A/N: Here is Chapter 4. After this chapter I have intentions of altering the pace of updating to a consistent pace of some kind, but lengthening the chapters, aiming for the length of the previous chapter as the average length, and taking a little more time for quality checking before posting. Hope you enjoy. As usual I don't own RWBY, merely came up with some ideas for a story that I'm writing.

Volume 1: Chapter 4: Assembling the Pieces

"Over the top, over the top!
Right now, it's killing time!

Over the top, over the top!
The only way out is to die!"
~Bullet for my Valentine, "Scream Aim Fire"

Volume 1: Chapter 4: Assembling the Pieces

Some days Arian hated being right. Other days he hated being wrong. And still other days, like today, he hated other people being right. This reflection crossed through his mind as he and Mars faced the creature that had emerged from the forest. It was somewhere between three to four meters tall on all four limbs with a massive shell that covered most of its back and limbs. Demonic red eyes glared out from the skull mask that covered its head. Then its star shaped mouth opened into a roar, revealing hundreds of razor sharp teeth. Arian just stared at the monster for a moment before turning toward Mars. "So what's the plan?"

Mars spun his sword to a ready pose. "We stall the monster until more fellow students show up to assist us in besting it."

Arian brought his gaze slowly back to the monster as he extended both Luna's and Fenrir's claws. The massive armadillo like Grimm gave another hiss before growing massive spikes from its shell. "And what exactly is 'it'?"

"If we kill it, we name it. At least I believe that is how the naming convention for the Grimm goes." Mars replied with a slight grin.

"Was that a joke?" Arian replied, amazed at his comrade's calmness in the face of the biggest Grimm he'd ever seen. Before he could add in another comment, the massive monster curled into a ball and rolled towards the pair. Arian leapt aside, firing bullets from his the barrels of Lupa and Fenrir. The amount of ammunition in each of them was a very finite amount, as he had never created a loading system that would have allowed clips to easily integrate into the weapons, but it would have to do. Round after round ricocheted off of the beast's massive hide as it continued to roll towards Mars. Mars held his ground until the Grimm was closer. Then he spun to the side, slashing his sword along the side of the rolling Grimm. Instead of scratching the monster, Mars was sent sliding backwards.

"That Grimm's shell is impregnable." Mars mussed, "At least to our attacks. Perhaps there is an easier way to defeat it."

The creature emerged from its roll and turned back towards the pair. Its tongue, tipped with sharp spikes, lashed out towards the both of them. Mars grabbed his shield and blocked the beast's attack with it. Despite his massive frame, Mars was still sent sliding back once again from the impact. The monster reared up as if it was preparing to attack once more. A shape suddenly emerged from the shadows, clothed in a black cloak that seemed to be as much a part of the shadows the man had just emerged from as it was a part of the real world. Arian recognized the form of Schwarz near instantly. The well-built mute with near no hair was not easily forgotten. Round after round was fired from his massive tri-barreled weapon, causing several dozen explosions against the side of the beast. As it stumbled, another figure rushed out of the forest and created a spear of ice from the air around her. Hurling it with precision she struck the softer underside of the stumbling monster. Arian had not been expecting to see Raaka again, but he was currently glad for it.

Mars briefly twirled his relic through his right hand before stashing it and grasping his sword anew. Schwarz seemed to have gotten the hint, as he disappeared into shadows one moment and was back with a black rook of his own the next. As the mute began firing round after round from his weapon, Raaka continued her charge. She swung several blows at the monster with her ice blades, but each weapon was shattered upon impact against the thick shell. A swing from the Grimm's tail sent her flying backwards before she caught herself. Mars leveled his shield and triggered a transformation. A lengthy barrel emerged from the shield and unleashed a steady barrage of rounds at the monster. In response to the heavy barrage of incoming rounds, the Grimm rolled back into a ball and swung round to avoid them. Arian's sensitive ears heard another crashing sound seconds before a massive spider like Grimm emerged. Its eyes glowed with the same demonic look as the armadillo-Grimm. Skeleton like plates covered its legs and back, providing it with an additional form of defense.

Raaka stepped back, uncertainty crossing her face for the first time. "I'm not sure we can take both of these alone."

"We are not alone." Mars countered. "Other students are in these woods. We merely need to wait until they find us to reinforce us. If we work together we can pull this off."

Schwarz signed something before Raaka translated it, "How sure are you that we can cooperate that well?"

A bolt of red lightning streaked from a nearby tree and hit the spider, staggering it and causing it to turn its vengeful glare in that direction. A man in a dark red armor dropped down, who Arian slowly recognized as the man he'd meet on the cliff. "Don't worry your pretty little faces any longer; Rot Blitz and Grau Schatten are here to help."

If Raaka hadn't been fighting for her life, Arian was certain the glare she gave the newcomer would have been followed with a spear of ice. She seemed the type to do such actions. Rot's partner emerged with twin katana in hand; Arian assumed this man was Grau. Schwarz definitely had a brief reaction to his appearance. Mars looked over at them as the Spider-Grimm advanced. "One of you get a relic and the other help us handle this."

Grau looked at Rot and nodded towards the Spider before rushing off. Rot drew a simple revolver-based gunblade and began firing several rounds at the monster. The creature simply raised its front two limbs and shielded its vulnerable eyes as it continued forward, trampling nearby brush. The Armadillo-Grimm had returned to its rolling form and was bearing down on the others in the meantime. As they dodged the monster, two more huntresses-in-training rushed out of the forest. "Whoa." The one in deep blue armor could be heard saying. "Think they need our help Ebony?"

"Nila." The girl in black clothing replied in calm voice, "I sincerely hope you're kidding."

Rot continued stalling the monster that was advancing on him. After unleashing a blast of red lightning, he easily rolled to the side and avoided the massive claw that slammed into the ground where he'd been standing. Before he could attempt to counter attack, a second limb slammed into him and knocked him backwards. He stood up a little slower than before. Grau was there in a heartbeat, swinging both his Katana against the Spider to get its attention. As he landed from his attack and dodged another blow, Nila and Ebony showed up. "So Grau. You need some help?"

Grau looked at them. "It would be appreciated. Catch."

As Grau said this, he tossed Nila a white bishop. Nila nodded in understanding. Arian observed the surrounding fellow classmen of his. They were cooperating mainly off of instinct, but he supposed it was enough to keep them alive. Rot dodged another blow and ended up next to Mars. "Who do you want to take care of big guy? Roller or Arachno?"

Mars spun his sword again. "The Arachnoid. Arian, are you with me?"

"Yeah. Let's take this eight legger."

"We might be able to help." Raaka commented as she and Schwarz ran over. The Armadillo-Grimm was recovering from slamming into a nearby cliff face. Rot ran off with Grau next to him, while Mars and his allies rushed the Spider-Grimm. The monster swung its legs at them again, which was barely avoided. Mars sliced his sword against the leg in response, yielding no fruit of his attack. The hardened exoskeleton prevented any attacks form damaging the spider-Grimm from the outside. Schwarz's explosive rounds detonated against the tough exterior of the monster with little effect. Arian was able to hit a few minor soft spots with his weaker rounds. The spider reared up and unleashed a spray of webbing from its spinneret. Schwarz became a shadow once more, flowing through the webbing. Unfortunately some of it caught Arian.

He gave a growl as his body became entangled in the sticky webbing. His claws were pinned at an angle that he couldn't cut free. With every movement, he became more trapped. Then everything grew cold. Arian's golden eyes looked over as Raaka froze the webbing he was trapped within. Then, with an abrupt motion, she shattered the crystalized strands, freeing him. "Thanks."

She gave a slight noise of acknowledgment, but it was better than nothing. Then she began creating a frozen sword. Mars had witnessed the entire exchange. Reflecting on what had just occurred, his eyes began to light up with a plan. "Raaka." He called out, "Could you freeze the Grimm's legs."

Raaka's icy blue eyes flashed over the monster. "If I had an opening, yes."

Mars nodded with determination shining in his eyes. "Then I will provide one."

The crimson armored warrior rushed towards the monster. The spider-Grimm raised two of its legs and brought them down. The first missed Mars, but the second was caught upon his shield. He began firing the machine gun within his shield into the monster's soft underbelly. Raaka in the meantime seemed to be gauging the monster for weak points. As a screeching noise escaped the wounded Grimm, it brought its front leg down towards Mars, only for him to sever the limb at its unguarded internal junction. Raaka waited for a moment before shouting to her partner, "Schwarz, now."

The former cooperation between the two was shown as the man rushed forward and grabbed Raaka, transporting them both into shadows. They reemerged beneath the beast. Raaka's hands glowed a cold white before energy emerged from them and froze the two legs that were closest to her. Mars leapt back while Schwarz grabbed Raaka and shadow-walked them both to safety. Schwarz then reappeared and leapt upwards, firing his heavy weapon's volatile rounds into the frozen limbs. They shattered under the heavy fire like glass. During its pain induced roar of agony, one of its remaining limbs swung upwards and sent Schwarz flying into a tree. Raaka looked briefly torn between attacking and checking on Schwarz. Before anyone else could reengage, Arian rushed the beast on his own. He leapt up from the ground and placed his feet on the one of the spider's remaining left limbs. He then launched off of that and embedded the blades of Fenrir into a soft spot of the Spider's front. Arian then initiated his semblance. A brilliant bright light shone from his hands just in front of the Grimm's eyes. It shrieked in pain and terror as the brilliant light from Arian's palms blinded it. He ensured his head was turned away from the light. This was what cost him however, as the Spider-Grimm slammed him into a tree. As he fell, he saw Mars rushing the beast, blade in hand.

With no eyesight left to spot the approaching danger, the monster stumbled around, flailing wildly. Mars easily avoided the attempted attacks as he sliced his blade along the inside of the creature's legs. With its muscles' connections severed, the monster collapsed to the ground. Raaka advanced with dual ice launchers created along her hand. She raised her hands and launched round after round into the wounded Grimm's now obvious soft spots. Then she gestured as her hands shone with the same icy energy. The creature gave a final shriek as it was slowly frozen solid. Schwarz emerged from where he had fallen. Giving the monster a disdainful glare, he fired a single round into it and shattered the massive frozen monster.

Mars walked forward as he sheathed his blade. He reached down and assisted Arian back to his feet. "Well then. Shall we be off to the cliff?"

And with that Mars was followed by Arian, Raaka, and Schwarz back to Beacon.

Rot dodged the monster's massive claws as they tore through a nearby tree. He came out of the roll firing the last three rounds from Judgment. A slight growl of frustration escaped him as the rounds bounced off of the tough shell. Grau avoided the monster as well.

"This thing's shell's near unbreakable." Rot grunted as he dodged a falling tree. "We need to get it to expose its soft side."

Grau sheathed one of his Katana as he avoided the monster in its rolling form. "To do that we need it to feel pain in there."

Nila perked up. "I have an idea. My semblance should help us in this department."

Before either Grau or Rot could ask what she meant by that, the girl with blue-highlights spun her blade back into its claymore form. Her hands began to glow a brilliant blue. The light continued to travel up along her blade until it was completely ablaze with blue fire. She leapt into the air as the monster came around for another rolling attack. She slammed the burning blade into the Grimm, creating a minute explosion of fire from the point of impact. As she was hurled backwards, she landed on her feet and began firing flaming rounds from the twin barrels at the monster. Rot caught site of Ebony loading different dust fragments into her Chakram. Rot looked at Grau.

"Light it up." Grau confirmed as he combined his twin katana. The barrels combined into one single large barrel that he loaded a new set of ammunition into. "That'll get it out of its shell."

The Grimm continued rolling towards them despite Nila's barrage of flaming projectiles. Rot quickly loaded flame dust into Apocalypse. Ebony hurled her twin Chakram and activated them, unleashing two waves of fire against either side of the monster. Rot followed this up by unleashing a torrent of his blood empowered fire against the Grimm. The Armadillo-Grimm emerged from its roll with a pain-filled roar. It then began digging into the ground. A part of Rot almost laughed. Switching out his flame dust for his preferred lightning dust, Rot rushed after the monster. He could hear Grau yell at him to come back. Yell that the objective wasn't to kill the Grimm, but to continue on to the cliff. But he didn't listen. His ears were suddenly filled with the sounds of screaming, of yelling, shouting, and shooting from a time past. He could feel the scalpels and needles enter into his skin. The Grimm realized that Rot wasn't going to give it time to escape, so it resumed its offensive.

Opening its mouth wide, it lashed out with its spiked tongue. Rot dodged the blow and caught the tongue in his left hand. He then channeled the dust through Apocalypse and into the monster's tongue. A painful screech escaped the monster as lightning coursed along its sensitive tongue. In response, the rows of teeth were fired like rockets at Rot. His eyes widened before a blur appeared in front of him. Grau's twin Katana flashed in the sunlight as he deflected the myriad of projectiles. He then slashed his blades through the monster's tongue. The monster stumbled back in pain before rushing. Ebony appeared, flipping over both of them before hurling her Chakram into the monster's face. As the bladed discs ricocheted back to her, the monster continued on.

"Nila." Grau shouted, "Burn him."

Nila rushed forward and swung her flaming claymore into the beast's face. As the weapon cut through the wounded monster, she unleashed a volley of flaming rounds into its head. With a final howl, the Grimm collapsed. Ebony placed her Chakram on her hips.

"Why did you go after that thing?" Grau snapped around towards Rot.

"Hey." Rot held up his hands defensively, "It would've tried hurting our comrades if we hadn't dealt with it."

"While that might be accurate, rushing in alone against something like that is sure to get you killed." Grau countered. "And then you would've left us alone to make up for your loss."

"But it didn't happen like that." Rot bit back. "Besides, I wasn't the only one charging in. Or did you miss the blue ball of fury over there when she charged it with little to no explanation."

"Uhm, I'm right here you know?" Nila interjected.

"So is that going to be your justification for doing something stupid?" Grau retorted. "'Well it hasn't killed me yet'."

"I apologize for thinking about others." Rot ground out. Internally he knew that it was far from the most accurate statement he had made. "The only good Grimm's a dead Grimm. That's why we're here isn't it?"

"Boys." Ebony's voice cut through the air. "I think we might not be the only ones not dead yet."

The four of them turned to see the Monster standing back up. Half of its face was burnt, but it still seemed to hold Hell's fury within its remaining eyes. Rot stared dumbfounded at the incredible act of resilience. "Grau. Let's bicker about whether me charging after this thing was the right idea later, after we finally kill it."

"Sounds fair." Grau slowly responded. The four of them leapt backwards as massive claws ripped through the air they'd been standing in before. Ebony performed a front flip and delivered a kick to the monster's face. The impact stumbled it slightly, but it retorted with a swipe of its claw that sent her flying backwards. The girl in black landed and glared in frustration at the monster. Nila spun her claymore around and unloaded another volley of flaming bullets, which deflected off of the armored limbs of the creature. Rot glared at the beast before losing a heavy barrage of his lightning. The energy slammed into the monster and caused it to roar in pain. It then rushed into him and sent him flying. He slammed into a rock and slid to the ground. His vision was hazy and disoriented. He could tell he'd spent more blood in that attack than he'd meant. Standing suddenly became a problem when he tried to get back to his feet.

As Rot stumbled, Grau caught him. The red armored huntsman in training looked at Grau. "Do you trust me?"

"More than I should." Grau's reply held the strain of slight effort, "Considering your ideas so far."

Rot smirked, at least he hadn't truly alienated Grau. "Good. Then I know how to take this thing down. And it requires two blades."

"I'm going to hate this aren't I?" Grau rhetorically asked.

Ebony dodged another swipe and hurled her white Chakram into the beast. As the weapon returned to Ebony's hand, Nila leapt over with her blade in its dual form and slashed her blade in a spiral form into the monster. The flaming blades scorched the shell, but did little physical damage. A single bullet flew overhead and hit one of the Grimm's eyes. Rot stood on his own and fired a second shot. This was deflected by the monster's claws. Grau was suddenly behind Nila. "Nila, when I say light him up, burn the ground beneath him."

Nila glanced down. "Okay."

Grau looked over to Ebony, "and I need you to hit him with both Chakram's dust at once in the neck."

Ebony nodded. Rot then rushed forward. Despite the amount of blood he had used, he knew he was good for at least two more heavy hits. Dodging a claw swing he stabbed Apocalypse's short blade into the monster's unguarded portion of the limb and sent a bolt of lightning through into the skin. The monster yanked its arm back, fully exposing its belly. Grau shouted to Nila to burn. The blue armored huntress-in-training unleashed a volley of flaming rounds into the grass beneath it, forcing it to keep upwards or burn its vulnerable underbelly. Ebony hurled her Chakram towards the beast's neck. Before they could be knocked aside by the monster's claws, she initiated the twin bursts of dust, wounding the more vulnerable neck. Grau then rushed forward, leaping through the flaming ground and stabbing both blades into the monster's belly. As he slid along the ground, his blades ripped through the soft underbelly. The dying monster began collapsing around him on the controlled fire, but there was just enough of an opening that he was able to roll out from underneath before the massive monster fully collapsed.

Grau sheathed his blades before checking himself for any burning pieces of clothing. Nila stood there for a moment. "That was awesome." She cheered.

Rot laughed. "I have to say. I've never seen a Grimm like that, but it gave us one good fight. But we put it down."

"Thanks to your idea." Grau commented.

Rot shook his head, "No. I just said gut it. The fire, dust explosions to the neck, and sliding on the ground were all your idea. And pretty flashy for a guy who uses simple weapons."

Grau shrugged nonchalantly, ignoring the slight feelings of self-consciousness filling him. "I just enjoy interesting ways to take down enemies. Sometimes they just happen to be flashy."

"I hate to intercede. But don't we have a mission to complete?" Ebony inquired.

"Killjoy." Rot slid new rounds into Judgment's chambers. "Can't we just savor the moment?"

"We probably should be going." Grau admitted. "Let's roll out."

As Grau led Rot, Ebony and Nila away, the Armadillo-Grimm gave one last breathe of life. Had they stayed a little longer, they would have seen a blonde brawler and her secretly-Faunus companion arrive at the ruins where they had begun this battle before grabbing a "cute little pony".

The rest of the day was a blur for Rot. It could have been because of the speed at everything was taken at. Or it could have been because he had expended more blood than intended between the past two days and would now be forced to rely on more traditional means of fighting if combat was needed any time soon. But either way, the next thing he consciously realized was that he was standing in line before a stage, listening to Professor Ozpin giving a speech of sorts.

"Mars Auburn, Arian Ardolph, Raaka Isolde, and Schwarz Umbra. The four of you retrieved the black rook pieces and will here by forth be known as team MARS." Ozpin paused briefly for dramatic effect, "Led by Mars Auburn."

Arian clapped Mars on the back, who looked unsurprised by this declaration. Raaka looked towards Schwarz and gave a grin that didn't look like it would freeze fire. Schwarz for his part nodded in contentment. Rot was aware that he and Grau were then told to advance to the stage. Ebony and Nila filed in behind them.

"Grau Schatten, Rot Blitz, Ebony Veil, and Nila Feur. You four returned with the white bishop pieces and have been henceforth combined to form team GREN."

Rot snorted under his breath, "Something red related would've been better."

Ozpin's voice overrode any response by his teammates, "Led by Grau Schatten."

Grau stared like he was in slight surprise. Rot began laughing, "Well at least you look older than me, boss."

Nila patted him on the back, "I can't wait to see how we top this previous stunt."

Ebony gave a simple nod of approval. As they left the stage, Ozpin whispered a parting comment to Grau. "Lead them well. There is far more to threaten them than just the Grimm."

Grau nodded his understanding as he and his team walked away. Rot, having heard the comment, reflected on what the headmaster had meant.

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