It was as if time had stopped from Yang's sudden outburst. Their surrounding area laid silent as everyone around stared at the blonde. Silence stayed for a while before an ear-piercing shriek caused them to turn to the source.
It was the Deathstalker that had chased Pyrrha and Jaune earlier. And it was headed right for them.
There was not enough time for everyone to recollect themselves. They needed to act quickly.
They needed some time, so Ruby chose to get them some.
Once Pyrrha was at a safe distance away from the Deathstalker, Ruby threw a couple flash pellets past the amazonian, flashing and stunning the approaching Grimm. For extra measure, a couple of smoke pellets were thrown in to shroud it in mist.
"We need a plan," All eyes were now on Ruby as she assessed whatever she had left in her belt. "That Deathstalker won't stay distracted for long and I'm almost out of pellets".
Weiss was first to speak up. "Our objective was only to retrieve the relics and make it to the cliffs. There's no point in fighting these things."
"That Deathstalker would be an issue for our escape." Ren pitched in.
"Then how about we try losing it?" Everyone's attention turned to Jaune, who was finally able to catch his breath. "When I got tossed in the air, I saw ruins not that far from here".
With not a lot of options and no objections from the group, it was decided. "Then it's settled. Everyone, grab a relic and head for the ruins. Jaune, stay ahead of the group and lead us there!"
"R-Right!"
"Weiss, you and I will have to tail behind the group. If the Deathstalker gets close, we gotta slow it down. Use anything at your disposal, got it?"
The heiress gave a nod in confirmation. With each member now having their own relic, they quickly headed off towards the nearby ruins. Not long after, the Deathstalker regained its senses and continued its pursuit of the students. Unbeknownst to them, with all the ruckus caused in the area, the Deathstalker was not the only Grimm now following them.
As the group drew closer to the ruins, so did the distance between them and the Deathstalker. The only reason it hadn't caught up to them already was because of a mixture of flash pellets from Ruby and ice dust from Weiss.
Not that far ahead, the whole ruined area can be seen from where they're running. Entirety of the ruins seemed to be built up from the bottom of the gorge, with various bridges and towers making up what's left of its infrastructure.
A loud piercing screech echoed above the students as a large Nevermore appeared to be circling the area, more specifically, the initiates. While most of them were startled by its sudden appearance, two other students were not.
"Hey Weiss! That Nevermore is back!" yelled Ruby.
"I can see that!" Weiss responded as she delayed the Deathstalker by freezing its stinger in place.
With two different large Grimm now in pursuit of them, there was no other choice but to go on the offensive. But if they're going to want to survive this, they need to split into groups. Biggest issue here would be bringing down the Nevermore, but lucky for them, Ruby has a plan for that.
"Blake! Yang! We're gonna need you both to take down that Nevermore!" ordered Ruby as she and Weiss ran further into the ruins with Blake and Yang trailing not too far behind.
While she wasn't vocal about it, the remainder of the group already knew they're new task at hand. Taking down the Deathstalker. Just the thought of it made a part of Jaune shiver in fear. But another part of the Arc boy forced him to stay strong and level-headed. He's going to need to if they were to make it out of this alive.
Now, the group did the best they could by using their different weapons and firing into the oncoming Deathstalker, who freed itself from its icy confines; Pyrrha using "Xiphos" in its rifle form, Ren using his signature automatic sickle-pistols (Stormflower), and Nora using her pink grenade launcher "Magnhild".
They needed to think of something quick. While they may have the edge in numbers, the sheer size of the grimm gives it an advantage above them. But with a quick look at the narrow connecting bridge of the ruins and the large gorge that surrounds it, an idea popped into Jaune's head.
"Guys! The bridge!" Jaune yelled out to Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora. One look at the bridge and everyone figured out the plan and followed suit.
First pair to make it were Pyrrha and Jaune, with Pyrrha doing her best to cover fire Ren and Nora as they barely dodged the Grimm's pincer and made it to the bridge. Because of its large size, the Deathstalker stopped itself right by the edge of the gorge. But that didn't stop it from using its pincers and stinger to try and take out the initiates.
The most reasonable action would be to go further away from the Deathstalker, but that choice was taken away as, thanks to Yang, the Nevermore crashed through half of the bridge that led deeper into the ruins. The only option they had at the moment was to take out the Deathstalker.
As the 4 charged at the Grimm, it retaliated by swinging its pincers at them. Fortunately, Pyrrha and Jaune were able to block its attack with their shields. Its next move was to use its stinger, but Ren was able to move around and climb onto it, unleashing all of his bullets into the edge of its tail.
The grimm flinched in pain, giving Nora the window to fire off more grenades into its face and allow Pyrrha to throw her transformed javelin into the Deathstalker's eye.
However, their actions were proven dangerous when Ren was flicked off and thrown into a nearby pillar.
"Ren!" Nora called out.
But the boy's actions were not done in vain. The stinger of the Deathstalker was shown to be barely hanging onto the tail.
"Pyrrha! Shield!" Jaune called out.
Using her shield, Pyrrha hurled it towards the hanging stinger, cutting it off and landing straight into the back of the Deathstalker. It wailed in pain as Pyrrha's shield came back, leaving it right open.
"Nora!"
"On it!"
Again, with the boost of Pyrrha and her shield, Nora was launched straight into the air. It actually came as a surprise to Jaune when Nora's weapon transformed into a hammer and was used to smack the stinger further into the Deathstalker's back.
Honestly, he thought she'd just use the grenade launcher instead, but this worked too.
The smack of Nora's hammer caused the black creature to slam into the edge of the bridge and drop straight into the gorge.
Lucky enough, Pyrrha and Jaune were launched into the air, with the red-head reclaiming her spear, before landing into the grass. Jaune fell face flat into dirt while Pyrrha landed a "superhero landing".
While they did gain some scraps and bruises and probably a concussed Ren, their battle was over and the team came out victorious.
Meanwhile, with the Nevermore team, they were fortunate enough to already have a plan in mind. A very dangerous one, but a plan nonetheless.
Yang was posted on top of a pillar in the middle of the ruined structure. With her gauntlets, Ember Celica, armed and ready, the blonde bombshell unloaded each shell at the circling flying Grimm. Regardless of each shot being a hit or miss, Yang did her best to try to get the bird's attention.
As Yang was doing her job, the other three girls were prepping to initiate the plan. Thanks to Blake's weapon, a ribbon tied sword variation weapon called Gambol Shroud, the girls were able to make a make-shift slingshot using parallel pillars and Gambol Shroud's ribbon. Having the ribbon be stretched to max capacity and held in place by Weiss' glyph, Ruby waited for the perfect opportunity to enact her dangerous and, in Weiss' opinion, reckless plan.
"Surely you can't be serious about this." said Weiss, still holding her glyph in place.
"I am serious," Ruby smirked at her partner before finishing. "And don't call me Shirley".
A sigh escaped the lips of the heiress which caused a chuckle from her partner. "Just make sure to have your glyphs help me gain speed. Otherwise, my exit would be a hell of a lot harder"
On queue, the Nevermore screeched and attempted to charge at Yang with its mouth wide open to swallow her whole.
However, Yang was counting on this, and when the Grimm attempted to devour her, she willingly jumped into its beak and held it open with one arm. Using her other arm, she continued to fire shells into the bird's throat.
"I *blast* hope *blast* you're *blast* hun- *blast* -gry!"
Having its mouth pried open by Yang and heading their direction, this was their opportunity. They had a split second to time this right.
With one final round, Yang fired into the Grimm's beak before jumping off, leaving it wide open.
"Fire!"
And with that, Blake and Weiss launched Ruby using their makeshift slingshot.
Like a bullet, Ruby soared through the air and continued to gain speed thanks to Weiss' glyphs. Using Rose Thorn as her tip, she shot through the mouth of the Nevermore and pierced through its inside to come out from behind, but not before leaving it a special gift. One push of a button from Ruby's belt and explosives can be heard booming from within the bird-grimm. Smoke steamed out from its beak as it let out one final cry before it crashed into the side of a cliff and fell straight into the gorge.
While this wasn't really Ruby's most disgusting experience in her line of work, that didn't exactly make it any less gross, or less dangerous. Gods, if Bruce can see me now, he'll be pissed with how rash and careless that plan was.
To get herself back to her team, Ruby used her cape to glide down towards the ruins and was able to land safely back with her 'team'.
As Yang ran to tightly hug her little sister with the rest of the girl's not far behind, the young girl couldn't help but look towards a hidden nearby camera and smirk. How's that for a show, Ozpin?
"...Russel Thrush, Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing, Sky Lark. You all…"
Hours had passed since their initiation. It was time for the ceremony where Professor Ozpin would announce the different teams and leaders. All students who have passed stood patiently next to the stage until they've been called upon by the Headmaster. With the recently formed team "CRDL", Ozpin called upon the next batch of students.
"Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie,"
Said initiates approached the stage to meet the Professor. While most of the team members kept either a neutral or excited expression, Jaune looked a bit nervous. Maybe because he was surprised to have passed the initiation. Or perhaps something else…
"You all retrieved the White Bishop. From now on, you shall work together as Team JNPR. Led by...Jaune Arc!"
The blonde boy looked gobsmacked at the announcement. "L-Led by?"
The rest of team JNPR gave a quick smile towards their team leader, with Pyrrha even giving him a playful jab in the shoulder, which knocked the poor boy to the floor.
"I'm sorry!"
It was now time for Ruby and her team to go up to the stage.
As team JNPR walked past them going up, Ruby couldn't help remembering the fish out of water that was Jaune Arc. Indeed, he may have passed initiation and was capable of handling Grimm, it hadn't deterred the girl's observation of him at the start. She was gonna have to look into him later. For now, she's just gonna have to keep a close eye on him.
"Ruby Rose," Oh yeah. Team naming. "Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, Yang Xiao Long. You four retrieved the white knight. From this day forth, you shall work together as Team RWBY. Led by...Ruby Rose!"
…
…
…
Everything moved almost to a stand still for Ruby. She was assigned leader of Team RWBY. She was the team leader. She had to lead a team…again.
Ruby.
Her eyes gazed across everyone. All seemed happy and were clapping in congratulations, but she couldn't even make up their faces. Everything and everyone was distorted and muted. She could see their mouths moving, ever so slowly, but no sounds were distinguishable.
What is happening?
Ruby wasn't too sure. She felt her heartbeat in her hands. Were her hands shaking? It then felt harder to breathe. Her lungs were working their hardest, but no air seemed to stay in. Everything around her now felt too bright and blurry.
Ruby?
She felt a hand on her shoulder and it made her turn. The bright light from behind blocked the person's face. Only, it wasn't a face.
It was a mask. HIS mask.
Her instincts kicked in. She smacked the hand away and made a break for the exit.
Ruby couldn't see where she was going. Her own legs moved on their own, navigating her to go anywhere but there. But everywhere she went, there he was. A silhouette. A shadow. Always finding her. Taunting her. Torturing her.
Wasn't long before her legs had finally given out. She slipped and rolled until her back was against the wall.
Her heart only beated faster. Her hands clutched to her thighs, nails dug deep into her clothes, almost tearing into them. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't see. She couldn't-
"Ruby?"
A soft voice called out to her. Her eyes could hardly make out the person who sat before her.
"Easy now. Can you breathe in for me, Rubes? Like this?"
Said voice took her hands from her sides and held onto them. She could make out the steady breaths of the person, which she too followed. It took a while, but her breathing was starting to slow, as did her own heart rate. Soon enough, her own body calmed itself down while her adrenaline fell.
"That's it. Just follow me, Ruby."
Ruby's vision had started to clear up, and was able to make out the familiar lilac eyes and smile. It was Yang, who kneeled to her eye level and held her hands.
Once she knew her sister was calm, Yang brought her into a warm and comforting hug. It was only when she was wrapped around safe arms did Ruby feel the fatigue of everything before falling unconscious.
Elsewhere, Roman Torchwick stood waiting by an abandoned warehouse somewhere near the Vale docks. It felt like he'd been waiting for years, but in actuality, was only there for 30 minutes. That still didn't help the fact that whomever Roman was waiting for was late.
He didn't have to wait any longer as a black vehicle entered the warehouse with various others trailing behind. Stepping out of it would be one Roman Sionis, more commonly known as Black Mask back in the underbelly of Atlas. He's dressed in a stylish white suit and his infamous black coated skull-like mask.
"Well if it isn't Roman Torchwick. Never thought I'd see you being someone's lackey. And without your short friend either." said Black Mask, taking out a cigar before lighting it and taking a drag.
"Oh stuff it, Sionis. You know I wouldn't be here if she hadn't got me by the throat." Torchwick retorted.
Black Mask only chuckled at Roman's suffering. "As much as I want to catch up with you, let's get down to business. That boss of yours already put up a hefty down payment for my services. So what exactly do you need?"
Roman only smiled at the Crime boss.
"The job I'm doing is going to need lots of guns and a lot of men."
Sorry for the long wait. I have re-edited almost the entire story (Omakes included) by fixing some errors, rewrote some scenes, and even adding more scenes to enhance aspects of the story. Volume 1 of the story is almost about to wrap up so I hope ya'll enjoy this in the mean time. I would like to thank you all for the support, please leave a review or a comment on the story, and I hope you enjoy.
I do not own any of the characters. All characters and names used are owned by either Rooster Teeth and Detective Comics (DC).