Welcome back to "Sideline: Another Story". When we last left off, Team FCSA and Team PRDT fought off Thresher Grimm that wanted to attack their ship, the Valor. After dealing with them, a newer and bigger Grimm that the Valor's captain calls 'The Leviathan' has shown up. It seems that our heroes are in for a new fight against a literally bigger threat. Let's see how they do!
BTW, in the previous chapter's battle, just play any music you believe is appropriate for fighting at sea. I don't have any actual suggestions, so just go wild.
Switch On!
RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and was created by Monty Oum (R.I.P)
The only characters I own are the ones of my own creation.
"It's here," the Valor's captain said as he glared at the beast emerging from the water. "The Leviathan..." Rising up from the water was a big Grimm while the body of an orca whale, had the jaws of a crocodile, and was covered in barnacle-like bone plating. The Grimm let out a bellowing cry that sounded similar to a bull, elephant, and tiger all mixed together. When it did, the air around the area became much colder and everyone on the Valor could see their breath. The Leviathan glared at the ship with burning eyes before it let out a deep drone toward the ship, which made Ebony cry out in agonizing pain as she attempted to cover her ears.
"Make it stop! Make! It! Stop! Arrrrgghhh," Ebony screamed as she flailed around the ship.
"What's wrong with her," Azalea asked out of concern.
"It's the Leviathan's call," Lucifer said. "Leviathans are Grimm that are normally found in deeper seas, but this one is young enough to not be bothered by the shallower waters. They can let out a sonic blast that can cripple anyone within hearing range," the Huntsman explained. "Because of Miss Rain's Faunus trait, she's much more vulnerable to the Leviathan."
"We need to get her out of here," Slate said as he managed to stand up. "I'll take her below deck. Besides, unless we get on dry land, I don't think I'll be that much help until I get used to boats." Slate soon picked up Ebony as she fell to the floor and carried her inside. However, he was stopped by Azalea who was still worried about Slate himself. "I'll be fine, Freckles. In fact, I think the medicine is starting to work a little... If I didn't throw it up onto that Thresher earlier," he said and muttered the last part to himself.
Azalea smiled and gave Slate a small kiss on the cheek before he went inside the Valor. Joining the rest of Team FCSA and Team PRDT, Azalea stared down the Grimm. The Grimm felt the emotions of the people on the ship and began to swim toward the Valor. As the Leviathan dived under the water, the captain turned to the beetle-horned helmsman. "Full speed forward! It's going to try and hit us from below!" Listening to the captain, the helmsman floored the accelerator for the boat and after a few seconds, the Leviathan ended up surfacing on the other side of the Valor snapping its jaws as it attempted to bite the ship in two. As the Grimm slowly turned around to see where the Valor was, the crew of the ship began to load the harpoons and cannons. "Fire," the captain ordered and the ship's weapons all fired at the Leviathan. The harpoons barely fazed the monster, but the cannonballs managed to crack off some of the Grimm's bony barnacle-like armor. "Barely a scratch," the captain muttered before the Leviathan finished turning toward the fishing boat.
The beast opened its jaws and released a large stream of mist toward the Valor. When the mist cleared, everyone saw that the water around the boat was frozen and sheets of ice were scattered around. Soon, Slate came back up onto the deck of the Valor to see what was going on. "Guys, what's happening? And why is it so freezing out here," the gunslinger of Team FCSA asked as he began shivering.
"Th-h-hat G-G-G-Grimm f-f-f-froze the water," Layla explained as she was shivering worse than Slate. "Th-his is one of the only d-d-d-downsides-s-s-s to growing up in V-V-V-Vacuo. Y-Y-Y-You're not us-s-s-sed t-to the c-c-cold in the d-d-d-d-day."
"Ironic given that you two tend to use Ice Dust whenever possible," Cereza remarked.
"W-we shoot ice at enem-m-mies, not make swords out of it," Slate reminded as he hugged himself to try and keep warm.
"Either way, I hope that you guys can keep your balance on ice," Jenny said as she jumped off the boat and landed on a sheet of ice with Azalea and Cereza following her. Slate decided that trying to stay balanced on the ice was better than staying on the boat, so he joined the girls on the ice while Twilight and Layla stayed onboard the Valor.
"If this thing is using ice, it probably won't like heat," Twilight hypothesized. "Try using as much Fire Dust as you can," she told the others as she loaded the ammunition into her guns. Layla used the Fire Dust in her jewelry to not only heat herself up, but also get ready to attack the Leviathan. Slate and the rest of the girls prepared their Fire Dust just as the Leviathan began to charge at them. Sending burning bullets, fireballs, and streams of flame at the Grimm, the teenagers barely managed to harm the Grimm, but did manage to make it retreat underwater. "I'm not sure if that worked," Twilight said as she watched the water move around. "Ebony's rifle would have really come in handy about now."
"Well, she's out for a while," Percival reminded. "That's why we have to take this thing down! Nobody hurts any of my friends," he said with a growl.
As the Leviathan was underwater, it turned to face the underside of the Valor and its barnacle-like armor began to twitch and move. The 'barnacles' soon twisted around to reveal drill-like points and were soon aimed at the ship. Firing the pieces of its armor, the Leviathan managed to damage the ship a little as well as nail a few ice floes it created for the Huntsmen. Soon, the barnacles began to spin around to drill holes in what they hit and try to sink the ship. "We need to get off this ice floe," Cereza instructed as she and Azalea skated across the ice while Jenny and Slate used their weapons to get onto the ship or another sheet of ice.
Soon, everyone saw Lucifer holding one of the barnacles from the Leviathan for everyone to see. "It's sacrificing its armor to try and sink the ship," he told them before slashing the barnacle into pieces with his glaive. "That means it will be more vulnerable if you can hit it." Soon, the Leviathan released another stream of mist to freeze the water before it crashed through the ice. Leaping over the Valor, it destroyed another portion of the ice around it and sent chunks of ice colliding into the boat.
"With that thing in the water, we can't even get a clean hit in anyways," Layla stated.
Percival looked around and saw something out in the distance. "Maybe we can hit it," Percival said as he jumped off the boat and landed on the same ice floe as Azalea. "Azalea, I have a plan and I could use your help with it." Whispering his plan to the Cow Faunus, Azalea nodded in agreement as she had Gladion at the ready. "Alright then. Let's settle this," Percival yelled at the Leviathan to catch its attention. The Grimm began to swim toward Percival and fired more of its barnacles at him, but he just smirked at the attack. His right arm soon glowed with an ivory-colored Aura before a bone-like spike emerged from his forearm and his used it to slash at the barnacles that came flying at him. "Like that's gonna work on me," he told the Leviathan like it could understand him.
The Leviathan roared at Percival only for Azalea to throw a fireball into the Grimm's mouth to damage it from the inside. "Bet that you can't catch us," Azalea taunted. After the Leviathan recovered from the injury, it began to swim toward the two Faunus at full speed while chomping away at the ice. Azalea switched Gladion's setting to use Ice Dust and created a long path for her and Percival to take so they would reach the nearby Hope Island. After the path was made, Percival's feet soon began to glow the same ivory color as his arm did and more bone-like blades appeared under his feet. Carrying Azalea in his arms, the 'bones' on Percival's feet began to move like motorized wheels and the two zipped away toward the island at high speed. "You're Semblance is so cool, Percy," Azalea said as she continued to use her Gladion baton to solidify their path.
"Thanks! It's a pretty simple power, but it's all about how you use it," Percival told Azalea. "Wait, Percy," he exclaimed after realizing the nickname Azalea gave him. Hearing the Leviathan behind them, Percival didn't give the nickname much thought and only continued toward the island while either dodging barnacles or shooting them down by firing more spikes from his back. "We're almost there," Percival said as he and Azalea saw Hope Island in the distance. Hope Island had sandy beaches, a large forest with a gargantuan tree in the center of the island, and there were wooden constructs like bridges and treehouses around the area.
With their destination just a few more yards away, Percival put Azalea down and the two ran for the island with the Grimm chasing after them recklessly. When they set foot on the beach, the Leviathan roared before it blasted more mist at the Faunus. Unlike the first instances, the mist condensed in the air and became flying shards of ice that began to fall on the beach like a hailstorm. As Azalea and Percival defended themselves from the ice with their weapons, the Leviathan let out a deep drone like when it first surfaced to try and harm the Faunus. "Go further into the island," Azalea shouted as the drone started to affect her hearing and she believed the same thing was happening to Percival. As the two students attempted to escape the Leviathan's sonic attack, the Valor opened fire on the Grimm and managed to deal significantly more damage to the whale-like monster.
While the Leviathan recoiled in pain from the cannons, the members of Team FCSA and Team PRDT opened fire on the beast with their ranged weapons to deal constant damage. Azalea and Percival saw what was happening from the forest on the island and they nodded in agreement at what they needed to do. Percival went first and used his Semblance to create five spikes on his right leg, which he sent flying at the Leviathan like missiles with a stomp of his foot. As the spikes struck the Grimm, it roared in immense pain before Percival threw Azalea into the air and jumped up soon after. With the two Faunus in the air above the island, Azalea set Gladion to use Wind Dust and unleashed a gust of wind that sent the two of them flying directly at the Leviathan. Percival soon covered his left leg in a large bone spike that began to spin like a drill. "Eat this," he shouted as he adjusted himself so that he would hit the Grimm with a flying kick.
Just as Azalea and Percival flew forward at the Grimm, Lucifer saw what they were doing and activated his Semblance with several feathers emerging from his body as he did. Just like Cereza, Lucifer had his own 'Time Mirage' that allowed him to slow down time for better defense and counterattacks. But thanks to his years of experience as a Huntsman, Lucifer's usage of his Semblance allowed him to slow down time even greater than his daughter at her current level. Lucifer's personal Time Mirage allowed him to stop time for a few seconds as long as he didn't come into physical contact with any person or animal that wasn't a Creature of Grimm. Running toward the Leviathan across the water thanks to the ice and time being stopped, Lucifer pulled out his glaive and began to recite a page from his bible by memory. "O demonic creature seeking the darkness of man, your reign over these seas shall end. Your maw bares the red fangs of envy as you are bound to the water, unable to strike on the land. The very sight of you instills madness among men who have lost everything dear and refuse to accept what they have. The despair you create shall give way to new hopes and light that will shine down upon those who deserve it. The shadows you were once born from will disappear with the rise of the sun and everything you have inflicted will be restored to their former glory."
With a powerful swing of his glaive, Lucifer sent the Leviathan flying up into the sky with the most vulnerable part of its body exposed for Percival and Azalea to strike at it when he ended his Time Mirage. With Percival's drill kick striking at the Grimm, Azalea soon joined with a powerful kick of her own and the two Faunus managed to pierce through the Leviathan's body. Drilling through completely, Percival and Azalea watched as the Grimm began to evaporate in midair before it landed on the beach and faded into nothing. The two laughed and whooped in celebration before they were caught by Layla's telekinesis and brought onboard the Valor. "That was awesome," Percival and Azalea shouted together as they landed on the boat and did Percival's secret handshake. "We just took out a Leviathan!"
"I can't wait to tell the others," Azalea exclaimed with the biggest grin on her face imaginable while Dante leaned up against her. "I know I couldn't have done it on my own, but that was just incredible!"
"I'll say it was," Cereza remarked with a smirk. "That was bloody amazing!"
"I would have to agree on how much of a feat that was for even first-year students," Lucifer said as he reached the boat and looked at the setting red sun. "I believe that it's getting late. We should return to Port Mako now and rest at the church."
"Yeah, that's like a great idea," Slate agreed.
"Port Mako, here we come again," the Valor's captain said as the helmsman turned the boat around.
As Team PRDT and Team FCSA rested up at Port Mako's church, they were enjoying a feast given to them by the grateful villagers. With plates upon plates of seafood, fruits, vegetables, and deserts, the warriors all chowed down on their first reward and discussed quite a number of things. Team FCSA talked about the initiation test for Beacon and how they worked together with Team SAFR to kill a King Taijitu, about Layla and Slate's families back home in Vacuo, and even talked about being bodyguards to Bianca Coloratura. "You guys actually did that," Team PRDT exclaimed in surprise.
"Yeah. Bianca's an old friend of Azalea and they've caught up with each other while we helped the pop star out," Layla said.
"Man, I love her music," Twilight said as she grabbed an apple to eat. "My favorite song of hers would have to be her cover of 'Gold'. I looked up the song and found out that it used to be a lullaby."
"Oh, it is," Azalea confirmed. "My mom used to sing it to us all the time when we had sleepovers at my family's place. Moving on, what's your family like, Percy?"
"Percy," the girls of Team PRDT said in pleasant surprise at the nickname for their leader.
"Well, my dad's a Rhino Faunus, but I don't really know who my mom is," Percival told the others. Everyone was surprised by this information, but Percival continued speaking. "Dad said that Mom was a Huntress and she spent all her time traveling around. She ended up meeting him in Vacuo one time and they 'enjoyed each other's company'. About a year later, I was born and handed off to my father because she couldn't take care of me." Percival looked out to the starry night sky and sighed a little. "I want to know who she is, but even my father didn't know much about her aside from the fact that she was a Gecko Faunus. I think I signed up to become a Huntsman just so that I could probably get a chance to meet her. But until then, I'm just going to enjoy helping out everyone I meet and make them my friend!"
The others were amazed at how well Percival seemed to take not knowing his own mother. He just explained his story calmly and with a smile on his face, accepting that it was something he couldn't change and he decided to keep moving forward. If he ended up meeting the woman who gave birth to him, then that was a chapter in his life he would eventually get to. "That's deep, man," Slate commented before taking a bite out of his taiyaki.
"Yeah," the rest of Team PRDT agreed.
"What about your Semblance? How did you first discover it," Azalea asked in order to lighten the mood a little.
"Oh, well I was training with my dad. He's not a Huntsman, but when you grow up in Vacuo, you need to learn how to fight. Either that, get somebody to protect you, or just be street smart," Percival began to explain and Slate nodded at the last thing the feline Faunus said. "Dad was throwing me around left and right before I tried to fight back with my claws. He told me that Huntsmen use their Aura to defend and attack, so I tried to focus it. Soon after, I made these spikes show up on my arm. After a while at Shade Academy, I learned that I could move them like I can now and I've been using them for all sorts of things," he said as he created a small spike and removed it from his hand to use it as a fork. "You'd be amazed at what I'll be capable of in the Vytal Festival."
"Oh, no doubt about it," Layla agreed. "But, I'd be on the lookout for the others if I were you. You've seen us fight, but are you sure you guys can take on Team SLVR or Team SAFR?"
While Cereza, Slate, and Layla bantered with Team PRDT over who could accomplish what during the upcoming Vytal Festival, Azalea petted Dante and looked out the window. Gazing out at the starry night sky, Azalea had one thing on her mind just as she saw a shooting star fly across the horizon. "I wonder how the others are doing?"
And with this chapter finished, Team FCSA's mission in Port Mako was a success! We've seen how well they and Team PRDT can take out Grimm and fight alongside each other, so there's no question that Team PRDT are some great allies to have in the future. I wanted to come up with the idea of a Grimm Leviathan for a while, so I managed to figure out a basic design for it to put in here. Anyone who liked the battle with it is free to draw up what they envision the beast to look like based on the description I gave it.
Admittedly, Percival's backstory with his parents was last minute as I thought of some other characters I had planned out. You'll probably be able to meet Percy's mom later in the story, but let's just focus on the rest of the missions (or mission, in this case).
When picturing Hope Island, just imagine a less tropical version of Destiny Islands from Kingdom Hearts.
As for music for this chapter, listen to the Boss Battle theme from "Shantae: Half Genie Hero" during the encounter with the Leviathan. When Percival and Azalea start their plan to defeat the monster, I recommend the theme of Kamen Rider Fourze, "Switch On", because I based much of Percival's personality on Gentaro Kisaragi, the title character of KR Fourze.
Next time, Team SAFR and Aurora Celeste make their way to Forever Fall and Garrison Academy. But what sort of Grimm will they be handling when they get there? Find out when "Sideline: Another Story" gets another update!
Until next time, WaterDragonMaverick out!