"War... War never changes." -Fallout

Everything was a dimming blur as the faint sound of sirens howled from a distance.

"Clear the way, clear the way people!"

Mal was barely conscious, his body feeling like multiple parts either just simultaneously broke down or exploded.

"Let the medics through."

Mal could hear the faint shouting all around him as his friends shock from what he did, something he didn't expect either, was replaced with fear, concern, panic and worry at his bloodied state.

"Will boss be okay?! Seriously... what the hell was that...".

Mal then felt a slight vibration ripple through his body as he was hoisted up the stretcher and into the hospital.

"M-Mal, let me go see my brother!"

"Sorry Ruby my friend, Cairy said not to touch the patient since that might worsen his state.".

"Rogue! Alice! Let go of me!"

"Cenn! You heard what Penny said!"

"B-but... I... You were all always here when I needed you the most! And now I can't even help my partner and our leader?!"

"Believe us Cenn, we share your sentiment. But the best we can do is hope for the best and help him AFTER he has stabilized."

"I... okay..."

His eyes by this point too covered by blood to be of any use, the only thing he could do in such a state was to not sleep, no matter how much his body begged him to.

__________

Meanwhile, a certain individual clenched their hand from the sudden wave of oh so familiar energy from Mal's stunt earlier from atop their dark throne. From a black door came an orange-haired man with a madman's grin on his face as he giddily skipped to the white woman in black's front, unperturbed by the oppressive aura she exuded. His grin then softened as he said "You felt it then... my benefactor. That thing you seem to insist is magic. Particle X.".

The woman then gave an irritated "Yes. What do you know of it?" to which said madman smirked before frowning again while looking down and saying "Well, yes technically, but... actually no.", irritating the woman much to his amusement. She may remain as stoic as she wish to but the slight, nigh imperceptible twitch on her eyebrow was all the confirmation he needed to see how well he was getting into his opponent's nerve.

He then decided to stop playing with fire and decided to take his scroll and show the recordings of his creation- I mean... daughter.

The menacing woman's eyes widened as she gripped the arm rests of her throne while taking in the sight, before smiling and saying "I see, and what of it?" trying to seem uninterested at the sight before her.

The man then giggled excitedly before saying "Oh... you know... I want to confirm it with you firsthand. If it truly was "magic".".

Both then continued watching, as a certain Ozpin sat atop his tower before quivering from the effect of the reality distortion. Glynda Goodwitch then appeared out of the elevator holding a mug, before saying "Good evening professor Oz- wait, what's wrong sir?".

The man then narrowed his eyes before saying "Something doesn't feel right... something familiar is afoot.". Goodwitch then widened her eyes as she said "Wait, don't tell me-". The man gestured for her to stop before shaking his head. He then said "No, nothing like her coming to Vale. It feels similar, yet... how do I say this... more... pure? Not quite the pleasant light vibe of the silver eyes, not quite as erratic and wild as mr. Ionacht's... problem, and too... pure? singular? single element? to be a maiden. No... this feeling... it is quite something else... yet quite... familiar... like I've felt it before.".

He then stopped his musing to look up at his deputy headmistress, before smiling and saying "I may have a clue as to who it could be, but not quite sure yet.".

She then gave him the mug before saying "Whatever it is sir, we can't have you losing strength here, now can we? Come on, you need to rest.". He nodded before saying "In a bit. I... I have some thinking to do.".

__________

Vale, a bustling kingdom wherein humans and faunus alike were able to go about their daily lives free from the worry of grimm attack. As one of the more particularly known members of the kingdom, old man shopkeep worked on securing the banner for the Vytal festival. As he did, he felt a push on the ladder he was using and promptly fell only to hear a timid "Sorry!".

He looked up and saw a tanned young lady with seafoam green hair and burgundy eyes look at him in concern. He then chuckled to show he was alright, seeing as by this point, his voice was something that is no longer functional from an accident in his prime that left his throat in a bad enough condition where he was discharged.

Said girl then scratched the back of her neck as she pulled him up and said "I'm not really from around here. Would you mind pointing me in the direction of this shop?" as she handed him a piece of paper with the directions to Tukson's bookstore.

He then thought to himself, "A strong yet kind lass that one is, booksmart too... reminds me of my grandkid..." as he saw the young woman go off.

As said lady walk to the street, she then passed a grey-haired boy around her age crossing his arms, as well as a dark blue-haired girl with near white complexion with both her eyes closed in a serene expression that was far more prim and proper than her presumed teammate.

As she passed them, the boy then snarkily said "I knew you were lost." to which the green-haired girl growled his name out. "Mercury..." before holding up a wallet in front of his face, saying "I will seriously pay you to shut. up.".

Mercury then shook his head, saying "That's not your money." to which she then forced a restrained smile before saying "But it could be yours? For five minutes of silence?". Mercury then hummed before saying "No deal!" turning the forced smile into an outright snarl.

The blue-haired girl then said "Although we may be against the law, my father had told me that theft is wrong unless in a desperate situation." with a hint of innocence mixed in the cold, monotone voice that seemed almost robotic.

Mercury then mockingly agreed saying "That's right Luna! Isn't it Emerald?" accompanying the mention of the green-haired girl's name with a smug smirk.

Emerald groaned before the trio continued on to Tukson's books with Mercury commenting "For a shop that's open, they sure have crappy lighting.".

When they entered, all three teens froze on the spot. Within the bookstore stood a familiar black-hooded figure sitting on the counter while reading a book.

The figure tilts his head slightly towards the trio to acknowledge their presence before scoffing and pointing to the corpse of Tukson buried on a pile of books while a dagger was stabbed on his shoulder.

The blue haired girl then waved her hand at the man, saying "Hello Nameless.".

Mercury then whistled, before saying "Impressive, poison dagger?".

The hooded figure then said "Venom dagger. Poisons are ingested, venoms are injected." as the figure clapped the book close which now revealed itself to be a recipe book, he then jumped off the counter before saying "Go ahead. Feel free to take the credit for the kill. I don't really care how you feel about it.".

Mercury then scoffs, muttering something about a hitman's pride or something while Emerald then muttered out "But... How-" only for Nameless to say "I'm a professional, you're an amateur. Simple as that." making her growl at him which only made Nameless smirk from under his cloak, probably wanting to provoke her more, but deciding not to.

He then said "Now leave." with a tone with no room for arguments. The teens begrudgingly went off, but not before Mercury pilfered a random comic.

However, as they left the bookstore, they then felt something off happen.

Emerald then asked Mercury "What... Did we just do again?" to which Mercury shrugged before saying "I think we just finished killing Tukson.". Luna then chimed in agreement, saying "Indeed. It was you who did the final blow Mercury... I think...".

The three then left to report it back. As they did, Nameless scoffed before muttering out "Couldn't believe that boundary field trick worked..." before walking up to Tukson's corpse and pulling the dagger off, saying "Rise and shine." making the man gasp out and say "W-what did you do to me?!".

Nameless then said "Rest assured, you're just suffering the effects from a mostly harmless neurotoxin used for paralysis. However, your pursuers now think you dead.".

Nameless then helped the man up before saying "If you value your life, then don't call the cops, go with a new identity and most importantly forget I existed. Got it?" making the faunus nod nervously at him.

Nameless then gestured for him to leave only to sit down on the counter once more, saying "Some habits die hard, and yet some just refuse to die outright..." before taking a deep sigh as ghost words of his past echoed to him once more.

"It's not wrong to help.".

__________

A week has passed and it was decided by the combined decision of the headmaster, his adoptive father and his team that the safest place for Mal to recover was at Beacon wherein dozens of armed hunters and huntresses-in-training resided in and so, he rested within the the Beacon Academy clinic wherein he had a clinic bed reserved for life due to how frequently he was dragged here.

As Mal started to stir, the first sense of his that started functioning was his hearing, therefore, he then tried to listen as best he could with his muddled brain and slightly distorted hearing accompanied by a slight ringing as if his ear drums popped. With his somewhat functioning ears, he then listened to his environment. The bare minimum he could hear were warbled voices of... Ruby... Cenn... and Saber? Ah, he's in the clear... at least he thinks so.

He then started listening to the conversation.

"Wha-Ruby! Why should I wear that... that thing?! That_________ for a mere servant!".

"BECAUSE Weiss, it would be _________. Besides, I saw something like this on his scroll once, like a... backwards comics... Something called a _________... no wait a magga? I think? Wait, Manga!"

"_____________ exactly. Ruby's right Weiss_____!"

"Ruby ______I_____ Cenn please help me here!"

"*sigh* Well Ruby, looks like negotiations have broken down. I thought_________ you would make her agree wearing the ______________________ for M______________"

"Wait... You were the one who told her___________________"

"Seems so Cenn... GET HER!!"

Then there was warbled screaming as well as other sounds of struggling. Thinking that maybe Weiss was being attacked by dopplegangers of his friends, Mal then mentally shouted "Hold on Saber! I. WILL. SAVE YOU!". Circuits began flaring up all over his body before he almost literally exploded into a sitting position while shouting.

As this happened, Cenn and Ruby used a combination of Ruby's semblance and Cenn's wing speed to leave Weiss in their dust.

"Saber? Are you alright?!" he shouted before seeing only one hazy figure in the room. He then squinted his eyes before taking his glasses from the side table to get a better look.

"Wait... Saber? Is that you?" he said as his face started turning red. Now he knew what happened...

Weiss then rigidly turned to him, wearing what seemed to be a maid's outfit before saying "O-o-oh! M-m-mal, y-y-you're awake!".

Mal then took deep breaths as he desperately tried to stop his nose from bleeding.

Behind the door frame of the clinic, Cenn and Ruby were found peeking behind as Ruby whispered out "Pssst! Weiss! Say the thing!".

Weiss then awkwardly said "H-h-h-how a-a-are you feeling to-to-today mas-mast-mas-".

Mal then sighed before saying "No, please... you don't have to...". He then stood up from his bed before wobbling due to how long he had been there. Luckily, Weiss was there to physically support him.

Mal then said "Come on... I don't want you to die of embarrassment for my sake. I'm not worth it.".

As Weiss heard those words, he couldn't help but frown. After all, those that stayed during the checkup of his condition once he stabilized listened to the doctor's physical evaluation of him. During the said evaluation, the doctor noted that "The patient is now stable. In fact his regeneration is quite astounding and quite baffling as well.

Whatever semblance he ended up having, it was both harmful and helpful to his body as all bodily damaged was stitched up by what seemed like hundreds of microscopic blades at a speed that put even the greatest aura-based healing and even most healing semblances to shame. But... it also came at a price... Whether it be his semblance or some sort of birth defect... something is eating away at his body. Cellular degradation and necrosis has been found all throughout his entire body, with his semblance being the only thing keeping him stable. This means... at best... he has 8 or so years left in his life...".

Those words made Weiss think.

"Does he know?"

"Is that why he shows no regard for his body?"

"Is that why he is so desperate to help others?".

Weiss then unknowingly tightened her grip on the light grey pajamas Mal was wearing. Mal noticed this and then asked in a more somber tone "Hey, Saber, what's wrong?" making Weiss snap out of it. She then turned her head away and said "Nothing you dolt!" while her face was still beet red.

Mal nodded before whipping his head back to Ruby and Cenn and saying "If I'm going to bleed my nostrils to death because of this, I'm blaming it on you two!" before leading Weiss to the bathroom for her to change.

She then protested "Wh-Ugh! Why would you join me to change?!" to which Mal shouted back with "I need to go to the boy's room because my shirt is dirty from blood!".

As he did, Ruby and Cenn then changed from giggling to frowning. Ruby then said "Well, looks like that plan was a bust." before slumping down on the floor.

Cenn then muttered out "8 Years... that's so unfair... I thought... I just thought that both of them had a connection... That maybe we could help Mal feel at least love in the short time he had left... I guess, I failed...". Ruby then patted him by the wing before saying "No... we haven't failed yet... not yet. The dance is not till five weeks from now. We have until then to figure this out.".

Cenn then said "But we're manipulating your friend... that... that isn't right anymore...". Ruby then curled further into a ball saying "I know... I know! It's just that... he's so willing to throw away the little he has for any of us at the drop of a hat. It's just... it's just not fair...".

Cenn then patted her in the head before saying "Hey now, he wouldn't like it to see you like that. I guess, the best we CAN do is just... Is just be there for him. If he falls in love, it's his choice... even IF I ship them both furiously.".

Ruby then smiled before saying "You just know what to say Cenn.". Cenn then smiled endearingly as he remembered a particular memory.

"You just know what to say Kane."

__________

After a week or so, Mal was discharged from the clinic with a letter from the school in order to take extra classes with Mrs. Peach in order to make up for the one week after the semester break where he wasn't conscious.

Another thing that happened was that Mal decided to start keeping tabs of his dreams, separating them between "possible past", "future of world", and ""normal" dreams".

Other things also happened. One notable thing is how Alice began opening up more and more to the rest of the team, aside from Cenn who had been a childhood friend and Rogue who kinda forced a path for himself. Speaking of which, after much pestering and back and forths, the two apparently started dating during the time he was unconscious, as to who made the first move... answers varied. Lex was stoic as ever, however now becomes a blabbering mess near Yang. No one but him will know why since the guy is otherwise a moving statue for the most part. Cenn also saw some major developments in terms of his social skills among other things. He apparently joined a band. As to who they were was unclear to Mal as was lost in thought while it was being presented. All he heard was "I have a band" before Cenn's words blurred into an incoherent, excited mess to everyone but Ruby, Yang and Alice... basically everyone who has hung out with him as a child.

After recovering completely, Mal then decided to focus as much of his free time in saving the school. He had the knowledge and just a few weeks back, he realized he had the power. He could save the school. He could take it all back. He could save everyone and be the hero of justice he always could've been... even if it kills him.

__________

Currently it was lunch time and everyone was having lunch at the cafeteria with teams RWBY, JNPR and MRACL(CARML according to proper naming etiquette) eating specially packed lunches by Mal who finally snapped from the lack of cooking. What can he say, cooking is a relaxing thing for him.

As they ate, Mal saw Blake looking at her "notes" and frowned. He has the knowledge on what's going on with her, but if he started blabbering about it, people are going to find him and people WILL be in danger. He realized the possible suspicion he might draw, therefore he settled with hiding his face with the excuse of a lack of sleep.

While everyone continued conversing, Mal decided it was high time to start planning Project: Fate/Breaker which sounded way cooler then Project: Fighting Fate. However, before he could start any planning, he then heard the squish noise of a pie landing on a face. "Oi, that's disrespectful to... Oh no..." was all he could say before freezing up as he saw Weiss's face covered in pie.

Mal wishes to be a hero of justice, he really does... But there are times... Times like this... Were running is an option. He wants to help, he really does... But the dormant flight part of his flight or fight response finally showed itself. So he stood up eeeeever so slowly... And as he was about to run, Cenn and Lex went to his side with concerned looks.

He then thought to himself "Thank goodness, reasonable individuals who are brave enough to defuse the situatio-". Lex then interrupted him by kneeling beside him, saying "We know what you wish to do and we will not permit it.".

"Wait what..."

Lex then continued " You are still recovering, therefore entering combat is not advisable. Sit and stand back my liege and let your knights fight for you!". as he said so, Cenn simultaneously said "Rogue! Make sure Mal doesn't try to join! Chain him to a chair over there... Please.".

"Wait, WHAT!?"

Rogue then immediately did as asked and started to walk Mal to a random steel chair like a soldier carrying a mortar through a battlefield, dodging food as best he could.

Mal then whined out "Rogue! Buddy! Let's talk about this for a second!".

Rogue then shook his head, saying "No can do boss. It's for you're own good.".

Mal then tried to reason out "But I want to escape, I don't want-mphmmhmmMMMM!!!" before Rogue decided to tape his mouth with tofu and rice made into makeshift cement.

And so the food fight began in earnest as Ruby shouted "Justice will be swift, justice will be sweet! It will be... DELICIOUS!" as a three way clash happened amongst the three.

It started out with a three way clash as Pyrrha, Alice and Blake charged at each other clashed with dual baguettes in hand. On another side was Lex singling out Weiss... Of course he would... Swordfish versus really big cod and another corner was Yang facing off against Ren with Jaune and Cenn on the background throwing watermelons among other things like a gatling gun. Things just got more chaotic from there.

However, things really started to get crazy when the team heavy hitters began squaring off wherein Lex used a cod and clashed with Yang's turkey vs Nora's watermelon hammer in an aged old battle of meat vs seafood vs greens with shockwaves forming with every strike swung.

While that happened, the team DPS specialist also squared off with Cenn fighting Pyrrha and Weiss in a battle of baguettes while the stealth specialists began their own combat in what could only be described as a "Naruto fight" as Alice sent out shadow clones while Blake fought them with hers while Ren somehow cancelled their effects to him due to his semblance controlling emotion and therefore shielding him from trickery.

Now where was Rogue in all this? Well, you see, while Ruby and Jaune were commanding their armies, Rogue was setting up a trebuchet in the far corner of the room made of table Cloth and as many fruits as he could find.

Pyrrha then headed back while Jaune swapped with him and fired a swarm lf cans. As she did, Rogue then opened a dozens of portal and fired the one food he could mass produce. Tofu.

Tofu met soda in mid-air as both sides refused to let up. He then fired the catapult which ended team JNPR as a giant fruit stain on the floor.

After that, team RWBY and MRACL started to clash with Ruby casually walking up to a horrified Mal while holding a cupcake.

She then said "I'm sorry we left you out. Here, have a cupcake!" before slowly pressing it into his forehead. Mal let out a muffled scream like a cow being branded with a hot iron. Ruby then saluted happily before heading back, unaware of what she did. Mal then began twitching.

At some point, Lex managed to one up Weiss and uppercut her into a wall using his now battered fish.

She then landed ln the floor as Ruby screamed out "Nooooo!!!! Weeiiiisss!". Rogue then screamed out "Here comes the big one!" as he saw Ruby start running towards them with a hurricane of food behind her.

Cenn and Lex nodded before hopping to the back before simultaeneously flapping their wings and letting loose a powerful gale as they shot right at Ruby. Lex then activated his semblance as Cenn followed subconsciously, forming a red and purple streak.

While the happened, Yang did so as well with Ruby forming a fiery spiral of burning golden petals.

However, as they crashed into each other, forming a magnificent shockwave, instead of the feeling of aura strengthened flesh, they instead felt what felt like really hard bread in the middle. When they looked at it, they saw...

A fruit cake.

"Yare yare daze looks like fruit cakes are just about hard and inedible enough to be considered a weapon... You truly are a reliable person cafeteria baker..."

They all then looked to where the voice came from which was none other than Mal walking menacingly towards everyone.

He then continued. "You wasted so much good food..." sliding a hand down the brim of an imaginary hat as he glared at them. "It's time for the reverse.".

*Play Kakyoin theme*

He then launched fruitcake at everyone in the room. "Take this! 20 meter Fruit cake volley!".

If a meteor strike ended the dinosaur, then a hail of densely packed flour, dried fruits, nuts and sugar is what ends this fight. One that shot out indiscriminately.

"VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, !!!"

"VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY!!!"

"VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, !!!!"

"VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, !!!!"

"WWWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSUTOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!"

"VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, VOLLEY, !!!"

"STOP WASTING FOOOOD! VOLLEYYYYYY!!!"

After he was finished, he then muttered out "Volare via..." covering the room in weapon grade fruit cake. However, due to the fruit cake being made of his semblance, it all dispersed back into motes of light, leaving craters all over the room. The door then slammed open behind Sun and Neptune, who apparently got in earlier, as an angry Glynda walked into the room.

Mal, still filled with adrenaline, snapped his head back in a 180 degree motion before firing an especially large fruit cake her way while saying "FRUIT CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE-DAAAAA!!!! WRYYY!!" only for Glynda to casually smack it away making Mal exclaim "No one can just deflect the fruit cake volley!" before kneeling from the sheer strain that made on his body.

Mal then collapsed alongside everyone else as Ms. Goodwitch began admonishing the groups only to be stopped by a certain green clad old man with a coffee mug, calming her down by reminding her these were still children and, while they will eventually have to grow up, right now play is just as important.

__________

Late at night, within the halls of Beacon Academy, the headmaster, Ozpin decided to take an evening stroll. With how hectic daily life became, times like these, become exceedingly rare and even more welcome. The cold air, the sheer quietness, the oeace was bliss to a man whose entire life had been conflict. However, as he did, he then saw a figure walking away from him in the distance.

He then keenly decided to follow the figure until he saw who it was. A familiar, diminutive figure wearing a light grey cloak while timidly walking around, seemingly trying to look for someone.

Ozpin then decided to make his presence known by saying "Michael Dantes Espiña, what are you doing out here at such a late hour?". The figure then flinched in surprise before looking directly at him with horror in his eyes. He then ran towards Ozpin before looking up at him and saying "Don't let anyone named Cinder Fall into the school!".