"You alright?" Ruby asked as she kneeled by Weiss. She'd been sent flying back when the Death Stalker had just suddenly lashed out at her. The impact had even caused her to lose grip of Blake's weapon.
Weiss stood up shakily. Her head still spinning and her broken arm pulsed with pain. She must have landed on it during the tumble.
"Yeah. I'll be fine." She refocused, getting back into a fighting stance. "I tried as many places as I could. No luck. You?"
Ruby shook her head. "Nada. That armor's got no chinks."
The Death Stalker turned to face the two girls. It gave out a loud roar and snapped its pincers threateningly.
"Any ideas Princess?" Ruby questioned.
"Besides staying alive? No. I was thinking…wait." Weiss turned her head to the cloaked girl. "What did you just call me?"
Ruby didn't answer or even turn to Weiss as she vanished into a flash of petals. Weiss turned back to the Death Stalker just in time to see the monster racing to her It had reached out with one of its pincers, ready to crush Weiss, when she used a summoned glyph for an air step. She leaped over the beast, even trying a twirling slash as she passed the stinger. On the way down she cursed to herself, for even that had armoring around it.
Weiss landed on the other side of the auditorium. When she landed, a familiar hooded girl also reappeared next to her.
"Could've told me the thing was coming at us!" She scolded. An angry mark present on her forehead.
"We're in a battle. You're supposed to always pay attention." Ruby backfired. A tiny angry mark also starting to form.
"Is that the same advice that got you that wondrous split face?" Weiss shot back.
The roar of the Death Stalker interrupted the two; Both now noticing the arachnid was getting ready to charge the two teens again.
Up above on the stage, a familiar figure leaped off. The figure then seemed to split into two, each landing on one of the Death Stalker's sides. Both figures started whipping around a chain like weapon, firing several rounds and making several strikes at the creature's sides and legs. The Death Stalker, having been taken by surprise, couldn't figure out who to attack.
The two figures then proceeded to switch sides. Both leaped atop of the beast, making slashes with a cleaver of some kind as they ran passed, and repeated the barrage again on the opposite side.
Tired of the abuse, the Death Stalker tried to swing both of its arms back to smack away its attackers. However the two were one step ahead of it, and leaped over the attack. The two then sprinted away over to Ruby and Weiss, at some point coming together and becoming one again. The now single figure braked by Weiss, turning on a dime to face in the Death Stalker's direction with the other two teens.
Blake turned her head to the two white eyed teens with a smug smile on her face. "Sup."
After a short moment of awkward silence, Weiss looked over at Ruby. "So just to make sure, she's on our side. Right?"
Ruby shrugged, still white eyed. "We have sides?"
The three broke from their conversation by another cry from the monster. It no longer seemed confused, and was now snapping its pincers like mad as its tail bobbed from side to side.
"I think you just made it angry." Weiss said with a hint of nervousness.
The beast let loose a high pitch screech that would make even the toughest of hunters flee in terror. With surprising speed, the Death Stalker came rocketing toward the group.
"Oh hell!"
"Yikes!"
"Move you knaves!"
WWWWWWWW
There was no end to them.
No matter how many Nevermores Jaune or the rest of team JNPR killed, there were always a dozen more to take their place.
When that impossibly large wave of them came down, Nora did her best to try and break it apart before impact, using every round she had left. However it didn't stop them. Many of Nevermores crashed violently into the team, almost breaking though the protective circle they'd formed around Goodwitch.
And even after the initial impact, the Nevermores kept storming the knights. If they survived the initial impact, the birds would fly around the team going for hit and run pecks and scratches. Team JNPR was trapped in a storm cloud of feathers, with no end in sight.
Jaune himself couldn't even think. He just acted.
He mindlessly slashed at anything that came close. His vision was a sea of black, with an occasional splash of red. Pain would pop up in a new place every second. Some of it would stay, and some of it would just leave. He couldn't tell if his aura had run out, or if it couldn't block all the damage, or maybe he was just imagining it all. The noise alone would drive anyone crazy. The sounds of gunfire, the endless squawking, and the dying screams as one of the birds was struck down; All accompanied by whatever sick sound of crunch or slish sounded when his sword meet with a bird.
Jaune would slice a bird in half, another followed. Jaune crushed every bone in one's body with his shield, ten more followed. He couldn't even take a moment to think on how the others fared, but it wasn't hard to imagine them all in a similar state. Stuck in a hell storm of feathers.
Hurry up mom! Jaune begged in his mind.
WWWWWWWW
She sat alone in a hallway. Some dark hallway, where no one would find her. She just sat there... hugging her knees as she sat against the wall.
"I don't understand. How did this happen?" She whispered into the darkness. No answer came forth.
The hallway wall felt cold and lifeless against her back, making her wish she still had her vest. The tile under her feet felt equally as chilling, even through her shoes. Her whole body felt as cold as a corpse.
"I just want to forget. I just want to feel good again. I just… want a drink." She whispered into the dark again. Her voice seemingly fading away.
Suddenly, a loud and terrifying roar echoed off the walls. The girl just gripped herself tighter, trying to bury herself in her own body and her long flowing hair to hide from the monster.
"Mom… what should I do?" She whispered into her ice cold hair.
No answers came. And it seemed as though the darkness around her continued to close in; Ready to crush her under it.
I fought to save Ruby... I was so scared she was going to die... I... I was scared I would fail you... But in the end, she picked someone else over me. She replaced me with that cat freak…
Cold enveloped the cold girl. Darkness closed in further.
Perhaps this is what death feels like...
Solitaire Rose, please. I'm serious.
I know under all that fire there's someone really sweet.
Promise me something.
You need to learn to let things go.
Roses stick together. Always.
You have real problem with moving on.
Thank you dear.
Put your ego aside and remember what's important.
I love you baby.
"Shut up!"
She lashed out at the whispering darkness. A ball of flame erupted from her fist, firing at the wall and causing a tiny explosion. Her whole body felt unnaturally warm. Her hair burned against her back. The darkness retreated as light filled the hallway.
"I didn't do anything for you! I hate you! You've caused me nothing but grief! You're selfish! You abandoned us! You left us alone in this world! I fought for Ruby! She fights for me! We stick together! Because that's what Roses do!"
Another roar echoed off the walls, though this time the girl did not cower. Instead, the girl on fire looked down the dark hallway where the sound came from.
"Maybe she hates me. Maybe she did leave me just like you did. But I love her. I'm not going to let her die like you did. And I'm done feeling sorry for myself."
The girl with flaming hair began to sprint down the hallway. Taking with her a light made from both hate and love.
"Hang on Ruby!" She shouted.
...Once the girl on fire had rushed off to battle, the crushing darkness she had left behind began to silently laugh to itself.
"Pitiful girl. So easy to manipulate."
WWWWWWWW
This wasn't even a battle at this point. Attacking was useless, and the three teens haven't accomplished anything by jumping around the thing. Eventually the Death Stalker was going to catch a lucky break, and any one of them would be dead in an instant.
While Blake continued to try every possible point with a fury of attacks, mostly to keep the creature's attention; Ruby tried shooting and attacking with as much speed as she could muster at the creature's joints, with little effect; and Weiss had tried every Dust she had in her possession. Nothing could punch through this thing's armor.
Ruby and Weiss had retreated by one of the entrances, while Blake continued distracting the monster. Weiss was breathing heavy, while Ruby looked ready to get back into the action.
"This isn't working. At this point, we need to get out of here. We're out of our league." Weiss huffed.
Ruby took a long look at the creature, not answering Weiss at first. It looked as though she was about to agree, when suddenly her eyes widened in realization and instead she answered with a confident tone.
"Out of your league maybe. But I can handle this." Ruby then loaded another round into Crescent Rose's firing chamber.
"That's just going to bounce off!" Weiss yelled.
A smug grin spread across Ruby's face. The action causing the tiniest drop of blood to fall from her still angry looking scar, but she continued smiling despite the pain.
"Oh course it will. But I just realized there's one part that isn't not armored we missed."
At first confused, Weiss took another quick look at the Death Stalker, then made the connection. They've kept trying to find a chink in the armor when it's been in front of them the whole time.
"The eyes! Ruby, you're a genius!"
Ruby had taken a firing position and was aiming down the sight of Crescent Rose, now in gun form.
"Naturally. As the saying goes, 'no one can train one's eyes.'"
Ruby began to open fire upon the creature.
Blake had just finished another fruitless assault when the first of the Death Stalker's eyes exploded into a gush of blood and it screamed out in pain. It startled Blake at first, but when she looked over at Ruby and Weiss some ways away, she understood what was going on. She regrouped with the others to get out of the way, though by the time she took her place in-between the cloaked shooter and royal, Ruby had already shot out almost every one of the Death Stalker's eyes. Only the two smaller ones where left, and the beast looked beyond pissed as it stumbled over to them.
Ruby took a deep breath, and then fired again. The smallest left eye went out, causing more screaming from the Grimm.
"Nice shot!" Blake cheered.
"Not bad. Now take out the last eye!" Weiss ordered, pointing forward with a victorious smile.
Then... nothing happened.
Both girls looked over to the Ruby, only noticing a sweat drop had formed. When Ruby looked up from her scope, she gave a nervous laugh as she looked back at her comrades.
"Funny story. Remember how I said that I didn't bring any spares?"
Both royal and rogue fell face first onto the ground.
When the two got to their feet and an argument between Ruby and Weiss was about to start, though before it could really go anywhere, Blake tapped both of their shoulders. They turned to see a very angry monster sitting right in front of them.
"Oh... right." Both red and white teens said together.
The beast roared response, starting to stab its stinger down at the group... when something strange happened.
From behind them, a fireball blasted the Death Stalker's tail backwards. Then, a figure came dashing in on Ruby's right. The figure had pulled its left fist back in a hook punch, making mark in the Grimm's face. A loud click sounded, then a bright light filled the room, and the beast was submerged in an explosion of fire.
WWWWWWWW
"I'm ready, now push them back!"
Somehow, through all the noise, Jaune could make out his mother's command. With all he could muster, he tried to scream over the noise of this hell storm around them.
"Put a force field up now!"
He didn't expect his voice to be heard, but it seems the message made through. Just as the words left his mouth, Nora managed to shout over the noise herself to address Ren.
"Ren, 'Impact!'"
In chaos around them, Ren was able to juggle his weapons to give him a free hand for a small moment. In that moment, he reached over and placed a hand on Magnhild; which Nora had thrown behind her as though she was about to crush one of the many birds around her.
A purple energy fled from Ren and entered the head of the giant hammer. As he went back to fighting, Nora started to glow with pink energy. Some flowed into the rest of the hammer, mixing with Ren's energy, while the rest stayed in Nora. Her semblance then took effect, making her grow a head taller and shape herself like a body builder in less than a second. The action so quick it made her scream out in pain.
Regardless she lifted the hammer with ease, smashing it into the ground in front of her. An explosion followed as a light made of purple and pink enveloped the group. The energy formed a bubble of light, pushing the Nevermores back, and then violently blasting out. The force had killed many of the bird monsters, but not even close to all of them.
The storm of Nevermores had retreated to the sky, going higher up near the clouds before turning back to descend on the group again and finish their prey.
But they never got that chance.
As the birds flew to the sky, Goodwitch stood from her circle of battered protectors. She raised her wand high above her, aiming for the feathered storm. She also raised her other hand in a stop like gesture.
A huge dark purple glyph then appeared directly above the group, while a similarly color beam fired from the wand. The beam looked like it was about to make impact with the cloud of Nevermores, when it suddenly flew around and behind them. The beam then stopped, transforming into an even more massive glyph. Both glyphs were facing the giant Murder of Nevermores.
Goodwitch closed her hand and flicked her wand, causing the glyphs to start spinning.
Dark storm clouds began to form around the glyphs. Lightning could be seen in the clouds, and distant thunder could be heard.
"Shatter!" Goodwitch shouted. Her voice had become booming and otherworldly as echoed with a chorus of thunder.
From both glyphs, giant ice shards started to fly out to the Nevermores. They seemed to be homing, as every shard found a Nevermore to end. And the sky had became a rain storm of blood, feathers... and snow.
WWWWWWWW
As the eruption engulfed the Death Stalker, it was sent hurling to the other end of the auditorium and crashed into the wall. The impact caused the wall to collapse, covering the monster in rubble. The blast that had sent it flying had also left a large scorch mark on the ground, and had even started several small fires.
The three teens, white eyed, stared at the scene for a long moment before simultaneously turning to the figure. Her hair had started to fade back to normal, smoke was flying off her, and she was breathing heavy. She just stared at the ground as she jerked her arm back, releasing a tin can sized shell and letting it fall to the ground.
When Yang finally did raise her head to the others, she had both a grin and tears present. He gazed jumped from Weiss, skipped Blake, and stopped on Ruby.
"Hey sis..." She said quietly.
"Um... hey..." Ruby said awkwardly, unsure of what to do as a storm of emotions surged.
"…So…" Yang still had a grin and was really starting to tear up. She also started gripping her left hand tightly. "...Um... I think I just broke my hand."
An awkward moment of silence fell upon the group. A breeze even came through, carrying a familiar looking tumble weed with it.
The silence lasted for long moment, but was broken when Ruby let out a tiny snort of laughter. This caused Yang to start laughing lightly, Blake started to giggle a bit, and even Weiss couldn't hold in a smile and laugh (causing the shimmering to vanish). The whole group soon evolved into a chorus of chuckles, snorts, and giggles. In truth, that's the closest to normal those four have had in a long time. Laughing about a broken hand, gotten from a giant monster, with strangers that you were fighting with not more than twenty moments ago. They were all tired, beat up, and relieved that it was finally over.
When the moment ended, that awkward silence then returned. Everyone had sheathed their weapons. Yang's smile had faded, as did everyone else's, and only tears remained. The two sisters were holding a look, while Weiss and Blake watched the scene unfold. Both onlookers had concern not only for their respective companions, but for both Roses.
"Ruby…" Yang stuttered. "I…"
Ruby lunged for Yang, embracing her in her infamous petal filled hug. Though unlike Blake, Yang wasn't surprise or unsure; She went straight for returning the embrace.
"I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry!" Ruby cried into her sister, her voice growing higher pitch. She was having trouble getting the rest of her words out, as her voice had caught, she kept sniffling, and a fit of hiccups crept in.
"I'm sorry I left without telling you! I'm so sorry I didn't come and find you as the night went on! And," A rapid hiccup fit made her pause. "I'm so sorry I almost hurt you! I just got so scared! Blake was there, and I wasn't thinking, and I, I-"
"Shhh. It's okay. Everything's okay." Yang whispered as she stroked the back of Ruby's head.
"It's not okay! I wasn't thinking. I was tired and scared and angry and upset and my face hurts so bad!" Ruby just couldn't hold it in anymore. She just wept into her sister.
"Shh. It's okay. Just let it out. It's okay; you don't have to be strong right now." Yang held her sister tighter. "You've always been the strong one." She whispered into her sister's ear.
Ruby released her grip some, pulling back to look into her sister's eyes. "What do you," Sniffle. "Mean?"
A sad smile crossed Yang's face. She let heat form in her hand as she wiped away her sister's tears. The heat also helped clear away the snot and even let the leftover blood scab on her sister's new scar.
"You never let life get you down. Mom passed away, you tried to move on. I went to a dark place, you helped me get out. And even when all those stupid schools won't take you, you still go out there and help people."
Yang just held her sister as she let that sink in. Sometimes it really was up in air on who was supposed to be the grown up, and who was supposed to be the child. Maybe the two had become both for each other.
"I love you Ruby. And I'm sorry for everything. I shouldn't have yelled at you last night, and I'm sorry I didn't think everything through too." Her sad smile grew playful, and her tone very sarcastic. "I don't know. The thought of my monster slaying sister somehow being captured by a thug was truly terrifying."
Ruby let a tiny giggle loose at that comment, while Blake in the background could be seen having an angry mark pulsing on her head.
"Look, we can talk about it all later. Then maybe we can figure out who owes who a bigger apology, after we go home and get some sleep. Plus, you wouldn't believe what I've been through to find you." Yang helped Ruby stand up straight, then gave Ruby a little boop on the nose. "K Yin?"
Ruby nodded.
"Okay... Solitaire." She fumbled her sister's old name like she was trying to pronounce something in Atlan instead of Common tongue or Valian. It's been so long since she's said that name, it's a miracle she even remembers it.
Meanwhile Yang tried to sound angry as she playfully grabbed her sister into a headlock and started giving her a noogie. "I thought I told you to stop calling me that?"
Ruby was laughing at the playful gesture, trying in vain to escape her sister's grasp. "And I told you, I don't want to be called Yin! Now let me go!"
"NEVER!"
The two sisters were suddenly in a giant dust cloud. Arms and legs would poke out of the dust cloud, along with cartoonish stars, the sounds of punching, and… the sounds of cats fighting?
The other members of this strange team just looked on with huge sweet drops.
"Well that was… a roller coaster of emotions." Blake said.
"No kidding. Was yours always this weird with you?" The amnesiac royal questioned.
"Pretty much. Yours?"
"Well... whenever she wasn't extremely agitated, she was kind of…insane. Not to mention," Weiss couldn't help but shutter. "Punny…"
Blake just rolled her eyes and smiled. She opened her mouth to speak again when she froze in place. Her ears under her bow instinctively pricked. Her nose wrinkled in a familiar scent.
Weiss, oblivious to Blake's behavior, had turned to face the direction of the buried Death Stalker.
"I still can't believe she just took that thing out in one punch. That's probably some kind of world record or something." She turned to Blake. "Are there records kept for killing Grimm?"
Blake drew Gambol Shroud, wielding both sheath and Katana.
"That thing would have to be dead to count for a world record." She said with a focused tone and face.
Weiss froze. Her hand reaching for her trusty Rapier as she said, "What do you-"
A loud roar blasted off the walls; rubble was sent flying everywhere as the Death Stalker exploded from his tomb.
WWWWWWWW
It's just as I had dreamed. If things continue to play out like it did before, they'll win.
Then again, it was dream. Can I really trust dreams that make me watch her die every time?
... If they can't handle it, I've got to step in. I may not be able to help, but I won't watch them die.
I can barely handle watching her die every time I close my eyes, but to lose the girls too?
I'd rather end it here with that monster tearing me apart.
WWWWWWWW
When the dust had settled, the teenage team had already regrouped and rearmed themselves. They stood side by side, going from Ruby, to Weiss, Blake, and finally Yang. The Death Stalker on the other hand continued to thrash around, knocking down more walls and lighting. Many places on its armor had cracked, the side Yang punched was still smoking and looked like raw skin, and some of its legs were broken and limp. The creature still bled from its ruined eyes, along with some of the fresh cracks in its armor. It almost looked pathetic as it searched with its last good eye to kill the teens.
"So what's the plan?" Yang asked.
Blake took a quick sniff. "It's extremely angry, and afraid. It'll act unpredictably and on instinct, but we can use that to our advantage. "
"We also have some strategic weak spots to attack now. I'd recommend hitting any severally damaged areas with as much force as you can. Try to take out that last eye too." Ruby pointed to several points that were severally damaged. She also noted some armor cracking around the stinger. "If you can, go for disarming it. Death Stalker poison will kill you in seconds."
"Alright then." Weiss raised her sword upwards. "For the honor of Vale! Charge!" She dashed forward.
The others followed her lead. Their battle cry:
"BANZAI!"
As the four charged, Yang and Blake continually fired at the Death Stalker to keep its attention and aim for the eye. While they continued charging the beast head on, Ruby and Weiss went for flanking. Weiss on the creature's left, Ruby on the right.
Despite the constant barrage of fire, the Death Stalker tried running in. Its tail was pulled back, ready to crush its opponents when they were close enough.
Seeing this, Weiss loaded red Dust into the firing chamber of Myrtenaster, and she stopped abruptly to take a better aim. She aimed for the tail, finger at the trigger. But then an idea hit her.
Yang's semblance... included fire control.
"Yang! Catch!" She shouted.
Weiss fired above and ahead of the creature; While at the same time she summoned a gravity glyph under the monster's tail. It worked, and the creature jerked back to where the tail was grounded. However the force needed for that glyph nearly made Weiss faint, and her broken arm felt like lead as she maintained it.
When Yang saw the fireball ahead of them and heard Weiss's orders, she exchanged a look with Blake. No smile or nod were given. Both renegade and Peacekeeper knew what to do.
Yang leaped up into the air, while Blake 'Miraged' into two and went for the sides.
"Under!" The two Blakes shouted. They both slashed with both blades at each leg they passed. When finished they became one again and the Death Stalker collapsed.
Meanwhile, in air, Yang caught the raging fireball and was plummeting towards the Death Stalker. Weiss had released the monster's tail, causing it to spring up; stinger poised and aiming for the airborne blonde.
"And over!" Yang shouted, barely dodging the stinger in midair. Once the stinger had passed, she used the momentum from her dodge to turn towards the stinger. She drew her arm back, and threw the fireball.
The fireball exploded on impact, propelling Yang backwards. With Yang's help condensing and increasing the strength, the blast was strong enough to blow apart the muscle and armoring. The actual stinger was sent flying in some direction and blood gushed where it had previously been, and the beast screamed and howled in pain while thrashing about.
Oh crap oh crap oh crap!
Yang thoughts quickly filled with other foul words as she flew backwards. Any minute she was about to hit a wall, the ground, or some random piece of rubble scattered among the ground. With aura, nothing serious; But it was still gonna hurt like a mother-
Yang was stopped mid thought when someone caught her. When she was back on her feet, she turned her head to see Blake standing by her.
"So... this make us even?" Yang smiled sheepishly.
Blake raised a brow, not answering. Not that she had the chance to. Before anything else could happen, the two were interrupted when a red blur dashed between them.
Ruby was running at top speed. She rushed the thrashing and momentarily immobile Death Stalker, aiming for a large crack on the creature's side. As she drew near she turned and passed, swinging Crimson Rose with all her might. The scythe made contact, but Ruby didn't stop or slow down, she continued running. She did a lap around the creature, making another fast assault at a similar crack. When that hit connected, she ran on, lapped the beast, and attacked the first crack. She went round and round, continuing to causing the two cracks to grow and blood to start leaking. All while singing about it.
"Ring around the scary mon-ster.
"Slash him til he's a gon-er.
"Slash here! Slash here!
"Til he falls down!"
Ruby was moving so fast around the Death Stalker that it just couldn't keep up; Not helped by the rose petals flying everywhere. She'd trapped it in a tornado of petals.
That's when Weiss moved in. She loaded blue Dust into the firing chamber and aimed not for the Death Stalker, but for the upper part of the petalnado.
"Now!" She shouted.
Ruby stopped circling, moving instead to the royal's side. When she was out of the way, Weiss fired.
A thin blue beam fired up into the storm. When it hit, a chain reaction went through the storm. All the petals would freeze into descent sized ice daggers, then fall to the ground. Many just missed the Death Stalker or shattered on its armor, but some were able to impale and turn the Death Stalker into a pincushion of ice shards.
But when the storm cleared, the beast still stood.
"Ouch. I kinda feel bad for it. I really thought 'Hailing Ring Around' was gonna do it in." Ruby said. Both she and Weiss looked on as Blake and Yang rushed in for a follow up attack. The Death Stalker meanwhile, had gotten back up and was moving again. It flailed its pincers and bit like mad, trying in desperation to catch something.
"We need to finish this thing off." Weiss said while taking inventory of her Dust.
"You're right." Ruby agreed. "This place isn't going to take much more fighting. I think if we hit it with one more hard and fast attack, it'll fall. With enough speed, you can break through anything."
"Speed is not the answer. We need to be precise and strike it somewhere that's weak and easy to target if we're going to finish the beast off."
The two were about to start arguing about speed vs precision when they both stopped; A metaphorical light bulb appearing above both teens' heads.
"I've got an idea!" They both said simultaneously.
Weiss rushed off into the fight, while Ruby stabbed Crescent Rose into the ground.
"Emergency weapon... actually that's a boring title." Ruby went ahead and pressed a button located near the spear end of the scythe. The spear part jumped out, and Ruby caught it. She spun it around her, getting a feel for it again. When she finished, a name came to mind. "Crescent Thorn! Oh yeah. Much better."
Meanwhile, Weiss had gotten close enough to try this technique. She had just enough Dust to try it, though she's never done it successfully before.
And it's not like training droids were that big or lethal to need it.
Weiss paused for moment. Wait. Training droids? She shook the thought away. She could piece together her scrambled memory another time. Preferably when she's not in mortal danger.
"Yang! Blake! Get out of the way." She shouted into the fray.
The duo acknowledged Weiss by stopping their assault and retreating over to her. Though of course Yang made sure to get in one last good punch at the raw part of the Death Stalker's face, causing the creature to scream out in pain.
"What's the matter?"
"Yeah! We were kicking that thing's ass!"
Weiss looked from Yang to Blake, then down at Myrtenaster. Both teens followed her gaze, and both immediately understood.
The unique and handcraft blade felt cold to the touch, it glowed a bright blue, and it was starting to shake badly; The blue Dust chamber completely empty. It was now or never.
Remember your training Weiss. Head up, shoulders back, right foot forward - not that forward! - slow your breathing, wait for the right time to strike, and...
Both Yang and Blake disappeared from Weiss's view. The remains of the auditorium shimmered, giving way to snowy woods. Whistling could be heard. Footsteps echoed. A deep booming voice sounded.
"Run away, you poor child."
"Not this time." Weiss whispered back.
Now!
"Cold from Hell!" She shouted.
Weiss summoned a large glyph at her feet, and she stabbed the ground with all her might. The forest around her shattered, her allies reappeared, and a man's dying scream thundered in her ears. Weiss could feel the glyph under her sending the Dust energy forward. And as the energy moved through the ground, it left a trail of ice spikes as it charged the Death Stalker.
The energy slammed into the Death Stalker, causing a thick fog to fill the room and the monster to let out a scream.
When the fog cleared, the three saw what can only be described as... Death Sicle!
The Death Stalker was completely trapped in ice, save for his face, though it could be seen struggling from within.
"Whoa." Blake said.
"Damn Weiss." Yang followed, a huge grin forming. "Think I'll call you the Ice Queen from now on. You cool with that?"
Weiss just groaned in response. Face palm included.
"Uh, GUYS? THAT THING IS GONNA BREAK FREE!" Ruby shouted.
Sure enough, when the three checked, the ice was starting to break around the Death Stalker.
Weiss turned and sprinted over to Ruby. Blake and Yang followed, unsure of their plan. Once regrouped, Weiss emptied out the last of her other Dust containers and rubbed them between her hands to try and restore some of her aura.
"Only crazy people would think of this." Weiss muttered; Praying that the very raw energy powder wouldn't just explode in her face.
"Crazy, yes. But, it will kill the thing." Ruby assured before turning to the others. "Blake, use Gambol Shroud's ribbon to set up a slingshot behind me. Then you and Yang need to keep it tight."
"What? Why?" Blake questioned.
"Just trust me on this." Ruby pleaded.
Blake looked to Yang, got a nod, and went on with Ruby's orders. She turned Gambol Shroud into pistol form and handed it to Yang. They each pulled a side and separated, setting the sling in place. Ruby took a runners position, spear in hand, and Weiss stood on Ruby's side, ready to make the runway.
Their plan was simple. Speed and precision, working as one.
"Think you can make that shot?" Weiss asked.
"Can I." Ruby said. A smug smile starting to form on Ruby's face, but then it suddenly started to fade into a look of uncertainty. She stood up strait, pulled the spear back like she was going to throw it, and stuck her thumb out to aim.
"Actually..." She started.
Suddenly the ice shattered, and the Death Stalker freed its right pincer. Other parts were also starting to crack and in seconds it would be completely free.
"RUBY!" The others shouted.
Ruby back flipped into the makeshift slingshot, stretching it back into a black glyph that held her in place and turned crimson red. Rose petals scattered around her as Weiss set up a long line of glyphs leading up to the Death Stalker. Ruby then launched off the slingshot, with a storm of rose petals following in her wake. She landed on the path of glyphs, causing her to speed up even more. Every glyph she touched turned crimson red as she ran.
She'd never gone this fast before. Ruby screamed a battle cry, both out of terror and pure excitement. As she approached the Death Stalker, she pulled Crescent Thorn back.
Her target, the Grimm's final eye!
Once close, she lunged her spear forwards. And deafening scream rang throughout Beacon's Tide.