RWBY: MRRN
VOLUME 6, CHAPTER 18: The Furies
Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY. All rights go to Rooster Teeth.
"What do you know?!" Saf shouted at Oren. "You weren't there! You weren't anywhere near Beacon when it was attacked! Where were you!?"
"We were defending Mistral!" Oren angrily responded. "We were protecting innocents while you were sulking!"
"Stop it!" Forest demanded sternly, approaching the two young adults. "We need to leave; Grimm are around this place."
"What are you talking about?" Saf questioned, her eyes narrowed in anger.
"Furies," Forest explained to them, trying his best to contain the sudden anger he was feeling, knowing it was the effects of the Grimm. "They can increase the anger in a person, just like they're doing to everyone, including you two."
Suddenly, Saf's visions activated again, seeing a blue projection of her brother filled with rage at Ozpin and something else that she couldn't understand. A winged Grimm started to slowly approach him, but he was too distracted by his anger to notice it. By the time he turned around and noticed the Grimm, it was too late; the Grimm wrapped its wings around him and proceeded to devour him.
"MATH!" Saf called out in shock. "Where is he?"
"He must be upstairs," Forest replied. "Wait…are you okay, Saf?"
"I'm fine," she assured. "I was…angry all of a sudden."
"That was the effect of the Furies," Forest explained. "Stay away from the windows and don't look at them in the eye!"
"Or what!?" Oren shouted. Forest hurried over to Oren and started shaking his shoulders with great speed, making sure that the effects of the Fury were wearing off. When he was done, he took a look at the Lynx's eyes, making sure he was no longer filled with anger.
"Oren?" Forest asked.
"What…?" Oren spoke as if waking up. "What happened?"
"Grimm that can fill people with rage," the eagle warrior explained. "We need to get out of here now."
"Grimm?" Oren gasped. "But if they can induce rage, then…"
"More Grimm are on their way," Saf deduced.
"Wait for us near the back," Forest told the two warriors. "Qrow and I are getting everyone else. Don't make eye contact with the Furies."
"Got it," Oren replied as he and Saf hurried out of the basement.
-0-
"You coward!" Yang shouted, grabbing Blake by her jacket and throwing her against the cabinet. "You abandoned me twice! You don't deserve to be called my friend!"
"Why would I want to be friends with a hot tempered, arrogant brat like you?" Blake insulted before reaching for her weapon. Before the two could officially fight, Qrow rushed between them and held up his hands, stopping the fight.
"Knock it off!" he shouted. "We need to get out of here now!"
"Oh, are you actually sober?" Yang challenged her uncle. "In case you haven't noticed, Blake-"
"Sorry about this," Qrow apologized. Before Yang, Blake, or Oscar could ask, Qrow slapped each of them, hopefully knocking them back to their senses.
"Ow!" Yang gasped, holding her cheek. "What was that for?"
"Sorry, Yang, but we're in danger," Qrow explained. "There are Grimm here that are inducing anger in us." All three of them widened their eyes in shock.
"Induce…rage?" Blake asked, now knowing where everyone's sudden anger had come from. She then looked at the state of the nearly dark kitchen they were, which was now almost destroyed.
"Did we…do this?" Yang asked, shocked by what had happened.
"Worry about that later," Qrow insisted. "We need to get everyone out of here."
"Guys!" Oren called out, rushing to the kitchen with his shield on his arm. "Are you guys angry?"
"If you mean we're under the effects, then no," Oscar answered. "I guess you're not under them either."
"Saf and I are heading to the back, where we're waiting for everyone," Oren explained. "We…" When he saw Blake's sword on her back, his eyes widened in horror and he once again started to hyperventilate.
"Hey, hey!" Yang called out, shaking Oren's shoulders. "Calm down!" Oren's breathing slowed as he calmed, recollecting himself before shaking his head in embarrassment.
"You were saying we're heading to the back," Yang brought up. "What about Ruo and Luna? We can't leave them behind."
"Once we get out of here, I'll find them," Qrow assured. "Now let's get out of here. I'll find Ruby and Weiss."
AAAAAAARRRRRRRRR!
The deafening screech made everyone cover their eyes as it pierced the sound barrier. Qrow took a quick look outside the window to see that the Fury outside was slowly approaching the manor; it opened its eyes, but the scythe user turned his head in time to avoid eye contact.
"Let's go," Oren insisted. While Blake, Yang and Oscar followed him out, Qrow went off to find his other niece and her teammate.
-0-
"Math!" Forest called out, hurrying up the stairs to see Mathdon and Nasser; as suspected, they too had fallen to the Grimm's trap and were filled with rage and anger, but since they weren't arguing with each other, it'd be easier for the eagle swordsman to snap them out of it.
"Look at this, Forest!" Math spoke, gesturing to the Punishment Room at the end of the hall. "They put a child in that room…just for fun! They're monsters!"
"What kind of messed up people do that!?" Nasser shouted angrily. "I mean, seriously-"
"We don't have time for that now," Forest told the two members of MRRN. "We need to get out of here. We're in danger."
"We're in danger because that bloody liar-"
"Knock it off!" Forest grabbed their shoulders and shook them hard to wake them from the effects of the Furies nearby. He did so until he was sure that they were no longer filled with anger.
"What…?" Math groaned, shaking his head. "What happened?"
"We need to get out of here now," Forest repeated. "Dangerous Grimm are here, ones that can instill rage into people."
A crashing noise was heard from downstairs, just as Qrow was about to reach Ruby and Weiss. One of the Furies had broken down the door, slowly approaching the drunken Huntsmen as it prepared its claws to kill him.
"What…?" Ruby wondered before seeing the Grimm about to attack her uncle. She quickly brought out her scythe in sniper form and shot at the Grimm, but it was blocked with its right wing. Luckily, that left it open for Nasser to charge at it with his Semblance and send it back through the broken door.
"What was that?" Weiss asked, unsure of what was going on.
"Let's just get out of here!" Nasser replied. As the six warriors hurried to join up with their comrades, the sounds of fast movement could be heard from outside. Everyone knew what that meant: more Grimm had arrived at the manor, attracted by the anger of the group.
"We need to find Ruo and Luna!" Math brought up. "If they come back here, they could end up getting killed!"
"I'll go and find them," Qrow offered. "Probably safer for you, anyway." Ruby immediately noticed a depressive look on her uncle's face, one that she had seen before when Ozpin revealed the truth. Before she could ask, he turned into a crow and flew away to find Ruo and Luna.
"Hold on," Nasser spoke. "Is that…clicking?" The noise was coming from all around them, so everyone prepared their weapons and looked around, ready for a fight.
AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRR!
Everyone looked back up to see one of the three Furies flying before diving down and opening its large jaws, which everyone managed to dodge in time.
"How many of those Furies are there?" Yang asked.
"I don't know, but I guess three," Forest suggested. The clicking noises got louder, revealed to be large Golem Grimm with large pincers and an insect-like mouth. They seemed to move erratically as they approached the group, almost as if in a state of psychosis.
"Oh, great," Nasser groaned. "Can this night get any worse?"
"Don't tempt fate," Math responded
"Ruby…" Blake addressed, holding Gambol Shroud in front of her. "Now might be a good time to use your Silver Eyes."
"Well…I…" Ruby stammered. "I don't know how to use them."
"You used them twice," Nasser brought up. "How can you not know how to use-"
"Save it for later," Oscar spoke out against Nasser. "Let's worry about these Grimm first."
-0-
"We're almost there!" the archer told Ruo and Luna as they were close to the manor.
"Say, what's your name?" Luna asked the male. "That way we don't have to call you 'archer guy' or something."
"It's Grayson," the archer answered. "Grayson Jaeger."
"Are you a Huntsman?" Ruo asked.
"No," he answered. "I've never attended any of the Academies. But I don't have time to explain." As they hurried, Ruo's ear pricked up as he heard the sound of wings flapping; it was too small to be a Grimm, so he assumed it had to be an actual bird. The flapping was hurried and quick as if it was in a hurry.
Ruo looked up, his Night Vision allowing him to clearly see a crow flying up to them before it descended to the ground and changed to none other than Qrow Branwen.
"Huh!?" Luna gasped, completely taken back by this.
"Qrow?" Ruo responded. "What's going on there?"
"Grimm," Qrow explained before looking over at the masked archer. "Who's he?"
"Someone who wants to help," Grayson replied. "I know about the Furies…and how to beat them."
As much as Qrow was hesitant to trust him, there was no room for argument right now. If he really knew how to defeat the Furies, then he could at least be helpful for the moment.
"All right, fine," Qrow responded. "Let's go…and you'll tell us how to beat them."
-0-
Yang shot two fiery rounds at one of the Golems, exploding on impact before she charged and unleashed a frenzy of punches on the Grimm. It countered with slashing its right pincer at her, but she leapt to dodge the attack and landed a hard hit on the Golem's head, killing it.
"Have you ever fought a Fury before?" Ruby asked Forest as she sliced a Golem in half with her high frequency blade.
"Never," Forest admitted. "But I know this for certain: do not make eye contact with them."
"Got it," Math replied as he slashed his sword up to cut one of the Golems in half with his Lightning-Infused blade. He then threw Torrach at another Golem, hitting its head and then finishing it with a slice of his sword through its torso.
"Yang!" Blake cried out as she rushed to her, noticing that one of the three Furies now present was dashing at her. Before Yang could catch on, Blake used her grapple to pull her out of the Fury's flight path. It let out a shriek in frustration as it failed to catch its prey.
"You okay?" Blake asked Yang, removing her grapple from her.
"I'm fine," Yang assured. "But…thanks." As one of the Golems charged the two young women, an arrow pierced its head, killing it instantly. They looked up at the roof of the manor; despite it almost being night, they could see clearly a young man in blue and white clothing wearing a mask over his eyes and a bow in his left hand.
"Yang!" Ruo called out as he flipped over one of the Golems and slashed its head in two with Fire-infused claws.
"Ruo!" Yang reciprocated. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," he answered before looking at the archer. "And don't worry about him; he's on our side…for now, at least. He's the reason we knew to come back and find you."
"He knows about the Furies?" Weiss asked, using her Glyphs to slide through the battle and deliver swift killing blows with her dual swords. "How do we beat them since we can't look at them?"
"Shoot their eyes," Grayson explained, leaping from the rooftop and shooting two more Golems dead. "Once they're blinded, avoid their arms and wings and aim for their heads or torsos."
"Why not just go straight for the kill?" Nasser asked, cutting through the Golems like butter with his buzzsaw shield and axe. As he was about to kill another Grimm, a scythe was plunged into its torso, then flew back to Luna, courtesy of the Gravity Dust in her weapons. It was quickly followed by Qrow joining the fight as well with his weapon in its scythe form.
"Because if you get too close without taking out their eyes first, the Furies will have an open chance of making direct eye contact," Luna explained. "And that makes it easier for the Furies to kill you."
"So take out their eyes first," Grayson stated, nocking another arrow onto the bowstring of his weapon.
"Blake, Saf, use your throwing knives!" Ruby told the two of them. "When they try to snatch us, throw them at the eyes." Blake and Saf nodded their heads in response and pulled out two throwing knives each.
CRRASSHHH! Another large Grimm crashed through the forest, letting out a bestial roar as it approached the battle. Thanks to Professor Kura's teachings, Team MRRN immediately recognized it as a Mork Gigant, a Grimm that had never fought before.
"Oh, come on!" Oren groaned after killing another Golem. "Now we have a Mork Gigant to deal with!?"
"I'll take care of this," Qrow assured. "Just take down those Furies." Qrow twirled his scythe charged at the gigantic Grimm, dodging its fist by rushing to the side and then leaping up to slash at its head. Thought it dealt some damage, it obviously wasn't enough against the colossal Grimm.
Realizing that their dive tactics weren't working against the group, the three Furies flew down and landed on the ground, their long claws and wings brandished for battle. Together, they let out an ear-piercing shriek that caused everyone to cover their ears from the loud noise.
One of the Furies then flailed its arm at Forest, grabbing him by his head and dragging him to it; luckily, Math caught on and used one of his Aura Swords to cut the Grimm's arm off and freeing his mentor. It screamed in pain from the loss of its limb, leaving it wide open for Saf to throw her two knives into the Grimm's eyes, blinding it as planned.
Reveling in the idea of killing the Grimm, Luna smiled and summoned three Spectral Wolves, which leapt onto the vulnerable Grimm and started tearing it apart. Unfortunately, this left her open to one of the Golems attacking her, grabbing her in one of its pincers and started to squeeze.
Luna groaned in pain as she tried to break free from the Golem's grasp, but was luckily saved by her teammate, who shot the Golem's head off with the shotgun in his shield. As Luna recovered her weapons and looked at Oren, she could see the disappointment in his scowl for again letting her sadism towards Grimm distract her during combat.
"One down, two to go," Grayson informed before switching his weapon into two separate kamas.
"Another scythe user?" Ruby gasped as she watched Grayson cut down a Golem with a slash of his weapons.
"Focus, Ruby!" Weiss reminded her team leader. In an effort to help her teammates, Weiss created several glyphs around the field and started bouncing between them, striking against the Golems with her dual blades as she did.
"Nice one, Weiss Cream!" Nasser complimented, much to Weiss's annoyance.
"Oh, that was 'cold'!" Yang joked as she took down another Golem. When she turned, she moved in time to dodge one of the Furies attacking her. She went for a punch, but it used its wing to block her attack before grabbing her right arm; before it could throw her around, Yang disconnected her bionic limb. This took the Fury by surprise, allowing Yang to uppercut its head with her left arm, knocking it back a few feet and gave Yang the chance to retrieve her limb.
Suddenly, it opened its eyes in an attempt to induce rage into Yang, but she quickly turned her head away to avoid looking at it. The Fury then waved its wing at Yang, knocking her down and grabbing her by the head with its elastic arm. The moment Ruby saw her sister in danger…
"YANG!" she cried out before the white light from her eyes engulfed the area; while the Golems were quickly wiped out by the attack, the two remaining Furies flew away from the attack while the Mork Gigant knelt down, weakened by Ruby's attack.
"What…?" Grayson gasped after what he just witnessed. "Is she…?" The red cloaked girl fell to her knees, breathing heavily after using her strange ability once more.
"How did she do that?" Blake wondered, remembering Ruby's earlier claim that she had no idea how to use it. What was triggering her Silver Eyes?
"Are you okay?" Yang asked her sister, having been freed thanks to her sister's Silver Eyes.
"I…I'm fine," Ruby assured. "What's left of the Grimm?"
"This giant and the two Furies," Qrow told her as he dodged the Mork's attack. "That just made our fight a whole lot easier, kid."
"But more Grimm may be on their way," Oscar replied. "We need to take them down quickly."
"Okay, Blake, Saf, Oren, Weiss, keep focused on those Furies," Math insisted. "Everyone else, take down that Mork Gigant."
"Ruby, are you able to fight?" Yang asked her sister. Ruby attempted to stand up and hold her weapon, but it was clear that the attack had left her tired.
"Yang, get Ruby to safety!" Forest told the blonde dragon. "We'll come find you!"
"I'm not leaving you guys," Yang refused.
"Yang, get her out of here!" Ruo insisted, putting his arm on her shoulder. "We WILL find you. We WILL come back."
What they were asking of Yang went against her nature; even in the thick of battle, she never turned her back on her teammates, not when they needed her help. She would never make the decision to leave anyone behind like her mother did, not after the pain she had endured for so long.
However, using the Silver Eyes had left Ruby too tired to fight, especially since she was inexperienced at this power. If she was left here in the middle of the battle with the Grimm, she'd be easy prey for them and they'd have to constantly turn their attention away from their fights to check on her.
Reluctantly, Yang nodded her head and slung her sister's arm over her shoulder, taking her to her motorcycle in the front of the house, which had hopefully been left alone. To her luck, it was still intact; she quickly sat Ruby in front of her before driving off, leaving a clear trail for her allies to follow.
"Make an opening for me!" Blake told Weiss. "The Fury's moving around too much; I can't get a clear shot."
"On it," Weiss complied. She used her Glyphs to glide across the ground, attracting one of the Furies' attacks while the other was occupied by Oren and Safirlas. When it flailed its arm at Weiss, she quickly leapt off her glyphs and used another to trap its arm in place. As it struggled to break free, it flailed its other arm at Blake, but hit an Earth Dust clone instead, trapping its other arm.
Taking advantage of this, Blake rushed at the Fury, her two knives brandished. Just as the Grimm opened its eyes in an attempt to fill Blake with rage, but it had no effect; she had closed her eyes and was using her ears as she approached the Grimm. When it swung its wing at her, it hit another Shadow Clone instead, allowing her to leap over the Fury and throw her knives into its eyes.
As it let out a bestial shriek of pain, Weiss used her glyphs and dual swords to unleash a barrage of ice spikes at the Grimm. This attack easily tore the creature to shreds in a matter of moments.
"Good one, Weiss," Blake complimented.
"Thanks," she replied. "But there's one left."
"HRRRAAA!" Forest let out as he leapt onto the Mork Gigant and slashed at its eye. He changed into eagle form to dodge its attack before swiftly turning back into a human on the ground.
"Where's its weak point?" Luna asked, connecting her two scythes together to create her double weapon. "That dermal armor is covering almost everything."
"Its throat," Grayson answered. "Go for its throat. Raise its head up somehow so I can get a clear shot."
"On it," Nasser replied before launching himself up like a rocket and hitting the Mork Gigant's forehead. Just as Grayson was about to take the shot, the Gigant moved its hand in the way of its throat, which would obviously block Grayson's arrow. He groaned in frustration before dodging its stomp, which sent some of the fighters back.
"Well, that worked," Nasser spoke sarcastically, recovering from the attack. "So, what now?"
"The hand got in the way," Grayson pointed out. "We need to go for its throat."
"I'll take care of it," Qrow assured before turning into a crow and flying to the Mork Gigant's head.
"Cover him!" Forest told everyone, who unleashed attacks to distract the colossal Grimm from the veteran scythe user.
Meanwhile, everyone else was dealing with the last Fury. To their surprise, it hadn't opened its eyes once in an attempt to induce rage into anyone; instead, it was remaining completely on offense since it wasn't in a group anymore.
Seeing a possible opportunity, Saf threw her two knives at the Fury, but it blocked them with its wings and flew off high above the trees as it used the dark of night to hide itself.
"There is it," Oren quickly pointed out, seeing the Grimm easily with his night vision. The Grimm failed to realize that two of its opponents were Faunus…and therefore had night vision; attempting to use the night to hide was now useless against them.
It tried to fly again, but Blake shot her grapple at the creature, preventing it from taking off. It tried in desperation to fly away, but Blake was holding her grapple tightly to stop it from escaping.
"Quick!" Blake told them. "I can't hold it for much longer!" Saf quickly leapt up the trees, her two knives ready in hand. The Fury turned its head in Saf's direction and was about to open its eyes, but the spear wielder threw her knives before it could, blinding it. It was then followed by Oren, who let out a loud shout as he leapt from the ground and used the end of his shield to break the Fury's body in half.
"All three down," Weiss smiled.
The distraction against the Mork Gigant was successful as Qrow turned back into his human form and used his weapon's curved blade to quickly pry the Gigant's head up. Grayson nocked arrows onto his bowstring and shot the Grimm's exposed throat; the Grimm groaned a few times before falling down and disintegrating into ashes.
"Whew," Nasser sighed, wiping his forehead. "That went well."
"It became much easier when Ruby used her eyes, taking down many of those Grimm," Ruo pointed out. "I'm sure it would've been much more difficult if she hadn't."
"We need to go now," Oren told everyone. "Before more Grimm arrive."
"No argument," Math agreed. Everyone hurried away from the manor, catching sight of the trail left behind by Yang's motorcycle and following it to find their two remaining comrades.
-0-
Yang felt she had driven far enough to keep Ruby safe, but also close enough so her friends could find her once they were done with the Grimm.
She almost felt like Raven for a moment: she was far away from her comrades, her friends while they were putting their lives on the line. She was in a safe place while everyone else was in danger.
How could Raven stand feeling like this? How could she be okay with being in a safe place while her friends and family put their lives on the line against the enemy?
Then again…was the Branwen Camp truly safe for her? Or did she just act that way to fit their ideals of strength?
"Ruby," Yang asked her sister, who was slowly recovering. "Are you okay?"
"I feel sleepy," she answered. "Why do I…feel…?"
"Get some rest," Yang told her sister, patting her back to comfort her.
As Ruby closed her eyes to rest, Yang's mind went to something else: the fight she had with Blake in the kitchen of the manor they were in. The two held nothing back as they beat each other up, consumed by their anger as they hurt each other almost to the point of depleting Aura.
Was that just the anger of the Fury? Or was that her own rage directed at Blake? It was undeniable that Yang harbored a lot of anger towards Blake for abandoning her twice, leading her to give her the cold shoulder. But she had never considered attacking her for any reason.
It scared her to truly realize what anger can do to people: drive their loved ones away, turn violent towards their friends, lash out at those who need them…it was a truly terrible feeling.
"Yang!" Ruo called, the team having finally caught up with Yang and Ruby.
"Guys!" she called out.
"We're back," Nasser brought up. "So…now what? We still need to find shelter."
"You can come stay with me," Grayson offered. "My hideout's not too far from here."
"Hold on, kid," Qrow addressed. "We barely know you, so why should we follow you anywhere?"
"Because I was the one who told you who to kill the Furies when I didn't have to," Grayson responded. "I led Ruo and Luna back when I didn't have to. Unless you'd like to spend the night outside; the next source of shelter is probably 50 miles from here."
"Let's just go," Math insisted. "We need somewhere to stay for the night." Everyone agreed with Math, knowing that if Grayson tried anything, they outnumbered him almost ten to one.
Qrow was hesitant to trust Grayson, despite him helping them with the Furies. For all he knew, he could be a servant of Salem, sent out to find and capture Ruby. However, there was no arguing that they needed to find shelter and rest up to travel tomorrow, so he reluctantly followed the group to Grayson's hideout.
-0-
Corsac sat in his cell in the Menagerie prison. When Ghira returned from Mistral, he was to be put on trial for his crimes against the people of the island.
"It was all too perfect," he angrily claimed. "We should've succeeded; everyone would've thought Adam as a madman for ordering his own brethren killed. Fennec and I would've become the leaders of the White Fang."
"Corsac Albain," a voice spoke. Corsac breathed heavily and shakily as he looked at the bars to see a figure outside of his cell; his eyes widened in horror as he recognized who it was.
"High leader!" he fearfully greeted. "I…I'm happy to see you safe." Adam didn't respond, instead unsheathing his blade and cutting the bars open.
"No, no, please!" Corsac pleaded. "I was only doing what was best for the White Fang! You must understand that I had no-"
SPLAT!
With one swift strike of Adam's blade, Corsac's blood was all over the wall of his cell. Adam cleaned the blood off his blade and then sheathed it before shouting 'Help! Murder!"
As expected, the guards hurried down to the cell where Corsac was, giving Adam a perfect opportunity to escape the prison and into the night, making his way to a speedboat he stole to make his way to Menagerie.
With Corsac gone, Adam could now focus on the greatest monster he ever knew: Jacques Schnee. If Weiss was successful in proving Jacques's guilt, then he'd certainly be stripped of everything…which gave Adam a perfect chance to make him suffer as he had suffered in the past.
"Only after you've lost everything will I find your death satisfying," Adam chuckled, not bothering to hide his sadistic pleasure of killing the man who took everything from him.