Author's Note:

Okay, this was already halfway done by the time I posted the first chapter, but I think you will all like what I did here. And some of you asked, so I will answer, Yes this is a second attempt at my RWBY/Godzilla Crossover I did before. But this time with more added to it. Think of it as a Reboot of sorts.

Anyway, enough chatting, let's get started.

~o0o~

-Monsters Among Us-

-Chapter 2-

-A Day Later…

-Open Ocean…

The ocean trip to the Kingdom of Zoe was a nice one. So far, nothing majorly dangerous has happened yet. Much to everyone's relief onboard the aircraft carrier 'Hakuryu', guests and crew alike.

After everyone from Vale's docks was aboard and the large steel ship set out, it rejoined a small fleet of other ships waiting for its return. They ranged in sizes, but all had a similarity in design to the 'Hakuryu'. Steel gray hulls, all armed to the teeth, and all bore the same flag.

The flag design itself was white, with red lines that fanned outward on the upper half that resembled the rays of a rising or setting sun with a big red circle in the middle. And inside the red circle was a white flower of some kind with five petals that fan out in five different directions.

But that did not matter to Ruby Rose at the moment, for her focus was on the weapons on the vessels. And, from her teammates point of view, the girl in red could not hide the stars in her eyes.

Ruby had read about naval weapons in history books and seen a few photos of large guns made to combat the Grimm, but the photos do NOT do these weapons justice. Duel-purpose anti-air cannons of five inch caliber barrels in twin mounts, forty millimeter anti-air guns, twenty millimeter rapid fire guns, and so much more she didn't even recognize or knew about.

She was having a great time.

But that was yesterday.

Today, she was not in the mood for it. She just hung around the railing of the ship that overlooked the ocean near the stern, deep in thought as the sun began to set in the distance. The shade of the setting sun was a particular shade of red too.

So much like her mother's red hair…

Her friends must have noticed the drop in the enthusiasm from the other day, especially her partner Weiss.

Thus, Weiss approached their leader with the question.

"Hey Ruby, are you okay?" the white haired teen asked.

After a moment of silence and turning her head slightly back to the heiress, Ruby responded, "Yeah, it's nothing. Nothing major anyway." she said, as she turned to fully face her partner.

But Weiss was not convinced, "You sure?"

When more silence followed, Ruby relented and replied with a sigh, "It's just… a long time ago, my mom went missing near this area we'll be going too." she explained.

"Your mother?" the heiress questioned.

"Yeah…" Ruby said, "My mom, Summer Rose, was like… super-mom to me and Yang. Baker of great cookies and slayer of evil monsters. But… one day, she took an escort job to guard a shipment of supplies heading to Atlas from Vacuo via cargo ship. And the ship never made it to Atlas…"

Weiss could practically feel her friend's sadness.

"It was hard with dad and Yang tore up about it. I clung to Yang for a month after it happened, worried she might disappear too. Least, that's how sis told me about it." Ruby paused for a moment before continuing, "Mom was the reason I became a huntress. I wanted to be just like her. It was a promise I made to her. I just hope…" she stopped and looked back out over the ocean to the red sun as it sank further and further behind the horizon.

After a second, she finished her thought, "I just hope that I could live up to her example."

Weiss, who had been listening to all of this, decided to take action and placed her hand on her partner's shoulder, "I think you are doing just fine." she said.

"Thanks, Weiss." the red head replied.

"Hey…" a new voice said aloud, catching the two teens by surprise.

Both girls spun around and craned their heads upward to see the ship's captain, Kiryu, standing at a doorway to a hall. She was leaning on the large bulkhead frame as she looked at the sun as well.

Ruby was the first to snap out of her shock, "Uh, hello there, miss Kiryu, or Captain Kiryu, or…" she stopped talking when the Kaiju gave her a flat look, "Sorry about that… what should we call you?"

Kiryu just rolled her eyes and walked over to the railing, placing both hands behind her back, "If you must be formal with me, call me 'captain' only." then she smiled and looked down at the two teens, "But that only counts with those who are under my command. Which you two are not. So, just 'Kiryu' is fine." she explained.

Ruby smiled, "Okay, sure thing Kiryu." she said.

Then Weiss decided to chime in, "So, what're you doing right now?" she asked.

"Just making rounds about the ship, part of my job is making sure my crew are doing their jobs, while also seeing that our guests are comfortable." she said, looking out to the water.

Weiss nodded, "Well, I can assure you that team RWBY is just fine… if you don't count our blonde's loud snoring." she muttered that last part.

"Team RWBY?" Kiryu questions, letting the name sink in.

"That's right!" Ruby proclaimed, "Team RWBY, spelt as R.W.B.Y. Led by me, Ruby Rose!"

"Who's leadership can be questionable at times…" Weiss added. But the Kaiju didn't seem to hear her, for her eyes were locked on the young red huntress.

When Kiryu didn't say anything for a few moments and Ruby got uncomfortable by her stare, she decided to say something.

"…w-what?"

The question seemed to snap Kiryu out of her stare, "Oh uh… nothing…"

Ruby wasn't convinced, but chose not to pressure for more. So, she decided to change the topic and ask some 'important' questions that are tied to the mission.

"Soooo, the Kingdom of Zoe. What is it like over there? Is it similar to Vale?" the red clad girl asked.

It seemed to work, as Kiryu smiled and looked back to the setting sun.

"Far from it." the Kaiju started explaining, "The Kingdom of Zoe, ten years ago, was an empire that believed in only one thing: Only the strong survive. Kaiju were considered the strongest within the empire, and we became the ruling caste in the system."

"A caste system?" Weiss questioned.

"Correct. You see, there were three tiers in the caste. Kaiju were, amongst other things, the Rulers and Nobility of the empire. And Kaiju who are crowned as Rulers, mostly have to prove their worth and retain their status through battle. It's highly rare for Kaiju to use their wits to hold their positions, but there have been exceptions…" Kiryu muttered that last part.

As Ruby and Weiss took in the information, more questions began to pop up. The heiress was the first to ask her questions.

"Are you a noble yourself?"

"In a way, yes. My status was passed down to me intentionally, thankfully without any notable backlash from any others. My duty, aside from my role in the military, is to oversee any advances in Dust technology." Kiryu explained.

There was a small pause, before Ruby piped up asking, "Well, what are the other two castes in the system?"

The Kaiju sighed, giving both teens the impression it is something not so good.

"Directly underneath the Kaiju race were the Faunus. Faunus made up the second tier in the system, the citizenry of our empire. And the ones permitted to operate machines of war. Such as armored vehicles, aircraft, and warships. Hell, more than half the crew on this ship are Faunus." Kiryu explained.

Weiss looked at Kiryu in a weird way. Most likely not understanding something that Ruby also noticed.

"Wait, wait, wait… if Faunus made up the citizenry of your 'empire', where do humans stand in your system?" the Schnee asked.

The silence that followed made both girls worry about the answer.

But, whatever she was about to say never came out as a sudden flash of red lights and alarms ringing out echoed throughout the ship. Ruby and Weiss looked about in shock and confusion, while the Kaiju quickly gathered herself and ran to what looked like a box on the wall with a red button in the middle of it.

She slammed her hand on the button and started talking, "Talk to me, bridge!" she ordered.

"~Captain! Radar contact! Multiple airborne hostiles! Three miles out and closing fast! Not enough time to launch fighters or bombers!~" a voice responded through what had to be a radio unit.

"Ready anti-air defenses! All hands, action stations! Out!" she ordered, before slamming the red button again.

Hearing all of this, Ruby asks, "Is-is there anything we can do to help?!"

Kiryu looked down with surprise at her before she gave the red head a smirk, "Just follow me, you two." she told the little huntress.

With a nod from both human teens, the Kaiju turned and sprinted down the corridors of her ship. With Ruby and Weiss not far behind.

They made their way through the ship and up to the flat topped flightdeck, where the Grimm were already overhead waiting for them, circling the fleet. There were three types of Grimm. Five giant Nevermores, multiple Manticores and Griffins, and one more, a rare form of Grimm. A Lindwurm.

A large draconic Grimm with a pair of massive, red, bat-like wings. A long, spiked tail and horns atop its head. And two pairs of bone white mandibles arced over its smoking maw. A sign of the fire raging in its chest.

Within a matter of seconds, the air was filled with anti-aircraft shells and flak as the weapons of the fleet opened up with a cacophony of gun fire. One of the Nevermore's was almost immediately turned into paste, riddled with holes. With many of the Manticores and Griffins meeting a similar fate.

However, the Lindwurm proved to be a much tougher foe as it simply flew through the flak and anti-air fire. Rounds either shattering or bouncing off its boney armored hide.

With a very loud, wind-shaking roar, the Grimm flapped its mighty wings and created a large gust of wind. The blast of air knocked Ruby and Weiss back, while Kiryu staggered a bit and skidded back along with the two teens, but maintained her footing at least.

Then the large Grimm, along with its brethren then returned fire by shooting fire balls from their maws at the fleet.

Within the first few shots, two destroyers and the lead cruiser of the fleet took hits.

"~Captain, destroyers Downs and Cassin and cruiser Tone are hit!~" a voice shouted on the intercom of the carrier.

"~Cassin's main engine is disabled! She's slowing down!~" another voice added.

"~Downs can still fight, but Tone is taking on water on the port-side!~" said someone else.

The Kaiju grit her teeth as Ruby saw the damage done to the fleet with surprise and shock. The destroyer that was slowing down (the Cassin she thinks it's called) was on fire near her midsection. And then, just as the ship was along the starboard side of the carrier, less than thirty years away, a great explosion rips the smaller ship in half. With scraps of metal flying overhead as Ruby and Weiss ducked to avoid getting hit.

"~We just lost destroyer Cassin! All hands lost!~" a voice shouted.

Ruby was shaking in horror at the thought of sailors on the destroyed ship that were just lost.

"Maintain fire with all guns!" Kiryu ordered, "Blast these beasts from the skies!"

The lead-cruiser rotated its four-twin main battery turrets on the front third of the ship around to take aim at the Lindwurm. The air and water shook and rippled as the heavy guns opened fire at the beast. But the Lindwurm proved to be fast, too fast in fact for the larger shells to land any hits.

Having seen enough of this massacre, the captain of the Hakuryu gave new orders, "Ready my battlegear now, I'll handle the dragon! Maintain your fire and take out the rest!" she shouted.

Ruby and Weiss looked to each other as to what 'battlegear' meant, but something told them they were about to find out.

Kiryu ran to the front elevator of the carrier's flightdeck before standing in the middle of the large metal floor while lights started to flash around her. Then the Kaiju remembered the two teens and turned to them.

"Hold off that dragon till I get back!" she ordered Ruby and Weiss.

Ruby followed up with a question, "How long do you need?!"

"Three minutes, tops!" the Kaiju responded. With that, the elevator lifted the Kaiju down to the lower decks.

Ruby nodded and turned back to the large Grimm that was now circling over the ship. Most likely getting a second wind before it resumed its attack again. As she stared at the Grimm, the gears in her head started turning, a plan forming in her mind. She turned back to Weiss.

"I've got an idea!" Ruby told the heiress, over the barking of gunfire, "Do you remember the Nevermore from the Initiation?"

Weiss seemed to be catching onto the plan, but didn't look convinced, "That was a Nevermore, Ruby! This is a Lindwurm! Way bigger and tougher! Plus, it breathes fire!" she argued.

Ruby knew the white haired girl had a point, but she thought ahead of that, "That's why there's a twist to the plan this time!" she said confidently.

"Ruby!"

Ruby and Weiss rounded about to see Blake and Yang had joined them on the flightdeck. The black haired girl was quick to see that her leader was already hatching a plan by the look on her face. Yang also took notice of it as well.

"Where do you need us, sis?!" the blonde asked.

Ruby smirked and started to explain her plan quickly. Within moments, the plan was being put into action.

Yang ran to the midpoint of the ship and fired her gauntlets at the Lindwurm in order to get its attention. It worked. Taking a few hits to the head, the Grimm turned about and started to make a dive along the length of the Hakuryu's flight deck. Out right ignoring the anti-air fire from the other vessels.

With that out of the way, Yang turned and bolted to the bow of the ship. The Lindwurm right on her the whole way. But, she was merely the bait to lure the Grimm into a trap.

While Yang had the Creature of Grimm distracted, the rest of team RWBY was preparing for the surprise attack. The plan was for Ruby to use her scythe to slice the Grimm's wing off in one swift motion. Forcing the oversized flamethrower to ground, or in this case, sea surface.

Using Blake's ribbon to pull the red capped girl back like an arrow on a bowstring, with Weiss using her glyphs to hold her in place as the Grimm got in close enough to make the shot.

They were set up right between the carrier's conning tower and a massive antenna on the opposite side from it. Similar to the set up back with the Nevermore battle. Only this time Ruby had to take note that this Grimm was three times bigger and more heavily armored than the bird was.

Still, she saw that there was a gap just in between the armor plating where the wing met the body. That was what she had to aim for.

As Yang ran toward them, the Lindwurm got closer and closer, right into place. Then, just as the dragon's head began to pass by the ship's conning tower, Ruby gave the signal.

"NOW!"

Weiss, with a flick of her wrist, released the glyph holding Ruby down. Just as the heiress did this, Ruby pulled the trigger on her Crescent Rose. The sniper-scythe barked and she was off like a rocket aimed right at the Grimm. Using her Semblance, Ruby maneuvered round the Lindwurm's massive head in a flurry of rose petals, lining herself up with the wing joint.

However, just as she got within range… disaster struck.

What Ruby failed to account for were the other airborne Grimm still flying about, a fact she would remember just as she craned her head to the side to see a Manticore's fireball barrling at her. Realizing she had to think fast or take a very dangerous hit, she called upon her semblance again and changed her course ever so slightly to have the flaming ball of hate miss her by a hair. Grazing her Aura.

But, while the fireball thankfully missed, she was off target to her goal.

Her scythe got hooked onto the Lindwurm's thick armor plate, too thick for her scythe to cut though, and she was quickly being pulled in the opposite direction she was heading just a moment ago.

"Carp…" was all she managed to say before the Grimm flapped its wings and quickly started to gain altitude over the ocean.

Ruby faintly heard her teammates shout her name in panic, but it was quickly lost in the wind that was blowing past her ears.

As for the dragon Grimm, now annoyed it had an unwanted passenger, it started to make sharp and violent movements to try and shake her off. Ruby held on for dear life, trying to think of a new idea. But then realization dawned on her. She still had a chance to slice the wing off and ground this thing.

Somehow finding her footing again atop the Grimm's back, she moved her scythe's blade back to what she was originally aiming for, the wing joint.

"Now or never…" she muttered to herself.

As she pulled the trigger of her pride and joy weapon, the recoil of the sniper rifle yanked the scythe blade deep into the Grimm's black flesh.

The first round went deep. The second shot made the Lindwurm reel in pain and thrash about. And finally the third shot sealed its fate.

With a sickening snap, the Lindwurm's right wing was severed off the body. The beast lost its balance of flight and quickly began to spin and tumble out of control. But, as Ruby took a second to watch the Grimm plummet from the sky, she quickly came to a realization.

How was she going to land without dying?

She herself was also plummeting from the sky at speed, with nothing to land on but the ocean beneath her. But she then saw the lead cruiser of the fleet, the Tone if she remembered correctly, and it was about to sail just under and past her. Calling upon her semblance for a third time while using her sniper rifle to change her course of fall, she propelled herself down to the ship.

She landed on top of the roof of the second turret with a thunk. Her legs aced from the impact, but at least she was alive.

The sound of crashing waves from something big hitting the water made her turn back to see the Lindwurm hit the ocean like a bolder. Waves and wakes from the collision rocked the cruiser Ruby was now aboard. But the crew of the Tone were not deterred, evident by the main battery turrets turning about to acquire a target lock on the large Grimm.

The Lindwurm itself hauled itself out of the water, onto a small rock formation the fleet was beginning to pass by. The Grimm, despite its wing being cut off, still looked ready to take on all comers, with black mist emanating from its maw and mandibles twitching.

However, now that the target was stationair and no longer flying, the cruiser Tone needed no further invitation. Its main guns roared to life, as shells slammed into the dragon's hide. As the beast roared in pain, Ruby took a moment to look around to see that the skies were almost clear of enemies. Most Grimm being taken out by the flak guns and anti-air fire.

She smiled, this was their victory.

But a sudden enraged roar brought Ruby's attention back to the Lindwurm. The massive Grimm, in spite of the holes in its armor plating from the Tone's attacks, was still standing and was now charging up another fireball.

"I don't think so!" the red clad girl shouted as she reloaded her scythe with ice Dust rounds.

With her rifle loaded, she took aim. Her goal was to land a shot down the Grimm throat and kill it right then and there. She exhaled slowly and was about to pull the trigger.

Just like before though, Ruby forgot about the possibility of another Grimm still active. A fact that came back to bite at her, literally. Had Ruby not heard the shrill roar of the Grimm Griffin coming at her from the left side, she would have most likely had a very bad day.

She turned just in time to block the Griffin's attack, but she couldn't stop and shoot the Lindwurm with her under assault! She managed to kill the Griffin with a slash of her scythe as quickly as she could, but it wasn't fast enough.

The Lindwurm's maw opened and out came a torrent of flames heading right at Ruby.

She clenched her eyes shut and hoped her Aura would take most of the damage. Only it didn't come.

Instead, freezing cold wind blew past her from behind and everything became really quiet. She peeked an eye open, only for her to see a wall of ice between her and the Grimm. In fact, the Grimm itself was inside the large array of ice, frozen solid.

Then, the ice cracked and shattered into a million pieces. With the Lindwurm along with it.

Ruby was dumbfounded by what just happened. Did Weiss do that?

But as she turned around, she saw who managed to save her. It was Kiryu! She was now wearing some kind of backpack unit that was allowing her to fly. Along with some weird armaments attached to her forearms. She guessed that's the 'battlegear' she heard the Kaiju mention.

Ruby, now pleased that she would live to fight another day, gave the ship captain a warm smile and thumbs up. After a moment, Kiryu returned the gesture as cheers from the sailors were heard all around.

~o0o~

Author's Note:

I had a lot of fun doing this one. I'm not the best at writing fight scenes, but I think this one came out alright.

Until next time, Peace out!