Winter was walking through the cellblock of Atlas' high-security prison, a hand on the hilt of her saber. Flanking Winter were two of Ironwood's elite soldiers, clad in full white armor that gave off the impression that they were robotic in origin. It certainly didn't help that their faces were hidden behind emotionless v-shaped visors but, contrary to that presentation, they were fully human. Behind the faceless masks, these soldiers were some of the most loyal soldiers in the entire Atlesian army, the rank-and-file's equivalent to the Ace-Ops, complete with superior training and equipment fitting of their station. The right hand of Ironwood and her escort passed by several different hard-light shielded cells, even getting the attention of a certain Detrovite, now deprived of his criminal empire. He'd only ever heard about the commander of Atlas' "fine men and women in uniform," but had never seen her. The fact she was here, accompanied by a pair of elite soldiers? If he was still in the info business, this would be worth something.

The military operative arrived at a specific cell and Winter input a code to lower the hard-light shield. She stepped in and saw him, sitting on the bed of the cell with a massive clamp over his right wrist, keeping the use of his greatest tool restricted.

"Albedo," Winter said. The guards thought she was trying to intimidate this criminal, not in the know about what happened at Mount Glenn.

"...Winter. I didn't realize the general came to a decision so quickly," Albedo replied, getting off the bed.

"He hasn't. Not yet...because Neo hasn't arrived yet."

"What?"

"That's why I've come to you. There's something you should take a look at. The clamp stays on, unless you absolutely need access to your weapon. Understand?"

Albedo didn't even question it- he just nodded and started to follow Winter. His head began to ponder what could have happened. Neo and Albedo were on good terms. There was no need to worry about her betraying him or something. It wasn't in her nature, especially after she...proclaimed THAT to him.

Other theories began to pop up in Albedo's calculating mind. Was there a conspiracy against her? Had she been abducted by enemies of Roman? There had to be a logical answer for all of this...

...he was just worried about Neo, and his mind was trying to really be rational without screaming.

And that feeling only grew when they arrived at their destination. It was a...well, a lab might not have been the most accurate description. It was more like a holding cell that had some scientific equipment rolled in. Normal soldiers doing the best they can under order from two of the kingdom's best doctors.

"Ok, vitals are...stable?" Dr. Weller said, looking at the machine, "Not like any heartbeat I've ever seen."

"And the clamps are secure," Holiday said, checking the restraints for a computer. The bindings in question were meant to be energy suppressors, even if they had no idea about what kind of energy they were dealing with here.

"How...how did you..." Albedo muttered a bit, seeing the prisoner that the machines were monitoring.

"Luck. She intercepted the convoy on the way here and she...did something to them. She-" Winter said.

"...opened a crimson rift. Right?"

"...yes. You're our only reliable lead on this, so...what are we dealing with here?" Winter and Albedo both had their eyes locked on the prisoner, not even looking away for the quickest second. Suspended in a circular construct, clamps over her four arms, was none other than Breach. She had her head hanging low, her long, black hair flowing down in front of her face, hiding any sort of expression she wore.

"I'm more stunned you were able to capture her." Albedo said, walking forward. "She's elusive."

"And we had my proto-type zero-point manipulation gun, and the element of surprise," Weller boasted, "to thank for that. Doctor Rufus Weller, pleasure to meet you." Rufus extended his hand. Albedo raised an eyebrow. Rufus coughed awkwardly, as he retracted his hand. "And my associate is the much more put-together Rebecca Holiday."

Doctor Holiday looked over at Albedo. "This...thing. Do you know it?"

"Salem called her Breach." Albedo said. "Her rifts are nigh-omnipresent. Despite her powers, she sits on the sidelines and acts as transportation."

"So if she's mostly utility...why now? What makes her cleared for a mission to...abduct? Teleport? some of our best?" Weller asked.

"Salem does not always have control over me." Breach's smooth and ominous voice suddenly interjected, drawing everyone's attention. "I do what I want sometimes... like right now." Breach's lips twisted into a smile, which was partially obscured by her hair.

"...what did you do, Breach?" Albedo asked.

Holiday suddenly got a notification on her scroll- it was from Oscar. She would've ignored it, but...there was a strange nagging feeling that maybe...she should.

Doctor Holiday answered her scroll. "Hello?"

"Uhhhh, hi!? Miss Holiday?" Oscar's voice sounded panicked. "Uh...I'm in Tibet?"

Holiday blinked. "...what?" She recalled seeing Oscar and Rex earlier that day, in the lunch area. Maybe an hour ago. It would've taken a three-hour flight to get to Tibet from here...so...

"What happened?" Holiday asked.

"This...this red rift, it just suddenly swallowed me and the others whole, but...they aren't with me!" Oscar said.

"Oh, is that the boring one?" Breach asked with a slight chuckle.

Holiday turned to look at Breach again, narrowing her eyes at this...whatever Breach was supposed to be. Mutant, alien, hybrid, she didn't know at this point.

"Oscar, I'll send someone out to bring you back as soon as possible. Three hours, at most. Can you hold on until then?" Holiday asked.

"Uh, yeah." Oscar looked over at Mount Kailash. "Uh...I'll be fine. I'll just treat this as a short, impromptu vacation..."

Holiday nodded and hung up, turning back to Breach.

"Where did you send the others? Did you scatter them across the globe, too?" Holiday asked.

"Nothing as boring as that," Breach rolled her eyes.

"...where are they, Breach?" Albedo sounded a bit scared.

"I needed some fresh dolls..." Breach smiled.

"Fresh...dolls..." Albedo repeated, the realization and horror sinking in.

"I didn't even know she would be there...but she'll make a good addition," Breach chuckled.

"What is she talking about, Albedo?" Holiday had inquired. The only response she got was a terrified expression, as if Albedo had just seen the massacre of his whole family.

"...Both of you. Close off the area. Keep her under control as much as possible."

"What?" Winter was taken aback by the startling suggestion.

"There's no time for explanations; simply quarantine this facility now," Albedo warned.

Winter looked to some of the other soldiers, including the two elites she had brought with her, "You heard him. And you, let the general know about this."

"Yes, sir," one of the elites said, his voice distorted by the helmet to sound more mechanical.

Breach couldn't help but smile at the panic she was causing. The rest of the prison outside this little examination room turned red and a low warning klaxon began to sound, which was just the perfect background music that the enigma that is Breach had imagined.

Oh.

This was going to be fun.


Ben groaned as he started to regain consciousness. By this point, he should've known never to put stock in the word "routine" when it came to any mission Ironwood handed Team RWBY and Zeta Squad.

This "routine" mission was one the team knew about for a while. After all, they were there when the call had come in to announce it. What felt like days ago, in reality hours, Team RWBY, some members of Zeta Squad, and even Rex had been assigned for extra security on a prisoner escort. He remembered how all-out the security measures were for this specific convoy. Each armored personnel carrier was carrying some of the usual soldiers along with members of RWBY and Zeta. For the vehicle the prisoner would be riding in, massive shackles were slapped on them, covering the entire hand and some of the forearm. The restraints clamped together thanks to the gravity Dust inside them, acting like a much larger scale of Atlas' gravity bolas. The prisoner, herself, thought it was excessive, but the guards didn't really care when they activated the manacles. After all, to them, the prisoner was just another number on both Vale's and Atlas' Most Wanted lists, none other than Neopolitan. Neo sighed as the doors to the transport slammed shut, trapping her in the vehicle with maybe the three people who wanted to take her down themselves the most. Acting as her guards were Yang, Ben, and Ruby.

Neo looked around the transport and sighed.

So…you guys got anything to talk about or? is what Neo would have signed if she could even make the signs.

"Gotta hand it to Weiss' big sis, she made taking you down sound easy," Yang said. Out of all the heroes, the blonde was the only one who had actually fought Neo previously. She won, but it wasn't easy. Winter hadn't gotten the chance to explain what had really happened yet, so everyone just thought Albedo and Neo were just trounced by the Atlesian operative. Albedo did help with Servantis, but he never came off as one to just let himself get arrested.

Sure, keep saying that, Neo rolled her eyes. She tried to make herself as comfortable as possible. Armored military trucks like this weren't exactly built for such luxury but, this was gonna be a long ride.

"This really is our week, huh? First a self-styled 'snow pirate', now two of Salem's heavy hitters," Ruby said.

"Pretty good all in all," Ben said, seated right next to Neo if she tried anything, "Now we just need to get her back. General's getting things ready for both of them."

Great. Hours and hours of questions from some of the most entertaining people in the world. I'm thrilled, Neo thought to herself before letting out a silent sigh.

For the most part, the ride over was awkwardly silent. Nobody in the main vehicle spoke, even if Neo had plenty to talk about. The manacles just kept her stories untold for now. Some of the others were having a better time, of course. Kevin, Min, and Oscar were dealing with a rather talkative soldier who might have been a bit overconfident in his skills. His armor was a bit different, matching a standard Atlesian scout's armor but with highlights of orange on the shoulders, arms, legs, and around the helmet's visor. Said his codename was Felix.

"Yeah, taking down a Rotherium was easy. Well, once it stopped trying to gore me…and the convoy jeep," Felix said, about done with one of his adventures, "Admittedly, not my best job, but, eh, they're not all gonna be riveting rescue missions." For context, this was the eighth story the scout had told by this point. At first, it was interesting, now it was just dragging.

"Yeah…" Oscar said, trying not to sound uninterested.

Oscar? Do you remember how I said sometimes hunters may be motivated by fame and money more than honor and the goodness of their heart? Ozpin mentally said.

Yeah, I know. He's exactly the type.

Kevin was feigning interest, but this guy was somehow worse than Port when it came to stories. He just wouldn't shut up.

"But on a much more flattering note-" Felix began, but was cut off when the truck came to a halt.

"Oh, look at that! Something else to focus on!" Min said, before turning to address the driver, "Something happen?"

"Convoy's stopped. Don't know why," the driver admitted. Two soldiers exited the front vehicle and began to approach someone. Min saw their standard issue Atlesian blades in hand and ready for action.

"Shit…"

Not even a minute later, the comms were abuzz with barked orders and general chaos. RWBY and Zeta disembarked their respective vehicles to try and fight whatever had stopped the caravan, only to be met with red portals in reality swallowing up the soldiers left and right. Gunfire echoed through the usually serene and peaceful streets of Atlas proper before being cut off in an instant. Ruby, Ben, they all gave their all against the four-armed abomination that showed up, but one by one, they were each swallowed up by the rifts as well. First Min, then Blonko, until eventually it was just Weiss, Ben, and Ruby. Ben remembered…he remembered almost being swallowed up by one of the rifts, only to be suddenly teleported out of the way.

He was saved…by Neo of all people. Somehow she'd managed to get her restraints off and get her weaponized parasol back. He'd have to ask how later; the reprieve Neo managed to bring was only temporary. First Ruby, then Weiss fell into one of the rifts, with Ben and Neo the last to be pulled through. Instead of being quickly pulled through, though, it was more like sinking in quicksand, slow and anxiety inducing. Breach started laughing as she watched the two struggle against the portal's suction. That crazy laughter was the last thing he recalled before the rift's crimson hue dominated his vision.

Part of him truly believed he would die from that. Being pulled through a gateway that only God knows where. For all he knew, the portal would throw him at the feet of Zs'skayr or Salem themselves. Instead, Ben ended up in...

"A library?" Ben asked aloud. He was in a filthy, dusty library. The floor was littered with books, and the weather was dismal and...

Well, that's it. Grey. Ben was looking blankly into space. Was that some kind of fog? Outside, he couldn't see more than three feet.

Ben blinked a few times. Last time he checked, empty libraries and...weird occurrences didn't really mix. When you were with friends kidding about before finals? Good. When you were working on a project, surrounded by others? Good.

When you woke up here after a horrifying occurrence? Not so good.

Ben jumped, as something behind him moved. He spun around, Omnitrix core activated, only to give a sigh of relief.

"Oh...it's just you." The disappointment that each word carried was, admittedly, not well disguised.

Neo frowned, as she twirled her parasol. Her unamused expression screamed 'Nice to see you, too,' complete with a sarcastic tone.

Ben sighed, "So, you wouldn't happen to know what THAT was, would you?"

Neo just continued her unamused expression. Why would she know what the hell that was?

Ben could practically hear the words come from her, just by the look alone. "I don't know, maybe Salem let something slip or you overheard something from her?"

Neo rolled her eyes and hefted her parasol over her shoulder. She signed a few things, hoping Ben would be able to understand her. If it's all the same to you, I'm more worried about getting out of here...or hell, even figuring out where here IS. So, unless there's one of those books in here you'd like to check out for...what is it called, the series you're obsessed with?

"Oh, Sumo Slammers." Ben said as he looked around.

Neo just stared at Ben, a bit in shock. Did he know sign language too?

If he did that was honestly a nice surprise. Well, at least there was one upside from whatever new, fresh hell Salem had decided to make for them.

Ben was about to pull a book off a shelf before he paused and turned to Neo.

"How do you-?" Ben began.

Uh, really? You're gonna ask how? With how often you talk about it? Neo raised a brow, recovering from her surprise.

"Ok…call me out like that," Ben said as he grabbed the book, disturbing a cloud of dust, "Pretty dusty, honestly..." Ben pulled a book off the shelf, "Like, look at this dust content..."

Yeah. Place hasn't been cleaned in years, maybe? Neo signed.

"Oh, absolutely. Libraries are usually the cleanest places I've been." Ben said, blowing some dust off. He opened the book, and looked for a date. "...wow. Published in 1962."

There's nothing on there saying where we are, is there? Nothing like... 'Property of Atlas Academy Library' or anything?

"Good question." Ben said, looking for a stamp that hinted where they were. "Let's see, let's see… Ah, here we go! We're in-" Ben paused.

We're in…? C'mon, just say it. Where are we? Neo asked.

"...we're in Ohio." Ben said, a bit flabbergasted.

I'm sorry, Ohio? How far can those portals reach?! We were in ATLAS and now we're halfway across the world!

Ben shut the book. "You worked with Salem. She ever used these things before?"

Well I mean, the portals I knew about. Giant, red, vortexes are kinda hard to forget. I always thought Salem was the one making them. Not...whatever the fuck that was.

Ben raised an eyebrow. "That just gives us more questions. Let's try and find the others and get out of here."

Agreed. Neo started off, Ben coming with her to get out of this place. The closer they got to the exit, Neo started to notice something. Some of the shelves' contents, while still dusty as ever, were uneven. Someone, or something, had been here before them.

Ben frowned as he noticed the same. "That's certainly alarming. Stay close, okay? Hopefully you can...trust me and stuff because...uh, I have the same face as your...friend."

Neo gave Ben a blank look.

Feeling awkward, Ben tapped the faceplate of the Omnitrix a few times. The radio mode activated. "Hello? Anyone there?"

For the most part, static was all that came through. Maybe whatever sent them here was jamming comms? Ben twisted the dial a few times. "Come on, somebody pick up..."

"-ello? Hello? Ben? Is that you?" Yang's voice sounded from the Omnitrix, though static was still present.

Ben's face lit up. "Yes! Yang, do you read me?"

"Oh thank god. I read you. Where the fuck are we? One minute we're fighting...what a four armed schoolgirl? Next minute, we get shoved through portals and end up in the middle of nowhere."

"When does a 'routine' mission ever go as planned?" Ben asked

"I know!" Yang said, smiling a bit at the joke, "I'm with Blonko and Min right now, in some..." the blonde paused.

"...in where?"

"...Ben, this is just a really fucking scary playground." Yang said.

A playground? So we end up in a creepy library and blondie and friends get a playground? Yeaaaah, makes total sense. Neo signed, the sarcasm obvious, even without the words.

"Is Ruby with you?" Yang asked.

"Sadly not...which worries me." Ben said, looking around. "We'll make that my top priority right now."

"...we?"

Tell Blondie I said hello. Neo smirked.

"Uh, I'm with the ice cream girl." Ben said. "The one Winter brought in with Albedo. Guess she got caught up in the mess."

"Oh. Her. What...what's her name anyway? I don't think anyone ever said?"

"Literally. It's Neo." Ben said. "Neopolitan."

"...you're shitting me."

Neo gave Ben a nasty look, but Ben brushed her away. "We'll be on the case to find Ruby and anyone else, okay?"

"Okay, that works for me..." Yang said. "Now, uh...we're gonna get the hell away from this place."

"Smart thinking."

"If we find anyone else, we'll let you know. Anywhere we should meet up once we got everyone?"

"...I dunno, honestly. But I know we're in Ohio. Find a good place in town where we can all meet, okay?" Ben said.

"Wait, seriously? Ohio? Could've fooled me. But, yeah. We'll call when we're ready." With that, the call ended.

So, we're off to find Little Red then? Neo asked.

"And anyone else we can." Ben said. "So, yeah. We should be fine, two of us." Ben studied the area. "Let's try and find our way out of this place. I have this...weird feeling we're being watched.

Oh, you too? Neo joked but, neither of them knew, they WERE being watched by the "owner" of this place.

Ben and Neo walked in silence for a bit, exploring the place a bit to get some more answers on where they were. Despite the evidence earlier that someone had been here, they didn't see it anywhere else. Ben and Neo finally found an exit out of the place- some busted down front doors. Ben shuddered. "Don't wanna know what did that."

The two of them were both about to leave when...

Bam.

Something knocked on the closet door next to them.

Neo immediately pressed a button on her parasol and a small, needle-like blade emerged from the top. She looked over at Ben, who was already adjusting the dial on the Omnitrix to find an alien.

Ben slowly turned the dial to Heatblast- he was not afraid to burn something to ash today. Ben slowly opened the door, and peered inside...

To see a very, very confused Weiss inside. "Uh...help?" She said, in a knocked over mess of buckets.

Neo held a hand over her mouth, trying to stifle back silent laughter and failing miserably at it. Oh she wished she had a camera. Wait, did she? She searched around her person for her Scroll, hoping that she could immortalize this moment. Maybe the guards had missed it when they searched her. Weiss Schnee, the Ice Queen herself: defeated by buckets.

Ben sighed, as he opened the door. "How long have you been in there?" Ben asked.

"Um...I'd...rather not say," Weiss said, trying to quickly change the topic.

Ohhhhh my god, this is great! Where's...Ben, do you have a phone on you? You HAVE to let me get a picture of this.

Ben pushed Neo aside, and helped Weiss up. "Well, we found you. That's good news."

"What's SHE doing with you?" Weiss asked.

...wow, everyone's so happy to see me. Neo gave another spin of her parasol, the blade retracting into it halfway through the arc.

"We...kinda just...wound up here together?" Ben shrugged.

Weiss groaned. "Great. So we're stuck with her. Can we even trust her?"

Just because I can't speak doesn't mean I can't hear, Ice Queen! Besides, you want proof you can trust me? I gave up willingly!

"I don't know sign language," Weiss deadpanned.

"She's saying…she gave up willingly. And she's expressing how happy we are to have found you." Ben smirked.

Wha- oh ha ha Tennyson. Neo gave Ben a deadpan look, crossing her arms.

"Willingly? From everything we know, you're a trickster by nature. Even your Semblance is based on deception. How do we know this isn't a trick, too?" Weiss accused.

Neo just rolled her eyes.

If it makes you feel better Ice Queen, I can just go in front. That way, you can keep your eyes on me the whole time. Make sure I don't backstab you, Neo signed.

"She's offering to go first when we go out, as a show of trust," Ben translated. Neo just stuck her tongue out at Ben twisting her words again.

"How do you understand her?" Weiss asked.

"Oh, Omnitrix universal translation function." Ben said, holding up the watch, "Azmuth REALLY wanted all species to be able to communicate."

"...that explains that time you were speaking fluent Japanese." Weiss hummed.

" And Cantonese," Ben threw out, remembering the mission he took to Hong Kong, "Anyway, Rook, Yang and Min are ok. Apparently they got teleported to a playground," Ben said.

"Well, at least they're outside."

"Have you looked around the library, Weiss?" Ben asked.

"No, I was stumbling around in the dark for a few minutes before you found me." Weiss huffed. "I'm just glad no one else was in there to see my str-"

"Hello?"

Weiss nearly jumped into Ben's arms when she heard a voice coming out of the closet. Weiss looked over, to see Blake walking out of it.

"B-blake!? What the hell?" Weiss yelled. "Were you in there the entire time!?"

"Sorry…" Blake yawned. "I just woke up...can someone fill me in?"

"Uh...we got abducted, and we're somewhere spooky in...Ohio, I guess." Ben shrugged.

"...well, it's gonna be one of those days, isn't it?" Blake huffed. The Faunus drew her weapon upon seeing Neo, only for Weiss to hold up a hand to stop her. The look on the heiress' face said "Long story, I'll explain later."

Neo tugged on Ben's arm. Come on. We gotta get a move on.

Ben looked at her funny. "What are you so up about?"

Hey, look, I'm just...worried about something, ok?

Ben raised an eyebrow. "What about?"

I...overheard Albedo mention one of these portals before. Not who made it, but what it was used for. Someone...someone FROM Salem's little group was sent through them. As punishment.

"...who?" Ben asked, a bit worried.


Ruby groaned, as she rubbed her head. Ugh. That was one nasty fall.

She heard someone else groan nearby. Seemed she wasn't alone.

"Ruby? Is that you?" the all too familiar voice of Ceres said, rubbing her head as well.

"Oh, thank God..." Ruby said. "Thought I was alone for a second."

Ceres groaned as she started to get up, "I just wanna make sure that wasn't some sick nightmare. We got teleported by a four armed schoolgirl, right?"

"Oh, no, that all very much happened." Ruby said, helping Ceres up.

"Okaaaaay," Ceres looked around, trying to get her bearings; the fog present in this place just seemed off. She couldn't place it, but something about this entire place just...put her on edge.

"Can we make a promise not to make any Silent Hill jokes right now?" Ruby said. "I'm very unnerved."

"I promise to try," Ceres smirked.

"Good enough," Ruby said. "Now, let's try to find the others. Because where we are right now is...weird."

Weird was an understatement. The two found themselves in a mall.

"We need to find the exit. Try and contact the others while we're at it." Ceres said.

"Yeah. Let's just walk around and see what we can find around here." Ruby said.

Ceres nodded and led the way. Who knows, maybe they'd get luck and find one of those convenient maps some malls have.

Ruby looked around- the sky through the glass ceiling was cloudy and dark- not even a beam of sunshine could penetrate the fog. "Creepy..." She whispered to herself.

"Hmmm, see if you have a signal on your Scroll," Ceres said, looking in some of the shops on this floor. She was hoping that maybe there was some clue about what was going on. Some evidence they could see to form a guess.

Ruby pulled out her scroll, to see she had no bars. "Damn it, no luck."

"No signal. Hmm," Ceres was thinking it over. "Could just be the power's down in the mall. That or the whole area's a dead zone."

"Let's pray the latter is correct-" Ruby and Ceres rounded a corner, as they saw it.

The message, written in blood.

NO ESCAPE.

"Whoever wrote that clearly never met us." Ceres said, hoping to bring some hope into their situation.

"...Ceres." Ruby whispered.

"...yeah?"

"The blood."

"What of it?"

"...it's fresh."


Rex slowly came to, sitting up and a hand going to his head.

"The hell just-" Rex began before he took notice of his surroundings. He was seated in a boarding school type desk. One of many in the old and dusty classroom he now found himself in. He looked around and saw that the other desks were filled, just not with people. Each desk's seat was occupied by a blank, faceless mannequin. And all of them had their heads turned towards him.

"...ohhhhh, fuck this."

Rex immediately walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Yeah, he wasn't a big fan of fucked situations like this.

"Doc, can you hear me?" Rex said, tapping his ear piece.

Static filled his ear.

"Doc? Hello?" he tapped the ear piece a few times just to see if it could connect to a signal.

"Aw, crap..." Rex looked around; he needed to find his way out of here. The hallway he was standing in looked like it went on forever.

Rex opened the door in front of him. It opened to reveal a brick wall.

"Great," he sighed.

He closed the door and looked at the doors that lined the hallway. He randomly picked another one and opened it. It was another room full of nothing but mannequins, lit only by a single lightbulb. It flickered to black before coming back on and then all the mannequins were facing Rex. He quickly slammed the door and walked on.

Rex huffed. "Alright, not gonna open any more creepy doors." Rex immediately formed the Rex Ride, and drove off through the hallways.

He sped down the corridors, trying to find an exit for this place. It really didn't help that everything looked the same in here.

"Great. Trapped in an infinite loop of hallways," Rex huffed, before his eyes went up to the ceiling. "...maybe I should try the other way out."

He shifted from the Rex Ride to the Boogie Pack and had the turbines rev to life. On the tops of the turbines, four small extra parts emerged. Two of them fired up and into the ceiling, the iron weights at the end of the steel cables smashed through it. Rex avoided some of the falling debris as he took off, making a beeline for the opening he just made. He flew through the whole and ascended...to see an entire small town covered in fog.

Rex looked down at where he'd come from. It was a small shack of sorts, almost like a toolshed in size. Rex blinked. "Oooooookay, that's creepy..." Rex shuddered, as he looked back to the city.

Rex couldn't hear anything. Not the sound of people talking below him or the sound of cars driving down streets. The place was dead silent. He tried the ear piece again, hoping that it was just the building that was blocking the signal.

"Okay, let's just get out of-"

Rex suddenly heard a bone chilling scream, from back inside the shack. It sounded like...a little girl?

"Shit!" Rex zoomed back into the shack, landing and retracting the Boogie Pack. He looked around, trying to get an idea on where the scream came from.

Rex began flinging open doors, looking for some place the noise could be coming from. All he got were weirder sights and creepier vibes...

Some of the interiors seemed almost occult, desks arranged in circles with lit candles on them. Others were weird, not creepy but just outright weird, like a room full of pink rabbit plushies with a giant rabbit mascot costume in the middle.

"What is with this place?!" Rex yelled, maybe a bit too loudly.

"It's where nightmares are born," a voice whispered.

Rex nearly jumped in shock. He spun around, immediately bringing out the BFS on pure reflex. He was half-expecting to find some sort of horror movie villain standing behind him, weapon in hand and ready to add another kill to their name. Instead, there was a blonde haired and blue eyed little girl behind him. She was small, wearing a typical school uniform, complete with a headband..

"She keeps us here. For her games."

Rex tilted his head, putting the sword away when he saw it was just a kid, "Wait...'she'?"

"Yeah. Her." The girl shivered. "Her name is Breach..."

"Breach? Wait…creepy, four arms, high school outfit?" Rex asked, starting to put the pieces together.

"Yeah. That's the nightmare..." The girl said "Are you...here to get me out?"

"Yeah," Rex said, kneeling down to her level, hoping to try and comfort her, "We need to find my friends first, though. I wasn't the only one who got sent here...wherever here is."

"How do we get out?" The girl asked, looking into the hallway.

"Eh, I can make my own exit," the Ace-Op smirked confidently, trying to inspire hope in the kid, "but quick question. What were you screaming at?"

"Screaming?" the girl asked, "I was...I was trying to be as quiet as I could."

"...that's not good." Rex shivered, as he looked around. Suddenly, his eyes noticed something- a door that wasn't opened before...suddenly was. It was all the way down the hall, in the darkest part.

"Stay behind me," the Ace-Op warned, as he stood back up and brought his blade out again. The little girl quickly hid behind Rex, peeking out from behind his leg. He knew something was going to come out of there, he just wasn't sure what.

Rex slowly crept forward, hoping whatever nightmare around the corner was something he could take.

"Just stay with me, okay? What's your name?" Rex asked.

No answer.

Rex looked down at his leg. The girl was gone.

"...oh no." Rex looked behind him, just to see if maybe the girl had run off behind him. No such luck.

Rex turned back around-

And saw the most nightmarish thing rush at him.

It looked like some sort of walking corpse. It was tall and lithe, with an almost humanoid form that skittered around on all fours like it crawled right out of a horror movie. Black ichor dripped off its body and its razor-sharp claws clicked and scraped against the wooden floor. Its head was perhaps the most disturbing part of what it, at least from what Rex could see. A long tongue lashed out from under the monster's head, an angular, almost deer-like skull without antlers.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!"

The monster snarled as it pounced at Rex- his weapons quickly became shields, as he blocked the monster's attack. The cybernetic Ace-Op stepped backwards a bit, trying to put distance between himself and this nightmare made real. The sounds the monster was making were nightmare inducing. It sounded like a yell of agony mixed with tears of a child...and that scream.

Oh, Jesus.

This thing made the child's scream.

What made it worse was what he saw when it pounced him. For the split second the abomination was thrashing against his shield, he saw it. The thing had a second face, underneath and past the deer-like mask. It was like a staunch and malnourished human skull with a gaping and stretched out jaw. The creature lashed out its tongue before it quickly turned upright with the sound of snapping bones. A tall but malnourished giant stood before Rex, easily eight feet tall from the looks of it.

The energy shield build could only block so much. Rex yelled, as his jetpacks formed, and blasted him back away from the monster.

"The fuck is that thing!? It doesn't look like a Grimm, or a Corrodium victim- just looks like a fucking monster!" Rex yelled.

The nightmare threw its head back and screamed before rushing in at him. Rex quickly formed up the Slam Cannon, tearing up the wooden floor and firing a shot at this-this thing. The shot hit and tore away a big chunk of the monster's flesh, splattering black ichor all over the hallway. It screamed as smoke rose up from the wound, but it just kept coming.

Rex fired more and more shots, taking out more and more chunks from the creature's body. Despite its wounds, it still was intent on murdering Rex, or maybe even worse.

Body shots weren't working. He took aim at the nightmare's head and fired, the wooden projectile slamming into its face, splattering its head, and knocking it off its feet.

Rex huffed and puffed, relieved that whatever nightmare this school had thrown at him was over. He'd take the eerie silence over the dreadful screams of that monster.

The creature twitched and, instead of it turning to smoke like a normal Grimm would it...melted. All that was left of it was a smoking, bubbling puddle of Grimm ooze.

Rex stared in horror for a few more moments before finally speaking.

"...I have got to get the fuck out of here," Rex muttered, but then he remembered. There was still someone to save. Rex looked around for the little girl, hoping that maybe she'd run off and hidden somewhere. Maybe she was fake? An illusion meant to lure him back in? He had to be sure. He'd never forgive himself if she was real and he just left her here.

One last search of the school...or shack...or whatever this place was, revealed no sign of the lost child. Once he was sure, he flew off. He was worried for the girl, but more worried about the others. Hopefully, none of them had to deal with something like that.


Ever since the prison facility went on lockdown, every angle had been covered. Atlas soldiers all aimed rifles at the restrained Breach just in case she tried the soldiers was the one who managed to subdue Breach in the first place, Felix, and he was once again armed with the zero-point weapon Weller had created.

"Yeah, remember me, bitch?" Felix taunted, getting no response from the prisoner.

All the while, three of Atlas' top minds worked tirelessly in the room to figure out where the missing security detail had gone.

Albedo frowned, as he typed in a few things on a laptop furiously.

"Breach's absolute defense is impressive. Her rifts can be consciously controlled, but if she has no means of direct control, they act as a sort of defense mechanism. If this is some sort of elevated mental state that bypasses high-level processing, I'll need to revise my theory again." Albedo hummed.

"Theory?" Rufus leaned in. This was interesting.

"No one is sure as to what Breach is. We assume Salem knows, but...that's her secret," Albedo explained, "It's my goal to gather as much information as I can, then sort through that to gain insight about her origins."

"Then what's your theory looking like right now?" Holiday asked. "Perhaps it could assist us here."

Albedo went quiet. "...absolute blank. She just scares me. There's no mistaking it; Breach is unearthly. She's neither human nor Osmosian, nor a Grimm in a humanoid body. I've ran tests on her DNA, and they're all disturbingly unable to disclose what Breach exactly is."

"Well, there is one word close enough to describe what she really is." Rufus frowned, his voice low.

"And what would that be?" Holiday asked.

"Monster."

Breach let out a low, creepy laugh, raising her head to look at the scientists. With her eyes somewhat obscured by the hair in front of her face, it made her look like a cursed ghost from a Japanese horror film.

"Flattery will get you nowhere, Doctor," Breach smirked.

"Ah, see? It knows what it is!" Rufus said, pointing towards the portal-maker.

"Yes, yes. It probably takes great pride in it." Albedo said, looking at the lock around his wrist. "...I'm going to need this unlocked."

"And why, exactly?" Holiday asked. "How do we know that you're not going to bolt immediately?"

"...personal reasons," Albedo offered up, "That and, as powerful as some of these forms I possess are, I am in the heart of the most advanced army on your world. I would be able to fight my way through, but not before the general ran out of Knights and Paladins to throw my way. How many are there again?"

"He does have a point," Weller admitted, "Besides, the Ace-Ops themselves were recalled recently. He'd have to go through them, Winter, the entire base..."

"It's not impossible for him though. He probably has the means to simply teleport or fly out," Holiday countered.

"Yes, but why would I?" Albedo said, furiously typing a bit faster. "What do I have to run to?"

Holiday looked to Weller, just to see what he thought about it. The eccentric doctor shrugged in agreement. Where would Albedo go? He'd have Atlas on one side, Salem on the other.

"...fine," Holiday said, bringing out the key to the restraint. She walked over and fitted the key, turning it and letting the restraint open with a slight hiss before it clanged to the ground, "There. Now, what are you going to do?"

"Simple. We wait for their signal." Albedo said, leaning back. "And if she tries anything, we hit her hard."

When she heard that, Breach started laughing maniacally, her mad cackling actually made Tyrian sound sane. Felix charged up the zero-point weapon and just needed an excuse to pull the trigger.

"'Wait and hit her hard.' That's it? I'm surprised by your lack of reason, Albedo. You'd think up something a little more complex when we worked together…" Breach said.

"'Reason,'" Albedo began, "is a fickle concept that is both determined by the latest trends, and is always subject to change. To put it another way, it is ambiguous and deceptive. To be called irrational in some ways may be a well-earned compliment which defines your own value."

Breach rolled her eyes through the explanation, "You and your words. Always hiding the truth, building yourself up. A big brain...but we all know that heart REALLY isn't into it."

"My heart has never been more into something than right now." Albedo said, standing up from his seat. "It should be considered mercy I'm not ripping you apart, atom by atom."

"Ooh, a threat? So rare to hear those from you," Breach grinned, "but...that's assuming you even can kill me. Any of you."

"Even if I couldn't, I would find a way." Albedo said. "And I fucking promise that."

That was a very big precision F-strike. Breach was a bit caught off guard.

Holiday couldn't help but smirk a little at the look on Breach's face.


Yang, Rook, and Min had left the playground by now, scouring the streets for any sign of the others. The silence was deafening though, there wasn't even wind in this abandoned town. Everywhere they looked, they just found nothing. You couldn't even say that there were ghosts here, that would at least count as something. As the trio continued on, a sound made them all freeze, weapons immediately getting readied. Something had been knocked over in one of the nearby buildings.

"This place is giving me the 'heebies'. It feels as if we are in a scary movie," Blonko noted.

"Oh, that is the last thing we need. One of those twist horror endings," Yang shook her head before something caught the trio's attention. They all froze when they heard a sound come from another building, what seemed to be an old office building.

"...You had to jinx that part, didn't you?" Min said, as the three ran inside to investigate.

"It came from the second floor!" Blonko said.

"If I start to say something like that again," Yang said, checking the ammo in her weapons, "you have full permission to stop me." The blonde led the way, gauntlets at the ready in case anything decided to pull a jump scare on them.

They quickly found their target and also another friend, separated in the chaos. Kylie fired off shots from her revolver at...

Something.

That was the only apt description the group could come up with.

"What. The fuck. Is THAT?" Yang said, her eyes going wide at what Kylie was firing at. The creature itself seemed to be some kind of quadrupedal reptilian monster. The creature seemed to LACK skin, showing off black sinew and muscle. Bone white spikes ran down the length of its spine. The monster seemed to lack any sort of eyes and yet it was able to either dodge Kylie's shots and take a strike at where she had been perfectly. The beast lunged at Kylie, who dodged out of the way just in time. It's bone white fangs barely missing her, instead chomping through the wall of one of the office cubicles.

Kylie shot at a few more times, as it didn't even show a sign of damage. "WHY IS NOTHING WEAK TO GUNS NOWADAYS?!" Kylie yelled.

The creature then turned and hissed at her. It was around then that a few shotgun blasts slammed into its face, sending it through what was left of the cubicle.

"Kylie!" Yang shouted as Rook took aim at the creature, letting go a volley of shots. This thing was tough, rising up out of the rubble and shaking itself off like nothing happened. It then turned to the newly arrived trio and it growled, even as Rook's shots hit it.

"What is this thing!?" Min yelled, as she fired a blast of demonic energy.

If a monster could feel pride, then this thing would be the definition of it. It didn't even try to dodge this hit. But, what's the saying? Pride cometh before the fall? When that energy blasted into it, the thing squealed in pain. Looked like Min held this thing's kryptonite.

"Stand back!" Min yelled, as she threw another powerful blast of energy.

The blast hit again, the force behind it blasting off the creature's left front leg. Black smoke billowed out from the socket, the severed limb disintegrating once it hit the floor.

"That'll teach it." Min said.

...before the limb grew back, stronger and fresher. Min's face fell a bit.

The creature stopped squealing, raising its newly regrown limb and moving the claws around a bit, testing it. The beast hissed as it got ready to pounce.

Kylie screamed. "WHY DID YOU HAVE TO CONFIRM IT'S EVEN MORE NIGHTMARISH THAN I THOUGHT!?"

"RUN!" Yang shouted as changed out the ammo in her gauntlets. She always carried some higher caliber stuff on her, just in case. She fired a few rounds at the beast. The hits made the beast actually flinch but that was all it did. Blonko fired a few shots at it with the Proto Tool, but it was in vain.

Yang moved back and fired more rounds into the creature. It flinched just a bit before pouncing. With a quick punch, Yang used its momentum against it, clocking it right in the jaw and sending it flying back. She ran before it got up and it would get up again. The group quickly raced out of the building and down the street. The others raced ahead, but Yang skidded to a halt and found a good place to hide.

"Down here!" the brawler shouted as she ducked down an alleyway. Hopefully, even if it was chasing them, they could lose it. Trick it or something.

"Are you sure it is wise to hide here of all places?" Blonko asked. "We are still out in the open."

"Unless you see a better hiding spot!"

"...a fair point."

Yang lead the way down the alley, hoping to just lose whatever the fuck that was. Then a thought crossed her mind and she went pale. Ruby, Ben, all the others, they were still out there. There might be more of those things just waiting to pounce.


Kevin blinked, as he groaned. "...am I dead?" He asked no one.

"If you were dead, I think I'd know," Doppler said, rolling his eyes if he could, "Now, don't freak out...but I have NO IDEA where we are."

"...greeeeat." Kevin huffed, as his eyes adjusted to wherever he was.

Wherever he was, the view was just depressing. Fog lingered as far as he could see, the sky was a dull grey color, not a ray of light penetrating through the clouds.

"What the hell even happened?" Kevin asked. His memory was foggy.

"Well, far as I remember, we were fighting a mutated girl, and then she opened up portals. Few seconds later, welcome to grey hell."

"Jeez...this place looks dreary as hell." Kevin huffed.

"Yeah...but the good news AND the bad news is I don't think we're alone here."

"Why do you say that, exactly?" Kevin asked Doppler.

"Well, the good part is because the freak opened portals for EVERYONE who showed up. Bad part is I think I might have seen something in the fog more than once...and it sure as fuck wasn't human."

"...Well, that's VERY reassuring and nightmarish." Kevin said. "Thanks for that."

"Hey, at least this way we're not getting jump-scared by...I dunno, Grimm Spiders or something."

"Any idea where the others are, you silver piece of shit?" Kevin asked.

"Noooooot a clue," Doppler admitted.

"Ughhhhh." Kevin groaned. "Great. Anything else I should know?"

"Nope. So, we should probably try and find the others," Doppler said, offering up a course of action.

"Yeah, yeah." Kevin said. "Scan the area for some life forms or whatever."

"Already on it," Doppler was running a scan as they spoke.

Kevin looked around the area- it was a weird alleyway, or something. "Huh...wonder why I ended up here."

"Probably random selection. Let's see..."

"Might be out of range. Not picking anything. Either that or this place screws with scans."

"...that's weird." Doppler said.

"What?"

"I'm picking something up." Doppler said. "Behind us."

Kevin turned, ready to strike out with whatever partial transformation he could get. "Doppler...if you've got anything else on this," Kevin said, looking around for the unwelcome guest.

"I don't know." Doppler said. "I'm just scared!"

"Oh, that's VERY helpful!" Kevin rolled his eyes at that.

He didn't even notice it, but behind Kevin's back, someone began to sneak out of the fog, twin arm blades folding forward like...pincers.

"...aw, fuck." Kevin groaned, raising his guard.

This new person chuckled- well, more accurately cackled to themselves. "Let me guess, she got you too, right?"

Kevin stepped back, eyes wide with fear. "Get the FUCK away from me."

"I do tend to...have that effect on people," He smirked. "Most people just can't understand true devotion. They mistake it for...insanity."

Kevin immediately shifted into Bashmouth, and growled. "I'm warning you-"

"Ohohohohoho! Certainly different from him! What was his name...I've almost forgotten because of- ofhow long I've been in here. Feels like years have gone by."

Tyrian stepped out of the mist, bloody and starved. He looked near sickly. "Hello~"

"Who the hell..." Kevin began.

"I think I should be asking you that. She doesn't send people here often. It means she wants you here. Her latest addition. And if you're here...then maybe the OTHER one is too. Maybe she's found her latest obsession in shapeshifters."

"So, what, you stay here and you go a little crazy?" Kevin smirked. "Well...crazier."

The scorpion Faunus chuckled to himself, "Well, that's if her other toys don't find you. You don't think we're ALONE in here do you?"

"Other toys?" Kevin asked, before he shook his head. "Wait, why the fuck am I even talking with some crazy psychopath!?"

"Because, let's face it, loneliness is one of the fastest ways for a mind to break," Tyrian chuckled.

"Speaking from experience, huh?" Doppler added in before he saw the madman's eyes dart to him. Before, they were a stark golden color, now they had turned an unnatural purple.

"Kevin. I advise we run." Doppler whispered.

"Run, and her toys might find you. Stay in one place, the loneliness might break you. What a choice, what a CHOICE."

Kevin frowned. "Can we run after we kick his ass?"

"Oh, a fight? Ohhhhh I'd LIKE that," Tyrian smirked and rolled his shoulders, "I haven't been able to dismember something that actually stayed in pieces for AGES now!"

Kevin's fists became coated in iron. "Try as you'd like, freak! You ain't hacking me to bits!"

Tyrian smirked as his arm blades suddenly folded forward and he rushed in, faster than Kevin was expecting, cackling madly the whole time.

Kevin blocked the attacks, as he struck back- he grabbed Tyrian's arm with his teeth, and began to flail the bastard around, like he was some chew toy.

And then something else hit him. Something just smacked him in the back of the head. It wasn't too hard of a blow but it was enough for him to let go of his assailant.

Tyrian laughed. "AAHHA~! WE GOT THEIR ATTENTION~!"

"The hell?!" Kevin looked around to see what the hell just slammed into him.

Instead of a piece of debris or something more expected, Kevin saw a small Grimm. It was about the size of a small monkey, not even reaching Kevin's knee. It had large plates of bone covering most of its lower forearms as if it were wearing gauntlets that were too big for it. Its hands were on the ground, two fingers curled back as it walked around on its knuckles. It tilted its head at Kevin, looking at him with small, beady yellow eyes. Two horns curled back from its forehead and two, long pointed ears jutted out from the sides of its head.

"Ooooh, we got one of the smaller ones!" Tyrian exclaimed, "and you know what they say about small Grimm!"

"What the hell is THAT!?" Kevin yelled, as he threw it off of his back, and at Tyrian.

Tyrian just sliced through the creature easily, bisecting it so it's top and bottom halves went to either side of him. But as the smoke-like blood of the Grimm evaporated, Kevin saw it. Another pair of those beady yellow eyes in the fog. And then another. And another. And another. More and more yellow eyes of these Grimm.

"The small ones never hunt alone!" The madman cackled, his arms outspread.

"Annnnnd, here's the part where you eat my dust, and I leave you to do the dirty work." Kevin immediately shifted into Rush. "See ya, freak!" Kevin rushed off, making sure to kick gravel in Tyrian's crazed face.

"Well, that's just rude," the madman huffed. One of the Grimm, a Grendel, jumped out of the fog and tried to latch onto him, only for the blades on one of his arms to fold back, revealing twin gun barrels. Both barrels fired off and downed the creature easily.

"Well, really, I've been the rude one! I've spent so long here and there are new arrivals? I haven't even tidied up the bloodstains in the mall! Ah well, best to make up for that...a late welcome party is better than none…" The scorpion Faunus' eyes turned purple as a menacing smile appeared on his face.


Author's Note: Please leave a review. There's gonna be a lot of multi parters coming up. Like, this one is three parts, another is 2 parts, another 3 parter...and then a massive 10 parter which is gonna release in late October.

Yeah.

Here's the Discord invite link: Please join Discord at: /mY2QfzMjGt