Highway Battle to Hell
With the Vytal Festival quickly approaching, more and more students from the other academies were arriving at Beacon Academy. Up in his office, Ozpin and Glynda were looking out the window to find the Atlas military approaching the academy in droves.
"General Ironwood certainly loves bringing his work with him everywhere he goes," Glynda said in an annoyed tone at seeing the Atlas Bullheads.
"Well, running an academy and a military makes him a very busy man," Ozpin said as looks on indifferently. "But, yes those are an eyesore," he admitted before looking down to his desk to see a hollow-message directed to him. "Come in," he said before turning to see his guest.
The door to Ozpin's office slid open to reveal General Ironwood entering the office. Following the Atlesian general was a young man of oriental descent with black swept back hair in an Atlas military uniform. Ozpin took note of the young man, which struck him as odd for Ironwood to bring a subordinate with him.
"Ozpin!" Ironwood said, happy to see his fellow headmaster.
"Hello, General," Ozpin greeted Ironwood.
"Please, no need for formalities," Ironwood told Ozpin as the two shook hands. "It's been too long," he added before noticing Glynda approaching them. "And Glynda! It's certainly been too long since we last met," he greeted the blonde woman.
"Oh James!" Glynda greeted in faux joy before dropping the act just as quickly. "I'll be outside," she told Ozpin before leaving.
"Well, she certainly hasn't changed," Ironwood said, used to Glynda's cold attitude to him.
As she made her way to the door, Glynda took notice of the young man, who simply ignored her. A part of her felt uneasy about this man, it was very strange for Ozpin to bring someone to see Ozpin without telling him.
Ozpin on the other hand, decided to address the matter of the new face.
"So, tell me James, who is your associate?" Ozpin asked the general while looking at the young man.
"Yes, this is Zeus Olympus," Ironwood introduced the man. "Atlas's newest intelligence officer," he added.
"A pleasure to meet you," Zeus said as he bowed to the headmaster.
"Likewise," Ozpin said as he looked over the young man. "Well, anyone James brings along with him is always welcome," he said before turning to James. "However, I must admit I find the armada outside my school to be quite concerning," he added.
"Oz, you know why I brought them here," Ironwood said as he watched Ozpin sip his coffee.
"We are at a time of peace James," Ozpin said, setting his cup down. "Displays such as this could lead to people feeling uncomfortable," he added.
"Si vis pacem, para bellum," Zeus said, drawing the attention of both James and Ozpin. "It means 'If you want peace, then prepare for war,'" he translated.
"Yes, which is why we are here," James said, agreeing with Zeus's statement.
"I understand James," Ozpin said. "But we must also handle this tactfully," he pointed out before turning his attention back to Zeus. "Which is why we will continue to train our students," he added.
"You wish to train children to fight for money," Zeus said indifferently.
"They are trained to protect all of humanity from the forces of darkness," Ozpin said, narrowing his eyes at Zeus for saying his students would be trained to fight for less than noble reasons.
"Even if their enemies would be their fellow humans and faunus?" Zeus countered. "Despite your claims there are Huntsmen and Huntresses who fight solely for money," he pointed out. "They have no loyalty to their kingdoms or their homelands," he added.
"Olympus," James said in a low tone. "That is enough," he told the young man.
"Of course, General," Zeus replied, taking a step back.
"Oz, the real reason I brought Zeus here is because of the incident that happened several days ago," James said.
"What incident?" Ozpin asked.
James placed a scroll on Ozpin's desk and activated the hollow projector to show the battle between the Guyver 1 and Guyver 2. Ozpin kept a neutral look on his face as he examined the recording. Due to how shaky the image was, the footage was clearly done by a civilian who chose to record the fight before posting it online for the entire world to see.
"A fight within the city of Vale between two humanoid creatures with civilians watching," James said as the recording continued. "There were also reports that at least six civilians were killed when the yellow one fired a powerful energy blast from its chest," he explained.
Ozpin looked up from the footage after hearing this. He had hoped that there were no casualties, he should have expected such a case rather than hope for the best.
"Zeus knows the identities of the two creatures, and his knowledge has proven to be vital in this situation," James said.
"How so?" Ozpin asked.
"The bio-booster armor, more commonly known as the Guyver can do far more damage than what had happened that day," Zeus said. "However, I am surprised to see that Guyver 2 is alive," he noted.
"Please elaborate," Ozpin requested.
"Roughly two and a half years ago, the Guyver 2 had fought against Guyver 1 and was killed after his control medal was removed," Zeus explained. "It was damaged before becoming equipped to its host, so his resurrection should not have been possible," he added.
"What do you mean by resurrection?" Ozpin asked.
"The Guyver unit has regenerative properties that are much faster than any other creature's own natural healing abilities," Zeus said. "A Guyver's control medal can regenerate itself and its host with only a single tissue sample in less than a single night," he explained. "Its powers are truly amazing," he added.
Ozpin took in everything Zeus told him and thought about what Sho had told him before. There was so much about the Guyver that he still does not know about.
"How do you know so much about this?" Ozpin asked.
"There is so much that I know about the Guyver that what I have told you is not even a fraction of its capabilities," Zeus replied before turning his attention to James. "General, I shall be returning to your Bullhead and assist in the unloading of the necessary files and bring them to you this evening," he told the General before turning towards the door.
"Thank you," James said as he watched Zeus leave the office.
Just before he reached the door, Zeus stopped to say one more thing.
"Just one more thing, Professor Ozpin…" Zeus said, his back still towards the two men. "The Vytal Festival may be a celebration of peace, but it is also the perfect opportunity for your enemies to strike," he said. "So, it would be in everyone's best interest if you would not withhold information to your allies," he told the headmaster. "Or else you will find yourself with few who will listen to you, especially your future mercenaries," he finished as he left the office.
James and Ozpin were silent after hearing what Zeus said. James was a bit shocked at what Zeus said to Ozpin, while Ozpin remained silent. However, his eyes never left Zeus even after the young man exited the office.
Beacon Academy Library
Teams RWBY, JNPR, and three out of four members of team CRDL were in the library for various reasons. Team RWBY were in the middle of a game while team JNPR were studying. Well, Ren was studying, Nora was sleeping, mumbling some weird gibberish, Jaune was reading a comic book before Pyrrha took it away to hand him a book he should be reading, BEFORE she decided to read his comic. The three members of team CRDL were having an arm wrestling contest with Cardin and Dove going against each other while Sky acted as referee.
Strangely, nobody seemed bothered by the antics of seven out of the eleven teens. Especially with how loud three of the members of team RWBY were as they played their game, mostly due to Weiss making a loud declaration of victory before Yang revealed her trap card. Even the three members of team CRDL were quieter than them, and they live to disrupt any form of peace the other students were having.
After claiming victory over both Ruby and Weiss, Yang noticed that Blake wasn't paying that much attention.
"Uh…Blake it's your turn," Yang told her partner.
However, the cat faunus wasn't paying any attention to the game. Her mind was on three things; the White Fang, Roman, and the creature that fought against the Guyver 2, Aptom.
"Blake?" Yang called out to her partner, trying to snap her back to reality.
"Huh?" Blake replied, noticing her teammates looking at her. "Sorry, what am I doing?" she asked.
"You're playing as Vale, trying to conquer the Kingdoms of Remnant," Yang reminded Blake cheerfully.
"Right…" Blake said, still not really interested in playing.
"Hey, can I play?" Jaune asked, eager to join in so that he could skip out on studying.
"Sorry Jaune, but we already have four players," Ruby apologized to her friend.
It was also at this time when Russel entered the library along with team NDGO. He was giving the girls from Vacuo a tour of the school, and Dew seemed interested in seeing the library. The green haired boy spotted his team as well as the rest of Sho's friends but no Sho. He led them towards the three teams, where they ended up hearing what was going on.
"Besides, this game requires a certain level of tactical cunning that I doubt you possess," Weiss told Jaune off.
"Uh…you attacked your own naval fleet two turns ago," Yang pointed out to Weiss, much to the Schnee's annoyance.
"Bring it on Ice Queen!" Jaune retaliated. "I'll have you know that I've been told that I'm a natural born leader!" he boasted.
"By who? Your mother?" Weiss retorted, not believing the Arc.
"A-and Pyrrha," Jaune stuttered in embarrassment.
"Hello again," Pyrrha cheerfully said from the table the rest of team JNPR was sitting.
"Come on, let me play your hand for a turn," Jaune begged.
"No way, I'm not trusting you with good citizens of Vacuo," Weiss said dismissively.
"I'm pretty sure these four would feel much safer with Jaune leading their kingdom over you Ice Queen," Russel said as he approached the five teens with team NDGO behind him.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Weiss asked, not liking how Russel just showed up to undermined her. "And just who are they?" she pointed to the female team.
"Yeah man, who are these babes?" Cardin asked as he, Dove, and Sky approached them.
"They're from Vacuo," Russel started to point at each girl. "The one in blue is Nebula, the blonde is Dew, the ballerina is Gwen, and Pyrrha's long lost twin sister is Octavia," he introduced the girls.
Octavia glared at Russel for his joke while Nebula punched him in the shoulder for said joke.
"Stop screwing around Rus," Nebula scolded the delinquent.
"You never let me have any fun messing with your friends," Russel complained while rubbing his shoulder. "Anyway girls, the three assholes right there are my teammates: Cardin, Dove, and Sky. The blonde dork is Jaune while this team over there is Ren, still not sure if it's his first or last name, the sleeping girl is Nora…" he continued only to be interrupted.
"PANCAKES!" Nora shouted, waking up from her nap.
Everyone just looked at her for a moment.
"Okay..." Russel said before continuing the introductions. "And over there is the famous Pyrrha Nikos," he pointed to Pyrrha.
"Hello again!" Pyrrha waved to the girls from Vacuo.
"Wow, she and Octavia could pass off for twins," Gwen noted, not noticing Octavia glaring at her.
"Then we have the blonde brawler Yang, Weiss, the Ice Queen, the…broody ninja girl Blake, and the tiny one is Ruby," Russel finished. "Insulting nicknames will be discussed on the next team meeting," he added just for fun.
Nebula rolled her eyes at Russel's joke before seeing two more people appear.
"Sup, losers!" Sun greeted everyone as he and his friend with blue hair approached.
"Hey Sun," Ruby greeted the monkey faunus. "Who's your friend?" she asked.
"Oh him," Sun said before gesturing to his friend. "Everyone this is Neptune, a buddy of mine from Haven," he introduced.
The rest of the moment consisted of everyone greeting Neptune, Neptune hitting on Weiss, who seemed to like the attention she was getting, much to Jaune's shock and dismay.
"Damn Arc," Russel said after seeing this. "Schnee won't give you the time of day, but she's all over this guy," he commented, making Jaune feel worse about himself.
"Show some tact Russel," Nebula scolded the delinquent.
"Hey, he needs to hear it," Russel whispered to Nebula. "Schnee's wanted nothing to do with him since day one," he told her.
While all of this was going on, Cardin approached Dew.
"So beautiful…" Cardin started to flirt with the Vacuo girl. "Want to get out of here and…" he tried to continue only to get kicked between his legs by Dew.
Cardin dropped to his knees, clutching his bruised balls while Dove and Sky backed away from the other girls. Russel and Nebula turned around to see the damage. Russel winced at the sight while Nebula rolled her eyes. The green haired delinquent walked up to his team leader and knelt next to him.
"Never hit on Dew when she's in a library," Russel told Cardin. "Trust me, a lot of guys learned that back in Border," he added.
"Yeah, I got that now," Cardin whimpered in pain before falling on his side.
Everyone was quiet for a moment.
"So…" Gwen decided to break the silence. "I haven't seen your friend since yesterday Russel," she continued. "Where is he?" she asked.
Russel looked at the rest of the Beacon students, hoping that one of them knew.
"Uh…I think he said that he was going to train with that friend of his," Ruby said, drawing the attention of everyone.
"What friend?" Sky asked, surprised that Sho had other friends.
"That blue bug guy from the dock," Ruby answered as if it was obvious.
"WHAT!" Blake shouted in shock after hearing that.
Naturally, after that outburst, the collective eighteen huntsmen and huntresses in training were kicked out of the school library. Dove couldn't help but notice that the librarian looked oddly familiar.
"Is it just me or does the librarian look like the old man who runs that dust shop in Vale?" Dove asked.
Beacon Cliff
Sho found himself dodging Aptom's strikes with his vibration lancers. The two of them had been fighting for the past thirty minutes while also killing any Grimm that were stupid enough to attack them. Behind Aptom, the remains of a Death Stalker were dissolving while the Battle Creature continued his assault on Sho.
"Are you going to fight or not!" Aptom yelled as he fired a stream of cold air towards the Guyver. "I know you can do more than this," he said as he saw Sho jump towards the trees to avoid the freezing air.
When the two of them entered the forest, Aptom was determined to get Sho to stop holding back. However, it seemed that Sho was unable to fight at his full potential. It was infuriating.
"STOP RUNNING AND FUCKING FIGHT!" Aptom shouted before his body started separating into four forms.
The form in the middle was his Omega Blast form while the form to his right was similar to the Omega Blast, but it was more beetle-like. The body was streamlined and covered in a dark brown, almost black, shell. His back had two shelled tentacles that were located just behind the shoulder blades. His forearms had cream colored bulges just behind the wrists. This was Aptom's Fourth form, a form he created after absorbing tissue samples of ZX-Tole leg and three of the other members of the Elite Hyper Zoanoid Five. The body to the left of Aptom's Omega Blast form looked like a yellow bipedal rhino with massive shoulders with spikes growing out of them and two tentacles coming from the back. The forearms had swollen growths that had a tube growing out to the front, just above the wrists.
This form was his third form, composed of Derzerb, Gaster, and Elegen, the remaining three of the Elite Five. Aptom never had the chance to absorb the last member, Thancrus, as he had been slain by Guyver 3 prior.
The last body was right next to the third form, unlike the other two, this form had white fur with large hard-shelled shoulders, and a horn at the middle of its forehead. This form was Aptom's second form, yet it was also the first of Aptom's composite forms. The form used the DNA samples of the Zoanoids Gregole, Vamore, and Enzyme II.
Sho didn't expect Aptom to do this, in fact Aptom rarely used this ability that Sho nearly forgot about it.
"If you won't take this seriously Fukamachi…" the Omega Blast Aptom started as the crystals on his chest started to glow.
"…Then we'll have to force you…" the forth form Aptom continued, his forearms opening to reveal numerous spikes.
"To take this seriously…" the third form Aptom continued where the previous Aptom left off as the spikes on his shoulders moved.
"EVEN IF IT MEANS KILLING YOU!" the second form Aptom shouted as his shoulders opened, generating energy to be used.
The four forms of Aptom fired at Sho, causing the Guyver to activate his gravity controller to evade the attacks.
Despite missing, the four attacks destroyed numerous trees that could be seen at Beacon Academy. It would only be a matter of time before Ozpin decided to send a huntsman to investigate.
"So are you done screwing around!" Forth form Aptom shouted before taking to the air after deploying large insect wings from his back. "Because if that's all you're going to do, then you have no chance of defeating Lisker if you keep holding back," he told Sho before charging at him while the other three Aptoms attacked from below.
While dodging Aptom's charge, Sho thought about what he was told. If he kept on holding back, then it would only be a matter of time before Lisker caught up to him in terms of skill. Of course, Lisker was still more skilled than Sho in terms of combat techniques, while Sho only grew as a fighter due to being forced into fighting more and more Zoanoids. He had gained more than enough experience to not only hold his own against Lisker, but easily overpower the man. Yet for the life of him, there was something blocking him.
Due to his mind focusing on the whys instead of the here and now, Sho didn't see the forth form Aptom wrap his tentacles around him until he received a two-million-volt shock by the Battle Creature.
"STOP DAYDREAMING AND PAY ATTENTION!" the attacking Aptom shouted as he continued his attack.
Sho screamed in agony as he felt all that electricity course through his body, just like when he was electrocuted by Elegen back when he tried to save his father and friends from Chronos back on Earth.
Beacon Academy
Nightfall had descended upon the school as many students were returning to their dorms to get some sleep. However, some students weren't ready to sleep just yet.
Outside the front of the school, Russel and Nebula were sitting on a bench looking at the night sky. The two of them were enjoying the night, and being away from their teams.
"It's a nice night huh?" Russel said, wrapping an arm around Nebula's shoulder.
"It sure is," Nebula replied, enjoying the cool breeze. "The air here is a lot cooler than back in Shade," she pointed out.
"Well, desert air is hotter," Russel mentioned. "Neb, I really am sorry about not answering your calls last semester," he told her. "Most of the time, Cardin's been blowing up my scroll with stupid shit that I kind of just ignore every call," he explained.
"Oh…" Nebula replied, feeling a bit upset that Russel ignored her calls because of his teammate. "I guess it can't be helped," she said.
"No," Russel said, looking at the indigo haired girl. "It was a dick move, and I should have replied regardless," he told her.
Nebula looked Russel in the eyes and saw that he was completely serious about this mess he put himself in. She couldn't help but smile at how Russel wanted to make things right between them.
"You promise you'll answer my calls?" Nebula asked, though she seemed to know the answer anyway.
"Yes," Russel answered without any hesitation in his voice.
"Good," Nebula said before kissing Russel's cheek.
The two teens enjoyed the moment for as long as they could, until a loud thud was heard behind them. They turned around to see a teal blue body lying on the ground. Russel's eyes widened, recognizing who it was.
"Sho!" Russel shouted as he and Nebula stood up, Nebula looked up to see something hovering above them.
"Russel!" Nebula pointed in the air, causing Russel to look. "What in the world is that?" she asked.
Hovering above the two teens was a humanoid bug creature with a slim build hovering above them. It looked at the two students as Sho regain consciousness.
"Fukamachi will be fine," the creature told the two teens. "Get him into his room and let him rest," he added before flying off.
The two hunters in training had no idea what that thing was, but Nebula's attention was directed at the blue figure that started standing up. Russel followed his girlfriend's gaze to see Sho trying to steady himself.
"Sho, you okay man?" Russel asked.
"Y-yeah," the being known as Sho answered, much to Nebula's shock.
"What is going on?" Nebula asked, trying to wrap her mind around this.
Russel didn't answer her right away as he looked on as Sho disengage his armor. Nebula looked at this in awe and confusion before turning to Russel for an answer. Russel noticed Nebula's gaze and turned to look at her.
"Sho doesn't use a weapon because he can summon this armor to use in a fight," Russel told the team NDGO leader. "I have no idea what that thing was," he added remembering the creature.
"That was Aptom," Sho told Russel as he approached the two. "He and I go way back," he added while holding his sore shoulder.
"I'm guessing he put you through the ringer," Russel commented as he looked at Sho.
"That's normal for him," Sho replied before noticing Nebula. "Oh, hi Nebula," he greeted the girl.
"…yeah…hi," Nebula returned the greeting, still a little shocked.
"…I guess I have another person to tell this to huh?" Sho said, smiling weakly.
"Probably another team altogether," Russel said. "Seriously, when are you going to tell us, or do we have to wait for the next ass whooping?" he asked.
"How about tomorrow?" Sho suggested. "Assuming nothing else decides to get in the way," he added.
"You better tell all of us tomorrow," Russel told Sho. "Because I'm not big on being kept out of the loop," he added.
"Yeah, shit like that can make people lose faith in others," Nebula agreed with Russel.
"Not to mention puts people in danger," Sho added in a sorrowful tone as the three of them headed to the dorms.
By the time Sho, Russel, and Nebula reached the third floor, they spotted Ruby running towards them. Naturally, the young speedster bumped into Sho, knocking herself onto the floor.
"Ow…" Ruby moaned as she rubbed her butt, feeling sour.
"You okay Ruby?" Sho asked the fifteen-year-old.
Ruby looked up to see that she bumped into Sho.
"Oh, I'm fine," Ruby said as she got back onto her feet. "How about you?" she asked.
"Aside from the beating I got from Aptom, I'm fine," Sho replied.
"Aptom…?" Ruby asked, titling her head slightly.
Behind Sho, Russel and Nebula were watching the conversation.
"Russel, I don't know why but I suddenly have this urge to pick that girl up and give her a big hug," Nebula whispered, trying to understand where this desire came from.
"Don't look into her eyes," Russel whispered back while not making eye contact with Ruby. "Ruby has found a way to weaponize cuteness," he explained.
Nebula's eyes widened when her boyfriend told her this.
"That…that's terrifying," Nebula stuttered, trying to avoid eye contact with the fifteen-year-old girl.
"Well…I got to go to the library to get my game, see ya!" Ruby told Sho before dashing off again.
"But weren't we kicked out of the library?" Nebula pointed out. "And odds are that board game was probably thrown in the trash," she added.
Sho turned around to look at Russel and Nebula when he heard that. His confused expression said a lot to Russel.
"It was a strange afternoon," Russel told Sho.
"I'll take your word on it," Sho said as he made his way to his dorm. "I'll see you guys tomorrow," he told the couple as he left them.
Russel and Nebula stood in the hallway for a moment, watching Sho head to his dorm room. They turned to look at each other once they saw Sho enter his room.
"Walk you back to your dorm?" Russel offered.
"Sure," Nebula replied with a smile.
The next day
After a good night's rest, Sho felt a lot better than he did before. However, he knew that Aptom would push him harder during the next training session, so odds were a good night's rest won't fix everything.
'It's for the best,' Sho thought to himself as he exited his dorm room. 'I can't keep holding back,' he continued thinking as he past team RWBY's room.
He would have continued walking if he hadn't heard a loud cheer coming from within the room. It didn't sound like any of the girls, it was a male voice, but Sho couldn't completely make out what was being said.
'Aside from Yang, I honestly can't see any of the girls bringing a boy into their dorm,' Sho thought to himself before preparing to continue his way out.
"Sho!" Ruby cried out after she opened the door. "What are you doing here?" she asked in a panic.
Sho stopped and turned to the scythe wielding girl, who looked freaked out by the sight of him. He looked in the room to see Weiss, Blake, Yang, the blonde boy from the docks, and some blue haired boy he never met. Sho blinked for a moment when he noticed the blue haired one was very stiff.
"I was heading to the cafeteria to grab some breakfast," Sho told Ruby. "But I heard a guy's voice coming from your room as I was walking by," he continued. "What's going on?" he asked.
"Oh boy," Yang muttered, feeling that there was another problem that needed to be resolved.
"Well…you see…" Ruby started slowly. "We'regoingintotowntosearchforcluestofindoutwhatRomanandtheWhiteFangaredoingandaregoingtostopit," she explained very quickly.
"…. Can you repeat that?" Sho said. "But slower this time," he added.
Ruby took a deep breath and started speaking again.
"We're going into town to search for clues to find out what Roman and the White Fang are doing and we're going to stop it," Ruby repeated her explanation.
Sho let what Ruby said settle in before replying.
"You do know that you're putting yourselves in a lot of danger doing this on your own, right?" Sho stated.
"We know the risks," Blake said, not happy with how Sho was talking.
"I don't think any of you do," Sho replied. "We're all first-year students, which means that we're all still greenhorns to doing stuff that you six plan on doing," he pointed out.
"But we don't have any green or horns on us," Ruby said as she looked at her team.
"He means we're not experienced enough for this situation," Weiss said, face palming. "Which was what I tried telling all of you last night," she added, facing her teammates, specifically Blake.
"And I told you that we need to stop them now!" Blake yelled in anger. "Before the White Fang launches their next attack!" she added, determined to get this started.
"Did forget about Lisker already?" Sho asked Blake, annoyed with how the faunus girl was acting. "You're not only going up against Roman Torchwick and the White Fang, you're also going up against another Guyver," he told her. "And he won't hold back against any of you," he added.
"Eh…I'm sure we can take him," Yang said, dismissing what Sho told them. "I mean, we fought you," she added confidently.
"Uh, Yang…we never won against him," Ruby pointed out that one detail to her sister.
"And I held back," Sho added. "Every sparring match, I always held back," he told the assembled huntsmen and huntresses in training. "Even when I shouldn't," he added bitterly.
"But because of our spars, we at least have a general idea of what to expect from this Lisker fellow," Weiss said. "After all, you and he share the same abilities," she pointed out.
"Except there is one key difference between Lisker and me," Sho said. "Lisker won't hesitate to kill all of you," he told them. "Just like he did to the White Fang act the dock when Blake ran off," he added.
Blake's eyes widened when she heard Sho say that. Her mind replaying the memory of Lisker killing the White Fang with no remorse.
"How did you know about that?" Blake asked the brown-haired boy. "We didn't tell you about it," she said.
"Aptom told me," Sho answered simply.
"Who's Aptom?" Neptune asked.
"He's the guy who helped them out when they got caught," Sho answered, pointing at Blake and Sun.
Blake felt like her heart skipped a beat when she heard Sho say that as she remembered the monster that appeared that night.
"Wait…" Sun interrupted. "You mean that bug guy that fought that yellow cyber ninja thing!" he yelled.
"That's…an interesting way of describing a Guyver," Sho replied. "But yes, I do know Aptom and I also know Lisker," he said to Sun. "I've even fought them both before," he added.
Sun and Neptune looked Sho over, not believing him. This caused Sho to sigh at how he was being doubted by these two newcomers.
"Guyver," Sho said, causing his armor to appear.
Sun and Neptune watched in shock as this teal armor attach itself to Sho's body while team RWBY took the sight in stride.
"This is what you would be up against if you and the girls go through with this insane plan," Sho told them.
"Even so, we have to stop them," Blake said, determination driving her.
"Even if it means the deaths of a lot of people?" Sho asked.
That question caused the assembled team to wonder if they should go through with this.
"Maybe it's our duty to protect the innocent, but none of you are ready to do this," Sho told team RWBY and the two boys.
"And may never be ready!" Blake cried out in frustration. "The more time we waste, the more time they'll have to prepare for their next attack," she told Sho.
"So, you rather go into this ill prepared and with no backup plan," Sho said as he disengaged his armor. "Then I hope you're willing to accept the consequences when everything goes wrong," he told the faunus girl before walking down the hall. "I know I had to every time I put other people's lives in danger," he added sadly.
All of team RWBY and the two boys were left in the room wondering what Sho meant when he said that to them.
"So, I guess we…" Ruby started to say.
"No, we're doing this," Blake interrupted. "It doesn't matter what Sho says, we are the only ones that can do this," she said, determination building in her.
The other five teens agreed, which led to them all heading out to begin their investigation. If they had paid attention, the six teens would have noticed that Sho was watching them leave from the common room.
'I knew they wouldn't listen to me,' Sho thought, disappointed that the four girls and two boys would go through with this investigation. He pulled out his scroll and began texting to Russel.
Won't be able to tell all of you the truth. I have six idiots to watch over.
He sent the text to the CRDL member and got a reply.
Are you kidding me!?
Sho read the message and sighed before replying.
Wish I was.
After sending that message, Sho put his scroll back into his pocket and opened the window.
"Team RWBY is going to be the forth death of me," Sho muttered to himself before jumping out the window. "Guyver!" he shouted, summoning his armor once again.
Once Sho, now clad in his armor, landed on the ground he activated his gravity controller to take to the air. Once he was high enough, he turned his attention to the front entrance to the dorm to see team RWBY, Sun, and Neptune exit. Since none of them looked up, Sho could follow them as they made their way to the Bullheads that would take them to Vale without them noticing.
'Looks like I'm going to have to shadow them for a while,' Sho thought as he slowly followed them. 'But who should I follow?' he wondered to himself as he watched them enter one of the Bullheads.
Once the Bullhead took to the air, Sho made sure that he wasn't too close to it. During that time, he decided that he would be shadowing Blake since she was the most determined of them all.
"Hopefully, they won't find themselves in too much trouble and I'm just being paranoid," Sho said to himself as he watched the Bullhead descend to the landing strip for the Bullheads.
Later that night
After the group had split up, Sho followed Blake and Sun to the secret meeting place for the White Fang, behind another warehouse. Sho was standing on the roof of the warehouse, using his head sensors to "look" inside.
"What is with these terrorists and warehouses?" Sho found himself asking.
"It is quite cliché," another voice said in agreement with Sho.
If he was out of his armor, Sho's eyes would have widened at the sound of that voice. Instead, he turned around to see Lisker standing behind him, also in his Guyver armor. The teal Guyver was so focused on keeping an eye on Blake and Sun, that he lowered his guard.
"You continue to disappoint me Sho," Lisker said as he approached the younger Guyver. "You've truly become sloppy," he added.
Before the two Guyvers could start their battle, they heard the walls of the building break as a twenty-foot-tall robot that, to Sho, had a passing resemblance to Metal Gear REX bust out of the building, chasing down Blake and Sun. Lisker took notice of this and realized that the rally didn't go as planned.
"Shit," Lisker muttered before activating his gravity controller and aiming his right hand towards Sho. "Looks like our fight will be put on hold for now," he said before firing three pressure cannons at the younger Guyver.
Sho jumped out of the way of the shots, allowing Lisker the time needed to follow the robot.
"Damn it!" Sho swore as he followed Lisker.
Up ahead of the two Guyvers, Blake and Sun were doing their best to outrun the robot, the paladin, chasing. Contrary to what many would assume, the Paladin was not some slow-moving machine, it was keeping pace with the two faunus teens. Sun looked back to see it getting closer.
"Oh crap!" Sun yelled as he continued running. "You wouldn't happen to have a backup plan or something?" he asked Blake.
"I'm on it!" Blake shouted as she pulled out her scroll to contact the rest of her team.
CCT building
Weiss had just stepped out of the CCT after getting all the information she needed from her family's company when she received a call from Blake.
"Everyone!" Blake's voice yelled out of the scroll. "If you can hear me, we need back…" she was cut off.
"HEEEELLLPPP!" Sun screamed in panic, cutting Blake off.
A dumpster
Ruby got out of the dumpster that Penny threw her in to evade the Atlesian soldiers that were after her and Penny. She had her scroll in hand as she listened to Blake and Sun's message.
"They got a robot!" Sun yelled out of the scroll. "And it's big, really big!" he shouted.
Ruby's eyes widened at the thought of a big robot, hoping it's the Paladin that was projected at the park earlier today.
"No way am I missing this!" Ruby said, excited as she rushed out to find Blake and Sun.
Junior's bar
Yang and Neptune listened as Sun explained that Torchwick was operating the robot.
"Where are you guys?" Yang asked, only to find out her answer was a corner behind her and running past them. "Never mind," she added before starting up Bumblebee so that she and Neptune could follow them.
Just before Yang could make the turn to follow, two Guyvers sprinted right past her and Neptune.
"Was that…?" Yang started to wonder. "Oh, forget it," she decided not to think about it as she focused on the robot.
As the chase continued, everyone found themselves on the highway. Blake and Sun jumped onto the roof of the cars on the highway while the Paladin continued to chase after them, tossing several cars out of its way, severely injuring or killing the drivers and passengers. Sho and Lisker followed behind, but Lisker turned his focus on Sho.
The bronze Guyver fired a head beam at the teal Guyver, but Sho dodged the shot before returning fire. Lisker stopped himself to avoid the shot, his head sensor went off to alert him to a speeding car approaching him. Lisker stopped the car with both hands on the hood, he lifted the car off its wheels before throwing it at Sho.
Sho gasped when he saw the car flying towards him, but braced himself for it. He caught the car and slowly set it down, making sure the driver wasn't hurt.
"Sho!" Yang yelled as she and Neptune reached the Guyver.
"Don't worry about me!" Sho shouted. "Help Blake with the robot!" he ordered the girl.
"Got it!" Yang shouted back as she sped past Sho, with Neptune priming up his weapon.
"No, you don't!" Lisker shouted as he chased after the motorcycle.
"Shit!" Sho swore as he followed.
Lisker noticed Sho following him and moved towards a car that was at his right. He punched through the window, pulled the driver out of the car, and hurled the poor man at Sho. Sho acted quickly and caught the man but that was all Lisker needed as he continued running towards Yang and Neptune.
Neptune was ready to fire his weapon, but a yellow armored hand grabbed the barrel and crushed it. He turned to his right to see Guyver 2 keeping pace with Yang's bike, much to the blonde girl's shock and disbelief.
"No way!" Yang cried out as she tried to move away from Lisker, but he kept up with her with ease.
"Children shouldn't play with guns," Lisker taunted the boy before grabbing him and throwing him behind him.
"Neptune!" Yang cried out as she watched the blue haired boy hit the street and rolled.
"You should focus on yourself little girl," Lisker told Yang before activating his vibration blade and slicing the front tire off her bike.
Yang screamed as she flipped forward and hit the road, while Lisker brought his focus back to the Paladin chasing after Blake and Sun. He sped off, leaving Yang to pick herself back up to see her damaged Bumblebee.
"That...MONSTER!" Yang yelled in rage, activating her semblance.
"Yang!" Sho shouted as he approached the blonde with Neptune over his shoulder. "What happened?" he asked.
"That jerk ruined Bumblebee!" Yang shouted in response.
"I'm fine by the way," Neptune retorted as Sho set him down. "You weren't kidding about that guy," he added.
"We need to catch up to them," Yang said, determined to finish this.
"No, you two get out of the highway and contact the police," Sho told Yang. "I'll deal with Lisker and the robot.
"No way, this is our mission!" Yang argued, not wanting to be cast aside.
"This isn't a mission!" Sho shouted at Yang, causing the blonde to flinch at Sho's tone. "This is a mistake that shouldn't have happened!" he told her before pointing at the carnage that was behind them. "These people should have never been involved in this mess!" he said in a loud voice. "Your job is to protect innocent people from such harm, so you two will be helping the injured and calling both the police and the medics!" he ordered the two teens before taking off to deal with Lisker and the Paladin.
Yang and Neptune stood where they were for a moment, thinking about what Sho told them. Neptune took out his scroll and started calling for emergency response, while Yang stood where she was, thinking about what Sho just told her.
Several miles ahead, Blake and Sun were doing their best to knock the Paladin off their trail, but Torchwick was determined to snuff the two teens with the Paladin's weapons. The machine's sensors picked up a moving object quickly approaching him. One of the cameras picked up the image of Lisker running towards him, far faster than he would have ever imagined.
"God, I really do hope that faunus in Vacuo finds more of those things," Roman said to himself, becoming more and more impressed with what the Guyver can do.
Sun noticed the bronze Guyver approaching them, and he was a bit freaked by how he was keeping pace with them, despite him and Blake being on the back of a semi-truck's trailer.
"Uh…Blake, we got company," Sun told Blake.
Blake's eyes widened when she saw Lisker jumping onto the Paladin. She aimed the pistol portion of Gambol Shroud at Lisker, but he jumped onto the trailer, landing in front of Sun, before she could fire. Sun tried to attack Lisker with his staff, but the bronze Guyver grabbed his wrist, twisted it causing Sun to drop his weapon, and turn the monkey faunus around to use him as a shield. Blake was about to rush Lisker, but she hesitated when Lisker kept Sun in front of him.
"Not so fast little girl," Lisker told Blake. "Try anything and your little boyfriend becomes my boss's new plaything," he said as the Paladin got closer.
"He's not my boyfriend," Blake said, glaring at the Guyver.
"Well then…" Lisker said as if he was thinking about what Blake told him. "I guess you're of no use to me," he told Sun before doing something that terrified Blake.
Lisker crushed Sun's wrist, causing Sun to scream in agony, before throwing him towards the Paladin. Roman moved the robot's right arm to the side, smacking Sun away from him and off the highway.
"SUN!" Blake screamed as she watched the monkey faunus's form vanish from her sight.
Sadly, Blake's cries were ignored as Lisker made his way towards the cat girl.
"You really should have stayed out of our business little girl," Lisker said as he continued walking to Blake. "A pathetic, little piece of shit like you could never stop us," he continued talking. "Regardless of what little form of power you have, it will never compare to the power of the Guyver," he told her as he got closer.
Filled with rage, Blake unsheathed the katana portion of her weapon and swung out at Lisker. Lisker stood his ground, letting the blade hit his armor, snapping the blade. Blake gasped in horror at the sight of her weapon not doing anything to Lisker's armor, that she barely had time to activate her semblance to avoid an uppercut from the bronze Guyver and jumped off the truck and onto the highway to find Sun. Rather than be surprised by this, Lisker was more annoyed than anything else. His head sensors picked up another presence approaching them, Guyver 1.
"Roman, I'll let you deal with the brats," Lisker told Roman. "I'll handle Guyver 1," he added before jumping off the truck's trailer.
"Alright," Roman replied as he changed the Paladin's course and jumped off the highway to pursue Blake.
As Sho got closer, Lisker opened his chest plates to charge up his Mega Smasher. Sho realized what the Guyver 2 was about to do and had to think fast.
"I need it now," Sho said to himself as he stopped and concentrated.
Before Sho could say or do anything, he noticed a glyph appear below him. He looked up to see Weiss standing on top of one of bridges above them.
"Weiss…" Sho started saying before realizing what she was about to do. "Don't!" he yelled.
But it was too late, Weiss used her glyph to send Sho off to the side just in time to avoid the Mega Smasher aimed at him.
"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Sho yelled as he watched the Mega Smasher traveled down the highway, wiping out every vehicle in its path, the people included.
Up above, Weiss dropped to her knees, realizing that in saving Sho, she had doomed countless innocent people.
"No…" Weiss whispered in horror.
The highway, before the Lisker fired his Mega Smasher
Emergency response had arrived on the scene after receiving a call about an accident on the highway. Once they arrived, Yang and Neptune made their way toward the rampaging robot.
"Are you sure this is a good idea Yang?" Neptune asked the blonde girl.
"Of course," Yang said to the blue haired boy. "This is our mission, Sho isn't in charge of us," she added as they continued running.
"Yeah, but…" Neptune started before noticing something up ahead. "SUN!" he screamed as he watched his partner get thrown off the highway.
"We need to get him!" Yang shouted as she and Neptune jumped off the highway to get to Sun.
While the two hunters in training made their way to their friend, the police and medical personnel were treating the wounded. One officer looked at where the two teens were and noticed a white light approaching.
"What in the…?" the police officer wondered before he and everyone else on the highway felt the intense heat of the flash.
The people screamed in horrified agony as the searing heat caused their bodily fluids to boil and their flesh to burn off their bodies, leaving their skeletons before those too were destroyed by the raw power of the Guyver 2's Mega Smasher.
Below the highway
Blake had found Sun along with Yang and Neptune. The four of them were very lucky as they heard the explosions and saw the particle beam of the Mega Smasher.
"Oh my God," Yang said in horror as she realized what happened. "All of those people," she couldn't finish that line of thought.
"No way…" Neptune muttered.
"YANG!" a young voice called out to the blonde.
Yang turned to her right to see Ruby running towards her. Yang rushed to her sister and the two embraced, though Yang's hug was more like a bear hug.
"C-can't…breath…" Ruby tried to say but Yang wasn't letting go any time soon.
Unfortunately, the moment was ruined when the Paladin appeared behind everyone.
"Well…isn't this nice," Roman said from within the Paladin, preparing its weapons. "Say goodnight Red," he said as he prepared to fire the weapons.
Before he could fire, the right arm of Roman's Paladin was hit by a small black hole that destroyed the hydraulics, causing the arm to fall to the ground. Roman turned the Paladin around to see the Guyver 1 facing him with his palms facing toward him. Sho lowered his hands, glaring at the man inside the mech.
Inside the Paladin, Roman felt unnerved by how the bio-boosted human looked at him with a face that betrayed no emotion.
"Okay…" Roman said as he activated a couple of switches. "You'll go first then," he said as he fired numerous rockets at Sho.
"We need to help him!" Ruby shouted as she prepared to rush to Sho's aid.
Before Ruby could do so, Sho activated his vibration globes and fired a high frequency soundwave. The soundwave matched the frequency of the rockets, causing the projectiles to explode before every reaching him.
Roman's jaw dropped at the sight of his rockets being destroyed and the resulting explosions obscured his vision. The Paladin's alarms went off, informing the criminal that the left arm was severed.
"Oh, what now!?" Roman yelled in annoyance before a teal arm appeared above his head. "Oh shit!" he shouted as the arm grabbed his head, crushing his hat. "Watch the hat!" he complained before he was pulled out of the Paladin.
Outside the Paladin, the three members of team RWBY as well as Sun and Neptune watched as Sho pull Roman out of the robot. Sho pulled his left arm back, activating his vibration blade, intent on ending the man's life. Ruby's eyes widened in horror as she ran towards the Paladin.
"Sho, don't kill him!" Ruby screamed as she sprinted towards the Guyver and the captured criminal.
Sho heard the leader of team RWBY, but he didn't deactivate his vibration blade. Roman on the other hand, he was terrified that the blue Guyver would kill him. The rest of the assembled teens ran after Ruby, while praying that Sho wouldn't go through with killing Roman.
"Don't interfere Ruby," Sho told the fifteen-year-old girl, still holding Roman by his head.
"Sho, listen to me!" Ruby cried out before stopping right next to the downed Paladin. "You can't sink to his level," she told the Guyver. "We're supposed to be the good guys," she said.
"She's right Sho," Yang agreed. "You can't do this!" she shouted.
Sho didn't say anything as he looked at the sisters for a second before turning his attention back to Roman. Roman was shaking in terror as he couldn't tell if Sho was going to listen to the girls, or if he was going to kill him.
"Well, what will you do Sho?" another voice asked from behind Sho.
Everyone turned to see Guyver 2 standing ten feet away from Sho with Weiss being held by her throat. Weiss tried to break free but Lisker's hold was far too strong for the Schnee heiress.
"Weiss!" Ruby cried out, shocked to see her partner was captured while Yang held her back.
"Lisker…" Sho growled as he turned his attention to the taller Guyver. "Let Weiss go," he told the older Guyver.
"Only if you let Roman go," Lisker told Sho. "If you don't, we'll all get to see what her last meal was," he said as he activated his right vibration blade and slowly moved it to Weiss's ribs.
"Don't you dare…" Yang growled as she glared at the bronze Guyver, her semblance flaring up, yet she remained where she was while holding back her sister.
"I won't do anything if Sho releases Roman to me," Lisker said. "After that, I'll let her go," he added. "And don't even think about trying to sneak up on me Cat girl," he said to Blake. "My head sensors can detect your presence easily, so if you try, I'll disembowel your friend faster than any of you could reach me," he warned them.
The teens didn't know what to do, if they tried to attack Lisker or sneak up on him, he would kill Weiss.
"What guarantee do I have that you won't kill her as soon as I release Roman?" Sho asked Lisker, not lowering his captive.
"You don't," Lisker answered keeping his bio-boosted eyes on Sho. "But are you willing to risk her life?" he asked. "Especially after all the innocent people that died when she foolishly saved you from my Mega Smasher," he added, taunting the Guyver 1.
Ruby gasped when she heard Lisker callously mentioned the people died from the Mega Smasher.
Sho on the other hand, was silent as he weighed his options. He jumped off the ruined Paladin and made his way to Lisker, Roman still in hand. The criminal mastermind's cries of frustration were muffled by Sho's hand, but Sho ignored him.
Once Sho reached Lisker, the two Guyver's looked at each other in silence.
"You better keep your word that you won't hurt Weiss," Sho said to Lisker telepathically.
"And if I don't?" Lisker asked in response.
"Then I won't stop until you are dead," Sho told Lisker. "Even if I have to level this whole kingdom to do it," he added.
"You're bluffing," Lisker challenged Sho.
"Do you want to risk it?" Sho asked.
Lisker deactivated his vibration blade and released Weiss while Sho did the same. Both humans dropped to their knees, gasping for air before walking towards their allied Guyvers. The rest of team RWBY ran up to Weiss while Sun and Neptune followed shortly behind.
"You've become more ruthless Fukamachi," Lisker commented, impressed with Sho's change of attitude. "Maybe there is hope for you after all," he added as he and Roman backed away.
Once the two men were far away from the teens, Roman's right hand girl, Neo appeared before them.
"About time you showed up Neo," Roman said as he fixed his hat. "If you please," he said to the young woman.
Neo smiled as the air above them shattered like glass, revealing a bullhead hovering above the three criminals.
The assembled teens looked at the aircraft in surprise before Yang turned her attention back to the criminals. Sho's head sensors were moving as he noticed something was off about the three criminals in front of them.
"Yang, wait!" Sho shouted but he was ignored at the blonde rushed them.
Yang threw a punch at Neo, but once it came in contract, the short woman and the two men shattered into pieces while the bullhead took off.
"An illusion," Sho said before turning his attention to Weiss. "You alright?" he asked her.
"Yes…" Weiss replied softly, not looking at the Guyver. "Sho, I…" she tried to say but she was cut off.
"Let's just go back to the school," Sho said before turning to Sun. "How's your wrist?" he asked the monkey faunus.
"Better now," Sun replied, still holding the injured wrist.
"Once we get back, you're heading to the infirmary to get it looked at just in case," Sho told Sun before looking at Neptune. "You'll go with him to make sure he does," he pretty much ordered the blue haired boy.
Neptune nodded, not seeing any reason to argue with someone who could shoot a black hole out of his hands.
"Sho…" Weiss tried to talk again.
"Shut up and let's go," Sho told everyone as he deactivated his armor. "And Blake…" he addressed the faunus girl. "I hope those people's lives were worth all of this," he told her before walking away from team RWBY, Sun, and Neptune.
Blake didn't say anything while everyone else watched as the Guyver armor faded out of their dimension. However, despite it not having any eyes, the four girls and two boys felt like it was glaring at them. Like it was enraged at them for the loss of innocent lives.
Author's note: Damn, over nine thousand words (insert DBZ joke here) and a high body count of nameless people. Well, I knew this would happen when I decided to make a Guyver/RWBY crossover story. Though, unlike the original episode where a lot of people got hurt, and possibly die, during the highway scene and nobody mentioned it in the next episode, this version has a bit more weight to it. After all, despite their efforts, innocent people died and team RWBY must live with it. So, we can expect, some of the girls not sleeping well after this chapter.
As you can also tell, Sho has become a bit more ruthless. Though it may feel a bit out of character to some, given the shit he had to deal with in the Guyver canon, he is more experienced in dealing with death and enemies that are ruthless and willing to kill innocent people just to get to him. So, I kind of see Sho starting to become a much darker hero compared to team RWBY.
It also makes a very nice contrast between the cynical view Sho has on life now compare to the optimistic view Ruby instilled on her team.