Disclaimer: Own nothing. Don't seek to gain any profits from this. Just borrowing my favourite characters for some fun.

15: Black and White

The board is set. Their move is most unexpected.

First, the ground beneath them rumbled. Following which was heard an otherworldly, ear-splitting roar that reverberated through their very bones, chilling, consuming, and paralyzing. The ground fissured, cracked, and crumbled synchronously, collapsing on itself and then slowly, steadily, stretching out before morphing into a familiar shape.

All at once the legendary, ancient Grimm awakened from its slumber, heaving its form free from the earth of an entire continent.

Remnant's very foundation shook with the magnitude of the displacement: a gigantic tsunami hit the shores of Vacuo, the shaking made buildings fall to the ground in Vale. A dark presence appeared against blue skies on the horizon, and for the briefest moment, all fighting ceased to absolute stillness.

Ironwood and Goodwitch paused mid-movement, their eyes locking on the monstrosity on the horizon before meeting one another's once more, exchanging a look which would have given away their true intentions had anyone else seen it: except that it lasted a mere fraction of a second, and the creature had caught everyone's attention much like it had theirs.

The only difference being that they knew beforehand.

However, even they hadn't imagined something quite like this.

A visage just as vicious as it was vast.

Another piercing screech was heard, and it functioned like a clarion call which jolted them back into action from a moment of crystalized stillness; Glynda hurled a piece of newly fallen debris at James, and he effortlessly punched through it.

The battle had only begun.

"We can't let that thing move from here, not under any circumstances!" Blake hollered to her team leader from her perch on a displaced land mass to the far right.

"I know!" Ruby yelled back without even glancing a look at her Faunus teammate. "We're going to trap it here! I have a plan!"

The word gigantic was puny to describe the Wyvern Grimm before them. They were no more than flies compared to it. The slightest movement was amplified a thousand fold as a chilling reverberation through the ground underneath. It hauled up its long and massive tail, and Weiss narrowed her eyes.

"What the hell is it trying to do?" The heiress muttered. No sooner did the words leave her mouth that her eyes widened in realization. Thankfully, Ruby was already a step ahead of her, and had blitzed her way closer to the enormous creature. Whether its awareness of her red-cloaked presence was muted, or if it was intentionally ignoring her was anybody's guess: either way it gave her freedom to move around as she pleased.

The Wyvern moved to ram its tail on the ground below; Blake however had already strategically positioned aura fortified strings to prevent its movement, held up by her clones. It was self-evident however that the maneuver wouldn't buy them more than a few seconds of time. This was more than sufficient for her Schnee teammate to arrive at the site of action and call upon her most prized summon.

The size was far larger than anticipated; Blake's expression was one of carefully contained surprise, while their team leader had the beginnings of a smirk plastered on her face.

Summoned right underneath the impending crash, the impressive White Knight impaled its sword right through the Wyvern's tail, effectively skewering it in the air and pulling an ear-piercing screech from the ancient Grimm. The rest of its body thrashed about in discomfort, and as a result, several dark masses automatically detached from its frame, birthing a small army of serpentine Grimm all around it.

"Phase 2!" Ruby yelled out the command, and morphed into a whirlwind of rose petals around them.

Blake turned her attention to the flurry of smaller Grimm and made quick work of them with Gambol Shroud, her firing relentless, and often laden with elemental dust explosives. She had to ensure Weiss's focus remained undisturbed: the Schnee after all, was following their leader's blithe pace with her glyphs. An incredible spiral movement of red petals directed a cylindrical stream of water between it via vacuum suction generated on account of sheer speed. Pointed spines shot up from the Grimm's scaly body as if to ward off a pest, but Ruby was able to split her trail effortlessly each time.

She twisted and turned around the Wyvern's body, landing on the water for the briefest moment to give a glimpse of herself before resuming her lightning fast movements once more.

With every round, the combination of her intricate movements and Weiss's glyphs gripped the hulking monstrosity in an almost artful prison of ice walls. The Wyvern however was not going down without a fight, and was able to use the force from its sheer bulk to make portions of its entrapment crumble. In response, Ruby and Weiss quickened the speed of their combined attack even further.

The younger girl was able to sense her partner's exhaustion, her aura depleting quickly due to the gruelling pace.

They had to finish this soon.

"I think they may need help," Yang's movement however, was halted by her mother's hand on her shoulder. The pair was positioned far enough from the site of action to not be in harm's way, yet close enough to be able to follow the battle at hand.

"Wait," said Raven simply, not missing a beat, carefully observing the fight before her, attention particularly focused on a girl clad in red.

"But if they lose–" Yang started again, trying her best to keep her tone schooled to neutrality, masking the very real concern she felt for her teammates and sister.

"–if they lose here, they don't stand a chance against Salem," Raven cut her off, unwavering, her tone as cool and decisive as her blade. "Besides," she said after a while, "I want to see what Summer's daughter can do."

Almost as if on cue, there was an incredible aura shift in the distance, and if Raven herself wasn't so well versed with high magic, she would have missed what exactly Ruby was doing. The glow in her silver eyes was barely detectable even up close, and the way she played with the space fabric to constrict the Grimm's attempts to break out of its ice prison was entirely subtle. Her tactics were reminiscent of Pyrrha's use of her semblance, polarity: never overt, and always effective, just enough to neutralize the enemy.

Raven couldn't help but narrow her eyes however; Ruby's intent, she knew, was completely different. The potency of the child's aura somewhat surprised her, and it didn't take long for her to put two and two together.

Not a complete fool, huh Ozpin?

Meanwhile, the young Schnee heiress impaled the Wyvern right between the eyes with the pointy end of a huge whirling conical mass of ice, spelling its demise as a result of some rather elegant teamwork with her younger partner.

Raven smirked. "Let's go, Yang."

"Ren, move!" Jaune screamed, knowing already that he was too late, and wouldn't make it in time to parry the incoming strike on his teammate.

Adam Taurus's movement was a blur, imperceptible to the eye, as he moved in for the kill, unsheathing his sword to carry out the execution with Moonslice, the blade glowing red with stored energy from all the hits that it had absorbed.

"Not so fast," a familiar gruff voice materialized; a clang was heard shortly after, and Adam was pushed back several feet. He looked up and straight ahead as soon as he steadied himself, quickly recovering from the unexpected interruption to regard his newest adversary.

"You're mine," Qrow growled at Adam. "And you kids get outta here," he threw out, without even sparing a glance at the remaining three members of team JNPR, who would have been reduced to two had he arrived a second later.

"But–"

"No buts, Mr. Arc," a feminine voice said from somewhere above.

All eyes turned to look up at one of the only buildings which was still partially standing. Glynda Goodwitch stood at the top, wand in hand, legs a couple of feet apart, and a stern look on her face. She pushed up her glasses. "You can go on ahead too, Qrow. We'll handle things from here."

"We?" the black-haired huntsman responded, perplexed, not taking his eyes off Adam for even the briefest moment.

"We're running out of time," the next voice belonged to Ironwood, who was at the other end of the street, shooting any and all of Adam's henchmen without as much batting an eyelash as he advanced towards them.

Qrow fisted his hand at his side, overcome with a sudden impulse of anger which he was trying to do everything to control. "Stupidity runs in the family," mocked Adam, before launching a swift counter-attack as soon as he discerned Qrow's mental state. Moonslice only ended up cutting a large piece of debris in half instead of its intended target, however.

Adam had had a briefing about the woman's telekinetic abilities, and had been explicitly instructed to keep his distance from her, since she was an especially bad match for his fighting style.

Glynda and Qrow landed a few feet away, side by side, unharmed. "I understand your feelings Qrow," Glynda managed through gritted teeth. "But this is not your fight, and you know it." She turned to look at him then, her intense jade eyes locking with his fiery vermillion. "Go, please."

The soft plea flicked a switch inside him, and his eyes hardened. He nodded at her, taking his leave without a word.

Jaune, Ren, and Nora followed him.

"So this is the Black Queen's Realm," Blake commented, dusting off her attire, golden eyes scanning the dark horizon.

Raven's portals were a result of mastering ancient magic which involved the use of auras both dark and light. This allowed her to move undetected across Remnant and the Other Realm. Ruby noted how the air itself felt saturated with a kind of miasma she could not place; around them were endless glowing crystals in an expanse of barren nothingness. It was like a mirror to Ozpin's Realm, which was filled to the brim with a teeming spectrum of colours, vibrant and alive.

It was not death, but unlife that mirrored life.

Ugly gurgling sounds emanated from bottomless pits of black ink that were scattered between clusters of ominously glowing crystals, and Grimm crawled out, their forms even more grotesque than what they were used to, dripping and trailing darkness around them. Although they seemed unware of the approaching party's presence, Ruby softly cloaked everyone, anyway.

"We need to get as close to the castle as possible," Ruby whispered to her teammates. "Undetected." She turned around to lead the way, and right then, a strike missed her by a hair's breadth – and that was because Yang stepped in to deflect the blow with a resounding shot from Ember Celica.

Mercury did a backflip midair and landed gracefully on his artificial legs. "Long time no see, blondie."

"It's a trap," Weiss was already in her battle stance, and had her glyphs at the ready. She stood with her back to Blake, who had her covered. The two sisters mirrored their stances. Team RWBY was surrounded, but ready to attack.

"You sold us out," Yang's lilac eyes were serious as she stared Raven down.

"That's rich coming from a daughter who was about to betray her own mother," Raven shot back. The older former huntress gave a short laugh. "But I'm proud, Yang. You've learned well."

Yang felt herself burn, before Blake's cool voice reached her ears. "Don't listen to her, Yang."

"Why would you do this, Raven?" It was Ruby's turn to speak, her voice sounding almost pained.

"Do you really think you have time to be distracted by these trivial questions, Ruby Rose?" The sultry voice was unmistakable. An explosion followed the question, right beneath the girls' feet.

Weiss Schnee was faster, teleporting everyone to safety.

"Mm," Cinder observed, "Not bad, your glyphs are unaffected by the change of scenery."

Weiss gave an unapologetic smirk. "You'll have to do a lot better than that."

Blake wasted no time in using the small opportunity to fire shots at Cinder, her eyes focused and knowing. "You and Ruby should continue on ahead," the Faunus stated.

"Blake's right," Yang agreed, "we'll handle things here. Go."

"But sis," Ruby interrupted. "It's three against two, and –"

"Four," the elder corrected. "I know what to do," she moved her arm and the distinctive sound of Ember Celica loading could be heard. "Trust me, and go."

Ruby huffed, then gave an almost childish smile. "Okay then, but not without a parting gift." She activated her silver eyes, and immediately the landscape distorted; one of the rocks crumbled to reveal a wide eyed Emerald Sustrai. She couldn't even blink before a shot from Crescent Rose hit her head on, knocking her out of the battle.

Ruby was a whirl of rose petals.

"Three."

Was the one word heard on the gales and glyphs that followed her.

Cinder seethed, barely able to process the series of events that had transpired around her. She flicked her wrist in anger, ready to incinerate Blake and go after Ruby, her eyes glowing the colour of the flames she commanded effortlessly. But all that resulted in was vaporized clones; the real Blake attacked her blindspot, and if it weren't for her maiden magic, she would not have been able to parry in time.

Mercury tried to exploit the opportunity to attack Blake from the side instead, but was once again blocked by Yang, whose well-aimed punch sent him flying. The magnitude of power difference was evident.

Raven, who had so far chosen not to intervene, sighed. "Your underlings really are quite inadequate." She pulled out her sword, the long red edge intimidating and exuding power. "It's quite ironic that I will have to finish this fairytale myself." The ground around them shook and masses of crystals were uprooted by the force being generated as the only estranged member of team STRQ unleashed her powers.

Yang almost gaped, realization suddenly sinking inside of her with every word and action: Raven, her mother, was in fact the Summer maiden. A corrupted one. An almost paralyzing fear gripped her, before she heard a voice that flooded her with relief.

"The only tale we're finishin' tonight is yours, sister."

"Uncle Qrow…" she trailed off, then registered the ones with him. "You guys!"

"I told'cha, didn't I, kiddo?" Qrow gave a grin, before his expression turned solemn as he turned his attention to Raven. "There's no way I'm lettin' ya carry this burden alone."

A/N: Action chapters I find difficult to write, and mess up at places, especially when handling multiple scenes. With that said, we're almost halfway through ODAM. The more physical fighting should end soon to give way to more…mental gymnastics.