Chapter 5: Initiation
AN: And here I make up the short chapter yesterday with a long one. Yang decides to poke some fun at Kassidy, Grimm get shot, and Bob's head starts hurting over how what few bits of reality that were still intact got thrown out the window.
(Perspective: K)
The next fifteen minutes passed by mostly in silence, with only the occasional gunshot. Not for lack of Yang's trying though. But Kassidy was having none of it. Rifle up, eyes and ears strained, this was a new persona. Stalking through the underbrush, the dark blonde was on a mission, and no amount of idle small talk would distract her. Pushing to the edge of a clearing, the duo found their target: a set of ruins in the north of the forest with a path leading up to it. They were about to start walking when a bush rustled to their left. It took less than half a second for Kass to whip around and fire a shot at the source of the sound, which was some sort of pig thing which had been charging at her until it caught a bullet in the brain.
"Dang, you're good with your rifle." Yang let out a low whistle.
"Had to be." Getting up and satisfied there were no more threats, the pair started walking to the ruins.
"Y'know, you're nowhere near as fun as I thought you were."
Kassidy scowled. "I haven't had much time for fun lately." Turning to take a look, Kass regarded her new partner. She noticed that Yang's boots and jacket were of an exceptionally high quality; the blonde obviously spared no expense on her equipment. Speaking of equipment, the gauntlets she had on were an enigma. They weren't steel, but the metal obviously had similar properties. They didn't even cover the girl's hands, ending right at the same length of her fists. What appeared to be shotgun shells were inside a revolving drum on the interior, but there didn't appear to be a firing mechanism. As for the girl herself, Kassidy had an inch or two on Yang, but the blonde's muscles by themselves seemed to weigh as much as all of Kass did. That's what happens when eating properly becomes a luxury.
Noticing her partner staring, and feeling a bit bored, Yang decided to strike a pose and have a bit of fun. "You like what you see, sugar?"
The innuendo seemed to go completely over Kassidy's head. "Somewhat. Your combat attire is of a high quality; it's obvious you take good care of it. Your gauntlets are a bit perplexing, they don't seem to cover your hands and I don't see what you have that would use the shotgun shells they're storing. And despite the care you put into your gear, you don't seem to own a shred of actual armor." Thinking for a moment, "And if we're going to be coming up with pet nicknames for each other, I'd prefer it if mine weren't 'sugar'. I don't even like sweets."
Yang looked taken aback. "Sheesh. Is she always this stiff, Mr. Computer Guy?"
A mechanical sigh emanated from Kassidy's back. "The name's Bob, first off. And whenever there's a job to do, she's actually being less serious than usual."
"Alright, alright. Wow, we need to brighten both of your moods." Finally reaching the ruins, Kassidy immediately noticed the relics were…
"Chess pieces? These chess pieces are relics to you guys?"
"I guess Ozpin doesn't like playing chess." Yang sauntered over to the stands with the pieces on them, not even bothering to pay attention to her surroundings. Kass cringed internally. Hoisting up a knight in triumph, Yang had a grin on her face. "How about a cute little pony?"
Kassidy shrugged. "Sure, whatever. The different types and colors obviously mean something, but I'm not convinced I care what the differences are."
"Okay, we need to work on this attitude of yours." The blonde came bounding up to stand right in front of Kassidy. "Firstly, I do take good care of my gear, thank you. As for my gauntlets, well… ever since we met up you just shot whatever moved before I had a chance to do anything. Speaking of which, I think I see an ursa over there. This one's mine, let me show you what they do." The blonde was already sprinting to the demon bear thing she just called an ursa before Kass could get a word in edgewise.
Taking aim, she was about to pull the trigger when, on a whim, she decided to take Yang's offer and see what those gauntlets did. She was not disappointed, as Yang slid under a swipe, then quite literally punched the bear to death. So they're shotgun gauntlets? That would explain the firefight going on before I dropped from the tree. The blonde soon returned with a grin on her face. "And there you have it. I punch things. Hard."
"So it would seem. Remind me not to get in a boxing match while you have those things on." Kassidy thought for a moment. They still had the clearing to themselves. "But those seem to be quite limited. What if you need to fight something that's out of your arm's reach?"
"Heh, watch this." Yang shifted her attention to a black and white pig rooting around at the edge of the clearing. Lining up, Yang threw a punch out, shooting off a shell that was part flare, part grenade. A satisfying explosion removed the boar from existence.
"So your fists are grenade launchers with those on. Seems like they would cause quite a bit of collateral damage. Still, neat." Kass regarded the event for a bit before Bob piped up.
"High explosives: never not fun."
"You can say that again." Both blondes spoke at the same time. They eyed each other, then started laughing. They busted up even harder when Bob did, in fact, say it again. The duo might have kept like that for a few minutes if a scream hadn't snapped them out of it.
"Some girl's in trouble!" Yang looked at her teammate after failing to find the source. Kassidy already had her rifle trained in the direction of the sound, eyes and ears straining. "What should we do?" Some more screaming could be heard from above, and they both snapped their heads up just in time to see a red and black clad girl falling, and then get shoved into a tree by a flying boy.
"Your sister does know how to find trouble." Kass was about to go on further when some roaring and explosions heralded the arrival of another demon bear. Surprisingly, it quickly collapsed, revealing a pink ball of energy that it was literally impossible to forget, along with a guy in a green and white suit. "God damn it, Nora," Kassidy face palmed. However, as if the situation wasn't hectic enough as is, another screech sounded as trees were uprooted to reveal a… gigantic scorpion.
"What in the recycle bin is that?!" Bob was just as stunned as Kass was. Ignoring some shenanigans on the part of the kids near her, she clambered on top of a pile of ruins to get a better picture of the surrounding area. Some Grimm were making their way to the commotion. She busied herself with some shooting before turning back.
"Alright, that settles it. This planet has zero idea of how biology is supposed to work." Kassidy jumped down to the group. Her partner seemed to be in a similar state of shock.
"Great, the gang's all here. Now we can die together!"
"Not if I can help it!" With that, Ruby dashed forward to clash with the giant scorpion. Both Yang and Kassidy had a look of terror on their faces.
"Ruby, wait!" Yang started running after her sister in a blind panic. Kassidy, however, had reverted back to her serious business persona.
"Alright, Bob, pull up what you can on scorpion anatomy. Some things we'll just need to assume for now. We need to deal with this, and fast." Taking a knee, Kassidy tried to remember what she knew about long range marksmanship. She was more proficient in mobile mid-range skirmishing, but right now that wasn't an option. Alright, when in doubt, go for the obvious weak points.
Sizing up the monstrosity, Kass could also see Ruby try shooting the faceplate with her gigantic scythe cannon, which didn't even make the scorpion flinch. Well, brute forcing the armor isn't going to work. If Ruby's ridiculous contraption can't punch through, my rifle sure as hell won't. That leaves only one obvious weak point. Kassidy opened up, firing at the eyes. Shoot, breathe. Shoot, breathe. One round a second. Find your groove.
It wasn't working. Whether she was missing the eyes or whether the bullets didn't have any impact, Kass couldn't tell. Backing out of her tunnel vision to reload, she was shocked to find a line of black between her and her quarry. She was about to set up for another salvo when something white and fast went rushing by. Suddenly, a giant ball of ice materialized out of nowhere. Wait, what the hell?
Weiss Schnee and Yang both led Ruby back to the group. Kassidy looked around at the bruised and tired teens around her. They're not ready to fight this. It's going to have to be me. Anxiety finding its way in her face, Kass gulped and started stepping forward. Yang took notice.
"Hey, you okay, partner? Don't tell me you're thinking of rushing in there too."
"You guys aren't in great shape to fight a 30 foot long scorpion, and that ice won't hold forever." Kassidy sighed and regarded her companion. "Bob, find me a soft spot."
"Forget it." A sharp, commanding voice rose behind her. Turning around, she found Weiss, with crossed arms, staring her down. "Our objective is right in front of us."
"She's right." Ruby had stepped up now, also determining to take command. "Our mission is to grab an artifact and make it back to the cliffs. There's no sense in fighting these things."
"They're not wrong. Assuming we're linearly scaling the proportions of normal scorpions, that carapace is over four inches thick. The Garand will never get through even the weakest points." That wasn't the news I wanted to hear, Bob.
"Run and live. That is an idea I can get behind." With some semblance of a plan, the group had started gathering the remaining artifacts and getting together. A cracking sound behind them diverting their attention to the scorpion being about to break free from its icy prison.
Ren stepped up. "It's time we left."
"Right, let's go!" Ruby stepped up to the front and led the group over a hill past the clearing. Taking a couple more potshots to clear out some of the smaller Grimm, Kassidy jogged up to meet with her partner, who made no move to join the group.
"Is everything okay?" Getting from around Yang's back, the blonde had a goofy expression that was instantly recognized as 'proud big sister'.
"Just fine."
Kassidy smirked and place a hand on her shoulder. "Ruby's gonna go far, I can tell." Starting to jog off, she shot over her shoulder, "But we should probably get moving. I for one have no intentions of getting eaten today."
Several minutes of jogging found the group coming up on a chokepoint created by more ruins. Alright, just need to get on top of the ruins and avoid the choke point and I should be good. Kassidy made her way to one of the pillars and tried to see if she could climb it, before realizing that everyone had just charged in. So much for common survival instincts. The group had gotten about halfway through when a giant raven perched on the end and stared them down. Kass found herself paired up with Weiss behind a pillar.
"Bob, if you so much as think of making a flippant remark here, so help me I will deactivate you. Now, I need raven anatomy. Do the linear scaling again."
"Nevermores aren't just giant ravens. Have you never dealt with a Grimm before?" Weiss was obviously still cross, but Kassidy could tell that was more of an undertone to Schnee's thought process rather than her focus. She was about to reply when the giant scorpion came busting through the forest behind them.
"Aw man, run!" With that, everyone went and charged further down the choke point. Taking a closer look as she ran, Kass could tell that shooting the raven would be a hell of a lot more productive than wasting ammo on the scorpion.
"Keep going, I'll get its attention!" Skidding to a stop, Kassidy breathed, aimed, and fired. Fortunately the thing was massive, and her aim was good enough that it didn't take much to get the desired effect. After ripping through a clip, she was in the middle of reloading when she chanced a look up and saw a giant mass of feathers flying towards her. Tumbling through and somehow not getting skewered, Kass scrambled to her feet and saw that the scorpion had almost caught up. Damnit, I can't outrun that thing.
It turns out she didn't have to, as Ren and Nora came screaming in from the sides. A pink hammer and green blades tore at it and made it back up. While this was happening, something shimmering and white suddenly appeared below her. "Wha-" Kassidy didn't even get the chance to express her bewilderment as Weiss materialized next to her, grabbed her arm, and the two shot off at speeds no person should be able to reach.
The two stopped at the fore of a large bridge going over a gorge. Yang and Ruby had already started the trek across, while Jaune and Pyrrha had just caught up. Looking back, Nora and Ren were currently engaged in the most lethal footrace ever with a scorpion the size of a house.
"Go, go!" Pyrrha got Jaune and Weiss moving, and pulled a rifle off her back. Kassidy did likewise.
"How tough are those eyes?"
"Not very."
"Let's turn the lights out, then." Shoot, breathe. Shoot, breathe. As Ren and Nora raced past, Kass smirked as two of those glowing red eyes went dim. The smirk quickly disappeared, however, as a loud caw heralded the arrival of the nevermore as it tore through the bridge. Yang, Ruby, Jaune, Nora, and Weiss are safe. That just leaves Pyrrha, Ren, and I to deal with this thing. Getting as much distance from the scorpion as the broken bridge would allow, Kassidy reloaded and was about to fire another round.
"Nora SMASH!"
She looked up just in time to see Nora come flying through and, true to her battle cry, smash the scorpion right on the head with her hammer. A thump next to her side revealed that Jaune had also managed to make it across the gap. Before Kassidy could get her bearings back, Nora flew right into her and sent her plummeting off the edge of the bridge. Quickly realizing she was falling, instinct overrode everything. Pointing her left arm above her, she reached over and smashed a trigger on her bracer.
As the newest device in her arsenal was activated, a rifle round shot out dragging a grappling hook and a fifty foot long lightweight steel cable. Finding purchase in one of the intact stone towers, Kass held on for dear life as the cable quickly ran out of length and nearly yanked her arm out of its socket. Swinging in a wide circle, she would soon be back on the bridge, though on the other side this time.
Oh shit, that bird's coming right for me. Throwing her weight to the side, she was just able to avoid getting eaten. Thought being overridden still, her free arm reached for her pistol and starting shooting into the side of the nevermore's face, which flew off in pain. Landing in a crumpled heap on the bridge, she was snapping back to reality when Ruby and Yang came running over.
"That was awesome!"
"You okay, partner?"
"Yeah, I'm fine for now. Holy crap I'm glad I built that." Seeing the oversized raven turning back, Kassidy reached for her rifle. "That skull's on the thick side. My pistol can't get through."
"Then let's hit it with everything we've got!"
Ruby extended her scythe and cocked the gigantic cannon on it, Yang loaded fresh shells, and Weiss had just turned a dial on her rapier, which made it glow bright blue. Kassidy, however, was struck by an idea and shouldered her rifle again.
"Are you crazy?! Ugh, how did you even get into this academy anyway?" Weiss was screeching up a fit. At least, she was until she watched Kassidy dig out a large red crystal. Ruby and Glynda must not have seen me pocket this after chasing off White Coat. Everyone instantly took several steps back. She looked at the girls confused.
"What, is this dangerous?"
"It's a dust crystal you dunce, of course it's dangerous!"
"Good." Staring Big Bird in the eyes, Kass drew her pistol and assumed a baseball pitcher's stance. Well, I was the catcher actually. And this isn't little league. Here goes nothing. Just need to wait for it to get close enough and – there! Chucking the crystal as hard as she could, Kassidy instantly tracked it with her handgun and fired. A large fireball erupted right in the nevermore's face.
Ruby and Yang whooped and hollered for a bit, until the giant raven, which had apparently caught fire, crashed into the bridge. Fortunately, Kassidy was able to tumble out the way and avoided falling into the gorge. Bringing her rifle around, she sent a clip of shots after the flying inferno. Reloading, she saw Weiss and Ruby jump back up onto the bridge next to here.
"I have a plan. Weiss, cover me! Kassidy, can you get your cable strung up between the two towers?"
Kass blinked. The request to string her cable up between two towers on the bridge was an odd one, but Ruby said she had a plan, and it was better than the current no plan she was able to come up with. Running over to the landmarks, they were fortunately in such a condition that they had enough cracks for handholds, but still structurally sound.
"Do we have any idea what we're doing?" Bob did serve as her voice of sanity – usually.
"Nope. Dear god I am going to be sore tomorrow." Clinging to the side, Kassidy whipped her head around to find Yang landing in a three point stance. Catching her eye and pointing to the opposing tower, she then watched Weiss dash forward and cause another giant ball of ice to materialize out of thin air, apparently gluing Big Bird to the ground. Adjusting her grip so her left arm was free, Kass raised it and aimed to the side of her partner's head. "Yang, catch!"
Shooting the cable across, the blonde snatched it out of the air, wound it around her wrist a couple times, and pulled it taught. Kassidy shifted her position to get a better hold when Ruby jumped up… and pulled the cable back to the ground. Weiss joined her on the ground and made a white circle appear behind Ruby, which quickly turned black.
"Are we about to do what I think we are?" The strain from having the cable pull so hard on Kassidy was making its way into her voice.
"Yup. We're going to need to pull. You ready, partner?"
Kass didn't get the chance to respond, as Ruby shot forward. The instant slack developed, she and Yang hauled on the cable for all they were worth, and the pint sized sister landed on the cliff with the nevermore in her scythe's clutches. A line of white circles marched up the cliff, which Ruby used to… promptly start sprinting up the cliff?
Climbing down from her post and winding the cable back in, she joined Weiss and Yang on the ground. "What in the actual… Bob, I'm not sure what got injured more today. Me, or my grasp on reality."
Yang put a hand on her shoulder. "Oh, don't worry, you'll be fine. How's your foot doing?"
Kassidy rolled her ankle around. "Still good for now. That'll almost certainly change once I crash from this adrenaline high." Looking up, she watched Ruby reach the top of the cliff and outright decapitate the nevermore. Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren had somehow made their way to the cliff side of the bridge and caught up with the group. The seven of them let out a small cheer, but were too exhausted to do anything else. It was eventually Bob who broke the silence.
"Would it be safe to assume that an elevator would be out of the question?"