Chapter 36
Notwithstanding Summer's ignorance of where children came, the awkwardness of the situation was lessened by Raven taking her leave but that still left Taiyang and his former lover.
They may have lessened the divide between them these past few days but there was still a trace of discomfort on Summer's end and a hint of longing on Taiyang's. The two stood in silence until the blonde man got a wonderful idea to break the ice.
"I'm not sure if you remember this story but do ya wanna hear about the time I tricked Qrow into wearing a skirt?" Taiyang said, grinning at the memory.
The Guardian simply stared at him for a few moments, making him wonder if he messed up before her cheeks puffed up from repressed laughter. The silver eyed woman covered her mouth with both hands but it was useless for her mirth could not be contained any longer with the image of the scythe-master wearing a skirt in the forefront of her mind.
"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Summer bellowed in uproarious laughter as she rolled around on the couch with her legs kicking in the air.
The old dragon felt a warm smile form on his face from nostalgia. This Summer Rose may be more bold and childish than the one that he knew but it looked like some things never change.
"Man, I wish I could remember that one!" Summer chuckled a bit as she wiped the tears from her eyes, "I would do anything just to see that agai-"
The Guardian cut herself off as a nefarious scheme began to formulate in that twisted mind of hers. Her silver eyes flashed in a very familiar manner.
"Uh oh," Drei noted in alarm, recognizing that gleam far too well while Taiyang remained confused.
The former member of Team STRQ didn't recognize the danger for what it was. The old Summer Rose may have been a bit of an airhead (some would argue over the 'a bit' part) but she managed to follow the rules as best as she could. It was usually either Qrow or Tai that caused trouble with the authority and not their former leader.
He may not be able to identify the danger of the gleam in Summer's eyes but the way her mouth curved in a serial killer-like grin could clue even the most oblivious of people in.
"I wonder what Qrow's dress size?" Summer giggled maniacally as her shoulders shook with unholy mirth.
Meanwhile, a dusty old crow was about to place the tip of his flask in his mouth but stopped abruptly as he felt intense shivers crawling down his spine. The male Branwen was by no means superstitious but he lived long enough to trust his instincts. And right now, his instincts were telling him to run like his life, dignity and sanity depended on it.
His instincts were being strangely specific today.
00000
Lux Sylphid abruptly snapped her head up in alarm and began frantically searching the area for trouble. Prometheus-23 was in the midst of performing maintenance on his shotgun, the 4th Horseman when he noticed his teammate's peculiar behavior.
"Is everything alright, Lux?" the Exo Titan curiously inquired as he finished reassembling the 4th Horseman.
"I…I don't know but I have the strangest feeling that Summer's about to do one of her shitty pranks," the Warlock replied, shaking her head a bit, "And it's a prank that I would actually approve of."
Being in the same fireteam as Summer Rose had its ups and downs, namely the ridiculous schemes that the young Hunter did to alleviate her boredom. Oftentimes, Lux was the victim of her numerous pranks, which made the White Rose earn a Nova Bomb to the face for.
Although, there were times that the Awoken joined in on one of Summer's schemes just for the hell of it and they were quite enjoyable to be honest if you weren't on the receiving end of it.
Either way, the purple haired Warlock somehow acquired a seventh sense (she had already unlocked her sixth sense long ago) that alerted her to whenever Summer decided to do something stupid. It sure helped her avoid being an unwilling victim in of Summer's pranks and Lux would occasionally inform Prometheus to get him to stop their younger teammate if the Awoken felt like it.
"Oh dear, I hope it won't cause unnecessary complications with Remnant," Prometheus said in a worried tone as he slung the four barreled shotgun behind his back and took out his hand cannon, Polite Denial 0/1 to work on, "The Vanguard wants to make a good impression with their leaders and show them that we, Guardians are here to help."
"And well…Summer is not exactly suited for something as delicate as forging ties with a foreign power," the Exo Titan added with a cringe as he recalled many of his younger teammate's quirks.
Even though Summer Rose was the one that helped create an alliance between the Reef and the City in the first place, she didn't really make the best of impressions with the Queen's brother, Uldren Sov since she practically assaulted him. If the pompous man had his way, then Summer would have been executed right then and there, subsequently starting a war between the Awoken and the Guardians.
A war with another faction wasn't what everyone needed so it was quite fortunate that the Awoken Queen, Mara Sov herself was able to dissolve any hostilities before they could start. The alliance that was then forged was due to necessities instead of any skills in persuasion that Summer obviously never had.
"No shit," Sylphid scoffed as she absentmindedly stuck a cigarette in her mouth and lit the tip with her Solar powers, "Aside from you, our fireteam has shitty conversational skills."
"Yes, you do," Prometheus agreed as he snatched the cigarette from the Warlock's mouth. Ignoring her indignant protests, the Exo Titan put out the lit cigarette on his armoured palm before it could ignite anything flammable.
Summer wasn't the only one with bad habits and Lux's bad habit was her taking the chance to smoke anywhere, including places where smoking was prohibited like now for example.
Gunpowder in a Guardian's gun was more potent compared to pre-Golden Age weapons so it could provide the bullet with more power and velocity. That was why something that could set it off like an errant cigarette would produce disastrous results such as the weapon blowing up in Prometheus' face.
The Titan could easily shrug off a weapon misfire to the face and the Polite Denial 0/1 wasn't exactly his favorite weapon but it wouldn't be the first time that Lux accidently caused his gun to explode with her chain-smoking so he wasn't going to take any chances.
Seeing Lux's incredulous expression shift to sheepish, the grey colored Exo could tell that she had reached the same conclusion. After all, the Awoken was the one who bought Polite Denial 0/1 for him to replace the last gun that she accidently broke with her smoking habits.
Their attention was then caught by the Hunter Vanguard in the distance. Cayde-6 was currently overseeing a group of engineers as they worked on a transport craft.
The transport craft was a land-based vehicle and like Sparrows, was equipped with an antigrav system. Unlike Sparrows, the craft was far bigger and had less mobility but it could certainly take more damage than them before being destroyed. It was also in the midst of being converted into a more combat-suited vehicle as the team of engineers were installing reinforced plating on its exterior and a machine gun turret on its roof. However, its main purpose was not combat but to carry additional munitions for the Guardians in their excursion to Remnant since the other side of the Gateway led deep into hostile territory and the Guardians weren't sure when they would be able to restock on ammunition.
This vehicle wasn't the only one if its kind as several others had been produced earlier. Not only that, there were a couple of Fallen Pikes and Cabal Intercepters claimed from the battlefield to add to their arsenal. Of course, those too received some modifications specific to the Guardian that claimed them in the first place.
Thirty Guardians may be kind of small for ground troops but they certainly weren't going in under-equipped. If that wasn't enough, Lord Shaxx, one of the most powerful Titans would be accompanying them along with hundreds of Redjacks. This just proved that the Vanguard were not willing to take any chances to save Remnant from the Vex.
"Have you notice that Cayde has been pretty tense lately?" Prometheus pointed out as he watched the Hunter Vanguard's head tersely snapped up in alarm. It had been a while since he had seen his fellow Exo react like that but he couldn't be sure if Cayde's behavior was for the same reason since the usual cause of that reaction was absent these past few weeks.
"Now that you mentioned it, yeah," Lux admitted as she was about to unconsciously light another cigarette but stopped herself from doing so, "He doesn't get like that unless some jackass is trying to get into Summer's pants and I thought we scared all of them off by now."
Yes, the bond between Cayde and Summer was so close that it resembled more like a bond between father and daughter than a student-teacher relationship. Even though Summer could handle herself well in combat, the Hunter Vanguard couldn't help but feel a tad overprotective when someone tried to get romantically/sexually involved with the young Guardian.
"Well, I don't want to assume but Summer is on a different planet where its inhabitants are unaware of our reputation so maybe, she might have caught the eye of some reprobate who doesn't know any better," the Exo Titan suggested tentatively while inwardly hoping he was wrong.
The Awoken's expression darkened and wisps of Void poured out of her eyes so Prometheus felt that it would be prudent to quickly add, "Hypothetically, of course."
Calming down slightly, Lux released a breath, "It better be fucking hypothetical."
As much as she denied it, the Warlock actually held a soft spot for their adorable little Hunter and considered her a sister in all but blood. Summer just had a tendency to worm her way into people's hearts.
"But if it turned out to not be hypothetical," purple haired woman intoned as her mouth began to curl up in a bloodthirsty smirk, "Then we'll teach them lesson."
"I really hoped we didn't have to do that anymore after everyone thought you and Summer were in a romantic relationship but I guess it was too much to ask for," the only level-headed member of Fireteam Nero sighed. Even if it was for the sake of his little sister figure, Prometheus disliked unnecessary violence and would rather choose a more peaceful solution but sometimes, people were too thickheaded to learn their lesson unless it was beaten into them.
"Summer's just too fucking lovable for her own good," Lux casually replied before what her teammate said fully sunk in, "Wait, WHAT!?"
"Oh dear, it appears I may have forgotten to mention that to you," Prometheus-23 sheepishly confessed as he remembered that the only ones unaware of that rumor were the two people it involved, "Just for the record, it was Shiro who spread the rumors in the first place. I had not part in it."
The Titan may be willing to jump in front of his allies to take a fatal blow for them but he was perfectly fine with throwing the yellow garbed Hunter under the bus if it meant diverting the ire of his most volatile teammate from him.
"SHHHIIIIRRROOOOOOOOOO!"
At least, Shiro had a better chance of escaping from Lux Sylphid's wrath than Prometheus-23 did.
00000
Emerald Forest was situated very close to Beacon Academy but it didn't mean there were no dangers lurking within its trees. The creatures of Darkness, known as the Grimm called this place home and they would prey upon any human or faunus that were foolish enough to trespass on their domain.
The lupine of their kind were the first to reach their latest prey as a small red hooded figure stood within their sights. Three pairs of claws rushed to find purchase in the frail human's flesh and with a flash of red and three loud cracks, three bodies fell to the ground in halves as the red hooded human now carried a massive scythe with its curved blade possessing an unnatural black glow.
It would appear that the Beowolves were mistaken. This was no mere human for she was a Huntress (in-training) and she was packing some serious Guardian-level firepower.
Cocking the upgraded Crescent Rose, Ruby Rose twirled the scythe and postioned the head behind her before she pulled the trigger. A burst of black erupted from the barrel as her form was engulfed by the same glow of her scythe, giving her a spectral-like appearance. As the young leader of Team RWBY glided across the forest floor like a ghost amidst the tombstones, her visage was as if it was that of the Grim Reaper.
Although, the more apt term would be 'Grimm's Reaper' as Ruby cleaved several more Beowolves apart in a blink of an eye. The kills were so quick and clean that the once nightmarish monsters floundered for but a scant moment before their own deaths began to register in their simple minds.
And thus kindly, they all scattered as the shadow-garbed reaper vanished from the visual perception.
In this beautiful forest of green, there was naught to be seen in that clearing but the trees and the monstrous inhabitants of the forest being butchered by an unseen spectre. As the Beowolves were being systematically slaughtered, a pair of Ursa Majors saw fit to join their brethen.
Being far older than the slain Beowolves earlier, the bear-like beasts' armour proved to be of a much stronger variety as the young reaper's weapon left sizable gashes on their bony plates yet not fully breaking through the defenses. The force behind the blows were still enough to stagger the beast, leaving its vulnerable necks exposed.
Ruby hooked her scythe on the neck of the first Ursa Majors before squeezing the trigger and decapitating the Grimm with the recoil. Having almost forgotten about the second Ursa, she barely brought her scythe up and caught the savage backhand with the shaft on time.
Even though she was able to block the attack, the Huntress-in-training was still sent flying, forcing her to burrow her weapon into the ground to halt her impromptu flight. Ruby extracted Crescent Rose's blade from the earth and readied it for retaliation but it turned out to be unneeded as a yellow armoured figure descended upon the Ursa Major and landed a devastating hammer kick.
The Ursa was sent crashing into the ground so hard that bits of earth were knocked into the air from the combined force of its fall and weight. Still dazed from the kick, the bear Grimm weakly raised its head before Yang Xiao Long brought her fist down to smash the Grimm's head back onto the ground with a burst of shotgun pellets from Ember Celica.
After Yang dealt the death blow to the Ursa Major, a Beowolf hurled itself at her from behind. Before its claws could even touch her, a white blur slammed into its sides, completely diverting its flight from the yellow brawler. The Beowolf struggled for a moment but the thin blade impaled in its torso was twisted in deeper, finishing it off.
Weiss Schnee extracted Myrtenaster from the dissolving Grimm and straightened her white overcoat. Glyph forming under her feet, she flipped over a pair of Beowolves and swiped her blade while still in the air, smoothly decapitating them. As she landed behind the two headless Grimm, she stabbed Myrtenaster into the earth, sending a wave of ice spears to skewer more Grimm.
More Beowolves came rushing out of the treeline and were about to join their brethren but a black and white figure with its long scarf billowing behind it slid across the ground between them and spun herself and her cleaver-like blade around, severing their legs from the knees.
At the end of the revolutions, Blake Belladonna's left hand held onto the small rectangular hole near the top of the bladed sheath and slid Gambol Shroud from the sheath to stab a Beowolf from under its jaw while she raised the sheath to block another Beowolf's claw. Spinning on her heel, the cat faunus swatted the claw away and slashed at its throat with the katana.
Placing the sheath on her back, Blake shifted the katana into its kusarigama form and swung the flai around her, slicing many more Beowolves into pieces. She reared back her arm and sent the flail soaring towards her. She tilted her head to the side, allowing the blade to harmlessly fly past her where it was caught by her partner, Yang.
Yang swung the cat faunus around her as Blake kicked away at the Grimm surrounding them. As the two Huntresses in training did their tag team attack while the Ice Flowers pair slew more Grimm, a King Taijitu slithers into the clearing where Team RWBY was fighting the Grimm. Blake pulled out the sheath and hooked its sharp edge on a thick tree to halt her flight.
Weiss pointed two fingers at their resident heavy hitter and a series of glyphs materialized before Yang, leading towards the giant Grimm. Blake tugged hard on Gambol Shroud as the blonde girl hurled herself forward unto the glyphs with a burst from Ember Celica. With the cooperation of the three members of Team RWBY augmenting Yang's momentum, the two headed snake Grimm was all but obliterated in one blow, killing it instantly.
The last Grimm, a Beowolf, futilely charged at the three students only for its head to explode into bloody bits.
"Well, that's the last of 'em," Ruby proudly declared with a huge grin from under her helmet as she expelled the spent round that was used to kill the last Grimm from her gun.
The reason for Team RWBY's presence in the Emerald Forest was because there had been issues with the security network. It may not have been that far from civilization but a security malfunction could have dire consequences especially with the war against the Vex ongoing so the first year team was sent to escort the technicians repairing the control centers.
"Y'know, I had my doubts at first but this stuff is pretty handy to have," Yang said as her armour followed her movements well without the slightest hindrance, "And it's surprisingly comfy to wear."
The blonde brawler initially believed the armour that her step-mother, Summer Rose gave to her would be too clunky and uncomfortable to wear but whoever forged the armour knew what they were doing since it didn't hamper her movements and the weight was barely noticeable under her own superhuman strength. She also didn't have to wear any underwear under the tight-fitting rubber suit, which the armour pieces were layered over.
The same could be said for the rest of Team RWBY even though their armours didn't provide the same protection as Yang's. It helped that their new apparells were environment sealed so they were no longer affected by the humidity around them.
Like how Ruby and Yang's thought to have been deceased mother had eloquently put it, it was as if they were wearing nothing at all.
Oh great, now the memory of their mom wiggling her butt in their faces while saying that line was back after they tried so hard to forget it. It was obvious that Summer didn't mean anything sexual about since she lacked the knowledge about sex like her younger daughter in the first place but her daughters still couldn't help but feel a bit awkward.
Aside from the comforts and the protection that Team RWBY's armour had provided them, there was another set of utilities they now had like the ammo counter, inset comms and the radar in their heads-up display (they had a freaking HUD!) like what you would find in video games. But the personal shield module installed in each suit was the by far most useful.
Atlas was in fact capable of creating energy shield projectors but they could never manage to scale it down for personal use nor could they ever make a rechargeable one like how the scientists of Earth had. According to Summer and Drei, it was actually pretty simple to make so it wasn't inconvenient to give each of them one shield module. Like with the Sparrows, she had too much that she didn't know what to do with them besides either selling them or giving them away.
So thanks to the shield modules, Team RWBY no longer had to expend their Auras for protection while Yang's shields were altered in such a way that it wouldn't get in the way of her kinetic energy asborption semblance.
Guardians were perfectly capable of defending their bodies with Aura (or Light as they preferred to call it) but it was more cost efficient to own a rechargeable shield unit during battle than a forcefield that would leave them powerless once depleted.
It was also due to some enemies, like the Hive Knights being able to effortlessly bypass Aura/Light entirely if Guardians used them as shields but the first year team didn't really need to know that part.
As Team RWBY went over the useful functions that their new gear had given them, Ruby received a call on her internal comms.
"Yo," the young team leader greeted with a casual wave of her hand even though the person on the other end couldn't see it.
"The control centers have been repaired, Team RWBY," Tom, the technician that they were assigned to protect, informed her.
Tom was a brown haired man in his late twenties and had an easily forgettable face that the first year team would have trouble recognizing if they ever saw the man again.
"Alright, that's a mission accomplished!" Ruby cheered as she gave her teammates and the technician a thumbs-up.
"Um, not quite yet, Ms. Rose," the technician interjected hesitantly, "There are clear signs that the control centers had been tampered with by an unknown party and the drones found mysterious cages that are being used for capturing Grimm."
"Who would've want to capture Grimm?" Ruby inquired, waiting for the man to answer but it was actually her partner, Weiss who answered.
"Research purposes I suppose," the Schnee heiress remarked, sheathing Myrtenaster at her hip and syncing her comms with their leader, "There is still so much about the Grimm that we don't know about so any new discovery could be groundbreaking."
"Exactly, Ms. Schnee," Tom nodded in agreement, "But research on Grimm was deemed illegal especially with the problems of containing and acquiring live specimens."
"This mission doesn't sound like it's over just yet then," Ruby concluded, face resolute.
The young reaper of Team RWBY may be a carefree spirit but she could be very serious if the situation called for it and much like her mother, she would be very determined to see the mission through to the end.
00000
"I hate you two so fucking much," Qrow growled as he glared at the two people responsible for his current predicament.
Instead of his usual cloak and suit, the man now wore the female uniform of Beacon Academy that was modified to fit his not so feminine frame. And exposed to the world were his surprisingly hairless and well-toned legs.
Qrow's legs had always been an embarassment for him. Unlike most men, his legs had always been pretty hairless and smooth so he was often teased for having legs that most women would die to have.
"Hey, this was all was Summer's idea," Taiyang defended himself as Summer rolled around on the ground and laughed hysterically, "I tried to talk her out of it but you know how that song and dance goes."
The Summer that they knew before may have been a more softspoken person back then but when push came to shove, she would be pretty bullheaded on whatever she put her mind on.
The current Summer appeared to be the same except with none of the inhibitions that the previous one had so she had caused more troubles than what Qrow and Taiyang did during their time in Beacon.
"Guardian, you have a message from Professor Ozpin," Drei materialized and cut off her laughing fit. She didn't really notice the handheld device ring but the Ghost definitely did. He would have easily accessed the scroll and see what the message was but it was the perfect excuse to get her to cease laughing.
"Alrighty then," the Guardian pushed herself up and took out her scroll to see the text message that the headmaster left for her, "It says here to meet him in his office and to bring Tai and Qrow with me."
"Anything else?" Qrow inquired as the Ghost graciously changed his clothes back into his usual outfit. If it was possible, he would gladly buy the little guy a drink.
"He also said that he's reactivating Team STRQ. Whoever the hell they are," Summer replied, not recognizing her former team name.