Author's Note:

(Update: This chapter has been updated and altered from the original version for minor detail differences and grammatical fixes)

I know I said that I'd do another chapter for Tales from Purgatory before picking up this story again but I'm enjoying writing this story. I hope you can forgive me for delaying my other story.

The funny thing is, the real problem I'm having writing this story is a lack of a truly detailed timeline for RWBY. I have to make up when some of the events are happening without contradicting the canon or myself in the process.

Someone asked if I was including any mods from New Vegas for this story, I am not.

Also, some of you wanted to know the Courier's stats and inventory. I was initially nervous about doing this. I don't like to give out stats and weapons for two reasons. One, I like to show and not tell in the story but it also allows me to be slightly more flexible further down the line if I realize something is wrong.

However, I've read some of the reviews and have decided to partially go through with it. I will give a brief description of his inventory but I'm going to keep his stats a mystery for now. I don't want to bog down the story so all this information will be given at the end of the chapter.

I was also told that my story is similar to another "The Bringer of War." I found out that the beginning is (at least they both use the transportalponder to get to Remnant). However, I find that these two Couriers in past and attitude are different. I did, however, start binge reading it, it's a good story.

As I've put more effort into actually writing, I've realized I can't keep up with writing this and keep up with my life. Gone are the days I could write up a chapter, proofread, and upload on the same day. I like to believe this is because I've developed better standards since I've started. However, this has caused the problem of I can't keep taking hiatuses and expect to finish the story within the decade. I need a set schedule.

So, I'm going to leave it up to you the viewers. I'm going to ask this on all my stories (eventually) and let the commenters decide. Would you prefer I upload a 2,500-word chapter every week or a 10,000 chapter monthly? I'll probably give a month or so to gather a consensus after I've asked the question on my other stories as well.

"Text"

"Speech"

Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout, RWBY, or any associated characters.

Remnants of a Courier

Chapter 5: A Grimm Encounter

The smell of grease and gunpowder filled the small room the Courier had been staying in. Joshua was currently tinkering with his Pip-Boy and the scroll he had been given.

He had spent the last two weeks or so breaking down and understanding the scroll while also using it to research the world around him. That brought him up to what Six figured to be three or so weeks in this world. The Wastelander could never have imagined how connected this world was until he saw it. Information about an event was available near the moment it was happening as long as people posted the info online.

However, research on the world had become secondary as he focused on backward engineering the scroll and implementing its features into his Pip-Boy. The holographic display was an interesting feature of the scroll but not the most important. To the Courier having access to GPS and the information online from his Pip-Boy was an urgent task.

So far, he'd made good progress. The biggest difficulty had been how important dust was. So much technology ran off of dust but once one understood how the powder-like (and volatile) substance worked the technology was much like his own.

That was before and now he was able to completely take the scroll apart and put it back together. The next big problem and the one he was currently working on was the Pip-Boy itself. Compared to the scroll the Pip-Boy was clunky and archaic. Updating it was going to require taking it apart and revamping the entire user interface. The device mounted on his wrist was notorious for being sturdy and hard to break into which would pose further problems.

A knock at the door jostled him from his work. "Joshua, it's time to wake up." Carmine was already here?

Six worked through most nights as his enhancements meant he needed little to no sleep. With no windows in his small room, he must have worked through the night again without realizing it.

"Just a moment," Six replied as his hands went to work to put the scroll and his Pip-Boy back together. It wasn't that he thought the Spring family was untrustworthy. Joshua just knew better than to trust anyone with too much information.

There were a few moments of silence before he heard idle shuffling come from the other side of the door. "Papa said we need to go to the market today, we need to pick up some stuff and he wants it done by lunchtime." Carmine paused for a moment before continuing, "I'll be waiting by the door when you're ready."

Six heard the girl's footsteps fade as he put the two ends of the scroll together. With that done, he grabbed the bullets on his desk before dematerializing them. He had been working on these particular bullets for some time.

Six had acquired a few dust rounds from Richter and had taken the bullets apart. The former ruler of Vegas found that dust rounds were similar to his own bullets with the main difference being the replacement of gunpowder with dust.

Speaking of, Dust itself was a strange compound. It could function as gunpowder, coal, and to generate electricity. It worked less like a normal substance and more like magic. He still wasn't sure how it worked but knew that it did.

He was skilled when it came to making his own bullets and the Courier was sure he could modify his guns to chamber dust rounds given time. He'd have to put more research into it later after he got the changes to his Pip-Boy done.

It wasn't an immediate concern but he did need to be able to use dust rounds. He had a limited supply of his own bullets and would eventually have to acquire ammo from this world.

Once Six had everything in order, he donned the Burned Man's armor before wrapping bandages around his head. Honestly, he thought the town would have taken it worse when an armed and masked stranger had entered their town. Either they didn't care or they were too scared to confront him. Joshua didn't mind as long as they didn't get in his way.

The Courier winced as he opened the door. It took a few moments for him to blink and adjust to the sunlight pouring in through the windows. Getting out of his room was probably good for him.

The bandaged man had been doing favors and general chores for the Spring family and had so far been allowed to stay. The trip to the market today was one such favor.

His mind wandered to some of the information he had managed to gather about Remnant as he walked towards the door. This world's dependency on dust rivaled his own world's reliance on nuclear energy. Well, before the bombs dropped at least.

It was strange seeing technology somewhat similar to his own that ran entirely on dust as an energy source instead of electricity and nuclear power. It wasn't as strange as waking up in a new world but it meant he had to adapt.

"Hi Joshua," Carmine greeted with one raised hand. She didn't appear to be annoyed that he had made her wait. The girl was definitely more patient and mature than most of the children he had met and she hadn't grown up in the Wasteland to harden her.

"Carmine," he replied as he knelt down and began slipping his boots on. "How's your morning been?"

The red-headed girl paused for a moment in thought as her one eye glanced towards the ceiling. "It's been alright, this is the first chore that Papa gave me so I hope it goes well." It was obvious that she wanted to make her father proud.

"We'll get it done," Six said as he stood up and moved towards the door. He opened it before looking back towards Carmine and continuing, "lead the way."

This probably wasn't going to be his only task today. Richter had realized early on that Six was a rather handy individual to have around. Part of the reason that the Courier had acquired dust rounds was that Carmine's father wanted him to help make more and sell them. The town's militia and guard used dust rounds but couldn't get a steady supply from the capital so it fell on Richter to supply them.

Six's mind wandered back to the present as he closed the door behind him. "What are we going to get," the bandaged man asked as he followed behind Carmine.

"Papa wants some food, supplies to fulfill an order, and more materials for dust rounds." The list Carmine told him was short but rather concerning.

"Does he often expect you to gather the items required to make dust bullets?" Joshua's words were phrased as a question but also held an accusation behind them. After all, who sent a child to get gunpowder?

The girl hummed to herself lightly. She seemed to be in a rather good mood today despite the people in town already staring at her. Her carefree attitude persisted as she replied, "no he usually doesn't but I'm getting to do more adult tasks lately. I think it's because you're around."

Richter expected the Courier to go with her. That made some sense at least, it gave him something to do and made her feel like she was doing something important.

"I assume he gave you Lien to purchase them," Six asked though he already knew the answer.

She turned to him momentarily to reply, "yep!"

Lien, an odd plastic-like currency that Vale used. It functioned like any other currency with the only difference being it was made out of a different material.

Speaking of Vale, he still didn't fully understand where he was. At first, he had immediately jumped to the conclusion that he was on an entirely different planet. That could still very much be the case but another theory was that this was Earth just millions of years in the future. He doubted the latter as the Transportalponder was meant to "transport" someone through space, not time. He still didn't fully understand how the device operated so it could, in theory, distort time as well.

At the end of the day, he still had too many questions and the only thing that could give him answers was currently in a sizzling mess. To top it off he didn't have the supplies and technology necessary to even attempt to repair it let alone backward engineer the damn thing. For now, he'd have to settle for hypotheticals until he could study the device more.

Six was jostled from his thoughts as the two entered the market to find it had remained much the same. It was still early enough that some of the stalls hadn't been set up yet. Though this time he noticed that there were buildings that circled the market that had signs designating them as stores. It looked like the buildings were always open during business hours but the stalls would open later and close sooner than the stores.

Carmine led him to a stall that had fruits, vegetables, and other foods on display. The man working there was a younger-looking man with bags under his eyes. The stranger yawned as they approached before giving them both a glance.

"The usual," the man asked while already reaching down behind the stall.

Carmine nodded her head as he continued to rummage around. The Courier took note that she rarely spoke when interacting with other people.

It seemed like the man knew his companion so Six tuned out the rest of their short conversation though he did find it a bit strange that the man held no distrust towards the two of them. The tired stranger did look apathetic towards everything in life, that could explain a few things.

Six came back to reality when bags of groceries were handed over to him. "Carry these please," the girl said before leading him towards the next stall. Great, he was going to be her pack mule.

The next stand went by in a blur as he took note of the items she was getting. An assortment of leathers, metals, and was that some sort of synthetic fiber? It looked similar to Kevlar but broken down into its base components. Was the old man looking to make armor?

The process continued as she got a few items from each subsequent stand and all of them were geared towards self-defense. This got the Courier thinking about why the old man wanted all of these materials. It could be that Richter was stocking up on supplies for a long-term project but Six was starting to get weighed down with the amount he was carrying, something felt off.

The two approached one more stand and a familiar face greeted them. The Faunus he had seen roughly a week ago was here. To be honest, he had only left the house when Richter made him, which meant that he barely knew anyone in the town outside the Spring family.

"Welcome," the woman began looking down at Carmine. "What can I get for you and your…" Her words trailed off as she glanced towards Six. "Friend." Her awkward greeting was understandable as Joshua was not only covered in bandages but also staring directly at her ears.

The woman glanced away from him and did her best to ignore his staring. The Courier had tuned out their conversation as his mind got working again. He wasn't on his own world, he assumed, and that meant that radiation hadn't been the cause of her physical deviations from regular humans. What had caused such changes?

Realizing that he had been staring, he glanced away. Six had researched their kind and knew that they suffered from a colored history of discrimination against their race and staring could be seen as either strange or racist. Honestly, he couldn't even be sure they were the same species at this point.

Once the two were finished and Carmine had given the woman payment, the bat-eared Faunus leaned in before saying, "alright, you be careful now. We don't have long before the next Grimm attack."

Wait, what? There was going to be a Grimm attack? When and how did they know? Carmine simply nodded back before handing him another bag.

The two walked away as Carmine looked down at the list and said, "we just need to grab some dust from Scarred Tom and we can head home."

"What did she mean there's going to be a Grimm attack soon? Why is everyone acting so casual if there's going to be an attack?" He needed his questions answered now. It was bad enough he hadn't heard about this until just this moment.

Carmine tilted her head at him before responding, "you didn't know? I guess you are cooped up in your room a lot. We have people constantly patrolling the forest around our village." She tapped her chin before continuing, "I think papa said they saw a lot of Grimm recently which means there's going to be an attack soon."

"And no one is worried," Six replied before letting out a sigh. This town was strange, to say the least.

"We are, it's just we deal with these a lot, and it's not supposed to be here for at least a while. We have time to prepare." Her words weren't exactly comforting but at least Grimm wouldn't come knocking down his door in the middle of the night. That also explained why Richter was gathering materials for weapons and armor.

The green-eyed girl glanced towards Joshua before continuing, "if we're lucky, we can sometimes pay a Huntsman or Huntress to come and protect the town but they're expensive."

Joshua was going to ask why they were so expensive when he was interrupted. "We're here," the red-haired girl said as they approached a small building with the words "Tom's Dust Reserves" written on the front.

He needed to make preparations as well if this attack was going to be soon. He needed to have a few words with Richter when he got back about important information being passed to him.

The pair entered the store to meet a man in his early thirties with a single scar running across his forehead. That was it? That tiny little thing got him the nickname "Scarred Tom." Six was glad no one had seen his face yet.

"What're you lookin' for," the man greeted in a low raspy voice staring straight at Six. The man's eyes drifted towards the girl before a sneer crossed his face. "Dust I'm guessin' for your old man."

Carmine opened her mouth to respond before the man cut her off, "don't bother, just pay me and get out." Tom placed several glowing vials on the counter containing dust. It was obvious he wanted their Lien but held disdain for the girl.

She nodded her head before placing the Lien on the counter and grabbing the containers. Carmine turned away before walking past the Courier who in turn glanced between the man and her.

Normally, it was really none of his business to get involved with the girl's reputation, but seeing as how he owed their family he might as well do something about it.

Tom had already turned away, perfect. He waited for Carmine to leave before a knife embedded itself into the counter where the Lien lay, splitting a piece in two.

The scarred man jumped and turned to him before responding, "what's wrong with you?"

He had made grown men and trained rangers alike shit their pants. This idiot would be no different.

"Listen here shitwad, I don't give a damn about what you think of the girl." Six's other hand moved to his side as he pulled out Maria and aimed it at Tom's head before continuing, "next time you disrespect her like that I'll make sure that you, your dust, and this entire store disappears." Joshua pulled the blade out of the counter before saying, "understood?"

In Tom's defense, he hadn't pissed himself. One moment everything had been fine, then it felt like the room had chilled several degrees and a voice that he swore sounded like crackling fire threatened him. It was as if a Terrifying Presence had filled his shop. "U-Understood," he managed to stutter out before the now seemingly mountain-like man.

"Good, don't make me come back," Joshua said as he put Maria away and walked out.

Everyone needed to fall in line and those that didn't either need to be made to or die. You either stood with the Courier or lay in your grave. If he did end up coming back, Tom would find himself dealing with the latter.

It appeared that he hadn't drawn attention to himself as no one was staring at him as he left the store. All except for Carmine who gave him a curious glance before asking, "what were you talking to Tom about?"

"Nothing important, just business deals and the like," Six responded while walking past her. He didn't lie per se, to him it wasn't very important, and if she knew about it, she would just cause problems. "What's next?"

Carmine looked away from him and glanced off towards the woods while she hummed. "It's not something Papa told me to do but I'd like to go get some flowers and berries from the woods. And since it won't be safe for me to go by myself…"

Joshua rolled his eyes; he knew what she was getting at. "And you need me to keep you safe while you do so." His answer brought a smile to the girl's face.

"Yep," the girl replied before stepping in front of him. "Ready?"

Six sighed before answering, "sure why not."

It took the two of them roughly ten or so minutes of quiet walking to get to the edge of the woods where the flowers and berries grew. They had left the town through one of the main gates and now stood in a small clearing.

"How long have you been picking berries for your father," the Courier asked with one hand close to his holster. He wanted to make sure nothing snuck up on them.

The red-haired girl picked a berry and held it up for inspection while she responded, "a while. I noticed Papa perked up when he got his favorite berries, and Papa was very sad for a long time, so I decided to make him happy again."

"Why're they his favorite?" the Courier asked more to make small-talk than actually being curious.

The girl went quiet for a few moments as she put the berry into her basket. Six could feel the air slightly sour as she replied, "Mama used to make his favorite pie with them. I think berries remind Papa of her."

Six cast an idle glance towards her before turning back to his perimeter sweep. He wasn't going to pry into her personal business. "It's always nice to help out people when you can." His words were slightly bitter as he thought back on those he had trusted, those that had betrayed him.

"Did you help people where you came from?" Her question wasn't meant to be an attack on his character but it felt cutting to the Courier. He had been doing his best to squash down thoughts of the Mojave since he had gotten here. There wasn't much he could do at the moment without proper equipment so it was better to prepare for what this world would throw at him.

"Once, though I'm sure there are people who would argue otherwise," Six said with a small smirk forming on his face. Perhaps cracking the Mojave like he had the Divide wasn't the best idea in hindsight but in his defense, he hadn't been thinking clearly. Having everyone you trusted either die or betray you could do that to a man.

The confused look the girl gave him at his answer told him he was probably going to have to explain more. Six took in a breath before continuing, "I wasn't always the nicest person where I'm from. I did my best to do what I thought was right and fought for what people needed. Not everyone else felt the way I went about it was right."

"Why do you always play word games," Carmine asked as a slight frown crossed her face. "You're always evasive and try to answer questions without really answering them."

A chuckle escaped Joshua's lips as he turned to her. "Everyone has secrets Carmine, I'm sure there are things you don't want to tell me either," he replied knowing full well about a good chunk of her past.

The red-haired girl shrugged before putting more flowers and berries into her basket. It was nice to get out and have a few moments to just relax and contemplate.

"I'm tired a lot," Carmine said to break the silence. "I don't really know why but everything makes me feel tired. I think Papa is tired a lot too." The bandage-wrapped man looked her over. She was still picking berries but a distant expression had crossed her face.

"You just have to keep going," Six replied as he took a few steps towards her. "You'll find that there will be a lot of moments where you're tired for lots of reasons. The important thing is that you keep moving forward," Joshua said before placing a hand on her head. He had a fair idea about why she was tired. Carmine turned her head to him before giving Six a small smile.

Unfortunately, the moment was spoiled by a small tremor that shook the ground beneath them. That was weird, Six didn't know the area was prone to quakes.

Joshua was about to comment on it when a ringing sound came out from the town and interrupted Six's thoughts. Carmine's head shot up towards the town and the worry on her face told Joshua that this wasn't any regular bell.

"We have to get back to the town," she said standing straight up. Carmine lost a few of the berries from her basket in her hurry to get going. "That's the bell for a Grimm attack."

The Courier knelt down in front of the girl motioning for her to get on his back as he replied, "I thought they weren't supposed to show up for a few days?" He decided that Carmine was more important than the groceries he had been carrying and left them.

"I thought so too," she replied while getting onto his back. The basket hung just in front of Six's chest as the one-eyed child wrapped her arms around his chest.

"We sho—," Six began before being cut off by gunfire from the town. It sounded like the Grimm had already arrived. His feet moved with speed most would be surprised by. Six could outrun even the fastest triathlon runners thanks to the modifications in his body.

Six didn't dare look back or slow down and only stopped when he was in front of the gate. He turned back taking in a few deep breaths as he saw a group of Grimm—Beowolves he believed—burst from the tree line they were just at.

"Let us in now," the Courier shouted at the guard on the other side of the wall.

There were a few moments of silence before the guard replied back, "I can't, town is on lockdown an-."

"Let me in or I'll skin you alive and prop you up on this gate for your family to see," Six threatened as he gave one kick to the gate cracking some of the wood.

"Fine, shit," the guard called back as the gate slowly began to open. Six took a quick glance back to see the Grimm closing in on them quickly. The gate wouldn't open fast enough.

The Butcher of House set Carmine down before saying, "slip through when it opens." He didn't give her time to reply as he materialized the Survivalist Rifle in his hands. This thing did the most damage in the shortest amount of time. It was the best weapon he currently had for swarms of enemies. Too bad it ate through ammo.

At first, he fired in small bursts at the approaching Grimm. They were far enough away that he didn't want to waste any bullets. It took roughly a third of his magazine to take one Beowolf down. Unfortunately, there was a decent sized group of the beasts and even after killing six of them there were still too many. Then the doors finally opened.

"Close the gate," Six shouted as he held the trigger down while backing up. He ended up killing a few more beasts before the gate finally closed in front of him. The loud thuds that came from the Grimm ramming themselves into the gate were worrying. He grabbed one of his frag grenades before climbing up a ladder on one of the towers overlooking the gate.

Even as he climbed, he could see the gate slowly being chipped away. The corners were already splintering and Grimm were sticking their heads and clawed hands through.

"Get away from the gate," he shouted out as he pushed his way past a guard in the tower. He pulled the pin on his grenade before throwing it over the wall and into the group of Grimm.

Joshua turned his head and quickly scanned the crowd before spotting Carmine standing behind a few of the guards a good distance away.

A loud explosion rang out as the grenade went off taking a good chunk of Grimm with it. The grenade had blown away a large part of the already damaged gate as well. There were sizeable holes that Grimm could spill through now if more arrived.

The Courier looked down at his Pip-Boy before scrolling through its settings. His hands were a bit sweaty now and he had to wipe them on his sleeves before finding what he was looking for. Six flipped a setting to "ON" and he could see his compass at the top of his vision. His eyes were linked to his Pip-Boy and the modifications made it so his compass could be displayed through his eyes.

The red markers seemed to be surrounding the entire town. What was even more alarming was that there were still markers that pointed to the other side of the gate and along the wall near it.

"There's still more of them," Six called out as the first Beowolf began crawling through a hole in the gate. The scratching and thudding from the doors were greatly diminished and a second glance at his compass told Joshua all that he needed.

He hopped down from his perch as the guards lined up and opened fire. The Grimm fell quickly under their combined fire. A few more attempted the same thing and met the same fate. It seemed the Grimm weren't intelligent enough to go for another part of the wall.

The Beowolves here were effectively weakened and now funneled to the point that Six predicted they would have little trouble. He moved over towards Carmine before crouching down and asking, "are you okay?"

The girl nodded but had retreated back into her "shy" state. It was apparent she was scared and didn't want to talk. "Get on my back again," he commanded while crouching down once more. She silently obeyed and once she was on his back they took off.

Six didn't spare a glance back towards the guards as he continued towards the Spring home. On the way, he could see families barricading their doors and windows while others sprinted down the street to better fortified buildings. It looked like the town hall was being reinforced for civilians.

Joshua paused his running before turning and making a dash towards the town hall. It only took him a few moments before he approached the front doors of the building. He was greeted by a large group of people shuffling inside and a few guards to hurry them along.

The sounds of people cursing at him as he pushed past the civilians didn't stop Six. He made his way over to one of the guards before setting Carmine down. "I need you to be brave and go with this man inside the building ok?" Six's request was spoken sternly as he knelt down next to her. He did his best to tone down the intensity of his voice but he was used to intimidating people into doing what he wanted.

Nodding her head in response, Carmine looked up at the guard while Six did the same. The two looks varied greatly, Carmine's being worried and uncertain, while the Courier's promised pain and death should the guard fail.

"You can take care of her, right," Six asked, his tone lowering to a quiet level as he stood to meet the guard.

A quick glance away from him told Joshua all he needed to know. This guy would fall in line. "Of course, sir," the guard replied, trying to maintain some semblance of order and professionalism while Six eyed him.

The guy was blonde or at least Joshua thought he was from the small tufts of hair coming out from under his helmet. He was on the younger side for a guard but that just meant he could be intimidated easier.

Six turned back towards Carmine before placing a hand on her head and saying, "stay safe. Don't do anything stupid or heroic. I'll be back when this mess is over."

"You promise," the red-haired girl spoke in a quiet tone. It was apparent she was uncomfortable with being left to a stranger while Grimm attacked. He wasn't often in the business of making promises but he could make an exception just this once.

"Promise," he replied while patting her head a few times before turning away. Six shot the guard one last menacing glance before running towards the northern gate.

If any of the gates fell, Grimm would flood the town and he'd have to worry about civilian casualties. He couldn't be everywhere at once so he'd have to be quick and secure them one at a time. Since he already had one cleared, he'd just have to focus on the three other gates.

Joshua paused his running to quickly duck behind Tom's shop. He was going to need the best armor he could muster at the moment. The Courier was practiced when it came to changing in the field and in a few moments the Burned Man's Armor had been dematerialized and a menacing figure with glowing red eyes stepped out from behind the building.

The Elite Riot Gear was going to be useful for fighting off the Grimm. He didn't lose much mobility and he'd be damn hard to kill in his current armor. The other features the helmet offered—such as night vision—weren't useful for now.

It took him only a couple of minutes to reach the north gate but it looked like he was still slower than he wanted to be. The guards here were struggling which was evident enough by the wounded that had pulled back.

The gate looked like it was about to completely collapse and the panicked firing of the three remaining guards didn't look like it was really helping all that much. Six didn't want to waste another grenade but the sounds of the gate nearly crumbling left him little choice.

Another explosion later and the guards looked at him with grateful expressions. He wasn't in the mood however, there were still other gates that needed help. Joshua checked his compass again and noticed strange movement from the Grimm.

The red markers were circling away from the current gate. Six's eyes tracked the Grimm as they moved away from the two gates he had been to. Weren't Grimm supposed to be unintelligent creatures that didn't form cohesive battle strategies?

In fact, his eyes moved towards the Eastern gate and saw that the large clump of markers were moving south as well. Joshua's eyes widened in alarm as he realized they were all going to concentrate on the gate furthest from him.

His legs had only taken a few steps when he spotted two other things. The first was a guard running towards his gate, it looked like a scout of some sort. The second was Richter stepping out of his home with a few weapons in hand.

The scout stopped in front of the group of guards before asking a flurry of questions ranging from, "what's your status," to, "how many Grimm are left?"

Six approached the scout before saying, "trooper, we've got an issue."

The brown-haired bear Faunus from what six could tell turned to him before narrowing his eyes. "That would be?" The guard asked while eyeing him. It was obvious this guy had some sort of issue with him.

"The Grimm are moving away from the other gates and are concentrating on the southern gate. All of them," Six explained while glaring back at the guard.

The frown and raised eyebrow told Six all he needed as the scout replied, "and why would they? Grimm never give up the attack once they start."

Six took a step forward before grabbing the scout by the collar and pulling him closer. The red visors were pressed close to the guard's face as he said, "I don't give a shit what you think, either report it to your superiors or not. I'm heading for the southern gate."

He didn't give the guard time to reply as he shoved him back before running towards Richer. "Carmine is in town hall right now, they're reinforcing that position," Joshua said as he approached.

"Alright, as long as she's safe. Listen, I have these weapons that could be used by the guards," Richter replied, holding up an assortment of blades and guns. "I can't exactly bring these to them because of…" The older man let his sentence trail off as he looked down.

There was a pause for a few moments as Six decided on what needed to be done. "Give me the gear, take this so I can carry it," he replied, materializing and handing over some of his weapons and armor so he could carry Richter's weapons. "And don't ask about this now." He was not in the mood to explain how dematerialization worked.

The Courier turned away before Richter called out, "wait. There's something else."

"Hurry up Richter, I don't have time, I told that scout to get a message to his boss and gather everyone at the southern gate. I need to be there." It wasn't that he didn't like the old man but he was in a hurry.

"I saw it," Richter began as he clenched a fist. "I saw the small Grimm again. The one that took my wife, it's here so be careful."

The former ruler of Vegas turned to Carmine's father and said, "I'll keep an eye out. If I see it, it's dead." With everything said, Six began sprinting through town.

Everything became secondary as he moved with inhuman speed to his target. Stalls were knocked over, people were pushed, and he made a few jumps higher than any normal human should be able to.

Within a few minutes, he had crossed the entire town to the southern side to see a bad scenario. The Grimm had already partially gathered and the gate was bending inwards from the sheer force. That was when Six felt the first drop of rainfall on him. When had the sky darkened so much?

As it began lightly raining, Six moved to each of the guards quickly handing ammo and weapons. Most looked grateful, some gave him strange looks, and a few were panicking. He didn't have time to rally them.

The Courier pulled out his Survivalist Rifle as things went from bad to worse. It was only now that he noticed a small figure crouched near the gate. With the number of red markers gathered, he hadn't seen it at first with his compass.

After a few seconds of staring and he was able to discern that it was, in fact, a Grimm. It was small in stature, just barely taller than a human, and crouched over like it was made it look about the size of Carmine. It was pitch black like all Grimm were but it looked like a tall and gaunt human with claws. It was standing right next to the lever for the gate.

"Kill that Grimm," Six shouted as he aimed his weapon at it. The creature turned and almost seemed to smirk at Joshua. It pulled the lever and all hell broke loose.

A few rounds perforated the Grimm causing the grin to slip from its face as the creature let out a screech before scampering up and over the wall. The gate was then flung open as a larger Grimm charged in. Six guessed it was an Alpha Beowolf from his research.

The thing towered over its brethren at nearly ten feet tall. It didn't roar, threaten, or stop. It charged in before picking up one of the guards by the leg, gripped his torso, and then tore him in two. Blood, screaming, and viscera soon filled the area as the Courier began backpedaling.

Six stopped himself when he realized that without this line of defense the town would be overrun which would make routing the Grimm that much harder. "Fall back!" The Courier hoped that his words were heard as he pulled out his gauss rifle variant the "186." He'd have to hold the Grimm off for the guards to fall back.

The former Ruler of Vegas was interested in how well a Grimm would hold up to a gauss rifle and this was the perfect opportunity. The only real downside of his variant weapon was that it was slightly heavier than the standard Gauss rifle. This was outweighed in every other aspect by increased damage, increased durability, and decreased ammo consumption.

So, when he fired the first shot with some of his few remaining max charge microfusion cells, Six was hoping for great things. He was both disappointed and impressed by the results.

A large smoking and sizzling green hole punctured the center of the beast, that was the good part. The not good part was that the thing was still alive. The monster let out an unearthly howl as it turned on Six and backhanded him with force.

The Courier was pushed back a few feet and into the ground doing his best to maintain his hold on the rifle. He let out a few coughs and wheezes as he hoisted his weapon up and aimed at the Grimm again. Time seemed to slow for the Courier as VATS (Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System) kicked in.

Around him, Six could hear the sounds of men and women running for their lives. Either that or the screaming of the poor souls that weren't fast enough.

The Alpha was still charging at Six and he needed to take it out now. Instead of aiming for the thing's gut like before he shifted his focus upwards. Its head was right in his sights as he fired a charged gauss rifle shot. The disintegration of the creature's head followed by the subsequent dissolving of its body was satisfying.

The rain was starting to come down harder now as the dirt beneath Six's back started turning into mud. He pushed himself to his feet as more Grimm started charging towards him. One glance backward revealed that the militia that survived had fallen back to a position further behind him. They were almost set up and prepared for another wave, he just had to buy them a few more moments.

His Survivalist rifle materialized in his hands as he placed a few mines in front of him while backing up. The rounds that flew from his gun shortly after slowed the horde of Grimm for a few moments before they met his mines. The first went off taking a few Grimm with it and stopping the rest.

Six paused his running to stare as the Grimm tilted their heads to the side, almost seeming to be listening to something. Their attention turned back to him as the Grimm split off in three directions.

The Courier cursed as he realized what they were doing. Since they had entered the town, they could break off and try to use the buildings around as cover. One group was heading towards him still but the other two went to both sides.

His attention was focused on the most direct threat for now as he continued his backpedaling and firing. The last two mines went off taking another handful or two of Grimm with them. Six glanced back to see that the guards were finally organized.

The gun in his hands disappeared as he turned his back to the Grimm and ran. His inhuman speed meant that he kept just ahead of the Grimm and managed to jump over the small barricade the guards had erected before they fired upon the beasts.

The group of Grimm that had been following the Courier including the Alpha was mowed down by the sheer combined firepower of the defensive line. Six glanced around as he realized there were more guards in this line than just the survivors at the southern gate. He was thankful for whoever got the militia here in gear and diverted troops from the other gates to this location.

"We've got more," Six explained as he brushed some of the mud off his armor. "Two groups went east and west once they got past the ga—," the Courier was cut off once more as the defensive line was rushed by Grimm from the right side.

It appeared that one of the groups had circled around and hit their position from the flank. Even still, a few of the guards on the right had managed to get some rounds off killing a few of the Grimm before being ripped to bloody shreds.

Six's survivalist rifle appeared back in his hands as he began firing. He knew they'd probably get through this as long as no Alphas appeared. Unfortunately for him, the large Grimm that barreled out of the alley at him was very angry.

There were a few moments of panicked screaming as the militia line collapsed and gave way to panic. A loud bark issued out, "far side, line up and fire, everyone else fall back!" The Courier didn't have time to see who had issued the order but the hail of bullets that came and cut down a good portion of the Grimm was fine by him.

His own gun fired at the Alpha littering it with bullets but the damn thing kept coming at him. It swiped at him and he narrowly avoided its paw. All he could do in turn was continue firing as the Grimm was too close for any explosives.

More rounds penetrated its hide before it turned and lunged at him, this time connecting. Six was forced to the ground as the Alpha's jaw bit down on his shoulder. He could feel its teeth threatening to completely shatter his collar and even felt the bone fracture.

He let out a pained yelp before thrusting the barrel of his weapon to the side of its head before holding the trigger. The kick from the gun hurt his arm but he didn't stop until the Grimm's grip on his shoulder went slack and it started dissolving.

The Courier got to his feet before spotting a rather large man stomping the last Grimm to death. A hood covered the man's head but the Courier could see the large scar running along the bottom of his face as the man turned towards him. Six figured this was the guy that had issued that order.

"You're that new fella, the one that's living with the Springs, right?" The man's question made it obvious he was suspicious of him. Joshua couldn't blame him. A stranger shows up in your town and manages to kill droves of Grimm single handedly, Six would be suspicious too.

A shrug was the response the hooded man received as Six moved away. He needed to find that other group of Grimm. "I am, and you're welcome," Six replied, not having time to humor the man for now.

The Courier figured that answer would satisfy the large man and turned away. The compass near the top of his vision indicated that the Grimm were still very much on the move. From the direction they were heading and his knowledge of the town, Six gathered they were heading to the town hall. If they got there, the civilians would become a buffet for the Grimm. A small tremor rippled through the town and Six knew something else was wrong but he had other priorities for now.

"I'm not do—," Six heard as he took off. The Grimm were fast but they weren't taking the optimal route since they had to divert around the barricade. The implications of the new tactics these Grimm were employing were disturbing and he couldn't recall anything he'd read so far that implied they had this level of communication. Likewise, the guards seemed to be befuddled by the attitude change in the Grimm. Either something was wrong or everyone was lying to him; either way, he wasn't happy.

A quick dash through an alley, then hop over some fallen debris, push a running guard; this was the optimal route to get to the town hall. It looked like the rush was paying off as he came out onto a street next to the town hall.

The last of his mines were used to create a small line of defense here as well. Joshua set himself up behind the mines and against the side of the building. If he was right, then the Grimm would come from this direction and he would be the last line of defense if necessary.

"Hey, what're you doing," came a voice from above the Courier as he glanced upwards. It was that blonde guard from before. Wasn't he supposed to be guarding the building? Maybe they were guarding the building from the windows?

Either way, Six didn't have time to stop and think about it as he shouted back, "get your weapon ready, we've got Grimm incoming!"

The former ruler of Vegas didn't give the guard time to respond as he materialized his modified gauss rifle. He just had to take out a few before they reached the mines.

The twenty or so Grimm that came over were masked by the unnatural darkness that had descended over the town. The rain that had been pouring seemed to be storming down now. The darkest clouds the Courier had ever seen blotted out the sun and even his enhanced senses couldn't see anything outside the town.

He raised his gauss rifle and fired away at the first few Grimm in sight. The smaller ones went down to even his regular charge rounds. The last of the Alphas was another problem as the first mine was triggered.

A small explosion rang out as Six saw the guard open fire on the Grimm he could now see. Joshua wasn't sure why dust rounds were as effective as they were. Their overall velocity, impact, and penetration were pitifully weak when compared to his own weapons. However, they seemed to tear through Grimm with efficiency he didn't expect. All of Six's research on the subject had only drawn him to the conclusion that the dust in the bullets made them more effective against Grimm. Hell, he doubted they could effectively penetrate anything beyond flesh.

Still, his firing combined with the guard's and the mines had already managed to take out over half the Grimm. Six was itching to watch the Grimm run into the rest of his mines when a large bolt of lightning lit up the sky and the area surrounding the town before he saw something.

A large shadow, taller than any of the previous Grimm he had encountered towered in the distance. It resembled a dragon to a degree but the length of it was too snake-like and the body was overly long. Its tail was longer than its torso only equaled in length by its neck. The pitch-black form of this monstrous sized Grimm was topped off with an enormous head. Its glowing red eyes seemed to stare directly at him and the Courier wouldn't lie that he was a tad nervous.

The unearthly howl that escaped its maw resonated through the town and was the last thing the Courier heard or saw from the beast before the light faded, leaving him in slight fear of the darkness that surrounded the town.

Six didn't even have time to turn his weapon on the remaining Grimm before a large tremor almost knocked him off his feet. There were a few moments of Joshua almost losing his footing before it ceased.

An eruption of dirt, mud, and rubble exploded from the town hall as half the building exploded from the inside out. The guard fell from his perch and Six couldn't help but shout, "son of a bitch!" Before hitting the ground.

He quickly turned over and glanced upwards to see another monstrosity. A Grimm in the shape of a massive worm was halfway out of the ground and still towering over the town hall. It was pitch-black like the rest of its brethren but remained silent except for the sounds of the ground being crushed wherever it turned. If Joshua had to guess, he'd say the thing was at least half as thick as the town hall building itself. A cursory glance gave the Courier the impression that it had no eyes so he only had guesses as to how it knew where its prey was.

Then he finally glanced towards the building and a pit of worry grew inside Six's stomach. The half of the building the worm had emerged from was currently scattered across the rest of town. He needed to check on Carmine. A loud explosion from behind him reminded the Courier that there were still threats.

The Butcher of House turned his attention back towards the now deemed nuisance before opening fire. One mine went off, then the second, now he only had one more mine still on the ground. He opened fire on the smaller Grimm approaching, dispatching them as the Alpha charged.

Six did not have time for this and sidestepped the first swipe before kicking the thing's leg with all his might. The cybernetically enhanced limb bent the creature's leg inwards before he pushed it with all his strength.

The Grimm tipped over and landed on the mine. The explosion that followed wasn't enough to kill the Grimm but it did severely injure it and blow off the monster's arm. It tried to rise to its feet again before being met by a boot to its back. Six held it down before firing a final shot into the thing's head.

He turned back to spot the giant worm barreling forward and destroying another house nearby, hopefully a family wasn't in that one. It didn't matter, he needed to check on Carmine. The rumbling began once again as Joshua moved towards the partially intact side of the town hall.

"Carmine!" he called out while hopping through a broken window. "Where are you?" He stopped and listened for any response but all he could hear were the cries for help and the moans of pain from the survivors. Six spotted the blonde guard without his helmet now lightly bleeding from somewhere on his head. Apparently, the man decided he still needed to evacuate survivors as he was moving a mother and her child out of the building.

Six didn't have time to help as he turned and moved further into the wreckage. "Carmine!" he shouted, kicking a desk out of his way.

He heard a small whimper come from somewhere further in, "Joshua." The green marker on his compass and his improved hearing made it an easy task to close in on the small girl.

"Carmine," Six said once more as he approached the red-haired girl. She was stuck under a larger piece of wood that had fallen on her and pinned the girl's arm. There wasn't a moment of hesitation as the Courier threw the wood off her before kneeling down.

His arms wrapped under the girl's legs and shoulders as he hoisted her up before asking, "where does it hurt?"

Carmine pointed to her left arm and let out another small whimper. "I can't move it very well." At her words, Six glanced towards the offending limb before stopping and looking it over. With his medicinal knowledge, he was fairly sure that it was just a sprained shoulder, not even dislocated. It looked like she had made it out lucky. Well, lucky as she could be in this situation.

"It's just sprained, don't use it much and it should heal fine," he replied before carrying her out of the building. He ignored anyone else that needed help; not only could he not help all of them but Carmine needed his help. The kind girl that had taken him in was a higher priority than the rest of the superstitious town. Besides, he was sure that the blonde guard would get them out. If not, he'd come back later and help.

The girl hugged him tightly while he glanced back as the worm burst out of the ground again taking another house with it. He couldn't leave it alone or there was a likely chance it would hit the Spring household. He couldn't allow that.

A familiar looking bear Faunus was running towards him probably intent on rallying with his fellow guards. Six stopped him by stepping in the way. "Take her to the Spring homestead or I'll make you and your family wish that the Grimm had gotten to you," The Butcher of House spoke as he tried to hand over his charge.

Unfortunately, the girl remained latched on to him obviously scared. The Courier let out a clicking noise as the guard glared daggers at him. "I need you to go with him, I need to go take care of the worm." His words didn't seem to soothe the girl as she clung tighter to him.

"Don't go, not like her," Carmine whispered back and caused Six to bite his lip under his helmet. He wasn't sure how he was going to convince both of them to go to Richter but he had to.

He took in a long breath and kicked the Faunus in the leg as the guard tried to interrupt Six. "I won't, and even if I do, I'll pull myself out of Hell to come back to you," he replied, hoping his words would placate her.

She looked up at him with her eye and gave him a sorrowful look that he could feel even behind his mask. "I'm invincible, remember that," the Courier lied to soothe her fears. She glanced downwards before leaning in and resting her head against his armored chest. The red-haired girl slowly nodded her head and Joshua carefully handed her over to the bear Faunus who at this point understood what Six was trying to do.

At the guard's curious glance, Six reached behind his back before materializing some C4 and pulling it out for the guard to see. "Explosives," he whispered before the guard gave a shrug and moved off. At least she was safe for now and he could deal with the worm.

Worm wasn't really a good name, what was that poem he had read during his youth? It was a darker one about a… Conqueror Worm. He'd call it the Conqueror for short.

This was going to be stupidly dangerous and he was going to need to be very fast. The thing didn't stay above ground for long. He moved towards the last direction he had spotted it.

It didn't remain hidden and it was hard not to spot the massive explosion of wood as another house was destroyed. He moved towards it as the creature seemed to glance from side to side. The thing was probably the length of the town if he didn't know any better. He bet the structural integrity of the entire town was looking bad.

He ran past a few injured guards before coming across the same hooded man as before. The guard now sported a large piece of wood sticking out of his arm. "It's you," the scarred guard greeted as Six drew closer.

"Yeah, me, tell your men to back up." Six's command didn't seem to sit well with the guard as the large man stepped in front of him.

The hood came off to reveal grey hair and an aged face underneath. The older man held up a hand as he replied, "there's no way you're taking that thing alone." Six didn't have time for this.

The former ruler of Vegas rushed at the man before grabbing the guard's arm and pulling him forward. The next few seconds were a blur as Six turned and used the guard's forward momentum to toss the man over his shoulder. The older guard landed with a loud thud on his back and let out a few moans as Joshua was already on the move.

His legs carried him as fast as they could to reach the base of the Conqueror. The worm didn't seem too worried about the lone figure. He didn't know if it didn't notice him or didn't care but he'd make it pay. He placed the first explosive on its side and moved to place the next. He wanted to get four set along the width of the worm and set it off.

It was after a few short moments that he managed to plant the second, then the third. The ground started to rumble once more as the Conqueror began moving. He couldn't afford for it to go underground again as it would either knock the C4 off or destroy it.

A quick sprint to the side brought Six to the last target but the Grimm was now moving up most likely planning on diving back into the ground. He was forced to leap upwards and onto the side of the Grimm.

This was the first time he had truly gotten a feel of Grimm skin and he couldn't say he was pleased. The dark "skin" was gritty and flaky to the touch and almost felt like he was digging his hands into hardened and condensed ash.

The earth below him rumbled and twisted below as the Conquerer dug its way further into the ground, most likely causing severe stability and infrastructure damage to the architecture of the town.

The Courier slammed the explosive onto the last spot while the worm was diving. Six looked down to realize he was mid-arch and now descending towards the ground at an uncomfortable rate. Thinking on pure instinct and not having any time, he leapt and triggered the explosive.

He was too close to the explosive and traveling far too fast towards the ground. The first thing he noticed was the explosion tearing through his armor, charring his skin, and blowing chunks out of his arm. The second thing he noticed was that this also knocked him off course for the ground.

Six was unable to correct himself in the short few seconds he had in the air and landed on his leg at an odd angle. He let out a pained scream as his reinforced leg bent at an awkward angle and he collapsed.

His breathing was labored as he rolled himself over. The Courier glanced upwards to see two separate halves of the Grimm dissolving before they hit the ground. A smile crossed Joshua's face before he let out a hiss.

First thing was first, Six injected himself with a stimpak to his arm to repair the initial holes and burn damage. It wasn't perfect but it would mean he could use his arm and save his other stimpaks for later.

The Courier's mind traveled elsewhere while he propped his broken leg up. That Grimm that was outside town hadn't attacked like the rest. Something was definitely off about it just like the small gremlin creature, the tactics the Grimm were employing, and that massive worm. It all seemed too out of place to have them all randomly attack and use seemingly intelligent tactics against them.

That dragon-like Grimm actually reminded him of a Norse legend, or was it a god? His memory was a bit fuzzy on the subject right now but he did his best to recall the anglicized name. The Courier snapped his leg back into position as he finally remembered, Nidhogg. He let out a pained yelp before taking in a few deep breaths. Six decided to call the creature that for now until he could come up with something better.

Relief flooded his system as he injected a stimpak into the offending limb. His leg wasn't perfect but he could at least limp on it for now. Honestly, he wasn't sure if a stimpak could have healed a regular broken leg like that. If he didn't have enhanced legs and a regenerative factor, well he didn't like to think about it.

Actually, he bet that Aura helped damn well with healing too. If he had that plus stimpaks, he would be near actually invincible. All of his attempts so far to unlock his Aura had failed. In fact, it was a bit strange he hadn't unlocked it then. From what Joshua had read, times of great stress or need could unlock a person's Aura. Maybe he just wasn't stressed enough?

Six planned on saving his other stimpaks for when he truly needed them by healing naturally. Now he just needed to get back and check on the Spring family. The sky was clearing now and it looked like most of the clouds from the storm had disappeared. Something was definitely off with the sudden appearance and subsequent disappearance of the bad weather.

A now annoying face stood in his way, this time backed up by militia. The grey-haired man stood in front of Six with his arms crossed and a disgruntled expression on his face.

"You want to explain how you did that," the man asked while tilting his head to the side.

"Not particularly, and since I just saved all of you, I don't think you'll stop me." Joshua knew his response probably annoyed the guard but he was too tired to care. He gave the guard a glare as he limped past the man who in turn rolled his eyes.

"Fine but you'll have to explain yourself to the captain later," the older man replied before turning and walking away. "It's not like I have to try and explain all of this to her anyways," he complained as Joshua continued limping away.

The trip to the Spring household was longer this time and Six got to take all of the sights in. It looked like a few of the guards had gotten surprised by the Grimm that had slipped in because there were some familiar looking bodies sprawled out in the street.

Buildings and dirt alike also lay on the ground as Joshua spotted the remains of several buildings that were likely destroyed by the Conqueror. He really hoped there weren't more Grimm like that out there.

The Courier approached the thankfully intact house that Carmine lived in before stopping. He stretched and did his best to compose himself before entering.

He was greeted by the sight of a tired looking Richter with his daughter on his lap. The girl had curled herself up and was making herself as small as possible until she spotted Six.

"Joshua," she muttered out while slowly getting off her father's lap. The one-eyed girl made her way over to the still armored Six who did his best to maintain his stoic position. He had to prove to her that he was invincible, that nothing could stop him, so she wouldn't have to worry about him.

The girl gave him a tired look before wrapping her arms around his waist and saying, "never go."

"Of course," he replied before placing a hand on her head. "Don't you remember? I'm invincible." The Courier could feel Carmine nod her head as she hugged him. He took in a few moments to relax before saying, "now if you don't mind, I want to get some rest. It's been a long day."

Six yawned as she pulled away. "If you want, we can go pick berries tomorrow," he continued as he turned away from her. Joshua waved at Richter who gave him a small nod.

His steps felt heavier than usual as Six made his way towards his room. He entered before closing the door behind him. The Courier let out a long sigh as he leaned against the door. A lot of that had been an act, he desperately needed sleep right now.

Although this did remind him of home. He couldn't count the number of times he had gotten in a major fight just to go somewhere safe and sleep.

The armor he was wearing dematerialized as the former ruler Vegas made his way towards his bed. The last thought he had was how he forgot the groceries outside town before his head hit the pillow.

Courier "Joshua" Six

Real Name: Unknown

Alias(s)/title(s): Courier Six, Six, The Courier, The End, Ruler of Vegas, Butcher of House, Bane of the Legion, Sunderer of Mars' Firstborn, Brotherhood Heretic, Boomer Tyrant, Executioner of the Powder Gangers, King Butcher, Bringer of the Apocalypse, Bear Hunter, Wild Card, Wild Card King, Joshua, Josh

Gender: Male

Race: Caucasian

Equipment:

Burned Man's Armor

Elite Riot Gear

Modified Stealth Suit Mk. II

Light Shining in Darkness

Mysterious Magnum

Rebreather

Maria

Survivalist Rifle

Modified Anti-Material Rifle.

YCS/186 Gauss Rifle variant.

C4 – Plastic explosives (10)

Detonator.

Frag Grenades (10)

Frag Mines (0)

Combat Knife.

Plasma Grenades.

Author's Notes:

Personally, I always found that after the first season of RWBY Grimm stopped being very threatening. I'm going to do my best to keep the Grimm as a legitimate threat throughout the story. This might mean I deviate from the established RWBY canon for the Grimm and introduce variations.

This has been the longest outro and chapter I've ever written; I hope you've liked it! Thanks for reading!