I don't own RWBY or Darkest Dungeon.

"So… it begins"

Theoden

Lord of the Rings twin towers.

In an unknown area of Vale.

Inside an unknown warehouse, sit's a lone figure. She was beaten, bruised, battered, and permanently disfigured. All around her were those she once considered former allies, now nothing more then the monster that Adam had invited into his inner circle. She had made them bloodsucking members of her cult. They only follow Adam's or anyone else's orders if it suits their Mistress needs. As she sits there, completely woozy from the lack of blood, she begins to pounder what choices had brought her to hear. Perhaps, she should have left. Like Blake. Left and joined a school. Beacon, Haven, Shade. Hell, Atlas Academy doesn't sound as bad right now. Least she would still have a hand. Still if there was one thing she regrets. It's not telling her crush how she felt. How she truly felt. Now she will never be allowed to say so.

As she contemplates her life, it then dawns upon her that something has happened to the lights. This caused the infected WF guards to click to life. They moved about in a sluggish motion, like a puppet learning to walk without strings. They moved about the darkness looking for whatever had turn off the lights. As they moved about they have fail to notice a new figure that had entered the room. She danced silently around them. Making very little sound as she slithered about. Choosing her moments carefully, she killed them. Once by one. And they didn't know she was their till it was too late. Once the last one fell to this stranger's blade, the stranger in question emerges. Ilia had difficulties seeing the stranger. Her vision was buried from the blood loss, yet as she approaches, she starts to see more clearly. It was that woman from Menagerie, the one who looked like her mother. Amani.

"Ya 'iilhi, what have they done to you?" She says in horror at the sight of her injuries.

"They cut off my hand, (Sigh) worst yet White Fang insurance doesn't cover replacement limbs." Ilia said with a faint chuckle as Amani undid the bindings that tied her.

She couldn't stand on her own, not without help. So Amani lifted her hand over her shoulder and carried her through a side hallway. Their were multiple WF operators spread about. Question was if they were alive or dead no longer mattered to Ilia, far as she is concerned they were traitors to the cause.

"Where are you taking me?" Ilia asked as they made their ways to the warehouse stairs.

"To Vale hospital. You are in dire need of medical treatment." Amani responded.

"No… No hospital. Take me to a phone. I need to inform the Kahn of Adam's betrayal." Ilia slowly remarks as the two made it up to the roof.

"Who" Amani asked.

"… Kahn, she's the leader of the White Fang… she sent me here to spy on Adam, leader of the Vale White Fang branch after rumors involving extreme methods begin to make their way to her." Ilia answers.

"And she couldn't have watched the news?" Amani said flatly.

"We don't exactly go public with our plans." Ilia points out.

"Fair enough. (Sigh) Well, least tell me what this Adam's master plan." Amani asked as she finally made it up the stairs. Amani didn't reply till they were out on the rooftops of the Warehouse.

"…He has a mole inside Beacon, and she plans to have the gri… *Siren noises" Before Ilia could finish, there was a sudden blaring noise. The two girls watched as Grim started to flood the stadium, town, and school. Worst yet, the one's who were dropping the grim like a payload, were those who bore the symbol of the White Fang. The two girls watch in horror as the mayhem and destructions issues.

"Oh my Allah." Amani remarks as she watches in horror as the stadium was flooded. As they watch, the Butler had walked out the door, he looks around before spotting the two.

"Aw, it seems you were kind enough to arrive at your final destination on time. Maybe a bit early." The Butler said catching the two attention. "Regardless, my Mistress has given me a task."

He pauses as he pulls the Obsidian dagger Amani gave to Ilia, from out behind him. He does a little flip and gets into a fighting stance before speaking. "And I have yet to fail her bidding."

A few hours before, back on Beacon ground.

It's been a few hours, and another Grimm attack near downtown had caused the next match to be put on hold, till team CVFY returns. While waiting, Dismas heard about Ruby spending some time by herself after the incident with her sister. So after tracking her down, he comfort her with some kind words. Ruby told him about how only Bigby saw the thing, but those words went over Dismas head. Every time he looks at her in the eyes, all he can see is Derrien's ghost. Ruby begins to notice the lack of eye contact and was about to ask when a loud ship can be heard overhead. It was CVFY, they had returned. Excited Ruby and Dismas went to the landing pad, where there was a crowd of people. It was slightly difficult to get through the crowd they came across Velvet, already holding Jay in a tender kiss. All while she was taking a photo.

"Eww, why do people kiss each other?" Ruby comments with a childish yuck face at the sight of affections. Hearing her caused Velvet and Jay to stop and turn.

"Oh, Ruby, Dismas. How are you guys doing?" Velvet asked as she lets go of Jay.

"Just waiting for the next round." Dismas remarks before noticing the camera in Velvets hand. "What about you?"

"Oh, you know, just working on my photography." Velvet responds with a blush as she hides her camera behind her back.

"Would you like to see; I guarantee it will blow your mind." Jay says with a chuckle causing Velvet to blush even more.

"Um, does it involving kissing stuff? Cause no thanks, Yang say's I'm too young to understand." Ruby remarks.

"Yes, way to young." Dismas said with a new sense of protections in his tone that catches Jay a bit off guard. What followed was a few moments of awkward silence before Velvet speaks up.

"I'm sorry to hear about your sister. Is she doing okay?" Velvet asked.

"Yeah, she's... fine. Heh, thanks." Ruby replied with a sadden chuckle.

"I think it's just awful what people are saying about her. Yang is such a nice person." Velvet states with a sympathetic tone.

"She's a lot like Dismas, she won't do anything unless provoked." Jay remarks.

"Well, I'm glad someone thinks so." Ruby said with a smile that others believe her sisters innocence.

"What about you, Dismas? What do you think about all this?" Velvet asked as she turned to Dismas.

"I wouldn't say guilty just yet. I've been where she has been, recently if we all recall." Dismas states recalling the whole doppelgänger incident.

"Yeah I suppose. Though I doubt most people know less about what it's like on the battlefield, then to be replaced by a look alike." Velvet remarks with a nod.

"She's right, about the fatigue of battle. I mean, even the most experienced of warriors can get spooked and start seeing things that aren't there. If it can happen to Dame Coco, it can happen to anyone." Jay remarks causing Ruby to pause.

"Wait, what happened to Coco?" Ruby asked with a curious look.

"She swore she saw Yatsu with her in the forest during the fight with Emerald and Mercury, but he never even made it out of the geyser fields. Stress-induced hallucinations, apparently." Velvet answered.

"Really? Hmm..." Ruby says as the cogs in her head start to spin. Coco thinking, she saw Yatsu, Yang swearing that Mercury attacked her. What if it was another doppelgänger incident, but instead of someone trying to take their place. They were purposely misleading. A sudden flash erupted from Velvet's camera. Stopping Ruby's thoughts in her place.

"Ooh! Sorry." Velvet replied.

Hours later, at the stadium.

It was now sundown and the Coliseum was packed with eager spectators. The next contestant was none other the Impossible girl herself, Pyrrha Nikos. As the crowd packs in like a case of sardines, Ruby and Dismas went to grab popcorn before the fight when Ruby spotted something strange in the corner of her eye. For a moment, she could have sworn she saw Emerald.

"Emerald's here?!" Ruby remarks as she begins to walk away from Dismas.

"Hey, Ruby where you going?" Dismas asked with a Lien card in hand.

"Oh, uh head back to our seats. I need to check on something." Ruby replies. Dismas gives a worried nod before continuing to buy the popcorn. Ruby soon goes after what she thought was Emerald. As she follows her, the girl turned out to be Emerald. She gives a frown before disappearing behind a door. Curious, Ruby goes through the door and continued to walk down the hallway till Mercury walked out from behind a pillar with a devious smirk on his face.

"Mercury?" Ruby said in confusion.

As she tries to figure out what was he doing here, Port voice spoke over the intercom. "It looks like our first contender is… Penny Polendina from Atlas!"

As the crowd cheers in the background, Ruby asked the smirking Mercury. "What are you doing here?"

Mercury didn't answer, rather he Port's voice continued on over the speakers. "And her opponent will be... Pyrrha Nikos from Beacon!"

The sight of Mercury grin and the announcement, caused Ruby to realize what's going on. The look of absolute horror was priceless to Mercury. He lets out a small chuckle as Ruby whispers the words in horror, "Oh no…"

"Heh, Oooh, polarity vs metal. Tsk, Tsk. That could be bad." Mercury stated with a smile.

"Mercury, what are you doing? You were hurt! Why... What's going on?" Ruby asked still trying to unravel what's going on. Mercury didn't answer rather, he remained quiet much to Ruby's annoyance. She lets out an annoyed sigh before walking forward. "Fine. If you're not going to tell me..."

Before she could continue, Mercury side swiped her. He continued to attack her, not to injure but to simply keep her from interfering with the fight. Enraged, Ruby quickly pulls out Crescent Rose from out behind her back and got into battle stance. Staring down Mercury with anger. Mercury, unimpressed simply got into a battle stance with a smug look on his face. Over the loud speakers, Oobleck announces the fight, just before Ruby charges at him the words "Fighters, are you ready? ... Begin!" Just like the fight upstairs, the fight between them begin.

Ruby charges forward to Mercury who with a simple smug smile said "Showtime."

He dodges Ruby's first attack before delivering a powerful kick. Ruby retreats back before using her semblance to try and get past him. He responded by kicking the red cloud hard enough that it sent her back. Realizing that he was wasting her time, she pulls out her scroll and was about to call for held when Mercury shoot's a round from out of his boot.

"Let's keep this between us friends." He comments before charging forward towards Ruby.

He comes at her with multiple kicks with shot gun rounds bursting with every shot. Ruby was on the defensive, managing her space but with the last shot, she was sent flying backwards into the wall. She managed to get up just in time to see a foot filled with pellets coming her way. She quickly rolled right as Mercury's foot cracks into the wall. He was stuck for a few moments that Ruby decided to make a break for it when another shot hit's her leg sending her stumbling before she could use her semblance.

She tries to pick herself up but felt the iron foot of Mercury on the back of her leg. She lets out a yelp of pain before swing her Scythe. Mercury does a back flip to avoid before firing off a round at Ruby. She dives out of the way behind cover. Her Aura will heal her leg but till then she was couldn't run. Using the wall she pushed herself up into the air and fired off a few round midair. Mercury dodge all but one that hits his shoulder. Sending him back, but he recovered by landing on his hands and pushing back forward. That sprung him into Ruby who received a gut shot. The wind was knocked out of her and she was now on the ground with Crescent Rose a few inches away from her hand. She tries to reach out to it but Mercury stepped on her hand. Crushing it. She lets out a painful scream as she tries to remove her hand out from underneath his.

"What's wrong? Though you would put up more of a fight then your sister." Mercury joked as he gets a message from someone.

He checks his Scroll paying Ruby no attention as she tries to bust her way out by punching his ankles. Seeing they were metal, that did little more then annoy Mercury and hurt poor Ruby's fist. To get her to stop he delivers a rocket propelled gut kick to Ruby. Ruby lets out a gasp of air as she feels her rib cage crack. She laid their coughing in agony as Mercury places away his Scroll.

"Now, as much fun as this was. I have places to be. Maybe we'll see each other down the road." Mercury said with a smile that grew into a cruel laughter. "Heh, Heh, ha, ha, heh… Nah, this will be the last. I'd say give my regards to the bot but, well they do say gingers don't have souls."

Mercury raises his foot up to crush Ruby's skull. But before he could, a loud bang can be heard as blood spews into the air. Mercury falls to the ground with blood pouring out of the side of his chest. He lets out a painful yell as he tries to get up. Meanwhile Ruby found the energy to get up and see where the shot came from. To her surprise, it was Dismas. Holding a bag of popcorn in one hand and Thunder in the other.

"I get you one lousy bag of popcorn and you go and get into a back ally fight without me. I would be proud if this was a different set of circumstances." Dismas remarks as he tosses the bag of popcorn to the side and helps Ruby up.

Ruby was struggling to say anything but the few words that came out were, "Dismas… Ugh, Penny… trouble."

Dismas had no idea what Ruby was talking about, but seeing Mercury who shouldn't be able to stand was here and about to kill Ruby no less. Something was clearly wrong. Once Ruby was on her feet, he quickly picks up Crescent Rose and hands it to her. As he does, Mercury gets back up to his feet. The two eyes' make contact, and unlike Ruby. Dismas eyes were more vengeful and enraged then Ruby's. Dismas then walks forward before pulling out Lightning.

"Go, save your friend. I'll handle this." Dismas remarks as he gets into a battle stance.

Ruby was about to say that they need to fight together, but the sound of the crowd reminded her what was at stake. She gives a nod before saying under her injured breath. "Kick, his butt."

She then activated her Aura and made a run for it. Mercury tried to intervene, but was force to dodge when Dismas takes another shot. Learning from the first time, Mercury played on the defensive. Ruby made her way, leaving Mercury and Dismas to fight. Mercury enraged turns to Dismas who already charged forth. He quickly avoids a high kick by sliding under it. He slice the tendon part of the leg but it did nothing against the metal. Dismas quickly spins around onto his feet before racing back to Mercury. He begin to slash at Mercury with Lighting. Mercury quickly evaded each attempt before raising his arm up to stop the knife while grabbing Dismas by the other wrist to stop him from firing off Thunder.

"Ugh, you are going to pay for that!" Mercury grunts in pain as blood continues to flow from his arm. Dismas remained quiet at the two grappled with one another. "You and that little bitc…"

Before he could even finish, Dismas brings back his head and delivers a painful headbutt. Years of Boudica special greetings seemed to pay off when it sent Mercury back, reeling in pain. In those few seconds, Dismas holstered Thunder before trying to tackle Mercury. He stumbles but Mercury pushes back by delivering a crushing knee jab to Dismas gut. In pain, Dismas quickly pushes Mercury back, and avoided a right swing from his leg. Acting quickly, Dismas flipped his blade and ran towards him in a psycho stabbing position. Mercury quickly ran forward and does a flying kick with shotgun rounds, however Dismas slid right under. Using the knife to stop him from sliding. Mercury landed on the ground and does a leg swipe to which Dismas avoided barely. The two were back on their feet, when their was a loud gasp coming from the audience above. This distracted Mercury for a moment. To which Dismas quickly raced over and came down on him with Lighting. Mercury catches the knife with his wrist. But before he could react, Dismas lets go of the blade. It falls into his left to which he spins around and punctures Mercury right in the bullet hole at an angle.

This did the trick because Mercury soon fell over, gasping in pain. After a few moments he managed to remove the blade, but what ever that round did to him, canceled out his aura and the ability to heal. He was now on the ground coughing blood.

"(Cough, Cough) Heh, neat trick for a thief. (Cough, Cough)" Mercury said as he coughs up blood. Dismas paid him little attention, rather he picked up the blade and calmly wiped the blood off with paper napkins he received when buy the popcorn. He tossed it aside, to which Mercury continues to mock him.

"(Cough, Cough) Ah, it doesn't matter. (Cough, Cough) She's won, and by this time tomorrow, (Cough, Cough) you won't even know how much you (Cough, Cough) fucked up." Mercury continued to mock as blood drips from his lips. Dismas didn't say anything again, rather he pulls out Thunder and simply proceeded to load another round.

"Well (Cough, Cough) what are you waiting for (Cough, Cough) bring me in. Get a big fat stinking metal for saving the day (Cough, Cough) Heh, heh. Well, almost. (Cough, Cough)" Mercury said before Dismas turned Thunder on Mercury.

"… (Cough, Cough) you honestly think (Cough, Cough) you are going to shoo… Bang!" Before Mercury could even finish, a bullet rips through his neck. Not killing him instantly but he won't leave this hallway. His eyes go wide in shock and horror. Huntsmen don't kill unless they have to. What Dismas did was cold blood murder. As Mercury slowly bleeds out, Dismas actually speaks, sending words of confusion and terror down Mercury's neck before he died.

"… You might have survived to see a jail cell… but you fucked up, when you try to kill the only blood relative I have left." Dismas said as he walks over to Mercury. Before Mercury could even process it, Dismas impales him through the bottom of the chin with Lighting. Ending his suffering right then and there.

Dismas stands up, just in time to hear a familiar and sinister voice over the radio. "This is not a tragedy. This is not an accident. This is what happens when you hand over your trust. Your safety. Your children. To men who claim to be our guardians. But are, in reality... nothing more than men. Our Academies' Headmasters wield more power than most armies and one was audacious enough to control both."

Cinder, she was speaking and by the lack of voices from the audience this isn't good. Dismas quickly races down the hall, leaving behind Mercury. Not noticing something breaking free from it's vile inside his jacket pocket and crawling into his blood stain mouth

"They cling to this power in the name of peace, and yet, what do we have here? One nation's attempt at a synthetic army, mercilessly torn apart by another's star pupil. What need would Atlas have for a soldier disguised as an innocent little girl? I don't think the Grimm can tell the difference."

Dismas quickly raced as fast as his legs can run. He dreaded what had happened during the fight between Pyrrha and Penny. As he rounds a corner he had come to the entrance of the arena. There before him was Ruby. On her knees with tears coming down her eyes.

"And what, I ask you, is Ozpin teaching his students? First a dismemberment, now this? Huntsmen and Huntresses should carry themselves with honor and mercy, yet I have witnessed neither."

It wasn't just her that was crying. In the stadium he can see the shock and horror on everyone's faces. A few familiar faces like the Sun and Neptune, to Tardif and Manya. The one who seemed to be taken back the most was Bigby. His eyes were wide, and tears begin to form in his eyes. It wasn't till Dismas looked at the center of the area did he know why.

"Perhaps Ozpin as though defeating Atlas in the tournament would help forget his colossal failure to protect Vale when the Grimm invaded it's streets. Or perhaps, this was his message to the tyrannical dictator that has occupied an unsuspecting Kingdom with armed forces. Honestly? I haven't the slightest clue as to who is right and who is wrong. But I know that the existence of peace is fragile and the leaders of our kingdoms conduct their business with iron gloves."

At the center of the arena was Pyrrha, and Penny. Pyrrha was on her knees. Holding her hand over her mouth in horror. Penny… was on the ground, in pieces. She was not made of flesh and blood. But of cogs, wheels, and worst of all. Metal. Pyrrha must have torn her to pieces in the heat of the fight. Unintentionally killing her.

"As someone who hails from Mistral, I can assure you; the situation there is... equally undesirable. Our kingdoms are at the brink of war. Yet we, the citizens, are left in the dark."

As the crowd watches in horror, the central mega screen at the center of the table turns on revealing a table with a blue crystal glowing brightly. The audience couldn't see the strangers face, but those who knew her recognize cinders clothes. She begins tapping the crystal a few times causing it to glow brightly. It then get's brighter and brighter, all while the feed was cutting in and out, along with the lights, scrolls and anything dust powered.

"So I asked you... when the first shots are fired... who do you think you can trust?" With those last words, the camera feed goes dark and the stadium as well.

Leaving the entire audience in silent shock. As the moments became a full minute. Their was a loud pecking sound above. Looking up, to everyone's horror, was a Nevermore. It pecked and pecked a few times before finally breaking in and landing right in front of Pyrrha. It lets out a loud squawk. In this moment, historians marked this as the beginning, of the end.

Hello everybody, so sorry for the short chapter but I leave for a three day camping trip and I can't exand any farther then this. Besides, this is it. The end of the line. Just a handful of chapters left to go. Heh man has this been a trip. Can't wait for the next chapter we will see betrayal romance, and the horrifying conclusion to this story. Now that I'm here peering over the edge, I want to take a moment to thank you all again for you support of this story.

With that said, let's answer some questions.

From VGBlackwing: As the saying goes. (I believe by priestess from Goblin slayer when elf ranger ask GS if he was serious about smearing themselves in goblin blood. She responds with dead eyes saying, "You get use to it.")

Ever saw Alex Garland 2014 Ex Machina? In it the guy explains how this female robot has precure pads and sensors that allow her to react the same way if a human girl were to stick something up there. Think Penny as the same thing.

Thanks for writing VGBlackwing

From Carre: 1. No problem

2A. Sex cult murder mystery I think.

2B. alright, take your place at 58th in line.

3. Yes. Figure I try it out for… size. (Laughing both at the pun and I've been away 23 hours now.)

4. I have no F$*king idea what your talking about.

5. Yeah, I wonder which fanfic inspired it. (I hope it's mine but high chances are no.)

6. Eh if it's any constellation, England got screwed over by me. (Canada technically, but that's a different story. Speaking of which I just finished the first chapter. Begins with an unnamed main protagonist visiting Sacramento Cal, and ending in a lot of romans being sent to Alcatraz for war crime.)

7. Thanks

Thanks for writing Carre

From WarWithoutEnd: Yeah, can't wait for DD2.

Ain't no complaints from me on that.

Thanks for writing WarWithoutEnd

Right with that said I am camping tomorrow and will be back in three days to write the next chapter. Till then please Fav, Fol, and leave a comment down below.

This is Wombag1786 signing off.