I present to you, Chapter 8 of Tale of Two Legends! Thank you to everyone who's stuck with this and been extremely patient waiting for this chapter. With that, lets get to it!

Chapter 8

Despite the late hours of the night being a prime opportunity for a little late-night partying, one of Vale's most famous nightclubs, known as Club Big Bear, was relatively quiet. There were a few patrons here and there, but not nearly the amount that the club usually drew on its best night.

All 'cause of the damned blonde, Hei Xiong, the club's owner, thought as he wiped down the bar and cleaned some drinking glasses. Ever since that Blondie had come in and wrecked the place, people had been wary of going anywhere near the club even with the beefed-up and up-armed security that Xiong had added. To be honest, even this many people present was good. Hei had been making steps to improve the club's image and fix his own reputation, but so far it'd been a long road to recovery.

The sound of the club's door snapped Hei out of his thoughts. He began giving a once-over to the newcomer. He looked homeless, to be perfectly honest, with ratty, tattered, and faded jeans combined with frayed fingerless gloves and an old green bomber jacket; Hei noted the jacket's hood was drawn up and big enough to shroud the man's face in darkness. He watched the stranger look around, his hood staying up as he did so, before his non-visible gaze centered on the bar. The homeless man sauntered over and plopped himself onto one of the chairs that Hei hadn't had to put back together, waving his glove-covered hand at Hei to signal he wanted some service.

Although Hei didn't really want to serve the guy, at this point he couldn't really afford to be picky; he still needed to pay the bills after all.

"What can I get you?" the club owner asked, tossing his cleaning rag over his shoulder. The man inspected the drink selection behind Hei before answering.

"Whatever your best whiskey is" he answered. Hei was surprised at the voice that imitated from underneath the hood, the guy sounded younger than Hei had took him for (though the club owner had to admit, the stereotype of an old homeless guy didn't realy help). Nevertheless, the guy didn't exactly look like he could afford what he was asking for.

"That would be Atlesian Malt Whiskey. I'm gonna need to see some Lien though buddy. Can't let a guy who just walked in from the street take my best stuff" Hei told him, crossing his arms across his chest and standing tall. He couldn't say what it was, but Hei Xiong was getting a very bad feeling from the man in front of him.

A low chuckle sounded from the hood. "Look asshole, I've had a long ass day. I had to fight through a million wolves on steroids after trying to wipe out a bunch of cunts who've been trying to kill me ever since I broke up their little club, nearly got crushed by a giant twin-headed snake thing, got shot at by a guy I trusted with my life, got sucked through something out of a bad scifi serial, and now I'm in some place that is most definitely not my world. So, could you please FUCKING humour me and get me a damn drink!" the man finished, his voice having risen during his monologue to the point where he'd silenced the entire club; even the music had stopped. The man had an aura of utter fury and madness emanating from him, the fact that his hood had stayed up all the while only added to said aura. Despite all this, Xiong stood firm.

"You know what? Get the FUCK out of my club" he said, reaching for the weapon he kept under the bar while he signaled for his men to begin surrounding the guy. The man must have noticed, because he got up from his seat, sighing as he did so. Everyone tensed, the memories of Blondie's rampage playing through their heads and desperately hoping that this didn't end up the same.

Xiong felt something impact his shoulder, causing him to fall back against the display case, the bottles threatening to fall on top of him. It took the gangster a second to realize that a serrated military-style combat knife had embedded itself in his shoulder; he looked at it in disbelief, something like that couldn't have knocked him over, could it? How much force did he throw it with?

Hei looked up at the man, finally being able to see what he looked like now that his hood had fallen down. His sweat-covered hair was the colour of copper wire, with the familiar colour of blonde mixed in, albeit a few shades lighter. His pale, ice green eyes bored into him; anger and, most terrifyingly, joy rolling behind his eyes.

"You know, all I wanted was a drink when I walked in," the man said, cracking his neck as a manic grin spread across his face. "But in this case, your blood'll work just fine"

"Strange, Hei isn't answering his phone. That's unlike him" Roman Torchwick stared at the scroll, confusion etched on his face. Hei knew his boss and him were on their way; he highly doubted the man wouldn't answer or ignore a call, especially today. The fact that the man didn't pick up immediately worried him and his white-knuckled grip on the car's steering wheel showed it. He was a professional criminal and master thief, heightened caution and the occasional bout of paranoia was in the job description. Right now, his instincts were screaming to him that something was up and they'd never failed him before.

"Something wrong, Roman?" a svelte voice spoke out from the back seat. Roman glanced at the rear-view mirror, the blazing amber eyes of his current boss Cinder Fall meeting his dark-green ones, the woman's eyebrow cocked in a questioning manner. Roman couldn't help but chuckle nervously; he'd seen what happened when Cinder got annoyed, let alone irritated. Suffice to say, the White Fang had had to bury more than a few urns filled with ashes.

"Hei isn't picking up. I'm sure he's alright though. I've known the man a long time and he's been in the business even longer, he can handle himself" Cinder just rolled her eyes and continued typing away on her scroll, her two lackeys Emerald and Mercury pre-occupying themselves with Oum knows what. By the time Hei's nightclub was in sight, Roman's instincts were practically screaming at him.

"We're here" Roman said, turning off the engine and grabbing Melodic Cudgel from the passenger's seat.

"Fuck" he mumbled under his breath. Judging from the blood staining the club's front windows, his instincts were more than right.

"What was that about Hei being able to handle himself?" Mercury asked rhetorically, a twinge of mirth underlying his question. Both Roman and Cinder glared at the silver-haired merc, shutting the man up quick. With Roman at the front (not that the thief appreciated the arrangement), the group moved into the building. What met them was a massacre. What's more, the only man standing? He was currently drinking a glass of whiskey at the bar next to Hei Xiong, pinned to said bar courtesy of a knife through his hand. The man looked completely laid back, as if he wasn't sitting amongst a pile of dismembered and occasionally scorched corpses; it actually took the stranger what seemed like ages to even notice them.

The stranger looked them over the same way he'd look at something in a store, cocking his eyebrow as he did so. He took one last swig of his glass before setting it down on the bartop and pulling himself from his stool, patting Hei on the shoulder as he did so; not surprisingly, this elicited a groan from the man. The man simply chuckled at this as he walked towards Cinder and her group; the amber-eyed woman couldn't help but tense up. What is this feeling I'm getting from him? It's nothing like what I feel from Madame Salem, but it is certainly reminiscent, dare I say even close to her.

"So, you people the friends of Big Beard over there?" the man asked, tossing a thumb over his shoulder in Xiong's direction. "Sorry to say, he ain't exactly taking any visitors right now. If he'd given me a fucking drink when I asked he wouldn't be stapled to a bar top now would he?!" said the man, his voice rising as he looked over his shoulder at the club's unfortunate owner. Cinder cocked an eyebrow while Roman snorted in restrained laughter; Emerald and Mercury were both dumbstruck.

"Man, all of this for a drink? I know Junior serves some good booze but it's not this good!" Roman told the man, sweeping his arms at the gore and destruction around him. It was the stranger's turn to cock an eyebrow. He opened his mouth to answer but Cinder beat him to it.

"We are merely acquaintances, and we were here to recover some information Mr. Xiong had. Of course, courtesy of your escapades here that will make said recovery much more difficult Mr.?" The stranger smirked (Roman subtlety shivered, as the man's smirk wasn't too far off Neo's trademark smile when she was 'on the hunt'). "You can call me the Lone Wanderer," the man said, giving Cinder a mock exaggerated bow. "Also, before you ask, yes I have a real name and no, I won't be sharing it with you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to find a place to sleep that's preferably not a street corner" The Wanderer tried to leave, only to be blocked by Emerald and Mercury with Roman's Melodic Cudgel levelled at his head.

"I didn't say you could leave," said Cinder, walking up to the man. She grabbed the man's chin roughly and glared at him, angry amber eyes boring into playful yet annoyed ice green orbs; she began applying her semblance to the man's face, however he seemed to barely notice. "I came here to get something from Mr. Xiong and now, thanks to your apparent recklessness and what I can only guess is a love of violence, I can now longer collect what I'm here for. Someone should be punished for that, don't you think?" The stranger's only response was to begin chuckling, much to Cinder's annoyance.

"Look lady, sorry for inconveniencing you and your merry little band here but I needed a drink. Junior over there wouldn't give me one, so I simply got my own. Nothing wrong with that, right?" he said, wrenching his face away from Cinder's iron grip and rubbing his jaw. "Now I have to worry about finding some place to sleep tonight and I really don't need another shitstorm added to an already shitty day. Now, can I please get the fuck out of here? Thanks" He tried to push his way through, only to be stopped by Emerald and Mercury, the former's weapons drawn and the latter in a kickboxing stance while Cinder and Roman stood off to the side. The man at first sighed but a sinister smile spread onto his face.

"Well, 'when in Rome'. These guys weren't that much of a fight. Let's see if you two kids fight any better" he told them, drawing two serrated combat knives with spiked knuckle guards from his jacket in an upside-down position.

Truth be told, the Wanderer really wasn't in the mood to fight. After the assault on Raven Rock and the subsequent battle with the Brotherhood remnants, Jericho's little surprise and the first bar fight (though he had to admit, that one was on him), the former vault dweller was starting to feel the fatigue, which was saying something given his usually massive stamina. However, it was already clear to him that he wouldn't be leaving here without getting in a dust-up.

He eyed the two teens in front of him; all the time spent in the Wasteland taught him that underestimating an opponent, even just a little bit, meant you were screwed. The green-haired one had some wicked-looking sickles with what looked like firearms built in if the trigger was anything to judge by. As for the cocky-looking kid beside her, the Wanderer figured there was something up with the greaves on his legs. Maybe to add more weight to his kicks? he thought. There was also Bowler Hat and the Lady in Red behind them, God knows what they could do; the cane was likely the former's weapon though the Wanderer couldn't see any visible weapon on the latter, didn't mean she didn't have one tucked away somewhere.

"Hey, old man. You just gonna stand there and look or are you gonna throw down?" said Silver, a shit-eating smirk on his face.

The Wanderer just shook his head, a smirk of his own spreading across his face. "How old are you kid?"

"Why does it matter?" Silver replied, agitation lacing his voice.

"Just answer the question"

"Nineteen. Why?"

The Wanderer let out a low chuckle. "Not even old enough to drink where I come from. When I was your age, I was killing people just to get a place to sleep and some scraps of food"

"So what? I've killed my father because he was an asshole" said Mercury, that stupid cocky smirk still plastered across his face. The Wanderer just rolled his eyes. Without another word, the Wanderer rushed forward. Before anyone could even blink, he delivered a brutal-looking right hook to the silver-haired teen's face, following it up with a forward slash at Green's stomach. Silver was sent flying into a booth, the impact turning the table to splinters. Meanwhile, the Wanderer registered his confusion as the green-haired girl dodged without a scratch on her.

What the fuck? I hit her dead on; her side should be sliced open and gushing red. And what the hell was that resistance I felt when I hit her? Felt like the knife almost bounced off, he thought, looking at his knife in complete confusion. The momentary lack of attention nearly cost him, as Green Hair attempted to drive her sickles into the Wanderer's skull, only for the latter to just barely block the strike with his forearms. He winced as the blades cut into his skin but pushed her away and again attempted to stab into the girl's sides with both knives, only to yet again meet that same subtle resistance from before.

By now the Wanderer's anger at any lack of visible hits on the girl was growing, but he quickly quashed it to avoid losing his cool; losing your head in a close quarters fight like this meant you lost.

Snarling, he rushed the girl again. She brought her blades up in front of her to block, only for her to feel the force of the Wanderer's punch drive into her side followed up by her head snapping back courtesy of a brass knuckle-enhanced uppercut. This knocked the girl back, causing her to stumble and grab her jaw as blood trickled out of the corner off her mouth.

Took long enough. Need to end this before Silver gets back up, the Wander thought, a satisfied smile spreading across his face. Readying his knives, he prepared to finish Greenie but was interrupted by the sound of debris moving.

Before the Wanderer could react, Silver shot out towards him. The ex-vault dweller felt the impact of Silver's kick before he could react and next thing he knew; he was sailing through the air courtesy of the shotgun blast that had emerged from the teen's boot. His back collided hard with the bar, dozens of bottles shattering under the impact, with the force helping several dozen shards of glass imbed themselves into his back. The Wanderer hit the ground hard, blood splattering across the floor as he coughed up what he assumed were the results of organs being hit by what felt like a truck and the large amount of buckshot that had buried themselves into his torso. His mind immediately went into survival mode, honed over years and hundreds of near death experiences out in the wastes. He propped himself up against the bar top and lifted up his shirt. His chest was a complete mess, looking like a wood chipper had been taken to his torso; many of the holes continued to leak blood at an impressive rate. Were he anyone else, he'd be dead.

I'm the fucking Lone Wanderer. No two-bit teens with fancy boots and sickles can kill me, the Wanderer thought, sending mental signals to his Pip-boy thanks to the wrist-mounted computer being connected directly to his nervous system. It didn't take long to feel the numbing sensation of a couple doses of Med-X flowing through his veins, followed by the sensations of several Stimpaks worth of healing chemicals starting to stitch his broken body and push the buckshot out of his body. Fuck, even with Med-X this hurts like a bitch, the ex-vault dweller thought as he felt bones reset themselves and organs repair the damage. He could hear the voices he recognized as the Lady in Red talking to Greenie and Silver. He figured the woman wasn't stupid; it was almost certain that she'd send one or both of her little thugs to make sure he was finished. The damage to his body was also completely repaired by now, though the Med-X had started to fade and by extension the discomfort had grown.

Even with his body healed, the Wanderer knew he couldn't resume the fight lest he die for real and that wasn't something he had in mind, especially not until he shoved a shotgun up Jericho's ass and pulled the trigger.

First things first, new clothes and weapons. The Wanderer mentally selected his favorite outfit, the greatcoat of General Constantine Chase (modified for better utility and greater protection, of course) and let it digistruct around him. He had to admit, as shitty as pre-war America might have been, they did make some great shit. Next, he let Jingwei's Shocksword and Vampire's Edge drop into his hands. While he wasn't planning on a direct fight, with what he had in mind he'd need some heavier hitting weapons than a pair of trench knives.

Let's see here, sure I had some explosives somewhere…here we go. Paybacks a bitch, assholes.

Cinder had to admit, despite the stranger being an arrogant and cocky drunk, he certainly knew how to handle himself. Although they were nowhere near her level, Mercury and Emerald were certainly strong; for that man to blow Mercury away in one punch and nearly slice Emerald open with relative ease (even if it was a short fight and neither of the two teens were truly giving it their all) was surprisingly amusing and maybe (although Cinder would never admit this out loud) a tad bit impressive.

"What have I drilled into you two? Never let your guard down with an opponent. You're aim during a fight should be to take away any advantage they have and crush them" Cinder told the two as they brushed themselves off and checked themselves over. Mercury was the worse off of the two, although his Aura had already begun to heal the numerous cuts and bruises that littered his body while Emerald was relatively fine, although her Aura was significantly depleted.

"Yes, Cinder"

"Sorry, boss"

Cinder looked between the two and rolled her eyes. With Junior out of commission, she'd have to find another way to discover where exactly the Fall Maiden had been taken; although Cinder knew she was in Vale and was more than likely in Ozpin's possession, she had no idea where Beacon's headmaster was keeping her.

"Mercury, go make sure our unwanted visitor won't get back up again, will you?" ordered Cinder, tilting her head towards the smashed up bar. Nodding, the silver-haired teen trudged over to the counter but was interrupted by a low chuckle that emanated from behind the bar.

"Guess what, assholes? I'm ba-aa-ck!" the voice, which Cinder realized was the stranger, should mockingly. Mercury tensed up, expecting him to jump out at him, only for two large cylindrical objects to fly at him. Cinder watched Mercury inspect the objects then immediately begun running towards them. "Get down! GRENADES!" he shouted, before he was tossed forward as both bundles detonated. Shortly after, the second bundle exploded; the explosion covered the entire area in a thick layer of smoke, making it next to impossible to see properly.

Cinder attempted to regain her senses through the thick layer of smoke, her eyes watering and her arm covering her mouth; she knew that the stranger would launch an attack and she wanted to be ready. Even if he was weakened by Mercury's strike, he'd created a tactical advantage for himself that would prevent Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury from launching a counterattack properly.

Cinder caught movement out of the corner of her eye, just a shadow but something had definitely moved.

"GAAAH!" Cinder recognized the shout as belonging to Mercury; it was likely his current location was the same as the electric blue glow and crackle of electricity off to her front left. Realizing that her two henchmen would be little help (Roman had pretty much taken off at the first sign of trouble; she'd had no idea where he'd run off too, much to her annoyance), Cinder activated the Dust woven into her dress, two black obsidian blades forming in her hands. She began backing up, putting as much distance between the stranger's possible position and her own; the more distance he'd potentially have to cross, the greater her reaction time.

"ARGH!" That was Emerald, her position obscured by the eerie red glow that bathed the smoke to her front right.

He's getting closer. Those two were useless again, of course, Cinder though disdainfully. She'd have to ramp up their training and make sure they could actually handle themselves against an experienced opponent like this man was proving to be. She had to admit, she was surprised when a man who was seemingly nothing more than a drunk (she didn't count Junior's thugs or Junior himself as proper combatants; if they could be defeated by a huntress-in-training than she didn't like their prospects) was able to not only send Mercury flying with one punch but had come dangerously close to gutting Emerald were it not for Mercury's timely intervention. Even now, after receiving a hit that likely would have shattered Aura and likely killed a normal person, the stranger had simply gotten back up after what only seemed like a few moments to continue the attack, even using tactical planning. Cinder was most intrigued.

In all her internal thinking, she failed to sense the dark shape approaching behind her. She froze as she heard the crackle of electricity in one ear and a soft hum in the other, with the latter accompanied by her Aura on that side going crazy.

"Its not nice to sneak up on someone, you know" Cinder said with a smirk, although internally she was cursing herself for not focusing.

"Well, when that someone sends her two thugs to try and kill me, I don't play nice" the stranger said behind her a hard edge to his voice. Cinder turned and was met with a pair of ice green eyes that seemed to glow with an unearthly light, a sea of anger and irritation roiling behind them.

"Well, you nearly killed my contact, who isn't likely to give me what I need now anyway. Someone had to be punished" she answered, her voice still smooth and calm. Although she still wasn't entirely sure if this man was some sort of hunter or simply a well-trained civilian, she still kept her guard up; she was confident in her abilities and could more than likely end the man easily if she so wanted too (a part of her was honestly wondering why she hadn't, now that she thought about it)

"The guy should have given me a drink when I asked. Now," the man said, lifting the glowing red blade level to Cinder's face, the feeling of her Aura going haywire moving from her side to her face. "Can I leave or are we gonna have to do this all over again? Your two thugs are already down and I haven't seen the bowler hat guy at all, so it is your turn"

"If I recall, one of my 'thugs' nearly killed you when he launched you into that bar"

"Yeah, well I'm a special type of guy. One who can have a ton of shit thrown at him and still come out relatively unscathed" he answered, followed by a low chuckle.

"Are you a hunter, then?" Cinder asked. She wanted any and all potential variables known to her when it came to her plans; if this man was a hunter and walking the streets, she wanted to have a plan to deal with him.

"A hunter? No, sweetheart," he said, his voice going low. A low buzz began emanating from him, accompanied by the smell of ozone; Cinder tensed and flared her Aura, ready for a possible attack. "I'm just your above-average, high-functioning psychopath, possibly sociopath. But you can call me the Lone Wanderer" As if on cue, the man disappeared, followed by a belch of ozone and a crackle. Cinder realized that the sound wasn't a preparation for an attack, but was some sort of device; of course, she arrived at the conclusion too late to matter.

The doors swung open, the smoke rapidly clearing as it flowed out into the night. Cinder sighed, her weapons disappearing as Dust back into her dress. She was just as angry at herself as she was at Roman, Mercury, or Emerald (the latter two were still both in a heap on the floor, still alive judging by their movements), as she had failed to remove a potential obstacle to her plans and had instead allowed herself to be caught up in a conversation with the now-named Lone Wanderer (What kind of name is that, anyway? thought Cinder). However, she realized this also presented her with a possible opportunity. It was highly unlikely that this man was with Ozpin, who'd never employ a man who openly destroyed a bar and attempt to actively kill its security and owner simply because they refused him a drink. The man didn't seem to have the same sort of subtlety that Ozpin prided himself on either; it was clear that this Lone Wanderer was much more of an offensive type; even the stealth he'd just displayed had been used to intimidate and eliminate his enemies with extreme prejudice (she was surprised Mercury and Emerald were even alive). So it was probable that he was a free agent, a new chess piece in the game that Ozpin and Cinder's mistress had long been playing. Cinder decided that this new piece, no matter what, would become her mistress'. He has the potential to be a very powerful piece, indeed she thought, smirking, as she turned away from the door to attempt to get her henchman and woman in at least a semblance of working order.

From a side booth, Roman Torchwick finally made himself known. Pushing himself up and brushing himself off, he was met by the angry gaze of Cinder Fall.

"Soooo…what'd I miss?" he asked, only to be met by his hat bursting into flames courtesy of a very pissed off Cinder.

As the Stealth Boy wore off, the Wanderer hauled himself onto a roof top in front of the club. Making sure no one else was around, he collapsed into the roof, thankful for the breather. His chest still hurt like a bitch, so he took another dose of Med-X to dull the pain until he could get somewhere safe and fully inspect his wounds. They'd surprisingly felt better after he'd hit that green-haired girl with Vampire's Edge, but he'd thought nothing of it at the time. Although he knew he wasn't on Earth (if the shattered moon above him was any indication), he still had no idea where he actually was, something he'd have to rectify sooner rather than later.

"Alright, first things first. Find somewhere mildly safe and settle down for what could be the long haul. I'll worry about supplies later" the Wanderer told himself. Pushing himself off the ground, it wasn't long before he spotted what looked like a port not far off. It looked pretty much abandoned if the lack of lights or any real noise was any indication and with what were likely a dozen or so large warehouses it wouldn't take long to find shelter. The buildings were packed relatively close enough that he could jump across them safely, at least until he got comfortably far enough away from the shit show that club had become.

Well, here we go I guess, the Wanderer thought, taking off towards shelter.

I hope you all enjoyed the first encounter between the Lone Wanderer and Cinder! I'll be honest, this was one of the first fight scenes I've properly written so I apologize if it's a little stiff and rough around the edges (any feedback to improve these scenes is always appreciated!).

The way the fight was supposed to go went through a dozen different iterations in my mind, several involving Power Armor and the Wanderer bursting through the wall with his own custom suit and a minigun. As for how I plan to display Pip-boys in this story, they're going to utilize minimization and digitization technology that I've seen other Fallout stories use. It does make a semblance of sense from a certain viewpoint, especially with the way Fallout 4 displays its items as wireframes on its Pip-boy and how they disappear when you holster them. Also, to clear up any potential questions concerning the blade Vampire's Edge. Just the way the sword is named and who owns it in Fallout 3 (in case some haven't played it, its owned by a pseudo-vampire named Vance), I kind of have the idea in my head that it would supernaturally suck the life out of victims (it sounds overpowered, but I don't plan on going that crazy with it); since Aura is an extension of one's soul in the RWBY universe, it makes sense that Aura would have a slight tendency to go nuts when that things near. All-in-all, although I don't plan on making it OP, it is still a very dangerous weapon against hunters and huntresses.

Next up is the Courier meeting Ozpin for the first time, explaining just where he comes from, and getting settled into Beacon. I promise Chapter 9 won't take me as long to upload as Chapter 8 did. Also, thank you to everyone who has followed and favorited this story, both new and old!