Theme:
AoT - Attack On Titan Instrumental Theme
Where there is smoke,
There will soon be a fire!
(Where there's smoke there'll soon be fire) X4
Where there's smoke there'll soon be fire,
Play with fire and you will be burned.
Hidden behind dark blue gauntlets,
Guardian of the innocent.
Even his great Aura may fade,
Grimm attack and darkness closes.
Where there's smoke there'll soon be fire,
Play with fire and you will be burned.
Beware, he will take you down,
With a punch,
Or a kick,
Or a thrown shuriken!
Even although he holds himself back,
He is a force to be reckoned with!
(skip to 02:32)
Where there is smoke there will soon be a fire,
Play with the flames and you will be burned,
Go all out or you're,
All far too easy,
He strikes as hard as a
COMET!
Where there is smoke there will soon be a fire,
Play with the flames and you will be burned,
Go all out or you're,
All far too easy,
He strikes as hard as a
COMET!
Where there is smoke there will soon be a fire,
Play with the flames and you will be burned,
Go all out or you're,
All far too easy,
He will take you all down!
(Where there's smoke there'll soon be fire) X7
(Play with it, you'll burn!)
—
Ruby shot up the cliff, held there by Weiss's glyphs and propelled by her beloved sniper-scythe, which was currently hooked around the neck of a Giant Nevermore. A final shot from Crescent Rose, and the enormous Grimm's head finally came free, allowing her to safely land on the top of the cliff. She turned to face her team.
Down by the temple, Yang glanced at her teammates.
"Well… That was a thing." Immediately, the ground began to shudder. Ruby's sharp eyes caught sight of a boy streaking through the sky, golden flames erupting from his hands and feet, before she began to wobble from the quake.
"What's that?" Weiss asked, "more Grimm?" Yang chuckled darkly.
"Simultaneously better and worse. That's a Burrower - most dangerous Grimm ever discovered."
"How is that better?" Blake questioned.
"Well…"
From the bottom of the crevasse erupted a twelve-hundred-metre-long wormlike Grimm, covered in rotating armoured segments. Riding just behind its head was a boy clad in blue.
"Woo-hoo!" he shouted, clearly enjoying the ride. From the forest side of the gap, Nora cheered the boy on.
"Ride 'em, cowboy!" she screamed. Next to her, Ren recovered enough to facepalm at her antics as Jaune and Pyrrha sweatdropped. The Burrower was towering over them now as it flicked its head up. A blue speck was flung high above its head, and it looked upward, opening its segmented maw. Jaune grabbed Pyrrha's arm.
"We gotta help him!" Pyrrha shook her head, awe showing in her eyes.
"If that's who I think it is, he doesn't want or need our help."
—
High above the enormous Grimm, Charlie drew his sword for the second time that day. He pointed the blade downward, orientating his body to follow in it's path.
"Summer Rose…" he began, "lend me strength."
As his body began to fall, he began to glow.
—
"Is he…"
"Glowing?" Pyrrha finished for him. Jaune nodded. "Yes," she replied, "yes he is." It's been awhile…
—
Charlie shot downward, passing the first three rows of monomolecular-edged, rapidly rotating teeth before flipping over, blasting downward to arrest his momentum, and blasting to his right, sending himself, and the sword, hurtling toward the roof of the Burrower's mouth. Unlike anywhere else of the Burrower's body, the blade sank in like a knife into butter, severing the brain stem of the monstrous creature. He blasted backward and up as the creature let out a final, chilling screech before falling toward the bottom of the abyss. He fell toward the top of the cliff and a grinning Ruby Rose.
"Way to steal my thunder, Charlie," she told him as he landed, leaving a small crater in the ground.
"Sorry about that, next time I'll let a Burrower roam free and kill most of the other initiates." Ruby chuckled as Sol finally landed next to Charlie. He held out a white queen chess piece. Charlie took it, holding it up to take a closer look.
"Good work, Sol." the runemaster nodded, grinning.
"I saw a pretty big fight going on near the temple, but I couldn't give them much support since they were spread throughout the melee."
"Let's hope they survive, then." Sol nodded.
—
Sterling dodged another swipe from the beowolf before him, using its recovery to decapitate it.
"There's a LOT of Grimm here!" he shouted to Raven. The black-themed sniper was currently perched, birdlike on a branch, taking pot-shots at the Grimm attacking her partner.
"I can tell!" she shouted back, before eliminating an Ursa which had managed to creep up on the white swordsman.
"Are there any more cameras here?" he asked.
"One! I'll get it for you!" a sharp retort, and another camera fell at Sterling's feet. He quickly absorbed it, finally reaching the critical energy required to create the mass he needed.
"Alright! Heeeeeeeere's backup!" he shouted, glowing white before seeming to explode. The energy coalesced into a hulking, humanoid shape. When the glow faded, a robot stood where Sterling had been a moment ago. The robot immediately began attacking the Grimm, pummelling and crushing them to death with its bare hands. As it turned away from her, Raven could see stencilled onto it's back "AG-20". Shaking herself, she quickly returned to the task at hand, clearing out even more Grimm. With the assistance of Sterling in the shape of the "AG-20", the remaining beowolves and Ursai were quickly eliminated. Before they could so much as congratulate each other, however, a loud roar reached their ears.
—
The same roar reached Charlie and the others as well. They turned almost as one to see the one creature Charlie really didn't want to see.
"Taituo…" Charlie breathed.
—
Sterling immediately flashed bak into his original form, running up to Raven's tree. "Come on!" he shouted. "We have to move! Now! The two of us stand no chance!" Raven took a deep breath, then nodded. They turned and ran toward the temple, desperately trying to escape the massive draconian Grimm which was now chasing them. A loud cracking sound heralded a blazing arrow heading toward the creature's eye, exploding as it hit. All it did was make it angry. Sterling and Raven turned to find six other people running with them. Above the now group of eight, the Taituo screeched. Sterling recognised the screech. So did Aeris. The two screamed the same word at the same time.
"Scatter!" the Grimm opened its maw. At first, nothing seemed to be happening as they all split up. Then it clashed two of its fangs together. A single spark was all it took to ignite the gas it had been exhaling, creating a fireball that exploded out of its mouth and toward where they had all been positioned before.
—
Sterling found himself near to Raven, as well as a girl dressed in purple and another dressed in green. The girl in purple was holding what looked to be a flashlight which was emitting a blade of purple light, while the one in green was holding a bow with a string that looked to be made of pure Aura. Compared to the three girls' weapons, Sterling's sword looked pretty basic. The boy quickly took stock of his Aura level. He was pretty much running on fumes, so he couldn't take on his Atlesian Goliath-20 form again. He was limited to machines of his own size or smaller, which gave him three possibilities: 1) He could take on the form of an AK-130, using a pair of arm-mounted miniguns to try to distract the Grimm. 2) He could use his AK-120 form, using a pair of retractable blades for a similar purpose. 3) He could proceed to shit himself and then transform into a toaster. His partner and the other two stood firm. Fine. No toaster.
The Taituo came around again, its eyes focussed on Sterling for some unknown reason. Another screech, this one heralding a different attack. The girls all scattered again, but Sterling stood his ground. The draconian Grimm opened its mouth, spitting a cloud of poison over the boy. A flash of white light later, and the boy was no longer man, but machine.
"Big mistake," he intoned robotically. A pair of miniguns slid from his arms, and he opened fire into the surprised creature's mouth as he began to give orders to the stunned girls.
"Raven, aim for the eyes, they're one of its only weak points. Girl in green, keep it up with those explosive arrows, they'll disorient it and discourage it from trying it's fire or poison breaths. Girl in purple, grab the tail, climb up on top, and stab it right where the mask connects with the neck - the armour stops there for flexibility. Go!" he added when the girls didn't move. Shaking herself, Raven unholstered Black Widow and fired a shot into one of the Taituo's eyes.
—
Aeris found himself with Serenity, Flare, and Hammer Boy (whose name turned out to be Dirk).
"Okay," Aeris began, surprising even himself. "Serenity, be careful around this thing. It's fire can easily evaporate you. Flare, you'll be good against its fire, but if it uses anything else you're screwed. Dirk, you and I both need to worry about it the most, since we're vulnerable. Okay, assets… Serenity, is your water form limited to your body, or can you use other water?"
"I can use another body of water to bolster my water form, yes, but it's exhausting."
"Okay, I'm starting to get an idea. Flare, think HotShot can take Dirk's weight?"
"You know my babies can, Aeris!" the raven faunus rolled his eyes.
"Okay, here's the plan." he quickly explained, happy with the looks of growing comprehension he was receiving. "Sound like a plan?" The other three nodded their heads, determined expressions on their faces.
"I gotta let the others know the plan. Serenity, make for the nearest lake. Flare, get Dirk on board. I'll get flying when everything's ready."
—
As soon as the other four agreed to the plan, Aeris pulled out Focus, his Multi-Action Dust Staff (Customised) or MADS(C). The revolving cylinder quickly settled on a yellow crystal, and he spun the weapon around over his head before slamming the bladed end into the ground. A bolt of lightning erupted into the sky from the now yellow gem at the staff's head, arcing down to strike the Taituo's head a second later. The powerful attack had no real effect other than to change the target of the draconian Grimm's ire. Aeris looked to Viridian, the girl with the bow.
"Launch an explosive arrow upward when you're in position." She glanced at Sterling.
"What he said," the boy told her as the raven faunus leaped into the air, several tonnes of draconian creature of darkness hot on his tail.
Serenity reached the pool she had spotted earlier, diving in and preparing herself for the strain this move would undoubtedly place on her Aura. The sound of footsteps, distorted by the water, reached her ears to tell her the others had arrived. A burning red arrow flew into the air. The trap was set.
—
Despite being a creature of Grimm, the Taituo was no dumb beast. It had learned from territorial disputes with Nevermores exactly how to attack a smaller flying enemy. But somehow, this faunus was evading everything it threw at him! The Grimm growled, sending a burst of Blighted Breath at the elusive prey. Anticipating the move, the raven boy had spun his staff, sending him rocketing forward. But he always fell back to just outside its range. Why? Why was he… Oh no.
IT'S A TRAP!
The Taituo had come to this conclusion just a moment too late.
—
Dirk leaped into the air, bringing the full force of DeadRock down onto the draconian Grimm's shoulders. The massive hammer created a shockwave as it hit, not through Dust, but through sheer concussive force. Instantly, the Grimm lost all feeling in its wings as they simultaneously dislocated. Sharp objects might be ineffective, but blunt force trauma was almost never stopped by armour. The massive monster hit the lake at high speed, sinking like a stone. For a moment, it looked as if it were going to escape. Then Serenity made her move.
Serenity's Semblance allowed her to change the composition of her body to water. This ability, while draining, allowed her to avoid otherwise lethal blows. And, in certain situations, it allowed her to do something no other living being could do. As the Taituo burst out of the water, the lake itself took on a humanoid shape, grasping the draconian Grimm with both hands and slamming it into the now-dry lakebed, stunning it. Every time it tried to fight back, its attacks passed straight through. Every time the water golem struck, its blows were hard as stone. Soon, all fight had left the ancient Grimm, and it was at that moment that the others struck. Lavender drew her Force Blade, the blade of the swordlike weapon a beam of pure Force Dust energy, and began slashing at the creature's eyes. Raven unfolded Black Widow and began firing superdense sand particles at a fraction of the speed of light. Flare pulled out her twin bladed shotguns and began emptying the Burn Dust rounds straight down its throat. Aeris supplemented the assault with bolts of lightning. Finally, Sterling expended the last of his Aura to transform into an Atlesian anti-air cannon, which Dirk quickly commandeered to fire a single, massive projectile straight down the Taituo's gullet. This final shot was the last straw, erupting through the Grimm's weaker insides and destroying its internal organs. The Taituo couldn't even let out a final roar of pain, as its lungs were ruptured. The massive Grimm had lived for centuries, killed hundreds of trained Huntsmen. But a team of eight had finally defeated it. The Taituo loved a good fight. It loved the thrill of the hunt. And, despite what one might think, the Taituo was rather intelligent - to the point of coherent thought. And in its final moments, all it could think of was two words.
Well played.
—
"Flare Tempest. Aeris Tempest. Serenity Depth. Dirk Terran. The four of you retrieved the white bishop pieces. Together, you shall be known as team FASD (Facade), led by… Aeris Tempest!" The raven faunus was more than a little surprised by this development, though he refused to let this become apparent. He simply nodded in a stoic manner, giving his teammates a half grin as they walked of the stage to allow the next team to be formed.
"Sterling Argent. Lavender Periwinkle. Viridian Kelly. Raven Onyx. The four of you retrieved the white pawn pieces. Together, you shall be known as team SLVR (Silver), led by… Sterling Argent!" the hooded teen allowed his own surprise to show on his face only by a slight widening of his eyes - no-one could see his jaw dropping beneath the mask covering his lower face. Raven looked at him with a resigned expression, asking him without words "I have a lot to teach you about this, don't I?"
He simply nodded slightly, and she sighed as he led them off the stage.
"Proteus 'The First' Deleo. Aina 'Deadeye' Kawaguchi. Campbell 'Leroy' Jenkins. Koby 'Impact' Alexander. The four of you retrieved the black knight pieces. Together, you shall be known as team PACK (Pack), Lead by… Proteus Deleo!" Proteus was not in the least surprised. The four of them stood at was until he stomped his right boot, bringing them to attention, before stomping twice. The four of them turned to the left as one, marching off the stage. The military training of those four is obvious, thought Ozpin. Proteus nodded, having heard the telegraphed thought thanks to his psionic abilities.
"Finally, Charles Xiao Long and Sol Lux. The two of you retrieved the white queen piece. Despite having no other teammates, one of you successfully slew a Burrower which had encroached upon the Forest-" a video played over the screen above them of Charlie falling into the Burrower's maw "-while the other successfully returned to Beacon with the artefact. Due to these accomplishments, you shall be a two-man team known as CLSL (Collossal), led by… Charles Xiao Long!" Charlie grinned at that. Oath or no oath, he hadn't been sure of his acceptance once he had realised that he and Sol were the only two left. Sol, likewise, was obviously relieved as well. The two hurried off the stage, Charlie to speak with his sister's team and Sol to pursue a passtime he had become quickly proficient at: casting the future.