Last time on RWBY X Meta Runner: Worlds Collide…
Our heroes arrived at Menagerie; however, it was not pleasant. Before they arrived, Gill Grunt, one of the mercenaries Vekk-Torr sent to hunt all of them down, shot their vessel down. Just as things look disastrous, a new hero arrives on Remnant—Belle Fontiere!
"She got lucky! That redhead trashed my jetpack." Gill interrupted.
Boo hoo, amigo. You can fix it once you return to your ship.
"Yeah, right." Gill responded, "Remember, once this story ends, it's your ass on the chopping block!"
(sigh) Moving on, Belle prevented the Barinian from escaping from doing that despicable deed. As Belle bested the gilled invader, she then was found by Weiss and Yang with Gill's ship, the Manu Fe'ai. Soon, the three regrouped with the rest of the Meta Hunters, only for a message from Rock-Skar interrupting this grateful reunion.
What is the general's message? Stay tuned to find out!
Menagerie, The Crash Site of Winter's Airship
16 days since The Onslaught
The group looks aggressively at the hologram Rock-Skar, displayed on a disc fired from the Manu Fe'ai.
"Oi, who the hell is this guy?" Belle whispered to Yang.
"Rock-Skar." The blonde replied. "He's one of the generals in control of Remnant."
"What's his deal?" Belle continued.
"Two weeks ago, Vekk-Torr took over Remnant and assigned each kingdom to his four generals," Yang explained. "However, he skipped a spot. This place."
"Got it." the redhead acknowledged.
"Lord Vekk-Torr knew that there would be some troublemakers here." Rock-Skar began. "And it seems the six of you have a new friend."
"Yeah, and you and your boss will soon get your just desserts!" Belle retorted.
"Ooh, cocky. I like this one." The general smirked.
"Yeah, she's about to turn you into molten steel!" Yang taunted.
Suddenly, on the Manu Fe'ai, a hologram of Vekk-Torr emitted from the ship's console. Unbeknownst to him, his general was in conversation with the Meta Hunters.
"Anywho, welcome to Menagerie. This paradise is in charge of my good friend, Ni-Treaux. I hope you enjoy your stay." Rock-Skar vowed.
Suddenly, the Manu Fe'ai fired two more discs right near the one displaying the hologram of the general. Then, the leftmost displayed a hologram of Vekk-Torr himself, and the rightmost displayed another of Gill Grunt. The heroes can only look hostile as the three holograms look at their opposition.
"So, I've seen you have met our fishy ally, Gill Grunt." Vekk-Torr proclaimed.
"Barinian." Gill corrected his employer.
"Whatever." the warlord responded. "It's good that he shot you down when you are most vulnerable."
"And let me guess. That aquatic terrorist about to make more ruckus on this island paradise?" Belle pondered.
Everyone fell silent, and as it happened, a bird cawed from out of nowhere.
"Anywho, yes," Gill answered. "It seems that won't be a bad idea while I am here."
"Until then, catch ya later!" Rock-Skar jested before his and Gill's holograms turned off.
Confused, Vekk-Torr started to feel angry but sighed before turning to the group.
"Yeah, what he said." He sighed.
Vekk-Torr's hologram turned off, and the six heroes turned to Belle.
"What were you thinking?" Weiss hissed at her new ally.
"Just trying to stoke up some heat," Belle responded.
"And provoke our enemies," Lamar added.
"Come in, Meta Hunters! Do you read me, Meta Hunters?" A voice from Ruby's scroll shouted.
"Ruby," Tari noted. "You got a call."
Ruby picked up her scroll and began to communicate with the individual.
"Who is this?" she asked.
"This is Bhoora Aloo, leader of the White Fang… as of now." the individual responded. "We need your help."
"Roger, we are on our way," Ruby replied.
"Great, now, fire up that ship, bot," Belle ordered Hector.
"No, that's too obvious. Gill will kill us if we bring his ship." Weiss criticized.
"I agree, jetpack lady," Theo confessed. "If we bring anything related to him, he would do anything to kill us."
"He's right," Yang said. "Luckily, we have some other uses of transportation."
A few moments later, Yang got Bumblebee, and Theo got his mech out of Winter's ship and prepared to travel to their target location.
"Okay, here's how this will go, Weiss, Yang, Theo, Sage, you take the rookie to wherever the White Fang cell's location," Ruby ordered.
"Fear not, sis." Yang cheered. "We'll keep the rookie in check."
"Rookie?" Belle scoffed. "I'm no rookie. I'm one of the best Meta Runners in the world!"
Everyone fell silent and stared at Belle.
"You can't be serious. You are a rookie to us, the team, and Remnant." Weiss said.
"Oi! You don't know what I can do in this game." Belle retaliated.
"Game? You think this war is a GAME?!" Yang responded as her eyes turned red, and the same fiery glow surrounded her right. "I can beat the ever-living crap out of—"
"QUIET!" Roman bellowed. "You all need to calm down. We have business at hand."
"Agreed," replied Ozpin as he approached the group. "Speaking of business, Roman. Miss Xiao Long, may I speak with you, please?"
"Sure," Yang responded. "Lamar, you and Arma-Kade will fill my role."
"Sweet." Lamar approved. "You hear that, Arms? We are going into the field!"
"Don't get overconfident, Lamar. We gotta know where we are going." the centipede Knight assured.
"Well, thank Roa-Nyn for solving that problem for Shizz!" Roman smirked as he threw the cube to Arma-Kade, and the latter then caught it.
He then activated a mini-map of Menagerie.
"Wow, you guys have some fancy tech that makes Atlas blush," Sage informed Arma-Kade.
"Indeed," the Knight responded. "This is a Wherefinder, perfect when traveling through every reality."
"Hey," Theo interrupted as he pointed to the map area where the White Fang insignia highlights the pinpoint of the cell. "There's where we need to go!"
"Seven kilometers southwest from here. Seems like an easy route to travel." Arma-Kade praised.
"Okay, anything else before we go?" Lamar questioned the group.
"Belle," Tari said, holding her jetpack. "This is for you."
Tari then gives her the jetpack she once wore, and the redhead puts it on.
"Much obliged." Belle smiled.
"Guess that's all," Sage answered.
"Alright, Meta Hunters…" Lamar smiled as he and Sage got on Bumblebee, and he started it. "Onwards!"
Weiss and Belle activated their jetpacks, Theo activated his mech's thrusters, and Arma-Kade leaped on top of the mech and followed Lamar to the cell.
White Fang Cell
As the team arrived at the cell, the group progressed toward the front of it. They found a teenage faunus in a cloak, shivering but covering something sinister, standing in their way. As Lamar investigated her, he analyzed the faunus traits she hid within her cloak—cat ears.
"Lamar, what's the holdup?" Sage scrutinized his teammate.
"I think this is Blake Belladonna. She isn't well." Lamar informed.
"She's cold," Belle said. "Perhaps I can warm her up."
"Uh, she may be a threat. I could provide everyone cover fire if she goes AWOL." Theo added.
"Then it's settled," Arma-Kade chimed in. "Belle, you cover the robed individual. Theo, you provide cover fire. Everyone else, we should meet up with the chieftain."
As the rest of the group heads into the cell, Belle and Theo take their position and guard the figure. Belle then wrapped her arm around it and activated her semblance to keep it warm.
"It's beautiful, looking at the stars at night, wondering if other worlds exist. Luckily, this is one of them, and my friends and I are here in it, out of all places." Belle remarked as she stared at the night sky.
"Uh, angry shouty lady?" Theo interrupted. "Bogey at my nine o'clock."
Suddenly, the two then heard rustling from a bush near them. They readied their arms and immediately walked toward it, hoping for a fight. Then, Hector jumped out from it.
"You!" Belle exclaimed.
"Yeah," He bragged. "I'm here to take you all in."
"Ha! You and what army?" Belle asked.
"Take a look at your six," Hector responded.
Just then, something appeared on the radar on Theo's mech. As the two turned around, they saw a group of four midnight green-skinned elves emerge from the shrubbery behind them. All of them carry futuristic rifles, spears, and shotguns.
"Who the hell are these guys?" Belle bellowed.
"The Drow, Natives of the planet Svartalfheim," Hector responded. "So long, interlopers!"
Confident about this, Hector started walking backward into the jungle, only to bump into someone.
"Going somewhere?" it said in a grim eerie voice.
Hector turned around to see a human behind him. As he backed away, he bolted to the figure that Belle was watching over. Whimpering, he cowered in fear of the human approaching him. Confused, Belle walked toward him. But then, a drow approached her, halting her progress. The remaining three drow then circled Theo, ensuring he or Belle did not do anything 'stupid' or they would die.
"Hmph, going on the defensive, I see. " the male figure mocked.
Then, he fired a tendril at the drow near Belle, choking it and pulling it towards him. The rest of the drow rushed in, attempting to save their colleague as they charged into the jungle. However, the figure then got into a quick conflict, killed all four of them, and absorbed them and their weapons. He then left the jungle, revealing his identity while dusting himself off.
"Masa?" Belle gasped.
"Damn right," he smirked.
"Crackerjack!" Theo exclaimed. "The gang's all together!"
"Now you can all die together!" the faunus interrupted.
Blake finally reveals herself to the group by throwing the cloak aside and firing Gambol Shroud at the trio.
All three of them evaded the gunfire.
"You all chose to reveal my existence to the world! You will witness what happens here today and tell of it later." Blake sinisterly reckoned as she smacked both parts of Gambol Shroud together. "Except you won't... 'cuz I have killed you!"
"Oh crap." Belle quivered.
Just then, Blake got shot in the back with water. Blake then hissed and turned around to see who fired at her. As she focused on her new target, she saw nothing and thus sprinted on the pathway to the cell, grinding both parts of her weapon on the ground like a maniac. All three were confused by Blake running off to nowhere. But from out of a bush, Gill Grunt emerged from it and greeted them.
"Now, now. This sequence of events is not what you and I had in mind." He said.
Inside the White Fang Cell
During these events, Weiss, Lamar, Sage, and Arma-Kade walked into the quarters of the White Fang leader.
"Mr. Aloo?" Lamar greeted.
"We are here. We're humans, but we do not mean you harm." Sage added.
"Not all of us, I am a Camylonian," Arma-Kade interjected. "And all three of us come in peace."
Soon, the White Fang leader walked toward them. He is a tall, athletic-built Faunus with brown hair and blue eyes. He wears an open scarlet vest with white fur trim for his top, exposing a patch of brown fur on his chest. Over his black jeans with a belt with a buckle of the original White Fang insignia is a matching sash that wraps around his waist that wraps around his left shoulder. His faunus trait was his forearms and forelegs, covered in fur, with the latter wearing sandals. He then started shaking his hand with the three in the room.
"Glad you all are here." Bhoora smiled.
"Well, most of us." Lamar corrected. "Some are just handling business."
"With your ship crash landing just north of here, I see your point." Bhoora acknowledged.
"Wait, should there be more of you guys?" Sage noted.
"There should, but we are scarce on troops here on Menagerie," Bhoora answered.
"He's right." A voice said.
Suddenly, Ghira walked to the leader and placed his left hand on his shoulder.
"Look at the adjective: scarce. Everyone in the White Fang is in every kingdom, helping everyone else." Ghira said.
"I see that. That's why we're here." Arma-Kade informed.
"If you want to know where everyone else is, Ruby, Tari, and Yang are at the crash site of our ship, while the rest are just outside guarding Blake," Weiss added. "I'm gonna give them a holler so that—"
"Wait, stop!" Ghira ordered. "You do not know what is wrong with her. Ever since Masa's arrival, she's…"
"She's what?" Lamar questioned.
"She's changed." Ghira finished. "She has been acting like a psychopath, killing anyone associated with the White Fang and getting away with it."
"This is not good. This behavior of Blake is not good at all." Weiss worried. "We need to get her checked in to a doctor."
"Or, I do not know if this is offensive or not to the faunus, a vet." Arma-Kade jested.
The room fell silent on what Arma-Kade said. Lamar facepalmed, Weiss gave a confused look, and Sage tried to hide a laugh before turning away and walking with a grin. As he was on the verge of leaving, Gill Grunt landed near the front of the White Fang leader's quarters. Suddenly, Sage's happiness turned into shock, and he pulled out PIlgrim, readying for battle.
"Your fight is not with me, huntsman." Gill groaned. "It's with her."
Gill then pointed to the cell's entrance, where Blake stood still, holding her weapon like a maniac and with a sinister psychopathic grin on her face. Sage looked in fear of the for before him, and she dashed towards the duo. Then, out of nowhere, a pair of chains grabbed him and Gill from their attacker and yanked them back to their owner before Blake could land the kill on the Barinian. Back in the quarters, Sage and Gill manage to get out of the binds that pull them back from harm. As Sage freed Gill from them and stabilized his balance, Arma-Kade recalled his chains, revealing he owned them.
"If it weren't for my Constrictors, you guys would've been that cannibal's dinner... and midnight snack," Arma-Kade said.
"Arms," Lamar interjected. "Why is that killer fishman doing here?"
"At this point, we are on the same side," Gill informed. "Your faunus friend is possessed by some demon."
"Blake!" exclaimed Weiss. "We have to subdue her!"
Weiss then pulled out Myrtemaster and rocketed toward Blake. The two members of team RWBY clashed as their bladed weapons collided with each other. However, when the heiress tried to land a blow to the faunus, the latter countered each attack and struck the former with an unexpected blow. Seeing this, Lamar fired an arrow from his weapon at Blake's foot, but the faunus dodged it and turned to Lamar. As she did that, Lamar and Gill ran for their lives as she chased them.
"You got any balloons?" He asked Gill.
Blake then charged at him, and he evaded the attack by stopping quickly.
"What do I look like to you, a clown that performs at birthday parties?" Gill yelled. "Yeah, I usually practice shooting at them when trying new weapons. Turns out, that was my first job before I was a mercenary."
Gill then placed a balloon on the end of his weapon and filled it with the water in his rifle. Once it filled up, he tied it up in a knot and leaped toward Weiss.
"A water balloon?" Weiss questioned.
"The water's infused with dinitrogen trioxide. Highly hazardous stuff." Gill explained. "When exposed to heat, the water becomes napalm."
Weiss shrugged, took it, and ran outside.
"Lamar, follow me!" She ordered.
Weiss and Lamar ran outside to the cell grounds, with Blake chasing after them. As the heiress tripped over a pebble, she began to stumble while holding the water balloon. Then, out of nowhere, two tiny humanoid Camylonians with spider-like attributes, including spider-like legs on the back of their bodies. The male was colored lime green and navy blue and wore black ninja garb. The female was colored amber and silver and wore hacker attire, including a white hooded sweater with the symbol of the White Fang on the front, gray sweatpants with red stripes on both sides of the legs, and her feet sporting red leather hiking boots with brown laces.
"Sister, apprehend the lunatic. I'll assist the Schnee." the male ordered.
The miniature Camylonians went to their assigned targets. As the male landed on Weiss's shoulder, she screamed as she both stumbled and lost her balloon grip.
"Crap!" it exclaimed.
It then jumped from Weiss's shoulder, threw a sticky substance from his hands, and caught the balloon before it could burst. It then landed on the ground safely, where Lamar preceded to pick it up.
"Yuck!" he yelled.
Blake then turned her attention to Lamar as he yelled. She then fired at him, hoping to burst the balloon, only for Lamar to run from the gunfire.
"Weiss, now!" Lamar shouted as he threw the balloon at Blake.
Weiss then pulled out Myrtemaster and activated its fire Dust cartridge, firing a stream of fire at the balloon. As the balloon and fire intersect, they explode, causing the water to burst into a fiery mess that scalded Blake. Blinded by it, she swung Gambol Shroud in a frenzy.
"Ah, great, and now she's triggered! Could be all day with it!" Lamar cowered.
He then grabbed his bow and fired an arrow at Blake, which struck the deranged faunus in the foot. As Blake regained sight, she turned to Lamar and rushed towards him. The two clashed with their weapons in their two-handed modes. When Blake tried to strike Lamar, he blocked the attack with his twin scimitars, knocked Gambol Shroud loose from her hands, and kicked her to the ground, bumping her head on a rock and knocking her out.
"That's how you do it: parry and repost!" the tiny male spider Camylonian cheered.
"Riposte." Lamar corrected.
"Gesundheit." he replied.
Then, the tiny female spider Camylonian threw the same sticky substance that her brother once used onto Blake, snaring her.
"Jackpot!" Lamar cheered. "We win."
"Well done," Gill complemented the group. "Now, to take our prize."
As the Meta Hunters and Gill approached the ensnared Blake, she squirmed as she tried to break free of the substance. As Arma-Kade used his Constrictors to help Blake stand up on her two feet, Lamar ran to the front to check on the rest of the group.
"I'm gonna check on everyone else," he informed.
"Roger. Return with them." Arma-Kade replied.
"Quick question, Arma-Kade. Who were those little guys who assisted us?" Weiss questioned.
"Itt-Z, Byt-Z, front and center!" Arma-Kade ordered.
The two tiny Camylonians landed on Weiss's shoulder, and she gave a worried face once they did so.
"Reporting for duty, Arma-Kade." the male spider Camylonian nodded.
"Weiss," Arma-Kade continued. "On your right shoulder is Itt-Z. He's an expert at stealth, espionage, and martial arts. On your left is Byt-Z, a miniature brainiac. She's our resident tech expert whose silence is unmatched."
"Well, nice to meet you two." Weiss smiled.
"Pleasure is all ours," Itt-Z replied as they jumped onto Arma-Kade's shoulder. "Armando, who are these humans?"
"We are Meta Hunters, I am Weiss Schnee, Mister Itt-Z." Weiss answered. "That's Sage Ayana of Team SSSN of Haven."
Lamar then rejoined the group with Belle, Theo, and now Masa, joining him
"And I am Lamar. And these are Belle, Theo, and Masa." He interrupted.
"And that is the fish who was attacking you guys!" Belle snapped as he charged at Gill.
"You!" Gill retorted as he pulled out his rifle. "You're getting butterfly cut, you son of a—"
Masa then jumped into the way and stopped the two from fighting.
"Be grateful that we are on the same side," Masa pleaded.
Suddenly, a beeping sound came from Gill, and he picked up his communicator, noticing something was coming. Then, a pair of Mistral Airships with the symbol of Vekk-Torr, filled with VekkTroopers, descended toward them, and as they circled the cell, everyone on board both ships cheered like they won the lottery while everyone shielded their eyes from the dust coming at them. Rock-Skar exited one of the ships as both landed and walked toward the heroes.
"Rock-Skar!" Weiss and Arma-Kade snarled.
"Well, look at what we have here, The Knights of the Bore," Rock-Skar smirked as he approached the group with his guitar axe resting on his shoulder. "And what's this, those termites interloping with Lord Vekk-Torr's plan?
"Well, most of them." one of the VekkTroopers informed.
"And lookee here, the AWOL bioweapon and the mercenary who suckered Lord Vekk-Torr in," said Rock-Skar.
"Like moving a whole city and building a decoy in its place?" Gill responded. "My people will turn you into a signal to Vekk-Torr that will—GAAAAAAHHHH!"
Gill then fell to the ground, flat on his stomach, as he got shot by a shock sniper.
"NO!" Belle yelled.
Then, Lamar stopped her before she could approach Gill.
"Soldiers, grab Swamp Thing and the Distortion. I'll handle the Meta Hunters." Rock-Skar ordered.
Then, the VekkTroopers rushed out of the ship and picked up Gill's unconscious body and the entangled Blake while holding the heroes at gunpoint. As they loaded the two on separate vessels, Rock-Skar reapproached the heroes and prepared his guitar axe to kill them.
"Now, who wants to die first?" the general reckoned.
"That's not happening on our watch, Rock-Skar!" a voice hollered from the cell's entrance.
Everyone looked at the front, especially Bhoora and Ghira, who peeped their heads out of the throne room and saw Ruby, Tari, and the Mani Fe'ai.
"We gotta go," Rock-Skar ordered the crews of the VekkTrooper-controlled airships. "Pronto! On the double!"
As the ships began to start up for takeoff, Ruby and Tari began to pursue the one with Rock-Skar in it. As Tari shielded her face from the dust, she saw that Rock-Skat was about to play a tune.
"Ruby, watch out for the guitar solo!" she warned.
"What?!" asked Ruby.
Then, with a strum of the strings, Rock-Skar unleashed a powerful soundwave that staggered everyone and knocked the captured Blake onto one of the airship walls. Looking down on the ground, he saw the knocked-down Tari as the ships rose in the sky.
"Hey, Dandy Dick!" a voice shouted.
Then, Rock-Skar turned to the ship where Blake was on, only to see her alone, stuck to the wall of the top of it. As he headed to the top of his vessel, he saw Blake, all alone, smirking at him. Confused, he shrugged and started to head down.
"You missed!" another voice smiled.
Then, Ruby gave a sucker punch to Rock-Skar and activated her Petal Burst semblance to jump to the other ship. As she arrived at it, she saw Blake, still snared, trying to break free.
"Blake!" Ruby gasped.
Blake turned to her team's leader, whom she hadn't seen since the Onlslaught.
"Do I know you?" Blake asked.
Ruby then slapped Blake with her cybernetic hand, hoping for her to jog her memory. As she regained her focus, Ruby and Blake regained eye contact.
"For my next glimpse into the future, you'll say the following:" Ruby started.
"Next time, try not to slap me so hard, okay?" Ruby and Blake said together.
As Blake gasped, she made a Shadow clone of ice in her place of herself, leaving her standing on her legs and stabilizing herself with Ruby's help.
"Ruby," she gasped. "What happened to us? We did not become monsters like the Grimm, did we?"
"We'll explain later," replied Ruby. "Now, we fight."
A pair of VekkTroopers rushed to their location, only for them to get bested by the two huntresses. Rock-Skar then demanded the captain of his ship pull over so that he could board the one Ruby and Blake were on. As he did that, Rock-Skar then jumped to their vessel, only to get shot by a pursuing Manu Fe'ai with Tari and Masa on board.
"We got them where we want them!" Tari boasted! "Masa, slingshot yourself to that ship. I'll take the rest!"
Masa nodded as the floor opened, noticing they were far from land. With the Nevermore Energy inside him, Masa swung from Gill's airship onto one of the hostiles. As he boarded, the VekkTroopers on board the vessel charged to the top and prepared to fight, only for him to kill some and absorb a few with his tendrils.
"Okay, I know it's filthy rich coming from me, BUT YOUR POWERS ARE BULLSHIT!" Rock-Skar shouted.
As Rock-Skar commanded the captain of his ship to get out of there, the latter activated the jet thrusters, and it rocketed toward the continent of Anima, where Mistral is, at breakneck speeds.
"Dammit!" griped Masa as he clenched his fist in rage and punched a hole in the ship, releasing his wrath upon the VekkTroopers, killing them.
Then, the ship shook, and he bolted for the controls and began to take control of the vessel. He then pulled up his scroll and called Lamar.
"Lamar, this is Masa." He began.
Back at the White Fang Cell, everyone was there listening to what Masa had to say.
"We lost Ruby and Blake." He reported.
"No. No." Yang cried.
Yang then ran and hugged Weiss, only for her to be hugged back by both Schnee sisters. As the Manu Fe'ai returned, it landed inside the cell, with Tari and Gill glum and bitter about the result.
"It's not fair!" Tari complained. "It should've been me, not her."
"She knew that cat lady more. That's why they are teammates." Roa-Nyn replied in a calming manner. "The same applies to you, Theo, and your MD-5 compatriots, as well as me and LOTUS, the AI on my ship."
"What are you trying to say?" Tari questioned.
"I'm saying that there are bonds that get stronger with time," Roa-Nyn responded. "So remember this, Tari—it's not the strength of your bond with others; it's how well your bond with others that determines the strength of it."
Mistral, Suteppu
17 days since The Onslaught
In the early morning hours at the village of Suteppu, the airship Masa hijacked was running out of power, and he needed to make a quick landing. As he descended upon the small town, he landed his airship and exited it. As he got out, he saw propaganda about Vekk-Torr's reign over Remnant since the warlord took over the planet.
"What the hell happened to this place?" Masa groaned.
With Ruby, Blake, and Gill captured, how much more malice will Rock-Skar unleash on Menagerie?
Now that she's alone leading the Meta Hunters, what's next for Tari?
And what was this 'Onslaught' event, anyway?
"Beats me." Gill interrupted. "It's preferable to get the backstory on that event."
Good idea. Be here when all those questions get answered in Chapter 15: Division AND Sidequests: The Onslaught!