Promised (Reluctant) Victory In Remnant

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-

Adam's snarling expression was swiftly exchanged to a nervous frown, as he found himself on the defensive end of a series of clashes.

The loud metallic clang of steel clashing with steel reverberated through the cavern, as Alex swung Excalibur at Adam in a rapid series of strikes sending gusts of wind and debris into the air, only for Adam's glowing katana to surprisingly endure his strikes.

Adam's nervous frown began to pale considerably with a mixture of panic, distress, and wrath.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH" He roared his defiance as he had no breathing room, no chance to counter.

Adam's stamina drained with each clash, frustration mounting with every failed counter.

Meanwhile, Alex stood firm - unshaken, his gaze alight with a cold, unwavering fury.

But it wasn't like Adam held no plan.

He knew his opponent was physically superior, and much faster - yet all Adam had to do was...

Reflect that very same superior strength back at his opponent.

The katana's durability in the face of Excalibur seemed to have an identity.

Pyrrha's sharp warning echoed, "ALEX! HE CAN STORE UP DAMAGE AND REFLECT IT, STOP HIM-"

Her warning was cut off by the intensity growing a hundredfold as the katana met Excalibur in yet another clash.

Adam's frustrated expression morphed into one of satisfaction.

"BROTHER DON'T! YOU'LL GET THEM KILLED TOO-" A far-off White Fang woman screeched with a teary panic.

"THEY'LL BE MARTYRS FOR OUR CAUSE!" Adam howled, his voice trembling between conviction and madness.

This was to be his most powerful unleashing of his semblance yet.

Alex's eyes sharpened as out of the katana a beam of concentrated energy burst towards him and Excalibur, threatening to engulf him and the knocked-out White Fang members behind him that his teammates had dealt with.

At a blinding speed, the arc-shaped energy blast engulfed both him and the White Fang members with a cold disregard.

Consuming all in its path, erasing the very ground they sat at, and ripping a gigantic hole a dozen meters into the bedrock beyond the caverns' walls, ending it off with an explosion no humanoid force could have done on its own without Dust or weaponry.

...

For a moment, looks of anxiety formed in Ruby and Pyrrha's expressions, yet their reactions were cut short by an immediate response...

Clicking his tongue, Mercury commented on his unfiltered judgment, "Temperamental dumbass."

Fundamentally, Adam Taurus had made one, sole mistake. Attributed exclusively to a lack of insight and wounded pride.

It was a mistake he had recognized far too late.

His opponent may appear 'Human'.

But beyond said appearance?

The claim was debatable at best.

Out of the engulfing beam of energy, Excalibur itself flew through the air completely unscathed embedding itself in the caverns' walls with its sharp impact.

Adam had no chance to digest nor relish in his 'victory', as his eyes suddenly found a palm latching onto his face.

A tight grip so strong that it began to crush his skull sent a pang of sharp pain through his face - his now-mostly depleted Aura trembled at the show of force.

Another yet sharper pain spread through his head and body as Alex slammed his head into the ground with explosive force.

A vindictive shout echoed from Yang, "PUT HIM DOWN, ALEX!"

The dust cleared to reveal the struggling Adam on the ground; Alex's palm still tightly clutching his face with his right hand.

Withdrawing it swiftly, he winded up his left arm for a punch and hit the stupefied Adam with a mighty hit - his Grimm mask shattered on impact with Alex's fist, sending fragments of it through the air.

Adam's feeble Aura shattered at that hit, the ground shook at Alex's display of strength.

The pain this time, was much more vivid.

Adam's unmasked expression showcased his scarred visage - a pair of eyes one with a blue iris and the other overshadowed by the Schnee Dust Company marker that vilely branded his existence as something below a Human.

A Faunus.

Indeed, there was a story there.

Everyone had one.

Of that Alex was certain...

But he didn't care.

Not now.

Not for this terrorist he didn't even know the name of.

And not when his anger overwhelmed him.

Adam's defiance showed in his roar as he kept his resistance by attempting to swing his still-clutched katana at Alex's feet.

Raising his foot, Alex stomped on Adam's left arm, specifically on his bicep with all his strength.

A chilling, bloody crack and splat followed as Adam's depleted aura could do nothing to stop his arm from being crushed underfoot with the hand and forearm being separated from the rest of his body.

The Faunus screamed with primal pain, as he gazed into Alex's furious amber eyes, as he pulled back his right arm for another punch.

Adam's expression morphed from defiance to horror.

The fear of death.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl in the Faunus's eyes.

Through blurred vision and bloodied pain, a cruel irony dawned on him - this 'Human' bore the same amber gaze as his beloved Blake. The very same Blake whose head he had severed mere minutes ago.

Was he... facing Justice before had completed his life goal of enacting it upon the Humans?

For the White Fang's sake?

For the Faunus's sake?

...

For his own sake?

'What cruel irony-' was his last thought before a series of punches met his unguarded face.

Each with the force of a hammer, drumming its bloodied melody upon Adam's visage.

Digging into his expression, cracking his nose, shattering bone, cracking as well as blowing away teeth, and pummeling his face into an unrecognizable mess.

It didn't take long as the quiet yet chillingly furious punches ceased their gory hammering.

Once they had stopped, all that was left was the figure of Alex Andrite.

Silently, looking at the result of his actions:

His entire chest and feet were covered in splatters of the blood he had drawn - his hands and arms soaked with blood, his clothing wet and dyed the color of crimson as the rest of it dropped on the floor pooling below him.

As for what was below him?

The foolish Faunus's arm had been blown off as blood slowly pooled below the open wound - and his face had been brutally caved into something not remotely resembling an actual face.

His figure was beyond brutalized; a mangled corpse dancing between the edge of life and death.

No one dared make a sound, with the exception of Alex's teammates treating their wounded kin with a whimper.

Whimpers and hitched breaths.

Yes, those were the exceptions.

Rising up, Alex could see and hear the fearful whimpers of the rest of the distant White Fang grunts at the result of his actions.

No one dared to move before, and now his actions only reinforced that death sentence.

Yang could only observe the brutal display's aftermath with a regretful huff, "It... it doesn't make it feel any better." She clutched her head with a weak admission, her eyes darting between the brutalized figure of Adam and the headless visage of Blake.

A sea of negativity.

Alex exhaled sharply, staring at his bloodied fists.

The silence, the whimpers, the weight of this awful situation, of it all bore down on him.

He strode toward Excalibur, his inner voice laced with bitter contempt.

'Tell me,' he snarled, 'How heroic do I look right now?'

[Very. This is the fate of all who oppose the Savior and his Fate.] The System replied cooly.

...

Alex didn't know what response to expect, so he kept his silence and ignored the System as his gaze locked onto the embedded sword of Humanity.

A pleading, almost starving element lay in his gaze as he disregarded all else and appeared by its side.

Grasping the hilt, a sense of calmness enveloped him with a known familiarity - that even in a hellish place, in a hellish situation...

Excalibur is the one, sole respite.

However, the rest had yet to come, as the sounds of bedrock and dirt being sliced through reverberated outside the cavern.

It came from beneath, shaking the entire open cavern and threatening to cave the place in.

Uneasiness spread even further at the sounds as Mercury voiced out the obvious, "Those would be the Grimm." he turned to Alex with a calm tone that masked his trepidation of the 'Human', "Could we be granted the luxury to at least move when these-"

Alex cut him off sharply, "No. I'll take care of them, stay put."

His aura flared once more, cracking the ground beneath him as he tightly held onto Excalibur, his Dragon Aura Core fueling the very air with his Aura.

The digging intensified, and out of newly formed pits in the floor and some of the walls came out a plethora of subterranean Grimm.

With them, the metallic smell of blood and Dust was mixed with the scent of disturbed earth and flora.

They were greeted with a familiar variant to most Huntsmen, especially those studying Grimm Biology:

The simply named...

"Grimmoles at this height?!" Ruby recognized them with a confounded expression.

The simply named Grimmole.

A small car-sized mole creature of Grimm; the usual markers appeared, abyss dark skin and strange bone appendages spread throughout the creature.

These bones covered the moles' eyes and their digging claws were of a noteworthy sturdiness capable of slicing and digging through solid steel.

Their long nose was an exceptional sensing appendage, covering their need for eyes as well as theorized as being their tool for detecting negativity through layers upon layers of dirt and minerals.

The most common variant of subterranean Grimm and one of the primary reasons why most of humanity hadn't resorted to hiding from the Grimm underground.

They had multiple weaknesses and advice for dealing with them was plentiful, but the chief of whom was to avoid their claws.

Even so, having arrived in the dozens and aiming at the distressed White Fang, at his teammates, and more so at the Aura Nuclear Reactor himself with their sharper-than-steel claws primed at them...

Alex's figure burst into motion, a whirlwind that cut through the sharp bones with the even sharper Excalibur, decapitating each and every one of them.

Yet the sounds had not ceased, as from the opening Alex had created when rushing here the first pack of Beowolves arrived at the steaming pot of Negativity the cavern had become.

As quick as they came, was as quick as they had disappeared.

Then came another swarm, this time with two Ursa mixed in.

Then another.

And then yet another.

Yet, all knew better than to offer help.

Ruby's gaze darted between Alex and treating Ren with frustration and mixed feelings.

Emerald voiced out a complaint, the tenseness in the air having calmed considerably with the passage of time and quiet after noticing that the tenth arriving Grimm party had been dispatched, "How long are you going to ask us to stand still?"

Alex's bloodied figure turned to her with a stern look, "Until the authorities arrive, don't try me."

Indeed, Alex had taken full and utter control of the situation.

Letting no one, but his teammates do anything - and even then they were on first aid duty exclusively.

She nodded with a sweat drop, a thin line on her face, "Yeah, yeah... we got that after the first time."

Mercury mentioned in amusement, pointing sadistically at Adam's mangled figure, "He didn't."

No one shared in his amusement, but to all those present the situation was clear and concise:

As long as they adhered to the 'Humans' instructions the worst they would get from here on out was Vale's justice system.

This had been only reinforced with each instance of Alex swinging that awe-inspiring blade to protect all of them from being devoured by the Grimm, instead of letting them deal with the Grimm themselves.

'He probably doesn't trust us to not try something if permitted to fight the Grimm ourselves.' Mercury judged coldly and confidently.

Truly, this was a good opportunity to get a reading on this catastrophic miscalculation named 'Alex'.

-----------------------------

To call it a 'few' Bullheads would be an understatement.

While Vale held no official military force, given Remnant at large was in a state of peace minus the Grimm and criminal gangs or other outliers, this literal army of Bullheads could only amount and be aptly termed the literal 'Vale Air Force.'

Resembling a distant swarm of flies to any pedestrian below, they soared forward with unwavering purpose, toward the distant and abandoned Mountain Glenn.

The bullhead heading the charge lowered its height as it inched closer to the Mountain.

Filled with people of notable achievements, prestige, and capability it was lightly termed quite a 'Stacked' ride.

Yet, the present members voiced out a perplexed inquiry at an anomalous sight:

The place nearing the mountain was a deep forest filled with Grimm, and was rather irksome and quite obstructive for travel on the ground otherwise.

"The hell happened here? It looks like a typhoon just ran a line through the forest." One of Ozpin's Huntsmen murmured with perplexion.

His confusion was well-grounded; within the deep forest a long, unnaturally-formed line cut through the forest as if making a path.

Where once stood many trees and rocks were now exchanged for uprooted trees and open plains, whilst only the older and more durable of trees and heavier rocks seemed to have weathered whatever storm passed through that line of former flora.

"That would be... Mister Andrite," Ozpin hazarded a guess with a sharp appraising look, his voice not quite sure of the claim he had voiced.

An older woman with green hair and purple eyes recalled, "The kid you sent ahead of us? He was running faster than a Bullhead but... fast enough he could uproot trees?" her voice was laced with an eerie skepticism, "didn't you say his semblance was that pretty sword and not wind?"

"I did, but evidently, it appears I have underestimated him." He frowned.

Nodding, he gave his orders, "We should make haste."

And with only a slight sense of uneasiness, the rest of the Bullhead army filled to the brim with Huntsmen, Police, and Medics continued their charge.

-----------------------------

"Oh no..." An awfully cliche duo of words.

A cliche that has followed Ozpin's collective millennia of mistakes.

Like his nemesis, he has yet to end them so they rise up to the occasion with an almost disturbing frequency...

Being the first on the scene and having been the head of the charge of Huntsmen and Policemen through Mountain Glenn's ruins and tunnels, they were met with an awfully little amount of Grimm - all of whom they had quickly dispatched with their forces.

Through a hole they had created with an explosion of Combustion Dust upon hearing voices and the sounds of combat, Ozpin entered the gigantic open cavern.

His eyes noted a lot of details, but the thing his gaze gravitated towards first; as if by some as of yet unrecognized part of his existence as a Human - his stare landed on Excalibur itself.

Its light was as splendid as always, even as blood seemed to trickle down its magnificent edge.

'Blood...?' Ozpin's mind repeated as he lifted his gaze from the blade itself to see the bloodied figure of Alex Andrite.

The blood that decorated the blade had trickled down from Alex's palms and his entire bloodied visage, yet no visible injury lingered.

With the aged experience of combat he had held, Ozpin's eyes immediately scanned the room to discover the disaster that had occurred:

A scarred battleground, filled with unconcious bloodied figures of the White Fang.

The bitter odor of people soiling themselves out of fear, mixed with the sharp metallic smell of blood created a putrid stench that assaulted Ozpin's senses upon entering.

Pools of blood and splatters of it decorated the cavern with blood reaching the far ends of the room without anybody near them.

Members of the White Fang stood chillingly still, their eyes looking at Ozpin with an even more disturbing sense of relief.

A pair of unfamiliar teenagers stood still with expectant looks. The recognizable figure of Torchwick lacked his usual smugness, eerily silent and fallen to his knees in deep contemplation, perhaps mourning.

His gaze turned to see an unconscious bloody, mangled body, having been brutally pummeled either to death or near death judging by the mess.

Then, the worst of it came...

His students.

Weiss seemed to be unconscious and riddled with cuts, a bent leg having been adjusted but the pain and exhaustion were too much for her.

Pyrrha stood with all the remaining strength she could muster, her eyes looking at the lone figure of Alex with a sense of both regret and sadness as the damage on her ear continued to draw blood.

For better or worse, Ruby seemed to be in the best shape so far when it came to injuries - something Ozpin silently attributed to her difficult-to-counter Semblance.

She stood above the mostly quiet Nora who smiled placatingly at the distressed Ruby, pushing through the pain to not worry the little reaper despite the blood not stopping from her abdomen, her prior attempt having failed.

Nora's hammer seemed to have been dismantled, leaving her unarmed for a while.

Ren was in better shape than both Weiss and Nora, yet his weapons were a good distance away from him, his arm twitching in pain - either a broken bone or a fracture.

Then, the worst of it all...

Yang's physical state hadn't been put into question when his gaze landed on her bloodied visage, nay, her mental state was in a more dire state.

Holding onto Blake's lifeless head tightly, Ozpin's worst fear came true...

His student.

Dead.

Another one to the continuous pile.

Glynda had arrived second upon seeing Ozpin's unmoving figure, "What's the situation-" she cut her own words off to gasp in horror, "O-Oh."

Following her gasp, the rest of the reinforcements began to arrive with similarly disturbed reactions.

Ozpin had collected himself eerily quickly, but a cold regret lingered in his tone nonetheless as he barked orders, "Work on arresting the others, prioritize medical treatment of my students."

He had taken into this operation the best available Huntsmen and medics he could convene on such short notice.

They were rather quick to the uptake; thus they quickly went to work as the medics charged towards every one of the students, Alex included.

Alex's head turned towards the arrived group, a sense of momentary relief coursed through his entire being as he heaved a sigh of relief at this situation coming to an end.

He loathed every part of it, and every part that will come next because of it.

"Kid, are you hur-"

"Not my blood, help the others, I'm fine." He bluntly replied with a tired nod.

The medic's worried expression was swiftly exchanged into an awkward one given the implications of that statement, so he nodded and went away.

Exchanged with the medic was Ozpin's approach, having arrived before Alex with a serious look.

"I'll need you to tell me everything that happened here."

His grip tightened on Excalibur, Alex's rage having yet to fully pass he turned to look sharply at his injured teammates with mixed feelings, "You'll only get an incomplete story out of me, but they're not in any shape to talk, I guess." He sighed with a shake of his head.

Ozpin's serious look softened at Alex's own show of emotion, "What about you?"

"I'll manage, I've been through worse."

[PING!]

[Main Quest - "Save Your Friends" Complete!]

[Issuing Rewards...]

[10,000 Untraceable Lien sent to Alex Andrite's Bank.]

[Gacha Coupon deposited in System Inventory]

[Calculating Performance...]

[Rough estimate... 10/10]

[PING!]

[Notice - Due to outstanding performance, a shift in [Reputation] will occur!]

...

'In the end, it's not only me who gets punished...' Alex fought back the urge to puke.

A thought, a cruel, disgusting realization that he couldn't hide from the tormentor clinging to his psyche and fate.

[With great power comes great responsibility.]

A sense of helplessness not dissimilar to when he had fought to survive in Purgatory enveloped him.

Obey or suffer.

Not only you but everyone else.

There was a way of getting others to do something, but forcing him to change himself through brutal demand?!

...

Yet there was a way out, a way for revolt, of swinging Excalibur with his own resolve.

Of wielding it as a chosen of Excalibur, and not the chosen of the 'System'.

A way, that he was clueless of.

But someone alluded to its existence.

'I need to talk to Merlin.'

[To who? I didn't catch that.]

His gaze lowered and lingered on Excalibur, a sense of hope and resolve enveloping him once more.

Indeed...

Until then, he's going to have to play by the rules as much as he can without disregarding wholly himself.

The one sole detail that had served as a respite for Alex was...

He was late, that much is true.

However.

'I came here out of my own volition.'

Flawed as it was, it was his first decision as the Wielder Of Excalibur - his own decision.

And that, he would never regret no matter how much the System wanted him to.

To Be Continued!

-Author Note Start-

Something I feel that's important to note:

Even if Alex knew how to take out Avalon, he couldn't save Blake.

Guys, Avalon cannot heal decapitations - even of its OWNER.

He would have tried to stick it together and then frowned that she was not coming back to life.

The only actually feasible solution would be somehow dragging Blake and her chopped head into Avalon itself.

Which isn't happening.

Anywho!

And that's a wrap!

The situation is mostly over.

What's left is the HEFTY amount of AFTERMATH.

Suffice to say, a lotta shit gonna change and happen and whatnot.

Dynamics between the characters.

Dynamics in Vale, the White Fang.

You know, a whole clusterfuck of mental calculation I gotta do to give you an accurate representation of what's gonna logically happen on top of seeing if it can work with what I want to happen in this story.

You know, just because I want a certain thing to occur, doesn't mean it'll logically happen so I gotta spit on it and give up on it or exchange it with something else.

Basically my rule for writing so things don't appear forced or selective (mostly) - like how I killed Neo and sorta killed Adam.

Don't worry, I've got most of it covered.

Also Cinder.

Motherfucking Cinder.

Yay!

By the way, here's a spoiler:

Adam isn't dead.

He's braindead.

A vegetable.

Though that'd be a more fitting end.

Well, sorta, he's still got a tiny role to fit into even when he's in such a state (you'll see later).

Anyways!

Hope the chapter's been up to snuff in quality and all that jazz and ya'll enjoyed it.

On that note!

Cya and Love ya! <3