Chapter 8
Hey! I'm kinda back! So this chapter was the most difficult thing I've ever written. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
BTW every line is a change of character perspective.
"What do you mean there's been a breach?!" Qrow growled
"I meant every word!" Glynda snapped back at him "Somehow an enormous hole appeared in the middle of Vale and the Grimm on the old tunnel of mountain Glenn are now swarming the city!" the four of them started walking fast to the elevator
"Are you saying that there are tunnels under Vale that are filled with Grimm?!" Jaune asked and all he received was a nod from Glynda that didn't turn around "Why in heavens name you build tunnels below Vale!"
"Mt. Glenn was an attempt to expand Vale. The tunnels below the city were the easiest way to communicate both settlements. When Mt. Glenn fell we had to seal the tunnels to stop the Grimm from reaching the city" Ozpin explained while he almost destroyed the button on the elevator "The thing here Mr. Arc is that, the way the tunnels were sealed was meant to stop even Goliaths" that made Qrow narrow his eyes
"Are you saying that someone made the hole in the city?"
"It's possible. At least I hope that the other possibility in mind isn't"
"What are you talking about Ozpin?" Glynda asked with wide eyes, Jaune answered with a whisper and eyes as wide as plates
"A Grimm far more powerful than a Goliath" the tension on the elevator grew in a second, and the rest of the small travel on the elevator was made in silence. Reaching Ozpin's office, the headmaster started to tell the orders
"Glynda dispatch all teams from second year onwards. Tell them to prioritize the safety of the civilians, where is James right now?"
"After the alarm went off he went back to his ships to deploy Atlas military" Ozpin nodded at her and Glynda turned around and used her scroll to transmit the new orders for the students.
"Glynda go with the students, protect everyone you can, Qrow I need you in the sky, anything that gets too far you turn it back or you turn it to ash, I'll stay here to protect Amber" both nodded "Jaune you'll need to stay here, you're almost out of aura" Jaune eyes widened
"What?" Jaune Shouted "I'm not going to stay here when everyone is out there risking their lives"
"Jaune even with your massive reserves, you're barely above the single numbers, you already did a lot for Vale- no. You already made a lot for Remnant, if you go to the city, the odds wouldn't be on your favor" Jaune just sighed
"Headmaster I'm not your student you can't stop me, and even If you forbid me the use of the bullheads I can reach vale in ten minutes at top speed, of course, I would need to use aura and honestly I would like to save all the aura I can" Jaune turned to the elevator and pushed the button "And the odds haven't been on my favor for five years, and I'm here so" he entered the elevator and waited for Qrow and Glynda
"I really like this kid, Oz" Qrow said with a laugh entering the elevator, Ozpin and Glynda sighed
"Be careful" was the last thing Ozpin said before the elevator doors closed
"All teams available are on their way right now, their ETA is five minutes and we'll be arriving in fifteen minutes" Glynda murmured
"That's a lot of time, a lot of people would die" Jaune knuckles went white, he was considering just leaping out of the bullhead and run at his top speed, five minutes was a lot of time when people lives were in danger, he was now in full battle attire the only difference was that he had a dark blue cloak over his shoulders
"I understand how you feel Jaune, but there is not much we can do but prepare for the fight," Glynda said looking at the horizon "The only positive side of this is that Atlas military already deployed on the city, with a little of luck they'll have everything under control and we just need to handle the few that escaped"
Jaune wanted to believe her, he really did, but the way her eyes were narrowed and with how much strength she was holding her riding crop, he couldn't. The next few minutes in silence felt longer than they should. The voice of the pilot brought Jaune out of his head.
"We're almost there, ETA 1 minute" Jaune stood beside Glynda and Qrow and when the bullhead flew above the last mountain he felt his heart drop. Columns of smoke rose above the buildings of the city
"Dear God" was the last thing Jaune heard Glynda whisper before he jumped out of the ship.
He put a crater on the floor where he landed and the low use of his aura made his legs hurt, he steeled himself and ran like a madman putting just enough power on his legs to reach the border of the city in seconds.
"I should have come running!" Jaune berated himself "No point in thinking about that now, I need to get there as fast as I can" Entering the city Jaune encountered the first stragglers.
The two Beowulf turned to see a white blur approaching them but before they could even snarl at it their heads were falling from their shoulders. Jaune didn't spare a look at the fallen monsters, he keeps running and looking everywhere, but surprisingly there were not a lot of Grimm on his path, he just encountered maybe ten or twelve more monsters that fell at his sword
"The huntsmen and military must have kept the monsters in the inner city," he said to himself after a few more Beowolfs and a pair of Ursas. Turning on the corner of one building he saw the line of defense, Robots and people in white armor were shooting at the monsters keeping them at bay
Jaune runs at their position, leaping over them ignoring their shouts. when he touched the ground he was received by a Deathstalker throwing its stinger at him, Jaune dodged to the side and in a swift motion he removed the deathly appendage of the Grimm, then meanwhile the Grimm screeched in pain, Jaune jumped over the head of the monster burying his sword on it and twisting it, rapidly dispatching it. He jumped again and kept running to the center of the city.
Behind him, he left a group of Atlas soldiers completely flabbergasted looking at the disappearing corpse of the Grimm
Jaune kept running killing every monster in sight, thankfully the few Grimm that stood on his way were just Beowolfs and Creeps, he didn't stop until a Red blur fighting alongside a warrior in bronze appeared on his sight, he couldn't hide the little smile on his face, he has reached his friends.
When she woke up Pyrrha just hoped for another peaceful day on Beacon, enjoying the company of her friends and… Jaune, the blonde young man quickly ingraining himself on her life, at speeds she couldn't know were possible.
But like a bucket of cold water, the reality had other things planned. When the sirens blasted from the city all of them were stunned a few seconds, the voice of their headmistress saying that all students from the second year above were required in the city as soon as possible snapped all of them from their stunned state.
Five minutes later several bullheads were on their way to the city, she was finishing adjusting her armor and looking at her friends, at her right Ren was checking the magazines on his submachine guns with a concentrated look, besides him her other teammate Nora was looking outside the ship, her bubbly and hyper personality tamed under a mentality of focus, it was always a weird sight, of course, she knew that when they touched the floor Nora would become the description of Grimm annihilation.
Looking in front of her, their sister team was preparing too. Yang checking the shotgun shells on her gauntlets, Blake with her legs crossed on the floor of the bullhead and eyes closed in full concentration, Weiss and Ruby were talking about formations, Pyrrha smiled at the leader of team RWBY she would gladly admit that even with three years leading team PNR, the little reaper was a better leader than her, she could come with plans and strategies on the span of a few seconds, while Pyrrha had to prepare everything beforehand
"So Ruby, what's the plan of action?" It was normal that in situations like this one that was so sudden Ruby should call the shots
"There is no much we can plan. Even if I want to we don't know the magnitude of the breach so I was thinking about the same teams we use when we're in joint missions" Pyrrha nodded so that meant Weiss, Yang and Blake then Ren and Nora and finally her with Ruby
"Are you sure that you don't want to stay with your team?" Pyrrha asked frowning a little "I understand and even if sometimes I end a bit by myself I know that your or my team would lend me a hand if I'm on a tight situation"
"Pyrrha we already discussed that, is the best formation!" Ruby said smiling "And please at this point we're practically one big team" Ruby got close to her conspiratorially "And Weiss is a bit Crabby because she didn't have her food" a "hey!" of an indignant Heiress was heard on the back
Pyrrha just chuckled with a light dust on her cheeks, whenever they were on joint missions, she and Ruby tended to stick together even when she said to her that she didn't have to, apparently the small leader of team Ruby decided that she was her provisional partner and that made Pyrrha happy
"We're arriving at the city prepare for the drop!" the voice on the speakers made everyone stand up. When they looked at the city their eyes widened, apparently Atlas military made a barrier around the middle of the city so the outskirts of Vale were practically fine, but in the middle of the city they could see pillars of smoke rising in the sky
"Drop us the closer you can to the city!" Pyrrha shouted at the pilot
A few moments later they were falling, Pyrrha couldn't help the frown from her face when she saw the massive hole in the middle of the city, it was massive and the crater swallowed a few buildings. Using their landing strategy they all reached the floor crouching and separated in their units.
It felt like the forest all over again, just how many Grimm were crawling of that crater! She and Ruby moved around the battlefield culling every Grimm on their path, Pyrrha looked around to her other friends, Yang and Blake killing every monster that approached them while Weiss was in the middle of them firing dust at everything in sight the heiress not moving much but the Glyphs around her fired at an amazing speed.
Searching for her teammates she couldn't help but smile at the amazing teamwork they were displaying no opening was left uncovered by their partner. She ducked the swipe of an Ursa and Ruby appeared beside her cutting it in a half, when a Beowolf lunged at Ruby she shot it down with her rifle
Their teamwork wasn't as refined as the other ones but in her opinion, they made a great team, they kept their assault on the monsters that seemed endless when a scream made her heart skip a beat.
Looking for the source of it her heart almost dropped to the floor when she saw a small child running and jumping inside of a big dumpster, closing the lid of it fast, behind the running child was a Beowolf that started swiping its massive claws at the only shelter of the kid
"Ruby, There is a kid on that dumpster!" she shouted grabbing the attention of Ruby who was in the second floor of a building using her sniper rifle, she saw the eyes of the Reaper go wide before she used her semblance to reach the kid, not noticing the Alpha Beowolf about to jump at her from an upper floor of the building
Pyrrha's mind went into overdrive she aimed her javelin at the creature but before she could throw her weapon she felt another Grimm approaching her from her left side, she gritted her teeth knowing she wouldn't be able to dodge the monster about to attack her and throw her weapon to help Ruby "This is going to hurt" She thought to herself using all her might to shot her javelin at the Monster that was about to fall on her friend
She raised her shield to block as much as she could from the attack of the Grimm on her left, gritting her teeth and closing her eyes to receive the impact that… never came. Quickly opening her eyes she saw the Grimm- an Ursa Mayor being bisected by a massive Black claymore. She couldn't stop the smile forming on her face, looking at the grinning face and deep sapphire eyes on Jaune.
"Sorry for the wait Pyrrha" he said stopping at her side
"Took you long enough" Pyrrha joked "I started to think you got lost or something"
"Yeah took the wrong turn on Albuquerque, sorry about that" she just shook her head, the voice of Ruby made her turn around, she was running at her with the small child crying on her right arm and Milo on her left hand
"Thanks for the save Pyrrha" again her cheeks dusted a little thanks to the beaming smile Ruby was sending her "I have to take him to the barrier of the Atlas military," Said Ruby gesturing the sobbing child she was carrying. Jaune go close to them removing the blue cloak he was wearing, and put it over the small child shoulders
"You were a very brave kid, you'll become an amazing Huntsman in the future," he said while patting him between the small bear ears on his head. The small Faunus gripped the cloak like a lifeline and nodded shakily at them
"I'll take him to the border. Could you stay with Pyrrha, Jaune?" Ruby started running to the outskirts of the city after receiving a quick nod from Jaune
"You're good comforting children," She said to Jaune who smiled sadly
"Out there the kids are the one that tend to suffer more, so I had a lot of practice" she heard Jaune whisper, then he shook his head and turned at her with a little smile "So what it's the plan oh fearless leader of team PNR" she couldn't stop the small chuckle
"I got your back if you got mine" Pyrrha felt her cheeks blush again looking at the big grin Jaune sent at her
"You got it, Pyrrha"
For the first time since her partner left Pyrrha felt… no even before that, she felt at ease having someone looking for her, even when partnered with Ruby she couldn't ignore how the young huntress sometimes lose focus trying to check on Weiss.
Pyrrha would never judge Ruby for that, even if the formation they used was the more useful, it's obvious that she wanted to check on her partner. With Jaune even if they've only been in two fights as Partners, which in her opinion were two of her more difficult and terrifying ones, she couldn't help but feel… complete.
Every move she made, Jaune was there to cover her blindsight, when Jaune overextended she moved to cover for his small miss, when a Grimm took surprised her it was quickly dispatched by Jaune sword. If her teamwork with Ruby was good, with Jaune it seemed they had the moves memorized, complimenting each other. "This is exactly how partners should fight" she couldn't help but think
She turned at the familiar sound of Crescent Rose being shot, Ruby was coming back, but she stopped a little looked at how she and Jaune were fighting, sent a thumbs-up at her way and rushed at her team. Pyrrha smiled at her "Of course she wanted to be with Weiss" Jaune appeared at her side cutting beheading a Beowolf that took advantage of her zone out.
"Don't lose Focus Pyr!" What is with this blonde making her blush like this "But I kinda like that nickname" Pyrrha took a deep breath and resumed the battle with a silly grin and a blush on her face.
The battle finally seemed to come to an end after what seemed hours, finally the flow of Grimm was ending, and all the teams and Atlas military were relieved.
"It seems that is finally ending Jaune," Pyrrha said while she removed her sword from an Ursa Mayor, in front of her Jaune was killing two Beowolfs with a wide swing of his claymore
"Yeah finally, now we need to check how in the hell the Grimm made this mess" She nodded and walked with him moving closer at the massive hole
"Please stand Back let Atlas military check this, you already help enough, you can rest now" A soldier stopped them on their tracks, Pyrrha turned to Jaune and he was looking at the soldier with a raised eyebrow, that seemed to make the poor soldier nervous. She understood the poor man, after all, they all probably saw how Jaune fought… and of course his massive claymore could make anyone uneasy "Please you earned your rest, let us take it from here"
Pyrrha nodded, took Jaune arm and started pulling him away from the nervous soldier
"Let's go back a bit Jaune, we should rest a little and wait for our friends" She saw him sigh and with a nod they walked back a few meters, letting a lot of Atlas soldiers check the crater, they reached a wall and turned back looking at the soldier that made them take a rest barking orders to the others, they also saw how some men were starting to go down the hole.
"They should not get down right now, it could be a lot of Grimm down there waiting" She felt how Jaune tensed and took notice that she was still grabbing his arm "He don't seem to mind" Pyrrha mused on her head
"Maybe but they are Remnant most powerful and advanced military they know what they are doing" Jaune seemed to consider her words because she felt him relax on her grasp, after a few moments she reluctantly released him "I should thank you Jaune for coming in our aid"
"Please Pyr don't thank me for that you're my friends, of course, I would come to help you" She went rigid when she felt a hand on her left shoulder, she turned at her left to see him but he wasn't looking at her, he was still looking at the soldiers but this time with a small smile that made her relax.
Acting on instinct she put her left hand on his lower back, still glancing at him looking for a sign of discomfort, but he just kept smiling a little "Anyways thank you Jaune" she whispered, they stood there for a while in comfortable silence. A snap of a picture and a loud voice startled them
"See Ruby I told you, they were fine and with that level of PDA, it seems they are more than fine" Yang wiggled her eyebrows at them. Both Pyrrha and Jaune blushed and separated in a small jump
"I'm sorry Pyrrha, I didn't notice and I- I" Jaune stammered
"No! I don't mind honestly if felt nice" her face turned the color of her hair "I mean!" she put her hands on her face. The laughter of her friends made her peek between her fingers and she started giggling at the dumb situation
"Well thankfully it's finally over, I was about to run out of dust" The heiress said changing the topic
"Yeah, it felt like the forest all over again!" Nora threw her arms in the air
"The question is how did the Grimm manage to made a hole in the middle of the city," Ren said
"That's what Atlas soldiers are checking" Jaune said "They seem very confident in themselves just jumping down a hole that could be filled with Grimm"
"Atlas is the most advanced military on Remnant, maybe they sent a few drones to check before dropping in" Blake said in her usual flat tone
"Is what I told him but he's still preoccupied" Pyrrha said patting Jaune's arm playfully
"Again with the PDA, they should be ashamed isn't it Rubes" Yang added smirking
Pyrrha turned to Ruby and arched an eyebrow at the weird look was throwing at her and Jaune, she tilted her head a little and that seemed to snap the small reaper out of her thinking state
"Yeah, that's filth he-he" Ruby said while scratching the back of her head
"Yeah, you okay there sis?" Yang asked and received a small nod from Ruby "Okay… yeah well, changing topics Jaune could you help us we're running on fumes here and I can swear that an Ursa stepped on my foot because it hurts a lot, could you, you know pump a bit of your white stuff on us"
"WHY DID YOU SAY IT LIKE THAT!" screeched Weiss while slapping Yang on the back of her head, her pale face was completely crimson. The heiress coughed on her hand a little "Please ignore my idiot of a teammate, the battle is over we just need a shower and a little rest and we'll be fine"
"Don't worry Weiss, it seems that Yang hasn't changed a bit since signal" Jaune chuckled, but his cheeks were completely red "I would gladly help you with my semblance but like you, I'm running on fumes too" That made Pyrrha look at him a little surprised something that he seemed to notice. He took his scroll from his pocket and handed it to Pyrrha
"Jaune you're almost at zero!" Pyrrha gasped looking at his aura meter that was at two percent, the rest of her friend's eyes went wide
"Yeah remember when Ozpin called me after Professor Port class?" They all nodded "Well he needed my help with something that required the use of my semblance I came here with maybe seventeen or eighteen percent" he said with a hand on his chin, like he was making the math
Pyrrha was about to say how dumb his actions were, but Ren beat her walking at him and putting a hand on his shoulder
"Jaune we may not know you for more than a few days but I can easily tell you that we consider you our friend. An as a friend I have to tell you that you coming here with that little aura was a stupid decision" Pyrrha saw Ren's hand gripping Jaune's shoulder with a little more strength "We really appreciate your help Jaune don't misunderstand us, but please be careful with your actions, I wouldn't like this friendship to end like that" Ren said smiling and Jaune cheeks reddened a bit
"Thanks Ren, I know it was dumb from me, but honestly I would have felt awful if I didn't come here to help my friends," Jaune said putting his hand on Ren's shoulder
"I'll end up losing Ren to Jaune" Nora whispered with her knees and hands on the floor, Pyrrha never saw her that defeated, while Blake was typing quickly on her scroll not moving her eyes from the scene
"As beautiful this scene is" Weiss was interrupted by Nora small whine "I think Atlas military had this handled we should head back to Beacon I really want a shower"
"Please do Ms. Schnee we'll handle it from here" Professor Goodwitch was approaching them "You've earned it, classes will restart again in two days when we have this handled" They all nodded at her headmistress who stopped in front of Jaune
"Hey Glynda, good to see you're all right"
"I can say the same about you Jaune. It seems that Ozpin was wrong. The odds were in your favor here" If the familiarity that Jaune displayed with Glynda surprised them, hearing Glynda Goodwitch, The headmistress of beacon laugh a little under her hand, hade everyone with their mouths open
"Please don't Jinx us, Glynda!" Jaune said with his arms on the air
"Please as if the guardian of the borders would be afraid of anything" Glynda chuckled again and started walking at the Atlas soldiers "Take a rest Jaune you have made enough for Remnant in one day"
Pyrrha saw Jaune became practically a tomato and couldn't help but think if it was for the name Professor Goodwitch called Jaune or the sultry smile she sends his way… Pyrrha hoped the reason was the former.
"We should come back now I really want to take a shower too and if we get back fast maybe we'll get more food from the cafeteria too!" Pyrrha said getting a nod from her friends they started walking when the floor started trembling
"Yup I can see my gravestone very clear, here lays Jaune Arc, loved Son and brother, Guardian of the borders, he died at the hands of a sultry smile and he died happy" he heard Pyrrha saying something about shower and food, they started walking when he felt the floor moving "I KNEW IT! SHE JINXED US!"
When Jaune turned around he went pale in a second, all the soldiers were falling back at their direction, even Glynda leaped a good fifteen meters back in hurry, his heart dropped to the floor when he saw the massive claw coming from the crater.
"FALL BACK EVERYONE FALL BACK!" Glynda shouted "IT'S A-!" she was interrupted by a mighty and terrifying roar from the beast
"An Elder Wyrm" Jaune whispered looking with eyes as wide as plates at the creature. A four-legged snake looking monster that was at least twenty meters long, its back and body was almost completely plated in bone armor, horns and spike ran on the back of the creature "We need to move NOW!" Jaune shouted at them
"What the fuck is that?!" Yang screamed while trying to make more distance from the monster. When they were almost a hundred meters from the creature, Jaune looked back as Atlas soldiers were shooting at the creature, who in revenge started gathering electricity on its maws
"GET ON THE FLOOR!" Jaune shouted at them, the group immediately dropped on the floor when a massive explosion behind them made the earth tremble, the shockwave made everyone almost fly into the air
"GLYNDA!" Jaune shouted and ran into the smoke looking for the headmistress "GLYNDA CAN YOU HEAR ME!" a small shimmer of purple took Jaune attention, he found her with her crop raised and a broken Glyph in front of her, her clothes were a little torn from the explosion, he could see the trembling of her hand. Using the little aura he had on his legs he dashed at full speed at Glynda "I need to take her out of here before the smoke disappears!" He looked around "She's the only survivor dammit!"
He grabbed her bridal style and dashed at his friends, bullheads dashed through the air while shooting their miniguns in the direction of the monster, an explosion on the air made Jaune grimace, reaching the rest of his friends, he saw the fear on their eyes, after all, how could they not have fear, an Elder Wyrm was an S rank Grimm.
"What is that Jaune" Ruby whispered at him while he placed the headmistress on the floor
"That's an Elder Wyrm and a very powerful one" Jaune reached for his pouch and withdrew a small vial and put it on Glynda's nose a few seconds later she gasped recovering conscious
"Wha- What happened?" she asked still dizzy suddenly her eyes widened in realization she patted her body "I'm alive" she whispered "how?"
"Jaune ran to save you" Ruby said in a whisper
"You somehow managed to block the attack," Jaune said "It seems that the Wyrm is going south so we're safe for now… Atlas soldiers are gone"
"Headmistress, what do we need to do?" Pyrrha said in a worried tone
Before answering she looked for her scroll only to not find it on herself "First of all please lend me your scroll Ms. Nikos quick!" Pyrrha as quickly as possible handed her the device, they all saw her put some commands on the scroll and a few moments later the scroll almost dropped from her trembling hand "Teams ARGN and MGNT fell" She said in almost a whisper
The news were like a bucket of frozen water for everyone Team ARGN was a second-year team and MGNT were fourth year, in silence they all saw Glynda Typing again
"This is Glynda Goodwitch, we have a code RED, an Elder Wyrm appeared in the middle of Vale, I'm requesting every active hunter on the zone and the Valean Army, I repeat this is a code RED!" Glynda shouted at the scroll before closing it and turning at his students "You need to leave the city is already evacuated so you need to get to Beacon and get to safety" she said while standing up trembling a bit
"But if we leave Vale would be destroyed we can help you need all the hands you can get!" Ruby said
"Yeah I can say that it took us by surprise but now we know what we're against, we can do this" Yang said punching her fists together
"I said we break its legs… wait does it could slither like a snake too?" Nora chirped losing herself in her thoughts
"This treat is not something you are qualified to take on. You would be only putting yourself and your teammates in lethal danger" she checked Pyrrha's scroll again "Hunter and the Valean army are already on their way here, they should be here in ten minutes"
"You and I know that ten minutes is a lot of time Glynda" Jaune said grabbing everyone's attention "But at the same time you're correct this is practically a suicide mission"
"I'm glad that you see my point Jaune please take the next bullhead to Beacon with Team RWBY and PNR you should get to safety" Jaune chuckle made her stop
"Glynda I'll say to you the same thing I said to Ozpin, I'm not your student" Jaune saw Glynda eyes widen and knew she was about to retort when another voice appeared
"Jaune you're almost out of Aura you can't fight like that!" Pyrrha said while grabbing him by the shoulders, Jaune just chuckled again
"I still have… an ace on my sleeve Pyr" Jaune said grimacing thinking about how he'll need the curse to help, he looked at Glynda who shook her head
"I don't want your death to haunt me Jaune, I have enough of those already," Glynda said with a sad frown
"Don't worry Glynda I won't die today, I have a lot of things to do, and I have a plan" That took Glynda attention "The worst have already passed that beam the Wyrm used needs to much time to recharge, of course, the teeth and claws are terrifying but we can dodge those, we have two options from here, we stall the fight as much as we can, or… we try to take it down"
"Whose we are you talking about Jaune" Glynda asked with narrowed eyes
"Glynda you know them more than I do. Do you really expect them to leave?" Jaune turned to both teams smiling all of them had their eyes filled with determination, Glynda looked at her students and her head dropped
"Tell me about this plan of your Jaune before I use my semblance to put every one of you on a bullhead myself" Glynda said through gritted teeth
"Yeah it's pretty straightforward, we need to lift its body enough and blast a hole on its heart that is right between its upper legs, there is no bone planting there because if it loose its legs, the creature" he turned to Nora "can slither"
"I KNEW IT!" Nora screamed
"That plan has a lot of flaws and you know it Jaune" Glynda's anger was palpable "We'll be going in a suicide mission!"
"That's the risk we have every time we're on a mission Miss Goodwitch" The small reaper had a sad smile on her face "But I think that is so simple that it could work!" Glynda looked at her and the rest of the students and Jaune she couldn't help but sigh at them
"We have one shot on this. tell us your plan quickly!" Jaune grinned at her
"Are you sure about this Jaune? You are practically at zero aura, any hit you take…could kill you" Pyrrha practically whispered the last part. They were running on top of the few buildings that stood on the path of the Wyrm
"I know Pyr but we have to do something, in ten minutes half of the city of Vale would be in ruins" They were getting closer the sound of Machine guns and the roar of the Wyrm were getting louder every second
"Please be careful… I- I don't want to lose you" Jaune couldn't help but grin at her
"You won't lose me Pyr, and after we survive here I would make everything in my power to stay close to you" Jaune smiled "Pyrrha seems to need another friend so I'll try to be there if she ever needs me" Jaune mused on his head, meanwhile Pyrrha eyes widened and her face turned a beautiful shade of red
"Yo-You promise?" Jaune just nodded firmly and smiled at her
"We need to take positions we're almost there, see you in a bit Pyr" Jaune jumped to another building leaving behind a very red-faced but incredibly happy Pyrrha behind
Everyone scattered to their positions as Glynda said they only had one shot at this. Jaune was running with Ren on the buildings on the right side of the Wyrm while Blake, Nora, and Yang were on the left side, with the five of them on their positions they just needed to wait for the exact moment
And that moment appeared in the form of three Atlas Bullheads that appeared in front of the Wyrm using their powerful machine guns, to no avail they weren't doing any damage, two missiles exploded on the head of the Grimm who roared in rage.
"NOW" a green-eyed Jaune shouted on his scroll and the plan was put into action, Blake threw her weapon right between the jaws of the roaring monster, using the dust infused ribbon that seemed to extended all over the other building where Ren caught the weapon and threw it to Jaune. "PULL WITH EVERYTHING YOU HAVE!" Jaune roared
Glynda Jumped in front of the creature and called for her semblance, using all her power to help the ones pulling the creature back and preventing the use of its front legs
"Come on a little more come on!" Jaune thought gritting his teeth. He felt the creature trying to free itself but Glynda's semblance was helping them to keep the monster movement at bay. He looked at the creature one more time and shouted for the last part of the plan "FIRE!"
Behind Glynda, three huntresses aimed their attack. Weiss summoned five Glyphs and shot a barrage of elemental energy, Ruby was on one knee aiming her high caliber sniper rifle shooting gravity dust infused bullets and Pyrrha was using her semblance on every bit of metal she could grasp throwing it at the Grimm.
Jaune knew that the attacks hit their mark when the Grimm roared in pain, he could feel how the creature was using all its power to move from the attacks, when he felt his feet moving, he opened more of the gate where he had the curse locked and his green eyes started to catch green fire.
"Come on just a bit more, we're doing it! We'll win!" Jaune thought, just before every thought in his mind went into despair. He and Ren fell on their backs, the ribbon snapped.
When Ruby heard Jaune's plan she couldn't help but feel impressed, she didn't know if it was because it was a well-organized plan that he came with, assessing everyone in their group, or because it's the most crazy and suicidal plan she has ever heard in her life
When Jaune shouted the beginning of the plan she was completely amazed when the Wyrm stopped on its tracks and its head snapped back from the strength of her friends. At first, she hesitated when Jaune said that Nora, Yang, and Blake should be in a team while he and Ren would be on the other side.
Ren and Blake were their more agile ones on their teams, they were strong but Nora and Yang were way stronger than those two, which meant Jaune would be pulling with strength similar to the two powerhouses on their teams. But when she voiced her concerns to Jaune he simply said
"I'm way stronger than I look Ruby" While flashing a bright smile. Normally she would object but something inside told her that she could trust her new blonde friend, maybe the weird feeling on her stomach meant that he earned her trust.
Then, after the amazing feat of her friends, she witnessed the reason why Glynda Goodwitch was feared among the hunters in training on Beacon and even full fletched huntsmen. The Grimm was enveloped in a purple aura and the front of its body went upwards.
At her side Weiss was preparing her Glyphs that shone brighter than ever, she felt the pouch on her back tremble a bit and turned her head to see Pyrrha with her hands raised, a dark aura coming from them. The metal on the rubble at their sides started to rotate around Pyrrha. For Ruby that was the first time seeing the amazing power and control Pyrrha had on her semblance.
A roar coming from Jaune made her snap back to the monster, looking at the target on position, it was their turn they couldn't miss this opportunity, opening fire she felt her knee almost bury on the pavement, the piercing gravity infused bullets were really strong
"Come one, go down, go down!" she growled through gritted teeth, while she recharged she could see that they were doing a lot of damage to the monster, a hole on its scaled skin. She could practically see the heart of the damn thing.
A sudden movement on the monster made her heart drop to the floor. Blake's ribbon snapped, when the beast turned its head at them she could see the energy oozing from its maw.
"IT'S GOING TO SHOOT ITS BEAM AT US! MS. SCHNEE BARRIER!" Glynda shouted and she saw her partner dash beside the Headmistress, using their weapons to create a massive Blue and purple Glyph. Ruby saw the last the power of that beam. She knew that they were goners.
Ruby felt something growing in her, she felt her eyes burn and something inside her was trying to burst free.
Everything inside her came to a halt when she saw a figure jumping off a building. Her mind went into overdrive trying to put together what her eyes were seeing.
The monster was about to blast them to nothing, Jaune jumped from the building with his fist raised and was about to punch the powerful Grimm "Wait since when Jaune has a Black Gauntlet-" The punch Jaune delivered forced close the mouth of the Grimm before it could release its beam making it explode inside the monster Jaws.
The explosion was massive destroying the barrier of the headmistress and her partner. She was flung back in the air several meters before her body crashed on a wall, she wanted to lose her conscious, everything on her body hurt but she knew she couldn't, she needed to verify that her friends and teacher were alive first.
Using all her willpower she looked around, the dust was dispersing slowly, a few meters at her right she saw Pyrrha who was trying to get up, looking through the dust she saw the bodies of Weiss and Ms. Goodwitch half-buried under the debris, her breath hitched, she looked around in desperation, until her eyes landed on Crescent Rose, she crawled as fast as she could, reaching her weapon she used the scope to check again on Weiss and Ms. Goodwitch
Crescent Rose dropped to the floor in relief when she saw the faint movement on their chests. When the dust finally settled she saw the monster on the ground unmoving, smoke rose from its jaws and Ruby finally let herself drop completely on the floor, they've won, they finally-
Then she felt a faint tremble on the floor, as is something heavy was getting dragged. Ignoring the pain on her body she turned her head just to see that the nightmare wasn't over, the stupid Grimm was getting up and was crawling at her Partner and Teacher
"No please no, someone please save us, save my friends please" she couldn't stop the tears falling from her eyes "I don't want to lose anyone please" The feeling treating to burst through her returned with vengeance "I want to protect my friends. I have to protect my friends!" Her eyes burned "I WON'T LET YOU HURT MY FRIENDS!" finally the dam inside her exploded.
She could feel it the power busting through her eyes, like a bomb blasting at the monster who roared in pain, but as soon as the power came, her body collapsed in exhaustion
"No, please, whatever it was that please keep going" Ruby whimpered, the trembling grew stronger and she turned at the Grimm who was crawling in her way, she chuckled "At least I gave Weiss and Ms. Goodwitch more time, the reinforcement should be close" She saw the Wyrm raise its head, opening its tarrying maws to end her life "I don't want to die" she whispered at nothing letting her last tears roll through her cheeks, she was closing her eyes when a black blur stopped between the monster and herself.
Everything felt fuzzy Jaune couldn't remember where he was or why he felt so much pain, trying to gather his thoughts under the cloud of dust was difficult. He shook his head "Of course the Grimm, I- I think I punch it" His eyes widened and looked at his full gauntlet arms "I'm not losing control, the curse… it didn't run wild" his head dropped on the debris he was sitting on
"It's over, that monster couldn't have survived that explosion" the floor started to tremble "Me and my stupid mouth. HOW THE HELL IS THAT THING ALIVE!" Jaune slowly got up from the debris "I need to take the rest of the group and get the hell out of here, it barely can move, it should be easy for the armies and the hunters deal with it" his legs almost gave up at his first step "Damn I'm completely out of aura and energy" he tried to move his legs one more time, but his legs failed him again
"Damn think Jaune think!" He clutched his head with his armored arms and his eyes widened "I can move my arms, they hurt but I can move them, should I try using more of the curse?" he pondered for a second when he saw a silver light on the distance, the Grimm roared and changed direction at the source of the light. His heart almost stopped when he saw the target of the beast "I don't have time for hesitation" Jaune closed his eyes and used all the control he trained over the years to will the curse on its legs manifesting another part of the armor
Jaune jumped into action, his body burned and his legs were wobbly but he started running, but to his dismay he knew he wouldn't reach Ruby in time "Shit, even using this much of the goddamn curse I'm not going to make it" he stumbled and fell to the floor
"No, come on Jaune move, you can't let her die, you're so close" he looked at the crawling monster and he felt it, the despair "I won't reach her in time", the anger "You won't touch her", the rage "I'll fucking kill you" every feeling he kept on leashes all those years finally were exploding on his head.
And when he saw the monster Jaws open to devour the small Rose, something inside him snapped all the gates, walls and chains inside his head crumbled and exploded in a second… and finally green flames consumed his body.
Pyrrha was crawling at Ruby, Trying to help her move after that silver light appeared from her eyes. She could feel one of her legs broken and maybe a few ribs, every inch she got closer to Ruby made her body scream in agony.
She saw the monster crawl at her fellow leader, and she couldn't help the tears falling from her eyes knowing she couldn't reach her time. When the monster finally opened its maws to devour her friend, she screamed in despair "RUBY NO!"
When the beast was about to tear Ruby apart, the miracle occurred, something stood between the Rose and the monster, no, not something someone
Pyrrha's eyes almost fell out her face at the sight in front of her. Stopping the movements of the monster was a dark armored figure. Every part of its body was covered in pitch-black armor.
Its clawed armored hands were holding tightly the teeth of the beast stopping it completely. Pyrrha's mind couldn't comprehend what was happening. Suddenly the armored figured roared and fling the head of the Wyrm to the side made it crash against the remains of a building. She couldn't stop the chill on her spine after hearing that monstrous roar and the sheer power the armored person demonstrated.
The armored figure jumped at the Grimm just to punch its head with enough strength to generate a shockwave that dissipated the rest of the dust on the air. She couldn't believe it this person was overpowering the Grimm like it was nothing, surely the Grimm was extremely wounded but what she was seeing shouldn't be possible.
The Elder Wyrm appeared to catch its second breath because it retaliated with a swing of its massive claws, sending the armored person crashing against other fallen buildings. The Grimm roared in defiance, just to crash against the floor again when the armored man appeared over its head and dealt a devastating double ax handle strike on the head of the monster.
Pyrrha felt lost, who was this man and how he had so much power. She was brought to the real world when she felt a gentle tug on her arm, Ruby was beside her with her Silver eyes widened surely as much as hers.
"Pyrrha what it's going on" whispered the small reaper
"I don't know Ruby" was all that Pyrrha could say, looking back to the fight she saw the armored man again punch the side of the head of the Grimm making it crash again, this time the Wyrm responded with a powerful lash of its tail making the man crash farther this time "We should move Ruby before it notices us" Ruby nodded dumbly at her
Pyrrha used Milo as a crutch to try and get up when a gasp from Ruby made her turn quickly, the armored man was running at the beast with a massive black Claymore in hand
"That's Jaune's weapon" The heart of the Spartan started going faster than ever, where was Jaune and the rest of her friends!
"No Pyrrha… I think that's Jaune" Pyrrha looked at Ruby like she suddenly grew a second head "When Blake's ribbon snapped I saw Jaune Jump at the Elder Wyrm… he had black gauntlets… those black gauntlets" Ruby said not moving her eyes from the fight
"Jaune…" Pyrrha whispered.
They saw the now recognized Jaune jump again against the Wyrm who attacked with one of its legs, just to be severed by the powerful swing from Jaune's weapon that pierced through bone and armor like it was butter
The Grimm roared in pain, but Jaune didn't stop the attack, he landed on the head of the roaring beast and buried his weapon to the hilt in the head of the Grimm, that even after having its head pierced refused to die.
Ruby and Pyrrha watched as Jaune twisted his sword on the Grimm head, and green fire started to appear on Jaune's armored arms, their eyes widened again when the fire went through the sword into the monster that screeched from being burned from the inside.
The monster seemed to vomit those terrifying green flames from every hole on its head and finally, after moments the creature collapsed and started to disappear
"He did it, he won!" Ruby cheered and wrapped her arms on Pyrrha crying loudly
"It's over, is finally over" Pyrrha hugged Ruby back, she heard steps behind her and turned to see hundreds of men from Vale and Atlas military with their guns prepared to attack "But it's over what are they doing" she finally looked around and on the few standing buildings where huntsmen and huntresses, easily recognized by their attire and weapons, that were aimed and ready "What are they aiming at? The Grimm is dead"
Her attention was brought back at the scene of the fight by a roar. Jaune was walking at them his right leg almost limping. On his right hand was half of his broken claymore. And finally, Pyrrha took a good look at her friend, the full plate armor was intimidating with all the edges and the pitch-black color, but what made her breath stop, was the helmet, and the green flames pouring out from where his eyes should be.
"STOP RIGHT THERE AND DROP YOUR WEAPON" behind her one of the soldiers barked at Jaune that halted for a second before continuing walking in their direction, "I SAID STOP AND DROP YOUR WEAPONS!" Jaune halted again and one armored hand gripped tightly the side of his helmet like he was in pain
Pyrrha looked at Ruby who understood quickly and nodded back at her, the small reaper helped her to get on her feet, and before the soldiers could say anything Ruby used what little aura she had on her semblance to get close to Jaune, stopping right in front of him.
"Hey Jaune you can stop now the fight is over we won," Ruby said in a low voice
"You did it Jaune you saved us. You don't have to fight anymore" Pyrrha whispered at the Black knight that wasn't moving, suddenly both girls saw his hand release the broken blade just to grip tightly his head with both hands. It seemed like he was in pain, like he was fighting something.
Both seemed to come to the same conclusion and flung their arms around his armored friend that stilled at their touch. After a few moments they felt his hands moving and for a brief moment their instincts screamed them to fly, before both felt his armored hands petting their heads
Both looked up and they were received by sapphire eyes inside a helmet that started dissipating like dust, a few moments later all traces of armor disappeared and Jaune returned the hug tightly
"Sorry to worry you guys, I seemed to lose my cool for a bit" he said grinning. But before they could answer a gruff voice appeared behind them
"Release the girls' kid" the three hugging teens looked at a wide-eyed Qrow that had his weapon ready to strike in scythe form "We need to talk"
A/N
Hey, guys, this chapter was… difficult, like a kick on the balls, I had it complete around two weeks ago but a buddy that helps me with the story made really good points and I decided to rewrite the whole thing.
I tried to keep it the chapter under 5k words but… I just kept writing and writing and I know its not my best work and I know I could do better but honestly, I kinda like how it went.
Well hopefully you'll like it a bit too