Hi everyone, welcome back!
Also… FINALLY! WE ARE GETTING RWBY VOLUME 9!
It's been almost two years, but we're finally getting it! Before you say anything though, I do not know whether the events of that Volume will impact my story or not, I'll have to watch all of Volume 9 before I make a final decision. On that note, there is one thing I must say.
Just as it was done for Sonic Frontiers, please do NOT spoil anything for Volume 9 in your reviews. At best, wait a week after the release of one episode before saying anything about it. That way readers who haven't watched it yet don't have to worry about spoilers. Thank you.
Now, I'm sure all of you are looking forward to what happens when we get to Volume 3 for this story, and I'm looking forward to writing it. But first, we got to get through the Grimm Eclipse arc right here, but don't worry, it shouldn't be that big (six or seven chapters at most), as it has some important plot points that I'm establishing for my story, starting with this very chapter. I also plan on giving an actual plot with character development, as opposed to the actual game that was mostly hack-and-slash, as well as more than a few surprises. Suffice to say, I think you're going to like what I have planned here.
Now with that being said, let's get started.
A New Threat
General Ironwood approached one of the many holding cells within the flagship, one that was guarded by a pair of soldiers, who saluted as they saw him. "Open it."
With his order, the cell was opened, revealing the White Fang lieutenant inside. Though he no longer had his White Fang mask, it was clear to see his face, which was covered with scars, most notably around his mouth and on the sides, like someone had taken a blade to the ends of his mouth to carve into his flesh for some reason. It was easy to understand why his mask would cover his whole face. He looked up to glare at the general.
"Fenrir Lokson." Ironwood began, revealing the lieutenant's name as he pulled out a file containing his information. "A wolf Faunus from Mistral, joined the White Fang based there shortly after Ghira Belladonna stepped down as leader, and one of the many advocates for the White Fang taking up arms."
"Done your research, huh?"
"Those look like some nasty scars." Ironwood noted, causing Fenrir to glare at him. "Let me guess: humans?"
"A bunch of your high-ranked 'upper class' folk thought it be nice to have a 'pet' around." Fenrir glared. "But when this 'pet' decided to growl back, they defanged him." He opened his mouth to reveal some considerable damage done to the insides, particularly how the wolf-like fangs that were supposed to be there had been ripped out, probably with plyers.
Ironwood suppressed his wince. He was never one to discriminate against anyone, and he understood why the White Fang hated humanity, and didn't blame them for it. But he wasn't about to let their actions jeopardize the safety of Remnant.
"You claim to hate humanity and yet you work alongside one." Ironwood told him. "We raided your base at Mount Glenn, but there was only a handful of White Fang agents there, so it's logical to assume that you have another base somewhere nearby. Let me get straight to the point: where is Eggman?"
"Don't know." Fenrir shrugged. "Guy's got a big a ship and it moves. Could be anywhere. Not that it would do you any good if you did find it. You seen the stuff he's got? You Atlas chumps got nothing on it!" He scoffed in amusement. "World's strongest military power my ass. It won't be that way for long."
"If you don't know where Eggman is, then at least tell me when he's going to strike and how." Ironwood told him. "There are two ways this can go. If you cooperate, I promise you'll be treated fairly, and I'll even speak on behalf at your trial. If you refuse…"
"You'll torture me?" Fenrir guessed.
"No." Ironwood stated firmly. "Despite what you might think, not all humans are barbaric savages."
"Tell that to your BFFs the Schnees." Fenrir spat at Ironwood's feet. "Thanks for the offer, General. But I think I'll just sit right here and enjoy the show."
Seeing how he wasn't about to get anything from him at this time, Ironwood turned to walk away as the door closed. Though there was reason to believe that Eggman would attack the Vytal Festival later this month, as per Sonic's theory, it would be more helpful if he had facts and something to work with as opposed to just guesses and assumptions. But at the moment, there was little more he can do than to bolster defenses around Beacon. But, when the fighting starts, he'll do whatever it takes to stop Eggman and ensure the safety of his world. Whatever it takes.
Meanwhile, Tails' personal workshop that had been set up at Beacon Academy had been upgraded significantly with some resources provided by Atlas, as well as the addition of a well-respected engineer from that very same kingdom.
"Incredible." Pietro Polendina, an elderly dark-skinned man in a specially designed wheelchair with four moveable robotic legs, said in awe as he looked at the Cyclone. "A transformable vehicle equipped for air and ground travel, as well as a battle-mode? This is truly a remarkable engineering feat! And you designed this all by yourself?" He looked towards Tails, with an impressed and awed smile.
"That's right." Tails confirmed with pride. "I was even able to utilize Dust to maximize its firepower and defense. I've also been thinking I can make a mode that allows the Cyclone to travel underwater. But I haven't had the time to get into it."
"An underwater mode?" Pietro said with an impressed laugh. "Young man, you are truly something else!"
"Thanks Doctor." Tails smiled.
Pietro Polendina had only arrived at Beacon recently under Ironwood's request. He was also one of the few who had been informed on Sonic and his friends, as well as the threat of Eggman. Needless to say, when he and Tails first met, they clicked almost instantly. One of the reasons Pietro was called in was to analyze and even reverse engineer some of the recovered Eggman-tech, which he said he would be more than happy to work on, there was also another reason why he was called.
"Ahem." Shadow got both their attention as he, Omega, and Penny were at a table, the black Hedgehog looking to them somewhat expectantly. "If it's alright, I'd like to begin."
"Yeah, right away Shadow." Tails nodded as they made their way to the table. "Sorry about him." He apologized to Pietro.
"It's quite alright." Doctor Polendina assured. "I just can't help but admire such an incredible engineering feat. Speaking… You are Omega, correct?" He asked the former Badnik.
"Affinitive. Designation E-123 Omega."
"When we are done here, I would like to ask some questions about your own design. If that's alright with you." Pietro requested.
"Your request is approved." Omega replied.
Pietro smiled before turning to Shadow. "So, correct me if I am wrong, but you are planning to combine two different forms of natural Dust to create a newer and more powerful form, one that can hopefully destroy the Grimm pools?"
"That is our intent, yes." Shadow confirmed. "But even if we are able to successfully create this Plasma Dust, we won't know for sure if it'll completely destroy the Grimm pools."
"We may need to also test for quantity, size, and a number of other factors that may corelate around the Grimm pools." Penny added. "Actually, now that I think about it, I don't think we have any records of study surrounding the Grimm pools, do we father?"
"I'm afraid not, Penny." Pietro replied. "Aside from the Grimm themselves, studying the pools has not yielded any results. Most notably because any attempt to study them usually leads to unsavory results."
"Hopefully, we can change that." Tails said as he brought out two containers of Dust powder and carefully poured them into a special device on the table. This device had two openings near the top that connected to a single glass sphere at the bottom via tubes. From one end was Fire Dust, and the other was Lightning Dust. Both forms of powder met and mixed together within the single sphere at the end, creating a mixture of red and yellow powder.
"I have a question." Penny raised her hand. "Why doesn't the Dust ignite on contact? Fire and Lightning Dust are among the most volatile and destructive types of Dust."
"Don't worry, this device I built is air-tight to prevent any outside interference from igniting the Dust." Tails assured. "But now for the moment of truth…"
Shadow then took out the green Chaos Emerald and motioned for everyone to take a few steps backwards, which they did. He then pointed the emerald at the sphere that mixed the Dust together and activated the power inside.
"Chaos Control!"
The Dust inside the sphere shined with a bright flash of light. This was the first time Shadow ever used Chaos Control for something this precise before, mixing two different elements together to create something new. Hopefully this will yield promising results.
When the light subsided, all the red and yellow powder had vanished and was replaced with a single orange powder. It seemed like that two forms of Dust had been combined, but they had to make sure.
Tails then walked up and opened a small opening at the bottom of the sphere, allowing a small amount of the orange powder to fall out and gather on a petri dish, and Tails was quick to close it so that no access powder could leak out. He then put it under a microscope and Pietro was the first to look at it.
"I… I don't believe it…" Pietro could barely contain his amazement. "Penny, look at this!"
He stepped aside to allow his daughter to look into the microscope. "The crystalline structure… it's completely bounded! It's almost as if the Fire and Lightning Dust was never even there!"
"We've actually invented a new form of Dust!" Pietro said with a laugh.
"Don't celebrate yet, we need to test it." Shadow advised as he placed a small amount of the orange powder into a device that resembled a grenade. "Omega."
"Tungsten steel prepared." Omega reported as he carried a large slab of metal over his head and into a more open space and dropped it onto the ground, creating a large thud in the workshop. "Despite being in a different dimension, Remnant still has many of the same elements our world does, including the strongest known metal."
"Well, let's find out how strong." Shadow walked over and placed the bomb at the center of the slab and stepped back.
"Activating shield." Tails pulled out a hand-held device and turned on a dome-like barrier of Hard Light Dust for protection. He and Pietro put on some goggles as Tails was ready to begin the test. "Detonating in three… two… one!" He pressed a button on the device.
*BOOM!*
The explosion was large, bright, and loud, but thankfully contained within the sphere. Though it deactivated quickly when the explosion subsided as Tails and Pietro removed their goggles.
"The Hard-Light Dust barrier held, but it fell apart shortly after." Penny reported.
"Likely unable to withstand the force of the explosion." Omega assumed. "That single device carried enough firepower matching seven hand grenades, approximately ninety-one PSI."
Shadow was the first to approach the test subject to see the kind of damage that had been dealt. The large plate of tungsten had been all but completely obliterated, with only a cluster of small fragments scattered around the perimeter where the barrier once was. Shadow picked up one said fragment and held it to the others.
"Such destructive force…" Pietro looked in awe.
"That one device can clear out a whole group of Grimm!" Tails stated.
"Plasma Dust is highly destructive. Even if the Grimm pools are not destroyed, this will still guarantee the destruction of many enemy units in the heat of battle. Satisfaction achieved." Omega said.
"Shall we continue testing?" Penny asked.
"Yes!" Tails said excitedly. "We just created a new form of Dust! Time to see what else it can do!" This earned an excited and heartfelt laugh from Pietro, who also appeared to be enjoying himself.
Meanwhile, Teams RWBY and JNPR sat in the Beacon courtyard along with Sonic, Knuckles, Amy, and Rouge, helping themselves to lunch. Rouge took notice of Blake eating some fish before she spoke to the Faunus girl.
"Hey, quick question." Rouge asked Blake, getting her attention. "If you're a bird-Faunus and eat chicken, would that count as cannibalism?"
Yang nearly choked trying to stifle a laugh while Blake merely gave a glare a to the bat, who merely shrugged with a teasing grin.
"Hey, I'm just curious."
"How have you put up with her for so long?" Blake asked Knuckles.
"You find ways to tolerate the company." The red Echidna responded.
Sonic kicked back slightly as he laid on the grass. "This is nice. Pretty cool not to have to worry about the end of the world for once."
"Aren't you being a bit complacent?" Weiss questioned. "We still haven't caught Eggman yet, and the Vytal Festival, which you suspect is his primary target, is less than a month away."
"Yeah, but there's not anything we can do right now, so just relax and rest up." Sonic replied.
"It's good to be concerned about that, but don't get too hung up over it either." Amy added.
"I suppose that makes sense." Ren granted as he ate his sandwich with Nora tearing into hers right next to him like a wild animal. "Nora, you're going to choke if you keep eating like that." Her only response was, after she swallowed her food, to stuck her tongue out at him as she continued to eat.
"Well, every time Eggman did show up, we were able to push him back." Ruby put in. "There was giant three-headed robot dog, the giant flying robot, and all those four other big bots that we took down about a week ago."
"Yeah, we can handle anything old Baldy McNosehair throws at us." Yang said confidently.
Sonic laughed. "Funny, I actually called him that during our whole thing with the Wisps. Never got a chance to say it to his face though."
"I'll be sure to tell him next time we see him." Yang replied.
"Well, Eggman aside, I am bit nervous about the tournament." Jaune said. "Huntsmen from all across the world are gonna be there, and we got no idea what we're up against."
"Maybe not, but I'm certain we'll do well." Pyrrha said.
Jaune smiled. "Hey, you wouldn't mind another training session later, would you Pyrrha? I think I could use some extra help."
"Of course." Pyrrha smiled back, happy to see Jaune openly asking for assistance.
"Maybe you could use the extra help, but I think I'm good." Yang said, not even trying to hide her confidence.
"A little cocky, don't you think?" Weiss questioned
"Hey, I got the stuff!" Yang replied. "You saw me total a whole army of killer robots! Pretty sure I'm golden."
"Is that a joke to you always wearing yellow, Yang?" Ruby asked.
"No, but maybe it could be…" The blonde thought for a moment. "Maybe I can make some gold armor or something, maybe a cool nickname."
While everyone else seemed to be enjoying themselves, Knuckles couldn't help but be drawn in by Yang's own confidence. He was reminded once more of what he saw during their fight in the subway tunnels against Eggman's Badniks. He didn't really have much of a chance to talk with her about it before, but now that it was a weekend and the students didn't have any classes today, but more importantly, there wasn't any sort of crisis going on right now… it seemed like the perfect time for Knuckles to address his concerns.
"Yang." Knuckles stood up, getting her attention, as well as that of everyone else. "Let's take a bit of a walk."
"Uh… what?" She was a bit confused by that request, even more so as Knuckles looked at her seriously.
"We need to have a chat about your Semblance."
"Thanks again for your help, Doctor Polendina! You too, Penny!" Tails waved as he, Shadow, and Omega saw them getting ready to depart from the workshop.
"I should be thanking you, young man!" Pietro smiled as he shook Tails' hand. "We just achieved a scientific breakthrough! One that could potentially guarantee humanity's future! You, young Tails, are a genius!"
"Awe, thanks." Tails smiled as he rubbed the back of his head. "It's nice... to talk another scientist, one that isn't interested in world domination."
Pietro chuckled at that as he held a metallic brief case filled with their creation. "This Plasma Dust should help considerably. James should be quite happy."
"And even if it doesn't destroy the Grimm Pools, it will allow us to advance our technology even further." Penny added. "This will not only improve weaponry, but also potentially living conditions for people all over Remnant. There are so many possibilities this could grant us."
"Thank you again, for all your help. You two as well." Pietro said to Shadow and Omega. "With your permission, I'd also like to study more of these Chaos Emeralds and their energy. We were only able to create this Plasma Dust with it. Perhaps with enough study, we may be able to find a means to replicate the power so that we don't need one of the Emeralds to keep producing it."
"Perhaps." Shadow replied.
"Inform me if you discover any potential weaknesses within Eggman's technology." Omega stated. "I will not hesitate to exploit it."
"I'll… keep that in mind." Pietro responded. "Come on, Penny."
With that, the two left the workshop, leaving the trio alone, though Tails' smile never left his face. "I like him. He's a good guy."
Shadow silently agreed with Tails. Even if it was a short meeting, Shadow could tell right away that Pietro Polendina was a good man, one that was only interested in using his scientific knowledge for the good of the people of Remnant. Polendina reminded him a lot of his own creator, Gerald Robotnik before his descent into madness. One such similarity was how close Pietro was to his so-called daughter, Penny. That too reminded him of… someone else that Shadow as particularly close to. Of course, Shadow could tell right away that Penny was an android. It wasn't hard to figure out, and he likely assumed that Tails and possibly Sonic had figured it out as well, but he chose not to say anything. It wouldn't do any good even if he did. Still though, with the successful creation of Plasma Dust, it did bring them one step closer to stopping Eggman and potentially destroying the Grimm completely, though there is still much testing they need to do with it before they begin taking it into battle. Speaking of the fight, it was now time to shift his focus to the more immediate concerns.
"Your anti-virus program." Shadow got Tails' attention. "Is it ready, yet?"
"Not quite." Tails replied. "I got an understanding of Remnant's computer systems, specifically Atlas as it's the most advanced on this planet. So I should be able to write the base code for the programing now."
"And this program will search the entirety of Beacon's systems?" Shadow asked.
"Mostly the CCT, but yeah." Tails replied, wondering where Shadow was going with this.
"I need you to add another program to it." The black Hedgehog told him. "Find a way to copy the schematics of the entire academy and have it transferred without anyone else's knowledge. Beacon's structural design, its electrical systems, everything about how it was built. Can you do that?"
"Y-yes… I can do that. But why?" Tails asked with confusion.
"We all know Ozpin is hiding something, it's also likely the reason Eggman is targeting the academy." Shadow answered. "It may also be connected to the mysterious party that Eggman may be involved in. Since Ozpin is so reluctant to tell us, we need to find out for ourselves."
"I agree." Omega said. "If we have a better understanding of Eggman's objectives, we stand a greater chance at destroying him."
Tails had to admit that they both had good points. Even he could tell that Ozpin and those closest to him were hiding something. Though it did feel kinda dirty to do this behind Ozpin's back, especially since he let them all stay at Beacon, but he also preferred to know what was going on as opposed to being kept in the dark.
"Alright, I'll do it." Tails said. "I should have the code written soon, and the program ready not long after."
"Good." Shadow nodded.
At that one moment, Tail's scroll went off and he was quick to pull out to see who was calling him. "Speak of the devil." He answered. "Professor?"
"Tails, I trust your work with Doctor Polendina has gone well?" Ozpin asked.
"Yeah. We still need to run some tests, but I'd say we're off to a good start so far." Tails answered.
"Excellent. But there is something I do need your help with." Ozpin requested. "You, as well as Sonic and the rest of your friends."
After being led to one of the most outer areas of Beacon's courtyard, surrounded by mostly trees, away from the academy and any other students; Sonic, Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Amy, Rouge, Jaune, Nora, Ren, and Pyrrha all sat some distance away as Knuckles faced Yang to speak to her.
"What's up? You wanted to talk about my Semblance?" Yang asked.
"Ruby gave me the basic gist back at Mountain Glenn but correct me if I'm wrong." Knuckles began. "You're capable of absorbing the damage of any physical attack dealt to you and can redirect that energy back your enemy, right? Did I miss anything?"
"No, that's basically it." Yang answered.
"What about when your hair lights on fire?" Knuckles asked.
"That's just a cool side effect." Yang brushed off.
"Or it more likely indicates your Semblance is currently active." Knuckles commented. "Specifically, when you go on the attack with all that gathered energy."
Yang was somewhat surprised, honestly never really considering that. "Maybe… I guess so."
"But am I also right to assume that even though you're absorbing your enemy's physical attack, your Aura still takes damage?" Knuckles assumed.
"Yeah, but that's alright. Can't be helped." Yang waved off, but was surprised to hear Knuckles sigh, almost like he was disappointed. "What? Something wrong with my Semblance?"
"No, your power is impressive, and if you use it right, it can serve you well in battle. But that's just it, Yang." Knuckles told her seriously. "You're not using it right."
"Come again?" Yang questioned, an eyebrow raised in partial irritation.
"You purposely let yourself take damage to gain an extra boost in power, and a temporary one at that." Knuckles told her. "From what I gather, your Aura needs time to recover whenever it gets damaged. I'm even willing to wager that it gets even more damaged from the recoil of your attack."
"That's why I always finish it." Yang stated. "It's a one-hit KO."
"What if it's not, though?" Knuckles questioned. "Yang, be straight with me. Did you purposely let that Egg-Hammer hit you back on the train?"
"So, what if I did? I took it down, didn't I?" Yang argued.
"That's not the point!" Knuckles stated rather loudly, getting the attention of all their friends who had been listening the whole time. "You have an impressive ability, and it can be a good fallback too. But you don't have to use it with every fight, especially if you actually let your enemy hurt you! What happens if your Semblance fails you? What if you go up against someone who can either dodge your attack, or even take it, despite all the extra energy you've gather!"
"Look, I've had my Semblance for a while, I know how to use it!" Yang argued, her temper quickly growing. "I've taken down every Grimm, robot, and thug I've gone up against!"
"Criminals with no combat training, mindless monsters, and simple drones are one thing." Knuckles said. "What about a veteran Huntsman who has training and experience that far surpasses yours? I figured out your Semblance's weakness just by watching you use it once. Any experienced fighter probably would. And if I recall correctly, when you tried to fight Metal Sonic, you couldn't land a single hit on him."
"Well…" Yang tried to come up with a response, but when she remembered how that fight went back at the Industrial District, and how Metal Sonic parried all her attacks with lightning-speed, she failed to reply. She quickly noticed the expectant look on Knuckles' face, which only made her angrier. "Okay, maybe he was just too fast for me but…"
"Are you going to make the same excuse when you end up losing a limb?" Knuckles interrupted.
"What?!" Yang looked in a mixture of confusion and anger.
"You can't rely on your Semblance to get you out of every jam!" Knuckles told her. "Yang, you've become so dependent on your power, that you've turned it into a crutch!"
Yang's eyes widened so much that they were almost circular. And it wasn't just her, most of her fellow students looked in surprise, notably Ruby. She'd never heard anyone talk to Yang about her Semblance like that. She heard some of her professors at here at Beacon and even her dad say a few things, but this was the first time that she'd seen anyone confront her sister about it like this. Though Weiss looked with more curiosity than anything else. A lot of the things Knuckles said did make sense, and it reminded her of some of the lectures that Winter would tell her about how to fight and properly use her Glyphs. Amy looked with concern as she, Sonic, and Rouge shared glances with each other.
It wasn't long before Yang's temper reached a boiling point, her eyes turning red as she glared at Knuckles. "My power is not a crutch! It's taken down everyone I've gone up against! It's saved my hide more times than I can count, even my sister's life once before I even came to Beacon! So, what if I get a little hurt? I can handle it! I'm not some damsel-in-distress who needs to be saved or told how to fight! I can fight just fine!"
"Really?" The unfazed Knuckles questioned. "In that case, how about a spar?"
"What?" Yang asked.
"You heard me." Knuckles replied. "You and me. Right here and now."
Yang's glare only hardened. "Fine. Have it your way. I'll show you what I can do."
"Wait, guys…" Ruby was about to try and get in-between them, but Sonic quickly grabbed her by the wrist.
"Let them do this." The blue Hedgehog told her.
"But Sonic…" Ruby tried to protest.
"Knuckles knows what he's doing." Sonic said. "He's a veteran fighter. When it comes to stuff like this, he knows what he's talking about."
"Gotta go with Blue on this one." Rouge agreed. "He may be dense, but he can pretty sharp when it comes to all that combat stuff."
Ruby looked towards the rest of her friends, wondering what they all thought about this. Weiss, Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren were a bit curious about this themselves and it seemed like they were interested in seeing where this went. Jaune was concerned, same with Amy, but they both seemed to think that it would be best to let this unfold on its own. As for Blake, while she did trust Yang with her life on the battlefield, as they were partners, she also trusted Knuckles' judgement and knew a lot of the stuff he was saying did make sense. So, she too seemed to be willing to go along with this.
With that, Ruby reluctantly sat back down, but that didn't make her any less worried. Yang's always been the one to save her whenever she was in trouble, so it was rather hard to see her like this, and she had a bad feeling that things weren't going to go in her sister's favor here.
Sonic however looked towards a tree on his side and noticed a bird perched on a branch. It was a raven with red eyes, and it seemed to be focusing on what was unfolding before them all. Sonic shrugged it off though and turned back towards Yang and Knuckles.
"No weapons." Knuckles told Yang as he drove both Galantine blades into the ground behind him. "Only your fists."
"Fine with me." Yang commented as she put Ember Celica away on her belt.
"And to make things interesting… all you have to do to win, is land one hit on me." Knuckles said.
"That's it? One hit?" She questioned.
"One hit." He confirmed. "But if I block or catch your blow, it doesn't count. You have to land a solid blow."
"And what about you? One hit on me and you win?" Yang questioned rather irritably.
"No. I win, when you're no longer able to stand." Knuckles said firmly.
To say Yang was stunned was an understatement. But that was quickly replaced with anger as she clenched her fists. 'How about when you're no longer able to stand?' She took her usual boxer-like stance as Knuckles stood firmly.
"Ready?" He asked.
"Whenever you are." Yang stated.
"Then come and get me."
Yang was instantly on the attack, rushing Knuckles with a punch, which he parried with a swing of his right arm before striking with his left fist into her gut, lifting her up into the air slightly before coming back down as she held her stomach with one arm and glared at Knuckles, who paced a bit around her, looking at her expectantly. She tried to throw a couple more punches his way, but he quickly swerved and dodged each of them before coming at her side to strike her there and push her back.
Her fists clenching and her anger growing, Yang growled before attacking again, trying to overpower Knuckles through a series of rapid punches. However, he proved too quick for even that as he parried each of her strikes, not a single one of them landing. That caused her to pause slightly, briefly remembering Metal Sonic doing the exact same thing in their battle, and that moment of hesitation was quickly exploited by Knuckles as he pushed her arms away and made her open for him to deliver a solid punch to her face with enough force to send her rolling across the ground.
"Come on, Yang!" Ruby called out, trying to support her sister.
Knuckles paid a brief glance towards Ruby and then another towards Yang as he saw her look in her direction too before glaring back at Knuckles. That right there could be another reason why Yang was so complacent with her flawed fighting style. Ruby's too supportive, and it may stem from the fact that Yang is her older sister. Knuckles remembered when Yang told them about how her birth mother left and her stepmother passing away, leaving them alone with their father who shut down for a time. It was reasonable to assume that Yang may have been the one to raise Ruby, despite being so young. It's not uncommon for children to think their parents, or anyone else who raises them, to think that they know what they're doing. But Ruby is still the leader of her team. She had to see this. She had to understand the flaw in her older sister's fighting style so they can better preform as a unit on the field.
The red Echidna turned his attention back to the blonde as she rushed him again with another punch, but Knuckles not only dodged the attack, he grabbed her by the arm and lifted her over his head to slam her down on the ground, causing her fellow students to wince slightly before Knuckles threw her away, sending her rolling across the ground before she forced herself back up and charged Knuckles again, who kept his fists up as she threw every punch she could think of at him, but he dodged and parried all her strikes and with each one, he landed a strike of his own at various points across her body, notably her sides, stomach, and face even. After another strike to her face to disorient her, Knuckles pulled his fist back and dealt a harder punch to further push her back.
"What is he doing?" Jaune asked. "He knows every attack he's giving her is only making her stronger. It's like he's throwing Dust on a fire."
"I think that's exactly what he's trying to do." Pyrrha pointed out. "He recognizes a flaw in Yang's fighting style and he's trying to show her why it's flawed."
"Ya know, Yang's Semblance is actually a lot like mine." Nora said. "I absorb electricity to make myself stronger."
"In that case kid, you should probably pay attention to this." Rouge advised the pink-clad student.
"But that's not the same as when Yang actually lets herself get hurt. I can see where Knuckles is going with this." Ren stated.
"B-but she's always pulled through." Ruby tried to say.
"Ruby, you can't always expect the same method to work every single time." Amy told her. "Knuckles is right about that."
"I've noticed it too." Blake put in. "I've seen Yang actually let herself take damage to get stronger. If she lets that keep happening, she could get herself hurt."
"They're right, Ruby." Weiss told her partner and leader when she saw that she was about to protest. "I've learned myself that utilizing the same combat method won't always lead to the desired result. Knuckles has experience that we lack, so you should trust his judgment."
Ruby looked towards Sonic, wondering what he was thinking. The only response he gave was a serious and knowing look, indicating that he agreed with them. As much as Ruby wanted to say something, she knew deep down that she couldn't get herself involved in this. The best she could do was find a way to support and help Yang whatever the outcome.
After getting knocked down once again, Yang looked more than a little frustrated as her eyes turned red, glaring back at Knuckles.
"And that right there, is another problem." Knuckles told her.
"What?" She growled.
"Your temper." Knuckles pointed out. "You let your anger get the better of you, and it makes you even more sloppy than before."
Sloppy?! That really got Yang angry as she tried to punch Knuckles even while she was down, but he easily dodged that and dealt another attack to the side of her face to push her down even further.
Slamming her fists on the ground in an explosive fury, Yang pushed herself up and yelled loudly as she tried to attack any way that she could. But the result was still the same. Knuckles parried and dodged all her strikes before delivering a knee to her jaw and leaving her open where he went on the attack, striking her multiple times across her body before throwing out another punch that, once again, sent her rolling across the ground.
Despite getting knocked down over and over, and her Aura growing weaker with every strike, Yang could feel the gathered energy being built up. Everything Knuckles threw at her only increased her own strength and she was getting it built up, ready to unleash one devastating strike that was sure to put Knuckles in the dirt and make him eat his words.
He saw her hair lighting on fire and knew exactly what was coming next. "Is that really the best you can do?" Knuckles questioned.
"You have no idea!" Yang stated.
"To be honest Yang, I was really expecting more from you." Knuckles told her. "You're unskilled…" Her eyes glowed a brighter red, her anger growing with each word. "…Untrained…" Her hair lit with a blazing inferno. "…Undisciplined…" Her teeth gnashed as she pulled herself back, ready to strike. "…And unworthy!"
"You forgot one." Yang said with a glare. "Unstoppable!"
She gave the loudest yell she could as she rushed him, throwing her fist back with all the gathered force and energy she had built up and unleashed it all with one explosive punch.
*BOOM!*
There was a small but powerful explosion as it seemed Yang made contact. But what happened made all the other students' eyes widen in shock, especially Ruby. Sonic, Rouge, and Amy seemed unsurprised, however. But none were more shocked than Yang herself.
Knuckles had stood his ground… and caught her punch!
His quills were blown back slightly from the impact, but the Echidna hadn't budged an inch from where he stood. All the gathered energy that Yang had built up from this entire spar, and Knuckles took it like it was nothing.
Yang honestly couldn't believe it. Her eyes were like dinner plates as her mouth hung open, the fire in her hair vanished as her eyes turned from red to their usual lilac color.
And it was that moment of shock and disbelief that left her wide open as Knuckles gave a punch far stronger than any he's done in this spar. That was made evident as when his fist made contact, Yang was sent flying and crashing through a few trees before crashing hard on the ground.
"Yang!" Ruby was about to rush and help her, but Sonic grabbed her by the arm again to stop her.
"Ruby, don't." He insisted.
"B-But…"
"She needs this." Sonic stated. "And… maybe so do you."
That only caused Ruby to look in confusion, but there was still the concern she had as she saw Knuckles approach the direction where Yang went.
She struggled to pull herself up, her body covered by broken trees and branches, but that wasn't what was keeping her down. Her Aura had been all but spent. It was honestly a miracle it didn't shatter completely though it felt like it would at even the tiniest of flicks to her body. Was Knuckles holding back the entire time he sparred with her? To be honest… even that one punch that sent her flying also felt like he was still holding back. All the energy she built up from this spar was among the most she'd dealt with in her whole life, but Knuckles had not only blocked it, but he also straight-up overpowered all of it! In fact, she had a feeling he could have ended that whole spar with one punch from the beginning.
Yang felt the debris being lifted off her as she saw Knuckles push and haul it all off before glancing down at her. That look in his eyes… and what had just happened… it was made all too clear to Yang. Knuckles was in a whole different league. Her Semblance wasn't enough.
She tried to look away, not finding it within herself to face him. "Yang, look at me." Knuckles told her. Slowly and with shaky eyes, Yang turned her head to look at him. His look was stern, but it was also understanding. "You have the potential to be a great warrior, but you can't become so dependent on your power, especially since it only really works if you let yourself get hurt. But it's not just that. You're part of a team, and you have to get better. If you don't, then one of your teammates is going to try and pick up the slack, and it'll only make things worse. One of them could get hurt, including Ruby." That comment caused Yang to wince. "You have to learn to fight smarter, not harder." He offered his hand. "And when you feel you're ready to ask for help, all you have to do is just that. Ask. And I'll be right here."
Despite the sincerity in his voice, Yang didn't accept Knuckles hand as she pulled herself up, albeit shakily. Knuckles had a feeling that would be the case, but he was certain he made his point to her.
With that all settled, Sonic finally let Ruby rush toward her older sister as Knuckles walked away. "Yang, are you okay?"
"I'm fine." She muttered, turning away, which only seemed to cause Ruby even more concern.
"Well, that was certainly something." Sonic and everyone heard a familiar voice from behind them and turned around to see Professor Ozpin with Tails, Shadow, and Omega right behind him. He also glanced to his side to see if that bird was still there, but it appears to have flown away, leaving only a small black feather that fell to the ground. The blue Hedgehog didn't pay it much thought as he addressed Ozpin.
"How much of that did you see?" Sonic asked the professor bluntly.
"Enough." Ozpin replied. "But that's not why I am here right now. Sonic, I have a favor to ask you and your friends."
"What's up?" Sonic asked, standing up with a serious expression, expecting a problem.
"Recently, Atlesian forces have helped set up a security network in the Emerald Forest to monitor any Grimm activity." Ozpin explained. "However, we've been experiencing some technical difficulty with two of the devices and we need some assistance to see what is going on."
"And you want us to take a look, huh?" Sonic assumed.
"I'm sorry to ask this of you, but with the Vytal Festival nearing as well as… other complications, I can't afford to send too many out for a mission like this." Ozpin replied. "It could be a technical glitch… or it could be something more serious. We don't know for sure yet."
"Yeah, don't worry. We'll take a look." Sonic assured with a smile.
"Thank you." Professor Ozpin nodded.
"Hey, mind if we tag along?" Jaune offered as he and his team, along with Team RWBY also stood up. "We don't really have anything else going on today, so…"
"I don't see any issue, but I feel it all depends on whether Sonic or his friends allow it." Ozpin deferred the choice to him.
Sonic looked at Shadow, who simply rolled his eyes, expecting this, but made no attempt to protest. Given what just happened recently, this might be a bit of a healthy distraction to get Yang and Ruby's mind off of Knuckles' little 'lesson' as he could tell that it was going to stick with them, Yang especially, for a while.
"I got no problem with it." Sonic accepted.
"Very well." Ozpin said. "We have two transports waiting, Professor Port will be on one of them to help fix any potential damage, and I trust our young fox friend can do the same."
"Yeah, if there's anything wrong, I think I can fix it." Tails said.
"Then let's get going." Sonic said.
The conjoined group of Teams Dark and JNPR rode in the Beacon airship as it made its way toward a specific destination within the massive Emerald Forest. Of course, it felt like their trip was taking longer than it thought, mostly because of the company they had with them.
"…But the Ursai were no match for my sheer tenacity!" Port went on with his story. But nobody really seemed to be interested with Jaune, Nora, and Rouge looking especially bored. Even Pyrrha who would normally pay attention to all her classes felt it was probably best to focus on the mission at hand, so she wasn't really paying attention either.
"Query." Omega spoke up, getting Port's attention. "Your story suggests you engage the Creatures of Grimm in a method that is not effective."
"Effective, you say?" Port questioned.
"To ensure the complete destruction of your enemy, wouldn't it make more sense to lure them into an ambush with your allies as opposed to engaging them by yourself?" Omega queried. "Unless you are absolutely certain you can achieve victory, such a straight-forward method is dangerous and can be considered suicidal."
"Oh, ho, ho. You would think so, my mechanical friend?" Port replied in a challenging way. "While I do not fault your logic, human tenacity and courage are our greatest weapons!"
"Tenacity and courage can also be a hinderance if they are not used with strategy." Omega put in.
"Oh boy…" Jaune rubbed his hand down his face as they continued to listen to the pair argue. "This may take a while." He looked towards Shadow, wondering what he was thinking about all this, but Shadow didn't seem to be paying attention either. If anything, he just stared out the opening of the dropship and toward the forest below. 'And you're being stoic as usual.' Jaune thought to himself, and yet at the same time, he couldn't help but wonder what it was that goes on through the black Hedgehog's head.
As Shadow glanced down at the Emerald Forest, he also took notice of the various ruins they passed over. These ruins, based on their architectural design, suggested that this forest was once the home of an ancient kingdom. Seeing these ruins reminded him of Kingdom Valley back in Soleanna. However, with that reminder, came back a certain experience that he would rather forget. For it was within those ruins that he encountered arguably his most dangerous adversary yet: Mephiles the Dark.
Despite that timeline being erased, only he, Sonic, and Silver remembered those events. He can still vividly remember seeing Mephiles for the first time when he arose from his own shadow and took a form that looked so much like his own. That entity sent the whole chain of events into motion by sending Silver to the past to try and kill Sonic in order to draw out the beast Iblis from the princess who ruled Soleanna and rejoin with it in order to become Solaris. Mephiles was cunning, manipulative, and incredibly powerful, so much so that it not only took the combined efforts of all of Team Dark to fight him off… Mephiles did the one thing that Eggman could only dream of.
He killed Sonic the Hedgehog.
When Shadow had revealed the truth to Silver, all it did was delay Mephiles' plan as he performed the act of killing Sonic and freeing Iblis himself. While Shadow didn't always agree with his blue doppelgänger, he respected him. And seeing his dead body like that was something he'd never forget. Though they were able to resurrect Sonic with the power of the Chaos Emeralds and defeat Solaris, it was still a haunting experience for them all. He honestly wondered how Sonic was able to handle all that, as he knew that he died as well, albeit briefly, but he did die.
In fact, now that he thought about it, the Creatures of Grimm did bear something of a resemblance to the monsters that Mephiles controlled. And he heard Sonic talk about his idea of a central-Alpha Grimm that may be controlling them all. If what Sonic said was true, and there was something at play, he prayed that it wasn't like Mephiles himself. But even if that was the case, it wouldn't stop Shadow from completely destroying it.
"Shadow?" Rouge got his attention as she nudged his shoulder. "Something up?" She asked with concern. "You got that 'deep in thought' look."
"Just thinking about… something else." Shadow replied. He then noticed how the dropship was slowing down. "I take it we've arrived?"
"Yep." Rouge confirmed as the dropship began to descend towards the hilly ground and on a pathway with the trees around them. Once they were close enough to the ground, Port as well as Teams Dark and JNPR, all jumped down and landed before the ship reascended and made its way back to the academy.
"Back in the Emerald Forest again." Jaune noted. "I don't remember this spot during our initiation."
"The Forest is rather large, and we were dropped off to a specific area." Ren said. "It's natural we'd find unfamiliar territory."
"Where to, Professor?" Pyrrha asked Port.
"The Security Center for this region is inside that cave." Port pointed to a cave on the other side of a wooden bridge over a trench. "Let us go see what the problem is."
"Omega, monitor the area for Grimm activity." Shadow instructed.
"Affirmative." The former Badnik already had his weapons locked and loaded as the eight of them quickly crossed the bridge and made their way into a dark and damp cavern. The only source of illumination was a series of crystals along the walls.
At the center of the cavern chamber was a large device that acted as the security sensor for this area of the Emerald Forest. Port took a moment to observe it. "Hmm, it does not appear to be damaged, at least not from any Grimm."
"So, what's wrong with it?" Nora asked.
Omega scanned it, already familiar with Atlesian technology by this point, he tried to pinpoint any internal or external damage, or anything that was out of the ordinary. And he was able to find something. Moving around the side of the device, he had spotted what his sensors had detected.
"Foreign object located." Omega revealed. It was a large metal box that had been attached to the device and it did not match any of the Atlesian technology the security device was made from. What stood out was the symbol painted on the device. It was an M within a hexagon with three circles being connected by lines attached to three of the points on the hexagon, one at the top, the second at the upper right, and the third on the lower left.
"What is it? A bomb?" Jaune asked as they took a moment to look at it.
"Negative. No incendiary elements at detected." Omega replied.
"Looks like it's sabotage." Rouge guessed.
"Eggman?" Ren asked.
"No, not his logo." Rouge replied. "In fact, I've never seen it before."
"Hmmm." Port got a closer look at it. "I feel like I've seen this symbol before. Nevermind that now." He kneeled down and opened a port near the bottom of the device to expose its internal parts. "I'm going to try and undo the damage. Please do what you can to keep any Grimm at bay while I work."
"How much time do you need, Professor?" Pyrrha asked.
"Not long. But the Creatures of Grimm won't need as long to make lunch out of us either." Port answered as he got to work.
"Alert! Multiple Grimm incoming!" Omega sounded off.
"Where?" Shadow questioned.
"From all sides. Likely subterranean Grimm." Omega replied. True to his word, multiple Grimm began to emerge from the cavern walls and the ground around them, and even the ceiling. Most of them all appeared to be Creeps, although there was also King Taijtu that emerged from the back of the cave.
"Form a perimeter!" Shadow ordered. "Rouge, Omega, destroy any Grimm you see! You four…" He spoke to Team JNPR. "Circle around the Security Network and kill any Grimm that slip past us!"
"Understood." Ren nodded.
"We'll handle it." Pyrrha nodded as well.
"Let's smash some Grimm!" Nora shouted as she drew her hammer.
"You got it." Jaune said, looking to Shadow directly, who simply nodded before engaging with the King Taijtu while Rouge and Omega flew to opposite ends of the cave to engage the Grimm as Team JNPR had dawn their weapons and established a circle around Port and the device he hoped to fix soon.
Shadow skated along the wall and toward the ceiling of the King Taijtu as its white head lunged to snap at him, but Shadow struck it with a homing attack to knock that head to the side, causing it to crash into the wall. The black head hissed at Shadow as he drew Arondight, but burrowed its way back underground, dragging its other head with it, while Shadow glared.
'The cave is too compact, and I have less room to move.' Shadow thought to himself. 'This one might have realized that and is using the underground to its advantage. This one is intelligent, perhaps even the alpha of this pack. All the more reason to destroy it the second it emerges."
On one end of the cave, Omega opened fire with his Ice Dust ammunition, shooting ice-shards at multiple Creeps that tried to charge at him. Any Grimm that was hit was pierced by shards and ice-spikes, easily shredding through them. But there were those that moved fast enough to quickly close the gap. Omega then boosted forward and threw his metallic fist forward to shatter the face of one Creep as six others attempted to pounce on him. However, Omega held his arms out as he spun his upper body a full three-sixty degrees so fast it seemed like a blur, which carried enough force behind it to obliterate all the Creeps that tried to pile on him.
Rouge flew forward before flipping over to deliver a double kick to knock one Creep into another. As she saw at least seven more trying to rush her, Rouge had already taken notice of the stalactites on the cavern ceiling. She flew into the air as the Creeps tried to pounce her, she made sure to stay in their line of sight so they would stay focused on her, while also throwing out Purple Hearts to break off the stalactites from the ceiling, causing the stone-spikes to fall and crush all the Creeps below.
However, she winced when she saw a series of Creeps emerging from the cavern ceiling directly above the security device and were ready to drop down below on Team JNPR. However, Shadow was already on the move, having teleported toward the nearest Creep to slice through it with Arondight before striking with a Homing Attack at the second and repeating the process on all the Creeps before they even had a chance to fall.
"Whoa…" Jaune looked up in surprise with the rest of his team, having seen what Shadow just did.
"Very impressive." Pyrrha nodded with a smile.
"Hold the fort. I'm almost done here." Port told the group.
Despite that, Shadow remained on guard as that King Taijtu was still nowhere to be seen. "Omega, scan the cave again. Locate the snake."
"Scanning." Omega looked in all directions. First around and then above, but he had yet to find his intended target. That is, until he looked directly below. "It is below us!"
The King Taijtu shot its black head out from the north side of the Security Device and was about to lunge forward. But, as it did, Jaune gave a yell as he quickly ran to meet it with his shield to block the black head's fangs.
"Nora! Smash its head!" Jaune exclaimed.
"On it!" Nora had climbed to the top of the Security Device and leapt from it, hoisting up Magnhild as she brought it down, adding extra force with the recoil of a grenade shot, to deliver a devastating strike to the top of the King Taijtu's black head, causing it to cave in and die.
At the same time, the white head emerged from the opposite side Security Device, but Pyrrha and Ren had already formed up and fired the guns from their respective weapons to keep it at bay. Pyrrha then threw her Akouo shield like a frisbee to cut out the white head's left eye as Ren focused his StormFlower's fire on its right eye to completely blind it. As it flailed around, Pyrrha converted Milo into its javelin form and threw it with enough force and precision to pierce through the top of its head and skull.
With both heads dead, the entire body of the King Taijtu disintegrated, leaving Team Dark visibly impressed.
"Not bad." Rouge clapped.
"Sufficient use of defensive and offensive methods." Omega noted. "The target was destroyed in less than thirty seconds. Most satisfactory."
"Awe, you're gonna make us blush." Nora said in a faux bashful tone, not even trying to hide her confidence.
"Are there any more Grimm left?" Jaune asked Omega, who scanned the area once again.
"I am no longer detecting any Grimm within the immediate vicinity. All enemies have been cleared." The last of the E-100 series reported.
"Then great work, everyone." Jaune congratulated his team as Pyrrha smiled while Ren and Nora shared a high-five. He glanced at Shadow, who gave a single nod of approval. The fact that Jaune waited to see if the area was clear before celebrating showed that his tactical awareness was improving, which was worth acknowledging. That only caused Jaune to smile.
"Yes! Bravo! Bravo!" Port told everyone as he stood up. "The Security Network is shipshape once again! I'll contact Professor Ozpin and see if he can dig anything up on this mysterious symbol."
"Let us hope Sonic, Ruby, and the others are faring just as well." Pyrrha said.
Meanwhile, the dropship that was carrying Teams Sonic and RWBY had arrived at another area in the Emerald Forest where the other Security Device was located, the center of a stone courtyard. The dropship lowered itself closer to the ground as Sonic, Ruby, Tails, Weiss, Knuckles, Blake, Amy, and Yang leapt off and landed on the ground before the dropship reascended and made its way back to the campus.
Though they did spot the Security Device, there was something else that drew their attention: several, large, container-like objects scattered around the general idea. And they all bore the same logo of the hexagon with the M in the center.
"What is all this?" Weiss asked.
"These look like… cages." Blake commented as she inspected one of the objects.
Knuckles did the same, looking inside an open cage to see several scratches and claw marks inside. "It looks like someone was trying to capture Grimm."
"Capture Grimm?" Amy questioned. "Why?"
"What's this symbol mean?" Ruby wondered as she looked at the emblem on one of the cages. "Think Eggman could be involved?" She asked Sonic.
"This isn't his tech." Sonic noted. "It could be someone else."
Tails looked at the Security Device as he spotted a box-like device attached to it that also bore the same emblem. "Whoever put these cages here is also responsible for the network being down." He opened a port near the bottom and took a look inside. "Damage doesn't appear to be too bad, I think I can get fixed pretty quickly."
"We'll keep an eye out for any Grimm." Sonic told his partner as they walked around the general area, keeping their eyes peeled and their weapons at the ready. As they did however, Ruby looked with concern towards Yang as she walked near the edge of the courtyard. During their ride here, Yang hadn't said a single thing to anyone. Ruby also noticed how Knuckles was on the other side of the area and Ruby could only guess that Yang was keeping her distance from him specifically.
"Hey, Yang." Ruby quickly came up to her sister, the two being enough distance away from their teammates and friends so that they can speak without eavesdroppers, but also being close enough to jump into action at a moment's notice. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Ruby." She tried to brush off.
"I don't think you are." Ruby insisted, causing Yang to turn away from her younger sister more. "Are you still upset about earlier?"
"No, why wouldn't I be?" Yang began, appearing to sound neutral at first, but as she went on, hints of anger and resentment began to seep out. "Just because I lost a little sparring match? Just because I'm apparently using my crappy Semblance wrong? Just because I'm such a crappy fighter that I need help!?" She exclaimed as she turned around with red eyes to face her sister. But when she saw the startled look on Ruby's face, her anger quickly faded. "Ruby… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to… I was just venting."
"It's okay." Ruby assured as she put a hand on Yang's shoulder, which she appreciated as she put her own hand over her sister's.
"Ruby… be honest. Do I need help when it comes to fighting?" Yang asked. "I mean… you know I can handle myself."
"I know, you're plenty strong Yang." Ruby replied. "But… everyone needs help, it's why we all at Beacon, to get better and to learn. I'm sure Knuckles knows that and, he was just trying to help you. Heck, he said you had the potential to be great, and I know you do."
That was true. Yang did hear Knuckles say that. But that didn't make the whole thing any less frustrating. She remembered how she tried to train Ruby in hand-to-hand combat before going to Beacon. For the most part, Yang's always looked after Ruby, she had to after everything. While their dad has managed to get better over the years, Yang still took a majority of the responsibility in looking after Ruby, especially since Qrow only visited once a year at the most. Even when he became a teacher at Signal, their uncle really only seemed interested in focusing on Ruby's training, and he quit Signal after Ozpin moved Ruby up two years and was transferred straight to Beacon. Yang only thought that Qrow didn't train her because either Yang didn't fight the same way their uncle did, him being a weapon's master and her being a brawler, or that she was already good enough and didn't need any training. But ever since Knuckles' little lesson, she couldn't help but wonder if she was ever really good enough.
"Yang?" Ruby nudged her slightly, breaking the blonde out of her thoughts. "Are you okay?"
"Just… thinking." Yang wasn't quite sure how to respond. But she wouldn't really get enough time to respond as they all heard a wolf-like howl coming up ahead, something that drew everyone's attention.
"Did you all hear that?" Blake asked.
"Yeah, we heard it." Amy confirmed as they all looked toward the surrounding forest and saw a Beowulf emerge from the trees, and right behind it were at least two dozen Grimm consisting of other Beowolves, Ursai and Boarbatusks.
But it wasn't just those Grimm. The loud and echoing sound of a caw came from the sky on the forest on the other end, where they all saw a Nevermore flying and making its way toward them.
"Tails?" Sonic questioned.
"I need some more time!" The young Fox said as he continued to work.
"Alright, I'll handle Tweety!" Sonic told everyone. "You guys take the rest!"
"On it." Weiss drew her weapon along with the rest of their friends as they closed in to surround Tails and establish a perimeter while Sonic dashed off in the direction of the approaching Nevermore.
Yang was the first to leap forward as an Ursa and three Beowolves made their way towards her. 'Good. I need something to smash!' Yang decided to vent her frustrations on the Grimm that were unfortunate enough to approach her. She attacked the Ursa first, pounding it all across its body with Ember Celica, firing shotgun bursts into it with each strike before pulling both her fists back with a yell to deliver a blow so powerful that it sent the Ursa flying into the Beowolf behind it, sending them crashing into the forest to be smashed and disintegrated upon landing. Yang then threw another fist straight towards the second Beowolf's skull, adding an extra burst with her shotgun gauntlet to obliterate its head in one strike before blasting off the foot of the third to knock it down, which allowed her to pin it to the ground as she pounded it repeatedly until it was nothing more than ash. She took a few moments to collect herself as that did feel pretty good.
Knuckles had noticed Yang's attempt to vent and saw once again how her temper would get the better of her. They still clearly had more work ahead of them, but for now, he had to focus on the enemies in front of him. One Ursa tried to rush Knuckles, only for him to duck under the slice of its claw and slice upward with his right Galantine blade to decapitate it completely. A Boarbatusk curled up for a spindash-like attack and shot at Knuckles. However, the red Echidna stood his ground and caught the spinning Grimm with his hands, holding it back with little issue before he picked it up and threw it at two incoming Beowolves to crush all three of them.
Weiss plunged Myrtenaster into the ground to send a trail of ice-spikes forward to pierce and skewer three incoming Grimm. However, that barrier was quickly smashed by a Boarbatusks spin dash as it, two Beewolves and two Ursa made their way closer to her. Fortunately, Amy was quick to rush to her aid as she charged at the incoming Grimm.
"Hey Weiss, remember what we did on that train?" Amy asked, while also letting the heiress know what she wanted to do.
"Of course, I do." Weiss smirked as she erected a multitude of Glyphs in the air to surround the five Grimm as they tried to gang up on Amy. She pounded the Piko-Piko onto the ground to propel herself up to one Glyph and used the repulsive force to shoot herself at an Ursa to smash it in its back before leaping toward another Glyph and used that to propel herself at the Boarbatusk and smash it in its side with her hammer to knock it over. She repeated the process multiple times to smash and crush all five Grimm in every direction until there was nothing left of them.
The pink Hedgehog skidded to a halt as the Schnee heiress approached her. "You know, we should really have a name for that attack." Amy thought for a second before snapping her fingers with a smile. "How about White Rose?"
"I like it." Weiss smiled. "Subtle and easy to remember. White Rose it is." She and Amy exchanged a high-five.
Ruby and Blake both rushed the remaining eight Grimm, consisting of six Beowolves, one Ursa, and a Boarbatusk. "Up for a little Ladybug?" Ruby asked her Faunus teammate.
"Ready whenever you are." Blake confirmed.
Ruby then fired her Crescent Rose and combined the force it with her Petal Burst to zoom straight through the pack of eight, slicing them when she could before zooming back the way she came, with Blake doing the same with her own natural speed and using her Shadow Semblance to provide a boost as well. A blur of red and black zoomed back-and-forth, left-and-right, slashing up all the Grimm in every direction so that the mindless monsters couldn't counter. It wasn't long before all six Beowolves were cut to pieces, leaving only the Ursa and the Boarbatusk, the former rushing Blake, who ducked underneath its claw slice to slash it repeatedly with Gambol Shroud before Ruby finished it off by bursting over Blake to decapitate the Ursa with a swing of Crescent Rose. The Boarbatusk was about to spindash the pair when Ruby got an idea.
"Fire below it!" Ruby converted her Crescent Rose into its rifle mode as she shot at the ground underneath the Boarbatusk, with Blake following her lead with Gambol Shroud's gun configuration. Just as the curled-up Grimm shot forward, the ground in front of it exploded, sending it flying upward where Ruby and Blake quickly gunned it down.
"Nice work, teammate!" Ruby smiled enthusiastically as she leapt at Blake with a hug, briefly surprising the Faunus girl before she gave a small smile and patted her leader on the head.
Meanwhile, the Nevermore sent a multitude of its razor-sharp feathers at the speeding Sonic, who was able to use the trees of the forest around him for cover, but any feather that did look like it was about to hit its mark, Sonic quickly cut down with a slice and parry from Caliburn. He then leapt up to one tree before jumping to the canopy of the other to get a clear view of the giant flying Grimm.
"Hey bird-boy! Is your aim so bad you can't see the forest for the trees?!" Sonic cracked.
The Nevermore gave an angry caw in response as it dove straight toward Sonic, who waited for the right moment as the Nevermore came ever closer. Right when it looked like it was about to ram into Sonic and the trees below, Sonic curled up and gave a powerful spindash attack to its face to knock it off its flight path. With it being so close to the ground, the Nevermore crashed into the trees and was quickly grounded. Ready to finish it off before it got back up again, Sonic pointed Caliburn forward and ran at a speed of six-hundred miles per hour, generating enough speed and force to completely pierce through the chest of the giant Grimm and destroy it.
The blue Hedgehog skidded to a halt back at the spot where his friends and allies all regrouped. "Well, that was pretty decent warm-up." Sonic commented, earning chuckles or simple smirks from nearly everyone present, even Yang who was still partially in a bad mood gave a slight grin. "Yo Tails, everything good?"
"Just finished." Tails closed up the device as it sprang back to life. "The Security Network's been restored."
"Mission accomplished! Go Teams RWBY and Sonic!" Ruby cheered.
"I'm still a little curious as to who was here recently." Weiss pointed out. "Someone purposely sabotaged the network and I doubt it was Eggman."
"Yeah, if it was him, he'd probably just blow the thing up, not sabotage it." Knuckles agreed.
"There's also these cages… whoever was here was trying to capture Grimm for some reason." Blake said. "But there doesn't appear to be a sign of a struggle."
"Maybe they didn't have time to capture any and had to leave their stuff behind." Amy suggested.
"Still, this is concerning. I'd like to find out who was responsible for this." Weiss said.
Almost on cue, Sonic's scroll rang, which he was quick to pull out as he saw who was calling him. "It's Ozpin." He answered it and put it on speaker. "Hey Prof. Just letting you know, we're done here. Networks' back up."
"Excellent. Professor Port is reporting the same thing on his end as well. I can see the network coming back online." Ozpin replied.
"Professor, sir?" Ruby spoke up. "We also found cages here, kinda looked like whoever was here was trying to capture Grimm."
"Is that so?" Ozpin asked, his tone becoming more serious.
"We also found this weird symbol on the cages and on whoever sabotaged the network." Yang added. "It looks like an M in the middle of a hexagon."
"Yes, Port and the others reported that same symbol at their location too. And I believe I know what it is." Ozpin revealed, getting their attention.
"What is it?" Tails asked.
"Merlot Industries. An old research and development corporation from quite some time ago." Ozpin explained. "Their headquarters was located in Mountain Glenn, but following the city's collapse, the company was forced to shut down. They lost primary facility and chief staff members."
"Well, someone is using their tech to cause trouble." Tails pointed out.
"Indeed. If we are to find answers, I believe we must retrace our steps back to the company's origins." Ozpin revealed.
"We're going back to Mountain Glenn, aren't we?" Sonic assumed.
"I'm sorry to ask this again of you, but this could be a serious matter." Ozpin said.
"Don't worry, this ain't our first rodeo." Sonic smirked as he looked toward his friends. "What do you say guys? Up for another field trip?"
They all exchanged knowing looks with each other before coming to a silent agreement as they all nodded. "Let's do this." Ruby stated with determination and an eager fire in her eyes that matched Sonic's.
Done.
And now the Grimm Eclipse arc has begun!
This was a nice introductory chapter as we got to meet Pietro Polendina rather early on, and he and Tails were able to hit it off pretty quickly. There were even successful in creating Plasma Dust. But will it be sufficient to do what they hope to do? Only time will tell.
And of course, Shadow is starting to do some digging into Ozpin's secrets.
Oh, I also gave a name to the White Fang lieutenant and made up a story about him, just to give him a bit more character other than just being a mini-boss. His name is Fenrir Lokson, he's a wolf Faunus that had his fangs pulled out with pliers, resulting in his face being scarred, the main reason he has a Grimm mask to cover his whole face. I based his name and character off Fenrir, the wolf of Norse Mythology, and child of Loki and Angerboda.
We also had that moment with Knuckles and Yang where he addresses the flaw in her fighting style and over-reliance on her Semblance, and it's left a bad taste in her mouth that's going to be with her for quite some time here. I really enjoyed writing that sparing match between them as we can see that Knuckles has Yang clearly outclassed in terms of raw strength and experience.
Up next, Teams RWBY, Sonic, JNPR, and Dark return to Mountain Glenn to follow the trail of this new threat they may be facing, and I've got some surprises in store in the next chapter. Until then, stay safe and stay healthy out there.
Again, please refrain from revealing any spoilers with Volume 9. Thank you.