Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction based on multiple existing anime/manga series. The characters and settings used in this story belong to their respective owners and creators, and no copyright infringement is intended. This story is purely for entertainment purposes and is not intended to infringe upon any existing intellectual property. I do not own any of the original works that inspired this fanfiction, and I fully support the original creators and their works.
I'm also occasionally chilling in JaxWolf4's (Author of Nah, I'd Adapt and Zenin Days) Discord Server. It's a chaotic lobotomy mess. Not for the faint of heart.
Here's the link:
Disc: HrPrTeam
(Special thanks to Anti-Storm for the Beta Reading Labor!)
-Story Start-
A heart monitor's subtle, rhythmic beeping echoed in the otherwise quiet hospital room.
Memories flashed in the young blonde's mind, a nightmarish scenario as she stirred in her sleep.
"NOOOO BLAKE!" She awoke with a cold sweat, an anxious, pleading screech reverberating in the room.
Her head rapidly turned to scan her surroundings, "W-Where am I?" She whispered as she fought back the agonizing pain in her abdomen and a seething headache.
She immediately noted the appearance, "Hospital room..."
Realizing the situation, she jumped out of the hospital sheets and burst towards the door, a panic settling on her features.
Only to stop in front of the sliding door, someone entering the room with a harsh, weighty glare.
The cold temperature had dropped a few degrees as this man in front of her spoke with authority.
"There will be no more from you, Miss Xiao Long." She was met with Ozpin's frown.
Grounding her teeth, she went into tunnel vision, "MOVE! I NEED TO HEAD OUT NO-"
His cane stomped on the ground with force, replacing her rage with trepidation as she was met with a much different Ozpin.
Not the casual, wise, and patient Headmaster.
But a seasoned Huntsman.
Nay.
An aged Warrior.
She let go of the breath she held, as she stood frozen in a storm of emotions.
The titan standing between her and going out to save Blake was immovable.
So, she pleaded, "Please... Headmaster Ozpin, it's all my fault, I-"
Shaking her head, an optimistic yet hesitant and awkward smile found itself on her face.
Maybe, if she somehow wound up in the hospital... perhaps they had saved her too...
"Blake... where's Blake? Did you manage to rescue her?" She inquired with a hopeful tone.
A grim line settled on Ozpin's face as he solemnly pinched his brows, "That's what we're asking as well..."
Her heart raced, and her expression paled as the little hope she held crumbled in an instant.
She gasped, her fists clenching with frustration and despair, "Why... why am I the one here, then?!" Guilt laced her tone.
"You were found unconscious with a tear in your abdominal muscles and a minor concussion at the crime scene, alongside a few deceased White Fang Members."
"D-Deceased?" Yang repeated with a slight stupor.
She didn't kill anyone, she only beat as many as she could before that Torchwick and his silent chick did her in...
"Yes, which is why I must question you myself. Do not spare a single detail, so we may have greater chances of finding Miss Belladonna before tragedy ensues." He sternly ordered with no room for argument.
Sweat trickled down the guilt-ridden Yang, but she nodded in hesitant agreement.
Gesturing for the two of them to sit down, Ozpin sat in front of her in the hospital room, sparing not a single moment lest the kidnapped Beacon Student be even more unreachable.
-----------------------------
What followed was a short tale of what the pair of partners from Team YRBN got themselves into.
Blake, regardless of advancements by her team and friends decided to tackle the growing White Fang issue herself.
Discovered by Yang, the now-exposed Faunus was harshly reprimanded yet stood her ground in resolute defiance - she will go and stop them, even if that means quitting Beacon altogether and doing it alone.
Seeing this resolve, Yang took it upon herself, as both Blake's partner and Team Leader to accompany her in her outings to stop the White Fang.
"How did you bypass Beacon's heightened Security?" Ozpin inquired mid-tale.
Yang nodded, "Blake's an expert in sneaking in and out of places. The campus is huge, and she was sure there'd be a hole in the defense. She was right, and we snuck out of there and went into Vale on foot."
Ozpin sighed in exasperation, "On foot? I have underestimated Miss Belladonna's persistence on the matter of the White Fang." He admitted.
"You knew?" Yang's eyes widened.
"Her family is well-known to me, notably her father, Ghira... letting her get to this point is yet another of my countless blunders, I'm afraid." Ozpin shook his head lamentfully.
"I digress, carry on, Miss Xiao Long." He waved at her to continue her recollection of the events.
Nodding gravely, she continued as ordered by her superior.
Eventually, the two found themselves in Vale at a rather late hour, heading towards the docks of Vale; one of two major high-quality Dust shipments was set to arrive according to Blake's research.
The White Fang striking that shipment was rather unlikely, given the massive security measures taken into place:
Hired gun, shipment crew, and, most notably expensive...
The Atlesian Knight-130.
Several of them, to be exact.
A bold heist, if it were to occur.
...
It did.
Yang and Blake jumped to assist the defenses of the shipment, but the White Fang alongside Roman Torchwick came more than prepared.
The defensive effort was dismantled in less than ten minutes.
A loud explosion rang, as a literal sea of masked White Fang members swarmed the dock.
With even aerial support, as a couple unregistered bullheads flew in to the chaotic mess.
Yang and Blake had done their best to stop them but were overwhelmed by both numbers and skill.
Torchwick was enough to manhandle Blake as she took down a couple of busy members, whilst Yang was embarrassed by some mute black-pink-haired girl.
Blake was knocked out as White Fang members as well as Yang pleaded for her to not be killed, to which the members picked up her unconscious body and dragged her into the bullhead.
Yang could only stare in despair as she was losing the fight against the mute girl.
Striking a decisive blow on the girl, only for her to be played by some illusion and knocked out with a blow to the head and gut.
The explosion of dust in the background, countless White Fang Members coalescing together into the Bullhead and that snarky, haughty smirk of the mute girl who stood victoriously before her with that inexplicable semblance of hers.
Then, it all went dark.
...
"Then, I woke up here..." Yang mentioned with a lowered head as she recalled her tale.
Stroking his chin and nodding gravely, Ozpin expressed his gratitude, "Thank you, for the information, Miss Xiao Long. This will be vital for Miss Belladonna's rescue effort." He rose up from his seat.
Blinking he suddenly turned around to make his way towards the door, his calm steps lightly echoing in the silent room, Yang rose up as well, "I can help! No! Let me help! I-" She offered her assistance.
"No. This is not a matter for 1st-year Rookie Huntresses to handle." He asserted firmly, not turning his head to look at her guilt-ridden and pleading look.
"I am certain you realize, that this is a disastrous situation. Not only for you, Miss Xiao Long, not only for your Team.
"But for myself, Beacon, and Vale itself as a whole."
He turned to regard her with a chilling, yet disturbingly calm look.
"The Dust robberies were and are a concerning prospect, over a long period of time, it will prove an existential risk for the bastion city of Vale."
"Criminals... correction, intelligent criminals know that due to the ever-present threat of Grimm, there must be a delicate balance between Crime, Conflict, and Law Enforcement."
He went on a tangent, as a subtle rage bubbled beneath his tone, "They know well that overstepping their boundaries and acting drastically would serve to make us all prey to the Grimm."
"An unspoken agreement that all intelligent criminals know to adhere to since the dawn of humanity and faunuskind."
"However..."
"The White Fang and Roman Torchwick have overstepped their boundaries kidnapping one of my students."
Yang could only stare dumbstruck at Ozpin as she felt a frightening chill running down her back.
With a calmer note, Ozpin reassured, "So be at ease, Miss Xiao Long. Let the adults handle this matter."
"You are well enough to return to your dormitory, but I only ask you to stay here for a check-up from one of the doctors. If you'd like, you can call your team to visit, we are currently in Beacon's Hospital."
Yang slowly digested his words, her fists clenching so hard that she damaged her own aura, but nodded nonetheless.
Guilt laced her eyes, yet a subtle determination arose, only to pause once Ozpin regarded her with one, final inquiry:
"By the way, in your encounter with the White Fang and Roman Torchwick, have you perhaps come across a clue as to where they may have taken Miss Belladonna?"
"No. I've got no clue." She shook her head firmly.
"A shame then, rest well." He nodded politely and headed out of the door, as his steps echoed beyond the door, leaving Yang...
All Alone.
"Fuck..." She whispered with a hic, having held back her tears.
"I should have been stronger, I should have convinced Blake to let Ren and Nora join us..."
"My fault."
"My fault-"
She sniffed once more, as tears welled in her lilac eyes.
For a few seconds, she cried alone.
Seconds, spiraled into minutes.
In that cold, sterile hospital room.
'No. I can still save her.' Yang wasn't willing to give up hope.
"I'll fix this. I'll take responsibility, but I can't do it alone." She reached for her scroll that lay safely on the desk.
She clicked her tongue.
If only Blake had let the rest of her Team join them on their outing...
'If only I was more stubborn...' Her fists clenched.
The blame hadn't seemed to end, but she was determined to not lose hope just yet.
She shook her head, "Focus, Yang!"
Ozpin's advice wasn't misplaced.
Without hesitation, she called her beloved sister and then Ren as she did her best to maintain composure.
Oh, and what a challenge that was.
Her breath hitched and a sniffle escaped her tone as she called for both Ruby and Ren.
Only to be met with the entire cavalry.
-----------------------------
Unbeknownst to Yang, Ozpin had already made his move in no less than an hour after their talk.
All ports and exits into and out of Vale were closed until further notice.
All leaving or entering ground vehicles or emergency Bullheads required authorization by a licensed Huntsman or Huntress.
A quiet manhunt was launched in search of Blake, under the guise of taking down the White Fang and Roman Torchwick for their exaggerated actions of stealing Dust.
A bounty on any and all leads regarding the White Fang and Roman's whereabouts was posted online and ground hires began to post physical posters for the bounty in the streets of Vale.
All in under an hour.
-----------------------------
"And that's what happened!" Ruby explained in depth to Alex the current status quo in Vale as of 4:00 AM, and how Blake was kidnapped.
All eyes settled on Alex's expression, the sacred sword firmly held in his hand as he digested the information.
Settling a neutral, unimpressed look on them all, he replied:
"I must have missed the part where this became my problem." Alex muttered, his voice flat, as he set his gaze on the group with a flicker of annoyance and growing irritation.
He directed a tired look at Yang, "As Ozpin told you, Yang. Let the adults handle it, we're all underqualified 1st-year kids." He stated matter of factly.
She ground her teeth, rising up to glare at Alex, "Do you think this is a joke?! I didn't think of you being insensitive or lacking in tac-"
He cut her off firmly, "And I am not joking. What makes you think we'll do better than the trained, licensed adults?"
"This is a kidnapping. Life and Death. You're all in over your heads."
The only response he got, was a frustrated and unimpressed look from the majority of them settling on both his figure and Excalibur.
"Oh, who are you trying to kid? You just don't want to work hard, Alex." Yang glared harshly and waved off his excuse.
"Yang, stop. We said we'll ask him, not force him-" Ruby intervened with a slightly sterner tone, yet disappointed herself Alex hadn't agreed.
"Don't want to work hard?" Alex repeated, anger beginning to lace his tone, much to the surprise of the two teams present.
His grip tightened on Excalibur's hilt, "I've worked hard, very, very hard and I was just woken up to be offered to help something that sounds completely dumb."
"I dislike Blake, I would even go as far as to say I hate her. But I don't think she deserves to be kidnapped."
"She was being selfish and dumb, and she got herself kidnapped. If I go ahead and save a person like that, wouldn't that happen again? When will she learn her lesson exactly?"
"It's alright! I can keep being a careless little self-righteous kitten who is rude and moody when someone tries to help, I'll be saved anyway by my teammates. It's fine to trouble them! Since what I'm doing is all so important!" He mocked.
"Look at your state Yang," Alex concluded with a shake of his head.
"Tell me, Is that the conclusion she should reach?" He went on a tangent, practically bubbling with fury.
...
Sighing as he calmed himself, Alex raised his head to look at the collective party, "Fine. Look, if you've got a proper plan of action, I'll help." He turned to look at Ruby and Pyrrha.
Pyrrha flashed an apologetic look, "We roughly have information on where she could possibly be held, the goal is to break in there, free her, and get out."
Yang mentioned with folded arms and clear impatience, "Ozpin's tightened security and made sure to fix the hole Blake found. But there's another one that she told me about that I hadn't mentioned to him, we'll leave from there."
Taking a moment to digest, Alex appeared even more agitated and incredulous.
"Are you kidding me? That's your plan?"
Once more, gazes shifted to unapologetically settle on him and Excalibur's brilliant light.
"...Don't tell me I'm your plan?" He asked with genuine exasperation, pointing a thumb at himself.
She hesitated rather awkwardly, yet kept the seriousness in her tone given the situation, "Kinda? Sorry, it's just, with you we can pretty much do anything! You're that reliable!" Ruby nodded firmly, with a cheerful smile.
"Am I going to always be your plan? With me, you can do anything?" He frowned as he tightly gripped Excalibur with mixed emotions.
Ruby frowned at that look.
Weiss nodded, "You're many things Alex, but your strength is that impressive and reassuring for us all, with you any last-second rushed plan would work." She shrugged as she bluntly admitted.
However, slight guilt crossed her and the girls of Team RAWP's eyes at trying to get Alex to act so soon after... what happened.
But an emergency is an emergency.
"No." Alex refused with no room for argument.
"As I had said, with that lackluster plan, I'm not going anywhere."
Stomping on the ground in frustration as she approached Alex, a lilac glare settled and dug deep into barely restrained fury and mixed emotions in dull amber.
"WHY?!" Yang exclaimed her face inches from his own, her hands trembling.
He lectured in a frustrated tone, "Because... I hold the equivalent of the entire Atlesian War Machine and then some in the palm of my hand." He raised Excalibur to her eye level, as she flinched at the brilliant enchanting light.
"Is he exaggerating, Ren?" Nora's expression held no humor.
"I don't think so," Ren swiftly replied.
Alex continued, "If I swing it incorrectly, I'll kill and do untold amounts of damage." He hissed.
"Don't try and convince me. And don't dare try to force me. You can't." He gave his final words as he fearlessly passed her by as he lowered Excalibur, making his way towards the kitchen area.
Expressing his distaste for anyone or anything forcing him to act against his will.
Ignoring the countless pleading, furious, silent, and disappointed looks settling on his shoulders.
Sighing knowingly, Weiss admitted, "Trying to get him to help was a bad idea-"
A myriad of reactions went through Yang's distressed expression, chief of whom was disappointment, "I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO HELP HER! I KNOW YOU HATE HER NOW, BUT-"
"I never wanted to help her. She looked perfectly capable of handling her issues herself, she made an effort to assert that. Clearly, I was wrong."
Alex's tone was cold, dismissive, "And now she's gotten herself kidnapped. Your solution? A half-baked rescue plan. I'm not participating - whether I like her or not."
"Do you think this is easy for me? To ask for your help, Alex?" Yang's voice slowly, almost pleadingly, reverberated.
"Blake's my partner. She's my friend! If it were your partner, wouldn't you do everything you could to save them?!"
Turning to look at Ruby with an apologetic yet emotional look, Yang whispered in shame at involving her sister, "I-If it was Ruby..."
"But it isn't Ruby. So I don't care." Alex asserted with finality, his tone cold.
A myriad of emotions flashed once more in Yang's face, as the air turned somber and tense.
Her voice was sharp, cutting through the tension.
"FINE THEN! WE'LL DO THIS WITHOUT YOU!" Her anger was palpable, but there was something deeper lingering in her eyes - disappointment.
Alex didn't flinch, he gave a curt nod, "Good luck with that."
Yang hesitated, her voice dropping to something softer, almost pleading.
"I... I expected more from you."
"You got the wrong idea... and a bad plan," Alex muttered, his tone unreadable.
He turned back to the counter, stirring his coffee as if the conversation had never happened.
The hum of the coffee machine filled the tense silence, but it only made the quiet in the room heavier, as the sound of footsteps growing fainter echoed in Alex's ears.
With only a last few departing figures - his own team.
"I'm sorry for trying to pull you into this after all you went through, Alex." Pyrrha's apologetic voice did little to hide her disappointment, but her apology was genuine.
"No problem." He sighed.
Only to turn to her for just an instant, meeting her disappointed emerald eyes head-on, "Can't you talk some sense into them?" He suggested.
"To tell you the truth, I'm confident we can do this, even without you." She smiled sadly yet confident in her words and own strength.
"Fine, just, stay out of trouble. If you're saying it, I'm a little more relieved." Alex requested with a nod, turning around to continue his brewing.
"If you're worried, you can join us. I don't get this stubbornness." Weiss rolled her eyes.
Alex hadn't dignified her with a response, much to her dismay.
"Will do. Don't worry." Pyrrha agreed with his prior words and reassured him with a warm smile.
"We'll be back with Blake soon, Alex! I'll reprimand you later for not listening to Leader's orders!" Ruby brightened the mood with her departing words, the dismay on her features not visible to Alex.
Her optimistic words were meant to reassure, a promise of their success in the half-baked operation.
It was considerate of her if Alex were to admit it.
"You didn't order me to do anything." He nonchalantly replied, with a smidgen of gratitude in his tone.
"You wouldn't like that, would you?" Weiss knowingly stated as she left, not offering any other parting words.
...
Thus, he was left alone.
A cup of high-quality coffee in his hands.
Alone, quiet, peaceful.
Just how he liked it.
Just how he preferred it.
Better than that... hell.
And yet...
A bitter, gnawing taste lingered in his mouth.
The lonely peace trickled into minutes, ultimately spiraling down to a quiet two whole hours.
But was it truly peaceful?
As with time, the bitter taste and uneasiness only grew more in Alex.
Even as the sun began to rise over the horizon; visible through the room's clean window, the hope and warmth of a new dawn never came.
Without a doubt, he began to worry.
To regret.
And most importantly...
To suspect.
'You've been awfully quiet with such an emergency situation popping out. I find it odd that encouraging a girl gives me a quest, yet the [Savior System] fails to issue me a quest when a girl is kidnapped.'
[How amusing. Do you wish me to issue you a quest to save her? So that you have an excuse to act?]
Lowering his head with clear indecision and mixed emotions, his eyes immediately gravitated to his anchor.
The Sword Of Promised Victory thrummed reassuringly at the searching look of its wielder.
Alex's mind flashed to Merlin's words back in Avalon.
To the revelation, he had experienced in Purgatory and in the Everdistant Utopia.
This was his term.
He was the wielder of Excalibur.
Not a Hero.
But a wielder of the Sword Of Promised Victory.
Hope and Glory weaved into a blade.
With it, he will forge his own purpose, act with his own conscience, and wield the sword honorably.
For it chose him... for some reason.
'Else, it'd be ungrateful, wouldn't it?' He thought to himself with a subtle smile.
His grip on Excalibur tightened unconsciously, as he made up his mind with a nod.
He'll wield it to help those he wishes to help.
To save those he wishes to save.
This was his resolve as the wielder.
And Excalibur made no protest.
'No. In fact, I'm glad you're not telling me to do anything. Since I've made up my own mind to do it.'
He wasn't doing it for Blake.
He worried for his friends, his Team.
His dumb, naive, and irresponsible Team.
'I'm definitely beating them up as punishment... especially Ruby.'
She was the Leader, after all.
[Are we back to conversing terms, dear Master~? How I've missed our petty squabblin-]
'Keep your mouth shut, bitch.' He sternly ordered with no room for argument, he had no patience to hear that thing's voice nagging in his mind.
Sighing as he headed towards the door, he mumbled, "I just hope they don't grow over-reliant on my help." He shook his head as he swiped his scroll, unlocking the door.
And it was on this very day...
That Alex Andrite...
The Wielder Of Excalibur...
Was Unleashed Upon Remnant For The First Time.
To Be Continued!
-Author Note Start-
I hope you guys can excuse Alex for being a lil bit emotional here.
He expected to wake up to the chill hunter school slice of life minus the System shenanigans.
Not to wake up to a party in his room organized to deal with an absurd Blake kidnapping situation coupled with an irresponsible RWBY-type plan.
Don't worry guys! I'll nip that whole thing in the bud very very soon >:)
Anywho!
Buckle up lil bros it's time.
Shi about to get even MORE real, very real.
I'll warn once again in case ya'll didn't get the memo from my last warning.
Those who know my previous works should know well I don't follow Canon's guardrails for long.
OFF A CLIFF! SPIT ON IT!
CANON'S GUARD RAILS ARE THE DEATH OF A FANFIC AUTHORS CREATIVITY RAHHHHHHHHHHH.
I'm not saying anything.
But things, characters and events aren't going to look the same pretty soon.
Logically speaking, as long the snowball effect of Alex's existence takes place, that is.
Some event in like Vacuo or something would stay the same since Alex isn't important enough or hadn't been there to affect something.
Just a quick crash course on butterfly effect for those needing an explanation.
I might be over emphasizing this, but I'm just SAYINGGGG
IF FALL OF BEACON HAPPENS TO NOT HAPPEN OR BE POST-PONED OR EXCHANGED WITH A DIFFERENT EVENT, IT WOULD BE QUITE A SHAME IF YOU SOMEHOW EXPECTED IT TO HAPPEN OR SOMETHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AHEM!
On that note!
Bu bye!
Love ya!