Chapter 6 - Collector in the Sleepless Forest
When Salem first recruited those demons and monsters, Cinder was ecstatic. Within the queen's ranks were deities of unimaginable power; gods who could bend reality to their will. With their powers, Cinder could make quick work of Vale, and Ozpin would become the punchline of a terrible joke. Salem would find peace, and they would rebuild the world in their own image.
But, now…
Now Playing… Rise of the Ultimate (Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony)
Dust was supposed to be rendered useless once it left the atmosphere of the planet, preventing any form of space travel. And yet, in a matter of days the computer created a device that could power crystals in the vacuum of space. And now, here she was, overlooking the planet while standing aboard their newest base of operations. Tyrian joked about them being inside a cat. The Dream Landers were almost offended by that comment, and insisted that they call it a "Nova," whatever that was.
It was then that Cinder realized the true strength of Salem's new pawns. Star Dream was more advanced than any computer in Atlas. Zero was a being of pure darkness, rivaled only by the grimm and her queen, perhaps even capable of surpassing them. The sleeping giant that lays dormant under Her Majesty's castle radiates negative energy like nothing Cinder has ever felt before, an energy that can suffocate the grimm themselves.
Cinder has one of the demons, the one called Fecto Elfilis, assigned to her as some sort of body guard. Even now, the angelic-like creature glares at her. Her Majesty has assured Cinder on multiple occasions that she has these creatures under a tight leash. And yet, she can't help but feel that Elfilis is one head jerk away from mauling her to pieces.
"Admiring the view, Cinder?"
And then there was him. The being had a body made of blood red flames, and gloved hands with sun-shaped runes for cuffs. The only clothes he wore was a black scarf held in place by a red belt, and a black jester's hat that resembled a demon's horns with red tips. On top of the hat, there was a golden crown stitched onto his head, and twitched every so often.
"I'll admire it when the world burns," Cinder curtly replies, trying to stop her hands from shaking. She feels powerless next to him. It was a sensation she despised, one that nearly killed her long ago. A feeling that she thought she had gotten rid off.
It's the crown, Cinder thinks to herself, forcing her eyes to glare at Magolor's flaming body instead of his twitching headpiece. It was alive. She could sense the magic dwelling within. It was suffocating, bloodthirsty, powerful. A power that, despite what she feels about Magolor, she wants for herself.
"Always thinking about the big picture, aren't you?" Magolor says in a way that feels like he's taunting her.
"How much longer until Star Dream's machine is ready?" Cinder asks.
"Patience, Cinderella. Sure, Star Dream may be one the most advanced AIs in the history of the universe, but innovation takes time. He is, after all, working with a completely foreign and strange substance. The Ancients of our world did not create Novas with Dust in mind."
"That didn't stop him from creating a scientific breakthrough in mere days," Cinder snaps back, remembering Watts beet-red face when Star Dream presented the Generator to Her Majesty.
Fecto Elfilis is snarling now.
"True. Still, try not to worry too much, princess. The new world order that our queen envisions will come in due time," Magolor says, bowing his head.
Cinder hums in response. "And what of Marx?"
"Marx is a very… fickle being. But don't you worry, princess. I'm sure he is simply 'exploring' this new world, forgotten by the gods of old. A Forgotten World, if you will."
Marx… Cinder feared Magolor because of his cunning, his confidence and raw power. Marx, while slightly weaker than the crowned wizard however… He was a completely different beast.
"...Very well. It was a… pleasure to speak to you Magolor. However, I must be going. I have important duties to attend to." With a wave of her hand, she orders Fecto Elfilis to open a portal to the surface. She disappears, but Fecto Elfilis stays for a moment. They look at Magolor and growl.
"In due time, Elfilis. Why not take some prey that the Branwen Tribe have forgotten about in the meantime? After all, they seem to be… preoccupied with other matters."
The alien creature's eyes widen, and it makes a jovial sound. It floats through the portal as it begins to close.
Magolor floats to the glass window, admiring the world of Remnant below.
"Kirby… This time, not even you and your friends will be able to face the full force of darkness. And even if somehow, you manage to find a way to triumph over us, well…"
The least I can do is make sure you can't save everyone.
…
"Y'know, that sounded a lot more menacing in my head. I should really invest in those villain monologue seminars that Star Dream suggested."
Rise of the Ultimate - Fade Out
—
Now Playing… Short Break in Toad Town (Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr's Journey)
Nora skipped down the forest clearing, with Kirby dancing on her head like he weighed nothing. Jaune was clutching his arm carefully, as if making sure Kirby wasn't trying to eat it whole again. He was surprised (and by extension, terrified) of how cold Kirby's stomach was. It felt like his arm was floating in the abyss, grasping at nothing.
"Jaune, are you alright?" Pyrrha asked, tapping the blonde knight on the shoulder.
"Huh? Y-yeah, yeah I'm good!" He said, perhaps a bit too quickly. There was something else that bothered him: Kirby's frown. Kirby smiled at the rest of the group, and seemingly gravitated towards Nora and Ruby. But there were few occasions where the marshmallow looked at him, and just frowned at him. Not with disappointment or contempt, but of sadness. And gods above, Jaune cannot figure out why.
"I'm sure Kirby was only playing. I doubt he'll actually eat your arm," Pyrrha reassured him.
"I know. He's too adorable for that." Jaune doubts Kirby can hurt a fly.
Slowly, Ruby pulled up next to Jaune and Pyrrha, with Weiss briskly walking beside her.
"Hey guys! You're Pyrrha and… Josh, right?" Ruby asked, putting a finger to her chin.
"It's Jaune, actually. Jaune Arc! Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue. Ladies love it!" He tried his damndest not to look embarrassed when the girls, Blake, Yang, Ren, Nora, and even Kirby himself turned to slowly look at him.
"Do they now?" Nora asked with the biggest shit-eating grin he's ever seen, leaning forward and placing her fists on her hips. Kirby looks down, and tries his best to mimic her expression. Despite being incapable of portraying the same amount of body language, for obvious reasons, he looked nearly ten times as smug.
"They will– Do! They do! I'll have you know, that I have a conga line of girls just waiting to go out with me!" Jaune exclaims as he puffs his scrawny chest.
"Sure you do, lover boy!" Yang laughs, going back to her conversation with Blake and Ren. Pyrrha hides her laugh under her hand, while Weiss rolls her eyes and Ruby chuckles awkwardly.
"Is there anything you wanted to talk about?" Jaune asked dejectedly. Ruby perks up and nods. "Yup! See, me and Weiss were wondering whether or not Dream Landers can have Aura, maybe even semblances!"
"Their biology may be different, even nonsensical at some points, but they are still living creatures," Weiss continued. "If plants and animals are capable of generating Aura, then surely amorphous pink spheres are capable of unlocking one as well."
"So… We were wondering if you could try to unlock Kirby's Aura for us!" Ruby asked.
Pyrrha thought about it for a moment. "I suppose I can try. What's the worst that can happen?"
"Great! With aura and his copy abilities, Kirby will be unstoppable!" Ruby says, pumping her fist in the air.
"Wait, copy abilities?" Weiss asked, but Ruby had already disappeared, leaving rose petals in her wake.
"Mind if I borrow him for a moment, thanks!" Ruby said, swiping Kirby from Nora's head.
"Hey!" Nora pouted.
As quickly as she had left, Ruby had reappeared, gently putting Kirby down on the floor in front of Pyrrha. The puffball poyos in a confused manner, until his deep blue eyes land on Pyrrha's bright green orbs. He gives the Mistrali champion a small smile, nearly melting her heart from just how adorable he looked.
Pyrrha knelt down and placed on Kirby's cheek/waist/what have you, nearly squealing in cuteness overload when he nuzzled closer.
Short Break in Toad Town - Fade Out
"Kirby, close your eyes and focus on the power dwelling inside," The champion instructed. Kirby gave her a brief nod and did as she asked. With a deep breath, Pyrrha closed her eyes and started chanting.
"For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbounded by death. I release your soul and by my shoulder protect thee."
How odd, Pyrrha thought to herself. She felt slightly overwhelmed by unlocking Jaune's aura, and yet feels nothing from Kirby. There was something warm and fuzzy and alive, but at the same time, it felt like something was missing. Curiously, she opened her eyes and whaaaaaaaat the fuuuuuuuuuuuck?
—
Ruby brought her hands to her face, needing to shield herself from the massive pink light show that was happening in front of her. Weiss and Jaune stepped back as well, the former's ponytail whipping wildly from the force that they can only assume was Kirby's aura.
"WHAT IS GOING ON?!" Ruby could barely make out Blake's confused shouting, despite being only a few meters away.
"We're trying to unlock Kirby's aura!" Ruby shouted back, still blinded by the bright pink energy.
"That's Kirby's aura?! It's AWESOME! What semblance do you think he has?!" Nora asked.
Before Ruby could, everyone heard the sound of an aura shatter. She felt her stomach churn as a burning sensation irritated her eyes. After a few seconds, she forced herself to lower her hands and saw Pyrrha fly backwards.
"PYRRHA!" Jaune cried as he ran towards her unconscious form. Kirby was already by side, having unreacted the second she launched backwards, with a foreign look of panic on his face. Ruby shared a look of remorse with Weiss, and hurried towards them.
Now Playing… The Smell of a Scary Beast (Kirby and the Forgotten Land)
"What in the… What the hell was that?!" Yang cried, looking between the unconscious champion and the smoldering ground they had left behind. Just as she was about to move forward, Blake's hand shot out and grabbed her wrist.
"We're not alone anymore," Blake mutters cryptically as her bow noticeably twitches.
Nora gives her a blank look. "What does that–" and is immediately cut off when something explodes behind her, slamming into Ren, who lets out a surprised gasp.
"An explosion?" Ren mutters, slowly pulling Nora up.
"I wasn't meeee~!" Nora half slurred, half giggled. Her eyes roll to the back of her head as she collapses on Ren.
"We have to warn the others," He says. Yang and Blake nod.
From the corner of her eye, Yang notices movement coming from the west side of the forest. Before she could alert the rest, a doll made of scrap metal, wood and red crystals is thrown. In a horrible epiphany, she realizes it looks like Ruby.
The doll lands next to Ren's feet, and immediately explodes after his shoes graze the red crystals. Ren and Nora are sent flying, landing on the ground face-first as his aura flickers violently.
Yang's head snaps to the side when she hears Blake's cry, eyes going wide when she sees the large gash on her forehead.
"No, no, no, no!" Yang activates Ember Celica, waiting for whatever to strike. Instead, she feels the sharp pain of metal being slammed into the back of her head.
—
Somehow, Pyrrha is unhurt. She's sitting in front of a broken tree, head tilting to the side as she snores softly. Kirby holds a half-eaten tomato in front of her mouth, and cautiously places it back from wherever he pulled it out. Jaune begins to shout, but silences himself when Kirby looks at him. The pink puffball grabs a pillow and places it behind Pyrrha's head. He raises a hand in the other, trying to Jaune that she's okay.
"Pyrrha! Pyrrha's… okay?" Ruby asks, dumbfounded.
"But then, what was with that light?" Weiss questions, looking at Kirby. He shrugs and looks back at Pyrrha.
"That doesn't matter right now," Jaune sighs. "At least she's safe, and we can figure out this whole mess later." Jaune gingerly picks up the fallen warrior, struggling for a brief moment.
"Are you sure you can carry her all by yourself?" Weiss asks. Jaune pouts slightly. "Of course I can," He says defensively, face turning red when he hears Ruby chuckling. He glares at her, and Ruby begins whistling innocently.
As Jaune takes a single step forward, purple flames burst from the ground. Immediately, he shoves Pyrrha into Ruby's arms, and draws Crocea Mors.
"Get her out of here!" Ruby firmly nods, and activates her semblance. She clutches Pyrrha tightly as the wall of fire closes in on her. Before she could escape, she crashes into something soft and bounces backwards.
Standing before them was a large black and gray furred armadillo, with white shell and skull-shaped mask made of bone, long skinny arms with wide sharp claws, large eyes with black sclera and red pupils, a mouth contorted into a permanent creepy smile with a forked tongue, and razor sharp buck teeth.
Now Playing… Save the Kingdom! (Team Kirby Clash Deluxe)
The creepy armadillo pulls out a human-sized cage from behind him and laughs wildly.
Bone-Plated Prancer
Grimmydillo
The armored beast lunges at Ruby, pouncing like a cat with its claws outstretched. Ruby narrowly dodges, using a blast from Crescent Rose to propel her backwards. Grimmydillo swipes again, its claws decimating the nearby trees.
Kirby begins inhaling, dragging Ruby and Pyrrha over to him, before Grimmydillo could reduce them to slivers. The two girls skid across the floor and land next to Kirby, who makes a noise. To everybody's confusion (except Ruby's), he races towards the giant monster.
"Hey, Kirby! Catch!" Ruby shouts, grabbing one of her cartridges and tossing towards him. The puffball jumps up and catches the clip, storing it in his hammerspace for later.
"What's he going to do with bullets?!" Weiss shouted. "He doesn't even have a gun, for Dust's sake!" Her anger turns to confusion when she sees Ruby's wry smile.
Grimmydillo howls, uprooting a tree and tossing it at Kirby. He jumps to avoid the tree, and then turns backwards, beginning another inhale. He twists his body, bringing the tree with him and launching it towards the armadillo. With an exasperated grunt, Grimmydillo curls up inside its shell and starts spinning. The tree splinters against the hard shell. With a laugh, the spinning armadillo charges forward.
Jaune grabs Pyrrha in a fireman's carry, and he along with Ruby and Weiss jump out of the way when Grimmydillo comes barreling towards them. It ricochets off the flame walls crashing into anything that was in its way.
Weiss spins the barrel of her rapier and stabs it into the ground, creating a wall of ice that momentarily traps Grimmydillo. The monster screeches uncomfortably and flexes its shell to break free from its prison. Weiss summons a glyph and stabs Myrtenaster into it, releasing bolts of fire which explode against Grimmydillo's shell. The monstrous armadillo rolled its eyes, and tossed a volley of papercraft Ruby's aiming, trying to separate the rest of them from its target.
Ruby digs her scythe into the ground and fires, launching her towards the armadillo. Her eyes went wide and Grimmydillo quickly maneuvered around her slice and grabbed one of her legs. It slams her face into the ground, and pulls out a human-sized cage. It tries stuffing her inside, but is interrupted when Jaune stabs his sword into the armadillo's hand. The monster screeches and swings, using Ruby a battering ram to try and knock him away.
Jaune ducks underneath a swing, cringing at Ruby's panicked face. Grimmydillo sings haphazardly once more, slamming the red-cloaked girl's head against Jaune's shield. Ruby screams in pain, while Jaune is launched into the purple firing, bouncing off it as if it was made of solid material.
Ruby twists and plants her boots into Grimmydillo's bulging eye. This only succeeds in getting the monster annoyed. With a huff, it swings as hard as it could, trying to smash her face against the nearest tree. Before it could, Kirby uproots the tree it was aiming for by himself, jumps and throws it at Grimmydillo's head. It shrieks in pain and drops Ruby, who is caught by Kirby. He sets her next to Weiss and jumps back into the fray alongside Jaune.
"Are you okay?" Weiss asked as she wiped the blood oozing from a gash just above her right eye.
"I'll be fine," Ruby answers. "I just hope this doesn't scar…" She mumbled.
Jaune clumsily swings his sword, creating a small gash on the armadillo's shell. It glares at him and swipes angrily. Jaune barely manages to duck underneath the attack, and jumps over another serrated claw. He bashes his shield against the grimm, and slams the flat of Crocea Mors against its cheek, knocking it off balance slightly. Kirby jumps up and slams his heel into Grimmydillo's jaw, and follows up with three roundhouse kicks into its gut. The monster snarls, and tries to take a bite out of the marshmallow. Kirby swiftly dodges, landing on Jaune's shoulder. The blonde knight swings his shield arm just as Kirby leaps forward, landing a simultaneous shoulder check and shield bash into the armadillo's mask.
As it's knocked off balance, Weiss creates another wall of ice around it, trapping the beast once more. Ruby runs up and grabs her fallen scythe. Grimmydillo breaks free again, and stumbles forward when Kirby dropkicks his shell. Ruby activates her semblance, bringing Crescent Rose to its neck and beginning dragging it around the arena. Weiss forms more glyphs at her feet, increasing her speed exponentially. After a few more seconds, Ruby swings as hard as she could, throwing an enraged armadillo into the sky. Kirby jumps onto Jaune's shield, and launches the puffball upwards with a push.
At this point, Kirby takes out the magazine that Ruby gave him earlier and eats it, confusing Weiss and Jaune. Confusion turns to awe when Kirby starts glowing. Kirby now wears a headband with red, purple and yellow gemstones, ending with small horns curved upwards. There are five rocky spikes on the front of his new hat.
Stone Kirby turns into a pink, misshapen brick with his eyes closed, and plummets to the ground, crashing into Grimmydillo's shell and cracking it. They both land on the ground and create a massive dust cloud, cracks appearing all over the arena. Kirby jumps from the cloud, unharmed.
"What's with the hat?" Jaune asks after a few seconds.
"It's his copy ability! He gets a different hat whenever he swallows a thing, almost like he's copying his attributes!" Ruby exclaims. "So far I know he can use fire, a fire dragon, and a gun!"
"Aww, that's adora– Wait a GUN?!" Weiss exclaims. The thought of Kirby mowing through a horde of grimm with an AK-47 vanishes when Grimmydillo howls, jumping from the newly crater and snarling louding.
Save the Kingdom - Fade Out
In a fit of rage, Grimmydillo retreats into its shell and starts spinning rapidly against the floor. Cracks start to grow all over the floor, until it eventually caves in and all of them fall beneath the ground.
Now Playing… Sealed Ground (Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity)
They landed next to the entrance of some underground temple. The floor and walls were covered in moss and vines, broken marble pillars taken over by grass and small trees. A few meters away from the center, there is a large stone door. Etched in the middle was a heart surrounded by four figures of varying sizes, each of them stabbing a spear into it. The walls were lined with symbols as well: a winged sphere trapped inside a crystal, a small spiky humanoid with seven stones hovering around it, a giant turtle burning in a pool of fire, and the cloaked woman that was missing her face.
With a disgruntled roar, Grimmydillo started rolling towards them once more, only it moved even faster than before. Kirby jumped in front of the group, turned his hands into stone and punched the ground, creating a wall of dirt that the grimm ricocheted off of.
Weiss lunged towards the rolling armadillo, projecting a glyph underneath it and launching the beast into the air. She created three more glyphs, one of which were used as platforms for Ruby and Stone Kirby, while the third was used for a blast of electricity. Ruby fired from her gun in midair, changing her trajectory to avoid a claw swipe and slamming the butt of her scythe into Grimmydillo's stomach. Kirby's stone body, now in the form of a mouse with a hat and cape, slammed into the armadillo, knocking it higher into the air. He quickly changed back into a marshmallow and grabbed the beast's tail, throwing it into the electricity.
Grimmydillo snarled, and through another cluster of Papercraft Rubies. Jaune knocked one back with a shield, while the others exploded on contact with the ground.. The resulting earthquake caused large boulders to fall from the ceiling, forcing the team to swerve around them. Grimmydillo grabbed one stalactite and threw it towards Ruby. She spun her scythe to protect herself from the shrapnel, and jumped backwards to avoid a claw swipe.
Grimmydillo pounced at her, ripping off a piece of her cloak. The monster roared, and threw another set of explosive dolls, this time of the future Team RWBY, taking the form of a wheel and rolling across the battlefield haphazardly. Grimmydillo threw two more sets of Papercraft RWBYs, and started rolling around himself.
The dolls exploded, causing another shower of rocks. Weiss created another set of glyphs, using them to reflect the falling stalactites towards Grimmydillo. Grimmydillo easily blocked two of them, but was grazed by the third. Kirby ran forwards and turned into a brown brick block, sliding across the floor and slamming into the armadillos gut. Then, the brick turned into a green turtle shell, and started spinning towards Jaune. The blonde reared back his foot and kicked the shell, sending it into Grimmydillo's eyes. Kirby changed once more into a black chest with intricate blue and yellow designs in the center, landing forcefully on Grimmydillo's head.
The beast grabbed Kirby and threw him at Ruby, aiming for her legs. Kirby transformed back into his normal form, but that didn't stop him from accidentally causing her to trip. Grimmydillo raced forward, taking its cage and landing right next to Ruby. The girl yelped as it threw sand into her eyes, and slammed the cage into her chest, launching her towards the heart sigil on the door. Ruby cried out in pain, her silver eyes and carvings on the walls flashing in tandem with the strike. She fell to the ground, and the armadillo grabbed her by the neck and successfully stuffed her inside the cage.
With a demonic chortle, Grimmydillo threw another set of explosive dolls as a black heart-shaped portal appeared behind him. Weiss snarled, weaving through the explosions and falling rocks. Myrtenaster's blade ignited, and she started slashing at the monster's unprotected chest. She spun and swung at the cage, cutting through the bars like butter. Ruby kicked her foot and the bars snapped, allowing her to jump and force her scythe into Grimmydillo's mouth.
"Get a load of THIS!" She shouted as she pulled the trigger. The inside of Grimmydillo's mouth exploded, stunning the monster. Kirby and Jaune ran forward, helping the two partners with their all-out attack on the oversized armadillo.
Jaune stabbed his sword into Grimmydillos stomach, unexpectedly causing the monster to bounce off the walls. It landed in the center of the battlefield and snarled. It howled loudly, emitting a wave of dark energy as blood-red eyes started appearing on its shell.
Grimmydillo rolled up into its shell, continuously jumping and pounding into the ground, creating shockwaves and dropping explosives whenever it reached the apex of its height. Kirby transformed once more, this time turning into a statue of Ozpin as he protected the Beacon students.
The armadillo snarled, turning its back towards that and started firing bolts of black energy from the eyes that had suddenly appeared on its shell. Weiss created glyphs to absorb the attacks, and launch them back towards the orifices they came from. The eyes burst open, releasing a noxious and thick red liquid. Grimmydillo squirmed at the pain, throwing another set of dolls behind him as the eyes regenerated.
Jaune moved forward, deflected the eye beams with his shield, allowing him and Weiss to slowly approach the giant armadillo. Once they got close enough, they both swung their swords slicing at another set of eyes.
"Ack! Some of it got in my mouth!" Jaune cried as he tried to get rid of the red liquid's taste. Weiss rolled her eyes, and pushed him out of the way when Grimmydillo slammed his tail in their general direction.
Ruby ran across the field with Kirby on her shoulder, slicing at Grimmydillo whenever she got the chance. The armadillo howled, and wildly swiped its claws. Kirby used his rocky hat to deflect the blows, creating a shower of sparks each time he defended.
Ruby jumped into the air and threw Kirby towards Grimmydillo. He transformed into a statue of the Mage Sisters, Zan Partianne's polearm stabbed deep into Grimmydillo's shell eye. The monster, and multiple voices from inside the beast screeched loudly, loud enough to cause another shower of rocks.
Ruby jumped off the falling rocks, using her scythe and her semblance to knock them into Grimmydillo. Once she gained enough height, she pointed Crescent Rose to the sky and fired, launching herself downwards and slashing wildly at the armadillo's shell. It screeched, and smacked the girl with its tail, knocking her into the wall and making her drop her scythe.
The eyes on Grimmydillo's shell started firing black and purple lasers, knocking Jaune and Kirby away, the force knocking off his Stone hat, which dissolved shortly afterwards. Then, it backhanded Weiss, launching her away. Grimmydillo turned its attention to Ruby and pounced.
Kirby, in his infinite wisdom, began inhaling. The force of his vortex slowed down Grimmydillo, but he was too heavy to stop him completely. He captured a few pebbles and pieces shrapnels, as well as the rose petals left behind by Ruby's semblance. He swallowed after a few seconds and transformed once more.
Kirby now wears an exact yet smaller replica of Ruby's hood, his blue eyes now have a slight silver tint to them. Whenever he runs, Kirby leaves behind a trail of pink rose petals behind him.
Petal Kirby swings his feet, creating pink blades of wind that explode against Grimmydillo's shell. The eyes let loose another barrage of lasers, trying to shoot the pink puffball down. Kirby easily evades them, and grabs Ruby's scythe. He fumbles it slightly due to the fact that it's nearly 6 feet taller than him, but easily gets the hang of using it once he starts slashing all over Grimmydillo's body. Transferring his energy into the scythe, he launches sword beams that leave large gashes on the armadillo's shell and skin. Kirby races forward and slams the blunt edge of the scythe into the grimm's mask, causing the bone to crack loudly.
Ruby punches the armadillo in the face, and follows it up with a semblance powered kick, launching it towards Kirby. The puffball launches Grimmydillo into the air with a kick of his own, and then tosses Crescent Rose back to Ruby.
Kirby drops the Petal ability and inhales a large stone, transforming back into Stone Kirby. He slams his fist into the ground, creating a ramp that leads to Grimmydillo. Weiss takes a deep breath to calm herself, and creates a series of glyphs on the surface of the ramp. Kirby transforms into a statue of Yang, giving Ruby a big dopey smile and thumbs up.
Ruby kneels down on the ground, and then races forward, her own speed and Weiss's glyphy letting her reach Grimmydillo just as he begins to fall down. With a war cry, Ruby hooks Crescent Rose around Grimmydillos neck. Weiss creates another glyphy, and Ruby pushes off it, propelling her and the boss grimm into the ground.
Sealed Ground - Cut Off
Ruby leaps from the large crater she formed, gently caressing her shoulder. The group looks down, and sees Grimmydillo convulsing and inflating. The body explodes, cracking open like an egg while leaving a puddle of black goop and bones.
The body slowly dissolves, and the black liquid converges in a single point, recreating its original body: Dark Matter.
Boss Defeat SFX (Mario & Luigi: Dream Team)
Dark Matter glares hatefully at Kirby, ignoring the pain as streams of light start flying from it's body. Then, it spots Ruby out of the corner of her eye. The being of pure darkness slowly turns towards, staring blankly as its body explodes in a torrent of brightly colored stars.
Now Playing… Victory Dance - Long (Kirby and the Forgotten Land)
Kirby performs his signature dance as he drops the Stone ability, urging the rest of his friends to join him. The three students collapse however, letting out a breath of air that they didn't know they were holding in. "Let's… never do that again!" Jaune says, as Pyrrha begins to wake up.
Kirby's smile drops when he sees that they aren't dancing.
"Where are we? Did I miss anything?" She slurs, rubbing the tiredness out of her eyes. The three humans glare halfheartedly at her.
"No… not much…" Weiss groans.
"Alright then. So, how are we getting out of here?"
—
With a little ingenuity (Read: Kirby inhaled all of them and spit them out of the hole) they managed to escape from the underground temple. Ruby took one look at the giant door, and turned towards her unconscious sister a second later.
"Yang!" Ruby cried, shaking the brawler's shoulder. Her older sister slowly picked herself up, gingerly rubbing the back of her head.
"Oww… What the heck was that?" She muttered, half-lidded eyes staring at her. Yang extended her hand and gently brushed her fingers above her right eye. "When did you get that scar?" She asked, voice cracking slightly.
"Hmm? Oh, just some really tough grimm. Don't worry, we beat it!" Ruby cheered. Yang frowns, but slowly smiles.
"Atta girl!" She says, trapping Ruby in a headlock and starts noogieing her.
"No, wait! Please! Kirby, help me!"
—
Now Playing… Castle Village 3 (Team Kirby Clash Deluxe)
"Pyrrha, you are okay, right? That light show with you and Kirby was really freaky. Pretty, but also sort of freaky!" Nora whispered. The redhead looked around, and slightly confused at their worried looks.
"As I told you before, I'm fine! I'm sorry for making all of you worry," She said, bowing slightly.
"You don't have to apologize. We're partners, aren't we?" Jaune asked. "It's part of our job to worry about each other!"
"Yes, I suppose you're right."
"So, are you gonna try to unlock Kirby's aura again? Jaune said he was pretty strong without it, but imagine how much tougher he can be with a semblance!" Nora exclaimed.
Pyrrha nodded. She agrees with that sentiment, but there are two problems that she'd half to address.
First: Kirby doesn't have a soul, she was sure of it. That light show the others keep mentioning, that was simply Kirby's pure, unadulterated power. Born from love and happiness, his only goal is to spread the joy of life to everyone he meets. He is effectively the exact opposite of the grimm in that regard.
And second, if those small snippets of his memories are to be believed…
"Well, I want to control Pop Star!"
"You see, true beauty… is control."
"A new age shall begin–an age of infinite prosperity."
"RISE, VOID TERMINA!"
"EVERYTHING. SHALL BE. CONSUMED."
"The time has come for the ENTIRE UNIVERSE to bow down to me!"
"You know, I think Kirby will be just fine without Aura," Pyrrha says with a smile.
"Alright, if you say so," Jaune shrugs. He suddenly flinches and slaps the back of his neck. "I think a mosquito bit me…"
"Jaune Arc. Lie Ren. Pyrrha Nikos. Nora Valkyrie." The four students turn their attention towards the center of the room. Standing in the middle of the auditorium was Beacon's newest Professor of Pop Star Practical Combat, Meta Knight. The Mage Sisters, each of them teaching Pop Star Culture and Lore, floated beside him.
Meta Knight's cape turned into a pair of bat wings, and floated in the air to face the new Team. "You four have retrieved the white rook. You are now members of Team JNPR, led by Jaune Arc." The knight's eyes turned green as he stared at the new leader.
"Wait, what?" Jaune mouthed. Pyrrha gave him a pat on the back as they stumbled off the center of the stage, trying his best to ignore Meta Knight's gaze burning at the back of his neck.
"For our last team of the day: Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Yang Xiao Long." Meta Knight announced. The girls made their way up to Meta Knight. He silently studied the group that stood before him, taking particular notice of Ruby.
"You collected the white knight pieces. You will all work together as Team RWBY, led by…" Meta Knight's eyes changed color once more, to a shade of light purple, "Ruby Rose."
Yang leapt towards Ruby, and captured her in a tight bear hug. Weiss looked slightly disgruntled at the fact she wasn't a leader, but didn't say anything. Blake pretended not to notice the small that was forming on her face.
As the newly dubbed Team walked down from the platform, Meta Knight sighed.
"Those silver eyes… Where have I felt such power before?" The Star Warrior muttered under his breath.
Castle Village 3 - Fade Out
…
"Y'know, as much as I dislike working under a hag like Salem…" Nightmare began, holding a small vial of Ruby's blood, "She does make some great toys to play with!" The wizard snaps his fingers, creating a black and white seed shaped like a crescent moon.
"Hey, I got some of the girl's DNA!" Nightmare said to his communication device.
"Excellent." Star Dream replied. "Plans have changed. We will create something superior to a simple clone. There is a target that I need to study. I am sending the coordinates to it now."
Nightmare waited a few seconds, and took out a small tablet device from his cloak. "Penny Polendina, eh? Interesting…
"Well, I'm off! Sweet, innocent, underaged girls aren't going to kidnap themselves!" Nightmare cackled, opening a portal to Nova. Before he went through it, the wizard took one more look at the school, and gave it a big toothy grin.
"Sweet dreams, Jaune Dork…"
—
Castle Village 3 - Fade In
"Alright, our dorm room should be right around the corner…" Ruby muttered, touching the new scar above her eye.
"You've already said that three times," Weiss huffs.
"Am sure of it this time! It really is… Chef Kawasaki? What're you doing here?"
The orange oval creature turned around. "Oh, hi there. Don't mind me, I'm just looking for the rapscallion that ate all of my ingredients! I was supposed to make celebratory souffles for everybody after that test of yours, but somebody managed to swipe everything and run off!" Kawasaki explained.
"Wait, really? You need some help catching the guy? I'm sure I can teach him a lesson about stealing!" Yang said, punching into an open palm.
"Thanks for the offer! But it's just some food. I can always buy some more later. See you girls later!" The chef tipped his hat, and walked away, as the girls waved goodbye.
"See, I told you I'd find it!" Ruby said as they walked further down the hall.
"Ah! Home sweet what the heck?"
Now Playing… Fawful is There (Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story)
Sleeping on one of the four beds was a pink, spherical creature lacking any arms and wearing brown shoes, a red bow, and a red and blue jester's hat with triangle and circle designs. The small alien had crumbs all over his mouth, and was snoring rather loudly.
"Hey!" Yang shouted, startling the creature and causing him to fall off the bead.
"Ehh…? Wuzzat?" He muttered. The being sleepily turned his gaze on the four girls, inspecting each of them with an unnaturally sharp gaze.
"What's the matter?" Marx asked with a smug grin on his face, slowly turning towards Blake. "Cat got your tongue?"
Opponent: Bone-Plated Prancer - Grimmydillo
Information - Grimmydillo, just like all Dream Grimm, was created when a miniscule portion (If we compare Zero to a living organism, then it would probably be a cell) of the Dark Matter hivemind infected one of the Grimm Pools scattered across the world. Much like his Forgotten World counterpart, he was instructed by Nightmare to hunt down and capture Ruby Rose, in order to use her for the Dream Villains twisted experiments. Grimmydillo prefers to break dance as opposed to Sillydillo, who can only waltz. He's not much better at dancing, however.
A new Dream Friend has been made, Champion of Mistral - Pyrrha Nikos!
"Do you believe in destiny?"
Pyrrha is one of the strongest incoming students ever! She's won a really big tournament, and did it three more times! She can never lose a fight! Never ever! Not in a million years!
MUSICAL THEME - Forever Fall (RWBY)
FINAL SMASH - Not Learned
A new Dream Friend has been made, The Stoic Ninja - Lie Ren!
"Not that I'm complaining, but don't I only have two lines of dialogue in this chapter?"
Renny has been Nora's bestest friend for a long time now! Any friend of hers is a friend of his! And there's definitely no romantic tension between them! None at all!
MUSICAL THEME - Boop (RWBY)
FINAL SMASH - Not Learned
Next Chapter…
Meta Knightmare Classroom!