RWBY: Monarchs of Remnant

Summer and Raven stepped forward, shoulder to shoulder, their weapons drawn and their bodies battered. Cuts lined their arms, bruises darkened their legs, and blood mixed with sweat ran down their skin—but their eyes burned with defiance.

They didn't hesitate.

Even against the twisted creature before them, even with the odds stacked high—they *accepted* the parasite's challenge.

The possessed Faunus tilted its head again, and the parasite buried deep in its skull wriggled. Thick roots twitched and curled, forcing the corpse's face into a wide, mocking smile—too wide, too unnatural. The grotesque contortion made every hunter watching recoil. It wasn't just unsettling. It was *wrong*.

Then the other possessed began to move.

All nineteen of the corrupted B-rank hunters staggered into formation, their bodies limp but pulled by unseen forces—marionettes walking to their place on the stage. As they gathered in the center of the battlefield, the ground beneath them cracked.

Vines exploded from below—thick, pulsing, green and wet. They whipped upward, wrapping around the possessed hunters like constricting snakes. More vines shot out, grabbing plant-based monsters nearby and dragging them into the mass, fusing limbs and torsos into the writhing cluster of bodies.

The sky above darkened slightly, as if the dungeon itself reacted to the horror taking shape.

Then it stood.

From the center of the fusion, a towering figure rose—**15 feet tall**, thick and muscular, formed entirely from vine-bound flesh and bark-armored limbs. Its chest was a tangled mass of roots and pulsing veins, glowing with eerie green light.

But what chilled everyone to the bone were the **twenty heads** sprouting from the top and sides of the creature's shoulders and neck—faces of the once-human hunters now permanently etched into the monster. Their eyes were dull, mouths open in frozen screams or twisted grins.

And at the very center, protruding from the upper torso, was the head of the reptile Faunus—still pierced by the parasite stalk, still smiling that lifeless, blood-streaked smile.

It stared at Summer an

d Raven.

Awaiting them.

=====

After Lumi and Amber had leapt through the shimmering gap of the dungeon gate, time seemed to stretch.

The moment they entered, their bodies were immediately engulfed in a field of flickering blue light—a protective barrier generated by the system itself.

Inside the gate wasn't like simply walking through a door. A current of raw, uncontrolled energy surged along its walls—**100,000 volts of magical-electric discharge** designed to incinerate anything that wasn't officially authorized to enter. Had they entered without system access, they would've been vaporized instantly.

But the system was working.

While the world outside continued to unravel, the system inside the gate began executing emergency protocols. Runes flickered along the barrier's edges, forming sigil-like code. It wasn't just protecting the girls—it was *hacking* the gate.

[ Warning: Unauthorized entry detected. Attempting override… ] 

[ Adapting user protection protocol to counter voltage field... ] 

[ Initiating secondary passage formation… 84%... 92%... complete. ]

For a full minute, Lumi and Amber floated in that sealed channel, motionless, as the system bent the laws of the dungeon's internal structure. Sweat beaded on their foreheads, not from heat—but from the tension, the vibration in the air, the knowledge that one miscalculation would kill them in an instant.

Then—

[ Override complete. Safe passage established. Welcome, designated mission participants. ]

The glow dimmed.

A small tunnel of light opened on the other side—and with it, the two sisters dropped to the ground inside the dungeon.

They had made it.

But ahead of them, through the field of trampled flowers and distant echoes of battle, was the real storm waiting to begin.

When Lumi and Amber stepped through the light of the gate and into the dungeon, the first thing they saw was chaos—a scene straight from a nightmare.

Hunters from Atlas and the Bloodborn guild were scattered, frozen in place, eyes wide with horror. Some stood trembling, while others had collapsed to their knees, weapons slack in their hands. The air was thick with the scent of blood and scorched flora, and the once-beautiful field of flowers had been turned into a grotesque battleground soaked in red.

Lumi and Amber's eyes scanned the scene.

The monstrous plant-like creatures encircled the outer edges of the clearing, their thorned limbs twitching, waiting. And in the distance, near the center of it all—they saw her.

Summer Rose.

She was slammed into the ground by a monstrous vine-forged titan—the one with the twenty heads. Her weapon, Sundered Rose, was buried into the dirt beside her, and her body shook as she pushed herself up with trembling arms. Blood streaked her face, and her aura flickered like a dying flame.

Beside her stood another woman in crimson with long black hair and a massive odachi—Raven—but the girls didn't dwell on it.

Their instincts kicked in.

Without hesitation, without thought, Lumi and Amber ran.

"MOM!" they cried in unison, their voices cutting through the stillness like a blade.

Summer's head snapped toward the sound, eyes widening—first in confusion, then in dread. "No...!"

But before she could react, the girls collided with her, wrapping their arms around her as if shielding her from the world itself.

Then it struck.

A vine whip—razor-sharp and moving at blistering speed—lashed through the air.

It wasn't aimed at them.

It was aimed at Summer.

But they were in the way.

The whip sliced cleanly across Lumi and Amber's backs. A violent spray of blood followed, shooting into the air like a burst pipe. The girls jerked forward from the impact, gasping before their bodies went limp in Summer's arms.

They collapsed.

"Lumi! Amber!" Summer screamed, catching them both as they fell.

She quickly pulled them close, frantically checking their pulses, her hands trembling.

Blood pooled beneath them.

Their eyes were closed. Blood stained their lips. But they were still alive—barely.

A cold fury settled into Summer's bones.

She didn't even realize she was crying until her tears hit the blood-stained petals.

Summer screamed—*cried*—her voice hoarse and raw, echoing across the blood-soaked battlefield.

"**LUMI! AMBER!**"

Her trembling hands held their limp bodies tightly, their warmth fading far too quickly. Blood soaked into her arms, into the soil, into the tattered petals beneath them. Her vision blurred, not from injury—but from the storm of emotions crashing through her heart. Despair. Rage. Helplessness.

Across the field, Raven's attention snapped toward the sound—toward *that name*.

"Lumi…?"

That moment of distraction cost her.

A vine lashed out from the side, fast and heavy. She barely turned in time, swinging *Omen* into position. The impact was brutal, the force behind it monstrous. Sparks flew as steel met bark-infused muscle—but it wasn't enough.

The blow *launched* her.

Raven was sent hurtling through the air, crashing and rolling across the ground like a broken doll before finally skidding to a stop just a few feet from Summer and the girls. Dirt clung to her cloak, her mouth filled with dust and blood. She groaned, trying to sit up—and then she saw her.

Lumi.

Her golden hair soaked in blood.

A small trickle of red ran from the corner of her mouth.

The rage in Raven's heart flared.

She clenched her fists so hard her nails pierced the earth beneath her. Her body trembled—not from pain, but from the sight of something far more devastating than any wound. She had failed to protect them… again.

And in front of them stood the source of all of it.

The towering vine-formed monstrosity—the fusion of corpses and parasite—*smiling*.

Pleased.

Amused by their agony.

Then, it spoke—its voice calm, almost gentle, but laced with mockery.

"Now… have you realized?" the beast said, its many heads twitching, eyes blank yet locked onto them. "Fighting me will only bring *more* pain."

It stepped forward slightly, its grotesque body shifting, vines creaking like bones grinding.

"Join us. Serve my lord. Be one with the garden—and we will *protect* you from the Outer Gods… from the Monarchs who would devour your realm whole."

It extended a hand—no, *a tendril*—gently, almost lovingly, toward Summer and Raven.

"What do you say?" it whispered.

The battlefield fell silent.

The parasite waited, grinning with the patience of a god.