Chapter 7: When Problems Brew
Ace and Sky vs Ursa Major: Defiance by Automatic Singer
Review Replies
Knightmare Lord: Someone needs to punch Weiss in the face harder than her daddy has.
Dragon Emperor0: Even if that is kinda true, come on, man—have some tact. Child abuse and authoritative parenting is not something to joke about.
ThermalsniperN7: Damn right. Plus, Weiss' pride is already screwing her over, so no need for anything drastic.
-Beacon Academy-
Two weeks had gone by since the spar between Ace and Weiss and Jaune being blackmailed by Cardin. With the former causing even more friction than previous events—in particular due to Weiss' pride refusing to let her see Ace's point of view—and the latter causing Jaune's life to slowly start slipping into his own personal little circle of hell.
Ace, meanwhile, was actively distancing himself from Weiss. The rest of SSSN caught onto the problem, considering the gunslinger was ceaselessly throwing himself into the Crucible every chance he got.
So much so that the Vale Hunter Vanguard, Sylvester "Sly" Rocket—a Raccoon Faunus with a penchant from stealing from criminals and giving to the needy—ordered him to take a break so his grades wouldn't slip.
Sky could tell that the friction was getting to Yang, given the parties she's been going to on weekends. He had to drive her back to the dorm multiple times since she was out cold drunk in the aftermath.
He loved her, but this was too much.
Right now though, a raggled Jaune Arc was sitting in history class with their teacher Professional Bartholomew Oobleck, a springy caffeine addicted man with a fascination (and possible obsession) with History.
The lesson they were currently having was about a Faunus rebellion that occurred during the Great War, which took place during the tail end of the Dark Ages after the Collapse and during the waning hours of the Kingdom Age.
This Faunus uprising in question consisted of many important battles that eventually saw the evolution of the White Fang, namely the battles of Six Fronts and Twilight Gap, as well as the crusades of Saint Amaranthine—which were all by products of the lingering effects of the suppression of emotion and arts that led up to the war—which only served to exacerbate the tensions between Faunus and humans.
"Ugh…" Jaune groaned as he started dozing off.
Before he could, though, a paper airplane hit him on the back of the head, causing him to jolt. This also caused Oobleck to zip in front of him.
"Mr. Arc, can you tell us what the advantage was that allowed the Faunus forces had during he Battle of Fort Castle, which gave them the victory that emboldened them to commit to the Battle of Six Fronts?" Oobleck questioned.
With a bit of panic, he looked around the room for help and spotted Sun holding up a paper that said "Night Vision" on it.
"N-Night vision." The blonde replied after briefly catching himself to stop panicking.
"Correct." The Professor nodded as he zipped around some more. "It was this battle that emboldened the Faunus to attack the kingdoms of Atlas and Mistral in a two pronged attack—which included a siege of then Mantle on Six different fronts at once and—with the warlord Vandal Bloodfist the Rabbid at the helm—besieged Mistral in the Battle of the Twilight Gap not long after." He explained.
"It was ultimately the folly of the human forces in charge at Fort Castle for not taking the abilities of their adversaries into account that led to them being so soundly defeated." Blake added.
"Correct." Oobleck nodded. "It is hubris like this that leads to defeat of the worst degree." He stated.
"Well I know it's easier to train an animal than a soldier." Cardin scoffed.
"You would know, wouldn't you, bird brain?" Ace called from his seat.
That got some laughs from the rest of the class while the brute glared at him.
"You wanna go, Scarlet?!" The brunette questioned.
"Bring it on, Winchester." The Gunslinger retorted, turning to face him. "When I'm done with you, I'll pop so many caps in your ass that you'll be shittin' lead through the new asshole I'll put in your forehead!" He added.
"That's enough, you two!" The green haired man interjected firmly. "This is a history class, not a combat arena. Save this for combat class." He told them.
"Fuuuuck." Ace groaned as he turned back around.
"Tch, whatever." Cardin scoffed.
(Later)
At the end of class, Jaune stumbled out of the room, still utterly exhausted, when Cardin pulled him aside—something both Pyrrha and Team SSSN noticed as they left.
"You're doing all of my team's homework." He told the blonde.
"Fine…" Jaune grumbled as Cardin walked off.
"… What's that all about?" Sun questioned.
"Not sure, but I don't like it." Sky muttered in reply, Neptune nodding in agreement.
"Shiiiit." Ace groaned.
(Later)
During lunch everyone was currently voicing their concerns about what was going on with Jaune.
"Seriously man, what's Cardin have over you?" Sky questioned.
"Yeah, cuz if it's that bad, I'd be more than happy to give that wannabe punk something else to think about." Ace nodded. "Like a pair of busted kneecaps, for example…" He mused.
"I'll help!" Nora chimed eagerly.
"No, Nora. That will just get you and Ace a suspension for each of you." Pyrrha sighed. "Besides, getting involved will just complicate things." She added.
"It hasn't been a full semester yet and our friend group is already experiencing drama…" Yang sighed.
"Hey, human doormat." The Hunter said, directing his comment squarely on Pyrrha as he pointed his fork at the redhead. "News flash: Not everything in the real world can be solved by just letting it happen." He stated, causing everyone to look at him, especially after what he'd just called Pyrrha. "Take it from a guy who has ample experience with this shit: Jumping in at the wrong time? Sure, that'll make things worse. But not jumping in at all will just let things get worse. While jumping in at the right moment will do WONDERS for resolving an issue." He stated, taking a bite of the Bacon double cheeseburger with pickled red onions he was eating. "And right now? Seems like the right fuckin' time to me!" He added.
"You make a point—but the insult was unnecessary." Ren stated.
"Hey, it had to be said." Ace defended, shrugging.
"As someone who's had to do that with his old crew, I can say that picking the right moment to jump in works well." Sky hummed. "It helps when you deal with drama almost all the time to know what's what." He added.
"I agree." Yang nodded. "Blake? What do you think?" She asked, only to notice that the bookworm was currently watching Cardin harassing Velvet again.
Sky followed her gaze and frowned.
"Oh great. The idiot is at it again." He grunted.
"People like him are trash, let's face it." Neptune stated.
"Mmmhmm." Sun nodded.
"Nothing we can really do, it seems." The blonde brawler nodded.
"We can still break his legs!" Nora enthusiastically suggested.
"That'd only get us suspended, if not expelled, Nora." Pyrrha stated.
"How would stopping a bully be a bad thig?" Blake questioned, while Ren was still looking in Cardin's direction.
"Um, guys?" The usually quiet teen chimed in.
"What?" Neptune responded.
"Ace is heading toward Cardin." Ren replied, causing everyone to turn and see the Hunter walking towards Cardin… With a spoon in hand.
Before anyone could say or do anything, Ace grabbed Cardin and pinned him with his back to the table, his spoon pointed mere inches from the boy's face as he used his superior strength as a Guardian to hold him down.
"You ever heard about the time a Vale Army Ranger once killed a Cabal with an MRE spoon?" The gunslinger questioned.
"Uh… Y-Yeah. My grandpa told me about that." Cardin gulped in reply.
"Keep it up with the harassment of Velvet and I'll give you a demonstration first hand." He snarled, inching his utensil dangerously close to Cardin's left eye. "Fuck around and find out, Winchester. Fuck around and find out." He warned before he got off of him and walked away.
When he got back to his table, his leader nodded at him.
"Didn't think you knew about that incident." He remarked.
"You kidding? My dad paid that guys tab for years." Ace stated, right as Weiss came up to the table, watching as Velvet went to her own table and Cardin sat down as well.
"I still have no idea how Faunus can be allowed to attend Beacon." She stated.
"I could say the same thing about you, you know." Blake hissed back.
"Weiss…" Ace growled, causing her to flinch. "If you have nothing else to say that isn't the same racist dribble–then fucking leave." He told her, not even looking at her. "No one wants you here." He added, the coldness of his words causing everyone at the table to flinch.
'Damn, he's pissed…' Neptune thought.
Weiss only stood there, stunned and heartbroken, until Ruby arrived, causing the two to share glares at each other–before she walked on.
"Glynda's looking at a possible transfer." Ruby sighed as she picked at her food.
"Yeah? Then what's got you so pissy about it?" Ace grumbled.
"Dude." Sky said, nudging his currently irate lancer.
"Yeah, why aren't you happy?" Yang asked.
"It's just…" Ruby began with a sigh. "When we were fighting in Emerald Forest, we fought together so well. I felt a connection." She lamented. "Now she's acting like it isn't even there." She groaned.
"If you ask me, I don't think anything short of Ozpin telling her off will get her to listen at this point." Sky lamented.
"Remind me, what is it you see in her again?" Sun questioned Ace, who glared at him.
"I can and will shove this spoon up your ass, monkey king." The Guardian warned, spoon in hand again.
This caused the blonde to clam up, while Yang stood up.
"I say we go for a party, who wants to join me?" She asked.
"Pass." Sun and Neptune dismissed.
"Not interested." Ace grunted as he went back to his food.
"Nah." Sky shrugged.
The latter sum of JNPR also declined, as did Blake… Well, Ren turned down for Nora.
"Your loss." The blonde shrugged.
(Timeskip)
It was the next day and now Ruby and Blake were busy trying to get supplies for the school trip to Forever Fall, a survival course class taught by Professor Peach–and due to the performance based allowance system, it left RWBY strapped for cash.
That clearly didn't do anything to disrupt the high spirits Ruby and Blake were in, though.
Presently, they were heading to the supply store while bonding over literature.
"I'm surprised that you'd be into so many mature works, Ruby." Blake noted. "Given your views on fairy tales, I figured you'd have tastes that were the inverse." She hummed.
"I'll admit, when I looked up the stories I read, I kept finding the original ones." Ruby confessed. "It did tell me how something innocent was born from something malicious." She added. "And it made me see that it's our jobs as Huntsmen to make that a reality in the face of the Grimm, just like how the Traveler and the Guardians did against the Hive, Vex and Cabal." She mused.
"Could Weiss be considered such a challenge?" Blake challenged harmlessly.
"I suppose so, I mean, I never thought the process was gonna be easy." The silver eyed girl nodded.
"Don't we all?" Blake chuckled.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile, in the same store the girls were headed to, Team SSSN were actually at the mall food court getting something to eat–since having an A average in the class gave them enough money to not only get their gear, but have plenty to spare for a meal.
Specifically they were having a meal of dumplings, lo mein, white and fried rice, orange chicken, sweet and sour chicken, General Tso Chicken, Mushu pork, Sweet and Sour pork, beef with peppers, onions and broccoli, and a plate of egg rolls.
The team was mostly silent as they ate their meal, but the silence was eventually disturbed when Ace–now eating several dumplings–started humming a tune… that Sky happened to know the lyrics for.
"Journeyed for so long with you." He began, getting his friend's attention.
"By your side, through the day and night." Ace continued. "We fought the fight, that no one could stand up against." He led.
"Vengeance will soon commence." The two sang in unison.
"Take the life of the one responsible." Sky nodded.
"Fooooor." Sun chimed in.
"The sake of Cayde…" Neptune nodded in a melodic tone worthy of a musical actor, which surprised his teammates.
"You guys know this song?" The gunslinger asked.
"Yeah. I got it on my scroll." Sky nodded. "I realized it was a memorial song, so I decided to keep it for life." He added.
"I didn't realize it was about your dad until you told us who he was… or how he died." Sun admitted.
"Yeah… This song was written by a family friend that knew dad. He wanted to keep his memory alive." Ace told his team.
"... You said that the Captains were responsible for his death, right?" Sun asked.
The Captains were eight exceptionally high ranking members of the White Fang, each of them infamous for a myriad of different heinous crimes.
Forgery, bombings, torture– you name it, they've probably done it.
"Yeah, with Adam leading them." Ace nodded.
"... One of them is my half brother." The simian faunus admitted. "Another is my half sister." He continued. "Bastet Nightshade and Rex Khan, the Trickster and the Hangman." He explained.
"Ah hell… That is a brutal family tree." Sky winced as he ate some orange chicken.
"Rex is a silent sadist." Sun stated rather ruefully. "Used to dock the arms of human and faunus alike who descented about the White Fang with his bare hands." He stated.
"That would explain a few mangled bodies I found a few years back…" The Knight muttered. "What about Bastet?" He questioned.
"She's a liar and a schemer." The blonde stated without a second thought. "Friendly advice? Trust nothing she touches." He added, leaning forward.
"Lovely…" Neptune groaned.
"Yeah, dad isn't exactly the best at keeping track of his kids…" Sun sighed.
"The bastards… I'll kill 'em all." Ace snarled.
"I want to stop you, but…" Sun sighed, unable to finish the sentence.
"Sometimes family isn't worth saving." Sky told him. "I think you and Ace know that better than anyone." He nodded.
(Elsewhere)
Back at the Beacon dorms…
SMACK!
Yang tumbled as she was slapped awake by Coco, who was coming back from a jog with Velvet.
"Okay, who's the wise ass who wants to get a trip to town from orbit?!" The blonde yelled as she looked around, ready to punch someone–right as her hangover hit her.
"Don't even try it!" Coco snapped as she stood over the blonde. "Why were you laying out black out drunk while the rest of your team's in disarray? Do you care about anything other than yourself and partying?!" She shouted.
"What's the fucking point if all it causes is more problems?!" Yang shouted back. "I'm not a fucking problem solver; I don't know what the fuck to do in this shitty situation!" She ranted.
This earned her another slap from Coco, which the blonde was going to follow with a retaliatory punch to the face–but her fist was stopped by Yatsu.
"Let go!" She barked, yanking her arm free.
"Do you honestly think that drinking will make things better?" He questioned.
"Shut up, as if you know anything." Yang hissed back.
"Oh, I'd know more than you think, blondie." Coco retorted. "Sure, jumping in at the wrong moment will just make things more messy, but jumping in at the precise right moment can go miles towards solving an issue." She stated.
"And I'm supposed to know just what moment?!" Yang hissed. "Easier said than done!" She added.
"Watch it!" Coco snapped before Velvet got between them.
"I think Yang has a lot to think about." The rabbit Faunus said. "Why don't you go back to your dorm and sleep on it?" She suggested.
"... Whatever." Yang grunted as she went into her dorm.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile, Ruby and Blake had split up to get the supplies their team would need for their trip to Forever Fall.
Ruby had actually run into Pyrrha, who was worriedly searching for Jaune. Along the way, they had also run into Penny.
"Where could he be?" Ruby wondered as the three girls walked together through the isles of the store.
"Does Jaune often wander off?" Penny asked.
"No. This isn't normal, even for him." The redhead replied as she looked around.
"Strange." The ginger hummed.
"You said it." Ruby nodded.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile, back with Blake, she was busy looking for the last of her and Ruby's supplies—when she suddenly saw Ace in an isle that she was about to go down—the Guardian being crouched as he seemed to be looking for some kind of gun oil.
"Hm… it should be– Ah, there it is." He nodded as he picked out said oil.
"Ace?" The girl questioned, causing the Hunter to turn and see her.
"Hey Belladonna." The boy said, sparing her a brief look before he went back to browsing the shelves for other gun maintenance things.
"... Why haven't you told anyone about my… past ties yet?" The hidden faunus couldn't help but question after a long and awkward pause.
"Didn't see any reason to." The boy stated as he took a wire brush off a rack. "Why? You want me to say something?" He questioned as he grabbed a package of cleaning cloth.
"No. I just didn't get it." The ravenette replied as she looked at some stuff on a different shelf. "Seems you either get White Fang members arrested every chance you get—at least those you don't kill on sight." She stated.
"I'm not my brother, Blake." The Guardian said as he grabbed a few boxes of ammo. "I have standards for who I do and don't kill." He stated. "It's obvious that you distanced yourself from the Fang because you don't agree with them anymore, and I'm willing to let that be the end of it if you are." He continued, grabbing a knife sharpener. "But let me be clear." He said, turning directly towards her. "I'm putting my trust in you, and if you do anything to betray that trust?" He said, his hand tapping the Ace of Spades. "The next bullet I fire—is going right through your skull." He added with a warning.
"R-Right. Noted." Blake nodded with a gulp.
"Good. So long as we understand each other." Ace nodded, right before something caught his eye. "No way." He uttered as he took down a box from the shelf. "A limited edition collaboration between Hakke Arms manufacturing and Starlight Night Gun care set? With a free commemorative poster? Sweet!" He grinned.
"Wait, you watch Starlight Night, too?!" Blake gasped with wide eyes, earning a surprised look from Ace.
"You watch the show?!" He gasped before smiling. "Come here, buddy!" He laughed as he embraced her.
"Whoa, whiplash!" The girl exclaimed.
"Hey, look at it this way, if we can actually agree on what a good show is? Maybe there's hope that we'll become good enough friends to where we won't shoot each other in the future." The gunslinger stated.
"Fair enough." Blake shrugged. "... Wanna watch the show together sometime?" She asked after a beat passed.
"Oh fuck yeah." Ace nodded with a smirk.
The show Starlight Night was a Magical Girl-Sentai show that had a gothic theme with often gothic and cosmic horror as a main focus. Ace liked it for the bombastic combat, grotesque violence and shameless fanservice, Blake liked it for its gothic and mature themes and Ruby actually liked it because of the weapons.
As the two were chatting about their shared favorite show, they were soon bumped into by Jaune.
"Huh?" The blonde blinked before realizing who he bumped into. "Oh, good. I was hoping for either one of you, but this works." He breathed.
"What are you talking about?" Ace questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"I need your help with something sensitive." Jaune explained. "Something to do with Cardin, and I need your stealth skills to do it." He explained, recalling a couple of rather comical instances of Blake being stealthy.
Ace and Blake glanced at each other before looking back at Jaune. She wasn't a fan of Cardin, so getting at the bully suited her tastes just fine. She knew Ace would be all for it, too.
"What do you need?" Blake asked on her and Ace's behalf.
(Timeskip)
A few days later, it was time for the trip to Forever Fall. On the trip were teams RWBY, JNPR, SSSN and CRDL with Glynda leading them.
Speaking of the blonde dominatrix, she was talking to Weiss and Ruby after having pulled both of them off to the side away from the other students.
"I know one of you wants the transfer, but this is going to take a while. So, as such, the two of you will have to deal with it for now." The woman told them.
"Yes professor." The Silver Eyed girl nodded.
"At least now I'll only have to deal with your childish incompetence for only a short while longer." The heiress jeered, with Ruby just barely managing to take it in stride as the two walked off.
The girl then fell back, placatingly making a gesture to offer letting Weiss take the lead.
The arrogant heiress happily took the offer, walking ahead of Ruby. The reaper was more that positive that Weiss took it as an act of submission, allowing her to dowl out order haughtily with impunity.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile, Team CRDL were loafing around while Jaune was left to do all the work, but when the blonde finished, he only came back with enough jars for himself and his team, and none for them.
"Hey, what's the deal, Arc?!" Cardin demanded angrily.
"The deal is I'm not doing your work for you, Winchester." The blonde stated as he set the jars down and tossed a box of empty ones at Cardin. "You want the sap? Get it yourself." He added.
"Have you forgotten what I have on you?! If I peep a word to Ozpin, you'll be kicked out of Beacon in a heartbeat!" The bully threatened.
"News flash, I have that same leverage." Jaune stated. "I had a few friends swap your papers with forged replicas. So if you try to pull your card, I can just call 'your papers against mine'." The blonde hissed.
Cardin was pissed. Not only did he lose his servant, he was yanked down to being in the same boat. Even if he won, he'd lose, so nothing changed.
"Why you pathetic–!" The brunette snarled as he swung his mace at Jaune and sent him crashing against a tree. "Get him up!" He barked at his team while Russel, Dove and Lark all grabbed Jaune and held him up while Cardin proceeded to beat the crap out of him.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile, with Team SSSN, they were busy tending to their task of collecting sap.
"Oh man, I've heard that this stuff tastes like strawberry syrup when it's purified." Neptune remarked, imagining the flavor in his head.
"And that all manner of beasties are attracted to it." Sky nodded. "Rapier Wasps, bears, bees, sometimes Ursai because they're like bears…" He listed.
"So we should have extras on hand as a peace offering. That explains the extra jars." Sun mused.
"Ha! Like i'm gonna roll over for some—." Ace guffawed right as the ground shook and crumbled underneath them. "BEEEEEEEAAAAAAR!" He yelled as all four of them fell underground.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile back with Jaune he was currently getting beaten to a pulp by Cardin, but before it could get any worse, the rumble that caused the sinkhole SSSN fell in hit them and the other guys fell to the ground under a tree Jaune had tapped for sap, thus covering them in goo while Cardin fell backwards on the box containing the Rapier Wasps, causing them to burst out and start buzzing around.
They were twice the size of giant hornets, meaning that one of these wasps was, on average, 3-6 inches long with a wingspan of 6-12 inches and a stinger that's 6-12 inches long.
In addition they had much harder exoskeletons that were a deep crimson with black stripes and a menacing black on their stingers, their eyes were an unsettling shade of purple.
"Where'd that tremor come from?!" Dove exclaimed over the buzzing.
His words as well as the smell of sap caused the wasps to turn in their direction, and make a beeline–heh–straight for them.
Surprisingly, they didn't sting them. Instead, they started eating the sap since they were apparently hungry.
This didn't stop the guys from acting really spazzed out, as their stingers were still very much an issue…
Cardin was just about to go back to beating the crap out of Jaune, when an Ursa suddenly came out from around a tree with a territorial roar.
"Oh shit…" Cardin muttered as the Grimm stomped towards them.
(Elsewhere)
Sky groaned as he stood up holding his head, his armor having taken the brunt of the landing along with his aura. He looked up and saw that he and his team had fallen quite deeply underground, the sunlight from the hole overhead illuminating their landing area. The rest of the surrounding area was covered in darkness that he couldn't see into.
"Team SSSN, sound off! Are you still in one piece, boys?!" He shouted. A few seconds later, the sounds of rubble moving and groaning could be heard.
"I'm here, captain!" Ace replied with a groan as he held his head.
"Same here!" Sun added as he stood up from a pile of rubble.
"Ditto!" Neptune finished as he shook his head clear of cobwebs. "How far did we fall…?" He wondered, looking up at where they'd fallen from.
"Far enough to where I think our yells won't reach the surface." Sky replied with a sigh.
"Well shit." The gunslinger cursed. "How the hell are we supposed to get out of here?" He wondered as he looked around.
Before anything could be said, the cave started rumbling, causing them to lose their footing and fall to the ground.
There was something dark, waiting for them in the deep. Many years ago, Sky had heard the whispers of the worm. Now… Now he would hear its roar.
A red light filled the cave, which revealed how enormous it really was. Not long later, a colossal worm like the one from the entrance exam rose from an abyss that they hadn't seen before, roaring as it did. Its whole body was covered in bone armor, which was cracked from age and leaked red light. It also had six mandibles covering a singular red eye, the bottom pair being the biggest, the top being second biggest and the middle mandibles being the smallest.
As the worm ceased its roaring, it looked down at the four warriors before it. After a moment, it centered its gaze on Sky… and spoke.
"You are Sky Obsidian, survivor of Urashimi Village." It spoke, the depth of its voice speaking of how truly ancient it was. "I am Yul, the Honest Worm… and your benefactor." The now named Yul continued.
"Wait… Sky? Why is this Worm god claiming to be your benefactor?" Ace asked warily, glancing at his leader, who seemed confused. "I thought you said you swallowed a worm larvae?" He questioned.
"I-I don't know! This is the first I've heard of anything like this!" The boy stammered.
"How can we know that's true?" Neptune questioned, which prompted Yul to speak up.
"Calm yourselves, for he speaks true. I have had no direct involvement in his life until now." Yul stated, causing Ace, Neptune and Sun to shut up. "The reason I claim to be his benefactor is because of one thing: I turned him into a Hive Knight." He added further, which caused Sky's world to crack.
"W-What?! You orchestrated that?!" He stuttered, both hands grabbing his head.
"It was done when your mother still carried you and your sister. This allowed your body to acclimate to your Hive half without backlash." Yul explained. "Through this, you became a strong being. For every foe you slew, be they Grimm, human, Faunus, your strength grew. This is how you were able to survive until you found your way to the Branwens." He continued, further highlighting why the boy had grown so strong as he had.
Sky was in shock, a thousand yard stare on his face. His whole life, he thought he was a normal human being, and grew up as such. Now, in the span of a few moments, any form of coincidence the thought was such was revealed to be a simple part of his biology! He was never a human to begin with!
"Why? Why me? Why did I have to lose my humanity?" He questioned, his voice sounding on the verge of breaking.
It was clear to his team that he was being seriously affected by this ordeal, and as much as they wanted to grill him for answers, they had to abandon that notion since it was glaringly clear that their leader never knew the full extent of what he was until now.
"Because you are the best chance your people have for survival." The ancient Grimm replied, much to the confusion of the four. "In the darkest corner of the world, there lies a dark witch. Her name is Salem, the Grimm Queen and the reason everything is the way they are now. She seeks the genocide of human and faunus kind—a static ending—entropy, and this I cannot allow." He explained, much to the shock of the teens, but in Sky's case, he felt anger.
He wanted to curse Yul out, scream angrily at him for stealing his humanity before he had a chance to enjoy it… But he couldn't. It was stolen without his mother even noticing, and through his anger, he could see the benefits of what he'd become.
If it hadn't been for Yul, he wouldn't have lasted as long as he had when Tyrian raised Urashimi to the ground and killed everyone in it. He would've died before he even found Willbreaker.
"So you want me to save this entire planet, do you? How am I supposed to do that in my current position?" The Hive Knight questioned as he got back to his feet.
"You won't. Not at this point in time, at least. You are too weak currently. " Yul told his Knight. "In the future, you shall die once, and return stronger than you were before. You will gain a new form, and new power to aid you on your journey. As you walk your path, you shall be exalted to Kingship." He foretold.
"Die once and return stronger?" Ace parroted. "But the only way he could do that is with a Ghost, and I don't think they approve strongly of Hive Knights. So if he does die, how will he come back?" He asked as he, Sun and Neptune got to their feet. "You mean he has a throne world?" He asked.
A throne world was a pocket dimension that an ascendant Hive could send their souls to in order to escape death and even recooperate after a particularly taxing battle. It's also possible to hide their broods there as well, a very versatile ability. They grew larger depending on how many foes the Hive has killed and how strong they were–so the larger the throne world, the stronger the Hive.
"That remains to be seen. The future I have glimpsed is shrouded in mystery." The Worm God replied. "For now, our meeting has ended. I will return you to the surface. Get into my mandibles, you will be safe inside as we ascend." He instructed, lowering his head to the teens and opening his mouth.
"What's stopping us from just attacking you?" Neptune questioned warily, hesitating to enter the Worm God's mouth.
"The fact that we know damn well fighting him is out of our depth?" Sky stated in reply as he jumped into his benefactor's mouth.
"... Touche." The blue haired lad shrugged as he and the others followed suit. Yul then ferried them to the surface and released them before returning to the underground without a word.
"Sky? You feeling okay?" Sun asked.
"... For the longest time, I thought my finding Willbreaker and my worm was just a mere coincidence, a freak accident brought on by me finding the cleaver my dad brought home the moment I was on death's door." The teen muttered, looking at his chitin covered hand and sliding down to sit against a tree. "Now? Knowing what I know? Now I'm not so sure." He admitted with a sigh.
"Can't say I blame you. This whole thing just fucked up what you knew." Ace nodded in understanding. "Come on, let's just go home." He said, helping his leader to his feet.
"Yeah, home. Home sounds good." Sky nodded with a smile as the guys walked together, shoulder to shoulder.
(Elsewhere)
Back with Jaune and CRDL, Cardin was cowering as the Ursa coming at the group.
Needless to say, the other three wasted no time in booking it out of the wood line as soon as the wasps were gone—leaving their leader and Jaune to deal with the very large, very irate Grimm.
"Some team you have…" Jaune griped as he brandished Croerca Mors.
"Shut up!" Cardin barked as he charged at the Ursa with his mace, only to have it be batted away over the by said Grimm–leaving him completely disarmed.
(Elsewhere)
With Team RWBY and the NPR of JNPR, they were busy with collecting their own sap– with Nora occasionally drinking entire jars, to Ren's exasperation– when the panicking and sap covered RDL of CRDL ran by them, followed by a dirty but okay team SSSN, jars in tow.
In the background, Ruby and Weiss actually seemed to be getting along pretty okay, especially since Weiss seemed to let her guard down—however, the panicking boys bolting out of the trees made them drop what they were doing to see what happened.
"... The fuck was that about?" Ace questioned.
"No clue." Neptune shrugged.
"What happened to you guys?" Yang questioned, looking at the SSSN boys, staying back for a moment.
"Long story." Sky sighed, right before Jaune's scream alerted them to trouble. "Right now we should figure out what's going on." He stated as they ran into the treeline.
When they hit the clearing, they saw Jaune squaring off against an Ursa while Cardin was disarmed.
"Oh, well, that's just great." Ace remarked with a roll of his eyes, drawing his pistol.
"Well, boys, looks like we're goin' to work." Sky sighed, drawing Willbreaker.
"Nine to five, great." Sun groaned in exasperation.
"Blake, Yang, Pyrrha, head to the south and form a perimeter!" Ruby ordered, already getting to the point.
"Are you stupid?! We should be rushing that thing!" Weiss protested.
"That's not gonna be worth shit if it runs off, princess!" Ace snapped as he loaded the Ace of Spades. "Not to mention, if this fucker's a regular Ursa and not an Ursa Major like I'm thinking—and he calls for back up—We're all screwed!" He added.
"Ace is right." Ruby nodded. "So shut up and just follow my orders!" She shouted. "Make a haste glyph so I can kick this thing off the cliff." She ordered.
"What? That's not going to—?!" Weiss protested again.
"Now, Weiss!" Ruby barked back.
As this was going on, Cardin attempted to bean the ursa with sap—but only really succeeded in covering it in goo.
"Oh fuck me…!" He gulped when the Grimm bear glared at him with even more irritation.
But before it could attack him, bullets hit it over and over, causing it to see Ace walking towards it, fanning the hammer on his hand cannon, his helmet on to avoid getting clawed when he got in close.
When the ursine Grimm tried to swipe at the gunslinger, he simply dodged and let Sky jump over him and swing Willbreaker at it, causing it to stagger back.
"Man, I love being a superpowered death machine!" Ace grinned as he pulled out a stack of Ice Dust cards and hurled them at the Grimm, before a shot from Bolt caused it to be encased in ice.
"Now Ruby!" Sky called.
"Aw shit! Jaune, get outta the way!" Ace yelled, seeing that the blonde was in the way.
"Crap!" The blonde knight yelped as he quickly ran off to the side just in time for Ruby to fly through where he was standing and kick the Grimm, sending it flying.
As the Ursa was sent off the cliff—Pyrrha used her as of yet unknown semblance to pull him out of the way.
"... What was that?" Yang questioned with a blink.
"My semblance, it's polarity." The redhead replied. "It means I can control magnetism." She explained, seeing her confused look.
"I wondered how you seemed so untouchable." Sun hummed. "You used magnetism to throw of your opponents' attacks. Impressive subtlety." He nodded.
"That's really attractive." Yang grinned, causing Pyrrha to try and hold in a chuckling groan as she held her finger to her lips.
"Don't tell anyone." She told them.
"Our lips are sealed." Neptune nodded in reply as Sun gave the Spartan themed girl a thumbs up.
"Magnetically." Yang grinned, getting groans in return.
"That was an asinine plan, Ruby!" Weiss snapped, storming up to the shorter girl. "I told you, we should have attacked that Ursa head on, it's only sheer luck that your childish plan worked as well as it did." She snapped.
"It's not dumb luck, Schnee." Sky interjected. "Ruby saw things that you clearly didn't. Ruby, wanna list them off?" He continued as he looked at the younger reaper.
"Gladly." Ruby nodded. "First: that was an Ursa Major that attacked, which are predominantly solo hunters. But, just in case I was wrong, I wanted our best fighters holding a perimeter in case a pack showed up." She began. "Second: Since I was right and it was a major, our weapons wouldn't be able to pierce its hide, except for maybe Willbreaker and Ace's Supers or Memento Mori shots, but those would have taken too long or could risk one of them falling off the cliff." She continued. "Third: I'm not even sure if it's dead down there, so at least now we're able to regroup in case it isn't!" She added.
Weiss stood there silently with a dumbfounded look on her face, making it clear that she hadn't considered any of that—shocked at Ruby's cunning, but furious at being talked down to. Then she huffed before turning around and walking off.
"You know, since that Ursa was frozen solid, odds are that it shattered on impact at the bottom of the cliff." Sky hummed thoughtfully.
"That is true." Ruby hummed in agreement.
"Gotta love Ice Dust." Ace chuckled smugly as Jaune helped Cardin up, before glaring at him as if issuing a silent order of sorts.
Cardin, intimidated by Jaune's glare, wisely heeded it. Then the two went their separate ways.
(Timeskip)
The trip was finally over, and everyone was back at Beacon. After the bombshell Sky had gotten, he found himself yearning for comfort, which led to him taking Yang to the forgotten beach where they could be alone.
"Is there something I need to know about?" Yang questioned as the two of them sat on the sand, not really doing anything except bask in each other's company.
"... During the trip to Forever Fall, my team had a run-in with a Worm God." Sky sighed in reply.
"A Worm God in Forever Fall? Why didn't we hear it coming?" Yang blinked in surprise.
"Because he was deep underground enough to not leave any trace of his passage." The Knight replied. "The Worm God's name was Yul." He added.
"The Honest Worm." The blonde nodded. "Well, at least that means you had a candid conversation." She noted in a semi-jesting tone.
"More like I had my whole world upended." Sky sighed. "He told me that he orchestrated the events that led to my dad acquiring Willbreaker and the Worm that was responsible for turning me into a Hive Knight, and also using Hive magic on me while I was still in my mom's womb to help ease the process. Apparently I was never fully human to begin with." He continued.
"W-What?" The blonde uttered, taken aback by this information.
"I know how this must make you scared of me." He sighed. "I wouldn't blame you if you left." He told her, though his face and eyes seemed sad.
Yang frowned sadly at this. She could tell that he was clearly expecting her to never want to see him again, given that he had the genes of aliens in him—aliens that were killing machines. He was willing to let her go, if it was bad enough.
Yang knew she wasn't leaving him, not even with this news.
"Come here." Yang said as she took his face into her hands and kissed him, pulling him towards her.
Like her actions suggested, she didn't have any qualms about making out with a Hive-Human hybrid. To Yang, Sky was perfectly fine since he acted nothing like the rest of the Hive since he hadn't gone on a killing spree once… Unless it involved Grimm, which didn't really call for concern.
Pulling back, Yang let her lover rest his head in the soft valley of her ample cleavage, something the boy was not at all complaining about, on account of it being his favorite place to rest aside from her lap.
"So I guess this means you don't find me disgusting?" He questioned as she ran her hands through his hair.
"I already knew you were Hive for a while now, I don't think the circumstances are gonna change my mind that easily." The lilac eyed girl stated, absently caressing her chitin collar. "Besides, I think we've already marked each other for good, isn't that right…Master~?" She purred in his ear with an edge of seduction.
"Heh… Yeah. Right. We're stuck with each other forever." Sky chuckled as he pulled his significant other into his lap. "Come here, you." He smiled as he kissed her back, which caused the two to instinctively start removing their clothes.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile, Ozpin was sipping his usual coffee while Glynda helped him sort through various sets of paperwork that had been piling up as of late on account of things being more hectic that year than usual.
It was then that the elevator dinged, causing them to look at it as three doors opened.
"Six years. Six goddamn years and I've finally managed to find something." A voice said, causing the two to look at who had just entered their office.
When Glynda saw who it was, her heart began to race.
The man in question was in his thirties, had caucasian skin, cloud white hair and silver eyes that drew the blonde in.
Attire wise, he was wearing a plain white shirt under a scarlet red leather jacket, black jeans and black combat boots. Around his waist was a belt with an assortment of Dust types like fire, ice and wind to name a few.
On his back was a large revolver with an ivory handle that also had a great sword blade just below the barrel and what looked like a clockwork mechanism connecting the two parts.
"I-Ivory?!" Glynda gasped, shocked and overjoyed to see him again.
"Miss me, Glynda?" The now named Ivory Obsidian grinned. He got a response in the form of Glynda running at him and jumping into his arms, kissing him on the lips happily. "Guess I'll take that as a yes." He smiled as he kissed her back.
"You found something, Ivory?" Ozpin questioned as the two lovers pulled apart.
"Yeah." Ivory nodded as Glynda put her feet back on the ground, but kept her arms around his neck. "There was fresh evidence of Ahamkara activity in Menagerie, particularly that this specific one is engaged in a turf war with the newly awakened Ur the Ever Hunger." He added.
"Oh, lovely. Just what we need; An Ahamkara and a Worm God fighting over turf." Glynda sighed, rubbing her temples. That setup was a recipe for disaster.
"Were you able to locate it and get its name?" Ozpin questioned.
"Sadly no. The big fella was in hiding when I arrived and started looking for it, and it did not wanna be found." The white haired man sighed in reply. "I'm thinking of enlisting some help with getting it." He explained. "But for now, I think it's time I finally take a break, and actually see my nephew again." He added.
"I'm sure Sky will be ecstatic to see you again." Ozpin chuckled with a smile.
Glynda smiled at Ivory as she kissed him again, and as he held her, he then took hold of her hand and slid something onto her finger—specifically a ring.
Looking at her hand, the blonde woman's eyes widened when she saw an engagement ring on her ring finger. She looked at Ivory, who had an expectant look that said he awaited her answer.
"My answer is yes, you magnificent man!" She exclaimed, kissing him again and leaping into his arms once more.
"I thought you'd say that." He smiled, taking her bridal style. "Mind if I take her off your hands for the rest of the evening?" He asked.
"No. I can handle the paperwork from here." The headmaster replied, allowing them to head into the elevator and leave the office.
Once the elevator doors closed, Ivory set Glynda down but still held her close.
"Where to?" He questioned.
"Mmmmm, why don't we spend the evening in my private chambers?" She suggested with a seductive purr. "We'd have a bottle of wine, steak dinner, a movie, some popcorn and a bedroom all to ourselves." She told him.
"I'll take that offer." Ivory grinned as he reached behind the woman and squeezed her ass, causing her to moan, before carrying her off.
(Elsewhere)
On the rooftops of Beacon, Jaune was sitting alone while just below him, Team SSSN was currently having a conversation about them trying Ace's 'Roofie Gummies' which Sky was convinced into taking.
"Jaune?" Pyrrha asked as she approached the blonde, having been looking for him.
"Oh. Hi, Pyrrha." The blonde sighed as he took in the view of the campus. "... Listen, I wanted to apologize about brushing you off before." He told her. "I know I probably don't deserve it but…" He admitted with a sigh. "Would you still be willing to help me train?" He asked.
Pyrrha stared at him for a moment before smiling.
"Gladly." She nodded in reply.
Meanwhile, with Team SSSN…
"... Bro I had like three of these things and I don't feel anything." Sky stated.
"Wait for it…" Ace trailed off.
(Later)
Sky walked into the dorm of team JNPR five minutes later, where he saw his team, and the RBY of RWBY enjoying pancakes—Sun was standing there in a boxing outfit—And he was shirtless, starting to glow with perspiration, had a glazed look on his face—and was wearing boxing gloves and a cowboy hat.
Off to the side, Ace simply pressed a button on his scroll that made a boxing bell sound go off.
Word to the wise: Always give edibles at least five minutes before ingesting more than one.
Dragon Emperor0: Us deciding to base some of the gags in this story on skits from Cocobred was a serious stroke of genius on our parts, they just fit this story so well.
ThermalsniperN7: Agreed. Definitely a big-brain idea, given how chaotic they are. Anyway, you thought Sky and his sister were the sole survivors of their village? SURPRISE! There is an uncle involved, and here he is, in his Dante inspired glory!
Dragon Emperor0: Given that we foreshadowed him appearing earlier it was merely a matter of time that we introduced him since the Volume is close to ending. Speaking of which, expect another family member of the gang to be introduced next chapter, but this time in a much darker fashion.
ThermalsniperN7: Yeah, and when we say darker, we mean it. Also, look at which Worm God decided to spring in for a visit. No surprise that Yul would show up sooner or later.
Dragon Emperor0: Yeah. Additionally, it's looking like tensions between Weiss, Ace and the others are getting damn near to a boil. This is gonna end in an explosion, I just know it—I just hope that everyone can recover from it once the dust settles.
ThermalsniperN7: Yeah… This is tense, and it looks like Sky's gonna have to come to terms with the knowledge that Yul worked some Hive magic on him while he was in his mom's womb. Speaking of, the reason Sky never showed any Hive traits pre-worm ingestion was because the traits were dormant and needed a trigger.
Dragon Emperor0: Speaking of triggers, I have a bad feeling that by the end of this Volume, all this pent up frustration and Rage on Ace's end is going to come to the surface, and he'll end up showing everyone just how much of a 'superpowered death machine' he can be—especially if it happens to be his brother who appears at the end of the Volume… With that said, though, see you all next time.
