The group of four boys stepped out of the woods into a large clearing. Cyrus craned his neck, straining to see what awaited them at the center. He saw a large, round stone structure, with carved pillars and a group of matching stone pedestals. There was an ominous silence as the area seemed clear of Grimm activity. After scanning the ridgeline, Cyrus took a deep breath and shrugged.
"Seems clear. We should go grab a relic and get the hell out of here."
Damien nodded.
"Agreed, but we should keep an eye out. Make sure nothing catches us off guard."
"Right. Let's form up and move out."
The rest of the team nodded and pressed forward slowly. The hairs on the back of their necks stood on end as what must have been a few hundred feet felt like miles. However, they soon stood in front of the abandoned temple, staring in at the altars. There were only two chess pieces left, and seemingly no one around to take them. Or guard them, for that matter.
"So I suppose each group of two takes one?" Sebastian asks, pointing to the pieces.
"That's how it goes." Cyrus replied.
As the group approached the altar, they moved slowly, keeping an eye out to avoid potential booby traps. After a few minutes, they finally reached the altar and stood in front of the relics. Axel cautiously inspected the relics and the pedestals they sat on. There was no way this was going to be this easy, right? There had to be a switch, or a lever, or something waiting for them after they picked these things up. However, he saw nothing mechanically suspicious at all. It seemed to just be a big pedestal with a supersized chess piece on it. He shrugged and picked one up, and stepped back slowly. Damien followed suit, taking the other piece and carefully stepping down from the altar.
Suddenly, there was a sound of rocks cracking and rolling as tremors shook the altar. The boys looked at the ground beneath their feet, confused.
"Uh, what's that shaking?" Cyrus asked, glaring at his partner.
"Don't ask me! I just picked up the piece!" Damien shot back, turning to Axel. "I thought you checked it for traps!"
"I did!" Axel cried, throwing his hands up.
Amongst the ruins, a huge stone statue of a knight holding a sword and shield began to move and crack away from the pillar it was encased in.
"Is that thing supposed to move?" Cyrus asked, pointing a shaky finger.
"It can't be a Grimm, can it?" Sebastian asked, questioning Cyrus's concern. "A Grimm like that doesn't exist here. Or anywhere, for that matter!"
There was an earth-shaking boom as the statue fully broke free, sending rubble flying everywhere. The team jumped backwards and prepared to fight. The stone statue fully emerged in front of them, revealing itself to have two halves, a front and back, each with its own set of arms. In front, it wielded the sword and shield, and the two arms in the back wielded a large crescent axe. The statue then turned slowly and robotically towards the team, swiveling its body around to have the axe arms out in front as it approached.
"It can rotate too?!" Axel's mouth dropped, baffled at the sight.
"Yep. It can rotate. IT. CAN. ROTATE!" Damien repeated, hyperventilating.
"Well, whatever it can do, it doesn't want us to leave with these relics," Sebastian noted. "Which means we'll have to bring this thing down."
"Sebastian's right," Cyrus agreed. "We gotta break this statue apart to be able to pass. So everyone get ready and be careful. We don't know what this thing is capable of yet!"
Each group member got into their respective combat stance and prepared for the peculiar Grimm's attack. The large stone attacker swung sideways with its axe, only to be met with one of Cyrus's barriers.
"I don't think so, you bag of bricks!"
"Axel!" Sebastian called out. "You and I should take the reverse side. I don't know if it can respond on the other end given it doesn't have a face there!"
"Sounds good to me!"
Sebastian and Axel broke off on each side to get behind the Grimm. Noticing this, and immediately rotated, swinging its axe. On the other side, the face stared down Cyrus and Damien and used the sword to reach over the barrier, stabbing the sword downwards. Cyrus thought fast, creating a new barrier to block the oncoming attack. However, the Grimm found a blind spot through the barrier by Cyrus's feet, so it swung the shield horizontally and knocked Cyrus off balance, causing the shields to disappear. Meanwhile, Sebastian used his steel ball to block the axe swings as best he could, while Axel shot at the body.
"Damn this thing is tough!" Axel shouted out. "It's way more durable than any stone I know of," he said, sliding to dodge the axe.
"And to think it can fight us without even looking at us." Sebastian's face grew weary from using his semblance, and the Grimm took this chance to swing the axe downwards at the ground in front of Sebastian, blowing up chunks of stone and knocking him backwards.
"Hey, Sebastian! You okay over there?" Axel yelled out to his partner.
"I'm fine. Just give me a moment to get up." Sebastian got back up and shook the stars out of his eyes.
Meanwhile, Damien used his lighter to generate flames, which he manipulated into a large projectile and hurled it at the creature, which it merely blocked effortlessly with its shield.
"The hell? Fire doesn't work on it?" Confused, Damien lit another one and tossed it, but the flame ball was blocked once again. "Fine then. In that case, we need some offense instead of defense!" Damien shouted as he switched Burning Justice into dual pistols and ran around the sword swings, lighting up the Grimm with a hail of bullets.
"Alright then Damien," Cyrus cheered. "If that's what we need, then I'll follow your lead!" He used Sweet Liberation to blast at the legs, then swung the spiked flail at the Grimm's face.
But, once again, the shield spun around and deflected the attack.
Following Axel, Sebastian used his semblance to stop a downward slash from the axe and jumped on top of it, using Siberia to hit the arms and hands with blunt force. The Grimm spun in two full revolutions, flinging Sebastian off. Sebastian yelled as he flew through the air, crashing into the ground hard. Meanwhile, the sword and shield rotated to face Axel, while the axe fought off Damien and Cyrus. Axel jumped, trying to dodge a swing from the sword, but was promptly smacked by the shield, absorbing some of the hit with his staff. The axe sliced the ground by Damien, launching bits of soil and rocks at him, driving him back with each attempt to advance. Cyrus struggled on his own, placing two barriers in front of him to form a larger shield. Then the Grimm swiveled again, both using its shield and the flat end of the sword as attacks during the spin to hit the barriers twice, causing them to shatter, knocking Cyrus over. He quickly rolled to his feet and dodged another swing before calling out to his team and holding up a fist. Seeing this, the team split apart from both sides, reconvening on the opposite side to communicate a strategy.
"Standing our ground like this isn't getting us anywhere," Cyrus shouted.
"What to do you suggest we do then, Cyrus?" Axel shouted back in reply.
"I think we all need to keep mobile. It uses its rotating functions to keep us immobilized from both sides and to keep us seperated. If we get moving and can run and jump around it, it would keep needing to reposition itself for us and not the other way around!"
"I understand what you're thinking here Cyrus!" Sebastian yelled back, blocking an attack from the sword. "I can try and use my semblance to lift you guys up into the air for extra coverage, if need be."
"I can also use my barriers to get us up and around it. It doesn't seem to have many anti-air combat options."
Damien took a moment to switch his weapon back to a sword. "So basically, we just have to move faster than that thing, right?" Cyrus nodded in reply, and Damien smiled. "Good." He said, spinning the sword around in his hand. "Let's turn this thing into rubble."
Cyrus began by creating two barriers for Damien to hop onto while taking a few swings at the Grimm's left shoulder. Sebastian jumped up and propelled himself over the Grimm using his semblance on himself, and used Siberia as a blunt object against the head of the Grimm. Axel ran around it, bashing the legs with his staff and quickly switching back and forth between sniper and staff modes, getting in shots on the legs as well. Cyrus ran around in the opposite direction, taking a few shots with his shotgun as he went. Then, using his barriers as platforms, he jumped back and forth, swinging his flail. This proved to be too fast for the Grimm, and he managed to land blow after blow to the statue's chest. The team continued this tactic on the Grimm for a few minutes, to much success. The team also played on one another's powers as they went, using combination techniques such as electrified barriers and applying flames to Sebastian's steel ball. This onslaught began to wear the creature down, slowly but surely.
However, the fight was far from over. The Grimm bent its legs and leapt backwards, its arms raised high, and it landed with a huge crash, creating shockwaves and sending dirt and dust flying across the battlefield, and creating some separation between the team and the monster.
"Tch. That damn thing hasn't fallen over yet?" Damien yelled, exasperated, stomping his foot on the ground in rage.
"I know, right? It feels like we haven't done any real damage at all." Sebastian yells back.
"There has to be a weak spot somewhere. Anywhere." Axel threw his hands out, looking for answers.
"Hold on," Cyrus said as his eyes lit up. "Underneath its arms."
"Come again?" Axel asked, staring at Cyrus for an explanation.
"It usually keeps its arms in close. But when it swings and jumps, the armpits get exposed. I noticed that it's armor doesn't appear to be as thick as the rest of the body."
"So we go for that then," Sebastian agreed, tossing Siberia back and forth in his hands a few times. "Let's send this thing back to the art museum it came from."
The Grimm buckled down and began to rapidly spin forward towards the group, the arms low to the ground.
"Shit! Everyone out of the way!" Sebastian used his semblance to shove everyone safely out of range of the attack. The statue sped past them for a moment, but readjusted and resumed its approach. Sebastian moved quickly and yanked the team out of the way again, but this time it was a lot closer. After the second attack, the Grimm slowed down and stopped spinning.
"Damn. I can't keep using my semblance like this." Sebastian panted.
"Why's that?" Cyrus asked.
"It drains me of stamina if I use it too much like this. That's why my weapon is the little steel ball I carry. It doesn't take much to use."
"So how exactly do we get it to reveal its weak spot?" Damien asked.
"Well, I can create a barrier right as it goes to swing so the swing is stopped high. Sebastian can use his weapon to get a clean shot and we go from there."
"I like the sound of that." Sebastian smiled, pumped to be getting the chance to finally do some real damage. "I've been tossed around by it for too long."
They turned back just as the statue refocused, going for a wide low swing with the axe. Cyrus split out in front of the rest of the team and put up a barrier, blocking the blow.
"We need a better attack to block!" Damien shouts as blasts away at the Grimm.
"Let's keep hitting him, and see if we can find an opening!" Sebastian said as he slid under the large Grimm's legs.
The team picked up their last tactic, continuing to put more pressure on the stone giant. It continued to fight back, putting little hits on each team member here and there, but never dealing a critical blow. Seeing no other option, the creature went for a desperate move, letting one arm loose from the axe, wildly failing it about. Cyrus spotted a moment in one of the revolutions where the axe was high and took the chance to create a barrier to block it.
"Sebastian, hit it now!" Cyrus yelled out to Sebastian, who nodded in reply.
As he moved for the stuck arm, Axel gave Sebastian's weapon an electric boost. However, the Grimm anticipated Sebastian's move and spun around, swinging the sword. Sebastian leaped over the attack and used his semblance to carry him as far as he could to look for an opening. Once he saw it, he launched Siberia right at the center of the weak spot, and there was a loud cracking noise.
"I landed a solid hit, but it wasn't enough to break it entirely," Sebastian said as he landed back by his teammates.
"I've got this," Axel said as he charged up his staff with electricity. The staff began to glow, more brightly with every volt of electricity that he gathered.
"AAAARGH!" he yelled as he put every last ounce of energy he had directly into the staff, and the glow flashed blindingly bright. The team shielded their eyes from the flash as Axel launched off a volley of lighting at the weak spot, a loud shattering noise piercing the air, followed by a crash. When the light died down, a stone arm and axe could be seen on the ground, detached.
"We got it!" Damien cheered.
"It's not over yet," Sebastian warned. "It still has its other set of arms to use. But it should be more vulnerable in that spot." The rest of the team nodded and resumed their assault.
The Grimm swung with its sword to protect itself from Damien and Cyrus's weapon attacks, but could only use its one remaining arm on the other side to defend from Axel and Sebastian's attacks. In an act of final desperation, it spun around and tossed its sword and shield at each duo respectively. However, each pair avoided the attacks with relative ease.
"Cyrus!" Sebastian shouted over to his teammate. "I need you to create some barriers for me to hop on to get to its exposed area. I need all my strength for this move. Damien and Axel, I need you two to create pressure at the face with your semblances. Distract it, and don't let it see me."
"We're on it!" The other team members shouted back, assuming their respective roles.
Sebastian, mustering every ounce of energy left in him, lifted the stone axe using his semblance and jumped on the barriers while Damien and Axel supported him.
"Take this you overgrown boulder!" Sebastian yelled out as he motioned his hands downwards. The axe fell straight into the gap from the Grimm's missing arm, slicing it down the middle, and burying itself in the body. The Grimm collapsed and shattered into rubble as Sebastian landed on the ground.
The team gathered up in front of the shattered remains of the grimm, and collectively flopped on the ground, exhausted. They took a moment to catch their breath, until Axel rose from the ground, leaning on his staff.
"Guys?"
"Yeah?" the group responded.
"That SUCKED."
"YUP."
"Also, I'm pretty sure we should have enough credits to graduate now."
The rest of the group just laughed and caught their breath. Soon, they all got to their feet.
"Alright guys," Cyrus addressed the group. "We gotta get back up to the top of the cliff."
The group groaned collectively as they made their way back to the cliff, where Ozpin and Glynda were waiting to take them back to the Dorms.