Chapter 1 – The Beginning of the End
Jaune
Moments before the Oncoming Shadow were unleashed…
Birdsong… the sound of leaves rustling in the trees. Even kids laughing as they played in the schools. Or the noise pollution of cars and Airships. Pyrrha was sat on a bench, looking up at the beautiful sapphire blue sky. It was a warm day, and the only shadows cast were from the Dreadnaughts in position above. Ready to fight whatever would be unleashed in mere moments.
Nobody would have ever believed that the Oncoming Shadow would arrive in mere minutes.
Jaune pointed Crocea Mors forward and stood his ground, as a student from Beacon swung hers towards him, and he easily stopped her blade. Then knocked her cleanly off her feet with his leg, he then pointed his sword at her. "Your stance is all wrong, you need to be wider and lower to the ground." Jaune told her, Pyrrha smiled as she watched him help train these students as best as he could in the short time that they had left.
She came at him again, hacking and slashing repeatedly, but she kept on swinging where Jaune was leading her, and he effortlessly blocked her blows and managed to knock her back down onto the ground. She growled with annoyance at herself, throwing her sword against the floor. "I can't… I can't…" She stammered as she buried her head in her hands, but Jaune gently crouched down in front of her.
"Aryl." He said, and she looked up at him with wide green eyes. Aryl really reminded Jaune of himself. A sword wielder, blonde hair, and not the best of fighters. But she had spirit, and that was something Jaune never lacked.
He always got back up and fought no matter what. In fact… the entire team she lead reminded himself of his own. Team A.M.F.S. Aryl, Mason, Fleur and Sinna. Mason was a lot like Nora, a hammer wielder and quite enthusiastic. Fleur was like Pyrrha, she came from a line of skilled Huntresses and was by far the best, and Sinna was a calm young man who fought with pistols.
In all honesty, Jaune felt like Ozpin picked them on purpose. So then Jaune could see how far he and his team had come.
Ozpin always did enjoy that sort of thing. "Did you know that I was worse than you when I came here?"
"Huh?"
"Yep. I was awful, could barely stand on my two feet when training, let alone being in a fight. Hell… I cheated my way to be here. Falsified my scores so then I would get a place here." Jaune explained. "I should have died a long time ago… wanna know why I didn't?"
"W-Why?" Aryl inquired.
He looked at Pyrrha and smiled at her. "I had friends… family… who helped me improve. Helped teach me to be better. Hell, you're looking at one of the biggest reasons I can fight the way I can." Jaune said as he gestured to Pyrrha.
"You have come a long way since the old days, Jaune. I'm proud of you." Pyrrha sweetly said to him. Jaune then turned to all of the other students who had been training constantly. The whole world knew what was coming thanks to Ruby's message, they knew that the world was going to end as they knew it. But there was a chance, a small light of hope that was shining – and it was in the fact that Ruby Rose had a plan. And that plan had a better chance at victory than any plan that had come before.
But they would all be lying if they said they were not scared – the Oncoming Shadow was a threat unlike anything they heard of. Jaune continued to train them, and Pyrrha turned to see Coco and Cinder approach.
"Think fast!" Coco called out, throwing Pyrrha's orange juice bottle to her, and she caught it with ease.
"Just heard. Team R.W.B.Y just left with Oz and Glynda to speak with the Valerian Council. I don't like this…" Cinder explained as she looked around.
"You're thinking about the moon, too?" Coco asked.
"We know what it means. We're out of time. The Oncoming Shadow is coming today… no doubt about it." Cinder explained as she drank some of her energy drink. Pyrrha looked around to see everyone had their weapons at the ready. Just in case, and Kassius came out as well with Penny, Oscar and Sun. That was his new team – K.O.P.S. According to Kassius that was Sun's idea, felt like Neptune would have enjoyed it.
Junior Detectives and all that.
Qrow was here too, alongside Neo, Nora, Ren, Emerald and the rest of Team C.F.V.Y. "I wish Yenna was here with us. Three Maidens may give us an advantage, but she's definitely the most experienced. And has seen a force close to what we're about to face." Pyrrha explained, wringing her fingers.
"I know… but she's made the right call. Dragonspire Keep needs to stand, the Relics have to be contained in their staffs and that still needs more time. Could take a couple more days still. And the Architect is still decrypting Merlot's data on how to navigate the Embered Grove now the Shivering Dominion is gonna start." Cinder explained.
"I know… I just… all these people. What do we do?" Pyrrha asked.
"Whatever we can. Best we can do is help get the Vault's filled up to capacity, and once they're in… we go to Atlas." Cinder explained.
"You sure we shouldn't start going there now?" Coco asked.
"Atlas is at war right now. Mantle has risen up against Jacques and so have the remnants of the Atlesian Military. We don't know the full extent of the war over there, but it's too much for us to get through. Hopefully, the arrival of the Oncoming Shadow will make our job a hell of a lot easier to get to Atlas Academy." Cinder explained.
"That's a lot of maybes." Coco commented.
"Tell me about it." Cinder sighed. She turned as Kassius walked over to them.
"Hey sis. How's training this one going?" He asked as he gently patted Pyrrha on the shoulder.
"She's getting there. Quick learner, she has the basics down, but she'll have to learn the more advanced studies as we go." Cinder shrugged.
Pyrrha looked at Kassius and softly smiled. "Hey, don't worry about it. You got this." He assured with a supportive smile. But as they stood together, they all felt it…
… a cold chill.
Their skin pimpled with goosebumps, and the sky turned darker. Everyone stood up together, and Jaune ended the lesson as he stared to the sky. He held out his hand and caught a snowflake. Sweat beaded from his pored and he clenched his hand into a fist. "What's happening?" Aryl whimpered.
"I-Is it a storm?" Sinna stammered.
"No… it's started. They're here." Jaune confirmed as he saw the sky swell with the darkness. Blood red lightning crackled through the dark clouds, and in the city, they saw entire buildings explode and shatter like glass. They sank, like they had just fallen into a sinkhole. Within the centre of Vale, the first Split had opened, a crack between realms – a portal to the Charred Forest. And the Grimm immediately came pouring through it.
More Splits started to open, and they saw one of them open up near the Academy. The monsters poured out from the portal like a terrible flood of flesh-eating monsters. They roared hideously, and abominations unlike anything they had ever seen emerged as well. "HELP US!" The voices of souls in immense unending agony called out from the horde, and for a brief moment they saw the monster that the voices came from. It was a bipedal Grimm with Human and Faunus bodies writhing inside of it, screeching in agony as they tried to claw their way out of its rancid body.
Jaune's eyes stared to the sky once more, as the huge crack split open across the once blue sky, and he saw the burning skies of the Charred Forest, and thousands of airborne Grimm descended from the portal. King Wyverns swooped over the City of Vale, breathing pillars of fire through the streets repeatedly.
Then the Grimm headed straight for the Academy, and Jaune spun Crocea Mors through his fingers and roared with fury. He drove the sword into the ground as the Glyphs written into the blade lit up. He created a blinding blast of energy, which fragmented the ground, blasting golden light up from within. The Beowulves that charged towards him where completely annihilated, then he swung around and slashed straight through the throat of an Ursa Major. He panted, but looked through the dust as he saw more, and more, coming right for them.
"Oh gods…"
Pyrrha suddenly vaulted over Jaune's shoulder, launching both boots forward and slamming them directly into the jaw of a Sabyr, knocking it across the ground. She twisted around and launched Akoúo towards the Apathy that was about to screech at them. She then twirled on the spot and slashed Milo through the neck of the same Sabyr that attacked her a second ago, killing it this time, then the sword extended into its spear form, and she dropped to one knee and used her polarity, letting the spear spin around her like a helicopter's rotor blades. The Grimm were slashed to pieces by the sharp blade, reduced to nothing but ashes.
Pyrrha held out her hands and called her weapons back, dropping the barrel of Milo in its Rifle Form into the divot in her Discus Shield, aiming at the Thralls that sprinted towards her, black blood poured from their screaming mouths. Milo's broke their heads apart with ease and their once living bodies crumbled into thin air.
She turned and gasped as a Flying Beowulf flew and lunged directly at her, only for Jaune to swing his shield straight into the side of the beast's face. It barked in pain and crashed into the ground right in front of Pyrrha. As it roared at her she transformed Milo back into Spear Form, driving the spearhead through its open mouth. She looked at Jaune with a smirk and the two of them fought back-to-back against the Grimm.
Jaune stopped the paw of an Ursa with his shield and rammed Crocea Mors into its neck, then ripped the blade free and the swift movement cut straight through the skull of a Beowulf.
"This is it! It's the Shivering Dominion… it's begun." Jaune gasped as they were given some time to breathe.
Kassius launched Lash Equinox straight into the head of a Beowulf then rolled towards it, grabbing the hilt as he slid past it and drove both swords into the chest of an Ursa, toppling the huge beast. "We need to hold the school! Let as many civilians get into the Vault as we can!" Kassius called out.
"I thought we'd have more time!" Aryl cried out with terror as she slashed her sword multiple times at a Beowulf, due to her inexperience it took a lot to bring one down. But eventually she managed it, driving her blade into the ribs and forcing it down to the ground. Mason bellowed and smashed his hammer across the face of a Knight's Bannerman that slashed its sword at him, but it only staggered and grabbed him by the throat, forcing him against a wall.
The Armoured Entity went to kill him, only for Ren to jump up and fire Stormflower, launching one of the blades forward with a retractable cable attached to it. He landed behind the Bannerman and yanked it back by the throat. As it turned to attack him, he ducked and then slid underneath it, jumping up behind the Knight and sending both blades of Stormflower downwards into the Bannerman's Spine.
A thunderous crack erupted from its spine and it immediately started to collapse into itself, howling as the metal armour creaked and snapped, being swallowed up into the singularity.
Everything was happening so fast, and the Grimm just kept on coming.
And all they could hear were the sounds of innocent people screaming in agony and terror in the city. Jaune stared out there wide eyes as he heard it all, but before they could even take a breath, more Grimm were already coming after them.
And the ones headed straight for the Academy were unlike anything they had seen before.
That one that Jaune spotted earlier was coming, but it was not alone. They all could hear the blood curdling wails coming from the creatures as they hobbled closer and closer, protected by a large pack of Thralls. One of these creatures – aptly named Nightmares – hobbled towards a young student who tried to kill it, shooting it with his rifle. But it was not even effected, that was when it bellowed and grabbed onto him with six pairs of humanoid hands. He screamed in terror, writhing around as the arms snapped and forced him towards its gut as the flesh opened.
Then it swallowed him, and he screamed in immense agony as he became absorbed by the entity, trapped inside forever. Being digested by stomach acids with everyone else it swallowed, joining their unending howls of torment.
The Nightmares continued to move closer, vomiting black tar onto the ground. And from the tar came more and more Grimm, spawning from it. But as Jaune stared at the horrifying monsters, he heard an even louder and larger creature bellowing behind them. It had dragon-like wings but the body of some kind of insect-reptile hybrid. It has huge spike shaped legs, and it flew onto the side of the Colonnades. It roared down at them before dropping down amongst three other students who were training.
One of them swung his axe into the leg, only for it to smack him into the wall so hard it instantly broke his aura. Before he could get out of the way, it drove its spiked leg into his chest and threw him into the floor, and viciously stabbed and crushed him with its legs over and over until he was a pulpy mass on the floor. It screeched at him whilst his two friends tried to avenge him. "NO!" His female friend wailed, firing a rocket from her weapon whilst the other friend ran at the monster.
It stared at them and snarled, the charging friend went to stab it between the plates with his spear only for it swing around and its long tendril tails wrapped around his body, tightly gripping him. It then bit its sharp pincers into his stomach, and the tails ripped the shrieking boy apart. Spraying blood everywhere. The monster charged forward and blocked the next missile with its wings, and it lunged through the smoke at her. It stabbed the ground where she was stood but she rolled aside, screaming with anguish as she transformed her rocket launcher into a Hammer and she went to break its leg off, only for it to smash her down into the ground with its head.
Then the face of the insectoid creature opened, and it vomited acid all over her. She wailed in torment as her skin melted away, then so did her flesh and then her bones as well. The creature roared, rearing back and smashing the ground repeatedly, before turning to the others.
"C.F.V.Y! To me!" Coco called out, transforming Gianduja into its Minigun Form.
"What the hell is this thing?" Velvet stammered as she stood with her team.
"I have no fucking idea… but it's just a Grimm. We can take this thing down. We need to keep the Academy as secure as we can. The Vault needs to be filled." Coco explained as they all readied their weapons. The Grimm roared monstrously at them, and swung its wings aggressively, like an animal making itself look bigger to establish dominance.
"It's… a Dreadwing." Yatsuhashi gasped. Team C.F.V.Y stared at him with confused him. "My mother told stories about it, urban myth, about a Wasp that grew to the size of a Goliath and preyed upon children who were bad. I think… this is the real thing." He gasped.
"Well… don't expect this to be the last. I bet Umbra has hundreds, maybe thousands more to throw at us." Fox stated.
The Dreadwing snarled then charged towards them, it was just as fast on land than it was in the sky, and it stabbed down at where they were stood. Yatsuhashi stopped the spike with Fulcrum, falling onto one knee from the sheer power behind its impact. The Dreadwing shrieked down at him as he held it back, then he saw the skull split open as it prepared to spit acid all over him.
But before it could, Fox suddenly jumped off Velvet's Copied Version of Jaune's Shield and he drove Sharp Retribution into the side of its armoured face, yanking to the side and pulling it off him. Yatsuhashi panted with relief, and the huge Dreadwing crashed into the ground, and Fox stabbed repeatedly into its throat, but it blasted acidic saliva directly at him. He gasped and dove aside just in time.
Coco immediately opened fire on the beast, it staggered to the side from her hellfire of bullets. Then it opened its wings and flew up into the air, banking around Beacon Tower, and then diving towards them. Her eyes ignited with white flames, and she formed a huge spear of ice and launched it towards the beast. The spear impaled through its wing and brought it crashing down to the ground.
Outside of their clash against the Dreadwing, everyone else continuously fought off the Oncoming Shadow. Oscar shot through time, slashing Traveller's Atrocity through foe after foe. Oscar vaulted over a parked car and landed behind a Knight's Bannerman and drove his sword directly through its spine. The Knight collapsed into itself and all the lesser Grimm he just ran through all broke apart as well. Beside him, Sun yelled with fury, spinning Ruyi Jingu Bang through his fingers, firing shot after shot from the Gunchucks into the beasts that were in front of him.
The shell fragments blew chunks off the Beowulves that tried to attack him, he then connected them together and smashed his Bo-Staff through the face of a Sabyr that lunged for him. He looked up and ducked, narrowly missing a Griffin that went for him. Only then did he really see the horror of the sky, red lightning flashed, and forks came crashing down into the city, lighting fires and even cutting the power to certain districts. But what was nightmarish was just how many Grimm were constantly coming out of there.
The Dreadnaughts were fighting back for as long as they could, firing everything they had, and he could even see the Drift of Wandering Star up there. The sound of gunfire was constant.
Mere seconds ago… peaceful birdsong… now it was carnage.
Penny flew up into the air and she blasted beams of green energy around her, cutting down Manticores as they flew towards her. She then dove down and slashed her swords through the Thralls that leapt at her, killing them instantly. Kassius punched a Beringel across the face with his cybernetic fist so hard that the bony armour completely broke apart on the side of its face.
It growled and punched him into a wall and pinned him there, trying to rip out his throat. Then his eyes ignited, and cracks burned across his face, and he kicked it in the chest. Hyde roared and grabbed onto its head and twisted with great force, snapping its neck instantly.
Hyde released control immediately, and Kassius ran ahead, firing shot after shot from Vulcan Nox, clearing the area for a few moments so he could pull out his scroll. "Yang? Yang? Oh come on, baby, please pick up!" Kassius frantically called, but the signal was in tatters. He ducked just as Qrow suddenly flew at the Grimm and transformed into Human Form. He roared and took Harbinger, slicing the huge scythe through the Grimm. He kicked one of them in the chest after impaling one to the floor and punched it repeatedly in the face.
He then grabbed onto Harbinger and jumped over a Creep, and ripped the scythe from the ground, and transformed it into sword form. He landed behind it and fired the shotgun into its back and turned as five Knight's Bannermen charged towards him with swords raised. But he smirked, knowing they had nothing but Bad Luck on their side. The cogs spun around, and the blade extended and curved into Scythe Form.
He then swung around and perfectly beheaded them all in one strike.
And he wasn't even close to being tired, not even a sweat.
"Yang! Yang!" Kassius repeated, the look of terror was plastered over his face.
… then.
"Kas? KAS!" Yang finally replied, sounding relieved to hear him.
"Oh thank the gods, are you okay? Where are you?" He asked her.
"We just left what's left of the Council Building. They're all gone, we're with Oz and Glynda, we're heading for the Docks! The place is getting overrun, we need to secure it so airships can evacuate." Yang explained.
Kassius looked around. "We're still at Beacon, we're keeping it clear as best we can so the people of Vale can get to the Vault." Kassius explained, jolting back as C.F.V.Y battle against the huge Dreadwing. "Things are bad, the Grimm… they just keep coming."
"I know… just… please come back to me. I can't… oh shit… RUBY LOOK OUT!" A loud explosion erupted and cut off the call, then Kassius saw in the distance the explosion… it was a Dreadnaught. One of the Dreadnaughts has already been destroyed by a Reaper.
"Yang? YANG!" Kassius screamed desperately, but he was not the only one worrying.
"Kas?" Qrow asked him.
"I… she'll… she's okay. We have to hold the Academy… she's okay." It was more like he was convincing himself than Qrow.
"Saph?" They turned as they also heard Jaune on his scroll. "Saph where are you?"
"The school! Terra and I came here to get Adrien… then… then all this happened! We've had to barricade the doors but they're getting through!" Saphron cried out. He turned to Qrow and without hesitation.
"Go!" Qrow allowed, he turned just as Neo put down a Beowulf with Hush. She then walked to Team J.N.P.R to go with them. And so did A.M.F.S.
"You're gonna need help." Aryl stated.
"Okay… let's go! I know where the school is! We gotta get them out!" Jaune said, leaving with his team, Neo and Team A.M.F.S. As they escape, everyone else turns.
Qrow, Emerald, Oscar, Penny, Kassius, Cinder and Sun.
And charging towards them was another – even bigger wave – of Grimm.
"Here we go."
Ruby
Moments earlier…
Ruby stared with a wide eye, watching as the Oncoming Shadow endlessly poured out from the cracks. She could see that massive Reality Split in the centre of the city of Vale which swallowed those skyscrapers.
Gods… how many people were in those buildings?
But they couldn't stay here, the whole building was being swarmed with Grimm, they could hear them barging through the doors at the bottom. Clambering up the walls to break through the windows to eat the screaming civilians inside. "There's… there's so many of them…" Weiss gasped as she saw the darkness flooding into the streets. That was the best way to describe it, like a shade cast from the clouds but only flooding into the streets.
Ruby watched as she started moving with her team, Ozpin and Glynda. There were hundreds of innocent defenceless people down there, alongside military and Police Force. They already had defence barricades set up to fire their guns from, and bullets hailed upon the Grimm. Some were shredded, but the Grimm were literally piling over each other to get to the Humans and Faunus. And they blew the barricade apart instantly from the sheer amount of numbers and power behind them. Bloodcurdling wails echoed from the streets beneath them as the Grimm brutally ripped them apart.
"We need to keep moving!" Glynda called out as they ran across the balcony, and she jumped off it and onto one of the rooftops of a nearby building. She rolled and looked up as a Sphinx dove towards her. She swung the Disciplinarian and blasted a powerful bolt of purple energy into one of its wings. It was not enough to kill it, but enough to force it to crash down into the street below. A tank fired its cannon at the Sphinx, finishing it off by blowing up its roaring head.
Ozpin followed her, then so did Team R.W.B.Y. Yang jumped across the gap and looked around, then they quickly started to run ahead. They were on top of an apartment building, and they were gonna have to go through the halls if they were gonna make the next jump. Yang punched the lock with her mechanical fist, and Ruby went inside first with Weiss behind her.
They passed by countless apartment rooms, hearing the crying civilians… and walking past one they saw the door was open. Someone had committed suicide inside, not wanting to die in agony from the Grimm. It was a haunting sight to see, but they couldn't stop. They needed to keep on moving.
"This way! Down the stairs!" Blake called out; the wall suddenly exploded when a Nevermore's head burst through the render. Dust covered its feathered head as it roared at them. Yang jumped forward and repeatedly punched it in the face, planting explosive grenades into its face. She then grabbed Blake and the two of them got back as Yang activated them. One of her new upgrades thanks to Ozpin, and the explosion was definitely one hell of an improvement. The entire skull of the Nevermore burst like it was made of clay, splattering black blood everywhere, and the corpse slowly came loose from the side of the building, plummeting off the edge and down into the city below.
They kept running as the deafening roar of Fighter Jets caused the entire building to shake. Then the lights flickered as they started to bomb the streets. Followed by the almost rhythmic pounding of Dreadnaught Cannons firing up in the sky. Whistling projectiles shelled down into the city in places. Ruby zoomed down the stairs and launched herself towards a Grimm she heard and sliced her weapon straight through the head of the Beowulf. She gasped… seeing the poor woman it was feeding on.
She had screamed and cried all she could… and was laying there… her chest ripped open, and guts pulled out. Blood everywhere, and her throat was sliced open by its claws. It wasn't long before she died in front of Ruby. She pushed her hand through her hair in grief, squeezing her silver eye shut in grief for her. "Damn it…"
How do you prepare for something like this?
"Ruby… we need to keep moving, c'mon." Weiss softly said to her, gently taking her hand. Ruby nodded and they kept running through the Apartment Building, desperately trying to get to the low enough level to get to the next rooftop. Taking the streets would be near suicide, especially being so close to that massive Reality Split. As they turned the corner, they heard terrifying screams.
Knights' Bannerman were inside, and they were kicking in doors, and dragging people out. They stabbed them to death or chopped them up with axes, but then they turned as they saw Team R.W.B.Y. The leader pointed its sword at them and spoke in its dark language, yelling as the Grimm came for them. Thralls, too many for them to handle, came swarming up the stairs and ran around the Knights.
"Here! Through the window!" Blake yelled, firing Gambol Shroud at the glass, then she jumped through first. Ruby gritted her teeth, then her eye shone bright and blasted the power of the Silver Eyes into the thralls. Their howls ceased as they all turned to stone, but the Bannermen were still coming for them, their frozen bodies simply gave them time to retreat. Ruby was the last to make the jump, and she rolled across the rooftop.
One of the Bannermen jumped off and rolled across the rooftop, immediately taking a swing at Ruby. She ducked under its sword and slashed Crescent Rose across its abdomen, but it was hardly even fazed, immediately punching Ruby in the cheek. Ruby tumbled across the rooftop and drove her scythe down into the surface, but Yang immediately blasted forward, nailing one hard punch into its helmeted skull. Chunks of metal broke away from the armour, then she caught the sword in her metal hand and ripped it from its grasp, proceeding to drive the same weapon straight through its spine.
The Bannerman bellowed in immense pain as it collapsed into itself. Yang ran past the collapsing Spectre and helped Ruby back up to her feet. "You okay?" Yang asked.
"Yeah, nothing bad. Just punched me." Ruby said as she rubbed her cheek. They quickly kept running and as they turned, they saw fighter jets roar right over their heads, firing machine guns at the Grimm in the streets and launching bombs down below. The explosions caused the whole city to shake, but as the jets flew, Shriekers shot forward, creating that deafening screech until they exploded into the sides of the two Fighter Jets. Fire erupted from the burning jets as they spun out of control and crashed into another building. Huge plumes of smoke rose from where they hit, and burning civilians plummeted from the floors, crashing into the street below.
"Damn it…" Blake whispered, flinching ever time she heard their bodies smacking into tarmac beneath.
Ozpin slid down the side of the building they were on, and they dropped down onto the rooftop garden of another building. Across the way they saw airships descending onto another apartment building as desperate civilians tried to get aboard so they could escape. But they then saw what those poor people were running from.
More and more Thralls.
The Thralls swarmed those who didn't make it, eating them alive, whilst they climbed on top of one another to jump onto the airship. They saw some get inside and blood splattered against the windows as they pulled their throats open with their teeth. The amount of infected Humans and Faunus caused the Airship to spin out of control and it crashed into the side of the building they just landed onto.
The explosion's shockwave threw them all back, and the fire immediately spread through the building. Agonized screams emerged from within the flames as dying men and women stumbled and crawled from the destroyed ship, flesh burning away. But then the burning Thralls burst out and roared at them, their black flesh charred but not feeling any pain whatsoever. "Incoming!" Ozpin yelled, smashing the skull of one Thrall into the wall with Mihi Vindicta, then catching another by the throat and pummelling it down into the ground.
Another pair jumped towards Weiss, she cast a Glyph that blasted wind into its side and knocked it against the wall. She twirled around and cut the head of the second from its shoulders and finished off the final one by stabbing it through its screaming mouth. One jumped onto Blake's ripping into her throat, only for it to be a shadow clone, and she appeared beside it and cut the head clean in two in a single swing.
"We're clear!" Ruby called out as she looked around. "Gods… these poor people…" She softly sighed.
They all deserve better than this.
Glynda lifted the Disciplinarian and used her semblance to clear a path for them to get through the building. The fire was still spreading but they had more than enough time to get through.
They walked inside, and Ruby checked their corners before she approached the door.
"SHIT!" Ruby screamed as an Apathy suddenly lunged through the door as it opened and grabbed her by the face, screeching down at her. She felt Crescent Rose become extremely heavy and she fell to her knees. Only for Yang to blast forward and grab it by the roof of its mouth and drag it away from Ruby.
"SHUT UP!" She yelled as she fired a shell down its throat, killing it. Weiss helped Ruby back up as she shook off the effect of the Apathy's Shriek.
"Still with me?" Weiss asked.
"Yeah… that was close. Thanks." Ruby said to Yang.
"I've always got your back, sis." Yang promised, Ozpin and Glynda moved ahead, and they all were about to go, but Ruby stopped when she heard something. Like someone was moving around, she turned and her silver eye widened when she saw a small child hiding in the shadows.
"Hey? It's okay… I'm not one of them. I'm a Huntress." Ruby assured as she carefully approached the terrified kid.
"I… I'm scared… I don't wanna die." She sniffled.
"It's okay, you're gonna be okay." Ruby promised as she reached out for the girl, but as she approached her… she saw the bite on her neck. Her eyes widened… and the girl stared back at her. She was sweating… and going pale… and her eyes were turning red.
"Oh no…"
Horridus Morbus… we have a cure… but… I don't think everyone managed to get it…
"I'm sorry…" The girl cried, then she began to viciously growl, and suddenly lunged at Ruby. But before she could even get close to her, a loud gunshot erupted, and the poor child collapsed to the ground. Ruby turned, to see Ozpin holding Gambol Shroud he took from Blake, smoke still trailing from the gun. She could see the pain in his eyes… but he knew this was coming… and had to harden himself to do these things.
"C'mon, through here." Ozpin said as he walked away, giving Gambol Shroud back to Blake. Her team helped Ruby back up, and they followed Ozpin into the room, but Ruby looked back at the poor child who turned.
Nobody was safe…
… not even children.
"Goddamn it… this is a mess." Ozpin sighed as Glynda started to move the burning rubble out of their path. "I thought I was ready… that I had prepared myself for what was gonna happen. But… seeing it in person? How does anyone prepare for something like this?" Ozpin sighed. "Every second Vir Nominis Umbra is alive, more and more people are going to die. I will not let him claim another Universe. And especially not ours, not after everything we have done to protect it." Ozpin explained.
"Oz… this isn't something you have to burden alone." Ruby said with a slight tremble in her voice, still shaken from the little girl.
"I know… I just… wish I could have done more. I looked ahead, tried to prepare Remnant for what was coming. And yet the Oncoming Shadow just cut right through our defences!" Ozpin said with anger in his voice as he heard the screaming.
"How is anyone supposed to prepare for something like this?" Blake replied. "You did the best you could… end of the day, you may be able to travel through time… but you can't give us more time. Eventually we were gonna run out – there's nothing you can do about that." Blake stated.
"Yes… you're right." Ozpin agreed with a hint of sadness in his voice. "We have to make all this death be worth something. We need to get the Relics to the Embered Grove as fast as we can. We need to get to Atlas and get the Relic of Destruction."
"My father isn't going to give up his most prized possession without a fight." Weiss stated.
"The selfish bastard is gonna have to make a choice eventually. The Oncoming Shadow will hit Atlas just like it has here. That's assuming of course it isn't already there. We need to get there as fast as we can." Ozpin explained.
"It won't be easy if they are there, Oz." Ruby said, and Ozpin went quiet for a few moments, like he was plotting something in his head. He was staring at his cane where the Relic of Knowledge was contained.
"No… it won't." He agreed.
"What're you thinking?" Ruby asked him.
"I don't know yet. We'll see." He answered. "But either way, we need to get the Vault in Atlas open. All it will take for us to win is a single Relic but if we can get all four in there then we will give Remnant some time."
"Time… it's all we're begging for now." Yang scoffed. They got to the other side of the building and jumped down onto another smaller one. They were getting closer to the docks, and they could in fact see them from here. They could see Leviathans, Sea Feilongs and countless other monsters erupting from the seas.
And worse…
They could see massive tentacles erupt from the water and dragging boats down into the dark depths. There was a Kraken – just like the giant in the Cruel Sea. But even worse, were some old enemies they thought they'd never have to see again.
The Krastax were back.
The giant bipedal crustaceous Grimm that lived in the dark depths of the Cruel Sea and attacked the team when they used the Tethys to get to the Volcanic Chain Isles five years ago – were back. They leapt from the ocean and swung their massive spears, swords and axes, roaring to the sky.
"By the gods…" Glynda gasped.
"I hoped we never see those things again…" Weiss said as she clenched her fist. One Krastax took a missile to the side of its armoured head and it howled with fury, hardly even affected. It then extended a long black tendril that wrapped around the Gunship that fired it, and with immense force it smashed it down into the ground. As they marched onto solid ground, the water began flooding into the docks as they violently smashed the docks apart, blowing the boats to pieces with their hugs weapons.
"W-What do we do?" Blake stammered; Ruby looked around for answers.
"Ortega? Ortega do you copy?" Ruby asked. There was no response, but they could still see the Drift of Wandering Star above, so he was not dead yet.
"We need to secure the docks. It's the only way we're getting out of here, everyone can get to us, and when the Vaults close… it's the only chance people have of getting on an airship and escaping unless they go it alone." Ozpin explained as he held his Staff close.
"Which means… we need to fight the Krastax. And Leviathans… and everything down there?" Yang asked.
"Yes." Ozpin confirmed.
Team R.W.B.Y, Ozpin and Glynda looked at each other as they watched the Kaiju-Sized monsters decimating everything in their path. But as they stood there, Yang felt her scroll vibrating. She quickly pulled it out and gasped, seeing it was Kassius.
"Kas? KAS!" Yang cried out with relief as she clutched her scroll close to her ear.
"Oh thank the gods, are you okay? Where are you?" He asked her, sounding so desperate…
"We just left what's left of the Council Building. They're all gone, we're with Oz and Glynda, we're heading for the Docks! The place is getting overrun, we need to secure it so airships can evacuate." Yang explained.
"We're still at Beacon, we're keeping it clear as best we can so the people of Vale can get to the Vault. Things are bad, the Grimm… they just keep coming." Nearby a Dreadnaught was getting into position, firing deafeningly loud shots over the water at the Krastax, nailing one of them in the back. It was not killed but toppled the fifty-meter-tall giant back into the water. The impact created huge waves, washing into the city.
"I know… just… please come back to me. I can't… oh shit… RUBY LOOK OUT!" Yang cried out, spotting the Reaper Leviathan-Class Grimm descending towards that Dreadnaught. It blasted a beam of fire down into the centre of the huge warship, causing it to detonate in a blindingly bright explosion. The shockwave caused their ears to ring and shattered all the windows around them, even making the building collapse by the blast.
The six of them were thrown from the roof and tumbled down towards the docks as the Krastax turned, staring at Ozpin.
They sensed the Relic.
"Oh crap." Ruby groaned.
"Kas? KAS!" She cried out desperately as she held her scroll, losing signal. "Damn it!"
"Yang, we've got bigger problems." Ruby pointed as the six Krastax faced them and roared. "How the hell are we taking them down?"
Kassius
The Huntsmen and Huntresses of Beacon continued to hold the line.
Kassius dodged the incoming fireball from a Manticore and connected Lash Equinox together and he rammed the long-bladed spear straight through its open jaws with a furious roar. The beast growled with rage before it finally died from Kassius' twist, shoving it off. He then rolled aside as a Geist swung its massive boulder arm down at him, narrowly missing him, he then shot up towards it with Vulcan Nox. It went to crush him with both fists of rock, until lightning collided into the creature, and Cinder hovered before the beast, knocking it away from him.
Cinder was not alone as Penny also soared around it, slashing her swords across the rocks and aiming for the face. Floating Array clipped the mask and knocked the huge creature down to the ground whilst Cinder blasted a powerful lightning bolt down from the sky into its face. The beast crumbled away, leaving rubble behind where it fell. Penny flew up in the air and blasted a beam of green energy, and channelled fire dust through her veins and into her hands, burning the feathery wings of a Nevermore to embers. The huge beast came crashing down into the ground nearby.
Sun rolled aside as the beast smashed into the ground, firing the Gunchucks repeatedly, dodging the stinger of the Deathstalker that was rushing him, but just as the stinger descended towards him, Emerald swung forward and sliced clean through the tail, cutting the stinger clean off. The Deathstalker shrieked in agony and Sun repeatedly fired his Gunchucks into the eyes of the creature, blinding it. Then Emerald jumped behind it and wrapped the chains of Silent Judgement around the tail, pulling back with all her might.
The Deathstalker bellowed with fury as it was yanked backwards. Sun clasped both hands together and they held the pincers down, whilst Kassius sprinted over and drove his spear down into the roof of the giant scorpion's head.
"Ha! Never gets old." He chuckled, turning his gaze to see the first civilians finally arriving. Some were covered in dust or blood; others were badly injured. But they were all afraid. One civilian screamed in terror as a Nightmare lunged for her, but Qrow suddenly punched it in the face, knocking it away from her.
It howled, echoing the screaming voices of the poor people trapped inside of its digestive system forever. But Qrow silenced it by thrusting ahead and slicing clean through it with one hard swing with Harbinger. The beast crumbled away into ashes, but the people it absorbed went with it.
Once consumed… you were a part of the Nightmare forever.
Unless they kill Vir Nominis Umbra, then every poor soul lost can finally rest.
Qrow turned to the civilians. "Go! Get inside, we have lots of skilled students inside who will keep you safe! We'll keep the Grimm from getting inside for as long as we can!" Qrow explained, turning to stop the sword of a Knights' Bannerman. Sparks burst from the impact, but Qrow smirked, flipping backwards and kicking up its jaw. It stumbled back and the Scythe collapsed back down into sword form, and he rammed it straight through its ribs.
He then ripped upwards, splitting the skull clean in half, and it collapsed into itself behind him.
Behind them, Team C.F.V.Y continued to clash against the Dreadwing. It created ear piercing screeching and clicking sounds as it attacked relentlessly, smashing the ground where they were stood. Fox rolled backwards repeatedly, before twisting around and punching the beast in the face. The creature stumbled to the side, and right into Velvet who swung a Copied Version of Executioner, Cardin's Mace.
Her strike was so hard that it smashed some plates of armour off its face. It squawked in pain and her brown eyes widened. "That's it! Break off the armour and go for the soft tissue underneath! That's how we kill this thing!" Velvet called out, but the beast snarled and suddenly jumped towards her, swinging its wings so hard that the wind created from the movement knocked her over. It then sprinted towards her and went to spray acidic saliva all over her, until Coco immediately opened fire with Gianduja on the beast.
The amount of firepower packed in that thing pushed the beast back a few steps, and it roared viciously at them. The bullets slowly withered the armour on its face away from attrition, but the Dreadwing's two long glowing gold tails whipped around towards Coco but her eyes ignited, and she created a powerful pulse of icy magic. The tails froze solid, then Yatsuhashi jumped in with a roar, cutting the tails with one swing, making them explode into shards on the floor.
The Dreadwing shrieked in pain, then growled in anger, opening its wings one more. It could not fly due to the hole in one wing thanks to Coco, but it could still use them in a fight.
"It's jumping." Fox sent, and the huge beast swung its wings downwards, using the thrust to jump even higher, and as it came back down, it smashed the ground with its sharp legs. The ground rippled from the blast, Yatsuhashi drove his sword into the ground with gritted teeth before he charged towards the beast and jumped straight at it. The Dreadwing stared directly at him and went to drive its sharp foot down into his chest, but roots suddenly erupted from beneath, wrapping around the legs. The Dreadwing was suddenly retrained, and Yatsuhashi smashed multiple plates on its head apart.
Coco kept the beast held down as her team repeatedly broke plate after plate. Fox slashed and beat the blades off, and Velvet soared overhead, using countless different weapons for the job. Breaking plate after plate, using Ember Celica to punch it in the side of its dazed head, and as its head swung the other way, Yatsuhashi hit it right back.
Yatsuhashi then jumped up and carved clean through the wings of the giant, grounding it permanently. The Dreadwing screeched to the sky as Velvet formed Holographic Copies of Winter's Swords. She held both in her hands and blasted forward with a furious yell and drove the two blades straight through its roaring mouth. The blades erupted out the back of its head, then she jumped upwards, cutting clean through the scalp.
Finally silenced, its body began to break apart and crumble away into thin air as Velvet landed.
A beaming smile followed as she looked at her girlfriend.
"You're so cute when you brutally kill Grimm." Coco commented.
Oscar shot forward and slashed straight through multiple Thralls, then as he exited time, he threw a time bubble forward, holding around ten Grimm in place as they lunged forward. He, Qrow, Emerald and Kassius all fired their weapons repeatedly into the bubble, stacking the bullets in the time frame.
Then it burst, firing all rounds at once, annihilating every Grimm trapped inside. Cinder flew up in the air, slicing through the wing of a Griffin and blasting fire from her other hand, killing the Shriekers before they could attack the school. Penny flew with her, launching Floating Array up into the bodies of the Manticores that flew towards them.
Until a swarm of Crystal Beaked Crows and Ravens knocked them both out of the sky.
Kassius turned with wide eyes as they hit the ground…
… then the crows and ravens gathered together, forming a pillar of black smoke. And he emerged, staring them down. The ten-foot tall Leshen – known as the Lord of the Wood. The burning coals that stood in place for eyes stared straight back at them, remaining completely silent.
"Oh… shit." Kassius groaned.
"W-What is that thing?" New survivors whimpered as they arrived at the Academy.
"Higher Demon. Go. We'll keep the bastard occupied." Kassius told her, and the civilians ran to the school, heading for the cafeteria instead of straight for the main entrance, since the Lord of the Wood blocked that path.
Not only were the Oncoming Shadow a threat…
… but so were Umbra's lieutenants.
The Higher Demons and the Knights of Grimm were most likely already out there sewing chaos.
But they all knew… soon…
… Vir Nominis Umbra will be here in person.
Author Note - The Oncoming Shadow have lived up to their reputation
The feeling I want people to have when experiencing these final Acts is of "Desperation", just showing how totally unstoppable the Oncoming Shadow is really sets the tone for the final Arc of Knights of Grimm. And I got to reveal some of the scarier and crazier Grimm now this event has begun! One of my favs I have had planned is the Dreadwing. I love the design of this thing, like a Tarantula Hawk but as big as a Goliath and much, much worse. And of course we have the horrifying Nightmare.
Be ready to see more and more of them things.
And we got to see some old friends! I dunno if anyone remembers them back in Act 2, but the Krastax are by far some of the biggest and scariest monsters. And finally getting to use them again is gonna be great fun. That part with that little girl was pretty intense and dark too, wanted to show that a cure would not make it to everyone in two days - and sadly that girl was one of them.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!
Stay tuned for the next chapter!
- Matt