Blake spun in the air, shifting her momentum just enough to allow two miniature missiles to pass under her. She arched her back to tilted her head to one side, letting a third brush through her hair. The last of the four projectiles couldn't be dodged, but a quick slash of her sword split it into two harmless halves. Blake righted herself as she began descending back to the ground. The Guardian who'd fired at her with the quadruple-barreled missile launcher stared in amazement at her avoidance of the attack. He swung his weapon around, transforming it into a massive club. Blake landed on the ground gracefully, and launched herself forward. The Guardian swung the club blindly, far too early. He wouldn't have hit Blake even if she made no effort to avoid the attack. As she closed the distance, however, the club made a useful stepping stone to repel off of, flipping over the Guardian and landing behind him. She slashed him across the back with the blade, hoping to disarm him. His aura unfortunately proved to be stronger than she anticipated. He grunted in pain, then spun, swinging the club about in a massive hammer-swing. Blake jumped, rolled over the club as it passed under her, and landed. She waited for the precisely right moment when her opponent's swing threw him off balance, then leapt into a back-flip, her foot connecting with his chin. This time he lost his grip on the club, and fell backwards, hitting the dirt. Blake landed, tossed her sword to one side, then cartwheeled forward, snatching the club from the ground as she went. Righting herself, she swung the club over her head with all the force she could muster, and brought it down on the Guardian's gut. He let out a strained gasp as the air was knocked out of him, then fell unconscious.

As Blake ran to pick up her sword, she heard a battle cry from above. She looked up to see a Guardian leaping through the air towards her, twin hatchets raised. She grabbed the sword off the ground and turned to defend herself, but it turned out to be unnecessary. From Blake's other side, Ruby came spinning through the air, Crescent Rose's massive blade spinning with her. Ruby hooked the massive scythe around the Guardian mid-air, then fired the weapon, adding more spin and allowing Ruby to throw the Guardian straight down. He slammed face-first into the hood of a jeep parked near Blake. Ruby landed next to the vehicle, and grinned at Blake.

"Sorry, was that guy yours?" Ruby asked.

"Don't worry about it, thanks for the assist," Blake said, before glancing around, "There are more of them here than we expected."

A yell of surprise came from behind her and she turned to see a Guardian tumble through air, slamming into the side of another parked jeep. The impact smashed the door in, and the Guardian crashed through the interior, smashed the opposite door off its hinges and tumbled out again.

"We seem to be doing alright," Ruby noted.

Nearby, Cardin was grabbing another Guardian by the throat, and choke-slamming him to the ground. Another enemy charged him from behind. Cardin stepped to one side and clotheslined him with his mace without looking. Jaune and Nora were fighting side-by-side, Jaune having considerably more difficulty than Nora, but holding his own. The number of Guardians who'd been gathered at the vehicle depot was absurd. The ten of them were outnumbered almost three to one. For the first time, it seemed the teams might end up having to leave a few Guardians standing when the Bullheads swung back to pick them up.

Blake and Ruby charged together to the nearest group of opponents. Four of them were gathered around Dove Bronzewing and Sky Lark, and the two of them were having significant trouble fending them off. Ruby saw one of the Guardians swinging a massive flail at Dove's unprotected back. She used a burst of Speed to close the distance between them, and sliced through the flail's chain with Crescent. The Guardian took a moment to stare dumbfounded at his destroyed weapon, and Ruby batted him across the head with Crescent's blunt end before he could regain composure. Blake dropped to her knees mid-sprint and slid along the ground, coming up behind one of the Guardians and suplexing him while his attention was on Sky. Blake jumped up back to her feet and wasted no time in switching her attention to Sky's other attacker. She dispatched him with one blow. As she did this, Dove used a leg-sweep on the remaining Guardian, and then plunged his sword into his gut. The guy Blake had suplexed was struggling to get up, but Ruby quickly switched Crescent into its rifle-mode and fired into his chest, shattering his aura and rendering him unconscious.

"Holy shit!" Sky Lark said, staring at the downed opponents, "That was amazing!"

Dove placed his foot on the chest of the Guardian he'd stabbed and pulled the sword free.

"We didn't need any help." He said, with a hint of bitterness.

"Yeah, you're doing a great job," Ruby said, and Blake almost couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic, "Just remember to-"

"Oh, shit!" Sky shouted, diving for cover.

Before they could determine what Sky had seen, an explosion rocked the earth near them, throwing up dirt and blowing up a nearby vehicle. The three of them who'd been standing were thrown backwards. Sky had dove in the complete wrong direction and was knocked out by the exploding truck. Blake struggled to her feet, shook her head, and looked in the direction the shot had come from. Her eyes widened.

Lumbering onto the battlefield from within the garage was a 5 meter tall monster made of metal. It was instantly recognizable as an Altesian Paladin, the shiny new mech that was the pièce de résistance of the Altesian Military's display of military strength in Vale. The army, it seemed, was continuing to do a stellar job of keeping their state-of-the-art military hardware out of the hands of criminals. But this wasn't an ordinary Paladin, it was different from the one Team RWBY had defeated two months previous. This mech had been customized, with several even more powerful weapons strapped to its arms and back. There was a heavier missile battery, a massive Gatling gun, and a giant chainsaw blade under-slung on the right arm. It had taken all of Team RWBY- Yang especially- to bring down the basic-package Paladin. With all the other Guardians scattered about the battlefield, Blake knew right away that this was not a fight they could win.

"Don't let it distract you!" Jaune called out, "avoid its attacks, but focus your attention on the foot soldiers!"

"Guys, I got this!" Russel Thrush shouted, sprinting at the Paladin, "I got this!"

He ran forward, used his momentum to run along the side of a truck, leap onto the roof of a jeep near the Paladin, and then jump through air, aiming to land on the Paladin's back. The moment he left the jeep's roof, the vehicle was blown to pieces by one of the mech's arm-cannons. Russel's jump was thrown off-kilter slightly by the blast behind him, but he recovered just in time to slam awkwardly onto the top of the cockpit. He didn't have time to move before the Paladin reached up and clasped one of its massive hands around his leg. As it wrenched him away from itself, the sound of crushing bone could be heard.

"Russel!" Cardin shouted, charging towards the Paladin, mace raised.

"No, no!" Jaune shouted. He, like everybody else, was still struggling to fend off attacks from the other Guardians.

The Paladin tossed Russel to one side, dismissively. He slammed into the wall of the building, and crumpled to the ground, out cold. The Paladin turned its attention to Cardin, swinging its massive chainsaw at him. Cardin rolled under the blade and swung his mace like a bat. He connected with the mech's leg and actually through it off-balance. It steadied itself, and then brought its foot down on Cardin. Cardin was pinned to the ground with the enormous weight of the Paladin pushing down on his chest. Dove Bronzewing came flying through the air towards the Paladin, shouting in fury. The Paladin raised its arm-cannon and fired, striking Dove dead-centre in the chest. Dove's aura just barely absorbed the attack. His unconscious body was sent flying backwards, slamming into the hood of a truck hard enough to shatter the windshield. He was bloodied and broken, but just barely alive. The Paladin's missile battery rose up, armed itself, and unleashed a barrage of missiles aimed at the Huntsmen and Huntresses still standing. Everybody dove for cover, dodged, and barely avoided taking hits.

"This is really bad!" Weiss yelled, amidst the roar of battle, "What do we do?"

"Iceflower!" Ruby called to her.

Weiss threw out a glyph in front of Ruby, allowing Ruby to shoot through it and cover the Paladin in massive ice formations. Its movement was impeded but not halted. It immediately began tearing itself loose.

"We can still get out of this!" Jaune shouted, using his shield to block an axe-swing from another Guardian, "The Bullheads will be back any second!"

Another foe ran up behind him to stab him in the back. He was blindsided by Nora, who sent him flying with her hammer. She switched her hammer into grenade launcher form, spun, and fired at the mech, causing it to stumble back. Cardin managed to get free from underneath its foot and hobble desperately away.

"What about Team CRDL?" Nora asked, switching Magnhild back into hammer-form, "We can't leave them behind!"

"We won't! We'll think of something!" Jaune said, as he noticed the Paladin's Gatling gun taking aim at him. He shoulder-checked the Guardian he was fighting, grabbed him, and dragged him in front of his shield, between himself and the Paladin. The Gatling gun opened up, the bullets shredding the Guardian to pieces before bouncing off Jaune's shield.

Jaune wiped splattered blood from his eyes and looked into the sky. He could see the Bullheads in the distance and coming fast.

"Okay, Nora, Ren, you two are the strongest," Jaune said, "Each of you grab Sky and Dove, Cardin will grab Russel!"

Before either of them could follow this order, the pilot of the Paladin caught sight of the approaching Bullheads. Yet another added weapon extend upwards from the back of the mech: a 40mm anti-air cannon. It fired a single shot that blew off the left engine of the Bullhead at the head of the formation.

"Holy shit!" Nora shouted.

The Bullhead tumbled through the air, and slammed into the ground right at the edge of the parking lot. Its momentum sent it rolling over vehicles and crushing several Guardians unlucky enough to be in its path. It left a giant flaming trench torn into the ground behind it. The other two Bullheads immediately peeled off and retreated. The Paladin fired another barrage of missiles. The projectiles converged on one of the Bullheads before it could escape. The all impacted simultaneously, causing the Bullhead to explode in a massive fireball. The third Bullhead vanished into the distance.

Jaune stared dumbfounded into the sky where their rescue had been moments before. Understanding came crashing down on him. He had done it again, lead his team to their deaths. Only this time nobody would get out alive. Team JNPR, RWBY, and CRDL were all going to die here, and once again, it was his fault. His stupid fucking hit-and-run strategy. Jaune felt the barrel of a gun press into the back of his head, and a rough hand grab his shoulder. He gritted his teeth and waited for his brains to be blown out.

"Alright, assholes!" A growling voice behind Jaune said, "Drop your weapons!"

Everybody turned to look to the source of the voice. The Guardian standing behind Jaune was holding a double-barreled sawn-off shotgun, with a massive hooked blade coming out of the handle, to the back of Jaune's head. The lower half of his face was obscured by a gas mask. One of his eyes was pure white, missing an iris. The other was wild with hate.

"I'll blow this skinhead's brains out!" He growled, "Put down your weapons now!"

The members of the teams who were still standing looked between the psychopath holding Jaune hostage, and the giant mech levelling its weapons at all of them. They looked at the smouldering ruins of their only way off the island.

"Leave me," Jaune said, causing the Guardian to shove his weapon harder against Jaune's skull, "Run for the woods, hide and wait for evac."

A Guardian with a massive serrated knife suddenly wrapped his arm around Weiss's neck from behind. He pointed the tip of his knife right at Weiss's face, millimetres from her eye. Ruby cried out in anger and aimed Crescent Rose at him. Nora and Ren gave each other a glance. Ren had Stormflower aimed squarely at the guy wearing the gas mask. Nora gripped her hammer tensely. Ren's target glared at him, then motioned towards the gun pointed at Jaune. Ren gritted his teeth, angrily, then sighed and lowered his gun. Nora opened her mouth to protest, but eventually her head sank and she let her hammer hang at her side.

The Guardian looked at Ruby, still aiming Crescent Rose at Weiss's hostage-taker.

"Try your luck, girl," The Guardian said through the mask, "Both of you will die, slow. I know how to kill a Huntress real slow."

"Ruby, take the shot," Jaune said.

"Shut up." The Guardian said, tensing his grip on the shotgun.

"Ruby, don't." Blake said, "We can figure a way out of this."

"Think about it, Ruby," Jaune said, through gritted teeth, "He can't stab Weiss before you shoot him, he doesn't have a chance. Forget me, you put that gun down, we all die."

Ruby's lip was trembling, her eyes darted about. Jaune slowly exhaled and closed his eyes. For just a moment, the chaotic, burning battlefield fell completely silent.

"D- does anybody else hear a motorcycle?" Nora asked.

The sound of a motorcycle engine was indeed rising, coming from the nearby woods. Everybody glanced in the direction of the sound, though neither the Guardian with the gas mask nor Ruby lowered their weapons. They were all treated to the sight of a motorcycle tearing out of the forest, too fast to get a clear view of the rider. The Paladin took aim with its Gatling gun and opened fire. The rider dodged the shots effortlessly, without losing the slightest bit of speed. Blake sensed something about the rider, a familiarity that gave her chills.

"It's that fuckin'-" The gas mask Guardian started shouting.

He was suddenly cut off by Jaune seizing the moment. Jaune spun, tilted his head out of the way of the shotgun's line of fire, and grabbed hold of the gun.

"Ruby, now!" He shouted.

Ruby vanished in a cloud of rose petals, and reappeared next to Weiss. Her appearance was accompanied by the sound of metal slicing flesh and bone, and a severed hand holding a knife flying through the air. Jaune twisted the shotgun right out of the Guardian's hands, spun it around and slashed with the hook-blade, slicing the Guardian's throat. Weiss spun around and fired a blast of Fire Dust into her injured opponent's chest. The gas mask Guardian dropped to his knees, and Jaune levelled the shotgun to his head. The Guardian raised his hands desperately, a pleading look in his eyes. Jaune fired both barrels, blowing the Guardian's head off.

The rider on the motor cycle hit the edge of the parking lot, ramping off a piece of debris. The motorcycle flew through the air towards the Paladin, and the rider pushed off from the bike, adopting a combat stance as he soared towards his enemy. In that moment, he moved just slowly enough for Blake to recognize him. There was no mistaking who it was. Blake's heart sank and for just a moment, she felt more fear than the Guardians had ever caused her. The Paladin fired its arm-cannon, blowing apart the motorcycle. Adam didn't let the explosion behind him throw him off. He used the force of the blast to boost his jump. He slammed into the top of the Paladin, unleashing a flurry of slashes with his sword. There was a glorious explosion of sparks, and the missile battery and anti-air cannon both crumbled to pieces, falling around the Paladin as scrap. Team RWBY and JNPR both sprang into action, striking down the Guardians with renewed vigor. Adam flipped down from the top of the Paladin, landing on its right arm. He leapt straight at the cockpit and striking it with another barrage of attacks. The Paladin stumbled backwards, and Adam dropped to the ground, sheathing his sword, preparing to draw it once more. He glanced over his shoulder.

"Blake, I could use some help here." He said.

The Paladin swung its chainsaw overhanded, bringing the blade down on Adam. Adam whipped his sword out and blocked the blade, stopping it dead. The chainsaw's teeth ground against Adam's sword uselessly. He turned his face away from the shower of sparks raining down. Blake sprinted over to him and the Paladin. She charged past him, leapt up and grabbed the Paladin's arm, and swung up to perch on top of it. She turned and fired the plasma-sheathing on her sword. With one slice, she cleaved straight through the toothed chain. The chain blew apart, briefly becoming a massive metal whip. Adam just barely dodged it with a side-step, then charged straight up the front of the mech. Blake pounced at the cockpit, slashing at the holo-cameras, hoping to blind the pilot inside. Adam reached the top of the mech, sheathed his sword, and fired the rifle mechanism. With one blow, he sliced the Gatling gun clean off the Paladin's back. Blake swung around to the Paladin's back and plunged her sword into the Paladin's fuel cells. When she saw the sparks and little bursts of fire spewing from the hole she'd stabbed into the machine, she was satisfied she'd down enough damage. She ran up to the top of the mech, launched herself into the air, and began dropping towards the ground where Adam was already waiting, sword at the ready in case the Paladin needed more encouragement to go down.

Suddenly, time seemed to stand still for Blake as she took in her surroundings. Adam had just reappeared in her life, having hunted her even to this godforsaken island. The Guardians had enormous manpower and firepower, but none of them could ever be as dangerous as the man before her. She didn't know what he wanted from her, but she knew what the White Fang did with deserters. Even if he'd just saved their lives, there was no way he'd be letting Blake off scot-free. And here she was, plunging towards him, sword drawn. He was standing in combat-stance, but his attention was on the Paladin. Even he wouldn't be fast enough to block or avoid the attack. She could take his head right off before reaching the ground.

He just saved you, Blake, came a familiar voice in Blake's head, He saved Ruby, Weiss, all of you.

You don't know him like I do, Yang, Blake thought, Whatever he's here for, its not good. This is my only chance.

You can take chance on him, Yang said, Like you took a chance on us. Team RWBY, I mean.

Where did that get us? Blake asked, bitterly.

It brought us together. You and I.

Damn it, Yang. Blake groaned. She sheathed her sword and landed next to Adam.

"Good work," Adam said, grinning, almost casual.

The cockpit of the Paladin opened up as the mech was consumed by flames and began to collapse. The pilot tumbled out right at Adam and Blake's feet. Blake was about to move to kick him in the head, but with a lightning-fast slash, Adam sliced his head clean off. Blake sighed and turned to the others. They were slowly but surely mopping up the last of the Guardians. Seeing their most powerful weapon taken to pieces had broken the enemy's morale, and sent them running. The few who stayed behind were quickly knocked unconscious, if they were lucky. In short order, all the Guardians were brought down, leaving only Team RWBY, JNPR and Adam standing. Cardin was giving first aid to Dove, who was still unconscious. Slowly, everybody turned towards Adam.

"Who the Hell is this guy?" Jaune asked.

"Holy shit," Ren said, "I've heard of him. That's Adam Taurus!"

Weiss's eyes widened. It struck her suddenly that she was seeing a face put to the name of a boogeyman that had plagued her childhood. The most fearsome fighter in all of the White Fang, responsible for countless losses to the Schnees. Cardin looked over, eyebrow raised, and stared in shock at Adam.

"Alright," Adam said, "I'm sure most of you have heard of me, but before you all start-"

Blake slipped up behind Adam, grabbing a discarded pistol from the ground. Pulling back the hammer, she placed it to the back of Adam's head.

"-doing that..." Adam continued, looking annoyed.

"Everybody, weapons on him!" Blake shouted. Both teams levelled their weapons at Adam without hesitating. Blake slowly reached forward and took hold of Adam's sword, attempting to remove it from his side. He reached down and gripped the sheath, under the hilt.

"Blake, let's talk about this," Adam said.

"What the Hell is a White Fang doing here?!" Cardin demanded, standing and holding his mace at the ready.

"I'm here for Blake, Winchester," Adam said, "If she's willing to talk we can-"

"Let go of the sword, Adam," Blake warned, "I swear I'll shoot you."

Adam released the sword with some hesitation. Blake took the sword and held it out to Ruby. Ruby collapsed Crescent Rose and took hold of the weapon.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute!" Cardin interrupted.

He looked hard at Adam, then looked at Blake. His eyes darted between the two and one could almost hear the gears turning in his head.

"Holy. Shit." Cardin said, his eyes resting on Blake, "Belladonna is White Fang."

"You're an idiot, Cardin." Nora said, "Blake isn't- that's- that's impossible..."

Blake felt the members of Team JNPR's eyes turn from Adam to her.

"I'm not White Fang. Not anymore." Blake said, looking at the ground.

"I can vouch for that," Adam said.

"I left." Blake added.

"Left me on a train, in the middle of nowhere, with Altesian Military all over the place, more like." Adam said.

"You were being a huge dick." Blake retorted.

Adam started to reply but was distracted by Weiss stepping forward, fury in her eyes. She raised Myrtenaster, pointing the tip directly into Adam's face.

"You are not going to hurt her, do you understand me?" Weiss demanded.

"Look, Princess, you're all getting the wrong idea, here. I-"

"I know what the White Fang does to deserters, Taurus," Weiss said, her eyes burning, "If you touch her, I will kill you."

"I'm not here for the White Fang!" Adam said, before glancing over his shoulder at Blake, "I'm here for you. To help you."

Blake kept the pistol aimed at Adam's head, despite her hand shaking slightly.

"Bullshit," Blake said, "Why would you help me?"

"I was the one who told the White Fang we shouldn't bother looking for you," Adam explained, "I said you'd be impossible to track. You kind of ruined that when you and your girlfriends saved all of Vale from the Grimm. I did everything I could to keep them from coming after you."

"I don't believe you." Blake said.

"If you're not here for the White Fang, why are you wearing that mask?" Ruby asked.

"He never takes it off," Blake said, "He thinks it makes him look cool."

Adam looked somewhat indignant, "Its not about looking cool, it's a symbol of-"

"It does look pretty cool," Jaune chimed in.

"Its not about-"

"So cool." Cardin said. He and Jaune exchanged a grin.

"Alright, Adam, here's the deal," Blake said, "Even if I believed you really want to help me, and I don't, by the way, I don't need your help. I don't need you, or the White Fang."

Jaune's scroll began beeping from its position, mounted on his forearm. He hit the "answer" button.

"Mr. Arc," came the voice of John Maranz, "Are you alright?"

"We're alive," Jaune reported, "both of the other pilots are dead. The Paladin is taken down, you're clear, but we can't all get out of here on one ship. Call for a couple more Bullheads. We'll retreat into the woods and you can relay them our coordinates for pick-up."

"Affirmative," Maranz answered, "will continue circling out of sight. Maranz out."

Jaune end the call, and turned back to the rest of them, everybody still keeping a close eye on Adam. Jaune wasn't sure why Blake was so distrustful of the guy who'd just saved their lives, but he could guess that he didn't have the whole story.

"So, what are we doing about the terrorist?" Cardin asked, motioning to Adam, "I'm guessing he's not coming along."

Adam said nothing, only looked at Blake, waiting for her answer.

"Do you have your own way off the island?" Blake demanded.

"I have a boat. But if you'll just-"

"Good," Blake said, "You're on your own. Get out of here."

Adam sighed in disappointment, but nodded. He reached out to Ruby for his sword. Ruby eyed him suspiciously, and looked to Blake. Blake nodded. Ruby handed Adam the sword, which Adam returned to his side. He turned and began walking away. He stopped and turned back to them.

"The Guardians are getting ready for something. Something big." He said.

"Yeah, we noticed," Blake said.

"They're not going to stay on the defensive much longer. Be ready." He said.

He turned and walked away. He didn't break stride, though one could see a slight shaking of his head. Blake kept her gun raised towards him for a little while longer, than let it drop to her side. She began breathing heavily, the shock of the unexpected reunion finally catching up to her.

"I didn't know you had friends outside of Beacon, Blake," Nora said, smiling with a hint of nervousness as she looked after Adam, "He seems nice."

"...yeah," Blake said, "Good to... catch up with old friends."

"You know, Blake, he was actually pretty helpful back there," Jaune said, "Probably could have used his help."

"I wasn't lying," Blake said, firmly, "We don't need him."

"You realize you're going to have to explain what happened between you and the White Fang, right?" Cardin asked.

"No, I don't." Blake said, "Come on. We should get moving before more of them show up."