O…kay, so this is something that came to my mind after I finished binging RWBY season 3 and iron blooded orphan season 2. I was originally going to work on this after I was done with the revision of Sharingan of Crimson Princes ch 4, but this idea just keep bugging me, and considering that the revised version of ch 4 of Sharingan of Crimson Princess almost reach 40k words, I thought to myself I'd just take a break from it to write this or else it'd continue to bug me.
Also, if you've been waiting for that ch 4, real life kinda sucks and there was so much work I had to do since December. I'd try to post it by mid July, but I can't promise (there are lots of incoming projects after all). For you who have PMed me, I'm sorry for not replying. Again, real life sucks and I don't have the chance to see my casual emails (heck I haven't even touched Facebook for months).
As for the setting, let's see...this story is set after the end of RWBY season 1, and in case you haven't watched RWBY, you might want to do so first because I fear I might spoil the plot for you. Also, this is not a 'oh! You're from another world!' type of story as in this story the gundams are actually a part of Remnant's lost history, so don't expect to see any characters (aside from the gundams) from Iron Blooded Orphan.
Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or Gundam
000
Chapter 1
A Demon King Awakens
000
In a time when Darkness dominated the world of Remnant,
When humanity was facing their extinction of their brief existence,
It was said that humanity discovered Dust and fought back against the Darkness,
The Darkness known as Grimm.
With the discovery of Dust, humanity was able to push back their assaults.
Humanity then continued to grow with the protection of Dust.
It was a story that was well known in Remnant.
Was that story accurate, however?
Stories that were scattered through time became legends.
And legends often time did not reflect the reality of what had occurred.
For one, where did Dust come from?
Why did no one seem to question the claims that it was a natural resource granted by gods to humanity?
Stories that conveyed truth were often altered by a mountain of lies and exaggerations over time.
As they were passed down,
From one mouth to another,
From one version to another,
Adding exaggeration on top of exaggeration.
However, even then one story in particular had been utterly erased from the annals of history,
Gone without a chance to become a legend.
For humanity had chosen to reject the 'truth'.
000
Within the darkness of the night, illuminated only by the light from the fragmented moon, a single aerial vehicle, Bullhead as it was more commonly known, flew towards a mountainous area known as Forever Fall. Within the Bullhead a single middle-aged man with green hair wearing silly-looking glasses was humming to himself, not minding the atmosphere on the passenger seats. He was Professor Bartholomew Oobleck (technically his title was Doctor, but nobody cared to address him as such), a hyperactive teacher with a passion for history.
In the passenger seats four girls, the members of team RWBY. One had red hair, one had white hair, one had black hair and one had yellow hair, and they were absent-mindedly hanging their heads as if their souls would come out of their bodies thanks to the sheer exhaustion they were having.
"Aaah~, this sucks!" moaned the girl with the reddish black hair. Ruby Rose, the young and excitable leader of team RWBY. The one with a dream of following her mother's path. She had a petite figure, not surprising since she was two years younger than the other girls. Her most notable traits, however, were the unusual colour of her eyes, which was silver, and her unhealthy love of weapons.
"As much as it vexes me, I have to agree with you," the white girl sighed. Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, a famous Dust mining company located in Atlas, and the partner of Ruby Rose. Her white hair, tied into a single side ponytail, swayed in response to the shaking of the vehicle, but she wasn't paying it any attention as her eyes was locked upon the yellow girl.
"I would've appreciated it if we could at least have a proper rest," the girl in black whispered, her eyes were also locking on the yellow girl. Blake Belladonna, a sullen Faunus girl who would rather read books by herself in a corner than socialising with other people, and probably what would've had happened if it weren't for the influence of her friends. The bow on her long black hair, designed to hide her cat ears, shook slightly as noise entered her ears, but even though her primary ears were feeling uncomfortable, Blake was still focusing her cat-like amber eyes on her partner, Yang Xiao Long.
"A-ahaha... C'mon! Don't be so down! This is our first mission as a team in this semester! We should treat it with a YANG!" Yang shouted, raising a fist. Yang Xiao Long, the elder half-sister of Ruby, a puns lover even though she was really bad at it. To say she had a bad temper would be a severe understatement as she would go into a rampage just because someone or something cut a strand from her long, blonde hair.
And that was literally the cause of their current assignment, or more accurately their punishment. Yang was having a bad day because she couldn't find materials needed to fix her beloved bike after she used (rammed) it against a Grimm. Everyone knew that it'd be best to stay away when she was having that bad of a mood, but one Cardin Winchester was foolish enough to troll her, causing two strands of her hair to fall.
What happened next was as follow; Yang's rage exploded, her eyes went red, and then she rushed towards Cardin and gave him a beating so brutal that he had to stay in infirmary for a week. Oh, and that beating destroyed the classroom where it happened, earning her the ire of Glynda Goodwitch who assigned her and her team an assignment with Professor Oobleck as a punishment.
Groans filled the vehicle. While they knew how bad Yang's pun was, they still dislike it with their whole hearts. Even the teacher at the helm of the vehicle had stopped humming because of it.
"Technically it's not, considering the semester starts in three days," Blake replied, earning an elbow from Yang. Blake glared at her partner for the pain she had inflicted, and moved her elbow to give her payback, but the blonde girl swiftly deflected Blake's attempt.
"Nice try." Yang smugly grinned at Blake.
"All right, that is enough from you two. Lack of sleep tend to increase stress level, and looking at you two acting like petulant children sends my stress level sky high," Weiss stated, trying not to raise her voice. She was tired, and sleepy, and lack of sleep was not good for her (self-proclaimed) perfect skin.
"Nice one, Weiss Queen!" Yang gave Weiss a thumbs up, proud that the Ice Queen of the school had finally appreciated the wonder of puns.
All restraints Weiss had were blown away by Yang's praise as she dramatically stood up and pointed her finger at the blonde girl. "I was not making a pun, Xiao Long! And how many times do I need to say it, do not call me Weiss Queen!" She would've had said more, but the sudden tilting of the aircraft made her lost balance and she almost fell to the floor if it weren't for her partner grabbing her ponytail and pulled her back to her seat.
Rubbing her head, Weiss shot an angry glare at Ruby. "Did you really have to pull my hair, of all things?!" Weiss exasperatedly asked, almost lashing at the younger girl.
Ruby was about to apologize, but the scene outside immediately caused her to jump off her seat. "Look! There's Forever Fall!" Immediately, the girls pressed their faces at the window. "So pretty…"
True enough the scenery no longer consisted of only forest and trees as now mountains that were tall enough to reach the cloud stood in their sight. It was unfortunate that they had to come here at nighttime, or else they would be able to see the famous red scenery produced by the red leaves growing from the trees in Forever Fall. Still, with moonlight illuminating it the scenery reflected in their eyes was mesmerizing to the point that they forgot all about their exhaustion.
This was the second time Ruby had been to this place, but she didn't go this deep into the area last time, and with the accident that happened between Jaune and Cardin, she wasn't exactly here for tour and sightseeing.
"Yes, it is…" Blake whispered in agreement, but her voice was lacking the energy that her friends had.
"You don't seem to be very excited," Yang noted, finger inched closer to Blake's cheek.
"I've been here before," Blake replied, swatting away Yang's hand, preventing her foolish action. Yang held her hands up with a raised brow.
"Really?"
Shifting somewhat uncomfortably, Blake opened her mouth, closed it, and then opened it again and muttered, "Yes. I was…training here. This place hasn't changed one bit."
"Well, damn. Guess that's how you got those flexible moves, am I right?" Yang winked at Blake. With flat expression on their faces, everyone's eyes silently stared at Yang.
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
~ Staaaareee ~
"That wasn't a pun!" Yang indignantly cried. Their silent stares were painful indeed.
000
"So…what are we looking for again?" Yang asked, trying to shake off her teammates' eyes. Even when their boots had touched flat ground, her teammates and teacher were still staring at her with flat face.
With a sigh, Weiss shook her head. "Did you seriously forget?" A shrug from Yang was the only confirmation she needed. "A rare blue leaf. Apparently it would change colour to red when it is illuminated by sunlight, which is why we need to search for it at night."
"It is as Ms. Schnee said," Professor Oobleck chimed in, glasses gleaming. "Blue leaf! Its property still remains a mystery because of its scarcity. But when combined with red Dust, it would create an explosion that could even put down a Goliath! The possibility! Think about combining it with other types of Dust! What will happen then? Ah…it must be researched!" Professor Oobleck proclaimed, but none of the girls was listening to him as they were already begun searching for something that might as well take an entire semester to find.
"So…how are going to find this leaf?" Ruby asked. Her partner, Weiss, replied with a very straightforward answer.
"We use our eyes and flashlights, of course."
Ruby almost rolled her eyes. "Duh. I mean how are we going to find a leaf with these many trees?"
"Again. We use our eyes and flashlights," Weiss repeated simply.
"But that would take forever!" Ruby protested.
Weiss stopped on her track and glared at Ruby. "Then stop complaining and start searching. At least it increases the probability of finding it."
"You know, maybe we should've stayed with Professor Oobleck and see what he would do," Blake suggested.
"And listen to his rambling in the middle of the night? No, thank you," Yang vehemently refused.
The four girls continued to shine their flashlights at every tree and plant in front of them, but as they went deeper into the mountains they came across two paths, one leading to the peak of the mountains and one leading downstream towards the large river running through Forever Fall.
"So…" Ruby rubbed the back of her head, unsure what to do.
"Should we split?" Yang suggested.
"In the darkness where Grimm could linger everywhere?" Weiss raised her brow, incredulous at the suggestion.
"But that would cut the search time..."
"Absolutely not."
"Blake, what do you think? You've been here before, so you should know what's best," Ruby enquired. All eyes fell on the only Faunus of the group, and Blake put a hand on her chin, contemplating the best move.
"I think…we should stick together," Blake answered. "And I think we should go to the peak," she added. "The riverside is no good. It's actually a hotspot where Goliaths often appear, and it'd be dangerous to go there especially at this time."
Ruby, Weiss and Yang all nodded, accepting Blake's suggestion, when a certain green-haired Professor suddenly appeared behind them.
"Wise decision, Miss Belladonna!" Oobleck praised, making all members of team RWBY jumped both from surprise and fright.
"Where'd you come from?!" Yang almost shouted.
Pushing his glasses, Professor Oobleck smirked at her reaction. "Ms. Xiao Long, you really shouldn't underestimate your Professor's abilities. As long as you're in these mountains, I can easily track you."
"Eh…yeah, that's a check in my stalker's checklist," Yang whispered to the girls, earning her a knock on the head from Weiss.
"So, Professor, when you say wise decision…"
Oobleck nodded at Weiss. "We're going to the peak!"
000
Let it be said that the journey towards the peak was anything but exhilarating. A couple minutes of walking and they were already met with resistance from almost two dozens Beowolves and a half a dozen of Ursai.
While their teamwork would usually be sufficient to deal with threats of this level, team RWBY had now found out how different it was fighting in the dark compared to when they were under the light of sun. For one, the colour of Grimm made it difficult for their eyes to see them in the darkness, and they had to rely on other senses to make sure Grimm didn't take them by surprise. They also had to be careful with their attacks, or else they might accidentally hit each other.
The only one that seemed to fight as naturally as always was Blake, whose eyes were able to see the Grimm at greater clarity than what human eyes could even in darkness. Even under the cover of darkness, her graceful movements weren't hampered in the slightest as she swiftly mowed down the incoming Beowolves with her Gambol Shroud.
And of course, we couldn't possibly forget about our dear Professor Oobleck, who had made it his mission to drink a sickeningly sweet coffee without choking while dodging the attacks from the Grimm.
"Now, now. A coffee should be drunk in peace. It is impolite to disturb one who is trying to achieve the zen of coffee."
Let it be said that Oobleck's attempt at diplomacy was swiftly ended when four Beowolves were jumping towards him, wanting to pounce the hell out of him.
"Oh dear." Oobleck quickly pulled out his Thermos, and it transformed into what appeared to be a staff with a gaping hole at its tip. "Now then, those who want to be roasted come forward." In response to his taunt, the Beowolves ran towards him with their clawed hands over their heads, and as a result they found themselves getting their heads charred.
Ruby swung Crescent Rose and sliced the back of a Beowolf as another one jumped at her from behind. Weiss quickly used her semblance to create a glyph to increase Ruby's reaction time, and Ruby was able to use her semblance on time to avoid the wolf-like Grimm's attack before slicing it down.
Yang roared at an Ursa, her gauntlet weapon, Ember Celica, blazing as she fired shot after shot to increase the force behind her punches. She delivered a flurry of punches that ended up sending the Ursa flying towards its brethren. Before it could hit them, however, it quickly turned into black ash, signifying its demise.
Blake jumped onto a tree branch as she dodged a Beowolf. Changing her Gambol Shroud to its gun form, she shot the blade at the Beowolf's head, instantly killing it.
As the battle continued, the number of Grimm started to increase, the sound of battle drawing more and more Grimm towards their location.
Looking at all the incoming Grimm, and realizing that they would be in deep trouble if the fight continued, Ruby quickly issued order as the leader of team RWBY.
"Everyone, make a run for the peak!"
000
The girls sat on the ground, panting as they tried to regain their stamina.
They had made a mad dash to lose the Grimm and with the help of Blake's semblance to distract them and Ruby's semblance to have them gain distance, they were somehow able to escape from the large horde of Grimm.
The only man in the group, Professor Oobleck, didn't look tired in the slightest despite running non-stop. Instead, he was already busy inspecting the various plants and trees nearby to see if any of them had the leaf they were looking for.
"Man…we almost became a mince meat there," Yang uttered more to herself.
"I don't want to go through that again," Weiss agreed.
"But look at the bright side. We're almost at the top," Ruby pointed out. Their eyes follow the direction her finger was pointing to, and true enough they could see the top of the mountain. It still might take at least half an hour to get up there, though.
"That means we can finally start to look for whatever leaf now," Yang replied tiredly.
"I almost forgot about that," Blake said. A collective sigh came from the group, but their leader, Ruby Rose immediately jumped up and tried to pump their spirit.
"You know what? Let's have a party after this! To reward ourselves! We'll have the best day ever as a team!" Ruby proposed.
"A party, huh? What do you think, Blake?" Yang asked her partner.
"As long as it doesn't go overboard," Blake replied.
"A wistful thinking, in my opinion, considering the kind of people that are in this team," Weiss snarked.
"Doesn't that mean you as well?" Yang shot back, grinning ear-to-ear.
"What?! Don't put me on the same level as you!" Weiss barked, causing the girls to laugh much to her irritation.
"The only thing worse than Weiss's bark is if another Grimm attack is happening!" Ruby laughed.
Their laugher instantly stopped when they heard what sounded like a roar coming from the top of the mountain.
"What's that sound?" Yang asked no one in particular. Blake suddenly stood up, weapon drawn as she focused her eyes at the peak of the mountain. "Blake?"
"It's a Grimm," Blake cautiously said, making Weiss hit Ruby on the head.
"What was that for?" Ruby cried.
"That's for jinxing us!" Weiss retorted.
The next moment a pair of giant black wings spread from the top of the mountain, and right after a giant crow-like Grimm flew to the sky, circling the top of the mountain.
They knew what it was. They had faced the same type of Grimm in the initiation test.
A Nevermore, an avian Grimm.
However, the size of this Nevermore in particular made the Nevermore that they faced in the past looked like a baby. Its wing alone was already bigger than the Nevermore they faced in the initiation test. Not to mention it had jagged bone-like protrusions covering its stomach and wings, giving it the impression of a flying fortress rather than a bird.
"Students, what was tha-ooowwaaaa!" Professor Oobleck let out a strange voice as he took in the sight of the Nevermore perched on top of the mountain once again. He never saw a Nevermore that big before. And it sure as hell looked damn scary to him.
"Professor Oobleck, what should we do?" Ruby asked.
"Lay low for now. It's never good to gain the attention of Grimm like that one," Oobleck answered.
"Too late, Professor," Blake said. "It's staring at us."
All eyes looked towards the Nevermore, and as Blake had said its red eyes were focused entirely on them.
With a roar the Nevermore launched its feathers towards them, causing the Huntsman and Huntresses-in-training to scram to avoid it. However, one feather in particular landed near Ruby and caused the ground to explode. But that wasn't the biggest problem. The biggest problem was that the ground then quickly sunk, taking the unprepared Ruby with it.
"Eh?" That was the only thing Ruby could mutter as she fell down a deep hole.
Weiss tried to reach for her partner, but she didn't make it in time. All she could see was the darkness below, and how deep the hole actually was.
As if to put the final nail on her coffin, the Nevermore shot its feathers once again, causing the ground to explode from sheer impact.
"No…" Yang whispered almost lifelessly. The attack from the Nevermore had caused the hole to close up, preventing her from going after Ruby. "You…" Shaking, Yang immediately let her anger consumed her. "You monster! I'll kill you!"
"Wait, Yang! Calm down!" Blake tried to calm her partner, but she was already dashing towards the Grimm.
000
"Ouch..." Ruby rubbed her back, the pain on her back was quickly healed by her Aura, reducing it to mere stings by this point. She was lucky the ground was somehow very soft, like there was something cushioning her fall, or else she might end up with a more serious injury. She blinked several times, trying to adjust her sight. Her eyes quickly widened when she finally took notice of her whereabouts.
She was lying inside a very large cave that was seemingly covered entirely with Dust. No, large didn't even begin to describe it as this place was so spacious it almost seemed like she could fit the entire Beacon Academy in here. More importantly, as far as her eyes could see, thousands…no, hundred of thousands of Dust stalagmites and stalactites were scattered across the cave, each almost as large as her house, and were the reason why the cave was bright as daylight.
The prismatic panorama created by the different colours of Dust light reflected at the cave wall would have been a hell of a sight for the young Rose to appreciate if it weren't for her current situation.
Ruby hesitantly touched one of the stalagmites, and its density surprised her. Dust was supposed to be like a crystal at its most concentrated level and easily breakable, yet this Dust stalagmite was so dense and solid it felt like a thick brick instead.
"Whoaaa…" Ruby drew a line on the stalagmite and faint light appeared, signifying that it was indeed made of Dust. "Wait! This is not the time to admire this place!" Ruby mentally berated herself as she was reminded of the battle that should still be happening above.
Looking at the ceiling, Ruby tried to find the hole where she had fallen into, but the ceiling was so high that all she could see was a very tiny dot, which she wasn't even sure was the hole that brought her here. Besides, even if it were the hole she was looking for, it would be near impossible for her to reach it even with the use of her semblance. There was simply not a single spot for her feet in between her current position and that tiny dot of a hole.
"Oh no…" Ruby's face blanched as a frightening thought dawned on her. "Am I stuck down here? No way! I don't want to end in a place like this!" Ruby, starting to panic, started calling for her team., hoping that they would somehow hear her voice. "Yang! Blake! Weiss! I'M DOWN HERE!"
There was no response as expected, and Ruby felt her stomach churning as her panic increased.
"ANYOOOOOONE!" Ruby's voice reverberated through the cave as she slumped down, but she immediately slapped her cheeks. "No! You can't give up, Ruby! There must be an exit somewhere!" she told herself. She was about to start looking for an exit, when her ears picked up her own voice still reverberating.
That's weird. Why hadn't the voice disappeared? And the fact that it started to sound more distant, it's like…
Ruby gasped. There was a path! That must be it! Her voice was following a path to somewhere else!
With renewed vigour, Ruby followed her ears as she shouted, and each time she was even more convinced that there was a path somewhere.
"A tunnel!"
Ruby's mouth turned into a full-blown smile as her eyes looked at the tunnel hidden behind one of the largest stalagmites. While she didn't know where it might lead, at least it was much better than being stuck in this place.
"Well, here goes nothing."
Ruby ran and occasionally used her semblance to cover a great distance in a short time, and before long she reached the end of the tunnel.
"Phew!" Panting and swiping her sweat, Ruby's shoulders immediately slumped as she realized the tunnel led to another big cave, except this one was even bigger than the previous one. She was about to sit down and mull about another way to get out of this place when her eyes caught a glimpse of something down at the center of the cave.
Using her semblance to quickly find out what it was, Ruby's eyes went wide as she got closer, amazed at what she saw.
Lying at the center of strangely symmetrical rock formation, tied down by chains that seemed to jut out of the rocks, was a giant humanoid robot. Aside from a couple of red and blue on the chest area, it was predominantly white in colour. It had yellow pointy crowns on its head, and what appeared to be a protrusion coming out of its back.
Mouth opening and closing several times as she tried to comprehend what her eyes saw, Ruby's entire body began to shake. "So…so…" Unable to contain her delight, Ruby turned into a chibi version of herself. "So cool! What is this?! What is this robot?! Did Atlas make it? Atlas made it, isn't it? And it's clawed hands… Icantbelievesomethinglikethisisinaplacelikethisyangissogoingtolovethisandthisprotrusionisocoolandisthatarocketonitsback?!" Ruby started to talk in rapid fire, a bad habit of hers whenever she was getting too excited. Usually her sister or friends would be there to curb her enthusiasm, but since she was alone right now, she was free to admire the robot from every angle.
She was finally stopped and turned back to normal as she reached what appeared to be its cockpit. A single seat with touchscreen at the edge of its arms. It gave the impression of a futuristic design that she had never seen before.
She was really curious about it and wanted to try sitting in the empty seat, but she knew she needed to go back quickly or else her sister would be worried sick.
As she was about to restart her search, the cave ceiling started rumbling, causing the fragile stalactites to fall, some towards Ruby who could only stare with gaping mouth.
000
"Damn it! Yang! Stop trying to hit it randomly, you'd only make it angrier!" Blake shouted in frustration as she dodged another barrage of giant feathers.
Yang brushed off her partner's protest and focused her mind on trying to connect her fists with the Grimm before her eyes. She didn't have time to deal with this thing. Her baby sister had disappeared into a goddamn hole on the ground, and before she could follow her, the entrance was buried thanks to this ugly bird shooting its feathers all over the place.
"Ms. Xiao Long, you need to calm down!" Professor Ooblek pleaded, but Yang would have none of it.
"Shut up! How can I calm down when Ruby's gone! Who knows what happens to her down there!" Yang roared. She was about to finally land a hit on the Nevermore, but it spun its body and blew Yang away towards a tree. Before she could hit it, however, a glyph appeared on her back and cushioned the impact.
"You stupid, barbaric, inelegant, short-sighted, selfish woman." Weiss angrily walked towards Yang. "Do you think you are the only one who is worried about that dolt? I don't care if you're doing this for your sister, if you keep being so careless, it would cost you your own life!"
"I don't care! Ruby is…Ruby is alone by herself down there!"
"And she would forever be alone if you died! If you died…" Weiss' voice suddenly became much lower. "Think how devastated she would be when she comes back…"
Yang grew quiet. While she couldn't exactly argue with Weiss' point it was still vexing for her to lose her sister like that. Who knew what kind of thing lurking down there, or maybe even worse, it could be a hole leading down to a Grimm nest. She turned her back towards Weiss, preparing to rush at the gargantuan Grimm again and would have ignored the white-haired heiress' protests, when Professor Oobleck spoke to them.
"Now, now, students," Oobleck chimed in without taking his sight off the Nevermore. "While I understand your concern about Ms. Rose, I believe she is still in quite a pristine condition."
"Yeah? How can you tell?" Yang asked, and in response Oobleck threw his scroll at her, showing her and Weiss the Aura level of all members of team RWBY. "T-this is…"
"Did you think I don't look after my students, Ms. Xiao Long?" Oobleck asked with a chuckle seeing Yang fidgeting. "As you can see, while Ms. Rose's Aura have depleted quite a bit, she is still in a better condition than we are. So I suggest we focus on taking down this Grimm first, and then we can go help Ms. Rose. As Ms. Schnee said, if Ms. Rose somehow able to come back on her own, she would be devastated to see her sister and friends died at the hand of Grimm," Professor Oobleck reasoned.
Yang closed her eyes, and even though she wanted to go down there so badly, she understood their points.
Receiving a nod for Yang, Oobleck beamed. "Excellent! Now, Ms. Schnee, if you would be so kind as to help Ms. Belladonna while Ms. Xiao Long and I distract it…"
"Understood."
"Let's go, Ms. Xiao Long."
Slamming her fists together, Yang replied, shouting, "Alright!"
000
The rumbling seemed to have stopped. Ruby moved her hands that were covering her ears and opened her eyes, looking at the closed hatch of the robot's cockpit and sighed. Had she been a second late to react she would be dead by now. She didn't need to see to know that a large explosion was set off by the fall of those Dust stalactites, as Dust had always been known to have explosive property.
The question, though, how big of an explosion was it?
And the fact that she was still alive made her wondered about the sturdiness of this white robot.
Ruby tried to push the hatch open, but it wouldn't budge even after she put her entire strength behind it.
"Not good. What should I do, I'm stuck in here," Ruby sadly muttered to herself as she leaned back on the chair. Her sadness was washed away by a strange sense of comfort as she felt the softness of the seat. "Huh. It's actually more comfortable than the couch back ho- Ouch!" Ruby winced as she felt stabbing pain on her hands and quickly retracted it. Noticing that her palms were bleeding, she looked at the ends of the seat's arms where her hands were and saw a small needle coming out of each touchscreen.
It was retracted a moment later, but it was more than enough to give Ruby a feeling of discomfort.
"This thing's not going to kill me, right?" Ruby whispered. Not wanting to stay in here any longer, Ruby tried to open the hatch once again, even preparing to use her semblance and Crescent Rose to blast it open.
To her surprise, however, when her hand touched it once more the hatch automatically opened.
"Okay, that's just weird," Ruby noted. She would've tried to inspect it, but the chance to get out of this thing was more important than some trivial question like why all of a sudden this hatch could be opened.
Climbing out of the robot, Ruby took in the state of the cave.
The ceiling had crumbled, and the cave was badly damaged. In fact it looked so damaged that she feared it might crumble entirely any time soon.
Ruby's eyes darted back to the robot, expecting it to have been also damaged by the explosion. To her surprise, there was not even a scratch on its metallic frame. The robot was completely unblemished by an explosion large enough to almost destroy a cave as big as this. The same could not be said for the chains that were tied around it, however.
Seeing a gleam on the robot's body, her eyes then moved towards the light reflected on the robot's metallic frame. Following the source of the light, she slowly looked up again, and what she saw sent a wave of relief to her heart.
The moon of Remnant was hanging in the night sky above.
There was an opening!
Her elation was short-lived, as the ground started to shake and the place where she stood started to crumble alongside the entire cave.
Jumping to the largest rubble, Ruby quickly pushed her semblance to the limit. As she used falling rocks as stepping-stones, she finally managed to reach the open ground, and immediately took a large breath of fresh air.
"Ah…Freedom!" Ruby shouted, laughing to herself. Her laughter stopped when she noticed a gargantuan Nevermore seemingly fighting in the distance, realizing that that must be where her sister and friends were.
As she floated in the sky, Ruby turned her face to look at the cave, and, more importantly, the robot one last time as it fell into a bottomless pit. Then the cave was completely buried by rocks and boulders, ensuring that she would no longer see that white robot.
Looking back at the Nevermore, Ruby immediately used her semblance to where the battle was waged. After a minute or so, she came to a halt as she saw a large clearing where someone whom she knew very well looked out of breath. A girl with blonde hair was about to charge towards the giant Grimm but Ruby knew it would be reckless for her to go at it alone.
"YAAANG!"
000
"YAAANG!"
Yang's feet stopped in its track as a familiar voice entered her ears. Slowly turning her head towards the source of the voice, Yang felt all the worries she had earlier instantly evaporated.
"Ruby!" The girl in red instantly disappeared in a blur, leaving behind trail of rose petals, and the next second Yang felt a firm hug on her waist. "You're safe," Yang whispered, ruffling her sister's hair affectionately.
"Sorry for making you worry, sis," Ruby apologized, visibly sheepish.
"As long as you're fine… But!" Yang then brought her hands to Ruby's sides and began tickling her. "This is what you get for making me worry!"
"Ahah! Ahahahaha! Stop it, sis!" Both sisters were laughing now, but really, this wasn't the time for a heartfelt reunion as a Nevermore were gliding towards them, vertically. "Umm…Yang?"
"Yup?"
"I think we need to run…" Ruby pointed at the Grimm behind her sister, and the sisters immediately turned pale as they saw how the Nevermore's wing was easily slicing everything in its path like a hot knife to a butter.
"Ruuuuuuuuunnn!"
The sisters made a dash towards the forest, but as if on cue a certain white-haired heiress came out of the forest with anger plastered all over her face.
"Yang Xiao Long! You stupid, fool of a-!" That was all Weiss could say as the target of her anger and her sister crashed into her, sending the three of them tumbling until they hit a tree.
"Ow, ow… whoa! It's Weiss!"
"Ruby? You're all right!"
"Hehe…good as ever," Ruby cheerfully said, causing Weiss to angrily smack her head. Rubbing her poor head, Ruby pouted at Weiss, "You don't have to do that, you meanie."
"That's for making me worry," Weiss huffed. But then her gaze softened as she let a small smile graced her beautiful face.
"Sorry…wait. This isn't the time to talk! We need to run!"
"Wh-," Weiss stopped herself from asking as she saw what the sisters were running from. The Grimm was already close to their location, and she doubted they could outrun something that big and fast.
Suddenly, flame covered their sights as Professor Oobleck and Blake appeared next to them. With his staff spewing flame to give them cover, and Blake using her semblance to create decoys, the Huntsman and Huntresses-in-training managed to get away from the incoming attack by a hair's breadth.
"Blake! Professor Oobleck!" Ruby shouted, happy to see them. She used her semblance to give the Faunus girl a hug, a move that surprised her.
"I know you're happy, but you don't have to hug me," Blake sighed.
Ruby grinned from ear-to-ear. "What can I say? It felt like forever since I saw all of you," she said. Blake smiled in resignation, but Professor Oobleck coughed to get their attention.
"Ms. Rose, as much as I would like to celebrate your return, that has to wait until we deal with this menace," Professor Oobleck reminded, smiling when the young Rose saluted him.
"Sir, yes sir!" Ruby shouted. She then turned to look at her teammates, and when she saw their expression, she knew they were waiting for her direction. "Alright, team! Let's take this big bird down!"
"Yeah!"
000
\…{ Biometric Scan Complete }….../
\…{ Genetic Patterns Recorded }…/
\…{ Establishing Contact With 8th }…/
\…{ Contract Accepted }…/
\…{ Begin Awakening Sequence }…./
\.../
\.../
\.../
\.../
\.../
\.../
\.../
\.../
\.../
\.../
\.../
\…..{ GUNDAM BARBATOS Launching }…../
000
In what felt like hours, team RWBY and Professor Oobleck continued their battle against the gargantuan Nevermore. While they had been able to connect some attacks to the flying Grimm, it felt like they had not managed to deal even the slightest of damage to it.
Team RWBY and Professor Oobleck dodged another swipe of the gargantuan Nevermore's wing. Seeing the Nevermore flew to the sky to prepare its sweeping attack once again, Oobleck gestured for the team to quickly find a place to hide from the Nevermore's sight.
Ruby and Yang went behind a big rock. Weiss took cover behind a large piece of wood. Blake hid behind a tree and Professor Oobleck hid inside a large crack that was created by the Nevermore's feathers.
Turning her Crescent Rose into sniper mode, Ruby tried to shoot the Nevermore, but as before it was simply too fast for her to get a proper aim. As if sensing her intention, the Nevermore shot dozens of feathers towards her and Yang, and they had to abandon their hiding place, else they got turned into rubble with it.
The Nevermore began its descend, attempting to swipe them with its razor sharp wings and end the fight once and for all. However, this was the moment the Huntsman and Huntresses-in-training had been waiting for.
Quickly going out of her hiding spot, Weiss used her semblance to create a glyph mid-air. Blake followed suit by using the glyph as a platform and jumped high enough that she could have a clear view of the Grimm's back. Grinning slightly, she shot the blade of Gambol Shroud towards the incoming Grimm's and swung to its back. Blake quickly shot her blade again, but this time it was aimed towards her teammates and Professor.
The rest of team RWBY and Professor Oobleck grabbed the rope of the blade and Blake retracted the blade, bringing them to the back of the Grimm as well. Immediately the Hunstman and Huntresses-in-training began commencing an all-out attacks on the Grimm's unguarded back, causing it to fly erratically in an effort to swat them away.
"Just drop dead already!" Yang roared. Ember Celica ignited as Yang kept punching the Nevermore's on the neck in a rush, but it didn't seem to register her attacks as it continued to focus on the people on its back. "Why you!" Yang was about to launch another rush, but the Nevermore quickly dived down, causing her to be thrown off its back.
"Yang!" Ruby cried for her sister. She feared the worst had happened, but seeing her sister shaking her head on the ground, fighting off daze, Ruby sighed in relief. Angrily turning her sight back at the Grimm she was riding, Ruby began slashing it almost wildly.
"Haaaaa!" Ruby tried to slice one of its wings with her Crescent Rose, but the Grimm's skin was so hard that it felt like her attack barely did any damage to it, something that everyone else seemed to have realized as well.
"What's with this Gri-KYAAAAAAAHH!" Weiss uncharacteristically screamed. But that was the natural response when one was hurled with such high velocity towards a large tree. Weiss' back slammed onto the tree, and she slid down with a pained groan. At the very least she didn't lose her consciousness, but her Aura was dangerously low.
"You little…!" Blake was about to push the speed of her slicing to maximum, when the Nevermore dived into a sea of trees, destroying many in its path. Blake's eyes widened when she saw a wood coming towards her and despite her best effort to dodge it, it still hit her in the abdomen, sending her off the Nevermore's back.
"Weiss! Blake!" Ruby cried again. Now, it was all up to her and Professor Oobleck to stop this giant of a bird.
"Not good," Professor Oobleck muttered, as he looked upon the superficial damage that he and the four young students had inflicted upon the Grimm. There was no serious damage at all, and if what he speculated was true, than this Nevermore must have a layer of solid protection under its skin, preventing them from damaging its flesh. Additionally, this level of intelligence could only mean one thing, which sent shivers down Oobleck's back. "Ms. Rose! Go get your teammates and run while I distract it!" Professor Oobleck ordered.
Ruby gasped. "But!"
"No but, Ms. Rose! This Grimm is clearly much older than its appearance suggests! This is not something that we can take on by ourselves! Take the Bullhead and go back to Beacon!" Professor Oolbeck ordered again, using flame from his Thermos to once again try frying the Grimm.
"…" Biting her lips, Ruby painfully obeyed and used her semblance to get off the Grimm's back.
"Good job, Ms. Rose. Now it's my turn to do my part," Oobleck was about to start his move, when he suddenly heard the sound of gunfire from the ground. "What is…Ms. Rose!"
From below, Ruby was shooting at the Nevermore, clearly aiming for the creature's head. "Over here!"
"Ms. Rose! What do you think you're doing?!" Professor Oobleck yelled, feeling exasperated by Ruby's foolish action.
"I can't just leave you to die, Professor!" Ruby yelled back. "Over here!" Ruby quickly used her semblance to keep her distance from the Nevermore once it flew towards her.
Oobleck would have lectured the young Huntress-in-training about how stupid her action was if not for the fact that he was now hanging desperately on a gargantuan Nevermore's back, trying not to be thrown off, as it was chasing his student. His attempt to stay on the Grimm's back was ended when it suddenly stopped flying towards Ruby and instead spread its wings wide. Oobleck was thrown off the Grimm's back by its move and as he fell he could see the Grimm shooting more than three dozens of its feathers towards the young Rose.
Ruby stared in horror at the incoming feathers. She used her semblance to get out of their trajectory, but the force of multiple ground explosions caused by the feathers' speed blew her away.
"U….wha-?" Ruby felt her head spinning. She stood up, only to see a giant shadow on the ground, which was growing larger by the second. Looking up, her eyes went wide with fear as she saw the gargantuan Nevermore staring at her closely, its toothy beak opening and closing as if it was licking its lips in anticipation of its meal.
As the Grimm opened its mouth to eat her, time seemed to stop for Ruby and flashes of memories appeared in her mind.
The time she spent with her friends in Signal Academy.
The time she first set foot on Beacon.
Her daily bickering with Weiss.
The moment Blake confessed what she was.
Her constant groans at her sister's bad pun.
Her friends in Beacon. Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora and Ren.
Her uncle, Qrow.
Her father, Taiyang.
And of course…the memory of her beloved mother, Summer Rose.
As precious memories continued to flash in her mind, Ruby failed to notice the light coming from her chest, and the seismic activity that seemed to slightly shake the entire forest.
Oobleck could only watch in horror as his student was about to be devoured. On a faraway ground, Weiss, Blake and Yang shared the same expression, but it was more so for Yang than anyone else.
She had lost her stepmother, and her birth mother had abandoned her. She couldn't stomach even the possibility of her daring sister dying in front of her eyes.
A possibility that was about to become a reality.
"RUUBBBYYYYYYYYY!" Yang screamed, futilely hoping that her sister would be able to get away in time.
Ruby closed her eyes when the small quakes suddenly became a massive one, and it violently shook not just the forest but also the entire mountains.
Ruby fell to her knees, and the Nevermore was wobbling because of the quake, although it only lasted by a couple of seconds.
A couple of seconds that was more than enough for everything to change.
Suddenly, the ground behind Ruby exploded outward and something came out. Something that towered over the Nevermore. The Nevermore cocked its head upward, both curious and wary at the thing that was hidden by the dust, and that was the last action the Nevermore took in its life as a large mace smashed to its head, crushing it and instantly killing it.
Ruby, taken by surprise at this sudden development, could only mutter, "What?" She scurried away from the place where the Nevermore was killed and took notice of a giant humanoid being standing inside the dust with a mace in one hand, eyes glowing green as it seemed to focus it sight on her. As the dust cleared up, her eyes went wide as she took in the appearance of her saviour.
White metallic frame.
Large clawed hands.
Yellow crowns.
And a metallic protrusion on its back.
It was the robot that was lying inactive in that cave. Of course, it was no longer inactive considering that it just saved her life and was staring at her with its glowing green eyes.
"Umm…." Ruby, unsure how to react, tried to say something when the white robot suddenly kneeled and opened the hatch on its chest, showing her the empty seat that she was sitting on earlier. Gulping, Ruby asked with a timid smile, "You want me to get in?"
All she got for an answer was another flash of its glowing eyes.
000
In the Headmaster office of Beacon Academy, a school for Huntsmen and Huntresses, a bespectacled man with grey hair wearing black suit over black vest and green shirt was sipping on his coffee as he looked over his scroll. Ozpin, the Headmaster of Beacon, was contemplating the information that his trusted informant, Qrow, had sent to him. There had been hints that she might be going to make her move soon, and it worried him because there was not enough information about what her actual plan was.
His contemplation was brought to an abrupt end when an incoming call arrived. Looking at the caller's ID, Ozpin noticed that it was coming from Oobleck. It must be about the assignment that Glynda gave to team RWBY as a punishment for accidentally blowing up a classroom.
Accepting the call, Ozpin spoke to the man at the other end with pleasantry as he always did. "Good evening, Bartholomew. Are you calling to report your finding?"
"That's…." Ozpin tilted his head slightly, curious at the tone in Oobleck's voice. He sounded…almost nervous? But that was strange. If there was one thing Ozpin was certain about Oobleck was that he was always hyper and almost never gotten nervous. Almost, since Oobleck would shrink when Glynda glared at him.
"What's wrong? Did you accidentally set your finding on fire?"
"No. About that…we didn't find the blue leaf…but…."
"But?" Ozpin started to feel a bit tense as well. He had never heard Oobleck sounded this nervous before. This was beyond even the times when Glynda would glare at the green-haired Professor.
"We found something else." Now that piqued his interest.
"…What 'something else'?"
"I think it'd be easier if I just stream it for you."
"Very well." Ozpin looked at his scroll and soon video appeared on it, showing him what Oobleck saw. What he saw made him felt like rubbing his eyes to make sure it wasn't just his imagination.
"Woooohoooo!"
"Hey! Not fair, Yang! You've been flying longer than I have!"
"Now, now, Ruby. That's not an attitude an adult like you should have. You're a fine woman, and a fine woman needs to be patient."
"I know what you're thinking! 'I'll act nice so Ruby will give up her turn to me', am I right?!"
"Wha-! That's absurd!"
"Hah! Guess she got you there, Weiss Queen!"
"Is it really all right to be in there? I mean, what if something happens?"
"You afraid, Blake? Here I thought you of all people would love high places."
"No, I'm just wary."
"Don't worry. It's totally safe inside Barbatos…. I think."
"That last one doesn't help, Ruby."
What Ozpin saw was a giant white robot more than twice the size of a Goliath flying freely in the night sky with Yang Xiao Long inside its open cockpit. He had never seen anything like this. A robot like this. It looked so different than any of the robots that Atlas had developed, but more concerningly Ozpin could sense something from it, but as for what he wasn't certain.
"So, Bartholomew, is this the source of your concern?"
"Concern?" Oobleck sounded confused, causing Ozpin to become confused as well.
"You're not?"
"Of course not! This is…. this is…. MARVELOUS!" Unable to contain his excitement any longer, Oobleck screamed in jubilation as he joined the girls. "Ms. Rose! May I try flying it next?"
"Eh~, but I want to quickly fly Barbatos again~!"
"I will give you and your team full mark for this assignment!" The resounding reply told Oobleck what mark he would give team RWBY for this task.
"DEAL (x4) !"
Ozpin shook his head slightly at their antics. If Glynda were to hear what Oobleck just said, she would definitely want to have a word with the hyperactive Professor. He quickly turned his eyes back to the stream and as he got a closer look at the white robot, he began contemplating what he needed to do with it.
"Bartholomew, I will send you an air transport to collect the machine. As for how it was found…I hope you have enough caffeine to help you stay awake a bit longer?" Ozpin asked.
"Of course."
"Well then, I will be waiting for your and team RWBY's arrival." And with that, the stream ended.
Ozpin stood up and looked at the fragmented moon through the window of his office, trying to comprehend the meaning of this new development and what it entailed. An unknown giant machine appeared during this waning time of peace. Was this a sign of some sort? He did not know the answer, at least not until inspections had been made on this unknown machine.
Sipping his coffee, Ozpin repeated the word that the young Rose had been saying in the stream. "Barbatos…hm?"
000
End of chapter 1
Alright, I'm giving some points to hopefully clarify things, but again due to my policy of not spoiling stuff, if you want a more elaborate detail you need to PM me because I don't want to spoil it en masse.
1. Barbatos is in its Lupus Rex form
2. Here, instead of machines bearing the names of demons, the gundams are the demons (I'd elaborate about it more down the line or if you're impatient just PM me)
3. They're all demon kings, even though technically Bael is the only king if we go by ars goetia
4. As for Alaya-vijana system, it doesn't exist but something similar is in place, something that could potentially be more dangerous (again PM me if you're impatient)
5. Also, Yang and anyone else might be able to move Barbatos, but they wouldn't be able to use it for things other than that (and again, PM me if you want a spoiler)