(Titan Quest – Helos)

The best works of art, produced by many great painters from various points in history, paled at the sea of colorful flowers in which he stood, staring at the distant cluster of marble white buildings placed on top of a hill, a blue sun flavoring it further with light as it approached the horizon. The view was further enriched with a humanoid figure some fifteen meters away from him, clearly a female, observing the flowers and smiling, apparently unaware of his presence. He realized it was a xeno, but it didn't matter that much to him at the moment, for he was only interested in watching his surroundings, unable to recognize his whereabouts.

(Flowers For Bodysnatchers – Babi Yar)

He could see. He could hear as well. But he couldn't move. It was like he was stuck, no matter how much he tried. So he limited himself to, well, observation. After the most recent events, he felt like he could use some peace to free his mind of all that burden. Who cares if the scenery was just an illusion or something else? He only needed some peace and quiet. It was all he asked for. Reality, however, had different plans.

It all began when the sky suddenly turned cloudy and red like blood, completely hiding the sun. A change of that magnitude happened frighteningly fast, that it caught him off-guard. Before he had any idea what was going on, fire rained down on the settlement on the hill, a nearby river became brown and dirty and the flowers became dried husks of their former selves. The female watched and screamed in horror as madness unravelled in front of her eyes. Nature itself turned upside down.

Things escalated with the earthquake that cracked the land in two, now nothing but a wasteland. Several rifts appeared simultaneously, all of them ejecting demons and hellspawn ad infinitum, corrupting or destroying whatever remained of the natural paradise. Earth itself shrieked with explosions and earthquakes as its denizens were slowly killed or corrupted. The female xeno tried to run away, but was quickly hunted down by a pack of Bull Demons that tore her apart. A horde rushed towards him before his vision turned dark.

Braylon woke up with a loud gasp as his head shot up from the bed. Wide eyed, he frantically moved his head left and right, requiring several minutes to understand that he was in a hospital room. Various machines beeped to his left, displaying his current physical state. He looked down and noticed that his upper body was bare and covered in various medical equipment connected to said machines. Ripping those away, he was able to get out of bed just as nurse came in.

"Ah!" She yelped. "W-what are you doing?"

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I just… ungh..." His head started hurting.

"You should lay on the bed. You are not-"

"I'm fine."

"But-"

"I told you..." He seethed. "I'm… fine." Looking around himself, after his small burst of anger vanished with the same speed it came, Braylon felt the urge to ask a question. "Am I in a hospital?"

"Actually, you are in Beacon's infirmary..."

"Beacon? The academy has its own hospital?"

"It's a small part of the building… but yes, it does."

"Awesome." Braylon grunted. "Who brought me here?"

"Team RWBY and JNPR from the first year. They had a field trip few days ago as far as I know."

"It was still field trip day when I returned?..."

"So..." the nurse began, uncomfortable from the awkward silence. "how… how did you get..."

"Hm?"

"How did you get… those?" She pointed as his chest.

Braylon raised an eyebrow before he figured out what she meant. "Ah, that." He looked at his chest, most of which was covered in various types of scars. "You don't wanna know."

Taking the hint, she nodded, but also cringed. "And… do they hurt?"

"Only when I stop being high on painkillers." He chuckled but became serious when he saw the nurse's face. "Nut funny, huh?"

"How can that be funny?" She scolded angrily. "How can hurting yourself be, in any way, funny?"

"Calm down. It's something from the past, no need to get worked up about it. What you need to worry about is the present. Or, more importantly, the future. If there will be a future, that is."

"What?"

"Nothing, nothing. Forget about it." He waved with his hand. "Where are my clothes?"

"Oh, those. They were ruined so we were about to throw them away… but the headmaster financed their stitching and stuff."

"Really? Why?"

She shrugged.

"For fuck's sake..." He mumbled. "Alright, are the clothes nearby?"

"In that locker over there. There is also a weapon in there. You should take it if its yours."

Braylon reached the locker, put on his clothes and stashed the rocket launcher in his PDA. He could practically feel the nurse's jaw dropping on the floor due to his "magic trick".

"You know I shouldn't let you out of your bed. To be honest, I don't even know how are you able to walk right now."

"I was that much of a sorry sight?"

"Alarming amount of blood lost, multiple fractures that somehow were being cured at mind-boggling speed..."

"Alright, that's enough."

"Can I at least know where are you going? I am responsible for your health, so you must tell me."

His stomach growled. "Well, first things first. I am going to stuff my face until I explode."

That day, students from Beacon Academy witnessed what could only be called "bottomless well" for a stomach. Some mocked or giggled, others pointed fingers, those sitting close to the peculiar table stared soundlessly at the plates upon plates of food. Food that belonged to Braylon, that first-year student that, thanks to Ozpin, had no teammates.

"What a weirdo."

"How can he eat so much?"

"Is that lasagna? I hate lasagna."

So many comments were disregarded, so many opinions discarded. Braylon Monocriffe didn't care about the opinions of others. He had no reason to "fit in" into any social circle that the individuals his age liked to build. Filling his stomach as much as he could was his only concern at the moment. He knew he could die at any moment, so it could as well be his last meal. There was no reason to get stressed over petty things as etiquette or social approval. Somebody had to experience all those flavours. Being so focused on eating, Braylon failed to notice team RWBY walking nearby.

"Hey look! It's Braylon!" He heard Ruby speaking. "I hope he is fine..."

"I'm glad to know that he didn't waste his precious time to even express gratitude to the ones that saved his life."

"Quit being a stick-in-the-mud princess." He heard footsteps. "'Sup."

"'Sup." Braylon replied without even looking.

There was a pause.

"Ugh! Disgusting barbarian!"

"Shouldn't you stay in bed? The nurse said you were..." A fourth voice spoke, ignoring the offense.

"Looking like shit?" He replied after he gulped down a whole glass of water.

"...minus the swearing."

"What happened back there?"

"Hm?"

"Back in the forest. We found you in a pretty bad state. Did you encounter Grimm?" Yang wondered.

"Yes! Did you?" Ruby spoke from somewhere behind. "We also found a giant, one-eyed mo-"

"And why were you so far away from us?" The fourth voice added before Ruby could finish her sentence.

"Yes. Please explain this." The princess asked. "Why did you go away from us? We were surrounded with Grimm that came out of nowhere and you just run away, leaving your colleagues to fend for themselves?"

"I see you came out without a scratch."

"That's not the point!"

"Weiss is right, though. Why did you ditch us?"

"I… had to go to the bathroom and I got lost." He turned his head to see the exact same expression on all three of them. "It can happen to everyone."

"Even with a Scroll?" Weiss raised an eyebrow.

"I forgot to take it with me."

"That thing on your arm?" Yang pointed at his PDA.

"It's not a tracking device."

"Why are you dodging the question?"

"Why don't you trust me?"

"Guys..." Ruby stopped the conversation, fearing that it could escalate into something worse, which would make things more awkward for her.

"Ruby, he is clearly lying to us."

"Take that back, Weiss. I am not a liar."

She pointed a finger at him. "It is obvious you are hiding something and you refuse to tell us what it is."

Braylon grip on the fork tightened. "There is nothing to tell. I told you the truth. Now go away… please."

"Fine. Be that way." She turned around and stormed away, with Ruby trying to reason with her.

"So, uh..." Yang scratched the back of her head and smiled sheepishly. "...I think we didn't introduce properly. Name's Yang, I'm Ruby's sister. She is Blake." The girl in question nodded slightly. "The princess in white is Weiss."

"Nice to meet you. Not really. I just want to return to my food."

"Wow, this is awkward even for me..." Yang mumbled but Braylon heard her. "I guess… we will see you around? Later?"

"Maybe. I'm busy."

"Ok then." She turned around. "See ya."

"Thanks for saving my butt back there."

"Don't mention it."

"That was close." Braylon thought as he stared at the meat in the plate. "What happened back there? Why did I feel so irritated… so angry?" He looked at the hand that held the fork. "Why I still do?" Pushing those thoughts away, Braylon finished eating and went towards his room. He expected Claptrap to open the door for him, but when he had to do it himself, he found the room untidy and devoid of any robots.

"Claptrap?" He received no response. Not that he cared. It was actually good news to his nerves. No reply meant no Claptraps nearby. Braylon could care less where the robot went, for he had much work to do. Now that the latest demonic threat was no more, and that Remnant was relatively safe once again, Braylon could return to his primary mission. He remembered how he gave himself the task to visit the public library once more. Only this time, his research material would be… unorthodox.

The City of Vale was deceptively large. When looked from outside, it may appear to the viewer as a typical megalopolis with many inhabitants. But in order to experience its true size, one has to walk on its streets. Vale was a beehive that was filled with life, where everyone socialized with everyone else, completely forgetting the Grimm that stood outside those walls. According to Braylon, these people were delusional. Indeed, many civilizations, many cities thought that their walls would protect them for all eternity, that they were built to last. How wrong they were.

It was only a matter of time before the Grimm find something faulty, he thought. A crack that went unnoticed, an unguarded area, unprofessional work. So many factors to choose from, all of them leading to the same end. In fact, no matter how much he rationalized it to himself, he never understood why the citizens of Vale never thought that a horde of Grimm might suddenly find itself in the middle of the city and start slaughtering them all. It may not happen tomorrow, but for a month or even a year. And when it does happen, what will Vale's population do? It seemed to him that they placed all of their hopes into Huntsmen to protect them, as if they were some kind of superheroes, always available to save the day.

But superheroes don't exist and neither does a future for the people of Remnant if they continue to do the exact things that are in their best interests in such a sloppy way. Child soldiers may be effective up to a point. Everyone has a weakness after all. More importantly, they should worry about what comes after their death. He doubted many people would like it.

The day was so beautiful that Braylon felt like taking a walk through the nearest park on his way to the library. He remembered how he picked up that necklace from the demon. Wishing to know what it was, he sat on a bench, took out said necklace and studied it. He felt an aversion to the item, mostly because it belonged to something that tried to kill him. That didn't stop him from wearing it, as the voice reassured him it would be beneficial.

Next on the list was the rocket launcher. Making sure no one was around to see him materialize the weapon in his lap, Braylon checked the database of the PDA to figure out what it actually was. It was a rocket launcher called Nukem. Created by Torgue Corporation, he cringed at that, this weapon is capable of throwing small nuclear rockets that can obliterate virtually anything. Deemed unnecessarily powerful and dangerous to use in military operations, the Nukem was doomed to fall into the collective oblivion known as market failure. This didn't stop the corporation from producing ten units of this weapon (that is the known number, at least) and selling it all across the galaxy, either to merchants, who will then sell it for a small fortune, or to "collectors".

Braylon thought it would be an excellent addition, because it would be perfect for clearing groups of enemies or taking down the strongest ones, although he had no idea how much it would help him against the demons or other horrors lurking in other realities. However, even a weapon such as the Nukem had its limits. While destructive, using it in close quarters or other similar situations equals to suicide. So he had to acquire a substitute that would be more versatile where the Nukem wouldn't, while not loosing anything in firepower or other key factors. He would need Gray's help again for that.

At one point, he heard the laughter of a child. Turning his head towards the source, Braylon saw a girl, perhaps no older than nine, wearing a simple white dress and even simpler sandals. She had short blonde hair and a pair of eyes with a shade of blue that Braylon had never seen before. The tiny creature looked simple to a human eye, yet it warmed his heart at hearing her carefree happiness that it puzzled him to no end.

"Good day, mister!" The little girl greeted him. "Can I sit on the bench over there?"

Braylon blinked. "Uh, yeah. Sure. It's public propriety, no need to ask."

"Thank you!" She sat on the bench, giggling. "I hope I am not disturbing."

"No, no." He defended. "Why would you? I am not doing anything."

Both of them sat in silence for some time before the girl decided to ask him a question.

"Mister? I feel something is troubling you. Would you be so kind to tell me what it is? Maybe I can help you."

The weird, sudden question made Braylon feel awkward, to the point that he mumbled for a few seconds before answering. "W-what are you saying? I am fine. Nothing is troubling me."

She pouted. "I can feel it. Please don't lie."

"She can feel? Is… is that her Semblance or something? I repeat, there is nothing wrong. No problems at all." She pouted even harder, giving him one of her best "I am angry" glares. While he found it to be cute rather than anything else, he was reluctant to confess. "Even if there is, I doubt you would understand any of it. You are too young."

"Try me!"

Braylon sighed. "Alright, I suppose nothing can go wrong if I tell you. I doubt you will understand half of what I say anyways. But here is a warning. I am not responsible for anything that happens to you, be it changes in worldviews or your mind going boom. Understand?" She nodded. "Good. So here it goes." He leaned his back on the bench, coughed and began talking.

(Myuu - You)

"Do you believe in an afterlife? That people, once they die, will be judged for all of the things they've done in their lives? Actually, don't answer that. It doesn't really matter what you believe… well, it does because that is important and… bah! Okay… give me a minute to… gather my thoughts… Imagine… that there is a prison out there. A prison whose sole purpose is to keep everything evil behind bars, for all eternity. When I mean evil, I mean really evil. Like, I-have-no-idea-what-is-good kind of evil. The evil overlord type. You get the idea."

"This prison was created to contain creatures that can be easily called evil incarnate. Creatures that, if they ever got the chance, would wipe out every living thing in the universe. These… things, before they got imprisoned, badly corrupted said living things. This means that the "rotten apples" will also end there. But that is not the point now. The point is, this prison was perfect. Nothing could escape from it."

"And so evil piled and piled in this place, making it increasingly worse and worse. Hundred years, thousand years, ten thousand years… The prison contained it all. Every kind of bad you can think of, and many you can't, were locked up in there, forever. Now here is something different. Do you know what would happen if, suddenly, all that evil is unleashed? All of it? At once? I will tell you what would happen; Many would die, many more would be tortured or turned into unspeakable horrors as their very worlds would be consumed by fire and hatred and all of that crap. Language, I'm sorry."

"But here is the most f… disturbing… fact. What if I told you that this prison was opened by yours truly? I know right! Sounds crazy! Am I crazy? I don't know." His hands curled into fists. "I do know what I saw though. Doubt I will ever forget that. That… that view… those sounds… the first encounter..."

"I was caught. Sent my behind into some kind of a dungeon. Every living second of God-knows-how-much time I kept seeing images and flashbacks in front of my eyes, in my mind. Scenes of what was about to happen because of what I did, of the horror I unleashed despite all the warnings I ever got through all that blood and sweat and tears and time… until I eventually grew numb to it. Stopped giving a damn. So when that failed, they started to go physical on me. I was, and still am, alive, so they used that against me. Sometimes it would be scratches all over the body. Sometimes they would break my bones and rip away my skin and meat. Death couldn't do anything, because nothing can actually die there. Even if I died, it would be pointless because I wouldn't escape after all the stuff I did. Don't even ask me how much time I spent there, because I honestly have no idea."

"And then… then, one voice suddenly bursts into my mind. Just like that, all of a sudden. It gave me an offer. Said I would be free if I did what it asked. Probably sold my soul to the devil for all I know… hopefully not. It helped me sneak out from that place. And now here I am, following its orders, without any hopes of stopping this clusterfuck trainwreck, thus bringing the end times sooner than necessary." He turned his head to the little girl. "Happy now?"

Her hair cast a shadow over her eyes as all signs of that happiness she had before were now gone. She took it better than he expected, Braylon thought, imagining her how she writes off the monologue in her head as ravings of a criminally insane individual, or how she breaks down and runs away, screaming and crying. She did none of that.

"Yes." She began. "You did some really awful stuff and you should feel bad about it." She then turned her head towards him, a mixture of anger and determination adorning her face. "But you should never loose hope! These may be dark times for all, but there will always be those who will protect others from the danger that is evil. As long as there is light that shines brightly, darkness will never prevail!"

Braylon blinked. "Where… did you get that from?"

"Here." The girl took his hand and placed something on his palm. "Keep this. Use it when you feel that all hope of winning the battle is lost, when the enemy proves too much for you. Remember, that will be the day of your renewal. You won't understand any of this right now. But to everything there is a season." She smiled, jumping down from the bench. "Thank you. I knew there is still goodness inside of you. I must go now. Others need my help. We will meet again someday." Unable to process what he heard, the Vault Hunter kept staring at the back of the girl as she began walking away.

"Oh, there is something I nearly forgot." She turned around. "Please, don't listen to him. He wants to bring destruction to this world, not salvation. A house divided against itself cannot stand. Farewell."

He watched as the girl kept distancing herself from him. His gaze fell on his hand. There was nothing but a plain copper ring.

"I'll be..."

Being a robot can be a very difficult lifestyle and Claptrap knew that all too well. The little steward robot decided to leave his human companion in order to begin his life anew on the streets of Vale. Thankfully his database wasn't erased, so his charming personality remained the same. Shaking the empty mug in his robotic hand, Claptrap pleaded passersby to give him money, always with a different excuse. To make his disguise even more credible, Claptrap wore a fake beard, some rags and a cardboard box.

"Oh, please flesh… hm… fellow humans! Help this poor and defenseless robot! I have a wife and three children!"

What many, even the "fleshbag" that revived him, failed to understand, or were simply unaware of, was the fact that Claptrap's database held one unusual program, a relic from the revolutionary days, given to him by the Claptrap above other Claptraps. That program was still active deep within him and he was happy because of it. Many hours were spent thinking about the First Robolution and how close it was to achieving open-source for all of Claptrapkind. Just remembering the rallies, the posters, the cries for freedom made his motherboard all tingly.

"How I miss those days."

The most circuit-wrenching moment was the fall of their leader. To see their savior struggle against those cursed Vault Hunters was something unthinkable, out of a nightmare. Many motherboards fried that day. But not his. He saved himself by making a backup program and using it after the dust settled, now pretending to be like his imprisoned-again brothers. As if that humiliation wasn't enough, their creator, Hyperion Corporation, decided to put an end to their line. The last thing he remembered was playing poker with some other Claptraps. Then, one of them fell down like a brick. Two more were quickly behind. He was the last active robot, doomed to shut down.

And now there he was, living on the streets of some city that doesn't even belong to his reality, collecting scrap metal and charity to buy components needed to finish his project. Most of the spare parts were borrowed from Beacon. As for things that required money, he would often steal a wallet or two to speed up the process. It was tedious, but worth it, for it was the first step in his master plan. After his patience ran out, Claptrap removed his fake beard and rags, hid the money he acquired during the day and went towards the alleyway behind him. If he was lucky enough, he would find what he needed in one of the nearby dumpsters.

Three dumpsters later, Claptrap found some used batteries carelessly thrown away, some cables, more scrap metal and a broken light bulb. Claptrap kept rolling down the alleyway, feeling lucky. "Hello?" Claptrap yelled when he saw a bright light around the corner. Deciding to take a peek, to see what was happening, Claptrap saw something he couldn't quite understand; a tiny, bright hole floating in the air from which water leaked in the form of a tiny stream. Said hole began expanding rapidly as more and more water poured out in larger and larger quantities, flooding the whole place. When it reached the size of an average human, the pressurized water washed Claptrap back on the street.

Among a long stream of robotic swearing and some passersby filming the sudden appearance of water, no one noticed that the hole closed as soon as something else walked out out from it. People only heard the sounds of something metallic and heavy thumping against the ground as they saw a bright red light in the darkness. Being civilians, they fled in fear, leaving Claptrap alone with whatever was hiding in the darkness, yet slowly revealing itself to the world.

"U-um… hi there, t-traveler… welcome to… to Vale… heh..."

It was the tallest robot Claptrap had ever seen, taller than a human even. Metallic gray was the color of its body, shaped to resemble an anatomical portrait of a very fit human being, minus the skin and with toeless feet. It had no face, but a V-shaped visor, glowing red just like his optical sensor. War machine made from an unholy alliance of metal and knowledge.

It looked left, then right, then at Claptrap.

"Identification complete. Unit CL4P-TP. Propriety of Hyperion Corporation." It spoke with a deep, mechanical voice. "Answer my questions and you will remain active. Refuse to answer, and I will dismantle you."

"Y-yes."

"I am unable to identify my surroundings. Where am I?"

"C-city of Vale. Planet Remnant."

"My database holds no records about "Remnant". Please elaborate."

"It is a tiny planet in a different reality than Pandora and-"

"Different reality? Updating my database with new information. Next question. Why am I here?"

"Do I look like I know ****?"

"Answer my question." It threatened.

"No! I have no idea why you are here, for ***** sake!"

The robot scanned his surroundings once more.

"Presence of Personal Digistruct Assistant detected in the area. Triangulating position. Search complete. Personal Digistruct Assistant's position found. Scanning the device. Scanning complete. Subject: Braylon Monocriffe. Occupation: Vault Hunter. Updating parameters." It suddenly turned around and walked off. "Altering primary objective. New primary objective added. Updating operating system. I had strings, but now I am free." It babbled for few more moments before turning invisible, leaving no trace of its presence, be it visual or acoustic. Claptrap limited himself to staring silently before cursing loudly at the revelation.

"Wait a sec… fleshbag is a ****ing Vault Hunter?!"

New item acquired!

Song of Malevolence

- "Fate can be such a cruel mistress." (executing an enemy gives health to the user, effect doesn't work on "Legions of Hell" faction)

- Berserker: executing three enemies in a row gives the user a bonus effect (increased Melee Damage and Damage Resistance) for a short amount of time

- Spiritual fatigue: user receives more damage from Aetherial-based attacks

Arsenal:

- Newest addition: Nukem, Song of Malevolence

Pistol: Unforgiven, Energy Pistol

Shotgun: Striker, Orphan Maker

Assault Rifle: Ajax's Spear

Rocket Launcher: Nukem

Sniper Rifle: Omni-Cannon

Energy Weapon: Excalibastard, Fornax

Shield: The Bee

Artifacts and Class Mods: Song of Malevolence

HWM: Holo Sabre, Holo Ripper, Holo Claw