Project Insight.
After the destruction of {Redacted} in Argus, it had been decided to see if Atlas can make use of it. However, soon after the machine vanished away. Cameras show evidence that a portal took it away. However, only the {Redacted} had been taken, while the rest of the {Redacted} remains in Argus custody alongside the information downloaded.
As such, the continuation of Project Insight can resume for Atlas.
A final round for everyone here, without interruption.
The leader of the Argus base is busy with the Leviathan.
The police and Huntsmen, evacuating the people. The latter also fought the Grimm alongside the Atlas troops. This meant that one giant machine, and nine individuals could finally face one another without any interference. One had been the cause of all this damage, while the other wishes to stop all this chaos. Now is the time to see how this all ends.
"Hra!" Ganesh rushed at his unworthy foes. His hands going down to punch his enemies on all different sides. A single blow would kill an ordinary person. One fist headed toward Yang who instead of running, withstood it.
"Ugh!" But doing so was more difficult than it looked. The momentum of the attack pushed her back as she struggled to stop herself from falling.
"Get away from her!" Nora then came in and swung her hammer, only for a fist to easily catch it. Nora now stuck in mid-air holding the handle of her hammer while another fist then came at her.
"Nora!" Ren jumped up and grabbed her, Nora letting go just before the fist made contact with her body. The two landed only for Ganeesh to stop his power struggle with Yang, step back, and then kick the two away into the nearest building. As the duo slammed into the wall, Ganesh then crushed the hammer like a tin can and threw the broken weapon behind him.
Shing! Ding! Bing!
Ganesh then turned to see Jaune having tried to attack his leg. To bad his sword couldn't even leave a mark. Ganesh just grinned. "Worthless!" He then turned around and lifted his leg, Jaune realizing he was about to stomp on him as Ganeesh grinned and then stomped down.
"No you don't!" Using his full aura, Jaune then withstood it by using his shield and putting it over him. While the ground cracked beneath him and his knees bent down, Jaune had a determined look and grunted as he actually managed not to be crushed like a bug, slightly impressing Ganeesh. The kid had a lot of aura, and would be above-average in his world. Still, all Ganeesh had to do was put on the pressure and all that'd be left of the kid is a bloody pulp.
"I got you!" Of course that was ruined when Ruby came in. However, instead of slashing at him uselessly, she simply used her Crescent Rose's sniper mode and shot high-grade Dust bullets at Ganeesh. Ice Dust which were aimed at his face.
"Mrrmrmrr!" Ganesh struggled to roar as his head is now an ice block and then tried to tear it off with his arms. This gave Jaune the chance to lift up that leg and escape. Something Ganeesh realized but could do nothing to stop it as he's blinded.
"Hah!" Weiss then came in, using her glyphs to speed herself up. Where she then tried to use those glyphs to keep Ganeesh in place while Ruby kept firing at the robot's head.
Crack!
Ganeesh instantly broke through the ice and then turned where he saw Ruby. The girl momentarily pausing at how he broke most of the ice off of him, where he then ran at her with Weiss too slow to use her glyphs. He made the distance between him and Ruby, and tried to grab her.
"No!" Yang came in and tried to punch his face. Instead, Ganesh grabbed her while she was still in the air, and then chucked her beyond him. H then aimed three fists at Ruby who realized aura won't protect her from such hits. Thankfully, she used her semblance on time and turned into countless red petals that avoided those attacks to Ganeesh's surprise.
Bang!
With Yang then using her gauntlets to fire in the opposite direction allowing a form of pseudo-flight. Where with burning hair, she roared as she then tried to attack Ganeesh in the back. Unfortunately, since she roared Ganeesh heard and turned around quickly where like slapping a fly, he slapped her away into the nearest building.
"Yang!" Qrow shouted as he growled. He knew his niece would be fine, but that didn't make watching her get punted away any better.
"Pha." Ganesh grinned. "As if flies can harm me."
"Then how about a bird!" Qrow then ran at Ganeesh and fired from his sword. The machine responded in kind by trying to run at him. Instead, he felt resistance when suddenly he saw his legs were covered in glyphs. Weiss was nearby and grinned, as she used those glyphs to slow him down.
This gave Qrow the time he needed to jump up to Ganeesh's eye level, and then aim properly. Where like a pitcher from baseball, Qrow had his arm go back that held his sword, and threw the weapon like a ball. All at Ganeesh's right eye.
Slam!
"Gah!" Ganeesh yelled as his right optic had been shattered with the weapon embedded in him. Still, he felt no pain thanks to his nature, and retaliated by lifting one of his arms up and throwing it down where Qrow is at. The unlucky uncle could only say one thing.
"Dam-." That was all and he felt the palm slam him onto the ground and making a Qrow-shaped hole. Where only a grunt is heard along with a shimmering aura. Thankfully it didn't break, but Qrow is now running a bit low. As for Ganeesh, he managed to overcome the glyphs and try to get at Weiss.
"Blake. Come!" Weiss however called for her cat faunus ally who came swinging down and grabbing her before Ganeesh could grab her by the waist. He didn't give up though, as Ganeesh then shoved his hands onto the street, and then threw chunks of the street at the swinging girls. Weiss let go of Weiss and summoned a Lancer to fly her away. Blake wasn't as lucky and a part of the debris hit her in the back, making her let go and hit the ground.
"Hahaha! Good hit!" Ganesh laughed.
P-p-p-p-p-p-p!
Then he frowned as he felt bullets hitting his back. Turning around, Ganeesh saw Ren was up, and while bleeding a little, looked all the more determined. Shooting at him despite the fact it was doing nothing. "Pah. Loser!"
Ganesh then grabbed and ripped off a lamp-post and tossed it at Ren who dodged it. Ganesh didn't bother considering going after the worm. Instead he went to rip out that sword from his eye.
"Got you!" But little did Ganeesh realize, those bullets were a distraction. Nora, who went to Jaune's side, threw him at Ganeesh who turned to see who was coming at him. He just slapped Jaune away thinking he was no big deal at all.
Click.
But like before, Jaune yelling had also been a distraction. Ruby had used her semblance to get on top of a building, where with her weapon she fired an electric Dust bullet right at Ganeesh's broken eye. For as powerful as Ganeesh is, at the end of the day he is a machine. His outer armor may have protected him from most things, including lighting, but his broken eye? Not as much.
"Graaa-ahhhaaa!" As the bullet entered through his damaged right eye, the electricity scattered and messed with his body. Not by much, but it made his limbs move erratically as the systems that allowed him to control the body were going haywire. It'll subside in a few seconds though.
"Get him!" A few seconds were all they needed, as Ruby called out to everyone who could harm him. In which case they did.
First Yang came in with a bang. Where without problem, she slammed her fist onto Ganeesh's face, and since he still had no control he started to fall backwards. "Go Blake!" Yang then called to her partner who, while feeling sore, obeyed.
"Got it Yang!" The faunus then made her move. Moving rapidly as she then took out the ribbon, and then started running rapidly around Ganeesh's legs to tie them up. "Weiss!" The heiress also started as well. Using her glyphs, she then began freezing Ganeesh's joints to prevent further movement. Like so, Ganeesh should be restrained as he landed on his back. His legs tied up, and his arm and leg joints having ice surrounding them.
It appeared as if they had won.
"Grrr." Ganesh thought otherwise. "Think you can try and fool me huh." The ice all around him cracked and the ribbons ripping apart. "Not gonna happen!" Now that he had control, Ganesh easily broke through these so-called restraints. The gang shocked that he did it so easily. As Ganeesh then stood up, he ripped Qrow's weapon, Harbinger, out of his eye then broke it in two.
"Man. Just what does it take to beat this guy?" Jaune said as he held his shield. Their enemy has absurd defenses, is faster than he appears, and super strong. Adding in his inability to feel pain and their incapability of causing any form of fatal damage meant they were just stalling things out.
Qrow, who busted out then saw Oscar in a corner. He hadn't really fought, though that was mainly because he didn't have a chance. Made the veteran Huntsmen wonder something. "Hey Oscar." Qrow called out to him who turned. "Think you can do anything? You and Oz?"
"Mmm." Oscar wasn't sure and quickly spoke to Ozpin. "What do you think?"
"Uncertain." Came the disappointing answer. "This enemy we have isn't like one of James's own Paladins. This 'Ganeesh' can think, which gives him a massive advantage while his unique armor handles most blows."
Indeed. Even some of the best Huntsmen would have trouble against Ganeesh. Not just because he's smart, but because of the abnormally strong metal that made him up. The people who made him on Earth, used rare metal which took them years to refine to make Ganeesh, to ensure that it could fight without problem and even gave the machine the power to 'heal'. Something the bastard who took over the machine used for crime.
"Our only solution is to either use an attack great enough to cripple him, or find a greater force." Something easier said than done as Oscar noted. I mean, everyone here was doing pretty well against Ganeesh all in all. But while they could get tired eventually, Ganesh wouldn't, meaning they were just delaying the inevitable.
As Oscar realized this, he then saw something.
At a distance away, the Leviathan versus the Colossus. Hmm.
"Qrow, I'll be back." Oscar simply told Qrow as he then ran.
"Huh, wait!" Qrow called out to Oscar as he saw him going towards Ganeesh. Oscar then breathed out and hoped this would work.
"Ozpin." Suddenly, Oscar's eyes glowed and Ozpin came out. Knowing what to do.
"I'm on it." He then got behind Ganeesh and shouted, "Over here you lug of nuts and bolts!" Ganesh turned and saw the pitiful child, holding a stupid cane.
"Pathetic!" He then went to kick the meat sack away. The foot came closer and closer, exactly as Oscar planned with Ozpin ready to take it. Just less than a second before it hit, Ozpin then unleashed his magic. Where a green barrier surrounded him and too soon for Ganeesh to even stop since it was too late. The foot slammed into the barrier and like so, Oscar and Ozpin were kicked and launched away like a soccer ball and sent a great distance away.
Ganesh growled. Betting the brat used a semblance and is probably still alive. Not that it mattered to him. He then turned to face the fools who dared to look defiant to him. "Hah. I can't wait to see those faces turn to despair." He told them.
"Yawn!" Nora yelled at him. "Less talky and more fighty!"
"Yeah man." Yang slammed her knuckles together. "Get this over with already!"
"With pleasure!" Ganesh came at them.
"I'm gonna be sick." Oscar, now back in control, muttered as he held his mouth with his hand. Where the barrier crashed onto the ground away which then dispersed. Thankfully, Oscar came unharmed through it all as he got out from the crater made by his landing.
"Still, we managed our objective." Ozpin told him. "And I must say, you made quite the bold plan."
"Yeah, well, if this doesn't work then nothing will." A loud noise can be heard a few blocks away. Oscar then began running towards the noise. "Thankfully, we're near and if things go right, that jerk will be taken care of." Screeches are then heard along with the sound of metal.
"Indeed." Ozpin agreed as Oscar finally stepped outside from behind the building and got a good look at what the noise is. Ships killing the flying Grimm, and one massive battle-bot tearing the Grimm flesh off the leviathan. There was damage on the giant machine, but the Grimm had much more.
"Yes! Face the might of Atlas!" The one controlling the vessel yelled as she shot rocks at the Leviathan.
Oscar breathed out. "Let's hope this works."
He then ran towards the battle as fast as he could.
"Hra!" Ganesh smashed his foot down on Jaune, who avoided it and ran off. Bullets came and slammed onto the robot's hide, but he just ignored it. Instead grabbing a building and ripping a good chunk of it out and threw it at the gunner, Ren.
Like his leader Ren dodged it and then activated the grappling hooks which wrapped around Ganeesh's head. Reeling himself in, Ren attempted to land on the machine's shoulder.
"Oh no you don't!" Ganesh then grabbed Ren and prepared to crush him from the waist and make him pop like a balloon.
"Leave my Ren alone!" Nora came in where she then looked at Ruby who nodded. Firing lightning Dust and Nora, the girl felt herself empowered thanks to her semblance and landed a good kick on Ganeesh's chest. Yang herself coming in from the nearest building and slamming her own on his back.
Ganesh dropped Ren who then ran while Blake came in and fired.
"Why won't you pests die!?" Ganeesh roared as he kept trying to grab these rats only for them to always escape.
"This is good." Qrow, who's by Ruby then said. "If we can keep him occupied long enough, whatever plan Oscar and Oz had might work."
"What is their plan though?" Ruby asked her uncle as she then used her semblance on herself and Qrow to avoid a thrown car which smashed onto the sidewalks behind them. Once she placed them in a safe position, she resumed firing.
"No idea." Qrow admits. "But it's probably something good."
"Let's hope so." Weiss then zoomed past them "Because we'll need all the help we can get." Slamming her rapier on the ground, suddenly Weiss's ace in the hole came. The Arma Gigas Armor, which was about the same size as Ganeesh and attacked the machine. It's sword swinging down and slamming onto Ganeesh. Sure it didn't leave a mark, but the impact did push Ganeesh back.
"Like some stupid armor can harm me!" Ganeesh declared as he then tried ripping this garbage apart with all of his four hands. The Arma Giga summon did well in defending though, using it's sword to block some of the strikes while then swinging the weapon or even trying to kick the enemy down. Sadly, because of just how durable Ganeesh is, the summoned Grimm could only slow him down.
Tear!
While being ripped apart as Ganeesh tore of it's sword arm. Then a part of the torso. Then a part of its face. Weiss forced to watch her summoned being killed off until eventually, it vanished away into nothingness.
"Hahahaha!" Ganesh then ran towards Weiss as she was too tired to move. "Finally got you bit-!" An explosion is heard, as Yang comes in. However, her hair was burning much brighter, her eyes are red, and she seemed to be glowing. Using her semblance now and all the energy dealt to her by Ganeesh which had been a lot. Due to the attacks she took though, and the aura required for this, Yang will have her aura shatter with this.
But the attack she'll use will be more than enough.
Yelling, she then slammed her fist onto Ganeesh's head like before. Unlike the other times though, not only did she managed to leave a massive dent mark on it, but the mechanism lock that controlled the neck joint movements actually broke.
"Gruah!" Ganesh's neck twisted around where it only stopped after his head was looking behind him. He couldn't move it back in proper place though, as Yang's attack was just that great. Jaune and Ren caught Yang who fell as her aura shattered.
"Ni e one Yang."
"Great job."
The two boys congratulated her as Yang gave a tired smile. Then dragged her towards Qrow since she can no longer fight.
"No, no, no, no!" Ganesh on the other hand was more than upset as he stumbled around. He then grabbed his head and tried to twist it in place, but there was resistance. Deciding to force it, Ganesh tried again anyway. That was his mistake though.
It was similar to an action figure. You can twist the head, but at some point you can't twist it any further. So what usually happened if a child kept trying to twist their action figure's head even more.
CRR-RR-RRR-RACK!
In most cases, the head fell off. For Ganeesh, he actually managed to get his head looking forward again…and he couldn't move his neck anymore. "Wh-what!?" When he then tumbled to the side suddenly his head turned despite the fact he didn't desire so. Ganesh then realized he couldn't move his head and neck at all anymore. Yang's attack and his foolish attempts at forcibully adjusting his head has caused the lock joints to be a complete mess. He could control his entire body still, but just now his head and the ability to turn the neck from left to right anymore.
Granted, the body could correct and heal this later on. But such a precious part would take longer than dents and would take at least from days to maybe even over a week.
"Over here." His enemies wouldn't give him that time. Turning, Ganesh tried to see the runt who called him only for his head to twist all the way behind him instead.
"Shit!" Using his upper arms, Ganesh grabbed his head and twisted it forward. Realizing he had no choice but to use at least two of his arms to ensure his head didn't move improperly. Suddenly Qrow was in front of him. "How-" That was all he managed to say as Qrow then threw something at Ganeesh's broken eye optic.
'This oughta do it.' Qrow thought with a grin. He had shapeshifted into a bird and threw that crystal to cause some damage. That crystal…Lightning Dust.
ZAP!
"Not again!" Ganesh shouted as suddenly his body moved erratically. Stepping forward then two steps back, limbs moving like crazy, like a person having a seizure only for a machine. However, because his body kept moving back and forth his head was twisting and spinning all over the place.
'T-This isn't a problem.' Ganesh thought. 'My systems will eventually stop this and-'
Suddenly, a message came into his remaining optic. Particularly, that his defense mechanism couldn't handle this surge and would cause his upper arms to be temporarily inoperable. "Impossible!"
For such a thing to occur, the chances were so low. It has never even happened at all back on earth. What kind of bad luck was this?
Qrow grinned as he saw Ganeesh's head spinning all over and his upper arms suddenly going slack. Even when the body stopped moving, his lower arms couldn't even reach the head to adjust it right.
"Alright then!" Nora yelled. "We have him now!"
"Then we should finish this fast." Jaune agreed.
"That would be for the best." Blake agreed with Weiss nodding.
"Bastards!" Ganesh roared. "I won't fall!" Despite those words, more messages came. Suddenly his ability to hear was gone, and to see color vanished. Still, that wouldn't stop him. "Die!" Even as his head spun Ganeesh thrashed about randomly all over. Not willing to give up, kicking, punching, grabbing, throwing, doing all those things randomly. This meant any precise attacks on the former students has dropped by a lot, but difficult to defend properly as he attacked randomly.
"Woah! Yikes! Come on!" Jaune said as he avoided a stomp, then a hand slap, then another stompy. Ganesh then crashed into a building where glass shattered and fell down. Blake running to avoid it as the glass fell onto the ground. Ganesh then kicked a truck which headed towards Ren who quickly dropped himself on the ground face forward just in time.
"Great." Yang says as Qrow grabs her and takes her away since her aura shattered. "Now that guy is going crazy."
"Yep. But that just means we've cornered him." Qrow told her. "I mean, he can't even see what's in front of him since the second he looks straight his head turns instantly. Nice punch."
"Hehe. You know it." Yang accepted the compliment. She then saw something and chuckled. "And it seems we just got some good help." Qrow checked to see what Yang meant and grinned.
"That we do." Qrow agreed.
As for Ganeesh, he began getting desperate. While these fools weren't getting past his absolute body, he had trouble trying to hit them, let aside see properly. Not to mention because of a lack of hearing, he didn't know where they could be and the inability to see color made identifying Dust much harder. All he could do was thrash and try to kill them. Still, even with these disadvantages Ganeesh felt certain he could win.
'Even when crippled, these fools can't even harm me.' Sure that stupid bimbo managed to mess his neck, however she's already weakened. Meaning victory was his either way. Just a bit more and he can kill them all. Eventually Ganeesh managed to get his neck to stop moving and saw that blonde bimbo and some loser with her. Grinning, he then ran at them.
They couldn't escape. The others weren't fast enough. At last he could kill these weaklings and continue his goal.
"The might of Atlas shall save you!" However, while Ganeesh couldn't hear, he could see a shadow looming over him.
"Huh. What's that?" Though before he could even stop and turn, suddenly he felt a massive hand grab him. "HUH?!" One that then picked him up where Ganeesh then came face to face with none other than the Colossal.
Ruby then saw Oscar, who jumped off the giant machines foot. "Oscar!"
"Hey guys." The young boy said with a grin. "I came back, and with some help to boot."
"But what about the Leviathan?" Jaune then turned, only to see nothing aside from a few flying Grimm.
"She must have killed it already." Ren said with Oscar nodding.
"Yeah. And once I managed to tell her that some out-of-control robot was trying to harm the people, she dealt with the Leviathan and then came here." That had been Oscar's plan. While he and everyone else can challenge Ganeesh, they weren't physically strong enough to beat him. Even on earth Ganeesh would be considered a Rank four threat if he actually antagonized others. His specially made body capable of handling most Huntsmen aside from the very best.
As such, if one can't beat him, then they need either another method or perhaps someone with the right capability.
"No way. This can't be." In Ganeesh's case, he was now in the hand of Argus's own guardian robot. While it certainly wasn't as 'tough' as Ganeesh in terms of durability, in terms of strength it outclassed the bastard. Cordovin, having been told about this damn thing, only stared with a cold look. Having already heard it was this thing that brought harm to the city other her watch.
"Time for punishment." As if more bad luck came to him, suddenly Ganeesh could hear again. "Prepare for retribution!" Hear his own defeat as another hand came and grabbed Ganeesh's head.
"No. No, no, no. Nonononononooooo!" Ganesh then screamed and tried to get away. But the grip on him was too tight, and the hand of the Colossus then began pulling his rather loose head while the other hand kept him in place. Sounds of metal screeching and locks being broken could be heard. Ganesh roaring in outrage before a loud noise is heard.
SNAP!
Ganesh's head ripped out of his body like some useless toy. Cordovin then dropping the body as she then held the head towards the Colossul's visor. "Now then." She then said as she looked at the still screaming Ganeesh. "Let's see what knowledge you have."
The Colossul then turned and began walking back to base with the screaming head. Ganesh cursing, proclaiming he could still win, and yelling rubbish for his defeat. He had come to gain knowledge of this world and get his prize. Instead, he will be used by this world to gain his knowledge of whatever he knows. Team RWBY, JN_R, Qrow, Oscar and Ozpin, all watching as their unknown foe was beaten at last.
"Man, even when she's doing her job she's still annoying. But hey, at least she helped out." Where once more the familiar old lady was somehow here, and without harm. Looking at them with a smile, with Ruby doing the same. "Wanna get some food?"
"Um. Why not." Jaune said with everyone else soon agreeing. After their victory, it was time for them to eat.
"Alright then." Sammael stood up as he focused his energies. "Let's see what Ganeesh has been up to."
Ganesh showed his worth. As he tanked everyone's hits and showed himself to be impossibly tough. He could have outlasted everyone in due time and killed them all had it not been for their splendid teamwork.
But thanks to the heroes quick thinking, some good 'luck' on their side, and Oscar's plan, the day has been won. Now as the heroes celebrate, well, Ganesh is about to get a very interesting visit.