Chapter 4: Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout New Vegas or RWBY. The former is owned by Bethesda Softworks and Obsidian Entertainment while the latter is owned by Rooster Teeth.

[Emerald Forest, Beacon Academy, Vale]

The bird Grimm let out another screech as it soared through the air. Cass, meanwhile, let out a sigh of satisfaction as she stopped drinking from her flask. She then held out it in front of the rest of the group.

"Anyway, else want a bit of liquid courage?"

"There's a time and place for everything, Cassidy, and this is neither one of them," Boone said curtly as he aimed his marksmen carbine at the flying bird. He fired off two shots from the rifle at the bird, but the Grimm wasn't even effected by it, and it didn't even seem to notice that it got shot at. Boone grunted in frustration as he lowered his weapon.

"Hey, look at the bright side: at least we'll die together," Yang said as Marston simply smirked at her response. The courier had quickly recovered from the shock of seeing the giant flying Grimm, and seemed to have gotten his confidence back.

"Oh, we aren't gonna die. Hell, I've survived stuff that should have killed me before. I've never encountered any giant flyers before, but I'd it be best to try my tried and true strategy."

"And that would be," Blake asked as Marston unslung Medicine Stick and cocked the action.

"Shootin' it."

Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose at the courier's response as Marston rushed out with his rifle in hand. He took aim with the rifle and followed the path of the bird Grimm. He then pulled the trigger and worked the action in rapid succession until all seven rounds of the rifle were fired. That definitely got the bird's attention as it peered down at the human. It let out a screech as it retaliated against the courier. With a flap of its wings, it fired off a volley of what looked like sharp, black feathers. Marston's eyes widened as he quickly stumbled back to avoid being hit by the feathers. He fell to the ground as the projectiles hit, and Medicine Stick had fallen out of reach. The bird let out another volley at the courier, who tried to get up and run. Suddenly, he felt something grab his arm and dragged him away before the feathers could skewer him. He looked up at his savior, which turned out to be Ruby.

"Thanks, but don't make you savin' me into a habit, Bright Eyes," Marston said as his looked back at the girl. His eyes then followed to her cloak, and noticed that one of the bird's feathers had stabbed Ruby's cloak, pinning it to the ground.

Ruby began to struggle to free her cloak from the feather. The bird Grimm screeched as it focused on its two targets. Marston, meanwhile, took his hatchet from his belt and tried to break the feather, but the blade couldn't cut through it. The courier then traded his hatchet for his knife as he began to cut the cloak area around the feather. However, as he was doing this, the Nevermore fired another volley of feathers at the two. Marston quickly stopped cutting the cloak and shielded Ruby with his body, closing his eyes before the inevitable happened.

Several seconds passed and the courier opened his eyes, looking around in confusion. He then noticed that they were protected from the feathers by an ice dome, courtesy of one Weiss Schnee. The heiress looked down as Marston let out a chuckle and sheathed his knife.

"Hm, I knew you had a good side to you, Princess," he said as he got up.

"Just help me free her," Weiss said as the two of them quickly removed the feather from Ruby's cloak. Ruby gave a nod of approval as the three of them looked up at the bird Grimm, which was now circling the group. Marston then noticed his rifle on the ground and went to retrieve it, while Yang, Blake, Cass, Boone, and ED-E went up to the group.

"Ruby, are you alright," Yang asked with worry in her voice.

"I am. I had to go and save Marston before he got killed," Ruby said as Cass and Boone walked other to Marston. The courier was currently reloading Medicine Stick.

"Alright, boss, do you have any ideas on how to defeat this overgrown buzzard besides shooting it," Cass said as Marston loaded the last round into his rifle and worked the action.

"I could always bring Red Glare and use it, but I have a feeling that it'll just piss it off more."

"Why don't use that Fat Man thingie from before on the Nevermore," Ruby suggested, but Marston simply shook his head at the suggestion.

"Won't work. Esther isn't like a rocket launcher, it launches bombs in an arc like a catapult. Besides that, it doesn't have the range to hit the bird while it's in the air. You got any ideas cookin' up in your head, kiddo?"

"I think I have one," Ruby said as Cass immediately butted in.

"Good, then start usin' it, kid. You have way more experience with these Grimm than we do. If you need us to back you up, then do it. You have more than enough hands to help you here. There's twelve of us, and only one bird. Besides, there's no way that this can possibly get worse, right?"

A roar was suddenly heard echoing through the forest, and everyone turned their attention to the forest.

"Things are about to get worse," Boone commented as he aimed his marksmen carbine at the forest outline.

"Me and my big mouth," Cass said under her breath as she racked a fresh round into the chamber of her shotgun. Marston held up Medicine Stick with one hand as he turned back to the girls.

"You gals go do whatever you need to do, we'll hold off these critters long enough to enact that plan of yours."

None of the girls verbally responded to the courier, but ran off to enact Ruby's plan. Marston, meanwhile, turned towards ED-E.

"I'm going to need some satchel charges, ED-E."

The eyebot let out a long beep before it's radar let out a bright flash of light. On the ground were five small canvas bags that had a black band wrapped horizontally around it. A few wires were going into it, and it a glowing red light was in the center of it. Marston picked up each of the satchel charges, armed them, and threw them to the edge of the Emerald Forest. Each satchel charge was about five feet apart from each other. Marston then stood next to his companions, and readied his rifle. The courier turned his head and noticed Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren running up towards.

"Did Bright Eyes tell you what we're doing," Marston asked as he placed the stock of Medicine Stick against his shoulder.

"She did," Jaune said as Pyrrha took over.

"We're going to help you hold off whatever's coming, Mr. Marston."

"First, drop the formalities, Amazon. I never liked being called a mister. Second, I planted some explosives at the edge of the forest. Whatever's comin' through will be in for a nasty surprise."

"Oh, what kind," Nora asked gleefully as Marston took aim at the forest.

"Nothin' fancy. Just some satchel charges. Simple yet effective. Look, get ready, 'cause they're comin'."

The rest team did as Marston told. Jaune readied his sword and shield, while Pyrrha took out her own. Marston did a double take as Pyrrha's sword shifted and changed into a javelin-esque weapon. Nora hefted up her enormous war hammer while Ren took out his two machine pistols.

The growling suddenly got louder as four Beowolves emerged from the forest. However, they soon contacted the satchel charges on the ground, and they all went off. The beasts went out a screech as the explosives went off, killing two of the Beowolves. The Mojave group then opened fire on the other two beowolves. Marston, Boone, and Cass fired off round after round from their guns while ED-E let out quick shots of plasma. The first beowolf died from the multiple gunshots and bolts of plasma. The second beowolf, however, snarled and charged forward. It was soon killed when Pyrrha threw her javelin and the impaled it through the head. Pyrrha then did something that made the javelin retract out from the dying creature's head and returned to her hands.

Marston quickly returned Medicine Stick to his Pip Boy. While the rifle had plenty of firepower in it, it took some time to reload. He needed something that could be reloaded quickly and had plenty of firepower to it. He put in a few more commands into his Pip Boy and then a new weapon appeared in his hands. It was a .45 caliber submachine gun, the kind that was used by the old-world armies of the United States. It had two significant modifications to it. The stick magazine had been replaced with a drum magazine, increasing the ammunition capacity from twenty rounds to fifty rounds. Secondly, on the end of the barrel was a compensator, decreasing the spread of the weapon.

Marston quickly cocked the bolt on the weapon as more Beowolves emerged out of the forest. The courier took aim with the weapon and opened fire, shooting out in controlled bursts. Meanwhile, Cass killed off another beowolf by blasting it in the head with another shotgun blast. She pumped out the empty shell from the shotgun and started to reload it. However, another Beowolf charged her and knocked her to the ground. Her shotgun, Dinner Bell, was out of her reach and her knapsack was now besides her. The beowolf then pounced on her, and Cass reacted quickly. She reached into her knapsack's side pocket, where she keot another shotgun, and pulled it out. Unlike Dinner Bell, this one was a sawn off double barrel shotgun. It was heavily worn down with some rusting, and stenciled on the grip in faded white paint were the words "Big Boomer". Cass then stuck the shotgun into the beast's mouth.

"EAT THIS," she shouted as she pulled the trigger and blew off the back of the beowolf's head. The creature's corpse then collapsed on the top of Cass, trapping her underneath. The caravan boss struggled to get out before another beowolf focused its attention on her.

"Aw, shit," Cass muttered as struggled further to get herself free. Just as the beowolf was in striking distance off, Nora suddenly appeared out right besides it. With a sound of cheerful glee, she hit the beast with a swing of her hammer, sending it flying off into the distance. Nora then noticed Cass, who had freed herself from the now dissolving Grimm corpse.

"Thanks for the save," Cass commented as she loaded a fresh set of shells into Big Boomer, and placed it back on her knapsack. She then went and picked up Dinner Bell, loaded it up with slug rounds, and went back into fending off the Grimm.

Boone, meanwhile, loaded a new magazine into his carbine, after killing off another one of the beowolves. He pulled back the bolt before suddenly heard a terrified shriek coming from some ways over. He turned his attention that that scrawny kid, Jaune, had been knocked to the ground by a beowolf. The sniper walked towards, the creature, firing off round after round from his carbine. The beast then collapsed to the ground as Boone got near it. For extra measure, Boone pulled out his 10mm pistol and fired off two rounds into the beowolf's skull. Said pistol had been modified with a black rubber grip, a compensator on the barrel, and a reflex sight mounted on the slide. Boone holstered his sidearm before helping Jaune up.

"On your feet, soldier," he said as he pulled the boy up heading off to kill another Beowolf.

Marston meanwhile, fired off the last remaining rounds in his submachine gun's magazine, giving the coup de grace to another of the Grimm. He then took out a new magazine to reload it. However, he was interrupted when he heard the loud sounds of shotgun fire. He looked upwards to see Yang standing in the mouth of the Nevermore, firing off blasts from her shot gauntlet into the bird's throat.

"I! HOPE! YOU'RE! HUN!GRY!" she shouted between firing shots down its throat. Marston smiled as he loaded up a new magazine into the submachine gun and pulled back on the bolt. He then fired another burst of rounds into another Beowolf. The beast then turned its attention to the courier and began to charge. Marston slung his submachine gun on his back, pressed a button on his Pip Boy, and another weapon appeared in his hand. It was a makeshift weapon, being a length of pipe with two railway spikes secured to it by a bungee cord and an electrical cable. The weapon was decorated with beads, feathers, and paint. This weapon was a tomahawk, and Marston had picked up a good amount of these during his time spent in the Zion Canyon. With breakneck speed, Marston threw the weapon at the Beowolf, and it landed right in the creature's eye. The beast out a screech as the sudden impact broke its fall and stumbled and crashed in front of the courier. Marston then pulled out That Gun with quick speed and fired off three rounds into the beast's head, ending its life.

"Well, this is goin' better than I thought it would," the courier commented as he holstered his revolver with a twirl. He then turned his attention to the forest, and his expression than changed into those of disbelieving shock.

"Oh, fuck me."

Three, large, bear-like Grimm then ran out of the forest. They reminded the courier of the Yao Guai that he'd encounter in Zion. However, these seemed to be much slower than the Yao Guai. Cass ran up to the courier, and aimed her shotgun at the Grimm.

"Looks like shit's now fucked fifty ways sideways," she said as fired off a slug at one of the bears. The slug hit one of the Grimm on the muzzle, catching its attention at Cass. Marston let off a frustrated groan as he retrieved another item from his Pip Boy. It was what looked like a fire extinguisher with most of its paint chipped off, and attached to one end was a sensor module. Marston then pressed a switch on the module before whistling towards Nora. The girl then looked over at the courier.

"You up for a game of baseball," he asked as he held up the gas bomb. Nora immediately got what he was saying, and replied with a grin. Marston then threw the gas bomb up into the area and Nora jumped along with it. As soon as the two were near each other. Nora slammed her hammer down on the bomb, which flew right to where the bear Grimm were. Soon, all three of the bears went up in flames, and some of the trees near the forest were caught on fire. The bears screeched in terror as the flames consumed them and they all perished into nothingness.

Marston smirked at the bear's demise before looking over to where the mountain was. The Nevermore had been pinned to the mountain cliff using ice. The girls had made a giant makeshift slingshot. Blake and Yang were holding a long black ribbon between a pair of pillars. Ruby sevred as the ammunition for the slingshot, with Weiss holding her in place with some sort of snowflake-esque glyph.

"So that's her plan. Seems crazy enough to work" he commented as he returned his submachine gun into his Pipboy. Upon Ruby's command, the glyph holding her in place turned red, and launched the girl forward. Ruby then fired Crescent Rose into the ground, propelling her forward further until she was near the Nevermore. She slammed the scythe's blade at the Nevermore's neck, and dragged it down with her down the cliff. More of glyphs formed underneath her as she fell with the Grimm, her velocity increasing as she fired the rifle portion of her scythe. Both reached the ground, and Ruby fired Crescent Rose one last time, decapitating the bird and finishing it off. She then landed near the ruins, and Marston let off a round of applause.

"Whoo! Wonderful showing, Bright Eyes! Very impressive," he said excitedly, impressed that a kid almost half his age managed to come up with and carry out a plan to kill the Grimm. Ruby, meanwhile, sheepishly rubbed the back of her head.

"Uh, thanks, I guess," she said as Marston took out yet another cigarette and lit up. ED-E then appeared next to the courier and let out another beep.

"You aren't my doctor, you flying toaster," he muttered as he blew out a puff of smoke. He placed his cigarette back in his mouth before looking back at Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang.

"I dunno about you, but I think we should all get the hell out of here."

[Beacon Academy, Vale]

Some Time Later…

Marston and his companions walked along with the rest of the teens, with them hanging out near the back. The courier's eyes widened in wonder as he saw the building that they were approaching. However, as he got closer, he noticed that it wasn't just one building, but several buildings. It all reminded him of a castle one would see in a story book.

As the group approached the entrance to the main building the courier, Marston noticed to people standing off to the side. The first person was a man with silver hair. He looked a bit youthful, but gave off a vibe that he was much older. Perched on his nose was a pair of circular sunglasses. The man had a thing for green, wearing what looked like a green scarf, a dark green suit with a dark green waistcoat. In one hand was a fancy, silver topped cane while in the other one was a coffee mug. Marston guessed that this was this Ozpin person that Ruby has told him about. Next to Ozpin was a stern looking woman. She had green eyes and blonde hair that was kept up in a bun, and on her nose were a pair of glasses. She had on a white blouse that exposed a bit of cleavage, a black pencil skirt, knee high boots, and a black cape with purple lining.

The rest of the teens went on into the main building while Marston and his friends approached Ozpin and the blonde.

"Hm, I don't believe I've seen you before," the headmaster commented as Marston smirked.

"Observant, ain'tcha. You this Ozpin that people talk about?"

"I am," Ozpin replied as the courier blew out another puff of smoke from his cigarette.

"Well, my friends and I need to have a lil' chat with ya, teach."

Next Time - Coffee & Cigarettes

A/N: And here's another chapter of Into the Great Wide Open.

And here we have our first action oriented chapter. The last two chapters had bits of action in them, but this was the first full action oriented chapter.

And I loved writing the original part of this chapter, Marston's group and JNPR fighting off a horde of Grimm. I had this planned out since Marston blew up the Deathstalker in the last chapter. I didn't focus much on Team RWBY fighting the Nevermore since it more or less plays out the same way as in canon.

And for those you that are wondering, Marston and his posse won't be fighting the Grimm in this fic. They're pretty much in over their heads when it comes to the Grimm. They may have an arsenal with them that could take on a small army, but they've only dealt with Beowolves and Ursa (which are more or less the equivalents of low levels enemies you kill in an RPG for easy experience points). However, our intrepid heroes will have a part to play in the story. Namely, serving as a spanner in the work for a certain villain's plans. But that'll come a bit later.

Anyway, please drop a review (since I really appreciate feedback) and don't forgot to fave or follow. I'll see you all next update (which won't be for awhile because of upcoming finals).