Remnants of a Courier

by Shadow Amongst Shadows

Think not of your own pain but of the good that comes from it. For you are the only one willing to carry the burden. Continue onward through even oceans of blood, even if you are not a good man, or even an okay man, but a despised man. For that is the burden placed upon you on this Lonesome Road. (Courier 6 arrives on Remnant)

53. Chapter 52: Master of Fear

Author's Notes:

I hope you all enjoy this chapter because it is a long one. I will be uploading both this chapter and the next at the same time. Please read the Author's notes for the next chapter!

"Text"

"Speech"

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

Remnants of a Courier

Arc 4: Chaos Theory

Chapter 52: Master of Fear

---

Six felt his grip on the rifle tighten as he looked over the group. What were a bunch of first-year students doing with Professor Oobleck out in the city? It was only their second term and they should either be at Beacon or on… A mission…

Oh what kind of shit luck was this?

He knew they must be shadowing Oobleck on some student mission. But Six didn't recall any first-year missions that involved shadowing a Huntsmen to Mount Glenn. He'd have to look into it when he got back to Beacon. For now, he needed to keep an eye on them. It was probably Ozpin's fault, the smarmy bastard.

They weren't exactly subtle, Six was surprised that none of the White Fang had noticed yet. With any luck, the Huntress team would look around and then return home. It wasn't worth reporting to Roman yet until they began nearing the perimeter of the White Fang operating area.

The Courier focused his scope on them as he was unable to hear them from this distance. But he had also spent many hours looking down the scope of his rifle and spying on others. This gave the Courier some first-hand experience with lip-reading.

Though he didn't need it to see the confused irritation on Oobleck's face as he stared Ruby down. His green hair was covered by a hat that Six vaguely recognized. He had seen a few people wear circular hats with wide brims. Its beige color and design reminded Six of those British explorer hats he'd seen a select few Wastelanders wear.

The object of Oobleck's irritation appeared as a black and white dog poked its head out of Ruby's bag. Was that Zwei, the abnormally intelligent dog?

The professor's face went stone-cold as Six attempted to read his lips. "We're here to investigate… Teaming with death–brought a dog?" Six's lip-reading could use some work.

Though he did agree with the professor, why bring an untrained pet that would just bring attention to you and-

"Brilliant!" Oobleck continued before picking up the dog and rapidly spinning in circles. He appeared almost overjoyed as he spoke but the man moved too fast for Six to read his lips. The man spun for ten seconds straight before slowing down.

What was wrong with this world?

All of team RWBY had their back to him, which meant no lip reading, and one of them said something to get the professor's attention.

And then the professor's inclination for speaking as fast as possible made Six's life miserable. He only managed to make out a few select words such as "Grimm activity" and "possible explanations."

This was rounded off by the green-haired Huntsman saying, "Grimm."

The group paused for a moment before turning around. Six adjusted his aim and followed their line of sight before noticing the Beowolves stalking along the street near them. Fair enough, a new threat emerged, how would they handle it?

Adjusting his aim again, Six settled back on the professor mid-rant.

"Why-Grimm… Congregate. Sadness, Envy, loneliness, hatred…" Okay, Six had to parse through what he could make out but he had an idea of what they were after and planning.

They were here to find the White Fang; Oobleck planned on using the Grimm as a tracker to find them. A fair enough strategy if he wasn't with a bunch of teenagers that could be moody as Hell.

"And they've seen us," the professor finished as the Grimm began charging them.

… What? Why did they just stand there to get caught?

"What?" Weiss asked and got a very loud reply.

"And now they've seen us!" The professor shouted directly into her ear. This entire operation was a shitshow.

The group decided they needed to throw around banter as the Grimm charged them. It was painful how unprofessional and amateur the group was.

Still, as Ruby darted forward and dissected the first Beowolf, it gave Six time to think. How did he want to handle them? He would monitor them for now but should he tell Roman? Scare them off? Or maybe…

The group quickly finished the Monsters off with Oobleck directing them to move on. Apparently, they were now going to explore the area for clues while exterminating Grimm. All he had to do was silently follow them for now.

---

The problem was not in remaining hidden from the team, as Six was far enough out of range that the chances of that were low, but rather in keeping up.

Oobleck was a work-a-holic. The man never stopped moving for the better part of several hours, constantly picking at clues and killing Grimm. The Aura-enabled Huntresses were getting tired. And despite being more metal than man, even Six was getting tired of the tedium. And he didn't have Aura to keep up with their speeds, so he had to double-time it everywhere.

Interestingly, the professor had spoken with and quizzed each Huntress on their reasons for becoming Huntresses. It helped build their profiles. Yang was a thrill seeker, Blake was out to stop hatred and corruption, Weiss hadn't answered, and he hadn't got around to asking Ruby yet. Weiss had refused to answer the green-haired speedster, earning a bit of scorn from the teacher but she was otherwise left alone. Ruby on the other hand had done something interesting.

"Why did you become a Huntsman?" Ruby asked as the two watched monstrous-sized Grimm in the distance. The herd of elephant-like Grimm was bigger than even the largest super-mutant behemoths. It was what humanity should be truly fighting against.

The Courier paid rapt attention, interested in why the coffee-addicted professor was quizzing them. Probably some morality lesson from the teacher.

"Look around and tell me what you see," Oobleck responded as Six leaned over his cover. Right now, he was hiding above them in an abandoned apartment complex on the sixth floor, peering out a window. His lack of Aura meant that he wouldn't be detected unless he was seen.

"Uh…" Ruby began as her head twisted around. "Lots of old buildings? And empty streets?"

In a stern and almost sorrowful tone, the professor replied, "I see lives that could have been saved."

Six felt something stir in him as the older man continued, "as a Huntsman, it is my job to protect people. And although I am capable of doing it with traditional weaponry. I believe I can make a much larger impact if I do it with my mind."

The teacher led Ruby back to her teammates as the lesson continued. Six was forced to navigate from room to room just to stay within earshot. "As a teacher I am able to take knowledge, the most powerful weapon of them all, and place it into the hands of every student that passes through my classroom."

It was… A nice sentiment. One that if every person shared, the world would be a peaceful place. Unfortunately, the world they lived in was not a perfect one, otherwise men like Six wouldn't exist.

"I look at this wasteland and I see lives that could have been saved. But I also see an opportunity. An opportunity to look at these ruins and learn from this tragedy. And therefore become stronger."

Oobleck's voice carried with it conviction and emotion. A voice from a man that was a Huntsman because "there is nothing else in this world I would rather be." Oobleck's own words.

There was a newfound respect Six had for the hyperactive man. Most people in both Remnant and the Wasteland couldn't compare their motivations to that. And if nothing else, Six resonated with it. Even if he wasn't a Huntsman.

The Courier had always been driven to do better. To do his job with utmost care and dedication. To help people whenever he could. Hearing someone share that sentiment was refreshing.

Six tailed the duo to another destroyed apartment complex. One that the team had taken up residence in; building a fire in one of the destroyed rooms.

Deciding to keep an eye on them, the Courier camped out in one of the rooms in the building across the street from them and made a call.

"Overlord, this is… Mimic… Come in, over." Six got out, doing his best to not sound awkward at calling himself the Mimic.

There were a few moments of silence before his radio crackled to life and a snide voice replied, "hello hello! Overlord here, go ahead." The conman had no decorum.

"I have a student team from Beacon with a professor roughly a mile southeast of your position, break."

"Break?" Roman replied.

Right, they didn't know military codes. Hell, most people in the Wastes didn't know them anymore.

He ignored Roman's lack of knowledge about prowords and continued, "it's Team RWBY with professor Oobleck, Little Red if you remember, over." It was best to conform to their standards.

A clicking noise came from the radio before the conman responded, "keep an eye on them. Let me know if they start getting close."

"Roger that, Mimic out." Six finished as he turned back towards the Huntresses-in-training.

The group settled in for sleep and idle chatter. And given Six's lack of direct line-of-sight, he wouldn't be hearing what they said.

---

Yang wasn't one to think about things too much. She was a more go-with-the-flow kinda gal. Why worry about things she couldn't control, right?

But ever since she had come to Beacon, she had been forced to confront things she really didn't want to. Ruby being put in danger, her partner having way more baggage than she thought, and fighting actual people.

That last one still really bugged her. The White Fang definitely weren't the good guys but how many of them had she seen die without a hint of mercy? How long until they were put in a position like that? How long until they were going to have to either kill or be killed?

The thought made her shudder as she stared up at the grey concrete ceiling they were resting in. The blonde turned her head to the side and let her gaze rest on her sister standing guard. How long until Ruby was forced to make a decision like that?

Yang's gaze settled on the fire as she asked, "Blake, are you awake?"

"Yeah."

"Why do you think he asked about why we wanted to be Huntresses?" She asked, feeling uncertainty well up inside her.

Yang knew, she just knew, that a boring office life wasn't for her. She couldn't imagine a more hellish existence than filing documents and writing reports. There were sights to be seen, battles to fight, and adventures to be had!

But what if those adventures put her friends in danger? Her sister? What if those adventures were of bloodshed and murder? Yang supposed, to a degree, that she had romanticized the whole Huntress business.

"Who cares?" Blake answered in an almost dejected tone. It worried Yang.

While her partner had never been super outgoing, she had become more of a recluse. Thankfully, she had taken their advice and gotten more sleep. Her obsession having turned to more of a determined search. But it was still making her stand-offish.

Blake just didn't really care to talk about anything that wasn't her goal. And Yang assumed part of that was because…

"Of course we care, we're Huntresses in training. We need to keep trying to improve, always." That was Weiss who had also gone through a change recently. That was probably why her tone was less accusatory and more concerned.

The Ice Queen was less icy nowadays. The blonde wasn't sure why but whatever happened at the White Fang base before seemed to change the both of them. And they both seemed more driven too.

"Then why didn't you answer him?" Blake shot back. The Faunus was in her bedroll and turned on her side away from them. Again, another distancing tactic.

But her words earned silence from Weiss who also leaned back in her bedroll.

"To be honest… I'm not sure…"

That finally earned a glance from Blake who turned over to face Weiss. "About?"

"I think I was running away at first? Or trying to redeem my family name?" Her teammate continued as a pensive expression crossed her face.

The white-themed girl raised her hand into the air and stared at it as she explained, "I was scared of what was about to happen at S.D.C. Scared of facing my family. Scared of ending up like my father. Scared of facing my father's…" Weiss trailed off as her arm dropped back down. "I guess Beacon seemed like a good way to get away from it all. To start new."

Blake's eyes glanced at Weiss and then away and Yang couldn't help but feel supremely awkward. This wasn't the conversation Yang wanted but somehow she started it.

"But now? I guess it's for a couple reasons? I want to know what's happening with the White Fang, I want to stop the Mimic and understand why he's like that, but I think most importantly…"

Weiss sat up and turned to them before continuing, "it's the right thing to do. Helping people is all the reason I need to be a Huntress now. Everything I want is second to that."

That stirred Yang's memory of a certain someone.

"You and Ruby will get along great then. She's wanted to be a Huntress for as long as I can remember."

But even as Yang spoke, she could see the thoughtful expression on Blake's face. It was obvious they weren't going to get an answer from the Faunus but maybe they made her think.

Either way, it was late and they were going to be out and about all day tomorrow fighting Grimm. It was time to pack in.

---

Spying wasn't as exciting as people made it out to be; both at Beacon and where he was at. It was a lot of waiting around for someone to do something exciting or drop a tidbit of information. And so far, other than when Ruby panned her rifle across the landscape and he ducked back into cover, nothing of note happened.

All he had to entertain himself was the idle conversations of the students. And he couldn't even get the full picture since they were so far away.

It was dark out now. The only light nearby was that of the campfire the girls had set up. And Six couldn't risk a fire himself so he had to deal with the nippy early-Spring air. It was more of an inconvenience than anything else.

"Zwei, Zwei!"

It was two in the morning, what was Ruby doing up?

Six stood before grabbing the top of a window and leaning out of it. The cool wind blew past him as he tracked a girl in red moving Northwest, straight towards…

"Overlord, this is Mimic, over."

Silence was Six's reply as he darted from his room to the northern side of the building. "702" was the apartment's number that he kicked the hinges off of to get inside.

As he made his way over to the window of the apartment, his radio crackled to life. "Mimic," Roman began before letting out a piercing yawn. "This is Overlord, go ahead."

"Red from the team has broken off and is heading towards the base, break. You don't have anyone out on patrol do you? Because the dog looks like it's following something, over."

Six glanced out the window to spot Ruby darting down the street before hooking a right around another building. Fuck, she was out of sight again and damn fast.

"Shit, we do. Keep an eye on her and I'll radio for everyone to come back."

Well, that answered that. Though, if that dog could pick them up, why hadn't it sensed him?

The Courier darted from his room and down another hall. This time, "756" was open for him to enter, granting him access to the windows on the West side of the building.

Leaning out another window gave him a view of the street Ruby had run North on. From here he could see a small blur a block and a half down. Six raised his rifle and aimed down the scope to see the girl following a pair of White Fang grunts that were going back to their base. Maybe this was actually beneficial to Six's plans.

And then the unsteady ground beneath Ruby gave way and she fell. A massive hole formed under her without warning and she disappeared into the dark with nothing more than a whimper. The two guards turned to the noise but didn't raise an alarm. After all, Mount Glenn was an ancient and abandoned city, it wasn't unusual for the streets to give out to the city below.

That was bad news for Ruby. But maybe if he used that and called the rest of team RWBY in, it would actually be beneficial to his plan. Six took a moment to collect himself and think of his next course of action. How was he going to get team RWBY involved?

A black and white blur darted down the road back towards Six before making a bee-line back towards the apartment building that the rest of the team was staying at.

Right, Zwei would solve any problems about getting team RWBY involved. This meant that Six was free to go do his job and hopefully keep Ruby from getting killed.

The Courier leaned out of the seventh-story window before materializing his power fist and aiming it toward the floor above him. With a twist of his wrist, the grapple line shot out and dug into the story above him.

Six rappeled quickly down the building. He needed to beat the rest of the team to the hole and stop anyone from trying to kill the teenager.

A thud sounded from the Courier's landing before he let the small motor inside his gauntlet reel the line back in. He then turned and jogged down the street toward where Ruby fell.

It was only as he neared the hole did he realize its size. The thing was nearly 20 feet in diameter and he could only barely make out the ground below. It was a long fall and Six needed to get down there quickly.

The Courier paused as he noticed a small red object next to said hole. A red transforming scythe, Crescent Rose if Six recalled. It was currently in its compact state, looking similar to a small rectangular box. So, Ruby was alone and disarmed. And given the general attitude of the academy students, she likely knew no CQC than the little he'd shown her. Beacon education at its finest.

Alright, time to get team RWBY over to his position a little faster.

Six picked up the box-like object and held it away from himself before flipping the safety latch and extending it to its rifle form. When the boxy red exterior extended forward, it revealed the thin black pole-like interior, extending into its rifle form.

It was a bit boxy and overly large but Six supposed it needed to be for what it transformed into. Its weight and design in rifle form was anti-ergonomic, especially with its weight. Six was surprised that it was a fairly hefty weapon but considering its size and that its wielder was an Aura user, he supposed it needed to be.

The Courier shot a few rounds into one of the nearby buildings, signaling the rest of her team to where she fell, before gently placing the weapon on the ground.

The almost nonexistent recoil was another added benefit of both Dust rounds and the gun's weight. Since Dust rounds didn't hit with the same velocity and force, it meant that the recoil was also far less. Combine that with its heavier weight and Six hardly felt the recoil.

It was only then that Six glanced at his compass and noted a red pip. His eyes widened momentarily before turning sharply to his right and up.

On top of a building, Six spotted something dart back and into cover as he turned. It was black and hard to make out from this distance. But Six could almost guarantee it was a Grimm.

As much as he was worried about it, now wasn't the time to investigate random Grimm. Right now he needed to get down the hole.

Six shot the grappling hook of his gauntlet into the street before lunging over the side and descending downward. He again kept a fast pace as her team likely wasn't far behind him; his feet hitting the stony surface before ricocheting off and plummeting further down.

This didn't last long until he was at the bottom of the hole which opened up into the underground part of Mount Glenn. He could see the entire underground city from this height as he let his Gauntlet retrieve the cord, falling the last dozen feet to the ground.

Landing on the rooftop of one of the dilapidated buildings, Six turned to spot Ruby. A White Fang grunt currently had a hand wrapped around her wrist and Six internally cringed when she threw a punch only for it to land harmlessly against the man's chest. It looked like a couple grunts got to her first.

In turn the soldier backhanded her and Ruby fell to the ground in pain.

That… That was all it took?! They had Aura, enhancing both their endurance and strength. And all she could do was be a damsel in distress? He was going to grill CQC into the girl when they got back to Beacon.

"Are you serious Ruby?" Six muttered under his breath as he approached. Pausing for a moment as he noticed that Ruby's Aura flared. Perhaps she had been hurt in the fall? That alleviated Six's anger slightly.

One of the soldiers turned to him before scoffing. "I see you weren't doing your job."

Six's gaze snapped to the Faunus before he spat back, "don't point fingers at me when your people led her here! Now restrain her and let's get her to Overlord."

The Faunus scowled but didn't say anything else as he and his accomplice picked Ruby up by her arms. The Courier turned and radioed Roman.

"Overlord, Mimic here."

"Well, well, well, how are our uninvited guests doing?"

Six rolled his eyes at Roman's wording before responding, "Red fell down a hole and into our area. White Fang got her already, bringing her to you, over."

There was a moment of silence from the other end. Then a sigh echoed from the radio before Roman replied, "fine, bring her here."

Six turned and saw red for a moment as one of the White Fang grunts moved to kick Ruby's head. "Stop!" Six hissed as he stomped over to the grunt. "Or I'll be going back to Roman alone."

He didn't wait for the guard's reply but he did see the man glare at him from behind his mask. Not that it bothered Six.

Hefting up Ruby by her hood, Six dragged the girl back towards their base.

---

"Perry!" Roman called out as Six approached with White Fang grunts in tow. "Where are we with the explosives? We're moving the schedule forward, not relaxing like Beacon students on vacation!" He was currently leaning out of one of the boxcars for the train, holding onto the door's handle to keep himself from falling.

"The first half have been loaded onto separate railcars!" An average-looking Faunus said as he moved down the tunnel towards Roman. Being in the openly large tunnel felt strange compared to Vault-Tec Vaults. Too Open…

The Faunus, Perry, was again average looking. Well, Six assumed so since he was an average build and wore the same identical outfit as his brethren. It was hard to tell with the masks. The only unique feature was that he was wearing glasses over his mask. Strange, but given the world Six was in, he would take strange to absurd.

Dropping off Ruby in front of the group, Six hoped he wouldn't have to step in. From what Six knew, the conman wasn't keen on child murder. And even if he was, his showmanship would likely give Ruby enough time for her teammates to arrive. And if either of those proved untrue, well, he could tell Cinder whatever he wanted if everyone was dead.

The Huntress-in-training tried to jump to her feet as soon as she was let go but was met by Roman's cane as he hopped down to her. He pushed her back down to the ground with a grin.

"Now this is rich. I finally got the drop on you and not the other way around." The conman's taunt was accompanied by one of his signature shit-eating grins.

The girl lunged back up again and tried to throw a fist in Roman's direction, only for the conman to sidestep and trip the girl with his cane. This caused Ruby to fall and land face first, coughing and sputtering.

"Oh man, I really needed this," Roman continued as he took a step towards Ruby before lighting a cigar. "Without your oversized gardening tool, you're much easier to handle." He then crouched down before blowing smoke in the girl's face.

Ruby coughed as she breathed in the smoke before glaring up at him.

In a show of defiance, Ruby activated her Semblance and darted around Roman at inhuman speeds. Unfortunately for her, Six was ready for such attempts.

Activating VATS Six took his time angling his shot at the fleeing form of Ruby. By the time she realized the Mimic was aiming his revolver at her, he had already shot her, causing the girl to tumble to the ground.

Her Aura flared again, cracking in several places but just barely holding. One more shot would likely shatter her Aura.

"Alright, someone tie her up, and get the rest of those bombs onboard! The girl's coming with us!" Roman called out as he stepped towards Six.

Perry and a few other goons moved to Ruby and tied the girl up as the conman spoke with Six. "I want us out of here by the hour. She's never far from her friends and I don't want them tarnishing my beautiful endeavor here."

But unfortunately for Roman, speak of the Devil and he shall appear. Before Six could respond, an explosion rang out from further in the city.

And Roman's face turned to one of pure disgust and irritation at the sight.

"Well, looks like the easy gig has turned sour. Alright everyone, attach the newest car and get on board. Anyone not on when it starts moving is getting left behind!"

As the conman called out his newest order, he turned and headed for the engine of the train, before turning back to Six. "And you, take the girl, get on the train, and keep those pains off my back! I'm going to find Neo…"

The Courier nodded back before turning to see the light show.

Explosions rocked the area from the projectiles being launched by Yang's gauntlets and Oobleck's staff. Six didn't have all the specs of the professor's weapon but it appeared to be a staff that could shoot projectiles? It looked oddly like his black thermos extended. No, it was his thermos extended. That was incredibly dumb, so stupid, but Six still wanted it. All the utility of a thermos and weapon in one.

But he could ruminate on acquiring it later.

Six picked the youngest member of team Ruby up by her collar before jogging over to the train.

"Put me down!"

Oh, that was new. It was the first time she had spoken since being captured. Not that Six had tried starting a conversation with her. Still, she was struggling harder now, maybe she had renewed hope from her friends?

He didn't bother to talk to her now either.

The Courier made sure to get into the caboose of the train. Though it was less of a caboose–since it had no rear engine–and more of just a rear car. He needed to as the plan was evolving.

Team RWBY's early intervention was vital to his plan now. With the majority of the White Fang distracted, he'd move from car to car, find each bomb, and disable them. Perry said that half were ready which meant five were currently on the train. He'd need to move quickly to-

"You don't need to do this, just let me go!"

Right, his newfound charge.

The train's horn blared out as the wheels began turning. It lurched forward for a moment, moving from its stopped position, before slowly gaining speed. A few other White Fang members jumped into the boxcar with him

Six glanced around, finding no explosives in this room.

"I'm heading forward to get some distance for my rifle, head for the front and make sure not to stay in cars with explosives." Six ordered as he made his way over to a large set of metal sliding doors. It was better to keep his end of the bargain up for Adam. Or at least, try his best to.

Pressing the button next to it, the doors hissed open to reveal a small tunnel only a few feet long. The white plastic covering served to keep the wind down as one passed from one boxcar to the next.

Six opened the next door and stepped into an empty room. He quickly scanned it before realizing there were no bombs in it. Cursing under his breath, Six darted to the next car.

Only to find no bomb there either. What the Hell, where were they?

Most of the White Fang lackeys followed after Six as Ruby piped up, "you don't need to do this! You're just going to hurt innocent people." With her hands and feet bound, all she could do was try to convince them to stop.

The train had picked up decent speed now and Six and his entourage entered the next car. Another fucking empty room! Each of the boxcars was roughly a hundred feet long and fairly wide, and Six knew he hadn't missed any. They didn't put them all in one car, did they?

The group passed by more than a few White Fang and their equipment. Even passing a few paladins as they continued. It would slow the Huntsman and Huntresses down but no way would it stop them.

"Shut it, you don't know what needs to be done. You grew up safe inside the walls, got to go to Beacon and be a Huntress. Do you think any of us got that chance?"

Six turned to spot Perry scolding Ruby. He didn't really like the way he was talking down to her but he didn't have time to worry about hurt feelings.

"But that doesn't mean you can hurt innocent people!"

"Innocent?" Perry replied as Six opened the door to the next car. "They get to stand by and watch as we're spat on. Watch as small towns and Faunus communities are butchered by Grimm. All while feeling safe and cozy."

That was more an argument against citizens inside the cities than humans but Six digressed. Another room with only more White Fang. And the towering frame of a Paladin as well. The Grey mech painted with a white animal skull loomed in the room as an explosion rocked the train. It looked like the rest of team RWBY arrived.

"That doesn't mean you get to hurt people that are just living their lives!"

"Either get upstairs and fight or get to the front of the train!" Six ordered as he ran for the sixth car. He was missing something big here. If only he had been monitoring them as they put the bombs in instead of stalking team RWBY, he'd know exactly where the bombs were at.

The glasses-wearing Faunus scoffed, "and what would you know? You grew up with a nice safe family, going to Beacon, being a Huntress. You've never lived down in the shit with the rest of us."

Another empty car and Six's frustration grew. He was halfway to the front car and not a single bomb was evident. Maybe they weren't hiding them inside? Either that or they really were all condensed in one car.

"But-"

"Both of you, quiet!" Six hissed back as they entered the seventh boxcar. Still no bomb but there was something else…

Trains aren't quiet, and Six had only ever been on one functioning train before, but he didn't remember loud scratching noises being normal. Or that they were supposed to come from the side of the train. Like metal grinding against metal that certainly didn't come from the wheels.

"What is that?" One of the random grunts around Six asked.

He didn't bother answering the redundant question and instead sprinted for the next door. This time when the door opened, he took his knife and dug into the protective covering of the tunnel to the next car.

Once he made himself a nice human-sized hole, he dragged Ruby through it. On the other side was the train's exterior and howling wind.

By now the train was at full speed and large concrete pillars blurred past Six as he steadied himself against the howling wind. Next to him, a ladder leading up would take him to the top of the train.

It was a bit awkward with a squirming Ruby and one arm but Six was able to get to the top and drag RWBY onto the roof of the train.

"Hey, be more careful, that hurts!" Ruby chastised as her back was dragged against the metal of the train. Children, not Six's forte.

The Courier glanced down towards the back of the train as the familiar sight of the rest of team RWBY barreled towards him. They were still on top of the first few cars as a swarm of White Fang members were trying to stop them. Even a couple paladins had been deployed to slow them down.

And Six wasn't too surprised that they were getting their asses handed to them. Each grunt that ran up was instantly defeated by the group which caused Six to let out a sigh as he finally climbed up with Ruby.

It wasn't until he was standing up, leaning against the wind to not fall over with his duster billowing, that he saw something that made his blood boil.

Two of the rear cars decoupled from the rest of the train as the enemy Huntresses advanced. After a few seconds, the railcar exploded and sent up a shower of debris behind the train. Since when had the plan been to detach parts of the train?!

Well, that was one bomb down. But holy shit, Six hoped that no Faunus were on that part of the train when it was detached. And since Roman hadn't said he was going to detach the railcars, fuck, there were totally Faunus on that part of the train…

"Attention all White Fang, any of you in the rear cars need to move to the front now! We are detaching any rear cars not needed for the plan, if you're on them, you're left behind!"

As Six shouted into his radio, he turned his attention back to the advancing team. If that was one bomb down, it meant he missed it. And if it wasn't inside, then it was attached somewhere on the outside of the train.

Glancing around, Six spotted a small hatch on top of the train. Lifting it, he found a small compartment with nothing inside. But it was the perfect size for hiding one of the Burn Dust IEDs in. He should get to the front of the train and check the remaining railcars. If he could disarm all but one of the ones up front, Roman would likely detach the rest, doing the Courier's job for him.

Eyeing the Huntress team and professor, Six noted they were down a few members now. Where had the students gone? Only the professor and the dog were left on the top of the train.

Which–much to Six's bewilderment–was all they seemed to need as the professor took his thermos-weapon and extended it. The dog with him seemed to understand some greater plan as it jumped into the air in front of the professor and… And…

For just a few moments the world stopped being real in Six's mind. He was in a cartoon. A piece of fiction; and he just didn't know it until now.

Because the dog turned into a literal fireball as professor Oobleck smacked him like a baseball, causing the canine to rocket forward into the nearest Paladin and knock the machine of war entirely off the train. It tumbled and screeched against the ground and off into the distance.

"That's… What's wrong with that dog?" Six commented to himself as he wished Rex had been able to do that in the Wasteland.

"What?" Ruby questioned from the ground below her. "Animals can unlock Auras too with the help of a human."

That… Was… Stupid! So incredibly stupid and irresponsible! Zwei was a smart dog sure but unlocking an Aura for an animal? Forget getting mauled by a dog, try not to become paste when it tries to tackle you and lick your face!

Looking back, Six noted the professor was only a few cars down from him now so he needed to move faster. The rest of the students were below him so Six hoped the White Fang would slow them down.

"W-What about the White Fang back there?" Ruby questioned as Six ran. Turning his head, the Courier did note the knocked out White Fang on the rear cars. While it appeared Ruby felt a little bad for the grunts, the professor did not. While Six didn't enjoy it, he understood Oobleck. If it was kill or be killed, Six would choose himself over the enemy every time. Maybe that was why the professor had sent the rest of team RWBY inside too.

"Don't think about it," Six ordered as he continued jogging. That scraping sound on the side of the train was louder now. Turning to his left, Six moved over as the scraping sound traveled further up the train towards the engine.

Glancing over the side, he spotted a dark black mass disappearing to the underside of the train. That had to be a Grimm of some kind. An unnatural one given it could fit under the tiny space between the train and the tracks.

The Courier moved, grabbing Ruby as he did, and jumped over the gap between the two cars. He was on the eighth car now; there were another ten until he reached the front.

He searched the hatch of this one but didn't find any bombs. He turned back to spot the professor still only a few cars behind him. But a fresh batch of White Fang grunts were moving to intercept.

Six didn't feel great about leaving these men to their deaths as even the ones that were just knocked out would be left behind on the railcars. But right now, he couldn't do anything about it but press forward.

On the ninth car, he finally found another bomb as another explosion rocked the tunnel. Turning back, Six saw that Oobleck was actually catching up as he was currently on the seventh car.

With two bombs having been disposed of and Six sitting on the third, he did a little mental math. The sixth car had been detached and exploded, he was on the ninth, and he was also willing to bet the first bomb was on the third car. With eighteen railcars total, that left twelve and fifteen with ones having bombs left.

As he got up to move, the Courier noted one last crinkle in his plan. One he should have foreseen. A swarm of Grimm was now following the train. It appeared that the detached bombs had opened holes in the tunnel for Grimm to enter and follow.

Shit, he didn't have time to handle any of these issues right now!

"Wow, that's a lot of Grimm," Ruby commented, earning her a good slap on the head as she shouted, "hey, that hurts!"

Six sprinted with the girl down another three cars before opening the hatch and seeing another bomb. He was right, number twelve also had a bomb. Which meant that he needed to protect fifteen for the plan to go off the way he wanted it to.

Sprinting another three cars, he opened the hatch to see the last bomb before closing it. That was all of them accounted for.

Turning back, Six could see that the professor had made some ground as he was currently sitting on car eleven.

"To all White Fang personnel, fall back to railcar…" Six glanced over the side of the train while talking into his radio. "D-4. We'll defend the position here and not sacrifice anyone else."

"How can you do this, innocent people are going to get hurt!" Ruby shouted over the wind before being dropped by Six with a small 'oof.'

Turning to her, Six sneered, "don't lecture me. How many people do you think your precious professor just sent to their deaths by leaving them on those rear cars. A few dozen? More?"

"But… But he was defending himself and us, he-he… I! We…" Ruby's protests seemed to die in her throat as she tried to find the right words. But they never came.

Raising his rifle, Six saw the professor lean out of the attack of one grunt before retaliating with a blow to the gut strong enough to send the man over the side of the train.

"Everyone has a good reason, doesn't mean shit when you're the one dying." As Six replied, he depressed the trigger, firing a large caliber dust round at the professor. As expected, the man merely deflected the bullet with his thermos-turned-staff.

All he had to do was buy time. From what he saw of the train routes, this trip would last maybe another ten or fifteen minutes tops.

Chambering a Burn round, Six fired again and when Oobleck deflected the bullet, it exploded on him. The professor's hat went flying and the man skidded back a few feet. This didn't stop the dog that darted forward in a zigzag pattern. It was smart enough to try and throw off his aim.

But that wasn't enough to stop Six. As the dog hopped onto the twelfth car, he fired another round which hit the dog's center mass and sent it flying back. Right into the arms of Oobleck who was also jumping onto the twelfth car.

But as the professor landed, it appeared Roman decided to detach the twelfth car. Good news, all of the White Fang on the roof had fallen back to his railcar by now so no one else would be left behind. Bad news, this made Oobleck double-time it.

The Courier didn't fire, waiting for the professor to make it to the next car. His plan didn't involve getting the professor killed.

That being said, as soon as the Beacon teacher landed on the thirteenth car–and with his arms preoccupied with Zwei, a round collided with the man's head, stunning him for a moment.

One more car and the professor would be too close to shoot with his rifle. Activating VATS, the wind became almost muted as time dilated for the Courier. He chose to fire five rounds in quick succession. One for each limb, and one center mass.

In the blink of an eye, five rounds were fired, with only three of them being deflected by the professor.

Both of the teacher's legs buckled as he fell and dropped Zwei, who tumbled forward before rolling and sprinting at Six.

"Si-Mimic I need help! Car sixteen!" That was Roman's voice that crackled over his radio. Wait, if he wasn't manning the train's controls, who was detaching the cars?

He needed to make a decision. Abandon the bomb and risk angering Cinder with a failed plan, or save Roman from his own possible death. The choice was simple.

"Stay on this railcar," Six ordered his minions. "We won't be detaching this one. If the Huntsman gets you, just stay down. There's no use dying right now."

Some of the grunts around him gave the Courier a curious glance. But it was only the familiar mask of a glasses-wearing Faunus that replied. "We'll take care of him, go save the idiot."

Perry may be a delusional tool but at least he was a man who could stick to the mission.

"Not again," Ruby groaned as the Courier grabbed her by the scruff of her hood and dragged her to the next railcar.

Things were happening quickly, almost too quickly for Six to keep up with. Team RWBY's interference, the bombs eluding him for a bit, the Grimm horde following them, and now Roman asking for assistance. There were a lot of variables to keep track of.

Hopping down with a screaming Ruby, Six opened the door to the sixteenth railcar to find Roman on his back and Blake quickly descending on him.

He stepped into the room and whistled a low tune. The girl's ears twitched under her bow before she turned to face him; eyes dilating at the sight of him.

This was a good chance to both save Roman and get rid of Ruby. But he needed to do it fast, there was no way the White Fang grunts upstairs would hold Oobleck off for long.

Blake stepped towards him before raising Gambol Shroud and glaring. It was clear what she was implying. Hurt Ruby and she would hurt him.

"The girl is safe, for the moment," Six called out as he glanced towards Roman. The man's Aura flickered, a sign it was weakening. The orange color reminded Six of a candle… Right, Remnant and its color naming conventions.

Looking back up to Blake, he continued, "and if you want her to stay that way, I propose an exchange."

"Don't listen to him Blake, he's a con artist, a scoundrel, a-ow!" Ruby's interjection earned her another bop on the head.

"You send Roman on his way over here, and I toss the girl over to you." This was the best deal he could offer. It would get both girls closer to safety and also get Ruby out of his hair. All while ensuring Roman's safety.

Blake glanced at Ruby and then at the man behind her. She looked to be deciding for a few moments before sighing.

"Fine… Get over there." The Faunus waved Roman towards Six as she spoke, earning a large shit-eating grin from the human as he got to his feet and brushed himself off.

As the conman began walking, Blake's gun trained at his back, Six pulled his arm back before tossing Ruby forward.

"Aaaah!" She called out as she sailed through the air. Ruby was lucky she was so light or Six wouldn't have been able to get her most of the way to Blake.

Roman stepped beside Six as the two saw Blake cut the restraints around her friend's wrists and ankles.

"Why did you let us go last time?" The Faunus questioned as she rose to her feet.

"Last time?" Roman questioned while glancing at the Courier.

The girl's look grew indignant as she explained, "at the base, with Adam. You could've killed us or let him kill us. Why did you let us go?"

"Everyone always has so many questions for me nowadays," the Courier replied before sighing. "They never think to ask the right questions though."

"Like wha-" Ruby was cut off as a metallic clang rang out and both Roman and the Courier were forced to move out of the way as a white blur shot into the room.

Her white heels almost caused Weiss to trip as she skidded back into their railcar on her toes but a quick stab of her rapier into the floor stopped that from happening.

Taking a quick glance at her, the sweat on her brow and her labored breathing showed that the W of team RWBY was tired but not beaten. She rose to her feet and wiped the sweat away as a new sound entered the railcar. That of a revving chainsaw.

Six could almost feel the killing intent coming off the White Fang lieutenant as he entered the room. The burly and tall man had a custom-designed White Fang mask. White color with red trimming along the eyes of the mask gave the Faunus the same anonymity as his cohorts but with flair.

"Where're ya going, Schnee girl? We're not done yet." The Lieutenant announced as he revved the chainsaw in his hands. Though it was anything but a normal chainsaw. The grey lifeless color covered the whole of the base which had the standard chainsaw design. However, the blade was roughly five to six feet long, double that of a normal one. Almost as tall as the Courier. It was a weapon meant to rend flesh, not trees.

A black tattoo snaked around the officer's left arm in a slick design, almost looking like waves. And seemed to ripple like them too whenever the man tensed his muscles.

"No, you need to head upstairs, protect the bomb," Roman ordered as he turned to the kids. "We've only got a bit longer until we're at the target."

Ten minutes at most if Six was keeping track of time right. But Roman's order didn't sit well with the Lieutenant. "We've got another Schnee on the chopping block. I'm not letting her go."

Six turned to the man as he pointed up at the ceiling and said, "you care more about killing some little girl than your own men that are currently dying upstairs? Typical White Fang attitude."

He turned away, not deigning to let the Faunus have a reply.

"You can't trick me," the burly man replied in that same guttural tone. Like the rumble of a large engine, or maybe a chainsaw.

"But you're still going, aren't you?"

The Lieutenant sighed before turning and heading for the door. "We'll meet again Weiss Schnee."

Once the burly man left, Six turned to the kids. "Alright, get out of here. Go help your professor."

This earned confused stares from both the teenagers and Roman.

"You're just letting us go… Again?" Weiss questioned as she took a step back.

"You know she raises a very good point, why would we do that?" Roman followed up her question with his own, stamping his cane on the ground in annoyance.

"Because in eight minutes, if we're still fighting, we'll all be dead." Six deadpanned as he remained cautious, one hand near his revolver. "We're going to ram into a thick concrete wall going incredibly fast, then we're going to punch through the ground into Vale, and explode."

"Blake might be okay but Roman and you two won't be judging from your Aura levels. So I'd suggest hunkering down somewhere when we do."

A loud screech came from the side of the train.

"And because I think that scratching noise is a Grimm that made its way onto the train." The Courier sighed before continuing, "listen, take my deal or I'll have to kill you, simple as that."

The girls–although skeptical–didn't need to be told twice. They turned on their heels and headed for the door. And as soon as they were out of the room, Roman turned and exploded.

"What was that?! We had them! Right there, and now they're going to ruin everything!"

Six turned and seized the man by the collar. "Roman, for once, shut the fuck up!"

This had been Six's plan. At some point during the operation, he planned to corner Roman before he was captured and convince him to work for him instead of Cinder. With the little contact Roman would have with Cinder once in custody, it would be perfect for Roman to lay low and make his decision. Six just had to convince him before he went into custody.

He shoved the conman away before taking a calming breath in. Once Roman did the same, Six continued, "I'm working against Cinder."

A serious look crossed Roman's face as he opened his mouth.

"Let me finish," Six cut the conman off. "I've gathered that she's planning to attack the Festival for the Maiden and her powers, maybe even the artifact under Beacon. I even know that she's going to get you captured here in some plan to scare people during the Festival. The White Fang and Grimm will provide a distraction so she can ransack Beacon. I also know that she's going to hijack the controls for the androids and airships using Queen's Gambit."

For once, the conman looked stunned. He looked like he was completely caught off balance by having his own plan told to him.

"Now, I'm going to tell you what she doesn't know." The Courier grinned under his mask as he continued, "I've made a deal with Adam to exchange information with him and take down Cinder. He even agreed to stay out of my way when I enact my plan."

Six raised his hand towards Beacon as he explained, "I have remote access to the majority of Vale's systems. Cameras, Scrolls, security, you name it. And I even have a small army ready to go at my command."

"Why are you telling me this?" Roman asked while narrowing his eyes. The raised brow and bewildered expression was one of stunned disbelief. Though it was quickly giving way to scheming.

Six leaned forward and put out his hands towards his supposed boss. "Because I see a chance to turn her plan on its head. To use it to take Ozpin, Ironwood, the Council, and her out of the picture. And I see a place for you in that."

A perplexed look donned the conman's face as he blinked rapidly.

"I… I don't understand. How could you have done-"

"The how doesn't matter!" Six shouted as they were quickly running out of time. "I'm in a position of power to take her down. A position she doesn't even know about."

A single chuckle escaped Six as he glanced and leaned back, only to then look back and hold a hand towards Roman. "Unless you think she's really going to keep her end of the deal. Trust me, she won't have a use for you after this. And you and I both know what happens to pawns that have served their purpose."

"But I can give you everything!" The Courier once again shouted as he raised his arms. "With all of them out of the way, you can have a position at my side."

"Your side? What side is that? I don't even know what you want!" Roman's argument was valid but Six just didn't have the time to explain.

"I want stability for Vale, I want to be the one in charge, to not sit on my ass like Ozpin."

"And you have the strength and right to do that?" Roman questioned as a knowing look finally settled on his face. "How long? How long have you been planning this? To take over Vale, the Council, kill Cinder?"

"Shortly before you sent me to Beacon I was making preparations for it. Though I didn't have the full picture until a month or two ago. Come on Roman, you know this is better than whatever she has planned."

The Courier turned and gestured all around him as he continued, "if Cinder had her way, this entire city would be burnt to the ground. What profits are there from that? What future for you and I is there in that?"

"And what about the Council, you're just going to override them?"

Six turned to Roman with a scoff. "You think the people voted for a Council that couldn't protect them? Were terrorists and death their vote? Did they vote for screams?"

Roman again stepped back in surprise. "I didn't realize you felt this strongly… About anything."

"Of course you didn't, that's the point! I kept my cards close to my chest until now. That's why Cinder doesn't know anything, and why she's going to die."

"So, what do you need from me? That's where this is going right?" Roman asked as he composed himself, straightening his suit in a show of calmness.

Pointing a finger at the conman, "I need you for three things. First, I need to know how she plans to take over the androids and airships. Then, I want you to inform me of anything she plans to do. And finally, when it's all said and done, help me rule Vale."

Now composed, Roman took a moment to formulate his answer. It looked like the conman now understood what was at stake here. What the Courier was asking of him and what he'd get in return.

"Rule Vale in what capacity?" There it was, the conman's greed. Something that could even override his fear.

Six gestured towards Roman as he replied, "you'd run whatever you wanted to run. Financials, people, your own section of the city. I need a charismatic and smart man to help me run things when the time comes. Imagine…" Six stepped towards the conman. "Imagine finally being the one in charge. You're no longer on the run. You decide what is legal and what isn't."

"I-I can't promise anything yet. I need to think, I need to…" As Roman trailed off, the thought to execute him then and there crossed Six's mind.

The conman now knew a great deal of his plan. Maybe not all the specifics but enough to do damage. But if he did accept, if he sided with Six, the Courier would have everything he needed to take Cinder down.

"There's something else. Something even you don't know about Cinder. She didn't come up with this stupid plan. Someone named Salem is the true puppeteer. Which makes you a puppet to a puppet."

Something crossed the Conman's face as he frowned. Was it indignation, hurt pride, anger? Six wasn't sure but he hoped it meant Roman was considering his deal.

"I…" Roman began before that same horrid screeching noise came from the side of the train again. A massive bone-like protrusion rammed through the side of the train, tearing the metal asunder. The large white spike looked similar to a tooth or perhaps a claw. Their unwanted guest had finally made its move.

That was terrible timing but Six couldn't stop whatever God above hated him.

"Roman, get to a safe place for the crash. I'll handle this!" And like the teenagers, Roman didn't need to be told twice as he ran for the nearest door.

The large claw ripped out before a row of them slammed into the side of the train and began prying it open. Six needed to not fight it inside.

Plasma grenades varied on how they were activated. Depending on when or where it was made; a plasma grenade could be activated in a number of ways. A standard pin and release, a button, but the plasma grenade in his hand was what Six would refer to as a twist.

The Courier pressed the button at the bottom of the glowing green grenade before twisting its center. It turned and the glow became brighter, indicating it was active and about to explode.

As the creature pulled away from the train again, Six activated VATS. Having already cooked it for a few seconds, the arc of the weapon would put it in perfect range for…

Green light illuminated a hole in the side of the train for only a moment before passing through. A moment later, a bright green light and an unearthly reverberating noise akin to electricity and drums mixed together happened at the same time.

A horrid screech came from the other side as the dark mass disappeared from sight. It was loud enough to shake the train and threatened to make Six's ears bleed. There was no sound Six had heard before to describe it. Like layering a wailing Brahmin's screech of fear and Yaoi Guai's roar of anger before multiplying it.

But now was his chance. Seizing the brief moment of respite, Six darted for the door, but it was only after he pressed the button that a red pip appeared on his compass. From the pitch black almost smoke-like skin he saw when the door opened, Six determined this was the Grimm from before that had hidden from him. It must have been incredibly still to fool both his senses and compa-

The Courier's world became a blur as he was yanked out from the railcar and dragged along by the Grimm. His back scraped against the train while going up, making a horrid metallic screeching noise. He could barely make out the form of the top of the train as some large creature whipped him about in the air.

Right as Six had the idea to activate VATS the monster flicked its entire body and sent Six straight at what looked like a blurry grey object. Because of the speeding train and the monster flinging him around at such speeds, he only realized it was a concrete pillar supporting the tunnel when the creature swung him into it.

Sharp and extreme pain rocked through Six's shoulder and back as he collided with the pillar. A chunk of the pillar may have shattered as he went through it but it felt like his back and shoulder had shattered as well.

After colliding, the force threw him forward and the Courier sailed through the air. For a split second of weightlessness and blurry vision caused by what was likely head trauma, Six swore he was flying through the air beside the train. On his current trajectory, he would hit the ground beside the train and be subsequently devoured by the horde of Grimm following it.

Maybe it was the likely concussion–wait, how did he get a concussion without a brain? Could he? He still felt light-headed without it and–

Something pink snaked around his arm before pulling him in towards the train. The last thing Six saw before hitting the metal of the roof was an umbrella.

---

You never know where you're going to end up in life so why worry about it? That was part of Neo's everyday philosophy. Don't worry about what you can't control and try to enjoy yourself.

It was why she made sure to enjoy everything, even her work. And why she especially enjoyed beating that blonde student into submission. The blowhards of the world needed a good beat down every now and then.

She enjoyed her partner's plan going down the drain and the danger they were all in. She enjoyed messing with her new plaything Six. She enjoyed being chased off by Raven and then being cornered with the White fang. However, she didn't like the professor that had cornered them.

"-And it is without a doubt in my mind in your best interest to surrender to me. Judging by your lack of manpower and inability to stop my students so far, I'd say your best option, again, is to surrender. And I'd rather focus on the many Grimm currently chasing the train than-"

He had been going on like that for two minutes. Neo almost dozed off a few times. He was saying something about how he doesn't want to kill them but he will so they should surrender. At some point, he had been joined by the blonde she beat the snot out of. Said blonde definitely wanted a rematch judging from those red eyes narrowing at her.

The situation wasn't helped as another group of people appeared behind her. Turning, Neo realized her group of White Fang was trapped between the red, white, and Faunus trainees behind them and the professor and the yellow one in front. What were their names again? It didn't matter.

Had they defeated Roman and Six? Did that explain the horrible screeching noise earlier? No, she couldn't imagine these kids taking them down. Her doubt was reinforced by the revving of a chainsaw as a large White Fang soldier clambered his way up and behind the professor.

A smile crept across her face at the standoff. Now this was interesting! The Lieutenant was on the far end, followed by the professor and the yellow one, then there was her and her White Fang friends, and finally the trio behind them. All on a moving train that was set to explode in the capital, quite the entertaining standoff!

She twirled her umbrella once while taking a step forward and wagging her finger at the professor. The idea of surrender was never an option. Besides, this was more fun!

The muscles in the professor's legs tensed and Neo couldn't help but let her grin widen at the prospect.

"Wait, we have another issue!" The White Fang officer tried to get out in that dull monotone voice of his. But before he could continue, a large black mass appeared from between the railcar behind him.

It looked like it had been hiding between the railcars and exploded outward at the right moment. It was fast too; almost too fast for her eyes to track. Its form was a mass of white bone spikes and small limbs as it whipped around faster than most Huntsman.

Its two bottom "arms" latched onto the train along with several spikes. The rest of its body twisted and Neo got a good look at how the fat and elongated torso shot out from the hidden space. It was at least four Romans tall, maybe five. It lacked any distinct grooves or features on its body save for the white spikes that were lined along its torso and ran from its "feet" to its "head."

Again, the feet were actually arms that led up to the torso and Neo couldn't help but feel disgusted as she saw it had no real head. Its other end was just two more arms and more spikes. It was like a black elongated blob with four arms on each end and several white spikes.

It was only after she got a good look at its entirety did she see the resemblance to a torso and ribs. The way the spikes were curved and placed on its body, they shaped inward and were lined like ribs that descended all the way down the body. Whichever end was its "up."

And taking a second glance, each rib had multiple joints and were constantly moving in a disgusting bug-like way. Constantly jittering and bending as if looking for prey. This thing gave her the image of a torso with messed up ribs.

Its tall elongated body used the train it was latched to as an anchor to whip the top half of its body around at insane speeds. And attached to the other end of it was her mysterious dark and brooding coworker!

In one snap of its ugly, disgusting, bug-gross-back, the Grimm launched itself forward and slammed Six into a pillar. The concrete exploded outwards and showered everyone on the train before the rest of the pillar collapsed.

Her coworker was launched out of the Grimm's grasp and through the air, straight toward the ground. Since he didn't have an Aura, if that bodily harm didn't kill him, the Grimm chasing after their train would. Unacceptable! No one kills her playthings but her!

Stepping to the side of the train, Neo casually reached out the hooked end of her Umbrella around the falling man's arm before dragging him onto the train. His helmeted head met the train's roof and made a horrendous clanging noise.

Neo grimaced at the sight. Whoops, it wasn't on purpose at least. And despite not moving, his chest was still rising and falling so he wasn't dead.

Everyone turned to the large Grimm currently towering over them. No Grimm that looked like this had ever been reported before. Was it some new breed? Maybe a unique older Grimm they had awoken with their fight in the tunnel?

Not that it mattered when it lurched forward and slammed the rest of its body onto the train. The three nearest to it–the lieutenant, blond, and professor–jumped back and to the train's edges to not be squished under it.

It began scuttling forward, ignoring the three at its sides, though its rib-like appendages creaked and snapped at them while passing.

On what Neo presumed to be instinct, the three reared their weapons back before attacking the creature. It didn't react. The fire from the professor's weapon and the chainsaw digging into its side didn't phase it.

Their attacks did earn them a few of the rib-like appendages snapping backward at an uncomfortable angle and lashing out. The chatterbox Huntsman leaned out of the attack and almost fell off the side of the train. Luckily for him, his student was there to grab him and haul him back up.

The Lieutenant was not as lucky. One of the bone appendages wrapped around his arm–digging into his Aura–and began dragging him back into the central mass. All the while it continued to run, unimpeded by their attacks.

It was still coming right at her group of White Fang and Neo realized that she might not have the firepower to slow it down. And the White Fang only had one Paladin left to fight the creature with.

Neo turned her head to the rest of the Huntsman team behind her. The leader of their trio, the red one, turned her silver eyes toward Neo. A silent agreement was made in that moment as the ice-cream-loving woman smiled.

She turned her head before shoving several of the White Fang lackeys to the side. They turned to her with confusion before spotting the running students darting toward them. Said students ran past Neo before she started running too, falling in line behind them.

The creature hadn't slowed, continuing forward and meeting them head on. In response, Neo reached out with her Semblance.

Overactive Imagination was so much fun! Whatever she pictured became a reality with just a little bit of effort on her part. Like flexing a muscle when you want to lift an apple.

Neo first created a fake wall of ice that the creature immediately rammed through. The shattering glass created a nice smokescreen for her to create three apparitions of the trainees in front of her. The fake students appeared above the creature and descended towards it as the broken glass flew away from the Grimm. The real students using this chance to dart in for their own attacks.

The white one created glyphs on the ground below her red teammate who zoomed forward at blinding speeds while the Faunus teammate fired her grappling hook at the train and jumped off.

Unfortunately for their squad, the Grimm somehow saw through their plan as the remnant glass from the fake wall dissipated. It didn't bother with the duplicates, the illusions shattering as they came into contact with the creature.

Instead, the creature snapped one of its front arms to the side and snatched the red girl out of the air. A wheeze escaped her from losing all her momentum before she was tossed back at the trainee in white.

Neo had to sidestep the two of them as they were sent rolling backwards to Six's prone form. The daring and beautiful thief that she was, Neo came up with a plan to test its senses.

She darted forward while creating a wall of other "Neos" in front of her, all charging at the creature while she moved sideways. And just like she suspected, Neo was forced to roll back as one of its arms stretched forward, pierced her illusions, and went straight for her.

It was sensing her without sight. And unless she could figure out how it perceived things, her Semblance was useless. This made her grin widen. A puzzle to figure out! A game to play with the creature of Grimm! What fun.

Her little distraction let the Faunus trainee complete her move, using her grappling line to string around to the side of the creature before digging blades into it. Still, this did little to phase it as it scuttled forward.

The Lieutenant at its side was slowly being sucked into the mass. His entire shoulder had been dragged into the underbelly of the creature along with his weapon. From the faint buzzing noise, it seemed like he was still revving the chainsaw inside of it too. Still, it continued forward and repaid the Lieutenant by stabbing its rib-like appendages into him again and again.

With the two students recovering, the professor behind it, and the dog on its-wait. Why was there a dog attached to its back constantly biting into it? Who brought a dog onto a train that was going to explode?

Questions for later, right now she had no backup in trying to slow this thing down and Neo doubted she could do it on her own. The best plan for her at the moment would be to run and grab Six before heading back. Buy them a little time before reaching their destination.

Any plan she was coming up with was halted as a chorus of shouts and roars came from the remaining White Fang.

"For the boss!" One of the lackeys with glasses shouted as they surged forward and past Neo. Oh, right, the Lieutenant was their boss right? I guess he was more liked than he let on.

Well, good for her plan at least!

The last paladin charged forward and at the creature, cocking its arm back before sending it forward and drilling it into the creature's "face." Again, more of just the space between its arms. This actually forced it to stop as it rammed into the machine's fist. Its form shifted forward, shrinking into itself as its momentum was brought to a halt.

The smaller lackeys rushed forward, intent on throwing their lives away but getting at least a few hits in.

The creature let out a growl akin to a low rumble as one of its arms gripped the Paladin's hand. The Grimm's free arm shot towards the nearest White Fang soldier who would've perished if not for an orange dome appearing in front of him, cracks splintering through it as the Grimm struck.

A large Faunus stepped forward with a hand outstretched and eyes narrowed in concentration. Another Semblance on their side was never an issue. Beside him, two more Faunus stepped up; a girl with canine ears and a smaller guy. It was hard to make out their features with the mask but she could see the tip of a scar poking out on the boy's cheek.

"Lika, pull anyone that gets injured back. Dorn, keep up the good work." The smaller one ordered before darting forward.

Just as the swarm of White Fang descended upon the creature, it reared up, leaning back and revealing the gaping maw of rib-like protrusions that twitched back and forth at them. And having never let go of the Paladin's arm, it ripped the machine's limb entirely off.

It then lunged forward, shifting its entire mass, and jumped at them to seemingly engulf them all. In doing so, it gave the Lieutenant enough leeway to wrench his chainsaw free, cutting off one of the ribs as he did so.

Whoever was piloting the paladin stepped up as they raised the machine's remaining arm and caught the creature. An orange glow surrounded the paladin but it was still forced to one knee as it tried to support the large Grimm.

None of their physical blows seemed to slow the creature at all as its form began wrapping around the Paladin entirely. The rib-like jaw of the creature slowly pulled it in with its protrusions, wrapping around the machine before bending inward.

The remaining White Fang realized what was happening and began running to the paladin, tearing at the inky blackness trying to surround it. All this resulted in was more dead Faunus as it began lashing out its remaining ribs at them, piercing and slashing them to death.

"Stop, everyone get back!" The Lieutenant shouted as he sprinted towards his men only to pick them up and begin running further away.

The Faunus student flipped over the top of the Grimm then, landing with a soft thud in front of it, before turning and cutting one of the many ribs currently pulling another Faunus in. There was no flashiness or finesse to any of her movements. Just a brawl for survival as the creature tried to overwhelm them.

Explosions rained down on the creature's back from the professor and blonde as well. And after a few moments, it looked like that was finally starting to get to it as its entire body shook in what Neo presumed to be pain.

It took a different approach then. Some of its lower ribs reached forward before hooking around the paladin's legs and pulling. And with its legs giving up, the creature finally fell upon it, as well as the few White Fang still remaining under it as the Faunus student narrowly darted out of its path.

Now that it was laying on the ground again, Neo got a good look at its singed back. It looked like a good portion of it had flaked off and the remainder looked crispier than normal.

Unfortunately for the White Fang trapped under it, that didn't stop the creature from ending their cries of pain as they went silent. Even Dorn collapsed to his knees panting as the sound of twisted metal was heard inside the creature before a metal ball spit out its side and off the train.

The White and Red students stepped next to Neo, readying their own weapons. This earned a twitch from the creature as it seemed to notice something.

It reared up again, its rib-like appendages flinging blood away with every twitch as it once more towered over them. It swayed back and forth, ready to pounce.

Then a sound rang out through the air that sent a chill through all of them. Something none of them expected to hear in their lifetimes.

"Silver… Eyes…" The Grimm muttered in a deep guttural tone, sounding like a smoker that had damaged lungs speaking into a malfunctioning microphone.

Before it could make another move, a single shot rang out. And although it didn't react to the bullet hitting it, the creature's attention was drawn to the now kneeling form of Six aiming his revolver.

---

"You piece of shit," Six muttered as he got to his feet. His entire body hurt and he knew that some things were still broken but he didn't have time to nurse them. The stimpaks would keep him going for the time being and his unnatural healing would get him back up to speed. Of course, that also only left him with three stimpaks.

More important than his injuries, was the knowledge that this thing had come for him. It hadn't attacked anyone else until they got in its way. It even went out of the way to ambush him. No, this had to do with the way Grimm were attracted to him for some reason. Which meant that it was his fault it was attacking them now. That meant he had to fix it.

It looked like Roman had chosen the right door to leave the railcar from at least.

The Courier stretched out his shoulder, hearing a sickening pop as something went back into place. Seeing as the bullet didn't do anything…

Six reached into his duster, hiding the fact he materialized his Anti-Material Rifle before revealing it. This earned him a few odd stares from the people who understood general physics but Six didn't care.

"Parasite!" The Grimm said in a mix of a shout and a horrendous screech while surging forward once more. The Courier idly wondered why everyone was pale as he loaded Burn Dust rounds into his rifle. So the Grimm could talk, what did that matter? It would die like any other Grimm.

More importantly, Six's mind was completely clear. It made sense given the lack of…

Nope, he couldn't think about that right now. Having an existential crisis there and then would be bad. But as he tried to push the thought down, it kept rearing its ugly head and worsening his mindset. Why did he feel so out of it in that moment when he had felt fine just a moment ago.

Six tried to calm his mind as he leveled his rifle at the creature and fired. This startled everyone else into action as a surge of extra arms shot out from the creature.

The remaining White Fang fell back as the Huntresses pressed forward to meet it. With what nearly happened to the Lieutenant, most of them remained a safe distance and peppered it with rounds. Save for the Lieutenant himself.

The chainsaw-wielding Faunus charged forward and cut into the creature. Only to be forced to deflect and back up as multiple ribs clawed at him.

Six watched as the Lieutenant batted a sharpened rib to the side only to have to grab another aimed for his face. The creature was already threatening to overtake him.

Six activated VATS, feeling that familiar and comforting sensation of time dilating around him as he took aim and fired, shattering the rib trying to pierce the Faunus' face.

An orange shield formed around the officer like a second layer as a bigger Faunus stepped forward. Dorn if what little Six heard earlier was right.

All they needed to do was buy another minute and they would be in the clear. They'd ram into the city and have backup within another minute or two after that.

It lunged forward to devour the Lieutenant whole but was met by the large Faunus charging forward and gripping its "head" as it came down. He had darted forward to save his commanding officer, slamming the descending Grimm into the roof of the train.

The shield around the Lieutenant dissipated as it reemerged around Dorn. All of its clawing and gnashing from the ribs wasn't enough to break the shield yet as the Faunus held it back.

"Dorn, get back! It's going to pull you in!" The scarred Faunus shouted.

The Lieutenant also seemed agitated that his own subordinate had sacrificed his well-being to save him. A frown covered his face as he batted any ribs attempting to slap Dorn to the side.

Fortunately for both of them, the collective firepower of the group was whittling it down. Its size had diminished considerably. Though, as Six analyzed the fight, he noticed the burn wounds were the only real damage sustained. Was it the fire or the Dust that was doing it? Either way…

"Switch to Dust based attacks!" The Courier called out as one of the ribs shot forward and cut along the Lieutenant's back. Between his last fight and being dragged around, this was the last straw as his Aura shattered and the creature drew blood.

"Boss!" The Faunus girl with canine ears shouted as she darted forward and pulled him back.

"Stop, don't just leave him in there!" the Officer shouted back but his wounds and time fighting had drained him.

This time the rest of team RWBY charged in. Yang was at its backside punching over and over with Burn Dust as Weiss, Ruby, and Blake began swiping its offending limbs away.

Weiss channeled a glyph and Ice Dust to cover her weapon before thrusting it toward the Grimm. A small explosion of ice covered the mid-torso of the creature as it let out another horrendous screech. So, Dust was its weakness.

In retaliation, every remaining rib launched towards the girl, smacking her square in the chest and sending her flying back. Due to her previous fights, her Aura shattered in a bright white as well.

Despite its monstrous strength and endurance, it must have been getting tired, because it spoke once more.

"Surrender parasite, or die." It said, in a calm and even tone as it ceased attacking the group. Its limbs moved back but its form continued to hover over the trio left in front of it.

The confusion was enough to make the humans and Faunus pause. When did a Grimm ever agree to talk or compromise? To let humans and Faunus live?

"What do you mean by parasite?" Ruby questioned, unaware of its true goal. But Six knew, it knew what it meant by parasite. Him.

What else could it be? Grimm had been drawn to him since entering this world. Even Grimm that hadn't been seen in decades. It attacked him solely at first. The sole Grimm that had ever uttered a word was gunning for him.

But he wasn't going to give it time to negotiate, Six opened fire again, landing another shot and intending to provoke it. But instead, it remained motionless.

"It hides behind Silver Eyes," it continued as its darkened mass burned from the Dust, casting an eerie orange and red glow across its form. "It is unnatural. It must be removed."

Being called unnatural by a walking abomination was utterly annoying to Six. But he did catch the silver-eyed girl glancing at him. It was evident she understood who it was talking about now. Neo also turned and gave him a very pointed grin. Great, just what he needed, somehow more suspicion cast on him.

The red-themed Huntress weighed her options, shifting from one foot to the other. Her next words were carefully picked as she responded, "is there nothing else you want?"

A cold settled over the area and Six noted how the people closest to the beast, namely Ruby and Dorn shuddered from what he guessed was fear. It wasn't just that this Grimm was scary, they had fought plenty of Grimm and had numbers. Something else was going on here.

The monster loomed forward.

"No."

Its ribbed cracked and twitched back and forth as the girl tried to compose herself. And as Six watched, even he could feel something foreign. A dread that didn't feel entirely his own trying to encompass him.

It reminded him of when he was younger and unable to defend himself. Both as a younger child and in Montana. Just the thought made him want to roll over and give up. But he needed to keep pressing forward.

"Weiss," Six muttered to the girl that had been flung back to him.

The former Heiress turned to him with a questioning glance and sweat rolling down her forehead. She didn't appear hurt but she was definitely exhausted.

The Courier nodded his head towards the creature as he continued, "I'm going to fight it. During that, if you see my obvious signal, I want you to fire at the creature, understood?"

Again, she furrowed her brow in confusion as she responded, "how do you know my name?" But there wasn't time to answer her question as Ruby brought their break to a close.

"I'm sorry, but I can't do that. I'm not going to hand him over for you to kill. A Huntress can't allow that."

Her response caused that feeling of dread to intensify in Six as he finally realized what was happening. Whatever this Grimm was, it could amplify their fear or maybe all emotions while near them. Probably their negative emotions.

And as he turned, he saw that a good majority of the White Fang were rooted in place. Fuck that.

Six turned back to the creature as it replied, "then you choose fear and death for all."

Ruby tensed, her motions sluggish from the likely intensified feelings of terror that were coursing through her. The creature also reared back, ready to strike.

Instead, the Courier cut in by stepping forward. "That's funny."

"That's really damn funny," Six continued as he began walking towards the Grimm. Instead of allowing that fear and dread to consume him, the Courier focused on another base emotion.

Anger.

He stowed his anti-material rifle back in his duster before dematerializing it and producing his powerfists instead.

"You come here and try to talk your way out of a fight."

He could feel it now. That familiar heat that was always accompanied by violence. This creature, Grimm, whatever the fuck it was wanted to fuck with him. Wanted to turn people against him.

It fucking sucker punched him through a goddamn concrete pillar!

"And you still think you'll get to kill me? That I'll let that happen?"

As he began approaching Ruby and getting closer to the creature, he could feel that hatred rising up. These people cowering in their boots, this Grimm that thought it was unstoppable, it all just pissed him off.

The Courier shoved past Ruby, damn near knocking her over as he did so. Hell, with how low her Aura was, Six was surprised it didn't shatter her protection.

Pointing a powerfist at the Grimm, Six continued, "what, did your balls drop off? You couldn't beat me with your own strength so you'd try and… What? Use your mind instead? You think you can outsmart me?"

He stood directly before the creature now and stared up at it. Its size had been diminished from the damage it received but it still was a good fifteen feet taller than him.

This stupid animal didn't know the gravity of its own mistake. But Six would show it. He'd show all of them what happened when you challenged him.

That heat enveloping Six, the warmth, was comforting to a degree. To let that hot rage do the thinking was so much easier than trying to play nice with terrorists and teenagers. All he had to do was let it out, just a little.

"Show this profligate its place," he could hear Caesar whisper in his ear.

With Six so close, the Grimm couldn't help but lash out with several of the oversized ribs.

"You're gonna beat me with your mind little Grimm? What a nice imagination."

Leaning right, Six watched the first rib sail past his head before leaning down and out of the way of another. Using the angle, he reared his fist before swinging it to his left and using some Burn Dust. The powerfist collided with a rib and the explosion shattered the offending limb.

He then cocked his other first back before rising and swinging to his right, shattering another sharp rib. All the while, he continued to press forward and into the beast's presence.

Six reached out and grasped the tip of one of the broken ribs before twisting it around in his hand to face it downward. When the next rib came for him, he drove the new weapon through it and into the train's roof, pinning it to the floor.

The creature had taken considerable damage by now and the majority of its multi-jointed ribs were shattered. A little over a dozen remained on the creature but that wasn't good enough. Six would be satisfied when it had nothing left. When the one who dared challenged him was lying at his feet broken.

His foot came up before descending back down onto the pinned limb, breaking off its end. Normally, Six wouldn't be prone to such theatrics. After all, he didn't have a shield surrounding his body like his allies in this situation. This much was evident as he felt a stabbing pain in his side as whatever broken part of him snapped back into place.

But right now, he didn't care. The pain was minor compared to what he had faced before and that boiling rage was like a never ending pool he could drink from. And every time he took a sip, it was that much harder to say no. And it felt like he was getting stronger the more he did.

The Courier was getting close now, almost in range to start punching its torso. Any second now it would lunge at him and-

The Grimm descended upon him, the inky blackness enveloping the Courier whole as it let out another horrid screech. All he could see was endless darkness now; not unlike the void he was stuck in before reaching Remnant.

Finally, the fucker had fallen for it. He could let out all of his pent-up aggression out on this thing. Even as its body compressed around Six, threatening to crush him, as hands pressed against his limbs and threatened to pull him apart, and the few ribs left aimed inward and stabbed at him, Six couldn't bring himself to care. The pain was so inconsequential compared to the anger he was feeling.

Being in the core of the monster, that feeling of dread crept back, along with whispers.

"Degenerate," sneered Mister House.

"Murderer," cried Veronica.

"Tyrant," spat Cass.

A heat inside Six fought back against the dread. "The fire inside burns brighter than the fire around me."

He released all of the Dust contained within his power fists save for his Hard-Light, venting the liquid into the creature's insides. He couldn't see it, but Six imagined a multicolored stream of liquid spreading through the creature's body, looking like bright blood vessels inside the Grimm. He hoped it did, as that was the signal for Weiss.

The Courier held out for just a few moments longer, feeling his reinforced bones beginning to strain under the pressure and his skin split in multiple places. Then, a greenish-blue hue surrounded him as he used the Hard-Light Dust in his power fist. It pushed back the assailing force.

Just in time too, as a few moments later everything around him exploded. His shield shook as the Courier was once again tossed through the air. The world spun for Six before he landed with a hard thud against the roof of the train again.

He didn't have time to lay down, there was still an enemy and his muscles were still tensed from the heat boiling in his blood. That familiar urge told him to get up and kill everyone that dared to get in his way.

Clambering to his feet, Six looked ahead to see the Grimm still somehow alive. Its form had been reduced to about his size now; maybe slightly bigger. Flames danced across its body as it writhed and spasmed on the ground. A good chunk of the train was now gone, almost enough to set off the explosive. The creature in turn had fallen down to the inside of the railcar below.

The Courier could make out a few blurry forms staring at him and saying something. It didn't matter. Whether it was from the beating, bleeding, or anger, the Courier didn't care what they had to say.

Instead, he dropped down into the railcar with it, a loud thud resounding from the impact. Rising to his feet, Six stomped over to the creature and kicked one of its flailing limbs aside as he stood over it. It had still retained its basic shape but had shrunk down considerably.

Raising his arm, he brought the coiled powerfist down into the creature's abdomen, the metal flying forward as he did so and pounding into the creature that began to flail harder. That didn't stop the Courier who brought up his other arm and slammed it down.

Out of his peripheral vision, Six could make out vague shapes moving, probably other people. They didn't matter. Instead, he brought his fist up and again rammed it into the creature; again, and again, and again.

Whatever he may have broken inside his body didn't matter. Whatever loss of blood didn't matter. All that mattered was exacting justice then and there.

It wasn't until someone grasped his shoulder that he realized he had been punching the floor of the train. The child-sized puddle of goo on the floor quivered as he stopped. Now all he could hear were the ragged sounds of his own breathing.

"What?!" Six snarled as he turned to… To professor Oobleck, who looked like he had shit himself as he jumped back.

It was only then that the Courier realized he had raised his fist back to punch the professor too.

"What?" The Courier continued, doing his best to calm himself. But it was difficult, that boiling anger from before just wouldn't fade.

"I had wanted to see if you were alright but it's obvious that you are…" The eccentric teacher trailed off as he looked down at the Grimm. Strange, why would he care about his safety?

Glancing behind the professor, Six saw a few familiar and unfamiliar faces staring down at him with a mixture of awe, fear, and disgust at the sheer brutality he had shown the Grimm.

What did it matter? It was a Grimm, not a person. They could reserve their judgment for when he wasn't saving their lives.

"But now I have a different question." Oobleck composed himself before looking Six in the eyes. "Why did you savage that Grimm? I understand defeating it, but to relish in its destruction is..."

The Courier considered answering his question but decided against it. Sure, it was probably turning to nothing as they spoke, and had likely been dead for a while. But nothing was overkill for Grimm.

"Shouldn't you be looking after your students instead?" Six questioned as he brought a hand to his side. Either his entire abdomen was bruised or he had broken ribs because he felt massive pain there.

"A truce was reached until the Grimm was dealt with. I assume it is still-"

The sound of gunfire and fighting came from above them, making the professor pause.

"Perhaps not."

"Big wall incoming!" A voice from above called out, one Six wasn't familiar with. But he still understood the message. And from the dawning look of worry, the teacher did too.

"Good luck," Six commented before activating his Hard-Light shields once more. It was his only chance as he hunkered down behind a few boxes. There wasn't time for anything else.

He glanced over to the dead Grimm that was just a puddle of goo on the ground… Wait, didn't Grimm always dissipate when they died?

A loud all-encompassing thump consumed all other noise around Six as he was knocked off his feet and to the floor. A moment later, he was flung back into the box he was hiding against, his Hard-Light shield cushioning his impact.

Gravity seemed to shift as Six's world turned sideways along with the train. Boxes slid and Six soon followed as the large vehicle rammed through the barricade. At least, Six hoped it was the barricade.

He was just about to crawl to the box again but the train turned again–this time fully upside down–and the Courier was flung onto his back. Still, the shield remained steadfast. A rapid deceleration of the train made the Courier slide along his back and towards the front of the train, colliding with another box. And finally, the front of the train must have hit something because it came to a full and abrupt stop.

The sudden halt flung Six hard over the box and against the front wall of his railcar, shattering his shield and breaking something in his shoulder as Six held back a hiss of pain before falling back to the ground.

Using one of his few remaining stimpaks, the Courier slowly jammed the needle into his upper pectoral muscle, letting out a low groan as the medicine coursed through him.

And for just a few moments, Six lay there. He was still inside the train and he assumed now that he was inside the city. He'd need to run soon but he just needed a moment for the stimpak to set in.

Then he remembered something. His vision slowly turned towards the roof of the train as he remembered what they had been transporting.

"Fuck," Six muttered as he activated another Hard-Light shield.

And the explosion promptly followed, the orange and red heat from the bomb completely engulfing Six and his shield. The force of the blast was more than enough to send him flying once again, this time into the side of the train and through it. Or maybe the explosion had just torn that part of the train asunder too?

It didn't matter to Six whose shield lasted for only a few moments before disappearing as he began tumbling back down to Earth.

Fortunately for Six, the shield had taken the majority of the blast's initial impact. Which meant all he had to do was land and try not to shatter everything. Which was easier said than done when being tossed through the air and disorientated

Not being able to discern how high he was with his bleary vision and speed, Six attempted to slow himself by reaching out and sliding his hand along the ground or at least attempting to grasp something.

This was a miscalculation on his part because it turned out the explosion had flung him horizontally and not vertically. Meaning he was just close enough to touch the ground. And when he did, two things happened. The first was his arm twisted at an uncomfortable angle from the contact. The second was his momentum immediately shifted and he was dragged down to the ground hard. Then he began tumbling and spinning end over end a good distance before sliding along the ground to his final stop.

Again, Six lay there for a few moments. The ringing in his ears and the sheer pain kept the Courier from doing anything. After an indeterminate amount of time passed for Six, he attempted to raise his head, only to be met with blinding pain along his back. He hissed before bringing his head back down.

Instead, he attempted to move his arms. The left one didn't respond and was trapped under him since he was face down. His right groggily moved and produced another stimpak.

Six injected it into himself before producing Med-X and taking that as well. Anything to get him going for just a little bit longer.

Another few long moments passed as he felt his limbs come back to him one by one. It was sheer blinding pain every time he twitched, but he could at least move his limbs now.

Even with the stimpak and painkillers, his body ached and he could barely sit up. Taking it one step at a time, Six reached his good arm over and twisted his arm back into place with another hiss before taking his last stimpak.

Now that he was upright and with his vision returning, he could see it was complete pandemonium.

He must have been out of it for a bit as only a few White Fang members were running away. Either they had already escaped or were dead. Grimm were swarming the streets and the eviscerated remains of the train lay over to the side of the square they were in.

Glancing around, it did appear that they came out at a small park about the size of a city block. The explosion had singed the entire park and left it charred black. Once pristine trees simply didn't exist anymore. The orange sky of a setting sun was darkened with smoke that rose into the air. And a trail of destruction lay behind the destroyed train.

He could see several different Huntsmen and Huntresses fighting the Grimm as civilians fled in terror. One such civilian sprinting past him screaming as he left the body of his friend behind.

Turning his head again, Six spotted a prone figure of a White Fang grunt a few feet to his left, unmoving.

"Hey, hey!" Six called out but got no response from the grunt.

Muttering to himself, the Courier used his good arm to grasp a small rock and chuck it at the prone figure. He hoped he wasn't dead.

The impact jostled the body which twitched. After a few moments, the man's muscles tensed and he groaned before raising his head.

"You?" The White Fang grunt questioned as he turned. This grunt was definitely male from what Six could see of his face but the Faunus also seemed to recognize him.

"Yeah, me. We need to go, can you stand?" Six questioned as he felt his body mending itself, the implants and medicine were doing their job. He'd be fine given time but he needed to get out of there faster.

The grunt slowly rose to his face before shaking his head. "I think so," the Faunus replied while steadying himself. "But I won't be going anywhere fast."

"Work on it," Six commanded as he lifted a hand towards the White Fang soldier. "We need to get out of here before the Huntsmen turn their attention to us."

The soldier took his hand and pulled, causing searing pain to shoot through the Courier's arm and all the way down his side to his leg. This earned a grunt from the Mimic as he was hoisted to his feet. Seeing how unsteady he was, the Faunus draped one of Six's arms over his shoulder as he looked around.

"How are we getting out of here?"

The question caused the Courier to turn his head upwards at the scene. From their position, they could see the Grimm already being pushed back. There were over a dozen students and full blown Huntsmen on the field and it was proving too much from the creatures of darkness.

Glancing to one of the far ends of the train, the Courier could see team RWBY falling back and nursing their hurt team members. Good, at least none of the kids had died. He could even see their dumb mutt trotting along with them, not a care in the world.

Six needed to teach Chryse and Rex-

Taking a sharp intake of breath in, the former ruler of Vegas did his best to suppress any such memories at the moment. But imagining Raul's reaction to the abundance of people on Remnant made it hard to do so.

"Uh, sewer, manhole. We need to find one." Six finally got out as his mind came back to reality. "Little surveillance and no good way to track us once we're in."

The Faunus nodded his head which made Six curious.

"Why are you so willing to help me?" Six questioned as they limped together out of the park and to the nearest street.

Turning his head, Six could see blood soaking the Faunus' clothing. Then he realized it wasn't the Faunus' blood but his blood.

Taking a glance at himself, Six could see he was bleeding quite profusely. He wasn't sure where all of it was coming from because of his clothing but the armor he wore was almost equal parts black and red now.

For a moment, the Courier worried about the authorities of Vale tracking him through his blood. But with the number of dead bodies and blood on the ground, the chances of them identifying him and linking the Mimic to House were absurdly low.

"Because I was there when you told us all to move to the front." The Faunus' response turned Six's head back to him.

"You were trying to save us right? I realized that when you told us all to get to the front. None of us even realized the cars were decoupling from the train. But you did, and you led us forward and tried to stop the Huntresses. And took on the Grimm single-handedly."

Who… Wait a second. It was hard to tell because he lost his glasses, but Six swore this was "Perry?"

Perry's name being called made the man turn towards the Courier. A toothy smile played at his face as he responded, "the one and only."

"Don't get me wrong," Perry continued as they got onto the street. "I still think you're scum. You killed innocent Faunus."

The not-backhanded and resounding endorsement only made Six roll his eyes.

"But, I don't think you did it because you hate us."

Both right and wrong. He didn't have anything against Faunus but Six didn't like the White Fang. Or at least, this branch of the White Fang.

"And you also saved us on the train. I guess on both occasions, you were just getting paid. You didn't show us good will or hate. It just… It felt wrong to leave you there I guess."

Well, at least Perry wasn't a complete piece of shit. Even if he was wrong. There was a part of Six that hated the White Fang but not because they were Faunus. Six made a mental note to try and keep Perry alive when his plans came to fruition.

Approaching a manhole, Six finally leaned away from Perry and straightened his back. With the stimpaks and his implants, most of his bleeding wounds had closed and he could walk without assistance. Well, hobble without assistance.

"Grab one side, I'll take the other," the Courier ordered as he leaned down with a groan, Perry doing the same.

"One, two, three!" Six called out before lifting with his good arm. The two of them combined were able to lift the hunk of metal and open their escape route; albeit struggling and in pain.

After closing the manhole and descending to the bottom of the ladder with just a handful of pained curses, Six turned to the Faunus.

"This is where we should split. You head a few blocks from here, change clothes, and get to whatever hidey-hole the White Fang have. I'll do the same."

Perry nodded his head before turning and began walking down the sewer tunnel. The wet splish sploshing of his feet reminded the Courier that he was in inch-deep grey water.

This was accompanied by the ever pleasant aroma of dung, piss, and trash which made Six scrunch his nose. Sewer canals were never his favorite.

"Oh, and try not to die," Six called out before turning and heading down a different tunnel.

After walking for a minute or so, the thought of donning different clothes and surfacing came to Six. But he didn't.

He was still covered in wounds and right now he'd be too conspicuous to go out in broad daylight. No, a better plan was for him to head back to a manhole closer to his apartment and use his stealth suit to get into his home before dealing with his wounds. He'd have the rest of today and tomorrow to recover before heading back to classes. Medicine with a bit more time to-

A splash that wasn't his own caused Six to pause. One moment of relaxing, one moment and the Courier had been followed. It was just his luck. Actually paying attention to his compass, he saw a red marker on his compass and whirled around with his revolver in hand.

A small black mass shot towards him as Six pulled the trigger three times. The first bullet missed, but the next two found their marks hitting its center mass. This combined with the Courier raising his hand before bringing it down and pistol whipping the thing made the creature tumble into the sewer water.

Turning, the Courier's blood boiled at the sight.

A black mass of four arms and a few oddly placed rib bones about the size of a toddler now lay on the floor. It wasn't fucking dead. It was just much smaller now.

Before it could get up, and despite his protesting muscles, the Mimic slammed his boot down onto it before firing another two rounds into the creature.

"You…" Six muttered as one of its arms reached up, only to be intercepted by his free hand which held it tight. His arm screamed in pain and begged for him to let go, but Six didn't care about his own pain at the moment.

"Failed," Six continued as he brought his boot up before stomping on it again. "So why won't you give up!?"

The Grimm's movements ceased as a staring contest ensued. At least, Six assumed it was staring at him given it had no eyes.

"You… Are unnatural. You will be…" It trailed off in that same raspy tone while reaching a free hand up towards him. "Made to fear us… Before death." Its hand grasped Six's leg as it finished, "such is the will of the Gods."

It spoke to him with such finality. But what did it know? How dare it preach to him while he had it under his boot. As if it was a master of fear, but the Courier would show it true terror.

This thing was sent by someone, that much was clear, but who were these supposed gods? How many? No, it didn't matter. Because, for the first time in a very long time, the Grimm had made a fatal error. Raising his foot up, Six brought it back down on the Grimm's limb, severing it entirely.

They had picked a fight with Courier Six. And he was going to show how their new "tactics" were their weakness. How this fearmonger didn't know the meaning of the word. And he would once more twist the words of a wise man.

"I don't believe you understand how grave of a mistake you have just made."

The King Butcher raised his revolver before firing one last Dust round, blowing off another limb. That same feeling of anger welled up within the Courier and he allowed the hateful heat of the Mojave to overtake his reasoning.

"Allow me to enlighten you."

The Mimic stowed his revolver before reaching down and gripping the creature. His red visors met its form and he hoped that it could feel his contempt for its existence. How he wanted to snuff out its pathetic meaningless life. That its mere existence was an affront to him.

His good arm gripped the remaining limb before pulling, stretching it out. It stretched longer than any limb should, but not long enough. And when it went taut, he kept pulling.

"You are allowed to leave here."

It had kept a pretty good poker face so far. But slowly, as its limb gave way and began tearing from its body, the pain became too much and the creature shrieked and squirmed. And when the limb finally separated before evaporating in the air, the Courier continued.

"But one day, somewhere, I will find you."

Six produced a small vial of powdered Dust from his duster–which was burnt and singed in several places–before opening it and spreading the contents on his palms.

"You will never rest again, never go again without looking behind you on a dark road."

Despite the water below them, Six felt like he was going to break out into a sweat. He hoped that the creature could feel the heat too, so it understood the depths of his rage that it had summoned.

He then rubbed the Dust into the creature, watching its dark mass writhe and burn as it made contact with the powdered substance. He then moved up to its last remaining hand before rubbing copious amounts of Dust into its palm.

It screeched once more at the action as it tried to wiggle away. But the Mimic made sure to hold it in place.

"And when you least expect it, I will show you Hell on Earth."

Six grabbed it by its arm as he stood up before tossing it back down the tunnel from whence it came. Like a piece of discarded trash.

"Now leave."

His command was met with silence for a few moments as the creature simply lay there presumably staring at him. Then–slowly but surely–it raised its last arm and placed it on the ground before dragging itself away. Each time it did, the Dust in its palm would burn the creature as it limped away.

The Courier understood now. Understood that he was being hunted by forces beyond human and Faunus. That was fine, he'd deal with them all one day.

More importantly, he gained a delightful new piece of information.

It may have been smarter than other Grimm, able to even talk and reason. A different kind of threat from the days of early Remnant. But it had retreated, and Grimm never retreated. Six knew its newfound power of reason must have come with a weakness and he had just discovered it.

The Grimm limping away could feel fear. And it would deliver his message to its masters. That the Courier knew of their game and that they'd get burned trying to play it.

---

It couldn't place what was happening. Normally, another one of its kind failing to kill the parasite meant nothing to it. But something in the way its scout failed made it pause.

As it looked out at the sun setting over what the humans called a "city," it would have scowled if it had a mouth.

What was this sensation? It wasn't the regular nothing it had always felt before. Killing, surviving, it had meant nothing before. But now… This failure.

It believed that humans called this anger… Or maybe frustration. Anger not because of its kin's failure but that… That it had run away. Yes. Its kin had run away because it felt something too. Something also foreign to them, fear.

The parasite was truly an oddity and now it understood and agreed with the Gods that the unnatural one was a threat.

Stretching a limb, it looked at its newly formed "hand" as it changed from a shade of black to a tannish color.

A threat it would enjoy snuffing out.

It looked back down at the city, sensing its fleeing brethren. The weakened thing tried to ask for help. A Grimm. Asking for help. Such a broken tool wasn't needed. And so, it turned away from its crippled kin's plea. A cowardly weakling could die for all it cared.

Perhaps a strong human was needed instead.

---

Author's Notes:

I know it's Mountain Glenn and not Mount Glenn but that seems like a rather poor naming convention. Mount Glenn rolls off the tongue and means the same thing. So I'll be using that.

Also, I've heard the term "depressed trigger" which sounds an awful lot like a pulled trigger on a gun. I'm not sure if this is exactly what this term means though and my research online did not bear fruit.

When it comes to trains, a railcar is the broad general term for individual parts of a train. A boxcar is just a type of railcar.

When I wrote my first draft for this chapter, I had planned on including a final scene where Six and a few White Fang get ambushed by Grimm in the sewers. This would have hinted at a few different details regarding events to come. But not only did it not really fit in the chapter, I had a hard time justifying it in the narrative so the scene was cut from the final draft. Instead, we get the large Grimm chasing Six into the sewers.

Speaking of, the inspiration for the Grimm in this chapter comes from both Dark Souls and Dead Space. The Gaping Dragon and the USG Ishimura respectively.

There are three different forms Dust generally takes. I've talked about it sparingly in the story but the three are liquid, powder/dust, and crystal forms. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses.

---

Gear:

Burned Man's Armor

Elite Riot Gear (Modified: Mimic Edition)

Stealth Suit Mk. II (Firmware Version 1.6)

Civilian Clothing

Beacon Uniform

Rebreather

Maria

Survivalist Rifle

Mysterious Magnum

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)

Burn Dust Mines (43)

Combat Knife.

Plasma Grenades (43)

Plasma Mines (0)

WulfsBann Power Fist (x2) (Mobility Modification)