The Crow-Bar
City of Vale, Remnant
Qrow Branwen sat in a bar and ordered another drink. When he wasn't dealing with Grimm, doing a job for Ozpin, or alien prisoners from a space prison, he was here getting a drink.
But tonight was different. For tonight, he was toasting to a fallen friend. Not like one of the fallen that was dealing out drinks to the patrons, which were a combination of locals and other Eliksni, but an actual friend that had died recently. Two friends actually.
Cayde-6 and Nadiya.
A few months back, Cayde-6 of the Hunter Vanguard came to Qrow about a job. A job to hunt down a gang of fallen calling themselves Scorned Baron. After contacting Ozpin, who gave his approval for the job, Qrow went with the Exo Guardian. What followed was the formation of a group called Cayde's Six. Including the aforementioned Hunter Vanguard and Qrow, the group was composed of Banshee-44, Petra Venj, Nadiya and Suraya Hawthorne.
Together, the six went to the Tangled Shore and rounded them all up.
And it was memorable.
Qrow laughed in remembrance as he recalled Cayde-6 beating the Rider in a race which resulted in her capture. Both himself and Suraya tricking both the Trickster and the Rifleman at the same time getting them both. And many other memories.
Hearing Cayde-6 being killed by the escaped Barons alongside the Awoken douchebag prince of the Reef, quickly followed by Nadiya, that got his attention. Working alongside the Awoken Guardian, Qrow could tell she was extremely skilled as a guardian. Not on the level as some of the well-known Guardians, but good enough. Her getting both herself and her Ghost killed by a Grimm or some random thug was impossible. That left only one candidate. One of the Barons was on Remnant. And thanks to a buddy of his in the Vale Police Department, he got the police report of her death which narrowed down the list of potential Barons that are here on Remnant.
Based off of the angle of the shot of both her head and her Ghost, the culprit would have to be Pirrha the Rifleman.
Qrow went through the bits of info regarding the baron. Expert sniper, wore the skin of a Cabal warbeast as a cloak, cybernetic eyes installed, and a device that helped him create duplicates of himself. Not to mention a short-range transmat device allowing him to teleport.
And based on the statistics of his semblance, the Rifleman was waiting for him to exit outside the bar on a rooftop right now.
He heard footsteps behind him and turned to see the newest arrival, smiling. "Well, it's a reunion!" He slurred turning to the bartender. "Order another round for the Queen's Wrath herself! What brings you here Petra?" He asked as Petra Venj herself sat right next to him. The Fallen bartender shakily handing her a drink. Petra looked over the contents before setting the drink back down.
"I was about to set up a blind in the EDZ waiting for Uldren. But then I heard about Nadiya."
"News travels fast for you guys." Qrow said. "You're aware of one of the Barons camped out on the rooftop across from the bar?"
"Oh yes. I made sure for him to notice me going in. And I want him to follow us."
Qrow turned to her. "Follow us?" His slur gone.
"How would you like to kill two birds with one stone? I know what Uldren is up to and where he's next going to. Why not take not only him out, but take out a Baron as well. For Cayde and Nadiya."
Qrow looked at her for a moment before taking his hand out for her to shake. "For Cayde and Nadiya! Now, what do we do first."
Petra smiled at him. "We're going to walk right out of the front door.
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On the rooftop across from the bar, Pirrha sat and waited for his targets to arrive. He was planning on just taking out Qrow Branwen and calling it a night. But behold, Petra Venj, the Queen's Wrath herself arrived into the bar! The Baron smiled at his fortune and eagerly waited for them both to come out. He believes that he could take them both out with a single shot if he angled it right.
The doors opened and both Qrow and Petra were holding on to one another, smiling with the huntsman holding a beer bottle in his hand, laughing like a loon. Pirrha smiled further. They were both drunk! This is easier than he could have imagined.
A little too easy. He thought to himself as he looked through the sights.
Just as he hovered the crosshairs over them, Petra grabbed a knife from her belt and threw it at him! He ducked as it sailed over him. She missed!
That was until he heard a crack from up above him. He had enough time to see a gargoyle fall on top of him. A few seconds after getting up and shaking off the debris, he recovered and looked down to where Qrow and Petra were.
In their place was a portal, surrounded by civilians who were either admiring it, or taking pictures of themselves with it.
He jumped down to the ground, ignoring the cries from the civilians or the honking of the horns from the vehicles. He charged through the portal!
Only to find himself in a dimly lit void of howling storm with floating bits of land all around him.
He was in the Ascendant Realm! Vale's version of it at least. So, they wanted to escape from him via the Ascendant Realm. He reloaded his weapon. He glanced behind him and found that the portal was now fully closed to him. If he wanted to escape, he would have to follow his two targets to get out. Then kill them both!
"This is now a proper hunt!" he said to himself before seeking his prey.
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"So, this is the Ascendant Realm?" Qrow said looking all around him as he ran alongside Petra. "Remnant's version of it, yes." She replied.
"Could use a bit of illumination." He said.
The Ascendant Realm, or at least Remnant's version of it was a bit chaotic and weird in Qrow's opinion.
Large gaps between the roads where far beneath a sea of black and white energy laid far below that would take several lifetimes just to reach even the half-way point. Cars and signs floating in the air with buildings that look like they were decayed. And that was just Vale!
He learned from Petra that the Ascendant Realm could be traversed by anyone with the strength and power, allowing them to cross the entire planet or between planets. And that is what Petra was planning. She explained the plan was to lure the rifleman away from Remnant, travel through the Ascendant Realm, lead him to Earth and take out both the baron and Uldren at the same time. She already gave him a rundown as to what Summer, his nieces and the rest of the team were doing on the Tangled Shore.
"Any reason why you didn't bring them along for this?" He asked as he followed Petra on a series of cars that formed a bridge in the air.
"Contrary to what many Guardians on earth think, not every Awoken has the ability to create a doorway into the Ascendant Realm and transverse between worlds on a whim. It takes a lot of energy, patience, timing, and limitations. If it was one of the Techians or Tech-Witches as the Guardians call them, they could have sent me, Guardian Rose and Team RWBY without any problems. Unfortunately, a majority of them are either in hiding thanks to Uldren's purge, or dead. So, you just have me." Petra said reaching the very top of the bridge.
"Hold on." She said grabbing his arm.
Qrow braced himself as he felt himself move faster than the fastest airship Atlas has. He soon found himself on the shores of a continent he didn't recognize.
"Where are we?"
"The Ascendant Realm's version of the continent that you call, the Grimmlands."
Qrow's breath caught in his throat. The Grimmlands; the origin and possible source of the Grimm. Also known as Salem's stronghold. In the real world, there was a large storm of Darkness that is wrapped around almost the entirety of the Grimmlands. Ozpin suspects that it is Salem's doing.
"And why are we here?" He said, his hand straying close to his weapon. "This is the closest Ley Line that would allow us to arrive in the EDZ on Earth."
"Ley Line?"
"Ley Lines act as pathways throughout the Ascendant Realm. Appearing here and there and at certain locations, never in the same place twice. This one is the closest one for another month."
Suddenly, the ground around them shifted as they struggled to stand. They quickly moved away as the ground beneath their feet shifted and a gigantic orb appeared out of the ground.
Quickly followed by a series of red tentacles tipped in bladed barbs. Speckled on top of the orb was white bones.
Qrow readied his weapon, already knowing that it is a Grimm with Petra readying her sniper, the sigil of the Awoken Queen glowing on the side of the gun.
Black and red smoke shifted within the floating orb until it solidified into the face of the last person he expected to see: Salem.
The Queen of Grimm looked upon the two down below.
"Qrow Branwen; little carrier pigeon of Ozpin. And Petra Venj; the Queens Wrath. Please explain to me why you are in the Ascendant Realm on the fringes of my Throne World before I…"
She was interrupted when Qrow unsheathed his weapon, Harbinger in it's shotgun form and unloaded a shot directly into its head. Quickly followed by Petra. Unfortunately, the bullets bounced right off the surface, barely making her image flicker.
"Rude. I expected it from Branwen, but here I thought you Awoken were more civilized. Oh, and before I kill you both, your prince, Uldren Sov sends his regards." She said before her gigantic Seer sent all its tentacles down to the ground, pumping something deep below.
"Uldren!? Where is he?!" Petra shouted at the Queen of Grimm. Qrow's got to hand it to Petra, face with a gigantic Grimm projecting the face of their leader, she doesn't shy away.
"He left my realm just a few hours ago after some negotiating. I gave him something that could only be found in my lands. And in exchange, he gave me some of his Scorn to play around with. Would you like to meet them?"
From the ground where the tentacles imbedded themselves, a clawed hand erupted from the dirt. It pulled itself up and then came fully out for them both to see. Erupting from the dirt was a Scorn that had been modified with Grimm physiology. Black blobs along its arms and chest, white bone plates dotted its exoskeleton, red eyes peering out in the dim lighting of the Ascendant Realm. It was quickly followed by others that emerged from the ground. Some were similar, while others were quite different. Some were more arachnid in appearance scuttling on all six limbs, while some were more hound-like in appearance.
A soft chime sounded behind them and a portal opened up.
"That's the Ley Line!" Petra shouted, unholstering a sidearm pistol and firing into the closest Scorned Grimm. The shot impacted its arm, taking it off before it quickly regrew its arm, pale blue and black ether moving about its body towards the injury. Qrow fired again before grabbing Petra and jumping into the portal.
His semblance chose that moment to screw with him when he tripped, fell forward with Petra landing behind him, quickly followed by a Scorned Grimm that chose that moment to grab him by the cloak, grip it tight which then started to cut off his oxygen supply. He quickly unclasped his cape before finally tumbling into the portal.
The Scorned Grimm that grabbed his cloak looked at the material before being surrounded by the others, now totaling seven. Each of them took a good whiff of the cloak before tumbling into the portal.
Salem watched as the last of her newest creations fell through the portal. She heard a sound behind her and she turned her seer to look upon the latest trespasser. It was a large Eliksni wearing a Cabal warbeast cloak upon his body with a modified sniper in its arms. She recognized him not only from the reports from Guardians regarding the leadership of the Scorn, thanks to Arthur Watts hacking into their network, but from Uldren's description of one of his Scorned Barons doing some work on Remnant.
"If you are looking for an Awoken with an eye-patch and a drunk idiot, they fell through the portal over there. All I ask is that you bring me the drunks weapon. Keep the rest as a trophy." She said, making the gigantic seer point a tentacle at the open portal. Pirrha starred at Salem then at the portal before nodding and jumping through the portal.