…continued from last chapter
Team RWBY and their companions were all gathered on the deck of the ship to discuss how to deal with the threat of the giant Nevermore that had just made itself known.
"It's not going to just fly around forever," said Weiss.
"Yeah, especially if someone starts attacking it," said Blake.
"Hmmm," said Ruby, rubbing her chin thoughtfully, "The last time we fought a Nevermore, we had team JNPR helping us. This time, it's just the four of us. Would it hurt us to ask for some help?"
"Who in the world is able to help us here?" asked Weiss.
Ruby turned to Misato, "Is Asuka's EVA on this ship?"
"It is," replied Misato solemnly.
Ruby looked at Asuka earnestly, "Asuka, would you be willing to help us? That Nevermore is a strong enemy. It's going to take a significant effort from all of us." Ruby walked to the port of the ship to observe the Nevermore as it flew overhead. "Even though it's big, it's still pretty fast," she said, "We're going to have to slow it down…somehow. Also, even though it doesn't have an aura, that doesn't mean it isn't strong. In fact, if we're going to beat this thing, we're going to have to weaken it with everything we've got."
Shinji and Asuka both looked at each other, "What's an aura?" asked Shinji.
"It's…something like what we call AT fields," explained Misato, "I don't completely understand it myself, but I've been meaning to look further into the matter."
Asuka quickly swelled up with pride, "Well, if this creature doesn't have an AT field, my unit-02 can make short work of it. You'll see, you won't be needed at all." Ruby turned a deep shade of red at Asuka's remark. Everyone else on her team could tell that she had been hurt. Weiss and Blake both growled softly and Yang's eyes turned a distinct shade of red. The thing was; even though Ruby was disappointed that she might not get to see any action, she was more concerned about what could happen to Asuka (though Asuka's comment did admittedly sting.)
"Well, we'll have our weapons ready, just in case," said Weiss. Asuka grabbed Shinji's arm and pulled him away.
"Hey, where are we going?!" cried Shinji.
"I'm going to show you how a real EVA pilot takes care of enemies," said Asuka haughtily. That last comment made Ruby angry. Asuka had some nerve saying that Shinji wasn't a real EVA pilot. Ruby had half a mind to march up there and chew Asuka out with every piece of her mind she could muster, but she knew that wouldn't solve anything. She looked at the others and could tell that they too had been bothered by Asuka's proud words. Even Misato seemed embarrassed that this was the attitude of one of the defenders of humanity. The only one who seemed uninterested was Rei. In fact, she seemed to not be interested in the second child at all. Nobody blamed her for dismissing Asuka. Her poor attitude was off-putting and alienating. Still, there wasn't time to think about such things now. A grimm was at large, and the most important thing right now was bringing it down. Weiss looked over and couldn't help but notice that all of her teammates already had their weapons deployed. "Ummm…why do you already have your weapons out?" she asked.
"Um…well, you know…never know when someone might be in danger," said Ruby.
"Aw…you were just trying to show off to the new pilot," said Yang playfully.
"Ah…so were you!" countered Ruby. Weiss slapped her hand onto her forehead and shook her head. Who writes this crap? she thought to herself. Her thoughts were interrupted by the loud screech of the Nevermore. Everyone looked over to see that EVA unit-02 had deployed with Asuka and Shinji inside.
"Unlike unit-01, unit-02 is designed for close-quarters combat," explained Misato, "It has a progressive knife that allows it to easily cut an angel's core."
"That big, bulky thing will never be able to catch the Nevermore," said Weiss.
"Yeah, I don't really see how it's going to be much help," said Blake.
"Guys! Shut up!" screamed Ruby, "We can talk about this later!"
"Yeah, we need to take this thing down now!" said Yang. Everyone quickly rushed out to face the Nevermore head on. Misato, who had brought a portable communicator to speak with unit-02 in case of an emergency, began to instruct Asuka and Shinji on what to expect next. She advised to let team RWBY do the work and only assist when necessary since the four girls were the ones who had dealt with this type of monster before. Shinji agreed; and Asuka, though begrudgingly, conceded as well. Ruby quickly burst into rose petals at lightning speed, rushing towards the Nevermore. Returning to her original form, she fired Crescent Rose at the forehead of the giant bird, causing it to shriek out in pain. Weiss used a glyph to propel herself towards the head of the grimm, stabbing it with Myrtenaster. The grimm slowed down and hovered over the ocean, screeching in pain.
"It's still not close enough to unit-02," said Ruby. Now it was Yang's turn. She used her gauntlets to launch herself upward. Ruby quickly used her semblance to rush to Yang and launch her towards the giant beast. Ruby landed back on the ship while Yang landed on the Nevermore's back. She removed Weiss' rapier from its head and hung herself by its beak, punching it in its mouth. This made the monster angry, quickly shaking Yang off into the ocean below. Yang swam up to the surface and made her way back to the ship. Weiss had managed to disembark from the Nevermore using her glyphs, and was now on the ship with Ruby and Blake. The giant avian was now flying quickly in anger and rage. It quickly flew towards unit-02, only missing it by a few inches. Blake quickly realized an easy solution.
"Weiss, I need your weapon," she said. Weiss quickly gave her rapier to Blake. Blake impaled the ship at a 45 degree angle and tied her weapon, Gamble Shroud, to the blade. She then threw the other end towards the Nevermore. "Ruby!" she ordered.
"Got it!" said Ruby. Once more using her semblance, she rushed towards the body of the Nevermore, caught the other end of Blake's weapon and stabbed the giant creature, struggling to keep the blade in. She plunged the blade in further, causing the monster to shriek loudly. The blade was now permanently stuck in the Grimm's body and the monster couldn't move any farther past the ship. With nowhere else to go, the Nevermore flew towards the ship and the EVA that stood on it. From within the EVA, Shinji quickly realized that they would have to act fast.
"Asuka, you need to stab that thing!" he said.
"Don't tell me what to do!" said Asuka. Unit-02 lunged at the monster, stabbing it in the chest. The creature quickly disintegrated into fine, black dust. Everyone watching sans RWBY marveled at what had just transpired. Misato breathed a sigh of relief, but her tranquility was short lived as Ryoji Kaji quickly rushed up behind her.
"Hey!" he yelled, "What do you think you're doing?!"
"Fine time for you to be showing up," said Misato hotly, "I just finished overseeing a battle."
Kaji raised his eyebrows in wonder, "You mean unit-02 already defeated both angels?"
"Both angels?" repeated Misato in bewilderment.
"Yeah! I just got word that two AT fields were detected in this area! You should be somewhere where it was safe!"
"Two AT fields?" Misato pondered how there could be two AT fields, especially since, according to RWBY, Grimm didn't have AT fields or aura or whatever it was they called it. Then, something dawned on Misato. She remembered how Ruby had spontaneously burst into rose petals and how Weiss had somehow spawned mysterious glyphs. Could it be…
"I see there is a matter I need to take care of," said Misato.
"What?!" yelled Kaji belligerently, "Just leave after encountering an angel? You need to report to NERV ASAP. This is your job, remember?!"
"Yeah, I remember, but I don't need you reminding me that! Tell me, are the AT fields still active?"
"What kind of stupid question is that? If the angels are gone, then…"
"There was no angel, Kaji! Look, give me some time, and I'll explain everything. The four girls I'm taking care of? They're…special."
"Hey! What's going on?!" Misato spin around to see Team RWBY, along with Shinji and Asuka, approaching them. It had been Ruby who had addressed her.
"You're yelling louder than Yang on a bad day," said Blake.
"Yeah, what are you two arguing about?" asked Weiss. Misato completely ignored the questions being asked of her to ask questions of her own.
"What exactly did you do?" she asked.
"What do you mean?" asked Ruby.
"You burst into rose petals, and Weiss somehow made a symbol she could stand on."
"Oh. You mean they activated their semblances," said Yang.
"Semblances?" repeated Misato.
"Yeah," said Ruby, "Remember what we told you about aura?"
"Yeah."
"Well, a semblance is a physical manifestation of our aura. It's…kind of like a superpower. It' s a special ability that come from within ourselves."
"So your aura gives you those abilities?"
"Yep. It's one of the ways we've dealt with girmm. That and dust." Misato glanced around thoughtfully. That certainly explains the AT fields, she thought to herself. Clearing her throat, she announced, "I would like to have a meeting with everyone this evening."
"After you report to NERV about the angel attack," said Kaji.
"There was no angel attack," said Misato, getting agitated again.
"Then what was it?"
"Something called a Grimm…or Nevermore…or something."
"Then how do you explain the AT fields?"
"It was our auras, wasn't it?" said Ruby.
"Auras?" repeated Kaji.
"It's…something like what we call AT fields," explained Misato, "That's probably what NERV was detecting."
"So you two have an AT field even though your human?" asked Kaji. Everyone nodded their heads in agreement, but there was something about the way Kaji asked his question that bothered Misato. He seemed to be playing dumb; as if he was already familiar with the concept of human's having AT fields. Kaji was one of NERV's special operatives, and much of what he did was clandestine; in the cover of shadows. However, Misato figured that trying to press the issue would only get rehearsed responses that didn't tell her anything, so she decided to let the matter go. Kaji turned to the young leader of team RWBY. "Have you ever heard of an organization known as SEELE?" he asked.
"Um…no," replied the young Rose.
"Well, Misato told me about your run-in with the commander. That didn't seem like something he would do, so while you were busy fighting, I checked into it."
"How could you possibly look into something like that in such a short amount of time?" asked Weiss.
"I have connections. Anyways, it wasn't the commander that ordered you to be captured. It was SEELE. SEELE is the organization that provides the funding for the Evangelion project. When they heard about the incident with unit-01, they asked the commander to look into the matter personally. Of course, the commander would have just asked for a simple meeting, but SEELE had other ideas. The organization has strong ties with the UN, so they sent some special operatives to come…collect Ruby and bring her to the commander. Once the unconscious girl was brought before Commander Ikari, he was instructed to question her about the incident and let her go. This is what he did, is it not?" Ruby nodded her head yes. Misato clenched her fists tightly. No matter who was responsible, what happened to Ruby was inexcusable. To make matters worse, it was an organization that was nearly untouchable. The commander, for all of his secrecy and distance, was approachable at the very least. It wouldn't have been a problem for Misato to walk up to the commander and give him a piece of her mind. Misato shook her head and sighed. There really wasn't anything that could be done at the moment, and since there didn't seem to be any more threats, it would probably be best if they all just went home. She turned to Asuka, "Look, I've got some things to take care of at home. I'll have you move in with us as soon as I can, OK?" Asuka looked at team RWBY and scoffed. She was clearly not happy about sharing quarters with complete strangers. Unfortunately, most of team RWBY found the feeling to me mutual, although they were willing to give Asuka a chance. One thing that Professor Ozpin had taught all of them was to never judge a book by its cover. Asuka seemed haughty and proud on the outside, but she might just be a lonely kid trying to seek attention. Or she could be someone trying to probe herself to the world. Or she could be trying to mask some deep seated pain or sorrow. Or it could be a combination of any of those things. Once the boat docked, Misato led everyone to her car and drove them home. There was only one thing on her mind the entire ride home. She needed to meet with Qrow again.
To be continued…