I do not own RWBY or AdventureQuest Worlds.

The professor told the young warrior that he was slowly dying, the chaos within him slowly eating at himself, his mind, his soul. His blood was slowly turning into acid. Every moment that he didn't succumb to the chaos was pure agony. And even then, he pushed through. Drakath's choice of Iadoa being the next lord of chaos was punishment to the good-hearted professor. He wanted to fight, and chose to have a dialogue with the young man.

The girl watched the young warrior and the professor come together in an alliance, despite what the young man thought of the lords of chaos.

]|[

[Vs. Beatrice Astraluna, the Mad Malicious Medic of Menagerie!]

[Vs. Adam Taurus, Blade of the White Fang!]

"Is that a freaking lightsaber?!" Beatrice looked in awe at the Sword of Eternal Light. "How much Dust is that thing eating through?!" She gasped as the sword of light almost bisected her from shoulder to waist. She was astonished at the attack, and backpedaled quickly, and brought her weapon to bear.

The also surprised Adam jumped back, shooting rifle rounds at Johnny. A pale blue shield barrier absorbed the shots, and Johnny didn't even face Adam. The bull faunus sheathed his chokuto back to the sheath.

In a blink, Adam unleashed an Iaido attack, but Johnny was faster. The speed cultivated by the Undead Legion's blademasters shone through, and Johnny had already sidestepped the wide slash. Johnny brought down the lightsaber, cutting through the Adam's aura a bit, and burned the bull faunus' skin from the side of his torso.

Adam hissed in pain. Beatrice moved fast, and focused herself on Johnny, attempting to arrest his heart, but then…

"Uh-uh. None of that." Johnny said. Just as fast, a barrier of stone shielded Johnny from her view. Johnny walked forward, raising barrier upon barrier to his side as he walked. The Land's Embrace made the walls glow, exuding a healing aura. Johnny walked towards the Neo and Torchwick pile and picked them up bodily, and tossed both to the far end of the open area.

Adam slashed the walls in half with a red flash, and Johnny brought up the Lightsaber to catch the red blade. Adam's aura protected the sword from being cut in half, but just barely. He grit his teeth, seeing the lightsaber slowly burn through the edge of his blade. Adam backed off for a bit.

Beatrice, seeing Johnny enter the fight again, brought up the snakes of water around her, and launched them at the adventurer. They boiled over instantly the moment the lightsaber deflected them, but Beatrice smirked.

Water vapor was still within her control. The water condensed around Johnny forming little pin needles that targeted his throat. All the while, Adam stood in the backline for a bit, shooting bullets at Johnny. Nothing worked. The Mana Shield around Johnny absorbed everything.

Johnny snapped his fingers, and let loose a great Combustion Blaze on Adam and Beatrice's forms. Their aura protected them from being burned alive, and with a roar, Adam charged through, letting through quick precise slashes that targeted Johnny's vitals. Beatrice shook the flame off and shot of bolts of purple lightning at Johnny.

Johnny's eyes narrowed. He brought up a Shield with a Mirrored Finish and blocked the lightning bolts, who jumped across the room back to Beatrice, who dodged as fast as she could. Simultaneously, he swept across himself with a wide arcing slash, batting Adam off.

"C'mon dudes. At least do something amazing!" Johnny taunted the two. He let out his own lightning bolt, the energy arc launching to Adam, but the faunus absorbed the blow with his sword, Wilt glowing an ominous red as he did so.

Adam was sweating now in effort. His semblance could allow him to absorb blows, but so far, he had only absorbed that lightning strike because it was the only thing he could block with Wilt. The brothers-damned lightsaber threatened to cut through the weapon, and that explosion of fire basically was unblockable!

Beatrice snarled, and brought up to fingers. Behind Johnny, Roman and Neo's body arose jerkily. Roman groaned, and ran at the adventurer with an arm brought to a punch. Neo kicked from behind. Johnny dodged backwards, and the two moved to him in an unnatural but fast sprint.

"Darn it!" Johnny shouted, caught off-guard for the first time in the fight. Knocking them out wasn't an option! They were already knocked out, and Beatrice was just puppetting their bodies somehow!

Adam capitalized in Johnny's distraction, and moved again to strike, slicing downwards from above. Johnny stepped backwards, but the faunus swordsman followed through, and Johnny parried away with his lightsaber. He clicked his tongue.

"You have got to go." Johnny growled, and launched himself to the side, distancing himself from everyone else for a bit.

Overwhelm her senses. Johnny remembered the words of the black-haired ex-White Fang. That's what Blake said, right?

He raised a hand, and channeled the blood of the Darkblood, letting out a great Thunderclap, booming throughout the entire tunnel. That had to have alarmed most of the things or people in the underground with them. But it served its purpose.

"AAAAUGHHH!" "GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Adam and Beatrice clutched at their ears, disoriented and definitely deafened by the loud explosion of sound. Beatrice lost focus and dropped the control on Neo and Torchwick. Both crumpled down like puppets cut off from their strings.

Johnny had to break Beatrice's aura now while she was down. He raised his hand, and created a Mass of Incandescent Gas, a miniature star, a tiny SUN, and tossed it at Beatrice, who had no way to dodge with her senses busted. She was blown away with an explosive fiery blast, destroying her aura immediately. The great heat of the star destabilized the dust within her wand, exploding it from within. Beatrice slumped down from the wall, greatly burned on one side of her body, and unconscious.

"Can't keep Johnny down~…" The adventurer sang idly, remembering the two he saved from the collector. "Hm, hm, hm…" He hummed as he twirled the lightsaber, walking towards Adam who was still writhing around. His sword and sheath was left beside him.

He raised his hand, creating a much weaker ball of light than the one he used on Beatrice, but much like it, this one was still a ball of plasma. The Thunderstruck foe was hit with the great Ball Lightning of the Darkbloods.

The ball hit Adam with the force of a great Cracking Sky, and electrocuted the faunus, making Adam contract unnaturally and scream in pain. After a while, he was knocked out, torso burned in a circular pattern.

Johnny sighed. Beatrice was a headache and a half, but at least the swordsman was a bit more manageable.

[Wilt and Blush x 1]

He picked up the chokuto and sheath-sniper rifle. He heard the voices from beyond the tunnel where he came from. From all the racket their fighting did, the others would surely investigate what was happening. The White Fang would swarm him, and probably take Torchwick and Neo with them as well.

Sighing, thinking of the thing he was about to do, Johnny let Astialo's Wings spread out. Stashing away his newly acquired loot and his lightsaber, he picked up the two still unconscious Neo and Torchwick.

"Oh for—! You two should really consider going on a diet!" He complained, hefting both of the unconscious crooks on his shoulders like the saddest sacks of potatoes.

He walked to the tunnel, where the voices lead, and beat his wings a bit, testing them for flight. The voices grew louder, and he saw a larger man on the end of the tunnel, with a honest-to-goodness chainsaw greatsword.

Johnny inhaled a sharp breath, and crouched down low…

]|[

The White Fang heard the loud, eardrum cracking boom, echoing throughout their new base. Some of them with more sensitive ears cried out in pain. The lieutenant of the White Fang Valean Cell, Adam's right hand man, knew instantly that his bosses were involved somehow. He picked up his chainsaw, and went outside the cargo container his cot was at.

"Form up! Squads 21, 39, 44! To me! The rest spread out around the HQ!" He growled out his orders and punctuated it by starting his chainsaw. The weapon growled with its master. "Follow! Move out!"

Groups of the rank and file followed him, taking up their own weapons. They followed their leader to where Adam and Beatrice was at last: the old subway tunnel to Mountain Glenn.

What they found instead was not their leaders, but the source of the great explosion. A man in a black cap, with great reptilian wings spread behind him. It beat lazily, sending a small gale on their group. He was carrying two unconscious people in his shoulders.

"The Dragon Faunus…"

"That's the guy we were supposed to get! That guy with that black baseball cap! I saw him at the plaza a few days ago!"

"He…He took out Beatrice and Adam…"

They saw the bodies of their leaders behind the man. Both looked beaten and burned. The lieutenant banished his thoughts and focused on anger, to the man for hurting his friends. He took a step forward, walking to the man in the black cap.

The man crouched low, the beating of the great Dragon Wings blowing harder and harder, until-!

A massive explosion rocked everyone off their feet, blasting the area behind him, and a great sonic boom echoed throughout the tunnels again. The Dragon took Flight, the air around him seeming to roar in great fury, and the beating of his wings turned the small gale into a great storm. Everyone was blasted to the walls of the tunnel, some being knocked out immediately. The air pressure was such that some had their eardrums popped with the ascent of the man.

They took flight through the tunnels, ramming apart any White Fang that tried to stop or was too slow to not get out of the way.

The White Fang HQ was left in shambles from an attack of one man. Their leadership knocked out and possibly in worse condition.

The lieutenant, Nino Naranja, swore he would tear the race traitor apart if he saw them again.

]|[

Johnny raced through the tunnel, squeezing into a sprint after getting to the door that was the intersection of the subway and the sewers. He ran until he saw the access area again, with the steel bars covering the opening.

Johnny panted as he tried to catch his breath. "Aghk-! Hah…hahh…" He heaved out, trying to keep his lunch down. "I swear…by the name of Gravelyn and Sepulchure…I'm going to do cardio every darn day after this…!"

He glared at the damned bars blocking the way. No choice then. He readjusted his carry on the two, sincerely hoping he hadn't bumped them on a stray pipe or anything in his hasty flight, and crouched low again.

With a great beat of Astialo's Wings, Johnny launched himself up, ramming through the steel grate, tanking the hit.

"Owww! That hurt like getting beaten by Titania in the head!" Johnny groaned in pain. He flew deep into the night, soaring towards the city, with two criminals in tow.

Some drunks and night owls would recall the flapping of great wings in the night, much like the one heard when the Grimm Wyvern attacked. A few people managed to get a scroll video of the new unknown flying object. Some would chatter online about getting a pic of the bat-man of Vale, showing a pic on social media, a figure of someone with reptilian wings over the broken moon of Remnant.

A new cryptid story was born on Remnant that night.

]|[

Neo woke up with a finger poking at her cheek. In front of her was the same man in a black cap that caused all this shit they were in in the first place. "You're awake. How about that?" He said, leaning back into his chair. Neo hissed weakly at him, but soon realized something. She frantically looked around, searching for something.

"Relax. Torchwick is behind you." The man said. "Let's start with introductions. I'm Johnny. And you are?"

[Neo, Silent Assassin]

Neo didn't say anything and stared at him. Her arms were free; she wasn't tied up, but she lacked the energy to do anything! Her hands felt numb, and she didn't think her legs had enough strength to stand. She was so fucking angry, but she was also terrified.

Rot, decay, rot…

That godsdamned fog…! It took all off whatever meager strength Neo had left to not collapse into herself just remembering the fog that washed over her.

"You look pale, by the way." The man, Johnny, said. "You look like you lost a lot of blood, but you don't have any wounds. Are you thirsty?"

Johnny took out a bottle with a straw. "Drink up. We have a lot to talk about." He urged her, pushing the straw up to her lips. Neo shook her head, but Johnny was insistent. "C'mon now, don't be a pain. Replenish your strength so we can talk properly."

Neo glared at Johnny some more, but resigned herself and took a sip of the drink. "Some gator-aid." He said. "I got some soup on, too."

As she was sipping, Johnny had to ask. "Why is Cinder intent on meeting you?" Neo paused from her drinking and looked up at him. "Heard Beatrice and that other guy mention her requiring your skills. Any idea why would that be?"

Neo shrugged. "Oh come on. Cinder had to have said something about what she was going to do. Does she even talk to you?" The pink and brown woman rolled her eyes and shook her head. She pointed to her partner behind her. "Well, that's something. Why do you not talk? You, uh…" Johnny pointed to his throat. Neo raised an eyebrow as if saying 'what do you think?'

"Right, okay. Hmmm." Johnny thought for a bit. "Right, let's just wake up Torchwick here…" He stood up and walked to the sleeping Torchwick, head slumped down. He shook the man's shoulders. "Oi, wake up." Torchwick stirred in his sleep a little, grumbling. Neo poked Johnny in his arm. "What?"

The mute girl mimed a slapping motion and pointed at her partner. Johnny shrugged, worth a try. Johnny whacked Torchwick across the face with a palm. Torchwick awoken with a pained grunt. "Brothers! I'm up damnit!" The sleeping thief swore, rubbing his slapped cheek. "The hell was that for?!" He looked up at the person who slapped him awake. "Oh. Great." Torchwick seemed to just slump over his chair, overwhelmed by the series of events happening to him.

Neo behind Torchwick scooted her chair to face Johnny, sliding it across the floor.

"Relax. You aren't even tied up." Johnny said, crossing his arms. "Just wanted to ask you some questions."

[Roman Torchwick, Valean Crimelord]

"And you think I'm just gonna blab to you?"

"I'm already asking politely." The adventurer narrowed his eyes. "You want me to just fly you straight into Ironwood now? I assure you, he won't have chicken soup prepared for his prisoners up there."

"So we're prisoners, are we? I'm not really feeling it, since," Torchwick raised his arms, albeit a vit shakily. "I'm not even bound right now."

"Why do you think I can just leave you unbound in my house while interrogating you right now?" Johnny said, leaning into some boxes behind him. "You and your little partner there couldn't even walk straight I think. Those two really beat you both bad. I only healed you up until you can talk, but not fight back if I did decide you can just go rot back in the cell you were at the VPD."

Torchwick and Neo winced. The man was right; Torchwick was still feeling that rifle shot Adam Taurus blasted him with, and Neo couldn't feel most of her limbs right now. The thief felt like he was kicked in the chest by a horse. Idly rubbing his aching ribs, Torchwick sighed and faced Johnny.

"Look. Can't we talk about this? Sure you can just toss me into prison, with Ironwood, and they'll be the ones to question me. But I can just not talk there as well. What are they going to do to me? Torture? In a time just after a Grimm incursion into the city?" Torchwick argued, and Johnny just stared at him. He continued. "My partner here literally can't talk. Plus, what's your guarantee Cinder just won't take us from wherever Ironwood would keep us?"

"I mean, I don't think she could infiltrate an airship flying through midair, unless she could somehow, I don't know, fly?"

"That's not the point! Look…" Torchwick seemed exasperated, not getting whatever he was trying to say across. "Bottom line: I won't talk, Neo won't talk, Cinder would eventually find us, and you get fucked by whatever she's planning for this city. Unless I and my partner here get something out of it."

"And you want to what, exactly?" Johnny asked. Bingo, Torchwick thought.

"A passage out of the city." The thief said. "For me and my partner here. Beyond Atlas' jurisdiction around the kingdom. Get that for us, then we talk."

"How about no?" Johnny rolled his eyes. "How about I avoid the effort of extracting your thoughts directly from your brain, and you just start talking now?" He brought up his hands to the thief, crackling with blue arcs of electricity. Neo leaned away from the hand. She wanted to run away, but was still feeling too weak. "I could have just started to invade your mind right now you know?" Psionic Mindbreaker powers were too much of a hassle for Johnny and also felt disgusting to use, invading another person's mind. Reminded him too much of what Drakath did to his Chaos Lords, like Kimberly and Iadoa. But if need be…

[Good] He could just let Ozpin and Ironwood deal with this. Pretty sure they can counter whatever infiltrations Cinder might attempt on the two.

[Evil] Or not waste time and just Cerebral Siphon both. Maybe he could find out much more than he could ask. Although it might kill either of them…

[Neutral] Hmm. He could also keep this little talk of theirs going…

Torchwick gulped despite himself. "And why haven't you?" The thief taunted, even as he felt his heart threaten to jump out of his throat right now. "You could've done so at any time, you say, so why haven't you done it yet?"

"Told you, I was being polite." Johnny said, keeping his hands near their faces. "I could also just go back to the sewers, get my info from there. I just took you two because it would piss Cinder off and probably hinder with whatever she might be planning. So even if you didn't talk, leaving you with Oz and Ironwood would be fine."

"Think about it a while. I can smell my soup boiling over the pot. I'll get you some, and maybe you can answer after you get something to eat." Johnny said, dropping his electrified hands. He left the room, leaving Torchwick and Neo to their thoughts.

]|[

"Let's get to work, Neo." Torchwick said, standing up from his chair. His legs was wobbly from the sudden effort. "Oh shit." He swore, putting a hand to the rest of the chair to steady himself. "My leg's still jelly. Can you stand?" He asked his partner.

Neo winced, shaking her head no. Torchwick sighed. "Where are we even?" They were being kept in a storage room of some sort, boxes all around them. Torchwick reached for one and opened it. Books. He opened another. More books. "What the… Where the hell are we?!" Books, books, and more books. "Are we in a library, somehow?"

Torchwick saw a little plank of wood behind some of the boxes. The wood was book-shaped. It was a bit dusty, but the text on it was a bit readable. 'TUKSON'S Book Trade', it read. Torchwick's eyes widened. The place where everything went wrong for them. That little bookstore that the White Fang runaway owned. He threw away the store sign in frustration, grunting in annoyance.

Neo looked at him. He turned to his partner and sighed. "Let me at least try the door…" He walked to the door and tried the knob. No dice, locked. He rammed it with his shoulder, and the door didn't even move an inch. Body still aching, one try was all Torchwick could manage, and he sank to the floor, defeated.

"We're really in it now, huh Neo?" Torchwick said, voice light, trying to at least cheer himself and his partner up. "Gods damn it." He said, slamming a fist down on the floor, remembering the woman that forced them into a position that forced them to work under her. He truly did believe that under her deal, him and Neo would be unstoppable. It was idiotic. He thought they'd be protected forever. But how could they have anticipated the curve ball that fate had dealt them? The moment him and Neo was compromised, Cinder dropped them like trash. Oh, he could most certainly understand that; he'd do the same to her in a heartbeat. And now she wanted Neo back?

Neo looked at him worriedly, and Torchwick felt himself more determined. He inhaled sharply and collected himself, and pushed himself to stand. He once said that no one gets over Roman Torchwick, but again and again people did. If he didn't have his partner with him, he'd already be toast. He looked back at his partner and let out a breath. "Neo," He started. "I'm about to do something for us that's maybe very, very stupid." The [ink and brown haired woman looked at him worriedly.

]|[

Johnny knocked on the room, and opened it, carrying a tray of real, hot bowls of soup. "Hot trays!" He announced, entering the storage room. He found Torchwick standing beside his partner. Johnny had a Mana Shield up, and was flaring his Extrasensory Perception before he entered the room, fully expecting the duo to ambush him, somehow.

He placed the tray on the desk nearby, and pushed it near the two. "Tuck in. Get yourselves some strength back." Johnny said. Torchwick let out a huff. Johnny raised an eyebrow. "What? Don't like chicken soup?"

"I have another deal for you." Torchwick said ignoring the offered food. Johnny tilted his head, urging him to go on. "How about, my partner and I, work for you?" Neo's head turned to her partner so fast she might've gotten a whiplash. "We work for you in this little operation that you're heading against Cinder right now. Work for you alone. In exchange," He looked at his partner. "In exchange, we want freedom from the city."

"And the guarantee you won't double cross me at some point?" Johnny shot back. The adventurer knew Torchwick's type. He is a warrior aligned with Evil, after all. His kind was dime a dozen in Dreadrock Citadel. They acted for themselves and their own.

"Nothing. No guarantees." Torchwick answered head on. Johnny's eyebrows raised in surprise at the brazen answer. "I'm a criminal, I'll cross you at some point. But I can't continue my work with that bitch still around hunting for me and my partner's heads."

Torchwick prided himself on not taking bets he knew was going to blow up in his face. This time, he'd let Destiny take the wheel, over the certain Doom waiting for him if this man took otherwise. For the sake of himself, and Neo.

Johnny smiled. He had to respect the balls on the man. "You know what? Fine. It's a deal." He held out a hand to the thief. "You'll work for me. Until this ends in this city, I'll protect you and your partner, and you'll be my other set of eyes, ears, and limbs in the city." His eyes glowed an ominous violet, drawing from the Void, sealing Torchwick and Neo's fate with a Contract. "When it ends, I'll safeguard your exit from this city." Neo looked worriedly at the suddenly imposing form of the adventurer. The shadows lengthening around them, and the lightbulb flickering. Torchwick didn't even flinch and shook the Void Highlord's hand.

Faintly, both Torchwick and Neo heard a sinister chuckle from the darkness around them. "Contract sealed." Johnny said. The adventurer's face brightened after that. "Alright, go and eat the soup. We got a lot of things to plan." He said excitedly.

Torchwick and Neo gritted their teeth, worried for their own fates.

Next chapter might be late. Cancer exam coming up.