(DEVELOPMEEEEEEEEEEENNNT!!! Just a heads up, things are probably gonna be a little confusing in this chapter and kind of app over the place. But other than that thank you all for over 24k reads! It means a lot that people like this story and I'm doing my best to get back into full swing.)

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The Hallway

Y/n Pov

'Huh...been a minute since I was here hasn't it?'

Yep, there I was back in the hallway. I was still in my new outfit, but in its casual form. I found it very strange. Not only had it been ages since I saw this place, but I normally end up here when I sleep. The darkness seemed to float around me, it wasnt eerie or scary though. It was just saying hi. I held out my arms to let the dark swirl around for a moment.

Y/n: "Hehe...miss me buddy?"

The lack of response spoke volumes to me. The darkness speaks in it's own subtle ways.

"Yeah...havin her around has been great hasnt it?"

The silent banter was welcome. Most people would think I'd hate finding myself here, but the dark here was an old, old friend. I ain't gonna just abandon it.

"What's up pal? Why'd you wanna see me?"

...

"Friends of mine?"

...

"A spot?"

I was a little confused but I think I understood what it meant. Somebody wants to speak to me, and my good ol pal here picked out a place for us to do just that. I looked back down the hall for a moment and could see Ruby's shining silver figure waiting.

"Alright but I gotta try and be quick, I'm in the middle of something with rosebud over there. Where am I needed?"

I heard a shift of the air and looked behind me to see a furnished dark oak door waiting for me to head through. Always one for the theatrics...

"Alright I'll head on through. Keep an eye on her for me okay?"

Recieving my silent promise, I walked over and opened the door with a loud squeak. And I gotta say, wasnt expecting this combo.

Through the door was a massive outdoor lounge sort of area. It was in the middle of a large grassy clearing, with tall rich oak trees surrounding. It was very much night, and off to my right was what appeared to be an outdoor bar, stocked up too.

The whole thing was lit up by decorative lights strewn about the place, but that wasnt the most eye catching thing there.

Just ahead of me, and far away enough from the little bar so that the dim lights didnt pollute the area, was a large outdoor fire pit surrounded by several chairs, one of which was occupied. The whole thing rested in the grass to feel as natural as possible.

As for who was there to see me, and what shocked me the most with such a choice of scenery, was The Kindred. Well, more specifically Lamb. I had no idea where Wolf was.

Have you ever been able to tell how someone is feeling just because of how they stare into space? She may wear a mask, but the scratched wood, dull teal eyes and her posture, slumped back into the couch staring at the sky. The volumes it speaks puts Tolkien to utter shame. And another way it's clear something is wrong...the ever vigilant Lamb of The Kindred....deaths huntress...

She didnt even hear the door.

'I think she needs a drink.'

The nice thing about being inside your own dreamscape is that reality is at your beck and call. To keep quiet, I soundlessly teleported behind the bar. I fished between the bottles till I found a bottle of Captain Morgan. I fished through a small fridge and grabbed a can of coke as well as two drink glasses.

'Ice...an eigth glass of rum...actually, she needs a fourth...and fill with coke...voila, Captain and Coke. And of course one gets a straw...'

With my drinks prepared, I stepped lightly across the grass to stand in front of her. She was slouched back on the end of a deck couch, staring blankly at the stars.

She didnt even notice I was there until I sat myself next to her on the couch. I must have startled her greatly, because the very next millisecond, there was the tip of a light teal arrow just at my neck. I was pretty prepared for this, so I didnt act frightened as I simply looked her in the eyes.

She really must have been out of it, because she was breathing heavily and nearly jumped out of her fur at my arrival. After a moment she seemed to snap out of her defensive state and relaxed as she withdrew the arrow.

Lamb: "Oh, Y/n...I'm sorry...I...didnt notice you enter..."

I held the drink I made out to her, with as casual of a look as I could give her.

Y/n: "If you've never drank before, you wont like it, but just pretend you do for a bit."

She stared at the drink for a moment before she took it. She continued to stare at it almost in thought, while I got started on mine.

'Still not there...but its growing on me a little. If rosebud caught me with this she'd skin me.'

When I looked back at her I nearly spit my drink out at what I saw. I watched as her mask seemed to just...fade off of her face. It's like watching me mess with my clothes using shadows, its tricky to describe.

I have to admit, she is beautiful. I'd be a liar if I said otherwise.

She took a cautious sip of her drink, and immediately cringed at the feeling of the spiced rum going down her throat. I know that feeling at first. Hot and tingly is how I'd describe it. Definitely not pleasant. She rested her drink on her leg supporting it with one hand as she stared into the fire pit.

Lamb: "Theres a few things I wanted to talk to you about. As for Wolf...he lacks the capacity to comprehend some of these things. He isnt stupid, he just simply didnt inherit it. He is somewhere in the forest right now."

She took a wayward glance at the treeline before she returned her gaze to the fire.

Lamb: "All he knows is hunger, and the hunt. That is his side of our duty. To chase those who flee."

She took another sip of her drink and did her best to ignore the sensation. I had already finished about half of mine. I may still be getting used to it, but I can hold my drink fairly well. Then again it's only one fourth glass rum. It's a lot for a glass but not enough to buzz someone above 90 pounds.

"I was the one who was left with more space for thought. To understand what it is, that we do. Shepard those who are to die."

She faced me and met my eyes directly. Everything she had said, and was going to say was going to be serious. This was the truth, and one that she had never trusted to anyone before me.

"We have lived many, many years Y/n. How many...I cant say, but I remember them all. Every moment, every arrow, every hunt and every kill."

...

"Personally, I admire you Y/n. There are many who have died and lived again. And never before have I seen one welcome the chance like you do. Others who come back, wish they hadn't."

Y/n: "At first I wished I hadn't. At first, I considered taking my own life. I had no attachments on remnant. Nothing to stop me. But Ruby made me see things differently, helped me try and make the most of this second life. Hehehe...its funny to me how I had to die before I could live."

I held my nearly empty glass in view of the fire, before swirling what was left around and watching as it refilled itself before taking another swig.

Lamb took a glance at her still mostly full glass and watched the liquid swirl around as she resumed.

Lamb: "I believe you and Atreus would get along. Perhaps we will tell him of you next time we meet him. We do so quite often."

...

"Your life made me think a great deal Y/n. You pierced the veil of what's real. Life was your enemy, but you never ran from it. You simply toughed it out till death welcomes you. You lived so...hollow. You lived how I did."

I was surprised and not surprised at the same time. I remember something that a poet, Shane Koyczan, said about death. I think that's how Lamb feels.

"But ever since I've seen your life I cant stop thinking about what we are. About what the point is? I've forgotten what it means to live and die. And I have this hole in myself that i cant seem to fill...I...I dont know what I'm doing anymore..."

...

"We deliver the living to death. As is our duty. Our responsibility. But I dont know why we do it. Many believe that we have the awnser as to what happens when one dies. Where they go. But I have no idea. And it makes me wonder if one day, when no one else lives, if we will die as well."

...

"I used to find death...beautiful. Strange as it seems now I thought it was the pinnacle of what is beautiful. But now I'm not so sure. I'm starting to see life as so much more now. It makes me hesitant to continue what we do. And the stars, and the fire, I've never loved to look at them so much before. I...I dont know what I believe."

'I think I can help her with this.'

"I dont know what beauty is anymore. I dont know if what we do is...right. And what are we? Are we alive? Are we already dead? I...I dont know!"

Her face twisted into a mixture of frustration and sadness as she looked down at her empty glass. She let it fall to the grass as she buried her face in her hands, unsure herself if she was going to cry or not.

"Please...help me remember..."

I downed the rest of my third glass and let it float itself back to the bar. I got up, stood myself in front of her and held out my hand. She looked up in confusion at my outstretched hand, tears threatening to escape the corners of her eyes. I kept my expression neutral as I waited, and soon she took my hand and stood up.

I walked us into a more empty part of the clearing and stopped. I looked up into the stars...and asked her.

Y/n: "Look at the stars...and tell me what you think makes them special."

She looked as well and seemed to think for a moment before she responded.

Lamb: "Their light..."

I smiled at her response.

Y/n: "That's a good guess, but not what I'd say makes them special."

I reached towards the sky, and plucked one of the stars from the sky, quickly reminding Lamb where we were. It floated above my open hands as it continued to shine a bright silver light. I held it in front of lamb.

"Everything has a story Lamb. Whether it be a shitty childhood or a nebula in space, everything has a story. And every story has one thing in common."

She met my eyes in confusion, which allowed me to finally realize that I had a good few inches on her in height, as she had to look up slightly. I looked down at the star in my hand in order to direct her gaze there as well, and watched.

The star seemed to shrink and shrink as its light grew dimmer.

"All stories..."

Suddenly, the small star exploded outwards in a brilliant supernova of color and dust. A small nebula spread through the space in my hands.

"End."

She stared silently at the cloud of color and stardust in my hands. And watched in slight awe as the dust pulled itself together into many small points in the air, compressing smaller and smaller until, hundreds of new stars began to twinkle in the air.

"But every ending, is many new beginnings. Like everything else Lamb, Beauty fades..."

I snatched all of the stars into one hand as I sat myself down in the grass. With my free hand I pat the spot on the grass next to me, and she sat down, waiting for me to speak. Instead I kept my eyes on the sky, and leaned my head closer to her to have a similar angle of the stars. I put my closed hand over a part of the stars and opened it, slowly moving it out of the way to reveal a large, bright moon.

"And that, is why it is beautiful."

I let us sit in silence for a while while she soaked in what I was saying. After a short while, she stopped racking her brain, and looked at the stars with what seemed to be a new understanding. I dont know what was going through her head, but she was better now. Good enough for me.

I stood up from my spot and stretched a bit with a groan.

Y/n: "Ahhh...I could use a quick drink. How about you?"

I turned to face where Lamb was sitting, but saw that she was missing. I doubted she would be gone for long, so I strolled back to the bar. I took off my jacket and hung it up on a hook that rested on one of the supports for the overhang. Taking my place behind the counter, I thought for a moment.

'I think I've had enough rum for tonight...' I thought as I put away the bottle of Captain Morgan i left out.

'An Arnold Palmer sounds great though.'

I searched the fridge once more and pulled out a jug of said tea, filling up a new drink glass. I walked around the counter and took a seat at one of the bar stools. Staring off into space as I took occasional swings of my drink.

I wondered what Ruby and I were up to at the moment, but wasnt too worried about it. I had been in situations like this before, dipping inside my head to escape the world for a bit. I never missed too much. Time is weird here.

Lamb took me slightly by surprise however when she appeared in the stool next to mine. She was noticeably more relaxed now, leaning forward nonchalant on the counter.

Lamb: "Sorry for disappearing. I had to check on Wolf."

Y/n: "Its no worries. Here."

Another glass floated onto the counter, and the jug I left out filled the glass with tea. I slid the glass over to her, and she eyed it carefully.

"Its not alchohol, dont worry. I've had enough for one night."

She exhaled in relief as she took a drink. Relaxing even more at the taste. We sat in the peaceful silence for a while as we finished our drinks. Once she was done with hers, she looked over at me.

Lamb: "We have to go soon, but before we do, there is one last thing I have to say. We are leaving back to runeterra, and will resume our work soon after we do. You need to be told however, about what is happening to you."

I gave her a raised eyebrow look as I questioned her choice of words.

Y/n: "Hapening to me? What do you mean?"

Lamb: "As we told you when we first met, your soul is bound to Ruby's. But there is a bit more to it than that. She is more like an anchor in the world. Something that holds you on Remnant. When you died, your soul began to bounce around worlds. You were lucky to bounce to Remnant, where your souls were drawn to eachother and connected. It's easy to see why, considering the bond you share."

Y/n: "Okay. I guess that makes sense. But thats what happened to me. What do you mean by what's happening to me?"

Lamb: "What I mean is that your soul is beginning to settle. It's starting to try and bounce less, and as this happens, things are likely to change. For one, your likely to become more physically present in the world. How, I'm not certain, but that's what's happening. I advise you be careful. If your tether to her is somehow severed before your soul completely settles, I'm not sure what will happen."

'Interesting...I think I'm gonna play that close to the chest for now. I dont wanna worry Ruby.'

I stood up from my seat, getting ready to hop back in the action.

Y/n: "Ok...well...thanks for telling me.I better get back to Ruby. Cant let her have all the fun. I suppose you'll be going as well?"

She stood as well and smiled as she faced me.

Lamb: "Indeed we will. Thank you Y/n. You've done a great deal for us."

Y/n: "Yeah, well, now were even. Just remember, you'll always have a home here if you need it. This place isnt going anywhere, anytime soon."

Lamb: "Thank you Y/n. Hopefully, the next time we meet wont be the last."

She began to walk towards the treeline and took a look back just before she walked into the woods. I waved her off, and she waved back as her mask returned to her face, and she disappeared into the trees. I felt the air shift slightly as The Kindred departed.

With one last breath of midnight air, I picked up and slid my coat back on, walking towards the door I used to enter the clearing. Stepping through, I was back in the familiar dark of the hallway, being welcomed back silently.

Y/n: "Yeah, it went well. She just needed to get some things off her chest. Make sure they always have a way to get back here if they need, yeah? Sweet, now where did we leave off?"

...

"Right, Penny. Wonder how this played out."

...

"...what are you hiding? What happened?"

...

"What am I gonna do with you..."

Turning around, I walked down the hall towards Rubys bright figure and stopped next to her.

"Sorry about that. Ready to get going again?"

She looked at me nervously, and shyly took my hand.

"*sigh*...alright. Let's go see what you got us into."

We must have got into some trouble while I was gone.

I smiled.

'That's my girl...'

--------
( Events that occur in the dreamscape happen much faster than it seems. To Y/n and Lamb, they spent about two hours in the dreamscape, but only about 10 minutes have passed in the real world.)

(Little intermission song cause it's a good one (; )
--------

CCT Courtyard

3rd Person Pov

Y/n felt his consciousness return to him as he craned and popped his somewhat stiff neck. His eyes popped open with shock however as he heard the unmistakable noise of a ver, VERY fast moving vehicle headed directly towards him. He found himself with no time to react to the speeding moving truck just ten yards from flattening him in the middle of the street.

Luckily for him however, he didnt need to, as in some miracle feat of strength the likes of which he had never seen with his own eyes, Penny leaped in the way of the vehicle and planted hands hard into the hood of the truck, bringing it to a complete stop and smashing up the asphalt under her as she didnt budge in the slightest from the impact of the easily 4-5 ton vehicle. Ruby's voice snaps him out of his short stupor.

Ruby: "Penny?"

Glancing behind him, he sees Ruby standing directly in the path of the truck as well. He stumbles over his thoughts for a moment at the rush of events and adrenaline suddenly flowing through his brain. Penny meanwhile, turns to the driver of the truck.

Penny: "Are you okay?"

The driver nods with a clearly frightened affirmative, having just witnessed a small girl stop a truck with her bare hands like nothing. Penny takes a look at her surroundings, noticing the damage, the gathering bystanders, an uncertain Ruby, and Y/n doing his best to not lose his shit at the last 45 seconds of sensory overload.

For a moment, she thought of checking on her two friends, but once she noticed two atlesian soldiers still hot on their trail, her nerves got the best of her, and she took off running past Y/n and Ruby into an alleyway to hopefully lose her pursuers.

As he notices Penny dash off, Y/n relents a little, and can't quite contain his confused complaint.

Y/n: "What the shit did I miss?!"

Ruby finally notices her partners return to the real world, and hastily responds.

Ruby: "Surprisingly little! We need to follow her, cmon!"

Ruby begins to chase after Penny, forcing Y/n to follow quickly behind, not without some angry promises though.

Y/n: "Once we're done here, we need to talk!"

Weaving their way through the alleyway, the duo's speed easily allows them to catch up to see a frantic Penny at the alley exit, trying to find another place to run. Before she gets the chance however, Ruby calls out to her, Y/n not far behind.

Ruby: "Penny! Please! What is going on?! Why are you running? How did you do that?!"

Y/n: "Yeah, slow down! I might've missed some stuff but I can probably help."

Penny continues to stutter and respond nervously, hiccuping everytime she claims everything is fine.

Penny: "I-I cant! Everythings fine! *hiccup* I-I dont want to talk about it! *hiccup*"

Penny was rapidly deteriorating under the pressure of the situation, and it likely wouldn't be long before she tried to run again. The duo did their best to reassure her.

Ruby: "Penny, calm down. Of you can just tell us what's happened then we can help you!"

Penny retreats slightly, like an animal backed into a corner as she doubts the reality of the situation.

Penny: "No, no,no! You wouldn't understand!"

Y/n: "Well let us try! Trust me Penny, itll take a lot more than you could throw at us to name us run away."

Finally, Penny stops retreating for a moment, thoughts running through her head like a early 30s soccer mom on black friday through a Costco.

Searching for one last piece of reassurance, Penny comes up close to Ruby and Y/n, looking almost desperate as she pleads.

Penny: "You...you're my friends right? You promise that your my friends?!"

Ruby responds as soft as she can while Y/n smiles and does the same.

Ruby: "We promise."

Y/n: "Always and forever Penny."

Penny pauses for a second, searching her friends faces. After a moment, she looks down at her hands, speaking lowly.

Penny: "Ruby, Y/n...I'm not a real girl..."

Before either could respond, penny shows the palms of her hands, and the cost of stopping the truck that would've killed them both.

Scraps of Penny's skin have been scraped off of her palms, not to reveal muscle or bleeding wounds, but smoother segmented steel plates and wires, all hidden by a synthetic layer of skin that her little stunt earlier had compromised.

Y/n seemed a little surprised at first, but his expression ultimately remained completely neutral. Like he had been told that the sky was still blue.

Ruby however was confused at what she was looking at, studying the revealed endo-skeleton in shocked thought. Her response was very...accurate.

Ruby: "Penny...I dont understand."

Penny: "Most girls are born, I was made. I'm the worlds first synthetic person capable of generating an aura."

She averted her eyes in sadness as she concluded her explanation.

"I'm not real..."

Before Ruby even had a chance go respond, Y/n voiced his thoughts on the matter. Rather plainly in fact.

Y/n: "Bullshit."

Penny didnt quite understand what he meant at first, but didnt have to wonder for long as he elaborated.

"Penny, you're thinking about this the wrong way. How could you not be real? I mean...look at me!"

He did a small twirl of his shadow-like form, and flickered in and bought of her sight for a moment to show his point. Ruby quickly made a move to back him up.

Ruby: "Honestly hes not wrong. You think just because you've got nuts and bolts instead of squishy guts makes you any less real than me?"

Penny glanced between the two in confusion.

Penny: "I...dont understand...you're taking this extraordinarily well..."

Y/n: "Hah! Penny...I'm a dead person, from another world, who came back to life with his soul tethered to a 15 year old girl. I'm about as weird as it gets. But you? You're one of the most real people to ever exist."

Penny's confusion almost seemed go deepen, but Ruby brought things home.

Ruby: "You're not like those things we saw back there Penny. You're a person. You've got a heart, and a soul. I can feel it."

Y/n: "Couldn't have said it better myself."

If Penny was capable of crying, she was definitely close to tears.

Penny: "Ooh...ph you guys..."

She quickly wrapped the two into a massive bear hug, almost crushing the two.

"You're the best friends anyone could ever have!"

Y/n chuckled through the hug at all the emotional support he was playing today, while Ruby nervously groaned through the literal pressure of the hug.

Ruby: "I can see why your father would want to protect such a delicate flower!"

Penny pulled back from the hug, completely back to her normal cheery self. She smiled broadly at the mention of her father.

Penny: "Oh, hes very sweet! My father is the one that built me! I'm sure you would love him!"

Y/n: "He went and built you all by himself?"

Penny: "Oh, no. He had some help from Mr. Ironwood!"

The name clearly had some meaning to Ruby, but Y/n had absolutely no idea who this "Ironwood" character was.

Ruby: "The general?! Wait...is that why those soldiers were after you?"

Penny: "They like to protect me too!"

Ruby scoffs at the remark.

Ruby: "What? They dont think you can protect yourself?"

Penny: "They're not sure if I'm ready yet... One day, it will be my job to save the world, but I still have a lot left to learn. That's why my father let me come to the Vytal Festival. I want to see what it's like in the rest of the world, and test myself in the Tournament."

Y/n: "That...seems like a little much doesnt it?"

Ruby: "Yeah. Save the world from what? We're in a time of peace!"

Penny looked confused as she got one last thing out.

Penny: "That's not what the general said..."

Before anyone can voice their next thoughts however, a very agitated soldier is heard shouting just outside the alleyway.

Soldier 1: "Check over here!"

Penny starts hurriedly as she gets a good grip on the shoulders of both Y/n and Ruby.

Penny: "You have to hide!"

With seemingly no effort whatsoever, she lifts the both of them off their feet and begins to make her way over to an open dumpster in the alley. Y/n is just along for the ride, while Ruby is practically kicking and screaming in protest, to no avail.

Ruby: "Penny, wait! What are you doing? You dont have to go with them! We can help you!"

Before she got a chance to speak further, Y/n was dropped inside the thankfully almost empty dumpster, with Ruby being dropped on him seconds after. Penny lifted the lid of the alley cage go speak with Ruby a bit more.

Penny: "It's okay, Ruby. They're not bad people; I just don't want to get you in trouble. Just promise me you won't tell anyone else my secret. Okay?"

Y/n, who was flat on his back in the dumpster as he lifted up his hand to give a thumbs up, solidifying his word.

Ruby: "We promise."

Ruby lowered her head down to allow the lid to shut, but listened intently to the scene playing outside.

After eavesdropping on a fairly calm exchange between Penny and the Atlas soldiers, she heard them leave. She leaned back in her dark prison in sadness at the lack of her ability to help Penny. Before she could dwell on it too much however, she felt Y/n shift under her, reminding her she was currently sitting on top of him.

Before she had a chance to be embarrassed however, she felt Y/n wrap his arms around her in the dark, pulling her into a warm embrace, and speaking softly.

Y/n: "Hey...I know you wanted to help her, but Penny can handle herself, so dont worry. We'll see her again."

Realizing that he was right, she retreated into the hold, closing her eyes as she tried to relax her thoughts. After a minute or two, she opened her eyes again, and was immediately surprised to see that they were now outside of the alley dumpster, sitting down at an outdoor table of a café across the street in his lap. As well as completely clean.

She looked at him for an explanation, only to see him take off his cap and wink at her with a cocky smile.

Y/n: "Dont think about it too much. Soooo, what did I miss? I had to take an...appointment of sorts."

Deciding to just trust him on it, she relaxed again and caught him up to speed on the not so brilliant chase she had with Penny before she almost got hit by a truck. She decided to get caught up herself on why Y/n had slipped into his own head for a bit.

Ruby: "So, what was so important that you had to knock out for a bit?"

Y/n: "It was Lamb. She was going through a tough spot and needed help. But, I think good ol' doctor Y/n here managed to straighten her out. They both took off shortly after."

Ruby let out a content little 'hmm' at the explanation. She doubted he would lie to her, but she had a feeling he left out a few details. She decided not to worry about it. If it was important, he would tell her. For now, they both just relaxed in the small, comfortable silence.

It was the moments like these that Y/n loved to spend with Ruby. Where he can just sit silently, his world comfortable in his arms. He felt like the luckiest man that there will ever be, and to be honest, he probably was. And if you were to ask Ruby, she would say much of the same.

Their moment of silent euphoria was interrupted however when Ruby's scroll began to buzz annoyingly, signaling to her that she had a call. With an annoyed groan, she forced herself to check her scroll to see that Blake was dialing the entire team at once.

Ruby: "Uh-oh."

Awnsering the call on speaker, she didnt even have time to say anything before Blake could be heard through the call, as well as very loud stomping and crashing in the background.

Blake: "Everyone! If you can hear me, we need back-"

Sun interrupts her by yelling loudly in the background.

Sun: "HEEEEELP!"

The duo rise to their feet as they get ready to set out, waiting for more information. Luckily, Sun continues his yelling.

Sun: "Big robot! And it's big! REALLY BIG!"

Ruby shares a look with Y/n, who nods with a smile. She smiles as well.

Ruby: "No way are we missing this."

Y/n: "No way in hell."

And with that little exchange, they run off in the direction of Blake and Suns current location, using the scrolls to guide them.

---
(Sorry this is taking so long to write. I know I said I was back in the swing of things, but I'm still struggling a bit. It's just hard to get writing again after such a sudden and long break like that. Moving on.)
---

Small timeskip

Yang raced down the streets of Vale, pushing her motorbike, aptly named Bumblebee, to its absolute limit in order to keep pace with the crime lord of the hour, racing down the streets at dangerous speeds.

They had chased Roman Torchwick onto the highway through the city, but he was still hot on Blake's trail, who leaped from car to car on the road to keep ahead of him.

Roman hardly cared about the obstacle of the highway traffic, as he batted cars left and right in his pursuit. He piloted a large, hulking mass of millitary gray steel in the shape of a mech, making the suspended roadway quake slightly with each pounding footstep the monster of a machine took. This massive machine, was one of the brand new Atlesian Paladins, stolen by none other than Roman himself.

He had already flung Sun and Neptune off of the road when they made an attempt to attack, and was still charging after Blake who watched from the top of a moving car. Her attention was stolen by Weiss on her scroll however.

Weiss: "Blake! I'm in position!"

Understanding all she needed from the short message, she leapt off of the car as Weiss came spinning through the air to land on the road in front of the rapidly approaching Roman, who speeds up to attempt to attack the heiress. Weiss is unfazed as she, with a confident smirk, spins before planting her Myrtenaster in the ground, creating a large circle of ice on the road in front of her.

Before Roman has time to react, the sudden loss of friction on the road proves too much for the Paladin, as it loses its footing and is sent flying over Weiss's head, and off of the highway.

The mech tumbled through the air before landing in an open, yet deserted square, surrounded by the pillars that held up the roadways above. Ruby and Y/n stepped out of the shadows of one of the roadways above, facing the mech that lay on the ground as the rest of Team RWBY landed beside them efficiently.

A moment of silence hung in the air, the team of huntsmen-in-training watching carefully as Roman slowly managed to pull the mech to its feet.

The area surrounding the soon to be combatants was clearly not visited often. Old and cracked asphalt made up the ground, the damp smell of the previous nights rain still present as well as small puddles of water haphazardly littering the old ground, being the only evidence of the recent weather. Old, broken concrete pillars littered the edges of the open area, remnants of old roads made obsolete and taken down to make way for the towering modes of transport through the city and kingdom above. A perfect place to fight a giant robot, in     Y/n's opinion at least.

One last moment of silence hung as the team of warriors readied their weapons to do battle. Yang primed her Ember Celica, Weiss span the cylinder on her Myrtenaster, Blake pulled tight the ribbon of Gambol Shroud, Ruby unfolded Crescent Rose beside her, and Y/n swiftly drew the large odachi on his back.

With an intense amount of swagger, he held the massive two-handed sword with only one hand, and drew his small, sawn-off shotgun out of the holster on his back.

Roman chuckled confidently as he slowly marched the Paladin towards the team. Ruby hardened her gaze as she shouted to her teammates.

Ruby: "Freezerburn!"

Ruby, Blake and Y/n all retreat backwards, while Weiss performs her same ice-circle trick from the highway above. This time however, Yang leaps high into the air, and brings her Ember Celica down onto the center of the ice, the explosion breaking the ice and coating the area in a thick, misty fog, hindering Roman's visibility.

With a scowl, the crime-lord activates the Paladins laser sensors to make up for the lost sight. The thin lasers carefully sweep the mist around the mech, narrowly missing Blake dashing to the left, and just missing Yang leaping to the right.

Roman takes a potshot at the space between the blips on his radar with the canon on the Paladinsarm, the explosion creating a small plume of smoke. Before he even has a chance to check whether his shot was true, Ruby and Y/n leap from the smoke, weapons ready.

Ruby delivers a strong splash across the reinforced cockpit of the mech, causing the mech to stagger. Not allowing Roman a moment to recover, Y/n leaps onto the face of the cockpit itself, driving his blade between the heavy metal plates and piercing the weaker metal. Roman narrowly avoids the blade piercing his abdomen, and glares furiously at Y/n through the display, growling in anger.

As if Y/n could sense his gaze, he taunted Roman with a wink, before back flipping off of the cockpit, bringing his blade with him, and taking aim with his shotgun. Roman only has time to watch the fire dust ignite in the barrels, before the mech is struck full force by a powerful fireball of an attack causing the Paladon to falter once more. Roman winced slightly as a small amount of flame seeped in through the hole Y/n had made, and burned his prized coat. This kid was getting on his nerves...

Ruby and Y/n back off while the mech is staggered, the latter loading new rounds into his shotgun, while the former calls for another attack.

Ruby: "Checkmate!"

Blake and Weiss go in this time, each girl going for the Paladin's feet until Weiss leaps into the air, and plunges her Myrtenaster into one of Roman's laser sensors, then swiftly exiting by propellingherself away on a white glyph.

Roman lifts the Paladin's gargantuan foot to crush Blake, but Weiss summons another glyph under her teammate to launch her backwards before the crushing blow can land. Roman yells in frustration and fires off a torrent missiles from a pod on the mechs back, but Weiss and Blake flip swiftly backwards, avoiding the explosions with sheer acrobatics.

Finally, Weiss jumps too high, and Roman intercepts her with a double dose of energy blasts, one frome each of the mechs arms. Her Myrtenaster absorbs the damage, but Weiss is thrown back through the air, landing on the ground behind Blake. In retaliation, she raises her sword, and shoots forth a beam of light to Blake's feet.

For a moment, a clockwork yellow glyph spins beneath the Faunas girl, before disappearing into her, imbuing her with a temporary speed boost. Defending herself and Weiss, Blake uses her boosted speed to cut down the rest of the missiles while they still fly, in an flurry of attacks almost too fast for the eye to follow. Having recuperated, Ruby and Y/n charge into the fray once more, the latter hanging back slightly, waiting.

Ruby: "Ladybug!"

Ruby and Blake dash forwards, circling the Paladin and delivering a flurry of slashes and blows to its legs, forcing Roman to stay in place. Y/n uses the opening created to dash forward and plunges his blade into the Paladin's exposed hip joint, jamming the machine in place. Exploiting Roman's vulnerable position, Ruby and Blake leap upwards, bringing their blades down hard onto the Paladins left shoulder, managing to completely sever the mechs arm.

As the girls retreat, Y/n frees his blade from the robot, tossing a shadowy 'present', as he would put it, towards the mechs back as he catches up with Ruby.

The explosion rocks Roman intensely inside the cockpit, forcing the Paladin to stumble forward. Yang wastes no time in leaping bravely onto the robot's back, delivering a series of explosive punches the rear of the cockpit, shaking Roman around even more.

Roman tries desperately to reach Yang, but seeing that he can't with his remaining mechanical arm, he instead runs in full reverse through two columns and leaves Yang embedded in a third. He backs away away and turns towards her. Just as she is falling down from her concrete prison, Roman commands the remaining arm to extend in a closed fist, punching her through the column. She doesnt appear to get up, and Blake yells out in worry.

Blake: "Yang!" Ruby quiets her worries however, as Y/n can hardly contain a fit of mad laughter.

Ruby: "Dont worry! With each hit she gets stronger, and she uses that energy to fight back! That's what makes her special."

Y/n: "Ha! He is so screwed."

Yang slowly gets back on her feet, hair burning a brilliant white as she clenches her fists. Sensing victory, Roman throws a punch, but Yang catches it in her own hand wondering the ground beneath her from the force of the blow. Yang, eyes red with rage, smashes her knuckles into the second arm, obliterating it entirely under her force, leaving the Paladin armless.

Roman, beginning to panic in his disarmed mech, kicks Yang away from him and towards his teammates. Ruby interrupts his momentary victory however with a single word.

Ruby: "Bumblebee!"

Responding immediately, Blake throws her Gambol Shroud out for Yang to catch while flying, and the Faunus uses the momentum to swing the glowing girl around on the ribbon for a final hit to the robot. Roman, however, steps out of the way just in time to avoid complete and utter annihilation. The mechs new speed due to its weight loss is a problem.

Ruby: "We need to slow it down!"

Weiss: "And how do you propose we do that?"

Ruby: "Ice Flower!"

Twirling their weapons so they both point at Roman, Weiss creates a series of glyphs in front of Crescent Rose's sniper barrel, and a single shot through the circles creates a dazzling spiral of ice blue energy that freezes the Paladin's legs solid, trapping them in large icicles upon impact with the robot.

Ruby continues to shoot as Weiss freezes the barrage, and as the ice completely envelops the robot's body, Blake swings her partner around in a circle one more time, but with Roman unable to move, the Paladin is hit by the raw speed and power of Yang's fists, flying into the air before crashing down in a hundred pieces and a defeated crime-lord.

Roman staggers to his feet in a daze, fairly concussed from the amount of shaking around in the cockpit Yang and Y/n put him through. He dizzily looks down at his burned, dirty coat, and complains in a groggy, fatigued voice.

Roman: "Just had this cleaned..."

Y/n sheathes his sword and holsters his gun as he approaches Roman, ready to knock his lights out to be detained. He enthusiastically cracks his knuckles in anticipation.

Y/n: "Sorry carrot-top. But in really not."

Just before Y/n can get into striking range of Roman, he is taken by surprise as a whitish-pink blur temporarily blinds his vision. Time seems to slow for the boy, as he meets eyes with the new arrival.

The girl before him is notably short, and dressed in a peculiarly formal outfit. Her hair, as well as her eyes are half pink and brown, a neopolitan sort of theme. She is also wielding a pink...parasol? He has no time to think as the girl suddenly draws a long, thin and pointed blade from the bottom of the parasol, smiling wickedly.

His face lights up with shock as he sees he has no time to dodge the strike aimed straight for his gut, he does his best to try and shift into his intangible form, and avoid the bad day being sent his way.

...

Ruby: "Y/N!!!"

The terrible sound of the blades steel, tearing through flesh screams through  Y/n's ears as he feels the girl run the entirety of the blade through his gut, narrowly missing his spine as the blade emerges from his lower back, poking up under the back of his coat. He soundlessly screams, finding that he cant force the air out of his lungs through the intense pain. His attackers sadistic grim doesnt waver for a second, only widens.

Just as swiftly as she ran him through, she tears the blade back out of him, knocking all of the air from him as he begins to double over. Before he even can though, she raises her parasol, and bring a swift but powerful strike to the side of his body, sending him flying across the square.

Ruby braces herself for the intense pain that normally comes from being to far from Y/n, but feels nothing. Instead, a thin, black line that seems to connect her to him appears as he crosses their previous range, following him as he sails through the air, crashing with force into one of the old broken columns at the end of the square, sending up a cloud of smoke and dust from the impact. She wastes no time in rushing towards him.

Roman, addresses his savior as he clears his head, and the strange assailant flicks the blood from her blade before sheathing it.

Roman: "Thanks for the save Neo."

The girl identified as Neo silently nods, a satisfied smirk glued to her face. Yangs hair and aura seem to flare several times brighter as she charges towards the two with an intense rage, and a fierce war cry. As she readies herself to deliver a devastating blow to the two criminals, Neo does a mock bow before they both seem to freeze.

When Yang does strike them, their image seems to shatter like glass, revealing that they were already gone. The sound of a bullhead engine's heard overhead, eliciting the group to look up and witness Neo and Roman standing in the open doorway of a bullhead that begins to pull away.

*BANG*

A crashing sound like thunder rages throughout the courtyard as a splash of red appears from Roman's shoulder, nearly knocking him off his feet, eliciting Neo to quickly swing the bullhead door closed as five more deafening roars of thunder strike the door, leaving large, deep dents in the aircraft's hull.

The rest of team RWBY turns their attention to the source of the noise to see that the dust around Y/n has settled, revealing him sitting there, sitting up against the column he was flung into, clutching his gut wound tightly with one hand. Blood trickled down from his mouth as his skin seems to rapidly flicker in color from its usual, shadowy appearance, to that of an average caucasian.

In his free hand, he is still pulling the trigger on an empty weapon, but it is still the largest hand-cannon that any of them have seen, also flickering from the shadowy appearance all his weapons had, and it's original colors. A look of pure, unadulterated fury in his sharp silver eyes, that glowed with intensity. He was running off of raw adrenaline.

As Ruby made it close enough to him, the flickering stopped, and his rush of adrenaline disappeared. He dropped his empty weapon to the floor, and clutched his wound with both hands as he screamed out.

Y/n: "FFFUUUUCK!!! THAT WAS NOT AN EARLY WARNING."

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(AAAAAND BOOM!!! HERE IT IS!

Writers block hit me hard with this chapter, and I feel a teensy tine bit bad about leaving you on this note, but you all deserve a chapter already, and this one is already at 8000 words. Not to mention it covers a lot of ground. The next chapters will be much less combat focused so dont worry, you'll get caught up on what happens here. I hope people enjoyed the appearance of The Kindred, as it's likely not going to be the only small cameo of it's kind.

Nonetheless I hope you enjoyed! And thank you for your patience, as well as votes on chapter lenght!)

(This game, as well as League of Legends have taken up a lot of my time, but it's also when I come up with most of my ideas sooo...yeah!)

(Anyways, Until Next Time!)