"Get out of here! NOW!" Ruby yelled to the whole group as the earth split apart.
"God, how big is this guy?" Yang yelled over the commotion. It appeared that the entire forest was being stirred up as the colossal creature woke from the depths of the underground.
Yang's question was answered momentarily as the monstrous creature's head finally burst forth. It was already large enough to cover the whole of Beacon's main avenue and almost a tall as the main building itself. It's claws now gouged through the earth, every movement causing small tremors through the ground.
"Okay, so exactly what do we do about that?" Weiss asked as she ran as fast as her legs could carry her.
"I'm thinking!" Scarlett snapped. "I was going to take out the big sucker when he was asleep! I never thought of what to do if he woke up!"
"The White Fang were going to use you to wake him and you never thought of that?" Yang roared over the commotion.
"I was going to kill him the minute I found him!" Scarlett yelled back. "I just never thought I'd have you guys caught in the mess either!"
"Can we argue about who is at fault later?" Ruby screamed. "We have a very big problem right now!"
"Contact Ozpin!" Blake yelled. "He needs to know what's going on!"
"Well, we may still have a chance!" Scarlett said. "My blood was originally supposed to be used for him because it was the only thing that could give him his full strength! Since he was woken up by natural causes, he isn't as strong as he should!"
Glancing behind, Ruby looked at the Dark Ursa. True enough, it didn't seem to be at full strength. It still looked as if it's mind was half awake and the violet crystals on its body glowed faintly, not like the usual glow of Dust crystals, which were bright and piercing. Still, how were they fighting a Grimm that big?
"We need a crane for something like that!" Weiss said as it finally noticed them, giving chase.
"As much as I'd like to say size doesn't matter, Weiss is right." Yang said. "This isn't like the Nevermore we fought during initiation!"
Ruby thought back to their battle against the massive bird-like Grimm. Then, she had managed to slingshot herself into close quarters with the Grimm following with its decapitation.
"Maybe it is!" She yelled.
"How?" Weiss answered. "I'm sure you've noticed that this thing is titanic!"
"True." Ruby nodded. "But we've also got someone who it needs..." At this, she glanced to Scarlett. The dark haired girl stared back questioningly.
"If he needs Scarlett to go to full strength, then that is what we'll give him..."
Jaune Arc jumped in his seat. "What was that?" He said in a panicked tone.
"What was what?" Pyrrha frowned in her seat next to his. Currently, they were in Professor Oobleck's class. The red-haired girl knew he had enough problems with the good, albeit hyper-charged teacher. He couldn't afford to continuously get distracted in class once more.
"Call me nuts, but I think I heard a really big roar from somewhere..." Jaune frowned while he whispered to her, doing his best to concentrate on the lesson at the same time.
"Jaune, maybe your imagination is getting to you." Pyrrha smiled. "C'mon, we need to get these notes for team RWBY. Wonder where they vanished to?"
Jaune watched as Professor Oobleck glided over to Velvet to ask a question, to which the Faunus effortlessly replied. He concentrated on his note taking once more. Perhaps Pyrrha was right. He probably was imagining things.
Then it sounded once more, except more audibly than anything. Jaune instantly shot out of his seat, as did Velvet. Around him, many more students looked around, stunned by the sudden noise. He couldn't tell what it was with it sounding so faint, but he swore it was a roar.
"Okay, Is wear I'm not imagining things this time..." He said. "What was that? A roar?"
"What could be big enough to make a sound like that?" Pyrrha asked, apparently shocked by it as well.
Suddenly, the door opened and Professor Ozpin himself strode in. "All of you are to return to your dormitories. All classes for today are hereby suspended. Bartholomew, I need you, now..." Jaune studied the headmaster's face, catching a look of worry and urgency.
"I see." Professor Oobleck nodded. "Very well, you heard Professor Ozpin, dismissed, all of you!" With that, he took off once more, keeping in line with Ozpin.
"What is going on?" Pyrrha frowned as they left.
Jaune shook his head. "I don't know, but I can bet it isn't good."
The Dark Ursa charged, its eyes peeled for the five girls it had noticed. Rather, it had only interest in one of them, the one that smelled exactly like it. Her blood called to it, and it's blood to hers. The power the girl possessed, it rightfully belonged to him. He growled as he realized he had lost her. His belly ached, his body throbbed. It needed to be sated, now.
Slowly, it walked, it's sheer size making even the tallest trees appear like branches. Every stepped felled many in a single motion whilst causing the very ground to tremble. It glanced to the right as a Nevermore flew by, obviously startled by him. He could have fit the fully grown Grimm perfectly into his mouth, but right now, it was more interested in the girl.
He remembered the human miners that had come into his cave. Remembered them finding the purple crystals on his body and had pried of a small bit of it. He had registered pain. Subsequently, he roared, scaring them off, but they had taken a part of his strength with them. He hadn't been concerned about it though. However, now he felt weak and sluggish. He had slept too long. He needed it back. It was necessary to make him strong again.
Sniffing the air again, he caught her scent. He stared in the scent's direction, his eyes barely making out a bunch of ruins in the distance that stood on a cliff that overlooked a ravine. Growling, he made his way there, intent only upon sating his hunger.
This is insane... Scarlett said to herself as she recounted Ruby's plan. If it was any consolation, Weiss had mentioned that almost every plan of Ruby's was practically questionable on many levels of sanity, though they did work out mostly because they were unpredictable to their enemies. Unfortunately, it was the unpredictable part that made Scarlett nervous
"I swear to God Ruby, you'd better be right about this..." Scarlett muttered under her breath, still fidgeting nervously. What the hell had happened to her siblings in the time she was away? Then again, she supposed such a question was unnecessary. She herself knew the answer. Oh god... She berated herself silently as the thundering footsteps approached. I swear, Ruby needs to have her head examined.
Then again, Ruby seemed confident in the plan. Perhaps it was because she had made crazy ideas like this before. Perhaps she was ridiculously lucky. Or perhaps it was because she believed.
Believed in Weiss, her partner, the first person Ruby had made a connection with upon stepping into Beacon. Believed in Blake, a Faunus girl who had connections with the White Fang in her previous years but now had rallied behind her to support her ideals. Believed in Yang, a boisterous and headstrong girl that never seemed to stop making her presence known.
And more than that, she believed in her oldest sister, the one who had taught her to be strong, to believe in the heart and soul of everyone she met. To Scarlett, it meant much more than anything. To not be hated, to be trusted, and to be forgiven.
The footsteps got closer. Scarlett looked up and saw the Dark Ursa staring at her from above the forest canopy.
"C'mon ugly!" Scarlett called out. "I'm right here!"
The beast roared in response.
Ruby could feel the earth shake with every step of the massive monster. Truth be told, she had no clue as to what kind of power birthed something like this, but whatever it was, it would certainly take a lot more to kill it.
She watched as it approached Scarlett, who was now standing on her own by the ruins that she herself had stood on during initiation when team RWBY battled with the Nevermore. She envisioned the same situation, with the only difference being the Grimm they were trying to kill was about a hundred times larger than the Nevermore.
It approached Scarlett warily. Ruby frowned. The thing was smart to say the least. She would have to factor that part in. Finally, it's colossal paw reached the edge of the cliff and it stopped. It studied the ravine for a second, definitely wondering if it could cross. With its large size, the entire ruin Scarlett stood on could have collapsed the minute it laid its gigantic limb down on it. Ruby fervently hoped it would.
Signaling to Weiss, she moved, the Schnee heiress following close behind. Weiss made a glyph that launched her into the air whilst Ruby used her speed to close in on one of the creature's hind legs.
Drawing Crescent Rose, Ruby gave a wicked slash right at the knee joint of the monster. At the same time, Weiss had launched a flame attack right at it, setting its fur alight.
The Ursa roared, an unbelievably loud groan as it shook. Whether or not it felt the pain however, was another question. Ruby and Weiss retreated as Blake and Yang went in. Blake fired Gambol Shroud, grabbing onto Yang at the same time she fired Ember Celica, propelling them both to the monster's back. Gambol Shroud served as an anchor point for the two girls, allowing Yang to land on the monster's back and give a punch backed with tremendous force.
The Ursa roared, annoyed at the commotion happening around it. It reared up on its hind legs as Yang and Blake leapt off.
"Scarlett! Now!" Ruby yelled. Scarlett's hands glowed with eerie red light, unleashing a shockwave that now propelled her lithe form toward the monstrous Ursa. Unsheathing her katana, she poured every bit of Aura she could muster into the blade and stabbed it within the lower jaw of the monster. Scarlett removed the blade from the monster's jaw, the sleek blade stained with blood. More blood gushed out of the monster's wound and Scarlett saw more blood gush out of its mouth, proof of its broken jaw.
She landed right on the ground beside team RWBY as the massive monster toppled over. It landed, completely still.
"That actually worked well enough..." Scarlett noted with a pleasant surprise.
"Told you." Ruby snickered.
"Still, I'm amazed it was that easy..." Weiss said upon looking at the unconscious colossus. "We are dealing with some sort of legendary Grimm I suppose..."
"We only pulled it off thanks to Scarlett." Blake interjected. "If anything, her powers are the only thing able to even hurting this creature."
"So much for mister legend over here." Yang said with a smug look. "Hell, you weren't even that much of a fight!" At this, Yang kicked the cranium of the gigantic beast...
...which somehow served as a wake-up call for the creature.
Its eyes opened and they gleamed menacingly toward the girls.
"Oh crap..." Yang gulped.
"Yang..." Scarlett growled while stepping away.
"You idiot!" Weiss screeched as the monster roared. It rose up once more, striking the ground with its paw, the resulting shockwave knocking them all to the ground. It stared at the stunned group, raising its other paw to strike once more.
With little time to think, Scarlett raised her hands, firing a shockwave at full force at the paw, deflecting it and toppling the massive beast again, though it recovered quickly.
"Move it!" Scarlett yelled as the Grimm reared for another strike. The five of them moved as fast as they could, doing their hardest to avoid the massive Grimm's strikes.
"Okay, this is starting to look bad!" Ruby yelled. "It's way too big for us!"
Scarlett turned back to see the Grimm charging straight at full speed. She truly wondered what she would have to do to even stop this thing. The she remembered her mother's words.
To save the ones you love ,you must do all you can.
Scarlett frowned. All I can huh? Suddenly, it all became clear. Now she knew her place, her purpose.
"I may have an idea on how to take him out!" Scarlett yelled. "But to do that, I need to get airborne! Really airborne..."
"And how do we do that?" Weiss asked. "We can barely outrun him and I'm starting to get exhausted!"
As the Dark Ursa charged in, it stopped, looking upwards. Ruby turned, following its gaze to see a Bullhead flying in. She could now recognize the figure of Professor Ozpin in the cockpit. The Bullhead dived, its hatch opening. From within, Professor Oobleck beckoned the five girls to enter whilst Glynda fired barrages of energy at the Grimm.
"C'mon!" Ruby yelled, urging all of them into the aircraft. Once they were in, the aircraft took off, but not before the Grimm nearly struck it down with its paw.
"Hold on!" Glynda yelled as the aircraft spun. Ruby held on as tight as she could as Ozpin and Oobleck did their best to stabilize the aircraft.
"Professor Ozpin, sir." Professor Oobleck frowned as he held the controls. "I'm afriad he has punctured one of the fuel lines. We can still stay airborne, but only for a limited time!"
Ozpin nodded, turning to the rear compartment. "Scarlett Rose, good to see you again."
"Likewise sir." Scarlett nodded. "I'm sure you have plenty of questions, but they will need to wait. We need to take care of him first." She said, gesturing to the Dark Ursa.
"What do you need?" Ozpin asked.
"I need you to push him back as much as possible." Scarlett said. "And I need us to go higher."
Ozpin nodded. "Bartholomew, let's go."
Scarlett now turned to Ruby and Yang. "Fire at his head, as fast as possible. We have to push him backwards."
Yang punched her fists together. "You got it!" Ruby nodded in reply, moving over to the open hatch with her sister. Together, they pulled out their weapons, firing as fast as they could toward the giant monster. Even though the bullets were tiny compared to his size, he still had to face the onslaught that blinded him.
Glynda now came to the hatch, firing a barrage of purple projectiles at the monster. Blake had also drawn her pistol and had taken Scarlett's, firing a dual-wield salvo of bullets at the monster's head.
The Dark Ursa roared, the barrage of bullets taking its toll on him. He inched backwards, closer and closer to the edge of the cliff once more.
"Only half our fuel is left!" Professor Oobleck cried from the cockpit.
"Weiss!" Scarlett yelled. "Can you make a propelling glyph?"
"Sure." Weiss nodded before giving a confused look. "Where?"
"Just outside the aircraft." Scarlett gestured as she went to the door. Weiss nodded as she did, conjuring a glyph that Scarlett leapt on, holding her in place.
"Scarlett?" Ruby frowned.
"Ruby, do me a favor and take care of your friends." Scarlett said. "You're a big girl now after all, so time to act like it.
Ruby blinked in confusion. "Scarlett, what are you saying?"
"Yang..." Scarlett said as she turned to the blonde. "You are an annoying, loud and a big pain in the ass, but you are at least a lot mature now. So you better remember to take care of Ruby for me."
Yang turned, confused as well. "Wait, what are you saying?"
Scralett merely smiled, turning to everyone else. "All of you need to show the light within your own heart and soul. So show it to this dark world, as mom did for me. Remember, for what you love and believe in, fight with everything you've got."
Her hand suddenly glowed, brighter and redder than before. She thrust it out and instantly, a shockwave blasted her right at the monster whilst rocking the airship at the same time. Ruby nearly fell out had Yang not grabbed hold of her before clasping Blake's hand in the process. The Faunus strained to hold them all in.
Ruby turned to see Scarlett rush at the monster at blinding speed, her katana outstretched. The sleek blade now pierced right through the monster's skull, causing it to roar in pain. Scarlett drew her arm back, blasting another shockwave right through the impaled blade. The katana shot into the monster's brain and then right through the back of its skull.
The Dark Ursa flailed, losing its balance and toppled backwards towards the ravine. Scarlett turned to look back at the Bullhead, where she could make out the shocked expression on Yang's face and Ruby's mouth, opened in some kind of soundless scream. Scarlett could already make out what she was saying.
SCARLETT!
Scarlett now felt the monstrous Grimm topple backwards into the ravine, taking her with it.
"Stop!" Ruby cried out, tears gathering in her eyes. "We have to go back for her!"
"We can't Ruby." Ozpin said. "This aircraft is running out of fuel! We can't afford to search for her."
"But!" Ruby began before Yang stopped her. Yang also had tears in her own eyes, but she did her utmost to keep them in.
"We just found each other again..." Ruby sobbed. "I can't lose her again..."
"Scarlett fought for all of you." Ozpin said. "She followed her heart and soul and her beliefs. Honor her and the decision she made."
Weiss and Blake crouched beside the two sisters, hugging them both as Yang drew Ruby into a tighter embrace. Ruby merely shook with sobs as they left the battlefield and Scarlett behind.