For as long as mankind could remember, the shadowy Creatures of Grimm have been a constant plague. Their hunger for destruction and thirst for negativity fuel one another in a great engine that would bring mankind and its creations to ruin if left unchecked. And so, even after Salem's initial invasion of Atlas, a massive wave of Megoliaths and Sabyrs stormed into what was left of Mantle. Recently however, this engine had become a double-edged sword. Grimm Ruby, the creature Oscar witnessed from the airship, was already at the scene long before any Huntsmen knew to respond. Without so much as a hint of their arrival, it stood before two peculiar Megoliaths that strayed away from their pack, for the lure of negativity drew it in just the same. From the looks of the red markings on their trunks and the icy horns on their backs, they were both Alpha Megoliaths.
The very air around the three Grimm grew tense with venomous spite. No words were said. Any intent was made clear through the pure silence that only these blackened creatures could understand. For Grimm Ruby, its silence spoke the language of utter contempt for Salem, the God of Darkness, and any that would ruin lives on their behalf. That goes double for the Creatures of Grimm, as it is one such creature itself. For the Alphas, their silence spoke the language of personal enmity; one that goes beyond any mere urge to destroy what man and its ilk had built. Despite their advanced age and size, these Grimm had never known betrayal from one of their own.
They stand together, regardless of shape and status, for the singular purpose of bringing destruction to the world and its people. This unity gives the Grimm strength; a hammer to wield, just as humanity would find its shield would they only set aside their differences. Yet the single Grimm standing before them violated the very tenets that each of their kin carried in their black hearts until death. It was the witch's own masterpiece that, in its heresy, broke the perfect unity of the Grimm, just as the witch herself once broke the unity of the humans she lived among so long ago.
One of the Alphas took a single step forward and the ground shook underneath its weight. It was a single warning to the heretic that stood its ground which, despite their great enmity, was given freely out of respect to their one true god and the pools that all blackened creatures hold sacred, but the heretic stood its ground. With hatred in its red eyes, the scythe it wielded flared with the festering anger of every Atlesian life lost by Salem's hand.
Without further deliberation, the Alphas charged toward Grimm Ruby, whipping ashen snow and hail beneath their massive feet. This contrasted the dark flames that Grimm Ruby exuded from its quick movements. When fire and ice collided, the two forces canceled each other out, leaving behind neither burn nor frost. This left Grimm Ruby locked with one of the Alphas, pushing each other with the strength of their physical bodies alone.
The two bore equal force, with neither able to push the other, even as the road underneath them grinded into gravel. Seeking a way to take advantage of their lack of arms to block attacks with, Grimm Ruby deftly maneuvered itself off the ground. It climbed up the Alpha's trunk with feet and claw, leaving one free to carry its scythe, and quickly attempted to cut its trunk off with a horizontal swing…only for the scythe's blade to get caught on one of its tusks.
The tusk itself sizzled from the scythe's flames, leaving a red hot patch on the its white bone, but was otherwise undamaged. A nervous look crept across Grimm Ruby's face; this was the first time its scythe failed to completely cut through its enemy. Trying in vain to pull out the jammed scythe, its eyes crossed the knowing gaze of the Alpha it was latched on, and saw what neither human nor Faunus ever could. If they looked at a Grimm, they wouldn't see the intent behind their destructive acts. An untrained Huntsman would only see a mindless beast in front of it, but Alpha Grimm were anything but.
During the brief clash, the other Alpha coiled its trunk around Grimm Ruby's upper torso and pried it off its partner, leaving the scythe wedged in the latter's tusk. With its arms wrapped around the Alpha's mighty trunk, Grimm Ruby was helpless to stop the mammoth from slamming it to the ground, over and over again. Each earth-shattering impact left visible cracks across Grimm Ruby's forehead, as well as the ground underneath it. Although the dark flames that emanated from its body usually did so when it moved quickly, they ended up igniting the Alpha's trunk through the latter's constant flailing. This did nothing to actually stop the attack, however.
With a twitch of its giant body, more show burst from the Alpha and put out the flames. Grimm Ruby used this brief pause in an attempt to ignite its entire body to free itself, but the Alpha cut this short by swinging it through the metal walls of a nearby building, then another, and another. Like before, the dark flames emerged from its body, engulfing the remains of each wall. Left unchecked, they would eventually spread to the rest of each building.
With a final swing of its trunk, the Alpha threw Grimm Ruby to the pavement. With its giant foot pressed down upon the latter's body, the two locked eyes with one another. Grimm Ruby's left cheek was broken, revealing the innards of its gritted teeth and jaw. Though its whole body was injured from that assault, it gave no hint of fear or lament; only a silent contempt toward the Grimm and everything they stood for. The Alpha, in turn, gave no words, for any Grimm this old were different from the flamboyant crime lords that bragged about their motives only to get eaten alive and the power-hungry Fall Maidens that wasted time gloating over their defeated enemies only to fail their goals at the last second. These Grimm didn't make stupid mistakes like that.
Through its understanding of the Grimm mind, however, Grimm Ruby felt the Alpha's intent without need of words or expressions. It wasn't simply bad luck that the scythe got caught on the Grimm's mammoth-sized tusk. The Alpha planned that move in advance, having twisted its head to cause the tusk to intercept the attack. Even the act of smashing it through buildings was, in itself, a battle tactic. By spreading the flames of destruction through the constructions of mankind, the heretic would be fulfilling the purpose that their one true god imparted upon it, even against its own will.
In their unspoken language, there lied recollections of a warrior with terrible eyes of silver with light that cast even the mightiest of their kin to the dirt, and how whimsical it is that the heretic would bear such a likeness to her. Many of their kind fell in the Battle of Atlas, when Salem commanded them directly, but a few escaped with their lives to kill another day. The survivors would learn from the mistakes of the dead and adapt. By knowing the original Ruby's tactics and fighting style, the Alphas could anticipate how her Grimm self would fight, only with no dreadful light to contend with. It was this assumption, however, that revealed a single flaw in the Alphas' otherwise vast intelligence.
They assumed that the original Ruby was dead; that her disappearance marked the end of her light. Salem's initial triumph of the battle was the last that the surviving Grimm had saw of Ruby. The despair Grimm Ruby sensed from the people of Mantle reinforced this belief; broken and in need of a savior. They had no idea that her Grimm self had actually chosen not only to preserve the original Ruby's life over destroying Salem that night, but to bring her back here as well. If they had, they might not have orchestrated this latest attack over what was left of Mantle.
Without delay, the Alpha slammed its foot upon Grimm Ruby's battered body, over and over. Each loud crack across its body was more painful than the last. In the split seconds between impacts, Grimm Ruby glimpsed at a green light in the sky. It gave a weak smile at the sight; that light was Penny. It had to be. Of course, she could see such large Grimm from the sky and eventually intervene, even if she couldn't see Grimm Ruby itself. The Alphas must have sensed this as well, as the one pinning Grimm Ruby to the pavement stopped its assault. Meanwhile, the other one scouted ahead, peeking around the wreckage. That move revealed a second flaw.
While both Alphas were very intimate with the original Ruby's fighting style, or at least scythe wielders in general, they weren't aware of a particular trait that her Grimm self's scythe possessed. Namely, that when it was moved too far from its master, it would be forced back due to the God of Darkness' decree that "his eye would always be watching." Perhaps that same god "conveniently forgot" to tell the other Grimm about that, but the truth was speculative at best. The scythe dislodged itself from the Alpha's tusk and flew straight toward Grimm Ruby…or more specifically, the Alpha's foot that kept Grimm Ruby pinned.
Compared to its sturdy tusk, its heel was much less armored; enough so that the burning scythe caught the Alpha off guard enough to lift its foot off Grimm Ruby. Though battered and cracked all over, it wasn't broken. It quickly pulled itself up, ignoring the searing pain that spiked from each piece of its blackened body that fell to the pavement. Using its own scythe that protruded from the Alpha's leg as a means to support its weight, it sank its claws deep in the its underbelly. Despite the coating of ice cancelling out the flames that usually came from them, its underbelly was even softer than its foot. Grimm Ruby pierced its innards in seconds.
With a mighty, yet agonized roar, the Alpha bent downward and attempted to pry Grimm Ruby off its belly with its trunk. Having already endured the wrath of that trunk once before, Grimm Ruby snatched it when the opportunity arose. The Alpha attempted to pull Grimm Ruby off its underbelly, but the latter's claw was still deep in its underbelly. This only made the gash under its body worse, with black smoke seeping from the wound and its suffering rejuvenating Grimm Ruby's battered body. Realizing the futility of pulling the enemy beneath it and being unable to see well with its trunk pulled inward, the Alpha barreled aimlessly across the streets, crashing through buildings, automotives, and traffic lights across the ruined city.
Grimm Ruby felt the Alpha's intent; the latter's body stopped exuding snow just a moment ago. Without them, the flames from Grimm Ruby's body ignited across every inch that the Alpha moved. If it couldn't kill the heretic or escape death at its claws, it would spread the flames that threatened to slowly engulf its body as much as possible. Given its sheer size and stamina, this final act could surely leave at least a huge portion of what's left of Mantle as a charred wasteland, if not all of it.
Just wounding the Alpha wasn't enough. It needed to be stopped in its tracks, but Grimm Ruby couldn't do anything more than grind its feet across the pavement. Though equal in strength just a moment ago, Grimm Ruby's current position made it difficult to even get a foothold on the ground, let alone restrain the Alpha. It would take some much needed help to stop this mammoth, and Grimm Ruby was in no position to call for any aid.
It was in luck, however. Like the answer to a prayer that waited to be called upon, a devastating green beam came from the sky and struck the Alpha. It wasn't enough to significantly damage the mammoth, but it did stop it in its tracks. Grimm Ruby wouldn't waste this chance. It sank its claws deeper in the Alpha's underbelly, and eventually the rest of its upper body. The Alpha's roars grew less mighty and more agonized. In the same way that a monstrous instinct constantly claws through Grimm Ruby's personality from the inside out, so too would that sentient Grimm claw its way through the insides of an Alpha Megoliath; one of the mightiest of their shadowy kin.
The amalgamation of smoke and suffering that built up from the inside of the Alpha's body did much to mend the damage that it had inflicted upon Grimm Ruby a moment ago. Once its claws tore through its head and out one of the Alpha's eyes, Grimm Ruby's body was completely restored. At the same time, the Alpha slumped to the pavement and died, leaving behind a smoldering mass of dark flames. The signature Grimm smoke rose from the flames and evaporated.
When Grimm Ruby walked out of the flames and got a good view of its mysterious aid, its suspicions were confirmed. It was Penny, though judging from the confused look on her face, she wouldn't know anything about the dark flames or why a terrifying red-eyed creature covered in said flames would suddenly have emerged from the Alpha's death. Penny's swords were drawn toward it, watching carefully.
"Wait!" Grimm Ruby exclaimed, holding its claws up.
"Ruby? Is that—" she asked, pausing when the gray skin and red eyes came into plain view. "No, you're not Ruby. You're 'other Ruby.'"
"Penny," Grimm Ruby said, distracted by the sight of a friendly face after that savagery…even if it was a bit confused.
"We heard the alarm," Penny said. "Oscar had just warned us of a Grimm that looked just like Ruby."
"Oscar? But…does he think—"
"Is it true then?" Penny asked with a serious and direct disposition. "I thought you merely looked like one. Are you really…a Creature of the Grimm?" Her swords pointed at Grimm Ruby as she awaited its answer. Knowing there was no point in hiding it after everything that happened, the sentient Grimm let out a resigned bestial growl.
"Yeah," it said, taking its gaze off Penny. "I am Grimm. This body, this scythe, all of it…except for the original Ruby's personality."
"I see, but Oscar said you were protecting the people. And the Creature of the Grimm only ever destroy. I was instructed to act with extreme caution. Why do you act so differently from them?"
"Penny, I just told you! I…" Grimm Ruby tried to explain, only to stop when it sensed a strong sense of terror come from just across the 39th Avenue. It was definitely from people; not Huntsmen or military remnants, but helpless civilians. It couldn't decipher just how many, but the terror was great enough to attract the Grimm, including itself. "Someone's under attack! I can feel it! We need to go…now!"
It sprinted toward the terror, with dark flames burning the pavement it traversed. Penny, who did not know the entire truth, pursued the sentient Grimm with her with the rocket thrusters implemented in her boots.
"And how do you know such information, talking Grimm that looks like Ruby?" Penny shouted, keeping her pace with Grimm Ruby. "How could you possibly respond to an emergency before the rest of Mantle even heard about it? And why are you hurting Mantle with your flames? Your claim of 'feeling it' does not make sense!"
"Please just trust me!" Grimm Ruby shouted back, maintaining its fiery sprint the entire time. "I can explain everything later, but there's no time right now!"
From Grimm Ruby's point of view, it made sense for the two to work together, even if Penny didn't trust it yet. The original Ruby typically needed the aid of her allies to overcome powerful foes. Even the very first Alpha that the original encountered before Atlas' fall needed to be slain by a joint effort between her, Penny, and Harriet. Naturally, her Grimm self considered doing the same, but then there was the threat of the ever-present dark flames. One wrong move, and Penny would surely get burned. Could these flames burn through android metal just as easily as human flesh? Hopefully, they wouldn't have to find out.
"But there is no reason to litter the streets with that fire!" Penny exclaimed. In an attempt to stop the sentient Grimm from potentially burning all of Mantle, she manipulated one of the Floating Array blades from her backpack toward it. The thin, string-like cable attached to the blade was meant to restrain Grimm Ruby…only for the wire to spontaneously wither and combust in contact with the dark flames. In its weakened state, the wire snapped the instant it came into contact with Grimm Ruby's leg.
Penny's astonishment was palpable. These were the same cables that once destroyed her previous body back in Amity Colosseum; her metal body. Even if had second thoughts with actually harming the sentient Grimm, that one wire should have been enough to stop someone of that size from running. Instead, it didn't even break its pace; not for a fraction of a second, and neither did the brick wall in front of it as Penny watched the sentient Grimm bulldoze its way through it without missing a beat. Leaving the discarded blade behind, she flew over the walls, keeping a watchful eye on Grimm Ruby. Based on the direction it was moving, it would come in contact with the Megoliath Alpha she saw earlier.
"So you are fighting the Grimm," Penny said with uncertainty, "but are you truly siding with us?"
She manipulated all of the blades, minus one, behind her back, and focused her efforts on the remaining Megoliath Alpha. Grimm Ruby followed the sense of terror that beckoned it. A Grimm was obviously responsible for it, but the terror overpowered the typical negativity that a Grimm would emit. That terror led it back into the streets, where the Alpha was in its sight. As the terror suggested, there was a civilian running desperately from the Alpha that was trying to trample her. From the size of her, she couldn't be any older than an eight-year-old girl.
There was little wonder that the terror was so overpowering. That girl's tiny legs barely kept her from being flattened. With utter fear for this girl in its eyes, Grimm Ruby sprinted toward the Alpha and leaped on its face. The two Grimm locked eyes with one another, and in their silent language, they recognized each other. Expecting a scythe attack, the Alpha curled its fact to intercept it with its tusk like the last one did. Grimm Ruby had learned from this error, however, and resorted to plunging its claw deep in one of its eye sockets.
The Alpha roared in agony, flailing its head in an attempt to shake Grimm Ruby off its face. It would have trampled through the buildings like the last one. Grimm Ruby sensed its intent. However, the wired blades from Penny's Floating Array restrained it just enough to keep it from moving far. Using this chance, Grimm Ruby leaped off its enemy's head, ripping its eye out with it. It slid underneath the Alpha's underbelly and sliced it open with a quick slash of the scythe.
With a roar more agonized than the last, the Alpha fell to the pavement. Its wounded belly was exposed, allowing Grimm Ruby to pry it open with its claws. It climbed inside the Alpha's stomach, sank its claws through the back of its skull, and pried out its insides. This killed the Alpha in seconds. Its body dissolved into the same burning smoke that the last one did.
Penny hovered over the scene, her swords returning to her side. With an arm gesture, her eyes glowed with green flames of her own. Suddenly, a huge snowstorm blanketed the ground where Grimm Ruby stood, putting out the dark flames. It looked up, and saw Penny channeling snow from her body. Seeing this feat reminded it of something from the original Ruby's memories. Penny had inherited the Winter Maiden's powers shortly after Ironwood's declaration of martial law. This must be what it was seeing. When she was finished, Penny came to the ground; her cautious eyes locked on Grimm Ruby.
"I would like some answers from you now," she said. "Why did you—"
"Where is she?" Grimm Ruby asked in a panic. It frantically searched the snow, looking for the source of the terror, but there was none. "There was a girl! She was—"
The words stopped when it discovered the body of a small girl. Her heart was pierced by the Alpha's tusk left behind before it, too, dissolved into nothing. Blood seeped from the lifeless body across the snow. Grimm Ruby couldn't believe it. She was dead. The same nightmares that the original Ruby carried in her heart all flashed through her Grimm self's mind at once.
"I…" Grimm Ruby whispered. "I was too late." First Penny, then Pyrrha, and now this. "I wasn't fast enough. I…I couldn't."
Penny was left aghast at the sight. Her hands crept over her eyes, crying without tears to shed. Grimm Ruby's tears, however, were very visible. They struck the pavement, dissolving the snow that coated it like fire.
"She was so young...so innocent," Grimm Ruby whispered. "Why? Why did she have to die? She didn't have a chance to live. No matter how hard I try...it's not enough." Its limbs quivered, and more dark flames ignited the ground underneath it. "Still…not enough."
A surprised gasp left Penny's lips. She put the pieces together.
"Now I understand," she said with sorrow. "It is not that you wish to bring these flames. You cannot control them."
"My…flames?" Grimm Ruby asked quietly.
"That is why you were so destructive," Penny said, more sympathetic than before, "even though you act differently from other Grimm."
That wasn't necessarily the case, however. The world only burned when it moved quickly or lost control of its emotions. That's not quite the same as "having no control at all." A small part of Grimm Ruby wanted to clarify that, but it couldn't find the words to even say it. Words were something primarily used by humans to communicate. Faunus and even sentient androids used them as well. Not a Grimm, however. They didn't speak like people.
"Is my assumption correct?" Penny asked.
"Kill them," Grimm Ruby finally said.
"What?"
Someone oblivious to Grimm Ruby's true intent would think it had emotionally snapped when that poor girl died. That was far from the case, however. It wasn't crazy; in fact, its mind was clear and focused.
"The Grimm," Grimm Ruby said quietly and venomously. "They…are…everywhere. Not just Mantle…not just Solitas…all of Remnant."
Ever since it set foot in Atlas, it tried everything it could to act human; from following traffic laws to awkward socializing. It never wanted to be Grimm. It never asked for it. The destructive urges, the dangerous flames, the constant feeling of negativity around it; it hated every second of it and wanted to distance itself from that truth as much as possible. In casting that side of it away and fighting like a Huntress, it had inadvertently limited its own prowess. At no point did it resort to its truly terrifying impulses until after it had its body restrained by that Alpha. It made itself vulnerable, despite being "Destruction itself" by the original Ruby's account. That error gave the Alpha the time it needed to find its victim. Grimm Ruby's mistake allowed this tragedy. It was that simple.
"Are you okay?" Penny asked, both sad and a bit fearful at the sentient Grimm mumbling like a lunatic.
"All…they do…is kill," Grimm Ruby said, standing up. It gave Penny a chilling stare. "Every…last…one…must…die."
It walked across the street, following wherever the negativity came from. There would surely be more Grimm. Any remaining sadness for that girl's senseless death was replaced by a cold hatred for the creatures responsible. Its thoughts were filled with all of the horrific things it wanted to do to every single Grimm unfortunate enough to cross its path. Penny followed it, both out of concern for Grimm Ruby's well-being, and out of fear for what might happen if it was left unchecked.
"No good…can ever come…from Grimm. They…are evil…without mercy."
And so, Grimm Ruby finally cast aside any remaining pretense of being human. No more acting, no more being the shining silver beacon of hope that it wasn't. That role belonged to Ruby. It always did. It couldn't bring hope to others, but it could certainly bring a great terror to the Grimm that no mere Huntsman ever could before. To do that, it would have to fight like the very monster that it is.
"Kill them…must…kill them all."