Ooookaaay, Inspectre Online and we are back in action! ..Sorta. I'm still coping with Volume 3's finale but the worst of it is over. I'm certain this isn't the last dark descent in the story of RWBY though so don't lax your guard. Volume 4 will likely be an arduous journey..
So, I want to take the time to thank my readers, my reviewers, my followers and favoriters (totes a word). Also wanna thank LDR, and Cloy552 for the correction on the technical terminology behind Ruby's Crescent Rose. Which by the way some of you might be wondering how it was broken. The answers are simple, weapons if I remember correctly and possibly don't because I'm not certain if it was a fan theory or actually confirmed, that Hunter equipment is also shielded/strengthened by their Aura. So when that Aura is depleted it loses that benefit as well. The other answer which adds on with the previous is that the Mantis' claws are wicked sharp. Weiss and Ruby's Aura haven't had long to recover after their mission either so yeah.
Anyhoot, time for chapter 3 of the Royal Test! I should consider making chapters longer. Not that I'm disappointed with my word count but it just feels short for some reason. I'm a sucker for cliffhangers though, so I'll have to work around that. My ideal size is no less than 2k per chapter, preferably 3k not including A/Ns. Now to go juggle what I want to write next.. Not that this will be ending any time soon that I can foresee, there's still quite a few left to be written and I plan on this story having an epilogue.
*a minute or so prior to the arrival of the Bullhead, inside said vehicle*
Four figures were situated inside the aircraft, one sitting in another's lap talking about boys and hair and one standing by themselves near the pilot door with the last simply sitting across from the first two with a book in their hands. All of their weapons were either in hand or easily reachable due to the fact even the air over Forever Fall was considered a danger zone in case of Nevermore flocks.
"If you don't stop fidgeting I can't get your hair done Maiko. Keep it up and you're in for another tickling." "Oh quiet you, you just want to touch my abs." The first pair bickered good naturedly. The one on the floor was a lean but tall muscular male, dressed in what appeared to be a white and blue surfing wetsuit adorned with a pair of crossed cannons behind an anchor printed on the back. AMJR was emblazoned on the front, indicative of their name 'Armiger' which was a term used for those individuals given right to bear heraldric and oft decorated arms and armor. His hair was quite noticeable, a fauxhawk of pastel blue and pink like cotton candy with an anchor piercing in his right ear. Bright green eyes narrowed as he fumbled with a comb, going over his teammate's almost white blonde hair trying not to accidentally scratch her fox-like Faunus ears.
"Honey you ain't lyin', but if I had my choice you know whose I'd really want to get these fingers on?"
"Pfft, we all know how you look at that monkey boy Azure."
"Hey forget meat, you could grind metal on those muscles.." He laughed, finally finishing up and pulling Maiko's hair into her usual ponytail. It came down to her lower back, right above a rather fluffy fox tail. Another sign of her Fox Faunus heritage. With a playful smack Azure popped her on the rear as she got up, eliciting a yelp before she spun and kicked him in the side. Which would have hurt a lot if she hadn't been playing for the 6'2" brawler had even more muscle than her leader though it wasn't bulky. Definitive enough to compare almost to a full grown man's however. Maiko was dressed in a pair of white and black spandex shorts with red down the sides along with a red sports bra, wraps around her hands to her elbows, and a pair of white athletic running shoes. Clearly this girl was a brawler of some sort as she didn't appear to have a weapon on hand. Except she did quite literally, compacted into a pair of thick golden rings on each ring finger with a thick square on top.
"U-Umm, I'm trying to read.. If you two could keep it down please..?" Came a shy voice from across the first two members. The R of Team AMJR, Robin. She was the shortest around 5'10" and the least intimidating of the group by far, dressed in the usual Beacon Academy girl's uniform with thigh high black stockings, dress shoes, a modest plaid skirt, and a black gold trimmed jacket over a white blouse. One exception was her pair of strapped on vambraces with thick silver plates on the tops. Her hair was a darker shade of purple and curled away slightly from her at the ends, nervous magenta eyes meeting Maiko's glimmering yellow ones from behind a pair of reading glasses before the Fox Faunus went to go hit Azure again. Just for kicks and giggles. With a sigh she went back to reading, the cover of her book being of two black and yellow silhouettes at a table that read 'Coffee with Strangers'.
"Damn imbeciles.. I can't wait to be back home. Hey pilot, how much damn longer is this gonna take? The Hell are we making a detour for?" Called the final member of the Team, and rather agitatedly at that. Judging by the transparent set of wings extending from the back of her yellow tanktop and down the back side of her torn black skinny jeans, she was some kind of Insect Faunus. A Wasp to be exact which partially lead to her nickname 'Pinpoint Jack', due to her Semblance, weapon, and how tomboyish she was. Jackie to anyone who valued having all of their teeth still in their jaws however. Her arms were crossed as she glanced towards the door, expecting an answer as she closed her black eyes and brushed her asymmetrical black hair away from her face.
"Just a little while longer ma'am, I was supposed to evac these two up earlier but since your Bullhead got taken down I had to come over and make that pickup along the way."
"Hmm.. The station defence mission? That's a rather large one to deal with for two people.." Robin stated quietly, looking up over the top of her book.
"Well one is the famous heiress of the SDC so I think they'll be fine." That was the cue for the lot of them to change their expressions, everyone but the Wasp Faunus seemed to be sporting amused grins while the aforementioned female simply chuckled.
"So the Schnee heiress came to Beacon instead of Atlas? That's interesting." Jackie said.
"Hey, her choice. I hear things have gotten pretty strange over in Atlas what with the merging of government and academics. I know another pilot over there, told me the Request Board is overseen by Atlas' military as well. I don't think I'd feel right shipping kids off into a warzone if they got drafted for a conflict mission.."
"Just do your job." She snipped, though her teammates seemed to agree with the sentiments of the pilot. Things were quiet for a bit longer until the the Forever Fall train station came into view. With a sudden jerk the Bullhead shifted and accelerated, the turbulence warning going off with a rapid beeping. Team AMJR was up on their feet and glancing around now as they all looked towards the front.
"We got activity on the ground. LZ isn't clear. It's been like two hours, are they still mopping up- Shit prepare for engagement!"
"Engagement? What's wrong? It's just Beowulves and Ursi around this sector right?" Azure asked, leaning against the wall. Two Huntresses, even first years should be more than capable of dealing with that kind of threat he figured. Especially if the station security was still there, outdated AKs they may be. Unless there were Major or Alpha class Grimm around..
"Negative, I've got a Medium size Champion class Grimm on the radar! I don't know what it is but the Huntresses are down!"
"A Champion? Out here?!" Maiko shouted.
"That's the readout I'm getting!"
"What kind?" Azure asked, reaching over to pick up some kind of rectangular and lengthy object that had been sitting next to him propped up on the hull. The other members of AMJR were grabbing their own weapons as well or stretching and preparing for combat.
"I.. Have no idea. The Hell IS that? It's like some kind of giant bug. Two big scythe claws, four legs, has a large abdomen.."
"Can't be a Girtablilu, those are indigenous to Vacuo's deserts-" "Mantis! Get that door open!" Jackie interrupted, running for the hatch. She knew too well what kind of danger the Mantis was. A deadly and fast assassin with bone blades sharp enough to cleave stone like butter. As soon as the side door of the Bullhead opened it was to the sight of the Mantis towering over the white haired Huntress, the two enemies preparing for one last cross.
"Lock and load AMJR! Primary objective is to evac the Huntresses! Focus on that above all else! Maiko, I'm gonna pepper it so you can drive it back! Jackie you help her! Robin you go straight for- Holy crap that's a lot of blood.. Get the one in black!" With a grunt his weapon was hefted, the Man Portable Artillery Sledge he called Atlantis. It was essentially a scaled down Howitzer/gun turret minus the ground mount base, wheels, and extended loading trough. A long handle extending from the left side of the barrel to hold with his left hand while the right was firmly gripping the thicker one at the top of the main component. Setting it against his right thigh and side to brace it he'd curse, lamenting that he didn't bring any extra ammo crates for shells as someone tossed him a shell from a nearby chrome box that had been sitting on the other side of the launcher.
"Dammit she's too close for my liking but if I don't.. Here goes.." The shell was caught, quickly slid into the loading shaft on the back end before a full red laser sight clicked on from along the top of the barrel to his target. A moment's pause to calculate and he fired, the weapon going off with a roar as the projectile sailed true to target and impacted the Mantis dead on. The Heiress was unfortunately in the radius but there had been nothing he could do about that. Thankfully she wasn't too close and was simply thrown back by the force instead of being burned or shredded by the shrapnel. It helped that the Creature of Grimm largely and incidentally shielded her with its claws being in between the blast point and her, thanks to the angle he had from the Bullhead.
"Direct hit! One more then get ready to land!"
"Sorry but negative! I'm maintaining altitude! If that thing jumps up here we're screwed! Who knows what else might be lurking if that class of Grimm is skulking around!" The pilot shouted, seeing that the entirety of the station's defences were either underground or laying in pieces above. AMJR could potentially kill the monster but it'd be a hard fight. Azure conceded he had a point as well. It'd be some time before another Bullhead could be scrambled or diverted their way and unless they wanted to catch a train going full speed.. Well the next train wasn't due to arrive for a good while anyway and until that extermination mission was confirmed complete it had orders to not stop so.. Tough luck.
"Fair enough, we can get back up here just fine. Firing!" A second Dust Shell was loaded, aimed right for the now scurrying Mantis. His aim had been just a bit off though and he instead struck by its legs. At least that was a good enough shot to give it pause and almost immediately start backing away. As he loaded the third one the metallic crate began to rise and hover for the exit. Not like the male could feasibly carry more than a few shots for his weapon at most without severely over encumbering himself so he relied on the Atlesian invention to carry it for him remotely. Then the four of them jumped overboard, the Wasp Faunus' wings buzzing as what appeared to be a golden spear with a crossbow mounted into the back end extended telescopically from what otherwise had looked just like a normal crossbow. That was her landing strategy, flying. The rest..
Robin's arms extended as she spread-eagled, those silver plates from before sliding out to form what looked like a set of kite shields called Soul Bastion each adorned with her Symbol of a heart wrapped with chains and a padlock on the front. The shields themselves didn't slow her down much but with a shimmering glow two similarly shaped barriers of golden light seemed to phase into existence over the fronts, catching the wind and drastically reducing her velocity so she could hit the ground safely. Once down she swung her right arm out, another activation of her Semblance 'Barrier' creating a thin hovering circle where her leader was predicted to land just a foot off of the ground. When he finally hit it rather than bounce or break something the circle seemed to absorb the impact as it crackled, the male not even flinching as he then hefted his MPAS to assess the situation.
Meanwhile, Jackie had separated from the group and instead of touching down had spun her spear, Yellow Kaiser, to level the crossbow end towards the Mantis as she withdrew a bolt from a hip quiver on her lower to draw it back and await a chance to strike. Airborne she had the perfect vantage point to harass the Grimm with so that whether it chose to try and block her high angle shots or deal with the groundborne assault, it would have to choose one or the other. Or possibly both if it was smart and quick enough. The pilot said it had come up as Champion class so this one was a bit old, enough to have a level of intelligence rare among the Creatures of Grimm at the outskirts of the Kingdom.
Maiko on the other hand took 'in your face' to a whole new level by having aimed to land directly on the retreating Grimm, reaching back with fingers splayed as the rings spun 'round to shift and extend the square into the palm of her hand which then stretched into the grips and blade of her trench knives Kagutsuchi. The thickened ring opened up and clicked over onto the adjacent fingers like handcuffs with the middle going one more over to finish the transformation. On the way down, Fire Dust vials were loaded into the grips, igniting the knuckle rings and blades as she aimed to land with her right fist.
However right before she made contact its wings expanded from its thorax and flew out from under her, the Fox Faunus hitting the concrete sundering the material for several yards as an explosion engulfed her being. From her vantage point Jackie took aim and fired, the bolt striking true and hitting the Grimm in its unprotected side. Then it lit with sparks as the Spark Dust went off. Or it would have if she had grabbed the proper projectile. Amateur mistake, one she berated herself for before grabbing an actually Dust enhanced bolt from the other half of her quiver.
Meanwhile Robin broke straight into a run, past the Mantis as it started to swing for her and was repelled by a third shell from Azure's cannon. A raised kite shield deflected incoming fragmentation and fire as she skid to a halt, apprehensively accessing Ruby's condition before reaching down and picking her up. It seemed safe to move her, not that they could afford to wait and apply treatment anyway. On the way back as she attempted to give the Grimm a wide berth it shrieked and skittered towards her, almost catching her with a powerful overhand swipe before Maiko slid in between them to catch it atop the crossed blades of her trench knives. "Hey, look where you're aiming! You're fighting ME!"
Not for long though, as she started swinging for its chest area and slashed at the bases of its foreclaws it became clear the Mantis was faster and managed to score a slash or two of its own across her body. Thankfully her Aura held and another bolt soon found itself lodged in its side, igniting with electricity that managed to paralyze it for a few seconds. The sniper that shot it was readying yet another when her leader shouted for her to grab the heiress and go, complying and swooping down to snatch Weiss and fly back towards the Bullhead. At the same time, Robin was using hovering platforms generated by her Barrier ability to ascend to it as well and with the two Huntresses aboard Maiko retreated right after. She'd follow the platforms, with Azure watching in shock as the Mantis decided to ignore him and start after the Faunus.
"Robin! Cut the platforms!" "What?! B-But-" "Do it!" Reluctantly the Semblance-formed creations disappeared, causing the Creature of Grimm to fly through the one it had attempted to leap to and get a face full of cold hard ground. It seemed its wings weren't quite strong enough for flight thankfully, only increasing movement speed. With a hiss it turned on the male, foreclaws in 'prayer' before it began to approach. This was bad, he was out of ammo and the hovering crate would serve as little more than a one time distraction. ..It would, he thought as he formulated a plan. Tapping something on the Scroll hanging on his belt the chrome box would fly into the back of his approaching enemy, doing little more than agitate it with a smack to the head. But while it spun to start clawing at it he'd trigger his own Semblance, Drain.
It let him absorb the small amounts of Aura in the air that came from the constantly emitting life force of people, animals, and plant life to recharge his own. After all, every living being had an Aura and like oxygen and carbon dioxide it was constantly processing into and from those sources. In an almost vampiric manner he could also take it directly from a living source but that was a lot more difficult and he really didn't like doing it. A light blue glow encompassed his person as he scowled at the Mantis, energy filling the barrel of Atlantis as Azure started to channel. "Oh don't mind me, just preparing a little snack.." Another hiss. Tough crowd.
While most weapons could be shielded with Aura or strengthened, his was one of the more uncommon ones that could process it offensively in raw form. This took the shape of blue crackling energy the same color as his Aura, and when the Creature of Grimm came back for him after dealing with the ammo crate he smirked, hearing the beep that signalled a 100% charge. With a battle cry he rushed. A bit sluggishly due to the weight but with a tremendous effort he leapt at an angle towards the monstrous insect swinging Atlantis overhand. He was left to hang however, the Grimm having managed to stop the blow with both claws before it could drop on its skull. Exactly as planned.
The Huntsman glanced skyward, then utilizing as much of his upper body strength as he could lifted himself and smashed his knee into the base of the cannon before heaving himself over on top of it. Ooh he'd feel that in the morning. The barrel had began to slide back across the curvature of the blades before the motion shoved it between the foreclaws, eventually tilted down at the Mantis after he added his weight atop it. Once the barrel had center of mass in sight he pulled the trigger, a few subtle flashes preluding a very large and loud one. "I hope you're hungry!"
His taunt was lost amidst the bellow of Atlantis' Aura Blast, the Grimm actually lessening its resistance to the heavy weight atop the single right before it fired. The barrel shifted towards the ground under and beside it instead of directly at it now, but it regardless was going to have the desired effect. Releasing a powerful beam the male was propelled skyward towards the Bullhead. One the way up Azure realized there'd be no two Nevermores with one stone as the resulting flash of light from the attack faded, the Grimm rolling across the station to a stop before scrabbling to its legs. The attack had definitely scarred it, underside and exterior sizzling whitish blue. However the overall effect was.. Disappointing. But they completed the primary objective. Save the Huntresses. As his heavy form was caught by the Wasp Faunus and hammer tossed roughly through the Bullhead's door he shot the Grimm one last dirty look before the now sealing hatch closed, Jackie having zipped back inside.
... *moments later*
"Ow.. My neck.. Did you have to toss me so hard Jackie?" "Do you know how freakin' HEAVY that damn overcompensation you're carrying is you fruit basket?" "Hey he's practically the whole tree." The AMJ of AMJR bickered for a moment, suddenly looking towards the R as she tended to the wounded Huntresses and called for them to settle down. With a quick motion Azure was right side up, letting his weapon fall over next to his partner's spear so he could go check.
"How are things looking back there?" The pilot called with unease, immediately taking off as soon as the last Hunter was inside. Looking over the two females, Robin started to speak albeit fearfully.
"Th-The shorter one has a lot of lacerations and puncture wounds, and two very deep incisions on her front.. She's lost a lot of blood! We have to get to a hospital quickly!"
"And the heiress?"
"Umm.. S-Several broken ribs, internal bleeding, I don't think any of her organs have been pierced or damaged by interior fragments though but lots of bruising, and a long gash on her back.. She's not critical but if we don't hurry the other one will bleed out.."
"Copy that, setting course for the closest medical center in Vale. I'll radio ahead to have them prepped and ready. Hold on!"
"Wait.." Jackie grimaced, walking towards Ruby and kneeling by her side as she traced her finger over the many cuts and gouges. Her brow was furrowed in concentration, and upon seemingly realizing something she turned towards the front and shouted for him to change direction for Beacon and call for whoever he could get ahold of first.
"What? Why? That's a longer route!"
"General hospitals aren't stocked to handle this! She's.. She's got Grimmblight." Silence fell over the others, the PA crackling with static before coming back on.
"Grimmblight? You're not serious." Was the general reaction of the pilot, and her teammates. At least until Robin took another close look and verified her diagnosis. Some white essence was starting to leak from Ruby's wounds in her blood, and the lines of the cuts and holes were turning sickly white as well like paint. As Jackie went on to explain.. Grimmblight was a very dangerous and lethal infection, akin to Necrosis and brought on by what in the old days Hunters had called a 'curse'. It was carried by powerful older Grimm, spreading if they managed to inflict wounds on a weakened individual with little to no Aura to stop the deathly contagion from taking hold. It'd slowly rot the body of the afflicted subject until death, unless the offending Grimm was/were killed.
For this reason debate on the proper classification of the condition was a long running one, but discussions all agreed on one point. It was a terminal and very dangerous one as it jammed the flow of Aura and prevented the victim from regenerating it. Once defeated however recovery of the affected persons was very highly likely, almost miraculously even. Thus for this reason when a report came in of a Hunter coming down with Grimmblight, others were immediately dispatched upon getting details of the situation so that the inflicter could be slain with swiftness. If Team AMJR hadn't had a more pressing matter to attend to they could potentially have done so then and there but in their leader's opinion, a shared one at that, getting everyone out safely was more important than finishing off the Grimm. They couldn't have known at the time either.
"That's harsh.. Everybody be ready to debrief then. Maybe we'll be able to redeploy and go squash that thing." Azure spoke after another silence, eliciting confused/surprised looks from the others before Jackie scoffed. Something about being too soft, to which he replied with something dirty before she grabbed her spear and attempted to shank him with it. Then she added that the reason they were going to Beacon is because while it was a rare occurrence an Academy would be better at handling Ruby's infection, and even though there were no medicinal cures they'd likely have easier access to sources of the powerful medicines that could at least slow it down.
"Roger, changing course for Beacon Academy." The man stated before contacting someone else. "HQ this is Flying Dog, we have two injured Huntresses inbound. One's in critical condition and developing Grimmblight, I need whoever can be reached first on the line about deploying-"
The Huntsman and Huntress all looked towards the door, each sending silent prayers that the two would make it out alright. All also wondering what would come of the Mantis and whether or not they'd be cleared for redeployment. Then again situations like these were best left to professional Hunters. With one last look at Ruby and Weiss, Robin kneeled by the former to place her hand on the former's own.
Wowee, what a biggun. Welp, Team AMJR managed to save the day! Sorta. I love writing action scenes so sorry if I got a bit excessive. They did their part though and the rest is gonna be on Ruby and Weiss. They might make cameos in the epilogue along with the pilot. Kinda starting to like that guy. But yes those are some of my OCs. All 2nd year Hunters from Beacon, though Jackie is from an entirely different Kingdom in my head called Grove. More on that possibly in other fics, especially whenever I start my GrimmLords AU. The only one who didn't use her Semblance either, HMM. Oh and for an explaination of the names in accordance with the color naming rule.. Azure's last name is Hariken, basically means blue hurricane. Maiko's last is Akaji, which you can sorta derive 'child dancing in a red field' from. Jackie's last name is Gelbe, which is German for yellow and 'Jackie Yellow' is easy to get yellowjacket from, and yellowjackets are in the same general family or whatever as wasps, hornets, bees, etc. Finally Robin's last name is Terra, robins being birds and terra meaning earth so earthbound bird? Then AMJR (armiger, pronounced with a soft G like a J and not a hard G) stands for armiger. Armigers as I found from research were people entitled for some reason (many possible) to bear 'heraldric arms' which apparently were quite literal decorated arms and armor in some cases. Those tended to be quite shiny and colorful and extravangtly designed.
Speaking of cameos yes I did just reference Coffee With Strangers by the awesome TigerLilly22. One of my most favorite stories by one of my most favorite writers, of all time. Whenever I get around to going back through the thousands of fics to find the ones I liked/read ones I might've passed over before, and start favoriting/reviewing, that'll be first on the list now that I have an account here. One day I hope to have a story as good and as popular as that one.. Though I have to say for my first work I'm proud of Grapefruit and Icecream. I also referenced Sonic Adventure 2 Battle but good like finding THAT reference, nyahaha! I might be nice and point it out next chapter which I'll probably start tonight or tomorrow.
As for future works, oh my gloooob someone save me from this mountain of work..! I mean I seriously enjoy it but.. Back on RoB I have like 65+ roleplaying characters, and almost half of them need either finishing of their biographies or starting from notes. 16 of those or so are RWBY ones go figure. Then the fanfics.. I have at least 20 future ideas jotted down on a list. Some songfics, which I wanna try at least once and need to research some first.. One prompt is too good to pass up, basically starring Neptune and the CRDL boys as backups (yeah, crackfic) in Shiny Teeth and Me. It's not my idea but for the life of me I can't remember where I saw someone mentioning the idea of a dance video about it because it fits Neptune so well, and I agree. Might have been the RWBYforums. it was awhile back and my memory sucks so.. Yeah. The other one so far is Lost In The Shadows from The Lost Boys, Bumblebee centric and just post V3. Feels fitting. Then there's the crossovers or cross-AU (I don't know what the technical term is but instead of X meets Y it's more like a mix?). Starcraft, Advance Wars, and Fallout for starters, and I also have a few AUs of my own that I've thought a lot about. And shipfics because why the Hell not. And some Friendship fics too. Two reviewers have also commented actually liking the idea of a sequel to Grapefruit and Icecream, honestly don't know what I might do about that at this point.
Anyway, it's like 11:31 (11:55 now because apparently the first time I tried to save this and switched tabs, it never went through properly so I had to rewrite this whole A/N after already having to go back and redo the proofreading and editing for the same exact reason like an hour before!), so I'm gonna post this and go get some sleep. See you guys next time!
Anyway Pt.2 I literally just found out there are keyboard shortcuts here for stuff like bolding so that's new. I have to use CTRL-V to copypaste the letter U since my tablet is missing that key and I had a finger slip when I went to go do it and continue typing.. Does CTRL-I italicize? Wowee it does. This is what happens when you do all your writing in chat rooms or Notepads for so long and never bothered with keyboard shortcuts when you actually had a computer and Microsoft Word. I feel kinda smart but dumb at the same time.. Okay enough jibber jabber.
Inspectre Offline!