So, how many of you actually expected THAT to happen in the last chapter? I can most certainly guarantee that it wasn't a lot of you. But think about it, while Ayu can't go demon anymore due to her destroying it and her link, there was always another factor to consider. And that was Neela's black flame. And now, she's merged with that power to become something totally new. And boy, I had a time trying to right her speech backwards. It got real annoying sometimes. Now, how will Neela's transformation effect her side of the mission? Well, we'll have to wait until we return to their part of the story, because three chapters have gone by, meaning we move onto team 3 in the RWBY world! And remember, for this team, they only get 2 chapters before we switch. Now, enough talk! Enjoy!

-POV: Raphtalia-

Our mission in our world had finally begun, and we've already gone from the frying pan and into the fire. We infiltrated Torchwick's operation to smuggle drugs around the world that turn people into creatures called Grimm. But, things went south real fast when Torchwick caught notice of us pretty quickly and sent his henchmen out to kill us. And now, team DLTA and RWBY, along with a few members from our own team, are trying to fend off these henchmen before Torchwick gets away with all the drugs. 

"Take 'em down, boys! Buy me enough time to get out of here with our package and i'll make each and every one of you a very rich man!" Torchwick said to us all as he was lowered into the basement of the warehouse while standing on top of a crate of the Grimm drugs. In between all of us and him were a few dozen goons who each had their own weapons. From guns to swords, it was looking even more intimidating by the second.

"Drake, our team will try and hold off these guys! Try and find an opening and then all of you go on ahead after Torchwick before he gets away again!" Ruby shouted to Drake as he gave her a nod.

"Everyone, lay down covering fire for them to advance!" Ruby ordered us as everyone who was a part of our side of the team opened fire on our enemies. Ruby took out what looked like a huge red and black metal scythe that fired large bullets from it's head, while Weiss created these strange magic circles that launched shards of ice. Blake wielded a small pistol-like weapon that could transform into a sword, and it had a long tether attached to it for throwing and grappling. And Yang, she had, on her left arm, a yellow gauntlet style weapon that fired concussive shells at her enemies that exploded on impact. And, her robot arm did the same only it didn't have the gauntlet on it. 

"Girls, if you can shoot any kind of projectile, then let loose on these crappy thugs!" Yang said to us as she blew back three enemies with one shot. But, more just kept on coming. There seemed to be no end to them. 

"There's still too many for us to move forward! Ruby, can any of you create some sort of diversion!?" Drake shouted to us as I stepped forward. 

"Yes, I can! But it'll only be for a brief moment! So you'll have to move fast!" I shouted to him and his team as he gave me a nod. 

"Everyone, get ready! We're moving as soon as Raphtalia begins! Don't stop no matter what, and don't hesitate!" Drake said to his team as they all prepped to chase after Torchwick. 

"As source of thy power, I order thee! Decipher the laws of nature and blind my targets with an intense flash of light! Fast Light!" I shouted as, from both of my hands, I created a massive flash of light that filled the room. Everyone on our teams shut their eyes but none of our enemies covered theirs. I blinded them for the moment and gave Drake and his team their chance. 

"Go! Now!" I shouted to them as they rushed forward and bulldozed their way through several enemies. But, they eventually reached the hole where Torchwick and the drugs were lowered into and they all jumped down after him. We just had to hope now that they could catch up and stop him. 

"Don't worry about all those guys, there's more of us down there they'll have to worry about! Let's just take all these girls down!" One of the thugs shouted as his comrades cheered with him and started shooting at us again. 

"If we can get behind them, then me and Raphtalia can take them out! Give us some covering fire!" Sasha said as Ruby gave us a nod. She and the rest of the team reloaded all of their weapons and then they all spread out their fire to cover all areas where enemies were. They were drawing their attention over towards them and it allowed me and Sasha to move in. 

"Hide Mirage!" I shouted as I grabbed hold of Sasha's hand and made us both become invisible. We crept around all the enemies until we were directly behind them all and then reappeared. 

"Now! Take 'em down!" Sasha roared as we both attacked our enemies. I started knocking out several thugs one after the other by hitting them in their heads with the butt and flat face of my sword, and Sasha would simply knock them out with a single strike of her fist thanks to her mastery of martial arts. They couldn't hear us at all thanks to the sound of gunfire filling the entire building, so it was incredibly easy to take them all down. And, after about 2 minutes of attacking, we could finally stop when I knocked out the last enemy. 

"Nice job, girls! Let's do a quick search of the area before we go after Drake and his squad, okay?" Ruby suggested as we all seemed to agree. 

"Why the rush? I don't see any reason for you all to leave yet. And besides, you haven't introduced me to your new friends yet. I'd love to get to know them, just like how I met all you." A new person said as they came jumping down from a support beam near the ceiling. They landed in front of us and, upon impact, they shattered the ground a bit. 

"It ain't a party without me, so let's see what you all can do." A man said to us. He had silver short-medium length hair, a grey and black jacket, black fingerless gloves, black jeans, and large black boots. 

"Mercury...." Ruby said with anger as the man went on to chuckle a bit. 

"Team RWBY! It's so good to see you girls again! How have you been?" Mercury asked. 

"Fine. And you?" Yang asked him with venom in her voice. 

"Not too bad, actually. Got some nice upgrades recently and I've been dying to try them out on something that's not a mindless Grimm." Mercury said. 

"Who is this guy?" I asked team RWBY.

"Mercury Black. When we first met him, we thought he was just like us. Another student trying to become a huntsman. But his true colors came out fairly quickly. He's tried to kill us and essentially destroy our world before with the help of some powerful friends of his. He's no hero." Weiss explained to us. 

"And who would you two be? I always love meeting new people. And, i'm great with names so i'm sure I won't forget you two, even if you die soon." Mercury said to us as I gripped my sword tighter in my right hand. 

"Raphtalia." I said to him. 

"Sasha." She told him. 

"Sasha and Raphtalia. Like I said, i'll remember those names. Even after I snap your necks." Mercury said as he took a runners position.

"We can't promise we'll remember yours. But we can promise that we'll beat you." I said to him as he just laughed at my remark. 

"You wish." Mercury said as he used some sort of concussive blast from the bottom of his boots to launch himself forward. He flipped his body forward and swung one of his legs out, increasing its momentum and strength as he went to hit me with an overhead axe-kick.

I responded by holding my sword up across my body and taking the attack head on. Mercury struck my sword which sent me sliding back a bit, but he wasn't through just yet. He kicked off of my sword and, at the same time he did that, he fired another blast from his boot which shot me back, making me hit a wall. 

"No, Raphtalia!" Blake cried as I dropped to my knees. 

"Doesn't look like she can use her aura properly. Or, maybe she doesn't have one at all, otherwise she probably would've used it to defend herself better. Which means, that demon was right. It wasn't the only one to come to our world." Mercury said as he cracked his knuckles and then looked to Sasha next. But, team RWBY wasn't leaving us to fight him and everyone all at once charged Mercury. 

"Did he say..... demon? That means..... that it was here too..... and if our portal here scattered us through time..... then who knows how longs it's been here..... It was probably the one who helped make Torchwick's drug. It's making an army by turning people into Grimm!" I thought to myself as I was awe struck by this theory. Instead of simply recruiting people with darkness in their hearts, they turn them into creatures of hatred.

"I can't..... We can't let them win here..... if we stop this drug from spreading.... then it'll greatly decrease the size.... of their army!" I said as I got back up to my feet and grabbed my sword.

"Hey, Raphtalia! Catch!" I heard Mercury shout as I looked over to see him holding Sasha by her neck while simultaneously fending off team RWBY. He tossed Sasha up into the air and then kicked her right in the chest when she came back down. He sent her flying right over to me and I caught her, but the force and speed she was traveling at pushed me against the wall again.

"Are you alright!?" I asked her as I could feel she was breathing very heavily.

"Yep.... i'm fine." She said to me with obvious pain in her voice. 

"His speed and strength is so immense that it's difficult to attack back. If we can find some way to catch him off guard or even over power him, then we may be able to defeat him." I said as Sasha nodded in agreement. I helped her to her feet and we both charged back into battle against Mercury. He was currently knocking away both Blake and Yang with one swing of his right leg and then he moved onto Weiss and Ruby. He flipped forward and landed on both of his hands and proceeded to spin himself around while swinging both of his legs, delivering a flurry of kicks to the two girls. 

"Stop it! Get away from them!" I shouted as I leaped over to him and swung my sword at him. But, he saw me coming and stopped spinning. He then used his hands to propel himself forward at me into a drop-kick style attack. And, when he neared me, I hesitated and turned my blade so i'd hit him with the flat face instead. Master Naofumi never taught me to kill people, and i'm not starting now. But, rotating my blade was a huge mistake as Mercury took advantage of my hesitation.

"Bad move, Raphtalia!" He shouted as he separated his feet apart just a bit when he neared me and then brought them together to catch my blade in between them. He twisted his legs and forced my sword out of my hands, throwing it across the room. He then shoved both of his boots hard against my face and sent me flying straight up into the ceiling. I hit it hard and then fell all the way down back to the ground, landing in front of Mercury with a loud thud.

"It's only been a few minutes, but that's a wrap for Raphtalia! Everyone, give her a hand before I close her curtain!" Mercury said as he raised his right leg straight up into the air. My head felt like it was going to burst, and I could feel blood rushing down the left side of my face with every breath. But, with him thinking he's beat me, this was my best possible chance to strike back! In the mere moments it took him to raise his leg up, I quickly pulled out my mana sword, and when he saw it, he just started laughing. 

"What the heck it that!? It's a sword hilt but without an actual blade on it! What'd you do, snap the blade as you pulled it out!?" Mercury laughed as he started to bring his sword down. But, as he moved in to kill me, I pressed my sword hilt right up to his chest and then filled it with mana. Before he could strike me, a blade made out of pure light emerged from the hilt and impaled Mercury. This kind of weapon doesn't cause much harm to people, but I was able to finally catch him off guard and land a hit. 

"What.....!? How the..... How did.....?" Mercury said as blood started coming out of his mouth. He reached up and grabbed hold of the mana blade and then pulled himself out of it to stumble backwards a bit. 

"Don't feel.... so smug now.... do you?" I said to Mercury as he put his hand on the wound in his chest. It wasn't very large but blood was seeping out of it. 

"Oh, I am going to enjoy killing you, bitch." Mercury said as I stood up to meet him at eye level. 

"Then go ahead.... and try..... if you can even find me. Hide Mirage!" I said as my body became invisible again. 

"This trick again, eh? I don't mind.... a little game.... of hide and seek.... It's nothing to worry about." Mercury said to me. 

"I'm not the one you should be worrying about." I said to him from across the building as Mercury suddenly looked in my direction. But, that's what I was hoping he'd do. Because running up behind him was Sasha and Yang. They both leaped at him while he had his back turned and they both delivered powerful punches to his back which sent him flying across the room. He smashed against a metal wall and fell flat on his face. I stood about 20 feet to his right, and I hoped he didn't know I was here if he could still get up. And, not to anyone's surprise, he stood up. 

"What're you doin', Merc? You make one mistake and then the whole world starts to crumble around you. Get your head in the game already." Mercury said to himself as he slapped the sides of his face a couple of times before rushing back over to Yang and Sasha. Meanwhile, I was able to creep over and pick up my sword he made me drop earlier. It turned invisible the moment I touched it, so Mercury probably would't notice it was gone. I then began to sneak my way over to him as he was fighting the two girls.

"What's the matter, Yang!? You beat me two years ago, so why're you struggling now!? Is that clunky metal arm of yours to heavy for you!?" Mercury taunted her as Yang was clearly struggling against his speed. Sasha wasn't doing much better as she kept missing her strikes on him. Mercury would capitalize on the two in an instant by swinging his legs around with powerful roundhouse kicks. 

"Just a little closer...." I thought to myself as I rotated my blade a bit and prepared to attack Mercury. One good blow should end this fight.

"What's the matter!? Can't any of you put up a good fight against me anymore!?" Mercury roared as he struck Yang on the side of her head and sent her crashing into Sasha, sending them both flying into some wooden crates. 

"You're all boring me to death." Mercury said as I pounced on him, swinging my blade over my head as I reappeared. 

"How's this for a good fight!?" I roared as I smashed the flat end of my sword over the top of his head. I used all my might when I struck him and Mercury instantly collapsed to the ground, twitching a bit but he wasn't moving at all. More blood came out of his mouth but he was still breathing. 

"One good blow.... The fight.... is over...." I said as I fell to my knees in pain from Mercury's previous attacks. Team RWBY and Sasha ran over to make sure I was alright and to restrain Mercury before he regained consciousness. 

"That was amazing, Raphtalia! First your glowy sword got him and then you just straight up knocked him out with one hit of your sword!" Ruby said with much joy as I saw she had a black eye. Everyone else had some serious scratches and bruises as well, just showing how much power Mercury had with his kicks. 

"Thanks, but it was because of everyone one of you that I was able to get in so close and take him down." I said as Weiss took out a pair of handcuffs and put them on Mercury's wrists. She then moved to his pant legs and started to roll them up. 

"What're you doing?" Sasha asked her. 

"Did you wonder why his legs were so strong?" Blake asked us as we both nodded. And, when Weiss finished rolling up his pant legs, we got our answer. Mercury's legs, from the knees down, were mechanical. Spring-loaded, and with gun cartidges where his feet would be. It's no wonder he us so hard. Weiss and Yang removed these mechanical legs from his body and then smashed them to pieces so, if Mercury woke up, he wouldn't be able to put up much of a fight. 

"Okay, now that Mercury's been dealt with, we need to make our next move." Ruby said as we all agreed. 

"I'll take Mercury over to Jaune and the others so they can keep watch over him." Blake said as Weiss and Sasha decided to go with her. 

"Alright then. Me, Raphtalia and Yang will go after Drake and the others to provide support. Hopefully they've taken Torchwick down by now, otherwise, i'd say things probably got a lot harder. Man, a change in the plan really kicks the crap out of you when it happens, doesn't it?" Ruby said as we all sadly agreed. Switching from stealth to assault put us back a few steps, for sure. Hopefully our strike team was having an easier time than we are.

-POV: Xev-

Well, we managed to avoid the thugs on the upper level of the warehouse, but, when our team jumped down to follow this Torchwick fellow, he was just taking off on a train which had these Grimm drugs loaded on it. We scrambled to board it and luckily we all managed to as it just departed from where it was stationed. Now, we were all going from car to car, trying to find these drugs and Torchwick.

Each car we went into though just had more and more thugs in them which really slowed us down. But, thanks to that Drake guys semblance, we could tell how many were n the car ahead. But, even after going through about 10 train cars at this point, we still hadn't found anything, and i'm sure we still had a long way to go before we reached the front.

"How much further until we reach the end of this train!?" Ren asked Drake. 

"No clue! We get there when we get there! Just keep on pushing through these forces and we'll make it there eventually!" Drake shouted as he was currently fighting off a thug. He grabbed the thugs face and then slammed it down into the floor of the train car we were in, knocking him out instantly. 

"Jeez, I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of a fight with that guy, that's for sure." I thought to myself as all six of us finished up with the last of our opponents. We all then gathered at the door to the next train car but we found it was locked from the other side.

"Want me to blow it open?" Temair asked Drake and Leena but they both nodded. 

"No, you should save the ammunition just in case. And besides, our bunker buster here can knock this door down. Amber, if you will...." Drake said as we all let the fox-eared girl step forward. She crackled her knuckles and adjusted her leather gloves before reeling back her left arm. 

"Fortification!" Amber shouted as her whole body started glowing with a bright white outline. She then threw her punch and blasted apart the door with one shot.

"I'm assuming that was her semblance that she just used?" I asked as team DLTA gave me nods. 

"Amber's is called "Fortify," and it drastically increases her physical defense and strength. She used to use weapons but, since she's such an expert at hand-to-hand combat, she's dropped them for just plain old leather gloves because, and I can vouch for her, she's got one mean punch." Drake explained. 

"I see. Sounds like it comes in handy, then." Ren said as Amber gave him a nod. We all then moved into the next train car and found only one enemy inside waiting for us. It was a girl with darker skin, red eyes, bright green hair, a white top, brown pants, brown shoes, and two green guns strapped to the back of her waste. 

"Oh, terrific." Leena said with a sigh, giving me the impression she'd met this girl before. 

"Emerald. Nice to see you once again." Temair said in a not so nice fashion. 

"So nice to see you guys as well. And you've got a few new friends too. Hi, boys." Emerald said as she gave us a wave. 

"Hi." Me and Ren both said to her as she just rolled her eyes. 

"Guess you're not the talking type, then. That's fine. You won't be talking when i'm done here." Emerald said as she pulled out her two guns and aimed them at us. 

"Drake, you and everyone else go on ahead. I can take care of her." Amber said as she stepped forward. 

"Not on my watch. I'm staying to fight too." Temair said as he stepped up with Amber. 

"You two be careful against her. Remember, her semblance causes hallucinations, so try not to let her fool you." Leena said as her Drake, and Ren began to run across the train car. Emerald let them go by as she probably felt that slowing at least a few of us down was a good enough job. But I chose to stay, just like Temair and Amber. If it was 3 against 1, then i'd hoped we could take her down quickly and then catch up to them.

"You're staying to fight as well?" Temair asked me as I pulled out my two new short katanas and twirled them in my hands a couple of times. 

"If you don't mind. I've been in loads of bad combat situations before, and this girl here doesn't seem very intimidating." I said to them and it was obvious that Emerald heard me. 

"Not very intimidating, eh? I think you'll change your mind very, very soon, tough guy." She said as she cracked her neck a couple of times. 

"We know full well what you're capable of, Emerald. You're not going to trick us with your mental illusions." Amber said as Emerald chuckled a bit. 

"Oh, I doubt that." We heard Emerald say, only it sounded much closer this time. I turned my head to my left to see the real Emerald standing behind Amber, preparing to impale her with her guns which have now turned into blades. The Emerald we were looking at the whole time was a hallucination. This was the real one. But, before she could make a move, and before I could move too, Amber reached behind her and grabbed onto the blades with her leather gloves. With all her might, she threw Emerald over her head. But, Emerald landed gracefully in the center of the train car, and we watched as her illusion of herself disappeared.

"I had a funny suspicion that you'd try and pull something like that. Good think my fox ears give me excellent hearing." Amber said as Emerald gritted her teeth in anger.

"Time and time again you've eluded us with your silly little mind tricks, but today, we take you down." Temair said to her as he took out his machine gun and aimed it at her. 

"Like hell that'll happen!" Emerald said as she changed her blades back to guns and started shooting at us. There was two crates by us on either side of the train car and we all split up, Amer and Temair going to the one on the left while I ducked behind the one on the right. 

"I don't care what it takes, i'm gonna kill you all this time! Your little luck streak's finally run out!" Emerald shouted as she kept firing at us all.

"Don't worry! I can take care of her bullets! Just get ready to close the distance!" I shouted to my two teammates as Temair had just started to fire back at Emerald. But, he stopped when he heard me shout to them. 

"Just do it fast before we get overwhelmed!" He yelled to me as I put my right hand out and away from cover. 

"As source of thy power, I order thee! Decipher the laws of nature and redirect my targets own offense back unto them! Full Reflect!" I shouted as I could feel magic burst out of my hand and fill the train car. All the bullets Emerald had fired stopped in midair and then suddenly, they started firing back at her. 

"What!?" She said in confusion as she ran over to her own crate before getting shot.

"Now, go!" I shouted as Temair and Amber jumped over their crate and ran forwards towards Emerald.

"Interesting ability, new guy. Too bad you wasted it on a fake me!" Emerald said as she reappeared in front of me and attempted to stab me with one of her blades. I was heavily caught off guard but I was able to catch her weapon in between both of my swords and stop her before she could strike me. 

"Pretty quick. Not bad at all." Emerald said as she took her second blade and turned it back into a gun, pointing it at my head. 

"Back off, Emerald!" Amber shouted as she leaped over my crate and drop kicked Emerald, making her crash into the wall behind her. 

"Falling for her tricks twice. It hurts, but at least we know this one's the real deal." Temair said as he came running over, keeping his weapon locked on Emerald at all times.

"And who says you haven't fallen for a third one? I wanted you to hit me, because then it brought all three of you in closer to me! Now, fall into your own mind!" Emerald said as her eyes began to glow an even more intense shade of red, and everything around me became dark. Emerald, Amber, and Temair disappeared and I was now walking in nothing but a blank darkness.

"What the hell happened? Is this another one of her hallucinations?" I questioned as a rumbling sound started to fill the area. 

"It just might be, tough guy. Let's see how you fair in my world." I heard Emerald say as I turned around to see a gigantic version of herself standing over me. She lifted up one of her feet and attempted to step on me so I started running, but it felt like no matter how much I ran, her foot was always above me. And, after a maniacal laugh, she brought her foot down on me. 

"I haven't come this far to be stepped on by someone! I'm not going down like this! Reflect Hold!" I shouted as I raised my hands up into the air and activated my magic. This spell allows me to freeze and object in space and I can twist and turn it until I decide to free it. And, I used the spell on Emerald's giant foot, freezing it in place and stopping her from stepping on me for the moment.

"Like a tiny little bug, you're so annoying!" Emerald roared as she then reached down to grab me with her left hand. I was stuck in place trying to hold her foot up to run away from her hand so she was easily able to grab one of my legs and lift me up into the air. She dangled me high above the ground and laughed at me as I tried to struggle free of her grip. 

"Aww, look at you. Maybe i'll keep you at this size so you can be my pet. How does that sound?" Emerald asked me as I used one of my swords to stab her thumb. But, it looked like she didn't feel a thing. 

"That's gonna cost you an arm." Emerald said as she began to reach for my right arm with her other hand. 

"I've got to find a way to stop this illusion of hers! I wonder....." I began to think as she pinned my arm between her right thumb and index finger and started pulling. The pain was so intense and she hadn't even pulled my arm off yet. 

"I've got one shot and I damn well hope it works! As source of thy power, I order thee! Decipher the laws of nature and redirect the very space around me unto my target! Warp Reflect!" I shouted as I thrusted my left arm forward, aiming my hand right at Emerald's face. The whole area began to rumble again, and then, the black walls enclosed around us began to crumble away. 

"What did you do!?" Emerald shouted as she began to shrink in size. I broke free of her grip and landed safely on the ground as I watched her come back down to normal size again. 

"The illusions you cast are indeed impressive and equally terrifying, but if there's a way for me to turn it around, then my magic will reflect it. So let's see what happens when your power is used on you!" I shouted to her as the remaining walls shattered, and now we were back to standing in the train car. Emerald suddenly reached up to the sides of her head and began screaming at the top of her lungs. She dropped to her knees and then fell over onto her right side, still wailing in pain. 

"What.... what the hell happened?" I heard Amber ask as I looked over to see her and Temair stand back up. I must've freed them from Emerald's illusion too. 

"I used my magic to use her power against her. I trapped her inside her own mind." I explained to them as they both looked a little stunned.

"Huh..... I wouldn't think that was possible, but, I guess it worked. Thanks, Xev." Temair said as he patted my right shoulder. 

"Now, to shut up this screaming bitch once and for all." Amber said as she walked over to Emerald who was in the fetal position on the ground, still holding her head and screaming. Amber activated her semblance and began to glow with that white outline again. She reeled back her left arm and then threw a monster punch straight down at Emerald's face, driving her head into the floor of the train car. She embedded her head into the metal flooring with just one punch, and KO'd Emerald instantly.

"That felt so good...." Amber said as she brought her arm back and stepped away from Emerald. 

"We should find something to restrain her so she can't get away." Temair said as he opened up a crate, but found nothing but steel beams inside. 

"Those'll work. I can use my magic on that." I said to him as he looked even more surprised. Amber then came over and used her semblance to lift a beam out of the crate, which I then used my magic to reflect and warp its shape, twisting it around Emerald's body to entrap her. 

"There, that should do. She can't use her arms or legs, nor can she move from the added weight. Don't have to worry about her now, which means, we can leave her here alone and go catch up to the others." Amber said as we all agreed. All three of us quickly headed off through the remaining train cars, finding nothing but destruction made by the rest of our team in each one. Let's just hope they finally reached wherever Torchwick and these Grimm drugs were.