"Y/N?" Ruby asked behind his door, in her uniform alongside with RWBY and JNPR. "Are you still there?"

The silence was their only answer and concern filled their hearts. Ever since Forever Falls and the appearance of Loki, Y/N has been slightly distant.

Sure he may act normal but they can see the look on his face when someone mentions about Loki and the encounter and worried for him. Especially since he thought that person was dead. Ren and Nora would also be like that if there was another survivor like them.

"What's taking him so long? We're gonna be late." Weiss asked, checking the time on her Scroll.

"Weiss..." Ruby stopped the heiress from harassing him any further

"Yeah! It's not like he's gone, right?" Nora joked slightly on the matter.

They stared at the door for a while longer when Nora joked about Y/N not being there and not answering. "You don't think?" Blake asked, slightly concerned.

"He wouldn't, right. I mean, come on it's Y/N we're talking about. There's no way." Jaune laughed at the thought until Loki popped in his head. "...Right?"

Pyrrha tried to open his door and found it locked. Worry filled her head and tried to open it. "Y/N? Are you in there? Hello?!"

"Y/N?!" Ruby banged at his door several times but no response.

"That's it!" Yang cracked her knuckles and activated her Semblance to punch the door to the other side of the room. "Come on out, you prick!"

"YANG!" Ruby chastised her sister about breaking into someone's privacy. "How could you?!"

"Well, he wasn't answering so might as well open it ourselves." When they looked around, they released a sigh of relief. "Thankfully, he isn't here."

"Yes, we can see that. But why?" Weiss asked the blonde brawler.

"We don't know. Spread-out, maybe there's a clue on what happened to Y/N." Jaune then moved around the room, keeping an eye out for clues.

Everyone nodded and searched the room. The room wasn't anything special; if it had a word, it would be Spartan. Y/N never really had a reason to just 'Decorate' with posters or special drapes, Nah. Best he could put up was memories.

"Hey, guys." Ren said out loud to everyone, holding a small card. "I think I know where he might be."

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Thank you for buying our products, come again." The bell chimed, indicating the group of people leaving from the bakery. Y/N sighed and leaned at the counter, looking ahead.

Ever since Akechi appeared, Y/N thought if there were others like him. Victims of shadows or pawns discarded from the game. Like Adachi or those cultists. Perhaps they are here, causing havoc or awaiting the trigger. And he was it.

Since then, his mind cluttered and confused. Fortunately, {Gamer's Mind} helped him keep his cool. If 'Akechi' is here, does that mean that Shido is here as well? Or someone worse than him? He would surely shit himself if Yaldabaoth, Izanami or Nyx appeared and all wanted a piece of him.

Sighing, he heard the bell go off and put on his customer smile. "Welcome to Monty's, how can I help you?"

"Y/N?" Ruby asked the cashier, as he widened his eyes upon seeing Ruby.

"Ruby?" From there, he saw the entirety of RWBY and JNPR wearing casual clothes. "How did you guys find this place?"

Ren moved to the front and presented him with a card. Picking it up, he saw it was a business card for Monty's. "It was a rough guess but Officer Alex confirmed it."

Breathing out to his nose, Y/N kept the card in his pocket. Ruby looked away for a bit before gathering her courage. "Y/N? Why are you so..."

"Distant?" Y/N finished her and looked around the store. There were no customers right now and Belle was out buying ingredients for the upcoming Vytal Festival so he pretty much had the entire store to himself.

"We didn't see you in class today. Professor Goodwitch said you had to take the day for yourself." Weiss commentated on the day. "Even Headmaster Ozpin agreed to it. So it better be worth it to miss a day of education."

"Jeez, chill out Ice Queen." Yang teased the heiress which made her fuming in anger.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Pyrrha asked him, putting her hand on his shoulder. "You can talk to us about it if you want?"

Y/N merely looked away when he felt her touch and sighed. Grabbing her hand, he nodded. That was the sign everyone took the seats near them with Y/N sitting far from them.

"... You want to know my relationship with Loki, right?" Y/N asked the group, knowing that the topic is going to be it.

"Who was he?" Blake asked. "Do you know him at all?"

Y/N shook his head in answer. "No. No, I don't think so. But when I saw him, I... froze."

"Froze?" Blake looked at her companions, also having the same shocked faces.

"I may act reliable but I'm still human so it isn't so common when you come face to face to someone you thought was dead." Ruby and Yang glanced at each other and nodded at his words.

"And I assume Loki isn't his actual name," Weiss asked, hearing the name uttered by his mouth. "What was it again? Akasi? Akeshin?..."

"Akechi." Y/N corrected Weiss as he crossed his hands and stared at the table. "His name is Akechi."

"'Akechi', huh? I'll look into it." Weiss surprised the entire group, looking at her like she grew a second head. "What? I can be nice, sometimes."

Yang then asked him another question. "Anything else other than a name? Maybe you remembered something else from your past?"

He shook his head again. "No. I'm sorry but that's all I can remember. Anything else is- Aaahh." He gripped his head in pain, trying to remember memories.

Ruby was about to help but Y/N held out his hand towards her as the pain slowly stopped. "You need something to drink?" Ren asked the tortured teen, ready about to stand up.

"No, No. Thank you. It's gone now."

"What was that guy's deal with you? Sounds like you killed him or something?" Jaune remembered the conversation and deduced something bad had happened to get this kind of reaction.

"I... don't know Jaune. But, whatever it is, I was very sure. I was sure Akechi had died."

"And how do you know that?" Blake countered to his answer.

"I don't. I just knew he was dead." How would he explain his death at all? And where would he start? The Cognitive World? Phantom Thieves of Heart? His position? History?

"Y/N." Ruby then asked him, eyes filled with concern. "What will happen now? Are you going to be OK?"

Sighing again, he smiled and rubbed affectionately at her head. "I'm fine Ruby, thank you for being here with me. Take's a lot of my mind."

"Yeah, well. We don't have anything else to do after school so..." Yang awkwardly coughed at her fist.

"What happens now?" Pyrrha asked.

A sigh escaped his lips, as Y/N looked to the ceiling. "I don't know, Pyrrha. But we should keep our eyes and ears open. Loki may have retreated but he will be back." He then looked at RWBY and JNPR with serious eyes, making them flinch slightly on how dangerous they were. "If you have contact on him, stall. Stall for as long as you can until I can get to you via Scroll. So please, try to be safe."

Glancing around, Y/N saw everyone nod. They all now know how powerful he truly is, from his demonstration at the Forever Falls and that 'Mist' form he takes on as well as the energy spikes which destroyed a few trees near them. "Tell us next time, OK?" Jaune said. "We're your friends, right?"

"Of course, Jaune. I will."

"Man, wish I could have a day off," Yang whined. "Port suddenly gave us a pop-quiz. The worst time to sleep."

"That's what you get for not paying attention," Weiss said to the brawler of the group.

A small smile crept to his face and Y/N just relished the comfort he was in. In his previous life, even when he was in slight danger, his 'so-called' friends barely do anything. Friends you can depend on, like RWBY and JNPR... make's him wish they were real back in his old world. "I can imagine. What did I miss, anyway?"

"Oh, nothing much." Nora quipped. "Reminders about the Vytal Festival, assignments about Grimm and the epic fight I had with Yang. To which I, totally won."

Y/N wore a very neutral expression as his eyes darted to Ren. "... Was it bad?"

"Very..."

Understatement of the year. Both of them were required to clean up all of the debris they destroyed which took most of their free time. By the time they were finished, Nora and Yang were harshly lectured by Goodwitch about collateral damage and how it can affect your relationship with the people you protect.

"Ugh, does she always have to do that?" Yang groaned, grimacing the knowledge being literally drilled into her head. "I'm not that bad, right guys?"

All she got were deadpan stares from Blake, Ruby, and Weiss. "Yang, if you and Nora were partners, there would be no Beacon."

"I doubt it, in fact..." Yang paused, making Ruby widen her eyes.

"Yang... no."

"We would be the total, BOMB-shells of the school. Eh? Get it?" Multiple groans echoed throughout the store, all because of a bad pun. "Oh come on, it's a good one."

Y/N eye-rolled from Yang's infamous puns and stood up from his seat. "I'll go make us some coffee. Any recommendations?"

"Ugh, not me." Ruby had a face of disgust. "Its always so bitter and yucky."

The sound of bells made everyone turn their heads to the door. There lay an old deer Faunus with a white collar and jeans with a black apron above the shirt. "Is that so?" She was carrying some large grocery bags, filled with baking items. "Y/N, a little help would be nice."

A short nod was all she needed as Y/N took them away to the kitchen. "And you are his friends?" Belle asked the group before her, already recognizing them as students from Beacon.  If 8 group of teenagers was carrying weapons in broad daylight, no doubt they were from a nearby combat school like Beacon.

"Yep. We're Team RWBY and JNPR." Ruby proudly declared towards the elderly Faunus.

"I see..." She took a quick glance at Blake, specifically at her bow and smiled. "And good timing too. That boy's been staring out in the gutters ever since he got here."

"Really?" Ruby asked the old Faunus. "How... was he?"

"Well..." Ms. Belle walked to the kitchen where she saw Y/N putting away most of the items she bought. "When he first came in, I thought it was a weekend since it was morning and usually he had classes. I was surprised when he told me he had a day off and decided to work here for the day." She sighed, glancing at Ruby. "Whatever happened really shooked him. Like he saw a ghost."

That was all they needed to know what really happened. "Oh..."

"But..." The old deer Faunus then smiled sincerely at Ruby. "When you came in, he seemed to lighten up. Even better than I've seen. You really must hold something dear in his heart, dear. Thank you."

Yang grinned and headlock her. "Don't I know it."

"Yang..." Ruby whined at her older sister's action.

Small laughter erupted from the group and soon descended into various conversations. Ms. Belle looked at Y/N and called him over.

"Yeah?"

"You have such good friends." Ms. Belle walked before him before uttering more. "Don't lose that trust."

When Y/N turned to face the deer Faunus, she was already preparing on making some bread. Y/N knew that if she was in that state, there would be no point in talking. Sighing, Y/N went and prepared the coffee.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Take care now."

"Thanks for the food." Now, RWBY and JNPR with Y/N were walking back to Beacon. It was around 6 and they were walking away from Monty's.

Y/N was walking in-between the two teams with his hands behind his back. "You don't have to wait for the end of my shift, you know?"

"Its quite alright, Y/N." Pyrrha smiled. "Ms. Belle was very adamant about it."

"I can see why." Blake glanced at the teen. "She almost treats you like a grandson."

"Heh, she does have that effect on people." Y/N noticed Weiss was holding her chin. "Weiss, what's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing. It's just that, I'm surprised by how good the quality of the bread that she doesn't try and expand the business." By her standards, the bread baked in Monty's was restaurant material with how fast and well the Deer Faunus baked. It was even better than the old stale of Atlas.

"She did try it out. A regular there says some managers tried to buy the recipe and her services but quickly shut it down. Officer Alex helped as well since he has contacts with the higher up." Y/N explained.

"Good riddance,  I say." Nora stepped into the conversation. "The bread was delicious. Oh, Renny maybe you could work there too. You'd be 'The Baking Bros'."

Y/N glanced at Nora for the off-putting name but let it slide. 'Doubt copyright infringement works in other worlds.'

"Ooohh..." Nora then stopped with a grin on her face. "I'll be taste tester."

Sighing to themselves, they continued to walk along the streets of Vale. Y/N was really thankful for RWBY and JNPR for getting his head from Loki, certain that he is alive and is deadly. He knows how powerful they really are and will come to face them head-on with a smile.

Blake went up to Y/N with a tug on his shirt. "Hey, Y/N?"

"Yeah?" Y/N turned his attention to Blake.

"... How do you feel about Ms. Belle... being a Faunus?"

Tilting his head from the weird answer, Y/N thought she was testing him about being racist towards Faunus kind. "Nothing."

"Huh?"

"I felt nothing from her. She's just an elderly deer Faunus. That's about it, I'm not someone who constantly whine about them having an extra appendage. That's about it and if it helps, I think it looks cool. I think the extra parts of a Faunus define their personality. "

"I see. Thanks for answering."

"No problem, Blake. Honestly, the people who do whine are just really jealous."

"Heh, when you say it like that, it almost sounds like a blessing to be a Faunus." Blake side glanced and rubbed her arms, the bow above twitching slightly.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The world of Remnant is as vast as the Grimm, with only a few continents remaining the only notable civilizations worth noting were the 4 Kingdoms.

In the civilized land of Vale.

The forested mountains of Mistral.

Endless sand and fights at Vacuo.

And the harsh cold of Atlas.

However, there was one continent no kingdom or military were able to grasp throughout the years of trial and effort. One with the most Grimm in all of Remnant that the public dubbed it...

The Grimmlands.

It was here, where it all started. And soon, it will be here where it will all end. The Grimm has made this place their birthplace and home they go to. If you think Grimm is just mindless creatures, they have a queen.

And the Queen has pawns.

Salem watched from the top of her castle to the ever forming Grimm below, her red eyes glimmering in each newborn. Making sure her magic is still there, Salem called upon a personal Grimm she worked on, a seer.

The Seer hovered close to Salem as its head of a globe started to create a sort of video. On the other end was her agent for getting in close to Ozpin. "How goes the operation?" Her deep and smooth voice made sure it was clear to be heard of.

'We are ready, my Queen. After Roman gave us the last of our required dust, the plan will commence.' Came the voice of a young woman garbed in orange and red.

"Good..." Another topic came to her head. "And how is the newest Grimm looking?"

The woman then motioned the Seer to an area where Salem saw a sort of cage. In it, she can see a figure of a man hunched over. 'Results are showing. It shows tremendous potential and the user is able to call upon the power when needed. All in all, the test is a success.'

"Perfect." Salem smiled upon her creation of a new Grimm. "Continue working on the operation. The time to strike is now, we make sure Ozpin pays in death."

The woman bowed as the Seer cut the feed from its head.

After the Grimm Globe vanished into the darkness, the woman looked at the hunched figure with a small smirk on her face.

"With this kind of power, I'll make all those people begging for forgiveness." The figure screamed in pain and anger, a small mist forming at the back.

The cage rattled as it tried to flee or escape but the pain was unbearable for it. The woman looked in interest as two teens walked beside her.

"That's the guy we caught?" Said a silver-haired teen, watching the cage toss and turn.

"Of course it is." Replied the green-haired girl. "If it wasn't then we wouldn't be here."

"Emerald, Mercury." The figure silenced both teens with her voice, her eyes bleeding out a yellow fire.

"Yes, ma'am."

Another scream of pain as the top of the cage was ripped open. Mercury stepped back with his legs ready and Emerald with her guns aimed.

A moment of silence surrounded the trio, eyes glued to the cage with the trapped individual with a Grimm.

"Uh, hate to ask but..." Mercury glanced at his boss of a woman. "What kind of Grimm did you say was put into him?"

The woman saw no harm in telling and amused him. "A cross between a Geist and a Parasyte." The figure then jumped out of the cage and landed in front of them. "The result..."

The mist started forming at the figures back, forming a humanoid Grimm the likes which no one has ever seen. It seems to be red in formation, with clothes only getting a line of black. It held a massive blade with it sticking at the end sort to indicate a sort of a mixed spear.

The figure then smiled and started laughing hysterically at the top of his lungs. The figure then raised its hand as lightning danced in its palm. The lightning shot out from its palm, destroying the ceiling it once was in one clean shot.

Mercury and Emerald were taken back with how powerful the new type of Grimm but their boss only seemed to grin wider. The sort of power it holds will certainly make her a better asset than what the figure can procure. Especially the first one she deemed inappropriate and useless to the cause because of his personal vendetta.

The humanoid Grimm then vanished into a mist as the figure absorbed it. Its eyes glowed molten yellow before back to its original color.

"Haah... When I was asked if I want more power, I didn't expect this..." The voice seemed to indicate it was a man. "Though... It feels like this kind of power is perfect for me. Are you sure I can keep this?"

"Our mistress allowed it to happen the moment you accepted." The woman held out her hand as her eyes glowed bright red. "So long as you devote your faith to us."

"Hehehehe... alright." The figure clasped hands with the woman. "I look forward to working with you, Cinder."

"As do I, Detective."