Chapter 2: The Bigger They Are…
Wind whistled peacefully through the leaves of the Emerald Forest, a quiet serenity filling the woods; birds chirping amongst the boughs of the trees, woodland critters mulling through the underbrush. Life continued its peaceful march onwards in undisturbed harmony.
The peace was unceremoniously broken as something large came flying through the depths of the forest, smashing through the trees hard enough to shatter large pieces of them, before it finally reached the end of its descent, form crashing into the dirt and brush hard, tumbling meters away until it finally slid to a stop.
Lance stared down at the dirt for a moment, a breath spilling out through his lips- before his face twisted into one of absolute fury, teeth gritting together as he smashed a fist into the ground, hissing a curse out into the chill, early spring air. He shot back to his feet, lashing out to pick his greatsword up off of the ground.
The huntsman- irritatedly smoothing his hair back down- turned on his heel to march steadfastly back the way he'd come, the slab of steel he called a sword balanced on his shoulder as he began to pick his way back through the trees, pushing through the thick underbrush, a scowl affixed firmly to his face.
He let out a high, sharp whistle as he broke through into the clearing. "I'm gonna skin ya and wear ya as a coat, you overgrown chimpanzee!" He roared, pace picking up.
Ulysses' gaze turned towards the swordsman, a snarl crawling across his face- and was promptly swatted aside in his momentary distraction by a gargantuan, inky fleshed hand, the considerably large huntsman comparably small next to the hulking fist, his dark-clad hand flying off to the side, smashing into the trunk of a tree, a bark of pain escaping his lips.
The gorilla-like grimm snorted, deep-set, unsettlingly intelligent eyes turning towards Lance, its massive shoulders squaring up towards the swordsman.
He snarled back at it, greatsword falling to hang behind him as his muscles coiled in preparation. It let out a roar- and Lance returned the call, pushing off of the ground as he charged towards the beast, his oversized slab of a sword waving out around him.
Its parts shifted as the two combatants, blade sliding back to reveal a large barrel, its depths glowing a faint blue. He dropped into a slide as the Beringel took a wide swipe at him, hulking mitt ripping through the soil with ease, the swordsman narrowly dodging the attack. He fired, and a brilliant blue explosion rocked the clearing, hurling him up into the air with immense speed, jacket rippling around him as he reached his apex near the crown of the grimm's head. It turned quickly to him, red eyes meeting blue- and a brilliant smirk split the blonde's face.
He lashed out with his greatsword, steel blade carving into the bony plate of the creature's face, burying itself deep into its inky flesh. It lashed out wildly, roaring in pain and fury, stumbling through the forest as it tried in vain to lose the huntsman. He braced himself against its head with both boots, leaning back as he gave the flailing beast a look over. His grin widened as he casually placed another blue capsule into his gun, finger tightening around the trigger-
He never got the chance to fire, as a mass of black iron and steel slammed into the Beringel's cheek, rocking both it and the huntsman straddling it, Lance tumbling from his perch, his grip on his sword lost as he plummeted back down to the earth, landing hard as he rolled away. Furiously, he brought his head back up, glaring across the battlefield as Ulysses charged forwards, black smoke curling up from his body, his flail zipping back towards him, heavy chain disappearing up his sleeve. The grimm turned towards him with a roar, pounding a monstrously sized paw into the dirt, before taking off after the dark huntsman.
Ulysses grit his teeth, his own expression one of animalistic rage- his hand struck out, flail flying from his grasp, swinging out around him as the creature neared him with frightening speed. He let out a bellow, spittle flying from his mouth, heavy boots digging into the dirt as he braced himself, the mace coming around- in the nick of time, crashing heavily into the side of the beast, doubling it over with a howl of pain.
He let out a snarl as he began to storm towards it, more and more smoke beginning to curl up from his body, the pupils of his eyes slowly expanding to fill the white of his sclerae. A growl rumbled out of his chest as he neared the rocked body of the Beringel, his chain beginning to slink back into the depths of his sleeve. He brought his hand back up, flail raising back into the air- and Lance's boot crashed into his shoulder, the other one finding its way to his head, before vaulting off, hurling towards the inky flesh of the grimm's arm. He gave the brooding huntsman behind him a sardonic grin before turning back to his task at hand, deftly beginning to scale the recovering grimm, vaulting up towards where his greatsword had been embedded into the beast's crown. The Beringel pushed itself back to its feet, hateful gaze turning to meet Ulysses' own burning expression, before its attention turned towards the rapidly ascending Lance, a hefty hand reaching up towards him-
Too late, though, as he reached the Iron Maw, his hand reaching out giddily for its handle, finger wrapping around the trigger; and fired.
The huntsman flew freely from the beast, greatsword back firmly in hand, crashing back down into the dirt, rolling away from the Beringel, a pained bellow echoing out through the forest. Before he could recover, though, a massive hand gripped the front of his coat, hefting him back to his feet, and then into the air.
Ulysses seethed at the swordsman, a growl escaping his lips. "Stay out of my way!" He barked.
Lance kicked off of his partner, raising his blade to glare down the brooding huntsman. "The feeling's mutual, bud!"
"You're not getting another warning!"
"And neither are you- so why don't you butt out and let the professional actually take care of this thing. Friggin' amateur-"
The larger huntsman let out a growl as he raised his hand into the air, Avenger clutched tightly into his hand. He didn't get the chance to strike, though, as the familiar black shape of the Beringel barreled towards them, the grimm's hands slapping them away, the partners tumbling towards opposite sides of the clearings.
It's gaze shot back and forth between them furiously as they recovered- blue eyes met black, and unanimously, they charged back into the fight.
It swung out first for Lance, the swordsman barely side-stepping the swipe, greatsword raised to swing; he was forced to drop low, however, as Ulysses' flail tore through the air, crashing into the retreating arm of the Beringel. The blonde popped back to his feet, glaring at his partner. He lashed out with Iron Maw wildly, nearly cleaving into Ulysses' neck, the edge of the blade ripping into the flesh of the grimm.
The larger huntsman, his eyes now pools of black, the smoke rising off of his body thick like a bonfire's, let out a savage, infuriated roar, both hands crashing into the swordsman's blade, tearing it back out of the beast, the hooked tip of the blade carving into the ground below. Ulysses lashed out with a punch, Avenger flying from his grip to impact hard with the Beringel's neck, the creature stumbling.
Without sparing his partner another look, he leapt from the ground, bolting like a black blur into the creature's head, both crashing into the ground, a massive cloud of dust flying into the air.
Lance scowled as he took off after the two combatants- only for one of the Beringel's hands to crash into him, sending him hurtling away. Ulysses' gaze shot to the side as his partner disappeared from view, his face twisted into one of effort; as the grimm bore down on him, mouth wide open, towering, sharp canines trying in vain to reach the huntsman's body, Ulysses' hands outstretched as he held the beast at bay, growling at the strain, a yell beginning to echo out from his chest.
"THAT'S IT!" Lance roared, both the fallen huntsman and the grimm freezing, dual gazes turning to the swordsman- where he stood a few short meters away, his gun raised in the air, his free hand glowing with a small blue sphere. He scowled down feverishly at his partner and opponent, caked in dirt, hair a mess. "KILLIN' YA BOTH!"
Without a moment of hesitation, he gripped his free hand into a fist, and fired Iron Maw.
"Anyhow," Oracle continued on, tossing her chess piece into the air casually. "I'd a thought that they'd a been proud of me; it's everything I'd ever dreamed about, anyways, but nah. They'd gotten it in their heads that I'd come out here and die. That's ridiculous, right?"
Shinai simply hummed quietly, eyes closed, while the partners picked their way back the way they'd come, marching steadfastly back towards the cliff overlooking the forest, prize in hand.
"Y'know, if I'm botherin' ya, just say somethin'."
"You're bothering me."
"Well, damn. You're cold-blooded, Captain O."
His gait slowed. "…Captain… O."
"Yeah, Ca-" She gasped. "You don't know who Captain friggin' Opossum is?"
"I… can't… you're going to tell me anyways."
"Tell- ooh, boy, I'm gonna educate the hell outta ya. You'll learn. You'll learn, and you'll like it."
He let out a quiet sigh. "…Mhm."
"I'm gonna break through that stony exterior sooner or later, boy. You better just get-"
Boom.
Shinai's eyes snapped open, and their attentions both turned towards the top of the tree line, as a massive, blue, spherical explosion rocked the forest, the top of the blast visible even from their distance.
The partner's exchanged glances, their minds made up unanimously, and they took off in mirror sprints through the forests.
Daria let out a quiet groan as she and her partner marched seemingly endlessly through the dark depths of the forest, the rhythmic sound of Phalanx walking beside her beginning to drone on. Her gaze turned up, to where Nash was perched atop his mech, sitting in the space its head would usually occupy, one leg hanging into the recess. He himself was slowly drifting off to sleep, one arm propping his head up, brilliant blue eyes fluttering as he tried in vain to stay awake.
"How are you holding up, up there?" She asked, breaking the silence.
He nodded slowly. "Mm…good."
"Falling asleep?"
"Mm…no. No'm not."
She shook her head, turning her gaze back towards the forest head. "…Sleep tight, bud."
"Mmkay… uh?" He roused slightly, staring down into the interior of Phalanx. "Whas… b-r-b." He dropped inside, disappearing from view.
Daria turned back up to him with a slight frown. "Na- what?" There was a few beats of silence- before Phalanx's head returned to its position, one arm striking out in front of his partner, getting the girl to stop, jumping slightly. "I'm sorr-"
"Stop." He muttered out lowly, voice reclaiming its deep, synthesized tone.
"I'm sorry?"
"There is a fight… 2.4 klicks southwest."
"Uh… okay?"
"Two huntsmen. One grimm."
"…Kay?"
"I want to join."
She blinked, face falling in confusion. "…Nash, it's a death forest. People fight. Why not just keep going on our way? Find the temple, or whatever?"
"Because the challenge excites me. Fight or leave. I don't care which."
With that, Phalanx turned hard on its heel, marching steadfastly into the depths of the forest, not giving his partner another look. She watched him go for a short moment, before rolling her eyes, kicking the dirt as she trudged off after him, cursing to herself quietly.
Lance rolled across the ground, face never losing its expression of absolute fury, spinning back to his feet, gaze taking in the situation around him, the dust beginning to settle around him. "Either of you still kickin'?!" He called out, staring at the spot he had just been blown from, a large black, burned stain marking where he'd stood.
A silhouette appeared in the dust, slowly marching out of it- Ulysses glared across the battlefield at his partner, his coat left behind in the explosion, eyes returned to normal.
"I hate you." He growled out.
"Yeah, the feeling's…" Lance trailed off, as a massive shadow began to loom over Ulysses, towering higher and higher. "…Oh, you've gotta be-"
A fist slammed into the hulking huntsman's back, sending him blasting towards his partner, grey-and-black clad form rolling across the dirt before coming to a stop, glaring at the ground, body beginning to tremble. In an uproar, he shot back to his feet, beginning to march back towards the reemerging Beringel- with Lance beside him.
The partners locked eyes, Lance's face twisting into a sneer, Ulysses' into a snarl. "Truce." The swordsman offered lowly.
The brooding huntsman stared down at him for a moment- before grunting in acquiescence, both warriors turning their gazes forwards.
Ulysses' hands snapped out, grabbing Lance's coat in both hands and, with one swift pirouette, hurled the swordsman back towards the grimm, blue eyes wide as he careened right into the chest of the creature, impacting with a loud crunch, before falling back towards the ground with a groan.
The Beringel looked between the two huntsmen in confusion, before letting out a growl, raising a mighty mitt into the air, looking to bring it down onto recovering blonde- instead, Avenger flew through the air, its aim true, burying itself into the bone covering the gorilla's face. Ulysses wasn't far behind it, tearing across the clearing to rejoin the fight, vaulting into the air as his flail returned to his hand, a roar ripping out of him.
He never made it, as Iron Maw flew through the air, catching the hulking huntsman in mid-leap, both sword and swordsman carving a path towards the Beringel, battering Ulysses out of the way. The greatsword cleaved into the beast's flesh, burying feet deep into its inky hide. Lance looked back to his fallen partner, spitting off to the side derisively, before leaping into the air, boots clattering into the handle of his blade, the length of steel ripping free and back into his hands, letting out a yell as he maneuvered to bring it down into the creature.
It was faster, though, both hands lashing out to grasp onto the huntsman, letting out a victorious roar, raising him high into the air, clenching him tightly enough to draw out a scream of pain. With one swift movement, it hurled him back down into the ground, Iron Maw tumbling out of reach. He groaned, blue eyes inching back open as he stared up at the looming grimm.
With another roar, it raised two tightly balled fists in the air- and brought them down.
Two gunshots ripped through the clearing, sinking into the flesh of the beast, its attack routed at the last moment, a screech of pain echoing out across the battlefield as it stumbled back.
Lance slowly inclined his head back, staring towards his savior. Oracle stared right back at the beast, both revolvers raised high, smoke spilling from the barrels. She inclined her head, staring over the top of her sunglasses with a cocked eyebrow.
"New plan, boys!" She called out. "He's bought and paid for; we cruise on through here, eat like queens, beat the hell outta this dude, snatch up some chess pieces, and away we go."
Ulysses and Lance stared at her for a moment in mild states of shock, before-
Poof.
A dark cloud filled the air around the Beringel's head, whisked away quickly by the breeze; standing atop the grimm's crown, was Shinai. Without another moment of hesitation, he twirled his blade, and thrust it nearly hilt deep into its inky flesh.
It let out an ear-ringing howl of agony, ringing out over the clearing and into the forest beyond.
"Mmhm. Y-yeah." Gail muttered, staring down at her book, holding onto tightly, burying herself into its contents.
"'The Dance of… Something, Something', I can't quite recall," Rainier called over to her, the partners continuing on their thus far fruitless march through the forest. "However, the look on her face was absolutely smitten and, frankly, I felt somewhat abashed. I'd, of course, never intended to truly make any sort of romantic move on her,"
"Of course…"
"But she'd obviously been… shall we say… entranced? Entranced is a good word, yes?"
"Uh… mhm."
Pale gold orbs flicked down to her, the faunus' face filling with a twinge of irritation. "But that book before you, that is quite interesting, isn't it?"
She blinked, giving him a double take. "Oh! Oh- I- I'm- I'm sorry, I- I must've gotten- gotten buried in-"
"I… believe I recognize that," He said, leaning down to peer at the cover. "Despite its age and well-worn exterior, that is… 'Ninjas of Love'?"
Gail jolted. "N-no! No, of- of course not, it-"
"A romance novel, how scandalous, Miss Cerulean! Ah, but do not fear, I am no stranger to romance; after all, my very accent is romantic, no?"
"Uh… I- I wouldn't-"
"My dear, you're far too quick to deflect or apologize! Carpe diem, my ancestors would say! Truthfully, you and I-"
The partners froze in their tracks as an all-engrossing shadow passed over them, their gazes shooting to the sky;
High above, the black form of a colossal bird-like creature flew, its form blotting out the sun, even from its massive distance. Rainier's ears cocked curiously, his head tilting to the side.
"Is that…" Gail began.
"Screaming coming from the bird? Yes, I believe it is. I see a little white speck and a little red speck atop the creature. Fascinating."
"H-huntsmen?"
"Hm, perhaps. This is a death forest, as the Professor so candidly put it."
"Should we…"
"…I suppose. It would be the polite thing to do-"
They didn't get the chance to follow on their thought, though, as a roar echoed throughout the forest, sounding much closer than the now disappearing form of the grimm.
The partners turned to each other, before looking back into the forest. He gestured with a flourish into the dark of Emerald Forest's depths. "After you, my dear. I'm fascinated to see what made that."
She stared down the direction he'd pointed to, swallowing hard nervously. After a moment, she began to step off of the trail, disappearing into the collection of trees. Rainier lingered for a moment, gaze following after the form of the Nevermore. He sighed in slight disappointment, following after his partner.
Shinai ripped his katana free from the Beringel's head, leaping up and away as it swiped at him, skillfully avoiding the wild attack. The samurai fell gracefully down to the earth, landing in a smooth roll next to Lance, the swordsman pulling himself from the small crater he'd been buried in, lunging for his blade. He looked up to his fellow swordsman, wiping dirt off of his mouth.
"You some kind of samurai?"
Shinai looked down to him for the briefest moment, before wordlessly turning his gaze back to the grimm before them, both swordsmen slowly backing away from it, the creature's eyes turning from each of the four huntsmen in turn, snorting in confusion and irritation.
"You got a plan?" Lance finally asked as they neared Oracle, Ulysses off to the side. "Red's plan was pretty good- and by that, I mean, not very good at all, so if you've got a better one, I'm all ears."
"Lotta trash talkin' from the guy I just saved from becomin' a pancake." The gunslinger shot back.
"I had it under control."
"Uh huh, sure, pal."
"Hey, y'know what? I've been fighting this damn ape for, like, an hour now, so you can shut it-"
The Beringel roared, pounding its hands against its chest, before charging towards the trio, mighty paws ripping through the soil.
Shinai tensed, the trio falling into defensive stances.
The grimm recoiled to the side, Avenger soaring to bury itself into the creature's face, taking it off of its course and into the trees. Ulysses snarled at the other three huntsmen. "Are we talking?!" He roared out. "Or are we fighting?!"
"That's Ulysses," Lance muttered. "He's an asshole."
"Spread out. Keep your spacing." Shinai barked. The swordsman and the gunslinger looked to him in slight confusion, getting his face to twist into a rare expression of irritation. "Move!"
"Ah! Okay, jeez!" Oracle snapped back as she and Lance skirted away from the samurai, Ulysses prowling on the opposite side of the Beringel, his flail returning to his hand, dark smoke beginning to curl from his body again.
"Oracle, keep your distance!" Shinai continued. "Swordsman, stay in close, between its legs if you need to- you!" He called over to Ulysses. "Aim for joints, keep it crippled and kneeling."
The hulking huntsman growled, but said nothing else, the four sets of gazes locked onto the recovering Beringel. The grimm shook its head as it lumbered back out into the open- its attention wheeled around it, the semblance of intelligence in its eyes registering its surrounded position. It, however, simply let out an enraged roar, smashing its hands against the dirt in challenge, before descending into a series of flinches as Oracle began to loose shot after shot at it, revolvers smoking wildly, heavy bullets ripping into its flesh with each pull of the trigger.
"Yeah, I'm comin'…" Lance muttered under his breath, before leaping into the air, turning as Iron Maw shifted, a cannon shot and explosion sending him hurtling towards the creature.
He spun and landed smoothly barely missing a wild swipe by the ape, dashing further towards it and between its legs, spinning as his greatsword found its mark into one of the creature's ankles. It took another swing at him, missing again as he twirled out of attack, blade slicing through its hand before the barrel of his cannon reemerged, quickly and smoothly popping a shot into it, effortlessly firing it into the flesh of the Beringel's mitt, sending its arm swinging back to its side.
It let out a screech of pain before leaping up and backwards, looking to smash both paws into the swordsman below- instead, Avenger collided into the side of its leg, taking it out of the air, its massive form crashing back down to the earth below, nearly missing the quickly retreating Lance.
Another cloud of smoke heralded Shinai, the samurai stepping through the purple to masterfully strike out a series of slashes across the gorilla's form, before disappearing again as it lashed out with a desperate strike, appearing behind, his katana burying itself into the back of its neck. It let out another bellow as it haphazardly climbed to its feet, swinging out at both swordsmen, both attacks missing as they dashed out of range.
It didn't get a chance to rise fully back to its feet, as Ulysses let loose with another vicious swing of his flail, the dark metal spikes burying into the back of its knee, taking it down onto one leg, before ripping his Avenger back out, swinging it wildly above the combatant's heads, finally finding its mark into the beast's elbow.
Lance held Iron Maw loosely out behind him as he charged back into the fight, leaping into the air, spinning it above his head, his other hand glowing blue. The greatsword found its way into the side of the grimm's face, and swiftly, he lashed out with his free hand, the punch letting out an explosion of blue energy, sending him hurtling away, the Beringel's head whiplashing backwards, the stumbling creature nearly impacting with Shinai before the samurai disappeared and reappeared a few, safe meters away.
The greatswordsman landed hard on the ground, Iron Maw buried into the earth as he slowed to a stop. He brought irritated blue eyes back up to the still living grimm. "I'm gettin' real sick and tired of you, dude."
Ripping his sword free, he dug his boots into the soil, preparing to rush back towards the beast- before he could get any semblance of traction, though, a sneaker collided with his shoulder.
"Tally ho!"
Rainier vaulted from the swordsman, his mechanical leg letting out a cannon shot- directly in Lance's ear- sending him soaring towards the Beringel with considerable speed. His Wolf's Claws impacted hard into the side of the beast's armored face, another shot ringing out through the forest. He pushed off with his non-metallic foot, and with a final fire of his cannon, buried a massive shell into the beast's flesh, hurtling back to safety.
The moment he was out of range, a flurry of glowing red arrows flew from the tree line, a number of small explosions echoing out as they impacted with the grimm's body, a roar of pain bellowing out from it as it was engulfed in dark smoke.
Rainier only hit the ground once, before pushing off and back to his feet, bowing lowly to the huntsmen around him. "Pardon our tardiness, my friends! And thank you, Miss Cerulean, spectacular shooting!" He turned to the other four around him, blinking in curiosity. "Ah, Mr. Zaffre and- Mr… Ulysses? Ebony! Mr. Ebony, a joy to see you again!"
"This day," Lance growled, wiping sweat and dirt from his brow. "Just keeps gettin' better and better."
The faunus winked at him, his gaze turning to the other two huntsmen, looking Oracle up and down- before idly settling on Shinai. He jolted, eyes widening in surprise. A smile slowly spread across his face. "Shinai Kyani."
"Kyani Shin…" The samurai began quietly, before trailing off, shaking his head.
The Beringel lumbered out of the smoke- limping, and hurt, but still furious, roaring at the huntsmen continuing to surround it, the bone plates covering its body cracked, chipping, or broken altogether.
"I don't believe your friend likes us all too much!" Rainier called out, an empty shell falling out of his cannon as he took his casual battle stance.
Shinai looked him up and down assessingly for a quick moment, before nodding. "Blitz it if you can, keep it annoyed, don't stop moving."
The faunus snorted, giving the samurai a disbelieving smirk. "You'll… pardon me if I fight how I wish to fight."
With that, he was gone, dashing back towards the Beringel with ridiculous speed, reaching its side in only a few heartbeats. His cannon fired, sending him spiraling towards it; and then passed it, a kick and another cannon shot crashing against its surface. Before he soared too far passed the beast, though, he turned in the air, and fired again, sending him crashing back towards the ground, another kick slashing against its inky hide, before he hit the dirt hard, sliding several meters- and then leapt back into the air, repeating the process.
Lance growled as he took off at a run towards the grimm, repeating his explosive firing trick to sail back through the air to land beneath it, lashing out with his greatsword efficiently.
Shinai watched the duo for a moment in disapproval, before turning back towards Oracle- the partners shared a nod, the samurai disappearing in a cloud of smoke.
The gunslinger turned back to the trees behind her. "Hey, archer!"
Gail appeared in the darkness; eyes wide at being addressed. "Y-yeah?"
"You got anything bigger than that?"
Rainier hit the ground hard, flipping backwards skillfully as one of the Beringel's fists crashed down into the dirt, leaving a small crater in its wake. He fell into a slide, eyes narrowing. "You are a tough one, I will give you that."
Lance growled as the grimm turned its attention to him, monstrous mitt nearly hitting him; before he raised his blade quickly, bracing it against himself, the sword slicing into the flesh between the creature's fingers, garnering a howl of agony as it ripped its limb back to its side. "Yeah, ya don't say, wolf!"
"Oh, but I do."
The swordsman shook his head- as Shinai reappeared, slicing across the beast's leg without missing a step, a flurry of strikes following as he nearly danced around the beast, eyes narrowed in concentration.
Finally, he disappeared in another cloud, filling the battlefield in dark smoke, before reappearing on the beast's shoulder, blade raised high. He plunged the katana into the side of the grimm's neck, then swiftly leapt from his perch, just barely dodging the massive form of Avenger crashing into the back of the creature's head.
Shinai twirled, blade carving into the Beringel's back, ripping a wound into its flesh as he fell. He gracefully pushed off, snatching his katana free, soaring away from the gorilla. He landed with hardly a sound next to Ulysses, his sword sheathed, but still held at the ready. The two dark-eyed huntsmen locked gazes, before the samurai nodded, taking off at a run, flanking around it, watching carefully as Lance hacked away at its legs, Rainier racing up and down its form, cannon shots rocking the creature with each impact, Ulysses swinging his flail out around his head, heavy blows crashing against any available space on the beast, Oracle and Gail still peppering the beast with a cavalcade of bullets and arrows- some explosive, some exploding into blocks of ice, others simply ripping through its flesh.
The samurai slid to a stop, looking out over the other five huntsmen, a look of assuagement washing over him, some of the tenseness leaving his body. As if on cue, the forest began to uproot behind him, his eyes widening, teleporting away to safety.
"LOOK OUT- MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!" A voice cried out from the trees. A blur of red, carried along by flaming thrusters, rocketed from the trees, soaring through the air to crash into the Beringel with a mighty crunch, the beast's eyes widening in shock and pain.
Phalanx's boots dug into the dirt as it continued to push the beast along, meter after meter, mechanical hands lashing out to grab onto the gorilla's leg- and with one Herculean effort, the machine pivoted hard, taking the beast off of its leg, and sent it tumbling away, the Beringel clearing most of the- now destroyed- battlefield.
Daria dropped from the mech stumbling away as she fought to regain her bearings. She held up a hand as she took a deep breath in. "Oh gods, I'm never doing that again."
Phalanx, though, never took its gaze off of the grimm. "…You're huge," He muttered lowly. "Which means you've got huge guts."
Lance stared at the mech for a long few moments, before a grin slowly claimed his expression, a small laugh escaping him. "That's… that's friggin' awesome."
"Focus!" Shinai called out as the Beringel began to stir. "It's not over yet."
"Are you kidding me?!"
Ulysses was the first to jump back into action, spinning Avenger at his side as he took off back towards the grimm, his body again like a bonfire. He let out a wild roar as he leapt into the air, his flail hanging behind him as he let more and more chain fall from his shirt, the weapon gaining more and more momentum as it flew towards the grimm. The flail found its mark, crashing against the beast's head, sending it back down into the dirt.
Phalanx thundered past Ulysses, hulking fist of its own burying itself into the chin of the beast, before another punch found its mark dead center in the Beringel's face, a satisfying crack echoing out around the clearing, a spider-web splintering out across the bone plate, the beast sliding away from the impact. The mech and Ulysses' locked gazes- pitch black meeting glowing green. Without so much as a nod, the two hulking warriors began to close in on the shaken, recovering creature.
"Hey!" Oracle called out from across the battlefield. "Big boys! Get 'im upright!"
The two huntsmen gave her the decency of brief glances of acknowledgment- before Phalanx rocketed back forwards, a thruster-fueled uppercut sending the Beringel jolting upwards. Avenger followed suit afterwards, arcing up and into the grimm's head again, further lifting the absolutely rocked creature back to a vertical base.
The rockets on Phalanx's back lit up even brighter, even getting the rampaging, barely cognizant Ulysses to shy away from the heat. The red mech leapt from the ground with a thunderous roar, its massive form soaring towards the swaying creature.
"PHALANX CALLING!" The distorted voice bellowed out, before crashing hard into the beast's head, getting it to lumber sloppily back out into the middle of the battlefield, struggling to stand, its stupefied gaze turning to the archer and gunslinger.
Oracle grinned as she stared down the iron sights of her raised revolver; golden energy flowed over her body, following the swooping trails in her duster, up into her gun, and into her eyes, the verdant green now the same brilliant gold, a matching dust or smoke rising off of her form.
Her hand trembled as she carefully lined up the shot. "Great delivery, boys, you're doin' great! And jackpot!"
She pulled the trigger.
An ear-shattering gunshot rang out over the battlefield, as a glowing golden supernova-like bullet exited the revolver, all of the energy racing over her form pouring into the shot. It cut through the air with ease, the bullet finding its mark dead in the center of the beast's head, a small explosion ringing out as it ripped through and shattered the bone mask adorning its face, tunneling deep into its flesh.
The gunslinger turned over her shoulder towards the trees, letting out a sharp whistle. Deep within, Gail winced hard- she was currently bracing herself on one of the forest's monstrously sized tree-branches. Her bow had doubled in size, towering over even her considerable height, the bottom limb of the weapon buried into the wood of the tree. Held in her hand was a gargantuan arrow, glowing red, her arm pulled as far back as she could muster, entire body trembling with the effort.
Finally, with one last wince, she released the missile, the sound of the bowstring snapping back into place incredibly audible, as the great arrow soared through the trees and out into the clearing. The arrow flew true, burying itself precisely in the same spot Oracle's golden shot had torn through.
There was a beat of silence, before- boom.
The titanic explosion rocked the clearing, a shockwave flying out over the huntsmen, a thick cloud of dark smoke encasing the Beringel's head. The eight warriors watched quietly as the grimm slowly teetered- and then fell limply to the ground, its head missing entirely from its body.
It nearly collapsed onto Rainier, before the faunus casually stepped to the side, taking a place beside Shinai, the colossal weight of the grimm's dead weight impacting onto the ground shaking the earth itself. The Vacuoan hummed thoughtfully, carefully prodding the beast with his mechanical limb. "Hm… yes, I believe it is dead! Perhaps, but you can never be too certain, no?"
The tension drained from the clearing. Ulysses stumbled to the side, his eyes returned to normal, body devoid of smoke, resting his considerable mass against one of the trees, shaking his head with an exhausted sigh. Lance, similarly, simply dropped to the ground, sword beside him, with a groan, laying his head back- one hand, trembling with exertion, reaching up to smooth the mess that was his hair back into place. "Thank. Every god. All of 'em."
Oracle sauntered over towards him, raising an eyebrow, perching her sunglasses onto the tip of her nose. "I think a thank you's in order for the rest of us here, hon."
"Yeah, sure, whatever. We had it handled."
"You're just as delusional as you are pretty."
"Flattery'll get you nowhere, cowboy."
Shinai shook his head as he gave the dissipating Beringel one last look over. "Well done. Oracle; we're leaving."
She rolled her eyes as she began to pick her way over to her partner. "Yeah, yeah, don't get your panties in a twist, Shin."
"Shinai."
"Whatever."
The duo began to make their way out of the clearing- before Oracle stopped, tilting her hat back. "Ah, 'fore I forget- the temple's back-"
Shinai raised a hand sharply into the air, getting her to freeze owlishly. "It's their task to find the temple on their own. We will not diminish the difficulty of their test. We're moving."
He began to march onwards without another word, leaving no room for argument. The gunslinger watched him go, blowing air out dramatically. "Well… sorry, kids. Mean ol' Mr. Kyani says no. Good luck, though! Hope to see y'all in one piece! It's chess pieces, by the way!" She began to saunter after him, shaking the pain out of her gun hand with a wince.
"YOU FRIGGIN' ASSHOLE!" Lance barked after the departing duo, throwing a rock their way for good measure. With a snarl, he climbed back to his feet, using Iron Maw to hold him up. "Whatever. Stupid, friggin'…" He trailed off, shaking his head. "Come on, Ebony. Let's find this stupid temple… Hey, wolf!" He called over, getting Rainier to turn to him. "…Nice fightin' back there. You actually make it to Beacon- you need a sparring partner; I'm your man."
Rainier gave a short chuckle. "I will certainly think about it, Mr. Zaffre. Enjoy your hike."
"Yeah, yeah…" The swordsman dragged himself over to where Ulysses had reclaimed his coat, the partners quietly picking their way back into the forest, disappearing from view.
The remaining four huntsmen stood quietly in the clearing, Gail silently creeping up to join her own partner. The faunus looked over to Daria. "Spectacular fighting for you as well, my dear."
Daria shook her head. "It was- wait, no, I didn't fight-"
"No. You didn't. That was the joke, no?"
"Is he always like this?"
Gail gave her a small, strained smile.
"Always," Rainier affirmed, giving her a bow. "But you there, in the red! That was truly, non-sarcastically excellent work!"
Phalanx slowly turned to the faunus… and with a swift blur of movement, Nash's tousled hair replaced the red helm of the mech. "THAT WAS TOTALLY WICKED! Did you see the big guy?! He was like phwoah! And you were just like, zippin' back and forth like woosh-woosh-woosh! And Mr. Kyani was like, everything I'd thought he'd be- do you think he'd mind if asked for his autograph, aah! So much to take in!"
Rainier stared at the boy for a long, long few moments. "I… well… I… suppose that… Yes, Miss Cerulean, we should be off. You two, enjoy… your hike- dammit, I already had said that, blast…" The grin found his face again, and he bowed lowly. "We bid you adieu- and, if it helps; I am partial to the Queen piece," He turned on his heel back towards Gail. "Come, Miss Cerulean. I'd rather be done with this forest before nightfall if at all possible."
Gail turned her small smile back towards the remaining two huntsmen. She gave them tiny waves, eyes not meeting theirs, before turned to follow her partner.
Daria watched them go, gaze shifting over to where Nash was still buzzing giddily. "Alright. Come on then, Nash. You can tell me all about it on the way to the temple."
The final pair of huntsmen began to march in step back into the forest, Nash joyously recalling the fight, words coming a mile a minute, as they left behind one trashed and tattered clearing, the massive body of the Beringel slowly dissipating into smoke behind them.