The inside of Beacon looked exactly as we expected it to. Everything was in ruins with claw and tooth marks almost everywhere. We couldn't see what it looked like in its entirety because of how dark it was. The formerly majestic amphitheater looked more like an ancient ruin from long ago. We walked very slowly, holding our weapons close and keeping a close eye on our surroundings.
"There's a remarkable lack of Grimm," said Weiss.
"Yeah," said Yang. "You think somebody got here before we did?"
"Probably not," I said. "We would have heard something if that were the case."
Even though I dismissed Yang's suggestion, something really did give off the impression that somebody had arrived before we did. Grimm were destructive, but they only attacked buildings structures when people were sure to be inside. Why would Grimm attack an empty room for no reason whatsoever?
"Ouch!" Weiss shouted.
"Are you okay?" I asked nervously. I was really on edge after losing Penny and didn't even want to consider losing my teammates as a possibility.
"She's fine," said Yang. "Probably chipped her toenail after stepping on a rock or something. That's why you don't bring heels to a battle zone."
"I can always count on you to have the biggest of sympathies towards others," said Weiss sarcastically.
I cocked my head at what Weiss was complaining about and saw that her foot had been hurt pretty badly. Ironically enough, Yang was kind of right. Weiss's heels were squashed and it looked like her toes had been badly bruised.
"…Because walking through the abandoned ruins of Beacon was definitely something I'd been anticipating!" shouted Weiss, continuing her argument with Yang.
"You go to a monster hunting school and choose to wear heels of all things," Yang spat. "That makes as much sense as wearing sweaters to the beach!"
"Hey!" Weiss countered, "sometimes it gets cold on the beach."
"H-Hey guys?" I stammered.
"You would know all about being cold," Yang went on.
"Guys!" I said a little louder.
"It's called emotion management," Weiss shot back. "Something you're severely lacking."
"SHUT UP!" I shouted.
This time Weiss and Yang stopped what they were saying and looked at me.
I took one deep breath and said, "There's something I just noticed about the floor. Have any of you been noticing a lot of these weirdly shaped rocks lying around?"
Yang and Weiss looked down. It was pretty dark inside, so we couldn't exactly see everything unless we were very close to it.
"Yeah…" said Yang. "You think it's from the building?"
I picked up one of the rocks and felt around it with my fingers. The texture felt a little too smooth to be a rock or any of the metallic structures sued to build beacon. There were also some large holes on one side. I moved my fingers around it some more and stopped after brushing against something smooth and a little jagged.
"Is something wrong?" asked Weiss. "Ruby?"
I dropped what I was holding onto and stepped back. My mind kept thinking of ways to deny that I had felt what I did. It was an uncomfortable truth I didn't want to face.
"Weiss," I whispered, "cast a light."
"Okay…" Weiss said after giving me a raised eyebrow. She lifted Myrtenaster above her head and lit its tip with fire dust to act as a torch. We all gasped after seeing what we'd been walking on.
The floor was covered in the skeletal remains of people.
"H-How?" Weiss gasped.
Yang's eyes grew wide as she stared at the bones, open-mouthed.
"What kind of Grimm did this?" I asked out loud. The original attack on Beacon had been filled with lesser Grimm that could be taken out easily. Cinder had summoned the Grimm Dragon that time, but it was much too big to be hiding in Beacon.
"That Grimm…" I heard Yang growl. I saw her fists shaking as her eyes began to water. "That Grimm…. I'm going to kill it. I'm going to rip it to pieces and make it suffer!"
"Yang?" I asked.
"Look at what it did!" Yang shouted. "Everyone we know…they're just…"
"We still have each other," I said hopefully. "I know it doesn't change anything, but wouldn't you rather have at least one person you care about left alive? I know I would."
Yang sniffed a little while keeping both of her fists clenched. She half-smiled and ruffled my hair a little.
"Thanks, sis," she said quietly. "It's nice to know I still have you."
CHOMP. CHOMP. CHOMP.
"What was that?" asked Weiss.
CHOMP. CHOMP. CHOMP.
"I don't know," I said. There was something else inside with us. I looked all over and saw no signs of Grimm nearby.
SPLAT.
Something wet landed on my forehead. I brushed it off and looked at it.
CHOMP. CHOMP. CHOMP.
My hands shook as I looked up and saw a hideous Grimm sinking its teeth into the bloodied remains of a student.
This Grimm was a special type that one didn't see all that often. Nicknamed "Grimm Hybrids," these Grimm bore a stronger resemblance to people than your average Grimm and could even speak in some instances. They were incredibly rare and most Huntsmen didn't even see one in their lifetime. GoreGumo had also been one, which told me that Parasite favored these types.
CHOMP.
A splatter of blood landed on the floor as the Grimm took one last bite. It then jumped down from the ceiling and landed on the floor before us. It was enormously large. Just one of its feet was large enough to crush an Atlesian Paladin. Most Grimm were all black with bone plates. This one had it too, but there also appeared to be open holes in the black surface that exposed bloody flesh. One top of its head were two massively bloated eyes that looked like they were struggling to leave the sockets. The worst part of all was the foul stench of rotting bodies that followed this Grimm everywhere it went.
"Who is this freak?" asked Yang. "Is this who killed everybody in here?"
"It seems that way," said Weiss. Even she sounded a little shaken from what she was looking at. "I…I just never…never really knew there were Grimm so…so…disgusting."
The Grimm looked at me and bared its rotten teeth at me.
"Be prepared," I said urgently. "It's ready to attack!"
"Don't have to tell me twice!" Yang shouted. She fired up her semblance and charged at the Grimm.
"Yang!" I shouted. Stop it!"
The Grimm reached into its back and pulled out a long, sharp-looking bone from its spine.
"EWWWW!" Weiss shouted.
I pulled out Crescent Rose and made a dash towards Yang.
"Just try and hurt me you big ugly bastard!" Yang shouted.
The Grimm let out a roar and thrust the bone forward to use as a spear. This kind of attack could ordinarily be countered with a summon from Weiss, but she couldn't do that at the moment. I had to think quickly before Yang got pierced.
"Time Glyph!" I shouted.
Weiss's head shot up at my command.
"R-Right!" She stammered.
Weiss cast a giant glyph under me that slowed down the speed of the Grimm's attack. I darted right into Yang and shoved her out of the way.
"Hey!" said Yang. "What are you doing?"
The Grimm let out a roar and threw the spear, sending it right through the walls like they were made of paper.
"That!" I screamed. "What do you think you're doing? Running off and fighting this thing without us?"
Yang stared at me for a brief moment. "Ruby…" she said in a light whisper. "You're…different…"
I probably did seem a lot different from the normally nonchalant Ruby they were used to. This was probably her first time I'd ever yelled at her without joking.
"I'm worried about you because I care!" I shouted. "Now work with us or this Grimm will rip us apart!"
Yang looked deep into my eyes and nodded. A part of me felt like she'd seen who I really was underneath my younger exterior.
"Can you guys hurry up?" Weiss shouted. She had several glyphs surrounding her as she jumped from the floor to the other side of the room. "I'm not going to be fighting this thing alone!"
"We're on it!" I said. "Let's take this guy down!"
"Yeah!" Yang smiled.
The Grimm rolled its head back and then arched it forward to shoot out a sticky ball of blood from its mouth. The ball hit Weiss and slammed her against the wall.
"I can't get this off of me!" she said while struggling to get the substance off her body.
I looked at yang and opened my mouth before closing it again after looking at her arm. Yang had an attachment known as the "drill" that was very handy in this sort of situation. This was one of those rare moments where I wish Yang still had her mechanical arm.
The Grimm had its attention on us now. Its knuckles had grown to be even larger than normal, and possibly stronger too.
"Somebody help me!" Weiss shouted.
"We'll get on that!" I assured her. "Yang…time for a new coordinated attack….uhhh…..ENABELER!"
"What did you just call me?" Yang shouted.
The Grimm's knuckled slammed directly into her body. With one blow, Yang was sent flying through the walls as well. I took the advantage of the Grimm's distraction to rapidly swing Crescent Rose in on arm as I ran underneath it.
"Let's see how you handle this!" I taunted. A ring of fire lit up around the blade of Crescent Rose as it continued to swing, resembling a ring of fire. The Grimm blocked my blade with a bone that it pulled out of its shoulder, but that was exactly what I planned on.
"Thanks!" I said, moving Crescent Rose just a little so that I could shoot the Grimm right in the face with a round of dust. It managed to take the fire out with a spurt of blood from its mouth. That gave me enough time to reach Weiss and free her by shooting the blood with fire dust.
"Took you long enough!" said Weiss sarcastically.
The Grimm slammed its fist into the floor with so much force that Weiss and I both shook. The power from its fist was enough to crack the floor open.
"Looks like this Grimm takes after Yang," said Weiss. "Which tells me that it needs the same lesson in etiquette that she does."
Weiss spun around and summoned a glyph behind her. "It's time for me to display something I've been working on for a while."
The Grimm shot out another ball of blood towards Weiss with the intention of trapping her again.
"Don't think that'll work this time," Weiss said with a smirk. She jumped straight into the blood with Myrtenaster pointed in front of her.
"Try a taste of dry ice dust," she said.
Weiss shot out a form of ice dust that emitted a strong gaseous output. It sent the blood dispersing and hit the Grimm's face, sending it backwards.
I ran underneath Weiss and shouted, "Ice Flower!"
Weiss landed behind me and encased my bullets in ice. I shot out a couple and each of them countered the blood balls shot at us. The Grimm looked like it was about to attack again, but stood in place and grabbed at its chest.
"What happened?" I asked.
Weiss smirked at me. "Dry ice and blood don't mix well together," she said. "I had a feeling this would happen. "
The Grimm, in what appeared to be an act of desperation, pulled out two large bones that appeared to have been abnormally grown. It was jagged in several direction had had a lot of grooves sticking out of it.
Both of the bones appeared to have some sort of ability, because just one swing was enough to cover the nearby walls with the same odd-looking grooves.
"Looks like bone cancer," said Weiss.
"We'll just have to make sure it doesn't touch us," I said.
Weiss nodded.
We charged at the Grimm. It swung its bones at us, leaving behind bone tumors and growths behind. I jumped up and spun Crescent Rose with all the force my arms could create. The force was strong enough to send me flying towards the Grimm in an attack I called, "UFO."
The Grimm grabbed Crescent Rose mid-slice and squeezed as the blade sunk its its hand.
Two rounds of dry ice hit its stomach and the Grimm immediately let go of me. I wasted no time and sliced it right in the stomach, causing a lot of blood to spurt out.
The Grimm opened its mouth wide and released a cloud of gas that carried the smell of rotting corpses. My eyes watered from the odor as it covered my body. I was wide open and the Grimm knew it. My blurred vision could see a fist moving towards me and I couldn't even respond in time.
"Don't think I'll let you off that easy!" I heard Weiss say. A wall of ice rose from the surface and took the attack at full force.
Weiss then jumped up and landed on a glyph that had been summoned mid-air. She then spun around and shot out four rounds of ice dust that took the form of arrows.
Each of them shot out several spikes of ice when they landed. I didn't even know Weiss was capable of doing that so early.
I know it sounds like we were doing well, but the reality was that this Grimm was the definition of "tankie". It lost blood with every attack, but would just get right back up and attack with even more ferocity. I had a feeling that this would take a while if we didn't think of another strategy.
"Hey!" I heard someone shout from outside. "Back off my sister before I make your life hell."
"Yang!" I shouted happily.
She was glowing bright yellow. That punch from the Grimm looked like it really pushed her strength to its limits.
The Grimm turned around and ran at her with both of its bone spears raised.
"Yang! Look out!" I shouted.
The Grimm charged at Yang with the bone spear in hand. To our surprise, Yang actually managed to grab the spear with both her hands and keep it in place. She growled as her feet sunk into the cracked surface. I could see Ember Celica's fingers being covered in the tumors.
"Weiss! Set up a Glyph for me to jump on!" I commanded.
"Right!"
The Glyph was set up and I hopped right on. I bent my knees and then straightened them as I leaped towards the Grimm while simultaneously spinning my body into a vortex. I moved with so much speed that I actually managed to pierce through the Grimm's body. It was enough to make it loosen its grip on the spear for just a bit.
Yang winked at me and then hopped onto the Grimm's head.
"Die! You! Ugly! Shithead!" Yang shouted each time she struck its head. Blood spurted out with every rage-induced punch Yang gave it.
"Turn the surface to ice!" I ordered.
Weiss stuck Myrtenaster into the floor and created a sheet of ice that the Grimm began to slip on.
Yang snuck up and screamed as she unleashed a flurry of powerful punches. Each one sent the Grimm reeling backwards as they went off like a round of bullets.
"Ice Capsule!" I shouted.
Weiss somehow understood what this meant and covered me in dry ice. I could feel my aura depleting as it kept me from being burned by the ice. I used my new ice cloak to make a dash towards the Grimm and strike its neck. It hissed as the blood around its neck ruptured. I then took out Crescent Rose and used it to slice open its neck entirely.
Yang gave it another powerful punch to the kneecap. This time the attack had enough power behind it to break completely shatter the kneecap and bring the Grimm ot one knee.
The Grimm breathed heavily as it turned its lifeless eyes in Yang's direction. She cocked her arm back as shotgun bullets fell to her side.
"It takes a lot more than blood and bones to scare a huntress," Yang said with a very cocky smirk.
The Grimm made one last roar. This roar sounded more like one of suffering and pain than the aggressive rage Grimm normally gave. I could hear the sound of thousands of bones cracking from inside the Grimm.
"Stop it before it continues!" I shouted.
Weiss ran around it with the assistance of speed glyphs and traced a circle of ice around the Grimm.
She then jumped back and swung Myrtenaster, prompting the ice to rise up and surround the Grimm. We all waited with our breath held as the Grimm stood in place. I could already see cracks in the ice. This Grimm wasn't going down that easily.
The ice shattered into tiny pieces as the Grimm's back opened up and an enormous skeleton emerged. The skeleton dripped a seemingly endless amount of blood and was even bigger than the Grimm it came from.
"Bloody Bones," I said out loud.
"What?" said Weiss.
"That's the name of this Grimm," I said. "A Grimm of flesh and blood. It searches Remnant for bones to chew on and add to its constantly growing body. This is going to take a lot of teamwork."
The skeleton continuously let out the gaseous stench from its mouth. The blood it was covered in probably had the same stickiness that we'd been seeing from it. The bones were probably as powerful as what we'd been fighting against as well.
"Looks like someone got carried away with the face lifts," Yang joked. "Now stand still while I give you a full-body makeover, courtesy of yours truly."
The Grimm swung at yang and she blocked the attack and ended up sticking to the skeleton's fist like glue. To make matters worse, she was being covered in the same tumors that we'd also seen earlier.
"Damn it!" I shouted. I had already used acceleration. Too many uses of it and my body would surely break, but I couldn't lose Yang.
A line of fire shot out from behind me and struck the skeleton's arm. It didn't hurt the Grimm, but it took it by surprise enough for Yang to be released.
"BOOOOOONES!" The Grimm roared. It spoke in a slow and muffled voice that shook the entire room.
"It's coming for us!" shouted Weiss.
Yang attempted to stop it and was slammed into the floor by its elbow. The Grimm opened its mouth wider as it began to fill the room with its gaseous stench.
"I'm going to try and summon!" Weiss shouted.
"No!" I shouted back. "You can't do that yet!"
"It's better than nothing!"
She was right, but I didn't want to take such a gamble. I took a deep breath as I prepared acceleration one more time. My body would take even longer to recover. I didn't care. Team RWBY would not be defeated just yet.
The Grimm moved towards me and was stopped by a fast moving slice down its face. Its skull cracked just a bit as the mysterious attacker disappeared in a black shadow.
"I wasn't expecting to find you all here," said Blake Belladonna. She looked back at me with her serious face. It looked like she'd taken a beating sometime earlier. Her face was covered in scratches and there appeared to be several bruises on her arms.
"Blake!" Yang said with a smile. "You're alive!"
"For now," she said shortly. "How about we take this Grimm down first?"
"You have no idea how happy I am to see you," I said.
Team RWBY was back and prepared to beat the odds.