The Bad Luck Charm

-Atlas, Schnee Mansion-

After the charity event died down, everyone was sent home early, and everyone in the Schnee family had turned in for the night. It was late, and the twins had already fallen asleep, while Jacques had individually apologized to the guests about how Weiss had acted, and had his servants take them to their room, while Weiss went on her own to have a little chat with him.

Weiss sat at the edge of the bed with her hands folded, as Jacques paced around her room.

"Unbelievable!" He exclaimed, at point stopping to turn to her, "Absolutely unbelievable! Do you have any idea what your stunt cost us!?"

"I--" Weiss tried to say before getting cut off.

"--And don't think I'm just talking about lien here!" Jacques said, "Our reputation! Our--Our--!"

Jacques stopped himself as he let out a groan. Weiss took a deep breath before she spoke her mind.

"I want to leave."

Jacques turned to his daughter, looking dumbfounded, "I beg your pardon?"

"I said I want to leave!" Weiss said, "I don't want to stay here anymore! I don't want to stay in Atlas anymore!"

"Young lady, I don't give a damn about what you want!" Jacques said to her, "This isn't about YOU. This is about the Schnee family name, and your apparent insistence on dragging it through the mud!"

Weiss felt offended as she stood before yelling, "I've done NOTHING but fight to uphold the honor of MY family name! A name that YOU married into!"

SMACK!

Weiss froze up when she felt a burning sensation on her cheek, as she looked up to Jacques in just pure shock as Jacques had an incredulous look in his eyes. When he spoke again, he had a calmness in his voice, and yet she could sense an intimidation as he spoke.

"This behavior of yours is incredibly disappointing." He said, "You couldn't possibly understand the lengths I've gone through in order to keep this family where it is. You think running like your sister is going to make you a stronger Schnee? You're wrong. Siding with her only divides us."

"I'm not siding with anyone!" She argued, "I'm doing what I feel is right, and it does NOT include wasting my time here with these clueless people here in Atlas! The Schnee family legacy isn't yours to lead! It's mine! And I'll do it as a Huntress!"

Jacques only rolled his eyes, though still had his smile. "No… You won't." He soon said, surprising her "You're not to leave the manor grounds unless I specifically allow it."

"... Excuse me?" Weiss said, surprised.

"You are going to remain here." He told her, "Out of sight, and out of trouble until you and I come to an agreement on your future."

Her eyes widened in disbelief at this. She couldn't believe what her father was saying! Hell, she couldn't exactly believe what she was suggesting.

"You can't be serious!" She yelled.

"Your presupposition that you can simply have whatever it is you want." Jacques said, "It's a clear sign of our failure as parents, but from now on, I'll be giving you the full attention you require, starting by keeping you where I can see you."

He was really suggesting it, and yet she still couldn't believe it! If she needed more of a reason to hate her father, this would be it!

"You can't just keep me from leaving!" She argued.

"I can." He told her, sounding strangely calm, "And the staff here will make sure of it."

"Am I supposed to be your prisoner now!?"

"You are my daughter. You're a child, and children are grounded when they misbehave."

"This is only going to make things worse, Father! People will start asking questions! They'll want to know why the Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company is suddenly nowhere to be found!"

"Which is why… You're no longer the Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company."

Her jaw just dropped at her Father's words. Now she swore he was talking crazy right now, and the mere words of him were about to drive her insane.

"... What…?" Was all she could muster at that point.

"Clearly the trauma you've endured at Beacon was too much for you." Her Father stated, "Which is why you've generally revoked your claim to the company and its earnings and passed it on to your brother."

She tried to digest what she had been hearing from him. She didn't want to believe this was real, or buy what she had been hearing. Right now, she wanted to believe this was all a bad dream.

"It's time to wake up and face reality." Jacques said.

With that he took his leave; just as he walked out the door, she had caught sight of Whitely who had been eavesdropping on their conversation. She ran outside of the room when she saw him about to leave.

"WHITELY!" She shouted.

"Yes sister?" Whitely said, turning to her.

She walked up to him, crossing her arms, "Did you know about this!?"

"About what?" He asked innocently.

"You never liked Winter, and you never liked me." Weiss said, "But you've been nothing but supportive since the moment I came back!"

"If being kind to my sister is some sort of crime…" He said all with a smile, "... Then I suppose I'm guilty."

Weiss had been confused at this sort of statement, but after a few moments she had put two and two together as her anger left her, "... You wanted this to happen."

As Whitely spoke again, his face went from innocent to threatening in an instant, "It's foolish not to do what Father asks."

Disappointment and betrayal had been written on her face, "I… Can't believe you."

"Don't worry Weiss." He said, "The Schnee family name… Is in good hands."

Whitely turned and walked with his hands behind his backdown the large hallway, while Weiss just stood there stunned. She ran back to her room, landing face down on her bed as she began to sob. A dream, this all has to be a dream is what she told herself as she cried. She wanted to wake up, she wanted to be back at Beacon with her team where she was actually happy. She wanted to be back with the two girls she always thought of as her own sisters.

Cristal, and her baby sister as she liked to call her Destiny.

That's all she wanted. She wanted things to go back to the way they were.

But deep down, she knew it couldn't be so.

And that just made her even more upset.

"Weiss? Are you okay?"

Weiss picked up her head and saw it had been her sister, Nava. She had been caught up in her own thoughts and she didn't realize that she had entered the room.

"Nava…" She sniffled, as she dried her tears, "... I thought you were asleep by now."

"I couldn't sleep. I… Overheard you father and Whitely…" She said softly as she sat at her bedside, "... I didn't think… He would want that to happen. I always thought I knew Whitely better then anyone else… I guess I was wrong."

Weiss saw the look on her face and it looked as though she was gonna cry herself. "Weiss, I'm sorry. If I had known about this, I would've--"

"N-No." Weiss said, as she sat herself up, "Don't blame yourself. It's not your fault."

"It feels like it is…" Nava replied, "... I promised mother that in the absence of you and Winter, I would look after Van, Nilla and Whitely for all of us, but no matter what I do it just seems like it's going nowhere." She couldn't help but laugh softly, "I honestly don't know how you and Winter endure through--All of this, what father does. You both always had the courage to go against him… But I never had that sort of strength."

"That's not true…" Weiss said, as she sat herself up, "... You've taken care of them this whole time, while I was away."

"Yeah…" Nava said, "... But it's still not enough. Father still keeps Van and Nilla here and manipulates them. He does the same with me… I'm not sure how much longer we can take…"

Weiss was soon drawn to the sound of the ships flying outside just outside of her window. It was only then… She thought of something that would benefit them all.

"Hey Nava?" She said, getting her attention, "What do you say… We leave this place?"

***

-Oniyuri-

The whole group continued to walk through the abandoned village that was dubbed Oniyuri, as they couldn't help but look around the place once more. They shuddered at the mere thought of the atmosphere around them, as the storm brewed closer.

"This place…" Scout said as she shivered, "... It's like something out of a person's nightmares."

"Don't worry." Melody said comforting her, "We'll be out of here soon."

"Yeah." Ruby added with a smile, "We can put this place behind once we're out of here."

The group soon noticed an exit ahead of them, each of them eager to get out of the place. Right before they could, Ren motioned for them to stop. For a moment he shut his eyes as he took a deep breath. Frosty started to growl softly just as Ren reached for his weapons; the rest of the group followed his lead as they armed themselves.

Everything had been quiet around them. The only thing that could be heard was the rough winds that blew from the coming storm. Even the crows had gone silent as if they knew something was coming.

Ren soon opened his eyes as he looked behind them.

They soon saw a man fly overhead before landing right in front of them. The minute his feet touched the ground, he armed his weapons which had been a set of arm blades, before he charged at Ruby and Cristal.

Rosario and Ren were quick to stand in his way, as they went in for the attack.

Rosario threw her kicks at him, while Ren attacked him head on with his Storm Flowers. The man however, proved to be too quick, as he attacked back with twice the ferocity; he soon kicked them away catching them by surprise.

Despite the others blocking the way, had got through them with ease and went to attack Ruby and Cristal. They were quick to block his attacks with their blades in hand, though he proved to be too quick as he managed to land a hit on both of them; Ruby's Aura depleted while Cristal had two cuts on her scarred arm, making the two of them stumble back.

Melody and Jaune soon stepped in, as they charged at him. Arming her hand blade, Melody attempted to take him by surprise as she went to thrust her blade into his leg, in an attempt to slow him down. The man saw through this, and grabbed ahold of her arm pinning her.

She looked at him with a glare, but soon became paralyzed when his face had been close to hers; the smile on his face seemed to grow wider. Jaune went at him, armed with his sword and shield just as the man kicked Melody away, before he managed to land on his shield; he had given the same look that he did to Melody which made him jump.

Soon enough Scout and Nora went to attack, but he was quick to dodge Scout's blades and Nora's hammer. Just as he jumped Roman fired from his cane, which sent him flying straight into a building, though he held himself between the wooden frames.

As the dust cleared they had gotten a good look at his appearance.

The man that attacked them, had pale skin, with his long hair tied into a braid. He had on a dark brown jacket over his white jacket; though it was left open revealing scars in the middle of his chest and across his stomach. He wore white pants with his outfit with a rather large brown buckle belt. He also had piercings on his ears and on his arms he had on leather vambraces with a set of leather boots.

His eyes looked to be that of gold, as he looked onto them.

The group had been quick to recover; Cristal did her best to hide the black blood before anyone had noticed.

"He a friend of yours Roman?" Rosario asked.

"Why the hell are you asking me?" Roman said.

"I'm asking because you used to hang with guys like him."

"Says the girl who was a bounty hunter."

"Guys, not now." Ruby told him and Rosario sternly.

"The scent he's giving off… Why is it familiar…?" Scout thought to herself before she yelled to him, "We don't want any trouble!"

"Yeah, we're not looking for a fight!" Jaune added.

"Who are you!?" Ren yelled.

The man smiled, before he dropped out of the building, landing on his feet with ease.

Finally he spoke as he stood, pointing to Ren, then Nora, Roman, Scout and Rosario, "Who I am, matters not to you, or you, or you former pawn, or you two, or--" He soon stopped when he looked at Jaune and Melody.

"Well, YOU do interest me." He stated to Jaune before he said with a giggle looking at the scythe wielder next to him, "YOU especially my dear."

Jaune had been taken back by this as he looked to Melody who looked to have a fearful expression when he directed the statement towards her; for a moment she grasped her bandaged hand, as it had shook slightly.

The man soon gave a chuckle, "No… I only matter to the little Gem… And you."

Everyone turned to Cristal and Ruby as they looked surprised, as Cristal herself had a glare at the man before them, while Ruby looked just as confused as the rest of them.

"Me?" She said, tilting her head.

The man looked shocked at first, before he started to laugh, "You--You haven't the slightest clue do you!?" He said amusingly, "Oh, how EXCITING this must be!"

The man continued to laugh as Cristal gritted her teeth and growled a little. She couldn't help growl as she herself began to change; the red eye started to appear on her forehead, flickering like that of a candlelight, which Ruby seemed to have taken notice of.

She looked back to the man, "... What do you want?"

The man gasped dramatically.

"The rose has thorns!" He said; his reaction had been fake, "My little flower, I'm here to whisk you and the gem away with me."

Nora stepped in front of Ruby and Cristal, "And what if they don't want to go with you?"

He scrunched his lips as he stared, letting his arm fall to the side. "Well…" He said casually, "... I'll take them."

Jaune, Melody and Roman soon stepped in between him and them.

"I don't know what the hell your deal is, but I won't let you take my cousin." Melody said.

"If you think I'm gonna let you take my daughter, then you got another thing coming!" Roman said, holding his Melodic Cudgel towards him.

"Whoever you are… We're not going to let you do that." Jaune said.

The man laughed once more as he looked at them with a smile, "... Good."

Just as they blinked, the man disappeared from their line of sight. He appeared behind them, ready to attack Jaune.

"JAUNE!" Ren exclaimed, before he fired. He aimed for Jaunes' shield allowing the bullets to ricochet off of his shield, but the man blocked the oncoming bullets with ease.

The man however blocked with ease, before Melody and Roman charged as Ren continued to fire.

The man used Jaune's shield as he spun, successfully kicking Melody away before she could even attack. Roman fired from his weapon, attempting to knock the man off; However he leaped off Jaunes shield, just as Jaune himself protected him from the blast. Ruby went to where the man was going to land, however he kicked her away before she could try anything, nearly hitting Melody who had just recovered.

Jaune used his sword to gain the upperhand, only proving to be futile with the man, as he proved to be flexible. He brought his foot down on Jaunes head, before he shoved him away, turning his sights towards Scout, Nora and Rosario.

Seeing Nora, Ruby hatched an idea. Winking to them she armed her Crescent Rose with bullets laced with a specific type of Dust.

She pulled the trigger as she fired causing the man to stop just as the bullet flew past him. Scout grabbed Rosario's hand and the bullet went through her before it hit Nora behind them, knocking her over.

The man looked confused, but proceeded to laugh, not realizing everyone else had there own smiles.

"Well--" The man said, "--If that isn't ironic!"

He soon lost his mirth when he noticed the smiles on their faces. Nora had stood upright, with the biggest smile on her face; the electricity surged through her body. Just as the man turned to look behind him, Nora rushed him from behind.

At that moment, Scout's ears twitched on her head before her eyes widened when she picked up a familiar scent.

"NORA! WAIT!" Scout exclaimed, trying to stop her.

Nora swung her hammer, creating a dust cloud, causing everyone to shield their eyes from the sheer backlash. When it soon cleared, they were in for quite a shock. Before their very eyes, they saw what emerged from his coat, just attached to his lower back.

It had been a scorpion's tail.

The man giggled, as he curled his fingers, "Surprise~!"

He kicked Nora twice, knocking her off her feet, before he leaped high into the air, landing on a rooftop nearby; leaving his coat behind. He stood, looking at the group still with a smile plastered on his face.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Cristal exclaimed as she was in shock by this.

"He's… A Fanus!?" Ren said, as shocked as she had been.

"It's as I thought!" Scout said, "He must've been hiding his tail around his waist!"

"And you waited till now to say something!?" Rosario couldn't help but yell.

"I'm sorry!" She said, "I'm just not used to seeing another Fanus other then my mother, okay!?"

"What is this about!?" Ruby shouted to the man, "The White Fang!? Roman's betrayal!?"

"Plastic soldiers and pawns!" The man replied as his tail swayed, "My heart and body not only belong to my darling Eclipse, but they belong to our Goddess!"

The group looked confused by this sort of statement. "Goddess? Darling Eclipse?" Melody said, raising an eyebrow.

"Is he… Talking about Cinder?" Ruby said, looking at Rosario and Roman.

"Hey, she's many things, but she's not a Goddess." Roman replied.

"What he said." Rosario added, "And she's definitely not the darling type."

The man merely scoffed at this, "Only in her wildest dreams!"

Suddenly the man was just in between Ruby and Jaune before he attacked. Cristal went to help her out as she countered his attacks. Though they couldn't land a single hit as the man kicked them both away again. He soon turned his attention over to Ren, Melody and Rosario as he used his tail to attack them.

They were quick and careful to avoid his stinger, but they couldn't react when they felt his tail hit them, sending them flying. Jaune, Scout, Nora and Roman went to attack him, though he ended up maneuvering them, and attacking them with his tail.

He soon turned his attention towards Ren, Rosario and Melody. The three of them managed to dodge his tail and went to counter, but once again, the Attacker proved to be quick on his feet. With the swing of his tail he caught them all by surprise as he sent each of them flying into the buildings nearby.

Roman went to attack him again as he fired from his weapon. The Attacker moved quickly before charging at him head on. He barely managed to block him as he came at him hard and fast. Each time he hit him, he deplated a significant amount of Aura.

Cristal went into action, as she kicked the Attacker away from Roman, just as he himself stumbled.

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY DAD!" Cristal yelled as she readied her blades.

The attacker only laughed, as he caught her by surprise when he suddenly disarmed her of one of her blades. Before she could counter, he suddenly hit her hard across the face, leaving a noticeable bruise, before he hit her in the stomach and left cuts along her arm and leg.

"CRISTAL!" Ruby yelled, before she used her semblance. She was able to shove Cristal out of the way, though had been sent flying instead as the attacker swept her off her feet. Just before she could land, he ran to the opposite side, delivering a kick into her stomach, breaking her aura completely.

She toppled onto the ground landing on her side, near her Crescent Rose. She tried to get up but the pain had been too great, even as her Aura tried desperately to heal her. The Attacker soon towered over her as he prepared to attack with his tail; his eyes changed from gold to purple with a blink.

"DON'T TOUCH HER YOU SON OF A--" Melody yelled before she had been cut off. The minute she tried to move, she suddenly found herself binded by an unknown force. "Melody!?" Rosario shouted, "What's--!"

Rosario soon stopped in mid sentence when she found herself freezing by an unknown force. The group soon felt this as they soon started to struggle.

"I--I can't move!" Ren said.

"Same here!" Jaune added as he struggled.

"What's happening?!" Scout exclaimed.

"Ruby!" Melody yelled.

"Red!" Roman shouted.

Cristal struggled to use her abilities to at least protect Ruby but all that could come out was sparks. "What is this!?" She exclaimed in her thoughts, "What the hell is this!? Why can't I use my magic!?"

Cristal flinched when the pulse came again; despite her being bound it made her freeze up.

"The presence again--?!" Cristal thought before a sudden realization came over her, "--Don't tell me--But--It couldn't be--!"

The Stranger soon readied his stinger, and Ruby prepared herself for the worst as she squeezed her eyes shut. He went to attack--

BOOM!

CLANG!

Ruby had been taken back at an odd sound, as had been the rest. As Ruby opened her eyes she saw a familiar man standing before her, as she had recognized him by his weapon. She smiled as Qrow smiled back at her.

"Hey." He said before he kicked the Stranger off of him.

The rest of the group felt the strange bindings disappear as they all fell on their knees gasping as if they were trying to catch their breath. With a spin of the sword, Qrow turned to the Stranger as the Stranger himself gave a laugh.

"As I live and breathe!" He said, "The famous father of the little songbird… Qrow Branwen." He bowed his head, "A true Huntsman has entered the fray!"

Melody quickly went over to Ruby to help her up, as she picked up her Crescent Rose. It wasn't long till they noticed Qrow giving them a questioning look.

"Don't look at us." Melody said with a shrug.

"This guy is weird." Ruby added.

Qrow turned back to the Stranger, "Look pal, I'm not sure who you are… But you need to leave my niece alone."

The Stranger chuckled, "Why friend, my name is Tyrian, and I'm afraid that's not possible. Our assignment from her grace was to retrieve this young girl." He looked to Cristal as she shrunk slightly, "And she would very much like to see you dear little Gem."

"Don't call her that!" Roman yelled.

The Stranger named Tyrian chuckled, "So intense Roman Torchwick. We're only doing as we are told. After all, one does not upset the Queen."

"You're Queen?" Melody said, "And… What do you mean by we?"

"Salem." They suddenly heard Qrow say aloud, which confused them all the more. "Salem?" The whole group excluding Roman and Cristal said in unison. Cristal's expression changed into a glare as she looked at Tyrian.

"Who's Salem?" Ruby asked.

"I think we've had enough to talk now, don't you?" Tyrian said to Qrow.

He crouched like a predator would to a prey as he readied himself.

"You took the words right out of--"

Before Qrow could finish, Tyrian charged at him suddenly, nearly catching him by surprise. Blades started to clash as they attacked one another. They dodged each of them as it went back and forth with each other. As Tyrian went to strike, Qrow retaliated with a kick taking Tyrian by surprise. As he went to attack with his sword, Tyrian had been quick to block it, creating a tremendous force that caused a building nearby to break.

Leaving the Fanus just downright impressed.

Qrow gave a smile, though Tyrian's grin seemed to have grown wider.

CLICK--Qrow soon heard before he found Tyrian flipping back unveiling a gun compartment. He started to circle around Qrow as fired from his weapons. Luckily Qrow had been quick to block each and everyone of the shots fired towards him, but that didn't seem to stop him as he continued to laugh.

Roman looked to Nora, Ren, Scout and Rosario as he signaled them. As if they could read his thoughts the five of them went to attack as they charged at Tyrian, attempting to get him from behind as they were armed to the teeth.

Tyrian bent his back and licked his lips suddenly causing them to flinch. He blocked their attacks and simontansley kicked them away making them grunt. Tyrian had been about to charge, the closest one being Cristal though Qrow stood between him and her as their blades clashed again.

"Don't come any closer!" He told them before he engaged with the man again.

"Fine!" Ruby shouted to Qrow, before she took Crescent Rose from Melody, "Back him up!"

"You don't have to tell me twice cuz!" Melody said as she armed herself with her scythe. Ruby made her move despite the protest from the others; she jumped onto the building nearby and positioned herself to get a shot on Tyrian, while Melody engaged him along with her father.

Though they were moving so fast, she couldn't get a clear shot on him without hitting her uncle and cousin.

Despite Qrow, being practically in shock that his flesh and blood jumped into the battle he and her attacked with ferocity, though surprisingly enough Tyrian himself had been able to hold his ground even though there had been two. He dodged everytime they threw their blades at him.

At one point he stood on his tail and aimed his guns at Melody as she had been recovering from an earlier attack. Qrow quickly got in front of her and blocked the oncoming bullets, however this only provided an opening for Tyrian.

With the help of his tail he wrapped it around his wrist and yanked hard, causing his sword to fly out of his hand and get stuck into a wall nearby. Melody had been about to rush him, though Qrow had been quick to stop her, as Tyrian stood up with a laugh.

It hadn't been long before the Fanus felt something go by his head. Turns out Ruby had fired a shot, though ultimately ended up missing. All he did was giggle before he deflected each of the bullets with his tail.

Qrow looked at his fist before shrugging. Melody had been caught by surprise when he threw a punch at the Fanus, making him stumble and cry out. Left and right, he kept throwing his punches before he gave Tyrian a kick causing him to fly.

The Huntsman soon walked over to his weapon as Tyrian just sat there; though the group couldn't help but wonder as to why. The moment he touched the handle of his weapon, Tyrian made his move. He charged at him, attempting to catch him off guard though Qrow flipped onto his weapon. He activated his scythe, firing a round as he pushed himself upward onto a wooden beam that Tyrian had been quick to break as he launched himself.

They both exchanged blows once more as they went at each other with more ferocity. It wasn't long before he spotted a broken beam as he blocked Tyrian's blades again. Pushing him off, he ran towards it, tempting the man to go for his next attack.

He leaped high into the air attempting to kick him above the head, however the moment Qrow backed up his foot hit the beam and he fell into the building.

That didn't stop him from wrapping his tail around his ankle and dragging him down with him.

"Dad!" Melody exclaimed before she ran to the building.

From where Cristal stood, she finally had enough; her eye changed to gold as she followed behind Melody.

"Cristal! It's way too dangerous!" Roman yelled, running after her.

Ruby soon hopped down from the building joining her cousin and friend going to the building where Qrow and Tyrian had fallen. The four of them stopped in their tracks when there was a sudden explosion, causing them to skid to a halt.

Qrow came flying out, using his Harbinger to catch himself before he stood tall. They noticed his Aura, in the color of dark red, shimmering around his body.

Out of the dust and grimace, Tyrian came flying out as he armed himself, while Qrow flipped off of his weapon and went to attack.

As Tyrian leaped high into the air going in on the offensive, the three girls stepped in right between him and Qrow preventing him from attacking, taking everyone back.

"Guys!" Jaune yelled.

"Do you two wish to be taken!?" Tyrian said to Ruby and Cristal, ignoring Melody entirely.

"No!" Ruby answered, "But I'm not gonna stand by, and watch someone else get hurt!"

"I ain't gonna just sit around, and watch someone die again!" Cristal yelled before she charged first, her hand lighting up with a purple shade.

Just as she was inches from his face, she felt the unknown force again, and the presence she felt before came again.

"The hell!?" She exclaimed, "Again!?"

Her eyes widened when she noticed something off. It was the shadow he had been casting, as they looked to be in pairs, as it had a different figure entirely. It had a figure of a girl, as it looked as though the shadow had horns on their head. The only thing that stood out was the horns looked to be in the color of red.

"What the--"

She didn't have a chance to finish her thought, as Tyrian kicked her in the stomach, causing her to fall onto the floor hard. Ruby, Melody and Qrow soon went in and attacked with their weapons. He managed to kick Qrow off, before he fired upon the two young girls while Roman tended to his daughter. They were both able to block the bullets before Melody went to attack.

She swung her scythe at him but all he did was laugh as he dodged. His eyes changed to purple before his hand landed on her arm as her Aura seemed to have depleted suddenly. Before she could even register this, he let out a powerful kick, snapping her arm in two, forcing her to drop her weapon. She let out a shriek before she fell on her side.

"MELODY!" Ruby exclaimed.

"WREN!" Qrow shouted, rushing to his daughter's side, and he helped her to sit up as she grasped her arm.

Ruby let out a growl and glared before she charged at Tyrian with full force; their blades clashed with one another creating sparks. With his eyes still purple he thrusted his stinger towards her before she could even have a chance to react. Qrow was quick to jump in front of Ruby and blocked his stinger.

"Ruby!" He yelled, "What did I say!? Get back!"

"This is MY fight too!" Ruby argued.

She went to attack Tyrian from behind, aiming for his legs, but he jumped over it with ease. His attention was drawn to Ruby, as he still held Qrow's ground.

"No, it's not that!" He started to say, "It's--!"

Ruby didn't give him time to finish as she charged at Tyrian once more. With a flip he sent her back flying towards the building behind her. One of the beams on the rooftop suddenly gave out, surprising her. Qrow went and sliced the beam in two before it could hit her.

She gave him a smile of gratitude as he smiled back but--

"AHH!"

From across his abdomen there was a fresh cut suddenly, taking everyone by surprise as Ruby looked horrified. Turns out Tyrian was the one that gave him the cut via his stinger; he gave a laugh as his smile grew wider.

Ruby did something that everyone didn't expect. With her Crescent Rose, she placed it's blade on his stinger before she pulled the trigger.

Tyrian let out a cry as purple liquid started to leak out of his stinger, causing him to reel back and his tail to curl.

"You bitch!" He yelled towards Ruby, as he armed himself again as he was prepared to attack.

He fired a couple of rounds at Ruby, though she blocked it this time. With her Crescent Rose, she was ready to take him out; that's when Cristal saw the second shadow move on it's own again.

"RUBY, WAIT!" Cristal shouted, "HIS SHADOW--!"

Ruby let out a cry before she went to attack, only realizing too late that something seemed to have emerged from the ground. It looked to be that of a steampunk style, large bladed halberd, and a human like hand held onto the handle.

It wasn't long before she felt herself get shoved to the ground, and the color of red, seemed to have filled the air. After Ruby recovered she let out a gasp when she saw who had been standing in her place.

It was Roman Torchwick himself.

A fresh wound was seen between his neck and collarbone. His attacker had been a girl, no more then nineteen, wearing a geist mask; the horns on her head looked to have a pattern as it glowed a dim red glow before it vanished with but a flicker.

She appeared to have crawled out of the ground which surprised them as their jaws seemingly dropped.

She removed the blade from Roman, and hit the floor as his blood seeped through his clothes. "DAD!" Cristal yelled, running to him, and taking him into her arms, "DADDY NO!"

Ruby looked at the girl just shocked by how she appeared in what might as well have been thin air. She held her halberd towards them to keep them back as they had their weapons in case she decided to attack. She had gone over to Tyrian and placed her hand on his shoulder, before she kneeled, moving her hand to his cheek.

"Elise…" They heard him say softly, as she leaned her forehead against his as if it had been a comforting gesture.

Ruby flinched when the girl, called Elise, turned her. Even though she had a mask on, she could tell her look could kill. With her blade drenched, she was about to move in to attack but--

"No!" Tyrian said, grasping her arm, stopping her, before saying softly, "... She'll forgive us."

Elise looked to Tyrian, and looked at the damage, before coming to a conclusion. She turned back to Ruby, before she spoke with a soft cold voice.

"You… Shall pay..."

The red markings appeared once more before the group had been taken back by a bright gray, purple light appearing in the palm of her hand, forcing them to shut their eyes. When they opened, they saw that Tyrian and Elise were both gone.

"They… Vanished!?" Jaune exclaimed.

"Where did they go!?" Rosario said.

Qrow soon let out a cry as he fell to his knees dropping his weapon.

"Dad!" Melody exclaimed, running over to him.

"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby yelled doing the same, "Are you okay!?"

Qrow caught his breath as he looked to his niece and daughter with a smile, "I'll be fine… He just grazed me."

Scout soon approached him with her bag, "That wound you have looks deep. Let me take a look at it for you!"

"Before you do that…" Qrow said to the young Fanus, gesturing to Roman, "... Go check on him. He needs you more then me…"

"But--" Scout started to say looking to Roman then back to him, "--But I need to--I should--"

"Scout." Ruby soon said, snapping her back into reality. She gave her a comforting smile, "Go help Roman. He needs you."

"It's okay, partner." Melody said, patting her on the head, "We won't get mad."

Scout gulped, but eventually nodded her head before she stepped to Roman. Cristal cradled him in her arms as she sobbed. Rosario was there to comfort her as she patted her on the shoulder.

"Daddy please…" She sobbed, "... Please don't die… We still have to find Destiny… Remember…?"

Scout kneeled beside her as she looked him over, as Cristal soon picked up her head.

"Please…" She begged, "... Can you help him…?"

"You have my word…" Scout said, "... I'll save him."

Cristal still sobbed, as Scout motioned her to set him on the ground, before she went to work. Of course, everyone else had questions for the Huntsman, and it had been a whole lot of them.

"Who were those people?" Nora asked.

"How did you get here?" Ren added.

"Why are people after Ruby too?" Jaune added.

"That girl used magic, like Cristal did." Melody said, "Is there more of her, and who the hell is this Salem?"

Qrow tried to work through the pain, though couldn't bring himself to answer right now.

"Uncle Qrow…" Ruby soon spoke up, "... What's going on?"

Finally he picked up his head, as he only asked them one question.

"... What's your favorite fairytale?"