Resurgence: A RWBY Fic
By Kraven Ergeist
Chapter 51
"Not interested!"
Ruby let out an exasperated sigh. Having grown up under Yang all of her life, she was used to being the baby of any given group. This usually entitled her to many a privilege not afforded to her elder peers, including the privilege to be silly, stubborn, and cutesy whenever she felt like it. She was not used to having to deal with someone who was even younger than she was, and by extension, was even more stubborn than she was as well!
"Dora, please!" Ruby pleaded with the young girl. "We need your help!"
"No!" she growled as she sat cross-legged with her arms crossed in front of the trunk of the great banyan tree. "I'm not doing any favors for Atlas!"
As Ruby's team watched the exchanged, Weiss stepped in to her aid.
"If this about those rumors going around about Atlas' involvement with the attacks on Mistral and Vale, then I can assure you-"
"That's now what this is about!" Dora interrupted her, eyes closed as she tilted her head back, shouting towards the sky. "Only an idiot would believe that Atlas attacked Mistral or Vale!"
Weiss blinked in surprise. For a twelve-year-old girl, Dora certainly seemed perceptive.
"Then why won't you help us?" she demanded.
Dora shot to her feet and marched straight up to Weiss.
"Why!?" she demanded angrily. "You want to know why!?"
Weiss backed away, holding her hands up diplomatically as Dora practically stormed towards her.
"Because Atlas only helps itself!" Dora glowered, hands clenched into fists at her side as she got up in Weiss' face. "Where was Atlas when the droughts came to Vacuo? Where was Atlas when the sandstorms ruined our crops for the season? Where was Atlas when the Grimm came to our doorstep? Where was Atlas when the children of our kingdom were lying starving in the streets? I've heard the tales of Atlas - of its glistening towers and soaring airships and its people who get to live like kings! The richest kingdom in the world, and what do you do? You keep it all for yourself!"
Dora pointed an angry finger at Weiss' chest, as the Huntress stared back at her, eyebrows narrowing at the accusations.
"Just think the good we could do with the wealth of Atlas!" Dora exclaimed, waving her arms wide. "We would have enough to feed everyone who had ever gone hungry! But no, Atlas needs more airships and more soldiers and more robots than it already has! Never mind that they already have the biggest fleet in the entire world already!"
"Hey, wait a minute!" Weiss pursed her lips. "Atlas has sent humanitarian aid to Vacuo before! What about the post-war relief we sent over after the Faunus wars?"
"A war that Atlas started to begin with!" Dora shouted back. "A war that Vacuo wanted nothing to do with!"
"What choice was there?" Weiss demanded. " Faunus insurgents were seeking sanctuary within the walls of Vacuo!"
"And that made it okay for Atlas to drop bombs on our city!?" Dora shouted back.
Ruby held her hands up diplomatically, while the rest of her team tried awkwardly to look in any other direction they could find.
"Umm…guys…?" Ruby pleaded with the two girls.
Weiss nodded and sighed, placing a hand on her forehead.
"Look, I'm not here to discuss politics with you," Weiss said, shaking her head. "I realize that Atlas has a less-than-stellar reputation, but we're trying to resolve that right here and now, before it's too late. In the spirit of cooperation."
Dora crossed her arms. "For years, Vacuo has been alone in its struggles. But now there's a problem that Atlas can't handle on their own, and suddenly you're interested in cooperation, huh?"
Weiss held her arms out in exasperation. "Fine, yes! Atlas needs the aid of Vacuo because we're too weak to handle things on our own! Is that what you want to hear? You want to see us humbled? You want to see us bow and scrape and grovel and beg for your aid? Then fine!"
Ruby held a hand up, looking worried. "Weiss, maybe this isn't such a good idea…"
"I may not represent all of Atlas, but I do represent one of the largest companies in the entire kingdom," Weiss said, taking a knee in front of a very surprised looking Dora. "My family's net worth is something like six hundred and thirty-three million lien last I checked. You want to see how much all that money's helping us now? This much!"
Weiss bowed her head low to the ground, spreading her arms wide in a majestic flourish that made the act seem more audacious than humble. Dora took a step back in astonishment, as if she had honestly not expected a great and noble house of Atlas to acquiesce so easily.
"Oh lost children of Vacuo, I beseech you," Weiss said, her voice taking on an overly dramatic tone. "Please come to our aid in our time of need! Atlas stands chastened before you, and our forces are unequal to the task before us! We beg your forgiveness for our past grievances, and we promise to make efforts to amend our mistakes in the future! My family stands ready to provide aid in full! Food and clean water, blankets and clothing, housing development...anything you need!"
Weiss looked back up at Dora, crocodile tears in her eyes.
"So please…will you help us?"
Dora looked more and more astonished with every word. So did Ruby's team. Blake and Ren were both shaking their heads, faces in hand, Yang and Nora both looked like they were on the verge of cracking up, and Jaune looked like he had no idea what was going on.
Ruby herself was crestfallen. All Weiss was doing was ruining their chances at winning her over by being overly condescending! The girl may have been a child, but she had already proven herself to be wise beyond her years! There was no way that Dora was buying this!
Then she saw Dora gritting her teeth, looking fearfully up at the children still hanging in the treetops and watching the proceedings with unveiled interest. The more Weiss show-boated, the livelier the crowd was becoming. They were eating up her performance like candy! And she was even promising them the financial aid backed by the Schnee family! Ruby looked back at Dora, and suddenly realized what Weiss was doing. Without even realizing it, Dora was trapped!
Dora may have been clever enough to see Weiss' ploy for what it was, but her followers weren't! To the kids up in the trees, this looked every bit like Atlas prostrating itself before them! The outsiders were humbled before them and begging their favor, and even offering tribute! If Dora should turn them away, there was no way the lost children of Vacuo would approve now! Dora knew it, and Weiss knew it.
Dora narrowed her eyes.
"Fine," she said in a low grumble. "I'll talk to your general. That's all I'm agreeing to. Let me just talk to my people about this…"
Dora turned to climb the trunk of the banyan tree while Ruby and her team were left to wait amongst its roots.
"Weiss!" Ruby stammered as her partner got to her feet and dusted herself off. "Where did that come from? That was really risky!"
"Also hilarious," Yang added with a smirk.
"Not really," Weiss said dismissively, checking her nails. "If there's anything I know how to deal with, it's a highfalutin idealist with an over-inflated sense of self-righteousness. And I'm no slouch when it comes to working a crowd either."
"And you're sure your family can afford to send that kind of aid to Vacuo?" Blake asked skeptically.
"Of course," Weiss shrugged, looking at Blake. "Besides, philanthropy looks good on quarterly statements. This isn't my first rodeo here."
She turned her attention back to her team leader.
"We'll win her over eventually, Ruby," she said. "But first we have to get her through the door. And don't forget – we're dealing with a child here. Standard negotiating tactics don't apply. To win them over, you need to play their game better than they play it themselves."
Nora whistled in appreciation. Ren just looked stumped.
"Wow," Jaune said, eyes wide with awe. "You're actually a little terrifying, Weiss."
"Only a little?" Weiss demanded, a haughty smirk on her face.
Dora dropped down to the mossy ground once more, landing easily in crouch from the seemingly impossible fall, a long staff of twisted wood slung to her back.
"I'm ready to go," she announced begrudgingly as she got to her feet, cinching the strap that tied her staff to her back. "Let's get this over…"
She trailed off as her eyes suddenly flew open, and her hand quickly rose to her chest, her pupils dilated to fine point and she began to hyperventilate.
"Oh, no…" she breathed, her whole body quivering. "No, no, no…not again…"
Ruby and her team observed the girl with trepidation.
"Dora?" Ruby asked tentatively. "Is…everything alright?"
Dora was shaking her head, as if suddenly gripped by a terrible affliction.
"No, no, no!" she wrapped her arms around her body, doubling over like she was about to be sick. "Not again…not again…it's getting worse!"
"Dora!" Ruby exclaimed, running over to her to put a hand over her shoulder. "What's happening!? Are you hurt? Tell me what's going on, please!"
The young girl shoved her away, keeping her distance from the Huntress.
"Stay away from me!" she shouted angrily. "You all need to get out of here, now!"
The Huntsmen all tensed at that. Weiss and Blake even put their hands on their weapons.
"What do you mean?" Ruby asked sympathetically. "Dora, please, tell us what's happening!"
"Something terrible has happened!" Dora cried, her eyes beginning to glow. "I don't know what it is, but the last time I felt like this, the Grimm came. You need to go!"
Now the Huntsmen were really starting to look worried. The children up in the tree were starting to get agitated as well.
"What's wrong, boss?!" one called down.
"Yeah, are these bozos giving you a hard time?!" another asked.
Dora began to stagger her way back towards the tree, holding her head as if it was throbbing.
"Dora, we're Huntsmen," Ruby called out to her. "Just like Summer! If there's Grimm coming, we can stop them! Just show us the way."
Dora placed her hand against the trunk of the tree, eyes still glowing faintly.
"No…" she shook her head weakly. "None of you can stop what's coming…"
Before Ruby could pry further, a gust of wind began to kick up around the girl as she hunched over, sand and dust swirling in a vortex around her.
"Dora, wait!" Ruby called out in worry.
But it was too late. Dora launched herself into the air with a powerful leap, the wind currents rising with her to carry her up and over the canopy, the branches and leaves shaking and kicking up massive dust devils as she disappeared from view.
"Great," Weiss grumbled, crossing her arms. "Now we've lost her again."
"What was happening to her just now?" Jaune asked. "Did she look sick to you guys?"
"Kind of…" Yang shrugged. "Did you hear what she said about the Grimm though? Never heard of anyone having some sort of sixth sense for detecting Grimm."
Ruby shook her head. "I don't think that's what it was. She said that 'something terrible has happened.' The Grimm may only be a side effect. Whatever she's feeling, I don't think she quite understands her own abilities yet."
Weiss shrugged. "Considering that she doesn't even know that it's called 'semblance,' I don't doubt it."
"If it's even a semblance at all," Ren offered forebodingly.
Ruby pursed her lips. "Something's bugging me about her though. I can't quite put my finger on it."
"You mean besides the fact that she apparently looked up to our mom almost as much as we did?" Yang asked.
Ruby frowned. "I don't know…I feel like we're missing something here. There's something that the general's not telling us. Why is it so important that we bring this girl in? It can't just be because she has a powerful semblance."
"Maybe she's his long lost daughter or something?" Nora suggested.
"Either way, I think we need to ask him directly," Ruby said, looking at her companions in turn.
There was one voice she hadn't heard yet.
"What do you think Blake?" she asked, looking around for her Faunus teammate. "Blake?"
The black cat girl was busy climbing up one of the long, spindly tendrils of vines leading up to the banyan tree. Overhead, many of the lost children of Vacuo were starting to disperse, but enough of them were remaining to peer down at the strangers with curiosity, and Blake was now climbing towards one of them.
"Hey!" a girl of about ten or so in raggedy clothing and a dirt smudged face called down to her. "You're not supposed to be up here! This is our home!"
Blake reached the top and crouched on one of the wide arching branches, peering across the canopy at the girl.
"I'm sorry," she said politely. "I won't stay long. We just need to talk to Dora. I'm afraid we may have frightened her, and we want to make sure she's alright. Do you know where she might have gone?"
Down below on the mossy floor, Yang crossed her arms proudly. Blake never was one for dilly-dallying.
The other girl, however, appeared to be as stubborn as her leader.
"No idea," she crossed her arms, looking away, her legs clinging to the tree branch. "She likes to go off on her own sometimes. We got hidey-holes all over this whole entire kingdom, an' she could be in any one of 'em."
Blake pondered for a moment before speaking again.
"And where would she go if she thought there was going to be a Grimm attack?"
The girl frowned and hesitated, looking unsure.
"I dunno…" she muttered, uneasily. "She'd always tell us ta hide when Grimm were around. She oughtta be right here with us…"
Blake frowned. "…And if she intended to fight them off herself?"
The girl's expression darkened as her eyes widened in realization.
"The city walls…" she muttered in disbelief.
"The city walls?" Blake asked, prodding for more.
The girl shook her head. "I mean…nuthin'! I didn't say nuthin'! Go away! Leave us alone!"
The girl dashed away, leaping and swinging from branch to branch like a monkey. Blake didn't follow after her; she had the information she needed.
"We need to get to the city walls," Blake said after dropping down to the knotted and twisted roots lining the ground beneath the canopy. "If Dora's not hiding here with her people, then she'd most likely be at the city walls to fend off whatever's coming."
"Good thinking, Blake," Yang gave a thumbs up.
"You think there's going to be a large scale Grimm attack to the kingdom?" Jaune asked the group.
"Well, if there is, we'd better get there, and quick," Ruby said, pulling out her scroll. "We're too far into the city to get there on foot. I'm going to call Winter to see if we can get a lift."
"Good idea," Weiss nodded. "Dora's got a head start on us, and it would seem that she too is flying towards her destination."
"And if there is going to be a Grimm attack, the general needs to know about it," Ren added. "The Atlesian fleet has probably already been dispatched to aid in the humanitarian effort. If we're going to mount an effective defense against a Grimm invasion, we need the fleet here."
"Got it," Ruby nodded, before thumbing Winter's contact information, bringing her face up on her screen.
"Hello Ruby," Winter said stoically. "Any update on the package?"
"Umm…I'm afraid that she's managed to evade us, ma'am," Ruby admitted. "But we think we know where she's going. Can you send an airship our way to fly us out to the city walls?"
"Very well," Winter said, tapping a few buttons off screen. "I'll divert one of our bullheads to your location. Is there anything else?"
Ruby exchanged a glance with the others before proceeding.
"It could be nothing," Ruby said. "But we think there might be a Grimm attack imminent on the kingdom."
"Really?" Winter asked, skeptically. "What evidence do you have that makes you think this?"
"No evidence, per say," Ruby admitted. "Just something that Dora said. She seemed quite certain of it."
"Hmmm…" Winter mused pensively. "Well, the Special Operatives unit isn't one to leave any stone unturned. I'll take it up with the general. In the meantime, keep tracking down the package."
"Yes ma'am," Ruby nodded. "One more thing, though…is the general still in Vacuo? We need to speak with him directly about something."
Winter crossed her arms. "Anything you have to say to the general, you can say to me."
Weiss grabbed Ruby's hand, pointing the screen towards herself. "We just want some more information regarding the package. Any intel he could provide, anything he might have left out. That sort of thing."
"Any intel that's available has been provided to you already," Winter said pointedly.
"Are you absolutely sure about that?" Weiss probed. "Nothing's been left out?"
Winter's eyebrow shot up. "Do you have any reason to doubt my intel?"
Weiss sighed. "I just don't think we're dealing with an ordinary twelve year old girl, ma'am. That's all."
Winter waved her hand dismissively. "If the general felt that any further intel would aid you in your mission, he would have provided you with it. Anything that was left out is on a need to know basis. Are we clear?"
Weiss relinquished the scroll, and Ruby brought it back to her head level.
"Yes ma'am," she nodded, before hanging up and looking at her team.
"Well, that just makes me even more suspicious," Yang commented.
"Tell me about it," Blake added.
"She didn't deny that there might have been intel that we didn't need to know…" Weiss pointed.
"Nothing we can do about it until we see the general face to face again," Ruby exhaled. "Alright guys, let's get to higher ground. There's no way that airship is going to be able to land around this big tree."
The team nodded and made their way to one of the many terraced rooftops of the surrounding sandstone slums. The sun was beginning to hang low on the horizon, and the desert heat was slowly giving way to the cool of evening air, the tiny chimneys popping through the rooftops releasing thing wisps of smoke from cooking fires.
The team waited about ten minutes before the sound of a bullhead rang through the reddening sky, and Yang sent a bright red flare up into the air, alerting the pilot to their position. The bullhorn touched down on the sandstone rooftop, its engines kicking up sand and dust as the side door slid open. Startled civilians on the street were staring up at the sudden arrival of an airship, as Ruby and her team boarded the craft.
"Hi!" Ruby called out to the pilot as she leaned in between the front chairs. "Thanks for coming to get us! How fast can you take us to the city walls?"
"Depends on which direction you want to go to," the pilot said from beneath his helmet. "North, south, east or west?"
Ruby pursed her lip in consideration. It hadn't been clear from Blake's intel which direction would be the most likely spot.
"Which border is most likely to get hit by a Grimm attack?" she asked out loud.
"Your guess is as good as mine," the pilot offered helplessly. "If you want to just get to the wall as quickly as possible and patrol the perimeter, the nearest border is the eastern part of the wall. Should I take you there?"
"That's good enough for now, I suppose," Ruby shrugged.
"Alright ma'am," the pilot nodded. "Go ahead and strap yourself in."
"I call shotgun!" Yang shouted, leap-frogging over Ruby's head and positioning herself in the co-pilot's seat.
Ruby pouted. "Aww…Yang, you always get the front seat!"
Ruby's sister stuck her tongue out playfully. "Got to keep up, short-stuff!"
Ruby grumbled and went back to sit with the others as they strapped themselves into their seats, the door sliding shut as the bullhead began to lift away from the rooftops.
"Sisters, am I right?" Jaune asked with a laugh.
"Tell me about it…" Ruby blew a strand of hair out of her face.
"So, not to point out the obvious," Weiss stated as she sat calmly across from Ruby. "But the pilot brings up a good point. Once we reach the wall, we'll have to circumnavigate the entire border to find Dora. That doesn't strike me as the most efficient use of our time."
"Vacuo's got to have border patrols of their own," Blake suggested. "We should coordinate with the local defense forces to zero in on any disturbances."
"Yes, but what if they won't cooperate?" Ren asked worriedly. "Vacuo's council may have agreed to work with Atlas, but that doesn't mean every member of the guard is going to want to help us."
"We can just name-drop Professor Jasmine!" Nora answered with a grin. "She'll vouch for us!"
Ruby nodded. "Okay, sounds like a plan. Let's-"
"Attention all units!" a static-riddled voice sounded over the Bullhead's intercom, interrupting the team's discussion. "Hostile airship on approach to Vacuo! All units be advised – hostile airship on east by southeast approach vector! All nearby units, please respond!"
Ruby and her teammates exchanged a worried glance.
"Hostile airship?" Weiss asked in confusion. "The enemy doesn't have any airships…do they?"
"Unless they captured one of ours," Blake pointed out. "…Again."
"Ma'am!" the pilot craned his neck to call back to Ruby, his eyes hidden behind his helmet and visor. "We're one of the closest units! I've got to respond to this call!"
"Understood pilot," Ruby nodded in agreement. "We'll provide assistance."
She glanced back at the others, a look of trepidation on her face.
"Something tells me they're going to need our help," she said gravely. "If this isn't the threat that Dora was predicting, I'm betting it's related."
Jaune gritted his teeth. "I've got a bad feeling about this…"
The bullhead adjusted its course slightly to the north, and made a bee-line for the great sandstone wall surrounding the city. It stretched over fifty feet high, and was marked every five hundred feet or so by watchtowers and guard stations, with mounted dust cannons lining the wall, pointed outward to defend the kingdom.
And off in the distance just below the clouds and approaching at speed was the war torn carapace of an Atlesian frigate.
"Is that…?" Yang asked as she peered out the windshield.
"Ironwood's flagship?" Weiss finished Yang's thought, recognizing the vessel from the battle over Beacon.
"Didn't that ship crash during the battle?" Blake asked as she peered out through one of the side portholes.
"Well, it's clearly up and running," Ren pointed out.
"Hey guys?" Ruby asked as their small VTOL craft moved in closer to the massive airship. "Is it just me, or is that ship not looking too good?"
As everyone crowded around their respective portholes to observe the Atlesian frigate, they noticed that one of the two main engines towards the rear of the ship was indeed trailing a wisp of smoke. The colossal airship even appeared to be listing to one side.
And it was descending fast.
"Target sighted!" the pilot spoke into a microphone on his dashboard. "ETA to Vacuo about ninety seconds! Moving to intercept!"
As the small aircraft veered towards its target, the flagship actually descended below the Bullhead, still on approach to Vacuo. The VTOL altered course to pursue the other airship. But at the rate it was going…
"It's not even going to make it to the city!" Yang pointed out. "That thing's coming down, and it's coming down hot!"
"This doesn't make any sense!" Weiss racked her brain for answers. "Who in the world is flying that thing? The White Fang? Surely they're better pilots than that!"
"What, are you rooting for them or something?" Blake asked incredulously.
"No!" Weiss snorted. "But Atlesian airships practically fly themselves! Either it's in much worse shape than it looks, or something bad happened on board to cause the engines to fail!"
"Well, whatever the reason," Ruby shook her head. "It sure looks like it's about to crash."
The frigate's smoking engine suddenly went up in a blaze of fire, the whole ship listing even further to one side as it careened towards the city. Below it, terrified peasants beyond the city walls ran in every direction, many herding farm animals with them, fleeing the great smoking behemoth coming down upon their land.
The great airship slammed into the sand with a mighty crash, shaking the earth as its momentum carried it forward across the desert wasteland, skidding through roughhewn carts, tents and other simple structures as it plowed towards the city walls.
Ruby's eyes widened as she realized just what was about to happen.
"Oh no…" she exhaled, before yanking off her restraints and stumbling towards the pilot's chair. "Yang, it's going to hit the city wall!"
Yang tensed as she too saw what Ruby was seeing. The ship still had way too much momentum. In about thirty seconds, it would plow right through the walls of Vacuo.
"Not if I can help it…" she said, before unstrapping her safety harness. "Pilot! Bear right, thirty degrees! Get as close as you can to that airship and stay on course! On my mark, open the throttle and brace for impact!"
"What!?" the pilot demanded. "Why!?"
"Just do it!" Yang shouted, climbing back to the main cabin.
With a great effort, she yanked open the side door, sending a gust of wind through the cabin that threw everyone's hair and clothes into a flurry.
"Weiss, help me stop this thing!" she hollered.
"What?!" Weiss demanded. "I-I can't stop something that big!"
"Just do what you can to slow it down!" Yang cried. "Otherwise it's going to break right through the walls of the kingdom!"
Yang's mechanical arm shifted into a dust cannon with a whirring of gears, three revolving servos rotating around the main gun, as she grabbed the bar along the ceiling of the airship and hung most of her body outside the VTOL, taking aim as her dust cannon charged, wind whipping at her hair.
While she charged her weapon, Weiss drew her sword and cast a single black glyph in front of the flagship's nose, acting as a dragnet of sorts. The ship began to slow.
"Impact in twenty seconds!" the pilot called out.
Ruby and the others watched in trepidation as Yang focused her gold plated weapon on the massive airship careening towards the city wall while Weiss closed her eyes in concentration as she did everything she could to slow it down.
"Fifteen seconds!"
The cannon continued to charge, a blowing blue orb of energy forming at the end of the barrel.
"Now!" Yang shouted, before unloading a solid blast of energy that struck the sliding airship off the port bow. The VTOL shook from the force of Yang's blast, and if the pilot hadn't opened up the throttle on Yang's command, it might have gone careening out of the sky. The blast sent the nose of the massive airship skidding sideways, slowly spinning the entire ship along its course, leaving a considerable dent in the bow of the ship, but its momentum continued nevertheless, as the massive warship tumbled ceaselessly towards Vacuo.
"It's gonna hit!" Jaune shouted in alarm as he and the others choked on the smoke from Yang's cannon.
"Was that not enough!?" Yang gasped in astonishment as she charged up another round, knowing full well it wouldn't be ready in time.
The ship continued to slide, its massive momentum carrying it forward, and a moment later, the ship slammed into the walls of Vacuo. Yang's concussive blast had twisted it to the side, allowing it to slam into the wall broadside and divert more of its weight across a wider impact radius. But enough of the ship's bulk was still in motion, and the great walls of the city just weren't enough to withstand it.
CRAAASH! BOOOM!
Soldiers and guards were thrown from their posts to tumble to the ground below as the wall shook from the impact, the airship plowing a great big hole through the side. The wall above began to crumble and fall, the airship carving a path straight through the barrier, leaving a trail of rubble and screaming people in its wake.
"No, no, no…" Ruby slammed her fists into the bulkhead of the VTOL. "The wall's been breached!"
"Ruby!" Weiss shouted, pointing behind them. "Look! The skies!"
Ruby followed her friend's gaze, and sure enough, the faint outlines of wings were just beginning to appear on the horizon.
"The last two major Grimm attacks were coordinated assaults," Jaune noted as he saw what his team was seeing. "If this is the first wave, then…"
Ruby scrambled back over to the cockpit.
"Pilot!" she cried. "Alert everyone you can! The Grimm are coming!"
"Ruby…" Blake pointed out towards the crashed airship. "Look!"
Ruby's heart sank as she saw Grimm beginning to pour out of the wreckage of the airship, hordes of ursa, beowolves, boarbatusks, creeps, death stalkers, king taijutsus and even some nevermores and griffons, all of them snarling and angry, dashing out of the shattered hull of the airship like plague beetles.
"Correction, pilot…" Ruby said grimly. "The Grimm are here!"
Jaune winced as he stared down at the carnage that was unfolding, as Grimm began to flood into the city and terrorize any nearby civilians. The guards that weren't thrown clear from the wreckage of the crash were just beginning to mobilize against the Grimm, but were already being overwhelmed.
"Ruby…" Jaune muttered anxiously. "You ever get tired of being right all the time?"
"Yes, Jaune," Ruby said, drawing her weapon as she prepared to jump down to engage the Grimm. "Yes I do…"
