Premise

Hi, USB-Meister here! I first started watching RWBY close to the time that Volume 3 came out, which was in 2015, so that makes it close to 5 years now.

What a long and chaotic road it has been for both me and the show.

After Volume 4 ended, a single thought came to my mind: So, how are the Grimm ending humanity, exactly? From the very first trailer for the show all the way to even now, very rarely has anyone in the main cast struggled against Grimm. While this could simply be written off as them needing to be more powerful than the Grimm in order to save the world, this does not allow them to shrug off any Grimm-based dangers posed against them. They should be able to struggle against Grimm just as much as they do against human foes. What broke the straw on the Dromedon's back for me was Volume 7's use of the Megoliath and Megoliath Alpha. These behemoths, the bigger and badder cousins of the legendarily ancient Goliaths in Vale, were defeated by a group of teenagers. These monstrosities on legs that were meant to strike fear into everyone? A pair of them were taken out by a *single* rocket to the *most heavily armored portion of their bodies* each. I also was not happy with how easily the Megoliath Alpha, one of the larger Grimm we've seen yet, was defeated.

So, back to my original question: So, how are the Grimm ending humanity, exactly?

If they are so easily defeated, as the show suggests with these scenes among many others, why isn't humanity capable of keeping them away indefinitely? If they're capable of creating rockets small enough to fit inside a shoulder-mounted launcher that are capable of destroying Megoliath Alphas, then why are they on the brink of total extinction? The show has stated that humanity has so few large settlements because they are simply too prone to being overrun, but this single weapon is telling me that automated defenses firing these rockets can take on any horde Salem throws at them.

So, I sought a way to make the Grimm terrifying again.

I did not want to take the route of just buffing the Grimm. Then the story wouldn't have been so different from canon for the most part. I wanted a unique take on the RWBY universe. So, I started brainstorming. Two things led to me creating *The OMEGA Subject*. One was RWBY: Grimm Eclipse and the introduction to Doctor Merlot, and the other was YouTube recommending a video from TheVolgun to remind me of how much I love the SCP universe to give me the idea I needed: a secretive organization experimenting on Grimm.

Originally, as some of you who read my author's notes may recall, the story was called *The OMEGA Project*. It followed the OMEGA Subject, an Alpha Beowolf modified by the aptly named OMEGA Project, as he escaped and shook Remnant to its core. It would not be until I finished writing the first draft of that for the idea of there being even more of the Subjects to enter my head. So, I did what I do best and scrapped the entire thing to start from scratch.

Now, two or three, maybe four (honestly, I can't even remember) years later, I'm sitting with my laptop and typing up the now tenth draft of the reboot series. I've gone from a Mac to an HP, high school to college, .doc to .docx to Google Docs, and writing during the afternoon and evening to writing during the night and early hours of the morning. I would like to say I've learned a lot, but I can't tell. While I'm certain I've gotten better, I can't confidently say it was by a big margin.

I digress. Let's get back on topic, shall we?

The premise of *TOS*, as I am fond of abbreviating it to, is twofold: I want to tell a story with a fully-Grimm protagonist that not only takes a look at the oh-so-common question of "What makes a human a human?", but also makes the Grimm a threat once again; I also want to apply a manner of pseudoscience to the Grimm and answer questions about them that the show has not and probably will not while not making this new knowledge integral to the story unless absolutely necessary in order to avoid a "World of Remnant" situation.

I want to stand out with my story. I have read countless other fanfics written about RWBY, many with Grimm at the forefront. However, they commonly skirt around a true Grimm protagonist by either making the character "part Grimm" or a "Grimm turned human/faunus". I did not want to do that. Apollyon, the main protagonist, is a Grimm first and foremost. An Alpha Beowolf, to be specific. He will not become humanoid at any point. He is 99% (rough estimate) Grimm, with that 1% coming from the human brain, the metal spikes, and the venom sac.

I also want to take risks with *TOS*. It is a story that is told (for the most part) from the perspective of a creature of darkness that kills to pass time. His whole reason for existence is, quite literally, to exterminate humanity and faunus. It's going to be gory, it's going to be dark, and it (hopefully) will explore what can happen to people when they experience horrible things. Earlier drafts of the story also had him maiming or killing important characters in the show, and I am tempted to try and keep that.

Above all else, however, I want this to be practice. I aim to continue writing after*TOS*, sticking for the most part in the RWBY universe. With *TOS*, I'm testing the waters on what I can or can't do successfully. "Should I go this far?" "Can this kind of thing happen?" "Am I capable of portraying this in a satisfying way?" Those sorts of questions.

I've rambled on long enough. If you are curious about any of this, I suggest you either visit the glossary located on the far left of the navigation bar or visit the main page located on the far right. The glossary is for the pseudoscience I've created, whereas the main page will show the lore. If you made it this far, thanks for reading. I hope to see you on fanfiction.net when I finally reboot the series.

Ciao!