It was a beautiful sunny day in the village of Katar, Vale. All of Team RWBY are currently battling with an unusually aggressive Beringel. A red flame was emitting from its mouth and eyes. Its body fumed profusely with black smoke as it pounded on its scarred chest, to the point of it being completely visible in the air. A bone crest had formed in the middle of its body, resembling the face of a Geist.
Yang fires several shots in its direction. However they only seemed to succeed in aggravating the beast more as it rapidly charged at Weiss in an inhuman speed, smashing her into the ground. They both stood back up bruised, bloodied and exhausted. The Grimm swings its fists viciously at them as it leaped into air attempting to hit Blake, both its hands cupped. She managed to jump away in the nick of time as the creature created a sizable crater in the ground.
"You've got to be kidding me! There's no way a single Beringel can be this strong." Blake spoke, taking deep breaths from exhaustion.
"This isn't an ordinary Grimm. I've heard of this one before. You know how Geists possess objects? The Spectre possesses Grimm, and supercharges them. We have to hit it with everything we've got. Quickly" Ruby said
"Looks like someone did their homework." Weiss replied as Ruby gave her a smirk.
Weiss activates a Glyph, launching Blake into the air as she unleashes a flurry of slashes and stabs upon it. Yang uppercuts it in the jaw, making it stumble back. When it is distracted, Ruby slices the Grimm in half from a right horizontal angle. The Spectre floats up from the already disintegrating corpse.
It bore little difference from its Geist brethren besides being primarily white in color with black streaks resembling veins in many areas of its body. Its eye widens as it sees the Huntresses. It recoils back, trying to teleport away, only to be shot square in the head by Blake.
"Nice shot" Weiss spoke
"Thanks, all in a day's work."
The girls stick around after their mission, eating lunch at the park. Mayor Robinson, a short, frail elderly man dressed in a red suit, leather shoes and black pants approached them. He had two large sacs full of Lien in each hand.
"Our heroes, thank you so very much for defeating that ghastly spawn of hell. Please, take this bountiful reward. You've earned it." He spoke, handing
Yang and Ruby a giant bag of Lien.
Oh Mayor you don't have to" Weiss spoke before being interrupted by Blake.
"Thank you sir, we greatly appreciate it." She quickly replied, already thinking of the many things she can spend a chunk of this money on. Weiss shakes her head before resigning herself.
An Atlesian Airship appeared in view, descending down near where the others were sitting. Winter Schnee and Raven exit from the hatch, Scroll in hand. Yang knew something serious was going on if Raven herself had showed up.
"Hello little sister, Team RWBY" Winter nodded
"Mom" Yang spoke
"Hello daughter" Raven awkwardly replied
"What's up?" Weiss asked, reading Winter's somewhat freighted expression
"We'll discuss all of it on the airship. Come on, we don't have much time."
"Argus has been destroyed, but how?" Yang asked, utterly shocked.
"Initially we thought it was a Grimm attack. But a closer look at the damage has revealed it to be caused by a person. Someone with a Semblance unlike anything ever seen." Winter responded, slipping her Scroll in her pocket. Expressions of fear formed on Team RWBY's faces.
"How can one person destroy an entire city without Maiden Powers or Magic? That's insane" Blake asked
"Have you seen all the crazy Semblances we've been up against? It's not entirely out of the question." Ruby spoke
"Right now it's all being covered up by the authorities so people don't think there's another Salem level threat out there." Raven replied, sharpening her weapon.
"Are you kidding? There's no way they can just cover all this up." Yang said
"If it gets out that a person did this the panic is gonna bring Grimm in like Vultures on a carcass. We have to find this person and stop them before more people get killed." Winter said
"In a few minutes we're gonna touch down in Artemis. Their leader says he can help us track him down. Hopefully he won't just get in our way." Raven said
"Well if we're fighting a person who can destroy freaking Kingdoms with blasts of energy we can use all the help we can get." Yang replied
Winter and the others land at the doorstep of the Village. They are welcomed by their leader. An older man with graying brown hair, green snakelike eyes and prominent fangs. He is dressed in a brown cloak, coyote brown colored combat boots and black pants. He was accompanied by another tall, imposing man behind him.
"Welcome my friends, I am Delphi, Mayor of Artemis. You have my absolute support in finding the man who destroyed Argus." He said
Winter finds his usage of the word "man" to be bizarre, as how could he have known a piece of evidence like that. She dismisses the thought for the time being, having believed that he's researched deeper into this case.
Raven and the others look over to the nearly 7 foot tall man walking up to his left.
He is very muscular with blue eyes, his irises also snakelike and long flowing black hair. His Faunus trait is a large Python's tail, likely 7 feet long or more. It was tan in color with dark spots along the back and sides
His attire consists of white pants with a blue sash draped around his waist and secured by a yellow belt with a blue gem-center as well as boots with blue gems at the top of the front. He lacks a shirt.
"My only son, he too is experienced in combat and he will accompany you on your hunt for this evil."
"I'm Apollo." The huge man spoke shyly and awkwardly. His voice gruff and attractive sounding
"You're a Huntsman too?!" Ruby gushed
"Yes, ma'am" Apollo replied, his tone soft and polite. He gives Raven a brief glance before looking away.
"Oh my Gods, he's hot!" Yang exclaimed
He smiles at this response, looking towards the ground briefly.
"I could've sworn I heard that name before. Apollo?" Raven thought
"I've already had my head chiefs prepare dinner for you all. Please follow me" Delphi requested
"Oh my what a gentleman" Blake said
After the feast, he shows Team RWBY to their rooms. A large and simple, but upscale bedroom with pure white wallpaper, two bunk beds, walk-in closet, a dresser, and television along with other amenities.
"This is nice" Weiss spoke
"Thank you, I always take the time to ensure my guests are comfortable and happy in my village. Especially the famed Team RWBY. Enjoy and let me know if you need anything." Delphi said as he walked off into the hallway.
As the girls unpacked their bags, they converse about who this mysterious warrior may be.
"Tomorrow's mission is going to be so fun, I got partnered up with Apollo." Ruby said
"You think he's the guy who destroyed Argus?" Yang asked
"No way, a guy as adorable and shy as him couldn't possibly be it. Not to toot my own horn but I'm usually good at reading people and I don't think he's a bad guy." Ruby said
"I hope you're right, he seems nice but from everything we've gone through it's just hard to trust new people." Yang replied
"Ruby's right, Apollo doesn't really give me those "evil villain" vibes." Weiss said
"The Curious Cat didn't either, I remember having a feeling he was hiding something under that nice act" Yang said as Ruby gave a small chuckle
"We can't just pin things on him without solid evidence. We have to find more leads before we can jump to conclusions." Blake said
In the morning after their briefing, Ruby and Apollo board their Bullhead to travel to the outskirts of Perseus, a town located 30 miles from Argus, rumored to be the mystery warrior's latest location.
"So, do you use a weapon?" Ruby asked him, breaking the silence. She figured he was the strong silent type.
"Na, I think weapons are for cowards. Not you guys of course but to me, a true warrior fights his or her enemy with their bare hands. Nothing beats the feeling of fists clashin with one another. But most people have just forgotten what that's like thanks to our technological advancements. You catch my drift?" He responded
"I guess I can get that, I was never really good at hand to hand during my early years as a Huntress. Maybe you and I can spar together sometime. Go easy on me though." Ruby said, looking at his perfectly muscled arms
"Oh um, sure" Apollo said, blushing while flicking his tail. He stands up from his seat, stretching out his back.
"The boy you were talking to on your Scroll earlier. He your man?"
"Oscar? Yes, we've been together for 2 years now. He's the best, one of the bravest people I know." Ruby said
"The world needs more of those these days. Especially if we're looking to pick a fight with a guy like this. When did you say he and that Jaune were showing up?" Apollo said
"Tomorrow, if they are not taking their time. Jaune and Weiss kinda had a little fight about something. Not even the scariest foes in Remnant come close to an angry girlfriend. Especially if she's Weiss Schnee." Ruby said as she and Apollo shared a laugh.
"Alrighty, we should be touching down in the woods of Perseus in a few short seconds!" The female pilot exclaimed as the Bullhead descended down.
The two walk down the ramp, welcomed by thousands of mountains and trees with yellow leaves. It all went on as far as the eye could see. No signs of civilization anywhere.
Apollo looks around, taking a breath of fresh air as he observers his surroundings, his hands on his hips. His tail had moved to the left and right several times before resting itself on the grass.
"Keep a lookout Red, this bastard could be anywhere out here. Not even mentioning the Ursa that are abundant in this area."
"Are you sure your dad's got the right place?" Ruby asked
"Yeah according to what his scouts last reported. He's running scared, so I guess that's good news." Apollo said, his tail rising back up.
"I have another question if you don't mind me asking." Ruby said
"Not at all," He replied.
"Is it uncomfortable for you to sit down with your tail in the way? Or to use the bathroom? Oh Gods, why did I ask that?!" Ruby cringed, her hands covering her face.
Apollo chuckles
"Ah don't worry about it, you're not the first. But yeah normal toilets, completely out of the question for number 2. Sitting is fine as long as the chair has no back or it's made for me. Pretty much a stool" Apollo said, smiling contently.
"Oh that's good" She smiled back "I guess we should get back to the task at hand. We can always chit chat some more when we get back to Artemis." Ruby said, looking away so as to not make him think she had that kind of interest in him.
"My stomach keeps fluttering with the more time we spend. How is she so easy to talk to? About dumb shit like this especially?" Apollo thought
Suddenly, the shrieks of a Sphinx can be heard as it soars from the sky towards them. It was accompanied by several Gargoyles. Ariel Grimm with humanoid, reptilian bodies, three-toed clawed feet and large, dragon-like wings with a wingspan of roughly 11 feet. Their mouths resembled that of an Alligator, three blood red eyes on each side of their heads. Their chests and portions of their body sported white bone armor.
"Looks like we have some uninvited guests." Apollo spoke
"Time to kick 'em out, permanently!" Ruby said, converting Crescent Rose into its sniper function as Apollo sprints closer to the Sphinx.
"Whoa, that's your weapon? The thing's bigger than you." He said, throwing a rather sizable chunk of rock in the air, killing 3 Gargoyles in a single blow as more landed on the ground near him.
"All in the wrists" She replied
One of them spews a ball of viscous acid at Apollo while 2 attempt to fly towards him, their mouths open wide with rows of sharp teeth. He leaps a good 13 feet into the air at least, dodging the acid splashing on the ground as he descended down. His fist plummeted into the Earth, creating a massive crater that sent the Gargoyles on the ground flying before they disintegrated.
The remaining two quickly descended down. One grabbing his left arm while the other charges up an acid ball. Apollo grasps the neck of the one holding him with his right, squashing it like a grape before vertically ripping it off, the creature's spine dangling in the wind.
He then jolts for the other as it fires. Fortunately it misses again, giving Apollo an opening. He jumps into the air once more, tackling the beast to the ground. His tail coiled around it, squeezing slowly. It roared in pain as it struggled, completely unable to break free as he rose back up. He smirked as the crunching noises got louder.
The final two bones in its body broke as it expired. He then turns his attention to the Sphinx currently fighting Ruby.
It spat several fireballs at her as she dashed about with Petal Burst. Apollo jumps into the air, kicking the beast in the head with both legs just as Ruby slashes in the air horizontally with Crescent Rose. She looks over in his direction, awestruck.
"Whoa, I didn't even see him coming. That couldn't have been his Semblance right?" Ruby thought to herself.
The Sphinx roars at him before charging. He dodges each swipe of its claws with seemingly little effort on his part. To Ruby it seemed like he saw this same Grimm that required team effort to take down as more of an inconvenience rather than a legitimate threat.
It swung its tail at the Huntsman, the Snake head hissing as it attempted to bite him. He only gave another smile as he grabbed it with both hands. It gave a look of fear as Apollo pulled with all his might, ripping half of its tail clean off. The Sphinx roars in pain as it recoils back, the tail dissipating in his hand.
Wasting no time, Apollo swiftly punches the beast in its underbelly, the punch actually releasing a small shockwave that almost knocks Ruby back as the Sphinx flew at least 10 feet in the air before landing. Critically wounded, Apollo dashes toward the dying Grimm, his right foot raised after he gets close enough. It roared in his face one final time before he stomped, reducing its head to a puddle of black blood and gunk.
"I'd appreciate a little heads up next time you throw another one of those punches." Ruby said, running over to him
"Oh um, sorry about that, sometimes my Semblance makes my hits a little too strong." Apollo replied, his right hand on the back of his head.
"Oh now I remember what else I was going to ask. You never told me what it was." Ruby said
"Oh yeah I forgot, my Semblance is called Wrath. It enhances my physical strength and speed. But the downside is it's always active so I can't exactly shut it off. So I have to hold back a lot more. Whether it's Grimm or human enemies." Apollo said
"That was holding back? You were incredible out there!" Ruby replied, her hips swaying back and forth as she slung her weapon on her back. Apollo blushes at this as she blushes as well.
"Damn it Ruby, turn off the awkwardness. I know he looks like a picturesque prince but shut up brain!" She said subconsciously
"You think we should search these woods a little more for him?" Ruby asked
"If he was here he would've showed up by now. We should get back to the village and plan our next move with the others. Then we can have ourselves a spar so I can see what you're really made of" Apollo said, flicking his tail.
"You're on!" Ruby exclaimed