Everybody shake.. Everybody groove! ..Yes I am listening to Good Times. The Lost Boys is one of my favorite movies and I wish I still the cassette of the soundtrack. Man I wore that thing out over the years. I have it on my tablet though so all good. Now where were we..? Oh yeah.
Regarding the Mantis and Grimm Wilds, both are ideas of mine though I do have to give LDR credit for the Shadow Drake name. It's a pretty good name and I doubt that giant thing is simply called Dragon Grimm.. The Grimm Wilds are essentially the spaces of land/sea that aren't within the reach of each of the Kingdoms. I imagine that there's a main city, and either several outlying cities (think of something like the Hyrule Castle Town from Legend of Zelda) with small settlements, military bases, and/or minor points of interest like that station in Forever Fall. Seriously with how HUGE that forest seems to be and probably the reason it got its name (including the seemingly ever present season of Fall) that thing would have to stop somewhere for fuel/boarding and disembarking unless it carries a lot of fuel onboard or has some super efficient Dust power source. Think about it. How much time passed between Blake and Adam landing on the train to the end of the Black trailer? Look at how fast that train was going as well and ya get the point.
I digress, anyway.. They're the spaces that are simply too far for the Kingdoms to properly manage/safeguard, as we saw what happened to Mt. Glenn when they tried to expand.. This is where all those really old Grimm that have gotten wiser, stronger, and more cunning reside. Where all the strange subspecies and types we haven't seen before are. I bet you there are aquatic Grimm and underground types as well, might explore that in future fics. For all we know there could be Grimm.. IIIIIn spaaaaaaaaace! Now we know how Grimm are drawn to negative emotions and such like the Noise from The World Ends With You, and if you've played that game you know good and well how the worse it gets, the worse THEY get. That Dragon didn't exactly wake up because someone was beating on its door. It likely arose after smelling the metaphorical coffee pretty much every citizen in Vale was exuding at the time. So things are crawling out of the woodwork for a sip. Like the Gryphons. Why are we seeing them NOW of all times? ..I'm asking in-universe, as for IRL they probably either just finished making/modeling them or something, or just came up with the idea. Then again maybe Monty had an entire Beastiary (a bestiary in my opinion is a book of BFFs, not beAsts, English language you make no sense sometimes) of Creatures of Grimm before he passed.. Who knows? Alright, enough jabbling. Here's the next chapter! *taps fingers to Lost In The Shadows as it comes on after*
P.S. After watching the Volume 3 finale, I'm gonna take a break and go lay in a hole in a catatonic state for a few millenia. But not before I post this. Props to RoosterTeeth and Monty for the freakin' amazing job (and that's an understatement) they did and have done with the series thus far. My feels have been touched in ways I didn't even know was possible, and I'm pretty sure the hype train has transformed into a hype spaceship with super FTL capabilities for Volume 4. Also this means that unfortunately I have to diverge from canon at this point since this was supposed to be set AFTER volume 3's ending by a bit of time, but I'm not going to let that stop me. So look forward to seeing the rest of this whenever I recover along with the rest of the fandom.
Ruby peered into the scope, taking aim with Crescent Rose. She wouldn't fire yet however, she already had a plan of her own and would relay to her partner to get one of its claws in the ground. As Myrtenaster's barrel clicked and the blade began to glow red she stepped forward into a dash. With a shrill screech the Mantis went right for the bait and swung its right claw down towards the incoming heiress. Using the handguard and the current Dust imbuement she managed to deflect the lethal scythe blade to the left and that's when the trap was sprung.
Several shots rang out, blooming ice formations locking that claw in place once momentum carried it into the concrete and split into it like a knife through hot butter. With a quick cartwheel to dodge the second incoming claw Weiss gracefully hopped and touched down upon the top of the first, an Acceleration Glyph forming along the length into another. Hearing more shots fired the Huntress smirked, confident that the claws were now indisposed for the time being as she saw flashes of ice in her peripheral vision. As she zipped forward and up at an angle Myrtenaster was drawn back, ready to strike like a coiled snake. With a blindingly fast extension of the arm it pierced, driving into the Mantis' mask. So it seemed.
That smirk was instantly replaced by a look of utter confusion as the point of her rapier slid across thanks to her target tilting its head back. The bone was left with a deep cut but nothing more than that as a few sparks flew in the wake. Weiss had expected nothing short of an instant kill but realizing her attack had missed its target she kicked off from its neck area and flipped back to land nearby her partner.
"What the heck?" She shouted, glaring at the Creature of Grimm and clearly frustrated.
"It's fast, looks like we'll have to step things up."
"It's just a bug, bugs need to be squashed." The heiress huffed, throwing her ponytail back over her shoulder with a jerk of her head before taking stance with her MADR again. "Legs this time."
Nodding, Ruby took aim and with four consecutive shots froze the Mantis' spindly legs in place. Due to the shape of the tips it was essentially hooked inside the ice formations, but a forceful tug of the foreclaws wrenched them free from the others. Those eerily prehensile whips extending from the tips were left behind however clearly to the Grimm's displeasure.
"Well shoot. That's not going to work, let me try-"
"Go for the head." Weiss commanded, Myrtenaster being flicked as several Glyphs appeared in a vague 'dome' around the target all facing towards the Mantis. Much like what she used against the White Fang Lieutenant. The brunette started to protest but her partner cut her off. Against her better judgement she then took aim for the admittedly small target, squeezing the trigger.
Of course being an ace sniper, she hit her mark. Another crystalline formation grew across the mask and eyes causing the Creature of Grimm to go into a panic and start wildly swinging with its claws. "Are you seriously going to go in there?" "Take a look. Left, right, left, right, left, right, just like the mindless monster it is."
True to word it was rather predictably swinging at chest height as if daring the Huntresses to come closer. Dare the taller one did, disappearing for one of the floating Glyphs. At that moment the Mantis stopped, turning its claws inward and practically icepicking its face free, then its legs. Just like a woodpecker with the speed it was moving and with the heiress inside those Portal Glyphs of hers she couldn't take note of the sudden change. All Ruby could do is shout as once she emerged, it was to face an irritated Grimm with its full range of motion back.
Every time she zipped from one Glyph to another, it was amidst a storm of sparks as Myrtenaster met scythe in a frightening display of speed and accuracy. Ruby didn't dare try to shoot it again in fear of the possibility of hitting her partner by mistake, opening Crescent Rose into scythe mode in case she had to intervene. She was glad she did when finally the Mantis seemed to get lucky and backhand her with the broadside of one of its claws, sending her flying. Every shot the Ice Dust imbuement from before could muster before it wore out was fired off creating a wall of ice between the other female and the Grimm as she disappeared in a flurry of rose petals, catching Weiss with one arm and setting her down.
"This isn't going to work Weiss! We-" Both Huntresses turned and shielded themselves as the ice wall was cut through like cardboard, a single spinning blow of its thorax showering them in pieces of ice. Without thinking Ruby leveled her HCSS, blasting away with regular Dust ammo. All deflected or blocked by crossed blades as the target advanced forward, legs rapidly clicking away on the ground. In order to cover her now reloading teammate who was selecting one of her special magazines, the heiress dashed forward to try and at least ward it off.
That's when it all started to so so dreadfully wrong, and the Mantis' true power began to show. Each graceful step and rapier thrust was either knocked away or parried. In a quick motion after sliding under a horizontal swing Weiss attempted to stab it with a blue glow to her weapon now, only for the Grimm to rear back by using its foreclaws as a push lever and violently smash her into the ground with its two front legs while simultaneously drawing away. All before she could react, pinning her to the floor and from what both Huntresses could hear breaking a rib or two in the process as her Aura buckled. She let out a hissing groan, trying desperately to slice at her captor.
The Mantis then dropped, letting off of its foreclaws to put its entire weight back on the four legs. This elicited more of a scream from Weiss as she felt another bone give way. In a blur Ruby was on it, blindly swinging in a frenzy. Anything to get it off of her partner. Sparks flew again as scythe met scythe repeatedly, additional explosive shots being squeezed off in tandem that had little more effect than making the Grimm twitch. Under such a violent and equally fast assault however it had no choice but to back off when it was clear the short female had no intent but to move forward.
"Ruby-! Stop! That thing is stronger and faster than I thought!" Stabbing her rapier into the floor as a prop Weiss forced herself up, coughing and decorating the concrete with flecks of blood as she clutched her midsection. Things were starting to take a dire turn for the worse. She had foolishly underestimated the Creature of Grimm, so eager to prove she could simply swipe it aside and just rather tired of today's event combined with a lack of knowledge of the species. Looking up she'd grimace, catching the last second that Ruby finally managed to drive it away. Scythe head swiveled at a more straight angle and coming down it was caught by a crossed blade guard from the Mantis, an explosion of Dust and fire filling its vision as it backpedaled with a screech.
"We've gotta go!" "Where you idiot? The ship isn't here in case you haven't noticed!" The ice queen snapped, regretting it immediately and apologizing. "Everybody has gone inside the shelter by now, I can have us there in a flash and we'll just wait for-" "No!"
Ruby had been coming over to help support her partner, only to be pushed away after the inconceivable notion of running and hiding. "I'm not going to run from this one Grimm.. We can handle this. We just *cough* have to come up with a strategy." "I can't think of anything.. I'm sorry but this is the best option we've got!"
"I refuse!" Weiss growled, watching as the Mantis continued to flail about. It may not have done much actual damage but right now it was severely blinded by Ruby's last blast and flailing about in agony. They were likely only going to have one chance to choose fight or flight, and out of cracked pride and agitation the white haired Huntress was leaning towards the former. "Here. Ice the legs and claw joints." Another white glow upon Myrtenaster signaled another charge of ice shot imbuement.
"What? No!" "Excuse me?" She turned, scowling at Ruby. Why was she doing this? This was the best time to attack the insect and crush it was what Weiss thought..
"I don't want to risk it, we already tried that once! Let's just go! Please!"
"You go then. I can finish it off myself with the way it is." "You just said it's too-" "Well thanks to you all that power and speed is now worthless. Just sit back and watch. I suppose it falls to a Schnee to clean up this mess.." Ruby bit her lip as a white glow emitted from Myrtenaster along with several runic designs, the other Huntress preparing an all or nothing attack. The same kind she had used on the Giant Armor once before. Upon fully charging Weiss created a trail of Acceleration Glyphs on the path to the Mantis, reaching back with her rapier and sliding forward as if skating across a sheet of ice. The duress from the attack put quite a strain on her midsection but she powered through the pain with thoughts of victory in her mind.
In the blink of an eye, agitated red eyes that is the Grimm's white carapace covered thorax would open to reveal its dark gray but translucent wings. They started to move with a loud hum, comparable to a bumblebee's in speed as the Mantis simply disappeared. That left a confused Weiss to pierce into a mere afterimage before the real thing almost seemed to warp into existence behind her, bringing down its right claw in a diagonal slashing motion. Then Ruby saw red, screaming as her partner went tumbling across the concrete and rolled to a stop. She didn't move at first but she was still alive, her weapon having skid a few feet away.
In an equally short blink the girl was at the Mantis' back, swinging for one side of its beating wings with Crescent Rose before spinning off to the side and parrying a backhand slice. Weiss was struggling just to move at this point as her Aura was dangerously close to empty from the battles against the Beowulves and the large cut across her back was bleeding profusely. With every bit of strength she could muster she started dragging herself over to her weapon with teeth grit. She could hear Ruby fighting the Grimm in her place which spurred her on to move just a little faster, finally laying her fingertips on Myrtenaster's handle when the heiress heard sounds she would never want to hear again. Her cries of pain, ones that made it clear she was losing that fight.
Finally taking it in hand and looking over her shoulder her breath caught in her throat as the Mantis advanced towards Ruby, both claws raised from its 'prayer' position. The Huntress had been having very little luck against it despite her own speed and not only was her Aura at zero she was covered in gouges and cuts, soaked in crimson amidst the black of her partially shredded outfit. Too selfless and too scared to simply run she'd hold Crescent Rose in front of her to try and block the next attack. However in a lightning fast X formation swing that neither of them could follow the Grimm dealt a mortal blow..
And Crescent Rose split in three, mostly in the center of the shaft where the attack had been focused. Long splashes of blood from her front began to form a puddle before the defeated Huntress fell to her knees, dropping the pieces of her scythe as she hit the ground. Weiss finally regained use of her voice, only to let it out it an earsplitting 'NO!' before forcing herself up with great difficulty. It was now she truly realized that this Grimm was beyond the mindless monster she previously gave it credit for. It was showing restraint, toying with the two females with a cruel mercy that only an evolved and intelligent Grimm could be capable of.
The creature could have easily torn Ruby into pieces by the time the heiress got to her feet but instead it chose to prod and poke at the fallen Huntress, adding a few more holes to the stab wounds already present. In another scream, this time of fury, she fired a burst of white and blue energy from Myrtenaster that split into arcing streams to hopefully bind the Mantis from moving. However with a twist of its body each stream went wild and made a small field of little frozen patches around it. Thankfully it was leaving her leader alone and now advancing back towards her. Not so thankfully, neither of them were in a condition to escape any more with Weiss realizing she should have listened to Ruby. In a last act of defiance she pointed Myrtenaster right at the advancing Grimm.
Claws were raised, a rapid pace established as it bore down on the heiress while she prepared one last attack. Myrtenaster's blade shined with white light before she brought it back primed and ready to strike. The Mantis let out a shrill cry, and then she saw red. A single but large red dot on her opponent before the low whistle of a falling object started to sound. Both combatants looked up (and back in the case of the human one) to see something flying towards them with great speed, and that whistling was replaced by a deafening explosion and a ringing in her ears as she was thrown back from the shockwave. Despite the darkness creeping in on the edges of her vision the familiar shape of a VTOL Bullhead could barely be discerned.
A four person crew was aboard and looking out of the side hatch as it started to descend, several voices ringing out as the Mantis staggered backwards. That laser sight locked back on after the smoke cleared and with another blast a second shell was fired from what appeared to be a man-portable artillery piece one of them was carrying. It landed just by the Grimm's legs, sending it skittering sideways as it crossed its claws over its front defensively with a hiss. As soon as the Bullhead was near enough the entire crew jumped, ready to go on the offence as Weiss blacked out.
Fair warning, Volume 3 finale spoilers below in this A/N at the bottom! FAIR WARNING.
So.. Wow. Mantis OP nerf plz? Just like anything, if it bleeds we can kill it. Those new arrivals might just be able to pull it off eh? Or not, this story is about Weiss not my OCs. Really they're just here to make a pickup and leaf. Get it, Forever Fall is full of trees so yeah.
Also, for those of you questioning the acronyms which I know at some point I've spelled out.. They're the technical terms for the weapons of the Huntresses I picked off of the wiki. Ruby's High Caliber Sniper Scythe (thanks to Cloy552 for reminding me it was High CALIBER and not Velocity, don't know what I was thinking, guess I remembered wrong) and Weiss' Multi Action Dust Rapier. Sounds pretty cool right? I think every character needs that kind of label on their weapon. It's something that sets them apart, aside from their Symbol and Semblance.
...
...
Seriously last warning because SPOILERS.
So.. Volume 3 is over.. I think I speak for all of us when I say OH MY GOD. Or some variation of that exclamation of shock and disbelief. Seriously, my FEELS. Jebus.. Ruby's got a secret power that I'm pretty sure isn't Winter Maiden Magic/Aura. Some kind of eye based one, maybe she summons a Yuki-onna from them or something. No I'm not being (100% anyway) serious. Were those wings..? I don't know if I can rewatch the episode again right now.. And that kiss, Pyrrha you finally did it.. I just hope and pray they find some way to bring her back. Character death can have a real impact on the story and it's not inherently a bad thing, but I was looking forward to finally seeing Arkos canon.. And because I'm a weak human being I had to spoil myself reading the comments on RoosterTeeth. But I managed to stop myself for longer than usual so there's hope of breaking that habit yet. Might make it a super late New Year's Resolution to not do that for Volume 4. Ozpin GG man, you did really good but in the end.. I'm not sure that was a fair fight though. That brought about so many questions.. If he's the Wizard, then how could he not defeat some simple upstart like Cinder? If he's still around.. How? Did he let Cinder win for some reason and this is all going to plan, or was she simply incapable of/ordered not to kill him entirely? Speaking of which, dat figure at the end. Eery how similar my GrimmLord idea is.. Yeah I know I'm not the first person to think of humanoid Grimm/human and Grimm hybrids, but right down to the pale skin and red eyes.. I'm really wanting to start my GrimmLords AU but that's still a major WIP in the thinking stages so..
ALSO I KNEW IT. CINDER HAS A GRIMM MASTER. THAT EXPLAINS THAT FREAKY ASS GLOVE WITH THE GRIMM IN IT. I so called it soon that thing came out.. Back in chapter 4 of Grapefruit and Icecream in the opening A/N if ya don't believe me. It makes SO MUCH SENSE now.. Seriously.
RWBY's been split like a watermelon, though we finally saw big daddy Schnee. Weiss is stuck out there in Atlas.. He looks just like a lot of people probably figured. The white hair was a given though. And we saw/heard Taiyang! Animated no less instead of a still figure. Somehow I imagined him with longer hair before we saw the Team STRQ picture.. Like Goku in SSJ3/Super Saiyan 3 form. Also Qrow turning into a crow, heh. Can Raven go raven? AND he has Ozpin's cane, memento or plot device? Let the theories fly.. Well they're doing that anyway, like a swarm of startled birds. I think Blake is.. I don't know honestly, and poor Yang is depressed as all getout. Never thought she could be that cold towards Ruby. Also the S.S. Bumblee has been cracked! HULL BREACH.
So with the Dragon Grimm frozen on Beacon, along with Cinder I presume, they obviously can't run it like that. And with the towers down.. Sheesh.
...So what becomes of Mercury, Emerald, and Neo? And possibly Torchwick? One can hope.. At least Oobleck and Port survived.. That offscreen battle was probably badass. I'd expect nothing less of the coffee/flamethrower fuel drinking Dr. Seuss reference and the possibly Dwarven Professor Port. C'mon, only a dwarf could be so boisterous, stout, and come up with something like a blunderaxe. Blundrax? Wait this isn't Terraria..
Anyway I've rambled long enough. Looks like Team RNJR (Ranger, which makes sense and I'm going along with the bandwagon on that name) has a loooong journey ahead of them. Volume 4 is going to be spectacular. Freakin' unbelievable. Amazeballs. Totes mcgoats awesome. Now we wait.. I particularly await seeing V3 and the soundtrack on Google Play hint hint, and am going to go dig a hole to live/cope in until further announcement.
But I'll still be writing though so no worries. Just.. Not for a few days possibly.
