Chapter 1: Titan Rising

I do not own RWBY, RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum (R.I.P.) nor do I own any media that may appear in the story. I only own the OCs. Enjoy! I will be editing the earlier chapters over the coming months.

A calm breeze blew through the Emerald Forest, birds chirped in the foliage as a deer grazed in the meadow; the peaceful serenity was interrupted by the sound of a helicopter engine roaring in the distance before it past overhead and circled around. The spinning blades caused the limbs to shake and rustle, the birds flew away while the deer scurried to find shelter deep in the forest. A blacked-out UH-60 Black Hawk slowly touched down in a clearing before it cut off its engines, the turbines groaned as they slowly powered down and the blades slowed to an eventual stop. The side door opened before a man in all black stepped out into the clearing, he wore a black hoodie that had seen better days, a heavy IBA that had multiple pouches on the front of the vest and a Ka-Bar on the left shoulder of the vest. A distinct patch that had a Beowolf head with a blade in the head was visible on both of his shoulder pads that covered his upper arms.

The man wore a pair of black Crye Precision G3 Combat Pants, he had a pistol holster attached to his tactical belt alongside a grenade pouch and pouches of spare magazines, an MP7 occupied the holster on his hip while a Jericho 941 occupied the holster on the front of his IBA that was slightly under his left pectoral. The man's black steel-toed boots crushed the leaves and grass beneath his feet as he gazed into the wooded area, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of dog tags that he pulled over his head. He let the tags bounce against his chest as he slowly pulled on a black dual filter gas mask with a reflective black visor and tightened the straps, he reached back and pulled the hood over his head to cover his dark brown crew cut.

The dog tags jiggled lightly as he stretched his shoulders, the name 'Carmine 'Titan' Sable' was engraved on one side of the tag along with the name 'Wolf Pack' underneath it, the man turned around and faced the interior of the helicopter that had a few armed individuals inside with rifles and carbines, and a large man with an LMG. The large man leaped out of the helicopter and handed Carmine a black Scar-H, the man took the battle rifle and examined the ACOG sight that was mounted on the top rail. He gripped the ERGO foregrip with his left hand and held the rear grip with his right hand as he pressed it to his shoulder with one eye closed, he squeezed the foregrip and caused a green laser sight to turn on before it turned off again when he let go of the button on the grip. Carmine slid a small switch on the rear grip and caused the rifle to transform into a Falchion blade, Carmine spun the blade around before he turned it back to its ranged form.

"Alright Titan, we'll see ya down range." One of the operators said as he tossed Carmine a large backpack, the young rifleman caught the bag and pulled the straps on over his shoulders before he secured and adjusted he straps over his shoulders. "We went ahead and left you a little surprise in your bag, you can hold onto that Jericho too, I don't think that guy will need it anymore." Another operator said as he held up a bloody dog tag, a roar of laughter came from the helicopter as Carmine placed his Scar onto his back, he pulled out the MP7 on his hip and checked the magazine before he slid it back into the receiver, he pulled back the charging bolt on the back of the SMG before he placed it back into his side holster.

"Alright boys, I'll see you out there. Grizz, give my thanks to Titus when you get back." Carmine said to the large man before him as they grabbed each other's forearm, Grizz nodded "Can do, Titan. Stay safe out there, you got a promise to keep." Grizz said as he let go of the rifleman's arm, Carmine nodded as he looked up into the cloudy blue sky "Yeah... yeah I do." Carmine said before he shook his head and cleared his throat. "Anyway, I gotta get to the air docks to get to Beacon. And before you ask why we didn't fly to Beacon, we know what happened the last time a Black Hawk got close to that school." Carmine said as he shook his head. Grizz chuckled as he climbed back into the Black Hawk "Alright Lily, Lavender, let's go home." Grizz said as Carmine walked into the forest toward Vale, the engines started up as the turbines sped up; the blades of the helicopter started to spin up slowly as Carmine disappeared into the treeline.

Carmine pulled the Jericho 941 from the holster on the front of his vest and racked the slide before he continued through the wooded area, Carmine tried to pass through a section of the forest but found the trees were too dense. The rifleman holstered the pistol before he tightened the straps on his steel-plated gloves, the rifleman backed up as he clenched his right fist; Carmine dug his heels into the ground as he took in a full sprint toward the trees and threw a superman punch into the tree. As his fist connected to the tree, a large explosion erupted and eviscerated the trees around the one he had punched. He slowly stepped over the stumps and splinters of wood as he continued on his way, as he continued through the forest; he realized that he had drawn an audience.

Carmine spun around and came face to face with two Beowolves and an Alpha Beowolf "Alright shit fucks, let's get this done with." Carmine said as he pulled out his Scar-H, the Grimm roared before two charged at him. The one on his right reared up as it prepared to swipe down at him as the one on his left went for his legs, the rifleman shifted his stance and drove a roundhouse into the Grimm's ribs before spun around kicked the left Grimm square in the jaw. The hits seemed to only anger the Grimm as they quickly recovered and prepared to strike again. Carmine leapt back as the Alpha Beowolf swiped at the ground where he stood, the two lesser Grimm charged in to try and make an opening but Carmine quickly dispatched them with four .308 rounds to the head each.

The rifleman transformed his rifle into its blade form before he charged the Alpha and thrusted the blade deep into the Grimm's chest cavity, the Beowolf roared as Carmine pushed it into a tree as it continued to fight "Shhh, just let go." Carmine said as he withdrew the Jericho and placed it under the Grimm's jaw, he squeezed the trigger multiple times before the Grimm exploded into a black cloud of smoke. Carmine picked his sword up off of the ground and transformed it back into its rifle form, he placed the Jericho back into the holster as he continued on his way "Wait, what time is it?" Carmine asked himself as he pulled his scroll from his pocket "Oh fuck! I'm running late!" Carmine exclaimed before he took off in a full sprint through the forest and past a Grimm that crawled out of the foliage, he pulled a hand grenade from the pouch on right side of his tactical belt and pulled the pin before he tossed it behind him at the Creep that had emerged from the shrubs.

The grenade exploded and eviscerated everything in a ten-foot radius, swallowing the radius area in fire and left the ten foot area charred black. Carmine sprinted through the meadow before he leapt over a fallen tree and kept running, as he ran; he saw light pierce through the foliage as he neared the edge of the forest. As he erupted through the treeline, he came face to face with a concrete wall and quickly scaled it without much resistance; Carmine continued to run as he finally reached the Vale Market Area, he bobbed and weaved as he pushed through the crowd of people that occupied the market square. As he pushed through the dense crowd, he could see the outline of air ships in the distance; Carmine lowered his body to the ground as he broke from the crowd and sprinted toward the air docks. Carmine slowed his sprint to a light jog as he made it onto an air ship as the door was closing.

"Wow, just in the nick of time, aren't you lucky." Carmine looked to see who had said that, his eyes coming to rest on a girl with silver eyes smiling at him, "Oh, your mask looks so spooky, it's so cool." The silver-eyed girl said in wonder, Carmine couldn't help but chuckle a bit, "Yea, that's me, always at the last second, it's a bad habit." Carmine said as he shifted the weight on his feet, the girl extended a hand to the masked man "I'm Ruby, Ruby Rose." Carmine shook her hand "Carmine Sable, but some call me Titan." He let go of her hand and adjusted his IBA just as a blonde hair girl bear hugged Ruby "Oh, I can't believe my baby sister is going to Beacon with me! This is the best day ever!" Ruby struggled for air "Please stop." Ruby pleaded, the blonde let go of Ruby who took a deep breath in. The blonde noticed Carmine and whispered to her sister "Who's tall, dark, and silent over there?" Carmine overheard her and decided to introduce himself, but stopped to think to himself quickly 'Introduce myself now or keep up the silent, mysterious charade?' He asked himself but rational thought came flooding back like a freight train when he heard Ruby say his name "Oh, that's Carmine but a lot of people call him Titan." Carmine quickly extended his hand and the blonde grabbed it and shook it "Yang Xiao Long." Yang said, introducing herself "Carmine" The rifleman replied.

Their introduction was cut short by a hologram popping up where the news just was "Hello, and welcome to Beacon!" the hologram said. "Who the hell is that?" Carmine asked out loud but only the two girls heard him, "My name is Glynda Goodwitch" the hologram said, "I guess that answers your question." Yang said with a smirk. "You are among the privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy" Carmine walked to the window and looked out over Vale, slowly tuning Glynda out. He was brought back to reality when he heard the other student's gasps of amazement. "Oh, wow! Look, you can see Signal from up here. I guess home isn't too far after all!" Yang wrapped an arm around her sister, "Beacon's our home, now." Just then they heard someone groaning, a blonde haired boy ran by, covering his mouth. "Well…. I guess the view isn't for everyone" Yang said as she rolled her eyes. Carmine chuckled as the airship docked, the blonde boy ran out and emptied his lunch into a nearby trashcan.

Carmine walked behind him and patted him on the back "There there, get it all out; it's alright, you're just nervous."Carmine said as the blonde man finished his upchuck session and regained his composure "Thanks for that, the name's Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue. Ladies love it!" Carmine chuckled a bit "You sure about that?" The hooded man asked, "They will! Well, I hope they will. My mom always said that… never mind" Jaune replied, obviously nervous "Well, I'm Carmine but some call me Titan so you can call me either one, your choice." Carmine said trying to reassure the blonde knight "I like Titan, it's fitting." Jaune said, noting Carmine's appearance "How'd you think I got the nickname?" Carmine said laughing lightly, looking toward the sky. "So, what's with the mask?" Jaune asked, catching Carmine off guard "Huh? Oh, well two reasons: One being that it helps contain a by product of my Semblance and two is it looks cool as fuck!" Carmine said, striking a confident pose. "What's your semblance?" Jaune asked the masked man, "Well, I can make a charged explosive detonation, either directional meaning at something or someone or outward like around me. The longer I use it, the more of my aura it uses up, it's a double edged sword in that it's powerful but if I'm not careful, it'll kill me. The byproduct of my semblance is hot steam which I exhale, the way my semblance basically rearranges the Oxygen and Nitrogen around me and the Carbon inside of me to create an explosive charge that detonates on impact results in hot steam. The longer I charge it, the bigger the blast. I don't intend on seeing how far it can go." Carmine said, taking a deep breath.

Jaune just looked confused "Uh… What?" Jaune asked, to which Carmine just sighed and dropped his head before chuckling lightly "Semblance makes big boom, mouth lets out really hot air." Carmine said trying his best not to sound too condescending. "Oh, gotcha." Jaune said, Carmine patted him on the shoulder. Their little chat was interrupted by a large explosion, Carmine and Jaune ran toward it, Carmine had his MP7 drawn and ready. They arrived where the smoke was clearing, just to find Ruby and a white haired girl covered in soot "I'm really, really sorry!" Ruby said apologetic "Ugh, you complete dolt! What are you even doing here? Aren't you a little young to be attending Beacon? The white haired girl said with frustration in her voice, "Well, I-I uh…" Ruby stammered trying to speak but before she could form a sentence Carmine cut in but Jaune tried to stop him but failed, "Hey Queen Bitch! Why don't you back the fuck off, it was a damn accident, shit happens all the time." Carmine picked up one of the dust crystals and throws it off the edge of Beacon "Now, that wasn't an accident."

The white haired girl looked appalled "How dare you! Do you know who I am?!" She said with anger in her voice "Nope, and I don't think I would want to know the name of the Bitch Queen, Ruler of the land of cunt." Carmine said, bowing sarcastically. "It's heiress, actually. Weiss Schnee, heiress of the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world." This came from a raven haired girl with a bow on her head, "Finally! Some recognition!" Weiss said, smiling smugly. "Oh, shut the fuck up, Q Tip." Carmine said, warranting a death glare from Weiss. "The same company infamous for its controversial labor forces and questionable business partners." Said the girl with the black bow. "Oh Damn, bet that hurts the ego, don't it." Carmine said laughing "Wha- How dare you- The nerve of… Ugh!" Weiss stammered and stormed off. "Later Bitch Queen, I'll keep your throne warm!" Carmine yelled at Weiss.

Jaune was speechless "You spoke to an Heiress like that!? Man, you got some huge balls." Jaune said, dumbfounded. "Eh, it was nothing, I mean someone had to knock her off her high horse, believe me, had the girl with black hair not shown up, I would have said some worse stuff." Carmine said. "Uh, Thanks for standing up for me, Carmine." Ruby said sheepishly "Oh, anytime little red. If anyone starts picking on you, let me know and I'll take care of it." Carmine said to Ruby but she just shook her head "That's what I got Yang for, but I'll keep you as back up, alright?" Ruby said giggling. Jaune coughed a little to get Carmines attention, "Oh shit, my bad man. Uh Ruby, this is Jaune, Jaune this is Ruby." They exchanged hellos with each other and started talking about each other's weapons, meanwhile Carmine walked over to the edge of Beacon and looked out into the distance. 'I made it. I made it to Beacon, Onyx' Carmine thought to himself as he looked up into the sky 'I miss you man, it's not the same without you guys.' Carmine rejoined his new friends "So, where to now?" Ruby asked questioningly "Wait, we were following you." Jaune said, slightly bewildered. Carmine couldn't help but facepalm and chuckle "Follow me, I noticed 'Her Majesty' head that way" Carmine said sarcastically.

Ten minutes later they arrived at the auditorium, filled to the brim with people. "Ruby! Over here! I saved you a spot!" Yang yelled, waving at Ruby. "Oh! Hey, I-I gotta go! I'll see you two after the ceremony!" Ruby said, making her way to her sister. "Hey, wait! Ah, great. Where am I supposed to find another nice, quirky girl to talk to?" Jaune said defeated, he walked into the crowd, unknowingly grabbing the attention of a fiery redhead with emerald eyes, Carmine noticed her attention on Jaune and made a mental note of this "Interesting" he said to himself, joining the crowd. Ozpin got to the microphone "I'll... keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction." Carmine looked around at the other students, who were whispering amongst themselves, he returned his attention to Ozpin who spoke again "You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step." Ozpin turned and left but was replaced by Glynda who made an announcement "You will gather in the ballroom tonight; tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."

Carmine turned to leave but stopped when he saw Jaune talking to Weiss 'Oh Jaune, what are you doing?' He thought to himself shaking his head. He left the auditorium and entered the courtyard, eventually taking a seat on a bench close to the statue in the middle of the campus. Carmine looked around the courtyard, checking to see if the coast is clear; seeing that he was alone he lowered his hood. Undoing the clamps that secured his mask, he removed it and breathed in deep, smelling the air; he exhaled slowly and a white cloud of hot steam came from his mouth.

Carmine opened his eyes and sat the mask down on the bench, his eyes were red but few people had seen them, Carmine thought to himself as he sat in silence 'I guess I should make friends while I'm here, I mean there's Jaune, Ruby, and Yang' his thought was interrupted when someone spoke up "Taking in the scenery, Mr. Sable?" Carmine was caught off guard and looked to see who had addressed him; it was Ozpin, who was holding a mug of coffee, sipping from it. Carmine relaxed at seeing it was just the white-haired man "Man, you can't just sneak up on people like that, I need to put a bell on you or something." Carmine said shaking his head, Ozpin chuckled at his remark before he took a seat on the bench that Carmine was sitting on and addressed the new student "Why didn't you go to the ballroom with everyone else, you can't make friends if you're by yourself." Ozpin asked, obviously concerned for the rifleman's well-being. Carmine sighed and spoke up after a minute of silence "Yea, you got a point but I don't want to accidentally hurt anyone just in case my past catches up with me, I assume you've read my file?"

Ozpin nodded his head "I have Carmine and you don't have to worry about your past, consider your first day here a clean slate." Ozpin said patting Carmine on the back, reassuring him "Now, why don't you go make some friends. You've got a big day tomorrow." Ozpin said leaving the rifleman alone again. "Well, let's do this!" Carmine said to himself as he reattached his mask, testing the steam purge function on the side and lifting his hood back in place on his head. "Oh, before you go, Oz, I just wanted to say thank you for everything you did for her while all that bullshit was going on." Carmine said as he thanked the man for an event that happened years prior. Ozpin nodded his head "Think nothing of it, I should be thanking you and Onyx for protecting Vale." Ozpin said as he walked back toward the rifleman. Carmine was silent as he stared at a statue in the middle of the courtyard, Ozpin pursed his lips as he looked down at his mug before he walked away. The sun shone down through the clouds and gleamed off of his black visor as he slowly stood up and grabbed his gear.

'I wasn't fast enough, I let my ego and anger get to me.' Carmine thought to himself as he mentally kicked himself for events in the past, the rifleman pulled the straps of the backpack over his shoulders and secured his weapons before he made his way to the ballroom where everyone was convened. As he walked under the archway, he stopped for moment as he recalled the girl with the raven-black hair 'Wait a minute... no, there's no way.' Carmine thought to himself as he shook the thought from his head and continued on his way.

Carmine entered the ballroom and noticed it was gender separate, boys on the left and girls on the right. He went to the left and found an open spot next to some other students, he sat against the wall and surveyed the crowd, noticing Ruby and Weiss arguing about something which only made him chuckle 'It seems they got off to a bad start, then again, I did kind of insult her by calling her Queen Bitch' he thought to himself. He was brought to attention when he heard someone sit next to him and speak up "Hey there, how'd your first day go?" Carmine turned his attention to the guy next to him, he had an athletic build to him, semi tan skin, and bluish green eyes. He wore a white shirt with a black long sleeve button up shirt, unbuttoned all the way. Black jeans with red and green stripes going down the sides. He had spiked green hair and a scar over his right eye, "It could have gone better but besides a little argument I got into, I can't complain." Carmine said. The new guy smiled and laughed a little "I'm Celadon!" He said extending his hand outward, "I'm Carmine but some call me Titan." He said, shaking Celadon's hand, "It's nice to meet you, Carmine, and I look forward to working with you." Celadon said to which Carmine nodded "Likewise."

The two new friends looked out over the crowd while talking "You ready for tomorrow?" Celadon asked. "Yea, I've been hoping for a challenge and hopefully this will deliver." Carmine replied, sounding eager for the next day "Well, let's hope we get put on the same team." Celadon said optimistically "I have a feeling we will, but who will the other two be?" Carmine asked wondering who else will be on his team. Carmine looked up and saw there in the rafters of the roof, a spot that would be comfortable but one problem: there was no ladder or stairs, but he put his problem solving brain to work, spotting heavy duty support beams and ledges, all he would need to do was scale the wall, grab the ledge, climb on to the support beam and walk to the spot he saw, simple. He tapped Celadon on the shoulder to get his attention "Hey Celadon, I'm gonna try and make it to that spot there up in the rafters." Carmine said pointing to the spot, Celadon looked at the spot and the course Carmine plotted out only to shrug his shoulders "Good luck." Celadon said. With that Carmine took off his boots so he wouldn't destroy the wall and put them in his backpack which he put back on, now taking off full speed toward the wall, he planted a foot on the wall then leaped into the air and grabbed the ledge, he pulled himself up slowly and carefully sat himself on the ledge that over looked the students, he carefully pulled his boots out and slipped them on. He stood up and slowly walked across the beam, keeping his balance in check by holding on to the rafter for support.

By this time, a small crowd had gathered and were quietly cheering him on, he inched his way to the middle of the beam, looking toward his target; he stepped across a gap to another beam, causing the crowd to gasp softly. He finally made it to the spot and sat in his new temporary throne, taking in the sight below; he leaned back against the wall and pulled out his scroll, the screen lighting up the spot causing Carmine to notice some writing on the roof above him 'Onyx was here' he read it quietly 'Onyx had the same idea, wow. Who knew my brother and I both had the same idea' Carmine thought to himself as he unlatched his mask and placed it in his pack, finally getting comfortable. Tomorrow was a big day, his team would be decided, but how? He would just have to wait and see.

Looking at the writing on the roof again, he couldn't help but smile. He reached into his pack and pulled out a black marker, taking the cap off and writing 'Carmine was here' next to his brother's graffiti. "There, now we both have our mark on this school." He said to himself, putting the marker away. Carmine crawled further into the hidden spot in the wall, stretching out and getting comfortable again, eventually falling asleep.

(A/N: Thank you for reading and I hope you liked it. Let me know what you thought and what I can do better with, [Edit 2020: Decided to rewrite the first chapter and make it flow better.] Remember to Favorite, Follow, and Review. This is Nightmare 6-4 signing off)