A/N: Thanks to my brother Sai Kunai Blade for the script and qazse for help with reactions. Remember, the video for this lore is "Squirrel-Snake! Tobi-Kadachi Lore" on Sai's YouTube channel: Sai Blade. Be nice and subscribe so he stops being depresso espresso.
Sai stood in front of another hunter, quite a bit heftier from the look of things, clad in iron armor, sat at a table with a VERY large platter of food in front of him. The demonic hunter then sighed at the one before him. "Okay, so we've got a deal, then? I'll go out an make a video about the monster you need to hunt and you'll ACTUALLY go out and do the job you were shipped across an ocean to do and in exchange, I won't kick you off the cliff behind you." Sai laid out the terms of their agreement, looking past the sizeable hunter to reveal he was indeed sat right next to a cliff.
Despite the threat of being flung off a cliff, the other hunter didn't seem eager to do as Sai asked. "Oh, come on, dude. That's a lot of work! And I'm helping out here at the Canteen, trying all these new meals the chef wants to put on the menu!" The Fiver Bro tried, rather poorly, to argue his case.
Everyone was confused at Sai's hostility towards his fellow hunter. "Who... is that, exactly? Sai certainly doesn't seem to like him." Ozpin said.
Razara groaned at this. "The Fiver Bro. That's what people call him, since they don't want to bother learning his name." She explained.
"That's mean of you guys. He can't be that bad, can he?" Velvet asked.
"He's a lazy piece of crap that pawns all of his jobs off on whoever passes by and if you disagree, he'll whine until you do agree. Then he just sits there all day eating so much that he puts Nora to shame!" Tekko complained.
The students were all shocked at this, while Nora got a bit angry. "What?! No way! No one can defeat me in an eating competition!" She declared. Katana snapped her fingers and a massive platter of food was dropped in front of Nora. The hammer-wielder dug in, but after a while, she had to stop after only finishing roughly half of the platter. "He... He's not human..." She groaned. Thankfully, Katana snapped again and Nora was returned to normal before her stomach could burst.
Suddenly, several people found them on Sai's side. Especially the Atlesians. "Unacceptable! He should be made to do his own work! If he was shipped across the sea to the New World, he should earn the right to be there. Valuable time and resources were used to bring him along with the others, he should at least do enough to pay back those resources!" Winter said angrily.
"Exactly! If he's forcing others to do his jobs, that means they have to postpone their own work, which leaves the monsters they likely had to hunt free to cause havoc because they aren't being put in check! This man is a disgrace to the hunter organization!" Ironwood snapped.
Summer wanted to defend the Hunter, but couldn't. "Yeah, I've got nothing. Even I have to wonder how he still has a job." She admitted.
Sai was having none of it, however. "That is NOT A JOB. And even if it was, I'm sure we have plenty of other hungry hunters that could help." He countered, then sighed. "Honestly, it is a miracle you haven't been fired and sent home yet." He admitted.
The Fiver Bro just waved it off. "Ah, it's cool, man. I just ask all the other hunters to do me a solid and do my jobs when they're out on their missions. As long as it gets done, the commander doesn't care." He explained, shamelessly admitting that he's never done the jobs he specifically was assigned to.
Sai groaned at this. "And that's the problem with having ONE GUY in charge of making sure the work gets done." He said, but shrugged it off. "Alright, so what monster do I have to talk about?" He asked.
"Oh, it's a giant flying squirrel, dude." The Fiver Bro explained.
Sai was a bit confused here. "Uh... Could you be a bit more specific? I can think of TWO flying squirrel monsters off the top of my head." He requested.
"Oh, there's also a giant snake out there, too!" The lazy hunter added.
Sai finally caught on at this. "Oh, I get it now, I... I know what monster you mean." He said.
"And an electric eel, too. Why are there so many creepy monsters out there, man?" The glutton asked him.
Sai looked at the hunter awkwardly to the sound of crickets playing. "Dude, that's all one monster. They're pretty common actually." He told the larger hunter.
The Fiver Bro was rather shocked at this. "Whoa, dude! Monsters can be more than one thing?" He asked.
"You really don't know anything about the monsters we hunt, do you?" Sai asked.
The group was truly gobsmacked at how incompetent and idiotic this "hunter" was. "How does he not know about the monsters?! He's literally called a monster hunter!" Weiss cried out.
"This may be the most incompetent man I've ever seen." Cinder added.
"I'll say. He would've even made me look good when I first started at Beacon." Jaune said.
"Yeah. I don't even think we can defend this guy." Ruby admitted.
"Sadly, I have to agree. He's hurting the efforts of the commission as a hole if he refuses to do his work and makes others put off their own work to do his." Pyrrha said.
The other hunter was silent for a moment, before... "We hunt monsters?!" He asked in disbelief.
Sai was shocked at this, looking back in forth in bewilderment, before looking back at him. "I am GOING to push you off that cliff one of these days. It is NOT a matter of if. Only when." He promised as he left to go make the video.
"I'd say that's going to far, but for that guy... it might not be." Blake admitted.
"He has armor on, I'm sure he'll be fine." Ilia dismissed, not really caring. The guy just seemed to be a waste of space.
Sai was then seen walking through the ancient forests. "Nature is truly a wonderful, if sometimes strange thing, sometimes even seeming like mother nature just reached into a bin and threw something together, such as the hummingbird moth, which looks like a flying crawfish, that crazy duck-billed, beaver-tailed creature, the platypus, or indeed, our topic of today's conversation, the Tobi-Kadachi." He listed off a few of nature's stranger creatures as he apparently heard something in the trees, something flying overhead and running up the side of a tree out of his view, a shot of its own view showing briefly, before the creature of discussion crawled down another tree to reveal itself, showing that it did indeed looked like a flying squirrel with scales and bluish-grey fur, with the head of a snake.
"I've always heard the platypus is weird, but can it really be THAT crazy?" Neo asked.
"You mean besides the fact it has a duck bill and a beaver tail and I have no idea what's supposed to be in between?" Roman questioned.
"In addition to being one of the only two egg-laying mammals, platypuses also do not have a stomach, their bills can detect electric fields, they sweat milk, the males have venomous spurs on their hind legs, they sweat out the milk to feed their babies through their stomachs and they've recently been discovered to glow bluish-green under UV lights." Penny listed off more reasons why platypi were strange beings.
This left much of the group shocked. "I knew about the eggs and the venom, but jeez. Nature must have just wanted to go crazy one day." Emerald said.
Then, the monster of the video showed up in all its glory. And Ruby instantly gushed at it. "Wow! Look at it! That is really cool! It's like a snake and a dog!" Ruby cried out.
"No, it's a squirrel! A flying squirrel! That's epic! Flying squirrels are so luck they can fly like that! It's tail kind of looks like a skunk tail, too, all flat like that." Nora pointed out.
Ruby, Yang and Neo all snickered at this. "Well, let's hope this monster doesn't... run afoul with us!" Yang declared, to which everyone except Neo groaned.
"Still, to be a mix of all those different creatures. I wonder just what that will entail." Ren wondered.
Sai was then seen peacefully walking alongside the creature as they made their way through the forest. "Certainly one of the most unique monsters of all time, especially among the relatively straight-forward Fanged Wyverns, Tobi-Kadachi is a strange amalgamation of creatures wonderfully adapted to life in the forest. It has the slim and agile body of a squirrel, with additional claws that allow it it easily climb up trees. But it's not just any squirrel. No, it has the extra flaps of skin under along its sides from its front legs to its hindlegs, allowing it to spread open in the air, deploying these flaps of skin and slowing its descent, even allowing it minimal gliding to gain extra distance to slam down on opponents with its powerful tail." He explained, slowing down a bit to show off the creature's strong-looking, rigid tail.
"I gotta say, normally just throwing things together doesn't look good to me, but Tobi being all different things like this... kind works." Coco admitted.
"I can appreciate wanting to glide around in the air." Qrow said. Other than simply for travel and recon, he often enjoyed turning into a bird and simply soaring around.
"It is a very useful adaptation. And this would allow it to maneuver between trees very easily, like we saw in Sai's initial encounter with it." Glynda agreed.
He then sped back up to focus on the beast's head. "It addition, it also has a head that resembles that of a snake, specifically one from the Colubrid family, the largest family of snakes with 249 genera. These snakes are mostly non-venomous and relatively harmless... Tobi-Kadachi is NOT one of those. While it does not often attack by biting, it has curving, backwards facing teeth just like a snake that prevent hook into prey and prevent them from pulling away, lest they have their flesh painfully torn away. Thankfully, this is not something one often has to worry about, as Tobi-Kadachi are very docile monsters, only really attacking if they are attacked first or they come across you fighting another monster... Because I guess these monsters just see fights going on and think 'MOSH PIT!'" Sai explained as the two continued on their merry way.
"Whoa... That's A LOT of snakes." Blake said, a bit intimidated.
"Preventing its opponent from getting away. That's something I might have to look into." Adam said.
Then Sai mentioned his confusion at monsters randomly attacking when they see a fight happening. "They see a chance to take out a potential threat and they take it." Hazel declared.
"Eh. That's the only sensible thing I can come up with." Ilia said.
They continued on their journey through the forest together. "Tobi-Kadachi is mostly known for its powerful, spiky tail, it has a long quote-unquote 'cape' of fur going down its back from its spiny tail and being a fast and agile quadruped. In that regard, it actually has quite a bit in common with another Fanged Wyvern, Zinogre. To the point many Old World hunters seeing Tobi believe it to be a relative of Zinogre and New World Hunters seeing Zinogre believe it to be related to Tobi." Sai explained.
A clip of Cotton and Aylia facing off against a Zinogre was shown. "Is this Tobi's grandfather?" Cotton asked.
Aylia cracked up at this. "Is this Tobi's grandfather?!" The veteran huntress laughed.
"I believe it. There's a total resemblance." Nora said, nodding.
"Yeah. They're a lot alike." Ruby agreed, looking to her Stygian Zinogre. "What do you think, Crimzon? Is that your grandkid?" Ruby asked.
The Hell Wolf wasn't having it, however. (There is no way I'm related to that pathetic creature!) Crimzon insisted.
Sai was now fighting with the Fanged Wyvern. "And much like Zinogre, Tobi is a thunder monster that is incapable of actively generating its own electricity, instead getting it from outside sources. But whereas Zinogre gets it from its Fulgurbugs, Tobi is a bit more independent. Despite being a scaly creature, it has a lovely, fine coat of fur on most of its body. And as it makes its way through the dense foliage of the forest, it moves and sways, often brushing up against some of the foliage of the forest, its fur scraping against this surface and building up a bit of friction as it passes, gathering a static charge from the experience that travels through the fur into Tobi's thunder organ. However, Tobi-Kadachi is smart and knows this charge takes time to build up, so it uses it sparingly, only resorting to it when the fight becomes difficult and it enrages, its hair standing on end." Sai explained as the beast indeed let out a loud roar, a flash of electricity bursting from it as its fur stood up.
"Ooh, yay! Another Thunder monster! And an awesome one!" Nora cried out.
"So cool!" Ruby agreed.
"Building up static electricity as it moves throughout the forest? Very clever." Glynda praised.
"Indeed. Some plants have also been shown to create electricity when touched by the wind or certain materials." Penny added.
"Nice 'do. It's like a huge, electric mohawk." Qrow said with a smirk. He may have tried the hairstyle back in his Beacon days. It didn't work for him, but he still appreciated it when it did.
"Ooh, we could make that a feature of our coats! Rub a little lightning dust on it and it surges up for a whole new look!" Coco suggested to Neo.
Velvet, however, looked concerned at this. "I don't know, guys... It looks like a predator about to strike." Velvet said, the snake-like appearance already making her uneasy, this now pushing her towards the edge.
"Well, I like how it's fur standing on end." Ruby said, then giggled. It reminds me of whenever Yang got a static shock as a kid." She said.
Yang immediately knew where the story was going. "Ruby, don't you dare!" Yang snapped.
Weiss smirked at this, a chance to get Yang back for all the "Ice Queen/Princess" jokes. "Oh, do tell, Ruby." She encouraged.
Ruby smirked at this. "If Yang got shocked as a kid, her hair stood all on end! It was like a yellow cotton ball!" She laughed.
Summer couldn't help but giggle as well. "Oh, it took me over an hour to combo all the static out of her hair." She agreed.
"Mooom!" Yang complained.
Neo giggled and hugged Yang. "I'm sure you looked very cute, blondie." She assured the buxom blonde.
Sai was then seen in the middle of a fight against a Tobi-Kadachi and a strange winged Wyvern with the face of a frog. "Such abilities are often useful when facing off against its foes. While, like I said before, Tobi-Kadachi is a docile creature that doesn't like to fight, there are simply times where fighting is unavoidable, such as whenever a Pukei-Pukei is in town and feeling a little big for its britches, going around and messing with anything it thinks won't fight back. So Tobi sometimes has to teach it it's place." He explained as the Tobi ran, leaving Sai to face the strange beast.
Many people went wide-eyed at this frog-headed bird creature. "Whoa! Man, that things creepy." Roman said.
"What am I even looking at?! It looks a chameleon with frog eyes and a frog tongue, wings and... And that tail is just disturbing." Emerald said uneasily.
"I actually find it fascinating." Penny said.
"I as well." Glynda agreed.
"Certainly. It's likely the same as how Sai described Tobi-Kadachi: evolving to perfectly fit into life in the forest. If that means adapting the parts of other animals, so be it." Winter added.
"I don't see much of a difference between this creature and the platypus. Other than size, of course. It's simply an jumble of different animals." Ozpin defended the creature.
Then, the Tobi was seen roaring at a creature that almost looked like a T-Rex, which roared back. "And, of course, the time when fighting is the absolute only option, when a Tobi faces its greatest enemy, the Anjanath, using its electricity to shock the beast, giving it a chance to do some damage, giving it the best chance to survive." Sai declared dramatically as Tobi rushed in and attacked the beast, but was easily thrown to the floor and defeated. "What? I said 'survive', I didn't say 'win.'" Sai defended himself as the Tobi escaped, the Anjanath coming for him instead.
"I-is that a T-Rex?!" Jaune cried out.
"It seems similar to one, but not quite the same. All I know is, it looks dangerous." Ren said.
Then, they saw the larger monster decimate the electric squirrel. "It put up a good fight, but it was biting off more than it could chew." Hazel stated.
"They way Sai built it up, I was expecting it would have done more than that." Ironwood said, a bit disappointed.
"What else did you expect? It went up against something at least twice its size." Adam pointed out.
And many were rather annoyed by Sai's comment at the end. "He could be more concerned about Tobi instead of making jokes at its expense. That was in poor taste." Pyrrha said.
"He's not wrong, though. It didn't win, but it did survive." Cinder told her.
Sai was once again peacefully following a Tobi-Kadachi through the forest. "Now, you may be wondering about Tobi's coloring. After all, blue and grey are somewhat out of place colors in the forest primarily filled with greens and browns and... You know, every color EXCEPT blue an grey. Surely that must make camouflage impossible. And you'd be right, it does. Luckily, Tobi doesn't really need camouflage, since A: it's faster than most, if not all other creatures in the forest and B: it can climb trees and stay out of sight, getting into the perfect position and dropping down on its prey. So, it has a decent pick of pretty much whatever it wants to eat in the forest, as long as it stays out of the way of Anjanath and any apex-level monster that roams the forest, it has no issue getting a meal, so it usually never gets desperate enough to attack a human. They also prefer smaller prey, such as Mosswine, Woodland Pteryxes and Jagras on rare occasions." Sai explained as he followed the creature.
"Yay! Another peaceful monster! We can just have fun and follow it all through the forest!" Ruby said happily.
"Ordinarily. I'd say it'd be awesome to follow a walking snake monster, but I'm not getting anywhere near that static fiend." Yang declared.
""And good to know it only goes after small targets." Emerald said, before smirking. "Oh wait, that's bad news for you, Neo." She teased, the ice cream girl sticking her tongue out at this.
"Still, look how fast it is. And it may even be acrobatic and agile enough to give us a run for our money." Blake said, highly impressed.
"I guess it's pretty neat after all. It may look vicious, but as long as it's passive, it's actually... really cool." Velvet said.
"Aww, I'm so proud of you. You're breaking out of your shell." Coco said happily.
Sai was fighting with the beast again. "In the rare instances one must face off against a Tobi-Kadachi, you must rival the creature's agility with your own. Standing still and waiting for it to come to you is a good way to get yourself killed as the creature can jump about and get behind you almost as fast as you can blink. Your best option is to move when he moves, dodging his attack and striking back afterwards. As for the creature's weaknesses, our snake-squirrel is weakest to water, with fire and ice also effective, but with resistance to thunder. As for ailments that can be inflicted on the creature... they all can. Every type of ailment is at least moderately effective, with poison being as effective as water. In addition, breaking Tobi's claws will make it far less effective at climbing and it's more likely to fall out of the tree, giving you some extra hits as it gets up." He explained as he managed to knock the creature down.
"Huh? Why would it be weak to water? I thought that conducts electricity." Neo said.
"True, but moisture also reduces the likelihood of getting a static shock, so it takes away one of Tobi's most vital weapons." Glynda explained.
"And he just pointed out how important being able to climb trees are for old snake-y there. So breaking its claws probably makes it as good as dead." Qrow stated.
"It's never that easy with these monsters. There's got to be more to it." Ironwood disagreed.
Sai was then seen being knocked back by its tail slam. "But never underestimate this creature. Remember, Tobi-Kadachi is very fast and agile, so if you aren't careful, it will use the strategy I recommended against it on you. And many of its attacks can be quite difficult to dodge if you aren't ready, such as its charging bite attack or its 360 tail spin. And of course, the almighty tail slam. And, just as a reminder, it has the flying squirrel flaps as another method of both staying out of melee range and outmaneuvering you. Other common attacks of this creature feature a simple bite, claw swipes and wide, sweeping tail attacks that can prove difficult to dodge. And as previously stated, Tobi-Kadachi is capable of storing up static electricity to use to deadly effect. Tobi can then add a bit of spark to its bites, claw or tail swipes and most dangerously, into its jumping tail slam, releasing a minor electrical explosion on impact. These attacks can also leave you with a condition known as thunderblight, which basically leaves your brain on the verge of short-circuiting, making you easier to stun. Fortunately, a Nulberry will get you all fixed up nice and quick." Sai explained as he was assaulted by electrical attacks.
"That's cool that a little berry can conveniently fix you guys like that." Ilia said.
"Well, you know, when you're hunting giant elemental monsters, you need to figure out every advantage you can get." Katana explained.
"Speed vs. Speed. That sounds fun." Blake admitted.
"Maybe if you're the super maneuverable type. What about everybody that can't do triple flips and stuff!?" Jaune complained.
"You can still roll or dive out of the way of attacks. You're making yourself sound like a tortoise. You're not the most agile, but you're far from helpless. Have some faith in yourself." Weiss said.
"Still, even with those berries and if you can evade his moves, that electricity sounds like quite a problem. Especially the tail slam that results in an explosion. That could likely short-circuit a small troop of Atlesian Knights." Winter said in concern.
Sai was peacefully walking alongside the creature once again. "So, that is the garden variety Tobi-Kadachi, a very unique creature with a number of adaptations perfectly suited for survival, yet is willing to live in peace with those around it, only resorting to violence when it needs to hunt, or if bullies step up to it and need to be checked, something I can very much get behind." Sai declared as he stopped and let the Tobi wander off deeper into the forest.
"Yeah! All bullies should get their legs broken!" Nora declared.
"Preach, sister!" Yang said, high-fiving the hammer girl.
"I'm more a fan of the peaceful part." Summer said.
"I like how it climbs trees and uses its environment to its advantage." Ren stated.
"I like the thunder part." Emerald admitted.
"Either way, I think we can all agree that Tobi-Kadachi is a unique and fascinating creature." Ozpin said, everyone nodding in agreement.
Sai was then seen walking through the Hoarfrost Reach. "However, things soon changed with the discovery of a new landmass, the Hoarfrost Reach. Despite being a strange, new and unfamiliar place, a handful of familiar monsters had been found there. And Tobi-Kadachi was one of them. However, this new place was not well-suited for our favorite flying snake, as the lush vegetation it required to gain its static charge was few and far between, the abundant trees they climb to stay out of reach of predators were nowhere to be found and the monsters living in the Hoarfrost reach often had thick fur that insulated well against electricity. Especially Tobi's old friend. That's right... Anjanath was back." Sai declared as he stood before a much different-looking Anjanath with mostly grey fur, but with an orange head and tiger-like stripes all down its body.
(Not this bully again!) The cinnamon trio thought, but kept said thoughts to themselves, knowing they've already been criticized about it.
"Hey, those tiger stripes are pretty cool." Yang said appreciatively.
"But it's clearly different from the first one. how exactly did it change? And why would that effect how Tobi changed?" Blake questioned.
Sai was now seen fighting with the creature. "We will go over this bad boy more in-depth at a later date, but to understand the main reason Tobi is different here, you need to understand it's main rival. This Anjanath is much stronger: whereas normal Anjanath are dominated by Rathalos, Fulgur is able to contend with apex monsters like Tigrex and has now swapped its fire power for the thunder element, gaining a total resistance to it." He explained as the Anjanath became enraged, revealing a very flashy sail and electricity crackling around it. "So if Tobi just barely survived against a weaker version of Anjanath that could actually be harmed by electricity, do you think it stands any kind of a chance against a stronger one that is immune to its main offensive strategy?" He asked as the creature continued to attack him.
A young man was seen through a strange blue distorted field of vision. "No! No! No! No! No!" The young man declared repeatedly, his voice echoing as each "No!" appeared in thin air beside him.
"No way! He can still totally win!" Nora insisted.
"Sorry, Nora, but I don't think so. According to Sai, that electricity was the only reason the Tobi could injure the Anjanath, so if it was immune to the electricity, it can't injure the Anjanath. It's essentially doomed." Ren told her.
"Nature is cruel and insanely competitive. And if you can't compete, you die." Cinder added.
"That's a strange change, though, going from fire to electricity." Penny said.
Sai continued walking around with the Fulgur Anjanath. "And you would be correct in that assumption. So Tobi had to adapt. It had to become stronger to match the newer, more powerful rivals it was encountering and needed a more effective weapon, as its old one was no longer viable in this new environment. Which brings us to... The Viper Tobi-Kadachi." He declared as him, his handler and an elderly huntress were slowly being stalked towards by a Tobi-Kadachi with Autumn colors, light and dark browns with bits of red, orange and black.
Coco whistled at this. "Now those are some nice colors. It adapted in all the right ways here." She said.
"Aesthetically, yes. You don't know anything about how it functions yet, though." Winter corrected.
"Oh, I remember him showing this during the Shara Ishvalda video. It's nice we finally get to learn about it." Pyrrha said happily.
"Maybe, but something about the Viper part doesn't sit well with me." Velvet said nervously.
Sai now followed this new version of the Fanged Wyvern. "Having done some shopping out of the fall catalogue, this new Tobi-Kadachi is quite a bit more vibrant than its normal bluish-grey counterpart. It still cannot survive the extreme colds of the Hoarfrost Reach, so it lives in the deeper, warmer caves of the Reach, often taking a nice nap near a lovely, warm... slightly toxic-looking pond." Sai explained, standing in front of a warm, but polluted-looking cave pond. "And for the most part, it's still the same docile, peaceful creature that just wants to go about its day. However, to any nature lovers out there, you know what vibrant colors generally mean. And for those that don't, vibrant, out-of-place colors usually mean 'I'm poisonous! Back off!'" Sai warned as he followed the creature.
Everyone felt a sense of dread upon hearing about the poison. "Oh, lovely. Not only is it poisonous, but it has an even deadlier poison than apex monsters!" Weiss said in annoyance.
"And if it lives in arctic regions, it will be Atlas' problem. We'll have to look into antidotes immediately." Ironwood said.
"Well, if they're anything like the normal Tobi-Kadachi, it should only be a problem if people mess with them first, sir." Penny noted.
"It's Atlas. Of course people will be trouble for them." Hazel said, earning a glare from the Atlesians.
He was then seen in combat with the creature. "Yes, this Tobi-Kadachi has traded its electricity for poison. And an incredibly potent one at that. It even puts a Rathalos to shame. Normal poison is a hindrance, but poison from a Viper Tobi-Kadachi is legitimately deadly, capable of killing a hunter in a few minutes if they aren't carrying any antidotes. The poison is located in deadly sharp spikes in its tail, very well hidden by its fur. Any contact with the tail will result in a nasty dose of poison infecting you. And to make matters worse, these spikes can even be shot short distances with a flick of its tail to hit several targets at a time, in similar fashion to a Nargacuga, so you are not safe anywhere within close-to-medium range of the beast. And as one final nasty surprise, the bite of this Fanged Wyvern contains a neurotoxin that paralyzes whoever has been bitten by it, leaving them completely vulnerable to a follow-up tail hit from the Viper that will likely finish the job. And if the hit itself doesn't, the poison will... Because the bite still poisons, too. It poisons and paralyzes you at the same time. That's just not fair." Sai declared ominously as he did his best to avoid the lethal attacks of the Fanged Wyvern.
"I could do without the poison thing, but it's really neat how it flings those spikes from its tail like Nargacuga or Seregios!" Ruby said, deeply intrigued.
Several of them shuddered at the combination of ailments its bite could inflict. "Paralysis... Not being able to move while it poisons you... And then finishes you off with its tail. There's being an effective predator and then there's absolute overkill." Glynda said in concern.
"Oh, come on! Paralyzing and poisoning someone at the same time?! That is SO cheating!" Nora complained.
Sai was then seen following the Viper Tobi-Kadachi again. "It also had to become a bit more bold and start hunting bigger, since Mosswine don't live in the Hoarfrost Reach, Vespoid are comparatively few and far between and the Jagras equivalent of the Reach, known as Wulgs, are ferocious pack animals that attack viciously and act like an unholy combination between snakes and badgers." Sai explained, letting the Tobi-Kadachi leave. He was then seen surrounded by these Wulgs and was knocked down by one, before it then leapt on him, coiling around him like a snake and viciously biting at him. "Oh, dear god! Get it off of me! Get it off! Get off me! Somebody, help me! For the love of god! Help me!" He screamed, desperately trying to get it off.
Despite how viscous Wulgs look to be, the animal lovers quite liked the small creatures. "Aww, they're cute! And their colors remind me of Zwei." Ruby said.
"And badgers are actually cute, as long as you keep your distance." Summer added.
"Indeed. They're actually quite docile until threatened. Much like Tobi itself, in that regard." Winter agreed.
Then, a few of them laughed at Sai's misfortune. "Looks like Sai bit off more than he could chew!" Yang said, everyone rolling their eyes.
"Come on, everyone. That's not funny! Sai may be snarky, but he's never mean to the monsters like Rage." Pyrrha said.
"Yeah. That's got to be so scary! And painful!" Velvet added sympathetically.
"Oh, Sai's fine. He's tough enough to take it. He's a demon, remember? He's just being a drama queen." Katana assured them.
Sai was then seen following Viper Tobi once again. "So, rather than risking death at the paws, claws and teeth of those psychos, it instead goes after the much larger Popo, even if it's usually only the babies, but those can still put up a good fight if they have to." Sai explained as he continued to follow the beast.
"A wise decision." Ozpin said.
"Agreed. One giant monster seems far more manageable than a group of insanely vicious small monsters." Ironwood agreed.
"It's like that argument: one horse-sized duck or one hundred duck-sized horses." Ilia stated.
"No bird should ever be that big. Birds are monsters." Adam said.
The Viper Tobi-Kadachi was then seen fighting the Fulgur Anjanath, only to lose again. "This new choice of weaponry STILL doesn't allow it to defeat the Anjanath, but much like with the normal Tobi, the adaptation at least allows it to survive a tussle with the furry Brute Wyvern. So, you might be wondering 'but wait, if it adapted to contend with Fulgur Anjanath, why does it still lose?' Well, the thing about that is... It kind of did a bad job of adapting. As previously stated, it has to stay in warm caves in order to survive the freezing cold of the new environment, so the ice element is a solid choice against it, with the Thunder Element being most effective. Yes, that is correct, it is weakest against the element of the monster it mainly evolved to combat. Also, as a fun little side note: the Thunder Tobi-Kadachi is weak to poison and the poison version is weak to Thunder." Sai added as he continued to fight the beast.
A man in a long coat with bladed arm weapons was seen standing with a dust cloud behind him, wiping away a tear of laughter. "Well, if that isn't ironic." He chuckled as he stood rather confidently.
Cinder and Hazel were shocked at this. "Tyrian?!" They both cried out.
"Well, he's not wrong." Roman admitted.
"Just wrong in the head." Neo added.
Sai continued to fight the poisonous creature. "And all the ailments, except for the obvious choices of poison and paralysis, are all at least decently effective against it. The only thing that really WON'T work against Viper Tobi would be to use water on it. At least it gained a resistance to what it's other form was weak to. I guess that counts for something. So, to summarize: zappy-zappy? Good! Status ailments? Okay. Splashy-splashy? Bad." Sai told of the creature's weakness as he continued to fight the beast.
"Well, that's definitely one way to make sure people understand." Jaune said.
"Yes, because he was being so complex and hard to understand before." Weiss said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.
"It is kind of funny they're weak to each other." Ruby said.
"Like seriously, of all the ways you adapt, you change into something weak to the element you just had." Summer agreed.
"Hey, everything comes with a trade-off. In fact, didn't Rage say Crimzon isn't immune to electricity as a Stygian Zinogre?" Qrow pointed out, causing Ruby's familiar to grumble.
Sai then casually walked alongside the Viper Tobi-Kadachi once again. "So there you have it. A toxic Tobi-Kadachi, forced to switch up its style to survive a harsh new land where its old style simply could not cut it, gaining status ailments to combat its aggressors and to make bringing down stronger prey possible where it was impossible before. A true testament to the fact that no matter the adversity, nature and life will always find a way." He said, before stopping and allowing the Tobi to go on with its day... before he realized he was surrounded by Wulgs and attacked again. "Oh, god! Not again! Somebody help me!" He screamed, running around frantically to be free of the beast.
"Aww, that was actually a sweet note to finish on." Pyrrha said.
But then Sai was attacked again, getting some laughs from those who laughed the first time. "And that turned it sour." Cinder said with a smirk.
Wow, he just can't catch a break, can he?" Yang asked.
"You guys know what I'm gonna ask." Katana said.
"Amazing!" Nora cried out.
"I really like how unique Tobi is. Many very different kinds of animals mixed into one to give it an incredible edge in the forest. It's quite extraordinary." Pyrrha said.
"Yeah. The poison one could tone it down, though." Jaune said.
"If it tones it down, it dies, Jaune. You just need to tone it up." Emerald told him.
"Easier said than done. Still, I find both version of the creature to be fascinating." Winter stated.
"Oh, please, please, PLEASE tell me we're getting Tobi's on Remnant! It's amazing because it's so cool while not being aggressive. I just want to pet one SO bad!" Ruby cried out.
"Yeah! Me, too! Me, too! No, wait! I want a mini Tobi as a pet! It can wrap around my neck like a living scarf just like cute little ferrets do!" Nora declared.
"Well, you'll be happy to know Remnant WILL indeed be getting them. But if you guys really can't wait..." Katana said, summoning a sleeping Tobi-Kadachi. "Have fun." She told them.
They squealed in joy and quickly sat down beside it and pet it, causing their hairs to stand on end. "Frizzy hair!" They both laughed, taking selfies.
"That looks like fun." Summer laughed.
"So why should they be the only ones having it?" Qrow questioned.
Summer, Qrow, Jaune, Pyrrha, Neo and Coco gave its fur a feel. Coco even got Velvet to pet it as well. The fashionista giggled at the tingling the static gave, then her cheeks puffed up as she tried to stop herself from laughing, but failed and laughed when she saw a static link between her ears like antennas. "Oh, my gosh, Vel! You're like an electric tower." She told her girlfriend, showing her the results with a mirror.
Velvet soon burst out laughing as well. "This is amazing! I should spend more time with thunder monsters!" She said.
Penny was about to go next, but James stopped her. "I don't think that's a good idea, Penny. With how much electricity is stored in its fur, you might short circuit yourself." He explained.
"Oh." Penny said sadly.
"Don't worry, Penny. I wouldn't let you be left out. I just turned you into a human. Go ahead and get your pets in!" Katana declared. Rather than question it, Penny quickly joined the group and pet the creature.
The only one who refused to pet it was Yang. "Come on, sis! Join the fun! That's an order as your team leader!" Ruby told her.
"No way! I'm not letting that thing anywhere NEAR my hair!" The buxom blonde refused.
Razara however, gave a troll smirk at this. "Up and at 'em, Tobi!" She declared, waving some Mosswine bacon in front of the creature. It immediately woke up and made a bite for the bacon, but Razara pulled it back and tossed it to Yang.
"What the?!" The brawler demanded, before the Tobi tackled Yang and shocked her before disappearing with the bacon. "Aww..." Ruby and Nora whined.
"We weren't done petting it." Neo pouted as well.
However, all attention soon returned to Yang. Sparking with electricity, team RWBY's "Y" slowly stood up. EVERYONE, even Summer, laughed their asses off as her all her hair was sticking completely up, making her head look like a dandelion. "Hey! Knock it off! Quit laughing!" Yang complained. It also didn't help that Ruby, Neo, Coco and Blake were taking SO many picture of this new 'do. "I'm SO gonna get you guys back for this! Especially you, Razara!" Yang snapped.
"Yeah, good luck with that, Blondie." Razara taunted.
"Razara!" Katana said in a tone that was meant to sound strict, but clearly wasn't. She then grabbed her daughter by the wrist and leading her away. "That was very mean, young lady. You should be nicer to your friends!" She spoke to act like she was scolding her daughter, but secretly gave her a wink as if to say "nice one".
"So, what now?" Qrow asked as the mother and daughter came back.
"Now? Well... You've heard of the Black Dragons..." Katana began.
"Of course. Like Amaryllis." Summer said, placing a hand on her Alatreon's shoulder.
"You mean the Elder Dragons powerful enough to potentially destroy the world!?" Jaune said fearfully.
"That's right. There's three of them. You've met one. Now it's time you see another." Katana said ominously.
"You mean it's time for Fatalis already?!" Tekko asked in shock.
"Of course not, you fool. Too many people want that." Razara told her sister.
"Prepare for things to really heat up, because now it's time for the living furnace... Dire Miralis." Katana declared.