Well would you look at that, got another chapter for you all.

And it only took me nearly a year.

Fucking hell.

Silver lining, at least I'm back. And hopefully, I'm able to pump out more consistent updates from now on. Regardless, I hope you enjoy the latest edition in the misadventures of Dante and RWBY!

MISSION 10:

Fuel

Quell the flames of revenge that pumps the engine of self-destruction.

MISSION START

[Music: Serenity (Resident Evil 4 OST)]

Every time Tai woke up, he felt like he stepped into some surreal reality.

Nearly seventeen years has it been since Raven left him and their family. Now all of a sudden, she has taken residence back to his home almost like nothing happened during all that time. Granted, Raven hasn't said much of… well, anything since her arrival. Her routine seems to be consisting of waking up, training so much that she forgets to eat, then going back to sleep on the couch. Tai, on the other hand, had no idea what to say. After all, what would you say to the one who left your life so many years ago? And Qrow? He was almost immediately called back into work by Ozpin, so he wasn't much help either.

Regardless of what he felt about the situation, he was knocked out of his thoughts by the sounds of Raven's cries. He looked out the window, seeing his wife(?) swing her blade Omen around with great force more and more, before slamming her weapon down on a tree stump to split it in half. Tai looked back at a confused Zwei, before turning to the clock on his scroll. 9:48 P.M.

He couldn't help but give a warm chuckle, before preparing a meal for Raven should she remember about the need to eat. "Just like old times…" he said to no one but himself.

[Music: You have mail (Dino Crisis OST)]

Blake and Sun couldn't help but be intrigued and disgusted by this new character.

Dr. Movado Merlot. The name sounded important, but unfortunately, not even Blake could make heads or tails of it. But regardless if they already knew him or not, there was something about him that simply felt… off. Almost like he has this menacing aura the likes of Torchwick wishes he could have. How and why he would work with the Faunus-exclusive White Fang was anyone's guess. The only thing worse than that, would be to wonder what he has planned for them.

"Now then," Merlot continued, knocking the two hunters out of their thoughts. "I'm sure you're all wondering what I have planned for you. Then allow me to quell you all of your superstitions right now. Gentleman!"

With a click of his fingers, the black White Fang curtain behind him fell to the floor, and from it, revealed a giant silver mech, easily towering around 5-stories high. Equipped with pulse-energy machine turrets on both of its arms, as well as scanners and launchers plastered all over its chassis, it was no secret that this thing was designed to combat even the mightiest of Grimm…

...or the most durable of hunters.

"Allow me to introduce you to the Prototype Atlesian Battle Suit 8-14-290. Codename: Paladin." The entire auditorium of recruits erupted into cheers as Dr. Merlot unveiled the latest in Atlas' defense force. "Ironwood oversaw this project using my tech, my research! And with it, perverted it with his own self-deluded ideas in this abomination of a battle suit! But with help, I stole it back, and restored it to its original intentions for you to all use!"

Blake and Sun were unnerved by the implications Merlot was setting on them. Not helping was the even more boisterous cheers from the crowd. Unfortunately for them, the disgraced scientist wasn't done. "Now, I know what some of you might be thinking, regardless of your cheers… That I have no idea what I'm talking about, that I'm nothing more than a crazy old man raging at the heavens above!"

"He kinda is," Sun silently commented, earning a dope slap from Blake.

"Regardless if what you think is true, at least allow me to demonstrate my worth to all of you…" With that declaration, Merlot turned to one of the White Fang members watching from the side of the stage, his shining cybernetic eye instilling fear through his mask. "You, young man. What is your name?"

"P-Perry, sir," The member spoke up, obviously taking Merlot's interest as a sign to move in closer.

Merlot began to subtly pull back on his sleeve as he started to input button commands on his reforged prosthetic arm, signalling the Paladin to open up its cockpit as soon as Perry got in close proximity. "I understand it may seem scary at first, but please, step inside. My gift to you…" Merlot said sincerely with a hint of suspected malice.

Not in a position to deny, Perry went ahead and stepped foot into the mech, sitting down as comfortably as he could as the cockpit began to seal itself, rising back up to the neutral position. The screens inside began to hum alive as Perry was given unrestricted viewing of the outside world, with the HUD system quickly becoming operational to his presence. So far, so good… Perry thought. At least, until he felt something prick the back of his neck, eliciting a small gasp that went unnoticed to the populace.

"I'm not liking this, Blake," Sun whispered over to his partner of the night. "Let's get out of here."

As much as Blake wanted to resist, what she witnessed tonight was definitive proof that the White Fang has gone even further off the deep end than she feared. Sun was right: They needed to leave and warn the others of this new development as soon as possible.

But Merlot wasn't going to let them leave without a fight.

[Music: Feel The Tension (Resident Evil 3 PS1 OST)]

Pressing a command on his arm once more, Perry found himself subconsciously inputting a command that activated the mech's targeting systems, scanning the crowd until the reticle locked on to Blake Belladonna. Suddenly, one of the arms rose up, firing its hand that reached into the crowded area to snatch Blake faster than she could register it. Sun cried out to her as Blake was forcibly pulled to Merlot's presence. The faunus looked at each other confused, wondering why Perry would suddenly do such a thing…

...Then Merlot pulled off Blake's mask, and had the mech raise her up for everyone to see her face.

"I knew I spotted a traitor in our midst," Merlot growled before turning to the slowly rioting crowd once more. "Blake Belladonna! The bastard spawn of Ghira Belladonna, the one who betrayed you all in your time of need!" The accusations the mad scientist threw out into the open brought forth even more confusion over the significance of the name Belladonna, and did nothing but enrage Blake even more.

"My father didn't betray the White Fang," Blake defended. "The White Fang betrayed him!"

"No! Ghira was holding back the White Fang from its natural evolution!" Merlot shot back, shocking almost the entire room. "When the old methods failed, the White Fang took it upon themselves to evolve against mankind's aggression towards them… every member abandoned the old ways in order to gain the strength needed to fight back… everyone but your failure of a father!"

Blake folded her ears in frustration and anger, not wanting to listen to his cold-hearted rants anymore… yet a question still floated around her that she had to ask. "How do you know so much about my family?"

Dr. Merlot simply chuckled at what he perceived to be a foolish question, silently commanding Perry to bring the captured Blake closer to his person. "Just because I secluded myself from society doesn't mean I remained ignorant to the world around me. I saw the rise and rebirth of the White Fang from the comfort of my lab, and the repercussions it brought with it. At first, I dismissed the events as being the result of childish tantrums… until I realized how perfectly it mimicked the natural course of life…" Merlot briefly paused as he allowed his explanation to sink in. "'Evolve or Die…' perhaps you're familiar with such a brutish saying, but regardless, it is true. The White Fang had to evolve into what they are today or else they would risk dying at humanity's hand. Your father was too weak-willed to grasp at such a concept."

"My father is not weak." Blake growled, killing intent slowly rising with each agonizing word.

"Every old-fashioned belief Ghira upheld was subject to deconstruction sooner or later. After all, how long would it be until he could no longer keep the anger of his subjects in check?" Merlot argued. It was a rhetorical question he didn't expect his captive to answer, especially not when she's close to a breaking point herself. Merlot only gave a slight chuckle and sigh before turning his back to Blake, giving one more command to Perry, and one last spectacle to the public. "Execute her."

[Music: Unstoppable Nemesis (Resident Evil 3 PS1 OST)]

Blake eyes widened at the sight of an energy buzzsaw deploying from the robot's forearm, aimed at her throat with every intent to tear through her aura and her life. She tried desperately to break free, but her rage clouded her focus, and the Paladin's grip was locked on tight. Blake was a goner, and Merlot knew it.

"HEY, DOC!"

Merlot looked around in confusion at the sound of the new voice, his guard lowered just enough for Sun Wukong to pounce. "TAG!" He taunted, using his standing body as a springboard to rise up to Blake's position, swerving the miniature saw blade off-kilter before blasting it towards the arm with a pull of his shotgun trigger, forcing a reflex that released Blake from its grip, as Sun could slightly swear he heard Perry scream in pain from the suit. The most important thing was Blake's safety, as after being freed, Blake shot a fuse box powering the lights, sending everyone into a blind frenzy as the two hunters made their escape.

Merlot growled and roared in frustration as his cybernetic eye adjusted his vision to the darkened area, slamming his fists as the two intruders were nowhere to be seen. "FIND THEM AND KILL THEM!" Merlot roared to Perry, silently taking in his orders as he bursted through the walls, hunting down the ones that got away.

Meanwhile, Sun and Blake were running across the rooftops, trying to get as far from the White Fang as possible in a panicked state. "Wait," Sun suddenly spoke up. "Your dad started the White Fang?!"

"Sun, this is NOT the time!" Blake roared back, as the mechanical sounds of the Paladin got closer and closer to them. Without further hesitation, Blake brought out her scroll, ready to contact the rest of her team for backup.

Weiss stepped out of the CCT tower, sighing in relaxation as she overlooked the cargo information imported from the database of the Schnee Dust Company, almost at a disbelief of how long it took for the data to transfer. Admittedly, she almost got into hot water, requesting such sensitive information in the first place, but her calm and cold demeanor helped her through the confrontation without having to bring her father into the mess.

Father… Now there was a word Weiss was reluctant to use to describe Jacques Schnee in the first place. Throughout her entire childhood, the man she thought she knew had the exterior of someone who looked to care about his family's well being, but countless times she counted to seeing the arguments between her father, mother, and even her sister Winter, did nothing to shatter the cold reality that Jacques was a man motivated by power. Nothing more, nothing less. It was one of the reasons why she opted to enlist at Beacon rather than stay and attend Atlas Academy, despite Ironwood promising her sanctuary from her father just as he did with Winter when she was of age.

She shook her head of out reminisce as she saw that Ruby was nowhere to be seen. She knew that Ruby had a short attention span when it came to things like this, but she never suspected it to be this bad. "I swear, that girl sometimes…" Right as she was about to call her partner, Blake's ID appeared on the screen… alongside the notification that the current call was also tied to Ruby's, Yang's and Dante's scrolls. Worried as to what it could be about, Weiss answered the call, bringing the scroll up to listen in. "Hello?"

{"Everyone! If you can hear me, we need back-"}

{"HEEEEELP!} Weiss pulled the scroll away from her ear as Sun's screams and mechanical whirring blared through the speakers.

Wasting no time in tagging Blake's position, Weiss left the perimeters to hunt down her partners.

{"Big robot! And it's big! I mean REALLY Big!"} Ruby couldn't hide the excitement on her face as she heard the description, having recovered herself following her own adventure ending in a revelation regarding Penny's robotic origins.

"Oh, I am NOT missing this!" Ruby said, running off to her friends position.

{"There's a faunus in it! But not, like, it didn't eat him; he's like, controlling it or something!"} Yang looked back at Dante as the two listened in to Sun's panic. While Yang had a look of concern over the situation, Dante was every bit intrigued as this was the best thing that could happen tonight after a dead-end lead.

"Slow down," Yang tried to calm him. "Where are you guys?"

As soon as she asked that, Yang's question was answered by the sight of the giant mech tearing through the highway, the continued sounds of Sun's yells echoing both through the background and the scroll, disappearing further into the busy streets of Vale.

"Sounds like we're missing the party!" Dante chuckled, as Yang swerved Bumblebee to follow the rampage ensuing beyond Junior's club.

Ozpin sighed as the stressful days continued, not just keeping an eye on the student body as a whole, but also dealing with Ironword's stubbornness on top of keeping an eye on Vergil as Dante and his team apparently went out to do gods know what the entire day. He placed his coffee down on his table, eyeing between the clock on his screen display, and the ever-piling paperwork with a message from Glynda reading 'IMPORTANT' followed with an angry doodle of… herself. Ozpin couldn't help but chuckle at the sight. Looks like in spite of her cold and harsh exterior, was someone who had a subtle sense of humor, even if she has a hard time expressing it.

Regardless of which, tonight was something Ozpin considered to be his personal time, wanting nothing more than to forget about all that has happened today. He tapped some commands on his screen, pulling up an easy and relaxing video of a live concerto feed from Mistral, getting lost in the performance as the symphony did its job to sooth the aging headmaster's nerves…

{"We interrupt this broadcast to bring you an important update from downtown Vale."}

Ozpin internally cursed as his stress-free night was suddenly brought to a screeching halt as he was forced into the news against his will. {"I'm Lisa Lavender commentating on live scenes from in-city, as it shows what appears to be a giant robot of some kind chasing down what looks like hunters that bystanders are identifying as Blake Belladonna of Team RWBY(D) from Beacon, as well as a monkey faunus, who some are claiming to be a hunter-in-training like the former. We stand by for further updates from the Chief of VPD."}

[Music: South Central - One Minute Silence]

Ozpin buried his face into his hands in response to the broadcast as he put Glynda on speed dial.

Tonight was not his night.

Blake and Sun narrowly avoided traffic as they leapt from one road down onto another, using the car roofs as leverage to avoid breaking their momentum. However, the Paladin didn't care much for their escape route nor their strategy, as it bursted through the guard walls of the road, leveling any vehicle that dared to stand in its way. As it landed to the ground below, hatches from the bottom of the mech's feet shifted open, deploying sets of wheels strong enough to carry its weight, gaining traction in its pursuit against the traitorous faunus.

Silver lining, the destruction caused by the three made it easier for Yang and Dante to track them down, coming in hot from behind the mech on Bumblebee. However, even at full throttle, Yang could tell that they wouldn't make it in time to save their friends. "We need to slow it down!" Yang told Dante.

The half-demon smugly chuckled as he raised one of his arms up, a bio-metallic looking casing covering his entire forearm as it solidified into the demonic multi-laser crossbow Artemis. "Then keep her steady!" Dante commanded, much to Yang's confusion, before leaping to stand on top of the back of the bike, taking advantage of the suspension system to spring himself into the flying cars in front.

"DANTE!" Yang angrily yelled out to her partner, struggling to re-stabilize Bumblebee.

Dante ignored her cries as he ran across the sides of one of the cars, leaping from hood-to-hood thanks to his superior agility and air-dashes to close the gap between him and the Paladin. However, the proximity sensors alerted Perry of Dante's presence, as he twisted the mech around to focus on dealing with the red-coated nuisance. The turrets on the arms began to target onto Dante, who merely gave a sly smile as he whipped out Cerberus in preparation. Perry began open-firing at Dante, leaping from car to car to evade fire while spinning Cerberus around to deflect any bullet that might graze him.

Dante landed in the back of a pick-up truck, taking cover as he began marking targets around the leg motors of the Paladin. The mech turned around to Dante's position, firing a wrist-rocket to blow him sky high. But the damage was already done, as Dante let loose a surge of energy bullets that hit the motors controlling the wheels dead-center, sending the robot into a skidding frenzy across the freeway. The missile that blew the truck did little-to-no damage to Dante, who used the propulsion caused by the explosion to land on the top of the Paladin. Dante pulled out Rebellion, delivering a clean stab in an attempt to take something important out.

Perry was able to regain partial control over the leg functions, and stopped himself in the middle of the road as he reached up to Dante, flinging him off the Paladin as a laser began to prime onto his position. But the demon hunter was saved in the nick of time thanks to a spectral copy of Sun flinging him down to the ground, narrowly avoiding the laser blast as he regained his footing and landed on the road, meeting up with a recovering Blake and Sun. "Hey guys!" Dante greeted with a cocky smile. "Long time no see!"

Their reunion was expanded when Yang came pulling up on Bumblebee, the back wheel slightly wobbling thanks to Dante's stunt from earlier, something Dante didn't take notice of right away. "Took you long enough!"

Yang pulled off her helmet, forcefully shoving it at Dante as she glared at him with burning red eyes. "You're paying for the repairs, jackass!"

Dante shrugged off Yang's complaints once more as the Paladin began to gain momentum, hoping to crush them flat under its superior weight. That is, until Weiss appeared before them, using Myrtenaster in Ice Mode to freeze the road in front of her, forcing the mech to destabilize in its approach. Dante looked back to notice the railing they were standing behind, chuckling as he used Cerberus to forge an icy road bump that the mech comically tripped over, flinging itself over the railing and into the empty space below. The five hunters looked down from the railing, as Weiss gave an exasperated look at her partner before sighing and leaping down to the Paladin, everyone else following suit shortly after.

[Music end]

Weiss, Blake, Yang, Dante, and Sun landed in the open space the highways were being supported on, standing face to face with the Paladin that looked no worse for wear following the fall. The mechanical monster clenched its fist as it starred down the five fighters, both sides waiting for the other to make the first move…

[Music: Fuel (S&M) - Metallica]

A red slash appeared faster before anyone save Dante could register, slashing at the side of the mech to take down one of the laser sensors on the Paladin. The red slash soon materialized into red pedals, before Ruby Rose appeared before them with Crescent Rose primed for combat. "You guys ready?" she asked her friends, all responding with an affirmative nod.

Perry didn't have time for these six hunters anymore, moving the Paladin forward for the kill. The mech drew its fist back, before slamming it down to the heroes' position in which they all avoided without hassle. As the robot recovered from its attack, Ruby took the chance to take initiative. "JOTUNN!" she shouted in command.

Dante and Weiss looked at each other with a silent nod, the devil bringing out Cerberus once more as Weiss flicked Myrtenaster, the Dust revolver chamber spinning around until it loaded up Ice. Weiss made a wide slash against the mech as a hailstorm of ice shards began to rain down on it, as Dante followed up with rapid swipes from his nunchaku, each strike delivering large ice-spikes to accompany Weiss' attack. The two storms combined did nothing as Perry brought the Paladin's holographic shield online, blocking out the majority of the damage. However, it seems this is what the two were counting on, as Dante shifted his momentum straight down, creating valleys of ice spikes circling around the metallic monster. The mech scanned around confused, that is until Yang appeared, delivering a fiery punch that caused all of the demonic ice to evaporate all at once, blinding the visual sensors as the Paladin resorted to using infrared to hunt its prey.

The mech stomped around the battlefield, looking for any signs of life, each step reverbing out in the air. Suddenly, two flashes began to pass by multiple different infrareds, confusing the targeting system greatly. Multiple warnings went off on Perry's Heads Up Display, never quite reaching a stable lock-on no matter how hard he adjusted the systems. Eventually, Perry growled in frustration, blindly firing at the slightest bit of registered movement. Each explosive impact leveled the floors in a way that it would make it harder to move for the hunters, but would also mean that the Paladin would have a hard time maneuvering as well. Yet, from one of the explosions jumped out Sun Wukong, wielding Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang in staff formation, vaulting over the rubble to land on top of the mech, stabbing his weapon into one of the exposes sensors as he fired a shotgun blast point-blank, destroying it before leaping off.

Mid-air, Sun passed his staff over to Dante, who used Agni to create a fire masking that blinded his descent from the mech, stabbing another sensor before cleaving it clean off with the elemental blade. With another down, Dante boomerang tossed the staff back to Sun through the arms of the mech, who caught it in time to launch Ruby up into the air with a scooping lift. Red scythe was accompanied by black swords as Ruby and Blake cross-slashed through multiple sensors, taking them all down by the time the thick mist dissipated. Taking advantage of the enemy's disadvantage, Ruby began to issue another command. "CHECKMATE!"

With the phrase spoken, Weiss began to zig-zag around the Paladin, catching its attention as she began to silently toss out glyphs for Blake to run along top of, leaping down into the mech to tear into the holographic armor, digging her blade in deep as she descended downwards. The mech froze and turned to Blake's position, ready to punch her down into the pavement.

"INFERNO!" Ruby called out, and before the Paladin could react, its legs were suddenly attacked by a full assault spearheaded by Yang and Dante, throwing out rapid Hyper Fists that started to dent the areas Dante weakened beforehand. The mech however, managed to recover and twisted its top half a full 180-degrees to swat away the two brawlers.

"Yang!" Blake called out to her partner, about to rush towards her until Ruby stopped her.

"It's okay," Ruby soothed the enraged cat faunus. "Yang's semblance allows her to dish out more than she takes. That's what makes her special!"

"Yeah, but is it enough to get through its armor?" Sun brought up, causing Ruby to think over their current position.

Suddenly, an idea forged in the young leader's mind, turning to Weiss with a sly smile. "Dry Ice," she said.

Weiss nodded in agreement, focusing her glyphs on Ruby until a clock-themed rune materialized under her feet, basking Ruby in a golden as she smiled in determination. The robot saw the events transpiring and began to launch an onslaught of seeker missiles to try and sabotage the team. However, Ruby's enhanced speed allowed her to evade and destroy every last missile launched in a blink of an eye as she advanced towards her sister. Meanwhile, as Yang recovered, she noticed a red blur moving towards her at blazing speeds. Recognizing what it meant, Yang got herself in position ready to be carried by her sister. The momentum brought upon by Weiss' contribution allowed Ruby to carry her sister with minimal effort as long as she kept the pace up. With the Paladin's arm in her sight, Ruby shouted as she heaved Yang towards it, sending the blonde brawler off like a guided missile.

Snap!

And then time stopped…

Dante watched in awe at the plan, using Time Lag to admire the set up, but he knew Yang needed a little extra kick if she wanted to make a dent. So he brought out Spiral. Dante lined the shots up with Yang's trajectory, and began to blast out demonically-charged bullets that froze in mid-air with everything else. A blast from the side hip, a blast from the other side, and two blasts besides his head. With the bullets in place, Dante whipped out Ebony & Ivory, crossing his arms as he supplied extra bullets to supercharge Spiral's. As soon as everything was in place, Dante turned his back with a smug. "And so… time flows again."

Snap!

Time resumed to normal speed, and Yang, winding up her punch, found herself surrounded in a sonic barrier composed of demonic bullets that helped super-charged her force. The Paladin was unable to do anything to stop her charge, as the strike pierced through the mech's arm completely, disconnecting and destroying it beyond recognition. Within the cockpit, Perry screamed as he clutched his arm in pain, confused as to why he felt it wire back to him, but eventually was blocked out of thinking upon it as he started to prime the laser on the other arm.

As soon as the weapon was exposed, however, it was suddenly binded by Gambol Shroud, trying to tug the arm down as low as possible. But the mech's strength proved to be superior to the cat faunus' own, as a slight yank is all it took to lift Blake off the ground. Sun responded to the notion by running off to her position, with Weiss aiding him by giving him platforms to bounce off of. Above the target, Sun detached his staff into two separate nunchakus, boomerang tossing one of them as the chain started to wrap around the laser cannon. "DANTE, NOW!" Sun shouted, prompting the Devil Hunter to leap after Blake, pulling her and the rope down to the ground as he fired one last Ebony shot aimed at the trigger of Ruyi Bang.

The propulsion caused by the shotgun blast is what the team needed to finally dislocate the laser from the mech's arm, sending it flying off as Yang used it to launch herself above the Paladin's position. Not wanting to miss out, Dante Trick warped himself to Yang's proximity, equipping Beowulf as the two raised their arms into the air. "GO TO HELL!" The two brawlers shouted, shifting their momentum straight downwards. The fists collided with the hull of the Paladin, unleashing an amplified Volcanic eruption strike that shattered the mech into scrap.

[Music end]

The pieces of the mech flew off into different directions, the most prominent being the cockpit that seemed to have barely moved from its original position. Yang and Dante paid no mind to this, however, as they met up with the rest of their friends to celebrate a job well done. Blake in particular was ecstatic. They had a lead who was unarmed. The only thing left to do was to interrogate him over just who the hell this Movado Merlot character is.

However, as they got closer, Dante could tell something was off… like a strange sensation radiating from the cockpit that only got stronger with every step. He placed a hand on Blake's shoulder, putting her at a standstill as she was about to ask him what's the deal. But then her ears picked up on something, and as soon as she noticed, Blake froze. The rest picked up on Blake's growing uneasiness, wondering just what the hell could be putting Blake and Dante on edge…

Then they all heard it.

It was faint, but it almost sounded like the one piloting the Paladin was emitting painful roars that was slowly intensifying, akin to someone getting stabbed over and over again. A strange and eerie squishing sound could be heard complementing the screams, bubbling more and more until something exploded from within. And with that, the screams went silent. No one knew what to think and no one knew what to do next. Dante brought it upon himself to do the deed as he pulled out Rebellion in caution. Every step he took towards the downed cockpit was every second everyone's tension grew. Ruby, Weiss and Sun all staring in disbelief, Yang feeling particularly anxious, and Blake prominently having a look of growing frustration on her face. As soon as Dante got close, the cockpit hissed open, slowly rising upwards as the smoke dissipated from everyone's view.

And Ruby screamed.

[Music: Bring Back Her Consciousness (Resident Evil 3 PS1 OST)]

The one in the mech laid lifeless for everyone to see, but not because of the damage inflicted on the Paladin, but from something far more sinister, with a nightmarish corpse being even more frightening. His eyes were blown out of their sockets as his jaw appeared to be forcibly unhinged, the muscle holding it together having appeared to be deteriorated. His arms detached from their sockets, as one of them looked burnt and horribly disfigured, hanging lifeless from the sides with exposed muscles and blood. His body from the bottom of his neck down to his stomach looked like something from within exploded, his ribs shattered as most of his vital organs began to hang out of the violent opening. Any other organ that was left within his body was damaged beyond repair, already rotting away in spite of the time frame.

Ruby and Weiss wanted nothing more to throw up at the sight, and no one could blame them. Sun tried to look away as much as possible from the grotesque imagery, and Yang could feel her blood boiling from the inhumane scene. Dante however, seemed to investigate it further, noticing an unnatural purple color that seemed to be blended into the victim's blood. He cautiously leaned the body forward, noticing a strange wire connected to the body's neck. It was damaged, possibly from the death, or from the Paladin's destruction, but one thing Dante can concur, was that traces of the purple liquid could be seen on the edges of the wire. "Whoever we're dealing with really wanted to tie up loose ends," Dante said, bringing slight attention to the damning evidence.

Blake growled and roared in rage at the news, uncharacteristically slamming her fist against the Paladin's broken hull in a heavy fit of anger. She knew who did this. He knew the dangers. But he never told him. He never told anyone of what he'd done. "Doctor Movado Merlot," she hissed, earning the others' attention. "He's treating them like livestock. Nothing more than excuses to carry out his twisted experiments!" She slammed her fist on the metal hull over and over again with each spoken word, throwing in more force until she made a small dent in her hand's image, shattering some of her aura as a result.

Dante had to pull her away before she could do any more damage to herself, but at that point, she was already becoming an emotional wreck. Dante looked to the others. They had a name, but no other lead. Even if they knew where to go, there was no guaranteed Blake could keep herself in check long enough for her to survive. They eventually ceased pondering about their current situation, as the sounds of sirens could be heard from the background. "Uh, guys?" Sun spoke up.

Before they could do anything to escape, the six hunters found themselves surrounded by the Vale Police Department, their cars blocking any chance of escaping without conflict. Ruby holistered her weapon, silently urging her friends to all do the same. Dante sneered as he and the others complied to her request, as one of the car doors opened to reveal a tired, irritated, and very frustrated Glynda Goodwitch. "I hope you all have a decent explanation for this," she angrily stated.

Merlot could only tap his finger in frustration.

His Prototype Atlesian Battle Suit 8-14-290, which he stole back from James Ironwood and improved upon, the one he spent so much time trying to iron out the flaws the arrogant general overlooked, was destroyed. No, worse than that. It was destroyed by students. The fact that these barely-legal ruffians were able to take down an invention of his worth was a conclusion that was absurd, and yet, it happened. Even with him behind the scenes, controlling the foolish faunus' every other move.

But, Merlot could do nothing but sigh at the results. After all, this was the nature of evolution. Improvise, Adapt, Overcome. Those Beacon fools managed to win this time, but the night was still young, and there were plenty more paladins where that came from. All he had to do was modify them even further, and eventually make the ultimate killing machine.

And if all that failed, there was still his own personal contingency plan…

Merlot smiled and chuckled at the thought of seeing not just those meddling kids, but James and Ozpin submit to his greatness, rejecting all that they knew to serve him willingly… before crushing them to blood-stained smithereens.

The Bullhead began to silently take off into the night sky from the empty White Fang recruitment meeting. Sooner or later, they will learn to fear and respect Doctor Movado Merlot.

And he'll silence anyone who gets in his way.

Ruby shielded her eyes as the intense fluorescent lights came on, only to sigh heavily as the interrogation room instantly became recognizable to her. She hasn't been here since the night Torchwick robbed From Dust Till Dawn, and Ruby planned to keep it that way.

Funny how life likes to throw curveballs like that.

Ruby slumped in her chair, this time with her arms cuffed together, just waiting for someone to come in and say how they'd be giving her "a pat on the back and a slap on the wrist." Only this time, without the first part to lighten her spirits. Soon enough, the doors opened, and out came Ozpin. Ruby slightly leaned back, recognizing that the Headmaster of Beacon didn't have the same look of intrigue or friendliness he had back when they first met, but instead having the type of face Qrow would have after a week evading sleep.

She didn't like this. There wasn't a single cookie in sight to calm her nerves.

Ozpin sat down, this time lacking his trademark mug, but instead leaning his staff against the table as he burned his focus into Ruby's silver eyes. "Miss Rose…" he spoke without a hint of emotion, earning a frightful jump from Ruby. "Do you mind telling me just what you and your team was doing tonight?"

Ruby chuckled nervously to Ozpin's question, but his overly stoic look made it clear that now wasn't the time for games. She gulped, ready to forcibly recount the tale. "W-well… it all started when Blake was being extra Blake-y…"

"Dante was the first to take notice," Weiss explained to Ozpin upon Ruby's vague answer. "Even though we stopped Roman from robbing the docks, Blake was still weary of the White Fang, so we agreed to stake out tonight to find some information."

"Ruby and Weiss went to the CCT, Sun and Blake went to a rally, and Dante and I went to Junior's to find some information," Yang listed off, to which Ozpin nodded to.

"I'll admit, Yang almost made a mess of things," Dante chuckled rather nonchalantly, resulting in an eye roll from Ozpin. "Regardless, our lead was a bust, so we had to hope the others were able to pick up the slack."

"No one told me the White Fang was packing a giant robot!" Sun exclaimed as he slammed his hands on the table, before taking note of Ozpin's unamused face, forcing him to recompose himself. "R-right, sorry. Anyways, RWBY(D) and I banded together and sent that robot to the scrap heap! That is, until we saw… well… that."

"Even though everyone explained the situation to you, all those facts are irrelevant at the end of the day," Blake said with a cold and unfeeling stare to rival Ozpin's. "The most important thing is that I know who's behind this."

Ozpin sighed, placing his scroll down as he waited to hear Blake's answer.

"His name is Doctor Movado Merlot."

[Music: Echoes-oes-oes (Devil May Cry 5 OST)]

Ozpin froze, his cold demeanor finally shattering as his eyes widened in surprise. Blake only glared at Ozpin harder, his reaction making it perfectly clear that he knew something about Merlot, so her only choice was to press on. "He lured the White Fang into a false sense of security, but the truth is, he's only using them for his own twisted schemes. I saw what he did to one of the members, and I dared not think of what he might do to everyone else. But now that I know who he is and what he's planning, I can-"

"You'll do nothing," Ozpin suddenly declared, earning Blake's confusion.

"But I know what he's planning! If you just-"

"The answer is no, Blake Belladonna."

"Why not?"

"Because Doctor Merlot is someone you should never get involved with!" Ozpin yelled back at Blake, stunned at her headmaster's sudden outburst. "I understand that you and your team only want to do the right thing, and I know you still have affinity towards the Whtie Fang, but believe me when I say that Movado Merlot is out of your jurisdiction."

In spite of his vague warnings, Blake was still not convinced. "Why haven't we heard of him until now?"

"Blake…"

"What other things has he done? Why hasn't he answered to his crimes? Where is he hiding?"

"BLAKE BELLADONNA THAT'S ENOUGH!" Ozpin screamed, towering over Blake as his authoritative stance silenced Blake's curiosity. "I have lost too many good men and promising students throughout all my years of leading Beacon, and I will not have your's or your teammate' deaths on my conscience!" Ozpin took a moment to recompose himself, sighing deeply as he took his seat once more. "You are to disengage with this pursuit and let me and the authorities deal with this. Am I clear?"

Blake clenched her hands tighter, and after a brief moment of silence, she reluctantly nodded. After studying each other's emotions, Ozpin got up, uncuffing Blake and grabbing his cane as he started to walk out of the room… but not before turning to Blake one last time. "I am willing to overlook this event, but on the condition that you and your team report to my office first thing tomorrow morning." Blake said nothing to Ozpin's request, her glare still burning into Ozpin's direction. "Now get some rest."

Ozpin left the room, leaving Blake all alone with her thoughts for the time being.

Hours have passed since the battle on the freeway. The police that was once plentiful and quite protective of the area has all but dispersed under Ozpin's request. Still, it wasn't completely void of security, but their weaning grip combined with most of the officers' lack of enthusiasm resulted in a pretty lax perimeter where even a basic ruffian could sneak in and cause trouble.

Guess that makes Vergil lucky.

He silently made his way deeper into the crime scene, having overheard the news from Ozpin while he was in the library researching more on Remnant, as he got closer to the faunus victim of the night. Vergil began donning the look of disgust as he saw what happened to the pilot, but for an entirely different reason compared to most. Admittedly, Vergil never put Cinder in high regard, especially to the cult-ish extremes of Mercury and especially Emerald. She was simply a connecting point between him and Dante, nothing more, nothing less. But this certainly didn't help his impression of her at all. It didn't help at all knowing that much of Cinder's motivation revolved around his ire with Ozpin. However, he can't help but wonder: How much of it is of Cinder's own volition and how much of it stemmed from Salem herself? And how deep does this rivalry between Ozpin and Salem really go?

Vergil was knocked out of his thoughts when he heard one of the cop's footsteps grow closer. Not wanting to press his luck further, Vergil left the crime scene, the cops having no idea he was even there to begin with.

"It's not about overpowering the enemy, it's about taking away what power they have."

Vergil internally scoffed at Cinder's philosophy when he first heard her say it, but seeing it in practice only made him dismiss it entirely. If this was to be her path to power, then so be it. Mercury, Emerald, and that Merlot freak might be under Cinder's thumb, but not him. Never Vergil. If Cinder expected him to play by her rules, then she got another thing coming. "Those who restrain desire do so because theirs is weak enough to be restrained," Vergil recited. "We'll see who is truly worthy of power by the time this 'plan' of yours comes to light, Cinder…"

MISSION CLEAR

Demon Hunter Rank: S

And with that, another mission goes into the case file of Devil May Cry.

Really sorry for the dead air. If you don't know or haven't bothered to check, I recently published a new fanfic that crossed Dragon Ball Z with DokiDoki Pretty Cure, so most of my time was spent either trying to get the first chapter to work, or simply procrastinating without an excuse. Either way, it's out, so if you want to check it out, feel free to do so.

I'll be coming forth soon with faster updates, I swear.