RWBY 1. Beginning of the End

**It's Halloween a night of mischief, terror, and diabetes. And on this unholy of nights, I spin for you a tale. A tale of blood and woe, of the trappings within the mind of a madman bent on nothing less than the annihilation of mankind. He is Grimm Incarnate, he is The Darkness Within, he is Johann...and he wants to play.**

Prologue- The Beginning of the End

_We didn't know at the time, but when Knives left that hospital after his incident at the docks, he had already died. That monstrosity that had taken his place was as deceptive as it was cruel. Over the next few months we noticed subtle changes in his behavior that slowly manifested into deeper and darker changes. He left Beacon on a more frequent basis, and at one point Caradin said he swore he saw Knives talking to Roman Torchwick. We ignored it and tried to enjoy the time of our friend as we knew there was less time to enjoy ourselves with the tournament on the horizon and more homework than we knew what to do with. We should have paid more attention, a week before the tournament there was a story about a local research lab being leveled, and only one human body left inside so indistinguishable that the authorities couldn't even get proper dental records off the corpse. We all knew, but said nothing. Knives had finally found Cain, and put him in the dirt. It was the eve of the tournament that it all happened, and our whole world changed._

"Attention all students of Beacon, this is Glynda Goodwitch, we are under direct assault. Please report to the docks for emergency evacuation!" She cried over the loudspeakers, the sounds of explosions and conflict in the background. Luxus rose from his bed as Caradin and Deverou quickly gathered what they could into their duffel bags and grabbed their weapons.

"We gotta move!" Caradin cried as he slung the coffin over his shoulder.

"Where's Knives!?" Luxus called as his teammates turned to his empty bed in horror. Where was their friend?

_We didn't know then, but he had already thrown us in a grave._

"Mr. Blut you are severely overstepping your bounds!" Goodwitch cried as the blood ran from her forehead and dripped gently onto the floor. Johann simply laughed, as Ryzia and Brandon stood on either side of him making sure to remain absolutely quiet.

"I'm overstepping my bounds," He turned to them with a laugh before making a goofy face, "Oh no, I'm in big trouble!" He cackled before turning to Goodwitch, "You know, I never liked you. You were rulesy and bossy and just not a whole lot of fun, I think that's why I'm going to enjoy this." Five tendrils of blood shot from the ring he had carved around his wrist and collided with her glyph as she tried to hold him off. They snaked upwards and around as she raised glyph after glyph to try and shield herself from his wrath. Soon a dome of rippling crimson encased her, though her glyphs held it at bay. "Ryz, how long can a normal human survive in an environment without oxygen?" He asked as he watched her glyphs struggle feebly to push back his blood.

"About 6-8 minutes, depending on how long the subject can hold their breath, and then it depends on how well oxygenated their blood is." She said, not looking away from the sight of Goodwitch's last moments.

"And if they struggle?" He said with a dark sadistic grin on his face.

"A lot less." Brandon replied as he looked away, "Look can we stop this? I'm not getting paid enough to kill a Huntress." He didn't get to continue his thought before Johann's aura infused chainsaw blade made a jagged stump of his neck. Ryzia was covered in blood and turned away from Johann to vomit.

"Easy does it, kitty cat, we need strong stomachs in this line of work." Johann said as he watched the last of the purple light die beneath his crimson orb. "Bingo." The orb closed in around the good teacher, making a dense ball of dark red, leaving just enough room so that her body was immobilized but her head lay just above the sphere. She gasped awake and coughed up his blood trying to get her bearings, no doubt suffering a little high from the lack of oxygen. "Hey there teach," He started, "It's time to wake up now, and watch your students suffer." He moved her to the window where she could see the feeble attempts of the Huntsmen in training trying to fight off the more experienced gangsters and members of the White Fang, only to be gunned down in a hail of bullets or to be carved up by blades, Adam Taurus' white mask practically glowing in the night as he brought down students one after another as he made his way into the school.

"How did you get these people to work for you?" She coughed.

"Oh, it's not that way yet. I just put a little suggestion into their mind, of clearing out their biggest threat and claiming Vale and all it had to offer for their very own. What better for the White Fang to show they mean business by taking down Beacon!" He cried as he hopped up and down, "Plus Roman and his bosses had their own agenda that I've aided temporarily. But at the end of this they will either bow down." He approached her looking her in the eyes, his full of a dark crimson chaos that saw nothing but death, "Or they will die, it's quite simple really."

"You're insane!" She coughed as she spat some blood onto his face.

He looked down at it and simply smiled, "I know." The orb suddenly shot out with spikes, as blood dribbled from Goodwitch's mouth, no doubt from the multiple impalements she suffered in a matter of seconds, she wheezed trying to speak as her eyes pleaded for mercy. Johann brought a finger to her lips shushing her as he drew his kilij and slowly sawed through her neck, "It'll all be over soon."

_It was the first of many casualties among Beacon's staff, next came Professor Port, who was chained down and mauled by Grim, then Professor Oobleck whose legs were broken and then he was hung from a post, then Professor Ozpin, who brought down many attackers in his attempt to hold them back. But in the end Johann ended his life too, beheading him on his own desk. But he didn't stop there, we were lucky to survive. At least luckier than most._

"Oh my god, did you see the front? They gunned down anyone trying to get to the airships. Anyone who did was just blown up." Jaune said as he began to panic. Luxus had found his friends and had tried to make it out of the Academy with them all. He had gotten separated from Edan and Pyron, but he was sure they'd made it out safe. Currently he was with Team RWBY and JNPR as they thought of a way to escape.

"If we head to the Emerald Forest, we can wait there until this all subsides, then we can work our way through Forever Fall back into Vale and try to hide out there until this all blows over." Blake said as she looked at the map of Vale and diagrammed her plan to everyone else.

"It just might work," Pyrrha added, "but we must move quickly if we are to avoid capture and successfully escape."

"It sounds like a plan to me!" Caradin said as he shouldered his weapon and they all took off down the hallway only to come face to face with a strange man in a white mask.

"Blake." He said as he gripped his blade tightly in rage.

"Adam." She replied as she shook, "We can't fight him."

"The hell we can't!" Yang said as she extended her gauntlets and Caradin prepared for combat with her. Just then Zero blocked their path with Ellone and Sarais.

"Get moving! We'll hold him off." Zero said as he drew his katana and got into a stance.

"He'll kill you!" Blake screamed as Ruby and the others began to run the other way, dragging Blake with them.

"Come back to us alive!" Luxus cried to his friend. As Zero smiled and gripped his blade tighter, the sweat running from his brow.

"Sensei." He said as he faced the man who struck more terror in his heart than he could fathom.

"Welp." The man growled as he readied himself to strike them down.

_That would be the last time I would see Zero, or Ellone's smile for that matter._

Luxus continued down the hall with the others at his heels, the sound of conflict behind them as Sarais screamed out in pain and they tried to ignore it. They rounded the corner and were faced with a horrible sight, David and Carlos lay broken and bloody on the floor, their eyes lifeless as two people stood in the hallway. One was a woman with orange hair and red eyes, she wore black armor over an red leather jacket and black jeans. On her chest plate was a red boar. The man next to her was rather skinny, with black hair and yellow eyes, wearing nothing but a pair of baggy white sweatpants and a set of red goggles. His hands were a dark red hue, like fresh blood, as was the areas around his mouth. "Do you have to eat them you disgusting fuck!?" The woman cried, gripping her X-21 Chain blades tightly.

"Unlike you Scarlet, I don't have to watch my figure. Besides, I'm starving since I had to actually fight, normally you can kill them on your own, but I had to burn calories doing this." He said as he grotesquely munched on a piece of raw meat that Luxus wished he didn't know where it came from. Jaune vomited next to them as they all turned to him in sudden shock as the two people at the end of the hall looked their way.

"Ugh, more people to kill, although," He said as he eyed Yang and licked his lips drooling a bit, "She does look tasty." He said absently.

"Just make sure that I get to have my fun first!" The woman called as she grinned wickedly.

"Sorry ma'am, you'll have to settle for us." Rory said as he and Bertilak walked up, dragging a dead gangster behind them.

Luna walked up with them, "Xich got Runa out safely Rory, now let's kick these fools asses!" She said grinning, before Bertilak clubbed his brother over the head stunning him as he blinked to try and regain his surroundings.

"Bertilak, don't." He said before his brother delivered another good blow rendering him unconscious.

Bertilak turned to Ruby, "Please get him out of here." He pleaded, his eyes ready to fill with tears.

Two more people rounded the corner, a man in a long black robe with golden trim and shaggy black hair with a blue eye and a green eye, and a woman in a bright golden dress splotchy with blood and wild white blonde hair, she bounced energetically.

"More people! I wonder if they'll be able to satiate my lust!" She cried.

"Easy there Dani, these people are hardly worth my time, but feel free to enjoy yourself." He said as he swished his hair back with his hand.

She pouted, "It's no fun if you don't play Jet!"

"We'll entertain ya." Mason said as he spun his daggers and Lee walked with them. "Hey Safe, make sure to get Ora out of here and take Rory with you." He said as he nodded to Deverou and winked at Yang.

"B-but." Safe began before Lee threw Rory his way and fixed his leader with a stern gaze.

"Survive Safe, you always do." He said with a warm smile before looking at his prospective opponents, "So Luna, Bertilak, you guys called dibs yet? Cause I think I'll take the skinny guy."

"Then I guess I'll take bouncy." Luna said as the girl in question bounced with madness.

Bertilak looked at Scarlet, "She's mine."

Mason turned to the man in the robe, "I get pretty boy?"

He grinned, "I would have loved to fight the Moonstream, but Suzuki's are rarer. You are worthy of me." He said as they all prepared to face off.

_More fuel for the fire that night, as more bodies added to the count. We ran as far as we could to try and drown out the screams all around us, remembering the others bravery. Safe split from us and took his own way out of Beacon, and when we saw him and Ora again he would never be the same. His innocence had died, and he had become colder._

Luxus ran towards the cliffs, pointing to the launch pads, "Come on, we'll use those to get down just like the Initiation!" He cried, to a sigh from Jaune. He looked further down the way and saw Knives standing there as if he was waiting for them. "Knives!" He yelled to his friend, filled with ecstasy. It happened in a flash, he barely had time to take it in. Ryzia was among them, and her fist collided with Luxus' head and sent him flying into a rock where he hit his head even harder, the world blurred around him, and that's when he blacked out.

_I never knew what was coming next, if I had I never would have let them get the drop on me. The burden's on Ruby's mind, on everyone's mind from what they saw; it's too much._

Ruby watched Luxus go flying before his head lolled limp. Deverou cried out, before she vanished and appeared behind him. She battered him with her Dust woven gauntlets, and once his aura was weakened she slammed him down over her knee shattering his spine as he cried out in agony and rolled on the ground. Ruby looked to her team as they all prepared to fight Ryzia and JNPR were ready to attack her as Caradin reared back to smash her skull in with his axe, before an arm with a crimson glow and red talons shot through his chest. No one else noticed, but she saw him, Knives was there smiling as Caradin gagged and choked as blood poured from his chest. Jaune ran over to try and aid him, before Knives' blade came down and met Jaune's shield as they began to clash. It was chaos then, as Cinder ran out with Mercury and Emerald to attack them. Blake saw Torchwick and rushed him immediately engaging him as Weiss attacked Emerald and Yang took on Mercury, Cinder shot fire at Ruby and she slashed through them with her scythe. Adam joined the fray taking on Nora and Ren and keeping them from aiding their comrades.

Pyrrha ran to aid Jaune, and Ryzia jumped in to fight her and keep her back since she didn't use any metal in her weapons. Knives increased his ferocity on Jaune driving him back into a corner and battering him relentlessly as Pyrrha tried to fight off Ryzia. Knives finally brought the blade down on Jaune's face, splitting his head partially as Pyrrha screamed out his name and shoved her way over to Jaune through Ryzia who looked to Knives as he simply grinned at Pyrrha's approach. She reached out with her aura trying to funnel it into Jaune the same way she had activated it that day in the Emerald Forest as Jaune's wounds began to close and her aura began to fade. She panted weakly once the deed was done and Jaune lay there with a large scar from his encounter, but as she lay there weakened Knives plunged his blade through her abdomen and lifted her from the ground as the blood escaped from her torso and mouth. Knives stood there in full bloody glory as he held Pyrrha off the ground and let her blood drip onto Jaune until he slowly blinked awake and let out an ear shattering scream. Knives laughed wickedly and grabbed Pyrrha by her throat and threw her over the cliff. Jaune ran after her, throwing her javelin and pinning her sash to a tree, before Knives kicked him off and watched him plummet through the air. Nora slammed her hammer into Adam and ran up screaming to drop her hammer on Knives with Ren at her back, before Ryzia intercepted Ren and tried to occupy him. Nora dropped the hammer, and Knives grabbed it, beating her left and right with his blood tendrils. She gritted her teeth and fired her weapons' explosives as Knives twisted the pole so the projectile would strike Ren square in the chest, Ryzia ducked and he had little time to raise his aura before the projectile struck him.

"Ren!" Nora cried as Knives slung her off her hammer and dropped it on her multiple times firing the projectile until she was broken without any aura to defend her. He tossed her weapon aside and slung her towards the cliff as Ren rose rapidly and dove to save her. Knives simply plunged his blade through Ren's back nicking his spinal cord, stabbing down then up as he made sure to pierce Nora's heart before throwing them off to the side to let them both die. Ren picked up Nora, his hands shaking out of fear and pain, "Hey, hey don't do this to me. Nora!" He said as he cradled her body.

Blood dribbled from her mouth as she looked him weakly in the eyes, "Kraa!" She coughed.

He smiled as tears filled his eyes, "Sloths don't sound like that silly."

Her arm shook as she raised it to his nose and tapped it gently, as her arm then fell limp beside her, "Boop." She wheezed as all light faded from her eyes. Knives stepped forward and kicked her corpse off the cliff as Ren turned to him, his pink aura crackling with rage.

"Bastard!" He cried as his arms were a flurry of jabs and swipes as Knives dodged them easily and punched him in the sternum. Ren coughed and fixed him with a look of sheer hatred as Knives laughed.

"Yes, remember this pain as you die!" He cried as he kicked Ren in the face sending him over the cliff. Ruby looked away from Cinder as she focused on Knives and his cruelty.

He laughed wickedly, coated in the blood of the people he once called friends. A red blur tore it's way through the air as the blunt end of Ruby's scythe collided with his head, and sent him flying into the rock next to Luxus. He rose, the blood trickling from his head and turned to face RWBY who readied themselves to kill a person they once called friend, Weiss drawing back and getting into the stance to rush at Knives. A bat collided with her as the man known as Junior approached with his allies in tow. Weiss flew through the air and used a glyph to stop herself, unfortunately she was now in Knives' range. He gripped her by her throat squeezing tightly as she trashed and gurgled trying to get air. He took the blood from his head and formed a claw over his right index finger. He slowly plunged it into her flesh to the right of her belly button, as she screamed. He did this again and again until he had made seven marks across her torso and she lay unconscious. He then coated his fist with the blood and hardened it as he slammed the fist into her head, a crack being heard throughout the cliff. Ruby cried out for her comrade and Yang exploded in pure fury, Blake being the first however to rush him.

_I heard the sound of thunder, the scent of gunsmoke, and the laughter of a madman. From what I heard from Ruby they were already outnumbered nine to four. What with Ryzia, Roman, Cinder, Adam, Emerald, and Mercury being there and the sudden addition of Junior, Miltia, and Melanie. But as Blake engaged Knives to avenge her fallen comrade she was apparently intercepted by Adam and the teacher and student fought. Yang tried her best to take on all of them, but even her fury couldn't beat that of the Sin of Wrath, Scarlet. Ruby tried her hardest to take Knives alone, he even told the others to leave the fight between them, but that man is a monster. If only I hadn't been out of the fight I could have done more._

When he awoke he looked around, as Yang was gripped tightly by the creepy people from earlier as they all tried to hold her down, her hair lighting up the night as her pain and rage made her a formidable opponent. Knives held Ruby by her throat and Adam had Blake beneath his boot. Cinder stood next to Junior and his twins, Roman Torchwick, and Emerald and Mercury. "I'm sorry to do this Ruby, but" He began laughing, "Can't even try to say that with a straight face." He said as he threw her to the ground. She tried to stand and he just repeatedly stomped on her left leg as it cracked and splintered, she screamed with pain as he did the same to her right arm. Yang screeched with fury as she started to burn her captor, Knives twitched angrily before he marched over and got in Yang's face and yelled back at her before slapping her, "Shut the fuck up!" He turned to the woman in the dress, "Torch her arms, I want her to suffer." Yang screamed as the woman seared her arms, giving them third degree burns. They dropped her to the ground and she cried, and then Knives motioned and Scarlet threw her over the cliff. He turned his attention back to Ruby and drove his hand into her side as he ripped out her kidney, at which point she blacked out from the pain and blood loss. He began to tears pieces of her organs out as Blake yelled profanities at him. He got angry once more and approached her, and ripped one of her ears off. It was a jagged tear, so Luxus was forced to watch the once beautiful feline ear be reduced to a furry, bloody stub.

"You fucking psycho!" Adam yelled as he readied to strike the man down, only for the four who had been holding Yang to immediately center in on him.

"She betrayed your kind and sucked up to the Schnee, your antagonizers!" He cried, "Now I am making sure she is Faunus no more so you all can bury the bitch!" He screamed as he ripped off her other ear. He picked her up by her hair as she looked at him with loathful eyes. "I don't like your eyes." He said before ripping them out violently. She screamed and once more was hurled from the cliff. Luxus looked around and didn't see Caradin or Deverou, and assumed they'd met the same fate. He went back to Ruby once more who had regained consciousness and rolled onto her stomach trying to crawl away. He planted a foot on her back and leaned in close, as she looked up at him with a horrible hate filled eye. He ripped it out and she screamed as he threw her from the cliff himself and approached Luxus. Luxus looked at his friend and shot out suddenly grabbing Knives by the throat. Knives panicked and sliced Luxus' arm off as his friend screamed. Luxus turned around and in an instant lost his left eye. He screamed even more as Knives prepared to kill his teammate and best friend, before Ironwood's special forces arrived. Penny ran up and impaled Knives with her blades as her eyes were full of fury at the loss of her friend Ruby. Knives wheeled around as she tried to hold him steady with her wires, but he fought against it, grabbing her wires and yanking her over to him where he grabbed her skull. As Adam and the others fought off the Vale police, easily crushing them and their elite soldiers, Knives drew back and slammed Penny's skull into the ground. He did it again and again until he was holding just a mass of ruined metal and a limp body. He turned to face Luxus, and Luxus fled, full of fear. He ran and threw himself off the cliff, using his Kinesis to slow his descent to the floor below where he blacked out.

He awoke the next morning to murmurs and a cry of, "He's awake!" He looked up to see Sun and Pyron standing over him as the others were being treated. Jaune sat against a tree with his head cradled in his knees while Newt and Ora put a sheet over Nora and Pyrrha's limp bodies. Ren cried out and tried to stop them, but was too weak and Safe just held him there. Edan and Mary bandaged Yang's arms and Blake's head, being very gentle with the nubs of her ears, as they tried desperately to hold it together. Caradin sat there wheezing, as Rory outfitted him with circuitry to replace the majority of his heart. Xich showed rare emotion as he cried feverishly, as Ragnar lifted Deverou, who could no longer walk, and Odette carried Weiss, who had yet to wake up. Ellone cried next to him as she sobbed, "Why me!? Why did I survive!?" He looked finally to Ruby, the girl Knives' had loved more than anything, as Runa tried desperately to keep her alive. He looked to his stump of a left arm, and felt the eye-patch over his right eye before gritting his teeth. Knives, no, Johann, would pay.

_We had lost so much that day, friends, pieces of ourselves, a home. But we gained resolve, righteous fury, and an enemy we would bring down no matter the cost. That day we formed the resistance, as Vale slowly became a Haven for the Corrupt, and Johann sat on the throne of Beacon. The White Fang obeyed because he gave them weapons for their war, Roman kneeled because he gave him a limitless supply of Dust and workers to mine it, and the strange people who followed him shared his sick conviction to chaos and madness. But we would topple that throne, and see him slain._

_ -Luxus Rayfor von Würfel, Head of the Resistance. Chronicling the Fall of Vale._

**I hope you enjoyed our little AU, and I can say expect a new chapter each month chronicling the descent into madness and death that is the life of Johann and Luxus, once friends now they are bitter enemies devoted to the sole destruction of the other. It is a day for celebration and awe as we anxiously await the next chapter in their struggle, and as always...Happy Halloween! Also, if anyone wants to do fanart for this, I'd love to see a deranged and blood soaked Johann.**


	2. In the Wake of Destruction

**Okay, so all that writing and revising has been a bitch. Plus work, school, finals, family, holidays, fuck me...Sorry I'm venting...but it's Johann time! :3 So when we last left off it was slaughter, slaughter, and oh right, more slaughter. But this time we get some fresh faces, new badass outfits that give that post-apocalyptic punk style, and Luxus looks like white Nick Fury basically...with hair! So embark on the madness train with me! Choo Choo!**

Chapter 1- In the Wake of Destruction

_ When it all happened, we were stunned to say the least, and it only got worse from there. The Vale police and other militant forces tried to hold back Johann's forces, but the Numbers and Sins proved too powerful with their backing from the White Fang. Cain's experimental soldiers served Johann's purpose as he asserted his regime over the area and turned Vale into a militant state. It was patrolled soon by White Fang and android soldiers and a curfew was instated. Things changed quickly after that, as people suspected of being rebels were dragged out into the street and made examples of. First to go up were Sun's team, after they raided a White Fang checkpoint. Only Sun and Neptune survived, but they were never the same. Neptune had to rebuild his arm from spare parts we could scrounge up and made a replacement eye from spare parts for his gun. It was a long time before things even remotely settled, but once we had a firm grip on a plan we began to act._

Ren's hands shook violently as he held the pistol as tightly as he could and still had trouble with the target. They were in the basement of the Rayfor summer home in the Upper Class District of Vale, it was long since abandoned and easy for Johann's troops to ignore once it had been ransacked. Fighting could be heard off in the distance as Johann's troops held fast the frontline around Vale. Ren fired the gun, weakly popping off a few stray shots before the gun dropped from his hands to the ground. "That's enough." Luxus said as he descended the stairs to look upon this refugee camp he held in his basement. The mansion was a good enough place to hide, and since they had recently dug into the sewer system they had established a sort of catacombs for travel. He looked around at the crushed faces changed by what had happened in the past seven weeks.

"I can do it!" Ren cried as he knelt down to pick up the gun before Jaune planted his foot on it and glared at him.

"You can barely stand for over thirty minutes, you just need to give up on shooting. Leave the fighting to those who can still stand." He said as he picked up the gun and tossed it to Luxus who holstered it. Everyone had changed so much since what had happened, Jaune the most of all. He bore a rugged scar across his face as he had let his hair grow out and tied them back in a short spiky blonde ponytail. He had Pyrrha's sword sheathed on his back, as he had altered his shield's shape into a sort of arrowhead shape so that when it compressed it held the blade well. The shield kept it's emblem as the leather belts that held it in place converged across his chest on the old pin Pyrrha kept on her belt. He had put steel greaves and bracers painted white like the rest of his armor on, as the chest piece he wore now bore his emblem, while his shoulder guards were different sizes as the one on his right was round and bore Pyrrha's emblem. He carried a more rugged appearance now, and practiced every day in combat against just about everyone. Ren wore a green robe with a lotus on the back as gold dragons went down the sleeves, since his mobility now a days wasn't as good he took more of a desk job. One thing he did, that Luxus advised against right after everything went down was head to a tattoo parlor and get Nora's emblem tattooed across his back, and 'boop' on his right forearm.

Luxus himself had changed, as he still wore his jacket on his shoulders, after what happened to Neptune they hadn't been fortunate to come across enough parts for prosthetics for him, and Luxus insisted they'd only slow him down, Luxus settled with what he had and trained his semblance. His clothing had not changed, but he now wore some armor on his right arm with a shoulder guard and a bracer. And beneath his shoulder holsters he wore some Kevlar, with a set of knee guards and greaves. He wore an eye-patch and had tossed his hat a while ago as his ponytail had grown longer. He looked over to Caradin who had changed as well. He wore a beige duster and his father's dog tags, while he wore no shirt exposing the arc weld reactor powered pacemaker that kept him alive, originally it was rather weak, but Neptune had incorporated some of the same tech as his weapon to make it run more efficiently. He kept the same camo cargo pants and beanie with combat boots, but now his hair was a shaggy mane and he wore a scruffy goatee.

He looked around the room at the survivors, Edan and Mary changing their appearances as she now wore a purple hoodie beneath her leather jacket, and a set of jeans and tennis shoes so she could travel faster. She had also cut her hair into a shorter style that she had spiked. Edan now wore a denim jacket and a grey T-shirt with a set of black cargo pants and boots. He had taken a few more scars since Beacon and was almost always frowning now a days. Runa wore jeans and boots with a tube top and a black coat, while Rory wore his white tank top and black cargo pants with a green denim jacket with the sleeve's ripped off. He heard movement behind him as Blake descended the stairs in her new attire. She wore a black beret and her old top, but now she wore a black coat from one of Johann's officers she'd killed. She wore black pants instead of her stockings and wore boots instead of heels now; a set of sunglasses adorning her face to cover up the empty sockets of her eyes.

"How is Ruby's progression?" She asked, no doubt sent by Yang, in these seven weeks their recovery had been slow, but Ora had been teaching Blake how to use her other senses to find her way around.

"Hey Blake!" Ruby cried, waving from her cot with a smile on her face. Odette sat by her side, wearing her new sky patterned dress beneath her lab coat as she assumed role of the group's doctor. Ruby sat in a hospital gown, her arm and leg now encased in black and steel colored gauntlet and boot. She wore an eye-patch with a rose stitched on it.

Blake sat next to her, "Feeling any better?" She said placing her hand on Ruby's side, resting it on the metal plate that kept her friends organs inside.

"Oh yeah, Odette says I'm not good enough to do heavy lifting yet, but she's got me doing some physical therapy to get accustomed to my new limbs." She said, "Although, I guess they're not new, just different."

Blake smiled, "Well try not to think too hard about it, okay?"

"What's with all the doom and gloom? You need to start your mornings off with a Yang!" The yellow haired girl cried as she hopped down the stairs with a smile. It was quiet, "Still nothing? Damn. Hey Ruby!" She called as she walked over. Her arms were still coated in bandages, but she wore her old outfit with pride. The only difference was that now she wore a set of metal boots and black knee socks with her emblem on them. Caradin had redesigned Ember Celica so that she could use her feet instead. The nerves from her elbow down were shot so she had to carefully fight now, as she trained a whole new style now. Caradin had even put a few mods in her boots to use on her enemies. Luxus smiled at his allies who had stayed strong through it all. Ellone and Ragnar entered from the south tunnel with Neptune and Sun. Neptune kept his cool demeanor and style, only removing the sleeve near his cybernetic arm. Sun wore a black jacket with gold trim and pants that matched. He exposed his chest like always and wore his cocky smile.

"Guess we didn't miss much?" He asked as Ragnar moved across the room and dropped the rucksack of food they had gathered.

"Ruby and Weiss' medicine is in here as well." The big man wore a rust colored jacket and exposed his bare chest while he wore jeans and boots. Ellone instead wore a pink t-shirt and a set of black shorts and beige knee boots.

"It was super hard, they're really stepping up patrols out there." She said as Newt ran down the stairs, wearing her usual jeans and white tank tap, with her green long sleeved blouse over it.

"Has anyone seen Pyron or Safe?" She asked as Ora followed her down the stairs in her jeans and hoodie.

"I saw, well felt, them leave earlier." Ora said. "Sounded like they were going to raid an armory."

"Those fucking idiots." Luxus said as he motioned for Jaune, Caradin, Edan, and Ragnar to follow him. "You guys head out after them. Ragnar you take Jaune and Edan with you, as Ora can track them with Caradin and Newt. Get Blake and Yang to take the catacombs and try to monitor troop movement. I want everyone to fan out and keep your nose to the ground. I'm going to get Xich." He ran upstairs and stopped at the door opening it slowly. Deverou sat in his wheelchair wearing a black shirt and a set of grey sweatpants, his hair neatly cut into a short style as he no longer wore his eye-patch. He fixed Luxus with his heterochromatic eyes and smiled.

"Hey Luxus, still no change." He said as he looked at Weiss who wore a medical gown and was hooked to a breathing machine. "Looking for Xich?" He gestured towards the window where his cousin stood guard.

"Xich we need you." He said.

"No." The man replied not breaking his gaze.

"What? We need you!" Luxus urged placing his hand on his friend's shoulder.

He shrugged him off violently as he wheeled to Luxus, "I have orders! Protect the Schnee at all costs, and I failed! I failed my clan, my cousin, and my oath! In a swift few seconds I lost two people precious to me, so you tell me how you need me, please!"

"Never mind," Luxus said as he turned to leave, "Stay vigilant soldier."

He took the steps two at a time as he worked his way downstairs to reach the main hall. It was empty without everyone there, so he sat and he waited. He counted four hours before Pyron and Safe walked through the front door. Safe was different as he now wore a green denim jacket and black tank top with blue jeans and sneakers. Pyron looked the same, except now his long hair was pushed back with a fire patterned headband. The others quickly filed behind him as they entered angrily. Luxus stormed up to Pyron, "The fuck were you thinking!?"

"I was thinking instead of hiding in a hole like pussies we take the fight to him!" He yelled, "But obviously when I do something it's just wrong!" He stormed off with Safe in tow. Luxus rubbed his temples and moved back down to the basement to look at the few downstairs who were making by with what they had. He had to find a way to take the fight to Johann.

_ However, I knew it wouldn't be easy I had no idea how far his reach already extended as he had slowly been slipping his agents out of Vale even before the initial assault. His network spread to other kingdoms and towns as they caused small acts of chaos or just gave him a vast intel network across Vale and beyond. He was planning to make war last forever, and he had been planning more into the future than we had._

Johann sat at his piano, he wore a red dress shirt and black dress pants as his fingers methodically hit the keys as he began to start playing Moonlight by Ludwig Beeter, as a member of the White Fang played a violin accompaniment slowly and beautifully. The violin shrieked and Johann's hands stopped, "What was that?"

"Uh, I'm sorry, my hand slipped," He said, "Can we take a break?"

Johann smiled and rose, walking up to him and gently placing his hand on his shoulder. "Of course, you've been working hard, and are no doubt very tired. Go treat yourself to some Limoncello, and a nice roasted fish, we'll take five."

The man smiled and handed the violin to Johann who set it down and grabbed the bow firmly. He snapped it over the man's head when he turned his back and Johann took the wooden shards and continuously rammed them into the man's flesh and he screamed and thrashed trying to get free, hitting Johann, as Johann held fast until he was just stabbing a lifeless corpse over and over again, it flopping with a sickening thump each time the wood pierced his body. Ryzia entered and ran up quickly stopping him from stabbing the man anymore and as Johann wheeled around and smacked her to the floor he stood enraged and covered in blood, "It was wrong!" He screamed as he pointed accusingly at the man's body, before becoming rather depressed and slumping into his lounge chair, "It was wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong." He said as he sunk his head into his hands, "Oh, why did it have to be wrong, the music was so beautiful until then. But now I hear that shriek in my head every time I try to remember that beautiful tune!" He said slamming his fists into his temples with a yell before stopping and giving an exasperated sigh, "I need to play it again, no mistakes." He handed Ryzia the instrument and a new bow as he sat at his piano and got ready to play.

"Sir!" A member of the White Fang cried as he burst through the door.

"WHAT!?" He roared standing suddenly, "Can't you see I am busy!"

The man surveyed the room and gulped before speaking softly, "Um, the northern armory was attacked today and we weren't able to get a clear shot of who did it, but they were well trained and well armed."

"What!?" Johann yelled standing, "Better than our men?"

"Yes sir, I'd put their level on that of a Hunter." He finished quickly.

"That good huh?" Johann said as he pondered this, "Have all the men at that post re-stationed here to headquarters and station new troops there," He thought briefly before a smile crept across his face, "Oh and rig the building to explode. If the rebels come back there will be quite the surprise." He smiled.

"Explosives, sir?" He asked.

"Did I stutter? Go now!" He yelled as the man ran from the room. Johann smiled and took the violin from Ryzia, "You can leave, this will be a solo now." He strummed the violin and tuned it before playing the instrument slowly. These rebels would be fun.

_ After the first raid I urged caution and told them not to go to that armory again, I knew he would have something planned so I kept them away. Sure enough someone else tried to break in and we watched as the armory went up in flame and smoke. Pyron never questioned me again after that and although we were saddened by the loss of life, we were just glad it wasn't us. It's when we realized that survival was more important, after that we also realized the value of a sacrifice and we knew we would no longer go back to the innocent days we once shared._

**Okay, as much fun as that was let's get serious. I've got some revisions coming to RWBY: Darkness Within, and I've already revised chapters 26-31 so please go back and read them and enjoy them. Review this and review that and make the review train rain down...with orphans!**


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