren.

However, Tyrian Callows was still proving their equal. Both in experience and lack of restraint and unorthodoxy. The way he moved and fought was unlike any that they have encountered before. Often, huntsmen and huntresses would restrain themselves to conserve energy and move in relatively orthodox and somewhat predictable manners. Tyrian had none of that. He cared not for the way he would throw his swings nor did he appear affected when taking it. He also bent with unnatural flexibility along with the creative use of his faunus features.

Ren aimed for Tyrian's face with his hand, shaped like a tiger's claw. Tyrian deflected it and bent his own arm so that the gun was aimed at Ren's own. Ren bent himself backwards as well, like that of a snake as he moved away from Tyrian, sweeping his leg in an attempt to throw the faunus off-balance.

Nora went in for the strike. With Tyrian in mid-air, that would prove movement to be difficult with how he has little solids to hold him. However, the man's experience was showing as he was able to move even while in the air. There was no fancy trick behind it either, just simply the twisting and turning of his body that made it so that he could still move. No. He moved in precise manners that made certain that whatever happens, Tyrian would have something to push his limbs against that would always guarantee some level of control of body.

Tyrian continued to shoot at them. His shots were chipping away at their aura. He didn't really care which one he was hitting so long as they were all distracted enough. It was a distraction as he rushed towards both Jaune and Jeanne; the former was helpless with Tyrian's ability to detect metal. No matter what Jaune did to move away, Tyrian had a sense of every action he was taking. Pyrrha aided wherever she could, namely Jaune.

Jeanne was faring better as she utilized her Maiden powers. Rings of flames formed around her, keeping Tyrian away. Her banner was now absent as she focused more on using the Maiden powers as they were initially made for.

Ice. Earth. Fire. Air. The Holy Maiden let loose small bursts of them without much regard for aim nor precision, only enough to defend herself from Tyrian's assault. She didn't have much time training in this regard and it was showing.

Ren managed to get Tyrian away from them all. His physical prowess was easily surpassed by Tyrian but the faunus had a glaring weakness: his capacity to detect metal made him blind to non-metallic objects. For Lie Ren, there was nothing made of metal on his person for he had given it to Nora who was still capable of keeping up. Tyrian was being forced to acknowledge the girl with her metallic use.

Still, JNPR's martial artist could not afford to be lax around him. Tyrian was still more experienced than anyone here and was capable of keeping up despite the handicap.

Their fight then began to change location. Little by little, Tyrian was being brought to one of the structures that both Ren and Nora had scouted earlier for a trap. With the wooden beams being old and decaying, all it would take was a weight and the whole building would crush whoever was beneath it.

Tyrian had begun to surpass Ren. The more he fought the faunus, the better Tyrian became at adapting. Ren was exhausting everything he had learned and even mixed them up just to keep up. Tiger claw. Ox fist. Monkey steals the Peach. Horse drinking Water. Strange names as they sound, these techniques had formed the basis of Ren's unarmed prowess.

Pyrrha soon began to follow suit. She was still easy to detect for Tyrian but it had become slightly more even between them. When Ren had tagged out with Pyrrha coming in, she combined her own series of unarmed strikes. The difference here was that the Invincible Girl was more willing to utilize techniques that one would often see in professional wrestling. There were even a few attempts at choke-holds and joint-locks but the faunus proved himself to be too difficult to contain.

It was Pyrrha's grappling that proved to be the best choice as she managed to get a hold on Tyrian. She then proceeded to throw him upwards so that he would be above the building. There Nora had been waiting there, being charged with electricity courtesy of Jeanne d'Arc.

When Tyrian had been above the house, an electrically charged Nora slammed down her hammer. Even if the faunus managed to defend himself, there was no defending the momentum that the Magnihild would send him. Tyrian fell through the wooden beam, breaking much of the roof. While still in the air, Magnihild shifted to its launcher form and shot at the house, causing it to crumble.

The clouds of smoke and dust rose to the air. Jaune Arc was at the front of it all with his shield up. Even though he had been one of the targets, he wasn't about to let his friends be the first to take a hit. He was the most armored one and with his shield, he would be the one to take whatever hits that would come their way. He didn't believe that this was over yet.

His worries had been validated. Laughter could be heard coming from the destroyed building and the rubble moved aside as Tyrian Callows arose from it. His silhouette showed that he was absolutely euphoric.

"Seriously?" Nora said. "After all that?"

"This." Tyrian actually had the gall to wipe a tear from his eye. "My goddess has blessed me with a good day."

"He's nuts," Jeanne said. Coming from her, with her devotion to the Lord and the accusations that have been levied against her, that was saying a lot.

JNPR gave their silent agreement. Meanwhile, Tyrian continued to cry out in utter jubilation. When he had finished, he said to them, "now then. Let us continue, shall we?"

Tyrian charged directly at them again. He jumped directly in the middle of them all and began to spin like a top. All the while, he had begun to shoot out of the firearms from his weapons, preventing everyone from getting near. He went for Jaune due to the metal making him the easiest that Tyrian could see.

Jeanne responded by getting between them. A sheet of ice formed beneath, causing Tyrian to slip and slide. Rather than fall however, he somersaulted and landed on his feet, turned around and went back to attack Jaune.

The shield of Crocea Mors sounded out like drums with Tyrian's repeated banging. The faunus didn't even try to get around it, relishing the flying sparks and the dulling of his blades. Each hit caused a mild shock to Jaune's body as each strike threatened to put him off-balance. He couldn't even use his feet or knees since those had been covered in armor and thus metal that Tyrian could see.

A long pole of stone manifested. If Jeanne couldn't use the metal of her banner, then she will find a substitute.

AN: I realize that by following only one singular plot thread, the episodes before they all get reunited really are short.