In response to everyone who is against weakening Madara: would it be better to have the character start weaker and then grow more powerful along with the rest of the cast? Or have Coco Adel from the Volume 2 finale? I for one prefer the former. If you don't like my choices, you can read other crossovers that do have god as the protagonist.
Wassa110- Do you… know what senjutsu is or how it works? I also have my own origin story for Kaguya, which has been shown in minor amounts. It'll be expanded upon later on.
Chapter 37
Transport Ship
"As of twenty minutes ago, all fleets have reported in." Ironwood explained, pointing to several highlighted locations on a holographic map. "With this communication array, every kingdom will be within our range of observation. If one of those 'tailed beasts' as you say appears within fifty kilometers of Vale, Mistral, Atlas, or Vacuo, we will know."
"Fifty will give you five minutes if they are generous." Madara declared, his arms crossed defensively.
The tailed beasts were all different physiologically, and their abilities reflected that. Some moved faster than others, such as the nine tailed fox being faster on land than the six tailed slug, but slower in water than the three tails. They were all still extremely fast, such that the none of the vehicles of this world that could outspeed them, let alone outrun their ranged attacks.
"The fleets are comprised mostly of droids. Even if combat becomes unavoidable, we aren't at risk of losing vital personnelle. The data we've collected has been used to modify our equipment accordingly. The Atlesian Fleet is stronger than ever." Ironwood countered.
Of course, even with the enhancements he boasted, he hadn't the slightest idea that he could defeat that ten tailed giant. He was but a man with a puppet army, that was all forces of nature contained in a single titanic body.
"Enhancements?" Madara asked with an interested but suspicious stare.
Before Ironwood could elaborate, the ship's pilot suddenly shouted "brace for impact". Following his warning, the ship had undergone significant turbulence, shaking violently and losing balance completely.
"S-status report! What is attacking us?" Ironwood shouted to the pilot, using the wall to keep himself steady.
"Sir! A large explosions had just gone off in the Forever Fall Forest eight klicks east of us." they replied in a frantic tone, struggling to keep the ship under control.
"What kind of explosion?" asked the General with a worried look.
"Unknown. Moments before the initial blast, an unidentifiable black sphere had appeared from the treeline." they replied.
The description caught Madara's attention, prompting him to jump to his feet and head towards the door.
"What is going on?" Ironwood asked the fleeing Uchiha. "Is it another one of those things?"
Without responding, the back door of the transport vehicle opened. Despite the four hundred meter distance between them and the ground, Madara stepped out without hesitation, immediately activating his Mangekyou Sharingan.
"Damnit. Get in contact with the nearest recon and medical ships. I want this area secured and evacuated!" Ironwood ordered, closing the door that Madara had left open.
Forever Fall
"What's the plan Ruby?" Yang whispered to her sister as her bracelets transformed. With a series of metallic clicks the golden accessories expanded into into their standard combat mode; gauntlets. She pounded her fists together, creating a small shockwave from the impact.
"Beat it down until it can't regenerate anymore." Ruby declared.
There was an unusual coldness in her voice, which Yang to recoil and glance worriedly at her sister. Sure, the creature attacked their partners, but not even the creatures of Grimm that existed to do so had garnered such a gaze. However, her concern for Ruby had to wait. Yang returned focus on the enemy, the most important objective at the moment.
Even before battle, the two were at an information disadvantage. Neither of the two had ever encountered, let alone fought against, a creature like this. Not only was its body structure extremely flexible, but it could grow additional arms and regenerate from normally fatal injuries. It wasn't possible to say, with any confidence, that they had seen all of its abilities. An intelligent or experienced fighter, like the two were, would be sensible enough to suspect the complete opposite.
This had raised an unvoiced yet shared sentiment. There wasn't a person in Team RWBY, save for Ruby, who believed they had what was necessary to outperform and overcome this opponent. Despite that, Ruby pointed Crescent Rose's electrically charged blade behind her back and activated her semblance once more. She dashed forward with her war scythe coiled back and ready to swing for a second swing, the first of which was capable of ripping through its target's flesh.
The multiple arms that suspended the creature upright retracted, allowing it to return to the ground. It moved slower than Ruby, but slithered in a nonlinear pattern. Just two meters before contact, the creature's upper body rose from the ground, several pairs of arms extending to attack Ruby. However, the beast's attention switched to Yang, who used her gauntlets to propel herself into the air. It ducked under her punch, countering with lodging its own fist into her stomach. She was hurled against a tree, which alongside her aura, dampened her impact. In the process, the section of its body that would have been cut in half extended backwards, avoiding the blade.
Using the momentum of her missed strike and the recoil of another shot, Ruby stepped closer and swung another time, the tip of her weapon making contact. Unfortunately, it only managed to scrape the creature's skin.
It snarled while launching an arm towards the petite girl, but before it could land, the ground shook violently and resulted in a missed punch and Ruby remaining unharmed. Yang, enhanced by the damage she absorbed, had cracked the ground in a line between them with a single punch.
"That was a good hit, but I'll give you one better." Yang smiled, cracking her knuckles and switching out the shells in her gauntlets. "It's pretty fast, shooting at it would be no good. I'll go with close quarters and wide attack range." she affirmed, taking off with a leap.
She cocked her fist back, firing a shot behind her to increase her speed. Centimeters from the creature she threw a punch. A black hand attempted to catch the incoming blow, but was unable to withstand the force. On contact, she fired an red-colored shell. The arm exploded as a result, like a jelly that lost its casing and renounced its form to gravity. The use of these rounds had a secondary and intentional effect. Not only would they do greater damage to the creature than just a simple punch, the splash damage would increase Yang's own strength. She could more than afford the extra damage in return for the boost.
The creature retreated slightly, but was in the process tagged by an electric bullet from the rifle module of Crescent Rose. it had the perfect effect, the coursing energy stunning and slowing down the monster's movements. These moments of paralysis allowed Yang to follow up with a flurry of punches, the remaining arms were used to defend as it attempted to back away, but Yang's aggressive approach made use of its large body to land hits. As the stun began to wear off Yang pointed both gauntlets down and fired, sending herself into the air.
"Take this!" Yang shouted, coming down with her hands together.
The Huntress in training's fists slammed into the midsection of its serpentine body, sending large ripples to its head and tail. Unfortunately, it seemed to do little to no damage. She fired two shells, but they too had no visible effects.
"Impressive, but futile," the creature muttered, thrashing its body violently as to shake Yang away.
Yang lost what little grip she managed to gain and it whipped her away with a swing of its tail. Yang spun counter to her rotation, caused by the lash, reducing her speed and retaining control as she landed. The beast retreated back by several meters before Its head turned, the mask facing Ruby and Ruby alone.
"You have something we want. You, who is but a child, wields power not meant for you. How was this achieved?"
It took more than a second to register that the creature was speaking to her. Ruby raised a confused eyebrow, her mouth ajar as if she was about to say something.
"Is this thing after the Rinnegan?"
She removed one of her hands from the pole as if to reach for her own face. Despite both of her eyes having undergone a mysterious transformation, only one of them seemed to be of importance. Said importance was, up until now, only noticeable to Madara. As such, it was more likely that it was referring to the Rinnegan as well, instead of her platinum colored eye.
She shook her head from side to side, repressing her concerns to be explored at another time. Her free hand returned to her weapon. Just in time as well, as had she not returned from her wonders a second longer, she wouldn't have noticed a dozen black arms flying towards her.
She gasped, dashing to the side to avoid the wall of claws and swung down vertically. With the lightning chakra running through the blade increasing the cutting power, it had sliced clean through the thin black limbs.
Despite the dismemberment, the stumps remained active, slamming into Ruby's stomach. Even with damage reduction via her aura shield, Ruby could not keep the air within her from escaping upon contact.
"Ruby!" Yang shouted, her eyes turning a deep red and her hair gaining a fiery glow. She brought her fist back and prepared to launch a barrage, but stopped before a single round was fired. Despite knowing that her sister's aura was well intact, she wasn't willing to risk the chance of damaging her. As she approached, several dozens of new black arms moved to intercept.
Yang proceeded with her previously effective strategy, create explosions using her gauntlet shells at the moment of impact to increase the damage and her strength. However, it appeared to be less effective this time around. Despite the damage, they continued to extend at a faster rate than she was capable of destroying. Soon enough, they overwhelmed the blonde, driving her into the ground and barraging her with light punches.
"Yang!" Blake exclaimed, firing a full magazine of rounds into the beast's face, but to no avail. She wanted to get up and come to her aid, she wanted to rescue Ruby, but taking either course of actions would leave Weiss alone and vulnerable. She looked at the girl in white, who was sitting on the ground recharging her aura. "Weiss, come on, we need to help them."
"Go, I'll be fine." Weiss declared, a resolved stare focused directly at Blake. The faunus nodded, dashing off towards the combatants.
With Yang on the ground temporarily the arms of the creature retracted into its body, leaving only the tendrils that held Ruby in the air and without her weapon, save for one. The sharp claws on its fingers were like knives, sharp enough to tear through skin like a sword. It encircled Ruby's head, stopping on front of her face.
"It would be good to take your eyes," it spoke, the sharp claws lightly pressing against Ruby's eyelid and holding it open, before moving back quickly. Ruby quickly closed both of her eyes, shaking her head randomly. "Or… to use you against him would be most effecti-"
Before it could continue its train of thought, something else had caught its attention. Its head lowered to face Blake and her katana sticking into its side. Its free arm shot at the attacker, but instead of smashing the girl into the ground, it spontaneously burst into flames. Using her semblance and the fire dust held within the magazine of her gun, Blake had created a statue of herself that would explode when struck.
"What is this?" it demanded in a confused tone, growing additional arms. They shot out like their predecessors, but before they could reach Blake, a wall of pure blue ice intercepted them. The arms slammed into the wall and stopped dead. The construct was stronger, far more so, than the previous barrier. Both the creature and Blake turned their attention to Weiss, whose sword was embedded into the ground.
"Blake, Yang, focus on getting Ruby out of there. " Weiss shouted, smiling confidently to the two. The two nodded in confirmation, following their commands.
The two rushed towards the creature, who responded by screeching loudly. Blake was afflicted just as before, her cat ears ringing painfully from the high pitched sound, but managed to bear with it.
With the first attack a failure, it appeared to open its mouth wide as if it wanted to swallow something whole. Black and blue Particles began to appear from thin air, gathering together into a dark purple ball in front of its grotesque maw. None of team RWBY had ever seen it before, but they didn't quite need to. Whatever the sphere was made of or what it did, it would be stupid to think that it wasn't something dangerous. Eventually, the sphere expanded to half a meter in diameter, yet hadn't stopped expanding.
Ruby, who could see the true composition of the mass with the Rinnegan, screamed with a look of terror spread across her. "Get away from it!"
Briefly, lasting no longer than an instant, her metallic white eye glinted. The sudden feeling of pain, on the other hand, did not end so quickly. It was pain, the same pain that Ruby felt in her eyes when she first attained them, but worse. The feeling coursed through her veins into every corner of her body. Unlike the feeling of being on fire, she felt as if her very blood had been turned into a molten substance. Unable to move to comfort herself in the black tendril restraints, she writhed in agony.
"It's happening again…" Yang thought, watching her sister helplessly. She grit her teeth, her head turning to Weiss. However, no words came out of her ajar mouth. Weiss was present as well when Ruby collapsed at the harbor and undoubtedly noticed what Yang had. Blake was no different. Despite this neither of them said a word, potentially meaning they knew or didn't know what they could do.
Oddly enough, even the slug-like creature appeared perplexed at Ruby's behavior. There was a low growl that came from the creature.
"What… is this?" it asked cluelessly. It certainly hadn't done anything that would cause the girl to act this way. It's only goal was to capture her with as little harm as possible. If she was damaged, she would be less effective as a host, a less effective tool to be used. Whatever was happening, it could wait until the three nuisances were taken care of. That's what it thought as the sphere was put into use.
Weiss conjured a blast shield of pure blue ice in front of three with a thickness of five meters. A moment after the glacier was created, another alarm rung from the others' scrolls. They ignored it, as the cause for the alert was blatantly obvious. Yang was far more concerned with their position, or lack thereof.
"Weiss what are you doing? We need to get Ruby away from it!" Yang exclaimed, her red eyes burning with fury.
"R-Ruby told us to get a… away and I know that there's no chance of that. We'll get her after that thing is done." Weiss snapped back, panting heavily from aura exhaustion. Whatever the sphere was going to be used for, the chances of Ruby being harmed were extremely low. If its goal was to hurt her, she probably wouldn't be alive now.
"Weiss is right, we can't rush in." Blake concurred, putting a hand on Yang's shoulder. The blonde spun around quickly and their eyes met. Yang was angered by the mere suggestion that they should leave Ruby, for all they knew, it could have been some kind of diversion and it would attempt to flee with her little sister as some kind of trophy. However, Blake's calm firm stare kept her in check. If they wanted to do anything, they needed to get past this creature and its odd looking ball.
The pain finally began to fade from Ruby. She felt incredibly weak, exhausted by just trying to stay conscious. It was as if her aura had suddenly vanished from within her body, replaced with an unpleasant and unfamiliar feeling. Despite the fatigue and nausea that urged her to fall asleep, she could hear a quiet echo. It was an incoherent gibberish at first. An indescribable voice repeated two words to her in a language she was not familiar with. The closest thing that she could tie its words to were the things Madara would occasionally utter before performing something fantastical.
At the same time, the sphere had finally stopped growing once it had a diameter of two meters. Suddenly, like a star about to die, the ball collapsed in on itself, shrinking down to a quarter of its size. It hadn't lost a shred of its power, merely becoming smaller for convenience. The beast roared as if commanding the sphere to perform its task. An explosion went off within the forest, but it was not by the hands nor will of the serpentine monster.
The three pairs of eyes widened and three jaws dropped simultaneously. The creature itself was blindsided, torn apart and thrown aside by the concussive force while the sphere was launched directly into the sky. Ten seconds passed, and it too had detonated, creating a blinding flash of light and energy. Yang, Blake, and Weiss all recognized what they had just avoided, what would have certainly vaporized them had it succeeded. The body of their enemy, that had been able to regenerate ahd shrug off dismemberment, laid on the floor motionless. Its body crumbled, not evaporated, but liquified.
The restraints that held Ruby were splattered across the ground and the trees, as if the platinum eyed girl herself had exploded, yet she didn't. Her feet touched the floor, but there was only a second between contact before the rest of her body followed. She was out for the count, signified by her lack of movement and closed eyes.
The forest fell dead silent, yet the three had wanted to ask the same question. It would have been reasonable for any one or all of them to ask "what just happened" yet none uttered a word. Their energies were spent, drained of all strength. They felt relieved, happy that at the very least the threat was eliminated.
That joy was short, however, as a gust of wind pushed past them. If it was something dangerous, even just a small pack of grimm, they may have just given up from exhaustion. Fortunately, that who appeared was no less than a sight for sore eyes, his body clad in thin maroon armor and his long black hair unkempt.
Yang smiled wryly, letting out a sigh of relief as she watched Madara approach their sister and pick her up. "Took long enough."
After securing the unconscious girl, he surveyed the battlefield
"What… is this," he thought, staring confusedly at the messy black remnants. The magnitude of the explosion, the description of what exploded, it couldn't have been anything but a tailed beast bomb. That said, tailed beasts were immortal, and there wasn't a single tailed beast that looked like what Team RWBY had slain.
Whatever it was, it was dead. Ironwood and his soldiers would be coming to seal off the vicinity, and the creature's body wasn't dissipating like the creatures of Grimm would, meaning that he could examine the corpse at another time. First and foremost, returning the team to a safe location was top priority.
END