Chapter 9:
"Are you insane?" Came the voice of Cardin Winchester. Ruby rolled her eyes at his comment.
Weiss and Ruby had gone through the whole plan together and explained it to Yang and Blake. The two of them had replied with wide eyes and gaping mouths at Ruby's suggestion to go after the aquatic Grimm, but the spirit of the younger girl had won over. Glynda Goodwitch herself was close to shooting down the idea immediately, but Weiss and Ruby had managed to convince her that in no way would they be putting anyone else in harm's way.
Glynda had agreed, provided that they brief the Vacuo teachers and students, the rest of Beacon's nominees, Vacuo's higher ups and of course, Professor Ozpin himself. Ozpin had been rather hesitant, but agreed there was little to be done, reminding strict caution at all times, even placing Glynda in charge of the overall mission. Now came the task of convincing others.
"I know it's crazy..." Ruby said into the mike. "But we will need all the help we can get if we want to actually succeed. We are only asking for at least six more volunteers." The team already consisted of team RWBY and Glynda.
People muttered amongst themselves. Even if most of the positions were covered by the Schnee Dust company's security bots, just stepping onto a ship acting as bait for that creature just sounded plain insane.
Ruby scanned the crowd, knowing exactly what was going through their minds. She held in the despair, standing firm against the onslaught of disbelief and disagreement.
"I'm in." Came a voice.
Everyone turned, surprised to see Jaune Arc standing up.
"What are you doing?" Pyrrha whispered to him.
"Hey, someone needs to say something!" Jaune replied her. "Besides, I'm not leaving my friends in the lurch!"
Pyrrha smiled. "I see..." Then, she too stood up, raising her hand. "I'm in too!"
Then Nora stood up, holding Ren's hand up at the same time. "So are we!"
Ruby smiled at Team JNPR. She just needed two more people. Two more people that seemed to be in short supply.
"You got room for one old man?" Came a voice at the back. The whole room turned to see Damien Jonas sauntering in.
"You need someone who can at least work a ship." Damien frowned. "And has good sea legs. Besides, I want in on that sucker. Been thirty long years, I suppose payback is long overdue."
Ruby smirked. Count on a crazy old guy to do things for you? Obviously the situation was desperate.
Damien eyed her as he walked up the stage. "You're playing a dangerous game kid. This thing ain't taking anything lightly."
"I know." Ruby replied.
It took days, but it was finally ready. Ruby stood upon the deck of the sacrificial ship as AK-130 androids went about. The hulking Spider robots stood where they were, scanning the ocean for any signs of activity.
Weiss had actually pulled it off. Even she wasn't confident if her father was going to let her pool together so many of the company's valuable security assets. But with luck, he had agreed. The reasons were unfathomable, but right now Ruby was more than glad he did.
"I can't quite believe it either." Weiss commented as the security bots went about. "I expected father to not want to have anything to do with this."
"Maybe because he felt good about helping us?" Ruby offered the best answer she could think.
"Or maybe he knows this will profit him well in future." Weiss shrugged. "Either way, we got what we requested. More or less..."
Ruby stared at the deck of the ship. She knew that right below her was the cargo deck, stored up with hundreds of crates of Dust powder. The plan was simple, the minute it attacked, they would pin it to the ship while setting off a small explosive charge-courtesy of Damien- within the storage compartment. If Ruby's sneeze into a small bit of Dust was any indication, the resulting explosion caused by the huge stockpile would be proportionately larger.
"I still think this is crazy." Damien said as he walked up to them. "But then again, loads of things are."
"It's simple really." Ruby said, hoping to reassure everyone, herself included. "Weiss and Ren can pin its tentacles to the ship whilst the bots distract it. Once we are sure, you pull the trigger and the whole thing goes off. If it does what it normally does, we should be able to hit it hard."
"You know that there's a little to no chance of that working right?" Damien said sullenly. "That thing never really fits into one's nice timetable."
"Well, I suppose we'll just have to be ready." Ruby said, sparing a glance at Weiss, who answered with merely a shrug.
"Hey uh, guys?" Jaune now came over. "Exactly what are we using for bait?"
"Got that covered." Damien said, motioning for them to come over to the other side, where Nora and Ren hung around. The two of them had shut their noses against a foul odor that stemmed from a lifeboat covered by a tarp.
"And what is that again?" Weiss said, pinching her nose shut.
"Fish." Damien replied. "I suppose it'll be the best thing to attract him."
"Is there really a need for that much?" Yang said as she came over. "I mean, it isn't overkill right?"
"Well, you wanted a way to bait him, here it is." Damien scowled. "If you don't like it, maybe you should have offered other suggestions."
"I think it'll be fine Mr. Jonas." Blake said, not seeming to mind the smell. "I just hope that we have our priorities straight should it take the bait. If this thing is that big, I doubt anything we do to it till we trigger the trap is going to make it even notice us."
"Maybe you guys won't, but I can." Yang said as she punched her fists together. "This freak has loads to answer for."
"And the spider droids have upgraded weaponry fitted on them." Weiss pointed out. "Father has been very obsessed with giving them better fighting capability. I doubt even our Grimm friend can shrug them off."
"Not to mention Ren and I can blast those tentacles! Well, I can blast them. Ren will be all HIYAAAH! and HWATAAAA!" Nora said, waving her arms around in what anyone could describe as kung fu stances.
Ren nodded, ignoring Nora's strange gestures. "My Aura should be able to give us a hand there. The harpoons Damien was kind enough to provide will work excellent. And they are made of metal, so if I need a reload, Pyrrha can help me. It's not like my StormFlower can do much."
Pyrrha gave a thumbs-up. "I'll do my best."
"Weiss's frost Dust will also work well." Ruby nodded. "She should be able to freeze the tentacles while the rest of us distract it." Everyone nodded, but even Ruby knew the plan was downright nuts. There was only a chance of it actually working and the window for error was huge. But everyone also knew there wasn't much to be done. Crazy as it sounded, this was probably the only thing they could do with limited supplies.
"You lot should get ready." Glynda said as she strode over her cape billowing in the wind. "We have no idea when it will strike, so remain alert."
Everyone nodded. "Yes ma'am." Ruby replied. "Duly noted."
Five hours passed. Ruby now sat on the deck overcome by the stifling heat and boredom.
"So Ruby..." Yang groaned. "When is the 'Devil' going to appear?"
"Shut up Yang..." Ruby moaned. "Besides, if it showed up, we'd probably be dead."
"Hey, I joined this outfit to get myself some payback at that piece of crap." Yang grumbled. "The least it could do is show up."
"Be careful of what you wish for Yang." Blake cautioned. "You might just get it."
Ruby glanced upwards. Nora was already walking around impatiently in circles. Ren had taken to a meditative seating posture while Pyrrha and Jaune had decided to get some rest. Glynda had chosen to remain on deck with Damien so as to check on the ship's status.
"Well everyone, I suppose he isn't interested right now." Damien frowned. "Our bait is going to go bad anytime soon and our fuel's getting low. Might as well turn back now and try another day."
"As you say Mr. Jonas." Glynda nodded. "Besides, truth be told I'd rather engage this creature in more favorable circumstances."
Ruby took note of the whole exchange. "Well Yang, I guess we'll have to wait another day."
"Pfft..." Yang blew a lock of her hair out of her face. "Geez, nice of Mr. Devil not to show. Can he just make up his mind who to attack? I mean, we are wasting away in Vacuo whilst he decides to take his time destroying ships!"
"Yang..." Weiss began. "In all honesty, we should be glad it's not around. We are going to need more than just ten people and a whole lot of my family's assets to beat something like this."
Yang scowled, going over to the side of the ship. "COME OUT YOU STINKING DEVIL!" She yelled to nothing in particular.
"Yang, just stop." Blake said. "You're making yourself look like a fool."
Yang didn't listen. She merely kept shouting to the ocean. "YOU THINK YOU'RE SO TOUGH? WELL HOW 'BOUT YOU MAN UP AND COME HERE HUH?"
"Bet your ass is just scared." Yang muttered softly. "Scared to be whooped by a bunch of Hunters and Huntresses. You aren't even bothering right? Just because you can scare the crap out of a few people doesn't mean you can intimidate me!"
As if she was heard, the ship jerked and everyone standing on it toppled.
"What the-?" Weiss started. Ruby picked herself up, her eyes filled with dread.
"Um, Ruby?" Yang started. "What was..."
"It's here..." Ruby exhaled.
"The Devil..." Damien said as he helped Glynda up. He ran to the side of the ship, staying as far as his range of sight would allow. Everyone, including Pyrrha and Jaune who had rushed to the deck instantly, followed him. They saw what he saw.
The black tendrils were now snaking along the hull. No one would've known if it was the horrendous smell of rotting fish or Yang's yelling had done it, but it was here.
Teams RWBY and JNPR readied their weapons. Glynda took out her crop as the droids powered up and went into combat mode.
"Uh..." Yang gulped as soon as the tendrils made it to the deck. "I was just kidding about what I said earlier..."
"Smooth Yang." Ruby groaned. "Real smooth..."