Mad Max: Road to Salvation

Episode 22: Come as you are PT. 2

[Ronmr: That remains to be seen for now, but if I do I will start little by little. But yeah, it probably would be shocking.]

[Comedyfreak94: Yeah that's the acronym alright.]

[Charles: it was 2, but one has passed. And yeah Fender Bunny, I got that from a movie called bounty killer.]

[Review dude: Thanks man! Yeah it's gonna be hard with all that eye candy in front of him!]

[Guest1: Laika is the name of a dog the russians sent to space, Luna is another word for moon, and well Larissa has no meaning.]

[Scorch the 13th: Thanks and no he doesn't but perhaps he will later.]

[Guest2: No.]

[SilentType1997: That's a pretty good name and that is a big possibility.]

[Stylus Opium: I'll PM ya.]

Morning had come and gone with Bruz, Sally, Titus, and Aurora making there way to the locker rooms to get their gear together along with Coco, Fox, Velvet, and Yatsuhashi. Bruz shot another look Velvet's way and she caught him, leading them both to blush. Sally slapped Bruz out of it and the two of them nearly had a brawl until Titus stepped in again with Aurora's help.

"Oi, what do you think of my gun-bow here? I call it 'deadly sixer'." Bruz presented his favorite boom stick to his new crew.

"Nice stick shooter, but I got a real weapon here." Sally said as she hauled out a backpack that transformed into a heavy single barrel machine gun with an under mounted blade. "Meet my baby, Raid Buster!"

"The damn thing's a bloody cross between a single edge sword and a freakin cannon!" Bruz was hysterical a t the size ratio between the girl and her big gun.

"Yep, she fires a heavy-duty armor piercing caliber that was designed to slice through even the toughest grim armor. For some added spice and punch, I use explosive ammo. I love this gun, although something a little different never hurts. So, I added the blade to make it into a buster type sword for when things get 'choppy'. I can just imagine what I could do to a deathstalker up close and personal. Plus, I like to carry some grenades and bombs for good measure. Your turn for show and tell big bro." Sally explained her weapon's multi functionality and then pointed to her brother's arsenal.

"My twin smgs, Tommy and Joe, they fire .45 caliber ammunition and were meant to be held with two hands but, I learned how to accurately dual wield them. For my side arm, I have a special revolver that's been passed down from my ancestors in the atlas military service, callsign 'Silver'. Lastly, I have my heavy automatic rifle 'Gandalf' for suppressive and support fire. Like I said before I had my 'moment', I prefer to fill a support roll." Titus gave his friends the rundown on his loadout of choice and tactical style.

"You've got an entire arsenal on your back mate, and by moment you mean when you drooled over Aurora, hah!" Bruz remarked cheekily.

This visibly shook the atlas support gunner, with his face getting red from embarrassment. "I err*cough*, I've learned to be prepared for most occasions. These guns have been rebuilt and modified for their new lightweight alloys and polymers, so the weapons aren't the problem, it's the munitions I have to carry."

"Yeah, that always is thing, but better to have it and not need it…" Bruz started.

"Than need it and not have it." Titus finished.

"Those are nice boys, but I prefer my lady right here. Sally knows the way to being good with big guns, so I think she'll love this." Aurora said as she reached into her locker and pulled a large and completely collapsible rifle.

"You, beauty!" Bruz exclaimed as he looked at Aurora's sniper rifle.

"Nice rifle Aurora!" Sally barked gleefully at her new bff's big gun.

"Aww thanks, she's a little family heirloom from my dad, and I call her 'the longshot'. Perfect for long distance brain surgery." Aurora explained as she twirled the heavy silver rifle in her hands.

"Ok, that thing looks like it could blow the head clean off an Ursa of almost any size!" Sally said with a big smile.

"At most ranges too, accurate up to two miles, but she really kicks, so I like using her for more ranged shots. When things get up close and personal I prefer my classic 8-shell pump action, 'bone duster' and some good old-fashioned climbing picks. Otherwise, if you want me at my best, keep the creeps out of my face." Aurora gave them the low down on her own arms stock and her battle tactics. The boys nodded in understanding and they went to the cliffside along with the rest of the first years. Bruz, Sally, Titus, and Aurora were standing on the cliffside along with Coco, Velvet, Yatsuhashi, and Fox. Standing patiently beside them were Ozpin, Glynda, and Max, two of which were waiting for the third to truly begin the initiation.

"Hello everyone, today is your initiation into Beacon. The objective will be to find several relics at a temple hidden in the emerald forest. If any of you are wondering about the subject of team selection, your partner will be the first person you make eye contact with after you complete your descent and land in the forest. They will be with you for the rest of your time here at the academy, so best of luck in that regard. The rules are simple, all you need to do is acquire the relics and return here when you're done. But be warned, when you encounter any Grimm in the forest, you are on your own. The instructors have my expressed orders to refrain from intervening. I would suggest to you all to think of a viable landing strategy." Ozpin began explaining the task at hand and the rules of engagement for the assignment.

Bruz just stood there, arms crossed, and all geared up with his usual joker grin under his face wrap. Titus was stoic as ever and limbering up for the task at hand. Sally cracked her neck and checked her grenades as well as messing with her back and getting a big grin under her mask. Aurora un-holstered her Longshot and grinned as she readied up for the coming jump. As the line up got ready Max took a good look at all of them. He shook his head at the thought of what aura could do when it was explained to him. So far offers had been made to activate his own, if he had any, but he had yet to accept or refuse them. In his old world, doing what the students were about to was suicidal for the average person. Ozpin had informed him of the properties of aura and told Max that his concerns, while understandable, were not necessary as long as the students had their aura activated. Suddenly without warning, Ozpin launched he students one by one.

Bruz flew through the air with his arms spread out to slow his fall and watched Aurora use her shotgun for course correction before landing near Titus. Sally smiled as she soared past him on her bat wings, and gave Bruz the middle finger with both hands, until she hit a tree face first. Bruz laughed so hard as he fell, he almost forgot to activate his semblance. The young disciple of the road warrior activated his semblance of hyper durability and landed in a spectacular display with a small crater forming on impact.

"Stuck the super hero landing for 10 points! Suck it brat-fink!" Bruz bellowed as he stood up from his crouched stance and climbed out of the hole.

"Screw you!" Sally groaned from a tree high above but her voice was muffled by the cluster of branches in her face.

"I can't hear you over the sound of you eating tree bark face first!" Bruz shouted with glee up to his prospective new partner.

"When I get down from here-!" Sally started to rant.

"That should be easy for you! After all, you have wings don't ya?" Bruz snapped.

"Just hold on a damn minute!" Sally replied as she struggled to get her wings untangled from the branches.

"I'm waiting count brat-ula!" Bruz tapped his foot impatiently.

"It's not as easy as it looks whiskers, just because they're attached to me doesn't mean it's easy to unstick 'em!" Sally shouted down to him.

"Don't give me that crap, I know you can do it! Besides, we had better hurry if we want to catch up to Rory and your brother!" Bruz crossed his arms as he waited.

"Who?!" Sally replied in confusion.

"My nickname for Aurora, twerp! Now hurry up!" Bruz spitefully replied.

"Fine, I'm almost there!" Sally growled as she got herself out of the mess of branches.

"Heads up, we got company!" Bruz shouted to his partner as she slid down the tree and used her wings to land gracefully.

"Well now this is just f-ing great!" Sally unfolded her gun-sword and was busy slashing through the incoming grim horde.

"Less talking, more action!" Bruz answered as he stomped in the head of a beowolf. The two experienced fighters were mauling their way through the horde with prowess befitting accomplished novices. Bruz was doing slightly better than sally though, mostly in thanks to his time with Max. The young mechanic then fired a bolt that whizzed by Sally's head and into the eye of a beowolf, causing the head to explode from the fire dust charge in the tip. The bat girl nodded her head in thanks and decided to try using her heavy machine gun from a perch. She hopped onto a sturdy branch and rained hell from the canopy. The rounds were having the desired effect as they mulched the grim and gave several ursas a headache. The two of them were working together to get the job done despite their obvious distaste for each other. Bruz ran up a tree and kicked of to fire an explosive bolt at the ground and blow up several grim. When the fighting was done, Sally left her machine gun nest and joined Bruz on the ground.

"Nice shooting there batsy." Bruz gave his partner props.

"You're not so bad yourself cat-dog." Sally said as she reloaded her

"Alright enough name calling, let's move." Bruz got down to business and started moving along.

"What, cat got your tongue?" Sally said as she followed close behind.

"We have to make up for lost time." Bruz stated the business at hand.

"At least there's less grimm now." Sally remarked as they trekked through the forest.

"Rule 1 of the wild, always expect more Grimm, just because you can't see them doesn't mean they're not around." Bruz stuck his finger up as he laid down some knowledge.

"What are you talking about?" Sally tilted her head.

"*sigh*Figures, newbie." Bruz shook his head.

"How am I a newbie? We're both first years!" Sally had a vein pop out.

"I've had to survive the harsh desert for years by me-self, and more recently with me little sis and the boss. All that stuff you learn in atlas don't count for squat in the middle of nowhere like this. So, yeah in my book you're a newbie. But hey, if you're signing up for the boss's class then you're going to learn alright, better than the hard way in the field." Bruz explained his experience and looked on the bright side.

"And how in the hell does that make you an expert?" Sally growled as she ducked under a branch.

"I'm no expert, that would be the boss." Bruz was modest for once.

"Bravo on the modesty there." Sally slow clapped.

"I wasn't done yet, I'm a far sight more knowledgeable than you on the topic, that's for sure." Bruz smirked.

"Oh, so you're back to being a jerk now?" Sally said sarcastically.

"I'm just being myself here, the lovable jerk." Bruz told the truth.

"Great." Sally rolled her eyes with heavy sarcasm. The two of them continued on through the woods with success on their minds, as well meeting up with Titus and Aurora. A short time earlier, Titus had used his guns to cut down a tree as he descended and ran down the one falling tree to another. He saw Aurora land short distance away from his position ran to join her. The blue beauty wasted no time in getting to work and taking potshots at the local grim. Titus saw them starting to close in so he decided to handle crowd control. The atlas support gunner planted a dust charge he borrowed from his sister on a tree and created cover. He set down his heavy with and opened the bipod of his gun while Aurora was keeping them off of him.

After finally getting his gun deployed, Titus let loose a storm of suppressive fire from his heavy auto rifle Bard. He was tearing up the grimm as they focused on him rather than the lovely lady sniper. After the horde started to thin out Titus uprooted from his position and began using his smgs to mop them up. Aurora jumped down from her post and began using 'bone duster' to help clear them out. The two of were fighting together so fluidly, it was almost as if they were dancing together with each other. Aurora landed one of her picks into the head of a beowolf and jumped off as Titus ran under her to kill another one that took its place. An ursa major tried to rush him and his partner quickly un-folded her rifle to blow its head off. The corpse flailed about and dissolved while Titus silently thanked his lovely associate. After a few more minutes of fighting they were done and Titus wiped the sweat from his brow in relief. Aurora made her way over to Titus and the support gunner blushed as she swaggered over to him.

"Nice work back there, soldier boy." The blue belle sniper said with a cheerful smile.

"T-thanks Aurora, uh n-nice sharpshooting!" Titus stuttered in nervousness while he spoke to her.

"You're welcome partner. Now come on, we have to get a move on." Aurora smiled and took off into the forest.

"Right behind you!" Titus said as he chased after her. After a short time of running the duo started walking since they hadn't seen any threats for a while. Titus had regained his stoic composure on the outside but he was still off his game since he was now paired with someone who he found to be superhot. Aurora was busing herself by checking her ammo supplies and the action of her rifle. The two of them barely said a word to each other as they walked through the woods. As they continued on, sounds of explosions and gunfire rang out across the forest.

"That sounds like my sister doing her thing." Titus said as he glanced in the direction of the sounds of conflict.

"Don't forget about Bruz, I'm sure he'll take care of her." Aurora slung her compacted rifle on her back.

"She can take of herself, I'm more worried about both of them trying to kill each other." Titus shook his head.

"Aww, I'm sure they'll simmer down." Aurora smiled warmly.

"All I can do is hope, I know it's fine when I'm around to get between them but, when they're alone…" Titus trailed off as the scene briefly flipped back to Bruz and Sally who had started arguing again over something stupid.

-END CHAPTER-