Chapter 2: Grimm (rewritten)
Disclaimer: I do not in any way or form own Gate: Thus the JSDF Fought There or RWBY. They belong to their respective owners, Takumi Yanai and RoosterTeeth Animations respectively.
A/N: I present the rewritten chapter 2, hopefully better than before. Also, just as a reminder, there will be no JSDF.
"So, you think you guys are ready?" Ruby asked JNPR.
Nora answered energetically, "Of course! We've got a world-renowned fighter on our team, one's basically ninja, I can bench five of me…" she trailed off, not sure what to say for their leader. "Jaune," she said sheepishly. "We trained all year, our weapons are awesome, Glynda barely yells at us anymore, and uh... Jaune!" she finished brightly.
"Are you gonna take that?" Ren asked his slumped over friend.
Still feeling sick, Jaune didn't even look up as he moaned, "She's not wrong."
"I'm kidding, he knows I'm kidding." She began to talk more quickly, and she became noticeably more nervous as she went on. "Don't be so nervous! The worst that can happen is we lose, that is just a few more years of walking around school with everyone knowing we're failures, our friends will slowly abandon us to preserve their social status, we won't be able to show our faces in class, no one will sit with us in the cafeteria, Ren and I have no parents, we have no home left to go to, we'll be officially renamed Team Lose-iper!" She finished off with a bout of slightly insane laughter that morphed into a sob as she joined her leader slumped on the counter.
For his part, Ren gave a small smile and said, "So, yeah, we're feeling pretty good."
"Don't fret," Pyrrha said with a reassuring hand on her pink friend's shoulder. "If anything, we should be looking forward to a fight with actual guidelines and not, well… murderers."
"Yeah, don't sweat it," Yang agreed. "We've all faced way worse before."
Blake ticked the list off on her fingers as she said, "Let's see: Grimm invasions, violent extremists, a destructive sociopath…"
"And that's all while we were still in training!" Ruby said excitedly. "Oh, imagine what it would be like to graduate!"
"Maybe then I'll be able to pay for a meal," Weiss grumbled to herself.
Loudly crackling over the speakers scattered liberally around the fairgrounds, Professor Port's voice rang out as he called, "Would Team JNPR please report to the battlegrounds immediately!"
"Yes!" came the angry voice of Oobleck after him. "Like they were scheduled to, several minutes ago!"
"Well, it looks like this is it," Pyrrha said as JNPR stood and began to heavily make their way to the airship.
"Go get 'em!" Ruby cried after them.
Yang lounged back on her seat, stretching. She let out a distinctively unladylike burp and went on to ignore the looks her team gave her. Once JNPR was out of earshot, she asked, "Think they'll win?"
"Of course," Weiss confidently declared, "They've got Pyrrha. She's not called the Invincible Girl for no reason. She could probably win it alone."
"True. But what if their opponents were, say, the bulky type, like one of those second years. He could shrug off heavy damage," Yang pondered.
Blake replied with one word and a raised eyebrow. "Nora."
"Yeah, nothing's going to survive that."
The baring emergency siren cut the conversion short. As its screech cut through the air, the people around them began to flee hurriedly with whatever belongings they could take.
"Warning, Vale is under attack," a monotonous robotic voice announced through the speaker system. "This is not a drill. All civilians, please head to Beacon Academy in a calm and orderly fashion. Huntsmen, proceed immediately to the main entrance for a briefing by Headmaster Ozpin. Repeat, this is not a drill. All civilians, please head to Beacon Academy..." The message looped endlessly, broadcasting the emergency message to everyone.
Team RWBY looked at one another. "To Beacon," Ruby decided, hurrying off. Her team followed.
"What's happening?" Yang asked.
Her answer came into the form of shouting. The noodle stand and Beacon were on opposite ends of the fairgrounds. To get to the safe zone, they would have to cross the heart of the fairgrounds - right where the mysterious Gate had opened up.
RWBY slowed to a stop as they took on the sight before them. Fires burned freely, pumping black smoke into the air. Massive numbers of soldiers in unknown armor spread out from the Gate, looting and burning all in their way. And worst...
Ruby gasped, covering her mouth as she watched a man get impaled on a spear. He collapsed, blood spurting freely as the soldier tore his weapon out. Laughing cruelly, the soldiers kicked the dying man for good measure, before turning their leering gazes onto a woman, who was crying.
Ruby pulled out her scroll, entering a familiar command into it.
"Ruby? What're you doing?" her sister cautiously asked.
"I'm not letting anyone else die," she replied, staring at the horror taking place in front of her. The soldiers were laughing as they ganged up on the defenseless woman, kicking her as she lay prone. She would not stand for this. With a roar of flame, her locker landed beside her. Retrieving Crescent Rose, Ruby noted grimly that its arrival had drawn the soldiers' attention. Good.
"We're not trained for this, Ruby," Weiss warned, "The Atlesian forces are on their way. Let them handle this."
"And by then it would be too late. We're the ones closest, who can make a difference," Ruby argued. Her gaze was focused resolutely on the squad of soldiers, who were forming up and preparing to approach. Let them come.
"Then we're with you," Blake said. Three more rocket lockers landed, holding Myrtenaster, Gambol Shroud and Ember Celica. Weiss, Blake, and Yang retrieved their respective weapons, moving to stand with their leader.
With a grim smile, Ruby charged forward, knowing that her team would have her back. Dashing forth with her semblance, Ruby reached the soldiers first, Crescent Rose slashing in a huge arc.
She expected it to send her foes flying, maybe even break their aura. She definitely did not expect her scythe to cleave straight through their armor, cutting them cleanly into half. Blood spurted, and Ruby took a trembling step back and collapsed onto her knees. Crescent Rose, now bloody, almost fell from her numb fingers.
I killed them.
"Ruby! What's wrong?" Yang demanded, coming in beside her. The soldiers were muttering amongst themselves, suddenly frightened.
Before Ruby could gather her wits to reply, the soldiers rallied and charged forth. With a deafening warcry, the army bore down on team RWBY.
Weiss reacted first, stabbing Myrtenaster into the ground. A ring of black glyphs appeared around them, slowing the soldiers as they came. They were easy targets for Yang, who began swinging her fists with abandon.
To her surprise, blood spurted as her fist smashed into a face.
"They have no aura?!" she exclaimed in shock, falling back. Blake helped Ruby up, and the four huddled together, back-to-back. Weiss' glyphs bought them time, but it was running out. The team looked at Ruby.
"I... killed them. We can't just kill them."
"But they want to kill us," Blake pointed out, "Unless we can think of something, there may not be much of a choice." While she didn't relish the thought of having to slaughter her way out of the mess, her time with the White Fang had taught her that there would be casualties in war. The fairgrounds were aflame. Smoke hung heavily in the air, almost blotting out the sun. This was war. In all its glory, and all its horror.
"Fine!" Ruby cried out, frustrated. With the soldiers almost in stabbing range, she decided, "We're fighting our way out. Take as many down as we can. Buy time for the Huntsmen to arrive. And just... just try not to kill anyone."
I wouldn't know what to do if we did.
The rest of the team nodded their confirmation. As Weiss' glyphs vanished, team RWBY attacked.
As per their leader's orders, the team of Huntressess-in-training held back. Instead of indiscriminately swinging her deadly scythe, Ruby burst into a tornado of rose petals, sweeping the soldiers off their feet. With her speed, Ruby almost flew through the army, which was growing by the minute, sending them into chaos while being next to untouchable. She was moving too fast for the soldiers to aim at, and any sword or shield placed preemptively in her path was either knocked away or avoided completely by turning at impossible angles.
Weiss stayed where she was, drawing out the full power of Myrtenaster and her dust. In a display fitting her nickname, the Ice Queen sent forth a tidal wave of ice. Spreading out with herself at the epicenter, the dust-based ice burst outwards in a circle. It froze the ground and anything touching it, immobilizing the dozens of soldiers surrounding her. They struggled, but the ice was solid and unyielding. The impressive display took a lot out of Weiss, however, and Weiss took a deep breath to recover.
As the frozen soldiers struggled to free themselves, Blake was there, using Gambol Shroud's blunt edge to knock them out. Her time in the White Fang had given her the knowledge of how to render her opponents unconscious, and she made full use of that. Try as they might to defend themselves, Blake easily avoided the soldiers' weapons and struck them soundly on the head, sending them collapsing limply. One of them landed heavily on his tailbone, and Blake winced.
Yang had leaped up, bringing herself high into the air and over a large group of soldiers. Grinning, she came down hard, slamming her fist into the ground. The sheer impact forced a ripple through the solid rock, sending the soldiers flying off their feet. Even as they recovered, Yang was there, fists swinging. As ordered, she pulled her punches, while keeping Ember Celica in their offline bracelet form. Enhanced by her strength and aura, Yang's punches nevertheless dented armor, sending men sprawling.
A cry rang through the air, and Blake turned to see Weiss flying through the air. Quickly, she leaped over, catching her teammate as she fell. Placing Weiss on the ground, Blake asked, "You OK?"
Weiss nodded, struggling to her feet. "I'm fine," she reassured. At Blake's disbelieving look, Weiss pointed behind her, in the direction from which she flew, "Go deal with that."
A deafening roar came from behind her, and Blake turned to see a huge beast bearing down on her. The green-skinned ogre was three times her size, wielding a wooden club larger than her. It charged at her with speed surprising for its size, bowling soldiers out of the way.
"Catch your breath," Blake told her teammate and dashed off to face the ogre. It roared as she neared, swinging its club. Balke easily jumped over the clumsy attack and landed on its arm. Swinging Gambol Shroud as she ran up the arm, Blake cut deeply into its arm, forcing it to drop the club and drawing forth a roar of pain. Leaping up, Blake prepared to cleave down on her foe, only for a gigantic, meaty fist to close around her from behind. With its uninjured arm, the ogre took hold of her and threw her to the ground.
The faunus cried out in pain, her head spinning and her ears ringing from the impact. Through dazed eyes, she saw the ogre moving to stomp down on her. Immediately, she leaped back, leaving only a shadow clone to be destroyed.
Looking around, Blake suddenly saw that she was almost directly beside the Gate. The stone structure towered over her, releasing ever more soldiers that began to swarm around her.
Footsteps came from behind her and she spun, Gambol Shroud moving to block the sword that sought her blood. Blake disarmed the soldier with a twist of her wrist, then slammed her weapon's flat edge to knock him out. Another quickly replaced him, and Blake was forced to concentrate on the battle as soldiers began attacking her from all directions.
Moving much faster than the soldiers ever could, Blake fended off their attacks. It was not as difficult as she had expected, due to the quality of their weapons. Gambol Shroud cut straight through the swords of her enemies, sometimes shattering them outright. Just who were these people, invading a world that so greatly outmatched them?
Out of the blue, a bolt of lightning struck her, disrupting her concentration. Lightning, on a clear day? It must have been a semblance from one of the enemy soldiers. Whatever it was, it stunned Blake and weakened her aura.
Ears ringing, Blake saw the blade slashing at her and barely managed to retreat, only for her heel to snag onto something. And, for the first time in years, Blake tripped. She had always had nearly perfect footwork - for her to trip, even when she was stunned, could only be the result of really bad luck.
Regardless of the reason, Blake tripped and fell onto her back, the breath knocked out of her. Her head slamming onto the hard floor didn't help with the headache that now threatened to burst out. Surprisingly, through blurred vision, she could see no soldier nearby. The reason became clear a moment later when a wooden club slammed onto her. Blake cried out, her aura finally breaking.
Forcing away the grogginess, Blake tried to push herself up, aware that she was still deep in hostile territory. Something metal struck her head before she could, and the world faded to black.
A moment later, the signal for retreat was sounded. Dragging their prizes along, the soldiers returned to their own world.
No one knew just where the Grimm came from. All they knew was that they were attracted to negative emotions. And a war... a war created just about the most concentrated, powerful negative emotions possible, even as one-sided as it was.
The Grimm flocked to Vale.
A flock of Nevermores and Griffins filled the skies, heading straight for the Gate, where the most concentrated emotions were. Around Vale, the border defenses went fully online, the guns opening up against a tide of Grimm. Despite lacking much of their numbers due to Ironwood's call to arms, the defenses held up.
But the fairgrounds were at the edge of the forest of Forever Fall. Said forest was allowed to populate with Grimm, to be used as a training area for the students. And it was these Grimm that suddenly posed a very real threat to Vale.
Luckily, the squads of Knights were still at combat readiness. They immediately turned to face the new threat, firing with deadly accuracy. The first of the Grimm to reach them - the wolf-like Beowolves and the rolling Boarbatusks - were cut down by the walls of iron Knights.
The slower Grimm soon followed. The bear-like Ursas, the two-headed King Taijitus, and the flying Nevermores launched their attack, a terrifying wall of shadowy creatures intent on utter destruction.
On his flagship, general Ironwood looked impassively at the new threat. A war had just been fought, and it was no surprise to him that it would attract large numbers of Grimm. "Air forces, focus on the Grimm," Ironwood ordered, "Gate containment units, do not engage. All other forces, prepare to repel the Grimm. Protect the city!"
Somewhere below, Ozpin was too commanding his forces, "This is what you've been trained for, Hunters! Do not let these Grimm take our city!"
The Hunters entered the fray, bringing the Grimm charge to a dead halt. The two forces clashed, yet another battle in the eternal war of light against dark. Experienced in such combat, the Huntsmen held the line.
The squads of soldiers that hid in the forest, however, fared poorly. Left behind by the main army in their rush to escape, these scattered groups had to fend for themselves. A Boartabusk rolled through, sending fully armored men flying aside. As they turned to track the boar-like creature, howls sounded from around them. The Beowolves lunged, tearing them apart.
Another group found themselves at the mercy of a King Taijitu. Looming over them, the white snakehead slammed down like a force of nature. Turning to flee, the soldiers found their path cut off by a thick black body, which screeched, revealing it to be the other half of the massive serpent Grimm.
By the time the Atlesian army and the Huntsmen arrived to secure the area, all they found were body parts and bloodied, torn armor.
A/N: Thrown by ogre + struck by lightning + Qrow's semblance + another ogre + kick to the head. If that doesn't break Blake's aura, I don't know what will.
Next week, I'll upload the partially rewritten chapter 3, and chapter 4 if I can finish it.