Pink Pidgeon: Again, I won't explain these things that fast about Carl. I want to let these kinds of things slowly develop, because again, character development for the Invoker is a tricky thing that cannot be instantly done and the flashbacks for his and Yunero's are part of those details that will take a while. As for the spells, I am not going to spoil too many details about it to be honest. Right now, they are in a world of Aura and Semblances where magic is already considered a myth, so it won't be exposed that fast. Also, as long as it works, it works. Also Dagon 5 Eblade Shotgun combo is ggez. Anything is possible when you are playing SEA as long as you win.
Yunero's POV
"We will win." As he ended his sentence, he glanced at the Serrakura. So much for thinking that he wouldn't need to draw it today. That kind of mindset would have been disciplined by his master had he been here with Yunero too. The Serrakura would be perfect when dealing with the Goliath, due to the fact that its thick armor and hide was a nuisance that would take longer to deal with if he chose to use the Blackened Edge instead and its tusks would be deadly if he wasn't careful.
"So what's the plan?" The slightly injured Spartan was the first to speak up, armed at the ready with her spear and shield. It seemed that her Aura had done its work, and she would be able to carry on.
"The plan is very simple. First of all, I need to do something. Experience true swiftness!" The tone of Carl had completely changed into one of a deeper tone, as gold fires simultaneously ignited everyone's hands. Yunero found his hands blazing in a gold fire, although it was harmless. "Now we are ready. Let's go." His eyes had opened once more, but they were now a golden colour that any normal person would be mesmerized by. Yunero could feel his body becoming lighter, as well as his strength becoming stronger. Even if it was only going to last for a little while. He couldn't help but note that it was not as strong as it normally would be, which probably meant that the effects were more spread around people this time. Yet, the spell was strong enough to make quite the difference. His mind was clearer too, it was as if his processing speed had gone up as well. Was this the true power of Alacrity?
"Wait, what's happening, Carl?" This time, Yang was the one to speak up. "Why are my hands on fire?"
"It's part of my semblance, Alacrity. It enhances someone for a while, although it can be used in larger groups but the concentration of the power will be lesser in exchange. You can move faster, hit harder and such. Do not rely on it too much, because it will not last forever. Also, we might have more Grimm coming in, so be careful. " As Carl turned around, another question stopped him in his tracks.
"Wouldn't that be draining on your aura? For so many people at once?" Now, Ren spoke up.
"No, this is not even close to draining my Aura. The only real limit is how much your bodies can take the enhancement before it starts to become exhausting for your body. When your body starts to hit a certain level of fatigue, it will end, so be careful." Nodding their heads, Carl began to explain the next faucet of their plan.
"Now, we have two options. We split up, and deal with the Goliath, Deathstalker and Nevermore seperately. We can't let the Goliath get too close, no matter what."
"But why?" Yunero was tempted to facepalm, he was sure that the reason souldn't take a genius to find out, but Jaune had proved him wrong once again.
"The foundations of this place don't look too strong, and this place is near a canyon. If this place collapses while we fight the Goliath, chances are we are going to end up under six feet of rubber and stone. The Goliath's weight is probably enough to cause the foundations to weaken severely, and the battle might make it give way completely." Nodding his head in understanding, Jaune quietened down.
"So now, we split up. I will deal with the Goliath myself, while Carl deals with any oncoming Grimm and helps me. Yang's outburst has probably attracted more Grimm, and Goliaths typically have other Grimm following them in hopes for easy prey. The rest of you should deal with the Deathstalker and Nevermore." His plan was paused by surprisingly of all people, Blake Belladonna.
"Are you insane? There's no way you could take on a Goliath by yourself!"
Yunero simply exhaled slightly, twirling his blade in a flurry of pink as Sakura petals continued to fall onto the ground. "You learn a thing or two when you live in the outside the kingdoms, fighting for your life everyday." This new revelation about him seemed to cause quite the stir amongst the group. He smirked. He was technically telling the truth after all, and he had accumulated enough experience fighting the Grimm to know how to deal with almost all different types of Grimm.
"Come on, we've got no time to waste." Carl snapped the group of their daze, nodding his head at Yunero. "We'll see you two later." The two of them began their sprint towards the Goliath that was still slowly lumbering towards them, leaving the others in a daze.
Ruby's POV
"Come on, let's move!" She urged, snapping out of the daze first as the others were still shell shocked by how fast Yunero and Carl had moved. The only reason why she wasn't stunned by that feat was because of the fact that she herself was a speedster, but even then she couldn't help but be slightly jealous of them being able to do so. She was supposed to be the speed person, not anyone else! Internally, she formed a pout but her friends were already coming out of their daze.
"Yeah!" As Ruby began to use her semblance, she realized one thing. She was even faster than before! This was so awesome! She would have to thank Carl later, but for now, they had Grimm to slay. At least she would be able to cut through Grimm more easily, if what Carl said was true... Wait a second. If the concentration of power was lesser, than what if Carl only used his Semblance on himself? Wouldn't he be just as fast as Ruby, or perhaps even faster?
"Hey, Rubes! Now's not the time to be distracted!" Hitting herself in the head mentally, she realized that she had let her thoughts wander a bit too much.
"Thanks, Yang!" She yelled out as they neared the place where Yunero had indicated for them to fight. It seemed that there were large pillars that they could use to help do aerial combat in the air against the Nevermore, and a few bridges that would allow them to hold against the Deathstalker in a bottleneck. Good. This would be a good place for combat. The only risk was that the structure that they were in was over a canyon, but they should be able to make it, right?
Unfortunately, the speed boost that Carl gave them still wasn't enough, and the Nevermore overhead had managed to surpass them, landing on the tower before giving out a large screech. Behind them, the Deathstalker burst from the trees, smashing everything in its path, trapping them in a pincer maneuver. Thankfully, the answer for that came in the form of Ren and Nora, whom upon Ren's call, pulled out her grenade launcher, providing some form of cover as she showered the Nevermore with pink explosions, forcing the avian Grimm to fly away and giving them more space to continue running towards the bridge. Her aim was true, as the first canister had managed to strike the Nevermore's head, with other explosions happening near the body of the Grimm.
Blake's POV
Behind Nora, the Deathstalker came charging at said girl, but both Ren and Blake, upon eye contact, slashed at the Arachnid Grimm and stopped it in its tracks, giving time for the Heiress to land near Nora and use her glyph to pick Nora up and bringing her to safety. With Nora out of the way, both Ren and her began to retreat, with Ren before a leap into a roll to gain more distance. In front of her, the Spartan stopped, shifting her weapon into its rifle form before firing a few bullets, which hit the Deathstalker but seemed to have little effect. Ren turned around and used his SMGs for the same thing. but it still had little effect despite its high firing rate.
Right, the boost that Carl gave only applied to her least she seemed to be faster than the Deathstalker, which gave her the ability to leap forth and avoiding the stairs, landing a good distance in front of Ren and Pyrrha. Wow, this boost really seemed to be coming into handy. Blake was sure that she wouldn't have been able to jump that far without the Boost. As she looked back to check on Pyrrha and Ren, she couldn't help but notice that there was an X mark on the Deathstalker's mask. How much work was Carl's boost doing?
Still, Blake had no time to figure out the exact details, as her feet kept on moving for her, running across the bridge. Turning her head to the left, she noticed the Nevermore coming for a ramming attack, forcing her to halt almost immediately, as did Ren and Prryha. Just in time too, as the Nevermore rammed through the space that they would have been. Now, there were the only three of them on the side, while Ruby, Weiss, Nora, Jaune and Yang were on the other side. Charging forth, she pulled out Gambol Shroud, unsheathing the blade, giving her the ability to dual wield the sheath and the blade. Dashing forth, she began to use her weapon as a conduit for her aura as she parried the pincers of the Deathstalker, causing shockwaves to form while both Prryha and Ren provided covering fire.
"Shit!" Blake rarely cussed, but now was probably an appropriate time to do so. She had managed to parry the Deathstalker's stinger and one of the claws, but that had left her open to the third option of attack for the Grimm, its right Pincer. "I won't be able to make it in time!" She tried anyways, and was surprised when her sheath barely managed to deflect the pincer. This gave the the window to leap back to where Prryha and Ren were still firing. Damm, that blow from the Deathstalker had hurt even though she had barely managed to deflect it, and she let out a slight gasp of pain. As if that was on cue, Ren decided that the time for firing was over, and began to dash forward to replace Blake's place as the fighter.
Then the few events made her situation even worse. The first thing that she heard were the two explosions, then "NORA SMASH!" just as the cheerful girl slammed her hammer into the mask of the Deathstalker, somehow managing to force the Deathstalker into the concrete stairs with a crater that wasn't exactly the smallest, while creating a slight tremor. What was that strength? Blake couldn't help but question the strength of Nora Valkyrie. After all, the strength needed to force a Deathstalker, and an old one at that was probably insane, yet Nora had done it somehow. But as if fate was punishing her for not paying attention, the pincer of the Deathstalker pushed Nora back with enough force into her, accidentally pushing off a cliff.
Letting out another groan of pain, she let herself free fall for a few seconds, before folding her blade into a gun-blade with the extension ribbon. Firing off a shot, she gained enough momentum to hurl the blade towards a stone portion of the upper bridge to act as an anchor, allowing her to swing towards where Ruby, Yang and Weiss were fighting the Nevermore. And it was a coincidence that the Nevermore was flying towards her. Good, she could probably use it to help her to get onto the destroyed stone tower.
Bracing herself, she swung, using the anchor to pivot her further before detaching the gun blade. She felt the drain in Aura as she popped a clone, using it as a launchpad to allow her to land on the Nevermore, but not before slashing the mask of the Grimm more than a few times and leaving sizable gashes on it. As she performed a backflip onto the Avian Grimm, she sheathed her blade, using the cleaver portion to slash the body of the Grimm, leaving a trail of slashes and feathers as she leapt once again and finally, her feet touched solid ground, or to be more precise, the solid outer wall of the stone tower.
Leaping once more and landing next to Yang, she couldn't help but feel that today had been a lot of free falling and leaping, just without any safety. "It's tougher than it looks." Indeed, she had slashed the Grimm several times and Nora had peppered it with several explosions, yet it seemed to be still growing strong, constantly flying around them and letting out ear piercing screeches. Or was it? The screeches seemed to have lessened in volume, even if the others couldn't tell. "How tough is this thing?"
"Let's hit it with everything we've got!" As Yang engaged her shotguns, Blake unsheathed her blade and shifted it into a pistol, while Ruby's scythe sprouted out and Weiss's dust canisters on Myrtenaster spun once before the four of them opened fire on the Nevermore. Just how strong was this Grimm? She could't help but think, as the Grimm tanked quite a number of their hits and was still flying towards them with a ramming attack like it was nothing. She sighed, as the four of them leap while the Nevermore missed its mark, crashing into the tower and causing the stone tower to begin to crumble.
Using her enhanced agility, she leapt from falling debris to debris, before landing on a stone pillar sideways and running straight up. She couldn't help but notice that her speed was enhanced much more than usual, allowing her reach the top of the pillars first and giving her the time she needed to reform the extending ribbon with the anchor to Weiss made use of her Glyphs as a platform to jump off them, while the two sisters made use of the recoil in their guns to push them up as they leapt up from debris to debris. As the four of them got onto another bridge, she couldn't help but note that the Nevermore had taken some damage, but it wasn't going down just yet. They needed more.
Jaune's POV
As the Deathstalker managed to free it's stinger, the bridge began to shake, meaning that it wasn't going to be safe any longer the bridge. "We gotta move!" He urged the others, and they began to dash towards the Deathstalker. "Prryha! To your left!" He yelled out, his mind somehow managing to spot the Deathstalker's left pincer coming their way. Nodding her head, Prryha blocked it, before stabbing the pincer and forcing the Deathstalker to lift it back as it roared in pain. Then the Deathstalker's right pincer came, and he managed to block it just in time, his shield unwavering as he tanked the blow, before pushing it off just in time for Prryha to launch a counter attack at it. He nearly lost his balance, but managed to regain in time for Ren to make his move. Said guy dashed forth, firing a few short bursts at the Deathstalker before dodging the stinger and hanging onto it for dear life while firing a few more short bursts at its masks.
Was this what a battle felt like? Damm, his arm had felt like lead for a second, after blocking that blow. It was hard, but somehow he had managed to push the Deathstalker's pincer away. The Deathstalker clashed its pincer's together, just as Nora's grenade canisters flew forth, forcing both Jaune and Prryha back. Somehow, he had remained standing, but his palms were sweaty, knees weak, arms were heavy. Winding back, Prryha threw her spear, her aim proving to be true as it struck the mask of the Deathstalker. Damm, it still wasn't dead? Its tail swung wildly, trying to shake Ren off, but Ren managed to hold firm, before leaping off towards the dirt, knowing that he couldn't do anything anymore.
Noticing how the Stinger of the Deathstalker was dangling precariously due to Ren's firing, he realized something. The answer to defeating the Deathstalker had been dangling in front of him this whole time. How had he not seen it earlier? "Prryha!" Nodding her head, she threw her shield towards the Deathstalker, severing the stinger and it landed on the mask of the Deathstalker. Perfect. Things were falling into place, literally. (Yes, the puns in this paragraph are intentional.) Now time for the finishing blow. "Nora! Nail it!"
"Heads up!" She called, and Prryha put the shield above her, giving Nora the perfect launch pad. Pulling the trigger, she let herself fly into the air smiling. Jaune swore that the girl would always be smiling, no matter what. Even if their lives were at risk like earlier. His eyes nearly went wide like saucers, as he realized that Nora made another explosion in the air and had began to spin. It didn't take a genius to find out that the impact was going to be big, and he began to brace himself. Just in time too, as Nora smashed into the Deathstalker with a loud boom, one so loud that Jaune was sure that his ears were still ringing. "Oof!" Then he hit the dirt but first, unlike his partner whom somehow managed to before a cool landing. Ren stumbled next to him, somewhat exhausted as he panted. Huh. At least they made it. So how were the others doing? He wondered as the adrenaline rush began to wore off.
Ruby's POV
Ruby was sure that her partner had thought that she had lost her marbles upon explaining her plan. Then again, it did sound somewhat ridiculous. but at least they had a plan, right?
Step 1: Get the Nevermore grounded. Their bullets and dust attacks weren't doing too much, so they would have to ground it and use their weapons more effectively. And that was where Yang came in. She was now on one of the stone pillars, firing several shotgun shells to get the Nevermore's attention. With precise aim, Yang snagged the right eye of the Nevermore, causing it to let out a screech of pain and stumble in its flight. As the Nevermore flew towards her sister with an open beak, Yang took the invitation and leapt into the Grimm's mouth, before firing several shots into its mouth while using one hand to keep it open. "I! Hope! You're! Hungry!" Noticing how they were about to crash into the cliff, Yang leapt off, causing it to crash into the cliff. Step one was complete.
Step 2: Keep it grounded. As the Nevermore crashed into the cliff and landed, Weiss began to make use of her glyphs to move forth at a fast rate, allowing her to approach the Grimm fast enough. Leaping up, she stabbed her rapier into the tail of the Nevermore, causing the tail to be trapped in a newly formed Ice Wall before Weiss disengaged with one of her glyphs to land next to Ruby.
Step 3: Launch herself towards the Nevermore, and well, use the cliff as a runway to drag it up and hopefully decapitate it. Unsheathing Gambol Shroud, Blake shifted it into the third form before hurling the anchor part towards Yang, whom stabbed it into the stone pillar, while Blake pulled back on the ribbon for tension. Meanwhile, Ruby launched herself towards the ribbon, setting down in the middle of the ribbon while nearing the ground. Weiss, already in position, summoned another Glyph, and used the Gravity dust in Myrtenaster on her Glyph, effectively forcing Ruby as close to the ground as Gambol Shroud's ribbon would allow.
"Of course you would come up with this idea." Weiss spoke, her condescending tone clearly not believing in the idea.
Ignoring that, she asked her own question innocently. "Think you can make the shot?"
"Well, can I?" The snide tone did not get to Ruby, who proceeded to ask again but was eventually cut off by Weiss. "Of course I can!" As she reloaded her rifle, Weiss began to prepare herself, ready to release the Glyph. Her fingers closed around the trigger, and she pulled, just as Weiss used the Glyph to push her, giving her the speed and momentum. As Ruby flew through the air, she began to fire a few more shots, giving her the recoil needed to reach the Nevermore. As she reached the Nevermore, her momentum caused her to go forth and land on the side of the cliff, while her baby caught the neck of the Grimm.
The cliff was then lined with snowflake sigils, the sign that Ruby needed. She exhaled a bit, before beginning her run to the top as she fired even more bullets for the recoil as she yelled. Halfway through, she felt the weight of the Nevermore beginning to lessen, and she pushed herself even further, now yelling at the top of her lungs. As she approached the cliff's end, she felt the weight completely gone, as the head of the Nevermore flew above her, carried by the momentum. As the body of the Avian Grimm began to fall, she landed on the cliff's edge, a flurry of rose petals left in her wake. She had done it, somehow. No, they had done it. They had killed the Nevermore.
She peered off the cliff, down on the people whom had made it possible for her to do so. This feeling, of something. It felt good, as she savoured it and took it all in. Then her knees began to feel weak every so slightly.
Carl's POV
"I'll admit, that's impressive for a fifteen year old. But the buff probably wore off soon after. For her at least." Carl commented, as the video ended.
"And next, we have Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee and Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the Knight Pieces. From this day forth, you work together as Team RWBY, led by Ruby Rose." Carl, deciding that a little acknowledgement was needed, decided to clap his hands. It had been a while since he had seen someone pull off such a stylish kill, and Ruby certainly hadn't disappointed in that aspect. Ruby might not have known it, but she had earned Carl's respect, something that very few had the honor of having.
"Carl? Yunero?" Jaune was the first to spot them, as they stepped down from the stage.
"Hey." Yunero greeted, opening his eyes.
"Catch you all later." Carl responded, as he and Yunero got up, knowing it was their turn next. As the two of them got up, everyone stared at them. How could they not? After all, Yunero had managed to take down a Goliath, a feat that many of his fellow first years and perhaps some of the second years would have deemed impossible. And Carl had held his own against many Grimm like a Professional Huntsman through nothing but hand to hand combat, a skill that Huntsman lacked these days due to their over reliance on weapons. The video clip played above, showing exactly what their feats were.
Emerald Forest
"So, this is what I came here for?" Carl murmured, stopping at the edge of the woods. There were packs of Beowolves, led by an Alpha each. Behind them stood several Ursai, with at least two Ursa Majors. He laughed. How could he not? This was an insult to Ulfsaar, the Ursa Warrior. None could hold a candle to one of the Ursine Tribe after all. "Come then!"
The first pack of Beowolves came charging at him, with the Alpha leading the charge. Unfortunately, it's head was also the first to meet the fist of Carl, covered by the Magnus Accord. The Alpha began so still for a moment, it was like time had suddenly stopped for it. The only thing that indicated that time was still moving was the fact that the rest of the Pack was still eagerly charging forward. Charging forth towards their deaths. Like a loud shotgun gone off, a bang was heard, and the Alpha Beowolf was blown back along with the rest of its pack, clearly dead with the head blown off, Carl's weapon smoking from the impact. "Seems like learning to concentrate my mana in the Magnus Accord had been a good idea." He couldn't help but comment, as the other Grimm began to take on a cautious stance against the prey.
The sciene behind the technique was simple. He simply concentrated a small amount of mana into the fists section of the Magnus Accord, wounding it up with tension before letting it go. After all, Mana appeared to be the more potent energy over Aura in Remnant. Losing patience, a few Beowolf packs and Ursai began to charge forth, wanting to make use of their numbers to take down Carl.
"Not good enough. Ulfsaar could give much more of a fight than this." Carl sighed, knowing that there was going to be no thrill in this fight, like many of the other fights that he had partaken before.
Yunero's POV
As he approached the Goliath, he couldn't help but notice that the Grimm was probably half a century at best. Still, he couldn't let the Grimm get too close to the stone ruins. After all, it would bring nothing but trouble. He should probably wrap this up as soon as possible. He couldn't take the risk.
As if on cue, the Goliath let out a loud trumpeting sound, one that was almost deafening to his ears, but the pain was nothing compared to what the queen of Pain could inflict. Coming to a full stop, Yunero shifted into the stance that he would require for his technique. The Goliath, letting out another trumpeting sound, began to charge towards him, its Ivory tusks aimed at him, intent on skewering him. "Blade Dance, Saisho no Suteppu: Su Gi Ni." He muttered, before his leg muscles tensed and propelled him forward and past the Goliath, landing behind. The only trace of him having been past the Goliath was the pink streak left behind by the Serrakura.
A second later, the effect of his attack worked its magic, as the Goliath's rights legs were severed, causing the Grimm to lose its balance and fall to the ground with a loud boom. Now, all he had to do was to pierce the mask.
"And finally, we have Yunero Jugg and Carl Karus. The two of them retrieved the Queen Pieces. From today forth, you two will be known as Team Joker(JK). Congratulations are in order, young men. It's been a long time since we've had a two man team in the Academy." Joker? That was fitting, considering the fact that he and Yunero were two wildcards in this game, whether the Headmaster knew it or not.
"Thanks, Headmaster." Carl responded with a smile, shaking the Headmaster's hand.
Translation:
Saisho no Suteppu: Isshun De - First Step: In a Flash
A/N: Im honestly surprised that I was able to get this chapter out this fast, considering how I had a test not too long ago and I was busy clearing up homework.
Before you guys start complaining, keep in mind that Alacrity can only do so much. Its fullest potential is brought out when only used on a single person, which is why this seems more watered down. Alacrity is by no means overpowered, it only helped the people fight better and have better reflexes, that's why their different plans were able to go more smoothly. Normally in Dota 2, Alacrity only increases a hero's attack speed and attack damage, but this time round Alacrity also increases how fast they can process things.
The reason why I chose to incorporate Japanese into Yunero's techniques is because Yunero was designed with a samurai concept in mind, at least that's how I see it. Feel free to give your opinion on this. Also this may seem like Yunero is op, but he is being buffed by Alacrity and the Serrakura's designed to cut through things, so that's why Yunero was able to cut through the Goliath's legs like it was nothing. He's also pushed his body to the limits, constantly training it. I am using Google Translate for the translations, so feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.
Also, if you're wondering about the last name that I gave to Carl, Karus is Latin for something valuable, and there's a reason why Carl picked this name. With that alias, Carl indirectly tells Ozpin that he is valuable piece in the game of his that Ozpin is playing while appealing to his ego and that's the reasoning behind the name Karus. Also it rhymes.
P.S. My skills at writing fighting scenes aren't the best, so yeet.
Hoped you guys enjoyed this chapter and leave a review if you guys think that there's room for improvement or any requests that you want! Some requests will be considered. Feel free to PM me if you want. Absurd requests are obviously not allowed and dun flame. I am only a amateur at this shit.
On that note, peace out mofos!
