67 Occupant

A/N: Just noticed the posting dates got completely messed up and the chapters haven't been posting, my bad guys. It should be fixed now.

"Speaking of the Relic of Creation… Taella, where is Winter Schnee?" Weiss's gaze refocused a bit when she heard her sister's name mentioned. She had noticed it before and nearly assumed the worst in her head. But thinking about it, Shen needed her alive, or else they would lose access to the relic.

"Hm? Oh, she's unconscious at the moment so I put her on the ship. I might have had just a bit too much fun with her, hehe." Hearing that Weiss let out a sigh of relief in her heart.

"Once you obtain the Relic of Creation will you finally be satisfied?" The one who spoke was Ozpin in Oscar's body, out of everyone on their side he looked the worst. This matched Pyrrha and Raven who out of everyone who came with Shen, looked the worst off despite their indifferent faces.

Glancing as Oscar Shen tilted his head to the side.

"I suppose so, there is not much that interests me in this world." And that was the truth, Shen had hit a cap. His Level could not go any higher with the limited amount of XP he got. Even wiping out everyone on Remnant probably would only give him another Level at most.

He knew this earlier but he really had outgrown the RWBY Universe, even in his fight with Penny although he almost died, it was out of negligence not inability. The moment he started to try and utilize his trump cards that was the end of it.

However there still remained one final trial, one final insurmountable gap that kept him from the top.

'The Gods of Light and Darkness. They're going to be… difficult.' At the same time while Shen thought that, his words gave off different reactions. Yang and Weiss were simply confused, so was Ozpin within Oscar's body. But off to the side Sienna glanced towards Ironwood giving him a strange look.

Ironwood caught her glance as he lowered his head.

'So what she said was true. He really doesn't plan on staying here. But where exactly is he going to go? She never mentioned it.' His words had different meanings to everyone, but the only one who could really grasp what he meant was Neo. She was there when he used the Relic of Knowledge.

She knew Shen was not from this world, this 'Universe' as Jinn put it. He never brought it up with her so she refrained from asking. But still, it laid dormant in her mind.

"Well, I suppose it's rude of me to talk about the future when your futures are so ambiguous." Shen's words snapped everyone out of their thoughts and daydreams. At the moment the entire original RWBY cast was at his mercy.

"Killing you all for all the trouble you gave me would be relieving. Or I could send you all where I sent Jaune, Qrow, and the others." He spoke their options out loud as he turned his gaze downwards towards everyone else.

"What do you all think?" His voice was addressing all of them but his gaze fell onto Blake.

"I think it would be a waste to kill them. We can put them to good use once they've been… Corrected a bit." Sienna spoke out first followed by Neo remaining silent. She didn't care whether this group lived or died.

"Hehe, I don't really care about the others, but Winter was quite fun to fight. I'm sure she would fit in with the Pyrrha and Ravens group quite well." Taella's focus was purely on Winter, after all she was the one she chose to fight, and she ignored the others.

"Fighting those brats was more tiring than anything. Though I suppose that's better than nothing. If we can break them in as Sienna said, I'm sure they can turn out some worth." Torchwick's words almost sounded thought out, until you saw the carefree look on his face. He leaned in one direction but had no problem with the other.

That only left one person, Blake whose eyes seem to trail slightly. Lowering her head she spoke clearly.

"I would like you to put Ruby, Yang, and Weiss under my care Master. It's my fault they are alive now to hinder you and a punishment would not suffice. If you permit it, I will personally see to it that they are trained so that they can serve you without hesitation." Shen raised a brow upon hearing her words.

At the same time, Yang and Weiss looked utterly shocked. They didn't even know what to say, and that expression spread to others as well. Sienna's expression changed slightly but she held her tongue while glancing at Ironwood.

She had planned to deal with Ruby, Yang, and Weiss along with the others of their faction herself, but it seemed that was no longer possible.

"You think you can pull something like that off little kitty? If I remember correctly these three were your friends in Beacon. What's to guarantee they don't escape and cause us all more trouble?" Blake looked away from Shen and towards Torchwick who was speaking with a smirk. Her eyes were cold and glossed over as she spoke.

"That won't happen. I swear on my life and my loyalty to our Master." Torchwick laughed to himself and shook his head but didn't say anymore.

'I would be lying if I said I wasn't slightly worried. Ruby and the others are the protagonists after all. This could be their plot armor at work, and if that's the case I could be going down a path that screws me over. At the same time, this could definitely become an investment... ' Shen saw potential in letting himself go down this path.

The villain always died from either their overconfidence, stupidity or simply underestimating their opponent. Shen had experienced this situation twice despite how careful he tried to be. It seemed to be something every villain experienced no matter what.

'If Ruby and the others truly are still the protagonist and plot armor is a thing, then it could be influencing me right now. At the same time, that would mean at some point in the future they will become strong enough to kill me. I can only imagine how much XP I would get from that.' It was a greedy temptation that whispered to Shen.

It was also the same reason he let Pyrrha and Raven stay as they are despite their intentions to kill him one day.

Glancing back towards Blake and towards Yang and Weiss who seemed frozen under his gaze, he eventually smirked. In that case, he would have to make some countermeasures just in case the worst came to pass.

"Alright." His response stunned Ozpin and Ironwood, along with Yang and Weiss. Blake lowered her head as she thanked Shen, she saw it as a sign he trusted her with this.

"Of course, I'll be taking my own countermeasures. Release Ruby." He wasn't dumb enough to simply take Blake's word. Complying with the dark void surrounding Ruby retracting. As Ruby came back to view she nearly collapsed as she took deep heavy breaths sucking in air. At the same time, Shen raised three fingers.

Without warning, Life Fiber's shot out of them as she waved his hand towards Ruby, Yang, and Weiss. Their Aura was already weak from being broken in their fights and their mental states, so the Life Fibers had no issues piercing their chest.

"What are you doing to them?" This time around Oscar spoke out instead of Ozpin, his voice carried a sense of worry.

"Like I said, countermeasures. I wrapped Life Fibers around their hearts. The moment I hear any news of 'issues' from Blake or anyone else, the Life Fibers will tighten and they will die." It was the same method he used one Taella, it was more than effective enough to keep her in line.

Even now Taella's life was still in the palm of his hand, it acted as a leash for not her, but the demon influencing her.

Retracting his hand the Life Fibers snapped from his fingers and completely hid in the girl's bodies. All of them felt a tight feeling in their chest that caused them to fall onto their hands. Shen's words made them feel like they were out of breath.

"You bastard…" Yang raised her head and glared at Shen who only smiled. Holding out his hand he gave the Relic of Destruction to Neo to hold onto.

"I'll be leaving Winter here. Blake, Torchwick, and Taella you three stay here and wrap this up. Once you have the Relic of Creation, Sienna will have a ship to pick you all up." All three of them nodded to Shen's orders.

"You… You really aren't going to do anything to Atlas?" Ironwood spoke hesitantly, he had expected Shen to say something about Atlas, but he didn't. Turning his head slightly, Shen spoke in a bored tone.

"I have no interest in Atlas, the citizens can stay here or evacuate for all I care. I won't bother with this place any further, I'm not a fan of the cold after all." Shen's words seemed a bit strange to pretty much everyone, but no one could figure out why.

In the end, he did exactly what he said he would. Leaving Winter with Blake and the others, he got the ship that brought them there along with Neo, Sienna, Pyrrha, and Raven. As they took off Sienna looked out of a nearby window.

"Are you really just leaving Atlas like this?" She couldn't help but probe, but in response, Shen simply leaned back in his seat with a smile on his face. He stared into nothing as he answered.

"Of course, even I have some integrity. Like I said to them I won't do both with Atlas anymore, other than the Relic of Creation it's worth nothing to me."

It was as he said that he noticed that both Pyrrha and Raven had been silent for quite some time. At the corner of his eye, he saw the two of them looked almost… Worried?

'Hmm?'

…

"Well then, let's get to work. Taella and I will go get the relic, while you deal with them. Any issues with that?" Torchwick looked at Blake who only glared at him. It was obvious at this point but she and Torchwick did not get along, especially since he always referred to her as 'kitty'. It made her want to rip him apart, but she couldn't and he knew that.

"Just hurry up." Torchwick snickered at her as he gestured towards Taella. She had Winter wrapped in her tails behind her as she joyfully followed behind Torchwick. Once the two of them entered Atlas Academy, Blake turned her attention to Ruby and the others.

"As long as you three behave I can assure you'll be fine." The three of them didn't reply to Blake, remaining stone-cold silent. Blake made her intentions clear, but there was no way they were going to go along with them.

Narrowing her cat-like eyes Blake bent down and stretched her hand towards Yang's face. She was the most defiant out of all of them. Raising it she stared in the eyes.

"One way or another you three are going to comply. Or else you'll end up dead, and any hope you and your friends have left will die with you."

…

Time seemed to pass slowly, yet they arrived back in Kuchinashi within a few hours. It had changed, even more, it had grown nearly two times in size. Shen's Mansion was turned into a proper and full palace that took up the entire top half of Kuchinashi's Mountain. The most impregnable fortress on Remnant.

The ship went to land on the landing pad where soldiers were already lined up in waiting, among which L1 and L2 stood waiting. Soon the ship landed completely as the doors opened and the soldiers waiting straightened their stance and bowed.

"We welcome you on your return, Lord Shen!" Shen glanced around with a relaxed expression on his face.

"There really is no place like home." He along with everyone else began to make their way inside with L1 and L2 followed by Shen's side. They were directly linked to Shen, so his return came as no surprise to them. They knew he was alive the moment he fully regenerated.

"Looks like things have changed around here, anything of note?"

"No, we kept everything as you originally planned with external affairs being handled by Sienna and Venti as you intended." L1 answered formally without a single wasted breath causing Shen to nod satisfyingly.

"However the new occupant has been causing quite a few issues. We were wondering what we should do about her, however, we could not contact you for your opinion." Shen's face changed when he heard that from L2.

"New occupant?" Immediately both Pyrrha and Raven's faces made a change for the worst.

"Yes, the one's brought in by Pyrrha Nikos and Raven Branwen. We were informed it would be fine by Sienna and Taella, however she has been getting frantic lately." Shen's face showed a look of confusion as all of them walked through the halls. Sienna had a strange look on her face as well.

"Pyrrha! Your back!" It was just as Shen was about to infer what exactly they meant when he heard a voice. It sounded young and bright, yet one he definitely didn't recognize. At that moment Pyrrha's face completely dropped as the color in it faded entirely.

Shen turned his head as he looked down the hall they were walking down.

'Oh?'