A/N: Sorry for the long wait again. I've been swept away in the river that is life. Seriously though, I have been quite busy but was happy to finish this chapter. It's short but I should have a chapter coming out pretty quickly after this one. As always enjoy!
Bullies Part 2
The sound of the clocktower clicked on by indicating each second that passed. Two figures seated across from each other stared at a board filled with chess pieces. The one across the desk made his move. The other figure quickly followed up, placing the black king into check. This begun a flurry of moves that led to the slow systematic destruction of nearly half of the black pieces. It wasn't even fifteen minutes later that the black king was put into checkmate.
"And it appears that it is my win yet again."
"I lasted much longer this time around though. I'll that as a personal win in my book."
"Well as much as I enjoy these pleasantries and the ability to take a break I do have to ask, why are you here when the rest of your peers are currently on a field trip?"
"You know well why I'm here Ozpin. The same thing that I always want, all of which that you apparently have answers for."
"The benefit of old age." The man snorted.
"Oh yes, and perhaps a second life on top of that?" The man leaned forward, into the dim lights of Ozpin's office revealing the lean face of Zelle.
"I'm afraid I don't know what you mean." Zelle's face scrunched up. Talking with this man was trying to get a straight answer out of a Sphinx. It wasn't going to happen.
"While you like to talk in riddles and half-truths Ozpin, you made one slip up. I never mentioned once that I died during our conversation a couple weeks ago." Ozpin merely took a sip of his coffee and stared neutrally at Zelle.
"So you decided that asking this question now while you should be on a field trip with the rest of your team was a smart idea?" Zelle merely waved a paper in the air.
"I got excused from Glynda."
"I swear that woman coddles you too much."
"I suppose that is the advantage of being her prodigy and personal student."
Ozpin pursed his lips. Another minute of the clock ticked by as the two men sat in silence. Ozpin finally broke it.
"I've been around much longer than you can know Zelle. I don't just mean reincarnation either." Zelle looked up at him questioningly.
"Perhaps later on I will tell you, but for now, know that I'm trying to help you the best I can. That goes for every other student at Beacon as well." Zelle stared at him for a few moment, mulling his reply over.
"I suppose that is… acceptable. That leaves me to the second reason, the reason that actually convinced Glynda to let me be excused." Ozpin simply raised his eyebrow.
Zelle rolled up his sleeve. The markings on his left forearm from before had been filled out. The swirls appeared to have become complex patterns that seemed to be chaotically spread across his forearm.
"The markings started looking like this after the incident in the cafeteria yesterday." Ozpin looked over the markings for a few moments before snapping a picture of his forearm on his scroll.
"I'll send these over to Oobleck and see if there is anything that he can find out along with the previous pattern we observed. Now I suggest your run along, judging by the note, you're only allowed to be late to the field trip."
A shallow nod and Zelle made his way with Ryo close at heels as he entered the elevator, intent on making it to the end of the field trip.
Ozpin turned towards the window, looking out into the wilderness of Vale. "What are you planning?" He whispered.
…..
Zelle had to admit, Forever Fall was very pretty. The orange and red leaves of the Fall trees could be seen for miles on end. That and with the distant mountain range in the background just made the entire place extremely scenic. The only thing ruining the image was the loud buzzing of the bullhead.
"Get ready to drop in a few. I'll let you know closer to time." The pilot's voice was heard over the com.
"Roger that." Zelle continued to enjoy the scenery when something caught his eyes. A large group of grimm all moving with purpose. It mostly consisted of Ursai and beowolves, but they were moving in too much of a hurry.
"Actually, circle back around. There seems to be a strange amount of grimm activity. Some students may be in trouble."
"Sorry kid, I got strict orders from Ms. Goodwitch to bring you straight to her." Zelle sighed. He took his headset off and dived out the Bullhead. It would only be later that the pilot would realize his passenger had decided to leave early.
The wind whipped at Zelle's face as he fell. Summoning his great sword. He reminded himself to talk to his team about a name for the damn thing, he fired a blast of air in the direction that he saw the Grimm go. Ryo was in his hood. Somehow he hadn't been thrown out by him performing air maneuvers. Zelle saw his point of impact. Righting himself for impact, he landed hard. 92% reserves. That was more than plenty.
Ryo got out of the hood and the sound of muscles and bones tearing and popping could be heard as Ryo transformed into his alpha form. With not a word made, the two began across the forest at breakneck speeds. They finally skidded to a stop and got to see Jaune decapitate an Ursa Major. Damn, that was pretty cool.
Jaune helped up Cardin, weird, and said a few words to him. However he didn't need that right now what he needed was the other three on the other side of the clearing. In an instant he was in front of them with a boom following in his wake. The three were startled, but made no move to attack.
"Heyyyyy, while I would love to stay and chat about how awesome this forest looks we have approximately thirty seconds before a hoard of Grimm overrun this area." Zelle said as quickly as possible. Their eyes widened and were about to say something when a beowolf jumped out from the brush, only to be cut down by Ryo with a swipe of his large claws.
Cardin confused asked, "Did that Grimm just kill another Grimm?" Jaune shrugged, he was use to Ryo's presence at this point and knew that he wasn't an issue.
"Yeah, his name's Ryo. Don't hurt him though unless you want to be hospitalized." Jaune paused and thought for a moment. "Or worse." Cardin gulped and nodded remembering when Zelle knocked him and his team out.
Another beowolf came out, this time it was shot down courtesy of Ruby.
"Everyone, we need to setup a defensive perimeter. The Grimm are probably being attracted to the sap. We need to hold them off while slowly retreating. Zelle and Pyrrha you all cover our back during the retreat. Me and Weiss will provide fire support. Jaune, we need to get you and Cardin out of here." Ruby commanded everyone. Zelle and Pyrrha nodded and took to the frontline with Ryo. Weiss went ahead and created a Glyph that fired ice spikes at Grimm whenever the opportunity presented itself.
"I can still fight!"
Ruby glared at him. "Jaune, you have a bruise forming on your face. That means your aura is low enough for you to take damage. Getting you and Cardin out of here is our first priority."
Jaune looked like he wanted to argue but decided to follow his fellow team leader's advice. Ruby turned her attention as Jaune and Cardin began to jog away. Firing a couple shots that tore into the Grimm. " Zelle, Pyrrha, we're moving back."
Zell summoned a green glyph blasting a ball of condensed air into the Grimm, creating room for the two to fall back, with Ryo right behind them. Zelle grit his teeth. There definitely weren't this many when he was viewing from the bullhead. Pyrrha was beside him and they made a mad dash through the trees, however they forgot that Jaune was still new to aura and they quickly caught up with the other four. Lucky for him, Ruby took charge again.
"Same plan guys. If you feel overwhelmed retreat back to Jaune and Cardin to regroup."
Zelle turned his weapon to cannon form and didn't wait for the Grimm to catch up. He fired several blasts that tore through trees allowing them sight of the quickly approaching Grimm. Zelle quickly counted at least fifteen beowolves, an alpha, seven ursai minor and two ursai major.
He continued firing blast after blast of condensed air as the rest joined in to hopefully thin the hoard coming their way. A blast of air completely crushed a beowolf as a sniper round took off the head of another. Ice spikes drove through an ursai minor. Pyrrha merely bided her time, well aware her rifle would not be able to do much damage in time. The hoard arrived in short order.
Quickly changing his weapon back to sword form, he bisected the incoming alpha. Ryo pounced an ursai and began tearing at it for all he was worth. Zelle had to deal with several more Grimm, dispatching them quickly. Battle continued on for a good five minutes before Zelle faintly heard Ruby tell him to get back, so turning his weapon back to cannon form, he fired another blast into the hoard to make his escape. Well that was his intention anyway. All he got was a click.
His efforts were thrown as a large force slammed into his back, sending him to the ground. Only years of fighting Grimm in the wild allowed him to roll out of the way of the crushing paw of the Ursa Major. He quickly switched his weapon to sword form and slashed his weapon at the ursa only for it to deflect off the armor. Something bit his shoulder which he quickly crushed its neck for its troubles. He quickly rolled backwards to avoid the ursa swiping at him.
Glancing warily around him, he was surrounded. Ryo was there beside him as well growling whenever something got too close. Doing a quick analysis of his aura, Zelle saw that he was at 65% still, despite that potentially debilitating bite. He couldn't hear any other fighting, which means the others had been able to slip away. Good, that means he could stop holding back.
Unloading a canister the Grimm growled at him, however they made no move attack him, yet. He quickly loaded it with a deep orange dust.
"Hey, Ryo what are the chances of getting out of this unscathed?" Ryo made a sound that was a mix of a bark and a growl.
"Yeah, I agree."
Then all hell broke loose.
…..
Pyrrha was the first to retreat, having gotten quickly surrounded she, managed to stall them by doing debilitating damage but after seeing that there were more, dispatched what she could and stalled for a good couple of minutes.
Weiss followed after her shortly. Weiss was playing support so as soon as her position got overrun she ran and took care of any stragglers that gave chase.
Ruby followed another minute after, albeit slightly out of breath. She had entered the fray and used her semblance to confuse the Grimm and take pot-shots where she could.
They waited for Zelle arrive. One minute passed, two. Pyrrha was the first to voice her concern. "Zelle knew to fall back right?" Her question went unanswered though as the rest of team JNPR and RWBY arrived.
Yang immediately went and hugged Ruby. "Ohhh, I'm so glad my baby sister is okay!"
"Yang, please stop." That helped lighten the mood but Weiss interrupted their moment.
"As much as I enjoy reunions, Ash isn't back yet." Weiss commented looking back the way they came worriedly. The fact that there wasn't a hoard of Grimm there was actually more worrying than there being a hoard of Grimm. Pyrrha's face hardened.
"She's right, we need to go back."
…..
Orange hot lava dripped from the greatsword as it entered form three. Zelle could feel the heat radiating off the sword with every swing. Droplets spraying out, threatening to burn his body. The good news is this thing cut through the Grimm like butter. Making another half-turn he swung the sword, easily bisecting the Ursa Minor while spraying several drops on nearby Beowolves, keeping them at bay as the liquid singed their flesh. Zelle bounded over to Ryo who had just crushed a smaller Beowolf and cut off the arm of an Ursa Major before stabbing it through it's midsection, past the hard bone-like armor.
Zelle put his back against Ryo's as they were surrounded once again by the snarling Grimm. One tried to pounce but was easily removed by the lava enhanced sword. The one beowolf had opened the floodgates and they all began moving towards the two figures of green and grey, hoping to overwhelm the two with numbers. Quick on his feet, Zelle ordered Ryo to transform and did the only thing he thought could save them. He began to spin.
…..
The group of seven were tearing through the forest at max speed. What they saw was shocking. On his knee Zelle was panting. Ryo was in his beowolf form and had several bite marks and claw wounds across his body. What was the most surprising was the heat coming off the area from thick viscous lava that was quickly cooling in the day sun. Also, there were a few trees that were on fire.
Zelle looked up. "Yo."
Weiss and Ren couldn't help but deadpan, while the rest began to move towards to him, careful to avoid the magma that hadn't quite cooled yet.
"So big guy, care to explain the lack of grimm and the lava?" Yang asked.
"Well you see, I forgot to change out my air dust canister so went into the fight with it being somewhat low. After misfiring, I got quickly surrounded as you all retreated." At this the other three looked bashful, even Weiss.
"Not saying that in a bad way, I need to figure out a way to indicate my dust levels on this stupid thing. But that is neither here nor there. Regardless, I've been working on a dust subtype known as magma. Let's just say the results speak for themselves." Of course, some of the Grimm ran away after a couple waves, after seeing the human top cut through their brethren and being singed to a larger degree by magma spray. Everyone nodded except Weiss. She began spluttering and waving about as she tried to think of the words to express herself.
"What do you mean you've been 'working' on magma dust, are you saying you just made your own subtype of dust?" Zelle blinked.
"Yes?"
"Is that a question or an answer?"
"Yes."
Weiss gave up and just slouched over with a sigh. Trying to understand Ash and how he did things was too much work than it was worth. He tamed a beowolf that now had become… something. He created a mecha-weapon that could rival Ruby's in complexity and now he apparently makes subtypes of dus for the fun of it. It took her family three generations to develop Ice dust, that being said, Ash was family so maybe that part made more sense.
Zelle amusedly watched Weiss' facial expressions flash between defeated, contemplation and acceptance, then arrogance. He understood completely. Over half the time he just goes with the flow. If something happens, it happens. Though the last expression completely went over his head.
"Soooo, Mr. Tamer, is there a reason that your still eye level with everyone's crotch?" Yang asked with a raised eyebrow. This got everyone's attention. Zelle was still crouched down on one knee, holding onto his sword with both hands.
"Well you see Goldilocks, I can't stand up." Yang snorted while everyone else looked at the two with various levels of amusement or worry.
"Makes sense, your aura is in the red." Ruby commented worriedly as she pulled out her scroll which showed her team's aura levels.
Zelle nodded. "I underestimated the aura drain of consistent use of the lava dust. I could probably use lightning dust nearly twenty times longer for the same results." Zelle was interrupted from any long-winded explanation by a gloved hand. Looking up the arm, Yang had her arm extended out to him with a shit-eating grin.
Zelle sighed. Glancing over at Ryo who appeared surprisingly calm despite the damage that he took and the amount of people around him. "Ryo, get over here."
This was team JNPR's first time witnessing Ryo transform and it turned their faces pale and a little green as they watched the process. Black smoke poured of Ryo as he shrunk in size, as bone muscles popped and snapped back into place to support the Grimm's new form. Now in dog form, Ryo lazily walked over to Zelle and jumped in his hood.
Grasping Yang's hand, he allowed her to pull him up and put an arm around him to keep him steady. Ruby quickly got on the other size, and attempted to help despite her much smaller size. Really, she wasn't doing that much, but Zelle would let her have her fun. They set out, careful to avoid the cooling magma and fifteen minutes later, they arrived at a bullhead with a very irate Glynda.
"So Zelle, is there any reason that I shouldn't put you in detention for your stunt?" Zelle smiled nervously and looked at Yang for help but she turned her head away. Damn it, they didn't have the best relationship but help a teammate out! Zelle turned towards to Ruby who was attempting to move herself slightly behind him. Of course. Everyone else looked away when he glanced over at them, except Nora who just gave him a big smile and waved. Zelle was on his own to face the demoness that was Glynda Goodwitch.
"Well you see, as I was enjoying the beauty that was Forever Fall, I saw a bunch of Grimm that were congregating and moving rapidly toward something and me, being the noble, awesome-" his explanation was stopped as Glynda pulled on his ear.
"Ow, ow. Hey let- ow! Stop tugging!" Everyone was amused as Glynda dragged Zelle away by the ear.
"All right everyone, we're calling the field trip short due to extenuating circumstances." There a few groans from some, while most others were excited to get out of the place that had become a hunting ground for the Grimm. Team RWBY laugh and giggled as they told Zelle of their expedition to collect sap and Jaune's bravery against the Ursa Major.
Zelle had to admit, that was impressive. The first time he encountered an Ursa Major had nearly resulted in death. The bullhead took off as everyone settled in for the ride home.
Zelle enjoyed the sight of Forever Fall as the sun descended down the sky. Something was nagging at the back of his mind though about the story his team had told him regarding Jaune. Things didn't add up. His semblance had activated but he couldn't access it? That went against everything he learned when he had been under the tutelage of Glynda. With the semblance unlocked, he should be able to access it as much as he liked. Zelle caught himself staring at Jaune who smiled awkwardly and waved. Zelle simply turned away and stared back outside.
"What did I do?" Jaune whispered to Pyrrha. Pyrrha simply shrugged with a small smile and praised him for his bravery which made him forget all about Zelle. Oh if only he knew.
…..
"How did I get here?" Jaune asked himself as he stared across the arena towards Cardin who also looked decidedly uncomfortable.
It had been two days after the events of the Forever Fall and teams RWBYZ, JNPR, and CRDN found themselves in the arena with Jaune and Cardin standing across from each other with their combat gear in hand. Everyone had received an invite to attend this gathering from Zelle, whatever this was. They had been waiting for about six or seven minutes for their host to show up and people were beginning to grow impatient, especially one particular heiress.
"Hmph, if he doesn't feel the need to show up then I don't have to stay for this." She got up with a ladylike grunt and made her way to the door only to be blocked by the form of Zelle.
Zelle was dressed in some strange outfit. In place of his leather armor that protected his joints and green shirt and brown pants, he had on a plain navy long sleeve shirt that had wires protruding from the end of the sleeves and wires were connected with pads to his wrists and temples. He had on black pants that had yellow stitching on them that stretched from the hip to the cuff.
Weiss turned slightly red and turned around quickly and hastily returned to her seat. Zelle just looked over at Ruby confused and she shrugged. Going over his his team he pulled out a circular device that had several numbers and wave. Handing it over to Ruby, he explained what was going on to everybody.
"Listen up everyone, I brought you here for a series of tests and evaluations." He put a hand out that silenced anyone before anyone could speak up. "Not those tests. Think of it more as training. I'm going to push everyone of you, including myself, to the limit today. There is no holding back." The looks he got were varied. Team CRDL had a look of apprehension while RWBY looked scared shitless. Jaune joined in with team RWBY and the rest of team JNPR looked a little excited.
"But first." Zelle jumped onto the stage and trudged toward Cardin with purpose who begin to shrink on himself as Zelle approached him. He glanced at his teammates who were also looking on in fright for their team leader. Turning back Zelle was right in front of him. Silence reigned for a good twenty seconds as Zelle stared into Cardin's eyes, never wavering. Then it broke.
"Apologize."
Cardin finally moved his eyes away from Zelle at those words. Another few seconds last before Cardin mumbled something. Zelle shook his head. "Those words aren't meant for me."
Zelle glanced over to Jaune who was standing there in rapt attention. Cardin got the hint and slowly trudged over to Jaune. With a sigh, Cardin apologized.
"Listen Arc, I realize that I was a real jerk but you made me see that perhaps things aren't as awful as I believed. That maybe being a jerk to those weaker than me hurt people much more than I realized. Even after everything I did to you, you still saved me from that Ursa and dragged me out of that mess. So, even if you can't forgive me now, I'm sorry for what it's worth." Cardin looked away at the end of his apology. Not wanting to see the look of everyone.
"You're forgiven Cardin." Cardin's head whipped back so fast, Zelle was surprised it didn't snap.
"What?"
"I forgive you. Yeah you were a jerk, but you seem to have a small change of heart and no one was seriously hurt so yeah, I forgive you." Jaune said with a small smile that may have caused a single heart to flutter in the room.
Cardin sat there for a moment before slowly grinning.
"You're all right Arc. Thanks."
"Not a problem Cardin, and call me Jaune. All my friends do." Jaune then put his arm out and Cardin grasped his forearm with both grinning ear to ear.
"Will do, Jaune."
A cough interrupted them though. Everyone turned back to look back at the organizer of this event.
"As much as I enjoy seeing the budding of this bromance, we need to get back to business. You two are fighting me first." The two looked at each other and nodded with resolute looks on their faces.
"Ruby, if the bar goes into the red, the line goes over the little dots or the third number from the bottom goes over 160, I need you to stop the match, and if I don't listen, take me down."
Everyone grew worried looks at this news, why would they have to take him down? Yang voiced this first and Zelle gave a wry grin.
"This is an experiment for me just as much it is a test for you all." Most were confused about this with the exception of Blake. Her eyes widened at realization as her mind flashbacked to the initiation. Zelle saw Blake's reaction and merely winked.
"He winked? Is he serious? He is trying to access that power again? Why would he even want to try that?" Blake thought as she gripped seat a little tighter.
"All right." Zelle summoned a glyph and Mune and Raiden appeared in his hand. "The rules are the same in combat class unless I say otherwise understood?"
Cardin and Jaune looked at each other and nodded. The board then began a countdown.
5. 4. 3. 2. 1. Go!
A/N: As I said, short chapter. Hopefully it was ok. We saw a new dust type that Zelle has implemented into his arsenal. A spin to win scenario, and Zelle will be attempting an experiment of sorts next chapter!