Chapter 9: Monster Bash In the Emerald Forest

... Why. Just, why.

Seriously, what the hell is up with me and being launched into the fucking air!? I get the first time, it was for the start of the exam and the ability of a potential student's to adapt to a situation that they are unprepared for or how well they planned ahead of time. I get that. The second and third makes me a little pissed, but again, I get it. Overwhelming power against a person who had almost zilch combat experience always equals something bad happening. It just so happens that the worst case scenario didn't happen (me being crippled or killed) but just sent flying like a baseball in a home run hit. Just a lot less bouncing... and pain. I'm more surprised that I'm not as hurt as I should have been. Thank you Aura. Also, I got to meet the main RWBY team, so that's a plus (And saw something amazing).

But the fourth time. It's not because of the exam. It's not because of the monsters.

It's because it was Yang throwing me like a rag doll to go and catch Weiss in the middle of the air. For cursing in front of her sister.

Bitch.

For fucks sakes, she'll probably be around the most potty-mouthed individuals in existence! She might as get used to them! Also, I find it weird that I was able to restrain my cussing so well. Hopefully, it's because I finally got a filter in my mouth. Wait, didn't my mouth not have a filter earlier? So that means I had a filter before? No, wait, fear filter? Maybe. Yang is a terrifying hot girl, and that makes for a very strange combination.

Fuck it, I'll figure it out later.

A small white dot is gradually becoming larger, her figure becoming more prominent and I could see her white ponytail and... uh... up her skirt...

... What the hell is up with me and cute girls in skirts? And flying? You know what, for safety of my mind in this world, I'm just gonna conveniently forget about this and just... just... what the hell was I thinking about? Oh, right. Gotta find a way to get my ass down with ANOTHER girl to make a safe landing. Again.

Why can't I just land by myself? It's so much work just to get myself safe, but another person too? Ugh.

Wait, can't Weiss make Dust-Platforms through her glyphs? Why the fuck would Yang throw me up here! God fucking damn it!

... At least being a missile is kinda nice. Aside from the unfortunate take offs, the air is incredibly nice. And refreshing.

Oh look, I'm slowing down. And coming from above is Weiss... who from my mental projections tell me that she's going to fall right on top of me. Holy shit, Yang has super accuracy. Maybe when I'm not pissed at her I can ask her for help in human-to-projectile launches? It would be an incredible skill to learn. And use. Very much would like to use.

... Maybe I should stop playing Disgaea. Tower attacks are a little addicting. And throwing Prinnies.

... Note to self, find a way to make Prinnies with Aura. Power cost is irrelevant. Hell, monetary cost is irrelevant, the world will know the terror that be Prinnies!

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

... Maybe I should get back to reality.

"Oof!"

There we go.

Looking at the girl who I caught Princess Style (... How?) I simply stared for a moment before blurting, "Hey there Princess. Dropping in?" ... Oh god, what the hell did I just say. Did I just say a cheesy ass line? Don't answer that, just hope she doesn't notice?

"Avarice?" She asked hesitantly.

"Yes?"

"Where did you come from?"

"A human projectile sent upwards."

She simply raised one of her eyebrows. Nice to see that she's keeping her cool.

God, I think I'm hating that expression. "Long story short, this is basically a penalty and now I'm here to basically get us down to safety. Before that, question?" She nodded. "Can you, oh I don't know, make platforms or anything?"

She hesitated for a moment. "I... suppose I can. Why?"

"Because inertia stopped working and gravity is about to work its magic on us." I pointed out dryly.

It took a moment for both of us (...hey, I don't know what I say) to process what I just said before we both looked down to note that we are both a significant amount of distance from the ground. And we were just starting to dip.

At the same moment I realized we were still hanging, I deployed the cape once more. But this time I cut it a little short of the amount I usually (... I made a fucking usually for it when I only used it twice. My god.) because I was already boosting my body at the same time. And quite frankly, doing that while trying to maintain the physical manifestation is somewhat tiring, not including me trying to talk. I think I understand why these people with powers have a hard time with them.

Doesn't explain why they are so mook-like when they have them. Bloody fuck, I come up with at least three different ways to utilize their powers and I don't even have them.

And then we began to fall.

"Uh, Weiss? Platforms? Quickly?" I urged nervously. I don't think I can do this a second time.

"Yes, about that," Weiss said. Oh, when people say that it usually means something troublesome. "I can only create them when I have both access to my weapon and start in a stance in order to focus it in combat. Outside of it, I... may need to practice a bit more." She ended reluctantly.

... "So when you say that, what you actually mean is that outside of combat and the prerequisites, in which your focus is your opponent and thus no distractions other planning, that you're not prepared for something like this?"

"It's not like any of my training involves me having to hang onto a Nevermore and to free fall from it!" She snapped off defensively.

"God damn it." I thought she was a super pro! Wasn't that what she was in the White Trailer! Fuck.

And so the scenery began to pass in slow blurs. While I noted that we weren't exactly falling fast, it wasn't slow either and there was still some distance to go before landing, but I'm tired. All this is more than a little stressful and I feel a little sleepy. Falling like this is nice too. It's relaxing and I have a nice soft and warm feeling up here...

Wait, that's Weiss. Oh fuck, it's not just me.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck! Wide awake, I began to go through random thoughts on how to go about saving my and Weiss's ass. Focus on cape? Denied, most likely will break legs due to diverted Aura. Enhancement? No, I doubt even with all the Aura I have at the moment would allow me to survive a fall from this height. Rankyaku, Geppo? What the fuck, why the hell did I think that!? That's all physical training of which I CAN'T DO! Flying? Good idea... if I knew how to spout wings from my ass. Layers? Might be survivable, but will body endure? Wait, layers... but that requires even MORE attention. But it also has a higher chance for reducing damage...

Without bothering to inform of Weiss of my decision, I reabsorbed the Aura from my cape and began to focus it into something a bit more... risky.

With that, using my paranoia of being closed in and imagining wall all around me, I began to funnel my Aura into a thin cone starting at the base of my feet and slowly extended it to at least shoulders. Which as a result, began to make us fall faster due to the fact that I basically streamlined our form instead of slowing us. But that was kind of the point. So the second thing I did is make a bunch of small pieces of Aura to become something similar to 'pedals' within the cone that basically enveloped the both of us.

The basic idea in doing so is this: I couldn't sustain multiple constructs at the same time. Yes, I could form multiple Aura Spheres and create fire with them, but they actually only require a minuscule amount of thought to maintain. I am dimly aware of their formation, but there is virtually no strain. But the cape, that's a different story. Despite it being a relatively easy image to maintain, the other stuff isn't. I have to create the basic area of it, how much Aura should be compacted into each strand and how tough it is and that's not taking account of the areas I have to place my re-attention again. The only reason it worked the last two times is because I only had to focus on myself or there was someone else to pick up the slack. But not in this case, Weiss isn't at the level I thought she was (Stupid White Trailer, misleading me and shit. At least I hope she can sing...) and I've been maintaining my enhanced state for a long while now. And that's not accounting for the lost of more Aura from fights, even though it has been slowly regenerating more than the amount I am using, surprisingly.

So I made this plan: fall faster. I know, it ain't exactly eloquent, but it's not supposed to be. It's meant for me to get down to the ground faster, which means I can divert my attention to multiple things. Like the conical thing that's supposed to make us fall faster while somewhat dampening the impact. And the interior 'pedals' that are supposed to work in conjunction with the cone. Each one taking up a major part of my focus. I don't even need to focus Aura to my body, I just know I have too if I want to survive with someone depending on it.

Actually, I think they might be able to survive this level of impact. Just with some major injuries. I'd probably die.

At this point, all I could hear is throbbing of my blood in my ears as Weiss's grip became incredibly tight.

I closed my eyes.

Then, like as if the cone was a part of me, it felt like it pierced through something. And then I felt the impact and I shattered.

And that wasn't it. The first 'pedal' bursted into motes of light, and then the second, and then the third.

At last, the fourth withheld and it send the rest of the force into the fifth and sixth one, the force dispersing as it passed. And then it finally reached to me and all I could feel is a brief shock go through my bones before it was done with.

Opening my eyes, I noted I could see the shocked eyes of several people. But I didn't care.

Imaging that the remaining 'pedals' opening and then reabsorbing them at they tracked back into me, I began to nudge Weiss.

"Hey." I said brusquely. "You can get off now."

She opened her eyes. I can see the shock of us surviving.

"How...?" Her eyes caught mine.

I shrugged. "I just tried to be smart about it."

I slowly placed her feet onto the ground. Taking the hint, she got up.

And then she turned, offering her hand to me.

I looked up in surprise.

"For someone who does not know how to assist themselves in their plights, you did well in this case." She said as she gazed into the forest.

"Well, if it weren't for fact that I had someone relying on me, I probably wouldn't of have thought of this way to land."

I took her hand. "Well, about that," She trailed off. "I may have... exaggerated on some details on my abilities."

"Like the fact that you could have used your abilities at any time?"

She froze. "How did you know?"

I blinked. "Uh... I was just joking you know." But to her response, I already formulated an answer. "But really, I might know why. To be frank, this is a strategy of sorts. Even though this is an exam and you gain a partner from this, you don't know who might be in the other of your team let alone know if your partner is reliable or the fact that there are strangers you'll need to team with in order to get by some of the obstacles. So you hide some of your strengths, making them underestimate you in the long run and if they become an enemy, you can surprise them by using said unused abilities." What was also unsaid was the fact that unless you're paranoid as fuck, then there is no point in doing so.

Quite frankly, you're joining a school. Not an enemy faction that might kill you.

She stared at me in shock before she harrumphed. "At least you're not a complete waste of organic matter."

"Uh... thanks?" ... I've never been called that before, someone mind telling me if I should be offended or not? I really feel I should be.

"... Uh, Weiss?"

She raised an eyebrow. Huh, she has a scar that splits into two slight different halfs on her left eye, who knew? "Yes?"

"You, uh, mind letting go?" I wiggle the hand in emphasis.

It took her a moment before she realized, yes, she is still holding my hand, before she dropped it like it was a rod of hot metal. Or someone beaten with an ugly stick. Either or. More than likely is that she found my presence disgusting.

Or do I smell? Very likely, maybe. Gotta check later.

I awkwardly began to rub my head until I looked around. I saw the corpses of three regular Ursas and my partner and the other pair staring at me in shock. Or looking down at me in shock. Taking a look under, I see, much to my surprise, a very large and very much dead head.

Jumping back in surprise, it turns out that thing we landed on was an Ursa, a Major one too to boot. Huh, maybe that took in most of the force? Maybe I should test the strength of each 'pedal' before jumping to the conclusion of my barely survival. I mean, if accidentally killing this thing is accounted for and the overload force literally shattering the first four defenses from immense force and almost got past my Aura defense (if I could still feel a shock, then that meant that it probably would have crippled me if I didn't. Oh God.) so the fall itself would have killed me.

Wait, isn't that a girl screaming?

Wait, where did Weiss go?

I almost began to panic when I noticed a small, inconspicuous circle. Well, it would have been inconspicuous if it weren't for the fact that said circle was WHITE with the inscriptions making it even more outlandish with the landscape and it lead to a destination.

Hey, you would panic too if you heard someone screaming and the fact that the person you just helped disappeared and where did those e-fucking-normous feathers come from? I mean, holy shit, they're huge! I wonder if I can grab one of them so I can play with it? Hehehe... giant feather duster...

Okay, time to back away from the fantasy thoughts. Come back to them later if I could salvage them. The feather strands look like they'll do a killing on the market...

On that note, ask Weiss if you can learn Glyphs/Runes. Sounds like useful stuff.

Tracking the trail of white glyphs/runes on the ground, I quickly spotted Weiss... hovering(?) towards the giant forest of feathers to a... red dot lying on the ground as the scorpion from before raises the golden stinger to stab it.

Wait, isn't that Ruby? How the hell is that still happening? I'm pretty sure I met Canon and smacked it in the face when I came here.

Ooh, maybe I can finally see how Weiss made the iceberg? I was always a little curious on how she did that.

Entering from the periphery of my vision were multiple figures, each one moving across the expansive space between them and the scorpion. Oddly enough, I could even see the hesitant steps of the pair duo from before with Lucia lagging behind them. And then my attention got caught by the large chunk of ice that appeared from the middle of nowhere.

... Fuck, I missed how she did it.

Shrugging, I began to jog my way over. I was still a bit winded from the last 3(?) minutes or so. The amount of Aura I have at this point is little more than what I feel to be is half of my former reserves. Canceling out the enhancement on my body (which is making me feel like I just went through a day without rest) helped cutting off the cost of wasted power and the regeneration of Aura is much higher than before. Just not high for me to confidently say that I would even remotely be at a good amount of strength by the time I reach the converging figures that are now moving AWAY from the giant glacier with a set of white, yellow and black figures leading them on. At least their moving closer to me.

Oh well, at least everyone is together now. Whoo for increase in survival rates!

God's I am tired.

That tree does look awfully comfy right now...

Several moments later, and me deciding to be a lazy fuck after thinking I deserved it after all the bullshit from today, I finally got to the group.

And of which, for some odd ass reason, Lucia and Fake Goldy(Possible Stuck Up Bitch) and Bluey(The Sidekick Maid) stood out from the group, standing a little more than a few feet between each other. What the fuck did FGB (Fake Goldy Bluey) do to make them do that? Maybe the FG decided to go all bossy again and they made themselves outcasted? Probably not, maybe they don't know how to join in? Probably. I would be doing that, cause I am awkward fuck. I know how to greet bit actually make any prolonged conversation, but anything else I am completely and utterly lost as I have no idea how to do so. FG on the hand looks like a politician's daughter, so I'm sure she knows how to talk without insulting anyone... I think. You know what, before I make an ass of myself out of my assumptions, again, I better just check.

And if she insulted them... stupid me and my niceness. Why can't I just be a plain prick? (Because momma taught you) ... Thank you mind, I needed that reminder.

Strolling towards them, I first stopped by my partner, who stood a little further off from everyone else and the pair of girls whispering to one another, looking more unsure of themselves as they seem to realize that they were alienated.

"Hey," I greeted my partner.

She just turned her head a little and gazed at me.

... Why did I love silent girls again? Cause this is awkward as fuck. "So, yeah," I trailed on. "Why are you standing so far away from everyone else?"

She glanced at the FGB's direction and shook her head. "Refused. Prideful."

Fuck. She went back to mono-words. But what did she mean when she said refused? And prideful? What in this position would she refuse? It's not like there's a charity event going on here or anything. Unless she meant she refused to whatever it is for her pride, then obviously they are retarded.

"Hey, Lucia." I threw several glances at the large gathering first then at the other girls. "You mind if I go talk to the others for a moment?"

She simply nodded.

"Thanks."

I walked over to the circle and tapped a shoulder. Thank the gods it was Ruby's. And was that a small hole in her cape? "Yo."

"Avarice!" She exclaimed as she saw my face. "You're alright!"

"Yeah. No thanks to your SISTER!" I couldn't help but bite out.

"You're welcome!" Yang hollered.

"Screw you Yang." I replied abrasively. "I don't much appreciate being turned into a human missile to go and catch someone."

She snorted. "Well that's a fine way to thank someone for making you a damsel-rescuer. Besides, it's not like it's your first time doing it."

"YANG!" Ruby squealed.

I ignored that. "Well you could have thrown Ruby or Blake or Nora or Ren up there."

"Nora!" Nora repeated her name. "Hugs!"

I couldn't help but crack a smile at that and opened my arms as she literally tackle hugged me.

She simply rose her eyebrow. "What? Was the big macho man afraid?"

"Yes." I deadpanned. Fuck pride, that was terrifying. I would rather she punch me... err, scratch that.

She pouted. "Thanks for ruining the fun. And for your information, Ruby wouldn't have a way to get back down here safely and I wouldn't just throw my new partner! We chose cute ponies together!" Then as an afterthought, "And I don't wanna throw crazy and her boyfriend."

"Uh, not her boyfriend." Ren interjected.

"Not his girlfriend!" Nora denied as she continued the hug. But she didn't deny the crazy.

I rolled my eyes. "Right. Anyway, screw those reasons. And if we weren't in a forest trying to get away from Giga-Bird and his friend Crawly, I would tell you those reasons."

Someone coughed.

Glancing right next to Ruby was Weiss. "As we were discussing before," She took a moment, sending a quick glance to me. "He showed up." Oh very mature Weiss. "We, as a group, decided that since our objective was to simply obtain an artifact from the pedestals at the temple ruins and to return to the cliffs. And it was agreed that our objective was simply a retrieval mission, not a combative one. There is no point to engage in combat when there is no reason to do so."

I nodded.

"So were you guys going to leave before I showed up or something?" I asked.

"We decided," Weiss continued, giving a slight cough into her hand. "That we should wait for you as it would be beneficial to have more numbers... even if it may be just a single one."

"Aw, someone's embarrassed." Yang cooed. "Looks like someone just wanted to wait for their savior." She teased as she sent gazed at Weiss.

Weiss turned into a spectacular red and began to sputter denials.

Also, for some reason, Ruby blushed. Why?

I rolled my eyes. Again. "Yang, I'm absolutely sure that she could have saved herself from the fall, you just made it complicated when you threw me like a rag doll." And I left out that I felt that I only had half of my reserves. That fall was no joke. Thank god for passive regeneration.

"Getting back on topic," I said as Yang was about to say something. "Anyone mind telling me why my partner and those girls are a little ways from here?" No, seriously, why?

A majority of the people here let out a reaction of their dislike.

Wow, and I thought I didn't like them.

"Ookay then." I said as I tapped Nora to tell her to let go. "Welp, I'm gonna go and ask them what happened and see if I can convince them of their probable stupid cause."

Nora reluctantly let's go of me as I head towards the FGB.

"So you mind telling me why you girls like to alienate yourselves from everyone? Because at this rate, no one will ever like you." I asked them bluntly.

Currently, the pair of them were still whispering to each other. And I am not gonna spend another minute waiting for them to finish in case those things decide to come back at us.

"Hmph. Why should we answer to such rudeness?" Answered FG.

"Because this rude person is willing to ditch your ass here because you two are being complete bitches."

They gasped.

"Such foulness!" FG said with a scandalized expression.

"No, the foulness is you two! What the hell did you do to offend the entire group over there!"

They remained silent.

"Well, mind telling me why?"

Bluey answered. "My mistress and I refused to be coddled by those individuals. They dare believe that my mistress and I cannot defend ourselves from the creatures that reside in here."

It took me a moment to figure out what they meant.

"So you mean to tell me," I began to fidget, a surge or irritation overcoming me. "That because you two idiots decided to be prideful about trying to get through this thing on your own that you denied a helping hand from a group that most likely has enough diversity to end you twenty times over? And that they basically escaped from something that I'm sure both of you at your absolute best today could not take down?"

Silence.

"Screw you two." I began to walk away. "There are fucking goddamned limits to pride. And I never thought I would actually meet someone who were so full of themselves." And man an I ranting. What the hell is wrong with me? I don't normally do this, but I got a point. Despite being of the noble type, they actually fall in the categories that I would rather not think about.

"Wait!" The FG called out frantically. I waited. Fucking nice nature, stupid me and being nice and shit.

"Would you please return so we may have our discussion in... private?" She pleaded as Bluey began to move away from her from some unknown signal.

Sighing, because I am such a weak person, we walked a few paces away from Bluey.

"So what the hell do you have to say?" I said roughly.

"I'm sorry." She squeaked. Then she blinked as she smacked her hands over her mouth.

I blinked. That... was not what I was thinking was going to happen.

"... what?"

"Ah..." She became red. "I apologize for the rude behavior for both my companion and myself." She said as her 'hooey-toyty' voice just seemed to drop and what came out was a soft and very not arrogant voice.

"... I am now very suddenly confused about your bipolarity." I declared.

She tilted her head. And she just gave off the most cute expression I could have possibly seen on her face since I met her.

"Just..." I tried to formulate the words, but they just kept dying before the process could even begin. "Explain."

"Um..." She bit her lip. "Can I explain this to you later? I think it might be a slightly lengthy conversation."

Well, there's the fancy-talk I was expecting. "So you didn't mean any of what you meant?" Because that would help in LONG way to making sense in my head. And how to tell the others so we could get a move on. I'm hating this forest so much right now, and I thought I liked nature.

"I... think?" She questioned herself.

I sighed. Good enough I guess. But quick question. "Hey, is this your real personality?"

Please say yes. I don't want to deal with a possible Rin Tohsaka anytime soon. I'm scared enough thank you very much without considering to be used as an experiment. Or suffer her temperament. Or just her overall fakeness. Or suffer a Gandr Shot. Wait, can I do that? I'm not that good with FPS games, but if it's only point and shoot, I think I got it down pat. And isn't a Gandr just an amalgamation of illnesses? Or is more along the lines of attacking the soul of the subject such that the 'intent' of sickness is transferred from the spiritual aspect? How would I go about it anyway? Goddamn it, I should have watched Fate/Stay Night more.

And stop. Think about this later. If I can remember it.

"Yes?" Why do you sound so questionable? I want to believe it, please.

I stood silent for a moment. "... I guess that's the best I'll get from you. By the way, how did my partner get dragged into your outcasting?"

"... I'm not too sure." She admitted. "It might have to do with that she was next to us when we spoke to them?"

... Not too sure that I like that at all. "Alright. So this is what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna go and talk to my partner for a moment. You and your... whoever she is to you wait until I wave you over. THEN I'm going to explain why you were being so rude and hopefully just get this day done with... provided that nothing happens."

... SO tempted to say those specific words that must never be said by anyone. I just barely tacked on that last bit. I mean, come on. Who doesn't want to say 'it can't possibly...' and I will now leave that thought alone.

She tilts her head again. "Do you mean something along the lines of 'what cou-'"

Eyes widening, I bum-rushed up to her face and smacked my hand to her mouth.

"No!" I harshly whispered, eyes widened this time. "Do you know what happens to people when they say that! Do you!?" I began to shake her for emphasis. "Bad things!? Very very bad things! Things that could probably make our lives so much harder. So don't think about it, don't say it aloud and don't ever say it alone or in a group. It would ramp up the difficultly of things so hard. Trust me, I read fanfic. It almost always happens." I look her in the eyes. "Now nod if you understand?"

She nods once.

"Okay, I am now removing my hand. I will now begin walking to my partner. You will not mention any part of what just happened in case if she's a spiteful little imp that would do so just for kicks."

So in order: I removed my hand, backed away, and hastily beat a retreat when it was clear that I had no idea what was going on in her mind.

... What was her name anyway? I really should ask that question sooner or later.

After a brief talk with Lucia (... well, more like me throwing words and she doing one worded responses and nods and shakes) and gathering the surprisingly nice blond girl and her maid(?) to the group. Then I explained, with what I knew anyway, to try and integrate them.

"So it turns out that they were just being too prideful and stupid. I'm sure it has something to do with her upbringing, but you guys mind letting them join? They don't mean what they said... I think. Also, can we just get a move on? I don't think having a little tiff over what happened at the moment to be that important."

Of course, Jaune had to be that asshat to say: "We'll be fine. Snow Angel here got that Death Stalker frozen solid, the Nevermore isn't coming back yet, so what's the worst that could happen?"

I gaped in horror.

Then I smacked his head.

"You idiot!"

"Ow!" He cried as he rubbed the spot I hit. "What was that for!?"

"What was that for. What was that for? WHAT WAS THAT FOR!?" I raged.

"Rule number one for adventures!" Ruby chirped. "Never say things that can jinx you!"

Finally, someone that gets it! "That is exactly it! Do you know what happens people utter those words? Do you!? Things go to FUBAR and tits sides up!"

"Uh, what does FUBAR mean?" Jaune asked. And apparently the others haven't heard of that term because they were confused.

"My god." I muttered as I rub my forehead. "FUBAR means Fudged Up Beyond Any Recognition."

Yang snorted. "And what's the big deal with Ladykiller saying it?"

"Yeah!" Jaune nodded. "Wait, Ladykiller?"

"The big deal? The big deal? I'll tell you what the big deal is you fidgibrigr, is that you done fudged up." I ranted. "And yes, Ladykiller, she means you." Fucking male protagonists and their damn density.

"What's frigidbeer? And why did he fudge up? Does he have fudge?" Ruby asked curiously... And a tad to eager when she said fudge. Maybe she's a sweet nut?

"... No. I meant that Jaune basically cur-"

And then with a screech, the giant bird -Nevermore- returned with a flap of it's wings, releasing another shower of feathers in front of us.

Following it's appearance, the scorpion -Death Stalker- began to crawl towards us while knocking down the gigantic feathers in front of it in order to advance. A liquid began to secrete itself from the stinger, dripping onto the shell and slowly trailing it's way down to ground, where it began to release a faint sound of sizzling.

And just to make things more fun, ANOTHER fucking pack of Ursa's (What the hell is up with them showing up in packs? I thought it was everything else ASIDE from the already über aggressive animals that already have enough strength that together. Lions don't count damn it.) show up and hone right on in on us.

I turn.

"And this," I swept my arms out, "Ladies and Gentleman, is why we NEVER say something like that in our lives. Ever."

Unless you were a complete and utter prick or love the challenge of a higher difficulty. I don't care, just do it around me.

And then they were upon us.

"Scatter!" Yelled Ruby.

Instinctively, I watched as everyone began to split into sections of dealing with the varied number of enemies, staying behind to observe.

Ruby sped off into the distance, her scythe in Rifle Mode and releasing shots at the winged beast. Following is Blake, who immediately shot off into the trees, streaks of black shooting off until they were no longer seen. Then Yang and Weiss were off, with Yang running into the distance before shots could be heard and Yang flying straight up to combat it, and Weiss creating another line of glyphs/runes and sped off into the distance.

Oddly enough, the first one to lead the charge against the scorpion is Jaune, his sword and shield already out. Next to him are Pyrrha and Nora, both of their weapons out. Nora's hammer shifted into her Grenade Launcher while Pyrrha assembled a very familiar (... oh son of a bitch.) spear with electricity crackling from it. Ren is following from behind, already providing back-up fire from his weapon, a pair of weapons -Storm Flower- to distract it as he begins to curve from the group.

Then as if to complete the group separation, Lucia and the other girls (I never did learn their names, did I?) sets off to meet the Ursa. Goldy has her staff in front of her, a glow of power emitting from it as the near-invisible glow begins to gain a tint of color. Bluey is in front of her, her blade to her side as it also begins to also glow with power, but with no wisp of color following strangely. And Lucia... where the hell did she go? Ah, wait, there she is. Her cloak billowing as she sped off into the distance.

Then I move.

Running towards the bears, I felt restless.

So, even with limited reserves, I enhanced myself to the limit.

And probably beyond that.

The girls are already in front of me by quite a distance, something that I would catch up to eventually if I ran at full speed. But instead, I run past all of them, uncaring. The first bear came into sight. It tries to menace me into submission, raising its body into the air as a challenge as it spreads its arms and is about to roar. Too bad for it I just wanted to beat the living crap out of it.

I grin.

I throw a straight punch into its chest, my fist sinking into it before bouncing off. It swings as it roars, angry. I jump over the swing, moving forward enough such that I am on its back while grabbing ahold of the spikes to control my landing movement. Then I sit on its neck and start pounding on the face. The mask is actually a very odd thing, because it actually feels kinda dense and rough. But that didn't stop me from pummeling it. Blow after blow, I just kept smashing my fist into it, watching it crack. It fractures into smaller more cracks as it feebly tries to rodeo me off it. In response, I rope my legs around the neck and begin to tighten the hold as I continue to attack.

In moments, it drops to the ground unmoving.

... So weak.

This echoes in my mind as I lock eyes on another Ursa who is watching me warily. Unlike the first one, who was so confident in winning against this puny thing that it died against little me, this one didn't such a thing. Instead, it bum rushes me, already in mid-swipe at it enter in attack range. But it is futile. Sweeping the arm past with a simple motion, I produce another Pyro Sphere and taking advantage of it still moving despite me diverting the course of the attack, I draw back my left arm and promptly shove it into the mouth.

The sound of it squirming in pain as the Sphere explodes in its mouth is oddly satisfying.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, I rip off one of the spinal bones from the dead Ursa and round to the still in-pain Ursa.

"Aw, does baby bear not like the food?" I cooed. "Let me make you feel better."

It stops crying a moment later.

After I repeated the way I killed my first one, only this time with a bone fragment.

Casually getting up from the corpse, I begia to observe my battlefield, satisfied with the maiming I dealt. Counting the two I just killed, and that there were six of them heading out, there are only three left. To the left, I could spot Bluey and Goldy fighting two off. Both were engaged in their own fights, both of them showing surprising efficiency with their weapons. Tearing my gaze from them, seeing as they had it all in hand, I began to search for my partner, not knowing where she was.

I spotted her near the tree line. And her situation did not look good.

Hanging on top of a tree branch is Lucia, who has only one of her special dagger-blade thing as the other one is currently restricting one of the Ursa below with a tree trunk lying on the ground. That would have been alright as the second one is there and she could have eliminated it by some simple thinking, as if it would be that easy. Instead, she somehow managed to pick to more Ursa, one of them being an Ursa Major. And to make matters worse, instead of the three of them just futilely trying to claw at her, they are using their claws to break the bark of the tree, causing it to collapse, leaving a trail of dead wood. And given the small size of these trees (... where the hell are the monster sized trees anyway?), it gives the Ursa time to get away from the falling tree or let one of them free another if they're smooshed by one of them.

Oddly enough, the one bound by Lucia's weapon still hasn't gotten up. That's the only good news, I suppose.

I rush to her aid, diverting some of my enhanced Aura from my body into forming three Pyro Spheres. But instead of a tiny amount of Aura, I sent a fuckton's worth (In comparison to my storage capacity) of Aura into each Sphere, willing strength into it. Imaging the explosion also seems to work, so I factored that in. Now instead of the dull steady thrum of warmth from the ones I made in the past, this one feels like a heater on full blast. The color itself became more vibrant, but it also looked a little menacing. And since I could feel the heat (Which I formed about a foot away from myself) from where I am, expending a bit more power just to keep it floating in front of me is worth it as they rotate in a slow triangular movement.

Briefly looking up to Lucia, our eyes met. I flicker my eyes to orbs in front of me and then back to her. She simply nodded.

Odd.

The moment I got into attack range, I imagined shooting an orb shooting itself into the distance. Instantly, an orb shot off and impacted an Ursa. Luckily, it is the Ursa Major.

Then a four feet plume of fire to bursts unto its back.

"Hello ugly!" I grinned. "Why, that incendiary make-up looks wonderful on you, don't you think? Might I suggest it for your companions?"

With an underhand lob, another Pyro Sphere plants itself firmly between the flailing Ursas, which explodes upon contact. After a few moments, the smoke dissipates into the air, revealing two very roasted bears, both unmoving and very much dead.

"Your turn."

With that said, I dash. Covering the distance rapidly, I could see the behemoth still standing, despite the heat of the flames. And as it still roars in pain, I took the opportunity to get under the flailing arms and shove the last of my power-packed spheres into its mouth. It's a surprisingly efficient way of offing them. Especially since these things can't keep their mouths shut most of the time.

Then I felt something impact my back.

The sudden pain from my back plus the sheer weight of the strike sent me straight down into the ground.

It took me a moment to realize that my face is literally a part of the earth before I heard a rather irritating noise from above. Taking a quick glance (Which surprisingly required a stupid amount of effort to do) in the direction I came from, I saw a claw come down, the sharp ivory nails about to drive itself into my body. Eyes widening, I roll fro where I was, hearing a rather disconcerting tremble in the earth before I rolled right into a tree.

Ignoring the pain on my back (Which, incidentally, also where I hit the tree. Ow.) It took a second to get up, which gave the stupid thing time to charge at me. Jumping up with a twist, I watch as the mass of fur rush past me with the fluff brushing me, indicating how close I almost got crushed. And the after effect of the rush are splinters from the tree as it is utterly crushed before it fell to the side. Then it broke another tree before it finally stops, collapsing into a heap as the last tree it hit broke, falling right on top of it, impaling itself on the bone spikes.

"... Bitch. Deserve that."

Feeling more than a little bit spiteful after my near death, I mocked the pathetic form away from me. It groans, but I couldn't help but pity it. It weakly struggles to move, the fur reverting back into its former color as it tries. And the sight alone bothers me.

Feeling uncomfortable, I slowly back away from it. There is something about this that just makes it so... sad. Difficult, really, to do anything about it.

So I walk away, trying to ignore the mournful huffs as it tries to live.

The first thing I took note of is the dead Ursa near a tree.

I felt bile build up in my throat as I began to realize what I really did here. I actually killed something alive. They weren't insects, but they were live animals, even if they were the malevolent versions of them. Fuck, I haven't seen something so dead aside from a dead pigeon. And I found it to be more curious than anything. But here... I could see the blood still dripping from the fur of the Ursa.

Ignoring the corpse, I brought my attention to my partner. Aside from some cuts and scrapes and scuff marks on her, she seems to be fine as she unwound her weapon from the corpse. Me, on the other hand, just felt like a giant bruise. Either it's just me, or my whole entire body is aching from some incredible fatigue right now and I'm just becoming incredibly numb right now. And maybe the adrenaline might of worn off, I don't know. I just wanna take a nap now.

Also, I have no idea what to say. What the hell does someone say when they're done fighting for the moment but have nothing to say? I could swear that almost all the battle I've seen in anime always have some talk at the end of it. But then again, that is anime. So maybe I should just be quiet?

"Uh, I'm just gonna go and see how the rest of the fights are going. You mind?"

Taking the shake as a 'no', I walk past her, feeling slightly guilty for some reason, before taking a seat at the base of a tree at the tree line.

With a deep breath of air, very nice air I might add since I'm past the smell of smoldering corpses, I began to look around.

First: Goldy and Bluey. They already took one down, but two more joined them. So now they're having a brawl with three of them, but they're holding out pretty well. The e princess seems to be doing pretty well, her staff glowing pretty brightly in greenish-silver. While the blue maid seems to have trouble because her attacks aren't really getting through despite her blade already being imbued with power. There's probably a reason as to why that is, maybe because she doesn't have the strength to naturally do so?

Yeah, not gonna bother helping when I'm low on reserves. If I go in and help, I'll probably die. Having little more than 40% of the stores that are keeping me alive when I just spend a shit load of it earlier is not fun.

On that note, I release the enhancement over my body, causing the aches to be felt more prominently. Instead, I just focused a tiny bit more of a portion to my eyes so I could see events better. On that note, why the hell do I have such a ridiculous amount of control over this? Quite the fuck sure I ain't no goddamned prodigy at this shit. If imagining having powers when I was younger actually helped... well, I'm not quite sure what I'll do, but I will rage.

Ok, no more crazy time. Time to focus on the fights going on.

Already I can see both fights nearing their end.

With Jaune's group...

Well, what the fuck. Nora's basically running around with her Hammer of Doom smashing it into the points of the legs and going HAM on it, wrecking them as small plates of shell fell from the main body (Or just a a whacked up version of the Energizer Bunny with energy drinks). She's also been taking some rather fancy flips over the body as she hammers her weapon across the main body the get to the other areas while crippling the limbs. Ren's been taking advantage of Nora's attacks and has been aiming at the exposed joints and making it pay in pain. And in the most surprising contribution of the whole fight... was Jaune.

The guy stood right in front of it, arms set in a defensive posture while he has his shield in front of him. And while I would mock him on the completely wrong way to defend from the giant claws or the probe-stinger, there was one thing going for Jaune that had me gaping in just- just-, like, Oh My God.

When the fuck did Jaune have the ability to make force-fields?

Because standing there (With Pyrrha standing behind him) while taking impact after impact from the blunt claws to the sharp impact of a stinger, is Jaune with a bright blue-white bubble surrounding him. And the bloody thing is holding up like a champ, taking each blow without a fracture even showing up in it.

Man, I am SO glad that I decided to pump a little more Aura into my eyes, this is fucking awesome!

Seriously, front-seat view is the best. I now kinda get why people want to be there. Now if only if there were some theme music...

With my enhanced sight, I could that Jaune isn't exactly having an easy time with it either. With each blow, his arms shudders. With each stab, his legs waver. And when the scorpion gets too frustrated and hammers with all of its limbs, his body is wracked by shivers. With time passing, I could see his stance fall further and further down.

Then Pyrrha stepped up.

With a waving motion of her arm, just as the scorpion retracts all of its limb from its last it, Jaune jumps to the side as if dodging. Nora also jumps away with an explosive boost of her hammer

Because while I admired Jaune's endurance, strength and power, Pyrrha's actions terrify the hell out of me.

Pyrrha looks like she has seen better days. Her armor has some mildly large dirt patches while her skin has turned red with some dirt covering some of her skin. While that is all I could discern without her stripping herself down to make a more accurate assessment of injuries, there is something distinctly dangerous about her even though she is injured. I have no idea how to describe her stance, only that it looks similar to an olympic spear-throwing champions getting ready to toss. But what she's about to toss looks menacing.

In her hand is her spear (the one that seems stupidly familiar to me right now, by the way.) prepped in an overhand throw. But instead of its normal appearance, it is crackling with electricity. Said electricity jumping around all around the spear as it basically pulsed power.

No, seriously, it is fucking packed with power. If I threw a penny at it, I'm sure it would burst through my head.

Then with a great heave, she threw it.

From where I am standing I heard a slightly echoing boom that registers to the low scales of my hearing. And if it was that loud from here, then I fucking pity JNPR for being at Ground Zero when it left her hand.

The resultant throw basically sums up to this: it flew straight and true through the eye of the scorpion and possibly ripped itself out of it and into the tree behind it. Only problem with this is that despite the augmented eyesight, I could barely follow the flight path of the object. If it were bigger it'd probably ridiculously easy to track it, but with such a small size and mass, it probably went over a hundred miles an hour.

The resultant flying chunks are also a good indicator that it died.

Ok, that was epic. Why the fuck didn't Pyrrha use that before? She could of owned it the first time this thing came around!

Then a screech stops my thoughts and my eyes are drawn to the battle further away from JNPR. Jeebus Chirst, that thing has to be loud for me to hear it caw.

RWBY are having some trouble with their opponent.

Particularly since the damn bird seems to like hanging up in the air and they couldn't exactly get a hit in on something that has free reign over the skies with nothing to impede it.

On the ground is Weiss, dashing around and sending white lines of power into the ground. Each time one of those lines land, an invisible outline of a structure is formed. Then it gains a translucent color before in an instant it is filled with actual ice; a process that takes little more than a second. Then as it solidifies into different shapes. Masses of ice, spires, and god knows what else, with a thin fading strand of white appears and falls to the ground. This happens each time Weiss throws them out, with more fading lines covering the ground, each one spaced from the other. Oddly enough, she has only been targeting the giant Nevermore half the time, and even then, most of them fall short and the most the bird gets is a sheen of frost on the feathers.

Then bounding around on those newly formed frozen structures are Ruby, Yang, and Blake. All three using them as elevated springboards to cover more distance easily.

Ruby's little more than a blur, her scythe flashing out and cutting into the bird. And despite the shapes of the blade (... Which I can attest to thanks to near-death from it, it is unable to even cut into the bird itself, only hitting the feathers and causing them to be shed from the body and set to float down to the ground. She then runs on the back of the gigantic beast, spinning around her scythe on it's back before jumping off, repeating this maneuver.

Yang on the other hand is actually visible when she's jumping through the air. However, instead of just attacking like Ruby is, Yang's been using her gauntlets -Ember Celica- to shooting at the bird with her shells of Fire Dust (... I think that's what it is?) under the main body, forcing it to halt momentarily at the odd disbursements of heat across its body. As it pauses, Yang lands on the bird and dashes towards the patches of frost from Weiss near-miss hits and smashes them with an explosive hit. The feather breaks into fragments, falling away like trails of ash. And like Ruby, she repeats this, but only on some occasions hitting the face of the beast with a shell.

Blake, on the other hand, is just jumping around.

Literally.

Over and under, dashing from a spire to the ground then back onto a mound of ice before launching herself back up at it. And while doing so, throwing her blade (... Didn't she have two of those? And what the hell's up with the obscenely long ribbon?) in front of the eyes of the Grimm, slowing it down as it became started at the abrupt appearance of an object before it cringed as a Shell exploded on its beak. Then she darts away, basically doing a rinse and repeat.

... Okay, so that got like a bajillion times more harder. But man, that looks like some out of this world shit. Especially since bodies really shouldn't be able to move like that and seem natural.

"May I enquire why you are merely spectating instead of assisting?"

Who and what now?

Startled from my observation, I saw y and Bluey standing a foot away from me. The e has her arms crossed over her chest, her staff now inconspicuously minimized and appeared to be a small stick across her back. Bluey on the other hand simply had a hand over the hilt, eyes scanning the area. With a quick look-over, I noted that both of them are fairly ruffled, but I couldn't spot any injuries and a feeling of relief coursed through me. Damn me and my good guy nature.

Wait, if their here, than that means...

With a quick rounding of my head, I found my partner.

Right next to me.

Like, literally inches a part.

... Yo, that violation in space, yo. That violation.

Ignoring the quite as fucking frankly scary silent appearance of my partner, I answer as I kept my eyes on the battle. "Yeah, about that, I'm not exactly well suited to that type of fighting ya know. I don't have any crazy jumping skills or anything that would even dent that thing."

"I see. But that does not explain why you could not play a support role."

I rolled my eyes at her message. "Yeah, no. I'm literally running on fumes at this point, I need to recharge and this is a good way to do it without being stressed about it. Also, if I even think of jumping into that, I might ruin whatever synergy that's going on in there and get us all killed. So at least this is one of the smarter options." Left unsaid was the fact that this was the only bullshit reason I could come up with at the moment.

She said nothing.

Focusing back on the fight, I began to notice a few things. The first being that the Grimm is moving more sluggishly than before. Second being that it's staying within a certain area and isn't leaving it. Third is that the girls are damn good at herding an enemy that's huge.

Like, damn. Seeing this in real life is so surreal. Like... damn.

Then in a blur, everything changed.

It all starts when Blake lands in the center of the icebergs (... How the hell can I even see that? Right, ice is transparent right now, never mind.) and instead of jumping back into pattern, she stays in place. Eyes closed, a mask of concentration slid over her features as she slightly frowns.

Then a very visible effect occurs.

It all starts with this incredibly thin strand of wire. I wouldn't have notice it if it weren't for the fact that she's holding her hands in a grasp. And that if I look closely enough, the wire reflects the sunlight. Getting back to the point, the wire is incredibly thin. That is, how it started.

And instead of jumping back around the Grimm in a leap-frog manner, she tightens her grip on the wire (... How the hell could I tell that? Should I be worried?) as she concentrates, her face scrunching adorably.

Slowly, the line begins to thicken. And it continues to thicken, the base already the size of a ribbon, spreads itself over the line, encroaching further upwards to the Grimm above. Then without pause, the streaming black begins to move, zipping along the wire, widening the width with each pass. Then with a widening of her eyes, she releases a scream, yanking her arms downward. Suddenly, a surge of black emits from her form before shooting off into the line. And in a moment, there are thick bindings all around the Grimm, taut with tension as it begins to restrict the basic movement of the bird.

It squawks in surprise as it realizes that it is tied up. Which didn't last as it tries to power it's way out of them.

Yet that is enough time.

Because up above is a grinning Yang, arm pulled back with a change in her gauntlet. Instead of its regular form are three stupidly un-proportionate sized vents that gleam in gold, her fist an inch or so behind the actually faux-cannon itself.

Her fist slams down onto the flailing avian and for a moment, nothing happens.

Then a gigantic fireball erupts from its backside.

Completely taken aside from the unexpected burning impact right after sudden vines of black suddenly bound it, it stopped attempting to flap its wings and falls like a meteor back to earth. With her job complete, Blake jumps away from the impending mass just as it slams itself into the frozen landscape.

Then the world lit up.

Moments after the Nevermore lands, Weiss dashes to her personal landscape. Dust-Casting-Blade-Foil-Thing in hand, she drives it into the ice in a downward stab. In an instant, the entire ice sculpture lit up, bright white light shining from below. White lines begin to appear, rapidly connecting themselves underneath the ice, forming something that resembles a spell circle before it lit itself up incredibly, momentarily blinding me. Wincing at the sudden brightness, I squint past the pixilated colors from the flash to see the result.

Imagine my surprise when the Grimm is trapped by several (maybe)hundred meters of ice, each formerly individual chunks merging themselves into one super-mass, one that prevents it from trying to fly away (Somehow, Blake unwound her wires from its huge frame at the same time) while restricting the movement of the main body and wings.

"... Holy fucking shit."

That is probably the single most badass maneuver I have seen from this show so far. Why the hell wasn't this in the show!? Gah! The rage!

And that still isn't the end. Blake bounds in, a thick ribbon already stretching from the trees, passing by Weiss as she runs to the other side of the field. Weiss on the other hand creates another rune/glyph beneath her while taking a hold of the ribbon, taking off with it into the air by a large distance before stopping herself with another of her spells, a circle with what appears to be a snowflake pattern variant of some sort, landing on top of it as if it is a platform. Back on the ground, Yang has a grip on Ruby (when exactly did they meet up?) And wound up her arm before throwing her into the sky.

Wait... what?

Ruby rockets skyward, flying beyond the snapping jaws (Beak?) of the raven and almost touching upon the ribbon-rope. Almost touching when I realized that at some point, Weiss made two more circles. One behind the tense wire and another in front of it, this one much smaller than the other one. Oddly enough, instead of springing Ruby off like a shot, the two of them took a moment to talk.

Given that Weiss then made three circles on the path of what I think is where Ruby will be shot off towards, the plan must be different than the thought of just shoot and hope to stab it hard enough to brain kill it. But then again, Ruby ain't exactly heavy looking and her weapon would only have enough momentum before stopping, so... what exactly are they gonna do?

All of a sudden, Yang appears right above them, hand drawn back (why is her hand always drawn back when I see her?) before with a yell slamming it down on to the circle, shattering it into shards. No longer having anything to keep up the tension, the rope flings Ruby like a catapult. Except at a more scary speed given that she's flying down like a missile on meth. As she does, her scythe shifting from its original shape into a form where the blade raises itself several inches higher, making it look more like a sickle instead of a scythe.

In a flash of red and black, she crashes through the first rune/glyphs. Her form begins to rapidly rotate, Ruby curling her body inwards as she flips head over heel. Then she crashes through the second one, causing her to become a blur of color. The third one just disintegrates, her rotations increasing to the point that her entire ensemble becomes a red and black wheel with an incredibly sharp edge. Shooting into the earth, she drops right on the neck of the Grimm. For a moment, Ruby stops on the top layer of feathers, unable to penetrate it. But that is only to take the time for her to sharpen and strengthen her weapon, Aura encompassing the scythe while it also, for some reason, began to emit a mist from a surprisingly small white circle on its side, before it cuts straight through the first layer.

The raven screeches at the pain, the body spasming at the sudden impact and separation.

Momentum and gravity lent themselves to the mass known as Ruby, allowing her to keep up the force on the neck.

The result?

A very Grimm decapitation.

Cutting straight through the neck, frost biting into the flesh of the Grimm, Ruby lands on the ice with her scythe, crouching down with her weapon lying flat on her back before the head of the Raven caught up with her and covers her form. In moments, the body spasms once more before it drops limply to the frozen field, a great showers of ice chips erupting from the sudden force.

Amusement bubbles within me as I couldn't help but admire the incredible I action I've just seen. Serendipitously, I examine the expressions of the girls. Bluey is expressionless, but I could tell that she is reluctantly impressed with the action she's from them. Goldy on the other hand... yeah, uh, she somehow has this childish glint in her eyes with this incredibly excited expression and I could swear those glints are tiny stars, which is weird, really.

Lucia... I couldn't tell shit from her. Aside from the fact that she seems a little tense at the moment, and a touch afraid, she seems to be alright... I think.

Oh, looks like I'm running down from the rush. Oh well.

"So... you girls ready to go link back up?" I asked.

Getting up, I pat off the dirt and walk in the direction where JNPR and RWBY were heading too, a center where the fighting started.

Hearing the patter of grass behind me, I couldn't help but think that this shit was finally over and done with.

Wait, don't we have to walk all the way back up?

Ah man...

Okay, I'm dying of curiosity right now.

So we finally linked back with everyone else, both JNPR and RWBY taking a breather from the intense fighting that they just had. Aside from some minor exhaustion everyone, they all looked all right. Even though we already took a break (... Well, I did. Not so sure about the girls.) we joined them for another quick break. And despite being on rest, I could see a few of them (Namely, Pyrrha, Yang, Blake, and Ren) still semi-tense, ready to go fight at a notice of incoming enemies (Still don't know why I can tell that).

And with the rest, I couldn't help but think about... well, all this. From what I remember, the fights never went anything like this. If anything, they seem rather low powered in comparison from what I saw today. I mean, Jaune has a force field, Pyrrha has a fucking railgun, and don't even get me started on RWBY's fight!

What changed? It can't just be me, that's just narcissistic and down right stupid to think that. I rather like to think I got past a child's 'I'm the center of the world so bow down to me' type of mentality. I also haven't been here long enough to even say I know for a fact what changed or even have watched enough of the show to even make a noted change. For christ's sakes, I only watched the second episode of the second season! How am I supposed to know when everything started in each episode? They didn't give a timeline for that!

Irritated by the lack of support with what I know, I took a quick moment to close my eyes to concentrate on the headache.

And then I opened my eyes.

I have no idea what happened, but suddenly the world was no longer what I thought it was.

The forest came alive. The rustling trees echoed in my ears as the breeze became chilling draft. Shadows and light swapped places as they twisted themselves into a mockery of natural colors. No longer was the world colored in hues of browns, greens, blues, and yellow. They became over-shaded with reds and purples, greys and blacks as they formed a new world. No order was determined, only a mixture of color that vaguely resembles the area I was in.

Then with a rattling noise, the earth began to crumble.

A figure could be seen from the false shadows of the forest, a gaping chasm open wide.

A tiny fear grips onto my heart, worming itself deep into my core.

The noise continues, it lumbering towards me like a stalking shadow. Soon, the noise begins to break itself apart, a vague imitation of a voice coming through.

I-

"-ICE!"

-Open my eyes to someone screaming into my ears.

"Ah!" I yelped as I momentarily become deaf.

Taking a quick glance to see who did it, imagine to my surprise when it was my partner who did it. The girl who hasn't even raised her voice at me. The girl who is currently pulling on my ear and was yelling into it.

The fuck?

Irritation building up within me, I turn to glare at her before I noticed a huge something move across my peripheral.

... Let's just say that what I said earlier was an understatement.

Coming right out the forest is an Ursa. But not just any Ursa, but one that stands above the very tree themselves, a snarling behemoth. The mass of the monster is impressive, even more so when the bulk of the mass appears to be muscle, giving it a somewhat bulky-lean appearance. Augmenting its sheer mass was the presence of bone armor, which instead of protruding spikes, has parts of its body covered in smooth ivory plates, armoring what would normally be considered weak points. The spikes themselves are lined up neatly in a row of three on both arms, slanted forwards with an oddly reflective glint. Peaking over it's back are two long bone spikes, with what appears to be more in a concurrent fashion. And for the head, instead of a half-mask covering the top-part of the head, the mask became the face. With ominous pulsing crimson markings, a pattern of a 'face' of a bear, with black cracks at the center of the forehead connecting to the eyeholes.

All in all, a very large and terrifying (... well, not to me anyway) bear.

Which just so happened to snap the tree like a twig.

... right.

"So... anyone have any ideas on how to fight it?" I question.

Instead of any response, all I can hear is the trembling trees and the great tremors the beast makes.

"... Guys?"

Why aren't they- welp, they ran.

... Thanks guys, really, thanks.

Author's Note:

Okay, here's another corner on what basically went on in this chapter. It is as follows:

1) The odd strength of the Insert. There is a reason for this, I might have mentioned in another note in a previous chapter, but it will be explained. Somewhat.

2) What, do you people think an Heiress would honestly show all of her cards to some strangers? Especially one as prominent as her? Dream on. You can expect some skill from her during some combat situations that will either be written in or just there for your imagination.

3) The talking. Pretty sure I did a bad job at this, but I suck at group talks. If someone can direct me to someone who can help, or a just a little how to, that would be wonderful. Or even better, a Beta that excels at something like that. Just don't expect anything for months at a time.

4) Again, same as one. Especially so given with what just happened. He actually shouldn't have normally been able to take them down so easily, but it's basically the same as 1.

5) He's to fucking tired to actually help anyone. And he ain't exactly willing to risk his life to help someone who may well have it in hand. That, and he's a little bit of a coward.

6) What? Did you honestly think he would wave off killing actually animals/mammals? Killing insects is probably much more different than killing animals. Especially when he views them radically differently.

7) His ability to judge things are vastly underrated. I looked up the speed of lightning, and it ain't even close to that speed (apparently 186,000 Miles Per Second) and her attack wasn't lightning. But seriously, everyone out there probably wanted to give her this, and I gave it to her. So say hello to 'Railgun Victory'!

8) Events are going to change. Just in some unexpected ways hopefully. But there will be less action later on. After all, school is starting and I have shit to do.

Now to Reviews!

Guest: Ha, yeah, no. If that really happened, just stop reading my fic and call me out on it. But no, I have a different idea for that.

TheMao17: I want you to think about Yang... who was undoubtably one of the popular girls of Signal. You think she didn't have a way to shut people up? Also, Yang saw what happened because she wanted to make sure that whatever went past her wasn't gonna hurt Ruby... apparently, that wasn't so. And while that may be 'me' he will eventually stop being 'me'. Two way different paths, you know? Reality and RWBY. Also, Avarice is a wuss, so sorry, no temptation fall. Maybe later.

OBSERVER01: Not sure what you meant. Mind elaborating? Would be interesting to see if I can make a team fight for that.

Thank you for reading! Next up... Well, you'll see eventually.

Until then! Read, relax, and review! Huh, 3R.