Chapter 4
Each of the four turtles soared into the air, other students following and preceding them. Weiss seemed to create solid glyphs to hop safely through the air, Ruby fired Crescent Rose to slow her momentum down, Yang tried the same with her gauntlets (yet another combination weapon), but mostly crashed through the trees, Pyrrha used a shield as protection while ramming through the foliage, and of course the turtles had their own ways down.
Leonardo narrowed his body as he flew through the air, gracefully altering the way his body was shaped to give himself a semblance of control. Looking down, he saw the unmistakable shell of one of his brothers, so he turned his body in that direction. It wouldn't be an accurate landing, but it would get him fairly close. Before he reached the tree-line he reached into his belt and pulled out his climbing claws, slipping them on. He reached out and tore into some of the wood, slowing himself down enough to kick and flip off some of the branches before landing gracefully in the trees. Looking up, he leaped back in the direction he assumed Raph had gone, moving through the trees swiftly and silently.
Raphael gritted his teeth as the air rushed passed him. He was not comfortable with this idea, and his brain raced to come up with a plan. Looking down, he saw the forest. Several kicks should get him some distance to continue on, but he needed something to break the fall. His train of thought was slightly derailed when a green shape shot passed him into the tree line. It was obviously Leo, the grace and speed meant that it had to be him. Show off. Raph thought in annoyance. Still, the tree line was quickly approaching, and soon he just flipped around, his shell aimed at the branches. With snaps and cracks he barreled through the forest like a cannonball. Once he thought he had slowed down enough, he kicked out and soared into the air. Using the momentum, he kicked off the various trees, moving in the direction Leo shot off to.
Donatello was quick to think of his options. Looking around at the various trees, he did many rough calculations in his brain to see what he'd need to do. Wind speed, his weight, velocity, approximate thickness of the wood. He pulled out his Bo, familiar with the weight and strength. That is, until he was interrupted by an all too familiar scream. Diverting his attention for a split second, he saw the way Mikey was falling, and did the math to judge where he would land… or, crash. With careful and precise positioning of his arms and legs, he spun in that direction. Once at the treeline he thrust out his Bo staff, and used it to pole-vault in the direction he estimated Mikey would land, before reaching his arm out to grab a thick branch. Stopping, he landed in the trees, and then leapt in his hopeless brother's direction.
Michelangelo screamed as he was sent flying into the air. He continued screaming as he flew faster and higher into the air, his mind panicking at the thought of what to do. Okay, okay, okay, breath Mikey, breath. What would an action movie star do? He thought for a moment, thinking hard, he pounded his head, until...
"Hah, I got it!" Whipping out his nunchucks, he swung them around and wrapped them around the branches, swinging like some sort of mutant Tarzan.
"Ha ha! I am Mikey, KING OF THE-" Sadly, he did not notice the tree he was quick to ram face first in. Groaning, he sat down, rubbing his head softly.
"Ugh, break...time..."
Leonardo heard the sounds of branches and trunks snapping and cracking, running in the direction while quickly leaping through the woods himself, occasionally using his swords to slice through dense foliage, not slowing down at all. He was quick and silent, barely making a noise, even some of the birds failed to notice him. As he approached where he estimated Raph to have landed, the sounds of gunfire stopped him. It wasn't nearby or particularly loud, but it did remind Leonardo that things had changed.
This was for real.
Grimacing, this fueled Leonardo's desire to find his brothers and make sure everyone was alright. Speeding up, however, he suddenly felt two hands grab him and pull him onto another branch. Turning around he drew his katanas only to face the smirking lips of Raphael.
"What, did something spook ya?" Raph asked sarcastically, Leonardo rolling his eyes as he sheathed his blade.
"Ha ha, you're sure funny. So, if what Ozpin said is right this makes us partners. C'mon, we gotta find the others, sounds like things are getting hot around here." Leo was brief, before leaping off and back into the trees. Raph rolled his eyes before following him.
"Sure thing, fearless leader…" Raph muttered.
Mikey groaned as he started to stir, rubbing his head to get the throbbing to stop.
"Ugh... why can't my soul magic make this go away faster?" He complained, before seeing a shadow over him, an arm reaching out over to him. With a quick scream, he started trying to smack his assailant away. However, his "assailant" just sighed and stood up.
"Well glad to see you're still you, not that a head injury would make much of a difference." The calm, if slightly annoyed, voice of Donatello sobered Mikey up. Looking up at his brother, the orange turtle coughed and rubbed his head.
"Uh, right I was just... uh, practicing my emergency response in the event I'm ever caught off guard!" Mikey said, giving an unconvincing smile. All that made Donatello do was stand up, muttering something or other about how he was sure Mikey was adopted.
"Alright, so looks like we got step one done in Leo's plan. Now we just gotta meet up with him and Raph, and get our artifact." Don said, before looking up at the sun and at the cliffside.
"Well, assuming the rotation of the sun is the same as at home and the direction Ozpin was pointing indicates north, as well as the time of day…" He muttered some more, looking around and thinking. Mikey yawned and patted his shoulder.
"So which way we going?" The clueless one asked before Don pointed out away from the barely visible cliffside.
"That way. If we find any clue as to where the others are, we'll head towards them, but right now let's find the artifacts and wait there for them." With a plan in mind, Don and Mikey were swift to make their way out to find their artifact and their brothers.
Swiftness and silence ruled the forest as Leonardo and Raphael quickly to slid through the treetops. It wasn't as easy to stay quiet in the forest as it was in the busy New York rooftops, there where more things to make noise on and the forest was naturally quieter to amplify any noises, but it was hardly a challenge for the two trained ninjas.
Swinging across branches, leaping against trunks, kicking into the air to land several trees ahead, they made great time. The only problem was they didn't know exactly where to go. They had wandered around for a bit, trying to find a trace of their brothers, but no solid leads were found. In the end, they decided to try and head to where the artifacts would be located. Leo knew a bit about traveling through the forest, and most of the occasional sporadic gunshots echoing through the forest lead them to a general direction.
However while they moved, Raph looked down and widened his eyes as he saw something... something different.
"Woah... hey Leo, check dis out." He whispered to the leader, pointing down. When Leo looked down to where he was pointing, he could barely believe what he saw.
It looked like two large bears. However, unlike a grizzly or black bear, these bears were jet black, like that of the darkest night with several boney spikes running down their backs and shoulders. As if that wasn't enough, their faces had a boney, mask-like plate covering it, two red eyes glowing from behind them, while a strange, red, symbol-like marking coated it. Raph snorted as they ambled along, sniffing around.
"Betcha twenty bucks those are these monsters were supposed to be huntin'." Raph whispered, pulling out his sais, and crouching low, about to jump. Leo extended his arm to stop him.
"Most likely, but we shouldn't waste our time figuring it out or fighting them. C'mon, we can easily avoid them." Leo said, about to stand up. However Raph smirked up at him.
"C'mon, this is what that Ozpin chump wants us ta do, remember? 'Sides, if we're gonna be fightin' these t'ings, we should build up some... experience, right?" Raph grinned and before Leo could say anything, he had already leaped down, plummeting towards them.
Landing softly just behind them, the Grimm bears didn't even hear or notice him and continued to walk away. Raph smirked and leaped into the air, extending his legs to kick at one of their backs. After doing that, he leaped back, as the creature growled in pain, the two turning back, standing on their hind legs. They bared their sharp teeth and raised their clawed paws. Raph smirked and held his sais out in front of him.
"Alright there Yogi an' Booboo, it's bear season." Raph grinned, before one of them roared and charged after the mutant turtle. As the other one reared up it felt two sharp slashes of pain on its back. Growling, it turned around just in time to meet the feet of Leonardo, having launched himself up and kicking backwards to slide to a halt.
The Grimm charging Raph made several wide swings with its paws, each swing easily dodged by Raph. After another quick swing, the red turtle saw an opportunity and swing his fists in, stabbing at its gut with his sais. The creature growled in pain but did not go down. Instead it leaned in, biting at Raphael's head, a move that almost took a chunk. Backflipping, Raph frowned.
"Alright, seems these guys are a bit on the tough side." In front of him, Leonardo was in the air, delivering several swift kicks to the monster's head. These knocked it back a few steps, but otherwise didn't seem to do much damage, it just growled and tried biting. Leonardo kicked off and flipped over it, swinging his swords at the creatures back, digging into its flesh.
"I told you this was a bad idea!" The leader called out to his hot headed brother, who was busy flipping around to avoid being clawed up like a cat toy. Raph growled and when it swung again, he reared his sais back and then swung them down, the tip catching the Ursa's paw and forcing it to the ground. Pinning the paw down for even just a second, Raph was able to slide to the side and deliver several devastating punches, one with his regular fist and the other with his sai, making the creature groan more. It didn't take long for his paw to yank free, and Raph caught the free paw to his side. Flinging back, he hit a tree hard, the bark cracking behind him. Groaning, Raph found himself... not quite as injured as he thought he'd be. His shell may be protective, but not that much. Standing up, he smirked.
"Seems that Aura stuff is pretty nice…" With more confidence he ran at the Ursa, who also ran at him on all fours. As Raph came close, it swung at him, but only clawed at air, the target having leaped into the air and over him. Rolling on the ground, he grabbed the sai that had been tossed away. The Grimm charged at him and was soon on top of Raphael. However Raph swung an uppercut with his recently grabbed sai, catching the bear-like monster under the jaw, flinging it into the air and hard onto its back. It didn't move, and to Raph's surprise a black smoke started radiating from it.
Leonardo, in the meantime, was quick to find his weapons were a bit more forgiving for himself. He was able to keep the Grimm farther away, kicking and slashing at it, but not enough to slow it down. If anything, it almost seemed like his attacks weren't doing much. Gritting his teeth, he sought to end this fight, decisively. Kicking off the ground, he leapt over the charging beast, landing on its back, but only long enough to kick off of it. Reaching up, he grabbed a branch and used his momentum to swing up, making him go higher. Once there, he flipped his body around 180 degrees, so that his head was facing down. Kicking off another branch, he launched himself down at the Grimm, who had turned to stalk the recently fought Raph. Looking down, Leonardo brought his twin katanas to his side, until at the last second he reached the Grimm's neck, swinging them to slice through it. The momentum delivered, and they carved clean through, beheading it. Pushing off of his hands after landing, he did a small flip and landed, crouched, in front of the smoking body, his blades extended outwards before he quickly sheathed them. However in front of him stood Raph, arms crossed to show that he was distinctly unimpressed.
"Ya done there, show off?" Raphael asked, to which Leonardo looked up, scowling a bit as well.
"Raph, next time listen to what I say, alright? We need to find Mikey and Don ASAP." The leader quickly said, before rushing back to the trees. Raph was quick to follow them.
"Oh lighten up there, we not only got some valuable combat experience against these t'ings, but we also helped get rid of some. 'Sides, Mikey and Don are big ninja turtles, they can handle themselves for a while."
"Donnie, we can NOT handle this ourselves!" Mikey yelled, using his nunchucks to bat away a claw being swung at him, before kicking the werewolf looking monster. It growled as it was knocked back, but another one ran at him, only to be hit in the face by a long staff of wood. Don grimaced as he looked around at the Grimm starting to surround the two.
As the brothers had traveled through the forest, they had run across an odd looking creature. It was vaguely wolf like, however it had incredibly long, powerful arms, jet black fur, and a large, white, boney mask-like face plate. Don was quick to identify it as a Grimm, and seeing as it was alone suggested they get closer to analyze it, maybe even take it out. Well they had been successful with that endeavor... only to be ambushed by the rest of the pack. Right now Donatello was too busy blocking and counterattacking to respond back to Mikey. Swinging out with his staff, he knocked one of the Grimm far back into a tree, before quickly swinging around to block another one going for Mikey. Mikey quickly leaped over the staff, swinging out to smack the offending Grimm with several vicious strikes to the skull, before punting it with a deadly kick. The two quickly backflipped to give themselves some space, the pack of wolves closing in slowly. Michelangelo grimaced as he looked back at their trapped circumstances. They were supposed to clear any Grimm they came across, but what if they couldn't? Could they just leave?
"Hey Don, put that big brain of yours to work and I'll try to cover for you!" Mikey shouted before charging at the group, nunchucks spinning. He leaped into the air, kicking at one and batting two more away with his weapons. Spinning around, he kicked out with his feet as one tried to lunge at him, and swung his head backwards to smash into the muzzle of another one. The snarls only grew louder as the Grimm not taken out were further enraged, swiping and swinging at him with their claws. Fortunately, Mikey was faster with his dodging, bobbing, and weaving, delivering more smacks all the while.
Don meanwhile looked among the pack, smacking at any Grimm trying to sneak up behind his younger brother, swinging out and dealing damage with his bo. Kicking back against the ground, he spun and smashed one Grimm into the ground hard enough for it to not get back up, before planting his bo in the ground and using it to swing his legs up, catching another wolf under the jaw and throwing it back. Don grimaced as he looked back, and shook his head.
"Mikey, we can't keep back all of them, come on we gotta go! We can lose them in the trees." Don said, before widening his eyes and jumping out of the way as Mikey was flung backwards into a tree. Groaning as he stood up, he nodded.
"Right, I can live with that." Mikey said, before pulling out two smoke pellets. Don did the same, and right before the charging Grimm could reach them, their vision was obscured by smoke, causing the pack to stop briefly. When the smoke cleared the two turtles were gone. However, with so many determined eyes one was sure to see something. One happened to look up and saw the legs of one of the turtles. Howling, it charged after them, the others following.
Don looked back as he ran through the tree branches, kicking and sliding off them to gain speed. They were fast in this area, no doubt, but the Grimm were on the ground and they were also fast. Not only that, they knew this forest, effortlessly running between the trees, rarely getting in each other's way. Donnie frowned and kicked off the tree trunk, rushing right back where they came from. Mikey looked back and was quick to adjust his direction, following him.
"Uh, Don? The artifacts are that way, you said so! Where are we going?" Mikey questioned, grabbing a branch to swing to the next tree, which he kicked off to keep going.
"What, and lead this pack to it? No thank you, we gotta lose them first, then we can go there. Shouldn't take too long." Don said confidently. Mikey looked down to see the Grimm were almost right under them.
"Heh... right, whatever you say braniac."
Leonardo and Raphael had fared better after their incident with the bear Grimm. They had occasionally seen one or two of the wolf-like Grimm, but had instead chosen to avoid them, trying to get back on schedule and to the place where the artifacts where. However as they ran they heard what sounded like a loud shotgun blast. This time they were fairly close. Leo held his hand up, stopping the two.
"Did you hear that? It sounded close. Someone's in trouble." Leonardo whispered, to which Raph nodded. The two quickly but quietly started off to where they had heard it. As the two got close, suddenly a large barrage of the sounds was quick to follow. Bursting to the edge of a clearing the turtles looked down to see none other than Yang utterly dominating one of the bear Grimm. She was quickly punching out with her gauntlets, the shots coming from her fists as she punched it, driving it back, until she gave one final punch, sending it flying through several dying trees. Behind her, another Grimm bear roared and charged towards her, rearing up on its legs. Turning around, she faced it, her fists ready.
"What! You want some, too?!" She angrily challenged. Raph narrowed his eyes and drew his sais, while Leonardo reached up and grabbed his katanas, ready to jump to her aid. However, before anything could happen the Grimm just froze up, before falling down, a blade sticking out of its back. Connected to the kama-looking weapon was a long ribbon, which lead all the way back to its owner, the black bowed girl from the other day. She pulled on the ribbon, bringing the kama all the way back. Pressing a button, it folded out to become a long, curved sword. Inserting it into the sheath, she looked back at Yang with a smirk. Yang just looked at her, before shrugging.
"I could've taken him." She added confidently. With that said, Raph's voice echoed into the clearing.
"Plus you had some back up, just in case." The red banded turtle mentioned as he leaped down into the clearing, Leonardo just behind him. Yang looked back and smirked, waving at them.
"Oh, hey there guys! Fancy running into you two here." She said, looking back at her new partner. Said partner however had lost her smirk and had replaced it with a small scowl, her eyes narrowed at the turtles. Leonardo had caught on to this, and her constant unease around them was starting to get to him, causing him to scowl back, his arms crossed. Raph and Yang didn't seem to notice.
"That's some fancy hardware you got there, and nice moves. That's what I call a knockout." Raph grinned, looking over at the now smoking Grimm. Yang chuckled and her gauntlets folded back into the distinctive bracelets she had worn.
"Nah, that was nothing. They just touched the hair and that's a no go." She said, before raising her eyes and turning back to them.
"Hey, have you guys happened to see Ruby anywhere?" She asked, just the tiniest hint of concern in her voice. Leonardo shook his head, breaking off the little stare down he was having.
"Sorry, I can't say we have. Have you happened to see Mikey or Don?" He asked, before getting the same answer from Yang, and after being asked, the black hair girl also denied any knowledge. Yang shrugged.
"Guess all we can do is go to find the artifacts and hope for the best." She suggested, to the agreement of the turtles and her partner. The four set off from the clearing, Yang and Raph occasionally saying something, while his brother and her partner kept silent and away from each other.
Donatello had many times found himself in situations where he wished he wasn't right. One instance happened to be how they had gotten here, and that his device had worked as advertised. This, however, was not one of those instances. He and Michelangelo had been running from these Grimm for a while now, and they had not lost them, if anything it almost looked like more had joined in on the chase. They'd tried zigzagging, changing directions, smoke pellets, but the things would not lose sight of them.
"All right Donnie, your plan didn't work, its fine it happens to the best of us, just look at Leo. But right now, we need a new plan!" Mikey shouted at his brother, who was himself unsure of what to do.
"I'm trying, I'm try-oh shell!" Don exclaimed, looking up ahead of them. Some of the Grimm had managed to circle ahead of the turtles and were trying to climb up the trees, or knock down the ones in their path.
"Looks like its time for round two." Don said, pulling out his bo. He leaped at them and swung at one of the Grimm. It growled before grabbing ahold of the staff and tossing him to the ground.
"Donnie!" Mikey shouted, before leaping to the ground in front of his brother, throwing several shurikens at the Grimm below, getting a couple lucky hits and even taking one of them out. He had his nunchucks raised and spinning, ready to defend his brother. Don was quick to get up, and he pulled up his staff. The Grimm charged, meeting the blunt edges of the brothers' weapons, some having their face plates cracked and smashed, others knocked back, but most just bothered to be momentarily stunned before retaliating. The two tried to keep this up as long as they could, but they weren't beating them back hard and fast enough to stem the tides. Their weapons just simply weren't ideal for putting the Grimm down for good, and that was the only way for them to get the message and stop.
"Don, this isn't going to work! Running didn't work either!" Mikey yelled, sidestepping and spinning around to knock one of the wolves to Don, who met it hard with a deadly downward sing of his bo. Don nodded.
"I know, I'm trying to think of an idea... hmm, what if I-" Before he could finish his thought, a loud roar was heard, echoing through the forest. The wolves all stopped and looked at each other, and then back at the turtles, before slowly backing away, snarling and growling at the two. Mikey was shaking a bit from the roar.
"Uh, Donnie... w-what was that?" Mikey asked, looking around, his nunchucks out and spinning. Don looked around as well, his bo out.
"I don't know…" Don said as he turned to look at where the wolves ran off to, slowly sheathing his bo.
"And I'd rather not find out. C'mon Mikey, let's get going." Don urged, heading away from the clearing. Mikey was quick to follow.
"Don't need to tell me twice!" Mikey added as the two rushed back into the forest. Behind them, however, a large paw, similar to the Grimm wolves, grabbed the branch, as another beast looked at where they ran off. Its ears flattened as a loud snarl echoed from behind its mouth and clenched teeth.
Leonardo, Raphael, Yang, and her partner, whose name they learned was Blake, exited from the forest into a large clearing. In the middle of it sat a small, round ruin. Inside of the ruin sat pedestals, and on top of each one sat a small object. Yang put her hands on her hips and shrugged.
"Think this is the place?" She asked. Blake gave her a snarky look, and walked down, while Raph sighed.
"Nah, I'm sure this must be dat other set of ruins wit' small artifacts in it." Raph said, as he and Yang followed Blake down. Leonardo looked around, trying to spot his brothers. After seeing no one, he followed the three down.
Blake was the first in and raised an eyebrow as she looked at the artifacts.
"Chess pieces?" She asked, confused. Indeed on each pedestal sat a pair of golden or black chess pieces. Or on most of the pedestals. Leonardo looked over them, also confused.
"What.. are they supposed to be symbolic or something?" Leo asked, to the shrugging of Yang and Raph.
"Some of them are missing. Looks like we weren't the first ones here." Yang added.
"So... what now? We grab one?" Raph asked, which Blake surprisingly acknowledged with a nod.
"I guess... that's what we're supposed to do." Blake said, after which the four looked around. Raph saw one of the golden pieces and reached for it. Grabbing it he shrugged and tossed it to Leo.
"Hey, what's dis piece?" He asked, as Leo looked it over.
"Um... I think it's a bishop?" Leo said, looking over the golden bishop piece. Raph sighed, shaking his head.
"We got enough bishops in our life as is…" Raph said, as Leonardo pocketed the piece. Behind them Yang looked over a golden knight piece.
"Hmm... how about a cute little pony?" She asked cheerfully, waving it. Blake gave a small smile at her antics and nodded.
"Sure." Blake said, as the four met up in the middle of the ruin.
"That wasn't too hard!" Yang enthusiastically commented. Blake nodded.
"Well, it's not like this place is very difficult to find." Blake threw in, getting a smile out of Yang. Raph nodded and shrugged.
"I mean all t'ings considered, it really isn't. I'm surprised that Donnie wasn't able to find this place 'fore us. Although... if Mikey's not with him I wouldn't be surprised." Raph joked, before the four were interrupted by a loud shriek. Yang, Raph, and Leo quickly turned to the source of the scream.
"Some girl's in trouble!" Yang said, looking in the direction the scream had come from. Raph drew his sais, crossing them.
"That or it's Mikey." He said, narrowing his eyes in their direction. Yang kept looking.
"Blake did you hear that?" Yang asked her partner. Said partner was currently too busy looking up at something to answer. Leonardo noticed this and turned back to her, raising an eyebrow, before looking up, his own eyes widening.
"What should we do?" Yang asked, turning to Blake. Blake just pointed up, and a faint but familiar voice was heard.
"Heads uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup!" The voice screamed, and now everyone was looking up to see none other than Ruby Rose falling down from the heavens. Now, this by itself left the group confused beyond words, however it got even more confusing when Jaune flew from the forest line and crashed mid-air into Ruby, knocking the two into the tree line. The four just stared at the crash site. Raph raised a finger, his eyes wide with confusion.
"I... what the shell?" He asked, before Blake had her own question.
"Did your sister just fall from the sky?" Blake asked, but before Yang could answer, more crazy decided to drop by. Behind the four, a loud crashing and explosive sound was heard. Coming out from the edge of the forest was one of the bear Grimm, thrashing and roaring. However, just as quickly, a large, pink explosion erupted on its back, and all the way from back there they could hear a loud cheer. As the Grimm fell a red-headed girl in a white and pink dress rolled off of it. She stopped and started looking over the Grimm, as a young man rushed out, and stopped by her to catch his breath. He seemed to talk to her, but when he looked up, the girl was gone and all the way past them, looking at the chess pieces. Eying the golden rook, she grabbed it and burst into a cheery, sing-song voice.
"I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!" She exclaimed happily, holding up the piece. She was interrupted by her partner.
"NORA!" He shouted in annoyance. Nora stopped and saluted, her smile still on while she grabbed the piece and skipped over to him.
"Coming Ren!" She exclaimed happily, leaving the confused girls and mutant turtles to just stare at what they'd seen.
"What the shell?" Leonardo asked, rubbing his head. Once again Blake was on top of it with her question.
"Did that girl just ride in on an Ursa?" Blake asked, to which Yang seemed to try to answer... before yet again being interrupted. This time it was Pyrrha Nikos running into the clearing, before the trees behind her exploded and a massive scorpion burst through. This beast had a distinctive golden stinger, and its exoskeleton was made of the same white, boney structure with similar red designs, clearly a Grimm.
"WHAT THE SHELL?!" Leonardo and Raphael exclaimed, pulling out their weapons as Pyrrha nimbly dodged and avoided the claws of the scorpion.
"Great, of course it was freakin' bugs. I hate bugs!" Raphael yelled out, holding his weapons out. But of course that wasn't all. From close by, on the other side of the clearing, the final two of the ninja turtles ran out. Mikey slowly backed up, throwing shurikens at something in the forest before giving up and running. From out of the trees came another monstrous Grimm. While not even close to the size of the scorpion, it was much larger than the wolves and bears. It looked very similar to the wolves actually, only larger, a much thicker face plate, and more pronounced ears. It roared once upon entering the clearing and then got on all fours to chase after the two. The two ran along, eventually catching up to Pyrrha, while the large wolf ran alongside the scorpion. Mikey was, of course, screaming his head off as they ran next to Pyrrha to try and get ahead of the two Grimm. Leonardo looked over and called for them.
"Donnie, Mikey, we're over here!" He shouted to his brothers. Mikey leaped over a swing from the scorpion.
"Yeah we can tell shell for brains, we're trying to get over there!" He shouted. Next to them, Ruby rolled down next to Yang. The two were about to share a heartfelt hug, when Nora burst between them. Leonardo and Raphael were officially lost on what the shell was going on.
"Did those three just run all the way here with a Death Stalker and an Alpha Beowolf on their tail?" Blake asked. And that seemed to be the final straw for the ever increasingly angry Yang.
"I can't take it anymore! Can everyone just chill out for two seconds before something crazy happens again?!" Yang exploded, flailing her arms around. Raphael was not far behind.
"Seriously, I need ta' know what da' shell is going on right freaking now!" He yelled. After their respective explosions, while Yang slowly calmed down and Ren and Nora met back up, Leonardo kept an eye on his brothers, waiting for the moment to rush in and help them. However, it didn't last long as Ruby tugged on Yang's shirt and pointed up. Yang sighed and Raph already knew he wasn't going to like it, so the two looked up. Upon looking up they could see where Ruby had come from: a massive, jet black bird the size of a small airplane. Just barely visible hanging off the talons was Weiss Schnee, clutching on for dear life.
"I said "jump"." Ruby said. Raph shook his head.
"I don't think that's something you just "jump" from. Also, how did NONE of us notice the freaking bird up there?" Raph added, before Blake and Ren noted that Weiss had started falling. As she reached the treeline, Jaune leaped out from his resting place and proved himself useful as a pillow. As the two got situated, the Deathstalker swung with its claws, knocking Pyrrha, Donatello, and Michelangelo over to the group, the three sprawled out and groaning. The Deathstalker and Alpha stopped their assault, cautiously glaring at the group of warriors in front of them. Leo and Raph went to help up their brothers and Pyrrha, while Yang scoffed.
"Great, the gang's all here! Now we can die together!" She muttered sarcastically. However, Ruby smirked and shook her head.
"Not if I can help it!" With a cry, and before anyone could stop her, she rushed forward with blinding speed, pulling out Crescent Rose. Charging at the two Grimm, she swung with her weapon. However, it deflected harmlessly off of the Deathstalker's claws and the Alpha swung as well, hitting the shaft of the weapon and knocking Ruby back. The two advanced slowly on her, and when she attempted to fire at the Deathstalker the bullets bounced off harmlessly. Not wanting to get too close to the two, Ruby folded her scythe up and rushed back to the group.
"Ugh, get back here!" Raph cried out at the young girl while twirling his sais. Yang didn't waste a second before rushing after her younger sister. Leonardo widened his eyes as he saw her go off. He took off after her while looking back at his brothers.
"Wait here!" He cried, charging after Yang. However, the giant bird Grimm was slowly catching up. That was when it stopped, and with a mighty flap launched a barrage of feathers at Ruby. They embedded themselves into the ground and one caught Ruby's cape, pinning her to the ground. Yang saw the oncoming feathers and barely stopped herself in front of them, falling to the ground. Leonardo spotted them and leapt over Yang, nimbly dodging them to get to Ruby, barely slowing down.
"I got her!" Leonardo cried out, rushing for Ruby. However, he saw that the Deathstalker and the Alpha were right on her. He forced his legs to move, trying his hardest to catch up to her, but he could tell he was too slow. The Deathstalker raised its stinger while the Alpha lifted its paw. The two were brought down simultaneously. However, just when Leo thought it is the end for the young trainee, a white blur shot past him, and the next thing he sees is the stinger and the paw of the two Grimm frozen in a block of ice. Stopping himself he looked around and to his surprise standing in front of Ruby was Weiss Schnee. As Leonardo walked over to them, he caught the tail end of their brief conversation.
"I want you to know I can do this." Ruby said softly, to which Weiss shrugged.
"You're fine." Weiss said, before walking off. Meanwhile, Ruby sighed and smiled, saying something under her breath. Leonardo gave the feather pinning her a quick slice, freeing her. Helping Ruby up, the two saw the trapped Grimm, each trying their hardest to break free from the ice or reach the two. They simultaneously decided it was wise to back off. When they got out, Yang ran over and gave Ruby a hard hug, smiling as she looked at Ruby.
"I'm so happy you're okay!" Yang exclaimed, then looked up at Leonardo.
"Hey, thank you so much for that." Yang added, to which Leo shook his head.
"Don't thank me, it was Weiss who saved Ruby, not me." He clarified, to which Weiss looked back at them. However, the moment was interrupted by Donatello.
"Sorry to break up the moment, but we still have one terrible monster trying to kill us and it's coming back." Don noted, to which Raph drew his sais.
"Well this is gonna be fun." He smirked, but surprisingly it was Ruby who spoke up against it.
"Actually, no. Our objective is to grab an artifact and make it back to the cliffs. There's no need to fight these things." She said, to which Leonardo smiled and nodded. He liked the way she thought, and he wasn't alone.
"Run and live-that's an idea I can get behind." Jaune agreed, to which Mikey gave a thumbs up.
"A-Men my brotha!" Mikey said, stowing his nunchucks. Behind him, Donatello selected a golden bishop, while Jaune and Ruby grabbed the golden rook and knight piece respectively. After that was finished, the group heard the ice crack as the Alpha and Deathstalker tugged at it.
"All right everyone, stow your artifacts and let's get the shell out of here!" Leonardo shouted, sheathing his katanas. Ruby nodded in agreement, and looked at everyone else.
"Right. Let's go!" She said, running off with most everyone behind her. Leonardo once again smiled at how she took charge, knowing that all too familiar look in her eyes.
The twelve initiates run through the forest and past another set of ruins. Ahead of them lay the cliffside, and just one more set of ruins, rising over a deep canyon, a small stone bridge connecting the two. Their objective was just in front of them. However, there was one problem: the Grimm bird, which the turtles learned was a Giant Nevermore, was perched on top of the ruins in the canyon. The twelve hid behind the ruins, not wanting another barrage of feathers to rain on them. Raph gripped his sais as he saw their challenge.
"Seems the ol' turtle luck is still firmly in effect." He said. However, behind them the trees shattered and the Deathstalker and Alpha rushed out, clearly angry from being frozen before.
"Ah man, run!" Jaune yelled out as the two Grimm charged at them. Leonardo waited and held back to allow everyone else to run ahead. However, the Nevermore saw them rush out and took off, hovering in the air. Behind Leo, Ren called out to Nora to distract it. Rushing behind everyone else, Nora dodged the feathers launched in her direction before pulling a grenade launcher off of her back and firing at the beast. Mikey looked up, then back, and raised an eyebrow.
"Okay seriously, where are teenagers getting this much firepower from?" He questioned as he ran ahead. Nora continued firing at the beast, driving it off. However, the two Grimm behind her had caught up. Blake and Ren leapt out with their weapons drawn, Blake her sword and Ren with two bladed submachine guns, to deflect the Deathstalker's claws, while Leonardo delivered a quick lunging kick to the Alpha's head, knocking it back. Turning around Leo saw that Weiss had grabbed Nora and he backed off with the other two. Trailing behind them as a rear guard, he saw everyone reach the bridge. Pyrrha stopped and turned around, crouching and firing the rifle that had formerly been a spear. Leo saw that his brothers had stopped as well. He shakes them off as Ren turns to fire back. He waved them off, telling them to stay put until he caught up with the group. Everyone started to rush across the bridge. The Deathstalker stopped at the edge, too large to go further. However, the Alpha snarled and leapt onto the bridge, continuing the chase. That was not the worst of their problems, as the Nevermore had circled back around and was quickly flying to the bridge. Donnie looked up and widened his eyes.
"Oh shell. It's not stopping! It's gonna take out the bridge!" Donnie yelled, moments before his prediction came true and the bird smashed into the bridge right between the group, creating a large hole. The Alpha had seen this coming and moments before the impact it had leapt on to the Nevermore's back, roaring at the group from above. Leonardo was flung back to the side of the bridge the Deathstalker was on, along with Ren, Pyrrha, and Blake. Looking up, he saw that they hadn't wasted time and were engaging it, Pyrrha and Ren shooting it, while Blake was using her ribbon-tied kama. Raph, Mikey, and Don were quick to get up, and they ran to the edge of the destroyed bridge.
"Leo!" Mikey called over, Leo looked up, before hearing Blake cry out as she was knocked back. He drew his katanas and shouted back to his team.
"Don't worry about me, stay with them, I'll find a way over!" He said before leaping into the fray, slashing and kicking at the Deathstalker to little effect.
Meanwhile, Raph gritted his teeth as he heard Ruby firing at the Nevermore and the Alpha. He drew his sais and backed up, allowing Nora and Jaune to rush over for their own look.
"Man we gotta get over there, they need help!" Jaune cried out, Nora nodding.
"Then let's do this!" She said. Mikey couldn't help but look down at the ravine.
"Uh, dudes, that is one wicked jump you'd have to pull off." Mikey said, but Nora then gave both him and Jaune a wicked grin. Knocking Jaune back with her grenade launcher, Jaune hit Mikey, falling to the ground, who was knocked further along the bridge. That's when Nora's grenade launcher turned into a massive hammer with a few spins. Leaping into the air she slammed down on the cracked bridge, a pink explosion similar to her grenades erupting from the tip, catapulting poor Jaune across. Then she stood on the back of the hammer-head and pulled the trigger to launch herself across. Don and Mikey stared, completely dumbfounded.
"That... shouldn't have worked." Was all Don could say, before Raph tapped both of their shoulders.
"Not the craziest t'ing we've seen done. Now c'mon, our new pals here need some help bird huntin'." Raph said, before dashing to join Yang, Weiss, and Ruby in the ruins.
Across the gap, Leonardo was having difficulty doing anything to the Deathstalker. Its armor was too strong for either swords or Ren and Pyrrha's bullets. After another fruitless slash and stab, he kicked off the armor to avoid its claws. That was just in time, as he heard an energetic voice behind him.
"SMASH!" Came the voice of Nora as she slammed her hammer into the head of the Deathstalker, knocking it down. It was quick to retaliate however, bringing its stinger down towards her. Looking up, she pulled the trigger and the explosion knocked her back and on to her feet. Unfortunately, the stinger smashed into the ground right in front of her, knocking her back enough to bump into Blake, sending her over the edge. Leo's eyes widened.
"Blake!" He yelled and quickly dove off the edge after her. He reached into his belt and pulled out his climbing claws, preparing to grab her and sink them into one of the nearby pillars. As he drew closer, Blake showed that he wasn't the only one with a way out. Throwing her kama, and even firing a bullet from the hidden muzzle to launch it faster and farther, the blade embeded itself into the stone. Gripping onto the ribbon, she reached out and grabbed Leonardo, pulling the two up. Swinging through the air, the two launched themselves at the nearby Nevermore. Leo saw her move so fast he starts seeing double. He landed on the Nevermore, while Blake charged and slashed at its back with her now sword and sheath, showing that it was bladed as well. Leonardo leaped over her to kick at the approaching Alpha, knocking it back enough for the two to jump off and land on the pillars, meeting the rest of his team, Ruby, Yang, and Weiss. Raph shook his head.
"Always the freaking show off!" Raph said, as they see the Nevermore come screeching around straight at them. Don looked up.
"They're coming back, and it's gotta be pretty strong to smash through stone so easily!" Don mentioned to everyone else. Yang glared and readied her shotgun gauntlets.
"Then let's hit 'em with everything we've got!" Yang shouted. Raph smirked.
"Shell yeah!" He agreed. Next to the turtles, the girls ready their weapons. Yang cocked her gauntlets, Ruby extended Crescent Rose to its full length, Blake changed her sword to its kama/pistol shape, and Weiss spun the chambers in her rapier's hilt. The turtles are understandably lacking in ranged gear, so they sheathe their current weapons in favor of handfuls of shuriken.
The Nevermore screeched as it closes in, and the eight warriors meet its challenge with bullets, Dust blasts, and shuriken. However, while bothering the Nevermore, this does not stop it. With another screech, it crashed into the ruins just below them. The Alpha on its back had leapt off shortly before impact, and crashed into the middle of the ruins.
Meanwhile, the turtles and the girls were quick to rush across the ruins, using different methods to climb up to more stable ground. Blake leapt off several stones, running up the side of a pillar, Yang was using her gauntlets to punch/shoot the stones and force herself up, Weiss used her odd looking glyphs again, and Ruby fired Crescent Rose down behind her to propel herself up. The turtles were similar to each other but slightly different, Leonardo was graceful in kicking off the various stones, Raphael used his sais to pull and kick himself up by stabbing into the stone, Donatello pole-vaulted with his bo, and Michelangelo used his nunchucks to wrap around the various edges, pulling himself up. Once everyone reached stable ground they all turned around to do their own tasks. Yang got on a higher pillar, firing her weapons at the Nevermore, Blake was across on another walkway, while Ruby, Weiss, and the turtles observed it all.
"None of this is working." Weiss complained to the group. A roar was heard from below them, the Alpha climbing up the pillar. Leonardo frowned and looked down at it and back to the others. He drew his katanas and turned to Ruby.
"You four stay up here and take down the bird, you have the firepower to reach it. We'll get the big bad wolf." Leo told Ruby, before looking over at his brothers. Ruby nodded before Leo jumped down to the Alpha. Raph and Don run to the edge and follow him, Mikey taking up the rear.
"Why do we always have to leap after the scary monsters?" Mikey questioned, before leaping down as well.
The four converged on the Alpha and lashed out with their feet, kicking it off the pillar and down to the ground. Landing in front of it, the turtles were quick to charge the beast. Raph ran up and kicked out at its chest, barely dodging the swipe it takes at him. Meanwhile, Mikey took the opening Raph provided to leap over its head and slam down on its skull, kicking back before the Alpha can reach up with its head to bite at him. This leaves its chest open for Donnie to spin into it with his bo, smashing into the sternum. Leonardo slid under it to slash at its legs, causing it to growl in pain, and before the Alpha could slam down with its arms Leo had rolled away. The turtles' attacks mainly consisted of attacks of this nature, quickly leaping in to kick or hit it with their weapons, then jumping back before it could retaliate, leaving an opening for another one of their brothers.
Raph got a particularly hard hit on the Alpha's head, knocking it on its back. Raph spun over it, landing behind it. However, the Alpha was able to force itself back and up, biting down onto Raph's shell. Standing up, it shook him for a second before flinging the turtle to smash through a weakened pillar and then into a wall. Groaning, Raph snarled and stood up, holding his sais out.
"Bad dog!" Raph snarled, before charging at the Alpha. This distraction allowed Mikey to wrap one of his nunchucks around its neck from behind and kick on its back, forcing an opening around its stomach. Leo and Don took the chance, leaping at it to slash and smash with their weapons. However, their weapons don't do more than anger the monster. It forced its head down, flipping Mikey over its head to smack into his two brothers. Raph was able to intercept its claws with his sais before the Alpha could capitalize on this, giving his brothers some breathing room. Leo looked up at it and frowned.
"Our attacks aren't doing anything to this thing but annoying it. How do we put it down?" He asked, getting up to help Raph, while Mikey helped Donnie up. Don shook his head.
"I'm not sure, its armor is too strong for our weapons, and we don't have anything stronger to hit it with." Don said, as he looked around. He then noticed that they are on the bottom floor of the ruins.
"Unless…" Don thought, pulling his bo out, then smashing it into the ground, looking through the gaps made on the edges. Sure enough, some cracks formed, and there is nothing below them but empty air.
"Guys that's it! We knock it off!" He said, turning back to look at the fight.
Unfortunately, the Alpha was smart. It stayed away from the edges, circling the turtles, and even charging past them to force itself through. Raph, who was grabbing ahold of its back during one of said charges, cried out.
"And how da' shell do we do that?!" The hot headed turtle yelled out. The Alpha stood up, and reached behind to grab Raph and throw him into Mikey. It snarled and pounded on the ground in a gesture of challenge. Leo grinned.
"We get the Alpha to do it for us!" He cried out, charging at the monster.
As Leo slid underneath it, the Alpha swung a fist down, slamming in to the ground. Don pole vaulted over to it, landing right in front of the beast. Hitting its feet with his staff, he dodged a swipe, and then back flipped to avoid the ensuing ground pound. Raph charged at it and ducked under a swipe, bringing his sais up. The Alpha cried out as its head was forced up. Raph meanwhile, slammed himself down onto the ground, shell first, further damaging the floor. The Alpha snarled and brings a fist down onto the spot, too enraged to notice the cracks. Mikey smirked and poked its back. The Alpha turned around quickly, roaring in Mikey's face. Mikey squealed before dodging the fourth ground pound.
The four turtles land next to each other in front of it, smirking at the howling monster. It pounded on the ground once more and was about to charge when the turtles simultaneously leapt into the air and bring their feet down. The Alpha was expecting them to attack it, so it prepared to defend itself. However, they instead land with all of their weight just in front of it, before leaping back. The Alpha cocked its head, ears raised in confusion. That changed when it heard the ground below it begin to crumble. Looking up, it roared and took two steps before the ground crumbled below it. It tried to grab ahold of the floor in front of it, but that crumbled as well, the Alpha plummeting to its doom with a howl. Mikey smirked and looked back at his brothers.
"Seems the big bad wolf ain't huffing and puffing no more!" Mikey exclaimed to a round of high fives. Looking across the ravine, the turtles notice that the Deathstalker is gone while the students are still there. Looking up they see one last puzzle piece, their eyes widening as they see Ruby's plan come into play.
Ruby was shot out of Blake's ribbon like a slingshot, firing Crescent Rose to increase her speed. Her target is the Nevermore, trapped to the cliffside by ice. Once at her target, the blade caught its neck, and then several of Weiss' glyphs appeared on the cliffside. This allowed Ruby to run vertically up the cliff while dragging the massive bird. Upon reaching the top, she pulled and fired, decapitating the Giant Nevermore. The massive body fell, the cliffside silent. Mikey groaned as he slumped his shoulders.
"All right... how are we gonna one up THAT?"
"Jaune Arc. Lie Ren. Pyrrha Nikos. Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team Juniper." The voice of Professor Ozpin echoed throughout the chamber. After their climactic battle, the victorious students had been brought back to Beacon, specifically to the main hallway where they had met up, and teams were made. On the screen, the pictures of the four teammates were shown, with the team name on display: JNPR. Ozpin continued.
"Led by... Jaune Arc!" Ozpin announced, to the clear surprise of the blonde headed boy. His partner, Pyrrha tried to do a congratulatory shoulder punch, but that just knocked him to the ground. She tried to smile apologetically amidst the laughter. As the team moved away, Ozpin announced the next team. The turtles stood behind them, watching the four walk up.
"Blake Belladonna. Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team Ruby." Ozpin announced, the screen showing Team RWBY. The turtles were among the crowd, cheering and clapping for them. Mikey shrugged and leaned to his brothers.
"That's gonna get so confusing." Mikey said, before being hushed by his brothers.
"Led by... Ruby Rose!" Ozpin declared, to the surprise of most of the assembled students. Yang was quick to give Ruby a congratulatory hug, and the turtles cheered again. Raph smirked and turned to Leonardo.
"Kinda surprising, ain't it?" Raph asked Leonardo, who was looking over at the team. Leonardo caught Ruby's eyes, who waved back at them, before giving her a thumbs up. Leo turned back to his brother.
"...No, not really." He said, before Team RWBY left the stage.
"And finally: Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo Splinterson. The four of you retrieved the white bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team Lumber." The professor said, the screens overhead showing their new team: Team LMDR.
"Led by... Leonardo Splinterson." Professor Ozpin announced. The turtles all smiled and clapped, patting Leo on the back. Don smiled and gave him a high-five.
"As if there was any doubt." Donnie mentioned, to which Raph chuckled.
"Right, who else is he gonna give leadership to, Mikey?" Raph smirked, pointing to Michelangelo.
"Hey!" Mikey frowned, crossing his arms, to the laughter of his brothers. Professor Ozpin allowed himself a small smile as he watched the antics of the three newest teams.
"It looks like this is shaping up to be an... interesting year."