The Death Stalker struck first, launching a blue-green bolt of energy from its stinger. As unexpected as the attack was, the Beacon wizards were not caught off guard as they had been with the robots.
As the glowing projectile flew through the air towards them, they moved as a coordinated unit. Blake went left, Ruby flanked right, Yang charged forward and Weiss summoned a glyph and ascended.
Yang fired a volley of red dust shells at the Grimm's face, causing it use its pincers in order to shield itself. As soon as Yang entered melee range, she covered her fists in fire and started raining down blows on the monster's armoured pincers. The assault only lasted a few seconds before a white glyph appeared and whisked Yang away from the Death Stalker, a moment before the beast's stinger pierced the ground where Yang had been.
The Grimm had struck hard enough that the stinger was, for the moment at least, stuck. Blake and Ruby capitalized on this opportunity and rushed in from either side, striking the connection between the stinger and the rest of the tail simultaneously.
The girls got two strikes in before, with an ear-splitting screech, the Death Stalker wrenched its stinger free of the ground, just as Ruby and Blake were coming in for a third strike. The wizards were instead met by the pincers, as they swung out with explosive force and sent Ruby and Blake tumbling backwards.
The combination of being so close to the loud screech and the hard hit had Blake's head spinning and both sets of ears ringing. The Grimm saw Blake struggling and advanced on her, only to be stopped as ice rose up from the ground and encased its legs.
If the monster was capable of turning its head around, it would have seen Weiss remove the type of her sword from the ground and allow herself a small smile. As it was frozen in place by the ice dust, all it saw was Yang stand protectively in front of Blake and take a deep breath.
"Fire Magic: Dragon's Roar!"Once again fire shot from Yang's mouth and engulfed her opponent.
Believing the matter resolved, Yang lowered her guard. This mistake proved costly as the over-sized scorpion charged forward out of the flames and swatted her away with a pincer. Blake barely managed to cast her shadow form spell and melt into the ground before the Grimm reached her.
Before the Grimm could try and chase the shadow, a bullet struck its side hard enough to make it stagger.
Turning to face the new threat, the Death Stalker was met with the sight of Ruby and Weiss. Ruby was down on one knee, scythe blade dug into the ground and barrel aimed at the mutant, while Weiss had a glyph summoned just in front of the sniper-scythe's barrel.
The Grimm began to charge the two wizards only for Ruby's next shot, velocity amplified by Weiss' glyph, to cancel its motion and take off a chuck of bone plating. The monster quickly realized a direct charge wouldn't work.
So, to all the wizards' surprise, the Death Stalker used its pincers unbelievably quickly and began to burrow into the ground. As the scorpion like Grimm disappeared underground, the ground started shaking and the ground between Ruby and Weiss and where the Grimm had been, began to be pushed up, a clear indication of something large underground moving towards them.
Quickly realising the danger, the two wizards made to move, but unfortunately for Ruby, the shaking was made it harder to dislodge her scythe blade from the ground. The delay was barely more than a couple seconds, but it was too long.
Ruby had only taken two steps before the ground erupted, chunks of the dirt and rock that made up the testing area floor flying everywhere, as the Grimm emerged. When the dust settled Ruby's legs were trapped under a pile of rubble, making her easy prey for the massive arachnid.
The Grimm advanced with pincers raised as the trapped wizard struggled desperately to free herself. Once again, the Death Stalker found its progress impeded, but this time it was neither ice nor heavy impacts. Instead the monster was being held back by the powerful arms of Yang, surrounded by an aura of fire and eyes a brilliant red.
"Get the hell away from my sister!" the blonde yelled in defiance at the monster many times her size.
The Death Stalker raised its tail, lifting Yang up as well as she refused to let go, before spinning around as it tried in vain to dislodge the wizard burning its tail. Blake, seeing the distraction for what it was, looked to Ruby's trapped form and slammed her palm down on the ground.
"Shadow Pull."
A shadow in the shape of a hand, shot out across the ground from where Blake kept her hand pressed against the floor towards Ruby. As the shadow reached Ruby, she was pulled into the shadow and the shadow quickly retreated back to its creator. When the shadow reached Blake, Ruby emerged from within, safe and rubble free.
Yang was not having as much success. The Grimm had realised spinning wasn't helping, so instead it ran backwards towards a wall and slammed Yang against it. The impact had Yang's head slamming into the wall hard enough for her to lose her grip.
Her opponent wasted no time in turning to face her and bringing both pincers down on her. In a show of incredible strength, boosted by magic, Yang stopped both pincers, one in each hand as the scorpion pushed down on her. However, this left her defenceless against the stinger that she could see rising up.
She could see the stinger was in a bad way, the assault from Ruby and Blake had clearly done some damage, not that it would help her. As the stinger descended, ready to end the fire wizard's life, a white blur flashed across Yang's vision and the stinger fell away from the tail as the scorpion screeched in pain.
Yang looked in the direction the blur was going and saw Weiss, the red glow of fire dust fading from her rapier. With its stinger lost, the scorpion retreated from the wizards as its tail flailed around in agony. Now free, Yang made her way to Weiss, giving the girl in white a nod as thanks for saving her life.
"Your sister has a plan," the heiress explained simply.
"And that would be?" Yang asked.
"You'll see. Just get ready to hit that overgrown bug with everything you have," Weiss said enigmatically as the Death Stalker started to recover from the pain.
The Grimm focused with newfound rage at Weiss, the source of its pain. As it started to move Blake called out "Shadow Trap!" The spell had dozens of hands reaching out of the monster's own shadow and trying to pull it down to the ground. However, the beast would not be denied, it struggled against the hands, moving slowly towards its goal.
Weiss pointed her blade at the mutant and proclaimed loud and clearly "Gravity Lock!" The effect was instantaneous. The ground around the Grimm in a wide circle was depressed as the Death Stalker itself was forced to the ground with a resounding boom. Before it could try to rise, Ruby was zipping around it, firing ice dust rounds at its legs and being sure to stay clear of the gravity lock.
"Now Yang!" Ruby cried out.
Yang was already gathering magical power into her hands before her sister's call came. Stepping in front of Weiss, Yang braced herself and focused her mind. She could see the Death Stalker struggling violently against its bonds, the ice on its legs already starting to crack.
"Fire Magic: Solar Flare!" With the booming shout, Yang thrust her hands forward and from them burst forth a stream of fire that dwarfed the dragons roar in both size and heat. The massive torrent of fire completely engulfed the Death Stalker. The roar of the flames completely drowned out the screams of the monster as it burned. Yang kept the attack up for several seconds before letting up. As the flames died down, all that was left of the mighty Grimm was a scorched husk, quickly fading into black smoke.
"This… this isn't possible!" Dr Merlot screamed in anger. "That was my masterpiece! How did it get beaten by a bunch of teenagers!"
The girls, all breathing hard from the exertion, turned to the elderly scientist and Ruby called out "That's because we're not just any bunch of teens. We're team RWBY! The crown Jewel of Beacon!"
It was then that Blake's scroll began to ring. The girl pulled out the device and opened it to reveal the image of Ren staring back at her.
Back on the ground floor, Pyrrha, Ren and Nora were making their way through the group of Grimm. Or more accurately, Pyrrha was carving her way through the horde like a chainsaw through butter.
The red-haired wizard was surrounded by a whirlwind of steel from the cages that had once housed the Grimm. She strode forward purposefully, the Creeps and younger Beowolves that charged at her were quickly torn apart by what had once been their prisons.
Any that tried to circle around, were cut down by the blades of Ren's StormFlower or crushed beneath the head of Nora's Magnhild. It wasn't long until only the two mutated Alphas and the Ursa remained, with the Ursa being the closest to their destination.
As Pyrrha approached, her whirlwind still going, the two Beowolves slammed their paws into the ground in unison. This action caused a line of spikes, of the same blue-green colour as the crystals on their backs, to fire up out of the ground toward Pyrrha. The S-class wizard quickly changed her whirlwind into a solid wall of metal to stop the attack.
The two Alphas made to attack Pyrrha while she no longer had the whirlwind to protect her, only to be intercepted by Ren and Nora. Ren dashed underneath the outstretched arms of one Alpha, slashing its arms with the blades of StormFlower, before firing a short burst into its face. The bullets missed the Beowolf's eyes, but did enough to have the monster bringing its arms up to protect its face, blocking its field of vision and leaving its torso completely unprotected.
Ren capitalised on the opportunity, holstering StormFlower and concentrating magical energy into his palm, before delivering a devastating palm strike that blew a hole clear through the Alpha.
Nora's approach was far simpler then Ren's. Shattering one arm with Magnhild, then conducting her explosion magic along her hammer, and slamming the Beowolf in the chest. The last remaining Alpha was knocked off its feat, and as it got back up, it glowed pink for a second before exploding in a burst of heat and light.
The final piece of opposition, the Ursa, roared a challenge at the three wizards, only to be silenced as the steel that had made up Pyrrha's whirlwind rained down on it and turned it into a glorified pin-cushion. The way now clear, the trio moved quickly to the room where their Guildmate was being held.
With the lights out, Jaune was left in the pitch-black darkness of the lab. As far as he could tell, it had been about a minute since he lost all feeling in his arms and legs, though even that was a rough guess as Jaune found it increasingly harder to concentrate.
The numbness wasn't that bad, Jaune conceded, as at the very least it was a great improvement to the pain from earlier. Jaune blinked heavily as he found that his eyes were getting harder and harder to keep open. Not that it should have mattered, as he could barely see anything anyway.
As the the last of his consciousness started to slip away, a light appeared. A bright rectangle of light. In this light stood the silhouette of a woman. The woman seemed to project power as though from some divine source. It was then Jaune realised what he was seeing.
"An angel," he whispered breathlessly.
The angel took one tentative step forward, before closing the gap between them quickly. She raised one hand and placed it delicately on his cheek.
"I'm sorry, Jaune."
The angel spoke as though it were her fault that he was dying, despite Jaune knowing there was no way that could be possible. It was his own fault he was here. Merlot had been right, he was weak, a failure of a wizard. He was not worthy to wear the symbol of Beacon. But despite knowing all that, he was not ready to give up.
"Please Ms Angel, I'm not ready to die," Jaune said, struggling to get the words out. "Please. Just give me one more chance." The angel said nothing, but removed her hand from his cheek and a moment later everywhere around him lit up with white light, and he felt the sensation of falling.
With the restraints removed Jaune fell forward, where Pyrrha caught him. She carefully carried him to a nearby gurney and gently laid him down. With that done she took a step back and her breath caught in her throat as she took in not just Jaune's injuries, but the blood that had gotten onto her just through their brief contact.
She wrestled with her instincts as every part of her screamed to hunt down the madman who had done this. But she knew she couldn't. She was Pyrrha Nikos. The Invincible Girl. She doesn't get shaken up. She doesn't get to lose control. And right now, Jaune need her far more than she needed to satisfy some petty urge for revenge. She took a deep breath and calmed her mind. When she spoke, her voice was calm and measured, the opposite of how she felt.
"Ren, call the pilot, get him to meet us outside the facility. When you've done that, call the others and let them know we have Jaune." Ren nodded, the tinniest frown the only indicator of the unease he felt at seeing a fellow guild member in such a state. "Nora. Destroy everything."
Unlike Ren, Nora had no intent on hiding how she felt and her rage was written all across her face. With instructions issued, Pyrrha grabbed a hold of the gurney and started moving towards the exit as Ren talked quickly into his scroll. Nora holstered Magnhild on her back and placed her hands on the ground.
"Explosion Magic: Remote Detonation," she growled as the floor of the lab began to glow pink.
With her work done she turned to leave, before spying a crate near the door. The crate was marked 'Subject #001', and a quick look revealed it contained a black hoodie and white plate armour. Realising it must belong to Jaune, she picked it up and carried it out with her.
Finishing up his call with the pilot, Ren informed Pyrrha that their ride would be waiting for them by the time they got outside. A solemn nod was his only response from the S-class wizard.
With that sorted, Ren moved on to his next order of business and opened his contact list, and began to search for one of the other wizards they had come with. It didn't take long as his list was small and 'Blake Belladonna' was close to the start.
He hit the call button and was quickly answered as the face of his fellow wizard appeared on his screen. He couldn't help but notice how Blake looked worse off than when they separated, but put it to the side as he delivered the news.
"We have Jaune. We've already called for evac and the pilot will be waiting for us outside."
"That's good to hear," Blake replied.
"Is he okay?" he heard Yang shout towards the scroll. Ren looked away from his scroll and to the injured boy, taking in the blood and bruises across his torso and arms.
Yang held her breath as she waited for Ren's response. Part of her not wanting to know, while another part told her that Ren's silence should be enough to tell her all she needs to know.
"He's in a bad way." With those few words Yang felt her stomach drop. "He has multiple cuts and bruises across his body. We can't tell the full extent of his injuries due to all the blood and he lost consciousness shortly after we found him."
With every word of Ren's diagnosis, Yang could feel both her guilt and rage building. If Ren said anything after that she didn't hear it as she focused on the man responsible and tuned everything else out.
Now much closer to the observation room than before the fight with the Death Stalker, Yang could clearly see the doctor. More specifically, she could see the blood splattered across his coat.
This was the last straw, with eyes turning red and fire exploding out from her, she hurled herself at the glass. Her fist hit with a dull thump and the glass didn't budge.
"You'll have to do better than that," Merlot mocked from his position of safety. "This glass is strong enough to hold up against a rampaging Goliath. There is simply no way a human can get through it." Undaunted, Yang raised her hands above her head and slammed them against the glass, still nothing. Letting her anger push her on, Yang breathed deeply.
"Fire Magic: Dragon's Roar!" The fire surged against the glass, the heat enough to have Ruby Weiss and Blake stepping back and shielding their faces. When the torrent died down, it seemed the glass had only suffered some scorch marks. Then slowly, the section in the epicentre of the attack, started to ooze down, leaving a shallow depression in the window.
Both Yang and Merlot stepped back in surprise as they looked at the newly melted section in the glass. All traces of Merlot's smug grin were gone as Yang let a menacing grin spread across her face, and pulled both her hands back for another blast.
Ruby, Weiss and Blake watched in shock and awe as Yang melted more of the glass with a stream of fire.
"Genius," Weiss muttered to herself. "If that glass is as strong as the doctor claims, then even if we all worked together we wouldn't be able to break through. But with Yang's fire we don't have to."
"I wouldn't exactly call it genius," Blake countered. "She's creating enough heat that she might just roast us as well."
"We need to stop her," Ruby announced.
"You're welcome to try," Weiss offered.
"And why should we? I've heard enough to know that bastard deserves what's coming to him," Blake added as Weiss nodded in agreement.
"Because every second we waste on him, is time where Jaune isn't getting back to Beacon to get help!" Ruby shot back.
While the other three talked, Yang had managed to pierce through the glass with her flames. The fire washed across the back of the observation room as Yang carved away a large enough section for her to walk through.
The way now clear, Yang strode into the observation room, fire still burning around her. Dr Merlot tried walking backwards away from the furious wizard, only to trip over his own feet and fall over.
"L-let's not to anything hasty. Wouldn't want to do anything you might regret later," merlot desperately pleaded, sweating profusely from both the heat and his fear.
"Don't worry. I'm not going to regret a thing," Yang reassured him, as she grabbed the scientist by his collar and lifted him up. She slowly raised her right hand, knuckles bloody, to deliver one final punch to end it all.
"YANG STOP!" Ruby cried out.
"He's a monster Ruby. And last time I checked, we kill monsters for a living." Yang kept her eyes fixed on the man in front of her as she delivered her statement.
"Jaune needs help!" Ruby pleaded. The words had Yang lower her fist slightly, so Ruby pressed on. "The others have already loaded him onto the bullhead by now. The only reason he isn't already on his way back to Beacon already is because they're waiting on us. Leave him and let's go." The words hit home and Yang's eyes switched back to their normal lilac and she dropped Merlot.
"Never mess with Jaune, or any other member of Beacon ever again. Cause if you do, I'll be coming back here." With the final warning delivered, Yang wasted no more time on the doctor and ran towards the exit with the others in tow.
The flight back had been tense, no-one saying a word as Ren cleaned and dressed Jaune's wounds as best he could with the Bullhead's small first aid kit. As soon as they had landed Pyrrha had rushed the gurney to the guild's infirmary.
With the exception of Weiss and Ren, who had volunteered to report to Ozpin on the behalf of each group, the others closely followed behind Pyrrha, which led to them all waiting impatiently in a waiting area as one of Beacon's resident healers saw to their recently rescued guildmate.
It was a full hour later that the doors opened. All the assembled wizards rose from their seats as Glynda Goodwitch, the imposing second-in-command of the guild, stepped out instead of the healer that had taken Jaune. Her piercing gaze swept across the young wizards, pausing for a moment on Yang, before she spoke.
"Mr Arc will be fine." The simple words heralded a collective sigh of relief from those gathered. "The cuts, lacerations and bruises were never a threat to his life. The man who did this knew what he was doing. All injuries were done with the intent of causing intense pain while making sure the Mr Arc stayed alive.
"The real threat was whatever drug that was being used on him and we believe this to be the reason for him losing consciousness. The healer tells me that you were lucky to find him when you did. If he had been exposed to the drug any longer, there is a very real possibility he would have suffered permanent brain damage."
Yang felt sick. How could they talk about luck, when Jaune had been drugged and tortured by a madman? Yang was only shaken from this thought when she heard Glynda continue talking.
"He is resting now and will likely be for some time. You can go see him if you want, provided you do not disturb his rest," The last part had clearly been directed towards Nora, who just smiled back, at ease now that the danger had passed. "When he wakes up he is free to leave, but if someone could make sure he doesn't over exert himself, that would be for the best." Having said all she needed to, Glynda walked out, presumably to Beacon Tower.
Nora was the first to act, announcing loudly "Well now that Jauney's safe, I'm feeling hungry. Let's go get something to eat Ren." The quiet boy was given no choice as Nora grabbed his hand and effectively dragged him to the exit. She stopped with one foot outside and called back in "Someone make sure to give him his box of stuff!"
Blake was the next to speak up. "I think I've seen enough of the infirmary recently and this turned out to be a lot more tiring than I expected. I'm going to the dorms to take a nap."
"I've got some research to do," was all Weiss said before she followed Blake out. With a final look between them, Ruby, Pyrrha and Yang moved deeper into the infirmary, with Ruby leading the way.
Ruby saw Jaune first and ran to his side. Pyrrha followed close behind, carrying the box Nora retrieved. Yang trailed behind, almost stopping as seeing Jaune in a hospital bed had the guilt hitting her full force all over healing magic had clearly worked well as all traces of his injuries had disappeared, but it couldn't replace lost blood, and in the white light of the infirmary, Jaune seem so much paler than he had in the Bullhead.
"Hey Ruby. I bet when Jaune wakes up he's going to pretty hungry. How about you go to the dining hall and grab something for him to eat?" Yang said.
"Great idea Yang!" Ruby exclaimed, seemingly forgetting what Goodwitch had said about causing a disturbance. "I'll get him some cookies. Those always help me feel better."
"Sure. Just try not to eat them all yourself." If the smile Yang gave as she said that looked forced, Ruby didn't comment on it as she sped out of the room. Yang took the spot Ruby vacated by Jaune's side, with Pyrrha on the opposite side.
"I want to ask a favour of you," Yang said after several moments of silence. When Pyrrha didn't respond, she took her silence as permission to keep going. "When Jaune wakes up, I would appreciate it if you could be the one to keep an eye on him and make sure he gets back to his place alright."
"Shouldn't it be you?" Pyrrha asked. "You know him best after all."
"And I'm also the reason all this happened, and I have no idea what I'm meant to do or say to someone who went through hell because of my mistake."
"I'll do it," Pyrrha accepted after a few moments of silent contemplation.
"Thank you-"
"But you better figure out what you're going to do quickly. You're his closest friend here and I get the feeling he's going to need you more than ever after this," Pyrrha said, cutting her off.
Yang had no reply. Merely nodding sullenly before walking out.
It was three hours later that Jaune and Pyrrha strode through the streets of Vale. The sun had already set and there were few people out as they made their way through the residential district.
Jaune had mentioned he had an apartment he was renting near the edge of the residential district, near the river that separated it from the agricultural district and was leading the way there. The apartment was inside a two-story apartment house, with red walls and dark-brown slopping roof on Strawberry Street.
"Welcome to my humble abode," Jaune announced with a flourish as they stepped inside.
From what Pyrrha could see, the apartment consisted of three rooms. One main room that housed Jaune's bed as well as various other pieces of furniture including a desk, bookcase, couch and a coffee table.
"The whole place came fully furnished," Jaune continued, spreading his arms wide. "With its own kitchen and bathroom, for only Ⱡ70,000 a month, the place is an absolute steal."
Pyrrha giggled at Jaune's antics, glad to see him acting like his normal self. Jaune walked across the room, taking off his armour as he did, and placing it on an armour rack near his bed. He paused suddenly before quickly turning back to Pyrrha.
"I totally forgot to ask if you wanted anything. Honestly where are my manners today? Would you like something to drink? I have water and… water." Pyrrha blinked a few times in surprise, looking at Jaune's hoodie instead of his face managing a polite, "No thank you, I'm fine." Jaune looked down in confusion to see what she was looking at and realised that without his chest plate, the image of Pumpkin Pete on his hoodie was on full display.
"Oh, right yeah, its ah, Pumpkin Pete. You know, from the cereal?" Jaune explained awkwardly.
"I know who Pumpkin Pete is Jaune. In fact, I actually did a job for them not long ago."
"Really? What was it? Did they have some Beowolves attacking a factory or something?" Jaune asked with a laugh.
"Actually, it was a modelling job," Pyrrha answered, looking away bashfully.
"Oh right. Of course you would do modelling jobs. I mean you're gorgeous and amazing and I'm going to stop talking now," Jaune rambled. The two stood there awkwardly, looking anywhere but at each other.
When Pyrrha spied a package sitting on the coffee table, she saw a way out of the awkwardness. "So, what's in the package?" Jaune quickly looked to where Pyrrha had directed her gaze.
"I don't actually know," he confessed. "The landlady must have brought it in while I was… out." Quickly trying to distract himself from what happened while he was 'out', Jaune moved over to the package and sat down on the couch as began to open it. "Oh hey, it's from my family. Wonder what they sent."
The package was long and fairly narrow rectangular box. Upon opening it, a longsword with a blue handle, inside a white sheath was revealed.
"Well, at least we no longer have to get you a weapon," Pyrrha said cheerfully as she sat down next to Jaune on the couch. When Jaune didn't respond Pyrrha asked, "Is something wrong?"
"I can't use this," Jaune declared as quickly stood up and walked away from the couch, leaving the sword on the table.
"Why not?" Pyrrha asked, not understanding his reasoning.
"Because that's my great-great-grandfather's sword," Jaune nearly shouted. "It's the sword of a hero. And if today is anything to go by, then I am far from being even close to hero. I don't deserve to use that sword."
"I disagree," Pyrrha argued, picking up the sword and walking towards Jaune. "On our way to rescue you, Yang told me about the day she met you. She told me how you saved a family. How you risked your life to make sure everyone was safe, when even an experienced wizard had cleared out.
"You might not be a powerful wizard or a skilled fighter yet, but that's what guilds exist for. So that like-minded people can come together and learn from each other." Now standing in front of him, Pyrrha held out the sword and Jaune hesitantly took it as Pyrrha smiled. "I may not have known you very long, but Yang says you have great potential, and I can't help but agree with her. And when you start to grow as a wizard, I have no doubt others will see it too."
Jaune gripped the sword firmly now, Pyrrha's speech having fulfilled it job at lifting his spirits.
"Did... did Yang really say I had 'great potential'," Jaune asked tentatively. Pyrrha nodded, while smiling encouragingly.
He looked down at the sword one last time, before coming to a conclusion and looking back up at Pyrrha.
"Pyrrha, I know you've already done so much for me and I have no right to ask this but, would you be willing to help me? To help me become a better fighter?"
Pyrrha's smile grew. "It would be my pleasure."
AN: Longest chapter to date. Hope you like it. There is a reason why Pyrrha said yes to training Jaune, despite telling Yang, in no uncertain terms, that she wouldn't and this will be dealt with later.
If anyone is unclear on what each person's magic is let me know, either in the review or by private message, and I will include a list of the characters and their magics in next chapter's AN.
As always a big thanks to my Beta reader: Wyncrer the Sage.