RWBY & All associated trademarks are property of Rooster Teeth (RIP Monty Oum)

I claim no ownership of anything except my own original characters.

I am making no money from this.

Chapter 05: Team MARZ

A nerve under Wolfram's left eye twitched as the young man contemplated whether or not he was being driven slowly but completely insane.

He had led the trio that would, to the best of his understanding become his new team-mates upon their return to Breaktide Academy; striding through the barren and blasted wasteland that was Hammerfall Canyon with the digital tablet that contained both instructions and displayed the location of a homing beacon that had been placed at the extraction point they needed to find tucked behind his shield whilst he kept his axe in hand, walking ahead of his allies in a determined effort to lead from the front as he believed a proper Hunter should.

The four of them had been spared the attention of any further groups of Grimm though that was not to say that their journey had been comfortable by any means, the benefits of Ursinia's Semblance had worn off and the pain in Wolfram's arm was beginning to set in once again as the weight of his armour and the feeling of its' surfaces starting to heat up in the blazing sun become thoroughly disagreeable although he pressed on with gritted teeth and without complaint. Diabla, seemingly in direct challenge had decided to push herself as hard as possible, keeping pace with Wolfram as long as possible until the heat that she, not being a native of the island Kingdom was simply not used to or equipped to deal with had left her dizzy and weak almost to the point of collapse only for her to power onwards undeterred and seemingly enraged at her own perceived failings. Ursinia had used her Semblance to keep Diabla going not healing but giving her the fortitude to power onwards, giving several apologies for not coming adequately prepared for every potential circumstance as she did so only to receive limited grumbled thanks from her new team-mate who stalked away a moment later leaving the Scorpion Faunus wondering exactly what kind of headstrong maniacs she had found herself stuck with.

Laser would simply not stop talking.

"So we've got two of these tablets, you think they'll let us keep one?….I mean I don't think the students come back out here after initiation? All I'm saying is those rocket-lockers are gonna go to waste otherwise, they're too busted to reuse but I can definitely get the dust, and the rockets and the wiring out to resell it" the scrawny young man looked from his partner to his two newest team-mates before continuing "Come on I can't be the only one thinking there's Lien to be made here right? Wolfram you're gonna come back right, you use your share for an even spikier dog-collar for your armour"

"Will you shut the f-"

"Hey y'all!" Ursinia interrupted as Wolfram rounded on Laser, clearly preparing to vent some frustrations on the smaller boy "I hear something….up there"

"I don't see any-HOLY SHIT COME ON MOVE!" Wolfram barked out as he followed Ursinia's gaze, neither his eyes or ears as keen as the Faunus's yet after a moment of searching and using the edge of his shield to protect his eyes from the sun he caught sight of a glint of metal that could only be a transport descending towards Hammerfall Canyon. As he gave his urgent command he sprung into motion, he as a native of Menagerie and Laser as a native of the even more inhospitable Kingdom of Vaccuo were used to the climate enough that bursting into a full sprint even in the heat was not an insurmountable challenge whilst Ursinia dug deep into some vast reserves of strength that had likely been built over years of gruelling manual labour. Wolfram halted for only a moment upon seeing Diabla clutching at her side as she gasped and wheezed before simply lifted the muscular young woman of his shoulders in a fireman's carry and ran with her despite her furious protests.

Within moments of frantic, desperate sprinting the newly formed and still unnamed team reached their destination, a clearly artificially made landing zone located in the shadow of the observation outpost hanging above them and comprised of a rounded space several times larger than it strictly needed to be that was completely devoid of any plant-life or detritus at all with even the reddish gritty dust that coated everything in sight having been blown away by the landing and take-off of several transport craft.

One such craft currently being in the process of leaving

"NO, NO, NO! WAIT DAMN IT!" Wolfram bellowed after the steadily rising and retreating aircraft, words lost beneath the roar of Dust engines whilst he deposited Diabla on the hard ground and waved his hands frantically to signal to the pilot, his team-mates following suit behind him until the four of them came skidding to a halt on the makeshift landing pad and watched as the transport left without them.

"Did….did we just fail initiation?" Ursinia asked, a tremor passing through her tail as her eyes widened in open terror at the prospect

"No, somebody else just passed before us and they didn't wait; bastards" Diabla spat, broad and thick accent native to the territories that had once belonged to Atlas giving the insult an extra feeling of impact to it before she turned to Wolfram with a baleful glare "And don't do that again". Wolfram tuned them all out for a moment, taking several deep breaths to bring himself back from the verge of hitting the nearest thing or person in a bout of sudden anger and desperation before glancing at the tablet still wedged into place in the back of his shield, seeing that the tracker was currently informing him that they were in the right place and contemplating the instructions that Professor Adel had given them until a realisation hit him.

"We're okay" he called out to his friends "There's gonna be another ride out of here, they just want us to wait for it….we're supposed to keep the landing zone secure"

"Makes sense" Diabla grunted, already deploying Peace and Quiet in their armoured gauntlet form and using the sheets of Atlesian steel that slid into place over her knuckles to wipe the sweat that trickled from her brow whilst close by Laser and Ursinia readied their swords.

"So what's the plan partner?" the latter asked, bringing a small grin to Wolfram's face as he prepared to lead his team to a victory that was in his mind a certainty.

"Okay I doubt that any Grimm are coming from the sky when the outpost is right above us, so keep those eyes and ears of your-" his orders, logical as they might have been went unfinished as the ground trembled and shook beneath them before suddenly and with a sound that was more like a mixture of pained groaning and the sickening snap of breaking bones that what the ground giving way ought to have sounded like the cracked and parched stone beneath their feet erupted outwards and flung the four of them into the air. Wolfram landed hard and the jolts of pain through his still aching left arm felt like lightning on raw nerved yet still he leapt to his feet with a wordless roar of anger, deep grey eyes scanning his surroundings first for his team-mates who he was relieved to see were already recovering and readying their weapons once again and then focusing on the spot they had been stood in, seeing that the makeshift landing pad was now sunken, broken and collapsed into the ground at a slanted angle to form a shallow dip of a crater whilst something dark and vast slithered out onto the ground.

"Well you're all kinds of messed up and ugly aren't ya?" Laser noted dispassionately as he regarded their newest challenge and Wolfram decided that he couldn't dispute that assertion at all.

The Creature of Grimm was hideous.

From the tip of its' tail to the tip of its' snout it was perhaps as long as the four would be Hunters were tall combined. The top and bottom of the things' tail were covered with a row of hooked and jagged bone shards placed close together and with gossamer thing strips of vein-ridden red flesh stretched between then to form some form of fin more suited to water than land, the tail then widened as it led to a body that had an oddly squashed and out of proportion appearance to it yet was made no less horrific by these measurement; in fact the monsters' glistening black hide was made more disgusting by the way various fleshy tumours and growths that glowed a hateful red from deep within seemed to bulge from its' surface, threatening to burst the thing from the inside and leaving the skeletal ribs wrapped around its' underside broken and distorted, each fragmented edge growing into a twisted mass of spikes whilst the armour plates growing from the Grimm's back sported more of the same and the cruel spines of its' carapace twisted and wrapped around each other in a gnarled and chaotic display. The things head was broad and flat, with an almost arrowhead or shovelhead shape to its, wide mouth filled with rows of jagged teeth and twin forked tongues darting out in opposite directions whilst it regarded the four teens before it with mismatched and asymmetrical eyes, though the most notable aspect of its' armoured skull was the glowing red fins which protruded from the sides of it, three on each side which moved in oddly expressive manner and were lined with fibrous tissue and twitching needles. Most unsettling of all was the Grimm's legs, it was clear that it should have had four of them; set low to the ground and squat with webbed claws spread wide and boasting yet more spikes and armour yet there were far more limbs than this on display; as Wolfram regarded the sickening beast he counted no fewer that a dozen atrophied, malformed and twisted limbs fused to or sprouting from the things' monstrous and cancerous form, with a second tail beginning to slowly burst from the side of the existing one.

An Axolotl Grimm and a particularly unsettling one at that.

"Oh my gosh" Ursinia covered her hand with her mouth and took a moment before adding "I don't think I've ever been so happy I missed breakfast before" Wolfram glanced at his shield for a moment and debated combining the two components of Berserker into their ranged form and opening fire before deciding against it, instead extending his hand and preparing to use his Semblance and turn the air itself into a weapon

"I've got this-"

"THIS ONE'S MINE!" Diabla bellowed as she charged forwards, rushing in and directly in front of Wolfram's hand in a calculated move to keep him from acting; before the young man could make his anger at this known his team-mates fiery orange Aura flickered into life around her for a moment as she activated her own Semblance which manifested as a glow of the same bright colour which centred around her fists and although there were no flames to be seen put Wolfram in mind of a campfire or perhaps some large industrial forge; gesturing with his axe he indicated that the rest of them should stand down until they knew what Diabla was planning and were left simply watching with baited breath as the Axolotl Grimm and their new ally charged at one another, a sibilant hiss escaping the former whilst the latter let out a fierce war-cry and reared back her right fist before delivering a savage haymaker to the monsters' right forelimb.

Time seemed to slow and Wolfram watched with comprehension slowly dawning as at first the blow seemed to be no more dangerous than one would expect from someone with an unlocked Aura but then the glow of Diabla's Aura spread to the Grimm, trickling through its' limb like glowing veins over what couldn't have been more than a second before a delayed and immensely powerful concussive shock-wave seemed to pass through the beasts' leg and completely crumple it from the point of impact outwards until flesh and bone were a splattered and mangled mess that hung limb and unusable from the elbow joint.

"Well gosh darn" Ursinia mouthed

"Not bad" Wolfram noted, Laser let out several cheers of encouragement and seemed ready to launch into a full impromptu and ad-libbed speech about his partners' abilities and the uses he could likely find for them until a blur of motion silenced them all. The Axolotl Grimm span and batted Diabla aside with its' tail in a single powerful motion and though she landed in a crouch she was sent skidding backwards several dozen feet.

What followed was truly unpleasant to watch.

The monster lifted and regarded its' own ruined forelimb before its' entire body began to spasm and convulse until the ruined limb was torn free of its' socket and left dangling limp and dislocated and from there one of its' many seemingly vestigial appendages was torn free of the monsters' body, coming to life as the Grimms' neck and torso shifted and rotated to accommodate it and gave the creature a shambling, broken gait as it continued to propel itself on mismatched and uneven limbs all whilst the various tumours and growths littering its' body pulsed and bubbled with the first signs of yet more limbs beginning to emerge from them.

"Oh that's just wrong" Wolfram ground out, suppressing the urge to retch and deciding to lead by example; one simple truth spilling from his lips as he charged into battle "This doesn't change anything, we've still gotta bring it down!"


The room in which Velvet and Coco watched the initiation process unfolding, illuminated solely by the array of screens which the two Professors sat had become steadily more crowded as members of the gravity-defying outposts' staff whose job descriptions could directly or even tangentially be connected to the matter found excuses to make their way into the relatively small room and eagerly watch as the latest class of future Hunters and protectors of Remnant were put through their paces and handled themselves with aplomb; those members of staff being followed by those whose roles were technically unrelated and had simply taken early lunch breaks and whose presence was overlooked in a good-natured breach of protocol by both Coco and Velvet and also the rake thing, bow-backed scientist of Atlesian descent who was currently in charge of the observatory.

Dull chatter filled the room, along with sharp intakes of breath at every death-defying manoeuvrer and seemingly insane gambit that paid off despite the odds, though in contrast the sound of home-made popcorn being enjoyed had ceased as Coco set the snack aside and peered over the rim of her sunglasses, giving the screens she watched intently her full attention as the initiation seemed to be moving into its' final stages.

"That makes two teams to leave the canyon" the old and wizened yet still sharp-witted director of the observatory noted, intruding on Coco's thoughts and concentration with their dry, rasping voice and noting to a digital tablet in their hands "I've received word that the first is already within Port Alistair airspace"

"Good" it was Velvet that answered, taking the mans' focus away from Coco and allowing her to focus "They'll be treated for any injuries they've sustained then there's the usual process to go through and, when all of our returning students are ready this evening the initiates will be formed into their new teams officially….It's a big moment for us Hunters"

"Ah, the usual process you say?" the director stroked his beard and gave a knowing glance towards the notepad that lay on the arm of Velvet's chair where she had scribbled various combinations of the successful initiates' initials in order to devise possible team names for them; the light-hearted moment was ended shortly after when Coco's voice, tone far more harsh and biting than she likely intended it cut across the conversation

"Look alive, we've got more kids in….oh that's just bad luck, they almost made the transport as well"

"Start the ten minute timer?" Velvet asked, referring to the undeclared countdown or waiting period that the initiates were subjected to before a transport was sent unless there were extenuating circumstances such as injuries or weapons damaged beyond use that would make the risks outweigh the benefits of the test, such benefits being that the imposed waiting period allowed Coco and Velvet to see how their new students handled under a different kind of pressure and functioned in a defensive position of the kind that every Hunter would likely experience in the field; the amount of Grimm drawn to them would largely be dependant on their own mental state and how they handled said approaching monsters would only give the Professors more information to work with.

"I mean….if that kid's a dick like you think then we can make it fifteen?" Coco offered, spying the young man with a wolf-tail hairstyle, spiked armour and an axe and shield weapon combination whom Velvet had noted had antagonised a Faunus students before even entering the academy.

"Coco!" Velvet gasped hands behind her mouth, suspecting that her partner was joking but still dismayed by the comment "Ten minutes, same as everyone else"

Coco was about to offer a teasing reply but found herself distracted by the sight of the landing area her academies' transports had been using erupting as some vast and monstrous Creature of Grimm, over twenty feet in length burst up from below and turned its' malignant gaze on the waiting students.

"Coco" Velvet's voiced wavered with sudden concern as she studied the truly horrid specimen on the screen "That's a Cankerlotl"

"What the hell is that thing doing in there?" Coco demanded, rounding on the director and his underlings alike "I told you I needed relatively low risk Grimm and everything else cleared out for the initiation, that thing is clearly not low risk!"

"My apologies Professor" the director of the observatory sputtered "We, I….there was nothing to suggest any specimens of this calibre had entered the canyon, I can only suggest that it had been lying wait under the ground for some time and the arrival of two groups of students in such a short period was enough to draw its' attention however a thorough investigation into this oversight will-"

"That's no use to us now!" Velvet snapped "Prep a transport immediately, we're-"

"Velvet wait" Coco spoke slowly, thoughtfully and carefully as she gently rested a calloused hand on the Rabbit Faunus's forearm "Let the kids have a shot-"

"Coco they're not trained, that's not a Beowolf or an Ursa it's-"

"A tough little bastard to put down, I know but if we come swooping in to save the day then that's gonna set the tone for these kids in a way I don't like….besides, if Ozpin had interfered in our initiation do you think we'd ever have lived it down, or that I'd have ever forgiven him for it?"

"So you're going to let them put themselves at risk because of teenage pride?" Velvet arched an eyebrow whilst both rabbit ears, even the one that had been partially cut away in battle drooped forward

"No I'm gonna let them try and prove to themselves that they can do this….but if things look like they're getting out of hand then I'll step in and get rid of that Grimm myself" Velvet and Coco locked eyes and the Rabbit Faunus found herself relenting slowly, she had trusted Coco with her own life for decades implicitly after all and felt that she could rely on her to handle the lives of the teens entrusting their safety to them with the same care an attention.

"Okay" Velvet finally breathed out, retaking her seat though her fingers drummed agitatedly against its' arm as she watched a young woman shatter one of the Grimm's limbs with a single devastating blow "They get ten minutes"


Athena-Jade Slate and Zirconia Shadowmoon had continued through Hammerfall canyon, wandering largely aimlessly as they sought out another rocket-locker from Breaktide Academy with nothing but dim hope and faint ghosts of ideas to guide them whilst being punished for every minute they wasted beneath the blistering sun in return.

Eventually however Athena-Jade had come to something of a realisation and had voiced her ideas aloud, Zirconia had remained largely silent but had nodded along in both understanding and agreement with her new partners' logical deductions and train of thought which only spurred the Bear Faunus onwards as she began to form a plan. Athena had, despite the heat and airlessness of the canyon beginning to make her a little dizzy, reasoned that the extraction point would be close to the floating observation outpost that they had all been fired from if only to make the initiation process at least somewhat fair to all who undertook it; from there she had noted that whilst they had all been flung various distances and directions it was unlikely that any of the would-be Hunters had landed particularly close to said extraction point however the location of the rocket lockers and the relics stored within them would likely be far more randomised owing to their own propulsion systems. Putting these points of information and inferences together Athena had concluded that if they were to head towards the space the observation outpost hovered over then there was a chance of them finding a rocket-locker that gone unopened simply because every initiate to pass it had already retrieved a relic of their own.

Unfortunately as sound as her logic was Athena-Jade's efforts had only been rewarded by further encounters with the Creatures of Grimm.

"Are you kidding me right now?" the Bear Faunus demanded, swinging Mould-Breaker in a wide arc with a contrail of light trailing behind the head of the hammer as she smashed it into the skull of one of her current adversaries' heads before using her momentum to carry herself into an acrobatic flip to avoid the second fanged maw of the King-Taijitu tearing into the space she had occupied a moment ago. Athena reoriented herself and leapt backwards with the motion of another wide swipe of her weapon, the seemingly wild and uncoordinated attack intended more to hold the Grimm at bay and create space rather than directly harm it and though the effort was successful its' benefits were short lived, the serpentine horror writhing and unfurling its' vast and scaled form and lunging from opposite angles with both of its' mouths opened wide as if to swallow its' prey whole a moment later yet it was in this instant that Athena saw the briefest of silver linings as with the King-Taijitu devoting the attention of both of its' heads to her Zirconia had managed to slip behind it.

"Use your Semblance!" the Grasshopper Faunus yelled, her voice the loudest Athena had yet heard it as she leapt high into the air

"Yeah no shit!" Athena shot back, manifesting a far larger than average glyph with which to shield herself from the incoming assault only for her partners' intentions to be revealed as Zirconia drew Sunriser Cain in its' pistol form and fired a volley of Gravity Dust infused armour piercing rounds which struck the glyph with impacts which cracked and eventually shattered its' incandescent surface, though not before ricocheting back at angles that sent them ripping into the blunt snouts of the King-Taijitu and leaving it hissing and spitting in pain as its' twin faces were torn open.

Yet still it lived.

"Oh crap!" Athena yelled as the first head seized control of the monsters' body and swung the second head around like a tail, or perhaps more accurately like some heavy mace or cudgel which left the short and stocky Bear Faunus using a series of glyphs to leap into the air and over the incoming assault, only for the Grimm's scaled hide to rip through one of her glowing, Semblance-fuelled platform and strike at the heels of her armoured hi-topped sneakers and send her toppling and falling backwards to land sprawled on the dusty ground, coughing and gasping as the impact knocked the wind from her despite the light armour she wore over her torso yet she determinedly pushed herself onto her feet and was immediately tackled aside by Zirconia just as a follow up strike from the King-Taijitu ripped through where she had been stood.

"Thanks" she breathed out, squaring her shoulders and twirling Mould-Breaker dramatically before readying herself for another exchange of blows whilst Zirconia shifted her weapon into its' close combat form

"Do you have a plan?" the taller of the two girls asked warily

"I think this is gonna be more of a case of just slugging it out and powering through it" Athena admitted working out a crick in her neck as she and the King-Taijitu stared one another down and prepared to make their next moves which would almost certainly collide with devastating force.

Until the arrival of unexpected help brought an end to the fight.

"Incoming!" a familiar voice exclaimed, Neo Vale accent laden with enough self-assured swagger to drown any nerves that might have been present a fraction of a second before the serpentine monstrosity that the two girls had fought let out shrieking hisses of agony as a harpoon burst from one of its' eyes a moment before the person responsible for firing it retracted the cable attaching the projectile of their weapon; flinging themselves upwards and in an arc that sent them sailing towards the Grimm's head.

Revealing it to be none other than Astra and the Racoon Faunus who had made a notable first impression the previous afternoon.

"Regalia take that head!" the Deer Faunus yelled urgently, leaving their new partner to deal with the already wounded skull of the King-Taijitu with her shotgun which quickly became a pickaxe with the proportions of a staff or halberd whilst they used the momentum of being sent into the air along with her to leap to the oncoming second head of the Grimm with Buckshot Ares at the ready, twin mini-guns firing as they closed the distance until finally Astra's arm-mounted blades ripped through its' skull and finally the King-Taijitu faded away as it perished.

"Hey, waiting for you was getting boring so we came and looked for you instead; this is Regalia" Astra explained in a bored and utterly nonchalant way as if nothing of any importance had happened, their weapons collapsing down into their dormant state as the Deer Faunus took a moment to re-pop the collar of their vibrant red leather jacket and gently inspect the condition of their swept forward Mohawk, looking every part as cool and collected as Athena knew they clearly wanted to be; the Bear Faunus merely grinned and rolled her eyes at the display whilst privately admitting that the reunion was a more than welcome one and that she was certainly happy to see Astra again before turning her attention to Regalia, the fourth member of their presumptive team with whom she was not yet properly acquainted and saw the bushy tailed and well-muscled young woman whose abs were on display give her a nervous and somewhat awkward wave

"Heh, happy to help….we brought relics"

"Hi I'm Athena-Jade, you can call me AJ and that's Zirconia….wait, you've got spare relics?"

"Yeah, we figured we'd rig the game" Astra interjected, producing two sets of chess pieces from their pockets; a pair of white rooks and a pair of black rooks which he threw to Athena and Zirconia whilst wearing a cocky smirk

"Thank you very much" Zirconia nodded, though any smile she might have worn went unseen beneath her cape "Athena was worried that we might be the last to complete our initiation"

"So" the ivory haired Faunus interrupted firmly, mildly irked by her partners' admission "While you're on such a roll I don't suppose you know where we go from here?"

"Yeah" Astra answered happily, clearly understanding her sickly sweet tone for the sarcasm it was and rising to the challenge "The relics came with directions, we're heading-"

The discussion was cut short by the sound of an explosion from somewhere in the distance, in the direction of the floating outpost above the canyon.

"Would it be cynical to assume that we should head that way?" Zirconia noted

"Got it one" Astra sighed, redeploying their weapons "But it's fine, if that's a Grimm then it must be fighting with someone already and there's four of us so-"

"So we've already won; we've basically finished the initiation, it's just a formality now" Athena flashed a toothy and determined grin "Okay team, let's go!" with that the four of them sprung into motion.

In Athena's mind things were now back on track and the situation was well and truly under control.


Wolfram Ironside and his as yet unnamed team of student Hunters had continued to engage the Cankerlotl despite its' terrifying resilience, yet had been rewarded with nothing but an increasingly grotesque series of warping mutations as the thing recovered and regenerated from every blow they landed regardless of how punishing and final it had first seemed.

The four teens had crushed and ripped away several of the monsters' spindly and mismatched limbs only for them to be replaced by the malformed and vestigial appendages scattered along its' body with fresh legs clawing their way from the various tumorous growths that littered the things hide and threatened to split it apart from within; each of these amputations and hasty, sickening to behold replacements had led to the Grimms' torso shifting and adjusting in order to accommodate its' new stance until finally, with the Cankerlotl standing on eight legs at once its' spine had snapped entirely in half which, rather than wound the creature had only made it larger as ropey muscle and tendons elongated and stretched until their distended forms threatened to snap before the severed bones fused together once more. At some point in the battle the secondary tail growing beneath the flesh of the limb already writhing and thrashing behind it had burst free entirely, a swift, lashing and serpentine thing that was mercifully devoid of any bony spikes or armoured carapace.

It was this tail that struck Ursinia in the centre of the chest and lifted her from the ground.

"Damn it get up!" Wolfram yelled frantically as he sprinted across the impromptu battlefield as fast as his Aura-fuelled and burning muscles would allow, driving the axe component of Berserker into the shield and hefting the enormous hand-cannon they both formed in his bandaged and aching left arm and opening fire as he unleashed his Semblance from her fingertips of his right hand; bursts of destructive firepower and the air being solidified into a razors' edge that tore through flesh sent the monster skittering away with lithe agility that nothing of its' size or twisted design should have possessed, its' twin tails and tongues both lashing yet Wolfram paid it no mind and instead reached down to his floored partner and dragged her to her feet.

"Come on, on your feet" he demanded, taking the hat that had fallen from her head and replacing it then pressing The Adventurer back into her hand and urging her onwards despite the way she struggled to catch her breath "Use your Semblance, you'll be fine-"

"I can't" she gasped out with a shake of the head "I can't use it on myself, it doesn't work that way" whatever expletive and furious answer Wolfram intended to respond to that revelation with was left unsaid and the sound of too many pairs of clawed feet scrabbling against dry and cracked stone filled the air when the Cankerlotl, the various ragged and bloody craters and slashes torn into its' body by Wolfram's assault freshly healed came charging towards the two of them.

"Don't worry we've got it!" it was Laser that called out, opening fire a moment later with Permadeath in its' machine gun form once again after realising that his katana would be of little use against something that simply replace its' limbs in an instant; unfortunately the bullets were of little more use as they pattered against the Grimm's stretched skin and tore it apart only for the wounds to be sealed shut by blossoming masses of grotesque, pulpy flesh and despite rummaging through dozens of hidden pockets on their person Laser was yet to find a way to use the various tools and trinkets they had brought into the canyon to help.

"I've got it!" Diabla countered, punctuating the declaration with a wordless yell as she engaged her Semblance and leapt into the air; Wolfram being left begrudgingly impressed once again as the fiery glow of her Aura engulfed her armoured fists and she delivered a crushing uppercut to the jaw of the Cankerlotl which lifted the Grimm up onto its' rear limbs of which there still too many before she followed up with a two-footed drop kick which flung it away, yet had the unintended effect of breaking several of the monsters' already ruined ribs and triggering its' regenerative abilities; the underside of the Cankerlotl slowly morphing into a single fused and visibly strained plate of bone armour. Diabla's expression darkened until it was hateful and downright murderous and she shifted Peace ad Quiet into their alternate modes, readying her flamethrower and Dust powered blade

"Wait!" Wolfram barked out "Can you just grab it and hold it in place, with your Semblance I mean?"

"Not how this works!" Diabla shot back as she and the Grimm stared each other down

"Oh come on!" the axe wielding warrior exclaimed

"I can't grab because my Semblance doesn't actually make me any stronger!" Diabla yelled, the admission seeming to almost pain her "I don't hit any harder, I just do more damage with every hit….I can't grab or block with it"

"Oh cool, so it's a modifier on one stat instead of an overall buff, that's fair" Laser chirped up and Wolfram was for a moment, despite how incongruous the thought was, concerned that he'd been lumbered with an insufferable nerd before the Cankerlotl demanded the attention of all of them by charging again, its' twin tongues bursting open as jagged and serrated protrusions burst from them in a further attempt on the Grimms' part to make itself more deadly.

Wolfram burst into motion.

"Ursinia you'll know what to do!" he yelled, quietly hoping that his partner did indeed have that much sense as he readied his shield in arm that now sent waves of pain through his body that he forced himself to ignore with every movement until finally he reached Diabla and tackled her to the ground with his free arm, getting his shield beneath them both and using its' surface to slide them both along the ground, beneath the Grimm and out of the both its' lashing and mutated tongues that would otherwise have torn into Diabla. A moment later a wave of heat and concussive force washed over them both as the grenade that Ursinia had fired after them, quickly understanding Wolfram's intentions detonated and forced the Cankerlotl to fall back once again.

"Don't grab me again" Diabla grunted as she flung herself to her feet

"You're welcome dumb-ass" Wolfram shot back without hesitation

"Any other plans you wanna try?" the aggravated belligerence in his new team-mates' tone was tangible and not something Wolfram would have even considered letting go unchallenged under normal circumstances, however there more important things to be dealt with now and as both Laser and Ursinia joined them the towering Scorpion Faunus asked a pertinent question

"Do we actually have to beat this thing, or are we just getting ourselves fit to be tied over nothing?"

"Professor Adel said defend the extraction point" Laser noted "Hold the line doesn't strictly mean we have to beat it, just stop it"

"Yeah well if you manage to have a discussion and talk it down let me know" Wolfram snorted "Best defence is a good offence, Diabla's got the right idea!" and with that he readied his axe and shield and charged the Grimm again with his new team-mates shared exasperated glances between each other before following him into the fray.


A slight breeze that swept across the open exterior of the Hammerfall Canyon Observation Outpost and ruffled Coco Adel's hair and clothes, giving the scene a sense of the dramatic as she strode out across the corrugated steel towards the landing pads where several transports waited, one of which stood ready and waiting whilst its' idling thrusters caused the air around it to shimmer as the pilot underwent the final pre-flight checks.

Coco and Velvet had watched the situation almost directly beneath them unfolding in the observation room before finally concluding that things had diverged too far from the intended plan to be allowed to continue and that the Cankerlotl was not something a group of untrained initiates could fairly or reasonably be expected to deal with, with that in mind Coco had made good on her promise and ensured that her iconic and ludicrously powerful was loaded with highly explosive Dust round with which she intended to deliver an amount of damage the horrific Grimm could not recover from before preparing to intervene directly.

The sound of a pained shriek brought Coco to a halt as it echoed faintly up from the canyon, Velvet almost walking into the back of her as the Rabbit Faunus's eyes were fixed firmly on the screen of a tablet which was currently displaying footage from a select few of the cameras that the two of them had been observing.

"Sounds like they're still giving it hell" Coco noted, a smile that was both fond and caring yet at the same time unmistakably a smug and satisfied smirk crossed her face at the sounds of the ongoing battle; her pride at her students unwavering in the face of the fact that these teens were yet to actually attend a single class at Breaktide Academy, it was the principle of the thing that counted after all.

"I still think I should come with you" Velvet noted bluntly, lips pursing as her ears drooped "A Grimm that resilient, and let's be honest downright creepy to look at mixed with nervous, inexperienced kids throwing everything they've got at it….you should have someone watching your back in case of a mishap"

"Hey" Coco stepped closer to Velvet and leaned down, pushing her beret back a fraction so that their foreheads could rest together "I appreciate the concern, you know I do and there's no-one I'd rather have watching my behind-"

"Really Coco?" Velvet laughed as Coco gave a cheeky wink and smirk

"But" she continued "There's still other initiates in the canyon and the people running this base aren't Hunters; I want a Hunters' opinion, one I trust when it comes to making all decisions on something this important….If things do go completely wrong we both have Ruby on speed-dial and she'll be here in a few seconds-"

"And you'll sulk about being upstaged in front of the kids" Velvet noted, giving Coco a pointed and knowing look which the fashionista merely shrugged and smiled in response to and offered no rebuttal, she respected Ruby greatly however to Coco the idea of needing to call in help to protect her own students was simply unthinkable it was, once again the principle of the thing that was important.

"I'll be back soon" Coco breathed out finally, pulling Velvet into a brief embrace "I love you"

"I love you too" the pair broke apart and Coco turned towards the transport whose pilot had waited patiently thus far despite too much time having passed already if the two veteran Hunters were being entirely honest, Velvet's eyes turned away from her partner towards the tablet she carried so that she could assess the ongoing situation before reaching the observation room only for what she saw to have her call out

"Coco wait!"

"What's wrong?" the human woman's voice was immediately tense yet it her expression softened as Velvet's own features morphed into a fierce smile

"Another group of students are heading for the landing zone….I think this changes things"

"Agreed" Coco noted, musing to herself for a moment before adding "Let's give the kids a few more minutes and see how they do"


Astra's lungs burned and a stitch in their side demanded attention with waves of stabbing pain as they forced themselves to continue sprinting at full speed despite this in an effort to keep pace with Athena-Jade who seemed to be determined to be the first of their newly formed team to reach the enemy and engage it in combat by any means necessary and whose unimpressive height and shorter strides seemed to suddenly mean far less that they ought to.

"What the fuck is that thing?" the Deer Faunus demanded in open revulsion as they, along with Athena, Regalia and Zirconia rushed into the now ravaged area where the battle they had heard was taking place and caught sight of horrific and misshapen Grimm that their fellow initiates were locked in battle with, their arrival coming just in time to watch Wolfram Ironside be swatted aside by the twin barbed and lashing tongues of the Cankerlotl; a failed attempt at charging the thing ending with him landing in a crumpled heap on the ground with his own new team-mates rushing to his defence as he recovered.

After being taken back by the sheer ugliness and size of the monstrosity before them Astra attempted to form a workable plan of action yet before they could do even the most basic of observations and inferences regarding the Grimms' abilities Athena went streaking passed them in a blur of snowy white and blue-grey with her enormous hammer at the ready.

"We've got this in the bag!" the Bear Faunus exclaimed, naturally low and husky voice and cultured Atlesian accent filled with giddy excitement and self assured confidence as she prepared Mould-Breaker for a decisive blow to end the battle only for an interruption to come from behind and above.

"Going high" Zirconia's muffled murmur gave Athena a moments' warning to brace herself and hold the shaft of her weapon steady so that her partners' mechanical limbs could land on it before she sprung high into the air and over the rapidly approaching Cankerlotl. The force of Zirconia's kick sent Athena-Jade spinning though she quickly steadied herself and shifted Mould-Breaker into its' ranged form so that she could fire the laser cannon from the hip as part of this impromptu combined effort whilst extending a hand out to create a series of glyphs which Zirconia leapt between in much the same way Athena herself would have to position herself

'Hard-light! Ice!' Sunriser Cain announced the Grasshopper Faunus's attack and as Zirconia swung her weapon a wave of translucent, hexagonal panels of solidified light trailed behind it which ripped into the flank of the charging and enraged Grimm before the secondary effect of her attack froze the hard-light plane both to the body of the Cankerlotl and to the ground, effectively anchoring the monster in place.

And then Athena fired.

The beam of crackling, jade green light ripped into the things' stretched and distended flesh and tore through it with ease, the Bear Faunus finding her own assault added to by Astra who had positioned themselves beside her and levelled the guns of Buckshot Ares at their target. The onslaught was dramatic and the sounds of pain escaping the Grimm rose above even the cacophony of gunfire yet it was short-lived as almost the moment Zirconia had managed t leap clear the ice and hard-light was shattered by the barrage and the Cankerlotl immediately began to heal, rancid and cancerous flesh healing its' wounds in a stomach churning display even as it came thundering towards the new arrivals on its' multiple pairs of twisted limbs. Athena-Jade shifted Mould-Breaker back into its' hammer form and saw that beside her Astra was readying their blades and shields though before either of them could throw themselves into melee combat the Deer Faunus was dragged backwards, Athena seeing the harpoon component of Regalia's weapon snag onto her partner before pulling them free of danger and leaving Athena to face the monster baring down on her alone.

Only for help to come from an unexpected source

"MOVE RICH KID!" the furious yell prompted Athena to throw up a glyph as a shield almost instinctively and even then the sheer kinetic force behind the two-footed drop kick that her rescuer delivered to her shoulder her sent her hurtling out of the path of the Grimm, the monster itself finding itself with a deep gouge torn into its' bone-covered underside by a blade which used Gravity Dust to vibrate at ultrasonic frequencies yer even this attack seemed to have no lasting effects.

"Pull back! Regroup!" Athena quickly followed the frantically yelled instruction; realising as she did so that the young woman who had kicked her out of the path of an attack was the same person who had been glaring daggers at her in the mess hall only the day before and also that said young woman had found herself on the same team as Wolfram Ironside, who was now stood beside Astra with members of both teams quickly closing the distance as the Cankerlotl recovered.

"Well I said I'd see you down here red but you left it a little late, all the slots on my team are taken" Wolfram gave Astra's shoulder a playful nudge which they readily returned

"Yeah mine too; so introductions, you've met Athena, that's Regalia and Zirconia" Astra nodded to each of the members of what would surely become their new team and Wolfram paused just long enough to narrow his eyes a fraction in Regalia's direction before responding in kind and gesture to his own team

"Ursinia, Laser whose Mum clearly hated him and Diabla-"

"We don't have time to talk!" Diabla snapped, weapons at the ready "That thing's gonna hit us again and we need a plan!"

"Really, was the unquestionable strategic genius of just hitting it over and over as hard as we can not working?" Laser quipped with a giggle that was quickly silenced by the several glares he received in response. Astra turned their focus away from the chatter and instead locked eyes with the scaled and warped Grimm that scuttled back and forth across the ruined and blasted landing zone seemingly searching for a new angle of attack as eight armed opponents gathered in a single location seemed to be more than even it was willing to charge blindly at; returning the favour and sizing their opponent up just as coldly the Deer Faunus tapped Regalia's shoulder without ever turning away from the Grimm

"Think your Semblance can find a weak spot?"

"Heh, worth a try" the Racoon Faunus shrugged, lowering her goggles and focusing for several tense seconds before nodding and giving her answer "We can try taking its' head off-"

"We'd have to do it in one shot, it shrugs off anything else" Wolfram warned

"Okay, lemme think" Astra breathed out shakily, painfully aware of the Grimm regarding each of them with malicious intent and a deep, primal hunger and under no illusions that this would be as simple as overpowering a group of thieves attempting to steal from a Dust shop; eventually however the information that Regalia had given began to form the basis of an idea

"Athena, can you and Zirconia keep it in place for me; or at least lock up enough of its limbs to give me a clear shot?"

"No problem" the Bear Faunus nodded

"Okay cool" Astra turned to Wolfram "Think your team can keep it distracted and keep tearing enough chunks of it so that it can't focus on one spot?"

"We can do that" Wolfram nodded gruff tone balanced against an utterly savage grin

"Okay, Regalia I've got a plan for us; everyone else get ready to move as soon as the Grimm does" there were a few silent nods of assent and a few more verbal signs of agreement before the Cankerlotl, either somehow sensing that its' prey was mobilising and conspiring against it or becoming driven to such ferocity that whatever innate survival instincts it possessed were overridden came charging towards them, limbs thrashing and fins laying flat along its' broad skull whilst each of its' tongues moved with a mind of their own, a dry death-rattle of a hiss issuing from its' gaping maw as it charged.

Astra watched as their hastily formed plan was put into motion.

"Ready?" Athena-Jade demanded as she and Zirconia rushed forward to meet the Grimm head on with their weapons in the close combat configurations and held at the ready in preparation to face the monster, the stoic and soft-spoken girl nodded and twirled Sunriser Cain in her hand as she did so and Athena watched as she used the dramatic motion to subtly shift the rotating Dust cylinders that powered the weapon; waiting with bated breath until the Cankerlotl was almost atop them and choosing the perfect moment to strike

'Ice! Lightning!' the computerised voice of the weapon that Athena was still unsure if she should call a sword or cane declared as her partner thrust it into the ground and in sent a sheet of ice erupting upwards from the ground in a Dust-fuelled reaction that trapped both of the monsters' tongues and halted its' momentum before the Lightning Dust took effect, its' current travelling through the frozen water and into the Grimms' body and leaving it shrieking and convulsing.

Seeing her opening Athena wasted no more time or words and simply leapt into the air and somersaulted whilst as the same time creating a Gravity-Dust infused glyph directly ahead of herself, the head of Mould-Breaker came blazing into life as it struck the shimmering surface of the jet-black glyph and the reaction sent the Bear Faunus arcing high into the air in a rapid spin that she pulled herself out of and quickly turned to her advantage, rather than attacking directly she began creating more glyphs, each of their central points focusing on one of the horrific Grimm's many appendages in an attempt to hold it in place. Landing in a crouch behind the Grimm Athena realised that they had underestimated the Cankerlotl as it continued to thrash, breaking and tearing one of its' own legs away through brute force and sheer insensate rage then using the new limb that burst into existence to claw and pound at the ice which still held its' tongues.

Then Wolfram led Ursinia, Laser and Diabla into the fray.

The four of them attacked from the sides and began targeting legs and tails that threatened to break free from the glyphs that Athena continued to pour all of her might and resolve into maintaining, the exertion combining with the heat and exhaustion to leave her collapsing into a one-kneed crouch and using her weapon for support as she watched, even as her vision began to blur and darken at the edges as

Wolfram drove his axe through bone and flesh the moment the limb broke free of the glyph it was trapped in and batted away the limb that burst from the body of the repulsive creature to replace what was lost with his shield, Ursinia let out a roar of exertion as she leapt into the air and cleaved through both of the Grimm's tails with a single mighty swing of the Adventurer only for them regenerate and writhe around one another to form a single blade-ridden mass of coiled and pulsing muscle, Laser slashed away limb after limb that broke free of Athena's hold with a fluidity that could not truly be called graceful and instead resembled some fit of manic energy whilst Diabla seemed to make a point of meeting the Bear Faunus's gaze before unleashing her wrist-mounted flamethrower on the Cankerlotl to purge several of its' limbs before it could thrash and tear them free of Athena's glyphs yet despite it all the monster continued to prove its' resilience and the six Hunters that had charged into battle realised that it was only a matter of time before the Cankerlotl broke free entirely and twisted its' form into something even more abhorrent which would render their efforts futile.

Astra had other plans however.

"BOOM HEAD-SHOT!" Athena heard their cocky exclamation and glanced upwards, being shocked to see that Regalia had used the pickaxe mode of Apex Scavenger to scale the wall of ice that the Grimm was still partially stuck in before converting it into its' shotgun mode and launching the under-slung harpoon at her partner, from their the Racoon Faunus had quickly retracted the harpoon and used the momentum it afforded along with her own impressive physical strength in order to throw the Deer Faunus overhead and on a collision course with the head of the Cankerlotl

Its' weak spot.

Seeing Astra be sent hurtling towards the Grimms' skull Athena and each of her fellow initiates watched, hearts hammering in their chests as they waited for the Mohawk-sporting teen to unleash the guns or blades of their arm-mounted weapons only to be left stunned when Astra instead curled in on themselves and held Buckshot Ares in front of their face in shield form, the twin hard-light Dust emitters coming to life and creating a solid pane of pale rosy hexagonal panels in front of the Deer Faunus a moment before they struck the Grimm with all the force of a falling star, shattering bone and pulping the tissue beneath it before landing in a crouch on the ground whilst the headless body of the Cankerlotl collapsed with an anticlimactic thud and its' severed tongues dangled limply as they remain stuck to the steadily melting wall of ice before both of them began to fade away into nothingness.

Athena-Jade forced herself to bolt across the desolate ground between them despite each and every one of her muscles burning and screaming in protest with every movement until she came skidding to a halt beside Astra and finally allowed herself to breathe upon seeing that despite being wide-eyed and visibly trembling despite their best efforts to halt it, with their breath coming in rapid and shallow gasps they were thankfully unharmed

"I can't believe you just did that" the Bear Faunus laughed, exhaustion filling the sound "That was crazy, reckless as hell and had absolutely no right working as well as did….but it did and I suppose that's what counts"

"I've got the coolest partner" Regalia added in a joking, sing-song way as she strolled over and collapsed her weapon, stretching her arms behind her head as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened whilst Zirconia bounded over with her usual graceful, hopping movements and lowered her cape from the lower half of her face to give a weak and tired smile that lit up her mismatched orange and pink eyes.

"Not bad man" Wolfram chuckled as his own team sidled over and gently patted one of Astra's antlers "The kinda crazy that works….the one-liner could have been better though"

"There's always next time" Astra managed to breathe out, voice shakier than they were happy with as adrenaline continued to course through them until they turned their eyes skywards and pointed "But hey, there's our ride" the rest of the initiates followed the Deer Faunus's gaze and saw that they were correct, a lone transport was making its' way downwards from the floating observatory above them and as it descended those gifted with the keen senses of Faunus saw that the side hatches of the craft were open, revealing Headmistress Coco Adel peering down at them with her signature weapon at the ready and a bright smile on her lips; a moment later the craft was close enough for the veteran Hunter to be heard as she called out to her young charges.

"Well done kids, you didn't just pass your initiation….you did it with style"


It was finally time.

The returning students, their status now official and assured had returned to Breaktide Academy upon completing their initiations where they had each been given a thorough physical examination to ensure that none of them had suffered any serious or lasting injuries and once the academies' head medic, a Fox Faunus by the name of Nurse Kintsugi had declared that none of the teens had sustained any injuries that could not be taken care of with sleep, a good meal and perhaps some painkillers and Aura stimulants they had then been offered counselling sessions to deal with any trauma that they may have suffered; Yatsuhashi Daichi making it clear that the age-old tradition of simply sending Hunters out into the field relentlessly without proper care and diligence was over and had no place on Menagerie.

Once the health of the returning initiates had been assured there had of course been more paperwork to attend to, each newly formed team of four students; one of which had not actually met each other in Hammerfall Canyon due to completing their initiation as two separate pairs of partners being assigned a dormitory and a set of electronic keys with which to enter it along with their new Scrolls. From there they had visited the mess hall, though the room had been largely silent as few if any of the new students had the energy left to truly discuss what they had been through and none of the older students were allowed to be present, an old Hunter Academy tradition dictated that First Years should not meet their fellow students until their teams were officially formed and named and whilst Coco Adel was not superstitious it was a tradition that she had kept in place at Breaktide.

The cheers of those older returning students as well as the entire faculty of the academy, including many Hunters whose reputations were simply legendary currently filled the air to the point where the entire ampitheatre seemed to shudder and tremble under the force of the sound.

"Wow" Athena-Jade breathed out, rubbing the recently shaved sides of her head

"I know right" Astra grinned as they leaned against a wall beside her "Just wait til they get a load of us" Regalia merely took in the sound and sight of so many Hunters all in one place who would soon be cheering for her and her new friends with impossibly wide eyes and a look of utterly glee of her face whilst Zirconia carried herself with silent composure, though Athena noted that her partner had brushed her glossy black bangs forward to obscure a little more of her face.

Upon being brought once again to the ampitheatre in which the Headmistress had spoken to them for the first time the previous evening they had listened intently as Professor Adel explained, with no small amount of pride that each and every one of the students deployed into Hammerfall Canyon had been successfully initiated which in turn had meant that there were now six new teams to be named, she had then called up each team in turn and introduced them to their new peers by declaring which relics they had recovered before calling their names and selecting the team leader before finally naming the team.

As the chorus of cheers and applause died down Astra saw that the next team to be named included Wolfram Ironside

"He's definitely got the team leader spot, he earned it out there" Astra noted in a hushed tone

"I think it's a little late to switch teams now" Athena noted playfully but quietly

"Nah I'm good, being on your team is cool; the four of us are gonna be great" the Deer Faunus assured her, puffing up their chest and popping the collar of their jacket once again before falling silent along with the rest of the crowd as Professor Adel cleared her throat before speaking once again.

"The penultimate team to be formed this evening, one who carried themselves with distinction during their initiation and the team who collected the Knight pieces" Coco paused for a moment, allowing the suspense to build within the crowd in an expertly time display of theatrics "Are Diabla Fuego, Laser Greenback, Ursinia Red and their leader Wolfram Ironside. From this moment forth the four of you will be known as Team WULF"

The applause was deafening and Astra was happy to lend their own voice and enthusiasm to it.

"Okay, we're up….Let's do this" Athena breathed out and Astra, fighting the urge to make minute adjustments to their Mohawk took some solace from the fact that despite being undeniably famous all across Remnant and no stranger to audiences or the expectant stares of strangers Athena seemed to be just as nervous as they were themselves, all thoughts vanished from Astra's mind however as they stepped onto the stage and stood before Professor Adel; only vaguely aware of the eyes on them all, including those of Ruby and Penny Rose in the front row of the crowd and the way that Regalia practically bounced with uncontainable enthusiasm beside them.

"Our final new team this year, one who came to the aid of their friends and displayed courage, resolve and ingenuity in the face of adversity; the team who recovered the Rook pieces" Coco once again gave a dramatic pause and Astra struggled not to laugh as Athena-Jade shuffled awkwardly beside them, her eagerness becoming impossible to hide even if she would never dream of asking the Headmistress to hurry up.

"Zirconia Shadowmoon, Regalia Russet, Athena-Jade Slate and their leader Astra Mars. From this moment forth you will be known as Team MARZ"

Astra was numb.

The crowds' applause suddenly sounded as though it were miles away and sea-green eyes framed by dark make up widened as Astra tried to process the situation, heart hammering in their chest, mouth dry and head filled with a dull droning buzz as they struggled to make sense of what they had heard, certain beneath all their swagger and bravado that some mistake had been made until they met the gaze of Professor Adel who gave them a smile as if to congratulate them. Astra slowly turned to face the team that they were now in charge of and saw that Regalia was giving her partner two enthusiastic thumbs up and an impossibly giddy smile whilst Zirconia seemed completely indifferent to the situation, it was Athena-Jade that the Deer Faunus sought out though and upon locking eyes with the Bear Faunus they saw that her expression was one that conveyed the maelstrom of emotions rushing within her mind, she looked bewildered and confused, she looked dejected and hurt.

But most of all she just looked angry.

Author's Notes:

So, five chapters in and we've finally got our teams officially put together.
That's the first part of Vol.1 done, another thirteen chapters of this volume to go though.

So, let's summarise shall we:
Starting off with enough of the secondary team to give a feel for their personalities and general vibes; the one who sees himself as an "Alpha Male" and basically is what Jaune would be if he'd been partnered with Cardin instead of Pyrrha, the one with a chip on her shoulder who's got a point to prove, the one who wants to loot the damn lockers and the country girl voice of reason between these idiots.
Yeah the panic of seeing a transport take off without them was bound to summon a Grimm, besides this initiation needed a proper boss-fight.
Okay, I haven't actually discussed race for the characters because I always feel like Remnant races and ethnicities wouldn't quite match up with ours, that being said whilst the image I have in my head for Diabla is Latina her accent isn't, in Downward Spiral I started a headcanon that the poor parts of Atlesian territories have a Yorkshire accent; so that's what she has.
Ah the Cankerlotl, an Axolotl Grimm and I'll be honest it took effort to not make its' name a Deadpool joke; this monstrosity has been on my back-burner since I re-read the Marvel: Ruins comics and the idea for an Axolotl Grimm that regenerates 'Wrong' hit me.
I was originally planning show off Wolfram and Diabla's Semblances in the opposite order but I'm happy with the way this worked out, also we've seen what three of four members of Team WULF can do.
Of course everyone came and watched the initiation on their lunch break, tell me you wouldn't.
Consider Velvet writing down possible team names as me turning and looking into the camera like the Office.
Is Coco a dick for deciding that maybe Wolfram should have to wait a little longer for an evac, absolutely….but that does seem to feel like it fits.
I mean I can say things like the Cankerlotl wasn't supposed to be in the canyon all day but I think we all know how this is gonna play out, I'll kill characters when I need to but offing someone in initiation isn't the tone I'm trying to set.
Note that Athena-Jade and Diabla are absolutely not enjoying the heat.
Athena's plan Surprise the Cankerlotl got an off-screen power up was actually a pretty solid one, it just didn't survive contact with reality.
Y'know what, I don't even like the King-Taijitu design that much and I still feel like it got short-changed and wasn't used as much as it could be.
Well shit, a successful combo from AJ and Zirconia in the form of ricocheting bullets.
Oh come on you knew Astra and Regalia were gonna show up here.
That Deer Faunus wants to be cool so bad.
Jealousy looks bad on you AJ.
Surprise the Cankerlotl got an off-screen power up/transformation because that's just what it does.
Ursinia's Semblance doesn't work on her, she can only help others.
And quickly followed by some insight into Diabla's Semblance, since this time round I'm trying to make each characters' Semblance a reflection of part of them I felt it fit that Diabla's be a burst of destructive force that doesn't actually make her stronger or actually help in most circumstances; which is something we'll unpack later. Basically the ability makes her attacks stronger but Diabla herself….Also her Semblance is called 'Overachiever'.
Wolfram's is undoubtedly a bit of an ass, but at the same time take note of how many times he's picked someone up or thrown himself in the way for someone else.
Now you'd think that fighting a giant monster might be a bad time to rules lawyer, but in my experience it's actually the BEST time to rules lawyer.
I was honestly originally gonna have all the Coco and Velvet stuff be in one scene but I felt like having some of it here actually helped the transition between the two teams in the canyon or it would have felt like one long shot.
In Coco's mind that was definitely a slow motion entrance with Caffeine playing.
Valid points regarding tactics from both Coco and Velvet.
So Zirconia just using AJ as a springboard is definitely gonna be a thing going forward, but hey at least they landed it this time.
This Dust combo special moves that Zirconia pulls out are great but I'm gonna have to take note of what does what 'cos I've used a few already.
So yeah it was Diabla who was staring AJ out in the mess hall….that's their first proper interaction with each other, it will be unpacked later.
Laser having a 'tacky' name is gonna carry on being a joke.
I mean Regalia's Semblance saying "Go for the head" is a little obvious but what do you want, the execution made up for it.
AJ and Zirconia working together after some training has the potential to be absolutely OP.
So that's one way to make sure that going for the head works….And I don't want anyone to read too much into this too early on in the story but Astra and Regalia's go-to combo move was basically a variation on Bumbleby.
"That was crazy, reckless as hell and had absolutely no right working as well as did….but it did and I suppose that's what counts" - Yep, Weiss's kid.
Of course there's more paperwork and protocol to go through.
Nurse Kintsugi, first OC of the staff although she's probably never going to be more than a background character; her colour is gold and she's a Fox Faunus just because it sounds a little like Kitsune.
But here we are, team naming time even if it was a foregone conclusion for at least one of the teams; showing each of Team MARZ's ways of dealing with the stress/nerves was fun.
"Nah I'm good, being on your team is cool; the four of us are gonna be great" there's the sad part, Astra was completely cool with being on AJ's team, they never wanted the leader spot.
Had to throw in a little nod to Ruby and Penny being there even if they weren't doing anything.
And there it is….It happened and those reactions are the only ones that they could have given; so time for some drama.

Thank you to SumoSnipe, Funlander and MajorBrony95 for their reviews on the last chapter.
Nah, not a Lewis gun….the ammo drum on top sits vertically so its' more like a really weirdly upside-down and kinda backwards Tommy gun, and also it shoots grenades…..and is pistol gripped, basically what I'm saying is The Adventurer is just pure RWBY nonsense.
AJ has a hammer, glyphs and a giant laser; she's good at close range, long range and support….she's just not built for this heat.
Yeah the Looney Tunes vibe is exactly what I was going for.
Communication is important...However it's a work in progress for these kids.
I would assume that Ruby, at almost fifty years old has developed enough self control to not loom over her students and try and deconstruct their weapons by eye.
Yeah I give all Vaccuans varying degrees of Western accent whlst the architecture of the Kingdom has more Middle-Eastern influences;same as Lower Atlas having a Yorkshire accent where Upper Atlas is probably closer to received pronunciation.
Yeah AJ are both from Atlas kinda and we'll get into Diabla's issues and backstory although it might have to wait until Vol.2.
Oh the Buffalo Wings were a joke idea...The monstrosity in this chapter is what happens when I try.

As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.