26

 Chapter 26: V2C13: Last Train to Nowhere

A/N: Volume 2 OP: "PEACE SIGN" by Jonathan Young

Ruby Rose held her breath as she waited patiently in the shadow. She heard the two voices speaking, heard their clothes rustling, heard their footsteps as their boots clacked on the hard ground. She watched as one of the two guards at the outpost drew closer and closer and closer still. At just the right time, Ruby took off with a burst of her Semblance and twisted herself midair to collide with the guard's face in a dropkick. As she and the guard went flying, she reached out and grabbed the guard's rifle before hitting the ground in a sliding roll.

Before the other guard could fully react, Ruby fired off a burst of rounds from the rifle at him, each one striking home until his Aura shattered in a flash of light. Once his Aura was down, she tossed the rifle up and took off with another burst of her Semblance, grimacing as her knee collided with the man's face in a sickening crunch.

Kicking off of the wall behind the guard, Ruby launched herself into the air and caught the rifle and unleashed another burst of fire at the first guard who was still picking himself up off the floor. The rounds didn't break his Aura as they impacted it but that was within her parameters as she twisted herself around until she could bound off of the ceiling. The butt of the rifle hitting the back of the man's head was enough to break his Aura and his head slamming into the ground was enough to knock him out.

Ruby let out a nervous breath as she tossed aside the rifle. She had been wandering the tunnels beneath Mountain Glenn for a little while now and that had been the third outpost she had encountered. They got a little easier to take down with each one as Ruby put more of her training with Shirou into practice but she would give just about anything to have her weapon or, better yet, her team with her.

Putting her feelings aside for the moment, Ruby pressed on, the flashlight of her Scroll the only thing preventing her from being in complete darkness. Ruby had never considered herself to be claustrophobic and the tunnels were rather spacious but the atmosphere of the place was putting her on edge. It took a serious amount of focused breathing and positive thinking to keep herself calm.

On and on Ruby walked, not really knowing where she was or where she was going. Her Scroll said that she had only been down there for about ten minutes but it had felt like hours as each second crawled by as her senses sharpened themselves to a razor's edge to try and notice any danger before it was too late. Finally, after what felt like miles of walking, Ruby noticed a faint glow in the distance and hurriedly turned her flashlight off.

Taking some time to quiet her breathing and soften her footsteps (Ruby was really thankful that Blake had taught them the basics of stealth), Ruby crept along the wall until she came to a sharp bend in the tunnel, the light coming from the other side. At this point, she could hear the sound of various voices and of heavy machinery being used.

"Come on, you bozos, hurry up! That bastard'll be here any minute!" she heard a very familiar voice say. She once again activated the inward-facing camera on her Scroll and carefully held it past the edge until she could see inside.

What Ruby saw was a large cavern filled with generators and artificial lights. As she looked around, "cavern" might have been the wrong word as there were buildings upon buildings absolutely everywhere. What was most unsettling, however, was the fact that this appeared to be the White Fang base that her team had been looking for as numerous White Fang members scurried about the area moving cargo and setting things up. Some of them were even in Paladins to move especially large crates around. While she couldn't tell exactly what they were up to, from what little she could see through her camera, they appeared to be loading up an old train.

Needing a closer look, Ruby located a good place to hide and waited for the right moment to move, using carefully timed bursts of her Semblance to increase her speed without leaving behind too many rose petals. She eventually came to a stop behind a fallen wall before carefully peering over it to see the person that the familiar voice belonged to.

"Keep a move on, people! We're running out of time!" Roman Torchwick shouted as he directed the members of the White Fang. After confirming his presence and getting a feel for the layout as best as she could, Ruby weighed her options and tried to figure out what to do. At her current level, taking out this many people without her weapon would be extremely difficult, if not impossible. She had only gotten by so far due to the element of surprise. Of course, even if she had her weapon, there was the issue of the couple Paladins in the area. It took her entire team plus Shirou in order to take one down before. There was simply no way she could handle one on her own.

As Ruby was contemplating her options, a voice rang out. "Intruder!" Every muscle in Ruby's body tensed up as she feared the worst. The next words, however, stopped her from moving. "Oh gods! He's here!"

Confused, Ruby peered over the edge again and what she saw completely floored her. Emiya Shirou, wielding a crimson lance, rushed forward and impaled one of the White Fang with a single trust. Shirou withdrew the lance, blood spurting out as the White Fang goon dropped to the floor, and quickly did a spinning jump toward the next one, the blade of the spear cutting an arc through the air before going clean through the other goon's neck.

Ruby couldn't believe what she was seeing. To her, Shirou was a kind and gentle soul. He was someone who'd do anything he could to help others without asking anything in return. He was the guy who, despite his own troubles, always had a gentle smile for people. That was something that she had admired greatly about him and was one of the reasons why she had wanted to date him.

And yet, the sight before her was completely different. The Shirou before her was completely different. His face was an impassive mask, his eyes cooly focused as he tore through the White Fang one after another, ending their lives without any hesitation. There were no traces of the gentle boy who had helped her out on her first day at Beacon. Instead, there was only a soldier whose heart had been hardened by a lifetime of conflict and bloodshed.

Unable to reconcile the image of Shirou she had in her head with the reality that laid before her, Ruby could only stand there slack-jawed, utterly paralyzed. Even when a rocket flew her way, accidentally redirected when Shirou knocked away a man's bazooka, she didn't move until the last minute when her instincts completely took over. Even then, she had been too slow and she cried out in pain as the blast flung her through the air and sent her crashing on the ground.

"What? Ruby?" she heard Shirou say. Ruby started to slowly pick herself up but, before she could even get halfway, she was yanked to her feet and felt something cold and hard press against her temple as an arm wrapped itself around her, pinning her own arms.

"Take one more step and Little Red's brains will be all over that wall!" she heard Roman scream. Shirou stopped his movements and leveled a glare at Roman, his killing intent so great that Roman actually flinched.

"Not so tough now, are ya‽" Roman taunted. It was clear by his voice that he was absolutely panicked. "Why don't you be a good little hero and stand there while my men fill you with holes‽"

In answer, Shirou slowly slid into a low stance with his lance. Ruby's eyes widened as the tingling sensation swept through her body like a flood, far greater than ever before, and it seemed as if the very air around Shirou was getting heavier.

"Hey, I said don't come closer!" Roman said as he jerked Ruby back a bit. "And don't try to throw that thing, either! No matter how fast you are, my trigger finger's faster!"

"I don't need to throw it," Shirou said cooly. "Your heart is already pierced."

"What the—?"

"Gáe Bolg!"

What happened next was utterly impossible.

Shirou thrust the crimson lance toward the ground but it immediately bent upward at a right angle before heading toward them faster than anyone could react, bending and twisting at utterly impossible angles in the process. The red line that was the lance went past them before doubling around and impaling Roman in the back. Roman coughed up spittle in shock, his grip loosening, as Shirou raised his lance up before making a slamming motion to the side, Roman following the movements.

As the lance returned to normal, Ruby staggered forward, her legs threatening to give out. "Shirou, what…?" was all she could get out before her throat closed up.

"Are you okay, Ruby?" Shirou asked as he approached. "What are you—" Shirou stopped mid-sentence as they heard Roman cough. Shirou leveled a glare at him as he struggled to get onto his hands and knees despite the blood pouring out of his chest and mouth.

"You're still alive," Shirou stated as he started walking toward the criminal. "I guess you're pretty lucky. But luck won't save you this time." As Shirou stood in front of him, he twirled the lance and got it into a throwing position before going for the killing blow. Ruby screamed at him to stop but it was too late as the lance pierced through Roman's head…

And shattered the illusion like glass.

"Dammit!" Shirou cursed as he jumped backward, twirling the spear back into a ready position. Now that she had the chance to really look at him, he seemed a lot more tired now than he had been before that attack. Any attempts at conversation were stalled by the arrival of several more White Fang members.

Shirou immediately moved to place himself between the White Fang and Ruby. "Ruby, stay back. I'll project a—" whatever he had been about to say was cut off as an explosion was heard in the distance. Several members of the White Fang looked behind them just to scream as another explosion sent them all flying to reveal a certain buxom blonde.

"Ruby!" Yang cried out in relief as Ruby dashed forward to glomp her sister.

"Are you okay?" Weiss asked as she ran up to them.

"I'm fine, I'm fine! But listen! Torchwick's got all kinds of weapons and robots down here!" Ruby said in a hurry.

"What‽" Blake exclaimed as she handed Ruby her weapon.

"Androids, mechs, they're all loaded up on the train cars!"

"Shirou, status report!" Doctor Oobleck said as he moved past Team RWBY to stand directly before the redhead.

Shirou glanced at Team RWBY before answering, "Most of the White Fang in the area have been eliminated but Roman Torchwick and Neo managed to escape. I was unable to determine what they were planning."

Doctor Oobleck nodded before saying, "Regrettable but we have nothing to worry about. The idea that they'd use the train is ridiculous. These tunnels are sealed, the tracks lead to a dead-end."

"Get to your places, we are leaving now!" Roman's pained voice called out over a PA system. Immediately after, there was a metallic lurching sound as the train started to move forward.

"Well, it sounds like they're going somewhere," Yang commented as she reloaded Ember Celica.

"So, what do we do?" Weiss asked.

"I believe we only have one option…" Doctor Oobleck said.

"We're stopping that train!" Ruby declared before leading the charge.

OoOoOoO

Roman Torchwick groaned as he leaned against a wall, one hand resting on the blood-soaked bandages that covered his chest. He had absolutely no idea what that bastard did to pull that off but, whatever it was, he had nearly taken his damn heart out. As it was, it was a minor miracle that he was still alive and his Aura was working overtime to try and close the wound.

Nearby, a concerned-looking Neopolitan approached to offer a steadying hand but Roman waved her off. "I'll be fine. We've got work to do right now," he said as he returned his attention to the communication system. He fiddled with the settings for a moment before putting on the headset.

"That bastard got to us. We're in motion now. Team RWBY and one of Beacon's professors are with him," he reported. There was silence for a long moment before Cinder Fall's voice came through.

"You couldn't even stop one child, Roman? I'm very disappointed in you."

"Fuck off, lady! That godsdammed brat nearly took my fucking heart out with some crazy impossible magic lance! I've never even seen the fucker use a lance before!"

"Magic, you say? That's certainly interesting. Very well. What's your ETA?"

Roman did some quick mental math while wiping the cold sweat off his forehead with the handkerchief provided by Neo before answering, "About fifteen minutes."

"Understood. We'll be ready on our end. Just make sure you don't fail yet again."

Roman cursed as he turned off the radio and threw down the headset before collapsing onto a bench and resting his head against the wall. How had things come to this? His luck was one of his best attributes and it, along with his wits, had been what got him through countless tough situations before. He was perfectly content being the boss of a petty crime gang and causing all sorts of headaches for the rich bastards who ran society.

But now? Now he had been roped into the crazy schemes of some bitch and her lackies to… Honestly, he had no idea exactly what they hoped to accomplish. Well, he had a fair idea as to what they were trying to do but he couldn't even begin to guess as to why they were doing it. It didn't matter, though. His reward for helping was substantial and his contract with them would be finished once Vale had fallen. After that, he could run away with Neo to someplace far away and just live out the rest of his life in peace. He had had more than enough excitement for one lifetime.

Roman opened his eyes when he felt Neo lay a hand on his arm. Concern was written all over her face and he couldn't help but give her a weak smile. This calmed her down somewhat but any further attempts at reassurance were stopped when the door to the car flew open.

"Boss! They made it on the train!" some White Fang flunky said.

Roman groaned as he rolled his eyes. Of course they were on the train. "Then grab some cargo and get them off the train!" The flunky nodded before running off and Roman could only shake his head while muttering, "Idiots. The lot of them."

Turning his attention to Neo, Roman said, "I don't trust these goons to even slow them down, let alone actually stop them. You go, too. I'll be fine here. Just make sure to be careful around that redheaded freak and his crazy fucking lance."

Neo gave him a confident smirk before vanishing. Roman sighed as he leaned his head back against the wall. This was going to be a long fifteen minutes.

OoOoOoO

Team RWBY, Shirou, and Doctor Oobleck all came to a stop as they landed on top of the train, weapons at the ready. The train had started to seriously pick up speed, the artificial lights and support beams blurring by at a regular rate.

"Hurry, children!" Doctor Oobleck said. "We must get to the front and stop this train!"

"Err, Doctor?" Weiss, who had already moved on and had opened the hatch, asked.

"Yes, Weiss?"

"What's this?" she asked as she gestured inside of it.

Doctor Oobleck and the others all gathered around to peer inside the train car and found a large, cylindrical device with wires and a screen attached. Immediately, Shirou had a bad feeling about it.

"That, my dear," Doctor Oobleck said as he kneeled down to get a closer look, "appears to be a bomb."

The members of Team RWBY immediately flinched back as Shirou started to scan through Unlimited Blade Works for anything that might help. The problem was that he was running low on prana after having projected and then broken numerous Noble Phantasms throughout the day. While he had taken frequent breaks to meditate and absorb the plentiful surrounding mana, it was still rather taxing and invoking Gáe Bolg's curse had left him more tired than he would like to be.

"We've got baddies!" Ruby called out as she pointed toward the front of the train. Indeed, quite a few White Fang members were starting to climb on top of the train and advance toward them. Shirou was frankly surprised by their numbers given how many of them he had killed in the past twenty-four hours.

"Well, I didn't expect them to go—" Doctor Oobleck stopped as the bomb started to beep and the screen on it turned red, "easy on us. Time to go!" Everyone started moving to the next train car but Doctor Oobleck stopped Blake before she could move. "Blake! Detach the caboose! It will kill us all!"

"On it!" Blake replied with a nod before hopping down. She readied Gambol Shroud but stopped in surprise as the car detached itself. "Huh? It decoupled itself!" she called up.

Doctor Oobleck's cry of confused shock was followed up by Yang saying, "I guess he really doesn't want us on this train." As she said this, Doctor Oobleck watched as the train car got further and further away before finally exploding, opening up large holes in the tunnels.

"That's not good…" he said.

"Err, neither is this!" Ruby said as she gestured to the inside of the car they were on.

"Another bomb‽" Blake cried out.

Doctor Oobleck looked around for a moment before hastily running forward, chanting "No" all the while. Once on the next car, he opened the hatch and shouted back as he confirmed his worst fears, "They all have bombs!"

At the same time as this revelation, the bomb in the car Team RWBY and Shirou were standing on activated as the car decoupled. The group quickly made their way to the next one as Yang cried out, "This doesn't make sense!"

"Get the Humans!" one of the White Fang called out, reminding everyone that they were there. Without any hesitation, Team RWBY and Shirou readied their weapons and charged into battle.

Yang was the first one to meet the enemy. She casually batted away the goon's baton before delivering a blow to his gut fierce enough to lift him off the ground. She then drew back her other fist with a wink before spiking him through the hatch and into the train car. Two more came at her but she was easily able to fend off their attacks before stunning one with a sharp jab to the solar plexus. The other one came at her with a swing but Yang casually ducked under it before rising with an uppercut that launched him into the air. A quick roundhouse kick sent both of them tumbling and screaming off the side of the train.

Next was Blake who had to take a quick moment to steel herself. She had always been one of the stronger combatants in the White Fang and this incident proved that said fact hadn't changed. Careful use of her Semblance allowed her to flash between multiple enemies, avoiding their attacks and striking them from all directions. It only took her a few seconds to leave five of them groaning in pain on the roof.

Weiss opted for a more straightforward approach. She switched Myrtenaster's chamber to ice Dust before charging forward, practically dancing as she slashed at the enemies' legs and the ground near them to leave their feet encased in ice. Unable to move, they were helpless as Ruby charged after with a burst of her Semblance, Crescent Rose's head changing to be more like a sickle as she spun throughout her charge to turn herself into a whirlwind of destruction. As a result, the ice trapping the White Fang goons was shattered and they were sent flying off of the train.

Shirou was the last one to engage the enemy, having taken a moment to decide on a course of action. On one hand, his standing orders were to eliminate the White Fang from the area. On the other, he didn't want Team RWBY's opinion of him to be tainted after seeing him outright killing people. In the end, he chose to go with lethal force, figuring that Ruby had likely already seen him do as much and had seen him attempt to kill Roman while the others had possibly seen the aftermath of one of his other battles. Besides, the people he was fighting were attempting to put the lives of nearly a million people at risk and that's without factoring in the repercussions their actions would have. These people could be shown no mercy.

Shirou charged forward with his enhanced speed before attacking the goon closest to him with a spinning slash that went clear through her neck. He followed this up with a heel kick that sent the headless corpse toppling into the goon behind it. Before the other person could react, Shirou changed his grip and hurled Gáe Bolg through both of them before following up with a flying kick to the butt of Gáe Bolg's shaft that sent the cursed lance all the way through the two of them and into the leg of a third. The third one barely had time to scream in pain before Shirou was on him with an elbow strike to his face followed quickly by another clean decapitation.

While this was going on, Doctor Oobleck looked back and watched the train car explode. This time, the holes created by the explosion allowed a truly massive number and variety of Grimm through, all of which started to make their way toward the train.

"Oh dear… He's leading the Grimm to the city!" he called out after the battle had come to a close.

"What?" Blake asked as everyone looked back toward the doctor.

"It's the cars! They detach and explode, creating openings for the Grimm!"

"That's insane!" At Blake's cry, another train car detached itself.

"We have to hurry!" Doctor Oobleck said as he started to move forward. "Blake, Weiss, and Yang; you three go below and try to stop those bombs!"

"What about us?" Ruby asked.

"We're going to stop this train!"

As the three girls made their way into the train; Doctor Oobleck, Ruby, and Shirou made their way forward. Ahead of them, more White Fang goons were climbing on top of the train along with, somewhat distressingly, a Paladin. The only advantage was that the Paladin was being piloted by one of the goons which had been proven to be rather weak. As such, even with its Aura amplification, taking it down shouldn't be nearly as difficult.

"Ruby! Keep going to the front of the train! Don't stop for anything!" Shirou said as he readied Gáe Bolg.

"When you get there, you'll find a horizontal red lever! Pull that as far as it can go!" Doctor Oobleck instructed.

"On it!" Ruby said before taking off in a blur of rose petals, sliding underneath the Paladin.

"Are you ready, Professor?" Shirou asked as he stared down the opposition.

Doctor Oobleck took a swing of coffee before smiling as Antiquity's Roast transformed into its club form, a small pilot light at the tip. Shirou idly wondered if the professor's drink was healthy if it was that flammable. "It's 'doctor' and I'm ready, my boy!"

As Shirou charged forward to deal with the goons, Doctor Oobleck swung his weapon and unleashed a wave of fireballs that curved around Shirou and collided with the Paladin. As it was staggering backward, Doctor Oobleck charged in and hit it was an explosive combo that left the machine in pieces and falling off of the train.

As a second Paladin appeared and aimed its weapons at the doctor, Shirou rushed in and slashed at one of its arms, the metal sparking as Gáe Bolg cut into it. Shirou quickly crouched low and slashed at the ankle joints of its right leg before following up with a lunge that cut into the knee of the same leg. Now behind the Paladin, Shirou quickly jumped onto its back and switched his grip on Gáe Bolg before taking aim at where he knew the engine to be. Between Gáe Bolg's nature as a Noble Phantasm, Lancer's attributes, and its weakened Aura; the Paladin's defenses stood no chance as the cursed lance pierced the machine's "heart" and brought it to a stop. As Shirou hopped down, this allowed Doctor Oobleck, who had just finished up dealing with the remaining goons, to smash the side of the Paladin and send it off of the train.

"We need to provide a distraction so Ruby can get through! Let's keep going!" Doctor Oobleck ordered as the duo charged onward.

OoOoOoO

Weiss, Blake, and Yang all landed inside the train car with a dull "thud." There was no bomb immediately present in this one, just a large number of unidentifiable crates, but that didn't mean that there weren't possibly more further in. With the sounds of running and fighting going on above them, the atmosphere inside was incredibly tense, far more so than it had ever been, and it left all three girls on edge.

"I guess this is what we trained for," Yang said after taking a steadying breath. Blake, meanwhile, ejected the clip of standard ammunition from Gambol Shroud and replaced it with Dust rounds. She only had a few of these which was why she hadn't used them before but now was absolutely a time when she couldn't afford to be stingy.

With a nod to each other, the three girls charged forward only to very quickly come to a halt as a well-dressed girl with brown and pink hair descended from the ceiling. Neopolitan smiled sweetly at them as she stood before them with her parasol.

"You two go on ahead. This one's mine," Yang said as she slid into a guard stance. The other two nodded before running on ahead. Neo attempted to intercept them but was forced to block as Yang fired off an explosive round at her, allowing the other two to go on to the next car.

Now alone with her enemy, Yang walked forward until she was standing before Neo, staring down at the girl who was nearly a full head shorter than she was. Yang's cold glare was meet with a sinister smile as the fight began.

Yang was the first to attack, striking out with a right hook that Neo casually backstepped. Yang followed up with a fierce punch combo but, no matter how she attacked, Neo remained one step ahead of her, dodging most of her attacks and parrying the ones she couldn't dodge. Even worse, while Yang was unable to land a hit, Neo had been clipping her during the brief pauses in her attacks. Growing frustrated, Yang switched things up and went for a snap kick aimed at Neo's chin but the other girl had foreseen this, too, and backflipped at the last instance to avoid it. Neo did a handspring out of her backflip and landed perfectly sitting on the crate behind her, legs crossed and parasol open on her shoulder.

Yang let out a growl as she charged forward, her eyes turning red. She came at Neo, who was looking slightly hazy, with a right cross but was forced back right before her attack landed as something hit her in the chest. Neo went on the offensive this time, hitting Yang with several thrusts of her parasol before coming in for a swing. Yang recovered in time to block the swing and counter with a left cross but Neo casually redirected the attack before spinning around Yang, her grip on the blonde's left wrist causing the arm to twist awkwardly behind her.

Thinking of taking advantage of her leverage, Yang growled as she shifted her weight and attempted to bodily throw Neo at the wall. Neo, however, flowed with the movement and landed on her feet before using the momentum of Yang's attempted throw against her to throw her into the ceiling.

Yang let out something halfway between a groan and a growl as she pushed herself back to her feet. Neo's smug little smirk was making her blood boil and she wanted nothing in that moment than to knock it off of her pretty little face. Before she could charge back in, however, her previous fight with Shirou suddenly flashed in her mind. Thinking back on it, this situation wasn't terribly different from that one. She had let her anger get the better of her and it had led to a humiliating moral defeat.

Not wanting to let her anger lead to an actual defeat, Yang closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she pushed her anger away. She had to immediately go on the defensive once she opened her violet eyes as Neo had taken advantage of the lapse in her defense but her thinking was a lot clearer now. She decided to copy her opponent's strategy and focus more on defense than offense, attacking only when there was a clear opening.

What followed was an interesting but frustrating exchange for Yang. The fight was now a lot more even than it had been before as Neo wasn't able to get any hits in but Yang had yet to land a blow, either. While she was confident in her stamina, she knew that she simply didn't have the time to play around and needed to move on as soon as possible. Given this, Yang did the one thing that she really didn't want to do:

At the first possible opportunity, Yang disengaged and ran away, knocking down a stack of crates to slow Neo and blasting her way through the door and into the next car.

OoOoOoO

In the next train car, Weiss and Blake kept running, trusting in Yang to deal with Neo. The two of them slowed down, however, when a revving sound was heard coming from the opposite end. Coming through the opposite door was an absolutely massive man dressed in a White Fang uniform and wielding a chainsaw that was half as long as he was tall.

"You go on ahead!" Weiss said as she steeled herself for battle.

"Got it!" Blake replied as the two Huntresses-in-training pressed their charge. The White Fang Lieutenant chuckled menacingly as he raised his chainsaw and made to swipe at Weiss but Blake parried the blow before using her Semblance to rush past him and into the next car. Taking advantage of the opening Blake created, Weiss lashed out with a quick series of thrusts to the man's chest, the last of which sent him sprawling to the ground.

The Lieutenant chuckled again as he got up and readied his chainsaw. "Finally, I get to kill a Schnee…" he said in a deep, menacing voice. Weiss gulped thickly but didn't let any fear show on her face as she readied Myrtenaster in a guard stance.

Their battle started in earnest with a brief but intense exchange of attacks. Weiss had the upper hand in terms of speed and agility but the Lieutenant was incredibly sturdy and was strong enough that it was simply impossible for Weiss to block his attacks. As such, it was clear from the beginning that this was to be a battle of attrition. Could Weiss get in enough blows to break his Aura or would he get in a few lucky hits first? Weiss simply couldn't allow the second outcome to happen.

After the first real exchange of blows ended, Weiss quickly backpedaled and changed Dust types. If speed and agility were her advantages then she would capitalize on them as much as possible. As the Lieutenant lumbered toward her, Weiss summoned a time glyph beneath her and thrust Myrtenaster into it, the Dust and her Semblance combining to create a hastening effect opposite to the one she had used to stop Roman's rockets. Thus prepared, she dashed forward in a blur, her speed now comparable to Ruby's, and struck at her enemy. The Lieutenant was unable to do anything as Weiss used her Semblance to create platforms to bound off of and attack him from every conceivable angle, replicating the attack that Ruby had used against Shirou the first time they had sparred.

Weiss' haste wouldn't last forever, however, and she knew this well. When she felt its effects start to wear off, she immediately disengaged from her enemy and prepared a fire glyph. With a swing of her sword and a release of the right Dust, a series of fireballs flew out toward her enemy but he had recovered far faster than she had hoped. Instead of being hit by the attack head-on, the Lieutenant instead charged forward and cut through the fireballs with his chainsaw before attacking Weiss with a spinning overhead slice.

Stunned as she was by the Lieutenant's quick recovery and even quicker action, Weiss was unable to dodge in time so she instead hastily threw up a barrier glyph. Weiss winced as the massive chainsaw slammed into the surface and started sparking but she held firm against the assault even when the Lieutenant threw all of his weight into it.

Just as she was trying to think of a way to turn this situation around, the Lieutenant reached underneath the glyph and grabbed the surprised Weiss by the face before pulling her out and slamming her head into the floor. Her Aura held firm but the force of the impact caused her to black out briefly as the Lieutenant threw her into the ceiling and drew his chainsaw back in preparation for a swing that would surely cut in two.

Before the attack could land, however, there was a loud explosion and the Lieutenant was blown away by a metal door crashing into him. "Weiss!" Yang called out in worry as the heiress crashed into the floor.

Weiss got up with a groan and held her throbbing head with her free hand. "Did you get her?" she asked.

Yang scowled, "No, I didn't. Seal off the passage. I've got the big guy." Weiss nodded and ran off to do just that as Yang stepped forward. The Lieutenant was just now getting up with a groan of his own and stared down his new challenger.

"Alright! I'm gonna let out my frustrations all over your face!" Yang taunted, her eyes turning red and hair flaring up as she slammed her fists together. She then charged at the Lieutenant who was preparing to intercept her charge with a swing. Having seen this strategy before from a much more skilled opponent, it was child's play for Yang to counter it. She pulled back her right arm and threw her entire weight into superman punch that she aimed not at her enemy but at his chainsaw, firing off a round at the same time as the blow connected to enhance the effect. The result was that the weapon snapped in two, the top half flying through and out a window.

The Lieutenant let out a confused sound but Yang didn't give him a moment of mercy as she immediately followed up with left body blow delivered at full power, the force enough to lift the larger man off of the ground and make him cough up spittle. Yang followed this up with a spinning roundhouse kick to his head that sent him flying out the window and cratering into the wall before being quickly left behind by the train.

"I feel like we should have swapped opponents," Weiss commented as she approached the now happy Yang.

"Yeah, probably. But let's go! Blake might need our help!"

OoOoOoO

"Well, well, well. If it isn't my favorite kitty cat," Roman Torchwick said as he pushed himself off of the wall he had been leaning against. For a person who had just had a hole stabbed in his back, he was looking fairly hearty.

"Roman," Blake hissed as she got into a combat stance. "Get out of my way."

"Why? So you can thwart my plans? Play the hero? It's not gonna work, ya know. No matter how many good deeds you do, people are still going to hate the Faunus. At best, you'll just be an exception."

"What do you know? You're just an evil Human."

"Evil? Ha! I'm just a part of the 'in' crowd, kitty cat. If anyone's trying to bring about unity between Humans and the Faunus, it's me!"

Blake yelled in anger as she charged Roman. His movements were slower and more labored than they had been on the docks, he was clearly still affected by his injuries, but he was keeping up regardless. Blake came at him from every angle but he was steadily getting better and better at predicting her Semblance usage and thus Blake was having an increasingly difficult time avoiding being hit.

Deciding it was time to bring out her trump card, Blake waited for Roman to go for a thrust before using her Semblance while simultaneously firing off fire Dust. The power of the Dust combined with her Shadow to create a flaming simulacrum that exploded once Roman made contact with it.

Blake pushed her advantage and rushed in, attacking Roman with a rapid flurry of slashes. Even off balance as he was, he still managed to block most of her attacks but a few slipped through his guard. The situation changed when Blake dodged one of Roman's swings only to find the business end of Melodic Cudgel pointed in her face. Unable to dodge in time, Blake screamed out in pain as the flare exploded against her face and sent her flying backward to bounce painfully off of the floor. She managed to correct herself in the air just in time to land on the door leading to the next car before pushing off of it, launching herself back at Roman with a roar of anger.

The next change happened after Blake's third usage of Dust, the second having been used to create a stone duplicate to block another of Roman's shots so she could get back in close. For the third, Blake released ice Dust alongside her Semblance and smirked as Roman found his weapon stuck inside an ice duplicate. Blake appeared behind him to attack but was stunned when Roman released his weapon and caught her arms before forcing them apart and catching her in the bridge of the nose with a headbutt. As Blake stumbled backward, Roman reached behind him and fired off another flare to break the ice duplicate and free his weapon before following the motion through with a rising swing that Blake barely backflipped in time to dodge.

"What are you even doing?" Roman asked as he caught his breath. He was looking rather pale and sweating pretty heavily by this point. "I saw you at the rally, ya know, which means that you saw all of the recruits that we have. Don't you get it? The Faunus don't want to peacefully coexist with Humans anymore. I don't think they ever did to begin with! No, they want to tear the world down brick by brick and build a new world in its place with them on top! They're even willing to work alongside a Human that they hate so much if he feeds them pretty words and gives them guns!"

"Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!" Blake roared as she was pushed to her limits. Roman's eyes widened in fear as a purple glow enveloped Blake's body. "Certain Kill:" Blake surged forward at incredible speed, a trail of afterimages in her wake. Roman tried his best to block the oncoming assault but his guard was blown through with the very first attack and, as such, he was helpless against all the rest. What followed was a high-speed flurry of blows, streaks of purple left behind as Gambol Shroud blurred through the air. For the last hit, Blake backflipped away and into a runner's stance, her arms crossed in front of her. "Blossom Dance!" There was a flash of motion and Blake was on the opposite side of Roman, her arms now apart. An instant later, a purple X appeared in the air around Roman and he was sent flying onto his back.

Now panting somewhat herself, Blake turned around and glared at Roman. A flash of color signified that his Aura had been broken. "Well, well, well. Good job, kitty cat. Ya did it. Ya put this evil Human down," Roman said wryly even as his entire body was coursing with pain. "But what now? What about the other evil Humans? What about the evil Faunus? Are ya gonna put us all down?" Blake screamed in anger as she stomped on Roman's face, knocking him out.

At this moment, the door to the previous car opened and Weiss and Yang came running in. "Oh, hey, you won! Way to go, Blake!" Yang cheered with a smile as she saw the scene before her. Blake tried to return the smile but it didn't quite reach her eyes as Roman's words continued to bounce around in her head.

Before any conversation could be had, an incredibly loud screeching sound filled the air causing Blake to wince in pain as the train ever so slowly ground to a halt. Once the train had stopped moving, the three of them shared excited glances before quickly making their way to the roof with Roman in tow where they found none other than Ruby Rose climbing out of the front of the train with a giant grin on her face.

"We did it! We saved Vale!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Excellent work, everyone!" Doctor Oobleck said as he and Shirou approached the group. "You've even secured a valuable prisoner! This is truly remarkable!"

"What do we do with him anyway?" Weiss asked as she looked down at Roman's unconscious body. "We don't have any rope or handcuffs…"

"Allow me," Shirou said as he stepped forward. Ruby had already seen him use Gáe Bulg so he saw little point in keeping his true powers a secret any longer. Especially given the circumstances.

Holding one hand out, Shirou focused some prana and everyone looked on in amazement as a pair of handcuffs materialized out of thin air. While everyone was still stunned, Shirou bent down and quickly secured Roman.

Blake was the first to recover fast enough to ask, "How did you—"

"Later," Shirou interrupted as he stood back up and looked down the train tunnel. "There's still a hoard of Grimm headed this way. We need to get out of here, fast."

"I concur," Doctor Oobleck said as he threw Roman over his shoulder. "If we keep following the tracks, we should reach an access tunnel. From there, we can make our way back to the surface."

Ruby shook her head to clear it of unnecessary thoughts before nodding resolutely. "Let's go, everyone!"

OoOoOoO

A little while later, the entire group breathed a sigh of relief as they finished climbing the ladder and reached the surface. The air was particularly sweet to Shirou who had spent the last twenty-eight hours underground. As it was, they were in the middle of a wooded area with the city of Vale visible in the distance. The first rays of the morning sun were just starting to creep over the horizon and bathed everything in a nice golden glow.

Finally out of constant danger, Shirou let himself relax slightly and had to catch himself on Gáe Bulg as his legs threatened to give out.

"Are you alright, Shirou?" Ruby asked as she rushed over to stabilize him.

Shirou gave her a tired smile, "I'll be alright. Just a little tired, is all. I haven't had a full night's sleep in two days."

"So, this 'clandestine extermination mission' you were on was against the White Fang we were hunting down?" Weiss asked with a slightly accusatory tone.

Shirou winced but nodded, "That's right. My mission was to locate their base and eliminate them with extreme prejudice."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Yang shouted. "We could have come to help you as soon as we got here or, hell, gone with you yesterday!"

Shirou looked pained as he answered, "I was given the mission first thing in the morning and had to leave immediately. As far as I knew, you all were still asleep. Besides, my mission wasn't to capture them or beat them up. It was to kill them. I didn't want you all to stain your hands with blood if you didn't have to."

Blake's bow twitched as her cat ears drooped and she looked away. As someone who also had stained hands, she could certainly understand his reasoning. This answer, however, only seemed to aggravate Yang even more.

"And you're okay with your hands being stained‽ You may not be officially a part of our team but you might as well be! If you have to get your hands dirty then we all have to get our hands dirty! Simple… as that…" she said as she got right up in Shirou's face. She deflated, however, when she saw what happened.

Right before their eyes, Shirou seemed to age as his expression became agonized. He was now leaning heavily on his spear and his voice was impossibly fragile as he answered, "You don't understand, Yang. From the very beginning, my hands were stained with blood. I already bear the weight of countless lives; a few more wouldn't—"

Shirou and Ruby both tensed up as they sensed a massive spike of energy coming from Vale. "What was that?" Ruby asked as she looked back toward the city.

Everyone except Shirou blinked as the once somber atmosphere was quickly replaced by a very tense one. "What was what?" Weiss asked, looking more than a little confused.

Shirou gave Ruby a surprised look before answering, "Nothing good." Following that declaration, numerous roars could be heard off in the distance.

"Grimm?" Blake asked as she started to draw Gambol Shroud.

"Weiss! Platform!" Ruby barked as she leaped into the air and launched herself higher with a recoil boost. Following her leader's orders perfectly, Weiss created a glyph in midair beneath Ruby for her to land on. She quickly flipped Crescent Rose around and scanned the horizon with her scope. Her silver eyes quickly widened in shock as she called down, "Guys! We've got a lot of Grimm headed this way!"

"Something's drawing them to the city," Doctor Oobleck quickly surmised. "This could be bad. The city's defenses are not prepared to handle a concentrated assault."

"We'll stay here and slow them down!" Yang said as she readied Ember Celica. Ruby landed nearby and prepared to fight as well.

"Dangerous but the only possible solution with signal still down. Very well. Team RWBY, you girls stay and hold the line. Shirou and I will return to Vale with our prisoner and secure reinforcements!"

Shirou looked at Doctor Oobleck for a moment before walking forward and standing in line with Team RWBY. "Sorry but I'm going to stay and fight with my team." At his declaration, Team RWBY all gave Shirou a smile that he gladly returned.

Doctor Oobleck nodded resolutely, "Very well. Godspeed, students." With that, he took off toward the city as fast as he could.

"What's the plan, Ruby?" Yang asked as the sound of the oncoming Grimm grew louder and louder.

Ruby quickly scanned their surroundings before answering, "This clearing's pretty big so try and stay in it. There are too many blind spots in the woods. Try and stay together as much as possible. We'll be in trouble if we get separated. Weiss and I can handle any flying Grimm. Yang, you focus on the big ones. Blake, you provide support wherever you can. If you have an opening to go for a kill, take it. If your Aura starts getting low, grab your partner, fall back, and attack at range. Shirou, um…"

"I'll help Yang," Shirou said resolutely.

While Ruby had been talking, Shirou had dismissed Gáe Bulg. While incredibly useful against creatures with Aura, it wasn't particularly effective against the Grimm who lacked hearts and he simply didn't have enough prana at the moment to use its Anti-Army attack. As it was, he only had enough prana for one more projection before it started getting dangerous so he had to make it count.

As such, there was really only one choice in weapon to fight against creatures of pure darkness and malice. The sword that appeared in Shirou's hand with barely a thought was one that had appeared before him one day as if by a miracle and hadn't once left his side since. It was a holy sword whose power was exemplary and assured victory to those who used it. It had been Saber's favorite sword in life and it was the very same sword that saw her death.

As Shirou made his declaration, he tightened his grip on the sword that appeared in his hands almost unconsciously and entered into an intimately familiar yet utterly alien combat stance. The sword in his hands was Caliburn, the Golden Sword of the Victorious and its presence brought Shirou both comfort and pain.

Ruby nodded upon seeing Shirou's new sword. The strange tingling she felt when the sword appeared in his hands was oddly soothing and filled her with a strange sense of confidence. She had seen what Shirou could do with his twin blades and something told her that this sword was beyond those. She could trust in Shirou to know what to do.

(A/N: Play "Time to Say Goodbye" by Jeff Williams)

Team RWBYS slid deeper into their guard stances as the sound of the oncoming Grimm grew to a crescendo. The first Grimm broke into the clearing and the tension reached an all-time high as they held firm, waiting and waiting for the perfect moment. More and more Grimm of every type encountered thus far poured through the trees and grew ever closer. At last, the starting gun was fired as Ruby charged forward with a battle cry, her team not even half a heartbeat behind her.

Ruby slashed through the Beowolf leading the charge and followed through her swing with a low spin that caught the foreleg of a Boarbatusk. A spike of ice erupted through the creature from beneath and Ruby immediately shifted her focus to the next enemy. Crescent Rose was a constant blur of motion as Ruby bounced from one foe to the next. She wasn't overly concerned about getting a killing blow but every single swing met resistance as every single attack landed. When a Death Stalker appeared, Ruby rushed toward it with her Semblance and launched it onto its hind legs with a rising spin before pushing herself away with several shots. Yang rushed in a moment later and wailed on the creature's belly with a vicious combo that left it broken and dying on the ground.

Weiss kept her head on a swivel as she both supported her team and attacked the Grimm herself. After assisting Ruby, she took out a handful of Creeps with a few lightning-fast thrusts before spinning around and creating a barrier glyph behind Yang, protecting her for a Boarbatusk's charge. A small Nevermore dove at her but, before she could react, Blake appeared before her and took it down before moving on. When Blake had appeared, Weiss immediately launched a set of fireballs toward a flock of Nevermore before rushing over to engage a group of Beowolves. Gravity glyphs appeared underneath them and pinned to the ground, allowing Weiss to quickly dispatch them before moving to assist Ruby with an assortment of Grimm.

Blake had already been tired from her earlier Soul Surge but now she was pushing herself to her limit, using her Semblance to flash around the battlefield to both protect her team and land the finishing blow on any Grimm that the others didn't finish off. There was a slight cooldown period between her Semblance uses and that weakness was making itself apparent as there were several near misses when she flashed away from one attack just to nearly be hit by another. Despite this and her own exhaustion, she was still keeping pace with her team, felling one Grimm after another and making sure that Yang had the time she needed to focus on the bigger threats. There had been one moment that she had been so focused on defending Yang that she failed to notice a Creep leaping toward her but Shirou had appeared at the last moment, his golden sword cutting through it before he moved on.

Yang's grin was more than a little feral as her eyes burned red. She was blowing the Grimm away left and right, taking out most of them in a single blow before plowing on through to the next. The larger Grimm were being left to her and Shirou so she made sure to focus on them when they appeared, confident in knowing that her team, and Blake in particular, had her back. An Alpha Ursa roared as it broke into the clearing and charged at Weiss but Yang was on it in a flash. She met its charge head-on with a superman punch and her grin widened as the bone-like protrusion on its head cracked under the force. The Alpha Ursa reared back and took a swipe at her but she quickly hopped back before rushing in with a rising uppercut to its chest. While she was in midair, Yang followed up with a downward blow that launched the beast's head into the ground before coming down on its neck with a plunging kick. As it faded away, Yang quickly rolled out of the way of another attack before going back into the fray.

Shirou charged forward as he let Saber's skill and experience flow through him. While she had never fought anything quite like the Grimm, fighting a large number of enemies at once was something she had near endless experience doing. In this war-like battle, Caliburn cut a golden streak through the air as Shirou flowed from one enemy to the next. No matter what the enemy's subtype was, so long as it was a creature of pure evil, the holy power of Caliburn was sure to burn it away with but a single blow. This fact was made apparent when a King Taijitu made its way toward them. The large, snake-like Grimm struck at Shirou but he met its attack head-on, fearlessly leaping toward it. Caliburn shown with holy light as it cut into the back of the creature's mouth before following Shirou's trajectory down the length of half of its body. A Beowolf made to lunge at him while he was still recovering but a storm of rose petals blew by in that instant and left the creature neatly bisected in its wake.

(A/N: End song.)

On and on the fighting went for what felt like an eternity before Team RWBYS was forced back together. All of them had taken their fair share of hits during the melee and the strain of constant fighting was apparent on them all.

"I'm out of ammo!" Yang said as she batted away a few more Grimm.

"Same here! My Aura's also almost gone!" Blake said as she ducked under a Beowolf's claws before slashing into its gut.

"I'm out of fire Dust and low on the rest!" Weiss sidestepped a Creep and finished it off before spinning around to parry a Boarbatusk's charge.

As Ruby was contemplating calling for a general retreat, a loud cry resounded through the area. Everyone glanced upward to see a giant Nevermore flying toward the city. It wasn't quite as large as the one Team RWBYS had fought during their first fight as a team but it was certainly close.

"Weiss!" Ruby called out. That thing couldn't be allowed to get near the city. "Light—" Ruby cut her order off as she saw a Bullhead fly through the area. She could just barely make out four figures jumping out before a large and very pink explosion hit the giant Nevermore on the back of the head and sent it plummeting toward the ground.

A few seconds later, Team JNPR was now fighting by their side. Jaune had landed shield-first onto an Ursa's head before rolling as he hit the ground and coming up with a series of slashes to finish it off. Nora had followed up her initial attack with maniacal laughter before coming down on the Nevermore's head with a spinning smash that delivered enough force to not only obliterate the creature's head but also crater the ground. Pyrrha had opted to crash feet-first into the back of a Beowolf and let it slide along the ground while she fired off shots at the smaller Nevermore. Ren, meanwhile, caught another King Taijitu with the blades of StormFlower and spun down it before landing on its back and following up with a long burst of gunfire that tore through it.

"Jaune‽ What are you guys doing here‽" Ruby cried out in disbelief as she rejoined the fighting.

Pyrrha stabbed the Beowolf she was riding through the head before hurling her shield toward a few more Grimm and following up with a few more shots as she answered, "Jaune sensed something as we were on our way to our mission. We saw the mass of Grimm headed toward the city and headed here immediately."

"Boy, you guys are a sight for sore eyes! Welcome to the party!" Yang said cheerfully as proceeded to beat another Ursa into submission.

"If this is your idea of a party, remind me to never go to another one," Ren quipped as he kicked a Creep into the air before following up with a spinning kick to launch it into a Boarbatusk.

With Team JNPR's presence, Team RWBYS was allowed to slow down a bit. While they didn't have any real experience fighting together, they managed to work around each other well enough that the tide of battle was slowly changing. As the immediate threat, the Grimm had chosen to focus most of their attention on the humans in the clearing instead of focusing on their original goal but more than a few had been opting to ignore them and continue on. They tried their best to stop those before they got too far but there was simply too many to stop them all.

A little while into the fighting, the number of Grimm was starting to lessen but any feeling of elation this might have brought was squashed when the ground started shaking. The fighting slowed down even more as everyone looked on in horror at what was steadily approaching.

"Oh gods," Yang said quietly as a Goliath entered the battle. This creature was far larger than anything they had fought before and they simply had no idea as to just how to go about fighting it.

Just as Ruby was about to order a retreat, Shirou resolved himself and shouted, "Give me some time!" As everyone confirmed, Shirou backed up a ways before drawing his black sword and transforming it into a bow. "Sorry, Saber," Shirou whispered as he used alteration to change Caliburn into something more befitting an arrow.

Knocking Caliburn II, Shirou drew it back and took aim as he began feeding his prana into it. While he had managed to regain some prana over the course of the fight, he only had just enough to break Caliburn. After this, he'd be running on fumes and would have to start fighting with his nameless sword. Even so, this was an overwhelming threat that could only be stopped with overwhelming force. There was no other option.

"I am the bone of my sword," Shirou chanted as power flooded through his body and Caliburn II started to burn as bright as the sun. "Caliburn!" The arrow was released and the streak of golden light shot through the sky before punching into the Goliath. Half a heartbeat later, there was a massive explosion of golden fire as the colossal Grimm was burned away from the inside out.

As the blinding light faded away, Shirou pitched forward and would have collapsed if not for Ren's help. "Shirou, what was that?" Ren asked in astonishment.

"Later," Shirou answered weakly as he pushed away from Ren and readied his sword. It was taking absolutely everything he had to stay standing and he really wasn't sure if he could fight for much longer. Every nerve in his body was screaming and his skin was so hot that he barely felt the cold wind that blew through the area.

"Shirou, fall back with Ren!" Ruby ordered. "We've got this!" Shirou was about to retort when the ground started shaking again. The horror of before was replaced by absolute terror as the other Goliaths Ruby had seen earlier made their appearance. "Or not," Ruby squeaked out.

Ruby turned to give the order to retreat but was cut off again as a series of laser beams streaked across the sky and crashed into the Goliaths. Everyone looked back toward the city to see several Atlesian battleships fire off another volley while letting out a swarm of fighters and dropships with a lone Bullhead leading the way. From the Bullhead, Team CFVY descended and started taking out the Grimm while the dropships deployed a number of Atlesian Knights.

"The cavalry's here, everyone!" Doctor Oobleck exclaimed as he also exited the Bullhead. Upon receiving such massive reinforcement, everyone let themselves relax with Team RWBYS nearly collapsing from exhaustion. As it was, the only reason Shirou didn't collapse was due to Velvet supporting him after Coco had dismissed her. "Roman Torchwick is now safely in the custody of Atlas' military. You all have performed well beyond anyone's expectations and have acted with the bravery and decisiveness of any real Hunter. Now, if you all would, your chariot awaits. You all are hereby relieved of duty."

OoOoOoO

Several hours and a short nap later, Teams RWBYS and JNPR were standing on the roof of their dorm building. They had already made their reports to Professor Ozpin who had commended them all on their actions and especially Team JNPR on their initiative. Yang had taken that moment to somewhat forcefully request that they be assigned with Shirou should he ever be given a solo mission again. Despite Shirou's embarrassment, Professor Ozpin had a rather amused smile as he said that he would take Yang's request into consideration.

Now, as Shirou had promised, they had all gathered together for a long-awaited explanation.

"What was all that back there, Shirou? That was way beyond any Semblance," Yang asked.

"Just one moment," Shirou requested. He held out his hand and said "Trace, on," before projecting a piece of chalk. They all watched with keen interest as Shirou knelt down and drew a magic circle that Pyrrha recognized. After the bounded field was in place, Shirou dismissed the chalk and stood up.

"I… am what you would call a magus. Simply put, I am someone who is capable of performing magecraft," Shirou stated.

"Magecraft? You mean you can do magic?" Weiss asked.

"Yes and no." With that, Shirou launched into the basic explanation of magecraft, Magic Circuits, and his abilities; answering any questions as best as he could. By the time he was finished, they all had a variety of expressions. Pyrrha's expression was fairly neutral, as she had heard almost all of it before. Ruby had stars in her eyes while Nora was practically bouncing with excitement. Blake appeared to be deep in thought while Ren and Jaune both looked interested.

Yang, however, was furious. "You mean you could do this magecraft stuff this entire time‽ Why didn't you tell us‽ Why'd you lie and say it was your Semblance‽" she shouted.

Shirou winced at her outburst but otherwise remained firm, "Secrecy has always been my best weapon. The fewer people who know what I'm capable of, the better. Keeping the true scope of my abilities a secret has saved my life on more than one occasion.

"As for lying to you, it was a simple matter of not wanting to stand out more than I already do. I didn't want anyone thinking I was special or all that different from anybody else."

Yang groaned in frustration as she calmed down. "I get that; Ruby was the same when she got into Beacon two years early. But still, you should have trusted us more, Shirou. No matter what you can do, you're still you." Shirou smiled at Yang but was interrupted before he could reply.

"Earlier, you said something about already bearing the weight of countless lives. What did you mean by that?" Ruby innocently asked.

Shirou's expression immediately fell and Blake had a worried look while Jaune and Ren both looked uncomfortable.

"You don't have to tell us anything more, Shirou," Blake quickly said.

"No, it's okay," Shirou replied with a shake of his head. "Several of you already know some of the details and it wouldn't be fair if I didn't explain after saying something like that." With that declaration, Shirou explained the basics of his past to everyone. He still kept the fact that he was from another world a secret, however, along with the details of the Holy Grail War. There were some things that they simply didn't need to know.

By the end of it, Shirou was surprised by how easy telling them all had been, all things considered. The fact that Blake already knew all of this while Jaune and Ren knew parts of it probably helped. His breakdown and confession to Velvet likely made things easier as well. It still wasn't easy to talk about it and remember it, and it likely never would be, but maybe, just maybe, it could be a little easier.

After hearing his story, everyone saw Shirou in a new light. A number of his past actions made a lot more sense now, as did the special circumstances surrounding him. None of them could blame him for keeping all of this a secret, Nora and Ren least of all. Pain that deep was an ugly thing and the steps one would take to prevent that pain from worsening were only natural.

Jaune was the first to act after a moment of silence. He resolutely walked forward and stood before the morose Shirou. They stared at each other for a moment before Jaune abruptly pulled the other boy into a hug. Shirou stiffened at the sudden contact and watched in amazement as the others followed suit and joined in.

Surrounded as he was in the arms of his friends, Shirou could only weep.

OoOoOoO

High up in his office, overlooking the city of Vale, Ozpin sat in silence. His plans had been going fairly well, all things considered. While the train incident had been a close thing, it had been successfully resolved without any major consequence. There was also the matter that, if he understood the implications correctly, Shirou had demonstrated his magecraft to the others in a way that couldn't be passed off as a Semblance but that had been an inevitability. In fact, that reveal would ultimately prove useful in speeding certain things along but he would have to play his cards carefully to avoid too much from getting out too soon.

Of course, not everything was well and good. The thaumaturgy that lured in the Grimm had come from his school, after all. While it had been powerful, the burst had been too quick and too widespread for Ozpin to hone in on its point of origin. As such, they were no closer to discovering the identity of the infiltrator or infiltrators than they were before. The fact that one of them was a magus made things exponentially more difficult. There was no telling what they were capable of, after all, and secrets were deadly when it came to magi.

Ozpin's musings were interrupted by the sound of his communicator going off. He answered it but kept facing away from the screen that appeared above his desk. Even with the successful resolution of the train incident, this was a call that he had been expecting.

"Ozpin?" the gruff voice of one of Vale's councilmen said. "Ozpin!"

Ozpin slowly turned his chair around to see two video feeds: one of the Vale Council and one of General James Ironwood. "Yes, councilman?" Ozpin said calmly.

"You've left us no choice! The Vytal Festival tournament cannot be broadcast, let alone held, if we are unable to ensure the safety of the citizens," the councilman blustered.

Ozpin took a sip of his cocoa, his face completely neutral.

The councilman cleared his throat, clearly somewhat bothered by Ozpin's total lack of reaction, before continuing, "Therefore, we have reached out to the Atlas Council and together have decided that the best action is to appoint General Ironwood as head of security for the event."

"Thank you, Councilman. Our Kingdom is happy to lend as many troops as it takes to ensure that the event runs smoothly and safely as possible," James said smoothly.

"And we thank you, General," the councilman replied.

"Will that be all?" Ozpin asked, a hint of boredom in his voice. Frankly, the feeble machinations of the Vale Council annoyed Ozpin to no end but this form of government was, by and large, better for the people than an absolute monarchy. Even if it was more annoying to deal with.

"For now," the councilman said. "But after this festival comes to a close, we are going to have a serious discussion about your position at Beacon Academy. General Ironwood's reports over the last few weeks have left us somewhat… concerned. I am sure you understand."

With that, the video feed of the council ended leaving just James'. The two men stared at each other in silence for a long moment before James said, "This is the right move, Ozpin. I promise I will keep our people safe, you have to trust me."

As James ended the call, Ozpin turned back around to stare at the Atlesian battleship that hovered outside his window. This wasn't the first time one of Ozpin's confidants had decided that they knew better than he did and he knew that James likely wouldn't be the last. While there was no doubt in Ozpin's mind that James had the world's best interests in heart, James simply couldn't grasp the full scope of what they were up against. His moves were too hasty, too shortsighted. In this game against Salem, there was no doubt that James would lose utterly.

With that thought in mind, Ozpin took another sip of his cocoa as he began plotting his next move.

OoOoOoO

"You brought this on yourself," General James Ironwood said as he stared out the window at Ozpin's office. He understood Ozpin's need for caution, he really did, but he had gone too far. Caution and careful manipulation would get them nowhere. At best, it would just continue this bloody stalemate until the end of time. No, what they needed to do was to strike hard, fast, and decisively. There could be no waiting with lives at stake for him to think people were ready.

To that end, James made his way to where they were keeping their latest and perhaps most important prisoner. "Leave us," he commanded the guards who were watching over the recently captured Roman Torchwick. The notorious bandit leader had made quite the fuss when they took away his bowler hat but that just gave James all the more reason to take it.

"I've been informed that so far you've refused to co-operate with the authorities," James began evenly.

"I know this might be hard to believe, General, but uh… I'm not the biggest fan of local law enforcement," Roman replied flippantly.

"How about the world's strongest military power?"

"Hmm… first impressions… not great."

"I'm going to give you one chance. Who's really behind all this?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Roman said as he leaned forward before whispering, "You're looking at him."

James was thoroughly unimpressed. "Hm… Very well, then," he said before walking away.

"What's the matter, General? I thought you wanted to talk," Roman called out.

"The council's given me custody over you for as long as I see fit. So, you can make yourself comfortable. I can be sure that you'll have plenty of time to talk."

"Oh, wonderful," Roman said before laughing maniacally.

OoOoOoO

Somewhere in Vale, on a deserted rooftop, Cinder Fall, Emerald Sustrai, and Mercury Blake all gathered.

"All in all, I'd call today a success," Cinder said.

"Only a handful of Grimm managed to get into the city. The train didn't even crash!" Mercury pointed out.

"Neither of those things were ever important. That plan was always going to end in 'failure.' What's important is that the people are on edge. An attempted terrorist attack and a near Grimm invasion is not something people can so easily put aside."

"Those stupid kids really made a mess of things," Emerald complained. All of that work put in to that magic circle for what felt like nothing really pissed her off.

"Yeah. A lot of Faunus didn't make it out the tunnels. You still think the White Fang's gonna listen to us?" Mercury asked.

"No, but they'll listen to me," a new voice said. The trio looked to see a tall man with red-and-brown windswept hair wearing a specially made Grimm mask. The two reddish-black horns on the side of his head marked him as a Faunus.

Adam Taurus had entered the scene.

(A/N: Volume 2 ED: "Rising" by Jeff Williams)

Volume 2

Birth of Heroes

END

A/N: And that marks the end of Volume 2. Just like last time, there will be a hiatus as I finish up Volume 3 before that gets going weekly. I apologize for the delay but I hope you understand. Also like last time, there will be a number of bonus "chapters" after this one. It's the same stuff as before but updated to reflect developments in the story. I hope you enjoy them.

A lot of things changed in this volume which will make the start of Volume 3 quite a bit different. I know that none of the changes so far have been particularly grandiose but there have been countless small changes that have been quickly adding up. The next volume is where all of those little changes start to have major impacts. It's a volume I've been looking forward to writing since the beginning so I do hope you all will enjoy it when we get to it.

Well, that's all from me this time. I hope you all enjoyed Volume 2 and I hope to see you all again for Volume 3.