Everything started out black as a heart-pounding drum beat rang out to make things further unsettling before Rage began to speak. "A monster unlike any other..." The host declared dramatically, before a young woman was seen in a dark room, looking around in terror as if something was stalking her.
Suddenly, she wheeled around as she heard the door being fiddled with, opening up to reveal a giant scorpion. "Hello!" The arachnid greeted in an adorably goofy voice as it pushed the door all the way open.
A few members of the audience shivered when they heard Rage's claim and saw the woman in a dark room. "I don't like the look of this." Velvet said nervously.
"Agreed. Rage was already speaking ominously, the dark atmosphere really doesn't help." Weiss agreed.
"Which means you know he's gonna ruin it with something goofy." Yang said. Then, several of them burst out laughing at the scorpion politely greeting the woman. "Called it." She said.
"Oh, my gosh! That voice!" Nora laughed.
"So, I'm guessing the monster's a scorpion, then?" Jaune asked.
"It's possible, but this could be some form of nightmare sequence to imply this creature induces sleep and, possibly, nightmares." Glynda said.
"No way. That can't be real... right?" Neo asked fearfully.
"It could be possible. Nightmares are surprisingly not very difficult to trigger. Simple stress or anxiety can make them happen and, as we've seen with Sai, monsters are more than capable of causing stress and anxiety." Ozpin explained.
Everything went black again with more dramatic drum beats. "Armed to the teeth..." Rage continued as a man and woman ran through the desert with a giant scorpion the size of a car hot on their trail, leaping over some rocky steps with a cartoonish jump sound affect.
"So, it appears it is a scorpion after all." Hazel confirmed.
"Awesome! I always thought scorpions were pretty cool-looking. I even got a scorpion tattoo." Coco said.
"Really? Where?" Blake asked.
"Some place just for Velvet's eyes." She said simply, causing Velvet to blush. [1]
"Oh, lovely." Cinder groaned, along with Emerald.
"Are you not a fan of scorpions, Cinder? And Emerald, I thought you enjoyed animals?" Penny wondered.
"The cute, fluffy ones or cool scaly ones, yes. Not creepy bugs." Emerald explained.
"Believe me, you're not alone in that sentiment." Ironwood said, nodding along with the Schnee's, Jaune, Ilia and Roman.
Everyone then looked to Cinder for her answer to Penny's question. "I have not problem with scorpions themselves, but they remind me too much of that bastard Tyrian." The half-Maiden explained, Emerald and Hazel nodding in agreement.
Total darkness once again, followed by more drum beats. "Nothing can escape... The swarm." Rage exclaimed dramatically once more, before a clip showed a normal scorpion- although it was still one of the larger species- as it crawled around aimlessly in a corner of a basement or stone building, trying to climb up the wall, but to no avail, all while silly music played.
"Okay, we get it! Enough with the scorpions!" Ilia yelled.
"Yeah, I gotta admit, the big real life scorpion is a little creepy-looking. But I do like the claws. And their tails are cool, though." Ruby said.
"They really are the perfectly weaponized creatures. A fully-armored body, pincers to hold prey in place or even tear smaller prey apart, then finally that tail to finish the job and inject the prey with venom to dissolve the prey for them to drink." Winter listed the scorpion's amazing attributes
"I'm going to be sick." Weiss groaned.
The clip then stopped with the sound of a record scratching as everything went dark once again. "Okay, seriously, who is putting in these- what are these clips? This is not- I want- can we- " The host stammered as he complained, demanding to know who was making a fool of him.
This got quite a few laughs from the group. "It's probably Cotton trolling him like he did with Khezu." Qrow chuckled.
"I approve. He's trolled us enough, I say turnabout's fair play." Roman said.
"Nothing wrong with a little trolling every so often." Summer agreed.
"Mom!? You were a troll?!" Ruby and Yang asked at the same time, in awe of their mother.
"Ugh. She was pulling pranks and vandalizing the school at least once a week." Glynda groaned as Summer giggled sheepishly.
Suddenly, a cluster of diamonds peaking out of the sands was shown. "Akura Vashimu, please!" Rage announced as the hunter struck the crystals, causing a massive form almost like a snake with the crystals on the end to lash out wildly as the hunter backed off, before the crystals and the stem attached to them retreated below ground, at which point, a scorpion's head and pincers burst out of the ground, similar crystals attached to the pincers as well, before the entire scorpion pulled itself from the ground, revealing the stem from before was its tail, with the cluster of crystals being like a spiked wrecking ball on the end of it in place of a normal scorpion stinger.
"Some crystals. That's it? Why are we being shown this?" Adam questioned.
"Perhaps the scorpion is connected to those crystals somehow? Like it might eat them?" Pyrrha guessed.
"I think it's something different than that. And the biggest mistake that hunter could make would be touching the crystal." Ren said cautiously.
But then, the mass of crystals rose up from the ground, strung by a strange stem. "Whoa! What the heck?! The crystals are alive!" Jaune freaked out.
"Is... Is that a tail? The crystal's attached to its tail!" Neo realized.
"But if that's the tail, then..." Weiss started, before the rest of the scorpion burst forth from the ground.
"Holy crap! It's huge!" Nora exclaimed.
"I think we should expect most of these monsters to be huge. That's kind of what makes them monsters." Ilia pointed out.
"Still, that's pretty badass. It's a scorpion covered in diamonds. That's pretty epic." Coco said approvingly.
"But HOW does it have crystals on its body!? That doesn't just HAPPEN in nature!" Emerald exclaimed.
"I mean, Ilia kinda said it best already, they're monsters. They don't work like the rest of nature does." Blake reminded.
"Either way, that is so cool! I really wanna learn about this monster now!" Ruby cheered.
A group of hunters were then seen facing the creature at night, mainly focusing on a bow-wielding hunter. "Oh yes, ladies and gentlemen, fellow hunters, welcome as today, we talk one HELL of a giant scorpion: a carapaceon by the name of- well, Akura Vashimu." The host introduced the monster, putting up an image of it on the screen for a better look. "He is one of the earliest monsters discovered in the Frontier and he is quite unlike anything else. I mean, of course he is! He's a bloody great, big scorpion with crystals growing out of him! It's an absolutely fabulous-looking monster and I wish there were more like him!" Rage gushed over the monster as it charged down some of the hunters while the bowman struggled to hit the moving target.
"That's a sentiment I can agree with. I also have a fondness for scorpions. I thought it should've been the White Fang's original mascot, but Ghira and Sienna both said that it would've made us look like psychopaths who follow Tyrian's example and it would've hurt our image before we even had one." Adam said.
"Well, they wouldn't be wrong. He is one of the most infamous Faunus on Remnant and his scorpion tail IS his most distinguishing feature." Ironwood noted.
Suddenly, the real life scorpion from one of the intro clips was shown scurrying around the little container it was in. "Scorpions are just so iconic! The pincers, the tail, the shape of it! There's nothing quite like it on Earth! And it is a shape that drives a lot of fear in a lot of people, but also a lot of fascination, too! They really are quite cool little creatures and, for the most part- save a few of them, are really quite harmless. They're just kind of badass little gladiators." Rage explained as the scorpion tried to climb the side of the container, but to no avail.
"Harmless!? No way! He's gotta be kidding, right? I thought those things are supposed to be death machines!" Roman exclaimed.
"Yeah, I've always heard they are violent and hostile little critters." Summer agreed.
"Oh, no. That's just rumors based on people letting their fears get the best of them, like with sharks." Winter explained, sparing a glance at Ironwood and Ozpin.
"Winter is indeed correct. Most scorpions are actually very shy arachnids. Stings are usually only a result of the scorpions becoming agitated or in self-defense. They are small creatures, they have to treat anything the same size or larger as a threat. But most of the time, or whenever they can, they will flee from people rather than attempt to sting or fight them. And, it has been discovered that only roughly 30 species out of the estimated 1,500 species actually produce venoms that are toxic enough to be fatal." Penny explained.
"Fascinating. I was never aware that there were so many species of them. Or that so FEW of them were venomous." Hazel said.
"Oh, there are PLENTY more interesting things about them! Such as the fact they can survive being completely frozen with no ill effects, live underwater for up to two days and they even glow in the dark under a UV light. It's incredible, but scientists have NO idea why." Pyrrha added onto Penny's list of cool things about scorpions.
"Indeed. We've even found scorpion venom useful for help in treating cancer." Glynda said.
"No way! Seriously?!" Velvet asked in amazement.
"Why, yes. When the venom is injected into the brain, it becomes bound to the cells. Then, when introduced to certain light wavelengths, they become illuminated, which allows surgeons to pinpoint problem areas, therefor allowing surgeons to be more selective while performing the surgery." Ozpin explained. [2]
Ruby was amazed at this."Wow! All of that is amazing! I like scorpions a lot more now! They're even COOLER than before! Just too bad they have such a bad reputation." Ruby said, becoming sorry for the creatures at the end. But then she quickly brightened back up. "But still, I definitely have a better opinion of them now. Maybe I could even get one for a pet! As long as its venom is non-lethal." She added.
"Not gonna happen." Summer said quickly, causing Ruby to deflate.
"But now I'm curious. If there's so many species of scorpion, could there be more species of scorpion MONSTERS?" Ren wondered.
The scorpion monster then fired a beam of energy from its tail, sweeping it all around the battlefield. "So, when it comes to this monster, then, Akura Vashimu- Well, it's known as the Tail Crystal Scorpion, because it's got a crystal on its tail and it's a scorpion. " Rage explained, showing the transparent clip of a man miming his mind being blown as the fight continued. "So, I guess- I mean, points for... Points for accuracy." Rage said awkwardly as everything went black.
Many in the crew laughed at Rage's awkward praise and the man acting as if his mind were blown. "Wow. Such creativity they have at the Guild. I NEVER would've thought of that one." Yang said sarcastically, but laughed all the same.
"I mean... It's not wrong." Qrow said.
"Sometimes the best description for something is the most simplistic and obvious." Cinder agreed.
The scorpion fired a laser beam from its til once again. "Now, it might come across as a fairly simple encounter, especially as you see the first few back and forths as the hunt begins, but there is actually a SERIOUS amount of complexity here, to the point where perhaps it's A LITTLE BIT too much? This creature, to give you a little example, has FOUR different colors of blood and depending on which color of blood it's currently bleeding, will change how the fight goes and you have to identify the correct color blood so you know what to expect- WHAT!? Okay!" Rage explained calmly at first, but quickly began to speak faster as more and more incredulousness built up in his voice as the scorpion charged the hunters.
When they heard the different types of blood the creature had, a wave of dread quickly fell over many of the cast. "Oh, no... Something tells me this is going to be SERIOUSLY confusing." Jaune said.
"I mean, it's cool that you have to think a bit more when you fight instead of just basically going up against a charging bull, but this seems like unnecessary levels of complexity." Blake agreed.
"Oh, this is definitely going to give me a headache." Neo groaned, earning nods from Jaune, Ruby, Yang and Nora.
The beast then snapped at the hunting team with its pincers. "But let's start at the beginning! Akura Vashimu is from- and this might be an absolute devastating shock... THE AKURA REGION!" Rage explained said as a map was then shown on-screen, before focusing on the Akura Region with an ominous "BWAH!" sound effect. "I know, I know, who would've guessed? Though, that said: he can live essentially everywhere. He is incredibly adaptable, a nocturnal hunter and they come in-" The host continued to explain, before tripping on his words and breaking out into laughter as the screen went black. "I wanted to say 'waves and swarms' at the same time! And I ended with-" Rage laughed, before breaking into even harder laughter to the point he couldn't speak, a test pattern appearing on the screen.
"Yep. Akura region. Never would've guessed that." Qrow chuckled.
"Sounds like something out of Pinchermon." Nora said.
Then, many laughed at Rage's slip up. "This is why you have a script to read from before you make videos so you don't trip over your words." Weiss declared.
"But you have to admit, it is funny when he slips up like that." Velvet giggled.
"But what was that he was saying about waves and swarms?" Winter questioned in concern.
"I've gota a bad feeling about this." Summer said worriedly.
The bow-wielder fired upon the scorpion. "There are cycles, then, of Akura Vashimu. Time when there is barely any seen and then times where THOUSANDS upon thousands hatch and swarm and act as a scourge upon the land. It is this latest spawning that got them discovered, as one had not happened for a long, long time and this latest swarm got them high on the Guild's 'Please-Hunt-Them-All-Jesus-Christ-Giant-Scorpions-Are-Killing-Everyone-List'." Rage explained as the hunters managed to make the scorpion back away from them.
"THOUSANDS?!" Everyone shouted at once.
"Then they absolutely CANNOT be brought to Remnant! We'd never be able to sustain a population boom like that! And we'd never recover from the resources they'd either eat or destroy!" Ironwood said.
"Unless some form of natural predator came with it, but the problem then becomes, how much of a problem would THAT creature be?" Glynda asked.
But then, the mood lightened up when Rage brought up a the lengthy-titled list, all of the teens and even a few adults letting out a few laughs. "Well, that's quite the name for a list." Cinder giggled.
"But, once again, you can't deny that it is accurate." Pyrrha admitted.
The scorpion then knocked back a few of the hunters by slamming its tail on the ground like a wrecking ball. "And they primarily function by a special secretion, a special body fluid that they possess. As key to it as silk would be to a spider, it's how it does everything that it does. Indeed, the crystals that are growing on it ARE formed of this liquid hardened. Hell, even its SHELL, its chitin is this substance hardened in a different composition. And this substance can be blasted out of its tail and latch onto hunters. And the crystals, when not affixed to the scorpion itself become volatile and eventually will explode, but not before growing across and crippling any poor soul that is afflicted." The host informed as the scorpion's beam connected with many of the hunters in the group, slowly expanding and trembling, before finally exploding as Rage had said.
"Whoa. That's some crazy liquid." Ilia said.
"Exploding crystals. I thought Dust was the only kind that could do that." Blake said.
"And with the way they grow on a person like that, besides becoming heavy and weighing them down, would likely grow and pierce into the victim's body. And exploding would only push them in deeper." Qrow said, disturbed by the revelation.
"Not to mention, it would be like shrapnel to anyone who got too close." Adam noted.
"Okay, this thing has gone from cool to scary." Emerald said in concern.
The scorpion continued to fire its beams at the team. "But it's not just constructing crystal. No, it's somewhat of an all-purpose, all-solution, magical... do-everything juice. Let me break it down for you- SO! It flows through his body and his body temperature can change, which in effect, while change the temperature of this special liquid. This is how he can essentially live anywhere, cause it can either provide him with extreme extra heat, extra insulation, or it can allow him to give OFF excess heat really efficiently, from freezing to boiling environments, it doesn't really matter, because he's essentially got onboard, biological liquid cooling that can vary depending on his needs." Rage elaborated as the hunter fired at the beast from a distance.
The crew was amazed by the benefits this liquid bestowed the scorpion with."Amazing. How can a simple fluid have THAT MUCH versatility?" Ren questioned.
"Yeah. Too bad it only works for the scorpion. I would've suggested putting it in a bunch of hot water bottles you could stitch into coats or something to be worn anywhere." Neo said.
"Neat idea, but it would make you look like you're wearing a puffer jacket anywhere. Wouldn't exactly be slimming." Coco noted.
"Still, That's incredible AND terrifying. Because that means if it did come to Remnant, it wouldn't simply been Vacuo's problem. It would be a problem for all of Remnant." Cinder added.
The scorpion then continued to back its tail on the ground around itself in every direction, stopping the hunters from advancing. "But it goes even beyond that! This liquid is exceptionally good at protecting against, breaking down and neutering... Well- elements. And statuses. Seriously, Akura Vashimu is IMMUNE to ALL status elements and is not weak to ANY SINGLE ELEMENT." The host warned as the scorpion spun around while raking its claws out at anyone close enough to hit with them.
Suddenly, a man was shown on a train, looking very displeased. "Bullshit!" The man exclaimed said while pointing at a tiny image of Akura Vashimu superimposed into the clip.
"Well. That's pretty impressive." Hazel said.
"Impressive?! I think you mean INSANE!" Summer exclaimed.
"Summer is correct. These monsters already have the size, strength and- for the most part- speed advantage over hunters, so elemental weaknesses are mostly how we would counter such a vast difference in ability. So without that, we would be at an even greater disadvantage." Ozpin agreed.
"Yeah! That's not fair!" Ruby declared angrily, raising a fist to the sky.
"I agree with the guy in the clip. That is TOTAL bullshit! Having no weakness is just not fair!" Yang complained.
"HAX! I call hax!" Nora shouted, most of the teens nodding in agreement.
The hunters approached a familiar crystal mound in the ground and were knocked away by the scorpion's tail. "Because of this fluid he has coursing through him that he can use as a weapon, too. It is colorless and it can gain color depending on the situation that he's in and the use of it, being more of a shimmer-y blue when outside the body. That is quite the defensive system." The host explained as the scorpion fired another beam from its tail, this one raising crystals from the ground almost instantly. "BUT I'M NOT DONE YET!" Rage declared as everything went black.
"Huh. That's neat, then. But nothing too crazy compared to the 'no weakness' thing." Jaune said.
But then, many of them were startled and jumped at Rage's sudden shout. "Jeez! What is he trying to do, give us a heart attack?!" Roman asked angrily.
But then, they registered exactly what it was he shouted. "I-it can't be! There's still more to it!?" Penny asked in disbelief.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me." Winter said as both she and her sister rubbed their temples in irritation.
The hunters were forced to evade as the beast continued to fire its lasers at them. "No, he can also use it to REPAIR HIMSELF! If he cracks his shell, if it breaks, if he loses a bit, he can literally spray more on from his own tail and then it will harden and grow over the wound and act as replacement shell! He is absolutely ridiculous when it comes to his both defensive qualities and the sheer utility that is provided by this liquid. Also giving him access, as I said earlier, to the unique status of crystallization." Someone said as something happened.
"Oh, good! He can fix any damage he takes! Because I was really worried he didn't have enough already!" Weiss said with both sarcasm and exasperation.
"And because of the liquid not staying a liquid outside of Akura Vashimu's body, it wouldn't work for us if we made Akura Vashimu armor." Velvet noted.
"Not unless we went out and hunted one and got it to spray us in just the right place." Emerald agreed.
An image of the monster was then shown once again. "He can paralyze, too. The fine little hairs growing between his plate segments are paralytic in nature, should you brush with them, so he really is armed to the teeth. Which, I guess, makes sense for a scorpion, who- you know, they do appear to be armed to the teeth, it's like 'why do you need a huge, stinging tail AND pincers!? Jesus Christ!' And that's quite appropriate in THAT sense." The host explained as the image was zoomed in on to show the tiny hairs in between the segments of the tail.
"Oh, come on!" All of the teens shouted at once.
"Suddenly, Basarios doesn't feel like it has too many powers now with something like this thing running around." Neo said.
"I'm more curious as to how simple hairs on its body are paralytic. It makes no sense. Is it because of another strange fluid within them? Or some form of powder? What makes simple hairs able to cause paralysis?" Glynda questioned.
The scorpion then jabbed its pincers into a large crystal it created and caused it to explode, causing one of the hunters to be sent flying. "So, he has his little swarming/spawning season, runs around the place, destroying, eating, killing EVERYTHING in the local environment. He does, however, have ONE unstoppable natural predator that can eat, devour, destroy adult Vashimu's in an instant." Rage pointed out as a Vashimu was eating something, only for all other nearby monsters to flee in a panic as something MASSIVE emerged from the ground, making the scorpion back up, before the massive figure lunged at it, everything going black. An image of this attacker was then shown: a massive tortoise with a hole in the front of its shell. "And that is Odibatorasu, a big ol' tortoise-looking thing that PERMANENTLY has a face like-" The host explained as the creature's face was focused on, zooming in as Rage made noises as if the monster was waiting for someone to laugh at a lame joke..
"Whoa! That thing is HUGE! It HAS to be at least the size of Akantor and Ukanlos!" Ruby cried out.
"It looks pretty cool, too!" Yang said, all the teens nodding in agreement, liking the giant tortoise's appearance. "I mean, just check out all those spikes on its shell! It makes it look super edgy and epic. Just like me!" Yang said, pumping her arms, which made squeaky sound effects.
"Speaking of its shell... Anyone else noticing that big hole in it? Or am I seeing things?" Nora asked, many of them looking closer and seeing the hole as well.
"No, we see it, too. Why on Remnant would it have something like that? Surely a giant hole leading into its body would cause a myriad of problems." Weiss said.
"Yeah, what's up with that?" Ruby, Yang and Nora asked all at once.
Katana paused the video. "Oh. Well, it uses it to attack its enemies." The hostess explained.
Ruby gasped at this. "Ooh! Does shoot out laser beams or is that a hole for a giant spear thing like a cone snail?" Ruby asked.
"Well, it does something I think will surprise you all. But Weiss... This may straight up short-circuit your suspension of disbelief." Katana told the younger Schnee, filling her with dread. She then looked to Ruby, Yang and Nora. "As for you three, this might just put it up in all of your Top 5's." She said.
The three of them quickly lit up with excitement. "Really!? Why!? What does it do!? Is it awesome!?" They all asked rapidly.
"I... Think it would be better to just show you." Katana said, showing them a few brief clips of Aylia and Cotton fighting against the massive creature, the crew's eyes widening and jaws dropping as they bore witness to the beast launching giant boulders of sand out of the hole on its back almost like a tank or a mortar.
Everyone was left speechless, trying to process what they were seeing. But finally, it was Weiss who broke the silence. The heiress' eye twitched as she struggled to comprehend the fact she witnessed a massive tortoise use its shell like a cannon. "You... have got... to be kidding me?" She said, utterly flabbergasted.
The more serious and rational of the adults were not doing much better. "This makes no... How is that kind of anatomy even possible?!" Ironwood questioned.
"I couldn't even begin to understand. I recall the Moh'ran monsters did something similar, but if I recall, that was similar to a whale launching water out of its blowhole, only as condensed sand balls. This... Is clearly something entirely different." Ozpin said.
"And even Gogmazios' ability to produce and fire beams of tar was a byproduct of what they ate, which makes some level of sense, but this... This shouldn't be possible." Glynda added.
Suddenly, they noticed a particular lack of response from the three most excitable girls in the audience: Ruby, Nora and Yang. "Yang? Ruby? Are you alright, girls?" Summer asked in concern.
"Nora? Are you feeling alright?" Ren asked, turning to her as well.
They all looked at them and were shocked at what they saw. "Their eyes are blank!" Velvet cried out.
"Hmm. Guess it was to much awesome for their brains to comprehend?" Coco theorized.
"I got this." Katana said, creating some smelling salts in her hand and putting them under the girls' noses to wake them.
The girls awoke and Yang and Nora immediate freaked out in amazement. "That thing is so awesome!" They cheered.
"AAAAAAHHHH! IT'S A TANK TURTLE!" Ruby screamed while bouncing around the room like a pinball, sound effects included.
"Well, actually, it's a tortoise..." Tekko corrected.
"Who CARES! It's the most badass monster EVER!" Nora cried out.
"Damn right, sister!" Yang cheered.
"Hey, can we stop watching the Akura Vashimu lore and hear about Odibatorasu instead?" Ruby pleaded.
"I second that. I'd like to be done with this scorpion as soon as possible." Cinder said.
"Seconded!" Emerald cried out.
"I'm rather interested in this creature as well." Ironwood said.
"Same here. That has to be one of the most epic monsters we've seen so far." Qrow agreed.
"Sorry, guys, but we've delayed this long enough. Plus, there's no lore on Odibatorasu. Maybe someday, though.
"Laaaaame." Yang, Nora and Ruby all shouted.
Weiss, however, sighed in relief. "Thank goodness. The less I have to see and think about that walking tank, the better." She sighed.
A group of hunters then readied themselves to face off against the massive tortoise as it popped halfway out of the desert sands and roared at them. "And he is quite interesting- someone I want to talk, too, actually- but he was discovered because of the Akura Vashimu swarm, because he responded as their natural predator, to- you know, the buffet now on display." Rage declared as the beast rushed at the hunters, swimming through the sand like Ukanlos swims through ice, creating a tidal wave of sand that chased the hunters along with him.
"So, if they did show up on Remnant, our only hope would be a giant cannon turtle that's clearly aggressive. Lovely." Weiss said.
"As said before, neither of them can be allowed on Remnant." Ironwood reaffirmed his previous sentiment.
"Jeez, how does YOUR world survive with these things running around?" Yang asked.
"Well, remember, Odibatorasu is their main, natural predator, but that doesn't mean other monsters can't prey on them. And sometimes, they'll even eat each other. So they can be a problem, yes, but there are other things that can deal with them. We just deal with them if their numbers get out of control or they're causing immediate problems." Razara explained.
The hunters were seen fighting Akura Vashimu again as it snapped at them with its claws. "Spending most of their days slumbering and resting, keeping to themselves in great underground caverns, at nighttime, as I said, they go on the prowl. They use their crystals to reflect moonlight and cause anglerfish-esque lures to other creatures that, once they get too close to investigate, are then sprung upon, ambushed from beneath the ground, grabbed and- well, mercilessly slaughtered." The host explained as the monster spun with its tail fully extended, knocking the hunter back.
"Simple, yet effective. And, at night when you can't see as much, terrifying." Qrow said.
"I always thought traps like that were lame. If you're gonna fight, then come out and fight properly." Jaune declared.
"But like Qrow said, it's an effective strategy. It exploits an enemy's opening while minimizing the danger to itself." Pyrrha explained.
"Well said, Miss Nikos. As I've advised you before in your combat matches with Cardin, Mr. Arc, it's important to know what strategies to utilize and when." Glynda advised him.
The beast then The beast then pinched crystals on the ground with its claws, making the crystals explode again and bringing down the hunter's wingdrake partners. "So now, let's address the two most- let's say 'unique' parts of this creature, as if everything I haven't already said is a little bit 'okay then'! The blood: as you break its parts, its blood will change in color, which will then reflect how he fights against you. So, if his pincers that were as sharp as a Shogun Ceanataurs claws weren't enough- and they can go through rock-" Rage began as the image of the crab in question flew across the screen with an anime slashing sound effect. "Well... Beware the blood." He warned as the beast swung both claws towards him.
"Oh, goodie. Another monster that uses blood as a weapon. Because here I was thinking Bar Rags wasn't enough." Emerald groaned, sick at the thought of large amounts of blood.
"Wow, nature girl. I wouldn't think YOU of all people would get a monster's name wrong. I'm sure if they were smart enough to understand, they'd be SO sad and disappointed you didn't bother learning its name." Roman said in mock shock, then sadness.
"Yeah, it's not THAT hard. It's just Baru-" Neo began, before getting tongue tied several times as she tried to pronounce it.
"Exactly." Emerald said.
"Which is exactly why it's been renamed to Barlagual." Razara said.
"Man. That must mean that so many people were mispronouncing it, the Guild got SO sick of it they were just like 'Okay, screw this! We're changing the name!'" Summer said, giggling at the idea. .
"But, back to the scorpion, it is quite impressive it is able to weaponize its blood. That adds a new level of versatility to it." Penny admitted.
"But with all the weapons it already has, does it really NEED the extra weapons?" Cinder questioned.
The beast fired another beam from its tail, sending up another wave of crystal spikes. "It will begin, then, with grey blood spouting out of it. When you do damage, when you hurt it, when you weaken it and break a part... Well, then it will turn to a kind of greenish-yellow blood. Following that with another break, you will get blue blood. And the blue blood phase is quite important, but then, finally, it will go to your regular, run-of-the-mill red blood, but beware- during red blood... It can HIP CHECK!" The host declared with fear and a shudder as the hunter managed to stun the scorpion, before an image of Plesioth's head appeared at the mention of hip checks.
All the teens and immature adults gasped in mock fear. "Oh, no! Not the hip check!" Blake said in faux drama.
"Woe betide us all." Ren declared with equal levels of drama.
"But yeah, so far, that's the only important thing he's mentioned about its blood changing color. Kinda lame." Neo said.
"Perhaps it's relevant to what might happen in the future?" Winter theorized.
The beast then smashed its wrecking ball of a tail all around itself once again. "Anyway! What was I saying? Uh, cool! Let's talk the tail. The tail, the tail, the tail. As you might imagine, the tail of a scorpion is quite important and when it comes to Akura Vashimu, it is, too. I mean, it's where he sprouts the liquid from and without it, he loses his main weapon, as denoted from the huge ball of crystals from it hardening as it dribbles from the end. But that's not what we're gonna talk about. What we're gonna talk about is cutting it off." Rage said as the creature made another cluster of crystals explode.
More gasps erupted from the crowd, but this time, it was a gasp of shock and anger from the cinnamon trio. "How could you!? Cutting off a scorpion's tail is the cruelest thing you can do!" Velvet cried out.
"Yeah! A scorpion is defenseless without its tail! Sure, they have the pincers, but their for holding things, not killing things, that's the tail's job! And the venom from the tail dissolves the prey so they can drink it! They'd starve without it!" Ruby snapped as well.
"And a scorpion's tail also houses its anus right below the stinger, so they wouldn't be able to evacuate waste from their system and they would die a terrible death! How could anyone condemn them to that?!" Pyrrha added with fury in her voice.
Tekko interrupted, however, holding up her hand in front of the trio. " I don't think you have to worry about that, girls. It's a pretty rare occurrence to successfully cut off an Akura's tail. It's not that simple..." She assured them.
A greatsword-wielding hunter then hit the scorpion's claws with great force, knocking the beast back and breaking the crystals on the left claw. "He has the most complex and difficult to achieve- arguably- tail sever of ANY monster. SO! If you would like to break the tail and slice it off of an Akura Vashimu! Simply- Step one, break both of his claws with blunt damage! Step two, break his head with blunt damage! Step three, break both of his claws now that they're not crystallized with SEVERING damage! Step five, break his face again with severing damage! Then, he will flip onto his back! Then, simply repeat this THREE TIMES without allowing him to heal his wounds with his crystal-y goo. And then on the third flip-over-onto-his-back, if you've done enough damage to his tail during the other flips, too, he will get his tail severed, but ONLY if he is currently bleeding blue blood! Congratulations! You've cut off his tail!" Rage listed the incredibly complex process while showing the steps on-screen as the hunter performed the required steps as game show music played.
The whole cast was left absolutely speechless to WHY their were so many steps in such a complicated process to cut off the creature's tail. But, the silence was broken by Nora, who was clutching her head in pain. "Ow! I think I sprained my head sponge!" She groaned.
"Is... That what you call your brain?" Ilia asked.
"Yeah. I mean, everyone always says the brain is a sponge and it IS in your head." She said simply.
"Eh. Makes sense. I might start saying that." Coco said.
"So, you break its stuff with sharp, then blunt- no, no! Blunt, THEN sharp... Ugh! Why's it so confusing!?" Ruby complained, having difficulty remembering the steps.
"And, don't forget, it can repair any damage you can do to it with that crystal liquid if you're not quick enough." Cinder reminded, causing everyone to groan at the thought of the wasted effort.
Finally, the hunter severed the tail and the scorpion went flying. "But wait! Don't let him eat it, because otherwise, you won't get your carves. Yes, he will actively, spitefully and aggressively eat his own tail so you can't have it! Then, his tail will crystallize and grow over and you will be in a much better position to fight him! Simple, right?! Oh, my god!" The host exclaimed in exasperation as the scorpion furiously attacked the hunter who crippled it as he tried to carve its tail.
"Are you kidding me!? You mean to tell me that, after I put in all that work to get the tail, I might not get it after all, because he's going to try and eat it!?" Ilia asked.
"Yeah, that's just a completely new level of spite." Blake agreed.
"I'm honestly impressed it has that level of determination to prevent hunters from benefiting from its loss." Adam praised.
"Not to mention the dedication it would take to eat a part of itself, even if it has been severed from its body." Hazel added.
"I find it a lot more disturbing, honestly." Ironwood said.
"Not to mention disgusting." Winter agreed.
"Honestly, I have concerns for any creature willing to cannibalize any part of itself to simply be petty." Ozpin said.
The hunter then worked to break some of the crystals around the area. "So, there you go, that's your Akura Vashimu. The fight against him is fairly straightforward in terms of just avoiding his moves and killing him, he's not the highest tier of monsters, a kind of low flagship level and you have various swipes and stomps and beams and crystal and physical and ground- you know the kind of things, you've been seeing them, but what makes him unique really, really does make him unique." Rage spoke fondly of the beast as it laid down crystals all around.
"Yeah, I gotta admit, all that stuff, combined with the fact that it takes a giant tank tortoise to keep them under control and the fact that scorpions just look awesome, this guy is super unique and awesome for it." Yang agreed.
"I agree. All of its various abilities are quite fascinating and come together perfectly to make it an incredibly interesting, as well as incredibly dangerous creature." Penny agreed.
"And, again, you gotta dig the crystals." Coco said.
"Yeah. Too bad they explode when they aren't attached to the scorpion, or we'd TOTALLY do a line of jewelry, too." Neo said to the fashionista, who nodded.
The Akura Vashimu then rose from the ground to attack the hunter. "But, of course, there is MORE to him. There is a Blue Blood Paralysis Gas Akura Vashimu- very, very catchy name. It is always enraged and it will be huffing black smoke and it basically turns the paralysis of his hairs up to eleven and quite... weirdly... long..." The host explained, showing the image of a black Akura Vashimu late at night with longer hairs on its body.
"Well... That's quite the lengthy name..." Cinder said in shock.
"Heh. Gas." Nora giggled in a dopey tone, to which everyone else rolled their eyes.
"Really, Nora?" Glynda groaned.
"But I wonder what the black smoke is for?" Blake asked.
"Perhaps it is to obscure the vision of potential threats and/or prey." Penny theorized.
"Make sense, but where the heck does the smoke COME from?" Adam wondered.
"... I got nothin'." The gynoid admitted.
A much larger normal-colored Akura Vashimu was shown in the daylight. "Then there is a hardcore version of him, which- as you know- the hardcore monsters are just amped up, powerful individuals. His hair turns yellow and he's got a few more moves, 360 tail spins, extra sprays of crystal which leave marks over the ground, then they explode and his hip check in red blood is so powerful, he will fall over when using it, so... you think about that." The host explained, as the creature did indeed throw a hip check hard enough to make it lose its footing.
"Sounds like Yang when she's in rage mode." Weiss said.
"Hey! I don't throw punches so hard I fall over!" Yang snapped indignantly.
"But that just means that his hip check is just that much more devastating than the normal version's." Ren pointed out.
"That crystal spray looks like it could be tough to deal with." Ironwood said.
"And with how long its tail is, its 360 spin would have quite a large range. That would be problematic as well." Ozpin added.
Finally, an absolutely massive Akura Vashimu was seen in a cave with much larger and sharper crystals. "And then finally, there is a ZENITH Akura Vashimu and the Zeniths are, well... the BIG deal, the BIG BOYS, they are absolutely, unbelievably powerful and they really do stand at the pinnacle of monsters. And in our nice, little scorpion's case, well... His crystalline nature gets amped up to eleven. More crystals growing out of him, much more colorful, too, his crystal mace on the end of his tail is absolutely MASSIVE and they are much larger and smarter than their normal counterparts. You have a different color of hair, too, much darker than his contemporaries and utilize a pinning attack their lessers haven't discovered, jumping on hunters and savaging them with their pincers, as well as an absolute arsenal of crystal geode explodey detonation attacks with their now even-increased-in-potency liquid running through them." Rage explained as the hunters managed to bring down the scorpion.
Qrow whistled. "Gotta say, this version looks pretty sick." He said.
"Yeah, its tail club is so cool!" Ruby agreed, starry-eyed.
"And I dig the darker hair and shell." Cinder added.
"But that pinning attack seems quite impressive, thought. Seems like it could be quite devastating if you can't manage to free yourself." Hazel noted.
"Which would be pretty hard after having a giant scorpion body slam you." Jaune said nervously.
The hunter then flew back and forth through the air, striking the tail crystal of the mighty beast. "Oh and also, their paralysis becomes EXTREME paralysis, but like... EXTREME" Rage declared with an echo as everything briefly went black. "No, once you recover from it as you would normal paralysis, you keep being intermittently stunned, which will obviously stop you from attacking our using your healing items and generally be incredibly annoying." Rage finished as the scorpion spun around violently to try and hit the hunter with its giant tail club.
"What?! How does that even work?!" Winter demanded.
"Right? I thought as soon as toxins wear off, that's it, no reoccurring effects afterwards! If you drink to much, you don't get sober for a few minutes before getting drunk again out of nowhere!" Summer exclaimed. "Unless of course you start drinking the minute you're sober again." She added, glaring at Qrow.
"Well, there CAN be some side-effects to certain toxins and poisons, such as a certain viper in Mistral that can reverse the effects of puberty." Ozpin said. [3]
"Well, that's terrifying." Ilia said.
"But yeah, suddenly getting paralyzed out of nowhere and dropping to the floor, twitching like you got tased? Doesn't sound fun." Coco said.
"I like this version a lot less now." Cinder said, having flashbacks to the Glass Unicorn again.
"Well, you guys know the drill." Razara said.
"Yeah, we really need to find new and unique ways to ask what you think." Tekko said thoughtfully.
"Did you like it or not?" Razara asked, annoyed by her sister's antics.
"It was awesome!" Ruby, Yang, Nora, Coco and even Neo all cheered.
"I mean, like we said, scorpions are already super cool and badass." Coco started.
"And those crystals were awesome and way more versatile than you would think." Neo agreed.
"And it shoots laser beams! That's just awesome!" Yang said.
"It just has so many awesome weapons! The claws, its tail, the paralyzing hairs, the laser beam, it's all so cool!" Ruby cheered.
"Yeah. And you gotta give something props if its willing to eat its own tail to just go 'in your face.'" Nora said.
"And I actually find its blood to be fascinating, to be that versatile to allow it to survive basically anywhere." Penny added.
"I still don't like it. No matter how many cool things it does, it's still a nasty arachnid." Weiss said.
"Yeah. No creepy-crawlies for me, thanks." Emerald agreed.
"I admit, it has some interesting things going for it, but I still can't get on board with this. It's still reminding me FAR too closely of Tyrian." Cinder added.
"So, what's up next?" Qrow asked.
"Oh, we have a good one up next. Thanks to some help from Akasha, Sai made another lore about one of the coolest and cutest monsters in the Old World. But it's also definitely one of the strangest. So just prepare your minds for... Kecha Wacha." Katana declared, starting the video.
A/N: Yep, we FINALLY have a lore for Kecha Wacha thanks to Sai. Seriously, why did Rage skip it!? It's one of the coolest and most fun monsters in GU! Anyway, Sai's video is called "The Strangest Simian! Kecha Wacha Lore", go check it out and subscribe to him if you haven't.
[1] No, it's not on any private parts. It's on her lower back, so basically a tramp stamp.
[2] For those who have a Netflix account, you can find this information by watching episode 4 of the show 72 Dangerous Animals: Latin America, assuming it isn't geolocked in your region. I know they have a version for Australia that I watched, but now it isn't available in my area... Either way, it's a good show and I'd really recommend it if you're a fan of animals. There's also a 72 Dangerous Animals: Asia.
[3] The snake in question being referenced here is the Russell's Viper, most commonly found in India, but can be found all the way from India to Taiwan and Java.