Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or Attack on Titan. They are owned by Rooster Teeth and Hajime Isayama respectively.
The group dispersed to discuss the events of the most recent episode. The students naturally gravitated toward one another with Penny following after them as they moved to get food. The Beacon staff together with Ironwood, Winter and Qrow hung out amongst themselves while Salem discussed with Hazel and Cinder.
"That Ruby lookalike Titan is still bugging me," Qrow stated.
"But it was impressive," Winter admitted. "I'm sure we're all curious as to its nature."
"What part of it? The unusual behaviour or that it resembles my niece?" Qrow stated dryly.
"Both. Surely, you're curious about the latter option as well?" Winter asked. His silence spoke volumes.
"I'm more intrigued by its knowledge of martial arts." Ironwood cut in. "How does it have that knowledge? Did someone teach it?"
"Maybe it learned by watching humans?" Port offered his thoughts.
"Not possible." Glynda shot down that idea immediately. "The only humans it could have seen outside the walls are the Scouts who as we've seen, use ODM gear to battle Titans. Not martial arts."
"Plus, there are no civilizations outside the walls, as far as we are aware of. If the world has truly been overrun by Titans, then that theory is thrown right out the window." Oobleck added his two cents.
"What do you think, Ozpin?" Ironwood asked but the man was distracted, constantly turning to stare in the direction of the pale woman. "Something you want to tell us, Ozpin?"
"That woman..." Ozpin gripped his cane tightly when she noticed his stares and smirked at him before turning back to whatever discussion she appeared to be having with Hazel and Cinder.
Noticing his colleagues' questioning stares, he shook himself from his internal musings. "I'll tell you all later. It appears our 10 minutes are almost up," he said just as the students walked back into the theatre, arms filled with a variety of treats.
Everyone slowly returned to their seats, ready to begin the new episode.
"Everyone set?" Upon receiving a chorus of nods, the screen lit up.
"In the year 850, the Colossal Titan once again appeared out of nowhere and broke the wall, allowing for the further advance of the Titans. Soldiers fell one after another facing down the Titans. Then..." Squad 34 deaths replayed. "Ruby fell prey to a Titan as well."
"Just as Pyrrha was cornered, a mysterious Titan suddenly appeared to fend off the other Titans." Pyrrha stared incredulously at the Rogue Titan as it roared.
I Can Hear Her Heartbeat/The Struggle for Trost, Part 4
"B-But the place is swarming with Titans! You can't possibly carry someone while jumping!"
"Let's go!" Yatsuhashi grabbed Oscar's arm as he and Pyrrha took off.
No… Please don't… Oscar watched them run. I'll only…I'll only get more of my friends killed! Behind them, the Rogue Titan roared. And an idea came to him. "Wait!" He snatched his arm back, breaking away from Yatsuhashi's grip. "Listen to me! I have a suggestion."
Oscar perked up, wondering what his counterpart's plan was.
"A suggestion?" Yatsuhashi said.
"It's a two-person operation, so you two should decide whether to carry it out or not. I know it's crazy, but... couldn't we use that Titan to our advantage?" Oscar proposed.
Pyrrha and Yatsuhashi were taken aback by the suggestion. "That Titan?" Yatsuhashi asked in bewilderment.
The viewers were as perplexed by the idea as the cadets. Out of everything they'd been shown so far, the idea of using a Titan to one's advantage was the most outlandish.
"I'm curious to see how he plans on going about that," Ozpin said with a small smile.
"It's only attacking other Titans. It seems uninterested in humans. I was thinking of luring it to the supply building somehow. If it handles the other Titans for us, we could everyone out of this alive!" Oscar explained.
"Lure it?" Yatsuhashi gaped. "How could we even pull that off?"
"My guess is it's fighting on instinct." Oscar turned in the Titan's direction. "If you two take out the Titans in its vicinity, then it'll start looking for other Titans. Most likely it'll move towards the Titans swarming around Headquarters."
"That... is not a bad idea," Roman admitted. "Batshit crazy and risky though."
"It's still not foolproof," Emerald butted in. "What if it simply attacks humans once it eliminates the Titans? For all we know, it could be attacking Titans because they are the biggest targets around."
"That's a risk they'll have to take. It's better to take a gamble than sit by idly, waiting for their inevitable deaths," Ironwood said.
Oscar's heart soared upon hearing the approval of his variant's plan by General Ironwood himself.
Salem was more focused on the first sentence. If it's fighting on instinct, why didn't it head to HQ immediately? After taking out the Titans in its immediate vicinity, it should have headed there. After all, the building was in a hilly area and crawling with Titans, so it was impossible to miss. Or maybe I'm looking at this the wrong way.
"How could we do something so risky based on a mere guess?!" Yatsuhashi demanded.
Oscar turned back to them with a determined expression. "But if it does work, we could eliminate every Titan at HQ in one fell swoop!" Oscar argued.
He's a smart one, Ironwood noted, wondering if he should keep an eye out for his variant in the theatre.
"Ah..." Realization dawned on Yatsuhashi's face when he considered the merits of the plan.
"It's at least worth a shot," Pyrrha finally put in.
"Wha?!" Yatsuhashi turned to her in shock. "Are you serious?"
"If we're facing certain death, either way, the path to take is the path with a chance of victory," Pyrrha stated matter-of-factly. "Let's go with Oscar's plan."
Oscar looked elated that Pyrrha was in support of his plan.
"You want to side with a Titan to fight against Titans?" Yatsuhashi asked, still in disbelief.
"Yes. Precisely."
"Fighting fire with fire. Hopefully, it works," Ren commented.
Yatsuhashi backed up, slowly coming to the terms with their risky plan. He smiled nervously. "It won't even be funny if we fail."
"If you fail, you'll be dead," Cinder stated bluntly.
"But if we succeed, everyone will be saved." Oscar smiled.
"Make up your mind," was all Pyrrha said, before taking off in the Rogue Titan's direction, Oscar following after her.
"I get it! Dammit, I get it!" Yatsuhashi chased after them.
Am I really cut out for this? Can I handle a position with this much responsibility? Sun looked on as a group of Titans surrounded a soldier. He closed his eyes in frustration.
"Of course, you can. If even our Sun could make it as a leader, then so can you," Neptune said with utmost confidence.
Can he though? Ironwood thought. Does he have the will to act?
Suddenly, he came to a realization. No! Wait! The Titans are relatively concentrated around there. Sun noticed the Titans all gathered in one place, their backs turned. This is our chance!
Ironwood smiled in satisfaction as the teens cheered their friend on.
"Go!" Sun yelled, snapping the others out of their funk. "Hurry to HQ while you can!" he ordered and took off running, leaping onto another rooftop. Neptune and Nora followed first. Jaune, Ren, and Weiss went next.
"I'm kinda surprised Vomit Boy didn't step up and lead them," Yang commented. "What with the similarities between the two Jaunes and Commander Oobleck's analysis, you'd think he had it in him."
"That's probably where the similarities start and end," Pyrrha said.
"Hey! What about me?" Weiss asked.
"You? Sure, it's possible. Your variant? Nah, I don't see it," was Blake's blunt interjection.
Weiss looked affronted but made no comment.
It's now or never! We're finished if our gas runs out! Sun continued to run, jumping from roof to roof. "Everyone! Move in!" They followed without hesitation.
Pyrrha sliced the nape and killed the Titan in her path, clearing the way for Yatsuhashi, who was carrying Oscar in his arms.
Oscar ducked his head in embarrassment as many viewers snorted.
"That looks comfy, kid," Coco snickered.
The Rogue Titan pushed a smaller Titan back. Finishing it off, it turned toward HQ, now noticing the Titans.
Sun led the charge forward, manoeuvring between a group of Titans. One lucky Titan caught Sun by his leg.
They all tensed, either in anticipation or panic.
Fortunately for the viewers, their worries abated. Sun cut off the finger without panic or hesitation, shooting his hooks and moving forward. He landed on the roof and ran.
Neptune and Blake breathed loud sighs of relief.
"Oh, man! That was way too close!" Neptune placed a hand on his chest to calm his racing heart.
"Sun!" Neptune ran next to him. "Thanks! I only got out because of you!"
"Huh?"
"It's all thanks to you! I told you before, didn't I? You're cut out to be a leader!"
"He has potential, that's for sure," Qrow said.
Neptune elbowed Sun lightly who responded in kind.
Grinning briefly, Sun said, "I'm not so sure about that!" He successfully dodged more Titans. One trainee was not so lucky. Droplets of blood flew in the air as he screamed in terror. "Dammit!" Sun forced himself to look ahead.
Sun grimaced at the poor soldier's fate and his counterpart's actions. He understood but he still wasn't happy about it.
Shooting forward with a burst of speed, he angled his body 45 degrees to the vertical sheet of glass and crashed through the HQ's window. He looked around, as if in disbelief that he'd made it just as other soldiers crashed in through the windows. How many of us made it? Neptune, Jaune, and Weiss were the first to arrive after him. Others soon joined them. Using the deaths of our comrades... Sun gripped his face in horror at the realization of his actions. How many people died because of my orders?
"That's the price you pay for leadership," Ozpin muttered.
Ruby, Jaune and Sun grimaced upon hearing that. It was hard coming to terms with the fact that one day, they might have to make the difficult choice of sacrificing lives, even their friends, for a greater objective.
Sun snapped out of his self-induced panic when he noticed two trainees hiding under a desk next to him. "You're with the supply team... aren't you?"
He grabbed one boy by the collar and dragged him out. He punched the boy, knocking him down.
"Tch! Serves them right," Cardin growled out.
"Stop, Sun!" Neptune came up and restrained him.
"These bastards abandoned us! Do you even have a clue how many died!" Sun hurled the accusation at the weeping soldiers.
"The Titans invaded the supply depot." One trainee knelt beside her comrade, crying. "What could we have done?!"
"That's why it is your job to deal with it anyway!" Qrow glared. "All I'm hearing are excuses."
"Especially when they didn't bother fighting back when the Titans invaded. They just sat there, twiddling their thumbs." The disdain for their cowardice was plain in the general's tone.
"It's your job to figure something out!" Sun snapped.
Jaune watched the scene with a grimace. Suddenly, he noticed a whistling sound. "Take cover!" Two soldiers were sent flying when the wall behind them blasted open. Outside, two Titans sat on their hands and knees. One had punched the wall with its face. They were now looking inside.
"Shit!" Sun cursed. "There are too many people gathered here!"
The trainees panicked and ran toward the inner rooms.
"Hurry! Inside!"
"Run for your lives!"
Sun was rooted in his spot in horror.
"Where's Pyrrha?!"
"She crashed back there! She's been eaten!"
This is normal... Sun stared at the giant faces smiling creepily at him. This is reality, isn't it? Was I just chasing a delusional dream? Sun's swords were slack in his hands. I thought I knew reality. Just thinking about it, it's so obvious... There's no way we stand a chance against these gigantic monstrosities.
Roman shivered at the giant faces smiling creepily. "Talk about freaky."
"That's pure nightmare fuel, right there," Fox winced.
Sun gasped when all of a sudden, a giant fist slammed into the face of the Titan to his right.
"What?!"
The Rogue Titan knocked the two down away from the hole and roared.
The students cheered loudly at the sight of the Rogue Titan.
"That was awesome!" Nora yelled, waving her arms in the air.
The teachers were beaming as well. "That Titan is amazing," Port wholeheartedly agreed.
"What is... that?" Sun stared. A window broke to his right and Pyrrha came in, followed by Yatsuhashi and Oscar. "Huh? Pyrrha?!"
"Man, that was close." Yatsuhashi knocked on his canister, not believing this luck. "It's completely empty. We did it! We just barely made it!"
Teams CFVY and JNPR celebrated the survival of their teammates and friends.
"Y-You're... all alive." Sun came up to them.
"We did it, Oscar!" Yatsuhashi slapped his back.
"O-Ouch!"
"Your plan worked! Guys," Yatsuhashi yelled, grinning, and pointed, "that Titan's an Abnormal! It's killin' all the other Titans! And it has no interest in humans! We can use it to our advantage to escape from here!"
"Use a…Titan?" Someone said.
"You'd rely on a Titan's help?" Sun asked. "That's more delusional than any dream?"
"It's not a dream," Pyrrha interrupted. "Whether it's an Abnormal or not, I don't care. We're going to let it rampage here for as long as possible."
"Good. Use the Titan to your advantage. You can figure it out later," Glynda nodded.
"Agreed," Ozpin said. "Survival should be their topmost priority."
The Rogue Titan sent another Titan crashing back, roaring and drawing the attention of more around it.
Its roar seems to act like some sort of battle cry. Is it drawing the Titans to it? Salem wondered.
"Realistically," Pyrrha said, "that's our best strategy for survival now."
Currently Disposable Information
Design of the 3D Manoeuvre Gear (part 3)
(The fan unit)
The gas is blown onto the fans to make them spin
Output power is controlled by the gas pressure
An illustration of the Titans' size in relation to the wall and humans is displayed onscreen. From left to right: the wall (50m), Colossal Titan (60m), 15m Titan class, 7m Titan class, 5m Titan class and finally, humans at barely 2m.
Yang whistled. "Damn. We know the Colossal Titan is massive but looking at its size compared to other Titans and humans..." She trailed off.
"Could we stop it if such a thing exists in our world?" Ruby's question had them pausing to consider the ramifications of the Colossal in their world. No one wanted to admit it, but everyone knew what the outcome would be.
Eyes glinting, the Rogue Titan grabbed its opponent's arm and locked its hands together, twisting the appendage out of the socket and sending the Titan sliding, crushing the smaller ones.
"It's okay," Yatsuhashi assured as Rogue charged at more Titans. "That Titan's stronger than average."
Salem made a mental note of that piece of information.
Rogue kicked the smaller ones, sending them flying.
"Goal!" Nora and Yang yelled while their friends laughed.
"They can't take over the building while it's rampaging outside," Yatsuhashi's voice narrated.
Inside the HQ, a lift to the storage below the basement was raised while the soldiers gathered together.
"How much do you know about that Titan?" Jaune asked, sitting in front of Yatsuhashi, Weiss behind him.
"That is not the priority, Mr. Arc," Glynda scolded.
"Huh? Shouldn't we discuss that after we're safe?" Yatsuhashi asked.
"True that." Jaune smiled. "Let's get out of here alive first."
"We found some!" Sun called out, stepping out of a storage room with other cadets, all holding long boxes. "They're Military Police supplies though they're covered in dust..."
Sun quickly loaded one of the rifles. "Will three bullets be enough? Will guns even work against Titans in the first place?"
"It's useful for suicides," Emerald said flippantly. The students glared at her for her callous comment.
Around them, their comrades readied their rifles. Oscar had the floor plans before him. "It's better than nothing. Even if there are still seven 3- to 4-meter class Titans in the supply room, this much firepower should be capable of blinding them all simultaneously."
"First," Oscar began as an illustration of the plan was displayed, "we'll use the lift to lower a large number of people into the centre of the chamber. They'll then simultaneously fire at the faces of each of the seven Titans, thereby blinding them."
"Will that work?" Velvet asked hesitantly. "Couldn't the Titans use their other senses?"
"Good question. They can but they wouldn't," Blahk replied. "Titans are too dumb to make use of their other senses. They tend to flounder around when they can't see."
"Oh. Thank you!"
"The next instance will decide everything. Seven people hiding near the ceiling will swoop down to attack their weak spots while they're blind. In other words... this plan will put everything, everyone's lives on the line for a single attack." As Oscar finished, the screen split seven ways to show Pyrrha, Nora, Ren, Jaune, Sun, Weiss, and Yatsuhashi's faces as the seven who will attack from the ceiling.
The seven students smiled at being chosen for such an important task.
"The whole point is for seven people to kill all seven Titans simultaneously. The seven people should be the most physically fit and adept soldiers we have here, but you'll have to shoulder the burden of everyone's lives... I'm sorry..."
"No worries," Jaune said.
"If we fail, we die. The risk's the same regardless of who goes," Weiss said.
"Still, is this shabby idea of mine really our best strategy?" Oscar second-guessed himself.
"You're out of options. You just have to hope for the best and prepare for the worst," Hazel said.
"We got no other choice. We're out of time and options. All we can do now is give it our all!" Neptune said.
"Don't worry. Be confident," Pyrrha assured. "You have a talent for reasoning out correct solutions."
"Like saving Ruby from getting a beating from that soldier," Blake said, recalling that event.
"That intuition has saved my life before, and Ruby's too."
"Huh?" Oscar addressed Pyrrha. "When?"
"The lift's ready!" Sun yelled. "The guns, too! They're all loaded!"
"You just aren't aware yet," Pyrrha said. "I'll tell you more later."
"Okay..." Oscar nodded.
The soldiers prepared to reclaim the storage basement.
Yatsuhashi frowned. "But can we really take out all the Titans without our 3D Manoeuvre Gear?"
"Sure, we can!" Jaune replied confidently. "These Titans are only three or four meters tall. Targeting their vitals will be a cinch."
"Yeah," Sun agreed, "regardless of size, their vitals go from the head to the nape of the neck."
"Length: 1 meter. Width: 10 centimetres!" Nora put in.
"You can also shove one of these up their asses." Jaune held up his sword. "Those are their only two weak spots!" he declared.
The room burst into laughter.
"Nice one, Vomit Boy!" Yang chortled, slapping her armrest.
"What?! I've never of that move!" Yatsuhashi sounded amazed.
"This is the first I've heard of it, too," Nora said to herself.
"Jaune," Sun said, "those could end up being your last words, you know."
"Pfft! Please! Like Fearless Leader would die so easy!" Nora scoffed.
She's not wrong. Blahk thought of the number of attempts on Jaune's life; fighting the Attack Titan in season 2, surviving a bombardment of Thunder Spears, Neo stabbing his neck, Glynda almost cutting his throat open, e.t.c. He's like a cockroach. Which is funny because the poor guy wants to die already.
The Titans roamed about in the storage basement. The lift slowly lowered with the cadets inside. "Good," Neptune said, "their numbers haven't increased."
Neptune and the others cocked their guns. "Proceeding with the operation." A Titan passing by stopped, and suddenly turned its head toward them. One trainee shrunk back in fear. "Calm down! We need to lure them all the way in."
Atop the beams, the seven crouched in readiness. We can't afford to lose our advantage. Jaune stared at his swords.
If we want to keep casualties to the bare minimum... Sun thought
We must end it in this one strike! Ren focused on his target.
The seven Titans slowly approached the lift.
"Steady…" Neptune said.
The viewers were tense with anticipation, too caught up with the scene.
The Titans were a couple of feet from them.
"Ready…" His finger curled around the trigger.
They were about a foot away now.
"Fire!"
Gunshots rang out in the basement as every soldier fired into the Titans' eyes, steam rising as their regeneration began to kick in. The seven charged at once. Pyrrha sliced the nape of her target and landed in a crouch. I got mine. And the others? Jaune and Sun landed, having taken out their marks. Nora and Yatsuhashi missed their marks, the latter landing on his back.
Ren's blood froze. "Oh no..."
The Titan turned- the one that killed Mina -eyes locking on its attacker. "U-Umm," Nora stuttered as she backed up. "I'm s-sorry for suddenly sneaking up and—"
"C-Crap," Yatsuhashi stammered, also backing up.
"—I'm very sorry!"
"Nora and Yatsu need help!" Ren yelled.
"Hurry!" Sun barked. "Lend them backup!"
Nora felt Ren's hand tighten around hers. She squeezed back, hoping to calm him.
"I'm…" Nora shook as tears streamed down her face, watching the Titan scowling in front of her. It lunged for her and she dove away, abandoning her swords. "—very sorry!"
Nora looked over her shoulder just in time to see Pyrrha appear out of nowhere, followed by the flashing of her blades and blood splatter. At the same time, Weiss took out the Titan that had Yatsuhashi backed against a pillar.
Many viewers let out sighs of relief.
"It's okay, Renny. I'm right here," Nora assured her best friend and partner. His grip slackened a bit, but he still held on firmly.
"Pyrrha!" Nora cried, grabbing her waist. "You saved me!"
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Nora thanked her repeatedly, squeezing the air out of the spartan girl.
"Nora!" Pyrrha wheezed. "Can't... breathe!"
"Are you hurt anywhere?" Pyrrha asked.
"I'm safe, thanks to you!"
"Then get up."
"I owe you one," Yatsuhashi thanked Weiss.
"No problem," she replied.
Jaune came up behind her, Ren next to him. "Hey now, that was a close call, Weiss. I'm glad you weren't injured." Weiss walked away, ignoring him.
Weiss groaned loudly. "Please, don't tell me he has a crush on me in that world?"
Yang and Nora cackled at her expense, while the others chuckled. Jaune blushed in embarrassment, ducking beside Pyrrha to hide from Weiss' glare.
"Some things must be a multiversal constant," Blake said amidst her chuckles.
"We got them all!" Sun said. "Everyone stock up on supplies!"
"We did it!" Oscar grinned. Neptune almost fainted in relief next to him. The cadets got to work immediately, refilling their gas canisters.
"The boy's plan was impressive," Ironwood complimented.
Oscar smiled shyly while Cardin and Velvet teased him.
"We're safe now!"
"No more Titans are coming in!"
"All thanks to that berserk Titan out there!"
"I surrendered to a Titan..." Nora clutched her hair, tears in her eyes. "How can I look everyone in the eyes now?!"
"I'll spank you for that later!" Yatsuhashi scolded. "Let's just get out of here quick!"
"It's nothing to be ashamed of, Ms. Valkyrie," Ozpin assured her. "Not everyone started perfectly. Do you think every experienced Hunstman and Huntress in this room faced their first Grimm without fear?"
His colleagues nodded along with his statement.
Nora felt a little better after that.
"I don't think I'm cut out to be a commander." Sun kept his eyes down, filling up his canister, Neptune sitting next to him. "So don't say that anymore."
"C'mon dude," Sun groaned at his counterpart's stubbornness. "You stepped up when no one else would. You led most of your comrades to safety, so I'd say you did pretty well as a leader."
"There's something I'd like to tell you. Don't get mad, please." Neptune began, "You're not strong, Sun. That's why you can understand how the weak feel. And you're good at judging a situation correctly. You always clearly know what you're supposed to do. don't you?" Sun finally looked at him, a little surprised. "Your orders were right. That's why I could run. It's why I'm alive now." Sun was surprised by his best friend's analysis and heartfelt words.
"Awwww! The bromance is strong with these two." Coco snickered at the light dusting of red on Sun and Neptune's cheeks.
"Everyone ready?!"
"Let's get outta here!"
"We've gotta bail now!"
"Go up the walls!"
"Go! Go! Go!"
"We need to meet up with the main units!"
The cadets exited the building and began making their way toward the walls. Oscar exited the building and noticed Pyrrha standing on the rooftop of a building. "Pyrrha?"
Jaune and Ren stood next to Oscar. Oscar took off toward his frozen friend. "Pyrrha, we've gotta hurry!"
"That Titan…" She kept staring ahead, stunned.
Oscar followed her gaze and jerked in surprise. Five Titans of various sizes had the Rogue Titan pinned to a building and were tearing into it. "Cannibalism...?"
The viewers gawked at the scene. "They're eating it?" Roman gaped.
Even Salem failed to keep her shock off her face.
"That's... new..." was all Hazel could get out.
The Rogue Titan let out a cry. "It can't regenerate its body?" Oscar wondered.
"I thought uncovering the truth about that Titan might be the key to freeing ourselves from this desperate situation..." Pyrrha said.
"I agree." Jaune's voice pulled their attention. Weiss, Ren, and Sun stood next to him. "We'll learn nothing at all if it ends up getting eaten. For now, we have to get rid of the ones clinging to it and help keep it alive."
"Now he steps in?" Cinder quirked an eyebrow.
"Are you insane, Jaune?" Sun demanded. "We can finally escape this death trap!"
"But what if that Titan could become our ally? It'd be a more powerful weapon than any cannon, wouldn't you agree?" Weiss stated.
"Weiss agreeing with Jaune?" Ruby fake gasped, clutching her chest. "I never thought I'd see the day!"
Weiss strangled her partner while Blake and Yang quietly snickered.
"She makes a valid point though," Cardin said. "If they can study the Titan, possibly befriend it, it'd make for a powerful ally in their war against the Titans."
"Ally?" Sun echoed. "Do you hear what you're saying?"
Oscar noticed something in his peripheral vision. He gasped. "That one…" A surprisingly thin 15-meter was walking down the street. "That's the Abnormal that ate Thomas!"
Instantly the Rogue Titan roared, surging forward, slamming one foot in front of the other, ignoring those clinging to it.
"Woah! I thought it had run out of steam!" Yang said with wide eyes.
Salem's eyes narrowed in thought. Why the sudden behavioural change? What is it about that Titan that triggered it?
The Rogue Titan lost its right arm, then its left but it didn't seem to have noticed. The Abnormal noticed it too late and Rogue lunged forward, chomping down on its neck.
The viewers mimicked the expression of the teens on the TV, staring in amazement as the Rogue Titan threw its head back, lifting the body.
The bones jutted back into place, flesh began to stretch over them as it healed. Silver eyes shifted, and with a muffled growl, the Rogue Titan swung the Abnormal one down, killing a Titan. Then he threw the body into the oncoming fat 15-meter, sending it crashing back into a building.
"Hey…" Sun stared at the scene in shock.
"Holy shit." It was a testament to how shocked they were that no one batted an eye at the normally reserved Glynda swearing.
The Rogue Titan drop the now dead Abnormal and roared in triumph.
"What was that about helping it?" Sun asked them.
The Titan fell to the ground, all its energy now spent. Oscar and Pyrrha watched with wide eyes and slightly worried expressions. Steam began to rise out of the fallen body.
"Looks like it burnt itself out." Sun turned to leave. "Whatever. Let's get going!" He looked down. "As if that monster would ever be our ally. A Titan's a Titan."
Sun noticed no one was moving. Or speaking. He rejoined them, annoyed. "What's with you guys?"
On the ground, steam continued to pour from the corpse, hissing loudly. It was centered on the back of the Titan's neck. Flesh parted and a human shape came into view. Red muscles detached from her arms and face as the body pulled up, revealing it to be none other than Ruby.
Everyone's eyes were the size of dinner plates at the reveal.
"Wha..." Emerald failed to get the words out, still processing the image onscreen. Cinder was making a pretty accurate depiction of a fish with her mouth.
"B-B-But... How?!" Ironwood yelled in disbelief. Ozpin, Glynda, Qrow, and even Winter were visibly gaping.
Ruby's eyes threatened to pop out from their sockets with how wide they had gone. The reaper had already come to terms with her death and was trying to move on from it. Seeing her counterpart emerge from the Titan shattered her worldview and left her thoughts a jumbled mess.
Her teammates and friends were just as surprised. Yang looked ready to burst into tears.
Salem was dumbfounded. The memory of their previous discussion flashed to the forefront of her mind. "Maybe it ate Ruby and... turned her... into a Titan." Could it be true? But... there should be more intelligent Titans if that was the case. What made Ms. Rose special? Her mind flashed to Dr Jaeger injecting a serum into his daughter. Could that be the case? Is that serum the key?
Pyrrha's eyes grew wider. She gasped, taking in Ruby's peaceful, unconscious expression. Without another thought, she went down.
"Pyrrha!" Oscar called out.
As soon as her feet hit the ground, she took off running, gasping as she ran. Her eyes focused on Ruby's face, her expression, a mix of fear and hope.
You can literally see her hope and desperation, Emerald thought.
Pyrrha threw her arms around her. Ruby's body slumped against hers. Quickly, with a gasp, she placed her head on Ruby's chest, listening to her heartbeat.
They collectively held their breaths, awaiting confirmation that the reaper was indeed alive.
Pyrrha's eyes overflowed with tears, hearing the soft thudding. She began to cry, not caring who saw her or heard her.
Yang's throat tightened as she wrapped her arms around Ruby, sobbing uncontrollably into her shoulder. Ruby reciprocated the hug, uncaring about the slowly growing wet spot on her cape.
Many felt their eyes sting. Roman, Neo and Emerald blinked rapidly to clear their eyes. Others subtly cleared their throats, wiping their eyes. Qrow quietly sobbed while Winter tried to comfort him.
Oscar joined them, followed by others.
On Wall Rose, a group of Garrison soldiers watched the steam and smoke rising in the distance. On a large roof, the graduates gathered silently, watching the scene in shock as Pyrrha held Ruby, still crying.
Oscar stared at the sleeping teen's face. It's Ruby... His eyes fell to the Shifter's limbs, torn fabric marking the spot they were bitten off. She's even go her limbs back... Ruby was eaten by that Titan back then. The image of his best friend reaching out for him flashed through his mind.
"So... she's like a Titan?" Nora muttered unsurely.
"Apparently... I mean, if she can transform into one... it is a logical assumption that she has all the abilities associated with a Titan." Weiss stammered, still reeling from the reveal. "Take, for example..."
"Her regenerated limbs," Pyrrha said, finishing her train of thought.
Oscar cried, taking Ruby's hand and weaving his fingers through it. "What just happened here?"
Their comrades continued to watch. Sun turned, and the others followed. "Then Ruby... did all this?" Three 15-meter corpses looking like charred meat lay near the Rogue's blackened body. Steam rose from other bodies hidden by the buildings.
To be continued...
The room was silent for some time.
Roman's voice cut through the silence. "Well... that happened."
A/N: Should I have their after-episode discussions at the end of the chapter or the beginning of a new one?
I deeply apologize for the long wait and for not keeping to the two chapters a month as promised. Between searching for online jobs, storyboarding other fanfiction and managing my personal life, writing was put on the back burner.
Sadly, I will not be able to continue the two chapters a month update. Not consistently, at least. I recently started another RWBY reacts story and I'll be dividing my time between the two. I also have another BnHA story that's been on a temporary hiatus that I'm working on. Maybe if I'm less busy, I could pump out two chapters at the same time for this story. Thank you for understanding! : )
I hope I nailed their reactions to the reveal. I didn't want to make it too long and left the discussions for after the episode. The emotional reactions were deemed to be enough while viewing.
Welp, that's that about that! I'm happy for all the love and support this story is receiving. Feel free to comment and review the chapter (constructive criticisms please). Till next time!