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TheDragon2000: Thanks for pointing out Ruby's age. I've corrected it now.
Chapter 06: Fu! Sion! Ha!
The shadow figure appeared in a burst of black smoke, stealthily observing Nevermore's battle against the four girls.
Yang was firing her weapon at it from the top of a pillar. As the bird flew at her, she jumped at it and stood inside its mouth and she emptied her rounds down its throat.
"I! Hope! You're! Hung! gry!" she yelled. Yang then jumped down to the ground as the Nevermore crashed into the cliff, landing on some ruins.
As the Grimm tried to take flight again, Weiss rushed in as Yang retreated. The heiress froze the bird's tail to the ruins, making it unable to move.
Weiss backed out using her glyphs while Blake and Yang used Gambol Shroud to create a slingshot out of the nearby pillars.
Ruby jumped onto the slingshot, using her scythe as a foothold while Weiss used her glyphs to draw the younger girl back.
"Of course you would come up with this idea." Weiss commented.
"Think you can make the shot?" Ruby asked.
Weiss smiled confidently and replies sarcastically "Can I."
Ruby didn't pick up on the sarcasm. "Can you…?"
"Of course I can!" Weiss interrupted.
As Ruby loaded her weapon, the glyph turned red to match her Aura. Weiss then released it, sending Ruby flying at the Nevermore.
"Incoming!" Ruby fired Crescent Rose to accelerate herself and when she reached the bird, she caught its neck with her scythe, sending them both into the cliff. Weiss raised her sword and created a series of white glyphs up the wall, which Ruby dashed through by firing the entire way up.
Yang, Blake, and an exhausted Weiss watched her climb up with the bird in her grasp until, both warrior and monster crying out, Ruby reached the top of the cliff, circled up, fired one last shot, and severed the Nevermore's head from its shoulders in a shower of ichor and petals.
Ruby landed beside the severed head as the body of the giant Nevermore fell lifeless into the ruins and crevice below to join the Death Stalker while the girls and, farther away, Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren watched in amazement.
"Wow." Jaune remarked as they all looked up to see Ruby standing at the top of the cliff, rose petals trailing out from her cape.
"Well." Yang looked to Weiss and Blake who stand beside her. "That was a thing." She joked.
The Shadow Figure stared long and hard at Ruby's form as she kicked the Nevermore's head down as well "A Silver-Eye! And she isn't even Awakened yet!" It looked down to stare at the other girls. "Two more down in the ruins. I recognize the Snow King's descendant, but I don't know the other."
*BOOM*
An Explosion rang out from Cardin's side, gaining the Shadow Figure's attention. It debated a bit before vanishing towards the battle. "Even though I sense no Magic in that direction, it's always good to be sure regardless."
Russel landed heavily on the ground, before rolling away to avoid getting stomped. The battle with the Alpha Creep was reaching a boiling point as the four of them pressed on.
Dove Bronzewing, a brown-haired boy in tan armor wielding a single sword with an inbuilt pistol, sild under the Grimm, slashing its unprotected underside as he did so. He might have died had Sky Lark not thrown his halberd to block the Alpha Creep's tail from gouging out his partner's torso.
"We're gonna need a plan for this." Russel said to Cardin as they ran past each other.
"I've got one!" Cardin shouted back. "I'm gonna blast it to Kingdom Come. The moment I yell, you guys get clear."
"I'll tell the others." Russel headed off to the other duo, who had been keeping the Alpha Creep busy. Cardin however, backed up a bit to implement his plan. He put his mace away and after shaking his hands to psych himself, Cardin started a running leap.
Using his Aura to amplify his jump, Cardin used his semblance to propel himself even higher, and then yelled for his comrades to get clear.
The Alpha Creep noticing the humans who it had been trying to kill, just move away suddenly, turned to face the supposed leader of the group.
After getting the Grimm's attention, Cardin used his explosions to propel himself towards the Grimm in a circular motion while creating a tornado. The ensuing twister collected oxygen and momentum to fuel the subsequent explosion he was aiming for.
"[Ansel Impact!]" The resulting blast not only obliterated the Alpha Creep's back as it tried to dodge but was loud and powerful enough for the shockwave to to hit everyone in the forest, including Professors Ozpin and Goodwitch.
"Oh my." Ozpin calmly sipped from his cup while Goodwitch steadied herself. "I'll have to warn Mr. Winchester to never use that move within Beacon walls except in the Combat Arena."
"Says the one who won't be responsible for fixing the damage from it." Professor Goodwitch grumbled and looked through her Tablet to recalibrate the cameras near the blast site.
Cardin grunted as the Grimm weakly tried to stand once more.
"None of that now." Cardin climbed its back, deliberately stepping onto the wound he made. "This is the part where you die."
"[Armament: Imbuement.]" Cardin brought down The Executioner on the Alpha Creep's face once more, except that this time, the resulting explosion had black sparkling particles.
Unlike the previous time when Cardin's explosions barely scratched the Alpha Creep's face armor, the Imbued explosion obliterated part of the Grimm's head.
"I-Its over. Thank the Brothers." Sky moaned as he sank to his knees.
"Why didn't you use that from the beginning?" Dove panted, sitting next to his partner.
"Like hell I could." Cardin returned his weapon to his back. "{Armament: Imbuement} is the strongest of all Armament Haki techniques, which requires a few seconds of charge time. Charge time which would have gotten any of us killed if we were too slow."
"Come on." Russel stretched a bit before facing the others. "We've gotten the relics and beaten our Grimm. Let's leave before something else comes around to kill us."
It was with tired sighs all around as the jock-type Huntsmen-in-Training got up to leave.
All twelve students soon reunited with each other, congratulating themselves on their victories. They were unprepared for what happened next.
*CRASH*
The Shadow Figure which had been watching them from afar, had finally shown itself before them.
The others were confused and shocked at its sudden appearance, but Jaune, Ren and Cardin, the only three present with Observation Haki, instantly went into their guards with weapons ready, suppressing their instincts, which was screaming to run away.
"Who are you?" Jaune motioned for his comrades to copy him as Cardin accosted the Shadow Figure.
"There's no need for be on guard against me." Absolutely no one bought that. It chuckled a bit in response to that. "I was only going to observe, but now I find myself wanting more. All twelve of you shall now fight your opponent once more!"
"'Fight you opponent once more'? We just killed ours. It's not coming back." Blake said in confusion.
"If It was serious about not fighting us itself, does that mean it has an accomplice nearby?" Ren said, casting a suspicious eye around their surroundings.
"Probably." Dove aimed his Pistol-Sword at the Shadow Figure. "It said 'opponent' as in singular. If It was really observing us, It should know know that our fights were against multiple Grimm, not a single one all twelve of us ganged up on."
"Well... You've got the right idea." The Shadow Figure gestured at Dove before It raised it's hand to slam it into the ground.
"[All of you, Return here]" The Shadow Figure invoked as a large purple glyph appeared underneath It. "[and Unite!]"
The ground quaked as three giant streams of black energy with purple outlines, blasted out of the glyph. Each of the energy streams branched out, heading for the battle sites where the Grimm had died to the teenagers.
"W-What's happening?" Ruby hugged her scythe to her chest with a terrified motion.
"I-I don't know. But get behind me, just in case." It spoke a lot of Ruby's current mood that she didn't protest Yang's order request as usual.
The energy streams returned with the carcasses of the deceased Grimm from earlier.
"The Nevermore?!" Weiss yelled.
"The Death Stalker?!" Pyrrha joined Weiss in gawking.
"The Creep?!" Russel snarled in frustration.
The three Grimm smashed into each other, their flesh and bones noisily breaking, tearing and mending to form a new appearance.
"I only have one thing to say to all of you. Win or Die. Your choice. Hehehe.." As It finished speaking, It's form began destabilizing into black smoke, then vanished.
The carcasses had finished merging, becoming a solid fifteen meters in height alone. The Chimera possessed armored wings which belonged to the Nevermore; pincers and armored back of the Death Stalker; and the tail and legs of the Alpha Creep. The head had become a horrible mashup of the three Grimm. It primarily took the form of the Nevermore's head except it now had too many eyes whenever it opened its beak, one would see an inner set of jaws with sharp fangs. The Chimera breathed in then-
"SKREEEEEOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNK!"
Professor Goodwitch was working herself into a panic. "Sir! We have to stop Initiation and retrieve those children. I'll call Peter and -"
"No."
Ozpin's calm word cut through her tirade, causing Goodwitch to look at the Headmaster in shock. "W-What do you mean 'no'?"
"Glynda, this is a combat school." Professor Ozpin spoke, his calm contrasting her earlier hysteria. "As teachers, there comes a time when we have to train our students on how to react to foreign scenarios like this."
Ozpin looked away from his Scroll and onto the ruins, where he could almost see the battle happening.
"Here's what you'll do. Take Peter and Bartholomew with you and standby. Unless it looks like a student is about to die, do not engage. Understood?"
Goodwitch nodded her acceptance and ran off, leaving Ozpin to his thoughts.
All twelve students cowered at the roar of such primal malice. And would have nearly died had Jaune, in a state of frenzied panic, screamed out a single word.
"DODGE!" Instincts, hammered in from years of training, caused them to jump away from the monster, who had just moved at blistering speed to smash the place where they were just standing a second ago.
"[Open! Gate of the Maiden! Virgo!]" Virgo appeared into the battlefield, instantly zeroing in the Chimera.
"[Spica Lock.]" Boulders ripped themselves out of the ground to crush the Chimera.
"Quickly!" Ruby took charge, aiming her weapon. "Everyone with long range, use it while it's still trapped!"
For twelve long seconds, there was nothing but chaos as everybody who could shoot something at it, did so with great enthusiasm. Soon, there was a large plum of smoke where the Chimera was. Then It flapped it's wings.
The {Spica Lock} was gone, showing that despite how powerful their attacks had been, it hadn't been enough as the Chimera only had small wounds on it. Wounds that were rapidly healing into nonexistence.
The Chimera flapped its wings once more, sending a volley of feathers at them. Ruby, with her trained eyesight, noticed that the spines of these feathers were white instead of black, indicating they were armored feathers, thereby harder to destroy or block.
"[Spica Wall.]" Virgo punched the ground, creating a vast wall of earth to rise up between the monster and the teenagers, thereby blocking the onslaught.
"Master, I see two options to your survival right now." Virgo spoke briefly, using the wall to create a gigantic dome that covered the Chimera. "I do not believe I am capable of defeating that... thing so I will point them out for you."
"What do we have to do?" asked Pyrrha in determination, as everyone readied themselves.
Virgo gave them all a brief stare before speaking. "Run away. or... become Archester."
"WHAT?!" Jaune and Cardin yelled in sync.
"No way-"
"Impossible"
"With him?"
"Like hell I'll-"
"Enough!" Virgo snapped, shutting up the aforementioned boys. "That was one option, Master. If it isn't satisfactory, you and your friends can simply run away."
Jaune seriously considered the pros and cons of what he was about to do, before shaking his head. "We can't run away. Not only do we know that Grimm's moves as we were the ones to kill them- err, it, if we leave that Grimm, it fly away to some other place to terrorize some other innocent people."
Ren added his own input. "Especially since that Grimm is composed of one Alpha and two Elders. Letting something that old and powerful live on would be a really bad move."
There was a bit of silence till Nora finally asked, "What does Virgo mean 'become Archester'?" To everyone's surprise, Jaune and Cardin blushed a bit.
"N-Now's not the time." Jaune said hotly. "It's breaking out."
The {Spica Dome} finally broke down, revealing the Chimera in all it's unholy glory. Virgo groaned as the magical backlash caused her to sink to her knee.
"Virgo, you've helped enough!" Jaune said, saving her from another feathered hail. "[Return!]"
"My sincere apologies, Master." Virgo bowed in submission, before hesitantly speaking again. "Jaune.."
Jaune turned back in shock. She hadn't called his name since he first contracted her.
"Please... don't die." She then returned to the Celestial Spirit Realm.
Jaune stared at the spot she stood, sparkles still present, before looking at his group. "Guys. Make me a ten second window."
Pyrrha, Nora and Ren replied in sync. "Alright!"
"Cardin!" Cardin looked to see Jaune running to him.
He gritted his teeth then looked to his future team. "Help them!" After he got their acknowledgement, he then stood by Jaune's side.
And then Jaune and Cardin did the Fusion Dance.
First, they turned their arms in the opposite direction of each other while stepping on their toes.
Secondly, they turned their arms clockwise towards each other while taking three small steps closer.
Thirdly, they lifted their outward knees up into the air while turning it towards each other.
Finally, they pointed their fingertips to each other and touched fingers while straightening out their knees to the ground, perfectly becoming a synonymous duo.
While doing all of the above, they slowly chanted, both sporting heavy blushes.
"[FU! SION! HA!]"
Back on the Cliff, Ozpin, the only one to pay full attention to the strange ritual, had a blank stare at the results.
"...what."
There was a sudden blast of light from the Knight duo. Everyone, from the students to the hidden teachers to even the Chimera, stopped to stare.
There was a Huntsman standing where Jaune and Cardin had just been seconds ago. He was taller than even Cardin, sporting scraggly blonde hair which was burnt orange at the roots, bluish indigo eyes and a confident smile. He was dressed in gleaming silver armor, which looked like a fusion of Jaune's and Cardin's.
"It's alright everyone. I am Archester and I'm here now."
Ruby was the first to speak. "What the-"
She didn't finish her question as the Chimera snapped out of it and charged forward. It ignored the others focusing only on Archester. It was going to-
It was being crushed. An armored giant in silver armor, wreathed in white smoke was crushing it, crushing it, crushing it, crushin-
The Supreme King-type Haki released, leaving the Chimera disoriented as Archester took a step forward, flash stepping right in front of the Grimm, then kicked forward. The Grimm was blasted backwards as Archester's leg had detonated with the kick.
Now a fair distance, Archester cupped his hands together while pooling his Explosion into them. An ominous glow lit up, giving his face a rather dark look.
The Chimera, while newly born, still possessed the experiences of three long-lived Grimm and promptly decided that living to kill another day was the valid course of action, and then proceeded to fly away.
"[Air Blast.]" A blast of air from his feet, propelled Archester forward. He continued to do so until he was suddenly in front of it. "No one gave you permission to run away now."
"Now, Disappear." He then put his arms forward, displaying the contained explosion, which had grown up to the size of a large beach ball "[Armament: Imbuement.]" The explosive energy now had sparkling black particles in it as well.
"[Exploding Flare Cannon.]"
Then it fired. No, 'fired' was a term too loose for this. This was an Explosion, concentrated to focus on a singular target, granting the very concept of 'Annihilation'. The Chimera was not hit so much as evaporated from existence, leaving nothing left.
Archester, from the top of a tree he landed in, stared at the remains of where the Chimera used to be, before returning to the others.
"That was awesome!" Nora said, staring at Archester as if he was the coolest thing in existence.
"Of course I am." Archester replied, crossing his arms in arrogance. "With Jaune's Aura and Magic(Goodwitch choked a bit) and Cardin's Semblance, I am awesome."
"Hey, tone down the arrogance a bit." Blake said.
'Is it arrogance if I have the power to back it up? Oh well.' Archester looked around a bit. 'I can sense Professor Goodwitch and two others with her, but...'
"I can't sense that shadow guy anymore..." That killed the good mood quickly.
"He's right. I can't sense him anymore." Ren said, giving a look around as well. His pause on Goodwitch's location showed that he'd noticed her as well.
Archester suddenly stumbled, becoming two people again. Cardin collapsed into Dove and Sky's arms while Jaune collapsed into Pyrrha's. Ruby then gave the command to leave which they obeyed, unaware of the shadowy figure hidden in the trees.
"I love it when a gamble works out like this. I shall relay this news to my mistress." It vanished into a plume of black smoke, this time for real.
After a brief trip to the school's infirmary and some rest, they were now at the auditorium where Professor Ozpin was announcing the teams.
"Russel Thrush. Cardin Winchester. Dove Bronzewing. Sky Lark. The four of you retrieved the Black Bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team CRDL, led by... Cardin Winchester!"
The audience clapped to applaud them. Jaune sighed 'I wonder how long his ego will ride that...'
Team CRDL left the stage and were replaced by the next group. "Jaune Arc. Lie Ren. Pyrrha Nikos. Nora Valkyrie." Ozpin said their names as they stood before him. "The four of you retrieved the White Rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team JNPR."
More clapping as the new team smiled and Nora hugged Ren. 'Wait, Lie Ren? I've been calling him by his surname?'
"Led by." Ozpin continued. "Jaune Arc."
This surprised Jaune. "Wait, What?!"
"L-Led by?" Jaune nervously repeated while Pyrrha smiled at him.
"Congratulations young man." Ozpin said.
Pyrrha bumped Jaune on the arm in congratulations, unfortunately Jaune was still in shock about it and ended up being pushed to the ground. Laughter was heard from the audience.
"And finally. Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee and Yang Xiao Long." Ozpin announced the last team as JNPR leaves the stage and were replaced by the aforementioned girls. "The four of you retrieved the White Knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY." The audience cheered again.
"Led by… Ruby Rose." Ozpin said as Weiss and Ruby gained shocked expressions, for different reasons.
"I'm so proud of you!" Yang hugged her sister and new leader.
It looks like things are shaping up to be an... interesting year." Ozpin stated as he looked upon the new members of his school in pride.
Inside a new building, Roman Torchwick was standing in front of a map while looking at a message in his Scroll.
"Team Leader, huh." Roman said as he put his Scroll away. "Little Knight's gonna be in a world of stress from now on."
He sighed and lighted his cigarette. "Then again, I'm in a world of stress myself."
A man in a grey mask and black hood came with a trolley. Roman handed over some lien as payment.
"Open it." Torchwick commanded. The other man did so to reveal an assortment of differently colored Dust crystals.
Torchwick picked one up. "We're gonna need more men." He looked back to the map behind him. It was a map of the City of Vale with hand written annotations of the important areas such as Forever Fall, Commercial District and Beacon Academy.
The Shadow Figure flew across the Land of Darkness, until it reached the Black Tower. It circled the Tower once before landing to the ground. It then bowed, bending its head to touch the ground while on it's knees. "My Mistress. I come bearing news".
There was silence before a woman stepped forth from the shadows. She could have passed for an attractive woman, especially with her large bust and shapely figure in her flowing, black dress. That was where the 'humanity' ended. Her skin was of deathly pallor, with black sclerae and glowing purple eyes and also pale white hair styled into a large bun.
"Speak."
"I have found three Mages and a Silver-Eyed Warrior. Out of all of them, only one is Awakened and..."
"and?"
"The Awakened Mage also knows of the Fusion Dance technique."
The 'Woman' smiled for the first time during the debriefing.
"Are they strong?"
"Yes Mistress, and they will all only grow stronger from here, due to their young ages."
"Continue your surveillance from afar. Understood, Mesrum?"
The Shadow Figure raised its head to look at its Creator and raised its fist unto its chest. "As you will."
Fusion Profile
Name: Archester
Title: The Destructive Paladin
Aura: It constantly fluctuates between Jaune's and Cardin's
Magic: Gold with White effects
Sex: Male
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Likes: Himself, His family and friends, X-ray & Vav Comics
Dislikes: Enemies of his Family, Being dressed as a girl.
Bio: Archester was born from the fusion of Jaune Arc and Cardin Winchester. He rarely comes into existence due to his creators' dislike of each other.
KingVessel: 3,000 words, my fingers! Next Time on "A Knight's Guide to Becoming a Hero" is "First Day at Beacon". Please leave a review.