Author's Note: Colonel Zultan (Evan Zuelke) of Grimm Horizon, and I teamed up to present a RWBY vs SEAL match of Remnant: The Game! We hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as we enjoyed writing it!
Two months after Cinder's invasion...
"Ruby, it's been a year now, okay? It's time to make friends outside of our team."
"I have friends outside of our team. Like JNPR!"
"They don't count!" Weiss rolled her eyes.
"Hey!" cried Jaune from across the hall.
"Look, Blake and Yang are already down in the library and Yang wants you to play, okay? Do it for her."
Ruby groaned and shoved the chair away from her desk, grimacing.
"I thought you loved Remnant: The Game," Weiss stated.
"I love the game, and I love my sister. I don't like meeting new people."
"Name three people outside of Team RWBY and Team JNPR that you know."
"There's Su—"
"And Team SSSN doesn't count because they don't go to Beacon. Ruby, you need to meet your fellow classmates."
Weiss definitely felt a little odd scolding Ruby now that she was so much taller and...well...looked like a supermodel. But in her defense, Ruby had pretty much shut herself away the entire first year at Beacon and after what went down during the Vytal Festival, Weiss felt the need to introduce her to some new people so she could branch out.
"Team SEAL is the same year as us, and we have several classes together. You should get to know them better, Ruby. Frankly, it almost seems insulting that they've fought by your side and you don't even know their names."
"Weiss...that's not fair."
Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Exactly, Ruby. It's not fair. So come on, let's go."
Ruby groaned and leaned backwards. Weiss sighed and kicked the chair legs out from under Ruby and Ruby crashed to the floor. With a puff of petals she was standing up and rubbing the back of her head. "Rude..."
"I'll drag you out by your ear if I need to."
"Fine, geez." Ruby pulled her hair back into a ponytail and threw on a simple black tank top that, most likely unintentionally, showed off her slim-yet-muscular build and her...assets. Weiss blushed and threw her cape at her.
"Thanks."
The clasp fastened and the cape fell to the floor. Any signs of battle damage had been fixed by Weiss weeks ago and the cape now completely fit Ruby's new height.
With one last annoyed groan, Ruby stepped out into the hallway, followed by Weiss.
"Looks like we have a new contestant, ladies and gentlemen!" Yang grinned at the sight of her sister being dragged in by Weiss.
"OH THANK GOODNESS!" Aaron shouted. He threw his cards down and Blake grinned evilly.
"Didn't think you'd give up so easily, Khan," she said as she laid down her clearly superior hand.
Aaron slammed his head on the table repeatedly, causing all the pieces on the board to jump around and jumble in a big pile. "I hate this game. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it," he mumbled dejectedly.
To his side, Lily giggled and ran her hand over his back, setting her cards down as well. Aaron cracked an eye open to see his girlfriend's hand was even better than Blake's and went back to sobbing against the dark oaken table.
"I wouldn't celebrate yet," Evan grinned. He leaned in close to Aaron's ear and whispered, "Ruby's even more vicious in this game than her teammates combined."
"That's it!" Aaron stood, sending his chair flying back into Spencer's stomach, who doubled over with an oof. "I quit! You blokes have fun, but I'm done." He made his way to the designated 'Crowd Seating' and sulked.
Next to him, Professor Azura giggled and squeezed his arm. He grumbled and shrugged her off. Cole laughed at that and leaned back, eager to watch the next match.
The rest of Team SEAL turned and watched Ruby as she took Blake's spot. Evan closed his jaw then looked down, mumbling about 'damn space-time bullshit.' Lily and Spencer just shook their heads. Ruby folded her arms over her chest and glared at them. Lily's curiosity got the better of her and she turned to ask, "Ruby, what was it like? In the vault, I mean."
"Lily!" hissed Spencer.
"How do you know about the Vault?" Weiss asked, sternly.
"It was—"
"I swear if you say 'Jaune'..." Weiss growled.
Lily shut her mouth and bit her lip.
"Well, we can tell you who it wasn't," Aaron chimed in.
"Dust take him..." Weiss mumbled.
"It's okay," Ruby spoke up. She set her armored hand on the table with a light thunk. Lily was immediately all over the armor, her tail wagging back and forth and her nose twitching.
"It's not not nearly as bulky up close as it looks!" she said with glee.
"Lily..." Spencer shoved his hand in his face and took a seat.
"Sorry, boss..." she pouted. "It's just so cool!"
Ruby flexed her hand and the keystone shone with a bright violet light. "Cool, huh? Never really thought about it. Only as a burden." Lily eyed Ruby, afraid she'd said the wrong thing. "Thanks, Lily!" Ruby smiled. "New perspective."
Lily smiled and wagged her tail before going to sit next to Blake. Evan took a spot next to Spencer, across from Yang and Yang reached for her Atlas deck.
"Nah ah ah!" Evan chided, "I play as Atlas. I always play as Atlas."
Yang looked at Spencer as if to say Tell him or I'll break his fingers. Spencer merely grinned. "Hey, he has his own deck."
Evan produced a shiny deck of cards, bearing the cog and rapier of Atlas.
"Then dibs on Vacuo!" Yang grinned and reached for the pile of Vacuo cards on the board.
"Sorry, Yang." Spencer pulled out his own Vacuo deck, embossed with the shield and flame of Vacuo.
Ruby quietly pulled her own Vale deck from her cargo shorts pocket.
"Dammit..." Yang muttered. "Wanna play as Atlas but we can't have that, noooooo. Wanna play as Vacuo but we can't have that, noooo. Even my own sister..."
Ruby laughed softly and began to shuffle her deck as Yang cleared the other cards off the board, separating her stock Vacuo deck from the other cards.
Cole stood and started setting up the pieces for the group, while they shuffled. As Ruby sifted through her deck, a card fell from Cole's sleeve and into Ruby's lap.
"Professor..." she started, but he merely winked and patted her on the head before finishing setting up Grimm spawn points and sitting down.
Ruby looked down at the card and shuffled it into her deck. She looked around at her opponents: Yang, who was frowning at the unfamiliar cards in her hand, Evan who was grinning mischievously, and Spencer, who was stoic as a statue.
The board spanned all of Remnant, including Menagerie, which was going to be a new fifth nation in the next big expansion. The board even included a spot for the moon in the upper right corner, but no known card utilized this space and the official rulebook never mentioned it.
Hand-drawing phase, and Ruby drew four cards—Hero: Peter Port, Hero: Paladin of Courage, Semblance: Lava Wall, and Unit: Bullhead. Ruby eyed her Castle, which only had three walls, compared to the other kingdoms' four. However, her eastern side was covered by in impassible mountain that could only be breached by certain special cards. She was confident enough in her defense skills. She looked to Evan to play his first card.
Atlas, as always, went first, and Evan played Special Unit: Air Support Beacon, and grinned at Yang's anguish. With a flick of his wrist, his other three cards lay on the table face up. All Atlesian Battlecruisers. Shit. His Castle just became basically impenetrable. Evan redrew another four cards and grinned as a fourth Battlecruiser joined the fray.
Drawing back to four, he set his hand down. Spencer went next, as Vacuo was closest, anti-clockwise. He settled for a modest Special Unit: Desert Sniper unit to defend his Castle and also drew to four.
Now it was Ruby's turn and she played a standard Unit: Bullhead, trusting that with the mountain protecting her from the east, she could defend herself with a single airship, as long as she pushed out with her Hero cards early on. If the Grimm got up the mountain, she'd be done for.
Yang sourly slammed a card on the table and everyone saw that she was defending her Castle with...Unit: Housecat? Ruby laughed and Evan nearly fell out of his chair. Yang growled and her hair nearly started to blaze as Spencer tried his best to keep a straight face. "Laugh it up, guys." Yang's head found itself on the table in despair.
Evan shook his head and slapped down an Upgrade: Enhanced Tracking for his fleet. "Boom! Plus Three to all Accuracy rolls!"
Spencer answered the card with a Grimm Event: Migration, and moved all Grimm three spaces closer to any chosen kingdom. Vale being closest, he set them towards Ruby, who glared at the laughing man.
Ruby slapped down Hero: Peter Port, which drew a giggle from Azura in the seats behind her, and moved a hero figure onto the board. "Sorry, Spencer, but my Hero card lets me destroy one Grimm of my choice per turn." She chose the second closest Ursa and moved it to the pile of Grimm figures.
Yang moaned and threw out the card she'd just drawn last turn, a Unit: Bullhead card over her castle. However, with her Castle Guardian already chosen, the Bullhead was forced to move over the Walls, where it would lose the defense bonus of the Castle's Energy Shield. Evan rubbed his hands together in anticipation of obliterating Yang.
Ruby decided that as long as Evan took his time with Yang, she could focus on Spencer. The turns continued and Evan began building a massive air fleet, conquering all of Mantle and wiping out the Grimm in his home territory almost immediately. With the starting Grimm gone, the spawn rate for Mantle was cut in half, meaning less he'd have to worry about back home.
Spencer's plays were erratic and unpredictable, sending Desert Snipers and Guerilla Militias out into the desert on scavenging runs, which, thanks to his buff cards, were twice as fruitful, gaining him access to a few salvaged airships.
Ruby kept most of her Hero cards in her hand, saving her Paladin for the opportune moment. She dealt with Grimm by using Port to smite a Grimm each turn, and when they'd get too close, she'd send out a Vale Police Officer or another disposable single-unit card to dispatch the threat.
By the tenth turn, Evan had nearly crossed the ocean to bring his forces to bear against Yang, who was slowly being overrun by Grimm. Evan moved his ships closer and Yang got a sudden gleam in her eyes. She quietly played a simple grey card and Evan groaned. "Special Event: New Threat! When attacked by another kingdom, all local Grimm turn to battle the attacking player!" Yang laughed and Evan suddenly grinned as he played a trap card.
"Orbital Barrage Platform! If I roll a five or higher, I can wipe out all local Grimm!"
"Roll a four or less and you wipe out your own Castle!" Yang cried.
"Try me, Xiao Long," Evan's tattoo pulsed and he had a manic look in his eye.
His wrist flicked and the two dice fell from his grasp. The first landed on a one, the second one teetered on the edge between two and five. Yang's breath sucked in and Evan sat back slowly as the die settled on five.
"Dammit!" Yang yelled as Evan cleared Mistral of Grimm figures.
The battle phase ended and normal turns resumed, leaving Evan free to draw an extra card each turn with his Martial Law support card.
Spencer finally began to take action and Ruby stared in shock as his Desert troopers, ignoring all terrain effects, began circling her Castle and climbing the mountain. It would take another turn for them to be able to attack, but Ruby had her forces battling Grimm.
Out of desperation, Ruby slapped down her trump card early. Hero: Summer Rose. The onlookers all sat forward, Azura ooohed and Blake eyed Ruby, trying to get a glimpse of what the girl was planning.
"Special ability triggered," Ruby said somberly. This card was her trump card, but it made her sad to use it, for good reason. "Send this card to the graveyard to clear the Valic mountain range of enemies."
Yang sat back, quietly, and a hush fell over the game board as Ruby quietly sent her mother to her death. All of Spencer's troops went to his own graveyard.
Ruby deftly whipped out another card, "Hero: Paladin of Courage, play immediately after another hero is sent to the graveyard. This Paladin gains double movement for the turn and his attacks are doubled for the next three turns." She moved the orange Paladin figure ten spaces, claiming the final areas of Vale and landing at the edge of Spencer's territory.
Spencer frowned and checked his hand. "Trap Card: Ursa Major, summon a neutral Ursa Major to any spot on your territory that an enemy is attacking. Attack of ten and defense of eight."
Ruby rolled her dice and eyed Spencer as she rolled four sixes. "Twenty-four, Spence. Now what?"
"I have eight dice to roll, I'm good," he laughed. He rolled eight ones.
His head fell against the table and Ruby regained her cheerful disposition as she survived his trap.
"Wait!" Spencer said, "You should've rolled only three dice. Territory effect! The Vacuo desert lowers attacks based on accuracy!"
"The Paladin of Courage attacks based on strength," Ruby said, "Plus, you have to be using a Vacuo specific card to trigger terrain effects. Grimm don't count." Ruby grinned triumphantly and Spencer went back to staring at his hand.
Evan's fleet was quickly approaching Yang's Castle and she pulled out a card and held it close to her face. "Evan Gwryddlas."
"Uh, yes?" he gulped.
"Summon Grimm: Drægon Swarm!"
"That's ultra-rare!" Lily cried with excitement.
Yang set it down and closed her eyes with satisfaction.
Evan snatched the card and stared in horror. "N-no dice roll? Knocks out attacking enemy air support? And you only have to skip the next two drawing phases? This has to be cheating..."
"I'm afraid not, Gwryddlas! Face your maker!" Yang reached for his fleet pieces.
"Not so fast, Xiao Long... Semblance: Snowstorm. Delay attacker action until the next turn."
"But that nullifies your accuracy card!" Yang said.
"Correct, but..." Evan grinned. "Trap Card: Retaliatory Missile Barrage!" He slammed the card down dramatically. "And! Enhancement: Void Dust Warheads! Your summon card is nullified but you still have to skip your next two drawing turns!"
"Wha—?" Yang whimpered.
"Followed by... Special Event: Orbital Drop Shock Robots, I get to bypass your soldiers and wall and attack your Castle Guardian directly! With a defense roll of one, I think your pretty kitty-cat is gonna bite the bullet." Evan laughed with delight.
Blake eyed Yang. She always got testy with the cat phrases. Yang's eyes turned crimson for a moment and she began to glow. "Oh, Gwryddlas..." she laughed, "YOU'VE JUST ACTIVATED MY TRAP CARD!"
"Every game... every single game..." Ruby muttered.
"Special Event: Intervention of the Gods! Special Event: Might of the Pantheon! Special Event: Divine Blessing! Legendary Hero: Sun Wukong!" Yang slammed all four of her cards down and pointed to her Housecat.
"In Mistral, Housecats are sacred. They protect the home from attackers and are believed to be the companions of gods," Blake explained.
There, on the card, was a small ivory column emblem, matched by emblems on all four of the cards Yang had just played. "In the event that my Castle is attacked, if the Housecat is defending it, I can play any and all cards in my hand that possess the Mistral Pantheon symbol!
Not only that, but I can summon up to two Hero or Legendary Hero cards from my deck or graveyard!"
"This has GOT to be cheating!" Evan cried.
"Now, I've already played one, but do you remember..." Yang sifted through her graveyard pile, "NEPTUNE OCEANIS?!"
"MOTHERFU—" Even stood and stalked away. Seven turns prior, Yang had used the Legendary Hero-god to wreak havoc with Evan's ocean-bound air fleet. The card had complete hydromancy powers and could summon cyclones to tear apart ground and air forces.
With the Hero-god Sun Wukong also on the field, Yang had just turned catastrophic loss into a complete victory.
"Intervention of the Gods, all Legendary Heroes gain +2 Defense. Might of the Pantheon, all Mistral Pantheon Legendary Heroes gain +2 Strength. Divine Blessing, all Legendary Heroes gain +2 Range. Neptune's cyclones and Sun's monkey army have doubled in effectiveness! Face it, Evan! You're done!"
Yang laughed and laughed and Evan retook his seat. "Not yet, I'm not..."
He eyed the crimson-eyed psychopath and redrew his deck, immediately playing all four cards. "Remember that Atlas Innovation card I played a few turns ago that let me reorder my top twenty cards?"
"You didn't... You couldn't have..." Yang's face paled.
"I did. Of course, I had planned to wipe you out then use this on Ruby, but... You've forced my hand, so to speak." A grin broke across his face as he spread the cards out for all to see.
"Special Event: Emergency Deployment Protocols, summon a special Atlesian Dreadnaught to any location either in your own territory, or a territory you're attacking. Enhancement: Cyber Warfare, disable all enemy AI units for one turn, while all non-AI units roll one less die for five turns. Special Event: Exfiltration, summon all ground forces into your airships, removing them from the board, but not your playing field, and bolster all air ship attacks by +3."
Evan sucked in a breath, "And finally, Special Event: Tactical Nuclear Strike. A strike like this can only be triggered by a Dreadnaught. I roll twenty dice to decide damage, add the three from bolstering my attacks, and I think it is YOU who is done, Xiao Long!" Evan's eyes flared blue to match Yang's crimson.
She sat back down in her seat as Evan rolled his five dice four times.
"That's 98 damage, plus the 3 from bolstering, puts me at 101 damage. Defend against that!"
Yang tipped her castle over and sat back in her seat, Blake moving behind her to rub her shoulders and whisper comforting words in her ear. Blake wrapped her arms around Yang's neck and shoulders, hugging her. The blond kissed the bare arms that held her and sighed. "Well played, Evan."
"Well played yourself, Yang. Definitely had us fooled by taking Mistral as a last choice."
Spencer reached over and tapped his fist to Evan's and Ruby realized that she and Yang had just been played. Spencer distracted Ruby from helping Yang and that had left her wide open to a flanking movement by Evan's massive fleet.
Ruby scanned her cards and felt a presence behind her. Weiss... Ruby felt relieved. Weiss had seen Blake comforting Yang and wanted to do the same for Ruby and that made Ruby feel...whole.
She scanned her hand. The plus side of a Hero-based deck was that she could hold eight cards instead of four, but they were all single units with a few trap cards in-between.
I have... Oobleck, Paladin of Justice, Paladin of Rage, Dorothea Sky, Jack Crane, Terry Sky, and...oh...! Ruby smiled and turned to Spencer. "Well, well, well. Luring me into the Vacuan desert to use your terrain effects on me? Well played. Sandstorms, dust devils, quicksand, very clever, but... Hero: Dorothea Sky. When summoned, all terrain effects ignored. If Terry Sky is in player's hand, play as well." Ruby set both cards down. "Terry Sky, attack 0, defense 0. When played alongside Dorothea Sky, both cards gain +3 attack and defense."
Spencer frowned as Ruby moved her hero figures closer to his Castle. Evan quickly moved his fleet through Mistral before beginning his ocean passage. Good. Three turns until he gets there. Three turns for me to beat Spencer.
Ruby turned and waited for Spencer to play his hand. "Ultra-rare Special Event: Desert Wind. Perform two turns back-to-back." Spencer shuffled his troops around then played another card. "Legendary Hero: Zathur Anubis, resurrect three cards at half attack/defense." Spencer pulled a Spider-Walker Tank, a Desert Sniper, and Legendary Hero: Osiris Seth, a card he'd used to cause quicksand to appear all over Ruby's territory earlier.
Spencer drew back up and then sat back as he watched Ruby's tactful gaze sweep over the map. She'd gained a few cards but then again, they weren't particularly helpful. She read the descriptions of her cards and her eyes widened. Gears turned and she began shuffling her hand around. There!
"Special Event: Grimm Incursion. Instantly spawn a random Grimm in every territory, enemy AND friendly." Spencer's eyes widened and he stroked his chin.
Ruby quickly distributed the pieces. "You realize they'll attack you, too, right?" Spencer asked, nervously.
"Yep!" Ruby grinned and sat back while Evan moved his ships.
"Then I'll end this in one blow. Ultra-rare special event!"
Back to back!? Ruby looked genuinely worried as Spencer pulled a card from his hand.
"Vacuan Desert Hurricane!"
Spencer knocked down Ruby's Dorothea and Terry figurines as the disaster eliminated both of them. Ruby laughed and slapped her two Paladin cards down. "Upon death of this card, summon any Paladins from your hand." Ruby read from her Dorothea card.
"Wait, what?" Spencer leaned over the table and read the card before it was thrown into the graveyard. "No!"
Ruby moved her Justice and Rage paladins into position, the white and red pieces right outside Spencer's Castle.
"Roll of Strength for Rage, and... 17! Roll of Strength and Accuracy for Justice, and...43! And since your Castle is at half health because of your Hurricane card, I can take it down in one shot!"
"I double city defenses with Dust: Earth Infusion!"
"I double attack power by sacrificing my Paladins!" Ruby smiled widely. "Anything else?"
"I submit. You beat me." Spencer tipped his Castle.
"With that, I take control of all Vacuan regions."
"I won't even have to attack!" Evan cried in excitement. "I can just let the Grimm slaughter you!" He moved his pieces into attack position regardless, taking out Grimm Nevermores and King Taijitus that surrouned Ruby's Castle. "But that's not my style. I like the thrill of the kill." His eyes flashed blue.
Ruby looked at Evan then did some counting. Besides her Glynda Goodwitch and Vale Arrowhead Fighter Jet, all of her units were destroyed. "That means..." she muttered. "They outnumber me two to one!"
She looked around at everyone who stared in confusion. "The Grimm!" She frowned as no one recognized what she was talking about. "Ugh. When the Grimm outnumber your forces two to one, it triggers a Cataclysm. Normally this is bad, but in this case, it's good!"
"Ruby, a Cataclysm means the Grimm gain control of your pieces and you lose..." Blake said hesitantly.
"Not if you lay down... Legendary Hero: Kryo Corona!" she slapped the shiny card down on the table and looked around to looks of confusion and surprise.
"I've never heard of that card, Rubes..." Yang said quietly.
"Is that official?" Aaron piped up.
"I don't think so," supplied Ren, who had started watching a few turns ago.
Azura and Cole shared a look, but before Cole could say anything, Lily's nose twitched. "It smells official..." she frowned, her mouth moving from side to side. "Look it up?"
Yang pulled out her scroll and opened the Remnant: The Game companion app. "Guys, you're not gonna believe this. Ruby has a Unique card. 'The only one of its kind,'" she read, "'Kryo Corona takes advantage of a Cataclysm to occupy the moon space on the board. Any Grimm must obey the player who played Corona and no more Grimm spawn for the remainder of the match. However, Castle defense is lowered to one and the Guardian is destroyed.'
"Ruby, are you sure you want to play this?" Yang asked.
"I am." Ruby grinned at Evan, whose face drained of color. "I attack with a Giant Deathstalker..."
And so the game continued, each of Evan's ground forces being taken out by Ursi and Beowulves, his air ships taken out by Nevermores and Drægons. As Ruby's new Grimm armies moved towards the ocean, she made short work of Evan's forces until all that was left was his Castle and Guardians.
Four Battlecruisers were nothing to be laughed at, however, Ruby knew, and her own Grimm forces were dwindling. Ruby sent out Goodwitch, Oobleck, and Police Captain Michael Burns to cross the ocean in a Vale Airship.
"Um...uh... Trap: Mastodon Herd!" Evan frantically slapped down, his eyes blazing blue at this point.
"Evan, you mangy git, she can take control of it!" Aaron called out, "Oh for fu—" He rolled his eyes and went back to strumming his guitar, Jimmy.
"Oh, for the love of...would you shut that thing up?" Blake hissed at him.
Aaron shrugged and continued plucking away.
Ruby grinned and assumed control over the new Mastodon pieces.
"Fearless Soldiers!" He tossed the card out only to lose it to a Mastodon stamped. "Um... Special Unit: Colossus Mech!"
"Glynda Goodwitch Special Ability, I age your Colossus mech using Arc of Time!"
Ruby and Evan both stood up and began throwing cards at each other.
"Nanoswarm!"
"Gravity Spell!"
"Tidal Wave!"
"Hydromancy!"
"Giant Nevermore?"
"Taken. Sonic Screech Ability."
"Uh...Defensive Barriers?"
"Mastodon Siege Ability." Ruby grinned mercilessly. Spencer and Yang backed slowly away from Evan, who was visibly sparking at this point.
"Fine! IMMOLATION TECHNIQUE!"
Ruby raised an eyebrow. "Weather: Rainstorm."
"How?" asked, his voice a rasp.
Ruby grinned. "I'm just that good." She drew her final card. "Hero: Ruby Rose." She stood there, grinning like an idiot for a solid five seconds before she realized what she'd just played. "Wait, wait... I'M A CARD?!" She pulled the card back quickly and stared at it in shock. "I'm...on a card..."
She began to laugh and slapped it back down. "Semblance: Sonic Scythe. Little cheesy, but hey, dismantles all unites in a two tile radius."
"But that includes..."
"Your guardians."
Evan drew his final card. "Unit: Atlesian Knight-130..."
Ouch... Ruby actually flinched, feeling his pain. The AK-130 card had become obsolete since the release of the AK-200 card. Most players used it as Grimm fodder or to bolster their air fleets, but with no air fleets to bolster, his card was useless.
"Submit, Evan?"
"I...admit defeat." He tipped his castle over and the library erupted into cheers. The elderly librarian glared at them and Ruby blushed slightly, mouthing sorry.
Everyone gathered around Ruby who leaned over the table and held out her hand. Evan drew several breaths, trying to calm his electricity before taking Ruby's armored right hand in his own and shook it. "Good game, Red. Let's play again, sometime, yeah?"
"Of course, Evan! I'd love to kick your ass again."
"Oh please don't start..." Lily groaned.
Weiss stood back and watched Ruby interact with her new friends. Mission Accomplished.