Author's Notes:

We're finally back. And with it a big update for the readers of this story.

First and foremost, there was a big update to the beginning of this story. The first "Arc" as I'm calling it was updated. Essentially, I went back and did two things. One, edited some of the beginning chapters, changing a few minor details and making the story flow (hopefully) smoother. Two, I inserted two chapters that I felt were needed for the story. They're not long but I feel are important to the pace for the beginning of the story. So, I inserted new chapters 3 and 4. This has also shifted all my other chapters ahead by 2 as well (for anyone wondering, no, does not have a good system for inserting new chapters like that). If you're wondering why you received multiple notifications for this story or why it's chapter format changed a little, this is why.

Since the entire story was shifted to add two new chapters, if any readers notice that a chapter is mislabeled or out of place, let me know.

The second big update is that I'm back and ready to get into the full swing of things. I will be returning to a monthly upload schedule for at least the next six months or so but I'm hoping I can get the entire Arc finished before stopping again.

I can't believe we've finally reached 200,000 words after 3 years of writing! It's been crazy for me to see this story progress. I never expected this story to become such a big commitment but I'm pleased with its progress so far! And of the people who've supported this story!

As a last "sorry" for taking so long, not only will I be uploaded a new "chapter 3" and "chapter 4". But I will also be uploaded the newest 2 chapters (40 & 41). So, for anyone counting, that's four chapters uploaded at once. Enjoy!

"Text"

"Speech"

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

Remnants of a Courier

Arc 4: Chaos Theory

Chapter 40: Lien For Your Thoughts?

Coarse and cold air rushed down his throat, making his lungs sting. That wasn't what he focused on, nor the cold feeling overcoming his body as a red liquid leaked from his abdomen.

As the light faded and he could see once more, It was the sight of a man with black hair kneeling over a woman. He couldn't make out the man's expression but he could see his hands wrapped around the woman's neck and the large gash in her side. His mom… She wasn't moving.

A bloodied knife had been cast to the side of the two.

There was a blur of motion. It felt like he wasn't quite in control of his own body as he managed to dart forward. Blood-covered hands gripped the knife cast to the ground before bringing it up.

The man turned, and he could see the monster's face. It was pale, a few scars running along it, and oh so tired. It reminded him of his own face. The man's expression was one of momentary shock as the blade was plunged into his throat.

For a moment, the two of them sat there over the corpse of his dead mother, their shocked expressions mirroring each other. He could feel the man's surprise followed by panic.

The man gripped his throat before letting out a gurgling noise and falling back onto the ground. There he attempted to gasp and writhe, only for blood to spurt out of his mouth and neck.

And he sat there, watching the man die over the corpse of his own mother, he didn't feel anything. That was strange, wasn't it? Was it the blood loss? The shock? Either way, he finally glanced down at his mother.

Her beautiful and smooth brown hair was now matted with blood. Her skin, once fair and soft, was now bruised and beaten where it wasn't strangled or eviscerated. Her usually vibrant green eyes were now dull and lifeless.

Why didn't he feel anything?

"So this is the justification for your childish behavior? For your pompous attitude towards everything I built? To the Mojave as a whole?"

The voice came from his right and so he turned his head towards it.

A man stood there with his back straight in a posture that embodied discipline. A black suit jacket covered a white button-up undershirt; this was complemented by a black tie around his neck. Below that was a light-grey almost silver pair of dress pants and black dress shoes.

The suited man's physique was average, nothing impressive as he was far too professional-looking to be bulky. Despite his average build, the strange man towered over his small form.

The man had a look of disdain on his face as he glanced down at the dying monster. Blue eyes almost seemed to shine in the light of the room.

Those eyes turned and once more the man spoke, "well, do you have anything to say for yourself?"

As the man spoke, he got a good look at the thin black mustache placed on his upper lip. Slicked back hair complimented the mustache but that was starkly contrasted by the hard look he was giving. That hard look turned to irritation at the continued silence.

"This is supposed to be the man who slaughtered hundreds?" The formal man squinted before tilting his head to the side. "Though I suppose you aren't him yet. We'll just have to fix that so you can finally answer for your behavior. Tell me, you tumor-riddled regressive dictator, how did the story go after this?"

Another voice spoke from his left. "I believe this was the part where the shadows came for him, to show him where his flawed anarchic and self-destructive philosophy would come from."

The man on his left was wearing a uniform made of fur and leather. It was a mix of browns, greys, and reds with the fur covering the area around his neck like a lion's mane would. A strange golden and circular regalia was pinned over his heart.

What was far more striking was the bald visage of the man. The suited man to his right was professional, his anger was born from irritation rather than malice. The other had a look that screamed of anger and violence, of a world where only strength and power mattered. A stony expression that hid a rage that could only be quelled with overwhelming violence.

"Then let's proceed and get back on a more orderly track," the suited man responded before turning with his bald counterpart to look at him.

When the two glanced at him, the room shook as an inky blackness formed on one of the walls. He only had a moment to tilt his head in confusion before it began to expand rapidly. It swallowed up the room and everything it touched seemed to fade into nothingness.

The light bulb shook and then broke as the darkness descended upon the room, upon him. All he could do was scream.

Despite the overwhelming dread he felt, Six opened his eyes slowly. His body felt sluggish despite his pounding heart. Strange. Nightmares weren't a good sign. Especially when memories of House and Caesar dragged themselves into Six's dreams.

Six sat up while doing his best to ignore his fleeting dream. He needed to get ready for the day. After all, the second term for the first years started today. It would be bad form to show up late.

Despite the new year's arrival, the cold didn't relent and time continued to march, and not in Six's favor either. He had a little less than three months to prepare for whatever Cinder had planned.

Before that, he first needed to freshen up. Six stepped into the bathroom and began going through his normal routine. He showered, brushed his teeth, checked that his bandages and uniform were in place, and made sure to have his firearm at the ready. This routine had become a habit. It felt weird to acknowledge that.

He glanced towards his abdomen for a moment. Amongst the myriad of scar tissue permeating his torso, the small circular cuts and lines located just above the right side of his waist drew his attention for a moment. After all, it was part of what his dream was about, part of the reason he always wore something to cover his face.

He didn't have time for that. Six covered the scar with more bandages before stepping out of the bathroom. House was quick to adjust his uniform over the bandages as he stepped forward, finishing his morning routine.

It was strange now that he thought back on it. The city, the people, the world of Remnant. It was all beyond extraordinary, like something out of a sci-fi novel. But that wasn't what was strange.

No, his own reactions had been strange. Six recalled his bewilderment and initial confusion upon entering this new world, a normal response. However, that had faded away rather quickly into a dull excitement that buzzed in the back of his head. It was so easy to write it off as he had adapted to his environment as Six always did. But he did it so quickly, so easily. The excitement, joy, confusion; it all faded away and he had gone right back to work.

Now he went through the daily motions like clockwork and took advantage of the many amenities that Remnant provided. This must have been how the Old World citizens operated. It threatened to lull him into a false sense of security every day.

It didn't matter. He could just ignore it for now. Just like he'd ignore that his brain was in a tube in another world and that he shouldn't even be able to form thoughts. There were far more important matters at hand. Stepping further into his room, Six thought over the past few days to get his plans in order.

Keeping an eye on team RWBY had been easy. They retreated to their dorms more often now and his access to the camera network confirmed that they hadn't reported the incident to the Headmaster. Or if they did, it was done out of sight and they hadn't figured him out yet. Either way, Six's cover was maintained for now.

He had yet to go greet them as House yet. They needed time to decompress after their little encounter with him and Adam. He did as well. Still, he was going to need to go do that soon or he'd start looking suspicious.

More suspicious than the still fresh wound on his arm from Adam's blade. Luckily, his enhancements and a couple stimpaks were enough to repair the severe tissue and muscle damage. There was just an ugly looking wound that would turn into a scar now. That's what a couple days of rest and a altered body would get you. All he had to do was wear a few bandages and his uniform over that and Six would be fine for the school day. Speaking of the man that inflicted that wound...

Adam was a hard individual to track or monitor. The Faunus disappeared shortly after their engagement and no one had seen him since. And since he was the Courier's only inside source for the White Fang, gathering information was difficult. Still, the red-head agreed to meet him after school hours so there was promise of continued support; or a trap. Either way, he'd found out by the end of the night.

He also did his best to keep tabs on the Spring family but that was also difficult due to their remote town. No cameras, almost no information traveling in or out. Hell, if it was wiped off the map, it would be a year before anyone even realized it.

That was probably for the best. Not only for his cover but also to protect Carmine. He had tried to do something good for her and look how that ended up. No, it was better to keep her safe in Rhyt until this was all over.

House was walking down the halls of Beacon now. First, he'd complete his patrol then head for the cameras. Speaking of his job, there was a new hire in Beacon's security.

Gratius Vermont. Other than the man's owl Faunus attributes, he was fairly normal looking. It was difficult to even tell he was a Faunus as you had to look directly into his ear to see the oddly shaped ear canal or see him turn his head to ungodly degrees. A shorter man that specialized in security, stealth, and recon.

A contractor in Voidwalker employ, Six's employ. After all, it had been House's recommendation that got him into Beacon in the first place.

The Faunus filled many roles during his time in Mistral as a wandering mercenary. An assassin, a bodyguard, security specialist, scout, Grimm hunter, and more. He was one of the most experienced of the Voidwalkers and what he lacked in sheer firepower he made up for in skill and speed. Not to mention the man had his Aura unlocked to boot.

Even among the Voidwalkers that was fairly rare. There were a total of four individuals with their Auras unlocked that could work as essentially a one-man squad. One mercenary with unlocked Aura was worth five without Auras. Their paychecks reflected this too.

And staying true to his owlish nature, Beacon had assigned the Voidwalker to the nightshift. While this would make moving around at night in the short term more of a hassle, when his plans for the Voidwalkers came to fruition Gratius would be invaluable.

That would have to come later, for now he needed to prepare for the coming months. And part of that preparation was maintaining his weapons and supplies.

The Courier entered the cafeteria and headed for the line. He might as well get some food on his patrol. After all, keeping his weapons and his body prepared was a good idea. Not to mention they were having some cheesy potatoes and gravy. Six would have killed for a meal like that back in the Mojave. The food on Remnant was amazing. Though that did mean he had to contend with the thirty-student line that was currently there. House let out a sigh as he got his mind back on his supplies.

He wasn't completely happy with it but Six replaced most of his used explosives with Dust. He imagined as time wore on, he'd be replacing his dwindling gunpowder supply with more Dust. Though he had experimented with some of the specialized Dust for interesting effects.

Not only had he resupplied himself with roughly the same amount of armaments he had when he originally arrived on Remnant but he made improvements to his weapons as well. The most notable modification was to his variant Gauss Rifle

The YCS/186 Gauss Rifle, the single most powerful variant of an already powerful type of weapon he could find. A coil gun that used ferromagnetic rounds and magnetic parts in the weapon to launch projectiles at insane speeds. The mathematical equations that overcame the limitations of the earliest prototypes of the weapon were discovered by mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss for which the weapon was named after.

"Ferromagnetic rounds being a type of highly reactive magnetic metal that the magnetic parts of the gun, the coil rods, can react with. Essentially how negatively charged atoms are repelled from other negatively charged atoms, just to an extreme degree. And since the ferromagnetic rounds inside the weapon require a charge to react, Microfusion cells are required to charge the rounds."

Of course, he had used the last of his max-charged Microfusion cells in his fight with Adam. It was too bad too; the standard rounds of a Gauss Rifle may be small, roughly 2mm in size, but were more than enough to take off limbs as they reached speeds a regular rifle could only dream of.

However, necessity breeds ingenuity, and Six's need for powerful weapons had created a solution. Where the Dust rounds were weaker and traveled at a lower velocity than gunpowder, that wasn't the case with the Gauss Rifle. No gunpowder was ever used.

Sure, it would be hard to find the raw material to create more maxed Microfusion cells, but Six had alternatives. Namely Dust.

Now, Six wasn't a paleoanthropologist or a scientist who studied evolution. Hell, not enough records survived the apocalypse to even prove the theory of evolution true.

But when comparing that to the theories on the creation of humans from Remnant such as humans came from dust or that Aura was a manifestation of the soul? He was willing to believe in evolution over that.

Though there were still things that boggled him about Dust. Take gravity Dust for example, it somehow enhanced the gravity or force of an object–he wasn't sure which–and could make a projectile move faster or become heavier. Six knew that it could do that, but how did it possibly do it? Apparently, Remnant scientists were just as boggled as him and they had hundreds of years and they couldn't figure it out, and they weren't bogged down with criminal organizations. Oh Six would love to tear apart Dust and figure out how it ticks. He just didn't have the time. So currently, his testing was limited to practical applications.

Practical applications such as combing Dust. Say, the aforementioned Gravity Dust mixed with Lightning Dust which can create a magnetic field. Which brought Six back to the Gauss Rifle.

"So, what effect would Lightning and Gravity Dust have on this weapon?" The orange-haired girl next to him asked.

"Well, combining the two to create a magnetic field could enhance the effectiveness of the payload and create the reaction that makes the coil rods magnetically propel it forward. In fact, it could make it even more effective than the original design depending on how strong the magnetic field is."

Wait. Six turned to see the ever infamous Nora standing next to him. Oh, Six hadn't realized he had been muttering to himself. Or that he had gotten to the front of the line.

"Nora," the Courier greeted in a placid tone. He idly wondered how much she had heard. At most, it was just some weapon designs so nothing too incriminating. Though he would need to focus more on keeping quiet while thinking in the future.

"Mister House. You sure know a lot about magnets. And weapons." The girl commented while tilting her head to the side, a wide smile still plastered across her face. Behind her stood the ever quiet and enigmatic Ren.

The Courier shrugged in response before turning to pick from the arrangement of items on the buffet-style counter. As he pointed to an "egg and ham burrito" Six responded, "I do a lot of studying."

The orange-haired girl pouted, reminding Six of a certain younger girl. "That's boring," Nora commented before raising a finger towards him. "I bet it's from super-awesome adventures you've been on." The girl pressed forward, invading the Courier's personal space as she continued, "come on, tell us about them!"

She wanted to hear a story? Six did have a few minutes to kill but she'd have to make it worth his while.

"Nora, leave Instructor House alone. He's trying to enjoy his breakfast." And there he was, Six's favorite student trying to save him a headache instead of causing one. But this time the Courier was fine with Nora's antics.

"It's okay Ren, I've got a story or two. But only if Little Miss Questions here is willing to pay for my food," Six responded as he glanced towards the hyperactive student.

Nora's mouth hung open in a look of betrayal before she responded, "but House! Shouldn't a student be able to learn without financial troubles?" Her look turned from one of shock to pleading as she begged him.

"I'm giving you a free lesson. And that lesson is that not all information is free." The Courier's response brought forth yet another pout to Nora's face as she stamped her foot once.

The quiet teen behind her leaned forward before presenting a handful of Lien for Six to take. The Courier hadn't realized that the green-clad boy was interested in his stories as well.

"That'll do," Six said as he pocketed the Lien.

"Yes! You're the best Ren!" The excitable teen shouted before bear-hugging her partner who in turn gasped for air.

Now, what story should he tell them? Definitely nothing about Caesar's Legion, too gritty. The Sierra Madre was too scary. Then his thoughts drifted to that one time on the I-15 route…

"Alright, calm down, I've got a story picked," Six announced as he paid for his food. Some first year student behind the counter took his Lien. Ah, child labor, a wonderous and cheap thing.

Nora darted over to him, releasing Ren from her grasp as she did so. The boy took a long intake of air as his partner expelled hers by asking, "so, so, what is it? Something cool? Scary? Dangerous? I bet it's exciting!"

"This was… Two years ago? Maybe going on three years now?" The Courier began as he recalled his time in the Mojave. Sometimes it was difficult to remember that he had been on Remnant for so long.

"Anyways, I was in Vacuo traveling along a pretty well-known route when I came across this small town in the middle of nowhere, Sloan. More of a mining camp really."

His words seemed to have enraptured Nora and Ren as the two followed him to a table before sitting.

"They make their living by mining at a quarry nearby. And take note," as the Courier continued, he pointed a finger at the two of them. "This town had maybe ten people in it. It wouldn't even pop up on a map so no one is coming to help them."

"And they were in trouble, and you helped them, and you kicked Grimm butt right?" Nora's interruption made the Courier's trigger finger itch but he held it in for now as Ren placed a hand on his teammate's shoulder and whispered something to her.

Six did his best to quell his irritation at being interrupted as he replied, "that's the sum of it. They had these Grimm they called 'Deathclaws' that had made a nest in their quarry right next to their town. As you can imagine, that was bad for their business and safety."

"I was delivering a package," the Courier began before pausing and tapping the chin of his visor. "Well, I was more retrieving a package that had been stolen from me by some asshole in a checkered suit. That's a story for another time."

"Oh, oh! Tell me about that one too!" Nora piped in causing Ren to sigh in response. Despite his frustration with his teammate, Ren did seem to be intrigued as well if the furtive glances he was giving were any indication.

It had already been a little over six minutes since the Courier had walked into the cafeteria. He had maybe another five to ten minutes before he should move on.

"Maybe another time, I've got places to be so I'll make this quick," Six responded earning yet another pout from the girl.

Again, a hand was placed on her shoulder as Ren scolded her. "Be happy that he's telling us a story at all and eat your pancakes."

Looking down, Six did notice the stack of thirteen-no-fourteen pancakes stacked onto her plate. A ridiculous amount by anyone's standards. Was her hunger part of her Semblance?

Focusing back on the story, the Courier continued, "so I was traveling on the I-15, the route I was talking about. I get stopped by a man named… Chomp."

There was a fit of giggles that escaped past the pancakes in Nora's mouth as Ren gave a hint of a smile.

"He's a nice enough fella. He tells me how I shouldn't go any further and to take the long way around. And I listen."

A confused expression crossed the girl's face as she manages to mumble out between pancake bites, "but wot abowt fa Deafcraws?"

"Nora, don't speak with your mouth full," Ren softly scolded while handing her a napkin for all the syrup she was spilling.

The Courier shrugged as he replied, "well, I had bigger problems to deal with. Don't worry though, I came back maybe a month or so later more prepared. When I did I even fixed their generator and patched up their… Dog." It was best not to mention the molerat Snuffles.

"Any good Huntsman should know preparation is key. I came back with a rifle, long range, and took out a few of the stragglers surrounding the entrance to the quarry."

From the annoyed look on Nora's face, it was easy to tell she wanted more details.

"That doesn't mean it was quick or easy. Deathclaws are kind of like a mix between an Ursa minor and a Beowolf. They're a little bigger than an Ursa Minor, as fast if not faster than a Beowolf, and a Hell of a lot meaner."

The wild girl raised a brow as she swallowed. She let out a satisfied sigh before asking, "what's Hell?"

Whoops. "Eh, Hell ain't a great place to be. Kind of off topic but basically in a religion that's pretty small in Vacuo if you're a bad person you go to Hell when you die. It's not a fun place full of fire and pain."

"For how long?" The girl asked while tilting her head to the side. Even Ren was looking at him now. This was getting a bit personal. Lying about his world wasn't exactly easy.

The Courier held up a hand before replying, "that's off topic and we don't have the time. Now, where was I?"

"Anyways, Deathclaws, fast and mean. Claws that are long and sharp enough that they can shred people with a single swipe and teeth the size of your hand. They look like giant lizards on two legs. Worst of all, they're heavily armored all over so you have to shoot them in their unprotected gut. Which means they have to be running towards you to get a clean shot. And if they're running towards you, you've usually got three seconds until they're on you."

Once more, the two were giving him their rapt attention as Nora paused her eating to stare at him. Well, at least he described Deathclaws scary enough to get their attention.

"Anyways, I pick off some smaller stragglers with a rifle from a distance to clear the entrance to the quarry. But I don't want to head in there yet, there's a nest of them. So I lay down ten or so mines and put a row of C4 at the back as a last line of defense."

A smile crept across Six's face as he continued, "me and a buddy set up to lure them into the mines. Boone was his name, a former military sniper. I won't go too much into him, he was the calm stoic type is all I'll say."

Six recalled the giddiness he felt as he stood next to the First Recon sniper. He even had to do some jumping jacks to get the excitement at least partially out of his system. There was something exhilarating about facing someone or something truly strong.

"Anyways, there were… two or three small to medium-sized Deathclaws on the outside, another six big ones and a couple small ones inside… Then two massive Deathclaws, a pack Alpha and Mother respectively. Least, that's the terms for them. So, roughly twelve to thirteen of the things?"

Six left out the part of the babies. Not only because he didn't want to make the teens feel bad but he was pretty sure Grimm didn't have children.

"Now, once we let off a shot or two into the quarry, they start running at us. A wave of the things, which is exactly what we had hoped for. See, the mines wouldn't kill them, it'd take three to five mines just to take one down. But one or two would be enough to cripple one. And if they're all grouped up…"

The teenage boy's eyes seemed to light up for a moment. "You could cripple them all and have time to pick them off."

Six pointed towards the teenager before responding, "that's right."

Still, the girl didn't seem to be satisfied as she narrowed her eyes. "So it was really easy?"

"At first it was like shooting fish in a barrel," Six admitted as he recalled the sight of crippled Deathclaws limping towards them. "They're by no means slow when injured but they moved at speeds I can actually outrun. And once they're forced to limp at us, getting that shot on their stomach is easier."

"Anyways, We finish the first six or so when the last of them come out. At this point, we had used about seven of our ten mines."

The Courier raised his hand up over himself as he continued, "then these two absolutely massive Deathclaws come running out of the depths of the quarry, two smaller ones coming with them."

"Now these bigger ones were smarter than their smaller counterparts, they let the little ones rush in first and clear the rest of the mines."

House raised three of his fingers before continuing, "so it was me, my dog, and Boone–I had a dog by the way–versus two big Deathclaws."

"What was your dog's name?!" Nora practically shouted as she leaned forward and into her own food, getting some stains on her outfit.

Without turning to her, Six pointed a finger towards Nora before replying, "Rex."

"Anyways, like we planned, we all fall back to that line of C4-"

"What's C4?" A student from behind him chimed in and as Six turned he realized he had attracted a few other students who were listening in. He recognized a few of them. Jaune, Pyrrha, and even Cardin. As well as a certain cat Faunus hovering towards the back.

Six scratched the back of his helmet before replying, "An explosive device, high yield. Now, Boone and I keep shooting the entire time until they're in range. Regular Deathclaws are running at a little over thirty miles per hour, these two are probably at around forty."

Thinking about it, Six was glad that there were certain similarities between his world and Remnant. Sure, the common written language was different but they all spoke the same as him. They even used American measurements which weren't a constant across his own world. It was both convenient and a bit eerie.

"They hit the C4, we detonate it, and it's an explosion that can probably be heard for miles around. Shakes the ground enough that I lose my footing."

Lifting a hand to his face, Six waved it in front of his helmet as if clearing the air. "So there's debris and smoke everywhere, I can't see a thing, Boone can't either. My ears are ringing but we're pretty sure we won. That's when it comes barreling out of the smoke at us."

"Now, the Alpha had been turned to paste but the Mother, she was crispy, mad, and very much alive. She comes charging at me while knocking my dog ten feet to the side with a single swipe."

The Courier brings his hands up to his face and takes aim as if holding an imaginary gun. "Now the rifle I'm using isn't meant for close quarters and death personified is running at me. I miss my first shot and end up going wide; nearly hit Boone in the process. My second shot rings true to its stomach but it just keeps running at me."

It was getting close to that ten minute mark and a crowd was starting to gather. If his eyes didn't deceive him, there was definitely a small red-clad girl and her sister nearby. Not to mention a couple of second years if the rabbit ears were any indication. Six didn't like his House persona getting this much attention but he was close to done anyways. Honestly, he didn't even understand why they cared so much about a simple "Grimm" story.

"It's around this time I pull out my second weapon, the Dinner Bell. A nasty old pump action. Sure, it's not capable of the sheer stopping power of those semi-automatic or G-Dust forbid automatic shotguns. But I also don't have to pump out eight shells every time I want to use the thing."

The Courier took a moment to measure the length of the metal table they were sitting at before nodding his head. It was enough to seat ten or so people at it and probably long enough to get his next point across.

"Anyways, I've been told that when a Shotgun is in my hands I become a bit like a Surgeon. I manage to tear a nice hole in its underside before it swings at me, sends me about the length of this table away and onto the ground. I can feel my Aura flare just from the one hit. I'll survive MAYBE one more swipe."

A partial lie. He didn't have Aura but he sure as Hell would have been dead in two more swipes if not for the shredded power armor he had been wearing at the time. He didn't think anything organic could shear metal designed for war so easily until that moment.

"Now Boone, he's been shooting its back the entire time but it's not having an effect. Instead, it charges forward and rears its ugly mug back, intent on bringing that mouth down on me. That's when Rex–my dog–jumps onto its back. Now, this is a dangerous move not only because it's a murder machine but also because Deathclaws have barbs going up their spine. I'd say those barbs can be a good foot long usually. This Mother's was probably two."

At least Nora was quiet for now. Six probably had Ren to thank for that. Or was it the crowd surrounding them that was doing that?

The Courier leaned back and pointed a finger up to simulate being on his back as he continued, "so this Deathclaw reached back to get Rex while I'm under it. I'm in the perfect position to get its underside. So, I fire before pumping my gun. Then I fire again and again. This actually seems to be getting to it as it slows. The combined efforts of Rex biting into its hide, Boone shooting it in the back, being singed from the explosion, and my shotgun were doing it in."

"With one last round, I shove my shotgun into its open wound and fire. The creature falls and I'm directly under it." The Courier managed to get a few chuckles from the crowd for that one. "I get stuck for a bit but eventually I'm free to stand. We clear the area before heading back and letting them know that the quarry is clear."

Six let out a sigh. It was a bit of a long-winded story to tell in hindsight but a fairly harmless one too.

"I don't think I've ever heard of a Deathclaw," one of the students from the crowd commented. "Where are they again?" That was a distinctly feminine voice. Were they trying to trip him up in his own story? Or was he just being paranoid?

It was probably for the best that none of the students had ever met a Deathclaw. Sure, Six had taken care of more than a few in his day but he hadn't told them the scary part. Deathclaw packs didn't always bum rush you when you surprised them in their nest. Sometimes the pack would stalk you. And while not exactly intelligent, they were definitely cunning.

"Vacuo. Near a mining settlement along the border." After a bit of thinking, Six decided to add, "no idea if it's still there now. Haven't been there in years."

"Did you do a lot of stuff like that?" Nora asked, having finally finished her pancakes.

In response the Courier shrugged. "More or less. Fight Grimm, fix generators, find lost supplies, that sort of thing. I guess you could say I was kind of like a handyman of the Wast-Wilds." Correcting himself was getting to be a bit of a hassle but so far he hadn't slipped up too bad.

"Were you just about to call Vacuo a wasteland?" One of the students piped up. In hindsight, it was probably fairly rude to people from Vacuo to refer to their homeland as such. But it was-

"It's kind of true though," Cardin chimed in, easy to spot with him being a head taller than most students. And was he currently holding the ear of Velvet? For fucks sake.

"Cardin, if you want to keep that hand, you better stop being an ass."

There was a short grumble from the large teen as he let the Faunus go. It was good to be in charge.

He was about to continue scolding Cardin when an older voice chimed in. "I say, that was quite the story! Why it reminds me of my younger years!"

Every student and faculty member in range knew that voice. As the portly professor Port strolled into view, Six could already see several students leaving the area. Even the Courier felt himself internally wince at the Professor's presence.

It wasn't that the older man was a bad person but he was long-winded to the extreme, a blowhard, and liked to "interact" with his class during storytime. Mostly him calling people out to make sure that they were still paying attention. But worst of all, his rants were legendarily boring.

"I remember Grimm the size of houses in Vacuo myself, roaming the sandy plains like wandering doombringers!" The professor continued while twirling his mustache. His voice boomed and reverberated around the room with that typical old man authority they had all come to expect.

Six couldn't take anymore. He stood and made his way over to Cardin. "Walk with me," the Courier demanded as he made a beeline for the exit. The jovial staff member furrowed his brow at the Courier's exit but otherwise continued his own story unimpeded.

Nora and Ren stared at him, pleading for him to come back and save them. The hyperactive teen putting on the best puppy eyes she could. That wouldn't save her. They were just going to have to be rude like him and leave in the middle of the professor talking.

"Thanks for getting us out of that," Dove said while following along after his leader. It appeared that the rest of team CRDL had followed along. "I can't stand his stories."

"Well, do me a favor then. Stop fucking with the other students. I thought we already had this conversation." House's words brought a frown to Cardin's face. "I mean, why are you actually bothering with it anyway? You get some sort of sick satisfaction out of it? Got a thing against Faunus?"

This current tactic served two purposes. Six had long ago realized that Cardin's hatred of Faunus likely stemmed from his upbringing, so he needed to learn more. And two, he needed to get Cardin riled enough to admit it.

"Yeah, I do," Cardin finally responded. "They're animals, less than human, but go around thinking they can do whatever they want just like us."

"So, you don't think they deserve the same rights as you and me? You know that's illegal pretty much everywhere now." Again, the Courier watched Cardin's reaction shift from frustrated to embarrassed before finally settling on angry again. His facial features going from a thin line to an outright scowl. "Besides, last time I checked they won that revolution of theirs."

The larger boy threw his hands into the air as he replied, "but they wouldn't have if humans hadn't helped them! If we didn't have traitors then they wouldn't have won."

Even a couple of his teammates seemed to be uncomfortable at Cardin's line of thinking, shifting from side to side but otherwise remaining silent.

It was time to shift gears. "Would you tell me about the Winchesters?"

Again, that confused expression returned as Cardin dropped his jaw for a moment. It took a bit but after blinking and composing himself he finally responded. "I… What does that have to do with anything?"

Six internally groaned, growing very tired of Cardin's constant shit.

"I understand they're a very prominent family. A long line of warriors. Is that correct?" Again, his question caused Cardin to glare at him.

The bigger teen shrugged before answering, "yeah. All of us Winchesters are pretty strong." It was so easy to get Cardin to answer when one appealed to his ego.

"Would you say they have a history of being racist?" Six questioned bluntly. Even as Cardin's face turned red and the rest of his teammates stopped, the Courier continued walking as if nothing was wrong.

"I…" The boy started before pausing only to visibly start shaking. His brows furrowed as he took a step forward. "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"I mean," the Courier replied as he turned back towards Cardin. His tone was taunting, almost inviting the student to throw a punch. "Being a racist little shit is usually learned. So, from your attitude, I assume your parents raised you to be a fucker. Or are you such an idiot that you think your actions don't reflect on your family too?"

"My dad is awesome, you don't need to assume shit!" The way Cardin immediately defended his father was something Six would take note of. "They'd be proud I'm reminding the murdering little animals where they belong."

Again, Six noted how the teen had used some choice words in his response.

"So, all Faunus are murderers for the acts of a few?" House responded in an even tone. The Courier was putting together where he figured a lot of the bully's anger was coming from. Normally, he wouldn't even bother wasting his time on this but Cardin proved that not everyone understood threats very well. And he couldn't actually harm the student… Yet.

"If you don't keep them in their place, you lose people. It doesn't matter if some of them aren't murderers, if you don't manage them, the ones that are will kill." Cardin spoke with a level of conviction the Courier hadn't been expecting. It sounded less like hatred and more somber with a twinge of fear. Interesting.

"So, we should enslave humans too. To manage them as you said." This time, when the Courier spoke, the teen leaned back and dramatically rolled his head.

His gaze returned to the Courier as he responded, "no. But people-"

"People aren't what? Murderers? Liars? Evil? I can tell you they are." Six cut off the student as he finally stopped walking. He fully turned towards Cardin as he continued, "do you want to hear why I think you act the way you do?"

If he could simply humble the leader, Six knew the rest of them would follow in line. But he'd need to break down Cardin's philosophy first.

"I believe you experienced tragedy in your life. I believe that your parents may have as well. That loved ones may have been taken; likely by the White Fang. That your parents used this as an excuse to instill their grief and anger into you. Mix that with above average strength and a superiority complex, you get what you are now."

Some of this was guesswork. The Courier didn't know for certain a lot of the details he just spouted were true. But he did have access to Cardin's files. And they did state he had lost loved ones and that he was from a prominent Huntsman family. It wasn't too hard to cross reference his profile with his personality and see where Cardin likely got his views from. The bit about the White Fang was a shot in the dark but it seemed like they were behind everything these days.

The student held his mace in hand and moved closer to loom over the Courier. Now, Six wasn't exactly small, especially in uniform. But Cardin was big for his age. The teen stood at least a head taller than the rest of his teammates and even had a few inches on him in uniform.

There was a look of malice on the boy's face as he looked down at Six before saying, "don't you ever try to play psychologist with me. It doesn't work."

It wasn't the Courier who responded though. Instead, Cardin's mohawk sporting teammate Russell spoke up. "Is that true though? Did the White Fang hurt your family?"

The larger student slowly turned to his teammate with his weapon still in hand. "It doesn't matter if it is true. What matters is this asshole thinks he knows me."

A soft expression formed on Dove's face as he stared at his leader. Seeing his teammates turning to him and doing that, Cardin turned towards the trio.

"I don't need fucking pity, that's stupid! I'm fine. I'm at Beacon because I want to be. I do what I want because I want to! I mess with Velvet because that's what she deserves. Not because of some bullshit emotional reaction!"

Even as he spoke, there was a mixed reaction of fear and doubt amongst Cardin's teammates. Six figured they'd do a better job at getting through to Cardin than he ever could. What was far more interesting was the black and white blur that disappeared around a corner as Cardin spoke.

"Well, I think I've said what I needed to. If you need me, I'll be in the security room." As he spoke, Six turned on his heel before walking down the hall.

As he moved further away, the Courier heard Cardin yell, "hey, we're not done here!"

House didn't bother to turn around as he already knew exactly how Cardin's teammates were thinking. "I think you should speak to your teammates first and see exactly how they feel about you. Oh, and I'll ask about how Alex's training is going later."

Six was genuinely curious how the bully's cousin was doing but he didn't really want to interact with the child directly. In giving Cardin advice, it made the Courier feel like he was giving back to the boy at least a bit since he was the one who ended Logarius.

The sounds of team CRDL's discussion faded into the distance as he proceeded further into Beacon. Before he was so rudely interrupted by several students, he was going over the last of his activities.

During the last couple of days of the break Six had made sure to restock his supplies. Since it would not only be more difficult to acquire but also suspicious to use, the Courier had decided against using gunpowder and Earth-based explosives. Instead, he now had resupplied his grenades and plastic explosives with Dust versions.

Of course, he had decided to tinker with Dust while he was at it. Using a combination of Blake's weaponry and Wind Dust, he had created a grappling hook for his power fists for mobility. The speed of Huntsman and Huntresses had been bothering Six for a while. He needed to be able to gain distance quickly from them. So, taking the design from Gambol Shroud, he installed a "Dust Enhanced Vertical Transit" module or D.E.R.T. into his weapon.

It used a combination of Dust propulsion via Wind Dust to get the hook to its destination and a mechanical winch to pull Six to it quickly. This also served to mimic Blake's fighting style at least slightly.

The morning wasn't even finished and Six could feel his gears moving just a bit slower because of the students. Oh well, he could actually relax and be bored in the security room for a bit to make up for it.

As he scanned his badge to enter the room, he couldn't help but wonder what Blake thought of Cardin's little outburst. After all, she had been watching the entire time.

Author's Notes:

Fun note, the gravity and lightning Dust combination for magnetic effects is real, that's on the Wiki itself for RWBY. I don't know how it works. The show doesn't know how it works. So I'll probably dive more into the specifics in the future.

Gear:

Equipment:

Burned Man's Armor

Elite Riot Gear (Modified: Mimic Edition)

Modified Stealth Suit Mk. II

Civilian Clothing

Beacon Uniform

Mysterious Magnum

Rebreather

Maria

Survivalist Rifle

Modified Anti-Material Rifle.

YCS/186 Gauss Rifle variant (Magnetic Version)

C4 - Plastic explosives (0)

Burn Dust – Plastic explosives (5)

Detonator.

Frag Grenades (1)

Burn Dust Grenades (5)

Gravity Dust Mines (3)

Combat Knife.

Plasma Grenades (4)

Plasma Mines (0)

WulfsBann Power Fist (x2) (Mobility Modification)