Ch. 14

A beowulf stood amidst the ruins of Mt. Glenn, a city outside the natural barriers of Vale. The lone Grimm had wondered from its pack to look for food. It did not hunger for fruit, vegetation, or smaller animals, for it was a soulless beast. It only hungered for one thing: the destruction of humans and faunus alike. It sniffed the ground for the scent it had picked up earlier, a scent that reeked of life. It had been several hours, but to no avail. Nonetheless, the wolf kept searching. It reached a part of town that it hadn't dared to venture down before. Perhaps there would be a sign of life here? Or maybe it would continue strolling through, its hunger all but insatiable. The beowulf sniffed the ground once more, and its ears perked up. This was the scent of the human the lone Grimm had picked up earlier. And just as it had recognized the smell, the wolf heard noises. It raised its head to better pinpoint where the noise was originating from, but then its cranium exploded, its mask shattering into tiny shards. The Grimm's body fell to the ground, slowly dissolving into smoke.

"I think that's the last of them," Ruby said as she pulled the bolt on her sniper scythe.

Team RWBY had been going through Mt. Glenn for hours now in search of any weird Grimm activity, but failed to find anything. Their guide, Professor Oobleck, had tasked himself with surveying the surroundings while the girls exterminated the various packs of Grimm that they came across.

"Excellent Ms. Rose. Now let us continue this investigation." The energetic professor began leading the huntresses as they continued to walk through the abandoned city.

"Umm, professor. I don't think there are any more Grimm currently in the area, and there hasn't been any strange activity." Yang had been hoping to get a good fight from the Grimm during this mission, maybe a giant ursa or a couple of alphas, but all she got were a couple of lowly beowulf packs. None put up the kind of fight she wanted.

"Ms. Xiao Long, I know this mission has been quite, quite boring, but I can assure you that it is best to keep our eyes and ears open for any surprises," Oobleck chimed as he continued his observations of the area.

Yang looked at the others and simply shrugged before following the professor. But Yang's boredom would quickly come to an end as the wall of the building to her right exploded. A rather large black figure burst through the debris and smacked Yang, sending her across the street and into a wall.

When the smoke cleared, what stood before them looked like something out of a nightmare. The beast looked similar in size to an ursa major but slimmer, bigger, and more humanoid. It had four red eyes with the trademark white Grimm mask, large claws, wolf ears, and was hunched over like a ghoul. Its mouth was filled with sharp teeth and a black smoke lightly emanated from its mouth.

"Blake, check on Yang," Ruby said.

Blake nodded and went towards the hole in the wall that her partner was knocked into.

Weiss held her Myrtenaster in battle position. "What kind of Grimm is that?"

Oobleck pulled out his thermos, took a sip, then elongated it into it's battle staff form. "I've never seen this Grimm on record. It is likely a new, undiscovered breed of Grimm. Tread carefully ladies, we know not what this monstrosity can do, but I can surmise that it won't be an easy fight."

Blake and Yang emerged from the hole, their weapons at the ready. Above all else, Yang looked extremely pissed. Her eyes were glowing red and her hair partially glowing.

"What is that thing?" Blake asked.

"Whatever it is, it's gonna get one hell of beating!" Yang launched herself towards the beast, hitting it square in the face.

The Grimm was thrown back into a wall. Yang charged again, attempting to beat the beast to death, but it stood up and swatted Yang away. Ruby and Blake started firing rounds at the Grimm. The bullets hit, but only served to piss it off. Oobleck aimed his staff at the beast and fired three flaming blasts. The giant fireballs hit the Grimm in its right side, exploding on impact and sending the beast over Ruby's head. It fell down right behind her.

"Eeep!" Ruby jumped back from the body.

Yang had recovered from the attack and joined the others. "Is it dead?" she asked.

To their horror, the Grimm stirred, got back on its feet, and roared. Black smoke spilled from its mouth as it did. The Grimm then started spewing black smoke balls at them. The huntsmen quickly dodged the incoming projectiles. Oobleck looked back as the smoke balls hit the structures behind them. The stone walls and debris began to smoke and burn, the edges looked as if they were melting. It was like acid and fire in one. A direct hit likely won't be fatal, but it would chew at their auras fairly quickly. No telling what it would do to one's body if their aura was depleted.

"Girls. Its best we stay on our toes. Any direct or glancing hits from those attacks could cause great harm. We must defeat this Grimm quickly." Team RWBY nodded at their professor's words.

The Grimm roared once more and lunged at the huntsmen. Everyone leaped out of harm's way, except Yang who blasted the beast's face with a volley of explosive rounds. This didn't really phase the Grimm, and it kept coming. With her semblance enhanced by the Grimm's earlier attacks, Yang fist met the Grimm's face. The impact caused a small shockwave, and the beast's body flailed as the force of Yang's punch coursed through it's body then fell to the ground.

"And that's how you do it." Yang mounted her right foot on the Grimm's head, feeling victorious.

"Hmph. Show off," Weiss huffed.

This feeling did not last as the beast rose once more, grabbing the blonde in one hand. She tried to break free from its grip, but its her arms were tightly pinned to her body.

"Yang!" Ruby fired her sniper rounds again, and again they had little affect. She had to save her sister before she got seriously hurt, or worse.

Weiss dashed in, rotating the cylinder on Myrtenaster and striking the Grimm's free arm. It was now entirely encased in ice. "Ruby!"

Ruby nodded and gazed towards Blake. "Bumblebee!" Both Ruby and Blake dashed towards the Grimm and bombarded it with a dance of blades. They then went for the ice covered arm. Gambol Shroud and Crescent Rose's blades simultaneously struck, slicing the limb off.

"We still need to free Yang," said Blake.

It's attention still on Yang, the Grimm opened its mouth wide and the black smoke from within began to swirl. It turned into a black sphere and continued to grow in size. Yang didn't like what she was seeing and desperately tried to get at least one arm free. She still couldn't move one bit.

Oobleck appeared in between the two and used his staff like a bat to smack the shadow ball down the Grimm's throat. Surprisingly, the Grimm began to convulse as if it was having muscle spasms. It let go of Yang and grabbed its head, screeching in agony. Blake ran over to her partner's side and helped her to safety.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, a little hurt but fine. That thing has a tight grip," Yang said.

Everyone watched as the Grimm continued to convulse and painfully screech. And in no time at all its body began falling apart until it crumpled to pieces on ground, it's body dissipating into smoke.

"Well, that's done." Ruby wiped a tiny bit of sweat from her brow.

"Peculiar, very peculiar. To think this monstrosity would be vulnerable to the vapor emanating from its own body." Oobleck quickly documented his findings in a notebook he kept in his coat pocket. He put it back once he was done writing. "Girls, we should head back to the city immediately."

The professor was interrupted by a familiar roar. The huntsmen looked down the street at the source: three more of the same Grimm. Everyone readied their weapons for another battle.

Oobleck took a quick swig from his thermos. "Oh boy, this…does not look good."

XXXXXXX

"Why the heck did we have to go back upstairs?" Emerald kept her eyes open for any debris that might fall on her. She was not a fan of the idea of running through a collapsing building.

Abaddon had opted for them go back the way they came and exit the building another way. They sprinted full speed out of the basement and up the staircase to the ground level floor. Abaddon had hoped to find a hole made by one of the explosions. A large breach would make an excellent exit point. Normally, he could've just bashed a hole in the wall, but the foundation was getting weaker by the second so he didn't want to risk the roof caving in on them.

"Look, there's an opening down there." Neo pointed a tiny finger towards a large opening in one of the factory's walls.

"Good eye Neo, lets go!" Abaddon led the way as the group raced down the hall, avoiding any debris that would get in their way. They jumped through the opening, out into the sunlight. The huntsmen were currently in the courtyard of the facility. Their was a loud crash as a portion of the factory, a smoke stack, fell onto the tough concrete wall. The impact created a huge hole in the wall, allowing the Grimm on the other side to enter.

The horde of Grimm immediately set their sights on the huntsmen and advanced. Teams KAJE and MNCE ran towards the wall on right, opposite the enemy. Once at the wall, they turned to face the Grimm. Those with firearms started shooting into the swarm headed their way.

"We've got to get past this damn wall!" Mercury grunted. He kicked at the concrete surface, but only made a small dent.

"There's too many Grimm. With our backs cornered like this we'll be overwhelmed!" Using her semblance over dust, Cinder's dress glowed as fireballs appeared in her hands. She threw them and they hit a trio of beowulves, exploding on impact.

"Emma, can't you teleport us over the wall?" Neo asked.

"Tried something like that before, didn't work very well!" Jurano shouted over the sound of his guns firing.

"He's right, I can't carry a lot of weight when I teleport. It shortens the distance greatly and there's no telling if everyone will be teleported over the wall. I don't one of you ending up in it," Emma explained.

With no options left, Abaddon knew a way out. Although, it would raise a lot of questions from his teammates. He turned to Kathleen and asked, "No more hiding secrets…right?"

"Not the time for that!" Emerald shouted.

Kathleen gazed at her partner. She wasn't sure what he was getting at, but she answered him anyway. "Right."

Abaddon nodded. He turned to the wall, cocking his right fist back for a strike. His dark red aura radiated around him and on top of it darkness began to dance round his arm. Kathleen stopped firing for a moment, eyes wide in curiosity. Abaddon punched the wall, creating a huge crater in its surface. Cracks oozing with shadow began to emanate from the impact zone, breaking the structure from within. The concrete began to give way and soon the wall exploded outward. Everyone except Neo and Cinder looked at the destruction in awe.

"Go!" Abaddon screamed. The others shook themselves out of their stupor and dashed through the exit and into the emerald forest. Abaddon was the last to jump out, almost being caught by a king taijitu's fangs.

"Everyone follow me! Were going back to the clearing we arrived in! I'm going to call for the bullhead!" Kathleen turned on her earpiece. "This is huntsmen teams KAJE and MNCE. We need evac now, there are too many Grimm on our tales!"

The pilot from earlier responded. "Roger. I'll hover over the LZ for your arrival."

It didn't take long to get back to the landing zone. Just as the pilot said, the bullhead hovered about two meters above the ground. Catching sight of the huntsmen, the pilot descended a bit more and opened the cargo doors. Kathleen jumped in first, followed by Jurano, Mercury, Cinder, Neo, and Emma. The pilot checked his controls, but froze when a large shadow flew by. He looked up to see several nevermore circling above and pulled up, causing the ship to ascend.

"Hey wait, we still have one more getting on," Kathleen told the pilot.

"Sorry ma'am," he apologized. "If we don't leave now, those nevermore will tear this bird down!"

Everyone looked down to see Abaddon finally enter the clearing. He held back as they ran, slaying some of the Grimm to give his friends more time. He looked up to see the bullhead slowly ascending.

"Abaddon, don't worry. We'll have Emma teleport you up her!" Kathleen said through his earpiece.

"Don't. If I get on that bullhead, the Grimm will surely bring it down," he said.

"We're not leaving you behind!" Emma screamed.

"Cinder! I have a Longinus fragment on me! Tell the pilot to go while the Grimm are focused on me!" Abaddon didn't want to endanger any of them, he could take care of himself.

"Got it," Cinder replied. "Pilot, lets get out here!"

"Don't have to tell me twice!" The bullhead began to ascend even further. Everyone began taking their seats, except Kathleen. She looked down at her partner. She knew he would fight, but with that massive horde of Grimm coming their way he mine as well be signing his death warrant.

Emma tugged on Kathleen's arm. "Kat, we gotta strap in."

Suddenly the ship lurched. Something hit them from behind. The pilot looked to the left and spotted one of the nevermore coming there way. "Brace for impact!"

The bullhead lurched even more violently this time as the nevermore grazed the underside. Emma fell to the floor, bumping her head on the bottom of one of the seats. Kathleen, on the other hand, fell out of the bullhead.

"No! Kathleen!" Jurano tried to grab her, but she was already out of reach.

On the ground, Abaddon had just stabbed a creep in the head when he heard Jurano yell Kathleen's name. He quickly looked up to see his partner plummeting towards the ground.

"Dammit!" Abaddon put his sword in his mouth and ran on all fours towards her positon. A beowulf leaped in his way, only for it to get beheaded by his blade. He picked up the pace and jumped in the air. A pair of small white wings briefly emanated from his back to give him a gliding boost. Abaddon managed to catch Kathleen in mid air, holding her close as they hit the ground. He positioned himself so they wouldn't roll, but he skidded on the grass about two meters before stopping. His aura only took a small dent from the maneuver.

"You alright Kat?" He asked.

"Yeah, thanks for the save. I couldn't concentrate enough to use my semblance," she replied.

"You guys ok?" Jurano's voice said over the communicator.

Abaddon helped Kathleen up to her feet. "We're good Jurano, but you should really get out of here. Don't want any more of you falling out of the bullhead."

"Alright…we'll send another bullhead for you later. I promise." Jurano's voice was replaced by static as he went out of communication range.

Kathleen and Abaddon looked to the sky to see the ship flying off, back towards Vale.

"So we survive until another bullhead comes for us?" Kathleen asked.

"Sounds about right, but we've still got company." Abaddon pointed to their right, where the Grimm were racing through the forest to get to them. Kathleen unsheathed her rifle swords while Abaddon pulled out all four of his short swords, combining each pair into two long swords.

The crowd was mostly made up of beowulves and ursai, but Kathleen also spotted a deathstalker or two, a king taijitu, and three nevermore over head. She thought about their odds of killing them all, and they were not nice.

"The most we can do is kill the wolves and ursai. As for the others, we'd need both teams to finish them off-" Kathleen stopped when Abaddon slowly walked towards the Grimm horde.

Seeing her partner march towards his death, she slightly panicked. "Abaddon what are you doing?!"

"I want you to take care of any lesser Grimm that make it past me. Don't worry about the larger ones, their mine." Abaddon's black swords began to resonate with energy, the right shining with white light and the left submerged in black shadow.

"Abaddon?" Kathleen didn't know what she was seeing. It looked like he had three auras, but no human or faunus is supposed to be capable of that. And yet here he was, his natural dark red aura surrounding his body mixed with a warm, light aura and a cold, dark one.

It had been a while since Abaddon used his twilight power. He hoped he wasn't rusty in its use, which he had to make sure to limit or it would be costly on his aura. He charged towards the incoming enemy, straight into the horde and began hacking and slashing at their numbers. Beowulves and ursai fell at the relentless assault of his blades. Their attempts at harming him were to no avail as his semblance protected him. Abaddon didn't bother to finish all the small fry, leaving Kathleen to take care of them. He went straight for the two deathstalkers, jumping into the air and slashing straight through one of the scorpions' tails. The injured deathstalker screeched in pain as it's twin turned its stinger towards Abaddon and lashed out. A giant shadow hand came out of Abaddon's back to grab the stinger and used the tail to toss the beast to the side. It knocked over several other Grimm as it crashed on the ground.

Abaddon relished the battle, but his main concern was his partner. She had to come first.

"Kathleen, how're you holding u-," Abaddon was interrupted when a large claw smacked him across the back, knocking the boy harshly to the ground.

He stood back up to face the previously injured deathstalker. "That's it, you die first!"

The deathstalker hissed at him, as if in disagreement, and tried to snap at Abaddon again. The faunus vertically slashed the air with his white sword, causing a wave of light to fly through the Grimm. The giant scorpion froze for a second before its body collapsed in two. Abaddon then went for the other deathstalker. He rushed towards it and dodge rolled just as it tried to swipe at him. Abaddon managed to get close to its armored face and stabbed his shadow blade halfway through. The Grimm's body momentarily jolted as several large black spikes erupted from several places in its body, killing it. Abaddon pulled out his blade as the Grimm began to disintegrate.

Meanwhile, Kathleen held her own against the lesser Grimm pretty well. Using her wind semblance in small bursts, she quickly raced through the battlefield, her dual swords leaving dead Grimm in her wake. When an Alpha beowulf joined the fray, Kathleen shot out one of its unarmored knees. The Alpha knelt to the ground. It slashed at her with its left arm, but that appendage was severed in a flash. Flying to its rear, Kathleen stabbed it through the stomach with one sword, using her free hand to blast a sneaky beowulf in the face. She then aimed that free hand at the Alpha's throat and began firing. It died after 5 shots. Kathleen pulled her blades out of the Grimm's body.

She counted three ursai, an ursa major, and two beowulves left. She then checked her Aura using her scroll, it was close to half way empty. That was more than enough to take care of these Grimm. Although, what distracted her was Abaddon. She had seen his battle with the deathstalkers, and she really didn't know what to think of it. Did he have this power the whole time? He can't have, or else he would've used it before when they were on Marrowshin. Does this have anything to do with his three year absence? And if so, why hide it from them, his closest friends? Kathleen remembered what he said: no more hiding secrets..right?

After this, she would be sure to hold him to that.

As the three ursai and two beowulves began to close in, Kathleen held her swords together and a clockwork mechanism inside sprung to life. The blades of both swords combined into one dual edged nodachi blade, the rifle barrels moved to either side of the blade, and the sword hilts merged into an elongated one for two handed gripping. She slashed through the beowulves in one strike, then speared through one ursa's throat, beheaded the second, and shot the last one in the face. Although, Kathleen was immediately hit in the back. She stumbled, but recovered into a defensive stance, holding her nodachi blade over her head. Both of them stood still, as if waiting for the other to move a muscle. Several seconds passed. Then, the Grimm jumped forward on its hind legs. As if it was fully on instinct, Kathleen thrust her sword forward in one swift motion. Channeling her semblance into that thrust, Kathleen sent a fast spear of wind into the ursa major. This attack blasted a small hole through where the Grimm's heart would be.

"Rrrr?" The ursa looked at its chest, then looked at Kathleen, and finally fell on its back dead.

The huntress lowered her weapon and returned it to its dual form. "Phew. I wanted to aim for its head, but that technique is hard to aim and it takes a significant amount of my aura." Kathleen sheathed her blades and rushed in the direction where she last saw Abaddon fighting. She could tell that she was on the right track since the smoking bodies of the Grimm he killed littered the ground, including the two deathstalkers.

Kathleen finally made it to a clearing. At least, that's what you could call it since a large number of trees in the area were cut down. The Grimm were laying in piles, mainly beowulves and ursa, but there were also a few dead alphas, majors, three medium sized nevermore, and a king taijitu with one head busted open and the other brutally torn off. Then there, in the middle of the destruction, was Abaddon. He held a struggling beowulf by the neck, then snapped it and dropped it on the ground.

"Finally, that's the last of 'em," he said to himself.

It wasn't much of problem taking on a horde. At least they didn't attract every Grimm in the vast emerald forest, or he'd be in trouble. Abaddon heard footsteps coming up behind him and turned with his fist raised. He lowered his fist when he saw it was Kathleen walking towards him.

"Oh good, I knew you'd be alright." Although, Kathleen didn't respond. When she stood in front of him, she had a very serious look on her face with her arms folded.

"Right. You want answers," the boy said sheepishly.

Kathleen nodded. "And no beating around the bush Abaddon."

"Okay, okay." Abaddon looked down, noticing from the suns orange glare that it was close to nightfall. Then he looked around at the small "battlefield" he had created not too long ago. It wasn't an ideal place to be at the moment. "Can we set up camp first? Its getting late and I have a lot to tell you."