Last time on RWBY X Meta Runner: Worlds Collide…
As our heroes were on their way to Mistral, the Council of Balance and Order halted their progress. Held on trial by them, the latter group soon realized that they saw good within them and spared their universe, especially Remnant. The main reason? To see if our heroes are Positive Distortions and due to their past heroics (spoiler alert), they are. Thus, the council immediately returned them to Remnant, but with a tiny task: investigating a Distortion problem in Menagerie. At this point, chaos occurred there as two distortions made a stir for the worse. Meanwhile, after his defeat in Vale, Vekk-Torr's next attack phase is to intercept our heroes before they land on Mistral and the Barinian mercenary Gill Grunt plants to shoot them down from the sky!
But what would happen first, a safe arrival at Menagerie or Gill intercepting our heroes? Stay tuned to find out!
The Manu Fe'ai
16 days since The Onslaught
"Remnant," Gill whispered. "This world is similar but fascinating. Much like Terrathea, one world that my planet, Barin, is at war with, this world has numerous biomes that its people live in—most of it in the clutches of Vekk-Torr's grasp. From the desert climate of Vacuo to the frigid arctic prairies of Mantle, this world intrigues me a lot."
"I have to agree with you, sir." one of the VekkTroopers on board said. "It is a beautiful planet."
"Damn shame that Vekk-Torr wants this place destroyed in a few days." Gill sighed.
"His orders. If you don't like it, tough luck." Another VekkTrooper added.
"Yeah, a pity," Gill replied. "I wish he had spared this world like he did to Barin."
"I hear you, sir." the VekkTrooper responded. "But it is his call, not yours."
"Always take over, then blow up the place, huh?" He sighed. "He has other options, like shrinking them to the size of his hand's palm and collecting them like marbles."
"Sometimes, it's best to do things the old-fashioned way." replied the VekkTrooper.
"If he's constantly destroying worlds nonstop like a madman, he's nothing more than a psychopathic machine," Gill added. "Which actually—"
Suddenly, a hologram of Vekk-Torr appeared on the jet's console.
"Gill Grunt, I have confirmed reports that the Meta Hunters have altered course and en route to Menagerie." He informed.
"Roger that, heading my way." Gill nodded.
Gill then turned to the VekkTroopers as he put the ship on auto-pilot. Then, the
"Alright, you carbon copy commandos, listen up!" He announced. "The bogeys are heading to Menagerie in approximately twelve hours. They are armed and extremely hostile. Therefore, I have assigned you all to teams of three. VekkTroopers B4R-131E, RKN-G1R, and RKN-21AA will sabotage the engines so that they will get their attention. VekkTroopers J3¥-U50, 6RU-DM3, and I will find and capture the Meta Hunters. Hector, you are piloting my ride, and if you manage to scratch it, it's your head."
The ship then lowered its weapons storage, and every VekkTrooper managed to pick up a weapon. B4R-131E marked two pistols as hers, RKN-G1R marked an energy axe as theirs, RKN-21AA marked a sniper grenade launcher as his own, J3¥-U50 marked a pair of silver shotgun gauntlets as his weapon, and 6RU-DM3 managed to label a freeze ray and a stun baton as his own. Gill obtained his signature weapon before the storage returned to its original position. As the ship landed on a glassy plain, Grimm soon circled them. However, they are not the ones familiar to Remnant. They are Facepalms, the enemies that originated from Ultra Jump Mania. Confused by this, Gill pointed his rifle at one of them.
"What in the blue hell are you monsters doing here?" He asked the leader of the pack.
Suddenly, the pack leader began to spaz out for a few seconds, but as it returned to normal, it turned its head up and regained contact with Gill.
"Like the new additions to the roster?" It said.
"Vekk-Torr?" Gill gasped. "How did you take the form of this… thing?"
"Mind synchronization." He explained. "I take an individual's body to communicate with others."
"Neat," Hector responded. "But also creepy."
"Troops, how about some practice with our weapons before the main course?" Gill asked.
Winter's Airship
Eleven hours and 55 minutes later
Back on Winter's ship, the Meta Hunters and their allies were about to land on Menagerie, with Ruby and Tari ready to investigate the island for the Distortions by order of Star-Tera.
"So we go, find the Distortions, then head to Mistral." Winter disclosed.
"That's the plan, Winter," Weiss replied. "And nothing will stop in our way."
"You are correct, my sister from another mister!" Lamar chimed in. "We are soon-"
"Bogeys coming at us at 6 o'clock!" Theo interrupted.
"That son of a bitch. He just doesn't know when to quit." Yang grunted.
"Meta Hunters, new plan! Weiss, Yang, Lamar, you three defend the craft. Roman, you and I will find a safe landing spot. Everyone else, broadside, on the double!" Ruby ordered.
"Wait, this vessel has broadside cannons?" Roa-Nyn pondered.
"Stolen Camylonian tech, excellent for future alien invasions," Winter explained.
"Sweet! I can't wait to try it out." Theo cheered.
As everyone got to their positions, Ruby and Roman started to analyze the map of Menagerie in search of where to land. On the exterior of the ship, Weiss, Yang, and Lamar land on the top of the vessel, with the former Huntress using Gravity Dust to keep the three on so they will not fly off.
"So, who did Vekk-Dork send this time to stop us?" Lamar asked Weiss.
"Since we are in the sky, our foe must be airborne." She replied.
"No shit, look at the adjective, airborne," Yang informed her teammates as she pointed to the Manu Fe'ai flying near their ship. "They are about to jump from that thing and attack us!"
On the Manu Fe'ai, Gill and his team are ready to attack the Meta Hunters and their ship. Six figures jumped from the floor and rocketed toward Winter's airship as the floor opened up.
"Heads up!" Lamar yelled as he readied his bow.
Weiss and Yang got into fighting positions and prepared for battle.
"How many seconds until they land?" The blonde questioned.
Suddenly, Gill landed behind the trio and activated his wrist-mounted blades. The trio turned around to see the Barinian ready to fight them.
"At this point, you should focus on your craft," he responded.
"Who the hell are you?" Weiss demanded the Barinian to tell the three who his came was.
"The fish that will sink you to the bottom of the sea." the Barinian retorted.
"Not if we fry you first!" Yang challenged before she rocketed toward him with Ember Celica. "And I am feeling like seafood is on the menu tonight!"
Gill sees his rocketing foe and responds with a knee to her face. Grabbing her hair, he pulled Yang close to him and slits her throat. Throwing his supposed defeated foe aside, he focused on Weiss and Lamar.
"Yang! No!" Lamar yelled.
Lamar then turned to Gill and fired a few arrows at his opponent. Dodging them all, Gill began to inform the rest of his team.
"You know the drill," he informed them.
Just then, the five flew down and landed on the ship. Three of the VekkTroopers immediately began to focus on the engines.
"You know what they say, the flashier they are…" VekkTrooper RKN-21AA said before firing a grenade at the right engine. "The harder they fall."
On the right wing, Yang woke up with her holding onto the wing. Then, she saw the grenade that got fired and VekkTrooper RKN-G1R coming towards the engine. The blonde again launched herself with Ember Celica to catch the grenade and throw it at the VekkTrooper. Grabbing the axe the soldier once carried, she used the new powers she discovered at Beacon and engulfed it into flames. She then threw it at her foes. On the ship's top, Gill was in a jostle with Weiss and Lamar, with the help of VekkTroopers J3¥-U50 and 6RU-DM3 fighting by his side.
"Thank you for being so stupid enough to challenge me," Gill said. "Now, for the record…"
Suddenly, the axe then cleaved the heads off the VekkTroopers, and their bodies fell off the ship. Caught off guard by this, Gill turned to the VekkTrooper behind him.
"You said no one is interfering with us," Gill whispered.
"Think again, fish fry!" Yang bellowed as she rejoined her teammates.
Gill turned his attention to the ship's right side, noticing the damage on the wing and Yang rocketing towards him.
"I thought I killed you!" Gill ranted.
"Then don't judge a book by its cover!" Yang responded.
Then, an explosion knocked everyone on the ship off their feet. B4R-131E has destroyed the left engine, and it would launch her away from the destroyed engine into the crosshairs of Theo's cannon. Theo winked as the VekkTrooper made eye contact with him, and then the former fired his cannon, destroying her.
"Nice shot!" Roa-Nyn praised his ally.
"No problem! I played a lot of Tempest." Theo smiled.
Back on the ship's roof, the VekkTrooper then fired his sniper grenade launcher twice to damage the wing.
"No!" Lamar shouted. "You cannot get away with this!"
"In due time, you'll know what it means to sleep with the fishes!" Gill said to the trio as the Manu Fe'ai hovered above them.
The back hatch opened, and Hector signaled the remaining two attackers to jump in. Then, Lamar fired at the ship with his weapon in bow form. Gill then managed to evade a hard-light arrow and struck the windshield.
"Dammit!" Gill grunted. "I had that waxed!"
The rest of Lamar's group then fired at Gill's ship. With the duo taking heavy fire, Gill ordered Hector to move the vessel forward to evade the gunfire as he pursued it with his jetpack.
"Let's bounce!" He yelled at the VekkTrooper.
"Yes sir!" the VekkTrooper replied. "But first—"
Yang fires at the grenade launcher, causing an explosion that blows up the VekkTrooper but sends a grenade into the right engine, causing it to explode.
"Whoops." Yang jested.
Lamar sighed and shook his head in disbelief, and he and Weiss continued to pursue Gill. But in the sky above Remnant, a crystal cocoon rockets toward Menagerie, illuminating a red stream of light like a shooting star. It begins to crack as it descends until the one inside hatches. Then, with her newfound powers from Project Metamorphosis, Belle hatched from her cocoon and emitted a blazing glow in the night sky. Though she kept her signature carmine hair with orange streaks and a messy ponytail with burgundy eyes and Meta Runner Arm, she became a phoenix dragon Faunus, with her Faunus traits being birdlike feet and her hands having dragon claws and scales. Belle's new attire is a short-sleeved white jacket with blue threads with a symbol of MD-5 on the back and a black midriff crop top with a white stripe at the collar. On her legs, she wore black khaki shorts, two white belts with blue stripes, and a belt buckle of a symbol of a phoenix. Her weapons were a pair of forearm-mounted blades that doubled as bracers. She then used her momentum from her fall and focused on the foe that was escaping from Lamar.
"Looks like fried catfish is on the menu tonight." She thought to herself before she tackled Gill and before he could board his ship.
"Uh… where did we go?" Hector pondered as the recent events happened.
"Belle?" Lamar gasped.
"Who?" Yang retorted.
Suddenly, the ship took a bump as it descended even quicker. As it did that, Lamar plunged his weapon into the hull in its twin scimitar form.
"A friend. But we'll talk about here more later." Lamar responded. "But first, board that jet!"
"Shall we?" Yang asked as she turned to Weiss.
The heiress smiled and nodded, and then she and Yang bolted towards the Manu Fe'ai, boarding it. As Winter's airship continued to plummet, the two members of Team RWBY looked down at the descending ship.
"Are you sure they are going to be safe?" Yang pondered.
"By the looks of it, no. They have to abandon the ship if they want to survive." Weiss noted.
The two then walked to the cockpit and ready to hijack the ship. As Weiss pointed Myrtenaster at Hector, the Vekktrooper turned his head around slowly.
"Follow that ship," Weiss ordered.
The Western Coast of Menagerie
Elsewhere, Belle and Gill were falling toward the beach near Kuo Kuana. But as Gill noticed the interferer who prevented his escape, he began to pound her on the head. As Belle noticed the punches she was receiving, she shoved her hand in the Barinian's face, conflicting with his sight. Gill grabbed her arm, but Belle lunged her other arm and prepared to stab him.
"You are not from here, aren't you?" He questioned his assailant.
"Correct. I am Silica City." Belle replied. "The name's Belle Fontiere."
"Nice meeting you, Belle," Gill smirked as he turned to see the beach two miles below them. "But I am afraid this is your stop."
He then activated his wrist-mounted blades and stabbed Belle in the shoulder. As she loosened her grip after being impaled, Gill activated his jetpack, spraying water on her. In retaliation, she clutched her wound, aimed one of her new blades at the escapee's jetpack, and shot a stream of fire, damaging it. The explosion caused a small explosion that knocked both combatants back, with Belle heading to the beach and Gill falling toward the ocean. As the bystanders see the freefalling duo, they immediately run before the female phoenix dragon Faunus lands on the sand. As Belle slowly recovered from the fall, she began to hold her head like she had a concussion.
"Oi, that was nasty. And if I crushed your sand castle, I apologize for that." Belle groaned.
The Faunus crowd then rushed to her aid. But on the ocean, Gill plunged into it like a ragdoll as he regained focus, thanks to the saltiness of the ocean water.
"Curse you, Belle," he grunted as he pulled out his blaster.
He then cranked it to its maximum fire setting and propelled himself with it. As the group saw what was coming towards them, they immediately noticed it was an invader and fled, leaving Belle all alone and a sitting duck. Gill then turned around and activated his wrist-mounted blades again. As Belle regained focus, she rolled out of the way and evaded the attack.
"You ruined my escape, you en flambe freakshow." Gill snickered.
"You tried to kill my friend, you damn dirty Ocean Man!" Belle retorted.
Belle then rolled away from Gill as he tried to hill her. She climbed out of the crater and started to wobble a bit, thanks to her fall. Gill leaped out of the crater and lunged at her again, only for the Meta Runner to kick him in the chest.
"Taekwondo black belt, good thing that was handy," she smirked.
Belle then ran off as the newcomer saw Winter's ship about to crash land on the island. She then ran after it, hoping to rescue her allies, old and new. Just then, the Manu Fe'ai began to follow above her, with the floor opening and Yang throwing a rope.
"Need a lift?" she said to the Meta Runner.
"For you, sure. We need to find Lamar and that crashing vessel he's on!" Belle responded as she jumped and grabbed the rope.
Yang then pulled her up before the floor closed. As she sat down, she caught her breath before engaging in conversation.
"You're Belle, right?" Yang inquired.
"That's me." Belle retorted. "Minus the whole monster getup. And you are?"
"Yang," the blonde replied. "That's Weiss interrogating the pilot to do our bidding. Pretty much adding this to my criminal record if you ask me."
"You heard her, you dolt. Pursue that aircraft." Weiss ordered.
As the Manu Fe'ai rocketed toward the ship, which was about to crash land, Gill saw it leaving him.
"Hey, that's my vessel!" he yelled. "Get back here, you Washington Redcoats!"
Back on Winter's airship, everyone on board was bracing for impact as the ship was about to crash. Winter was pulling the ship's engines up in the cockpit, hoping for a safe landing.
"Tari," she commanded on the comms as she opened the hatch. "Find us a place to land."
Tari then ran to the ramp and pulled out her sword. Activating her Meta Runner Vision, she saw something—instead of finding a place to land, she could make her own using Dust.
"We're Huntsmen, right?" Tari replied on the comms. "And the best weapon for a Huntsman is a brain?"
Tari then jumped from the end of the ramp and rocketed with her jetpack.
"I don't get it," Winter said.
"What Red's friend is saying is this:" Roman revealed. "When the going gets tough…"
Tari then landed on the ground and swung her sword, releasing a wave of wind that sliced through the trees in a conic radius of a quarter of a mile in front of her.
"You improvise." he finished.
Then, the craft lands on the cleaved forest, causing it to skid until it stops near where the cut stopped. A few minutes later, Tari caught up to the rest of the group as they exited the ship, and Theo doused the flames on the engines.
"We need to find who in the hell attacked us as soon as possible," Roman demanded. "If we don't, we'll have to put Red's new task on the back burner."
"Agreed," Tari responded.
Suddenly, the Manu Fe'ai approached the group and landed before them. Once it landed, the trio of Weiss, Yang, and Belle and their hostage, Hector, exited the craft.
"Belle?" Tari gasped.
"Glad to see you again after saving the world." Belle smiled.
The two hugged, and Lamar and Theo jumped to the hug pile.
"The ones who picked you up followed my orders," Lamar explained. "And they are—"
"Aggressive." Hector interrupted. "Listen, I don't have all day. I have a wife, seven kids, and a career as a programmer."
"Okay, I didn't know you had all that," Yang replied.
"Name's Hector." he introduced himself to the group. "My commanding officer gave me that name."
Then, the group aimed their weapons at the VekkTrooper.
"Who or what is he?" Belle demanded.
Just then, the Manu Fe'ai started to glitch, firing a metal disc at their feet. The disc then emitted a hologram of Rock-Skar.
"Well, well. What do we have here?" The general said as the group gave ticked-off looks, except Hector, who looked worried.
What is Rock-Skar's message to the Meta Hunters?
How will they get off of Menagerie since the engines of Winter's airship got destroyed?
"Hey! Forgetting someone?" Gill yelled.
Whoops. And will Gill Grunt's goal remain the same?
"My goals remain the same? Hell yeah, they are!" Gill retorted.
I am just trying to do my job and prepare the readers for the next chapter, you fish-scaled fool!
"You and your big damn ego!" Gill argued. "Spoiler alert. In Chapter 14: Crisis at Kuo Kuana, I will find my ship, kill those bastards, and claim my bounty in servitude to Vekk-Torr."
You must be clueless as hell!
"Clueless, you say?!" Gill continued. "You just narrate and do nothing. Hell, I even did your job better."
What do you mean by 'do my job better'? What are you, new here?
"Please, I just got here around Christmas." Gill ranted.
So you are new here.
"Never mind that." Gill resumed. "The fact is, I did your job. And it is easier than writing some lyrics, feeding it through some text-to-speech whatsamadingus, and then slap that onto an instrumental of a famous song or a free instrumental they found on the Internet and call that music."
I have no clue what you said.
"It's all over Twitter. Or X as it's called now." Gill explained. "These creatures are a troglodyte-like society who spam their cringe everywhere. Whether it is a post about sports, news, or entertainment, they shove it into our faces like YouTube content farms."
Now I get it, but may I finish my job?
"Oh, sure. Be my guest. It's not letting me say to your ass that I'm better than you, and you know it, but I digress." Gill concluded.
Thank you. Anyway, be on the lookout to see if our heroes survive or die in Chapter 14: Crisis at Kuo Kuana.
Achievement Unlocked: All Fired Up
Have Belle join your Party