RWBY Remastered: Echoes of Darkness

by DFO627

The world of Remnant is quite a treacherous place… With Grimm around every corner, and villains whom wish harm upon the beautiful realm, this will surely be a challenge for RWBY, and their friends. And with a new villain aiding Salem; the demon Nightmaratack, and with the rise of "Dark Grimm", they'll need all the help they can get… Even help from some not of their world.

17. Chapter 16

Soon, the morning comes. Ruby and her whole team grabs their weapons. With her Crescent Rose attached to her back. Weiss holding onto her Myrtenaster. Blake readies her Gambol Shroud. And Yang is clocking her Ember Celica.

JNPR, Penny, and SSN also ready themselves, and look to Irad, who is standing tall before them in his own armor, which was white, a dark blue, and silver. They each have new armored outfits, each tailored to their original styles. On each of their chests, a silver cross. Their emblems are inscribed on the back of their armor as well.

"Today, all of your training will be tested. And in this test, failure cannot be an option. Your armor is strong enough to be resilient to most attacks, but most of all, the metal on your armor is most resilient to unholy magic, as it has silver coated onto it. The battle will be hard and brutal… And mayhaps, Aiden may already be taken over… But if we stick together, we can defeat the enemy, and perhaps save our comrade… Now… A word from your headmaster." As he said this, Oscar steps forth alongside Olmotack, and Ozpin would begin,

"Students, I'll make this brief. For years, I have been trying to teach you all to be ready to face the world. Although I failed to teach you to finish it. I assumed it wasn't your responsibility. Grimm was a part of the world for so long, and we have just lived with it. In this case though, we are given a once in a lifetime opportunity. To resolve the scourge that is the Grimm. I hope you are ready. Not just with this upcoming battle, but the aftermath. Nothing will be the same after this."

Olmotack nods, and Ozpin lets him speak, "With this, things can either turn for the better, or worse… I will say, after being around you all for so long… I'm happy to say I'd like to think of us all as one big family… And even if the grimm are gone, nothing will ever change that. So let's finish this, and end all the suffering, once and for all, and aim for a better future for humans, and faunus alike! For we are hunters, and huntresses, and it is up to us to end the tyranny of Salem and Nightmaratack!" Everyone cheers out, filled with determination, as Irad claps his hands,

"Right. I have a ship prepared for the hunters and huntresses. The armies of the other kingdoms will follow my warship… RWBY, JNPR, SSN, Olmotack, you will be with me on the ship. Ozpin… Or well, both you and Oscar- will accompany us… What you do, I leave to you, sir. To fight with us, or to stay in the ship, it is yours to decide. Ruby!" Ruby would slightly yelp at being suddenly called, "When we reach the Dark Lands, you and I will come together and try to sense the barrier, then you must break it. Anytime I've sent groups to investigate the Dark Lands, they would report a mist, and once they go through, are never heard from again… If we are to proceed, then we must break this barrier. So be ready." Ruby nods, and Irad grins at everyone,

"Well… What are we waiting for? We got some grimm to hunt, and a castle to siege." With this, everyone leaves for the giant warship floating above. Juane and Ruby both gawk at the sheer size, as they were teleported into the docking bay. The ship soon began to fly slowly, as other war ships began to follow in formation. The inside of the warship was very active, with soldiers marching about and preparing smaller ships. Some were helmet-less, and looked to be regular people. None of them has ever seen one of Irad's soldiers without their helmet. The men saluted Irad as he would pass, and the teams followed. Soon they would reach the front of the warship, and they saw they were very high from the ground, moving at a slow pace towards a certain direction. In the cities, there was a broadcast from Ironwood, explaining the situation with the assault against the grimm queen Salem, and the demon Nightmaratack. Grimm attacks are to be expected, and people would be told to take shelter.

"This is… Unreal." Jaune would let out. Yang whistles at the magnitude of what they are witnessing.

They looked down from the cockpit, seeing the world that looked so small. They would then jump from a voice,

"Hey kids!" Maria would wave to them as they nearly bump into her. "Almost hit me there!"

Ruby was happy to see her. "Maria! You're here too?!"

"Yep! Can't miss out this opportunity of a lifetime! Life is too short to skip out on moments like this! I am also trying to get them to pilot the ship. Can't imagine why they would tell me otherwise." She said, shaking her head. Although without her noticing, Weiss would shake her head and cross her throat, indicating her disapproval of that idea, from personal experience.

Irad would sweatdrop, "She's one of the captains here… Her experience with operating ships piqued my interest… That… And she kept egging me to give her something to do, so… I had to…" He says, before continuing with grit teeth, "Although, the deal was, don't get us killed." Irad states, knowingly looking to Maria, who tried to look innocent,

"I don't know what you are talking about." She said, and in response, Irad would sigh and roll his eyes.

Ruby would bring the positivity back. "Well… I'm glad you're here. You helped me out a lot."

"Ah, don't make a big deal about it. Just do your part and I'll do mine." She would walk off to her post.

Sun would then speak up as soon as they walked out of her range. "So who's that old lady again?"

"It's a long story." Yang whispers to him. Olmotack just grumbles at this.

After a few hours of traveling, they would notice the landscape below beginning to change. They found the sky was bleak, and everything was dark. As they progressed slowly, an anxious feeling loomed over them all. After another hour , they would reach a wall of fog.

"There it is." Irad pointed. "Ruby, we're up…" Irad begins to walk out of the room, and signals Ruby to follow.

"Got it!" Ruby nods as she clenches her scythe hard. And everyone else grips on their weapons as well, ready.

Soon RWBY and Irad would go back down to the ground in a small shuttle. They would approach the foggy barrier, and Irad would land the small shuttle. They would exit, and he would lead Ruby along, stopping just before the misty barrier, "Ok… From here, we can begin. Now Ruby… Once we destroy this, we may be attacked by hordes of Grimm… So be ready for combat." Irad said, and Ruby would nod in response,

"So… What should I do?" She asked,

"Hold your hand out towards the barrier, and close your eyes… Then focus on channeling your energy into the barrier." Ruby does as told, and is focusing her energy. She had felt her silver eyes reacting to the Dark Lands for some time, but with this barrier, it seems it was more intense. Ruby focused her thoughts and energy on using her power to break the barrier. She could feel the evil and darkness radiating, and it seemed to be much for her, until she felt Irad grab her shoulder, and he seemed to be giving her his own energy. With both of their energies, Ruby would open her eyes, and an incantation would appear in front, and would be shown being shattered, and the fog slowly lifted. Irad and Ruby have done it. In the distance, Evernight Castle stood.

She was speechless. "I… Did… Do that?"

"Indeed you have. Your energy from your Silvery Eyes, along with my holy magic collided with the seal, and broke the barrier… There's many things you can possibly do… It just takes time." They then hear the warships fly past, going towards the castle. Ruby could also see fleets from the other kingdoms like Atlas and Vale.

Yang would look up to see them. "Looks like we're bringing in the big guns already."

"That's because I know they are gonna bring in their big guns… As you can see if you look closely." Irad points, and they would notice a large army of grimm meeting the opposition.

"RWBY, you will help me infiltrate the castle. I discussed with JNPR and SSN earlier to do crowd control with you… Once we find Salem, we will bring her down. Do you all understand the plan?"

They all nod. Weiss raises her sword, ready, "You lead the way, Irad."

Irad nods, as they enter the small shuttle and go closer to the castle. Soon, they would jump out the small shuttle, and engage in battle to mow through to reach the entrance of the castle.

"Here they come!" Blake shouts out. As she can see the many Ursa coming in swarms.

Neptune gets nervous. "That is… A lot."

Suddenly, large lasers started hailing through the grimm army, as Irad's forces began to go to work. Soon, the other forces from other nations joined in, blowing up and attacking grimm. Irad would join in, spinning around and cutting down grimm left and right. Weiss starts slicing her own Grimm close by, with Ruby following. Blake and Yang going back to back, defensively brawling and slicing with the aggressive Ursa. Neptune and Pyrrha would start shooting their rifles. Once the Ursa get closer though, Sun and Ren jump in to dispatch them before they can touch their teammates. Hunters from across the globe fought alongside them, dealing with the Grimm in this all out war. Jaune and Scarlet also handle the other Grimm variants. Irad and Ruby continue to ravage their way through Salam's personal Grimm guards. Irad would also power up Weiss' glyphs as she fought, and would assist them. She would also use her own power to pierce through multiple Grimm with blue beams of energy. With the power boost, she can do it to as many beasts in the area. Weiss would land beside Irad, and cut through more grimm as they got closer and closer to the entrance,

"As usual, you execute your moves with perfection, my dear." Irad says, as he slashed a grimm in half.

"And you, as well." She said with confidence as she sways her hair. Then immediately stabs the ground, causing lines of ice protrusions that impale the more larger Beowolves, before the spikes explode in a fiery blue fury, killing anything around it.

She then creates a large Glyph on the ground, which Ruby rushes back next to her partner. And once she activates the time dust, in an instant, Ruby swiftly cuts open every Grimm around their area, including the main entrance door. Irad, Ruby, and Weiss rush in, and see the inside of Evernight Castle, as Blake and Yang assured them they'd keep enemies out of their way, and would join them soon, as Yang smashes the head of one grimm.

The trio would find themselves inside the dark castle. Ruby looks around. "This is… Creepy."

"A very dreary atmosphere." Weiss admits.

"Let's shed some light then." Irad snaps his fingers, and the torches in the room would light up with a blue flame.

Ruby was startled, "Whoa! Neat!"

The three slowly walk through the slightly brightened up Evernight Castle. Weiss would speak up, "Still doesn't change the depressing scenery." She said in disgust.

"Whoever decorated this castle, needs to be fired." Irad quipped, making Weiss snicker a bit.

They all then enter a wide space area. Just then, Irad stops. They hear footsteps entering the room. Revealing Cinder Fall first. Ruby and Weiss readied their weapons. Soon after, Raven walks next to her. Ruby would grit her teeth. And finally, someone marches their way in... The still mutated Adam.

Cinder looks to Irad with contempt, remembering how she fell to him, "What a lovely surprise... Have you come to surrender? I'm sure you've seen the chaos going on outside." Irad states, his cane-yamato being ready.

Cinder scoffs. "I couldn't care less. After all, I have become all powerful now..." Her body begins to flare up with flames all over her space.

"You fool… Giving into that fire demon has made you more and more inhuman… Soon there will be nothing left… I'll be sure to put you out of your misery quickly… And you, Adam… How far you have fallen. A warped husk of your former self… Then you, Raven… A heartless monster, who dares calls herself a mother. Are you willing to watch all life die right before your eyes? Because I know Nightmare won't stop here."

Raven squints her eyes in annoyance. "I'm just doing what any human being would rationally do. And that's survival. No matter how strong you are, you can't stop her. I know. Do you? Do the kids know?"

Ruby was confused. "Know what?"

Raven scoffs. "Ozpin still hasn't told you… What a shock… He sends you children, completely unprepared."

"Not unprepared. They have me, and all of Remnant behind their backs. It doesn't matter what you believe. They are children no more. We have come to rid this world of grimm, once and for all!" He unsheathed his blade, and stood ready, "Your mind games won't work, Raven… I know what you are attempting to do; to instill doubt on us in a feeble attempt to sway us, a pathetic move…"

(Battle theme: Devil May Cry 4 SE OST Let's Just See HQ Extended [No Copyright Music] /watch?v=UZfl2zTjM5g)

The three would grit their teeth and be prepared… Salem's strongest warriors. Irad continued, "There is only one thing left for you, and that is to fall. You are human no more- a mere fool just like the other two that stands with you, and you don't even see it… We will stop her, whether you believe it or not, and peace shall be restored. Whatever comes our way, we will deal with it." He stares the three foes down, Adam eagerly awaiting to rip them apart. "We will defeat you, and in doing so prove that we are more than capable of holding our own."

Raven is now pissed, "... You still don't get it… That Ozpin is LYING TO YOU!" She then bursts out with all of her Maiden powers all at once. Pure rage consumes her now.

With that, Adam roars in rage and jumps first. Raven second, and Cinder last as she laughs, aiming towards Irad, until Weiss shoots multiple beams of light towards her, causing her to dodge. Adam punches the ground, causing it to break apart. In response, Irad's team jumps back. Raven comes out of the smoke and aims for Irad herself. Their blades clash, as Ruby whirls upward to avoid Adam's claws. Weiss would block Cinder's fire balls using glyphs. She was stronger than she once was, thanks to Irad as well. Irad pushes Raven back with his blade and delivers a flurry of strikes, his sword ignited by his flames.

"Pathetic." He says as he made a few twirling cuts that Raven blocked, before making a large swing that made Raven slide back a bit from the sheer brute force, with Irad not letting up and going at full speed, each step leaving behind a fiery blue footprint.

Weiss defensively handles Cinder, as she stood no chance against a Maiden before. Even with her training, she has to tread lightly. So she plans to use every ounce of her dust to help her. As she blocks everything thrown at her, like flaming blasts, flaming arrows and anything else related to flames. So she dominates her own attacks with ice. She always did prefer ice attacks. She would even coat the whole area with as much ice or snow to make things easier for her and harder for Cinder.

She would also use her Glyphs to slide around Cinder, dodging her faster attacks, or staying away from her overwhelming power. After years of training since childhood, Weiss shows her skills against all kinds of monsters. And there is no bigger monster than Cinder. Except maybe Salem, in her head. But after dodging another big attack from Cinder, she hears Irad, "Weiss!" She turns to see him still clashing blades with Raven. "Try this on for size! It uses my magic, being a combination of fire and ice!" He throws a vial to her, and she catches it and immediately clocks out her already used ice dust, and inserts Irad's special dust. She then goes for a simple test of this power, and uses beams, which Cinder panickedly dodges, but it blows her completely away towards a wall, smashing it and her back. Weiss would be surprised to see this power in her finger tips, as she looks at her sword, brimming with all sorts of magical power. Irad winks at her, as Irad uses his magic against Raven, putting her on the defensive. Ruby was going really fast against Adam, using the different firepower of her Crescent Rose. Adam savagely tries to maul Ruby, which she keeps on dodging him with her superior speed. As she dodges though, she would analyze any weak point to him. She would find out dash around Adam, until she stops and aims her sniper toward his spine, and point blank blasts him, causing him to shout in pain. The blast was large scale since she had it on the heavy function, and caused a lot of damage.

Adam would lower himself, as the pain was immense, and he was struggling to heal. She hit him in a very bad spot for him. Adam roars more as she tries to grab her. Although that injury made him even slower. This is perfect for the red hooded Huntress. She swiftly blitzes him, slicing all over him. As durable as he is, she can still hurt him enough to slow him more and more.

Eventually Adam falls to his knees. Ruby stops in front of him, feeling a little bit of sympathy for him. After a few seconds, Adam would notice Ruby stopping her attacks. He looks at her, with a bit of humanity, seeing someone actually feel bad for him. But he grits in anger, feeling like he is being pitied. He jumps to eat her face off, as a way to make her pay for her pity, but it would be the last thoughts on his mind, as Ruby without hesitation shoots him through his mouth, killing him. Adam would disintegrate from the blast, his mask falling to the ground as the last object he owned. Ruby picked it up, and sighed.

Back with Irad and Weiss, they fought side by side against Raven and Cinder, Cinder using more and more demonic magic, and Raven's maiden power, but being pushed back by the might of Irad and Weiss. As Irad fought with Raven, Raven would grow overwhelmed, and after sheathing his blade and focusing, Raven charged at Irad, giving it everything she has in putting her power into her next strike, and in one swipe, Irad cut off Raven's arm that held her sword, elbow down. Raven screamed in pain as she landed and crouched down, the stump where her arm used to be searing with heat, as Irad loomed over, his blade ready for a lethal last blow if needed,

"It's not too late, Raven. Don't make me do this. You can still change… I see there is still a glimmer of hope for you. Salem can be defeated. Immortal or not. If you still have any humanity or love left… Then don't do it for you… Do it for your daughter and husband." Irad said. Raven looks to her missing arm, and looks up to Irad, Weiss fighting Cinder on the offensive in the background.

Raven would look down, defeated. "... Tell me this. You think they will be as forgiving if they learned the truth? About Ozpin and Salem...?" She asks. This gets Weiss distracted, wondering what Ozpin's got to do with Salem. Which was enough for Cinder to blast her, and in the last second the Schnee Heiress would block it with her Glyphs.

"Yes… I do believe so. The only thing we should be doing is moving forward and doing what is right. In the end, that's all that matters, and we will fix the mistakes that were made… It's easier said than done… But it CAN be done. All that is needed…" He extends a hand to Raven, "Is some faith, and hard work."

She was conflicted about finding the answer. But does so, knowing she can't beat him. Having shame in her face, she takes his hand.

He'd then look to see Weiss still in a heated fight with Cinder, and Irad would gently push Raven aside, "Stay out of the fight. I'll call medical to pick you up and get something for your arm…" He typed something onto his watch, then after, he'd pick up her weapon, "In the meantime… I'll be borrowing that… I'll be sure to return it soon…" Before he went, Raven called him, and he turned back, with Raven tossing the sheath to her weapon,

"If what you say is true… Then… I have faith." Raven said, and Irad would smirk,

"Stay safe and out of the way." He says, strapping the sheath to her weapon to his side, and running off to fight Cinder.

Weiss fiercely fought Cinder, as Weiss used much of her power and fared well against Cinder with Irad's dust, but Weiss knew that the dust would soon run out… But then Irad would drop in, dual wielding his sword and Raven's Omen, pushing Cinder back, "You didn't think I'd miss the party, eh love?" Irad asked Weiss, as he jabbed his cane sword into the ground, and with his hand, got out another vial of the special dust and gave it to Weiss, "Having fun with the new features?" Irad asks while pulling his blade out again. Cinder would be recovering from Irad's attack that pushed her back, and her flames grew more intense, in response, Irad popped his neck, ready to fight. Cinder is shaking with rage, as she flies up and starts throwing multiple fire spheres that engulfs the whole area.

Irad and Weiss would dodge the spheres together, with Weiss using her glyphs, and with Irad using his own fire, would send their own projectiles at Cinder, who was hit multiple times and sent to another room, and sent tumbling. She would then charge at them again, and Irad would use both blades, and Weiss would use hers.

Cinder recovers in time, and summons her own glyph-like floors on top of Irad and Weiss, charging up her fire pillars. And she plans to make it hurt a lot.

Irad holds Weiss's shoulder, as she summons a giant Glyph above Cinder's own, and the flaming pillar bursts with intense heat. Ruby, who just arrived, watches in horror, believing they were hit. However, once the flames die down, it is shown that Weiss and Irad engulfed themselves in an ice shield that protected them. This had Cinder shocked. Just as she was distracted though, Cinder finds her feet frozen already by this highly potent ice, burning her feet. During this, Weiss roars out as she stabs the ground. A large rumbling can be felt as something comes out of her Glyph. A giant hand rises from it, and eventually, a huge white armored knight stands tall above the bewildered Cinder. The knight seemed different than what Weiss remembered, it was silver and laced with gold, the aura around the knight was blue like Irad's flames, and a gold cross was etched onto its chest. It looked more intimidating, and wider. All Weiss knows is she made a force to be reckoned, as she points to Cinder, the knight immediately swings down its sword. Cinder blocks with her two swords, but once the sword goes down, it even breaks the floor. Once the dust is settled and Weiss and Irad check down below the hole, they see Cinder laying on the ground, defeated.

Irad narrows his eyes and jumps down. He lands beside where Cinder is with a thud, and towered over her,

"You are done, Cinder Fall… Your blinded pursuit of power ends here." Irad stated, his sword ready to finish Cinder off. Cinder though, would laugh, but would cough from exhaustion,

"He… Already became whole… I may not have defeated you… But… He will… Do you think you can really stop him?" She says smiling ear to ear, and Irad would just ask,

"Do you believe in fate?" He ominously said, raising his sword. Cinder would widen her eyes from what he just said, but before she could reply, Irad brings his sword down and kills Cinder, her body beginning to incinerate from his flames, ending the life and suffering of Cinder Fall.

Weiss and Ruby see this, and are glad the fighting is over. They notice the defeated Raven. Some soldiers come around Raven, as they prepare to take Raven in. Fighting could still be heard outside. Blake and Yang enter the scene, and run towards Ruby and Weiss and hug them,

"We were so worried! We heard some commotion inside, and I assumed the worst!" Yang exclaimed. She would then catch sight of her mother, and Raven would shamefully look away as she was being escorted to be transported to a medical facility in Irad's world. Irad would jump from the hole and would land with the others,

"Luckily, Raven and I had an understanding." Irad said, looking at the form of Raven as she was being loaded into a small shuttle and taken off from the entrance of the castle. "Where is JNPR and SSN?" He asked,

"They are helping the other hunters fight the grimm army. The grimm are starting to shrink in numbers." Blake says, and Irad nods,

"Very good. Since we're here, we might as well make a push together. We need to find Salem, and bring her down, and save Aiden. Sounds good, Ruby?"

Ruby was distracted for a bit, after also hearing about Raven mentioning Ozpin and Salem apparently had a history. Irad notices this too. "..."

"Ruby?"

"Oh! Uh… Yeah yeah!" As they all walk to Salem's throne room, she remembers something. "Oh! Blake!" Her teammate walks over to her. "I met Adam and..." She gives her Adam's mask.

After holding it in her hand, Blake would tear up, reminded of how she considered him her guide, a mentor, and maybe a close friend. The mask was torn and cracking, the last symbol of his downfall. That demon broke him, manipulated him... Changed him. That demon was taking everything away from her... And she had to stop him at all costs. As she walks with the rest, Ruby would slow down, seeing Raven being taken back. After hearing stuff from Yang, she didn't know what to think of her, but Weiss wasn't the only person who caught on to Raven's words. It got her thinking of how much she doesn't know about Ozpin in general. Another thing that was on Ruby's mind was that Irad knew, since he had seen the timeline, and didn't tell them. She would follow him. Salem and Nightmarack need to be stopped at all cost, nonetheless. Her mother would want her to focus on what's important. But she feels like she and her friends are owed an explanation after everything is done. Salem sits on her throne, waiting for the upcoming attack. Just then, her door is blasted open. And then comes her invaders, walking together as a team.

Irad points the handle of his cane at Salem, "Salem! Your reign ends here! Surrender now, or face consequences!"

She would glare at him with an unamused face. "Before we start this, I need to know something." This has him tilt his head. "Why are you doing this? What do you hope to accomplish, invading my world and trying to change things this badly?" She said in a very stern and serious tone, with hints of curiosity.

Irad would be silent for a bit, contemplating, before starting, "My purpose for coming into this realm is to change the fate of this world… I sensed the intervention of the demon, and sensed that this timeline needed me… The original timeline… From my understanding… Also- was darker. I prevented the deaths of many, and saved millions of lives. I come from a world that destroyed itself; war, immorality, greed, lust, pride… I don't wish that upon any other world. My suffering- I will do what I can to ensure no one feels that. Hence why I made my supremacy. I will invite this world to share in its success, and bring forth an era of peace… No suffering, no grimm. My rule, under God." He walks forward, "But it's you who stands in my way… You and the demon. All for your own selfish, and dark wishes. Tell me, do you really think you can trust him? Do you really think it will work in your favor? Let me guess: he made a deal that would cure you of your immortality? I know all about your situation. Your motivation, your reasons… Don't you know though? You should never make deals with a demon."

The one named Salem looks down on him more. "I knew asking you would be a waste of time..." She then stands from her throne and her shadow covers everyone. From their perspective, she is pretty tall. Irad would begin to glow, and from him, a large, beautiful blue fox dragon grew behind Irad, matching the height of the witch growling at Salem.

Irad crouches, putting a hand over the handle of his blade, ready to fight. RWBY would follow suit.

(Battle Theme: Chorus in the Darkness (Sanctus Battle 1) - Devil May Cry 4 OST Extended /watch?v=EQ99c9KYvCA)

She would then wave multiple orbs of light, and then shoot rainbow colored beams all over her invaders. Everyone jumps or ducks to dodge them.

Irad would fire a large barrage of holy flames that collided with her magic, Ruby starts shooting while in mid jump, and Yang furiously fires as many shots along with Ruby. Blake uses shadow clones to distract Salem as she tries to crush them. All the while, Weiss blasts her best dust blasts to get some damage done on the dark witch.

Irad aids each of their attacks, while also slashing at the witch, Salem feeling the power of the Holy Dragonic Fox Overlord with the combined might of the RWBY team.

She begins to get annoyed and starts shooting web like substances, which hits Ruby straight to a wall. "Ruby!" Yang shouts. She rushes in to help her, all the while Weiss begins to summon her newly powered knight to go head to head against Salem.

Irad would send his dragon apparition to aid the knight, and they would work together to bring down the queen. The dragon would roar and spew out fire that would freeze anything it engulfs, and burn it from within. And the knight stabs through her chest, causing her to roar out monstrously. Yang would have trouble tearing out the webs out of Ruby. Blake would come in to use her sword to free her. Ruby would then get back on the fight, and sees Salem grabbing the knight and blasts point blank with beams coming out of her mouth. The dragon, in response, would violently chomp down on her shoulder, and would thrash about, trying to tear her apart. She would then stretch her arms out to strangle the dragon, her face distorts and she shrieks like a banshee. The dragon, in response as it was being choked out, spews out a molten liquid of blue substance, burning part of her face, making Salem recoil in pain and release the dragon.

Irad would then run in, and with his blade glowing, would make wide cuts, using his magic to make magical projectiles that cut into Salem. She would be on the ground, breathing heavily in pain. She gets so angry she screams in rage. She grows bigger and bigger, even breaking her own roof to intimidate everyone.

Irad would stand tall,

"Everyone! All at once! Bring her down, together!" Irad states, hyping his team up.

The team jumps in, weapons in hand, and with all their might, they swing with everything they have and strikes her hard. Salem would be hurt, which she was outraged that these ants actually hurt her.

Irad then takes advantage of the distraction and strangles her with his dragon apparition, "Now Ruby!"

The leader of Team RWBY jumps up and unleashes her Silver Eyes in front of Salem's face, causing her to scream.

Salem would then angrily smacks Ruby straight to a wall, while the rest of her team also gets swatted away. "HOW DARE YOU!" She is seething.

Weiss checks on Ruby, "Are you okay?!"

Ruby groans in pain. "We're so close… We have to win…"

Weiss would flinch after hearing that. Then sighs, "You dolt. You say this now?"

The leader gets up and stands tall, "I have a plan…"

Irad stares up, contemplating on something, when Ruby comes up to Irad

"Irad, I need you to try to hold her off as long as you can." Ruby would say to him.

Irad would nod, as he used the translucent dragon once more to attack Salem with lightning attacks, and holy flame attacks, while Irad was riding the dragon. Salem roars more and more. This is where Team RWBY makes their move.

They run around, with Blake using her shadow clones to join the running. Salem notices them multiplying and running. Just then Weiss activates multiple Glyphs surrounding her in all directions, and everyone jumps towards the walls of Glyphs and they all dash around, slashing her everywhere with everything they have.

Irad joins in, and would seal the deal by snapping his fingers and enchanting all of RWBY's blades (And Yang's Gauntlets and Boots) temporarily, and deal even more damage against the witch, with Irad sheathing his blade, charging power and being right at Salem's chest, before unsheathing and delivering a large slash, igniting where he made his final fatal slash.

As she contorts in pain, she looks up to see Ruby in the air on top of her. Just then she unleashes her Silver Eyes once again. The witch then screams in pain, adding to her recent wounds, her pain begins to become unbearable. Ruby struggled a bit, but she would continue to add on more of her energy to the beam of light.

Ruby would then be grabbed by a dark chain, and thrown away, Irad ceasing his barrage to look. Salem would shrink back down, greatly weakened, but would look to where her rescuer was. Blake, Weiss, and Yang look back, and they widen their eyes in horror, as Nightmaratack stands before them, in control of Aiden's body. Irad grits his teeth.

"Well well well… Look what we have here." The demon started. "You all came here expecting to just- win so easily?" He laughs, "Those three fools were weak- pathetic… I was meaning to cast them aside at some point… But you did it for me." He smirked evilly, "And now… You all gave me what I wanted." He put a hand out to a wall to his left, and broke it with his magic, creating a large explosion. Once the explosion clears, he looks back to the others, smirking, and Irad spoke,

"Thing of evil! What are you trying to achieve?!"

Nightmare laughs, "That's no way to talk to your… Oh… I'm guessing you haven't told them?" Irad grew angered,

"Leave them out of this! I won't let you destroy all life across the parallel worlds!"

Nightmare laughs at this, "Well, really, I already can…" He then makes a waving motion at the wall he destroyed, and in the distance, a veil is lifted, as a tower is revealed. It was so tall, it scraped the sky.

"The true reason I let you all find me so easily… Is so you could bring all the maidens in one place." He maliciously giggles, and Irad widens his eyes,

"The tower… It-"

"It will be used to extract the power of all the maidens, granting it to me!" RWBY would gasp and look in horror, "But don't worry… Those who hold the maidens won't die… Yet… No- this will simply rip the power right out… Can't say it won't hurt though." He cackles. "I'm strong now… This I know… But you have proven to me that I must gain even more power, so I can wipe everything all clean definitively. Finally, eradicating you, Holy Dragon… But I won't stop at the maiden's power. Oh no- this tower holds more secrets than that."

"What are you planning, demon?!" Irad states, and Nightmare just laughs,

"Survive, and come find out!" He laughs as he disappears with Salem in a haze going straight for the tower.

Irad runs to the edge of the hole Nightmare made, and Irad would look at the tower. Irad would scream out in frustration and anger, breathing hard after.

Weiss rushes to his side. "Irad! Calm down!"

Irad looks to Weiss, fury in his eyes for a moment, before he lowers his gaze, and starts to tear up, "I..." He goes to his knees before Weiss, "I was too late..."

Blake would clutch at the silver cross necklace Aiden gave her, deeply sad to see Aiden in such a state, as the others spoke,

"Aiden… Please wait a little bit longer..." She whispers to herself desperately.

Ruby would recover with Yang, and caught up to them, "Was that Nightmare?!"

Weiss would be holding Irad, as Irad begins to shed more tears, and he would face Ruby,

"Yes… That was Nightmaratack. He has become whole…" He looks down in sorrow once more.

Yang notices how the whole setting is now bleak, "So… What? We can still beat him right?"

Irad is silent for a long moment, before speaking once more and getting up, "He will gain the power of the maidens, and maybe take Salem's powers too… And he will become more powerful than ever…" He walks forwards, breaking away from Weiss' contact. He then says something that made Weiss' heart sink, "I want you all to fall back… I'll take care of this myself, as I should have a long time ago. You've all done enough, and I don't want you all hurt or killed." Irad said, looking at the tower with an empty stare, his cape to his armor swaying gently in the wind.

Weiss spoke up. "You can't honestly think we're gonna just do that!"

Irad grits his teeth, "I DON'T WANT TO LOSE ANY OF YOU, OK?! I CAN… I CAN SEAL THE TOWER OUT, AND… And…"

Weiss grew more angered at this, "AND HE'LL JUST ESCAPE, AND KILL YOU, YOU IDIOT!" Weiss exclaims, tearing up, "YOU THINK SACRIFICING YOURSELF IS GOING TO FIX THIS?! THE ONLY THING YOU'LL BE IS AN OBSTACLE IN HIS WAY, PREVENTING THE INEVITABLE! WE NEED TO DEAL WITH THIS HEAD ON!"

"BUT I CAN'T LOSE YOU, I-" Weiss then smacks Irad, and Weiss breathes heavily. They were all silent in the moment, the others of the team looking between the Ice Heiress, and the Dragon-Fox Overlord. Weiss would speak,

"I'm not losing you, Irad… If I did…" She looks down, with a depressed expression, "I don't think I'd ever be able to recover… Life wouldn't be the same without you… I, wouldn't be the same without you… I love you so much… Just…" She gets into his face, "FOR ONCE, STOP TRYING TO BE MACHO, AND LET US HELP YOU, YOU… INSOLENT DOLT!" Weiss demanded, tears streaming down her face. Irad would stare at Weiss, bewildered, and the others of the team would be dumbfounded by Weiss' outburst. Irad would look down, shame creeping in, and he would nod, and Weiss would hug into him, burying her head into his neck, as she was trying to calm down,

"I'm… Sorry Weiss…" Irad kept saying quietly to her, repeatedly.

Ruby steps in, "We all knew the dangers. You can't take this away from us! We made a promise to save our world! And if this Nightmare is all dark, my light should be an asset!"

"And don't forget us, we're very much pissed at that demon for taking our friend! And I think Blake can agree with me too, right Blake?"

Blake nods, "I'm not standing by while that fiend has my boyfriend." Blake states boldly, impressing Yang that Blake finally admitted it. Yang would slap Blake on the back,

"Wow, you finally admitted it. I'm proud of you. Those pep talks we had have come in handy." Yang says with a smirk, and Blake would just grumble in response.

Irad looks to Ruby, then to Blake and Yang, then the upset Weiss, who is still buried into his neck, and he would sigh,

"You're… You're right. Ruby, both yours and I's power combined would be enough to… To end the demon… And we'd all be… Stronger with each other… I just don't want all of you who are innocent dying… But… I'll trust your words."

Ruby holds his shaking hand, "And we will trust you like we always have."

Irad smiles, and breaks Weiss away from him, looking at her teary eyed face, and they'd smile to each other. He'd wipe her tears, and he'd nod, "Right. We all have a job to do…" They stand, and are prepared to go, before Oscar and Olmotack walks in, Ozpin, using Oscar's body, said

"Just a moment, students." Everyone looks in confusion at Oscar. He stands before the young Huntresses. "There is something you should know first."

The team was confused, but Ruby seems to understand what's going on. Blake speaks up, "No offense Professor Ozpin, but we barely have any time for this."

"Trust me, I should have said something long ago. I guess you can thank Olmotack and Irad for this… That I hid too much, because I was concerned it would bring discourse. And… Irad told me something… About the other timeline if he didn't intervene..." He trailed off a bit.

The team would be skeptical on what is the point of this. Ruby is mostly the one truly focused, "Go ahead Professor." Irad holds Weiss' hand, they would look at each other for a moment, then would turn their attention to the professor.

Ozpin nods, "Thank you, Miss Rose. I'll keep this brief of course. But it is true… I had a history with Salem." This has everyone flinching in surprise, "And we go… Way back, as you kids would say..."

Yang would then ask. "Oh. I mean how deep are we talking about?" Ozpin would be silent for a bit. Yang would think very deeply on it and be very shocked. "Oh my gosh…"

"They were husband and wife once." Irad stated.

This has Ruby and Blake also shocked. Ozpin would then explain. "I won't bore you with the details. But let's say we've been through a lot. I even died… She tried to ask for help. But their lack of help would drive her into insanity..."

Ozpin proceeds to tell of the story of the girl in the tower, everyone there listened intently, but Irad narrowed his eyes when he got to this part of his story,

"I had asked it, "How do I defeat Salem", and she had replied with "You cannot… After that, I've just been biding time…" Ozpin exclaims, and the others would lower their heads, taking in everything. Irad though, would speak up,

"So… You asked "How do 'I' defeat Salem, correct?" Irad asks, making Ozpin raise a brow,

"Correct…"

"And she said you could not, correct?"

Again, Ozpin nods, and Irad grumbles,

"My friend, Ozpin… The question should not have been "How can 'I' defeat Salem, it should have been, "WHAT OR WHO can defeat Salem… Beings like that, you must be specific with your question… The only thing she's said is YOU can't defeat her… But someone else can… And I think the good Lord has already given you an answer." He motions to himself and the others.

The reincarnation of Ozma would show shock for what seems like an eternity, as he never considered a thing. He would think about it. "Huh… I suppose even relics such as myself still have much to learn..."

He puts a hand on Ozpin's shoulder, "No one is perfect, that's what makes us human... It's what makes us alive. We make mistakes, and we learn from them..."

He would look at Team RWBY, and how they are unsure what to think of all of this. He would then say his peace, "Now then… I hoped this would clear things up. I never meant to mislead you all. I wished to make you prepared for the world. I'd like to think I helped you on the basics. But with everything that happened that led you here, all I can hope is you all live through it to see the new world you're about to create."

They all nod, and Yang grins, then claps her hands together,

"Well then… It seems we have a chance perhaps. It also seems we're all on the same page now… So… Who's ready to kick a demon's ass?"

Ruby cheers, "Let's do this!" Blake and Weiss smile at that.

Irad smiled, and they all gawked as Irad summoned his dragon once more, but this time it was huge, "Alright, we can ride this. I'll be sure to give orders on the way…"

"THAT'S SO COOOOOL!" Ruby gawked, getting excited that she would be riding a dragon, and Irad would sweat drop at Ruby's enthusiasm.

Weiss speaks her thoughts. "Of course you would go for the more dramatic way of transport."

Irad shrugs, smirking "Hey, it's either that or wait for another transport…"

They all get on the dragon, Irad being in front, Weiss being behind him with her arms around his waist, Blake behind Weiss, Ruby behind Blake, and Yang behind Ruby, with Oscar and Olmotack as well riding with them.

Soon they would be lifted off and would see the ongoing battle, and could see the grimm starting to gather near the tower. The tower grew taller and taller the closer they got.

"Fuckin' hell. That tower is big." Irad remarked.

They'd then notice a gate that surrounded the tower, a wall that seemed to have a magic barrier to keep unwanted people away… Irad would fly the dragon in the direction of the gate entrance, while the others looked on at the tower. The sky was clouded, with lighting striking every so often.

"Wow. Moody." Yang lets out.

"But fitting." Weiss would respond.

Soon they would reach the entrance of the large structure. The wind howled, and they could hear the distant battle raging. Irad stepped forward after dismounting the dragon, and observed the gate.

"Impenetrable… This tower is made of pure darkness, straight from the demon's mind… I can feel the dark power emanating… We can't blow through this… Hmm…" He then observes 4 engraved circles that are placed around, as RWBY, Oscar, and Ozpin are behind him, looking around. Irad would come to one of them and inspect it, running a finger through. They would soon begin to glow, and Ruby's silver eyes would immediately activate, and Irad felt his magic spike, and the circles lit up. They all stepped back to see, and Irad read the inscription of them,

"These lead to warriors… It seems this gate is locked, and guarded by these warriors… These engravings… They describe each: The Wilted Rose, The Dark Dragon, The Great General, and The Corrupted Knight…" He says, reading the inscriptions.

"How were you able to read all that?" Blake asked,

"The Fox Dragon that is within me has bestowed me with many abilities and memories… This just so happens to be a dead language… Anywho… It seems only four can enter, so each of you chooses one." They would nod, and each would stand before the glowing circles. Ruby being at "The Wilted Rose", Yang "The Great General", Blake "The Dark Dragon", and Weiss "The Corrupted Knight".

"Once you step through, you will fight very strong opponents alone… So please, be careful."

"Oh I think it will be them who will get their ass kicked." Yang said in a smug matter,

"We'll do our best, Irad!" Ruby enthusiastically said. Irad would smile, and walk up to Weiss, kissing her cheek,

"Be careful, dear… I'll be waiting."

Weiss smiled, and nodded, as they all entered the circles, and were dematerialized into particles of their respective colors, leaving Irad, Olmotack, and Oscar there.

"What now?" Oscar asked,

"We hold the line." Irad states, looking out.