A/N: Thanks as always to my friend qazse for help with reactions and to my brother Sai Blade for making both the video and the script. The video in question is "Parasite Panic! Qurio Lore". Be sure to check it out and watch/listen along as you read the chapter.
Sai simply stood around as a ticking sound was heard as if waiting for the host to begin. "Yeah, I don't have an intro for this one. This is just a straight up Bdellophobia warning." he warned. Crickets were heard as the people he usually interacted with stood around, not seeming to care about his warning. "Huh. Was kind of expecting a bigger reaction than that." The host noted awkwardly as he looked back and forth.
"What?! No intro?! Blasphemy!" Yang snapped.
"Yeah! We're getting cheated!" Ruby shouted alongside her sister.
But then they heard the phobia warning. "Bdellophobia? Oh, dear..." Glynda said, looking to Pyrrha and Weiss in concern.
"Yes, I doubt they'll find this very enjoyable." Ozpin agreed, following both Glynda's gaze and train of thought.
Penny then took Weiss' hand in her own. "Stay strong, Weiss. We'll make it through this together. You as well, Pyrrha." She assured both girls.
Both girls who were confused at this sudden support, unsure of what Bdellophobia was. "Thank... you?" They both said uncertainly.
"Bdellophobia? Never heard of it. Any of you?" Ilia asked.
"Nope." Most of the less studious students admitting.
"Maybe it's the fear of delis? Some people might think those slicers are scary." Nora theorized.
"I DOUBT that's the case, Nora. But, I can't think of what else it might be." Ren admitted.
The admiral was then shown. "Probably because no one here knows what Bdellophobia is. Sounds trendy." The former commission leader said dismissively, not taking whatever this phobia was seriously.
"Wow. Must be a pretty lame phobia if none of them know. Like, something no one would ever be afraid of." Neo said.
"Or, at the very least, decently rare or at least uncommon." Cinder agreed.
Suddenly, the Fiver Bro must have only JUST started paying attention, as he suddenly screamed like a girl at the mention of the phobia. "Huh. Of all the people to get it, I wasn't expecting it to be you." Sai noted as he approached the gluttonous hunter.
"Wait, HE knows, of all people?!" Blake asked in disbelief.
"Well... It's about time he proves useful for something." Winter said.
"Never thought we'd see the day." Coco agreed.
"I want to say you guys are being mean... but you're also not wrong." Velvet admitted.
Aiden was then shown. "So, what is it, then!? Come on, don't leave us in suspense!" The Ace Hunter demanded impatiently, not enjoying being out of the loop.
The Fiver Bro was the one to explain it. "I-i-it's the fear... Of leeches and lamprey!" He shakily told the others. Almost immediately after, they all- minus Sai and the Fiver Bro- let out a girlish scream as well.
After the phobia was revealed, everyone slowly looked to Weiss and Pyrrha, both of whom were deathly pale, looks of pure dread on their faces and they were quickly working up a cold sweat. "Oh, please no..." They both pleaded.
"Let me out of here! Please! I can't handle this!" Weiss pleaded.
"Me as well, please! I'm sure missing out on ONE monster won't be the end of the world." Pyrrha agreed desperately.
"I'm sorry, girls, but you both need to see this. These little beasts played a VERY important role in recent events that you need to hear about." Katana told them.
"You girls have my sympathies. Now you know how Oz and I get triggered by our arachnophobia." Ironwood said sympathetically.
"Yeah..." Razara said, struggling to stop herself from snickering as Tekko could barely contain her giggling. "Good thing you don't have to worry about that anymore." She said with a smirk, knowing a spider much more dangerous than Nerscylla would be featured sooner or later.
The word "symbiosis then appeared on the screen, along with its definition. "Symbiosis: an interaction between two different organisms living in close physical association, typically to the advantage of both. Such as the case of the Egyptian Plover, which forms a symbiotic relationship with one of the most dangerous animals on the planet, the crocodile. The bird will pick tiny bits of meat out of the crocodile's teeth, preventing it from rotting in the croc's mouth and causing infection, while the bird gets a free meal and protection from its predators during the time of the feeding. In this ideallic scenario, everybody wins." Sai explained as, indeed, a small bird was seen picking at a crocodile's teeth with no fear of the giant reptile.
Many were shocked at this revelation. I mean, who would've ever thought ANYTHING would want to go anywhere near a crocodile's jaws. "Huh. Never thought I'd see something like that. Most things try their hardest to stay AWAY from a crocodile's mouth." Qrow said.
"Hey, they gotta eat somehow. Like he said, it's basically a free meal to them. As long as they don't touch the croc's tongue to trigger it's biting instinct, they should be fine." Emerald said.
"Oh, my gosh! That's the sweetest thing ever! Their like living toothbrushes for the croc! And it's so gentle and patient with them to just sit there and let them do it!" Summer cooed.
"I know, it's adorable! I wish I could do that!" Ruby exclaimed.
"Pick things out of a crocodile's teeth or have a bird pick things out of your teeth?" Ren asked.
"Yes." Ruby said.
However, a few others, especially Velvet, found it a lot less sweet. "Be careful, little babies! Keep your eyes on it! Don't let it snap you up!" She said, nervous for the poor things inside one of the most dangerous places in nature.
An absolutely tiny fish was then seen swimming in circles. "And then there are relationships between two creatures where only one creature benefits in a way that is often detrimental to the other species. Such is the case with the candiru, a tiny species of catfish that is small enough to enter the gills of other fish, where it will use a spiked barb on its head to cut into the gills of its target, drinking their blood and generally just being a pain in the dickhole. If you know, you know." The host informed as the tiny fish invaded the other fish's gills and drank its blood as he said.
But this new information quickly flipped the mood, everyone gaining a sense of tiny dread from this fish. "Poor fishies. Just minding their own business business when one of those nasty bloodsuckers comes in and steals their blood." Pyrrha said in a sickened tone.
"I never thought I'd sympathize with a fish, but I sympathize with that fish." Weiss agreed.
"Oh, gods. Why did he have to bring that thing up?" Hazel shuddered. They may not have the Amazon in Remnant, but they still have small rivers and streams where this fish thrives, much to the dismay of all males that know of them.
"The enemy of all men." Adam said fearfully.
"Not gonna lie, I had nightmares when I first learned about this thing." Roman said with a deep wince, shared by all the other males of the group, except Jaune, who seemed clueless.
"Pain in the... THAT hole? What's he talking about, guys?" Jaune asked.
"Yeah, we're clueless over here, too." Neo added, getting nods of agreement from Ruby, Nora and Velvet.
"Oh, well you see, Jaune: the candiru-" Penny began, before Weiss slapped a hand over Penny's mouth.
"MAYBE we should let those with a more delicate touch handle telling them, Penny." Weiss told her nervously.
And with that, Blake, Ren, Emerald, Coco and Pyrrha leaned into Ruby, Nora, Neo, Velvet and Jaune and whispered the Candiru's nasty secret into their ears. They listened curiously at first, but that curiosity quickly turned to horrified winces and sickened gagging, with Jaune covering his crotch in horror. "I'm going to have nightmares for the rest of my life." He said.
Cyra, another huntress and a research party stood around the body of a Lunagaron, but becoming aware of danger. "And our monster of today's discussion falls into both categories. For a VERY small handful of monsters, it's a useful partner in symbiosis. But for literally EVERYTHING ELSE in the world, the Qurio are the most horrific parasite of all time." The Sapphire Star as a swarm of red, flying leeches landed on the Lunagaron and began to drain it of its vitality.
"No way... You have got to be kidding. Flying leeches!?" Ilia exclaimed.
"Yikes. I thought leeches were creepy enough when you only had to deal with them in rivers and lakes. Flying ones are just nightmare fuel." Yang said.
"Worse still, leeches often carry bacteria and spread diseases, so them not being limited to the water makes them significantly more dangerous." Glynda noted.
"Um, I think you all should be checking on Schnee and Nikos." Cinder said, pointing to the two girls.
Everyone followed her finger to see the two girls frozen stiff, not moving or blinking. As if they were comatose! "Uh, Pyrrha? You doin' okay?" Jaune asked, poking her.
"Weiss are you alright, dear?" Penny asked, lightly tapping her shoulder.
"NOOOOOOO!" Both girls screamed, leaping behind the couch like Blake did whenever they saw a canine-like monster, or Velvet upon seeing a particularly predatory monster.
The creatures were now shown flying through the air. "So, in terms of visuals, there's not a lot going on here. They're literally red lampreys with big three-pronged wings and a three-pronged tail fin that make them look like little flames flying through the sky. And of course, they have that horrific circular mouth full of teeth, a pair of beady eyes- though we're not sure if those actually work or not- and a bunch of holes on them that probably function like a lamprey's lungs." Sai explained as the aerial leeches continued to fly to and fro.
"It's everything I ever feared!" Weiss shrieked.
"Why would nature create such a horrible monstrosity?!" Pyrrha cried out.
"Okay, not gonna lie, those beady eyes are really creepy." Blake admitted.
"I don't know why, but my prey instincts are sending me HUGE danger vibes." Velvet said nervously, the other Faunus nodding in agreement.
Cyra was then looking through hunting quests, observing an illustration of a very large Elder Dragon. "We don't know where the Qurio first originated from, but what we DO know is they were first symbiotic partners of an Elder Dragon known as Gaismagorm, a massive subterranean Elder Dragon of terrifying power that left giant craters in the ground wherever it emerged." The host informed as a massive crater was seen directly next to a settlement, four different streams from a nearby mountain pouring into it like waterfalls. "We'll talk more about him later, but what you need to know for now is: roughly one hundred years ago, Gaismagorm first emerged and was defeated by another Elder Dragon, Malzeno- who, again, we'll talk about more later. But during that time, the Qurio abandoned the defeated Gaismagorm and instead allied themselves with Malzeno." The Sapphire star continued as the illustration of another Elder Dragon was shown.
Many shivered at the image of Gaismagorm. "It's only a drawing... but I can't shake this feeling of dread and foreboding." Winter said.
"From the look of things, it's got a really freaky mouth going on there." Nora noted.
"Suddenly, I'd be okay if we NEVER get around to seeing it!" Summer exclaimed almost immediately after Nora pointed it out, her fear of strange mouths from the monsters growing ever more.
"Come now, Summer. Just because you don't find it looks appealing doesn't mean we should ignore it. Information on it would be vital for if it should be brought to Remnant or not, whether it could be the savior we need or the perfect tool for Salem. If we just ignored it and skipped it, we'd never know." Ozpin told her.
"Well, if it's an underground monster, it shouldn't be causing too much trouble for those of us on the surface, right?" Roman questioned.
"Then again, if it's partners with those little freaks it can't be good for anyone." Qrow said.
But then they saw Malzeno. Only a drawing, once again, but they found this one much more appealing, Coco letting out a whistle. "Okay, now that one looks pretty appealing. White and pink. Looks like this thing might be right up your alley, Neo." Coco told her future business partner.
"Ooh, I can't wait to see it." Neo admitted.
"Me, too! It looks fierce and intimidating, but also really elegant and cool! Can we please learn about it next?!" Ruby asked with stars in her eyes.
"Someday. Patience, Rubes." Katana told her.
Ruby pouted like an impatient child at this. "No fair..." She grumbled.
The Qurio were now seen swarming a living Lunagaron hunted by Rakka Suripa. "So, as you may have guessed with them being basically flying leeches, they are bloodsuckers, the teeth in that ring of a mouth they have are sharp and tough enough to puncture basically ANY material, no hide or scales or plating is safe from them. And they drain out not only the blood, but the very Bio-Energy of their target, draining their life force and empowering the Qurio. And a particularly motivated swarm can keep going until they've completely drained the target of all of their vitality." Sai explained as the creatures were seen on the unconscious Lunagaron again.
An Anjanath ran into the area Cyra and a Wyverian man were in in a panic, being swarmed by Qurios. "They jumpin' me! THEY JUMPIN' ME! Save your boy!" A voice screamed as if it was the Anjanath itself, before the creature succumbed to the blood loss from the attack and collapsed, dead.
To say they were shocked at this information was an understatement. "What?! But the strongest monster hides are tougher than most metals! You're telling me they can get through that!?" Winter asked in disbelief.
"Which means even the strongest armor we've got wouldn't protect us from them!" Ironwood said in horror.
"And the fact they hunt in swarms makes them that much more difficult to deal with. It's like dealing with bees. One or two wouldn't be much of a problem. But when there's so many of them in a swarm moving so fast, you get overwhelmed, with too many to focus on as you're getting attacked all over." Adam said, not liking the sound of dealing with the flying leeches.
And then, they were heartbroken to see the creatures drain the life of an Anjanath. "No! That poor Anjanath! It didn't stand a chance!" Velvet cried out.
"It's the bees all over again. Being overwhelmed by a swarm while they're draining the life out of you. But monsters may have it even worse, since they don't have the same range of motion as humans have to reach the creatures wherever they might be harming us." Hazel said, disturbed.
"It would take between 100 to 450 leeches to drain the 40% to 50% of blood humans humans would have to lose before dying of blood loss, but I don't even think I counted FIFTY of those things to drain something WAY bigger than a human!" Emerald said, shaking in fear at this realization.
"Okay, NO bringing these to Remnant, right? Everyone with me?" Ruby asked, raising her hands, the other Remnantians quickly following suit.
The airborne bloodsuckers were seen flying around once again. "Now, you might be wondering why these creatures need symbiosis instead of just being parasites? Well, as it turns out, the Qurio are not capable of producing vital nutrients they need to function, so they cannot survive without a host. So, they find an ideal host, which was originally Gaismagorm, properly recycling the energy they had fed off and allowing the nutrients to be passed through their body and giving their host a boost in power, thanks to this new sudden wave of Bio-Energy fueling them. And this partnership also allowed the Qurio to evolve quite rapidly, although for whatever reason, their new partnership with Malzeno brought the parasites to an evolutionary dead end." The host said as they leeched off a Lunagaron once again.
"Well, it's good to hear that their evolution came to a halt to prevent them from becoming even more problematic." Ren said in relief.
"Still, if it beat Gaismagorm, then that means Malzeno should be a superior monster, so why wouldn't the Qurio be able to evolve and adapt just as well, if not better, with Malzeno than with Gaismagorm?" Winter questioned.
"I'm honestly more curious as to how they've survived as long as they have if they are unable to make their own nutrients to survive. With such a major evolutionary flaw, they should've died out long ago." Glynda pointed out.
"I'm wondering why we're still even talking about these things! Can we PLEASE stop hearing about them and learn about something else?" Pyrrha pleaded.
"Yeah, I feel bad for saying this, but I kind of wish these things WOULD die out." Velvet agreed.
Cyra was attempting to shoot the parasites out of the air with her bow. "So, what is the Guild's policy on handling the Qurio? Well, it's generally agreed upon there is only one acceptable response to spotting these airborne leeches." The Sapphire Star declared as his daughter continued to try and snipe the levitating lamprey.
A strange creature with a human body, but a head that was a pair of eyes inside a set of teeth looked at a floating bubble with razor-sharp teeth. "YOU PARASITE!" He screamed at the bubble, before popping it.
Most of the crew were baffled as they saw Cain's bizarre appearance. "What... Did we just witness?" Blake asked.
Weiss sighed at this, throwing her hands into the air in exasperation. "You know what? I don't even want to know." She said.
"Still, if that's the Guild's idea on how to handle those things, I'd say it's a pretty good idea." Cinder said, unnerved by the flying leeches.
The Qurio were flying away from the defeated body of their current host. "So, as I said, the Qurio have teeth that can pierce through any material, so there's no monster they cannot consume blood from. And they are ravenous gluttons who will drain a monster of every last blood of drop in their body in order to get their meal. And their hunger is basically endless, almost rivaling Deviljho and much like the World Eater, they will go as far as to wipe out entire ecosystems in order to get their fill. And to make matters worse, in the event they DON'T drain enough blood to kill their target, they also infect them with a virus that makes them stronger and more aggressive, to the point even the most peaceful monster will lash out at everything around them, very similarly to the Frenzy Virus. And monsters that are aware of these creatures go as far to leave their natural habitat to escape the Qurio, entering new biomes and becoming invasive species, which causes EVEN MORE havoc." Sai explained as they scattered in different direction.
All were deeply disturbed at this information. "So, they ruin the environment in THREE different ways?! That's insane!" Jaune said in fear.
"Any ONE of those is enough, but all of them together is just a nightmare." Ironwood said.
"But unlike Deviljho, they only eat the blood, not the whole monster. So if they kill off an entire ecosystem, then it will be full of bloodless corpses." Emerald pointed out, shivering a bit.
Most wouldn't think it was possible for Pyrrha, Weiss and Velvet to get even paler after everything they'd seem, but they somehow found a way with that new visual. "Why, thank you, Emerald. I was JUST thinking I'd been sleeping too well lately." Pyrrha said shakily.
"But that's nothing compared to ANY virus that can be comparable to the Frenzy." Glynda said in horror.
"Agreed. But this might be worse than the Frenzy, since it doesn't eventually kill its host, meaning the bloodshed doesn't stop until the virus either wears off or something kills it." Winter noted.
"But, if it is like the Frenzy, then maybe it can make us stronger if we overcome it, like how the Frenzy makes you stronger if you fight through it." Yang theorized.
Fiorayne suddenly doubled over for a moment, holding her side in pain. "So, you might be wondering 'okay, if this Virus is like the Frenzy Virus, can we get it and overcome it to use the benefits for ourselves?' NO! No we cannot. This virus is FATAL to humans without treatment. 100 years ago during their first appearance, the Qurio were much smaller, to the point they weren't even noticeable when they started sucking blood from humans like mosquitoes and, much like mosquitoes, transmitting their virus to plague-level proportions." The host explained as Fioryane then collapsed to one knee, before falling unconscious. "Thankfully, there was a Wyverian doctor by the name of Tadori who managed to come up with a cure for the virus, curing the plague and eventually leaving the sickness all but forgotten... No, like, LITERALLY, people forgot it was a thing. Seems like something that should've been kept on record, but what do I know?" Sai questioned as the Wyverian doctor was seen gathering herbs for medicines.
Everyone was horrified, before turning to glare at the blonde brawler. "What was that you said a second ago, dearest sister?" Ruby asked, to which Yang only laughed nervously while shrugging.
"Still, that confirms it, this IS worse than the Frenzy Virus. At least that didn't KILL people! Thank goodness there's a treatment." Summer sighed in relief.
But then the crew was absolutely baffled that the plague was forgotten about. "How do you FORGET about a plague!? Sai's right, that's something that should've DEFINITELY been documented. And more than ONE doctor should know how to make its antidote!" Penny cried out.
"Right? Polio hasn't been a think in forever, but we've still got the vaccines around just in case!" Qrow agreed.
"Someone in the records department NEEDS to be fired." Ironwood said.
Fiorayne was seen holding her wound once again. "But unfortunately, this wasn't the end, because 50 years since the last incident, the Qurios returned to feed for both them and their hosts and cause more havoc. And in those 50 years, the Qurio matured and everything about them became more potent, including the Virus, becoming stronger than the cure for it could handle, requiring poison from an Espinas in order to overcome. You know, probably one of the top three most poisonous monsters of all time?!" The Sapphire Star exclaimed as an Espinas was shown, as well as his ranking of the three most poisonous monsters. "But even then, they still weren't done growing and adapting, because the Virus would become EVEN STRONGER, needing the even more potent poison of a Flaming Espinas to combat, PLUS the soap secretion of a Violet Mizutsune, basically a gasoline Fire Mizutsune." The host informed as the Espinas Subspecies obliterated a Teostra with its fireball and the Mizutsune burned a Tigrex in a ring of fire.
Jaws were now hitting the floor yet again when they heard what was needed to counteract the Virus. "Espinas poison!? Why would they ever need a virus that strong that it takes Espinas poison to cure it!?" Velvet cried out.
"And that's just the first time they had to deal with it returning. Then he says it got even stronger? This might be the most impossible to deal with Virus in history." Ren said, equally shocked and disturbed.
"People will die with the cure, but both versions of Espinas are insanely difficult to take down and people would easily die trying to retrieve the poison for the antidote. Damned if you do, damned if you don't..." Hazel added.
"But... how does soapy liquid from a Mizutsune help fight a virus?" Adam questioned.
"Especially FLAMMABLE soapy liquid." Roman threw in.
"I don't know, but I have to admit, I'm quite a fan of this version of Mizutsune." Cinder said in awe of the creature.
Meanwhile, Ozpin was truly shaken with this information. "Just like Gore Magala, these creatures might be Salem's ideal monster." He said, briefly having a terrifying daydream of Salem swarming all of the Huntsmen academies and populated areas with hundreds of MILLIONS of Qurio, with the population being reduced to husks in a matter of minutes.
Once again, the Qurio were seen leeching off of the body of a Lunagaron, before flying away. "So, yes. To summarize, they can drain a body of all its vitality in very little time, can and will wipe out entire ecosystems to get their fill and can cause a plague that can only be cured with the secretions of some of the most dangerous monsters known to mankind." Sai recapped as Cyra was trying to snipe the flying fiends once again.
A dark-skinned man was then shown, appearing overly excited about something. "Buuut wait! There's more!" He declared as he pointed at whoever he was talking to with both pointer fingers.
Everyone groaned when they heard this wasn't the end of the horrors of the Qurio. "Of course, there's more. Why wouldn't there be more?" She questioned, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Because apparently, the universe decided these things haven't QUITE shattered our sanity yet." Weiss said, her eye twitching.
The Qurio were seen flying away from the dead body of a massive Elder Dragon. "So, eventually, both Malzeno and Gaismagorm were slain, leaving the Qurio without a suitable host. So at this point we figured it was over as, like I said, they cannot survive without a suitable host and so we assumed they would just starve and die." The host began as the Qurio indeed all suddenly started to die and fall to the ground. "But unfortunately, all we did was make them desperate, randomly searching for any new host they might be able to achieve symbiosis with. But most of these creatures were not compatible, simply getting hit with devastating doses of the Qurio's virus as well as on overwhelming increase to their Bio-Energy they could not handle. And so, afflicted with this horrible condition, these monsters were dubbed Afflicted Monsters... I think we're paying the responsible for naming things too much..." The host said as an Arzuros was seen with a huge number of Qurio swarming around it.
Finally, the mood was lightened a bit by Sai's burn on the unimaginative names. "I mean he's not wrong, it's afflicted with a disease so you just call it an afflicted monster? Lame." Ilia said.
"To be fair, what else WOULD you call them?" Adam wondered.
"Perhaps something like Hazard monsters?" Hazel suggested.
"But aren't all monsters hazardous on some level or another?" Nora pointed out.
Cyra and a few other Huntresses were now fighting the Afflicted Arzuros. "So, how are Afflicted monsters different from their normal counterparts? Well, as I've said, they are flooded with an incomprehensible amount of the Qurio Virus that makes them infinitely more aggressive and violent, to the point they can no longer even be captured. And they are LITERALLY overflowing with excess Bio-Energy given to them by the Qurio, to the point it even actively leaks out of their bodies. And, if left unchecked, it will be unleashed from the monster in devastating explosions that harm anything around the monster, as well as the monster themselves. So they gain a MASSIVE boost in power, but all the drawbacks that come with it DRASTICALLY shorten their lifespan. It is a death sentence. They will eventually die on their own, but the amount of damage they can and WILL cause in the mean time is too great to simply be ignored. Sadly, the only solution is to put them out of their misery and slay them." The Sapphire Star said sadly as Cyra slayed the beast.
But then the dread came back in full swing, many hearts sinking at this horrific news. "No... Those poor monsters. They're being driven insane against their will while being sucked dry of their life force. It's so terrible!" Ruby cried out, hugging both her mother and her girlfriend.
"I never thought I'd imagine where killing something would be an act of mercy." Velvet said, completely aghast.
"I just can't believe it changes them so much they can't even be captured anymore. They might actually have been able to be saved that way. Poor bastards." Qrow said, raising his drink as a means of respect.
"Just one more reason these Qurio may be the most vile creatures we've heard of thus far." Winter said angrily.
"I suddenly want them on Remnant... Just so I can make them extinct myself." Weiss growled.
Cyra now fought against an Afflicted Tobi-Kadachi. "So, what's the best way to deal with Afflicted monsters? Well, it's not too different from fighting the regular versions, they still have all the same moves and powers, they're just a LOT stronger. But, like I said before, the excess Bio-Energy is literally leaking out of them, looking like small flames erupting from certain points of their body. Plus, the Qurio will be swarming that spot on them in particular, leaving those places as weak points, so attacking them will be extremely effective. And, as a bonus, you'll probably take out a few Qurio, too!" Sai explained as Cyra shot the spots of excess energy.
Many nodded at the idea of attacking the part of the monsters the Qurio swarmed. "Good idea. Anything that hurts those little bastards is fine by me!" Yang growled.
"I'd honestly be attacking them more than I would the actual monsters." Summer agreed with her eldest.
"Heck, I'm surprised there aren't hunts to just go out and snipe the Qurio out of the air. I'd certainly take those on." Cinder added.
"Trust me, we would, but we just never see the Qurio on their own without a host, for the obvious reason that they die without a host to cling to." Tekko told her.
Cyra finally managed to defeat the Afflicted Flying Thunder Wyvern. "Thankfully, that is the end of Afflicted Monsters... Unless Elder Dragons are involved." The host stated quickly said as Cyra now faced a Kushala Daora.
A lawyer was taking a big drink of water, but this news caused him to choke on the water. "Oh, come on!" He complained after doing a spit take, sending water everywhere.
"OH, COME ON!" Everyone screamed right alongside the lawyer.
"Aren't Elder Dragons already OP enough!? Why do they have to get more insane!?" Blake complained.
"What now?! Kushala Daora makes Category SIX hurricanes [1] and Kirin can make lightning strikes big enough to fill an entire acre!?" Coco ranted.
"If you jinxed it and that's actually what happens, you won't be sitting until we leave here." Neo warned.
Rakka was seen sitting in his room with his Palico and Palamute, looking over a letter he received. "Oh, dear God, I hope this damn letter gives me a reprieve from all the damn Anomaly Quests I have to go through. At least I get rid of all the damn Qurio around the area. Don't want to have that moment like... You know..." He began, before noticing who sent the letter. "Oh, this letter's from Cyra and it says..." He noted, before finally starting to read the letter, which did NOT have good news for him.
"Oh, hey, it's Rakka Suripa again! Nice to see he's still helping Sai where he can." Ruby said.
"I like his outfit, too. Reminds me of Goku." Nora pointed out.
"Yes, it's a tribute to Goku's creator, who sadly passed away recently." Katana said, lowering her head, followed by the rest of the crew. [2]
"Well, he definitely wears it well." Coco praised.
Dear Rakka,
I know you're still a bit shaken from... that... But if you can, while Fiorayne and I are investigating Malzeno, there was a new development going on that certain Elder Dragons were resisting the Qurio and being amplified by the effects of resisting the infection. Bahari now dubs them Risen Elder Dragons. Please, punch Bahari for me. Anyway, can you be able to handle them for us and get info on them? Try not to die, big bro... please. :]
Sincerely,
Cyra
A clip of a man screaming then appeared over the letter. "Oh, fu-" Rakka began to curse, before everything went black.
"Sucks to be him. Hate to be in his shoes." Cinder said.
"But, as he said himself, he's fulfilling a vital role in getting rid of those HORRIBLE leeches!" Pyrrha praised him.
"Probably a small comfort, though, when he's getting folded like a lawn chair by basically Elder Dragons on steroids." Yang said.
"He shall be remembered as a hero. Always." Weiss declared.
"Hey, hey, don't write him off just yet. We Blades don't pal around with just anybody, remember. To have been recognized by our family means he's proven himself." Razara assured them. "It's still gonna suck for him, don't get me wrong, but he'll survive, is what I'm saying." She quickly added.
Cyra and her friends were then seen fighting a Chameleos, which then let out a burst of energy and began to glow orange in certain places. "So, much like how they are immune to the Frenzy Virus, Elder Dragons are able to resist the Virus they are given by the Qurio and, although it takes a while, they are able to overcome the disease and become stronger for it. The Affliction is a death sentence, so overcoming it is like rising from the dead, thus these creatures are known as Risen Elder Dragons and they easily put their normal counterparts to shame, gaining a massive power boost and a new mastery over their powers their normal selves could only dream of: Risen Kushala Daora goes from a tropical storm to a category five tornado, Risen Chameleos can practically DROWN you in poison, Risen Teostra goes from a forest fire to a nuclear bomb, Risen Shagaru Magala is a plague in its own right and Risen Crimson Glow Valstrax is an orbital strike with dragon missiles." The Sapphire Star warned as Rakka Suripa was shown facing each of the powered up Elder Dragons.
"Of all the creatures that DIDN'T need a boost, it was Elder Dragons!" Jaune complained.
"They seem unstoppable in this state. How could anyone stand up to attacks like that?!" Ren asked in shock.
But then, Penny noticed something as she looked closer. "Is it just me, or when the orange light coats them, does it look like they've been burned?" Penny asked.
"Good eyes, Penny. Yes, much like normal monsters, the excess of Bio-Energy does burn them, but they managed to power through it and handle the excess Bio-Energy much better." Katana told her.
"Not sure if that's better or worse." Pyrrha said.
"For them, better. For us, worse. Much worse." Ironwood stated, disturbed.
Once again, the Qurio were seen flying away from the defeated body of Gaismagorm. "And so, that is the Qurio, I know I always try to put a positive spin at the end to make it seem like these creatures have a role in nature and should be valued or respected in some way, shape or form, but this time... I simply can't do it. If ever there was a creature deserving to be called monsters, it's these things: they horrifically drain the blood from a target, sometimes until it dies and in the instances they do survive, they become impossibly aggressive, they inflict a virus that can become plague-like in proportion, they cause monsters to flee from their environments and cause problems in new locations as invasive species. The only creatures that can survive them are Elder Dragons, which become greater threats than they already were and if they can't find those, they create Afflicted Monsters that are constantly suffering until they're slain. These things simply should not exist." Sai finished as the Qurio perished and fell to the ground around their vanquished host one final time.
"If he had said that at the beginning, I'd say he's being a bit harsh. But now, I think he's not being harsh enough and that they NEVER should have existed at all." Velvet said.
"I agree. We've heard of these creatures being called monsters all this time when, at the end of the day, they are still animals. But these creatures are most certainly the true definition of monsters." Glynda agreed.
"Down with the Qurios!" Ruby cried out.
"Indeed. I don't think we need any form of discussion on whether or not they should be brought to Remnant. They must never see the light of day on our world. And they should be extinct in yours." Ozpin declared, everyone nodding in agreement.
"Well, after that last comment, I shouldn't really have to ask, but I still think we should get everyone's final thoughts. What did you think?" Katana asked.
Weiss was hugging her legs up to her chest in fear. "They're awful! They're the worst monsters we've ever heard of! Baruragaru was horrifying for being a giant lamprey with legs, but at least it was only ONE monster! These little menaces FLY and hunt you in giant swarms! And if they can kill an Anjanath in only a few minutes, I don't even want to IMAGINE what they do to a human! I don't want to be an empty husk!" Weiss cried out in fear.
"I doubt it would take more than five to drain a human, meaning an entire swarm could likely wipe out an entire battalion!" Ironwood said, before freezing as that thought was truly realized in his mind, at which point, he did something that caused everyone's jaws to drop. He held out his hand and summoned a flash of whiskey in his hand, starting to take a few gulps.
"Oh, I almost want a drink myself." Weiss said quietly, knowing Winter would kill her if she saw her drinking.
"And let's not forget, if you DO survive, you get a virus from HELL." Qrow added.
"I still feel so bad for all those poor Afflicted monsters. Just raging mindlessly as they're burning from the inside out. It's not fair, they didn't ask for it..." Ruby sniffled.
"I just can't believe something as simple as a leech could prove to be worse than the Grimm we've faced throughout our lives." Glynda said.
"Quite. Even in my MULTIPLE lifetimes, I've hardly encountered something that fearsome. I'd say they easily rival Salem, if not outright surpass her." Ozpin agreed.
"Katana... Please, PLEASE tell me we're watching a more light-hearted monster next time. Or at least less scary." Velvet pleaded.
Katana smiled and patted Velvet's head. "Don't worry, Velvet. I can't exactly say it will be the most light-hearted, but I CAN say that Great Baggi and Great Wroggi are MUCH less scary than the Qurio." She assured the crew, before starting the next video.
A/N: So, my good friend Siats4197, or Manzac11, was kind enough to make a few lores to help Sai get some Rise footage before Sai had Rise himself. He also sent me the script for one of his lores, so I had no excuse not to use it. That being the script for Wroggi and Baggi from his video "Kamura Village Animal Guide Edition | Part 1: Lemme Smash 2/2 (Great Wroggi & Great Baggi)" by Manzac11. Check it out as you read along with the next chapter and be sure to show him some love and support, because he is not getting nearly enough as he deserves.
[1] For anyone that didn't get the emphasis on Category six hurricanes, that's because they don't exist. Both hurricanes and tornadoes only go up to category 5.
[2] Rest In Peace, Akira Toriyama.