Chapter 26: More Bugs
The morning started out a little different than normal. Victor woke up earlier than his alarm, about half an hour early in fact. Usually he'd either try and get a little more sleep in or just lay there with his thoughts. Unfortunately, his thoughts were plagued by a different person than the one that was currently in his bed. Kris was cuddled up to him, her forehead against his chest, but the woman that was on his mind was Pyrrha.
It was almost a week after their little lake adventure when he and Pyrrha almost kissed… and his true feelings finally broke the surface. Victor admitted to himself that he was in love with Pyrrha and yet here he was in bed with Kristine. He carefully slid away, grabbed his uniform for the day and got into the shower. He got done pretty quickly, dropped off his bed clothes and went out for breakfast since he needed a bit of time to his thoughts. He shook his head as he entered the cafeteria, which was mostly empty since it was still pretty early for everyone to be up.
He grabbed his breakfast and started looking over his notes for his next class when Blake and Pyrrha joined him. Blake sat across from Victor with a bowl of oatmeal and a book while Pyrrha took a seat next to him with a plate of eggs, bacon and toast. One thing Victor noticed was that Pyrrha was awfully close to him, like almost leaning on him close. He really wanted to just wrap his arm around her shoulders, but he knew he couldn't do that.
"Good morning, Victor." Pyrrha exclaimed as she leaned against his arm. Blake noticed this action as she lowered her book a bit, watching the two with an increased curiosity. Pyrrha then reached up and placed a hand on Victor's arm. "Wow Victor, you're very muscly today. Were you working arms yesterday?"
"Um, yeah. I was."
"It really shows. So nice and strong."
Victor chuckled as Pyrrha returned to her position, leaning against his arm. Victor smiled a bit, but when he looked up, he caught Blake's eyes giving him a very specific look, one that said "you know you shouldn't let this happen" in a screaming tone. He broke the contact, standing up and finding an excuse.
"I, uh, forgot my drink. Be right back." Victor exclaimed as he went back to the buffet style line. Blake watched Victor walk away, then her eyes slid back to Pyrrha, who was leaning on her arm and staring at Victor with a very dreamy gaze.
"You're playing a dangerous game, Pyrrha. He's got a girlfriend." Blake pointed out as she raised her book back up. Pyrrha continued to stare at Victor for a bit longer, her brain not registering that Blake had even spoke to her. She finally came to her senses and acknowledged Blake's statement.
"What? I'm not doing anything. I'm just complimenting a friend." Pyrrha defended. She started eating her breakfast as Blake rolled her eyes.
"Your idea of complimenting is very similar to flirting. You might as well sit in his lap." Blake replied as she started to eat. Blake lowered her book to see Pyrrha actually looking like she was considering that very action. Victor returned and started eating his breakfast silently, Blake watching Victor eat uncomfortably. Pyrrha smirked as she brought a hand down and placed it on Victor's thigh without a word. Victor immediately tensed up, unsure of what to do as Pyrrha continued to eat her breakfast calmly.
Luckily for Victor, Kris walked into the mess hall with the rest of her team and Pyrrha quickly removed her hand. The girls grabbed their breakfast and sat with the group, Kris immediately stealing a kiss from Victor. Soon, everyone joined the table and chatted until they had to head to their classes. Dev had Dust Study and Application which he hated more than anything. He never used Dust since he never really saw a need for it, so he never put full effort into it.
At least Kris was in the class with him, so he had someone to talk to. Although, Kris seemed a little more distracted than today… or distressed.
"Hey Kris… you feeling okay?" Dev whispered, trying to look nonchalant.
"You know Victor really well, right?" Kris questioned, looking a bit distressed.
"Yeah, after this long I would like to think I know the Big Guy."
"Would he… ever be… I don't know… unfaithful?"
Dev raised his eyebrow at her, wondering what could have possibly made her think that.
"Kris, are you asking me if I think Victor would cheat on you?" Deveraux questioned. If Kris was asking that question, then something is seriously wrong. "Do you think he has been?"
"I don't think so… but he's been acting differently. He's been a little… distant with me recently." Kris answered, looking down at the open book in front of her. Dev couldn't bear to see Kris like this, so he reached over and took her hand, reassuring her.
"Kris, Victor would never cheat on you. He's a good guy, honest and loyal. He's committed to you, and you alone." Dev assured. Kris smiled a bit as she looked at Dev's hand, feeling more confident that Victor was hers and no one else's. The class ended pretty quickly and headed to their next class, Grimm Studies with Professor Port. Teams RWBY, JNPR, VAND, and SNTL were going to the Forest of Forever Fall to learn about tracking Grimm. The teams changed out of their uniforms and into their normal combat gear with their weapons.
"Hey Victor, can I ask you something?" Kris questioned as she slid over to him. Victor loaded his machine gun and cocked it before responding.
"Of course. You can ask me anything."
"You… care about me, right?"
"Of course."
"Only me?"
"Well, yeah. Who else would I care about?"
Kris looked away, feeling a bit guilty for actually questioning Victor's loyalty to her. Victor put his weapon on his back and wrapped his arms around her, nuzzling between her large ears. Kris smiled as she placed her arms on his, feeling assured about their relationship. Professor Port gathered the four teams and took them out to the Forest, explaining what they were doing there.
"Today, students, we will be learning one of the essential skills of survival! Tracking!" Professor Port announced as they walked. Everyone knew that tracking Grimm was an important skill, since they would be called upon to remove a nest but not know where it was. Following tracks, observing kills and noticing signs were essential in their future as Huntsman and Huntresses. "I want all of you to head out into the Forest and hone your skills! Find a Grimm and slay the beast! The bigger the better!"
Everyone nodded and separated into their teams, the couples saying their goodbyes before heading into the woods. Victor took the lead on his group, using his heightened senses to have a bit more of an upper hand. Well, the only group he had a hand over was JNPR, since they were lacking a Faunus member. RWBY had Blake and SNTL had Kris and Grey to back them up. Victor walked quietly, his teammates following him and all of them had eyes out for any signs of movement.
"So Nigel, you and Velvet doing good?" Deveraux questioned, his rifle and sword slung over his back. Nigel smiled a bit, thinking about his romantic encounters with his lovely bunny. His mind wandering to her soft, pale skin under his hands and the sounds she would make.
"Yes, we are doing very well." Nigel finally answered with a happy sigh.
"Yeah, we know." Alexi chuckled, his AK held in his arms. Nigel looked at Alexi for his comment, then at Deveraux and Victor as they started chuckling.
"Do the three of you know something that I do not?"
"Does this sound familiar?" Victor questioned as he turned around. He brought his hands up, acting like her was gripping a pair of imaginary breasts. In a fake British accent, Victor repeated "Oh Velvet… you have an absolute perfect pair of breasts."
Nigel's face immediately turned a bright red as the other three immediately started laughing their asses off. Nigel wanted nothing more than to just vanish from that spot as his friends laughed and clapped him on the back. The group continued their press, Nigel taking up the rear since he didn't really want his friends to see how red his face was. They walked for another hour before they finally found a set of tracks, and they didn't look like normal tracks. The group knelt down to look at the tracks and attempted to figure out what kind of Grimm they belonged too.
The foot print was as large as Victor's but split off into two clawed toes, very reptilian looking. From the depression in the ground, it seemed like the Grimm carried a lot of weight.
"Well… what do you guys think?" Victor questioned. The group looked at each other with raised eyebrows, all of them worried about what it could possibly mean; the Insectosaurs.
"I'm thinking we've got a bug problem." Alexi stated as he started looking around. It looked like there were multiple Grimm creatures, anywhere between 4 and 6 of them. Who knows what kind of Grimm these were since the Insectosaurs were so varied. Everyone readied their weapons since they had found Insectosaur tracks, unsure of whether or not they'd run into a group of them. They started moving forward, a little slower this time to prevent any accidental run ins with the bugs.
After walking for a bit, Victor picked up on some movement in the distance, stopping the group and taking a knee. He listened in on the movement, hearing a small scuffle and then immediate silence. Victor waited for a moment, waiting for any sign of movement… until there was a flood of movement coming right at them.
"Take cover!" Victor shouted, jumping behind a tree as the creatures shot out of the bushes and into view. The rest of the team took cover, Dev and Alexi behind trees while Nigel found a rock. Victor got a good look at the seven creatures that stood as tall as he did and stood on two legs. They had a similar body shape as the last Insectosaur they face, only these were less armored and seemed more agile. They still had white chitinous shells on their backs with velociraptor like heads.
The difference was the white shell on the head widened out to the back, giving the Grimm a small frill. The Grimm had four arms, just like the other, and a black, almost skeletal body and a short stocky tail that was probably meant for balance. The top set of arms had long scythe blades like the Reapers, only these were sized for these. The bottom set held a very strange looking appendage. The right arm extended another two feet at the wrist with a large red orb where the hand should have been.
White shells covered the top and bottom of the appendage and met at the end, making it look like some strange futuristic weapon. The left arm simply fused into the side, like it was meant to provide stability. Five of the seven Insectosaurs had this strange the appendage, while the other two had ones that extended three feet and had a strange green sac hanging from the side. The lead bug looked at the hiding students and let out an ear shattering screech before they took cover like the team.
"What are they doing?" Victor questioned mentally as he leaned out to see if he had any shots on the Insectosaurs. As soon as he did, a bug with a smaller arm leaned out and pointed its strange appendage at him. There was a loud popping sound as the tree Victor was hiding behind started to explode like something was shooting at it. Victor looked at the indents in the trees, seeing small, leech-like creatures writing in the pits before becoming still. "What the fuck!?"
"These things are shooting leeches!" Victor barked as he started firing rounds back at the bugs, putting them on the defensive. Nigel stepped out and started blasting rounds, cutting through the trees and obliterating one of the bugs. Both of the larger armed bugs stepped out and fired their weapons, large green bolts leaving the barrels and slamming into the rock and ground, a sickly green smoke coming from the impact sites and the barrels. Nigel stepped back behind his rock as another volley slammed into the rock and ground around him. Alexi stepped out and took a knee, firing a shock grenade at one of the acid gun bugs, electrocuting it and holding it in place.
Dev took the chance and fired his rifle, blasting the head off of the bug and killing it. Unfortunately, one leech gun bug too the opportunity and started blasting at Alexi, who ended up taking a few hits. He fell to the ground, screaming in pain as Victor and Nigel started giving some cover fire. Dev quickly Blinked over to Alexi and pulled him into cover, evaluating his status. There were three leech creatures attached to Alexi, two at the chest and one on his shoulder.
"Alright, Alexi, this is going to hurt." Dev pointed out as he grabbed the shoulder leech with his Devilbringer arm. Alexi reached into a pocket and pulled out a flask as Dev started to pull, unsure of how much to pull. Alexi yanked the flask top off and took a shot as Dev ripped the leech off and crushed it in his hand. Victor fired another burst, hitting a leech gun bug in the chest and dropping it. Dev grabbed and yanked another leech off, crushing it as Alexi let out a loud groan of pain. Nigel stepped out after reloading at the same time as an acid gun bug, Nigel being able to unload first and saw the Insectosaur in half with bullets.
Dev yanked the third one out and killed it, Alexi draining the flask with a long, pain filled groan. The last two bugs were currently hiding, so Victor and Nigel started to move up, ready to start shooting if they came into view. Victor was right about where the bugs charged from when the two missing ones leapt from the bushes and slammed into Victor. Luckily Victor was able to grab their chests and shove them aside before their scythe blades could rend Victor into slivers. Nigel quickly swapped his minigun to its cricket bat form and swung, slamming the bread side into the bug and sending it flying.
Victor got up and swapped his machine gun, Defensor, to its axe mode and readied for the next attack as the bug got to its feet. The bug charged without mercy or fear, forcing Victor onto the defensive as a flurry of strikes clashed against the axe blades. Dev patted Alexi in the uninjured shoulder to go help his teammates, allowing Alexi to patch himself up. Victor seemed to be having the most trouble since the massive fighter wasn't able to match the speed of the bug, so Dev jumped in. He drew his twin revolvers, Judge and Executioner, and started putting rounds into the side of the bug.
The bug recoiled from the attack, giving Victor a chance to pull his axe back and swing, cleaving the bug in half. Victor turned to see Nigel bring the broad side of his bat down, smashing the bug beneath the defense of the twin blades. All of the members panted, looking around at the carnage of the fight and the remains of the bugs.
"These bugs… they were fucking soldiers." Victor panted as he looked at the bug he had cleaved in half. "They had guns for Dust sake."
Nigel knelt by one of the leech gun bugs, inspecting the strange weapon that the bug carried. He reached for it gun and grabbed it, but then it started to move. He jumped back as he gun started to writhe on the corpse, emitting a high pitched squealing sound.
"The guns are bloody bugs!" Nigel barked as he stood up, the bug gun still squirming in the other's arm… or it was the arm. The bug gun writhed and squirmed before finally coming to rest, the squeal slowly dying. "Bloody hell… they're symbiotic organisms. Simply fascinating."
"Wait, you mean this gun is actually another bug!?" Alexi questioned as he slowly got up, his wounds clearly effecting him.
"Precisely. It appears the Insectosaurs are not only tactically hyper adaptive, but physically hyper adaptive. We need to bring one of these corpses back to Beacon. They need to know about these… Soldiers."
"That's my cue." Victor grumbled as he went to a corpse that was very well intact. He nudged at the bug and its living gun, ensuring that both of them were dead. Once he was sure, Victor shouldered the corpse and the team started heading back, hoping that everyone else was having a much easier time.
SNTL walked through the woods, the two Faunus leading the way with their heightened senses. Kira remained towards the back with Nabuya skipping in the center. Kira was a little more focused on her own personal issues than the mission she was on. First was her usual existential crisis of whatever she was, either some kind of human Grimm hybrid or a Grimm that could take human shape. Second was that Alexi had seen her… completely naked. Luckily he only saw her rear and nothing else, but still she felt really weird about the entire situation.
Alexi did his best to make it up to her, treating her special and doing everything to make up for it, but she still felt weird. Probably because she'd never expected anyone to see her in the buff like that. Her distraction must have seemed pretty obvious since Nabuya questioned her.
"Hey Kira, is everything okay? You're quieter than usual." Nabuya questioned and then pointed out. Kira put up a fake smile and did her best to keep her problems to herself.
"I'm fine. Nothing's wrong." Kira replied.
"Come on Kira, you can talk to me." Nabuya assured as she slowed down to put a hand on Kira's shoulder. Kris and Grey stopped, ready to talk to Kira about whatever she was worried about. "You can talk to all of us."
"Well… it's just my usual issue. What am I? What's my purpose?" Kira questioned, voicing her issues.
"That's easy. You're our friend." Nabuya answered.
"And your purpose is to become a Huntress and save people." Grey added. Kira couldn't help but smile as her friends… her sisters… comforted her. Nabuya hugged Kira, making her feel even more loved.
"Any other issues?" Kris questioned. Kira's face turned a little pink, just thinking about Alexi seeing her without clothes on.
"Well… Alexi and I ran into a little bump…" Kira muttered as Nabuya released her from the hug. She was still embarrassed to be talking about this, but she didn't know how relationships worked so she needed a bit of help. "Alexi… walked in on me changing…"
"Was he peeping on you?" Nabuya questioned. "If he was, I'll break him!"
"No, Nabuya! He wasn't. He just… walked in after I took my suit off after the lake…"
"So Alexi got to see Kira without clothes?" Grey questioned with a smirk. "So… anything happen?"
Kira's face turned a bright red at the thought of her and Alexi becoming… involved. Grey chuckled and hugged Kira, getting a laugh out of Nabuya and Kristine. Kira buried her face in Grey's shoulder, doing her best to hide her red face.
"Don't worry Kira. You and Alexi are going to be fine. Just don't let this bump become a bigger issue than it is." Grey advised as she pulled Kira from her shoulder. Kira's face toned down the red color, but was still a little pink. The group was about to start moving, when a large crash echoed through the forest. All of them immediately grabbed their weapons as another crash echoed, this time it was closer. Everyone drew their weapons and started to put space between them so whatever creature didn't have an easy target.
The crashing got closer and louder until the source came crashing through the trees. The massive Grimm was at least twice the size of an Ursa Major, and was definitely an Insectosaur. The had a large armored head, most of it covered in bone plate with red markings and four hate filled red eyes. The back was large and armored, the only sections that were black were the four massive arms that protruded from the sides. The legs were large and muscular, working in conjunction with the front arms.
The front arms were short and appeared to be used as a pair of legs, but the hands were replaced with large bone growths that seemed like they were meant for punching things. The next set of arms had the same scythe blades from the Reapers, but these looked like they could slice through entire forests. The final feature on the Grimm was the long tail that had a huge bone mace on the end of it. The armored bug slid to a stop and the burning eyes scoured the team before letting out a mighty roar. The bug charged Kristine, who was closest to it, launching itself forward with its bone maces and powerful hind legs.
"Kira! See if you can communicate with it!" Grey roared as she swapped Stormbreaker to its railgun form and started to blast at the bug. Unfortunately, the bug's armor was much stronger than believed, the rounds hardly doing anything to the bone armor. The bug must have felt the rounds slamming against its side, because the bug spun, its tail aimed at Grey. She saw the swing and raised his blade, her weapon taking the brunt of the attack and sending her flying through a few trees.
Kira immediately jumped to the edge of the combat, focusing her natural ability to hone in on the Insectosaur Hive Mind to see if she could communicate with the Tank Bug. She focused on the bug, but all she heard in its mind was the roar of primal rage and instinct. The Tank Bug wasn't a part of the Hive Mind.
"I can't! This thing is running on instinct!" Kira shouted and she pointed her revolvers at the bug. This wasn't anywhere near the same as the last group of bugs they ran into. Before, she could hear the Hive Mind… but not now. Maybe only certain bugs could? Ones that stood in place as leaders and gave out the orders? It wasn't important right now. Kristine jumped and rolled as the Tank Bug started using its front legs to try and crush her. Nabuya was doing what she could, firing rockets from Mr. BOMBastic and dodging the scythe blade that tried to cleave her in two.
Kira started firing rounds into the exposed arms of the Tank, but she might as well of been throwing rocks at the hard muscle. Grey eventually pulled herself out of the tree wreckage and started firing rounds again, the Tank hardly noticing. The beast was so heavily armored that nothing they did seemed to phase it, it only pissed it off more. Kristine finally got a decent opening, charging her blades, Crystal and Striker, with her semblance and threw two bolts of lightning. Both struck the Tank in the face, the massive Grimm recoiling from the attack. Nabuya and Grey took advantage of the recoil, the two heavy hitters targeting the joints of the Grimm in hopes of doing some damage.
Grey attacked the right side while Nabuya handled the left, both of them swinging for the massive scythe blades that presented the most danger. Grey jumped and drove her greatsword into the arm, the blade barely sinking into the flesh. Nabuya was a little better equipped to handle the flesh, since she jumped and charged her spiked bat, slamming it into the elbow joint of the bug and detonating it. The blast tore through the muscle and separated the arm from the elbow. The Tank roared in pain as the arm fell to the ground and blood started to pour from the wound.
Grey hung on to the greatsword, but the blade eventually tore free and dropped her to the ground. Kristine charged another bolt and threw it, slamming into the Tank's head once more, sending the beast into a rage. Grey quickly got up and swapped Stormbreaker to its railgun mode, charging and firing a round at the arm she just attempted to cut through. The round tore through the flesh like paper, severing the second scythe arm and causing the Grimm to bellow in a rage. Kira wasn't going to be able to do much against the thick armored Grimm, but maybe her blades could do some damage.
Kira charged forward and started swinging at the Grimm's hind legs, aiming for the tendons in the legs. She started hacking and slashing at the legs, blood flying everywhere as the Grimm attempted to kick her. Unfortunately for the Grimm, everyone started striking it in the breaks of the armor and tearing it apart. The Tank started to spin, dragging its tail across the ground and forcing the team to step back and defend against the flying debris. The Tank then launched itself forward, aimed at Grey this time since she was the latest one to remove a limb.
Grey took a knee, charging her weapon as the Tank charged her, the Grimm uttering a massive roar as it did. Once the Grimm was close enough, Grey unleashed the charged round, slamming into the Grimm's right set of eyes. The Grimm immediately went limp and slammed to the ground, sliding all the way to Grey's feet. Grey took a deep breath and sighed, leaning back until she fell on her ass, staring at the massive Grimm that now had a hole in its head. The gray haired wolf Faunus couldn't help but chuckle as the others started walking over to the corpse.
Kira waited before joining the group, placing a hand on the Grimm corpse and learning its secrets. When she was being experimented on, she learned that she could learn Grimm forms just by touch. Her arm started to turn black and bulge, red markings originating from her hand and traveling up her arm. She suppressed her growing Hunger and gained control of herself, now knowing that she could become the Tank Insectosaur Grimm. After a minute, Kira finally rejoined the group to ensure that Grey was okay.
"I'm glad that worked." Grey chuckled as she laid back, body spread eagle. Nabuya knelt next to Grey and immediately punched her in the shoulder.
"You scared the hell out of us!" Nabuya barked, causing Grey to laugh. "Don't do that again!"
"Deal. I'd rather not stare down that behemoth again."
"Come on. Let's get out of here." Kris suggested as she held out her hand to Grey. Grey smiled and took it, Kris assisting her to her feet. The group gathered themselves and started heading back, but not before Nabuya grabbed a tooth from the Grimm and tore it out as proof they found something.
Professor Ozpin sat in his office, sipping from his mug, with a new addition. The man was tall, about 6'6" and was very well dressed. He wore a white overcoat with a gray undercoat and a black sweater. He also wore a red tie with a white glove on his right hand. He had short black hair that was starting to turn gray on the sides, a sign of his growing age.
"It's always a pleasure, General Ironwood." Ozpin greeted. The general waved his hand like it wasn't any issue.
"Please drop the formalities, Oz. You can call me James." General Ironwood replied. Ozpin and the General had known each other for the longest time. General Ironwood had stopped by, along with most of his army.
"So James, what brings you and your army here? I know managing the Atlas Army as well as being a Headmaster can be very stressful."
"Just a little additional security for the upcoming festival. The Insectosaurs have become an increasing threat recently."
The elevator dung behind the General, the two turning to look as Team VAND walked in, Victor carrying the Soldier corpse over his shoulder.
"Team VAND, I heard you had something we would be interested in seeing." Ozpin stated calmly. He had received a message from Professor Port that both Teams VAND and SNTL had ran into a new kind of Insectosaur during their class today, but only VAND had material for study. Victor walked over to the Headmaster and dropped the corpse, holding up the bug gun arm for them to see.
"The Insectosaurs can physically adapt. This is a bug that has a gun… that is also a bug." Victor explained as simply as he could.
"Dear Dust." Ironwood cursed as he looked at the Soldier bug. "We knew they could adapt to our tactics… but this is something else entirely."
"We call it a Soldier. They easily mimicked normal combat tactics. They're getting smarter."
"Thank you for bringing this. It will be a great help in the fight against them."
"Indeed. Take the rest of the day off. You've earned it." Headmaster Ozpin stated. The team nodded and headed out, leaving their Headmaster with the General, both of them unsure about what to do with the hyper adaptive Insectosaurus.