Author's note: And now, big trouble. Yay.
Ruby led the group towards the SDC facility. On her suggestion, Weiss and Sirena had fused to let Aurora imprint her soul on every soldier's soul, and the soldiers had each set up a drone in strategically important locations. Ruby had also shared Power Lock with Jaune, allowing Arkos to use all his semblances. Additionally, Ruby had temporarily fused with her shark's soul, and Ryn had shared Venomhand with her.
"All ready on my end, too," Cardin said after sending a bird to let Taiyang and the others know to be ready, in case the group needed to make a hasty retreat. The clone Ruby had sent ahead to test how strong the Grimm was got defeated, and Arkos quickly recharged her aura while she used Puppeteer to make her scroll display the Grimm.
"That is what we're fighting?" Glynda asked, recoiling a little at the snail-like appearance. The Grimm was about two meters tall at its highest, almost twice as long, and had a shell made out of rectangular bone plates aligned in a spiral around its tapered rear end. Its head appeared to be covered in leaf-like growths, and two burning red eyes rested atop small stalks protruding from its head.
"Carcolh," one of the bandits said under his breath, "The snail that brings ruin."
"The what now?" Arkos asked. The bandit pointed at the pillars holding up the bridge, where the group saw withered vegetation.
"And old legend in some parts of Vale," Qrow answered, "Back in the kingdom's early days, when it was still just a collection of farms and settlements, there were large snails that would eat everything and ruin entire settlements. Eventually people realized they were just normal snails, and fought back, but the myth remains."
"Dad used that excuse countless times to hide that he didn't take care of his vegetable garden properly," Yang said with a slight chuckle, and Ruby smiled, remembering how often it had happened.
"In any case, let's go," Ruby said and used Tranquility to hide the bandits, allowing them to safely approach the Grimm. They all got ready, their hands coated in the same lime green energy.
"Good luck," one of the soldiers said, and the entire squadron turned around to leave again, following the way they had come. The rest of the group prepared to head into the facility.
"And you really can't generate an aura?" Weiss asked one of the bandits.
"No," the woman answered, "But on the plus side, we have multiple abilities that we can use without relying on some energy pool like aura."
"I'm going in," Ruby said and started walking towards the facility, and the rest followed her. Mucus was dripping from the bridge as they approached the small artificial island that the facility was located on, and a foul stench filled the air. A powerful gust of wind blew by and forced sea water onto the island, washing away some of the ooze and making the ground easier to walk on.
"If I'm not mistaken, there should be a storage room behind that gate," Weiss said and pointed at a large metal gate, which was covered in ooze and clearly wouldn't budge easily. Just as Ruby started thinking of another way into the building, the gate collapsed, revealing the massive Grimm on the other side. The bandits immediately fired energy beams from their palms and scattered, in case the Grimm retaliated. Ruby, Blake, Arkos, Nora and Qrow shot at the Grimm, while Yang rushed in to deliver a series of powerful blows, sticking explosives to it. Every time Blake or Nora landed a hit, they triggered Spectral Assault, while Arkos triggered Spectral Healing. The Grimm slowly made its way towards its assailants.
"Blake, stitch it!" Ruby called out, and Blake disappeared into her shadow, only to pop out of the Carcolh's shadow and fire three rounds into the ground, immobilizing the Grimm. Suddenly, one of the bone plates opened, revealing a second plate underneath, which had a hole in it. Before anyone could react, a red energy ball shot out of the hole, exploding on impact and sending Blake flying into a staircase.
"Blake!" Yang called out, and her hair ignited as she charged the Grimm once more. Arkos used Petal Burst to get over to Blake and activated their semblance, just as the Carcolh fired a barrage of projectiles at her. Mithala drew her double-bladed battle axe and attacked the Grimm, and Cardin sent fiery aura arcs at it, while Glynda used her semblance to throw stuff at the Grimm. Weiss fell back and created a Healing Circle and Safezone, and summoned several Queen Lancers to attack the Grimm. Ruby paused to reload, and suddenly noticed something.
"Everyone, stop!" Ruby called out, just as the Carcolh's eyes flared up bright red and it bathed the surrounding area in a foreboding red light. When the light faded, everyone looked around wondering what had happened, when the ooze lying everywhere suddenly piled up into sickly green blobs, completely surrounding the group.
"What are those?" Glynda asked and smacked one of the blobs aside when it tried moving towards her.
"I don't know, but they're not Grimm," Ruby answered.
"Grimm, of course," Mithala said, "Everyone, close your eyes." She rushed toward the Carcolh and wanted to unleash her silver eyes, but Yang stopped her.
"Wait!" Yang called out and said, "I don't know what happened, but I just checked everyone's aura. Somehow, we all dropped by more than 50% already." The bandits screamed out and put up barriers to hold off the blobs, and another barrage of explosive projectiles hit Glynda and Qrow, sending them flying as well. Other blobs were focusing on Nora and Yang, while Arkos was still busy recharging Blake's aura. Ruby focused on the Grimm and fired another shot, and realized that something was off. As soon as she was ready, Blake used Petal Burst to dash around the room, shooting bullets into the blobs' shadows and immobilizing them.
"Guys, our attacks aren't working!" Ruby called out, "It somehow takes less damage than it should!"
"Everyone, switch to Spectral Healing," Arkos said, "We can't fight it without aura, and that red light does serious damage." Suddenly, the Carcolh started moving again as if nothing happened, swinging its head and smacking Yang aside and following up with a barrage of the rotten leaves that covered its head. Yang recovered in time and punched, sending an explosive shell into the attack.
"When did it get free?" Blake asked and fired three more bullets into the Carcolh's shadow, routinely dealing damage and triggering Spectral Healing, then went back to pinning the blobs. Nora held out her hand and fired a cyan energy sphere at the Carcolh, creating an Annihilation Field on impact. Then, the first blob popped.
"Wait, what?" Ruby asked as she felt the Carcolh recover from the damage. As the blobs continued to die, the Grimm recovered more and more of its strength, until it was actually stronger than before.
"No way," Blake said under her breath, folding her ears to the side and shrinking a bit in fear. Ruby opened a portal, and from her expression alone, everyone knew to run. As the group headed towards the portal, everyone fired one last shot at the Carcolh, hoping to do at least some damage to it.
~o~
Taiyang hurried to the train station after getting the message, and Sky and Khione helped him set up a safe area by putting down several towers with the former's semblance, in case they were pursued. As they waited, and regularly renewed the towers, they became hopeful that the mission was a success after all, when suddenly, a red portal opened and a bunch of bandits came running out, followed by Cardin, Weiss, Glynda, Qrow, Blake, Yang, Arkos, Mithala, who quickly reverted back to Sirena, and lastly Ruby. As soon as Ruby was through, the portal closed behind her.
"That… doesn't look good," Taiyang said, seeing that the group was exhausted and close to collapse.
"It was bad," Ruby said, her hands on her knees, "That thing, it somehow takes less damage than it should. And it can summon minions that aren't Grimm. And every time one of the minions dies, it gets healed. It can cut our aura in half, and attack in all directions."
"It was also able to resist being immobilized," Blake said, "No idea when that happened, but it suddenly started moving again."
"Looks like we need a plan next time," Qrow said, and looked at Sirena.
"Good idea, I'll think of something," Ruby said, "Sirena, I might need your help to bounce ideas off of, and get a better estimate of various time frames. Weiss, I need all the specifics of the Combat Drones you used, especially their movement speed. Sky, I need a computer to do some calculations." While Ruby was still talking, Weiss pulled our her scroll and wrote down everything about the drones she used, then sent the file to Ruby. Sky walked away, turned into his bird form and flew away to look for computer parts.
"Here you go," Weiss said and asked, "Anything else?"
"Thanks, and yes," Ruby answered, "I need you and Jaune to go to the agricultural district, where Oscar led the group to find a better food source. Have Jaune Douse you, and send Combat Drones along the way Oscar took. When you're done, come back."
"Got it," Weiss said, and she and Jaune walked away.
"You should also take Zwei with you," Oscar said, and Zwei ran over to the duo. Sky came back with a large bag.
"I got some of the best parts on the market," Sky said and asked, "Where do you want them?"
"Over there," Ruby answered and pointed at a wall with an outdoor outlet built into it near the bottom. Sky went ahead and began assembling everything, and Ruby looked over the file Weiss had sent her, and collected more information about the Grimm in the industrial district.
"So, what's the plan?" Taiyang asked.
"I'll make a tin can attract Grimm and have Ren bring it to the last Drone," Ruby answered, "It'll attract Grimm and cause the line of Drones to move forward. At the same time, I'll have Weiss make more Drones, this time in a Grassy Terrain, and have her combine it with Guardian's Gambit so the Drones shoot wood that turns into wolves." While Ruby was still talking, Ren hurried off to the industrial district, following the line of Drones while using Tranquility to hide from Grimm.
"Alright, done," Sky said and proudly stood next to the running computer, even though it was just the bare essentials, even foregoing cooling, due to it being located outside, where it was cold enough already.
"Thanks," Ruby said and used Puppeteer to control it, and made it calculate the exact time it would take for all the Combat Drones to be depleted. When she was done, she used Emphatic Beacon on an empty food can, while Sirena entered her Alpha State and used Aura Amp to continuously recharge her aura. Ruby set the radius high enough to attract a lot of Grimm, set the duration accordingly, and made it irresistible to Grimm. A few minutes later, she was done. She opened a portal to Ren when he was in position, and chucked the can through it. Ren came out of the portal shortly after, having properly placed the can under the Drone.
~o~
Arkos stood behind Weiss, recharging her aura while she had three Glyphs on the ground, in a straight line, each manifesting a dark blue Combat Drone above itself. The Drone in the middle floated into the street, then the one on the right, while another one manifested in the middle. When the one on the left floated away, the one in the middle had fully manifested and followed, and the cycle continued.
"How are you feeling?" Arkos asked.
"Not like myself," Weiss answered, "I know that Aurora's essence, the desire to safeguard areas against Grimm, is being imprinted onto my mind. How about you?"
"I am fine," Arkos answered, "The way we are doing this, and this rate, means my aura regenerates at the same rate at which it depletes. However, Douse is about to wear off again."
"That is good to hear," Weiss said, "I don't know Ruby's intentions, or how many Drones she wants us to send, but we should head back after you used Douse five times." She sent the next batch of Drones, then took a short break.
"Alright," Arkos said, reapplied Douse for the third time, and continued recharging Weiss' aura. A wild sow approached the trio, curiously following the trail of Drones, and Zwei went to meet her halfway to assure her that they were not a threat, and explained what they were doing. Knowing the orbs were there to help, the sow walked away again and continued looking for food.
~o~
Ruby returned from her soul core, having gone there to clear her head after using Emphatic Beacon, and looked around. However, all she could do now was wait, since Weiss and Jaune were still away. She also trusted their judgment, so she didn't want to call them back unless it was an emergency. Suddenly, something hit her.
"Glynda, where's Diamond?" Ruby asked and went over to the computer.
"We got reports of Grimm in the junkyard, so she went to investigate," Glynda answered. Ruby entered the data into the computer and realized there was a Geist at the junkyard. Before anyone could stop her, she burst into a cluster of rose petals and dashed off. Seeing her face drop like that, Yang felt a sting of guilt for that joke a few days ago.
~o~
When Ruby reached the junkyard, she saw Diamond fight a Geist, whose body consisted of anything from construction debris to electronics. Diamond shot the Grimm with her pistol while slowly moving sideways, with little effect. Just as Ruby was about to step in, the Geist brought its washing machine fist down. Diamond jumped aside, but ended up on the other end of the steel beam she had stood on.
"No way," Ruby thought as she watched Diamond get launched into the air. She took a shaky step forward, trying to run, but her body didn't listen to her. When the Geist set its sights on her, Diamond came back down, creating a massive cloud of dust on impact. Remembering Yang's words, Ruby wanted to at least activate her silver eyes, and save Diamond, but when they didn't work, Ruby fell to her knees, and tears started to well up in her eyes.
"Now that was- wait, Ruby? What are you doing here?" Diamond asked, "What happened?" She ran over to Ruby and knelt down in front of her, to see if she was hurt.
"Diamond?" Ruby asked, "Is that you? How?" She wiped her tears and both stood up, with Diamond more concerned for Ruby than herself.
"My semblance, Diamond Skin," Diamond answered, "It's the reason I'm such an asset to the police force. In short, it makes me virtually indestructible." She pulled out her scroll and showed her aura meter, revealing that her aura was almost completely full, despite the fall.
"That… that's incredible," Ruby said, cheered up again and asked, "But, are there any drawbacks?" Both turned to leave again, and headed back to the train station.
"You'd think so, but no," Diamond answered, "Once it's active, even a pipe bomb can't do much to me."
"You have such a powerful defense, with no drawbacks?" Ruby asked, "Why aren't you a huntress?"
"I wanted to, actually," Diamond answered, "But I just barely missed the mark, so I was rejected."
"And then?" Ruby asked.
"Then I took my rejection letter, and went to the police," Diamond answered, "When they saw that I almost got into Beacon, they hired me on the spot."
"That's definitely one way to go about it," Ruby said, slightly amused.
"It is," Diamond said, "But, if you don't mind me saying, I've noticed you've changed, ever since your friends arrived."
"Changed? How?" Ruby asked.
"When I first met you, you had this air around you," Diamond answered, "A sense of unquestionable authority, but at the same time, also compassion. I felt like you could turn this whole thing around, even though I had never met you. And you kind of became different once your friends showed up."
"I see," Ruby said, thought for a bit and explained, "Well, I did go through a lot in the months before getting here, so I was probably a bit on edge about a lot of things. My friends helped me calm down, I think." Diamond nodded, but didn't say anything in response, and the two continued walking back in silence, only occasionally killing a couple Beowolves if they attacked them.
~o~
When Ruby and Diamond returned to the train station, Ruby saw that Weiss and Jaune had returned, and was about to announce the start of the next phase of her plan, when Yang rushed in to hug her, almost knocking her off her feet in the process.
"I'm so sorry, it was just a stupid joke," Yang said half crying, "I promise, no more jokes from now on."
"Too tight," Ruby choked out, then returned the hug and patted Yang on the back, causing Yang to let go.
"Sorry," Yang said and sniffled a bit.
"It's fine, nothing happened," Ruby said, "I mean, sure, I was kind of distraught, but she's fine. Besides, your jokes are a part of you, and I wouldn't want you to stop making them, no matter how bad they are."
"That's good to hear," Yang said and asked, "So, what do we do now?"
"Now we're getting some sleep," Taiyang answered and nodded towards the horizon, where the sun had already set behind the buildings. Knowing that complaining about bedtime was futile, Ruby and Yang agreed, prompting the others to follow suit, and after dinner, everyone went to bed.
Author's note: The Carcolh is, you guessed it, based on a pokémon. This time it's Wo-Chien. Granted, I haven't played Scarlet/Violet, but I read up on it. I also gave it a minion creation ability based on Ruseato of the Seventh Prison from the anime Log Horizon.
Honestly, I might just keep looking at that anime for inspiration whenever I need a strong enemy, because the raid bosses in the Abyssal Shaft are absolutely brutal, even if you're an isekai protagonist and have fought them countless times before.
As for Diamond's semblance, that one is actually intended to be broken. She literally just exists so that Yang could accidentally freak out Ruby with a weird joke, only for Diamond to be perfectly fine after what looks like a death sentence. One time she "defused" a bomb inside a building by throwing herself on it. She landed in a park two blocks over, called her boss, and told him the situation is taken care of.