"Hope rises like a phoenix from the ashes of shattered dreams..."

~S.A. Sachs...

(Flashback)

An ear shattering scream of a black winged female Faunus echoed through the abandoned village as a man, covered in White Bone-like Knight Armor tightened his grip on her neck all the while sending a surge of blood energy through her. With each passing moment, the female Faunus's screams began to slowly die out as only gasps of desperation were leaving her mouth. Lying on the ground were three badly bruised teenagers, a male with black hair and cat ears, a female with abnormally long black hair and purple eyes and the male in the center, with white hawk wings, white hair, and red eyes. They all looked up in horror as they struggled in futility.

???: "Celeste!" The ravenette female cried out for her teammate as she weakly held her arm out to her.

Faunus Male 2: "Damn it...! Let her go!" The male cat Faunus hissed at the aggressor, with him gritting his teeth and bearing his fangs. As for the final person of the group, the Winged Faunus male, he slammed his fists against the ground and looked up to Celeste, then at the attacker.

??? 3: "P-Please... Please I'm begging you. Let her go. It's me you want, isn't it? Then take me!"

???: "Dairoku!?"

??? 2: "What are you saying you dumbass!?" His two teammates looked at him in shock while the Knight glanced at him slowly.

Knight: "Oh?" He promptly dropped Celeste to the ground, who laid there limply. The other female of the group instantly managed to crawl her way to her and felt a faint pulse from the Winged Faunus Female. Then she and the other male watched as the Knight approached their leader, Dairoku and crouched down before grabbing him by the back of his head and slowly lifting him to stare into his eyes, with his glowing red ones. "You'd sacrifice yourself for that girl over there?"

Dairoku: "I'd do anything. So long as she and all of them are safe from the likes of you." He said without any hesitation and with pure resolve and gritted teeth. The Knight stared at him before he let out a noise, that almost sounded like a laugh as he let go of his head, causing Dairoku to grunt.

Knight: "I like that look in your eyes, boy. Very well. I shall choose you to be my adversary in our duel."

Dairoku: "Duel...?" He watched as the Knight's smoky black cloak suddenly create a sword out of thin air. He tossed the sword in front of Dairoku and took a step back.

Knight: "Take up the sword and duel me. If you defeat me, I'll allow you and your little team to go freely. However, if I win, I'll take you up on that offer and take you with me. Mother surely would love to have a couple of words with you, son of Sparda."

Dairoku stared at him with gritted teeth, as almost immediately, he began to push himself up. Despite his Aura being broken and him already being mostly exhausted already, he had no intentions of backing down. And his teammates could see it in his eyes. Both were too stunned to even say anything.

Dairoku: "Kuraime... Tyros... Make sure Celeste gets the treatment she needs. And... tell her I'm sorry." he said, as he gripped onto the sword's handle.

Kuraime: "D-Dai..." She didn't even fully finish his name before she choked on her own words and looked down, with a few tears forming in the corners of her eyes. Tyros on the other hand was having none of this.

Tyros: "You... You fucking dumbass." He growled.

Dairoku could only smile before he regained his serious expression. Before he could even lift the sword, however, a loud roar rang through the area, followed by a bright blue beam being shot right between the Team and the Knight, creating an explosion that blew them all away from the opposing side.

Dairoku grunted as he opened his eyes and shook his head before seeing a blue shine in the dreadful colored sky. Looking up, Dairoku's eyes widened as he spotted something familiar. A man clad in white armor with a pair of blue energy wings on his back and glowing yellow eyes on his helmet.

The Knight also spotted him and slightly growled under his breath.

Knight: "Reinforcements... A Mythical Beast no less..." He growled before looking back at Dairoku. "We will continue this another time, Dairoku. We will have our duel."

He said before disappearing in a smoky fog, along with the sword that he had given to Dairoku. The Winged Faunus male blinked at the spot the Knight was just at before looking back up to the sky, seeing the man clad in armor cross his arms before an audible "hmph" came from him before he disappeared in a blue flash of light. Dairoku stared for a moment before clenching his fists as he gritted his teeth.

Dairoku: "Raijin..."

He muttered as the sound of Bullheads in the distance became louder each passing second.

(End of Flashback)

During the night in the Kingdom of Vale, Dairoku was spotted, sitting on the edge of the roof top, his eyes closed as the wind blew through his hair. That single memory constantly played through his head but soon, his silence was interrupted by the ringing from the Scroll that was resting next to him on the roof sounded off as the initials, "T.B" appeared on the holographic screen.

T.B: "Dairoku, the target's heading in your direction."

Dairoku: "Mm...? Bet. I'll intercept her and capture her."

T.B: "Got it. I'll join up with you. Don't have too much fun now." He said, earning a scoff from the white-haired male as he rolled his eyes.

Dairoku: "Who do you think I am? Coco?" The two shared a lighthearted laugh as the call ended.

He stood up, slipping his scroll into his pocket before raising his wings. He walked to the edge of the building, near an alleyway, where a figure was dashing through. Immediately, he dived down into it and landed right in front of the person, stopping them in their tracks.

Dairoku: "Alright, you've had your fun. Time to head to bed." He spoke. The person turned out to be a young lady, with green eyes and black hair tied in a twin tail. She stared at him as her eyes widened slightly but she shook her head and grinned at her. "Not much of a talker huh?"

She just smirked as she took out a pink parasol before swiftly charging him. Responding to this, Dairoku grinned slightly as handles popped out of his wings. Grabbing them, he unsheathed two large blades, the right one icy blue and the red one blazing red. Using his right sword, he blocked the female's umbrella, entering a weapon lock with her.

Dairoku: "Interesting weapon choice you've got there. Surprisingly durable too."

She just winked at him before breaking the weapon lock and dealing multiple rapid strikes with her parasol, to which the winged male countered with his own dual wielded slashed of the twin blades. They both were moving around the same speed, with the female having a bit more agility while the male had some more power behind his strikes. She backflipped away from him as flames burst around him and he unleashed two fireballs at her, which she managed to block with her parasol. With flames bursting from his wings, he held down the triggers on the handles of his swords, causing the blue one to be coated in ice and the red one to burst into flames.

Dairoku: "Let's heat things up, shall we?"

He smirked before launching a streak of flames right at her. The silent female leaped onto the side of the wall before wall running towards the Dairoku. She leaped off, flipping gracefully as she crashed her Parasol down on him, however, Dairoku blocked with the ice blade before breaking the weapon lock and kicking her into the wall. Upon contact, her aura flickered pink before she saw Dairoku approaching her, with his red sword sheathed under his right wing.

Dairoku: "Well you were an interesting opponent, girly. I'm not a fan of hitting girls, so I apologize I advance for this." He reared his fist before punching her right in the face. However, once contact was made, she completely shattered, like broken glass, which caught him completely by surprise. "What the hell?" 

Soon after, his scroll began ringing. Looking at the screen once again, he saw that this time it was a group call, with the Group being named "R.C.S.T". Answering it, he placed the scroll in his ear.

T.B: "Did you catch her?"

Dairoku: "Nope. She got away at the last second..." The male on the other side of the phone muttered a 'shit'.  "How are things on your guy's end?"

T.B: "Managed to catch this White Fang Lieutenant. We're at the police station, though he isn't talking yet. Here's hoping the police can get him to talk, without resorting to extreme measures." He ended his sentence with a sigh. With a hum in response from Dairoku, he asked the next person on the call.

Dairoku: "What about you, sis? How's things on your end?" He asked as he then removed the Scroll from his screen, where he saw the response.

Sis: "👍😘"

Seeing her response, the Winged Faunus chuckled and smiled. Then he turned to the final person, who had the initials "K.S". He placed the Scroll at his ear again.

Dairoku: "What about you—" He paused as he swore, he could hear faint chewing from the other side. "Are you eating again?" A slightly stoic female voice responded to his accusation.

K.S: "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Dairoku: "You're hopeless..." he sighed as T.B let's out an amused chuckle. "Anyways, it's getting late now. I'll contact Oz about the situation. Until we get some answers..." A smile formed on his face as he flapped his wings and began to take flight. "How about a night to cool off and chill with Team CFVY?"

T.B: "Sounds good."

Sis: "😊"

K.S: "As long as there'll be meat, I'll be happy."

Dairoku: "You..." 

He sighed and shook his head as the others on the scroll began to laugh. As the winged Faunus was flying away however, he swore he caught a glimpse of a shadow on a nearby roof but just shrugged and disappeared amongst the sea of stars.

However, on said building, was the girl he was just in battle with. However, a pink aura covered her body, suddenly changing her appearance; now her black hair was dual colored, with half of it being brown and the other being pink, same for her eyes. Her clothes also changed, ditching the dress for a more traditional short top and pants. She looked off where Dairoku flew off, her parasol on her shoulder, but she had a conflicting expression on her face...

???: "..."

DAIROKU REIN