RWBY: The Remnant Knight

There are many paths in life, some that are set in stone and some that are in a state of flux...then there are the ones that defy the course of fate. This is one such path, where destiny is defied, and the path of a Knight is forged in blood, steel and magic. This is the Rise of the Remnant Knight.

Chapter XIV: Ambush

Dark brown and amber yellow liquids swirled within a glassy surface as Hazel stared at the concoction before him while waiting for his associate – Tyrian Callow – to rendezvous with him before they intercept the Phantom and retrieve the boy Jaune Arc. He currently found himself in a small tavern at the furthest corner of the room just outside the border of Mistral, a popular dive for lowlife scum.

He stared at the liquid as he contemplated the mission he was about to undertake and the choices he had made in his life.

Long ago he was once a simple man, grew up on the outskirts of the Kingdoms borders with his mother, father and sister. It was a hard but simple life. At the age of ten, he lost his mother and father to bandits, leaving only himself and his sister behind. He did everything in his power to protect the last remaining member of his family, even if he had to do some…questionable actions.

All that mattered was that his sister was safe.

But everything changed when she left to join Beacon Academy, to become the Huntress like the stories their parents would tell them. He didn't want her to go, he didn't want her to risk her life fighting for someone else and tried to convince her that it would be better to stay safe. But despite all his pleas she still attended Beacon Academy only to die on a simple training mission when her team was ambushed by unknown assailants.

He was devastated when the broken remains of his sisters' weapon were presented to him by the same man that sent her on the mission in the first place. The Headmaster of Beacon: Ozpin

No one knew exactly what happened to the man's state of mind when his sister died or why it was he blamed Ozpin for her death.

It was possible that grief snapped his mind into an insane state that, while appeared calm on the outside, became broken on the inside. Going so far as to consistently ignore the facts that she chose to become a huntress and partake in the mission that cost her life and found solace in blaming the man who sent her. Or he felt compelled to avenge his sister's death out of some misguided sense of honour, believing that by destroying Ozpin he was doing a service to the world.

Whatever it was a deep rage was seeded in his heart and he swore vengeance for the death of his sister. He blamed Ozpin, he wanted him to pay for taking away his last and only family member. He was even brazen enough to attack him in his own school. But when he confronted the man intent on killing him, he was swiftly defeated and thrown out of the city.

For a time, he believed that he could never achieve his vengeance against the man.

That was until he met Salem and learnt about Ozpin's secret and the Relics he guarded.

After that Salem promised him that if he helped her retrieve the Relics she could bring his sister back to life. He knew that promises, especially from someone like Salem, ensured no guarantee that the bargain would be fulfilled.

Still, the opportunity and the possibility to bring her back to life was too much of a chance to throw away. He gladly accepted.

It was then that he became a willing agent of Salem. Using his strength and power to influence the underground and spread chaos around the world. He often felt conflicted about taking unnecessary life, some of them were even of those who were no older than his sister was. But they stood in his mistress's path and he would not be denied the chance to return Gretchen to the world of the living.

…Still, sometimes even he wondered how far down the rabbit hole he had fallen?

The tavern doors opened, not even looking back as he already knew who it was. "AH! And here he is! I've been looking all over Sanus for you!" the man proclaimed while he growled and ignored the annoying voice. "Oh, come on Hazel, don't be like that, we're supposed to be 'partners' after all."

Hazel glared as he turned to the smirking face of Tyrian. "Do not refer to us as partners, hearing that word just reminds of everything I hate about Huntsman…and the man responsible for the system." his glass cracked slight as the insane assassin grinned.

"Ah, now there's the Hazel I know. But must you be so melodramatic about it? We are supposed to be posing as Huntsman for the time being." Hazel raised an eyebrow.

'As if anyone would believe you are a huntsman,' he kept the thought to himself as he placed his drink on the counter. "Do we have a fix on the vessel?"

Tyrian nodded as he pulled out his scroll and showed the map. "Thanks to those little bugs that the Black-ops stuffed into their ship we have an accurate location of the Phantom. Our Glorious Mistress has seen it wise to send us ahead of its current course." A small triable moved across the map as it revealed to be near 200kms away from them.

"Our Queen has also set up a special convoy for us to intercept the vessel. Once we attack we'll grab the boy and kill all the rest. Quick and simple, our Queen does not want us wasting time." His face was professional, but Hazel could practically feel the insanity in his voice.

"And if they put up a fight? Our intel suggests they have thirteen crew members onboard. Even with our skills, it will be a hard fight." Tyrian grinned as he adjusted the gauntlets on his arm and deployed the pincer-like blades.

"Then it will be that more fun," he cackled as Hazel looked back to his drink.

The Phantom – Captains Quarters

The soft hum of the systems of the ship resonated peacefully in the Captains Quarters as Jaune Arc started out at the datapad before him. His gaze focused on the diagnostic report, but his mind drifted back to everything that had happened to him over the past week. The destruction of Shion was a hard blow to him, as the small village held a lot of personal memories.

The camping trips, the hikes and the rare occasions that his father took time away from work was some of the best moments of his life. Even the times his sisters braided his hair. He chuckled a little at the memory…

Before the images of its destruction came rushing back and the dying Huntsman that failed to protect it.

Jaune will admit that seeing a man die like that had shaken him. It had reminded him of how he too had passed on from this world and left behind a broken body. Yet unlike the Huntsman, who now lay abandoned in the ruined village, he overcame the gates of death and came back. He still didn't know how but he knew why he came back. He came back to protect his friends, to stop the person that was behind the Beacon Invasion and bring them to justice.

But recent events started to make him pause and wonder.

What would happen if they do manage to track down the people behind the attack? From what Cinder told him before she died she was working for someone that had the ability to control the Grimm. Not an easy feat to achieve and obviously required immense power to do so.

What kind of person could exist like that and remain undetected from mankind for years or even longer? How powerful was this person that she could steal the powers of the Fall Maiden and lunch a full-scale assault on the Kingdoms? Who else was working for this person? Were there others like Cinder or worse? Did his friends have the strength to combat this evil?

Did he have the strength to fight it?

He sighed as he placed the datapad on the table and rubbed his eyes. "One step at a time," he told himself as he focused on finding the traitor at Haven. A stray hair found itself between his eyes as he glared at the annoying strands.

"Pfft, stupid hair," he muttered as he ran a hand through his long hair.

Since he had been so focused on the Traitor in Mistral he never got around to cutting his hair which he had not cut since he woke up from his coma a month ago. Honestly, it was starting to get annoying. How the hell did Yang manage to deal with so much hair? He ran a hand across his cheeks as he felt the beginning of stubble growing on his face.

What? He was a growing seventeen turning eighteen-year-old who was focused on trying to save the world. You can excuse a little unkempt facial hair.

A knock soon sounded on the door as he turned to that large metal. "It's open" he called out as Pyrrha appeared at the doorway. "Hey, Pyrrha, how can I help?" he asked as she walked in.

"Jaune, I just thought I'd come and let you know we found some of those Atlas Knights on board."

"The same ones that attacked Beacon? I thought all of those were decommissioned and sent to the scrap heap?" he asked remembering the droids that were easily hacked.

"They were, but it looks like the ship was originally going to be stocked with them for combat missions until they were recalled. Ruby thinks we can build Penny a new body from the spare parts but is going to need more time before that can actually happen. Plus, she has no idea how to actually make a face for her." Jaune nodded at this as she handed him a datapad with full schematics of several of the decommissioned Atlesian Knights.

After the damage, they caused during the Invasion a lot of people no longer trusted the supposed new 'protector drones' of the Atlas Kingdom and instantly recalled them to the Kingdom.

It was one of Atlas' biggest shames.

"Well, if I know Ruby she won't stop until she does." He chuckled as she laughed too knowing the unwavering drive that was Ruby Rose.

"But I also came up to check on you. How are you feeling?" she asked as he smiled at the care his partner felt for him.

"I'm fine, thanks. I'm just thinking about everything we've been through so far. It's nothing to worry about" he tried to reassure her, but she could clearly see the stress that he tried to hide.

"Jaune, you know you can't hide things from me. I'm your partner, after all, you got to tell me what's bothering you." He narrowed his eyes as he stared at her.

"Oh, you mean like how you told me what was bothering you before the Invasion?" They both flinched when he realised what he just said and saw the small shock on her face.

"Sorry, sorry! I didn't mean that! I just…I just got a lot on my mind right now. Trying to manage a ship and crew is a lot different from running a team. A-And I will admit it gets a bit stressful at times. I'm sorry I said that I didn't mean-" she stopped him as she shook her head.

"No, it's okay Jaune. It's fair enough to say I'm the last person to talk about telling things. But I realise now that listening to Ozpin was a mistake and I should have talked to you about it. Maybe if I did we could have done things a lot differently. Maybe he could have even found someone else to take the Maidens power?" He narrowed his eyes at that.

"Yeah, maybe…" he then smiled as he sat on the couch in the room and gestured her to sit next to him. "Maybe we should talk, be more honest with each other?" she looked hesitant but nodded as she sat down with him.

"Okay, what should we talk about?" he sighed as he placed his arms on his knees.

"Pyrrha…am I doing the right thing?" he asked as she looked confused.

"Ever since I woke from my coma my mind has been solely focused on finding out who was behind the Invasion. I've gone against my family – again – I've stolen a highly classified stealth ship from the Atlas. I've dragged all of my friends on a suicide mission that could potentially throw the other kingdoms into chaos based on a hunch and I have no idea who this traitor is or whom they're working for. And to top it off everyone around the world sees me as this hero that saved day…" he looked down at his hands as Pyrrha listened.

"But the thing is I don't feel like a hero. I just still feel like a fool they shouldn't follow. I just don't know if what I am doing is right. If I'm just doing this for the right reasons or to prove to the council I was right…I just don't know?" he hung his head as if to hide from the world.

Until a soft hand grabbed his own and he looked up.

"Jaune, you are doing the right thing. In fact, I completely understand what you're going through. Back when Ozpin asked me to take on the mantle of the Fall Maiden I too questioned if taking on the power would be the right thing. Not just for me but for my friends and everyone else." She softly held his hand as she smiled.

"I bottled up so much inside that I wish I could just let it out and tell someone what I was going through. But I didn't and instead, I nearly pushed you away when I needed you the most. Because of it, we nearly lost everything in the invasion. If I had just talked to you about what was going on, then maybe we could have done something different. And I will admit I initially wanted to just get away from all of this after what happened." She shook her head and looked him in the eye.

"But it's like you said, we can't keep focusing on the past or what might have been. We just have to keep moving forward." She brushed a strand of hair out of his face and smiled as she held his cheek in her palm.

"That's what you've shown us Jaune and that's why we follow you."

Jaune looked at his partner as he digested her words and smiled at the person who still believed in him even when he doubted himself. He was so glad that he didn't lose her that day and vowed that he will never lose her to darkness.

He grabbed her hand and smiled. "Thanks, I really needed that…" she smiled and removed her hand from his cheek.

"…Say Jaune, why don't you let me cut your hair for you? If it's getting in the way, then I'd be happy to help you shave it. No offence, but you need to start looking after yourself better. You're our captain, not a hobo."

Jaune paused as he thought about his partner with scissors and her inept ability to sew and feared what she could do with his hair.

It's not that he doubted her abilities – Gods know he didn't. But in the past, Pyrrha had proven to be not the best homemaker. Once nearly burning the dorm kitchen trying to cook pancakes with Nora or recently the scary stitch job she did with the hoodie he knows wore under his chest plate. But when he looked at her big pleading cutie eyes…

There was no way he could say no to that.

He sighed in defeat as he nodded. "All right, but I'm keeping the stubble. I'm starting to like it. It gives me more…masculine kind of look," he ran his hand across his chin as she snorted in amusement but nodded as they walked into the private bathroom.

The soft sound of hair being snipped and a razor buzzing resonated in the bathroom as locks of long blond hair began to fall to the floor. Careful hands folding, combing, snipping and shaving way at the long unruly hair as Jaune sat patiently on the stool. The silence between them as the occasional snip was all he could hear.

For some reason, beyond anything that Jaune could understand, he felt at peace at this moment. Peace in this once simple mundane moment as he for a moment forgot about all the worries and problems he would have to face once he left this bathroom. For now, he was just happy that he could be here and share it with the one person he fought tooth and nail for.

And that was all he needed.

Hours Later – High Above the Clouds of Anima

The wind rustled the coats of Tyrian and Hazel as they stood atop the back of a Grand Nevermore. Its massive frame accompanied by several other Nevermore as they flew in a large group. The tracer in their hands pinging as they spied the air for the Atlas Stealth ship.

"It's here, according to the tracer we are directly above the ship." The looked down only to see nothing.

"Well, it is a stealth ship after all." Hazel ignored his comment as he reached into his pouches and pulled out four large yellow shards. "Going to use four of them, isn't that a bit too much?"

"From the specs we received the ship was designed to have its own aura shielding, based off the android that was killed in the invasion. No doubt the ship will not be as easy to take down. I need double the power to at least knock it out of the sky." He removed his cloak as it blew away in the wind.

"Never going to see that again," Tyrian commented as Hazel breathed held the four shards in his hands before jamming them into his arms.

He grunted slightly as the yellow crystals broke through his skin and punctured his nerves. His Pain Suppression ability kicking in as the numbing sensation in his arms disappeared and a sudden rush of power flowed through his arms. His skin began to crack as dust coursed its way through his system. His aura becoming a haze of yellow as lightning sparked and surged around his body.

He glared down at the shimmering clouds before he jumped off the back of the beast and plummeted towards the earth.

Lighting surging and sparking in his wake as he plummeted faster before he struck upon a metallic surface. He plunged two fists into metal and the sound of a scream echoed out before the mighty vessel of the Phantom began to drop. He jumped off and landed on the back of another Beast while the ship began to plummet to the ground.

Earlier – Phantom Bridge

On the bridge stood Cardin, Ren, Coco, Ruby and Nora as they studied the map of Anima while waiting for their captain to return from his quarters. Discussing the best route and location to park the Phantom once they made it to Mistral. No sooner did the elevator opened up and the last members of JNPR stepped out onto the deck.

They instantly noticed something different as Jaune's hair had been cut.

His hair was shorter now with the back and sides shaved down and the top slightly shorter. It was what hairstylists would call a 'crew cut' with just enough hair left on the top to be styled. Eyebrows were raised as Jaune sent them a nervous smile.

"I figured it was time for a haircut." Small nods and smiles were all that he received while Nora sent a knowing smile to Pyrrha who flushed red. "Anyway, how far are we from Mistral?"

"Not far Cap. It looks like we only have to pass this town here and then it's a straight shot to Mistral." Coco observed as she pointed to the location of a small town.

"What do we know about it?" Cardin asked as he stood by his team as Ruby squinted at the name.

"Kuro…Yuri?" Ren and Nora subtly flinched at the name as she continued to read the report. "Looks like it was a village that was destroyed roughly nine years ago. From the reports, it looks like it was-"

"Grimm." Ren finally spoke up as everyone looked at him.

"Y-Yeah, from the reports shared with Atlas and Mistral it was destroyed by a large hoard of Grimm nine years ago. They wiped out all of the residents and left nothing to rebuild it. The reports say that there were no survivors." Ruby awkwardly spoke as Ren glared at the map.

"There were survivors…just not enough." Nora grabbed his arm as an awkward silence hung over them and they shared a concerned glance to the two.

"…You were there, weren't you?" Jaune asked as he nodded.

"It…was my-our home."

"Do you…want to talk about it?" Pyrrha asked as Ren shook his head.

"Not really…It's not really important anyway it's not too far away from Mistral. There's an area we can park the Phantom once we clear the mountains. Then it's a straight shot to Mistral…and whoever is behind Beacons Invasion." Jaune and Pyrrha shared a concerned glance with each other as they noticed the sudden change in their teammates' voice.

There was something that the two were hiding from them. Something that had scarred them.

"Guys if you want to-!"

CLANK!

He was cut off as the sound of something hitting the hull. "What the-!" was all he could say before lightning sparked and exploded off the walls. The teens screamed as the ship violently lurched and shook before the feeling of weightlessness took over and the ship began to plummet to the earth.

"Penny what's happening!?" Jaune yelled as the holographic projection of Penny sparked in and out.

"La-large Electric-surge! Critical Systems off-offline! Attempting t-to adjust!" her form glitching as the lights and consoles sparked. The ship spiralled out of control as it nosedived towards the ground.

"Do something!" Ruby yelled as she was thrown around.

"Re-rerouting emergency-y p-power!" Penny struggled as the ship continued to fall.

Everyone around the ship screamed as they held on for dear life. Jaune and Pyrrha gripping onto the side of the holo-map, while Ren and Nora clutched onto the control for dear life. Cardin was thrown to the roof while Coco barely managed to grab the railing around the edge of the room.

Meanwhile, in the pilot's seat, Sky was desperately trying to help reroute power as he buckled himself tight. "Okay try that!" he yelled as Penny focused and rerouted power from noncritical systems.

"Got it!" the light came back as four thrusters emerged from the bottom of the ship and ignited in a blaze. Desperately altering the nose dive into a more stable landing position. But the engines remained offline as they drew closer to the ground. "Brace yourselves!" she yelled as Pyrrha instantly focused her semblance on all the metal of her friends and held them in place.

The ship shook and shuddered violently as it crashed across the ground, crashing and carving a trail of dirt and rubble through a small town as it crashed into the middle of the broken and forgotten village. Small bouts of electricity and metal sparked across the ship as the teens slowly got back up while groaning in pain.

"Is everyone okay?" Jaune asked as he got a series of groans and responses from his friends.

"I think I broke a rib…or all of them" Sky called from his seat. "But I'm good! …wait, no I'm not."

"Mister Sky has suffered severe fractures to his ribs, I recommend he remains where he is," Penny advised as she ran a scan on her co-pilot.

"Noted. Penny, what the hell just happened!?" Jaune asked the android as the flickering form came on.

"We got hit by a large electrical surge that knocked out main systems. Something landed on my hull before I could react. Whatever it was it was too small and fast for my external sensor to detect. My core is stable but the surge overloaded sections of the ship."

"What's the status of the ship?" Coco asked as Penny's eyes rolled over and became a string of code.

"Beginning diagnostics: Main Engines…Offline…Weapons…Offline…Internal Sensors…Offline…Core…Partially Offline. Rerouting emergency power from non-critical systems. Hull is intact, no critical damage is detected. Advise immediate repair." Jaune nodded as he punched in the intercom.

"Team, status is everyone okay?"

Velvet coughed as she got up from the med bay. "Fox, Lark, Yatsu and I are okay, but Russell sprained his arm during the crash. What the hell happened?" she asked as the boy shook his head.

"I don't know, something just landed on the hull and fried our systems. Fox, Yatsu head to the bridge. Lark, Russell and Velvet I need you guys to get down to the engine room, see if you can get the ship's engines back online? We're sitting ducks here at the moment and it won't be long before Grimm get here." She nodded as he turned to the others.

"Guys get your weapons and secure the area. Whoever attacked us managed to knock out our big guns in less than two seconds, we need to-!" another clunk hit the side of the ship as a large nevermore landed outside the ship. Its large beak reared back as it struck the side of the Phantom, bending the hull slightly.

"Rerouting power to emergency shields!" a green shimmer surrounded the ship as the Grimm squawked and hit the ship again. Only this time hitting against the protective aura of Penny. "Shields down by twenty percent captain! I can't maintain them for much longer!" Jaune nodded.

"Got it! Ruby, Pyrrha head down to engineering and see if you can get the weapons and engines back online. The rest of us are going to go outside and stop beak boy from turning this ship into Vacuo cheese!" he commanded as Ruby nodded and disappeared in a flurry of Roses while Pyrrha nodded following behind her. He turned to the rest of the team as he nodded.

"Ready to carve a turkey, guys?" small confident grins and cocked guns sounded his response as he nodded and grabbed his rifle.

Outside the ship, more Grimm was drawn into the area as Beowolves and Ursa banged on the strong metal and green aura that kept them from their prizes. Drool leaking from their lips as they craved the flesh that hid inside. But somewhere deep inside all of them, a voice told them to 'spare' the blond one and bring him to their queen. By some miracle, the door began to open as they pounced for their prize…

Only to be shredded to pieces by three hundred rounds a minute.

Machine gun fire instantly drew the Nevermores attention as Coco stood at the front of the emergency door. Her purse transformed into a chain-gun as she opened fire on the Grimm around her. Before they could grab their bearings, several rockets shot out as Nora flew overhead and reared her hammer. She grinned momentarily before slamming into her first Grimm and reducing its skull to paste.

She spun around and slammed another away before a swift kick caught another off guard as Ren protected his partner. Cardin came following after them with his mace striking the dirt and blasting fire across the earth. Jaune shot from his rifle at the Beowulf behind him. The former bully and victim teaming up as they fought side by side.

Coco jumped down from the emergency door as she joined the fray and unleashed multiple rounds at the Grimm. When one got to close she batted them away with her gun while Ren and Nora took a moment to observe their...

Familiar surroundings.

Looking around both of them had already known where they had crashed. Their home, Kuroyuri. But they knew they couldn't let their emotions or their feelings cloud their judgement. They were surrounded by Grimm and they had to hold them off until Penny's weapons came back online.

"Ren, Nora, get the Nevermore off the Phantom!" Jaune ordered as Ren and Nora nodded charged at the Nevermore.

Nora jumping towards the Nevermore as lightning surged around her hammer and she struck the bird in the face. The beast rocked back before screaming in anger at the Thunderer, only to be shot in the face with an explosive grenade. Ren running up behind the creature as he shot the bird's wings. The beast roared in anger as it flew off the ship and circled the air.

"Okay, the ship is safe!"

"Good job! Coco keep it away!" Jaune yelled as he unleashed a burst from his rifle while simultaneously avoiding the claws of the Grimm.

Coco nodded as she fired her machine gun at the flying beast, forcing it to both keep its distance and attacking the ship. "Cardin, deal with these Beowolves while I keep ugly off our ass!" she yelled to the boy as he nodded.

"On it!" he swung his mace as a stream of fire shot across the ground.

Several Beowolves shot into the air, only to get cut in half as Ren intercepted them in mid-air and sliced them with StormFlower. Nora swinging her hammer with little restraint as she ploughed her way through the Ursa's that was quickly surrounding them.

Jaune fired from his rifle as he ducked and dodged the oncoming attacks from the Beowolves. The gun ran empty as he cursed and stored the rifle on his back before drawing his sword and shield. The steel of Crocea Mors shimmered slightly as he roared and charged at the Grimm.

He slammed his shield into the face of a Creeper while slashing its body in half. He deflected the claws of a Beowulf before his blade sunk into its neck as a dying roar left its throat. He pulled the sword free just in time to deflect the strike from an Ursa and braced for a second impact. Luckily Nora came in with a powerful strike from her hammer and knocked the Bearlike Grimm away from him.

"Thanks, Nora!" said organette smiled as hefted her hammer.

"No problem, Jauney!" she smiled as she ran and smashed another Grimm into the dirt.

Several roars sounded as more Grimm ran into the scene. But before they could lunge, a foot planted in it face as Fox came flying towards them. He quickly shifted to another Grimm as he delivered a series of rapid punched into the Ursa, causing it to be blown away by the strength of his punches.

Yatsu intercepted as his orange blade sliced the Grimm in half. His larger frame towering as he swung with precision and strength. The Nevermore screeched as it dived towards the group of former students. But was shredded to pieces as Coco unleashed her machine gun and jumped down to stand by her team. The three members of Team CFVY nodded and stood back to back against the hoard.

Meanwhile – Just outside Kuroyuri Village

From afar Hazel and Tyrian watched as they observed the teenagers fight against the Grimm. They watched and observed the teens as they fought tooth and nail to defend the ship. "For a bunch of kids, they're not bad," Tyrian commented as he watched them fight. "Nothing we can't handle though." He grinned as Hazel tracked the movement of Jaune.

"I'll handle the group outside and retrieve the boy, you head into the ship and handle the rest," Hazel instructed as Tyrian grinned.

"You know, it's not that fun if you get all the good parts. I wanted to please our Queen with bringing the Arc boy to her." Hazel merely glared.

"Stick to the mission. We can't afford to lose this chance of capturing him. No doubt the rest of them are trying to get the ship back online and we cannot afford that. Do as I say and head into the ship. I'll hold them off outside while you sneak in, understood?" he ordered as the assassin glared before sighing in defeat.

"All right, all right…I guess I can have little fun with the kiddies inside the ship." He deployed his weapons and dashed off to the ship moving stealthy amongst the ruins and wreckage that was Kuroyuri.

Hazel cracked his neck a few times before he pulled out more dust crystals, ready to fight the boy and his friends. While a bit further away a black crow was speeding towards the village at an alarming rate.

Kuroyuri Village

Jaune stabbed his sword into a Grimm as its eyes faded out and its body broke into specks of dust. His breath was heavy as he and the rest of the assault team just finished another the Grimm that attacked them. Their numbers just kept coming as more and more of them continued to rush to the crash site.

"Guys, what's the status on the weapons!?" Jaune barked into his radio as Ruby was busy adjusting some circuits in the console, while Velvet, Lark and Russell were busy undoing a damaged cable in the powerline. Which left only Pyrrha to answer the radio.

"Ruby's still working on the weapons, and Penny just told us one of the power cables was damage in the crash. We're trying to replace it as quickly as we can but it's taking a little longer than expected. But we should have the weapons up and running soon!" Pyrrha informed him as Jaune cursed slightly.

"Okay it! Just keep trying! I don't know how much longer we can hold them off!" Jaune said as he hung up and turned to the assault team. "You guys doing okay?" he asked as the team

"We're fine, but I don't know how much longer we can keep this up!" Ren yelled as he sliced another of the Grimm with his blades.

"And I'm starting to run low on ammo here, Cap!" Coco yelled as she fired at another Grimm, and smacking another with the length of the barrel. Yatsu roared as he sliced and hacked at the Grimm around him while also protecting his Leader.

"We have to hold on, we must have faith that our teammates will get weapons online again." He spoke with a sage-like voice while Cardin looked away hesitantly.

"If Lark and Russel are on the job, we're doomed"

Jaune slashed and sliced his blade into another Beowulf. "We just have to hold off a little longer!" he held fast as they clawed at his face, only to meet with the metal of his shield. But just before they could continue any further a loud whistle sounded, and all the Grimm stopped in their tracks. The Grimm backed off as the assault team stared in confusion.

"What the?"

A figure collided in the streets as the teens turned to see a large man emerge from the dust. Hazel stood before the gathered teens as they stared cautiously at the large man. The Grimm growled at the teens before he gestured them to be quiet. This shocked the teens as they had never seen the Grimm obey a human before.

"What the hell? The Grimm are listening to him?" Cardin gasped as they looked at all the Grimm bowing to him.

"B-But the only person they listened to was," Coco stammered.

"…Cinder…" Jaune whispered under his breath as the man turned to him. He narrowed his eyes as he raised his shield higher to cover his body, the scars on his chest aching in memory of the woman. Her final words echoing his ears as he glared. "That means he's one of them. Do you work for Cinder's master?!" the man nodded as everyone raised their weapons.

"What do you want?!"

"We don't wish to harm you, any of you," he spoke with a gentle voice that set everyone on edge.

"We've merely come here for the Arc. My Master merely demands an audience with the boy. You know you are outnumbered, and your ship has fallen. Surrender yourself and I promise no harm will come to your friends." The man offered as Jaune glared, ready to retort before Ren and Nora stood before him.

"We're not going to let that happen," he stated as Nora nodded and raised her hammer. The others stood beside them, even Cardin surprisingly, as they all aimed their weapons at the large man. He sighed sadly as he reached into his pouches.

"That's…unfortunate."

He pulled out two lightning shards as he jammed them into his arms. The teens flinched back in shock, before recoiling in terror as the dust spread across his arms and he roared thunderously at the team. He sprinted madly as his feet cracked the cobblestone street and he charged towards the teens.

Yatsu attempted to block the large man with his own frame but was knocked back by a powerful electric punch that sent him flying into a building. "Yatsu!" Coco called out before she growled at the man and fired from her weapon, the bullets deflecting off the electrical field around his body as he sent a bolt of lightning at the girl. Once against sending another of team CFVY into the air. Ren tried to slash at the man's legs, but the electricity around him made it difficult to hit him without being zapped.

Nora roared in anger as she swung her hammer at the man, only for him to dodge and knock her away. Unknowingly powering up her semblance with the strike. Jaune charged as he swung his blade at the man, only for his electrified aura to send a current through his blade and into his arm.

"Gah!" he yelled as he nearly dropped his blade in pain before the man punched him in the face and sent him tumbling across the ground.

Cardin came rushing as he sent a stream of fire across the ground in hopes of knocking him over. But the man was too experienced for that trick as he jumped at the last minute and landed on the larger teen. He picked Cardin by the scruff of his armour and threw him into the Arc. Bully and Victim colliding into each other just as Yatsu came back swinging at the man.

"Fuck! Who the heck is this guy!?" Cardin asked as he rolled of Jaune.

"I don't know, but we aren't making a dent on him!"

"Damn it!" Nora yelled as she was thrown to the others. She huffed a strand of hair from her face as she glared. "I'm getting really annoyed with this guy!" she growled as she got her hammer ready.

"Tell me about it, it's like none of our attacks is actually hurting him!?" Cardin agreed as Jaune narrowed his eyes.

"Could that be his semblance? Could he be invulnerable?" Coco shrugged her shoulders as she glared at the man.

"Don't know, but let's just be glad the Grimm aren't joining in, otherwise we'd be in serious trouble." She said as she observed the Grimm that was watching the fight unfold. It was unsettling, to say the least. But that's when something clicked in Jaune's head.

"Wait, something's not right."

"You mean other than the fact he is kicking our collective asses?" Cardin commented as he shook his head.

"No, something else…he said 'we didn't want to you' instead of I?" he looked at the man as he fought off Fox, Ren and Yatsu. "I don't think he said that as a mistake, he doesn't look like the kind of person who does that. Which means…" his eyes widened as he turned back to the ship.

"Oh no…" his hand instantly flying to his neck as he pressed the communicator.

"Pyrrha! Ruby! Respond!" static followed as dread crawled its way into his chest. "Penny! Anyone! Answer me!" crackled noises filled the radio as fear continued to wretch itself in their souls. It grew even further as the sound of gunshots sounded in the signal.

"Kind of-Gah! Busy here Jaune!" Pyrrha sounded on the COMM followed by insane laughter and gunfire.

Earlier – Phantom Engineering Deck

Inside the Phantom, the rest of the crew were desperately trying to get Penny's weapons back online. The lightning blast from Hazel had nearly fried most of the circuits in the ship, with only a few of the systems actually blowing up from the sudden surge. Luckily because Penny and the crew had been working diligently to understand the system of the ship they knew how to fix and repair the damaged parts.

"Ow! Damn it Lark that doesn't go there!"

"And I told you that bit goes over there! Are you trying to overload the system!?"

"No! are you!?"

…Okay maybe not everyone. luckily Pyrrha, Ruby and Velvet had a better understanding of the ship's internal systems. Mostly due to Pyrrha working in the engine room to atone while Ruby had studied the weapons systems inside and out. Velvet for her knowledge if creating complex weapons like her hard-light copier.

"Try that," Ruby asked as Pyrrha field with the controls. The main reactor of the ship still glowing as its green lines began to spread out to the ship to the weapons. Only to sink right back into the core as another disappointing shutdown noise echoed in the Main Battery.

"Damn it! Let's try circuit C-3 and A-1this time!" she called out from under the console as she fiddled with the wires a small spark zapped her finger as Penny's voices sounded

"Sensors: Online"

"Damnit! Not what we wanted! Come on! We have to hurry! They can't last much longer outside! Penny, what's the status on the weapons systems!?" Pyrrha asked as a distorted version of Penny appeared to her.

"W-Weapons functional, but power is not r-reaching the turrets. T-There may be a b-break somewhere else." She managed to say between distortions as Pyrrha nodded.

"Got it, Lark! Russel! See if you can find the break in the power! Velvet! Help me run another diagnostic! Maybe we're missing something!" she ordered the crew as they nodded.

What none of them had realised at the time was Tyrian was sneaking inside the vessel. He managed to pry the doors open during the chaos and slip inside while Hazel fought against the Assault team. A mad grin on his face as he made his way to the engine room. His priority was to further disable the ship and render them helpless. His grin widened when he found out that all of his targets were in the engineering deck.

Reaching the elevator, he took a strange sense of joy as he thought about killing all the little kiddies pretending to be warriors. To carve them up and leave them for dead while dragging away a broken 'hero' in order to please his queen. It made him…ecstatic.

Penny suddenly perked as she spun towards the elevator. "Guys! We got trouble! Internal Sensors just picked up an intruder! His heading here!" she called out as they all turned to the elevator.

The elevator door opened as Tyrian grinned at the startled looks on their faces. A terrifying glint ever-present in his eyes as he looked upon the determined glare of Pyrrha and Ruby. The freighted face of Velvet and the absolute scared shitless faces of Lark and Russell.

Pyrrha and Velvet instantly cursed as they left her weapons in the armoury, while Ruby deployed Crescent Rose – never allowing the weapon to leave her side. "Who are you?!" Ruby demanded as Tyrian grinned.

"Who I am doesn't matter. What does matter is that I fulfil my Goddesses' wish and acquire the Remnant Knight for a grand audience…although, you do interest me as well, little Rose." He spoke as Ruby looked scared and confused at the man. While Pyrrha was instantly afraid when he mentions the Remnant Knight,

"What do you want with Jaune!?" she asked as the man shrugged his shoulders.

"It doesn't really matter, so long as I get to splatter the walls with your blood…" he deployed his weapon and snickered. "I'm more than happy."

They all nervously took a step back as a mad grin stretches across his face. Pyrrha forces her semblance outward as she grabs a large wrench off the floor and holds it like a weapon. Velvet doing the same as she grabs a spare pole and arms herself.

And with a mad cackle, he lunges at the group. His moves faster than they could predict as he appeared behind the three girls and prepared to strike down Ruby. But Pyrrha managed to snap to her senses and just manage to use her semblance to throw his gauntlet off course.

Ruby managed to dodge thanks to that as she swung the large scythe. But the man merely jumped over the attack and kicked the side of her head, sending her flying away from the group.

Velvet swung her pipe at the man, who only grinned as he evaded each strike and delved a kick to her chest, send her stumbling back. Pyrrha charged at the man as she used her semblance to pry a sheet of metal off the wall used it as a shield to knock the man.

The man merely latched himself onto the makeshift shield and laughed manically into the frightened redheads face while aiming his weapon at her face. But Ruby managed to fire several shots from her rifle as he jumped away from them. "Pyrrha! You all right?!" the Spartan nodded as she got back up while Velvet tried to fight him off.

"Lark Russell, get the ship back online right now! We'll hold this guy off!" Ruby ordered as the two boys – who had been cowering since his arrival – nodded as they scrambled to get the ship running again.

Tyrian grinned as he stood before the assembled teens. "You three are fun! I'm going to really enjoy carving you up!" he dashed towards the teens, as they battled left and right.

Ruby attempted to cleave the man in half, only for him to avoid the scythe and land a blow to her chin. Pyrrha swung the wrench with the increased speed with her semblance. But Tyrian dodged the attack and locked her makeshift weapon with his gauntlet. Ruby took the chance to attack from his right, only for him to block as well. The three were caught in a deadlock as they struggled to push away. But this gave Velvet the opportunity to attack as she swung the metal pipe at the insane man.

Instead of meeting flesh, however, she was met with a hard-shell-like surface as eyes widened at a long scorpion-like tail.

'He's a…Faunus!' all three of them thought as the man grinned. And with one push blew all the teens away as they slammed against the walls. They groaned in pain as they slowly stood back up while Tyrian just cackled at them. His scorpion tail scratching on the ground as he grinned at the teens.

"Penny! Anyone! Answer me!" Jaune's voice suddenly filled the radio as Pyrrha answered.

"Kind of-Gah! Busy here Jaune!" she replied just as the man laughed insanely followed by several shots from his gauntlets.

"Pay attention kiddies!" he laughed as he fired at them. "One wrong move and you could lose your heads! HAHAHAHAHA!" Pyrrha jumping and moving her armour with her semblance to avoid the shots. Ruby using her semblance and Velvet's natural athleticism.

While this was happening, Russell and Lark were hiding behind the machinery as they desperately tried to get the weapons back online. But they were struggling as they had no idea how to get it online.

"Oh, man! Oh, man! What are we going to do?!" Russell panicked.

"I don't know?! But What got to do something!" Lark replied as a stray shot bounced off the machines. "Shit!"

Meanwhile, up in the cockpit, Sky could only watch from the monitors as both teams were being thrashed by the assailants. "Oh man! Isn't there anything we can do?!" he asked as a hologram of Penny appeared before him.

"Negative, without access to my probes or the turrets, my options are limited." The boy cursed before grunting in pain.

"Well isn't there something!? I mean you're like a supercomputer, aren't you? Can't you do anything with your semblance?"

"Negative, my semblance is Technokinesis, not Polarity Control. My options are limited…" she paused at the thought of something. "But I think I might have an idea. Mister Sky, please upload this code to your scroll and meet me in the armoury. There is something we can do…but I'm going to need your help," he stared before nodding and grabbing his scroll and making his way to the armoury.

Outside the teens were getting tired as the large man refused to fall no matter how many times they hit him. It was like trying to knock over a large unfeeling monster! But they refused to relent as they continued to fight on, regardless of the odds against them.

"Take this!" Nora yelled while swinging her hammer. But he merely grabbed her by the head and slammed her into the ground, lightning surge as she screamed.

"Nora!" Jaune yelled but stopped when she grabbed his wrist and absorbed the electricity, much to the man's surprise.

"RAGH!" she yelled before throwing the man with her enhanced strength into a desolate building.

"…oh yeah, I forgot her semblance was being able to absorb electricity." He commented before she fell to her knees.

"Seriously! I'm getting sick and tired of this guy! Why won't he stay down?!" she yelled as everyone was tired and exhausted.

"You're telling me! No matter what we throw at him he just ignores it!" Cardin agreed while cradling his bruised ribs alongside Yatsu as blood leaked down his temple. Ren and Coco were fairing no better as extended battles were not their forte.

"We have to end this quickly. The longer we waste here, the more time the intruder has to kill our friends." Ren said while Coco chuckled humourlessly.

"Yeah, well tell it to big and broody over there. Cause I highly doubt he's just going to give up." Coco said while Jaune cursed as he looked between his friends and the large man that stood in their way.

The more they fought against the man, the more tired they became. Whomever this guy was, was seriously powerful. He was knocking them around like they were nothing to him. Not only that but he worked for however Cinder took orders from. Which mean that the other one that was attacking his friends in the ship was just as strong as him.

He cursed as he wished he had more control over his semblance. If he had the armour he would stand a better chance against this guy. But that was a no-go, as the more they fought the more he couldn't concentrate and summon the armour. He looked at all his friends as each and every one of them was beaten and hurt. He doubted they could last much longer. Especially as he saw the man rise up again.

Which meant that there was only one thing left to do.

"Guys…" they all turned to him. "I'm-!"

"Stop!" he turned to Ren as a furious look was on his face.

"I know what you're thinking and no, you're not giving yourself up to him. We're not going to resort to that. There's no guarantee that he would fulfil his end of the bargain even if he did. What's more, that other guy may just come after us once you did. We're not going to give up just because it looks bad. You didn't against Cinder, and we are not going to do it now." He said with solemn conviction as he stared at his brother in awe.

"He's right, besides," Nora spoke this team as she leaned on her hammer. "We're team JNPRRCFVYCRDL, we never leave our friends behind. Have a little more faith, fearless leader." She smiled as everyone nodded.

"I thought we weren't calling ourselves that?"

Jaune looked around as the rest of them looked back at him with a determined glare. He smiled softly as he realised they were right. There was no guarantee that this guy would keep his promise and just kill his friends anyway. They had to just keep on fighting, no matter how hard it may seem.

He smiled as he nodded to his friends. "Thanks, guys…" he turned back and glared as he raised his sword and shield.

Hazel only sighed as he shook his head. "I don't wish to harm you…but for her sake," he drew out fire dust crystals and jammed them into his arms. "But you leave me no choice." He grunted and gasped before the fire began to surge in his veins before roaring.

Tyrian grinned as he stood over the fallen form of Ruby Rose, his tail clicking as he poised himself to strike. Pyrrha struggling to stand back up while Velvet lay unconscious on the floor.

A dark shadow flying through the small town as it shifted and transformed into a human man.

Hazel pummelling and throwing the teens around as lighting and fire surged from his fists.

A desperate boy limping out of the elevator as he places his scroll in a console. A series of lights and codes flash across the screen before a white object began to move. Heavy fists struck against white steel as the Arc desperately struggled to hold back the imposing force. A Stinger raised high as Ruby glared with furious intent. While the Assassin grinned.

Fists flew forward.

Stinger stuck fast…

But just before they could strike both men were respectively stopped as one was halted by striking a massive blade. While the other was grabbed by the tail with a robotic arm. Eyes went wide as Jaune stared at the back of a black and red cloak with the image of a tall man with short black hair. While Ruby stared at a large glowing green visor, as a metallic body shimmered in the flickering lights.

"Geez you kids…" a gruff voice spoke as playful red eyes looked into angry hazel eyes. "Do you know how hard it is to keep up with you on foot?"

"Qrow…" Hazel growled as he glared at the man.

Tyrian sneered as he looked at the metallic droid of the now recalled Atlesian droid before it pulled at his tail and swung him away and into a wall. He looked at the droid turned around and stood in front of Ruby, clear in its resolve to protect her.

"Fear not Ruby…" a familiar voice spoke from the machine as a holographic face appeared on the screen. "I am combat ready!"

And Scene. Well here is the long, long, long-awaited Chapter XIV of The Remnant Knight. Sorry for the wait, I have been dealing with a whole lot of shit recently and I had to focus on handing in resumes and assignments that I just got stumped. But now that I am on break at the moment I have more time to write! Yay! If not already apparent with Enduring Hero: Deku.

I was planning on bringing the Nuckelavee in the chapter but that seemed a bit much, maybe in the next chapter? But yeah, Penny has a new body – temporarily – and this time they had to face not one, but two of Salem's goons. Hazel and Tyrian, oh boy.

Will our heroes make it out alive? Will Team RWBY fin their way again? Will I ever stop writing these fics? The answer to all these will be revealed…right now. Yes, Obviously and if I'm still motivated.

Jokes aside, stay tuned for the next exciting instalment in Chapter XV: Crows, Scorpions and Knights