Chapter 9:
As they left the asylum, Ruby heaved a sigh of relief. At least they wouldn't have to deal with the monsters lurking in Creek Lake anymore. However, she was bothered by something. She turned to the bound and still unconscious form of James Darlin, her gaze dark. Seeming to sense her unease, Zwei came over, nudging her leg, as if meaning to ask what was wrong. Ruby merely smiled and stroked the dog on his neck.
"Well then." Oobleck nodded. "It seems that we have at least forty tubes of the Compound. Hopefully that will be enough for our Kraken friend."
"Doctor, what about the asylum?" Blake asked.
"As much as I'd like to, there is nothing we can currently do about it." He replied with a regretful tone. "The Vale council would likely deny the existence of this place and even worse, Beacon itself will come under strict scrutiny. Do understand that Professor Ozpin also regrets being unable to do anything."
"I knew I should have set of some kind of fire back there." Yang growled. "That place shouldn't be allowed to exist!"
"Personal sentiments aside," Weiss spoke up. "At least we know to never come back, and to discourage anyone else from doing so."
Ruby didn't pay much mind to the conversation, choosing instead to continue to stare at Darlin. Weiss noticed immediately, going over to her side. "Feeling okay?" The heiress asked. Ruby turned to her, shrugging her shoulders in response.
"I dunno." Ruby replied. "I'm just worried for Doctor Darlin. I hope he'll get better."
"He was living in a haunted ruin filled with living nightmares for twenty years." Weiss said. "There's a chance he might not fully recover. But I suppose we can try our best for him. Hopefully he'll get some of his sanity back. But first, we have to deal with our Kraken fried back in Vale. Maybe we can hand him over to the local authorities."
Ruby nodded, her eyes still appearing downcast. "It's just, I'm still thinking about what he said. That we can't stop the Grimm, that we're just fighting for naught and they'll just overwhelm us anyway. I know better than to just give up, but what if all our efforts are going to be in vain one day?"
Weiss frowned as she listened to Ruby ponder on this question. As much as she didn't want to think about this, Weiss couldn't help but wonder as well.
"Oh God…" Yang gasped as soon as they entered Vale. Blake, Weiss and Ruby leaned out as much as they could to behold the scene before them. They could only stare in shock as the skyline of the city was now covered in black smoke. Fires were raging in buildings close to the docks. Many roads were barricaded and Atlas fighters flew about like flies in a frenzy.
Ruby saw that one of the Atlas military carriers had crashed into a couple of buildings in the centre of the city, most likely having lost altitude and control from the damage to its left wing. She hoped the crew was still alright and that there were no civilian casualties. However, based on what she saw, a part of her was clenched in cold dread.
"This is awful…" Weiss whispered grimly. She turned to the docks, where the sounds of gunfire echoed from. She could now see the writhing form of the Kraken's tentacles launching boulders all over, either in laying siege to the city or in an attempt to destroy the sole remaining Atlas ship. Fighters flew all around it, dropping explosives or firing their weapons at it in an attempt to drive it away.
"Doctor Oobleck!" The pilot called. "I just got a signal from Professor Goodwitch! She is waiting for team RWBY at the forward command centre."
Oobleck nodded. "Take us there. Once team RWBY has stepped off, we will head to Vale hospital and hand Doctor Darlin over. At least, I hope the hospital is still standing."
The pilot acknowledged his instructions, taking the ship to the designated coordinates. As soon as they were close enough, the four girls jumped out of the airship, taking with them their spoils from the asylum. Ruby approached the bespectacled teacher as Oobleck left on his other assignment.
"Welcome back girls." Glynda nodded. "I trust your mission went well." At this, General Ironwood, who was currently in discussion with some of his commanders, cocked his head to the left, appearing to have heard what was just said. Glynda now gestured to Ruby's leg. "Ms. Rose, I trust that wound won't hamper you?"
"I'm still chipper teach." Ruby said, giving a thumbs-up.
"Very well." Glynda replied. "Let me hear your report." At this, team RWBY gave a summarised report on what they have been doing and their findings, leaving out the fact that they had brought a deranged scientist with them.
"I see." Glynda said as they finished. "So you have managed to retrieve a compound that may halt the creature's regenerative capabilities?"
"Yeah." Ruby nodded. "But we'll need to put it into this guy as fast as possible. All of it to be safe."
"We have no idea how much we will need." Weiss added. "It was never meant to be used for something like this."
"As of now, I doubt it matters." Glynda nodded. "Very well. I will inform the General of this and he will come up with the best possible solution." As she walked away, Ruby now caught sight of a familiar group of people.
"Jaune!" She cried, running over to him. The leader of team JNPR looked up, sighing in relief as he spotted them.
"Hi Ruby." Jaune grinned weakly. Ruby now looked and saw how the battles had taken its toll on him. Jaune looked exhausted, roughed up worse than what Cardin would have done to him. His armour was smudged in many sections and his clothes looked like it hadn't been washed in days. A few plasters were wrapped around several of his fingers and his breathing came in huffs
"How're things going?" Blake asked.
"Well," Jaune inhaled deeply. "As you can see, about as well as the last time we faced this guy."
"Yeah." Weiss nodded. "We noticed."
"It's just insane." Jaune gasped. "The Atlas military hits it with everything they've got. We blow apart a tentacle or two, it goes away, and then three hours later it comes back like nothing happened. We've held it off for so long I have no idea how many attacks it has launched on us. Additionally, ammo is running slim. Soon enough, they're going to be shoving Crocea Mors into a cannon."
"Well, we have something that just may to the trick." Ruby said. "We just need to get in close and fire it at him. That's where my baby starts talking." At this, she patted Crescent Rose, slung around her hip. "Actually, I just realised, maybe Pyrrha can help too. Her rifle has good range right?"
"Yeah." Jaune nodded. "I rarely see her miss."
Ruby nodded. "Okay. Jaune, gather whoever you think is free and get Pyrrha here with whatever ammunition she has left. We have to work fast."
Twenty minutes later:
Pyrrha loaded her modified syringe bullets into Akoúo̱, cocking the bolt and looking through the scope the minute she was done. Beside her, Ruby was also loading modified calibre rounds into Crescent Rose. "So we can't miss a single one?" Pyrrha asked as she shifted her focus to preparing spare magazines. Ren now came with a few more prepared rounds.
"To be safe, no." Blake said. "We don't know how effective this thing will be. We came back with only approximately 50 kilos. This thing prevented the disintegration of an Ursa for forty years. Hopefully it will prevent the regeneration of the Kraken for a few hours."
"Enough for us to damage it permanently?" Pyrrha frowned.
"Maybe enough to kill it." Yang chimed in as she put another set of rounds on the table. "We seriously should have tried to get rid of this thing for good the last time."
"Agreed." Ruby nodded. "Time to show this thing who is boss."
"It won't be easy." Weiss spoke, laying a few more modified cartridges on the table. "From what I've seen, this creature possesses quite a high level of intelligence. The only way we can approach safely is by airship, and it seems to have covered that area as well. Whatever we do from here on is going to be risky. To be safe, suggest we go out only with adequate cover from the Atlas fighters."
"INCOMING!" Someone cried out. Team RWBY and JNPR ducked as another boulder crashed into a building not too far away. The structure crumbled apart immediately, broken glass and concrete now burying the roads around it.
Ruby looked up at the devastation and cocked her weapon. "We'd better move."
The airships carrying Ruby and team JNPR now edged in closer to the Kraken. Atlas fighters still zoomed around, dropping bombs, launching rockets and churning out every form of ammunition upon the gigantic Grimm. It didn't take long for Ruby to notice how conservative they were with their shots. With ammunition running low, the pilots had to make every bullet count.
As of now, the Kraken appeared to have taken considerable damage. It seemed to have lost the use of two of its tentacles and blood spurted out of countless wounds on the others. Ruby cocked Crescent Rose, loading the modified rounds into the chamber. Crescent Rose's blade stretched out, forming the unipod stand for stability. In the other airship, Pyrrha readied her rifle, crouching for stability.
"It's wounded already." Pyrrha noted. "If we were to fire at it now, and the serum works as it is intended, we could cripple it for a long while."
"And hopefully kill it." Jaune nodded. "I just hope when we get the chance, we have the bullets we need."
"First things first," Ren replied. "We have to fire the serum into him. Ruby, how's your aim?"
Ruby didn't reply, her focus entirely dedicated to the first shot. At this moment, she could feel the strain on her mind. Without knowing how the serum would work, Ruby knew each shot had to count. Additionally, the airship was currently at quite a distance away to avoid potential dangers. That, and the fact that the Kraken's movements were unpredictable due to the writhing of the tentacles made it all that much harder to get a clean shot.
"Damn it…" Ruby muttered under her breath. "I'd like to get in closer…" She eyed one tentacle that had now stopped to fling another boulder. As quick as her eye could follow, Ruby fired at that specific tentacle. Ren watched, his keen eyes confirming the hit.
"Nice shot." The boy remarked.
"It was lucky." Ruby admitted as the tentacle let the projectile loose. The water now bubbled and the four of them watched as the massive head of the Kraken now rose out of the water. Ruby now remembered the first time she had encountered the monster, which she regarded as one of the most frightening things she had seen. She now stared at the glowing red eye that peeked out of the helmet like carapace. As if it had felt Ruby's shot, its eye turned upward and stared into Ruby's face.
"It's looking at me…" Ruby gulped as she focused on it through her sights. Seeming to have heard her, the Kraken roared, its eye appearing to be fixed at the airship they were on.
"Woah." Jaune blinked as its roar punctured through the air. "It sounds pissed."
"I think it is." Pyrrha nodded as she watched.
"I think it remembers me…" Ruby said. This time, everyone looked at her.
"Are you saying this thing has a grudge on you for what you did last time?" Jaune asked. As if to answer her, the Kraken reacted by throwing a boulder right at their airship. The craft veered away just in time, the action causing the four of them to lose balance.
"I have a feeling it does!" Ruby yelled over the commotion. "And it wants to return the favour it seems!"
"Great." Jaune replied. "So now we have to deal with a Grimm's grudge on you?"
"Well you pretty much wounded it badly the last time." Ren nodded. "It seems it hasn't forgotten that time."
Ruby grimaced as she cocked the bolt again. "Wonderful. Well, at least I can fight this thing again with the added chance of me becoming a snack."
"Apparently it wants to be as how it turned out the last time." Jaune remarked. "With us at a complete disadvantage no matter what we try to do."
"Well, we have a chance to even the odds." Pyrrha commented as she fired off three rounds right at a tentacle that paused to attack them. Ruby nodded in silence at Pyrrha's note, firing more rounds at the monster. Nora now pulled out Magnhild and fired grenades at any boulders that came close, deflecting them however much as she could to minimise the movement of the airship.
Ruby kept up a steady stream of shots, firing as many as she could at the Kraken. Soon enough, they had fired every round they had. The battle had seemed to last forever, though the clamour of explosions and gunfire in the background had drowned out their sense of time. Another squadron of Atlas fighters now flew by, unloading whatever missiles they had on the monster, wounding it substantially. The Kraken roared once more as it sank back into the ocean, retreating for the moment.
Ruby let out a sigh of relief as the chaos was brought to an end for the moment. She turned to see an equally exhausted look on Pyrrha's face as they returned to Vale.
Author's Note:
Well, almost finishing this little read. Will be trying to get out the next chapter up by tomorrow.
On a side note, recently Rooster Teeth has announced that Monty Oum, creator of RWBY, has come down with a medical emergency. As of now, all that the community knows is that he is in critical care and it is unknown whether he will recover.
The staff of Rooster Teeth has urged everyone to keep him and his family in their thoughts whilst a fundraiser to support his family with medical bills is up on GoFundMe. The following link has the details:
Do keep Monty, his family and friends in your thoughts and prayers. And here's to wishing a speedy recovery for him.
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