Hey everyone, hope you all are doing fine. This chapter may be shorter than the last (partly due to some personal stuff earlier this week), but it is filled with combat, so I hope it will suffice. A lot of new material went into this, such as semblances of my other OCs and two different Grimm ideas I came up with. Let's go!
As the Beacon Academy Initiation test continued, more and more students were able to find partners, while some of them had already found the shrine and collected the relics laid out. The quad of Francesca, Leonidas, Rockwell, and Sergei continued their journey to find said shrine, as they conversed. "So, Francesca. How did you and Leonidas find each other?" Sergei asked.
"Well, Sergei. The sad thing was that he found me." Francesca grumbled. "I would have preferred anyone else, but I guess it is what it is."
"Hmph, I could say the same thing." Leonidas huffed.
"Lucky ninja. I wish I was quick enough to spot her before the ninja beat me to it. I wonder if we could trade partners?" Rockwell muttered out of jealously. Unfortunately, he was just loud enough for the others to hear him. "Uh-oh..."
"Uh, care to repeat that last statement, buddy boy?!" The brunette questioned him.
"Uh, forget I said anything!" The guitarist tried to persuade them.
However, Sergei was even more livid. "Yeah, bro! What the hell did you just say?!"
"Whoa, easy there amigo! I meant it as a joke." Rockwell tried to calm him down.
"Do not give that 'amigo' crap!" The angry purple-haired boy yelled out. "You were obviously serious with disowning me like some sort of cheap piece of furniture!"
Francesca and Leonidas were surprised by Sergei's anger. "Yikes, beware the nice ones indeed..." The latter commented.
"Wait, you're not actually mad, are you?" Rockwell questioned.
"You're damn right I'm pissed off! First Neos didn't want to be partners, then Janey, and now even YOU forsake me?!" Sergei shouted out, before he was on the verge of tears. "I thought at least you would want to be my partner, that the two of us would stick together on whatever team we got paired on!" His rage then turned to sorrow, before he spoke quietly. "...But I guess not." He slowly walked away from the group.
Before he could leave, Rockwell ran in front of him. "Sergei, wait!" His partner looked away from him, as Rock got on his knee. "*Sigh* I'm so sorry... I wasn't thinking clearly. The fact that I let love blind me to our friendship is an unforgiveable thing." He deeply apologized, as Sergei still looked away. "I promise you, my friend. No matter what, I would be more than happy to have you as my partner. So what do you say... King? Are we still partners?"
Sergei sighed before he wiped his eyes and faced his friend. "Of course... Comrade." He smiled as they gripped each other's hands.
The other pair watched the two resolve their conflict before addressing each other. "You know, after looking at these two guys fight and make up, I guess I should be more thankful to have you as my partner, Francesca." Leonidas confessed.
"Same here, Leonidas. Maybe we can make this work after all." Francesca nodded. However, the happy moment was interrupted when they heard a loud thumping followed by the ground shaking. "Oh boy, looks like we're about to have company!"
From the deep thickets of the forest approached a large, bipedal, three-headed Titan-like Grimm with two huge arms, with one of them being split into two from the elbow, while it also wore skeletal armor of its chest and knees, and masks on all three heads. "No way... A Triclops?!"
"A what?!" Francesca yelled out. "I've never seem a Grimm like that!"
"Me neither..." Leonidas commented.
"Looks like Ozpin isn't holding any punches." Rockwell figured, before he strummed his guitar-weapon. "All right, let us dance!" His guitar played a tango theme, as a fiery force field surrounded him.
The Triclops grabbed a nearby tree to use as a club, and swung down at the four teens who dodged in time. Rock charged in and swung Baile de Fuego at the Titanic Grimm. The Triclops parried the attack with its weapon and knocked back the guitarist. The smoldering aura ignited the tree-club, as the beast roared.
"Not bad, Rockwell... Except you just gave him a weapon upgrade!" Francesca berated him. "Watch and learn!" She transformed Krakatoa into a rocket-launcher and fired a missile from her weapon. Unfortunately, the Triclops caught the projectile with its big arm and crushed it with ease. "Say what?!"
"Ooh, I sure am learning..." Rockwell sarcastically muttered, as the brunette glared. The Grimm titan then grabbed the two of them, as they struggled to break free.
"Oh no!" Sergei gasped, before he glared and adjusted his Dust crown, Royal Duster. "Leave my friends alone!" He yelled out as he pulled out Earth and Fire Dust elements from his crown, and combined them to form a giant Obsidian Hammer.
"Whoa! Did you just combined two different Dust elements?!" Leonidas was surprised.
"That's right!" The crowned teenager stated, as he swung his handmade weapon, which crashed onto the Triclops. The Triclops staggered as it dropped Rockwell and Francesca from its grip.
"Ha hah! Way to go, amigo!" Rockwell hoisted him.
"It's good to be the king." Sergei hummed.
"Don't celebrate just yet. We need to slip by this Grimm if we ever want a chance to reach the shrine." Leonidas pointed out, before he took out his bow, Orion's Belt, and fired three sticky arrows at all three of the beast's heads, obscuring its vision completely.
"Nice aim!" Sergei complimented.
"Yeah, but just to be on the safe side." Francesca raised her hand and caused the ground that the Triclops was standing on to collapse, trapping its lower half below. "Now.. Vamanos!"
"Adios, beastie! There will be no encores tonight!" Rockwell waved, as they all ran past the Triclops. However, once they left, the Grimm fired a laser blast from its eyes and slowly pulled itself out, before searching for any sign for them.
Meanwhile, in a different section of the Emerald Forest, Ryu and Gwen continued to stroll through the woods until they crossed paths with another pair, which was none other than Janey and... "Lee." Ryu muttered.
Lee sighed at the sight of his older cousin. "Of course I'd run into you eventually." Though his expression softened when he saw Gwen. "Oh, and you're that girl I saw from the locker room earlier. Gwen, was it?"
"That is correct. Nice to see you too, Lee." Gwen nodded, before turning to Janey. "And would that be your partner? It is very nice to meet you, my name is Gwen Charlotte."
"Aw, well aren't you a sweet little thing. Yep, I'm Janey Bluebird." Janey bowed to her.
"Shh!" Lee hushed them up, while he held his blade up.
"Rude!" Janey frowned.
However, Ryu knew what he was referring to. "A Grimm approaches." From deep within a thicket came a gigantic snake Grimm with a head on each of the two sides, one of them black and the other was white. This large serpent Grimm was known as a King Taijitu.
"Whoa, it's huge!" Gwen exclaimed, as she drew her IceBorne Bow.
"Heh, perfect..." Lee grinned, before unsheathing Takumi Excalibur. "I was looking for something to slice in half."
Ryu rolled his eyes as he took out his Yahto Blade. "Eager as always I see."
Janey flapped her wings before she drew her weapons, a pair of bowguns she called FeatherStorm. "At least now I can flex my wings a bit." She smirked as she took flight.
The black head of the Taijitu lunged at the grounded fighters as they dodged. Meanwhile, Janey adjusted the quiver of her bowguns and shot out a barrage of bolts infused with fire-dust, as they exploded on the Grimm. The King Taijitu recovered from the attack before the White Head extended its head at the Bluebird. However, Gwen fired a few ice arrows at the creature to temporarily slow it down. "Phew! Nice shooting there." Janey commended.
"Thank you." Gwen smiled, before she saw Ryu and Lee clashing their blades against the other half. "It's time." She took a deep breath, as her hands glowed light-blue. Suddenly, a large Ice-elemental Knight appeared in front of her, much to the other's surprise.
"Oh..." Ryu mouthed.
"...My..." Lee stammered.
"...God!" Janey gasped.
The young archer controlled the Ice Knight with her hand, as it swung its Ice sword at the double-headed snake. With each hit it took, parts of the Grimm's body were becoming encased in ice. "Whoa... she's amazing." Ryu muttered, before he noticed a branch behind her, as she slowly walked back. "Gwen, look out!"
"Huh?" But it was too late, as Gwen fell backwards, which broke her focus and caused her familiar to vanish. The Taijitu recovered as it lunged both heads at the defenseless girl.
"Oh no you don't!" Janey shouted, as she generated a fog cloud from her wings onto Gwen to throw off the Grimm's aim.
"Come on, Lee!" Ryu motioned, as his cousin followed him through the cover. The two samurais dashed through and sliced each head of the King Taijitu off, as the now headless serpent collapsed before it vanished.
"Thank goodness." Ryu turned towards Gwen, as he stuck his hand out to her. "You all right?"
"Yes, thank you..." Gwen gave a small smile as her partner helped her up. "Sorry about that."
"Don't worry about it. Besides, your semblance back there really came in handy after all." Janey pointed out.
Even Lee had nothing bad to say about it. "It was actually quite impressive." He shrugged.
"I suppose, but if I hadn't tripped back there..." Gwen mumbled despondently.
"You needn't worry about that, Gwen. As huntsmen and huntresses in training, we all have a long way to go until we reach the pinnacle of our skills. Besides, you never have to go at it alone." Ryu comforted her with a smile.
Lee narrowed his eyes at him, before he swiftly turned away. "What he said. I just wish that thing would have put up more of a fight - what a waste!" He grumbled, before he started walking forward. "C'mon, let's go already."
Janey rolled her eyes. "What a ray of sunshine you are..." She snarked, as Ryu and Gwen laughed and followed them.
As for the group of Damien, Neos, Iskandar, and Naomi; the four still trekked through the Emerald Forest, hoping to find the shrine. "Man, I hope we find that shrine soon." Naomi said.
"Yeah, we probably would have found it quicker if someone didn't suck with directions." Neos leered at Damien.
"I'm sorry! I didn't think we'd circle the same tree three times in a row!" Damien shouted defensively.
"Hey, come on now, let's not fight over this. These things happen." Iskandar tried to assure, before he stopped everyone. "Wait, something's coming!" He sensed, before drawing his two giant swords, Draco Balrog. Without warning, the trees in front of them started to topple over, as a pair of Grimm advanced towards them. This new Grimm was a large mantis-based Grimm with two very sharp scythes for claws, while they were covered with thin skeletal armor on their heads and upper body.
Damien's eyes widened. "Reapers!" He activated his Twin Dragon Fangs.
"Well, this could be tough." Naomi pointed out as she took out a trident which she called Poseidon's Blessing.
"Don't matter to me, I love a challenge!" Neos smirked, as his Claws of Mjolnir extended from his gloves. One of the Reapers hissed and dashed towards the spiky-haired teen. He responded as he slashed at the creature with his razors, despite the latter parrying it.
"Neos! What are you- Ugh! Did you always charge in irrationally?!" Damien shouted, before turning to the other. "Izzy, you and Naomi can handle the other Reaper, right?"
Iskandar clenched his sword and nodded. "Leave it to us, Damien!" He declared as the second one dug its claws to the ground and screeched.
"Freaky..." Naomi shuddered, before the Reaper sprung up and tried to pin her down. However, she leapt back as she twirled her trident at the large insect.
Iskandar fired some rounds from his large sword, which the Reaper dodged with its swift movements. "Damn, that thing moves fast!" He muttered.
Meanwhile, Neos continued to brawl up close with the Reaper, until it eventually head-butted the teen back. However, Damien was quick on the draw and struck it in its back, causing it to fall forward.
"Feh, I could have done that." Neos pouted. The Reaper slowly got back up as the two boys nodded while they took aim at it from opposite sides. Neos shot out a ray of lightning from his claws, while Damien unleashed a stream of fire from his flamethrower gauntlets. Unfortunately, the Reaper extended its claws and spun its body around to repel the fire and electricity. "Oh bullshit!" He shouted.
The Reaper screeched and made a beeline towards Damien, before it swung its scythe claws at him. The crimson haired lad barely dodged in time, as the Grimm hacked another tree. "Phew! That was too close..." He breathed out.
As for the second Reaper, Izzy conjured a stream of fire of his own from his mouth as it jumped back. The flames struck the forest ground, which ignited it. However, Naomi transformed her weapon into a water-cannon and doused the flaming spot quickly. As the smoke formed, the large insect quickly dashed from the cover and tackled the blue-haired girl to the ground, knocking away her weapon in the process.
"Naomi, no!" Iskandar shouted, as Damien and Neos looked back worried before resuming their battle.
She grunted as the creature pinned her down, before it growled and readied its scythes. "I don't usually say this, but..." Naomi leered at her foe. "Get your hands off me!" As the Reaper raised its claws, she took a deep breath and unleashed a sonic scream from her mouth.
The three boys were amazed by her semblance, as the Reaper was slighty pushed back. It screamed as well, until Iskandar swooped down and impaled it from behind through its chest. As Naomi stopped her scream, her partner swung Draco Balrog up and sliced it in half, as it fell to the side.
As for the other Reaper, it dashed right at Neos as it brought its claws down on him. However, there was a clang, as the spiky-haired teen trapped its arms against his Claws of Mjolnir.
"Whoa! He stopped his attack with his own hands?! Amazing!" Naomi was starstruck.
Neos grinned as he generated a course of electricity through the Reaper's body, before he chucked it at Damien. "Batter up!"
Damien punched his hands as they ignited, before he gave a vicious uppercut. He shattered the Reaper's head and its upper body, as it fell down. The crimson haired lad sighed, before he grinned and looked at the now headless Grimm. "Hey there, Reaper! Try not to... LOSE YOUR HEAD." He snapped his fingers, as Neos groaned.
"Oh god damn it! I didn't set you up like that just so you make another one of your stupid puns!" He yelled out.
"Hey, I thought it was pretty clever." Iskandar smiled and patted his shoulder.
"Besides, you guys were awesome out there! I didn't expect you to grab that Reaper by the arms there." Naomi commended.
"Hey thanks." He draped an arm around her shoulder. "But your sonic scream ability was also pretty cool."
As the bonding continued, Damien looked past the chopped down trees. "Hey guys, I think I can see the shrine from here!"
Everyone else looked to where he pointed. "Oh yeah!" Iskandar spoke up, before he noticed something else above it. "But wait a minute, what's that?"
They could see a giant Nevermore flying above it, as someone clung onto its talons. "A Nevermore?!" Damien gasped. "And it looks like its got hostages!"
"Let's move!" Naomi pointed, as the four of them dashed.
However, as they exited, a large shadow flew to where the two decapitated Reapers were at. The shadow was a Royal Reaper, with the major difference from its brethren being that it had a spikier body as well as insect wings. The Royal Reaper examined the scenery as it screeched to the skies and took flight once more, as it traveled through the Emerald Forest.
All right, I hope you enjoyed that. Like I said before, coming up with semblances for the other Bastard Beowolves was a bit of a challenge, especially for the case of Janey. I wasn't sure what semblance to give to a Bluebird Faunus, but I also had some help from this with Blazing-Saint. Next chapter will be longer, and will be the conclusion of the Emerald Forest Arc, so stay tuned for next time!