A Harsh Reality Ch. 45: Executive Decision
Apologies in advance for the setup chapter. I'm setting up for the next chapter, which will launch something.
Ruby's eyes opened up very slowly, and the girl in the red hood tried to sit up.
"Don't," someone said. She tried to turn her head, but found herself unable too. "Don't sit up, we'll lift you."
"What?" Ruby managed. "What's going on?"
"Ruby," the voice continued. "Do you not remember anything?"
"No," Ruby muttered. "I don't. My head really hurts though. And who are you?"
"Ruby, it's Weiss. Grimm came after us with something called a Taurox. Do you remember now?" Ruby paused for a moment, and the image of that bull pinning both her and Blake to the ground came to her. "Backup arrived," Weiss continued. "And now you're in an ambulance."
"Blake?" Ruby asked, her mind jumping to her teammate's well being.
"She woke up before backup arrived," Weiss continued. "You should really rest right now. We'll be able to get you some help soon." Ruby nodded, and kept her head back. But all of her suspicions were raised. Weiss could drop dead right in front of her at any moment since there was nothing that made Ruby believe that this was reality and not fiction. Guard up was the only way that she was going to continue on.
Ancient Ruins
The Taurox limped into the ruins, and slowly knelt down near the tomb. On it's way out, some of the backup had discovered the Taurox. They open fired, and not all of the rounds missed their mark. One had caught it in the leg. Luckily, a single Nevermore stood at the ready to clear out the men that took aim at the Taurox. But it had been a long walk back for the Grimm and Grimm.
The larger presence of Grimm floated around the Taurox, and observed it carefully. The strength and plating of the Grimm were only matched by that of a Boarbatusk, except this one didn't need to spin forward. Preserving a Taurox would be crucial. Of course, it could always make something bigger. But the energy it took to do that would be wiser spent elsewhere. Such as preparing the next Dust Grimm. But for now, it had to address the Taurox.
Less energy to heal you, Grimm thought. Come close. The Taurox rose from it's laying position, and walked into the black cloud. The open wounds on it's body closed almost instantly, and the Taurox backed out feeling fully recharged. It snorted, and reared back on it's hind legs. Another personal guard. You'll make a nice addition to my army. For now though, you must remain here. Everyone has a roll to play. No piece shall remain untouched.
In another moment, Grimm heard a loud cough. It shifted around the cloud, and focused in on it's newest visitor.
Speaking of everyone has a roll, it echoed. Hello Roman.
"Ahem," Torchwick said. "Hello. I'm just here to see if the rumors are true. Well, I'm here because Cinder wants to see if the rumors are true."
The Taurox? It offered. Yes, if those are the rumors you speak of, they are true. A new Grimm, and this one is rather hard to kill.
"Well that's what I would expect from you," Torchwick said. The Taurox rose, and made it's way over to Torchwick. He carefully observed the two horns on top of it's head, and just nodded slowly. "It's definitely impressive."
Good. Now, if you're quite down with show and tell, we have some business to discuss.
Beacon Academy: Medical Ward
Weiss lead Ruby down the halls behind Blake and Yang. Two medical personal were next to them just in case something were to happen, but Weiss and Yang were forcing their partners to go slow.
"Weiss," Ruby complained. "I'm not going to trip."
"I know that much you dunce," Weiss hissed. "But we don't know the extent of your injuries right now. That bull thing-."
"Taurox," Ruby contributed.
"Taurox, whatever. But it hit you pretty hard. Yang and I are simply being cautious."
"Overly cautious," Ruby grumbled. Weiss ignored her, and aided her all the way to a bed. Yang did the same with Blake, except there was less protest out of the Faunus.
"You four again," they heard a voice call out. The girls all looked around, and saw a familiar face strolling up to them. "You certainly have a nose for trouble," Roxanne said.
"Do you ever take breaks?" Yang asked, allowing herself a slight grin at the nurse's remarks.
"Breaks are overrated. You four are also really good at coming in an hour after they end." She looked over at Blake and Ruby, and then raised an eyebrow at Weiss and Yang.
"A Grimm pinned them to the ground," Weiss said. "It knocked them unconscious. We're checking for any kind of major injuries."
"Standard protocol then," Roxanne said, nodding the herself. "Alright, let me do a once over." She placed her hand on Ruby's arm to start, and let the green glow of her semblance emerge from her body. It spread over Ruby, and then died away after a minute. She gave the same treatment to Blake, and then nodded.
"Nothing lasting," Roxanne said. "A few fractured vertebrae, but I patched those up. Your lucky. Any less aura, you'd be looking at a snapped spine."
"I don't feel lucky," Ruby mumbled.
"Don't blame you. You've got a demonic black cloud that spawns in the things that you're supposed to kill and it seems to have a vendetta against you."
"That may be the most accurate analysis of our current predicament that I've heard," Weiss remarked.
"Indeed it is," someone said from the front of the room. Roxanne and the members off RWBY all turned, and watched as the headmaster entered the room.
"Ozpin?" Roxanne asked. "What're you doing here?"
"I'm here to talk with RWBY," was his reply. "How're you four holding up?"
"Fine right now," Blake said, eyeing Ozpin suspiciously. Blake's distrust of him for Adam had worn off, but that didn't change one thing. Ozpin didn't make pleasure visits.
"Well, I'm sure you can guess I have a reason for visiting," Ozpin said.
"Which is?" Yang asked.
"Grimm has been targeting you four. I'm unsure as to why, but I believe it has something to do with your late mother, Ruby."
"Huh?" Ruby asked.
"Summer consistently warned all of us about the presence of Grimm. Or, she warned her old friends. I'm sure she made her way to Ruby, Yang, and possibly Weiss." Ruby, Weiss, and Yang all nodded in understanding, and Blake just raised her hand.
"May I ask about this?" Blake added in.
"Well, Summer would appear to me in my dreams. She would leave a warning about Grimm, and then the dreams would end. Otherwise, there is nothing more to add. But, there is something off here. If you're what Grimm wants to get too, we cannot allow that."
"What?" Weiss asked. "How do you propose that?"
"You will not be allowed to address any case that directly connects to Grimm," Ozpin started. "Those duties will now be handed off to team LEAF, a fourth year team."
"What!" Yang said angrily.
"Every time you leave Beacon," Ozpin continued, without hesitation. "You will do so as a team with team JNPR accompanying you. Within Beacon's walls, we will have a teacher within 10 yards of your dorm."
"This is ridiculous!" Weiss said angrily. "We are more then capable of handling ourselves! We don't need protection."
"Everyone needs protection from Grimm," Ozpin said, completely unabashed by the angry stares from team RWBY. "This is too much for any one person or any one team to deal with."
"So one team is supposed to make a difference?" Blake asked.
"Yes. The one one extra team means more firepower would be necessary to take you down. But more importantly, perhaps the fact that you'll be away from Grimm cases will encourage it to leave you alone. When the war comes, we'll need you at full strength."
"What do you mean?" Ruby asked. "When the war comes?"
"What I mean is that we can't beat Grimm at it's own game," Ozpin said easily. "If we try to destroy Grimm while it's throwing smoke at us, we won't be able too. It'll lead us further away from it and closer into it's traps. Believe me, I don't like this plan either. But it's absolutely necessary." RWBY all sighed, and then came to the sad realization that he was right.
"We'll comply," Ruby said.
"Good," Ozpin replied. "Even if you didn't want too, I'd force you to comply."
It watched from nearby. The Bifupy that never let the girls outside of it's view, Grimm saw to that. It kept a close eye on them at all times, just to make sure it knew what they were doing.
Hm, Grimm thought. Those four will leave me alone until the war? Plus they'll receive extra protection. This should be a non-issue, except my mind games won't be effective. If I leave them alone, I'll play into the old man's hand. Unfortunately for him, that's precisely what I wanted to do. Everything is in my game, and now I'm ready to play a little bit harder.
End: Like I said, setup for something else. Questions, comments, follows, favorites, and feedback is appreciated.
