Hello everyone, how are you doing? There won't be an omake today since there will be a Halloween omake next chapter. So yeah, enjoy this :3
It's been a few days since Zef dragged Ashley back into the nurse's office to rest, and all the while, Ashley wasn't happy about having her friends keeping her from helping kill the monster. The first night, she tried to sneak out, only for Zef to grab her by the arm and drag her back to bed before staying awake and watching her till she fell asleep. The next night, she tried to sneak out of the room again, only to stop as she noticed she stepped in some blue ink puddle. After a quick curse and Blue jumping out of the puddle and forcing Ashley to carry him like a jockey from left for dead, she was sent back to bed again, and again, she was stuck there for the night. The third night was different because not only Zef and Blue kept a watch on her, but also two strangers entered the room. The man looked to have silver hair and brown eyes; he wore an unzipped black suit over a dark green vest and green shirt, along with matching dark green pants and black shoes; he was also using a cane to walk and held a coffee mug that had Beacon's logo on it. The woman who entered the room had light-blonde hair that was tied in a bun with a curl on the side of her face, and she wore a white long-sleeve blouse that had a wide keyhole neckline and gauntlet cuffs; she also had on a black pencil skirt with a black fading into a brown stocking along with black boots with bronzes heels and a cape.
"... What's with the Wizard of Oz?" Ashley asked Zef rather bluntly and out loud, making Ozpin and Goodwitch flinch and think she knew what Ozpin was.
"Ashley, that's Headmaster Ozpin. He runs Beacon Academic. Wait, he does remind me of the Wizard of Oz." Zef said as he turned his head to stare at Ozpin.
"Then does that mean that Ironwood is the Tin Man and the Mistral headmaster is the Cowardly Lion?" Ashley asked as Ozpin and Goodwitch were confused as the three talked to each other.
"It was a good movie, but could we discuss it again later?" Zef said while sighing as he turned to Ozpin. "Sorry about that. Ashley has a problem with running her mouth when she shouldn't. Like when fighting."
"Oi! That is one of the best ways to distract people, and you know it!" Ashley said while pouting.
"Now is not the best time!" Zef said to her while getting annoyed by her.
"I'm sorry, but what are you talking about?" Goodwitch said while looking Ashley over.
"Umm, you mean the Wizard of Oz joke? It's from a movie back home we enjoy. We could explain it, but that will take too long, and I feel you're here to do more and check up on someone you've never met before." Ashley said with a smile as she pointed to Ozpin.
"And how do you know we never met before, Miss Rose," Ozpin asked with a smile after calming down when she explained what she had meant.
"Well, you see... how do I explain it," Ashley said as she looked for the right words, only to stop as Blue jumped onto the bed.
"We came from another world, maybe another universe, and we're aliens; we came from a portal, and that's all the important stuff we can remember," Blue said with a smile as Ashley looked at him.
"No, Blue... we're the aliens, and Zef is the human from another world," Ashley said bluntly as she pointed to herself and Blue.
"Ashley... never mind," Zef said while he shook his head and turned to Ozpin. "But yeah, they're right. We may not know much, but we all know we haven't been on this planet for over a year. This has only been our second month here."
"I'm sorry, but where is the fourth person?" Goodwitch asked them while looking around the room.
"Oh, Holo? She's probably talking to General Ironwood or downloading the movie onto your scrolls." Ashley said bluntly before getting up and out of bed. "But either way, you won't be able to see her unless you have a holoprojector or a chip connected to your brain like us... and somehow Ironwood. We never went over that, did we?"
"Ashley, stay in bed. You still need to rest. And no, we never did go over it." Zef said, sounding fed up with Ashley.
"Oi! I'm wonderful." Ashley said as she quickly stood up, falling like a board soon after. "I stood up too fast. This doesn't prove anything!"
"Ashley gets back to bed," Zef said bluntly.
"It's been three days; let me walk around already!" Ashley tried to argue before getting up and getting ready to run, only for Zef to grab her arm before she could run. "We both know how this ends, Zef."
"Then why don't you give up while you can?" Zef replied to her as he stared her down.
"Please, Miss Rose and Mister Hasake. Why don't we all calm down and discuss the situation you're now in?" Ozpin said with a soft smile as Ashley and Zef stopped and calmed down.
"What is there to talk about? We're trapped here, with Missing memories and a significant lack of supplies compared to what we had. The thing we need to get back is missing, and we don't know if it's back where we are from or here." Ashley said while sighing. "Unless you saw a glowing purple cone, there isn't much you can do."
"Hmmm, I'm afraid I haven't heard anything like that, but I'll watch for it. But that's not what I'm talking about. How would either of you like to join my school?" Ozpin asked before Ashley spoke up, answering for her and Zef.
"Pass," Ashley said bluntly.
"I'm sorry?" Ozpin asked as he stared at Ashley while it went unnoticed. Goodwitch cracked a small smile.
"Look, I do a lot of risky stuff. I consider these investments at times, like trying to open stable portals to other worlds for getting supplies, a large stupid risk but would have been a big payoff, getting revenge on a third-year team for bullying Blue and using while using it to get the Shields widely know, a big risk but a great payout, this, however, would be a risk I can't predict the outcome. Like we said, Zef said we have only been here two months. If we go now, then not only will we be separated, but we will be leaving General Ironwood as well." Ashley said while smiling. "At least give us a year or two to train and get better; I want to give more of my blueprints to him to help fight the Grimm and slow down the usage of Dust."
"I'm sorry. You want the kingdoms to stop using Dust. One of the greatest energy sources and necessary elements for huntsmen and huntresses." Goodwitch asked Ashley while sounding annoyed with her.
"Not completely, but yes," Ashley said with a smile. "You have been using just dust so much that I doubt that you thought about using other things to help you fight. Like napalm or making gunpowder to increase the power of your guns. Hasn't anyone considered what they will do once all the Dust has been mine?" Ashley asked them with a soft smile. "If I can slow it down and change it so that when the Dust runs out, no one is forced to go back to the Stone Age and let humanity's flame die out."
"That is quite a dream, Miss Rose. Are you sure you can handle it?" Ozpin asked her with a smile.
"Yes, I manage to do a lot of stuff that shouldn't be possible, so why not reinvent the wheel while I'm at it," Ashley said softly, smiling. "Hell, I made an aura substitute, didn't I? So what's stopping me?"
"Hmmm, fair enough. I look forward to seeing what you will make in Miss Rose's future. But as for you, Mister Hasake?" Ozpin asked him with a smile.
"Sorry, but I have to agree with Ashley. We aren't separating. Also, if I leave Ashley alone, she will start making weapons of mass destruction." Zef said to them. At first, they thought he was joking, only to see the look in his eyes and realize he wasn't.
"For the last time. I will not make any nukes; the planet is too small to launch. It will either blow the whole planet up or cover everything in radioactive waste... also I don't think there are any nuclear ores here for me to use anyways." Ashley said with a soft sigh.
"And yet I'm scared that you would somehow find a way to not only make it out of rocks but turn all of Altus into one giant nuclear city," Zef said while annoyed.
"I can't do that. Why do you think I can ever do that?" Ashley asked him.
"Because you can! You do crazy shit! I mean, look at yourself! You make every organ out of tech; half your brain is somehow a supercomputer because of some medical problem." Zef said while Blue shook his head.
"A metabolic cascade failure caused it."
"Now's not the time, Holo," Zef told her.
"Now, now. There's no need to fight. I do not mind waiting for Mister Spletzer to come and join you." Ozpin said with a soft smile.
"Good, we aren't leaving without our mascot," Ashley said with a smile.
"Oi! I'm not a mascot!"
"You are until you apologize for making me stay in this room bored out of my mind!" Ashley said, annoyed at him.
"Enough! I don't know how you get anything done when you sit around and talk the whole time." Goodwitch said to them as Ashley rolled her eyes.
"I'm not doing it by choice. I want to get up and work." Ashley said to her. "Oh well. Let's go check out the monster fight that's been going on. I want to see if we're winning."
"What? You are not— where did she go?" Zef asked as he turned to Ashley, only to see her missing as she walked through the halls to the war room. "Oh god, damm it. How the hell does she do that?"
-Meanwhile, in the War room.-
On the screens in front of General Ironwood was a robot bloodbath. Each one of the Altus machines that we're designing for war was sent to kill the monster, but not a scratch was on it. Any that tried to back away from the monster would pull it in with its tongue and eat it whole. Its giant hands smashed any that got too close, or we were crushed as it turned into a ball and rolled over them. After a while of eating the robot, the monster spit up the remains, only now melted and red hot as they melt any unlucky to be caught in its range. As General Ironwood ordered them to retreat, the monster punched the ground, making a stone wall appear out of nowhere, trapping the machines between the wall and the beast. Right behind him, Ashley stared at the screen, disturbed as she watched all the robots get destroyed by the monster.
"Oh, my god. That is horrifying." Ashley said, startling Ironwood, making him jump and turn around to see Ashley.
"What the? What are you doing here, Ashley? You should be in the nurse's office resting." Ironwood said as everyone else turned to look at the two.
"Yeah, I'm not resting after that. I think I will have nightmares of that for a while now." Ashley said while looking a little green as she turned away from the screens.
"Ashley? Are you okay?"
"Sorry, but this is an oil bath at this point," Ashley said as she turned away from everyone and stared at the door as Zef, Blue, Goodwitch, and Ozpin walked in.
"Miss Rose. They're just robots; they can easily be replaced." Ironwood said before Ashley turned around and glared at him.
"I thought you above that sort of thing, General."
"What? What do you mean by that?" Ironwood said before Zef grabbed Ashley's good arm. He turned to Zef, hoping he would answer.
"Oh... Ashely sees robots like the Ak's as actual people and gets mad when someone discards them." Zef said as the adults in the room turned to her and wondered if she was okay. "She said it's because she's now more of a machine than... living flesh. Her words, not mine."
"Yeah. Besides, I'm getting back to work, Zef. They need all the help they can get. And after that oil bath, I saw none of their weapons will save them when it decides that humans seem like a tasty meal." Ashley said to him while staring at him, annoyed.
"... She's right. None of our weapons Put a scratch on the monster. We need something stronger."
"Okay, so I'm going to need 20 Ak's, all the materials on this list, and about a week or two to build everything," Ashley said with a smile as she had Holo send Ironwood a list while Goodwitch stared at her in disbelief.
"James, you can't be serious about this. You are willing to have a child build advanced military weapons for you so that you can kill some monster that the hunters can easily take care of." Goodwitch said in disbelief with Ironwood.
"It's best that we leave them alone for now. They will be arguing for a while." Ozpin said as slowly as Gylnda and Ironwood started a shouting match as Ashley, Zef, and Blue left them alone.
-Three weeks later.-
Down in a field, eight people in different armor colors stood around while a tank stood beside them. Everyone had on the same Mark VI armor, except everyone had a different color. The leader of the Blue team was named Church and had a cobalt color to his armor. In contrast, Caboose and Tucker had Blue and (Aqua? Teal? Light Blue? I don't know, you tell me.) while on the red team, Sarge has the standard issue Red while Grif has Orange, Simmons has maroon, Lopez has Brown, and Donut has lightish red armor.
"Alright, we have a plan," Church said as he looked over everyone.
"Yeah, a stupid plan that will get us killed," Grif said as his head moved up and down.
"Can it numbnuts. There is no way this plan will fail." Said the red team's leader, Sarge.
"Yes, it will! We will lure out a beast that can make rock walls, grab people with its tongue, and vomit lava. How will we survive that!" Grif yelled at Sarge as he turned to him.
"Look, you'll have Tucker stay by you and cut off that tongue any chance he gets, and Caboose will stay behind and shoot the monster with these special rounds with his tank," Church said to him.
"And what will you be doing?" Simmons asked.
"Disarming the beast by shooting it in its joins. Or using these acid bullets to break its armor or the rock walls."
"And what will Donut do?" Simmons asked him again.
"He is our backup plan. If the first plan fails, we'll let him throw generades down the monster's through. We have these special heat-resistant gel bombs, so we're hoping to suffocate it. And Lopez here will guard him." Church said while shaking his head. "Just hurry up and get in the damm Jeep!"
"Fine, Jeez, you don't have to yell," Simmons said before getting in the gunner spot of the Jeep as Grif and Sarge followed behind him and got into the driver and passenger, respectively.
Soon, the Reds (Minus Donut) drove off into the forest, leaving the rest to wait for them. After a bit, the Blues, Donut, and Lopez started to hear gunshots and a lot of yelling. Soon, the Reds drove through with the monster following behind them just as Tucker began to follow them, slowly catching up to the beast with his bike. Just as he did, Caboose started to aim the barrel of his tank at the monster, waiting for a weak spot to appear as Church began to open fire on the beast and somehow missing every shot, making him curse and blame the rifle.
"Firing drill shot 1!" Caboose yelled out before firing. Soon, the explosive flew into the air and embedded itself in the monster before blowing up and not doing much damage but more than what anyone else has been doing and opening up a weak spot on the beast.
"Simmons! Open fire on the wound! We are going to kill this beast one way or another!" Sarge said as he started to shoot at the wound with his shotgun while Simmonds followed his lead. The monster growled before turning to look at the tank before he leaned back and got his tongue ready. Just as it launched, Tucker used his bike wheels to cut its tongue up, not cutting it off but not hurting it significantly.
"Holy shit, I didn't think that would work," Tucker said after landing as he slid on the ground, only to look up to see the tongue going at him. "Oh, son of a bitch!" He yelled out as the tongue grabbed his bike before pulling it into its most as it started to eat it. "God dam it! I just got that thing!"
All the while, the Reds have been doing their best to shoot into the wound to try and kill it, only for the monster to turn around and vomit out the melted remains of the bike at them, forcing them to all jump out and melt it.
"Come on, that was a rental!" Sarge yelled as Simmons pulled out his rocket launcher while Grif pulled out his grenade launcher/large knife combo.
"What do we do, Sarge?"
"Onto the plan, boys! Grif, you stay behind and distract the beast. See if your body can choke it out before we get Donut." Sarge ordered as He ran to Donut Simmons's follower behind him while Donut and Lopez followed him.
"Fuck... that," Grif said as he turned around only to notice that he was all alone with Tucker; before he could say anything, the monster punched the ground splitting the group up, so now only Grif and Tucker were left to face the beast. "Ummm, you wouldn't happen to have an escape plan, would you?"
"Nope. I was hoping you would." Tucker said as he pulled out his battle rifle...
-Meanwhile, with Church and Caboose.-
"What the hell are the Reds doing?" Church mainly asked himself as he aimed his sniper at the wall before he started to shoot at it with the acid bullets, and this time, he was actually hitting the wall. Somehow. Luckily, the rock wall was being eaten away, slowly destroying it, but the slowly forming hole was too high for Grif and Tucker to climb through as Church kept firing at the wall/beast, trying to do whatever he could to keep it off of Grif and Tuckers back or freeing them...
-Back with Grif and Tucker.-
All that was heard was screaming as Grif did his best to launch grenades into the beast's weak spot.
"I'm not dying as food! Oh god, the irony!" Grif yelled as Tucker tried his best to shoot at the beast's eyes; he ran up to it before quickly attempting to stab it with his sword. Only for a small cut to appear.
"Dude, now's not the time," Tucker said, only to notice the small cut on the beast's arm. "Ah, fuck is this the best this sword can do? What the hell!"
"It spits out melted metal! What did you expect to happen when you try to stab it with a dam laser sword!" Grif yelled as the beast tried to attack them, only for the two to get out of the way as another missile burst through the wall, leaving a large hole through it.
"I don't know! It's a laser sword, not a fighter jet!" Tucker said before shooting the monster again; some sniper rounds were hitting the beast this time, but unfortunately, it wasn't doing much damage. "God dam, what is this thing made out of?"
"Come on! We got a way out now!" Grif yelled as he ran through the hole with Tucker as the monster tried to follow them. The beast roared out, only for a large light blue brick to get thrown into it.
"Hell yeah, three points!" Donut said as the bomb blew up, filling the monster's throat. As the beast started to shake its head, hoping to get some air in its lungs, water was dipping out of his mouth.
"Ummm, what with the water?" Grif asked as he stared at the monster. "Shouldn't it be some kind of melted material?"
"Grif, you're being an idiot; that's not water! That's clearly spitting, trying to melt the gel as a self-defense mechanism." Sarge said as he stared at it. "Huh, there seems to be a lot of it... Donut, start throwing more in there to be safe."
"Okey doki, Sarge," Donut said before he started to throw all the gel bombs he had into the monster's mouth and somehow get every single one in there. As they all waited for the blast, the beast let out a roar, launching all of the gel out of his mouth and the bombs before they could blow up.
"Okay, someone should have told it to swallow it. Bow chicka, wow, wow." Tucker said before all the Reds yelled at him, saying that now was not the time before they started to run away...
-Back with Church and Caboose.-
"Holy crap! That thing just got rid of the bombs before they could do anything. I'll call a retreat, Caboose. Do whatever you can to distract the monster." Church said as he contacted Ironwood, the Red team, and Tucker.
"No... I have an idea." Caboose said as he slowly started to drive away from Church and to the monster.
"Caboose, get back here! What are you doing!" Church yelled over the Radio, but Caboose ignored it.
"Hey! Roly Poly! It's time for some iron!" Caboose yelled as the monster turned to see the tank approaching it. The beast roared before charging at Caboose as he got his cannon ready. As the monster uncurled, Caboose shoved the cannon into the beast's mouth.
"Caboose, stop! Those rounds will kill you if you fire them that close!" Church yelled only for Caboose to pull the trigger and fire the missile, letting it drill into the beast's head before blowing up. It slowly lay on the ground dead, and the Reds ran up to the tank along with Tucker.
"Hell yeah! Nice one, Caboose." Tucker said as he waited for a reply, only to stop and notice the tank destroyed. "Caboose?"
"Everyone on that tank! We got a man down. Church! Call for backup!" Sparge yelled as she ran to try and save Caboose and the rest of the Red team while Tucker stared at it in disbelief. After a while, they manage to pull him out with his armor broken and some metal sticking out of him, but otherwise, he might be able to pull through.
Well, I hope you all enjoy this~ and don't worry, this won't be the last we see of the Reds and Blues.
