"Alright team, stay close and keep your eyes open…" Ruby murmurs out loud as the four girls stalk down the streets of Vale. It was eerily quiet, their footsteps echoing against the buildings in the near silence. Even at this late hour the city was normally noisy and bustling with activity. The only signs of previous habitation were the occasional upturned car. Crescent Rose swung left to right as they advanced, scanning for any sign of Grimm activity.
"I don't think there's anything out there." Blake says quietly, creeping up to a building and peering through the window. Inside she could see chairs smashed and thrown aside, but no signs of life were to be found. Even her enhanced vision struggled to find anything in the gloom.
Annoyed at the silence that greeted them, Yang lowers her fists and walks forward. Before Ruby can stop her, she raises a gauntleted fist and takes a swing at one of the broken cars stranded in the middle of the road. As her fist arcs through the air, Ember Celica deploys above her knuckles. When the two metals collide, a thunderous explosion roars through the slumbering city as the car flips up into the air and crashes against a building.
"Where is everyone!" She shouts out, planting a heel and turning around to face her friends.
Weiss just sighs at the over the top antics.
"Did you really have to do that?" she asks with a groan.
Before Yang can respond, a strange shuffling sound echoes out from an alleyway.
"Team! Assemble! Grimm sighted just ahead!" Ruby shouts out dramatically, bringing Crescent Rose to bear. The rest of the team just roll their eyes and ready their own weapons.
Instead of the expected black and white Grimm meeting the team, they were faced by something slightly more unusual. It was a human, or at least it used to be. Its skin was pallid and pulled taut, and its movements were jerky and abnormal. It stumbled forward a few feet before reaching the curb, at which point the creature lost its balance and fell to the ground.
"What is that thing?" Weiss asks with a grimace, cautiously approaching the creature while it flopped about on the ground. Myrtenaster swung up to the ready, Dust cylinders clicking into place.
As Weiss approaches, the creature looks up at her with a pitiful expression, one mixed with pain and regret, though its hollow eye sockets made it hard to tell for sure. She stops just in front of it, unsure of what to do. It was obviously a broken and hurt thing, but none of the team knew quiet what it was. A sad moan croaks from its lips as it starts to push itself back upright. Deciding that it might be the only thing left in the entire city, she reaches down with her free hand to lift up the creature. Her fingers only just brush against its leathery skin before it lets out a pained howl and leaps up at her.
"Weiss!" Ruby shouts as the thing grabs onto Weiss' arm and starts trying to sink its teeth into her skin. Weiss responds with a surprised yelp as she thrusts her rapier into its chest and shoves it back.
The creature slumps back onto the concrete sidewalk, a splash of blood spreading around it. Weiss shakily retreats back to the group, staring at the blood dripping from her rapier.
"It… that was a human. It bled. I just killed someone." She says quietly, heading towards Ruby for comfort. Ruby sighs and lowers her rifle scythe, extending an arm around Weiss' shoulders.
"Are you hurt? Did it bite you?" she asks, trying to peer at the other girl's sleeve.
Blake steps forward and shakes her head, still watching the body out of her peripheral vision.
"No. That wasn't human. Or faunus. It was something else entirely." she interjects sternly, yellow eyes flicking between her companions. Yang looks at her and nods in agreement.
"And whatever it was, it certainly wasn't alone." The blonde replies, tapping on Ruby's shoulder before pointing down the street.
As the other three girls turn to face where Yang is pointing they're greeted with an unsettling sight. From the direction they were headed, an entire group of similar creatures meander down the street. Even from a distance they could see repetition amongst the group. A good number of them were extremely similar to the one Weiss had killed in both shape and actions, stumbling forward and only kept in pace by the other members pushing them along. Others seemed much more human, but walked with an aggressive stance as they honed in on the girls.
Worse still was the presence of even larger versions of the creature, though this had an even more unsettling physique. A metal blade had been implanted in its arm, clamped between the radius and ulna before being wrapped up with wire. The blades scrape against the ground as they advance, filling the air with a noisy clanking.
"Team RWBY!" their fearless leader calls out, deploying Crescent Rose and taking aim. "Open fire!"
All at once a resounding cacophony of gunfire explodes out, ripping into the creatures. Each pounding shot from Ruby's rifle punches through the horde, blood and viscera exploding out of the holes left behind. Each time she cycles the bolt the clinking of the empty case is drowned out by the overwhelming noise created by her teammates. Weiss spins her rapier around before flicking it at the group, a wave of fire erupting from the blade and engulfing them in burning Dust. Instead of going for brute force, Blake drops to a knee and raises her pistol. Each carefully aimed shot breaks into the monsters' skulls, splattering blood and grey matter across the street. Any of the brutish creatures that survive the fusillade are met with a quick strike from Yang's fists. The shotgun blasts liquify the stragglers with ease.
Once the smoke clears the team can see the results of their carnage. Carcasses are strewn about in a mess, limbs sticking up at odd angles and almost indescribable body parts litter the street.
Taking a deep breath Blake turns away from the mess to calm herself down. They'd all seen violence before, but this was a different thing entirely. She jumps when a hand softly touches her shoulder, a feeling she'd come to recognize as Yang's grip.
"You alright?" She murmurs softly. Blake simply responds with a short nod.
Yang gives her partner a pat on the back before looking over towards the team leader. Ruby stands just ahead of the group, still staring at the carnage.
"Ruby?" Yang calls out to her sister.
Ruby doesn't seem to notice Yang's voice. She stares transfixed at the brutal gorish scene before cycling her rifle.
"We need to keep moving. Kill anything that moves." Ruby orders, marching forward with a collapsed Crescent Rose held at the ready, her finger on the trigger.
Even moving up a few blocks was a monumental task. The monsters attacked in waves, some twisted fiends taking a familiar form, though others took new shapes. Nearly invisible feminine creatures twisted their way through the ranks. They rushed forward at the team, flipping about and maneuvering over the piles of body. It was a well timed gout of fire from Weiss' rapier that set the stalking creatures ablaze, marking them and letting Blake make well placed shots to drop them.
As the hordes grew in number, the variety of monsters also grew. Giant swollen behemoths shuddered down the street towards the group, gurgling and slapping giant cleavers against their distended bellies. Even a direct shot from Yang's shotgun gauntlets did nothing more than blow chunks out of the putrid beasts. Their intestines spilled out onto the streets but otherwise didn't impede their progress. It wasn't until Ruby tilted her rifle up to blow off the bloated monster's head that it finally collapsed.
Even more terrifying were the arrival of a pair of tall smoldering things. Their skin crackled and split as they walked, a malevolent fire burning under their skin. The combined weight of fire managed to bring one down before it could raise its arm cannon, but the second of the pair released a bolt of flame. The fireball rockets down the street to impact on the ground at the team's feet. Not expecting the ranged attack the team is unprepared for the flames that lash out at them. All four cry out at the heat licking their skin, though their aura protects them and keeps them from actually catching fire.
The team fights as hard as they can, through waves of clawing and screaming and burning monsters. The girls fire until their firearms run dry, then swap to melee and rush forward to meet the horde. Every swing of a scythe decapitates a half dozen of the specimens, every quick slash of a longsword cuts down another beast, every parry and riposte of a rapier impales a monster, and every heavy blow of an armored gauntlet crushes the skull of one of the larger demons.
The fighting was heavy and brutal, blood and gore splattering on all sides as the numbers slowly begin to dwindle. As the girls tired out they started making mistakes, the smaller clots grabbing hold of them and taking their attention away from other targets. The stalkers and crawlers flank around and slash at their backs, while the gorefasts make frenzied attacks on their fronts.
By the end of the savage fighting all four girls stand defiantly amidst the sea of viscera. Their clothes are torn and stained with abhuman blood, their bodies cut and bruised so badly even their aura struggles to repair the damage.
"I need to sit down." Weiss pants out, as if she was the only one in such condition. Without anywhere to sit she just collapses to her knees. Her eyes are squeezed shut to avoid looking at the butchery, though the strong scent of iron still hangs oppressively in the air.
Ruby nods and shuffles over to the sidewalk to lean against the wall instead. Yang and Blake soon follow, each one sitting down or otherwise resting in the slightly cleaner patch of bare pavement to reload their weapons and gather their strength once more.
"Think she'll be okay?" Yang asks with a worried tone, nodding a head towards the missing member of the party. Weiss still kneels in the pool of meat, almost motionless.
"As good as any of us…" Blake responds with a sigh, looking up at the bleak and cloudy sky. The moon glows softly through the grey clouds, much farther than it was when they began. Hours. They'd been fighting for hours. And still they had found no signs of life aside from the monsters.
Unfortunately for the four of them, a good long rest wasn't in the cards that night. Before they could even calm their breath, a deep rumbling roar echoes through the streets. All four girls snap to attention at the sound, pushing themselves upright and readying their weapons. Their muscles ache, their weapons are nearing empty, their aura is only barely able to keep their wounds closed.
Creeping straight down the street came a new kind of brutish demon. Giant and hunched over it walks forward with an angry stride. A thick leather apron covers its torso, while its right hand has been grafted with a chugging chainsaw. The Scrake saunters forward with a maniacal laugh, raising a hand to point at the four girls. After pointing to each of the team members, it gives another laugh before revving up its chainsaw and thrusting it to the sky.
"Team RWBY…" Ruby pants out, unfolding Crescent Rose and readying herself for another fight. "Bring it down!"
The fight opens up with Ruby unleashing a barrage of anti materiel shots at the juggernaut. Most of the hit center mass, impacting and taking out chunks of skin and muscle, but otherwise it doesn't seem to do a huge amount of damage to it. Even the few shots that do connect with its head are deflected by the thing's thick skull. Its flesh is ripped away with each shot, an exposed skull shining out in the moonlight. Still it advances.
Weiss steps up next, swishing Myrtenaster to release a stream of ice that freezes it in place. Its overly muscular torso breaks free from most of the ice, but its feet still remain frozen for a few more seconds.
For the duration that it's stunned, Blake rushes forward to attack. Her pistol spanks against its body as she nears it, then before she gets within range of the chainsaw she casts out her semblance to blink behind it, the blade of Gambol Shroud slashing down its back.
The Scrake roars out and yanks its leg free to spin around and attack Blake, leaving it open for a surprise attack from Yang. The brawler leaps up and lands a punshing flurry of blows into its head. It stumbles forward and begins to collapse, skull exposed and cracked. Yang grins at this, expecting it to fall forward and bleed out.
Unfortunately the Scrake had other ideas. With a furious roar it spins around and swings its chainsaw at Yang. Too tired to dodge effectively she barely brings her arms up in time to block the blow. Even more unfortunately, her aura was still too depleted to shrug off the attack.
Yang screams as the teeth of the chainsaw rip into her skin. Her left gauntlet gets shredded by the chainsaw, bits of metal and spent shotgun shells being thrown about the bloody street. Ruby screams as well as she watches the teeth bite into Yang's arm and chew her down to the bone. The other three girls immediately fire onto the Scrake as it continues its spin, this time thrusting the chainsaw straight at Yang's throat.
She drops down at the last moment to avoid the attack, causing the vicious weapon to bury itself in the wall. Blake leaps forward with a vengeful fury to bring her blade down upon the Scrake with both hands, burying her blade deep into the monster's skull.
Finally the giant behemoth collapses, its head split. the chainsaw's blade ceases its spins, but continues to sputter and chug as it lays at Yang's feet.
"Yang!" The three girls shout out at the same time, rushing to their teammate's aid. Blood gushes out from wound gouged into Yang's arm, most of it just barely hanging on by the skin and meat. Yang continues to scream as she stares at the near stump, which the others are helpless to aid. Blake rips the ribbon from her weapon and starts to apply a tourniquet to staunch the flow of blood while Ruby does her best to calm her sister. For all her life Yang had been the protector, the more motherly of the two. In just seconds she'd been reduced to a screaming bloody mess struggling to hang on.
"It'll be okay. We'll get back to Beacon and everything will be okay." Ruby chokes out, cradling Yang's head to her chest as tears stream down her cheeks. "Team Juniper is on their way, they'll be able to get you to safety."
In truth, none of them had heard from Team JNPR since they arrived in Vale. Last they heard the team had been holed up in Beacon, but no one was able to make contact. But they had to have noticed the fighting and sent someone down, right?
"There, that should do it." Blake announces as she makes the last twist of the tourniquet. Yang didn't even notice the blood cutting pressure of the ribbon, the shock too much for her to comprehend. She just kept her eyes closed and listened to Ruby's voice.
Weiss started to say something in response when there was another heavy clunking coming down from an alleyway. This one sounded much larger than the last, instead of the sounds of a chainsaw it sounded like it had grinding gears instead.
"What…" Weiss starts, standing up and straining her eyes to make sense of the glowing yellow lights that approached.
Finally the last of the monsters stepped into the light. It was nearly eight feet tall, solid muscle, and nearly naked save for a metal box implanted in its chest. Sickly yellow light glows from the box, illuminating the spiked metal band pressed into its eyes. Each arm ended at the elbows, replaced with giant spinning drills. The spiked drills ground against each other as it approached, echoing through the streets.
"Team RWBY…" Ruby coughs, reaching for her weapon.
Before she could finish her order, the Fleshpound begins to spin its drills and leans back, letting out a bowel shaking roar that reverberated throughout the city. The lights change from yellow to red as the drills reach their maximum speed and it looks back down at the girls.
"We did our best." Ruby concludes as the Fleshpound begins its charge across the street.
Within four strides it gets up to full speed and leaps into the air. Weiss and Blake roll one way while Ruby rolls the other, leaving the screaming Yang in the path of the spinning drills. Her scream ends abruptly as the drills rip through her body and splatter her entrails across the wall. Golden hair goes flying as the Fleshpound shreds the corpse and throws what remains of her legs to the side. Weiss and Blake scream as it turns to face their, drills spinning back up. Even Crescent Rose shooting into its back doesn't dissuade it.
Its violent fist comes down once into Weiss' stomach. The blades punch through her gut as she stares up at the horribly mutilated monster grinning down at her. Her left hand reaches up to slap the giant machine punched through her stomach before the Fleshpound lets the drill resume spinning and turns Weiss' body into bloody chunks. Blake scrambles to her feet and starts trying to run away, but the Fleshpound doesn't give her the chance. While its right hand finishes blending Weiss, the left drill sweeps her legs and knocks her back to the ground. Blake tries her best to get away but it's futile. The drill swings down to crush both legs below the knees, then the second adjusts for a moment before swinging down to her arm. A powerful clamp locks down on her arm as the Fleshpound lifts her up. Laughing, it jerks its body to the side and smashes Blake against the wall. It continues to laugh as it repeats the process, slowly pounding Blake into the wall until she's reduced to a bag of meat barely contained in a skin sack.
Ruby remains where she was when she lept from Yang's side, firing round after round into the Fleshpound's back and side. It never even noticed.
Blake's mutilated corpse gets thrown at Ruby. By this point she doesn't even notice. All that matters is chambering the next cartridge and firing. Each bullet hits and takes off a chunk of muscle, but the Fleshpound doesn't care.
It laughs and continues to stalk forward, drills spinning at its side.
"I… Will… Crush…" The Fleshpound laughs as it raises its fist for the last time.
Ruby doesn't even have time to respond before she gets splattered across the street.
DEFEATED.
SQUAD WIPED OUT.