Here's the latest chapter for Remnant of Flames, time for another round with Kuro along with introducing a new group into the conflict against the White Fang. So yeah, things are going get a bit more intense for Ragna and Adrian going forward.

Chapter 18: Kuro Strikes

Beacon Academy

A week following Ragna's first training class, things were returning to normal. However, Ozpin had told him that while his methods were a little more harsh then he would have expected, it did help the other students to learn a few lessons. So he gave him the okay to have such a class be once every week, with provisions for having more each week depending on how the students improve.

Thus, the two Edenians were able to have the class again and it had ended an hour ago. The students still complained from the fact Ragna had them run further and added more obstacles to the course. Of course, the two knew that eventually that it would pay dividends so the students would have to bear with it.

Ragna and Adrian had been on standby yet again as they wanted for word from Ozpin to get going. Ragna had been waiting for any responsive texts from Ozpin as Adrian was looking up articles for any current White Fang activity.

"Man still nothing." Ragna said as Ozpin got back to him saying there wasn't any missions available.

"Ragna, look at this." Adrian said as he showed Ragna the article he found.

"White Fang bombs and attacks SDC cargo ship, casualties estimated to be 100 including over 4 dozen civilians. Several killed PMC soldiers have identified with several deep claw marks on them. Possible killer Grimm in use by the Fang?"

"Damn it." Ragna said as he looked at the number of casualties in the article. "The White Fang have been getting more bold nowadays. We have doing some damage, but not as much as before."

"Plus, those deep claw marks being stated in the article must have been from Kuro." Adrian stated. "She's been more active in her missions outside of trying to find us."

"Ozpin has been sending us on whatever missions he can get together, but we need to find some way of hitting at the Fang hard now." Ragna said as he tapped his foot impatiently. "We need to knock them down and get the momentum back to us."

The Krieger nodded at that. As they haven't had that many missions nowadays, he has been adding new weapons into his arsenal for better tackling different threats. These included heavy anti-tank weapons such as rocket launchers in order to tackle stronger Grimm and to better deal with enemy vehicles.

"Hey what's up?"

The two otherworlders saw Mathias walk toward them with his hands in his pockets.

"Hey Mathias." Ragna said with a wave, clearly showing his troubled state.

"I guess you guys saw the article about the WF attack." Mathias said with a frown on his face.

"No kidding." Ragna said while crossing his arms. "Kuro has been making more attacks on people and its seriously getting me pissed off. I want to get better out there and knock her and the Fang off her damn high horse."

"I'm well aware, that bitch has been a serious thorn in the side of Anti-WF actions." Mathias said. "Wasn't surprised that you said you clashed with her and managed to have it end as a stalemate."

"Trust me, that Semblance of her's was a serious pain in the neck." Ragna said while rubbing the back of his head. "I might have a better chance now since I've done a bit of training with my senses though."

"Ozpin has been looking for more objectives for us to tackle, but it seems like we've hit a wall as other Anti-WF groups have been taking most of them away." Adrian stated.

"Actually, I may have a way for you guys to take more missions." Mathias said after he thought it over.

"Really?" Ragna said with a bit of surprise on his face.

"I actually know one of the best informants who supplies information for Anti-WF operations and can get to places where even Ozpin has difficulty looking around for." Mathias stated. "I actually go to them if he can't find anything."

Both otherworlders smiled at this as they now had the chance to cause more damage to the White Fang.

"So does Ozpin know about this informant of yours?" Adrian questioned.

Mathis frowned a little at that and looked away. "It's best if she tells you, though that will be a while before you get the full story."

The two Edenians felt like they could be stepping into some sort of dark past with this. However, they need to do this if they were going to do some more damage to the Fang.

"Alright, what time do you want to meet then?" Ragna questioned.

"Meet me in Vale around 9 later today." Mathias said. "Meet me at the Cavalry Soldier's statue in downtown and I'll take you guys there."

"Understood." Ragna said as he thought about what he could do in the meantime. "I might be running a little late since I have to do some extra training here at Beacon and tell the others that I'll be busy this weekend."

Later at Beacon...

*BOOM*

"OW!"

Ragna's back was on the ground as he faced the ceiling directly.

"Dammit, so close this time!" Ragna shouted in the arena. Thankfully, Ms. Goodwitch allowed him the chance to train alone and have the building all to himself. He was trying his usual training of forming a weapon via his Blue Flame and had nearly completed it. "If I only it could have lasted a bit longer I would have had a ready to go weapon!"

"True," Lupa stated as she had been watching the whole time. "but you would also have to see how long it lasts in your hands and if it can cleanly cut through anything."

"I know." Ragna said as he sat up and crossing his legs. "Still I wonder why I'm having this much trouble with this power. I've been able to do so back when I was using the Azure Flame, so why is this being such a pain.

"It's due to the fact that the Flames surrounding your hands and feet are more built up in those areas, adding to the power of your strikes." Lupa stated. "Its not that hard to use your Flame like that but in this case you need to make a solid construct that can be held in your hands whether being made of fire or energy. Once you are able to create weapons more easily, you will be able to switch on during battle. Plus with the Azure Flame, your control is far better in addition to increasing your abilities. Thus you need to have more control with your Blue Flame in order to accomplish it."

Ragna groaned at that. "Right, we'll stop for today."

Ragna's scroll then vibrated as he opened it up to see he had a new text.

Hey Ragna, we're going to have a game night later today. You want to bring Mathias and Adrian? -Ruby

Ragna chuckled at that. He then typed in a response to Ruby's text. Maybe tomorrow, me and Adrian are going to hang out with Mathias downtown.

A few seconds later he got a reply.

Okay. I was thinking for tomorrow that we could watch movies. Try and come then ;) - Ruby

Alright you got it. Ragna responded back.

Ragna then got out of his messages and then saw the time on the display.

"Ah hell! It's almost 9!" Ragna said as he facepalmed. "I really let time slip by this time."

"It isn't your fault, you've been poring more time into getting it correct." Lupa said.

"Couldn't you have told me to stop?" Ragna said with an annoyed look on his face.

"You looking so focused that if I interrupted you, your creation would have blown up earlier." Lupa stated.

"Great, and I'll have to look around to see if there are any Bullheads running at this time." Ragna said as he sighed heavily. "If not, that means I'll have to leg it to downtown now if I have any chance to get there."

"Think of it like this little one." Lupa said after thinking it over. "You could see about running while in your Blue Flame state."

"Okay, let's go." Ragna said as he pushed off his right leg and dashed forward at high speed out of the arena to check if any Bullheads were available. If not, then he would push himself to see how fast he could get to Vale with his Blue Flame.

25 minutes later in Vale...

Mathias had been waiting for nearly 20 minutes since the time he had originally set up. Adrian had shown up on time but Ragna wasn't with him. The two were largely killing time with looking up articles about the White Fang.

They were hanging out in front of a statue showing a Valeian soldier that fought in the Valeian-Atlasian War riding on the back of a horse, raising his saber to the sky. This was a memorial to the 1st Valean Cavalry, who were able to delay an Atlaslian force during the Vale-Atlas War.

"Hey Adrian, where the hell is the guy?" He questioned the Krieger. "I get that he said he'd be busy with training but why isn't he here yet?"

"Ragna texted me a little bit ago and said he didn't find any available Bullheads at the school. So he'll be legging it here." Adrian said as he looked through his Scroll on different weapons that were being sold to Huntsmen. "He also said he wanted to get some exercise on top of this."

Before Mathias could question it, Ragna then slid past the statue, only his breathing being a bit heavier.

"Sorry about the wait, have to admit running from Beacon to here is a bit longer then expected." Ragna said as he took a quick sip from his water bottle.

"YOU ACTUALLY RAN ALL THE WAY HERE!?" Mathias said loudly. "You could have taken a taxi if you couldn't find a Bullhead! There are a few taxi stops on the road to Beacon."

"Apologies for that." The Hybrid chuckled. "Guess I felt like running here would be helpful exercise."

Mathias sighed at that as he shook his head. "Anyway, how did you get here at this time? It should have taken you much longer if you running here and you should be more tried from the distance alone."

Ragna smirked at that. "Let's just say I still have a few more secrets under my sleeve."

"Sure. Anyway follow me and stay close." Mathias said while rolling his eyes as they walked away from the statue.

The trio walked to one of the seeder areas of the city, far into its downtown. The three kept their heads on a swivel as they didn't want to deal with any gangs looking to get into a fight with them for any number of reasons (mainly idiotic).

"So, who's this friend of yours?" Ragna questioned.

"She happens to be a long time friend of mine who also hates the White Fang with a passion." Mathias said as they kept walking.

"What's her name?" Adrian said.

"Her name's Eris." Mathias said. "A Fox Faunus... One of the more odd ones. A subspecies that has both tails and ears."

"You can have both of those features?" Adrian said with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah I know its weird considering that you guys have only seen the usual kind of Faunus but they exist." Mathias stated.

They soon made their way to what looked like a shady, secret bar based on the metal door. There was a man leaning against a lamppost while smoking, but his eyes were scanning the area. When the men saw the trio approach, he stood up straight and almost went to his hidden gun but then saw a familiar face.

"Mathias." The man nodded to the Fox Faunus. "I see you have some new blood with you."

"Hey Mark." Mathias waved to the man. "Is you know who home?"

"Yeah she's been working on serving some of the others inside." Mark stated with a shrug. He then took a closer look at Ragna and Adrian and noticed their eyes were different then other individuals around their age. "Now I notice it, these kids seem they've seen some shit."

"Actually they've been fighting the Fang for a while as well." Mathias said with a smirk on his face.

Mark raised an eyebrow at that statement and looked at the two students again. There was no deception in their eyes or any sense of cockiness from the two. They had the look of professionals in mind and body.

"Alright then, she is home if you are curious." Mark said as he stood aside for them and sent a quick text to the guy behind the door to open it. "Go on in."

"Thanks." Mathias said as the three walked up to the door. He then put his hand on the handle and pulled the door open.

Inside was a large bar, filled with people who were having conversations, some being wasted from drinking, and others were playing pool or darts. The place was very active and lively, and the people working here were keeping things in order if anyone went overboard.

At the main bar counter as a young female Faunus. She had long white hair and fox ears on her head, golden eyes, and porcelain skin. She had a simple white T-shirt and jeans as she cleaned a glass.

She looked up and saw who it was that just entered. "Would you look who's here..." She said while grinning.

"Hey Ginkgo!" Matt said as he walked over to the counter. He then whispered to her ear. "Switched names again I see."

"Always helps to keep the Fangers off my track..." She whispered back before tilting her head to the two Edenians. "What's with the humans?"

"Friends of mine from Beacon." Mathias said. "Guy with the heterochromatic hair and eyes is Ragna Blaze and the guy looking over your patrons is Adrian Marasati. Both are good fighters and hate both racists and Fangers."

Eris smiled at that. "I see you vouch for them quite a bit. Hope they can walk the walk."

"Aye." Mathias said before turning to the two otherworlders. "Guys get over here."

Ragna and Adrian walked up to the counter. "Hey." The hybrid said while outreaching his hand. "I take it your Mathias's contact?"

The Fox Faunus nodded while shaking his hand. "Eris Lilac. I guess you boys are looking for work?"

"So we've heard." Adrian said while crossing his arms. "We believe that you might have what we are looking for in terms of dealing with a certain group of pests pretending to be monsters."

Eris raised an eyebrow at that. She was a bit interested in what the young man had said.

Ragna spoke to the Anti-WF fighter. "That's what we like to call the White Fang since they're pretending to be as bad as the Grimm, but are just dumbasses pretending to be intimidating. And to us, they're not even close to making us fear them."

"I admit that's not a common thing to say about the Fang." Eris mentioned. "At least didn't hear it while I was working with them back in Mistral."

Both Edenians raised their eyebrows at that. "You're a former member Ms. Lilac?"

"It's fine." Ragna said. "So anyway, my friend and I were wondering if you had any missions for us. "We haven't gotten any from old man Oz so we're a bit stuck."

Eris's eyes narrowed at the mention of the Headmaster of Beacon. "Oh, him..." She said with a tone laced with poison.

"I take it you and him have some kind of past?" Ragna said while crossing his arms.

"Let's just say me and Ozpin aren't on best terms right now." Eris said with a dark look on her face.

Ragna and Adrian both traded glances and nodded. They could speak with her about her past with Ozpin when the time was right.

"Anyways, I may have something for you boys." Eris said as she turned to one of her employees. "Elisse, take the counter! I got some business to deal with!"

"Aye Ma'am!" The employee said.

Eris motioned to one of her barmaids to take over her shift as she unlocked a door next to her. She ushered the boys inside as they saw a long hallway. At the end was another door which opened into a sizable room.

It was simple in layout with boards filled with maps, images of various WF officers, and pegs connected with different colored strings which connected to other pegs. There was a table which had multiple maps with circles around certain targets, arrows which displayed movements for offensives and statements for future missions. There were also computers, radios, and other communication equipment.

Both Edenians nodded at how the place looked to be an effective command center.

"Not half bad." Adrian stated. "You seem to be leading a considerable operation."

She then opened up another door and showed the boys inside. It was a rather sizable armory with different weapons inside of it. There were also lockers for certain agents with different combination locks on them. There were a number of weapon racks and different grenade sets and warheads made of different Dust types.

Ragna whistled at the sight. "Man you guys are pretty well armed. Got any personal weapons we should now about?"

Eris smiled at that as walked over to her locker and opened it up, showing the boys her personal weapons. She pulled out a gray colored automatic firearm. It looked more smooth then the somewhat blocky weapons they recalled reading about from sites about Atlas's military.

"Say hello to the Schnee Dust Company-patented SDC-73 Automatic Carbine." Eris said with a grin. "She's my personal favorite. Employed by the SDC Private Military Contractor Group Icepick, those that defend SDC Mines and events from Terrorist and Grimm alike."

She then cocked the weapon and looked down the scope. "7.62x40mm Dust Ammo, 2.5x Magnification scope for Short-Medium engagements, very mod-friendly and lightweight... But it lacks the ammo necessary to be an effective automatic weapon. 15 rounds in the Magazine, so many people prefer to fire it on Semi-Automatic."

"I will admit you have quite the arsenal back here." Adrian said as he looked over the weapons. "You even have rocket launchers and mortars?"

"Our suppliers help out with getting weapons on par with the best that Atlas could make and improve them even further." Eris said with a smile. "We also make our own mods for them as well."

Adrian said as he picked up the mortar and got a feeling for it. "It's lighter then I thought." He said. "We have mortars that can be used by one person back were me and Ragna come from but this is pretty impressive."

"That's a new M100 Mortar from Atlas if you are curious." Eris said. "It uses both dumb and guided 81mm rounds, the latter including laser and radar guided munitions. If you want something light but can provide a good amount of firepower, that's a good go to."

Adrian thought about it for a few seconds. "Mind if I take this on the next mission? This could help out in dealing with enemy infantry."

"Sure. You can anything you guys want in order to help out with the mission." Eris said with a shrug.

"Speaking off which, here's the targets I have for you boys." She continued as she picked up Scroll Tablets and handed them to the boys.

She pointed to an abandoned port north of the city. "This place happens to be where the Fangers are sneaking in shipments of ammo and weapons for their use. Ragna and Adrian, you guys are to blow the place sky high and kill any Fangers that are there."

She then highlighted Mathias's target. Matt, your job is hunting down a White Fang Commander and her entourage. However, you might be able to bring her and her friends to our cause. Her name is Kira Ferris, my former commander in White Fang and and a good friend. She and I always had similar ideals, but I'm guessing she was somehow forced into keeping her loyalties to the Fang."

"So I go in, talk to her, and if she refuses, kill her?" Mathias said simply.

The Fox Faunus shrugged at that. "Pretty much."

Mathias grinned at that and gave her a thumbs up." You got it Ginkgo.

"Anything we should know about our target?" Adrian mentioned.

"Standard WF complement plus a handful of old Atlesian Security Mechs, old, degraded models." Eris stated. "Their targeting systems are somewhat shabby, but they are still good in Melee."

Eris then tapped her lip. "Then again, SHE might be there..."

Ragna raised an eyebrow at that. "I take it you know who we could be dealing with?" He had a good idea as to who she was talking about, but he wanted to learn more about that particular bitch.

"Kuro Monogatari, the biggest freak I've had the displeasure of meeting." Eris said with a frown on her face. "Literally translates to the Black Fairy Tale... She's a Fox Faunus like Matt here , but has two animal features like myself. She has jet-black hair and yellowish-amber eyes."

"Just like Blake." Ragna thought. "What about skills and weapons?" He said to Eris.

"Claws." Eris stated. "She literally tears people apart up-close-and-personal using her claws, which she's sharpened into dagger-like pieces... Of course, her hands are prosthetic limbs covered by fake skin... She lost both arms in a skirmish with someone we've come to call the Red Eye. Kuro has some... Impressive close-quarters skills and an Aura that can withstand whittling hits from artillery and Machineguns, all at once. Her Semblance is... Somewhat uncanny. When she uses it, it acts like a blindness poison, effectively making anyone and everyone around her, including her allies and HERSELF blind... She can bypass this thanks to her enhanced senses. Cunning little Fox, this girl."

Ragna nodded to that. It matched what he had experienced in his fight with her.

"From what I heard though, the Fang Hunter was able to fight her to a draw." Eris said as she recalled some info she had picked up. "I'll say this much, the Hunter has picked a tough opponent to go up against."

"Well, thanks for the info but I think we maybe ready for her if she chooses to come out of her shadows." Ragna said with a smile.

"Confident there are ya!" Eris said with a smirk.

Ragna looked to Mathias for a few seconds and nodded to him with a smile.

"Eris, Ragna is the Fang Hunter and Adrian is the Krieger whose been helping him against them." Mathias stated.

Eris's eyes widened at that. They had heard about the Fang Hunter for months now since his first appearance. They were impressed by the amount of work he put into dealing with the Fang and how much he was provoking them to try and knock them off their high horse.

The Anti-WF leader's mouth hung open. "You're..."

"Yeah, we were going to mention it eventually, but I guess this works." Ragna said with a nervous grin on his face.

Eris looked to Mathias, still having a shocked look on her face.

"Yep, he's the guy that's been nailing it to the White Fang for the past two months. Ozpin never told me it was him until Ragna told me himself several days ago." Mathias said with a grin on his face.

"But... if that's the case then why-?" Eris said confused.

"I wanted to have an outside opinion." Ragna stated. "Plus, if there was anything we were missing from when I encountered her that day. That Semblance of her's is a real annoyance, but now that I know its there I maybe able to handle it more effectively."

Eris then closed her open mouth and coughed into her hand, wanting to get back to business. "Well at the very least, I'm glad we have more help around here. So anyway, want to know anything else?"

"What about the figure you called Red Eye?" Adrian questioned.

"That one we know little about." Eris said with a shrug. "She comes and goes as she pleases and her commonplace thing to show up is... Well, some red portals that look like eyes."

Both Edenians looked at each other, knowing they would have to talk to Ozpin if he knows who that figure is.

Ragna then spoke up. "Okay then, so I'll hit the warehouse, deal with Kuro if she's there, and if I finish early, I'll head over to help Mathias with Kira."

"That's the plan." Eris nodded. "Matt keep in touch with me. I'm hoping you are able to get Kira on our side. Do your best."

"You got it Ginkgo!" Matt said while giving her a thumbs up.

"There is one more thing I wanted to ask you Eris." Ragna said as he brought up a certain list he had made before.

"What's up?" Eris said while tilting her head.

"You see, I'm currently looking for someone and I haven't found her yet." Ragna said with a worried tone.

"So who is she?" Eris questioned.

"Her name is Selvaria Bles." Ragna said as he brought up the same list of descriptions she showed Weiss. "I've been looking around for her for a few months and while Ozpin has been helping, I think it wouldn't hurt to have a few more people searching around."

Eris looked over the list he had given her and mentally kept it in her mind. "Alright, we're a bit strapped for manpower dealing with Anti-WF missions, but I'll see what I can do."

Ragna smiled at that. "Thanks." He said with a smile.

"Well, you guys know your missions. Get your gear and get to it boys!" Eris said while swing her arm forward.

"Yes ma'am!" Ragna, Mathias, and Adrian said with smiles on their faces.

A Few Minutes Later...

All three young man stepped out of the bar and walked into the street.

Ragna and Adrian had taken a few weapons from the stockpile Eris's forces had gathered with them on their backs.

"You guys all good?" Mathias stated to the two Edenians.

"Yep, compared to what we've carried in the past it shouldn't be that hard to move around." Ragna said with a smile.

"Well, I guess I'll be seeing you guys soon enough." Mathias stated. "If I manage to to get Ferris on our side, we'll be sure to join you guys at your target soon enough with a few Bullhead gunships."

"Thanks, it would be a huge help if Kuro has some kind of trap for us or she has even more forces then expected." Ragna said with a smile.

"Hey, maybe tomorrow could I see your weapons from your world?" Mathias stated with a smirk on his face.

"Sure thing man." Ragna said with a smile of his own. He then turned to Adrian and spoke, "Well we?"

"Let's. We have the location for the Bullhead we're taking to get there." Adrian nodded as they ran off to find the Bullhead that would take them to their location.

Mathias smiled at the two dimension travelers running off as he took off as well. He then jumped up to a fire escape and boosted up with the gear he had with him, making him move faster then expected.

60 miles north of Vale

The large dockyards had dozens of White Fang soldiers set up along with a few Bullheads flying around to deliver more soldiers and Atlesian drones. They were the older AK-130 drones with their SMG hands as they moved around the area, scanners helping to try and find any possible intruders.

Ragna and Adrian were overlooking the docks as they looked for a way inside the place. While they could see that the number of forces they had matched what Eris stated, they wanted to make sure they were ready."

Adrian had brought with him a mortar to use to provide heavy fire support with laser guided shells. Ragna had a laser system on his weapons that would allow him to mark targets for Adrian to send shells toward.

Ragna carried his M110A1 and a regular version of Eris's carbine. While he was mainly a sniper, he figured that having some more options will allow him to deal with the enemy. He double checked the weapon and made sure all of the components were working and put in a fresh magazine into the weapon.

"You think you'll be alright with a weapon like that?" Adrian spoke.

"I'll pick it up as I go." Ragna said. "We can look to serious training later once we get this party started."

"Alright, watch your back." Adrian said as he set up his mortar and pointed it toward the docks.

Ragna snuck to an area that wasn't as well defended as he got over the fence and barbed wire. He landed with a somersault to soften his sounds as he dashed into the dark shadows.

He turned on the night vision in his mask as he had his head on a swivel. He placed a suppressor on his M110A1 rifle and put in a AP magazine. He knew that the AK-130s would be the ones that could reveal him the easiest.

Adrian then pulled out his new RPG (think a black colored RPG-7) and fired a warhead at the wing of one of the flying Bullheads. He then fired off the rocket as it flew straight and true toward the flying craft. The rocket impacted the wing, making the aircraft fly down toward the docks.

"Incoming!" One of the Grunts yelled out as they began to scatter.

Ragna then fired an explosive Dust round into a Dust Fuel Barrel and set off an explosion which threw the soldiers around. He then picked off a couple of the enemy grunts with bodyshots to drain their Aura and finishing them with headshots.

"Dammit, who's attacking us!?" Another of the Grunts yelled out as they looked around the area to see who was attacking them.

Ragna then quickly targeted and took out three AK-200s with headshots. He then tossed a pair of grenades toward a few WF grunts and were either killed or lost their Aura. He then took out more AK-200 drones and then dashed toward another drone as it fired at him. However, Ragna was able to grab its weapon arm and pointed it at a few grunts and weaken some of their Auras.

"It's the Fang Hunter! Waste him!" One of grunts yelled as they opened fire on Ragna. He sent an Aura blade beam toward a group of grunts and knocked them down and weakened their Aura before tossing a couple of grenades at the downed soldiers. The grenades went off, covering the soldiers in ice as Ragna then opened fire with his pistols upon a pair of MG users and took them out with enough Wind Dust rounds.

He then pulled out his M110A1 and turned on the laser designator on his rifle, pointing it to an area that had a sizable group of enemy troopers.

Adrian saw the laser and adjusted his mortar, aiming at where the laser was and sent an HE shell downrange. The guidance system in the shell flew toward where the laser was aimed at and landed in the middle of the enemy force. This caused a few deaths and knocked out the rest of them.

"How the hell did they get a mortar set up!?" One of the Grunts yelled out before Ragna took them down with a headshot.

Ragna then marked another area for Adrian to send a mortar shell down to. A few seconds later, a shells was screaming into the battlefield and blew up several more WF grunts. Ragna then aimed down his M110A1 and fired off the magazine quickly and took down a number of enemy fighters. He then tossed a grenade into a trio of soldiers and knocked them down.

He then pulled out his duel pistols and quickly let off a number of HE rounds into them and a few more soldiers. He slid under another melee attacker as he slammed his elbow into their right side after pivoting. He then quickly fired two rounds into the enemy's head to knock him out. He the grabbed the WF grunt and tossed him into another grunt before switching his pistols into knives as he parried, slashed, and stabbed any grunts that got close to him.

He was able to take out eight of them by himself and then switched his weapons back to pistols and opened fire down a few more enemy Fangers using HE rounds to deplete their Aura more quickly and also adding in few kicks in the mix take them down.

More Grunts come out from behind cover as Adrian loosed a couple more rockets at their cover, taking down a few more of the White Fang. A few were getting desperate and so charged at the Fang Hunter, hoping to finally kill him.

Ragna then drew out Beowolf and quickly cut through the rifle of the closest Grunt. He then followed that up with a strong haymaker to his face. Ragna then slammed the pommel of his sword into the gut of another enemy soldier. He then parried another enemy's blade and then slammed his fist into their gut and then followed up with a hard palm strike to their chin.

He then sent out an Aura blade beam toward a machine gun crew and blasting them away. He then quickly dashed to the side avoid even more bullets. He then aimed down his M110A1 and nailed a few more AK-200s with quick shots as he moved around.

He then out away his rifle and pulled out both of his pistols and took down a few more enemy grunts with HE rounds and quickly brought down their Auras before switching both to knife forms and slashing through their body armor along with parrying any incoming melee attacks.

He quickly kicked one of the grunts in the side and followed up with a pistol whip to the next one while pivoting.

Ragna then pulled out his rifle and laced another area for Adrian to send a shell down to. A few seconds later an HE shell blasted the area and either killed or knocked out the rest of them.

Adrian then saw that there were WF grunts and AK-200s headed to his position. He had to quickly adjust his mortar to fire upon the enemy force with another HE shell and knocked down a good amount of grunts a killed a few. He then fired off another shell quickly and landed it among the AK-200s, lessening the amount firepower they sent to him.

He then pulled out his RPG as he ran to the side and sent another rocket into the incoming group of drones and blasted apart a good amount of them. he then had to move around the incoming shots as he reloaded and fired another rocket toward the grunts and killed a few more of them and weakened the Auras of the remaining troopers.

He then switched to his HCAR and fired single shots against them before launching a 40mm grenade at a trio of grunts that were behind cover, taking it out and knocking them away. He then quickly switched his gun to full auto and fired several bursts at the AK-200s, using AP rounds to punch through their metal bodies.

A few grunts crossed the distance and charged him with melee weapons. Adrian put down his RPG and drew out his sabers. He switched on the Electric Dust in them as he dashed forward.

He easily moved to the side to evade a spear thrust from the first goon and then slashed his neck, the Electric Dust allowing him to weaken them before slamming a spiked grenade into their body armor on their vest. The explosive went off and knocked a few of them down with the first one being drained off most of his Aura. He then stabbed both sabers down on two of the downed Grunts and shocked them into unconsciousness. He then followed up with more slashes and stabs against the WF Grunts all the while parrying any incoming strikes.

He then clashed with another enemy grunt that had a greatsword as he blocked by crossing his blades. He then pushed the blade to the side and then headbutted the grunt before he followed up with a few slashes. He then quickly pulled out his shotgun and blasted down two more enemy grunts before using his bayonet to stab another grunt before he slammed the buttstock into their face. He then slam fired two rounds into the downed grunt before dodging thrust from a spear user. He then grabbed the barrel of the gun and swung it like a baseball bat to their head and knocked them down.

Eventually, the two Edenians ended up dealing with their remaining enemies. All robots were destroyed and grunts were knocked out or dead. Ragna then motioned to Adrian that he was moving toward the main warehouse to check things out. Adrian pulled out his Scroll and flashed Morse Code to the hybrid, acknowledging it and saying he'll keep watch over things out here. Ragna did the same thing back, stating he was going ahead.

'Now where are the main supplies?' Ragna thought to himself as kicked open the doors to the warehouse. He quickly scanned the area, switching to thermal vision in his mask in order to see if their was anyone inside.

'This is way too easy...' The hybrid though to himself with a bit of worry.

He had focused his senses in order to not get blindsided. He moved closer to one of the large shipping containers, which no doubt had stolen weapons or Dust that the Fang had been building up.

However, he heard a faint beeping sound as he got closer to it. It was a monotonous sound, but one that made him get more worried.

'That sound...' Ragna thought to himself. 'It couldn't be.'

Ragna quickly opened the shipping container and his eyes widened under his mask.

It was a large Fire Dust bomb with a timer, and it was several seconds away from detonating.

"SHIT!" Ragna yelled out as he ran out of the building. However, the bomb's timer ticked down before he was able to get out as it exploded and consumed the building.

Ragna was blown out of the warehouse and rolled on the ground as he tried to stop his momentum. He ended up slamming against another container, but quickly got on his knees as the warehouse was now on fire.

"Ragna, what the hell happened!?" Adrian said over their comms.

"Kuro left a damn bomb in the warehouse! She must have tried to blow us up if we got inside the place." Ragna said to his friend as he got up.

"So she set this up for us?" Adrian stated. "It felt a little too easy. We should have been more careful!"

"I know." Ragna said while sighing. He then felt his Scroll vibrate and look at it. He was getting an alert Mathias. "I'll speak with in a bit Adrian, Mathias is calling me. Keep an eye out for anything!" He then accepted the call and put it to his ear. "Mathias, what's up?"

"Ragna, good news we got Ferris on our side!" Mathias said over the Scroll. "I'm on the way reinforce you guys now! What the hell is happening over there!? Eris's eye-in-the-sky reported a large explosion! Did you hit something!?"

"Try Kuro leaving a bomb to blow me and Adrian sky high!" Ragna said to the Fox Faunus. "How far out are you guys?"

"20 minutes out, we'll try to get there sooner." Mathias said. "We're putting the peddle to the meddle so see about dealing with any more of her forces!"

"Make sure you're here ASAP, something tells me this isn't the one thing Kuro has up her sleeve." Ragna stated.

"Got it! You guys watch your backs!" Mathias said before ending the call.

Ragna was about to speak to Adrian again, but his senses warned him that something bad was coming. He looked to his right and saw missiles headed toward him. He jumped to the side as the first few missiles flew toward him, narrowly being hit by the blast waves. He then pulled out his pistols and fired upon the remaining incoming missiles and took them out.

The boxes that weren't damaged from the rockets and shells they sent down opened up as a few Spider Droids appeared. The large quad-legged drones opened fire with their laser guns as Ragna had to dash to the side. He had Beowolf out to deflect any bullet that came at him as he tossed an Electric Dust grenade grenade at the feet of one of the robots and disabled it completely.

Adrian aimed down his RPG in order to deal with the robots, but then had to roll to the side to avoid an incoming rocket. He looked to see a few more Spider Droids heading his way so he had to fire his rocket toward one of them. He blew it up and quickly pulled out his Vale Lake grenade launcher and fired off all three Electric Dust grenades at the Spider Droids, disabling nearly all of them and slowing the rest. This allowed him to use his HCAR to finish off the remaining robots.

Ragna unleashed another Aura blade beam toward another Spider Droid, blowing up as he put in a bit more Aura behind into it. He reloaded one of his pistols and used APHE rounds on the heads of two of them, taking down. He then dashed forward to deal with another group of incoming group of missiles. He easily sliced them apart as he avoid any that he couldn't. He then got right up one of the Spider Droids and slashed its head off with a strong swing.

He then tossed an Electric Dust grenade between two more, the resulting blast not completely shutting them down but slowing their movements. He then sheathed Beowolf and pulled out his other pistol and took down the two with APHE and HE Dust rounds.

He took the time to reload his pistols with new magazines with APHE Dust rounds as he saw a few more AK-130s moved out from another container along with more grunts appearing and both groups opening fire on him.

He fired back, taking down the drones with single shots to the head and took out a few of the grunts with focused shots. He then put away one of his pistols and pulled out a laser disignator and marked the group of grunts. Seconds later, he heard another mortar shell coming down and it exploded among the grunts, knocking out or killing more of them.

He then took out a couple more Spider Droids before he heard something land on one of the nearby containers to his right. He quickly turned his head and widened his eyes as he saw Kuro in a ready position for leaping.

"Time for payback hunter!" Kuro said as she leaped toward him and tossed smoke grenades to obscure his vision. She then used her Semblance turn the whole world black as Ragna was unable to see anything.

Ragna however, didn't panic this time and was able to narrowly avoid her first attack and landed an elbow strike to the back of her head.

Ragna smirked under his mask, he had been mentally preparing himself for when he clashed with her again.

Ragna avoided her attacks as he used his senses to their fullest to avoid them, but still felt a few cuts on him. He pulled out his pistols as he traded blows while also firing when possible. He heard another mortar shell fall upon the incoming enemies and keeping them back.

He then nailed her at the side of the head with a pistol whip and nailed her with three shots to the gut. Kuro however was able to recover and pulled out one of her SMGs and forced him back. She then tossed a grenade to blow him up and drain more of his Aura, but Ragna was able to shoot it out of the air and forced her back.

Then another mortar shell (this one a dumb shell) landed close to Kuro and her forces, sending them flying back and draining more of their Aura. Kuro quickly got up and spotted the location where the shells were coming from.

"Someone deal with his damn partner already!" Kuro said with anger in her voice.

A few of the grunts grabbed their weapons and rushed Adrian's position. A few of the remaining WF troopers there advanced upon Ragna with their weapons along with the last four Spider Bot emerging from the shadows.

"No, I want to make this special." Kuro said to Ragna with a bloodthirsty grin.

Kuro's body then began a transformation as her skin turned black along with her claws becoming even longer and sharper. Her face looked more demonic with the mask on as her grin was even wider as she felt the power inside of her.

Ragna however didn't take any steps forward. His eyes were as wide as dinner plates as he couldn't think for a few seconds

'I-I-It c-couldn't be!' The hybrid thought as flashbacks to what happened with Maximilian played in his mind. 'S-She can turn into a Grimmified state!?'

"Now, it's time for you to die." Kuro said, her voice altered by the change in her form.

She then dashed forward while Ragna was still taken aback by the change. Ragna's mind then snapped back to reality and barely avoided the claw slash that Kuro sent at him. However, he still ended up getting cut in the chest but he was able to send a quick kick to her chin.

Kuro however was able to recover and threw a side kick to his gut and sent him flying back. Ragna's breath was knocked out of him and rolled on the ground for a few seconds until he was able to get back up. He then avoided incoming fire from her SMGs.

'Focus!' Ragna thought to himself. 'I have to track her movements!'

Kuro smiled under her mask as she could see that the Hunter was put on the back end.

Ragna then parried her slash with Beowolf and quickly followed up with an Aura blade beam and was able to send her backwards. She was able to recover before Ragna dashed toward her with a strong thrust. She was able to avoid the attack and tried to slash off his head. Ragna however quickly reversed his grip on Beowolf and unleashed a spin attack to force her back.

He then pulled out a pistol and fired upon Kuro was forced dodge the incoming bullets. He then followed up with a strong kick to her chest that sent her back before switching his pistol into a knife and tried to cut her up more.

However, Kuro was able to easily avoid the attack and moved under his first slash and quickly lashed out at his side.

"Dammit!" Ragna said in anger as he was slashed again. Kuro then followed up with a knee strike to his gut and followed up with slash to his mask. Luckily, it only marked the paint and didn't take out one of his eyes.

Ragna then avoided another kick from Kuro and then slammed his fist into her gut. Kuro coughed up some split and then he threw a spin kick into her head a split second afterward and knocked her away.

Kuro then tossed grenades toward Ragna and had him fire his pistol at the explosives. However with the smoke from the grenades covering in front of his vision, Kuro then opened fire upon Ragna. He quickly sliced up the bullets with his sword and sent out more Aura blade beams at Kuro to force her back.

This time, Ragna was able to narrowly avoid another claw slash and then slammed his pommel into her mask. He then slashed at her gut as his pistol turned into a knife and landed a small cut.

Kuro however followed up with a slash that cut deep once again, causing blood to spray out. Ragna's healing was beginning to slowly patch itself up but he had to keep his Valkyrian powers from standing out compared to the regular healing that Aura could do.

She then narrowly dodged another quick slash from Ragna and stabbed her right hand into his chest. Ragna bit his lower lip to keep from screaming but his body felt a serious shot of pain throughout it. He then quickly countered with a backhand to her head and quickly pull out one of his pistols in a quick draw and shot off three rounds.

Kuro was hit by the first round but narrowly dodged the last two. She had to admit, the Fang Hunter being able to survive her Grimmified form was a surprise. If anything he was proving to be her toughest opponent yet.

She then unleashed multiple quick slashes that made Ragna use both Beowolf and his knife to parry or block. However, several still got through as more blood was being sprayed out around him. Ragna eventually pushed past the pain and put his back into the following strikes, landing a number of cuts on Kuro.

Eventually, the two disengaged and got some distance from each other.

Ragna was in pain from all of the slashes on his body and feeling lightheaded due to blood loss from the wounds. However, he had to maintain his form and continue fighting as he couldn't afford to give Kuro the satisfaction of bringing him down physically and mentally.

Kuro gave a wild grin as it was clear that she was winning and soon he would take the Fang Hunter's head as a trophy. She began to walk closer to Ragna as she noticed that his wounds were being patched up a bit faster then usual and that the larger wounds were also being closed up. She was bleeding quite a bit as well and felt pain, but she wasn't going to let that stop her.

"END HIM NOW KURO!"

"TAKE THAT BASTARD'S HEAD!"

"LOOKS LIKE THE HUNTER IS NOW THE PREY BOYS!"

The remaining WF Grunts that weren't fighting Adrian were cheering for their commander's victory and the death of the monster that had killed so many of their comrades.

The remaining Spider Droids around the area Ragna also began to take aim should she order them to do so.

However, the familiar sound of Bullheads flew in from above. These ones however, had heavier weapons on them as they strafed the WF forces with MGs, autocannons, rockets, and missiles toward the robots and remaining WF grunts.

The remaining Spider Droids opened fire with missiles and their laser guns at the aircraft. Adrian took advantage of the opening and brought up his RPG and open fire upon one of the remaining Spider Bots.

He then parried a slash from the closest enemy and followed up with a haymaker to their face.

Kuro sneered at the sight of the aircraft as Ragna then tossed a flashbang at the Faunus, blinding her for a few seconds. He then put his back into the strikes, rattling the Fang Assassin with a flurry of blows before ending it with a strong haymaker.

Kuro was angered by the attack as she tried to attack again, but Ragna them thrust Beowolf into Kuro while unleashing a Aura blade beam to blast her back.

The Hybrid took advantage of this moment and sent multiple Aura blade beams at the few remaining Spider Bots and destroyed them. It did drop his Aura down to dangerous levels but it did allow him to finally clear the field.

Ragna then dashed forward at full speed and landed a large cut upon the Grimmified Faunus's chest. Black blood coming out of the wound in large amounts as Ragna then landed a strong side kick to her gut.

Kuro was knocked to the ground and rolled a couple of times before she got back up on her feet.

"Guess you got lucky Hunter." Kuro said spitting to the side, black blood coming out of her mouth as she scowled. "Next time will be the last."

She then pulled out a smoke bomb and tossed it onto the ground, blinding Ragna's vision along with using her Semblance to get away. Ragna tried to go after her, but the injuries he sustained prevented him from fully chasing her.

Ragna roughly fell to the ground, breathing heavily. He then began to use both his healing factors to heal up any wounds he had on him. The pain he had been dealing with was disappearing quickly as he saw Mathias and the WF defectors coming out of their Bullheads. Mathias saw him in the condition he was in and ordered the defectors to fan out and deal with any remaining

"Ragna you okay?" Mathias said as he saw the wounds on Ragna's body.

"Yeah..." Ragna said as his Valkyrian healing factor was helping out as he tried to make it blend in with his Aura. "I'm not in the best shape, but I'm good."

"Kuro did this didn't she?" Mathias said knowingly. "I've heard that Kuro was able to beat a number of Huntsmen in combat, but she shouldn't be all that powerful in comparison since you tied with her."

"She had a surprise waiting for me if I survived the bomb." Ragna said as he took off his mask. "She pushed me even so then last time and it completely blindsided me."

Ragna then smoothed over his hair as he turned to the Fox Faunus. "Mathias, I think I might have something big I need to tell Eris and Ozpin."

"What's the big something?" Mathias said with a look of worry on his face.

"Kuro, she somehow has a Grimmfied form." Ragna said with a frown on his face.

Well, that was a thing.

So yeah, as you guys can guess I wanted to follow upon that whole thing that happened with Maximilian. The idea of Grimmfied humans which have higher levels of speed and strength then normal. Include that with the boost an Aura can give someone, that ends up making someone very dangerous. So while Ragna did survive this fight, he knows that next time he has to be ready to use his Blue Flame to fully defeat Kuro.

As for that whole thing happening with Maximilian, let's just say that Salem may have had an old connection with an ancient being from Eden. Its actually something that was inspired by what Heinkelboy05 came up with in his VC story.

So expect something like this to pop up for certain bad guys.

In addition, we now have a new group added into the mix. Yeah, I admit that the clear lack of Faunus or people willing to go against the White Fang in the canon story was a bit disappointing, I did say there would be some AU elements for Remnant in this story. Eris and her organization act as a counter to the White Fang, and they'll prove to be good allies for when Vol 2 and Vol 3 comes around and Adam is being bled by Ragna's actions.

Also, hope you guys like the battle this chapter. Next one will be a relax and regroup one as Ragna now has to consider what to do next.

Next Time on RWBY: Remnant of Flames

You've become the very guardian of the town Selvaria.

Ragna, you need to rest for a bit before you go back out.

Adrian, could you help me with giving me pointers for weapons outside my comfort zone.

I swore that I would become a Huntress to never allow anyone to suffer the same loss I did.

Next Time: Chapter 19: Rest and Refocus

Well that's all for now. Expect a couple of challenges to come up for other writers to tackle if anyone is curious.

Blazblaze, signing off!