Here we are at Chapter 13. Let the new darkness rise. Also, a quick shout out to all the people who have been following and favoriting my story. Thanks you guys. I do not own RWBY or Gundam IBO. They belong to their respective owners. Here's chapter 13. Enjoy.
Chapter 13: A New Fear
Agnika returns to Beacon and immediately makes his way to Ozpin's office. They had unfinished business to attend to. The second he enters Ozpin's office and sees said headmaster along with Goodwitch at his side, Agnika marched right up to them and slammed his fist down on the desk, severely cracking it.
"Now then, I believe we still have things to discuss," he says, an edge in his voice.
"Did everything go okay at the docks?" Ozpin asks, remaining calm.
"I know you watched the whole thing. You know how it went. We won't have to worry about Roman Torchwick for now, but that does not mean our earlier conversation is over. Now explain yourselves," he demands.
Ozpin sighs, "Listen, Bael-," he begins.
"Agnika. My real name is Agnika Kaieru," he corrects him.
"What? You kept that hidden from us? And you judged US about keeping secrets," Glynda retorts.
"Trust has to be earned. And it seems it was right for me to withhold information from you when you withheld information from me. And for the record, Professor Goodwitch, my information only affects me. Your secrets affect everyone in this school, and beyond," Agnika counters.
"Agnika, I told you. If the rest of the world new about this, it would cause a panic. And that would only bring the Grimm and make them stronger. I cannot allow that to happen," Ozpin says.
Agnika leans closer to stare him right in the eyes, "And yet you have absolutely no problem sending your students into a battle they don't even know they're fighting. Using them as pawns in your own game," he replies.
"They are all training to be warriors. That kind of life comes with many great risks. And for the record, I have never seen my students as pawns," Ozpin counters.
"They deserve to know what they are fighting for. More importantly, they deserve to know what kind of conflict they are getting themselves into. They may be warriors willing to put their lives on the line for others, but they are still people themselves, and deserve to be treated as such. I sent soldiers to fight, and die, back on my world, but at least they knew what they were getting into. You're sending your students into a battle, virtually blind, and that will cost more lives than you think. I understand that success requires sacrifice, but that does not mean that the sacrifice has to be higher than it should be!" Agnika yells.
"Agnika, that's enough!" Glynda defends Ozpin.
Agnika leans back from Ozpin's desk, "I told you Ozpin, my duty is to protect the people, no matter who I'm up against. That includes YOU," he decrees.
"…So, I take it our alliance has ended?" Ozpin asks.
Agnika looks away, "I honestly don't know…But I know that the more we fight with each other, the more we play right into the hands of the Grimm…For now, we need to focus on what's important. You said earlier that one of the four Maidens is currently being housed in a vault below the school, correct?" Agnika asks as he looks back at them.
"Yes, the Fall Maiden, Amber. We don't know how long she'll last, but we must find a solution before it's too late. Her assailant is still out there, and they still have a part of her powers. There's always the chance that…when…she dies, the other half of her powers will go to them. We can't allow that to happen," Ozpin explains.
"What about the other Maidens?" Agnika asks.
"We know they're alive and in much better condition than young Amber. However, we do not know where they are at this time. Our associate, Qrow, is out looking for them while scouting out our enemy's forces," Ozpin replies.
Agnika hums to himself, "Then for now, I think it best if we find the one who attacked Amber. Is it possible that if that person were to die, would the powers they stole return to Amber? If what you said is true about them returning to each other, then shouldn't the opposite effect be possible?" he asks.
Ozpin puts his chin in his right hand, "It may be possible, but I can't say for certain. After all, this is a delicate situation. Nothing like this has ever happened before, so we can't really plan ahead for what's to come when we don't know what will happen next. I just don't know," Ozpin replies.
…
A few days have passed since the incident at the docks. Tensions between Agnika and Ozpin are still around, though they have both agreed to put that to the side in favor of focusing on the threat of the Grimm and those responsible for Amber's attack. Agnika uses his time with Team RWBY to help take his mind off the issue when he needs it, learning more about them as they have him. One day, the team watches as Agnika takes off into the skies. A report came in about White Fang activity southeast of the city, and so he left to investigate, though he did not tell them about this. With him gone, the girls decide to go on a little Grimm hunt in the Forever Fall Forest to pass the time since they didn't have any classes today.
The team eventually find themselves in the beautiful forest, looking around for any Grimm to slay, and with their weapons drawn.
"So any idea where Agnika went this time?" Ruby asks out of the blue.
"Beats me. All's I know is that it'll be bad news for whoever, or whatever, he going after. There's nothing that can beat him from how I've seen, and felt, how he fights," Yang notes, remembering the one-sided fight they all had with him a while back.
"I think it's amazing how honorable and how strong-willed he is, especially after everything he's been through. There aren't a whole lot of people like that nowadays. Even some huntsmen have reached their limits in this line of work," Blake adds.
"Well, we won't be those kind of huntsmen after we graduate, right guys?" Ruby cheers.
Yang chuckles, "First, we have to graduate, Ruby. One step at a time," she says.
Eventually, they come across a pack of Beowolves, twenty in all. Deciding to take five each, the girls attack from two directions; Ruby and Weiss from the east, and Blake and Yang from the west. Yang jumps up, firing off some shots that take out two Bewolves. She lands and throws an uppercut at the jaws of one Grimm that tries to chomp down on her, knocking its skull up before she launches a haymaker at its chest, sending it flying through a few trees. She then flips over a second one that lunges at her, and drop kicks a third into the ground before slamming her fists down, crushing its skull. Firing her gauntlets behind her, Yang flies to her last Grimm, throwing a flurry of punches at its chest before finishing it off with a right cross that blasts a hole through its torso. With her side down, Yang wipes off her hands, a confident smirk on her face.
Meanwhile, Ruby stabs the blade of her weapon into the ground and takes a sniping position as her group of Grimm charge at her. She fires off two well-aimed shots that take out the heads of two of them, while the rest get in closer. Taking the blade of her scythe out of the ground, Ruby twirls her scythe behind her, firing off a third shot to send her flying towards them. When she gets close, she swings her scythe to slice through one Grimm in half and then lands and kicks off the body of a second. Landing a few feet away from them, she rushes at them while spinning her scythe around. The two Beowolves jump at her, but when they get close, she fires off another shot to give her next swing a boost and slashes through both of them, leaving their cleaved bodies to fall aimlessly onto the forest floor.
Behind her, Weiss sets her Dust chamber to her ice Dust and twirls around a few times before she stabs the ground, sending out a burst of sharp ice spikes towards her opponents, taking out two while the other three jump out of the way. Next, she conjures up a few glyphs in the air and jumps from each one until she gets a good angle and shoots over to impale another Beowolf through its skull. She rolls away when one tries to attack her from behind, and then jumps back when the second tries to swipe its claws at her. Setting her chamber to her fire Dust this time, she shoots over at the Grimm. When one tries to attack, she spins over the attack while simultaneously striking at its body, setting it on fire. Landing with a graceful demeanor, Weiss waits with her eyes closed as the last Grimm comes at her from behind. However, the second it gets close, she opens her eyes and backflips over the attack before thrusting her rapier forward, stabbing through the Grimm's chest and lighting it up in flames.
Finally, Blake Brings out her katana and spins both her blades in the air as she decapitates one Grimm, and then rolls under the strike of a second one before slashing at it five times, killing it. Two Grimm try a pincer attack on her, but she leaves one of her shadow clones in her place, causing the two to miss and crash into each other. This allows her the chance to change her weapon into its chain-scythe form and she throws it by the head of the third Beowolf. She then pulls the ribbon, and thus pulling the trigger, making the blade fly back and impale itself in the Grimm's skull. Pulling her weapon out of the dead Grimm, she turns to face the last two that just got back on their feet. The two attack her at once, but she jumps into the air, spinning her chain-scythe around to take out the first Grimm. When she lands, she jumps over the last Beowolf as it comes at her, and fires her pistol at its face at point-blank range, killing it as she lands behind it. With that, the fight is over.
"Good job, guys. That's a few less Grimm for the people to worry about," Ruby says as they join up.
"Well, I'd say that was a decent workout. Though, I was kind of hoping for more of a challenge," Yang notes.
Just then, a loud roar is heard in the forest, causing them all to look behind Yang at where it came from. The roar was unlike anything they had heard before, and honestly, it was a little frightening.
"You just had to say it, didn't you," Weiss says, glaring at Yang for a moment.
They hear rustling in the trees and look to see some dark mass approaching them. They all prepare their weapons as the thing gets closer, hearing powerful footsteps getting closer to them. Soon enough, something the size of Agnika comes out of the forest, allowing the team to get a good look at it. What they see…strikes fear into their hearts.
It's obviously a Grimm, but not like any they've encountered before. It stands on two legs, and has two large, bat-like black wings on its back. A long, black tail with bone spines going down it is seen, with a bone pincer-like claw at the end. The creature has bone armor all over its chest, on its legs, and arms. The arms have sharp, bone claws and bone-like bracers on its arms with three small holes on top of each. The shoulders have heavy, spiked bone armor. On its hips and the rear is a set of skirt-like bone armor. The feet have four claws each, digging into the ground. Red markings can be seen all over the armor. In its right hand, is a large, spiny bone sword with a black handle. On its back are a series of bone spikes going down its back in between its wings. Finally, the head has bone armor that includes a large crest over a pair of red glowing eyes, along with two horns that form a V-shape on top. The Grimm eyes the four girls and then roars again, the roar so loud that it forces them to cover their ears for a moment. What they are seeing is no ordinary Grimm. What they are seeing…is fear itself. The Grimm Andras.
"W-what…What the Hell is that?" Yang asks, her voice trembling.
"A Grimm…I think. I don't know. I've never seen one like it," Blake answers fearfully.
"Guys, I think we might be in trouble," Weiss adds.
"Guys…We have to fight it. I know that this is bad, but we can't let it escape, otherwise who knows how many people it'll hurt, or worse. We have to stop it, here and now," Ruby says, shaking some of her fear off.
Yang nods, "…You're right, Ruby. If we want to be huntresses, then that means taking this thing out," she says, with Weiss and Blake nodding as well.
Just then, the Andras charges at them with speed nearly as fast as Ruby's semblance. The group scatters as the Andras slams its sword into the ground, creating a large crater in the ground. Yang fires off some shots at it, but the Andras blocks the shots with its right wing before coming at her. When it gets close, the Andras swings its sword at her a few times, though Yang manages to duck and weave under each strike. She then counters with a right cross, but the Andras grabs her fist with its left claw and swings her up, only to slam her into the ground. Before it can attack again, Weiss and Blake attack it from its sides with their blades, forcing it to jump back. Weiss conjures up a few glyphs around the Andras, and she and Blake jump in between each to attack from different angles. However, when Blake gets close, the Andras' tail grabs her by her waist while he blocks a strike from Weiss with its sword. It then kicks Weiss away while simultaneously throwing Blake with its tail into a tree. Ruby fires off a few shots aimed at its head, but the Andras blocks them with its left arm, the bullets doing very little damage to its bone armor. It then aims its left arm at her, and suddenly, it fires off several sharp bone shards from the holes in the armor at her. The attack takes Ruby by surprise and a few shards hit her, but she manages to block the rest with her scythe.
Yang and Blake get back into the fight and charge at the Andras. The Andras rushes at them and swings its sword when they get close, but they jump out of the way, leaving an opening for Weiss to stab the ground with her rapier, sending a burst of ice at him. The Andras counters with one swing and destroys the ice, shocking Weiss.
"Come on. Attack all together on all sides!" Ruby yells and all four attack at once.
The Andras swings its sword to block a strike from Ruby, then its left arm to deflect an attack from Blake, followed up by its tail grabbing Weiss' sword and tossing her away, and blocking a right hook from Yang with its left knee. The Andras roars and then grabs Yang's face with its left foot and swings her around to slam her into Weiss, followed by firing grabbing Blake's swung blade, angling its arm to fire off some bone shards close up, damaging her, and then throws her away. Finally, Ruby twirls her scythe around as she tries to get a strike in, but the Andras manages to deflect each strike with its sword before smashing its left fist into her stomach, and then knocks her to the ground with a head-butt to her face.
…
Meanwhile, Agnika is flying in the skies, returning from carrying out his mission in the southeast. He had dispatched the White Fang forces that were spotted there and made sure they were detained by the local authorities from Vale. Ever since he had taken Roman into custody, their movements have decreased and their forces have been easier to deal with, though he can't help but wonder if there's another reason for it. Suddenly, he gets a call from Ozpin.
"Agnika, where are you!?" he asks, sounding urgent.
"I'm on my way back to Beacon. What's going on?" he asks.
"Team RWBY is currently in the Forever Fall Forest, but they've encountered a new type of Grimm I've never seen before. I've dispatched aid to their location, but I'm afraid they might not make it in time. You have to hurry to them, quickly!" he explains.
"Weiss!" I'm on my way!" Agnika replies, and kicks his thrusters into high gear, heading to Team RWBY's position. "Please, stay alive."
…
The members of Team RWBY all struggle to get up as the Andras just roars at them, no visible signs of damage anywhere on its body.
"This thing's tough. I'm not sure how much more of this I can take," Yang notes painfully.
"Not only is this Grimm stronger than others, it also appears to be smarter. It must've lived for a long time to get this smart," Blake adds.
"Impossible, if that were the case, then we would've had earlier sightings of it and more data regarding it. But I agree, this is no ordinary Grimm," Weiss says as she breathes a little heavily.
"We have to…keep trying. If we can just find its weak point, then we can take it down," Ruby says as she gets back on her feet.
The others follow suit and ready their weapons. Yang goes first and charges at the Andras. It swings its sword at her, but she ducks just in time, though the sword cuts off a few strands of her hair. Seeing this, she explodes in anger and rushes the Andras. It uses its left wing to blocks her punches, but gets slowly pushed back a few feet. However, when she tries to punch it again, the Andras grabs her right arm with its tail and then takes flight into the sky. It spins in the air before it plummets downward, crashing her first into the ground. The others watch in horror as the Andras bursts forth from the smoke, leaving an unconscious Yang in the center of a crater. The Andras moves and throws a left punch at Blake, who uses her semblance to evade it. However, the Andras throws his sword at the real Blake, staggering her enough for him to grab her head, pick her up, and slam her into the ground, hard. With two of their teammates down, Ruby fires off a few sniper shots at the Grimm while Weiss readies her fire Dust. The Andras shrugs off the shots and picks up his sword and charges at them.
Ruby uses her semblance to zip around the Andras and swings her scythe at its legs, but the Andras stabs his sword into the ground to block it. Weiss comes from his right flank to hit him with her fire Dust, but the Andras's tail surprise her by grabbing her left leg, swinging her away. The Andras blocks several more strike from Ruby before it swings its sword upwards to knock her scythe out of her hands, and then strikes her three times with its sword, depleting her aura and sending her to the ground. Seeing this, Weiss uses her glyphs to shoot her at the Grimm's rear, hoping to get an attack in. The Andras turns around to block her thrusted sword with its left arm, engulfing it in a fiery explosion. Just as Weiss thinks she nailed it, the Andras swings its right leg around to knock her into the air, and then grabs her by the leg to fling her into the ground, making her roll away a few feet as her aura becomes depleted. Weiss weakly lifts her head up to see the Andras pick up its sword and walk towards her, ready to finish her off. Soon, it stands before her and raises its sword. Weiss glances at her teammates, seeing them all unconscious, and closes her eyes as she awaits the end.
"I'm sorry everyone, I wasn't strong enough. I wasn't able to be your best teammate, Ruby…I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise…Agnika," she thinks as the Andras swings her sword down on her…However, she then hears the sound of metal being struck, but feels nothing, and she slowly opens her eyes and looks up. She gasps as somehow, in front of her, is Agnika, blocking the Andras' attack with his swords. "…Agnika…" she mutters in shock and relief.
Agnika stares right into the eyes of the Andras, "Now then, let's go…Bael," he says, his eyes lighting up.
And so the Devils meet. To get a better idea of what the Grimm Andras looks like, the body looks similar to the body of Gundam Kimaris Vidar, but with the head of Gundam Barbatos Lupus Rex (though not entirely like them), plus the other details mentioned earlier in the chapter. People wanted it to be a Gundam, but I wasn't sure that would work 100% since Salem isn't familiar with them, so that's what I came up with. Anyway, what will happen when Agnika goes up against Andras? Who will survive? Until then, please Read and Review.