Author's note: And now, bandits. Yay.
In Vale's industrial district, a couple bandits were killing a pack of Beowolves, firing lime green energy blasts from their hands. Despite their efforts, the Grimm advanced, when suddenly, spectral wolves made from icy mist ran onto the street and jumped at the Grimm, exploding into spiked ice chunks on impact and killing the Grimm. The bandits paused for a moment, and Ruby walked onto the street, pulling a travel suitcase through the snow. The bandits turned to look at her, not sure what to do.
"Hey guys," Ruby said and stopped a few meters away from the bandits, "I figured you might like these." She opened her suitcase, revealing the guns she had prepared.
"Who are you?" One of the bandits asked. They all wore ragged and mismatched clothes and had poorly maintained swords with guns in the hilts.
"I'm Ruby Rose, huntress from Vale," Ruby answered, "And I came to offer your leader a deal. All these weapons, if you agree to leave us alone." The bandits looked at each other, then back at Ruby and held out their hands. Ruby wanted to draw Crescent Rose and fight back, but Preflexes told her that they were in serious danger of being injured. Additionally, she couldn't sense the bandits' auras. While she was still trying to figure out what was going on, the bandits fired energy beams from their hands and knocked her back.
"Sorry kid, but we're taking the weapons," one of the bandits said, "Also, you look a bit too young to be a huntress." Ruby used Petal Burst to get behind the bandit as he was about to touch the suitcase, grabbed the back of his shirt and threw him back to the others. She created two clones of herself to keep an eye on the bandits, while she closed the suitcase again.
"Sorry, but I'm only letting you have these for a price," Ruby said after turning around to the bandits again, and her copies nodded in agreement.
"Well, alright then," one of the bandits said, and they all held out their hands towards the trio. The clones both used Petal Burst to close the distance and fight up close, while the main one used Glyphs from a distance to block the energy beams.
"What is this?" One of the bandits asked, shortly before being knocked out by one of the clones.
"It's like she's three people," another bandit said, and a clone tackled him against a wall.
"I got one!" One of the bandits said and kicked a clone in the gut, then grabbed her cloak and threw her over himself and onto the ground. The clone used Shadow Clone and burst into wind on impact, knocking several bandits back, allowing her and the other one to take them out. Watching the fight, the main Ruby had an idea. Just as some of the bandits hit one of her clones with their energy beams, they all collapsed as if they were exhausted, and the clones stopped to look at the main Ruby.
"Wait, what?" One of the clones asked.
"Probably Quick Fight," the other clone answered, "Smart move, me."
"Oh, that makes sense," the first clone said, and both disappeared, merging with the original again. While the bandits struggled to get up, experiencing the results of an all-out fight with Ruby, their leader walked out the door of a nearby building.
"Now The Count's gonna get ya," one of the bandits said, and the group all but dragged themselves away from the ensuing battle. The Count wore heavy black metal boots, gauntlets, chest plate and helmet, over plain black jeans and shirt. All his armor pieces had hand-wide layers of metal, which was matte gray at the bottom.
"So, you beat my boys?" The Count asked and shot Ruby a serious look with his lime green eyes. He pumped his fists and three steel spikes jumped out from his left gauntlet, two on top and one on the side, while only the two at the top extended on the right gauntlet.
"It's a simple spring mechanism, right?" Ruby asked and said, "Maybe press down the back end of the spike a bit." The Count huffed, but still felt oddly hopeful that the weapon he built from scraps could function properly again. As soon as he applied a bit of pressure to the spike, the lock released and the spike extended. While Ruby was happy that she could help fix the weapon, she didn't pay attention and was caught off-guard by her opponent's back-handed strike, sending her face-first into a steel pipe.
"Thanks for the help," The Count said, "Sadly, it won't win you any favors in these parts." He tried to punch her with his right fist, but she rolled out of the way and got back up. While she was thinking of a way to win, he hit her with a left-handed uppercut, catching her cloak on the spikes of his weapon and throwing her into the ground.
"I could use intimidation," Ruby thought, "But how do I intimidate someone that tough?" She tried to get back up, only to take a knee to the face, and staggered backwards. The Count attacked again, throwing a right hook. His claws got caught in her cloak again and pulled her down, and he jumped back and slammed her into a wall.
"What's wrong, kid?" The Count asked, "Bit off more than you can chew?" Ruby stumbled forward and tried to regain her composure. She already had a plan in the works, but it would take time. The Count collapsed his steel spikes again and began punching Ruby normally, throwing her back quite a bit with each hit.
"Just… a bit… longer," Ruby thought and created an air-goo clone to dodge the next hit and get some distance between herself and her opponent. The Count walked up to her and had a confident grin on his face, but stopped when Ruby looked up with an even more confident grin.
"What's that grin for?" The Count asked.
"Look around you," Ruby answered, "What do you see?" The Count looked around and realized they were on a crossing, with three roads being occupied by Beowolves, with a few Alpha Beowolves mixed in for good measure. His attitude changed immediately, and he focused on the Grimm, extending his weapons again.
"Why're they not attacking?" The Count asked under his breath, eyeing the Grimm and waiting for any sign of attack.
"There were two Gods. Brothers, in fact," Ruby said, speaking in a calm, yet confident, tone, "The older created all life, and created agents to act in His will. The younger created the Grimm. Mockeries of life that exist solely to destroy. The older God's agents wield the holy power of creation, the essence of His being, within their souls."
"What're you going on about?" The Count asked, "We gotta kill those things, and fast, or they're gonna kill my men."
"You there, come here," Ruby said coldly, looking an Alpha Beowolf in the eyes. The others near it stepped away from it, and it slowly trudged over to her, much to the bandit leader's horror.
"How're ya doin' that?" The Count asked.
"It senses my power," Ruby said and drew one of Emerald's weapons, "The force of creation." She held the gun to the Grimm's chin, smiled at it, and pulled the trigger, blowing its head off. The Count stared in shock as Ruby turned to smile at him, before she waved another Grimm over. It walked over to her and let her kill it.
"H- how?" The Count asked. Suddenly, one of the Grimm tried to run away. Ruby quickly took Crescent Rose and used Homing to make a bullet home in on the Grimm, then fired it. After the bullet decimated its target's lower torso, Ruby made it explode.
"Divine power," Ruby answered, "They know that I wield the power of their creator's elder brother, and treat me accordingly. It is my birthright to lead mankind and shatter the cage of darkness that holds mankind's hearts imprisoned."
"Wait, what?" The Count asked.
"They're scared of me," Ruby answered, "Every single one of them would rather die than be here. Watch closely." She walked up to one of the groups, and they backed away a little. Ruby dramatically took a deep breath through her nose, and as she exhaled, unleashed a blast of light from her eyes, disintegrating the Grimm in front of her. She couldn't get all of them, due to the distance, so she shot them with ice-dust bullets from Thief's Respite. Using Tentacles, she reloaded and killed the remaining Grimm, with the help of the bandit leader.
~o~
Nora, Ilia and Ivori were air-dropped from a Manta piloted by an Atlesian Knight 200, and immediately got to work after landing. Nora slammed the end of her hammer's handle on the ground, charging the surrounding area with electricity, and the trio looked at the monsters they were fighting. They looked like vines twisted up into a cylinder-like shape that got narrow at the top and bottom, with roots serving as arms and legs and a single red eye. It was just five monsters, but the team was still on their guard, since they had no idea what those things could do. Just as the first monster entered the Electric Terrain, another Manta dropped a group of Atlesian Knight 130s.
"Let's go," Ilia said, and she and Ivori charged the monster, using Power Whip. The attacks coated the monster in yellow energy and drew its attention first to Ilia, and then to Ivori. Then, the other monsters reached the area, and both whip-wielders began attacking the monsters with Power Whip while the Knights opened fire, with each hit sending an electric shock to the nearest monster. Quick response troops on rocket skis joined the fray, shooting the monsters with their assault rifles, repositioning after firing a short burst to confuse the enemies.
"Eat lightning," Nora said and shot a couple lightning-dust canisters from her weapon. Each hit jumped between the monsters, greatly increasing her damage output. Ilia whipped three of the monsters in one go, and a short assault rifle burst sent three lightnings to strike nearby monsters, while she got out of range with Petal Burst. Suddenly, one of the monsters grabbed a Knight with its arm, stretching it farther than expected, and pulled it into its body.
"Impossible," Ilia said under her breath as she watched the monster bloat up in some areas, suddenly developing bumps all over its body until it was twice its original size and burst, revealing steel armor on its body, and two massive Gatling guns attached to the armor on its right arm, as well as a large double-bladed axe on its left.
"What's happening out there?" James asked over communicator.
"We have to retreat, destroy the Knights," Ilia answered, and she, Nora and Ivori began running from the monsters while the Knights initiated self-destruction. After a few meters, the trio was picked up by the quick response troops, and carried back to Mantle, where they gave their report of what happened.
~o~
When she returned to the train station, Ruby found that it was empty, and decided to wait for the others to come back from wherever they went. After a few minutes of sitting and planning, she spotted Team CRDL fly in through a window in their bird forms. They passed behind a pillar, and transformed back into their human forms.
"Hey there," Ruby said.
"Oh, hi," Cardin said. A few minutes later, the others began returning.
"And, how did it go?" Glynda asked once every group was back from their trips through town.
"Pretty well, actually," Ruby answered, "I had to fight the bandits, but once they realized I was too strong, they gave up and agreed to talk about a deal."
"And what did you discuss?" Glynda asked.
"Well, they accepted the weapons, and I had to help them fix some stuff," Ruby answered, "And also, they asked if they could have some of the fire-dust the zoo used to keep the reptiles warm. Which, I mean, shouldn't be a problem, right? All we have to do is go there, after all."
"Except, it's not so easy," Glynda explained, "When Vale fell, the systems producing fruits and vegetables malfunctioned and triggered all the stored plant-dust at once, causing the entire zoo to turn into a large forest. We have no idea what it looks like inside of it, but the zoo animals likely broke free, and the climate is definitely habitable to some of them."
"So we have to deal with a few animals," Zwei said, "I guess I can handle those negotiations."
"Hold up," Glynda said, "We still need to repair the city's power grid. I can repair individual transformers with my semblance, but by now, they're so spread out that I can't keep up and the Grimm keep destroying them. If we want to rebuild this city, we need to restore the important systems first." Everyone in the room was more or less torn between following Ruby, whose plans were just proven to work despite how crazy they seemed, and listening to Glynda, who had the benefit of experience. Ruby thought about the issue for a moment, and quickly put together a solution that seemed effective enough.
"Alright, I have a plan," Ruby said, "Sky, Khione, dad, you come with me. I'll also need to know the ranges of Tower Defense and Frozen Savior."
"My turrets can hit targets up to fifty meters away," Sky said.
"My semblance also works over fifty meters away," Khione said, "But without training, it used to be closer to five meters."
"Good," Ruby said, "Bartholomew, Peter, Dove, you three take Zwei and go into the forest. Using Mellow should let Zwei talk to any animals in peace, and if you're attacked, you have two professors to help you out."
"And what do the rest of us do?" Yatsuhashi asked.
"Also, what exactly is your plan?" Coco asked.
"The rest of you kill Grimm," Ruby answered, "Anyone who can use dust, make sure to kill them close to the transformers, and with ice-dust. That way, I can recharge my aura and use one of my semblances, Repair, more effectively. In short, it allows me to repair stuff. By channeling it through the transformers, and focusing on them, I can fix any transformer in the city, no matter where I am."
"That does sound like a plan," Glynda said, "Alright, let's go."
"Hold up one second," Amanita said, "I've heard a thing or two about the silver eyes, but I'd like to see them in action, too. So, I'm coming with Ruby."
"Fine by me," Ruby said, "The rest goes and kills Grimm." The groups stocked up on dust, looked their weapons over one more time to make sure everything worked properly, and put in their earpiece communicators to stay in touch, then they went on their respective missions. As they all departed, Ruby paused for a brief moment, hoping she had made the right call, then she went with her little team.
~o~
Winter's arrival in Argus was met with some concern by the locals, considering the military's failures in the past, and its reliance on civilians to keep their numbers up in a time of crisis. The soldiers accompanying her were also looked at slightly critically, but at least the men and women on the base treated her with a lot of respect, even though her rank didn't exactly warrant it.
"Hello Winter," Cordovin said, "I heard what happened. Many on this base still hold you in high regards, due to your accomplishments, but I cannot, and will not, give you any authorization above your official rank."
"Hello special operative Cordovin," Winter said, "Of course. I was just passing through anyway. However, General Ironwood asked me to hand you this." She took a letter from her back pocket and handed it to Cordovin, then left the base to take a trolley to the train station.
"We're under attack!" One of the soldiers said, running up to Cordovin, and Winter decided to change her plans. She used a Glyph to propel herself into the air, and several more to quickly cross the city with long jumps, until she reached the wall and saw an unusually large group of Beowolves and Manticore head towards Argus. She jumped off the wall, jammed her sword into the ground and used Grassy Terrain, creating an area dominated by a natural green glow, and large patches of healthy-looking grass being created by the semblance.
"Cover me, I have a plan," Winter said and created several Glyphs, from which she shot wooden spikes at the flying Grimm, impaling them and either forcing them to land, or killing them outright. Several soldiers came down from the wall and took up position beside her, with some creating a Combat Drone, which had a faint green hue to them. Snakes made from stones and wolves made from sticks and branches charged the Grimm, coiling and biting to try and kill them.
"We need more support," one of the soldiers called out, and Winter stopped shooting wooden spikes, in favor of summoning Sphinxes. As the soldiers gunned down the Grimm, Spectral Healing created white orbs with each hit, while Winter's summons rammed the aerial Grimm, stunning them and causing them to crash. Whenever a stick wolf or stone snake died, it released three bolts of green lightning, summoning three more minions from the wood lying all over the field.
"I think that's the rest of them," Winter said, looking at the dissolving Grimm after a some minutes of fighting. Suddenly, something slammed into the ground some distance from the wall and roared.
"Over there," one of the soldiers said and pointed at an overhang overlooking Argus. Everyone looked at the new Grimm and saw a black, bipedal reptile with sharp claws, bone plate armor on its torso, large wings with red membranes, and two horns poking out the back of its elongated head. Its massive tail was also glowing in a faint reddish blue hue. The Grimm flapped its wings and sent a powerful gust of wind over the group, knocking them down, as if their very souls were being weighed down. Winter looked around and saw that even the minions were incapacitated, but she gathered the strength to get back up.
"What is that thing?" Another soldier asked, struggling to get back up. The Grimm jumped off the overhang and landed a few meters away from Winter, who ejected her dagger from her sword and held it in reverse before engaging the Grimm she decided to call Glowtail, for its glowing tail. She landed a series of hits, which didn't even dent the Grimm, and it caught her sword in its right claw. She looked the Glowtail in the eyes and tried to pry her sword out of its grasp, or cut off its claw with her dagger, but neither worked, and the Glowtail headbutted her in the face. She stumbled backwards and lost hold of her sword, and when she looked at the Grimm again, its mouth was open, with a fireball in it. Before she could react, the Grimm spat the fireball at her, sending her flying with a powerful explosion unlike any she had expected, and the grass caught fire.
"Winter!" One of the soldiers called out and ran over to her, while the others opened fire at the Grimm, and the Knights began charging, with the timers for their self-destruction starting. The Knights latched on to the Grimm and exploded, dealing serious damage and leaving it smoking.
"I- I'm fine," Winter said through gritted teeth, struggling to get back up, "I am Winter Schnee, and if this thing wants to give me hell, I will even fight the devil himself." The Glowtail tried to focus on one enemy, but the soldiers hid behind rocks, fired, and relocated, confusing it too much to fight back. With the soldier's help, Winter made it into the Grassy Terrain field, and her aura regeneration increased noticeably. Her determination activated Retaliation, and she was coated in a spore-like aura, which periodically emitted clouds of spores.
"What… is that?" The soldier asked. Winter scanned the battlefield and saw an opening. Maintaining Retaliation, she dashed through the gunfire and retrieved her sword, then returned to the soldier, leaving several spore clouds in her wake. Any clouds close to the Glowtail homed in on it, exploding on impact and dealing damage. Winter sheathed her weapons and ended Retaliation, and her eyes turned orange.
"I'll need some space," Winter said, and the soldier took a few steps away. Winter focused, and an orange swirling mass appeared on the floor in front of her, building a tank in much the same fashion how her Glyphs built summons. However, in addition to the normal tank, she also had two smaller ones, with one driver and one gunner each, which were only outfitted with machine guns, and didn't have rotating turrets. Deciding to just accept the semblance's evolution, Winter took up her spot as the main tank's commander and gave the signal to go. She had both of her own machine guns focus on the Grimm, while the smaller tanks surrounded the enemy and periodically stopped to take pot shots at it.
"Watch out!" A soldier called out as the Glowtail shot another fireball, but Winter was safe inside her tank and maintained course. However, the Grimm jumped away and took to the sky, moving to another part of the battlefield and continuing to shoot fireballs. Winter quickly gave the smaller tanks their orders, then set her sights on the Glowtail, drawing its attention with her relentless pursuit. As the machine gun bullets pounded the unusually resilient beast, the tank charged, and the soldiers kept their fire focused, the Glowtail jumped again. However, instead of landing to continue attacking, it was hit in the back by a Combat Drone and had its wings frozen by its ice-dust blast, crashing on the ground. Before it could get back up, one of the smaller tanks jumped over the overhang and crashed into it, knocking it down. It pushed the vehicle off itself, but was rammed against a rock by the main tank, and stared right down the main gun.
"Fire," Winter said coldly, and the shell exploded in the Glowtail's face, pulverizing the boulder and killing the Grimm. Winter made the tanks disappear again and met with the soldiers.
"That was incredible," one of the soldiers said.
"Thanks," Winter said, "But anyway, I'll have to leave now." She looked over to Argus, and saw that the train was just leaving the station.
"Captain, look," a soldier said, holding up a small, translucent, purple coin, "There are dozens of those all over the battlefield."
"Alright everyone, gather them up and send them to Atlas for research," Winter ordered, and the soldiers immediately went to work. She noticed a few coins on the ground among the pebbles, and decided to take a handful herself, to know immediately if anything happened. She then went around, picking up Spectral Healing orbs while collecting more of the coins, and once the team was certain they got all the coins, Winter summoned her tank again and rode off to her next stop.
Author's note: Ruby takes down the bandits. The initial plan was to go unarmed and without semblances, especially against the leader, to make it extra clear that she's stronger, but things turned out well enough.
The new monsters are based on the Sorewatase from Fresh! Precure. They're really nasty, because they can not only merge with stuff, but also operate on their own.
Anyway, Ruby has a plan. Yay.
Also, the Glowtail is named after the Glühschwanz, a creature from German folklore that is described as a winged reptile whose tail glows as though it was on fire. If a farmer refused to pay their farmhands properly, or if a farmhand stole from their employer, it would punish them. First by circling above their house at night, letting everyone know they were jerks, and then by pooping down their chimney, ruining whatever meat they had hanging over the fire to dry. Also, the smell would linger for weeks.
But if you were a good person, they'd drop money down your chimney instead.
And though they looked like dragons in most depictions, they weren't classified as such.
In this case, the Glowtail also refuses to fight weaker opponents, incapacitating them with a powerful gust of wind.
Winter's second semblance evolved a bit, yay. Now she has two tankettes under her command, too.
But as it stands, this story will have to go on hiatus until further notice. I already have some chapters prepared, but I'd like to focus on other projects for the time being, and will resume uploading once I can get back into writing this story with the same fervor as before.